//------------------------------// // The Seventh Pony // Story: Unnoticed Threats // by smirker //------------------------------// Doctor Whooves walked around and saw a new holiday was being celebrated, it was called Pony Day, the unicorns, Pegasi, earth ponies, crystal ponies, umbrums, and hippogriffs gathered around to celebrate it. There was plenty of activities going on, and Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Twilight Sparkle, Queen Novo, and Princess Skystar were hosting them. Doctor Whooves did not participate because the holiday bored him, while he saw Roseluck and Derpy having the time of their lives, he still did not know why the ponies were celebrating the holiday. Doctor Whooves waited for his next patient and he decided to schedule it today, he looked and saw his next patient coming, it was an earth pony colt, he had a green coat, short dark blue mane and tail, and light blue eyes, he was wearing a black one-piece outfit that covered his entire body except for his head, tail, and hooves, and had light blue guards on his forehooves, "I've been waiting for you, I heard that you discovered something astounding a week ago." Doctor Whooves said, "I wouldn't call it that, more like surprising." the colt replied, "Well, let's get on with it, it has piqued my interest, and we have plenty of time today." Doctor Whooves said, the colt smiled and they began walking to Doctor Whooves' home. Doctor Whooves and the colt walk together and stopped when they saw Solute standing in front of them, wearing her black dress and high heel shoes on her hind hooves, and her small earrings, "You have a session today, Doctor?" Solute asked, "Yes, why are you here?" Doctor Whooves asked, "I'm bored, the activities aren't fun." Solute replied, "I see, you can come, you may like today's session as well." Doctor Whooves said, "Where's the patient?" Solute asked, "I'm here." the colt said, Solute was surprised and limped to him, "Aw, you're so cute." Solute said happily while she rubbed his mane with her front left hoof, the colt smiled, "I can say the same about you." the colt replied, "Thank you." Solute said, "This is Solute, she's one of my former patients, her parents are scientists." Doctor Whooves said, Solute smiled, "Where's Data and Inertia, Solute?" Doctor Whooves asked, "They're over there, partying." Solute replied, and Doctor Whooves saw the two partying with Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich, "Well, come along now, we don't have all day." Doctor Whooves said, and they walk together, Solute limped due to her injured leg, the colt stayed behind to help her, Solute smiled while Doctor Whooves waited for them. The two catch up and they continue to Doctor Whooves' house, only to be met by Aurora, "I'm bored, Doctor, I'd like to spend time with you." Aurora said, "Where are your brothers?" Doctor Whooves asked, Aurora points with her front left leg and they see Borealis and Australis were just walking around, "Another patient?" the colt asked, "Yes, this is Aurora, one of my more recent patients." Doctor Whooves replied, she sees Solute's injured leg and wing and walked to her, "Oh, you're hurt, are you okay?" Aurora asked, "I've gotten used to it, my leg and wing are going to take a while to heal." Solute replied, "What happened?" Aurora asked, "It's a long story." Solute replied, "Come along now, my house is close by." Doctor Whooves said, and the three follow him. The four were very close to Doctor Whooves' house and they stopped once again, Equality was standing in front of him, "Hey, Doctor, I've got nothing to do, I don't have any patients today." Equality said, "You're not going to celebrate?" Doctor Whooves asked, "Stallionville was enough." Equality replied, "Stallionville?" Solute asked in confusion, "He told me about it, Stallionville was his home, it's a town with no female ponies." Aurora replied, "No female ponies?" Solute asked with shock, "Yeah, it was created by unicorn magic, complicated stuff." Equality replied, "What was it like?" the colt asked, "Militaristic." Equality replied, Solute and Aurora were shocked, "Come along now, my house is right there." Doctor Whooves said, and they all walk in. Doctor Whooves sat across from the colt, who sat as well, Equality stood to Doctor Whooves' left, Aurora stood to Equality's left, and Solute stood to Doctor Whooves' right, "Why do they have to stand for?" the colt asked, "I usually don't get visitors or assistants, but when I do, it's usually either Roseluck or Derpy." Doctor Whooves replied, "Oh." the colt said, "Well, let's get started, state your name and occupation." Doctor Whooves said, "Shinobi, ninja in training." the colt replied, the others chuckled, "Have you gone on any missions lately?" Doctor Whooves asked jokingly, "No, I've been training." Shinobi replied, "Where did you get the idea of being a ninja from?" Solute asked, "Uh, well, somepony who was talking about it, I overheard it." Shinobi said, the others chuckled, "Maybe Marine can play with you." Equality said, "That's a good idea, I think Australis will like you, too." Aurora replied, the others smiled, "Well, go on, let's start, I've been looking forward to