From her spot against the walls, Celestia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her own student was attempting to challenge Pain. "Twilight, what are you doing!? There is no way that you can stop him!"
Twilight didn't even look over to her mentor at hearing those words, because she knew it was true; she saw the power this pony had, and her magic wasn't even close to that level. She however didn't care, because the sight of her good friend and princess hurt caused her blood to boil. Even if it was impossible, she was willing to fight to protect Celestia. Her horn shot out several sparks as she focused her magic, pointing it straight at Pain. "I said to leave her alone!" She shouted out.
Looking at her in curiosity, Pain turned to face this new young opposer. "Do you hate me? Do you feel hatred in your heart?"
"Yes, I do hate you right now..." Twilight growled at him, "You hurt the princess, my mentor, because you are evil. I won't let you touch her again!"
"Twilight, what are you doing!?" Spike yelled out in fear, "you can't fight him. If the princess got hurt against him, you surely will!"
"Spikes right, don't do this Twi!" Applejack pleaded, "Ah don't wanna see you get hurt!"
Even with her friends calling out, Twilight shook her head in defiance. "I can't just sit by while this pony does what he wants. If he wants to hurt the princess or anypony else, he is going to have to go through me!"
The young mares words rang out across the courtyard, reaching the ears of the group of guards who were watching the battle. While they were scared as well, seeing this one pony willing to stand up against Pain gave them a boost of courage. Yelling out in unison, several guards ran forward and positioned themselves in front of Celestia. While this act seemed great that they were standing up against this threat, the princess was terrified at the thought; she knew the power Pain had, and she knew Twilight and the others couldn't even compare to the amount of raw strength he possessed. Not wanting to sit here anymore, she used her magic, wincing as she slowly started to pull out the rod that held her against the stone.
Glancing between the guards and Twilight , Pain sighed at the display before him. This one unicorn mare was going to risk her life for a pony she found dear to her. She was going to allow love to take control of her actions and determine what she does, something he had just seen at the hidden leaf village. That one young girl who jumped in front of him and attempted to stop him from taking the jinchuuriki from the village. That foolish girl believed she was doing the right thing, but in fact she was demonstrating the very idea he was talking about.
Pain looked over to Twilight, his Rinnegan shining through the night. "Do you hate me? Do you believe this will solve the source of pain in the world ?"
"I honestly don't understand all of your crazy ideas of peace like you do..." Twilight responded, "you say you want peace, and yet you are hurting ponies for your demand for Discord. We did live in peace, and I won't let you ruin that anymore!"
Pain sighed at her words. "You think you're the only ones who matter. You think you can put off death. But that peace made you foolish and thoughtless. If you kill someone, someone else will kill you… this hatred binds us together. I want you to feel pain, to think about pain, to accept pain, to know pain."
Erupting out from Pain was a shock wave rushing at Twilight. The young mare quickly focused her magic and teleported to her right, just outside of the incoming attack. As fast as she could, Twilight shot off a beam of magic at her foe, but her speed wasn't fast enough as Pain easily dodged her blast. The other guards rushed forward, swinging their swords forward in an attempt to impale the Akatsuki member. After several unsuccessful swings, one of the Pegasi rushed in to tackle Pain, but was catapulted backwards as another repulse erupted out.
As Celestia slowly pulled the rod out from her wing, she screamed out slightly as she felt part of her muscle strain from the metal. While she did her best to gently pull out the object, she was also keeping an eye on the battle happening, knowing something had to show soon. 'He has to have some weakness to his ability.' She whispered to herself. 'There is a time gap between attacks, and he can't hide it perfectly. So far... It's been one second.'
The two remaining guards and Twilight all rushed in at the same time to try to overwhelm Pain. The pegasi and unicorn guard got to him first, both swinging their swords downward at him, which Pain countered with another black rod in his hoof.
'Two seconds.' Celestia counted to herself.
As Pain was holding off the two guards, Twilight tried to shoot a beam of magic at his side, but Pain was too quick for her as he overpowered the guards and shoved them forward, just dodging the blast by a few inches. Swinging his free hoof up, Pain landed a powerful uppercut to the Pegasi guard and sent him flying back, allowing him to focus his attention to the unicorn. His chakra rod lashed out and clashed against the guards sword, and after another hit, he shattered the weaker steel and impaled the pony through the chest. Celestia gasped at another guard struck down, but she knew she had to get out from the wall.
'Three seconds.'
Seeing the guard struck down sent a chill up Twilight's spine, but her fear would have to wait as Pain rushed at her with his hoof rushing at her face. Panicking, she jumped back and formed a shield between herself and the incoming Akatsuki member. Pains hoof collided with the magenta barrier, making him step back as he stared blankly at it. "An amusing power of yours, although it won't be of any use against me." He quickly flipped around and grabbed onto the incoming Pegasus by his right wing and yanked him down to the ground. Stomping down on it, the guard screamed out as his wing snapped in the center. Pain quickly silenced his cries as he slammed a hoof down onto his windpipe.
