Author's Note

This took WAAAY too long, but I finally got it out. Have fun reading and don't be afraid to leave a comment, I enjoy looking at them.

Also, don't forget to check out lightningman's story The True Me, especially the later chapters, where Masaru gets featured for the first time alongside Alex.

The Crusaders are careless. Luna gets evicted!

“Ugh, what happened?” I said, not expecting an answer. I didn’t get one, but what I did get was a surge of memories that were both mine and not mine. It was a jumbled mess that I was unraveling surprisingly slowly. Perhaps my Blacklight is lagging behind… Wait what? Ugh, forget it. I thought while processing memories of my adventures in and out of Konoha and my life in Tennessee before the Con.

“Well… that’s some serious shit…” I said, subtly shocked, “Two sets of memories… One of a Jinchuuriki, and one of a social recluse too lost in his imagination to care much for the world around him… Both equally mentally unstable, if I might add.” Why am I talking to myself? I wondered.

“Regardless,” I look around, noticing that I seemed to be in some sort of crystal cave, “I, need to get out of here.” I said as I got up. I decided to take quick stock of my appearance and have a better look around. On my feet, I wore ninja shoes that went halfway up my calf, while lacking toe and heel covers, leaving said parts of my feet exposed. My pants looked like what Kakashi wore during The Last down to the style, only difference were that mine were more skin tight like yoga pants. On my chest sat three layers of clothing, the common fishnet undershirt ninjas use, a black vest with dirty yellow trim, held closed by tiny neodymium magnets running down the center trim, and on top of that rested loose off white robes with long sleeves, the inside lined in vantablack and the bottom seam hanging just above my knees, held closed with the same magnets as my vest. On my hands, I wore black, fingerless gloves with metal guards engraved with different markings, crescent moon on my left and the sun on my right. I noticed something just above my vision and felt a slight pressure around my head. I realized I was wearing a headband and quickly took it off to check it out. I immediately noticed that the band resembled the one Naruto wore when he returned to the village after his journey with Jiraya, except my forehead guard bore horns similar to Hagoromo’s horns, with the engraving for Shinobi featured in the 4th Shinobi War resting between them. While I was examining my headband, I noticed something black bordering the bottom of my vision and quickly realised that I was wearing a black facemask similar to Kakashi’s. I also noticed that my physique resembled that of a Saiyan such as Goku and that a brown, furry tail was wrapped around the waistband of my pants like a belt.

“Sweet, Rikudou Sennin. I wonder what my eyes look like.” I said before moving over to a relatively flat part of the wall I noticed when I was checking the cave out better. The first thing I noticed was that my eyes were not what I was expecting. “Well that’s plain.” I deadpanned. Previously, my eyes were a grassy green, now they were a fierce blazing orange, my hair following suit, now being a dark red, almost black, moderately long, and spiked, when previously it was a short, messy, dirty blonde. I put my headband back on, noticing and nearly invisible line in my forehead before my headband covered it. “Well I obviously have some secrets to uncover while my mind sorts out my jumbled mess of memories, if the fact that I have a currently dormant Rinne-Sharingan is anything to go by. Welp, fun times await. Adventure Time, c’mon grab your friends, we’re going to very… distant lands.” I sang as I walked off.

----2 hours later----

“Well shit, I’m lost. Wish there was a way I could find out how to get out of here.” I said. Seconds later, the full extent of my knowledge on earthbending was brought forth, to which I responded with a facepalm. Moments later, after I closed my eyes, I opened them, having found out something interesting along with where the exit was and how to get there. “I’m in the Canterlot Crystal Caves, and there’s anthros everywhere… And it seems Day court is currently happening. How fun.” I said, groaning as I made my way to the exit.

Which was on the other side of the caves… Great.

