Chapter 6.5 – The Shadow and the Archeologist

*The Void*

A man dressed in a dark navy blue sleeveless shozoku stood in the middle of a black and endless void. As he looked around he saw that he was not alone. Twenty feet away from him was a female draconequus who was standing in front of him with a smile.

“My, my, you sure are cuter than what I thought.” She said with a grin as she floated in front of the man who had an expressionless stare leveled at the draconequus.

“Who are you and where am I?” He asked, not taking his eyes off of the chaotic creature in front of him.

“Where we are is not important, it’s where you’re going to be. As for who I am, I’m Eris. I am a draconequus, a being of pure chaos and the daughter of Discord!” She said as she floated in front of him.

“Why am I here?” He asked while looking around.

“Well usually my dad handles bringing you guys back from the dead like he did the last three times. But this time he brought you back but he’s too busy to handle the introduction so I’m filling in for him.” She said as she snapped her fingers, causing a chair made completely out of whoopee cushions, as she plopped down into the chair it made a loud fart sound for ten seconds straight.

“Comfy!” She giggled as she got comfy in the chair as the man approached her.

“What do you mean by ‘the last three’?” He asked in calm and smooth voice as Eris smiled.

“Well, your old friends Kenshin Himura, Sansosuke Sagara, and Saito Hajime have been brought to this world just as you have.” She said as the man standing in front of her remained calm but she could tell that she caught his attention.

“For what purpose?” He asked.

“Something about needing you guys to help us against an ancient enemy; you know the usual cliché scenario.” Eris said to the human to which he tilted his head in confusion at the last part, but before he could say anything the chaotic offspring held a talloned finger.

“Before you say anything, no I do not know the details. Dad didn’t tell me much of anything… I think he just wants to keep all the chaos for himself… Bastard.” She said with a pout.

“So why do you need me here?” He asked.

“Well we have two samurai and a street fighter. We need a ninja! That’s where you come in by cute hunky friend!” She laughed.

“What makes you think I’m a ninja?” The man asked with a calm and calculating voice.

“I know more about you than you think and you are definitely a ninja. Besides, don’t you want to reunite with your friends?” She said in a deadpan tone.

“Yes I do wish to be reunited with them but I still want answers.” He said in a serious tone.

Eris floated up to the man, mere inches from his face as she gave him a mischievous grin.

“Well to get those answers you’ll either have to go to my dad or your friends. I would find your friends if I were you… My dad can be a dick when it comes to giving answers; in fact he makes everything difficult. But that’s just my opinion cutie.” She said with a wink.

“Where do I find them?” He asked.

“You can find Kenshin in Ponyville, the others are making their way there now so you can meet up with them there.” She said to which the man nodded.

“Oh by the way here’s two gifts my dad told me to give you. The first one will hurt…a lot.” She said as she snapped her fingers, causing the man to fall to one knee, grunting in pain. As the pain subsided the man stood up.

“What did you do to me?” He huffed in anger.

“I made you younger, you are now eighteen years old. Oh and here, this is the second gift.” She said as she snapped her fingers making a bag of bits appear in his hands along with a what appeared to be a katana.

“Those are bits, the local currency. There is enough there to last you six months.” She said to which the man put the bag into his coat.

“Thanks.” He said.

“No problem… Oh one more thing. Don’t tell anypony about me, only my father and you know of my existence and I wanna be the one to surprise everypony.” She said to which he nodded.

“Good, seeya!” She said as she snapped her fingers, causing the man to disappear in a flash of light.

“For a guy that is all about order, he sure knows how to cause chaos if his past is anything to go by.” She said with a blush.

Eris sat back into her chair as a newspaper appeared in front of her which read.

“IN RECENT NEWS, THE CRIME RATE IN FILLYDELFPHIA HAS DROPPED BY NEARLY 90% IN ONE DAY!”

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The man was falling through the bright morning air at a high rate of speed. As he was falling through the sky he saw that he was falling over a jungle filled tropical island that had a gigantic temple that was hidden away deep within. If it wasn’t for him being directly above the jungle then he wouldn’t have seen it.

He was falling faster and faster with the wind rushing past him. As he came closer to the ground he saw that there was a giant opening in the top of the temple. The shinobi steered his body towards the opening in the roof and flew straight through it. He quickly readied his shuko and ashiko climbing claws and slammed them into the side of the temple walls, carving the spikes into them and slowing his decent down to a complete.

(Shuko, hand spikes for climbing)

(Ashiko, foot spikes for climbing)

“That could have gone much worse.” He thought to himself

Unfortunately it did when he heard the sound of fingers snapping, the rock from the wall crumbled, causing him to lose his grip and fall from wall.

As he fell he heard another loud snap which caused a stone coffin inside of the temple to open up and become filled with pillows and feathers. As he safely fell inside of the coffin he heard a third snap which caused the coffin to close on him.

“……Damn.” He said to himself.

“Sorry, I just couldn’t resist!” He heard Eris’s voice echo in his head.

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*Ancient temple*

Daring Doo was exploring the ancient temple for any clues as to the where abouts of the ninja. She looked at the ancient temple that once housed an ancient and powerful clan of shinobi, but their name was lost to the sands of time. She saw that the temple was old and in a state of ruin.

She walked into what appeared to be an armory with weapons that were hanging on racks and the walls. As she examined the weapons she noticed that most of them were in near mint condition, they must have had a preservation spell on them to protect them from the elements. She saw kasurigamas, ninjatos, katanas, spears, shuriken; along with hundreds of other exotic weapons that lined the walls.

“These things must have been here for over ten thousand years… It’s almost as if everypony just up and left, leaving everything behind. What could have caused this?” She said as she walked into what appeared to be a library filled with thousands upon thousands of ancient scrolls and books. She walked up to them and began to peruse and check each one.

She began to read some of them, when she saw that they were battle techniques and teachings of the shinobi, she knew that this was the find of the century as she filled her backpack as much as she could with the ancient scrolls. She pulled out her map and marked it on the map so that she could return with an archeological team to retrieve the artifacts and scrolls.

As she put the map away she turned around only to see Ahuizotl and a bunch of pirates that were obviously working for him. Before she could say anything she was struck across the head with a lead pipe by one of the pirates, knocking her out. As she faded out of consciousness she saw Ahuizotl laughing to himself as he picked up one of the scrolls and laughed.

“Finally, with the knowledge of the ninja I shall rule all of Equestria, then the world!” He bellowed as the mare finally faded into unconsciousness.

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The young man was quietly lying in wait inside of the stone coffin as he weighed his options. As he was about to exit the coffin he heard the sound of multiple voices talking and rummaging around the temple. He listened carefully as he was thinking of his next plan of action until he heard the voice of Eris.

“Oh yeah I forgot to tell you, there’s a Pegasus mare that needs your help. Her name is Daring Do and she’s in trouble also she knows how to get to Ponyville and she’s the only way off the island. A group of pirates captured her. Ironic isn’t it?” Eris said with a chuckle.

“Don’t say it.” The ninja said in an emotionless tone.

“Ninja vs pirate! Who will be the strongest warrior!” She said telepathically to which the ninja sighed in annoyance as he heard the sounds of hoofsteps clopping against the ground, growing closer and closer.

“Looks like it’s your time to shine Mare-ruto !” Eris giggled.

“Who?”

“A young mare with a blonde mane that dresses in an orange jump suit and calls herself a ninja, she always shouts ‘Believe it!’ when she rushes head first into every fight.” Eris explained.

“Whoever this Mare-ruto is I can easily tell you that she is in no way a real shinobi.” The man said with no emotion in his voice what so ever.

“Well, why don’t you show me how a real ninja gets his shit done, home boy!” Eris laughed.

“……As you wish.” He said as the hoofsteps stopped right next to the coffin. He slowly opened the coffin just enough to see a pony that was standing just in front of the coffin with his back facing the coffin, the human could see that the pony was armed with a giant cutlass. Without wasting a second the man reached out and pulled the pirate into the coffin while locking him in a head lock. As the stallion struggled the ninja simply tightened his grip and held the pirate until he passed out. The man released the stallion and laid him down right next to him in the coffin.

The human opened the coffin slightly again to check if there were more enemies, when he saw none he quickly but silently exited the stone coffin and silently took off into the deep dark depths of the temple.

As he ran down an old stone hallway, the human came upon two earth pony pirates that were holding cutlasses in hand along with tiny hand crossbows. The ponies were too busy with their conversation that they didn’t notice the shinobi that hid in the shadows, ease dropping on their conversation.

“Do you actually think that what the boss said is true?” The first pirate asked.

“I don’t know, it sounds kinda of far-fetched if you ask me. I mean using that necklace to bring back some ancient ninja master. Seems like bullshit to me.” The second pirate said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I heard the boss caught Daring Do. That bitch sure has one hot flank. I can’t wait to bend her over and have some fun with her, she’s one hot piece of flank.” The first pirate said as he turned to see that his comrade was gone. Before he could say anything else he immediately felt a vice like grip wrap around his throat and slam him against the wall.

