//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: The Price of Power // by kingrulerword //------------------------------// **********Ponyville General 3rd POV********** A steady beep awakened Celestia from her slumber. She opened her eyes and quickly shut them. The bright light would take some getting used to. She squinted at first, allowing a small amount of light into her eyes before opening them up entirely. Celestia took in her surroundings. She was in a hospital room that she didn’t recognize. It wasn’t the castle’s infirmary, and it wasn’t the Canterlot Hospital. She must still be in Ponyville. She looked at the foot of her hospital bed and saw a sight that warmed her heart. Twilight was leaning on the bed, her forehooves under her face as she slept. Celestia smiled as she sat up, trying not to disturb the young unicorn. Celestia winced from the pain. While it had looked like she was completely healed, her body felt stiff and moving was agonizing. While laying back down Celestia accidentally let out a moan of pain. Twilight shot awake. “Princess?” she said tearing up. “I’m fine, Twilight,” Celestia said. “There’s no need to worry.” Twilight quickly moved closer to her mentor and nuzzled her affectionately. Celestia returned the gesture, touched by her student’s concern. Twilight pulled away and dried her eyes. “I was so worried, Princess,” Twilight said quietly. “I thought…” Celestia chuckled. “Please ease your mind, my faithful student,” she reassured Twilight. “It’ll take more than that to defeat an alicorn. Although I should have healed completely by now.” Celestia lit her horn and scanned the area. “Why is there so little ambient magic here?” Twilight looked down at the ground. “I had an accident with an experiment. It displaced the magic.” Celestia looked at Twilight very seriously. “Tell me exactly what happened, Twilight.” Twilight told her everything. She told Celestia about the earth pony and unicorn that stayed with her and how they had some of the creature’s magic. While she told her tale, Celestia’s expression grew increasingly grim. When Twilight go to the part about the earth pony convincing her not to send a letter, Celestia understood. “Twilight,” she said. “That earth pony, Rolling Stone, was Sasuke in disguise.” “What,” Twilight asked fearfully. “How could he maintain a disguise for that long? Even the most advanced transfiguration spells only last-” “Twilight,” Celestia attempted to get Twilights attention. “Sasuke uses magic that does not come from Equestria. I have seen him do things that violate the very laws of magic as we understand them. That and he used that same name in the past to… do things.” Twilight took this in and contemplated Celestia’s words. “Princess,” she said timidly. “What is your relationship with this Sasuke? If you don’t mind my asking.” Celestia sighed. “Why would you want to know about that?” Twilight was nervous. “Because I used a scrying spell to watch you and him fight and you said he was married to Princess Luna and he said that you were his student,” she said in one breath. Celestia was silent. She looked out of the window and sighed again. “It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Who else heard the conversation between Sasuke and I?” “Just me, Spike, and the girls.” “Gather them all. I want you all to hear this from me.” *** Several hours later the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and Spike all stood in Celestia’s hospital room. They shuffled about nervously, unsure of what their diarch wanted of them. “My little ponies,” Celestia started, “What I am about to tell is a secret that does not leave this room. Understood?” The mares, and Spike, all nodded in agreement. “Good. Now I’m sure you have questions about Sasuke. Instead of having you ask them one by one, I’m going to tell you the story of what happened when we first met. Hopefully any questions you have will be answered. If you still have more, I will answer them at the end.” The present parties all nodded once more. “It had been a day like any other. I was only a thousand years old and Luna and I had defeated Discord not too long ago…” **********Castle of the Two Sisters: Circa 1000 Years Ago********** Celestia sat on her throne bored out of her mind. She had thought becoming a princess of Equestria was going to be exciting. But her ‘advisors’ didn’t let her do anything. They were a bunch of rich, old, selfish ponies. They made all of the decisions and used her and Luna as figureheads. The worst part she had to listen to them drone on for hours at a time under the pretense of ‘holding court’. She just wished with all her heart that something interesting would happen. “And that brings us to the events in the Leomhann Empire.” Celestia perked up. This could be interesting. After all the griffons were having an unusual problem. The speaker, a unicorn named Grand