//------------------------------// // An Angry Dragon, And A Yellow Pegasus // Story: Visual Prowess // by UgalaaWriter //------------------------------// Sasuke stood, unimpressed by Princess Celestia’s proposition. She had asked him to go with the stupid purple pony, and all the rest of them, to take care of some problem. Looking outside the window, he could already see the thick black smoke cloud spreading across the sky. It was so dark that it blocked out everything. Sasuke supposed that this did need to be taken care of, but the part where he was lost was where he needed to bring help. “Why do I need help? I can do this on my own, just fine.” As much as interacting with the ponies annoyed and angered him, at the very least, the dragon would be something to do. He could probably very easily goad it into a fight and then kill it, if for nothing but entertainment. Not if they were there, though. He’d have to be watching out for them the entire time, with how weak and helpless the dumb horses were. He watched as Celestia paced back and forth inside of Sugarcube corner before responding. “But it’s not you going. It’s you helping Twilight, not Twilight helping you.” “And again, I don’t understand. I could handle this on my own. Why even bother risking the life of your student against something as dangerous as a woken dragon?” “Her life isn’t in danger. She can handle it just fine on her own.” “Even though I doubt that, there’s still the question of why I’m even being sent, then.” “To prove that you can handle helping without using violence.” That pissed Sasuke off, for several reasons. One, they thought that everything could be solved without violence. The sad part was that they were completely wrong- violence was one of the best choices, and it was often that it was one. Two, that they were sending him to wake up a dragon and tell it to move, without wanting him to fight it. Three that they were ordering him around. He followed no flag or king, and certainly didn’t take orders from a horse. “Suppose I do this. What will it get me?” “My cooperation in getting you home. I have heard from my student about your world, and as… repulsive as it is, I’d rather have you there than here if you’re going to act like you’ve been acting. I’m just glad you haven’t hurt anyone yet, even if you are cruel.” “I’ve already said I was… sorry,” he bit out, “for that, but both times were justified.” “How so? I’ve only just heard of them being ‘justified.’ Tell me, how is terrorizing two mares for no reason justified?” “There are reasons for that. The first time, she woke me up by touching me. Where I come from, waking up a ninja like that isn’t something someone that wants to keep their hand does. A shinobi is most vulnerable while he’s asleep. It’s not Pinkie’s fault for not knowing that, but it’s not my fault for attacking her, either.” “The other, she insulted my dead family. That’s enough said.” “How did she actually insult them?” Sasuke gritted his teeth and hid his anger. It wasn’t even any of her business. He didn’t enjoy having to resort to even pretending to like these naïve ponies and their stupid attitudes about everything, but he didn’t like explaining to this horse why he was right in what he did. “She called them shameful, called them cowards. She’s lucky I didn’t do worse.” Celestia furrowed her brow, but said nothing else. This… shinobi, as he called himself, seemed disturbed, in more ways than one. He was so violent, and cold… but what had made him that way? The death of his family, maybe? It was possible. But he acted as this was all normal behavior… Celestia idly wondered how hateful the place he came from must be. “So, you’ll do it, then?” “It’s not like I have that much of a choice. It’s either this or don’t go home.” “You act as if it’s something so terrible.” Sasuke made some sort of sound similar to a growl, but didn’t say or do anything else. Celestia noticed him tensing up, though. She decided that it would probably just be better if they got on with it. She walked outside Sugarcube Corner, and Sasuke figured she meant for him to follow her. The townspeople watched, enraptured by the appearance of their Princess as she walked to The Golden Oaks Library. She knocked twice on the door, and waited, and soon a lavender unicorn answered the door. Twilight Sparkle gasped and began apologizing. “Oh, I’m so sorry Princess Celestia! If I’d have known you were coming I would’ve cleaned up more and told everyone to get ready, and would’ve prepared food and-“ “Calm down, Twilight. As