Shadow Equestria: The Poisoned Curse

Chapters

Chapter 1: Awkward Meetings for Everyone!
Chapter 2: Survey Says! Ponies!
Chapter 3: What to eat? So many choices...
Chapter 4: Lyra... Lots And Lots... Of Lyra
Chapter 5: Interruptions, Baths, And Tired Memories
Chapter 6: A Nice Day For The Park?
Chapter 6 part 2: Bringing 'Em Up To Speed
Chapter 7: The Big Reveal
Chapter 8: The Light in the Darkness
Chapter 9: A Game of Hide and Seek
Chapter 10: What's A Hospital?

Chapter 1: Awkward Meetings for Everyone!

You know when you have those kinds of falling dreams? The ones where you think that there's going to be a big SPLAT when you end the dream... Well, right now, that's not a dream for me.

I'm actually falling through some sort of void-darkness and I have no idea how this happened, the last thing I remember is seeing the purple fog and then a bright light. I have no idea how long I've been falling, I have no idea how fast I am going, the one thing I do know is that I have a gut feeling that the fated SPLAT will be coming soon.

"Speak of the devil and he shall come" I think to myself as my eyes finally register color, all I see is a giant mess of green before I hit the ground... Hard... Hard enough to knock me back into darkness.

Lyra... ten minutes ago

I can't believe it, I can't even walk through ponyville now without being laughed at... at least they don't go and say something stupid like "humans never existed..." because the archeologists have already uncovered ruins in the mountains near Gryphonia that there was an ancient race of humans that once lived there.

At least I can take a walk through the everfree without being bothered, everypony else is so scared of the place that they don't come anywhere near here... I don't see what's so scary about the place... just because they can't control it doesn't make it evil. at least I can find a place to sit and play my Lyre in peace.

Lyra... Now

"ooohhh..." I groan loudly as I recover from the impact, I feel a heavy amount of weight on me and at first I think that a log fell on me or something. As I start to recover my senses I find out that there's actually a creature on top of me... I amazingly lift the hulk off of me with my sheer strength and boastfully declare to the beast that I am far stronger and that it should leave before I get angry... or at least... that's what I'm going to tell my friends... sadly enough, I scrambled away in a panic thinking that I was going to die there.

After bravely scrambling over to the nearest tree to hide behind I finally steady my breathing as I look around the tree at the creature that fell on top of me. Needless to say I was shocked, actually, I was more than shocked... I was convinced that I had the most amazing find ever! The thing I looked at didn't look like any creature recorded in the everfree yet.

I thought to myself about how I could possibly use the discovery of this strange creature to help Bon-Bon out with the house. So, purely out of the interest of discovery science and not a single ounce of fearful curiosity, I crept over to the creature. It hadn't moved from where it had fallen so I assumed that it was unconscious, I took a closer look and noticed that it was wearing some sort of fabric all over it's body... well, it was either that or it had REALLY short fur... Although it had a long mane that reached down to it's shoulders, it's mane was black and each strand had a kind of silver color at its tip. I was really hoping that its mane wasn't poisonous or something like that. I began a curious look over its body and noticed that it was definitely wearing clothes, so I assumed that maybe whatever it was... it was actually an inteligent being.

That was when I noticed the cuts, there were several that had torn through the clothes and revealed bare skin and bleeding wounds. Fortunately, most of them weren't bleeding heavily and a few even looked like they had already stopped bleeding. The thing that confused me the most was its face,it had a shape similar to mine... sorta... but its face was completely white with what looked like paint on it, its face felt like it was made of some sort of clay or stone so I guessed that the creature had a really strange face. What was really curious about it was that it looked like its eyes were slanted shut and it had no mouth... it also had a marking on it's forehead. As I went to touch the mark I recoiled because the creature started to wake up.

Hikaru

"Oh my head..." I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted to the light, oddly enough everything seemed brighter than usual... it must be noon. It took a lot of effort to finally get up in a sitting position and I definitely grunted in pain somewhere on the journey up. I placed my left hand against my head to try and get rid of the headache that now accompanied me sitting up.

In order to get an idea of where I was I began to look around for something I could climb on to get a good view of where I was, Fortunately I was in a forest so I could easily climb one of the trees to get a good view. As I turned to my right I saw something I never thought I would in my lifetime... A green horse... Not just a green horse though, a green horse with a horn on it. When I noticed the horn I also noticed something else, it was examining ME. horses normally, in my experience, look at you then decide whether to run or not, but this thing was studying me. I failed the first rule of all of my missions... Never be seen.

I saw this thing's expression change to something akin of a fight or flight expression and I prayed it was flight because it was too close for me to use any of my techniques effectively. The last thing I was expecting though... actually I can't even say it was the last thing because I WASN'T expecting this at all... The creature made some sort of high-pitched squeal and lunged at my midsection with a look of joy on its face. Since it took me off guard I can't really say that I could blame the creature for being able to knock the wind out of me but the vice-like grip it held me in was surprisingly strong. After several seconds it finally let go and began to prance around like a horse would when they were happy. I think from the sound of its voice that it was female, she kept saying something about "Greatest discovery ever..." and "gonna be able to help with my house..." Both of which made me think that this was a very bad idea, I slowly began to reach for my kunai pouch so as not to draw it's attention.

"... you speak?" The partial question caught me a bit off guard, I tipped my head to the side, my hand's progress to my weapon had been halted by my curiosity. She made a loud sigh before asking her question again.

"Can you speak? Like... Can you understand me?" I nodded and this seemed to please her, she sat down in front of me and clacked both of her front hooves together in a way that I never thought horses could move their appendages.

"That's so great, What are you?" A look of realization crossed her face as she finished her question so she rephrased it, "Are you a human?" I was incredibly happy I had my keaton mask on because of the bewildered look I had on probably would have made her laugh at me, so I settled on a simple answer.

"Yes I am." I don't know what I was expecting her reaction to be, but nearly leaping several feet into the air from a sitting position with no visible means of exerted effort was definitely on the Did-Not-Expect list. When she finally reached the ground again it seemed that she could tell from my body language that I was a little uncomfortable with what was going on, which was certainly understandable since I was in a place that I had no information on. That was also when she decided to ask me another question.

"So, what's your name?" It took me several seconds before I decided to respond, I didn't see any immediate danger from using my real name... I also knew that I should've stabbed myself for speaking without really thinking.

"My name is Hikaru Hyuuga... what about you?" She clacked her hooves together again several times before she gave me her answer.

"My name is Lyra Heartstrings." She had a giddy smile on her face that was replaced with a look of confusion when she asked her next question, "How can you talk without a mouth?" She winced a little as I did a facepalm, it honestly stung my hand a little when I slapped my mask but I didn't let her know that.

"I do have a mouth..." I deadpanned, "I'm just wearing a mask..." She gave a gasp of recognition before continuing her questioning.

"Oh yeah... Like a Nightmare Night celebration? but... I've never heard of anypony who would wear a Nightmare Night mask at any other time of the year." I held up a hand to silence her.

"It's a part of what I do, unfortunately I have no idea where I am or why... The main reason I'm not panicking right now is because creatures similar to you are not unfamiliar to where I'm from so, any information you can give me would be really helpful." She nodded a few times before she began to give me a few details about the nearby area, about how we were in a place called the Everfree forest... a place where plants grew naturally and the animals were untamed by ponies, I interjected at that point and told her that it wasn't so inherently evil just for those reasons... which she then explained was the reason why she had been here in the first place. Once all the relative information was cleared up I finally asked her about the local population, it came as no surprise to me that she said that most of the population were ponies or other creatures from my land's myths. I actually had laughed when I heard that the locals might be scared of seeing me, when she asked me what was so funny I told her that it was my job not to be seen and that I could easily get through her town without being noticed.

"Hold completely still so I can get a good look at you, if this works I will be able to get through town without causing problems." She was strangely compliant as I walked around her, I felt kinda awkward as I circled around her backside... I strangely felt like I was looking at something I shouldn't have, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind as I continued my inspection. When I finally got around to her front again I quickly used my transformation jutsu to make myself look like her. I had to stifle a chuckle when the smoke cleared because this Lyra creature was looking at me like I had just blown her mind.

"...I...how...But... You..." she sputtered, it took a lot of my willpower to keep from laughing.

"I know this may be strange..." I began, fortunately MY voice coming from HER mouth snapped her back to reality, "...but I'm just using an illusion, actually... guessing from your reaction I should probably do something a bit more subtle." After changing back she raised a hoof to stop me and ask a question.

"Can you take off your mask? I would actually like to see what you look like..." She bent one of her hooves behind the other as she continued, "... you sound like you're a really nice person and I want to see the real face of a human... it's kinda... been one of my lifelong goals... to see a real human... not just a depiction of one..."

Once again, against my better judgement, I decided to ponder the thought. This pony hadn't shown any sort of hostility toward me... and I was being given information crucial to learning more about this world. I slowly lifted my hands to my mask, the look of anticipation on Lyra's face made me think of a child opening their birthday present. Her look changed to one of concern as I took off my mask, her next sentence stung a little but I knew I had to let it go because she didn't know about my lineage.

"Oh no... I had no idea you were blind..." She quickly hugged me as if she thought I needed some sort of pity party.

"Miss Heartstrings, I'm not blind... It's just how my eyes look. I can see just as well as you can." Then I thought about it for a few seconds as she turned her gaze up to me with confusion. It was at that very moment that a plan formed in my head.

"Miss Heartstrings... I'm going to make myself look like a pet from your country... I'm also going to use the way my eyes naturally look to help me keep an eye on the town without any of your kind growing suspicious of me." The look of curiosity helped me form the next part of my plan, "I will need you to make the others of your kind think that you have a new pet that you want to take care of but you are concerned about my condition." she nodded in understanding so I proceeded to take a few steps back and used my transformation jutsu to turn into a black and white cat.

Now, while I was planning to simply ride on her back into town with all the locals giving those little 'aww's that everyone does when they see a cute cat, I did not plan on her squealing again and pulling off a convincing act of thinking I was just another adorable cat. So, without any further delay, we set off into town to let me learn more about the local population.

Chapter 2: Survey Says! Ponies!

The trip into town was shorter than I thought it would be, It was a very pretty stroll though, Lyra tried as hard as she could to keep from jostling me around too much. Overall the trip to Ponyville was boring... and in the interest of saving time, I'll cut it short. We walked through town and got the typical 'ooh's and 'aahhh's of people (or ponies in this case) admiring a strikingly adorable cat like me.

Yes... I get just as much of a right to be as narcisistic as I want to be... Deal with it. Besides, it gave me a chance to examine as many of the populace I could if I ever wanted to disguise myself as one of them.

The only time we were stopped was when a strange pink pony with a mane that reminded me of cotton candy stopped us to gawk at me, she shouted something about needing to throw a party for the newest member of the town and was gone in a strange pink blur.

Once we finally got to Lyra's house we made sure that noone, Lyra had been a little more than indignant about saying "anyPONY" I really couldn't understand why, was going to be interupting us. Her house was almost completely similar to every other house on the street, part of the wall was cobblestone that only went up about two feet, the rest of the wall was wood and the roof was made out of thatching that I knew was just like the homes of peasants back home. I released my technique a bit early so I could streach and work out as I listened to her questions and asked some of my own... What? I think best when working out.