Stander, continued. “As you know the griffons have been dealing with a strange creature attacking their towns for the past month.” A few of the other ponies present snickered. It was no secret that the relations between the Leomhann Empire and Equestria were strained at best. “What you may not know,” Grand Stander continued, “is that they recently captured this creature.” Celestia groaned internally. Listening to the stories of the creature’s escapades were the high point of her day. She was going to miss hearing about how the creature would raid their food stores and then write the letters I O U. Or how the griffons would send a search party out only to return empty handed and find the creature napping on the roofs of their own town. It was going to be boring again. “After capturing this creature, the griffons decided that it was too dangerous for regular imprisonment and have petitioned this court to send the creature to Tartarus.” Celestia went wide eyed and looked to the throne sitting next to her. Luna was surprised as well. The court was abuzz with barely concealed whispers. “I know that we don’t take Tartarus lightly, but this could put the Leomhann Empire in serious debt to us,” Grand Stander said, calming the ruckus. “Think of the influence we could exert over them if we did this favor.” The room went silent, waiting for the alicorns’ response. Celestia and Luna looked at each other, trying to figure out how the other felt. They didn’t like banishing creatures to Tartarus, especially ones that seemed as harmless as this. What had it done, really? Pull some pranks? That hardly seemed like enough to condemn it to eternal suffering. The two alicorns’ silent conversation was not lost on Grand Stander, however. “Might I remind you both that this is about more than your personal feelings,” he said. “This is for the good of our country. We are on the brink of war with the griffons and I’m sure neither of you want that.” Celestia and Luna looked at each other again while Grand Stander kept talking. “It’s time to make the adult decision like the grown mares you are and do what is best for your ponies.” Celestia hated being talked down like that. But what could she do? She had no experience running a country. And it was nobles like Grand Stander who had the money and connections to keep everything running. “Fine, Grand Stander. We will banish an innocent creature to the depths of the worst place in existence. Are you happy now?” Celestia said. Grand Stander smiled smugly, “Quite.” He motioned to the guards. “Bring them in.” The doors to the throne room opened and a group of griffons walked in pulling a large cage. “Introducing, the griffon strike team, the Valkyries and from the Leomhann army, General Tolbert,” a squire proclaimed. General Tolbert was a thickly built griffon. His body was covered in scars from numerous battles and he did not have the highest opinion of ponies. In his eyes they were nothing but a weak-willed prey species, and he felt it was beneath him to ask for their assistance. Following behind him, were the legendary Valkyries. They were known the world over for their prowess and boasted a hundred percent mission success rate. They were currently pulling a large cage into the throne room. Once they pulled the cage to the center of the room, they stood aside. Celestia got her first look at the creature. She couldn’t tell much from her primary observation, as it was completely covered in chains. From what she could tell, it appeared to to be bipedal in nature. It’s arms were completely wrapped up and held on opposite sides of the cage. Its mouth was bound as well which Celestia found odd. Her gaze moved to its eyes. It had intelligent, black eyes that looked directly into her own. It felt like the creature could see all of her, inside and out. “This creature tormented griffon settlements and evaded capture. For a month, it did all kinds of horrible things to our citizens ranging from theft to property destruction and assault,” General Tolbert said. “We….. ‘humbly request’ that you send this dangerous monster to the depths of Tartarus.” Celestia sat back on her throne. She didn’t want to go through with this but she was going to have no choice. She opened her mouth to speak but Luna surprised her by speaking first. “And what of the creature,” Luna said. “Will you allow it to say nothing in its defense.” “We dare not allow it use of its mouth, your majesty,” General Tolbert replied. “It can breathe fire and might try to escape. It is also not capable of speech.” “It can breathe fire?” Celestia asked. “Is it some sort of scaleless dragon then?” “This is no dragon,” Luna said to her sister. She then turned her attention to the general. “My sister and I are more than a match for this creature. Remove the bindings from its mouth.” General Tolbert gritted his beak. “As you wish.” he motioned and one of the