much as I like to visit and speak with my most faithful student, I’m here to give you a task. Do you see the smoke in the sky?” Twilight walked a few steps outside of the library and noticed the long, thick trail that led all the way to the mountain. Her eyes widened when she saw it. “Oh, I was reading! I didn’t see that. What is that from? Is there a fire?” Celestia giggled. It was just like her student to be so in a book that she could somehow ignore or not notice something as large and overbearing as that. “It’s from a dragon. Twilight, I need you and your friends to convince the dragon to leave. If he does not, then Equestria could be blanketed in smoke for the next hundred years. This is a mission of the utmost importance. You remember Sasuke, don’t you?” “Uh, yes, Princess. Why are you mentioning him? Did you talk to him?” “Yes, and he said it was all a misunderstanding. He’ll be going along with you.” “With us? I think we can do it on our own. There’s no need to involve him.” Sasuke smirked as Twilight, even without knowing, was siding with him, in a way. Either they go, or he goes, but why send both? “It’s mostly to see if I can trust him. I know you can do it on your own.” “Oh, okay, Princess Celestia!” Twilight chirped. Sasuke scowled, both at Twilight and Celestia, even as their backs were turned to him and they continued talking. It seemed that he wasn’t getting out of this. There was a booming sound, as if from far away. Instantly, Sasuke turned. There was nothing. All he saw was the moving ponies that walked around throughout the town square. Most regarded him with a look of disgust or fear- as he had just screamed in the middle of the square not long ago, it wasn’t surprising. Ponies had just began to walk through it again. Where had the booming sound come from? There was nothing there. “So, Twilight, I want you to gather the rest of the Elements of Harmony, and-“ “Woah, what’s with all the smoke?” Rainbow Dash asked, as the chromatic Pegasus mare came speeding by the library. “Oh, Princess Celestia! I, uh, didn’t see you there! Sorry!” Rainbow Dash said as she barely stopped herself from crashing into the large tree-building. “I was just talking to Twilight about that. Rainbow Dash, what that is, is smoke, from a dragon. It’s actually very dangerous, even if it doesn’t seem like it.” Rainbow Dash looked out across the sky and saw the putrid, black substance staining the baby blue atmosphere. It didn’t even seem to really be doing anything. “Really? There’s not even that much of it. How’s it so dangerous?” “It will block out the sky if it’s left unchecked. Smoke from a dragon is thicker and harder to get rid of than normal smoke; it will clog up the sky, block out most of the light- it will do this for a hundred years. Rainbow Dash, I need you to gather the other Elements of Harmony and tell them to come to the library. We’re going to deal with the problem.” Rainbow Dash nodded once, and then took off at an incredibly fast speed to inform everyone else. Pinkie Pie had already followed them and was standing by Sasuke, still grinning with glee as she glanced at him probably five times a minute. It had been a problem plaguing her for days- not being friends with somepony- but now she was! And-and- what if he had friends from the world he was from. A whole new world of friends? Pinkie was probably trying to not explode like a rocket, but meanwhile, Sasuke was sighing and getting ready for a bad time. He was beginning to regret doing any of this. Nothing was worth the complete destruction of his pride. I’M STILL HERE, SASUKE! YOU’RE KILLING YOUR PRIDE, YOU KNOW THAT? YOU’RE KILLING ME. YOU ARE ABOVE THESE CREATURES- YOU ARE UCHIHA. NOW, TAKE YOUR SWORD, AND RUN IT THROUGH THE WHITE ONE FIRST. SHE’S THE MOST DANGEROUS. THEN, ONCE YOU DO THAT, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY TAKE CARE OF THE PINK- Sasuke grunted and tried to block out the voices in his head. People had called him crazy before, but what if he was actually going crazy now? He tried to shake it off and focus on what was going to happen soon, what he’d be doing, but the feeling lingered. They’d probably take the chance while they were climbing the mountain to ask him all kinds of questions that they had no business asking. He already knew that they’d be asking annoying questions, probably multiple times. Sasuke’s mood was worsening by the second, and the way Celestia’s guards stood by her, and eyed him suspiciously, didn’t help either. Eventually, everypony arrived- though