> The Price of Power
>  by kingrulerword
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot Castle Gardens: Current Day**********


Come on! Sing with me!

Do you want to know the thing I hate most about being a statue? I couldn't escape the voices in my head. This particular voice belonged to Discord, spirit of chaos and the only other being I could communicate with. In exchange for his help, I taught him a few songs. It seemed harmless enough at first. It got really old, really fast. A thousand years is a long time to hear the same five songs over and over again. I thought back to the life I had left behind.


**********Human World: ???? Years Ago**********


It had started innocently enough. In a reversal of a popular theme, my brother and I dressed as Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha respectively. We thought it would be funny. Anyway, while we were there I saw this stand run by the shadiest looking guy I've ever seen. I start browsing through his wares and he just stares at me. My eyes stop on a book with the Uchiha clan symbol on it. I open it up to find a list of every technique preformed or mentioned by any character in the series. Suddenly, I was consumed by the need to own this book.

"How much for this," I asked the guy.

"You have a good eye. For a gentleman with exquisite taste, such as yourself, it's only $150," he said giving me the most twisted smile I'd ever seen in my life.

"Please tell me you're not really going to pay that much money for something you can find on the internet for free," my brother said, looking at me as if I had grown a second head.

"You heard the man," I replied, handing the vendor the cash, "I have exquisite taste."

"When you get hungry, Mr. Exquisite Taste, you're on your own."

"Yeah, fine, whatever. Hold my wallet, I need to make room for the book."

My brother held my wallet while stuffed the book into the purple rope around my waist. Once I was sure it was in place. I took a moment to admire my work and we walked away from the stand. I couldn't have taken more than five steps before the room started spinning. What the hell? I thought as I crashed into the ground. I could hear my brother calling me, his voice getting distant. As I blacked out, I heard the voice of the shady vendor,"Hang on to that book. You're going to need it."

I awoke in a grassy field, just outside of a forest. "Where the hell am I," I wondered aloud, hoping someone would hear me. Wherever I was, this place was unnatural. The grass was such a bright green that it looked almost like a cartoon. The clouds looked as if a twelve year old had shaped them. Trying to remain calm I checked my person. I found the book I had just bought and my cell phone. I checked my phone. No service and no internet but the numbers looked right and made sense. That was good. Now I knew I wasn't dreaming.

"I don't remember doing any drugs, and I seem pretty lucid." I discounted the possibility of drug-induced hallucination or coma. I kept searching myself for clues and found something I wasn't expecting. I had a sword. I had a real sword and it was an exact replica of Sasuke's sword. At that moment I heard a scream coming from the forest. Being the type of person I am, I walked in the opposite direction. "Well," I thought to myself, "I should probably find civilization."


**********Canterlot Castle Gardens: Current Day**********


Discord had stopped singing. That meant one of two things either he had forgotten the words and was going to start another song or there was a tour group and he was trying to identify them. I hoped desperately it was the latter. Luck, it seemed, was on my side today.

"This statue represents discord, which is a lack of harmony between ponies," I heard. That voice had to be Cheerilee! I was finally caught up to the show.

"Discord, it's them! Get ready!" I heard the cutie mark crusaders arguing and I felt myself grow excited. I would finally be free! I was about to listen in when I heard something else that caught my attention.

"Ms. Cheeriee, what's this one," a squeaky little voice asked. Another reason to be excited. Nopony ever asked about me. Only two statues in this area and people only want to know about the draconequus. I'm a strange looking creature too.

"This is the statue of a horrible monster. The legend says that over a thousand years ago this creature wandered through equestrian burning down everything in its path. It had an unquenchable thirst for destruction and rage. It ran rampant across Equestria leaving trails of carnage in its wake until it was stopped by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," Cheerilee explained.

"That's so scary," the little voice barely managed to say.

"And wrong," I thought. "It was one village, one castle, and one forest."

"Dont be afraid," Cheerilee comforted her student, "This creature never actually existed. It's just an old story."

So now in their eyes, I was both a terrifying monster and fictional. I guess all the good I did would be forever lost to history. When I got free, I was going to start a new legend. One nopony would ever forget. Now if Discord could just set me free, I could put my new grand master plan in action. The class's voices grew distant but I waited until I couldn't hear them anymore.

"Discord? Did you get enough?"

I was answered with the sound of cracking stone and yawning.

"I sure did," he exclaimed, "I've got to say, you were right on the money."

"Now it's time for you to hold up your end." A snap of fingers later, I felt myself fall to the ground. All of my senses were returning to me and I could move my limbs for the first time in ages.

"Well I've got a lot of things to do, places to go, ponies to see. I'll be going now," Discord said.

"Wait! There's still one more part to this deal. I expect to be paid in full."

"About that," Discord said nervously, "This seems like a terrible idea."

I stood up,"Doesnt matter. Just do it."

"Now you may feel a slight pinch."

Discord snapped his fingers and I felt my face smack into the soft dirt. I was in the worst physical pain I had ever known. It was a burning, stabbing sensation coming from the empty sockets where my eyes used to be.

"Anaesthesia, you idiot!" I yelled in between my screams of pain.

"What's anaesthesia? Anyway as requested, here is your new pair of eyes. Almost genetically identical to the ones you previously owned as specified." With another snap of his fingers, the pain subsided.

"I've also sped up the healing process," Discord said. "Think of it as a 'gift'. It's been a pleasure doing business with you and best of luck with your endeavours, Mr. Uchiha."

I was alone. I rolled over onto my back and tried opening my new eyes. The light was intense but I quickly adjusted. I looked around.I'd forgotten how bright the colors of this world were. I tried activating my Sharingan. It worked and now came the real test. I tried activating my mangekyou sharingan. It worked and there was no pain while using it. Now it was eternal. Now I could put my plan in motion.

First, I needed to retrieve the things the princesses took when they defeated me. I felt outwards with my chakra and felt all of my flying raijin marks react. They were all where I left them. That was an unexpected blessing , now I could teleport instead of walk. I focused on the mark on a lower level of the castle and in a flash of yellow light, I was gone.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot Castle Interior**********


I had teleported into an armory. There were swords and shields lined up on every wall. I looked around for the weapon that had led me here and was disappointed that I had not found my own sword. What surprised me were the kunai I found. It seemed a few of them had the raijin seal on them. I briefly wondered how they had lasted so long without any visible signs of use. Magic. That had to be it. These would come in handy. I took all of them except for one and put them into my summoning space. My wrist guards allow me to send things to a separate space where I can store them and then retrieve them when I need them. 

"If I were a princess, where would I put my stuff," I asked myself. Then I had a great idea: why not just ask. I scanned the castle with my sharingan looking for large amounts of energy. I found three significant sources of power. Two of them lined up with my raijin seals, Celestia  in the throne room and Luna in her bedroom. The third was not nearly as powerful as an alicorn but still more powerful than anything else in the castle. The energy was magenta so it had to be Shining Armor. Twilight Sparkle should still be in Ponyville. Just the ponies I needed to see.

I created two shadow clones and we all looked at each other quietly for a moment. "Enough of this, it's time to go."

"Dibs on Luna!"

"Dibs on Shining Armor!"

"Dammit," I silent cursed. How like me to leave me to deal with the hard part. "Just don't duck this up."

"You should stop talking to yourself."

"Yeah, people will think you're crazy."

They started laughing as they left. One of them teleported to Luna, the other walked out to find Shining Armor. I should work on not being such a dick. I thought to myself as I teleported to Celestia.


**********Clone #1**********


It didn't take long to find Shining Armor. He was leading a squad of ten soldiers through the halls. I wandered around and stopped in a position that I knew he would have to pass. I don't have anything against him. I really don't. But I was going to need Cadence to join me at a point in the near future and I knew he would get in my way. 

When he saw me he froze for a second and looked me in the eyes. I took the chance to put him in the illusion that I was standing three feet from where I actually was. He recovered from his stunned silence quickly.

"Halt creature," he commanded. "State your name and purpose."

I smiled as I started weaving my hand seals. Water Style: Tearing Torrent. Before they could react I fired high pressure bursts of water at all of the guards except Shining Armor. I didn't use enough force to kill them but they were going to be nursing broken bones for a long time. Shining Armor captured my illusion in his bubble shield. 

"Oh no, I've been captured," I said sarcastically.

"What kind of evil monster are you," Shining Armor spat out.

"The worst kind," I said dispelling the illusion, "the kind you can't stop."

I kicked him in the side hard enough to hear a satisfying crunch come from his ribcage. He groaned. He was in too much pain to focus his magic but not enough to be knocked out. He was trying to stand and I could see that every move he made just made his suffering worse. It was time to end this.

"Some captain of the guard you are," I said walking towards him. "If you can stop petty criminals but not real threats, I don't think you have what it takes." 

He tried to say something but it hurt too much for him to talk so I continued. "You failed to stop me. For all you know, I could be here to kill the princesses. And it would be your fault if I succeeded."

I could see the color draining from his already pale face as my words stung him. "Do you have any family, Shiny?" 

My use of Twilight's pet name for him made him twitch. " Could you imagine if you had any younger siblings? It would be terrifying you know. To have an older brother that you know can't protect you. It'd be even worse if you had a marefriend." 

Another spasm. "What would she think when her knight in shining armor fails to come to her rescue?"

He tried to say something but only a gasp came out and he fell to the ground. "You fail as a protector Shining Armor," I said as I knocked him out with a blow to the back of the head. I looked at his unconscious body and placed several genjutsu in his mind. The first was that whenever he saw his cutie mark, he would see a broken shield. The rest were surprises that would be triggered by outside stimuli. I took a look around the hallway and admired my handiwork. Then I dispelled the clone jutsu and let my body dissipate.


**********Clone #2**********


Luna's room was dark. The only light came from the faint twinkle of lights on her ceiling replicating the night sky. In the center of the room, Luna herself lay asleep in a large circular bed. The covers rose an fell with her steady breathing. I walked over to her a pulled the covers back and took a moment to admire the sight before me. I briefly considered leaving and letting her sleep. Briefly.

"Luna, wake up. We need to talk," I said as I gently shook her.

"Sister? Is it time to raise the moon already," she asked, still in a fog.

"One: I'm not your sister, I'm more like your brother. Two: it's still early afternoon."

There was a loud clack as Luna jumped from her bed, eyes wide in disbelief. She turned the lights on with her magic and looked me up and down several times .

"Sasuke," she barely managed to whisper," Thou art truly Sasuke. How is this possible? Are you still blind? Are you still..."

Her last question trailed off as she suddenly looked afraid ,"How doesn't matter. All that matters is I'm here now, I'm not crazy, and I can see you just fine."

"We knew you would not be gone from us forever. We knew you were still in there."

"It's good to see you too Luna. Do you know where my things are? I want to get them before we catch up."

She thought for a moment before answering, " We wanted to keep them as a reminder of the good times but Celestia took them to be studied. She didn't want to risk them having some of your leftover magic and corrupting somebody. Once it was discovered there was no residual magic we sent them to the Canterlot museum so that all might remember you as you were before."

"I don't think it worked."

"Yes, tis true many ponies only remember the worst." She looked down.

"Are they still there?" 

"Yes, we will retrieve them immediately."

"That won't be necessary although I do need you to do me one more favor," I said as I looked into her eyes.

"Anything," she whispered.

"Sleep." I used my sharingan to knock her unconscious. I lifted her up and put her back in her bed. She was surprisingly light. I checked to make sure she was asleep and then I undid the clone jutsu. Canterlot museum, huh? 


**********Canterlot Castle Throne Room**********


Princess Celestia was reading a letter when I teleported into the room. Before she noticed me, I used amaterasu to surround her guards in a cage of black fire.

"Oh no," she said looking around.

"Oh yes," I replied locking eyes with her from the center of the room.

"How did you get free," she said angrily.

"Is that really how you greet an old friend? Not a 'hi how have you been?' Or even 'I'm sorry I trapped you in stone for a thousand years!'"

"You were out of control and I had to stop you. Is that why you've come here? For revenge?"

"Revenge?" I laughed, "Revenge is a fool's game. I'm just here to say hi to one of my best friends in the whole wide world."

"Then why have you attacked my guards?"

"Because I wouldn't want you to do anything....hasty."

"Why are you really here?"

"Because I've got a message for you. This time around I'm not playing nice. I'm going to take what I want, when I want it. Send whoever you want after me and I'll send back their heads. This is your first and only warning." I felt the memories of the shadow clones pour into my mind.

"Please don't do this," Celestia pleaded, " I did miss you. You were a good friend. I don't want to have to fight you again."

"Don't worry. I still think of you as my friend. But I won't be subject to your rule any longer. I've got big plans for this world so don't get in my way." I felt out for one of my raijin marks and felt one in the Everfree Forest. "See you later, princess." I said as I teleported away.

> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Everfree Forest**********


I stood in the entryway of the great hall and took a look around. Other than a thick layer of dirt and grime covering everything, the Castle of the Two Sisters had aged pretty well over the last thousand years. I mean sure there were holes in the walls and ceiling. And the decorations were ripped and faded. But it was still standing and would provide adequate shelter. I walked through the halls my memory of the castle keeping me from getting lost. I searched for the thing I wanted most in this or any other world right now: a bed. Down the dark twists and turns and up several fights of stairs I found what I was looking for. Two large doors adorned with a golden sun, in the image of Celestia's cutie mark, told me I was getting close to my target. I passed another set of doors with a white moon in the image of Luna's cutie mark. Finally I found the room I was looking for. Two large doors with a black sun in the shape of Celestia's cutie mark. Inside the image of the sun, were three tomoe in the shape of my sharingan. I smiled as I pushed open the doors. I smiled as I remembered my room. It was just the way I had left it: ninja tools everywhere, all kinds of scrolls on the desk, and the books about the basics of pony magic. After collecting all of the items, I flopped down on the bed enjoying the soft caress of magically reinforced sheets.

"I should probably set up some defences, " I said aloud. "Don't want to wake up in chains again."

Feeling lazy, I decided that instead of a barrier for the castle, a sensory technique would be better. Rain Tiger at Will Technique. I covered the castle and the surrounding area in a 5 mile radius in rain. Getting used to the new sensory input, I lay on the bed. Now I could sense any intruders and have time to respond. I could feel every different animal moving around, taking cover from the sudden rainstorm.  Now I just needed to plan out my next steps. I knew for sure that I couldn't put my plan into action without my book. All the techniques that required specialized preparation were out of my reach until I got it back. I groaned. That meant I had to go back to Canterlot. Should've thought about that before I left. I made a shadow clone.

"What the hell do I do now?" I said. "Celestia and Luna are definitely on high alert now and  I really don't want to have to fight them."

"Don't worry about it," the clone said. "We'll just sneak into the city using the flying raijin and take it. In and out."

"How? The only place we can even teleport to is either next to Celestia or Luna."

"Really screwed yourself not leaving that kunai where you found it, huh?"

"You're not helping."

"Sorry. You need a different way in. Or you need one of them to leave Canterlot. Fighting one isn't so bad."

That was right. If I fought them one at a time I could easily win. Fighting them both at the same time was the problem. Then I remembered: Lesson Zero. Celestia will leave Canterlot; I just need to figure out when.

"When in the show's timeline are we?" I asked.

"How would I know that if you don't."

"Right."

I thought about it. Discord was just resealed so at a minimum it would take a week. With that in mind, I felt more at ease. A week woukd be plenty of time to come up with a plan. I just needed to go watch Ponyville for a while.

"On a completely unrelated note," the clone started, " do you ever get worried about what talking to yourself like this says about your mental health?"

I dispelled the clone and turned over ignoring what he said. I got comfortable and it didn't take long for me to fall asleep. My eyes popped open. How long had I been out? It felt like 10 minutes at the most, however the sun's position disagreed. I had slept through the night and into the morning. What woke me up then? I felt something on the edge of my senses. Ponies were disturbing my rain. There were only three of them: two pegasai and a unicorn. They were on the edge of my range. I considered leaving them alone but I had to make sure they weren't a threat. The strange thing is they were staying on the edge of my rain, not moving. I leapt out of the window and started moving through the trees to check out my intruders.

I found them setting up some strange device. The two pegasai were royal soldiers in full armor. One looked older and very experienced the other looked young and was acting nervous. He was clearly a rookie. The unicorn was light green mare with a pink mane. She was taking samples of the rain, using a spell on them, and them putting the sample into the machine. I watched them silently from a nearby tree. 

"Well? Is this it?" The younger soldier asked impatiently.

The unicorn seemed to not have heard, being absorbed in her work.

"Is this it or not?" the young soldier asked again.

"This is indeed the strange rain Princess Celestia told us about," the unicorn confirmed.

"That means it's in the old castle," the older soldier said.

"That's what the princess told us, Captain Bow," the young soldier said. "Now let's report back."

"We don't leave until Starlight is done, Swift."

Damn it how stupid could I be! Of course this would be the first place Celestia would look for me. It was literally the only place I could go. Not only that, she also remembered my Rain Tiger technique and used it to track me. At least I hadn't told her what it did. I needed to fix this, now. I summoned a handful of throwing stars and got ready to attack.

"We should leave now, " Swift said. "I don't want to risk a run in with this creature. And Princess Celestia was very clear about staying longer than we need to."

"Calm down Swift," Captain Bow reassured. " You were trained for the Everfree. We both were. We can handle anything that comes our way."

"Besides," Starlight added, " aren't you curious about this spell? The rainwater itself is infused with a strange magic I've never seen before and it covers such a large area. There has to be a reason for it. What do you think this spell does?"

"With my luck, " Swift said, "it probably tells it where we are."

"Don't be such a foal, " Captain Bow said. "But Swift is right, Starlight, we shouldn't spend too much time here."

"Aww what's the matter, " Starlight teased, "big strong soldier afraid of a-"

"AHHHHHH!" Starlight was interupted by the pegasai's screams of pain. I had grown tired of their conversation and decided I wasn't going to get any more useful information out of it. I had thrown the shuriken into the joints between their wings and their backs. They weren't going to flying off anytime soon. 

"What happened? Are you guys OK?" Starlight was frantic. Her eyes were wide and she was on the verge of having a panic attack.

"Something hit our wings. We'll be fine, just run!" Captain Bow shouted.

Starlight turned to run but I wasn't having any of that. I focused my desire to kill on Starlight. Killing Intent. She froze in place.

"What are you doing, Starlight?" Captain Bow screamed. "Run!"

I dropped from the tree I was in and walked over to the ponies.

"Oh no, oh no, oh Faust no, it's you," Swift stammered.

"You know, I'm a little hurt. After your long and arduous search, I finally reveal my self to you and this is how you respond? Oh how you wound me," I put my hands over my heart and smiled. I saw chills run down their spines over my little performance. "Miss Starlight is it? Why don't you come back over here with your companions."

Starlight slowly made her way over to the other ponies. I could see the icy cold fear gripping her as she shook every time she took a step forward.

"Now that we're all here together, what, may I ask, were you up to?" I asked.

"Nothing that concerns you," Captain Bow said as the others looked down.

"Aww. Keeping secrets is mean. How about this? I'll trade you a secret for a secret."

"Maybe we should tell it," Swift whispered. "I don't want to die."

"W-w-w-we w-w-were t-t-tracking y-you on the orders of P-p-princess Celestia," Starlight barley managed to get out.

"See, was that so hard," I said to Captain Bow. " Now I'll tell you something. I told Celestia that if she sent any ponies after me I was going to send her back their heads on a plate."

"What," Swift asked. He looked like he was on the verge of crying. The other two just looked stunned.

"But I'm feeling super generous today. So I'll only kill two of you.  So to get things started: My name is Sasuke Uchiha and my special talent is either murder or foalsitting. I'm not really sure but I like both."

The three ponies stared at me with their mouths hanging open. I rolled my hand in the air prompting them to introduce themselves as well. Swift caught on first.

"My name is Private Swift Arrow. My special talent is escaping life or death situations alive."

"Are you sure?" I asked. " This is a life or death situation and if  I were you, I would not like these odds."

Swift whimpered and folded his ears back.

"Alright, I'll go next. My name is Captain Long Bow. My special talent is mid-air combat."

"Interesting," I said, " and you."

I gestured to Starlight. She looked over to Long Bow. He nodded and she cleared her throat.

"M-my n-name is S-starlight S-shimmer. M-my s-special talent is analyzing foreign magic."

That caught my attention.

"Any relation to Sunset Shimmer?" I asked.

"How do you know my sister? Do you know where she is?" At the mention of Sunset Shimmer, all of Starlight's nervousness was gone.

"I do know where she is. But first tell me more about your special talent."

"I take samples of magic from zebras, dragons, even griffons and break them down to figure out how the magic differs from ponies. I can even reverse engineer certain magical spells. I'm not strong enough to cast most spells though so I can't really do much other than catalog them. My sister was much stronger."

"How would you like to see her again?"

"Really?"

"Sure. All you have to do is work for me."

"What?"

"Celestia pretty much sent you on a suicide mission. That means she considers you to be expendable and that to her your talents are useless." Starlight's ears folded back. " But I can see your true potential. You have an amazing ability and I could help you make the most out of it."

I wasn't lying. Starlight's ability to breakdown magic was invaluable. With her help I could push my plans forward an insane amount.

"Don't listen to him Starlight," Long Bow said. "Princess Celestia would never throw us aside."

"Are you sure?" I asked. " Don't you think if she had wanted you to be safe she would have given you some sort of beacon in case you ran into danger."

"Well she-"

"I mean that's just basic reconnaissance 101. Surely with your years of experience as a soldier you know that much."

Long Bow's ears drooped but his face remained strong. It was time to break him.

"Think about it. If you returned to her that would mean that she hadn't found me. But if you died that would mean that she had found me and that I would have thought I had prevented myself from being found. Your death was her best case scenario."

Swift Arrow and Long Bow fell to the ground in defeat. " So what do you say Starlight? Come work with someone who appreciates your talents."

"O.K. In exchange you'll take me to my sister."

"Deal."

"Now for you two." The two soldiers looked up at me when I mentioned them. 

"Please don't kill us," Swift Arrow pleaded.

"I would love to let you live but I did promise Celestia she would get some heads on plates."

"A stallion is only as good as his word," Long Bow Muttered.

"Not. Helping," Swift Arrow said.

"Sorry," Long Bow replied.

"Starlight, close your eyes. This is going to be traumatizing," I warned.

She shut her eyes as I tied up the guard ponies. Then an idea came to me. I quickly dropped a flying raijin kunai on the ground and teleported them into the Castle of Two Sisters dungeon. I used my sharingan to lock them in a trance until I returned. I teleported back to Starlight and told her to open her eyes. 

"So you're going to study my chakra," I told her.

"Chakra," She tried out the word, "is that the name of the strange magic you use?"

"Yep."

"I'll need a lab."

"I know just the place. One more question. How many ponies know where you are?"

"Only Princess Celestia."

That was much needed good news. If only Princess Celestia knew then this was an off-the-record activity and she wouldn't raise any alarms. Time to move forward.

"We're going to Ponyville," I told her.

"What? Why?"

"That's where the lab is and," I said looking up, "I'm tired of standing in the rain."

	
	

	
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Ponyville**********


I walked through the colorful streets of Ponyville with Starlight Shimmer. The bright, warm sunlight felt great as it dried my soggy body. In order to walk through town without causing an uproar, I had transformed myself into a grey earth pony.  Walking on four legs had taken some adjustment but it was easy enough. Whatever reservations Starlight had about me were completely gone. She was enraptured with the idea that studying my magic would make her the next Starswirl the Bearded. My abilities presented her with so many possibilities, she said. For now this just meant a barrage of annoying questions.

"So what are you? And what kind of magic is it that you use? How do you use magic without a horn? How were you able to transfigure yourself into a pony with so little effort? Can all of your species use magic? Where are you from? How many different types of magic can you use?" Starlight was like a kid with a shiny new toy. I, on the other hand, was starting to prefer her docile and fearful state.

"You know, it's not too late for me to kill you. I have a rage problem and questions set me off," I bluffed.

We walked in silence for a minute before she stated up again.

"You're not going to kill me."

"How can you be so sure?"

"If you were going to kill me, you'd have done it back in the forest like the guards. You wouldn't risk bringing me to a populated area. Also, for whatever reason I'm valuable to you and you don't seem like the type to let things go to waste."

I was stunned silent. She was right. It was a little suspicious how easily she had read me but I guess she was just perceptive. But I did need her. I needed her to analyze my magic. I also needed a pony magic expert. Lost in thought, I stopped walking. Starlight started up with her questions again.

"By the way, what's your plan here? Why are we in Ponyville? there aren't any labs here. And what are you looking for?"

I craned my neck, searching for my prey.

"We should have run into her by now," I said.

"Run into who? That reminds me, Ponyville probably isn't the best place for an enemy of the princesses to hide. Are you listening to me?"

Starlight was getting irritated but I wasn't paying attention to her. I just kept looking around.

"We definitely should have seen her by now especially since THIS IS MY FIRST TIME IN PONYVILLE!"

"Again, who are you looking for? Tell me and I can help. And why are you yell-"

"Did somepony say it was their first time in Ponyville?"  A bubbly pink earth pony popped out of a nearby barrel. "Every new pony in Ponyville needs a super duper Welcome-to-Ponyville Party!"

"What? Where did you come from? Who are you? Were you listening to our entire conversation?" Starlight looked like she was going to have a heart attack. She had a hoof to her chest taking deep breaths.

"Well to answer your questions: A party silly. Everypony loves parties. I came from a mama pony and a daddy pony just like you! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Pinkie Pie, the bestest party planning pony in all of Ponyville. And no I wasn't listening to your conversation. My Pinkie Sense told me there were some new ponies in need of a party!"

Starlight was again rendered speechless. Pinkie had said her entire speech in one breath. I grinned at her and she scowled back at me. Pinkie gave us her biggest smile, waiting for us to say something. I was enjoying Starlight's confusion and didn't want to ruin the moment. She kept looking back and forth between me and Pinkie Pie. I chuckled and spoke to Pinkie.

"It is very nice to meet you Pinkie," I said. "A party sounds like a great idea but first can you help us out? We ran into a bit of trouble."

"Oh no! I would love to help you," Pinkie replied. "What can I do?"

"We collected some dangerous stuff in the Everfree Forest and we need some scientific containers for it."

"Sciencey stuff, huh?" Pinkie rubbed her chin with a hoof. " I got it! You should go see Twilight! If anypony can help with that kind of thing, she can!"

I smirked. "Can you take us to see her? We don't know our way around yet."

"Of course I can," Pinkie put a foreleg around Starlight and me, pulling us in close. "New friends should always meet old friends, then new friends become old friends and meet more new friends. Then everypony is friends and then we can have the biggest wildest Let's-All-Be-Friends party ever!"

"Yeah. Sure."

"Follow me!" 

Pinkie Pie motioned for us to follow her. Starlight regained her composure and pulled me a few feet behind pinkie as we walked.

"What just happened?" Starlight asked.

"You're  going to need to be more specific, " I smirked.

"I don't think you understand who we're dealing with. This is-"

"Pinkamena Diane Pie, pastry chef at Sugarcube Corner, party planning pony extraordinaire, and bearer of the Element of Laughter."

"How do you...Nevermind, the important thing is that the Twilight she's talking about-"

"Refers to Twilight Sparkle, librarian at the Golden Oaks Library, private student to Princess Celestia herself, bearer of the Element of Magic, and de facto leader of the Elements of Harmony," I said calmly.

"How can you remain so incredibly calm despite knowing that?" Starlight asked incredulously. "We're about to come face to face with one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria who, by the way, has a direct connection to the princess that's hunting you! I don't see how we could be in a worse situation."

I smiled at her.

"Unless... This was your plan all along! You used me to help you find the Elements of Harmony so you could get rid of them!" Starlight whisper-shouted.

I opened my mouth to say something but she cut me off.

"I won't help you hurt innocent ponies! That wasn't part of the deal."

I shook my head. "You almost had it," I said. " Yes, running into Pinkie Pie and getting her to take us to Twilight Sparkle was part of my plan. I'm not planning on hurting her or any of the bearers though. Twilight has a lab under the library and we're going to use it."

Starlight sighed with relief once I told her my intentions. I could see she still had more questions but she remained quiet. We walked side by side behind Pinkie Pie, who bounced in front of us while blathering facts about Ponyville. I looked around, memorizing the terrain and landmarks. I was pulled from my thoughts by Pinkie announcing we had arrived. I looked at the Golden Oaks library. It was huge. looking through a screen at the place did not do it justice. That had to be the biggest tree I'd ever seen. Pinkie didn't give me much time to admire it. She grabbed me and Starlight and pulled us inside.

"TWIIIIIILIIIIIGHT!" Pinkie shouted.

A lavender unicorn came trotting down the stairs of the library. "Pinkie? What is it? What's wrong?" She stopped when she saw us. 

"Pinkie, who are they?" she asked.

"These are my new friends...um.. what are your names?"

"My name is Rolling Stone and this is Starlight Shimmer," I said.

"Hello," Starlight added.

"It's nice to meet you both," Twilight smiled, "How can I help you?"

"They were in the Everfree Forest," Pinkie said and Twilight gasped.

"What were you doing in there? It's really dangerous," Twilight said.

"Okay this is two-parter so get ready," I started. " Starlight Shimmer is a scientist from Canterlot who was following a lead on some unknown magic in the Everfree Forest. She had two escorts. While they were collecting samples of the magic they ran into a dangerous creature."

Starlight rolled her eyes when I got to that part of the story but I continued on.

"Starlight managed to escape with her life which is more than can be said for her escorts." Twilight and Pinkie gasped. Both had a hoof over their mouths and drooping ears. 

"I found Starlight while she was escaping and we decided to travel together for safety."

"Are you both okay?" Twilight asked looking over at Starlight.

"I escaped the monster without any injuries," Starlight said, turning to face me. "But let me tell you, this was a hideously ugly monster. It lumbered around on two legs, had glowing red eyes, and no fur or scales."

I stifled a chuckle at Starlight's attempt to insult me. I actually felt kind of entertained that she would describe me as some sort of nightmare creature.

"Back to the story," I started, " We did manage to escape the horrifying monster, but at the cost of Starlight's equipment and supplies. She did manage, however, to hold on to the few samples of magic she managed to collect."

"You've both been trough so much," Twilight said. " What can I do to help you?"

I smiled. I had Twilight in the palm of my hand. Hoof? 

"That's not even the worst of it," I continued. " The magic she collected has become active. She would have left it but we don't know what kind of damage it could cause if it were to be left alone. What we really need is a lab to safely contain and study it."

"Then you're in luck," Twilight's face brightened. " I have a lab in my basement and you can use it for as long as you need."

"Of course," Starlight muttered.

"Really? That's perfect! I don't know how to thank you," I said. Starlight just rolled her eyes at me, trying to keep her shocked expression to herself. She needed a moment to fully process what was happening in front of her. I  had just fooled not one but two Elements of Harmony. I had had convinced Twilight Sparkle, widely regarded as a genius, to give her lab to a potential enemy with nothing but a disguise and a sob story. 

"Do you mind showing me the lab?" Starlight asked.

"Of course. Just follow me, " Twilight walked towards a door under the stairs. 

"Starlight you go get set up. I'm going to stay up here and do a little research. Let me know when you're ready." Starlight nodded and followed Twilight down the stairs.

That left me with Pinkie Pie who still had a deflated mane. " I'm sorry about those other ponies, Rollie," Pinkie whimpered.

"That's okay Pinkie," I tried to comfort her. "Instead of focusing on those who died, think about those that are still alive. Now you get to throw Starlight a I'm-Glad-You-Survived party, right?"

Pinkie's mane instantly inflated as her trademark smile returned.

"You're right," Pinkie shouted. " And I still need to plan your welcome party." 

With that Pinkie zoomed out of the library. I walked around looking at the shelves. I was tempted to look for early history of Equestria. I've often wondered what evidence of my escapades survived.

"Can I help you find something?"

I turned around to see a small purple dragon with a large stack of books in his arms. He looked up expectantly at me. 

"Sure, but it looks like you're busy at the moment," I said.

The dragon put the books on the floor.

"Nah, I can do that later," he said.  "Name's Spike."

"Nice to meet you Spike. I'm Rolling Stone."

"Rolling Stone? What kind of name is that?"

"The name of a traveler who has seen most of Equus. After all wherever I lay my hat is my home."

"You don't have a hat."

"I used to have one. It was a great hat. Now I'm looking for books about early Equestria after Discord's fall and the life of Starswirl the Bearded."

Spike scratched his head. "We don't really have a lot of books about Equestria during that time, you know? There were a lot of wars."

I did know. After all I did start a few of them and I fought in all of them. " That's fine. What books do you have on Starswirl?"

"If you want books on his spells we have a few but most of them are checked out, " he said looking up at Twilight's room. "We have plenty of biographies available though."

"I actually wanted to study his life, not his magic," I said as I tapped a hoof to my forehead. " No horn. I want to know things like where he was born, where he lived, when and how he died, and where he's buried."

"In that case," Spike ran around the library grabbing books of the shelves and putting them into a pile in front of me. After stacking 10 books in the pile he grabbed the ones he had dropped earlier and went back to work. I pulled the first book out of the stack. I looked at the cover: Starswirl the Bearded: The Truth About Equestria's Greatest Mind. How long could it take to set up a lab?

***
Six hours. It takes six excruciatingly slow hours to set up a magic lab. During which time I got through two and a half books. I learned a lot of useless information about Starswirl and had gotten no closer to my objective. I was on the verge of falling asleep when Twilight came and informed me that the preparations were complete. I followed her into the basement and saw some strange device. It had a glass ball suspended in midair with tubes leading out of it into a large machine nearby. There were knobs and dials everywhere each with their own indicators. I marveled at the fact that such machinery could exist and at the same time they had no cars, television, or phones. truly this world had a schizophrenic relationship with technology. 

"It's all ready, " Starlight poked her head out from behind one of the machines. " We should get started."

"Okay," I said. "Twilight, you should wait upstairs."

"Why? I can help," Twilight stuck out her bottom lip and gave me big puppy dog eyes.

"I want you to be safe for the dangerous part. Once the transfer is over, you can help with the analysis."

"Great!" Twilight ran up the stairs.

"Ponies get excited about the weirdest stuff. I mean I'm all for scientific research but analysis is the boring part," I said to Starlight.

"We're going to learn about magic that no pony has ever even seen before. It's like nothing else that exists in this world.And you seriously can't understand how we'd be excited about that?"

"Of course you are," I said as I returned to my normal form. " Now what do I have to do?"

"When I tell you to start, feed your magic into the sphere in the center," She said. She moved to a control panel and put on goggles.

I placed my hand on the glass sphere and looked at Starlight. She nodded so I began pouring chakra into the ball. The room came alive with beeps and flashing lights.

"Just incredible," Starlight shouted over the noise of the machines. " Just a little bit more."

I nodded and increased the flow of chakra. I wondered how much this machine could hold. I allowed my mind to wander. I wondered if i would ever see another human again. It's not that I missed all of humanity in general, but it had been over a thousand years since I had seen a human female. While I was lost in my fantasies, I unconsciously allowed the chakra flow to increase. I was so wrapped in my own thoughts I didn't hear the sirens. The glass ball cracked.

"Stop!" Starlight screamed. "It's too much! You're going to overload it!"

I yanked my hand back but it was too late. I could see the energy in the machine building. It was going to explode. I activated the mangekyou and grabbed Starlight with Susanoo. The chakra in the machine turned purple in response to Susanoo's presence and released a huge pulse of energy. The pulse passed harmlessly through me and clung to Starlight. I realized the pulse was made of chakra. She stood frozen in place with wide unblinking eyes. I waved my hand in front of her face. She didn't respond. Starlight curled up on the floor, shivering.

"Please don't be traumatized," I whispered as I sat down and pulled her into my lap. What the hell had she just experienced? I heard footsteps coming down the stairs so I turned back into a pony. I transformed just in time to see Spike running down the stairs.

"What happened down here?" he asked. "Never mind that! I need help! Something's wrong with Twilight!"

I put Starlight on my back. "Walk and talk at the same time Spike," I said as I followed him up the stairs.

"I was doing chores and Twilight was reading when all of a sudden I felt this strange feeling all over my body."

"What did it feel like?"

"Like something cold was covering me and trying to make me do stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I don't know. Evil stuff. And there was this giant skeleton monster that had me in its claw."

"A giant skeleton monster?"

"Yeah. It was purple and glowing and it had horns."

Well fuck. Can't say this one wasn't my fault. Spike being a dragon gave him a natural defense but ponies are much more vulnerable. Not only that but unicorns have large protruding magic receptors on their foreheads. "What happened to Twilight?"

"See for yourself."

Spike led me into his and Twilight's bedroom. I gently put Starlight down and walked to the bed. Twilight was lying in the bed in the same pose as Starlight with the same horrified expression on her face.  I picked up Starlight and put her in the bed.

"Spike," I said, " Find out how many ponies in town this happened to. I'm going to help these two."

"Can you really help Twilight?"

"Yes, but I need you to find out how far this spread."

"You can count on me."

Spike ran out of the library leaving me with the catatonic mares. I changed back to my human form and put my hand on Twilight's head. There wasn't much chakra inside her. There probably wasn't enough chakra in the pulse to affect ponies outside the library. I pulled the chakra out her body and back into my own. Her body relaxed but her eyes remained open. I used my sharingan to enter her mind. Just as Spike had said, she was in Susanoo's hand. I dispelled the Susanoo in her mind and left.

Twilight was visibly relaxed now and sleeping peacefully. I turned my attention to Starlight. Pulled the chakra out of her body and entered her mind. Instead of cowering in Susanoo's hand, she was being crushed in its fist. I dispelled it and left her mind.I went down the stairs and awaited Spike's return.

***
About an hour later, Spike ran into the library followed by the remaining members of the mane 6.

"Spike what happened? Why'd you bring them?" I was stunned. I hadn't thought he'd bring the whole group.

"Nopony got it as bad as Twilight. They all had flashes but it passed for everypony else," he said. It made sense. Both Twilight and Starlight were at the epicenter. 

"They came, " Spike gestured to the ponies, " to make sure Twilight was ok."

"She's our friend and we just had to make sure she wasn't hurt," Fluttershy surprised me by talking first. When I turned to look at her she eeped and hid behind her mane.

"So if you wouldn't mind, darling, we'd like to go up to see how she's doing," Rarity said.

"While I am no doubt impressed by this great show of friendship and camaraderie, I'm afraid Twilight is sleeping right now. And with the exception of Spike, I will not allow anypony to disturb her," I said.

"Who are you to stop us from seeing our friend?" Rainbow Dash pushed her face against mine and snorted.

"The pony that saved her life and knows that right now, more than anything, Twilight needs rest,"  I said maintaining my calm demeanor.

"Now calm down Rainbow, "  Applejack said, " We should be grateful he took such good of Twi and listen to what he says."

Rainbow Dash contemplated Applejack's words for a moment before backing down. "Fine, but," Rainbow Dash without breaking eye contact, " there's something wrong about you. I don't know what it is but my gut is never wrong."

Throughout the conversation, Spike had been pacing back and forth looking worried. "It's ok Spike," I said. "You can go see her."

He wasted no time and raced up to the bedroom.

"Spike said you all felt the magic pulse. Would you mind telling me exactly what happened?" I asked.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing. Spike says ya'll were doin' some crazy experiment," Applejack said.

"Something like that," I said.

"So then all of the monsters in ponies heads and everything that happened to Twilight is your fault!" Rainbow Dash was back in my face.

"Please Rainbow Dash, let him explain. I'm sure he didn't intend for this to happen," Rarity pleaded with her friend.

"This was supposed to be a simple transfer of magic from one container to another. But it was too much for the new container and it exploded," I explained. "Twilight and Starlight were at the center so they got the worst of it."

"Who is Starlight? And you were in it too, right? Why weren't you affected?" Rainbow hadn't broken her glare.

"Starlight is my associate. And I wasn't affected because I'm not a unicorn. The magic infected them through their horns."

"And if you're not a unicorn how did you solve a magic problem?" Rainbow Dash was starting to get annoying  but she was right. Earth ponies can't use magic.

"I used zebra magic." That got a gasp from the group. " I've traveled all across Equestria and beyond. Fixing this problem was simple."

That got Rainbow Dash to back down. But I had other things to attend to and no time for idle conversation.

"Now then, I trust that while I'm gone you'll give your friend the space she needs to recover."

"Wait, where are you going?" Applejack asked.

"Just out to take care of some business, " I responded, " I'll be back."

"What kind of 'business' do you have to take care of this late at night?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Are any of you familiar with the concept of a booty call?" I asked.

"Ooh ooh! I know!" Pinkie exclaimed, "Is it a dance?"

"Not in this particular situation, Pinkie," I said.

Several minutes later I walked out of the library leaving behind some very red faces and stiff wings. Looking around to make sure there weren't any late night lurkers, I returned to my normal form. I placed a flying raijin mark on Twilight's door frame and teleported away.


**********Canterlot Castle**********


I had been worried that she might still be awake but Celestia slept peacefully. I looked around her room. Golden decorations adorned the walls and ceiling. Like Luna, she lay in a bed that made her look small. I walked to her bed and looked down at her. She looked beautiful even while sleeping. Her ethereal rainbow mane still, her mouth hanging open, a little drool on her lip. She just looked so...defenseless. An evile smile spread across my face as I summoned the two soldiers I captured earlier. They were just sleeping now leaning on each other and snoring. I pulled out a kunai and started cutting two holes in Celestia's bed.

"You're not going to understand this reference, " I whispered as I put the soldiers into the holes so that only their heads stuck out. "But trust me, it's a good one."

I took a moment to adjust the soldiers so they would be the first thing Celestia saw when she woke up. I splattered some red paint around and took a moment to admire my handiwork. I ran my hand through Celestia's mane and scratched behind her ears causing her to smile. As I turned to leave, I saw Celestia's desk. I found some blank paper and one of her quills. "Well", I thought, "It would be rude not to say anything." I sat down and began writing.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


*********Ponyville*********


I stood in front of the Golden Oaks Library and it was quiet. Too quiet. I assumed my pony form and entered. The mane six sans Twilight were passed out around the library.  They each had a pillow and were wrapped up in a cover. "Why are they still here?" I wondered. I stepped over and around the sleeping ponies and made my way up the stairs. Spike was asleep in his basket and Starlight was sleeping in Twilight's bed. Twilight herself, was missing.

I closed my eyes and used the sensing technique. I felt all of the creatures in the immediate vicinity. Twilight was in the basement. Why were they making me go up and down so many stairs? Two flights of stairs later, I found Twilight looking over the papers the machine printed before it overloaded. The machine itself still looked mostly intact and the glass ball still held some of my chakra.

"You should go back to sleep," I said and Twilight jumped. "This stuff isn't going anywhere."

"I know, it's just...I had to see what this magic was," she said putting the papers down. "I've never seen anything like it before. Did you know that it changed properties during the explosion? It's almost as if it's alive. Not only that, the magic itself carried emotions! Do you realize what this means?"

"No?" I said overwhelmed by Twilight's excitement.

"The source of this magic can't be native to Equestria! I have to send a letter to Princess Celestia right away!"

That would be a problem. Causing the entire town to have nightmares probably alerted the princesses to my presence in Ponyville. A letter to Celestia would only make things worse.

"Hold on Twilight," she already had a paper and quill in her magic. "You might want to hold off on that letter."

"Why?"

"Let's start with the basics: You have questionable-at-best data gained from a failed experiment with damaged equipment. You also have what only amounts to a bunch of guesses based on said bad data."

"Oh," she replied, crestfallen.

"And you're not at your mental best right now. You suffered an accident and haven't gotten nearly enough sleep. So first, got to bed and then we can deal with this tomorrow."

"OK." Twilight started up the stairs and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I followed Twilight to the main floor and went back to my books. She went up to her room. I opened up The Life and Times of Starswirl the Bearded and made myself comfortable.

"Okay Starswirl, where are you hiding from me?"


**********Canterlot Castle 3rd POV**********


Princess Celestia smiled as she awoke. For some reason, she had an extremely pleasant sleep. This seemed strange to her considering  Sasuke was on the loose but she was never one to question a good thing. She frowned as she thought about him. He had not only freed himself from the Elements of Harmony but also threatened to kill her little ponies. When she had first seen him again she was hoping he had changed for the better but it seemed he had come back the same, if not worse. Celestia rolled over in her bed, trying to ease her mind with comfort.

"Sister, it is time to raise the sun," Luna said from the hallway. "Also, we need to talk to you."

Luna's voice pulled Celestia from her thoughts. She lit her horn and pulled the sun from its slumber into the sky. A warm yellow light filled the room and Celestia basked in its warm glow. She had a good feeling about today. Maybe the small team would report that Sasuke had exiled himself. After all, he had no plans for revenge. He'd said so himself. Then she opened her eyes. The disappointment that filled Celestia surpassed any feeling she'd had before. She sat up in her bed.

"Swift Arrow, Long Bow, I need you to wake up," Celestia commanded.

The two pegasai groggily woke up.

"Good morning, Princess," Swift Arrow yawned. "What are you doing here?"

"I think I should be asking you that question," Celestia responded.

Swift Arrow fully opened up his eyes and took in his surroundings. 

"I-I can't feel my body," he said fearfully. "Oh no! Am-am I dead?"

Celestia put her face on her hoof, "No, you're just-"

"Oh give me another chance please," Swift pleaded. "I'll be a good pony this time I swear! I'll write to my mother, I won't cheat at poker with the guys anymore, I'll take my job more seriously, I'll take down those pin-ups of Princess Cadence and Princess Luna-"

"Swift Arrow!" Celestia yelled, finally getting the young pegasus's attention. "Listen to me. You are not dead. This is not an afterlife. And we will need to talk at length later about these pin-ups."

Swift arrow looked away and blushed. Celestia turned to Captain Long Bow who had been sitting in amused silence. 

"Captain Bow, please give me your report," Celestia sighed.

"Sister, what is going on in there?" Luna shouted before Bow could respond. "I'm coming in!"

Luna teleported into Celestia's bedroom and surveyed the scene before her with horror. "Are those ponies... dead?"

Celestia facehoofed again, "No, its just red paint."

"Thank goodness," Luna released the breath she didn't know she was holding. "We need to talk, sister. It is of the utmost importance."

"In a minute, Luna," Celestia said. "Captain Bow, please give me your report."

"As per your orders," Bow began, "We journeyed into the Everfree Forest in search of the creature known as Sasuke Uchiha."

Celestia nodded and Luna looked at her sister. She thought about saying something but was cut off as Captain Bow continued.

"Private Arrow, Starlight Shimmer, and I, found the strange rain just as you said we would. While Starlight was taking samples, the creature attacked us."

Celestia's face hardened. "What happened," she asked.

"The creature unleashed a terrifying aura on us. It felt like bloodlust made tangible. Then it used small projectiles to injure our wings so we couldn't fly away. It then asked us our names and special talents."

"Forgive me for interrupting, " Luna said, "but what happened to Starlight Shimmer?"

"The creature offered her a job in exchange for taking her to her sister, Sunset Shimmer. Then it knocked us out and we woke up here," Captain Bow concluded.

Celestia smiled, "So he took the bait?"

"He took the bait," Captain Bow confirmed.

"Wait, what bait?" Swift asked.

"Before I sent Starlight Shimmer, I placed a spell on her that will cause her to send me information about Sasuke and his plans. Then I erased her memory of the spell so even if she is interrogated, there will be nothing for her to reveal," Celestia said.

"So what about this Sunset Shimmer then? Where is she?" Swift asked.

Celestia looked away, "Sunset Shimmer is-"

Celestia froze. On her desk was one of Sasuke's strange knives stabbed into the very expensive wood through a piece of paper. Grabbing the paper in her magic,  she saw it was a letter. She began reading it aloud.

Dear Celestia,

This morning you found the two ponies in your bed. By now you have probably realized that they are that tracking unit you sent after me. Not cool. When I said I'd kill anypony you sent after me, did you think I was joking? I realize that may have sounded rather threatening. Rest assured that I am in no way contemplating genocide the murder revenge. Instead I just want to remind you that using your citizens as sacrificial pawns to test the validity of threats that come from known killers is a dick move. 

By now you've also probably noticed a lack of plates. I know I told you I'd send their heads back on plates but, truth be told, it seemed like a lot of work, I don't know the layout of the castle and couldn't find the kitchen. Right now though, you're probably wondering why there are only two ponies in your bed when you sent three after me. Don't worry, I didn't kill her but I am keeping her. Starlight is mine now and I will do what I please with her. That did not come out right. What I meant is she is now an integral part of my plans. None of which include inter-species sex. As you know, I'm not really into the whole four legs 'man on horse' thing. Bottom line, thanks for the new servant.

Your new student, Twilight Sparkle, seems very promising. Intelligent, hard-working, and enormous magical potential. I might need a powerful pony in the future and now I know where to find one. I'll keep an eye on her.On a happier note, you still look cute when you sleep. I would have loved to try out that extra soft looking bed. Not with you of course. Anyway miss you and hope to see you soon. And tell Luna I said hi.

Your best bud
Sasuke

P.S. Tell Luna I'm sorry about the outbreak of nightmares in Ponyville. That was an accident and I'd hate to make her job more difficult.

Celestia's eye was twitching as she finished reading the letter. She glared at her sister. "Outbreak of nightmares in Ponyville?" Celestia hissed through clenched teeth. "When were you going to tell me about that?"

"When you woke up. It is what we came here to tell you about," Luna replied. "And nightmare doesn't even begin to describe the horrors unleashed upon poor Ponyville. Night terrors is a far better term. Also why are we only a footnote in Sasuke's letter?"

Celestia was dumbfounded, "Luna, are you... jealous?"

"Of course we are," Luna snorted, "after all, he is our-"

"Not in front of other ponies," Celestia interrupted. "Captain Bow, Private Arrow, you are dismissed."

"Of course, Princess," Captain Bow said, "There's just one problem."

"What is that," Celestia asked.

"We can't move," Swift replied.

Rolling her eyes, Celestia used her magic to pull the two pegasai out of her bed. While pulling them out she discovered that they were bound with rope and had bandages on their wing joints. Celestia undid the bindings and put them down.

"Go to the infirmary first," she told them.

Both soldiers saluted and left Celestia alone in her bedroom with her sister. Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. " We can't just let him run around free. He doesn't value life and as long as he's near Twilight and her friends, all of Equestria is in danger."

Celestia opened her eyes. "We'll take the guard and go to Ponyville."

"Sister, we believe he is baiting us. He will draw us into Ponyville and then come to Canterlot to retrieve his sword and book."

"How do you know?"

"He inquired about their whereabouts when he spoke to us."

"Then what do you recommend?"

Luna walked past Celestia and stood in front of the window. She looked out over the city, trying to formulate a plan. After a minute of thought, she had an idea.

"Sasuke will definitely come to Canterlot eventually," Luna explained. "Whatever his plans are, they most likely cannot proceed without his book."

Celestia walked to where Luna was standing and looked at the city with her. "So should we move his things to a more secure location?"

"No. We will use them to lure him into the city and then fight him on our terms."

"You want to turn our capital city into a battleground? What about the innocent ponies here?"

"We shall set up evacution centers throughout the city and reinforce them with our magic. We can even set up traps around the city to use our environment to our advantage."

Celestia hesitated. She knew what her enemy was capable of and she knew Luna's plan was their best shot at stopping him. However she was still concerned about the casualties should Luna's plan fail.

"Sister, do you trust me?" Luna asked.

Celestia nuzzled her little sister. "Of course I do, Lulu."

"Then believe me when I say this: We will stop Sasuke. We will protect our little ponies."


**********Ponyville 1st POV**********


As I sat outside of the library watching the sun rise, I expected to see a large contingent of guards led by the sun princess coming from Canterlot. I was disappointed when she never came. I thought she would fall for that for sure. Oh well, on to plan B. I went back into the library. Twilight and Starlight were doing much better and there seemed to be no lingering effects. They were in the basement analyzing the data the machine managed to produce before it failed. Spike was in the basement as well cleaning up the mess.

I had gotten what I wanted from the biographies of Starswirlthe Bearded and had nothing to do for a while. I decided to take a nap until I was needed again.

"Rolling Stone!"

My eyes shot open. Starlight and Twilight were standing over me, brimming with excitement.

"Well you two look like you're going to explode so let me guess: You found something interesting."

"Interesting doesn't even begin to describe what we discovered!" Twilight shouted. "This magic is almost like life itself!"

"Say what now?"

"What Twilight means," Starlight explained, "is that this magic can carry thoughts and feelings. It is a literal extension of its source."

"How is that different from Equestrian magic?" I asked.

"Equestrian magic is like a tool that can be manipulated for a variety of different purposes," Twilight said. "It is passive in nature. The new magic is active in nature. Inside of a living body it would follow the body's natural instructions. This magic can act on its own!"

"Sooooo."

"Sooooo, if we could give this magic to ponies, it would make them stronger, faster, maybe even smarter. It could make ponies heal faster! There's no limit to the good this magic could do for ponykind!" Twilight was literally bouncing around the room now.

"Except for last night when it was eating your mind," I reminded her.

"Well yes but-"

"What was up with that anyway?" I asked.

"This new magic is incompatible with Equestrian magic. They react volatilely when exposed to each other."

"So you probably shouldn't be messing around with it until you fully understand it."

Twilight's ears fell, "You're right."

"But is does give you the opportunity to study something nopony has ever seen before."

Twilight perked back up. "I'll be the next Starswirl the Bearded and Princess Celestia will be so proud of me and I'll win so many awards-"

"Better get started," I told her.

Twilight grabbed several books in her magic and went back into the basement. Starlight started to follow but I stepped in front of her.

"I'm going out to take care of some... errands," I said. "If twilight starts talking about sending messages to Celestia, you need to prevent that. By any means necessary. Understand?" 

Starlight took in my words and I could see her coming to a conclusion that horrified her. "Do you.... want me to kill her?" she whispered.

I facehoofed, "Let me rephrase: Any means necessary within reason."

She walked into the basement and I walked out of the library. As long as I was in Ponyville, I thought I should set up some back up plans. First things first, time to go to Sugarcube Corner.

After a few (read: a lot of) wrong turns, I made it to the giant gingerbread house. Walking in, I noticed the place was empty except for a smiling Pinkie Pie behind the counter.

"Slow day?"

"Not anymore now that you're here," Pinkie exclaimed. "Do you want a cupcake? Or a dozen cupcakes? Or maybe you want a dozen dozens of cupcakes and-"

"I'll have to take a rain check. I actually need to find a pony."

"Why didn't you just say so silly! Nopony can find a pony better than Pinkie!"

"That's great Pinkie. I need find Derpy Hooves' house."

"Okie dokie lokie. Just follow me!" Pinkie said as she ran out the door. For a moment I wondered how she could leave a cash register unattended and the store unlocked. Then I remembered I've never seen any petty criminals in this world.

I chased Pinkie Pie down Ponyville's roads until she stopped at a house slightly separated from the ones to either side.

"This is where Derpy lives," Pinkie said.

"Thanks PInkie. One more thing, when the dragon was sleeping near Ponyville, where was the cave?"

"Right over there," Pinkie pointed at a mountain with her hoof.

"Thanks again." PInkie just stared at me with a huge smile on her face.

"Ummm. Don't you have to get back to work?" I asked trying to break the awkward tension.

"Oh no! I totally forgot. I'll see you later Rolly," Pinkie yelled as she sprinted away. 

I knocked on the door and waited. A distinctly male voice yelled, "Coming!" A light brown earth pony stallion with a dark brown mane opened the door.

"Dr. Hooves?" I asked.

"Actually if you don't mind it's just the Doctor," he replied. "Please come in Sasuke."

"Thanks," I said as I entered the house. "So about why I'm here-"

"I can't do it."

"What?"

"I'm sorry but I can't do it."

"Why not?"

"The force that brought you here won't let me."

"Tell me more about this force."

"I truly wish that I could but its not my place. Besides you'd be better off asking another Displaced."

"What the hell is a Displaced?" Immediately after asking the question, small objects started falling from the sky directly above me. There were a variety of different objects each radiating their own auras.

"What the hell are these things?" I said being careful not to touch them.

"These are the calling cards of the Displaced," Dr Hooves replied.

"Why are some of them radiating evil?"

"Because some of the Displaced are evil. Now I'm sorry but if you want more information you should call a Displaced," the Doctor said as he walked to the door. "You should also think about creating one of your own. And don't leave these here."

***

The next few days passed by uneventfully. Starlight and Twilight stayed occupied trying to analyze chakra. I ran around town setting up various contingencies and completing various tasks. Twilight let us stay in her home to help with the science stuff. While it did eliminate one problem, it brought up another.

"I can't believe you thought of a new method to calculate differences in magic by combining Starswirl magical theory with modern magical theory," Twilight gushed.

"That was nothing. I can't believe you were able to craft a spell that mimicked the effects of the foreign magic so well," Starlight gushed back.

"Well I can't believe-"

"Well I can't believe it's not butter," I yelled fed up with their stupid conversation.

"Oh... were we doing it again?" Twilight asked sheepishly as she and Starlight blushed.

I just rolled my eyes and went back to my book. They had been like this since I left them alone for the first time. Fawning over each other like newlyweds. I was starting to think that Starlight was getting to attached. Damn magic of friendship. Twilight and Starlight were just standing around awkwardly looking at the ground. I was about to tell them to move on when Spike came down the stairs and into the main part of the library.

"Ok Twilight, I finished the second checklist for tomorrow," he said.

"Thank you number one assistant. Now for the third checklist," twilight said as she levitated a blank scroll to the young dragon. Spike groaned and walked back up the stairs.

"Three checklists? Sounds important, " I said without looking up.

"I'm having a picnic with my friends tomorrow," Twilight explained. "Every little thing must go according to plan."

I froze. The moment had finally come. Tomorrow was Lesson Zero. Celestia was going to leave Canterlot. I would never have a better opportunity.

"Would you like to come? I feel like we're good friends and I want you to meet my other friends."

"I'd love to come but I'd hate to impose," Starlight said.

"Plus, we're leaving tomorrow." Both mares fell silent when I delivered that tidbit of information.

"What?" Starlight squeaked.

"Why are you leaving so soon? Haven't you enjoyed it here?" Twilight asked.

"It's been great, Twilight, but the money came from Starlight's lab in Canterlot. We need to get there as soon as possible."

"Oh," Twilight's ears drooped down.

"Are you sure we can't stay just one more day?" Starlight pleaded.

"No. We can't. And you should start packing up the data."

"Fine. Come on Twilight. Let's go sort and organize."

Twilight excitedly followed Starlight into the basement.

"Nerds," I muttered as I went back to my book.

***

The next morning Starlight and I walked to the train station.

"So here's the plan," I said, "You're going to take a train to Fillydelphia and wait for me."

"That's like a day and a half train ride," she complained. "What are you going to be doing?"

"I'm going to Canterlot to... pick some stuff up."

"Because that doesn't sound suspicious at all," Starlight said rolling her eyes.

"Suspicious or not, that's what's happening."

"So should I be happy you trust me enough to send me on my own?"

"What do you mean?"

"How do you know I won't betray you to the princesses?"

"Because the princesses can't take you to find your sister."

"Fair enough."

Starlight turned to get on the train. "How will we find each other?" She asked without looking back.

"I've put everything you need in your saddlebags," I responded.

"Doesn't answer my question but whatever," Starlight grumbled as she disappeared into the train car.

"I think I like that pony," I said to myself as I walked to my own train.


**********Canterlot Museum**********


The train ride had been relatively quick. It had only taken a few hours to reach Canterlot. From the station several ponies had been very helpful in directing me to the museum. From the moment I entered the city, I could feel Celestia and Luna's presence. Since I needed to wait for Celestia to leave, I decided to take a tour and find out what happened during my stone nap.

"And that brings us to the Battle of the Burning Plains," the tour guide, History Buff, lectured.

I smiled, briefly remembering my first battle.

"This is one of the most important, if not the most important, battles of the Pony-Griffon War," History Buff continued, "because it was this battle that turned the tide of the war."

Curious to how Celestia had portrayed me in history I asked a question, "What happened in that battle?"

History Buff's eyes lit up. "I'm glad you asked. It's no secret that up until that point, we ponies were losing the war. Our Princesses Celestia and Luna were just too inexperienced at large-scale combat. Combined with the fact that we are a prey species fighting against war-mongering predators, it was just too much for us. But from a village on the border between Equestria and the Leomhann Empire a mysterious figure rose up. This brave pony taught our beloved princesses the how to wage war. Unfortunately  morale was low and the training alone couldn't help the disheartened soldiers. At what is now the Burning Plains, the gryphons were relentless in their assault. Ponies were fighting a losing battle and Celestia ordered a full retreat. While the gryphons were celebrating their victory, the brave pony stepped onto the battlefield alone ready to fight. Using magic that is now lost to us, the pony dashed into battle and defeated countless gryphons. The pony got them all to converge on a single location and unleashed the stored fire of a dragon, decimating the gryphon army. It is said that the the gryphon general Naois was the only survivor. However the pony did not make it out of battle unscathed. During the conflict the pony lost two of its legs earning the moniker 'The Two-Legged Pony'. Now let's move on; we've more to see."

The group started walking and I followed. All in all I guess there are worse ways to be remembered. Although most of the story was right,  there were a few... issues with the details. I knew that I shouldn't have been surprised that I was changed into a pony for the story. At least Celestia made me a hero.

"Now it was during the War with the Minotaurs that the Two-Legged Pony earned the title 'Equestria's Black Sun'. That's a wild story indeed," History Buff chuckled.

"Can you tell it?" I asked.

"I'd be glad to," History Buff smiled, puffing out his chest.

History Buff told the story of the War of Minos, and I listened attentively. I frowned at the parts where he got the details wrong but for the most part it was exactly what I remembered. History Buff had clearly done his research. Or had a great script. Some of the ponies in the tour group expressed shock at the tales of my exploits while others shrugged it off as exaggeration through the ages. After my recorded 'death', History Buff told us about the beginning of Equestria's golden age. Since I've been gone, Celestia has made peace with every other nation and species.  She secured Equestria as the most central and dominant country in this world. There's also a council with a representative from every species, kind of like the UN. I silently cheered for Celestia's accomplishments as they were listed.

"And that brings us to the end of our tour," History Buff said. "You've all been wonderful and I hope you enjoy our artifact room."

He gestured to a large circular room behind himself. The room was filled with all kinds of pottery, artwork, tools, and weapons. In the center of the room was my sword, my book, and my phone. As the group dispersed throughout the room, I walked up to my things and gazed longingly at them. I was so caught up in staring, I didn't notice History Buff walk up beside me.

"Amazing, aren't they," he said. " They belonged to the Two-Legged Pony. They're the only things left behind."

"Really,"  I said uninterested.

"Yes," he continued, "in fact even Princess Luna will come here sometimes just to see them."

"Really," I asked, suddenly interested. "How long has that been going on?"

"Since her return."

I thought about that. Luna must have missed me more than I thought. The setting sun gave the room an orange glow. It was then that I felt it. Celestia was gone.

"I should probably get back," History Buff said,"We're closing soon."

"But don't you want to see," I asked.

"See what," he said.

"See this stuff get returned to its rightful owner," I said as I returned to my natural form.

"But the Two-Legged pony didn't have any-" History Buff took one look at me and stopped mid-sentence. I smirked at him. "You're..."

"I didn't lose any legs. I only had two to begin with. Oh, and I hate that nickname, its super lame. It's Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha."

Leaving History Buff with a gaping jaw, I turned my attention to the task at hand. Activating my sharingan, I looked for  any magic traps around the items. There was a force field but it didn't look solid. I reached my hand through the barrier and grabbed my sword.Sirens immediately started blaring. I tucked the sword into my rope belt and retrieved my book and phone. As I sent my things into storage, I was vaguely aware of the pandemonium surrounding me. Ponies ran, scared of me and the sirens until I was left alone in the museum.

"Wonder what that's all about," I said to myself.

I created a shadow clone.

"You know what to do?"

"Of course."

"Then get to it."

"I'm just not sure how well this plan was thought through."

"Just do it."

"Your funeral," he said as he teleported away.


**********Ponyville 3rd POV**********


Twilight Sparkle was excited. Not only was she not going back to magic kindergarten but now she could share the joy of writing friendship reports with her friends. She watched as her monarch and mentor turned to leave.

"Princess Celestia-" Twilight was interrupted by someone knocking at her door.

"Go on answer it, my little pony," the princess said calmly. "I will wait to hear what you have to say."

Twilight nodded and walked to the library's front door. When she opened she froze. Standing outside was a tall bipedal creature wearing clothes. That wasn't what worried her though. It was the fear she felt immediately after opening the door. A cold, gripping fear that chilled her to the bone. Every cell in her body was screaming at her to run away from this creature or she would surely die. However she couldn't find the strength to scream, much less move.

"Hi," the creature said, flashing a smile full of sharp teeth, "Can Celestia come out to play?"
	
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight Sparkle had no time to react as a beam of golden energy flew past her head and into the creature standing in front of her. Or it should have hit the creature. It had disappeared before the beam impacted it.

"Come on, Celestia," Twilight turned around to see Princess Celestia and the creature standing behind her. It could teleport? "Is that how you greet a friend?"


**********1st POV**********


I stood next to Celestia, grinning as she glared at me. Twilight and her friends were scattered around the room, paralyzed by my killing intent.

"You are no friend of mine," Celestia stated flatly.

"Oh come on. After all we've been through together," I teased. "Like it or not, we're homies for life."

"And do 'homies' unleash an unholy and terrifying aura on each other?"

"I knew it wouldn't affect you. It was just to discourage these little ponies from doing anything too... hasty."

"Release them. Now," Celestia commanded.

"I will," I snickered as I cut off the killing intent. "No need to get a knot in your horn."

The mane six all took a deep breath as they were freed from the feeling of death. Rainbow Dash and Applejack took up offensive positions and tensed for attack. Fluttershy sobbed gently while Rarity and Pinkie Pie comforted her. Twilight kept still, her gaze focused on me. I smiled at her and she recoiled as if struck. Twilight broke the silence.

"Princess," Twilight asked, "what is this thing?"

"This," Celestia replied without taking her eyes off of me,"is a human. It is known as Sasuke Uchiha and is extremely dangerous."

"Aww, don't talk about me like I'm not here. That's super rude," I said. "I'd be happy to answer your questions Twilight."

"I've got a question," Rainbow Dash said."How long do you think you'll last when I'm pounding your ugly mug?"

Rainbow Dash took flight and launched herself at me. I stood perfectly still and smiled. Before she could touch me, Rainbow was caught in a golden aura and placed on the ground.

"Stop it. You can't beat him," Celestia said. "Twilight Sparkle."

"Yes, Princess?" Twilight snapped to attention.

"Evacuate Ponyville," Celestia ordered, releasing Rainbow Dash. "You and your friends are to make sure every pony leaves safely."

"And what if I want helpless bystanders to be casualties of our epic battle?" I asked.

All of the ponies except for Celestia had a look of absolute horror on their face.

"Don't worry my little ponies," Celestia reassured her champions. "That's just a joke. If he were really going to do it, he would have attacked already , not stand here talking."

That got all the ponies moving. All but one ran out the door to complete their task.

"Why are you still here Pinkie Pie," Celestia asked.

Pinkie walked in front of me and stood on her hind legs so that she was closer to my eye level. "The deaths of hundreds of ponies is a joke to you?" she asked quietly.

I grinned," Yes, it is."

Pinkie ran out of the library and left me alone with Celestia. We stood in silence, eyeing each other. Celestia didn't take her eyes off of me, even for a moment. Every movement I made caused her to tense. Celestia spoke first.

"Why did you come here?" she asked.

"Are you sure that's the question you want to ask?" I replied.

"It's the first."

"Ok then. There were a few things I needed here. And maybe a pony or two."

"What?"

"You've got a great student. Twilight Sparkle has so much potential. Why are you holding her back?"

"I'm not holding Twilight back. She-"

"Will never realize her full potential if you don't show her what she's truly capable of."

"NO! I will never allow you to corrupt another pony ever again!"

"That's a little harsh. I mean, you and Luna turned out great wouldn't you say, miss unquestioned-ruler-of-Equestria."

"The things you taught us were horrible. Nopony should have that kind of power."

At that moment a green puff of smoke came in through the window and materialized into a letter in front of Celestia. She took one look at it and unleashed a blast of magic at me.

I teleported to her side and kicked her through the front door of the library. Celestia recovered quickly and took flight. Materializing spiked golden armor on her wings, she started dive-bombing me. I dodged her attacks as I ran through the streets and weaved hand seals. Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu. I unleashed a barrage of fireballs at her and hid shuriken in them. Celestia swooped around some of the fireballs but converged them all on her. The fireballs impacted, burning her fur and flesh. The hidden shuriken sunk into her causing her golden blood to spew out. Celestia landed in front of me breathing heavily.

"You ready to stop holding back now?" I asked.

Celestia pulled the shuriken out of her body with her magic. As soon as they were out, all of her wounds healed. In a flash of light, a perfectly restored Celestia stood in front of me.

"Ready?" I asked, drawing my sword.

"I really hate you sometimes," Celestia responded. Golden armor flashed onto her body. She summoned eight gold swords that circled her, points facing outward.

"It's been a while since I've seen the Sun's Rays," I said. "Tell me, when you fought Luna, how many times did you impale her?"

Celestia launched herself into a furious attack, flying at and swinging four of her swords at me. The other four she rained down on me from above. I dodged her attacks easily. My sharingan allowed me to see Celestia's very obvious movements. Every swipe of a sword was preceded by a head movement. I kept taunting her and leading her on a chase through Ponyville. Eventually I had Celestia positioned two houses.

"There's one more thing I wanted to tell you," I said as I turned to face Celestia.

"What?" she demanded.

"I booby-trapped Ponyville."

I grinned as I detonated explosive tags near where Celestia was hovering. The initial impact knocked her out of the sky and into a house. The secondary explosions blasted her into another house.

"That looked like it hurt," I laughed. "Don't tell me that was enough to-"

Celestia burst from the wreckage, her natural healing already pushing the shrapnel from the parts of her body uncovered by armor. And she was absolutely livid.

"SAAAAASUKEEEEE!!!"


**********3rd POV**********


Twilight Sparkle stood on a hill overlooking Ponyville with the rest of its citizens. The evacuation had been completed only minutes before she had heard the beginning of the fight. Twilight was not one to doubt the princess. Just the opposite, Twilight believed Princess Celestia to be invincible. But she couldn't help but be worried. This battle was taking a long time. Shouldn't the princess have been able to deal with this creature in seconds? Fluttershy was the first to notice Twilight's stress and moved to comfort her.

"Don't worry Twilight," Fluttershy said, "I'm sure the princess will stop the big bad monster."

"Yeah," added Applejack. "Don't you worry none, Twi. I'm sure Princess Celestia ain't gonna lose to that thing."

"And then we can have a Thanks-For-Saving-Us-From-That-Evil-Monster party," Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

Twilight gave her friends a small smile. "Thanks girls. I just wish-"

"I just wish we could see the princess kick that thing's flank," Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"Of course!" Twilight shouted. "Why didn't I think of that before!"

"Think of what, darling?" Rarity asked as she joined the group.

"Spike, do you have the emergency books?" Twilight asked. She was already in the zone and filtering out "unnecessary" noises.

"Yeah, I've got them right here," Spike said pulling a small wagon full of books.

"Good. I need The Watcher's Journal: A book of Spells," Twilight said.

"Right here," Spike handed the book to Twilight. She took the book in her magic and furiously flipped through the pages.

"What in tarnation are you looking for, Twi," Applejack asked.

"Aha! Found it!" Twilight began charging her horn.

Each of her friends took a step back. They were used to seeing Twilight like this and they knew things didn't always happen the way they were supposed to. Twilight laughed like a madmare and then released the spell. A black sphere surrounded the lavender unicorn. The other mares and Spike were all speechless.

"Twi," Applejack called out hesitantly, "Are you alright?"

Twilight poked her head out of the sphere. "I'm fine everypony. You've got to see this!"

The colorful assortment of  mares and Spike all followed Twilight into the sphere.

"Are we... in Ponyville?" Spike looked all around himself. While from the outside, all one could see was a black sphere, inside it was like standing in the middle of Ponyville.

"Twilight, darling, what is all this?" Rarity asked.

"This," Twilight gestured around herself with a hoof, "is a an advanced scrying spell using ambient magic in the air as a medium instead of a crystall ball or pool of water."

"So what does that mean in plain pony, egghead," Rainbow Dash asked.

"It means, that we can view the events in Ponyville without actually being there," Twilight clarified.

"That's great and all," Applejack said, "but where's the princess."

Twilight gave a sheepish smile before lighting her horn. The imagery around them changed. They saw an enraged Celestia healing wounds and crawling out of a pile of rubble.

"Oh my," Fluttershy whispered.

"She'll be fine. Right?" Twilight muttered nervously. "I mean she's the princess, right?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Applejack reassured. "See? She's already healed up."

"SAAAAASUKEEEEE!!!"


**********1st POV**********


Celestia had tripled the force of her assault. She kept four swords around me in close combat while she fired golden beams of magic from all directions. It was getting progressively more difficult to dodge her attacks. I needed to take the flight to her.

I led Celestia through Ponyville, detonating more explosive tags as she passed them. After every explosion her natural healing ability to heal restored her wounds. However, I noticed that it was taking her longer and longer to heal. I smiled to myself. Now I could fight for real.

I dashed at Celestia, my sword buzzing with electricity. Surprised by my attack, she momentarily dropped her guard. I seized the opportunity and slashed across her barrel. Celestia  yelped out in pain, surprised that I could cut through her armor. She quickly called all eight of her swords to her side and fought back.


**********3rd POV**********


Twilight Sparkle and her friends watched as their monarch engaged the monster in battle.  As they watched the fight progress, Twilight became more and more worried. Fighting at close quarters should have given Princess Celestia an advantage. After all, she had eight swords. However, the monster dodged and blocked every attack. Every swipe the princess made, every slash, and thrust was easily knocked aside. Then the creature did something that took Twilight (and Princess Celestia) completely by surprise. It jumped back , moved its strange claws in some sort of pattern, and unleashed a torrent of flames from its mouth.

"Is that thing some kind of dragon," Spike asked Twilight.

"I don't know, Spike," she replied. "I don't think so."

Twilight watched as the river of fire engulfed her mentor. After a full minute, the stream stopped. Princess Celestia stood still, taking heavy, labored breaths. She had defended herself at the last minute with a magical force field. But Twilight noticed something strange. There were scorch marks on the princess's armor. The monster talking distracted her from her thoughts.

"Why are you so hellbent on killing me anyway?" It asked the princess.

"I don't want to kill you," Princess Celestia said,"But you are dangerous, unstable, and unpredictable. I can't let you do as you please."

"What did I do that was so bad?"

"You massacred an innocent village, killed a royal family, set fire to a-"

"I've already served my sentence for that stuff. I mean what have I done since I got free?"

"First you left your black fire burning in my throne room. When you let it collapsed and those two guards were covered in it."

The creature smiled sheepishly, "Oops. My bad."

"Destruction of royal property-"

"Is this about your bed? You can totally just buy a new one."

Princess Celestia snorted in anger, "No I can't. It was a special order made over the course of four months with the magic of twenty unicorns and clouds from the Griffon Republic."

"Wait... The griffons are a republic now?"

"You're missing the point. And don't forget about Luna."

"I didn't do anything to Luna," the creature objected.

"Suuuure you didn't. Mr. I'll-Never-Be-Sexually-Attracted-To-Ponies," the princess said her anger rising.

The creature looked at the princess incredulously, "Is that what this is about? You need to get over it. That was like a thousand years ago and I told you it was an accident!"

"HOW DO YOU GET MARRIED BY ACCIDENT!!"  Princess Celestia leapt at the creature and they resumed fighting.

"....I'm so confused," Pinkie Pie said rubbing her temples with her hooves.

"I am as well," Rarity agreed. "Twilight, do you have any idea what's going on?"

Twilight was in shock. Did Princess Celestia just imply that Princess Luna was married to that thing?

"Hey is it just me or does it look like the princess is...losing?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight turned her attention back to the fight. Princess Celestia was having a tough time. She was barely blocked the monster's strikes and was completely on the defensive. Every time she moved backwards, another explosion would detonate.The princess was panting; using so much of her magic was straining her body. Her wounds were no longer healing, part of her armor had faded, and she only had three swords left.

"Come on, Celestia," the monster jeered while attacking with... was that lightning? What!?! "I know I taught you better than this!"

Twilight was stunned. Did that creature just say what she thought it did?

"Come on," the creature continued, "you're making us both look bad."

The fight led them to the center of Ponyville, in front of the town hall. Realizing that she was nearing her limit, Princess Celestia put all of her energy into one last attack. Abandoning her defense entirely, she thrust all of her swords into the creature and succeeded in catching it unaware. The monster stood, impaled by three golden swords and coughed up blood.

"Yeah! She got it!" Rainbow Dash half cheered and half gagged at the display.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy whimpered and turned away.

"That was..rather greusome," Rarity agreed.

"I knew the princess could win," Twilight said putting a hoof over Spike's eyes.

Princess Celestia held her head up triumphantly, and limped over to the creature. "You could have avoided this if you'd just listened," she whispered sadly.

"Oh poor *cough* silly pony. I'm just *cough* getting started," the creature grinned as its body turned into white snakes that slithered away.

"Wha-" Princess Celestia had no time to react as the creature hit her from above.

"Rasengan!" the monster yelled as it slammed a ball of spinning energy into the white alicorn.

"Princess!" Twilight screamed. But she could only watch as her beloved mentor's body was smashed into the ground.

"I expected more from you," the monster said. It turned and started walking away.

"Where *pant* do you *pant* think *wheeze* think you're going," the princess shakily got to her hooves.

"That's my mare," the creature smiled. "Now get up and fight!"

Princess Celestia took one step forward and collapsed in a heap on the ground. She lay there, barely clinging to consciousness.

"Disappointing," the creature said. "Oh well. Let's finish this."

The creature reached down and pulled a rope out of the ground. In an instant the princess was lifted off of the ground and tied up in ropes. There were pieces of paper wrapped all around the ropes. Each piece of paper had strange symbols on it.

"Check this out Celestia," the creature said excitedly. "I've been working on this for like ever. You ready?"

The creature stood straight up, rolled back its shoulders, pushed out its chest, and bellowed, "FINISH HER!"

"You're an asshole," Princess Celestia groaned.

"Aww, you're no fun," the creature said. It moved it's claws in the strange pattern again and smirked. "Fatality."

There was a massive explosion that Twilight and her friends could feel even from their distance. When the smoke cleared, the creature was nowhere to be seen. Laying in a crater, covered in her own golden blood was, Princess Celestia. Upon seeing the princess, Twilight used all of her magic to teleport to Ponyville.

"Princess?" Twilight nudged Princess Celestia hopefully. No response. Twilight called out to the princess again and again growing more anxious with each passing moment. 

"Twilight?" It was barely more than a whisper but she had heard it. Princess Celestia was alive.

"I'm here, princess," Twilight whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Where is Sasuke?"

"It's gone, princess. You don't have to worry."

"And the town?"

"Can be rebuilt. Everypony is safe."

"Good."

Princess Celestia passed out, her injuries getting the better of her. Twilight held the princess in her hooves and didn't let go until medical staff showed up. Surrounded by her friends, Twilight let the stress inside of her out. She sobbed as Fluttershy held her.

"It'll be okay, Twilight," Fluttershy comforted the distressed mare. "Princess Celestia will make a full recovery."

"That thing is still out there," Twilight said between sobs.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it won't come back," Fluttershy reassured.

"Where do you think it went?" Rainbow Dash asked.

All of the mares looked at each other. None of them had a clue.


**********Canterlot Museum 1st POV**********


I watched my shadow clone teleport away and wandered through the museum. I looked at all of the paintings on the walls. the entire history of Equestria, all in picture form. I may have taken a few of the more expensive looking ones and all of the paintings that used my story as inspiration. I walked to the front of the museum.

"Showtime," I said as I pushed open the doors.

As soon as I stood on the stairs leading into the museum, I found myself trapped in a magenta bubble.

"Shining Armor, I'm glad you're feeling better. How's the family?"

Shining Armor stepped into my field of vision. For a monster that I quote 'can't stop' you sure were easy to catch," he sneered.

"One: you thought you caught me last time too. Two: I am exceptionally easy to trap. the hard part is making sure I don't escape. Three: let's talk. Man to horse-man-thing."

Shining frowned, "Don't talk to me like we're friends. And I'm not falling for your bluff."

I sat down and crossed my legs. "Come on buddy. I know you missed me."

"Stop talking, monster," Shining gritted his teeth. " Do you have any idea how much pain you caused me?"

"Not really," I shrugged. "But I'm just going to guess that the pain of failure hurt worse than the broken ribs."

Shining's eyes lit up with anger. "Do you have any idea what position you're in? I could crush you!"

"Are you sure? Sounds a little dark for you."

"It'll be easy. Like breaking a toothpick!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA, show me."

Shining Armor glared at me before looking away in defeat.

"That's what I thought," I teased, "Little Shining armor follows orders. Capture the creature and wait for Luna. Am I wrong?"

Shining Armor looked at me with pure hatred. His teeth were clenched and a vein was pulsating on his forehead.

"So while we're waiting," I continued, "we should talk a bit. Clear the air."

"What would I possibly want to talk about with a monster like you," Shining spat.

"Oh I don't know," I grinned. "Maybe... Twilight... or Cadence."

Shining went pale, an impressive feat for an already white unicorn. "I swear if you say or do anything about or to them I'll-"

"Don't get your panties in a twist. I haven't even met Cadence. Yet. And I've got way too much stuff planned for Twilight to-"

All of a sudden the bubble started shrinking.

"Hey buddy," I said, "I'm getting kind of claustrophobic in here."

At this point Shining Armor's mane was starting to flame up. I may have pushed him too far.