hearing about your discovery." Doctor Whooves said, and Shinobi recalls what he encountered a week ago. Shinobi was a wannabe ninja and living close to Appleloosa, his home was just south of it, he lived with his mother's younger sister and her husband, Shinobi's parents were ashamed and embarrassed of his antics, so they sent him away. Shinobi originally lived in Los Pegasus, where he was disliked by the residents due to him wanting to be a ninja, the foals avoided him, the stallions and mares chastised him, and he often got in trouble in school for hiding, his parents were so angry, they sent him away, and the last thing they said to him was they wish he was never born, which greatly hurt his feelings, but his aunt and uncle were a lot more tolerable of his antics, and sometimes played along. One day while he was playing along, he came across a unicorn who was acting as a traveling comedian, he saw Shinobi and went to him, "Want to become a ninja?" the unicorn asked, "Sure do." Shinobi replied, "What gave you the idea?" the unicorn asked, "I heard somepony in town talk about being a ninja, I asked him what it was, and he told me, it sounded cool." Shinobi replied, "What's your name?" the unicorn asked, "Shinobi." Shinobi replied, "I'm Joker." Joker said, "That's a really cool name." Shinobi said, "Hey, watch this." Joker replied, and he took a book out, he wrote in it for Shinobi to have a ninja outfit, and a sword, it appeared on him, "Whoa! That is so cool!" Shinobi said, "Wait, wait, wait, what? A book that can make things appear?" Aurora asked, "I've seen it, it's real." Solute replied, "I shouldn't be surprised, considering what I dealt with before I came here." Equality said, "Well, let's go on, I'd like to hear what Joker did." Doctor Whooves replied, and Shinobi continues. Shinobi looked at his outfit and enjoyed it, "Okay, here comes your first opponents." Joker said, and he made five bipedal people appear by writing in the book, they all wore spandex, and all had on elbow-length gloves and knee-length boots, their helmets were round and had black visors, there was a symbol on their sternums, "Honest Ranger, Apple." the center one said while posing, her outfit was orange, her gloves and boots were yellow, and she had three red apples on her sternum, "Generous Ranger, Rare." the center-right one said while posing, her outfit was white, her gloves and boots were purple, and she had three light blue diamonds on her sternum, "Loyal Ranger, Dash." the center-left one said while posing, her outfit was sky blue, her gloves and boots were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet, and she had a white cloud with a red, blue, and yellow lightning strike coming out of it on her sternum, "Kind Ranger, Shy." the far-right one said while posing, her outfit was yellow, her gloves and boots were pink, and she had three butterflies on her sternum, "Laughing Ranger, Pink." the far-left ranger said while posing, her outfit was pink, her gloves and boots were dark pink, and she two light blue balloons and a yellow balloon on her sternum, the five pose together, "Magic Sentai Friendshipger!" the five said as they posed and five explosions appear behind them, they were orange, white, sky blue, yellow, and pink, Doctor Whooves, Solute, Equality, and Aurora were laughing at what Shinobi was saying, "I'm serious, that really did happen." Shinobi said, "Well, considering this is Joker, I'm not surprised." Doctor Whooves replied, "How's he been, Shinobi?" Solute asked, "I'm not sure, that was the only time I encountered him." Shinobi replied, "Oh." Solute said, "Well, go on, I'm looking forward to hearing about this." Doctor Whooves said, and they continue. The five rangers run towards Shinobi and he was ready to fight with the sword, Dash was the fastest runner of the group. Shinobi uses a sword fighting style he taught himself and it was not very effective. Apple grabbed his sword with a lasso and tried to pull him forward, he resisted, he sees Rare aiming a bow at him with a harpoon and rope on it. Rare fires it and Shinobi ducked to dodge it, she ended up hooking it to Dash, "Hey!" Dash said angrily, she jumped in the air and brought Rare up with her, she screamed in the process, "Let me down, you ruffian!" Rare said angrily, "Get your harpoon off of me!" Dash said angrily, Pink grabbed onto Rare, "Now, this is fun!" Pink said, "Y'all focus!" Apple replied, Shinobi pulled her forward with his sword and she exclaimed in shock, Shinobi turned around and kicked her, she grunted and fell. Dash landed on the ground and checked Apple, so did Rare and Pink. Shinobi ran to them and tried to attack them, but Dash punched him in the face with her right fist and knocked him down, he grunted and got back up. Shinobi runs to Dash again but he dodged her punch that time and went under her, he jumped onto Rare's helmet and she screamed in shock, "Hold still, I got him." Dash said, and she punched her right fist forward, Shinobi jumped off and Rare got hit in the face, "Hey! It's not nice to hit your friends!" Pink said angrily, "Why are you getting mad at me for?!" Dash asked angrily, and the three argued. Shinobi looked around and saw Shy