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Book 2: Chapter 13,299 words

Chapter 5

"Welcome to Canterlot young ponies." Celestia said to the elements as they entered her throne room.

"Where's Itachi?" Luna asked, slightly concerned that he was not among them. "He did get the summons, right?"

"Don't worry Luna, I'm here." Itachi said as he walked in. "Sorry I was just admiring the design of the architecture and lost track of the group." It was a white lie, but there was no need to get them worked up over a nervous feeling he had.

"My sister has told me that she has informed you of the impossibility of return to your world. You have my sympathy Itachi, nopony should ever have to be forcibly separated from their home."

"Thank you princess I appreciate it."

The five ponies in the room who hadn't heard this already, turned to Itachi.

"You're stuck here?" Fluttershy asked softly, a shocked look on her face. "That's terrible."

"It's not as terrible as you might think; please, don't get upset on my account." He said smiling at them all.

"How can it not be terrible? You'll never be able to see your home ever again, doesn't that bother you?" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.

Itachi looked over to Luna and they shared a look for a long moment before he turned back to the assembled ponies. "Because if I hadn't ended up here I would be dead Dash. You saw how bad I was when you first found me, in my world there was no cure for that disease and I wouldn't be alive if Luna and Celestia hadn't cured me of it. Fate is a fickle thing but I can't help but feel I ended up here for a reason, I have no idea what that reason is but by coming here even though I can never return I was given a second chance. Not being able to see my home again is a small price to pay for my life." He turned to look out the window, smiling "and besides, if I had to end up being stuck somewhere, Equestria doesn't seem half bad." He said, echoing his statement from last night.

He turned back to the group,"Now Celestia, I assume you summoned me here for a reason?"

"Yes I did, first of all I wanted to thank you personally for stopping that manticore, that was no small feat and you doubtlessly saved many lives."

"And mah farm!" Applejack piped up.

Celestia smiled "Yes and Applejack's farm."

"So then why'd you bring the others here?" Itachi asked raising an eyebrow.

"I was getting to that Itachi. An attack like this is completely unheard of in Equestria's history, beasts like the manticore have attacked ponies who wander too deeply into their realms but there's never been a case of one coming out and attacking innocent ponies. This incident concerns me greatly, and gives rise to suspicions that it was influenced to attack Sweet Apple Acres."

Itachi opened his mouth to say something but before he could Celestia cut him off, "We do not suspect you of causing this Itachi, you were unconscious for two days and then were always with my student until it attacked." She smiled." Though I do find it funny that you would expect us to suspect you."

Itachi shrugged "I would if I was in your position, but I guess that's just my opinion as somebody who's used to conspiracy."

"What I want to know is how you knew it was going to attack. I don't remember anypony telling you about it." Twilight said.

"My Sharingan can read lips Twilight; I can see what you're saying from a mile away, maybe more depending on the weather." Itachi said grinning, "When you were talking to Spike I could read every word and made my decision to go help."

"In the meantime let's get back to the issue at hand, whatever it was that influenced that manticore, it is incredibly powerful, and obviously has malicious aims. It could very well be the greatest threat to Equestria since Nightmare Moon, perhaps more." Luna winced at the mention of her former title. "For this reason I summoned the elements of harmony, however Itachi you I summoned because I have a request to make of you." Celestia said, looking directly at him.

"You do?" Itachi tilted his head to side slightly in curiosity.

"These six ponies all have an obligation to protect this land and all its inhabitants. You do not, so I could not in good faith ask you to help us in this task, this is not your world, and these are not your people or even your kind. Your actions in Ponyville however have made me reconsider that decision and so I ask you, Itachi Uchiha of Konoha, will you help us defend our land?"

Itachi appeared to be thinking over the question as everypony in the room watched him intently, though he had already made his decision from the moment he had left to go defend Applejack and her family. "Princess Celestia of Equestria, I will aid you in the defense of this world with all my skills and knowledge. You have my word as a shinobi."

She smiled, "Very well then Itachi Uchiha, I will hold you to that promise should the time come. However as I said before, do keep in mind that whatever it was that caused that attack is extremely powerful and dangerous and poses a grave risk to us all."