"Captain Armor!" I heard Luna's unmistakable voice say. "Stand down."

Luna descended from the sky with Cadence right behind her.

"Two alicorns, huh? I must be super special," I said still trapped.

"What is this thing, Auntie?" Cadence asked fearfully.

"This," Luna replied, "Is a human. He is Sasuke Uchiha and he was once one of our closest friends."

"Two things," I said. "First, aren't we still friends? And second, anyone else getting the strangest sense of deja vu?"

Luna ignored me and continued talking to Cadence. "We brought you here so that you might find the love in his heart and help him to be good once more."

"I'm right here!" I yelled. "And you're talking about some kind of magical lobotomy!?!"

"What's a lobotomy?" the ponies asked in unison.

"Never mind. You want to mess around in my head? Fine. Just make sure to look out for loose screws," I gave them the most maniacal grin I could muster.

"Auntie Luna? I'm having seconds thoughts about this," Cadence said nervously.

"I'm with Cadence, Princess," Shining Armor said. "Who knows what she might find in this monster's heart. Is it even capable of love?"

"Hurtful," I said.

"Do not waver, young Cadence," Luna reassured them. "I can remember a time when he loved us and our sister as if we were his own family."

"You're both still technically my family," I muttered under my breath. No of the ponies seemed to pay it any attention.

Cadence walked up to the force field and looked me dead in the eyes. She lit up her horn and delved into my mind.


**********3rd POV**********


As Princess Cadence entered the human's mind she was unprepared for what she found. Cadence had been expecting to see twisted images, terrifying memories, and a wasteland of a diseased mind. Instead, she was greeted by a grassy field with a gentle breeze. In the middle of the field stood a lone tree. The human was laying under it holding something. Cadence walked over to the human.

"Hello Cadence," the human said. "Welcome to my mind."

The human was fiddling with a violin. Cadence was unsure of what to make of this situation. It was obvious that the human had some degree of control over its mind and could recognize her presence even through her spell. But her aunt was counting on her. She charged up her horn and attempted to probe deeper into the human's mind. Nothing happened. She was shocked.

"You won't able to do anything here," the human said as it put the violin in position. "My mind, my rules."

Cadence was worried. She was at the mercy of this creature now and completely powerless. She tried to break their connection but even that wasn't working. Her worries began to fade as the human began playing. But it was strange. Despite there only being one instrument in front of her, it sounded like an entire orchestra.

"Take a load off," the human said. "Sit down and enjoy the sunshine and the music. You won't be able to go any deeper."

Cadence sat down next to the human. "And why can't I go any further?"

"You're not strong enough," the human said.

"I'm an alicorn princess. I'm powerful enough."

"I didn't say power. I said strength. You could have all the power in the world and still be weak."

"Love is my special talent. Why can't I find yours? Do you have any?"

The human smiled. "Of course I do. You just won't find anything here on the surface. It's the equivalent of a poker face. And like I said before, you're not strong enough."

"And just how could I get strong enough?"


**********Canterlot 1st POV**********


I watched from my pink prison cell as Cadence's body slumped to the ground. Poor little alicorn. She had made the mistake of looking directly in my sharingan before casting her spell. I had taken the opportunity to place her under my genjutsu. Shining Armor was hysterical.

"What did you do to her!" he screamed.

"I didn't do anything," I lied. "Maybe this wouldn't have happened if you were strong enough to protect her."

Shining Armor looked at me with so much rage I thought he might develop killing intent. 

"Shining Armor, calm down. Take Cadence back to the castle and have her examined by the doctors," Luna commanded.

Shining Armor was about to take Cadence in his magic when my shadow clone teleported to my side.

"Mission accomplished, boss," the clone said before releasing the jutsu.

I felt some pretty intense pain as I gained the clone's memories. Celestia really did a number on him. I wouldn't last in a fight with Luna at full strength. I needed an escape plan.

"Well I think it's time I took my leave," I said as I weaved my hand seals.

"I won't let you escape," Luna warned me as she charged her magic. Luna could block my ability to teleport.

"Then I guess I'll need a distraction. Summoning Jutsu!"

I summoned ten bear sized timberwolves. 

"Long time no see boys," I said as they nuzzled me. "I've got a present for you. You can go ahead and kill anything that moves!"

The timberwolves immediately started running through Canterlot, looking for ponies. Torn between his duty and his wife, Shining Armor, was frozen but decided to go after the timberwolves. Luna teleported her night guards and sent them to defend Canterlot. that just left me and her alone.

"Why?" was all she asked me as she donned her armor.

"Because I must," I drew my sword and leapt at her. She defended with her signature weapon, shadow chain. Luna could pull the chain out from any shadow and manipulate it as if it were an extension of her body. She was always a much better fighter than Celestia. Even after a thousand years on the moon her skills had not dulled. I was constantly on the defensive, barely dodging her strikes and attempts to ensnare me.

"We loved you," she said without missing a beat, or letting up her attack.

"I know."


**********3rd POV**********


"I can teach you to be strong," the human said.

Cadence was conflicted. Here was a monster that had terrorized Ponyville and Canterlot. He was a known killer and she couldn't find a shred of love in his heart. But at the same time Luna had told her that it was this creature, this human, that helped both of the royal sisters come into their own as rulers.

"I don't know," Cadence said hesitantly.

"It's ok," the human said. "You're not ready anyway. I was planning on meeting you at your wedding. You've got some time. Think about my offer."

"I will," Cadence said. "But for now, I just want to stay here."

The human smiled. This had been easier than he thought.


**********1st POV**********


Luna and I had fought through the streets of Canterlot. I was leading her to a wide open area near the castle. I wondered about the lack of  ponies on the street but I didn't have time to think about it. Finally we made it to the castle.

"It was foolish of you to challenge us in our seat of power, Sasuke," Luna said. "Please, surrender this battle, and let us talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about," I said as I weaved my hand seals one more time. Summoning Jutsu

I summoned an Ursa Major into Canterlot. It destroyed buildings with one swipe of its mighty claws and began crawling through the city. Luna abandoned her fight with me and used all of her chains to try to contain the constellation beast. Taking advantage of the distraction, I teleported away.


**********Friendship Express**********


I flashed into a train car to find a sleeping Starlight in our private car. I used the mark I placed on the back of her neck as an anchor point. I flopped down on the bed next to her and she didn't even stir. Pretending not to get hit while fighting Celestia had taken a lot of energy but it had been necessary to force her to use all of her magic. I was just lucky that the explosion of my chakra earlier in the week had displaced all of the ambient magic in Ponyville. Otherwise there was no way I'd have been able to beat Celestia at half strength. Now that I had my book everything could proceed on scheduele. I was excited as I let sleep take me.
	
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Friendship Express Unknown 1st Perspective**********


Once the light faded I shook my head and saw that I was no longer at the train station but was instead in a train. I then blinked and said, “Discord you there?”

“Yes. Any idea where we are?”

“On a train. I wonder if I just got displaced?”

“Any skills from games you could use to find out?”

I then scratched my head and said, “There was sensing power levels? I could give that a try. If there anyone one with a larger power level I should be able to pick them up from the crowd.”

“Might as well give it a shot.”

“It's the best chance we have of getting answers.” 

I then closed my eyes and instantly got hit by a wave of energy and grabbed my head again. However, I managed to regain my composure and focus again. Seconds later I sensed a stronger power further up the train and told Discord, “Found someone with a high power level. Could be our guy?”

“Lets go and find out.”

“Yeah.” With that we opened the door between the carriage and walked towards where the energy was coming from.


**********Sasuke 1st Perspective**********


I woke up on the train next to Starlight. She was still sleeping so I got up and looked around. The train car had a desk, two beds, and a table. Probably shouldn’t have slept with Starlight. Oh well, she’ll never know. I sat down at the desk and opened my book. I started making some of the scrolls I’d need when a sword dropped on my desk. It looked like the sword from the Legend of Zelda. Weird. It had Celestia’s cutie mark on one side and Luna’s on the other. Very weird. I picked it up and a voice shouted in my head.

Hi my name is Craig. If ever you are in danger, are scared, frightened or even just need an ally to stand by your side in your darkest hour. Call on me and I will come and do everything in my power to aid you.

I reflexively sent chakra through it and felt a strange wave of energy pass through me. After a moment of hoping I didn’t do anything world-breaking, I put the sword down and sensed the train. At the back there was a new power. It was comparable to my own but it felt different from anything I’d felt before. It was possibly very dangerous. I’d wait to see what it did before I did anything else.


**********Unknown 1st Perspective**********


As I continued to walk through the train I could sense his energy getting stronger and stronger. No. Not energy. Chakra. “Discord you felt that too, right. It’s the same type of energy as when I cloned myself against you. This guy must have been cosplaying as someone from Naruto.”

He then asked “Naruto wasn’t that another anime?”

“Yeah. I just hope it’s not Pain or Orochimaru. neither of them are good news.” I then stopped and said, “To be fair, it could be bad if it’s Naruto or Sasuke. They're both dangerous. I just hope that this guy's in control of himself.” 

I then continued to walk through the train and eventually some of the ponies on the train saw and and then instantly hid from me. I then thought, “What has this guy done to to scare them this much?” 

Seconds later I felt his power skyrocket as I approached a door to the left of me. I then carefully reached towards the door and slowly opened it to see Sasuke sitting next to a sleeping unicorn. I thought, “What the hell is going on?” 


**********Sasuke 1st Perspective**********


“Well now. That’s not something you see everyday,” I said. Standing in front of me was another human. He was carrying a guitar. Strange. He was the power I was sensing earlier. I must have summoned him with the sword. 

“Who are you?” I asked as I eyed him suspiciously.

“Name’s Craig and from that getup, I guess you are Sasuke”

“Second question: why couldn’t you have been a beautiful woman?”

I turned my head to see Discord standing next to me as he said, “Strange the aura around you is similar to that around you Craig.” 

He then clicked his fingers and Craig’s body changed into that of a woman's.

“I can work with this,” I said wondering how Discord escaped again. “How is it you’re here? Both of you. And why don’t you recognize me, Discord?”

To this Discord said, “We are not of this world. Your world’s version of me is probably still in stone. Whilst in our world, Craig here defeated me singlehandedly. The elements weren’t used on me.”

Craig then said, “I suppose you found my token and then summoned me here.” He then turned to Discord and said, “OK the jokes over Discord turn me back to normal.”

“Wait, before you do that,” I said. “Want to do it? I haven’t seen a woman since I first arrived in Equestria like over a thousand years ago. I’m starting to feel things for horses. Unnatural things.”

To this Craig said, “One, what the hell is wrong with you and two, that explains the Unicorn there. What is she your marefriend?”

“What? NO!” I yelled. “She’s just an employee. Besides I’m married.”

My outburst woke up Starlight. She shook the sleep out of her eyes and sat up.

“Why are there two of you?” she asked groggily.

“Take a closer look, Starlight,” I said. “This guy is different.”

“Oh Faust, not another one,” she whimpered.

To this Craig said, “God am I really that bad? What has he done to make you think I’m evil?”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said. “Ponies are just super sensitive.”

“DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!?!” Starlight screamed. “There was a special newspaper release last night! You put Princess Celestia in the hospital! An ALICORN! YOU PUT AN ALICORN IN THE HOSPITAL! And then you let an ursa major loose in Canterlot!”

I smiled, “I really think I deserve a medal or something. Do you know how hard it is to give an alicorn lasting injuries?”

Craig then looked at me and his face turned red. He punched me straight between the eyes and said, “What the fuck is your major malfunction. Do you realise how many people you could have killed? Were you born stupid or something because that is just pure stupidity!”

I rubbed my face in pain, “Ow, you dick. Everything was calculated. There were no ponies on the street during one of the busiest times of the day. I couldn’t sense anything from the houses either. Clearly they had all been moved someplace safe. The only casualties would have been the guards and they signed up for that kind of thing. Plus Celestia can raise the sun in her sleep. I know, I’ve seen her do it before.”

To this he just said, “That’s not the point. The point is that in my world I have protected the innocent and you have soiled that very claim in this world. The only way this could be even stranger is if you were married to Luna for god’s sake”

“Yeah, so about that…” I started.

“You’re married to Princess Luna?” Starlight screamed.

“Yes?” I responded.

Craig’s eyes went wide as he said to Discord,  “Turn me back to normal now.” With that he quickly turned back into a man and then said, “You were going to start a relationship with me and you're married to royalty. Were you dropped on your head when you were born?”

We then all turned our heads towards Discord as we heard him laughing and he said, “Oh Celestia this is just priceless. You're saying that you are married to Luna and you wanted to do another guy from another reality. You are crazy you know that? And I should know, I am the god of chaos.”

“My marriage with Luna was an accident. We were on a mission, there were some dragons, it’s a long story. Although I am still technically king of Equestria. When I was imprisoned they forgot to strip my title. And who said anything about a relationship? Relations. Not relationship.”

“You’re disgusting,” Starlight said.

“Aww, don’t be like that,” I pleaded.

To this Craig said, “That is just strange. But I’m not one to judge people on one action they make. why do you think I forgave Discord for trying to kill me, and making my life back home a living hell. Besides I may be loyal to Celestia however I am also a free man in Equestria. oh and by the way sorry for punching you, I have a bit of a short fuse.” 

“It’s fine,” I said, “I would probably get punched in the face more, if ponies were as aggressive as humans. But don’t forget, I’ll tag you back eventually. So I’m curious. You already know my powers; what are yours?”

To this Craig just smiled and said, “My powers are quite strange. I can manipulate any power from any game I have played. For example i am able to use thu’um from Skyrim and I have also managed to perform a shadow clone jutsu. But you already know a lot about how chakra works I imagine.” 

“Interesting,” I said, “So you played Skyrim? Does that mean you can use God Mode?”

To this he scratched his head and said, “To be honest i’ve never heard of that. But it is likely that i could if i knew how it worked.” 

I activated my sharingan and placed Craig under my genjutsu. I showed him how to use the console commands and the effects of God Mode. “You’ll get unlimited health, magicka, and stamina,” I told him as I released him. “You’ll also eliminate the need for cooldowns and be able to cast any spell even ones you don’t normally have the capacity to use. Wanna see if you can do it?”

He then looked at me and said, “Sure it’s not safe to try whilst we are on the train. Wouldn’t it be better to try when we are outside?” 

“That is an excellent point,” I said grabbing his shoulder. “We won’t be gone long Starlight.”


**********Badlands**********


I teleported us to an open field in the Badlands. I had a fought there a long time ago and some of my shuriken remained. “Go for it,” I said.

He then closed his eyes and then said, “Here goes nothing.” Seconds later his body began to glow. He then open his eyes and said, “This feels strange.” He then quickly turned around and said, “Wait do you feel that?” 

“Yup. You feel like a bottomless well of power.”

“Yeah but that's not what I mean. It feels like were being watched,” He then turned his body around and brought his hands to his side and then shouted “Kamehameha!” 

Seconds later I saw a crevice filled with changelings staring at us. He then said, “I knew something didn’t feel right.” 

“Haven’t seen changelings in a while,” I said. “Want to test out your new powers on them?”

“Nah they’re not worth the energy it would cost to do so.” 

“You’re no fun,” I activated my mangekyou sharingan and surrounded the changelings with black flames. 

“Tell your queen, Sasuke’s back,” I instructed them. I quelled the flames and they flew away. “So how will you test out your powers?” 

“I can see one person who would be a great sparring partner.”

“Well then,” I said drawing my sword, “Let’s do this.”


**********Craig 1st POV**********


With that I grabbed hold of my guitar and turned it back into my sword and then quickly unsheathed it. I said “Ready when you are.” 

I then bowed to him and held my sword ready to defend myself. He ran at me and slashed. I defended and we started our fight. He was quick and his sharingan gave him a slight advantage. 

I then smiled and said, “Nice try maybe it’s time for a bit of fun.” 

I then quickly performed a Shadow Clone Jutsu and said,  “You ready for some fun?” 

I shouted “Mul Qah” and each of the clones began to charge towards him. I then jumped off the ground and just floated there and watched as he tries to fight each of the clones. He formed his own clones and one of them started breathing fireballs while another blew wind from either side. When the two attacks collided, they turned into fire tornadoes that came after myself and the my clones.To this I just smiled and then placed two fingers on my forehead. I teleported into the centre of the tornado and held my sword up and waited to see what he would do next.All of a sudden giant timberwolves ran through the fire and attacked me.

To this I smiled and said, “Not bad Sasuke. Shame these aren’t real or I might have actually been worried.” 

I then placed my hand on back of my sword on top of Celestia's Cutie Mark and the Timberwolves faded away. I then shouted “Fiem Zii Gron” and I completely disappeared. The Tornado stopped motionless. 

I saw Sasuke standing outside of the tornado and he looked straight at me. “You can’t hide from the sharingan,” he said with a smile. “Now let’s see how strong you really are.” 

He formed Susanoo’s bones and fired a giant purple arrow covered in black fire at me.

To this I just smiled and stood there. The arrow hit me with a direct blow. However, once the flames scatter over the battlefield I smiled and said, “Well that was ineffective what else you got or do you want me to start trying?”  

“No,” he said. “This was a pretty good test. Taking one of Susanoo’s arrows to the face is a pretty good indicator, wouldn’t you say? What I really wonder is what happens to your body once you turn God Mode off.”

I then laughed and said, “Wait you thought I had it on? I turned it off after the changelings arrived. I haven’t been using God Mode at all during this fight.”

He looked confused, “Then what was the point of this fight?”

“To prove to you that you're not as powerful as you think. Now do you want me to fight properly?”

“Not particularly. I am on the run after all. Spending too much time in one place and fighting with you is a huge ‘Here I am’. Besides,” he grinned. “You helped me lead them in the wrong direction.”

“By them I guess you mean the royal guard, and don’t worry. I don’t think they’ll get here for a while.”

“Next time, eager beaver. I promise I’ll beat you senseless, how’s that?” he said as he grabbed my shoulder. We teleported back to the train.


**********Friendship Express Sasuke 1st POV**********


Once Craig and I were back on the train I saw Starlight talking with Discord. Starlight’s hair was in a mess and she seemed very agitated. Her ear and eye were twitching.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked her.

“Oh nothing,” she said sarcastically, “just talking about how you humans are a chaotic and violent species, with a god of chaos from another world. I think I need to lie down.”

To this Craig looked at Discord and asked, “What did you do?”

To this Discord said, “I didn’t do anything. Why so offensive?”

“I’m going to have to ask that you do not traumatize my employees,” I said. I walked over to Starlight. “Speaking of speaking, Starlight stick out your tongue.”

“Why,” she asked while complying. I pointed two fingers at her tongue.Cursed Tongue Eradication Technique. A black mark showed up at the back of her tongue.

“Now if you try to reveal any information about myself or my new associate here, your body will be paralyzed,” I said. I turned to Craig, “Got to cover our bases. You should use that one sometime. Helps protect captured allies.”

To this Craig said, “I honestly don’t think that my friends would be be like that and besides i don’t even know if i would need to do that to anyone.” He then kneeled down next to Starlight and said, “Are you OK? I’m sorry if Discord scared you at all.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “It’s just a week ago, I never really left the lab and now… It’s just a lot to take in.”

To this Craig smiled and said, “To be honest at least you’ve had a week to get use to being around humans. I’ve only had three days to get used to the whole population of ponyville and Celestia and Luna. It’s a lot different to home.”

Starlight smiled at Craig and closed her eyes, resting on the bed. “She’s a lot tougher than she looks,” I say.

“You’re no weakling yourself.” Craig said. He then asked, “Have you made yourself a token yet?”  

“A token?” I asked. “Is that what those weird things are? No, I haven’t made one.”

To this Craig smiled and said, “By weird things I take it you're referring to the blade that you found?”

“Among other things,” I said. “By the way, I’m keeping the sword. Looks awesome. You can’t have it back.”

To this Craig smiled and reached just under his top and pulled out a chain that has a copy of the blade attached to it. He then said, “I don’t think that it is an issue. You can keep it.” 

“Great. Then I should give you this,” I summoned a small jade magatama necklace. I held it to my chest and whispered, “I am Sasuke Uchiha, Black Sun of Equestria, Two-Legged Pony, etcetera, etcetera. Should you need my assistance in any endeavor, just give me a call and I will appear.”

The necklace multiplied as soon as I finished speaking and the copies disappeared. “That’s unusual,” I said as I handed Craig the original necklace.

To this Craig smiled and said, “Thank you. I’ll be honest, if you ever do need my help just ask and I will come and help you.” 

He then turned to Discord and said, “We better be heading off soon. Everyone’s probably worried about us back home.” 

With that Discord disappeared from in front of me. He then proceeded to place the necklace around his neck next to his own and placed them both back below his top.  

“It has been a pleasure,” I said. “We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

To this Craig smiled and said, “I look forward to it.” 

He then extended his hand out and we both shook each others hand. He then reached towards his amulet once again as it begins to glow. A small gateway appeared near the door and  he walked towards it. Just before he walked through it he put one hand up and waved. Then he stepped through the door and disappeared.  

“Interesting,” I said to myself. “I wonder if I can find others like us.”

Starlight sat up on her bed. “Absolutely not! One of you is bad enough.”

“He wasn’t that bad,” I said to her.

“Irrelevant,” Starlight said as she lie down again.

I sat down on my own bed and thought about what I was going to do next. This was going to be a long train ride.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Manehattan**********


As I stepped off of the train with Starlight, something felt wrong. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it (I had assumed my pony form) but something was definitely not right. Starlight distracted me from my thoughts.

“What are we even doing here?” she asked as we walked through the streets.

“We can’t do what I’m planning alone,” I explained. “We’re going to need help. Teamwork makes the dream work.”

“And what the buck is in heavy bag you have me lugging around?” Starlight was agitated. Her recent chat with an otherworldly Discord, along with what happened with the princesses had left her in a sour mood.

“Just some shovels, some scrolls, and an axe or two,” I replied.

“What,” Starlight asked incredulously. “What do I look like to you? An earth pony? Besides what are you even going to do with that crap?”

“Don’t you mean what are we going to do with that crap?”

“I swear if you’ve got me burying bodies or something, I’ll go straight to the princesses.”

We walked in silence after that. I didn’t want to push her any further and she needed time to cool down. I asked ponies for directions and they were very helpful. Every time I listened in to a conversation nearby, the only subject they discussed was my attack on Canterlot and Ponyville. Once we were about halfway to our destination, I felt it again. That feeling that something was out of place.

“Starlight,” I said, “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what,” she murmured.

“I don’t know,” I said following the sensation. I walked towards the feeling, entranced by it. It led me off course until I didn’t know where I was anymore. But I kept following it until it led me to an earth pony mare standing across the street from me, admiring some of the shop windows.

“Do you know who that is?” I asked Starlight.

“No. Why? Are you in love?” she said sarcastically.

“I don’t think so. I don’t even think that’s a pony,” I said.

“Of course she is,” Starlight argued. “Look at her.”

“Look at me,” I countered. “I’m going to talk to her.”

“Sure, go ahead,” Starlight complained. “Waste time in a city where you’re a wanted criminal. What could possibly go wrong.”

I ignored Starlight and walked over to the strange mare. “Excuse me,” I said getting her attention, “What are you?”

The mare blinked at me a few times. “I’m sorry, what? I don’t quite understand. I’m an earth pony, sir. Certainly that must be obvious… unless you’re blind.” She waved a hoof in front of my eyes, narrowing her own. “You don’t seem blind, though.”

I laughed. “If you’re an earth pony, then so am I.”

“Idiot, you are an earth pony right now,” Starlight reminded me.

“Right,” I said. “Excuse me miss ,” I said to the mare. “Would you mind following me into that dark alley over there so I can show you something?” I gestured to a creepy looking alleyway behind her. Starlight facehoofed.

She quirked an eyebrow at me. “If I wasn’t so sure I can take care of myself, I’d be more worried about a strange colt asking a mare he just met into a dark alley way where no pony can see them.”

“Is that a yes?” I asked hopefully.

“You are very strange stallion,” she wise-cracked before shrugging. “Sure, I’ve got nothin’ better to do today.”

“Great, follow me,” I said as I trotted into the alley. Once I was sure I couldn’t be seen from the street I allowed myself to return to my human form. I activated my sharingan. She didn’t look any different so it wasn’t an illusion. “So who are you, really?”

Her eyes widened considerably at the sight of me. “Oh mon Dieu… Sasuke Uchiha… nom de Dieu,” she breathed.

“In the flesh,” I beamed. “So how long are you going to pretend to be a pony?”

She glared lightly at me. “For your information, I’m not entirely pretending. A part of my physiology is pony, but you are correct in this not being my natural form.” She tapped her jacket and, in a blinding green flash, a woman was standing in front of me. Her long, golden-blonde hair hung on her shoulders and extended down her back. Her sleek black jacket and simple grey t-shirt gave her a darker appearance, while the khakis defined a more light hearted side as well. But the black, short-cropped combat boots absolutely screamed that she was a fighter. Whoever this woman was, with those piercing red eyes, she was not someone to mess around with.

My jaw nearly fell off my face. I could feel her power. It was so much greater than my own. It felt nearly bottomless. I had never felt something so… attractive before in all of my life. The strange thing was I almost felt like I had seen her before.

“Oh Faust, not another one,” Starlight panicked. “What did I do to deserve this?”


I couldn’t pull my gaze away from the woman in front of me. My brain short-circuited and I just blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. “Do you want to have sex, right here, right now?”

The girl gave me another quirked eyebrow, slowly looking me over. I could feel those eyes judging me completely, inside and out. After a moment… “Eh, sure why not.”

….

After a mind-boggling, intense ten minute session. I was able to think clearly. Exceptionally powerful humans don’t show up out of nowhere. I knew nothing about her aside from the fact that she could probably kill me without breaking a sweat. I didn’t know her powers, or her motives. Unacceptable.

“Why are you here,” I asked her.

She gave me a smile, easily adjusting her clothes back into their pristine condition. “I’m here to shop. Manehattan is always the best place to go for everything and anything. Although I probably should visit Carousel Boutique in Ponyville. Rarity’s the only one to ever actually make anything I like.”

It didn’t seem like she was lying but I never trust anything at face value. “Are you a Displaced?” I asked, trying to gauge her reaction.

“I am indeed. And considering you know that very word, then you’re not the actual Sasuke Uchiha… hmm, nah, still no regrets.”

“If I was actually sixteen, I wouldn’t have that much skill. Although becoming a Japanese guy was unexpected,” I pulled myself back to my original train of thought. “I thought we needed tokens to travel between universes. How are you here if I didn’t summon you?”

“The barriers of Displaced universes are much weaker than others. One of our kind with enough power can easily break through and enter the world without the need of an invitation. That is how I got through: I broke in. Simple, easy, and efficient.”

If anyone could break through, that could be a serious problem. Oh well, that’s future Sasuke’s problem. “Well thanks for the sex, it was awesome, but I’ve got a schedule to keep. Starlight!”

Starlight had been sitting on the edge of the alley ‘keeping watch’. “Are you done now,” she asked.

“Yup. Let’s go,” I turned back into a pony and started walking away. “Actually,” I said turning to the mystery woman,”Do you want to come with us? We could use the help.”

“You gonna hurt anyone?” she asked logically.

“Define hurt,” I said. “No one will feel any pain, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“As long as you’re not killing anypony, than I suppose I could help,” she said, transforming back into her pony form. “But one wrong move, then I will interfere and make you hurt.”

I felt a chill run down my spine at her words. “I don’t plan on killing anypony today. Just the opposite in fact.” I started walking into the street.

“Why does nothing you say ever make any sense,” Starlight grumbled.

We walked together through the city chatting pleasantly about nothing in particular. I learned her name was Kat Shifter and she had the ability to control gravity. After a pretty lengthy walk, we arrived at our destination.

“Sunny Skies Cemetery,” Starlight gulped.

“Yep. We’re going to...pay our respects to Starswirl the Bearded,” I explained.

“Wait! Is this what those shovels are for?” Starlight asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Kat, back me up here.”

“How can I when I don’t know why you’d want to dig up Starswirl… wait a second. Why is he buried in Manehattan? That doesn’t make any sense at all.” Kat was rubbing her head in confusion.

“Like many famous people back on Earth, when an important pony dies sometimes their body is buried separately from their monuments. Starswirl was born here. Even though he did most of his work in Canterlot, he wanted to be buried with his family. The tomb in Canterlot is just for show.”

I walked into the cemetery and the two mares followed. “We’ll never find him looking grave by grave. Starlight, go find the groundskeeper.” She nodded and walked away.

“So Kat, what was your Equestria like?”

“Military-based. I was a field general for several wars under Celestia and Luna. Not a fun time in history to have been apart of. Though the first war, the Dragon War, was ended almost a year after I got involved. It was a fun end to,” Kat said with a giggled as she recalled the memory.

“Wow,” I said. “I was military-ish myself. I was never formally given a rank but I did do a lot of fighting and commanding. You actually had to fight a war with the dragons? You must be crazy strong.”

Starlight returned with an elderly pegasus. He was light blue and had a cap. A few white strands of hair poked out from under his hat. 

“Can you take us to Starswirl’s resting place?” I asked him.

He didn’t say anything, but nodded and motioned for us to follow him. We walked along the edge of the cemetery, along a gate. The old pegasus stopped and pointed to a grave with a simple SS etched in the stone.

“Thank you,” I said. “One more thing.”

I returned to my human form and put him into a trance using my sharingan. “Here,” I said reaching into Starlight’s bag. “Start digging.” I handed a shovel to each of the mares and started digging. 

“I’d rather not,” Kat said with a shake of her head. “I prefer the fun way.”

“Fun way?” Starlight asked. I stopped digging.

“Show me what you got,” I challenged.

Kat smiled, stepping back slightly. Her body went still, but I could sense that strange aura again, only this time rising more and more. A crack in the ground at the grave appeared, spreading out into a rectangular shape. Slowly, the newly formed block of earth rose out of its slot and into the air, being deposited right next to the headstone. Kat let out a breath, looking as if something like that was nothing to her at all.

“I’m impressed,” I said, opening Starswirl’s casket. I pulled out a scroll and smeared some of his decayed flesh on it. Starlight gagged at the sight and looked away. I walked in front of the groundskeeper and put the scroll on the ground. I weaved some hand seals and black marks decorated the ground. Dust and ash encased the groundskeeper’s body as he took on the appearance of a bearded unicorn.

“Starswirl,” I said, “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

Kat blinked a few times. “Merde alors! A reanimation spell! Amazing!”

“Not just any reanimation spell. The best reanimation spell. He can't be destroyed even if you disintegrate him and he’s got unlimited magic,” I boasted.

“Oh great. They finally figured out necromancy,” the unicorn said, clearly annoyed. “Why have you awakened me?”

“I need your help with some projects,” I said. “Who better to help than the greatest wizard of all time?”

“I’ll help on one condition,” Starswirl said.

“Sure,” I said, pretending he had a choice.

“What is the great name history has bestowed upon me?”

“Starswirl the Bearded.”

“What?”

“Starswirl the Bearded,” I repeated.

“So you mean to tell me I contributed more to magic research than any unicorn and history and all I’m remembered for is my facial hair!?!”

“Well, and creating more spells than any other unicorn ever has,” Kat added helpfully.

“Then why not Starswirl the Genius or Starswirl the Great and Powerful?”

“That last one is already taken,” I told him.

Starswirl grumbled inaudibly while Starlight just looked on in shock. She was clearly awed by the presence of her greatest hero and it rendered her speechless.

“Now that we’ve got Starswirl, it’s on to the Griffon Republic,” I cheered. “Anypony here know how to get there?”

“Last time I met griffons, they were an empire,” Starswirl said.

“Kat, any ideas?”

“If you share any memories of the area, I could teleport us there via a wormhole,” the shifter said.

I looked in Kat’s eyes and placed her under my genjutsu. I showed her my memories of the griffon town we were heading to. “Is that enough,” I said releasing her.

“That should be plenty and now for the fun part again.” Kat lifted up a hoof, glowing with red and white energy. Before us, a swirling portal came into existence, showing the town on the other side. “Well, we haven’t got all day! In ya go! Allons-y!”

I grabbed Starlight and jumped through. Starswirl followed behind. 


**********Eagle's Peak**********


I was impressed. The town hadn’t changed much in a thousand years. I wouldn’t even have to wear a disguise here.

“Ok team we are looking for a few things here. A griffon named Talon, a griffon named Gilda, and the griffon team the Valkyries.”

Starlight finally shook off her shock and started talking. “Y-y-y-you’re Starswirl the Bearded!”

“Yes. Yes I am,” he brushed her off. “Where are we going to find these griffons?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “Although I think I might know where to find Talon.”

“And where am I supposed to find Rainbow’s flight buddy?” asked Kat.

I thought for a moment. Where would I go if I had just lost an old friend in the most humiliating way possible? Especially if I had too much pride and anger control issues.

“If I had to guess,” I said scratching my chin, “I would say she’s in a bar somewhere drowning her sorrows.”

Kat sighed. “Of course. It’s always the bar, always the putain de bar. Whelp, if you hear screaming and things crashing, you’ll know something went wrong,” she said ever-so-happily as she walked into town.

I smiled at the the thought of a bar fight. It’d been too long since I’d been home. I turned to face Starlight and Starswirl. That was going to get confusing. “Starswirl, I want you to find the Valkyries,” I instructed. “Look for a symbol that appears to be two elongated wings facing each other.”

“What do you want me to do when I find them,” he asked.

“Just show them your eyes and say these exact words. ‘It is time for the servants of the demon to return to active service’. They should understand the message.”

Starlight eyed me suspiciously. “I’m not actually a demon,” I reassured her. “It was part of the theatrics I used during the war with the griffons.”

“Whatever you say,” she mumbled. Starswirl trotted away with his mission. “So, I guess that leaves us to find this Talon,” she said.

I nodded. “He’ll be somewhere in this town under a different name.”

“Then how are we supposed to find him?” Starlight asked.

“Because I can sense him,” I said. “And he’ll be the richest griffon in the country.”

I opened up my senses to the area and found several sources of my chakra. The first was Starswirl. I could feel him searching. The second was the Valkyrie mansion. I probably should have told Starswirl he was walking in the wrong direction. The last had to be Talon.

“C’mon, Starlight,” I said as I picked her up. “We’re going to teleport.”

I teleported us into a dark, empty office. I put Starlight down and looked around. The room held several treasures from around this world. I could identify a few of them, my kunai being one them. Others were a complete mystery.

“He’s been busy,” I muttered under my breath. Outside of the office, I heard someone scrambling to unlock the door.

“You have no idea who you’re bucking with thief!” A deep masculine voice yelled. “No griffon, pony, or even dragon, steals from me!”

A griffon with a white head and black body forced his way through the door holding a sword. “You won’t leave here….”

Upon seeing me, the griffon went pale and dropped the sword. “Mephistopheles,” he whispered. “I thought you were dead.”

I smiled at him, “Of course not Talon. I just took a long nap. You look good though. How’s the immortality treating you?”

He blinked his pure black eyes and walked to his desk. “It’s been great,” he said nervously. “I did what you asked. I haven’t broken our deal.”

“Straight to business? Ok then, where is it?”

“500 miles from here. Completely hidden and not on any maps.”

“Good. How much?”

“Four billion. Ready to be converted to gold and moved.”

“Very good.”

“What are you two talking about,” Starlight asked, her confusion showing on her face.

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “You’ll find out soon enough.” I turned my attention back to Talon. “You’ve done very well, Talon. You may keep your immortality.”

Talon visually relaxed after hearing that. “Oh thank you, Mephisto. I thought you were here to kill me. It’s Lew now, by the way.”

“Of course not, child of Faust. You’re still so useful.” Lew reached in his desk and pulled out a golden compass.

“This points to its location,” he said. “It’s been enchanted for one use only so it can’t be used against you.”

I took the compass and picked Starlight up again. “I’ll be in touch,” I said as I teleported away.

We appeared in front of a surprised Starswirl who still hadn’t found the Valkyries. “Warn an old stallion before you do that,” he said clutching his chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

I shrugged, “It wouldn’t have killed you. I finished up my business so now we need-”

A loud crash interrupted me. An earthquake shook us to the ground and I saw a large cloud of smoke in the distance. Minutes later, a pride of  screaming griffons flew past us. They were in hysterics about an earth pony with magic powers kidnapping someone.

“She wasn’t kidding was she,” Starlight said as we walked toward the chaos.

“Nope,” I replied.

It didn’t take long. As we got closer I saw Kat sitting off to the side examining a hoof. Gilda was nearby, seemingly trapped by nothing, in a crater.

“What happened here,” I asked Kat.

Kat sighed angrily. “Same thing that happens every time I go to a bar: something happens to get it destroyed. Don’t ask how that happened on Earth, just believe me when I say it did.” She looked at Gilda. “Safe to say… I don’t like bars. And they feel the same.”

Despite Kat’s clear annoyance at the situation, I couldn’t help but find the whole thing slightly amusing. I walked over to Gilda. “You can let her go now,” I said. Kat nodded and did… something. I really wish I could see gravity. Gilda sat up and brushed herself off.

“What the buck was that all about?” she spat at me. “Are you this crazy mare’s boss?”

“Yes?” I said looking at Kat. She glared at me and it felt as if she was staring into my very soul. “No, we’re just… associates.”

“Well?” Gilda said, her voice full of contempt. “What do you want?”

“You,” I said.

“What?”

“I want you to join me.”

“And why would I want to join up with some monkey dweeb and his band of travelling freaks?”

I grinned. “Because I can give you something no one else can.”

“Just get to the point. I don’t have all day,” she said.

“I can make you faster than Rainbow Dash. AND I can help you win her back.”

For a brief second, an unreadable expression crossed Gilda’s face. “I’m already faster than that dweeb traitor,” she said. “And I don’t need her back.”

I thought for a minute and then came up with a new angle. “You’re not faster than her,” I said. Gilda tried to protest but I kept speaking. “Her sonic rainboom outclasses anything you can do. But I can help you. Make you stronger, faster. I can make make you so fast that a sonic rainboom looks like slow motion.” I could tell Gilda was giving this some thought. Time to drive it home. “And then you can show her. Show that traitorous pony how much better you are than her. How wrong she was about you. How she needs you more than you ever needed her.”

Gilda was hesitant, but she wanted to believe what I was saying. “Can you really make me that fast?”

“Did you hear about what happened to Princess Celestia in Ponyville?” I asked her.

“Of course,” she said. “That was front page news.”

“That was me.”

“YOU! You-”


“That’s right. And I was only at half strength. Imagine what I could do now. And what I could do for you.”

Gilda stuck out a claw. “If you can really make me faster, you’ve got a deal.” 

I took her claw in my hand and shook it. “Welcome aboard, Gilda.”

I could feel Kat’s gaze on me, but she never said a word. Only observing everything with a scrutinizing eye. It was very unnerving. What was she trying to get from me? 

“We still need to find these ‘Valkyries’,” Starlight reminded me.

“Right,” I said. 

“You want those losers?” Gilda asked. “They live on the edge of town. I can take you there.”

“Lead the way,” I said.

Gilda leapt into the air and looked down at us. “I guess you guys can’t fly, huh?”

“Guess again,” I said, taking Starlight and Starswirl under my arms. Earth Style: Lightweight Boulder Jutsu. I reduced our collective gravity, allowing us to fly. 

“How are you doing this without wings,” Starswirl asked me. “Have flight spells advanced to the point where all ponies may fly as a pegasus?”

“Not pony spells,” I told him. Gilda started flying to our destination and I followed. Remembering Kat,  I looked back. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see her right next to me. We were probably using a similar if not the same technique. We flew in an uncomfortable silence. I was tempted to talk to Kat but ever since I mentioned Celestia, she seemed pretty upset. I did not want to look into her soul crushing gaze again. 

Eventually, we came to a mansion with the wings I described to Starswirl on the front gate. We all landed at the gate. I considered just going straight to the house but decided that would be rude. At the gate there was a single bell. Bell isn’t quite right, it was more like a gong. I banged on it producing a horrible screaming note.

“What the hay kind of doorbell ist that?” Starlight asked with her hooves over her ears.

“I told you these guys were losers,” Gilda said. “What do you want with them anyway?”

“They owe me,” I responded. The doors of the mansion opened up and a lone griffon flew out and came to the gate.

“State your business,” she commanded.

I flashed my sharingan. “It is time for the servants of the demon to return to active service.”

The griffon’s eyes went wide and she quickly opened the gate. “Please come in,” she led us into the grounds. The hen moved quickly and ushered us into the mansion. While the outside was nothing special, the inside was breathtaking. The architecture of the building was amazing. All around the foyer were sculptures of the original Valkyries made out of black granite. The entire place was decorated like a castle. 

“Please wait while I alert the mistress to your presence,” said the griffon, who I now assumed to be a maid. 

“Losers, huh?” I teased Gilda. She huffed at me and then looked away.

“This place is incredible,” Starlight said looking around.

“Indeed,” Starswirl agreed.

I gathered the courage to look at Kat again. She was still staring into my soul but less harshly this time. It still seemed like she was silently judging me. I needed to at least pretend she wasn’t getting to me. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or you just going to keep pouting, “ I asked.

“For one, I’m not pouting,” Kat told me in very calm voice. “Simply watching and waiting. I’m not easily impressed, sweetie.” Is it just me or did that sound very creepy?

Shaking off the feeling of dread my new friend? just gave me, I went back to admiring the mansion. The griffon maid returned with another griffon in tow. The new griffon had a white head with red tips, and a golden body. When she saw me she froze in her tracks. After recovering from her initial shock she walked up to me and began looking me all over. After circling me a few times, she came to a stop in front of me.

“It really is you,” she said. “I thought you were just a myth.”

“I’m as real as you are,” I said getting back into my normal banter.

“Then you really have come for the Valkyries.”

“Yes, I have. Are you the current leader?”

She laughed. “No, I am not. I am Griselda, I am the previous leader and mentor to the current leader.”

I was surprised. “If you’re not the current leader, then why did you come to greet us?”

“My apologies, Mephisto. She is currently in the middle of a training session,” Griselda bowed her head.

“Really,” I said. “Let’s go watch then. I want a sneak preview of her skills.”

“As you wish.” Griselda led us through the mansion and into a courtyard. There were ten griffons in all. All of them were in the middle of some sort of combat training. They all looked very impressive but they would still need new training.

“Which one is she?” I asked Griselda.

“Over there,” Griselda pointed to a griffon that looked like a younger version of herself. The little Griselda was taking on two other griffons in a sword fight. It didn’t matter how well the two worked together, they couldn’t land a hit on her. She was incredible to watch. After she finished her match she noticed us.

“Valkyries! Enough for today,” she yelled as she walked over to us. “Griselda who are they?”

“This, Aoife, is Lord Mephistopheles and his group. He is here to fulfill the contract,” Griselda explained.

Aoife kneeled in front of me. “Sir, it is an honor to be the leader of the chosen generation. I swear to you that these Valkyries will withstand any battle or test of loyalty. We live to serve.”

“That’s great and all,” I said, “But I left something here with your ancestors and I need it back now.”

“Do you mean that gourd that’s full of sand?” Aoife asked.

“That’s it. Could you get that for me? And get your team ready to go?”

“Right away.” Griselda left to get the gourd and Aoife went to talk to her teammates. After a quick discussion they quickly flew to different parts of the mansion. Aoife walked back over to us.

“They went to retrieve their things. I’m going to go get mine as well. We will wait for you in front of the mansion.” Aoife flew away leaving me with my original group.

“Why did you leave their ancestors with a bucket of sand,” Starlight asked.

“Not just any sand,” I said. “Sand infused with an insane amount of chakra. I can control like its another limb. Plus it jumps to my defense without me having to do anything.”

“That’s an incredible spell,” Starswirl said. “You have to share the secrets of your magic with me.”

“I will. But first we have to get to our base.”

“Is that what you were talking about with Lew,” Starlight asked. “A secret base?.” 

“Exactly,” I answered. “Kat, can you open wormholes to places connected to magical artifacts?”

“I’d need a specific energy to lock on to. If I don’t have anything to go on, that’d be like diving into Loch Ness with only a nose plug.”

I pulled out the compass. “Will this work?”

Kat reached out and touched the compass with her hoof. “It’s a weak energy, but I think I have enough.” Once again, she bent the realms of time and space, creating a wormhole. “Does that look right?”

I poked my head through the wormhole. “Yup. That’s it,” I said as I dropped a special kunai on the other side. “Let’s get everyone before we leave.” Kat closed the wormhole and we walked back into the mansion. 

Griselda and the maid were lugging the gourd through the hall. “I never realised how heavy this thing was,” Griselda huffed. “We never moved it before now.”

“It’s alright,” I said. “I’ve got it now.” I placed my hand on the gourd and sent to my storage space.

“Wait a second,” Starlight said, “If you can do that for anything, why did I have to carry those shovels?”

I smiled sheepishly. “I forgot?”

She rolled her eyes and walked away. “Thank you,” I said to Griselda.

“The honor is all mine,” she replied with a bow. We started walking to the front door. “Please, I know I have no right to ask this of you but please take care of my daughter.”

I nodded and walk to the mansion’s front yard. All of the Valkyries were lined up and waiting. They saluted as I walked past them. “Everyone grab the body next to you,” I ordered. There was some awkwardness as the group of misfit species tried to hold hooves and claws. “Alright everyone, hold on tight.” I teleported us to our new base.

We stood on a platform so high up that there looked like there was no ground beneath us, just clouds. Up above us was a glorious castle carved into a mountain. I looked around and saw only stunned faces. Except Kat. Has she really seen everything?

“Welcome,” I bellowed, “To Laputa, the castle in the sky! Feel free to take any bedroom except for the one with the black sun on the door.”

The ponies and griffons all ran excitedly into the castle leaving Kat and me alone. “Ok, what?” I asked her. “Why have you been giving me the stinkeye all day?” 

“Just simple judging, sweetie,” Kat said in that sugar-sweet voice, idly looking over some of the knick knacks nearby. “I made a few assumptions about you when we met… been trying to determine which ones were true.”

“No more crap,” I said fighting the chill of her words,”let’s settle this right here, right now. What are judging about me?”

“You know, I’ve been on this Equestria for about a month now,” she said, seemingly ignoring my question and my tone. “You hear a lot of things in Manehattan. It’s quite the gossip city, you know. Heard some terrible news about Ponyville. And now… now I know why. So, sweetie, why don’t you tell me something.” She cantered right up to me, face free of any emotion. “What do you plan to do?”

“I have lots of plans,” I said trying not to sound nervous. “You’re going to have to be more specific.” I stood my ground hoping I was giving the appearance of confidence.

“The princesses and, especially, the elements of harmony. The main six as some would call. I want to know what you plan to do with them.”

“Oh that?” I was suddenly my regular self again. “Nothing. Except for Cadence. I’m going to teach her like I taught Celestia and Luna. And borrow her alicorn privileges. Other than that, they aren’t even a blip on my radar.” 

“And should Celestia and Luna try to stop you, or Dieu forbid, Shining Armor get in your way, what then?” She was still so calm and collected. No sighs of relief, no brushing away of any sweat. She was a perfect wall.

“I will subvert, I will misdirect, I will do what I have always done. And if that fails, I will fight.” I looked her straight in her eyes, her calm demeanor made me calm down. “I don’t know how your Equestria works, but here, it is nearly impossible to kill an alicorn. I know, I’ve tried. They can regenerate from being disintegrated. I can’t handle Equestrian magic so I can’t absorb their powers to make them mortal. If that’s all you’re worried about, you’ve wasted your time.”

“Then you misunderstand my intentions, Uchiha,” Kat said calmly still, walking around me yet her eyes never wander off. “I needed to confirm you were not as driven as your original. The real Sasuke Uchiha, as you know, was driven practically mad by his desire for revenge. I had to make sure you wouldn’t follow in his foot steps… or my own.” 

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: revenge is a fool’s…. wait, what did you do?”

“I did what you did,” she answered coolly. “I beat my Celestia into a pulp, only our world’s alicorns are much more like the ponies they care for than mere forms of magic or self-reparative goddesses. I even shattered her horn afterwards.”

“That’s... just so wrong,” I shuddered. “Yeah, I’m not their biggest fan right now but I would never do anything they couldn’t handle. We were… we are family.”

“So were we at one point, and then they murdered my only friend right in front of me.” If she could still be calm now, than I really should take some lessons from her. “I was driven mad by that single act, almost completely reversed the planet’s gravitational field. Do you know what happens to a planet after that?”

“I’m pretty sure everything dies. You ever think you should see someone about that anger? Although I can see how losing everything might drive one to massacre family members.” 

“Oh, I was angry alright, angry enough to want revenge on my betrayers. And I succeeded. I beat both Luna and Celestia into the ground… but I didn’t feel any better. No, I felt worse. And my actions nearly led the world, not to destruction, but to enslavement. Twice I nearly doomed the place I called home due to my own anger. And because of my heated desires for revenge… I am here before you now… with no place to call home. I was exiled from my world, never to return.”

“That is an incredibly sad story. If it makes you feel any better, I only had the regular sharingan when I first came here. I had to get the mangekyou the natural way. If you can traverse the multiverse, why not go home? To Earth, I mean.”

“What for?” her voice was hollow now. “There is nothing there for me. And not because of lost time… there was never anything for me before I was Displaced.”

I was really making an ass of myself. Everything I said to this girl forced her to relive painful memories and it was clear she’d always had a rough life. “Well,” I said desperately trying to think of something, “Do you want to stay here? I’ve got a castle and… not much else at the moment. But I’m working on that!”

“That’s very sweet of you… but I cannot. My purpose isn’t just here,” she looked out the window, into the night sky. “It’s out there. Helping others of our kind and anyone else I can. Helping others and making them happy is what I live for. It’s all I live for; the very reason I exist.”

“You are the most interesting, drifting hobo I’ve ever known. If there’s trouble,” I pulled out a jade necklace with six magatama. “You know who to call.”

Kat took the necklace from my hand and replaced it with a black diamond. “That is my own. It’ll connect you right to my cell and I’ll be there in a snap.”

“YOU HAVE A WORKING CELLPHONE!?!” I pulled out my own. “HOW DO I MAKE THIS WORK?” It hadn’t had power in over a thousand years but thanks to a spell it hadn’t deteriorated at all.

She smiled pulling out her own, showing it to be an old, sleek flip phone. “Wish I could tell ya. I bought mine off a traveling Void salesman. Maybe he’ll show up someday and trick out your phone. It’s been wondrous for me; so much easier to keep up with the babysitter.”

“Babysitter?” I gulped. “But we just… today.. and.. I’m soo not ready for this,” I buried my face in my hands. “About this void salesman… He wouldn’t happen to have morning after pills, would he?”

Kat looked at me very oddly. “Sweetie, if I had been talkin’ ‘bout you, I would have come right out and said it. I am fourteen hundred years old and in the prime of my life, you don’t think I couldn’t already have a child or three?”

“Three kids? Don’t take this the wrong way but I’m totally revoking my offer to let you stay here.”

“I’ve had three kids. I only have my precious Kuna with me now… let’s not go into what happened to my other babies. And besides, you don’t need a morning after pill with me, sweetie.” She rubbed her stomach a little. “Ain’t nothin’ in there to get pregnant. No womb, no ovaries, no worries.”

“I’m not sure if I’m relieved or saddened by this news. I’m going to go with relieved ‘cause it feels better. I’ve got to go lay down the law in my new castle. Are we good now?”

She smiled at me and I could feel my heart leap at that true smile. “We’re more than good.” Kat hugged me right then and there. “We’re friends. And it’s always great to have friends.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, because friendship is magic, I know. I’ll see you later, Kat.”

“It’s not just magic, Sasuke. It’s what keeps us together.” She kissed my forehead, before backflipping into a portal. “See ya around, Uchiha. Don’t go killing anyone!”

I waited until I was sure she was gone before I smiled and whispered, “No promises.”
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********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.”
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Laputa**********


“And this is our training room.” I led Starswirl, Starlight, and Gilda on an official tour of the castle. The Valkyries had been shown around when we first got there. I had immediately put them to work. I was waiting for Phase 2 to begin before I put the rest of the group to work and it was finally time. 

“So, I guess we’ll be spending a lot of time in here,” Gilda said looking around.

“Not quite,” I replied. “We’re going to be working in a more specialized room. Trust me, it’s gonna blow your mind.”

“Whatever,” Gilda grumbled.

“Moving along.”

I brought the small group through the rest of the castle working my way down into the first of the subterranean levels. 

“This is the magic lab,” I said walking into a large, brightly lit room. It was filled with various machines and storage cabinets. “All of the machines are the latest and greatest in magic research. And we have every item you could possibly stocked. And if we don’t have what you need, I will get it.”


“Holy bucking Faust,” Starlight whispered. “Is this what heaven looks like?”

“No,” Starswirl said looking around. “Heaven has more pegasus mares in fishnet stockings. But this is a close second.”

“I have no words.Starswirl, you and I are going to have a long talk later,” I said facepalming.

“Great,” he said. “Then we can talk about this other-worldly magic of yours.”

“Now that you two know where you are working,” I said moving on, “It’s time to know what you’re working on.”

I summoned a glass flask filled with a golden glowing liquid. Starswirl felt it immediately.

“Is that….” he trailed off.

I grinned. “It is. This is pure, undiluted alicorn blood.”

All of the eyes in the room went wide.

“Where did you get that?” Starlight exclaimed.

“It was… generously donated to us by Celestia,” I replied.

“The fight… the waiting…. it was all for this wasn’t it?” Starlight asked.

“I wouldn’t say it was ALL for this. But yeah. The fight was so I could get some of her blood.”

“Forget how you got it,” Starswirl said. “What do you want us to do with it?”

I summoned a kunai and another flask. I cut my hand and filled the empty flask with my blood. When the flask was full I corked it and bandaged up my hand. Starlight was squeamish about my self-injury but stopped herself from gagging. I held up the two flasks.

“I want you to bind these two together. Create a hybrid with access to my magic and Celestia’s.”

Starswirl took the bottles in his magic and pulled them closer for inspection. He cast a spell on his eyes and glared at the contents. 

“It is possible,” he said after some deliberation.

“That’s what I like to hear. I’ll leave you to it,” I turned to leave. “C’mon Gilda.”

Gilda and I walked further down the stairs in silence. It felt like she wanted to say something but was holding herself back. We walked for another few minutes before Gilda gathered up the courage to speak.

“You’re like this big, badass monster, right? I mean you even beat an alicorn,” she said hesitantly.

I grinned. “I guess you could say that. Why?”

She stopped walking. I turned to look at her; she was shifting nervously while looking at the ground. “Why me? You could get anyone to join you. Why choose me?”

I looked at her. I could see her insecurities all over her face. The doubt of her self-worth, the abandonment issues, and the rage all flashed across her expressions. I walked up to her and cupped her face in my hand. I pulled her gaze to mine so that we were looking in each other’s eyes.

“I chose you because I can see something that no one you’ve ever met before can. I can see your potential for greatness.”

I activated my sharingan. “These eyes don’t miss anything.”

Gilda switched back to her cocky, confident self. “Of course you do. After all I am that awesome.” A kind smile briefly flashed across her beak before being replaced by a panicked expression. “Don’t tell anyone about what just happened.”

“I seem to have a memory gap about the past few minutes,” I said, winking.

Gilda blushed. “Whatever, dweeb.” She pushed past me and walked down the stairs.

I just followed behind her smiling. I love easily manipulated insecurities. Not that I lied to her. I really could see her potential. I just didn’t tell her the whole truth about why she was necessary.

Gilda and I got to the bottom of the stairs and walked into a large bright room. The walls were pure white and it was completely empty. The room itself was easily the size of a football stadium.

“This is where we’ll be doing most of our training,” I said.

“Why here,” Gilda asked. “There’s nothing in here.”


“I had this room specially built,” I explained. “In here, no magic gets in or out. I can almost completely let loose. That and I can change the gravity which also changes them way time flows… Long story short this place is perfect for just about everything.”

Gilda looked around and focused her gaze on me. “What now?”

“Now,” I said assuming my stance, “come at me with everything you’ve got.”

“What?”

“In order to best train you, I need to see where you are now. So bring it.”

Gilda smirked, all trace of her earlier insecurity gone. “Fine,” she said flaring her wings. “But remember: you asked for this!” Gilda leapt into the the air and immediately became a brown blur. She flew around building up speed before coming directly at me from the front. I raised my arms to block when she accelerated and sped around, hitting me from behind. I was impressed as I flew through the air. Such control over her speed must have taken intense practice. However, I needed to see the full extent of her abilities. I landed on my feet and turned around to face her. She smirked.

“Is that it then? Is that all you’ve got?” I taunted.

Gilda’s smirk disappeared and she let out a cry like an eagle. She took off again, faster this time. I couldn’t keep up with her anymore. I activated my sharingan and the difference was like night and day. I could see every movement she made. To me it looked as if she was moving in slow motion. I would find time later to contemplate how overpowered the sharingan was but for now, I needed to push Gilda to her limits.

She flew directly at me, talons out. I moved towards her with a kunai in both hands. She swung at me and we exchanged blows at close combat. None of her hits landed and I could see her getting more frustrated and sloppy. I refrained from cutting her deeply. I only cut places that would hurt and bleed without causing too much damage. After getting a few more hits in, I knocked Gilda back with Susanoo’s hand. She looked at me completely stunned.

“What in Tartarus was that?” Gilda yelled.

“One of the many aces I keep up my sleeve,” I replied. “Are you done now?”

Using the sharingan, I could see Gilda’s natural magic was low which meant her stamina was about to run out. Gilda was breathing heavily and looking like she was going to fall over. Out of nowhere she had a burst of natural magic and flew faster than she had before. Gilda was putting all of her strength into a last ditch attack. An attack that was stronger than everything else she done so far. This was a good sign. As Gilda got close I formed the top half of Susanoo. The impact from crashing into Susanoo at her top speed made a lot of painful sounding crunching noises. None of which came from Susanoo. I looked down at an unconscious Gilda.

“Oops. That probably could have gone better,” I said as I gently picked her up. I began the walking up the stairs to take her to her room to recover.

On the way up the long staircase, I passed by the lab and stuck my head in. Starlight and Starswirl were in the middle of a very intense debate and didn’t notice my presence. I left them to their work and kept going up the stairs. Walking by the training room, I saw Aoife working out. I walked over to her.

“Lord Mephisto,” she said, “What can I do for you?”

“Gather the Valkyries and meet me in the conference room,” I said. “It’s time to plan your first mission.”


Aoife’s eyes lit up at the news. “Of course, sir.”

Yes, I had a conference room. Don’t look at me like that. Anyway, I carried Gilda up to her room and lay her on her bed. She groaned in pain and I winced. Using Susanoo was definitely overkill. On the bright side, I now had baseline to work with. Got to look at the glass half-full. I walked through the castle and into the conference room. All of the Valkyries were sitting around a large table looking nervous. 

“Greetings Valkyries,” I said. “I trust you are all enjoying your stay in the castle?” I was met with few nods and sounds of agreement. “Now I know you’ve all been wondering when I’ll give you something to do. After all I didn’t recruit you for a vacation. The good news is: I have a mission for you.”


This little tidbit perked all of the griffons up and their eagerness reflected in their wagging tails. “As you all know, there is currently a summit of world leaders in Canterlot. Representatives from all over Equus will be in the city for a week each with their own personal guard. Security for the castle will be on high alert and any attempts to break in will be nearly impossible.”

“So what’s the plan then?” One of the Valkyries, Andraste, asked.

“We’re going to break into the castle,” I said calmly. My response was not well received. 

“You’re talking about a suicide mission!” Andraste cried out.

“What do you even hope to gain from this?” Merlin asked.

“Enough!” Aoife said. “We are Valkyries! We follow orders! If Lord Mephisto orders us to jump we don’t ask why we say ‘how high’. I’m sure he isn’t sending us in blind. Now be silent so we can get through this.” The panic settled down and the room became quiet.

“Thank you, Aoife,” I continued. “She’s right. You are the best group of operatives in the world and losing even one of you would be an unacceptable loss.” This seemed to ease some of the Valkyries worries. “However, I know nothing about this current generation’s skills. And the best way to test you out is to send you into a live mission. Besides, it’s not like we’re executing this mission tomorrow. I never jump into a situation. We will prepare thoroughly so that there is no doubt of success.”

The Valkyries looked nervously at each other and then back to me. “Alright sir, we are behind you 100%. What would you have us do?”

“Here’s the plan.”


**********Canterlot Castle 3rd POV**********


Celestia sat on her throne with her sister on one side and her niece on the other. She had returned to Canterlot to find Luna had things well under control. She had used the guards to clean up the damage from Sasuke’s attack and the castle staff were preparing rooms for the dignitaries that would soon arrive. Cadence on the other hand was not acting like herself. Ever since her encounter with Sasuke, she had been distracted. She seemed to be lost in thought and not paying attention to her surroundings. Not only that, but it was rumored among the staff that she had been heard arguing with her fiance about the human. It seemed they disagreed on how much of a threat Sasuke really was. Celestia wished she could have had more time to help them work through their troubles and talk to Cadence about what Sasuke said to her but a princess’s work is never done. Especially when foreign dignitaries were visiting her castle. A young servant quickly trotted into the throne room and approached the throne.

“My princesses,” The young mare said as she bowed. “They have arrived.”

“Very good,” Celestia said taking a deep breath. “Send them in.”

The mare nodded and quickly exited the throne room. Luna turned to her fellow princesses. “Are you sure young Cadence is ready for this? She seems odd of late.”

“Hmm? What?” Cadence was pulled out of her thoughts by her name but had heard nothing else.

“Like us she is a princess of Equestria and this is a part of her duties,” Celestia said, defending her niece. “However, Cadence please try to stay with us.”


“Sorry,” the pink alicorn said meekly.

Trumpets blew catching the attention of the alicorns. A squire cleared his throat and then spoke. “Introducing the representative from the Griffon Republic: Chancellor Boudicca.”

A female griffon walked into the throne room flanked by two soldiers. The center griffon had brilliant golden fur and carried herself with regal authority.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence it is always a pleasure to see you,” the chancellor said warmly. “And it is an honor to finally meet you as well Princess Luna.”

Luna and Cadence nodded. “Chancellor Boudicca it is good to see you as well, old friend,” Celestia replied. Chancellor Boudicca sat in one of the lavish seats that had been prepared in a circle in the throne room.

The squire cleared his throat again. “Introducing the representative from the Zebrafican tribes, Councilor Kalifa.”

Like the griffons, three zebras walked into the throne room. Two soldiers flanked the Councilor who had a more approachable aura than the griffon chancellor.

“Princesses it is an honor to be hosted in your castle. I pray that this summit goes well and that we may come to a quick agreement,” the councilor said.

Celestia smiled. The zebras were always so kind and had always been a great ally to Equestria. “The honor is all ours, Councillor, thank you for coming,” Celestia said. The councillor took his seat as the squire got ready to speak again.

“Introducing the representative from the Dragon Lands: In place of the Great Elder Dragon, the Elder Dragon, Raze.”

A sapphire blue dragon quickly moved into the throne room and went straight to the throne. The large dragon stood in front of Luna and eyed her suspiciously. Luna wilted under the dragon’s gaze and then the dragon picked her up.

“Oh my little Luna!” Raze cried out, cuddling the alicorn. “Why didn’t you visit me? You had me worried sick!”

Luna squirmed in the dragon’s grasp. “Let go of me! I’m not a little foal anymore, mother!”

“Don’t you talk back to me missy,” the dragon said without letting go. “I don’t care if you are an all-powerful alicorn princess. You’ll always be my little hatching.” Raze eventually relented and put Luna down. Cadence was snickering at having witnessed her aunt be treated like a foal. Celestia had kept her composure.

“It is always a pleasure to see you Raze,” Celestia said.

“You as well Little Celly,” Raze replied kindly. “And who is this adorable little pony?”

“This is my niece Princess Cadence,” Celestia said. “Cadence, this is Raze, acting leader of the dragons.”

“Nice to meet you,” Cadence said extending a hoof. Raze picked her up much like she had done Luna and cuddled her.

“Oh, the pleasure is all mine, pretty pony,” Raze said. It was Luna’s turn to laugh as Cadence struggled in the dragon’s strong grip. Raze put Cadence down and then took a position in the circle. The squire took a moment to  compose himself before his next announcement.

“Introducing the representative from Minos: Warrior King Steel Sword.”

A large blue minotaur covered in scars swaggered into the throne room. He carried two swords on his back and had armor that covered half of his chest. Two smaller minotaurs with large swords followed him. “Greetings pony princesses,” the minotaur said. “I trust all is well.”

“Greetings King Steel,” Celestia said. “It is nothing we can’t handle.”

The Warrior King nodded and took his seat. The squire looked uncomfortable as he got ready to announce the next dignitary. However he maintained his professionalism.

“Introducing the representative from the Changeling Hive: in place of Queen Mirage, her eldest daughters, Princess Glamour, Princess Mesmer, and Princess Flitter.”

The three changeling princesses walked into the throne room quietly. Princess Glamour had a black carapace with a long blue mane, tail, and wings. Princess Mesmer looked the same as her older sister only red and with a shorter horn and mane. Princess Flitter was black with yellow as her secondary color and had wings similar to a butterfly. Princess Glamour walked in the center with her two younger sisters flanking her. The changeling princesses walked up to the throne and bowed. Luna and Celestia were excited. It had been centuries since they had seen their best friends. 

“Well met, Celestia, Luna,” Glamour said. “It has been far too long since our last meeting. How fares Equestria.”

Celestia smiled at her childhood friend. “Like you don’t already know. How are your younger sisters?”

The changeling princess grinned. “It is always best to hear it from the source rather than through the grapevine. And they are fine. Well except for Chrysalis. You know how she gets when she doesn’t get chosen for things like this.” She led her sisters over to their seats. Luna could sympathize with the youngest changeling princess. She knew what it felt like to be unappreciated and in the shadow of an older sibling. To feel like she had to prove her worth.

Celestia surveyed the room. Everyone was accounted for. She motioned to the squire and he bowed and left. The doors to the throne room closed behind him and a table materialized in the center of the floor.

“Now that we are all here,” Celestia said. “This world summit can begin. Chancellor Boudicca, if you would.”

“Thank you, Princess,” the griffon said, standing up. “Now you all know why I have called you here. There is a threat to the safety of all of our nation's greater than any we have ever faced before. There is a creature that will lay waste to our countries and kill indiscriminately without hesitation. A creature of such immense power it rivals the strength of an alicorn. A creature with a heart so dark it can and has used foals as hostages and leverage. A creature with magic so strange that no one even knows the full extent of its abilities. I’m talking of course, about the human Sasuke Uchiha.” Several of the other dignitaries reacted to the name but no one said anything. “He has escaped his imprisonment and once again threatens the safety of our world. He must be stopped at all costs.”


**********Laputa 1st POV**********


After going over the details of the plan with the Valkyries, I had sent them to get all of the preparations ready. My two science ponies were still hard at work in the lab and Gilda was still unconscious. That left me with nothing to do for a while. I thought I would use my free time effectively and come up with some more missions for the Valkyries. I knew before some of my larger plans could be put into motion they would require a bit more setup. I sat down at the desk in my room and began putting my thoughts on paper. I also had a few more projects I would need to talk to my techie ponies about. Hopefully they would be up to the task. I was in the middle of brainstorming some code names when there was a knock on my door.

“Come in,” I said. 

Gilda walked in, limping.

“Hey buddy,” I said softly. “How are you feeling?”

“My everything hurts,” she grumbled at me. “But I’m more than tough enough to handle it.”

“That’s keeping a positive attitude,” I cheered. Gilda just glared at me. “Don’t worry, I’ve got the perfect thing for you.”

I walked over to the injured griffon and we teleported together. We appeared in a cave in front of a glowing, pink pool. 

“Where are we?” Gilda asked.

“Underneath the castle,” I explained. “I’m about to show you why I had it built here.” I walked over to the pool and pointed to it. “Get in.”

Gilda looked at the pool and then looked at me. “Are you insane? Why would I get into some creepy glowing water?”

“Because its not water?”

“And that makes it better?”

“Doesn’t it?”

Gilda glared at me again before walking towards the pool. “I swear if this does something weird to me, I’m going to claw your stupid eyes out.”

I smiled at her. “Just trust me.”

She climbed into the glowing liquid and a bright light enveloped her. “What the - aaaaahhhhhhhhhh.” Gilda visibly relaxed as the pool did its work. “This feels great! What is it?”

“Raw, concentrated magic,” I responded. “One of only ten magic pools in existence.”

“Tell what that means in non-dweeb,” she said. 

“It means that we have access to an unlimited supply of primal magic. One of the effects, as you can feel, is complete regeneration. There’s a pipe I had installed that actually pumps this stuff into the lab. But to get here you have to teleport.”

“Awesome, I guess. So what else does it do?”

“While it regenerates your body, it also strengthens it. And the power boost is permanent. Only drawback is if you try to get in while you’re not injured it puts too much magic in your system and you break apart on an atomic level.”

“That sounds bad.”


“It is. So get out when you feel better.”

Gilda sat in the magic pool, enjoying it for a while before climbing out. “This is pretty cool but how are you sure that the pony princesses won’t find it?”

I smiled. “They can’t. The strange thing is, if you try to sense them magically, they imitate the magic they come into contact with. You have to find them the hard way. Or not use Equestrian magic.” I gently touched Gilda’s head and teleported back into the castle with her. All around us the Valkyries were getting things ready for the mission.

“Gilda, I want you to go the the training room and test out your new strength,” I told her.

She nodded and flew off.I teleported into the stadium room. I needed a better name for that place. I pulled out a scroll and summoned a pack of timberwolves. Upon seeing me they all glomped me and licked me with their wooden tongues.

“All right, all right,” I said pushing them away. “I missed you guys too.”

“No contact for over a thousand years,” a deep feminine feminine voice said, “we thought you were dead.”

I turned my head to see the alpha of the pack, a large timberwolf that towered over the others. “I’m sorry Moro,” I said. “The ponies imprisoned me in stone. But I’m free now and ready to fulfill our deal.”

Moro bristled and growled at the mention of Celestia’s name but calmed down when when I mentioned our deal. “So much life lost while you were gone,” she said sadly. “Our forest has been getting smaller. With each year the ponies take a little more of our home.”

“I know,” I said. “But I’m back now. I’ll put an end to it.”

The timberwolf smiled.(Yes timberwolves can smile) “Zap apple season is coming soon. With your help, we have hope this time. We will once be able to live free of fear.”

“I won’t let them hurt you any more,” I said holding Moro’s head in my arms. “The timberwolves will be a proud race once more. I’m going to attack Canterlot again ready yourselves for a hard fought battle.” With that the timberwolves released the summoning technique. 

I knew Applejack harvested the zap apples but I didn’t know she harvested them all! The pain those poor timberwolves must be feeling. I can’t believe Celestia reneged on a deal. This would have to be addressed.
	
> Side Story #1: A Day in the Life of Starlight Shimmer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Laputa 3rd POV**********


Starlight Shimmer wasn’t sure why but today she was feeling better than normal. It could have been the altitude. Or possibly the extremely comfy bed she now owned. Maybe it had something to do with her new job. It was quite possible all of these things contributed to her good mood. It didn’t matter to Starlight. She just knew she was happy. Starlight joyfully trotted down the castle halls into the kitchen, a book in her magic. Her mood soured slightly when she saw ‘him’. 

“Morning, Star,” he said without looking up from the newspaper he was currently reading. That always creeped her out. The way he could just sense who was nearby was unnerving. It felt like he was always watching her. She knew he wasn’t but still.

“Good morning, Sasuke,” Starlight replied. She made her way through the kitchen and grabbed bowl of cereal. She sat down next to Sasuke and he handed her the parts of the newspaper he was done with. It had become their morning routine for the short time they lived in the castle. If she was being completely honest with herself, she didn’t dislike Sasuke. In fact, she really enjoyed his company sometimes. But the other times he was… she shivered just thinking about it. 

Starlight kept reading the newspaper trying to find out what was going on in the home she had left behind. It appeared there was no news from the summit yet. Her favorite coffee shop was going to open another store close to her apartment! Or her old apartment. She still wasn’t used to the fact she was living in a castle with an evil creature, his griffon minions, and her resurrected-from-the-dead hero who happened to be the greatest wizard of all time. 

“So today I want to have a meeting with everybody,” Sasuke said pulling Starlight from her thoughts.

“Ok. What do you want to talk about,” Starlight asked.

“Just a few things that I noticed,” Sasuke said holding up a piece of paper. “I made a list.”

“Of course you did,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I bet you also-”


Starlight was interrupted by a portal that opened up in front of Sasuke. His eyes reflexively did that thing where they change color (she meant to ask him about that). He stared into the portal.

“Sasuke?” she asked starting to feel afraid.

“Yeah,” his voice sounded distant. “I’m going to walk into this portal. Can you handle the meeting? Great. Awesome. Bye.” Sasuke walked into the portal without giving Starlight a chance to respond. It closed behind him so she couldn’t even follow.

“Buck me,” Starlight said cradling her face in her hooves.

A flash of light illuminated the kitchen and Starswirl appeared.

“Where is it?” Starswirl asked frantically.

“Wha?” Starlight barely had time to compose herself before Starswirl was on her shaking her with his forehooves.

“Where is it, Faust dammit!?” Starswirl asked again.

“Where is what?”

“I felt it! A door into the void! I know it was here!”


“It randomly showed up and Sasuke walked into it. Then it was gone.”

“Oh. Then it’ll show up again when he comes back,” Starswirl calmed down and started walking away.

“Wait!” Starlight called after him. “Aren’t you worried about Sasuke?”


“Of course not. It’s not like he would be stupid enough to walk into some random portal to Faust knows where. I’m sure he knew exactly what he was doing.”

Starlight took a moment to contemplate Starswirl’s words as she looked over the list Sasuke left behind. Everything was going to be fine, right?

***

Starlight stood in front of a group of griffons and a unicorn. After looking over Sasuke’s list she wasn’t sure how she was going to talk about some of these things but she had to try. Starlight cleared her throat and began her speech.

“Thank you for gathering here,” Starlight started. “Sasuke had some things he wanted us to go over while he is… indisposed. First on the agenda: If someone writes their name on a bag and puts it in the refrigerator, don’t eat it. Apparently we’ve been having a problem with a lunch thief. Stop it. Second thing on the agenda: I don’t care if you are part owl, if you wake me up one more time with your midnight mating calls, I’m going to rip out your vocal chords and make a guitar.”

Starlight paused when she noticed the strange looks she was getting. “I’m just reading what he wrote, I swear. Anyway the next thing on the agenda: there are plenty of bedrooms. There are plenty of rooms with locks. I shouldn’t know what your O face looks like. I’m not saying don’t have sex. I realize that you’re all young and high on adrenaline and hormones but please for the love of God put a hat on the door or something.” Two griffons were bright red and staring intently at the wall. Trying to stop her imagination from running wild, Starlight continued.

“The next thing on the agenda: the newspapers, where are they coming from?”

One of the embarrassed griffons spoke up. “A gray pegasus mare with messed up eyes has been delivering them every morning. Since she showed up I thought she was part of the group. Like an intelligence agent or something.”

Starlight made a mental note of that before continuing. “The next thing on the agenda is the…” Starlight cringed, “fishy smell. Hygiene is important. Enough said.  And now...”

***

Several hours later a group of mentally exhausted and thoroughly embarrassed creatures walked out of  Laputa’s conference room.

“I can’t believe he knew about-”

“Let’s never speak of this again.”

Starlight didn’t catch the rest of the conversation. She was too busy trying to scrub her brain of the things Sasuke had made her say. Her bright red blush was very clear through her coat and her walk was stilted and stiff. She now had a more intimate knowledge of her griffon roommates than she ever wanted. She was busy trying to think of memory erasure spells when Starswirl walked up behind her.

“So that was interesting,” he said.

“Interesting?” Starlight asked. “How can you be so nonchalant about what just happened.”

Starswirl shrugged. “I died. After you die, nothing really gets to you anymore.”

Starlight was about to speak again when the portal from the morning opened up in front of her. Sasuke walked out of it looking tired. That did nothing to cool Starlight’s anger.

“Where have you been? Why didn’t you say anything before you left? Do know how worried I’ve been?”

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but Starlight cut him off. “Do you realize all the crap you had me say? The things I’ve seen cannot be unseen! How did you even know half that stuff? Nevermind, I don't want to know. ”

Sasuke sat quietly, allowing Starlight to continue her rant. And so ended another day in the life of the little unicorn. 
> 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.”
	
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot Castle**********


“Well you know what they say: the hero always arrives at the last minute.”

Boudicca looked at the human in awe. Its glowing red eyes and creepy smile didn’t bother her. The aura around it did. Boudicca lived her entire life believing that griffons were at the top of the food chain. Aside from dragons, no creature dared mess with a griffon. And now standing in front of her was a creature that destroyed those beliefs. This was no ordinary predator. This was a predator that hunted other predators for fun. It radiated a desire to kill so strong she found it hard to breathe. She had assumed the stories passed down through the generations were exaggerations. Now that she could see the creature for herself, she felt the legends didn’t do it justice. Steel Sword, however, seemed ignorant to these subtle warnings.

“That’s a nice sword you have there,” the warrior king said. “When I defeat you I’m going to mount it on my wall.”

“Seems only fair that the winner should get a trophy,” Sasuke said calmly. “I think I’ll take your head.”

“For the glory of Minos!” The minotaurs all shouted the war cry and rushed the human with their swords held high.


**********1st POV**********


Three minotaurs ran at me shouting things about battle and glory and whatever. I wasn’t really listening. I was more focused on the alicorns charging up their power. When the minotaurs got close I summoned Aoife and Moro. Taking the minotaurs by surprise Aoife threw one of the guards into the other one temporarily incapacitating them. Moro grabbed the leader in her jaw and threw him at Raze. She swatted the minotaur out of the air before he hit her and he fell to the floor cracking the solid marble. The minotaurs all got up and prepared for a second attack. It was then I remembered how much I hate fighting minotaurs. 

“Would you just chill for a second,” I said holding my hands up. “I’m here as a representative. I have legitimate grievances.”

That gave the dignitaries pause. I could see Celestia and Luna weighing their options. They most likely wanted to face me after releasing their full power. That would take some time. It would be in their best interests to let me speak. 

“Very well then Sasuke,” Celestia said. “You may speak.”

Raze and the changelings gave Celestia a knowing nod while everyone else looked confused. No one objected so I cleared my throat and started my speech. 

“I’ve graced you all with my wonderful presence to bring something very important to the attention of Equus’ great leaders: genocide.” My statement was punctuated by explosions in the city. The tremors shook the castle. “Yeah that’s going to be happening. Try to stay focused.” 

“Is this the genocide you spoke of?” Luna seethed.

“No, of course not. This is just wanton destruction for the hell of it. Now may I continue?”

Celestia whispered something to Cadence who then left the room. “You may.”

“As I was saying, someone seems to have destroyed all of the zap apple groves around the edge of the Everfree Forest except for one. And those zap apples are harvested and turned into jam.”


Moro was growling with barely restrained rage. I put a hand on her side to calm her down.

“Apples? Is that what this is about? I don’t understand,” the golden griffon said.

“Zap apples are special, Chancellor Boudicca,” Celestia explained. “When they ripen and fall from the tree they turn into timberwolves.”

“I buy zap apple jam every year! You mean to tell me I’ve been eating timberwolves?”

“Technically you’ve been eating unborn timberwolf babies,” I said. Boudicca turned green. “But the deal the ponies made with the timberwolves said zap apples were off limits.” I looked at Celestia. “So what happened?”

“The apple family was going to starve. I had to make a decision. I allowed them to take the apples so that they would live,” Celestia said. “For one to live, another must die. Those are your words.”

More explosions shook Canterlot; the vibrations rocked the castle. Neither Celestia nor I dared break our staredown.


“And now I’m here to balance the scale,” I said. “Aoife, Moro: make sure no one interferes.”

Aoife and Moro readied themselves for attack. “Aoife, please think about this,” Boudicca pleaded. “It would be such a shame to lose your talent. Look at what you’re up against. Do really think you can win?”

Aoife’s determination shone in her eyes. “I guess you’ll just have to go down in history as the Griffon Republic’s greatest traitor. Take them down.”

Boudicca’s guards flew at Aoife with their claws extended. Moro jumped in the way at the last minute, blocking the claws with her iron armor. Aoife jumped over Moro and dug her claws into the guards’ unprotected necks. They screeched in pain and then slumped to the ground. Aoife licked the blood off of her claws and looked Boudicca directly in her eyes. An unspoken challenge was issued in that moment.

“Rip her to pieces,” I commanded. The two griffons leapt at each other and exchanged furious blows in midair. That left the minotaurs, changelings, zebras, and Raze. “Raze,” I said. “Do nothing.” The dragon bowed her head and said nothing. “Moro, run wild.”

The giant timberwolf pounced on the minotaurs. She took the leader in her powerful jaws and threw him out of the window. As she leapt out after him, his guards and the zebras followed. That left the changelings still sitting calmly and the alicorns charging their power. 

“We need more time!” Celestia pleaded. “Glamour, please! At least distract him!”

“Glamour?” I asked as I turned to face the changeling. “How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you and your sisters since you were all little hatchlings.”

“I am fine Sasuke,” Glamour said hesitantly as she moved in between the alicorns and me. “How are you?”

“I’m great!” I replied. “Could you please move aside? I’d hate to have to get you involved.“ I switched to mangekyou sharingan.

“I afraid I can’t do that,” Glamour barely got out. I could feel the fear emanating from her body. She definitely didn’t want to fight me. I looked over to her sisters. They were content to stay where they were.

“Now, now, Glamour,” I said. “What would your mother say? I’m sure the last thing Queen Mirage wants is her oldest princess to put herself in danger.”