"So..." She began, "...What kind of cool adventures do humans have?" She was incredibly excited about knowing about my world, so I gave her a basic rundown of my adventures.

"Well... Humans like me go out into the world under the cloak of night to make sure other people of disinterest..." I chose my next words carefully, sweat began to bead up on my face as I was halfway through a set of push-ups, "... go away from the public eye so they can stop being a bother to the people that matter." She gave me a ponderous look before she continued her line of questioning.

"Have you ever been in a war?" This is when I decided to stop her.

"How about we take turns asking questions, that way I can learn more about this place... and we both are happy." I asked as I got out of my workout stance, I made a mental note not to tell her about the village... "Cuz that would not be a good idea... I am technically only telling her information that any villager would be able to find out." I rationalized.

"Ok fine, but my question is going to be the same... ask away?" She replied, waving a hoof of dismissal.

"Alright..." I had to take a second to find the most important question, then the question finally decided to show itself, "How does your race view my race?"

She had a very nervous look on her face as she dragged one of her hooves across the floor the way a child would drag their foot when an adult knew they were lying, "Well... That one's kinda hard to explain... do you want a drink while I explain, this answer's kinda lengthy..." I responded to her question with a simple nod. "I hope you like tea..." she called, "...It's about all I have until next week..." she muttered. She beckoned for me to follow her out into the kitchen where she proceeded to make the tea. She had just set the pot on the stove when she began her answer.

"Most ponies think that I'm a little bit of a crazy pony when they hear my opinion about how humans could still exist somewhere... They used to say that I was purely crazy just for believing in humans, like they had been a myth or something... A few years ago, a mining team dug up ruins in the mountains that were bordering Equestria to Gryphonia, when news got released to the press ponies stopped thinking I was crazy for thinking humans exist... They started thinking I was crazy for dreaming to meet one." The teapot began to boil and I watched as she levitated two cups out of the cupboards and poured the water into the cups. She levitated a pouch of tea over to me and watched with gleeful interest as I used my incredibly dextrous hands to open the packet and place it in the water. When she was finished watching me she continued.

"For the most part... Ponies are really scared of things that are different than what they're used to..." I couldn't help but point out to her that humans actually acted the same way when it came to similar matters. As we continued to talk I couldn't help but notice that she was not looking but STARING at my eyes, as if they entranced her or something... I mean come on... my eyes are not THAT hypnotic... Are they?

When my excellent hearing picked up the sound of the doorknob turning I quicky used my transformation jutsu to turn back into the cat, just in time as our "guest" called out to Lyra.

"Lyra! I'm home! I hope that you didn't pick up anything while you were at the Everfree!"

"By the sage of six paths! How did this other female that I have yet to see know what Lyra had done?!" I learned at a later time that this female knew Lyra incredibly well, in fact, this other female knew Lyra so well that many other ponies would assume that they were mates.

A cream-colored mare walked into the kitchen and I would have to say this about our first meeting, She had one of the BEST shogi faces that I have ever seen... And I have the Byakugan... So that's saying something. Her mane reminded me of the cotton candy I used to buy at the carnival, except that the blue was a much darker shade. I noticed that she had a mark on her rump that looked like three little candies, I also got that same uneasy feeling of staring at something I shouldn't until I directed my attention back to her face ever so subtly.

"LYRA! What have I told you about bringing animals from the everfree into our home!" The cream colored mare shouted, I was not startled in the least by the volume of this mare's voice and I definitely did not nearly lose my balance and fall off the table.

"But Bon-Bon, He was lost and scared and alone! He was just so cute! I had to, and besides... I found him just outside of town... not in the Everfree." Even though I knew I had to keep up the blind-cat act I was surprised in my mental sanctuary. This pony knew very little about the actual me, but she was going along completely with the plan we had set up... In hindsight I know that I shouldn't have been surprised because on most of my missions I would kill even my allies if they risked blowing the mission.

Bon-Bon kept a wary eye on me as she thought over Lyra's statement, I could certainly understand that she was trying to form a counterargument about keeping me at the house. Fortunately for Lyra and I she cracked under Lyra's argument and agreed to let lyra keep me, But only on one condition, Lyra had to go to Fluttershy's cottage so that she could learn about not only keeping a cat in the house but a blind cat. Without any further need for encouragement she picked me up with her levitation magic, which I will say was quite a sickening feeling... getting moved into the air tends to make one's stomach cling to their throat for 'moral support', and we made our way to Fluttershy's cottage.

We only got two and a half steps out the door before Lyra turned back to her friend and asked one final question, "Oh! Bon-Bon, I almost forgot! How was the audition for that acting group?" Bon-Bon gave her friend a small smile as she replied.

"I should be getting the response letter in the mail today, Ditsy's going to be coming by later... I was told by their youngest member, a strange pony that went by the nickname Lulz, that I had a really good chance to get into their band."

With a broad smile Lyra turned and galloped off to Fluttershy's house.

Chapter 3: What to eat? So many choices...

I could understand that this pony was probably a very gentle pony... That idea quickly flew out the window when she answered the door, she quickly scooped me up and brought me inside, she nearly shut the door in Lyra's face... which honestly did give me something to laugh at. Anyway, getting back to the topic, we are all currently sitting in Fluttershy's living room with Lyra and I acting like I am really a blind cat... I had to keep any emotions from clouding my judgement as I finally was able to act like I was able to tell where the butter-colored pegasus was sitting, the look she had on her face as Lyra told her that she had found this adorable ball of fluff in the Everfree made me think that it would be a much better idea to keep my eyes off of her lest I break my disguise and confess my lies... And that would really ruin the plan.

"Oh you poor little kitty... you must be starving, I wouldn't think that Lyra had any sort of food you could eat... I'll be right back." I will have to say, despite the fact that she has hooves instead of hands... she has the gentlest touch I would've thought possible. I even found myself false-purring at her touch... I didn't even know I could do that. She flew out to the kitchen where we began to hear the sounds of actual cooking.

Lyra tried to ask the pegasus a few questions but the sounds of cooking and the pegasus' desire to care for me must've blocked the questions, Lyra wasn't getting answers so she settled on petting my side. Once again, it felt really nice, I was surprised to notice that these ponies' hooves were so soft when touching other creatures. As Lyra continued to pet me I had to will myself awake otherwise I would fall asleep and stop my technique, my attention fortunately was snapped back to reality as Fluttershy flew back into the living room with a bowl of cooked fish, I took a few sniffs to make sure my eyes weren't decieving me and went over to her. She said something about how even blind animals can let their noses guide them to food but I didn't care as I began to eat, the fish tasted amazing, I really wanted to find a way to let her know I liked the fish and the perfect opportunity presented itself after I finished the small amount she brought out. I acted like I was sniffing her out after she laid down on her couch, I leapt up next to her and acted like a cat normally would when they enjoyed what they had. She ended up draping a wing over me and I can without a doubt say that today had so far been the most comfortable undercover mission that I had ever done.

I listened intently as Lyra began to ask Fluttershy questions.

"So, what kind of stuff do cats eat?" She began. I noticed Fluttershy was a little hesitant about the answer she was about to give, so I naturally listened even closer.

"Well, cats usually eat small animals like mice, rats, birds, squirrels and animals that many cooks consider to be vermin." She certainly looked like it was a touchy subject... at least in my opinion she looked that way, "...But since I take care of all kinds of animals I make sure that all cats under my care..." She tossed a glance at me in the middle of her sentence.

"Don't worry Miss Shy, I wouldn't dream of eating a raw pest... I'd cook it first." What? I've had to eat far worse on missions that would keep me away from the village for long. I shudder at the bland sawdust-esque taste of those damn soldier pills.

"...To eat fish instead of the other animals that have made their home here." Fluttershy finished her sentence with a fluff of her wings. I got up and made my way over to Lyra so that I could leave with her when she finally decided to leave. There is a plus side to spying as a cat... I found out I don't have to give up meat completely here!

"Since I think that it's now standard curriculum in schools to teach about how to have a balanced diet... You do know that eggs are a good source of protein... right?" Every time she paused I could see her shrink back a little as if she was afraid of offending the mint-green unicorn.

"Yeah, I knew that... Why?" Lyra urged the yellow mare to go on.

"Well... Cats are animals that need... Protein in their diets... so you could... you could pobably find... somepony in the market who sells cat food that helps your cat keep a balanced diet..." I had to keep myself from d'aww-ing as she nervously scratched one of her forehooves over the other, she was just so adorable... Why couldn't there be creatures like this back home!? So many wars could've been avoided if you offered one of these adorable creatures as a peace offering, No one could resist their charm well... even I barely resisted and I was trained to be a merciless assassin.

...What happened to me anyway? How did I end up getting here... I know I didn't die... I could see the fog around my village... but... what else happened... it almost hurts to think about it, so I'll just concentrate on the obviously important conversation that I just "happened" to miss.

"His name is Hikaru!" Lyra told Fluttershy happily, that was really what got my attention... and I thought I was going to have to start slitting throats around here... that is, if I hadn't hesitated long enough for Fluttershy to start talking again.

"Oh, I heard that you really liked those movies about humans... is that where you got inspiration for the name?" When we both noticed the look on Lyra's face Fluttershy quickly tried to explain her question, "I-I didn't mean to sound rude... I just wanted to know... because... I..." If it hadn't been for my overwhelmingly amazing ninja-hearing, that I'm incredibly proud of by the way, I would've never heard the end of her sentence, "...also like humans..." I had the incredibly uneasy feeling that she was like someone else in my family. What was it about her that was so familiar? I just had to put it on the growing list of 'things to think about when I no longer need a disguise'. Lyra sat there with a look of confusion on her face since she hadn't heard what the pegasus had said, fortunately enough for the cricket about ten feet from my right she finally broke the silence when she decided to answer Fluttershy's question.

"I...uh... Those movies gave me inspiration... but I don't now if there's a character in the movies that has that name..."

DAMN IT CRICKET! I SAID SHUT UP! BY TRYING TO BREAK THE AWKWARD SILENCE YOU ONLY MAKE IT MORE AWKWARD!

Lyra finally decided to leave the house before a chorus of crickets could join that first one, I was relieved when she got up because I quickly proceeded to leap onto her back. With another awkward goodbye we set off for Lyra's house.

I spoke up after I made sure there were no possible eaves-droppers with my byakugan, I will have to admit, being able to see yourself in the third-person view tends to be a little jarring at first.

"I never expected the day to be this tiring... I've been using up my chakra since I met you just to keep this disguise up... I'll be happy once I can get some sleep." She gave me a smile and a nod as I noticed her pick up her pace.

"I can't wait to go to bed too." She replied as we were about a street from her house.

Chapter 4: Lyra... Lots And Lots... Of Lyra

I want to Let you all know right now, that I've practiced the art of the written ninja... this is my first attempt, so please... enjoy!

Once Lyra and I were in her house I leapt off her back but didn't end my jutsu in case that Bon-Bon pony was here.

I watched as she levitated a note, I'm still curious as to how they can manipulate their chakra so freely... then again I haven't been concentrating since I got here so I wouldn't be able to see what their chakra coils look like, off of the icebox.