Rainbow Dash had to almost drag Fluttershy there by her pink mane. She stood there nervously, poking a hoof at the ground, scraping up some dirt, and saying mostly nothing. She saw Sasuke and how Pinkie was acting around him, probably already planning his party, and she brightened, even if only momentarily. He did change. I knew he would. Once they were all assembled, Celestia began to speak. “I assume that Rainbow Dash has told you all why you’re needed here?” “Ah’ll say! Who does that dragon think he is? He can’t block out Equestria’s sky!” “No, he cannot, Applejack. That’s why I’m entrusting all of you with the important mission of making him leave his mountain and returning Equestria to the state that it’s meant to be in. Sasuke will be coming with you on this venture.” It was then that Sasuke decided to speak up. He’d been mostly silent the entire time they’d been gathering, and through the conversation, but now he felt it necessary to know why he was here. “I’m the muscle, apparently.” “Princess, what does he mean by muscle?” Twilight asked. “Nothing, Twilight. He’s just there to see if I can trust him.” “No, she’s lying.” Sasuke said plainly. “I’m the muscle.” “How can you say the Princess is lying? Apologize right now!” Twilight said suddenly, growing very defensive of her mentor and teacher. “It’s true, though.” Sasuke said, voice full of impertinence. “She’s sending six ponies against a dragon. A full grown one, from what I understand. What’s to stop it from eating all of you? I really would like to know, considering I doubt any of you can really fight.” There was a brief silence as none of the ponies at the meeting said anything. Celestia didn’t say anything either, but it was clear that he was pushing her. She breathed out slowly, gaining control over herself before she said something distasteful. “They are more than enough, trust me.” “Whatever.” Sasuke said, leaning on the side of the library. “I think it would be best to get started now. The longer we wait, the more smoke that dragon is going to breathe out while it’s napping.” Twilight said, and the rest firmly agreed. As they slowly trudged along with Rainbow Dash flying overhead, Sasuke sighed. He wished he could’ve just gone by himself. He’d probably already be there by now, they’d been walking for several minutes. He could go so much faster than these slow, dumb horses. Having nothing else to do, his mind idly wandered back to the booming sound they had heard while they were in front of the library. It bothered Sasuke. The sound was familiar, but it didn’t seem that anyone else had realized it. His ears were probably better than theirs, but it seemed pretty loud. It was strange that they hadn’t heard it, as well. The stupid ponies were making small talk as they walked their way to the mountain- with Rainbow Dash having to return to the ground to practically pull along Fluttershy. She was shivering and seemed incredibly scared, and for once, Sasuke was surprised that any of them acted with any degree of intelligence. It was smart that she didn’t actually want to go- smart that she feared dragons. For the rest of them, the fact that they thought they could handle a dragon was insipid arrogance. Sasuke considered how huge the dragon could be. Based on the size of the mountain, and the fact that it was probably sleeping inside a cave that was a part of the mountain, it probably wasn’t any bigger than the Eight Tails, or more powerful, either. And he’d only grown stronger since he’d fought Killer Bee- had mastered Susanoo and gained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, too. When it attacked, he would deal with it. It was inevitable. They’d probably try to deal with it first, though. With words, inevitably. Sasuke curled his lip in disgust and scowled at the same time at the thought of it. Didn’t they understand it was a beast? Even if her little assistant was a weak, idiotic dragon, this one sounded much more like a real dragon- that is, fierce, powerful, unforgiving. It wouldn’t feel any guilt over burning a few annoying ponies to a crisp. His Guilt was babbling, though, and Sasuke resisted the urge to cover his ears. It wouldn’t do any good, anyway- he knew that the speech was within his head, or his mind. It wasn’t an external source. It was annoying though, because Guilt never shut up. Don’t you wish you could take back what you did to those two innocent ponies? All you do is boss others around with your strength- you’re rarely subtle, you’re nothing more than a brute at