…."My, my, my Celestia, I don't I've heard such compliments for a millennia." Said a voice that sent chills down everypony's spine. As it spoke an unnatural darkness began to enter to room, not the calm darkness of the night, but rather an evil horrifying darkness, the kind one only finds in their deepest nightmares.

"Who are you?" Celestia demanded as the darkness continued to advance into the room. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Surely you recognize the voice of the being that turned your dear sister against you? Or maybe you've gotten senile in your many years." The voice taunted.

"N-no it can't be…" Luna said, visibly shaking, an abject look of terror appeared on her face. "They sealed you away; you can't possibly be here…"

"Oh but I am my dear Luna, I've returned to bring darkness once more. And like last time, you shall be my medium to this world." As it spoke, the form of a great demonic alicorn formed from the darkness before them.

And the instant it opened its eyes; it was consumed in black flames.

Itachi couldn't have said at that exact moment why he was so hell-bent on killing whatever it was that had appeared before them. Perhaps it was because of the sheer evil that emitted from it? Or maybe it was because it was causing such fear in the one being on this world he had called a friend? No, those thoughts hadn't even begun to form in Itachi's mind when he had struck; it was something much simpler, its eyes. Itachi had only seen eyes that held the same malice and ambition in one other being in his life, the only person he had limitless contempt and hatred for, Madara. Itachi acted on instinct, activating Amaterasu, pouring all his hate and guilt over his failure to protect his little brother into killing that thing before him. He had never been so dedicated to destroying something in his life.

Every other pony in the room just stared at the writhing demon alicorn before them as it was consumed by the intense black flames. Luna however, looked over at Itachi, knowing that no pony could create flames like this. What she saw would be burned into her mind for all time, Itachi's eyes had changed, the patterns that had existed on the surface had shifted. The most prominent thing was that his right eye was leaking blood giving him the appearance of weeping it. But that wasn't what shocked her, she had never seen such hate in another being's eyes.

As the flames continued to burn, the alicorn they covered vanished and Itachi's right eye returned to normal, extinguishing Amaterasu. Everypony in the room stared at the spot the pony had vanished from, and then slowly turned to Itachi.

"What WAS that?" Celestia demanded, for the first time sounding angry. Not even she, the mistress of the sun could produce flames of such heat.

"Amaterasu." Itachi said simply "The ultimate fire release technique, cast from my right Mangekyō Sharingan." He indicated his bleeding eye.

"Well, inextinguishable black flames that burn with an intensity greater than that of the sun. You ARE indeed special." Said the voice as the demonic alicorn reformed unharmed. "Allow me to introduce myself, I go by many names but you may call me Nightmare."

"But we sealed you away!" Twilight shouted, as the other elements of harmony stood by her side.

Nightmare laughed, though there was no humor in it. "Yes you may have successfully managed to 'seal' me away temporarily. But my power rises with the negative emotions present in this world." It looked over at Luna, "And your doubts about your relationship with this human have given me all the power I need to return!"

"I-I don't have any doubts!" Luna shouted half-heartedly

"LIES! I've seen the thoughts swirling around your head! You wonder whether he will abandon you like all the others did millennia ago! About his ability to understand you for who you really are! Do not lie to me Luna, for I know you better than anypo-"

Nightmare was interrupted by a single word, it wasn't particularly loud but the danger and command it carried gave it the impact of an atom bomb. "Enough."

Nightmare tuned to the Itachi, whose eyes bored into its own with all the intensity and hatred of a mortal enemy. Itachi now knew why he was able to see so clearly, he now knew why Amaterasu was more powerful than ever before and did not affect him. Somehow he had gained an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. He knew not why or how but he did know what he planned to use it for, to annihilate the presence that tormented Luna before him.

It was at this exact moment the elements of harmony decided to act, as the six ponies began to glow and rise into the air. However, Nightmare had anticipated this and vanished once more, the darkness seeming to recede. The elements continued to hover but it appeared the darkness was gone and they lowered themselves to the floor. But it was not over, not by a longshot the second they touched the ground darkness swept over them once more and they instantly all became overcome by exhaustion and collapsed to floor, every single one asleep.

Celestia began to run forward in concern, but stopped realizing something and turned to her sister with trepidation, as she lay eyes upon Luna her worst fears were confirmed. Her sister laid on the ground convulsing as she fought phantom enemies in her mind, the dark presence of Nightmare overshadowed her, and it spoke one word. "Gotcha."