What he saw terrified him. Standing in front of him and choking him to death was an actual living breathing ninja. His was dressed in a black and navy blue sleeveless shozoku that covered his body along with a midnight black long sleeved shirt that he wore underneath. In addition he wore a mask that covered his face and head, only showing his eyes which were an icy cold blue that stared straight through the pirate’s soul.

“……I’m so fucked.” The stallion said.

“Yes… Yes you are.” The ninja said as he knocked the weapons out of the stallion’s hand while still maintaining the choke hold on his enemy.

“Tell me where this Daring Do is.” The human ordered the pirate in a calm and cool voice that held a very deadly edge to it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking abou-AGH!” The Pirate tried to lie but only felt an extreme surge of pain shoot through his hand as the ninja broke one of his fingers.

“Don’t lie to me, I heard you talking to your friend about how you were going to rape her. Where is she?” He asked with no emotion in his voice. Just a cold icy tone which sent chills of fear down the stallion’s spine.

“If I told you then my boss would kill me.”

“What makes you think I won’t?” The shinobi said as he tightened his grip on the stallion’s windpipe causing him to gag.

“A-Alright!*Cough* Alright! She’s in the holding cell in the burial chambers.” He gasped in pain.

“Where are the burial chambers?” He demanded.

“It’s in the center of the temple, you can’t miss it, it has four marked graves.” The stallion said rabidly in fear.

“What is your boss Ahuizotl planning?” The ninja pressed on the stallion’s windpipe more.

“I-I don’t kno- *CRACK!* AGH!” The pirate screamed as the shinobi broke another one of his fingers.

“What is your boss planning? If you lie again I’m just going to kill you and interrogate another one of your friends. Got it?” The man stated with no emotion whatsoever.

“H-He had us break into this ninja temple so he could get some scrolls or something that could teach him ninjutsu or something. He plans on raising some anienct ninja grand master from the dead so it can train an army for him. That’s all I know, I swear.” The pirate begged as a second pirate was slowly trying to sneak up on the human from behind.

At that moment the hidden assailant lunged at the man with his sword drawn only for him to sidestep the attack causing the stallion’s sword to run his friend through. Before the stallion could even react to what was happening the ninja through an open palm strike the stallion’s chest which caused his heart to rupture and exploded.

“Pathetic.” Was all the man said as he turned his attention to down the stone hall for a few seconds before taking off into a dead run.

(Start Song)

(This is a fast paced scene)

The ninja was now a man on a mission. He dashed down the hallway as silent as death itself. As he was coming upon the end of the hallway he saw two pirates who were standing guard. They never heard him coming as he pulled out a kunai knife and stabbed it into the first pirate’s carotid artery causing blood to splurt out everywhere in time with his heartbeats.

Before the second pirate could even scream for help, the tall man disappeared from in front of the pirate and reappeared behind him. The man’s left hand was placed on the back of the stallion’s head while his right hand was placed just under the stallion’s chin, gripping it tightly. With little effort he jerked the pirates head to the right, snapping it like as it made a dull ‘CLICK!’ sound. He quickly dragged both of the bodies into the shadows and took off again. As he tried to make his way to the center of the temple he saw that he was coming upon a tall wall that once had a stair well which had crumbled away to time.

This was of no concern to the ninja however as he leaped through the air and used his shuko and ashiko to climb the fifty foot wall like a spider as if it were nothing as he made it to the top. The man made it to the top of the wall in a matter of seconds. But as he was hanging from the ledge he saw another pirate that was a unicorn who was standing at the ledge. The pirate never noticed the silent assassin who reached up and grabbed his ankle and yanked him off the ledged and letting him fall to his death as he screamed for a few seconds as he fell to his death only for it to be cut off as he hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

The ninja knew that the pony’s scream would attract more enemies. He pulled himself up and leaped up into the rafters of the old temple and hid as two Pegasus flew to where they heard the scream.

“What are these creatures?” The man thought to himself as he noted their features. He was intrigued to see that this particular type of enemy could fly.

He pulled out a shuriken and hurled it at the flying pirates. The shuriken found their marks in the Pegasus’s necks. Blood shot from their now severed jugular veins as they fell to the ground; they died before they ever hit the ground.

The shinobi then continued to move on as he leaped through the rafters silently and found his way into an old armory. He saw two unicorn soldiers that were different than the other enemies that he was fighting. As he stared at the two he could definitely tell that they were different than the pirates that he encountered, these guys had specialized armor that was a metallic black that covered the shoulders, chest, legs, shins, and they had masks that covered their faces, they each wore a knight’s sword at their sides. Just by looking at these two he could tell that they were trained, very well trained… But not trained enough.

At that moment one of them was bending backwards slightly in an attempt to stretch his back. When the unicorn did his gaze turned upwards and he spotted the lone ninja up in the rafters.

“HOLY SHIT!!!” The unicorn shouted as the ninja dove out of the rafters and slammed a flying kick into his windpipe, crushing it as if it were nothing. At that moment the second armored unicorn realized what was happening lunged at the man and threw two rapid punches followed by a kick. The shinobi was able dodge the strikes easily before he threw a roundhouse kick to the unicorns head, sending him stumbling backwards in pain.

“You’ll never win but you are more than welcome to try.” The ninja said mockingly.

At that moment the stallion drew his sword as his horn glowed with magic. This caused the human’s eyes to go wide as the unicorn fired a bolt of magic at the man. At that moment the man dodged the attack out of pure reflex by flipping sideways and out of the way of the blast. The man could not believe what he just saw.

At that moment he found himself covered in a red aura only for it to disappear. The unicorn was confused by the fact that he could not grab the man with his telekinesis. But he quickly shrugged it off as he lunged at the man with his sword, slashing and cutting at him only for him to vanish and appear behind him or o his side whenever he dodged the attacks. This pissed of the stallion.

“Why aren’t you drawing your sword?” The stallion growled as he noticed the Japanese long sword strapped to the man’s back.

“There’s no reason for me to use it against a weakling like you.” The human said while smirking under his mask. This caused the stallion to scream in rage as he lunged at the ninja only for him to grab him by the wrist and flip him onto his back, turning the stallion’s sword against him as he stabbed it into the unicorn’s skull.

As the unicorn died more pirates and ponies wearing the black armored suits came rushing into the armory with weapons drawn while others grabbed some of the ninja weapons off of the walls, thinking that it would even the odds and give them a fighting chance. The man simply grabbed a bow staff from the wall and took a stance. Everything was silent as everyone stared at each other.

As the sun shined through the hole that was in the roof of the armory as he stood there. Then all at once, everypony attacked the man. The first two lunged at the man and slashed at him only for their attacks to blocked or parried by the bow staff. The man simply stabbed the end of the bow staff into the first pirate’s throat with so much force that it not only crushed his windpipe but snapped his neck as well, killing him instantly. He then swung the bow staff and slammed it into second stallion’s skull, caving it in as if it were nothing.

But before he follow up with another attack the bow staff was yanked out of his grasp by the magic of one of the unicorns who had a smirk on their face. At that moment one of the pirates who had managed to grab a Kasurigama, hurled the weighted end of the chain at the man. The chained weight was thrown so sloppily that it was easy for the ninja to avoid the weight and catch the chain. Once he had the chain in his grasp he yanked it, pulling the pirate towards him and snatched the chain sickle from his hand. Before he could even react the man slashed the pirate’s throat with the sickle of his newly acquired Kasurigama. As blood spurted everywhere he began to spin the weight that was connected to the end of the chain with his left hand as he held the sickle with his right hand.

One of the armored ponies lunged at the man with his sword drawn only for the shinobi to throw the chained weight at the stallion. The chain wrapped around the sword and before the stallion could even react it was yanked from his grasp and sent flying through the air and straight into another armored pony’s skull. As the body hit the ground, the man lunged at the now disarmed pony and stabbed the sickle straight into the chest and into his heart.

As he yanked the sickle out of the stallion’s chest and let the body slump to the ground, he turned to see that there were twenty five enemies left.

“You’re outnumbered! Just give up!” One of the pirates shouted.

“And you are out matched.” The masked shinobi said causing his enemies to seethe with rage.

“You must be an idiot to think you can defeat us!” One of the pirates shouted only for the chained weight to slam into his skull with such force that it cracked the stallion’s skull and killed him. Another armored stallion lunged at the man with a pair of sais only for the man to hurl the weight at his legs, causing it to wrap around one of his legs and pull him to the ground, the ninja leaped through the air and landed on the armored stallion’s chest, crushing his chest and ending his life. He then hurled the sickle at another stallion which found it’s mark in his forehead, adding another corpse to the body count.

The shinobi then grabbed the two sai off of the dead pirate and readied himself as seven pirates charged at him. The first one slashed at the human only for him to catch the blade with the one of the sais and stabbed him with the second on the heart. As he yanked the sai out of the stallion’s chest as the second one came at him. The pirate unleashed a flurry of strikes on the man who simply blocked every strike with the Sais. The pirate then slashed at the shinobi’s throat only for the blade to be caught by the sai. The man twisted the sai, causing the blade to be flung out of the pirate’s hand and clatter to the ground. The man then stabbed one of the sais straight into pirates brain. As a third one tried to strike the man with his sword he caught the blade with one sai and twisted it causing it to snap the sword while he hurled the other sai into the skull of another enemy. He then quickly snapped the neck of the pirate with the broken sword right before he hurled a flurry of kunai at the three other charging ponies, filling them with knives as the hit the ground dead.