Valkyries removed the gag from the creature’s mouth.” “Goddamn that tasted nasty,” the creature said, surprising everyone in the room. “What, did you decide to gag me with someone’s jock strap?” The creature looked around. It waited for a response but everyone was too shocked to say anything. “Oh right,” it said. “The whole ‘not able to speak’ thing. Well as you can plainly see… or hear rather, not only can I speak, I am pretty good at it.” The creature smirked. Luna was the first to recover. “Tell us, if you are able to speak why did you not until now?” “I did. Just not to the griffons,” it said. “Do you understand that you are on trial,” Celestia asked. “Please tell us why you attacked the griffon towns.” “Yeah, I get that,” the creature said. “Ok let me see. It all started when I was transported to this world.” “Are you implying that you are not native to this plane of existence,” Luna asked. “Please hold all questions until the end,” the creature continued without missing a beat. “So after I got here I happened to run into some ponies being chased by griffons. My first instinct was to pretend I hadn’t seen anything but one of the ponies saw me and called out for help. It’s not like I could just leave her; I’m not heartless. So I decided to fight the griffons and thats when it happened. Something inside of me awakened. I gained abilities and knowledge that were not my own. I used my newfound powers to kill all but one of the griffons. I let it escape and the ponies brought me back to their town. They invited me to live with them and told me that the griffon soldiers often crossed the border to harass ponies and kidnap mares.” General Tolbert shifted uncomfortably but said nothing. “I wasn’t going to do anything though. It wasn’t my problem. But the ponies begged me to help them. They were.. they ARE tired of living in fear. Knowing what powerlessness feels like, I agreed to help. So I came up with a plan. I would keep the soldiers occupied and that would keep their focus off of the ponies. So I raided a few towns, built up some notoriety, and led the griffons on a merry chase. During that time I used them to develop my new powers and grew stronger.” “And yet we still managed to capture you,” General Tolbert gloated. “Yes,” the creature smiled. “You did.” The creature’s smile was unnerving. It seemed almost like it… wanted to be captured. Celestia shook off that notion. Surely, it didn’t plan this, did it? It didn’t matter at the moment. The creature had said that griffon soldiers were violating treaties and taking advantage of ponies. What was worse was that the general didn’t deny it and Grand Stander didn’t bat an eyelash. It was almost like he knew… No, he couldn’t have known. Sure he was self-centered but he always had Equestria’s best interests at heart. Right? “That is quite a tale, creature,” Grand Stander said, circling it. “How do we know that this isn’t some made up story? You’re making dangerous accusations about our treasured allies. How do we know you aren’t making this up to escape your fate?” The creature gave a toothy grin. Its sharp teeth gave Celestia chills. “Because I have proof.” Grand Stander frowned at this revelation. “Fabricated evidence will not be accepted in this court.” “But it at least warrants an investigation, doesn’t it?” Celestia was impressed. The creature was playing its cards pretty well. “That is true, Grand Stander,” Celestia said. She turned her attention to the creature. “Until the investigation is completed you will remain in the castle dungeons.” “I second this action,” Luna added. Grand Stander was irritated. With both of the alicorn princesses being adamant about this issue, he couldn’t just make it go away. This was going to take some… finesse. “Very well,” he said. “Guards, please escort the prisoner to his cell.” Pony guards took the cage and walked it out of the throne room. All the while, the creature flashed a smile to Celestia and Luna and winked at them. The griffons followed the ponies as they left. Celestia thought about the creature. It didn’t seem evil. She needed to find out more about it. She snuck a look at Luna and who appeared to be deep in thought. “Now that the business with the griffons has been completed, for now, we can move on,” Grand Stander moved back to his position in the center of the room. “Our economic relations with zebras….” Celestia sighed and settled in for a long day. *** After a long day of countless boring meetings, Celestia sat awake in her bed. She had only one thought on her mind: the creature. It confounded her. It claimed that griffons were violating international treaties and that it came from another world. Was it lying? What would it stand to gain by making that up? Celestia tossed and turned in her bed. She made up her mind and sat up in her bed. She crawled out of bed and started sneaking down the halls of the castle. She walked