Chapter 11
**********Canterlot Castle 3rd POV**********
“I think the first thing we should do is pool all of our information,” Chancellor Boudicca said. All heads turned towards the pony princesses.
“Auntie Celestia,” Cadence whispered awkwardly, “why are they looking at us?”
“Because of this,” Celestia said as a stack of papers materialized in front of all of the delegates. “This is all we know about Sasuke. Powers, skills, psychological profiles, history, allies, down to the smallest details.”
Each of the leaders took a moment to flip through the dossiers. The griffon Chancellor’s gaze turned intense. If the griffons had this information during the war… She shook the thought off. It was time to focus on the task at hand.
“We also have info to contribute,” Boudicca said. She nodded to her guards who pulled out papers of their own. “A few days ago Sasuke came to the Griffon Republic. He and his associates destroyed a bar, kidnapped a griffon hen, and recruited the Valkyries.”
The eldest changeling princess spoke next. “You will find this interesting. At the same time Sasuke was encountered in the Badlands.”
“That’s hardly interesting, bug,” King Steel Sword commented. “It says here he can teleport.”
“If you would be so kind as to let me finish,” Princess Glamour said, baring her fangs. “I could tell you that teleporting from the Badlands to the Griffon Republic is a feat even Sasuke can not accomplish. But the most interesting thing is that he was seen in the company of another of his species.” The room was deathly quiet. Glamour continued talking. “The drones were able to confirm that neither of these were magically fabricated duplicates. After observing the two spar we were also able to confirm the new one has powers that are unlike any we’ve encountered before.”
There was only one question Celestia had. “How? How is it possible that another one is here?”
Councilor Khalifa stood up from his chair and slowly walked towards a window. He surveyed the city and spoke calmly. “If there is indeed another, Sasuke may have found a way to reach out across the void for allies.” He turned to face the group. “If this is indeed the case, we may need to reach out to our own dimensional expert.”
“Absolutely not,” Luna replied. “We are not that desperate.”
“Where is our dimensional expert anyway?” Glamour asked.
“Currently occupying a spot in the gardens,” Celestia said.
Councilor Kalifa continued. “We face an unknown threat of untold power whose motivations are beyond our understanding. It would be wise to utilise all of our available resources.”
“While I appreciate your logic, Luna is right. We are not so desperate yet that we need to use him,” Celestia said.
All of a sudden Boudicca gasped. All eyes turned to look at her as she continued to read the dossier. “I thought it was a myth,” she murmured. Boudicca looked Celestia directly in the eyes. “Can he really bring the dead back to life?”
Once again the room grew silent. Celestia looked away from Boudicca’s gaze. “Yes, he can.”
Boudicca choked down vomit as she asked her next question. “It says here that he taught both yourself and Princess Luna,” she said. “But that’s as specific as it gets. What did he teach the two of you?”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other and Luna responded. “He taught us how to rule and maximize our strength.”
Boudicca pinched the bridge of her beak in frustration. “That’s…. incredibly unhelpful. What specifically did Sasuke teach you?”
“We cannot reveal the specifics of our teachings,” Luna said quietly. “It was part of the oath he made us take.”
Steel Sword pounded his fists into the table. “You’re keeping oaths you made to that monster!?!”
“Calm down, Steel Sword,” Boudicca said. She turned her attention back to the alicorn princesses. “Is it safe to assume none of your oaths conflict with capturing or killing Sasuke?”
“That is correct,” Luna said.
“We need to focus on finding out what his plans are,” Khalifa said, satisfied with the alicorn’s answer. “What do you think he’s going to do?”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other. After a few minutes of their silent conversation, they came up with a response.
“We have no idea what his overall plans will be,” Celestia admitted.
“But we do know the beginning steps he will take,” Luna continued. “He will find a central base of operations and find a team to work for him.”
“Where will he set up his base?” Boudicca asked.
“It will be in a location that is impossible to reach without some sort of special assistance,” Luna stated. “It will be in a place that can easily see all sides, while also being easy to defend and extremely difficult to invade.”
“That sounds a lot like Canterlot,” Princess Flitter joked. “Are you sure he didn’t set up in the castle?”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other. Celestia called for a soldier. One came in and Celestia whispered something into the soldier’s ear before the soldier disappeared.