cowering in fear, he went to her and placed his front left hoof on her right arm, she looked, "Oh, thank you, you are so kind." Shy said, "Your friends are arguing." Shinobi replied, Shy looks and turned away, she was still scared, "Well, what do you think?" Joker asked, "Too easy, give me something harder." Shinobi replied, "Alright then." Joker said, and he wrote in the book, a purple explosion appeared and it scared the rangers, Apple exclaimed in shock and looked. A figure walks forward and they see it was another ranger, "Magic Ranger, Twilight." the ranger said as she posed, her outfit was purple, her gloves and boots were dark blue with a dark purple and light reddish-pink lines on the middle parts, and the symbol on her chest was pink six-pointed star with a white six-pointed star behind it, and five white six-pointed stars around it. Twilight runs to him and shoots beams from her hands, Shinobi deflected them with the sword's blade, much to his surprise, it actually worked, Joker wrote in the book to give Shinobi shuriken as well, he threw them with his mouth, and was careful not to cut himself. Pink, Rare, and Dash keep arguing and Apple was trying to break them up, while Shy cowered, Twilight ran to Shy and tried to encourage her. Shinobi smiled but did not know what attack to use, Joker writes in the book to give Shinobi magic powers. Shinobi floats up and moves his front hooves around, orange flames appear to make a circle and Shinobi fired them, they homed and hit the six rangers, making them scream. The six rangers stand up and look at him, "Ready! Formation Friendship!" Twilight said, and they got ready to touched each other's shoulders and began to run away. Joker wrote in the book to take them out of existence and he walked over to Shinobi, "Not bad, maybe you'll be a real ninja one day, after all." Joker said, and he wrote to take away Shinobi's powers, but left him with the sword and shuriken, and Joker left. Doctor Whooves was chuckling a bit while Solute, Equality, and Aurora smiled a little, "I am a bit curious, where did he get the idea about those six?" Shinobi asked, "A show he saw when he was younger, I bet." Doctor Whooves replied, "What did your original outfit look like, Shinobi?" Equality asked, "I'm wearing it right now." Shinobi replied, "I see, before I came here, I was covered from head to hoof in black armor, my helmet had a skull on it." Equality said, "That is seriously freakin' cool." Shinobi replied, "Oh, boys will be boys." Solute said while smiling and had her eyes closed, "Do you wear dresses too, Aurora?" Shinobi asked, "Sometimes, but not often, I usually don't wear clothes." Aurora replied, "Focus now, we're getting off track." Doctor Whooves said, and Shinobi continues. Shinobi was bored and his guardians were not home, they were at work in Appleloosa, so he decided to travel south and find something to do. Shinobi walks on the dirt road and tries to look for something to do, he sees posters up for a new holiday called Pony Day, it was a day of celebration for unicorns, Pegasi, earth ponies, crystal ponies, umbrums, and hippogriffs. Shinobi did not want to go because he saw a lot of parties in Los Pegasus, and it tired him out, and he wanted a time of quietness and solitude. Shinobi keeps walking south and he saw something walking up ahead, it was a bipedal creature, "Uh, excuse me." Shinobi said as he held his front right hoof out, he walks to the creature and sees it had brown fur, black hooves, it had a black tail and a black mane on the back of its head. The creature turns around and looks at him, it had brown eyes with black pupils, it had ears on the top of its head, its forehead was long and flat, and its snout and mouth areas were black. Shinobi looked at it in fear, it looked just like a regular horse from the human world, but was bipedal, "Begone, child. Quadrupedals are not welcome here." the creature said, it was a male creature, Shinobi was too confused to move, the creature looked at him, "Shocked? Don't you know what I am?" the creature asked, "No, I don't." Shinobi replied, "They don't teach you about my kind in school?" the creature asked, "Never." Shinobi replied, "I see, so you're just a naïve quadrupedal, come with me, I'll show you my tribe." the creature said, and they walk together. Shinobi walked with the bipedal creature, "I'm Shinobi, and you?" Shinobi asked, "Mustang." the creature replied, and they arrived at their destination. Shinobi looked on and saw a tribe of the same bipedal creatures, they all got defensive, which scared Shinobi, "Relax, he's just a naïve child, he means us no harm." Mustang said, "You know the rules, Mustang, no quadrupedals allowed here, especially after what Star Swirl did to our kind." an elderly male creature replied, "I just wish to teach him, apparently, the quadrupedals don't teach them about us, or what their ancestors did to us." Mustang said, the members of the tribe gasp, "What are you guys talking about?" Shinobi asked, "You really don't know, do you?" a female bipedal creature said, "No, nothing." Shinobi replied, the tribe murmurs, "Where do you live right now?" Mustang asked, "In a wooden house, away from