----1½ hours later----

“PRAISE THE SUN!” I shouted. I ran, non-stop, from the other side of the caves. Ninjas, aren’t they just great? Anyways, I quickly took stock of the view I had, which was about level with the Royal Towers. To my right was a path leading down to the white brick path a fair distance away from the castle gates. Just to the left of said castle was most of Canterlot City. off to my left was the valley in which Ponyville rested, or at least a backwater town that looked like Ponyville. My scoping was cut short when a rush of sorted memories flowed into my head, said memories contained useful information on Blacklight, which I was apparently infected with a unique, customized strain of. Magic, of which I had Harmony, Chaos, Dark, and Light magic, which I hardly ever used apparently, since there seems to be a distinct lack of memories on them. Ki, which I apparently had since I was part Saiyan. Bending and the Avatar State, three cheers for Raava. Demon Energy, since I was apparently a Incubus Demon King… hurray for demon hordes? I guess… Fuck it, they aren’t useless, and apparently obedient to me if memory serves me right. Let’s not forget the full extent of my knowledge on chakra- and there’s the Tailed Beasts… all ten of them… yeah, ten. I have a good guy version of Juubi, suck my tail, bish. Oh, and there was some memories on how to use my reality warping powers mixed in as well.

“Well ain’t this peachy… This would be the part where I contemplate something important… Ya know what? I think I’ll pull some new weapons outta my ass soon. No offense to the ones I already have, but it’d be nice to have an even larger variety… We’ll get there when we get there. Onwards to greatness!” I started to walk down them path when a very important question surfaced. “Where the hell do I go though? Hmm… Screw it! Fun times in Ponyville!”

I decided to exercise my bending and took off with a mix of fire and airbending, activating the Avatar State in the process. I decided to fly low and close to the mountainside so I was harder to spot. Thankfully, it paid off as I made it to the edge of the colossal outcropping that the castle rested on and whipped into a nosedive. I held this position for a few moments until I felt sure that I could kick the bending into high gear without alerting the capital.

----30 mins later----

I flew surprisingly fast since I mainly focused on firebending for propulsion and airbending to lessen wind resistance and drag. I was about a minute or so out from the edge of town when I made a quick decision to land in one of the nearby forests. I dived down and oriented myself in the direction of the Everfree, figuring that I’d get the most time in there to properly orient myself and gear up. I leveled out just above the treeline and flew for a while longer before coming across a suitable clearing and landing.

“So… what to summon first… let’s start with a mask.”

I held my right hand out like I was already holding a mask and channeled a blend of light and dark magic through my hand. “Summon: Dark Red Tech Mask of the Demon Fox.” I said in a commanding voice. A dark red fox mask with black markings appeared in my outstretched hand. I noticed the horns on my headband recede, allowing me to put the mask on without any problems, the HUD activating shortly after. I decided I would summon the weapons next and dispelled my robes, revealing my arms, which were wrapped in durable gauze along with most of my body, excluding my face, feet, and most of my fingers. I held both hands out and channeled my reality warping powers to locate and claim two weapons at the forefront of my mind.

“Dual Summon: Blood Prayers and Black Monolith. Source Verse: Beatless(Corrupted).” A large, black, modified crossbow-like weapon appeared next to a large black rectangular box with a handled in the middle. I grabbed both weapons and placed them on my back starting with the Monolith, which was in my left hand, and placing Blood Prayers on top of it. “So that covers EMP, ranged, and melee combat, so what else can I throw into the mix… Ooh, that could be interesting.”

I held out my hand like I was grabbing a staff and spoke, once again channelling my reality warping. “Summon: Rory Mercury’s Halberd. Source Verse: GATE: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri.” A purple hued halberd with a giant axe head appeared in my hand, which grabbed on before it could fall. I then announced my next command. “Fusion: Item one: Rory Mercury’s Halberd(Equipped). Item two: Ripper(Inventory).” The halberd in my hand was quickly engulfed in icy blue fire as a aged spine grew along the length of the staff, the butt having a bladed tip. A double-edged scythe blade grew to replace the dagger-like blade sitting opposite of the axe head, with a dragon skull bearing blue eyes and breathing billowing black fire having grown between them. The blue fire faded away from the weapon heads to reveal that the purple hue had been replaced with a dark red hue along with black tribal fire markings decorating the axe head.