“What was that about?” Boudicca asked.
“Oh nothing,” Luna said.
“Moving on,” Celestia started, “we need to find Sasuke’s base of operations and prevent him from doing any… recruiting. Ideally all of us here would hunt him down together but I realize we all have countries to run.”
“I’ve got all of the clans on standby,” Steel Sword said. “If we march an army of my best warriors, we’ll be able to smoke him and his cronies out.”
Every creature in the room face hoofed/clawed. “Were you listening to anything we just said?” Celestia sighed.
Steel Sword just shrugged. “I fade in and out.”
Ignoring him Luna pulled focus back to the matter at hand. “It would be best if we send a small team composed of our best and brightest to hunt down Sasuke and keep track of his movements. This will allow us to focus on the bigger picture of figuring out his goals and coming up with a strategy to stop him.”
“That is an excellent idea, Luna,” Celestia said. “Are there any among us who object?”
She looked around and saw Glamour with a hoof raised and Raze with a claw up. “Glamour? Raze I kind of expected but what could you possibly object to?”
Glamour sighed as she thought of a way to best explain her predicament. “The official policy of the changelings is neutrality in any issues regarding Sasuke,” she said. “The queen is trying not to get on his bad side. I’m sure the griffons understand why.” Boudicca bristled at the slight. “AND the queen is still hopeful that she can create some changelings with his unique abilities.”
Celestia frowned. Having support from the changelings would make everything so much easier. Without their abilities, this process would take much longer.
“Still doing whatever mommy says,” Steel Sword taunted. “Why don’t you just step up and become a queen already? Then you can do whatever you want.” The room grew deathly quiet. All eyes were on Glamour as she looked at Steel Sword with daggers in her eyes. “What?” Steel Sword said.
Glamour lashed out and forced Steel sword up against a wall with telekinesis. The warrior king’s guards tried to step in but the other changelings held them in place. Glamour held the unfortunate minotaur with so much force he heard the wall behind him crack and found it hard to breathe.
“Do you know what the process is for becoming a queen!” Glamour shouted.
“Lay some eggs?” Steel Sword asked, making his situation worse.
Glamour forced him into the wall some more. She couldn’t understand how any creature could say anything that popped into their mind with such reckless abandon. Even Sasuke was more respectful when he talked with her and he was a killing machine.
“Glamour, release him,” Raze said, the dragon finally saying something. “Steel Sword please refrain from speaking.”
Reluctantly, the changelings released the minotaurs. Steel Sword dropped to the ground desperately trying to catch his breath. The two guards ran to his side to help him up.
“Why aren’t you helping, dragon,” Steel Sword asked trying to distract from his embarrassment.
“Dragons only raise a claw against the Great Elder Dragon when they want to challenge for right to rule. Otherwise we obey without question,” Raze explained.
“That makes sense,” Steel Sword said. “Wait what?”
“Anyway, that just leaves us with a team consisting of ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and zebras,” Celestia said.
“That should be more than enough,” Boudicca said.
“Very well then,” Luna said, “ I suggest we adjourn the meeting for today. Take this time to think of candidates for the mission.”
***
Celestia and Luna stood side by side on the balcony of Luna’s room changing the day into night. The orange glow of the sunset led into cool colored evening. Luna’s room glowed with the golden and blue glows of the sisters’ magic as they performed their most important duties. After the sun was lowered and the moon was in place, the two sisters heard a knock at the door.
“Lulu? Celly? You in there? It’s me,” the two sisters heard Glamour’s voice say.
“We’re here. Come in; the door’s unlocked,” Luna responded.
The baby blue changeling walked in the door and shut it behind her. She walked over to the bed and collapsed.
“That was awful!” Glamour exclaimed. “I can’t believe he would say something like that!” She rolled over onto her back. “Why don’t you just become a queen and then do whatever you want?” Glamour said, giving her best impression of the warrior king. “I’m sorry I lost my temper though. I hope I didn’t damage your beautiful palace,” she said looking over at the alicorn sisters.