civilization." Shinobi replied, "I guess it's fine, it shouldn't hurt much to teach him." the elderly bipedal creature said, "Wait, I live with my aunt and uncle." Shinobi replied, "I guess that's fine, let's tell you the truth." the elderly bipedal creature said, and Shinobi sat with Mustang, "As you know, it is believed there are six types of ponies: unicorns, Pegasi, earth ponies, crystal ponies, umbrums, and seaponies, we are called bipedal ponies, we are the seventh, forgotten race, of your kind." Mustang said, Solute, Equality, and Aurora had shocked and surprised faces, "So that's what you encountered, I've seen bipedal ponies before, myself." Doctor Whooves said, "You know about them, Doctor?" Shinobi asked, "Yes, but first, I'd like to hear what you discovered, I'll share my information if there's anything you didn't learn." Doctor Whooves replied, "Wait a minute, how do you know about them, Doctor?" Aurora asked, "I'm a lot older than I look." Doctor Whooves replied, shocking the other three, "Well, if it's alright with you, I'll continue my story." Shinobi said, and he continues his tale. Shinobi sits with the bipedal ponies as the elder talks about their kind, "Thousands of years ago, Equestria was bigger than now, it included Mount Aris as well, back then, all seven pony types lived separately, and did not get along with each other, we all had flags, and different cultures. Shortly after the Fire of Friendship was casted by Clover the Clever, the unicorns, Pegasi, and earth ponies united, so did the crystal ponies, umbrums, and hippogriffs. Clover the Clever tried to have us united as well, but Star Swirl and the other kinds refused, we were not called true ponies, so we lived here peacefully and alone, but we were sad that we were not taken in." the tribe's elder said, "Wait, are there unicorn and Pegasus versions of you guys?" Shinobi asked, "No, just our type, always only one type of us." Mustang replied, Shinobi nodded, "Continuing on, several years after the tribes united, the Storm King attacked Mount Aris and the hippogriffs were forced to flee to an unknown place. The crystal ponies and umbrums disappeared shortly afterwards, and the crystal ponies became ruled by King Sombra, with his tyranny enslaving them. The three remaining ponies migrated here and demanded our home, we refused, so Star Swirl used his magic to attack us, taking some of our lives in the process, and thus, a war between the bipedals and quadrupedals broke out. Star Swirl led the quadrupedals and he was ruthless, he cast spells on us to take our lives, destroy our homes, and took away some of our magic." the elder said, "Magic?" Shinobi asked, "We're masters of wind magic." Mustang replied, "So you fly like Pegasi?" Shinobi asked, "We run on the wind." a female bipedal pony replied, "Oh, so did Star Swirl take away all of your magic?" Shinobi asked, "Not all of it, we can still use our magic, Star Swirl casted a spell on some of us to take away that pony's magic, they passed away several years ago, so all of us have magic again." the elder replied, "So what happened during the war?" Shinobi asked, "Star Swirl had no mercy and took the lives of our people, children included, he forced us out of our home and the quadrupedal ponies settled in our home, they destroyed our antiques and the things that represented our culture, our flag was burned, and we were forced to go south, the quadrupedal ponies hunted for us after the war under Star Swirl's orders, he ordered them to kill us if they saw us, so we fled to here and we were never found." the elder replied, Shinobi looked on in surprise, "What if one traveled out of the tribe?" Shinobi asked, "We were careful to watch, the children were especially guilty of this, we had to watch them so the quadrupedal ponies would not find them and take their lives." the elder replied, Shinobi had a disappointed face, "Have you all thought about trying to make peace with our kind?" Shinobi asked, "We tried that a long time ago, Star Swirl took their lives with his magic." the elder replied, Shinobi had a shocked face, "Do you have any magic?" Mustang asked, "Passive, I just grow crops, that's the only magic I have." Shinobi replied, "That's it?" a female bipedal pony asked, "Yeah, but other than that, I have enhanced strength and stamina due to me being an earth pony." Shinobi replied, "What's with the sword, and those bladed stars?" the elder asked, "I'm going to grow up to be a ninja." Shinobi said, the bipedal ponies were interested in what a ninja was, "Shinobi's not your real name, is it?" Mustang asked, Shinobi looked down, "No, it isn't." Shinobi replied, "What is your real name?" a male bipedal pony asked, "I don't want to say it." Shinobi replied sadly, "Is something the matter?" the elder asked, "The meaning behind my real name is mean." Shinobi replied, "I see." the elder said, "Where are your parents?" a female bipedal pony asked, "In a city, far away from here, they sent me here because they think I'm an embarrassment to my family, they even said they wish I was never born." Shinobi replied, the bipedal ponies were shocked, "You should head home, don't tell your kind we're here, it is likely they