carefully and quietly to avoid running into any other ponies. She moved gracefully down several levels of the castle until she came to her destination. Celestia stood in front of the entrance to the dungeons and wondered what she was doing. “Sister? What are you doing here?” Luna surprised Celestia by walking up behind her. “I...could ask the same of you, Luna,” Celestia replied defensively. “What are you doing here?” “I have questions for the creature. His stories don’t add up.” “It appears we came here for the same reason then. Shall we go in together?” Luna nodded at Celestia’s suggestion. They looked at each other, gulped, and then walked into the dungeons. All of the cells were empty, save for one. At the end of the dungeon, a single prisoner completely wrapped up in chains sat with his eyes closed. Celestia and Luna approached the creature’s cell carefully. Its mouth was still unbound and they were warned it could breathe fire. As the two alicorns stood in front of the prison cell wondering what to say, the creature spoke. “Hello Celestia. Hello Luna. I knew it was only a matter of time before you came down here to see me,” the creature said without opening its eyes. The alicorns were shocked. “How did you know it was us?” Luna asked. “I could feel you coming,” the creature replied. “What can I do for you?” Celestia and Luna looked at each other uncomfortably. Neither of them were expecting this. The creature was being strangely cooperative and treating them like he knew them. However if he was going to freely offer information, they weren’t going to complain. “What are you?” Celestia asked. “I’m a human.” “What is a human?” Luna asked. “What is a pony?” “That question is too complex to be answered so simply,” Luna responded. “Exactly,” the creature said. “You said you’re from another world,” Celestia started. “I am,” the creature interrupted. “How did you arrive in this world?” Celestia continued. “No idea. But if I had to guess… It probably had something to do with that shady vendor.” Neither of the princesses knew what to make of that. So they ignored it. “You claimed that ponies were being attacked by griffons,” Celestia said. “How exactly?” The creature smiled. “Down to business, finally? Griffon soldiers will cross the border and extort money from your citizens. The soldiers you have stationed up there are too afraid to do anything about it. Not only that, the griffons will kidnap young mares and take them across the border. They get sold at auctions and I’m pretty sure they become sex slaves.” Celestia had to keep herself from vomiting at the idea that any creature could be so depraved. Luna had a stoneface on but Celestia knew she was taking this just as hard. “Why have we never heard anything about this before?” Luna whispered. “Beats me,” the creature said. “Who’s in charge of international relations?” Celestia and Luna looked at each other. Grand Stander was in charge of many things, international affairs being one of them. Could he really be aware of these atrocities? It was unthinkable. “Here’s something I’ve been wondering: how were you captured? With your abilities it seems strange that you were captured so easily,” Celestia said. The creature gave the alicorn another of its unnerving smiles. “Maybe I got caught on purpose. Maybe I found out something interesting was going to happen and decided to put myself in the middle of it.” “What? What is going to happen?” Luna demanded. “Maybe your ‘treasured allies’ are planning an attack on this castle and needed a reason to get inside of it. Hypothetically speaking, of course.” That’s where the alicorns drew the line. The griffons may be violent but they would never try something as bold as a surprise attack on the castle. “Alright, I’ve heard enough,” Luna said. “Come Sister, let us leave this place.” “You go on ahead, Luna,” Celestia said. “I’ve got more questions.” “As you wish, Sister,” Luna said as she left. “So tell me, Princess,” the creature said. “What do you want to know?” *** Celestia sat on her throne barely listening as Grand Stander droned on. Her attention was still focused on the creature. The things it had told her last night. Such marvels of technology he described. He truly came from a fascinating world. And there was something about him that made her feel at ease and at the same time he made her feel so nervous. “And now for the results of the investigation into the alleged griffon attacks on pony towns,” Grand Stander said. Celestia was surprised. How had they conducted an investigation that quickly. “Bring in the creature and the general.” “Sasuke,” Celestia said. “What?” Grand Stander asked. “Sasuke. The ‘human’s’ name is Sasuke Uchiha.” Grand Stander was shocked, “Oh Faust, Celestia what did you do?” “Nothing. I just talked to him,” Celestia shrugged. “Do not mess this up,” Grand Stander commanded. “The griffons can wipe us