//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The Price of Power // by kingrulerword //------------------------------// **********Friendship Express Unknown 1st Perspective********** Once the light faded I shook my head and saw that I was no longer at the train station but was instead in a train. I then blinked and said, “Discord you there?” “Yes. Any idea where we are?” “On a train. I wonder if I just got displaced?” “Any skills from games you could use to find out?” I then scratched my head and said, “There was sensing power levels? I could give that a try. If there anyone one with a larger power level I should be able to pick them up from the crowd.” “Might as well give it a shot.” “It's the best chance we have of getting answers.” I then closed my eyes and instantly got hit by a wave of energy and grabbed my head again. However, I managed to regain my composure and focus again. Seconds later I sensed a stronger power further up the train and told Discord, “Found someone with a high power level. Could be our guy?” “Lets go and find out.” “Yeah.” With that we opened the door between the carriage and walked towards where the energy was coming from. **********Sasuke 1st Perspective********** I woke up on the train next to Starlight. She was still sleeping so I got up and looked around. The train car had a desk, two beds, and a table. Probably shouldn’t have slept with Starlight. Oh well, she’ll never know. I sat down at the desk and opened my book. I started making some of the scrolls I’d need when a sword dropped on my desk. It looked like the sword from the Legend of Zelda. Weird. It had Celestia’s cutie mark on one side and Luna’s on the other. Very weird. I picked it up and a voice shouted in my head. Hi my name is Craig. If ever you are in danger, are scared, frightened or even just need an ally to stand by your side in your darkest hour. Call on me and I will come and do everything in my power to aid you. I reflexively sent chakra through it and felt a strange wave of energy pass through me. After a moment of hoping I didn’t do anything world-breaking, I put the sword down and sensed the train. At the back there was a new power. It was comparable to my own but it felt different from anything I’d felt before. It was possibly very dangerous. I’d wait to see what it did before I did anything else. **********Unknown 1st Perspective********** As I continued to walk through the train I could sense his energy getting stronger and stronger. No. Not energy. Chakra. “Discord you felt that too, right. It’s the same type of energy as when I cloned myself against you. This guy must have been cosplaying as someone from Naruto.” He then asked “Naruto wasn’t that another anime?” “Yeah. I just hope it’s not Pain or Orochimaru. neither of them are good news.” I then stopped and said, “To be fair, it could be bad if it’s Naruto or Sasuke. They're both dangerous. I just hope that this guy's in control of himself.” I then continued to walk through the train and eventually some of the ponies on the train saw and and then instantly hid from me. I then thought, “What has this guy done to to scare them this much?” Seconds later I felt his power skyrocket as I approached a door to the left of me. I then carefully reached towards the door and slowly opened it to see Sasuke sitting next to a sleeping unicorn. I thought, “What the hell is going on?” **********Sasuke 1st Perspective********** “Well now. That’s not something you see everyday,” I said. Standing in front of me was another human. He was carrying a guitar. Strange. He was the power I was sensing earlier. I must have summoned him with the sword. “Who are you?” I asked as I eyed him suspiciously. “Name’s Craig and from that getup, I guess you are Sasuke” “Second question: why couldn’t you have been a beautiful woman?” I turned my head to see Discord standing next to me as he said, “Strange the aura around you is similar to that around you Craig.” He then clicked his fingers and Craig’s body changed into that of a woman's. “I can work with this,” I said wondering how Discord escaped again. “How is it you’re here? Both of you. And why don’t you recognize me, Discord?” To this Discord said, “We are not of this world. Your world’s version of me is probably still in stone. Whilst in our world, Craig here defeated me singlehandedly. The elements weren’t used on me.” Craig then said, “I suppose you found my token and then summoned me here.” He then turned to Discord and said, “OK the jokes over Discord turn me back to normal.” “Wait, before you do that,” I said. “Want to do it? I haven’t seen a woman since I first arrived in Equestria like over a thousand years ago. I’m starting to feel things for horses. Unnatural things.” To this Craig said, “One, what the hell is wrong with you and two, that explains the Unicorn there. What is she your marefriend?” “What? NO!” I yelled. “She’s just an employee. Besides I’m married.” My outburst woke up Starlight. She shook the sleep out of her eyes and sat up. “Why are there two of you?” she asked groggily. “Take a closer look, Starlight,” I said. “This guy is different.” “Oh Faust, not another one,” she whimpered. To this Craig said, “God am I really that bad? What has he done to make you think I’m evil?” “I didn’t do anything,” I said. “Ponies are just super sensitive.” “DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!?!” Starlight screamed. “There was a special newspaper release last night! You put Princess Celestia in the hospital! An ALICORN! YOU PUT AN ALICORN IN THE HOSPITAL! And then you let an ursa major loose in Canterlot!” I smiled, “I really think I deserve a medal or something. Do you know how hard it is to give an alicorn lasting injuries?” Craig then looked at me and his face turned red. He punched me straight between the eyes and said, “What the