Akatsuki in Equestria

by chaos2012

Chapters

Strange awakening
The Forest
Insults are dangerous
A Taste of Art
Trouble in Ponyville
Shark and the Sharingan
Unnatural Power
For the Will of Jashin
The Sacrifice
Masks
Do Not Challenge me
From all directions
Another Taste of Art
We have a weapon
An Artists Many Talents
Canterlot Elite: Enter the Trifecta
The True Power of Art
Target Aquired
Luna's ability
Konan's heart and Pain's words
To Accept Pain, to Know Pain
Canterlots End and the Power of the Sharingan
Feel the Pain
The Sharingans Trump Card
Paths to be Taken
The Ultimate Trick and Ultimate Destruction
Prologue: Sealing Process failure

Strange awakening

Conscious thought began to return to Tobi's mind. All he could feel was his body sore all over from the hard landing from earlier. He had no idea just how he had been out for, but he could tell by the feel in the air that he was no longer located inside of the hideout. Rolling over off his back, he slowly opened his one exposed eye, and was shocked at what he saw.

He was no longer located in the forest that surrounded the cave, but in some strange field in which he had never seen before. The hills around the clearing rose just high enough to nearly block the trees behind them. Looking up, even the sky and the moon seemed different than before; it seemed so much, closer to the ground than normal.

'What is this place?' He thought to himself. Slowly, he stood up on all fours, preparing to get up. Strangely, though, when attempting to get on his legs, it felt very awkward and uncomfortable for his body to do that. Dropping back down on his arms, the feeling felt natural now to stay on all form of his limbs, causing him confusion, 'perhaps my body is exhausted from what ever-' he stopped mid sentence when he glanced down to his arm.

His arm has covered in a brown fur that extended all the way to where his hand should be, but was instead ended in a hard stump on the end. Following up his arm, he saw he still sported the akatsuki black cloak over his back, but glancing back, he saw the rest of his body was changed as well; his legs looked very similar to the condition his arms were in now, and coming out his end was a black tail.

Tobi could not believe what he was seeing; somehow he had been transformed "What is this? Is... Is this some form of Genjutsu?"

"No, it isn't." a familiar voice said from behind.

Turning around, Tobi saw his assistant Zetsu. Or... What looked like Zetsu; walking towards him was a horse wearing an identical cloak to his, whose face was seemingly divided in two from one half being black and the other white. The familiar green venus fly trap came up from the top of the cloak, surrounding the creatures head. Tobi looked curiously at the transformed Zetsu, "So, it appears I am not imagining this."

The white Zetsu half began to speak, "This strange form we have been given is similar to the native species of creatures." his higher pitched voice said. The black half began, it's deeper voice much more sinister, "Whatever happened, it seems to have sent us off our world."

Tobi looked to his side, seeing the other Akatsuki beginning to wake. As he came closer, he realized the seemingly impossible, all of the others had been changed as well. All of them were different colored horses that all wore similar clothing.

The first one to stand up was a large blue horse with gill slits on its cheeks. The creature moaned from pain as he got up, revealing the mouth of sharp teeth."what happened?" Kisame asked as he brought a limb up to his head, but yelled out in panic as he saw the hoof coming to his face, "What the... What is this!?"

To the side, two different forms began to rise as well. Sasori shook his head to try to clear his thoughts, "Uhh... What happened? I thought I-" his voice caught in his throat when he saw the orange horse stand up next to him. But what startled him the most was the blonde mane the horse had, which was styled exactly like his partner's, "D-Deidara?"

Deidara looked up to the direction of the voice, his eyes blurry from waking up, "Ah, my damn- what the hell!" he screamed at the sight he beheld; a red haired and almost pink colored horse stood right next to his face, "what kind of creature are you!?"

"What are you talking about? It's me!" the horse said.

"Sasori?"

Yeah it's me. I don't know what kind of jutsu this is, but somehow we have become animals."

"I can see that, but what-" Deidara caught himself looking at Sasori's forehead, "What is that?"

Sasori lifted his hoof and felt something protruding off of his head. Feeling around, it ft pointed, and was sensitive to his touch, "I don't know, but whatever it is, I can feel it has a large amount of my chakra."

Deidara looked down to his own body to see his change. Lifting his front hooves up, he noticed he still had his extra mouths on the bottom, causing him to grin, "Well, I still have my precious bomb makers, hmm." His eyes the. Went to the strange feeling he had on his back, and nearly fainted, "I-I have wings!"

Another member got up from the ground, her head groggy from the impact. Getting up, she tried to figure out what was going on, but was too shocked at what she saw; her body was now of a horse with a cream colored coat, and behind her sat a small curled tail the same color as her hair. "What kind of power is this?"

Suddenly her mind clicked, making her turn to see another horse of faded gray. Below its orange mane sat a tall horn and many piercings throughout the snout, ears and lips. Realizing who it was, she ran over and knelt by the body, "Pain?"

In an instant, Pain's eyes shot open, revealing the Rinnegan. As if unfazed, he got up from the ground, face still stripped of any form of emotion, "It seems the power of that light has physically transformed us."

Konan stared at the dull face of the Deva path of Pain, 'It seems Nagato can still control him in this place.' she thought to herself.

"WHAT THE FUCK!!!"

All the akatsuki turned to see a white horse with a gray mane and tail freaking out, "what is this shit!? What did that magic do to me!?"

Hidan did not stop yelling as a brown horse sporting a white and gray mask walked over to him, "Calm yourself, Hidan. Whining about this will not change anything."

Hidan glared at Kakazu with his deep red eyes, "And acting calm is going to make it all better? I'm a god damn horse!"

"We are all horses. We have got to figure this out." another voice said.

Turning to his right, Hidan saw a smoke gray horse walking towards him. When the creature opened its eyes, Hidan immediately recognized the two red sharingans, "Itachi?" he said.

Itachi gave him a cold stare as he walked passed into the main group of other members. Hidan glared as he walked over to his scythe, confused on how to grab it. When he put his hoof on it, he was surprised to feel a grip on the handle despite having any fingers. Trying not to think about it too much, he slung his weapon over his right shoulder and walked with his three other limbs.

Once all ten were together in the clearing, many confused looks were given as they inspected the others standing together. Deidara was the first to speak up, "So, anyone have an idea of what the hell happened? Hmm."

"Is this some sort of Genjutsu?" Kakazu asked.

Itachi looked over, "No. My eyes would be able to detect if there was any form of it placed over me."

"It has something to do with the energy from the Gedo Mazo..." Tobi chimed in, "it must have transported us to another dimension or planet of some sort."

"Speaking of which..." Kisame said, glaring over to Pain and Konan, "what happened? You were supposed to Subdue the jinjuriki before you brought it there."

Konan cast her own sneer his way, "We did stop it. Somehow the seal over it must have broke when we arrived in the cave."

"Well why the hell were we changed then!?" Hidan screamed out.

Tobi looked his direction, "Zetsu has already done scouting around this area, and discovered that some strange form of horses are the native species here. Perhaps sending us here changed us to match the local population."

"Well why are we different from all you?" Sasori asked pointing towards his horn.

Pain looked up as well to the horn which grew from his forehead, "I can feel much of my own chakra focused to this."

The white Zetsu half spoke, "It appears that one kind of horse can perform their own ninjutsu with their horn."

"what about me and Konan with these wings?" Deidara blurted out.

Konan gave a confused look, "Wings?" she looked to her back and noticed the small wings tucked to her side. She never noticed them before.

"Another type of horse here has wings they use to fly with." the black Zetsu half answered.

"Fly?" Deidara gave a smirk, "So I no longer need my bird to travel. Hmm."

"What about our ninjutsu? How do we work it without hand signals?" Kisame questioned, shaking one of his hooves in frustration. Despite learning how to pick up his Samehada without hands, he wanted to know how to work his water style.

"Allow me to demonstrate." Itachi said as he walked to the center of the group. Leaning back on his hind legs, he clasps his front hooves together, "Shadow clone jutsu!"

POOF!

A shadow clone of Itachi appeared out of the puff of smoke. Looking back to the others, he explained how it worked, "When we put our hands together back on our world, we had to imagine the signs we weaved. By doing the same thing here, you can perform all of your standard jutsu."

Kisame laughed out loud, "So by putting our hooves together and imagining the hand signs we need, we can do out techniques? Oh this is surprising."

"Enough." Tobi said, "we need to find a way to return to our world. Now, we have all learned that our powers have stayed with us, so that means I want you to go."

"Go?" Kakazu questioned.

"Go and find any information you can on any large source of power that this world has. I want to find out where we are and how we can return."

"What of the local species that live here?" Itachi asked.

"I do not care what you do to the life forms here. I only care for locating a way to our world. Meet here tomorrow night with what you found."

The others nodded in agreement as they broke off into their usual pairs and began to move through the field in different directions. Zetsu walked over to Tobi, "what Would have me do?"

"continue your recon." Tobi coldly replied.

Zetsu closed the fly trap around himself and began to sink into the ground. After several moments, he was gone, leaving the masked leader alone in the field, "Perhaps I could find information myself as well" he said to himself.

Activating his sharingan, the swirling vortex of energy expanded from the hole in the mask and pulled Tobi into the abyss, leaving the once occupied field empty.

The Forest

In the Canterlot gardens, Twilight stared into the sky long after the strange light had disapeared. The appearance of something so odd kept her captivated, thinking of the possibilities to what it could have been. She had been so curious on what she saw that she never noticed the princesses had walked a small distance away.

Celestia Glanced over her shoulder, making sure her student was not within hearing range. Seeing they were safe, she turned back to her sister, "Luna, did you feel that strange burst in energy from that light?"

Luna turned her head to the direction Twilight was staring at, at eyes filled with curiosity, "Yes, I sensed the objects inside as well."

"whatever came from that light, it was something alive, and it wasn't alone."

Luna turned to her older sister , "Do you think those beings could be a threat?"

Celestia turned, making sure Twilight did not get up from her spot, "I don't even know what they are. I would have to see for myself."

"Does thou wish to go out thyself to the fields to look for the newcomers?"

Celestia pondered over the idea, but she wanted to know more about the beings before she confronted them, "No. Send out a small group of soldiers to inspect the Surrounding land. Have them look for any suspicious activity with ponies or other creatures."

"Alright. Now, what of Miss Sparkle?"

Looking back, Celestia saw Twilight had moved from her spot and began to walk towards her, "If she asks, just say that we are looking into it. Do not tell her of the troops leaving, since I want Shining Armor to go as well."
Luna looked curiously at her older sister, "Are thou sure that Sir shining should go?"

"Yes. I want to make sure that if these new beings don't comply, the soldiers will have a chance to defend themselves."

"Alright." and with that, Luna took to the skies back toward the main throne room of the castle.

After seeing her sister depart, Celestia turned her attention back to her approaching student. Twilights face seemed locked in a dazed stare as she came forward, eyes locked on her teacher, "Princess, you don't have any idea what that was?"

Celestia looked down to Twilight, her face kept in her normal and calm demeanor, "No need to worry, Twilight. I assure you that everything is fine."

"But, what about-"

"I will look into the strange occurrence. There is no need for you stress your thoughts over it. You should go inside to the castle and get some rest."

Twilight thought about asking for more information about what she saw,but chose not to, seeing that her teacher had already planned on figure it out. She nodded her head in obedience and walked past the sun princess towards the large castle.

After Twilight left the gardens, Celestia turned back to the sky, her thoughts racing through her mind, 'Now, who are you strange beings?'

Deep inside the Everfree Forest, two figures cloaked in black and red uniforms slowly trotted under the thick; dense leaves of the trees high above them. The duo had no idea in where they were going or what they were supposed to be looking for, but they did as they were told by their leader.

"Ah!" the blonde maned Pegasi grunted, lifting his hoof off the ground. He flipped it over, seeing that dirt had once again gotten into the mouth that was there. His anger continued to grow at the problem he had for the last hour, "How am i supposed to walk and always focus on keeping the mouths closed? I hate having to deal with this! Hmm."

Deidara had lost count of how many times he had to stop to allow time to spit out the foul tasting dirt out of his precious mouths. The only thing which appealed to the taste buds on his former hands was his special chakra filled clay. Suddenly, his mind thought about his clay; he had no idea if he would be able to find more in this strand land.

Looking back to the two pouches on his side, he was thankful that he had refilled his supply shortly before he met with the other akatsuki inside of that cave. He then turned to his partner, whose eyes were focused on the strange horn that grew on his forehead.

Deidara kept his eyes on it as well; he had no idea why some of the others had just turned into basic horses while others, like himself, grew things like wings. He decided to break the silence that was between them, "Did you figure out how to use that thing?"

Sasori turned after hearing the question, "Somewhat; I can feel how my chakra flows into it as if it was my old fingers. I believe I can use it right. Have you figured out those... Things?"

Deidara glanced at his back, noticing how his new appendages were tucked at his side. Curious on how to use them, he moved the muscles that were on his shoulder, feeling how the wings started to shift. He fasted a small grin "I fan feel them there. Let me try to use them."

Opening the wings out, he began flapping them up and down. After a second, he lifted himself off the ground. At first he was very off balance, but after hovering for a moment, he began to float nearly perfectly flat. Then he began flying forward through the trees, testing out his agility. To his suprise, he learned how to get the hang of the wings quickly, and laughed when he saw he was much more maneuverable than his large clay owl he would ride on before.

Sasori watched how Deidara was enjoying his new form at the moment. He then turned his attention to his own body, curious on the full extent of the change. Feeling down in his robe, he noticed he still had his summoning scrolls, giving him some relief knowing he had some puppets to use.

Then, Sasori was curious if his own body had changed in the way he thought. Unbuttoning the top of his outfit, he pushed it open, allowing him room to look down his shirt. What he saw gave him a small smirk, 'I guess some things stay the same.'

The sun rose into the sky above Ponyville, giving light to the once dark town. The shadows of the buildings stretched out across the ground as the bright orb continued to climb. Inside the small town, ponies began to stir out of their homes, preparing to start their daily jobs and errands that they had.

To the side of the town, a large cloud floated in its set spot. Multiple streams of colorful rainbows fell from the fountains over the top, giving it a very unique appearance. Then, the front door to the house opened, revealing owner.

Rainbow Dash yawned as she walked out onto her cloud porch. Her rainbow colored mane and cyan coat were sticking up in all sorts of odd driections, showing that she had just rolled out of bed. she shook her body to wake herself up, and to flatten her messy hair as well. After her mane was fixed, she looked around, thinking of what to do.

Cloudsdale had chosen to not create any clouds for today, so Rainbow had the day off. She already had plans to go hang out with her friend Spitfire, but that wasn't until later that day. Looking down to Ponyville, she decided to go and find some pony to go and hang out with for a while.

Opening up her wings, she took off into the sky, loving the feel of the still chilly air as it blew through her hair, causing it to stand on end. Flying through the air, she flipped mid flight, then went into a series of barrel rolls towards the ground. Once close to the ground, she flattened her level out, gliding about twenty feet off the ground.

As Rainbow flew towards town, she passed by Sweet Apple Acres, "Ugh. Applejack is still gone." she grunted. Normally that farm would be her first stop before town, but Applejack and her family had left to Hoovesdale to sell a large supply of their apples. Seeing that option was out, the Pegasus continued on towards Ponyville.

Once Inside of the town, she flew past the many bustling ponies walking around, not spotting any of her friends. Then, she flew towards the one spot which was the usual hangout spot for all of them; Sugar Cube Corner.

Walking through the doors, Rainbow looked around and noticed it was especially crowded that morning. The main floor of the bakery was wedged as ponies tried to keep their spot in the long line. Not able to see through the crowd, she tried to look over the mass of manes in front of her to-.

"HI RAINBOW!"

"Dah!" Rainbow jumped in reaction from the yell in her ear. Whipping around, she glared at the giggling pink earth pony, "Darn it Pinkie! I hate it when you do that!"

Pinkie Pie giggled at Rainbow's reaction, "He he he! Oh Rainbow, you know how I always love giving a scare." she bounded over by her cyan friend, landing mere inches from her face, "What are you doing here?"

Rainbow took a step back, allowing herself room to breathe, "Uh, well I came I see if you wanted to hang out."

Pinkies face suddenly turned into a large frown, "Aww. Sorry, but I have to help Mr. And Ms. Cake with the crowds today." a bell from behind the counter rang, causing Pinkie pies face to light back up, "Oh! Gotta go!" Pinkie then somehow managed to run under the crowd mob of ponies, then suddenly appearing on the other side of the counter dressed in a cooking cap and apron, "Next order up!"

Frowning, Rainbow turned around searched the tables, and saw her other friends; the white unicorn Rarity, and the yellow Pegasus Fluttershy sitting together. Happy to see them, Rainbow trotted over, "Hey girls."

"Oh Rainbow Darling!" rarity cheered.

"Oh, um, hello Rainbow. How are you today?" fluttershy whispered, her face partially hidden by her pink mane.

"So, what are you two up to after this?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, Rarity and I were going to the spa for our weekly treatment."

Rainbow rolled her eyes after hearing that, "Seriously, what is it with you two and that place? You always go there."

"Well, how do you expect us to keep our hair so fabulous!?" Rarity exclaimed as she tossed her purple mane to the side. "You should come with us." she said with a large smile.

Rainbow grimaced at the mere thought of the offer, "No thanks. I don't do spas."

Rarity frowned at the decline, "You really should get cleaned sometime. You always looks so... Egh."

Rainbow Dash glared at the seamstress, "You know what, I like my look. And I'm outta here."

"Where are you going?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm gonna go practice my moves. Since I'm training with the wonderbolts now, I gotta stay at the top of my game." Rainbow said before she walked out the door and took off into the air.

Rarity shook her head, "ugh. Just because she trains with athletes doesn't mean she has to look like one."

"Oh, i just remembered; Rarity, can I ask you something?" fluttershy whispered.

"Of course, Fluttershy."

"Um, did you see that strange light last night?"

"Light?" Rarity did not know what Fluttershy was talking about.

Rainbow Dash flew through the air, doing a number of difficult flips and diving toward the ground at the same time. After completing her small routine, she smiled proudly at her accomplishment, "Ah yeah! Doing these moves, there's no way that I won't make the team soon!"

Looking up to the sky, she noticed a small rainbow, which sparked another idea in her mind, "Now, only one thing that will top it all off. A Sonic Rainboom!"

Seeing how close she was to the town, she knew that doing that move so close could be a problem for some of the ponies on the ground. Turning, she took off through the air towards the Everfree forest. She climbed high above the trees stretched out her legs, preparing for the ultimate trick that she had.

"alright Rainbow, you got this one in the bag! Just keep your head down, and there's no way that-"

Two figures down below suddenly came into view through the thick tree cover of the forest below, catching Rainbows attention, "Huh? Who is that?"

Seeing ponies walk through the Everfree Forest was already weird in itself, since most were so afraid to ever come close to it. The other part that seemed strange was from where she was, she could tell they were wearing some sort of dark, matching outfits.

Curiosity overcoming her, she decides to fly down and check out who it could be.

Insults are dangerous

High above the ground, the sun began to cast its warm rays to the ground, causing whatever dew on the shaded ground to evaporate. Below the tall mountains laid a small dirt road, and beside that was a small grass plain.

In the middle of the field, Itachi and Kisame slowly trotted through the knee high grass. After walking for the entire night, they hadn't come across any others Through their travels, and began to feel as if they would not by the time the night came around.

Stopping at the small road, Itachi looked back and forth down the trail, trying to make out where it went. "Perhaps we should follow this for a while. There is a good chance we will come across a village at some point."

Kisame glanced at his younger partner, then looked up to the mountain range ahead of them, "Heh, I agree with the road. I'm not in the mood to climb."

Itachi was about to say something, but detected movement down the path to his right with his sharingan. Focusing his vision, he saw a small wagon heading towards them, "Someone's coming ."

"Hmm?" Kisame looked to the direction Itachi was and also saw something in the distance. "What is it?"

Itachi continued to stare at the oncoming group, "It appears to be a large horse pulling a wagon. Riding inside there are two others; one old and one young. Then there is one more walking by the side."

Kisame cast a tooth filled grin, adjusting his large sword over his shoulder, "Well, how about we have some fun? I'd like to test out how well I still fight in this new body."

"No. We should not cause problems until we have reason to. We are to gather information. Perhaps they can lead us to a village for that."

Kisame growled at having to just do nothing, but knew Itachi always had a plan, "Fine. We'll do it your way."

Itachi turned away from his blue companion back to the coming wagon. 'Perhaps my eyes would cause fear for most here' he thought to himself. Deactivating his sharingan, his now dark brown eyes stared at the approaching group.

"How ya holdin up, Big Mac? Ya tired?" asked the orange mare walking beside the wagon.

"Eenope." answered the large red stallion, Big Mac, "Don't worry bout me, Applejack."

"Alright then." Applejack turned away from her older brother back towards the path in front of them. They had been traveling back from Hoovesdale the whole night. Even though she got to rest in the cart, Big Mac chose to keep pulling through the night to save time.

Out from the back of the wagon, a small yellow filly with red hair stood up over the side, "Hey AJ, how much longer until we get back?"

Applejack looked around at her surroundings to try to figure out where they were at the moment,"Ah'm not too sure, Applebloom. Ah hope no more than an hour. Why, what's up?"

Applebloom frowned down at her older sister, "Ah don't know how much longer ah can handle Granny Smiths snoring. It's driving me crazy!" she looked back down to the floor of the cart where an elder green mare was sprawled across the wood, drool coming out of her mouth as she snored loudly.

Applejack chuckled at her sisters suffering, "Don't worry sugarcube, we won't be much longer to Ponyville." Adjusting her hat, she went back to trotting along side her brother.

"Oh, alright." the young filly grunted as she walked to the front of the wagon and leaned over the side, letting out a long sigh. She then noticed something to the front by the side of the path, "Hey, who are they?"

"Who?" Applejack asked, then noticed her sister was staring ahead of them. Looking forward, she saw two strange ponies standing on the side of the road. They were just sitting there, staring at her and her family as they approached. A strange feeling crept over her, "Big Mac, stop the wagon."

"Eeyup." Macintosh answered, having the same feeling his sister had.

Applejack stared curiously over to the ponies on the grass. Then, the smaller of the two started to walk over towards her. Most of his body was covered by a black robe spotted with red clouds. What she could see was he had a smoke gray coat and nearly black mane and tail. She tried to keep a smile on her face as she tried to talk, "Uh, hey there stranger. Ya need something?"

"Hello there. My name is Itachi. Perhaps you can help me and my partner."

"Yer partner?" Applejack looked up, but felt a rush go by her side. She looked in horror as her little sister ran straight up to the unknown pony, "Applebloom, wait!"

Kisame took a step back at the rushing filly coming to his feet. He felt his personal space broken at how close she came right up to him, "What do you want?"

“Wow! Yer certainly a strange looking pony." Applebloom exclaimed excitedly, "Hey Big Mac, this pony is even bigger than you are!"

Applejack stared at the odd blue pony. Her brother was a larger than average stallion, yet this pony stood several inches taller. On his cheeks he had some strange markings set below his eyes. Then, her eyes went up to the very large object that he had slung over his shoulder, "Is... That a sword?"

Kisame smiled, showing off his sharp teeth, "yes it is. Perhaps you want to-"

He was cut off by an old pony grabbing his face with her hooves. Applejack screamed at what she saw, "Granny!" She now felt fear, not knowing what theses strange ponies would do.

Granny smith stared curiously at the ponies face she was shifting around in her hooves, "Well, yers a weird lookin' feller, aren't ya?" she then wedged his mouth open, revealing the rows of serrated teeth, "huh? Looks like ya need ta go see Colgate and get them things fixed. He he."

Kisame took a step back to get away from the invasive elder. His face scrunched up into a snarl, and he clutched his Samehada with his hoof, "Why you old-" he then locked eyes with Itachi, who gave him a threatening look. Kisame growled and kept his nerves intact, allowing his sword to rest back down.

Itachi looked back to Applejack, "Perhaps you can direct us to the nearest village. My partner and I are traveling from a distant land and require supplies."

"Well why dontcha just follow us..." Applebloom yelled out, "Ponyville is down this road!"

Applejack whipped around to her sister, giving her an angry whisper, "Applebloom, what are ya doin!? We don't even know these ponies?"

"Oh, come on sis! They seem friendly."

Applejack, turned back to the two cloaked ponies, who stared straight back at her. Despite the threatening appearance they displayed, they had not threatened her family in any way. After contemplating the idea, she finally sighed, "Well, y'all can just follow us into town, alright?"

Itachi nodded his head in agreement, same with Kisame. Applejack tried to give a smile, despite the odd feelings running through her. She signaled her brother on to start pulling the wagon. As soon as it started moving, she trotted along with it, staying extra close to her older brother.

Following along, Kisame gave a small chuckle, "Well Itachi, you certainly can give a convincing appearance. They will lead us right where we want."

"There is no reason for confrontation when we can obtain our goal much simpler." Itachi answered, "And besides; you will have many more chances to practice your ninjutsu in this world."

Deidara and Sasori continued to trek through the thick trees, not even sure what was in the direction they were going. The forest seemed to have no end as the sun rose higher into the sky above them. Deidra glanced up, frustrated in how much time they had spent walking.
Deidara looked over to his partner, "Come on, let's just get onto one of my birds so we can both just fly over this stupid forest."

"No..." Sasori blatantly replied, "Just arriving in this strange world, we should keep a lower profile. Flying on a giant clay owl will draw some attention."

Deidara sneered at Sasori's idea, "Who cares if others see? We can take care of anyone who tries to come at us."
"I would rather us not deal with anything at the moment."

"Humph, your idea is costing us time that we don't have. We have to meet back at the field tonight. Hmm."
"If we don't find anything useful, then we just head back and tell them that-" Sasori stopped when he noticed something coming down through the trees, "What is that?"

Both of the akatsuki stopped as a blue horse with wings dropped onto the ground in front of them. They stared curiously at the strange colored mane the creature sported, observing the mix of red to purple hues.

Rainbow Dash stared as well at the two ponies in front of her; she looked at how both of them wore some sort of matching outfits of red clouds and black background design. They were definitely ponies that she had never seen before around Ponyville. After a moment of awkward gazing, she decided to break the silence, "Uh, hey there."

Both of them were caught off guard seeing that it could talk, but figured being horses also meant they could communicate. Sasori looked over to Deidara after several seconds, "This is the local population that Zetsu talked about. It's a flying type like you are."

Rainbow noticed how they had completely ignored her, but figured it was because they were discussing what to say, "So, you two are new here, aren't you.?What are you doing in the Everfree Forest?"
"yeah. Perhaps it knows about a source of power in this world." Deidara answered to his partner. Turning back to the figure in front of him, he took several steps forward in its direction, "Hey horse, do you know of anything powerful around here?"

Rainbow was caught off guard, partly because of the strange question, and partly because of what she was called. Glaring at the stranger, she floated up into the air, "Who are you calling a horse you dumb pony? Do you know who I am?"

Sasori stared blankly at her, "No, should we?"

"The names Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria. And you should be nicer to ponies you just met." she sneered.

A large smile spread across Deidara's "Rainbow? Ha ha! You should get a better name than that. That makes you look like a fool."