At the mention of her mother, Glamour choked up and took a few steps back. She started stammering, “I-I-I-”

“I am the Goddess of the Moon. I am the light that guides the weary through the darkness. I am the sentinel that stands guard through the night. I am the guardian of the hopes of my ponies and the deliverer of dreams. Let all who stand against me be consumed by the darkness! To challenge me is to grasp at the shadows! Nightmare Mode!”

Luna grew as large as Celestia and her fur turned black. Her mane and tail became light blue and fluid. With a speed that was nearly impossible to follow, Luna teleported in front of me and kicked me with both of her hind legs. I just barely managed to create Susanoo’s ribcage to protect myself. I flew back through the doors of the throne room and into a large hallway. Readying myself for another attack, I sensed something near my feet. I jumped into the air just as Luna’s chain came out of my shadow. It followed me up into the air so I drew my sword and charged it with electricity. I sliced the chain as it started coiling around my feet. I landed and the severed pieces of the chain faded from existence.

“I am the Goddess of the Sun. I am the light that gives life to all. I am the vanguard of the day leading the righteous to victory. I am the guardian of the innocence of my ponies and the keeper of their lives. Let all who stand against me be consumed by my fire! To challenge me is to challenge the sun itself! Solar Tyrant Mode!”

I felt Celestia’s power explode. It contrasted the feeling I got from Luna. While Luna’s power felt like a calm, bottomless ocean, Celestia’s power felt like a raging inferno.  Both of the alicorns walked into the hallway where I was waiting. Celestia’s fur was bright white and flowed on her body like flames. Her mane and tail were bright orange and red and looked like a fire blowing in a fierce wind. Her eyes had changed from their calm magenta to an intense red. 

“Well,” I said as I formed a complete top half of Susanoo around myself, “I guess there’s no reason to hold anything back, is there?”


**********Starswirl Lab of Magical Research: Canterlot Division 3rd POV**********


To say Starlight was nervous would have been an understatement. Starlight was paralyzed with fear. She could feel the tremors throughout the city and saw the ponies in the streets running from the timberwolves. That didn’t bother her… much. No, she what scared her were the guards. Royal guards were moving through the streets trying (unsuccessfully) to contain the panic and fight the timberwolves. Starlight was scared the guards were going to catch her and lock her away. The fact that the wonderbolts were clearing every cloud out of the sky only compounded this fear. So much to Gilda’s irritation, she had to carry the unicorn.

“We’re finally here,” Gilda said as she put Starlight down. “So pull yourself together. We have a job to do.”

Starlight took a deep breath and nodded. After all this was all so she could see her sister again. Keeping that fact in mind would help Starlight get through this… betrayal. Even thinking about it caused Starlight to wince. Just stay focused she told herself. “Let’s do it,” she said to Gilda.

Gilda grinned and smashed the door to the lab. The duo walked into the building only to find the reception area empty. 

“What’s going on?” Gilda asked, clearly irritated. “Where are all the nerdy geeks?”

“Have you forgotten what’s going on outside?” Starlight said. “They probably moved deeper into the building. There’s a panic room in the basement. Everypony’s probably in there.”

Gilda huffed and blew her feathers out of her eyes. As Starlight navigated her way through the maze-like hallways. Gilda followed closely behind. She looked into all of the abandoned laboratories and felt slight curiosity.

“Hey Starlight,” Gilda said.

“What is it,” Starlight asked without stopping.

“What kinds of stuff did you do here?” Gilda asked.

“I would analyze samples of magic before dissecting them into their component parts for another researcher to reassemble in order to create new spells and types of magic,” Starlight explained.

“Is that how ponies do that?” Gilda asked. “I always thought they just sat around trying stuff out until something worked.” 

Starlight giggled. “Well that’s not too far off but…. Wait, you understood my explanation?”

“Duh,” Gilda said. “It’s not like you said anything too complicated. No one gives me enough credit. Just because I’m mean doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

Starlight flashed Gilda an apologetic smile before they descended down the final staircase. They walked past a few supply closets and one nameless room before approaching a large metal door. The door had a small panel next to it but otherwise Gilda saw no way to open it.

“It’s a magic signature recognition lock,” Starlight said. “Only those who have been added to the spell can open it.” She put her horn to the panel and allowed her magic to flow through it. 

The door made a high-pitched squeaking sound as it opened. Gilda readied herself not sure of what she would find on the other side. As the opened completely, she saw a large group of unicorns all cowering on the ground.

“Wow,” Gilda said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. “This is even more pathetic than I thought it would be.”

“Please don’t hurt us!” a white mare with a light pink mane begged. 

“Why would we hurt you?” Starlight said.

“Starlight?” the mare asked timidly. “Is it really you?”


“Of course it’s me,” Starlight reassured her. The unicorns breathed a collective sigh of relief as they picked themselves up off of the ground. The white mare ran up to Starlight and hugged her in her forehooves.

“We thought your were dead!” The mare cried as Starlight held her. “Nopony’s seen you in days and you disappeared without a word!”

“Don’t worry, Snowflake,” Starlight said, choking down her guilt. “We’re going to be working together for a very long time.” She took a deep breath and pulled out her spell gem. “Gather round everyone, I’m going to teleport us to safety.”

The unicorns quickly gathered around Starlight, their desire to escape overpowering their reason. Gilda took a few steps back.

“Aren’t you coming?” Starlight asked her.

“I want to see something first,” Gilda replied. “I’ll catch up later.”

Starlight activated her spell gem. In a bright flash of light all of the unicorns were gone. Gilda stretched her wings and flew out of the building. She took to the air to observe the battle in the city. Everywhere she turned, timberwolves and royal guards were locked in combat. The Valkyries commanded the timberwolves like generals and fought off the occasional guard that got too close. But that wasn’t what Gilda was interested in. She flew towards the place she knew he would be. The castle grew larger as she got closer. Gilda’s flight was interrupted by a bunch of pegasi in blue flight suits.

“Stop right there!” the leader said. While they all had on matching uniforms, this one was clearly a mare with a two-toned orange mane. “Under the orders of Princess Cadence, the skies are to be clear at all times. Please make your way to one of the evacuation centers and wait for the crisis to end.”

Gilda gave the Wonderbolts her meanest look but said nothing. She flew to the ground and waited for them to fly away. Once she was sure they were gone, she moved quickly towards the castle. As Gilda got closer, she couldn’t help but notice that it was getting harder to breathe and stay conscious. She had no idea what was causing this pressure but she was certain it was coming from the castle.

“Just a peek,” she whispered to herself as she approached the castle gate.


**********Canterlot Castle Courtyard**********


Moro studied her enemies. The three minotaurs stood at the front swords drawn and ready. The three zebras stood behind them in a strange posture she didn’t recognize. Moro crouched and readied herself to charge. 

“Got to hand it to you, Councilor,” Steel Sword said. “It went down just like you said it would.”

“Divide and conquer, King Steel,” Khalifa replied. “One of the most basic tactics. Now we should have no trouble ending this.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Moro growled as she leapt at the minotaurs. They scattered and she landed in the middle of her enemies. The zebras were quick to respond. They each threw a barrage of small knives at the timberwolf. Moro skillfully dodged most of them. The ones that hit her bounced off of her armor.  She leapt at the zebras but was pulled to the ground.  Trying to figure out what was going on, Moro tried to turn her head to look around but couldn’t move. She then noticed several thin silver lines running across her vision. The zebras took a few steps back, carrying the lines in their teeth. Moro felt the grip on her body tighten. The minotaurs all ran up to the captured timberwolf at once. They drove their swords into spaces between Moro’s armor plates. Moro stopped struggling and lie still.

“That wasn’t too difficult, now was it,” Steel Sword smirked. “This will make an excellent trophy. I just wish this creature had been worth the hunt.”

“Don’t be foolish, King Steel,” Khalifa chided. “There is no need for things to be more difficult. Just be thankful-”

All of a sudden, an explosion of power could be felt coming from the castle. The zebras and minotaurs trembled.

“Councilor, what is that?” One of the zebra guards asked.

“It feels like...Princess Luna,” Khalifa replied quietly. Everyone was silent. They couldn’t believe that any creature could call forth this much power.

“Are alicorns really this strong?” Steel Sword asked.

“It would appear-” Khalifa was once again interrupted by another explosion of power. The zebra was dumbfounded by the amount of power he was feeling. The zebras and minotaurs all dropped their guard and were completely unprepared for the third wave of power they felt. The difference was this energy felt sinister. Even the battle-hardened minotaurs had chills. Since everyone was in various states of awe, no one noticed Moro’s eyes change from green to purple. She stood up, snapping the lines that held her down and shook the swords out of her body. The minotaurs and zebras turned to face the timberwolf when they heard the swords fall to the ground.

“Who’s ready for round 2?” Moro grinned.

The zebras had no time to react as Moro closed the distance between them. She grabbed one of the zebra guards in her mouth and crushed their legs. She dropped the broken zebra and turned to the others. They quickly jumped back. Khalifa gathered his wits and started formulating a strategy.

“It was foolish of you to challenge Sasuke,” Moro said as she circled them. “He annihilates his enemies.”

“Then it appears we’ll have to put an end to him before he can retaliate,” Khalifa responded. “I’m sure the princesses can handle him.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

Moro closed the distance between herself and Steel Sword. As she tried to bite his neck, he quickly put up his arms to block her. Moro bit into his arms and threw him at the castle. 

“You think this is enough to beat me? I can still,” Steel Sword groaned as he hit the wall and passed out.

Steel Sword’s guards ran to his side. “We’re pulling out,” the guard said. “Mark my words, wolf. This isn’t over.” The guards picked up Steel Sword and pulled out a spell gem. In a flash of light, they were gone. 

Khalifa cursed under his breath. Even if Steel Sword was unconscious, having two minotaurs warriors would be invaluable. He would just have to make do with himself and only one of his guards. It was time to focus on the task at hand. Restraining it wouldn’t work anymore and it was too fast for direct combat. Wait, it had something blue on its underside that looked unprotected. Maybe attacking that would be enough to cripple it. Khalifa looked over to his guard and nodded twice. She understood which tactic they were going to use.

Khalifa ran directly at Moro. Moro grinned; what did she have to fear from two zebras?  She went to attack the zebra but he ducked under her. She tried to swipe at him with her claws but the other zebra had followed up with a second attack. Moro snapped at the guard and knocked the one under her away. She jumped back, unaware of what they just did.

“Unfortunately, this battle is over for you,” Khalifa said to Moro, as he threw several metal rings attached to strings at her feet.

Moro inspected the rings. She had no idea what they were but they looked almost like… Recognition spread across the timberwolf’s face as she realized what she was looking at. She tried to reach her underbelly but it was too late. Khalifa and his guard took cover as an explosion rocked the courtyard. When the dust settled the air had turned blue. Khalifa and his guard looked around for signs of the timberwolf. They saw the singed ground where she had been blown up but there was no corpse.

“Maybe when it died, it was still on fire and turned to ash,” the guard suggested.

“Even if that was true, the iron plates would still be here. We should assume it survived and is still able to fight,” Khalifa said.

“That would be a wise assumption,” they zebras heard Moro’s voice say.

The timberwolf limped through the blue mist. Khalifa could see it was missing pieces of its armor and a leg. The explosives had clearly done their job. The best part was that the blue sac underneath was fully blown apart and constantly leaking. 

“You should surrender,” Khalifa said. “You don’t look like you’re in any condition to fight. You’ve lost.”

“I may not be able to fight but it doesn’t matter. I’ve already won,” Moro smirked.

“How could you have possibly won? Your organs are strewn all over the ground, your body is falling to pieces, and your blood is leaking into the air.”

Moro sat down on her haunches and took a breath. “First timberwolves have neither blood nor organs. And my body will repair itself when I go back to the forest.”

“If this isn’t blood…” Khalifa took some of the blue substance in his hoof. He smelled it and his eyes grew wide. “We’re going. Now,” he commanded. He and his guard ran at top speed away from the castle.

Moro closed her eyes and lie down. “You’re always right. Aren’t you?” She released her summon and teleported away.


**********Canterlot Castle: Throne Room 1st POV**********


I was not doing well in this fight. Fighting two alicorns at max strength in close quarters was a terrible idea. They moved so quickly and fluidly that it was all I could do just to defend against their attacks. Celestia and Luna were a perfect combination. When one moved the other was always in the perfect position for a follow up. Their teamwork was seamless and executed seemingly without communication. I could feel the strain they were putting on Susanoo, it wouldn't last if this kept up indefinitely. Unfortunately, there was no way I could beat them while they were united like this. 

I smashed through the wall with Susanoo’s fist and jumped outside. I let Susanoo fade away to increase my mobility and give myself a chance to recover. I moved as fast as I could trying to get to the city. The alicorns easily caught up with me and kept up their attack. Luna’s chains came towards me every time I came close to a surface and Celestia’s swords weren’t far behind. They were trying to force me away from certain parts of the city and although I knew what they were doing, I couldn’t get around it. Well, not without being obvious. I still had yet to try out my new skills. I landed on a roof and faced the two alicorns. They stayed in the air and looked down at me with their glowing eyes.

“Did you really think you could win against us in our seat of power?” Celestia asked. “This is our domain.”

“And within it we are invincible,” Luna added.

“I thought I told you,” I said. “No one is invincible. There comes a time when even gods must die.”

“Is that what you want?” Celestia asked. “To kill us?”

“Of course not,” I replied. 

“Then what is your aim,” Luna asked.

“Let’s play a game,” I grinned. “You have your champions. Ponies who stand against the evils that plague this land. I’m going to collect champions of my own. I will put together a force that rivals even the elements of harmony. And I will tear apart everything you have built.”

“Why?” Celestia asked. “There’s no reason for that! Not when you helped build it yourself!”

“Clearly you’ve never played the Sims,” I taunted. “What fun is a game when everything goes right? It’s boring. So you throw adversity in the mix. Delete ladders from the pool, remove the smoke alarms and stack rugs next to the fireplace, make puddles near broken tvs, have dirty plates all around the house. You get the idea.”

“I don’t understand that reference,” Celestia said.

“You mean to cause as much trouble as possible for your own entertainment?” Luna seethed. “You’re no better than Discord.”

“I’m way better than Discord,” I fought back. “My way will make this world better Only on the brink of destruction do we evolve.”

“You’ve lost your mind,” Celestia stated dejectedly. “There is no hope for you.”

Luna nodded in solemn agreement and they both charged their magic to begin attacking again. I readied myself and chose a different strategy. I weaved some hand seals and floated off the roof. Earth Style: Lightweight Boulder Jutsu.  I charged at them with a sword covered in Amaterasu’s black flames. They flew at me and we clashed in midair. Celestia held me back with her swords while Luna tried to immobilize me with her chains. More of their perfect teamwork. Now that I had some space it was time to divide and conquer. It was time to use my new techniques. I allowed Luna’s chains to wrap around my entire body. Celestia sent all of her swords to impale my body. As they were about to make impact, my body became intangible. Kamui. 

“Did we get him?” Luna asked as she looked at my ‘impaled’ body. I could hold my intangibility for a total of five minutes so I wasn’t too worried about materialising with swords ripping me apart.

“Wait for a second, Luna,” Celestia said cautiously. “Last time I got him, it was just an illusion.”

The two alicorns came close to my body and started circling me.

“I think… we just won,” Celestia said.

“We’ve finally beaten Sasuke,” Luna said. In that moment the alicorns lowered their guard and I struck. I grabbed Celestia’s horn and forced my chakra into it. I then teleported her to my Kamui dimension. While Luna was forming her shadow chains I formed Susanoo’s right arm and knocked her through the surrounding buildings.

It would take Celestia a short time to deal with my chakra. While she had my chakra in her horn, she wouldn’t be able to cast spells. That gave me time to focus on Luna. I moved through the wreckage to find her. Ponies were screaming while running aimlessly, trying to escape the battle. Luna stood up and brushed herself off. I formed Susanoo around myself and started firing giant purple arrows at her. The arrows were covered in black flames and lit up everything they came into contact with. Luna dodged the arrows while turning into mist. She tried to stop Susanoo by caging it in chains but without Celestia to back her up I easily had the strength to snap them. I was pushing Luna more and more. The fire was working in my favor; many of the ponies were trapped and Luna had to divide her attention between fighting me and saving the citizens. 

“Hey Luna, can you see it?” I called out to her.

“See what?” she asked as she continued dodging my arrows.

“The looks on their faces.”

“What about their looks?”

“They look at you the same way they look at me.” I needed her distracted and doubting herself. “They’re not thinking ‘Here comes our princess to save us’. They’re thinking ‘Which of these monsters would be the lesser of two evils’.”

Luna slowed down for only a moment and I knew I had gotten to her. I knew she could see the looks of fear on the faces of the ponies. But it wasn’t enough. I needed to exploit her some more. 

“When they look at you, they don’t see a pony who made a mistake,” I said as I continued to fire arrows at her. “All they see is the demon who tried to take everything away from them. All they see is a monster.”

“We do not care if we are not appreciated,” Luna said unconvincingly. “We only wish for our ponies to be safe and happy.”

She was trying to stay confident but Luna was falling prey to her emotions. Her calm thinking was being undermined by her own insecurities and it was weakening her abilities. She wasn’t moving nearly as fast and her chains were fading on their own. Luna solidified her body and one of my arrows ripped through her barrel. Her glowing, dark blue blood splattered everywhere. The black fire caught on her wounds drastically slowing down her healing.

“Looks like you lose this round, Luna,” I said. Surprisingly, the mare stood up and formed a defensive barrier.

“I haven’t lost yet,” she declared. In a flash of golden light Celestia returned, panting heavily.

“Where the buck did you send me? Do you have any idea how much magic it took to… Oh my Faust! Luna!” Celestia immediately teleported to her sister’s side. “Luna, just stay still.” Celestia poured her magic into Luna’s wound and forced the regeneration process to accelerate. Celestia even wrapped the fire in her magic and pulled it off of Luna’s body. I could see the sweat forming on her brow as she used some of the most powerful magic in her arsenal.

“Can you still fight?” Celestia asked her sister as she finished healing her.

“I can. What about you?” Luna replied.

Celestia’s body was already returning to normal. “Not at the same level as before. I had to teleport between dimensions to get here. And healing you drained really drained me.”

“I see,” Luna said as she walked forward. “I’m sorry but I will have to ask you to let me handle the rest of this fight.”

“Oh really, Luna,” I said with a smile. “I can see you’re not too far off from a drained state as well.”

“I have one more technique at my disposal,” Luna said.

“Oh really,” I teased. “Do tell.”

“When you were teaching us I was always envious of your strange techniques and mysterious power. So I studied it and as you know I learned how to counter some of them. But that wasn’t enough. I wanted more. When we were bound in marriage and exchanged energy, I had my first taste of it. Your power is so…. intoxicating. But it pulls at the baser parts of one’s mind and I wasn’t fully prepared. It overwhelmed me and I lost myself to its influence. That story ended with my banishment to the moon. While I was on the moon I had nothing but time. I studied that power nonstop and finally came to understand it. Then I trained. I trained until I fully mastered the gift you gave me. Now, Sasuke, let me show you what I can do.” 

Luna’s body began to glow as...CHAKRA!?! Poured forth from inside her. She stood on her hind legs as her body began to shift and morph. A dark blue light enveloped her body and covered her from my sight. When the light faded I was stunned. Standing in front of me was Luna but she was...different. Where a pony had once been standing now stood a human. At least it was mostly human. She was bipedal and had arms and hands. Her blue fur was replaced with pale white skin covered by a pitch black dress that came down to her knees. She still had a horn protruding from her head and wings on her back. The strangest thing was I couldn’t sense anything from her.

“What do you think, Sasuke,” Luna cooed. “Do you want to consummate our marriage now?”

I was dumbfounded. Luna had changed from a pony into a voluptuous woman. I nodded enthusiastically and she smiled. I was so caught up in mildly delusional fantasies that I didn’t notice her knee until it impacted the side of my head. I flew into a building and barely had time to get my bearings. Luna was after me again with chidori in her hand. I had no time to react as she ripped through my side with lightning and then kicked me back out into the street. I had a deep gash in my side; I was also pretty sure I had a concussion and broken ribs. My bloody coughs led me to believe I had severe internal bleeding. Luna was over me again smirking and still holding chidori. It was then that I noticed it for the first time. Her eyes weren’t like Nightmare Moon’s anymore. Instead they were sharingan with two tomoe. She stepped on my leg and snapped it. I cried out in pain.

“A little brutal aren’t you,” I whimpered out.

“This state makes impulse control exceptionally difficult,” Luna replied nonchalantly. "It's such a shame that I must kill my beloved."

“I can’t believe I lost so quickly,” I coughed.

“I’ve become the perfect union of our strengths,” she said. “Do not be ashamed.”

I lay in the street with Luna standing over my broken body. The high pitched chirps echoed throughout the city. I looked towards the castle and saw a bright red light ascend into the sky. I looked out over the city and I saw a blue haze rising over the buildings. All I could do was laugh.

“Giving in to the inevitability of your death has driven you to madness?” Luna asked. “I shall end your suffering.”

“No, no,” I said wiping a tear from my eye. “It’s just an inside joke. I’m ready.”

“Very well,” Luna said as she moved the lightning closer to my heart. “Do you have any last words?”

“I do have a few,” I said. I cleared my throat and said the clearest voice I could muster, “Hey, yo, Jason. Say somethin' to her. Holla at her.”

“What are you doing? Have you truly gone mad?”

I laughed. “ I got one question. How you fit all that… in them jeans?”

“What are you talking about? Where is that whistling coming from?” Luna was confused but as the music started, recognition spread across her face.

Magical resonance is a funny thing. It has many effects most of which go unnoticed by ponies during their daily life. But definitely one of its most interesting effects is the Bluegrass Daydreamer effect, so named for the mare that discovered it. You see when a magical creature sings about something they are passionate about, their internal magic starts to vibrate and spread. Other magical creatures in the vicinity will react to this vibration by having their own magic vibrate and spread. This continues until you have a whole town singing and dancing in perfect harmony. The stronger the magic of the creatures singing, the harder the effect is to resist. I may be a very laid back guy but there is one thing I am extremely passionate about. Ass. I love it. And I triggered a magical resonant effect by singing about what I love. And Luna was caught in it.

“You know what to do with that big fat butt!
wiggle, wiggle, wiggle”

I watched as she shook her now human butt and encouraged other to do the same. Soon Celestia was caught in it too. Their combined resonance quickly overwhelmed the city and ponies came out of hiding to join in the song. I watched with glee while two princesses sang about wiggling their plots and tried their best to twerk. But the song wouldn’t last forever and I was in terrible shape. So with a heavy heart, I used Kamui to teleport myself away.


**********Timberwolf Den**********


“I’m telling you, that’s what he said!”


“That’s absolutely insane. There’s no way he said that. You must have misheard.”


“I didn’t mishear anything! He’s crazy and you’re crazy for going along with him! First chance I get I’m outa here!”

“What’s going on?”  I asked as I materialised in the den. Everyone suddenly got quiet. Taking the chance to recover a bit I used the Orochimaru Style Body Replacement Technique to heal my injuries.  My soldiers were a little repulsed seeing me regurgitate my own body, but they would get over it. “So what’s with all the fuss?” I asked again.

Merlin stepped forward. “I was successful in obtaining the objects, sir.”

“Excellent,” I said. “Where’s Aoife?”

“Over here, Lord Mephisto,” her voice weakly replied.

I walked over to her and saw that she was completely covered in bandages and lying down. 

“What happened to you?” I asked.

“You left me to fight one of the best and most experienced fighters in all of the Griffon Republic! I got my ass handed to me!” she replied.

“Sorry about that,” I said sheepishly. “But you did a great job stalling her.”

Aoife grumbled something I couldn’t hear. 

“Don’t worry about your injuries,” I assured her. “We’ll get you all patched up when we go back to Laputa.”

“Now, Merlin, show me what you got,” I said excitedly.

He motioned to a large timberwolf that stood beside him and opened up its chest. A mirror, an orb covered in runes, and a statue of a heart fell out.

“And it’s not even my birthday,” I cheered. “You really got everything! I can’t tell you how excited I am!”

“Is no one really going to say anything?” Gilda shouted. “Fine then I will! What the hell were you talking about with the princesses? You want us to just be thugs causing problems? I thought this was gonna be something big! Not some third rate gang!”

“So you heard what I said,” I asked her.

“Yeah I heard it,” she screeched back.

“Remember how I told you I was going to teach you?”

“So what?”

I grinned. “Lesson one: Never take what your enemy says at face value.”

“What?” Gilda asked, her anger cooled.

“What I told the princesses did have some truth to it. I am building up a force to rival the Elements of Harmony but it's not to cause random mayhem,” I said. “But because I said it was, the princesses won’t attribute any of our actions to a larger scheme. And now that they think I’m crazy, they’ll fail to see any logic or reason behind my actions. I’ve set us up to move in the shadows with impunity. And all we have to do is cause trouble every once in a while to distract them.”

“.........wow,” Gilda whispered.

“You have to plan ahead when you have a plan as big as mine,” I said.

“And what is this grand master plan?”

Everyone leaned in close. 

“I will only reveal the parts of my plan as they become relevant or active,” I replied. Everyone groaned. “But I think you’ve all earned some trust. Gilda, you and several others I need to… recruit, will be incubators.”

“Incubators for what?” she asked.

“A power greater than you can imagine.”

“And what do you need all this power for?”

“Sorry but that’s all you get. Let’s get ready to move out!”

The Valkyries sprang into action collecting the artifacts and other treasures that had gotten during our raid. Andraste walked up to me and asked a question.

“Lord Mephisto, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what was in those blue sacs underneath the timberwolves?”

I smiled. “Nothing important to the timberwolves I assure you. Timberwolves have a special ability. It allows them to assimilate any kind of plant matter. Those sacs were just full of a special plant found in the Everfree.”

“What plant was it, sir?”

“Nothing much. It was just a joke,” I grinned.

“I’m not sure I get your meaning, sir,” Andraste said, scratching her head.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Now back to work with you.”

Andraste scurried off to help with the preparations. I sensed they would be taking a while so I decided to relax in my own private dimension. I’d discovered that Kamui was a great place to relax and put a bed and a few other things in the dimension. I teleported into the dimension only to find my bed in cinders. On the desk near it there was a note. 

Now we’re even. 
Kisses, 
Celestia
> Chapter 13: The Out of Season Halloween Special
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot Castle 3rd POV**********


Luna awoke in the morning. While this was unusual for her in the past, it was not out of the ordinary for her in the past month. About a month ago, Luna had pushed her body past its limits and used a power that was unnatural to her body. Luna had fought Sasuke and used chakra successfully for the first time. She knew using it would have negative effects on her body and was prepared to face the consequences. After the fight, her body had been completely drained of both chakra and magic, leaving her in a severely weakened state. Her body reflected her lack of power and she was shrunk to the size of a young filly. Unfortunately, in her weakened state she found she couldn’t even raise and lower the moon. Celestia had tried to reassure her sister that it was no big deal to raise both the sun and the moon for a while but that just made Luna feel worse.

When she had woken up after the fight, she had been reveling in the feeling of protecting her ponies. Surely their low opinions of her had changed. Now they would surely view her as a shining protector, just like Celestia. Those dreams were shattered when she read the newspaper. It seemed her transformations had only increased the fear ponies felt. Her use of chakra had ponies feeling more fear than they ever had when she was Nightmare Moon. The witnesses that had seen her fight with Sasuke only recounted her brutality. Nothing seemed to be going right for the princess of the night. Maybe Sasuke was right. Maybe she would be better off with him. Luna shook those thoughts from her head. She just needed to improve her image. She looked at her calendar. Maybe there was an event she could use to boost public perception. It looked like there was one in the near future. What was Nightmare Night?

Luna teleported into the throne room. “Celestia!” she exclaimed. “What is Nightmare Night? And how may we use it to gain our ponies’ favor?”

Celestia facehoofed as her sister interrupted her meeting. “Luna, now is really not the time.”
Around the table sat some of the most important ponies in Canterlot. The wealthiest and most influential ponies, the nobles, were coordinating recovery efforts and supplying resources. When Sasuke’s group attacked they made a huge mess. Almost every royal guard was in the hospital nursing serious injuries, there had been a cloud of poison joke covering the whole city, and the improvised dance number had made sure everyone was infected. Curing everyone was an exhaustive, ongoing project. Not to mention the media ran wild with Luna’s transformation and Celestia’s…..less than regal dance moves. Security was the lowest it had ever been and even the captain of the guard, Shining Armor, was out hunting down the monster responsible. And now what did Luna want.

“It’s ok,” the nobles said, trembling with fear. “We can continue this at another time.” The nobles quickly packed up their papers and ran out of the throne room.

Celestia sighed. “Alright Luna, what is it this time?”

“I was trying to think of a way to let the ponies see that I’m not to be feared,” Luna explained excitedly. “So I thought I could make an appearance during a public holiday. What is Nightmare Night?”

“Nightmare night started out as a day of remembrance,” Celestia said. “It was a day I stopped everything to remember the sister I had lost. However, as the years went by I realised how gloomy it made you seem so I turned the day into a day of fun. Choosing your favorite activities, I created traditions that would bring ponies closer to who you really were. Nightmare Night is now a day to dress up in costumes, eat candy, play games, pull pranks, and do jump scares.”

“I’m touched, Celestia,” Luna said wiping a tear from her eye. “Thank you.”

“I also told foals to give Nightmare Moon a candy offering or she would eat them.”

Luna looked at her sister with hurt in her eyes. “CELESTIA!” she screamed as she chased her sister through the castle. “I’m going to prove that I am a kind and loving princess! And I know just the place to go.”


**********Laputa 1st POV**********


I stood in the stadium room calling upon every bit of chakra I had within me. I brought my hands together. Tiger, Ram, Snake. “Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!” I yelled. Instead of a mighty forest of trees, a single bush appeared.

“Is that all,” Gilda asked. “I kind of expected more.”

“I have to say I agree,” Starlight said. “I felt all of the energy you put into that. Is it some kind of mega-bush?”

I cradled my face in my hands. “This, ladies, is what failure looks like.”

“I guess there are some things even you can’t do,” Gilda smirked.

“Why isn’t it working?” Starlight said, already switching to her analytical mode. “It looks like all the pieces are there.”


“Then you aren’t looking hard enough,” I said. “Wood style is about creating life. For all my power, I don’t have life giving chakra. Or even warm, life affirming chakra. All I have is Sasuke’s cold killer chakra. Or I could get Rinnegan. That lets you do anything.”

“Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?” Starlight asked.

“Huh. I guess I did.”

“Does that mean we’re done with training for today?” Gilda asked.

“Yes it does,” I replied. “Let’s go check on the Geek Squad.”

As we left the stadium room, I reflected on the past month. My Valkyries had done an excellent job and their skills had not dulled over the generations. They had successfully assaulted the most heavily guarded city in all of Equestria, fought countless soldiers and made sure there were no casualties on either side. Not only that, they had stolen several artifacts from one of the most secure vaults on the planet and effectively commanded the timberwolves. My plan was taking great strides forward.

We walked into the lab and the room was abuzz with the unicorns’ activities. Starlight had worked with a great team in Canterlot and now they were making progress on the various experiments and projects I assigned them. There was some pushback in the beginning and some feelings of betrayal but I managed to convince them that Starlight was here against her will. After that I gave them some work and their attitudes did a complete 180. I’ll never understand instantly trusting someone that kidnapped you. Ponies. Anyway we walked through the lab  to Starlight’s area.

“How’s Gilda’s data looking?” I asked as Starlight put some paper into a machine.

“We’ll see in a minute,” she answered. The machine spat out some papers which Starlight inspected. Gilda’s face was intense. She was hoping for the best. 

“There are no anomalies,” Starlight said. Gilda let go of the breath she was holding. Starlight continued, “Gilda’s body is adapting well to the chakra you put in her. Her muscle density has increased and her reaction times are improving exponentially. I think that she’s ready for brain testing.”

“I told you I was stronger,” Gilda smirked. “I can handle anything you throw at me.”

“Hold on there,” I said. “Even though you’ve adapted well to small amounts of chakra, you’re not ready to have any in your head yet.” I remembered what happened in Ponyville and looked at Starlight. She shivered when she remembered it too.

“That was an overload of chakra, though,” Starlight argued. “Gilda would only be getting small, controlled doses.”

“Even so, I don’t want to risk it,” I said. “This is only temporary anyway. When Starswirl completes the serum, her body will make its own chakra. That’ll be way safer.”

“When is Beardy McNerd gonna be done anyway?” Gilda asked.

“TODAY!” Starswirl bellowed as he appeared in a huge puff of smoke and bright flash of light.

“Was any of that necessary?” I asked as I waved the smoke out of my face.

“A better question would be: why don’t the rest of you put some effort into your entrances?” Starswirl retorted.

I rolled my eyes. “You were saying something about the serum being done?”

“Yes! That!” Starswirl said. “The two sets of magic have been bonded. When applied to a living creature it will splice their DNA to allow for both sets of magic to be applied naturally to the body to prevent any negative side effects.” He held up a needle. “Who’s first?”

Gilda’s eyes lit up but before she could say anything, I got in between them. “Hold on there. I’ve got two questions. How did you know the exact moment to enter our conversation? Have you tested that yet?”

“This’ll be the first test,” Starswirl said. He ignored my other question. “But you have to start somewhere.”

“I’d prefer it not be on someone I’ve invested significant effort in,” I said. “Don’t we have any prisoners or something?”

“No, you told us we have a ‘take no prisoners’ policy,” Starlight said.

I weaved some hand seals and summoned Aoife. The griffon appeared in front of me with a sandwich in her mouth. She looked around, slightly disoriented. When she saw me she choked down her food and stood at attention. “Lord Mephisto, I’m ready for whatever you need.”

“Take some spell gems and go get some prisoners,” I instructed.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“We need some subjects for scientific experimentation. Go get at least one of every kind of pony, some griffons, and a siren or two if you can find them.”

“My lord, sirens don’t exist.”

“Really? Then just the other stuff.”

“At once.”

Aoife disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Do you realize you just ordered a kidnapping?” Starlight asked me.

“And why do they call you Mephisto?” Gilda asked.

“I wondered about that as well,” Starswirl added.

“It’s a long story and I don’t want to get into it right now,”  I said.

“But eventually?” Starlight asked.

***

All of the creatures living in the castle stood behind a magical force field in the stadium room. Everyone wanted to see the effects of the serum in action. Our test subject was a unicorn mare who had been pretty adamant about not taking part. Long story short, she was now gagged and bound to a table. Starswirl stood over her in a lab coat and goggles. He lowered the needle containing the serum to her neck. 

“I just want to go on record as saying I am uncomfortable with and object to all of this,” Starlight said.

“Noted, now be a party to this by willfully not doing anything to stop it,” I said.

Starswirl injected the mare with the serum. We all leaned forward to see what would happen next. Her body started to glow. She was wrapped in a bright white light and all we could see was her outline. Chakra began to flow through her body and her shape started changing. Her forehooves became arms and she grew fingers and hands. Her equine legs became human shaped. Her horn elongated and wings sprouted out of her back. Her muzzle shrank into a human nose and her eyes changed into sharingan with one tomoe. The glow faded to reveal an unconscious human/alicorn hybrid. She had snapped the bindings that held her and lay, naked, on the table. Her fur was gone and she looked almost like a human. 

“Is the process complete?” I asked Starswirl.

“I’m going to be honest with you: I have no idea. I honestly didn’t think it was going to work,” he responded. “It usually takes more than one try to get science ri-”

Before Starswirl could finish his sentence the mare behind him released an intense magical pulse, destroying him. Part of the mare’s body dissolved into magic and exploded, shaking the force field. Once the dust settled and the magic calmed down I walked over to the mare. Starswirl regenerated next to me.

“Yeah, that’s about what I thought would happen,” he said. “Is she dead?”

I held my fingers to her neck. “I think so. No pulse. So back to the drawing board?”

“Of course not! I’ve got this wealth of information right here!” he said.

“Then what do we do with her?”

“Give her to a doctor of course. We need to know what happened to her body that caused the explosion.”

I looked back to the other ponies and griffons who were talking wildly amongst themselves.

“Attention everyone!” I said to get their attention. They all focused on me. “Does anyone here know how to perform an autopsy?” All hooves and claws were raised in the air. “Does anyone here have practical experience performing an autopsy?” All of the various limbs dropped. “That’s what I thought. Where are we going to get a doctor? Hmmm….. Actually I have an idea. When is Nightmare Night?”

“It’s next week,” one of the unicorns said.

“Merlin, get your stuff. I’m sending you out for a bit,” I said. “The rest of you get back to business.”


The ponies and griffons dispersed and Merlin ran to grab his stuff. Starlight came up to me.

“What are you planning this time?” she asked.

“Relax. I’m just going to put on a show for some kids.”

“Riiiiiight. Of course you are.” Starlight huffed at me before leaving with the others.


**********Ponyville 3rd POV**********


Twilight Sparkle excitedly bounced around her house as she put her costume together.  This year she was going to her first Ponyville Nightmare Night festival. This year in a show of friendship, a rich griffon had offered to partner with Filthy Rich to throw a dance party after the games. Not only that, she was going as hero academic hero, Starswirl the Bearded. AND as if this night wasn’t already going to be the best night ever she had received a letter that said her old foalsitter Cadance wanted to come see her! Twilight was so excited she almost didn’t hear the knock at the door.

“I got it,” Twilight yelled as she ran the stairs and blew past Spike. “I’m so happy to see you again it’s-” Twilight paused when she opened the door. She had been expecting a pink alicorn but standing in front of her home was a grey earth pony with a black mane.

“While I’m flattered, I have to say that wasn’t the reaction I was expecting,” he said as he walked into the library. “Hello Spike. Nice dragon costume. Looking forward to the candy?”

“Hey Rolling Stone,” Spike said. “You bet I am! Who doesn’t love free candy? But why are you here?”

“I wanted to talk to Twilight for a bit,” Rolling Stone said. “Maybe check out some books. But I’ll definitely join the party later.”

“Spike,” Twilight said as she recovered. “Why don’t you go get started without me. I’ll get dressed as soon as I’m done talking with ‘Rolling Stone’.”

Spike looked at Twilight questioningly but she shot him a gentle smile. He shrugged his shoulders and left the library. They were alone.

Twilight tried to summon up her courage. “It’s pointless to keep this up. I know what you are,” she said.

The stallion looked surprised for a second but his expression turned back into a grin. A puff of smoke shrouded the stallion. When it cleared, in his place stood the human. Twilight’s courage was quickly leaving her.

“Sasuke Uchiha,” she whispered. She tried not let her fear show, “Why are you here?”

“I already said,” he grinned. “I want to talk. And I want a library card.”


“What?” Twilight was becoming less afraid and more confused. “Why would you want to talk to me?”

“Because we’re not so different. And I want to see how my student’s student turned out.”

Twilight recoiled in disgust. “We’re nothing alike!”

“Are you sure?” Sasuke asked smugly.

“Of course!”

“What do you actually know about me?”

“You’re a monster! You attacked innocent ponies, you hurt the princess!”

“I also love reading. It’s one of my favorite activities.”

“What?”


“Learning new things is amazing. Or reading a great story. Reading is fun.”

“Really?” Twilight said, eyes full of hope. “I never meet anypony who likes reading as much as me.”

“And don’t you want to learn about the world I come from?” Sasuke said. “I can not only tell you about my world, I can show you.”

“Really?” Twilight’s eyes grew wide. “I may have been a little hasty in my judgement.” A notebook and quill materialized in a flash of magenta light. “Where should we start?”

“How about the beginning.” Sasuke activated his sharingan and brought Twilight into a world of illusion. He started a brief summary of humanity, in the form of a song. He left the illusion and left it playing in Twilight’s mind. 

He started looking through the shelves for something to read. A large power suddenly appeared behind him. It almost felt like….

“Twilight? I’m here,” Cadance said. “Twilight?”

Sasuke turned around and his eyes caught Cadance’s. She gasped and started backing up. She looked wildly around the room. When she saw Twilight laying on the floor with a goofy smile plastered across her face, she gasped again and lit her horn.

“Hold on there, Cadance,” Sasuke said holding his hands up. “Just wait a minute before you do something crazy. I didn’t come here to cause any trouble. I just wanted to talk with Twilight and offered her a short history of my people as a peace offering. It’ll be over soon and she’ll be fine. Trust me.”

Cadance thought about it for a moment. After all this was one of the reasons she was here. She decided to trust the human and allowed her magic to disperse.  “If Twilight doesn’t wake up in the next few minutes I’m getting my aunts,” she warned.

“Fair enough,” Sasuke responded. “So what brings you to Ponyville tonight? Coming to have fun at the Nightmare Night party?”

“I’m here to talk to Twilight about…. personal things,” Cadance said, breaking eye contact.
“Ah,” he said as he realized what was going on. “Trouble in paradise?”

“What? How did you… I mean never mind it’s none of your business,” Cadance got flustered.

“It’s ok, Cadance,” Sasuke said in a calming voice. “I won’t judge you and I can help. Trust me.”

Cadance felt her resistance melting. How is it he could always do that to her? She would have been worried but she thought back to the world inside his mind and all of her worry faded away. She was comforted by the feeling and felt safe in his presence. 

“Well, I suppose talking to you won’t hurt,” she said. “Shining Armor and I have been…. arguing more than usual lately and then he left for his special mission to, uh…”

“Hunt me down,” Sasuke said, nonchalantly. “Please continue.”

Cadance nodded. “I didn’t know what to think about you and he ignored me and went straight to my aunt. Then he leaves for who knows how long while we’re in the middle of planning for our wedding and I just….  This is the first time I’m ever seeing this side of him. I don’t know how to feel about it.”

“Every relationship has rough patches,” he put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. “You’ll get through this. Maybe you both need some time apart to de-stress.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Cadance closed her eyes and leaned into the hug and felt all of her problems vanish. She never felt so at peace. Wait a minute. That’s not right. Cadance’s eyes shot open and she pulled out of Sasuke’s grasp. “How do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?” Sasuke asked innocently.

“Making me feel so at ease.”


“You feel at ease because we’re not so different,” he said.

“What do mean?”


“We both draw our greatest strength from love.”


Cadance’s eyes grew wide. Was what she was feeling magical resonance? “I need to talk to you about that,” Cadance said. Twilight began to stir. It appeared the illusion was ending.

“We don’t have time now,” Sasuke said. “But if you really want to know more, ask one of your aunts about what happened Mama Blue.”

Twilight shook her head trying to adjust back to reality. The first things she saw were Cadance and Sasuke looking down at her.

“Hey there little sleepy head,” Cadance said softly.

“Cadance!” Twilight replied. The two leapt up and did their strange hoofshake.

“Sunshine, sunshine
Ladybugs awake
Clap your hooves
And do a little shake!”

They both laughed and nuzzled each other. “It’s so good to see you again, Cadance,” Twilight said.

“Likewise Twilight,” Cadance smiled. “You’ve gotten so big, Twilight! I can hardly believe that little filly I used to foalsit is all grown up.”


“Yes, yes,” Sasuke said. “While this reunion is touching and all, we were having a conversation.”


The two ponies looked over at Sasuke. They then looked at each other and grinned guiltily. Twilight gasped and grabbed her quill and pad. She began scribbling furiously trying to write down everything she remembered from the illusion.

“So now that the awkward introduction is over,” Sasuke said, “What do you say we all go out and get some free candy?”

“I could use some simple fun,” Cadance said, exasperated. “Twily, what about you?”

“But there’s so much I still don’t know about your species!” Twilight exclaimed. “I thought you were going to answer all my questions!”

“I’ve got a special book with answers to questions you don’t even know you have,” Sasuke said. “I’ll give you the book. And if you both can keep this meeting a secret from Celestia, who knows? I might visit again.”

Both of the mares looked apprehensive at the prospect of trying to keep a secret from the sun princess but they both nodded in agreement.


**********1st POV*********


I turned into a pony and we all left the library. I didn’t let it show but I was really nervous. Cadance wasn’t supposed to be here today. How much had my interference changed the timeline? Was Luna still going to come to Ponyville today? What else was going to be different?  As we walked through Ponyville I calmed myself and enjoyed seeing the ponies in costumes. Oddly enough I saw a pony wearing a griffon costume.

“Wouldn’t that basically be the same as wearing blackface?” I muttered to myself.

“What was that?” Cadance asked.

“Nothing,” I replied. I turned to look at the pink alicorn but did not see a pink alicorn standing next to me. Instead was a normal sized pink unicorn in a cupid costume. 

“Cadance?” I asked. “Is that you?”

“Do you like it? I thought it would be best if we didn’t draw attention to ourselves,” she said with a smile. “I’m a little deliverer of love!”

“Whatever,” I rolled my eyes.

“Um... Why is everypony cowering on the ground?” Twilight asked.

As we had finally made our way to the main part of the festival, we saw most of the ponies lying on the ground with their hooves over their heads. I grinned. It looked like Luna had made it after all.

“Why don’t you guys figure out what’s going on here while I go literally anywhere else,” I said as I walked away.

“What’s that supposed to mean,” Cadance asked defensively.

“Nothing,” I replied. “I have a feeling that this is going to turn into one of Twilight’s friendship lessons and I want no parts of it.”

Cadance huffed at me and went back to Twilight. I felt around for my prey. Just outside the town. Exactly where she was supposed to be. I grinned as I activated kamui.

***
Luna was sitting dejectedly in front of the statue of Nightmare Moon when I arrived. 

“You know, I’ve always wondered why this statue is even here,” I said as I changed back into a human and sat down next to her.

“As a reminder to all of my failures,” Luna lamented without looking up. “Have you come to rub salt in my open wounds, Sasuke?”

“Of course not, Luna. I’m here to celebrate my wife,” I said as I put my arm around her. She put her head down in my lap. “You don’t see surprised to see me.”

“I felt your presence as I entered the village,” she said. “I knew you would come to me at some point.”

“So what happened? Why are you so sad?”

“I tried to make this festival bright and cheery instead of dark and fearful,” Luna sighed. “But my subjects still fear me. They have never liked me.”

“Want to fix that?” I asked.

Luna’s head popped up and she looked at me directly in my eyes. “More than anything.”

“Then I have a plan. But you have to follow it to the letter.”

Luna nodded.

“Good. First, when you’re talking to the ponies, you need to talk them the way you’re talking to me right now,” I instructed.

“But I’m not using the Canterlot royal voice or the royal ‘we’,” she said.

“Exactly. Since you’ve been back have you seen Celestia do either of those things?”

She thought about it before coming to a realization. “She hasn’t! And our subjects adore her!”

“And the other thing, now that there are no real threats to pony society anymore, being frightened is an enjoyable activity.”

“What? Are you saying they like being afraid?”

“Yes. There’s a whole thing about the brain and adrenaline and endorphins once the fear passes but that’s not important. The important thing is that we can take advantage of the fear and make you more loved at the same time!”

Luna was stunned silent but she quickly recovered. Her face quickly shifted into a mischievous grin. “What’s the plan?”


********** Ponyville 3rd POV**********


Twilight and Cadance had pretty much figured out what had happened. Princess Luna had shown up at the festival. In her attempts to relate better to modern ponies she had only increased their fear. After failing yet again to win over their hearts, Luna left. Feeling it was a bad idea to let Princess Luna and Sasuke meet, the Twilight and Cadance had begun searching for Sasuke.

“I’m worried about Aunty Luna,” Cadance said as they walked through Ponyville.

“Princess Luna will have to wait,” Twilight said. “Right now we have to Sasuke from wandering around and was this tent here before?”

The two ponies stopped in front of a giant tent. It was the size of a large tree and stood in the center of Ponyville Square. A sign out front said closed.

“How long has this been here?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know,” Cadance replied. “But we need to focus.”

They took a few steps away from the tent when suddenly, the entire town was covered in fog. 

“What’s going on? There was no fog in the weather report for today,” Twilight said.

“Probably just some prankster pegasus,” Cadance said. “We need to keep looking.”

Twilight wasn’t convinced. “This fog doesn’t feel natural. I want to run some tests on it.” She took some fog in her magic and gasped. “This fog… It’s Sasuke’s magic!”

Cadance facehoofed. “Of course it is.” He was gone for five minutes. Five minutes for crying out loud! She should have known better than to trust him. Princess Celestia had warned her that he always had an ulterior motive. And now… Actually… “Twilight, do you hear that?”

Twilight’s ears perked up and swiveled around. “I do. Where is it coming from?”

The two ponies followed the sound of the music through the mist. They were joined by the other ponies in town who were similarly entranced by the strange music. They stood at the edge of town and stared out into the darkness. An orange glow appeared out in the distance. It moved back and forth a bit before Twilight realised it was getting closer. The light grew in size until it was close enough to identify. The light came from a pumpkin with a terrifying smile carved into it. It served as the head for a scarecrow. The scarecrow was on cart being pulled by a pony in a dark cloak. As the cart got closer it seemed the air got colder and the music got louder. When the dark pony got to the outskirts of the town it stopped. All of the ponies looked on with barely contained fear and excitement. Surely this was the special entertainment planned by the rich griffon benefactor. 

The pony started walking into the town and began to sing.
‘Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn’t you like to see something strange?
Come with us and you will see
This our town of Halloween!’

Twilight felt shivers as shadows started moving on the houses and joined in the song. As if called from shadows, monsters appeared from nowhere and joined in the song as well.

‘This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat 'till the neighbours gonna die of fright’

The monstrous procession moved through the town and kept singing. New monsters were introduced and they added their part and joined the parade. The foals ran along the sides with huge smiles. They danced and tried to sing along. The adults were just as excited and danced with each other to the music. 

“What do we do?” Twilight asked Cadance.

“This has Sasuke written all over it,” Cadance said. “For now we should just follow the parade.”

The song continued and the princess observed the monsters. By the climax they had multiplied like crazy and stood in the middle of town. Startling everyone, the scarecrow started to move. It grabbed a torch and set itself on fire. The monsters continued to sing as the flaming scarecrow danced around on the edge of a fountain. Then it dove in.

‘In this town, we call home
Everyone hails to the pumpkin song
Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala
Wheeeeeeeeee!’

Out of the fountain, Princess Luna rose as the monsters cheered and giggled. As the music ended the stomping applause of every pony sounded like thunder. After taking a few bows, all of the monsters turned into dust and a stiff wind blew them into the mysterious tent turning the sign to open in the process.

“Thank you, citizens of Ponyville,” Luna said. “Now let us all enjoy the festivities tonight!”

With a renewed determination, all the ponies partied harder. Cadance and Twilight ran up to the night princess.

“Ah hello Twilight, niece,” Luna said cheerfully. “How are you enjoying the festivities?”

“What was all that, aunty?” Cadance asked.

“It was just something to help me break the ice with my subjects,” Luna replied. “It think it went well.”

“How did you do that?” Twilight asked. “What kind of spells did you use? How did you control so many of those monsters at once? How did you use magical resonance without pulling everypony into it?”

“She had a little help.” The pony form of Sasuke approached the group with a young foal. 

“Who is this adorable little guy?” Luna asked.

“My name is Pip and this is my first Nightmare Night,” the brown and white foal said.

“Isn’t that wonderful,” Luna said as she leaned down to nuzzle him. “Are you enjoying Nightmare Night?”

“It’s awesome!” the foal cheered. “Can you come back again next year and do that again?”

“Of course,” Luna smiled.

“Whoa, you’re my favorite princess, ever!” The foal ran off to his friends. “She said yes, guys!”

“So what were you saying?” Sasuke asked. Luna smiled while Twilight and Cadance stare.

“What? How? What in Tartarus is going on here?” Cadance babbled.Twilight nodded furiously behind her.

“I’ll tell it if you don’t mind,” Luna started. “After my less than successful attempt to win over my subjects, Sasuke found me wallowing in self pity. He comforted me and came up with a plan to change my image. If we joined in the celebration instead of fighting it, he said it would make me more likeable. In the end, he was right again.” She looked over to Sasuke warmly.

“Aunty, aren’t we at war with him right now,” Cadance deadpanned.

“Today’s a truce day,” Sasuke said while inspecting a hoof.

Cadance rolled her eyes. “You don’t really expect me to believe that you’d put your evil plans on hold for a-” A cold chill crawled up Cadance’s spine. It was unlike she had ever felt, a combination of coldness and instinctual fear. The looks on Luna’s and Sasuke’s faces turned deadly serious.

“Did you feel that,” Sasuke asked.

“I did,” Luna responded, her tone steely.

Sasuke changed into his human form. “Luna, Cadance let’s go. Twilight stay here and make sure no one leaves Ponyville. Understand?”


“What’s going on?” Twilight asked. “Princess?”

“Do as he says Twilight,” Luna instructed. “This should not take long but we need to be prepared. Come niece, it is time for your first true test as an alicorn.”

The group vanished in a flash of light, leaving Twilight and Ponyville behind.


**********Everfree Forest**********


Cadance was shaking. Luna had teleported her and Sasuke into the Everfree Forest, closer to the dark feeling. She still didn’t know what was going on or what made her aunt so nervous. It was a terrifying feeling not knowing. What made it worse was the eeriness of the forest. There were no animals at all. No birds, bats, or anything. Even the wind was dead.

“Will one of you please tell me what the buck is going on?” Cadance whispered. Sasuke drew his sword and Luna began charging her magic. “Please! You’re scaring me.”

“Cadance there are truths about alicorns that are not common knowledge,” Luna said, her eyes scanning the forest. “We are a special breed with a special connection to this world. That presence you sensed earlier was your body making use of that connection. It is instinctual that you feel them. Every living thing in nature has an natural enemy.” Cadance heard wingbeats growing closer. “These are ours.”

Two creatures landed in front of them. They were large, slightly larger than even Princess Celestia. It looked like they were made of darkness itself, their bodies swirling masses of inky blackness. They wore psychopathic grins on their twisted faces. Altogether they looked like starving, decaying alicorns with glowing red eyes. Everything about them felt wrong and made Cadance want to vomit.

“Looky here brother,” one of them said, their voice like nails on a chalkboard.

“Yes, yes, I see them,” said the other. “Two sisters and their pet.”

“I remember this sister,” the first creature said as it began to circle them. “She was not very nice to us.” Its grin never left its disgusting face.

“And I remember the pet,” the second replied as it circled the other way. “It bites us. It needs to be trained and punished.”

“Aunty, I’m scared,” Cadance whispered, swallowing down bile. “What are these things?”

“Wraiths,” Sasuke said, his own eyes glowing red. “It’s been a while boys. How’s Tartarus been treating you?”

“You trapped us and our brothers,” the wraiths screeched. “We have been starving for millennia! When we got free you tortured us and sent us back! You must be punished!”


The wraiths charged at the group. Sasuke’s sword lit up with electricity and the sound of chirping birds filled the air. The wraiths hissed and stopped their charge. 

“I remembered how much you guys hate light,” Sasuke said with a grin. “And this time I won’t be nearly as forgiving. Are you ready Luna?”


“Of course,” Luna said. Blue light engulfed her body and her hid her from view. When the light faded Luna stood in her human form. Only something was different. She was shorter and younger looking than last time and instead of a pitch black dress, it was dark blue. Her eyes were the same as Sasuke’s glowing red with a similar pattern. “Cadance, I need you to use the Alicorn’s Authority while Sasuke and I fight the wraiths.” Her chains came from the shadows and started glittering. Then they turned pure white.

“Are you sure,” Cadance whimpered. “Aunty Celestia said to never use except for in the most dire of circumstances.”


“This is that circumstance,” Luna commanded. “This is an order from your princess, use the Alicorn’s Authority!”

Cadance began charging her magic.

“Kill them!” the wraith shouted.

Again the wraiths charged. Sasuke and Luna engaged them in battle. Luna swung her chains and moved them to a place where Sasuke could strike them. His lightning attacks weakened them so that Luna could rip through them with her chains. Every move they made complimented each other perfectly and their teamwork was flawless. Watching them fight together, Cadance saw no openings to strike back. The wraiths were completely on the defensive and couldn’t even run away. Every hit they took caused them to hiss and leak a pitch black substance that killed whatever it touched. Their twisted flesh stitched itself back together and the wraiths laughed. 

“You can’t kill us,” they taunted. “And when you tire, we will feed on your flesh.”

“I seem to remember you saying something similar last time,” Sasuke smirked. “Don’t you Luna.”

“Yes as I recall they said ‘Little sisters and their pets should stay quiet and be eaten’,” Luna smiled. “Remind me ‘big brothers’ what happened last time?”

The creatures snarled and renewed their assault. Luna ran her chains through one of the wraith’s legs holding it in place and searing its flesh. Sasuke followed up by slicing off the chained legs. The wraith let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain. Even through their brutality, Cadance couldn’t help but admire their synchronization. She had watched her aunts fight Sasuke. They had been a great team and it was easy to tell they trusted each other. But watching Sasuke and Luna fight together was an entirely different experience. They moved completely in synch as if they could read each other’s mind. It was like Cadance wasn’t watching a fight but two lovers dancing. Moving in perfect timing, hitting every move in perfect sync. She felt the spell nearing completion and pushed as much magic as she could into it. One of the wraiths was waiting for its legs to grow back and the other was having a lot of trouble dealing with the humans. Now they were toying with it. 

“It’s ready,” Cadance shouted. A portal opened up in front of her and Luna used her chains to throw the wraiths in. 

“Hear our message,” they said as the portal closed. “Father will get his revenge! The light of the sisters will go out and the eternal darkness of the wraiths will consume all!”

The portal closed with a flash leaving nothing but a scorch mark on the forest floor.

“What did that mean?” Cadance asked.

Luna was completely stiff. She regained her senses and spoke quickly and in a panicked voice. “Cadance, go give Twilight the all clear. I must return to Canterlot immediately. Cadance please come after you finish up here.” She teleported away.

“Sasuke? What about you?”

“I’ve…. got some stuff I need to do,” Sasuke said. He disappeared in a swirl centered on his right eye.

“Of course,” Cadance mumbled. “Left in the dark again.”


**********Golden Oak Library**********


Twilight was feeling good. She had a wonderful night with her foalsitter, Princess Luna had integrated herself into modern society without issues, she had learned about an entirely new world, and now she could relax with a good book. As she walked to her bed carrying a spellbook in her magic, she was surprised to see a package waiting for her on her pillow. She picked it up in her magic and read the note attached to it.

I didn’t forget about you or our deal. As promised here are the books. 

-Sasuke 

P.S. Always remember: The right to use my friend as a weapon. That is the sinful crown I shall adorn.

What the hay did that mean? Twilight didn’t even wear a crown. Whatever. Twilight tore into the packaging and was surprised to find two books. One was titled ‘Children of Tartarus’. It seemed interesting. But the other book had note on it that said ‘read me first’. That one was titled ‘The Journal of Madame Blueblood’. Twilight settled in her bed with the book and turned to the first page. She had a good feeling about this.


**********Laputa 1st POV**********


Wraiths!?! Why the hell are wraiths coming back? How the hell did they even escape Tartarus? How much of the timeline had changed? I paced back and forth in my room randomly sputtering out curses. I flopped down on my bed. I took a deep breath and focused. I could handle this. All it would take was some information gathering and slight alterations to my plans. Everything was still proceeding on schedule and this was the only major change I’d observed thus far. 

“Sasuke, you in there?” Starlight knocked on my door. “The doctors Merlin got are awake and about to perform the autopsy.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” I said through the door. I composed myself and started adjusting my plans. Looks like the Valkyries were going to have more active roles for a while. I got up and left my room.


**********Tartarus 3rd POV**********


Princess Celestia walked through Tartarus with purpose. Luna had come back with some disturbing news. Wraiths in Ponyville? And they spoke of a creature they called ‘Father’. Something was happening in Tartarus and there was no way Celestia was going to deal with that at the same time Sasuke was going crazy. She was going to nip this problem in the bud. As she moved through the hellscape various creatures moved around her but none dared approach her. She passed through many cells containing the worst criminals in history until she reached her destination. She came to a stop in front of a cell containing a disheveled unicorn.

“My, my, my, it has been so long since I’ve had a visitor, you’ll have to pardon the mess,” the unicorn said. “But you see in here there’s no sense of time and the energy is literally drained out of you.”

“Grand Stander,” Celestia spat. “What are you planning?”

“Come now, Princess,” Grand Stander said. “What could I possibly hope to accomplish from here?” Celestia snorted. “Sit down and let’s talk. Now what brings you all the way down here to see me?”
	
> Side Story #2: The Princess Club
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot Castle 3rd POV**********


In a dark room with a single light, three alicorn princesses sat around a table. The air was heavy and the silence tense. On the table was a manila folder that captivated all the eyes in the room. The folder was interesting but what really held the alicorns’ interest was the contents. It had started with an offhand comment from one of the royal guards. Princess Celestia had taken an interest in something he said. So through a series of shadowy and questionable political maneuvers, she had put together a secret fund. The fund was then used by the most trusted and skilled information gatherers Celestia could find. Who then set up several dummy organizations, that could never be traced back to the crown, that claimed to be about social dynamics and scientific research. The organizations created a bunch of fake studies in order to mask their true objective; a single survey. Which now completed, sat on the table before the most powerful ponies in Equestria. The results of which….

“Fellow princesses,” Celestia began. “I have called you here today because I believe we have an image problem.”

Luna arched an eyebrow. “I was aware of my own issues, but do you mean to say that the both of you are facing some as well?”

“According to this, yes,” Celestia said as she picked up the folder in her magic. “Luna, I don’t think your issues are what you think they are.”


“Our subjects do not fear me?” Luna said, eyes full of hope.

“Not quite,” Celestia said. “In fact you are quite popular with the stallions.” She opened the folder. “Many of them see you as dark mistress of the night that would don sexy black leather and quote ‘punish them like the naughty little colts they are.’ And it seem the other large section of stallions see you as a shy, misunderstood little sister type that is romantically challenged. And some view as the princess of sex.”

“Huzzah, I am not a creature of nightmares!” Luna cheered. “I’m…. wait what?”

“I fear it’s even worse for you Cadance,” Celestia said.

Cadance cringed. “Why did I have to be the princess of love?”

“It seems as though many of our little ponies get lust and love confused,” Celestia winked. “Many view you as a sex goddess. Others view you as the perfect filly next door type. And they unanimously agree that you quote ‘do the kinkiest shit imaginable with Shining Armor’.”

“I know I’m going to regret this but what kinds of things do they think I do with Shining?” Celestia showed Cadance the folder. Cadance’s face turned green. “I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.”

“You’ve had your laughs at our expense, dear sister,” Luna said dryly. “But what did they say about you?” Grabbed the folder in her magic. “Let’s see what the common pony thinks about their princess of the sun.”

“I’m sure we don’t need to get into that,” Celestia said nervously. Luna’s eyes furiously scanned the report. 

“I’m curious too, auntie,” Cadance said. “What do ponies think about you?”

Suddenly, Luna fell to the floor laughing. “Apparently, they don’t think anything!” Luna rolled on the floor, laughing as Celestia’s face turned red.

“What do you mean?” Cadance picked up the folder in her magic. As she read through it she couldn’t help but giggle. “The majority of ponies view Princess Celestia as an asexual mother figure. Not only do they think she has no sex drive to speak of, they also think that she neither wants nor needs any type of romantic relationship. That’s so sad, auntie.”

“Keep reading, it gets worse,” Celestia grumbled.

“Those that can think of the princess as a sexual being also admitted to having an unhealthy sexual attraction to their own mothers.” Cadance looked at her aunt. “You mean they use you as a substitute for their moms? Ewww.”

“And yet there’s more,” Celestia said as she buried her head in her hooves.

“What could possibly be worse than...Oh my,” Cadance put down the folder.

“What?” Luna’s head poked above the table. “What did it say?”

Cadance looked at her aunt hesitantly. Celestia nodded. “It is a unanimous agreement that if the princess were to ever act on sexual desires, she would transform into an alternate persona called ‘Molestia’ and…. molest ponies.”

Luna fell back to the floor laughing. “I can’t breathe,” she gasped in between laughs.

“Should we help her?” Cadance asked.

“No, she’ll calm down soon,” Celestia deadpanned.

Luna laughed for a solid ten minutes. Cadance sat in awkward silence while Celestia stared emotionlessly at the wall.

“Ok, ok,” Luna said as she got back in her chair. “I think it’s all out. What are we going to do to about this?”

“I don’t want everypony thinking I’m some nymphomaniac sexual deviant,” Cadance said. “How can I fix this?”

“This one is easy,” Luna said. “Remember that group Sasuke told us about? They’re called noons, nas, nubes, or something. What was it sister?”

“I believe he said they were called nuns,” Celestia said. “And Luna’s right. He said nuns were seen as the opposite of complete perverts.”

“Really?” Cadance was curious. “Why?”

“Apparently, nuns leave home and join a special place that helps them focus on spirituality,” Celestia explained.

“Yes, the females of the species decide that they want to live a more pure life so they live together seeking higher states of mind,” Luna added.

“That’s great and all but why are they not seen as perverts who just prefer the same gender,” Cadance asked.

“That’s the thing,” Luna said. “They forsake any kind of romantic or sexual relations with mortals.”

“I don’t want to be celibate forever, I just…. What do you mean ‘mortals’?”

“The nuns become brides of a god and ‘commune’ with him several times a day,” Luna explained.

“Not quite,” Celestia said. “They become brides of the god’s son.”

“Right, my mistake,” Luna continued. “They become brides of a demigod. I believe his name was Chris.”

“Such an odd name. The same demigod?” Cadance asked.

“Exactly,” Luna said. “This demigod has many, many wives and finds time for all of them, according to Sasuke. And their attire is known to all so that there is no mistake in trying to woo one.”

“What do they wear?” Cadance asked trying to wrap her head around this idea.

“They wear black dresses and headdresses made of something called ‘latex’,” Luna explained cheerfully. “And the best part is that they still get to wear sexy undergarments.”

“Really,” Cadence asked.

“Yes. Nuns must wear their sexiest undergarments underneath their dress at all times,” Celestia said.

“Then I guess I’ll try being a nun,” Cadance sighed. “I don’t have to mate with the demigod, do I?”

“I do not believe that is mandatory,” Luna said. “Now what are we going to do about you, sister?”

“I have a few ideas about that,” Celestia grinned.

“Care to share them,” Luna asked.

“I feel like if say them out loud, I’ll lose my nerve,” Celestia blushed. “But don’t worry, you’ll know about it soon enough. Let’s adjourn this meeting and meet back here in a month.”

***

In a dark room with a single light, once again, three alicorns sat around a table. One had a paper bag over her head, a white horn sticking out of the top, and a rainbow mane sticking out of the bottom. Another was wearing a black latex tube dress that barely covered her flanks, black garters, and sheer thigh-high stockings. Her face was planted firmly on the table. The third was trying unsuccessfully to stifle her laughter. In the center of the table, much like the previous meeting, sat a manila folder. Inside of this folder there were newspaper clippings, surveys, a magazine, and some very candid photographs.

“Fellow princesses,” Celestia began. “I believe we have an image problem.”

“Speak for yourselves,” Luna laughed. “I’ve been welcomed with open hooves.”

“Anyway, I think we should discuss our tactics so we can figure out exactly where everything went wrong,” Celestia continued.

“Maybe we should start with this fetish outfit my aunts tricked me into wearing!” Cadance yelled.

“Yeah, I guess that would only work if nuns were common knowledge,” Celestia said.

“Why did you wear it for the whole month?” Luna asked. “Why are you still wearing it?”

“It makes me feel sexy,” Cadance whispered.
“At least it was positively received,” Luna laughed. She picked up the folder and flipped through the information. “You actually started a new trend. Boutiques across Equestria have been replicating the outfit and making a huge profit. But you are now cemented in your position as Equestria’s Sexpert.”

“I know,” Cadance grunted. “Random ponies have been coming up to me and telling me graphic stories about their sex lives in order to ‘spice things up in the bedroom’. I didn’t need to know about being strapped into a swing. I really didn’t.”

“And you sister,” Luna couldn’t speak without giggling. “I don’t even know what you were thinking.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Celestia muttered.

“I’m sorry sister, but I can’t hear you through your paper bag of shame,” Luna snickered. “Your voice is coming out muffled.” Luna could feel the heat from Celestia’s glare through the paper bag. “Don’t get mad at me Celestia. I didn’t tell you to do a Playcolt photoshoot. And if you had told me, I could have stopped you before I found out from my latest issue.”

“I don’t know what’s worse,” Celestia lamented. “The fact that nopony was turned on by my pictures or that my little sister is a monthly subscriber to Playcolt.”

“Don’t feel bad sister,” Luna said. “Your photos weren’t bad. That centerfold was just too amazing. And I subscribe to all of the popular erotic magazines. Playcolt, Playfilly, Plots Plots Plots, Traps and More, Fillyfoolers Monthly, Colt Cuddlers Weekly, and even Sensual Submissions Monthly. Did you know your photos have inspired an entire new genre of story? So it wasn’t a total loss.”

“Why do you keep telling me these things?” Cadance whimpered.

Eyes shining with a small glimmer of hope, Celestia asked, “What’s the new genre?”

“Princest,” Luna cheerfully stated. “Though it doesn’t feature you. Just Cadance and myself in the most imaginative situations. Our subjects are quite creative.”

The room was silent. Celestia took off her bag and the princesses stare at each other. Then she got up.

“That’s it, I’m done,” Celestia said as she walked away. “I’m going to die a virgin!” Celestia slammed the door as she left the other two princesses.

“Well, I think I’ve learned more about my family than I ever needed or wanted to,” Cadance said as she left. “I’m going to go look for my fiance and try to forget about this past month.”

Luna sat alone in the dark room. “Is that it then? Problem solved?” Nothing but a slight breeze answered. “I think that was a very productive meeting.” She opened up the file cabinet in the corner and placed the folder inside. “Ah, here’s we go,” she said as she took out another folder. She placed the folder on the center of the table. “Until next time.”
	
> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot Castle**********


Princess Luna and Princess Cadance sat in silence on opposite sides of a table. Court had been canceled for the day as all of the princesses were preoccupied. Celestia was still in Tartarus trying to find out how the wraiths had escaped and Luna was about to join her, when Cadance had asked her a question. A question that had put everything on hold. A question that needed to be answered immediately. A simple question with so much history behind it. What happened to Mama Blue?

And now here they sat. Unsure about how to start the conversation, they sat in awkward silence. After carefully thinking about how to direct the conversation, Luna spoke first.

“I assume that you learned that name from Sasuke,” she said. Cadance nodded. “Then you do not fully understand what it is you are asking. But this is something you need to know. Where to begin…” Luna rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“Aunty Celestia already told me how she first met Sasuke if that helps,” Cadance offered. “But I don’t remember her saying anything about a Mama Blue.”

“Did she mention a Madame Blueblood,” Luna asked.

“I think she did a few times,” Cadance said.

“Madame Blueblood was known to many as Mama Blue,” Luna said. “She was a unicorn noble that cared for all ponies. She was a fierce warrior and nurturing protector. She had a special talent for understanding the nature of the world. She could find information that no one knew existed. She could discern a enemy military strategy as easily as she could understand a new material’s properties.” Luna’s eyes watered as she lost herself in her memories.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Auntie,” Cadance said. “But how are she and Sasuke connected?”

“When Sasuke came to Equestria, Mama Blue was our caretaker,” Luna explained. “She watched over my sister and I as we led our ponies. She taught us, guided us, and looked after us. But it was hard. No one knew anything about alicorns. There were snippets of information from lost civilizations and rumors here and there, but not much to go on. Mama  Blue decided to turn her attention to figuring out alicorns. Sasuke agreed to help her. They traveled together for a time and she figured out his secrets and ours. Mama Blue was the first and only pony to fully know all of an alicorn’s secrets.”

Cadance braced herself for what was coming next. 

“We are not ponies. We are something else entirely,” Luna said, her voice solemn. “We share a pony’s appearance but we are not.” Cadance’s jaw dropped. “To become an alicorn is to become a new species, one not bound by mortality as you understand it.”

“Then what are we?” Cadance asked, terrified of what the answer might be.

“We are siblings of the wraiths. We are children of Tartarus.”


**********Castle of the Two Sisters circa 1000 years ago**********


The war between the ponies and the griffons had raged on for months. To say the ponies weren’t doing well would be a huge understatement. Battles were far and few in between, with the griffons bypassing every defense the ponies had. They were using technology that they should have had no access to, knew every weakness of every spell, and could take shortcuts across Equestria they shouldn’t have known. And to top it off, they had started raiding villages and forcing the captured ponies to fight on the front lines against their own country.

The commander and his soldiers had forced all of the villagers into the town square. Families huddled together in fear as the griffons circled them and grinned. They eyed the mares and talked amongst themselves. The captain, a burly monster of a griffon walked forward.

“I know one of you is a guard,” the captain spat, “and I’m not unreasonable. Give up the guard and the rest of you may live. But if you make me wait, I’ll kill all of you. One by one.” The captain grabbed a small yellow earth colt. “What’s your name, son?”

The colt’s eyes looked all over the place silently pleading with the crowd for help. “M-m-m-my n-n-n-n-name is Autumn Harvest.”

“Do you want to die, Autumn Harvest?” The young colt shook his head. “Then point to the guard.”

The colt looked around, eyeing each face and looking for someone unfamiliar. But there were so many refugees because of the war. There were just too many new ponies. Autumn Harvest broke down and cried.

“That’s too bad, colt,” thee captain said. “Now watch, as the first casualty of your cowardice falls.” The griffon raised his claw.

“Wait!” a voice came from the crowd. “You want the guard right? It’s me. I’m the guard.”

The captain threw the foal to the ground. “Stand up and show yourself.”

A grey earth pony with a black mane stood up. He was flanked on either side by small fillies. One was a white unicorn with a strawberry pink mane. The other was a blue pegasus with a light blue mane.

“I am Corporal Rolling Stone of the Equestrian Royal Guard,” the stallion said. “I was stationed here to get information about the Leomhann Empire and its strategies.”

“Grab him and take him somewhere we can….talk,” the captain ordered. Two griffons grabbed the stallion and walked towards one of the empty houses. 

“Sunny Days, Night Sky, make sure that the villagers stay safe. This’ll only take a moment,” the stallion said as he disappeared into the house.

“Make sure no one tries anything,” the captain said as he entered the house. “And if they do, kill them.”

The griffon soldiers nodded and eyed their captives hungrily. For a moment, there was silence. Then there was the sounds of a struggle and again silence. The silence was eerie and the remaining griffon soldiers were getting nervous. Their fears were abated when the captain walked out of the house.

“That soldier was a little less than cooperative,” he said as he dusted his shoulder. “But in the end, predators will always prevail. We’re done here; wrap this up.”

The griffons’ wore cruel smiles as they moved closer to the captive villagers. When they tried to grab some of the ponies, something stopped them. A blue and yellow force field surrounded the ponies.

“What the.. Captain, one of the-” the soldier cried out in agony as his captain’s claw reached through his body.

“You know, griffon bodies are a lot softer than I thought they would be,” the captain said as he pulled his talons out of the soldier. The rest watched as the the body fell to the ground, eyes filled with betrayal. There was a deafening silence.

“Captain…… Why?” the captain turned his attention to the soldier that spoke. With a sadistic grin, the giant griffon faced the soldier. At a speed that couldn’t be followed, the captain was standing in front of him. Before the soldier could utter another word, the captain sliced his throat open. Sputtering, the soldier fell to the ground.

“Honestly, if you aren’t going to fight back you might as well just kill yourselves,” the captain said.

“You’re not the captain!” the soldiers shouted.
“And here I was starting to think you’d never catch on,” a puff of smoke obscured the captain for a moment. When it cleared away, a bipedal creature was standing in his place. “Did you miss me?”

The griffons immediately recognized the creature. It was the one that had made fools out of them! And now it was killing their comrades!

“Kill it!”

The griffons rushed the creature, swords drawn. It smiled as it weaved through them. The soldiers all slumped to the ground.

“Well that was boring. All clear!”

The forcefield disappeared and two alicorn princesses walked out. 

“That was… violent,” Celestia said.

“Must you be so brutal, Sasuke?” Luna agreed.

Sasuke shrugged. “It’s a human thing.”

The alicorns shivered at the thought of a world filled with creatures like Sasuke.

“What did you do with the captain,” Celestia asked.

“He’s having a nightmare in that house over there,” Sasuke said. “You guys handle your subjects. Get them ready to leave. I’ll question our new buddy.”

“Fine,” Celestia said. “But Sasuke, remember the captain is a living,sentient creature.”

“Sure, sure,” he said as he walked into the house. “I’ll treat him like he was my own species.”

The door closed and the alicorns shuddered.

***

“Wakey, wakey,” Sasuke said as he dispelled the illusion in the captain’s mind. “I’ve got some questions for you.”

The captain sat up. The room was rather misty, he noticed. “And if I don’t want to answer?”

Sasuke smiled. The mist in the room got a little thicker and the captain noticed a burning sensation all over his body. He gritted his beak to keep from making any noise.

“Do you feel that?” Sasuke said. “That’s acid. Do you know what acid is?” The captain grunted. “Well then let me explain. Acid is a corrosive liquid. It melts everything it comes into contact with: metal, cloth, even flesh. So what you’re feeling is the sensation of your body actually melting.”

The captain grunted again. “You fool, you’ve trapped yourself in here as well. You will also melt.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you,” Sasuke teased. “But you see this is a special mist. It doesn’t affect me in the slightest. And as an added bonus I’ve turned down the pH. I know you don’t know what that means but basically it means an agonizingly slow, painful death for you.”

“It doesn’t matter how much pain I’m in,” the captain said. “I’ll never betray the Empire.”

Sasuke grinned maniacally and pulled out a kunai. “This is about to be the shortest never you’ve ever experienced.”

***

Celestia and Luna finished evacuating the last of the villagers while they waited for Sasuke to finish questioning the captain. With the last pony safely on their way to a better defended city, the princesses breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad we were able to save them,” Celestia said. “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think it was going to work.”

“I have to admit, Sasuke knows what he’s doing with these operations,” Luna agreed. One of the griffons groaned and reached up. Luna stomped on his claw. “I don’t understand why you told him not to kill anyone. We are at war.”

“Even so,” Celestia explained. “It’s just different for me. I wasn’t raised by predators. Taking a life is just… It just doesn’t sit right with me. Even for enemies.”

“Well get used to it,” Sasuke said as he approached them. “Because as long as they draw breath, they’ll give their all to kill you.” The two alicorns were speechless. “What?”

“Um, Sasuke,” Celestia stammered. “You have some, uh…”

“What,” Sasuke asked. “Is there something on my face?”

“You’ve uh got something on your uh,” Celestia gestured to her entire body with a hoof.

“Luna can you tell me what’s going on,” Sasuke asked.

“You seem to be covered in blood and feathers,” Luna deadpanned.

“Oh that,” Sasuke tried to brush himself off. “That captain had some real strong willpower so I had to get creative. But I did find out that Grand Stander is the one helping the griffons. He’s got agents in the military and some of the nobles are still loyal to him.”

“Did you kill the captain?” Celestia asked.

“No,” Sasuke groaned. “But I think you’re missing the bigger picture. We have an enemy with untold amounts of information and unlimited updates about the inner workings of your entire country. We’re kinda screwed until we get rid of his influence.”

“How do we go about doing that,” Luna asked.

“Does that mean you tortured the captain and then left him alive,” Celestia gasped, horrified.

“Celestia, I’m gonna need you to focus,” Sasuke said. “And as for Grand Stander’s double agents, I have the beginnings of a plan. I’ll need more time to come up with something concrete.”

“Alright then,” Luna said. “It’s time we leave this place.”

“Wait!” Celestia yelled. “Can’t you just make ponies just give up information with your magic?”

“Yes,” Sasuke said. “Yes I can.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“I did,” he said. “I got the information. Then I tortured him.”

“Why?”

“To send the Leomhann Empire a message: they have no idea what kind of hell they just stepped in.”

***

Lady Blueblood snuck out of the castle. The moon shone bright in the sky. Sasuke and the princesses had returned and they had all gone to bed. Not wanting to alert the princesses to her midnight disappearances, she always made sure to wear a cloak and avoid the gaze of the night guard. As she got further away from the castle, the area got much darker. Suddenly she came upon two glowing green lights. She reflexively lit her horn and prepared to fire a spell until she realised what she was looking at.

“Oh it’s just you,” she said to the timberwolf. “Can you take me to him?”

The timberwolf nodded and walked into the forest. Lady Blueblood followed closely behind. The two walk in silence and Lady Blueblood allowed herself to listen to the natural sounds of the forest. Eventually the pair came to a clearing in the woods where the moonlight lit up a small patch of grass. Laying in the grass was a large timberwolf. Sasuke was also lying in the grass using the timberwolf as a pillow. Lady Blueblood trotted to him and lay next to him in the grass. For a time, they said nothing, just looking up at the stars.

“You know I wasn’t always… this,” Sasuke whispered.

“I know,” Lady Blueblood calmly replied. She had heard this story every night since she first followed him into the forest.

“In another world, I had another life. It wasn’t a perfect life. But it wasn’t terrible either. I wasn’t where I wanted to be but I was working on it. It was getting better. But now, I’m in another world and I’ll never see my family again. I feel so alone. I’m starting to forget their faces. When I try to remember, some of the details are lost.”

“What about what you’ve done for us? Don’t forget the positive things you’ve done for us.”

Sasuke laughed. “What I’ve done? There’s so much blood on my hands. When I came to this world it was the first time I’ve taken a life. And what I did today….” The acidic smell of vomit wafted into Lady Blueblood’s nose and she snorted. “This murderous amoral psychopath isn’t me. I’m not,” Sasuke grabbed his shirt, “this person.”

“It doesn’t matter what you were,” Lady Blueblood said. “That person is gone. That life is gone. What you are now is all that matters. Don’t forget: you got yourself involved in this mess. You could have avoided it. You chose to take part. And now two very lost, very scared fillies are depending on you to see them through this. I know how much you don’t like it. I really understand that. But you have to be this person. At least for them.” Her voice became gentle. “And then I’ll be here for you. And you can tell me all about who you used to be. And I promise I won’t let you forget the important stuff. Ok?” Sasuke nodded. “By the way, I took your advice and spent the past month learning all I can about alicorns. What I found out is truly amazing! Want to hear?”