out. Before you do anything rash, keep that fact in mind.” Celestia huffed but said nothing. The griffons walked into the throne room followed by pony guards pushing the cage with Sasuke inside. Sasuke wore his trademark grin even as he was restrained. “Sasuke Uchiha, you stand accused of committing heinous acts of malice unprovoked. An investigation into your accusations was started last night and has turned up no results. You are now also accused of lying in court. What say you?” Grand Stander said. “Who conducted the investigation?” Sasuke asked. “A contingent of guards was sent to investigate last night. They interviewed a great number of ponies and griffons. They couldn’t even fathom your accusations.” Sasuke looked directly into Grand Stander’s eyes. Then surprising everyone in the room, his eyes changed color to a deep red with a strange pattern. “It seems strange that such an in-depth investigation was conducted in one night,” Sasuke said without breaking eye contact. “Why don’t you tell me in detail exactly what happened.” Grand Stander’s face lost all emotion and he responded in monotone. “The investigation was never conducted. I knew from the beginning your allegations were true. I have allowed it to happen to prevent war between our countries.” “Enough!” General Tolbert yelled. “You filthy monster! How many dirty tricks do you have left?” The general was seething with rage. “We’re moving up the timetable. Valkyries, begin your assault!” The Valkyries began attacking ponies and creating chaos. Several of them flew outside and let a group of griffon soldiers that had been hiding nearby into the castle. Celestia couldn’t so much as move. The chaos all around her was drowned out by her own thoughts. ‘Grand Stander knew! And he let the atrocities happen!’ She could feel the rage building inside of her. ‘And these griffons think they can do whatever they want! I am NOT going to let this happen!’ She looked around everywhere she looked, ponies were being attacked by griffons. Luna was doing her best to fight but the alicorns had little experience fighting and there was too much movement to get clear shots of the griffons. Celestia was out of her depth. She had no idea what to do. She wildly scanned the room for options when her gaze fell on Sasuke. He was sitting in his cage smiling expectantly at her. She walked to him. “Seems like it hit the fan, doesn’t it?” he said. “Shouldn’t you be doing something about this?” “I can’t,” Celestia said. “But you can, can’t you?” “I can do anything. Anything at all. Just this once I’ll fulfil whatever your wish is. Whether it’s world conquest, or eternal life, or to defeat the saiyans that are coming to Earth.” “I don’t have time for your jokes! Will you help us or not?” “Of course I will. All you have to do is tell me what your wish is.” Celestia rolled her eyes. “My wish is for you to save my precious ponies. Please help us.” Sasuke’s eyes grew wide and glowed a brilliant red. His face turned into a massive grin. “First gate: Gate of Opening!” He snapped the chains and stood up. Sasuke drew his sword and smiled. “We’re gonna have fun with this thing.” And he was gone. Sasuke moved too fast for Celestia to keep up with his movements. Griffons started dropping from the air with splashes of blood going everywhere. Celestia watched in awe as a blur moved throughout the castle leaving slumped griffons everywhere. Her gaze shifted to General Tolbert. His beak was in a snarl as he watched his soldiers get beat. He drew his own sword and leapt at Sasuke. They clashed in the main hallway and stared each other down. The remaining griffon soldiers went to defend their general but he held up his claw. “Do not interfere,” the general said. “I will handle this personally.” All the fighting stopped as every eye watched the monster fight the general. They lunged at each other swords gleaming. Every clash produced sparks as the two creatures fought. The griffon general grew more and more frustrated as he couldn’t lay so much as a single strike on Sasuke. Sasuke, however landed blow after blow on Tolbert. Tolbert was breathing heavily and covered in his own blood. Sasuke grinned maniacally. “If you surrender now, I promise a quick and painless death.” The griffon general responded with another lunge. “Painful death it is.” Sasuke cut off the general’s sword arm and grabbed him by the neck. “I can’t think of a line that would be appropriate so I’m just going to go with die.” Sasuke repeatedly slammed the griffon into the stone floor until his body was limp and bloody. He looked around at all the remaining griffons who stood motionless. “Well,” Sasuke said, “who else wants to die?” The griffons looked at each other and then kneeled. One walked forward to Sasuke and kneeled in front of him. “We surrender ourselves to you, great warrior. You may do with us as you please.” Sasuke looked confused, “What? What