fuck is your major malfunction. Do you realise how many people you could have killed? Were you born stupid or something because that is just pure stupidity!” I rubbed my face in pain, “Ow, you dick. Everything was calculated. There were no ponies on the street during one of the busiest times of the day. I couldn’t sense anything from the houses either. Clearly they had all been moved someplace safe. The only casualties would have been the guards and they signed up for that kind of thing. Plus Celestia can raise the sun in her sleep. I know, I’ve seen her do it before.” To this he just said, “That’s not the point. The point is that in my world I have protected the innocent and you have soiled that very claim in this world. The only way this could be even stranger is if you were married to Luna for god’s sake” “Yeah, so about that…” I started. “You’re married to Princess Luna?” Starlight screamed. “Yes?” I responded. Craig’s eyes went wide as he said to Discord, “Turn me back to normal now.” With that he quickly turned back into a man and then said, “You were going to start a relationship with me and you're married to royalty. Were you dropped on your head when you were born?” We then all turned our heads towards Discord as we heard him laughing and he said, “Oh Celestia this is just priceless. You're saying that you are married to Luna and you wanted to do another guy from another reality. You are crazy you know that? And I should know, I am the god of chaos.” “My marriage with Luna was an accident. We were on a mission, there were some dragons, it’s a long story. Although I am still technically king of Equestria. When I was imprisoned they forgot to strip my title. And who said anything about a relationship? Relations. Not relationship.” “You’re disgusting,” Starlight said. “Aww, don’t be like that,” I pleaded. To this Craig said, “That is just strange. But I’m not one to judge people on one action they make. why do you think I forgave Discord for trying to kill me, and making my life back home a living hell. Besides I may be loyal to Celestia however I am also a free man in Equestria. oh and by the way sorry for punching you, I have a bit of a short fuse.” “It’s fine,” I said, “I would probably get punched in the face more, if ponies were as aggressive as humans. But don’t forget, I’ll tag you back eventually. So I’m curious. You already know my powers; what are yours?” To this Craig just smiled and said, “My powers are quite strange. I can manipulate any power from any game I have played. For example i am able to use thu’um from Skyrim and I have also managed to perform a shadow clone jutsu. But you already know a lot about how chakra works I imagine.” “Interesting,” I said, “So you played Skyrim? Does that mean you can use God Mode?” To this he scratched his head and said, “To be honest i’ve never heard of that. But it is likely that i could if i knew how it worked.” I activated my sharingan and placed Craig under my genjutsu. I showed him how to use the console commands and the effects of God Mode. “You’ll get unlimited health, magicka, and stamina,” I told him as I released him. “You’ll also eliminate the need for cooldowns and be able to cast any spell even ones you don’t normally have the capacity to use. Wanna see if you can do it?” He then looked at me and said, “Sure it’s not safe to try whilst we are on the train. Wouldn’t it be better to try when we are outside?” “That is an excellent point,” I said grabbing his shoulder. “We won’t be gone long Starlight.” **********Badlands********** I teleported us to an open field in the Badlands. I had a fought there a long time ago and some of my shuriken remained. “Go for it,” I said. He then closed his eyes and then said, “Here goes nothing.” Seconds later his body began to glow. He then open his eyes and said, “This feels strange.” He then quickly turned around and said, “Wait do you feel that?” “Yup. You feel like a bottomless well of power.” “Yeah but that's not what I mean. It feels like were being watched,” He then turned his body around and brought his hands to his side and then shouted “Kamehameha!” Seconds later I saw a crevice filled with changelings staring at us. He then said, “I knew something didn’t feel right.” “Haven’t seen changelings in a while,” I said. “Want to test out your new powers on them?” “Nah they’re not worth the energy it would cost to do so.” “You’re no fun,” I activated my mangekyou sharingan and surrounded the changelings with black flames. “Tell your queen, Sasuke’s back,” I instructed them. I quelled the flames and they flew away. “So how will you test out your powers?” “I can see one person who would be a great sparring partner.” “Well then,” I said drawing my sword, “Let’s do this.” **********Craig 1st POV********** With that I grabbed hold of my guitar and turned it back into my sword and then quickly unsheathed it. I said “Ready when you are.” I then bowed to him and held my sword ready to defend myself. He ran at me and slashed. I defended and we started our fight. He was quick and his sharingan gave him a slight advantage. I then smiled and said, “Nice try maybe it’s time for a bit of fun.” I then quickly performed a Shadow Clone Jutsu and said, “You ready for some fun?” I shouted “Mul Qah” and each of the clones began to charge towards him. I then jumped off the ground and just floated there and watched as he tries to fight each of the clones. He formed his own clones and one of them started breathing fireballs while another blew wind from either side. When the two attacks collided, they turned into fire tornadoes that came after myself and the my clones.To this I just smiled and then placed two fingers on my forehead. I teleported into the centre of the tornado and held my sword up and waited to see what he would do next.All of a sudden giant timberwolves