Rainbow could not believe just how rude this Pegasus was, "You got some attitude saying that! What's your name? Some colt with a mares haircut must have a stupid name too."

Deidaras eyes went wide after hearing that, 'M-mare?' he thought to himself, 'She says I have a girl horses haircut?'. He then shot angered look back at the Pegasus in front of him, "You dare say that I have a girls haircut!? You should watch what you say to me, Deidara! Hmm."

Rainbows face suddenly scrunched up into an awkward grin as she tried to suppress the laughter that came up all of a sudden, "your name is... De-" she then dropped onto her back in laughter, “Bwahaha! What kind of a name is that!? You should have a cooler name before you try to make fun of someone else, ha ha ha!"

Sasori gave a small chuckle at how angry Deidara was getting from the pony in front of them, "Well Deidara, you seem to have met your match."

Deidara suddenly gave a small chuckle, "Well, perhaps I should teach her a lesson then about art." He then stood up on his hind legs and shoved his hooves into the bags on his sides, "Don't worry, I'll make this quick."

Sasori frowned, knowing well what was going to happen, "Just don't take long. I don't like to be kept waiting." He then turned and walked away from his partner, wanting to make sure he had some distance between himself and the coming event.

Rainbow stood back up, confused at what the blonde maned pony was doing. She saw him shifting his hooves in the bags, knowing he was planning something, "Hey, what are you up to? What is in those-"

Her heart froze when she saw him lift his hooves out and caught glimpse of the mouths he had there. They were chewing on something, when all of a sudden each one opened up, and two clay birds crawled out. Rainbow felt as If she was going to gag at the freaky sight, "what- what are those things!?"

Deidara smiled at the scared blue pony in front of him, "This is my art. Do you wish to be part of it?"

"Wh-what?"

"You are going to be part of it..." he said as the birds flew out of the mouths towards Rainbow,
"Because my art..." he lifted his right hoof to his face as the birds rushed towards the petrified pony, "Is an explosion!"

BOOM!

A Taste of Art

Above the Everfree forest, a single yellow Pegasus flew in the direction of Ponyville. Her two toned orange mane and tail fluttered in the wind as she glided easily through the air. Covering her brown eyes were her blue wonderbolts goggles.

Spitfire had been able to get her morning free so she could do a surprise visit to a certain blue mare that was due for payback; ever since Rainbow Dash qualified to train with the wonderbolts, her tough yet joking attitude immediately clicked with Spitfire, and after a few weeks they became good friends.

Despite being close friends, though, Rainbow had the knack to prank Spitfire on a weekly basis. While most of the time it was something simple like a snake in her room or a drop of hot sauce in her drink, but Rainbow's last prank was a home run; she had switched out Spitfires shampoo with red hair dye. After realizing what had happened, the wonderbolt captain had to scrub for three hours to get the color out.

Spitfire looked to the bag she had hanging over her shoulder, Which caused a large grin to spread across her face, "He he, this will definitely make her sorry for putting that dye in my shower."

She continued to fly, but a sudden explosion from the trees below caught her attention. She came to a sudden stop, trying figure out what just happened, "What was that?" Looking around, she then saw a small stream of smoke rising from the trees to the right.

Spitfire stared over towards the rising fumes, "What in Equestria happened down there?" Wanting to find out more, she turned and flew towards the smoke.

Deidara smiled at the explosion in front of him where the pony once stood. He chuckled at his success, "I told you to watch what you say. You could have probably lived if-"

Deidara stopped mid sentence when he saw a shape through the smoke. Squinting his eyes, he caught sight of a blue shape moving away from him. He grimaced at seeing he didn't take out his target, "Guess I detonated them too early. She had time to get back before it caught her. Hmm"

Rainbow flew whipped through the trees as she flew in pure panic. Her heart rammed in her chest while her wings beat rapidly. She glanced over her shoulder, looking back at her assailant, "What the heck were those?"

Deidara laughed seeing the scared pegasus trying to flee, "Flying away won't do you any good. I'll catch you!" he lifted his hooves pack up and spit out several birds after his frightened target.

Rainbow saw the birds rapidly approaching her, causing her eyes to go wide, "Oh no, not again!" she ducked and weaved as each bird came at her. Whipping around and over branches, luring several to collide with the trees, each one of them causing small explosions. Then, out of nowhere, another bird dropped from above, cutting off the path she was flying in.

Reacting quickly, Rainbow broke off a small branch in front of her and through it in front of her. Luckily, she struck it perfectly, making it detonate. Seeing She was in the clear, she felt a small wave of comfort wash over her still trembling body, "alright, I just need to get back to-" Her heart stopped as she heard beating wings behind her. Turning back, she saw Deidara flying after her, "Oh, Celestia."

"Don't get your hopes up that flying away will save you, Rainbow!" Deidara shouted as he chased her, "My art has no limits!" he put his hooves together, allowing the clay to mix together. Pulling them apart, he had his new and improved birds ready, which were thinner and much faster than the ones before, "Let's see you outfly these!" the birds took off forward, rushing through the trees at an unreal speed.

Rainbow saw the two birds coming, and tried to whip around the trees to make them crash like before. As she did, however, the birds matched her turning abilities in every way. She dipped over branches, kicking off limbs as she passed to try to cause the approaching bombs to collide, but they simply weaved around the falling hindrances, their speed unaffected.

Rainbow banked upwards, flying through the canopy above her. As soon as she cleared the trees, she shot through the air as fast as she could to get distance between herself and her pursuers.Looking back, she felt terror in her heart, seeing the birds now in the open, nearly on her; she had nowhere to go, 'No, it can't end like this."

Deidara grinned as his bombs flew closer towards Rainbow, 'Almost there...' he thought as he saw the distance close between the pegasus and the birds. He clapped his hooves as the
bombs neared the fluttering tail, "KATSU!"

BOOM!

"He he, now that is what I call an explo-" Deidara stopped as he saw something fly out of the smoke. He frowned again, seeing his target still alive, "You’re quite the stubborn one. Hmm." Once he saw her condition though, he gave a small chuckle.

Rainbow's lower half of her body was stained gray. Some of her hair had been singed, Giving off their own trails of smoke. Several inches of her tail had been burned off. Her left wing had been burned as well, and she was having difficulty flying straight. She painfully tried to flap it as she continued to flee.

Deidara laughed at her struggling, "You can try to keep going, but it of no use..." he put his special mouths together and mixed the last of that batch of clay, making a single bird, "...you should accept your fate!" he set his little bomb loose into the air.

Rainbow looked in terror at the bird flying straight at her. She tried to move faster, but the pain in her wing restricted her movement. Tears of fear began to form in her eyes, knowing there was no way of getting away. She screamed out as the bird closed in, "Somepony, HELP ME!"

Out of nowhere, a small brown bag collided with the bomb, causing it to detonate. Rainbow was stunned, "Wha...what was that?". She looked around to see where it came from.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Deidara looked in the direction of where the bag came from, but was rammed in the side by a yellow and orange blur.

Rainbow looked in shock that someone did come to help her, but when she recognized who it was, fear once again gripped her heart, "Spitfire, Get away from him!"

Spitfire tumbled through the air, clutching tight onto the blonde Pegasus. Her eyes were filled with hatred, "You leave her alone, you freak!" she punched at Deidara's face over and over again, causing blood to start leaking out.

Deidara glared through the incoming punches at the Pegasus clutching him, "You get off me you stupid fool!" he wedged his back legs under Spitfires stomach and kicked out hard.
Spitfire grunted as she felt herself hit in the stomach, losing the grip she had on him. Flipping around, she flew straight for Rainbow, "Come on, let's go!" grabbing her cyan friend, she pulled Rainbow through the air towards Ponyville.

Deidara regained his composure after a moment, and glared after the retreating Pegasi,"You think you can get away?" He put his hooves to his side to refill his mouths, "You don't have a Chan-" he didn't feel anything. Looking down, he saw his bags Falling through the trees below. He looked back to the two mares flying away, causing his anger to rise, "She knocked my bags off as she tackled me. Hmm."

Seeing how far the pegasi were away, he decided to give up his pursuit. He dropped down below the trees to where his bags were laying. He reached for them, but suddenly several blue lines of chakra shot out from the side and pulled the bag away. Deidara was startled at first, but then he saw Sasori to the side leaning on a tree, lines of chakra running off the tip of his horn.

"So, you let them get away..." Sasori said, casting a glare towards Deidara, "Now others know that we are here now." He whipped up his chakra, throwing the Bags over to his partner.

Deidara caught the bags, sneering at the puppeteer, "I didn't plan on another one coming out of nowhere..." he paused to reattach the pouches to his sides, "...besides, if I had already had my larger bird out, I wouldn't have to focus on flying and making my bombs."

"Don't blame the wings; you let yourself get caught off guard. Now, we can't continue anymore."

"Hmm? Why not?"

"Now that those two got away, they are going to alert the rest of their comrades. We do not know how many there are or how powerful they could be."

Deidara snickered at his partners cautiousness, "Why are you concerned? Don't you have a trick which you said allowed you to 'conquer a nation?"

Sasori cast a small grin at the thought of that technique, "Yes, but I prefer to save that. Besides, we have to meet up tonight. We should start heading back."

Deidara frowned at having to stop, but agreed to not keep the others waiting, "Fine, we'll head back. Hmm."

Both turned and began heading back through the thick Everfree Forest.

Down the road from Canterlot, a small platoon of soldiers containing six Pegasi, four unicorns and three earth ponies marched. Most were clad in the standard royal golden armor, except for the single white unicorn in the lead, who wore purple.

Shining Armor trotted along, always looking back and forth to keep an eye out for anything. He was somewhat confused by the order that the princess had given him, since she did not give anything or any pony specific to look for. She did, however, tell him to be cautious about the power that they could face.

Hearing something was possibly dangerous always put Shining on edge. Knowing they had to search multiple areas, he had only one quick solution. He turned to his second in command, "Swift, come up here."

From the back of the group, a silver pegasus with a twister as a cutie mark walked up to his captain, "Yes captain?"

“I want you to take several guards and go to Ponyville. Look around for anything suspicious."

Swift seemed perplexed by the order, "Sir, you want to split the group up?"

"Yes. We have a lot of area to cover, and Ponyville is the closest town. I want you to make sure the town is alright."

"Well, if you think that is the best way, then alright. Who should I bring with me?"

"Hmm..." Shining pondered who would best be suited to go. Looking in the center, he saw two that caught his eyes, "Blitz, Blaze, come up to the front."

"Yes sir." answered Blaze, a bright yellow unicorn with a tan tail. On his flank he had a patch of fire as a cutie mark. Following by his side was his good friend Blitz, a green Pegasus with tail of multiple shades of blue. His flank sported a helmet, which many ponies were still trying to figure out what that meant. They came up and stood at attention for Shining.

"Ok, and..." Shining scanned the crowd once again, "Storm Chaser."

From the back, a brown pegasus with a black tail and lightning bolt cutie mark Trotted up and joined the group, "Yes?"

"I want you three to join Swift on a scouting mission to Ponyville."

"Ponyville?" Blaze questioned.

“Yes. Go there and make sure that the town is safe. Look around for anything out of the ordinary as well."

The three nodded in unison, then turned to their new commanding officer. Swift Looked to Shining Armor and let out a sigh, "Alright. It's your orders." The four ponies left the group and headed down another path toward the small town of Ponyville.

A tan earth pony came up to Shining Armor's side, "Sir, do you think it is smart to send them off with only four in that group? Perhaps we should send a few others."

"It's all right Barren. Hopefully we won't even encounter anything out here." Shining said with an enthusiastic smile.

"Well, as a request, would I be allowed to join them? One more would never hurt anypony."

"Oh, alright. Go on."

"Thank you sir." and with that, Barren took off down the path after the departed group.
Shining then turned back to the remaining seven ponies behind him, "Alright, let's continue."

Shinings battalion continued on for another twenty minutes, with nothing seeming out of the ordinary."Rain." The captain called out, signaling his next in command to come up.

A younger Pegasus with a light blue coat came up, his golden tail swinging back and forth which covered his rain cloud cutie mark as it passed. "Yes?" he asked.

“Fly forward and scout down the road. See if there is anything even around the direction the princess asked us to go."

"I'm on it." Rain answered, quickly opening his wings and taking off into the sky.

"Captain?"

Shining looked around to see Neon, a bright orange unicorn standing by his side. He stepped around to face him directly, "Yes soldier?

"Do you even know what we are looking for? What did the princess tell you to spot?"

Shining frowned, "Well, not really. She says it has something to do with that strange light that appeared last night. She told me to look for anything suspicious."

"But... You don't know what to look for."

"Well... No."

Rain suddenly dropped onto the ground in front of the group. Shining was surprised he had returned already, "Rain, what happened? You were only gone a few minutes."

"Sir, I saw two strange ponies about three miles ahead." Rain replied.

Shining was now curious, "What do you mean by strange?"

"Well, I didn't want to get too close since I was alone, but I could tell that they were wearing
some sort of black cloaks, and also that they are both earth ponies."

"Are they armed?"

"One of them I could not see anything, but the other one did have a weapon; he was carrying some sort of large scythe."

Shining nodded, then signaled all of his guards to move forward.

Trouble in Ponyville

Walking steadily behind the wagon, Itachi and Kisame had hardly spoken as they followed the family of ponies leading them to the town called Ponyville. The akatsuki pair chose not to try to interact with their guides as much as possible, but their plan was constantly disrupted by the young filly by their side bombarding them with questions.

"So, why do ya have those things on yer face?" Applebloom curiously asked the large blue stallion.

Kisame glared down to the annoying filly, his patience at its limits with her constant pestering, "Why don't you go walk back up to your sister and leave me alone."

"Oh come on now, it's always good to talk to Somepony." she responded with a big smile.

Realizing she wouldn't stop, Kisame finally gave in and decided to answer her questions, "Those are my gills."

Applebloom's eyes went wide after hearing that, "Wow! Ah never met a pony with those. Ya can go underwater and breathe?"

"Yes."

"How long can ya do that for?"

"As long as I want." Kisame was now becoming irritated.

"What's yer record?"

"Applebloom, why don't ya let them walk in peace." Applejack called from up ahead. The young filly gave a sad look up to her sibling and left the two following ponies.

"ugh, finally." Kisame thanked the break that he got from the jabbering youngster. Looking forward, he grunted at seeing how slow the wagon ahead was going. "Why don't we just leave now? They said the town is down this road, and we can move much faster on our own. We don't have to follow them the whole time."

Itachi stared forward, not even taking the time to turn to his partner, "If we simply asked where the town is and took off towards it, they would be suspicious."

Kisame gave a questioning look over , "Suspicious? I have gills on my face, not to mention my Samehada. And our dark outfits? I think they are already suspicious of me and you."

“It doesn't matter. And even so, we are not going to this village to stay for long."

"It better have something useful for us."

Itachi turned his attention to the orange mare walking by the cart, "Perhaps I can find out some information now." Picking up his pace, he quickly caught up to the wagon.

Applejack turned and saw Itachi coming closer, giving an eerie feeling throughout her body, 'what does he want?' she thought to herself. Not wanting to be rude, she gave a smile as he approached, "How are ya doing'?"

"I am doing well. I thank you for taking us to the town. Hopefully we will not be there long." Itachi kept his eyes locked on the farmer as he talked.

Applejack was caught off guard, not expecting a statement like that, "Oh, it is no bother. So, Uh... Where are you two from?"

Itachi looked forward again, "We are mercenaries that are traveling through the land for work."

"Eh... What?"

"Soldiers for hire. We find areas and peo-ponies that need assistance from problems." technically, Itachi wasn't lying, since the Akatsuki originally did function in that style of work.

"Oh, Ah see. Well, that's good to know y'all try to help others." Itachi did not respond to her; he just stared straight ahead. Feeling the awkward silence fill the air, she nervously turned to Big Mac, who also stared curiously at the gray earth pony.

After a minute, Itachi talked again, "Is there any beasts around here that need to be taken care of?"

Applejack flipped her head around, lifting an eyebrow at the cloaked traveller, "Beasts? Why do ya ask?"

"We specialize in dealing with creatures of power that... cause trouble to others." Knowing that simply demanding where a form of power was would not work without interrogation, he chose to take casual talk to gather the answers he desired.

"Well, if y'all want just a big animal to catch, there's a mighty big Hydra in the Everfree Forest near our town. Ah don't think it has any powers, though."

Itachi contemplated what to ask next, trying to keep it as inconspicuous as possible, "I mean of creatures that cannot be stopped by normal weapons or tactics; I am speaking of beasts with, unnatural power."

Applejack tilted her head to think of anything that came to mind, but only one thing came to her, "There was one; he called himself Discord."

Itachi turned back to Applejack, now listening intently, "Alright, what is so troublesome about this... Discord?"
“He is the spirit of chaos; using his powers to change the world around him to cause trouble to every pony in Equestria."

Itachi looked forward after hearing that, 'Perfect...' he thought to himself, 'something that could be of use for us.' he turned back, "How would one find this spirit?"

Applejack gave a small chuckle, "Well sugarcube, ah don't think y'all could take on Discord. He's pretty tough. Besides he's been turned to stone by-"

"There it is!" Applebloom yelled out.

Glancing ahead, Itachi saw the small village over the crest of the hill that they were on. It wasn't that large, but would serve as a great spot to find out more of the one known as Discord. Shifting his gaze back to Applejack, he gave a nod of thanks and trotted back to his partner.

Despite seeing he was being thankful, Applejack could not see any form of emotion from the dark pony. His face seemed stiff, as if he had never smiled in his entire life. His eyes were the part that caught her attention the most; it wasn't the color, which was a simple brown, but the look that they emitted was one of cold, yet almost painful emotion.

"So, nothing out of the ordinary that you have seen since last night?" Swift asked.

Mayor Mare just shook her head, "I'm sorry sir, but I have not seen or heard from anypony that anything different has been noticed."

Swift gave a slight grunt of frustration, "Alright then, take care." Turning away from Ponyville hall, he trotted back down to the main street through Ponyville. He had been asking the same question to over a dozen ponies throughout, and none of them had seen anything that was worth even investigating at any time soon.

Blitz and Blaze weren't having any better luck. Every pony that was asked had not seen a change in anything since the previous night. Some never even noticed the light that had appeared. The two had covered the entire eastern part of the town and had come across nothing which resembled any kind of threat, giving them doubts on why the royal guards would even be sent out of Canterlot in the first place.

"This is a complete waste of time. We should head back." Blitz grumbled.

Blaze tried to keep his frustration with the mission contained, "Just wait. We will scout out a little more-"

"Oh come on, scout for what? To see if the dog in town could go crazy?" Blitz shot out. He always hated being put on pointless chases just like the time when the princess ordered him to stand watch outside of the castle to keep an eye out for any pony trying to mess with the Canterlot gardens, even though there had never been an incident for the last ninety years.

Choosing to make their search a little more enjoyable, the two guards chose to travel over to Sugar Cube Corner and pick up some sweets to enjoy on their walk. Walking in, they looked around for the worker, "Excuse me?"

"HI BLITZ AND BLAZE!"

"Dah!" both of them yelped out in surprise by the bubbly pink earth pony in front of them. "Don't do that to a guard, civilian, you..." Blaze paused as he recognized her, "Hey, you’re Pinkie Pie of the elements of harmony, I recognize you from the royal wedding."

"Yep I am! That's cool you remember me, Blaze." she said enthusiastically.

His face twisted with confusion after hearing that, "Wait a minute, how do you know my name?”

"Or mine!?" Blitz added.

"Oh you sillies, I know every ponies names! At the wedding I asked Shining and the princess who were the other guards were, and I never forget a name." pinkie couldn't resist her urge to hop with nearly every word she said.

Blitz turned to Blaze with a blank look on his face, "Should we report this as unusual?"

Walking out of the spa, Rarity and Fluttershy's coats glistened in the light of the sun. Both of them felt so relieved after the extra long treatment they had gotten that day."Oh what a marvelous feeling do I have whenever I leave this place!" Rarity exclaimed as she walked with a little hop in her trot.

"Oh yes, it did feel good." Fluttershy quietly answered with a smile. While she did not get the pleasure that Rarity gained from their time, she really did love it too.

"Hey girls!"

Both of them turned to the direction of the voice and saw a small purple dragon walking towards them. Rarity gave a big smile seeing their friend, "Hello Spike, how are you today?"

He smiled up to the white unicorn, "Doing alright, I'm a little bored though. Since Twilight is at Canterlot I've been alone at the library."

"What are you doing right now?" Fluttershy asked.

"I was actually just walking around to waste time." he dutifully answered, "Cleaning a library constantly gets to you after a while."

"Ugh, Twilight is always working you to the bone, Spike. You deserve to have a break whenever you want." Rarity Exclaimed. She always knew Spike worked so hard despite being a baby dragon, yet she never really heard him complain about it too much. He truly was a perfect assistant for any pony to have.

Her train of thought was broken by the sound of a wagon rolling down the road. All three of them turned to see their good friend Applejack and her family walking down the street. Wanting to greet her, they all walked in that direction to meet them.

Applejack smiled at seeing some of her friends, "Hey y'all! How’s it been in Ponyville while we been gone?"

"Oh, just Ponyville being Ponyville, Applejack, Nothing special." Rarity stated.

"So how was the trip to Hoovesdale?" Spike asked.

"It was good, Spike. We got to sell all them apples we took there and-" Applejack stopped to see Fluttershy slightly trembling, "What's wrong, sugarcube?"

"Wh-who are they?" the frightened Pegasus asked. The others as well stared curiously at the two guests that were behind the cart.

Applejack had momentarily forgotten about the ponies she had met on the road. Looking back to them, she noticed how they were walking forward towards them. She quickly turned back to her friends, "Ah'm not too sure exactly; they said they are soldiers for hire or somethin' like that."

"Soldiers?" Spike stared curiously at the approaching ponies, "They sure don't look like soldiers."

Itachi and Kisame walked up to the group of chatting mares and dragon. They saw how they were getting weird stares from all of them. Deciding to have a little fun, Kisame walked up to the small yellow Pegasus and bent down to her face, "Boo!"

"Eeep!" Fluttershy shot up from the ground and jumped behind Rarity.

Rarity glared up to the large pony, "Now that was very rude of you! Just because..." she caught herself staring at his odd features, "you’re, different doesn't give you the right to do that."

Kisame just smirked at the little pony beneath him,"Heh, whatever."

"Hey, you two!"

All of the ponies turned to see two guards approach them. Itachi felt slight frustration build up inside if him, 'Great, already being stopped.'

Barren and Storm Chaser stopped about twenty feet from the two strange ponies behind the group. The different outfits they wore and the large weapon the one carried was something that caught both of their eyes. Barren leaned over and whispered to Storm, "You think these could those ponies we were supposed to look for?"

"I'm not sure. Let us find out." Storm turned back to the odd figures, "Excuse me, we need to ask you a few questions."

"I told you already, he just attacked me for no reason."

Spitfire turned to look at her friend she was helping fly, "Look, I'm not saying you’re lying, but I do know you have a knack for pushing ponies buttons."

Rainbow Dash glared at Spit, "Well I... Just said he had a mares haircut, but he started it!"

Spitfire rolled her eyes and looked back forward. She couldn't get the image of those strange mouths on that Pegasus she had stopped from killing Rainbow. Never in her entire life had she even heard of something like that on any pony ever before. Trying to forget it, she glanced to Rainbow's wing, "How does it feel?"

"It's a lot better now. Hey, Spit..." she slowly turned to stare her friend in the eye, "Thanks back there. I owe you one."

Spitifre cast a large smile, "No problem Dash." Both of them glided down as they came over Ponyville. Landing on the main street, Spitfire immediately recognized someone that she did not expect, "Swift?"

The guard turned around at the call of his name. To his surprise, it was the wonderbolts captain, "Spitfire? What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same."

"We are here to check on the safety of the town. The princess needs us to search for anything out of the ordinary."

Hearing that, Rainbow let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Out of the ordinary? How about the Pegasus that tried to blow me up this morning!" she yelled out.

"Rainbow! It's ok now." Spitfire put a hoof on her cyan friend to calm her down. She looked back to Swift, who had taken a step back from the outburst, "She was attacked this morning by a weird Pegasus with mouths on his hooves."

"It had what?" Swift couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah, and it shot these clay birds out of them and they would explode. He almost got me." Rainbow said as she showed the guard the different burns across her fur and wing.

"What did he look like?"

“He was a brownish-orange color with a blonde mane. And he-"

Spitfire saw Rainbows face go flush from color as she stared ahead down the street. "Dash, what's wrong?" Rainbow slowly lifted her hoof, pointing at what she was staring to. Spit turned and saw several hundred feet down the road what made her friend scared, "There! He was wearing that outfit!"

Swift flipped around and saw two ponies in black robes. He saw that Barren and Storm Chaser were already interrogating them, 'These have got to be the ponies we have been looking for. I wonder how many there are besides these two.' he said to himself. Flapping his wings, he flew in that direction and landed right next to the other guards.

Itachi took notice of the new figure in front of him. He was sure that their simple intel mission was going to be more difficult than planned, "Is there a problem?"

"Gentlecolts, I'm going to need you two to come with us back to Canterlot." Swift sternly said.

To the side, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, and the Apple family were confused with what was happening."What's going on?" spike asked.

"Ah have no idea." Applejack chimed in.

Itachi looked at the guards that stood before him, "For what reason are you arresting us?"

“Thats just what he was wearing!”

All of the ponies in the street turned to see Rainbow Dash glaring at the two strangers, “That pegasus with those exploding birds is with them!”

Barren sat confused from the accusation, “What is she talking about?”

Kisame started laughing out loud at this point, “So, it seems Deidara already had some fun today.”

Swift cast a glare at the odd looking pony, “So you are connected with the stranger i was told about. Alright, you two are coming with us. We will let the princesses decide what to do with you."

Kisame grinned at the order he was just given, "Are you going to make us go with you?"

"If you don't comply, we will use force." the three guards simultaneously put their hooves on the swords to their sides.

Itachi closed his eyes, "I would not do that if I were you." when he reopened, the once normal brown color had turned blood red, with his standard three tomoe pattern surrounding the pupil.
The guards gasped at the sight of the sharingan.

Itachi's words echoed through the quiet street, "You should never challenge the power of a shinobi."

Shark and the Sharingan

Swift felt his heart race as he watched the red eyes of the dark pony stare directly at him. The odd color and design was something that he had never seen in his entire life. He could feel his body slightly tremble at the freakish sight, "What are you?"

Kisame just continued to grin at the frightened Ponies that surrounded them, "You have never seen a sharingan I presume."

Itachi's face did not move a single muscle as he glanced between the three guards before him. He Took a few steps forward before stopping to look at the frightened faces of Applejack and her friends, "Do you fear my true eyes?"

Applejack just backed away, pulling Applebloom into an embrace. Rarity put a hoof over her forehead before falling backwards and fainting. Fluttershy continued to tremble behind all of the others. Spikes eyes were so wide that they seemed to distort the shape of his face. The other Apple members just stared in disbelief to what they saw.

Applejack's eyes then shifted from fear to determination, "Look, ah don't know what y'all want, but don't you even think about hurtin mah family."

Itachi looked back and forth between the young farmer and her trembling sibling, "You fear that I will bring harm to your sibling and would sacrifice anything to protect them, correct?"