Celestia's heart rate was through the roof as she watched the guard gasp out from the stomp on the throat. The sight of her soldiers being killed in front of her made her sick that she wasn't doing anything to help now. Gritting her teeth, she focused her magic and pulled harder at the rod deep in her wing.
'Four seconds.'
Stepping off of the twitching soldier, Pain turned his attention towards Twilight, slowly trotting to the trembling mare. "You believe doing this will prevent pain. There will always be pain." Opening his eyes wider, a shockwave blasted out from his horn and shattered the shield as if nothing was there.
'There!' Celestia screamed in her head as she saw the opening in his power. 'Five seconds. That is how long it takes for him to use his ability agai- "AH!"
The princess gasped as the rod pulled against a deep muscle in her wing. Shaking her head, she lifted her face up as she yelled out. "Twilight, he can use his power five seconds after it is activated. That is the opening in his power.’
Pain looked back at the trapped princess, his cold eyes staring at the alicorn. "Hmph, so you used the lives of your soldiers to obtain the knowledge of my power. While you may have accomplished that, it is completely useless still." He slowly turned back to the frightened mare before him. "She will experience pain."
Twilight's eyes went wide as Pain charged at her once again. Jumping back , she tried her best to dodge the incoming punches from him, but his speed was far greater than hers. Pain’s hoof connected with the side of her chest, immediately knocking the wind out of her and causing her to cough out. Reacting on instinct, she teleported behind him, but as soon as she reappeared she was struck by another shockwave from Pain and catapulted across the yard.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy screamed in fear of her friend rolling to a stop on the ground.
"Hey you big meanie! You leave her alone now!" Pinkie yelled out angrily at Pain. "Why don't you pick on somepony your own size?!"
Crawling off the ground, Twilight panted to catch her breath, but her chest hurt and caused her trouble inhaling. She shook her head to clear her foggy vision as she caught sight of Pain walking towards her. She wanted to run, but her body wasn't responding to her demands. She was too afraid to do anything now.
Pain stopped until he stood directly above the terrified unicorn, his cold eyes gazing down at her. "Now do you understand the consequences of your actions? You seeked justice against me through vengeance. If you kill someone, someone else will kill you. Hatred is restarted in a never ending cycle of death, and death comes to all.
"No! Twilight!" Celestia screamed out from her spot. Ignoring the risk of her injury, she pulled with all her strength and ripped the rod out of her wing with a loud plop. Now that she was free, she stood up as fast as she could and ran towards her student. "Twilight, get away now!" But her call came to late as she watched Twilight lifted high into the air. "No..."
Tumbling helplessly above the street, Twilight could hardly think straight as she spun forty feet in the air. Pain watched her float for several moments before pulled his hoof down, followed by Twilight pulled out of the sky and slamming into the street.
---
Kicking off the dirt, Luna blasted out a large stream of magic at Itachi as he clasped his hooves together. Just before her attack reached him, a ball of fire shot out from his mouth and collided with her strike and caused both to go off in a small explosion. Charging through the cloud of smoke, Itachi brought his right hoof forward to punch the princess in the face, which she quickly blocked with one of her wings. Pushing up onto his other forehoof, the Akatsuki member flipped his body forward and brought his back legs overhead to strike Luna from above. Quick to react, her other wing stretched up and stopped his kick.
Grunting out, Luna pushed out and shoved the Uchiha back. 'He really is good...' She whispered to herself as she watched him pull something out of his sleeve. Flying back a few dozen feet, the princess eyed him cautiously on what he was using next. 'His speed is so balanced with his skill; it's as if he really isn't a pony at all.'
Slipping out the weapon, Itachi slipped his hoof into the hole at the end of the foot long black blade. In a quick flick of his wrist the strange weapon opened up all the way, revealing it to be a massive four blades shuriken. Bringing his foreleg back he threw the weapon forward, it's spinning frame whipping through the air as it rushed at the princess. Catching the shuriken with her magic, Luna threw the shinobi star back at its owner who easily ducked under the rotating blades. Charging forward again, Itachi pulled out another Kunai. "Do you believe you can continue on forever like this, princess?" He calmly asked while running forward.
"I can fight as long as I need to!" She shouted out in determination as she conjured her magic sword. Pumping her wings at her side, Luna burst forward as she swung her sword at his body, countered by the Kunai in his mouth again.
The two engaged in a quick flurry of swipes at each other, their weapons clashing against the other. As Luna slashed down at Itachi, he knocked the sword to the right and charged her front on. As she brought her sword around again, he twisted his head sideways and grazed his Kunai across the edge of her blade and jumped forward and over her, landing behind the princess. Dropping the Kunai into his hoof, Itachi spun around to the still turned alicorn to deliver the finishing blow, but was stifled as a sword Luna had hidden under her wing shot backwards and pierced his chest.
