Author's Note

I want to apologize for the gaps in between chapters. School had started a few months ago which eats up a lot of my time and work has taken up more of my free time as well.

But anyways, a slight spoiler. We are reaching the end of the story, and I'm not gonna lie, it is an a kind of ending I have never written before in my experience of writing fictions.

Chapter 21

Tying on the last lace for his greave, Prey finished the last part for equipping his whole set of samurai armor. He stood up as the scales on his armor chimed, whistling into his ear with a cold feeling to it. Putting on his mask which best resembled a dragon’s face, he looked at the mirror, gazing at his own stature.

“Sensei.” (Teacher/Master) Razor called out from outside of Prey’s room. “Are you ready yet?”

“Almost. I must fetch a few weapons.” Prey said walking over to his rack of weapons. He grabbed the only weapons he needed to face Chrysalis. He took his katana and a wakazashi and placed them to his hip behind his belt. He took his kanabo and attached it to his back. His final weapon of choice was taking his Nodachi, he was going to carry it with his hands the entire way there.

He walked out of his room and found that his student Razor was leaning against the wall. He was fully dressed in a suit of samurai armor and only had his katana by his side. “Are you ready now sensei?”

Razor then noticed the heavily armed and armored samurai in front of him. “S-Sensei. Why do you need all of those weapons?”

“I do not know what to expect from the shinobi. I also do not know what Chrysalis is planning, so I am taking no chances.”

“I see sensei.”

“Now we must go, we must not waste any time.”

The two samurai began to make their way outside. They stopped at the front door of the castle as they found Spike standing there. He had a sad and somber look on his face. Prey kneeled down and looked down at the small sad drake. “I will rescue them Spike-san.”

“Please. They’re all my best friends.”

“I know Spike-san. I know.” Prey then placed a hand on his head. “I promise you I will rescue them and make sure that they return home safe.”

“Sensei….we should go.” Prey nodded and stood up. “Can you teleport us to the forest?”

“Iie (no). I cannot. Teleporting the two of us while we are heavily armored and armed is too much for my skill of magic. We will have to walk there ourselves.”

Razor nodded. “I understand sensei.”

The two samurai set foot outside and started to make their way in the direction of the Everfree Forest, the location of Chrysalis, her shinobi, and Prey’s masters.

Prey was worried about their current presence in Ponyville. As they had started walking through the town, their armor had made them much more present and attentive around the town. The clacking of their armor attracted the townsfolk like bells. The demonic and unsettling look of their armor was hard to miss like a smudge on a pretty dress. However, it was Prey who had been brandishing large weapons around the town which caught the most attention from the public.

The public couldn’t help but watch as two fully armor, and fully armed samurai were parading through the time like some military operation.

One of these townsfolk happened to be a friend of Prey, Whiskey.

Whiskey noticed the two samurai walking through the town in silence, making everybody feel uncomfortable around them. He walked over to the samurai and called out to his friend. “Oi Prey!” Whiskey called out but Prey ignored him and continued to walk.

Whiskey picked up his pace and jogged up to the samurai, following him. “What in the fok are you do’in dressed up like that lad? You look as scary as Discord’s arse!”

Prey kept walking but faced his friend. His face was in a flat expression behind his mask, yet he showed no emotion. “Please leave us alone Whiskey. I must do something for my masters.” He stated with a serious and bold tone, giving some chills on Whiskey’s coat.

“Prey lad, what are you do’in?”

“I cannot say Whiskey, please move aside and do not follow.” He said picking up his pace with Razor following.

“Prey I-”

Prey reacted by suddenly stopping and pushing his thumb against the guard of his nodachi, having a portion of his sword peak out of its sheath. Whiskey saw his blade and immediately stopped in his tracks. It was like looking a snake dead in its eyes, but this snake was merciful as Prey closed his sword and continued walking, leaving Whiskey to only think what his friend was doing or why he was threatening him all of a sudden.

“Gomene….” (Sorry…) They kept walking until they finally reached the outskirts of the town. They followed the dirt path leading to the forest until they reached the checkpoint that was Fluttershy’s cottage. Prey stopped as he turned to Razor. “Razor-san, this is Flutershy-sama’s cottage. I know that she keeps food and water inside of her cottage, do you need anything?”

“Iie Sensei, I do not need anything.”

“Alright, but I do. Please wait here as I go get some water. I will need some for later.” Prey walked over to the small river that ran along Fluttershy’s home. He reached the source of water, kneeled down, and summoned a small bottle with his magic. He opened the bottle and filled it with water. He then took out his wakazashi and gently pierced his finger, just hard enough to draw blood as he dropped some blood into the bottle, making his blood and the water mix together. He then sealed the bottle tight and used a string to tie it to his belt.