Applejack was caught off guard by the question, "Ye-yeah, yeah I would."

Itachi sat silent for a moment, "You show bravery, but you are of no concern to us in the first place."

Through the now crowded street, Blitz and Blaze pushed their way into the center behind their leader. Before they asked what was happening, their eyes locked on to the two ponies in the cloaks. blitz Stared at the two, searching over every detail that he saw, but stopped at the odd looking eyes of the one, "What is with his eyes?"

Swift quickly looked over to his allies before turning back, "I... I don't know."He had no idea what kind of pony had eyes that changed in any way unless they were powerful unicorns or the princesses themselves through immense magical surges. However, he would not allow this odd anomaly to keep him from doing his duty. Shaking his head clear, he glared at the two strangers, "Who are you? What is your purpose here?"

Itachi closed his eyes, slowly turning his head back towards the guards, "I will not waste my time in attempting to explain to you who we are or where we came from, but I will ask you to tell us the location of something we desire."

"And what would that be?"

Itachi's eyes opened up, his sharingan gazing at the Pegasus, "Where is the creature that you call Discord located?"

Gasps escaped the ponies in the street that heard the name of the spirit mentioned. Many residents of the town still remember the chaos that he brought upon their community the last time he was released upon the world. Rainbow dash couldn't hold her mouth closed from the shock of the freaky looking gaze of the pony, and having to remember All of the things she experienced at the claws of the spirit of chaos. "what do they want with him?"

Barren stepped forward, "Why do you want to know where he is?"

"If you tell us the location, I will leave this village peacefully." Itachi replied.

"And if we refuse?"

Itachi sat quietly for a moment before speaking up again, "It appears you already made up your minds."

Kisame put his hoof over the yellow hilt of the sword and pulled down, causing the large weapon to fall forward and land on the ground, "Well Itachi, it looks like our intel mission will have to be cut short. Can I at least have some fun here before we head back?"

Itachi looked at the five guards, his eyes registering the weaponry of the soldiers; swords were placed on the sides of each guard. His sharingan then glanced up to the horn of the one yellow guard, sensing the flow of energy flowing inside of it. 'this must be those horses Zetsu said can perform their own form of jutsu.' he thought to himself.

seeing that they shouldn't be a problem, Itachi stepped back, leaving Kisame before the others. The large blue stallion laughed at the five before him, "Alright now! Who wants to go first?"

Swift took a step back, signaling the others to do the same; he did not want to get into a fight with these odd ponies without knowing who they were. Something about them gave off the feeling that they were more than just a normal pony. Looking around, he saw his other guards backing up, except for one.

Blitz knew that charging head on into a fight without knowing the strength of his opponent was always the worst thing to ever do in combat; then again, he was never the one to ever follow what was the right thing to do. Reaching down with his mouth, he clutched the sword he had with his teeth and pulled it out of the sheath. Looking back up, he unfolded his wings and took off towards his larger foe.

"Blitz, no!" Blaze yelled out, but it was too late. His friend was already flying at the strangers.
Kisame grinned, "You’re a brave one, aren't you? This is going to be enjoyable." opening his mouth, he gripped the handle of his blade in his own teeth. Swinging his head forward, the enormous sword whipped around straight at the smaller Pegasus.

Blitz turned to block the incoming swing, but the moment the sword connected with his own, his eyes went wide when he felt himself get launched to the right into the side of a nearby house.

Storm gasped in shock at what he saw; the large pony didn't even seem like he tried to swing that hard, and yet Blitz was tossed like a rag doll. He looked around to see many ponies in the streets running away out of panic of not wanting to get caught up in the fight.

Blaze growled in anger at seeing his friend tossed to the side. He rushed forward next, charging up his horn. After a moment, a bright beam of yellow energy shot out of the tip, rushing forward through the air. Kisame jumped to the side to dodge the attack, but was cut off when Blaze maneuvered to cut him off.

Using his magic, be enshrouded his sword with it, lifting it out of his sheath into the air. Kisame stared curiously at the feat, wondering if this power of theirs worked like chakra back in his world. Thinking this made him chuckle through the sword he had clutched.

Barren charged forward beside Blaze, both of them eyeing down their opponent. From the side of the street, Blitz shook Himself from the previous impact before hopping up from the rubble and joining by Blaze. He stretched out his leg to loosen up the stiffness, "I gotta say, I did not expect him to be so strong. Felt like I was thrown by a manticore right there."

Barren shot an angry look over to the Pegasus, "You're going to end up dead if you do another stupid charge like that. We have to work together."

Blitz just rolled his eyes at the pony, but did accept the advice, "Got it."

Swift turned to Spitfire, who sat opened mouth from shock to what she was seeing, "Spitfire, go right now to Canterlot."

Snapping out of her trance, she flipped her gaze over to the guard, "Wait, why?"

"You need to warn The princess that we have found the strange ponies that she was asking for. Tell her that she needs to prepare the guards for anything. And also tell her to place security around the statue of Discord."

Nodding in agreement, she turned and took off into the sky back towards the great city, leaving the town of Ponyville. Rainbow felt that Spitfire should not go alone, not to mention she did not want to deal with another freak pony. So she decided to follow suit and flew after the wonderbolt captain.

All at once, Barren, Blitz and Blaze all charged at Kisame. Barren and Blitz were the first to attack, both of them swinging their blades in rapid succession, but to their surprise, the large stallion was just as fast as them; he easily swung the giant sword like it was nothing, blocking each of their swipes. Blaze came in next, his magic enshrouded blade swinging faster than the others.

Kisame had to now struggle to keep the three away; while he was fast and the sheer size of his blade provided good protection, a three on one fight was still tough.

Blitz came in again, his sword striking the side of the giant wrapped weapon. Then, the strangest thing happened; he magic holding the sword up disappeared around it, making the blade fall to the ground. He sat dumbfounded at what just occurred, "What the... Where did my aura around it go?" the other two jumped back as well, unsure what was happening.

Kisame suddenly started laughing out loud again. He could sense the energy around the horses sword had been absorbed into his Samehada. That's when it hit him; the energy used by these creatures was equivalent to chakra for the sword. He then noticed that the other two guards from behind were behind the first three now. Grinning, he put his sword over his back, then stood up on his hind legs and put his front hooves together.

The guards all cast glances at each other, unsure what was happening. Before they could say anything, Kisame slammed his right hoof onto the ground, and out of nowhere water began spreading out from where he touched, "Water style: shark bomb!"

Storm's eyes went wide when out of the puddle ruptured a giant blast of water in the shape of a shark, "What is this magic!?"

"This can't be magic, they're not unicorns!" Swift yelled out.

All five guards jumped out of the way before the large water blast hit them. Landing back on the ground, they all stared in awe to what they were fighting; this pony had somehow used magic without having a horn of his own.

Swift began thinking inside of his head to what he had heard from before, 'Rainbow said she was attacked by a pegasus that sent out clay that blew up. Now we are fighting a pony that can create and shoot water from thin air. I see why the princess wanted us to look for these ponies.' His gaze then turned to the dark pony with the red eyes, "I can't even imagine what powers he may have.'

Kisame smiled up to the startled guards, "You are pretty quick for weaklings."
Blitz glared at the water shooting pony, "I'll show you who is weak!" gripping his sword again, he flew forward. Kisame grinned and clutched his sword with both hooves. Swinging laterally, the sword went straight for Blitz's head, forcing him to duck down, causing his helmet to fall off. Swinging up, his short sword slashed the side of Kisame's face, cutting off the metal forehead protector.

Kisame winced from the sharp pain, then tried to bring his sword back down. Blitz dropped his sword and rushed forward into His opponent’s stomach, knocking his grip loose over the Samehada. Before Kisame could react again, Blitz jumped up and grabbed his head and brought down his own so the two collided.

Kisame's eyes went wide from the headbutt. He stumbled backwards several steps, feeling blood dripping down from the fresh gash on the top of his head. He growled when he saw the Pegasus standing there, seemingly unfazed from the hit, "Why aren't you bleeding?"

Blitz turned his neck, giving off a refreshing pop. He then cast a grin towards the blue pony, "Just a very thick skull if you must know." he turned to have a quick glance at the helmet cutie mark he possessed.

Kisame snarled at the cocky pony, "You will pay for that." reaching back down, he wrapped his front hooves around his sword and lifted it up.

Blaze smiled at seeing his friend successfully hurt the large pony, “You see? We can beat him!”

After watching Kisame let his guard down, Itachi decided he had stood around long enough. Walking forward, he caused all of the other guards to suddenly tense up, seeing that they would have to fight the other member.

Deciding to take action, Swift looked at the others, “Alright now; Blitz, Blaze and Barren, you take on this large one. Storm, we will handle the other.”

Barren seem to shake at the order, "But sir, we shouldn't separate."

"We don't have a choice. Now come on, we can do this!"

Nodding in agreement, the group separated into their units. Swift stopped several yards away from Itachi, making sure he had a small window of time to react if this pony also had the ability to shoot some form of attack. Before he could say anything, Itachi began to speak up, “I will give you one more chance; tell me the location of Discord, or you will suffer pain beyond death itself.”

The cold tone in his voice sent a chill down the guards backs; if he was bluffing about what he was threatening, they could not sense it. Storm could feel his legs slightly shake at the words that echoed inside of his head, ‘What if he is stronger than the other one? We won’t stand a chance.’

Swift just kept his stare locked with Itachi’s, his eyes never moving once, “Never.”

“Hmm, I must say, you do believe in what you are doing is right. However...” he paused to slip his left hoof inside of his robe, “now I will force you to tell me where the creature is.”

Faster than either of the two could see, his hoof whipped out of his cloak, throwing several kunai blades in their direction. Reacting in the last second, they each jumped away from each other, taking to the air. To the right, Swift lifted to thirty feet in the air. Itachi put his hooves together, "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!"

Swift panicked as he saw a massive fireball erupt from where Itachi was, 'Fire? So this is his power.' banking hard to the left, he narrowly missed the incoming blast, feeling the heat of it as it passed. Panting a sigh of relief, he looked back down to see the dark pony staring straight at him, not moving an inch.

Flying to the left, Storm dropped down to a few feet off the ground and went straight for Itachi, to his surprise, didn’t move, ‘What’s he doing? Is he not going to dodge?’

Itachi just watched for a moment as the pegasus flew towards him. Reaching in once again, he took another kunai and threw it into the ground ten feet in front of the incoming pony. Just as he suspected, the flying pony did not see the burning tag attached to the back of the blade as he passed over it.

BOOM!

The sudden explosion made Swift stop mid flight and look that direction. What he saw made his heart fall into his stomach; dropping out of the smoke cloud was Storm, his body nearly completely scorched and his left wing partially blown off. His head hung slumped onto the ground, not moving in any slight way.

Swift felt something boil deep inside of his chest. He stared at the bloody body of his good friend and comrade sprawled across the street. "You... I'll kill you!"

Shooting forward, he swung his sword wildly at Itachi, his slashes moving in wide arcs. Ducking and weaving underneath the swings, Itachi pulled out a Kunai and slipped it into his mouth. He moved his mouth back and forth, the dark blade blocking many of the incoming swings.

Driven by rage, Swift kept coming at him, throwing his entire weight into every swing he had. In an instant, he dropped down, kicking at one of his opponents knees and causing him to stumble backward. Seeing his chance, he swung upward, connecting with the Kunai and knocking it out of Itachi's mouth into the air. "Die!" Swift screamed despite having a sword in his mouth. Lunging forward, he felt the end of the blade sink into Itachi's chest.

Letting go of his weapon, he stepped back to see the sword plunged deep into his adversary. Swift began smiling at his victory, "Now you will be one to suffer at my-"

Music

Itachi did not show any form of pain on his face as he stared ahead, then body suddenly started breaking apart. The black pieces then solidified into multiple crows that flew off into the air. Swift's heart was beating a mile a minute inside of him, "Wha- what's going on?"

You are trapped inside of my genjutsu." a voice said from behind.

Slowly turning around, Swift met the gaze of Itachi not three feet from him. He wanted to run back, but it felt as if his body was locked in place. His muscles weren't responding to what he wanted to do, "What are you doing to me!?"

"I am inside of your mind; no matter what you do, you cannot escape. I warned you what would happen if you did not give me my answer. Now I shall obtain it beyond simply fighting you."

"How- how did you do this?"

"The moment you looked into my eyes, your fate had been sealed. Now, experience pain beyond anything you can possibly imagine." Itachi's eyes opened up wider. Then, the three Tomui pattern expanded throughout the center of the eye, forming a solid, windmill style pattern.

"Behold the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan."

Swift felt an odd rush come over his body as he stared into the eyes, as if he was being pulled by some unknown force. He then felt his mind slip into darkness.

Unnatural Power

Swift's eyes slowly crept open, but he couldn't see anything. He felt as if his head was in a daze, like he had been asleep for hours. After a moment, he went to rub the side of his head, but his hoof wouldn't move. "What the..." Glancing to his left, his vision began to focus to see his leg strapped to a wooden beam by a metal brace. Quickly flipping his head to the right, he saw his other leg strapped down. He then realized he was being suspended in the air.

Looking around, he saw that everything seemed to be shaded in different tones of gray. He was over what seemed to be a dark lake. The sky was an eerie red tint, then floating high above was the moon, yet its color was blood red. "What is this place?"

"You are inside of the Tsukuyomi." a cold voice answered.

Swift looked forward to see a strange bipedal figure standing before him. The being was not a pony, but it wore the same clothing of the one that he was fighting. What really caught his attention were the red eyes that he just saw the dark gray pony had. "Y-you? You're that pony I was fighting?"

Itachi just stared at the pony trapped on the wood, "What you see before me is my true appearance. In the world of Tsukuyomi, I control everything."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Now that you are inside of my genjutsu, you shall experience torment beyond anything you ever have experienced before." walking forward, he raised the sword he clutched in his hand and slowly plunged it into the pony's chest.

"Ahh!" Swift screamed out as the blade sunk deeper into him, slowly wiggling inside of him before being pulled out. He looked down to the wound, but to his surprise he saw nothing there. "What? Is this all a dream?"

Itachi’s cold eyes stared at him," In the world of Tsukuyomi, I control time, space and even matter itself. The pain you experience in here is real." he stepped forward and stabbed him again.

"Ahh!" Swift could feel the pain of the sword sink into his stomach, as well as the pain from where he was stabbed the first time. If this was a dream, it felt more like a nightmare to him.

After several more stabs, Itachi stepped back, his arm dropping to his side, "If you give me the location of Discord, I shall end the genjutsu. If you do not, this will continue for seventy two hours."

Swift gasped for breath as he sat there. 'I cannot let him find out where it is.' he thought to himself, 'Who knows what they would do. No, I am a member of the royal guard, and I will not betray my princess.' he looked up to Itachi and glared, "You can take that sword and shove it up your a-Ahh!" he was cut off as the blade reentered his chest.

The stabbing continued for what seemed like hours. Swift felt his mind spinning from the amount of pain coursing through him. Still, he refused to tell anything. Looking back up, he saw that there were two Itachi's now, each one stabbing him repeatedly. "How long can your mind handle this pain before you break?" one of the two asked.

The other one lifted the blade again and prepared to stab again, "The time left is seventy one hours, fifty nine minutes."

"What!?" Swift screamed out, "its been hours! There is no way it has only been one minute!”

"In the world Tsukuyomi, I control time and space."

"Y-you're making time go slower?" Swift could not believe any of this was happening. This was beyond any form of magic any normal unicorn could ever do. 'He is probably as strong as the princesses.' he thought to himself. Before he could continue to think, the swords once again stuck into his body.

Hours, or what felt like hours rolled by under the red moon. By now, Swift hardly had the energy to even scream out anymore. His body continued to quiver as he hung there helpless as the stabs never stopped. Finally, he was at the breaking point in willpower. He couldn't take any more pain. 'Princess, forgive me.'

"alright, st-stop." Swift shouted out, his throat burning from the amount of screams that had escaped.

Both Itachi's pulled the swords they clenched out of the tortured pegasus, "Have you suffered enough? Now, where is the creature Discord?"

Swift sat in place panting for breath, which led to another sword to pierce his chest, "Gah! Canterlot. He is in stone in Canterlot!"

"Where do I find this place?" Itachi asked as he twisted the blade in place.

"Northeast! Northeast!" swift was trying to thrash as much as he could, but his body was
drained of nearly all strength. Clenching his eyes, he just wanted all of this to end. He lost the will to try to hang to whatever life he had left. He let his head fall forward, which suddenly hit the ground with a hard thud.

Shocked, Swift opened his eyes to see himself back in the center of Ponyville exactly where he was before. Forcing his head around, he saw Blaze and the others still around Kisame in the positions they were before the horrid experience. "Did... time not pass out here?" Trying to get up, his body collapsed back down, causing him to scream in agony.

Itachi took several steps towards the crippled pony as his eyes began to revert to their standard sharingan form, "Despite me only using a fraction of the power of the Tsukuyomi, I'm surprised you are even conscious still. I'm impressed, but your mind will still be tormented by the experience you went through."

Hyperventilating, Swift tried to move again, but nothing he did was working, 'my mind is burning. *huff* I can't focus. I can still feel every stab from that world'

Blitz looked over to see his commander slump on the ground in front of the dark pony, "Swift! Are you alright?" he began to panic when Swift didn't respond, "Blaze, what happened to him? They never even fought?"

Itachi looked over to Kisame as he raised his Samehada with both hooves over his head to reengage with the others. "Kisame, it's time to leave."

Kisame glanced over to his partner in confusion, "Hmm? What for?"

"We have the information that we need. Let's go."

Before he could respond, Kisame watched as Itachi turned around and dashed away from the town in a quick blur. Barren stared in shock to what he saw, "Did he just teleport?"

Kisame grunted in frustration that he couldn't finish what he started. "Hmm..." he looked back at the three guards in front of him, "You are lucky I have to leave." He then slammed his hoof into the ground, causing a small wave of water to appear under him. It picked him up and began to rush backwards after Itachi.

Blitz flapped his wings as he watched the escaping blue pony, "Oh no you don't!" as he began to fly forward, he felt himself enveloped in a cloud of magic. Looking over, he saw his friends horn glowing, "Blaze, what are you doing? We have to go after them!"

Blaze just glared at the short tempered pegasus, "Let them go. We don't stand a chance against them. If they are leaving without harming the town, we should take that as a bonus." Setting Blitz down, his attention turned to the two Pegasi lying on the ground, "Swift! Storm!"

Barren and Blaze ran over to Storm Chaser, his body burnt all over from that explosion he was caught inside of. They cringed when they saw how bad his wing was damaged; part of the main limb that stuck out had been completely blown Off, exposing the white bone from underneath the burnt muscle. 'I doubt he will ever be able to fly again.' Barren thought.

Blitz dropped by Swifts side to see what was wrong with him. Scanning over his body, he couldn't see any kind of injury anywhere. "What is wrong? He isn't hurt." he said to himself. Looking down at his face, he saw that Swift just stared forward, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused. Putting his hoof on Swifts shoulder, he tried to shake him out of the daze, "Swift! Come on buddy get up."

No response.

"Come on, get up "

No response.

Panic began to course through Blitz at seeing his friends condition, "What in Equestria did he do to you?"

Outside of the town, Kisame and Itachi slowed their fast pace to a steady trot after a few minutes. Kisame came up to Itachi with an upset frown across his face, "Why did we just finish them off? We could have done it in no time."

Itachi never took the time to look towards his partner as he spoke, "We have to head back to meet up with the others. If this creature Discord is like that one told me was, it will be very useful to us."

"I still don't know why you didn't let me just kill them." Kisame sneered.

Itachi didn't respond to the last statement as he walked. After a moment, he felt a tingling feeling inside of his chest. Knowing what it was, he slowed his pace to allow Kisame to get ahead. He then brought the back of his hoof up to his mouth and coughed several times. Lifting it away, he saw the patch of blood that had come out of his mouth. He stared at it for what seemed like minutes until he put his leg back down and continued to walk again.

Trying to focus on his current mission, Itachi couldn't stop from thinking of the one he cared for most in his life, "I can't die yet..." He quietly said to himself, "... I must die by your hands."

Kakazu and Hidan walked through the gently swaying meadow, becoming bored since they hadn't found anything that was of use. "This damn place doesn't have anything around here but fields. We should follow this road and see where it takes us."

Kakazu's solid green eyes turned over to his partner, "We might run into others if we travel on it. I'm not in the mood to waste time right now."

Hidan's eyes narrowed at his masked partner, "You’re never in the mood for anything but money. Why don't you take that stick out of your ass and enjoy the pleasures of combat? It would be a good chance for us to try out our new bodies."

"How about you just focus on looking for something that can get us back to our world." Kakazu sneered.

"And just what are we supposed to be looking for exactly?"

"Anything that has immense power. Perhaps this world also has its own form of tailed beasts that we can use to our advantage." Kakazu answered.

The sound of hoof steps caught both of their attention. Looking down the road, they saw a group of eight horses coming towards them, all of which were wearing armor. The group had three of the winged type, three of the type with the horn on the forehead, and then two more like them. Kakazu frowned under his mask, "Just when I thought we didn't have to deal with this."

Hidan smiled for the first time that day at seeing these soldiers walk towards them, "Now this is more like it."

Shining Armor stared at the two ponies on the side of the Road in front of him. He glanced back and forth between the white and the brown one, noticing the many things about them; eyes, weapons, clothing, and also the scratched metal headbands that each one had. The masked one wore his in his head, while the other one let his hang around his neck. He turned and whispered to Rain by his side, "These are the two that you saw?"

Rain nodded, "Yes. I'm positive."

Shining turned back to his front, raising his head up to increase his stature, "You two, I need to ask you who you are and what you are doing here?"

Hidan raised an eyebrow at the order he was given, "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"I am Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal guard."

"And what brings you out here... Sir?" Kakazu said, his words filled with sarcasm.

"By order of the princess, we are to look for any pony that seems suspicious and out of the ordinary. And looking at your dark outfits..." he paused as he stared at the red triple bladed scythe held by the white one, "... And your weapon, you seem out of place here. I am asking who you two are and are you doing here?"

Hidan grinned at the unicorn in the front of the group, "You got some balls trying to order me around."

Shining's eyes went wide at hearing that. He gritted his teeth at the cloaked pony, "I suggest you watch your tone with us. And I want you to answer my question."

Neon came by Shining and glared at the two, "If you continue refusing to comply with my captain's orders, we will bring you into custody and take you to the princesses for questioning. Just answer the question."

"How about you go fuck yourself. I’m not going anywhere or saying anything to a pussy group like you."

Neon felt his blood boil at that insult, "You arrogant foal! You will give us what we are asking.”

Hidan chuckled at the ponies in front of him, "Heh heh, alright then, it seems that I will be giving Jashin an offering today." Dropping his scythe to the ground, he reached into his cloak and lifted out a necklace with a symbol on the end; a circle with an upside down triangle on the inside. Lifting it up to his face, he closes his eyes and prayed, 'Now Jashin, I offer you a sacrifice. This is a token of my gratitude for the power you have given me. I hope this shall be a glorious kill.'

For the Will of Jashin

"Hurry, get him on the train!" Blitz yelled out from the front of the traveling group.

Following closely behind the Pegasus was Barren. He steadily trotted towards Ponyville station carrying the unconscious Swift on his back. Right behind him was Blaze, who was using his magic to lift the damaged Storm through the air. Bringing up the rear of the group was Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Spike.

Blaze frowned as he turned to see the group of mares and young dragon following him and the other guards. Spinning his head around, he gave them a stern look, "You shouldn't be coming with us. We have important business to deal with, and we can't have anypony interfering."

Rarity huffed at the statement, "Well now, good sir. That is quite rude of you to attempt to brush off a lady like that."

“I am just trying to point out that we have a serious situation on our hooves and we should not have you girls tagging along."

"Hold on there partner..." Applejack shouted out, "We girls are the Elements of Harmony. We done saved Equestria twice already, and our other friends are in Canterlot. So we are goin'!"

"Blaze, come on. They do have a point. They should be coming with us." Barren said from in front.

Blaze frowned at first, but grumbled an agreement. After narrowly escaping more fighting with those two ponies from earlier, he was relieved that they made it out with such little injury compared to what they might have received, although the same could not have been said for Swift and Storm. While they were in very bad shape, they were both alive.

Despite knowing they would, mostly, recover, a feeling of fear lingered in Blazes chest; he had never even heard of an earth pony that was capable of performing any form of magic, yet these two were performing feats that rivaled or surpassed the power of any unicorn he had ever seen before. Not only that, they were creating attacks from their hooves and mouth, something that was completely unheard of.

What scared him the most was that dark pony of the two they came across. Those burning red eyes seemed to stare straight through his own soul. Whatever that pony did to Swift, it was some form of power that he had never seen before. It gave him chills just thinking what else that pony might have done if the battle had continued longer than it had.

Coming up to the train station, Blitz ran ahead through the crowd of ponies lining the entrance to the ticket booth. trotting up to the front of the train, he knocked on the door to the engine. The door opened up to a tan earth pony in blue overalls, "What do ya want?" he said in an annoyed tone.

"I need this train to be ready to leave in three minutes for Canterlot." Blitz ordered.

The conductor glared down at him, "This train isn't scheduled to leave for another twenty minutes. We have to allow the passengers to board."

"This is an emergency. Do it! By order of the Royal Guard."

The conductor was not happy with the order, but he knew better than to disagree with the guards. Whistling out, he waved his hoof to the assistant at the caboose to signal him to prepare to leave.

Blitz nodded in approval and went back to open the door to the car behind for his approaching company. All of them filed into the large cart one after another, except for Blitz and Blaze. Barren turned around and gave them a questioning look, "We have to go. What are you waiting for?"

Blaze levitated Storm over to one of the couches inside of the train and gently placed him down. "You take all of them to Canterlot and warn the princess. Blitz and I have to go and inform Shining on what has happened."

Spike stood up and walked towards the guards, "I actually already told the princess what happened."

The three conscious guards simultaneously turned to him, "How?"

Spike grinned at their reactions, "I sent a letter to her right before I left Ponyville. I can use my fire to magically send her messages."

Blaze smiled, "Alright then. Swift had already sent Spitfire to her, so Princess Celestia will have a good idea on what is going on. Now, we have to get going." walking to the open door, he signaled his friend he was ready.

Blitz nodded and flapped his wings to pick himself off the ground. Floating over Blaze, he placed his hooves under his partners forelegs and picked him up. After a second, he banked upwards and flew up into the sky back towards his captain. Barren watched as the two left before returning inside of the cart, “Alright, we have to notify every guard in the city what is happening.

“Speaking of telling ponies...” Pinkie Pie interrupted, “Why didn’t any pony tell me there were two new ponies in town? i didn’t get to meet them!”

Fluttershy shook in her seat, “Um, I don’t think you would want to meet these ponies.” she whispered.

“Not want to meet them!? I wasn’t able to throw them a party!”

All the other ponies facehoofed at Pinkie’s reasoning as the train began to move.

Shining Armor stared curiously at the white pony as it sat there with the strange necklace in its hoof. He had no idea what it was doing sitting there so casually in the presence of royal guards. Turning to Rain, he signaled him to be prepared for anything that might happen.