Celestia just stared at it in defiance as the darkness rushed forward for her, as it overcame her and she collapsed to the ground, she weakly grunted out "you'll…pay…"

Itachi knelt next to Twilight, making sure that the only thing that had happened was that they were asleep. He could feel the presence of the darkness attempting to influence him, but his chakra and experience with genjutsu burned it away. He walked calmly over to Luna, who continued to thrash about on the ground muttering, "No…no…no."

He knelt down next to her and cradled her head in his hands, "Luna, look at me." She didn't respond, he lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, "Luna, please…. If you don't want to be its slave again you have to open your eyes and look at me, it's the only way I can help."

Itachi had finally gotten through to her as he watched the princess' eyes opened slightly, it wasn't much but it was enough as he delved into her mind.

Itachi walked down a seemingly endless hallway. Everybody's mind was always the same on the inside, a network of hallways with innumerable rooms. The older and more experienced the person the more labyrinthine the hallways and the more numerous the rooms, as each room was a memory. Luna's was definitely the largest one he had ever seen, of course she was also the oldest person he had ever met. He wasn't worried about being lost as he could easily sense her presence ahead of him.

He eventually arrived at her location, not surprisingly it was at the core of her mind, the annex of all the hallways. She lay on the ground, a dark humanoid figure stood over Luna, casting an aura on her. Luna shifted on the ground writhing in the hold of whatever nightmare had consumed her. The figure turned to look over at Itachi, it was composed entirely of darkness but its eyes burned through as two bright orbs.

"So you can even see me inside her, impressive. You're just full of endless surprises aren't you Itachi Uchiha?"

"If I were you, I would leave here now. I would recommend you find the darkest hole under the biggest rock you can find, and hide there so as to prolong your existence a few more seconds before I destroy you." Itachi spoke in an emotionless voice; cold rage had overridden any other feeling he might have had.

Nightmare laughed, "I think I'll pass on that offer actually. But now it's my turn to give you some advice, you should never have come here." It raised an arm towards him." By entering her mind, you have exposed your own!" Nightmare shouted as darkness shot into Itachi.

Itachi could feel Nightmare's presence in his mind; he could feel it whirling through all of his memories in an instant, assimilating his entire life. But then Itachi's instincts kicked in and his chakra flow became so intense that Nightmare's influence was hurled out of the ninja's mind.

Nightmare fell to one knee. It hadn't expected Itachi's response to be that powerful. Nevertheless despite its failure it smiled, what it had found there was just too perfect. It shifted the position of its hand over Luna, changing the dream that now raged through her mind, and therefore in the minds of all the other nearby ponies.

Luna's movements become more intense, as the new dream took hold, whatever it was its effect on her was so great she screamed.

She stood on a street, one that looked oddly familiar, lined with buildings adorned with the same symbol she had seen on the walls in her previous dream. "No, please don't!" Shouted a voice before her, and she looked towards its source, a human was running down the street towards her. He hadn't made more than a few steps when his back arched and he collapsed face first into the street, a knife embedded in his back. As he collapsed the figure behind him who had thrown the blade became visible. Luna gasped in horror, but before she could do anything she looked around at the scene around her, bodies littered the street many had throwing weapons of some kind sticking out of them.

"Take this you traitorous bastard!" a different voice yelled and she looked up just in time to watch as three more humans charge the mysterious figure. But before they could do anything the figure leapt into the air over them throwing out a cloud of shuriken, they all impacted. The figure landed before her with its back towards Luna and began to slowly turn around, she was breathing hard unable to move she was so terrified. Horror permeated her as she saw the face of the man who had just killed four men like wheat before a scythe, it was Itachi Uchiha.

The scene shifted to the room she hadn't been able to see before in her previous dream, Itachi was standing above the bodies of a man and a woman looking over them at a small boy, whose resemblance to Itachi was uncanny. "Why Big brother?" the boy choked out as tears ran down his face. "Why did you kill mother and father? WHY DID YOU KILL OUR WHOLE CLAN!?"

Itachi slowly opened his eyes as he said one sentence. "To measure my abilities."

Luna couldn't help it she screamed, wanting the scenes that played before her to end.