"Lyra, I got the part and will be out of town for a few months... I hope that Fluttershy was able to help you figure out how to take care of your new cat. Make sure you don't blow up the house or something while I'm gone. I have the rent paid up for the next two months."

When Lyra was finished reading I eagerly spoke up, "Well, at least that means that she won't catch you having your very own human in the house... and noone else-"

"NoPONY else..." Lyra interrupted. I gave an annoyed huff to her before I continued my sentence.

"No ONE else... will find out I'm here." She gave me a playfully annoyed look before heading out to the kitchen.

"Well... Since Bon-Bon and I don't eat any sort of meat you're going to have to deal with a vegetarian diet until I can go and get some fish from the local market." I couldn't quite place her tone but I believed that she was still trying to use the playfully annoyed one, it doesn't mean I found it any less annoying.

Lyra

I could hear Hikaru seat himself on the couch, I could also hear him mumbling a bunch of stuff to himself that I would've loved to call him out on but I chose the better of two options and just began making a couple salads.

Now, I know what you're thinking... "Salad?! Why just a light salad? why not add stuff like cheese or dressing to it? why only go with the lunch version?" well... to those of you who actually thought that... Because I FELT LIKE IT and if you don't like it then you can shut up!

...

I almost dropped my lettuce on the floor thanks to the ranting to an invisible audience! Are you happy? Are you happy with how that feels?

So... Where was I before I went off on that rant? Oh yes! the salads! Anyway, I didn't feel too hungry and Hikaru had told me that he had only wanted to go to sleep so I assumed he didn't want a big dinner either. I chopped up all the veggies and placed them in a large bowl in case he did feel like having more than one serving, if there's still leftovers... they stay fine in the fridge for a while.

With the bowl hovering in the air I trotted out to the living room, of course... with a fork in tow for Hikaru since I didn't see him use any sort of levitation magic. I sat myself down next to him and waited for him to begin speaking, mostly because I didn't know what to say... I mean, c'mon, I'm not gonna be stupid enough to say the first thing that popped in my head now that the day is done and he and I finally are alone in my house without the worry of anypony watching us or discovering that Hikaru is in my home.

"Thanks for-" I cut my sentence in half as Hikaru and I managed to speak in perfect unison, I turned away immediately as I felt my cheeks flush with embarassment. only one thought now kept itself in my head.

"...I just embarassed myself in front of, quite possibly, the ONLY human alive in equestria... this couldn't possibly get any worse..." And just then... as if any sort of divine being that ruled over the day or night had heard my silent deathwish... I could feel his hand on my hoof. My attention snapped back to him so fast that I actually forgot to close my mouth.

I noticed something different about him as my gaze locked with his, those mysterious eyes... they were like giant pools of smoke and fog that could send the unwary into an eternal maze, his cheeks were almost as flushed as mine as he tried to speak.

"I... I want to thank you..." he began.

I cocked my head to the side, wondering what he was talking about, "Why? What did I do?"

He removed his hand and began scratching the back of his head, I wished that he hadn't done that... His soft touch was so nice. "Well... You just happened to meet me in a forest when I got teleported from my home to I-don't-really-know-where and you accepted me into your life as if I was just an old friend... Not many people are like that where I come from."

His explanation sent more blood rushing to my face, I had no idea why... Estrus was still a few weeks away... But... There was something about him that was so... So nice. He was thanking me and all I could do was sit there and start looking like the process of a ripening tomato. When he finally took notice of my flushed cheeks his look changed from 'hapilly-reserved' to 'concerned', I flinched a little as he quickly reached for my forehead.

"You don't seem to be running a temperature... Are you ok? You look like you may need a doctor." I couldn't help myself, I nuzzled into his hand like a lovestruck filly... His hand felt so nice, and I just wanted to sit there and curl up next to him for the rest of the day. When I finally realized what I had done I snapped my eyes open and quickly leapt off the couch.

"Y-yes, I'm fine... Today's just been... A little warmer than usual... I'mgoingtogetaglassofwaterdoyouwantonetoo?" If he noticed how nervous I looked he didn't call me out on it.

"...Ok... I'd love a glass of water..." I saw the look of confused suspicion in his eyes, he knew that there was some alterior motive to me going to get us water... I just didn't know what it was yet.

When I came back with the water he eyed the glass with suspicion before he picked it up and began drinking, I couldn't stop looking at his hands... they way they bent, the way they were able to pick up objects the way my hooves could... It was like a dream come true, There was a human in my house... A REAL LIVE HUMAN! Those archeolo-whatever ponies would kill each other over a chance like this. Any unicorn that was interested in learning about other species would be obsessed with something like him... Any... Unicorn... Ob...Sessed...

At that moment it took about two seconds for my head to connect the dots, which was actually faster than usual... good job brain!

"You're welcome"

Hiruko jumped at my sudden outburst, "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"

He tilted his head in confusion, apparently my shout was strong enough to startle him off the couch. "Who?" He asked.

I gave out a small sigh to release some of the energy my brain was now giving me, "Twilight Sparkle, the local librarian and personal protoge of Princess Celestia! She's how we are going to help you learn about this place. She knows, like, EVERYTHING!" I was not surprised as he looked at me with sarcastic disbelief, then again, my posture where I was sitting like a human but was so excited that I had raised my forehooves in the air was usually considered quite funny. "I'm serious! Yeah... She can be a bore and a stiff sometimes... But she's got her heart in the right place. She's always willing to help a friend, and to her... Almost... everypony in Ponyville is her friend... at least through association... Except for that pony who is obsessed with jelly, he just seems to creep her out."

Now that I was done with my rant Hiruko decided to pick himself up off the floor, "Well..." He began, "...Not that THAT wasn't interesting... But I would LOVE to know where I'm going to be sleeping." I grinned sheepishly as I tried to think of where I could stash him so that no jealous ponies could possibly come and steal him away from me in the middle of the night. After a few minutes of thinking an idea popped into my head.

"You can't use the couch, my curtains are too... See-through... You can't use Bon-Bon's room because she expressly forbid me from letting anything I brought back from the everfree in her room, so the only other choice is that you sleep in my room." As I smiled up at him I could sense the gears turning in his head... accusing me... thinking... thinking dirtily, That was when he startled me.

"Yeah... I guess you're right." He replied in a very nonchalant tone. I took a fearful step back, unsure of what this meant. I never had a stallion ask me out because everypony thought I was in a relationship with Bon-Bon, I still have no idea who started that rumor... I bet it was that conniving mare Rarity, and here I was... With a creature that everypony had used scientific knowledge to prove was extinct... And he was agreeing to sleep in my room.

I gave him a stunned nod and proceeded to show him to my room, which was conveniently the first one on the right at the top of the stairs. I could see him scrutinizing everything in my room once he entered, he had thrown a curious glance over to my stack of comics but that wasn't what I was worried about... I was more worried about him trying to think of a reason to check under my bed, I really didn't want him looking there. He shrugged after taking a skimming look at the first comic on the stack and proceeded to sit on the bed, which I immediately realized was going to be at least a meter too short for him. He laid back and streached a little, I could see his well-toned muscles shift under the shirt he was wearing. He took off his vest and placed it next to the bed, he did the same for his shoes and gloves, I watched every minute... It was like... I don't even know what it was like... But every nerve in my brain told me to have estrus come early, I don't think that can happen... but my mind would've loved it, it took all of the self-control I had to watch him.

With nothing on that I could see except for his undershirt, pants and socks... I silently wondered why he wore lengerie but thought it would be better not to ask... He moved himself into a comfortable position... at least... until his eyes drifted toward me. It was at exactly that moment that my self control broke.

"Lyra... are you-" His question was cut short as I leapt onto him and latched my forehooves around his stomach. I didn't know how he was feeling at the time... And my mind didn't particularly care as it told my face to nuzzle against his abdomen. I could feel the muscles in his chest move as his hand reached for my mane. Once again, as he stroked my mane, I could only think that I had died and gone to heaven. I fell asleep as Hikaru laid back down on the bed once more.

Chapter 5: Interruptions, Baths, And Tired Memories

Lyra

Two things woke me up this morning... And no, it wasn't me actually laying in my bed with a human... First was a rather loud knock at my front door and the second was actually how Hikaru stank of sweat, I also could've sworn I smelled blood... which I remembered why as soon as I looked at his vest that still had HIS blood on it.

"I swear to Celestia that you are taking a bath today... I don't care what the customs are in your country Hiruko... But you WILL be taking a bath. I thought with a small irritated growl as I got out of bed to answer the door.

"If whoever is at my door doesn't stop pounding on it soon I'm gonna have to get crazy!" I was half-stomping through the house by the time I reached the door. Now, I probably shouldn't have done what I did, I threw the door open with a scowl on my face to meet the pony who so rudely interrupted my beautiful fantasy dreams that concerned the relationship between Hiruko and I... At least, I had the scowl on my face until I saw who was at the door, my look changed immediately to surprise when I saw that pompous, prissy, self-gratifying ass of a mare at my door.

Needless to say, the entire experience was quite awkward.

"Hi..."

"... Hi..."

"...So, Rarity, What brings you here so early?"

"Oh, Nothing much really... And it's not really early, it's about eleven in the morning... I had stopped by Fluttershy's house this morning and she told me about how you have a new pet, so I was thinking that you and I could bring our pets to the park and let them play together while we caught up... I mean... I never really apologized about the way I acted when I heard you moved from Canterlot."

"It's fine... and sure, I'd love to bring Hikaru to the park... But I really need to give him a bath so you'll have to give me some time..." I thought for a few moments before I finally had an idea. "How about you meet me at Sugar Cube Corner in an hour? That way I can clean Hikaru and make sure he's okay with going outside."

"Ok... But... Oh it just hurts to keep the knowledge locked away..." I tilted my head in confusion as she let out the most dramatic sigh I had seen to date, "... Fluttershy told me that Hikaru is blind... It's just so much of a pity that he can't see how beautiful the world is!"

"I really bet that after he meets you he's going to actually wish he was..." I couldn't help but stifle a chuckle as I thought. "Well... As you can tell I'm going to be busy, so... Goodbye." She recovered as quickly as I knew she would and gave the biggest flourish of her prench accent as she said goodbye, I didn't even know that you could drag out the word goodbye for that long... even with that accent.

I unceremoniously closed the door and went to get Hikaru, I saw him sitting up and putting on the same clothes THAT WERE STILL COVERED IN HIS BLOOD I MIGHT ADD! so I did the only logical thing a mare in my position would do when they were faced with an idea so disgusting as putting dirty clothes back on... I shouted at him. "OH NO! You are NOT gonna do that! You are going to march right to the bathroom and clean yourself up while I throw that bloodstained mess out! ... Or set it on fire, whichever keeps bloody clothes out of my house."

"you will do no such thing to my ONLY set of clothes... Because, if you haven't noticed already, there's a reason why I wear them... I wear clothes because where I come from, walking around naked is an offensive way to show your openness to sexuality." For some unexplained reason I began to feel much more self-conscious now that I found out why he wore clothes... But that didn't matter, what did matter was getting him clean.

"Well that doesn't matter right now, what I want you to do is get cleaned up!"