Kakazu sat there staring at his partner. He hated that Hidan always took his time when doing this prayers before going forward into battle. Being one of no religion, he didn't understand the point of worshiping something that he could not ever see. He always sought after things that meant value to him and actually had a physical meaning to it.

After a moment, Hidan reopened his eyes and smiled at the group of ponies in front of him. He looked over each one for a moment, wondering what kind of a challenge they would bring him. As he down and picked up his scythe, he grinned, "Alright now, which of you would like to serve as a sacrifice to Jashin first?"

Many of the guards gave strange looks at each other as if hoping someone among them knew what he meant, but all they knew for sure was that it was a threat. Two brown earth pony guards, Rock Kicker and Spear Tip, clutched their swords between their teeth and slid them out of their sheaths. The others followed suit after, except Neon, who surrounded his blade with a magical aura.

Shining Armor did not carry a sword with him. Instead, his horn began to glow, bringing a small cloud of maroon magic into being in front of him. After a moment, the cloud shifted into a short curved sword. His conjuring technique was one that he had learned recently, and he preferred to use his own magic over steel any day. "Drop the weapon or we will force you to." the captain growled.

Hidan chuckled at seeing them prepare for battle. He took several steps forward before stopping, "Hey, let me start out at first Kakazu. I want to see if they are any good."

Kakazu rolled his eyes at his request, "You are going to get your head chopped off again, and I'm not going to sew it back on this time."

Hidan flipped around and beamed at his partner, "I fucking told you to not bring that up again!" his blood was boiling as he remembered fighting that group of shinobi from the hidden leaf; being held immobile by that young student of that one jonin with those Chakra blades. despite being victorious in the end, he turned forward again to focus mind away from those images and back on his new targets.

Shining Armor was confused at what the two ponies were talking about. ‘Head chopped off? What does he mean?' he thought to himself. Before he could contemplate further his thoughts were suddenly disrupted by the red scythe rushing through the air at him. "Everypony scatter!" he yelled out.

The group of guards all jumped to the side as the large weapon crashed into the dirt where they were. Hidan quickly grabbed the steel cable that was attached to it's hilt and whipped upwards, tearing the three blades out of the ground and pulling it back to him. Catching the handle in his mouth, he charged forward and went straight for Rain and Spear Tip. Swinging his head side to side, he slashed at them at speeds that seemed impossible for a weapon of that size.

Spear and Rain were both having trouble just to stay up. Their swords were blocking the incoming swipes, but the force they were getting hit with was nearly knocking them out every time. Hidan was laughing through his blocked mouth as he was fighting. He loved to see the fear on his opponents face as he came for them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Neon charging at him. Grinning, he jumped up twenty feet into the air above the group.

Neon froze as he saw the pony in front of him launch into the air. "What is this guy?" he said to himself. No normal pony could ever jump that high.

In the air, Hidan released the scythe from his mouth and clutched it between his hooves. Bringing it over his head, he dropped down to the ground, "Woooo!" he screamed out in excitement. Neon barely jumped out of the way in time to dodge the strike as it crashed into the ground. Still holding on the hilt, Hidan flipped over the top of it and gave a powerful kick right to he unicorns face.

"Gah!" Neon yelled out from the pain as he fell backwards. Looking back up, he saw Hidan charging right at him. Trying to get up, he charged his horn and shot out a yellow Beam of magic.

Hidan quickly jumped over to the side to avoid the attack. Landing back down, he threw his scythe right at the frightened unicorn. He grinned as he saw the pony too scared to move, "Nice knowing you!"

A glowing sword came out of nowhere and hit the incoming scythe out of the way. Hidan looked to the side to see Shining Armor rushing forward and Swing his conjured sword at him. The captain's eyes were filled with anger at the strange pony before him. Not often did he want to take a life, but at this moment, he felt it was necessary to do it to protect his comrades.

Hidan sneered at the incoming pony. Ducking and weaving, he evaded the swipes of the captain before bringing his right hoof back and striking the captain square in the jaw. Shining stumbled backwards several steps from the hard hit, causing his sword to dissipate from his distraction from the spell.

Hidan laughed at seeing the sword disappear "You aren't so tough for a captain. Your shitty little team of yours will never stop-"

The feeling of steel entering his side cut the Jashin worshiper off. Looking down to his side, he saw Rain clutching the end of the sword that stuck out of his side. Shining Armor stood up and stared at the pony in front of him, his gaze filled with anger, "I told you to drop your weapon. Instead you tried to kill my comrades, so you will suffer the consequences."

Hidan sat quietly for a moment before grinning at the captain, "This isn't that bad of a punishment."

Shining Armor's eyes went wide at the response of the pony. Rain did the same thing as he stepped back away from Hidan, who acted as if noting happened to him. Shining stared at the sword that stuck out of the pony. "What in Equestria is he?" he shakingly asked.

“I don't know. I stabbed him directly through his heart. There should be no way that he should be alive." Rain responded.

Hidan bent his head down and bit down on the hilt of the sword and pulled. The blade made a sickening wet slurp as it was pulled out of his body. Grinning, he tossed the bloody blade on the ground by his feet and chuckled, "That hurt, you know. I think that you should try and experience this pain with me."

Kakazu sat silent as he watched his partner enjoy the terror that he caused in the other ponies. While he wasn't one to look for fun during combat, it did bring him amusement to see others become terrified from learning Hidan's ability. "Hm Hm, if they are afraid of his power..." he chuckled to himself, "they won't be able to even fathom mine." Not wanting to sit out anymore, he began to walk towards the ponies.

Hidan saw his partner coming over, causing his face to scrunch up, "Kakazu! I told you to stay out of this! I want these bastards to suffer my way!"

"Why should I have to sit out the entire time while you are the one doing the killing..." Kakazu snapped, "Like you said, this will be a good chance to test our powers."

"Hmph! Fine..." Hidan frowned. He turned back to the guards that still stood there shocked, "that flying blue one is mine though. I want him to die first."

Rain felt fear grip him once again as Hidan bit down on his scythe and charged forward. Not having a sword this time, he flew up into the air to try to get away from the seemingly demonic pony. Hidan laughed as he jumped over the group of startled ponies after his target.

Shining was shocked at how fast Hidan could move, but he quickly shook off his trance and looked over to the other two white Pegasus guards, "Cloud Top, Cross Bow, go aid Rain now!"
The two Pegasus nodded and quickly flew after the crazed pony. Cloud dove over and picked up Rain's sword before joining his partner. Neon began to run after them before he was stopped by Shining, "You stay here." the captain ordered.

Neon was confused by Shining's action, "Rain needs our help. That pony is not normal!"

"We have another problem to deal with." shining stated as he watched the approaching masked stallion, "There is something extremely weird about this one."

The final unicorn of the battalion, Lightning Flash, a teal colored Pony with a black mane and tail, turned to the captain, "What do you mean, sir?"

"There is something about him that is making me feel strange." Shining answered.

"Those solid green eyes of his would make any pony's skin crawl." Neon replied.

Shining felt creeped out by the strange ponies looks as well, but it wasn't that which made him cautious, "No, it's not that. I can't put my hoof on it, but I have a feeling this pony is much stronger than the other one."

Meanwhile, Rain flew past a large tree and lifted himself forty feet into the air. He knew that pony couldn't follow him this high off the ground. Smiling, he turned around, "Your freaky jump trick won't reach me from here." Hidan continued to run after him, then suddenly turned and ran straight at the tree, "What is he doing?" Rain said to himself. What he saw next made his heart skip a beat.

Jumping forward, Hidan landed on the dark trunk of the tree, and was standing on the side of it! He ran up the side, reaching nearly equal elevation to his target and then kicked off hard and seemingly flew through the air with his scythe clutched in his hooves, "Now die!"

Cross Bow flew up at the last moment and collided into the side of Hidan, causing both of them to tumble to the ground. Rain was so shocked that he didn't notice Cloud Top until he was bumped in the side, "Huh, what?"

Cloud extended out his hoof, holding Rains sword in it, "You dropped this back there."

Rain grinned and took the sword with his own hooves. Both him and Cloud dropped down to the ground and landed by Cross Bow, who had already untangled himself from Hidan. Trotting by his ally , Rain smiled, "Thanks Cross, you saved me while I was dozing."

Cross chuckled, "Don't worry. Just hit me up with a drink later and we'll call it even."

Hidan glared at the ponies. He wanted to do his ritual soon, for he was never one who wanted to disappoint his god. He raised his scythe over his shoulder, "I will kill all of you eventually, but I am going to make sure I take you first!" he snapped as he pointed a hoof at Rain, "You caused me pain, and you did not experience it with me! I will make you go out painfully when I offer you."

Before any of the Pegasi could respond, Hidan rushed forward again and brought his scythe down over them. Jumping sideways, Cross Bow tried to slice up, only to be met with Hidan's back led coming from the side and bucking hard into his helmet. His head spun from the hard impact and the rattling of the metal against skull.

Cloud tried the same technique, except he was stopped by the steel cable that shot out from Hidan's sleeve. The windy cable wrapped around his sword and pulled backwards, ripping his blade out of his grasp. He then felt the hard hoof of Hidan coming up and give a strong uppercut to his chin. Cloud felt his teeth crack together as his head whipped backwards from the strong punch.

"Rah!" Rain grunted as he charged Hidan with his sword. The akatsuki member grinned as he pulled his scythe out of the ground and swung it around towards the incoming pony. Rain clashed his sword against his opponents blade multiple times, creating bright sparks with each hit. After the sixth hit, he was able to slip his sword in between two of the long blades of the scythe, locking it in place. Twisting sideways, he pried the weapon out of his enemy's grasp and threw both weapons to the side.

Rain saw his opening an charged, "Try and fight me without a weap-"

Hidan flipped his right foreleg forward, revealing a short, black spike he had hidden inside of his sleeve. Whipping it out, it suddenly extended out to triple its origional length before he swing it forward to slash his opponents throat.

Rain instinctively raised his own foreleg out of self defense, getting in the way of the incoming spike. "Ahh!" he screamed out as the sharp tip cut deep into his flesh. To his surprise, another strike did not come after, but instead Hidan jumped back away. Confused, Rain turned to see his comrades recovering from their hits, "You two alright?"

Cloud put a hoof to his jaw as he shifted it several times to try to loosen the pain, "I'm alright. Caught me pretty good with that hit of his. How is your leg?”

Rain glanced down to the gash, “It’s not too bad. I can manage.”

All three Pegasi turned to look at Hidan. He was just sitting there, grinning at them while holding the spike in his hoof. Ever so slowly, he brought the tip up to his mouth, allowing his tongue to lick off the blood.

The Sacrifice

In the royal castle of Canterlot, Celestia and Luna sat in their throne room in deep thought. The elder sister was holding the scroll that Spike had sent her just a few minutes ago. Reading over the description that was given to them sounded like something that was too far fetched even be plausible to believe.

Luna stood up and paced back and forth as her sister read aloud the parchment for what seemed like the tenth time that afternoon. Her face was pulled back into a tight scowl as she listened to her sisters words. "Why must we wait here, Tia. We should be out, looking for the vile ponies that are described."

Celestia shook her head at her sister, "Luna, If this letter had been from anyone other than Spike I would have ignored it. How could an earth pony ever perform the feats that are described in here? Blowing fire out of his mouth? Creating water out of nowhere? Those are powers that few unicorns ever learn."

"But Spike told how those ponies attacked thy guards! Thou must act now and strike them down!" Luna shouted out.

"I know, and perhaps he is telling the truth about their powers. If those two do have the abilities Spike described, there is no possible way for us to know how much more power that they may have."

Luna stopped pacing and stared at her sibling, "Art thou scared, sister? Dost thou not wish to defend our world from these invaders?"

Celestia glared at her, "I am not scared for myself. I am scared of what could happen to our ponies. If these... Invaders are truly dangerous, I'm afraid of the well-being for our citizens."

"Then let's fight for their safety! Let us go out if thou won't, Tia. We shall scatter them like leaves and-"

The doors to the chamber burst open, startling both of the princesses. They turned to see Twilight Sparkle running towards them followed by two Pegasus. They immediately recognized them as Rainbow Dash and Spitfire. Celestia stepped down from her throne as they approached, "Twilight, what are you doing here?"

Twilight took a second to catch her breath before speaking, "Princess, they just flew in from Ponyville and told me some horrible news! There are-"

"I know Twilight. I have already been notified." she interjected as she lifted the letter up in the air.

Twilight stared at the paper, "Is that from Spike?"

"Yes. He sent it not too long ago. He explained how those two ponies came to the village and threatened the safety of the citizens."

"What happened? Are they alright?" Rainbow quickly asked.

Celestia gave a solemn look, "Spike said that my guards suffered some injuries, but none of them were killed thankfully. He said that the two of them suddenly left after fighting for a short time. He and the others are coming to Canterlot as we speak."

Spitfire gave a sigh of relief knowing that the guards were alright, but immediately remembered another important fact, "Your highness, what are your plans to protect the statue of Discord?"

The sun princess tilted her head in confusion, "Why would we need to protect it?"

Both Pegasi exchanged worried glances with each other before Rainbow turned back forward, "He didn't tell you? These ponies are after Discord."

Celestia's eyes went wide when she heard that. The magic around the letter she had vanished, causing the paper to fall to the floor. Luna stopped her pacing and flipped around as well, "What art thou talking about?"

"They were asking the guards where Discord was located." Rainbow answered quickly, "And those other two were also asking about-"

"What!? Other two?" Celestia interrupted, "What are you talking about now? There were more?"

Rainbow then went on to explain what had happened to her earlier that day. She told the two royal alicorns how she met the one named Deidara and his partner in the Everfree forest, how they asked her for a source of power and all of that. Then she went into detail about the strange weapons that the pegasus shot from the mouths he had on his hooves towards her.
When she was finished, Celestia walked over to her sister to whisper in her ear, "This is much worse than we could've imagined Luna. There is the chance that these aren't the only ones. We have to assume that there are more as well that we haven't heard from yet."

Luna nodded in agreement, "What should we do then?"

"Go outside and guard the statue personally while I-"

"What? Tia, tho... you want me to sit on my rump while those ponies are out there?"

"Luna, you and I are the strongest in Canterlot. If these ponies are really as powerful as we have heard, we have to ensure that Discord is kept safe from them. Who knows what they are planning if they did get him. I need your help with that while I prepare the rest of the guards."

Luna frowned, but eventually nodded before walking out of the room towards the main doors to the side. Celestia then turned back to the three mares before her, "alright, I am going to need you two..." pointing a hoof at Rainbow and Spitfire, "to prepare the wonderbolts squadron for action. Air specialists are what we are going to need for in case we have to fight above the ground."

Rainbow jumped forward at hearing what was said, "wait wait wait. Did... You just ask for me... To help... Wonder..." she couldn't finish her sentence at that point.

Celestia grinned at the response from the young pegasus, "As of this moment, I name you, Rainbow Dash, an official member of the wonderbolts. Captain Spitfire, what do you say to this choice?"

The yellow mare smiled to her friend, "I would be honored to have Rainbow as a member of my team."

Rainbow had to hold back the squeal of excitement that built up in her throat. Twilight came over to congratulate her, "Well Rainbow, it looks like you finally got your dream. Your loyalty shows up here by how you never gave up.

Those last words caused Rainbows smile to vanish instantly. 'Loyal?' she thought to herself, 'I can't believe I left my friends back in Ponyville.' she tried to convince herself that it was to help Spitfire, but she knew in her heart that it was fear that made her leave.Before she could respond, Spitfire signaled her to follow over to the wonderbolt camp to get the others. "Oh, heh heh, gotta go Twilight." Rainbow quickly said before running after her new captain.

Twilight smiled at seeing her friend so happy, but then focused her attention to her teacher, "What about me, princess? What should I do?"

Celestia turned her gaze towards her purple pupil, "Twilight, I have a special job for you to prepare for."

Rain was creeped out as he watched Hidan use his tongue to lick off some of the blood that was on the edge of his weapon. He looked over to Cross Bow and Cloud Top to see that they had the same grossed out expression that he had. "What the heck is he doing?" Rain asked.

Cloud shook his head in disgust, "How should I know? He's a freak."

music link

Hidan chuckled darkly as he felt the power start to flow through him. Suddenly, his fur shifted it's white hair to a gray tone, before darkening into solid black. The color was as dark as the coat worn by the tyrannical Nightmare Moon. All across his face and his body were white markings blended in his fur, resembling where the bones of that part of the body would be. Lifting the spike, he jammed the end of it into his foreleg.

Rain and the others gasped at the act. "What the hell is he doing to himself!?"

Hidan grinned as he watched the blood flow down onto the dirt, forming a small red puddle. Putting his free hoof into the small mass of blood, he began to smear it onto the ground around him in a wide circle. After it surrounded him, she began to create a triangle design in herbs center of it, until it was identical to the necklace that he had around his neck. He looked up to the blue Pegasus and smiled, "Now, the bond is complete. Judgement shall come." lifting the spike again, he rammed it into his right ankle.

"AHH!" Rain screamed out in pain as he dropped onto the ground, clutching his right ankle.

Cloud jumped back from his comrade from the sudden reaction, "What the... Rain, are you alright?" he bent down to see what was wrong, but was shocked to see an open wound on Rain's ankle, "What happened?"

Hidan burst out laughing now, "Ha ha ha! Oh, this is great! Do you like that? Do you enjoy the pain?"

Cross Bow glanced back and forth between Hidan and Rain, trying to put together what was happening. Suddenly, it hit him. "The blood! He tasted Rains blood!"

Rain saw the wound Hidan did to himself was the same as the one that suddenly appeared on his own leg. He then saw the strange design that was drawn on the ground below the seemingly undead pony. He felt a chill run up his spine as Hidan stood up on his hind legs and clutched the spike between both hooves. "What- what are you doing?"

Hidan hissed more laughter at the look of fear on his victims face,"Now, I am giving Jashin the offering that I promised. Good bye!" he screamed out as he brought the black weapon down and rammed it into his chest.

The sudden painful sensation hit Rain like a train. He dropped to the ground and clutched his chest with his hooves. He began to roll around in agony as a rush of blood came up from deep inside his throat and erupted out of his mouth. His heart felt as if something was ripping at it with a knife. It was the most painful thing he had ever felt in his entire lifetime.

Hidan sat with the spike embedded deep inside of his chest, relishing the sensation of the tip running through the center of his heart. He took several deep breaths before tilting his head back from the pleasure of pain as he grinned up to the sky, "Amazing. Jashin will be pleased with this one." he looked down to the ponies in front of him and started laughing.

Cross Bow dropped down and put his hooves on his friend, "Rain! Come on buddy, get up, we have to get out of here."

Rain tried to look up to his comrade, but he began to lose all focus in his head. His breath was coming in rapid gasps, each one growing weaker and weaker every second. His heart was beating in irregular patterns as it faltered. Then, it stopped beating altogether.

Cross Bow panicked as his lifelong friend stopped moving. "Rain! Get up, buddy. Come on!" He started to shake the bleeding pony on the shoulder. When he didn't wake, he shook more vigorously, "Get up!" He eventually stopped, finally coming to terms with the answer.

Rain was dead.

Hidan’s laughter echoed across the grass field, reaching the ears of the other group of soldiers. Shining Armor turned around to see the crazy pony now covered in black fur. Confused, he stared and watched as the fur began to slowly fade to a gray, until returning to it's normal white color. He then watched as it ripped a long black weapon out of its chest. His mind was trying to figure out what he just saw when his eyes shifted to the slump body laying down in the grass. "Rain?"

Neon was looking as well, "What happened to him? Is... is he Dead?"

Kakazu chuckled as he looked over to his laughing partner, "Well, it looks like Hidan has finally gotten his sacrifice."

Shining Flipped around and stared at the masked brown stallion, "What are you talking about?"

“Is it not obvious?" Kakazu asked with a cold tone, "Hidan possesses the body of another through their blood. Then, performing his ritual, all the pain he experiences his shared with the other."

"What?"

Kakazu's green eyes stared right back at the captain, "Remember when you stabbed him in the heart? He doesn't die."

The realization hit all of the soldiers at the same time. They all turned back to stare at the now limp body of their ally on the grass in the distance. A a terrible feeling of pain came over every one of them knowing they didn't do anything to try and help out Rain. Anger spread across Lightning Flash's face as he turned back to the other black cloaked pony. His horn began to charge up, creating small currents of electricity off the tip and flow into the air, "You two freaks are going to pay for what you did to him."

Kakazu lifted his right hoof off the ground and tilted it up towards the teal unicorn, "You are quite the feisty one, aren't you?" instantaneously, his hoof shot off his leg towards the startled pony.

Flash's face went from hatred to panic as the hoof rushed through the air, "What the!?" jumping back to the side, he barely evaded the hoof as it crashed into the ground below him. Looking at the hoof, his eyes followed up the back of it, leading to a large bundle of purple, cable like appendages connected to the base of it. He nervously followed the pulsing cables up to the end of the open leg of Kakazu. His breathing began to falter as his nerves were leaping out of control from seeing the disgusting ligaments wriggling around.

Rock Kicker nearly gagged at the wretched tentacles flopping as they retracted back inside of Kakazu's leg. "That is disgusting! What in the heck are these ponies!?"

Kakazu looked over to the brown pony and lifted his other front hoof up and shot it out. Kicker was too startled to move at all as the rapidly approaching hoof came towards his face. Luckily, Spear tip leapt up and swung his sword, severing the connection between the tendrils and the hoof. The small stump fell to the ground with a soft thud, followed by Spear a moment later, grinning at his accomplishment.

"Look out!" Neon Screamed out.

Flipping around, Spear dropped his sword out of shock as the long strand of purple cables rushed towards him. Before he could get back, the long pieces wrapped all around his body, holding him down tight. Flipping his leg back, Kakazu lifted the helpless pony high into the air above him. "Rahh!" He grunted as he yanked downward, bringing Spear down to the ground with back-breaking force.

"Spear!" Flash called out in panic. He saw that his friend was hurt but still conscious.

Kicker charged with his sword and swung at Kakazu, who quickly lifted his other leg up. the tone of fur shifted much darker, then blocked the incoming sword. The blade came to a harsh stop colliding with the limb, which was as hard as a rock. Kakazu stared up past his leg at the startled pony, “Do you like my earth style; iron skin technique?” he laughed as Kicker ran back out of fear.

Unwrapping his tendrils from the dazed pony, Kakazu shot some other long cables over to his amputated hoof and lifted it back towards him. The sharp tips of the tendrils acted like sewing needles, going through his skin as it began stitching the hoof back on. After a second, it was reattached just as well as it was before. Neon was in total disbelief at what he was witnessing. Each of these ponies were unlike anything he had ever seen before; one was able to put body parts back on like a toy set, while the other one could kill another one by ingesting it's blood Like some living zebracan voodoo doll. He looked over to his captain for answers, "Sir, what do we do?"

Shining glared at the zombie like pony, "We fight until we find his weakness. Let's test if this one will live if it is hit through his heart."

Kakazu looked up into the sky and saw the position of the sun. He frowned under his mask, "Hmm, we are going to be late for the meeting tonight." he said to himself. "If we are here fighting, might as well make this more interesting for myself."'he reached his hoof to the opening of his cloak and began to open up the front. Once his forelegs were free, he tossed the black clothing to the side.

All of the guards eyes shot open to the sight that beheld them under the clothes. Shining thought he was imagining it at first, but then noticed the others were just as shocked as he was. "What in the name of Celestia is he?"

Out of Kakuzu's back were four different masks sticking up through his skin.

Masks

Through the leaves of the low hanging branches, a cloaked figure stepped into the sunlight. From his perspective high on the hill, he gazed down to the large castle that sat in the distance. His bright sharingan shined through the single hole in his mask as he squinted his eye in attempt to get a better view. "Hmm. This place looks interesting." Tobi said as he stared at the massive city for a while, analyzing the structures and landscape.

From what he could see, the main castle was set in the side of the large mountain behind it. From its base, it surrounded by a sprawling and vast village, rivaling the size of even the large Hidden Leaf Village back in his own world. Similar to the Leaf, the village had a large main wall that went around the exterior, giving itself a major line of defense against any intruders. Seeing this caused him to chuckle to himself, "hm hm hm, I don't believe they have come across intruders like us."

The sound of a loud whistle in the air caught his attention, making his ears stand up out of reflex. Off across the valley in the distance, a strange machine like shape was traveling towards the outer wall of the village. From the front of it rose what looked like a column of steam similar to some of the large ships in his world, although he had never seen a structure that travelled across the land like this. "This surely is a different place."

"Yes, it is."

The cold yet familiar voice behind him caused Tobi to turn and face the speaker. Dissolving out of the side of a tree, the large green Venus fly trap of Zetsu stuck out of the bark. Opening up the center, the black and white face stared at him with bright yellow eyes. "So, i take it that you found something that could be of use to us?" Tobi asked.

"Yes, we have found another type of horse that lives in this world..." the black half said, "Off in the desert to the south."

"What good does learning that another type of horse lives here in helping find something that I want?" Tobi coldly replied.

"We aren't actually sure if these are types of horses, actually." the white Zetsu half spoke up, "They look more like strange bugs, and they have powers similar to myself."

Tobi became curious at this point hearing this. He allowed Zetsu to continue to explain what he had discovered in the barren desert region. The last part especially intrigued him. "This is good news. I wonder what things the others have found in their travel." turning back to the large village, he saw what appeared to be a group of flying horses being led by a single one larger than the others away from the large wall. 'I could slip in there and look around, but i would rather not deal with trouble at the moment' He thought to himself. "We can investigate this place here with the others. Let us head back then."

Activating his power, Tobi pulled himself into his vacuum like jutsu, once again vanishing from the land. The white Zetsu frowned as they were left there. "He can go anywhere in an instant with that technique. It takes us time to travel still."

"Just shut up." the darker half snapped.

Closing the trap, Zetsu dissolved back into the tree once again, and disappeared under the bark.

Shining Armor stared in shock at the masks that protruded out of Kakazu's back. Lining the body of the mutated pony was dozens of long lines of stitches in a mix of directions. Before he or any of his platoon could say anything, the skin on Kakazu's back bulged and shifted in a sickly ripple across his body in strange directions. The masks rose up, pulling at the stitches that held them to their host like leeches. Then, all four ruptured out, literally ripping open the stitched areas across his back. After tearing free, the masks were followed by large black masses of what looked like goop. They arced out and splattered onto the ground with sickening plops.

Lightning Flash couldn't even believe what he was looking at. "What kind of sick pony is he?"

Neon watched as the piles suddenly shifted up from the ground, molding themselves into unique body designs. He sat in shock as the four shapes finally took their forms; All were massive bodies standing taller than the princesses. Each one sported the mask where their supposed faces would be, giving them the appearances of giant demonic puppets. "What in the name of Celestia are these things?"

Spear Tip crawled up to his knees, trying to shake off the dizziness in his head. When he looked up, his pulse rate went through the roof as he stared at the new things that stood before him. 'What in Equestria?' he whispered to himself. He looked over to Kakazu and nearly fainted at what he saw next; the massive opening on his back was closing itself, followed by long lines of threads sewing the skin back together, eventually completely closing the back.

Rock Kicker felt his knees shaking like crazy as the massive new objects just stood there like statues behind the masked pony. He turned to his captain, "Sir, what should we do now?"

