Akatsuki in Equestria

by chaos2012


Feel the Pain

Konan sat staring at the massive dust cloud growing up from the center of Canterlot. She felt a massive knot inside her chest at knowing exactly what had happened.

"Why... Why did that need to happen?" She said to herself, "there was no reason to do that to them."

"What is your concern with this place?" Tobi questioned from behind having overheard her words. "These creatures are of no meaning to us."

"Does that give us the right to destroy their home? They have no part in our plans and should be left out of it." Konan glared in his direction. "Hurting them has no benefit to us."

Tobi's eye narrowed at her words. "What is the matter with you? You've been acting strange since we've been here. Don't tell me you have grown to care for these animals."

"They aren't animals. They are living, breathing souls that haven't done anything to us."

"Standing in my way is more than enough reason for this. Besides... This isn't the first time you two did this, correct?" Tobi shot at her.

Konan's breath caught in her throat at the words she just heard. "Careful with the words out of your mouth."

The sharp tone in her voice was enough to set Tobi's hair up on end. "Perhaps you should be the one watching what you speak. Don't forget who exactly you take your orders from."

The ground behind Tobi began shifting up as if something was pushing up from beneath. Suddenly, it shifted its color and shape into Zetsu's green fly trap, opening up to reveal the two toned akatsuki member. Tobi turned around in surprise to his arrival. "You're back now? I assume something has happened to Itachi."

"Something has happened in fact, but it's not what we were expecting." The white half stated.

"It seems that there are ponies that rival our strength here." The black half added.

"Yes, I've seen the strength that they have, especially since Deidara is dead. To be pushed that far meant he had no choice." Tobi sighed in annoyance. "He was an important member to the organization. His loss was a big impact."

"Well, that is only the first problem..." Black Zetsu mumbled, "Kakazu is dead as well."

"What?" Tobi took a step back in shock. "He is gone too? What did this?"

"This new pony showed up to the battlefield and ended the battle that was going on between a group of soldiers and Kakazu. Hidan was captured, while this 'princess' took on Kakazu alone and defeated him in only a few minutes."

"The amazing part is now that princess is engaged with Itachi, and that has been going on for the past few hours." White Zetsu said, a small uneasiness in his voice. "She is able to overcome the Tsukuyomi."

Konan's ears perked up at the comment she overheard. "What? That's impossible. Itachi's genjutsu is inescapable."

"But this pony did. She is pushing him to his physical limits."

Tobi sat quietly as he took in the info he was hearing. A single pony being able to fight any one of them was interesting enough, let alone it being Itachi the one it was fighting. Not only that, to learn she was able to counter genjutsu of that level was astonishing even by the strongest of their own world. 'perhaps there is a lot more for this world to offer us than we had thought before.' He said to himself.

"Alright then..." Tobi turned back around to Konan and came up to her. "I will go on ahead to see who this new pony is. You can wait here for your friend and rendezvous back at our original location."

"You want us to build a base for you as well?" Konan spat out. "You want somewhere to relax, don't you?"

The sharingan in Tobi's mask glared at the blue haired shinobis sarcasm. "I would watch the words that come out of that mouth of yours. Don't forget who you are talking to."

"And you don't forget who were the ones that originally formed the akatsuki in the first place." Konan responded right back.

Tobi grunted before walking back over to Zetsu, leaning towards the flytrap. "It seems we have another one to keep an eye on as well. After we return, I want you to watch her movements too. Something seems to have changed her heart."

"If Pain learns that we are suspicious of Konan, he won't take that easy." Black Zetsu warned him.

"Do not worry about Pain, I will deal with that when it comes to it. For now... Let us go see this next candidate."

Tobi's sharingan activated and pulled himself into his void, leaving the other two akatsuki members staring at each other.

Konan furrowed her brow at Zetsu. "Aren't you going to follow your master?"

Grunting, Zetsu slowly lowered back into the ground and disappeared. Alone once again, Konan sat quietly in the chilled night. The wind slowly blew her dark akatsuki cape, reminding her of exactly what was the reason their organization was originally founded for.

'Have we fallen that far from our beginning?' She questioned herself.

The sound of hoof steps behind her snapped her out of her thoughts. Turning around, she felt her heart jump at the sight of Pain making his way towards her. She quickly ran his direction and skidded up to him. "Why did you do that? Why did you use that technique!?" She yelled at him.

"I did what they needed to feel. They needed to know the truth of the world." Pain dully responded to her.

"And killing them proves what? That our world is something cold and violent?" Konan angrily stated, "What if they didn't need to know experience that? What if they had found peace already?"

"Humph, that cannot happen..." Pain mumbled as he walked past her, "you've seen what happens when people try to find peace that way. They realize everything they have done is a lie."