(End Song)

At that moment a few of the pirates ran to the wall and grabbed some of the weapons. What caught the eye of the ninja was that a few of them managed to grab a short looking sword.

“Hm, you do not even know how to use that weapon, do you?” The human asked in a calm and monotone voice as he walked towards one of the pirates who was now shaking.

“W-What the fuck does it matter, it’s just a weapon and I’m gonna slit your throat with it!” The stallion screamed.

“It’s a called a Kodachi and in the hands of a master it’s possibilities are endless.” The ninja said as he tore off his outfit along with his mask only to reveal a man with raven black hair and piercing blue eyes that was wearing a white trench coat that had a gold trimmed collar. Underneath was a navy blue shozoku along with black leather boots. Everyone was shocked at what they saw. The man then raised his sword in front of him with one hand firmly gripping the end of the saya while his other hand gripped the handle firmly.

“I don’t know what the fuck you are, but there is no way you’ll be able to draw that long sword fast enough to stop all fifteen of us!” The pirate screamed as he and the fourteen other pirates all lunged at the man.

“When you get to hell, tell them that Aoshi Shinomori sent you and then apologize on my behalf for the inconvenience.” Aoshi said as he drew two kodachi’s from the same scabbard and slaughtered all fifteen pirates in one strike.

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*POV: Daring Do - 3 Hours Later*

The young adventurer slowly came to as she slowly woke up. She put a hand to her forehead , she winced in pain as she felt the lump on the side of her head from the blow she took earlier.

“Well, it seems that you are finally awake Miss Do.” A familiar voice said as she went wide eyed when she saw the owner of the voice.

“AHUIZOTL!!!” Daring Do screamed in anger as she saw her number one enemy.

“You bastard, what the hell are you doing here?” She demanded.

“Ah yes, well I’ve been following you for quite some time. I knew you were searching for this very temple. All I needed to do was follow you to the treasure and with you out of the way it’s all mine.” Ahuizotl said.

“Treasure? What treasure?” The tan Pegasus asked with confusion until it dawned on her.

“The scrolls!” She shrieked.

“Correct miss do, I have been searching for these scrolls for quite some time.” He said as he stared at one of the scrolls that he held in his hands that he grabbed from the many others that were hidden away in the temple.

“These scrolls carry the ancient knowledge of the ninja of the past. Within these scrolls are ancient battle tactics that are far more superior to even the most elite of combat training that is available to this day. With this knowledge I could easily amass and train a deadly army to take over all of Equestria and then the world.” He said with a demented grin.

“You bastard, those belong in a museum for the whole world to see and learn from!” Daring shouted as she gave her arch enemy a murderous glare.

“Oh you poor naïve child, you have no idea what the knowledge that these scrolls and books hold. These tomes on the art of ninjutsu were written by the greatest ninja clan to ever exist! The Poniwabanshu!” He stated, his grin getting disturbingly wider.

“The ninja could easily take down any opponent, no matter who they were. When royalty would call on them for their services they would quiver in fear and for good reason. Ninja made the rules, not royalty. Imagine it, the power to make even the Princesses bow before you in fear. That power is mine now!” He laughed as Daring Do gave him a death glare.

“It’ll never work, just because you have the books doesn’t mean that it’ll work. It’s not the same as having an actual ninja train you.” She declared in defiance.

“Ah, you see that’s where you are wrong my dear.” He said as he pulled out a talisman that was on a silver chain which had a pendant that held beautiful ice blue sapphire on it. Deep inside the sapphire was a faint glowing light.

“According to the scrolls, the leader of the Poniwabanshu can be summoned back from the dead with this talisman and will do the bidding of the one that wields it and that just so happens to be me.” He said with a smirk.

“You’re insane! Do you have any idea what you’re unleashing!?” She shouted causing Ahuizotl to laugh mockingly.

“When I bring back the ninja, my first order for him will be to gut you alive.” Ahuizotl said as he busted out in laughter as he walked off, leaving the mare by herself in the cold and dark cell.

“Dammit, I can’t believe that I got caught… Ok, think Daring. You can do this, just gotta figure out how to escape and stop Ahuizotl.” She said as she went up to the cell’s bars and took a look around to see how many guards there were.

She saw many pirates that were standing guard or patrolling around the area. As she surveyed the area she saw that it was a burial chamber that was filled with many graves that belonged to the ninja that once lived and ran the temple. But four graves stood out as they sat in the middle of the burial chamber. They were in a circle as they surrounded what appeared to be an altar of sorts.

As she looked around some more she saw a pirate that was too busy getting drunk to even do his job. She figured she might be able use this to advantage to escape but before she could, she saw a pale hand come out of the shadows and clamp over the pirates mouth and dragged him into the shadows without a trace. Then after a few seconds of what happened Daring Do saw something that sent chills of fear down her spine. In the darkness she could just barely make out a tall thin figure in the shadows. It had raven black hair and pale white skin; it appeared to be a primate of some sort. It was obviously a male judging by its appearance it, he wore a pale white/grey trench coat and in his hands were what appeared to be two short swords. She identified them as Kodachi’s thanks to her endless hours of research on Neighponies culture.

As she saw the ninja weapons in his hands and saw his stealth skills it dawned on her. This stallion was a ninja. He had to be! The way he moved and carried himself screamed that he had power and skill that was far beyond anypony’s comprehension.

What terrified her most were its cold and piercing blue eyes that felt as if they were peering directly into her soul and through it. The creature then simply brought a finger to his lips in Sh gesture, signaling her to remain quiet as he stepped back into the shadows and disappeared without a trace.

Daring Do could not believe what she had just seen. She was both terrified and excited. Was he helping her? She didn’t know but she could only hope that he was. But as she looked around the whole entire room she saw that the pirates that were standing guard were all starting to disappear.

“Does he have a whole team of ninja with him? Yes, that has to be it! There’s no way he can be taking them down all by himself!” Daring Do thought to herself as the last of the guards disappeared into the shadows by the hands of the ninja.

As the room was now practically empty Ahuitzotl took no notice as he stood at the altar that was surrounded by the four grave stones that read:

Scorched Shadow – The burnt shinobi

Scarred Strength – The muscle stallion

Venom Strike – The poison master

Dragon Breathe – The stallion who breathes fire

Ahuitzotl simply shrugged it off as he stood at the altar and laid the sapphire necklace/talisman on the pedestal, he took a knife and sliced the palm of his hand just enough to draw blood and let it poor on the sapphire, causing it to glow. As it glowed he pulled out a scroll and began to read its contents out loud to which the gem glowed more and more. The chanting was in another language to which not even Daring Do could understand.

In the meantime, while Ahuitzotl was busy with his ceremony, Daring Do was busy trying to pick the lock to her cell with a set of lock picks. As she tried to unlock the door to her cell she felt a hand cover her mouth and pull her into the shadows. She tried to scream but it was useless, her screams were rendered silent by the hand covering her mouth. As she began to panic she heard the voice of the owner of the hand.

“Shhhhh.” He said gently.

“It’s okay; I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to rescue you. Now I’m going to let go of you but I need you to stay calm. You can’t scream under any circumstance. Do you understand?” He said in a calm but ice cold voice. Daring Do nodded as she let out a muffled ‘Mhm’.

“Good.” He said as he removed his hand from the mares mouth to which she quickly turned around to see who was behind her. When she did her eyes became as wide as saucers.

“W-What are you?” She gasped in surprise as she saw the man standing in front of her.

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing?” He replied calmly.

“I-I’m a pony, a Pegasus to be exact. My name is Daring Do… What about you?” She stuttered nervously as she looked into his ice blue eyes. She didn’t know why but his eyes may have been as cold as ice but they were making her face heat up as she blushed.

“That would explain a lot… I’m a human by the way.” He said.

“I-I can’t believe it… I’m standing in front of not only a human, but a human that is a ninja… This…This is the discovery of a life time! No! The discovery of a millennium!” She said with a look of adventure and glee in her eyes. The shinobi could only raise an eyebrow at the tomboyish mare’s antics.

“What are you talking about?” Aoshi asked with a sigh.

“You! You’re a ninja, you guys have been gone for over ten-thousand years! Where did the ninja go? What are they doing now? Who do you work for? Where’s your team? Who are you? What clan are you from? Why did-” She was silenced as Aoshi put his hand over the mares mouth to silence her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about on some of those questions. Also, I don’t have a team with me.” He replied.

“What do you mean you don’t have a team? Are you expecting me to believe that you took down all those pirates by yourself?” She questioned him in disbelief.

“Belief what you want. But it does not change the current situation that you need to be rescued.” He stated coldly.