"Unless you know someone around here that is proficient in making human clothes... I have to get this set cleaned. Unfortunately, my vest can't be cleaned right now... at least... until I move its contents to an inventory scroll, so if you would be so kind as to step out of the room for a minute, I shall make the transfer then you can take me to where your bathroom is so that I may clean myself and my clothes." I obliged, without another word I left the room and waited for him to call out to me.

Exactly three point two seconds after I heard an odd *Poof* sound he called out to me, he opened the door and followed me to the bathroom. After a little chit-chat and an embarrassed flush from him after I wondered why he would have a problem with me washing up with him I finally decided to take my shower this afternoon and went off to my room to get ready.

"Jeez... Humans seemed so much cooler in the movies... With their chiseled features... And amazing muscles... and..." I cut myself off mid-thought as my brush caught on a particularly annoying tangle, "OH YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER FOR THIS! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU PLAGUE ME NO LONGER!"

Hikaru

I settle in the tub and let the warm water soothe my aching body. "Wow, not even the best noble has a spa this relaxing... I don't know what these ponies can do with keeping water perfect... But whatever it is, they should keep it up. I begin to let my thoughts and body wander without conscious direction. My attention is finally caught as I notice my right hand on the mark that resided on the base of my neck.

"I've had this mark since the day I was born... Actually, all the elite members of the academy had Orochimaru's blessing since the day they were born... I never really thought about it before, but... Out of all the students that used its sickeningly sweet power, I'm the only one who has had the most difficulty regarding how to strengthen it." My thoughts force my eyes to move to the scroll I had recently started filling, the one thing that was so important... yet so dangerous... that I had to make sure that Lyra wouldn't see it.

The small black pill sets my mind on a cruise to when I had finished my chunin exam...

I took a knee, as did both of my allies... A fair skinned male with short hair that had slightly longer bangs in the front, I could still see the sharingan glare in his eyes... as if he expected more enemies. to my other side was my cousin, Emiko, she was kind, yet fierce, if she had a problem with someone she was willing to beat the guy's face in over it. Her hair fell down just past her shoulders, she looked at me with a sense of pride before I took one last look over the battlefield.

The broken corpses of all the other squads that dared challenge us lay in bloody heaps all around the arena, my chest swelled in pride as I silently thanked them for their strength. We stood at the same time, even if we wobbled with exhaustion at the exertion, the crowd roared in ecstacy as we lifted our bloodied kunai to the air.

Once the roar began to fade we helped each other walk over to the exit of the arena, we had finally managed to suceed where others had failed. When the shadow of the prep room was finally bathing us in the cool darkness our squad leader approached us.

"You have proven youselves to the Dokukage as well as Orochimaru, add in the fact that you all carry Orochimaru's blessing I'm proud to give you these..." He held out his palm, we saw the little black pills and each took one.

"What are they?" Asked my friend and rival, Fukon Uchiha, our squadmaster gave a small chuckle as he began to explain.

"They are Death God Pills, they are only given to the most worthy of Orochimaru's chosen... For they unlock the second stage of the cursemark. They are very deadly, however, so you must inform the Dokukage before undergoing the process because without a proper medical team... there's a good chance that the change would drive you insane."

With this information it was incredibly obvious what to say.

"Tell him we wish to undergo the process immediately!" My allies who had spoken in an eerie unison looked at me in confusion.

I stood in complete silence the entire time, it was still several seconds before I gave him my answer.

"I want time to think about this... I'm honored obviously but this seems like so much to give to just chunins..." fortunately my entire squad had gathered enough strength to be able to stand on their own.

Fukon stared at me incredulously, "What do you mean you want to think about it? This little pill is the key to increasing your strength almost tenfold!"

I couldn't look him in the eye, I couldn't even think of an answer to give him, something about it just... hadn't felt right.

My thoughts quickly returned with a cold pang in my chest despite the warm water, I quickly got out of the tub and proceeded to clean my clothes... Nothing a little soap and water couldn't fix. There was something that still kept me from attaining the second level of His blessing... moreso than the lack of a full medical team, it was something that just... made me feel like I'd be giving up something that was a part of me in turn. All the times I had used my cursemark I felt the strength flow through my limbs, but there was something small... like a voice in the back of my head... It felt like something that had latched on to my mind. When I had noticed it in others who used the mark I realized that the mark was a double-edged sword, it would give strength while reducing the bearer's strength after everything was all said and done.

I vowed to make it a last-resort option, which I fortunately never often needed to use.

I took my clothes out of the water and used one of my wind jutsu's to dry them. I finished putting on my vest as Lyra walked in, I swear... If that mare had a shred of dignity she would've at least checked to make sure I wasn't naked before entering the room... then a thought struck me.

"Wait... The flushed cheeks... The cooing at my touch... The eagerness to get me to sleep in the same bed as her... She couldn't possibly... Could she?" My thoughts began to travel to the darkest part of my mind that I only dared to go when I was sure that noone could see me, "NAH! She couldn't possibly be like that... I mean c'mon, We're not even the same species." I mentally sighed before turning back to Lyra who had just told me something I had completely ignored except the part where I had to disguise myself again, so I proceeded with my cat disguise.

We got everything that she needed for a day at the park, which I knew meant I would have to find a few spots to become 'invisible' otherwise I would be expending far more chakra than was efficient. With a short stop to lock the door we left to go meet a pony that I assumed Lyra didn't actually like simply based on the body language that she was shouting.

Chapter 6: A Nice Day For The Park?

Well... What is there to tell about a walk to the park? I mean, obviously we met up with Rarity at this really odd-looking giant gingerbread house. The walk itself was pretty uneventful, except that Rarity's cat Opal kept trying to get out of the cage in order to use her owner as a scratching post... Which I will admit, I wanted to as well after hearing the way she talked... She reminded me of the nobles back home, I hated the nobles back home.

"...Well Lyra, whatever Fluttershy told you about keeping a cat is very important... I don't know how she does it but she is able to guess the needs of animals, most of the time, without even picking up a book about them." I had been zoning in and out of the conversation as we walked, well, as they walked. I kept getting snippets of the boring stuff... But what can I say, I was assuming the important stuff would come when I finally get to meet the mare 'Twilight Sparkle'. "...Yes, Fluttershy even knew what was wrong with that Manticore that had stood against us during the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Manticore? This sounds like it deserves my attention..."

"But what about you? I heard that she didn't understand what was wrong with it until what would've been the middle of the fight." Lyra responded with curiosity.

"Yes... Well... I started the fight off pretty well, he went to slash at me with his enormous paws while I ducked and bucked the ruffian right in the face."

Let it be known that I actually winced at that part, I know stories of people on my world getting killed when a horse bucked them in the face... so I assumed ponies were only shorter and would thus end up aiming lower for me... I didn't want to think about it but I did anyway.

"...OH We're here! Is that...? Yes! It's Applebloom, and she's here with Winona. I was really hoping that our pets could have a playmate." We went over to where a little pony, I guessed female by the sound of her voice, was tossing a stick for a dog. I was certainly impressed with how she was able to pick up the stick... something I never thought hooves would be able to do.

"Hello Applebloom." Rarity called, the filly looked over towards us.

"Howdy Rarity... Lyra?! I thought you two didn't like each other?" Applebloom's curiosity got the better of her as Rarity set down the cat-carrier and I leapt off of Lyra's back, at which time Opal and I were set upon by any cat's nemesis... The nearby dog.

When the brown and white dog started barking it had my attention focused solely on it, then she charged.

Has anyone actually told you about real battles? Real battles are short... this? This wasn't a real battle, and I got that after this... Winona... was just happy to chase me. Opal, for her part, had already gotten herself stuck in a tree. I kept my speed up and managed to dodge out of the way of any lunges Winona would make at me. I certainly enjoyed the excercise and I could tell that Winona was having a good time as she began to slow down. Once she had finally stopped and laid down I made my way over to her. She didn't hate cats like the dogs of my home so I happily laid down nearby.

Lyra

We had been chasing Winona and Hikaru for the better part of half an hour when we realized somthing... They were actually just playing along. It sucks that it took us until they had both laid down out of exhaustion. We all heaved a sigh of relief that they were just playing, It's a good thing too... I don't now what I would've done if Winona had forced Hikaru to end that magic spell of his.

Unfortunately, when I looked over at the others, they both wore very suspicious looks. Rarity was the first to speak.

"Um... Lyra, are you sure he is blind? He was moving as if he could see everything Winona was doing." Great, The one thing I didn't need... and it happens anyway.

"Well... You see... He... Uh..." I got really hung up on this part, I had no idea what to tell them... I've got it! You guys should tell me what to tell them! That way they don't get mad! I'll give you a few seconds to think... It's not like I'm going anywhere.

...

...Really? That's the best you got? Fine... I'm going with my idea...

"He's actually managed to train his other senses better so that he could adapt to any situation. I found that out after I got home, it's almost as if he has lived in my house since I moved there... He is really good at navigation." I lied with the best poker face I could muster.

After several VERY tense moments of incredulous staring from Rarity and having Applebloom walk over to Hikaru in order to pick him up, of which I was glad he slipped back into the blind cat routine... I had no idea that he actually had that much accurate movement in that form... Maybe if he could turn into... NO! Not the time for that! Excuses and lies first... then personal needs. Oh I feel so horrible lying about it... but there's nothing else I can do until I can make an appointment with Twilight. I knew that Applebloom couldn't tell, but I knew that he was examining her just as much as she was examining him... I could tell that he was trying to figure out the major differences between her and me.

I exhaled the breath I took hostage when I heard applebloom squee, apparently Hikaru had done something she found adorable, she put him back down and came back over to us after a minute or so.

"Despite him bein' blind... He has the cutest eyes I've ever seen." My heart melted as I saw how happy she looked, yours would've too... trust me, and be glad that I didn't include pictures or else you'd be dead... I mean it. Hikaru is the only being I've met that hasn't already been broken by our weaponized cuteness, I gotta find out how he can do that... You have no idea how rare that is.

My attention snapped to my foreleg, only to notice Hikaru rubbing up against me...

Hikaru, you little bucker... You learned our trick? How in tartarus did you learn to be so cute?

I couldn't resist his newfound cuteness, I scooped him up into my forelegs and just held him so close. I heard Rarity giggle but I ignored that... It's much better that way, trust me. We spent the better part of an hour just talking, Applebloom played with Winona and Hikaru, I spoke with Rarity.

I hate to admit it... I mean I HATE to admit it... But she's not as bad as her first impression had implied. She's actually quite decent to talk to, as long as she has something that keeps her 'precious' hooves clean. I swear, if she had her way, Equis wouldn't have any dirt on it... anywhere... and I mean ANYWHERE.

Once we got finished talking Rarity told me that she had to go speak to Twilight, Applebloom decided that she was finished giving Winona some excercise and said goodbye as she trotted her adorably tiny legs back to her farm.

I like foals... they're so adorable... I wish... *Sigh* I am just wishing for something that won't happen. It doesn't matter... What matters now is getting Hikaru home so I can keep him hidden from the rest of ponyville, that way nopony can take him from me.

I may give an air of joy and happiness... But I'm really scared of letting anypony know about him... I don't want them to think that he's here to hurt them... I... I don't know why, but I have a good feeling that he truly is a good human and my instincts haven't driven me wrong before... Who knows, he could be the stallion for me.