**********Golden Oak Library: Present Day**********


Twilight Sparkle put down the journal. She couldn’t be sure what time it was but it was still dark outside. She wasn’t sure what had disrupted her from her book and she felt slightly disoriented. She shook her head to clear her mind. She looked around her room. Spike was still sleeping soundly in his bed, she was still in the same position with the book in front of her face, and….. What was that noise? It sounded like somepony was hammering something…. Someone was at the door! Twilight got out of bed and rushed downstairs. The knocking sounded urgent and was getting louder. When Twilight pulled it open a rainbow streak tackled her.

“Twilight, we’ve got a big problem!” Rainbow Dash grabbed Twilight and flew out of the tree.

“Rainbow Dash? What’s going on?” Twilight squeaked as the Ponyville turned into a blur around her.

“It’s Pinkie’s pinkie sense!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “She went crazy and said we needed to get to the farm!”

The blue pegasus skidded to a stop in front of Sweet Apple Acres’ farmhouse. Twilight, who had been clinging to the speed demon for dear life, fell to the ground. 

“Please, at least give me some warning next time,” Twilight gasped, her heart banging in her chest.

“We don’t have time for warnings!” Rainbow said. She flew to the door and started banging on it.

Twilight just sighed and joined Rainbow on the porch. Rainbow Dash kept up the banging until a light came on in the upstairs of the house.

“Who in tarnation is makin all that racket!” The sounds of angry stomping could be heard getting closer to the front door. An enraged Applejack yanked the door open. She eyed the pony in front of her. “RD, I swear if you and Pinkie are in the middle of one of your midnight drunk prank runs-”

“We’re not,” Rainbow said. “We’ve got a real emergency this time! Pinkie’s pinkie sense said the farm was in danger!”

Applejack’s face went from angry to scared to determined. “Alright then, where’s Pinkie?”

“She said she was going to get some supplies,” Rainbow said.

“What exactly did Pinkie Pie say,” asked Twilight.

“She said something super duper scary and dangerous was going to come to the farm and we needed to get there immediately,” Rainbow explained.

“Did she happen to mention what this super duper scary and dangerous thing was?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow rubbed her chin. “She did something about ninjas…”

“What’s a ninja?” Applejack asked. “Some kind of monster?”

“I don’t-”

“Girls we have to go now!” Pinkie Pie appeared in front of the confused mare in a cloud of dust and a pink blur.

“What about saving the farm?” Applejack asked.

“Exactly!” Pinkie grabbed each of her friends and threw them onto her back. It was then that Twilight noticed the cart of suitcases Pinkie was pulling.

“Pinkie Pie! What’s going on?” Twilight yelled.

“Pinkie sense, Twilight! I got the swivel ears, backwards knees, eye spin, helicopter hair, musical teeth, and slippery hooves all at,” Pinkie said as she ran.

“What does any of that… Did you just say your knees bent the wrong way?” Twilight cocked her head at Pinkie.

“And where are we going?” Applejack added.

“To the farm,silly,” Pinkie said while she ran. “Didn’t Dashie tell you?”

Her friends were so confused they didn’t notice pinkie had stopped running. They looked around and realised they were at the train station. Pinkie disconnected the cart and dumped her friends off her back. They fell in a pile on the ground. Pinkie trotted over to the ticket clerk.

“Four tickets please,” Pinkie said cheerfully. Pinkie pushed some bits through the window and the clerk gave her the tickets.

“Don’t you need to tell that guy where we’re going?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Everybody knows the midnight train goes anywhere,” Pinkie explained.

“I’m going to pretend I know what that means,” Twilight said rubbing her temple. “You clearly didn’t mean Applejack’s farm. Which farm is in danger?”

“The rock farm! My family’s in danger,” Pinkie exclaimed.


**********Laputa 1st POV**********


“So I guarantee it works now,” Starswirl said as he handed me a syringe filled with a swirling rainbow liquid.

“You’re sure,” I deadpanned. “And what are you basing this on?”

“I reduced the amount of alicorn and increased the amount of human,” he explained. “If you had told me before that humans have a set of internal magic restraints that prevent them from letting their magic destroy them from the inside out that poor mare could have lived. But you live and you learn. With what I discovered about the eight inner gates and what was found in the autopsy, I was able to learn that the alicorn magic ran amok because the gates had not fully formed while the equestrian magic had. With the new formula, the human aspects will form and then the alicorn aspects will. This will make the process much, much safer and likely to succeed.”

“Awesome,” I said with a grin. “How much of it do we have right now?”

“More than enough for whatever it is you’re planning,” Starswirl said. “Now I’ll be getting back to the other projects you have for me.” He grabbed several startled unicorns in his magic and trotted away.

I teleported through the castle. Gilda was in the middle of a workout. I grabbed her and teleported to the stadium room. She was very disoriented from the unexpected teleport and it fed into her anger.

“What the buck,” she screeched. “What in tartarus do you think you’re doing grabbing me and tossing me around like that!”

I held up the syringe. “It’s time.”

Her anger cooled. “Really?” Her eyes were aglow with desire. “It’s finally time,” she whispered. She took the syringe in her claw. She looked at it carefully and gently moved the needle to her arm. She took a deep breath and then injected it into herself. Gilda’s body started to glow. Her form started to change. Her bones rearranged themselves and elongated. Her fur and feather fell out except for the top of her head and her wings. Her beak shrank and turned into lips. Her claws became fingers and her paws became feet. Her tail retracted into her body. Then the glow got brighter. A horn grew from her forehead and she cried out. Then nothing. The glow faded and the transformation was complete.

“Gilda?” I said gently. “How are you feeling?”

She opened her eyes and they locked on mine. Her yellow eyes turned red and a single tomoe formed.Gilda growled and launched herself at me. Her speed had improved drastically and I was a little slow to respond. She tackled me to the ground and opened her mouth wide. What was once a toothless beak was now a mouth filled with sharp-looking teeth. She leaned down and bit my neck.

“Ow! Ok that’s enough of that,” I yelped. I chopped the back of her neck and knocked her out. “Let’s get you looked at.” I picked up her body and then noticed something. Many of the inhabitants of this world did not wear clothes. I was holding an unconscious naked woman-thing. “We’re gonna need a tailor,” I muttered.

***

I watched Gilda sleeping in the medical wing of the castle as Starlight and Nurse Redheart examined her.

“So how is she?” I asked.

“I would first like to say that I know next to nothing about your species and that any information I might give could easily be wrong,” Redheart said. “But based on your own vitals, she seems to be perfectly healthy. Aside from the occasional shivering.”

“I can’t believe you used that stuff on her without testing first,” Starlight glared at me. “You’re lucky that it worked. She’s doing fine.” She took some notes. “I’m going to get some equipment. I’ll be back.”

I nodded and Starlight left. Gilda started groaning and rolling around. “What the hell happened?”

“Give us a minute, would you,” I said. Redheart nodded and left the room. “How are you feeling, Gilda?”

“Really hungry, I’ve got a killer headache, for some reason like my heat is starting, and why is it so cold in here,” Gilda sat up in the bed and opened her eyes. “What the buck?” She looked at her new body in shock.

“Welcome to the top of the food chain,” I grinned. “You freaked out for a it so I had to knock you out; that’s where the headache came from. We’ll get you some food later but there are a few things about being human I need to tell you. First, being cold must be new to you. Your internal temperature hasn’t changed and you can still survive extreme cold but without your fur you’ll feel it now. Clothes are already on the way.” Gilda frowned. “And humans don’t have an estrous cycle.”

“What do they have?” Gilda asked.

“A menstrual cycle. From now on, your body will sexually active throughout the year and you’ll bleed once a month,” I said.

“Bleed?” She screamed. “From where?” I looked at her with sympathy. Her look turned to one of horror. “No…. no…. No…” She looked down and then at me with a look of pure hatred. “I hate your species.”

“You wanted power. Every power you gain comes at some price. I think your form and some monthly bleeding is a small price to pay for what you got,” I smirked at her. I quickly threw a kunai at her. Her sharingan quickly activated and a second tomoe formed. Her hand reacted instantly and put a finger in the ring. She sat, stunned by her new abilities. “So, how’s it feel?”

“I-I, can see everything,” she whispered. She focused on me and her eyes went wide. “I can see you, I can feel you! What the hell are you?”

I cocked my head. “I’m the same thing you are.”

“No, whatever you are is way different, the feeling I get from you is,” she shuddered, “cold.”

“Gilda you’re awake,” Starlight said, several machines in tow. “How was the change? There’s no pain, is there?”

Gilda’s sharingan deactivated. “I’m not too bad, I guess. Body functions aside, I’m ready to put this body to the test.”

“That’s the spirit,” Starlight smiled. “Sasuke, get out.”

“Oh come on,” I said. “I’ve probably seen more of this kind of stuff than you have.”

“That’s not what this is about!” Starlight said as she fought a blush. “I don’t want your presence to influence the results of the testing.”

“Oh,” I said sheepishly. “I feel like an idiot. Anyway, Gilda you need to get used to your body quick. We have a mission tomorrow. Time to start putting the band together.”

***

I stood in the throne room of the castle with Starlight and Aoife, the next morning. “Where is she?” The two of them shrugged. “Of course. We really need to hurry up. The plan won’t be as easy if we’re last.”

“Then it’s time for a dazzling appearance!” Starswirl’s voice rung through the room.

Gilda appeared in a puff of smoke. She had her arms crossed with a smug smile but the thing that stood out the most were her clothes. She was wearing human clothes, clothes perfectly tailored for her body. She had on a plain white shirt, a short brown jacket, tan pants, and dark boots. Her tail flicked back and forth and her wings ruffled a bit. She swaggered over to me. 

“I don’t even know where to start with this,” I said.

“It’s ok,” she smirked. “Some tercels just can’t handle a badass hen like me.”

“Where did those clothes come from,” I asked.  “And how are you walking so well? It’s only been like a day.”

“Well the clothes just showed up on my body when I was looking in the mirror,” Gilda said. “I think they’re made of magic. They did pour out of my horn. And having my tail really helps. I don’t know how you walk without one.”

“I don’t even,” I massaged my temples. “Whatever. Let’s go already. Aoife, you’re in charge while I’m gone.” I grabbed Starlight and Gilda and used Kamui to transport us.

It took Starlight a second to regain her senses. “What? Where are we,” she asked.

“Welcome to the Pie Family Rock Farm,” I said.

“What reason would we possibly have to go to a rock farm?” Gilda asked, with roll of her eyes.

“We’re here to collect a pony,” I explained. “Gilda, put your hand to the ground use your chakra to feel the area.”

“Why would you think I can do that,” she deadpanned. “I’m just getting the hang of this.”

“But you were able to tell me how my chakra felt yesterday,” I said. “My guess is you’re a sensor type. Just try.”

She grumbled at me and put her hand to the ground. Her body stiffened. “I-I feel something. I feel us and… Four of the same thing all in the house over there. And then one thing that feels the same as Starlight a little bit further away. And that’s it. That’s as far as I can feel.”

Starlight pulled out a notepad and started writing. “Please don’t let this turn into anything dangerous,” she whispered.

We walked across the farm. As we passed the farmhouse, one of the Pie sisters stuck her head out of the door.

“Hey! Who are you? What are you doing on our farm,” Limestone Pie yelled. I glanced in her direction and put her to sleep with genjutsu.

“When are you gonna teach me how to do that?” Gilda asked.

“When you get your third tomoe,” I replied.

“Is she going to be ok,” Starlight looked at Limestone with concern.

“She’ll be fine,” I said. “Keep moving.”

Once we passed the farmhouse , I could see my prey in the distance. A powder blue unicorn with a light blue mane struggling with rocks. As we got closer I could hear her mumbling to herself. Stupid rock this, stupid rock that, stupid Twilight Sparkle, stupid backwater town, stupid ursa minor, blah, blah, blah. She was going to be putty in my hands.

“Trixie Lulamoon? Would you mind if I had a word with you,” I said as we approached her.

“For the last time, Trixie is not responsible for any of the damage caused by those two idiotic, undersupervised, backwater-” Trixie stopped mid-rant when she saw us. “What are you supposed to be? Some hairless monkey or some kind of deformed minotaur?”

I held Gilda back. “I, my dear mare, am a human. I am known as Sasuke Uchiha. These are my associates, Gilda and Starlight. I have an offer for you.”

“Well the Great and Powerful Trixie is not interested in whatever it is you’re selling,” she said.

“Is it because you lost everything you own was lost when the ursa minor stomped on your trailer?” I smirked. Trixie glared at me. “Well don’t worry. I’m not trying to sell you anything. Don’t you feel like your talent is being wasted here?”

“Of course,” she said. “But there is no where for Trixie to go. Trixie has been laughed out of every town in Equestria. My reputation is ruined!”

“And it wasn’t even your fault was it,” I prodded her. “It’s not like you did anything wrong. Performers tell stories to dazzle their audiences. The real ones at fault here are those stupid foals who went into a dangerous forest and antagonized a monster.”

Trixie gasped. “You’re right! Trixie is a performer! She had nothing to do with Ponyville being attacked. The parents of Ponyville need to take better care of their children!” Trixie’s face fell. “But it doesn’t matter. Because of Twilight Sparkle, Trixie was humiliated and can’t show her face anywhere!”

“What if I could fix that?” Come closer to my web said the spider to the fly. Gilda was giving me a funny look and Starlight just looked like she knew where this was going.

Trixie was looking at me with hope. “How could you possibly help Trixie?”


“I can do it. I can make you great. Every living thing on this planet will know your name and your face will be drawn in the stars. And I’ll make you powerful enough to best Twilight Sparkle in any encounter. You will truly be the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Trixie’s eyes were wide with wonder. “What do I have to do?”

I pulled out one of my rainbow shots. “If you follow me, all of your hopes and dreams are held in here.”

“I want-”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER YOU BIG MEANIE!!” Trixie was interrupted by the screams of an angry pink mare. Pinkie pie was running at me followed by Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash.

“Sparkle,” Trixie muttered.

“Rainbow Dash,” Gilda muttered. 

I smiled. This was going to enough to push Trixie over the edge.

“UCHIHA!” I turned to look at the source of the voice. It couldn’t be… Of course it was. Shining Armor was running at me flanked by a minotaur and a zebra. Well I wasn’t expecting that. But I could handle it.

All three groups stood opposite each other.

“So how is everybody doing today?” I smiled. “Twilight, Shining, it’s good to see you guys again.”

“Twilight, what are you doing here?” Shining Armor asked, without taking his eyes off me.

“This is my friend’s home,” Twilight replied, just as surprised to see her brother. “She sensed something was wrong, so we came to help her.”

“Well now that everybody’s all caught up we can get back to our Mexican standoff,” I said. 

“Let the mare go,” Shining commanded.

“And fix whatever you did to my sister!” Pinkie added.

“Hey Gilda, how would like a chance to get even,” I asked.

Her wings flared in excitement. “I’d love to. Hey Rainbow Crash, catch me if you can!” Gilda took off. Rainbow Dash followed close behind.

I handed the rainbow shot to Trixie. “It’s your choice. You can go with them but you’ll lose this chance.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Shining shouted. “Whatever he’s giving you isn’t worth it! There’s always a price for this kind of stuff!”

Trixie took one look at Twilight and that was enough to light a fire in her eyes. She took the needle and jammed it into her neck. The transformation started immediately. As her body was changing, Shining and his group started advancing.

“Shining,” I said as I activated my sharingan, “You can wait for her to finish or I can splatter everyone here all over the ground.” The shockwaves from Gilda and Rainbow constantly colliding shook the ground. Shining stopped and gritted his teeth. “Pinkie, your sister should be waking up now. Go help her; she’ll be a bit disoriented.” Pinkie ran off. “Twilight, how were the books?”

“Don’t talk to my sister, monster,” Shining spat.

“Captain, you are letting your emotions get the better of you,” the zebra said. “Do not let him pull you into his pace.”

The light faded, indicating Trixie’s transformation was finished. She stood up on her own. She wobbled a bit but she found her balance. She stood confidently on her feet and started checking out her new body. 

“How are you feeling,” I asked.

“Cold,” she replied. Her horn glowed and the glow covered her body. The glow formed shapes and faded. On her body were now her trademark hat and cape. She also had on a light blue dress that stopped mid-thigh and purple shoes. “Much better.”

“Then how about you test out your new abilities,” I smiled. Trixie extended her wings and took to the air.

“Now Twilight Sparkle, witness the true power of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie grabbed Twilight and Applejack in her magic and started tossing them around.

“I guess that just leaves us,” I said turning my attention to Shining. “You guys ready to dance?”

The minotaur unsheathed dual axes and came forward. He pointed one at me, then himself, and then banged them together.

“I’m sorry I have no idea what’s going on here,” I said. “I mean, I think I’ve the general idea but I’m not sure.”

“Meat Grinder says she challenges you to single combat,” the zebra explained. “She lost her voice in a tournament.”

“Well I acce-” I moved backwards as an axe came uncomfortably close to my face. A few hairs were cut off and dropped to the ground.

Meat Grinder didn’t let up. Every dodge was followed up by another swing. She kept up an amazing speed up for a very long time. I glanced to the side and saw Starlight hiding behind a rock. She poked her head up and stuck it right back down. I chuckled. I couldn’t let this drag on. I drew my sword and went on offense. I met Meat Grinder blow for blow and held my ground. She seemed to have a surplus of stamina and wasn’t going to be tired any time soon. I charged my sword with electricity. I cut the tops off of her axes and put my sword to her throat. 

Meat Grinder made some some signs with her hands and the zebra started talking again. “Meat Grinder says it is her loss. She finds your skill with a sword thrilling and says any minotaur would gladly take you for a mate if you weren’t so hideously deformed.”

A sonic rainboom blasted across the sky and Gilda came crashing down to the ground. At the same time Trixie was tossed at my feet. 

Starlight ran out from behind her rock and hid behind my back. “I think we should get out of here,” she whispered.

“I can still fight,” Gilda groaned.

“Me too, the Great and Powerful Trixie is not done yet,” Trixie couldn’t even pull herself off of the ground.

“It looks like your minions failed,” Shining said with an glint in his eye. “It looks like your plan failed.”

I was being surrounded by Twilight, her friends, and Shining’s crew. “No this is pretty much exactly what I thought would happen,” I said. I started using Kamui. “The thing you need to learn, Shining, is that even when I lose, I win.”


**********3rd POV**********


Sasuke and his group vanished in a swirl. Shining Armor gritted his teeth but at least his sister was safe.

“Twilight,” he called out as he ran up to her. “Are you ok?”

The two siblings nuzzled each other and shared a hug. “I’m fine, Shining,” Twilight said. “What are you doing here?”

“We were tracking down leads, trying to find where Sasuke would go next,” Shining explained. “Our magic expert, Hamza,” he gestured to the zebra, “can find Sasuke by feeling out holes where Equestrian magic should be. This area had a hole so we came to investigate. The other half of this group is tracking down leads in the Griffon Republic. So what did you learn, guys?”

Meat Grinder started signing and Hamza translated. “Meat Grinder says his physical strength is pretty high for his size and is augmented by his magic. She says she fought at full strength and he didn’t even break a sweat. His eyes moved and saw everything he was going to do before she did it. From my observations I saw that he can use basic magic in any part of his body that he chooses. Using the lightning allowed him to cut through Meat Grinder’s axes.”

“Good, the more info the better,” Shining said. “Twilight, can I count on you to send a report to the princesses?”


“Of course, Shiny,” Twilight smiled.

“Thanks Twily,” Shining lit his horn and teleported away with his group.

“Is your family alright, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, but I’m gonna stay here for a few days,” Pinkie said. “I’ll meet you back in Ponyville.”

“Ok, Pinkie,”Twilight responded. “Let’s go girls.”

As they walked to the train station, Applejack noticed something was off with Rainbow Dash. “Hey Rainbow, what’s wrong? You’re bein awfully quiet.”

“It’s just,” Rainbow Dash couldn’t pull her gaze from the ground. “That thing that fought with me… was Gilda.”

Applejack and Twilight stared wide-eyed at Rainbow. They had no idea what to say.

“We need to put that in the letter,” Twilight said. “The princesses need to know that Sasuke is transforming ponies.”


**********Laputa 1st POV**********


I looked at the two humanish women in the hospital beds. They were still recovering after trying to use powers their bodies hadn’t been trained for.

“Trixie’s everything hurts,” Trixie said. “You promised Trixie she would be more powerful than Twilight Sparkle! And yet Trixie still lost!”

“Well, of course you lost,” I said. “You have no idea how to use the power you got. It’s like using a muscle you’ve never used before. You just need to work it out.”


“How are we going to do that?” Gilda asked. “I doubt this pansy can even learn the amazing fighting styles you promised me.”

“Who are you calling a pansy you feather-brained meat head,” Trixie shot back.

Before Gilda could escalate, I jumped in. “You’re right. I can’t teach you the specializations you need at the same time. But I do have some teachers in mind.” I activated my mangekyou sharingan and started crafting a very unique genjutsu. “Hold still for a second.” I started pouring the illusion into Gilda’s mind. It took a lot of chakra and I was slightly winded. “Ok you’re next.” I said as I did the same for Trixie. When I was done, I fell back in my chair. “That should do it for now,” I said as I wiped my brow.

“What did you do,” Gilda asked.

“Why don’t you ask me?” A cheerful voice said. We all turned to look at the source. A man in a green jumpsuit and vest was giving her a thumbs up.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” Gilda was extremely confused.

“My name is Might Guy,” he said. “And I’m going to teach you everything I know about taijutsu!”

“Basically he’s a complex illusion that projects himself using your magic,” I explained. “I took what I know about the guy and made this. It does have limits so don’t think it’s a full person.”

“I hope mine is better looking than yours,” Trixie snickered.

“Of course I look better,” a feminine voice said. Trixie turned her head impossibly fast. “Guy has never put much work into his appearance.”

The woman had red eyes with a ring inside of them. She had on a red mesh armor shirt with only one arm visible. On top was a poncho like dress that looked like bandages, and her hands and thighs were wrapped in bandages.

“My name is Kurenai Yuhi, a genjutsu specialist,” she said. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Trixie gave Gilda a smug grin. Gilda rolled her eyes. The two teachers disappeared.

“They’ll appear when you’re ready to learn,” I said with a yawn. “They’ll teach you everything I know. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need a nap.”

I walked out of the infirmary and I could hear the two of them starting to bicker. I didn’t pay any attention to it. Creating personalities from scratch is exhausting. I trudged through the halls of the castle. Starswirl was waiting for me and we started walking together.

“Good news, the mirror is going to open in two days,” he said.

“Awesome,” I replied. “Let Starlight know and tell her to start getting ready. Oh and if you see Aoife tell her she’s coming this time.”

“Of course,” Starswirl said as he teleported away.

I made it to my room and collapsed on my bed. Two down, seven to go.
	
> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Tartarus 3rd POV**********


“What do you know about the wraiths, Grand Stander,” Celestia demanded. She stare down the unicorn in his cell. He was a shadow of his former self. He looked starved and tired. It looked like every movement was agony even as he tried to retain his smug arrogance.

“I’m surprised you didn’t send your pet down here to interrogate me,” Grand Stander. “Or could it be, the rumors are true?”

“Don’t try to change the subject,” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “What do you know about the wraiths?”

“You know, you used to be such a sweet little thing,” Grand Stander said. “All the time you’ve spent with that monster has made you cold.”

“I won’t ask you again, Grand Stander,” Celestia lit her horn. “What do you know about the wraiths?”

“You know you can’t kill me here,” Grand Stander grinned.

“I’m counting on it,” Celestia’s horn glowed brighter.

“Took the words right out of his mouth, didn’t you,” Grand Stander didn’t back down. “Well go on! Show me what your ‘hero’ taught you!”

Cackling lightning started spreading off of Celestia’s horn and fear crept into Grand Stander’s eyes. The air was tense and neither dared show any weakness.

“Hey now, there’s no need to resort to violence.” A calm voice cut through the hostility. “I’m sure we can figure something out.” The tension evaporated and both parties facehooved.

“Why is it,” Celestia said, “that no matter where I stick you, you always manage to get on my nerves.”

“I’ve been dealing with this idiot for an eternity,” Grand Stander agreed. “So much rambling ‘Lord Sasuke this’ , ‘Lord Sasuke that’!”

“Well, when you finally come to the realization that Lord Sasuke is our one true god, I will stop quoting his gospel.”

“It’s not gospel! It's made up stories,” Grand Stander screamed. “I know that because I heard you writing them!”

“Ignoring your dangerous obsession and insanity,” Celestia said. “What do you want?”

“Something has happened on one of the lower levels,” the voice said. “The wraiths are being organized and directed by something powerful.”

“How do you know that,” Celestia asked without taking her eyes off of Grand Stander.

“You of all ponies should know that they love me,” the voice giggled. “We talk all the time.”

Grand Stander frowned. His leverage was gone. Now he would have to spend more time in this accursed hellscape.


**********Laputa 1st POV**********


“So a word of warning before we cross over into the other world,” I said. Starlight and Aoife stood in front of me each with their saddlebags ready to go. I walked over to the mirror and put my sword down. “You’re going to turn into humans temporarily. But unlike Gilda and Trixie, you won’t have tails to help you balance yourself. Also you’ll lose your horns and wings.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to take Trixie and Gilda,” Starlight asked.

“No. They need to train before they start doing real stuff,” I explained. “And I‘ve become accustomed to having you around when I do my recruiting.”

“Oh great,” Starlight rolled her eyes. “I get to watch you coerce some more young mares into doing what you want.”

I was silent for a moment. “Did that come out the way you meant it?”


“Yes.”

“Anyway, on the other side we have a few stops to make,” I said. “Try not to get lost. I really don’t want to waste time looking for you. Got it?” Starlight nodded lazily and Aoife saluted me. I was already regretting this. “Then let’s go!”

I walked up to the mirror and leapt through it. The world swirled around me and I was swallowed up by a rainbow light show. “Down the rabbit hole we go!” I shouted as I fell through dimensions. The portal spat me out under the statue of a horse. I stood up and dusted myself off. I looked down at my clothes and I was wearing a hoodie and jeans.

“What the hell,” I mumbled to myself. I looked myself all over. These were definitely not the same clothes but my body was the same. I tried activating my sharingan. “Good, it still works,” I said. I could feel the chakra flowing through my body. Everything was going according to plan.

Aoife was the next one to come out of the portal. Surprisingly, she landed on her feet. She stood up and kept her balance.

“How are you doing that so easily,” I asked.

“I’ve been practising,” she replied, puffing out her chest.

I was about to ask her how when Starlight shot out of the portal and rolled across the ground. Aoife moved to help her up. “Are you ok,” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Starlight tried to stand on her legs. She wobbled a bit and leaned on Aoife for support. “Where are we?”

“Welcome to Canterlot High School,” I extended my arms excitedly. My two companions stared at me wordlessly. “I get it, it’s just a high school. But we do have to pick someone up here.”

We walked into the building with Starlight still leaning on Aoife. “How will we find the target?” Aoife asked.

“It should be lunch time soon,” I said. “We’ll have someone take us to the cafeteria and then it’ll be super easy.”

“Alright, what does the target look like,” Aoife added.

I grinned. “It’s a surprise.”

“Of course it is,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

The school bell rang and students filled the halls. They started moving in one general direction and I motioned to Starlight and Aoife to follow them. We walked together and I listened for anything useful. When we got to the cafeteria I looked around. I couldn’t see her but everyone was avoiding a table in the middle of the room.

“Bingo,” I muttered. “Come along ladies. Time to set the trap.” We sat down at the table drawing gasps and whispers from the people around us.

“These… humans… are treating us suspiciously,” Aoife said, looking around. “Shouldn’t we be trying to keep a low profile?”

“Nope,” I leaned back in the chair and put my feet on the table. “We’re basically trying to piss off a dragon.”

“Of course we are,” Starlight said. “Nothing is ever simple with you. I have a question: why do all of the humans here look so different from you?”

“Because this isn’t my world,” I explained. “These are a different type of human. Kind of an exaggerated and toned down version.”

“Hey you!” A scratchy voice yelled.

“And it begins,” I chuckled. “Can I help you?” Two humans filled my field of vision. One had blueish skin and orange hair. The other was taller and had yellowish skin and green hair. Snips and Snails. 

“This table is reserved,” Snips glared at me.

“Really,” I said. “I don’t see a name on it.”

“You must be new here,” Snips continued. “Everybody knows only one person can sit at this table.”

“Looks like everybody was wrong. I’m sitting here,” I grinned back. “And where do minions like you sit?”

“You’re gonna be in big trouble when she gets here,” Snails added with a smirk.

“I’ll take my chances,” I said. “Now run along.” I shooed them off. Snips and Snails huffed at me and then ran out of the cafeteria.

“Should we be expecting a fight,” Aoife asked me.

“Nah,” I put my hands behind my head. “I’ve got a secret weapon.”

“You have a contingency for literally every situation, don’t you,” Starlight put her head down on the table.

“I wouldn’t say I have a plan for every situation,” I replied. “I mostly just adapt to whatever happens.”

“I’m only going to say this once: you’re sitting in my seat, new kid.” 

I sat the chair down and turned around. Standing in front of me, giving me a death glare, was Sunset Shimmer. ‘Finally,’ I thought. ‘It’s about time.’

I smiled. “New kid? Really? I’m surprised you don’t recognize me.”

“Why would I recognize some hick from nowheresville,” Sunset crossed her arms. “Let me tell you who I am, so you know what you’re dealing with. I’m-”

“Sunset Shimmer,” Starlight gasped, staring wide-eyed at her sister.

“And you are,” Sunset said with disinterest.

“It’s me, Starlight,” Starlight’s eyes started watering. “I thought I’d never see you again!” Starlight jumped out of her chair and grabbed Sunset in a hug. “I thought I’d lost you!”

“Starlight?” Sunset whispered. “How are you here? What’s going on?”

“Why don’t you both sit down and let’s talk,” I offered her a seat. Starlight was reluctant to let go of her sister but relented so they could sit. “I told you: secret weapon,” I whispered to Aoife.

“So what’s going on here?” Sunset started. “Who are you? How did you find me? How did you bring my sister?” I held up a hand to stop her.

“I’m sure you have a million questions but first: are you serious about not recognizing me at all?”

“I swear I’ve never seen you before in my life,” Sunset said.

“So I assume you forgot all those days you did your studying in my shade and confessed to me your ambitions, fears, and secrets,” I teased.

“But I did that in… Holy shit are you the statue?”

“Feels good to finally be recognized,” I said. “Anyway, my name is Sasuke Uchiha. And before you ask, yes I was aware the entire time. I’ve known where you were for a long time. You see, I want to help you.”

“Help me how?”

“I remember when you were just a little filly. You were full of potential and ambition. But look at where you are now. You had aspirations to a princess one day. Let me help you make that dream a reality. I can make you more powerful than you could even imagine, I can teach you to use a magic even alicorns can’t, and I can show you all of the secrets of the world. How’s that for starters?”

“That sounds amazing. But how do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

“I helped him,” Starlight leaned on Sunset’s shoulder. “I’ve seen what he’s capable of. He beat Celestia in a one on one fight and fought two alicorns, at the same time, to a draw.”

Sunset stared at me with reverence. “I don’t know what to say.”

“How about ‘Please take me home’,” I grinned.

“Yeah sure, that,” Sunset was still stunned.

I clapped my hands. “Good! Then let’s take this party elsewhere. Can’t have everyone seeing you transform in here.” I got up and the girls followed.

“What do you mean transform,” Sunset asked.

We walked out of the school and onto the football field. I nodded my head towards the bleachers. Starlight and Aoife went to them and sat down. Sunset stood in front of me looking scared.

“I’m gonna be honest with you,” I scratched my head. “I could’ve swore you had more fire than this. Where’s that ambition? Where’s that drive? Come on, show me who you really are.”

Sunset scowled. “Give me a minute. I’ve just had some heavy stuff dropped on me and I’m processing. Now how are you going to make me more powerful.”

There it was. I smiled. “All you need is this,” I summoned the serum and handed it to her. “It’s your choice.”

Sunset took the syringe in her hand and looked at it. The rainbow liquid swirled around even as she held it still. She turned to look at Starlight who nodded at her. Sunset took a deep breath and put the needle to her arm. She closed her eyes and injected herself. Immediately, she was wrapped in a cocoon of magic. Her proportions changed slightly since she already had a human form. Her body adjusted itself and her skin changed color. Wings grew from her back while her tail and horn grew back. The light faded and a brand new Sunset Shimmer stood in front of me. I could see the renewed confidence in her, now sharingan, eyes and her smirk told me whatever doubts she was having were gone.

“So,” I cocked my head to the side. “How are you feeling?”

“Like myself again,” Sunset smiled and hugged her tail. “You would not believe how much I missed this thing.” Starlight ran to her sister and tackled her in a hug. “I missed you too, Starlight.”

I went to the bleachers and sat down with Aoife. “What is our next move,” she asked.

“Sunset’s transformation should act like a beacon and pull our next targets here,” I explained. “We’re not going to wait for them though. We don’t have that kind of time. I’m going to use a wide area sensing technique to track them down.”

Aoife and I got up and walked over to the sisters. They sat in the grass laughing and hugging each other. Sunset’s sharingan still hadn’t deactivated yet.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this joyous reunion but we have work to do,” I said. “Sunset can you see the flow of my magic?” She nodded and stood up. “Good. Pay attention to my hands.”

I started forming the hand seals, slower than I normally would. Sunset watched intensely, carefully observing the way I manipulated my chakra. Kagura Shingan. I could see the entire city with my mind’s eye. All of the people walking around were almost colorless to me. This world had almost no magic in it at all. That just made my targets stand out even more. Their magic glowed with a bright red as they tried to absorb the wisps of magic from the humans around them. I opened my eyes and grinned.

“I’ve got them,” I put a hand on Sunset’s and Aoife’s shoulder. Sunset grabbed Starlight’s hand. “We’re going now.”

I pulled us all into Kamui’s dimension and pulled us out in front of a diner.

“You couldn’t wait for me to get up?” an irritated Starlight said as she brushed the dirt off of herself.

“What was that?” Sunset asked. “It clearly wasn’t normal teleportation.”

“It’s a unique ability that I might give you eventually,” I replied. “For now, let your magic aura out and cover all of us with it.”

“All right,” Sunset let out her Equestrian magic and it formed a hemisphere, surrounding us.

“When we go in,” I instructed, “Stay under Sunset’s protection and don’t interact with anyone.”

I pushed open the doors and we walked in together. All around us people were yelling at each other and fighting. Starlight stiffened up and moved closer to me. We walked slowly around the people who were too consumed by rage to notice us. I followed the green mist through the restaurant to a booth in the back. As we got closer I could hear the sound of beautiful voices singing in harmony. I observed the three hooded, young women singing and formulated my plan.

“That’s a lovely song,” I said as I sat down in the booth. “Too bad everyone else here doesn’t seem to think so.”

The girls stopped singing. The one with a lot of orange hair was the first to remove her hood. The other two followed her lead. “Who are you?” She narrowed her eyes. “You shouldn’t be able to-”

“Notice you?” I finished for her. “I should be wrapped up in rage or guilt or whatever else it is you feed on?”

The girls tensed up. “How do you know about us?”

“Because we come from the same place,” I grinned. “Go on, try it.”

Their eyes glowed and they all turned their heads towards Sunset. “What is she?”

“I think I’ve answered enough of your questions,” I said. “Why don’t you tell us your names first.”

The three girls shared a look and a wordless conversation. The orange haired one spoke. “I am Adagio Dazzle. This is Aria Blaze,” she pointed to the girl with purple hair, “and Sonata Dusk.” Sonata waved at us and smiled. Aria Blaze huffed and crossed her arms.

“What are they?” Starlight asked.

“These girls are sirens,” I explained. They seemed surprised that I knew what they were. “Hilarious story behind how they ended up here. See sirens create a little hostility and then feed on the negative emotions. And they used to operate off the coast of Fillydelfia. All the ponies knew they were there but never did anything. They made a deal with Starswirl: keep the damage of their feeding to a minimum and they could stay. It worked great for a while. But then these three got greedy. They wanted control of the city. So they used their spells and made the ponies tear themselves apart. They fed on the magic and got drunk on their own power.  Starswirl came back only to find his home in ruins. He went to the sirens’ home and they told him that these three acted independently. He hunted them down and beat them around for a week. Then after his anger cooled he banished them to a world without magic. Which is where they’ve been for… How long has it been now?”

“Too long,” Adagio said through gritted teeth. She leaned back and crossed her arms. “What do you want? Or did you just come here to taunt us?”

“As fun as that would be,” I said, “I have a question for you. Are you tired of scrounging around this world for scraps like a mouse in an empty pantry?”

“What do you mean?” Sonata asked.

“I mean it can’t be easy for you in this world,” I started. “No magic, a body you didn’t understand, no money, and I bet you’ve been stuck at that age haven’t you?”

“This world totally sucks,” Aria agreed. “But so what?”

“What if I told you I could take you back to Equestria?” I captured their attention. “And not only that but make you more powerful than you’ve ever been. What would you say to that?”

“I’d say you’re trying to sell us a load of crap,” Adagio said. “You can’t possibly believe us to expect that. We were banished. There is no way back for us.”

“Correction,” I said. “There is no way back for you as long as you use Equestrian magic. But what if your body was full of another type of magic?”

“That’s a great theory but this world doesn’t have enough magic to send us back,” Aria turned her head away.

“Maybe it doesn’t,” I smirked. “But I do.”

“But aren’t you from Equestria?” Sonata looked at me like I was an idiot. “You would have Equestrian magic.”

I smiled and let my chakra flow out and around the sirens. “Are you sure?”

“So let’s say you could do everything you’re promising,” Adagio looked at me suspiciously. “What do you get out of it?”

“It works like this,” I said. “I take you back to Equestria and make you more powerful than you can imagine and, in exchange, you guys join the team I’m putting together. Simple.”

“So you want us to work for you, is that it?” Adagio asked incredulously.

“Yeah that’s it in a nutshell,” I shrugged.

“Absolutely no way,” Adagio yelled. “I am Adagio Dazzle! I have not fallen so far that I need to prostrate myself for anyone! We are sirens, one of the most powerful magical creatures in existence and if we can’t get back to our own world we will take over this one.”

“Maybe we should listen to him,” Sonata said. “I really want to go home.”

“Yeah I’m sick of this world too, Adagio,” Aria agreed.

“Where is your pride?” Adagio was repulsed. “Do you really want to be servile to this thing?”

“How about this,” I proposed. “I will restore you to your full power. Tomorrow night the three of you will fight two of us. If you win I’ll make you powerful and take back to Equestria to do whatever you want. I’ll even help you take over the world if you want. But if I win, you’re mine. What do you say?”

“You’ll restore our magic and then fight all three of us with only two?” Adagio grinned maliciously. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Good,” I summoned a stone heart and handed it to Adagio. “Tomorrow night at 8, meet us at Canterlot High’s football field.”

“See you there,” Adagio said. The heart started pouring magic into the sirens.

I got up from the table and walked out of the store with my team. Once we got outside I stretched and looked around. “What time is it,” I asked.

“It’s just about 3,” Sunset said.

“That was one of the artifacts you had Merlin steal from the castle, wasn’t it,” Aoife asked.

“Indeed it was,” I said. “It’s one of the alicorn artifacts actually. The alicorn heart. It’s a bottomless pit of magic.”

“And how do you plan on fighting that?” Starlight asked. “I swear if you get my sister hurt.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m not going to fight. But don’t worry Sunset, I’ll train you real good and your partner won’t drag you down.”

“If you’re not going to fight with me, who is?” Sunset asked.

“We need to go get her,” I said. “Onwards to Crystal Prep!”

***

We stood in front of the Crystal Prep school building as I explained what the plan was. I transformed into an older version of myself in a suit. Sunset hid her pony features. “Sunset you’re with me. I know I said not split up but in order for this to work, Starlight and Aoife need to wait out here. Do not go anywhere. Got it?”

Sunset and I entered the building and I looked around for an office. There were a few leftover students from the end of the school day wandering the halls but most were in clubs or at sports practice. A sign hanging from the ceiling indicated the principal’s office. Sunset and I head towards the door. I knocked twice.

“Come in,” a cold, stern voice commanded.

As I entered the office, I noticed that Cadance’s human counterpart was in here as well. ‘That’ll save some time,’ I thought.

“Who are you?,” the woman sitting behind the desk asked.

“Are you Principal Cinch,” I asked.

“I am indeed,” she replied. “What is your name?”

“Forgive me,” I said. “My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I represent the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever heard of you or your institution,” Principal Cinch said apathetically. “What is it you want?”

“I can understand that,” I chuckled. “After all we go out of our way to remove our reputation. Unlike a prestigious academy such as this one. As for what I want, I understand you have a student here named Twilight Sparkle. We would like to recruit her.”

Cadance raised her eyebrows but said nothing. “Twilight Sparkle is the pride of this institution. She will be a great boon to the already stellar reputation of my school,” Principal Cinch took off her glasses and wiped them. “Why would allow her to be taken by another school?”

“Because her research is some of the most advanced on this planet,” I said cooly. “And we have the resources she needs to take it to the next level. I understand your trepidation in allowing such an amazing student to escape your grasp but I can assure you that all credit will go to this school.”

“That sounds interesting,” her eyes trained on me. “Why would I believe that you would give up the chance for such great recognition?”

“An excellent point. The Xavier School has never taken any form of recognition. But I assure our research is the best in the world. Sunset Shimmer,” I tapped my forehead. “I would like that pen on Principal Cinch’s desk. Please get it for me.”

Principal Cinch’s and Cadance’s eyes grew wide and their mouths hung open when Sunset Shimmer grabbed the pen in her magic and levitated it to me.

“Thank you, Sunset,” I smirked. “You see at the Xavier School, we take the brightest children and help them create the future. You’ve just witnessed an amazing product of our school. We don’t seek fame or fortune. We just want to help students reach their full potential. When Twilight changes the world, she will credit Crystal Prep Academy.”

I could see Principal Cinch’s wheels turning. She steepled her fingers and looked deep in thought. She definitely wanted the credit for having Twilight do something great. Cadance on the other hand...

“Wait a second,” Cadance interjected. “We have to take into account Twilight’s feelings. She may not want to leave.”

“I assure you this will be a wonderful experience for her,” I said. “Twilight will get to do what she loves and as an added benefit she will basically be forced into social interaction. Researchers work in teams and develop friendships. She will be surrounded by people that will help, encourage, and challenge her. It’s a wonderful environment.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Principal Cinch said with a roll of her eyes. “Dean Cadence would you please go get Twilight and bring her here? I wish to have a word with Mr Uchiha in private.”

***

A few minutes later Cadance walked back into the room followed by a meek Twilight Sparkle. I smiled at Twilight to make her feel more at ease. Sunset was clearly not impressed. She folded her arms and gave a look as if to say, “Really? Her?”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Principal Cinch started. “This man is from the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. He would like to recruit you to his school in order to help you pursue your research.”

“Really?” Twilight asked. “But how do you even know what I’m researching?”

“We keep our eye out for that kind of thing,” I said. “You’re researching a new type of energy you found, correct?” Twilight nodded. “Well we’ve harnessed it. And we would like you to help study it. Sunset, why don’t you give Twilight a demonstration.”

Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and focused on Twilight. Twilight gasped when she realised she was floating in mid-air.

“This is incredible,” Twilight said as she was lowered to the ground. “To think that I don’t have to start from scratch!”

“Oh and by the way Twilight,” I smirked, “we allow pets.”

“Principal Cinch, I would like to go their school,” Twilight said excitedly.

“Excellent,” I clapped my hands together. “Pack your things, we leave tomorrow night!”

“Isn’t that a little sudden?” Cadance asked.

“I do want to get started right away,” Twilight said. “Mr. Uchiha could you accompany me to my lab? I have so many questions to ask you!”

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Cadance, Ms. Cinch,” I said as I left the office.

Twilight led us to her closet-sized club room. It was a tight squeeze but we all fit inside with a little room to spare.

“So do you need boxes or anything?” I asked.

“No I actually have some over here,” Twilight reached under her desk and grabbed what appeared to be a full stack of packing boxes.

“Why do you have these?” Sunset was very confused.

Twilight looked down at her feet and spoke quietly. “I’ve been hoping for something like this for a long time.”

“Don’t be embarassed, at least your dream came true,” I reassured her. “Other people do a lot more and get absolutely nothing. Sunset, let’s help her pack.”

Sunset rolled her eyes but unfolded her arms and helped. “Fine. But remember we have a fight tomorrow? And she’s going to be my partner? She’s useless in a fight!”

“Fight?” Twilight’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. “Nobody said anything about fighting!”

“Don’t worry,Twilight,” I taped up a box and put it aside. “Think of it as an entrance exam. Trust me, I would never let anything hurt you.”

Twilight nodded at me. She was clearly still nervous but with the contest of exam she accepted her impending fight much easier. While we worked Twilight asked some questions about magic and Sunset answered them. I stayed quiet and enjoyed the show. Sunset was pretending to be annoyed at Twilight’s questions but it was clear her love of magic made her react positively to Twilight’s curiosity. Sunset was loving the adoration Twilight was showing her and they were bonding over a genuine love of scientific curiosity. Eventually we finished packing away all of Twilight’s things. Her dog, Spike, who had been napping jumped into Twilight’s backpack. I summoned a storage scroll and put all of Twilight’s things into it. She got over her awe quickly and questioned about its functions. I just laughed and led her out of the building. Aoife and Starlight were waiting for us. The sun was low in the sky, threatening to dip past the horizon.

“Twilight, now is where you make your decision,” I summoned a syringe and held it out to her. “If you accept this, there’s no going back. You’ll have to follow this path all the way to the end. But you can still choose something different. You don’t have to do this. If you want, you can walk away right now. But this is going to be your only opportunity. If you walk away, you’ll never get this chance again. What will you do?”

Twilight took a deep breath. “All my life, I’ve felt like I didn’t belong, like there was something more to life that I just wasn’t a part of. When you showed up, I was happier than I’ve ever been. I always wanted to feel like I mattered to someone. And talking to Sunset, I can see that there’s a whole undiscovered world out there! I want to feel like what I’m doing matters. I want to join the Xavier School!” She held out her arm and closed her eyes.

“Sorry, Twilight, but that’s not how it works,” I put the syringe in her hand. “If you want something, you have to grab it with your own hands.”

Twilight looked at all of us and held the serum delicately. She rolled up her sleeve and put the needle to her arm. She looked at me expectantly but I showed no emotion one way or another. She took another deep breath and pierced her skin. She injected the rainbow liquid into herself and it activated almost immediately. Her body was wrapped in a cocoon of light. The light passed through her, changing her body. Her limbs changed only slightly her face changed a small amount. Wings and a tail sprouted from her body. Her eyes shine bright with power and a horn grew from her head. The light dissipated, her transformation finished. Sunset rushed to catch her as she fell from exhaustion.

“That felt weird,” Twilight said weakly. She wobbled a bit trying to stand on her own but she didn’t fall over. Twilight inspected her new body closely. She gasped a few times as she discovered the changes and then pulled out a notebook to document them.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

Twilight put the pencil to her mouth in thought. “Different but the same. I thought there would be more of a change but I guess it only changed my body.”

“Of course,” I laughed. “I couldn’t lose that beautiful mind. It’s getting late. Aoife, take Twilight home and teach her what we talked about. Meet back up with us at Canterlot High tomorrow.”

“Alright sir,” Aoife said. “Come along, Twilight Sparkle. We have much to do and not much time.”

Twilight led Aoife away and left me with the sisters. Starlight frowned at me with folded arms. “I hope you’re not corrupting that poor girl.”

I put my hands over my heart in mock pain. “Oh how you wound me,” I chuckled. “Of course not. Aoife’s just going to teach her something I’m not great at while I focus on combat with Sunset.”

“They better both come out of this alive,” Starlight grumbled.
“You have my word,” I promised her. “Are you ready Sunset?” She nodded and I activated my sharingan. “Let’s begin.”

***

I stood at the fifty yard line of the football field with Sunset Shimmer to my right and Twilight Sparkle to my left.  The the bleacher lights illuminated the field. Across from us stood the sirens, their eyes glowing with their excess of magical power. Aoife and Starlight sat in the stands watching intently. Adagio tossed the alicorn heart to me and I put it away.

“So, here are the rules,” I said. “The battle will continue until one side surrenders or is unable to keep fighting. Got it?” Everyone nodded. “Good.” I created 4 shadow clones and each went to a corner of the field. Four Red Yang Formation. Red walls covered each side of the field. I teleported to the stands. “Now fight!”

Sunset grabbed Twilight and put some distance in between them and the sirens. The sirens began to sing and their magic gathered around them. Twilight sat down and a sphere of magic formed around her. She closed her eyes and started taking deep breaths.

“What the hell is she doing,” Starlight screamed. “Twilight just abandoned my sister!”

“Calm down and watch,” I told her. 

A stream of magic pulled from Twilight’s bubble and formed between her and Sunset.  Sunset flared her wings. Small licks of magic flames flew off her feathers and she grinned. In a flash she was next to the sirens and, before they could react, kicked Adagio into the goal post. The other sirens fearfully scurried to their fallen leader. Sunset reveled in her newfound strength.

“What just happened,” Starlight’s jaw dropped. “There’s no way she got that fast in one day.”

“You’re right,” I said. “Sunset Shimmer isn't nearly that fast. Yet. Neither is she experienced enough to win this fight. So, I had to compensate somewhere. Twilight wasn’t going to be able to fight well enough either, so I didn’t even bother having her learn how.”

“Then what did she do with Aoife?” Starlight asked.

“As per Lord Mephisto’s instructions, I taught her how to use meditation to observe the battlefield,” Aoife explained. “We also went through several books detailing ‘video game mechanics and algorithms.’”

“What does that mean?” 

“It means that right now Sunset is on new game plus,” I grinned.

“That’s probably the best I’m going to get from you isn’t it?” Starlight deadpanned. “I’m just going to assume my sister is in no real danger right now, right?” I nodded. “Good.”

Adagio stood up and her broken bones realigned themselves and moved back into place. Her eyes glowed bright with rage and magic. Sunset smirked at her enemies.

“Is that it?” she laughed. “Sasuke made it sound like you were a real threat. But this is pathetic.”

Adagio screamed and projected her siren form out of her pendant. The yellow projection fired a sonic blast at Sunset. The other two sirens followed Adagio’s lead and projected themselves as well. Sunset easily dodged their attacks, effortlessly and gracefully weaving between the blasts of energy. She raised a finger and unleashed a large blast of energy at Sonata’s projection. It was disintegrated in the blast but reformed. The corners of Sunset’s mouth twitched as she realized she wasn’t causing any lasting damage with her attacks.

“She’s too strong,” Aria deadpanned. “We’re going to run out of magic at this rate.”

“What about the other one?” Adagio asked.

“She’s just sitting down,” Sonata said. “She’s not doing anything.”

Adagio’s eyes widened. “Yes she is! They’re sharing power! Sonata, Aria, focus on the one in the back. I’ll handle this one.” I could feel her rage building. “Ladies, no more playing around. Full power!”

The sirens all called their constructs to their side. They dissipated as they were absorbed back into the girls. Their skin glowed with power as their bodies changed. The sirens grew fins out of their limbs and heads. They grinned maniacally and before Sunset could react, Sonata and Aria had moved past her and started attacking Twilight’s bubble. Sunset turned her head and moved to stop them but was intercepted by Adagio. Adagio’s hair flowed wildly with magic. She swung wildly at Sunset who narrowly dodged her attacks. 

“What in Tartarus just happened?” Starlight yelled. She grabbed my shirt. “Why is Sunset losing power?”

“Calm down,” I said. I patted her head to soothe her. “I expected this. They figured out that Twilight was using her own magic to support Sunset and are focusing their attacks on her. Twilight had to give Sunset less energy to fuel her forcefield. With less power, Sunset can’t move or think as fast. The only reason she’s able to keep up now is her sharingan.”

“WHAT?” Starlight was hysterical. “GET IN THERE AND SAVE MY SISTER! I DON’T CARE HOW MUCH OF YOUR PLAN YOU LOSE! I JUST GOT HER BACK AND I’M NOT GOING TO LOSE HER AGAIN!”

“I know this looks bad but I assure you that Sunset will be fine,” I tried prying her off of me.

“She better be!” Starlight clung to me. “I’ll go in there myself if I have to!”

Sunset was not doing well. Her breathing was getting erratic and she was losing her cool. She had expected a curb stomp battle but now she was fighting for her life. Twilight wasn’t doing much better. The other two sirens were relentlessly attacking her bubble and she was giving her all trying to maintain it. I smirked. Just one more push! Come on Adagio, I know you can push her more!

“When I’m done tearing you limb from limb, I think I’ll make you into a footstool,” Adagio teased as she finally caught Sunset with a punch.

Sunset flew back from the impact and started forming hand seals. “Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!” She announced the name and a barrage of fireballs flew out of her mouth.  Adagio laughed as she dodged them. Even with Sunset directing the fireballs she still couldn’t catch her. The frustration was showing on Sunset’s face. She was sweating heavily and her calm demeanor was completely gone. Rage and frustration consumed her features. She looked like she was on the verge of losing herself completely when I saw it happen. A third tomoe appeared in Sunset’s sharingan. With Sunset’s evolution, a fireball caught one of Adagio’s hands. Adagio screamed in pain and made the mistake of slowing down. Sunset formed more hand seals. “ Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!” Sunset unloaded a terrifyingly strong wave of fire onto Adagio, who could only look on in fear. 

Adagio’s piercing screams caused Sonata and Aria to get distracted. Twilight, seeing her opportunity, sent a burst of magic to Sunset. Sunset teleported to Twilight’s bubble and unleashed another barrage of fireballs on each siren. All of the sirens dropped to the ground pain having knocked them out. Their breaths were short and ragged but they were all still alive.

“Like I said,” I ruffled Starlight’s hair. “Nothing to worry about.” My clones vanished in a puff of smoke and the barrier vanished. Aoife and I walked out onto the field and Starlight ran to her sister. They hugged and Sunset fell to her knees, exhausted. Twilight’s bubble vanished and she fell to her knees as well. I handed Aoife the rainbow shots and pointed to the fallen sirens. She moved to transform them before they succumbed to their injuries. I walked over to Twilight and helped her steady herself.

“So, how ya doing, buddy,” I asked her.

“That was insane!” she said as she held on to me. “I was so scared!”

“But you powered through it and won,” I congratulated her. “And don’t worry. I’ll never make you fight again. From now on you can study and learn to your little heart’s content. You did good today, Twilight. You should be proud of yourself.” Twilight blushed, smiled, and passed out. I put her sleeping body on my back and carried her over to Sunset and Starlight. A bright light flashed behind me.

“How does it feel to grab victory from the jaws of defeat?” I asked Sunset.

She gave me a tired smile. “Bucking amazing.”

“Your skill was impressive,” I said. “I’m amazed you managed to learn those jutsu so quickly.”

“It wasn’t much different from learning a new spell,” she said. “And you did beat those moves into me.” She shivered.

“It worked, didn’t it,” I smiled. “Let’s get you home. I think you’ve spent enough time in exile.”

The light faded and the groaning told me the sirens were recovering. Aoife walked over to Sunset and carried the tired girl on her back. Starlight stayed close to her sister as we got closer to the sirens. They sat up and inspected their new bodies. Their wounds had healed but their magic reserves were still empty. They felt their horns and fish-like tails. Their fin-wings fluttered as they discovered their new appendages. They shakily got to their feet.

“Ready to go ladies?” I asked them. I turned towards the school and started walking.

“Now that I have the same power as her,” Adagio said, humiliated by her loss. “What’s stopping me from killing you all and just going back on my own?”

I turned my head to look at her and activated my mangekyou sharingan. To add intensity, I focused a huge amount of killing intent on her as well. Her face showed true terror.

“I suppose you could try,” I grinned. A dark spot grew on the crotch of her pants and tears streamed down her face. I began walking again and heard her drop to her knees. Aria and Sonata helped Adagio up as we all went back through the portal.

***

I sat at the desk in my room back at the castle. I looked over some of the reports Merlin had made. I had made use of Lew and had Merlin stationed in Ponyville as a branch manager of Lew’s business. He was close enough to Canterlot to keep tabs on the princesses while also observing the elements of harmony. If any of their adventures changed, I would know about it. Keeping track of the timeline took top priority. I was distracted from my thoughts by a knock at my door.

Sensing Starlight, I spoke, “Come in, it’s open.” Starlight walked into the room nervously. “I see you’re enjoying being on four legs again. But I am surprised to see you. You haven’t left Sunset’s side since we got back. What’s up?”

Starlight shuffled nervously back and forth on her hooves. “I wanted to thank you,” she finally said. “I really thought I’d lost Sunset forever. It was like she came back from the dead.”

I smiled. “I’m happy you could see her again. I know what it’s like to think you’ll never see a sibling again.”

“I also wanted to tell you that,” she took a deep breath, “I plan on staying here to help you.”

“That’s right,” I said. “Our deal ended when I brought you to Sunset. Well I’m glad you’re staying. Like I said before: I enjoy your company.”

“Don’t think that means I approve of the crazy stuff you do,” she glared at me.

“Of course not,” I grinned.

“I’m just looking out for my sister,” she started walking out of the room. “Faust knows what kind of insanity you’ll get her into if I’m not around.”

When Starlight walked out, I decided to call it a night. I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. Now that I had my recruits, it was time to begin the next phase of my plan. “I wonder how they feel about travelling,” I muttered to myself.
	
> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Next to a tree in the middle of a beautiful clearing in the Everfree, a blue portal appeared.  Four individuals calmly walked out of the portal.  The first was a grey earth pony stallion with a black mane and red, mechanical eyes.  He had on a black bow tie and white collar.  The second was an anthro pony disguised as a quadruped.  This unicorn had a pink and purple mane and tail, mechanical left foreleg and right back leg, and a snow white coat of fur.  She also wore a dark red overcoat with a symbol similar to a caduceus and cross put together.  The third was an anthropomorphic duck that wore a dark purple hat, cape, and coat, as well as black pants.  The final one to emerge was a cloud white pegasus with purple eyes.  She had a belless jester hat and a black mask on.  Her cutie mark showed three balloons with the strings lit.  

The pegasus turned to the duck, “So, Darkwing, how are we supposed to find Sasuke?”

Before Darkwing could open his bill, The unicorn spoke up.  “Well, he’s a ninja right, and ninja uses smoke bombs, thus, we just need to track the potassium nitrate and sugar.”  She turned to the pegasus and the earth pony.  “Angel, I know that you can track the potassium nitrate, and Fire Shock, I couldn’t think of anypony else that could sniff out sugar.”  

Both teammates nodded before saying, “Sure thing, Fullmetal.”  Fire Shock sniffed the ground for a bit before pointing north.  Angel beeped and said, “I have found two large sources of Potassium Nitrate.  The first is in Canterlot’s scientists division, and the second is north of here.”  The quartet nodded to each other before putting on and activating some anti-grav shoes and running up the trees before jumping to meet Sasuke. 


*********Laputa**********


Sunset Shimmer walked slowly through the castle halls. After seeking out Sasuke, she had lost her way going back to her room and was trying to figure out where she was. Every room she passed she opened the door, looking for any pony that could give her directions. So far, she had no luck. All she found was an armory, a dry storage room, and an extra large room containing what appeared to be a mountain of sugar. She sighed. This was not at all what she expected when she decided to return home. Giving up on looking for help, Sunset decided to walk aimlessly, lost in her thoughts. It didn’t seem like Sasuke had any uses for her. The other two that had already been here each had some sort of teacher they could use. Sasuke told her that he was still trying to figure out whose her’s should be. Sunset remembered hearing things like that from Princess Celestia. At least he had taken the time to teach her some new techniques every now and then. And those griffons had been more than happy to teach her some martial arts. But nothing took away from that feeling of-

“Ow,” Sunset rubbed her head. She looked around and found that she had walked into a tower. She walked across the room and sat in the window. Looking out across the mountains eased her mind.

“At least I’m not some feather-brained idiot who can only think with her muscles!” Sunset heard voices below her.

“Don’t start with me, Trixie,” A voice yelled back. “Or you’ll find my claws in your neck.”

The argument brought a smile to Sunset’s face. Gilda and Trixie were always fighting over something. It didn’t matter what, they were natural born enemies. Sunset sat comfortably and looked south towards Equestria. The sun was still high in the sky and she could swear she could see Canterlot sitting high on its mountain. In fact she could see a speck out in the distance. It looked like it was getting bigger… Something was coming towards the castle! Sasuke said no one could find the castle. This could only be some kind of attack. Now Susnet had a chance to prove herself. She wouldn’t let it go to waste. She jumped down from the tower into the courtyard. Gilda and Trixie noticed her but neither stopped yelling at the other.

“Hey, both of you are idiots but we don’t have time for that now,” Sunset said. Gilda and Trixie glared at the newcomer. “Listen up, something is flying directly here. Which means we’ve got enemies on our hoof-er hands. The three of us have to defend this place. And maybe, just maybe, Sasuke will reward us.”

“I’m in,” Gilda grinned.

“If she is, so am I,” Trixie wouldn’t let Gilda get ahead of her.

“Great,” Sunset replied. “So now all we have to do is intercept them before they get here.”

Meanwhile, two hundred yards away from the castle, the four individuals were resting on  a large tree branch, mostly because Darkwing was searching for his hat.  “I knew that it fell right here.”  He moved some branches aside to see that his hat was sitting on top of a large vulture’s head. “I’ll have you know sir, that that hat belongs to me.”  He then proceeded to swipe the hat off of the vulture.  He reached into the hat and pulled out a salmon.  He swallowed the fish before saying, “Yep, it still works.”  The four got up and proceeded to travel to the castle in their own fashions.  Darkwing reached into his hat and pulled out a jetpack before taking off.  Fireshock chuckled and teleported from tree to tree.  Angel stuck to using the antigrav shoes, and Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves together before transmuting the tree that they were on into a wooden bridge with a leaf canopy.  She then proceeded to calmly walk to the castle.

Sunset motioned silently to her teammates. Trixie nodded and faded from view. Gilda flared her wings and soared straight up at the flying enemy. Sunset activated her sharingan and focused on the floating stallion wearing the bowtie. Something about him seemed off. Stealth would serve her best in this fight. She pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag attached. Now he just needed to move into position.

Angel stopped in mid flight before facing Sunset directly.  “You know, my dear.”  he said in a deep british accent.  “There is no point in stealth if you can’t control your breathing and heart rate.  I mean seriously, I heard you about thirty yards back.”  This shocked Sunset, causing her to pull out more explosive kunai.  He then proceeded to fly directly towards Sunset in a slow and menacing fashion.  Panicking, Sunset threw her kunai at Jarvis.  Normally, his Nth metal/ quicksilver body would easily take this blast, but Jarvis was in the mood for theatrics.  When the kunai hit, he separated his body into many chunks, getting them to spew fake blood.

“Even if you can hear me coming,” Sunset said with renewed confidence. “It doesn’t help you if  you can’t even dodge that. As she turned around she wondered aloud, “I wonder the others have it this easy.” 

Opera music began to play all around her as a maddening laugh came from the pile.  The pile quickly formed back into the body of the grey stallion still laughing his head off.  “You thought that you could kill the Angel of Death?  Lady, you are entering a world of chaos that you only pretend to know.  But, who knows, you may enjoy the next thirty seconds of the fight.”

“Why does this kind of stuff only happen to me,” Sunset muttered as she tried to move her legs. But it was pointless; she was scared stiff.

Angel walked, taking long, dramatic strides towards Sunset before putting a hoof over her mouth.  A sleep gas ejected through the hand as Sunset fell limp.  “That’s one down, I wonder how the others are doing?”  He then proceeded to carry Sunset towards the castle.

Meanwhile, Darkwing and Gilda were fighting in midair.  Darkwing threw a series of darkrangs that clipped a few of her feathers, slowing her down.  Gilda quickly flew up and tries to punch Darkwing, but he dodged it and then proceeded to do a series of pressure points all over Gilda’s body, making her too stiff to move. “Here is a tip, next time, read your opponent better.”

Gilda proceeded to weakly whisper, “How?”

Darkwing glared at her and shouted, in complete seriousness, “Because I’m Darkwing!!”  Before flying towards the castle.  “Ever killed you to lay off the grease?  I only have so much rocket fuel.”

Gilda muttered, “I hate you so much.”

Finally, on the tree bridge, Sweetie Belle and Surprise were stopped by Trixie.  “It seems as though you have the honor of being the first victims to the Great and Powerful Trixie.”  The world around then proceeded to change into the interior of a small room that was surrounded by zombies.  “As you can see, the Great and Powerful Trixie has shifted reality itself to her pleasures.  Surprise backed slowly into a corner before Sweetie looked at a door and chuckled.  “C’mon Fire Shock, let’s get out of this illusion.”

“What!” shouted Trixie.  “Impossible, how did you-” 

She was then interrupted by Fullmetal, “Simple lady, I know that this is an illusion due to the fact that the shadow of that door is facing in a direction opposite to everything else.  Before I go any further, I simply need to do something.  She then walked over to the place that Trixie last was before clapping her forehooves together and touching the ground.  This caused the nitrogen and the oxygen in the air to combine to create a rather tickling solution.  The laughing gas flew into Trixie’s nose, causing her to laugh loudly and violently before she ran out of air.  The illusion instantly faded away, revealing an unconscious Trixie with a smile on her face.  Surprise lifted her up as the pair proceeded to meet their friends. 

“So.” said Angel, “What next?”  

Darkwing chuckled, “Our fights must have caused commotion in the castle, the ninja that we are looking for should be out of here any minute now.”

“While not killing them was definitely the right move,” the air grew cold, “ you have a minute to explain why you came here and attacked my girls.” Sasuke stepped into the light, his normal smile gone and his full mangekyou sharingan showing.

Angel turned towards him with a smile, “Ah yes, you see, we were sent here by our leader to speak with you about matters that only we five should be privy to.  These girls of yours proceeded to try and ambush us and failed tremendously.  We figured that the commotion caused by the fights would summon you.  Also, don’t worry about your girls, watch.”  Jarvis took out a flask of water and poured it on Trixie,  He popped and molded Gilda back into shape, and he sprayed an awakening gas on Sunset.  This caused all of them to spring up and attempt to lunge at the group.

A large purple skeleton hand stopped them. “Go back to the castle, I’ll handle this,” Sasuke instructed them. The usual lightness from his voice was gone and the girls didn’t waste any time arguing. They each spread their wings and flew back to Laputa. “Now talk. And tell me why you all look like various cartoons and anime characters.”

Surprise chuckled, “I could ask you the same thing.  The truth is that the rest of us are part of a crack team of heroes who are looking for people with great potential.  My bro saw something in you that he liked, thus we were wondering if you would be interested in joining.”

Sasuke eyed each of them. “Is that Sweetie Belle?” He pointed to the unicorn. “And what is the aim of this team?”

Fullmetal spoke up, “Yes, and the goal of the Avengers is to either stop or avenge the wrongs that have and are happening in this and other worlds.  We are an organized force against injustice.”

Sasuke facepalmed and started laughing. “Oooohhh!” He grabbed his sides and wiped a tear from his eye. “I had this all wrong. I thought you were sent by Celestia or something!” Sasuke stood up and forced himself to stop laughing. His smile remained. “This is a Displaced thing, isn’t it?”

“The only Displaced on our team are Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man.” said Darkwing.  “The rest of us got in through other means.” said Darkwing.

“Of course,” Sasuke said with a grin. “All the heavy hitters. Because who wants to go to a convention as ant man? I don’t think I’ll fit in. I tend to lean towards injustice as a method to get stuff.”

“Well, what type of injustice do you mean?  There are members of our group that aren’t exactly paragons, sorta like Arsenal, Darkwing, and Empress.”

“Have any of them burned an innocent village to death,” Sasuke asked. “Because I have. And I’ve done more than that. I’ve committed war crimes. I’ve used terrorist tactics. Still want me on your team of heroes?”

“Tell me then, have you ever allied yourself with the demons of hell or indirectly made an entire city’s populous injured.  Either way, we didn’t come here for a dick measuring contest.  We feel as though you have the potential to be excellent instead of good.”

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair. He looked at the beings before him and his eyes faded to their normal black. “I’ll think about it. I’m not saying I’ll join you for sure but I guess you can consider me an ally.” He extended his hand. “Hit me up when you need me but stay out of this world for now.”

Sweetie Belle took off her amulet, transforming her into her true form, before handing him a red gear.  “This is Iron Man’s token, when you need help, he will come.”  She then proceeded to shake his hand.

“Thanks Sweetie Belle,” Sasuke said as he stored the gear. He pulled out a necklace with six magatama. “This one’s mine. Take it and try not to make me do anything too heroic,” he joked. “Any time you need help I’m just a call away. Oh by the way, do you know any legally aged female Displaced? Asking for a friend.”

“Sure.” said Sweetie Belle, taking out a sack, shuffling through them. “No, no, she’s married, no, hey, what about this one?”

Before she pulled it out Surprise said, “Already happened in this story.”

Sweetie shrugged, “no, no, Is a symbiote male or female?, no, no, and nope. Sorry but all of the legally aged female displaced are either married, scary as hell, psycho, or too chaotic for Discord.  Thus I can’t, in good judgement, give you any of these.”


“Well the last thing I need is to run into Kat again,” Sasuke said. “I doubt she’d approve of what I’m planning next. Thanks anyway.” 

Jarvis stood up, “Oh, I just remembered, Jacob sent us over with gifts.”

Sasuke crossed his fingers, “Please let it be a phone charger and a generator.”

Jarvis’ middle became fluid like as he pulled out a small sack.  “The first one is an arc reactor powered cell phone that has access to multiverse Netflix.”  He handed Sasuke a small, black phone with a glowing blue rim.

“Awesome,” Sasuke chuckled. “At least I’ve got half of my favorite netflix activity. You got an android charger in that magic bag of wonder?”

“No, sadly, but I do have some other equipment.  The first is an Nth metal bat.  It is ridiculously lightweight and it is magic proof.  He handed him the bat. 

Sasuke grinned maniacally, “ I wonder what Celestia’s up to right now. Does this also nullify chakra?” He took a few practice swings.

“Depends on how hard you want it to hit.  If you want a strong hit, it will nullify any spiritual, mental, or physical energy that could be used as an attack.  I should know, my body is made of the stuff.”

“Interesting. Very interesting. One more question: can the bat also conduct magic or chakra?”

“No, it operates by dispersing the energy that it comes in contact with, causing the spell or blast to be rendered inadequate.”

“Good to know.” Sasuke tucked the bat in his rope belt. “Is there anything else? I have to go deal with my girls.”

“Yes, and I’m afraid that only the boss can give you this one.”  Sasuke turned around to see a man in his late thirties in a lab coat. He also was holding a pocket watch.  Sasuke flinched as the man seemed to radiate power.  

“Tell me Sasuke,” said the scientist. “What would you do to see  your family again, if only for a short time?” 

Sasuke’s eyes opened wide. “Anything. Literally anything.” He turned away. “But not yet. Not yet.” He kept repeating the phrase to himself over and over again as if to strengthen his resolve.

Jacob slipped his pocket watch into his coat. “Fine then, but I should at least explain myself, I can manipulate time and a little bit of space to give you a temporary visit to your folks.  Once the portal exhausts itself, you would be sent back here.”

“Thank you but… I can’t,” Sasuke whispered. “If I saw them now, it would break me. I wouldn’t be able to be me anymore. I can’t go back. Not yet. I think you should go.”

Jacob gave a gentle smile, “Fine then, when you feel ready, call me.”  He took out his pocket watch as well as a few syringes filled with a rainbow liquid.  “Before you ask, no, I did not steal from you.  I merely stopped time, scanned the potion, found the ingredients as well as a way to make a energy similar to chakra, and made my own.  I just figured that I should be honest with you before I leave.”  A portal opened behind him.  “Avengers, let’s go.”  The other Avengers left, but Jacob stayed for a bit, wanting to see what would happen.

Sasuke took a few deep breaths to calm himself. “You know,” he called out after Jacob, “I’ve got a million of those things. I could’ve just given you one. And by the way, that stuff is based on my blood. If you use on someone, let me know. I have a right to my clan mates.” His smile returned.

Jacob shrugged “I was just gonna test it out on some rabbits for shits and giggles. My team is already crazy enough.”

“I demand at least shared custody of the theoretical mega rabbit,” Sasuke teased.

“Sure, I’ll send her through time too.”  A minute after he said this, a little girl in a lab coat, a pair of khakis, and a light green tee shirt appeared out of nowhere.  She had black rabbit ears and a tail, but she also has little black wings and a little nub of a horn on her head.  On her head, there was black, straight hair that reached down to her shoulders and bright pink eyes with sharingans for pupils.  Her tanned body had obvious muscle on it, but it was rather subtle.   “Um, pardon me, sirs,” she said in a tiny and adorable voice.  “My name is Smoke Puff and I have a message from Dr. Finch.”  She held out a letter that had a small packet connected to it to him.

Sasuke facepalmed. “I thought you were kidding.” He looked at the little bunny girl. “But I think I can forgive you.” He knelt down and tousled her hair. “Aren’t you just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. What’s your message, little one?”

He took the note and packet from her before reading them. 

Dear Sasuke, 

It appears that I had inadvertently created a rabbit baby from the serum.  Due to the fact that I vowed never to kill an innocent, I decided to do what I could to help her.  Because I knew that raising her would have taken time that I didn’t have, I stopped time and traveled the multiverse with her, giving her the best education and love that I could give to her in the twelve years that she’s been alive.  Not thirty seconds has passed on my world, but I have helped make her into a great warrior and scientist.  I guess that, by this world’s standards, she would be a doctor. She is a sweet child, even if she is kinda deaf to some social ques.  Before you take her in or anything, there are somethings that you should know.  She is well meaning, but she has a vicious streak.  She is a great thief and manipulator. Now onto the important things, she likes her carrots cooked, not raw.  Learned that one the hard way.  She hates dresses, no matter how adorable she looks in them. She is highly allergic to shellfish.  She likes to be sung to sleep, so you better work on your singing voice if you like to sleep.  Finally, and this is important, DO NOT EVER GIVE HER CHOCOLATE!  I think that I raised her decently, but I kinda wanna see what you can do. I may also visit from time to time to check up on her.
Sincerely, Dr. Jacob D. Finch

Sasuke took the note and put it away. “You are gonna fit in great here.” He took the little girl’s hand. “Say goodbye to Dr. Finch.” She waved and gave a cheery goodbye with her tiny voice. Sasuke activated his sharingan and started using kamui. As they were sucked in the spiral Sasuke spoke to Jacob. “It’s been a pleasure. Thanks for giving my girls some real world practice and the…. Adopted daughter, I guess? Let me know whenever you find yourself in this universe. The castle is always open to you and your team.”

He gave a small bow. “Don’t mention it, and the Avengers would be happy to meet all of you, I know that my daughter would be happy to meet ...yours.”

Once Sasuke left, Smoke Puff teleported in and held up a small metal tube.  “Sorry Uncle Doc, I just need to prevent a paradox.”  She put on some shades and activated the nebulizer, making Jacob forget the last two minutes of him seeing Smoke Puff.  She then pushed him through the portal before it closed.
	
> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Task Force Base: Griffon Republic 3rd POV**********


Captain Shining Armor rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and scratched his stubble. His gaze was focused on a map of the known world. Sightings and encounters with the ‘creature’ were marked. Shining Armor was looking for patterns. His eyes roamed the map, looking for any kind of connection between the marked places.

“Captain, you should get some rest,” Hamza said as he walked into the room.

Shining Armor looked up from the map and blinked. It took a moment for his eyes to register what was in front of him.  “Hamza, I can’t sleep yet,” Shining said, turning his attention back to the map.

“How are you going to find a complex pattern when you can’t even think straight,” Hamza asked.

Shining Armor spun around, “I can think just…. Where did you go?” He waved his head wildly around the room. 

“Captain, I am standing right next to you,” Hamza said worriedly. “I have been for the duration of this conversation.”

Shining Armor yawned. “So you have. I think I will get some sleep. Keep up the search while I’m gone.” Shining Armor started walking out of the room but found himself being blocked by some sort of barrier. Confused, he pushed on the barrier but it wouldn’t budge. He began charging a blast spell when Hamza tapped him on the shoulder.

“Captain, the door is over there,” Hamza gestured with a hoof.

Shining Armor stopped walking and looked up.  “So it is. Thank you.” Shining armor took two steps left and walked out of the door.

“I hope he makes it to a bed,” Hamza said to himself.

A head popped out of the doorway. “Is he gone?” Swift Arrow asked as he walked into the room.

“Yes he is,” Hamza replied.

“Great,” Swift Arrow trotted happily into the room. “Cap is terrifying when he’s too tired. He can go a week without sleep but once he hits his limit, KAPOW! All sense is gone.”

“Indeed,” Hamza said turning his attention to the map. “What news do you have, Private Arrow?”

“We added the rock farm to the map when you reported it last week,” Swift Arrow reported. “We got letters from the princess and the Chancellor. Princess Luna said their source indicated travel restrictions would be a good idea. I’ve already sent word to each major city.  Also a high concentration of energy was momentarily detected in the Everfree Forest.”

“Very well,” Hamza stroked his chin. “What did the Chancellor have to say?”

“She said the development of new weapons is going smoothly and we should have them before the end of the month,” Swift Arrow walked over to the map. “What’s our next move, boss?”

Hamza looked over the map. “Gather your things and tell Cocidius to gather his as well. If the Lunar Princess thinks that the target is going to start moving, we can’t afford to stay still. We are going to travel to places of interest in Equestria. When Captain Armor and Meat Grinder wake up, Captain Bow will accompany them to the Badlands. We have yet to investigate that lead.”

“Yes sir,” Swift Arrow slauted. “Please don’t let me run into that thing again.”

“You can’t hide forever,” Hamza murmured to himself. “Eventually you will make a mistake. And when you do, we will be there to take you down.”


**********Laputa 1st POV**********


“This is Smoke Puff,” I patted the bunny girl’s head. “She’s new here so try to make her feel welcome.”

In front of me were all of the current residents of Castle Laputa, with the exception of Merlin. I got a few glares from Adagio but everyone else reacted favorably.

Starlight raised a hoof, “How old is this child?”

Smoke Puff puffed her tiny chest. “I’m 12 years old,” she said proudly.

Starlight gave me a pointed look. “Really? At least before everyone you recruited was legal but now? Where did you even find this girl?”

“Listen,” I said, “I didn’t do this one some else… wait, really? Sunset, how old are you?”

Sunset looked at me with slight confusion. “I’m 23. I thought you knew that. I was forced into that teen body and didn’t age.”

“Really?” I asked. “Gilda, how old are you?”

“20,” she said examining her nails. She had lost interest in this conversation a while ago.

“What about you, Trixie?” I was genuinely surprised.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie’s age is none of your concern,” Trixie said. “But if you must know, Trixie is 19.”

“Huh,” I said. “Imagine that.”

“I’m only 17,” Twilight’s meek voice spoke through the crowd.

I nodded. “At least that makes sense.”

“Don’t avoid my question,” Starlight raised her voice. “Where did this little girl come from? Who’s her family? Do they know where she is? Won’t she be missed?”

Smoke Puff twitched her nose and frowned. Her confused face was adorable. “But I was just staying with Uncle Doc until I was strong enough to help Papa,” she said looking up at me.

You could hear a pin drop. No one dared move or even breathe. I had never seen a room with such wide eyes or low jaws. Everyone’s focus was on me and the bunny girl standing next to me. She looked at me with more confusion.

“You didn’t tell anyone?” she asked me. I patted her head.

“How do you have a daughter?” Starlight questioned. “That timeline doesn’t add up. She would’ve had to be conceived while you were still in stone.” She turned to Smoke, “Who is your mother?”

“My birth parents were rabbits. Uncle Doc used a serum on me that came from Father and I was transformed,” Smoke said. “Wasn’t it the same for the rest of you?”

“That just opens up a whole new set of questions,” Sunset said scratching her head. “So then what are we to each other,” she focused on me, “What are we to you?”

“That is an excellent question,” I said. “My answer: don’t think about it too hard because I’m not. I’m me, you’re you, we’re the same we’ve always been. Now that we’ve cleared that up, everyone except for Gilda, Trixie, and Sunset is free to go. Get ready for your various missions tomorrow.”

As everyone left the room, Smoke stayed by my side. Trixie and Sunset exchanged a nervous look, while Gilda tried her hardest to remain confident. The tension in the room grew as it became increasingly empty. Finally, the five of us were alone. I pulled up a chair and sat down. Smoke Puff got her own chair, and for a moment, we all sat in absolute silence.

“I was watching the fight,” I said. “I saw everything, from the beginning to the end. Before I start, do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

“It looked like that duck was trying really hard to beat me,” Gilda said quietly.

Smoke Puff started laughing. “The day Duckle calls that trying is the day that, in this universe, pigs fly.”

Gilda scowled at the laughing girl. “That’s enough, Puffball,” I said. “But she’s right. None of them were trying. You all fought like absolute novices. I realize that you are novices but you do have advantages that would have at least put you close to equal footing. Neither you, Gilda, or you, Sunset, used your Sharingan.” I focused on Gilda. “The duck beat you with hand to hand techniques. Even with only two tomoe, you could match even a martial arts master blow for blow.”

Gilda growled but said nothing.

“And either hit faster or dodge quicker,” Smoke Puff giggled. “Don’t do neither.”

I could see in Gilda’s eyes how much she wanted to rip the bunny girl apart. However, she restrained herself. “Sunset, your Sharingan would have revealed so much information about your enemy. The first being that your enemy wasn’t one solid piece. Even when it splattered everywhere, you wouldn’t have been fooled. Not only that, you were found out before you had a chance to attack. But the biggest thing was that, in a pinch, you relied on techniques that are new to you instead of spells that you know better. Anything to add Puffball?”