Luna climbed into the bed and lay down next to the changeling princess. “Do not worry about it. I’m surprised you didn’t kill him. “
“It would reflect badly on mother if I killed a foreign dignitary in a fit of rage,” Glamour grumbled. “And it’s not like I don’t want to become a queen, you know? It’s just…”
“Have you found anypony yet?” Celestia asked. “You’ve been searching for a while haven’t you? How long did it take Mirage?”
Glamour groaned. “Of course the best candidate is Sasuke or one of you but that would be really awkward. Mother said it took her 2000 years before she she found a suitable partner. Apparently that’s the fastest time on record. I’ve only been searching for a couple hundred years. It’s so frustrating!”
“You’ll find a suitable candidate eventually, Glamour,” Celestia reassured.
“Sure,” Glamour said sarcastically. “As soon as I find someone more powerful than an alicorn who isn’t Tartarus-bent on destroying everything we know and love.” Glamour punctuated her sentence with a roll of her eyes.
Luna snickered while Celestia sighed and smiled in defeat. The three friends talked long into the night.
Meanwhile in another part of the castle, a certain griffon was pouring over the information she had been given. Boudicca was driving herself crazy with all she was learning about the demon. No, not demon. Human. If only her ancestors had this information maybe they could have…. Could have what? She certainly wasn’t mad that the ponies won the war. In the long run, it had led to global peace and prosperity for all nations. But the human… the monster…. during the war it showed no mercy to its enemies. No hen, tercel, or chick had been spared. It had taken a strong, proud race and reduced their population to less than a fourth of what it was. All in the course of a few months. The alicorn princesses might not see the urgency, but griffons knew. They never forgot. Its cruelty was a legend, passed down from generation to generation. And now it fell on her to protect her country. Boudicca would not let them down. She would keep her griffons safe. She would put an end to Sasuke’s reign of terror. Once and for all.
***
The second day of the summit found the world leaders filing into the throne room to begin choosing members for their team. As the alicorn princesses walked into the meeting Celestia was surprised to see Shining Armor waiting next to the doors to the throne room. He saluted her.
“Princess, if you have a moment,” Shining Armor said. Cadence felt confused. He wasn’t here to talk to her?
“Of course, Captain,” Celestia replied. “How may I help you?”
Shining Armor hesitated and looked at Cadence. He shook his head and cleared his throat. “If you’re planning to take down the creature, I would like to volunteer myself.”
Cadence frowned. She was still unsure Sasuke was evil. What had he done, really? Sure he put her aunt in the hospital but alicorns are extremely resilient. And then he had only taken back what was rightfully his. And anytime she thought about the world inside his mind she just felt so… comfortable and at peace. Surely any creature that could make her feel that way couldn’t be all bad, right? She had argued about this with her fiance. And now here he was going over her head to her aunt. Sometimes this stallion could be so…. bullheaded!
“Thank you for volunteering, Captain Armor,” Celestia said. “We have several candidates that we are considering for this task force and I will be sure to put your name forward.”
Cadence frowned. Shining Armor smiled. He wished Cadence would understand. He fought with this creature. It was nothing but a black hearted monster that took joy in seeing others suffer. Shining Armor was sure of this. Why else would anyone release a bunch of timberwolves and an ursa major into a populated area? Not to mention, rumor had it the creature was building an army. It had no country to defend. The only reason it could possibly need an army would be to invade another country. Shining Armor wasn’t going give it the opportunity.
After all of the leaders were gathered in the throne room, Celestia was the first to speak.“Now that we’re all gathered here it would be best to start naming our candidates and going over their strengths and weaknesses.”
“I’ve got the best warriors on all of Equus,” Steel Sword boasted proudly. “My first candidate is…”
**********Deep Everfree 1st POV**********
“Is it me or did it just get really, really dark?” Starlight got closer to me and nervously looked around.
“Don’t worry,” I explained. “It’s just part of the Everfree. Once you get deep enough, it’s just always dark.”
“Valkyries, switch to night vision,” Aoife instructed.
I watched, curiously, as the griffons’ eyes changed. What were once the eyes of eagles and hawks, became cat eyes. Except for the griffon that was part owl. They glowed in the dim light giving my warriors an impressive look. Starlight was pressed against my leg at this point.
“Why did I have to come?” Starlight whimpered. She gestured behind herself with a hoof. “You brought all your griffon buddies. I don’t see why it was necessary for me to be here.”