times, really. You’re so greedy, too, with all of your lust for power- isn’t what you have enough? No? Well, just keep scraping and grabbing for more and more and more- Sasuke tried to tune out the voice, though it wasn’t easy. It never stopped talking, and tuning it out was really only a way of quieting it- even then, he could still hear it, it was just quieter, continuing to babble and talk and talk and carry on and on. It was why he hated his Guilt the most- unlike Pride, Anger, and Hatred, who at least were silent sometimes, Guilt never was. Will it ever be silent inside of my mind again? It had been bothering him more and more lately. Despite at first being able to ignore the voices, it had been plaguing him so much that he’d been forced to acknowledge them, even if small, minute ways. He knew that actually answering them wasn’t good- he knew that hearing them at all wasn’t good. Insanity wasn’t something he thought he’d ever have to face. “Sasuke? Sasuke?” “What?” He snapped, annoyed. “Oh, nothing. You just looked really out of it.” Twilight replied. “I was just thinking.” “About what?” Twilight immediately asked. She was still interested in what kind of world he came from, even if it might’ve been horrible. She had thought about it for a while and decided that it was possible that he had just lied about it, or had a particularly bad opinion of it. It couldn’t have been as bad as he described it. “Personal things.” Sasuske said, marking the end of the discussion. “Oh.” Twilight promptly fell silent. Unlike some of the other ponies walking next to her, she was a little better at knowing when to take a hint. Not that Sasuke had been subtle with the way he’d said ‘personal things.’ Still, she couldn’t help but wonder why he was the way he was. Something about his family dying- he’d mentioned it before- but she wasn’t sure if she should ask him or not. She saw the way he’d gotten before when others had mentioned it negatively. She wasn’t risking her neck, even out of curiosity. Maybe when he was calmer, she’d ask. Until then, unfortunately, I’m just not going to know. Must’ve been something terrible. “You all realize I could do this on my own, right?” Sasuke said. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked, curious. “I mean, I already know what’s going to happen. This situation is too dangerous for any of you. It would be better if I went on my own. Just tell Celestia you went.” “Lie… to the Princess?” Twilight squeaked. A look of terror came over her face before she got control of herself and firmly shook her head. “Never.” “Fine, have it your way.” “Are you actually doing this out of… consideration?” Twilight asked, confounded by what could be an amazing change in the shinobi. “Don’t make me laugh. I couldn’t care less about any of your lives. I’m just annoyed because you’re slowing me down and wasting my time.” “Hey!” Dash whined, while she was tugging along Fluttershy, who was trying not to cower completely as they got closer and closer to the mountain. “How can you not care about our lives? What did we ever do to you?” “What did you ever do for me, is the actual question.” Rainbow Dash huffed, but didn’t say anything else. What a plothole. “What was the thing that made you like this?” Twilight blurted out, and immediately clamped her hooves over her mouth, but the damage was already done. Sasuke turned to her with a cold, evil glare, the Sharingan in his eyes already beginning to spin. He walked right in front of Twilight, and stopped walking, and blocked her as everyone else stopped, watching whatever was about to happen. Fluttershy was cowering, but from Sasuke, now. Pinkie Pie seemed equally afraid- even though he said he was her friend, he was still scary when he was like that. Rarity, though nervous, seemed to have hardened herself, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack got ready to jump in if needed. Sasuke suddenly chuckled- a high, cold giggle that echoed throughout the road that they were walking on. Twilight flinched backwards but otherwise held her ground, and everyone looked at Sasuke strangely as he began to speak. “Did you ever consider that, in other places, life may not be so wonderful?” He asked, and watched as Twilight stumbled for answer. He beat her to the punch, though. “Don’t bother responding. The answer is that you haven’t. I could already tell from the moment I got here- the innocence, the naivety… the stupidity,” he spat, watching as Twilight started to grow angry, “was astounding, to be completely honest. Sometimes, life