He walked back to Razor’s side and continued following the road leading to the forest. After a few silent moments of walking, the two changelings reached the forest. Prey jerk a fist in the air, signalling Razor behind him to stop. He turned around to his fellow samurai and took off his menpo (mask).

“Razor-san, I must tell you, this will not be like the training we had in the forest. This is a real problem that us samurai must solve. The safety of my masters is at stake.”

“I understand sensei.”

“I know, demo (but). These enemies, the shinobi, they are new to me. I do not know their tactics or their combat style. The plan is to trick Chrysalis into joining her side until we are inside of her hideout. When we are inside, we fight until we rescue my masters.”

“Yes sensei, I understand that. Please know that I am honored to aid and help you and your masters.”

Prey smirked at Razor’s loyalty, the signs of a samurai were shadowing him. However he quickly wiped away his smile and replaced it with crossed eyes and a frown. “That is good that you show loyalty Razor-san. Now I must tell you, that when we start fighting the shinobi, do not depend on your training. Depend on yourself and your senses. Expect anything and everything that the shinobi and Chrysalis herself might throw at us.”

“Yes sensei. My blade will be ready.”

“Most importantly Razor-san, Jihi wo shimesanai.” (Show no mercy.) Prey said in a stern and serious tone.

Razor wasn’t phased by his Prey’s intimidation, in fact he welcomed it. “Wakarimashita.” (Understood) He said as he nodded.

“Now, let us go. Ikuso.” (We go.)

The two samurai walked into the Everfree forest, following the dirt path like how they normally would. They paid attention to any sort of detail that was foreign to the forest. Any track or sign of Chrysalis and her shinobi warriors.

Prey stopped, along with Razor, and pointed to a tree in the distance. This tree out of many similar ones was different. Prey noticed that a shinobi in dark green clothing was perched on the tree’s largeest branch.

He was just watching them like a crow. He looked like he had no weapons on him.

Prey and Razor walked towards the shinobi, slowly and quietly. They didn’t want to start fighting immediately. Prey stopped a good meter away from the shinobi, who was still watching them, and asked, “Oi oi. Chrysalis- sama wa doko desuka? Sore wa, anata wa shinobi desuka?” (Hey hey, where is Queen Chrysalis? And also, are you a shinobi?)

The shinobi only grunted and jumped up, diving upwards into the leaves above him as he disappeared from their sight.

Prey looked onward to see another shinobi perched on a branched. The two samurai approached the shinobi as it disappeared like the previous one, and another appearing in the distance like before. Prey understood what the shinobi were doing.

He found that while following the shinobi, the shinobi were leading them off the main path of the Everfree forest. He also knew that the shinobi were leading them towards Chrysalis’ hideout due to the fact that they were not attacking him or Razor.

“We must keep following the shinobi Razor. If they attack, just be ready.” Prey whispered to Razor as he responded by nodding.

They followed the path of disappearing shinobi as they went deeper and deeper into the forest.

The makeshift shinobi pathway dissolved as the two samurai arrived at a large cave. The cave was far from the main path with foliage surrounding the cave, a perfect camouflage hiding spot.

“This is it Razor, there is no turning back now.”

“I will stick by you Prey. You are my master.”

Prey nodded as he and Razor began to walk into the cave. They felt the ground slanting down, feeling they are travelling deeper than they had thought.

The walls of the cave started to look smaller and smaller until the two samurai reached a large curtain door. The curtain itself was a pitch black fabric and it had a large Japonese character faintly glowing on it.

“Shinobi….” Prey said. “This character says shinobi.”

“Are you sure sensei?”

“Hai….This is it.” Prey said lifting up the curtain with his magic as the two samurai walked through it.

Inside they were met with a stare, a stare that would kill a child in their sleep. Behind those curtains was a large stone room with tens and tons of shinobi all over the walls and floor. However through all of the shinobi foliage, there was one elephant in the room.

At the very back end of the room was a large stone throne, and on it was a tall, slick black changeling. The changeling was female and had black chitin similar to Prey’s. Her long swampy green hair hung down to her elbows as she simply smirked at the two samurai standing in front of her and her small army.

“Welcome.” She said maliciously with a lick across her lips. “I am so glad you came back to me Prey.”

Prey sighed as he gently and calmly placed his nodachi to the ground and knelt down on both of his knees, like he would to formally greet his masters in the past. “Konichiwa Chrysalis-sama.” He greeted with resentment in his tone.

“Ah, I see you brought along another samurai as well? Is he here to serve the true master as well?”