I looked back. All ten of the Valkyries, Gilda, and Starlight had accompanied me. Starswirl stayed behind in the castle to continue working. Starlight wanted to stayed behind as well but I needed her to help set up.
“What if I just enjoy your company?” I teased Starlight. “Maybe I just like having you around.”
Starlight rolled her eyes. “I honestly don’t think you enjoy anypony’s company except your own.”
“Would you two stop flirting and look around! We’re surrounded!” Gilda shouted. It wasn’t like I didn’t notice the creatures surrounding us; we weren't in any danger.
Timberwolves slowly crawled out of the darkness snarling and growling. I could feel the fear coming from my little group. It seemed I had forgotten to tell them…. Oops.
“Moro, you there?” I asked.
Moro walked out of the shadows and growled something to the other timberwolves. They all stopped advancing and sat down on their hind legs. “You’re late.”
“Sorry about that, Moro,” I apologized.
She walked up to me and nuzzled me. I reached up and hugged her head in my arms. We parted and she turned around. “We will take you to the den.” She walked into the forest.
“Let’s get moving everyone,” I ordered. As we moved through the dark depths of the forest, Starlight and Gilda pressed against either side of me.
“Timberwolves? Really?” Gilda whisper-shouted. “We’ve been walking through this stupid forest for hours to meet up with some stick dogs?” One of the timberwolves growled at Gilda’s comment but they kept their distance.
“I’m more concerned with the fact that a timberwolf spoke!” Starlight said. “Timberwolves are intelligent?”
“Of course they’re intelligent,” I said. “Why would you think they aren’t?”
“Because they eat ponies!” Starlight squeaked.
“And griffons and pretty much everything,” Gilda added.
“So do dragons,” I responded. “And you can have a great conversation with them.”
“Sasuke, explain,” Starlight said humorlessly.
“Fine.” I cleared my throat. “A long, long time ago the first zap apples fell to the ground. The apples sat on the ground and over time were covered in fallen branches and dead plants. The magic inside of a zap apple is a special kind of magic. It likes to sustain life. The magic inside of the apple felt the death all around it and pulled the plants together to form the first timberwolf. Fast forward several thousand years to the beginning of the Celestia and Luna’s reign…”
**********Castle of the Two Sisters: Circa 1000 Years Ago**********
“That’s enough for today.”
Celestia and Luna were panting heavily. Our training sessions were intense but I was sure they could handle it. After all, they were alicorns. As soon as I told them it was over they collapsed on the ground.
“Must you work us so hard?” Celestia asked.
“It does feel as if each day our training gets more intense,” Luna agreed.
“That’s how you get stronger,” I told them. “You push yourself everyday. Now let’s do some magic training.”
The alicorn sisters groaned. I knew they hated magic training the most but, for them, it was the most valuable thing I could give. More importantly, they were laughably ignorant of their own power. They had no idea what their magic limit was or how to use its full potential.
“Today I want you to feel the magic within yourself,” I instructed. “You will do this by meditating and using your own magic to feel the magic within yourself.” I was mostly making things up at this point.
“That makes no sense,” Celestia said.
“Doesn’t matter just do it,” I replied.
They frowned but sat up. They closed their eyes and took a deep breath. The air hummed as they focused on their magic. A glow started around their horns and quickly spread to their entire bodies.
“HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!”
The princesses’ eyes shot open. Warning bells rang throughout the castle.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked.
“It’s a monster attack!” Luna yelled.
“We have to go help!” Celestia agreed.
“No, this is good,” I said.
“What!?” they screamed in unison.
“Hear me out,” I explained. “This is perfect for your training. I’ll go out and watch over the ponies while you defeat the monsters from here.”
“You can’t be serious,” Celestia said.
“As a heart attack.” The two alicorns stared at me. I could hear screams in the background. “Every second you waste fighting me on this, is another second a pony could be getting eaten.”