“Who are you ninja?” She questioned as she pointed a finger at him.

“I am Aoshi Shinomori.” He stated.

“Alright Aoshi, how do I know that you’re not really working for Ahuizotl and this is some kind of trick, huh.” She said as her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“I do not work for this ‘Ahuitzotl’ nor do I know him. Besides, why would your enemies try to trick you once they have already caught you and have you at their mercy?” He answered.

“Oh, uh heh heh… you have a point there.” She said as she nervously scratched the back of her head as a blush crossed her face.

“We need to get out of here before they notice the missing guards.” He said as he approached the door, but before he could attempt to open it Daring stepped in front of him and smiled a cocky grin.

“Don’t worry, I got this. Let the mare handle this.” She said with a wink as she tried to pick the lock again. As she tried to open the old cell door she found it more difficult than she first thought it would be as the lock refused to corporate with her and open as she fumbled with the lock picks.

“Need some help?” Aoshi asked.

“No, no. I got this. This is a job for a mare.” She said which confused Aoshi as he wondered what she meant by that but he decided to give her two more minutes tops. The mare kept trying to get the lock open until the man finally lost his patience and walked up to the door.

“What are you-” Daring Do was cut off as the man simply punched the cell doors rusty lock, causing it to shatter into dust.

“Now that that is out of the way let’s go.” Aoshi said to the awestruck mare as he quietly pushed the cell door open.

“H-How did you do that!?” Daring Do demanded.

“Years of training.” He simply said with no emotion what so ever in his voice.

“Wow, you’re much different than the ninja’s that are portrayed in the media.” She said.

“Really? How are we portrayed?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well mostly as action heroes like in Mare-ruto. But sometimes like this.” She said as she pulled out her cell phone and showed the man a video.

The man was silent as he just stood there with no emotion on his face what so ever. His emotionless expression began to creep the mare out as he continued to stand there like a statue.

“Aoshi?… You okay?” The mare said as she put the phone away.

“What…The hell…Was that?” He said as he his eye twitched slightly in annoyance at what he just saw.

“That was just some random video. Why?” She said in confusion only for Aoshi to run a hand down his face he turned to face her.

“Why did you come here to this shinobi temple?” Aoshi asked Daring Do.

“Well I’m an adventurer, archeologist, a book writer, and I sometimes fill the role of a college professor from time to time when I’m bored. I came here trying to find out some information on the ancient ninja clan that lived in this temple thousands of years ago. The clan’s name was thought to have been lost to time but Ahuizotl said the clan’s name was the Poniwabanshu. My goal was to see if I could find any artifacts that could help me and my colleges find out more about the history of the ninja. But I found something even better. You!” She said the last part with excitement in her voice as she latched onto the man’s arm.

The man looked at the mare with a raised eyebrow which caused her face to turn red with embarrassment when she realized what she was doing. She immediately let go with a blush on her face.

“What did you say the name of the clan was again?” He asked with seriousness.

“The Poniwabanshu, why?” Daring asked while tilting her head to the side in confusion.

“No reason, the name is just very similar to another name that is of great importance to me. But I will be sure to stop this Ahuizotl for you though.” He said. Daring Do decided to let the subject drop when she saw the look on the man’s face.

“We got to move and get out of here while we still can.” He said to which Daring nodded.

“Okay but once we get out of here you going to tell me everything you about yourself and ninja culture.” Daring said with a determined look on her face as she faced the man who was much to her surprise smirking.

“Oh really? What makes you think I’ll tell you anything?” He said with a quirked eyebrow while still maintaining his smirk.

“Y-You have to tell me! You’re the find of a lifetime; you’re possibly the only ninja alive! Your knowledge is the treasure that everypony around the world will seek! It needs to be shared with the world! You are probably literally the last of a dying breed; we need to get you some students so you can keep your way of life alive, you’ll probably be classified as a protected and endangered specious!” The mare said with determination in both her voice and eyes as approached the man.

“Think carefully about what you have just said child, you are asking a shinobi to step out of the shadows and reveal himself to the world when a shinobi’s life revolves around staying hidden and in the shadows.” Aoshi explained to the young mare who reminded him of his old student Misao.

“W-What!? I am not a foal! Do these look like the flanks of a foal to you!” Daring Do said as she turned around with her back side facing Aoshi and gave her flanks a nice smack with her hand which caused them to jiggle quite nicely in her green safari shorts.

“Despite how lovely and voluptuous they are, we need to get going.” He said emotionlessly to the mare.

“Okay fine- Wait what!?” The mare’s eyes widen as a blush spread across her face while she was walking to the cell door, her hooves clopping loudly against the stone floor. This caused Aoshi to turn towards her.

“Your hooves make too much noise.” He said to the mare.

“What?” Daring looked at the man angrily.

“Your hooves make a clopping sound whenever you walk around.” Aoshi explained.

“Well I can’t help it!” She said as the man pulled out two pieces of cloth.

“What are you doing?” She asked with surprise when the man knelt down and grabbed one of her hooves and began wrapping the cloth around and then did the same to the other hoof.

“There, your hooves won’t make a sound now.” Aoshi said as he got up.

“Alright let’s do this.” Daring said as she faced the man and said something that caught him off guard.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you Aoshi.” Daring Do said to Aoshi with a sense of bravado.

“…What?”

“I said I’ll protect you. You are a stallion after all and it’s my job as a mare to protect you and take down all of the bad guys and pirates.” Daring explained to the man.

“…I believe I am missing something here. I’m not a sexist in anyway or form but I have to ask but why would a mare protect a stallion.” Aoshi asked curiously causing Daring to look at him as if he grew a second head.

“Why? Mares outnumber stallions ten to one, due to the lack of stallions! Due to the lack of stallions, mares have to protect the stallions. Mares have always been the dominant gender in Equestria, we mares have always been the protectors, the providers, and the leaders due to the small population of stallions.” She said to the man who just stared at her.

“It’s the other way around were I’m from believe it or not.” Aoshi told the mare who looked shock at what he had just said.

“Where are you from? Another world?” She asked while ti.

“If only you knew.” Aoshi thought to himself.

“We’ll I’m still going to protect-” She was cut off as she saw one of Ahuizotl’s elite mercenaries who was dressed from head to hoof in black armor with a raised sword already coming down on Aoshi’s head as he stood directly behind the man. Before the mare could scream a warning to the man, he disappeared only to reappear behind the mercenary and snap his neck as if it were nothing. Aoshi simply threw the body into a shadowy corner and simply turned to the mare that was now staring wide eyed at the man with fear and shock. But what disturbed her most was that his expression never changed, he just remained emotionless.

“I-It looks like you can t-take care of y-yourself.” Daring Do said with a shaky voice.

“Keep to the shadows and stay quiet, only talk if you really need to, okay.” Aoshi explained to which Daring Do nodded as they darted out of the cell and off into the shadows. Both with the same goal of stopping Ahuizotl in mind.

______________________________________________________________________________

*The Burial Grounds*

Ahuizotl had just finished chanting the words that were written on the scroll and laid the sapphire gem necklace on the little slot on the altar. He looked around to see if anything would happen. He made sure to add his blood to the ritual just like the scroll had said so that the ninja would recognize and obey only him. Yet nothing happened.

“Dammit, why the hell is the talisman not working! This thing was supposed to summon the leader of a great ninja clan, where the hell is he!” Ahuizotl said with anger while the pirates he hired stood guard. He couldn’t help but get the feeling that there were now a lot less pirates than before.

“I’m right here.” Said a voice directly behind Ahuizotl that came from the shadows, Ahuizotl felt a razor sharp blade being pressed against his throat. But before anything else could be said the hand at the end of Ahuizotl’s tail shot forth and swung at the owner of the voice with a knife that was hidden only for the unknown assailant to dodge the knife with a backflip. Ahuizotl quickly turned around and faced the man that was standing behind him.

“Who are you?” Ahuizotl asked with both curiosity and anger.

“You asked for a ninja, well you got one.” Aoshi said with a cold stare.

“Ah, so the ritual did work.” Ahuizotl said with a sadistic smile as he looked the man up and down while walking on top of the four graves which caught Aoshi’s eye to which he paid no mind to what the dog like creature was even saying at this point as he stared at the names and the epitaphs on the graves.

Scorched Shadow – The burnt shinobi

Scarred Strength – The muscle stallion

Venom Strike – The poison master

Dragon Breathe – The stallion who breathes fire

Those four names reminded him so much of his four dead friends, Han’nya, Shikijō, Beshimi, and Hyottoko.

“Hey! Are you listening to me? I am your new master now!” Ahuizotl ordered the man who simply ignored him as he began to approach the dog like creature.

“You’re standing on the graves of fallen shinobi… Move.” Was all that Aoshi said as a few pirates got ready to attack the man only for Daring Do to come bolting out of nowhere and perform a flying tackle on the three pirates, sending them to the ground, knocked out. Compared to most Pegasus Daring Do was very strong thanks to all of her time adventuring and treasure hunting.

“Take that you cowards!” Daring shouted in triumph.