Shining Armor was too shocked to answer the question. He had no idea what was going on now. He had never even heard legends of a pony that could create things out of things from its back. This pony truly had to be some kind of demon! He shook his head clear of the fear that was building inside of him. He was the captain, and he had to do what he could to protect his comrades, "Stand together. We don't know what these things can do."

Kakazu chuckled when he heard that. "You want a demonstration then? Alright, I'll give you one." glancing over to the injured Spear Tip, he shot one of his long hooves out and wrapped the dark tendrils around the ponies throat. Pulling back, he lifted the thrashing pony above his head and turned back to the others, "You get what you want in life."

Shining's eyes went wide when he rsw the guard held in the air, "No!"

Kakazu spun around and launched Spear Tip into the air with a powerful throw. As soon as he left go, he clapped his hooves together. Immediately, the tallest of the shapes which mask sported a yellow nose, tilted upwards towards the tumbling pony. Large sparks of electricity began building at the center of the mouth, concentrating the power.

"Lightning Style: Mock Darkness!" kakazu yelled.

A massive bolt of lightning erupted from the mask and blasted into the air. The bright blast illuminated the entire grass plain in a bright blue glow. Then, it hit the mark. Spear Tip screamed in agony writhing in pain as the powerful waves of electricity lit him up in a bright blast of light. The stream of lightning continued on for several more seconds, never once lowering in power that began to overload every nerve inside of the earth pony to the breaking point. After a moment, his heart gave out from the immense shock that became too much to handle. As the lightning stopped, his body fell down to the ground and landed with a large thud.

He was dead before he even hit the ground.

All of the guards felt like their hearts dropped out of their bodies from what they just witnessed. Not only did they realize the power that just one of these things had, but they lost another comrade right before their eyes. Cloud Top and Cross Bow who were away from the others also stared in disbelief to seeing the lightning that killed their friend. Cross Bow looked over to Cloud, seeing the terror in his face. "We don't have a chance against these things." Before Cloud could speak, they heard Hidan start going on a rant.

"Kakazu! What the hell are you doing!? You are going to kill them all like that you selfish bastard!" Hidan screamed across the grass, "I have to give Jashin more sacrifices, and I can't do that if you kill them all, dumbass!"

"I could care less about your god, Hidan. I want to see how long they can last against my abilities." Kakazu responded.

Shining Armor looked at his guards, then back to the figures in front of him. He knew from just seeing the power of one of those things, his group could not hope to defeat four of them and two crazy ponies. 'I was a fool. I should have never tried to engage them in the first place.' he scolded himself, 'thanks to me two of my friends are dead. I can't let the others die as well. Slowly, he started backing up away.

Lightning Flash saw his captain moving, "Sir, what do we do?"

"Fall back..." Shining replied, "Retreat back to Canterlot."

Understanding that they had no chance in victory, all of the guards unanimously turned and began sprinting away from the battle. Cloud Top and Cross Bow also flapped their wings and took off towards their comrades. Hidan glared at seeing more sacrifices leaving him, "Hey, get back here you little pussies!" running over to his scythe, he picked it up and charged after the ponies.

Kakazu watched in amusement as the ponies ran across the grass. "You may think you are safe if you run, but I have no intention of leaving survivors." he said to himself. A moment later, the large, round mass wearing a mask with red markings flew up into the air and rushed after the group of guards. After a few seconds, it passed overhead and landed in their path.
All of the guards skidded to a stop when they saw the thing drop in from of them. "These things can fly too!?" Neon screamed out.

Kakazu clapped his hooves together, causing the red mask to open up at the mouth. Inside, a burning flame began to flicker inside of the gaping jaws, building up to a small ball of fire. "Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"

A massive blast of flames shot out of the mouth of the mask, growing into an immense wall of fire over twenty feet high. The fire rushed forward, catching all of the guards in a state of shock. Kakazu chuckled when he watched the flames completely engulf the ponies. "Hmm. It seems they were not worth much of a fight in the end."

The flames suddenly pushed outward from the center. Kakazu stared in confusion to what happened. "What!?" he watched as the smoke dissipated, leaving what appeared to be a magenta colored energy sphere surrounding the ponies. He glared at seeing that they had survived. "So, they do have some talent to block that technique."

Shining Armor lowered the barrier around them as he dropped to a knee from exertion. the barrier had barely enough moments to surround them, but thankful he was able to even create one that fast in such a small window of time. His little success in his mind was forgotten when the other three masses surrounded them. Neon swallowed the lump in his throat when he saw there was no way out for all of them. He turned and gave a solemn look to the others. "It has been an honor serving with you all."

The others were at first caught off guard, but gave nods of agreement, all of them realizing this was the end. They all prepared themselves when another mask opened its mouth, charging its fire technique. Before it could however, a Bright stream of yellow magic from the sky raced forward, piercing the mask directly through the center. The black mass began to sway back and forth, then collapsed forward onto the ground and dissolved into a wet pile.

Rock kicker stared at the now dead... Thing on the ground in front of him, then turned up to the sky to try and see where that blast came from."what was that?"

Landing on the ground in front of the cracked mask and slop of goop was Blitz and Blaze, grinning at their comrades. Blaze turned and looked to the other remaining masks that were around. "Sorry we're late. Had a little trouble finding you. It looks like you could use our help."

The large doors to the throne room of Canterlot swung open, followed by Twilight's friends running inside as fast as they could. The young purple unicorn smiled in delight when she saw all of them. "Girls, Spike! You all made it!" sprinting forward, she met all of them in a big group hug.

"Of course, sugarcube, we always stick together." Applejack happily said.

Rarity looked around the room for their one missing friend. "Hey, where is Rainbow Dash? She left to come here with Spitfire."

“She is fine. Spitfire and her went to the other wonderbolts to prepare them in case of an emergency. And..." Twilight's grin spread across her entire face, "She is a wonderbolt now!"

All of them gasped in excitement hearing that news. Pinkie lie leapt in the air and put her hooves to her face,"OhmygoshI'msohappysheisawonderboltnowIcantbelieveit!" she was speaking so fast the others could hardly understand what she was saying, but in the end just giggled at her antics..

Celestia smiled seeing Twilight and them so happy. Having the girls here also made her feel better; if they had to use the elements of Harmony for any reason, the girls were prepared. Turning to the door, her smile disappeared when she saw the look on the face of the guard entering the room. Barren came slowly trotting down the red carpet towards the princess, his eyes hung low in guilt. When he came to the steps where she stood, he knelt down to the ground, "I'm sorry my princess. We have failed you as soldiers."

Celestia trotted down to him and put a hoof under his chin to raise his head, "No, Barren. You are a fine soldier. You did everything in your power to stand up to the ponies that threatened the town."

Barren chuckled to himself, "Stand up to them? They didn't even seem like they were trying to really fight us. If those two wanted to, they could have killed us whenever they wanted, especially that one dark one. whatever he did to Swift, I have no idea what it was."

"Tell me, what exactly happened to him from what you saw?" she asked him.

She listened to him explain everything that had happened in the fight, detail by detail. Although she read what Spike had told her, hearing the facts from a guard himself brought even more credibility to the story. Once she heard the part about Swift, she sat quiet for a minute to think to herself. 'What kind of power could have done this to a pony? And how could a pony do it if they are not a unicorn?' she looked back down to the soldier, who still knelt on the ground, "Where is Swift?"

"He and Storm Chaser were taken to the emergency center at the hospital. Storm is in operation and Swift... The doctors don't know what is wrong with him."

"Take the girls to his room. I will meet you there." Celestia ordered. Turning around, she trotted to the side doors of the room which led to the balcony. She looked down to see over three dozen guards lined in orderly fashions getting ready to be posted in their stations around the city. Most of the guards had already left and were ready. The ones below she could tell were new recruits judging by their strict line formations. While usually She kept the newbies in the barracks for training, she knew every set of hooves was needed just in case something did come for the city.

Opening her large wings, she glided off the edge of the balcony and towards the center of the gardens. She wanted Luna to be at the hospital as well to understand just what they were going to be dealing with. After a few moments, she saw the statue of Discord, but to her surprise not her sister. "What?" instead, two ponies were below it. Landing on the ground in front of them, she realized they were her sisters guards.

Lunar stallions.

The two guards were draped in purple armor that covered most of their dark gray bodies. Under their purple helmets shined their bright yellow eyes, their pupils slit like that of a serpent. Replacing their normal Pegasus wings on their sides stuck out the long bat wings. Both eyes and wings were from a spell by Luna, giving them increased abilities above normal flight or vision. Mostly, however, they were used to give them a more menacing appearance. When the two soldiers saw the sun princess, they bowed, "Princess of the light, what brings you here?" the one on the right of the statue asked.

Celestia frowned down at the guard, "I could ask you the same thing. Where can I find Princess Luna.?"

The two guards looked at each other in confusion, then the left one turned back to Celestia. "Princess Luna told us that you wanted guards at the statue of Discord while she went on a scouting mission outside of the city."

"What!?" Celestia screamed out, startling both guards. She could not believe what was happening; Luna not only ignored what she was asked to do, but she was now putting herself at risk to go and find these strange ponies. 'Are you doing this to prove something, Luna? Are you trying to show you are not weak?' Celestia thought to herself.

Turning, she looked up to the orange sky from the setting sun. "Luna, you fool."

Flying hard through the air, Luna pushed her wings as she led her battalion of Lunar guards over the land. She glared ahead as he wind whipped at her eyes. She frowned thinking back to what her sister had told her to sit like a filly next to a statue while there was a threat in their land. 'No, I am the princess of the night, I do not back down to an enemy!' she screamed inside of her head.

She looked back to check how the others were doing; six lunar Pegasi followed close behind her, each one carrying a lunar unicorn partner by their forelegs. Even when they were told what they could possibly face, all for the guards in the battalion volunteered to join Luna on her mission. They were determined to aid their princess with any task they were given, no matter the danger or the risk that was involved.

Grinning to herself for having such fine soldiers, she looked back ahead in the direction she flew. "We are the soldiers of the night..." she yelled out for the others to hear, "We will fight to protect our land no matter what stands in our way!"

Author's Note

Back to Canon!

if some of you were wondering why i am dragging this fight out so much, it is because it plays an important role for future events coming. i hope you enjoy.

Do Not Challenge me

The open field was littered with scorched patches of grass and small craters all throughout as the platoon of soldiers continued to fight the immortal duo. Despite the fact that Blitz and Blaze caught the one mask by surprise with their silent arrival, they had not been able to land a single attack directly on the others now that they were noticed.

Music Link

Lightning Flash and Neon skidded to a halt as they turned to face the lightning mask that had been following them. They simultaneously charged their horns and blasted several quick volleys of magic in its direction. Flying up in the air, the dark shape responded by shooting a stream of lightning in their direction, the blast tearing a small fissure in the ground. Lightning shoved Neon out of the way and focused his energy up, using himself as a beacon. Neon watched in horror to what he was seeing. "What are you doing!?"

Lightning Flash felt the surge of voltage strike his horn and course through his body. While he had the special talent of working with electrical style magic, he wasn't prepared for this amount. He could feel his muscles locking up from the overload of power. As the stream stopped, he dropped to his knees, lines of electricity pulsing around his frame as he attempted to regain his thoughts. "That *huff* wasn't too smart of me." He sneered to himself.

Cloud Top was engaged with Hidan once again, desperately trying to block the rapid swings of the scythe. His body was beginning to feel the result of fighting for too long. Muscles were beginning to cramp all over, and his breaths were coming in more quickly. To his shock, Hidan didn’t even seem in the bit tired from his whole ordeal, acting as if he could continue to attack for days. The crazed pony clutched the scythe between his hooves and rushed the tired Pegasus. “Come and join Jashin in the netherworld!”

Before his scythe caught flesh, Rock Kicker’s blade connected with the large red weapon and reflected it away. The earth pony could barely keep himself up as the akatsuki member charged his tired body with a flurry of swipes. After several more hits, the sword was knocked out of his grip and sent through the air. Rock Kicker froze out of fear as the end of the scythe came around again and slashed across his throat. The surprising thing to him was that he actually didn’t seem to feel pain, but instead a loss of all feeling in an instant. He dropped down to the ground as the blood seeped out of the deep gash in his neck, cleansing his body of life.

Cloud Top felt his blood run cold as he watched his comrade die in front of him. Before he could do anything, his eyes met Hidan’s, who had a look of bloodlust as he grinned to his next victim. “You should allow me to end your suffering and just die already.

Blitz and Cross Bow flew through the air, trying to lose the flying black shape behind them. Looking over his shoulder, Blitz watched as the white mask opened its mouth and blasted what looked like a swirling mass of air in his direction. Banking sharply downward, he barely dodged the incoming vortex as it shot by. Weaving down onto the ground, he turned back and forth as the air attacks came in faster, each blast ripping out chunks of ground and grass, shredding the material into minuscule pieces. “Crap, we have to do something other than just running. These things are going to get us at some point if we keep fighting like this.” He said to himself.

Shining Armor and Blaze faced off against the final fire mask. Now that the mask was working on its own will, the fire that came out of its mouth were smaller condensed balls of flame. While still dangerous, they were much less threatening than the massive wall of fire that had erupted from the mouth earlier. Shining turned to Blaze and explained the plan. “Alright, you can conjure your own fire spell to help counter the incoming attacks to distract it. While you engage it for several hits, I will try to restrain it and allow you to finish it off.”

The yellow unicorn nodded in agreement. “Let’s give it a shot, captain.” And with that, he charged up his horn and created a small ball of flame at the tip. After a second, it shot out from him, growing to a burning mass about a foot across. The mask responded by shooting its own ball of fire out to meet the opposing attack. The two blasts collided, creating a burst of hot flames out in all directions and smoke billowing upward.

The two fire conjurers exchanged a mix of fire blasts as they moved parallel with each other. Shining Armor saw that the mask was completely focused on Blaze and didn’t even notice him. “Alright, here is my chance.” He prepared to shoot his magic out, but gasped as he felt something grab his back leg and yank him backwards. He was dragged across the ground until coming to a sudden stop. Flipping around, he saw a hoof wrapped around his ankle, and attached to that was a line of tendrils leading up to Kakazu.

“You are fighting me.” The masked pony growled.

Blaze continued to try to counter all of the fire attacks, but had to resort to dodging as the opposing fire began to overcome his own in terms of speed and power. “Shining, what are you waiting for!?” he screamed out. In the corner of his eye, he saw his captain on the ground under the gaze of the dark stallion. He felt fear grip his heart as he realized he was fighting this thing on his own now.

Shining Armor bucked out and kicked Kakazu in his chest to get him away. As the hoof slipped off from around his leg, the captain crawled off the ground and shot a beam of magic at his challenger. Kakazu jumped to the side and charged the white stallion. Shining conjured up a shield wall in front of himself to stop the incoming pony that crashed into the magic barrier. Kakazu punched at the barrier several times before stopping. “Impressive technique… but I believe flawed.” He snickered as he suddenly shot his hoof off his right foreleg and crashed it into the ground.

Shining stared confused as the tendrils continued to snake downward into the ground. He prepared to get back, but was suddenly struck expectantly in the chin by the hoof that ruptured up out of the ground beneath him. Kakazu laughed as he watched the shield disintegrate in front of him, leaving the dazed captain unprotected. “Your shield only protected you from directly in front of you, but failed to guard from all other directions, including below the ground.” as the tendrils sucked the one hoof back up, his other foreleg shot out and grabbed the captain by his throat.

Shining gasped as he felt himself lifted up into the air, and then brought down hard into the dirt with sickening speed. He yelped out in pain, but was then lifted up again and slammed back down in the same spot. He then had the experience of being launched in the air forty feet and bouncing across the dirt like a rock on water. Skidding to a stop, the captain shook in pain as he tried to crawl up, but he couldn’t sit up for more than a few moments before dropping back down. “Gah! I think he broke my leg with that!” he winced to himself.

Looking up to the others, the captain stared in horror as he watched Cloud Top knocked to the ground by a strong shove, and then being impaled in his side by the red blades of Hidan. The crazed ponies laugh carried across the battlefield, imprinting on the captain’s mind, watching in horror as the Pegasus dropped to the ground, blood leaking out his mouth as he grimaced in the loss of defeat. After another moment, his eyes rolled white and shut for good.

Not far away, Shining saw Cross Bow drop out of the air as his wing was clipped by an air blast. The Pegasus wailed out in pain as he crashed into ground with a hard landing. Before he could crawl back up, the black mask positioned itself over his body and shot out another air blast on top his helpless form. Shining turned his gaze away as the screams of torture and death echoed out, not wanting to see what the attack did to the body of a pony. As he began to grieve of his fallen comrades, however, he felt a hoof grab him by the shoulder and flip him onto his back. A second later, another hoof came down and began crushing his windpipe.

“Hmhmhm, you thought you could actually defeat us?” Kakazu said as he pushed down on the captains throat, “You never stood a chance against our powers.”

Shining struggled to breath as he tried to push the hoof off of his neck, but the ponies hold on him was strong as steel, not budging a single inch. He felt his mind beginning to slip into darkness as Kakazu lifted his other hoof up. “I am upset that your group did destroy one of my hearts, but I believe yours will make a wonderful replacement for me and- AGH!”

Kakazu was shot back by a blue blast of magic. Coughing as he regained his air, Shining rolled over to see where the attack came from, but was shocked by who he saw. “P-princess Luna?”

Inside of the wonderbolts main changing room, Rainbow Dash stared in awe at herself in the large wall sized mirror. Wearing the standard blue and yellow wonderbolt uniform, she turned to see a side profile of herself, admiring how the outfit complimented her sleek and athletic figure, actually seemingly more than when wearing nothing. She couldn’t help but giggle in excitement at finally reaching the dream she had always wanted ever since she was just a filly. After years of hard training, she was part of the team consisting of the greatest flyers in all of Equestria. “This is so awesome! I can’t believe I’m actually wearing this!”

“Enjoying the new look?”

Rainbow yelped out of shock from the sudden voice. Turning around, she relaxed when she recognized the light blue Pegasus mare with a silver spiked mane leaning against the doorway, her wonderbolt outfit pulled down off her head. “Hey Fleetfoot.”

Fleetfoot smiled as she stood up straight and trotted over by Rainbow. “You deserve it. You are faster than most of the flyers on this team. Well… other than me.”

Rainbow chuckled at her comrades ego. “I think we should have a race sometime to test that out. You need to get knocked down a couple notches.”

Playfully rolling her eyes, Fleetfoot turned and began walking out of the room, “come on, we have to get to the meeting.”

Grabbing her pair of wonderbolt goggles, Rainbow followed her flying ally out of the changing room and down the hallway towards the main wonderbolt sitting room. Already inside the room consisted of the six other head wonderbolt members. Up in front of the others were Spitfire and her partner Soarin. Sitting on the ground to the left was Fire Streak, a white stallion with an orange and tan mane. Sitting right by his side as usual was his younger brother, Lightning streak. Looking identical in style, the only difference between them was his light blue coat and two toned yellow mane.

To the right sat Misty Fly, her radiant two toned aqua blue mane brightly contrasting her cream colored coat. By her sat High Winds, her white coat matching with her curly blue mane almost matching Pinkie Pie’s in wildness. All of them looked up to see the two incoming members. “Alright, we are all here. Now, we have a lot to discuss.” Spitfire said.

“Uh, I got a question…” Lightning Streak asked with a raised eyebrow, “Why are we the only ones here? Why didn’t you want the others here? Also, where is Rapidfire?”

“I had the others go to Cloudsdale to pick up a special request the princess made. I had him lead the others since he can coordinate them well.”

“By the way, what is this special thing the princess wants?” Soarin questioned as he turned to his captain, “I don’t even know what it is.”

“You will all see soon enough.” Spitfire answered before turning her attention back to the others. “Now, I will explain the mission that we are assigned. We are to act as the air defense team for Canterlot in the risk of those ponies coming here.”

“And what exactly can all of these ponies do?” Misty Fly asked.

“We don’t know about all of them. What I was told by the princess was one pony had a massive sword on him, and he was able to create water out of nowhere and use it as an attack. His partner is supposedly able to shoot fire out of his mouth and has a strange magic technique as well. Somehow he can cause a pony to fall into an almost comatose state.”

High Winds shook her head in disbelief, “How does an earth pony even do magic in the first place? It just doesn’t sound possible.”

“I don’t know how they would. Now the other pony from that group which we know his powers is that Pegasus Dash and I ran into. He is the one with mouths on his hooves and can spit bombs out of them.” Out of nowhere, Fire Streak started snorting in laughter, bringing a frown across Spitfire’s face. “Did I say something funny, Fire?”

“Actually, yeah…” Fire took a breath to talk clear, “Just the thought of a pony with mouths on his hooves. You know if he is good with his tongues, he would surely know how to please a mare in bed.” Soarin and Lightning Streak had to stifle a laugh that came out of their throats. Lightning turned and gave his brother a hoof bump, both brothers chuckling to themselves. As Fire turned around to the others however, the glares from all the mares caused his ears to flatten on top of his head. He rubbed the back of his head with his hoof as he felt like an idiot now, “I uh, was just saying.”

Spitfire glared over to Soarin, who in turned looked away and began whistling to act innocent. Looking back to Fire Streak, she grabbed a water bottle and chucked it at the immature pony. “Ow!” he yelped as the bottle struck the side of his head. Rubbing the now sore spot, he looked up to his angry captain, “Alright, I’m sorry! I was just making a joke.”

“You think this is a joke!? This is serious, Fire Streak. This pony nearly killed Rainbow and tried to get me too. We are facing ponies with powers that we have never seen before, and we must be ready for anything.” Spitfire looked around to the other faces in the room as she continued her speech, “I know this is odd for us to prepare for danger like this since that is normally just for the royal guard, but we have been asked by the princess herself because our razor sharp flying talent and abilities. We will serve the princess to our very best ability.” Slipping the headpiece of her uniform over her head, she then reached down and put her goggles on. “Now, we are going to be doing partner patrols around the city. Soarin and I will be around the main castle. Fire and Lightning, I want you two to cover the western perimeter. High Winds, you and Misty Fly have the front. And Rainbow, you and Fleetfoot watch the east.”

Nodding, the rest of the wonderbolts put on their equipment and followed Spitfire and Soarin out of the room.

Luna and her battalion stood battle ready in front of the others on the field. The soldiers dark purple armor seemed to glitter brightly despite their hardly being any light left in the sky. The group had created a perimeter around the solar guards, who by now were too exhausted to fight on anymore. Their reptilian like eyes stared menacingly at the three black shapes that floated nearby. From the ground Shining Armor crawled up to his feet as the princess of the night approached him. “P-Princess, what are you doing- agh!” he was cut off as he collapsed back down to the dirt.

Luna put a hoof over his back, signaling him to stay down. “Rest, captain. Thou have fought bravely against these monsters. Allow us to fight and take the weight off thy tired back.”

Kakazu shook the dirt of him as he glared at the intruder. “This is becoming a pain now, more of these damn ponies are showing up. I am not taking this easy anymore!” Standing on his hind legs, he clasped his hooves together and took control of the lightning mask. “Lightning Style: Mock Darkness!”

The mask shot out its powerful blast towards the group. Simultaneously, three lunar unicorns shot their magic up and created a shield. The dark blue barrier shook as the lightning strike hit it, but remained steady and strong until it stopped. Using their chance, they deactivated the shield and went on the offensive, three unicorn and pegasi partners each going for a separate mask. The rest stayed back and kept guard around the recovering soldiers.

Being new arrivals, the lunar guards had the advantage of speed over the masks as they dipped and dived under the attacks that were shot at them. The masks were also seeming to be weaker than before, their attacks consistent but not as impactful as before because of use for so long. They retaliated by shooting their own magic or throwing their daggers at the tall masses.

One pair which fought the lightning mask were doing well, the unicorn levitating large rocks and throwing them at the form. The lightning blasts were shattering the stone, but were distracting the mask long enough for the pegasi the fly above it and dive bombed it from the air, striking it directly on the white face. The black mass wobbled weakly as the small crack began to spread across the mask. Seeing their moment, the Pegasus grabbed his partner and spun him around in the air before launching him through the air. Charging his horn, the unicorn magically slashed the mask down the center, splitting it in half. The body immediately dissolved into a flowing mess down onto the ground after that.

Neon watched in awe as the night guards did battle with the masks, but his admiration was cut short when he heard movement behind him. Turning around, he saw Hidan charging an unsuspecting guard and going for the kill. “Look out!” he screamed.

The lunar Pegasus turned around at the warning, and barely had enough time to pull his own sword out and counter the fast swinging scythe. Hidan laughed as he continued to strike, “I wonder how Jashin will like you bastards as sacrifices!” Leaping up into the air, he attempted to drive his weapon down into the back of the Pegasus, but was cut off by another who flew up to him. Smirking, Hidan engaged in a midair battle for several strikes before using his leverage to knock the weapon out of the ponies grasp. Losing grip of his scythe, he quickly grabbed another black spike from his sleeve and brought it out. “DIE!”

SPLAT!

The guard cried out in pain as the spike rammed straight through the armor plating on his chest and skewered him through his back. Both Hidan and the mortally wounded guard fell to the ground with a hard thud. The Pegasus spit out a mouthful of blood, his vision beginning to become hazy as he laid his head onto the dirt. A moment later, his heart stopped beating, ending the life of the guard.

The remaining lunar guards on the ground felt their blood boil seeing their comrade dead. Rushing forward, two pegasi began throwing a barrage of small daggers that they carried in their belts at the white pony. Hidan flipped backwards in the air, swinging his spike to block the incoming projectiles. Dodging the now incoming blasts of magic, he tried to make his way for his scythe, but was blocked by a yellow flash of light. “What the hell?”

Out of the teleportation flash, Neon and Blaze blasted their magic into a combined stream of orange magic and struck Hidan in his chest. Flying backwards, he was knocked flat on his back as another bat Pegasus jumped on him. Thrashing around, Hidan was able to buck upwards and knocked the pony off of him. As he tried to stand up however, three different beams of magic struck him from different angles, enveloping his body in aura. “What the fuck is this!?” he yelled out as the unicorns magic locked him in place.

One of the lunar Pegasus pulled out steel cuff from his belt and tossed them to one of the unicorns. “Put these on him, we will take him back to Canterlot with us.”

Hidan tried to escape, but the magic around him held tight. “Kakazu, get your ass over here and help me out!”

Kakazu looked back and forth between the different guards and the remaining two masks, fire and wind style. He knew that he had never allowed the masks to operate this long on their own before, and he could tell their chakra supplies were running low. Realizing he had to end this, he decided to up the stakes. “Do you wish to see my true level of power? I will show you.”

The two masks abandoned their battles and flew back towards Kakazu. The shapes collided into their owners back, ripping open the stitching once again. Then, his entire body began to shift and grow before the different lines of stitches on his legs and sides burst open, the tendrils extending his ligaments and stature. Large masses of tendrils extended out of his back, the two masks sitting on top and facing forward. A moment later, his mask ripped off his face, more tendrils hanging out of his mouth.

All the different guards and Luna took a step back out of shock from the new sight that they beheld. The monster in front of them laughed as he spoke, “You should realize that you don’t have the power to kill me in this state. Now that they have fused with my body, our chakra flows together and makes me much more powerful than before.”