“Sunset, if you think your enemy is supernatural, they most likely are. Or they’re mental manipulators. So basically like ten times better than Trixie,” the bunny girl grinned. “Oh, and real blood has an ironish smell thanks to the hemoglobin. Probably want to remember that one.”

I turned my attention to Trixie while Sunset’s face looked crestfallen. “Now Trixie, I know that you know genjutsu can immobilize your target. Genjutsu is control of all sensory input. You had the largest advantage of all, even with your basic knowledge. Not only that but the sheer insanity of the illusion you created. Zombies? Really? You could’ve just created a winding path that went nowhere.”

“I shouldn’t know I’m being tricked until it’s too late!” Smoke Puff added. Trixie huffed and folded her arms. Smoke Puff ignored her and turned to me. “I’m hungry.”

“You know what?” Gilda said, her fingers turning back into claws, “How ‘bout some rabbit stew!”

“You probably shouldn’t,” I started, but it was too late. Gilda launched herself at Smoke Puff. Before Gilda could take a second step, Smoke Puff had a knee in her stomach. Gilda spit up and fell to the ground holding her midsection. “Do that, I finished. “Yeah, Puffball’s been trained since birth by the boss of the guys that beat you. Attacking her is a really bad idea.” The mood of the room dropped even further. Sunset was fighting back tears and Trixie’s face was twitching. I stood up and collected Smoke. “However, I am very proud of you all.” 

They all looked up, hope barely registering on their faces. “But... we lost,” Sunset’s huge teary eyes pulled at my heartstrings.

“When you identified a possible threat you evaluated it and took, what you thought, was the best course of action. You all fought your enemies, no one ran away or gave up. And for that, I couldn’t be happier,” I said with a smile.

Smoke Puff twisted her face in confusion. “Why are you happy? They’re so weak.”

“Only for now,” I grabbed Puff’s hand. “Only for now. Let’s go get some food.”

We left the girls in the room. Smoke Puff walked close to me with a huge smile on her face. Her happiness was infectious and I found myself grinning as well. “So, what do you know about me,” I asked her.

She started swinging our arms. “Uncle Doc told me you were super strong and super smart. Uncle Spark said you were whiny and useless but Uncle Bot said that you were a different version from the one he was thinking of.” Jarvis for the win. “Uncle Smash said you were a cheap character that was way too OP and that anybody that uses you has no real skill. I don’t think he likes you very much. But when Uncle Doc told me your stories, I learned how to be a ninja, just like you!” Puff broke out into a full-toothed smile.

“You are absolutely adorable,” I said as we walked into the kitchen.

Remembering the note, I instructed one of the Valkyries to cook her some carrots. No knee to the stomach for me! We sat down and talked as she ate. She told me about her adventures with Jacob and her life before coming to the castle. She told me how excited and nervous she was to meet me. I told her a few stories about my adventures before I turned to stone. She loved them and we talked late into the night.

“It’s about time to go to bed,” I told her. “We’re starting a road trip bright and early tomorrow.”

She crinkled her nose but got up. I walked her to her room and tucked her into bed.

“Good night, Puffball,” I said.

“Wait!” she held my arm. “I need a song.”

“A what now?” I asked.

“A lullaby to help me fall asleep,” she pouted.

I groaned. “What kind of song?”

“Anything that helps me fall asleep,” she looked at me expectantly.

“Fine,” I started wracking my brain. What did I fall asleep to back in the day? Silence. But I did sing for someone else… “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.” A guitar started playing in the background. “It’s not warm when she’s away. Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, And she’s always gone too long. Anytime she goes away. Wonder this time where she’s gone. Wonder if she’s gone to stay. Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone. And this house just ain’t no home, anytime she goes away.” 

I looked down at Smoke Puff’s sleeping smile. Adorable. I got up and turned out the light. “Your singing voice sucks,” she whispered in her sleep.

I rolled my eyes and closed the door. Walking back to my room I was bombarded with all of the questions and concerns no one dared bring to me while I was with Smoke Puff. Finalizing details, questions about what to bring, how would training continue, and deadlines on the science team’s projects. Everybody needed something. By the time reached my room, I was mentally exhausted. I flopped down on my bed only to hear a knock at my door.

I groaned. “It’s not locked.” I turned my head and watched Adagio Dazzle enter my room. She closed the door behind herself.

“Can we talk?”

***

“Wake, up.”

Someone was pulling me back into the realm of the conscious. I was irritated. It couldn’t possibly be time to wake up yet. As I slowly opened my eyes the darkness told me that it was still night time. I sat up in my bed. Straddling me, giving me a concerned glare, was Smoke Puff.

“The lights in the castle are broken,” she told me.

“What?” I yawned. “What do you mean?”

“When I sat up in my bed the lights didn’t turn on,” she explained. “And they stayed off even when I got out of bed. So I tried saying ‘Lights on’ but that didn’t work either.” She gave me an intense state. “You need to fix this.”

I lay back down. “There’s nothing to fix. You just have to use the light switch.”

Smoke Puff blinked owlishly. “Light switch?” She frowned. “What kind of low-tech, cave-like, backwater shack is this place? Next, you’ll be telling me the toilets have to be manually flushed.”

“Good night, Puffball,” I rolled over onto my side.

“I have to flush the toilet? With my hand?” She yelled. “Do you know how unsanitary that is? This is a house of horrors!” She ran out of the room.

‘Finally,’ I thought. ‘Back to sleep.’

***

“And then we’ll finish up our trip in the Dragon Lands,” I said. Lined up in front of me, in various states of sleep, were all of the recipients of the chakra formula and Starlight Shimmer. They were all yawning and barely paying attention. All except for Twilight. She was eagerly anticipating the trip but I had some bad news for her. “Also, Twilight, you’re going to stay here.”

The light left her eyes. “Why don’t I get to go?” she whimpered.

“Because this is going to be a combat trip,” I replied. “I know you want to study magic. That’s why I’m leaving you in Starswirl’s capable hooves.”

“Did someone say, ‘capable hooves’!” Starswirl appeared in a burst of smoke and fireworks. 

“Now that’s an entrance,” Trixie said with awe.

“Twilight Sparkle, meet Starswirl the Bearded,” I said. “This guy is probably the greatest magic researcher to ever have lived. With him, you’ll learn more than ever thought possible.”

“And I’m going to shave so that my title gets changed,” Starswirl said, absentmindedly stroking his beard. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Twilight. Now come along, we have much work to do!” Twilight yelped as Starswirl grabbed her in his magic and teleported away.

“Anyway, by the time we reach the Dragon Lands, the dragons will be migrating to the northernmost part of their territory,” I continued. “That’s where you’re going to have your first test.”

“What exactly is this test?” Adagio asked.

I smiled. “An excellent question. Each one of you is going to fight an elder dragon.” The silence was deafening. “We are going to take our time travelling. You have plenty of time to train. By the time we get there, you should be strong enough to beat an elder dragon.”

All of the girls looked at each other. “I, for one, can say I’ve had a rather exciting life but I didn’t think death by dragon was going to be my story,” Adagio said sarcastically.

“Do you promise I can beat a dragon?” Gilda asked.

“With ease,” I replied.

“I’m in,” Gilda grinned.

“I suppose a defeating a dragon would be the best way to start Trixie’s comeback tour,” Trixie mused. 

“I won’t fail,” Sunset eyes glowed with determination.

“I swear to Faust, if my sister gets hurt,” Starlight quietly glared.

“Well it’s not like we have a choice,” Aria rolled her eyes.

“Come on Aria, it’ll be just like old times,” Sonata giggled.

“Now that we’re all in agreement,” I cheered, “Let’s go! To the wagon!”

Adagio frowned. “Did he say wagon?”

***

“You really meant an actual wagon,” Adagio facepalmed.

Everyone stared at the covered wagon at the castle’s main gate. It was a simple thing. A white canvas roof covered a sturdy wood chassis.

“You can’t seriously expect us all to fit in there,” Starlight said.

“Yes, yes I can.”

Smoke Puff ran up to the wagon and crawled inside. “Hey guys! It’s bigger on the inside!” she yelled. The other girls excitedly ran into the wagon.

I smirked as I sauntered over lazily. I already knew what it contained. There was enough space for all of us and then some. Starswirl had been working with the kidnapped mages to create a space-expanding spell. It had worked out pretty well. I had hung up some curtains as dividers. It was better than nothing since there putting walls up would have made the cart too heavy to move(I already tried). The wagon was also self propelling as long as we set a destination. And to top it all off, there was a magic stone in the center. When activated, the stone would either emanate or absorb heat. We had our own air conditioner! Also the more mundane things that make a car comfortable: cushioned seats, ample leg room, suspension, etc. I walked over to the map that sat in my section and put a marker on the Crystal Empire. The wheels slowly started turning as the wagon lurched forward. Everyone wobbled but quickly regained their balance. I sat down and waved the girls over to me. We sat in a circle.

“I am going to train you all,” I said. “You’ve all been given your individual mentors. You will learn from them all the techniques you need to suit your own personal style. I am going to teach you general lessons about chakra and what it means to be human. At every stop I will send you on missions to test your skills and show you your shortcomings. Take advantage of this and learn as much as you can, because I promise you: elder dragons have no mercy. Get ready, now, it begins in earnest.”


**********Canterlot Express 3rd POV**********


Hamza sat in meditation on the train. He searched all the areas they passed, looking for gaps in the magic. His lack of success did not frustrate him. On the contrary, it filled him with relief. Everything was as it should be. The world was blanketed in magic. It swirled around all living things creating a dancing tapestry of unspoken communication. He couldn’t help but smile while feeling the world around him. Now if only his compatriots would contribute to this harmony.

“And I’m telling you, Co, Princess Cadance is the hottest mare alive,” Swift Arrow leaned in the griffon’s face.

“Swift, no offense to the Cap, but clearly Daring Do is the hottest mare alive,” Cocidius grinned.

Swift Arrow pulled a poster out of his saddlebag and unrolled it. “Look at this!” He grabbed Cocidius’ head and pushed it into the paper. “Do you see these sensuous curves? That perfectly toned flank? Look at those wings! Not a feather out of place! And that mane! Cut to perfection! Such sexy, inviting eyes….” Swift Arrow let go of the griffon and lost himself in the picture.

Cocidius took some time to straighten his head feathers while he observed Swift Arrow. It was amusing to be sure but he could probably play with Swift a bit more. “So does the Cap know you have that?”

Swift Arrow was shocked out of his delusions. He quickly and carefully rolled up the poster and stuffed it back into his bag. “You saw nothing,” he muttered.

“Maybe I did, and maybe I didn’t,” Cocidius grinned. “It depends.”


“Depends on what?” Swift Arrow raised an eyebrow.

“Depends on who the hottest mare alive is,” Cocidius said. The only sound that could be heard was the train. He could see Swift Arrow’s internal struggle. Apparently he was taking this way too seriously. Was he twitching? Ok, that was enough it was time to end this. Before Cocidius could say anything, Hamza intervened.

“We are approaching the city,” he said. “This discussion will have to be concluded for now.”

“Looks like you got off easy this time,” Cocidius teased. “But this isn’t over.”

Swift Arrow breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his cutie mark. “Saved me again,” he whispered. “Let’s get ready to do this!”


**********Canterlot House of Nobles**********


“Ladies and Gentlecolts come to order,” an older earth pony banged a gavel. The conversations grew quiet until attention was focused back on the center of the room. “Please continue, Princess.”

“Thank you, Lord Arbiter,” Luna said. He nodded and she turned her attention to rest of the ponies in the room. “I realize that I am asking for a lot. 500 billion bits is a large sum by any standard. But, we are facing a threat that could destroy our entire society. I don’t mean to fear monger but we all know what Sasuke and his species does to their enemies. And new intelligence tells us he can turn any species into a human.” Luna’s statement drew shocked gasps from the crowd. “We can’t afford normal precautions, we have to willing to give everything we have to protect the ponies we lead.”

The room was abuzz with murmurs and whispered conversations. A unicorn stood up and raised a hoof. 

“The chair recognizes Lady Patrician. You have the floor,” Arbiter said.

“Thank you Lord Arbiter,” Patrician said. “Princess, we are all aware of the atrocities of which Sasuke is capable. Every noble is told the story of the Clean House Incident.” The nobles twitched in fear. “We hesitate only because for the past few months, Sasuke has not acted against us. We’ve no wish to draw his attention if it is focused elsewhere. What makes you believe he is going to attack us at all?”

“A valid concern,” Luna said. “When I fought Sasuke in Canterlot, he told me his plan. He wants to force cataclysm after cataclysm upon us in order to force us to evolve. I know his methods, I know his mind. He would be willing to sacrifice thousands in order to see his plans succeed.”

“But he still has not made any moves lately,” Patrician stated. “What makes you think this was more than an idle threat?”

Luna looked Patrician directly in her eyes. “If I were to give you an axe and six hours to cut down a tree, what would you do?”

Patrician cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it obvious? I’d begin cutting down the tree immediately.”

Luna smiled. “Sasuke posed this question to me when I studied under him. I said the same thing you did. You know what he said?” Patrician shook her head. “He said he would spend first four hours sharpening the axe. Make no mistake, Sasuke hasn’t forgotten about us nor is his attention elsewhere. He is sharpening his axe. And we must be ready.”

Patrician sat down. Arbiter stood at his post, “If there are no more questions for the princess we will now conduct the vote. All in favor of passing the princesses’ proposal?”

Luna smirked; it was unanimous. She now had the funding she needed. If Sasuke thought Equestria was going down without a fight, he was in for a rude awakening.
> Chapter 18
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Empty Tundra 1st POV**********


“It’s cold.”

That understatement of the year was gifted to us by none other than Adagio Dazzle. All of the non-sirens were shivering too much to talk. Even Gilda was with us in our cold suffering.

“I wanna get back in the cart!” Trixie moaned.

“First, a history lesson,” I said. “This wasn’t always an endless frozen wasteland. It was once home to a powerful and wealthy kingdom.”

“I remember the Crystal Empire,” Adagio looked away wistfully. Her look turned sultry, “Sombra was one male who never shied away from magical…. enhancements.”

“Gross,” I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, the Crystal Empire flourished as a nation until King Sombra went crazy and made it disappear.”

“The whole kingdom?” Trixie’s jaw hung open.

“Literally the entire empire was gone in a flash of dark magic,” I pulled out the alicorn heart. “Now let’s all pile back into the cart.” I tossed the stone heart into the snow. 

“That is an extremely powerful and ancient artifact,” Sunset said as we all climbed back into the cart. “Why are you just leaving it out here?”

Before I could say anything, Starlight held out a hoof to stop me. “Let me guess. This is part of your grand master plan. And like always, doing this will result in some catastrophe for ponies while you walk away having gotten whatever it is you wanted.”

“Bingo,” I grinned as the cart started moving. Starlight rolled her eyes and groaned. “Gather round girls. It’s time to work on some basics.”


**********Canterlot Castle 3rd POV**********


Half of the Anti-Sasuke Task Force sat around a large table waiting for their host. Hamza sat reviewing the new files while trying to ignore his partners.

“So, sword to your neck, hoof on Faust’s words, you actually hit on a princess once?” Cocidius asked skeptically.

“I totally did,” Swift puffed his chest. “I just didn’t happen to know she was a princess at the time.”

“So are you ever gonna tell cap you hit on his fiancee?” Cocidius asked with an evil glint in his eye.

“Yeah it wasn’t her,” Swift smirked.

“No way,” Cocidius’ jaw dropped, “You did not make a move on Princess Celestia.”

“No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no,” Swift frantically waved his hooves. “I would never do something like that!”

“That means you...and….Princess Luna?” Cocidius asked. “What? How would you even…. How did she respond?”

Swift sighed, “ She said-”

“That is very flattering but I am more into dragons than ponies,” Luna said as she walked into the room. “But I’ll keep you in mind for those cold nights.” She sat down in her chair. “But I said it in my archaic way of speaking,” she smirked. “It’s good to see you again, Private Arrow.”

“Yes, Princess,” Swift quickly bowed, as did the others. “My apologies, Princess.”

“Don’t , Private,” Luna said with a smile. “I do enjoy telling that story. Winter is coming soon and I think my covers might not be thick enough, little pegasus.”

Swift swallowed hard. “Yes, your highness,” he said meekly.

Cocidius was stunned. He looked back and forth at Swift Arrow and Princess Luna with a wide-eyed, slack-jawed stare. Hamza, on the other hand, was taking it all in stride. He chuckled as he realised the princess was just teasing Swift.

“Not everyone is present yet but I think we should start anyway,” Luna said.

Cocidius and Swift Arrow quickly composed themselves. “If I immigrate to Equestria do you think I have a shot?” Cocidius whispered. Hamza rolled his eyes.

“We’ve brought you all the data we’ve collected during our encounters with Sasuke and all the locations he’s been spotted,” Hamza said, passing several papers to the princess. “If I may, why did you put travel restrictions in place?”

“There are two major events in the coming months,” Luna said, eyeing the papers. “The first is the Great Dragon Migration, the celebration of youth. The second will occur shortly after that. It is the Great Dragon Homecoming, the celebration of the end. As the leader of the dragons, Sasuke will attend both. And from our source we’ve gathered that he does not intend to teleport. My guess is that he is travelling across the continent and using the opportunity to train his converts. Which leads me into our next topic, countermeasures.”

“No disrespect, your majesty, but Sasuke,” Cocidius interrupted, “is on a whole other level. If he were to get serious in a fight, we would die immediately. That’s not fear talking, that’s just a fact.”

“I understand,” Luna said. “He has power that we cannot even begin to comprehend, years of battle experience, and the ability to quickly figure out and counter any tactics that come before him. But I know him personally. I know his quirks, his tics, his preferences, and his style. I know him inside and out. And that is all we need. We aren’t going to fight him on his terms, we’re going to force him to fight on mine.”

Several ponies and zebras in lab coats, assisted by royal guards, pushed large crates into the room. When all of the crates were in place, the soldiers bowed and left. A mauve unicorn stallion stepped forward and fixed his glasses. 

“We’ve brought the items as you requested, Princess,” he said while he wiped the lenses. “Are you ready for the demonstration?”

“We are,” Luna responded.

“Then, Princess, if you would,” the stallion said as he reached into the crate and pulled out an item.

“Of course.” Chakra swirled around the blue alicorn. Her entire body was soon covered in the foreign magic Hamza recognized as Sasuke’s. The others in the room couldn’t see past the veil of magic but it soon dissipated and revealed a human woman sitting in Luna’s place. “Please continue.”

Cocidius’ body relaxed when he heard her speak. He didn’t realize how tense he was. Did this magic really scare him that much? He didn’t have much time to think about it because the object the lab pony was holding emitted a constant beeping noise.

Swift stuck his hooves in his ears. “That’s quite the annoying doohickey you’ve got there,” he said. “Is it broken?”

“Quite the opposite, in fact,” the unicorn said. “This device can detect Sasuke’s magic in a radius of 5 miles. Once it starts beeping, tap on the gem in the center, like so.” He tapped on the gem with his hoof and a glowing arrow was projected above the device, pointing to Princess Luna. “As you can see, the device will lead you to the source. Furthermore, after the prototype was made, we began mass production. Right now though, we only have enough for the task force.” The unicorn passed the device around the room. As it circulated, the other lab ponies handed him another device.

“Will this also detect the ones corrupted by Sasuke’s magic?” Cocidius asked as he examined the sensor.

“Who are you referring to,” the unicorn responded, fiddling with the next device.

“He means the others that have accepted this power into their bodies,” Luna explained. “Will this also detect them?”

The unicorn stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Hmmmmm. It doesn’t detect Princess Luna in her pony form soooo….” The unicorn sat on his haunches and scrunched his face. “As long as they are in that two-legged form, it should be able to find them.”

Cocidius nodded and handed the detector to Hamza.

“Now this next device should be more useful in combat situations,” the unicorn said locking a clear gem into place on the new device. He twisted everything into place and the device hummed to life. A small stream of blue light started to pull from Luna and into the device. “This one was a bit trickier to make. We all know that magic and spells can be stored inside gems. What this one does is create a strong, almost magnetic, pull and store the magic in a gem. When full,” the machine spat out the gem, “the gem is ejected. This a safety measure to prevent the gem from overloading and exploding. However it can be overridden.” With the machine no longer siphoning Luna’s chakra, the unicorn also passed it around the table. “It is small enough to attach to the pommel of a sword and-”

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Princess Celestia said as she entered the room. “Have I missed much?”

“Not at all, sister,” Luna said. “We were just reviewing the fruit of our investments. How was Tartarus?”

“Enlightening,” Celestia groaned. “After the demonstration, I’ll share what I’ve learned.”

Luna nodded. “Please, continue.”

“Now this next one was only possible thanks to the Griffon Republic sharing their knowledge of metallurgy,” the unicorn said as he was handed a metal ingot. “This metal is an alloy of several different metals. The most notable of which is voidrock.”

Every jaw dropped. The mere mention of the rare stone made even alicorns tremble. Voidrock, an extremely rare and terrifying existence, was a material most hoped to never encounter during their lifetime. But for those that did, they could only recount horror stories. None were sure where it came from, but everyone knew what it did. When any type of energy touched it, it was dissipated. It took no time, and the energy never came back. It didn’t matter what type of energy: light, heat, electricity, even magic stood no chance against it. Finding it was a near impossible feat and mining it was sisyphean. The simple act of being near a natural deposit could and would kill all but the most powerful creatures. And even the most alicorns and elder dragons could only survive for so long. ‘So,’ Celestia wondered, ‘How is he casually holding a voidrock ingot?’

“I’m sure you’re all wondering the same thing, so I will explain,” the unicorn placed the ingot on the table. Everyone else flinched. “It’s alright. It isn’t nearly as dangerous as its pure form. It took so much trial and error, though. So much horrific failure, so many lives lost.” He turned his head down. “But this,” he held up the ingot, “gives their sacrifices meaning.”

“Where did you even get such an idea?” Celestia asked.

“I was searching through the forbidden section of the royal archive when I happened upon a book with a lot of wild, revolutionary ideas,” the unicorn said.

“Was the title ‘Stuff That Might Work (or Kill You)’?” Celestia asked.

“It was,” the unicorn was surprised. “Have you read it before?”

“I skimmed it,” Celestia facehoofed. “It has all of Sasuke’s insane ideas; please stick to the milder ones.”

“Very interesting,” the unicorn muttered. He shook his head. “Back to the matter at hand, we have managed to dilute the effect of the voidrock to physical contact only. We have also created a film that goes around it to protect from its effects.” He picked up the ingot. “We can now create voidrock tools, weapons, and armor.”

“Incredible,” Luna said as she, for the first time, held a voidrock ingot in her magic. She passed it around.

“The armor should protect against Sasuke’s magic attacks and the weapons should drain him when they come in contact with him or his unique spells,” the unicorn explained. “We are working a special containment cell for him but for now,” he lifted a pair of shackles out of the crate, “this is all we have. We were also working on some chains but there was an accident in the lab.”


“Thank you for taking the time to come here and I want to tell you that I personally appreciate everything you and your team have done and sacrificed for us,” Celestia bowed her head.

“Thank you your majesty,” the unicorn said as he and his crew packed up their crates. “That means so much coming from you.”

The lab ponies left the room, leaving the two princesses and the task force. The members of the task force continued to inspect their new equipment while Luna changed back into her pony form.

“I think we might actually stand a chance now,” Luna said, eyes full hope.

“Let’s hope we settle matters with Sasuke quickly,” Celestia wore a grim expression. “We have more enemies than we realized.”

“What happened in Tartarus, sister?” Luna asked.

“I spoke with Grand Stander,” Celestia started. “He was less than willing to part with any information without some sort of concession. However, the resident in the cell next to his was, as usual, very talkative.”

Luna facehoofed. “Please tell me you didn’t in indulge in that moron’s rantings.”

Celestia sighed. “Besides his inane ramblings about the greatness of on certain human, he did have some valuable intel. It appears one of the prisoners on the lowest levels has managed to convince the wraiths to follow them. Not only that, the rumor is: there’s a jailbreak in the works.”

Luna stroked her chin thoughtfully. “That is going to be a huge problem. Hmmm…”

“Is this source’s information reliable?” Hamza asked. “Is it possible they were lying?”

“They’re generally opposed to lying,” Celestia said. “And the wraiths are definitely acting under someone’s direction.”

“Maybe we can use this,” Luna said. “Sasuke may be planning something huge but he will definitely want to enact his plans with no obstructions. Maybe we can trick him into handling our Tartarus problem and then we can take him down while he’s weakened.”

Celestia was worried. It was a risky move, but that wasn’t what worried her. That plan… It was something Sasuke would have come up with. Did his influence really run that deep in the princesses? She shook the thought from her mind. It gave her a strategic advantage and that was all that mattered.

“Here are the new points of interest,” she said, laying out some maps.


**********Laputa**********


“Cast time: 1.6 seconds, mana cost: average, recovery time from mana burn: 0.3 seconds, maximum distance of spell: 3 meters, width of spell: 1 meter. The ideal action for such a spell would be a level 1 barrier,” the human Twilight Sparkle sighed and the lavender magic circles disappeared from her eyes. “How was that?”

Starswirl nodded in approval. “Very impressive young one.” He absentmindedly stroked his beard. “And to think you came up with this spell on your own.”

“Not completely on my own,” Twilight admitted. “I did have help from my mentors.” At the mention of her mentors, two beings were created from Twilight’s magic. One had pale white skin, yellow snake eyes, black marks around his eyes, and long black hair in a ponytail. He wore a light purple robe with a dark purple rope around his waist. The other had black paint across most of his face leaving thin white lines. He wore a large golden headdress and a white coat over black robes. A sword handle with several protruding spikes and wrapped in cloth was tucked into his waist.

Starswirl eyed the two projections. “You two are very, very creepy. Like creepy as buck, creepy. But it's always great to have fellow scientists around.”

“Thank you, Starswirl,” the snake-eyed one said. “But I just want to see how this child develops. And when she gains her sharingan, it will match well with her new technique.”

“I don’t need your praise,” the other one scoffed. “I already know I’m the greatest scientific mind to ever have existed. And the thought of experimenting on this hybrid creature fills me with glee.”

Starswirl shook his head. “Like I said, creepy as buck. Did either of you have anything to contribute?”

“About this sharingan,” the black and white faced one said, “I may have a way to force its activation.”

“Do tell,” Starswirl said.

“It is activated when the user experiences great emotional distress, correct?”

“Indeed,” the snake-eyed one confirmed.

“Then all we need to do is synthesize a drug that induces an intense emotional state, such as rage or paranoia,” he finished with a twisted grin.

“That would be an excellent idea,” the snake-eyed one agreed, turning to Twilight and smiling.

“An interesting possibility,” Starswirl said. “But we need it to work without damaging Twilight’s personality or intelligence.”

“Come on guys, we talked about this already,” Twilight said. “Mayuri, I don’t need to expedite this process with unsafe, untested drugs. And Orochimaru, you told Sasuke you would teach me ninjutsu to activate it naturally.”

Orochimaru’s snake eyes flashed. “Well if you insist.”


**********Griffon Republic Eastern Border 1st POV**********


Gilda unleashed a barrage of punches at me at a speed that my sharingan could barely keep up with. I deflected all of her blows but unlike the last time we sparred, they only grew in intensity and speed. She grinned as she added kicks into her movements and got closer and closer to hitting my face. Her movements were smooth and controlled. Not a single wasted punch or kick. The change in her fighting style mind blowing. She had come so far in such a short amount of time. But something still wasn’t right. I threw a kunai at her. She narrowly dodged it and it grazed her face. That was it! She attempted one more higher force punch and I caught her wrist.

“That’s enough for today,” I said.

“But I can still keep going,” Gilda argued.

“You haven’t been practicing with Equestrian magic at all, have you,” I asked her.

She looked away. “I don’t need it,” she mumbled.

“What do you mean you don’t need it?” I looked at her sideways. “It’s literally half your power.”

“Chakra is enough.” She still couldn’t meet my gaze. “I don’t need her power.”


“Celestia’s?” I was confused.

“No,” Gilda’s voice got softer. “I won’t use the same power as Rainbow.”

I frowned. Rainbow Dash was this much of a hang up for her? This was going to be a problem. If Gilda refused to use all of her power, there was no way she was going to win against an elder dragon.

“Why not?”

“Because,” she shifted uncomfortably. “I have to be better!” She looked me in my eyes. “Didn’t you say I would be faster than her? Didn’t you say I would be better?”


“Yes. I did.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “But you won’t without giving everything you have. You’re have to accept the magic as part of you. Otherwise you’re incomplete.”

She pushed my hand away. “Whatever. I’m going to go train some more.” With that, Gilda leapt away. I thought about chasing her but decided against it. Instead I decided to check on the other girls.

A short walk through the trees led me to the sirens. They were sitting in a circle matching pitch with Tayuya’s flute. I sat down and listened to their music. I watched as they used their musical magic to create small familiars and then forced them to fight. I carefully watched as the sight changes in pitch and tone caused a variety of effects to befall the enemy familiars. After a few minutes I had seen enough and decided to move on.

I happened onto Trixie next. She sat across from Kurenai as she explained different aspects of genjutsu to Trixie. Trixie was adjusting her hand seals as Kurenai explained and causing an array of small animals to wander around in circles. She had a line of squirrels walking into and out of the mouths of several wolves.The wolves also looked like they were under her control. I chuckled as I watched her work. ‘She really can turn anything into a performance,’ I thought. 

As I kept walking through the woods, I could feel Sunset’s power before I could see her. As I got closer to her, I recognized what was happening. She must be in the middle of an alicorn transformation. I saw her in a clearing with Starlight not too far away. Circling around her and giving her instruction was a tall man with wild pink hair wearing a light bluish-green, jester-like outfit. What he was saying was clearly unnerving Starlight, but it appeared that it was really pushing Sunset. Her magic was flowing off of her in waves and slowly expanding to fill the area. Her hair had the smallest shine and wave to it. At least the rest of the girls seemed to accept their magic and chakra.

I started walking back to the cart. ‘I should do something to keep morale up,’ I thought. ‘But what?’ There was only so much I could reward them with out in the middle of nowhere. While I wracked my brain, Starlight saw me and started walking with me.

“Starlight, what would you want in order to relax out here,” I asked her.

“A barrel full of hard cider,” she said, rubbing her temples with her hooves. “Make that two. Listening to that Hisoka guy is going to give me nightmares for weeks.”

“Hard cider, eh,” I muttered to myself. “Well there’s no way we can get….. That’s it!”

“What’s what,” Starlight said, very confused.

“I finally found a use for my weak ass wood style!” I exclaimed. “Go get Smoke Puff from the cart and meet me near the river.”

I dashed off leaving a very confused and agitated Starlight behind.

***

We all sat around the fire enjoying a meal. While sickened by it, Trixie had controlled some animals and led them into our camp. Gilda slaughtered and cooked them. The food was surprisingly good. Who knew she could cook?


“So everyone, I have a surprise for all of you to reward your progress and hard work,” I said and then reached into a bag I had next to me.

“Oh great,” Aria rolled her eyes. “A surprise you got from the middle of the woods. What is it? A bag of weeds?”

I held up the plant I pulled out of the bag for them all to see. “As a matter of fact, it is.”

“Fan-bucking-tastic,” Aria groaned.

“What are we supposed to do with this?” Gilda asked, slightly annoyed.

“Haven’t any of you learned that nothing is ever as seems with me?” I said with mock sadness. “Oh ye of little faith. This is relaxation in plant form. You’ve been working your minds and bodies hard and getting plenty of rest is essential for healthy growth.”


“So what is this plant called?” Sunset asked. “I might’ve heard of it before.”

“I guarantee you haven’t,” I chuckled. “And as for the name, this particular batch is called Blue Dream.”

“And you have yet to explain what it does or why it’s so good for relaxation,” Starlight grumbled.

“Well first we put some in this pipe here, light it, and-”

“You smoke it?” Gilda said as she snatched the pipe from my hands. “Please, if that’s all then…” Gilda took a long drag on the pipe and started coughing. “What the hell is this stuff?” She tried to hand it back to me but Adagio intercepted it.

“Have you never used a pipe before?” Adagio asked, grinning smugly at Gilda. “Let me show you how it’s done.” Adagio, trying to outdo Gilda, took a longer drag and……. Almost immediately started coughing as well. “I don’t understand! I’ve literally smoked for centuries and why is this grass suddenly so soft and wonderful?” Adagio lie down in the grass and started rolling in it.

Aria took the pipe from Adagio and gave it a small, cautious puff. After she didn’t end up hacking like the other two, she took longer, fuller puffs and passed it to Sonata. It took all of three minutes before she was staring blankly out into space. 

Sonata waved a hand in front of her unresponsive friend’s face. After getting no reaction, Sonata shrugged and took the longest drag yet. I sat forward waiting for her to start coughing but she let the smoke go in a massive ring.

“How did you do that,” I asked her.

“Centuries of practice.” She puffed out her chest proudly…… Before falling over backward with her legs outstretched.

Trixie levitated the pipe out of Sonata’s hand and in front of her face. She sniffed it and scrunched her face. “Trixie isn’t sure she wants any of this,” she said eyeing the pipe warily.

“That’s fine,” I extended my hand. “Give it back to me.” The pipe hovered slowly to me before it zipped back to Trixie.

“Trixie doesn’t want to be left out,” she admitted and started with small puffs. “This isn’t so bad.” Having learned from the others, she stopped after taking a little bit. “Those stars are so pretty! Trixie wants to be a constellation!” Trixie leapt up and tried to grab the stars with her hands.

That just left, Sunset, Starlight, and me. Smoke Puff was already sleeping. Starlight grabbed the pipe in her magic and said, “Nope.” She put it in my hands and declared that she was going to sleep.

Sunset and I looked at each other. “Want some?” I asked.

She took a deep breath. “Sure.” She took a small puff and passed it back to me. I took a puff and passed it back to her. We kept this exchange going as we sat next to each other. “When I went through the mirror, I was sure Princess Celestia was going to come after me.” Sunset’s sudden admission surprised me. But I let her keep talking. “She was everything I wanted to be and I looked up to her so much. I get that I wasn’t ready, now. But I was a kid, you know. I just wanted her to come for me, to show me that she cared about me. I sat in front of the portal on the other end for days, just waiting.” She took a deep breath. “But she never came. And by the time I realized she wasn’t coming, the portal was closed and I couldn’t get back.” We lay down in the grass looking up at the sky together. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drop all of this on you.”

“It’s ok,” I assured her. “Everybody’s got something weighing on their mind.”

She snorted. “I bet you don’t. You’re this invincible force of nature. Everything you want, you get. One way or another. Nothing fazes you at all. Starlight told me how amazing you are. She adores you, you know?”

“Starlight?” I laughed. “The grumpy mare who always complains? Are we talking about the same pony?”

“I’m serious,” Sunset said. “I don’t know what you did, but she always smiles when you’re around and when she talks about you.”

“Huh,” I said. “Imagine that. But I’m not invincible you know. I’ve got my own stuff.”

“Like what?” I sat in silence for a little bit. I wondered if I should tell her or not. “It’s ok. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I can’t remember what my face looks like,” I finally said. “Or my name. It was so long ago now that everything’s blurry and almost forgotten. And the thing is, I don’t even know all the things I’ve forgotten. How much of me is still here? Who am I now?”

“That’s easy,” Sunset said. “You’re Sasuke Uchiha: alicorn fighting, castle ruling, world traveling badass. And as for your face, just look in a mirror,” Sunset said with a giggle.

I smiled a sad smile. My meaning went completely over her head. But she meant well. I wondered why I was being so open. Then I realized: the weed was infused with chakra and grown in magic soil. It had to be exponentially stronger than anything I’d ever had before. That explained a lot. Well....whatever. Too late to do anything about it now. I turned on my side to look at Sunset and, it was at that point, I blacked out. 
	
> Chapter 19
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“They’re over here!”

The first thing I noticed when I woke up, was that I was under a cover. Strange considering I didn’t even remember falling asleep the night before. The next thing I noticed was the feeling of grass on my bare skin. ‘Hmmm……’ I thought. ‘Am I naked? Why am I naked?’ The warmth on half of my body caught my attention next. I turned my head slightly and felt a prick on the bottom of my chin. ‘Uh-oh.’ I was freaking out just the slightest bit. I adjusted my position and looked at person to my side. I was greeted with the sight of yellow and red hair. ‘Well fuck.’ I could feel her body on mine under the cover.

“Starlight is gonna kill me,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Funny,” a menacing voice said above me. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

I slowly looked up to see Starlight standing above me. Her coat had turned white and her mane and tail were made of fire. Her glowing red eyes were focused on me.

“I-”

“Shhhhhhhh,” Starlight put a hoof to my lips. “Don’t talk yet. You don’t want to make this worse. Think very carefully about what you say next.”

“.......I did say I would protect your sister from all harm….including emotional and mental?”

“....Go on…”

“Sunset is a fully grown mare capable of making her own decisions,” I said. “You have to respect her choices.”

“And of course, you remember her giving you her explicit, verbal consent,” Starlight’s glare intensified. “Right?”

“.........How would you react if I said I really don’t remember anything from last night?”


**********3rd POV**********


Trixie stretched deeply as she awoke. She smiled with satisfaction as she popped all of her joints. For some reason, she was in a great mood this morning. Even after having woken up sprawled across the grass, she couldn’t remember getting a better night’s sleep since...ever! And in her clothes no less. Although she could do without that nasty taste in her mouth and strange smell stuck to her clothing. She smacked her lips as she thought back to the night before. What had she been doing that led to such a great night? For some reason, she couldn’t remember. Oh well. Maybe Starlight knew. That bookish mare was always taking notes about everything. Trixie would just go back to the wagon and-

“I really think we should talk about this like rational adults!”

“Then why don’t you come back here! Stand still for a second you hedonistic monkey!”

Trixie watched, slightly confused, as Sasuke ran across her field of vision, chased by what appeared to be Starlight...but on fire. As the two vanished from her sight, Sunset walked over to her and sat down. The two sat in silence for a while, and looked out at the trees.

Trixie sniffed the air. “What’s that? Smells like sweat, anger, and shame.”

“Yeah….about that,” Sunset said. She opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. The two sat in silence a while longer.

“How was it?” Trixie asked. “You know, as a human.”

Sunset leaned back. “Human bodies are…...really flexible. And oddly sensitive around the ears and neck.”

“Interesting,” Trixie tapped her chin thoughtfully. The ground shook and they two girls looked into the distance and saw a large plume of smoke rising. “Is Sasuke going to be alright?”

“Maybe?” Sunset offered.

A pillar of fire extended past the tree line and yelps of pain echoed through the forest.

“Should we do something?”

“Do you really want to get in the middle of that?”

The two watched as explosions lit up the sky and animals ran away in panic.

“On second thought, I am really comfortable right here.”

***

“So, Adagio, Sunset, and Gilda, are going on the stealth mission. You three will be under Smoke Puff’s supervision. You will infiltrate an ore refinery and create duplicates of their documents. I want everything: shipping manifestos, blueprints, schematics, building plans, payroll, everything. Don’t let something slip by because you think it’s too small. Remember, you cannot be seen even once.” Sasuke coughed once and Gilda raised her hand. “Yes?”

“You’re smoking,” she deadpanned.

“Thank you,” Sasuke said.

“No, I mean you actually have smoke coming off of you,” she clarified.

“Oh that,” he dusted some of the soot off of his body. “Starlight and I had a slight disagreement earlier but we resolved it.” Starlight huffed and continued to pout. “Anyway while they are on their mission, Trixie and Starlight will be in charge of escorting the cart through the city without being detected. Aria and Sonata will setting up some stuff around the city with me. We will all meet to the south of the city limits. Any questions?”

“Why is Trixie stuck doing something as lowly as guard duty?” Trixie pouted. “Trixie’s powers are much stronger than that time when she fought the robopony!”

“That wasn’t a robot and your power isn’t the issue,” Sasuke calmly ran a hand through his hair. “Your use of your power is. Show me how much you’ve advanced and next time you’ll get a different role.”

Trixie rolled her eyes but said nothing else.

“If that’s it, get your stuff ready,” he said. “The mission starts the second the cart crosses into the city.”

Everyone dispersed to take care of their preparations. Starlight stood with Sasuke and Smoke Puff.

“Smoke Puff, you don’t need to get anything ready?” Starlight asked.

“We’re breaking into an unguarded factory that’s at pre industrial revolution levels of technology,” Smoke Puff deadpanned. “I could do this in my sleep. If they can’t handle something this simple, there’s no hope for them at all.”

Starlight frowned. “Smoke Puff, I need to talk to your father about something very adult. Please give us a moment.”

Smoke Puff looked up at her father, who patted her head and nodded. With a huff, she walked away, searching for her teammates. Starlight gave Sasuke a stern gaze. He looked back at her with serious eyes before grabbing her. They disappeared into a swirl.

***

“They just crossed into the city. Conceal your presence and let’s begin,” Smoke Puff instructed. Adagio, Sunset, and Gilda began focusing on trying to suppress their power. It dimmed but Smoke Puff could still clearly feel them all. “Stop messing around and do it for real,” the small bunny girl looked up, irritated.

“We are,” Sunset said.

“Like you could do any better,” Gilda huffed.

It didn’t take even a second. It she wasn’t standing in front of them, none of the girls would have noticed anything. They could feel no power coming from her, they couldn’t hear her breathing and when Smoke Puff took a few steps forward, there was no noise at all.

“You’re supposed to be ninjas,” Smoke Puff squeaked angrily. “This is how you do it. Did you learn nothing from father’s lessons?”

“I get that you’re better at this and all that,” Adagio said. “But I still feel like it's super weird Sasuke has an adopted half-bunny daughter.”

“I know right?” Gilda added. “We’re not technically his children too. Are we?”

“That would have some pretty weird implications for you wouldn’t it,” Adagio wiggled her eyebrows and nudged Sunset.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Listen idiots, focus on the task at hand. And you,” she turned to Smoke Puff, “Aren’t you supposed to be in charge of this mission? This team is falling apart!”

“Please,” Smoke Puff laughed, “This is going to be the easiest mission I’ve ever had in my life. We could literally wait for everybody else to get to the edge of the city before we take one step.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “You are soooo unhelpful.”

“We should get moving though,” Smoke Puff admitted. “I could do this super fast but I’m not so sure about you guys.”


**********Irontown**********


Starlight was sweating bullets. The last time she had been this afraid was when she met Sasuke in the Everfree Forest. But she wasn’t alone and she took comfort in that. Trixie, on the other hand, was fuming. Here she was, an improved mare with something real to contribute and now Sasuke wouldn’t even give her a chance. Well screw him! Her greatness couldn’t be contained even if she had to do something as degrading as watching the cart. 

“Names and reason for entering,” a griffon guard stopped the cart as they entered the town.

“What’s with the all the beefed up security,” Trixie asked. “I don’t remember it being this strict when we left.”

“A dangerous group of criminals has been causing chaos in Equestria,” the guard explained. “How do you not know this? You’re both ponies.”

“We’ve been camping for a few months,” Trixie said with mock irritation.

“And what’s wrong with that one,” the guard pointed at Starlight.

“You just said there was a gang of dangerous criminals in our home,” Trixie glared at the griffon. She wrapped her hooves around Starlight. “It’ll be ok. The princesses will stop them.”

The griffon rolled his eyes. “Whatever. We need to inspect your cart before we let you through.”

“Fine just don’t wreck our stuff,” Trixie spat. “It lasted us this long and I sure as Tartarus won’t let some featherbrained musclehead ruin it.”

The griffon snarled but said nothing. He waved another group of guards over and they climbed into the wagon.  They shuffled around but the space was too small for them to really move. Or so it seemed. Starlight watched in amazement as the three griffons stood in a small circle despite the wagon’s space being enormous. They lifted up the same objects ten or twelve times each before all getting out. That was when Starlight saw their eyes. Each of them had the same pattern. A two tomoe version of Sasuke’s sharingan. Their eyes all returned to normal as they stepped down. Trixie grinned maliciously for second before putting her annoyed face back on.

“I hope you’re done,” Trixie snapped. “Ruining my packing system, dirtying the floor, and scarring my poor marefriend to death. I hope you’re proud of yourselves.” Trixie held Starlight closer.

“Ponies,” the guard muttered under his breath. “You’re clear to enter the town. Don’t do anything weird.”

Trixie and Starlight drove the cart into town. As they pulled out of earshot, Starlight breathed a huge sigh of relief and Trixie let go of her. 

“I’m impressed,” Starlight said. “Coming up with a story so quickly and being so convincing was amazing.”

“Of course,” Trixie beamed. “Such acting is foal’s play for a performer of my magnitude. Although Trixie must give credit where credit is due. You weren’t too bad yourself. Even Trixie believed you were terrified.”

“Heh, heh.” Starlight nervously rubbed the back of her head. “Full disclosure: I was absolutely petrified. You lied so naturally though. Is it always that easy?”

“Trixie is an entertainer,” Trixie explained. “And as every great entertainer knows, to tell a convincing story you have to mix some truth in with the fiction.”

“Wow,” Starlight’s eyes widened. “What part of that story was true?”

“Do you really want to know or are you asking just because?”

“What else do have to talk about?”

“Fine,” Trixie looked out at the town. “I used to go camping with my marefriend.”

“You used to have a marefriend?”

Trixie smiled. “We used to travel together, back when I was touring Equestria. She would play this great music and push my shows over the top. She could captivate any audience and put their emotions right where I wanted.”

“What happened?”

Trixie’s gaze turned sad. “She wanted to settle down in a single location and I didn’t. So, we went our separate ways.”

“Just like that?”

“I may not have been so... nice when I left,” Trixie said with a sigh. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure, I’m sorry,” Starlight said quietly. “The way you used illusions was pretty cool. You hid everything in plain sight.”

Trixie perked up. “Thank you, at least someone recognizes Trixie’s greatness.”

***

Four shadows darted around the exterior of the refinery. None of the working griffons noticed anything odd and why should they? There was nothing special about this refinery. They just shipped metal to factories. There was nothing confidential, no big world changing secrets, even the upper levels of management were average. All in all, there was nothing special about this refinery. But that didn’t matter to the shadows. They moved quickly and silently past the workers. In and out of every room, they searched for their target.

Smoke Puff led and the others followed. She was a quick little thing and the other girls had more than a little trouble keeping up with her. 

‘Children should not be this fast,’ Adagio thought, nearly panting. ‘Stupid rabbit.’

Smoke Puff stopped in front of an office and the other girls caught up after a second. “I swear it’s like none of you have ever run before in your lives,” she whispered.

Adagio leaned on the wall catching her breath. “Shut up. This the place?”

Smoke Puff snarled adorably. “Father said we’re looking for shipping records so anything like that.” She put her tiny hand on the door and paused. “Can you read?” The angry glares surrounding her brought a smile to her face.

Smoke Puff pushed the door open, the girls stepped inside, and froze. It looked like a tornado had blown through the small space. Papers were plastered to every surface in the office, file cabinets were turned over with their drawers ripped out, and in the corner a griffon lie in pool of his own blood.

“What the buck happened in here,” Gilda asked as they searched through the scattered papers.

“Looks like someone else beat us here,” Sunset responded, examining the griffon. “Poor guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Smoke Puff said. “This changes nothing. Start looking.”

The other girls shared a look but sifted through the room. Smoke Puff moved to the griffon and searched his body.


**********Irontown 1st POV**********


Sonata, Aria, and I walked through the town disguised as griffons. Aria had some trouble at first with using the technique but she caught on eventually. Sonata surprised me by having no trouble with it at all. In fact, I’d noticed that Sonata quickly caught on to every technique I’d taught her with almost expert proficiency. Odd, considering I was pretty sure she was the dumb one.

“Here’s another good spot,” I said as I spotted another alley. We turned and walked into the shadows. “And here you go,” I gave them each 10 explosive tags. “Remember, structural weaknesses are better but anywhere works.”

Sonata gleefully spread her wings and leapt into the air. She perfectly placed and disguised every paper bomb before landing with a flourish. Aria rolled her eyes and lazily stuck all the tags to the same wall.

“So do you ever take pride in anything you do,” I asked her.

“Whatever,” she sighed.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “You know just because you were stuck in the body of a teenager for a long time doesn’t mean you have to act like one forever.” Sonata continued beaming at me. “You did great Sonata. Onwards!”

We walked out of the alley and continued down the street. We continued the process every time we came across an alley. We covered half the town before I decided we were done. 

“Good work ladies,” I said. “Time to go.”

“That’s it?” Aria asked. “Doesn’t really seem like we did much.”

“But we did,” I explained. “This town is now a potential distraction or battlefield. Control is key.”

“You know, for once, you could give a straight answer.”

I looked at her curiously. “But there was nothing mysterious about that answer. It was a straight answer.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Sonata pointed to the setting sun, “Time to meet up with the others.”

“Gather round now,” I said grabbing their shoulders. “Time to see how everybody did.” 

***

The entire crew sat around a campfire far outside of the city limits. Starlight and Trixie sat next to each other and seemed surprisingly friendly. The sirens had rejoined and were basically on top of each other. I smiled sneakily. They’ll never admit it but they really can’t stand to be apart.  Even Gilda and Sunset were talking to each other. Smoke Puff had snuggled into my side when I teleported to the camp and hadn’t left me alone since. I stretched and yawned, capturing everyone’s attention.

“Report time,” I said. “First up, Starlight and Trixie. Any issues?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Like it would be hard to get a regular cart through some idiot town full of meatheads.”

“And what do you have to say, Starlight,” I asked.

“Trixie’s use of illusions was way more advanced and controlled than anything I’ve ever seen,” Starlight explained. “She manipulated several griffon’s sense of space at once without any sort of gaps or inconsistencies. I’d say her talent and skill were wasted today.” 

“Damn.” I was blown away. This was high praise coming from my second in command. And judging from the smug look on Trixie’s face, she was loving it. “Alright then. I’ll have give her a more appropriate role in the future. But for now,” I activated Trixie’s secondary genjutsu, “this will have to do.” 

Kurenai appeared in front of Trixie and suddenly became distorted. Her form shifted and split into two masses. Each mass took on another shape and became clearer and clearer until two new humans stood before her. One had black hair, bright red sharingan, and wore a black cloak covered in red clouds. The other had blue hair tied in a shape that resembled a pineapple, wore a green jacket and had mismatched eyes, one red and one blue. After they finished forming, they both vanished. Trixie grinned triumphantly.

“Next up, Sunset, your report,” I said.

“Why don’t I get to give the report,” Gilda asked.

“Because Sunset was the team leader on this one,” I explained.

“I thought Smoke Puff was the team leader,” Adagio said, finally paying attention.

“No, Smoke Puff was your observer,” I said.

“Bitch did a lot more than ‘observe’,” Gilda muttered.

“ANYWAY, we infiltrated the refinery and made our way to the records,” Sunset reported. “However, once we got there we found a griffon that had been killed and the place had been ransacked. We did manage to find out where the metal is being sent: Golden Reach, the capital city.”

“Of course,” I rubbed my chin. “Nothing’s ever easy. The good news is, they won’t really be able to deal with magic. But….” I focused on my thoughts. He can’t be ready to make his move yet, can he? How, when… I should act as if he’s able to operate freely. At the minimum it’s clear he has agents that can act for him. This is going to take some adjustment but at least the enemy is close by and sloppy. They didn’t cover their tracks so… fanatics most likely, not professionals. Or it’s a message. Hmmm…

“Sasuke?” 

“Huh,” I looked up to find everyone staring fearfully at me. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve never seen you make that kind of face,” Starlight offered.

“And you were leaking, like, death or something,” Gilda said, her voice voice barely above a whisper.

“It was killing intent,” Smoke Puff. “You were feeling his desire to kill someone.” Trixie shivered. “Don’t worry,” Smoke Puff laughed, “If it was you, you’d be dead. But that does raise an important question.” She looked me in my eyes. “Who were you thinking about?”

“Don’t worry about it,” I smiled. “It’s a non-issue.”

“If you say so,” Smoke Puff was unconvinced but she wasn’t going to push the issue. Everyone else began to relax and go back to talking. Soon, the atmosphere was back to its friendly, peaceful state.

“I guess our next stop is Golden Reach,” I said to no one in particular.

“I think after a successful mission we should celebrate,” Adagio grinned. “Hey Sasuke, do we have any more of that special plant?”

I rolled my eyes and smiled. “We might.”


**********Ponyville 3rd POV**********


“Are you sure about this, Twilight?” Spike asked nervously. He sat on a stool in the library’s basement. Attached to him were various wires all connecting to the many machines that Twilight kept for her studies.

“Of course, Spike,” Twilight answered as she manipulated the various knobs and switches. “There’s only a small possibility that something can go wrong. Less than 20% at most.”

“I think we have very different ideas of what a ‘small possibility’ is,” Spike snarked.

“Oh hush,” Twilight said. “This is for research Spike! Imagine what the Princess will say when I give her my findings!” She held a book in her magic and made some more adjustments.

“What is that book anyway,” Spike asked. “Usually you’re done with them pretty quick but you’ve been reading that one and another one for a while now.”

“I’m glad you asked, my number one assistant,” Twilight said cheerfully. “This is a book that details all of the Children of Tartarus. It’s incredible Spike! Did you know alicorns aren’t a pony species? And that other children include changelings, wraiths, and dragons. Among the other amazing characteristics they possess, all of the Children of Tartarus have a unique magic that is said to come directly from the source of all magic! Imagine what could be learned!”

Spike winced. “You’ve got that look in your eye again, Twilight.”

“What look?”

“That look you get right before you do something really crazy,” Spike deadpanned.

“Whaaat? Me?” Twilight pointed to herself and tried to look innocent. “Nah.” Twilight flipped a switch and the machines came to life. Lights flashed and a mechanical hum filled the room. Spike worriedly looked around while Twilight focused on the controls in front of her. “Spike, I need you to breathe some fire now.”

Spike nodded and in a deep breath. Focusing his mind, Spike let out a small torrent of flames.

“That’s perfect, Spike,” Twilight said. “Keep it up for as long as you can.”

Spike kept his tiny fire going and the machines spat out page after page of data. He blew for as long as he could and then fell over, out of breath.

“This is amazing, Spike!” Twilight said, rolling around in the papers like snow. “I’m going to revolutionize the world!”

“Yeah, sure,” Spike sighed. “I’m going to go see Rarity. Are you going to be ok down here?” Twilight continued rolling around, oblivious to the world. “I’ll be back before dinner because I’m pretty sure you’re not listening and will probably forget to eat. Later.”
> Chapter 20
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Appleloosa**********


Shining Armor stepped off the train and surveyed his surroundings. It was a small town, nothing much to look at. He could see it in its entirety from the station; it wasn’t very large. It was also a quite pleasant view, but Shining Armor had a mission and nothing could distract him from it. As he moved across the platform, his two companions followed close behind.

“Shining Armor, there is a saloon in the middle of town,” Long Bow offered. “It would be best if we started our search there. Also,” he looked Shining Armor up and down. “It would be best if you remove your armor.” Meat Grinder nodded in agreement.

“My armor is a symbol of my rank and dedication to the princesses,” Shining growled. “I will not remove it. In fact you should be wearing yours.”

“This is the outskirts of our country,” Long Bow countered. “There are a lot of different species out here and not all of them think very highly of our royal guard. Trust me, it’s better if you don’t wear it.”

“This is still Equestria,” Shining Armor turned away from his teammates. “And I want that monster to know I’m coming for it.”

Long Bow and Meat Grinder exchanged a knowing look before following Shining Armor. The three of them walked through the small town together. They drew a few hostile stares and curious glances but none dared approach them. In fact, there was a small crowd gathering behind them. Long Bow and Meat Grinder had noticed and were keeping track but Shining Armor’s single minded determination made only his goal visible to him. Eventually they came to a stop. The sign in front of them identified the building as the Salt Block. Shining Armor straightened his helmet and kicked the door open, and walked inside.

Every eye was focused on the three soldiers as they walked to the bar. Long Bow heard the smooth sound of blades being drawn and tensed up, ready for action. Meat Grinder’s focus intensified readying herself to draw her own weapons. Shining Armor took a seat while the other two soldiers stood facing the other patrons. The saloon was mostly filled with ponies but there were a few others as well. Angry griffon, minotaur, and buffalo faces glared at them. Seemingly immune to the tension in the air, Shining Armor waved the bartender over.

“Cider. Hardest you got,” he demanded.

Bemused by the situation the bartender poured a mug of cider for the captain and slid it down the bar. He then leaned against the bar and waited. A show was about to start and he didn’t want to miss it.

Shining Armor grabbed the mug and downed all in one gulp. He slammed the mug into the bar and spun the tool towards the bar’s patrons. He stood up and slowly walked towards the middle of the floor. The room tensed as everyone’s grip on their weapons grew tighter. “Calm yourselves. I’m not here for you, today. The Guard looking for strange creature. Bipedal, shorter than a minotaur, taller than a diamond dog. That description ringing any bells?” Shining paused. Silence drowned the room. “No? Then how about a group of griffons? This symbol look familiar?” He waved a poster in each creature’s face with his magic. “Still nothing? Think real hard. They were here a day ago. I realize that it may be difficult for you to try remembering so far back but try anyway.”

“I don’t appreciate the royal guard barging into my bar and harassing my customers,” a green, serpentine dragon flew into the room and lie down on the bar. “So I hope you appreciate me telling you to leave. Now.”

“However new this town may be,” Shining marched up to the dragon. “It still falls under Equestrian jurisdiction. So I hope you appreciate me telling you to hand over any information you have related to the griffon Valkyries.”

In a single moment, the dragon shrunk its body until it was eye level with Shining Armor. Recognizing the danger from his Everfree training, Long Bow leapt into the air as fast as he could. But he was too late. In one swift motion, the dragon knocked Shining Armor through a wall with his tail. The dragon returned to its normal size and flew up to the ceiling.

“You forgot where you are, guard,” it said. “This is Appleloosa. There is no guard here. We make our own law; we settle our own problems. Understand?”

Shining Armor blasted his way back through the wall. “This entire building is now under lockdown. A pink force field formed around the saloon. “You will all submit to individual questioning either by choice or by force.”

That was the final straw. The bar patrons gripped their weapons and attacked. Long Bow and Meat Grinder leapt into action. Meat Grinder drew her axes and immediately knocked backed several minotaurs. Long Bow took a position near the ceiling and scanned for the targets while knocking enemies out of the air. Shining Armor blasted away a diamond dog and then grabbed another in his forcefield. He threw the diamond dog at the dragon. The dragon effortlessly weaved through Shining Armor’s projectiles and blew bursts of flame at him. Shining Armor blocked the flame and without moving from his spot, grabbed the dragon in a forcefield. The dragon chuckled as it enlarged its body, shattering the spell.The dragon blew intense streams of fire that engulfed everything in their path. Shining Armor and Meat Grinder dove for cover, narrowly avoiding immolation. Meat Grinder signed a plan to Shining Armor, who could only grasp the basic details. He nodded despite his lack of understanding and created a wall of magic. Meat Grinder jumped behind the wall and threw her axe at the dragon. The dragon dodged the axe, only for Long bow to fly in and catch it. He drove the axe into the dragon’s skull with all his might. The dragon slumped to the ground and groaned. Retrieving her axe, Meat Grinder could already see the dragon’s wound begin to close. Snorting angrily, she jumped back into the fight.

Long Bow gripped a griffon in mid air and flung it to the ground. After finishing his attack with a divebomb, he noticed something strange. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that there were several shapes that were avoiding the fight and moving towards the door. He turned his head to get a better look and his eyes grew wide.

“Captain, they’re going for the door!” Long Bow shouted.

“They won’t get pass my- argh!!!” Shining Armor recoiled as he felt the pain of his spell being shattered. He looked around and saw the dragon grinning as fire consumed his forcefield.

“It’s bad for business if people get captured in my bar,” the dragon said calmly. “But it looks like they’re getting away. You might want to chase after them.”

Shining Armor glared intensely at the dragon. “I’ll be back for you,” he declared.

“And I’ll be waiting,” the dragon smirked.

“Forget the dragon,” Long Bow shouted. “We have something more important to do!”

Both Meat Grinder and Long Bow ran out the door. Shining Armor snarled and followed them. The Valkyries were reaching the edge of the town as Shining exited the building. Long Bow wasn’t far behind them and Meat Grinder was sprinting to catch up. Shining Armor teleported to Meat Grinder.

“Throw me at them,” he commanded.

Meat Grinder took the unicorn and threw him as hard as she could at the griffons. Shining Armor sailed past Long Bow and was about to reach the closest griffin when the one in front turned back and collided with him instead. Startled only for a second, Shining captured the griffon in a bubble.

“Boss!” one of the griffons screeched.

“Finish the mission,” the captured one replied. The griffons nodded and flew faster than they had been.

Shining Armor levitated himself to the ground and glared towards the fleeing griffons. As his companions approached, he grinned. “Check it out: I got one. And I think this one is their-”

Shining was interrupted by a hoof hitting his jaw.

“What the name of-”

Long Bow grabbed him by his collar. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will have the princesses strip you of your rank and kick you out of the Guard. Understand?”


“What are you talking about?” Shining pulled free of his grip. “I can hold myself up for a few minutes. I wasn’t going to fall.”


“I’m talking about that performance in the bar you idiot,” Long Bow seethed. “You jeopardized our entire operation, provided a distraction that allowed our targets to get a head start, and created new enemies for the guard, and just made every future interaction we have with this town more difficult.”

Shining grit his teeth. “I am captain of the royal guard and I-”

“Exercised the worst judgement I have ever seen coming from one who bears that title,” Long Bow said. “Whatever your obsession is you need to-”

“Maybe I just care more about this than you,” Shining shouted. “This is personal for me!”

“And it isn’t for us?” Long Bow countered. “Did you know my closest friend is currently with Sasuke? Starlight Shimmer is, as we speak, with a monster that almost permanently damaged my and my subordinate’s wings! That’s right, Swift Arrow has suffered more than you. Meat Grinder’s family serve as King Steel Sword’s personal soldiers. And they watched as his pet timberwolf chewed up and spit him out. Personal? This is personal for all of us!”

“You can’t talk to me like this; I’m a captain! Captain of the Royal Guard!”

“Newsflash plothole: we’re the same rank! I’m Captain of the Everfree Forces! And just between us, captain to captain: you need to get your shit together!” They stood in silence for a time afterward, testing each others’ will with their eyes. “Going back to town is a bad idea. We’ll set up camp out here and interrogate the prisoner.”

***

With the sun set, the only light came from the campfire and the pink bubble containing the griffon. She sat in a meditative pose with her eyes closed. Shining Armor sat in front of the bubble watching her every move. Long Bow and Meat Grinder were several steps away from the camp having a hushed conversation. They paused to look at the bubble before joining Shining Armor.

“I’ll be conducting the interrogation,” Long Bow announced. “Be prepared to follow my instructions.” Shining Armor growled but said nothing. “Hello there, Valkyrie. I feel bad calling you Valkyrie. Will you tell me your name?”

The griffon opened her eyes. “My name is Aoife. What is yours?”

“I am Captain Long Bow, this is Meat Grinder, and-”

“Captain Shining Armor,” Aoife grinned. “Sasuke had a lot to say about him.”

Shining started to say something but Long Bow cut him off. “Speaking of Sasuke, what’s he been up to recently?”

“No idea,” Aoife smiled. “All I know is what I’m supposed to to do.”

“I see,” Long Bow said. “Compartmentalized to prevent plan leaks. Smart. Aside from Sasuke, who knows the entire plan?” Aoife laughed. “No one, huh. Hmm. So why would Sasuke want his best soldiers out in the middle of nowhere? What brings you out here?”

“You should give up now,” Aoife said as she inspected a talon. “Even if you knew why were here, you couldn’t even begin to piece together his plan. His mind is an endless and ever changing maze.”

“That is unfortunate,” Long Bow scratched his chin. “Are you hungry Aoife?”

“I could eat,” she replied.

Meat Grinder pushed food against the bubble. When it didn’t go through, she looked at Shining expectantly.

“Absolutely not!” Shining protested. “Why are we feeding her? Why aren’t you pushing harder? We should find out where the rest of them went and-”

“And what, Shining?” Long Bow said, sounding tired. “Fight them while outnumbered and trying to keep a prisoner? They are an elite squad. Each of them are equal to one member of our task force. Not only that but how would we restrain them? How many individual shields can you maintain? And to even get that far we have to first find them. In a few miles this will become a desert. Sand shifts all the time which would blow away tracks while at the same time our targets fly not leaving many tracks in the first place. Not to mention we don’t even know the general direction they went.”

“Then we should force her to reveal their objective,” Shining shouted.

“How do you propose we do that?” Long Bow sighed. “Valkyries train to withstand extreme pain and killing her will get us nothing. The Guard is forbidden from using mental spells unless given explicit permission by the princesses. We will take her Canterlot so that the princesses can examine her mind.”

“And what makes you think that they won’t try to come back for her before we leave?” Shining pressed. “What do we do if they come back for her?”

“They won’t,” Aoife said nonchalantly. “We have a mission to complete. Coming back for me would be a waste of time and effort. Besides, Sasuke would be quite upset if we failed in our mission just to rescue a captured teammate.”

Shining started laughing. He laughed so hard he fell to the ground. “That’s who you swore your allegiance to? A monster that abandons his allies?”

Aoife smiled. “You misunderstand me, Captain. I only said that my team would not be coming for me.”

A chill passed through the International Anti-Sasuke Taskforce.

“Shining Armor, I will take the first watch,” Long Bow said. “Put enough power into your spell to last through your sleep. Meat Grinder, you will take the third watch.”

Meat Grinder nodded and lie down. In mere moments she was fast asleep. Shining Armor filled his bubble with power then cast a sleep spell on himself.

“Just you and me now,” Aoife said as Long Bow made himself comfortable.

“It would appear so,” Long Bow confessed. The sounds of the night swirled around them. “Is Starlight ok?”

Aoife smiled and leaned back. “That mouthy unicorn? She’s doing fine. She and Sasuke have taken a liking to each other. I don’t think they could actually stand to be apart now.”

Long Bow breathed a sigh of relief and smiled to himself. Starlight was alright and apparently she and the creature were getting along. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course Starlight could find common ground with a monster. ‘Just wait, you silly mare,’ he thought. ‘I’ll find you soon.’

***

Shining Armor glared intently at the prisoner. He was tempted to shrink the bubble to get more information out of her but he managed to restrain himself. Barely. This gave him pause. Why was he acting so recklessly? The situation in the bar could have been handled with more finesse...right? His mind clouded slightly. Of course not, that was the only way to treat the scum that gathered in that town. As long as he was in pursuit of the worst criminal the world had ever seen, no action could be going too far. In fact, most actions didn’t go far enough! Shining knew a few mental manipulation spells and was fairly good at using them. Maybe the princesses would forgive him. They would definitely forgive him. And if something went wrong, they would have an easier time peeling the information from the husk of a griffon that would be leftover. Shining began to charge his spell.

“Oh,” Aoife said, taking notice. “What are you up to now?”


“I’m taking the information I want,” Shining replied. “One way or another.”


“How scary,” Aoife giggled. “I’m not sure your buddies will like that.”

“Maybe not but they will appreciate results.”

“Ah the better to ask forgiveness than permission route,” Aoife grinned. “Sasuke told me about that. And about you of course.”

Shining’s new spell evaporated. “What could that monster possibly know about me?”

“Well let’s see,” Aoife scratched her chin. “Captain Shining Armor of the Equestrian Royal Guard. Fiancee to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who was his childhood friend and younger sister’s, Twilight Sparkle, babysitter. Very pretty mare even by my standards. Is that why you couldn’t even talk to her the first time you saw her? How did it feel to laughed at on stage like that? Although I guess he’s your friend now so bygones and all that. Of course after the show and dance you and Cadence started dating. How am I so far?”

Shining Armor was stunned.

“Oh and one more thing,” Aoife grinned. “Sasuke wanted me to give you a message if I ran into you.”

“What is it?”

“Lights out, Shining!”

“What’s that supposed to mean,” Shining asked. Aoife said nothing and smirked.

“Now what am I going to do with you, Aoife,” a voice behind Shining Armor made his blood run cold. “You went and got yourself captured.”

Shining Armor turned around to see Sasuke staring directly into his eyes. Shining dropped his bubble spell and fired a magic blast at Sasuke. “Sasuke’s here!” he screamed.

Long Bow and Meat Grinder shot up from where they were sleeping and took battle stances.

“He went this way!” Shining raced off after Sasuke leaving his companions in the dust. Long Bow immediately started following him while Meat Grinder held back. She gazed toward Aoife, who was already flying away, before following her group.

Shining Armor ran as fast as he could but he just couldn’t catch up. It frustrated him to no end that no matter how fast he ran, no matter how many times he teleported, Sasuke was always out of his reach. It was also clear now that Sasuke was leading them towards the town and that pissed Shining off even more. Shining wouldn’t give up though. He kept running, pushing his body to its limit. As he ran, he heard wingbeats approaching.

“Which way is he going, it’s too dark for me to see,” Long Bow yelled.

“He’s heading for the town,” Shining responded. “See if you can cut him off!”

“It’s no good; I can’t see him,” Long Bow said. “When he gets inside the town put up a forcefield. Luna gave me the spell gem that blocks his teleports. We’ll try to trap him.”

Shining nodded. They were almost at the edge of the town now and Sasuke was standing in the shadow of a stack of boxes, taunting him. Shining ran into the town and created his barrier. The entire town was surrounded by a wall of purple light. The town was dimly illuminated casting wild shadows in all directions.

“Shining!” Long Bow screamed. Shining Armor searched for the pegasus only to find he and Meat Grinder on the outside of the forcefield. “Let us in!”


“Don’t you want to finish this?” Sasuke goaded. “Just you and me. Hand to hoof, no magic, no ninjutsu.” Shining hesitated. “Just imagine if you bring be back, defeated, to the princesses. What would Cadence think about that?”

“Don’t you dare speak her name!” Shining Armor shouted. He knew shouldn’t fall for this. It was a trap of some kind; it had to be. But…. this was a chance he might never get again. He had to take it. “I accept. I’ll stomp you into the dirt, demon!”

“I still can’t see him, Shining!” Long Bow cried out. “Don’t fall for any of his traps!”

Sasuke grinned maliciously. The two stepped onto the main street and began circling each other. Long Bow yelled for Shining Armor to lower the barrier but was ignored. Meat Grinder attacked the forcefield as hard as she could but found no weakness. They watched helplessly as it began.

‘Higher center of gravity but with longer reach. Lower top speed, higher agility. Natural gift for all combat. Godlike in close quarters combat.’Shining Armor studied his enemy.  “Godlike, huh?” he snorted. “No offense princess but I’m about to lay your god out.” Shining darted towards Sasuke and attempted a buck with both hooves. Sasuke sidestepped him easily and slammed his elbow into Shining’s back. Shining buckled under the force but quickly scrambled to his hooves. He spun around and managed to sink his forehoof into Sasuke’s torso. Seemingly unaffected, Sasuke punched Shining, in the face knocking him to the ground again. This pattern repeated over and over. Sasuke dodged nearly every blow and the ones that did land did nothing. Shining Armor, however, was barely staying conscious. Sasuke’s blows were heavy and unrelenting. Shining’s eyes were swollen and he could barely see, he was close to choking on his own blood, and he was fairly sure his right foreleg was broken.

“I-I-I-I’ll s-s-stop you,” Shining croaked.

“No, you won’t,” Sasuke said calmly. “Not now, not ever. I am the thing that keeps you up at night. The evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind. I will never rest and neither will you.” The sun peeked over the hills and shined in Shining’s eyes, blinding him. “But it looks like our little play date is over. See you soon, Shining Armor.”

Shining Armor rolled onto his back, exhausted. His lack of strength caused his forcefield to shatter. Meat Grinder and Long Bow rushed to Shining as fast as they could.

“I’m sorry,” Shining choked out. “I thought I could beat him.”

Long Bow checked the extent of the damage and dressed Shining’s wounds. “Meat Grinder observed the entire battle,” Long Bow started.

“I know already,” Shining Armor groaned. “I didn’t stand a chance. Did she learn anything new? Any clues about Sasuke’s fight style?”

Long Bow hesitated for a moment. Meat Grinder put a reassuring hand on his back. “Sasuke wasn’t here,” Long bow finally said. “We have a theory but we know for sure: you never encountered Sasuke.”

“What,” Shining sputtered. “That’s impossible! I have the injuries to to prove it! Unless you’re saying they just randomly appeared!?”

“Our theory is Sasuke used an illusion to trick your mind into thinking you were fighting him,” Long Bow explained. “Then your magic responded to your altered reality and made your injuries real. What we can’t explain is the trigger. Did Aoife do or say anything out of the ordinary? Anything that might have activated the illusion? Where there any hints to when you were placed under his power? Is there anything you haven’t told us?”

“That’s ridiculous,” Shining scoffed. “I only had brief contact with the prisoner.”

Meat Grinder and Long Bow looked worriedly at each other. Meat Grinder signed something to Long Bow very quickly but Shining Armor was unable to catch it.

Long Bow sighed heavily. “Under the authority of General Meat Grinder, Shining Armor, due to the suspicion that you are under the influence of enemy illusions you are hereby declared mentally unfit to continue service in this task force. We will escort you to Canterlot in order to have your mind checked and cleansed of manipulation by the princesses. This operation is over.”


**********Equestrian Border: Badlands**********


“We are not going back for her.”

“But, but-”

“But nothing,” Andraste sighed. “I’m in command now. And I know, just like you know, Aoife wouldn’t want us to abandon the mission for her.” Andraste looked over her crestfallen comrades. “Besides, she can take care of herself. Are you doubting her?”

“I would never!”

“Then pull yourself together,” Andraste looked towards the sunrise. “Or you won’t survive this mission.”

“Yes ma’am,” the young Valkyrie walked away to gather his things, few though they were.

Andraste sighed. She was worried about Aoife too! They knew that, right? But this mission was important to Lord Mephisto. So important, in fact, he had sent all but one of the Valkyries. And as if he was expecting the worst, Lord Mephisto had given them-

“We’re ready to move, ma’am.” Andraste was pulled from her thoughts.

“Take flight,” Andraste ordered, flaring her wings.

The Valkyries all leapt into the air and the eight of them flew in formation. Andraste flew at the front of the formation, guiding her comrades with a special compass crafted by Starswirl. Luckily the wind blew in their favor and they only needed to ride the air currents. Andraste looked down. The sand all looked the same to her. If it wasn’t for the compass, she would be hopelessly lost. ‘Maybe I should go back for Aoife.’ Andraste shook her head clear. These thoughts would only cloud her judgement. Besides, if she actually did delay the mission in order to go back, she only have Aoife’s anger to look forward to. Along with a demotion.

“The Badlands suuuuuuuck!”

Andraste ignored the young Valkyrie and kept her pace. But he did have a point. The sun was intense and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The sands shined and reflected the sunlight back upwards. Put simply, it was really freaking hot. But at least they were getting closer. The compass’s arrow, was getting shorter, indicating that they were approaching the target. Andraste spotted large white stones in the stand. As the compass’s arrow got shorter, the amount of stones increased.

“Time to land,” Andraste said. Each Valkyrie landed on a stone and stood at attention. “We’re about to face a monster that’s a level higher than a fully matured alicorn in terms of raw power. Keep in mind that it is vengeful, obsessive, and hates insincere flattery. However, it loves one of a kind objects and if we manage to win it over, it will be loyal to us forever. For this to work, we can’t fight it. If we try, we will surely die. If things go bad, we will have to run. Lord Mephisto says that if we try to use spell gems, they will recoil. Understood?”

One of the Valkyries raised a claw. “Quick question: can we opt out of this suicidally insane plan?”

“No.”

The griffon sighed. “Understood.”

“Good.” Andraste started walking and the others followed. As they moved through the stones no one spoke. The clicks of their claws echoed through the desert. The griffons were all very nervous. What had they really agreed to? Stronger than an alicorn? Could they really pull off diplomacy without Aoife?

While walking, the Valkyries came upon a flat area. The ground changed from white stone to a translucent blue dotted with glimmering white stars. The arrow on Andraste’s compass vanished.

“Everyone stop,” she ordered. “It should be here… And impossible to miss....” Andraste looked around. All she could see were the white stones surrounding her. Then, she looked down. Her eyes grew wide when she finally realized what they were standing on. “Valkyries!” she screamed. “Get to the rocks! Now!” Each griffon quickly dashed away from the translucent ground. Andraste watched carefully but nothing happened. Nervously, Andraste prepared herself. “Scorpio!”

The ground shook violently. The translucent blue surface rose from the sand and shook the rocks from its body. Its massive body blocked the sun from the griffons’ view. They stood in the shadow of a giant constellation beast, Scorpio. It’s eight eyes all shifted around until they saw the griffons. All of the eyes focused on Andraste, who stood in front.

“What do you want?”
> Chapter 21
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Golden Reach 1st POV**********


Much like Canterlot, the Griffon Republic’s capital city, Golden Reach, was at the top of a mountain.That’s where the similarities end, however. Golden Reach is a city carved into the mountain top instead of sitting on the side. It gets its name from the fact that the city’s rooftops are all covered in actual gold. It has an intense glare that makes flying over it (or around it really) a terrible idea. Even moonlight can blind an unlucky flier. That is, even if a flier can make it to the city in the first place. Golden Reach is in the middle of a mountain range, the Frozen Daggers, and surround on all sides by strategically placed defensive forts and villages. There are bridges connecting mountain peaks all across the mountain making the whole place look like a giant, sparkling spider web. White Water Palace is the center and focal point of Golden Reach.  Fun fact: the name is apparently based on the grudge an advisor to emperor had against me. Also, according to Gilda, there’s a terrifying statue of me somewhere inside of it. Unfortunately, visiting the palace was an unnecessary risk. Instead, our focus would be…

“Strongheart Ironworks is the foundry that’s been receiving shipments from around the country,” I explained. “According to the documents we got earlier, this only started after we invaded Canterlot.”

“What do you want us to do?” Sunset asked with a smirk.

“First, all of you are going to investigate the city and surrounding area,” I instructed. “Gather useful information about the layout of the foundry. Then make a mental map of the city’s layout. Trixie’s team will provide a distraction and take care of any interference. Understand?”

Trixie grinned ear to ear. She got lead a team this time! “Trixie will completely captivate this entire city and show you that she should be the new second in command,” she declared.

I just rolled my eyes. “Anyway, before you start, you should familiarize yourself with the city. Today, you’ll transform into griffons and explore. Mark down any narrow streets, possible escape roots, barracks, heavily trafficked areas, anything that seems like it might be useful.”

“Sounds pretty straightforward,” Adagio said. “But nothing is ever simple with you. What did you leave out?”

I grinned. “There seems to be heavy security on the entrance to the city. It’s the griffon capital and Sasuke Uchiha is loose. Golden Reach is on the highest alert short of full on war. If you get caught, you will most likely be tortured for information and then executed. Also, any slip ups here will alert Celestia to our location and she will find our base. Anybody up for death by sunfire? No? Didn’t think so.”


“If this is really that risky, why aren’t you doing it yourself?” Sonata asked. “Or at least sending the rabbit?”

I put a hand in front of Smoke Puff and the energy she had quickly gathered dissipated.  “Because despite what you may think of me, I have full confidence that you can pull this off,” I said with a friendly smile. “That and if you screw this up and my plans are shot to hell, being tortured for information by griffons will be least of your worries. The last guy that ruined so much for me is still, yes still, trapped in a nightmarish hellscape you can’t even begin to comprehend and will be for the remainder of eternity. So good luck!”

As I was about to dismiss the girls, space itself ripped in front of me creating a dark portal to the void. Something fell out so I tensed and prepared to attack.


**********Golden Reach Zoro’s POV**********


Now, many of you would expect me to gracefully come out of the dark portal of void stuff, be my usual badass self, and not royally f*** it up in any way possible. Sadly, I live to break expectations.

I tumbled out with the grace of a hippo on rollerblades, landed face first, and at some point, my towel decided to leave me, exposing my Leeroy Jenkins to whoever had the balls and alcohol needed to deal with me. But hey, at least this teleportation doesn’t make me sick to my stomach. Ain’t life grand?

Sanji landed A-O-Kay if my hearing was correct. He even had the balls to chuckle at… well…

Note to self, set delays on my magic earing incase I get summoned in my sleep. By Tao it would be embarrassing if I were to get offed in my sleep again.

“Wow, and here I thought I had bad luck,” I heard a voice from my weeb days say. I looked up from my very shameful position on the ground to see the Prince of Emos in his stripper-like outfit. And he was smirking at me. Oh, please don’t let this be another Donkey Kong Fiasco.

“Sasuke F***ing Uchiha. Would you be a dear and give me your pants? I seem to be missing mine.”

I heard faint giggling and saw ponies. Anthro ponies. Anthro alicorns that weren’t the Sisters. And an alicorn griffon. And siren alicorns? And a quadruped unicorn? And a bunny alicorn girl that looks like she should be in school. The flying f*** am I?

“What the hell? Is that the sword guy from One Piece?” Sasuke cocked his head.

“Sure, notice the sword guy first,” Sanjj grumbled. “After all, he’s the guy who fucked up the landing. I was freaking majestic!”

“The hell man,” I muttered before shaking my head. “To answer your question, yes, I am Zoro, he is Sanji, and I still need pants.”

Doing a few hand seals, Sasuke conjured up a set of his clothes and handed them to me. “I take it you haven’t always been Zoro and Sanji?”

“Nope,” the blonde said. “And I take it you weren’t always Sasuke. Still though, great luck on our parts. I'd hate to be the schmuck that ended up as a Magikarp.”