Rarity

"...Must...Get...To...Twilight!" I think to myself as I nearly gallop to the giant tree that serves as the town library. Normally I would actually be in awe of the beautiful and natural design but right now I have a mission.

At my insistent knocking I hear a voice call out, probably darling Twilight... Bless her heart... sending little Spikey Wikey to open the door as she always has him do. In the span of a few quiet moments I contemplate the thought of how she practically has him do everything around the library as far as maintenance and cleaning goes before he opens the door. I almost have to ignore his adorable swooning that he does whenever he sees me... I really wish that there wasn't a maturity difference between us... He certainly acts like the Prince Charming that I wanted my entire life... But that's not the point right now! I must see Twilight.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I Spikey?" I ask with a fluttering of my eyelashes, I kinda feel bad that I know exactly what to do to get my way... Kinda feel bad, It's necessary though.

"Of course not Rarity... Twilight's just talking to Pinkie pie about a cat Lyra has."

That certainly caught my attention, I've known for a while that Pinkie loves to throw parties for every little thing so the thing that struck me as odd was the fact that she had not yet thrown a party celebrating the fact that Lyra has a new cat.

"Then may I come in, I wish to speak with Twilight." He nods and steps to the side to allow me in, such a gentlecolt, I eagerly stride past him to look for my friends. Fortunately it isn't hard to find a pink earth pony and violet unicorn in a tree.

"...You see Twilight! I mean it! My pinkie sense was going crazy about the fact that Lyra's cat isn't a cat!" Well, to say I was surprised would actually have been an overstatement so I casually strolled into the room, catching the attention of my two friends.

"Oh, Hi Rarity, what brings you here?" Twilight, if only you knew... Then again, that's why I'm here. I quickly sat on one of the nearby chairs and got ready to tell them my reasons for coming here.

"Well, since I guess Pinkie already told you about Lyra's cat I just came by to give you a little more information about him." The rest of the conversation went on with me explaining to her about what happened at the park, when I was finished I knew that I had said something interesting because she had that whole 'look' in her eye as she placed a hoof on her chin in thought. I decided to voice my opinion at the time because I noticed that once I had finished speaking... The entire room was as quiet as a cemetery.

"Twilight, Darling, What are you thinking?" I asked with caution, it was best handled this way... she could seem perfectly normal but then a few minutes later she could certainly act like she lost her mind. She didn't answer for a few seconds, in fact, it almost looked like she had ignored me. As I was about to ask her again for a reaction she asked me a question.

"...Do you now what a changeling is?" I'll admit, that question took me off guard.

"...Um... A creature that steals away naughty foals?" I replied, reciting what my parents had told me in order to get me to behave during my foalhood. I can't really say that I didn't deserve the skeptical look she gave me afterward though and she went on to actually explain about them. I was surprised that her lecture only went on for about five minutes, apparently ponies don't know a lot about changlings much further than they feed off of love and are shape-shifters.

We huddled together and began to plan, we knew we'd have to inform Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, right now we had much more important plans to make.

"Ok... Pinkie, when we start the party I want you to put that creature into a false sense of security so that it doesn't try to flee the first chance it gets... once that's complete I want you to make sure you lock the door and keep that thing from getting out." I could only wait for Twilight as I saw Pinkie give her some sort of guard-like salute and bolt off without another word... She even seemed to just... dissapear. I know that I will never be able to understand how she does that but somtimes it's just scary what she can do without even trying.

"Rarity..." I snapped my attention back to Twilight as she began to give me instructions. I knew that when it came to an incognito-party I would need to help with making it convincing, so I would be in charge of the decor. I knew what we needed because I had a giant stash of party decorations in my room in case Pinkie ever decided she was short on party gear... which only ever happened once... I thought that I would cry that day... Now's not the time to think about such things! I need to now if Lyra has a changeling in her home!

With one final nod I left the library so that Twilight could practice a spell that could... supposedly... reveal a creature that is in disguise.

Applejack

With a loud *Thud* I could feel that the tree I just bucked had dropped all of its apples into the buckets, I never truly understood how they landed in the buckets so perfectly but I'm not gonna complain, all the falling did was make luggin' the apples around easier.

In one swift motion I picked up two of the baskets with ease and began to walk to the barn, I turned my head when I began to hear barking and was met with the sight of Applebloom and Winona coming back to the farm. I gave 'em a big smile before returning my attention to the barn where we usually stored the apples... At least, if not more than a few seconds later I felt somepony tugging on my tail. I turned my head to notice that Applebloom had already managed to get across the fence and right behind me, I swear to celestia that she may get a racing cutie mark one of these days, I raised a brow in confusion and I guess she understood my silent question because she began to go off on a rant about the park.

"Applebloom!" I had to cut her off mid-rant, "couldja walk an' talk at th' same time? I need t' get these apples in th' barn." When she nodded her head I began to walk toward the barn with the filly in tow spoutin' off about how great the park was today.

"...And then Lyra and Rarity showed up..." She said, I could hear the exitement in her voice.

"What did y'all do at th' park?" My question hopefully could keep her within my sights, I didn't want her running off again.

"Well... I saw Winona and Lyra's new cat, Hikaru, playin' together... She said that Hikaru was blind but I could'a sworn I had seen him look like he was actually watchin' Winona while they were playin'... The problem was that he did look blind, I couldn' figure out how he could see Winona until Lyra told Rarity and I that his time in the Everfree had heightened his senses so that he could actually move around as if he weren't blind. He was just so adorable! You shoulda seen him!"

I gave a small chuckle and used a forehoof to ruffle her mane, "alright, you should go get washed up so that Granny will make you a late lunch." With a giggle she trotted off away from me and toward the house, she caught my attention as she called out my name.

"I almost forgot... I met Pinkie on the way over here, She wants you to meet her at Lyra's house before Lyra gets there!" I sighed and put the apples away as quickly as I could.

I could only think of one thing as I put down the baskets, "This is gonna be a strange night..."

Chapter 6 part 2: Bringing 'Em Up To Speed

Applejack

Ok, I'll admit that I didn't want to leave the farm, but after Big Mac had assured me that he could handle the rest of the trees I grudgingly left to get Fluttershy, since she lived between my house and Lyra's. Maybe I should ask her what's got pinkie planning yet another party for the mare.

I took note of all the great things about Ponyville as I trotted to my friend's house, the crisp air, the vibrant plantlife, even many of the locals looked like they were already in paradise. I gave a happy sigh as I approached the cottage, after I knocked on the door I was greeted by the familiar sight of Flutter's pet bunny.

"Well howdy Angel... Is Fluttershy here?" I asked, he gave a few squeaks and a nod before he let me walk by, I noticed Fluttershy just past the door of the kitchen.

I call out to her, "Hey Fluttershy, Pinkie wants us all to go to Lyra's house for a surprise party... Let's go." She looks out the door at me and gives a smile that could melt ice.

"Ok, I just need to finish cooking some fish, I think that Lyra would really appreciate having something for her cat to eat... She told me that she wouldn't be able to get anything for him for a few days, as kind as she is I've noticed that she doesn't think a lot of her decisions through..." I gave a chuckle as she nervously scraped a hoof on her floor.

"That's fine, just make sure you get there soon." I gave her a wave goodbye and made my way toward Lyra's home... at least, until I was hit by the force of a train coming out of the sky.

When my senses came back to me I noticed the prismatic-maned cyan pegasus that I always seemed to find an annoying side to, so I proceeded to do what I usually did when she crashed into me... I teased her.

"Yeesh Rainbow, if you keep crashin' into me like that Ponies are gonna think you and I are in a relationship." I had a playful grin on my face as I watched her quickly right herself.

"You wish! besides, I'm not into mares, so that only defeats your logic, HA!" I could only laugh at the blush on her face, it even took much of my willpower to not fall on the ground and laugh.

"That blush on your face would say otherwise..." I say between chuckles and a new wave of laughter wells up inside of me as she desperately tries to cover the blush, or... at least tries to hide it from me. I walk up to her and let my tail flick her nose, I chuckle as she gives a snort, "...Besides Rainbow... What's a little playful banter between friends?"

I simply continue to trot while I listen to Rainbow lift herself into the air and grumble something at me for teasing her. It's actually several seconds before she is able to say a question at proper volume.

"So, why are you headin' this way? isn't it gettin' toward the end of harvesting season?" I give her a smile as I walk on.

"I was invited to a Pinkie Party and I stopped by Fluttershy's house on the way to Lyra's, I was thinkin' that Pinkie already told you that you were invited... but if you didn't see her yet it's a good thing you saw me-" I was cut off mid-sentence as two scrolls burst into existence in front of Rainbow and I. I quickly unrolled it and read it, chuckling slightly as I realized that it was a party invite for the surprise party at Lyra's house. "Well..." I chuckle, "...It seems like I just had to go to Lyra's and you woulda been invited anyway."

Rainbow had given an exaggerated sigh as she read the invite but she flew behind me nonetheless.

You know those odd moments where you just seem to black out and not remember how you got to where you are at the time when you regain your thoughts? Well, that happened to Rainbow, Fluttershy and I as we suddenly found ourselves in the darkness of Lyra's empty house being explained to by Twilight.

"Ok girls, Here's the plan... First, we have to make everything work just like a real party... Pinkie, Rarity and I have a hunch that a changeling may actually be disguised as a cat in order to drain her of love. I have developed a spell that will tell me whether a creature has been disguised or not. Pinkie will lock the door and I want the rest of you girls to lock any windows you find, I don't want this thing getting out to the rest of Ponyville. Is everypony ready?" We all gave a nod to her before jumping into several different hiding spots.

Lyra

Hikaru was sleeping on my back as I trotted toward a local cafe, as I ordered a coffee to go I noticed Hikaru do something that made me just want to hug him again. I could hear him purring like a real cat as he slept, I heard passing ponies talk about how they wished they had a pet that was like Hikaru; Didn't misbehave, and never ran off so that he didn't need a carrier.

As much as it filled me with pride that so many ponies were giving me positive attention, it also kinda stung that I had to hide Hikaru's true nature from them. I had to silently trod home as I levitated my drink for fear that the stress would get to me.

Chapter 7: The Big Reveal

Hikaru

I kept my eyes half open as I continued to observe the ponies that Lyra passed by on the way home. I could feel an animosity growing inside of me, for the past half-a-day I hadn't been able to even talk to Lyra... And I have no idea why it was making me mad. I know that before I came here I had almost no desire to talk to anyone but now, I couldn't help but feel like I wanted to talk to Lyra for hours on end. It was like having pent up anger just waiting to boil over.

So naturally, I did the most sensible thing regarding this situation, I pushed the emotions to the back of my mind and placed them in the 'things to ignore' list.

I began to feel uneasy as I sense the tense step in Lyra's stride, I also feel incredibly unable to ease her tensions since I'm currently restricted as far as speaking to her in public goes. I end up casting a glance off to my left to see a magenta colored mare stumble in what I would guess to be a drunken stupor out of a local tavern... She certainly looks like she knows how to have a good time. I begin to just think about how a pony's actions in public could reflect their personality. My eye catches a grey pegasus mare walking very close to a brown earth pony stallion, those two must be in some sort of relationship... It definitely looks like she cares about him. I continue my sweep of each pony, none really standing out until I see a stallion that looked almost exactly the same as the one that was with the grey mare, I do a double-take just to make sure the chakra drain wasn't just messing with my eyes. My eyes lingered on the marks that I see on the ponies' flanks, suddenly something clicked in the back of my mind...