Turning her head around, Luna glared at the injured form of Itachi, his mouth trickling blood out of the corners. "Thou believed I didn't have my own tricks of my own?" She sternly asked him.
"So... You really are talented Luna..." Itachi slowly responded, "I am surprised at how well trained in combat you are. You would have made a fine shinobi."
"I shall take that as a compliment. And you fight well also..." Luna shut her eyes and sighed, "...for a fake." She grunted in frustration. Opening her eyes again, she looked to her right and confirmed her suspicion.
The real Itachi was standing off to the side, his bright eyes burning through the night. Luna turned back to the Itachi she was fighting, watching it break apart into dozens of crows and fly up into the air around her. Deactivating her blades, she stood up and brushed the dirt off of her coat. "So you decided to use that illusion trick again."
"Indeed. I was hoping to end this struggle of yours without having to continue this useless scuffle, but it seems you are much too stubborn for that." Itachi replied.
Luna gritted her teeth in frustration. This was the third time she had believed to really be fighting him, yet like every time before, her magic sensed the genjutsu placed over her. Breaking its hold over her, she would try to engage him again, but it seemed she couldn't really fight him. The scenarios of his powers were so real it was hard for her to sense what was real or not until several minutes , or what seemed like minutes, passed by and her power caught sight of the jutsu.
While Luna and Itachi could see what was happening between each other, Zetsu saw how Itachi did fight against the guards before facing the princess one on one. Now however, the two seemed to just stand idly facing each other, talk for a few moments before standing still again. "What's going on? They are just standing there." The white half asked curiously.
The black half, much wiser than his counterpart, knew exactly what was happening. "They are engaged in battle with the other, but it's a fight we can't see."
White Zetsu's eye opened wide in realization of the sight before him. "Wait, do you mean Itachi has trapped her in genjutsu? Then the fight should be over."
"No, that is what confuses me." Black Zetsu responded, "That pony is actually countering Itachi's genjutsu."
"What? How is that possible?"
"I'm not sure. Genjutsu is not something that I thought these ponies would ever be able to fight against, yet she is resisting the effects. It's as if she has a similar ability to it."
"Amazing, to find one of the creatures here that has the power to fight against genjutsu… especially from Itachi."
"Yes it is..." The black half stated as he eyed Luna in amazement. "She especially is something of interest. To kill Kakazu as fast as she did along with her power against Itachi. Perhaps she could be of use to us."
The interesting part was Itachi was thinking the same thing as Zetsu. He could see the power that Luna possessed was far beyond anything else he had seen in this world so far. While she wasn't Discord and he couldn't compare the two in power, she was just what was needed for their plan; powerful creatures to obtain for return to their world. This also meant he would have to capture her alive and bring her back to the meeting place. 'If I can end this now, perhaps I can also get back to my home sooner' he thought to himself. Before he could go step forward though, a sudden tingling crawled up in his chest.
Bringing his foreleg up, Itachi coughed up several times into his fur. After he finally stopped, he pulled his hoof away and looked down to the small patch of blood that accumulated there. Taking several deep breaths, he shut his eyes and lowered his head down in disappointment. He could feel his illness growing stronger, slowly growing day by day. He knew it was coming close to when it would spread too far, so he had to make sure he was back to his own world as soon as possible. He had to die by one set of hands, and one set of hands only. 'I will not stop here. I will return home.'
Reopening his eyes, Itachi returned his gaze back towards the blue alicorn. "Perhaps you are ready to actually continue this time."
"I would prefer that yes. Using this trick of yours, you can watch what kind of techniques I use when fighting inside that illusion." Luna grunted in frustration. "You have been doing that from the beginning and trying to wear me down, haven't you?"
"One that simply rushes into a fight blind will never be successful in the end. To ensure survival, they must learn to analyze every situation possible before trying to do anything." Itachi shifted his weight more onto his back legs as he slipped a hoof into his coat. "While you may be bored of my style, I hate to disappoint you now. Maybe you would like to see exactly what I can do."
Crouching down, Luna prepared herself for what she felt like a real fight now. "I would very much appreciate it then. I was starting to think you weren't willing to actually fight me."
“If you think the death of Kakazu is scaring me, I assure you that is not something I worry about. In fact..." Itachi locked gazes with the princess, his cold eyes bearing down a sight of determination despite the blank expression, "... That makes this even more interesting."
The two combatants sat perfectly still in the open field, the slight breeze gently blowing through their fur. The bright moonlight illuminated their through Luna's bright mane, while seeming to reflect off of Itachi's Mangekyo eyes. Neither seemed to breathe, both waiting for the other to make the first attack and take this fight to the next round. Luna's hoof shifted slightly in the grass to adjust her weight, the grass crunching beneath her hoof almost echoing across the clearing. Then in an instant, everything changed.