Razor stood silent much like Prey. Neither of them answered that question.

“Where are the ponies Chrysalis?” Prey asked roughly narrowing his eyes.

“Oh they’re here, somewhere.” She said cryptically. “However, do you really think I am stupid?”

Prey raised a eyebrow and slowly slid his hands towards his nodachi.

“Do you think I can really trust you? Did you think that I would simply let you into my ranks again without punishment? No. Boys, go ahead and kill them.” Chrysalis said teleporting with a cloud of black smoke puffing around her.

“Nani!?” Prey gasped as all of the shinobi in the room hissed and pulled out their weapons. Their weapons consisted of wakizashis, wooden staffs, and simple chains. All of them crossed their eyes and slowly circled around the two samurai like a pack of wolves.

Razor responded by pulled out his katana, the first time he ever has. He gripped it tight and held it in front of him. He bent his knees and got into his fighting position.

Prey slowly took his nodachi and grabbed its sheath and handle with separate hands. He pushed the sheath out as he quickly unfolded the long and curved blade that is his nodachi.

Razor was awed by his teacher’s massive sword. It was nearly as tall as him and he was wielding it in a strange way unlike a normal katana. Holding it up above his head and bending his knees, almost resembling a crab like stance.

Soon after surrounding the samurai, the shinobi initiated their attack. One shinobi carrying a wakizashi leaped in the air with his wakizashi ready to stake down on Prey. He reacted by thrusting his blade upward like a pole, piercing it right through his chest.

He quickly pulled it out of the shinobi only to bring the blade down and swing it upwards to slash another offensive shinobi on his chest. He then proceeded offensively by reversing his hand closest to the blade’s guard and brought the blade down on another shinobi.

This shinobi had attempted to block it with a wooden staff but Prey’s thick blade broke through it like glass as the blade stuck right into the shinobi’s neck and sternum. Killing him in an instant.

After killing that shinobi, Prey proceeded to cut through more shinobi with his nodachi, much like a scythe reaping through a field of weeds.

Razor, on the other hand, fought in a more defensive counter attacking style.

A shinobi had tried to slash down on him, but he simply dodged to the left and slashed against the shinobi’s side, injuring him. He then quickly stuck the katana into the shinobi’s chest, making sure his cold steel pierced through his chitin and out of his back, killing him for sure. He then pushed him off of his blade and noticed that something was flying at him.

What looked like a flying chain was projecting towards Razor with quick speed. Razor ducked and grabbed the chain and pulled it with all of his strength, fishing a shinobi out of the shadows. He then slashed his sword across his neck, making sure his blade slides through his neck with ease. The cut had gone through the chitin as the shinobi’s head slid off.

However, this was all too much for Razor to handle, being his first real fight. He felt something stick into his armor, not enough to hurt him but enough to catch him off guard. It was another metal star like before when one had crashed through Prey’s window, except there was one stuck to his shoulder pauldron.

Razor took his hand and plucked it off from his armor, only for a wooden staff to hit him in the back of his helmet. The blunt force was only enough to stun him faintly as he quickly spun around and slashed his blade across whatever had hit behind him. Behind him was another shinobi who had become the victim of Razor’s slash as the slash was on his neck, killing him with the swampy green blood flowing down from the wound.

Razor was feeling the adrenaline flowing through his blood. But this feeling was intense, enough for him to feel he MUST survive, like an animal in the natural world. He quick and slick movements were helping him survive, much like how he was trained. He was a hornet caught in a storm of wasps.

After what felt like an hour, the battle between the samurai and shinobi was finished. At least momentarily.

Prey had disposed of the last shinobi, as its head was skewered into Prey’s nodachi. Prey grabbed the shinobi’s head and pushed it off of his blade.

He gave a few pants, taking in the break of combat as a sign of serenity. He glanced over to his samurai comrad Razor to find him in an exhausted state.

He was sitting on the floor, panting heavily with his sword stuck to the ground. Parts of his armor had been torn off from shinobi attacks as well as damaged beyond repair. He was splattered with changeling blood, much like a splatter painting.

Prey as mostly unharmed from the battle. His strong armor only took in scratches but was still durable and intimidating at the same time.

He walked over to Razor and offered him a hand. Razor grabbed hold of his teacher’s hand as he was hoisted up to his feet.

“Razor-san, Daijoubu desuka? Ittai desuka?” (Razor, are you alright? Are you hurt.)

“Chotto ittai desu. Sorekara, daijoubu desu.” (I am a little hurt. However, I am okay.) He responded in Japoneighs.

“Can you still fight?”