will hunt us down and kill us if they find this place." Mustang said, Shinobi nodded and headed home. Doctor Whooves had a stoic look on his face while Shinobi looked at him, "The elder actually left out a few details." Doctor Whooves said, "Like what?" Shinobi asked, "During the war, our kind would enslave the bipedal ponies as well, a black bipedal pony named Cassius led a revolt and managed to escape, he fled and went south with the other bipedal ponies, he received a dark red scar under his left eye from a Pegasus who tried to attack him with a spear." Doctor Whooves replied, the other four ponies look at him with suspicion, "That was kind of specific, Doctor." Equality said, "Let's just say I know my history." Doctor Whooves replied, "Wait, black coat, scar under left eye, that's exactly how the elder looked." Shinobi said, "I see, maybe he is still alive after all." Doctor Whooves replied, he had a hopeful smile on his face, the other four saw it, "Doctor, did you fight in that war?" Aurora asked, Doctor Whooves was caught off-guard, "Uh, um, well, I have seen a lot of things back in my days before I became a doctor." Doctor Whooves replied, "Are you three military?" Shinobi asked, "Nope, but I came from a militaristic town." Equality replied, "No, but my older brother is, he's a royal guard." Aurora said, "Used to, I was a Wonderbolt when I was younger." Solute said, much to Shinobi's, Equality's, and Aurora's surprise, "You don't look like a former Wonderbolt." Equality said, "Looks can be deceiving." Solute replied, "Did you get injured while doing a show?" Aurora asked, "No, my leg and wing got broken long after I quit." Solute replied, "Well, let's move on, I'd like to hear what happened with the bipedal ponies." Doctor Whooves said, and Shinobi continues his tale. Shinobi was living in a wooden house with his aunt and uncle, they were having dinner, "I met this pony named Joker when I was outside today, he gave me this cool sword and outfit." Shinobi said, "That was really nice of him, you're one step closer to being a ninja." Shinobi's uncle replied, Shinobi and his aunt smiled, "Did you find anything interesting outside today, Shinobi?" Shinobi's aunt asked, "I met this pony who looked like a regular horse, but was on two legs, he said he was a bipedal pony." Shinobi replied, his guardians widened their eyes', "Shinobi, you mustn't go near them, they do not like quadrupedals." Shinobi's uncle said, "But they were nice and friendly to me, they even showed me their history on why they're living there." Shinobi replied, Shinobi's parents were surprised, "That's unusual, they usually attack us on sight if we're near." Shinobi's aunt said, "They didn't attack me, one of them said something about me being a child." Shinobi replied, his guardians were surprised, "That's different, too, they attacked us when we first saw them, and be careful, Shinobi, they can blend with the wind and fly." Shinobi's uncle said, Shinobi nodded and they finish dinner together, and wash the dishes together. Shinobi heads outside again and went back to where the bipedal ponies were at, they see him come and look at him, "What brings you back here?" Mustang asked, "I want to learn more about you guys." Shinobi replied, "There is nothing more to learn, we taught you everything." the elder said, "What about culture?" Shinobi asked, "There is no need for you to know that, you've got your own culture to learn." Mustang replied, "But if we learn each other's cultures, maybe we can form an understanding." Shinobi said, "What do the rest of you say?" the elder asked, they all disagreed, "They refuse, because the last time we did that, your kind refused, and slaughtered us, go home, kid, it's almost dark." the elder said, and Shinobi headed home. Shinobi could not sleep at night and had trouble, he headed back out and practiced fighting with his sword, he held it in his mouth, he was careful not to hit anything. Shinobi continues swinging the sword around and sweated from practicing after a few minutes. Using the sword was hard, but Shinobi still wanted to be a ninja, he tries throwing his shuriken in the trees in front of him, all of them missed, so he walked over to pick them up and try again, he got one in the tree, but the other five shuriken missed, he sighed and looked at the sky, "Joker, I would like some more ninja weapons." Shinobi said, not expecting anything to happen, but to his surprise, he did get more ninja weapons, he got four kunai, a kusarigama, a blowgun, two sai, two nunchaku, and two more swords. Shinobi realizes he can wield the swords on his front hooves, so he held two of them on his hooves, and had the third one in his mouth, they were all straight ninjatos, and were short. Shinobi tried using the kusarigama and was careful not to hit himself with the sickle, he liked it but decided to try something else. Shinobi uses the sai but did not know how to properly wield it, so he set them aside. Shinobi used the kunai next and he tried throwing them, they were more accurate than the shuriken, he picked them up and put them away. Shinobi aimed the blowgun with his mouth but had nothing to shoot, so he put it on his back. Shinobi