The weapon’s eyes turned to me as I spoke. “What’s up with the new form, boss?” Ripper said in a deep, echoey voice.

“Just checking stuff and summoning new toys, the usual. Say, wanna stick around? There’s a town nearby that I plan on visiting soon.”

“Sure, why not? Seems like it’d be fun. So are we taking the blunt approach and just waltzing in or are we sneaking about?” He asked.

“Well for one, it’s damn near nighttime, and two, I’d like to have a run around this forest before paying that bonfire-waiting-to-happen a visit, which will hopefully provide a chance to test out the new stuff and for you to adjust to this form better.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Then hunting we shall go. Come Ripper! Fun times await us!” I hollered dramatically as I ran off, Soul weapon in hand.

Not even five minutes pass before a scream of terror echoes through the forest. I turned my attention to Ripper, who looked back as we quickly conversed. Once we finished, which took less than a second, I whipped around in the general direction the scream came from and picked up speed, activating my Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan as time seemed to slow down.

Moments passed like molasses as I quickly approached where I determined the source to be, subconsciously noting the increase in fear thanks to Kurama’s Jinchuuriki ability. I noticed flashes of colors other than green and brown through momentary gaps in the trees. I quickly determined that there was a hunting party of what was likely Manticores cornering what looked to be Zecora and the Crusaders. Oh hell no. I thought as I took advantage of my flank approach to chuck Ripper through a sizable gap in the trees that revealed the space between the approaching Manticores and the fear-filled girls. I jumped immediately after, revealing the two groups to be located in a clearing as Ripper violently impacted axe first between them, scaring both sides.

I drop kicked Ripper’s scythe blade, which might as well have been a pole due to the Soul weapon’s inability to injure his owner. The sheer force of my entrance caused Ripper to shoot up past the cloud layer while violently spinning once again. I shook my head as Ripper returned to the ground, landing axe first once again. I pulled him out of the ground and took a fighting position, readying Ripper to strike axe first. The Manticore closest to me growled as it prepared to pounce. My jaw twitched, activating the voice changer in the mask, which made my voice deep as a giant’s. “Here kitty kitty.” I taunted, causing the Manticore to leap at me in anger. I waited, time passing slowly since my Sharingan was still active. As the Manticore began to fall towards me, I flipped Ripper around, intending to impale the creature on the scythe blade.

I lunged forward and practically threw Ripper into a downward slash, quickly bringing him up and piercing the Manticore’s sternum as my footing shifted. It took less than half a second for me to slam the lion-like creature into the ground, only to plant my foot on it a rip my Soul weapon out of the dying animal. I took advantage of the fact that I was facing away from my opponents to start spinning Ripper like a buzz saw and tore into the Manticore, spreading blood and gore onto it’s companions. Once I was sure it was dead, I lifted Ripper from the desecrated corpse and transitioned him over to my left hand as I reached back to grab Blood Prayers from it’s spot on Black Monolith.

I turned Ripper so that he faced the girls as I set Prayers’ sights on the Manticores before me. I braced Prayers on the ground by the bottom arm as I adjusted the barrel to point at the ground in the middle of the group of Manticores, some of which had their tail between their legs, and pulled the trigger, launching a beam of explosive energy at the predators, annihilating or mutilating the remaining hunters, leaving nothing but charred remains as the shockwave blew my hair back. A few moments passed in silence once the air stabilized before I halted Ripper’s spinning form and holstered Blood Prayers.

“That was… Rather boring, honestly.” I said, turning to the girls behind me as I swapped Ripper back to my right hand and shouldered him, axe head up and my hand resting down the staff. The four humanoid equines were staring at me with a mix of shock, fear, and awe decorating their faces. “You four alright?” I asked in a deep, synthetic voice. Silence reigned once more as I took a moment to get a good look at them.