“Hai sensei.” He said with a grunt. Prey could tell he was half lying. He could see that Razor, being a normal pure changeling was reaching his limit, but he admired his spirit.

“Alright, we must find Chrysalis.”

“But where sensei? She just simply disappeared. I’m pretty sure she teleported somewhere.”

“No, I do not think so Razor-san. Did you see that she vanished a puff of smoke?”

“Hai, why do you ask?”

“She did not use magic to make herself teleport. A puff of smoke that thick would only shield her sight momentarily, giving her enough time to sneak away.” Prey said levitating his Nodachi back into its sheath. He then began to walk over to the stone throne, the throne Chrysalis had ‘teleported’ from.

“What are you saying sensei?”

“What I am saying is that she could not have gone far. She may have merely used a secret tunnel...much like before!” Prey said with a sudden memory coming from his head. He remembered that his previous quarters and samurai chambers had resided underneath Chrysalis’ throne when she had ruled over the changelings.

Prey then grabbed hold on his kanabo and raised it upwards. He smashed it again Chrysalis’ stone throne as it shattered easily like glass. The stone broke with smoke and dust puffing everywhere.

After a few moments, the dust had cleared as a stairway had been revealed. “This way Razor-san.”

“Hai sensei.” He responded as the two samurai began to walk down the staircase. They both activated a glow from their horns to make makeshift torches to see through the darkness.

The two simply walked in silence, but Razor had broke that silence. “Sensei…”

“Nanda Razor-san?” (What is it Razor?)

“Do you….do you intend to win?”

“Hai.” He said with a determined tone.

“But...what if you don’t sensei?”

“I will win. No matter the consequences. I do not win for personal victory, I win for honor. For the safety of my masters to grant me the life force needed to live, but more importantly, for the pony most important to me.”

“Applejack?”

“Hai….Applejack.” He confirmed. “I do not care what happens to me. If I die saving her, then I die saving her. Her life is more important than mine.”

“That is very loyal of you sensei.”

“That is the duty of a samurai Razor.”

“I see…”

After a few more moments of walking, the two samurai had reached the end of the staircase. They found themselves in another room of the same proportion, but they found something shocking. They saw that two shinobi were standing before them.

The two shinobi were fully dressed in black rags with black cowls covering their faces. They were simply sitting in the middle of the room in a criss cross fashion.

Behind the two shinobi was a sight frightening for Prey.

Behind the two shinobi were his masters and friends all concealed in separate changeling cocoons. Their shadow illustrations were flowing inside each pod as no movement or sound came from the cocoons.

Calmly taking in the situation, Prey unsheathed his nodachi once more and stood in front of the two shinobi.

Razor, who is already injured, wanted to stand by his master and comrade. He drew his sword and stood next to Prey, ready for whatever these two shinobi had in store.

One of the shinobi slowly and calmly stood up. He pointed at Prey. “Anata wa katenaideshou!” (You will not win.)

The other shinobi stood up who then pointed at Razor. “Chrysalis-sama ha katsu desu. Anata wa shideshimau!” (Queen Chrysalis will win. You will die!)

Both of the shinobi then reached behind them and pulled out circular white balls and threw them on the ground. The balls exploded as thick white smoke flooded the room, hiding their images.

Prey and Razor both covered their mouths, shielding their lungs from the smoke as it quickly dissipated revealed the two shinobi once again. However they were different, they were armed with unique weapons unlike the shinobi from before.

The shinobi who had pointed at Prey was wielding large iron claws. The claws were like and were in the similar fashion to a rake. He held one in each hand and took a stance ready to fight.

The other shinobi who had pointed at Razor was wielding a weapon that almost looked like a toy. The shinobi was wielding a small but thick wooden stick which was attached to another similar stick via a small chain. He was spinning one of the ends above him much like a fan.

Prey once again took the offensive and charged at the shinobi with his nodachi. He brought it upwards and brought it downwards. However, the claw wielding shinobi caught the blade in between the fingers of his claws and twisted them in opposite directions. The strength of the shinobi was too great for Prey’s blade as his nodachi broke into shards. The shards of the blade scattered like broken glass raining onto the ground.

Prey jumped back to give himself breathing room and looked at his now broken nodachi. The blade was broken all the way down near the hilt, it was practically useless as its superiority of range was now taken from him. He gently placed the nodachi handle on the ground on he reached behind him, grabbing the kanabo attached to his back.

He smashed it against the ground and huffed roughly at the shinobi who merely scoffed his new weapon. The two were going to clash once more.

On the other side of the room, Razor began his fight with the other shinobi who wielded the unusual weapon. It wasn’t a long one, but more of a short one. It consisted of a small club with a short chain attached to one end which attached to another short club.