Biting her tongue, Konan saw she was getting no progress this way. "Either way, you cannot be doing that technique anymore. You're body cannot handle the stress anymore. If you continue doing that, you will die."

"I cannot die now. I won't... Not until Yahiko's death is made up for..." Pain walked off through the night, leaving Konan alone in her spot.

"Nagato... Perhaps we have lost what his death meant to us." She quietly whispered to herself.

........

"Princess wait, you shouldn't be leaving now!"

Celestia turned around to the group of guards begging her to stay at the castle, frowning at their demands. "I cannot stay here while my sister is out there. I have to go and find her."

"But princess, your injuries have to be treated." One of them quickly said.

Looking down to her pierced wing, she flapped it several times, grunting at the small shocks of pain traveling up it. Even with the minor patching the doctors did to it, that and her damaged ribs were still in need of rest, but she wasn't going to tell them that. "It's alright. I can manage. I need you to watch over the castle for now."

"But... We can't..." The young unicorn in front dropped his head in shame, "if that pony returns, we would be useless to stop him. You're the only one that has a chance."

Celestia loosened the hardened features on her face seeing the look on theirs. Fear was gripping their hearts at the moment, yet she could not be upset at that. She knew all too well the power these strange ponies had, and that they were right. If another attack were to happen, they wouldn't stand a chance against it.

Sighing, she trotted up to the small platoon and sat down in front of them. "I understand the feeling you all have. Do not have any shame and try to hide it. I need to do this however, and I need all of you to do this for me. Keep the citizens inside for now, and alert all other guards of where I am going."

"If you are leaving, at least take some of us with you for support."

"I'm sorry, but I need you to stay here. I... I don't want to see any more of you give your lives like what happened earlier. Please understand."

Standing up, Celestia turned around and trotted off down the hallway once again, this time without the clattering hooves following her. Pushing through the main castle doors, she was met once again with the sight of the massive crater that was once Canterlot. A massive knot spread through her chest at the reminder of what happened just hours ago. She then turned around and stared at the untouched castle, her heart cringing at how that happened.

"Cadance..." She whispered.

After they had rushed her into the castle, the medical staff immediately went to work stopping the internal bleeding. It took a hard hours of work, but they were able to stabilize her heart and cease the bleeding. Unfortunately though, she was now in a coma to an unknown extent from then on. Celestia felt as if she was responsible for what happened to her. If she had been able to stop Pain, none of this would have ever happened.

But guilt would have to be put aside for now, and she knew it. She had to go and find Luna now.

Opening her wings, she lifted off the ground and glided through the air. Each flap sent a wave of pain through her wing, but she pushed through it and went onward towards the edge of the city. The crater passed beneath her as she reached the outer edge of the city limits, a wall of rubble and dirt lining like a barrier. The princess couldn't take her eyes off the sight, the homes of so many ponies destroyed in a single swoop.

"Those monsters..." She gritted her teeth together in fury, "they will not get away with this."

Before she past the end of the debris field however, a loud thud caught her attention. She quickly stopped in the air and looked down, noticing it again. "What is that? Is... Is somepony down there!?" She shouted in surprise.

Dropping down, she quickly ran over to the source of the sound and began levitating chunks of building off the ground and out of the way. Suddenly, a slash of lighting broke through the ground beneath her hooves, making her shriek out and jump back. As the dust cleared, a dual clawed horseshoe rose up and was quickly followed by a coughing bat pony.

"Bleh! What the heck was that!?" Midnight Blossom shouted out as she crawled out of the hole, shaking her head to get the crud out of her fur. "I swear, if I have to..." She paused when she opened her eyes and was met with Celestia standing there. "Princess?"

"Midnight, are you alright?" Celestia asked her.

"Yeah, I'm a little rattled from that and... And..." The young mares words froze on her tongue when she looked past the princess to the decimated landscape in the background. "What... What happened to Canterlot?" She quietly muttered.

Celestia's ears folded down against her head. "This is the work of one of those ponies."

"One?" Midnight asked in disbelief. "Just one pony did this!?"

"Yes." The princess responded.

Before either could say anything else, a bright beam of magic erupted out of the rubble to their right. They both turned to see the unicorn Flash Shot wobbling out from the ground. Midnights eyes widened in excitement seeing him. "Flash, you're alright!"

"Yeah, I think so..." He mumbled out. He looked down at his torn cloak over his back, glad to see his chain mail armor in good condition and-

"Wait..." His eyes shot open when he realized what was missing. "My helmet! My helmets gone.!"

As the unicorn began frantically digging through the rubble, Celestia trotted towards him. "Flash, if it has been damaged I am sure the castle blacksmiths can-"

"No, I need that helmet!" Flash yelled out, flipping through whatever chunks of rock he could. "It took me years to design the inner workings for that helmet. I lost the original blueprints back when I finished and-

"Flash."

