Of Samurais and Ponies

Celestia and Luna had slept for the first time since the takeover took place, They could not help but feel anxiety for the rest of the kingdom and for the safety for everything they held dear. Even in their dreams they could not escape their fears of their kingdom would fall. "Awaken rulers of the day and night!" Both Celestia and Luna awoke with a shock, the voice seeming to slip into their dreams. Aku slowly walked into the prison chamber, looking both ways at the princesses that sat on both sides of the hall. A sly smile crept across his face as he prepared to tell them some special news. "I see both of you are awake. Good, then this will be simple." Aku then cleared his throat in anticipation for what he was about to say.

"On with it dark one!" Luna yelled, angered by the very sight of him.

"Now now, no need to be so hasty. I wonder if I should even grace you with such news, knowing you will treat me in such a horrid manner." Aku then turned as he awaited for a beg or even a simple response.

"Wait! Forgive my sisters anger. Please let us know of this news." Celestia choked, she dreaded the fact that she had to be kind to such an evil entity.

"But sister..." Luna said as she was interrupted by her sister shushing her.

One of the corners of Aku's mouth twitched into a smile, he had heard all he had in order to know that he had them in his grasp. "Well, if you must know. My partner Discord and I have found your little group of trouble makers and that Jack they are traveling with."

Celestia raised a brow. "You wouldn't happen to be talking about the bearers of the elements now would you? And who is this 'Jack'?"

"Ah Jack, the man that has chased me for so long that I could no longer remember as to why he is doing so." Aku then let out a hollow chuckle. "Yes, the element bearers are with him, they are on their way here now to be specific." Aku looked at both of the royals, reviewing their reactions.

"This Jack... he is chasing you. Why?"

"Well, let us just say that his world was the first that met my scorn and wrath." Aku then let out a manic laugh that sent shivers down both the sisters spines.

'Maybe we still stand a chance. A single man has eluded his grasp for so long,' Celestia reassured herself.

"He might have eluded my grasp for a while, but he is yet to defeat me, that is for sure." Celestia gasped, did he really just read her mind?

"Yes he has Celestia, I bet he has." Out of the shadows appeared a figure that appeared to look like Discord smeared into the wall. Even if the real Discord was not present, the demented glow still remained in his shadowy eye.

"Discord." Celestia growled. "What have you done with the elements!?"

"Oh nothing really, just sent some hallucinations their way is all. Nothing much right?" Discord then half closed his eyes in a taunting manner. "Hallucinations that can not only drive them insane, but most likely kill them."

"NO! THEY ARE NOT TO BE DEFEATED BY SUCH MENIAL MEANS!" Luna yelled at the way Discord had described their unlikely demise.

"But I must say Aku, that Jack of yours is a formidable opponent. Even those so called indestructible ultra bots were defeated by the samurai."

Aku slapped his forehead. "And you would say this in front of our enemies why?"

Discord suddenly took on an innocent stance. "I wasn't supposed to?"

Aku shook his head in disappointment. "Never mind that now. Let us discuss other matters that could use our attention." Aku said as he started for the door. The shadow of Discord dissipating into thin air.

Celestia and Luna took one look at each other and sighed a sigh of both relief and worry. They did not know Jack personally, but from what they just heard, they could tell that the bearers were temporarily safe. But even with the short amount of relief could only be short lived. They did not know Jack or the extent of his power, and with no way to communicate with her protegee, she would be left with unanswerable questions. But with the knowledge that he somehow has survived any sort of attack from Aku, as to she could not, left her reassured for the moment.

"Sister dear, how are we sure that we are to come out of this. This is by far the worst situation the kingdom has faced by what I had read in the kingdoms archives,"

"I know, but even during the worst of situations, we are to not lose hope. This man the elements are traveling with gives me a brief hope for now."

...

Jack and the elements lumbered on, tired and groggy from their journey. They looked aimlessly forward, their destination seeming to be unreachable at this point. The only thing on their minds now was to rest. "Okay guys, can we stop for a sec. My hooves are killing me!"