tosses you out a pair of lopsided dice and you can barely cope with the roll you get. Unlike this place, where everything you have is handed to you, I had to work for what I have, with loaded dice on Fate’s side.” He stopped for a moment, and right as Twilight as about to reply, he made one last point. “And, oh, I almost forgot. Being protected by Princess Sunshine there from anything bad, ever. It must be great. Everypony here,” Sasuke snarled, “Is coddled.” “Equestria is not stupid, or innocent, or naïve! It’s just not… horrible, like you!” Twilight screamed, furious, and Sasuke only looked at her for a moment, and laughed, not caring about what she thought of him. He resumed walking along the path, and everypony glared after him, before following, Twilight fuming the most out of all of them. Her anger thrived inside her mind. Of all the jerks I’ve ever met in my life, he’s the most rude, most arrogant, most condescending jerk I’ve ever met. I can’t believe him! How can he be like this? Twilight continued to fume for a while, even as they got much, much closer to the mountain. The base of the huge spire of rock was nearly upon them, when Sasuke spoke up for the first time in several minutes. Oddly, he seemed to be addressing Fluttershy. “Don’t worry. If it attacks us, I’ll kill it.” “No! Don’t kill it!” Fluttershy managed, even as they began to climb the mountain. “Why? Aren’t you afraid of dragons? If he attacks us, he deserves what he gets.” “B-but, it isn’t his fault-“ “We’ll see when we get there. That will be when we decide. If he gets up and leaves, then he won’t be burned to death.” “Burned to death?” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “You can’t burn a dragon to death. You’re going to need a new battle plan if your idea is to fight a dragon with fire. That won’t work.” “My fire is… special.” Sasuke said, and didn’t comment anymore on it as they climbed the large mountain. Applejack was whispering to Twilight while they climbed. “Twi, what are we gonna do? Princess Celestia asked us to have it leave, not to kill the darn thing! How are we going to explain it to her if he does do it?” Twilight looked troubled, and didn’t seem to have an answer. “We’ll just have to be completely persuasive.” She decided, and Applejack nodded, even though the orange farm pony looked unsure. She looked ahead at Sasuke and watched the ‘shinobi’- or whatever he was called- walk in front of the entire group. Rainbow was behind, still making Fluttershy walk, and Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight and herself were in the middle. Ah’ve known this thing for a shorter time than anypony here with us, and I don’t know if he’s ever acted differently, but this is the meanest thing I’ve ever met! Even Nightmare Moon wasn’t as mean as this thing was… at least, in a different way. What’s his problem, anyway? Applejack could tell he was lying when he’d said that he was Pinkie’s friend- and not just because she was the Element of Honesty, although that was a part of it. It was just clear that he wasn’t that type of pony- shinobi, whatever. In fact, if anything, he seemed more of the opposite- a loner, in a way. Applejack had contemplated telling Pinkie, but with how happy she looked, she had decided not to. If they asked her, then she wouldn’t be able to lie. But until then, she could just not tell the rest of her friends that she’d figured that out. Applejack would be lying- and she didn’t lie- if she’d said that she liked Sasuke, or if she even approved of him. She frankly didn’t like Sasuke- and, if she was a meaner pony, she’d probably say that she hated him. But she didn’t. She was just surprised by the way he acted- not to mention angry at how he’d treated Pinkie. But not just how he’d intimidated her. Applejack was disappointed in Sasuke because he’d told Pinkie he was her friend. No one messed with her friends, and she’d grown especially fond of Pinkie. Despite always thinking her a weird mare, after they’d all banded together to face Nightmare Moon, Pinkie had become one of her best friends, along with everypony else in their group. And Sasuke had lied to her about one of the things she loved the most- friendship. Applejack would get along with Sasuke, but she never thought she would like him. There was an awkward silence for the next few minutes as they slowly plodded up the mountain. The steepness was steadily growing, and it would’ve been harder to travel up it if they didn’t have hooves. They’d been trekking for a while, and the less athletic