//------------------------------//
// A Child's Mind 
// Story: Vessel of Harmony 
// by Ranoa- Walker of Worlds 
//------------------------------//

	Far to the north of Ponyville, near the border of Equestria there is the Crystal Empire. A fascinating kingdom protected by the magic of the Crystal Heart. Currently ruled over by Princess Mi Amor Cadenza, otherwise known as Cadence, and her husband Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard. They had been in charge of the Empire since the curse placed on the realm broke a few years back. Normally, the great castle in the middle that rose high above any other building was a place of great peace and serenity; this morning however, that was not the case.
For you see there was a pink and violet blur zooming through the halls of the palace. This little blur was laughing uncontrollably as it dodged around the staff, guards, and visitors as it successfully evaded a perusing orange and white unicorn stallion with glasses.
“Princess Flurry Heart! Please! We must get ready to leave!” Sunburst yelled after the young alicorn princess. Even though she had the majority of her rampant power bound when she was a newborn it didn’t stop her natural development over the last three, nearly four years. Her magic was still in check for the most part; it was her flight however that she was endowed in, much to the distress of her mentor and Crystaler, Sunburst. 
Like any healthy filly her age Flurry Heart was filled with too much natural energy and an attention span that lasts a minute for every year of her age. Her normal distractions were not available this morning, the servants that normally greeted her in the morning were busy helping prepare for their ruler’s departure. So, it fell to her teacher to keep the princess entertained. Unfortunately, the wizard’s knowledge of magic did not translate well to foal care. 
The chase continued through the halls of the castle until suddenly Flurry Heart bounced off a purple spongy magic barrier.
“Flurry Heart, are you giving Sunburst a hard time?” Shining Armor asked making his presence known.
“Daddy!” Flurry Heart exclaimed as she tackled her father in a hug. A huffing and puffing Sunburst caught up and just about collapsed on the ground.
“I’m sorry Captian, she just won’t stay still.” Sunburst apologized. A smile appeared on Shining Armor’s face as he ruffed up his daughter’s hair,
“Maybe I should have the guards chase after you for their morning exercise.”
A new voice broke the conversation,
“That would be almost unfair to them.” Cadence said as she came into the conversation, “Flurry, I know you’re bored but we are getting ready to go see auntie Twilight. Won’t that be fun?” the filly’s face practically grew hearing this news.
“Really? We going to see auntie Twili?” She asked.
“Yep.” Shining Armor confirmed, “All your aunties will be there. And some one new.”
“New?”
“Yep, Twilight adopted a foal.” Cadence said, “That means that you have a cousin now.”
Flurry Heart’s mind started to process this news. Cousins were family members; family members were ponies to play with; ponies to play with equaled fun. When her brain clicked the filly broke into a big smile.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” The little alicorn celebrated while bouncing around, “New friend! We can eat cookies and cake and we can play princess together!”
“Uh, Flurry Heart,” Her father started watching his jubilant daughter, “Twilight didn’t adopt a filly.” With almost an audible screech Flurry Heart came to a stop.
“She didn’t?”
“No, she adopted a colt.” Flurry’s mind went back through the thought process,
Colts, they didn’t like to play the same games as fillies. They were more rough then her filly friends, but they were still fun. She could work with this.
“OK, we can find different games to play!”
“Your highnesses.” A guard in golden armor approached, “The train for Ponyville will be leaving in twenty minutes.”
“Thank you, dismissed.” Shining Armor said, sending the guard off with a salute.
“Come along dear, time to go to the train.” Cadence ushered her daughter. Flurry Heart took off at a happy gait followed by her parents and teacher. In hushed tones the royal couple conversed,
“Should we tell her?” Shining Armor asked.
“We hardly understand what Naruto is ourselves. We should just let her unbiased foal mind make a decision.” 