Luna’s face went from shock to determination as she trotted ahead of the others. “I will handle this one.”

The lunar unicorn to her right turned his head towards her as he started to approach his princess. “We shall assist you.”

“No Night Shine, guard the fellow soldiers and let the princess of the night do her work.”

Night Shine held his tongue back as he wanted to speak up more, but nodded in approval before trotting back to the others as they held the restrained Hidan down. “Make sure he doesn’t get out of those.”

Hidan thrashed about on the ground, but the four clasped cuffs held all of his hooves tight together. “You dumb little fucks are dead when I get out of here! I will make sure Jashin torments your souls for all of eternity once I am through with my rituals!”

Luna stopped thirty feet from the mutated Kakazu, staring him down with eyes set as stone. “You should not challenge me.”

Kakazu lifted an eyebrow in confusion to the small statement. Seeing him in this form, knowing the power that he possessed and simply saying not to fight was all she could come up with!? Kakazu felt like she was simply trying to bluff. “Hmm, that is a statement coming from a pony that hasn’t even shown her own powers. And more importantly, you are a female, which already tones the idea of you as a threat down, heh heh heh. I know few women who ever posed a challenge to my abilities.”

Music Link

“Thou believes me to be weak simply because I am a mare? Thou will regret ever accusing one of the princesses of this land of weakness.” Luna grinned as her horn began to glow. “I have not been able to use much of my spells since they can be lethal to most. Perhaps I shall test some against a pony who has harmed the royal guard.”

A cold laugh escaped Kakazu at hearing that. “You certainly talk big for a-

He stopped talking when Luna disappeared in a bright blue flash. To his right, he caught sight of another flash as she reappeared. He jumped backwards as she shot a beam of magic at him, barely missing him by a foot. Kakazu landed on the ground and focused his fire mask out and blasted a large fireball towards the princess. Luna focused her magic and shot the ground in front of her, causing a thick wall of rock to erupted upward and block the fire, sending out sputtering flames in all directions.

Seeing that wouldn’t work, Kakazu then used the wind mask and formed a powerful condensed air shot out, shattering the stone wall. To his shock, the princess was not behind the rock anymore. “Where the hell did she go?” Eyes scanning back and forth, he tried to locate his target. As movement above him caught his eye, he looked up to see Luna diving downward and releasing a shot of lightning from her horn. Extending his elongated legs, he pushed out and evaded the attack as it crashed into the ground where he just was. Glaring, he manipulated the long lines of tendrils from his back and shot them upwards into the air.

Luna charged her magic, creating two separate blue masses. They lengthened out until becoming her conjured dual curved swords and began slashing her way through the purple masses as they rushed towards her. As a thick strand tried to strike her underside, she quickly used both blades to slash downward, slicing a wide opening for her to pass through in a split second. As another mass snaked its way up, she realized fighting these was pointless as they just kept coming. Spinning her blade in the air, she threw it outward towards the center of the incoming attack, cutting the majority of the purple length off and causing it to drop on the ground. Flying out, she stopped and landed on the ground and faced the brown pony once again.

Kakazu sneered as he reattached the cut off portions of tendrils back together. “She is really fast and talented…” he said to himself, “Much more than the others from earlier. It seems like she cannot only perform useful defensive techniques, but her offensive is balanced as well. This is more challenging than I thought it was going to be.”

Luna deactivated her conjured swords and stood up straight. “While it does feel good to stretch once in a great while, I have no intention to continue fighting. Surrender now or I shall end this.”

A growl escaped Kakazu’s throat at the new threat. “You think you can kill me!? I may be surprised that you are quite talented, but I won’t die to someone like yourself!” Both masks then opened up, pointing at the princess. “Now die!”

Both fire and wind erupted out at the same time, forming a massive blast of heat. The combined attack launched outward faster than any previous attack, ripping up large chunks of dirt as it rushed at Luna. Focusing her magic, she created a blue shield around herself, bracing for the attack. Striking the shield, the fireball exploded outward, enveloping an area thirty feet across. “Hm, now I would like to see your powers withstand that blast.” Kakazu chuckled.

The sudden blue flash in front of his face startled him, then shocked him as Luna stood right before him with her horn pointed directly at his chest. “Goodbye.” She whispered.

A stream of magic erupted from the tip of the princesses horn, arcing outward into a massive blast ten feet across as it enveloped Kakazu. The akatsuki member screamed out in pain as he felt the attack launch him backwards, being pulled along with the current as the magic began tearing through him. Both of the remaining masks shattered into fragments before completely disintegrating. Large amounts of his purple tendrils ripped free of him, spiraling through the beam until they slammed into the ground next to their host. Kakazu’s mind blacked out immediately, not allowing him time to comprehend that he had just been defeated.

From all directions

Diedara led the large clay owl through the air, passing in and out of the low hanging clouds giving themselves cover despite the sunlight being completely vanished from the sky. Looking up into the star filled yonder, he watched in astonishment as the moon suddenly rose up into the sky in only a few moments. 'That is something quite strange. Hmm.' He thought to himself.

Free several more minutes of flying, the blonde maned Pegasus saw the large city in the distance. Seeing that they were now near their target, he guided the massive owl down to the open valley below. As the trio landed, Pain and Konan stepped off of the owl onto the ground and gazed upon the Great city of Canterlot.

Music Link

"So, this is where the beast is being kept I presume." Pain plainly stated.

Deidara nodded, "This is where we were told to go, and this is a large village just like Tobi claimed."

Konan looked to the city, becoming concerned that they had to go in to take their goal. Knowing that there would be many civilians brought a worried feeling inside of her. "So, how are we going to retrieve the creature? We don't know what it looks like."

"We go in and force the ponies to tell us where it is." Pain ordered. "Deidara, go and deliver the first blow to the entrance to the village."

A large grin spread across Deidara's face with hearing that demand. "Alright, I'll get right on with that. Hmm." Opening his wings, he flew up into the air and off to Canterlot.

Konan watched as the Pegasus left them before turning to her partner. "Pain, are you set on destroying this village just to obtain this beast?"

"We have to look for a way to return to our own world. Our goal must be accomplished if we are to bring peace to the shinobi nations. This world is of no concern to us." Pain turned to face his female partner, his emotionless face set like stone. "Why are you concerned with them?"

She sat quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Because I believe they have found peace through kindness."

Pain turned forward and walked onto Canterlot. "Unless they know the true meaning of pain, they will never find peace."

(End music)

Deidara rapidly came to the outer wall that surrounded Canterlot. Flying over a hundred feet above the stone barrier, he went to a cloud and lowered himself to hide behind it. As he did, he was perplexed to learn he could physically step on the cloud as if it were solid ground. 'Now this is something really strange.' He chuckled to himself as he bounced up and down a few times on the fluffy surface.

After his little amusement, he glanced down below to his target. From what he could see, three guards were at the wall directly beneath where he was perched. Approaching quickly through the air were two Pegasi dressed in blue outfits. Crouching down, Deidara waited for the them to pass by before he sat up again. "Scouts I see. Those won't be a problem pretty soon." He snickered to himself.

Choosing that the guards below would be the best to take out first, the akatsuki member stood up and put his hooves into the pouches on his sides. Grabbing a mouthful of clay into each hoof, he jumped off his cloud and glided downward in complete silence. Molding the shapes into the perfect bombs, he spit them out towards the unsuspecting victims below.

On the wall below, the trio of Pegasi guards looked outward to the land surrounding the city. They stared with intent, looking for anypony approaching that could fit the description that they were given. The problem was at night, the moonlight could only show so much to their eyes. If the ponies that were a threat were clever enough, they would find away to completely hide in the shadows to infiltrate the city. Nevertheless, they would keep an ever watchful eye out and-

Plop.

“Huh?" One of the guards turned to see what appeared to be a large white spider land on the wall next to him. "What in the hay is that thing?" Before he had time to react however, the spider leapt forward and latched itself onto the face of the startled Pegasus.

The other two sat in pure shock as they watched their comrade begin trying to thrash around and pull off the assaulting creature, but before they could go and help him, two more landed on the wall as well and attacked them as well.

From above, Deidara smiled as his creations gripped their victims tightly to assure they couldn't escape. "Now, it is time to show this world the true meaning of art." He chuckled as he brought a hoof up. "KATSU!"

Swift felt as if he was sitting out in a wide open field with the sun shining bright down onto him. The warm rays radiated through his body, making him feel as if he was in a land of pure bliss and happiness. Closing his eyes, he felt better now than he had in perhaps weeks. It was perfect. It was wonderful. But he could tell... It wasn't real. "Where am I?" He said to himself.

Almost as if on cue, he felt himself get pulled out of that place, entering a dark void to which he couldn't see anything. The next instant, his body felt like it weighed a ton, so heavy that he couldn't lift a single one of his limbs up. A moment later, he opened his eyes to see the princess lifting her horn away from his forehead. "Wha- where am I?" He asked in a raspy voice while trying to sit up.

Celestia used one of her wings to push the silver pegasus back into the bed. "Easy Swift, the spell I used may cause you to feel quite exhausted. You are in the emergency center of the hospital."

Looking up, the drained guard saw the bright lights and white ceiling above himself. To his left were several machines that fed tubes to his veins along his foreleg. Standing beside the princess were five young mares, one he recognized as his captains sibling, Twilight Sparkle. Standing right next to himself was a fellow guard. "Barren?"

The earth pony grinned at his comrade. "Hey swift, how are you feeling right now?"

Swift frowned at the question. The throbbing inside of his head made him lay back onto the pillow and put a hoof to his temples. "Feels like my head is under a boulder."

"That is the side effect of removing that power that was over you." Celestia stated, "I have to say, I have not felt that level of dark energy in a long time."

"Dark? ha." Swift chuckled, "More like pure evil that thing was." Going on, explained to the princess about how that dark pony used his eyes to pull him into The realm that he called the tsukuyomi. He told all about the pain that Itachi caused him inside of that world, and how he was the one that revealed the location of Discord. "I'm... I'm so sorry princess. I couldn't hold out any longer."

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Swift..." Celestia pleasantly said, "you had to do what you had to."

"Princess, what do you think we should do?" Twilight asked, "if this pony has this level of power, how can be make sure that we are protected against him and the others?"

"I believe that these ponies may be dangerous, and facing them head on in a fight will be too risky for most of the guards. And-

BOOM!

The loud explosion from the distance rang inside of the room, shaking all the ponies. Reacting quickly, Celestia ran over to the window to the side and looked out. To her shock, smoke was rising from the wall at the entrance of the city, and then followed by a trail of explosions that led into the interior of the main shopping center. A cold realization struck the sun goddess that moment. "We are already under attack." She said.

Swift sat up at hearing that, "Alright then, lets- ahh!" He yelped as the pain in his body forced him back into the bed.

"Swift, you need to rest. You cannot move in your current condition. Stay here." Celestia demanded before turning to the others. "Twilight, you and the other elements of harmony go into the area surrounding the main castle and gather all the ponies you can find. Tell them to take shelter in the castle."

Nodding, the bearers minus Rainbow Dash ran out of the hospital room, leaving Barren standing there alone. "And what about me, your highness?" He asked.

"Run and join up with the rest of the guards, and prepare for battle."

Fleet foot and Rainbow Dash watched as the smoke billowed up from the front of the city, darkening up the air and blocking out most of what could be seen. "The city is already being hit. They must have gotten past Mist Fly and High Winds. Come on!" Fleetfoot took off towards the threat, but stopped when she realized she was alone. "Rainbow, we have to go."

Rainbow sat hovering in her spot as she stared at the rising cloud of smoke. As another round of small explosions began hitting the buildings, she felt a shiver run up her spine as memories of the previous day came back into her mind. "It's... It's him." She whispered.

Fleetfoot flew back to Rainbow, seeing the terrified look on the cyan Pegasus, "it's the one that attacked you yesterday?" When Rainbow nodded, the elder wonderbolt knew why she was acting this way. " I know. You are afraid Rainbow, I understand."

"You understand?" Rainbow said as she shifted her gaze to her partner, "Have you ever had a crazy pony shoot exploding birds after you? Have you ever felt completely helpless as you were just seconds away from being killed?"

"I know that you are scared. I would probably be acting the same way if that happened to me. But now you will not be facing this pony alone. You have me. You have Spitfire, Soarin, Fire and Lightning Dust. We are all here for you Rainbow."

Rainbow watched as Fleetfoot extended out a hoof out to her with a smile on her face. Inside her chest, a warm feeling spread out and seem to give her entire spirit a boost. Knowing she had friends to help her this time gave her the courage to reface this pony. Also, knowing that she left Ponyville out of fear earlier, she was determined to not leave her friends a second time. Reaching out, she returned the hoof bump to Fleetfoot with a grin. "Let's do this."

Luna stood above the dead form of Kakazu, his body sprawled out on the dirt. The masks next to him lay shattered on the ground along with the mass of tendril strands that were pulled off of his form from the balst she had released. Despite knowing he was a cold blooded killer, Luna still felt the guilt of taking another ponies life.

Looking back, she watched as her battalion of a were helping up the solar guards that were too injured to move on their own, including Shining Armor. A select few of hers and the day guards like Neon and Blitz had the task of gathering up the bodies of the fallen guards. Having died in battle for the sake of Equestria, Luna demanded that they be returned to the castle and be given honorary burials. No soldier left behind.

"Who *huff* are you?" A gurgling voice asked.

Luna turned in shock to see Kakazu looking up at her. She was stunned to see him still alive after that attack! However, she noticed the dull look in his eyes and the labored rising of his chest up and down. By his state, she figured he had a minute to live. "I see thou survived that blast of mine. I am surprised by that. Hardly any unicorn would be able to counter that strike, let alone an earth pony."

Kakazu glared up at her as he struggled to take in his final breaths. "How did you *huff* defeat me? I can tell that you did not even use your full strength. *huff* Where did you obtain that power?"

"If thy must know, I shall tell. My name is Luna, the princess of the night. The powers that we princesses posses it beyond that of normal ponies. Now, that question has been answered, now another one will be asked. Who are you and what is the reason for this attack on the guards? And what reason does your group want the creature Discord?"

A low chuckle escaped Kakazu's mouth, "I have no idea what you are talking about this creature *huff*. If you want to know why we had a conflict with those pathetic soldiers is because they got in our way."

"Thou plan may have taken out a number of guards, but thy have ended as well." Luna sneered.

"You may have defeated me, but you will not stop us. *huff* in fact, I am one of the weakest. Heh heh heh."

"There... There are others stronger?" Luna hesitantly asked.

"Much, much stronger." Kakazu grinned as his head fell down to the ground for the last time. His breathing completely stopped a moment later. He had finally died.

Luna stood still for a moment as she took in the warning she recieved. however, her fear was short lived before standing proudly. "Then I shall kill them as well."

Leaving the deceased akatsuki member on the ground, the princess made her way back to the group of night and day guards as they gathered what they had to. To the side, lightning Flash sat silently by the body of Rain, using one of his hooves to close the eyes of his passed friend. Luna approached the sad unicorn and placed a wing over his back. "I am sorry for his loss. He fought bravely against these monsters."

"Ha! That little shit deserved to die!"

The fire inside of Lightning erupted when he heard those words behind him. Flipping his body, he came to face Hidan, who at the moment was being held by three lunar guards. Plastered across his face was a wide grin beamed at the unicorn. "He was a great sacrifice to my lord Jashin. That little bastard suffered greatly I can assure you!" The crazed pony laughed out at his own amusement.

Luna had to hold Lightning Flash back with her magic to keep him from running over and trying to kill Hidan. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" The enraged unicorn screamed out as he thrashed against the blue aura around himself. When he finally realized that it was of no use, he finally slumped to the ground, several sobs escaping his throat.

Hidan laughed at seeing the despair of the pony before him, "This is wonderful to see you like this. How about once I get out of here, I kill you too so you can be with your friend. Does that sound good?"

Luna glared daggers at the akatsuki member. "Make sure he does not escape those restraints. I want him to tell us everything about this group that threatens our home."

Blaze opened his mouth to say something, but when he looked past the princess, he lost all train of thought to what he was going to speak of when he saw the figure walking towards them. "No..."

Music Link

Deidara flew through the city, spitting out bird bombs and sending them into the sides of any nearby structure to cause them to detonate. He laughed to himself at the fleeing ponies all below him as they tried to evade him. "That is a feeble attempt by all of you." He said out loud as he put his hooves together to form hundreds of small round bug bombs. Releasing them, he watched as the small bombs created a massive trail of explosions through the streets, coming closer and closer to the ponies he was going for. "Heh heh heh, now, how about a try out one of my specialty techniques onto a bunch of- agh!"

The sudden impact from his left caused him to stumble for a few moments in the air before he regained composure of his flight pattern. Sneering, he turned around to see two Pegasi in blue uniforms hovering together, staring him down through their goggles. Looking around, he saw several others flying towards him wearing similar outfits. "So, you want to challenge me? A foolish choice by all of you. Hmm"

Down on the ground by the front wall to the city, two unicorn and one pegasi guard were trying to figure out what was happening. "What was that explosion going on the wall just a second ago?" The Pegasus asked.

One of the unicorns shook his head, "I don't know, we were standing there and the stuff started happening with-

The section of wall beside them was suddenly obliterated, throwing all three ponies and chunks of debris through the air. As the smoke cleared, a single unicorn in black robes stepped through the gaping hole and entered Canterlot. The rinnegan eyes of the stallion looked back and forth between the guards as they stood back up from the blast. "Where is the beast Discord?" Pain demanded.

The Pegasus guard shook the dirt off himself before glaring up to the intruder. "Who are you supposed to be?" He sneered. The next moment however, he felt a strange force pulling him forward. As he tried resisting, Pain pulled out a black rod from his sleeve and rammed it through the chest of the pony, killing him instantly.

The two unicorns watched in horror as their fellow guard was tossed to the side by this strange new pony. "Wh-who are you?" One of them shakingly asked.

Pain stared blankly at them as he raised a hoof in their direction. "I am Pain. I am god." The shockwave raced outward, striking the two stunned unicorns with the force of a locomotive, launching them through the wall of a nearby building. "Now, this world shall know pain."

Luna stared at the approaching pony with caution, placing herself between the newcomer and the guards. Since he was wearing the same robes, she knew he was affiliated with Hidan and Kakazu. "Is this the one that you met before?” She asked Blitz and Blaze.

Blitz nodded in her direction. “Yes. He is one of the two that attacked Ponyville.”

Turning back, Luna glared down the incoming akatsuki member. “I shall give a warning; surrender yourself now or I will end thee like the other one.”

The dark gray pony stopped walking and opened his eyes, revealing his blood red sharingan. "I would not be getting arrogant if I were you..." Itachi stated, "You would not like to see what I am capable of.”

Another Taste of Art

Deidara hovered in the air facing the group of Pegasi that surrounded him. Every one of them wore matching tight blue outfits that covered their entire bodies. Smirking, he eyed the two closest to him. "So, are you all some sort of organization as well?"

Misty Fly glared at the blonde maned Pegasus. "Who are you and why are you attacking Canterlot?"

"You’re pretty direct aren't you?" Deidara smirked, "No hello for me or anything? Quite rude."

Rude? What kind of stupid statement is that? You were attacking innocent ponies down there!"

"I am simply showing them what is true art..." Deidara chuckled as he stuck his hooves into his side bags, "I can demonstrate it to you if you would like to see."

Get ready all of you! He spits out those weird exploding things with that clay stuff."

Turning his head to the source of the voice; Deidara felt a sudden increase in his blood rate as he saw the one Pegasus with the familiar fiery orange mane. "You..." He glared at the wonderbolt captain, "you are the one from earlier that landed that cheap attack on me when I was busy already."

"Yeah it's me..." Spitfire smirked, "and I will gladly do it again after you did this to our city."

"Hmm. So if you are here, that should mean..." Deidara looked around to the others until he saw the rainbow mane on another member, "you are here as well. Rainbow Dash, wasn't it?" A cold smile spread across his muzzle, "You wanted to come and try another taste of art?"

Rainbow Swallowed the small lump that formed in her throat seeing Deidara again. Small beads of sweat fell down and stuck to her flight suit as her body slightly shook. Part of her wanted to just take off and get away, but a stronger part of her overpowered those feelings. She wanted to stop this pony that was attacking and killing innocent ponies. She wanted to prove she could honor her element and not leave her friends a second time.

Crossing her forelegs, she glared at the akatsuki member. "Yeah it's me again. I think I owe you some payback for what you tried to do to me earlier."

"Ha ha ha! You get payback on me?" Deidara cackled, "I would love to see you come over here and try. Hmm."

"You talk a lot for a stallion with a mares haircut." Fire Streak chimed in with a grin across his face.

Deidara's left eye twitched in annoyance when he heard that comment. "You think I have a mares haircut?" His eyes shot wide open in pure anger at the cocky wonderbolt. "You have a death wish I can tell."

"Fire Streak, what are you doing!?" Rainbow yelled out, "Don't taunt him like that."

"I just comment on what I see..." Fire Streak chuckled as he watched Deidara pull his hooves out of his side bags. Seeing the angered Pegasus ready for the offensive, he prepared himself as well. "Besides, I think I can handle a few birds coming my way and-

Out of his hooves, Deidara shot out a small bird, which suddenly in a puff of smoke expanded out to grow over ten feet across. Fire's eyes went wide as he watched the giant bird rush at him. "What the buck!"

"KATSU!"

The massive explosion illuminated the night sky as the other wonderbolts sat in shock. "Fire Streak!" They yelled out.

Out from behind the smoke cloud, Fire Streak came about, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. "What the crap was that!?" He shot his eyes over to Spitfire, "I thought you said he just shot out birds!?"

Seeing him alright, Spitfire glared up at him, "I said he made exploding things come out of his hooves."

"You didn't say they were that big!"

Before she could respond, Spitfire saw Deidara begin spit out a massive amount of birds and flew them at all her companions. "All of you, scatter out!" Immediately, every wonderbolt took off away from Deidara as the birds gave chase.

Fleetfoot and Rainbow dived down towards the city beneath them. Turning sideways, they weaved in between a pair of buildings as they tried to lose the bombs following them. The smaller birds easily went after the Flying pair, not coming near the walls on either side. Seeing they couldn't lose them that way, Fleetfoot rushed below to the alley floor and grabbed several empty trash cans. Banking back up, she chucked them as hard as she could back towards the birds, hitting all of them and forcing them to detonate.

Rainbow grinned at her friends quick thinking. "Nice one right there."

Misty Fly and High Winds however weren't doing as well. they weaved down near the empty street, turning about and around the street lamps and signs, hoping for anything to lose their pursuers. While some of the more agile fliers on the team, neither of the two were close to the fastest. The birds were getting closer and beginning to close the gap between them.

Misty looked back, her heart racing as the birds were only a dozen feet away now. "Shoot, we have to do something if we are to-"

"Heads up!"

Both of them turned back forward just in time to see Rainbow and Fleetfoot rushing at them holding a mix of different pots and pans. Throwing the cooking material, they connected with all of the following birds.

Fire and Lightning Streak flew over one of the destroyed buildings to the left and dove down into the interior of the structure through the busted roof. The blown open area was so narrow that they had to tuck their wings in their sides and fall through. Flipping his head around, Lightning watched the small birds come in after them and easily entered the opening behind them. "Well that sucks." He sneered at himself.

Dodging the fallen debris inside the structure, the two brothers whipped past the ground and tried to think of ways to lose the following birds. Seeing an old desk, Fire dropped behind it and bucked outwards, launching it backwards and connecting with two of the five birds. Seeing nothing else inside, he took off towards a window and braced himself as he smashed through the glass and made it outside. Following quickly behind, Lightning kicked at the window frame as he exited, the already damaged side wall collapsed down and closed the way behind them, causing the birds to crash into it.

Spitfire and Soarin chose to instead of flying through the city, they chrged directly at Deidara. Flipping over an incoming bomb, Soarin barreled down at the grinning akatsuki member. The wonderbolt swung his hoof forward, which Deidara easily blocked and swung out his own close combat punches. Seeing that he wouldn't use bombs that close to himself, Spitfire dove into the fray and tried to throw her own blows. As they both continued to punch and kick however, they were easily countered by their opponent with his own hooves.

While always specializing in long range fighting, Deidara was always talented in close quarters combat. He once had to defend himself against several other shinobi coming at him with nothing more than a Kunai in his mouth, and held them off for several minutes before escaping. Now, while he was able to block the incoming pegasi’s punches, their speed was forcing him to stay completely on the defensive and unable to throw any of his own strikes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as all of the other wonderbolts flew back into the sky towards him. Frowning, he quickly pushed out from the two attacking Pegasi and flew up above them all. Clasping his hooves together, he formed a small owl in his mouths. "How about you all try another one of these!" He yelled out as he launched it at them.

In another puff of smoke, the owl expanded to full size and rushed down at the wonderbolts, who scattered at the last moment. The giant bird rushed downward and struck the roof of a nearby building, blowing the entire roof to pieces. Spitfire sat dumbfounded by the size of the blast. 'His power is much more than we thought. If we fight with him over the city, he could blow up all of Canterlot.'

Floating out in front of the others, Spitfire turned to face the rest of the members again. "Look, we have to get him away from the city. If we are to fight him, we have got to do it in the open."

"How do we get him to just follow us?" Lightning Streak asked.

Chuckling, Fire Streak floated up above the others. "Leave that to me." Flying up towards Deidara, he put his hooves to his mouth as he yelled. "Hey, you should cut that mare hairstyle. If it wasn't in your eyes blinding you, you may have actually hit us by now.

That comment led to many face hooves from below, and an involuntary eye twitch from above.

Walking through the deserted street, pain had met nearly no resistance after breaking through the wall to the city. He had expected to find massive amounts of soldiers waiting for him the moment he had entered, but was surprised to not even see running civilians. "This seems too quiet for a place this large." He said to himself.

To his right, he saw Konan trotted at pace with him as she looked around as well. He noticed the uneasiness in her face as she gazed at the sections of destroyed sections of buildings from Deidara's pass earlier. "Something is troubling you, Konan." He plainly stated.

Looking up to him, Konan had an almost pleading look in her eyes. "Must we have to destroy this place if we are just retrieving this beast? Why can't we just interrogate one pony until they give us the location of the creature and then leave?"

Stopping his pace, Pain gave her another one of his usual emotionless stares. "You are concerned with something that doesn't matter to our own goal. We are to return to our own world and bring peace to the lands. We have nothing connected to this place and therefore it has no use and does not matter to us."

"Pain, listen to me. When I was in that small village earlier, I felt something deep inside of me. It was something I had not felt for years and believed I could never experience it again. I had not felt that since the time with..." She took a breath before continuing, "since we were with him."

Pain did not need a name to understand who she was referring to; Their master from years ago back when they were still young. That single being had took them into his home and raised them as his own students. Learning from him, they trained diligently to increase their strength and skills to fight for themselves. Not only that, but they gained an understanding to what their master wanted to accomplish; peace in their world. That dream had faded however, and pain himself had killed his own mentor when his own goals for peace were trying to be stopped.

Turning back forward, Pain continued on walking. "He is but in the past for us. His form of peace is impossible. Unless one understands pain, they will never know peace."

"Please, listen to me. This place is not like the shinobi world we come from. There is no hatred between the ponies here. I cannot explain it, but this may be the form of peace we have been looking for."