tried the two nunchaku and was terrible, he kept hitting himself in the face, he hit himself in the groin and fell, he got up and put them away, he then went into the house to get some rest. Shinobi wakes up early and has breakfast, he heads out and saw two bipedal pony foals playing, Mustang and a female bipedal pony were there. Shinobi just stopped and looked at them, so did the four bipedal ponies, "So, this is where you live." Mustang said, Shinobi did not respond, too surprised at the moment. Shinobi's guardians walk out and see the bipedal ponies, "Come on, Shinobi, in the house." Shinobi's uncle said, "But they're friendly." Shinobi replied, "It's not that simple, child." the female bipedal pony said, "What?" Shinobi asked, "We only let you go because you're a kid, and you didn't know, these two, on the other hoof, do." Mustang replied, "What? Aunt, uncle, is that true?" Shinobi asked, "Yes, this area was originally their home, our ancestors destroyed it, we are ashamed of what our kind did to them." Shinobi's aunt replied, "This place looks fine to me." Shinobi said, "It isn't, there used to be beautiful jars and vases here, along with houses made from the woods of the trees that used to be here, and statues made from the rocks that used to be around here. Star Swirl the Bearded and our ancestors destroyed their home when they refused to move when the quadrupedals were migrating to settle a new home in this area, and war happened, the quadrupedals won, but they took the lives of the bipedals, burned their homes down, destroyed their statues, and smashed the jars and vases they used to decorate their homes with. That is why we don't have any records on their existence or what has happened, we are too ashamed to look back on it, and we deeply regret what our ancestors did, so we destroyed every book and document about them." Shinobi's uncle replied, the bipedal ponies were surprised, "You're not like your ancestors." Mustang said, "What do you mean?" Shinobi's uncle asked, "When the quadrupedal ponies took our lives and destroyed our culture, they didn't regret it, they smiled, they laughed, they enjoyed the pain they caused us." Mustang replied, "Wait, which side of my family fought in the war, my mother's, my father's, or my uncle's?" Shinobi asked, "All three of them." Shinobi's aunt replied, Shinobi was shocked, "Of course, we did learn over the war, not all quadrupedals are bad, two of them actually tried to save us." Mustang said, "Celestia and Luna?" Shinobi asked, "No, they were both males, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had no part in the war, it was also before they became princesses." Mustang replied, "How do you know so much about the war, Mustang?" Shinobi asked, "I fought in it, all of the adults in our tribe did." Mustang replied, "But that war would have been over a thousand years ago!" Shinobi said with surprise, "Bipedal ponies have a really long lifespan." Mustang replied, a whistle was heard to the south and they look, "Let's go, kids, the elder has something to discuss." the female bipedal pony said, and they turn into black gusts and go south, much to Shinobi's surprise, "Come now, Shinobi, inside." Shinobi's aunt said, and the three enter. Shinobi sat and looked at his ninja weapons, he did not practice with them in the house because he was worried he might hit and break something, so he just sat on his bed, he did not go to school because his guardians were worried the students will bully him or dislike him like how the students in Los Pegasus did. Shinobi heard gusts in the sky and was curious, he looked through the window and saw the bipedal ponies traveling through the wind. The bipedal ponies land and Shinobi hears screaming in Appleloosa, "Guys, wait!" Shinobi said as he ran outside, he ran to them, "What are you guys doing?!" Shinobi asked, "We have waited long enough for the quadrupedal ponies to let their guards down, it is time we take our home back!" Mustang replied, and the bipedal ponies invade Appleloosa, "Wait! Please! You can't do this!" Shinobi said, "We have our reasons, first, you guys don't accept us as ponies or friends, next, you all invade our home and destroy it, and now, you're saying we can't have our home back." Mustang replied, Shinobi ran into his house and came out with two swords, one on each front hoof, and a third one in his mouth, "Then I have no choice but to fight you guys, to protect my kind." Shinobi said, "Stand down, Shinobi." Shinobi's uncle said, "What?" Shinobi asked, his mouth was wide open with surprise, causing him to drop the sword in his mouth, "This was originally their home, and we took it from them, this is our punishment." Shinobi's uncle said, "But there has to be another way." Shinobi replied, "There isn't, the quadrupedal ponies still don't see them as ponies, they see them as animals, and even now, they won't know about them, all documents about the war we had between them have been destroyed, it's erased from history." Shinobi's uncle said, "See, there you have it, you all may not know, but southern Equestria was originally our home, and you all have refused to negotiate or come to an understanding back then, we tried