... ... ... I was actually doing something that would be considered openly perverted in my home country... WHAT THE HELL BRAIN!!!! YOU LET SOMEONE ELSE DO YOUR JOB? I'M SUPPOSED TO BE GATHERING INFORMATION HERE! BUT WHAT HAVE YOU GOT ME DOING? BEING A PERVERT!

... Sorry about that... I tend to get into mental arguments with myself... So, where was I, Oh yes! The part about being a pervert to understand a bit more about those butt-tattoos that these ponies have.

I've noticed that each adult pony has one, every foal seems to not have one... so maybe it's some sort of coming-of-age ritual to get one of these tattoos? I'll have to ask Lyra when we get back to her house... I could even get something to eat now that I hear my stomach grumbling.

It's so much easier to maintain chakra on a full stomach.

I give a silent sigh of relief when I see Lyra's house, I hear the satisfying sounds of lock tumblers allowing access to the house. She walks in and I give a relaxing leap off of Lyra's back... and I give a reflexive completely non-startled leap into a defensive position and not into an off-balance tumble when an incredibly loud noise explodes around me as Lyra closes her door.

"SURPRISE!" Yeah... Completely sticking with my story.

Lyra

I whip around at the shout and see all of the Elements of Harmony in my house, my flash of fear melts to a feeling of happiness when I see the sign that says 'Yay, You Got A Pet' it was too bad Pinkie put it in Comic Sans.

They all just seem to crowd around me, except for Fluttershy who stays back. It takes me several seconds before I notice the stunned cat at my side, all the other's conversations seem to be incredibly distant as I levitate Hikaru up to my face. I could see the panic in his eyes, as blank as they looked, I felt like I WAS staring into his soul every bit of him just... seemed to be there, just waiting for me to decipher it.

I quickly pulled him into a hug and just began to whisper quietly to him, his heart was beating right next to mine and I could feel his pulse calming to a normal level. For the entire time I had him close to me, I felt like the world was perfect.

Hikaru

As Lyra held me close I felt how soft she was, I could feel her heart beating almost exactly in tune with mine, I had no idea what she was actually saying to me but whatever she was saying was certainly helping me get over the shock of what just happened. I finally felt alright enough to begin looking around the room and noticed several ponies of different colors, the one that drew my attention was a cyan pegasus that had a multi-colored mane. After several seconds I finally heard what she was saying.

"...So sorry Lyra, we didn't think that this would give your cat a panic attack, we just wanted to show you that we were happy that you got a new pet..."

For some reason, I couldn't help but lean into Lyra as I heard her reply, "It's ok, I've only had him for about two days now so I didn't even know that would happen... I was just wondering when Pinkie would throw the party."

I then heard the orange pony speak in some sort of strange accent, I really couldn't place it... but I swear it had something to do with her hat. "We all wanted t' make this a special occasion, it's not every day a friend gets a new pet."

Lyra had used her levitation to place me on her back again as she went with the group into the living area. I noticed the Pink pony walk in several moments afterward.

Pinkie

I quietly bounced over to the front door as Twilight led everypony out to the living room, with a quick flick of my hoof I had the door locked again, I took a glance over my shoulder and noticed Fluttershy going up the stairs to lock the windows. I gave her a wide grin before I bounced my way out to the living room as well.

Hikaru

As much as they tried to hide their actions, after the pink pony arrived in the living room I discreetly used my Byakugan to watch the other's actions, as one would leave another would make sure neither I nor Lyra were looking at them before heading out of the room to lock windows in a specific area... I knew almost exactly what they were doing... I just decided to go along with whatever they were trying to do because my chakra was beginning to run low again.

As the last of the windows were locked I had to release the byakugan or risk not having enough chakra to keep the ruse up during the party, I warily tracked my gaze to the purple pony as she approached Lyra... her next words still freak me out.

"Lyra... The girls and I would rather not do anything forceful, but we're worried that you might be travelling around with some sort of transformed creature... I'm going to cast a spell that will let us know for sure, and I want you to get to a safe place as fast as possible."

I didn't have to imagine the look on my face because I knew that it mirrored the shock on Lyra's. I am a damn ninja! has my skill really degraded that much since coming here!? or are these ponies really THAT well trained? I feel that depressed feeling well up inside of me at the fact that I've been found out this easily... I was so... Incompetent...

At that precise moment Lyra levitated me to the ground next to her and gave me a very sympathetic look before saying the two words that I knew would eventually come.

"...Show them..."

By the surprised gasps I heard around the room, I wasn't the only one who was at least slightly unprepared for this level of cooperation. With a slow nod I closed my eyes and allowed my chakra to stop infusing the jutsu and reveal my true form... honestly... definitely up there on my list of bad ideas... really close to the entry called 'organizing every mental note into a list'

When the superficial smoke cleared I saw six VERY shocked ponies. Out of all of their looks I really expected the blue one to come at me swinging, but once again... because of whatever laws of surprise govern this world... I was expecting wrongly. I saw a blur of yellow and pink before my vision was filled with a sea of emerald-green, it was at precisely the moment I heard her voice that I recognized this new paralyzing technique.

"How Dare You! You came into my house, and ate food that I saved for animals that needed it, and then decided to get That close to me! You lied and manipulated Lyra and me!"

She continued to say a few more things, but I never heard them as my mind reeled back in my head... The whole experience was as if I was looking through a tunnel, I didn't even realize that I was screaming in pain until my shoulder connected with a doorframe.

As my mind became more aware of my current situation I felt a familiar strength emanating from the mark on my shoulder but there was something new to it, another feeling that was spreading alongside the strength. As I spent several more moments flailing about in pain it wasn't until my entire arm was covered in the pain equivalent of being burned alive, the curse mark wasn't just giving me strength... It was taking it's compensation as it activated. I could tell that they now saw the glowing marks streching across my body when I felt the agony spread across my chest and make it hard for me to breathe. Almost half a minute of burned-alive pain later I knew that the transformation was finished and the marks on my body looked like black flames instead of glowing embers I could feel the hard wood floor against my kneecaps as my gaze was locked on each grain of wood, I knew that my long hair was obscuring my face from view. I could feel the influence of the mark, all my anger at being brought to my knees was being barely reigned in like a horse that refused to be tame. My fury flared as my memories of my recent blunders flashed through my mind.

I finally looked up with all the fury that these ponies had now caused me to feel, and I enjoyed a twisted pleasure out of seeing the horrified looks on their faces. The mark threatened to remove me from control and I had to use all of my willpower to keep from killing as many of them as I could.

Lyra

It was horrible, and all we did was watch as Hikaru flailed around and looked like he was being burned by some sort of strange fire that quickly spread all over his body. When the yelling finally stopped I saw that the flames had changed color from a glowing orange to a midnight black, but that wasn't the scariest part, the look he had on his face was much different from when I had first seen his face... His eyes now were filled with anger and fury, he looked like a wild monster that was now let loose to kill as it wished. The entire room was locked in a stalemate, waiting on the first side to make a move.

I heard him barely mutter a few words before he seemed to just dissapear and pain wracked my entire body.

"...Dengan No Jutsu..." It was the last thing I heard before I fell unconscious.

Chapter 8: The Light in the Darkness

Fluttershy

As I woke up I heard the groans of the others around me, I gave a happy sigh when I noticed that they only looked roughed up. I placed a hoof on the spot where a powerful headache was brewing, then the memory hit me like a train as the headache built up to the point where I was blinded by the pain.

My gaze was connected to the creature's, his eyes looked blind but I could feel that it was an illusion. Every bit of him just seemed like he had to conceal himself for fear of weakness or inability. As I reprimanded him I hardly heard the words that were coming out of my mouth as I sank into those giant pools of secrets, the mysteries behind his eyes were just within reach but my mind refused to allow me to grasp them like they were some dark secret.

Just as I was about to stop the Stare that was when I heard the screaming, the creature recoiled as if I had set it on fire just by looking at it. I had withdrawn backwards and was about to ask what was wrong when I saw them, the glowing flames spreading along it's skin. All of us had recoiled back, even Rainbow Dash seemed like she didn't know what she should do. When the shouting stopped I had noticed that the flames had finally covered it's entire body and changed to black, I couldn't help myself as I fell back to the ground and stayed back out of a pure fear... Something had changed about this creature, something about it now made me truly fear it.

I was horrified as it raised it's head to look directly at me, gone were the mysterious and entrancing pools of knowledge, it's eyes had been replaced with raging skies of hatred and malice comparable to Nightmare Moon... possibly even worse. The area around it's eyes had been incredibly exaggerated in order to give it a far more intimidating look that was complemented by the flames imprinted on it's face.

I had heard it mumble a few words and tasted the crackle of electricity right before it seemed to just dissapear, immediately after that everything went black as pain wracked my body.

I slowed my hooves from their massage as the memory stopped, with each passing second the headache seemed to dull, I gave a small whimper as a tear rolled down my cheek. Whatever that creature was, it wasn't truly evil like Twilight thought it was... But I had changed it, something I had done changed it, it felt horrible to think about. That was also about the time that I registered the mint-green unicorn standing in front of me with a furious look.

"How could you do that!? You... The Element of Kindness... And you did SOMETHING to put him through all that pain!" She wheeled around to look at each of my friends who had finally come to their senses, "He hadn't done anything wrong to any of you, He was even willing to show you guys that he wasn't a bad guy! BUT NO You all had to jump to conclusions and now I have a broken window and I have no idea where he could've gone!" Every bit of anger in her voice seemed to cut like a knife as she spoke, I didn't know how sensitive the others were to emotions but I knew that I felt the greatest amount of it because of who I am... and it was true, I had unknowingly caused undue suffering and deserved every bit of anger that Lyra was throwing around.

Applejack stepped forward with a stern look on her face to challenge Lyra, "We found out his true nature... Every moment he's been here he's been an illusion! How do we know that he wasn't just actin' nice to lower yer guard?" If looks could kill, Lyra's house would've burnt to the ground.

"Because ever since he got here, even if he avoided answering some of my questions, he didn't lie to me... Even if he looks blind I know that they express just as much truth as ours do! Not one time did he try to hurt me even though he had plenty of opportunities! He was even willing to meet Twilight when I told him that knowing you guys would get him accepted around town better." At this we all stared at Lyra in shock. I know that I could actually believe that since, as a cat, Hikaru hadn't done anything to try and hurt me in my house... he even seemed greatful that I had fed him... just to keep his illusion working he acted just like a cat would when they let you know they felt comfortable around you.

I spoke up, or well, tried to speak up, "um... girls..." All of the girls seemed to carry on arguing when they didn't hear me, so I tried again, "...Girls... please..." Unfortunately, even at twice the volume it still wasn't loud enough. I gave a sigh before taking a deep breath, "...Girls!" Yay, outside voice volume... which was about their indoor voice volume though. Lyra and Rarity both turned to me, with the others following suit when they noticed Lyra looking at me. S-so many eyes... everypony's attention was on me... and I shrank back as far as the wooden floorboards would allow me to.