“Fine, fine,” Luna said, going back into her meditation. Celestia said nothing. She continued to stare into my eyes. I raised an eyebrow and she relented. She walked over to her sister and entered the meditative state. Once again the two alicorns were covered in a magical aura. I leisurely walked out into the castle courtyard to find out what was going on. Timberwolves. Timberwolves everywhere. There had to be at least a hundred timberwolves rampaging. They ran around destroying everything they could find and attacked…. mostly pegasai…. weird. I leapt into the fray and assumed my ready stance. Two timberwolves immediately ran at me. When they got close I withdrew my sword and…. They ran right past me. What? It wasn’t an isolated incident either. None of the timberwolves were paying any attention to me at all. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Should I be insulted or curious? I settled on mostly curious with a hint of insulted. Before I could do anything however, I saw her. A white unicorn with a yellow mane, and steely blue eyes. She stood in front of a pack of ten timberwolves and glared them into submission.
“Now leave. Or I’ll have to punish you,” she said her horn aglow. The timberwolves whimpered and ran back into the forest. I was impressed.
“How did you do that?” I asked as I approached her.
The unicorn looked at me and walked to more timberwolves. She forced them to cower under her gaze again. “These timberwolves are just pups. They respond to alpha dominance. It’s the larger ones we have to worry about. They have an established alpha and won’t bend.”
I continued to watch her work. She was incredible, driving off beasts with nothing but a harsh stare and a few threatening words. When we finally encountered adult timberwolves, I was in for a real surprise. With minimal effort, the mare crushed the timberwolves and squeezed them into the size of a baseball and flung them into the forest. I stood in awe of her power. She blew her mane out of her face and kept fight the timberwolves. All of a sudden all of the remaining timberwolves started exploding in flashes of gold and light blue. I smirked to myself. It was about time. Once there were no more timberwolves remaining, the unicorn mare gathered all of the pieces and threw them into the forest.
“So I noticed you didn't help,” she said, giving me a disapproving glare.
I wilted slightly under her gaze. “It looked like you had everything well in hand- er hoof.”
“Uh huh.” The mare rolled her eyes. “Where are they?”
“Where are who?”
“The princesses, obviously,” she said holding a hoof to her face.
“Oh right, them.” I placed my hand on the mare and teleported us to the alicorn sisters. When I saw them my blood ran cold. I could feel their magic. It was so powerful and infinite. But that wasn’t even the strangest part. In releasing what I could only assume was their true power, both alicorns had transformed. Luna looked like Nightmare Moon without her armor. Celestia’s coat was a pale white, her normally rainbow mane now a fire flowing wildly in the nonexistent breeze.
“Luna, Celestia battle’s over,” I said. The magic stopped flowing through the alicorns and they returned to their normal forms.
“I feel tired,” Luna said weakly. She leaned over on Celestia for support. Celestia nuzzled her little sister.
“What does he have you doing in here?” the unicorn mare asked.
Celestia’s eyes settled on the voice she jumped slightly. “Oh, hello Mama Blue. We were just training our magic.” Celestia turned to me and smiled. “You were right. We could stop the timberwolves from here. I won’t doubt you again.”
“That’s great and all but who is this?” I asked pointing to ‘Mama Blue’.
“I am Lady Blueblood, head of the noble house of Blueblood,” she said.
“She’s also the one who keeps the other nobles in line so they don’t do anything crazy,” Celestia said.
“Crazy…. Like offering up helpless ponies to appease sadistic griffons?”
Lady Blueblood didn’t even blink at my accusations. “Yes, Grand Stander was an absolute monster and I should have realized it sooner. But you fixed that problem for me, didn’t you? I guess you had it well in hoof- er hand.” She smirked at me. Well played.
All of a sudden several guards burst into the room. “Your highnesses we have a problem!”
“More monsters,” Luna asked.
“Worse,” the guard responded. “During the attack, all of the prisoners escaped!”
“All of them,” I asked.
“Yes, sir.”
I turned to the princesses. “I told you we should have killed him.”
“Killed who,” Lady Blueblood asked.
“Grand Stander,” Luna replied solemnly. “Grand Stander is free.”
***
“I knew we should have killed that smug asshole. And now here we are trekking through the dark depths of some God-forsaken forest to find him. Does anyone listen to me? Nooooo ‘Your methods are too violent and cruel. Everyone deserves a second chance.’ Well how’s that second chance shit working out for you now!”
Lady Blueblood turned around to stare at me. She looked me up and down. “You’re just mad you stepped in manticore crap.”