Zecora was decked out in her usual golden rings, along with furs covering her shoulders and hips, as well as supporting her sizable rack. In her hands, she held a staff with what was likely a goat skull bound by leather on one end. She came up to just under my chest, putting her around 5’6”.

Apple Bloom is wearing her usual pink bow with a red and orange striped shirt and denim overalls that stopped just above her knees. Her red hair stopped just past her shoulders. She was about 4’8”, putting her at the middle of my abdominals. Both were looking at me in shock with some fear mixed in.

Scootaloo was just a bit shorter than Apple Bloom, at 4’5”. She wore a plain yellow shirt, purple jacket, and green cargo pants that went down to her knees. She was staring at me in shock and awe.

Sweetie Belle was also shorter than Apple Bloom, at 4’6”, and wore a cream colored blouse with emerald trim and waistband. She was staring at me in mostly fear with some shock mixed in.

Their clothes were tattered and they were covered in cuts from things like thorns and claws. “I’ll take that as a no.” I said. I opened a pocket on my training vest and took out some senzu beans I had for situations like this. I had just closed my left hand around the beans when Scootaloo decided to break the silence.

“So~ awesome!” She shouted, “But not as awesome as Rainbow Dash.”. We all stared at her in silence before a quiet chuckle escaped my mouth as I grinned behind my mask.

“Heh, if you think that was awesome, then you’re gonna love these beans. Legendary and powerful warriors would eat these beans in the middle of a fight to heal up in an instant. I once knew a guy who had holes blown straight through both lungs and his abdomen, which left him short of air, lacking a beating heart, or any heart for that matter, and a good portion of his spine and intestines. Thankfully someone was nearby with a sack of these beans and he was good as new in under a second, beating heart and all.” I said, handing the quartet the beans.

Scootaloo, awed by the story, quickly grabbed and ate a bean before the others could stop her. In moments the only sign that she was ever hurt in the first place was her tattered clothes. She examined the results with awe written all over her face. “Anyone else?” Apple Bloom approached me next, cautiously reaching out and grabbing the rest of the beans to give to Sweetie Belle and Zecora. I let my hand return to my side as I waited for them to finish.

Once they had, I gestured for their attention. “So, I suppose introductions are in order? I’ll start. My name is Sage. I bear numerous skills such as metalsmithing, weapon mastery, and magical expertise. My favorite past times are reading, training, weight lifting, meditating, and sparring. Your turn.” I said, signalling Ripper to maintain stealth. Less truth they know, the better. For now.

“I’m Scootaloo! My hobbies are riding my scooter and hanging out with Rainbow Dash!”

“Ah’m Apple Bloom! Ah help out mah family at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville!”

“I’m Sweetie Belle! I help out my sister at her boutique in Ponyville! My hobby is drawing! And together, we are-”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” The trio shouted. I turned to Zecora, completely unaffected by the shout of the trio.

“I am Zecora, and I thank you for saving us from those Manticores. I was sure that we would live no more.”

“No problem, happy to help.” I said. “Now then, it’s getting late. I’m sure you girls are expected to be home soon.” I gestured towards the CMC. “So where do you live Zecora?”

“Here in the Everfree, where the plants are most available to me.” She said.

“Mm. And what about you three?”

“Ponyville. It’s a bit of a long walk from here. I think.” Said Scootaloo.

“We’ll see. Now then, let’s get you four home safely.” I said.

----30 minutes later, Zecora’s hut.----

“We’re here. Thanks to you, we traveled without fear.” Zecora said.

“Aw, it was nothing. Now then, I should get these three home. Do you know where I should go from here?” I asked. Zecora pointed us towards the west and we went on our way.