-Ponyville

Back inside the mind of Naruto, Luna was wandering through the mindscape of Naruto Uzumaki. It was much like the dream from the night before, a mesh of the human village and Ponyville, and again no sign of Naruto.
“This is an interesting mind.” L.O.G.I mentioned, “My master never explored a mind so young. Has subject Naruto undergone a major change recently?”
“He was just adopted and moved from another world.” Luna informed the artificial pony.
“Acknowledged. Severe changes in life can often times cause shift in the mindscape.”
The princess and the construct made their way through the shifting landscape looking for the forest from the night before. Sure enough they found it. Its very appearance gave L.O.G.I pause,
“Princess Luna, something is not right about this place. I do not perceive it as any mental phenomena that my master recorded.”
“Are you able to figure out what it is?” Luna asked.
L.O.G.I froze for a few minutes before responding,
“It appears to be a foreign but accepted addition to subject Naruto’s mind.”
“Foreign but accepted?”
“This is not an area of the mind that matches subject Naruto’s own; however, this addition was most likely introduced shortly after birth as such it is not perceived as a threat to subject Naruto’s natural defenses.” 
Luna ventured forth into the dense forest and didn’t have to go very far before the ground became the swamp from the night before.
“This place seems to be distilling memories.” L.O.G.I said looking down at the tinted water. Before Luna could ask for an explanation the artificial intelligence elaborated, “This manifestation is showing memories boiled down to their base emotions. Physical contact with the water should reveal the actual memories.”
Luna looked at the water with fixation. It was a self-appointed rule that she was to never disturb the buried memories of whomever she is dream walking with. She would touch the surface memories to understand what the pony was feeling. Now she was presented with an opportunity to see what Naruto’s life was like, better than what he could express with words; but should she delve where she was not invited? L.O.G.I noticed the pondering look on the princess’ face,
“You are facing a dilemma?”
“It is considered rude to enter the memories of someone without their consent. But I wish to understand the colt.”
“Interesting. My Master did not express any such concerns when exploring the realms of the mind before.” L.O.G.I stated. Then before the princess could object the construct touched the waters.
The swampy water stirred and swirled as a window formed within the depths. Next thing that Luna knew she was looking from Naruto’s point of view as he sat in a long dark hall listening into a conversation.
“I’m sorry Lord Hokage. As long as he remains here no one will come to adopt any of the other children.”
This statement made by a woman on the other side of a door that Naruto was sitting next to, Luna realized that this must have been an orphanage. An older voice, weighed down by sad wisdom responded,
“He has nowhere else to go. You know that.”
“I understand that; but his presence here is hurting the other children. They need love just as much as anyone. But nobody loves him, I don’t love him.”
A pang of hurt shot from the memory like a cold wind. The scene changed again and again; and each time it was a memory focused on Naruto being alone, that no one was there to love him. The animosity from the villagers, the outright hate directed at him, the darkening feeling hearing parents telling their children to keep away from him.
As much as Luna wanted to look away from the shifting memories but she couldn’t. The loneliness reminded her of somepony. The questions that underlay each memory viewed, the sinking darkness that she felt, the only fleeting bits of happiness that were just not enough and only made you crave to have more, all of these feelings were all like her own. Her own time before she was Nightmare Moon.
She could understand such loneliness being focused at her. She was Princess of the Night after all and back then was an era of prejudice. Night time was associated with fear and darkness was something to wish away until the coming of the day. She could not comprehend why the people of the village she saw in memory be directed at such a young and innocent child. Unbeknownst to her, her emotions here elicited a tear in her physical body.
“Princess,” L.O.G.I interrupted her thoughts, “I have detected a foreign presence further in. Recommend proceeding to investigate.”
Luna tore herself away from the sight in the water and headed in the direction that her guide dictated. The flow of the water seemed to coincide with the direction they were travelling. Whatever they were going to find at the end of the flow was using the negative feelings of the memories.
After pushing her way through a thick bramble of trees and low hanging moss Luna gasped at what she saw. She didn’t know how it could have been possible, or why it was here, but there it was.
Standing on an island surround by the murky water was a tree. A hole in the canopy above shone a ray of gold light upon it. It was not like any of the other trees in the swamp, and much younger too, just a sapling in size. Despite its diminutive size it was very clear what it one day become. Luna had only seen one other tree like this before.
“The Tree of Harmony? But how could it…” Luna began to question when memories long buried resurfaced. Memories of the strange man in the vault, the man who took a sample of power from the Elements.
“Princess,” L.O.G.I said pointing out into the water to where a stone spire that resembled a lighthouse was sticking out. Drains on the side allow water to flow in to an unseen sewer through the spire. “The presence I am detecting is coming from down there.”
Resolving to revisit the issue of the tree later Luna flew to the top of the tower to where a circular staircase hollowed out the inside of the structure. L.O.G.I simply teleported to where the alicorn had traveled. Without saying a word Luna and her companion walked down into the darkness.
Water cascaded down the walls and flowed down the floor but the place was not flooded as the surface might have suggested. The whole place smelt and felt wrong, it was oppressive. Water sloshed under hoof with every step as the two navigated down the twisting halls of the sewer complex. There was no need for magical light, as a red tinted light that seemed to follow them would keep alight their path for a few yards, never allowing them to see too far ahead.
Finally, the narrow hall opened up into a vast chamber. From the roof massive roots descended down to the floor burrowing into a large shadowed mound. Lines of energy traveled up from the mound, through the roots, changing into multicolored lines as they disappeared into the roof above.
“It would seem that these are the tree’s roots.” Luna stated looking at the scene before her.
“Princess…” L.O.G.I’s next comment was cut off by a deep rumbling.
“I was expecting somebody to find me eventually; but I was expecting my prison keeper, not strange looking horses.”
The voice was deep and powerful like a thunderstorm or the voice of an ancient dragon. There was a great groaning as the mound shifted under the weight of the root system. Accompanying the groaning of wood there was the clanking of chains, not just one link but of many. The next thing that the ponies knew they were looking at two enormous eyes and a row of fierce sharp teeth.