"Well... what is it?" Rainbow asked a little harsher than I knew she intended, it didn't quite help my confidence though.

"I... um... I..." I started, I had the words formed perfectly in my head, "We should try to look for him, I feel responsible for this and he could be out there hurting ponies because of what I did... Please, let's find him if at least to save him and anypony else from getting hurt." Strange thing about having a speech like that prepared in your mind, it tends to sound more like, "...Um... We should try to find him... He could be out there hurting ponies... we should... keep them... from getting hurt..." Well, so much for having a big speech that let them knew that I truly did feel guilty for doing what I did.

Twilight chimed in and seemed to take a far more confident attitude than earlier, "I'm going to have Spike send the princess a letter and then we have to search for him. Fluttershy's right, it doesn't matter if it was his intention or not to hurt ponies at first... he already attacked each of us and fled. I don't know whether he was trying to kill us or not... But we have to stop him before he does." Her tone was very stern and each other pony except Lyra seemed to completely accept her plan, Lyra on the other hoof definitely looked angry. She didn't even look at anypony before sprinting out of her house. Twilight tried calling after her but I knew it was no use, When Lyra tried to do something she could be as stubborn as Rainbow dash or Applejack. We all filed out of the house and I closed the door before we all scattered around town to look for Hikaru, Seeing as the town hadn't been razed to the ground yet I had high hopes that we could get him to calm down.

Lyra

I sprinted down the street toward the Everfree, A spell my mother had taught me when I was younger pulsed every so often from my horn as I tried to track Hikaru's energy signature... It wasn't that hard though since his was definitely different from the ponies and it was currently laced with an almost tangible darkness.

Chapter 9: A Game of Hide and Seek

About ten minutes passed as I found myself in the thick of the everfree forest, I had no idea where I was anymore... I only was focused on the pulse of my spell that guided me like a game of hot and cold. I'd spend a few minutes travelling in the general direction I believed Hikaru was, let my spell pulse again, and redirect my course... Whether it was the amount of time we had been knocked out or how fast he was... He was a very far distance from my home, which was only my guess to get farther as I felt the forest close in around me.

I spotted a clearing that looked very different than the one I usually sat in, one major difference being the look of a giant battle had been fought here. I walked over to a nearby tree and felt one of the deep gashes in it, the bark was smoothed over with such precision... I had never seen such a cut in my life, even though some of the wood looked like it had been burnt. I kept my head searching the entire area as I began to notice more and more little things, each of the trees had smaller cuts than the first one that resembled some sort of bladed weapon cutting across them, each strike seemed to have been made out of targetless anger.

My thoughts immediately drifted to Hikaru, how even despite what had happened to him... he had still left us alive, even though it seemed like he could've done far worse if the markings on the trees were because of him. I sat down in the center of the clearing and let my thoughts continue to drift to my few days that I had spent with him, how happy I had been, how much he made me feel like somepony cared to talk to me other than Bon-Bon...

Twilight Sparkle

I made a frantic dash for the library, hoping against hope that Spike was still there. I had to send a letter to the princess, we now had a very dangerous creature running around equestria unchecked... I don't know if any of the others had felt it, but I knew that there was some sort of evil taint to him, I felt it when those flames were covering his body. I couldn't let him run free when he posed so much of a threat.

In hindsight it would've probably been faster to blink to the library... But I also had to think of what to write in the letter, or have Spike put down, It didn't matter! As I saw the door of the library I used my magic to open it quickly and called out for Spike.

"Spike! Spike! I need you to send a letter to the princess!"

Needless to say, my request was met with the grumble of my assistant as he walked out of the kitchen, I also wasn't happy to hear his reply.

"Oh c'mon Twi... What new threat to equestrian national security is it this week? IS it parasprites again? Or maybe the Timberwolves?" He rolled his eyes at me, as much as I wanted to lecture him about respect I had far more important things to say as he got out the quill and paper.

"Dear Princess Celestia, I believe that a demon is loose in equestria. It seems to take the form most prominently of the humans of the ancient times, although when it had revealed itself it used some sort of strange magic to subdue us and a pony named Lyra who all happened to be in the room. I have reason to believe that he has either found a way to control Lyra or make her subservient to him. The last we had seen of Lyra was her galloping toward the Everfree in search of the aforementioned demon. We, the elements of harmony, shall try to secure the town in case he comes back, but we will certainly need reinforcements."

I had to actually nudge Spike back to his senses as I finished before he sent the letter, now I just had to help with coordinating the defense of the town. "C'mon Spike, we have a town to keep safe." I called to him as I bolted out the door.

Lyra

I have no idea how long I've been sitting here, letting the tears fall at my hooves, but I do know that despite the fact that he's only been here for two days Hikaru isn't the monster that Twilight and them think he is. I actually hadn't noticed the large pool of water that was gently streaming into the clearing until I heard the snapping of a twig, I looked up and around to try and see what the sound had been. I immediately regretted thinking the forest wasn't as dangerous as everypony thought... Because what I saw across from me was a giant spider that seemed to just glow an eerie green color advancing toward me, which wasn't being hindered because of my scrambled attempts to get away from it. Sometimes...I really wish I was a human.. then I wouldn't have hooves that slip on the ground in fear...

Hikaru

My sight began to return as I surveyed the damage I had caused while using my cursemark, I could still feel the pain but it was a bit more dull now. I was in a small grove of trees, each one had some sort of mark that was either from my soul edge technique... or from my kunai... I even spotted a few marks where my hands had made contact with the trees.

Each second I spent scanning the clearing helped decipher what I had done during the curse's control. So far there wasn't any blood on me or my surroundings so that meant I hadn't killed anyone, so that was a plus, but I had no idea where I was and my Byakugan was no longer active. I truly hated moments like this because I knew that once the cursemark receded I'd be very vulnerable.

I did the most sensible thing possible, with my recovered bodily control I started walking in a random direction... preferrably the way that I must've come from as I followed the marks on the trees. I felt a little twinge of regret at the damage I had wrought... but tried to reassure myself that this was damage that avoided harming the ponies, that actually helped me smile a bit as I walked.

Without too much trouble I found a clearing along the path of the damage and heard a shrill scream before I could look around. The sight that met me stunned me for a second... I mean seriously! There's a GIANT GREEN SPIDER! How did I miss hitting that? My attention was dragged to the pony it was threatening, the mint...green...coat...uh oh, that's not good.

As the beast drew back a massive foreleg to try and impale Lyra I dashed out of my hiding place with renewed vigor, the cursemark pulsed in pain as I pushed myself harder to save her, I opened my arms as I got closer... and...

There was a loud crashing sound as the creature's foreleg crashed into the ground where Lyra had been earlier. I was breathing hard as I looked into Lyra's eyes that were wide with shock, she tried to speak to me for several seconds before I placed a hand to her mouth. "Don't talk, run, get help... I gotta stop this thing before it does too much damage." I explain as I place her on her hooves. She just stared at me with shock before I shouted at her, "LYRA! GO GET HELP!" She scrambled for a few seconds before bolting off in the opposite direction.

I turned back to the spider-creature and got into a fighting stance as I pulled out a kunai, "Well... I think I need to give you a lesson in manners..." I growled at the creature as I rushed forward at a nearly invisible speed, grunting a little as pain shot through my body. The creature lashed out with a foreleg and I dodged to the side, bringing my kunai into it. I got sprayed with sticky green blood as I drew my weapon down the length of it's foreleg. "That... was disgusting!" I growled as I shot forward, bringing my kunai to the chest of the creature. It howled in pain as the kunai got embedded in its carapace, and I only had a few second to think I had won before its uninjured foreleg swatted me away like a fly, with me landing at the edge of the pond. "Of course it wasn't going to be that easy... It never freakin' is for me..." I thought to myself as I pulled mysself up from the muddy bank. My vision blurred for a few seconds as I got into a half-standing position, I could just barely make out a large green blob that let me know the creature was stalking toward me... The damn thing KNEW I was weak, that made me a little sad before I turned and bolted... Right out to the middle of the pond. I skidded to a stop as I set one hand above me and placed the other in front of my face, both were in the shape of the tiger seal as I activated the jutsu.

There was an icy hiss that rang in my ears as the water of the pool began to turn into a mist, soon after the creature and I lost sight of each other... Giving me the advantage. I quickly activated my byakugan and was greeted by an even sharper pain that nearly brought tears to my eyes as I almost doubled-over, there was no doubt in my mind that this heavy of a use of my cursemark was going to make me a non-combatant for a while. I searched for the creature's chakra and was met with a very disturbing realization, the entire creature seemed to be made of some sort of shadow energy... I could still see my kunai in it's chest, but the creature itself didn't have a set of gates to it... like it was a physical manifestation of darkness. "Well... that makes this a little easier if that yellow pony happens to see me kill it... " I think with a small chuckle before quickly moving in for my assault.

This creature is a hell of a lot harder to take down than I thought, my initial attack had only left a few scrapes along its hide and I only got one more kunai embedded in its chest. My breaths came to me heavily and ragged, I could even feel the cursemark starting to recede as my movements began to slow down. Whatever this creature was... I new I couldn't beat it in my current state... and it had even managed to end my hidden mist jutsu, never a good thing.

I felt a sharp pain in my side as one of my slower dodges got caught on the tip of the creature's forelegs. I was thrown at least... Thirty feet... Until I slammed into a tree, the warm feeling seeping down my side began to let me know that I'd be playing a game of shogi with Death soon. I loud sound caught my attention and I turned my head to notice Lyra standing with several blobs of color, "Well... this just got a lot more complicated..." I thought to myself as I used the last of my cursemark power to prepare a restoration jutsu. "I just... need a little... more..." I thought as I brought the soft blue light to my gaping wound.

Third person

Twilight couldn't believe her eyes as she had approached the clearing, she actually had seen the human-looking-possible-demon fighting some sort of giant spider that had never been found in the Everfree before. The student-part of her brain wanted to examine and study it, but her self-preservation side kicked in as she had seen Hikaru fly away from the beast's foreleg with a small trail of blood following him. All of them had gasped in fright at the force he had struck the tree with but Lyra had actually shouted his name.

The first into action was Rainbow Dash, as much as she wanted to see Hikaru pay for what he had done to them... she wanted to deal with him herself, not let some overgrown spider do it for her. She braced herself just before her hooves caught the creature in the side, causing it to tip over and cough up a little bit of green-looking blood as it collided with the ground. She didn't let up for a second as her hooves began to pound into it's side, at least, she didn't let up until one of its legs slammed hard into her side and sent the airborne pegasus careening into a tree.

At this the orange cowpony slammed both of her rear hooves into the spider's abdomen, causing the creature to scramble in an attempt to get away from the pain. "Oh no ya don't!" Applejack shouted as she sent her rear hooves into one of its legs, the creature roared in pain as it was brought down halfway. She had felt a semi-familiar weightlessness as she was yanked from where she had been standing, the whoosh-ing sound of the beast's uninjured foreleg slamming into the ground had her giving a silent 'thank you' to Rarity as she was placed several meters from the creature.

Rarity and Twilight now stood on both sides of Applejack, Twilight was the first to speak, "This thing... It doesn't seem natural at all..." She said in an awed tone.