“That would suck,” Sasuke admitted. “So, what brings you to my little slice of horse heaven?” Wait, is this dude also a sarcastic asshole? Love it here already.

“Well, if you want to get technical, Mr Chef here found a Token, which I'm guessing was yours, and accidentally ran into me as I was heading out of a shower. Guess the rest.”

“I feel you,” he said. “Trips through the Void aren’t exactly pleasant. But real quick, are you one of the unstoppable evil variety? I’ve heard some of us are actual gods.”

“Nah, just two masters of Haki and badassery.” As I put on the shirt, I was taking in my surroundings, and I noticed two things. One, we were outside the limits of a town covered with gold tops, probably griffon if architecture was similar here. And two, Duck butt’s harem looked ready to piss themselves. “Wait, is my Haki leaking? Oh shit I am so sorry.” Immediately after suppressing some of my Conqueror, they stopped looking like a hydra was about to eat their faces. Still gave me a wide berth.

“Just a bit,” Duck butt laughed. “The recruits here were just paralyzed with fear. Nothing to worry about. In fact they kind of need the experience. Actually… how long were you planning on staying?”

“None at all,” was Sanji’s response. “But might as well after Greeny here gets his pants on. What have ya got for us, sir?”

Sasuke grinned. “I was just about to send my girls here on a recon mission. But with your help I could move the timetable up a little bit. You guys want a job?”

“Throw in a few bottles of booze and we’re your men,” I said after finally putting on some pants. Damn did he keep them baggy. I just gave up on the rope-belt thing and tied that like any other knot.

“Fantastic,” Sasuke laughed. “I need you to help my girls steal some stuff. And also distract the locals.”

“Dibs on distraction,” my companion said eagerly.

“Might as well be stealth,” I said, thinking that with Observation and my hunting skills would be useful. “First things first, is there a way to communicate to each group? ‘Cause I may be able to help in that department.”

“That would be great,” he said. “We’re still working on that. But for now all we’ve got are magical flares.”

I pulled off one of my earrings, the bottom most, and handed it to the Shinobi. The Void automatically replaced it on my earlobe. “This is my Token and acts as a cell phone would, minus the payment. Just think of who you want to talk to, and BAM! Instant service, no matter where they are. Plan on passing it to all Displaced.” I reached for another one, the middle, and pulled it off multiple times as the Void replaced them. “I affectionately call these the Equestrian Earrings, as I only give them to natural Equestrians. Only difference between them and my Token is that they can't summon me.” I passed all of them to the girls who placed them on their right ears. The poor rabbit girl was shivering just being in my vicinity.

“This is going to help out big time,” Sasuke said as he put the earring on. “So the thing you're looking for is going to be some kind of designs detailing special tools and weapons. They’ll be in a factory near the big castle looking place.”

“Question,” the chef exclaimed. “How much of a distraction so you need? Rampage or controlled?”

“Rampage a bit, have some fun. We just need all focus on you. And if you can, try not to look bipedal.”

“Believe me,” he said, the end of his cigarette igniting into black flames, “they won't be able to keep their eyes off me.”

“Yeah, about the black fire,” Sasuke rubbed the back of his head. “Would you happen to have another color you can work with?”

“Hellfire Spectrum,” Sanji explained, “has eight colors, seven of which I'm comfortable using. Red is wrath, pink is lust, black is pride, you get the seven sins jist. Each color also has a different effect.”

“Black fire is a dead give away that I’m involved in something so the more the better. You Sanji will be playing with Trixie, Aria Blaze, Sonata Dusk. Zoro you get the pleasure of working with Gilda, Adagio Dazzle, and Sunset Shimmer.”

“Oh hey,” I said, pointing at the bacon haired girl. “I remember you. You used to blast my statue with fire whenever Sunny lectured you for something stupid. Helped take off all the bird crap. Good times.”

“I’ve never seen you before in my life,” Sunset timidly whispered.

“Don’t listen to them,” the unicorn said. “They come from alternate Equestrias. And they all seem to have the same general asinine demeanor. I think it’s a species thing.”

“Hey, do not diss Robin like that,” Sanji blurted out angrily before I Gibsed him.

“Sorry, he’s passionate about people he knows,” I say to the unicorn, bowing slightly.

“I can see that,” she huffed. “You’d better keep my sister safe.”

“Trust me, I can see the future. Nothing will happen to her. Probably.”

“Of course,” the unicorn rolled her eyes.

“Anyway,” Sasuke said. “It's time to get a move on! Daylight’s a-burnin!”

As was the custom of finishing a plan, I played an iconic song. Everyone just stared at me like I was the weirdest thing ever. “What? Too soon?”

“Is… is that some magic spell?” Sasuke asked. “Or was Zoro some sort of living iPod?”

“You know Gilgamesh,” I asked him.

“The epic hero? What kind of convention was he at?”

“Well, think of the Final Fantasy character, put the Eleventh Doctor behind the wheels, plus misadventures literally everywhere in the Multiverse. He was OP and had weird abilities that made no sense at first. Gave me this one.”

“Oddly enough, that makes perfect sense. I think I’ve been here too long.”

“Meh,” was my response.


**********Golden Reach, Nondescript Part of the City 3rd POV**********


Sunset Shimmer led her group through the crowded streets of the glittering city. A quick transformation and they attracted no attention. As they neared their destination, she motioned to the rooftops.

Zoro had been using his Observation Haki to scan the area and made constant reports of people’s where abouts. Everyone in the group was nervous when he ended up knocking a wannabe mugger without even looking at him.

Slightly confused about what was happening Gilda found her voice first. “Who are you?”

“Long version or short,” he asked the griffon hybrid.

“Short.”

“Well, you sort of know about Sasuke’s origins and powers, right? I'm similar in that I was shoved into a situation I never imagined with powers I never thought real. If I want, I can knock an army unconscious without lifting a finger. Pretty handy with a blade, too.” He chuckled at the last part, holding the tanto that his host was gracious enough to give him. Wasn't his usual three blades, but hopefully it wouldn't be needed.

“I know nothing about Sasuke’s origins,” Adagio said. “Would you mind filling in some gaps?”

The swordsman sighed. “If he hasn't told you already, then you'll need to wait until he wants to say something. Just keep in mind that Sasuke wasn't always the Duck butt you see today. Literally.”

“But I want to-”

“Forget it,” Sunset ordered. “We’re here.”

Across from their perch, sat an enormous factory. Smoke billowed out of the towers and the noise of metal grinding on metal filled the air.

“Alright, so what's the drill,” Zoro asked.

“Sasuke says the important papers will be kept in a main office on the third floor. See the guards down there? They’re just for show. They’ll sound an alarm if anything seems even remotely wrong.”

Zoro just grinned while they felt a familiar sensation pass through them. After a second, both guards fell off their perches, crashing into the hard ground. They weren't getting up any time soon.

“Step two,” he asked cheekily.

“Frickin show off,” Gilda mumbled.

“Next we go in and look around,” Sunset said. She and the other girls returned to their human like forms. Zoro stayed looking like a griffon.

“Um, a little help.”

“Forgot for a second,” Adagio undid the transformation, returning the human to his original form.

Everyone entered the building, keeping a lookout for anything suspicious or their targets. When they found nothing, they used the earrings to silently convey where they had just checked and moved on to the next area. This pattern continued for a while before Gilda spoke up.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” she complained. “Let’s just tear the place apart. Or try the castle. Probably some good stuff in there.”

“That’s a terrible idea,” Sunset rolled her eyes. “But I feel like we should have found something by now. Can you use your special powers to find anything, Zoro?”

He was silent for a minute before he responded. “It's definitely here in the building, but the room is kind of weird. Do you guys have experience with secret entrances. Should be somewhere near the Music Fish.”

“I got it.” Gilda put her hand on the ground and closed her eyes. She held still for a few seconds before standing up. “This way.” She led them to a room near  Adagio’s position and they easily got in. Gilda moved a large file cabinet to the side and pressed on the wall. It moved back and to the side revealing a small hidden room filled with boxes and paper. “Bingo.”

“Start looking,” Sunset commanded. Everyone began searching through the various files and papers.

“I say we just take everything,” Adagio offered. “It all seems pretty valuable.”

“Girls,” Zoro said suddenly. “Do you know what the hell voidrock is? I sure don't.”

Sunset shot over to Zoro. “Voidrock? You can’t manipulate that! You can’t even get near it!” She snatched the papers for Zoro’s hand.

“Um, still half blind here,” he said trying to get her attention with the bad pun. “Does it have to do with the Void, cause if not I'm totally lost.”

“No, it’s.. How do I explain,” Sunset thought out loud. “Voidrock is a naturally occurring substance that cancels and dissipates energy that it comes into contact with. For magical beings, being near it can be deadly. A small deposit is enough to drain a fully charged unicorn and touching it for a long enough period of time might even be enough to kill an alicorn.”

He simply thought on that, delving into his tactical side. “And I'm guessing that Chakra here works like magic, yeah?”

Sunset nodded. “This, what they’re working on here, could really be a threat to Sasuke.”

“Hmm… Drains magic and Chakra… You know how it affects ki or Haki?”

“I’m unfamiliar with ki,” Sunset said. “Is it another form of magic?”

“No,” he responded. “A quick scan can tell you that the only magic I have is my music mark. Just, imagine you can use your spirit to block anything from bullets to Sunny's death rays and touch intangible things or do what you’ve seen me do. Might give you partial resistance to this stuff if what I'm thinking is right.”

“How long does it take to learn?”

He simply shrugged. “Usually it takes two years to master the two basics of it, but I’ve seen people do it in eighteen months if they’re talented. I could shave off six months of that time. Nine months of training would be all you need if you just want to be good with one after that.”

“That’s still too long,” Gilda almost screeched. “We’re here now, we can do something now! Let’s blow this place up!”

All nodded and proceeded to grab everything they could carry, exiting the factory. Sunset turned back and formed her hand seals. She took a deep breath and engulfed the building in fire. She touched her earring with a finger. “We could use a distraction right about now.”

“On it,” the voice of the third human said over the link. “We’ll give you around five minutes before we gotta go.”

“Perfect, we’ll be out of the city in two,” Sunset said. “Let’s move.”


**********Golden Reach, City Center 3rd POV**********


Trixie trembled with excitement and anticipation. “Finally a chance to show off Trixie’s new skills! Do not get in Trixie’s way.”

“Actually,” Sanji said, lighting up another cigarette. “Mind transforming me into Sasuke?”

“Of course Trixie can do such a simple trick,” she huffed. “But wouldn’t a creature such as a behemoth be a better use of Trixie’s talent?”

“Yes, I don't doubt you could do that for a millisecond, but which is more believable? Sasuke kicking people with black fire or a Godzilla rip off appearing out of nowhere? On jobs like this, it's much better to be practical than showy.”

“He’s got a point,” Aria agreed.

“Fine,” Trixie reluctantly conceded. “But can Trixie at least use her new powers to force the griffons to feel fear?”

“But of course, madam,” Sanji said, bowing to her gentlemanly. “Fear and confusion are the name of this game.”

Trixie grinned again. “Then let’s get this show started!” With a flourish of her cape and a wave of her hand, a cloud of smoke swirled around Sanji and transformed him into Sasuke.

‘Sasuke’ checked himself out, doing a few of his fighting poses just to get a feel for it. After a second, he nodded.

“Hellfire Spectrum: Pride.” With that, his right leg became engulfed with those ebony flames that they had seen earlier. One problem instantly flared up, though. Instead of Sasuke’s foot being engulfed by the flames, it was Sanji’s usual suit that showed underneath them. “Huh, must be a problem with the Haki and Chakra. Probably don't mix too well.”

“Now that you mention it, Sasuke did say something about chakra not mixing too well with anything else,” Aria nonchalantly examined her fingernails.

“And you didn’t think to say anything earlier?” Trixie yelled. All around them griffons flew away in terror as they noticed the human in the vicinity.

“Shit,” Sanji muttered, rushing forward. “Trixie, keep up the fear factor. Aria, Sonata, sirens cause negative emotions when they sing, yes? Would you kindly demonstrate?”

Trixie wildly made hand seals and the eyes of the griffons grew dark circles around the edges. Aria looked at Trixie and sighed. Her and Sonata’s voices started out soft and grew in intensity and volume. Grew mist flowed through the square and the griffins became more erratic, pushing each other to the ground in an attempt to escape.

Sanji, in the meantime, went for a more physical demonstration of power.

“Diable Jambe,” he shouted, slamming his leg into the ground. The ground erupted, hundreds of bits of rocks flew into the air. He instantly stood on his hands. “Round Table Kick Course!” His kicks sent debris flying everywhere, destroying everything that got in its way. Within seconds, nothing but rubble surrounded the genin and chef.

The screams of the griffons quieted as they fled further from the terror in the city square. “All clear,” Aria murmured.

Sanji took out a cigarette and lit it up. “Alright, now we check for anyone who didn't get out of that. I'd rather not be considered a murderer here, too.”

“Do we have to,” Aria moaned. “Seems like a lot of work.”

“Ignore the lazy dullard,” Trixie huffed. “Trixie does not want blood on her hooves either.”

“Now, would you kindly replace everyone with griffon soldiers, preferably looking beat to all hell. Need to keep it convincing.”

“With pleasure.” Trixie needlessly spun around, the dust taking shape around her. After a few seconds a small battalion of beaten griffons filled the area.

Immediately, the human used Observation on the area. Wasn't as good with it as his counterpart, but nobody’s perfect. He directed his ‘battalion’ throughout the center, finding and rescuing anyone who was knocked prone in the attack or hiding. For good measure, Sanji instructed Trixie to do subtle memory wipes on those that had seen anything, altering it to where they had seen Sasuke, no inconsistencies mind you, rampage with multiple timberwolves.

Proud of a job well done, Trixie turned with a flourish of her cape. “I think we can leave now, don’t you? We had to have bought enough time.”

“Finally,” Aria sighed.

“We’re clear on our end,” Sunset said over the connection to the four of them. “Heading back now.”

With that, the three ninjas and human disappeared from the scene.


**********Golden Reach Outskirts**********


“Excellent work everyone,” Sasuke grinned. “But you missed something.” He held up an eagle that struggled in its bindings. “This little guy had a note tied to his foot and was on his way to Equestria. Can you believe it? A messenger eagle!”

“Isn't that like keeping a pet monkey for them,” Zoro asked. “I mean, aren't they half eagle?”

“Half eagle, half owl, half falcon; any bird of prey really,” Sasuke explained. “But I thought it was weird too.”

“Aw, and I wanted to see one like a flamingo.”

“You should have seen the half vulture.”

“You mean a bald eagle?”

“Stop,” Sanji said. “Only Brooks allowed to make bad puns.”

Sasuke fell to the ground laughing. “Oh my god, I’m gonna pee myself!”

“Enough,” Starlight frowned. “I was looking over the plans they found, and this is a Faust-damn nightmare! They actually mean to kill you!”

“Isn't that the point of an ‘Anti-Sasuke Strike Team,’” Sanji cocked his head.

“But… maybe…,” Starlight stammered. “This goes beyond killing Sasuke. This could kill Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna, or Princess Cadance, or maybe even Discord!”

“That’s a game changer,” Sasuke laughed. “But well within expectations. Chill out Starlight, part of my plan depends on this.”

“So let me guess,” Zoro spoke up. “Next thing you want is to somehow reroute Void rock weapons and armors to your hands, yeah?”

“You would think that,” Sasuke smirked. “But I just need the designs. I’ll send them to Starswirl and have him make something better. And now that I have a Twilight, I expect I’ll also have some countermeasures too.”

“What, how’d you get Egghead to be a turncoat? Isn't she Sunny’s biggest supporter?”

Sasuke stuck out his chest with a bit of pride. “Well actually…” He shrunk back down with a laugh. “I got Sci-Twi.”

Both of the visiting humans cocked their heads. “Huh?”

“The Twilight from the other side of the mirror?”

“Huh, forgot that was still around,” the Swordsman mumbled.

“Wait, what mirror,” Sanji asked.

“Don't worry about it. Probably still broken on our side.”

“If your Sunset is gone, that’s where she is, by the way,” Sasuke looked over at her. “You should go get her. Sunset’s like a more confident Twilight. Super useful.”

“That doesn't fill me with confidence. But now is not the time for the future. Sasuke, got somewhere private we can talk,” Zoro asked the Shinobi.

Sasuke nodded and placed a hand on Zoro’s and Sanji’s shoulders. The two of them swirled out of existence and appeared in Sasuke’s Kamui dimension. “What’s up?”

Immediately from the travel, Sanji threw up and Zoro looked extremely queasy.

“S-sorry bout that,” the chef mumbled. “We aren't too good with teleportation.”

“It takes some getting used to,” Sasuke admitted. Switching to a serious face he asked Zoro, “Why did this need to be private?”

“Multiple reasons. I've talked with some of your team and I need to ask this: are you taking the Overlord route or Lelouch route?”

“Neither,” Sasuke answered. “This is less about the world, and more… personal.”

It took a few seconds, but both visitors nodded in confirmation. “Now, as is usual with us, we might be able to partially help you incase you run across more voidrock shit.”

“Tartarus was lined with the stuff,” Sanji said. “So I know for a fact that Haki can dull the effects, but not erase them completely. Want to learn?”

Sasuke grinned. “Quiet as it’s kept, voidrock won’t actually kill me. Or you for that matter. We aren’t magical beings and chakra is partially made of chi. It will stop me from using my techniques, however, so yeah, sounds good.”

Zoro stood up and placed his hand on Sasuke’s head. “Please keep in mind, this will hurt like a bitch.”

“Of course it will,” Sasuke muttered. “When do I ever get a new power without it hurting.”

As soon as he said that, the swordsman started. Pain laced up Sasuke like nothing he had ever felt. His muscles felt like they were melting, being electrocuted, stitched up like Frankenstein’s monster, and it repeated itself. For a solid minute, all Sanji could hear was the Uchiha’s screams of utter pain and suffering. After that, everything went quiet. Both Zoro and Sasuke fell to the ground, panting heavily.

Sasuke rolled onto his back, trying to even out his breathing. “It’s like using Susanoo but infinitely worse.”

“Hehe,” Zoro chuckled. “I can… imagine. Now, Sanji, crash course, go!”

Clearing his throat, the chef helped the Shinobi stand.

“Haki, unlike magic or Chakra, is utilizing your spirit, mostly for defensive purposes. Can't be drained through any magical means, not that people haven't tried. Any questions before we move onto its practical uses?”

“Just one: can it be felt when I’m using it?”

“Unless they are also Haki users, no one can sense it.”

“Fantastic. Please continue.”

“Alright, so Haki comes in three flavors, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry. Chocolate is Armament, hardening your body in order to strike harder or hit intangible enemies. Personal favorite of mine is that with enough skill, it can generate flames. Vanilla is Observation, which is predicting people’s next move and sensing everything around you, no matter what. Talk with him if you want more in depth. Finally, Strawberry is Conqueror, a very rare one only a handful even have the potential to wield. I'm safe to assume that you saw what it can do, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke said rolling his shoulders. “You could assume I saw that.” He stood up. “So how do I use it?”

“For Armament, follow my instructions.” As he said that, his leg was covered in a steel-like looking film. “Focus your willpower onto a certain part of your body and just think of armor. Keep in mind it will take a while.”

“Got it.” Sasuke closed his eyes and let his mind wander around his body. He pulled his concentration to focus on his hand. He put his entire mind into allowing the Haki to flow around his hand. He opened his eyes and there was a slight purple glow coming off of his fingers. “Not great, but that can’t suck for a first try, right?”

“Seems okay to me. Best way to train at first is try holding it longer and longer. Eventually, you'll need to do the fun stuff,” Sanji grinned evilly. “Hope you like piñatas!”

“Piñatas?”

“Because you’re going to be one. Hear that girls~!”

“Loud and clear, Sir,” was Gilda’s response.

“You sound like you’re looking forward to beating me with, I assume, sticks and or bats,” Sasuke said into the earring.

“I will not deny that we all just got a bit excited at the idea of beating you while you stand still,” Adagio’s voice came through.

“Keep in mind you’ll probably need six to nine months depending on how skilled you are with learning it.”

“Fantastic,” Sasuke muttered.“You guys ever want to be ninjas?”

“I could go for it, yeah,” Zoro said.

“Nah, I'm good,” was Sanji’s response. “Chefs only use their hands for cooking, a philosophy I'm insistent on keeping alive. Hand signs just kill the purpose of it.”

“Suit yourself,” Sasuke said to Sanji. “But you on the other hand,” he said facing Zoro. Sasuke held out his hand and two syringes appeared in his palm. One held a rainbow liquid and the other was pure red. “These are things I’ve been working on.” He took the earring off. “The rainbow one will make you a human-alicorn hybrid. And the red one will give you the power through a curse mark. So the form will only be temporary and let you change at will.”

“One one hand, I don't want to look like Sunny’s bastard son. On the other, I'll look like a literal demon with no self control. Got anything that just gives me Sharingan and we call it good. If not, we can wait.”

“Well,” Sasuke thought for a moment. “I do still have my old eyes, if you’re interested. They’re in good condition, for anyone that isn’t me. And as an added benefit they already have Mangekyou.”

“Alright, I'll take them. I'm honestly just interested in the eye processing and copying abilities.”

“It is pretty dope,” Sasuke summoned two jars with the eyes suspended in liquid. “You want to be Kakashi or take both?”

He opened his closed eye with his fingers, revealing a socket where the eye would be. “I'll be happy either way if I get my depth perception back.”

“Take both then,” Sasuke said. “They’re better that way. But I’m not a doctor so I can’t do the transplant.”

“You have one, then?”

“At my hideout,” Sasuke said. “Want to do it now?”

Zoro grabbed his earring, the Token one they noticed, and a portal into the Void opened up. “Sanji, want to explain to everyone while I stay for a while? We shouldn't have been gone for more than a minute.”

“Sure, why not,” he responded. “Just make sure not to make him look any uglier than he already is, Sasuke.”

“I honestly don’t think that’s possible,” Sasuke grinned. “He’s in good…. hooves. The doctor’s a pony.”

The chef chuckled before Zoro kicked him through the portal, it closing up behind him.

“Alright, now onwards with great vigor and enthusiasm, Duck butt.”

Sasuke put the earring back on. “Sunset, get everybody back in the wagon and move on to the next destination. I have to take care of some stuff.”

“Roger,” she responded.

“Ready for another wild ride?” Sasuke asked putting a hand on Zoro’s shoulder.

“As ready as ever, I guess…”

They both warped out of Sasuke’s Kamui dimension, startling Twilight and Zoro’s stomach when they arrived in Laputa’s laboratories.

“Wha-” Twilight squealed as she jumped.

“Is this another genuine human,” Starswirl excitedly circled Zoro.

“Oh shit, not you,” Zoro paled. “You’re Clover’s teacher, right? Pony Merlin?”

“I am the one, the only, master of the arcane, seeker of ancient secrets, and Sorcerer Supreme himself, Starswirl the Magical,” he bellowed while shooting fireworks. “Working title.”

“Where I'm from, you’re title is Archmage. Invented like, a thousand spells.”

“A visitor from the void?” Starswirl’s eyes widened. “You must regal me with tales of your parallel world!”

“That’s not what we’re here for,” Sasuke interjected. “You guys seen Redheart?”

“Yes, one of the scientists has altitude sickness,” Twilight said. She motioned Sasuke closer. “Did you kidnap them?”

“Technically?” Sasuke asked. “No. Starlight did. Anyway, onwards to the infirmary!”

Sasuke and Zoro left the lab with Twilight still speechless. Science ponies ignored them as they went about their work.

“Here we are,” Sasuke announced. “Redheart you in here?”

The earth pony sighed as she continued inspecting the unicorn in front of her. “I thought you left.”

“I’m just back for a bit. My friend here needs an eye transplant.”

“I'm his guest for now. I apologize for any problems I may be causing you,” Zoro said, bowing to the doctor.

Redheart stared. “How is there another… whatever. At least this one has some manners. An eye transplant?”

Zoro opened his eyelid, revealing the socket. “There used to be a tumor in here caused by a necromancer if that helps things out.”

Redheart took a closer look at his empty eye socket. “Were the necrotic tissue and residual magic removed?”

“After three days was what I was told.”

“Then it shouldn’t be an issue.” She turned to Sasuke. “As soon as possible?” he nodded. “Then you,” she guided Zoro, “Lay down here. And you,” she pointed to Sasuke, “Go get Twilight.”

“On it,” Sasuke said as he left.

Redheart picked up a tank and attached a breathing mask to it. She handed it to Zoro. “Just take it easy and it’ll all be over soon.” He nodded and breathed deeply. Soon, the world just faded out for him until he only saw black.

***

“Can you hear me?” A voice brought Zoro back to consciousness.

He just grumbled, asking for an ‘Egghead’ to leave him alone.

Slapping on his cheek was felt, and he slowly opened his eye- wait no, eyes!

“Ugh, the hell? I… can actually see good!”

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Sasuke chuckled. “I’ve got to tell you its a bit weird looking at my own eyes. How do you feel?”

Zoro groaned, grabbing his face. “Like there’s a shit ton of pressure behind these.”

“That’s normal,” Redheart explained. “You got used to having nothing there and nothing something has suddenly filled that void. The feeling will lessen over time.”

“Yup and now you’re looking at a whole new world,” Sasuke grinned. “Sharingan should activate on its own the first time you feel any emotion strongly.”

The Swordsman was about to say something before he grabbed his face in pain. “Sasuke… Kamui… Now!”

Not hesitating, Sasuke sent Zoro to the Kamui dimension before following him.

Zoro lay on the ground, writhing in pain and screaming like a banshee. Activating his Sharingan, Sasuke immediately saw what was going on. Before, the Swordsman was a void, no chakra or magic to speak of. Now, however, his body was generating large amounts of chakra. And at a dangerously fast rate.

“Zoro look at me right now!” Sasuke yelled. “Do what I do!” Sasuke did three hand seals slowly and breathed out a fire ball. “Focus!”

Slowly, fighting through the pain, Zoro copied his movements, and soon a massive ball of fire shot out, nearly hitting Sasuke with enough force to send him flying.

Checking Zoro to make sure the amount of chakra in his body was lessened, Sasuke got up and dusted himself off. “Every freaking time,” he grumbled. “I swear I’m the squishiest one! You ok?”

“M-mostly,” he choked out. “S-still feel the pressure.”

“Then let out another fireball,” Sasuke instructed. “Shoot out as many as it takes until you feel drained.”

It took ten minutes. Ten minutes of fiery pain for both humans before Zoro was drained. He looked at Sasuke, with three tomoe sharingan he noted, and spoke.

“The hell… was that,” he panted.

“That was your first taste of your new capabilities,” Sasuke smiled. “You should practice letting out chakra. You don’t want it to build up again.”

“Then I’ll practice being Jesus,” he chuckled. “Might be useful if I find a Devil Fruit I like.”

“I love swimming way to much for that but it is a good workaround.”

“So,” Zoro groaned. “Got any books or something on this? I'm partial to the lightning looking ones myself.”

“I’ve got one right here,” Sasuke said. “Every technique and style ever used. Now that your sharingan is active just flip through all the pages.”

Zoro activated his new sight, mostly focusing on pages that helped with controlling chakra. After a few minutes, he closed it and handed it back to his host. “Thanks, man.”

“Any time, we’re all we’ve got in magical pony lands.”

“Well, thanks for your help, and give this,” he pulled off his Equestrian Earring and handed it to Sasuke, “to Starswirl. Him and my unicorn will get along well, I think.”

Sasuke stored the earring. “Thanks for your help too. Maybe next time I can see your Equestria.”

“Maybe,” Zoro shrugged. “I'll probably call you so you can take on Big Mom or something if she’s there. But this is where we part ways, so I thank thee for the photographic eyeballs that are too reality hacking for their own good.”

“Right? How cheap is sharingan? Later bro.”

Zoro opened up a portal to his place. “And remember, if you find a tailed beast, I want it as a pet!” With that, he jumped in, portal sealing behind him.
> Chapter 22
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot 3rd POV**********


Celestia sighed silently as she studied the captain of her royal guard. He had seen better days. Dark circles hugged his tired, bloodshot eyes. His training held his body firm, but she could see him sagging ever so slightly. The bandages wrapped around his body suggested that his injuries were focused on his barrel and forehooves.

“Oh, Shiny,” Cadence whispered.

Celestia looked to the others in the room. On either side sat a fellow princess. Luna looked stone faced at the unicorn while Cadance couldn’t help but let out a few tears.  Shining stood in the middle of the throne room and behind him stood Meat Grinder and Long Bow. They both looked uneasy and slightly injured themselves.

Luna cleared her throat. “Darkness, you say, is the catalyst for this illusion?”

“Yes, your highness,” Long Bow said. “When he is in an area that is dark, or dimly lit, he acts as if Sasuke is in the room with him and begins fighting. We have attempted to restrain him when this happens, so he doesn’t injure himself, but...” the pegasus trailed off and coughed. “Captain Armor is a very adept fighter.” Meat Grinder signed a few words very quickly. “Right, yes! Captain Armor’s eyes have taken on the same pattern as Sasuke’s when the illusion is active.”

“My poor stallion,” Cadence whimpered.

“A tell-tale sign of direct control,” Celestia frowned. “Has he done anything other than fight? Any patterns?”

“Nothing I can discern,” Long Bow stated.

“What concerns me the most is the timing,” Luna thought out loud. “Why is it becoming active now? What was the trigger?”

Meat Grinder started moving her hands and Long Bow relayed the information. “We had captured the leader of the Valkyries and Shining Armor was keeping her in a forcefield. Our intent was to bring the prisoner here for interrogation. We took turns keeping watch through the night. During Shining Armor’s turn, it started.”

“Shining Armor, you need to let me examine your mind,” Luna ordered. “There may be more triggers buried within.”

“Yes, Princess,” Shining Armor’s body relaxed and he eased himself to the ground.

“While my sister works, Princess Cadance and I will continue the report,” Celestia said. “Captain Bow, General Grinder, if you would.” She led them out of the throne room leaving Luna and Shining Armor alone. Cadance looked worriedly towards her fiance as she left. “He is in good hooves,” Celestia assured her.

“Shall we begin Captain Armor,” Luna asked.

“Yes, Princess,” Shining Armor resigned himself to the process.

“Then sleep.” Luna’s horn glowed with magic and Shining Armor slumped into unconsciousness. Luna’s body glowed as she shifted into her human form. “I’m going to try something new.” Her eyes changed and adopted the signature sharingan pattern at the same time her horn glowed.

***

Luna gasped as she entered Shining Armor’s mind. Normally, the mind of a pony, especially a guard , was organized, focused, and full of light. Shining Armor’s mind was a mess. A web of darkness and confusion littered the mental landscape. A single path led through the chaos and Luna sighed again as she recognized a trap. Nevertheless, she continued onwards through the darkness. She smiled as her influence began to reshape Shining Armor’s mind, restoring order to everything she touched. She could feel Shining Armor returning to normal. It wasn’t a permanent fix, he would need time for that, but it was a start. The deeper she went into the unicorn’s mind, the stronger the corrupting influence became. Eventually she came to a point where she could no longer change anything. A sign popped in front of her ‘Sasuke This Way’ and pointed further down the path.

Luna sighed once more, “This is getting tiresome Sasuke. Reveal yourself.” She resumed walking to the sound of Sasuke’s laughter.

Eventually Luna reached a gothic looking castle surrounded by a flaming moat. The lunar princess rolled her eyes at the glowing demons flying overhead.

“This is, what’s the word,” Luna tapped her chin, “ah, yes. Overkill.”

A drawbridge lowered and the fires died down. Luna rolled her eyes and started walking again. Torches lit up a path, revealing Sasuke sitting on a throne in an impossibly large throne room. Shining Armor was held by a menacing jester on the end of puppet strings. Luna grimaced upon seeing the captain’s sorry state.

“I thought it was an accurate representation of what’s happening,” Sasuke said as he lounged on the throne. “But I’ve never been quite as good at subtlety and symbolism as you. How would you have done it?”

Luna walked forward readying herself to attack. “I would have had a stage on which he was performing, unaware that the other actors were phantoms. I also wouldn’t have left his mind such a desolate wasteland. Was it really necessary to exact such a toll on him?”

“Of course,” Sasuke said, disinterested. “I needed him to be this far gone. He might have noticed something was wrong, otherwise.”

“You speak as if you know him intimately,” Luna said. “Is this more of your foresight?”

Sasuke grinned. “I told you before: I’ve seen the ultimate ending. I know how all of this is going to play out.”

“As entertaining as chatting with even a phantom version of you is,” Luna’s chains wrapped around Sasuke. “I must rid the poor captain of your influence.”

The chains evaporated and Susanoo formed behind the princess. “But this is the realm of the mind, dear princess,” Sasuke laughed. “We’re equals here. And besides, I don’t feel like leaving yet.”

Susanoo swung his fists trying to crush Luna but she fluidly dodged. Conjuring her own giant guardian, she sent it to fight Susanoo while she returned her attention to Sasuke.

“I have a question for you,” Luna said while she lunged at him.

“Sure,” Sasuke responded, teleporting behind her.

Luna wasted no effort spinning around and created clones of herself. “You have shown us that your vision is true.” The clones attacked simultaneously while Sasuke weaved through them. “Did you foresee my fall to darkness?”

Sasuke paused for the briefest of moments and one of the Lunas tore through him. He looked at his side where his chakra began leaking out. The Lunas took the opportunity to chain him and burn away the remaining chakra. Susanoo faded away and the castle began to fade.

“Will you not answer me before you fade?”

Only the top half of Sasuke’s body remained. “I did,” he sighed.

Luna’s face hardened. “And you did nothing to prevent it,” she spat. “You did nothing to help me! You are my beloved! I still love you! It pains me that we are enemies, that I must kill you! And you knew! You knew what would happen and you allowed it! WHY!?!”

Sasuke sighed as his body completely faded from sight. “I carried the knowledge that you would turn to darkness with a heavy heart. Could I have prevented it? Maybe? I don’t know. But every event happens for a reason. There are some things that I can’t risk changing.”

“That is a poor consolation.” Sasuke’s chakra faded entirely leaving Luna and Shining Armor alone in his mind. Luna stayed to make sure that Shining Armor’s mind was repairing itself before she left.

***

Standing in the throne room of her castle, Luna returned to her alicorn form and sighed heavily. She walked to the throne and sat down, leaning her head on the side. Celestia and Cadance entered the room looking tired and concerned.

“How was it, sister,” Celestia asked.

“Is Shiny going to be ok,” Cadance asked.

“Sasuke’s power ran deep within him but I have cleansed it,” Luna explained. “He will return to full strength in time but for now I suggest he rest.”

Shining Armor groaned as he awakened.

“Shiny? How are you feeling,” Cadance helped him to his hooves.

“Like a fog is lifted from my brain,” he said rubbing his head. “I don’t think I realized until just now how messed up I was.”

“It’s good to have you back,” Cadance nuzzled him.

“Princesses, I would like to formally step down from the Anti-Sasuke Taskforce and return to my post in Canterlot,” the captain said. “After all, I have a wedding to help plan.”

“Understood,” Celestia smiled.

“Thank you,” Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief.

“Let’s go get you some rest,” Cadance said as she led him out of the throne room.

Once her niece and captain had left, Celestia’s face hardened. “How bad was the damage?”


“Quite extensive,” Luna replied. “He needs to be in an environment to which he is accustomed. Returning to Canterlot as captain of the guard will serve him well, as will spending time around Cadance and under our watchful eye.”

“I fear what may come,” Celestia sighed. “We received an emergency message from Golden Reach.”

Luna’s mouth hung open in shock. “What has happened?”

“It would seem they were attacked, and during the attack, the factory producing our new weapons was burned to the ground.”

“Was Sasuke behind this,” Luna said through clenched teeth.

“Boudicca is unsure,” Celestia. “The eyewitness reports are conflicting. Some reports indicate a hazy memory of a bipedal creature while others remember timberwolves.”

Luna stood pensively, chewing her lip while her mind raced. “You said there are reports? When did this incident happen?”

Celestia walked to one of the windows that overlooked the city. “Two weeks ago. The latest message indicates that she has made multiple attempts to contact us.”

“Then someone has been interfering,” Luna stated dryly.

“And if Sasuke was behind the attack, he is long gone,” Celestia added. “I have already dispatched assistance to Golden Reach but this is so frustrating! We are always playing catch up! We need to find a way to predict where and how he will act. Maybe…”

“If you have an idea, please, do not hesitate to share it,” Luna implored.

“There was a special agency a while back,” Celestia started. “They hunted all types of monsters for me, and imprisoned many of them in Tartarus.”

“What happened to them,” Luna asked.

“They were dissolved after one the creatures they captured escaped,” Celestia put a hoof to her chin. “They were the best of the best.”

“If they are as good as you say why didn’t we lead with that?”

“They are retired, now. Many of them have settled down with families and I couldn’t ask them to go back to that life. Not when it took so long for them to adjust.”

“This is for the good of our world,” Luna pleaded. “Please! We may not even need all of them. We have an open space on the taskforce. Just one. That is all we need.”

Celestia stood quietly as Luna stood beside her. “There is only one of them whom I believe would be able to help. Black Blade, they called her. No prey has ever escaped her.” Celestia summoned a quill and paper. “She carved through monsters like a skilled artist.” She sealed the letter in an envelope and magicked it away. “Hopefully she hasn’t gotten rusty.”


**********Equestrian Cruise Liner: Middle of the Ocean**********


“Bon Bon you silly filly, stop lounging around and help me out!”

The cream colored earth pony looked over her comically large sunglasses at her marefriend, Lyra. Bon Bon rolled over on the beach chair. “I don’t wanna.”

Lyra giggled. “You’ve been laying there for three hours now. I think you might have melted into that chair.” Lyra laughed at her marefriend before trying to complete her card castle. “Please just for a little bit? Then we can go to the buffet and pig out!”

Bon Bon mumbled a bit and sat up. “Fine. But don’t eat so much you can’t walk this time. Rolling you is too much work.”

Lyra grinned. “I make no promises.”

Rolling her eyes but smiling any Bon Bon got up to tickle sneak attack the mint unicorn when an envelope materialized in front of her.

“Who’s sending you messages all the way out here?” Lyra asked.

“I don’t-” Bon Bon froze when she saw the seal the solar princess. She quickly tore open the letter and scanned it with frenzied eyes.

“Bonnie,” Lyra asked, “What’s wrong?”

Bon Bon took a moment to compose herself. “I’m sorry Lyra, but our vacation is going to be cut short.”

Lyra pouted. “Why,” she whined.

“Um..” Bon Bon thought up a lie. “Princess Celestia has requested a special candy order and I can’t let this opportunity pass.”

“Fine,” Lyra grumbled.  “But you better to make this up to me.”

“Of course,” Bon Bon cooed as she hugged her marefriend.

“Oh look it’ a speedboat!” Lyra broke the hug and ran to the railing. “Bonnie come look! It’s a bunch of griffons on a speedboat!” She waved wildly while Bon Bon looked on and giggled.

**********

As the Valkyries rode their speedboat past a cruise ship, a few of them couldn’t help but wave at a mint green unicorn.

“Would you idiots cut that out,” Aoife ordered. “What part of inconspicuous do you not understand?”

“Sorry,” one offered. “We’re just so bored out here.” He looked back at the cruise ship as it faded from view.

“Then make yourself useful and go check on Andraste,” Aoife said.

The griffons looked nervously at each other before one stepped forward. She gulped and walked towards the stairs leading below deck. She silently creeped down the steps, desperately trying to keep her breathing under control. When she finally made to the bottom, she couldn’t help but stare in awe and fear at the sight in front of her.

Andraste had assumed a human form and was sitting cross legged in a meditative pose. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. Her hair floated around her head, much like an alicorn, and it looked like a constantly shifting galaxy. Her body radiated power, almost visibly. The griffon mustered up her nerves and stepped forward.

“Hey there, Andraste,” she whimpered. “How are you holding up?”

Andraste opened her eyes, revealing them to be pure white and glowing with power. “We, I am doing well,” she spoke with multiple voices layered together. “It is difficult trying to contain this much power,” she admitted. “But Scorpio is helping me.”

“Do you mind if I ask what it’s like,” the griffon asked. “You know having it inside of you?”

“It is strange,” Andraste said. “I feel so powerful! Almost invincible!” The air crackled around her as she spoke. “But it’s scary. One misstep and I don’t know what would happen. I don’t think I like being a jinchuriki. I’m glad I won’t have to be one forever.”

“Yeah but if you can’t handle it, what makes you think ponies will?”

“Lord Mephisto is training them for this explicit purpose,” Andraste countered. “I can’t imagine that they- We are getting close. You should go back up.”

The griffon nodded and swiftly moved up the stairs. She joined the rest of her team as they approached an island. The island appeared to glow as sunlight reflected off of the white stones that covered it.

“Valkyries, we are looking for the same kind of starry material that we found on Scorpio,” Aoife instructed. “The compass shows that Cancer may be on the island somewhere or, if it cannot be found, we will assume it is under the island.” Aoife flew onto the island and was followed by her Valkyries. “Fan out.”

Each went in a different direction searching for their target. Aoife landed in the dirt and scanned the area. She didn’t recognize any of the various flora that populated the small island and the only animals that she could see were birds. It unnerved her but she pushed onwards, looking for signs of Cancer. She leapt across the white rocks littered across the landscape, never allowing her focus to break. Her trained senses scanned the environment swiftly. She searched for what felt like an hour, when she heard the unmistakable sound of skittering behind her. She quickly turned around but saw nothing. Aoife crept towards where she heard the sound, a tree sitting on a white rock.

“Cancer?” she said calmly. “We just want to talk to you. We mean you no harm.” She once again heard the skittering and stopped moving. “Please come out,” Aoife said as she removed her equipment. “See, I am completely unarmed.”

The sounds of shuffling grew louder and Aoife tensed herself. Just as she was thinking about grabbing her bags, an eyeball popped out from behind the tree.

“Cancer?” Aoife asked, very confused. She shook her uncertainty away. “I would like to talk to you.”

The rest of the creature came out from behind the tree after a moment of deliberation. It was a crab the size of a minotaur. Its body was a translucent dark blue dotted with glittering stars. It was large, but after seeing Scorpio, Aoife was shocked. Weren’t constellation beasts much, much bigger?

“Hello Cancer,” Aoife bowed. “I am Aoife of the Valkyries. I have come to you on behalf of my…”

Aoife stopped talking when became apparent to her the the astral crab was not listening. It circled her curiously. Aoife shuffled nervously in place. She didn’t want to think the worst but she couldn’t help but think that it was contemplating eating her. In one quick move the crab grabbed her and her bag and threw both onto its back. It began a quick march across the island.

“Whoa there,” Aoife said. “Where are you taking me?” The crab said nothing. “Still giving me the silent treatment, huh?”

The crab continued its journey. On the way, it passed several of the other Valkyries. It glanced at them but did not stop.

“Boss,” a griffon asked as he approached Aoife, “is this Cancer?”

“I think so,” Aoife replied. “It matches the description….mostly. Gather the Valkyries together and go back to the boat. I think I can handle this.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said. Giving his wings a powerful flap he lifted up into the air.

Aoife continued to ride the crab until the sun began to set. It brought her to one of the beaches on the edge of the island. Still silent, it walked around a large rock formation and into a hidden cove. Aoife gasped. All around her were the same white rocks from before but these had a luminescent glow. A swirl of colors bounced all over the cove and made it look as if the water was shifting between different colors. The swirling creatures Aoife could barely see through the water seemed to enjoy it. Actually…

“What are those,” Aoife asked quietly. She leaned closer to the water. “Are those… eggs?” Creatures the size of small dogs happily moved about in what looked like bubbles. “What is this place,” Aoife asked the crab. Again she got no answer. Aoife sighed.

“Now what do we have here,”  a happy feminine voice emanated from everywhere.

Aoife took a defensive pose on top of the crab. “Who’s there?”

“Such a feisty little thing,” the voice laughed. “What brings you here, visitor?”

Aoife looked around, searching for the source of the voice. “I am Aoife, leader of the Valkyries. I am here to talk to the great constellation beast, Cancer.”

“Of course you are,” the voice said happily. “That’s why my little one brought you here. Now how may I help you?”

“I have come on behalf of my master, Lord Mephisto, to ask for your assistance,” Aoife stated.

“Lord Mephisto?” Cancer asked. “And what would this griffon lord ask of a constellation beast?”

“My master is not a griffon,” Aoife explained. “He is a human.”

“Human...human...human ah yes! I remember humans. Funny, I thought there was only one. And that it was male.”

“You’ve met a human before?” Aoife asked, momentarily distracted from her mission.

“Oh yes,” Cancer said. “A human once came here with a centaur. They didn’t like each other very much but they were trying to do something. For the life of me I can’t remember what it was. But that was a long time ago, what does your human need?”

“Yes, right,” Aoife stuttered. “Lord Sasuke would like to offer you the ability to walk among the other races of this world without causing a panic. And the chance to pass this ability on to your young.”

“That does sound interesting,” Cancer admitted. “What would you ask in return?”

“We ask that you allow yourself to merge with one of us,” Aoife said. “You would share knowledge and experience with one of us and share some of your power.”

“Me? Merging with a mortal?” Cancer’s laugh shook the island. “Why would I lower myself to the level of a mortal?”

“Because, just like Scorpio, you feel lonely.”

Cancer stopped laughing. “You met with Scorpio?”

“And Ursa. They both agreed. You live on this island out in the middle of nowhere. Surely you must want some companionship, some conversation at least.”

“But if I were to leave, who would guard my children?”

The small crab that Aoife was sitting on started chirping.

“Alright little one, if you insist. But you must shroud our island.”

The small crab chirped something affirmatively.

“Then I will travel to the land of mortals with you,” Cancer said. A tremor shook the island. Aoife watched in amazement as the entire island rose out of the water. Trees and rocks fell into the water and birds flew away, squawking in panic. Aoife couldn’t help but stare as the gargantuan starry crab stood above her. “Now how shall we do this?”


**********Automated Wagon 1st POV**********


“I’m soooo booooored!”

“Shut up, Gilda!” Trixie yelled. “We heard you the first 50 times! No one cares!”

“Should’ve brought a book,” Adagio said without looking up from her own.

“Or you could try working on your Equestrian magic,” I mumbled, bandaging up my arm. Learning to use haki was painful. Gilda snorted in my direction and looked away. “Ow,” I said as I touched a particularly sensitive bruise. “Sunset, you’re making this overly difficult.”

Sunset looked up from her book at me, smirked, and went back to her book. “Too bad,” she said smugly. “I’m comfortable.”

“That can’t possibly be true,” I said to the girl laying in my lap.

“Oh but it is,” she replied.

I sighed and went back to patching myself up. I looked over to Starlight who was studying the map. “Starlight get your sister.”

“This sounds like a ‘you’ problem,” she said without missing a beat. “Also if I’m reading this map right…. You’re a suicidal maniac that’s going to get us all caught.”

“What does she mean,” Adagio asked, worry in her voice.

“Well,” I started as the wagon stopped moving. I got up, ignoring Sunset’s glare of protest. “She’s probably referring to this,” I walked over to our door. I opened it with a flourish. “Welcome to Ponyville!”
> Chapter 23
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“NOOO!” Starlight grabbed my ear in her magic and pulled me back into the wagon. Every time someone tried to get out, she would scream no, grab them by the ear, and drag them back into the wagon. The strange thing was, we all had the strength to resist her magic and yet we found ourselves sitting in a circle around Starlight.

“Is… there a problem?” I asked her.

Starlight rubbed her temples and sighed angrily. “Yes. Your last visit to Ponyville was... catastrophic at best. I am not going to let you destroy the lives of these ponies.” She looked me dead in the eyes. “Understand?”

Have you ever been stared down by a marshmallow? A marshmallow doing its best to kill you with its eyes? That’s what I was feeling.

“Check out the balls on this unicorn,” Gilda laughed. “What’s the plan boss?”

“How could I resist such a passionate plea,” I said. “Stay in a pony form for the duration of our stay here. Don’t do anything crazy or draw too much attention to yourselves. I’m serious, you can see Canterlot from here. Got it?”

“Then what are supposed to do?” Adagio asked.

“Whatever you feel like,” I replied. “Consider today a day off.”

“What?” Gilda looked at me like I’d grown a second head.

“Just do whatever,” I said, transforming into my pony disguise. “I have a few errands to take care of. Meet back here tonight.” I climbed out of the wagon a walked into town.

“Oh no you don’t,” Starlight yelped. She quickly started following behind me. “You’re not getting away that easy. I’m keeping my eye on you.”

“It’s ok,” I grinned. “I know you just want to spend more time with me.”

“Faust damn, I hate you,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be like that Starlight,” Sunset said as she and Trixie caught up with us.

“No, I agree,” Trixie added. “Sasuke is pretty insufferable.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” I said with mock hurt.

“Whatever,” Starlight grumbled. “So what’s first on your evil agenda?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Evil agenda? I’m going to go see a tailor.”

“It’s about time,” Trixie said. “Trixie did not want to say anything but your outfit is lacking.”

“Damn, Trixie,” I said. “Feeling savage today?”

“Trixie has no idea what you mean,” the blue unicorn put her nose in the air. “Trixie is always full of grace and class.”

We kept the back and forth going as we walked through the small village. All the while, I scanned the area for Pinkie Pie. The last thing I wanted was for her to draw attention to us. My hope was that since Trixie, Starlight, and I had been to Ponyville before, we could act as a sort of new pony cloaking device for Sunset. I would like to think it worked. But realistically, I think she was just preoccupied. A stream of profanity echoed through the normally quiet town.

“Is it just me, or does that sound like Adagio?” Sunset asked.

“Huh,” I kept walking. “I guess it does.”

“Should we go help her,” Trixie asked, slightly afraid.

“Nah, she’ll be fine,” I answered. “Besides, we’re here!”

I gestured to the building in front of us.

“Carousel Boutique?” Sunset read. “What could you possibly need from a dress shop?”

“Like I said, I need to see a tailor,” I pushed open the door and walked inside.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique,” Rarity’s cheerful voice greeted us. She motioned us to come in. “How may I assist you today?”


“Hello Rarity, I’m not sure if you remember me but I-”

“You were the mysterious traveller who helped Twilight after that nasty nightmare incident,” Rarity smiled. “I do hope she thanked you properly.”

I grinned. “She’s been more helpful than she could possibly know.”

“That’s good. Now, I’m sure you didn’t come here just to chat. What can I-” Rarity took notice of Trixie for the first time. “What is she doing here?”

“Trixie is here with me,” I explained. “I hope that won’t be a problem.”

I could tell Rarity really wanted to say something but her professionalism won out. She took a deep breath and sighed. “As long as you keep that miscreant magician under control then I will not object to her presence.”

Trixie started to respond but I shoved a hoof in her mouth. “Not a problem.”


“Now that we’ve gotten that unpleasantness out of the way,” Rarity flicked her mane back. “How may I be of service to you, today?”

“I need a tuxedo to wear to a fancy event,” I stated.

“While I don’t usually do stallion’s clothing, I would be glad to do it for you,” she gestured to a raised platform and levitated a measuring tape in her magic. “Please stand there so I get get your measurements.”

I hopped up onto the platform.

“Aren’t you going to, you know,” Sunset asked.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” I grinned.

“Forgot what?” Rarity asked, looking confused.

I released my transformation and returned to my human form. “If I’m going to get measured for new clothes, I should get it done right. Dontcha think?”

Rarity sat completely still. Her eyes and mouth hung wide open as she tried to form a coherent thought. To her credit, she was only stunned for a few seconds before she managed to collect herself. “You’re not… Um… How…. Have you always been..”

“Yup,” I said. “Since the first time we met.”

“Then did you…”

“No, that was an accident,” I explained. “I don’t want to hurt Twilight. Or you.”

Rarity clutched at her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. “Then why are you here?”

“I need a tux for a fancy party,” I said sitting down.

“I don’t mean to question a mons- gentlestallion such as yourself but why come come all the way to Ponyville? Surely there was an option that presented less risk,” Rarity walked towards a large cabinet.

“Yes please explain,” Starlight echoed. “Why would you put everything you’ve worked for in jeopardy?”

I jolted up and struck a heroic pose. “I will never compromise on quality!” I declared. “No danger is too great to look good!”

Starlight facehooved while Sunset started laughing. Trixie nodded sagely and Rarity looked at me with stars in her eyes.

“Then I shall give my all to ensure you are dressed for,” she stopped and rubbed her chin. “What do you need this tux for, again?”

“A fancy party.” I maintained my pose.

“You will be the best dressed….. you at your fancy party,” Rarity finished. She levitated a measuring tape. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

**********

Gilda was mad. Not annoyed like usual. No, today Gilda was full-on,100%, throbbing head vein, mad. She had been mad before, blindly striking out at any unfortunate enough to cross her path. But that was back before she met Sasuke. Her training with him and the ghost that lived in her head had given her a sort of clarity about herself. So now she knew she was angry with herself. Angry with herself for overreacting to a bunch of pranks, for running away from her best friend like a coward, for being too embarrassed to apologize, for sulking in a bar for months like a weakling, and for still being hung up about everything. But the thing that pissed her off the most was the fact that she could only access half of her power. She wanted the magic, she really did. But every time she tried, Rainbow Dash was there, in her mind. The phantom Rainbow blocked any attempt to dig deeper within herself and it frustrated her to no end.

Gilda flew lazily through Ponyville lost in her angry thoughts. The town turned into a blur of mixed colors and she plowed through cloud after cloud without noticing. Nothing short of a mountain would have gotten her attention if it weren’t for..

“Gilda?”

The griffon snapped to attention and searched for the source of the voice. She frowned when she saw the pink party pony looking confusedly at her. Shaking her head, Pinkie Pie waved Gilda down. Gilda hesitated but reluctantly decided to talk to the pony. Allowing herself to gently descend, she landed face to face with the pony she hated most in this world.

“What do you want?” Gilda huffed.

“I know you’re a super meanie griffon and tried to Rainbow Dash away from Ponyville buuuuuut,” Pinkie took a deep breath. “It looked like you were really sad and I can’t let any pony be sad even if you aren’t a pony because my super special talent is making ponies smile and we’re kind of enemies but not really and that’s no reason to let some pony, who isn’t a pony, be sad soooooooooo…” Pinkie Pie pulled a plate out her mane. “Want some cake?”

Gilda blinked owlishly. Besides being confused about the rant that she could barely follow, she had another emotion welling up, rage. She wanted to take this plate and beat this stupid, hyper pony to death with it. But she didn’t. She took a deep breath and thought, ‘What has that done for me lately?’ Feeling defeated, Gilda took the plate.

“You know what,” she said calmly. “I would love some cake right now.”

Pinkie Pie squeed. “Now, tell me what’s on your mind.”

**********

As I walked out of Carousel Boutique in my pony form, I couldn’t help but stretch. I let out a sigh of relief as my spine popped.

“Gross,” Trixie commented. She stepped away from me.

“You gotta try doing that in your human form,” I replied. “It can feel better than sex if you do it right.”

Trixie turned up her nose. “Trixie highly doubts that.”

“Tell her Sunset,” I said.

“Huh?” Sunset blinked owlishly.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “You seem a bit distracted.”

“Nothing,” Sunset lied. “Just thinking about stuff.”

“Anything major,” I asked.

“No,” Sunset lied again. “I think I’m just going to go for a walk around town.”

“Ok,” I said cautiously. “Trixie, go with her.”

“If Trixie must,” Trixie rolled her eyes.

“Sure, whatever,” Sunset said, lost in her own world again.

“Trixie will make sure she does not run into any walls.”

“Good,” I smiled. The pair walked away and Starlight gave me a meaningful look. “She’s fine,” I comforted. “She’s just got a lot on her mind right now. She’s probably thinking about Celestia since we’re so close to Canterlot.”

“And sending her away had nothing to do with what you’re doing next?” Starlight asked accusingly.

“Well,” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I didn’t think meeting Celestia’s current student would be all that helpful. And she chose to leave on her own.”

Starlight huffed but said nothing. We walked in a tense silence all the way to the tree library. I wanted to say something but for the first time in a while, I didn’t know what to say. Despite the uncomfortable silence, Starlight stayed close to me. I had noticed that she stood closer to me lately. I guess she was getting more comfortable with being around me. I knew my winning personality would wear her down eventually. When we reached Twilight’s home, I popped my head inside to see if there were any other ponies inside.

“Ah, Sasuke,” Twilight said as she grabbed me in her magic. “Just the human I wanted to see.” Twilight floated me across the room and sat me down in a chair. She then dragged a large chalkboard into the room and scribbled across it furiously. “I’ve been reading Madame Blueblood’s journal and comparing it with her notes in the Children of Tartarus and it’s led me to various conclusions but I seem to be stuck.” Starlight walked into the library quietly. Twilight never noticed her. “In all my studies, I’ve seen thousands of types of magic but they all share a basic underlying structure,” Twilight explained. “And now that I’ve examined Spike’s magic, I’ve learned that there are types of magic that don’t share what I assumed was the basic structure of all magic.” Twilight stopped to take a breath. “I thought maybe all species share a basic magic structure but then I came across a term Madame Blueblood used.” Twilight grabbed my face and pushed her eyes into mine. “What is a unique spell?”

“Hello Twilight, it’s good to see you too,” I said.

“Oh sorry,” Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “Hi, Sasuke.”

“And Starlight,” I gestured to the unicorn.

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Starlight,” she rushed to hug her. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“Right so about unique spells,” I started. Twilight conjured a notepad and quill then motioned for me to continue. “I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. All pony magic is based on a spell Starswirl the First created.”


“You mean Starswirl the Bearded, right,” Twilight asked.

“Nope,” I corrected. “Starswirl is a title, not a name. Now, before Starswirl the First, it was really hard for ponies to use any kind of magic. Unicorns had an especially hard time because they had to consciously make the magic do what they wanted. So Starswirl created a spell that would allow all ponies to use magic easier, Building Blocks. She cast it on all of ponykind. It allows any pony access to a set of predefined magical instructions to use to create spells.”

Twilight scribbled furiously. “There’s a lot to unpack here,” she said. “But that still doesn’t explain what a unique spell is.”

“I was getting to that,” I said. “A unique spell is a spell not bound by Starswirl’s spell. They don’t follow the laws of magic as you understand them and they can do ‘impossible’ things. They’re nearly impossible to create without help because ponies instinctively stick to Building Blocks.”

“Then how many unique spells are there,” Starlight asked.

“I’m only aware of 5,” I replied. “Luna and Celestia both have one.”

“Only one?” Twilight asked.

“Again, they’re insanely hard to make,” I explained. “Not only that, messing up can cost more than your life.”

Both unicorns shivered. Then Starlight narrowed her eyes. “You said you know of 5 but only named 2. Who have the other 3?”

I grinned. “Not telling.”

“That’s fine,” Twilight smiled. “I have soooo many more questions!”

**********

“And the food back home tastes terrible,” Gilda said. She was laying on a couch that Pinkie Pie had inexplicably acquired.

“Go on,” the pink pony herself was sitting in a chair next to the sofa wearing small square glasses and taking notes on a small pad of paper.

“And the food here was so good! The cupcakes you made were the best I’ve ever had,” Gilda covered her face with her claws.

“How does that make you feeeeel,” Pinkie asked with a silly air of seriousness.

“Like crap,” Gilda admitted. “I like Griffonstone because it’s my home and everything but I…. do like Ponyville.”

“That sounds like a breakthrough to me!” Pinkie Pie tossed up her props and they fell into her mane.

“Hey wait!” Gilda squawked. “I thought we had the whole hour!”

“It’s been an hour, silly,” PInkie said. “Besides, the ol’ Pinkie Sense just found some new ponies that need a party!”

“Oh, ok then,” Gilda said. She shifted back and forth, not sure why she let herself be so vulnerable with her enemy. Lost in her thoughts she walked through Ponyville.

“Hey Gilda,” she heard Trixie’s voice.

Gilda turned to find a contemplative Sunset Shimmer and an annoyed Trixie. “What’s going on here?” she asked.

“Sunset Shimmer has something important to say but made Trixie wait to hear it until we found you,” Trixie huffed.

“I’m having trouble with something,” Sunset admitted.

“Not so perfect after all,” Gilda smirked.

“This is serious,” Sunset stamped her hoof.

“Fine, whatever. Keep talking.”

“I,” Sunset paused to take a deep breath. “Want to see Princess Celestia.”

Trixie and Gilda were struck speechless.

“I want to ask her some questions,” Sunset continued. “And I know that Sasuke wouldn’t let me go, and I don’t want to go alone. So…. would you come with me?”

“What kind of question could possibly be enough to risk getting caught by the princess?” Trixie whisper-shouted.

Sunset took another deep breath. “I want to know why she abandoned me in another world.”

Trixie was stunned. That was a pretty good question.

“I’m in,” Gilda said. Sunset looked at her with shock. “Look, Sasuke by himself was enough for both of them. With the three of us, we could easily win. And you deserve an answer.”

“Thanks Gilda,” Sunset smiled. “Trixie, we can’t do this without you.”

“Of course I’m not taking part in this foolishness,” Trixie was so stunned she dropped her normal third person speech. “You’re talking about fighting the two most powerful ponies in the world, one of whom: HAS OUR POWERS!!”

“Trixie, I know this is a lot to ask,” Sunset pleaded. “But you two….. Are my best friends. And I would do the same for you.”

Trixie chewed her lip. It’s not like she didn’t know. They had been silently getting closer. But now that it had been said out loud? How could she not?

“Fine,” Trixie finally said. “Trixie will help out her best friend. But only because she thinks you will fail without her.”

“Sure,” Gilda smirked.

“Shut it,” Trixie shot back.

Sunset Shimmer grabbed them both in a big hug. “Thank you so much!”

“Whatever,” Trixie and Gilda said in unison.

**********

As we walked back to the wagon together, Starlight huffed continuously.

“Something on your mind?” I asked her.

She looked at me and stopped walking. “What is your unique spell?”

A bit surprised, I stopped walking. Recovering quickly, I continued my pace. Starlight followed along. “What makes you so sure I have one? I can’t use pony magic.”

“See? That’s it exactly,” Starlight said. “We’ve been together long enough now for me to tell how you think. You almost never lie outright; you choose your words very carefully. And you keep saying you can’t use pony magic. You’ve never said you don’t have any.”

The corners of my mouth twitched. “Even if that were true, it doesn’t mean I would have a unique spell. Remember my lecture? They’re nearly impossible to create and they have a significant cost to do anything worthwhile.”

“And that’s what makes me think you created one,” Starlight continued. “One with a cost so high that you could only ever use it once. Maybe it’ll cost you all of your pony magic. Maybe it’s the only thing you could use poy magic for; that would be a pretty significant cost. Am I right?”

“You’re wrong,” I said solemnly. “I can’t use pony magic because it reacts poorly with chakra. If you have magic first, the chakra will find a balance on its own. But I had chakra first. Pony magic can’t find a balance like chakra can. It causes me a lot of physical pain to use pony magic. It’s also why I can displace magic with chakra.”

“Oh,” Starlight said. “Then why don’t you use the serum? It works for everyone else.”

“Starswirl informed me that I might go the same way as our first test subject,” I explained. “Remember her?”

Starlight shivered. “Yeah.”

We walked the rest of the way in silence. When we finally reached the wagon, Smoke Puff was waiting for us with dinner. I released my transformation and rubbed her head. She talked excitedly about her day as we ate together. The sirens eventually found their way back covered in confetti and streamers.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” was all Adagio said before she crawled into the wagon and passed out.

The rest of us sat around a campfire exchanging stories and eating. As everyone started getting ready to go to sleep, I stayed at the fire. Trixie, Gilda, and Sunset, never showed up. I grinned to myself. Starlight was going to chew Sunset out so bad. While it was mildly concerning, I wasn’t really worried until….

I felt a wave of power and stood straight up. That was Luna. And she was at the end of an intense battle. Oh no….
> Chapter 24
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot**********


Sunset Shimmer, Gilda, and Trixie, snuck into the city without any problems. Even in the middle of the day, the guard couldn’t identify them through their disguises.They made their way to the castle, careful to avoid arousing suspicion. Throughout the entire trip, Sunset’s mind was an angry maelstrom of emotion. What should she say? Should she turn around? What if Sasuke’s right? What if she’s not ready for this? A soft nudge from the side pulled her from her anxiety. Gilda flashed a confident smile.

“Don’t worry so much,” she said. “You’re not the same little filly you were before. You’re powerful enough to stand up to her.”

“And you will have the Great and Powerful Trixie watching your back,” Trixie added.

“Thanks,” the trio stopped as they approached the castle gates. Sunset took a deep breath. “I guess it’s now or never.”

Magic swirled around the girls as they returned to their human forms.

“Intruders! Alert the princesses!”

The royal guard jumped into action, firing spells and erecting barriers. Several guards launched themselves at the girls with swords. Suddenly, they all dropped to the ground.

“Such weak minds,” Trixie commented as they entered the castle.

“You can’t take them all,” Gilda complained. “Leave some for me!”

“Fine then,” Trixie rolled her eyes. “You take the ones inside the castle, and I’ll take the ones outside.”

“Nice try, but I get the ones outside,” Gilda folded her arms.

“Whatever,” Trixie huffed. “Just don’t screw this up.”

Gilda grinned as widely as she could. Trixie dropped guards left and right as the girls made their way to the throne room. They writhed on the ground as they were caught in Trixie’s illusions.

“What are you doing to them anyway,” Sunset asked, trying to focus her mind.

“Some get their worst fears, some get lack of oxygen,” Trixie shrugged. “Although most of them are just getting punched in the neck by Gilda.”

“Damn straight,” Gilda cheered. Every few seconds Gilda’s body would shimmer for a second, indicating she was moving faster than they could see. Every time she shimmered, a handful of guards dropped like flies.

“On second thought,” Trixie said, “How about you take the outside once we reach the throne room, Gilda? More space to move around and reinforcements are bound to come from the surrounding area.”

“Deal,” Gilda’s wings ruffled with excitement.

After making steady progress through the castle and leaving a trail of bodies in their wake, the girls reached the doors to the throne room. The enormous doors featured a golden sun with a silver moon inside of it. Sunset froze.

Gilda put a hand on her back. “Don’t worry. You got this.”

“But Sasuke said I’m not ready,” Sunset argued, losing her nerve.

“Sasuke says a lot of things,” Trixie said. “But he can’t see into your mind. This is your decision. If you think you’re ready, we’re behind you all the way.”

Sunset took a deep breath and reached deep to find her determination. She gave a nod to the two girls beside her and pushed on the doors. They opened and she stepped forward, into the throne room. Once inside, they closed behind her. She looked forward a strong look on her face and her eyes met the eyes of the one pony she wanted to talk most in the world, Princess Celestia.

“Hello Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia said warmly. “I’m so happy to see you again.”

Sunset felt a rage boiling inside her that gave her confidence. “Are you? Really?”

“Of course I am,” Celestia replied. “Why would you think that I’m not?”

“Maybe because you left me for dead,” Sunset spat.

“I would never-”

“They why didn’t you come for me!!” Sunset screamed.

“Sunset,” Celestia said sadly. “I wanted to but-”

“But WHAT!!” Sunset’s eyes were streaming. “What was so important that you couldn’t leave for even a few moments to chase after me?”

“Sunset you know that I can’t-”


“I don’t want to hear it!” Sunset shouted. “Do you know how long I waited outside that portal, hoping against hope that you’d at least send a guard or something?”

“Sunset Shimmer, you know how much you mean to-”

“I THOUGHT I did,” Sunset wiped away her tears. “But I guess I was wrong! I spent six years trapped in another world while you just up and forgot about me! But eventually someone did come. Someone who sees potential in the student you just threw away.”

“That form… no, Sunset, not you too,” Celestia whispered.

“Yes! Sasuke came to another world to find me, he brought my family to me, and he even gave me power from his own blood,” Sunset laughed. “He knows more than you! He can teach me more than you ever could!”

“Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia’s voice was stern. “I implore you, please come back to me. Sasuke doesn’t care about you, he’s only using you.” Her tone turned pleading. “The things he has to offer… I know the power seems limitless and intoxicating but it comes a very steep price. Trust me, you don’t want to pay it.”

“You just want to stifle me,” Sunset yelled. “You never wanted me to grow, did you? You were afraid I’d surpass you. Well guess what? I’ve already become more powerful than you! Sasuke taught me the true nature of magic. I have powers you can’t even fathom! And he does care about me. We’re… very close.”

“No,” Celestia stood up. “Do not do this, Sunset. This path will only lead to pain.”

“I’ve had enough of you,” Sunset Shimmer said, her eyes glowing red with a fully developed sharingan. “I’ll prove to you how much stronger I’ve become!”

Sunset launched herself at an incredible speed. Kunai appeared in her hands and she attacked the princess. Golden swords parried her blows. Sunset dodged the the swords as more and more came from nowhere. She let the kunai go and formed hand seals. Dodging the latest slash, she unleashed a torrent of flames on Celestia. The princess took to the air and hovered above the flames. With a spell, the fire swirled around her and shot at Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset used her own wings to dodge the flames and swords. Celestia was sure she had the girl pinned down, when one of her swords slashed at her.

“What?” Celestia stammered as she dodged it. The sword continued to chase her around the room until she forced more of her magic through it. She turned to Sunset. “What did you do?”

Sunset grinned. “Are you surprised? It’s simple telekinesis. I told you already: I’m stronger than you.”

Two more of Celestia’s swords broke from her control and attacked the princess. They bounced off a forcefield she quickly created and she forced them back under her control. Celestia stood in place, stone faced. The swords multiplied and attacked Sunset Shimmer all at once. Sunset bounced around the room, narrowly dodging each blow. Each hit got closer and closer until every sword swing drew blood. Celestia teleported behind Sunset and kicked her into a wall. Halting her attack, Celestia spoke. “Sunset Shimmer, do you see now? You aren’t strong enough to defeat me. Please stop this and think about what you’re doing.”

Sunset shakily stood up and scowled at the princess. “I’m not done yet. Not by a long shot.” Calling forth the entirety of her magic, Sunset Shimmer cast the on one spell she knew would be enough to defeat Celestia. The one spell she developed after Sasuke taught her the true power locked away from ponykind; her very own unique spell. “Queen’s Law.” Behind Sunset Shimmer, an ornate stone slab with a golden trim took shape. A crown bearing a gem shaped like Sunset’s cutie mark formed on her head. “Edict: Only the queen may teleport.” Sunset’s words etched themselves into the stone.

“No, Sunset, what have you done,” Celestia whispered.

“I’ve levelled the playing field,” Sunset smirked. “Edict: Swords are forbidden.” Again, Sunset’s words were carved into the tablet. Celestia’s swords vanished from existence. Sunset launched into another attack against the solar princess. Celestia found herself being pushed back as Sunset used her telekinesis to attack from all angles. “You shouldn’t have abandoned me!” Sunset screamed. “DO YOU SEE WHAT I CAN DO!?!” Celestia, feeling completely overwhelmed, created a forcefield. Sunset jumped above the golden ball and forced herself down as hard as she could, shattering it. Celestia’s body created a crater in the marble floor, crushed from the impact.

Celestia looked up at her former student to see a crazed, confused, hurt look in her eyes. She shed a tear, lamenting how she had failed this child. “Please, see reason, my Sunset,” she pleaded softly. “Sasuke does not care about anyone but himself. He will use you up and toss you aside.” Celestia looked directly into Sunset’s eyes. “And it will hurt more than anything else in the world.”

“You don’t know anything about him,” Sunset spat. Her hand buzzed with electricity. She reached down to finish the alicorn but was blinded by a bright light. When her vision returned, her hand was being held back by another! When Sunset recognized what she was looking at, she froze. Celestia had taken human form and was covered in a white dress that flowed around them both like fire. Sunset looked into her former teacher’s eyes and the color drained from her face. Celestia’s eyes took on a three tomoe sharingan pattern and then swirled into a new pattern Sunset had never seen before but recognized instinctively.

“I know more than you can possibly imagine,” Celestia said with grim determination. A golden skeletal Susanoo formed around her and grabbed Sunset Shimmer. “You have no understanding of the forces with which you tamper. It is my duty as your teacher to show you. Weight of the Crown.”

***

Trixie and Gilda stood guard outside of the throne room. They had long since dispatched all of the royal guards and now waited for Sunset shimmer to finish inside with Princess Celestia. They could feel the power being thrown around and felt tempted to go help but understood that it was personal.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t at least check on her,” Trixie asked.

“She’ll be fine,” Gilda reassured. “Besides, if it was really bad we’d feel it.” Immediately after those words came out of Gilda’s mouth, Sunset’s power skyrocketed. “But we’ll be here just in case.”

“It is admirable that you would go so far for a friend,” Luna emerged from the shadows in her nightmare human form. “To even think of challenging myself or my sister would take true courage.” Her power swirled around the room and the defeated guards vanished. “You killed none of my guards, so I shall spare your lives. But this brazen attack on our castle ends now.”

Gilda tensed then relaxed her body. Her sharingan activated and she entered the Morning Peacock stance. “Gate 6: open! Trixie, don’t you dare hold anything back!”

“You either,” Trixie snapped. One of her eyes took on the sharingan pattern while the other turned red with a number one instead of a pupil.

“I shall respect your strength and respond in kind,” Luna said. Black tendrils jumped from the shadows and grabbed Trixie. Gilda was able to dodged them and went straight for Luna. Luna narrowly dodged Gilda’s first kick and as Gilda launched a barrage of attacks, Luna stayed just out of her reach.

While Gilda was keeping Luna busy, Trixie attempted to free herself. “Saws,” she commanded. The saws appeared and hacked away at the shadow tendrils. “Finally,” she complained as she broke free. “Crossbows!” Six crossbows formed and fired a volley of arrows at Luna. She effortlessly dodged them at the same time that she avoided Gilda’s blows.

“I commend your efforts thus far,” Luna said without missing a beat. “But if you cannot land even a single blow, what hope do you have of defeating me? End this foolishness now and surrender.”

“Never!” Gilda shouted, doubling her efforts. It made little difference; Luna was untouchable.

Even with Trixie’s support, Luna was just too fast. Trixie couldn’t hit her with a projectile and every time she tried to slow Luna down with an illusion or hold her mind with genjutsu, Luna laughed. “My mind is much stronger and more experienced than yours, hatchling,” she teased. “Save these games for another.”

Both Trixie and Gilda were getting frustrated. Luna was leading them on a chase through the castle and there was nothing either of them could do to stop her. By chance, Trixie happened to look out a window.

“Gilda, stop,” she cried.

Gilda jumped back to her friend. “What’s wrong?”

Trixie pointed to the moon, high in the  night sky. “How long have we been fighting?”

“It couldn’t have been that long,” Gilda stammered.

“Sunset!” both girls cried out. They turned to go back to the throne room but Luna stood in their way.

“We are not yet finished,” she said firmly.

Trixie and Gilda dashed in opposite directions, trying to trip Luna up. Both girls experienced a barrage of heavy blows knocking them to the ground. Trixie passed out. As Gilda barely clung to consciousness, Luna stood over her, triumphantly.

“How?” was the only word Gilda could get out.

“It seems neither of you realized,” Luna said. “From the beginning, you were already trapped in my DayDream.”

Those were the last words Gilda heard as everything went black.

***

When Sunset recovered from the blinding light, she looked around. She had been teleported somewhere she didn’t recognize. All around her was an endless expanse of crystal tombstones each with a different name. As she tried to stand, she found that it was incredibly difficult. It took everything she had just to get to her feet and she couldn’t move freely.

“Having trouble?”

Sunset slowly turned to see Celestia standing on her toes, on top of one of the tombstones. It looked as if she was unaffected by whatever force was working against Sunset.

“What is this place?” Sunset asked, trying to buy time to build her strength.

“This is my unique spell: Weight of the Crown,” Celestia explained. “Every one of these graves marks a life for which I am or was responsible. Each adds to the weight one is forced to bear while here. This is the true weight of rule.”

Sunset wasn’t ready to fight yet; she needed Celestia to keep talking. “How do you have Sasuke’s power? I thought only Luna had it.”

Celestia sighed. “In my long life I have felt very very lonely. There have been only a few in my entire life with whom I could relate and talk. In my multiple millenias, I have only ever had one lover. Sasuke and I connected in a way I might never with anyone again. One night, we came to each other and cemented our bond. In the old tradition, I bled for him and he for me. Our powers were exchanged and we were linked for life. But I did not know at the time, this power, his power, comes from loss.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

“When I lost my lover to his madness, my power grew,” Celestia lamented. “When I lost my sister to her madness, my power grew. When I lose a friend to age, my power grows.” Celestia looked directly into Sunset’s eyes. “When I lost the mare I loved like a daughter, my power grew. That is the price of power.”

“Lies!” Sunset screamed. She tried to jump at Celestia but couldn’t fight the force holding her down. “Why doesn’t this place affect you?”

“It does,” was all Celestia said. She moved liike lightning and kicked Sunset across the field. Sunset Shimmer crashed through tombstones until the impact was enough to stop her momentum. Sunset couldn’t find the energy to stand so she stayed still, exhausted. “I feel the weight of every creature under my rule, every life I have taken, every loss my decisions cause. Every day I deal with this burden. It is much to ask of any pony.” She leaned down and lovingly brushed Sunset’s hair. “I had meant to train you so that one day you would be ready to bear this burden with me. It’s not too late, Sunset. Please come back. I’ll be better; I’ll pay more attention to you, we can do things together, it’ll be like it was.”

Sunset Shimmer called all of the strength in her body and spat in Celestia’s face. “It can never be like it was.”

“That…. is disappointing,” Celestia was solemn. She used her mangekyou to render Sunset Shimmer unconscious. Her tears fell from her face to the young mare beneath her.

**********

I prepared for a fight as I teleported into Celestia’s room. I was at full strength, ready for anything. Or so I thought.

“I knew you would come,” Celestia’s haggard voice came from her desk. A single candle illuminated the room. As I saw her face, I bit back a gasp. Her eyes were puffy and red and her head hung low. She stood from her desk and slowly climbed into her bed. “Did you know I’m not infertile,” she asked, facing away.

“But I thought-”

“When medicine advanced enough, I went through several tests,” Celestia’s voice was tired, defeated. “I can bear foals.” She sighed. “But only if they can survive the magical bombardment of my womb.” She laughed darkly. “My body would kill any child I tried to bring into this world.”

I stayed silent and waited for her to continue.

“So I took on students,” Celestia rasped. Clearing her throat with a cough, she continued. “But as hard as I tried, none of them could fill the void in my heart. That is, until a certain unicorn came to my school.” Celestia’s voice grew lighter for a moment. “Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Shimmer were both very dear to me. They came to my school after having lost their parents. I took them in. I taught them, guided them, loved them. They were exceptional fillies and I was so excited to see them grow.” Her tone grew dark again. “And then Sunset started down a dark path. She wanted so much more than she was ready for. ‘Power corrupts’, you told me. And she has so much. If only I had seen it sooner….” Celestia's voice caught in her throat. “I was going to adopt them. I still have the papers.” A sob escaped the solar alicorn before she cleared her throat again. “But I didn’t. Sunset ran away and Starlight left. I had no one.”

“Cel-”

“Don’t,” Celestia commanded. “I don’t want to hear it. You’ve hurt me in a way I can never forgive.” She floated me a key with her magic. “But I will not see the mare I cared for like a daughter rot in my own dungeon. So go, free them.” Celestia rose from her bed and looked at me with pure hatred in her eyes. “But the next time we meet, I will kill you.” Her magic burned her neck and she grunted in pain. I felt the connection to the flying thunder god mark disappear. She slumped down and her breathing evened out.

***

Navigating the dungeons was easy. There were no guards and the paths were very straight forward. I found my girls in three different cells, all locked in cells and chains made of voidrock. They were all sleeping pretty peacefully. I internally sighed with relief that they were unharmed. I used the key Celestia gave me to unlock their cells and chains. One by one, I sent them through Kamui’s dimension to our wagon. I let them sleep for now. When they woke up, I was going to let them know exactly how I felt about their little stunt.
> Chapter 25
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“First off, I want you to know: I’m not mad. I’m just disappointed.”

“Really?”  Trixie asked, hope in her eyes.

“Fuck no,” I stomped all over her hope. “I don’t think you fully understand just how much you fucked up.”

“But-”

“Shhhh,” I held my finger to Trixie’s lips. “I don’t want to hear it. Let’s start with how you ignored my explicit instructions to not fight the fourth most powerful beings on the goddamn planet!!”

“Psh,” Gilda snorted. “I think you may be overestimating yourself.”

“And I think you’re confusing explicit and implied,” Sunset added. “You never actually said the words, ‘Don’t fight Princess Celestia’. It’s always just sort of been implied that we shouldn’t.”

My eye twitched just the slightest bit. “How about, ‘don’t draw attention to yourself’, you idiots! Did you conveniently forget that? You went ahead and forcefully grabbed the attention of one of the few creatures actually capable of killing you. What do you have to say about that, smartasses?”

“Do you mean Princess Celestia or Princess Luna?” Trixie asked quietly.

“What?”


“Well you just said only one of them could kill us,” Sunset said. “Which one is it?”

“BOTH!!” I screamed.

“But you just said-”

“That’s it,” I activated my mangekyou. “I’m going to burn you three to death and start over in another thousand years.”

“Whoa there, Sasuke” Gilda held her hands up. “Why don’t you just calm down and we can try to talk this out again?”

I ran my hand through my hair and took a deep breath. “Fine,” I exhaled. “The reason this is so bad is that now Celestia is serious about trying to stop me.”


“She wasn’t before?” Trixie asked.

“No. We have a pretty close history together so she was conflicted,” I explained. “It was making her sloppy and keeping her off balance. However, seeing her ‘daughter’ under my influence has no doubt steeled her resolve. She’s going to come at us for real now.”

“Then on to plan B now, right?” Sunset wilted under my gaze.