the hell is going on?” The griffon spoke again, “You defeated Tolbert in single combat after his challenge. For defeating the one we were sworn to, you have won the right to command us.” Sasuke looked even more confused. “Aren’t you soldiers? Wouldn’t you be sworn to your country?” The griffon shook its head. “We are not soldiers. We are Valkyries.” “Let’s pretend I know what that means. What happens now?” “What ever you wish. Although the ponies would probably have us executed.” Sasuke smiled. “Let’s make a deal. I will protect the Valkyries from death and prison and in return they will serve me until the end of time.” “You want us to change the traditions we hold dear?” “You said anything.” The griffon looked down. “Very well.” Celestia and Luna watched this unfold completely dumbfounded. They had no idea what to make of the situation. On one hoof, the fighting was over on the other they now had to deal with a dangerous creature that was now apparently the commander of a griffon strike team. “So princesses,” Sasuke said. “What now?” “We rebuild,” Celestia said. “And then we strike back against the Empire,” Luna finished. *** Several days had passed since the battle in the castle. Sasuke had instructed the griffons to aid in fixing the damage and clearing out the bodies. He stood watching over the effort with the two alicorn princesses. “What’s your next move?” Sasuke asked. “We have no choice,” Luna said, “We will never be safe unless we can stop the Leomhann Empire. Sasuke, you have experience we do not. Will you aid us?” “I did not want war,” Celestia said. “But it is inevitable. The griffons have committed atrocities that must be answered for. Luna is right. We will need your help. Will you help us?” Sasuke looked out over the castle. “You’ll need more than just military expertise. You both need training. You may be powerful but the fight a few days ago proves how much strength you lack. If you had the strength, you could win. In return for my gift of strength, you must grant one of my wishes. If you enter this contract, you will live as a pony but also as one completely different. Different rules, different time, a different life… The strength I teach will make you lonely indeed. If you are prepared for that, then…” “I am,” the princesses said in unison. “Very well.” Sasuke reached a hand into their manes and touched the back of their necks. They felt a small tingle and he withdrew his hands. “The proof of our contract. As long as it remains we are bound to each other. Now then, we have work to do.” **********Ponyville General: Present Day********** The gathered mares were awed by the princess’s story. They had no idea what to make of it. One thing was certain though. While some of their questions were answered, the story mostly just brought up new ones. “What happened to Grand Stander?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Yeah it seems like he should have gotten his slimy flank kicked,” Rainbow Dash added. “Well you see, Grand Stander-” Celestia started. She was interrupted by a guard rushing into the hospital room. “I’m sorry to interupt, your highness,” the guard said, “but a summit has been called and leaders are on there way to Canterlot.” “Then I must leave at once,” Celestia said. She groaned as she got up. “We will talk about this later my little ponies. I promise.” “A chariot is waiting for you outside,” the guard said. Celestia left the mares in the hospital room. They all looked at each other unsure of what to say. “How are we supposed to beat the guy that taught the princesses how to fight,” Applejack said. “We’ll use the Elements of Harmony, just like we always do,” Twilight said. “No matter the problem we can solve it with our friendship.” “Sasuke won’t stand a chance,” Pinkie cheered. **********Laputa 1st POV********* “ACHOOOOOO!” “You’ve been sneezing a lot today,” Starlight said. “Is the altitude getting to you?” “We have a superstition back on my world,” I said. “You sneeze when someone is talking about. I hope its someone hot.” Starlight shook her head and went back to her book. We were sitting in the kitchen of the castle both reading books. Aoife came into the room and bowed. “Mephisto, sir, we have news,” Aoife said. “Report,” I replied. She tossed me a newspaper and I started reading aloud. “Leaders of Equus called to world summit in Canterlot. All expected to be there or send representatives for the next week. Summit expected to come up with plans to deal with the monster, a human known as Sasuke Uchiha. Interesting. In other news, a Ponyville mare becomes rich after winning a bet with every pony in Equestria about the existence of a creature.” Things were progressing smoothly. I turned my attention back to Aoife. “How are we on supplies?” “We just finished our last run. Laputa is now completely stocked and ready.” “Excellent. Then it’s time to move on to Phase 2.”