“How dare you talk to me like that I am-” Ahuizotl never got the chance to finish as he received a hard kick to the stomach. Both knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying back into a stone wall behind him. Ahuizotl was coughing for ten seconds before he slowly forced himself back up.

“If that’s how you want to be then I will teach you some discipline.” Ahuizotl growled before he whistled out loud which caused two cheetah men like creatures walking out of the shadows. As he stared at them they charged at him at blinding speeds which horrified Daring.

“Aoshi watch out! Those guys are his fastest and most elite-” Before the mare could even finish her sentence the man was already behind the two cheetah creatures with his two kodachi’s in hand. A second later blood was spraying from the two cheetahs throats as they both fell to the ground dead.

“-dead bodyguards.” She finished in shock and awe.

“Where the hell are my minions!” Ahuizotl bellowed in anger.

“Dead.” Aoshi stated.

“I-Impossible! Dammit ninja you will do as I command!” Ahuizotl screamed in anger to which the whole temple began to shake as the necklace began to glow and floated over off of the altar and flashed a bright blue light that temporary blinded everyone in the room.

When the blue light faded everyone was surprised at what they saw. Standing in front Ahuizotl was a tall Pegasus stallion that wore a trench coat that was very similar to Aoshi’s. The stallion had a raven black mane and a grey coat of fur. But two things stood out the most about the stallion, the first was piercing blue eyes. The second was that he looked like a walking corpse. His mane looked like it had lost its luster and sheen while his eyes looked like they were glazed over while his fur looked like its fur’s color had faded. His wings were missing a few feathers as well. But what disturbed Daring Do the most was that the stallion looked like a pony version of Aoshi.

“I am Lifeless Gaze and I am the leader of the Poniwabanshu.” He said to the evil treasure hunter whose eyes lit up with evil glee as he stared at the ninja in front of him.

“I am your new master now, understand?” The Ahuizotl said.

“Yes master.” Lifeless Gaze said with no emotion in his voice whatsoever.

(Start Song)

“Good, now kill that ninja and Daring Do.” Ahuizotl commanded to which the ninja nodded and leapt into action. The ninja pony lunged at the man, seeing him as the bigger threat of the two. The undead pony pulled out two kodachi’s from his trench coat and unleashed a flurry of slashes on the man. But thanks to Aoshi’s speed he was able to block every single attack.

At that moment Lifeless Gaze spread his wings widely and shot into the air as he unleashed a flurry of shuriken at Aoshi. The human dodged the barrage with multiple backwards handsprings as the shuriken struck the ground. Aoshi then leapt into the air at the undead Pegasus as he himself unleashed a flurry of strikes with his kodachi all of which were blocked. They both landed back on the ground and leapt away from each other and put some distance between themselves. Daring Do could only watch in awe as her jaw hit the ground but she soon shook her head and snapped herself out of her awe and was about to fly over to Aoshi’s side only for him to stop her.

“That would not be a wise decision.” Aoshi warned.

“What are you talking about? I can help you Aoshi!” Daring explained as she hovered in the air.

“You would only get in my way, this stallion is a trained killer and he would not hesitate to kill you.” Aoshi stated when in just that moment the stallion disappeared and reappeared in front of Daring Do causing the mare’s eyes to widen in surprise and fear but before he could strike the mare, Aoshi managed to jump in front of the mare and block the stallion’s kodachi and slam a kick into the stallions chest sending him flying back.

“See what I mean.” Aoshi stated plainly.

Daring could not believe it. A split second later and she would have been dead. Cut to pieces. She couldn’t stop shaking at the fact that she was so close to death.

“DARING!” Daring was snapped out of her trance by the human.

“Stay focused and go after Ahuizotl.” The man said to the mare as she nodded and flew after her arch enemy who was trying to escape.

In that moment Lifeless Gaze took advantage of Aoshi be distracted and managed to deliver bone crushing punch to the man’s stomach knocking the wind out of him. Luckily the shinobi managed to recover and slash the stallion across the chest. The stallion examined his wounded chest.

“Interesting… Your speed is quite remarkable but it will take much more than that to kill me.” Lifeless Gaze said with no emotion.

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing.” Aoshi replied. Fighting this stallion made him feel like he was fighting himself.

They both lunged at each other again. Lifeless Gaze delivered three swift slashes to Aoshi to which he dodged all of them. Aoshi ducked under one of the stallion’s wings that had a wing blade attached to it. Aoshi found the hidden weapon intriguing but remained focused on the fight as he slammed a bone crushing punch into the stallion’s chest followed by two rapid kicks to the chest along with a slash aimed at the Lifeless Gaze’s throat. But before the blade could slice the stallion’s jugular, Lifeless Gaze blocked the attack with his kodachi and delivered a flurry of slashes to the man. Aoshi tried to block all of them but unfortunately was overpowered by the sheer strength of the strike and screamed in pain as he was caught in a whirl wind of slashes that hit him all over his body.

“Aoshi!” Daring Do screamed as she saw the man fall to the ground covered in blood. But just at that moment Ahuizotl threw a punch at her that she barely dodged in her shock and horror. She managed to deliver a flying tackle to her opponent.

Meanwhile Aoshi managed to fling his body up and spin on his head while keeping his legs in a split. While he was spinning his feet were slamming over and over again into Lifeless Gaze’s face sending him flying backwards. The whole thing looked as if Aoshi were performing a deadly breaking dancing move.

“Don’t worry about me, focus on your fight.” Aoshi said to Daring Do who nodded at the man before delivering a right hook to Ahuizotl’s jaw.

The undead ninja stallion managed to right himself in midair and launch himself at Aoshi with his wing blades at the ready. Luckily, Aoshi ducked just in time for the wing blades to pass over his head and slice a few strands of his hair.

As the Pegasus stallion was directly above the man, Aoshi drove his fist directly into the stallion’s stomach right before unleashing a flurry of rabid punches into the undead shinobi’s stomach. Aoshi followed up on his barrage with a hard kick to the stallions chin, sending him flipping backwards through the air. As the stallion righted him himself in the air once again, he heard a low hissing sound going through the air. What he saw made his eyes go wide as dinner plates. Directly in front of his face was a black ball like object that had a fuse that was sticking out of it that was lit. It was a bomb.

*BOOM!!!!!!!

(End Song)

The blast shook Daring Do and the immediate area as she turned to see what was going on as she finished tying up Ahuizotl. Her eyes went wide at what she saw as smoke covered most of the area.

“DAAAAAAAAAMN, AOSHI!!!! DID YOU HAVE TO BLOW HIM UP!?!?!? ONLY TEN PERCENT OF THE POPULATION IS MADE UP OF STALLIONS!!!! YOU GUYS ARE RARE!!!!” Daring Do shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Considering how many stallions I’ve killed today that number has dropped by a lot.” Aoshi stated apathetically.

“WHAT!!!” The mare shrieked at the top of her lungs. At that moment the two were brought out of their argument by a familiar voice.

“SHINOBI!!! BY MY SIDE!!!” Lifeless Gaze shouted at the top of his lungs as Daring and Aoshi saw him standing relativity intact in the middle of the burial chamber as the smoke cleared. Daring was shocked by the fact that he was still alive while Aoshi knew that the stallion simply used his speed to avoid the brunt of the blast.

At that moment the ground around the four graves began to shake and rumble as the whole temple began to quake. Ahuizotl began to smile dementedly at what he was seeing.

At that moment the four graves that Aoshi saw earlier began to glow brightly with a bright cobalt blue light. They began to hear the loud groaning and moaning sounds that sounded like they came out of a zombie movie. At that moment the graves opened with a loud explosion as four undead ponies leapt out of their coffins.

What Aoshi saw chilled him to the core as both happy and horrible memories of his past began to flood his minds.

“I am Scorched Shadow, martial arts expert of the Poniwabanshu!” A heavily burnt zebra stallion said in a deep voice as he took a battle stance. Covering his heavily burnt body was a navy blue, sleeveless Shozoku that had a black trim on it while his arms had a black and white stripes on his arms. On his face was a Japanese styled demon mask. Aoshi’s eyes were wide as he stared at what looked like a pony version of Han’nya.

“I am Scarred Strength, the strongest of the Poniwabanshu when it comes to physical strength!” A monster of an earth pony stallion shouted. He was an earth pony stallion with a sandy blonde coat with a dark brown mane that towered over Aoshi. His body was made of pure muscle while it was covered from head to hoof in scars. He wore only a pair of black pants. Aoshi couldn’t help but think of Shikijō as he stared at the stallion.

“I am Venom Strike, master of poisons and potions for the Poniwabanshu!” A short thin gangly unicorn stallion with a black spikey mane and grey fur laughed dementedly. He wore a dark purple, loose fitting kimino. When he saw the unicorn in front of him he saw an image of Beshimi flash in his mind.

“I am Dragon Breathe, fire breather of the Poniwabanshu!” An enormous Pegasus stallion with a blazing red coat of fur and a brown mane said with a huge belly that shook as he spoke. He had two bucked teeth on his top jaw along with two bucked teeth on his bottom jaw. The stallion looked almost exactly like Hyottoko if he were a pony.