Razor went for the attack and swung his katana downwards.

However the shinobi, with his nimble speed, quickly swiped his weapon across; making contact with Razor’s sword and deflecting the strike away as Razor lost his grip on his sword.

In that quick moment while Razor lost his grip on his sword, the shinobi caught the other club of the chain with his other hand and swung it upwards, slamming its hard rock like surface against Razor’s mask.

The force of the club broke through his mask as Razor hissed in pain, but it wasn’t over yet. The shinobi then slammed his clubs against the top of Razor’s helmet which dented it on the inside.

Razor felt the impact of the shinobi’s weapon as the force of the hit shifted through his helmet and hit his head. The trauma made Razor scream in pain and drop his sword along with his focus.

The shinobi took this opportunity to quickly take his clubs and flail them at Razor’s hands, making the bones inside crack and bruise. He then took his clubs and wrapped them around Razor’s neck from behind and pull him downwards to the ground face first.

He got on top of him and rearranged his clubs to wrap around Razor’s neck from the front and proceed to pull on it, choking him.

Razor was struggling to breath as the clubs and the chain were squeezing against his neck, blocking any traffic of airflow to his lungs. He was losing strength, his vision, and his consciousness as everything slowly started to look dark from him.

His strength was leaving him, he couldn’t fight back anymore. He just wasn’t good enough. The last thing he heard before passing out was a scream from a voice familiar to him. Along with the clash of wood and metal.

Prey had just caught an attack from the claw wielding shinobi. The shinobi had attempted to slash both of his claws down much like a praying mantis striking at its prey.

As soon as Prey had caught the attack, he used the pommel of his kanabo as a small mace like tool and jab him at his face. The jab managed to momentarily stun the shinobi giving Prey the upper hand. He quickly took his kanabo and sweep it across the shinobi’s legs, tripping him as he fell to the floor. While the shinobi was on the floor, Prey quickly raised his solid iron kanabo, and smashed it against the shinobi’s head.

He slammed so hard that his head was like an eggshell with shards and pieces of chitin shattered with green blood splattering everywhere. The blood painted his armor and his kanabo with a thick coat. He plucked his club with the corpse of the shinobi and looked over at Razor and his fight with the shinobi.

He was met with shock to find that the other shinobi was choking Razor to death. Prey quickly reacted to this by grabbing one of the iron claws of the dead shinobi and throwing it at the other shinobi.

The claw had stuck into the shinobi’s back like a dart as he hissed in pain. He let go of Razor’s neck and plucked the iron claw from his flesh. He tossed it aside like litter and faced the remaining samurai with an enraged glare.

The shinobi spun his weapon around in his grip and threw it at Prey, who simply moved aside, dodging it with ease.

The shinobi then reached behind him and pulled out two black spheres. He threw them on the ground around him as an explosion of white smoke covered his appearance. But the smoke soon cleared as the shinobi appeared before Prey.

The shinobi was wielding a weapon all too familiar to Prey. He was wielding a weapon Prey had used in the past, a kusarigama. Prey had kept his kusarigami back at his room, yet he only used it once against the ursa major that had once taken residence at Appleoosa's lake.

Prey only glared at the shinobi, slightly confused on where he had gotten the kusarigama. He wanted answers.

“Kisama ga…(You….) Where did you get that kusarigama?”

The shinobi chuckled as he spun the sickle and chain around himself creating a barrier between him and Prey. “I stole it from you, while you had been sleeping and replaced it with a fake. Baka.” (idiot)

“Why...Why do you serve Chrysalis?”

“I serve her for she is my master. She is the last hope for true changeling kind.”

“No, she is not. You are being misguided. Chrysalis is not of a true changeling. She is evil and twisted. You are serving a false master.”

“And what of you!? You serve ponies! You serve the enemy! What have you gained from this? Simple honor?”

“IIe. (No) Honor is not the only thing I had gained through serving these ponies. I had obtained more than just honor. I had obtained lessons, love, wisdom, and most of all, friends. More than what Chrysalis could give.”

“No….you are lying!!! We cannot have friends!” The shinobi then launched the sickle directly at Prey, more directly his kanabo. The sickle and chain wrapped around his club like a snake as the shinobi began to pull on Prey’s weapon.

Prey held a tight grip on his weapon, making sure he kept it. The two were set in a small tug o war. Prey settle that little war by using one hand to grab onto the chain and yanking it with all of his strength which was enough to launch the shinobi towards him.

Prey got his kanabo ready and swung it at the shinobi like a baseball hitting a bat which sent the shinbo flying to the other end of the room.