----10 minutes later, somewhere between Zecora’s hut and the edge of the Everfree.----

“Cha!” I shouted, embedding Ripper into the head of a Timberwolf, who was covered in a fiery red aura as I passed Wind style, Fire style, and Earth style chakra through him, which boosted his durability, sharpness, and added fire damage.

I had already defeated five wolves and was quickly growing tired of dealing with them. I decided to end it right there, so I stopped the flow of chakra into Ripper, embedded him butt first into the ground, and equipped Blood Prayers, extending it into it’s blade form and entered a fighting stance that would allow me to quickly perform a horizontal slash or stun a wolf with the butt of the technological weapon.

“Demon’s Rosario!” I shouted, the blade glowing red as I moved in to follow through with the 100 hit Sword Skill. I moved from wolf to wolf fast enough that I was a blur to the naked eye. In moments I had finished off the remaining six wolves, their diced remains falling to the ground as sap bled from them. I spun Blood Prayers on a finger to get the sap off before transforming it back to its gun form and holstering it on my back.

“C’mon, let’s not stick around in case more show up.” I said, waving the fillies over, who were taking shelter behind a fallen tree. I grabbed Ripper and shouldered him as the fillies came up to me. I nodded and we continued on our way.

----10 minutes later, just inside the Everfree.----

“Hey look, it’s the edge of the forest! I can see Fluttershy’s from here!” Scootaloo said.

“And there’s mah sis and her friends!” Apple Bloom said, pointing towards a group of familiar ponies. I let the young trio run to their friends and family before disappearing into the woods, not wanting to interact with the six. Thankfully, darkness had already encompassed the sky, with the light of the moon being the only thing keeping the forest from being pitch black, so it was easy to disappear quickly.

“Well, that was eventful.” I said, the voice changer deactivating.

“No kidding. Nice job with those timberwolves, by the way.” Ripper commented

“Thanks. Been meaning to pull that Sword Skill on something for a while now. So, shall we go to the castle ruins and see if the Guard doesn’t show up?” I ask.

“Not like I have any choice, personally. Just don’t go hard on them if they show up.”

“Yeah yeah, I hear ya. Type Slate: Ghost. Shadow Sneak.” A faded purple slate appeared behind me briefly before I sank into the shadows cast by the trees along with Ripper.

I rose from the ground just outside the castle a short while later. I decided to skip checking the door and just passed through with Kamui. I looked around the castle for the next hour or two before deciding that I would get some ‘sleep’.

“Alright, Rip, I’m off to meditate. You can leave or stay if you want, it’s your choice.” I said. After a few moments Ripper shattered into a bunch of blue shards that became blue smoke and dissipated. I headed to Luna’s old room and sat down in a corner to begin meditating. It wasn’t long after that I became completely immersed in my mindscape.

----Location: Mindscape----

I rose from my sitting position in my mindscape and began jumping from towering redwood to towering redwood within the forest that I had crafted many millennia ago. After a while, I came across one of the many lakes I created and dived in, jetting through the water like a bullet through air. I passed multitudes of different aquatic species that I came across on my journey. I spent a long while just soaking in the sights, but soon decided to hop on out of the lake, so I used Aqua Jet to reach the nearest shore and surfaced, drying off instantly as I stepped out.

The first thing I noticed was the sensation of someone watching me, but passed it off for the time being as one of the Tailed Beasts, bending spirits, or fauna that I’ve made in my mindscape. I went through my pre-training warm up routine, doing some quick stretches to loosen up my body. Once I was done, I walked up to the nearest redwood and backhanded it, causing leaves to start raining down. I closed my eyes and began throwing punches and kicks at high speed, soon becoming a blur of attacks as I kept all the leaves near me in the air.

After a few hours of this, I noticed that the feeling of being watched hasn’t left yet and decided to train a bit longer before checking to see who it was. Once I had stopped training, I reached out with my earthbending and discovered that my spectator was the one being I was hoping to avoid for a while. I deepened my voice and kept my back to her as I addressed her.