Aoshi was speechless at what he saw. These guys were basically like the pony versions of his best friends of the Oniwabanshu and it shook him to the core. He felt a huge wave of guilt hit him like a ton of bricks as he remembered how his friends sacrificed their lives for him.

As Aoshi gripped his two Kodachi’s, he did something that he had never done before. He hesitated, and it did not go unnoticed. The four ponies lunged at the man.

Scorched Shadow lunged at Aoshi first with such amazing speed that Aoshi could barely register the first strike before it hit him in the chin. The stripes on the Zebra’s arms made it look as though he had shorter arms than what he actually had. Aoshi was very familiar with this technique. It was Han’nya’s favorite technique. Aoshi tried to block the attack but he was still getting hit by every other strike. He received a hard kick to the stomach that sent him skidding backwards disoriented from the blood loss that he was suffering from the slashes that Lifeless Gaze gave him earlier and the punches he just received didn’t help either.

At that moment Scarred Strength lunged at the bloodied and disoriented man. He slammed two bone crushing punches into the man’s chest and face. The punches sent Aoshi flying through the air as he felt explosions of pain all over his body as he hit the ground.

“Dammit, I can’t stop seeing them when I look at these ponies!” Aoshi berated himself as he kept seeing his dead comrades every time he looked at the four ponies.

Out of nowhere Venom Strike took advantage of the situation and fired a blast of purple magic blasts at the man. Each one of the blasts looked like darts that were made out of purple light and each one of them were poisonous. Aoshi managed to fight through the pain and dizziness that he was suffering from blood loss and injury as he blocked, sliced, and dodged each shot that was fired at him. As Aoshi dodged the last of the magic bolts he threw a few shuriken at the stallion only for him to teleport out of the way.

Flying directly above the man was Dragon Breathe who took a deep breath and unleashed a huge blast of fire on the man who spun his kodachi in a circle at such a high rate of speed in order to block the fire based attack. Aoshi heard before that Kenshin used a similar technique in order to block Hyottoko’s breath. Unfortunately he due to the short length of his kodachi he was not able to block all of the fire, only the brunt of it. He felt his arms and shoulders get burnt and scorched as he grunted in pain. After a few seconds the fire attack stopped only for Venom Strike to launch another blast of magic at the human. Aoshi slashed the magic bolt only for Dragon Breathe to go wide eyed and dart away from him. As Aoshi’s blade sliced through the magic bolt it exploded into a giant purple cloud of poisonous gas which sent Aoshi into a coughing fit as he unfortunately inhaled the poisonous gas.

“AOSHI!!!” Daring screamed as she was about to fly to the man’s aid only for him to stop her.

“Stay *COUGH* back! *COUGH* This stuff is pure *COUGH* poison! *COUGH*” He said as he coughed his lungs out.

“They look so much like them and they use the same techniques as them. I’ve never been in a situation like this before. It’s like I’m fighting the Oniwabanshu. For the first time in my life and I can’t believe I’m saying this but… This is just too much even for me.” Aoshi thought to himself as he was coughing, his lungs felt as if they were on fire as his muscles ached and burned. He tried to stand up but found he couldn’t even budge from the spot as Lifeless Gaze was walking towards him.

“Don’t bother trying to move, Venom Strike’s poison attacks the central nervous system. You’re lucky to even be breathing. Without an antidote you’ll be dead within the hour. You would literally have to be a master of poisons in order to have a chance of even making an antidote.” Lifeless Gaze said as he came closer to the man and raised his sword in preparation to strike.

“I can’t believe I failed you guys. For all I know those ponies are probably your ghosts in disguise seeking vengeance on me for failing to protect you my comrades. I am sorry my old friends, I have dishonored your memory… I wish I could see you all one last time.” Aoshi said mentally. But what Aoshi and everypony didn’t see was the light blue lights glowing above them. Lifeless Gaze brought down his kodachi causing Daring Do to scream.

“AOSHI!!!” She screamed as the sword came down on the ninja but before the blade could even slice into Aoshi’s skull, four bright bursts of bright blue light shot down from the day time sky and landed with an explosion, sending the five undead ponies flying backwards from the sheer force of the blast and causing rubble to fall on them and burry them. When the smoke cleared Daring went wide eyed at what she saw.

Aoshi could barely see at this point as his vision became blurry from the poison coursing through his body. He felt someone grab his right arm and stabbed something in it as if they were giving him a shot. Due to the poison’s effect he couldn’t even stop whoever it was from doing it.

“Here you go leader, this should help cure the poison instantly.” A very familiar voice said to Aoshi. As the antidote hit his system he instantly felt much better as his vision began to return to normal. What he saw nearly made his heart stop.

He saw Beshimi kneeling in front of him with his signature toothy grin. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Aoshi’s attention was turned to another very familiar voice.

“It is good to see you again leader and it appears that you need some help.” A deep voice said to the man. Aoshi’s eyes were the size of saucers now at what he saw. It was Han’nya wearing his signature demon mask and standing with him was Shikijō and Hyottoko.

“B-But you’re all dead.” Aoshi said in disbelief as he stared at his dead friends. He noticed that they were all glowing a light pale blue.

“Indeed we are.” Han’nya answered.

“Then how are you here? I saw you all die that day at the mansion.” Aoshi asks his ghostly comrades.

“We’re ghosts, that’s about the just of it.” Han’nya answered.

“This is probably not the best time for this but I have a question leader… I understand you were grieving and all when we died. but...WHAT THE HELL MAN! WHAT WAS WITH THE WHOLE DECAPATING OUR DEAD BODIES AND RUNNING OFF INTO THE NIGHT WITH OUR SEVERED HEADS!?!?!?” Beshimi shouted at Aoshi.

“I…will admit… I was probably not in the right state of mind when I did that.” Aoshi said reluctantly to which all four ghost ninja stared at the man with a deadpan look.

“Uh huh.” They all said sarcastically.

At that moment Daring Do flew to Aoshi and landed in front of the man as he stood up to his full height.

“Aoshi! You’re okay, thank Celestia you didn’t die!” She said excitedly until she saw the four ghostly shinobi.

“And who might you be?” Shikijō asked the mare politely with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m Daring Do, who are you? Are you here to hurt Aoshi? I won’t let you!” Daring said as she stood in front of Aoshi ready to protect him. The four shinobi could only stare at the young Pegasus mare standing in front of them that was taking a Karate stance. They all stared at her with perplexed looks on their faces before they all busted out into laughter causing the mare to get angry and flushed with embarrassment.

“She’s like a pony of Misao, a cute little pony version of Misao.” Hyottoko said with a good hearted laugh.

“Who the hay is Misao?” She asked.

“She was a student of mine, she is now a legendary shinobi.” He answered the mare who was surprised. As he turned to the four ghosts in front of him.

“So what are you-……What?” Aoshi couldn’t help but feel that these guys were up to something as he saw the four ghost men snickering and biting their lips to prevent themselves from going into full blown laughter.

“Nothing.” Hyottoko said barely able to contain his laughter.

“Soooo… gender roles are reversed here?” Shikijō snickered as well.

“…From what Miss Daring Do has told me…Yes…Why do you ask?” The man asked with suspicion.

“Nothing, nothing at all leader……We were just imagining you as a house wife wearing a cooking apron was all.” Han’nya said as he and the rest of his group all busted out into laughter. They all laughed even harder when they saw Daring drooling at the image in her head. Aoshi face palmed at this while Daring was off in her own little world.

______________________________________________________________________________

*Meanwhile in Daring Do’s mind*

“Honey, I’m home!” Daring Do said as she walked into her and her husband’s home. She closed the door behind herself as she walked into the living room as Aoshi came from the kitchen wearing a pair of black pants and a black long sleeved shirt, covering his clothing was a light pink cooking apron with hearts on it and in his hand was a soup ladle.

“Welcome home honey. How was your day sweetie?” Aoshi asked with a loving smile as he kissed his wife on the lips as he blushed.

“Oh you know same as usual. Dodging traps, finding treasure, and defeating Ahuizotl at his own game!” Daring said with a smile on her face as she returned the kiss.

“Oh that’s good, you’re always so brave honey.” Aoshi said with a gentle smile on his face.

“How was your day my lovely ninja?” Daring asked with a warm smile.

“Oh you know, a stallion’s work is never done. The rest of our herd is still at work and the foals are taking a nap. So I took the time to make dinner for the two of us…Unless of course you want to do something else.” Aoshi said in a very soft and gentle voice as a huge blush spread across his face.

“Oh I can think of something.” Daring said with a wiggle of her eyebrows as she picked a blushing Aoshi up and carried him to their bedroom.

______________________________________________________________________________

*Back in reality*

Daring was standing there drooling at her own fantasy as her wings stood up as stiff as a board as they throbbed in arousal. What she didn’t know was that she was thinking out loud the whole entire time.

When she came out of her fantasy she saw everyone staring at her intently, especially Aoshi. Han’nya, Shikijō, Hyottoko, and Beshimi all busted out into full blown nonstop laughter.