Pain went to respond, but the sound of something rushing through the air caught his attention. Creating a small shockwave in front of himself, the purple blast of magic was obliterated into hundreds of small particles. Looking up, he watched as over a dozen lunar guards lowered themselves out of the sky, each Pegasi carrying a unicorn with them. Landing on the ground, the ponies folded their bat wings to their sides and drew their weapons.

Seeing the obstacle In his way, Pain walked forward towards them. "I will take care of these ones. Go off on your own to look, Konan." He ordered.

While wanting to object to him, Konan held her tongue and took off down another alleyway. After she left, Pain focused back onto the group in front of him. One of the unicorns in the front walked towards him, sword levitated in front of his face. "You are under arrest by the order of the guard."

Shutting his eyes, Pain took several steps towards them, putting all of them on edge. "Tell me the location of Discord now."

"I will not give you another warning..." The lead guard stepped forward along with four others. "Stand down or you will be shown no mercy."

Before the lead guard could react, however, a black rod shot through the air and pierced his chest plate, killing him. The other guards sat in shock as they watched their commanding officer struck down in just moments. Looking back up, they saw Pain standing there with his hoof in the air.

“You have no chance against the power of a god.” The akatsuki member coldly stated.

The next moment, a powerful shockwave erupted out from himself, ripping up chunks of stone from the street as it expanded outward from his body. The guards felt the blast strike them and launch them backwards through the air, crashing through anything that stood in their way as they helplessly tumbled backwards.

Pain watched as only a few of the guards crawled back up to their hooves after being hit by his technique. Seeing that they wouldn’t just stay down, he realized he would have to take more time in searching for his target. "Hm. Troublesome beings."

The eight wonderbolts rushed through the night sky as they led the pursuing akatsuki member after them. They had flown for several miles away from the city and had now ended up over the top of the Everfree forest. Far out from Canterlot, they knew it was now at least safe from this crazed Pegasus.

Deidara knew exactly what they were doing; trying to lure him away from the city. While he was supposed to follow the orders he was given and attack the city, he figured taking out a few specific ponies wouldn't be too much of a problem. A large grin spread across his face as he made more bombs for his target. "True art always goes out with a blast!"

Dipping down into the trees, the wonderbolts scattered out into their pairs again to not be caught in a single attack. Spitfire narrowly dodged the birds that came at her, striking the trees that she hid behind. One however came much closer than the others, blowing up a large chunk of tree and blasting several pieces into her right side. Yelping out in pain, she dropped down to the ground and clutched her ribs.

"Spitfire!" Soarin screamed as he watched his good friend get injured. Before he could go check on her, two packs of clay birds surrounded him, cornering the blue Pegasus in a cluster of trees. Deidara smiled as the birds dove down and converted onto the trapped target. "Nice
chasing you. Now, go up... In an explosion!"

BOOM!

Spitfire's mouth hung open in utter shock as the blast enveloped Soarin. Her heart felt like something just pierced right through the center of it as the smoke rose up from the spot in the forest. Her longtime friend blown up right in front of her and she didn't do anything to help him.

"S-Soarin..." She choked out as her eyes began watering.

The other members flying could not believe what just happened either. The two Streak brothers were completely silent. Misty and High Winds both started crying. Fleetfoot and Rainbow also felt their eyes watering at the loss of their companion. Their sadness rapidly turned to hatred and anger at the sound of laughing from above.

"Ha ha ha! I told you the outcome of facing my jutsu." Deidara chuckled as he prepared to refill his mouths. "You are all going to suffer the same fate as your friend tonight as I-

Bursting through the smoke, a furious Soarin charged the akatsuki member wielding a large branch in his hooves. "Rahhhh!" He screamed out as he swung out at the startled Deidara.
Ducking down, Deidara barely dodged the branch from striking his head, but couldn't stop the wood from slamming into his right wing. Screaming out in pain as the bones in his wing cracked, he fell out of the sky and crashed down into the dirt below.

Spitfire's eyes went wide at seeing her friend alive. Kicking off from the ground, she sped through the air and crashed into his side as she embraced him. "Oh Soarin! I thought you were dead back there!"

Soarin however wasn't enjoying the hug as much. "Agh! Spit! Burns!"

Opening her eyes, Spitfire let him go and floated back a few feet. Now actually looking at his condition, she gasped; most of his flight suit had been blown off from the blast. His chest area was burned clean of hair and left with a dark red patch across his skin. His back legs also were burnt really bad, some of the hair still smoking. His head and wings somehow weren't injured at all besides stained dark gray from the smoke.

Seeing her reaction, Soarin put a hoof onto her shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry, it looks worse than it is. Just... Don't touch it and it will be fine."

The other members quickly circled around the two of them as they all yelled out in happiness. Soarin grinned at seeing how happy they were, and then chuckled when he saw Rainbow.

"Dash, are you crying for me?"

Realizing they saw her acting emotional, Rainbow took her goggles off and wiped her eyes dry. "No I'm not crying! My... My goggles were too tight and pushed against my face too hard."

Chuckling, Soarin turned away from the group and faced Deidara, who was glaring back at him. The blonde maned Pegasus was flexing his broken wing, knowing it was useless now. Deidara grunted as he yelled up to the wonderbolts hovering in the air. "Still alive after those?"

Soarin nodded. "Your birds are pretty quick, but I noticed that the group coming from my left was lagging behind the others, so I quickly ducked behind the large tree to help shield some of blast. In that small window of time before the next group, I flew out and got to another large tree. I'm lucky those bombs of yours were little."

Hearing that brought a small grin to Deidara. "So you think my art is small?" He stood up and shoved his hooves back in his pouches. "Perhaps I should jump from C1 chakra to the next level."

All of the wonderbolts watched as Deidara slapped his hooves together, suddenly enveloped in a large cloud of smoke. Rainbow turned her head over to Spitfire. "When is that special thing that Rapid Fire has gonna get here?"

Spitfire continued to stare down at the expanding cloud of smoke. "I don't know."

"I think we may need it now."

The cloud was suddenly pushed outward from a gust of wind on the inside. Standing behind Deidara was a massive clay creature over twenty feet tall and close to a hundred feet long. On its back rested two massive wings sticking out to its sides. Complementing its long tail was a slender neck, ending with a massive head.

Deidara chuckled at the shocked faces of all the Pegasi in the sky. "Behold my favorite piece of art: the C2 dragon!"

Author's Note

DUN DUN DUN!

once again, sorry about the early post. If you are upset Pain is not getting much action right now, be patient, his chapters will be coming soon. i hope you enjoy this and the future of this and all the other battles.

We have a weapon

The Everfree forest rang with explosions through the moonlit night. The bright blasts continued to light up every few moments as Deidara continued his assault on the wonderbolts. From atop his large dragon, he smiled as his large creation formed smaller, more agile dragons from its mouth and shot them after the evading pegasi.

Fire Streak looked behind him at the clay that was chasing him. Even though it was over eight feet across, the massive shape had as much agility as he did, and in fact slightly higher speed. Inching closer and closer, the pursuing bomb was nearly on top of its target until Fire Streak decided to try something new. Heading right at a tree, he flipped around and kicked off the trunk, launching himself back at the incoming bomb. Folding in his wings, he dropped down to the ground instantly and narrowly dodged it. Unable to turn quick enough, the clay shape crashed right into the tree, blowing up on impact.

Spitfire found herself flying low through the trees, dodging and weaving around the massive blasts that exploded around her. Her body felt the pain from earlier, but her adrenaline was pumping so hard she overpowered the uncomfortable feeling and continued to fly. As she continued however, she found herself at a large rock outcropping that just stuck up out of nowhere, blocking her path. Looking up, her heart skipped a beat as she watched the massive white dragon come to a stop over her, the Pegasus on top of it beaming down at her with a smile.

“It looks like you have met your end.” Deidara snickered, “Now, I will enjoy watching you go up in a blast!” The large maw of the c2 dragon opened up, revealing another dragon double the size of the target below. Launching outward, the bomb barreled down through the sky down to the petrified captain.

Spitfire felt helpless as she was stuck in her spot. She could hear the voices of some of her comrades screaming for her, but her mind seemed to tune them out as her eyes were locked onto the projectile rushing to her. Unconsciously, she folded her wings into her sides and dropped onto her belly, curling up into a ball. Every nerve she had was flooding with fear, causing her body to shake

“No, I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die…” she whimpered.

The dragon was now only twenty feet from her, but before it came any closer, a lightning bolt from the trees rushed out and struck the clay shape. Spitfire stared wide eyed as the clay suddenly dropped down to the ground, skidding to a stop right in front of her. “Huh?” she stuttered.

“Spitfire!”

The wonderbolt captain flipped around to the sound of her name to see a familiar orange Pegasus in a wonderbolt uniform flying towards her, his bright scarlet mane identical to hers. “Rapidfire…”

Flying up from the ground, she dove headfirst into her brother, wrapping her hooves around his back and pulling him close. “Rapidfire! I thought you weren’t going to come!”

Pulling away from his sister, Rapifire gave her a wide grin. “I would never leave my big sister alone. We were on our way back to Canterlot when we noticed the explosions happening in the forest and came to investigate. “He turned his eyes to the small cloud that he set aside. “We got them.”

Deidara sneered at the sight below him in the forest. “What the hell? More of these stupid ponies coming here? ”

A bright flash to his right caught his attention. Moving his large dragon, he barely dodged in time as a long lightning bolt blasted past him and lit up the sky. Looking up, he noticed several new pegasi all carrying small clouds. He looked around in the sky for more large clouds but couldn’t find any. “Where did that lightning come from?”

All members of the wonderbolts flew up into the air where the newcomers were waiting with the clouds. Rapidfire turned and spoke up to all of them. “Well, we got the clouds that we were ordered to retrieve.”

Fire Streak lifted an eyebrow at the small patches that floated behind the newly arrived wonderbolts; The small dark clouds were only three feet across, hardly big enough for just one pony to stand on. While they were nearly pitch black, he couldn’t help but frown at what was brought. “You have got to be kidding me. This pony is shooting out exploding crap and you bring us puffs of fluff?”

Spitfire glared at the complaining pony. “Fire Streak, didn’t you see the bolts that-

“This pony is crazy powerful and you bring us these!?” Fire Streak was in such a rant he didn’t even listen to the others. His brother tried to calm him down, but he shook his sibling off as he reached and grabbed one of the clouds. “Something this small is going to do nothing! I can’t believe I listened to you!” He swung his leg out and kicked the cloud. “This is-

CRACK!

His speech was cut off as a speeding bolt of lightning shot out from the cloud, reaching out at least forty feet before sputtering out. Fleetfoot lifted her goggles off her face as she looked at the small cloud. “Woah…”

Rapidfire rolled his eyes before reaching down and pulling the cloud away. “These are specially created clouds that were designed by the head creators in Cloudsdale. Each small cloud is enchanted with high compression magic, allowing massive storage of electricity inside of them. They can shoot ten lightning bolts each, so don’t waste them.” He emphasized the last part as he pointed a hoof at Fire Streak.

Fire Streak rolled his eyes before grabbing the cloud he had kicked.he looked around and saw there was three other clouds. "Is that all you brought?"

"That is all that could be made at this time." Rapidfire answered. "The amount of power that they stored inside of these clouds used up nearly everything the factory had. We will have to keep an eye on the amount we have and share it." He turned to the few wonderbolts that were with him in picking up the clouds. "You should head back to Canterlot. It would be best to keep less of us here."

The sound of something blasting caught all of the wonderbolts attention. Looking up simultaneously, they watched as another clay dragon came rushing down at them. Reacting on instinct, they quickly scattered outward, with Rainbow, Spitfire and Rapidfire each grabbing a cloud. Cleared out of the way, the dragon flew towards its nearest target, that being High Winds.

Panicking, High Winds banked down through the trees to try and escape the following dragon. As she did, however, she didn't notice the dragon dropping down in front of her, catching Her off guard as it blew up. Forcing her to stop, she flipped around and screamed as the first clay dragon crashed into her, exploding in a bright flash.

Misty Fly flipped around in horror at the bright flash that enveloped her companion. "No! High Winds!"

Music Link

The Streak brothers hovered in the air as they stared at the dissipating cloud of smoke where High Winds once was. All that was left in the mix of splintered wood and charred ground was the still body of their friend. Blood boiling, they both charged the massive dragon in the air. Fire kicked his cloud, sending off a long bolt of lightning right at the Pegasus on the dragon.

Grunting, Deidara forced his dragon up and over the bolt, spitting out another fast moving dragon through the air. His target quickly blasted out another bolt of lightning and struck his creation. "Damn it, that lightning is able to counter by own techniques. This is troubling." His eyes then caught movement shooting through the clouds above him. Focusing, he noticed the other yellow maned Pegasus trying sneak around. "Hmm, nice try, but I have you in my sight!"

Shooting out several dragons at the lightning using Pegasus, Deidara used his hooves and released a massive owl up into the cloudy mix above. At the moment he timed, he clasped his hooves together and detonated his bird.

Fire Streak blasted off several bolts to counter the incoming dragons, stopping each one before they came close. He prepared to try and strike Deidara again, but stopped when he saw his brother falling out of the sky. "Lightning Streak!" He screamed as he left his cloud in place and flew up and caught his brother.

"Agh!" Lightning yelped as his mangled wing pressed up against his siblings chest.

"You alright?" Fire Streak asked.

"Not really." Lightning grunted.

Deidara chuckled as the two brothers sat in the air unprotected. "Heh heh, at least I'll get those two while..." He turned around at the bright flash behind him. "Huh!?"

Ducking down, the bright stream of lightning barely missed his head as it rocketed through the air. Looking out, he glared as Spitfire and Rainbow flew right at him, each carrying their own cloud. "Damn it, this is unbelievable." Deidara sneered.

Both Rainbow and Spitfire threw their clouds out and kicked them hard, simultaneously shooting out longs blasts of electricity outward. There large target however dodged once again as it flew up higher into the sky. Chasing it, they each shot out three more shots each, the rapidly approaching attacks rushing forward. Deidara used the dragons mouth and his own hooves to launched a mix of his own projectiles to counteract the incoming threats.

The mix of explosions and lightning turned the sky so bright it seemed as if the sun was up again until the smoke spread out and blocked out even the moonlight. Using the large wings of his C2, Deidara cleared out the air to be able to see his targets. He locked eyes with Rapidfire who charged him head on with a cloud ready to strike. Preparing his own clay, he shot out two owls to hit the mark. 'He can only fire one shot fast enough to block the first owl, he won't have time to block the second.' He chuckled to himself.

Rapidfire kicked his cloud, blasting out his lightning and connecting with the first owl as the second one rushed forward. Deidara laughed as it came closer. "Bye bye little-

A arc of lightning came out of nowhere from the sky and struck its mark, taking out the large bird in time. "What!?" Deidara yelled. He then saw Soarin flying by, carrying the cloud dropped by Fire Streak earlier before dropping it in place. Deidara's attention was taken off of that when Rapidfire kicked his cloud again and shot another lightning strike at the akatsuki member.

Deidara launched another dragon out of the mouth of his C2 and stuck the incoming lightning. His mind suddenly clicked and he looked back up in shock as Fleetfoot dropped down and slammed into the cloud left by Soarin, shooting out blast directly at him. Panicking, he moved to the side, but was too slow as the lightning tore through the right wing of his dragon. "Damn it! They set me up for that!" He yelled out.

Rainbow banked back as she watched the falling dragon. "This is it. We can get him right now!"

"Alright, this is our chance! Do it now!" Spitfire yelled to all the wonderbolts.

Charging forward, Rainbow, Spitfire, Rapidfire and Fleetfoot all blasted out several lightning strikes all at once, the blinding flashes comin down onto their target. Deidara shot his eyes back and forth at the incoming flashes, knowing he was in trouble.

(Music end)

"Go! search the homes for anypony that hasn't left yet!" Barren yelled out, "if they haven't evacuated yet, get them out and tell them to head to the castle!"

"Yes Sir!" Several guards nodded before taking off.

Looking around, Barren watched as his small platoon of seven ran around trying to get every civilian out of the residential district and up to the main castle. If they were to engage with these ponies that were attacking the city, they had to make sure innocent bystanders weren't going to become caught up in the mix.Luckily for him, most homes already cleared out, the occupants running straight for the main palace.

"Alright, it looks like we are good now." He said to himself.

Music Link

"You're good for what exactly?" A cold voice said from behind.

Flipping around, Barren watched in shock as a swirling mass appeared in the air, followed by a pony seemingly coming from inside of the vortex. Due to the orange mask it wore, the earth pony guard could not see the stallions face. He did however take note of the black and red outfit that it wore over its body. 'He's one of them too? How many are there?' He thought to himself.

Stepping forward, Tobi glanced between the few guards that stared at him. Chuckling at their silence, he stopped about ten feet from them. "So, by the look you have, you have seen some others like me, correct?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Barren nodded. "You ponies attacked Ponyville."

"Oh, I see. You were one of the ponies that came across Itachi and Kisame..." The masked pony commented, "Normally I would say you were lucky not to have been killed by them. However..." He lifted his head up, allowing his bright sharingan to be visible, "your suffering against me will be much worse."

Barren gasped at seeing the shining red eye. "Y-you have the same eyes as that one pony? Th-then you are strong like him?" A sudden rush by his side caused him to turn and see one of his comrades charging, spear tip out. "No wait!" Barren yelled out.

As the guard ran forward, he lifted his spear and rammed it into Tobi's chest... Except it did not impale him. The soldiers eyes went wide as he felt himself pass completely through, spear and himself, and end up on the other side of the masked akatsuki member. Before he could flip around, he felt himself bucked in the side and sent through a nearby house.

Barren and the other guards felt a chill crawl up their spines after witnessing this pony seemingly turn into nothing, yet could still hit others. "What are you?"

"Don't even compare Itachi to myself..." Tobi snapped, "You will not be able to land a single blow on me with my jutsu."

(Music end)

"Come on y'all, get on to the castle!" Applejack yelled to the family of ponies as they sprinted down the street.

Twilight came out of a home as she led several adolescent fouls. "Come on. It's a lot safer for you to be in the castle."

The oldest pony following the lavender mare was only fourteen, helping her two younger brothers along the road. "Thank you. It was scary alone here."

Turning her head to the sound of an explosion in another part of the city, Twilight looked back to the youngsters and hurried them along. "Why were you alone? Where are your parents?"

The following mare flattened her ears against her head at the question. "Our dad is a guard, so he is out right now. And our mom... She's gone."

Twilight by her bottom lip at hearing the response. The sound of another large blast in the air made her worry what would happen if these young ponies lost their father in this assault. ‘Where would they go? Who would look after them?’ she contemplated inside her head.

Her thoughts were cut short when she arrived at the entrance to Canterlot castle. The large gates were wide open, allowing the large droves of ponies to file through and make their way into the castle interior. Stopping her trot, she smiled to the ponies behind her. "Alright, just go inside and there will be guards to help you find somewhere comfortable."

As the three youngsters quickly joined the large line of ponies, Twilight flipped around to see her friends running up to her. "Did you get everypony out?"she asked all of them.

"Eeyup, all cleared out." Applejack answered.

"Yepperooney! All out of there!" Pinkie Pie happily cheered.

Smiling, twilight knew now that nearly all of Canterlot had been evacuated to the castle by now. Happy, she turned around and trotted back towards the wall around the castle where Celestia was to tell her the good news. when she got near however, she heard the princess raise her voice at several other guards. "What do you mean the wonderbolts are gone!?"

The guard took a deep breath as he trembled under the gaze of the angered alicorn. "Y-your highness, they confronted the one pony that created those exploding birds and led him away from the city."

Twilight covered her mouth with her hoof when she heard that. 'Rainbow...' She said to herself. Her mind began racing of what could happen to her friend against Somepony so dangerous. Slowly trotting up to her mentor, she came to a stop as Celestia turned and faced her. "Princess?"

Before Celestia could speak, a lunar Pegasus dropped down onto the ground in front of them. His armor was dented and scratched all across as he limped towards the sun princess. "Your majesty, we- agh!" He stumbled as his front right leg gave out.

Celestia quickly trotted Up to the fallen guard. "Easy, don't push yourself."

"No, *huff* your highness..." The night guard mumbled. "We have a problem. The pony that we tried to stop. He *huff* wasn't alone. Another pony was with him."

Celestia's eyes went wide with the new information. It seemed as if one bad thing was happening after another; first the wonderbolts and Rainbow left, which meant the elements of Harmony could not be used. Now she learned another pony from that group had also come in.

Turning around, she faced her own two guards. "Find the trifecta. Send them after the other pony that came in here."

"Th-them?" The two ponies said in unison at the name of The trifecta, the most skilled squad in both the solar and lunar guards. In fact, it was the only unit that had ponies from both sun and night together. "I thought you wanted them in the castle itself for protection?" One of the guards mentioned.

"I have over two hundred guards inside the castle at the moment. I want them to go and aid in combating this threat."

Looking at each other, the two guards nodded and took off into the castle. Celestia turned her attention back to the tired lunar pony on the ground. "The pony you faced, where is he?"

The guard prepared to answer, but his serpent like eyes shot open out of fear as he looked to the right. "H-he's here."

Celestia looked up, her eyes locking with a pale pony trotting her direction, his face littered with piercings.

Author's Note

Who are the Trifecta? what makes them so powerful? Stay tuned!

I was going to make this one large chapter, but chose to break it up and put the second half out tomorrow.

An Artists Many Talents

The Wonderbolts hovered in glee at the large smoke cloud that sat where Deidara was. Fire and Lightning Streak chuckled at the sight. "It looks like we finally got it done." Lightning said from his brothers side.

"There is no way he made it through that." Rapidfire responded. They had unleashed a dozen lightning strikes all together in the end, so they knew it must be over now.

Rainbow and Fleetfoot exchanged hoof bumps with each other. "Ah yeah! We got him!" Rainbow cheered.

Fleetfoot chuckled at that. "That's what he gets for messing with-

"Rah!"

All of the wonderbolts went silent as Deidara yelled coming through the smoke. He was on top of a large owl, his body and cloak burned and torn up on his right side. "Im-impossible!" Misty Fly shuttered.

"How can he be alive after all of that!?" Soarin gasped.

Deidara glared down from the sky on his clay owl. His blood rushed through his body, turning his face red from anger and frustration. He could not believe that these ponies were able to not only to survive his C2 chakra, but they were able to take it out as well. ‘This is truly becoming ridiculous’ he snapped at himself, ‘I am the great artist of the akatsuki, I will not lose to these low lifes!’ reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a large wad of clay and held it in front of his face.

Music Link

Staring at the clump in his hoof, he grunted as he reached down and took several bites of it with his regular mouth. As he chewed on it, he couldn’t help but grin to himself. ‘I will show them true power. I shall let them experience c4!’

The group of pegasi stared in confusion as they watched Deidara start chewing on the clay itself. “What in the hay is he doing?” Misty Fly asked.

“I have no idea…” Rapidfire responded, “Whatever it is, I don’t think it is good.”

The akatuski Pegasus clasped his hooves together, then Deidara leaned forward off of his owl and opened his mouth, spewing out an unreal amount of clay out. The wonderbolts gasped in shock as the massive stream of white fell down below and began clumping together to form another massive shape. As it shifted, it soon solidified into a gargantuan version of the akatsuki member as it crashed into the ground, standing well over a hundred feet tall.

Deidara gasped for air after using so much chakra, but he still kept a large grin on his face. 'This was to be my trump card to kill Itachi, but I guess I can use it now to end this fight.'

Rainbow dash felt her heart ramming inside of her chest at the monstrous shape standing before them. This was far bigger than the dragon he had made earlier. The tall Deidara began trotting towards her and the rest of the wonderbolts, it's massive legs crashing through the trees below. "What do we do?" She quickly asked.

Spitfire began fluttering backwards away from the incoming figure. "Get of of here! All of you!" Flipping around, she took off and flew as fast as she possibly could away from. The rest of the Pegasi in the air followed suit and took chase after their captain.

Misty fly pumped her wings as fast as she could, but she still began to fall behind as the group as they sped through the trees. She already was one of the slower ones, but her exhaustion was making it worse. She however wasn't the slowest one of the group at the moment.

Fire streak struggled to keep up as well with his injured brother he helped along. The extra weight he had over his shoulder kept him from keeping a steady flight through the air. His heart beat faster and faster as he noticed the gargantuan figure still trotting after them. "Shoot, this isn't good Lightning!" He yelled out.

Deidara lifted a hoof in front of his face when he was ready. "Heh heh, it's time for them to experience just how far art can go!"

The tall Deidara on the ground stopped walking, suddenly expanding outward like a balloon. After growing more than double in girth, it began breaking apart like it was a pile of dust. Lightning Streak looked back in confusion at the disintegrating object behind them. "Fire, I... I think the clay messed up on him. It didn't blow up."

Fire turned his head as he flew, noticing the lack of explosion as well. "Yeah, guess you’re right."

Unknown to them, Deidara knew exactly what was happening as he sat in the sky above, grinning at the fleeing Pegasi. "Now, taste the power of C4. KATSU!"

Fire and Lightning Streak suddenly felt pain all throughout their bodies. Then, they could not believe their eyes as their hooves began to literally dissolve in front of them, breaking apart into small specs before disappearing completely. The same thing happened further up their leg and began to spread out through their upper bodies. They screamed out in terror as they felt their wings break apart and fall off into small pieces.

Misty Fly flipped around to see the horrible thing happening to them, but then felt the same feeling creeping through herself. "What is this!?" She screamed out as her legs began to seemingly tearing up into small specs, floating away and breaking into nothing. She screamed as loud as she possibly could as her torso starting breaking up, moving further up until it reached her neck and eventually ate away half of her face.

Rainbow Dash turned around as she heard the screams in the distance, nearly dropping the cloud she carried as she shuddered at the sight of her comrades disintegrating behind her. "We have to go help them!"

"No!" Soarin yelled from the front, "we can't do anything for them now!"

"But-

"Rainbow, there's nothing you can do." Fleetfoot said from the side.

Rainbow wanted to fly back and try to get them out of whatever was happening. When she looked back in the distance however, she saw nothing left of her comrades except small traces of their outfits. The fluttering pieces of fabric floated in the air before those breaking up as well, turning into specs of dust and blow into the wind.

Deidara smiled as he flew on his owl after the retreating wonderbolts. "C4 karura, my most powerful chakra that I posses. After releasing my millions of microscopic bombs that enter the body after being inhaled." He chuckled as he shoved more clay into his mouth hooves. "Once detonating, they destroy a target on the cellular level, blowing them up from the inside."

"It's a shame that I was only able to get three of them with this technique. I guess i underestimated their speed again. The others were able to get out of the blast range just in time. Hmm." He pulled out his hooves and began forming his next creation. "No matter, I will just take them out one at a time then."

Spitfire stopped flying as she stared at the approaching owl in the sky. Her mind was flipping back and forth of what she should do; fly back and retreat to Canterlot, or stay and fight to the end against Deidara. Both options pushed back and forth inside of her, trying to overpower the other. When she looked back at the four remaining wonderbolts with her, her anger suddenly grew to the boiling point. "No..."

Rapidfire looked at his sister. "What?"