pones (Twilight and Rarity) seemed to be growing a little tired. The only one who seemed completely unaffected was Sasuke, who stayed silent as they scaled the dangerous mountain. “Are we getting closer?” Sasuke asked. “I think so.” Twilight said quietly, looking at their surroundings. They were reaching the peak of the mountain. “Princess Celestia said the cave that it lived in was near the top of the mountain. And I think we’re getting closer to the source of the smoke, too.” Near the peak of the mountain, after passing through several gaps, and hard places to cross, was a large cave. It wasn’t far off. The smoke seemed to be coming directly out of it- a long, thick vile plume that sprouted from the opening in the mountain. Sasuke thought he could hear a snoring from the cave. He grinned. A sleeping dragon would be even easier to kill. “It looks like we’re here. So, are you going to do this the smart way, or the stupid way?” Sasuke asked, and all it took for him to get his answer was glares coming from Twilight and her friends. He sighed, but walked to the side of the cave, and waved his hand, indicating for them to enter. Twilight only gave him a baleful glare before striding into the open cavern. The mouth of the cave was huge- easily able to fit a dragon within it. The moss outside suggested no one had been around this area in a long time. Twilight didn’t blame them. “Hello? Hello! Is anypony here?” Twilight asked, as she walked deeper into the cave. It wasn’t very deep, but still, for a little while, there didn’t seem to be anything. She rounded a corner and was met with a huge, red dragon, sleeping on top of and amidst a gargantuan pile of gold and valuables. Gems, crowns, gold coins, gold weapons… there seemed to be some of everything here. The dragon itself was fairly massive as well- clearly a fully grown one, and even one that was older than that. It had probably been collecting its horde for a while. “Can you… wake up?” Twilight tried, but wasn’t surprised when she was met with silence. The beast was in a deep sleep- and was constantly breathing out the large black smoke that was clouding the skies of Equestria. She’d have to be louder or more annoying, or wake him up in some other way. Breathing in, she prepared to yell. “WAKE UP!” She screamed, and the dragon did wake up that time. It cracked an irritated eye open and gazed at the weak, idiotic being that had dared to disturb its slumber. Hah. A pony. He snorted at her and blew her back against the cave wall with a blast of smoky breath. Settling in against his gold pile, he rolled around it in like a dog rolls in the grass. He went back to sleep within moments, and left Twilight sitting there, frustrated, on the floor of the cave, covered in soot. She only glanced moodily over at the dragon and wondered if it was worth a second try. She doubted that he would react so mildly a second time. Still… she had to try. Steeling herself, she shouted once again. This time, the beast wasn’t so nice. It took a great, deep breath. And exhaled a huge plume of flame out at Twilight, who promptly fled while screaming in fear. The dragon went back to bed more irritated than before, and took longer to go to sleep this time. It scraped together gold and gems and laid its head on the massive pile of wealth, and went to bed with thoughts of greed and a larger horde in its head. Sasuke couldn’t help but smirk as he watched a dirty, soot-covered Twilight walk out of the cave, frustrated. She only looked over at him, and huffed, but said nothing. She didn’t have to voice her failure. Sasuke got up and started to walk into the cave, but was practically blown aside as Rainbow Dash sped into the cave. He only watched her with bored eyes as she turned around the corner that the dragon slept at. If he had to wait for all of them to fail, then fine. It would really make no difference to Sasuke in the end. “Hey, dragon! Yeah, you. Get up!” Rainbow Dash said, her voice loud and brash. She was tapping the dragon on the side of its head, repeatedly, whilst standing on one of its ears. After only a few seconds of this, two yellow, serpentine eyes stared back at her as the dragon awoke. A loud rumbling in his throat turned into a growling. “Why won’t any of you annoying ponies go away!” He snarled. Raising up to nearly his full height, he towered over Dash by a good forty feet. Inhaling even more than he had with Twilight, he blew out a large, flaring plume of fire, and spread it across the chamber and continued to fire it as Dash flew