Aoshi was just standing there completely silent and stock still as he was trying to process what he had just saw.

“I……Have no idea how to respond to that.” Was all Aoshi said as his left eye began to twitch while he somehow managed to maintain his stoic expression.

Meanwhile the four Oniwabanshu members were still laughing. Aoshi just gave them the glare of death to which they tried to stop laughing but they were failing miserably at it.

“S-So who are you guys?” Daring Do said trying to change the subject as she saw the four Oniwabanshu staring at her.

“The steroid junky with the scars is Shikijō, the short one with the creepy face who is wearing the kimono is Beshimi, the one with the giant belly that would make Santa Claus look anorexic is Hyottoko, and the guy wearing the Demon mask with the candy cane arms is Han’nya.” Aoshi said.

“Hey, what’s the deal leader? This face is awesome!” Beshimi said angrily as he pointed at his own face.

“You laughed at my expense, so I’ll laugh at yours.” Aoshi said calmly without any emotion in his voice whatsoever.

“Why are you here?” Aoshi asked.

“We saw that you needed help.” Hyottoko explained with a smile that all the others held as well.

“Besides, we didn’t want you to have all the fun for yourself. These wannabe ninja are pathetic, how could you let them get the better of you like that leader?” Han’nya said to Aoshi which brought a smile to his face, but only for a second before he went back to his usual stoic expression. This caused Daring’s face to flush at the site of his smile, no matter how short it was.

“It’s good to see you guys again.” Aoshi said with a smirk. At that moment the rubble began to shake and break apart as the four undead pony ninja emerged from the broken pile of ruins.

(Start Song)

“Took you long enough. Now… let’s get down to business.” Han’nya said as his claw blades came out of the knuckles of his gloves while Shikijō readied a giant ball and chain that was his weapon. Beshimi readied his poison darts while Hyottoko readied his fire breath.

“What do we have here?” Lifeless Gaze said as he readied himself for a fight. Aoshi stepped forward and readied his blades.

“I am Aoshi Shinomori and I am the leader and Grandmaster of the Oniwabanshu! We are the Oniwabanshu and you will die!!!” Aoshi screamed as he and his comrades attacked. Strangely enough, Daring Do could have sworn that she saw a smile on Aoshi’s face.

When the two groups clashed the whole temple shook. Daring could only stare in shock at the battle that was taking place before her.

Dragon Breathe unleashed a Jetstream of fire at Hyottoko. Hyottoko matched the blast fire with an even bigger blast of fire that knocked the pony back with extreme force. Dragon Breathe flew at Hyottoko and unleashed a blast of fire at him only for Hyottoko to slam a gut wrenching punch into the undead pony’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As Dragon Breathe fell to the ground in pain he saw Hyottoko take in a deep breath and unleash a torrent of fire that burnt him to nothing but a pile of ashes in one mighty blast.

“Huh, that was pathetic!” Hyottoko said while wiping his mouth with a smile.

Shikijō was tackled by Scarred Strength, when the undead pony’s body collided with the man’s, it felt as if he had just rammed himself into an unbreakable wall. He was sent sprawling to the ground.

“You need to work out more… Also, stop copying me… It’s just creepy.” Shikijō said with a smirk as Scarred Strength started to slam strike after strike into him. Shikijō was taking punch after punch as if they were nothing. Shikijō began to spin the wrecking ball in his hand by the chain. He spun it so fast that it was making a ‘whirling’ sound. He slammed a kick into Scarred Strength’s chest sending him flying backwards; he managed to land on his feet only to get a giant wrecking ball to the face. Before the stallion could even scream in pain he felt another bone crushing blow and another over and over again as the wrecking ball hit him over and over again. Before the stallion could even recover from the onslaught, Shikijō threw the ball and chain to the ground as he wrapped his hands his opponent’s head and head-butted him with such force that it split Scarred Strength’s skull wide open causing blood and brain matter to splatter everywhere.

“Huh, that was a joke!” Shikijō said with a smirk.

Beshimi was dodging magical blasts left and right as Venom Strike kept up the barrage of poison magic darts.

“Jeez, I thought that you would at least have some good aim. Guess I was wrong!” Beshimi said mockingly as he leaped back and forth from the sealing to the ground and between the stone pillars.

“Don’t get cocky you son of a bitch!” Venom Strike growled as he launched another flurry of blasts each one exploding into dark purple clouds of smoke that engulfed Oniwabanshu member.

“You may have been able to save your friend but you won’t be able to save yourself! This batch of poison is my strongest, it’s made purely from my blood! THAT’S RIGHT MY BLOOD IS PURE POISON!!!” Venom Strike bellowed only to feel multiple darts stab into his back.

“What the-” Venom Strike began only to start coughing as his body felt as if it was on fire.

“I’m a ghost if you haven’t noticed. I can’t be poisoned.” Beshimi answered with a demented grin spreading across his face that showed all of his teeth.

“How did you poison me you bastard, I’m immune to all poisons!” Venom Strike demanded in between his coughs and pants of excruciating pain.

“Simple really, since your blood is pure poison I just gave you the antidote to every poison known to man…and several known to monkeys!” Beshimi explained with a demented smile.

“WHAT!!!” Venom strike shrieked.

“Not to mention the shit load of sulfuric acid that I dumped into the batch for good measure.” Beshimi said to the undead pony whose eyes went wide as he began to scream in excruciating pain as he melted to nothing but a green slimy pile of goo.

“Ew... That’s just nasty.” Beshimi said with a look of disgust as he stared at the remains of what used to be Venom Strike.

Han’nya was ducking, dodging, and blocking every strike that Scorched Shadow was throwing at him.

“In all my years I have never seen such sloppy fighting; I bet your mother wishes she swallowed you!” Han’nya said with a laugh as he caught the undead zebra’s fist with his hand and slammed a punch into his stomach followed by a roundhouse kick to the head which sent the zebra stallion stumbling backwards.

“I am far stronger than you could ever hope to be!” Scorched Shadow bellowed in pure anger and rage as he made metal claws extend from his gloves and lunged at the man. This caused Han’nya to simply laugh at the stallion’s antics as he side stepped the strikes.

“Why can’t I hit you!” The stallion screamed between strikes.

“I already know the trick that you’re using kid, I invented it myself. The stripes on your arms as well as mine makes them appear shorter than what they are which lulls the opponent into a false sense of security allowing the user to take advantage of the opening and strike, making it appear as if they are over extending their arms.” Han’nya said as he made his claw blades from the knuckles of his gloves.

Han’nya did a backflip kick to Scorched Shadow which struck him in the chin. Before he could recover Han’nya lunged at the zebra stallion so fast that he disappeared from right in front of him only to reappear behind him.

They both stood there stalk still only for the blade claws on Scorched Shadow to fall apart from being sliced. Scorched Shadow’s body fell apart a few seconds later into a bloody pile of limps and guts.

“It appears that they’ll anyone a ninja these days. How sad.” Han’nya said as steam came out of the mouth and sides of his mask.

Han’nya and the rest of the Oniwabanshu turned to see Aoshi giving his fight against Lifeless Gaze everything he’s got. They knew better than to intervene.

At that moment Daring Do tried to fly to Aoshi’s aid only for Han’nya and the others to stop her.

“What are you doing!? Aren’t you going to help him!?” Daring shrieked.

“He would only get upset if we got involved, this is his fight…Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this happy before.” Han’nya explained to the young mare that only looked at the man with a confused look.

“What do you mean happy! He’s always scowling!” She said as she saw Aoshi parrying and dodging Lifeless Gaze’s swords and wing blades with a grace and elegance that she had never before seen in her entire life. Even though he showed no emotion at all, he was fighting with new vigor and determination that he had not had for years. Aoshi felt happy that he was reunited with his friends. He felt…complete. He knew that his friends would probably have to go back to the afterlife very soon, but he would enjoy his time with them while it lasted.

Aoshi ducked under a wing blade that passed over his head only to receive a barrage of rabid kicks from the undead Pegasus ninja. As each kick land a hit on Aoshi, a loud and sickening *POP!* and *SNAP!* could be heard which caused Daring to gasp in horror at seeing some of Aoshi’s limbs sticking slightly out of place.

“Ha, Aoshi became a master of ninjutsu at the age of thirteen and the leader and grandmaster of the Oniwabanshu at fifteen. If you think that Aoshi’s in trouble then watch this.” Han’nya said as he pointed to Aoshi to which Daring Do kept her eyes glued on. What she saw next amazed her to no end.

Aoshi simply forced himself to stand in an upright position as he straightened out his limbs which in turn forced his limbs to pop back into place with loud sickening cracks and pops.

“Pathetic.” That was all Aoshi said as Lifeless Gaze’s wings fell to the ground in a bloody mess. The stallion was screaming in pain. Daring could only cringe at what she just saw.

“H-How did you-” The stallion started only to be cut off.

“I’m just too fast for you to even see.” Aoshi said as he decided to end the fight with a one of his favorite techniques. He lunged at the stallion and swung his sword at the pony but at a much slower rate than what he was doing before. Lifeless Gaze blocked it easily but when he did Aoshi vanished before his very eyes.