Rainbow dash clumsily flew over, keeping her eye on the beast that was using this reprieve from combat to recover some of its strength. She had sighed at what Twilight had said, "Twi! It's a GIANT. GREEN. BUG! What about that could possibly make it natural!?" she fumed. Pinkie seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere with her party cannon in tow, "Pinkie... You didn't... but... how...?" Rainbow started but quickly decided to dismiss the thought, "You know what... I don't care... as long as it helps us take out this bug!"

"Dashie..." Pinkie chided, "It's an arthropod... Not a bug... But this thing seems to be completely made of a special magic." She explained. Rarity was the only one still looking at the spider as everypony else stared at Pinkie in confusion.

"Pinkie... How could you possibly know that!?" Twilight exclaimed. Pinkie just waved a hoof dismissively.

"My Pinkie sense told me... A twitch in my right rearhoof with a *Sproing* in my tail means that a creature made of magic is gonna try to hurt a friend." She explained.

"But... Hikaru isn't our friend..." Twilight replied.

"He might not be yours... but he's mine, and Lyra's our friend... the spider-thing tried to hurt her." Pinkie replied with a smile.

"Girls... as interesting as this conversation is... can you please wait until we have dealt with the problem?" Rarity asked as she took a disgusted step back since the creature had gotten to a standing position. They all got into a ready position as each side waited for the other to strike first.

Hikaru

I barely registered Lyra trying to help me as I felt my wound close... mostly. I felt her grasp me in a cautious hug as she began to cry into my chest, "Oh... this just... really makes it hard for me to accept death right now... great..." I thought as I began to use her for support to raise myself off of the ground. I could actually feel a buildup of energy next to me and my hand went out reflexively, somewhere around the strength of a passive slap I had actually made contact with Lyra's horn and immediately felt the energy dissipate. My senses actually managed to register Lyra holding her head as if she was struck with a headache and I called once more upon the cursemark. I had to use every inch of my will not to fall unconscious as the pain shot through my body, I had actually taken a knee as the pain began to overwhelm me but I couldn't let Lyra get hurt. I struggled to get to my feet again as I took note of the battle around me, the creature had regained a bit of its strength and even though the mares in front of it were standing their ground, I could tell that they were no match for it... The thing had tried to kill me without remorse for the divine's sake.

My entire body once again seared with pain as I sped off to confront the creature, the marks on my body slowly receding and burning as they went, I didn't register anything other than the basic gist of a shout and what my byakugan could now see of the creature's chakra construction.

I didn't waste a second as I got into my jyuuken stance, "Gentle fist! One hundred twenty-eight palms of divination." I growled as I began my assault on the chakra connections that kept this creature together, starting around the center of its chest where my kunai were embedded. With each strike the creature seemed to fade as I severed each bond, every muscle in my body was screaming at me to stop... to rest... But I knew I couldn't, I had to keep Lyra safe. The creature roared as it tried to escape my attack but to no avail as I severed the last of the bonds, the final blow striking palm-out to the center of its chest and sending the creature soaring through the air. I could feel whatever traces of strength I had left leave my body entirely as my vision returned to normal, my hands swung limply down to my side as I watched the creature's corpse just seem to dissipate into shadows that vanished like smoke. Once I was absolutely sure I wouldn't have to worry about the beast coming back I let myself succumb to the punishment of overusing my chakra... and the cursemark.

Lyra

I rushed over to Hikaru as he collapsed, I checked his pulse to find out that he was just barely alive and I scooped him up onto my back, his wound was bleeding from his earlier excertion and I knew it would stain my coat... But I wanted to get him to a hospital quickly. My legs began to move on their own, only for me to be stopped after a few steps by Rainbow dash.

"What are you doing? Did you see what he just did? he killed that Spider thing using whatever evil magic that Twilight was talking about!" She shouted, I had to resist the urge to slam a forehoof in her face.

"What he just did...?" I replied with a growl, "...He just risked his life to save us! Yet here you are trying to keep me from returning the favor!" I shove past her as I make my way down the path we had used to get here, every mental function wanted me to get my friend to the hospital before he died... But Rainbow Dash seemed to want to put a stop to that.

"He attacked us in YOUR house! Don't you remember that?" She shouted in my face.

"He attacked because you all instigated it! And last I checked you were still breathing... He barely is!" I retort as I shove past her once again.

Applejack takes a pace alongside me, at least she's not trying to stop me. "Sugarcube... I can see that you want to help him... But what if he was just tryin' to fool ya..." She asked.

"He isn't fooling me... He was actually happy with me and I was happy with him around... And I want to keep it that way for a while, So I'm taking him to the hospital whether you like it or not." I reply as my steps increase in their confidence. I actually noticed Fluttershy walk up next to me.

"Well...I...uh..." She mumbled, "...I would... really hate to think that... I was the reason why he got hurt or worse... so... I agree with you... If that's okay..." She said shakily, quailing under a look I shot her. I knew that I didn't need to keep being angry at Fluttershy... but I knew it was also kinda her fault that this happened.

That was also when Twilight decided to catch up, "Yes, he does need to see a doctor... The research about humans I could get from him could-..." He cut herself short as I shot her a glare.

"...No, No studying him... He's been through enough as it is. I think he deserves some rest." I assert, she gives an embarassed look as she recoils away from me. "...Besides... I have no doubt that you decided to tell the princess he was some sort of evil monster..." I shot her another angry look... Why? Because why not? She had helped cause this... Actually... For being such great heroes they really did cause a lot of the problems around Ponyville. Rarity and Pinkie were strangely silent for the rest of the trip, Twilight kept trying to explain that if he was human he would need to be recorded and studied since so little was known about humans already. Strangely enough even Rainbow Dash kept silent on the way back to town.

After what seemed like forever we finally reached the edge of the forest...

...And were practically greeted by an entire garrisson of royal guards.

Chapter 10: What's A Hospital?

Pain... Pain was all I could register as my eyes finally opened. where was I? I have no idea other than the fact that there was a lot of white walls... like... REALLY white walls. They did not help my headache. As I began to register my surroundings I noticed a faint beeping sound. When I looked in the direction the sound was coming from I saw a grey box that had a line which spiked every so often across it. Well... certainly strange... but the lack of body movements pretty much means I can't do anything about it. Did I mention my body refused to move? Yeah, I could feel the empty feeling of having only a base chakra level to keep my vital organs moving... this day could only-... wait a minute... Didn't I die against that strange spider-thing? No, No I didn't... but... Why am I laying here? I could only offer a soft groan before I went back to staring at the celing until my body decided it was black-out time again.

I awoke to voices around my bed, my hearing registering the conversation before I let my eyes reveal my consciousness.

"...Understand Lyra but you can't just decide to come in every day... It's been nearly two weeks since he was awake..." DAMN! TWO WEEKS! I have never heard of a case of chakra depletion keeping someone in a bed for that long! Well... maybe it would keep them restricted to a bed... but unconscious?! Never more than a couple days.

"I get it nurse... but he's still alive... and I want to be here when he does wake up." I could actually feel far less paralyzed when I heard Lyra's voice, I had no idea why... but I loved the sound of her voice. I finally decided to let my eyes slowly open, just to see if I could surprise them.

There were two mares that I could see in the room when my eyes finally adjusted and I stifled a groan of displeasure. The first I noted was the mint-green unicorn, I actually felt a smile form under whatever was on my mouth... I would have to find that out later. The other was a pale-pink earth pony mare that had a... needle... as a cutie mark, I'll have to keep an eye on that one. Both of them hadn't noticed I was awake yet and I felt so happy as I saw the way the light outlined Lyra's features, they made her look very attractive... for a pony... you don't remember me saying that! Got it?!

Lyra actually seemed to be crying a bit as she spoke to the nurse, I decided to lighten her mood by giving a slight cough. Oh the look on her face was priceless...

She spun around like a blur and locked her eyes onto mine, I could truly get lost in those amber eyes... pools of gold... She broke out in a giant grin that I swore was going to actually exceed the boundaries of her face. I only had a few seconds to brace myself as she lunged forward and wrapped her forehooves around my neck and nuzzled my face. I felt a small stab of pain as she landed on my stomach but I ignored that because she was just so adorable... she was like a stuffed toy I had as a child...

I watched as the nurse facehoofed and muttered something about getting someone, I didn't really care as I returned the hug Lyra was giving me. I think I fell asleep at some point because I was woken up when Lyra got off me, as soon as I opened my eyes I saw the group of ponies from the forest along with two new ones, both taller than the others with both wings and horns.

The room was very awkwardly quiet for a long time before the tall white one spoke.

"My name is Princess Celestia..." She greets with one of those motherly smiles that would melt anyone else's heart. I, on the other hand, remained silent with a completely neutral look. When she noticed that I wasn't going to say anything she continued on her little speech, "...I have been led to believe that you attacked a group of my subjects." Her face went from motherly smile to stern almost without moving... it was weird, "For assault on the bearers of the elements of harmony I will have to imprison you..."

Great... just great... That's what I needed... jail time.

That's when Lyra decided to step into the conversation... Yay Lyra!

"...But... He saved our lives! And, he wouldn't have attacked in the first place if Twilight and her friends hadn't tried to fight him in the first place." Celestia actually somehow managed to look shocked as she listened to Lyra. Celestia turned to the elements of harmony, who were all standing behind her.

"...Is this true my little ponies?" She asked with a slight hint of anger.

"No, We didn't attack him at all... we tried to find out what he was and he turned into that creature that attacked us." Twilight replies with a slight shiver at the glare she was getting from Celestia.

"You did attack him, you were planning on getting rid of his disguise and capturing him! He was willing to cooperate with you all until Fluttershy did whatever it was that she did to make him feel all that pain!"

"...But why would he need a disguise if he wasn't going to attack us?" Rainbow dash cut in, hovering in front of Lyra.

"So that he wouldn't cause a panic in town! He was trying to find a way to go around town without giving ponies a reason to worry!" Lyra replied, not missing a beat.

"Everypony please... settle down..." Celestia ordered, silencing the argument before it got out of hoof.

"For the record..." I interrupt, All their gazes turned to me... making me feel very awkward, "...I really was just trying to get in contact with anyone powerful enough to send me back home... I wasn't trying to attack anyone here, even when I wanted to I refused... using a knockout technique instead of a killing one."

Celestia looked at me with... well... I could only guess was a pondering expression. It was actually far more unnerving than my friend's sharingan... And that's saying something. It was very quiet in the room for a long time before Celestia decided to speak again.

"Well... Since you have so far shown no true ill will toward my subjects... I can let you stay in Ponyville... for now... As long as you report to the local guard captain on a weekly basis to make sure that you are following our laws." I gave a nod in acknowledgement as she finished, "Remember... If you try in any way to attack my subjects I will have you arrested and jailed, I take the safety of my subjects very seriously."

"Fine... I will accept your conditions, as long as I get to stay with miss Lyra Heartstrings."

She gives me a nod and a smile before getting up and walking out the door.

Lyra walks over to me and gives me a hug, "I'm glad you are able to stay with me..." she sighs happily.

"I am too Lyra... I am too..." I reply with a small smile. Little did I know that me being here had already forced the world to change.