I sighed, “We’re on, like, plan Q now. Things are a lot harder to account for than I originally planned.”

“Should we be jumping ship,” Gilda whispered. 

“I still have everything under control,” I glared. “And if you leave now, the best you can expect is a life on the run constantly being hunted like an animal.”

“Dammit,” Gilda frowned.

“Anyway, I have a plan for just about anything so just follow goddamn instructions next time, got it?”

“Isn’t that like saying you have no plan at all,” Trixie asked.

“Shut up and get out of the wagon.”

As we all climbed out of the wagon, the sirens were sitting around smirking. Smoke Puff and Starlight were sitting together talking.

“Done lecturing the children?” Adagio laughed.

“Shut up,” Gilda growled.

“Was he too rough on you,” Starlight hip checked her sister.

“No, it was fine,” she replied.

“Ladies and… I guess just ladies, gather round and let’s get started,” I said, pulling out a map. “We are here,” I pointed to the edge of the badlands. Queen, Mirage’s hive is here, I pointed east of our position. Unfortunately, there is no paved path in that direction so the wagon will sink in the soft sand. So guess what?”

“Please don’t tell me we’re walking in this Faust forsaken desert,” Aria sighed.

“That’s it exactly,” I smiled. Everyone else groaned. “The sooner we start, the sooner we get there.”
***

The trek through the desert wasn’t that bad. It had been early morning when we started so we were going to finish before too long. I fact we were approached the entrance to the hive before the heat of the day even began.

“Alright, we’re here,” I said.

“We’re where?” Sonata asked. “All I see is sand, more sand, and, ooh some sand over there too!”

“Use your sharingan and you’ll see it,” I said, tired of reminding them.

“Oh,” they all said together, finally seeing what I was seeing. An enormous hive palace stood before us with changelings flying all around it. A dome of changeling magic usually hid the entire structure from prying eyes but seeing through illusions is a sharingan specialty.

“Oh and pony magic won’t work here,” I told them. “Only ninja skills.” I took a step forward into the dome. Ten guards immediately materialized into existence. They surrounded me with lit horns.

“Are you the creature known as Sasuke Uchiha?” The lead changeling asked.

“Yes I am,” I replied. “These are my trainees. I seek an audience with Queen Mirage.”

The changelings looked amongst themselves and their horn glows dimmed. “The Queen is expecting you. Follow me and do not try anything.”

I signaled to the girls to follow me. “Me? Try something? Nah.”

The changeling walked us into the hive. From the inside, it looked like a bustling city, full of stands and shops. Thousands of changelings buzzed around us as we walked towards the center structure. Many of them stopped to watch the parade of strange creatures. As we got closer and closer to the queen’s chamber, Adagio got more and more antsy.

“What’s the matter,” I whispered.

“It’s just,” Adagio hesitated. “The last time I was here, Mirage and I didn’t exactly see eye to eye.”

“Oh shit,” I mumbled. “What did you do?”

“What did I do?” Adagio whisper-screamed. “More like what did that bi-”

“Ahem,” the changeling cleared his throat. “We have arrived.” We stood before two very large ornate doors, each with its own guard. They looked wary of us but opened them nonetheless. Stepping forward into the throne room, the changeling who had led us in, announced, “Presenting Sasuke Uchiha and party.”

We walked in and I had to shield my eyes. Sit on a radiant throne in the center of the room was Queen Mirage. Light poured in from the ceiling and bounced off the throne drowning the room in rainbow colors. Sitting atop her throne, Queen Mirage was enveloped in the light, her butterfly wings on full display and complementing her rainbow mane.

“It is customary for all creatures to kneel before a queen,” Mirage said in her musical voice.

The girls, sans Smoke Puff, all knelt instantly. Smoke Puff gave me a questioning look.

“Like I told you before,” I smirked, “I’m not really a ‘customs’ guy.”

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Mirage smiled warmly. “I see you’ve brought some friends this time. Oh, what’s this?” Mirage examined the girls magically. “They all have your unique power, how fascinating.”

“Yes,” smiled nervously. “I found a way to mix Equestrian magic with my own.”

“But I already had a way,” Mirage smirked at me. “And my way is so much more... satisfying.”

“Your way creates a new generation unnecessarily,” I argued. “My way, gives the power to you directly.” I took out a syringe and offered it to her. “For your help.”

Mirage frowned. “I am very old, Sasuke. I do not need more power. What I need is to know my daughters will be fine out in the world.”

“Then one for each daughter,” I tried.

“Sasuke, you misunderstand my intention,” Mirage said. “I need a new type of changeling, not to turn my race into humans. I will not forsake my race for power. Our strength comes from our family and I am mother to my hive. I will only accept a child born of you and me. Otherwise, our business is concluded.”

“Very well,” I conceded.

“You may, of course, stay as long as you wish,” Mirage offered.

“Thanks,” I said. “We’ll be out of here tomorrow.”

As we turned to leave the throne room Mirage spoke one more time. “My offer stands should you ever want to take it.”

***

I stood on the balcony of my room looking out at the hive when I heard a knock at the door.

“It’s open,” I yelled without turning around. As soon as the door opened, I could feel a changeling princess walk into the room. “And who do I have the honor of greeting today.” I turned to face the blue maned princess.

“Mother would like to know if you’d be interested in a princess instead,” Glamour said politely but sternly.

“No thanks,” I said to the princess’s obvious relief. “Tell Mirage-”

“Queen Mirage.”

“Fine, tell Queen Mirage that the partner isn’t the problem,” I sighed.

“Then what is?”

“I’m… not thrilled about the idea of having kids here,” I said.

Glamour looked offended. “I’ll have you know this hive is an excellent place to raise your young should you ever be so lucky!”

“I didn’t mean-”

I tried to talk to her but she had already stormed out of the room. Sunset walked in shortly after.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “What do you have for me?”


“You were right,” she started. “One Princess Chrysalis is missing and apparently took a troop of changelings with her. Queen Mirage’s network can’t seem to track her.”

“That last part is surprising,” I mused.

“Is the Queen’s spy network really that good?”


“It is literally the best in the world,” I explained. “Changelings make up about 15% of every major population except dragons.”

“Are you serious? Does the Princess know about that?” Sunset’s jaw was on the ground.

“Of course,” I laughed. “Princess Celestia helped them infiltrate. In exchange, Queen Mirage is supposed to share any information that comes out of Equestria or indicates a threat.”

Sunset blinked owlishly. “Threats to Equestria….. Like, you?”

“I wouldn’t really call myself a threat,” I said thinking. “I’m more of a minor nuisance…. Right now.”

“Yeah now that I think about it all you did was steal from a national museum, attack a city, and assault multiple world leaders,” Sunset said sarcastically.

“Exactly,” I said. “Minor annoyances.”

I turned back to the balcony and waved to Sunset. However she continued to linger at the door.

“Is there anything else?”

Sunset took a deep calming breath, “Soooo, I originally wanted to question Princess Celestia about why she abandoned me but I kind of lost myself in anger and didn’t let her explain.”

“And you think I might have answers.”

“You do seem to know everything about everyone,” Sunset narrowed her eyes. “For some strange reason.”

“Whaaaaaat naaaaaaw,” I snickered. 

“You know why Princess Celestia didn’t come to get me, don’t you?”

“I do,” I admitted. “But if I tell you, what will you do with that information?”

“I,” she hesitated, “don’t know.”

I sighed. “The mirror has conditions for its use. The first is that it only works for three days every 30 moons. The second is that the being passing through has a certain level of magical ability.” Sunset nodded in understanding. “The third condition is that you not be Celestia.”

“Wait…. What?”

“Yeah, Celestia actually caused a lot of problems with an entirely different but similar mirror so when Starswirl made the new one, he made sure Celestia would never be able to use it.”

“But, b-but-”

“But she could have sent someone in to get you? There was no one who could use the mirror. Her only chance at the time would have been Cadence but Cadence isn’t exactly magically gifted. Don’t get me wrong, the girl has plenty of raw alicorn power but its not like she’s some magical prodigy. Also, she wasn't much older than you. Celestia probably intended to send Twilight Sparkle after you. So, what now?”Sunset fell to the ground and I walked over to her. “If you want my opinion: nothing has changed. So now you’re not sure about getting revenge. So what? I never promised you revenge. I promised you the power to become a princess. I’m not quitting if you aren’t. Still with me?”

Sunset tearfully looked up into my eyes and nodded. I grinned.

“Good.”
> Chapter 26
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We trekked through this Faust-forsaken desert, groveled in front of the queen of the bug ponies, and now we’re back out in the middle of fricking nowhere with nothing to show for it?” Adagio seethed at me. In her defense, it had been a rather unproductive venture. But I wasn’t really in the mood for her attitude.

“Did you just say frick?” I provoked her. “You know we’re all adults here. You can curse if you want. Nobody’s got delicate sensibilities.” I fluttered my eyelashes with the last bit. 

Her eyes changed to Sharingan and for a second it almost seemed like the pattern was about to change again but she calmed herself down and moved away from me. Sonata took her place. “You know you shouldn’t be mean to her like that. Dealing with Mirage was really hard for her.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, back into the wagon everyone.”

“I thought you said it wouldn’t move in the sand,” Sunset said.

“It won’t but I just remembered that I can both turn the sand into a solid path and make the wagon fly.”

“And the reason you made us walk under the blistering sun was?” Gilda glared at me.

“I forgot.”

Have you ever been cold-cocked before? It’s not that bad an experience believe it or not. You’re standing up one second and the next you’re lying down somewhere else with some minor soreness in your jaw. As I rubbed said soreness out of my jaw and sat up, I saw Smoke Puff staring guiltily off into space.

“Puffball….. Did you knock me out?”

The bunny girl looked at me for a moment, nodded quickly, and started staring at something in her hands.

“It’s ok you know,” I moved closer to her. “I’m not mad or anything. Actually,” I stretched and popped my joints, “I feel a bit better.” At that moment my jaw chose to remind me that it had suffered an injury. “Mentally at least.” I rubbed the tender spot. Smoke Puff remained quiet and solely focused on the object in her tiny hands. “Whatcha got there,” I asked.

It looked like she was internally struggling with something but she eventually turned around and showed me. A black headband, adorned with three red star-like crosses and a strange gold symbol hung loosely from her fingers. It seemed familiar, somehow.

“Where did you get that,” I asked.

“It appeared while you were unconscious,” Smoke Puff replied. “I don’t know what it is but I don’t like it.” 

She held it out to me and I took it in my hands. Immediately I heard a voice speak in my head. If you seek truth and aid in helping the weak and in need, call forth the Anti-Magic Knight.

“It’s a token,” I whispered to myself. “Hey Smoke Puff, get ready,” I grinned. “We’re about to make a new friend.”

I held the token in my hand and called out to its creator. I felt the same surge of otherworldly energy I did every time the void was involved and a portal opened in front of me. The silhouette of a figure appeared from the light and Smoke Puff jumped in front of me, ready to fight.

“Puffball, calm down,” I patted her head. “These guys never come through ready to fight us. Worst comes to worst, we blow up the planet and escape.” She looked at me in horror. “Kidding,” I said. “You know I can’t do that.”

She grumbled a bit but relaxed. The figure finally stepped through the portal and it closed behind him, giving me my first look at the guy. My first thought was, I know him from somewhere. My second thought was, This guy looks like he hangs out at the Salty Spitoon. He was about my height but his build was much different. While I have a more athletic build, this guy was clearly a fighter. His black trench coat and red shirt couldn’t hide the hard, angry-looking muscle covering his body and scars all over his visible skin. But the thing that stood out the most was the power. The person radiated an intense, almost sinister energy. My third thought was, I may have just doomed the world. 

He let out a yawn and then looked at me. I readied myself keeping my hand close to my sword. 

“Holy crap a Sasuke is the one who summoned me,” He pointed and rushed over. “You look like hell. Nice to meet you, name’s Asta, Asta Ferris.”

I relaxed a bit, relieved that I wasn’t about to fight for my life. “Sasuke Uchiha, kind of,” I extended my hand.

He took a hold of my hand and I could tell he was extremely strong, “Nice to meet ya. I’m guessing you’re the resident Displaced.”

“That I am,” I grinned switching back into performance mode. “I am Equestria’s Black Sun! The Demon Bane of the Griffons! And the….. Shit. The dragons had something too but hell if I remember. Anyway, I have called you here, Anti-Magic Knight Asta Ferris, to ask for a few favors. How would you like to help me out?”

“Depends on what it is,” He shrugged. “As long as no one is seriously hurt then I’m game for anything.”

“Now when you say seriously hurt,” I squinted in thought. “Does it count if said ‘hurtee’ can regenerate from otherwise mortal wounds?”

“Hm…” He stroked his chin. “As long as they don’t die from said injuries, unless they're evil then they can go to hell.”

I clapped my hands. “Excellent! It’s basically impossible to kill them anyway! So forgive me, I’m not exactly familiar with your powers. What makes you anti-magic? Personal grudge?”

“My demon,” He said nonchalantly as he pulled an old dirty book from under his coat. “And my swords,” Asta released the book and it was covered in black and red outlined energy. The book opened flipping its pages before stopping as a handle came out of it. Asta took hold of the handle and pulled out a massive bastard sword and then pulled out a smaller sword designed for close combat. “The smaller sword absorbs any type of magic and converts it to anti-magic that I can then use how I see fit. The large one is mainly for attacking and channeling the anti-magic.”

“So that all sounds incredible and useful in pretty much any situation and all but I’m gonna need you to back up a bit.” I cocked my head to the side. “Because I’m pretty sure you just said you had a demon? And I’m gonna need some follow up on that.”

“That’s where things get complicated,” He crossed his arms still holding the swords. “He’s trapped in my Grimoire and is the source of my anti-magic. Other than that I can’t give more as not a whole lot is known about him from the manga or show either.”

“You’re not going to like….get possessed in the middle of combat though, right?”

“If I look like it then it’s just when I invoke my anti-magic into my body,” He snickered. “The only who’d is a threat of possession is Sombra and he’s under heavy ward thanks to my big brother.”

“Huh, neat.” I grabbed his shoulder. “Puffball, keep going towards the Dragon Lands. I’ll be back in a bit.” In a swirl of energy, both Asta and I were gone.

***

As space solidified around us I took a quick look around. A surprised Sci Twi stood to my front left and a bored Starswirl briefly looked up from his newspaper.

“What kind of teleportation was that?” Sci Twi quickly recovered.

“You can’t do it so it doesn’t matter,” I waved her off. “More importantly, this is Asta. He has graciously decided to come from beyond the void and help me….. Do some stuff.”

“Oh no,” Sci Twi mumbled under her breath.

“The void you say,” Starswirl said, suddenly interested. “Mr. Asta, is it? Come, sit down.” The old unicorn levitated a chair towards him. “I would love to ask you some questions about interdimensional travel. Cookie?” Starswirl finished by telekinetically shoving a cookie into Asta’s lips.

Asta inhaled the cookie then looked at Starswirl, “You dead,” he said bluntly. “The ki you’re giving off is very... Uh. what’s the word, sour. As for questions they’ll have to wait till I help Sasuke first. He is the one who summoned me but if you really want to know about interdimensional travel you should watch out for one of these.” He pulled an old pocket watch with the Human Transmutation circle from FMA on it. “It’s my older brother’s token and he regularly traverses the Void.” He turned to me, “Onward with your stuff.”

“I prefer ‘Living Challenged’,” Starswirl said as he took the pocket watch.

“And we’re here for them,” I pointed to the odd couple in front of us. “Sci Twi is working on a spell that fully analyzes any skill it comes into contact with. And as much as I hate to admit it, the zombie wizard can do some truly insane meta-magic manipulation.” I put my arm around Asta’s shoulder. “Your anti-magic is a power, so I figured they can recreate it, or at least imitate its effect. I kind of need something to combat Celestia’s new ‘no-powers allowed’ weapons. Got to level that playing field. Sound good?”

“You know I don’t like being called ‘Sci Twi’,” Sci Twi pouted.

“Well as I said before,” Asta said as he brought out his book again and tapped it. “The demon to the source of my anti-magic and it extends that to my sword. The swords however already possess the power to absorb and redistribute magic, something to do with being dwarven made,” he scratched the back of his head. “So feel free to analyze them all you want,” he pulled the smaller sword from his book. “But make only those with extensive magic touch it as anyone with very little magic could possibly die just from touching it.” he held the blade out. “I don’t recommend telekinesis either. Not even my princesses can lift this with it.”

“Everyone here should be fine,” I said, avoiding touching them just in case. “Starswirl, why don’t you grab one and get started.”

The unicorn rolled his eyes. “Our fearless leader in action.” 

“Don’t complain to me; you’re already dead.”

Starswirl rolled his eyes and tried to levitate the sword out of Asta’s hand. Nothing happened. He frowned and put more magic into it.

“Anti-magic sword, Starswirl,” I reminded him.

He blushed. “Grab that sword for me, Twilight.”

“Why me,” she asked.

“Because I don’t have thumbs,” Starswirl held up his hooves.

Sci Twi sighed and slowly walked up to Asta. She reached out her hand and just as she was about to grab the sword, she hesitated. “Wait a second,” she said. “Why do we have to touch it in the first place? If Mr. Asta channels his power through his body, I can analyze it from a distance.”

I pouted. “But I want to see what happens if you don’t have enough power.”

“I thought no one here was expendable,” Starswirl smirked.

I thought for a moment. “You’re right. Don’t want to lose my precious Sci Twi. Alright then. Do you need to transform or have magic shot at you or something? Or is holding them enough?”

“Either or really,” He shrugged. “Simply having the sword out it absorbs the magic in the area around it. I’m bored,” He stabbed the sword in the floor and walked to a nearby window and jumped onto a cloud. “Fresh air is nice,” he said sitting on the cloud.

“Son Goku did it first,” I yelled after him, trying not to show I was impressed. “Anyways, Starswirl shoot some magic blasts at him, and Twi, do your thing.”

They both nodded in agreement and Sci Twi’s eyes turned into a violet Sharingan. Starswirl lit his horn and let a few magic bolts fly. Asta lazily slashed the slow-moving projectiles and Sci Twi mumbled something under her breath while writing on a small notepad.

“Hey Asta,” I said. “Since there’s no way in hell I can call a repair pony/griffon here, I assume you’re going to fix this window.”

“I can fix it or I can give your people gifts,” He put his sword against his shoulder and hopped back into the lab. “I love sky dragon powers. So, what’ll it be?”

I turned to Starswirl. “Researchers can fix windows, right?” He shrugged. “I’m sure they’ll figure it out. Sci Twi, whatcha got for me?” She glared in response. I cleared my throat, “ I mean, Twilight, what were you able to learn?”

She smiled. “That’s better. I was able to figure out the structure of Mr. Asta’s ability to erase and reflect magic, but there’s no way for me to even begin to duplicate it.”

“That’s where I come in,” Starswirl puffed out his chest. “Just bring me that bat you got a while back and I’ll have this figured out in two shakes of a sexy lamb’s tail.”

“What?”

“What?” Starswirl mimicked. “Go get the bat.”

I summoned the bat to my hands. “It’s right here but that’s not what I-” Starswirl swiped the bat from my hands and pushed me and Asta out of the lab. I faced Asta. “You heard that too right? It wasn’t just me?”

“I have a demon and demon king pony in a book,” Asta deadpanned. “I hear things all the time and I can talk to animals for some reason, yes I heard that. Did it make sense to me not at all, no. What was with the bat?”

“It’s made with some sort of physics-defying metal, nth I think,” I explained. “I got it from Iron Man. Which doesn’t quite make sense now that I think about it…. But I got a magic reflecting baseball bat so it's all good.” We stood in silence for a minute. “So what’s your Equestria like? Which pony did you wife? Or husband…. no judgment.”

“None taken,” He waved it off. “My Equis is mainly humans with tails and wings. The unicorns use crystals to focus their magic, same with alicorns, though the sisters don’t have the best rep with me. I’m dating Fluttershy, maybe Applejack at some point. So yea that’s it other than being the leader of the Black  Bulls Magic Knight Squad. I have a dragon that she gives me natural magic of a pegasus and access to what’s called Ancient Magic I can ride when she gets big enough, got her from another Displaced.” he looked around and then back to the door. “Can we walk? I don’t like standing still.”

I nodded and we moved through the castle. The ponies I ‘hired’ scrambled around us to avoid our path. “Huh, anthropomorphic ponies,” I hummed to myself. I looked him up and down, then grinned. “Yeah, you seem like a Fluttershy kind of guy. Did the princesses also turn you to a statue? I swear that seems to be their go-to for us.” 

“Well, as far as stoning goes that was my older brother. No, they tried to kidnap me,” He walked and looked around. “I hate it when people don’t just ask me shit. Being sneaky and all that crap, no offense.”

I led us on a short walk up some stairs, down some stairs, around a few corners, and back to the lab. “It’s been a few months, so they should be done.” I kicked open the door. “TWILIGHT, STARSWIRL, I’M BACK!”

“Wait, oh crap,” I heard Sci Twi say as a bright light engulfed me. 

**

As I dusted the soot off of my body, Starswirl stood over me, fuming. “How many times have I told you not to open the door while the time dilation is active!?!”

I sheepishly looked to Asta who simply shrugged. “Six or so,” I offered.

 He offered a hand. “Do you want a grimoire?”

“By grimoire, you mean an ancient book of powerful magic spells, right?” Asta nodded as he pulled me to my feet. “Will it work if I can’t use Equestrian magic?”

“My Grimoire is a prison for a demon and evil pony, not to mention and endless storage of random items I won in a game of Blackjack form a merchant guy calling himself the Gambler,” Asta crossed his arms. “The Grimoire I’m talking about comes from Black Clover and is entirely unique to oneself. The books act like a catalyst and record your spells as you make them up. It’s not unheard of for families to have similar or pass down magics or Grimoires after members die. But if you die before you can do that your book burns to ash. I can unlock your personal magic with a blank book, some of your blood mixed with ink, a fresh quill, and my Publishing spell. So not Equestrian in the slightest. The best part is there is no time limit to the number of times I can use the spell or quantity.”

“Sci Twi, you heard all that, right?” She sighed and started collecting the required items. “And while we’re waiting, Starswirl, tell what you guys came up with.”

Starswirl moved through the lab and started pushing a large box. With great grunts of effort he pushed over to where we stood. “Now then. First, I would like to say the metal in that bat was immensely difficult to process into another form and had I known just how much trouble it was going to be I would have made you do it. But,” he took the top off the box and showed me the sword within, “I can work with pretty much anything.” I picked up the new sword and inspected it.

“This looks like the one I already have,” I said.

“I’m a genius mage, not a sword smith,” he retorted. “And besides, this one is so much better. It cuts through spells like warm butter. It can still channel your chakra and you can pull it to your hand now.”

“What do you mean?”

“One of the things Twilight learned from her analysis was that Asta’s swords and grimoire are basically bound to his soul, making it impossible for him to misplace them. While we weren’t able to replicate the soul binding, we were able to create a sort of spiritual tether between you and the sword.”

I tossed it and came flying back to my hand like Thor’s hammer. “Huh, neat.”

Twilight placed her collected items on a desk and coughed. “Everything’s here,” she said.

“What now,” I asked Asta.

“Depends on who wants to have a Grimoire,” He shrugged. “Just hast have them mix some of their blood in with the ink write their name in the book and I’ll do the rest.”

I summoned a kunai and cut my finger. I dripped some of my blood into the ink and opened the book. Before I started writing, I hesitated. “What are the rules for the name written in the book?”

“Not really sure about that myself,” Asta scratched his head. “Everyone till now has used the names they go by. I guess use whatever you feel is your name is for you.” he shrugged.

I started writing. “I am Sasuke Uchiha,” I whispered. Of course, the name was written in English so I felt weird about that but I powered through my language awkwardness. I finished writing and looked up at Asta. “What happens now?”

“I happen and then you get a new magic that’s your along with a hangover headache the size of the Texas panhandle,” Asta smirked as his Grimoire floated in front of him flipping to a specific page. “Publishing Magic; Grimoire Publishing,” Black lightning shot from Asta book to me then so the book I had written my name in. I passed out for a bit cause the next thing I knew I was sitting in a chair with Asta repeatedly tapping my face. “Hey, Sasuke, you in there dude?”

“I understand everything.” My grimoire appeared in front of me and opened itself. I felt the basic knowledge of how to use its power fill my mind. I willed the magic to activate and felt it create something around my neck. I tilted my head to get a better look and saw a necklace with six glowing, jade magatama adorning it. I held one in my hand and instinctively understood their purpose. “Starswirl, do you know any instant death spells?”

Starswirl’s eyes lit up with enthusiastic curiosity. “Yes, why? Does your new magic allow you to capture and reproduce spells?”

“Not exactly,” I said, still enraptured by my necklace. “Cast one on me.”

Starswirl blinked owlishly, then shrugged. His horn lit up with power and he cried out, “FOR SCIENCE!” He released the spell and then…. nothing. “That’s odd,” he murmured. He looked at me for an explanation.

“It works,” I grinned. The magatama in my hand crumbled into nothingness. I turned my attention to the others in the room. “What you’ve just witnessed is the ultimate protection magic. Each one of these little guys can protect me from an unstoppable attack. I’ll call it….. Plot Armor magic.”

“Wait a second,” Sci Twi held up a hand. “You weren’t sure it was going to work but you made Starswirl cast the spell anyway?”

“I was pretty sure,” I defended myself. Sci Twi didn’t say anything. She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “Anyway, I apparently only get six of these at a time and I have no idea how long it’ll take to recharge. Know anything about that Asta?”

“However long it takes for you to get your mana back,” Asta crossed his arms. “In theory, you could use the spell infinitely with enough mana. This spell though does have a limit to the number of times you can use it. At this time I’d say you can use it at least nine times ten if you really push it.” he turned to Sci Twi. “And how can you call yourself a researcher if you’re not willing to die to test your own spells?”

Sci Twi frowned. “But I’m not even an adult yet. I would never use dangerous or untested methods to advance my research.”

Thinking back to a certain inter-school event, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sure you wouldn’t.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Now is not the time for Midnight Sparkle,” I brushed her aside. “Now is the time for a field test!” I grabbed a piece of paper from the table and furiously scribbled out some instructions. I tied it to a kunai and handed it to Starswirl.

“What do you want me to do with this,” he asked.

“You know the dragonfire mail spell, right?”

“I created it,” he snorted.

“Then send this message to Celestia,” I instructed. “She’s going to help me figure out how to really use this new spell.”

“Mind if I join in the fun,” Asta smirked as he cracked his knuckles. “I have some pent up emotions that I would really like to share with the sun horse.”

I grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

***

Asta and I stood deep in the Badlands, waiting for the princesses to arrive. In my message, I had told her that I would meet her to give her the chance to finish our fight once and for all. Obviously, I had no intention of doing so but it was too good a chance for her to pass up.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a watch, would you,” I asked Asta.

He pulled out another alchemist pocket watch, “Sure,” he tossed it over to me.

I popped open the cover and checked the time. Tossing it back I said, “I’m now just realizing that I didn’t give them an exact time.” I scratched my head. “Or location. I just said, ‘middle of the Badlands’.” I looked around. “Aren’t even any landmarks around here.” I sat down in the dirt. “You mind powering up as a sort of beacon?”

“Sure, but I’m saving Black mode for a mind fuck,” Asta said as he walked away from me. “How about a massive tower made with Ancient Magic?!” he called out.

“As long as you can feel and or see it for miles, go for it.”

I saw Asta’s left arm glow and he slammed it on the ground, “Svell Fell (Ice Mountain),” A huge ice spire sprang from the Knight’s fist and roast thousands of feet into the air. “I do believe it’s hard to miss a big ass ice mountain in the middle of a wasteland.” he dusted his hands off and joined me.

After all of three seconds, I heard the unmistakable sound of Equestrian teleportation. Turning to face the sound, Celestia and Luna had appeared. They both stood in their human forms and covered in a light looking armor. Celestia’s Sharingan was focused on me, while Luna studied Asta. The second I moved to stand up, Celestia went into action.

“Solar lance,” she whispered and a beam of white-hot fire rained down on me from the sky. 

“Mind tricks don’t work on those who have multiple minds to call on, little blue pony,” Asta smirked as he crossed his arms causing Luna to step back a bit.

“Are you a demon,” she asked, clearly trying to gauge his strength. “Or a mix between human and demon?”

“Aah…” Asta mock though as he placed a finger in his cheek gently scratching it. He finally shrugged. “No clue anymore. I was human at some point but due to an evil king trying to take over my body I had to undergo a few physical alterations to keep him from doing so. Thanks to my older brother’s help I guess you could call me something in the line of a human with demons sealed in his very bones.” He looked at Celestia. “Hello Celestia!” he said twiddling his fingers. “Kinda hard to move around under this pressure. Can you drop the fireworks while we talk, please?”

Celestia turned her attention to Asta and the rain of fire stopped. I stood unscathed and one of my magatamas disintegrated. “You know, if I greeted you with a rain of fire, I’m pretty sure you would be offended,” I said.

“Where is Sunset Shimmer?” Celestia demanded.

I waved Asta over to me. Once he was close enough I leaned in close and whispered in his ear. “Looks like Celestia’s not fucking around today. Since she’s got way more than enough power to insta-kill me sixty times, how about you take her and I take Luna?”

“Good with me bro. I got beef with the multi-colored bringer of the sun anyway.” Asta held up a fist and I bumped it. “How far can I take this fight?”

“Don’t destroy her brain,” I instructed. “It’s the only thing we never tested so I’m not sure if it’ll kill her or not. Try not to decapitate her either. Takes her way too long to recover. Other than that, go wild. Oh, and just a heads up, when she figures out her magic isn’t going to work she’ll try close-quarters combat. She’s not the best at it but she is crazy freaking strong so getting hit might hurt.”

“Sure it will,” Asta smirked as he dropped his coat and it hit the ground with a thud. “Right,” he cracked his knuckles. “So, let’s get introductions out of the way little princesses. My name is Asta Ferris, The Anti-magic Knight.” He said taking a mock bow.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at ‘anti-magic’ but kept her face kept its calm visage. She raised a hand at Asta and let loose a magic fireball. Asta’s Grimoire flew to his side and he immediately slashed the fireball with his bastard sword with ease. He propped the sword on his shoulder and smirked at the shocked Celestia as the fireball turned into black energy and flowed into the blade.

Asta let out a yawn, “This is going to be boring if that’s all you have.”

Celestia looked at Asta carefully before fully turning her body to face him. Her golden swords vanished and all the magic she was leaking was pulled back into her body. She took a deep breath and assumed a fighting posture. I could see she was focusing all of her power into just her legs, hands, and eyes. I could only think, ‘Pure offense doesn’t really suit anybody. Hope Asta’s not too rough with her. At least the Sharingan’s inherent op bullshit should keep this interesting for him.” 

“Let’s see if your eyes can help me go past my limits,” Asta put his sword back in the Grimoire. He took up a stance that I wasn’t familiar with placing his palms open.

Celestia kept her hands raised and took a few steps forward before launching a kick at Asta. He caught her by the heel with very little effort and thrust his arm forward throwing her about thirty feet away.

“Nice try there but a ballerina has more grace and power than that,” he smirked.

Celestia adapted her posture and tried the exact same move, again. I raised an eyebrow because I could have sworn I taught her better than that. Asta again expended minimal effort in stopping and flinging her. Celestia dropped her stance and calmly walked at Asta. With each step, she pulled all of her magic and chakra into her body and let not a single sliver escape. When she stood a few feet away, she started attacking in earnest. Using her full speed, she tried attacking Asta from every angle.

Asta was doing his best to try and keep his eyes on Celestia and for the most part, his kinetic vision was able to keep up, mostly. But that didn't mean he was able to block her assault. She was going for his back out of his peripheral vision and he wasn’t liking that.

“Now I’m annoyed, Iron Palm: Aian doragon'notsume (Iron Dragon’s Claw),” he roared slamming his right hand into the ground sending shockwaves through the ground while causing a spider web of crack to form. Celestia was thrown off allowing Asta to catch her by a throat. For the first time, her facade of calm broke and her anger boiled over. Unable to scream due to the hand around her neck,  her mouth just moved silently. Sparing a quick glance to show me the hate in her eyes. Focusing back on Asta, she grits her teeth and tensed. A golden skeletal hand formed at her side and punched the mage, catching him by surprise and loosening his grip enough for her to make some distance between them.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled. “Just what I need: Celestia with Susanoo.”

A giant blue skeletal hand grabbed me. “She’s not the only one.” The blue skeletal thumb moved to my face and tried to do something. Luna’s slight frown and one of my magatama crumbling told me she had tried to pop my head off.

I formed my own Susanoo briefly to break out of her grip. “Y’all are really going for the kill this time, huh?”

Celestia scanned her environment and ran to the giant ice tower Asta made. Using both of Susanoo’s arms, she shattered it and threw the broken pieces into the air. Her Susanoo vanished and she fired several light beams from her hands. The light beams hit the shards and were refracted at Asta as they melted.

“Oh, so that’s how you like to play,” Asta said from above Celestia. “I admit that could’ve killed me had I not dodged,” He sneered at her as he drove a fist into her left sending her flying. “I’ve got a lot of pent up rage directed at you specifically Sunny, want to see what happened when I let my emotions roam free? Ruijin'en (Ape’s Palm), ” he said thrusting his palm into Celestia’s gut sending her rocketing her upwards. 

Asta was soon above her, “Īgurusutoraiku (Eagle’s Strikes),” he called out and unleashed in a torrent of strikes quick rapid strikes while Celestia used her Sharingan to avoid a number of them while putting in a few of her own. Though her attacks did let more than slow him down Asta didn’t let up and he whirled around landing a kick to the side of her head sending her spiraling back into the ground. 

“Man that felt good,” Asta remarked landing not too far from the dust cloud.

Celestia spit up some blood before shakily getting back on her feet. A slight glow throughout her body meant that every injury she just suffered was gone. Her rage twisted her face in a way I had never seen before and her left eye started bleeding. “Just die!” she screamed as Asta’s body was suddenly wreathed in black flames. The fire grew to engulf the entire area Asta was standing until Celestia couldn’t create any more. She fell to her knees, exhausted.

“NOT GOOD ENOUGH!” Asta roared, shaking the air as a torrent of black energy surrounded him consuming the flames as they were drawn into his smaller sword and the dragon-shaped scar that wrapped around his left arm. She was shaking in trying to get her body to move but it would. I could clearly see Asta look down as his eyes clearly focused looking at my former student but he was straining slightly, as if he was trying to hold something in check. 

“How?” Celestia asked as she shakily got to her feet.

“Chakra is ki and my anti-magic is very similarly manipulated using ki techniques,” Asta smirked as he returned his sword to his Grimoire. “I used my technique to manipulate the chakra in your Amaterasu in the same manner and then using my Ancient magic to seal it away. Why are you holding back?”

**

While Asta was fighting Celestia, I had my hands full with Luna. She was at a disadvantage, fighting in an open field during the middle of the day, but fighting her was getting more difficult.

“Did you already activate Daydream,” I asked, having stabbed yet another phantom.

“Of course,” the army of Lunas all said at once. As if to emphasize her point none of the Luna’s retained a consistent state of being. At seemingly random intervals, some of them would vanish from existence and new ones would come into being.

As I cut through another imaginary Luna, one appeared behind me and punched me with Susanoo’s full force. The impact pushed me into a group of three, ready to ensnare me with their chains. I managed to stop my momentum and change direction, avoiding their trap. I exhaled to calm myself and focus my mind. ‘Calm heart, calm mind.’ My little mantra and slowed breathing calmed my heart rate and stopped my mind from racing. The next Luna that moved towards me faded from existence. I smirked. “I seem to recall Daydream being my idea.” I gazed at each of the Lunas and willed them into nothingness. “I know all of its secrets.”

Luna wasn’t shaken. “I’m well aware,” her voice echoed all around me. “But I’ve become more proficient in its use.”

As I attempted to slice another copy, my sword fell to the ground. A quick glance at my hand revealed that it was no longer there. I quickly willed my hand back into being as a Susanoo gripped me from behind. It held me for a moment without moving and I could feel Luna’s frustration. Another magatama crumbled and I willed the Susanoo to shatter.

“You’ve gained a new ability, haven’t you,” Luna’s voice surrounded me.

“I’m not the only one,” I responded. “You have Mangekyou and you can overpower others’ sense of self?” I slowly clapped. “Very impressive.”

As if to test out a theory, several beams of light struck me in the arm, leg, and forehead. I closed the holes in my arm and leg but the one aiming for my forehead dissipated on its own taking another of my magatama with it. 

“I see,” a Luna formed in front of me. “You cannot receive a fatal blow as long as your necklace remains. But it only protects you from fatal blows.” She smiled. “And it would appear you have but one saving throw left.” Her shadow chains filled the area, creating a spiderweb of darkness. 

“There is a strong possibility that you’re right,” I replied, filling my sword with electricity. “But I could also be misleading you.”

She leapt at me riding her chains. I activated my own Mangekyou and tried to catch her with Amaterasu. Every time I wrapped her in the black flames, that body would vanish and a new one would take its place. All the while, black chains chased me around the area, forcing me closer to Luna. Once we got close to each other, we each formed a skeletal Susanoo and fought like boxers. Pieces of our giant skeletons vanished and reformed while environmental hazards did the same. Spikes of earth formed at our feet ripping off our limbs and forcing us to will ourselves whole. Luna’s chains finally managed to get a firm hold on my Susanoo’s right arm long enough for her to puncture through its rib cage and grab my body. Instead of trying to crush me like the previous times she threw me into the sky. As I fell back to the ground, I readied myself to counter her next attack but I couldn’t see her on the ground.

“I’ve won,” I heard her whisper into my ear. As I turned to face her, I saw her emerge from Kamui’s spacial swirl. Her eyes glowed as she unleashed a magic blast from her horn. My body was rocketed to the ground as the last magatama vanished. As Luna’s next spell rained down, I summoned my grimoire and recast Plot Armor. A rain of white light engulfed me as the necklace reformed. The light faded and the first of my new magatama crumbled.

“That was a close one,” I murmured as I surveyed the landscape. Molten rock glowed bright orange as far as I could see. Luna hovered in the air a few feet from where I stood. “It’s not over yet,” I grinned.

“No,” she stated. “It is.” 

I was about to reply, use one of my many sharp witticisms when I lost my balance and fell to my knees. “What the fuck,” I coughed.

“It doesn’t matter how many times you avoid a fatal blow,” Luna said. “It appears a slow death still gets through.”

My vision started blurring and I felt short of breath. “You did something to the air,” I realized.

“I merely removed all of the oxygen from the vicinity,” she explained. “And to prevent you from recovering, I have ended Daydream.”

“That’s fucking brilliant,” I wheezed. “When did you even start that?”

“I pulled it out little by little after I pierced you with the moonbeams,” she smiled. “I would have wanted to end you quickly but you have a habit of making things difficult for yourself. Do not worry, I will stay with you as you suffocate.”

“That would be so much more touching if you weren’t the one suffocating me,” I laughed. “But I am absolutely not dying here.”

I pulled myself into Kamui’s dimension and took in several deep breaths. Luna appeared seconds after I was steady enough to stand.

“You cannot escape through here any longer,” she declared.

**

“You don’t know who you’re helping,” Celestia said. Her legs threatened to buckle underneath her but her will kept her up. “The things he’s done, the ponies he’s hurt, it’s sickening. I’ll bet he smiled and waved off any questions you might have had too. You want to know why I’m holding back? I hold back because I know what it’s like to think he’s the good guy. To think that the ends justify his means. But they don’t. Never have, never will. You could stop him if you wanted, couldn’t you? Your power eclipses his.”

“Hmm.”Asta placed his sword back in the Grimoire. “You’re right I could stop him, physically I’m almost unequaled, but he has the edge in techniques and experience. But the crucial detail is that this isn’t my home, I have no right to stop him at least that’s the way I see it. He called me here for a bit of help is all. I’m just venting my anger but if you truly wish for someone to help you, then call upon my older brother. I’m sure he’d more than sympathize with you.” He tossed his pocket watch at her.

Celestia caught it and looked it over before putting it in her pocket. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. In an instant, her power skyrocketed as she drew on the sun’s power. Her waving hair turned into a raging inferno almost too bright to look at. Her unsteady movements became firm and focused. Her body radiated a heat so intense the ground beneath her feet began to melt. She opened her eyes and focused solely on Asta. “If that is how you truly feel, then it seems there is nothing left to discuss.” Faster than I could blink, she was in Asta’s face, putting her entire body into an uppercut.

Asta was in midair as he drew in a deep breath, I noticed his muscles slightly tense up as he proceeded to kick the air rocketing in a zig-zag pattern back to the ground before landing form a small crater. “I’m not evil Celestia, had you been the one to call I would’ve helped you,” Asta commented raising his hand up and pulling his sword from the Grimoire again. He then raised his left arm and I could see the Dragon’s mark begin to move with black flames. “I don’t like you but I would’ve help you, nonetheless.” Asta reeled back his left hand as it became engulfed in black flames. “Let’s see if you can handle your own Amaterasu infused with Antimagic, BLACK FLAME DRAGON!” Asta yelled as his arm came forward sending a massive dragon of black fire and anti-magic at Celestia. My former student quickly summoned her Susanoo to protect herself from the jaws of the black flames. The dragon soon dissipated but the damage had been done and the Susanoo was severely damaged.

Celestia let Susanoo fade away once the dragon was gone and fell to one knee. She quickly rallied and stood up again. She surveyed her surroundings before facing  Asta again. Her face was stained with blood from using her Mangekyou so much and her eyes returned to the normal Sharingan pattern. The flames of her hair had died down a little but still burned strong. She called more power from the sun and forced it into her body. Her body pulsed with solar energy but using so much power was beginning to take its toll. The tips of her fingers started to blacken from the intense heat. Realizing she didn’t have much time left, Celestia again sprinted at Asta, using her Sharingan to its fullest extent and attacking from every and any angle she could.

“You pushing me fairly hard Celestia,” Asta remarked as he dodged her assault. “But your own body is already reaching its limits,” he said as her fist connected with his face. “It’s a shame you unlocked the Susanoo and still have no idea how to properly wield the powers that Susake has given you.” Asta grabbed her wrist and threw her off to the side. “Let me ask you this, what is that you truly want that you’d go so far as to destroy yourself for?”

Celestia landed on her feet and even more of her body turned black. “I want Sunset Shimmer to come home. I want Sasuke to pay for his crimes. I want to never have to think about this form again. But down here in the real world, we’re often faced with ugly realities. And the reality is: you stand between me and what I want. So, even if I have to burn away my entire body, I will get past you.”

“I may not care for you but I will not allow you to perish either,” Asta said placing his sword in front of him. He concentrated and I saw the black Anti-magic start to flow from his sword into his own body. The anti-magic slowly covered Asta’s body forming a horn on the right side of his head reaching down his right-eye changed to a deep red as his teeth grew sharper and a singular black wing sprang from his back. He then held his sword above his head and held his left hand outward as a ball of antimagic formed in it, “Anti-Mana Zone,” The sphere burst and the air and ground around Asta became soaked in his Antimagic. All of the magic that was there was now converted to Antimagic and started to be drawn into his sword Celestia herself had returned to her base form no longer burning away. “I believe it's time to bring the others back, BLACK CLOAKED DIMENSION SLASH!” Asta roared as he brought down his blade sending a wave of Anti-magic tearing through the dimension reaching all the way to Luna and me.

“I would love to stay and chat but my ride’s here,” I leapt into the rip in dimensions and landed near Asta and a powered down Celestia. “Hey Celestia, you’re not looking too great. You should totally get some r and r.” Luna came through the dimensional rip not long after I did and her hair fell to her sides.

“Sister!” cried as she ran to the smoldering sun princess.

“Now I’m sure no one really got what they wanted,” I started. “Except me. I definitely understand my new power now. But I think we can call this one a draw. What do you think, Asta?”

“A draw for you maybe but I call mine a definite victory,” He looked at me then to the sister. “As I said I’m not here but to help him out and I have, I also burnt off my anger so I’ll do one more thing.” He walked towards the sisters. Luna got in front of Celestia. “I don’t wish to fight anymore but I do wish to give advice and ask one final question.” Asta bent down and held up a hand in front of Celestia, as it glowed with white energy her burns began to heal.

She pulled away from him and the healing stopped. It looked like she wanted to spit on him but decided against it. “Say your piece and leave.”

“I wish you well, and I highly recommend you call my older brother before Sasuke does. I doubt he’ll help Sasuke but it would be better that he meet you two first,” Asta stood up and placed his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry for having done this. As for my question, have you ever asked, why is he doing all of this? I know he’s an asshole, but even someone like him has to have a good reason in the long run.”

“I will not allow more humans to run wild in my country,” Celestia said. But I noticed she kept the pocket watch. “And I have never once gotten a straight answer from Sasuke. The closest to the truth I get from him is half, and even that’s a lot.”

“My older brother isn’t human anymore,” I commented. “He’s a fifteen thousand-year-old mage and on top of that, he’s a father.”

“Wow,” I muttered. “Standing right here.” I grabbed Asta’s shoulder. “We’re going. Later wifeys.” I teleported us back to Laputa before I could make out the stream of profanity that followed.

***

“You couldn’t have told me ‘Hey I’m married to those two so don’t get on their bad side’,” Asta said looking over his shoulder at me. “How’d the Grimoire work out?”

“It’s got a few flaws I’m going to have to work out,” I shuddered when I thought about all the slow, painful deaths Luna was no doubt planning for me. “But I’ll make it work. And also I’m technically only married to Luna. The situation with Celestia is more,” I scratched my chin, “confusing. Anyway, that’s all I needed from you soooo… Do I send the bill for the window through the totem or call you back to pick it up?”

“The window was paid for via Grimoire,” He poked me in the chest. “I also got the Amaterasu in my Rider’s maker so… Yea I can fix it.” he brought up his book and pulled out a hammer and a saw. “ Give me five.” Asta went to work in less than five he had the window fixed. “As for the whole married thing that’s the same thing my brother deals with, plus our extended family.”

“Your brother is also being hunted down by his one and a half wives?” I asked. “Now I’m not a hundred percent sure about this but… we might be the problem.” I shook my head. “Nah, can’t be. Thanks for the magic powers. Are you sure I can’t get anything else for you? Need a corpse?”

“Sorry, I can’t use Wraith magic, so no on the corpse,” Asts shrugged. “If ya could give Sharingan without the alicorn part that would be cool.”

I shrugged. “If you know someone who’s good with genetics, I’m pretty sure you can separate them out but I don’t have any pre-made.”

“C'est la vie,” Asta shrugged. “Now what’s the deal with you and Sunset Shimmer?”

I frowned. “Do you really need to know?”

“Need to no,” Asta shook his head. “ Want to, yes. Kind of curious as to why Sunny would kill herself over trying to get her back.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “Sunset Shimmer was on the princess track that Twilight Sparkle is now on. Celestia was grooming Sunset to one day replace her as Princess of Equestria. But, Sunset Shimmer ran off through the mirror where Celestia couldn’t follow and didn’t come back. So Celestia had to get a new student and abandon a prime princess candidate. If I had left things as they were Sunset Shimmer would have never left the mirror world and wasted all that potential. I brought her back and now I’m training her to be a true alicorn, aspect and everything. Celestia wasn’t supposed to know Sunset was back yet. I wanted her to ascend before they were reunited.” I sighed, “This world is going to need all the help it can get. I won’t say too much because of all the PRYING EARS.” Several sets of hooves quickly ran away. “But things are about to get bad, like really, really bad. My presence in this world has made things so much worse.”

“Demons are a part of this world, that much I could sense,” He looked out the new window. “That’s what I was able to glean from Luna when she’d asked me if I was a demon anyway. I do have to ask, have your recruits faced one yet?”

“Not yet,” I said. “They’re not even close to ready for that yet. Demons here are sort of... unkillable. They have to be contained or they will keep coming. The girls are sort of power-tripping right now. But it’s ok, they’ll be fighting elder dragons next week. Sort of a sink or swim progress test.”

“Elder dragons,” Asta rubbed his chin. “Now that seems like it would be fun. If you don’t mind me tagging along if not then say the word and I’m gone.”

“I think we’re good for now,” I extended my hand. “But don’t go too far. I might need you again.”

“It was fun but do try and be nice to the sisters,” Asta took my hand. “Maybe try and be a little more open, just some advice from my actor days.” he released my grip. “If you need me just call, I’m always up for a decent fight.”  he hit his palm with his fist. “Shall we?”

I grinned. “We shall. Not today because I got my ass handed to me but one day for sure. Until then, see ya.”

“Later, then,” Asta said as a portal opened behind him. He walked into it and gave me some advice, “Whatever you do don’t piss him off.” The portal shut and the Antimagic Knight was gone.
> Chapter 27
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


**********Canterlot Castle**********


Canterlot Castle was the busiest it had been in a long time. Although day court had been cancelled indefinitely, no one was on vacation. Servants moved hurriedly through the corridors delivering documents and verbal messages. Reserve guards had been called to active duty and were undergoing new training. The throne room had once again been converted into a conference room of sorts. All three of the princesses sat around the table along with the entire Anti-Sasuke Taskforce. 

“From the map you can clearly see that Sasuke is heading towards the Dragon Lands,” Luna explained, standing in front of a map on a whiteboard. “Additionally we have plotted areas where large surges of magical power were felt. One of them occurred near the incident with Sasuke’s team of griffons. We must assume they are acting out another part of his plan.” Luna’s first attempt to place a marker missed the whiteboard entirely but she quickly adjusted and picked up a few more markers. “We will also add to the map the griffon capital Golden Reach. There was an attack and timberwolves were involved.”

“The main production of voidrock weapons is in Golden Reach, isn’t it,” Cocidius asked. “This is a real problem.”

“Production has since resumed in other facilities,” Celestia said. “Luna, please continue.”

The blue alicorn nodded. “The last plot on this map is Ponyville. Princess Cadence and I encountered escapees from Tartarus in the small town. I do not know if Sasuke was involved in this but it is something that warrants our attention.” Luna sat down and nodded to Celestia. 

Celestia had seen better days. Her body had shrunk to the size of a filly and her normally rainbow mane and tail had turned bubblegum pink. “I’m sure you’ve all had a chance to meet agent Sweetie Drops,” Celestia said. “She will be joining the team. She is an expert monster hunter I’m sure you’ll find invaluable. 

“Twilight Sparkle is here to see you, Princess,” the pony said.

“Thank you, Raven,” Celestia replied. “I’m sure you all have your own preparations to make, so you are dismissed.”

The assortment of fantasy creatures all shuffled out of the room, leaving only the three alicorns. Twilight meekly poked her head through the door, “Princess? You wanted to see me?”

Celestia smiled warmly at her student. “Please come in, Twilight.”


Twilight’s jaw dropped, “Princess!? What happened to you?”

“Oh this,” Celestia chuckled as she ushered the unicorn into the room. “This is just a little ‘severe magic depletion’. Nothing to worry about.”

“Severe magic depletion,” Twilight repeated with a frown. “Isn’t that…. fatal?”

“Well yes and no,” Celestia rubbed the back of her head.

“Is this related to how alicorns are technically not ponies at all and actually entities from Tartarus made of living magic?”  Twilight looked around at the stunned princesses. “What?”

Celestia was the first to recover her composure. “Why do you know that, Twilight?”

“Ummm,” Twilight rubbed the back of her head guiltily. “Well it's definitely not because I traded sanctuary and a library card to a known criminal in exchange for knowledge lost to all of ponykind,” she said with a slightly too wide, please-don’t-punish-me smile.

Celestia sighed. “Which books did he give you?”

Twilight shifted awkwardly in place before speaking. “Children of Tartarus and The Journal of Madame Blueblood.”

Luna’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “You have Mama Blue’s journal?”

“Yes, I’ve been reading it with Children of Tartarus,” Twilight explained.

“How far into the journal have you read?” Celestia asked, her voice carrying the slightest bit of worry.

“I’ve read up through the Decimation of Filly Delphia,” Twilight replied.

“Truly tragic, losing so many lives,” Luna sighed. “But without facing such tragedy we might never have seen the depths of Sasuke’s darkness.”

“What do you mean?” Cadence asked.

“It was a turning point for Sasuke,” Celestia explained. “Filly Delphia was the only town he had visited. To see it in ashes with the bodies of the only ponies he knew strung about… It made our war his war. But that’s not why I called you here today, Twilight.”

“Aunty, you can’t just lead us into something like that and not finish,” Cadence almost yelled. 

Celestia sighed. Cadence was visibly excited and perhaps too eager to hear about Sasuke. Something to watch out for. A quick glance at the only unicorn in the room showed that Twilight felt the same way. “Fine,” Celestia relented. “Luna and I will tell you the story after I talk with Twilight.”

Cadence clopped her hooves and squealed with glee. “I’ll be right back!” She teleported out of the room with a giggle.

“What did you want to talk to me about, princess,” Twilight asked.

“How familiar are you with dark magic, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna slowly moved towards the unicorn.

Twilight shuddered. “Not very,” she admitted. “I know the little bit that Princess Celestia taught me, but I haven’t tried to study it at all.”

“What about curses,” Luna came to a stop in front of Twilight and gazed deeply into her eyes. “Have your studies included curses or hexes?”

“B-b-b-but curses aren’t real,” Twilight shrank in on herself. “Right Princess Celestia?”

Luna turned to give her sister a piercing glare. “Curses aren’t real?” she said coldly. “Why are your student’s lessons so incomplete?” Luna demanded. “How is she supposed to defend herself from a dark curse if she believes them to be but mere fantasy?”

“I was trying to keep her off the path of dark magic, Luna,” Celestia said with a strained voice. “I never meant to hinder her studies. Mastery of dark magic has always eluded me. You were always the one who protected me from it.”

Luna’s expression grew softer as she moved to wrap a wing around her sister. “And yet now we find ourselves under a curse that I cannot remove.”

Twilight gasped. “You’re both under a curse!?”

“Yes, Twilight. Sasuke’s great power cannot be used without consequence. All who use it will find their vision fading until they see only darkness. Even now, your figure is blurry to me,” Luna explained.

“We witnessed this happen to Sasuke,” Celestia added. “In fact by the time we first confronted him, he was completely blind and could not call on most of his powers.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open. Suddenly her entire face scrunched. “But he definitely isn’t blind anymore,” she said. “He was reading books in my library. How did he undo the curse?”

“We do not know,” Celestia admitted. “And I don’t think he’s willing to tell us. That’s why we must rely on you, Twilight. We need you to do all you can to find a cure for this curse.”

“I won’t let you down princess,” Twilight declared.

Celestia smiled. “Thank you, my faithful student. Luna will gladly-”

“I’m back,” Cadence announced as she teleported back into the room. She carried a bucket of popcorn and blanket. “Are you ready yet?”

“Direct your research and offer advice,” Celestia finished.

“Cadence, I feel as though you do not quite understand the tone of this tale,” Luna said. “It is not a pleasant story. It is filled with much suffering and the beginning of our closest friend’s descent into madness.”

Cadence grinned, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make light of your pain. It’s just…. Nopony knows anything about who Sasuke was except you. I didn’t even know he existed before he started attacking us. And as somepony who’s had him in her mind, I’m a little bit curious about him. Plus, there’s got to be a lot of action in this story, right?”

Twilight raised her hoof. “I’m also curious but more from a historical and scientific standpoint.” She conjured a pad of paper and quill. “What if the key to breaking this curse is in one of these stories?”

Celestia and Luna shared a look. “Very well,” Luna relented. “But I warn you, this story does not have a happy ending.”

“We were in the castle of the two sisters trying our best to organize our fledgling country into a war machine,” Celestia started.

“As the three tribes had only been recently united, there were difficulties getting them to cooperate,” Luna elaborated. “There were unsettled grudges and nopony wanted to be the first to volunteer their soldiers.”

Celestia grinned wistfully. “Until Sasuke started talking, that is.”


**********Castle of the Two Sisters: Circa 1000 Years Ago**********


“We warned you horn heads this day would come! Just because we pegasi are the only tribe with a standing army doesn’t mean we’ll take the full brunt of the enemy forces while the rest of you hide like cowards!”

“Then take those dim-witted brutes with you! They aren’t good for anything but hard labor anyway!”

“Absolutely not! Us ‘dim-witted brutes’ are too busy stopping you from starving to death! Why don’t the unicorns go out to the front lines? Ever since the alicorns took over the sun and moon, you don’t contribute anything anyway!”

“How dare you! We unicorns are busy governing the rest of you low class filth! You obviously can’t be trusted to lead so we must!”

At that point Celestia closed her eyes and let their fighting turn into background noise. It had been like this for months. While the griffons advanced, villages burned and ponies died. She, Luna, and Sasuke had done what they could to evacuate as many ponies as possible but the griffons were spreading too far, too fast.

“Are they still trying to sacrifice each other?” Sasuke had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and sat himself next to the alicorn.

Celestia nodded and turned to face the human. “Any word from Luna?”

“Still nothing,” he frowned. “It’s been three weeks; I’m getting worried.”

“Can’t you use that flying raiju-”


“Flying Raijin.”

“Can’t you teleport to her is my point,” Celestia asked, leaning into him.

Sasuke responded by running his hand through her mane. “I can feel my mark on her but she’s too far away to teleport to. I’m not powerful enough to cover that much distance.” 

“She’s probably fine,  Sasuke,” Celestia reassured him. “Luna grew up in the Dragon Lands and her mother is there. If anypony can convince the Grand Dragon to help, it’s her.”

“I know it’s just…” Sasuke blinked owlishly. “Did you just say Grand Dragon?”

“Yes,” Celestia looked at him curiously. “The leader of the dragons is titled the Grand Dragon.”

Sasuke frowned. “Really?”

“Yes,” Celestia looked at him worriedly. “Is something wrong?”

“I know that this is a different world and all but,” he looked like he was about to say something else but changed his mind. “Never mind. You don’t have the context and I don’t want to explain. I’ll worry about it later.”

Wanting to ease his confusion, Celestia nuzzled him. “You can tell me about it if you ever decide you want to.”


“Thanks but I’ll probably keep this one to myself,” he said, returning her gesture.

**********

“Princess, it almost sounds like you were in a relationship with Sasuke,” Cadence interrupted.

“I was,” Celestia said. “Now back to the-”

“But I thought Sasuke was married to Princess Luna,” Twilight asked, looking up from her notes.

“We are married, true, but I have never held more than a simple attraction for him,” Luna explained. “Our relationship was more akin to close friends than lovers.”

“Then how did you end up married?” Twilight pressed.

“If you would allow us to continue, you’ll find out.”

“Sorry,” Cadence and Twilight said together.

**********

“Suit yourself,” Celestia hummed. She leaned into Sasuke and closed her eyes. After a few minutes she noticed that the room was quiet. Cracking open one eye, she saw that the tribal representatives were looking at her with various levels of disgust. Both her eyes shot open and she quickly sat up. “Have you come to an accord?”

“We have tolerated the presence of your pet demon thus far, ‘your highness’,” the unicorn huffed. “But your affection for it is unsuitable for your station. Do remember the laws governing such, or I shall remind you.”

Celestia recoiled but Sasuke held her still. “Laws governing what, exactly?” he asked, confused.

“The princesses hold significant power,” the unicorn smirked. “And their spouse would share in that power. In order to keep that power out of the wrong hooves, the princesses may only be courted by one of noble lineage and the suitor must be approved by two thirds of the current nobility.”

Sasuke gave Celestia a pointed look. “Why would you agree to that?”

“It was the only way to secure support from the unicorns,” Celestia explained.

“Who, I’m just guessing here, make up most of the nobility?”

“Irrelevant,” the unicorn said. “As are any objections you may have, ‘princess’. Both you and your sister agreed to these terms. They are binding, both legally and magically.”

“Say what now?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

“Luna and I allowed ourselves to be placed under a spell that binds us to this law,” Celestia lowered her gaze. “In exchange, our authority over all three tribes is supposed to be absolute, but-”

The unicorn smirked again. “You should have studied the terms more carefully. Your husband, the king of Equestria, would have absolute power. Until such a time, you are merely a placeholder.”

“Putting a pin in the unicorns’ attempt to set themselves up to be god-kings, why did the rest of you go along with this bullshit?”

The pegasus snorted. “We have enough nobles to prevent the unicorns from putting forth a suitor.”

The earth pony nodded. “They’ve got a lot of nobles, but we have some too. Plus, ours actually have to earn their titles. They’re not pampered foals who’ve never worked a day in their lives.”

The unicorn glared at the earth pony but Sasuke cut him off before he could say anything. “I get it, eternal stalemate. It’s not like it matters anyway. I give it four, maybe five months before Equestria falls anyway.”

“What?” The pegasus pushed his face into Sasuke’s.

Sasuke flicked the pegasus on his nose. “I would be happy to explain, if you’d like.”


The unicorn rolled his eyes. “Then enlighten us, infernal ape. How could you possibly know that?”

“First, as I have repeatedly told you, I am a human not a demon,” Sasuke stood and walked to the middle of the room. “Second, it’s easy to see the path you’re on if you bother to look. You’ll keep on fighting about whose responsibility it is to do something until the griffons are knocking on your front door. By then it’ll be too late to do anything about it so you’ll do whatever it takes to save yourselves. Most likely you’ll try to sell out the other tribes but it won’t work. The griffons will have already won and your money will mean absolutely nothing. The earth ponies will be taken as slaves for labor. The pegasi will most likely be stripped of their wings and/or executed. And for the unicorns, those that get to live won’t get to keep their horns, that’s for sure. Being the softest of all the ponies, well, those of you that don’t get eaten will probably serve as sex slaves.”

“Sex slaves?” Celestia shivered.

“Don’t worry,” Sasuke reassured her. “If the worst happens, I’ll take you, Luna, and Mama Blue someplace safe.”

“And the rest of us,” the unicorn pressed.

“I will 100% leave you to a fate worse than death,” Sasuke stated. “So if I were you, I would get working on a joint army. Unless, of course, you prefer to take a barbed dick.” He grinned, “You get it? ‘Cause the back half is a cat.” Looking at the disturbed faces in the room, his smile grew wider. “I think you get the picture.” He walked back over to Celestia and sat down next to her.

“I...think that’s enough for today,” Celestia murmured. “You may leave.”

The light gone from their eyes and the energy stripped from their bodies, the three tribe leaders shuffled out of the room like zombies.

Sasuke and Celestia sat in silence. “Will things really get that bad?”

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through her mane. “If you can’t get the tribes to work together, it’ll probably be worse.”

Celestia gazed into Sasuke’s eyes looking for any hint of uncertainty or exaggeration. She found none. “Did you mean what you said,” she asked. “Would you really take us and abandon the rest of ponykind?”

“I would,” Sasuke said with no hesitation.

“You would even abandon the foals in Filly Delphia?” Celestia pressed him. “You spent an entire day playing with them.”

Sasuke’s calm facade cracked for a brief moment. “Exactly. It was only one day. It's not like they mean anything to me. Humans don’t get attached so easily.”

Celestia smiled. “Weren’t you telling me how humans are so easy to pack bond with, they regularly form relationships with inanimate objects? I seem to remember a story about a cleaning golem with a knife that captured the hearts of millions.”

“Don’t you dare bring Stabby into this.”


Celestia’s smile grew. “You play the uncaring pragmatist but you’re just a big softie at heart. Could you really live with yourself if you just left Equestria to die?”

Sasuke huffed and averted his gaze. “Whatever. Unrelated, I am suddenly feeling very anxious about…. nothing in particular and request that we go to Filly Delphia.”

Celestia gave Sasuke her smuggest grin.

“Shut up!” Sasuke muttered, avoiding eye contact.

“I didn’t say anything,” she replied. She charged her magic for a long distance teleport and extended her hoof.

Sasuke took her hoof in his hand, still avoiding her gaze. Celestia cast the spell and they immediately started coughing.

“What the hell,” Sauske choked out.

Celestia looked up and gasped. “Oh no.”

“What?” Sasuke wiped the tears from his eyes. “What hap…” He trailed off as he looked at his surroundings. 

Instead of a vibrant town full of life, there was only smoke and ash. The bodies of ponies lay limp and lifeless throughout the remains of the destroyed buildings. Sasuke and Celestia walked silently through the wreckage, each using all of their powers to feel for any signs of life. Growing restless from finding none, Sasuke quickened his pace.

“Sasuke, wait,” Celestia pleaded but the human continued to accelerate. He moved so quickly that she lost track of him but she knew where he was going. Leaping into the air, she flew to his destination, leaving great clouds of ash in her wake. She found him kneeling in rubble, cradling something in his arms. “Sasuke what-”

“She was tortured,” he said coldly.

“How can you tell?”

“There are no wounds on her neck, head, or chest, but her limbs are broken and her barrel is covered in bruises and cuts..”

“Oh Faust,” Celestia gasped. “That’s so, so, abhorrent!”

“It is, isn’t it,” Sasuke said.

“How are you this calm,” Celestia yelled. “You’re holding the corpse of a tortured foal! How are you not filled with rage or sadness?” She grabbed his shoulders,forcing him to look at her. “Sasuke, your eyes!”

Sasuke gently placed the foal on the ground and stood up. His eyes glowed red with the power of his newly awakened Mangekyou sharingan. “It looks like you were right,” he said. “I guess I was more attached to this place than I realized.”

“Sasuke-”

“No more half measures, no more holding back,” he declared. He looked into Celestia’s eyes, “I have meta knowledge of both my own powers and the future. From here on out, I’m taking control. Let’s go back to the castle. We have work to do.”

**********

Twilight raised a hoof, “Princess, I’m sorry to interrupt again, but how do you spell ‘mon-geck-yo’?”

“Spelling it phonetically is fine Twilight,” Celestia answered.

“And why did it ‘awaken’?”

“It is fueled by the pain of loss, Twilight,” Luna explained. “It is the antithesis of your own magic of friendship and a dark mirror of Cadence’s love magic.”

“I think the more important question is: he knows the future?” Cadence asked.

Celestia sighed. “He told me about many things that would, have, and may happen. Some of them are hard to believe. Some of them seem downright impossible. But yes he seems to have a firm grasp on future events.”

“Many events he has kept to himself,” Luna added. “He knew I would become Nightmare Moon.”

“He also knew that you would become an alicorn, Cadence, and that Twilight would be the next element of magic.”

“Really,” Cadence and Twilight asked simultaneously.

“Yes,” Celestia confirmed. “Now may we continue with the story?”

“There’s more?”

“There is,” Luna said. “Now hush.”

**********

“How are your eyes, Sasuke?” Celestia sat next to him on a chariot headed to the dragon lands.

“I’m fine,” he replied, curtly. “Are these pegasi going to be able to gather enough clouds?”

“It won’t come to that,” Celestia tried to reassure him.

“And if it does?”

Celestia frowned. “I was assured that they are among the best weather ponies the pegasi have to offer.”

“Have the clouds ready,” Sasuke instructed her. “I’m close enough now.” He disappeared in a flash of light.

One of the pegasi pulling the chariot looked back. “Princess, are you sure about this?”

Celestia looked off towards the sunset. “I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”

“He seems… different from all the stories,” the other pegasus said.

“We went to Filly Delphia last week,” Celestia explained. “It was… hard for him to see that.”

The two pegasi nodded in understanding and focused back on their flying. Celestia silently hoped that Sasuke wouldn’t need to fight. She had seen his great strength but had no idea how he would fare against the leader of the dragons. She hoped it would not come to violence as she was fairly sure Sasuke would not survive a fight with a dragon, let alone the strongest living dragon.

***

When the flash from Sasuke’s teleport faded, he found himself standing on a mountain of treasure. 
“Luna?” He called out. “Where are you?”

“Sasuke? I’m up here!” As Sasuke looked up he couldn’t help but laugh. Luna sat  on the peak of the pile of gold, surrounded by various gems and was adorned with a comical amount of oversized jewelry. “Don’t you dare laugh! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you!?”

Sasuke calmed down. “Sorry, but I really needed that. If it makes you feel any better, I feel a lot better now. What happened? You were supposed to be back two weeks ago.”

Luna huffed. “I explained the situation to Grand Dragon Blaze and asked for an alliance as I am technically a dragon and he has a responsibility to protect me. He decided that having a technical dragon that could move the moon would be better suited as the crown jewel of his hoard.”

“Big yikes,” Sasuke chuckled. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re still here.”

“As a dragon, honorary or otherwise, I am bound to the bloodstone scepter,” Luna explained. “I was given the order to ‘sit here and look pretty’.”

“Well you are looking rather sparkly, I will admit,” Sasuke teased.

Luna rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Find my mother, she’ll have a plan for getting me out of here.”

“Don’t worry, I already have a plan,” Sasuke reassured her.

“Find her anyway,” Luna insisted.

“I got this,” Sasuke reassured her, forming several hand seals. He inhaled deeply.

Luna’s eyes widened in recognition, “Wait, Sasuke, don’t!” But she was too late. Sasuke unleashed a torrent of flames at the mountain of treasure, melting the gold and covering the gems in soot. “Do you know what you’ve just done,” Luna cried out. The cave shook as a deafening roar pierced the air.

“I just got his attention,” Sasuke smirked.

The roof of the cave was shattered as the titanic Grand Dragon smashed through it. Sasuke grabbed Luna and fled through the opening. He stopped on a plateau where the rest of the dragons had gathered. They looked towards Blaze’s cave in fear and muttered amongst themselves. Suddenly, all of the dragons fell to the ground glowing and frantically scratching themselves.

“FIND THE ONE WHO DESTROYED MY HORDE AND STOLE MY JEWEL!!” Blaze’s voice echoed throughout the Dragon Lands, and every dragon in the world could feel his call.

All of the surrounding dragons turned to look at Sasuke, and Luna took a step back in fear. Sasuke, however, just grinned wider. “I’m right here!” He yelled back. “And b.t.dubs, Luna is, was, and always will be MINE! So technically, you stole her from me!”

**********

“You really didn’t have any feelings for Sasuke after a declaration like that?” Cadence pressed her aunt.

“I will admit my attraction may not have been entirely platonic,” Luna admitted. “After all, his open defiance of the strongest dragon was quite moving, especially since it was for me.  But I was well aware of Sasuke’s and my sister’s feelings for each other. I would never betray her trust like that.”

“Oh Luna,” Celestia smiled.

“In that moment however,” Luna couldn’t meet her sister’s eyes.

**********

Blaze’s landing shattered the earth underneath him and he glared at the creature standing between him and his crown jewel.

Luna couldn’t help but notice that Sasuke didn’t falter and his figure stood strong against the Grand Dragon. He even radiated excitement. Luna couldn’t help her sudden growing attraction, she was raised by dragons after all.

“He just takes what he wants and burns the rest,” she whispered in awe.

“What was that,” Sasuke whispered to her.

“I said if we live through this, I’m going to buck you senseless and bear your half-breed foals,” she whispered back.

**********

“Close friends, riiight,” Cadence winked.

Celestia glowered at her sister.

Luna coughed into her hoof and looked away. “Back to the story...”

**********

“YOU DARE STEAL FROM ME?” Blaze roared in rage. “THERE WON'T EVEN BE ASHES LEFT WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU!!”

As Blaze prepared to unleash a torrent of his hottest flames, Sasuke spoke up. “I challenge you for all that you own!”

Blaze froze, momentarily caught off guard. “ONLY DRAGONS HAVE THE RIGHT OF CHALLENGE!!” he bellowed. “YOU ARE NO DRAGON!!”

Sasuke smiled and blew out a small flame. “You sure about that?”

“I stand with his challenge,” a voice from the crowd yelled. Luna turned to look and saw her mother, Raze, flying to her. She landed next to Sasuke and leaned down until their eyes were level. “Celestia told me of your plan. I hope you know what you’re doing.” Sasuke nodded. Satisfied, Raze stood up to her full height. “This one is strange, but has no fear. He has stolen the crown jewel from the Grand Dragon and melted the gold with his fire. Is that not what a dragon is? One who takes what is theirs and  Now the Grand Dragon wishes to ignore this challenge? Is Blaze afraid of an uppity wyrmling?”

“I AM WITHOUT FEAR!!,” the Grand Dragon roared. “YOU WANT YOUR CHALLENGE? FINE!” Blaze took out the bloodstone scepter that he had been keeping in his teeth and raised it up. “I, GRAND DRAGON BLAZE, RECOGNIZE THIS CHALLENGE! UNDER THE EYES OF THE GREAT DRAGONS PAST, SHALL WE FIGHT UNTIL ONLY ONE REMAINS!” The bloodstone scepter floated into the air and pushed all of the other dragons away. “NOW NO DRAGON CAN HELP YOU!”

“Yeah but they can’t help you either,” Sasuke replied. He surveyed the area and saw that the scepter had carved the area into a small island and that all the dragons, and Luna, were watching from a distance. “Showtime.” He did several hand seals in quick succession. “Fire Style: Great Flame Annihilation!” He unleashed a massive wall of fire at the Grand Dragon. 

Blaze chuckled and Sasuke felt the vibration in his bones. “What kind of dragon is burned by fire? NOW LET’S SEE WHAT KIND OF DRAGON YOU ARE!” Blaze shot back his own, white hot flame. The flame engulfed the human who stood still and laughed. After the flames died down, the ground around him glowed red, molten from the intense heat. All expecept for where Sasuke was standing. He remained where he had been, unmoved, except to wipe his eyes.

“Sorry,” the human laughed. “Your attack was so weak it bored me to tears.”

“YOU MAY HAVE OUR SKIN, BUT I CAN EASILY CRUSH YOU,” Blaze roared. He swung his claws down on the human, who gracefully dodged them. Blaze’s roars grew louder and his swipes grew more frantic as the human sidestepped every attack.

“Is this it?” Sasuke yawned. “I expected more from a creature with a title like ‘Grand Dragon’. Maybe you should call yourself ‘Big ‘Ol Clumsy Gekko’ instead.”

Blaze’s attacks and roars grew more intense and the ground underneath him shattered more with every missed blow. With his growing rage, his body grew even more massive, and his attacks grew more erratic until the island was fully smashed. He flapped his enormous wings carrying himself into the air and searched for the corpse of his surely dead enemy.

“You know, that was such a nice stage,” the human voice rang in the dragon’s ears. “Such a shame to have lost it.” The dragon searched frantically for the human. “But air battles are cool, too, I suppose.” Focusing his eyes, the dragon found the human, leisurely lying on his own muzzle. The human appeared unconcerned with the dragon, gazing into the sky. “I should probably start fighting back now, right?”

“MY SCALES ARE UNBREAKABLE,” Blaze shouted, letting loose more fire. “I AM INVINCIBLE!”

“Who decided that?”

The human did something strange with its claws and blew out a gust of wind  between Blaze’s eyes. “DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT A MILD BREEZE WOULD DO ANYTHING TO MY SC-” Blaze’s words died in his throat as for the first time since he had become Grand Dragon, he saw his own blood trickle down his nose.

“Your scales can’t be cut? You’re invincible? I can’t do anything to you? And who decided that? I am the one who decides such things,” Sasuke taunted as he floated into the air. Blades of wind rained down upon the dragon who, for the first time in his very long life, needed to dodge his enemy’s attacks. However, most of the wind blades found their target and Blaze’s blood fell like rain into the water beneath them  turning it red.

“YOU MAY BE ABLE TO HURT ME, WYRM, BUT YOUR CUTS ARE SHALLOW!”

“Then shall I deepen them?”

The crackle of electricity filled the air as a rain of chidori enhanced shuriken flew into the dragon’s open wounds. Blaze roared in pain and lost his balance momentarily. Taking advantage of this, Sasuke appeared underneath him in a flash of light and extended a chidori spear through several spots in the dragon’s underbelly and threw kunai into the new wounds. Blaze righted himself and pulled up only to find the human floating above him yet again. 
Thunder shook the skies as the human was backlit by lightning. His glowing red eyes even caused the mighty dragon a moment of hesitation. “I’ll give you a chance, Blaze,” Sasuke yelled over the storm. “Surrender now, and I’ll make your death as quick and painless as I can. Continue to fight, and I will destroy you, your pride, and your legacy!”

**********

“Oh come on,” Cadence moaned. “He had to know that wasn’t going to work. I mean even after all that he only barely injured Blaze.”

“I don’t think he was intending for Blaze to surrender,” Twilight mused.

“Oh,” Luna smirked. “Then what was his intention?”

“It seems like everything Sasuke was doing wasn’t meant to really injure him but set up something else and keep Blaze angry enough to not see it.”

Celestia smiled proudly.

“You have a keen mind for strategy Twilight,” Luna nodded. “You could stand to learn something from her, Cadence.”

Cadence huffed and Twilight blushed.

**********

Sasuke took in several deep breaths with his eyes closed. When he opened them, there was a new pattern. His left eye leaked bloody tears and Blaze’s body caught fire. The dragon fell from the sky, screaming in agony.

**********

“I’m sorry,” Twilight interrupted. “It sounded like you said Blaze, the dragon, was set aflame.”

“Yes that is correct,” Celestia said.

“But dragons can swim in lava with no issue,” Twilight countered.

“And they have a magical immunity to heat,” Cadence added. “How could any fire possibly catch on them, much less hurt them?”

“Amaterasu is the name of the flames that Sasuke commands,” Luna explained. “They are blacker than a starless night and the legend goes that they are flames from hell.”

“The human equivalent of Tartarus, but worse,” Celestia quickly added.

“What we know for certain is that in exchange for burning very slowly, there is no way to extinguish them.”

Cadence and Twilight shared a worried look. “Like at all?” the princess of love asked. “What happens if you try to douse them?”

**********

Blaze thrashed in the lake as the water failed to put the fire out. “WHAT SORCERY IS THIS!?!” he screamed.

“The black flames of the sun goddess Amaterasu,” Sasuke proclaimed triumphantly, his words emphasized by the rumbling of thunder. “You’re strong, I’ll give you that. But I am beyond strength. I am the end. I am your end. Now burn for me.”

Blaze shrieked as the black fire formed into spikes and pierced his scales and flesh burning him from the inside out. “I will not die here! I cannot die here! I REFUSE TO DIE HERE!”  He gathered enough strength to look up at the human, only to see a dragon composed entirely of lightning staring down at him.

“Your compliance is not a factor,” the human said coldly.

As Blaze was engulfed in the light, his last thoughts were not of revenge or anger but satisfaction. “What a terrifying dragon.”

When the battlefield settled, the charred remains of Blaze’s bones and torn flesh floated in the water still covered in black flames. As the blood dripped from Sasuke’s face he couldn’t help but be in awe that anything remained at all. The bloodstone scepter floated into his hands and filled him with it’s magic, marking him as the new ruler of the dragons. Unable to maintain his flight any longer, Sasuke descended rapidly but was caught by Celestia and Luna who gently brought him to the ground.

“Dragons,” he called out. “You witnessed first hand the defeat of your so-called grand dragon. Now begins the reign of Dragon Lord Sasuke!” The dragons roared in response. “We will burn our enemies until not even ash remains! We will roam across the land and take all that we desire! This is the dawn of a new era: my era! Today we revel and feast for tomorrow we bring slaughter down upon all who oppose us!”

Luna and Celestia worriedly looked at each other. “Sasuke are you ok?” Luna whispered.

“Not even a little bit,” he answered quietly. “My vision is fading, I’m out of chakra, and I’m pretty sure every bone in my body is broken. Even if he never actually hit me, the force of his wild swings sure did. Dude hit like a goddamn freight train. But now we have a functioning army that’ll do what I say, even if it is unorganized.”

“They will expect you to let them ravage the land,” Luna said.

“As long as it’s not Equestria they’re ravaging, does it matter? Let me get some rest, then we can talk about the morality of genociding an invading army all you want.”


**********Canterlot Castle: Present Day**********


“Genocide?” Twilight squeaked.

Cadence looked green.“Sasuke really ordered the dragons to destroy the griffon’s army?”

“No, he did not,” Celestia answered, looking at the ground.

“You were able to talk him out of it, thank goodness,” the pink princess was relieved.

Luna turned away. “You misunderstand us, Cadence.” She took a deep breath and looked directly into Cadence’s eyes. “His target for the dragons was not the invasion force. He sent the dragons to burn down every city, town, and village in the Leomhann Empire.”

Twilight and Cadence stared slack jawed at Luna. They couldn’t find the words to respond to the night princess. Every time they tried, their thoughts fell apart and nonsensical sounds came out of their mouths.

“The stench of burning flesh carried for miles,” Celestia sighed. “There were precious few survivors. Only those that had already been in safe places when the attack came had a chance.”

“How could anypony even think of doing something so horrible,” Twilight finally said in a whisper.

“Sasuke is not a pony,” Luna said. “Sasuke comes from a race of apex predators that live for war and violence. His methods are rarely bloodless and his ‘non-violent’ solutions are often far worse than any physical pain.”

Cadence gulped. “What… what do you mean?”

“Do you know why the griffons saw him as a demon?” Luna asked. “How he got the title, Mephisto?”

“No?”

“Mephisto is the name of a demon from his world,” Celestia explained. “A demon that made deals with mortals and collected their souls as payment.”

Twilight and Cadence gasped. Soul magic was a terrifying dark and forbidden magic. Even foals were taught to fear it.

“He made bargains with the survivors,” Luna said. “Offered them immortality and freedom from pain. All they had to do was swear eternal loyalty to him.”

“By sacrificing an innocent soul, he was able to craft an eternal body from the victim for those who took his deal,” Celestia said. “He then ripped the souls from the bargainers and placed them into the new bodies. Faustian bargains, he called them.” She snorted. “As if Faust would ever allow such evil.”

“What happened to the griffons that took the deal,” Twilight asked.

“They rebuilt their homes,” Luna sighed. “And the immortals took positions of power within the new government. After Sasuke’s imprisonment, they worked tirelessly to free him. Celestia and myself hunted many of them down and imprisoned them in Tartarus. But out of the twenty, we only ever found fifteen.”

“So there are immortal griffons working for Sasuke still out there?”

“That we know of,” Celestia sighed. “Faust knows how many more he actually made.”