However, the shinobi then exploding with a puff of smoke. The smoke quickly dispersed revealing a large wooden log wearing clothing similar to the shinobi.

Then in a quick moment, he felt something sharp stabbing into his side. He looked down behind him at his hip to find a knife in his side. He sighed in relief, knowing that the knife had only stuck to his hard armor and had not gone through. He plucked it from the scales and threw it aside.

Suddenly, more smoke had appeared in the room through multiple explosions. There was so much smoke, it had covered the images of the already dead shinobi and Razor. Prey was now atmospherically blinded, everywhere around him was white smoke. He couldn’t even see where his feet were planted.

He looked around him carefully, trying to find the shinobi he was currently fighting. The smoke was thick like steam as it hissed like snakes. He listened closely, trying to detect any trace of the shinobi’s whereabouts.

A whistling sound was singing in his ear from behind, something abnormal in the current situation. He turned around and quickly dodged a flying sickle that had flew past his head. However the sickle soon retracted and clawed at Prey’s head. The iron sickle latched onto Prey’s helmet as the shinobi used his strength and ripped the helmet off of Prey’s head.

Now fatally exposed, Prey took extra caution against the shinobi’s combat tactics. Prey took a deep breath and gently closed his eyes. He dropped his kanabo, having the hard spiky club hitting the ground as it dug into the earth, creating an echoing ‘krrchhk’ sound which rung into his ears.

He then clenched his fists and got into a stance while keeping his eyes closed. He began to wait, waiting for an open opportunity to strike down the hidden shinobi. His hearing was slowly adapting to the silence of the room.

The hissing of the smoke, the small gusts wind from his breath, and the tapping of water hitting the floor at an odd pattern. Hold on, there is no water in this room. Those were the shinobi’s footsteps!

Prey heard it again, the whistling of a flying sickle coming from from his front. He quickly moved aside, dodging the flying sickle and took his hand and grabbed the chain attached to it. He then used pulled out his wakizashi with his free hand, brought the chain to the ground, and staked his wakizashi through the rings of the chain, making sure it wouldn’t return to its owner.

Keeping his grip on the chain, he then picked up his kanabo and ran along the line of the chain. Upon reaching the end, he found the kusarigama wielding shinobi struggling to pull the sickle back to him.

Panicking, the shinobi used his hand and flung the weighted end of the chain at Prey, hoping to clock him and knock him out.

Prey countered this move by holding his kanabo up which forced the weight to ensnare the kanabo instead of Prey himself. He now had his hands tied up with both of his hands holding different parts of his kusarigama.

Prey took this open opportunity to run up to the shinobi and bring his knee upwards pounding it against the shinobi’s stomach, making him cough in pain. He then let go of his kanabo and the chain and grabbed the shinobi’s head with his hands and brought him down face first into the ground.

He then raised his foot and stomped down on the shinobi’s back effectively bruising his spine, but not breaking it. He then quickly grabbed he kanabo once more, brought it upwards, and smashed it against the shinobi’s right leg. He had figured that this was the real shinobi and not a fake when his screams and a bit of blood spat out of his mouth.

Sounds of bones breaking indicated that his leg was immobile, giving Prey some slight relief. Once more, he brought up his kanabo, ready to pulverize it against the shinobi’s head, ready to kill him. Raised in the air, he was going to drop it. But he just kept it there. He didn’t kill him, not yet.

He noticed the shinobi’s eyes, they were….leaking? He was crying.

Prey stopped and gently lowered his weapon to the ground. The sobbing of the shinobi’s was clearly present.

Prey sighed and thought about the things he has done, the ones he has killed. He has killed many changelings, ponies young and old, thieves, dragons, beasts, and griffons. All of which were asking for their own end.

Never has he seen an enemy of his cry.

He sighed once more and latched his kanabo to his back. “No. More.” He declared.

“Nani?” The shinobi looked up at him in surprise.

“I am done.” Prey stated as the smoke in the room began to clear, revealing the room around them. Prey spotted Razor who was still injured and began walking over to his aid.

“No...NO! I must kill you!”

Prey stopped and turned around. He saw the shinobi attempting to crawl towards Prey with the sickle in grasp, like he was climbing horizontally with it.

“Why...why must you kill me.”

“I must, for my master. For my honor!”

Prey walked over to the shinobi. He kicked the sickle out of the shinobi’s hand and stomped down at the shinobi’s fist, clamping it to the ground. “As I have said before, Chrysalis is evil and twisted.”

“Then tell me, how is she?”

“She had made me kill children. Children who had futures, who had a future to look forward to. But I had killed them. She had made me stain one of my virtues of my code, my bushido. She had stained my mercy.”