I opened my mouth to speak but decided against it. After all, she was right. I was actually pretty excited about this mission. We decided that it would be best to send a small team to move quickly and recover the prisoners. Lady Blueblood and I were the best at combat so we went into the forest to hunt down Grand Stander. However, neither of us had any tracking skills so we got lost almost immediately.
"Soooooo," I started.
"Sooooo what?" Lady Blueblood asked.
"Why do the princesses call you Mama Blue?"
The unicorn was quiet for a moment. "Because I take care of them like they were my own daughters."
"Why? They're both older than you."
"That may be true. But they aren't yet fully matured. When they became alicorns their mental development was slowed. Right now they're teenagers in the bodies of fully grown mares."
I was stunned. I mean I had kind of suspected as much but it was still surprising. Lady Blueblood continued explaining. "And the Blueblood family motto is to always take care of others."
We walked in silence as I contemplated her words. Deeper we walked into the forest as Lady Blueblood looked for our target and I was lost in my thoughts.
“Well this has been an enormous waste of time. I’m gonna take us back to the castle,” I said.
“Wait,” Blueblood said. “Do you hear that?”
“I’m not a pony,” I replied. “Your hearing is better than mine.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” she stated.
“My bad. Yes, I do hear that. It sounds like low growling.”
Lady Blueblood just looked at me. “How can anyone stand to be around you?”
“I’m told it takes great effort.”
Unfortunately, while Lady Blueblood and I wasted time bantering, we were surrounded by timberwolves. By the time we noticed, all the timberwolves were in position. Blueblood and I stood back to tail and readied ourselves for battle.
“Stop wasting time,” Blueblood hissed. “Teleport us out of here!”
“I kinda want to fight them,” I whispered back. “I’ve never fought a timberwolf before.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. They just kind of ignore me.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
The timberwolves started inching forward. A deep growl shook the forest and they all stopped. I looked around, confused as to what was going on. A gigantic timberwolf appeared from the darkness and walked in front of me. The other timberwolves move backwards and formed a tight circle.
“T-t-t-that’s an alpha wolf,” Blueblood whimpered, her voice dripping with fear. “Teleport us away right now or we are going to die.”
“Well aren’t you a big boy.” My eyes lit up with excitement as adrenaline coursed through my veins. My sharingan activated and my fingertips tingled with the light sensation of electricity. “We have a saying back on my world: the bigger they are, the-”
“What are you? I’ve never seen one of your kind before. You’re unnatural yet… The forest sees you as part of it.” The alpha wolf spoke with a deep, commanding voice. It walked closer, cocking its head as it looked down at me. “Your presence does not interfere with the life of the forest. So why do you ally with ponies?”
Blueblood and I stare dumbfounded at the scene in front of us. “Did you know timberwolves could talk?” I asked her.
“I did not,” she replied.
“Ok then.” I cleared my throat. “Well I’m thoroughly disappointed we’re not going to fight. Greetings great timberwolf. I am Sasuke Uchiha and this is my flunky, Lady Blueblood.”
She glared at me. “To answer your questions, I am a human. The only human, in fact, you’ll ever meet. As for teaming up with the ponies…. That’s a bit more complicated.” Blueblood raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“Human, you say? That is interesting. What brings you this far into the forest? Especially if you’re going to bring one of them.” He growled at Blueblood and all of the timberwolves surrounding us growled. Blueblood shifted uncomfortably and moved closer to me.
“We were tracking a unicorn that escaped from the castle. Dark blue fur, grey mane, middle aged, podium tattooed on his ass. Have you seen anything fitting that description?”
“We do not typically allow ponies further than here,” the alpha said. “However there was a pony that looked like that. It was with a group of ponies in armor until it met with some griffons and was lifted away.”
I frowned. I should have known even without his position Grand Stander would still have influence and loyal followers. “I just have one more question since you’re being so cooperative. Why did timberwolves attack the castle today?”
Lady Blueblood’s ears perked up. Her gaze focused on the alpha.
“All species have reckless, immature youth. I mentioned how the winged ponies were destroying the delicate balance of the forest and the pups thought that they could prove themselves by killing them.”
“I take it you want the ponies out of the forest entirely,” I asked, an idea forming in my mind.