to avoid the deadly flame. Red-orange flames covered everything in a searing heat as he coated his own home in fire. Rainbow wouldn’t give up that easily, though. She still didn’t feel in danger. “I’m not going away so easily, pal. You need to leave. You’ll cover Equestria’s sky in smoke, and then nopony will be able to see the sun or anything.” “NO!” The dragon roared, and soon resorted to flailing his claws in an attempt to catch Dash in them, after his fire hadn’t worked. All it had ended up doing was melting some of his horde, which only made him angrier. Dash dodged back and forth, but it was clear that she wasn’t making any headway. After a while, she exited the cave. Not out of cowardice, but instead because it obviously wasn’t working. “Well, that didn’t work.” Rainbow Dash said, with a frustrated frown on her face. She flew backwards in the air as if she was doing an aerial backstroke, before she offered somepony else a chance. “Does anyone else have any other ideas?” Rainbow asked. She asked this with a nervous tone, growing more and more anxious mostly because they were slowly failing and would have to eventually resort to Sasuke’s method. He only grinned as he waited. He knew it was inevitable. “Beasts can’t be reasoned with.” He said casually as Rarity strode into the cave. “Dear,” she began, “Would you consider-“ “LEAVE!” The dragon boomed, and swiped at her with his claws, and even as Rarity turned and ran, she felt it drag slightly across her flank and hind legs, and her back- when she exited the cave, she turned and examined the damage. He’d cut her slightly across the entire back half of her body- light slashes that ran across her coat, contrasting the normally beautiful ivory coat that Rarity possessed with blood that was slowly seeping in and staining her fur. She winced even as Fluttershy touched it slightly. “Stop touching it!” “He did this to you…? I can’t believe it! I’ll… I’ll show him!” Fluttershy said. Her fear of dragons suddenly disappearing, she fluttered into the cave, and began to lecture him about how mean he was and she furiously shouted at him- an accomplishment for Fluttershy. The dragon closed his eyes and blew flame through his massive maw, spraying red, hot substance throughout the air at Fluttershy. Because his eyes were closed, the Stare, which she’d planned on using, didn’t work. The terror of dragons- big, fire-breathing, full-grown, claws and fangs… dragons! It all came back, and she squeaked and tried to run away, but it was too late. Unlike Rainbow Dash, she wasn’t fast. So she got hit by the flames, and shrieked in agony as her left wing was ignited and torched in flames, the yellow feathers bursting into hot, burning fire. She sat on the floor of the cave, and listened to the dragon settle back down into his gold, and promptly fell back asleep, with no regards to her life, or limb, that was steadily burning up. She started to cry, even as her friends and Sasuke approached her. “Oh my Celestia! Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash shouted, and an instant later, glared at the dragon that seemed rather content, even as her best friend’s left wing burned. “I told you. And none of you listened to me. Do you care if I burn it now?” Twilight, with tears in her eyes, turned away from the scene. “Do it.” “Move behind me.” He commanded, and everypony, not wanting to test their luck again, obeyed willingly. They crowded around the body of Fluttershy, who cried and mewled weakly as she attempted to clutch at her left wing. What had once been a beautiful, yellow wing was now a blackened, charred flesh with very little feathers. It stretched out like the wing of a bat, and Fluttershy shrieked again when she saw the damage. Twilight had been putting it out with water spells, and Rarity had helped her as best as she could, although she couldn’t generate water as fast as Twilight could. They poured it over the wound and tried to treat as best as they could, though it was clear that the wound might be permanent. Twilight wasn’t a medical unicorn- she only knew the basics- but she knew that the wound, currently, didn’t look very good. Sasuke’s eyes spun wildly as he activated his Mangekyo Sharigan and surrounded them in a violet shield of protection and hatred. His Susanoo stared deeply at the dragon, which still slept. Sasuke, while caring very little for the ponies, still figured he owed Fluttershy only the smallest debt. So, he’d repay it. In one of the only things he knew how to do. Revenge. His Sharingan spun as he