“That shouldn’t matter. You are a samurai, you show your loyalty no matter what!” The shinobi said biting his lips from the pain.

“I do...I do know my loyalty. But my loyalty was shattered when she had abandoned me. If I stood loyal, why didn’t she? After she fell, she ran, and left me. Abandoned me. What loyalty has she shown for me!?” He exclaimed while grinding his foot into his hand.

“AAggghhh!!!” The shinobi screamed in pain, feeling the burns from the ground drilling into his wrist.

Prey stopped his actions and released his foot. He picked up his kanabo and continued his way to Razor, uttering more words for the shinobi. “I have shown mercy by not killing you, as you are going to die either way. You are flawed in birth being part samurai, born with samurai blood. My blood.”

The shinobi looked at the samurai as he walked away from him. “Your blood….your samurai blood.”

“Yes. I had trouble killing most of your brothers and sisters, and do you know why?”

“Why?”

Prey sighed and slightly unsheathed his sword. “Your strength and your wits are similar to mine. They are similar because you have the abilities and traits of a samurai from you blood, because you are half blooded samurai. And do you know whose blood you share? Mine and Chrysalis’ blood. Much like….children.”

“So that is another reason why you spared me.”

“Hai...watashi no musuko.” (Yes...my son.) He said as the shinobi kept quiet to himself.

Prey walked over to Razor who lied on the floor unconscious. Prey knelt down and rolled Razor over on his back. He took his wrist and gently placed his fingers where his vein would be. He felt a pulse beating from his veins, making him sigh in relief.

He summoned his gourd bottle from earlier back from Fluttershy’s cottage and uncorked it. He then raised Razor’s head and placed the tip of the bottle onto Razor’s lips, having the water from his bottle flow into his mouth and down his throat.

Razor’s eyes shot open as he started coughing up the water Prey had given. “Yokatta. You’re still alive and awake.” (Good) Prey said as Razor began gasping for air.

“W-What *pant* happened? And what was that!?”

“That was medicine made from changeling blood. You had lost consciousness while fighting the shinobi. I had ended that fight.”

“Then... are they dead?”

“Only one Razor, the other I spared.” He grabbed Razor’s arm and began to pull him up to his feet. “Come, I need your help releasing my masters from their prison.” Razor nodded as he reached down and picked up his sword. “Can you walk?”

“I can only limp sensei. I do not think I can fight anymore.”

Prey placed a hand on his shoulder. “That is fine Razor-san, you have done all you can.”

Prey and Razor walked over to the cocoon eggs containing Prey’s friends and masters. They both took out their swords and carefully cut each egg open. Each egg revealed one of Prey’s masters and a friend.

After a few moments releasing his masters, he counted that only one pony was missing from the group, Applejack.

The two samurai gently laid each pony down in a row. Prey walked over to one of his masters, Rainbow Dash and knelt down. He planted his ear against her chest, listening to her heart beat thump at a normal rate. He eyed her chest once more to see it inhale and exhale, indicating normal breathing. He looked over at the other ponies to see similar statuses on all of them, gentle breathing.

Prey sighed in relief, they were all alive.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were moving around, humming and slowly waking up. Prey’s eyes widened at the sight of his masters waking up.

They both sat up, with Rainbow Dash rubbing her eyes and yawning as if she had actually taken a nap.

“*Yaaaaaawwwwn* Ah geez did I really sleep that long?”

Prey did his best to not chuckle at his master’s obliviousness. “Rainbow Dash, are you alright?” Prey asked as Rainbow looked up to find Prey, fully armored and slightly roughened with dirt marks.

“Prey? What the heck are you doing here? Wait….where am I?” The cyan pegasus looked around to find her friends laid out like a row of crayons. “What happened?”

“Rainbow, we were all attacked by changelings and they kidnapped you. Razor and I had saved you all...except Applejack.”

“Wait...what!?” She attempted to stand up to fume out her anger, but her attempt failed as she soon collapsed to her knees. “Ah jeeze…” She started to pant heavily, struggling to breath. “Why am I so tired?”

“You were in a cocoon Rainbow Dash.” Razor answered. “Cocoons can drain magic and strength through one’s love. It is only temporarily so I would suggest you rest before you start moving around.”

“Damn it…” She complained, crossing her arms together.

Prey and Razor looked over to Twilight who was rubbing her head. “Ugh...Sweet Celestia what happened?”

“Do you not remember Twilight-sama?” Prey asked raising an eyebrow.

“All I remember is that we were in your room and…..the changelings.” She said realizing what happened moments ago. “The shinobi they…”

“Everything is fine Twilight-sama. How are you feeling?”