“What are you doing,” Lady Blueblood whispered.
“Just trust me and don’t say anything.” Lady Blueblood looked pensively at me before sighing and lowering her head.
“It is not that we do not want ponies in the forest. We want them to stop interfering with the natural cycles of the weather and plant growth.”
“But it is their nature to manipulate their environment,” I said.
“So it is. We will stop the interference one way or another.” The timberwolves started growling and inching forward.
“Wait! There’s a way we can do this without casualties on either side,” I pleaded. “In fact there’s a way we can benefit each other!”
The alpha sat on his hind legs and the other timberwolves did the same. “I am listening, human.”
“How about we make a deal.”
**********Deep Everfree: Current Day**********
I looked around. Starlight and the griffons were enraptured by my story. Unfortunately, we had reached our destination so they would have to wait to hear the rest. A large dark cave stood before us and the timberwolves walked into it.
“Ok everybody! Into the cave,” I commanded.
As the Valkyries walked into the cave, the shrieks of birds could be held along with an annoyed Aoife reminding her subordinates that they had wings.
“Right,” I said. “Forgot to remind them about the drop off. Oh well. Shall we go ladies.”
Gilda rolled her eyes and turned her beak up at me. She walked by me into the cave. I could see the nervousness in Starlight’s eyes. I picked her up and walked into the cave. Remembering how to navigate was easy. There is a ledge ten yards in. There is a rock formation that forms a natural staircase on the wall of the cliff. If you’ve never been inside before, chances are you’ll take a step and just fall off. Luckily for Starlight, this wasn’t my first time.
I descended down into the depths of the cave with Starlight under my arm. I put her down when we got the bottom. Everyone was frozen in awe of what lay before them. The cave was illuminated by a single hole in the ceiling. The light shone down on a grove of zap apple trees that reflected the light all around the cave. The most impressive part was the thousands of timberwolves that occupied the area. They paid no attention to us, going about their business.
“Gather round everyone,” I said calling them together. “I’m going to go over the individual missions you have. As you all know, our main goal is to invade Canterlot. However, that is diversion. Our actual mission is going to be stealing some artifacts from the castle. You will all be split up into teams. Two griffons and ten timberwolves per team.”
“How are we supposed to fight legions of royal guards with only ten timberwolves at our disposal?” Andraste asked.
“Moro, if you would.” Morro howled. After a few minutes a large group of timberwolves joined us. They were different from normal. They had metal plating along their bodies and large blue sacs underneath their bodies.
“What in Tartarus are those,” Andraste asked.
“These are timberwolves geared up for battle,” I said. I could see she was still confused so I explained further. “Timberwolves can assimilate any plant matter they come across into their bodies. This makes them stronger and harder to damage. The metal is just wedged in there though.” Satisfied with my explanation Andraste nodded. “Now, Aoife and Moro are going to be with me. We are going to handle the leaders at the summit. Merlin you are going to be the one to break into the artifact storeroom and get what we need. The timberwolves will help you carry everything. Gilda and Starlight you two are going to go to Starlight’s old lab and collect her coworkers.”
“What?” Starlight yelled. “Why!?”
“Because once we need more scientists and researchers. Don’t interrupt me again. Everyone else is going to cause as much chaos and destruction in the city as possible. You’re going to keep the guard busy so Merlin can work. You need to pair up. I would pair you myself but I don’t know your strengths and weaknesses well enough yet. After that pick ten armored timberwolves and get some rest. Once the operation is complete, Merlin will use one of these,” I held up a gemstone. “ These are spell gems. They have one use only so don’t waste it. Merlin will get two. The first one will shoot a red flare into the sky signaling he has completed his objective. The second will teleport him to a predetermined location. All of you will get the second one. Use it when you see the flare. The location is the castle of the two sisters. Once you’re there, the timberwolves will lead you here and then we’ll go back to the castle. Understood?”
“Yes Sir,” my minions all responded in unison.
“Excellent. Dismissed.” They all went to work out their own details but Starlight stayed behind.
“Is there something I can help you with,” I asked her.
“It’s just…. I was with you after you fought Princess Celestia. And I’m not doubting your power but you were pretty injured afterwards. Now you’re going to fight all three princesses at the same time. I just….”