"Well Rainbow, what do you suppose we do?" Applejack said, hoping she actually had a plan.

"Twilight, you still have that cloud walking spell right? Can we use that to sleep on them?"

Twilight pondered for a moment. "Well, I guess so. Can you get some clouds for us then?"

"Sure, let me just..." Rainbow then flew into the air, collecting a large could and bringing it down as quick as she could. "Do that."

"Okay then, everyone huddle up!" The group then circled themselves around the purple mare, awaiting the result. Soon, a lavender aura surrounded them for a moment, giving them all small tingling sensation on what they stood on, being it hooves or feet. "Alright then, I guess we can all just lay their for the night. Rainbow can tell you how comfortable a cloud can be Jack, just in case you were wondering."

Jack raised an eyebrow before stepping onto the cloud, along with the rest of the group. He slightly faltered with his first few steps, but he soon found himself able to slowly walk with ease. He slowly turned at the edge of the cloud to see the six mares all sleeping close together. He idly looked around the cloud, looking for a place that could serve for his slumbering purposes that was separated from the mares.

"Its okay Jackie, you can come over here." Pinkie said sleepily as she waved her hoof in their direction.

Jack pondered for a moment, before noticing the lack of extra space. He slowly placed himself between Applejack and Rarity, careful not to disturb them. He lay there, amazed by the fact that he was sleeping on a cloud for the first time, but also wary of the warmth that radiated from the mares that unconsciously snuggled next to him. He tried his best to just ignore it, sleep seeming to much to give up just because they wrapped their hooves around him as a child would a teddy bear. He closed his eyes. resting his weary body to finally succumb to the joy that sleep could bring.

They rested for what seemed like a sufficient amount of time, their bodies and minds rested enough to continue on their trip. Jack slowly opened his eyes, the warmth he felt the night before still warming his body to this very moment. He tried to carefully nudge his way out of the mares grasp, but to no avail. He just lay there, wondering when they would awake themselves. He noticed the distant voices of Twilight and Fluttershy chatting idly, but their voices seemed muffled, and soon he knew why. The smell of distant fruit and vegetables soon permeated his nostrils, his stomach rumbling at the whiff of food.

"Oh my, everyone must have been really tired last night, good thing that squirrel showed us were to find some food. At least when they wake up they won't be hungry." The meek voice of Fluttershy said as a small thud was heard.

"Excuse me, but could you please help me from the grasp of your friends?" Jack said quietly, slightly startling the two mares who got breakfast.

"Oh, sorry about that Jack, they tend to do that for some reason." A magical aura soon surrounded Jack, pulling him upward and away from the mares that clung to him. They now just lay there, their arms outstretched, looking for something to cling too.

Jack soon stepped on the earth again, relived that he finally had stability without having to stumble every two seconds. He slowly made his way over to the two mares, being a little to eager to grab a banana from the ground. "So Jack, is this your first time sleeping on a cloud?"

"Yes, I have never even set foot on a cloud before."

"That must have been scary for you, if it was your first time that is." Fluttershy said, more care in her voice than usual.

"I believe it must take more to frighten him, considering he can defeat the most viscous of beasts, to the most trained of fighters. Such as I." A voice said in the distance. The three went still, wondering where the voice came from.

Suddenly, Jack felt a fist slam into his cheek, sending him flying toward the cloud where he landed on without a scratch. Jack thought for a moment, before he knew exactly what was going on. "Twilight, illuminate your horn."

Twilights horn then let out a bright light, revealing a humanoid figure that wore a dark ninja stealth suit that kept him from sight in the dark night. The figure quickly moved back into the dark. Jack slowly moved over to Twilight, being sure to stay in the middle of the light radius. He looked around, waiting for the figure to enter the light once more to see his foe.

"Jack, who is this?" Fluttershy said, trying to hide inside Jacks kimono.

"The Dark Shinobi."

...