“Weak….tired, like I’ve been working myself to death.”

“You have been encased inside of a changeling cocoon Twilight-sama. It has drained you of your energy and magic.”

“That explains a lot then.”

“Masters...where is Applejack?”

“I...I think Chrysalis took her somewhere else. But I don’t know where.” Twilight answered.

Prey looked around the room, now that the smoke was cleared he had a clear view of the room around him. But the room was plain, nothing showed any significance as all the walls were brown with subtle patterns of rock and roots sticking out of them. There was no stairway or passageway leading further deeper into any caves, and none were present on his way down here.

“There is nowhere else to go masters.” Prey was stuck. He sighed and began to feel frustrated, he wanted to save his master. But he was dead in his tracks. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You go this way…” Said a voice from behind Prey.

Everyone turned around to see that the shinobi Prey had spared was standing behind them. He was still in bad shape, with blood running down his nose and his leg leaking blood like a fountain. Prey narrowed his eyesight at the shinobi. He walked up to him with his hand wrapped around his katana’s handle, just in case. “What do you mean?” He asked in a rough tone.

The shinobi began limping to a wall, dragging his dead leg behind him. Prey followed him, being lead away from the others. Upon reaching the wall, he placed his hand on the wall and pushed slightly. Prey noticed that a plate of projecting stone was camouflaged with the wall. The shinobi was pushing the plate of stone with some pressure, and suddenly a large portion of the wall starting to sink down into the ground, revealing a stairway leading deeper down the caves.

Prey was shocked that the shinobi was revealing information as valuable as this. “Why...why are you doing this. You had said that Chrysalis is your master.”

“No...not anymore. You are…..Otousan. (Father)” The shinobi whispered as he slumped down against the wall. He could feel the bleeding slowly drain his vision and his life. “If I am going to die, I want to die doing good.”

Prey sighed, deep down he had some respect for the shinobi. Instead of walking down the stairway to leave him be, Prey walked over and picked up his wakizashi he had staked into the ground. He walked back to the shinobi sitting against the wall and knelt down, placing the dagger in the shinobi’s hands.

“I can make the pain stop, I can give you the mercy of a slow death.” He said as he guiding the shinobi’s hands to gripping the wakizashi. “You can at least die having honor.”

The shinobi cracked a smile, chuckled even. He positioned himself into a kneeling position, sitting on his legs very formally. He held the wakizashi up pointing it downwards towards his stomach.

“Before you move to the world beyond, anata wa namae nandesuka?” (What is your name?) Prey asked as the shinobi paused, looking downwards into the ground.

“I….I never had a name. She never gave me one.”

“I will give you one. Your name will be Yurushi.”

The shinobi made a small smile and gripped the wakizashi even tighter.

“Forgiveness….Arigato.” The shinobi then looked straight, facing a blank wall and drove the wakizashi into his own stomach, letting the blade pierce through his intestines. He then slowly and painfully slid the blade across his stomach, making sure he wouldn’t survive.

Prey then pulled his katana and raised it upwards, eyeing Yurushi’s neck for a quick and easy kill. “RRAAAHH!!” He screamed as he struck his blade down at Yurushi’s neck.

The blow was quick and strong as Yurushi’s severed head and body dropped on the ground. Prey wiped off all blood from his katana and gently placed it back into its sheath. He then began to move Yurushi’s corpse around, make it lie down on its back with his head back where it should be, even though it was severed.

He then placed his hands together and bowed at the dead changeling, giving his respects. “Yasuraka ni nemuru.” (Rest in Peace) He whispered to Yurushi.

Prey walked back to the others resting on the other end of the room. He saw Razor was resting with the other ponies, he couldn’t blame him, he had sustained many injuries and nearly perished fighting the shinobi. “Razor-san.” Prey called making Razor stand in attention.

“Hai?”

“I want you to stay here with the others. Do not go down there with me.”

Razor was conflicted with this command. “S-Sensei, with all due respect, I would like to go down there with you. I want to help you.”

Prey still admired his loyalty, making him smile a bit. “You can Razor-san, you can help me by ensuring the safety of my masters here. As soon as they all wake up, lead them out of the cave. After you have guided them out of the cave, then come seek me back into the caves.”

Razor bowed to his master. “Hai sensei. It shall be done.”

Prey smiled at his loyalty, he couldn't wish for a better samurai under his belt. He walked over to his helmet that Yurushi had ripped off of his head, and tied it back on his head along with his menpo mask. He walked to the hidden staircase and looked down into the abyss.

He looked back to his friends one more time before descending down, anticipating further challenges.