“Awww is someone worried about me,” I teased.
Starlight’s faced turned red. “No! But if you get captured or worse, how am I going to see my sister again?”
“Don’t worry this isn’t the first time I’ve fought them,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”
Starlight looked like she was about to say something but decided against it.
“Besides,” I continued. “I’ve got several tricks up my sleeve for quick getaways if something goes wrong.”
That seemed to calm Starlight down and she trotted over to Gilda to discuss what they needed to do.
“This is not going to be an easy battle,” Moro said as she nuzzled me.
“No, but it is necessary,” I replied. “Are you ready?”
“Always.” Moro lay down and I lay my head on her side.
**********Canterlot Castle 3rd POV**********
It was the last day of the summit and for that Celestia was glad. The proceedings had been long and tedious and choosing the members of the strike team had not gone as smoothly as she had hoped. But now that was all coming to an end. The members were set, the funds were in place, and the only thing left to was gather the members.
“The members of the Anti-Sasuke strike team are as follows,” Luna announced. “Meat Grinder, Minotaur, Minos. Cocidius, Griffon, Griffon Republic. Hamza, Zebra, Zebrafrican Tribe. Long Bow, Pegasus, Equestria. Swift Arrow, Pegasus, Equestria. Shining Armor, Unicorn, Equestria. Are there any objections to this list?”
All eyes focused on Steel Sword. He had been unhappy that Equestria had gotten three members while he only had one. He was reminded that Equestria had three races to represent and therefore had the right to three members. Had not noticed, however, that two pegasi were chosen.
“If there is no objection then we will proceed.” Luna signed her name on the document and passed the paper to her sister. The paper traveled around the room receiving signatures from the most influential beings on the planet until it made it’s way back to Luna.
Luna looked around in a paranoid manner before she began speaking again. “With this the summit can conclude. Are there any matters that need to be addressed before we adjourn?”
Celestia heaved a sigh of relief. It looked like Sasuke wasn’t going to show up after all. Although it seemed out of character for him, she wouldn’t as he would say ‘lick a gift horse in the mouth’.
“You know for sure I thought that human would come,” Steel Sword said. Celestia felt a tingle on her neck. “From his profile this seemed exactly like the kind of thing he’d want to mess up.”
“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” That voice made Celestia’s blood run cold. All of the leaders looked around as their bodyguards took defensive positions. Steel Sword showed no signs of fear.
“I expected you to come earlier,” Steel Sword grinned. “But this is still good. Now we won’t even need the team to destroy you. I’ll claim that glory as my own!”
“Well you know what they say,” Sasuke said dropping down from the ceiling. “The hero always arrives at the last minute.”
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WHOOHOO! Great chapter! Loved this! I wonder if Sasuke will use any of the powers Madara gave him??? Also, so THAT'S where Mama Blue is from eh? Fascinating. Liked how Sasuke said Naruto's quote from the Wave Arc. Very creative.
Also, just what is Sasuke's objective?? Hmm... Update this soon! I'm so nervicited for the next chapter!!!!
Right now, i hate the part where you gave easily to madara Mama Blue, she didn't deserve that T.T
Oh damn guess we should have eliminated the changeling earlier on. Oh well that's just what Craig's like
Sasuke is one you do not mess with. And the Minotaur sounds like Ohnoki.
The Dark Gods are slightly pleased. Tzeentch more than most.
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I bet he just likes to confuse them. Make them unsure of what to do about him, until BAM! His big plan hits them right in the muzzle!
Plans within plans....
Worthy of Tzeentch!
In before the minotaur gets one shotted.
6440486 I have no doubt he's going to take pot shots at the image Celestia made for herself and possibly make her snap to make people see Celestia as she truly is.
6536491 Agreed.
This Sasuke may not be the real Sasuke but if it were, then I would prefer this guy over the pompous windbag we got in canon.
More shipping!
On a side note, I was always wondering why Starlight never said anything about Starswirls revival. Technically he possessed the body of another pony, which worries me. Robbing bodies is not really such a nice thing to do after all.
It is currently 2 am in the morning. Curse you and your awesome story for keeping me up late
good night
8400037
Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t. Who knows for sure until we find out.