The panicking unicorn turned around to see his captain standing there, his helmet in the Pegasi's hoof. Quickly running over to it, Flash levitated the helmet over towards himself and looked it over. He sighed in relief at the very minor scratches lining the surface of it. He looked up and nodded in gratitude. "Thanks Cloud. You alright?"

Cloud Dasher nodded.

Celestia couldn't help but smile at the captains quiet personality. Even with his own personally picked unit, he hadn't changed too much. Although she knew it was to be expected after everything he had gone through. She was actually surprised he was even still in the royal guard. 'He must truly find peace with this new unit of his.' She thought to herself.

She knew that was true at the sight of all three ponies together, making sure the other was fine. 'The trifecta unit wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that mission." She quietly whispered.

After a few more moments Cloud Dasher walked past his partners and knelt in front of the princess. "Are you alright, Princess?" He calmly asked her.

"I am fine. I'm glad to see you three made it through that." Celestia responded. "Luckily the damage to the city is not as bad as It could have been."

"Wait what?" Midnight tilted her head in confusion, staring at the obliterated landscape. "I think this is pretty bad."

"All citizens were inside the castle when the blast hit, which has been spared. Now that you are all here, I need you to head back to the castle."

"The castle? But where are you going?"

"I am going out to find Princess Luna."

"What? You are going out there alone?" Midnight shouted out in surprise at the sight of Celestia's injuries. "Looking like that?"

Flash Shot rolled his eyes at Midnights bluntness. "I do have to agree with her though, Princess. You should be resting now."

"I can't now. If Luna is engaged with another one of those ponies, I'll have to help her."

"Then we're coming too." Cloud said with a salute.

Celestia shook her head. "No, I can't allow that. I can't risk your safety to-

"No offense princess, but I think you are the one who should be waiting here and rest." Cloud said with a shrug. "We can go and look for Princess Luna. We have already engaged one of those invaders."

Celestia's eyes widened in memory of sending them to confront the other member that entered the city. "What happened with that one?"

All three members glanced between each other before Cloud looked back to Celestia, a small smirk on his face for the first time that night. "We will explain everything on the way to Princess Luna."

....

"Fuck you guys! Get this shit off me!"

As the large group of guards slowly made their way back to Canterlot, Hidan continued to throw and cuss about in the restraints strapped to his body. Four different lunar guards were panting in exhaustion from holding the chains in their grip as he never stopped pulling.

"Just stop this crap already! You aren't going anywhere!" One of them shouted in anger.

"Get these chains off me you little bastard! I swear to Jashin that you will suffer a horrible and painful death!"

Shining armor glared over at the struggling Hidan, the pissed off pony still thrashing about in his restraints. "Is he ever going to shut up?" Shining mumbled.

The lunar guard member carrying him sighed in annoyance. "Probably not. How are you, captain?"

"I-I'm fine." Shining lied. His broken leg was throbbing in pain with every bump he felt. He also felt like a few of his ribs were cracked as well from the hard impacts he had with the ground earlier. 'At least that one pony is gone.' He said to himself at the reminder of Kakazu.

Blitz and Blaze slowly trotted towards the back of the group, both of them wobbling with each step. They felt the exhaustion taking hold from the battle with the two akatsuki members in the field. Their bruised and battered forms ached and felt like they wanted to just collapse right where they were, yet this crazed pony in chains looked as if he could go on for days

"What is he? What in the heck was his crazed friend?" Blitz asked.

"How the heck are we supposed to know." Blaze responded. "This entire last day and night has been a freak show. So far today we saw a pony shoot water from his hooves, another spits fire and did I don't even know to Swift. Then we meet these two who didn't seem to die."

"Yeah, then that strange explosion in the Everfree forest. That had to be from another one." Blitz added in.

"Yeah, but now we have this pony in chains, and we are going to figure out his plans.. And he is going to pay for what he did."

They both looked towards the bodies of the dead guards on the backs of the others. The sight of the dead was not something common in the lands here. To suddenly have so much happen in such a short time was not a thing to take easily for most ponies, even the ones in the guard. They could only stare in pain, and they couldn't do a thing about it.

After a few more minutes of walking they reached a large hill, bringing a small wave of relief to the group. Once they reached the top, they would now be within sight of the city. "Come on soldiers, we are almost there!" One of them shouted.

A small burst of cheers erupted from the group in news of their position, for the exception of Hidan who only shouted louder. Before they could climb up however, they saw something they never expected to see.

Or should say, who they expected.

"Princess?" They all gasped in shock.

Coming straight towards them was in fact Celestia, along with the trifecta members. Shining Armor leaned up from his position at the sight. "Princess? What is she doing here?"