Itachi's face became etched with concern, "What did you do?" he demanded.

Nightmare smirked, "Oh nothing, I'm just showing them a little tidbit from your past."

His eyes widened, no….not that "Which one?" he asked even though he already knew the answer, he just had to hear it for himself.

"The one that torments you with guilt every waking moment of your life."

Itachi shut his eyes, the rage building inside of him, "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" He yelled as his eyes shot open, he would make this thing pay dearly for what it had done.

Nightmare's eyes widened as it felt something take hold, it watched as the scene around it blurred and shifted. The sky swirled until it was nothing but black clouds flying across a red sky, Nightmare was constrained to wooden cross of some type unable to move, everything here was a different shade of black or white. In front of him stood Itachi holding a sword, "I wonder how long you can resist…" he asked as he stabbed Nightmare in the stomach with his sword. Nightmare screamed as it felt something it had not felt in millennia, pain, a pain so intense and horrible it made Nightmare want the end to come.

…But it didn't, when it reopened its eyes the wound was gone, but the pain lingered and there were now two Itachis standing before it. "In the world of Tsukuyomi.." One said as he stabbed Nightmare,"… I control time."

"Even the mass of objects." The second added as he also stabbed it. "You will be stabbed with a sword for the next seventy-two hours; I wonder how long you can stand it?"

After what seemed like days and thousands upon thousands of stabs later. Itachi spoke once more, "The time remaining is seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty nine seconds."

"THAT WHOLE THING WAS ONE SECOND!?" Nightmare shrieked in terror as over a hundred Itachis approached.

Itachi was merciless, extending the genjutsu far beyond anything he had ever done before. Nightmare's mind was most certainly broken at around the eight month mark, but it hadn't done anything to deserve the mercy it begged for.

Itachi collapsed to one knee as he ended the genjutsu in Nightmare's shattered mind. He clutched his hand over his left eye as he watched the form of Nightmare in Luna's mind explode in a high pitched keening scream, quite terrifying, or it would have been if he hadn't been causing such a scream for the past year in Nightmare's mind.

Itachi saw the bright white marble floor of Celestia's throne room beneath him once more as he pulled himself back to reality. He was on his knees, lacking the energy to stand. He had one hand clamped over his left eye and the other on the ground to support him as he panted heavily. He had pushed himself too far but he had accomplished his mission, Nightmare was gone, for now anyways. Itachi knew that a mind like Nightmare's couldn't be completely broken he'd given it one hell of a effort, but it would be back… eventually.

In the meantime Itachi knew he had to get out of here, get away before the ponies around him awoke. Through sheer force of will he stood and started stumbling towards the balcony, there was the possibility Nightmare had been lying when it had told him it had shown them his massacre of the Uchiha clan. But Itachi had been lied to by experts, by those who made their lives on it and he didn't see a trace of dishonesty in Nightmare when it told him that.

He finally made it outside, shaking from exhaustion as he grabbed onto the railing using it to steady himself. He looked out over the edge gauging the distance, wondering if he could take a fall like this in his current state. He decided it didn't really matter as it was his only way out, as he leapt over the edge Itachi remembered the looks he had gotten from every ninja he had ever seen- fear, contempt, hatred, they were the only things he'd ever seen in the eyes of every shinobi since that fateful night. Then he had ended up here, where he might've finally been able to escape from the choice he had made all those years ago but no it had still managed to haunt him, even on another world.

How could these ponies understand? He asked himself as he began to fall, They don't know war, they don't know suffering, they've never had to make a choice like I did. Itachi hoped he'd never have to explain it to them.

…However life is not always so simple, as Itachi began to fall he suddenly stopped. He noticed he was floating in midair and began to float back upwards. Oh no… He hadn't been quick enough, as he floated up onto the balcony again he saw their faces of the six elements of harmony, every one wore an expression of terror at the sight of him. As he floated above their heads into the throne room, he looked over to the two royals, obviously shaken by their encounter with Nightmare and the events they had been forced to see, Celestia looked at Itachi with nothing but fury.

It was Luna's face however that drew all of his attention, there were tears flowing down as she looked at him, not in fear or hate or contempt, but sorrow. She whispered one word that drove right through to the center of Itachi's soul "…..why?"

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