muttered the name of the technique. “Amaterasu.” Immediately, the body of the dragon ignited into roaring black flames that started spreading across his entire body. It awoke immediately, flailing horribly at this new, strange pain. Dragons didn’t burn- they were flame made flesh. A dragon didn’t understand the terrible pain that burning gave a being- it had never felt it, even in its long life of hundreds of years. But now it felt it. The flames spread, and Sasuke grimly smiled. His eye bled- the blood capillaries had exploded inside of his eye- but it had been worth it. It would heal, anyway. It always did. It was his visual prowess- he was gifted. LOWLY CREATURE! IT DOES NOT KNOW TRUE FLAME! YOU ARE MORE DRAGON THAN HE! Sasuke’s Hatred cackled violently inside of his mind as he watched the dragon burn. “A wing for a wing.” He muttered. The black, terrible flames spread to the left wing of the dragon- just like his flames had to Fluttershy- and they began to burn it horribly, charring it to death. The heat was so powerful and terrible that it even burnt the normally resistant skin of a dragon- resistant enough that they could swim in lava for fun. And the fire raged, and the dragon screamed . “How does it do that?” Twilight whispered to Sasuke, watching as the dragon burned alive. She couldn’t say she felt sorry for it- but she didn’t feel good about what they had done, either. She wondered how he could pass natural defenses like that. “Amaterasu are flames from Hell- flames so hot, they can burn anything.” “W-what… what if the dragon flew into a lake?” “Then it would burn the water in the lake.” “And then it would go out?” “No.” He chuckled at her ignorance. “Not even close. The flames never stop burning until I tell them to. They never stop.” “It would burn the water in the lake. And it would burn the grass next to the lake, and the field or the forest the lake was inside. It would burn the towns and cities that were near the lake, and burn the country the towns and cities resided in. Then burn the world, until there was nothing left to burn. It burns everything.” Sasuke whispered back, in some sort of awe at the flames’ terrible power. Twilight couldn’t look away, no matter how gruesome the sight was. The dragon rolled around on the ground, but it was useless. Instead, the flames spread to the gold and the rock of the cave as well. It tried to fire flames at them, but it was futile. Even as the six ponies protected behind Sasuke’s Susanoo cringed and closed their eyes in fear, the flame rolled harmlessly off of the purple material. “What weak fire.” Sasuke commented. He was content in sitting here and watching the dragon burn to death. Then he would stop the fire, and they would go back, and that stupid Celestia would get to hear from her pupil of all things that they had failed and had to go with Sasuke’s method. He grinned darkly. He’d enjoy the look on her face. Fluttershy managed to regain consciousness, and watched the dragon burning to death in agony, screeching horribly in pain as it rubbed its body against the side of the cave, trying to do anything to get rid of the new, terrible pain that it was in. “Stop it.” She said. “What?” Sasuke asked, turning around, annoyed. “Stop it. Stop burning it.” “You’re too soft. That wound was nearly fatal, and you want me to let it live?” Fluttershy only glared at Sasuke. “Hn. Fine.” With a few more drops of blood leaking from his red eyes, Sasuke turned back to the massive creature in agony on the cave floor. He stopped the flames immediately-but surprise, surprise- the damage was already done. It looked like his left wing was wrecked, not to mention the majority of his red scales were charred beyond belief. The dragon looked at them with eyes widened in fear, and scrambled out of the cave, trying to fly and failing, tumbling to the ground before setting off away from the mountain to some far, far away location. Sasuke scowled at the cowardly, retreating creature. After a few minutes of helping Fluttershy recover, they set out, leaving from the mountain. Sasuke idly thought that he was still right, in the end, and shrugged. He led the ponies on as they helped Fluttershy limp back to civilization- and, hopefully, to recovery. ______________________________________ The missing-nin, falling through a void of colors- suddenly landed in the middle of a forest. He got up slowly, rubbing his sore rump, and looked around. He didn’t have any idea where this place was. What the hell was this? “Where the hell am I?” TO BE CONTINUED