“Ya know, some could consider this an act of perversion. Perhaps you’re interested in seeing my nude body? Sorry, I don’t strip for just anyone.” I could practically hear her blush as she tried to come up with something to say. I decided to see how determined she was to find out what I am and learn more about me so I set out into the forest again, hopping from redwood to redwood.

I kept this up for a while before I checked behind me with my Byakugan, finding her following me closely. I expanded my search area and soon found something that immediately caught my interest. I changed directions with my next jump, throwing the mare off for a moment before she quickly changed course and followed me.

I continued in this direction for a while, and by now, I’m sure it’s close to the time the sun would be rising. Perhaps an hour or two, three if I push it. I landed in a clearing just before a steep drop off. I heard her land behind me, although it was surprisingly muffled. I ignored her and walked up to the edge of the drop off and took in the view.

Before me laid a crystal clear lake that was miles wide with a lone island off to one side, remnants of the volcano that stood here before, and a reminder of my trip to Crater Lake, Oregon. I turned my head slightly, dark red hair still keeping my face hidden.

“The lake alone is an incredible view, you know? Why don’t you come up here and join me?” I asked her. I summoned a copy of my mask onto my face and turned back when I heard her hoofsteps as she moved to join me. I heard her gasp before she stopped next to me a moment later. “Told you.”

“I have never seen a dream of such sharp beauty before.” She said. I turned to her with a mischievous smile on my face, which my mask hid.

“Tis not a dream, but a mindscape, my dear. Every inch created by yours truly.” Her head whipped towards me in surprise when I said mindscape, her surprise only growing when she found out I made all of it. “Impressed? Since I no longer sleep in the conventional sense, I figured it would only make sense to construct an eternal and beautiful view for me to lay my eyes on every night.”

She continued to stand next to me in surprise, so I took the chance to look her over. Her dark blue fur was groomed incredibly well and looked unbelievably soft, as well as her wings, which easily had a wingspan wider than I am tall, and were partially open. A moderately long horn rose from her mane, which resembled a night sky and waved in a nonexistent breeze. Her eyes were a beautiful teal color. On her forearms were light blue vambraces that were blunt on the edges. Her shoes were the same color, style, and blunt. Her dress was light blue like her vambraces and shoes, with black trim on the bottom seam along with a black belt and collar, both bearing a white crescent moon. A tail that matched her mane billowed out from behind her dress, and a black crown sat upon her head. She came up to mid chest, putting her at 6’3”. Luna was truly quite beautiful.

“You truly made this?” She asked in awe, mouth open slightly.

“Every little bit. Well, almost.” I replied, turning back to the lake.

“And it isn’t a dream?”

“Nope. Most of what you see are real places that I’ve been to. This lake is one of them. It’s called Crater Lake and it was formed when a volcano grew too cavernous and caved in on itself.”

“How come I’ve never heard of it before?” Luna asked.

“Reasons of which I am not willing to share.” I stated simply.

“Why not?” Luna asked.

“Because they are beyond your current comprehension and limits of belief.” I replied.

“How dare you think that I cannot understand your reasons! I am perfectly capable of such things!” She said angrily.

I merely stared at her. Although she didn’t see it, my eyebrows were furrowed in restrained anger. “I think it’s about time you leave. The door is behind you.” I said.

She obviously wasn’t happy with that, if her angry stomping in my direction was any indication. “How dare you! Do you know who I am?! I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria and princess of the night! You can not simply tell me to leave!” She shouted in my face.

I stared at her some more before bringing my hand level with her face. “Shinra,” I paused long enough for her to look at me in confusion, with anger still written on her face, “Tensei.” I finished and watched as she flew through the wooden door that I summoned behind her, said door disappearing soon after. “Some people need to learn how to respect one’s personal privacy.”

I sat down and spent the rest of the night admiring the view. And planning. Tons and tons of planning. This world will be different by the time I’m done with it. First things first, taming the Everfree, human style.