Standing up, Itachi flicked both hooves forward and released the shurikens he had hidden through the air. Luna quickly charged her horn and shot off multiple small beams and struck each mid-air before they came close. With such fluid motions, Itachi whipped out more shuriken one after the other and launched them at the princess as she continued to shoot them down. Soon the air between them was a mass of spinning blades clashing against magic blasts so fast that many of the shinobi stars didn't even have the chance to fall to the ground before eight more clashed against each other and spiraled off. After a few moments Luna was having trouble keeping up with the rate he was throwing the Kunai at her. Knowing she had to end this, she formed a small wall of magic in front of her to shield herself and teleported right above Itachi.
Dropping down, the princess spun her body sideways and swung her wings to strike his head, but his sharingan read her movements and allowed him to duck in time as she came to his level. As soon as she landed on the ground, Itachi flipped around and bucked his back right leg out into her body, countered by her right wing. Pushing off her, Itachi preformed a 180 and thrust a Kunai directly at her chest. Luna jumped back just before the knife could pierce her flesh, quickly conjuring another sword and swinging forward to slice him down the center. Tossing his Kunai into his mouth, Itachi lunged forward and met her in the middle, their weapons stifling the other and coming to a stop.
Finally still, time seemed to return to normal after the two seemed to move so fast. Some of the shuriken in the air were still spinning during the change from long to short range fighting before they fell to the ground too. Pushing forward, Luna's sword shook from the pressure of Itachi's dark blade. The two appeared deadlocked in their positions, neither gaining an inch from pushing as the other pushed just as hard. The princess glared at the gray stallion in front of her, truly amazed by how talented he was. Her amazement was changed to shock when a clone of Itachi leaped up into the air from behind him.
"What!?" She gasped out loud, "Another clone?"
The clone dropped down with a bundle of shuriken in his hooves, throwing all of them at the shocked princess. Shoving forward with the sword, Luna quickly jumped back as the shuriken dug into the ground where she was. Before she had time to fly back however, the clone landed on the ground and burst after her. 'How was he able to create a clone in the middle of that entire attack? Is he really that fast?' She pondered to herself.
Swinging her sword up, Luna easily slashed through the clone and caused it to break apart. Focusing her attention back to Itachi, she saw him spinning another one of the very large shuriken in his hoof before releasing it her direction. Charging her horn she shot a blast of magic and sent the weapon spiraling off to the side, but was not prepared for a second shuriken that was hidden in the shadow of the first flying at her. "A second one!? How is he able to throw them so perfectly to disappear like that!?" She yelled to herself.
Casting a barrier around herself, the shuriken grinded against the magic before dropping to the ground below. Deactivating her magic, Luna charged at her foe while levitating a large rock from the ground. Launching it at him and quickly following it with a beam of magic she was sure to get him this time, but Itachi simply slipped his hoof into his cloak again. Jumping up and backflipping away from her, he threw a bomb tag up to the boulder while putting his hoofs together and shooting a fireball at the blue magic coming to his front. Both of Luna's attacks detonated in bright flashes, large clouds of smoke blocking her sight of Itachi.
Bursting through the smoke came another large shuriken spinning through the air. Not going fall for the same trick twice, Luna shot the one she could see and conjured her sword again in preparation for the second as it came into the moonlight. When it did though, her eyes widened in panic when she noticed the bomb tags attached to the top of each blade. Jumping off the ground, Luna flew up above the shuriken as it spun by below, sighing in relief. Looking up, she hardly had time to scream in shock as Itachi was already in front of her.
Spinning through the air, Itachi landed a powerful kick to the princess’s head and sent her careening down and crashing into the dirt. Luna tried to force herself off the ground, but Itachi's hoof quickly came down and pushed her head back against the dirt. The weight of his body stepped down, pinning her side and wings from moving anywhere. Grunting, she focused her magic in her horn to teleport, but the sudden pressure of his other hoof coming down onto the tip caused her to yell out in pain.
Itachi stared down at her with his cold eyes, her own meeting his in pain and fear. "I warned you that there was no comparison in our power, yet you chose to ignore my words." His voice calmly stated as he moved his hoof further down to the center of her horn. "I am surprised however by your ability to counter my genjutsu. I haven't had that happen in a long time."
Luna could only stare up at him in confusion at what was to happen next, but the sudden increased weight on her horn made her scream out. The cold gaze of the Mangekyo eyed the long appendage out from her forehead as he spoke again. "Your power comes from this horn on you. As long as you have this, it will be trouble for me."
A loud snap rang into the night, followed by the scream of Luna as her horn was broken off.