to offer them a peace treaty and have us live together in peace, but you quadrupedals refused, and started attacking us and taking our lives." Mustang said, Shinobi picked up his third sword with his mouth, "I still have no choice but to fight you guys, to defend my kind." Shinobi said muffled, "You challenge me? Very well, may strength be with you." Mustang replied, and Shinobi ran forward. Shinobi ran forward and tried to slash Mustang, but he was dodging each slash from the sword, and leaving afterimages of himself behind, Shinobi was shocked at how fast Mustang was. Mustang appeared behind Shinobi and hit the back of his head with his right arm, he grunted and fell, dropping his swords, he grabbed the sword in front of him with his mouth and then stood up while picking up his other two swords. Shinobi moves around carefully and Mustang watched him closely, Shinobi lunges forward and tries to attack Mustang, but he did not go far enough and fell onto the ground, "You don't have enough training, you should fight when you have improved." Mustang said, Shinobi growled and tried to attack Mustang, only for Mustang to hit Shinobi with his right arm, Shinobi screamed as he flew in the air, he hit a cliff close to the house and grunted, the cliff cracked. Shinobi growled as he stood up, "You're tough, I'll give you that, that usually knocks a foal out in one hit." Mustang said, Shinobi screams and runs towards Mustang, dropping his third sword in the process, Shinobi tries to slash Mustang with his swords, but Mustang dodged them all easily with his wind magic, which gave him enhanced speed. Mustang restrains Shinobi's front legs with his arms and he drops his swords, "Stand down, Shinobi, you can't win, you don't have any knowledge or experience in battle, you need to learn to get stronger." Mustang said, Shinobi tried to break free while screaming in rage, "Calm down, my nephew." Shinobi's uncle said he touched Shinobi's shoulders, he calmed down and looked at his uncle, "You tried your best, but it wasn't enough, keep practicing, and you'll be a true ninja one day." Shinobi's uncle said, Shinobi was surprised at his uncle's words, his parents would have never said that to him, Mustang lets him go, "I'm sorry, Shinobi, but I have to fight your kind, we'll try to avoid unnecessary casualties." Mustang said, and he jumped up, turned into a black gust of wind, and went to Appleloosa, Shinobi watched in terror. He hears screaming and sees the buildings get destroyed, Shinobi runs to the town and sees the bipedal ponies were using their wind magic to teleport and move around quickly, they appeared, attacked somepony, and disappeared, they were also running really quickly, only leaving blurs behind, the town was destroyed soon. Shinobi's aunt walks out while Shinobi watches in terror, "Appleloosa was once filled with grassland and trees, but the quadrupedals used their magic to change it into the desert it is now, it was so that the bipedals do not try to come back, since they don't have the magic abilities to change the landscape back to normal, but we were wrong, they still want their home back, even though it is nothing like how it used to be. Remember, Shinobi, not all conflicts is between good and evil, some people fight because they believe it's right, just like you, the quadrupedals are fighting to defend their own kind, and the bipedals are fighting to take their home back. The quadrupedals brought onto themselves, though, this isn't a misunderstanding, our ancestors refused to come to an understanding, and began attacking and killing them immediately, but our ancestors are dead, and only us remain, to bear the sins of what they have committed." Shinobi's aunt explained, the two and Shinobi's uncle watch. The bipedal ponies continue attacking Appleloosa and were winning, but yellow, blue, and light blue blasts come out and hit the town, the bipedal ponies use their wind powers to retreat. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence fly to the town and land, "Is everypony alright?" Princess Celestia asked, the natives of Appleloosa look at them and see their destroyed town, but luckily, no lives were taken, "What were those?" Princess Cadence asked, "I don't know, I only saw blurs and black gusts of wind, maybe it's a new type of creature." Princess Luna replied, "We'll worry about that later, we need to help them rebuild their homes." Princess Celestia said, and they do, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack were also called to help. They rebuild the home and Shinobi tried to go check on the tribe, his guardians restrained him, "No, Shinobi, they must want some time alone, it'll be best to just go in the house." Shinobi's aunt said, and they do, Shinobi spent the whole day thinking about Mustang and his kind until he fell asleep. A week passes and his guardians were getting ready to go to Ponyville, "Come on now, Shinobi, it's Pony Day." Shinobi's uncle said, and Shinobi walked forward while looking down, sad that the bipedal ponies could not attend, "And Shinobi, I'm sorry to say this, but your parents will be there, they said they don't want to see you." Shinobi's aunt said, Shinobi was even