-Elsewhere-

Gentle crashing of waves filled the ears of an equine figure as she walked down a shoreline. There was no sun or moon in the sky, only stars. Not like an inky blackness as is seen in the night sky, but it was more like standing in a nebula looking out at a massive cluster of stars.
The little pony walked down the beach with a cloak and hood covering her entire body, but it was tight enough to reveal a feminine figure and the bumps that were her wings on her back. She was looking for someone, someone that had called for her. Soon she spotted him. A robed figure sitting on a rock with their face shaded by their hood. 
The figure on the rock said nothing as she got closer until she was right next to him,
“You called?”
The figure looked up and revealed the Man in the Mask,
“Yes, I need you to be ready to play your part.”
“So soon? I wasn’t expecting to be called in for a few years more.”
“Things have progressed faster than I had anticipated.”
“Faster than you anticipated? I thought you had the power to see the ends of the strings of fate and change them to your desire? Or was that sacrifice you made for naught?”
The man just shook his head,
“I cannot control the individual actions of a person, or pony. I am still subject to the free will of others. Not even the price I paid can free me of that.”
“Fair enough.” She relented, “It would make you too much like a god if you had the power to make a person do what you want.”
“A true god would not force the world to follow their will. But we are getting off track.”
“We are? I guess we are. So what’s the plan?”
From within the folds of the man’s cloak he extracted a glass sphere that had glowing lights like stars coming from within. To most anyone else it would just be a curious sight; but to those who knew, the lights inside contained the address of a particular world.
“Go to this world and wait. Soon enough they will come and I need you there to establish yourself as a face they can trust.”
The mare thought about it for a minute before nodding and taking the orb,
“Understood.” The hooded pony then turned her gaze out to the ocean where the Masked Man was looking before her arrival. The orange and violet tinted sky of stars and gas reflected in the waters with no clear detail, making the sea look like a patchwork of colors,
“Why do you look at this all the time? It can’t be good for your mental state.”
If the man’s face could be seen there would have probably a somber look on his face,
“Sometimes it is good to remember all that you’ve lost. And I have lost more than most. My people, my planet…”
“Your own name?” The pony offered. To this the man nodded,
“Only I remain to remember what I have lost, but there are none
The mare inwardly cringed at his words. Even for all the good that the Masked Man did in the wide cosmos he still felt very much alone; something that she couldn’t fix at this point in time.
“I should go.” With that the mare disappeared into thin air leaving the man alone once again.
Looking up into the sky the man whispered under his breath,
“One day I’ll bring you all back. I promise.” to remember me.”