Celestia quickly came up to Shining, shocked at his condition. "Captain, are you alright?"

"I'm fine princess, but what about you?" Shining responded seeing her own injuries. "What happened?"

"One of those ponies came to the city. I... I..." The princesses words fell flat on her tongue when she saw the bodies carried in the back. Her heart sank at the sight of their limp and bloody forms, life stripped out before their time. "What... What happened to them." She stuttered out in shock.

Shinings ears fell flat on his head and turned his gaze away from her. "We also came across two of those ponies you mentioned. We didn't stand a chance against them and lost several good ponies. If it weren't for Princess Luna, we would have all perished."

"Wait, Luna? You saw her!?" Celestia exclaimed. "Where is she?"

"She came in the end and saved our lives. She managed to kill one of those ponies and-

"She killed one of them!?" Celestia gasped.

This was some good news for her to hear; if Luna had been able to kill one of these strange ponies by herself, that meant some weren't as strong as the others. 'If some of those weaker ones are taken down, perhaps we have the chance at working together and defeating the stronger ones like Pain.'

"Hey you big ass bitch, let me out of here!"

Every guards mouth fell open at they all just heard. Celestia's eyes widened to the size of plates as she looked up to the direction of the voice, coming to the chained Hidan looking right at her. "Why don't you order your little shits to let me go right now!"

Shaking her head, Celestia looked back down to Shining. "Who is that pony?"

"He is the other one we came across. We captured him and were bringing him back for questioning." He answered.

Celestia looked back up to the restrained pony, amazed to learn this was one of them. She trotted closer towards him expecting to see something strange about him. Yet she saw nothing different than any other, except for one thing.

His eyes.

The cold gaze he gave her was one of pure bloodlust, something to which she did not see often. While she had seen it before, this here was the most. The only emotion she could read from him was pure hatred and anger, wanting nothing more than death.

Glaring, she marched right up towards him and put her face right up to his. "Are you responsible for the death of my soldiers?"

Hidan simply grinned at her. "Their souls were wonderful to give to my god. I can sense he was happy with the pain they felt."

The princess bared her teeth in fury to the words coming out of this ponies mouth. He truly enjoyed the suffering of others. "You will learn to have regretted ever touching a single pony in my lands. You will pay for your crimes."

"Oh, I don't think you even know who you are talking to, you stupid bitch. Just because Kakazu is dead you think you have won? Ha! You have another thing coming!" Hidan laughed at the angered glare she gave him. "You gonna try and punish me? Your tactics won't do shit!"

In a split second, Celestia's magic wrapped around his throat and yanked him her direction. All of the guards gasped out at the sudden action, but none dared say a word when they saw the look of fury in her eyes.

"Do not try and insult me here. I have seen the deaths of countless guards today, and now I just saw the ones you have killed. I have always believed in the fair treatment of criminals and their right to a fair punishment, but you are not a criminal. In fact, you aren't a pony. You are a monster. A vicious monster that preys on the pain and suffering of others."

Hidan simply smiled at her words. "I think you got me figured out now. Feels good I get appreciated for my prayers."

Grunting in anger, Celestia threw him back and turned around, walking back towards Shining. "Lock him in the castle dungeons and keep him there until I return. Where is Luna?"

"She stayed behind." Shining responded.

"But if you have defeated one of them and captured the other, why isn't my sister with you?"

"Before we made our way back, another one of those ponies showed up. She ordered us to leave as she engaged him." One of the lunar guards answered.

"She is fighting another one!?" Celestia questioned dumbfounded. "How far away is she?"

"About seven miles to the west."

Staring out to the sky, Celestia trotted past them and opened her wings. "I'm going to go help her."

"Ha! You think you can help her? Itachi's gonna fuck both of you up!" Hidan yelled out before bursting out in laughter. "Every single one of you little assholes are gonna get it sooner or later!"

"Does this dude ever shut up?" Midnight growled out.

"All of you go on towards Canterlot. I only have one thing to say though." Celestia turned her head back towards the silent guards. "Be prepared for what you will see."

"Wait what?" Shining questioned.

Without answering, Celestia flew up into the sky in the direction her sister was, quickly followed by the trifecta members. The group of guards sat silently for several moments before they decided to go on forward. The moment they came to the top of the hill however, they all felt their hearts stop at the horrible sight before them.

Canterlot was nothing more than a large crater.

"What... What happened to the city?" Shining stuttered, his mind racing in fear of his wife.

The other stallions all sat silent in utter disbelief, unable to comprehend what they were seeing. Not a word was said between them. Except for one pony.

"HAAAAHAHAHAHA! You fuckers now see what I was talking about! Cower in fear you damn atheists, HAHAHA!"