ran through the fire and attacked me. To this I smiled and said, “Not bad Sasuke. Shame these aren’t real or I might have actually been worried.” I then placed my hand on back of my sword on top of Celestia's Cutie Mark and the Timberwolves faded away. I then shouted “Fiem Zii Gron” and I completely disappeared. The Tornado stopped motionless. I saw Sasuke standing outside of the tornado and he looked straight at me. “You can’t hide from the sharingan,” he said with a smile. “Now let’s see how strong you really are.” He formed Susanoo’s bones and fired a giant purple arrow covered in black fire at me. To this I just smiled and stood there. The arrow hit me with a direct blow. However, once the flames scatter over the battlefield I smiled and said, “Well that was ineffective what else you got or do you want me to start trying?” “No,” he said. “This was a pretty good test. Taking one of Susanoo’s arrows to the face is a pretty good indicator, wouldn’t you say? What I really wonder is what happens to your body once you turn God Mode off.” I then laughed and said, “Wait you thought I had it on? I turned it off after the changelings arrived. I haven’t been using God Mode at all during this fight.” He looked confused, “Then what was the point of this fight?” “To prove to you that you're not as powerful as you think. Now do you want me to fight properly?” “Not particularly. I am on the run after all. Spending too much time in one place and fighting with you is a huge ‘Here I am’. Besides,” he grinned. “You helped me lead them in the wrong direction.” “By them I guess you mean the royal guard, and don’t worry. I don’t think they’ll get here for a while.” “Next time, eager beaver. I promise I’ll beat you senseless, how’s that?” he said as he grabbed my shoulder. We teleported back to the train. **********Friendship Express Sasuke 1st POV********** Once Craig and I were back on the train I saw Starlight talking with Discord. Starlight’s hair was in a mess and she seemed very agitated. Her ear and eye were twitching. “What’s wrong with you?” I asked her. “Oh nothing,” she said sarcastically, “just talking about how you humans are a chaotic and violent species, with a god of chaos from another world. I think I need to lie down.” To this Craig looked at Discord and asked, “What did you do?” To this Discord said, “I didn’t do anything. Why so offensive?” “I’m going to have to ask that you do not traumatize my employees,” I said. I walked over to Starlight. “Speaking of speaking, Starlight stick out your tongue.” “Why,” she asked while complying. I pointed two fingers at her tongue.Cursed Tongue Eradication Technique. A black mark showed up at the back of her tongue. “Now if you try to reveal any information about myself or my new associate here, your body will be paralyzed,” I said. I turned to Craig, “Got to cover our bases. You should use that one sometime. Helps protect captured allies.” To this Craig said, “I honestly don’t think that my friends would be be like that and besides i don’t even know if i would need to do that to anyone.” He then kneeled down next to Starlight and said, “Are you OK? I’m sorry if Discord scared you at all.” “I’m fine,” she said. “It’s just a week ago, I never really left the lab and now… It’s just a lot to take in.” To this Craig smiled and said, “To be honest at least you’ve had a week to get use to being around humans. I’ve only had three days to get used to the whole population of ponyville and Celestia and Luna. It’s a lot different to home.” Starlight smiled at Craig and closed her eyes, resting on the bed. “She’s a lot tougher than she looks,” I say. “You’re no weakling yourself.” Craig said. He then asked, “Have you made yourself a token yet?” “A token?” I asked. “Is that what those weird things are? No, I haven’t made one.” To this Craig smiled and said, “By weird things I take it you're referring to the blade that you found?” “Among other things,” I said. “By the way, I’m keeping the sword. Looks awesome. You can’t have it back.” To this Craig smiled and reached just under his top and pulled out a chain that has a copy of the blade attached to it. He then said, “I don’t think that it is an issue. You can keep it.” “Great. Then I should give you this,” I summoned a small jade magatama necklace. I held it to my chest and whispered, “I am Sasuke Uchiha, Black Sun of Equestria, Two-Legged Pony, etcetera, etcetera. Should you need my assistance in any endeavor, just give me a call and I will appear.” The necklace multiplied as soon as I finished speaking and the copies disappeared. “That’s unusual,” I said as I handed Craig the original necklace. To this Craig smiled and said, “Thank you. I’ll be honest, if you ever do need my help just ask and I will come and help you.” He then turned to Discord and said, “We better be heading off soon. Everyone’s probably worried about us back home.” With that Discord disappeared from in front of me. He then proceeded to place the necklace around his neck next to his own and placed them both back below his top. “It has been a pleasure,” I said. “We’ll have to do this again sometime.” To this Craig smiled and said, “I look forward to it.” He then extended his hand out and we both shook each others hand. He then reached towards his amulet once again as it begins to glow. A small gateway appeared near the door and he walked towards it. Just before he walked through it he put one hand up and waved. Then he stepped through the door and disappeared. “Interesting,” I said to myself. “I wonder if I can find others like us.” Starlight sat up on her bed. “Absolutely not! One of you is bad enough.” “He wasn’t that bad,” I said to her. “Irrelevant,” Starlight said as she lie down again. I sat down on my own bed and thought about what I was going to do next. This was going to be a long train ride.