"I know this isn't really the right mood but I still have to know," Cadence said. "How did you end up married to him Auntie Luna?"

Luna frowned. "Sasuke claimed me and defeated my previous mate."

It was Cadence's turn to frown. "That's it?"

"What did you think it means to be a 'crown jewel'?" Luna said. "I am the crown jewel of Sasuke's hoard. As such I am his mate until he recognizes a new crown jewel. That's how dragons mate. The stronger dragon will claim another as their crown jewel and mate. If the other dragon objects they will fight and the winner's will triumphs. Although few, if any, will challenge a Dragon Lord for a mate.  It was quite flattering at the time."

"That.... makes me deeply uncomfortable," Twilight murmured.

"It's kind of..." Cadence stopped and thought about her word choice. "sweet? I guess. Feels kind of wrong."

"Dragons respect only power," Luna explained. "Beating your mate into submission make you highly desirable to them. And it is only for egg laying. Otherwise mates not interact for decades."

"Is that worse?" Twilight whispered to Cadence.

"That might be worse," Cadence whispered back.


********** Dragonlands **********


As I looked out over the mostly barren, scorching hot rocky formations, I couldn’t help but smile. I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. Coughing up a lung and trying to spit out the sulphur smell didn’t even bring me down.

“It’s good to be back.”
> Chapter 28
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Don’t you just love this fresh mountain air?”

“It smells like a hot egg fart.”

“But it’s an organic hot egg fart.”

“Not better.”

“Isn’t it, though?”

“No.”

As Adagio and I were debating the finer points of appreciating nature, the others sat in fearful silence. I had timed our entry into the Dragonlands to coincide with the great dragon migration, so we were surrounded by more dragons than any of them had seen in their lifetime. Not only that, being a wagon full non-dragons during what is essentially dragon spring break gave us the full attention of every dragon we passed. They were clearly not as excited as I was to be surrounded by short tempered, flying, fire breathing tanks that ate flesh. No idea why.

“Why are we here,” Sunset murmured under her breath.

“I don’t want to alarm anybody but I think we’re being followed,” Trixie added nervously.

The younger dragons were beginning to encroach on us. The older dragons, having seen me, kept their distance and shook their heads.

“It’s fine,” I said. “It’s not like we’re in any danger.”

“I wholeheartedly disagree,” Starlight whispered. “I think we’re in a ton of danger! So much danger! Literally ALL OF THE DANGER!”

“Those are just your prey instincts talking,” I blew her off.

“In case you haven’t noticed or maybe forgot: I AM A PREY SPECIES!”

“And I’m an apex predator,” I reassured her. “As is your sister and everyone else here. You’ll be fine. Just trust-”

“Hey you!” A young red dragon had finally gotten bold enough to step into my path. “This is no place for… whatever you are. Dragons only!”

“And who’s gonna stop me,” I laughed. “You?” I wrapped my arm around Starlight’s shoulders and pulled her into the dragon’s field of view. “Get a load of this guy!”

Starlight’s heart raced as the dragon growled. “You brought a stupid pony with you?”

“Of course not,” I grinned. “I brought a smart pony with me.” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “Well, she’s definitely smarter than you. But I guess that’s a pretty low bar since you’ve got rocks for brains.” 

It wasn’t my best work but it had the intended effect. The dragon breathed out a torrent of fire and I manifested the right half of Susanoo’s rib cage and arm to block it. I grabbed the dragon with the hand and squeezed. He screamed out in pain. “That looks like it hurts wyrmling.” The dragon writhed helplessly against Susanoo’s grip. “You want me to let you go?” I punctuated my question with another squeeze and the dragon nodded vigorously. “Answer some questions and I’ll be happy to drop you. Sound good?” Again the dragon nodded. “Good,” I relaxed the grip enough for him to speak. “Let’s start with your name.”

“Garble,” he choked out with a little blood.

“A pleasure to meet you, Garble,” I said. “I’m Sasuke Uchiha.”

Garble's eyes went wide. “You’re the Dragon Lord!”

“And you picked a fight with me,” I looked him dead in the eyes. “If I killed you right now the other dragons would laugh at how stupid you are.”

“I didn’t know! Don’t kill me!”

I dispelled Susanoo and Garble dropped to the ground. “Pick your opponent better next time. Now take me to Raze.”

Garble took some wheezing breaths and stood up. He briefly glanced at Starlight but quickly averted his gaze. “Yes, your lordship.”

The young dragons that had been sizing us up gave us a wide berth as Garble led us through the area. 

“Told you: no danger,” I tried to scratch Starlight’s ears but she swatted my hand away and glared at me. It didn’t matter, I was feeling pretty good about not having to kill a named character. Although if Garble was here with me, that must mean Spike hadn’t shown up yet.

“Rainbow Dash is here,” Gilda suddenly muttered through grit teeth.

“Really?” I asked. “Where?”

She scanned the growing crowd. “Over there.”

She pointed to the poorly constructed dragon costume. Seeing it in cartoon form did not do it justice. It was the most out of place looking piece of garbage I’d ever seen in my life. The stupid thing was made out of fabric for crying out loud. But Spike was a little ways in front of it, watching us.

“Dragons are really stupid,” I mumbled.

Following my sight line, Adagio smirked. “They really are, aren’t they.”

“Garble.”

“What…. I mean yes?” he shifted uneasily in place.

“Go get that little purple dragon over there and bring him to me.”

Garble grinned and flew over to Spike. Grabbing him by the tail he yanked him into the air. When they got close, Garble threw Spike onto the ground in front of me. He grinned, clearly waiting for me to inflict some kind of violence on the baby dragon.

“What’s good, Spike!” I bellowed as I picked him up and gave an affectionate noogie. Garble’s face fell.

“Do I know you?” Spike said as he struggled out of my grip.

“Oh right, I was in disguise last time.” A quick transformation into my earth pony form and back did not put him at ease, surprisingly.

“You’re Rolling Stone?”

“Yup,” I said cheerfully. “And the king of Equestria and the ruler of all dragons and the most wanted in the Griffon Republic and a friend of the zebra and the big daddy of the timberwolves. I have many hats.”

“Wait, hold on a second, what do you mean king of-”

A loud gasp interrupted Spike’s question. Looking at the source, it came from the costume. Once the ponies inside realized they were drawing so much attention, they quickly shuffled away.

“Anywho, you’re a little young for the migration, aren’t you?” I said to Spike. “I mean, you don’t even have your wings yet.”

“I’m old enough to be here,” Spike puffed up his chest.

“You know most of what goes on at these things is senseless violence, right?”

He deflated a little. “Why are you here?”

“I’m glad you asked!” I pulled the girls out of the wagon. “These valiant warriors have volunteered to take part in THE FINAL CHALLENGE! Who among you is dragon enough to answer their challenge?”

The dragons all roared and spewed torrents of fire. Spike looked at me with eyes full of curiosity as he nervously rocked from side to side.

“What exactly is the ‘final challenge’,” Sunset anxiously asked. The large dragons around us had suddenly given us their full attention.

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

“That’s not helpful,” she said as she inched closer to me, her eyes darting back and forth.

I had spotted Raze approaching and I felt the name was pretty self explanatory, so I didn’t bother clarifying. She took a quick look at the girls behind me, snorted out a puff of smoke and shook her head. “I would say that you brought these little wyrms here to die but I’ve never seen any of your plans fail,” she said as she led us forward. “Are you certain they can handle it?”

As we made our way past the younger dragons and towards the much older, much larger dragons, I stroked my chin in thought. “Nope,” I shrugged. “Not even close to sure. Buuut, worst case scenario, they just die.”

At that moment, I caught a hoof to the jaw. “I just got her back! You better not let my sister die!”

“What’s this about me dying?”

“Dun wurry aboudit,” I said as the healing kicked in. “Starlight, have you ever considered taking up boxing? Does boxing even exist in this world? Do minotaurs box?” As I pondered these profound and weighty questions, I could feel Starlight’s eyes burning holes in the side of my face. “I’m getting worried that you’re learning to solve all of your problems with violence,” I said as I tried to pat her head.

Starlight swatted my hand away. “I wonder how that happened,” she narrowed her eyes at me. “Explanation. Now.”

“Right, so dragons are ageless immortals,” I explained. The girls all nodded. “Except that’s not really true.”

“What are you talking about?” Adagio questioned. “Who ever heard of a dragon dying of old age? I recognize some of these scaley faces from before my banishment.”

“If you would let me finish,” I swatted her ear, “I could tell you. Dragons do age, it makes them stronger instead of weaker. The older a dragon gets the bigger and stronger they get. And the harder it gets for them to die.”

“What do you mean?” Sonata asked.

“Dragons cannot fall to age and are immune to all disease,” Raze said. “The only way for us to die is to be killed. And once we get old enough, there are few things that can threaten us.”

“And it’s not like they can just go up to Celestia and say ‘Hey Princess, can you kill me?’” I added. “That’s no way for a dragon to go out.”

“So then the final challenge is,” Aria prompted.

“A fight to the death among the oldest and most powerful dragons,” Sunset finished, her face contorting in horrified realization. “And you volunteered us to fight.”

A posh “How barbaric!” was quickly shushed by two loud whispers.

“Exactly,” I grinned. “Who’s ready to put their training to the test?”

“Absolutely not,” Trixie tried to climb back into the wagon. I grabbed her lightly with Susanoo’s hand and pulled her back out. “Put Trixie down, she doesn’t wish to commit suicide for your entertainment!”

“I also think that you shouldn’t make them do this,” Spike said quietly. “Aren’t they your friends?”

“Spike, dude,” I said, “have a little faith in me. This is gonna be awesome! Garble, Raze, back me up here.”

“I want to see them die,” Garble grinned.

“Not helping,” I frowned.

“If Sasuke thinks they will survive, I trust him,” Raze said. “Much of what he does seems random and dangerous but things seem to work out in his favor more often than not.”

“Anyways, me offering you a choice was a courtesy,” I said happily. “You don’t really have one.”

***

I sat on a throne made from Blaze’s skull overlooking a crater repurposed into a stadium. Raze, the girls, Spike, Garble and the terrible costume sat up in my…. box? The irony of the dragon’s purported hatred for ‘fancy schmancy’ things and the theatricality of my situation was not lost on me.

“My dragons,” I yelled to the surrounding crowd. “The time has come! Who among you will fight with all that they have?” Five hill sized dragons flew down into the crater and roared. I could see the heat coming from their mouths from as far away as I was.  I grinned. “Fantastic.”

“Looks like there aren’t enough for all of us,” Trixie said. “The gracious and team-oriented Trixie will sit this one out to let the others have their moment. As you know, Trixie is all about sharing the spotlight.”

“Nice try,” I chuckled. “The Dazzlings are fighting as a group.”

“How is that fair?” Gilda grumbled.

“See that green dragon down there, the one with all the scars,” I pointed to the largest one in the ring. “That one’s older than Raze and ten times as strong. That’s the one they’re fighting.”

Adagio followed my finger and grit her teeth. “Spine, you absolute piece of filth. Today’s the day I pay you back.” She turned to me. “We’re going first.”

I couldn’t hold back my glee.”It appears the first match has been decided!” I yelled. “Spine, you will have the honor of fighting the siren sisters!”

Spine chuckled, a deep rumble echoing from his throat. “Then it looks like I’ll be seeing you next year, Dragon Lord.”

The other dragons cleared out as the sirens jumped into the ring. Spike looked at me. “So how does this start?”

“It already has,” I replied.

The second Adagio had landed, Spine had breathed out a torrent of flame. The land glowed red in its wake. The sirens had all managed to dodge, Sonata and Aria firing back high pressure streams of water. The water evaporated on contact with Spine’s fire breath but it put out the flames and cooled the ground enough for them to stand. Adagio was moving to surround Spine but he was interrupting her movements with his tail. As the fight progressed, the fabric dragon had moved closer to me. 

“Your Dragon Lordship,” Twilight’s voice said, “What are they doing?”

“Well, obviously real, totally not-fake dragon, they’re trying to come up with a winning strategy,” I explained. “They likely realized that their mind control specialty is useless on a creature that is so much more powerful than them so they need to change tactics.”

“You sent them into a fight with a disadvantage that severe?” Rainbow Dash’s voice asked.

“Yup.”

“Why?” Twilight’s voice asked.

“Because your best growth is at the edge of your ability,” I said as Aria got smacked into the ground with a claw. She got back up and screamed in a high pitch at Spine, who smirked. “For example, if you wanted to fly faster, you couldn’t do the same workout every day, could you?”

“Well, no,” Rainbow’s voice said.

“Exactly,” I watched Aria take over creating more water while Sonata switched to the high pitched screaming. All the while Adagio, who was the only one who had yet to get hit, just dodged Spine’s attacks. Spine himself was having a blast. He kept the fire breath coming and every few swipes of his claw would catch Sonata or Aria, smashing them into the walls of the stadium, drawing a cheer from the audience. The two sirens were clearly moving slower. “You need to increase your distance or carry heavier weights. Stress is where the growth is.”

Twilight’s eyes were focused on the match. “What are they trying to do?”

“We’ll find out if they win,” I said.

The fight had taken its toll on Sonata and Aria. They were barely getting out of the way of Spine’s claws and their healing had slowed down dramatically causing their evaporated blood to form a red mist. They were still taking turns screaming at different pitches but had given up on spraying water. Now they were helping each other dodge as the ground was slowly turning molten. Still Adagio focused on dodging, not attempting her own attack or helping out her sisters. This pattern kept going until Aria hit a certain pitch. It was just for a second but Spine contorted his face in pain and stopped moving. Shaking it off, he moved in to finish off Sonata and Aria. Adagio behind him formed hand seals in a pattern I didn’t recognize and let out a deafening shriek. Every creature in the stands put up whatever limbs they had to cover their ears and winced in pain. Then there was silence. No one could believe what they were seeing. Laying still with blood streaming from every orifice, was Spine. Adagio, having spent all of her chakra in a single attack, stumbled over to her sisters and helped them up. The three of them walked up to Spine, climbed on top of his head and cried out in victory. The dragons in the stadium all roared together, a sign of respect.

“An epic end to an epic dragon,” I yelled out. “Let’s hear it for the Dazzlings!”

The dragons roared louder in response, now excited for the prospect of real fights.

“Holy shit,” Garble said, looking at the rest of the girls with newfound respect. “Can they all do that?”

“Nah, they each have different skill sets,” I smiled. “This is going to be fun.”

“They were sharpening the ax,” Twilight said quietly.

“Exactly,” I responded. “But why do you know that phrase, random very real dragon who shouldn’t know any of the sayings I brought with me from my world?”

“Uhhh, I overheard it from a pony once,” Rarity’s voice offered.

“Sure you did,” I chuckled.

Raze dropped off the Dazzlings next to me, having flown down to get them. “Now that my pride has been avenged,” Adagio said through labored breaths. “I am going to go lay down for a moment.” Aria and Sonata mumbled agreement through wheezes.

“You’ve earned it,” I gave them all a firm pat on the back. “But don’t forget that the corpse and his hoard are all yours.” The Dazzlings shuffled off looking for the wagon. 

“What are they going to do with the body,” Twilight asked.

“I’m not sure,” I scratched my chin. “But I recommend eating it.”

“What!?” Spike, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity all yelled in unison.

“What?” I asked back, genuinely confused.

“They’re so lucky,” Garble mumbled. “I’d give my wings to eat Spine.” Spike stared in horror at Garble. Garble was confused for a second but then realization dawned on him. “I forgot you live with ponies,” he sneered. “You’ve probably never had the chance to eat another dragon before.”

Spike gulped and looked at me. “Have you ever eaten a dragon before?”

I looked back at him, confused. “Of course I have. I ate my predecessor, Blaze. Had a romantic meal with Luna, in fact.” Spike’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t eat all of him at once, of course, but dragon meat doesn’t go bad. Unlike pony meat but between you and me, dragons taste better.”

A gasp echoed from the costume and Garble, surprisingly enough. 

“You’ve eaten a pony,” Rarity’s voice asked as the back half of the costume started inching away.

“Yeah? Although I’m surprised Celestia never said anything to you, Spike,” I said. “I was pretty sure that would be a big part of the propaganda about how evil I am.”

“And dragons eat dragons,” Twilight’s voice asked, fearfully.

“Literally all the time,” I said. “I mean for a species that loves to fight and kill, how many dragon corpses have you seen lying around?”

The impatient growling let me know that the dragons were ready to see the next fight. A blue dragon waited in the center of the ring, tense and ready to fight.

“Alright Gilda, you’re up.”

“My time to shine,” she grinned. SHe flared her wings before taking off and flying a few laps in the air before landing in the ring.

“How does Gilda fight,” Twilight asked.

“Mostly by beating things to death,” Starlight answered.

I looked down at her. “I assume Sunset has calmed down a bit.”

The unicorn glared at me. “Yes, the panic attack you gave my sister has subsided.”

“Great,” I pulled her in close. “Ready to watch the next match?”

Before Starlight could answer, the loud crack of Gilda being smashed into a wall echoed through the stadium. The middle of the dragon costume lifted into the air as Rainbow Dash tried to fly into the ring to help her.

“Easy,” I pushed her down with Suasanoo’s arm. “Gilda is fine. Have a little faith in her.” As if on cue, Gilda stood up, enraged. “That’s not good.”

“What do you mean,” Rainbow panicked. “You said she’d be ok!”

“It’s not her I’m worried about.”

Gilda screamed and the ground cracked around her. The dragon was pushed back by the force and flared its wings to stop moving. With a single step, Gilda was in its face and punched it into a wall. The crowd cheered as the dragon got up and the two entered into a furious exchange of blows.

“Why is Gil- er the griffin glowing,” Twilight asked.

“And suddenly able to go hoof to hoof with a dragon in a smackdown?” Rainbow added.

“Six gates,” I mumbled. “Surprising. ‘The griffin’ is just pulling more power out of herself. Nothing to be worried about.” My explanation was punctuated by Gilda being thrown into the ground hard enough to leave a crater and cough up blood. Rainbow glared at me through the costume as Gilda stood up, wiped her mouth, and flew back at the dragon. “She has strong regenerative power, that’s nothing. Even the usual downsides won’t bother her. Only way she loses is if she runs out of stamina.”

That didn’t look like it was going to happen any time soon. If anything Gilda was getting faster and hitting harder. The dragon, on the other hand, was getting weaker, slower, and tired. Their battle had escalated to mid air when Gilda stomped on its neck forcing them both to the ground. The dragon tried to struggle but Gilda grabbed it by the horns and yanked as hard as she could. Its head came off, showering her with gore. Gilda held the head high and roared.

“Fatality,” I chuckled. “Gilda wins.” The audience cheered, shooting streams of fire. Gilda, lost in her blood rage, kept pummeling the dragon’s corpse. “Raze could you...”

“Yes, Sasuke,” Raze flared her wings and flew down into the ring.

“Oh Faust that was,” Rainbow started.

“Brutal,” Rarity finished.

“Yeah,” Garble grinned toothily, “It was.”

Twilight seemed uncharacteristically quiet and when she finally noticed me looking at her, her eyes darted back and forth. “Something you want to ask?”

“Umm, I heard from, uh, some ponies that, umm, you went blind from overusing your powers,” she rapid-fired. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you fix it?”

“Celestia and Luna going blind already?”

“NO, I mean yes, I mean, how would I know that?”

“Uh huh,” I rolled my eyes. “Just tell them to swap.”

“Swap what?”

“Oh look a distraction,” I said as Raze and placed a semi-conscious Gilda at my feet. “How does absolute victory feel, G?”

“Everything hurts,” she moaned.

“That’s a side effect of opening so many gates at once,” I explained. “The good news is, it's just pain, not actual injury.”

“Fuck you.”

“Well I wasn't the one who skipped gates 1 through 5. That wasn’t very shonen of you.” At that point Gilda could only groan. “Puffball get Gilda some pain killers and a soft spot to lay for a while.”

Smoke Puff teleported away and I dragged Gilda to sit up against the throne.

“Who are you sending out next,” I could feel Garble’s excitement.

“Who wants to see Mangle the Terrible fight the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The crowd’s response was deafening. Trixie tried hiding in her hat. “Not that Trixie is afraid but why is the dragon called Mangle?”

“Mangle was just Fang but she kept mangling every creature she came across,” Garble leaned into Trixie’s face. “It got so bad, the pony princess herself fought her and kicked her out of Equestria.”

The golden dragon covered in scars looked up from the ring at Trixie and grinned.

“Trixie is afraid and doesn’t want to die,” she curled into her hat.

“I feel for you Trixie,” I said soothingly as I quietly formed Susanoo’s hand. “But sink or swim is the law of the land.” I gently grabbed the flailing hybrid and tossed her into the ring.

“Trixie hates you!” 

Trixie stood up and stared into Mangle’s grinning, toothy maw. “You look delicious.”

“Trixie refuses to die here today,” she declared shakily. Trixie grit her teeth, swished her cape, and grabbed the brim of her hat. Her nervousness was slowly being locked behind her stage persona. “Today the Great and Powerful Trixie will give her greatest performance yet!”

“We have to do something!” Twilight shouted. “Trixie’s not that strong or good at magic!”

“While it’s true that Trixie is the least powerful of my…students? Agents? Villainess Squad,” I watched as fireworks filled the ring with smoke. “She’s the only one with that dog in her.”

“What does that even mean?” Twilight yelled.

Starlight sighed. “It’s a reference to something from his world. You get used to it. No matter how stupid it is to make references that no one else understands.”

“Look I only have like 20 years worth of references anyway,” I said. “And I used all the good ones 1000 years ago. Would it kill you to let me have this?”

The dragon costume looked down, ashamed. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-”

“Don’t fall for it,” Starlight assured her. “I’m pretty sure he’s incapable of emotional pain.”

Twilight started to say something else but was interrupted by Rarity. “What is she doing down there?”

Looking into the ring, it was getting harder to see with all of the smoke. Mangle was trying to blow it away with her wings but it was staying put despite her best efforts. She eventually gave up on that and started looking for Trixie, who she had lost track of. Phantom Trixies ran through the smoke and each time Mangle caught one, they exploded in her face. Enraged at not catching such an obviously weak opponent, she unleashed a torrent of flame in all directions. The smoke began to fade, and Trixie stood proud atop a raised platform that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. 

“Ladies and Gentledragons, welcome to the Great and Powerful Trixie’s first ever performance in the Dragon Lands,” Trixie announced with her hands outstretched. “Today Trixie will make this overgrown lizard disappear! Keep your eyes on Trixie as this will be a once in a lifetime experience. Oh, and a warning to those in the front rows: you’re in the splash zone!”

Starlight narrowed her eyes at me. “Isn’t that one of your references?”

I wiped a tear from my eye, “I’m so proud.”

Mangle, expecting another trick, kept her distance. Trixie pulled a black and white stage wand out of her hat and gave it a swish. The ground underneath Mangle exploded, sending a ton of kunai into her softer belly scales. The wounds weren’t deep but they did bleed.

“Those knives cut through her scales,” Garble gasped.

In a rage, Mangle charged forward at Trixie only for every step she took to explode more kunai into her. After 5 steps she took to the sky and breathed fire down onto Trixie’s stage.

“For Trixie’s next trick, she will dazzle you all,” Trixie said, apparently unaffected by the rain of fire. She gave her wand another swish and the kunai lodged in Mangle’s scales all exploded. Mangle fell out of a firework representation of Trixie’s cutie mark and left a large crater in the ground. The dragon tried to get up but couldn't find her balance and twitched helplessly on the ground.

“The poison was a nice touch,” I mused. “Too bad it’ll only last a few minutes.”

“It won’t be enough,” Garble agreed. 

“Trixie has to know that,” Twilight stressed. “We need to help her!”

“No, we need to trust her,” I assured.

“And now for the grand finale,” Trixie said. Mangle’s eyes took on the sharingan pattern and the dragon sat on her hind legs, suddenly coordinated. She took a claw and jammed it into her own chest and yanked out her heart, falling to the ground.

“A mare after my own heart,” I said. The stage Trixie vanished and the real Trixie stood next to the fallen dragon, bowing and basking in the adoration of the crowd.

“How? What?” Twilight babbled.

I shrugged. “Sharingan is op.”

“That’s not an explanation!”

Raze landed next to me and let Trixie down. “How ya feel now, Trixie?”

Trixie held up a finger and threw up. I patted her back as she let all her stress out.

“Then the only one left is,” Rainbow looked to see Sunset Shimmer standing next to me and looking down at the last dragon.

“You’re up,” I said gently. She nodded and jumped down into the ring. “It has been a wild ride! Who’s ready to see the last match?”

The audience cheered as a red dragon landed in front of Sunset. “I did not think much of your group when I first saw you,” he said. “That was wrong of me. You all have my respect. Now let us fight to the death!”

Wordlessly, a golden-red skeletal Susanoo formed around Sunset and held the dragon down before it could attack. The crowd was silent. Suddenly the dragon's scales caught the same golden red fire. The dragon tried to scream out in pain but Sunset’s Susanoo held it in place. “This will be over in a moment,” Sunset said, almost apologetically as her Amatersu flames formed a blade and cleaved through the dragon’s neck.

“Sharingan is op,” I murmured to myself.

“What on Faust’s green earth just happened,” Rainbow screeched.

Sunset jumped from the ring to the throne and wiped the blood from her face. “I guess I should expect no less from Celestia’s former student,” I congratulated her. She grimaced.

“What!?” Twilight screeched.

“And with that, the Final Challenge has ended!” I announced. “My dragons, party your hearts out!”

***

All my crew except Sunset sat around the fire recovering. Spike had stayed with my group which meant three ponies in the dragon costume were nearby. Having not taken much damage, Sunset was sitting next to me. “How long have you had the mangekyou?”

She was quiet. “Canterlot.” The word came out as barely a whisper.

“Oh,” I was at a loss for words. In hindsight, I guess it made sense but.. “ You’re not sure if you miss her or hate her.”

“I really just wanted to make her proud but… I thought she was holding me back,” Sunset trailed off. Starlight offered her a comforting hoof.

“If you don’t mind my asking,” Twilight said as the dragon costume approached us, “Were you really Princess Celestia’s personal student?”

Doing a quick sweep of the area and realizing no one was listening to us, I replied. “She was the student before you, Twilight.”

Twilight sputtered. “What? No, you have me confused with somepony- somedragon else. I’m definitely a dragon!”

I pulled out the bloodstone scepter. “Then by my command, dragon, take the little one and go home.” Immediately, the three ponies in costume grabbed Spike and left.

“How did that work?” Starlight asked. “That wasn’t even a real dragon!”

“Doesn’t matter,” I grinned. “The bloodstone scepter is very progressive. If you identify as a dragon, even temporarily, it accepts you as subject to its power. Turns out it really isn't all that picky about who it enslaves. Inclusivity is the future, after all.”

Sunset Shimmer eyed the scepter warily. “That has to be some pretty strong dark magic. I’m surprised dragons allow it to exist.”

“Eh,” I shrugged. “As long as they think they have a shot at taking it, it’s worth having around for them.”

“DRAGON LORD,” a voice yelled.

“Oh what now,” I sighed.

A sapphire blue dragon about two thirds my height landed in front of me and glared. “I challenge you for the title of Dragon Lord!”

“Oh hey, Ember,” I said calmly. “I wondered where you were.”

“How do you- nevermind,” she growled. “How do you respond to my challenge?”

“Did Torch say something sexist?”

The dragon blushed. “No! My dad has nothing to do with this!”

“You know you need someone to back up your challenge, right?”

She looked around but all of the older dragons were snickering and the younger dragons were avoiding eye contact. “Whatever, that’s a dumb rule! Are you too scared to fight me?”

“You really want to die that bad? I mean come on. You just watched people weaker than me kill dragons stronger than you.”

“I’m-”

I cut off whatever she was going to say with a sharingan glare and a heaping helping of bloodlust and she froze in fear. “Not ready. But you will be.”

Ember collapsed. “Woah.”

“Somebody find Garble and bring him here.” Not long after I said that, a drunk Garble was thrown at my feet. “Alright you two. What we have here is an opportunity for you to be as powerful as the rest of my team.” I brought out two syringes. “If either, or both, of you are brave enough to take a shot in the tongue, you will be more powerful than you ever dreamed.”

The partying dragons were quiet as they watched the two dragons consider my offer. Garble and Ember looked at each other as if daring and challenging the other to go first. I raised an eyebrow at Ember, smirking at her. She growled at me, grabbed the syringe and injected the rainbow liquid into her tongue. She let out a strangled yelp and a single tear fell from her eye. The change started immediately. Garble on the other hand, looked more nervous. But a smirk from me and a healthy dose of peer pressure from the surrounding dragons had him close his eyes, hold his own tongue, and jam the needle in it. He fell to the ground as his transformation started.

I couldn’t help but laugh, “I love it when a plan comes together.” 

I watched the two dragons turn into humans as I thought about my next move. First things first though, it was time to go home.
> Chapter 29
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

***Canterlot Castle

“And that concludes my report about what happened in the Dragon Lands,” Twilight Sparkle said nervously.

She stood in the same room that the Anti-Sasuke Task Force had been using as their headquarters. Around the table sat Agent Sweetie Drops, all three of the alicorns, the zebra Hamza, and the pegasus Swift Arrow. All of them could not believe what they were hearing.

“Each of them really killed an ancient dragon,” Swift Arrow balked. “Like.. by themselves?”

“Well the three known as the Dazzlings worked together but yes the others did so individually,” Twilight said.

“And you are sure Sunset Shimmer was with them,” Celestia pressed.

“About that, was she your student at one point,” Twilight asked meekly.

“Then yes, she was there,” Celestia ignored the question and fidgeted in her booster seat. Twilight didn’t follow up. “What are we to do sister?”

Luna looked Celestia directly in the eyes. “You know what we have to do. These… lesser humans are beyond us. We would have known what tactics they use had we been there but Twilight lacks the proper context and understanding. We have to use it.”

“Use what,” Hamza was getting a very bad vibe.

Celestia sighed. “The last time Sasuke summoned another of his kind, we were offered the ability to do the same.”

“Absolutely not,” Sweetie Drops pounded her hoof into the table and then realized where she was. “Respectfully, we can’t have yet another one of these overpowered, destructive monsters running around unchecked!”

“As far as we can tell, the summoning is temporary,” Luna argued. “And what would you propose we do instead?”

Sweetie Drops was silent but her face remained contorted in frustration.

“I say we do it,” Cadance spoke up. “At this point what do we have to lose? If even his followers are strong enough to fight and win against the strongest dragons, do we even have any other choices? Maybe we can summon a human that’ll see reason or at least be empathetic to our plight!”

“This feels incredibly dangerous,” Hamza said. “But it’s a human or Discord.”

Everyone in the room shivered. “So we are in agreement then?” Luna asked. Everyone nodded, if reluctantly. “Do it sister.”

Celestia took out the pocket watch.

I am the one who constructs and deconstructs, the partner and protector of the moon and sun, I aid the Innocent and protect the children, If you require aid, Call my name and I will come forth, The Crimson Sage

“I hope you will help us,” she whispered as she lit her horn and touched it to the totem.

A portal to the void opened in front of her and another human stepped out. The man was tall, a little over six feet. He had golden blonde hair that was typed back in a simple ponytail while he was wearing white gloves, black pants, and a black long sleeve silver trimmed top under a red hooded coat. 

“We’ll need pickles, raisins, hot dogs and pineapple juice next…” he said aloud as his amber eyes never looked up from a sheet of paper in his gloved hand. “Tia, have you Star today?” He looked up and saw Celestia. “Wrong Celestia… Did I leave a random portal open again?” He scratched his head. “Easy enough fix,” he waved his hand and a new portal opened, shocking everyone. “Sorry for the intrusion!” He waved and started to walk for the new portal.

“Wait, don't go,” Celestia called out. “We summoned you intentionally but did not mean to inconvenience you in any way. I was given a token by an ‘anti-magic knight’. He said to call on you if we needed help.”

“You seem very powerful if you are able to cross into other worlds at will,” Luna said cautiously. “You clearly have nothing to fear from us so would you mind hearing us out?”

“Universe,” he corrected. “I can cross universes. And I really don’t care about what's happening here either. I’ve destroyed many other universes with beings with greater power than this one. You summoned me at the advice of my younger brother though so I’ll at least hear your plea,” he closed the portal with a snap of his fingers. “Why are you so small?” He looked at Celestia.

“It’s part of why we need your help,” Celestia explained. “Around a thousand years ago, a human named Sasuke Uchiha entered our world. At first he was an ally but circumstances pushed him into madness. We managed to imprison him in stone but he broke free and is trying to do… something. We are not sure what but the results so far have been disastrous.”

“You make it sound so accidental,” Luna scoffed. “Sasuke is a murderous psychopath with little concern for anyone not in his direct orbit. He has repeatedly clashed with my sister and I, and we can only just barely contain the damage. In our most recent battle my sister exhausted so much of her magic that she was forced into the diminished state you see before you.”

“That’s not entirely fair, Princess Luna,” Candance piped up. “It doesn’t seem like he’s directly targeting anypony.”

“Regardless, he causes destruction wherever he goes and we need to know what his long term goal is,” Luna explained. “I have fought a war at his side. His methods are brutal and efficient. I had never heard the term ‘acceptable losses’ before I met him.”

“All of this to say,” Celestia wrangled control of the conversation. “Sasuke uses a type of magic that my sister and I barely understand but can use and he’s training others to use it more effectively. He has attacked Equestria and the Griffin Republic and we could use any help or insight you could give us into figuring out how to stop him.”

“And also how his powers work, Mr Human,” Twilight squeaked in.

“My name is Edward, call me Ed,” he said. “So you summoned me because you want to know about the Sharingan and how to properly use it,” The man stated a sigh to the sisters, each giving a singular nod. “Tell me… how do you both plan to fight him using the same power when you're both partially blind already?” He glared, causing the older alicorns to flinch slightly. “Well?”

“We were hoping you might know how to fix that,” Celestia admitted, ashamed.

Twilight raised a hoof, “When I saw him in the Dragon Lands, I asked Sasuke about that. He said for you to swap. I have no idea what he meant but maybe you do?”


“Also while we’re making a wish list,” Cadance interjected. “Can you also see the future?” Luna glared at her and she withdrew into herself. “What? We know next to nothing about humans. He might…”

Luna sighed. “We know using the evolved form of the Sharingan causes one to lose their sight but we also know there is a way to restore lost sight as well. Sasuke once was completely blind but is now more powerful than ever.”

“Hmmmm….” Ed looked at Cadance who shrank back slightly. “Tell me little one, how long have you been speaking with that thing in your head?”

“What thing in my head?” Cadance tilted her head. “I don’t know what you mean?”

“She can’t possibly...” Celestia trailed off.

“Oh yes she has,”  Ed claps, “ ID Create,” he said and everything in the room switched to a dual color. “This is a pocket space. No time will pass on the outside and now one can see or hear what we do on the inside,” he explained before turning back to Cadance. “The Sharingan is a most magnificent ocular power to have, but once awakened the price it exacts for its power starts to take effect right away. Like anything worn out it must be replaced. What Sasuke told you was the truth, little Twilight. In order to regain their sight they must get new eyes.” Ed pointed at his eye. “Even if you were to heal the eyes you have now with magic they’d still degrade. No, the only way to regain you light and to do so permanently is to get a new set

“So what we need to swap is… our eyeballs themselves?” Celestia blanched.

“Gross,” Swift Arrow murmured.

“As… unpleasant as the idea might be,” Luna said. “If it is required to use these abilities to their utmost, we shall persevere. Thank you, Ed. Is there anything you can tell us about chakra or,” Luna looked at Cadance’s pleading face and sighed, “the future Sasuke might have seen?”


“And details on the way his agents fought the dragons,” Twilight squeaked.

“Has everypony forgotten that he literally just said there was something in my head?” Cadance almost yelled.

“While we’re at it, how about he also trains the whole bucking task force,” Sweetie Drops mumbled, tracing circles with a hoof on the table. “Tell the human all your secrets and have him solve all your problems.”

Ed was immediately standing over the pony, no one else had even seen him move.

“You have no idea what I am or what I’m capable of, pony,” He glared down. “I’ve fought armies for the sake of protecting Equestria in my universe. I’ve destroyed immortals that would give you nightmares that would make you piss the bed for the rest of your extremely short life so do not question me!”

Power suddenly poured out of the being in front of everyone. The most telling sign he was pissed now was the eyes. They’d gone from golden amber to red with a six pointed black sun in the center.

“I can tell you the future, many futures in fact but it won’t help your cause,” he sighed and calmed down. “The future is not a singular line but a tree with branches. I can explore them and help stir towards desirable paths but ultimately I can not tell you how things will happen in detail, on a rough outcome of what may or may not,” he looked at Luna. “I’ll give the best and worst in writing but there’s no guarantees.”

He turned to Cadance, “What happened when you met Sasuke for the very first time?”

Cadance thought back. “He put me in some kind of dream, it was so peaceful.” She started losing herself to the music as soon as she started thinking about it but shook it off. “But Aunty said there was nothing left behind when she checked me. And we found the illusion he put in Shining Armor’s mind.”

“Perhaps I should perform your operations so you can actually see what he’s done to her,” Ed mused to the sisters.

Sweetie Drops wanted to snark back but thought better of it. She opened her mouth to say something… reasonable but Hamza cut her off. “I assure you I mean no disrespect sir, but this is the exact reason we summoned you. We don’t know what we’re up against. We don’t know what rules it operates on, what the requirements for using it are, or how to defend against it. I know we must seem like ants to your greatness but please if you know or see something, please help us.”

“We know that the sharingan can place time-activated illusions in minds,” Luna said. “But we don’t have much experience dealing with it. Shining Armor’s illusion was very overt and easy to detect. If Cadance has something more complex, there is no way for us to deal with it.”

“These are no mere illusions but true tricks of the mind that can cause the body to harm itself simply by making it think it’s happening,” Ed explained. “The only way to be free is to break it or have the caster undo the spell, which he won’t. Your eyes are masters of this skill and it’s second nature to them. Casting one in your awakened state is child’s play and undoing one would be just as easy in this case. Only if you’re actually fighting against another user would it put a strain on you, unless it’s just an extremely powerful jutsu. Shall I make you both a set of custom new eyes. I can use the DNA of my own girls as a base? Being closer to humans it would be leagues above your old ones.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other and nodded. “We’ll do it,” they said simultaneously.

Sweetie Drops wanted to say something, anything to stop her rulers from taking the deal at face value. But that thing in the shape of a human was holding all the cards. She bit her lip and held her tongue. Swift Arrow on the other hand thought this guy seemed pretty cool. Sure he was powerful enough to kill him with a thought but then again… wasn’t Princess Celestia? And he had a risque photo of her hidden in his stash along with the one of Princess Cadance he told the captain he got rid of. If this guy was just handing out superpowered eyes…

“Hey, what does one have to do to get on this super-eye train?”

“I would also like some super-eyes for study,” Twilight added quietly.

Hamza got up, walked behind Swift Arrow, and smacked him on the back of the head. “I am very sorry for this.” He dragged the pegasus out of the room.

“Do I have to go too?” Twilight asked.

“Please sit quietly, Twilight,” Celestia sighed.

“I am not against it but my contract is not with you little ones,” Ed pointed out as a set of himself walked in the area out of nowhere with two glass containers with a set of eyes in each suspended in a yellow fluid. “Shall I also correct the imbalance in your systems that cause you to burn away your physical forms when drawing on your true power?”

The two alicorns looked at each other and had a silent conversation. Cadance tried to be part of it but she had little experience with Luna and couldn’t intuit her responses.

“We’ll pass on correcting the imbalance,” Celestia finally said. “Our physical changes are related to our alicorn nature and though we trust that your changes would be for the best, we are not sure how our changed nature would interact with the rest of our world.”

“And our connection to Tartarus,” Luna added. “And no eyes for you, Twilight Sparkle. You only recently had an incident with reckless use of magic, did you not? A mishap with a want-it, need-it spell?” Twilight blushed and looked at the table.

“It’s simple really.” Ed removed his white gloves and threw off his coat and upper shirt to reveal a black muscle shirt to reveal a total metal right arm. Most in the room were confused but Twilight was even more intrigued by this human now.

“Like Sasuke, I didn't originally have access to magic in my world but I did have my abilities as an alchemist. Using my scientific knowledge of how to construct and deconstruct matter as a base, I developed my own magic. It took about a hundred and fifty years but I was able to cast using a medium such as fire rubies. Later with the help of my Starswirl, we were able to refine the practice and I was soon able to create an extremely powerful artifact I called a Mage Stone.”

A hinge opened on Ed’s arm and he reached in and pulled out a brightly glowing stone made entirely of magic.

“To answer your question, you wouldn’t be affected by your connection to Tartarus anymore because I would sever it,” Ed said. “And I would give you each one of these made of the purest of solar and lunar magics of this world. You would truly be immortal, even if your bodies were totally destroyed you could restore because your sources would endure.”

“Our connection to Tartarus is important,” Celestia explained. “We cannot give it up even for such a tempting offer.”

“But y’know,” Cadance interrupted. “It’s not every day a cosmically powerful being offers you fantastic power and true immortality.”

“Cadance,” Luna looked her dead in the eyes, “take it from a pony who spent a very long time alone: there are many fates far worse than death. An alicorn’s connection to Tartarus is the most important tool we have.”

“She speaks the truth, young one,” Ed placed the stones back in his arm. “I was alive for thirteen thousand years in my world before I spent nearly two thousand years utterly broken mentally in a stone prison because somepony I deeply trusted betrayed me and tried to misuse these artifacts. I was nearly halfway through with recovering my sanity at the time when I saw Celestia and Luna’s fight and saw Luna banished to the moon. At the time, she was… the only thing that helped my sanity. After that…. Let’s just say Discord became the only other being I could turn to.”

“It is disheartening to know my fall happens in every reality,” Luna sighed. “But it’s time. We are ready.” Celestia nodded in agreement.

“I will give you both the stones as well. Call it good will,” Ed clapped and the sister suddenly clasped onto beds that had just shown up next to them. “It is done.” He waved a hand. “Offer them some chocolate when they wake up in a few minutes. It will help with the hangover.”

He then walked over to Cadance. “Your turn dear,” Ed said as his eyes shifted again.

Cadance felt a rush come over here and deep inside her mind she felt as if she heard several windows break at once.

“How does your head feel now?” The Sage asked.

Cadance thought about the genjutsu she had been in and didn’t feel that warm, lovely sensation she had gotten used to. In fact, she didn’t really feel anything about it at all. Well, the more she thought about it, the more concerned she was that her mind had been violated so easily. She was suddenly unsure how she felt about Sasuke in general. Before, she had thought he must be working towards some grand goal that must have justified attacking Caterlot and wounding her aunts but now… “I feel confused and angry but clear headed,” Cadance said with a frown. “Like I just woke up from a dream but can’t remember what happened in it.”

Twilight had not missed the opportunity to take notes on what little she understood. “Then it seems like you were under some sort of mind control.” She thought a little bit and tried to summon another notepad but nothing happened. She then remembered what Ed had said about the space and tried to remember her other notes. “The control in Shining Armor’s mind was to make him angry and distracted. What do you think the control in yours was for?”

Cadance tried but couldn’t come up with a real answer. “To make me like him a little bit? I can’t really tell.”

“It was to sway you to his side dear,” Ed pointed out. “It was also so you could do his work for him here in the castle without your aunts taking notice. Think along the lines of a double agent,” he said, catching another special agent's attention. “Yes, I hope you thoroughly check anything and everything Cadance has been involved with since Sasuke’s release.”

“Understood,” Sweetie Drops said and bit her lip. “Thank you.”

“They should be waking about now,” Ed turned to the princesses who were indeed starting to stir. “Agent,” he called out. “Shining Armor was under his influence at one point too, right?”

“Yes, he was,” Celestia said groggily, trying to rise from the bed.

“We should check him again,” Luna was having trouble finding her center of balance. “Sweetie Drops, please bring the captain here.”

The earth pony wanted to stay but a direct order from a princess was hard to ignore. “At once, your highness.” She quickly trotted out of the room.

“How are you both feeling?” Ed asked, “Can you both see without much blurriness at least?”

“Yes, it took a moment but everything is coming into focus,” Celestia said, her eyes following her hoof in a pattern.

“I don’t think my vision has ever been this… detailed,” Luna added. She activated her sharingan and looked around the room. “Very interesting. I can almost see the flow of energy you used to isolate this space. Although it is like trying to read a language I do not understand.” She activated her mangekyou and her body shifted into human form. “Even the pain of using it has been reduced. Very interesting. Thank you, Ed.”

“Flawless and instant transformation,” Ed held up a hand. “The chakra systems were originally intended for humans, though they aren’t the only beings with them. Dogs, toads, birds, and even fish have them in the world Sasuke’s origin comes from, but it's the humans who can utilize it the best. Since your new eyes were made with a sample of your humanoid counterpart from my world your networks were greatly strengthened making it nearly identical to that of a human from the origin world. It also means that you won’t lose any power after your transformation is used up. Try accessing your Lunar and Solar Sage stones.” He pointed. “You can’t miss them. They’re highly concentrated magics of your individual sources afterall. I tied them closely to your spiritual bodies so Sasuke can’t even see them or try to get them. If he does, a counter curse will bind him.”

Celestia shrugged and reached inward with her magic. An outpouring of magic filled her and her body grew to its full size. She shifted into human form and allowed herself to fully enter her Dawnbreaker state. “This is incredible!” She pulled back from her new internal well and shifted back into her alicorn form. “He won’t escape so easily next time.”

Luna shifted back into her alicorn form and nodded. “Indeed. I have a few ideas for making sure our agents can handle Sasuke’s.”

Cadance frowned as Twilight continued to scribble furiously. “Everypony gets a superpower makeover, and I get mind controlled.” She face planted on the table.

“When you stand on the front line of a battlefield, Cadance,” Luna said. “You will be trusted with great power as well.”


Cadance grunted.

“Cadance,” Celestia walked over to her and put a hoof around her shoulder. “Even if you were as powerful as us, it would be the height of foolishness for us to send you into battle against Sasuke. He is a trained combatant, as are we. You have never known the horrors of war. That in itself is a gift.”

“They’re right, young one,” Ed added. “I’ve seen and fought on so many battlefields I can’t count them all. Sasuke is not only a trained fighter and killer but I can see he’s a bit of a sadist as well. He has been whispering sweet nothings to you this whole time. I pray that you never see the horrors of war but in this world’s many futures I can see very few outcomes where you aren’t, and about half of them have you siding with him. Sasuke is even more dangerous for a singular fact as well.” He pointed at himself, “He’s one of my kind and that means he can have any number of powers or abilities that none of you have ever seen before with each new encounter with him. Or am I wrong Luna?”

Luna grunted. “I caught him completely unaware and he had somehow gained a new ability to ignore fatal blows.” She looked Cadance in the eyes. “He had the absolute gall to call this ability ‘Plot Armor’.” She pounded her hoof into the table. “I have never been so insulted in all my days!”

Cadance snorted out a laugh. “Really, plot armor?” She then came to a realization. “I was so distracted by the joke, I almost didn’t realize you said he invented a new magic that lets him ignore getting caught by surprise.”

“That is exactly what he wants,” Celestia nodded. “For his enemies to be distracted by humor or frustration enough for them to not realize or even outright ignore his true objectives. I suspect he is treading so cautiously because Luna and I are aware of that.”

“Saskue can invent new magic?” Twilight asked.

“You are to report to us every time Saskue enters your library, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia commanded. “And detail every offer and offhoof remark he makes. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, Princess,” Twilight bowed her head.

“Calm down or you’ll need to replace that really expensive marble floor you're standing on,” Ed held up a finger, “Let me clarify something about his new magic as well. This is what I was referring to about unknown power with each new encounter. This Plot Armor Magic is his own personal magic given to him by my younger brother. You must understand we displaced have our own rules we must follow. A power exchange is the bargain we often settle on. The grimoire he now carries is not the key to this magic but greatly amplifies its effects. No one in this world but him will be able to read it either and his magic can’t be replicated unless he has children and even then it won’t be the exact same but either a weaker or stronger variant of it.”

Cadance looked up and tilted her head. “But there aren’t any other humans in Equestria, right? His magic will die with him if that’s the case.”

“That is irrelevant,” Celestia said. “If we manage to stop him we won’t have to worry about such a thing.”

“Kill him you mean,” Luna said calmly.

“Obviously.”

“So you are not holding onto any delusions that he can be redeemed?”

“No, of course not.”

“Enough,” Ed called out. “You can not kill him because if you do, this world dies. Not just a few thousand but everything, plants, animals, everything.” He held up a hand. “Sasuke is fighting a greater war than your own eyes can see, Celestia. I know you hate him with every fiber of your existence right now and he does need to answer for all he’s done but at the same time, he is also the closest thing you have to any form of defense you have to what's coming. Those things you fought in the Everfree weren’t even an advanced scouting party but a couple of kids looking for fun, Luna.”

“Ominous,” Swift Arrow whistled. He had reentered with Hamza.

“I assume since you have not detailed this threat, it is not yet necessary for us to know about it,” Hamza said. “If that is the case, our primary objective has not changed. We will find Sasuke, detain him and his conspirators, and question him about this greater evil.”

“I will enter Tartarus and see what I can find,” Luna said. “Twilight, since my sister and I are healed, you will return to Ponyville. Sasuke had a fascination with you a millennium ago. Do what you can to tease information out of him.”

“Yes, Princess,” Twilight responded.

“Cadance and I will stay here,” Celestia said. “Luna before you go, share your plans for the task force with me so I can fulfill them in your absence.”

“What should I do?” Cadance asked, excited.

“Go about your life as usual,” Celestia replied. Cadance deflated. “You have important duties, Cadance. Not to mention your wedding is coming up soon.”

“But, I’m a princess too,” Cadance argued. “I should be helping. Doing something… I don’t know, important?”

“Maintaining normalcy in a time of crisis is important,” Celestia stressed.

Ed walked over and placed a hand on Cadance’s head. “She’s only worried about you, dear, but at the same time she is right but I have a suggestion if you are willing to hear me out.”

“Sure, anything beats doing nothing,” Cadance mumbled.

“Celestia, Luna,” Ed looked at them both. “Allow me to go and meet with him. You summoned me all this way for a bit of information but I have yet to state what I get in exchange,” he smiled. “Until now, he has always had the power and backing to do as he pleases but now I am here and on your side for the most part. I don’t want needless death but at the same time I can’t needlessly interfere with a world’s balance. I will help you as I see fit after I leave. This may be my first time in this universe but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching it.” 

“As soon as I break the barrier he’ll sense my presence. I've exerted too much magic power with the reveal of the sage stone in this space. I invite all of you here to witness a small skirmish between us,” he pointed at Cadance. “I also want you to see what a real battle for life and death looks like even on the sidelines. Do we have a deal?”

Celestia and Luna desperately wanted to shake their heads and shout ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT!’ as loudly as they could but the thought of going back on a deal with a being this powerful promised far worse. They could only hope that Cadance was mature enough to decline such an offer.

“Absolutely I do!” Cadance squealed excitedly.

So much for that.

“Will she be safe?” Celestia said more as a plea and less of a question.

“I didn’t make myself clear,” Ed rubbed his chin. “You will all be coming and yes, I can guarantee all parties will be inside a void barrier to keep you from harm's way.” he held up a hand and a rediesh-black energy appeared above. “This is void energy also now at the beginning and end of all things. The purest Darkness that gives birth to light and consumes it when it dies out. Neither good nor evil, it is simply existence itself.” He retracted his hand and the energy dispersed. “The barrier is made of it. Do you trust me?”

The elder alicorns looked at each other. “Yes, absolutely, 100%,” Luna said with a frown.

“What she means is: yes we trust you,” Celestia quickly followed up. She turned to her sister. “I mean why wouldn’t we trust the cosmically powerful super being who has until now been very patient even when disrespected.”

“Calm your minds,” Ed hushed them with a laugh. “I’m not going to let anything happen to anyone here, most of all you two, Cadance or Twilight. You both remind me of my own Celestia and Luna when they were around five or six hundred,” he laughed. “I guess I should've led with this but in my world you are my wives and mothers of our children. Cadance of course would be my nieces and Twilight is something of a student slash granddaughter-in-law. You have nothing to fear from me.”

“I understand,” Celestia said. “We accept this as payment for your assistance. We are ready. You may begin whenever you want.”

Ed snapped and the dullness faded causing all of the pent up magical power to rush out of the room. It was almost like being born again to those deeply intubated with the world’s mana network while everyone else felt it a lot either to breathe.

“You said he was last seen in the Dragonlands?” Ed asked Twilight.

Twilight nodded. “His team was injured so I expect he took time for them to recover. It’s only been a day so they should still be there.”

“Which means his floating city is still in the immediate area,” Ed smirked, the sisters both caught onto the word, floating base. “I doubt he’ll want to fight in that area as then he’d risk losing the support of the dragons. What do you two think?” he looked at the solar and lunar diarchs.

“Floating- no not now,” Celestia shook her head. “He loves to showboat, so I think having an audience of dragons would force him to show more of his cards.”

“But if,” Luna took a moment to examine Ed. “No, when he realizes victory is out of his grasp, he will certainly use the dragons as fodder in an attempt to distract you. Can you ensure their safety?” 

“I can,” Ed shrugged. “Void barriers can be self-sustaining if set that way  while also encompassing an entire area. I had to collaborate on one for Asta’s arena in his city after he and another displaced fought. He lost but was still on his feet but she fainted right after that. A displaced Twilight if I’m remembering right,” he scratched his head. “Ah yea, Ayumi the Goddess of Balance that was her name. Quite a background on thought ones bloodlines.”

“We should’ve gotten popcorn while we were out,” Swift Arrow whispered to Hamza. “Do you think he can make some or nah?”

Hamza wanted to smack the pegasus again but refrained. “Pay attention to this fight, and record everything you see, no matter how small.”

“Oooh, this is going to be great for my human research,” Twilight squealed.

“There’s only one human in this world, dear Twilight, and that’s Sasuke,” Ed corrected. 

“The me in front of you isn’t even my real body but a flesh puppet that was wandering around near the kitchen in my world’s Canterlot Castle when your teacher called out to summon me. I have several similar bodies exploring the void as we speak,” He walked over to the doors leading to the balcony, “Come along with me now my little ponies. We have a train to catch as well as places to be and ponies to retrieve!”

As soon as he said that line a set of transparent rainbow train tracks appeared. Soon they all heard the loud whistle of the train and felt its rumble as a large red and silver locomotive pulled and let out a hiss as it stopped.

“Sasuke's domain can’t be reached by normal means and I don’t want to raise alarms by just popping over,” Ed turned as the doors opened to reveal a rainbow Ninetails, the Pokémon, sitting there waiting on them magic pouring off her like a fountain. “And I’d rather like to make a grandstanding entrance to announce our arrival.”

“This is my mother-in-law Faust,” Ed motioned. “Former Queen of old Equestria as well as Former alicorn.”

“Nice to meet all of you!” Faust raised a paw with a fanged smirk.

“Is that God?” Swift Arrow whispered, more loudly than he intended.

Celestia almost scolded him, meeting a being called Faust had thrown her. However she quickly composed herself and chose to ignore the pegasus. If he was somehow able to offend these powerful beings, there was little she could do to protect him.

“I believe our Faust is different,” Luna said. She, on the other hand, didn’t care. If these beings wanted to kill them all, they wouldn’t waste time taking them on a field trip. Swift Arrow nodded and prepared to say something else but found his mouth held shut by a blue glow. “Regardless, whatever you are about to say should be considered carefully.” The pegasus nodded and stayed quiet. Luna released his mouth.

“May we enter,” Celestia asked Ed, trying to stay on track.

“That's why the door was opened!” Faust snarked with a motion of her paw. “And no dear, I’m not a god. I’m just a reincarnated alicorn. In our world we can physically die but not spiritually. After a certain number of years after the world has finished redistributing the alicorn magic from our supposed death we reincarnate into another form able to handle our powers.”

Celestia led the others into the train, listening to this former alicorn explain. Of the ponies (and zebra) that entered the mystical train, only Swift Arrow and Twilight couldn’t contain their curiosity. Twilight scribbled furiously on a notepad held in her magic as Swift Arrow quickly memorized the layout and position of everyone around him.

“We are ready,” Celestia said once everyone was situated. Cadance resisted the urge to squee. She was riding a magic train going towards a secret hideout to watch a hero fight a villain! This was every filly’s fantasy!

“If you don’t mind my asking,” Twilight looked towards the fox. “Why didn’t you turn into an alicorn again?”

“We can’t assume the same form twice in a row,” Faust stated. “There are very few creatures on the planet, let alone in Equestria, that can handle the power of an alicorn, little one. Even on the spiritual level we are extremely powerful beings of magic. Normally if I wanted to assume my alicorn form again, I’d have had to wait another three or four millennia. If I had, I would've missed the births of my grandchildren.”

“My niece stayed an extended period of time in my world and it affected the balance of displacement causing creatures called Pokémon to start appearing in my world. Faust took advantage of the phenomenon to craft herself a suitable body based on one of them that could handle her spirit,” Ed added. “She was always a bit impatient when it came to her family.”

“Where do you think you get it from Celestia?” The magic fox asked as the train lurched forward.

Luna looked at Celestia in shock. “We are descended from Faust?”

Cadance, Twilight, and Swift Arrow’s jaw dropped. Hamza froze.

Celestia waved her hooves in denial. “No, no, no! I assure you we are normal alicorns! Faust, I think things may be different in your world!”

“Of course it is dear,” Faust let out a hard laugh. “I’m just messing with you. All ponies are descended from the Faust of your world in some manner, or that’s what your religions or history books will say. But I am the mother of Celestia and Luna in my world. Well… former biological mother anyways.”

Celestia coughed into her hoof with a blush. “I appreciate a good prank as much as the next pony but making such claims while having access to near omniscience is a bit much.”

Luna laughed heartily. “You are just upset that you have been bested so easily!”

“I’m not a god!” Faust said sternly. “Far from it. I had a husband once and gave birth to two of the sweetest fillies. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with my Luna after she was born due to the strain I put my body through. I am nowhere near omniscient!”

“Calm down,” Ed placed a hand on his family member's head. “I think you should get back to the others. Chryssy can’t handle them for more than an hour since they’ve started to fly.”

“I’m sorry for snapping,” Faust bowed, then popped away in a rainbow cloud of smoke.

“It was just a bit of harmless fun,” Celestia tried to say before Faust vanished. 

Hamza turned from looking out the window to Ed. “How long will it take for us to arrive, and will you allow us to know the location of Sasuke’s lair?”

“Should be there about now,” Ed said as a display popped up in front of them showing a floating island in the distance. “This is why you can never find him. A mobile base and training area in one.”

“Incredible,” Twilight said aloud. “What kind of spell could allow an entire castle to float in the sky?”

“I don’t even see any engines,” Cadance added. “So it’s not using any airship magic.”

“How high are we, Swift,” Hamza asked.

“Hard to say from here,” Swift Arrow responded. “But judging from the clouds, higher than I can fly.”

Luna’s face was impassive. Celestia’s expression was anxious. 

“What now?” The elder alicorn asked.

“How about a song?” Ed chuckled as a violin materialized in his hand. Everyone just stared, “I’m one hundred percent going to do this,” Ed nods before poofing away





With his disappearance everypony looked at each other until they heard music coming from outside.

***Laputa - Interior

I was having a pretty normal breakfast. Gilda and I were enjoying some bacon and eggs, Ember was destroying a plate of the rarest looking steak I had ever seen anyone eat, and Starlight was doing her best to ignore us while she drank her coffee when all of a sudden I heard music.

I looked up from my meal. “Why do I hear boss music?” Then I felt it. “Oh shit, Code Void!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and ran to spread the message. I teleported to the castle courtyard and looked up to see a train in midair. Even my mangekyou told me nothing about it other than it was covered in and/or made out of some sort of energy I didn’t recognize. “Welp. That’s not a great sign. Fuck it, might as well…” I activated the newest power in my arsenal, one that I had been hiding as carefully as I could, my rinnegan. I learned nothing.

Then there was a loud roar. Looked out and saw a silver dragon headed straight for us. The damn thing was fast cause it landed right outside in no time.

“Knock knock!” It tapped the exterior wall.

I looked at the dragon carefully. It obviously wasn’t native to this world so the bloodstone scepter was out. “Over here,” I called out to it. “And unless someone ordered an interdimensional pizza, you’re trespassing.”

“Oh you mean like the pizza that’s in your hands,” it chuckled as the train pulled up behind it. 

I looked down and I was holding an extra large stuffed crust pepperoni pizza.

“That’ll be 15.98,” the dragon held out a claw.

I frowned. “Fuck, a reality warper. Look, I’m not super liquid right now. You take I.O.U.’s?”

“No,” it’s gaze turned stern as the train opened to reveal my current worst nightmare. “And neither do they!” He motioned as his form shifted to a rather tall blonde in a red coat. “Edward Elric, the Crimson Sage,” he bowed.

Well, this was a fine clusterfuck. “Well, this is a fine clusterfuck,” I sighed. Celestia and Luna seemed content to just watch and I could see Cadance and Twilight behind them. There was a zebra I didn’t recognize and a pegasus that seemed oddly familiar. First tactic: stall for time. “And what brings, and I’m just assuming here, a post-game level displaced to my simple, normal, nothing to worry about flying castle? With my enemies in tow, no less.”

“No stalling,” he chuckled. “Asta did warn you to summon me before they did, did he not?” He glared. He clapped and all my forces were behind me. “Don’t toy with me kid cause I can easily destroy every trace of this place with one finger as well as any scraps of data you have about it so it will never exist again.”

“Oh put your ego away for a minute and have a sense of humor,” I grinned. “You think you’re the first person I’ve met that can end my existence on a conceptual level? If you wanted to destroy me you would’ve done it already. So that begs the question: what do you want? And what’s preventing you from just taking it?”

“I have no need for anything in this universe,” Ed smiled. “I’m here cause they summoned me while I was on my way to the kitchen for one of my wives,” he thumbed over his shoulder. “And like you said, I can easily end you along with this universe as I’ve done with so many before you but I don't like needless death and murder. So you guess my oh so young and garish you rogue? Why did I come all the way out here to your little Castle in the Sky? Ps, Studio Ghibli did it first.”

“Subtlety and originality are boring,” I ran through all of my possible options in my mind. “I would assume you’re here to kill me but I’m still alive. You’ve brought some of my enemies, two of which I’m married to, and forced my forces out into the open. Do you want to fight me? Seems kind of pointless for someone on your level.”

Celestia and Luna bristled at being called my wives. Cadance and Twilight took a step away from them and the zebra frowned. The pegasus’ eyes were wildly surveying everything. Hm… I’d need to move the castle if I made it out of this alive.

“Fighting is pointless you say?” Ed chuckled as he stroked his chin. “Not really. You’ve met my younger brother, he always enjoys a fight no matter how minor, usually,” he shrugged as Celestia scrunched her face slightly. “The concept of death is always a good teacher to those who don’t know it or for those who have never actually witnessed it after all.”

I looked at Cadance and Twilight. I then turned around and looked at my own crew. Celestia and Luna must have asked for some kind of exhibition match. They probably couldn’t afford an assassination and settled for him squeezing out all my secrets. That line about not knowing death definitely refers to either Cadance or Twilight, possibly both. He’s probably untouchable and also powerful enough to warp space-time on a whim. “Fine,” I stretched out my spine. There were a few pops and I focused on him with my rinnegan. “Exhibition match it is.”

He clapped his hands with a big smirk, “Splendid!” He raises his hands and everything starts to rumble and shake. “But of course, we’ll need as large of an audience as possible!” 

We were soon surrounded by stands filled with every creature of this planet from dragons to griffins and many more. 

“Oh and there will be no fighting amongst each other for any of you,” Ed pointed, particularly looking at Sunset, whose mangekou was activated and looking at Celestia.

I looked around and whistled. “You don’t do half measures do you?” I scanned as much of the crowd as I could but it seemed like anyone who wasn’t directly related to me was obscured from my vision. If he was out there, there was no way I could reveal my whole hand. I looked at Ed. Just how much would satisfy his contract? “So you have a bell or is Shao Kahn going to yell ‘Fight’?”

“I still need my strawberry break thank you,” His gaze narrowed as he started eating said fruit from a popcorn bucket. “And if you're thinking this was Celestia and Luna’s idea, don’t.” He threw the bucket over his shoulder. “This was all my idea. I’ve been watching this world for a long time now and have to say, I absolutely can not stand how you do things here!”





He yelled and pressure felled the area, “oops!” He snapped and everyone behind us was suddenly gone. “That could choke someone to death, hehe,”  he cracked his knuckles. “I can tell you this. If Asta knew your mentality and what you’ve done, he would split you in two before he left.”

“Are you judging me? We don’t all have the benefit of cosmic awareness and unlimited power,” I spat, feeling real anger for the first time in a while. “It’s easy to judge when you can just rewrite reality whenever you want. I worked with the tools I had.” I smirked. “What do you know about the struggle? I have a powerset hyper specialized for combat! I didn’t come into this world with even above average intelligence! Is it easy to solve problems with alchemy? With whatever other op bullshit every displaced I’ve met can pull out their ass? Get off your high horse. The dirt fucking sucks. Why don't you come down here and see for yourself?”

“You have no idea the wars I’ve fought in to keep my home safe,” Ed glared and his eyes shifted to a golden Sharrinnegan. “I lived for over fifteen millennia fighting to keep it all safe. I’ve fought other immortals to keep them from taking even an inch closer to power. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had my head cut off over it. I hear it constantly…. Heheh hehehe!” He grabbed his face. “The screams of the souls! Ehehehehehe! It never stops!“ he looked at me now, the face of utter madness staring at me. “Tell me Sasuke, do you ever sleep with the background noise of screaming living soul inside you constantly wanting to be set free?!”

I let out a joyless laugh. “Seems like you should already know the answer!” I formed a fully armored Susanoo’s top half and launched an arrow of amaterasu’s black fire.

A red flaming aura erupted over Ed before he knocked the arrow into the sky with his left hand. With a simple flex he dispersed the black flames on his hand causing new flesh to grow.

“DBS, God Ki,” He smirked.

"Proving my point!"

 The aura died down or more like changed form as Ed called forth his own Susanoo. “You and I are more alike than you know. Come to Equestria with no one, only the abilities of our characters. I did get a better deal with being a walking philosopher stone but the price for using that power is life itself. That’s why I want to beat the ever loving shit out of you kid. I understand using what you have on hand but that doesn’t give you the right to use random innocents in your experiments. Like that grave keeper and that mare you caused to explode!”

“Tell me, “ Ed glared as his Susanoo rose into the air as legs formed underneath the torso. “Can you fully manifest it yet, or are those eyes that Discord gave nothing more than imitations?”

All that Edward had done had already thrown the other Sharingan users for a loop with a total humanoid manifestation of his own Susanoo. What really got Celestia and Luna’s attention was the information he just let everyone know about how I regained my powers.

“That sounds about right,” Luna mumbled.

Since he was just going to keep putting my business out there, I didn’t feel a need to hide it any longer. I pulled as much out of me as I could and fully allowed my Susanoo to form. Flapping its wings, I joined Ed in the air. “Oh boo hoo,” I yelled. “One death is such a tragedy and a million is just a statistic. I don’t hear any complaints about all those griffins I killed!” Trying, likely unsuccessfully, to catch him by surprise, I tried using Tengai Shinsei to pull a few meteors down into the stadium. My Susanoo readied another amaterasu arrow and I forced my arms into a mechanical state to fire missiles.

“Death is acceptable if it means triumph but not at the loss of an innocent!” Ed raised his metal handover his head. “I hate humans with every fiber of my being for their arrogance and what I had to go through in my home world but that doesn’t give me the right to use their souls taps fuel for my power,” he raised his left hand, “Bankai!”

As soon as he said that, a decently sized katana with a ring hilt appeared in his hand with what looked like black wisps flowing from said ring. As soon as he had the sword in hand the Susanoo gained one of equal portions.

“Have you ever encountered shinigami or hollows?” Ed madly grinned as he swished his metal hand down causing a skull-like helmet with a singular pink eye in the center of the face to appear on the alchemist’s head.

He shot at me with no warning. I barely had time to dodge.

“What’s the matter boy?” Ed laughed in a multi toned voice. “Running away?!” He slashed behind him into the sky, sending a wave of red energy out that collided with my meteors. But there was no explosion, the simple stopped.

I fired a few arrows that he lazily dogged as I weaved as hard as I could through his attacks. Pieces of my Susanoo broke off and vanished with each near miss. “Ya know, maybe a fantasy German shouldn’t be calling people ‘boy’ so casually,” I yelled. I doubted he’d fall for this provocation any more than the others but I needed just a little more time. “And who says that mare was innocent? Maybe she was a serial-killing cannibal pedophile! What do you have to say about that?”

“I know,” He glared at me as pressure flooded the area. “I know because I’ve seen this world's past and seen its many futures!” He yelled out as he dispelled his powers and merely floated in the area. “Which is why I’m not going to kill you, because I reeeeaaaaaallllly want to but if this world has any hope of survival it’s with you alive and breathing in it.”

He looked up into the sky, “It’s time…” he said as it grew dark. 

I looked up and the moon had eclipsed the sun. I looked over at the sisters but they were just as shocked as everyone.

“I needed to borrow them for my next trick,” Ed shrugged. “It’s hard to manifest a fragment of my real self with a mere puppet,” he motioned to himself as he raised his hands.

“Without further ado,” he clapped his hands together and red electricity flowed out of his palms, “allow me to show you a portion of the real me!”

He separated his hand and the electricity arc out and formed a massive marble door.

“Tell me lad,” He looked at me. “How do you find land on a plant of only water?” He asked as the doors flung open and he stepped backwards inside till he was no longer visible.

It was at that moment, I remembered his base power must have been alchemy. It was Edward Elric, after all. “Well I‘m sure we’re all super jazzed to get a lesson from Sir Edgelord McProtagonist-kun but I’m pretty sure even if I say ‘that’s dumb’ you’re going to tell me anyway. So monologue away, oh superior one.” Did he get angry about anything ever? Goddamn, this was my best material! And another human of all people should understand enough of my references to be at least a little insulted. But just a few more seconds and maybe I could at least give him a small cut or something.

“See you still think I’m a human ,” His voice rang out from everywhere. “I told you, I hate humans. More like an utterly despise more former race with every fiber of my being and the universe would be all the much quieter a place without them in it!”

I knew Celestia and Luna both felt it the same as I did when the waves of negativity and power washed out of the gate, pure malice.

A massive golden sharingan with an ouroboros for a pupil opened in the darkness. One by one, four massive black hands with writhing faces, eyes, hands grabbed a hold of the gate and pulled a mass of those same eyes and amounts front the gate. The figure was now out in this world and started to extend to its full height, over even my Susanoo. Tha same skull from earlier looking right at me had a massive hole in the left side of this thing's chest with bone and metal plates scattered about its body. On it back we’re four wings, one set silver and red tipped feathers and the other bat-like and tattered.

“Smack!” He laughed as he backhanded me clear across the stadium he built.

“Piece of fucking shit,” I spat through blood coughs. “Your powers are bullshit.”  I could feel my shattered ribs and I was pretty sure my spine was broken too. “Fuck it, everybody dies.” I reached into the deepest part of my chakra and pulled it out. My body quickly healed itself as I felt every second of bone and muscle forcing themselves back into the right spot. The last remnants of my shattered Susano faded as the incompatible power I was now accessing forced my chakra to recede. I felt the wings grow in first, poking holes first through my skin and then through my shirt as the feathers followed. The much greater pain was when the horn grew in, cutting through the skin on my forehead. The tail didn’t hurt so much as it grew in which was a huge relief. As the not-quite-chakra and not-quite-magic flowed through my body, I could see the steam rise off my skin as the transformation cooked me from the inside. I was likely going to die if I kept this up. But pride, as they say, is a hell of a drug.

“Open,” I said. A hole in the stadium opened up and Tartarus’ eye looked through it. I pointed to the eldritch abomination Ed had… created? Summoned? Transformed into? “He said you touch your daughters.” I’m not sure Tartarus understood what I was saying or even my intent but I knew for a fact it did not like dimensional interlopers. It started exerting force, trying to push the thing into the void and out of the world.

“MmmmmhmhmhmjahahahahaAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” It laughed. “You really think that petiole thing has any grasp on me!” He grabbed on to the air itself and slammed it hard, closing the portal as if simply slamming a door.

“You severely underestimate me!” He roared, shaking the air itself. “How about I remove those alicorn powers from everyone of you little subordinates and place a curse that prevents them from gaining them back?!”

I figured something like that might happen but I was rapidly running out of life force and was really caring less and less about everything. “How about you eat a bag of dicks?” I flipped him off.

“Flick,” he said as he flicked me across the yard with his middle finger. “I’ve had my fun and you’re on death's door,” the creature snickered before shattering into ash to reveal the alchemist standing in its place. “It looks like your own transformation is still highly underdeveloped and not to mention a waste of space.”

I glared up at him from my crater. “Your powers of observation are truly astounding. Did you also know water is wet,” is what I wanted to say but it came out as more of a gurgle. I was pretty sure he got my meaning anyway. There was no way I was getting up. My imperfect alicorn transformation had cooked my body and forced it to revert back. I was pretty close to death but I had a sneaking suspicion the other displaced wouldn’t let me off that easily. Regardless, I had lost his fight.

“I’m going to remake that body of yours just enough to where you’ll be able to walk with a cane,” Ed raised his hand as red lighting crackled from it and shot out at me.

I cried out. It felt like an acid trip paired with a pcp freak out as my body was literally rebuilt down to the very atoms it was made of.

“That alicorn form is useless to you if it drains you of life essence,” Ed said as he continued on with my ‘operation’. “I’m not going to change it, though I'll be tweaking your biology to be more accepting of it as well as extending your time limit to double what it currently is.”

He stopped. “There, now you won’t die.”

I sat up, drenched with sweat. “How truly magnanimous of you,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Should I bow down to show my eternal gratitude?” My voice dripped with sarcasm. “Is that it? When are you leaving?” My body ached and wanted nothing more than to leave this void stadium and ease myself into a magic pool before readjusting every plan I had.

“Why?” He created a cigar and lit it. “Want to make a deal?”

I let out my first genuine laugh since I met him. “I don’t make deals with beings that I can’t force consequences on.” I smirked. “Helps keep my soul in my body. Surely you understand?”

“Believe what you will, I don't take souls as payment nor can I bend the fabric of realities,” he scowled. “I already have all of your research anyway. Oh and your undead aren’t undead anymore either. I had a clone cast the Rinne Rebirth along with a curse to bind the souls. If they die, they stay dead this time.”

He snapped and we were all back in the courtyard of my castle again.

“I want you to know that whenI say this I mean it with all of my heart: you fucking suck,” I stumbled to my feet and Smoke Puff ran over to help me walk. “Well, you still aren’t welcome here but it's not like I can make you leave. When you do find it in that oh so non human heart of yours to get your train off my garden, make sure to tell those alicorns that I owe them one for this.”

“No you don’t,” Ed shot in my face. “This was my choice to come here. They had no say in the matter and I will make good on what I said about removing every last ounce of that alicorn power from this little group here if so much as try to blame,” he reached up and pulled on something with his finger. 

Suddenly the whole area lit up with shining threads. “This is magic. I break even one of these little things and poof goes that power, never to come back. Got it!”

I looked at Celestia and Luna, unable to read their faces and looked back at Ed. I smiled maliciously. “For someone who hates the ‘darkness,  arrogance, and evil of humanity’ you sure have more than your fair share, don’t you? Fine, I’ll let this one go. Feel like vacating my property, yet?”

“Sure,” Ed smiled and he let go of the thread and everything went back to how it was. 

“One last thing though,” he slammed his hand on the ground and red electricity surged out and we all felt an explosion below. “I blew out one of your engines just enough to leave you puddling along like a snail. You won’t be going anywhere that fast for about a month. Chow!“

He waved and he alongside his group and train just vanished.

I turned to Sunset Shimmer. “And that is why we have a Code Void.”

***Canterlot Castle

As the natives exited the train, they had mixed feelings about what had just transpired. Out of all of them Cadance was the most changed. She no longer wanted to take part in battles of any kind and was more than content to help her aunts by planning her wedding.

“Aunty-” she started.

“It’s ok, I know,” Celestia said with a tired smile. “It’s not something you ever get used to.”

“Indeed,” Luna added.

“I never imagined it could be so..” Cadance shivered. “I’ll… go find Shiny.”

“I’m sorry about what you saw little one,” Ed called out. “But you must understand, we showed you that situation so you can understand why you shouldn’t go looking for it.”

Cadance nodded at him and left, drooping a bit as she walked. Hamza faced Swift Arrow.

“What have you learned?” he asked.

“I’ll need to do some research but I have a very good idea where the castle is,” Swift Arrow replied. The pegasus and zebra quickly left for the castle’s library.

Twilight looked at the remaining creatures in the room. She gulped. “I can help with that!” she bolted out of the room, leaving the diarchs and Ed alone.

“That was… enlightening,” Celestia struggled to find the right word.

“I think you mean horrifying,” Ed looked at her. “That creature you saw was not made overnight. It is the collective negativity of the souls that fuel my power coupled with my own negativity given form. Malice is the entity’s name.” He blew smoke, “I wasn’t lying when I said I despise my own kind and neither was Sasuke wrong when he said I’m not against using humanity’s darkness. You must understand, I love my home and the creatures there so I will do whatever I can to keep them and it safe but at the same time, I’m not a god or some entity that can bend reality on a whim. I do have my fair share of powers yes but there's only so much I can do. That’s why I try to help you folks where I can. I was hoping to try and get him to actually think about what victims he uses but I don't think it held any real concept for him.”

“I could have told you that was not going to work,” Luna sighed. “It is not a problem of understanding for Sasuke. He understands very well the harm he causes. He does not care.”

“He weighs life differently,” Celestia said to Luna. “He does not disregard it entirely.”

“There is no meaningful difference,” Luna stamped her hoof. She shook her head to clear her mind. “Thank you for your assistance, Edward Elric. Is there anything more you require?”

“Mmmmm…..” Ed thought as he put the cigar out in his palm. “Perhaps I shall let this fragment of my being travel this world for a time. There are many other resources here that I’ve not come across in others and would like to take stock of them and see others that have yet to be found. Leaving this piece of me here would also serve as a bit of a deterrent for our black haired friend. At least for a while. But ultimately I leave the choice to you two. You are the contract holders after all.”

The alicorns looked at each other. Having an ally directly opposed to Sasuke, especially one that was so much more powerful than him, was something worth considering. But that same appeal was the source of their hesitation. This was a being that eclipsed even Tartarus’ power. A being that had, in a duel, called forth an embodiment of malice powerful enough to open and close tears in reality.

“We mean no disrespect, Ed,” Celestia said carefully. “But we would prefer you not remain.”

“I already know,” Ed laughed. “You don’t need to walk on eggshells with me Celestia. I forgot to tell you both but was hoping you’d have figured it out. Whether you didn’t want to say or not. I would never hurt either of you because you’re both my darling wives and mothers of our children in my world. I was your teacher for a number of years and helped your father in my world raise you both. Neither of you have anything to fear from me, a bit late I know but I do sincerely mean that with the utmost love and respect.”

“We thank you for your help Edward Elric,” Luna said. “But Sasuke is our problem. We must deal with him ourselves.”

“We truly appreciate what you’ve done for-” Celestia frowned. “How many humans, or former humans, married my sister and I in other worlds?”

“I can’t give an exact number but I would go with many,” Ed chuckled. “Though most of them go with Luna, or start out with her.” Luna puffed out her chest and smirked. “Asta didn’t though. You tried to kidnap him in his world and the sleeping spell hit Fluttershy instead. That’s why he wasn’t all that receptive of you when he was here last but trust me when I say his relationship with you in his world is much better now. With the founding of his kingdom and marriages to Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy also later giving him a daughter things have greatly improved. He wanted to say he was sorry for what he did,” he looked at Celestia. “The trip here nearly caused Fluttershy to be raped in his absence. He still beats himself up over it.”

“I am now uncomfortable with you being here for entirely new reasons,” Celestia stared off into space. “I need to go think about life and infinity.” She absentmindedly walked out of the room.

“So,” Luna prodded. “I am empirically the best princess. Tis a strange win but a win nonetheless. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go rub this in her face. Celestia!” Luna ran out of the room leaving Ed alone.

“I’ll be keeping a very watchful eye on you two,” Ed laughed. “It’s a good thing I can show myself the door. Shit I still need to get the pickles and hot sauce for Amore!”

He panicked and immediately ran through a portal leaving a lone cricket to chirp in the empty room.

***Outside the Griffin Republic

The centaur sat at a campsite not far from the Equestrian Griffin border. With several wraiths at his side, he gazed into the campfire wrapped up in his own thoughts.

“Who could have imagined he had such power,” he mused to himself as he remembered the fight he had just witnessed. He looked at his palm as he strained to force his own chakra to the surface. “And the other one, I wonder…” He shook his head. “One at a time. Sasuke, we will have our rematch. But first,” He looked off into the distance.

“Lord Tirek,” a scarred minotaur interrupted his train of thought.

“What is it?”

“We’ve finished the first set of voidrock weapons,” the minotaur informed him.

The centaur grinned. “Excellent. How many casualties?”

“Twenty dead,” the minotaur reported. “Although, you were right. Had we not taken the plans first there would have been more.”

“You should never question my orders,” Tirek said and forced himself to assume a human form. His eyes glowed with the red light of the sharingan. “Now get back to work.”

The minotaur’s eyes took on the same pattern. “Yes, my lord,” he said in monotone and went back towards the sound of clanking metal.

Tirek was forced back into his centaur form and grunted from exhaustion. “Not yet, I need more.” He took a deep breath. “But patience is key. Isn’t that right, Sasuke?”