sadder, "I thought them saying they wish I was never born was just a moment of anger." Shinobi said, "I thought that, too, I'm sorry, Shinobi, but it wasn't, they really meant it." Shinobi's aunt replied, Shinobi looked down very sadly, "Come on, let's go." Shinobi's uncle said, and they walk to Ponyville, and by coincidence, Shinobi said he wanted to see a therapist four days ago, and they found Doctor Whooves' address, he got scheduled today, which was good for Shinobi because he always found big parties boring, so he decided to go with that day and went to go look for Doctor Whooves. Doctor Whooves sat across from Shinobi with Solute, Equality, and Aurora standing, "Well, it's good you sought me out on your own, most children don't understand things like this." Doctor Whooves said, "Did you and your parents get along before that argument, Shinobi?" Equality asked, "No, never." Shinobi replied, "You know, Shinobi, I never knew my mother, she died while giving birth to me." Equality said, "Do you have a dad?" Shinobi asked, "Yeah, he's partying right now, you should come see us sometime, he would like to have a child like you." Equality replied, Shinobi smiled, "Do you still live with your aunt and uncle?" Solute asked, "Yeah, my parents said they don't want me back ever again." Shinobi replied, Solute and Aurora were shocked, "I can spend time with you during the festival if you want to." Aurora said, "I'll think about it." Shinobi replied, Aurora smiled, "Well, if that is the end of your tale, price is ten bits." Doctor Whooves said, "Oh, shoot, I didn't bring any money." Shinobi replied, the other four chuckle, "It's alright, I'll pay for you." Equality said, "Oh, thank you." Shinobi replied, and he does, and Shinobi got up and hugged Solute, and then Doctor Whooves, then Equality, and Aurora, all four of them hugged him back, everypony except Doctor Whooves then goes out. Shinobi walks around and sees everypony and everygriff having the time of their lives, he also sees several foals doing the same shenanigans and antics he did back at Los Pegasus and their parents were enjoying it rather than getting angry about it. Shinobi was sad and he just sat on the grass with his head buried into his front legs. Shinobi hears walking behind him, "What's wrong, sugar cube?" Shinobi heard a female voice ask, he looks over his left shoulder and saw Applejack, smiling at him, Shinobi just buried his head back into his front legs, Applejack walked over to Shinobi's left and sat, "Ain't ya havin' a good time?" Applejack asked, "That's not what it is." Shinobi replied, "Well, what is it?" Applejack asked, "It's my parents, they said they don't want to see me here." Shinobi replied, "What? Don't want to see ya?" Applejack asked, "Yeah, they said I'm an embarrassment." Shinobi replied, "What are yer parents like?" Applejack asked, "High class, fancy, always talking about public image and appearance." Shinobi replied, "Oh, you have one of them types of parents." Applejack said, Shinobi nodded, "Several weeks ago, they sent me away to live with my aunt and uncle, far away from any civilization or school, they said to me they wish I was never born, I thought it was only a fit of rage, but I found out this morning they actually meant it." Shinobi replied, Applejack was a little shocked and touched Shinobi's left shoulder with her front right hoof, "Honey, look at me." Applejack said, and Shinobi does, "There's nothin' wrong with ya, you're fine the way you are, you just have bad parents, anypony who says that to their child shouldn't have children in the first place, maybe you're lucky to be livin' with your aunt and uncle 'stead of them." Applejack said, Shinobi smiled, "Yeah, you're probably right, they do enjoy the things I do." Shinobi said, "See, sugar cube, things'll be fine, come on now, let's go see Pinkie Pie, she'll cheer you up." Applejack replied, and the two walk together. Doctor Whooves stood in his house and cleaned up, "You can come out now." Doctor Whooves said, and the elder of the bipedal pony tribe appeared behind him, "It's great you're still alive, Whooves, your help during the war was greatly appreciated." the elder said, "You're welcome, you haven't changed a bit, Cassius." Doctor Whooves replied, Cassius chuckled, "How did you live for so long?" Cassius asked, "I became a time traveler after the war, this isn't my regular time." Doctor Whooves replied, "Have you stayed in touch with the other pony who has helped us during the war?" Cassius asked, "Yes, Demonicus is just fine, he, Spirit, and I, are trying to find a way to restore your home." Doctor Whooves replied, Cassius smiled, "Thank you, you and Demonicus are forever in our debts for trying to spare us, and free us from slavery." Cassius said, "It's appreciated, but we also need your help, there's a creature named Claudius roaming around in this world, he has to be stopped before he destroys us all." Doctor Whooves replied, "Of course, you have helped us, it's time that we help you." Cassius said, "Alright, this way then." Doctor Whooves replied, and he activates one of his devices to open a portal, it led to Demonicus' cave, the two go in and the portal closes.