Before Lifeless Gaze could do anything Aoshi began to disappear and reappear everywhere. It appeared as if Lifeless Gaze was surrounded by multiple Aoshi’s.

“W-What is this?” Lifeless Gaze stuttered.

“Kaiten Kenbu, it is a type of sword dance. Only one man ever survived this attack and you’re not him.” That was all Aoshi said as he struck.

The effects were instant as blood shot out of three deep cuts that were in Lifeless Gaze’s chest causing the stallion to cough up blood as fell to the ground but before the stallion could say or do anything he heard a series of very familiar low hisses of bombs that were surrounding him. Aoshi felt that it was better to be safe than sorry.

*BOOM!!!*

The blast created by the bombs was huge as it shook and weakened the foundation of the whole entire temple. Out of the blast flew a scroll that looked surprisingly intact as it landed at the shinobi’s feet. Aoshi leaned down and picked it up, he carefully opened it. When he saw what was inside the scroll he carefully rolled it back up and put it in his jacket and walked back to his friends.

(End Song)

They all stood there staring at each other silently with the exception of Daring Do who just stood there with her jaw hitting the ground at what she had just seen. Aoshi eyeing the ghost’s with a look of melancholy that was hidden well from those who could not see it, but the four ghosts could see it clear as day. They stood there silently as Aoshi finally broke the silence.

“…I’m sorry.” Aoshi said.

“Aoshi, our deaths were not your fault. We choose to sacrifice our lives in order to save you.” Shikijō said with a gentle smile to which the others nodded in agreement as well.

“But I-”

“Every man is responsible for the path that he walks in life. Now it’s your turn to walk yours.” Han’nya said calmly.

“What do you mean?” Aoshi asked with confusion.

“You’ll just have to find that out on your own boss.” Hyottoko said with a smile a bright light started to appear from the sky above the four ghost ninja.

“We’ll meet again one day leader. But until then, we’ll be watching over you… oh and your mother says hi.” Shikijō said with a gentle smile which caused Aoshi to nod. Aoshi couldn’t help but remember the woman that raised him and trained him in the art of ninjutsu, he missed her dearly but she trained him to be strong.

Aoshi then bowed deeply to his fallen comrades as they in turned bowed to their leader. Surprisingly Daring Do joined in as well and bowed to the four Oniwabanshu members.

“Until we meet again.” They all said as Aoshi saw as his friends faded away in front of him in a glowing blue light with smiles on their face.

“Until we meet again.” Aoshi said as he turned around to face Daring Do. But at that moment they heard one last thing echo through the temple.

“We still remember you as that same little boy that gave each of us a second chance at life.” The four ghosts said. This caused Daring to stare at the young man.

“What the hell did they mean by that?” The mare asked while tilting her head.

“It is a very long story.” The man said with a sigh.

“Soooo…” Daring asked.

“No.” Aoshi said.

“Oh come on, there is definitely an amazing backstory here! Tell me!” She complained.

“No.” He said as he walked over to the altar and picked up the sappire necklace. Ironically enough there was a few weapons such as a kasurigama, a pair of Sais, and a Wakasashi. Aoshi decided that he might as well take them with him as mementos even though he knew that he was probably never going to use them.

“Please tell me!” She said as Aoshi held up a finger that signaled for the young mare to be quiet.

“Where’s Ahuizotl?” Aoshi asked suspiciously.

“He’s tied up over there…Aw shit!” Daring said as she saw that Ahuizotl was gone and had escaped.

“You may have thwarted me this time Daring Do but you and that monkey will never make it out of here alive!!!” Ahuizotl shouted as he ran out of the burial chamber. As he ran, his tail hand tossed a magic bomb at one of the foundation pillars.

“If I can’t have the knowledge of the ninja than nopony can!!!” Ahuizotl screamed in anger as the bomb went off and destroyed the pillar which caused the whole temple to start shaking as it began to fall apart.

“Ahuizotl you bastard!” Daring shouted.

“Forget him, this place is coming down fast!” Aoshi shouted over the sound of the temple collapsing.

“But the scrolls!” Daring shrieked.

“They’re not worth your life!” Aoshi shouted as Daring nodded reluctantly.

They both took off running towards the exit just as the pillar fell in front of the exit. But at that moment a giant ball of light blue fire came out of nowhere and blasted the pillar into pieces.

“Like we said, we’ll be watching over you.” The voices of his fallen comrades echoed in his head.

As they ran through the tunnels they both kept ducking and swerving their ways past falling debris. As they kept running they saw daylight at the end of the tunnel. Aoshi quickly picked up Daring Do and carried her bridal style as he picked up his pace and ran at full speed. Aoshi managed to leap through the temple exit and out of the temple right as the whole temple collapsed in on itself and became nothing but a pile of rubble.

“NOOOOO! Ahuizotl got away! All the scrolls are gone! The ninja arts are lost forever!” Daring complained with groan.

“Here.” Aoshi said as he handed the mare the scroll and sapphire necklace that he picked up earlier. The Pegasus quickly snatched them from the man’s hand as she opened the scroll and looked at its contents.

“Thanks Aoshi but this is just one scroll out of thousands.” Daring said as she sighed in disappointment.

“Those were fakes.” Aoshi replied.

“What?”

“Most shinobi keep all of the knowledge and arts inside one giant scroll or book. But to protect that scroll we leave thousands of beginner’s level tomes in a fake library to draw attention away from it. Besides, if anything important was in those scrolls it’ll definitely be this.” Aoshi explained to the mare who’s eyes lit up.

“That’s…GENIUS!!!” She said to the man who was now walking off.

“H-Hey! Where are you going!?” Daring demanded as she chased after the man.

“To Ponyville to find a man by the name of Kenshin Himura.” He said while still continuing to walk away.

“You can’t leave, you’re a walking treasure trove of knowledge and experience! You are literally the last ninja in existence! Besides my blimp is the only way off of this island.” She said which caused the man to stop in his tracks.

“I’m heading that way anyway but I might have to make a few stops along the way. After how you saved my life, the least I can do is give you a ride… Besides I’m not letting you get away.” She said while putting her hands in her pockets.

“Very well, thank you. Besides, I have the strangest feeling that no matter how far off the grid that I would go or hide, you would somehow find me.” Aoshi replied with a sigh to which the mare who could only giggle.

“Yeah I would.” She said with a cutesy smile as she led the man to her blimp that was docked at the islands shore. Aoshi was genuinely impressed when he saw the sheer size of the air ship.

As they stepped onto the ship, Aoshi saw that there was a crew of mares aboard the ship.

“Who’s the cute stallion boss?” One of the crew mares asked in a seductive tone.

“You won’t believe it but he’s an actual ninja! Here, see for yourself!” Daring said as she pulled out her phone and showed the mares a video of the fight.

All the mares were speechless at what they just saw. Needless to say the mares took a shining interest in the man. As the ship took off into the sunlit sky, Daring held the sapphire necklace in her hand and stared at its beauty. She couldn’t help but blush, especially due to the fact that Aoshi gave her the necklace. It was so beautiful that she put it on right then and there. She couldn’t help but stare at the man with a huge blush.

“He is pretty cute and he did save my life. The fact that he’s a stallion that can fight makes him extremely exotic… Not to mention that sweet ass… Would he even be interested in a mare like me?” Daring Do thought to herself.

Meanwhile Aoshi was leaning on the decks railing as he stared out into the bright blue sky as the sun reached the middle of the sky as the ship sailed through the sky.

“It was so good to see you again my friends…my family…Rest in peace my comrades.” Aoshi said softly as all the memories of him and his friends came rushing back to him. One of the mares on the ship turned a radio on which began to play a song that seemed to be very fitting as he was reminiscing about his friends as the ship soared through the sky to its next destination as Aoshi bobbed his head to the music.

Author's Note

Fan Art Please!

I’m looking for someone to make some fan art of the scenes in the story so I can use the images for the story. I would be very grateful to whoever did this and I would be sure to give you credit for it. Just send the links to the pictures or PM them to me. If you’re interested tell me in the comments below or send me a PM.

Also, sorry for taking so long on the chapter, I’m actually about to go back into college again soon but that shouldn’t affect me being able to write this fic. Don’t worry I’m still going to continue this fic, so no worries about that. Also, I hope this chapter wasn’t too crappy. I feel like I could have done much better on it. I originally planned on getting this chapter out by Thanksgiving but my internet has been down so I’m posting this chapter from a Star Bucks while sitting at one of the abandon tables in the back that is hidden in the shadows. Anyway I plan on making my chapters much shorter so I can get them out much faster. Thanks again everyone for the support, the next chapter will be out much faster hopefully. God Bless.

P.S. the Oniwabanshu are not the only ghosts that will be appearing in this story. There will be at least one more ghost that appears.

P.S.S. Thanks again Xinrick for the help, you’re awesome man!

P.S.S.S Please let me know of any typos or errors that you find. Also I finally got over 100 followers!