No!" She screamed out as she blasted through the air right at Deidara, her cloud held right at her chest.

"Spitfire, no!" Rapidfire yelled after her, but his voice was on deaf ears as she charged up.

Deidara chuckled as he saw the enraged Pegasus still wanting to fight him after what had happened. "You have some guts I have to say."

Knowing her chances were low didn't matter anymore, Spitfire would not let her friends die in vain at the hooves of this sick Pegasus. She gripped her cloud tighter, forcing small sparks to shoot out the sides. Knowing the amount of strikes she had done, this cloud only had three bolts left in it before it ran out on her. Throwing it out in front of her, she flipped forward and kicked it, forcing a long stream of lightning to arc outward towards Deidara.

Grinning, Deidara banked his owl to the right to evade it, but as he did, he saw another bolt of lightning shoot out there. Quickly ducking to the left, he now found himself between the two streams of lightning, with nowhere to go. "Damn, she wanted me to evade the first one. She used that as a diversion to send out the second one and pin me between them!" He said to himself as he watched Spitfire position herself directly in front of him. Realizing he could not fly to the sides, he chose to fly straight at her, spitting out another large clay owl at her.

Spitfire took a deep breath as the owl approached her. Knowing it was her last bolt she had, she made sure it would strike good. Tossing the cloud up, she spun around and bucked it as hard as she could, blasting out the final bolt the cloud had. As the bright stream rushed up, Deidara detonated his own projectile at the last moment, stifling the electricity's path.

Spitfire threw the useless cloud to the side as she continued up Into the air. Right then, Deidara came through the cloud of smoke, not prepared with clay as Spitfire brought her left hoof back for a punch. "You are gonna pay for what you did to them!" She launched her hoof forward, slamming into the akatsuki members face so hard it molded around her-

"What the?" She gasped as her hoof was now stuck inside of Deidara's face, which then began shifting in color until it was a pasty white. Then she realized this wasn't Deidara.

Down below, the others stared up in confusion at what had happened. Then, from out of the cloud, the real Deidara flew out, a wide grin across his face. Rainbow Dash and Fleetfoot gasped at seeing this feat. "He can make copies of himself out of his clay?" Fleetfoot mumbled.

Rapidfire shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't know he could. I-

He stopped speaking when he realized what his sister was stuck inside of. "No! Spitfire!" Dropping his cloud, he took off up in the sky towards her.

Deidara's large grin grew bigger as he watched Spitfire struggle to free her hoof. "You fool. You fell for my clay clone." He chuckled as he flew up above, leveling out in front of the moon. "I overheard you mention these only contained the power for ten strikes, so I was keeping track of how much each cloud you used. I knew that was your last strike in there, so you would most likely come in for a close range attack."

Putting her back legs against the mass of clay, Spitfire pushed as hard as she could, but her hoof stayed lodged inside of the thick material. Her heart began beating faster and faster, sweat pouring down her fur as she realized she couldn't get out.

Deidara laughed as he brought his hoof up to his face. "It has been a pleasure fighting one who has actually lasted this long against my abilities, but now it is time for you to die!"

Rapid fire flew as fast as he could, seeing his trapped sister helpless inside of the clay. "SPITFIRE!"

"KATSU!"

The massive explosion lit up the sky, enveloping the wonderbolts captain in a blinding flash. Rapidfire stopped as he watched the large cloud of smoke appear and spread out from the flash, blocking out all sight to the center. Then, his heart jumped as he watched a figure fall through the smoke and towards the ground. "Spitfire!"

Music Link

Rushing forward, he reached his hooves out and caught the limp form out of the sky. Quickly dropping down, he headed towards one of the clearings below and laid her across the dirt. Once she was down, he pulled back his goggles and headpiece to his suit to clear his face. His blood ran cold when he looked down at her body. "Oh no..."

The entire front half of her left foreleg had been blown off, leaving a burnt stump. Every piece of her flight suit was gone, leaving her exposed and burnt fur in its place. Across her face, deep scorch marks covered the entire left half, the red patches of skin leaking blood. Rapidfire started hyperventilating as he stared down at his sister. "Spitfire, come on get up!"

Spitfire cracked her eyes open, her breath coming in small gasps. She coughed several times as she tried to speak up. "R-Rapid..."

"Shh, don't force yourself. I'll get you out of here."

Rapidfire tried to pick her off the ground, but she screamed out in pain as his hooves pressed against her body. Lettering her go, he sat back, panicking at what to do. "D-don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here!" His voice trembled as he looked around for anything to use, but stopped when he felt a hoof to his cheek.

Spitfire took several breaths as she gazed up at her younger sibling. "It's over. I'm *huff* not gonna make it."

"No!" Rapidfire screamed as he clenched his eyes, fighting back the tears that formed. "I'm going to get you help! You are going to be-

"It's okay Rapidfire. *huff* it's okay." She said with a smile. She coughed up a small mouthful of blood, running down the side of her face.

Rainbow Dash and the others showed up at the scene, all gasping at the sight of Spitfire on the ground. Fleetfoot prepared to run forward, but a hoof stuck out and stopped her. She looked up to see Soarin holding her back. "What are you doing! I need to get to her and-

"No." Soarin responded as his eyes began watering at the sight of his longtime friend dying in front of him. He knew though the one standing above her should be the one with her.

Rapidfire's eyes now poured tears as he helplessly sat above his sister. "No, you can't die on me Spitfire. I... I can't lose you too."

The dying mare gasped for air as she looked to her despaired brother. "I am sorry, but *huff* I know you will make it through. You have always been strong. You pushed yourself after they left." Spitfire stroked her hoof on his cheek, wiping away the tears from his face. "You can do this, Rapidfire."

Grabbing her hoof with his own, Rapidfire used his free hoof to brush away the strands of mane that hung in her face. He blinked several times to clear his eyes. "I can't lose you too. You are all I have left."

Rainbow Dash couldn't hold back the wave of tears that fell from her eyes at the sight of her good friend dying in front of her. She turned and buried her face into Fleetfoot's neck, sobbing uncontrollably on her companions side.

The sound of crying made Spitfire turn towards the trio of wonderbolts standing off to the side. Her weakening heart felt pain for having to leave such good friends. "I'm sorry *huff* but I won't be your captain anymore." Tears dripped down Spitfires face as her head laid back on the ground. Her fading eyes turned back to her brother "Goodbye Rapidfire. I'll tell mom and dad *huff* hi."

Eyes rolling over, Spitfire went still, her life leaving her body on the ground. Rapidfire dropped his head down, burying his face into her side as he cried. His muffled screams rang through the dark night, echoing in the air as he mourned the loss of the last family he had.

From above, the cries of agony entered the ears of another Pegasus, who instead laughed at the damage he had wrought.

Canterlot Elite: Enter the Trifecta

Celestia felt her heart race as the pale coated unicorn slowly made his way up the street towards her position. His piercings seemed to shine in the moonlight as he stared straight at her, his purple rinnegan eyes sending an eerie chill down her spine. Swallowing the small lump that formed in her throat, the princess lifted her head up. "Who are you and what do you want?" She demanded.

Stopping his trot approximately thirty feet from the group of ponies, the cloaked pony simply tilted his head at the tall princess. "I am Pain. I am the creator of the organization Akatsuki." He stared her down with his emotionless gaze, "and I require the location of the creature Discord."

In a split second, Pinkie Pie rushed up an hopped in front of Pain. "Ooh! You are new here! Hi I'm pinkie Pie." She giggled as she hopped up again, "I should have said my name first. Oh well, now that we know each others names, we should-

"Move."

Pain's command was quickly followed by a shockwave that sent the pink pony flying away from him and smacking into the dirt. "Pinkie Pie!" Rarity screamed as she and the others ran up to her side. "Pinkie, are you alright?"

Pinkie Pie didn't answer as her eyes remained locked onto Pain. While she was always one to say that laughing at something scary was the way to face it, she had a much different feeling about this pony. Her mane and tail went flat as his stone like face never changed as he looked down at her. While his face sat blank, Pinkie felt like his cold features burned into her eyes as her fur stood on edge,

Fluttershy sat still as she stared at her friend tremble on the ground. inside her chest, she felt afraid, but something else was even stronger. Seeing her friends hurt like that was much more powerful than the fear that was inside of her heart. Fluttershy's eyes focused into a glare as she flared her wings out. "You!" She yelled as she flew up and landed directly in front of Pain.

Twilight gasped as she saw the yellow blur shoot by her. "Fluttershy, get away from him!"

Ignoring her friends plea, Fluttershy glared at Pain, her wide eyes nearly bulging out of her face as she gave "the stare". "How dare you! You big meanie! You think you can just come into Canterlot and push ponies around however you want!? Well think again!"

While her stare had even worked against a monstrous dragon, Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat as she gazed into this ponies odd purple eyes. No form a fear was shown in his eyes, nor even eagerness. They were looking right at her with nothing. Blankness. Even lifelessness. Determined however, Fluttershy opened her eyes even wider. "You should know better than to hurt ponies just to get what you want! I think that you need to learn some manners and go and tell everypony in this city that you are-

Fluttershy screamed out as another shockwave struck her, launching her into the air and nearly crashing into the large wall behind everypony. She was luckily caught just in time by the princesses magic, gently setting her back down next to Twilight. The moment she touched the ground, the yellow pegasus broke out in uncontrollable sobs, her body trembling from the terrifying experience.

Celestia grinded her teeth as she stepped forward, putting herself between Twilight and Pain. "What is it that you have come here? Why do you want Discord?"

"We need the powerful beasts of this world in order to use their power." Pain stated, "And Discord is said to be of incredible strength."

Celestia sat in confusion to what he was saying. "Use his powers? Do you have any idea how powerful Discord is? He can do whatever he pleases if he were to be released. There is no way for anypony to control him."

Hearing her description of him only made Pain more determined for his goal. "He sounds to be the perfect beast that we need for ourselves. We need him in order to attempt to return to our world."

"Your-your world?" Celestia was then struck with the sudden realization. 'All of the strange powers that these ponies have is because they aren't from here. Are they... Are they even ponies?'

The akatsuki unicorn didn't blink as his eyes stayed locked onto the princess. "Perhaps you should learn the meaning of pain, and then you will know peace."

"How does knowing what pain feels like lead to peace?" Celestia questioned, "we have lived for years in Harmony by caring and friendship."

"Peace is impossible in a world like this. Love breeds sacrifice, which in turn breeds hatred. Living with this ideology will always be futile. The only form of gaining peace is through pain, in the way that I have lived."

"The way you lived?" Celestia sat quiet for a moment as she stared at him. "You have suffered in your life, haven't you?"

"Pain is what my world was made of. When one endures enough pain, they become pain itself as I have." The akatsuki member shut his eyes and lowered his head. "When one becomes pain, they become a god."

"Having pain in your life doesn't mean you have to cause it to others. I have had many things happen in my life that were painful, but I learned to overcome them through love."

Pain simply grunted hearing that. "Those are the words of a child. You try to compare yourself to me, yet it is not the same. If you don't share someone's pain, you can never understand them. But just because you understand them doesn't mean you can come to an agreement. That's the truth."

The sun princess then felt pity for this unicorn. 'What could have happened to this pony to have such terrible feelings and ideals?' Her pity however would only stop her so much. "I am sorry for whatever happened to you in your past, and I am sorry that you have somehow ended up in our world. I cannot let you achieve your goal, however. I will not let Discord be taken."

Reopening his eyes, Pain locked gazes with the princess. "You will regret getting in my way. Pain makes one stronger, and my pain is far greater than yours."

Konan slowly turned her head back and forth as she looked down the empty alleyways she past by, eyeing anything that could be of interest. Nothing turned up just like before, just empty streets and alleys. 'If only I knew where Discord was, then we could find it quickly and then leave this place.' She whispered to herself. Her eyes suddenly widened after thinking that.

Back in her world, She was never one to hesitate in doing something for her own benefit. Countless shinobi that stood in her way she had quickly dispatched so she could carry on with her task. Now for some reason, even thinking of fighting was causing her to worry about what would happen to the ponies she fought and the condition of this world. "What is happening to me?"

A bright flash of green caught Konan's attention, snapping her out of her daze. A pulsing green ball of magic came rushing down through the air towards her, forcing her to jump backwards and dodging it as it crashed into the stone street. Before she could fully land, two more balls came barreling her direction. Opening Her wings, Konan flapped and banked upwards over the first one, and then barrel rolled under the second right after.

Flying down to the street again, Konan realized another magic sphere rushing towards her. Putting her hoof up, it began separating into hundreds of pieces of paper before spreading out. "Shimigami Dance!" She yelled as she launched a small wave of paper sheets upward, colliding against the incoming attack and forcing it to detonate. Her paper attack broke up and scattered to the ground below. Konan then noticed the pony on the roof above her left.

It was a unicorn that had a dark gray coat and a white mane with silver streaks. It wore a large black armor plating over its back on top of a yellow robe that draped down below. On its head it wore a dark blue helmet that looked as if engraved with glowing markings all over. It's glowing green horn deactivated as the pony stared down at Konan. "So, the rumors going around the castle were true; you ponies do have strange powers."

The new stallion focused his magic again and teleported down to the street below, facing the akatsuki member. "Whatever you are doing here, it ends now."

"You are in a rush today, aren't you Flash Shot?" A voice said from above.

Konan looked to the air looking for the source, then noticed the pony leaning over the edge of an open window. This pony had bright golden eyes that shined beneath her purple helmet, and were feline in appearance unlike normal ponies. Her hooves casually dangled over the ledge, showing off her horseshoes tipped with dual serrated blades on each. She grinned down, revealing her fangs beneath her lips. "Don't tell me you were planning on taking her out yourself? You don't want to be selfish, do you Flash?"

Flash Shot rolled his eyes at her comment. "I don't think this is the time to be worrying about manners, Midnight Blossom."

"Hey, I let you take out the pair of manticores last week. I wanna get a shot at this one." Midnight chuckled as she jumped out of the window, spreading her bat like wings and flying down next to Flash Shot. "Besides, you have always heard of 'ladies first' right?"

Stepping back, Konan eyed the two guards as they kept their position in front of her. 'They don't seem happy for me being here. No doubt from the destruction from Pain and Deidara.' She mentally scolded herself. "You two part of the protection to this village?"

"Protection?" Midnight tapped her claws to her chin. "Let's see; royal armor. Go to confront threat. Yeah, you can call us that."

Thinking of a possible way to avoid conflict, Konan tried to appear as least threatening as possible. "I know that what has happened appears to be bad, but perhaps we can negotiate and work out something so that nothin happens we don't regret."

Both ponies sat open mouthed for a moment before looking at each other in disbelief. "Is this pony serious?" Midnight asked, "We come to stop her from assaulting our home and she wants to negotiate?"

"No, I don't believe we are here to negotiate anything."

Konan turned around to the sound of another voice, this one much more stern and commanding than the others. A white Pegasus was trotting in the center of the street towards her, his body covered in shimmering golden armor that sat on top of chain mail. Strapped to his back was a long spear that stuck out to his side, slightly bouncing with each step. Below his golden helmet, bright blue eyes pierced through the air with a mix of anger and determination.

Midnight Blossom nodded with a grin as she watched her captain made his way towards them. "I see you decided to join us, Cloud Dasher."

Konan shifted her eyes back and forth between the three ponies as they slowly surrounded her.

Cloud Dasher never took his eyes off of Konan as he reached up and clutched his spear with his hoof. "You are done. Whatever the goal that you and your friends had when coming here, it is going to stop." Pulling down on the end, the spear flipped out into the air and landed down on his foreleg, spinning in his grip until coming to a stop in his hoof.

Opening her wings, Konan prepared herself if need be against them. "I know that what has happened to your home may be terrible, but please let me explain. We-

"Terrible?" Cloud Dasher growled through his clenched teeth. "You attack our city. You terrorize the innocent citizens here. You kill numerous guards and you just say terrible!?"

"Please, listen to me. I haven't done any of the damage that has been caused. My group only wants to-

"Your group?" Midnight sneered, "So just because you say you were the only one not hurting anypony, we should just talk it over!? What kind of a stupid idea are you planning in your head!?"

"Calm down Midnight." Flash Shot yelled out, "She is probably trying to make us drop our guard around her so she can get us when we aren't ready."

Midnight Blossom only grinned at hearing that. "Then I guess we shouldn't let her get that chance." Putting her claws together, Midnight scraped them together at the tips. In an instant, all four claws were engulfed in bright lines of electricity that danced along the steel. Her magically enhanced weapons were a personal gift from Princess Luna, only given to the elite of night guards.

"Wait..." Cloud Dasher ordered. "Let me go at her first."

Midnight frowned. "Aw come on! I want to go at her!"

Music link

"I said to stand down right now. I will test out her skill." Clutching his spear between his hooves, his intense gaze completely focused on his opponent now. Konan felt her heart immediately increase its pace a few beats as her body unconsciously prepared for battle, but her mind was telling her otherwise. She didn't want to come into conflict with the ponies here because of the chance of her hurting them.

Her worry didn't last long however.

In a blink of an eye, Cloud Dasher burst off the ground and launched towards Konan. Her eyes went wide seeing him rush so quickly. 'He's fast!' Jumping to the side, she barely dodged the spear that almost pierced her chest. Jumping back and away, Konan dipped back and forth as the thrusts rapidly came again and again at her.

Seeing she was quick herself, Cloud Dasher began mixing up his assaults and adding swipes from side to side. When he thrust at her from the right and she shifted the other way, he used his own neck as a fulcrum and spun the spear to the other side of his body to catch her off guard. She however noticed his move and used her hoof to form a small paper shield to block the strike. His eyes widened in wonder when his weapon came to a stop at the white sheets. 'What kind of pony is she?'

Opening her wings, Konan attempted to lift away from the fight, only to have Cloud Dasher burst off the ground and bring his spear tip up over his head. Konan tried to keep him back by releasing a cloud of paper his direction. The captain gripped his weapon between his Hooves and began spinning it in front of himself, cutting straight through the incoming obstacle.

Diving back to the street, Konan watched as Cloud Dasher seemed to be preparing to swing at her despite being twenty feet above her. When he did, however, her eyes went wide when his spear seemingly broke into pieces and shot her direction. Focusing her chakra, she broke her entire body into paper, allowing the spear tip to pass through her and dig into the dirt. Floating backwards, Konan rematerialized as she observed what happened.

The staff of the weapon was in fact separated into five sections, connected by a chain flowing in between the gaps. Cloud Dasher whipped his handle up, pulling the end back towards him until all the pieces reconnected into a single length. His focused eyes remained on her as his two subordinates came up by his side. "You do have some very unusual powers, but you will not get passed the Trifecta."

Princess Luna felt like she had stared at Itachi for an eternity before he broke his gaze from her and looked down to the corpse of Kakuzu. She expected him to be angered at what she did, but surprisingly, he looked back at her with a blank face.

"It seems that Kakuzu had misjudged the strength that you posses. You are different than the other ponies that I have seen here." Itachi noted.

Luna simply nodded in the akatsuki members direction. "Indeed I am. I am one of the princesses of this land. And as a princess, I command thou to give the reason for your actions against the citizens and the guards of Equestria?"

Shutting his eyes, Itachi took a few steps in her direction, "So, you act like the kage from where I come from. You are a leader that oversees your kind and is naturally more talented than the others here."

The lunar princess raised an eyebrow at his statement. "I am not familiar with that title that you say, but I am a ruler to the ponies of this land. And now I ask again for what is thy purpose for the actions committed?"

"Well, since you are of a high ranking position, I will tell you; I am a member of the organization known as the Akatsuki. We are all high ranking criminals who all possess abilities far beyond what any of your kind have. While it may seem horrible, we are working towards the peace that our land desperately needs."

Luna stared for several moments in confusion by what she heard from him. "You claim that thou are a member of an organization that strives for peace? Then tell us now, why did thou attack the town of Ponyville?"

"That small town wasn't attacked by us if you wish to know. We simply asked of the location of the beast we desired, and your guards were the ones that attacked us." Itachi used one of his hooves to move the bangs that fell in front of his eyes. "Besides, their weakness wasn't even worth my time to finish off."

Blitz and Blaze both felt their blood boil at the arrogance of this pony after what happened in the small town. Before they could speak, the loud laughter from the chained pony behind them caught their attention.

"Ha ha hahaha! Oh you little dicks are all dead now! Once Itachi breaks me out, I will give Jashin more wonderful sacrifices!" Hidan thrashed in excitement against the chains held by the several bat ponies. "Alright Itachi, get me out of this shit so I can reap their pathetic lives!"

Blitz ran up to the restrained pony. "Shut your mouth or I will make it shut!"

"Oh, are you still mad that you got your ass whipped twice today!?" The sudden punch to Hidan's mouth caused his lip to split open, but he still kept his devilish smile. "You think that you will be able to stop us? You will all die tonight!"

Luna's captain Night Shine glared back at the confined akatsuki ritualist. "Take him back to Canterlot along with the other injured guards." The night captain turned to two other lunar unicorns. "Whiplash, Moon Lit, you two will stay here with myself." His eyes then turned to the sharingan bearer. "We are to assist Luna with this one."

As several ponies began pulling on the chains holding Hidan, the Jashin follower began thrashing against them. "What the hell are you doing you little bastards!? Let me go! Itachi, move your lazy ass and get over here and help me!" When his fellow akatsuki member didn't move an inch, his blood boiled even more than before. "Hey, what the fuck are you doing!? Get over here now!"

Shining armor slowly opened his eyes as he was carried off by the remaining lunar warriors. "W-wait, you can't just make us leave."

Luna chuckled at the captains determination. "Go and rest Sir Shining. Cadence will want to see you the moment you return."

Lightning Flash looked back and forth between the princess and the retreating stallions. He wanted to help the princess, but knew his exhausted body would only get in the way of them. On the other hoof, he felt his heart in pain from his friend Rain being killed by that psychotic pony. 'No, he is not going to get away for what he did to him.' He glared at the resisting Hidan. He then looked down to the red scythe on the ground and picked it up. 'I will make him pay.'

As the rest of the ponies began their walk back to the capital, Luna returned her attention back to the idle stallion. "I am surprised to not see you try to stop them. Does thou not care about the other member of your group?"

"Why should I try to free him? The moment that i would attempt to break him out you would stop me. Being one of battle, I know that you are not one to be relaxed against in battle. Not knowing the extent of your abilities is a risky-

The bright blue blast from Luna's horn cut Itachi off mid sentence as it pierced straight through his chest. His eyes went wide as he looked down to the large hole leaking blood. He then turned up to the princess, the end of her horn smoking from the shot. "You are fast, Princess."

Lifting her head up, Luna glared down at the mortally wounded pony. "I have never been one to take cheap attacks, but I will not allow you to continue your quest."

Music link

"Then I am glad I took precautions with you."

Both Luna and the guards felt their blood run cold at the sounds of Itachi's voice to the side. The blue alicorn flipped around to see him standing unharmed, his menacing sharingan focused on her. "But... How did... What is going on?" She shakingly asked.

"A simple genjutsu placed upon you; small enough for it to quickly cast over you all, but strong enough that the effects were undetectable for you." Itachi looked over to the injured version of himself and then back to the terrified ponies. "The moment you looked into my eyes, the jutsu was already in place."

Night Shine continued to stare at the injured version of Itachi, which now began breaking up into dozens of black crows that flew up into the sky. "What kind of power is this? What are you?"

"I am Itachi Uchiha. My skills are a gift to me by the blood of my clan." Itachi opened his eyes wider, giving sight to the ponies as three tomue began solidifying into the Mangekyo sharingan. "Victory for yourselves is impossible. I will make sure of it."

Off to the side of the field, a large boulder began shifting on the top, a green mass coming out of the top. After a moment, the Venus fly trap partially opened up to allow Zetsu to see out and observe the confrontation unfold.

"I wonder who shall be the victor in this fight. This pony is quite powerful." The white half stated.

"I don't believe the outcome will be that close..." The black side objected, "Itachi's powers are far beyond that of normal shinobi."

"But this pony seemingly took down Kakuzu with no trouble for herself at all. Look, she doesn't even have a scratch on her body. Perhaps she will be more trouble than we realized."

"Hmph, don't be so naive. Not even I have seen the extent to Itachi's strength. Even if she is stronger than we anticipated, there is no way Itachi shall be defeated."

"What about Hidan though?" White Zetsu asked, "Should we allow him to be taken away?"

"Do not worry about him. Letting him be taken may actually be used to our advantage."

The True Power of Art

Music link

"KATSU!"

Deidara detonated the owl at what he thought was the right time, but saw the enraged Pegasus charging him once again through the smoke. 'Damn pest.'

"Rahhhh!" Rapidfire screamed out at the top of his lungs as he barreled down onto his opponent once again, carrying one cloud in each hoof. His bloodshot eyes were locked onto the bomb maker with more hatred than he had ever felt in his life. No matter how many times Deidara had attempted to take him out, he had evaded and kept coming at him. Several times the explosions had caught part of his body, but the burns felt like tiny scratches compared to the fire burning inside of his heart.

The death of his sister was driving him longer and faster than he could have ever before. No matter what injury he would recieve, whether or not it be death itself, Rapidfire was not going to stop until that pony was dead at his hooves. He was intent on making up for the loss of High Winds, Misty Fly, Fire and Lightning Streak. And most importantly, he was getting revenge for the death of Spitfire. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his wings even harder and faster, charging the blonde maned akatsuki member.

Ignoring the possible danger from it, Rapidfire shoved the two clouds together into one. The dark shapes began sputtering out dozens of streams of electric currents as the energy fused together. Glaring, he tossed the cloud in front of himself. "This is for all my friends!"

Deidara watched as the cloud was kicked, amazed as three massive bolts of lightning launched out from the wonderbolt. Barrel rolling out of the way, he ducked down and evaded the first two. Unfortunately for himself, the third bolt was sputtering out and was much wider than the other ones and caught his owls wing. Losing. Control, he jumped off of his shape and formed another one mid air and landed on it. Angered, he opened his right hoof and shot out over a dozen birds towards Rapidfire.

Still rushing forward, Rapidfire flipped backwards while letting to of his cloud. As he came back, he brought his hoof forward as hard and slammed it into the cloud, creating a mix of smaller lightning strikes that connected with every bird to Deidara's frustration. Banking upward, the furious wonderbolt pushed the cloud tighter together, forcing all the energy to one spot. He was intent on using the rest inside for a single attack to end this. Throwing the cloud down, he slammed all four of his hooves into it.

"THIS IS FOR SPITFIRE!"

The akatsuki members eyes went wide as seven bolts of lighting erupted out and came rushing down towards him. Diving down, he was able to easily evade the first three, but barely flipped to the right as the fourth one came blasting by him. Opening his mouths, he created an owl to fly up and stop one of the next two incoming blasts. Seeing impossible to dodge the sixth, he jumped off his owl and started forming another owl to land on. He did accomplish his goal, but was too slow to get away from the final lightning strike that landed directly on his left hoof.

Yelling out in pain, he looked down to the horribly burned appendage. Deidara grunted when he saw that mouth had actually been melted shut from the massive temperature spike from the electricity. Grinding his teeth, he looked back up to Rapidfire and stuck his still good hoof into his pouch. "I have had enough of this shit! I'm ending this fight!"

Suddenly, Deidara felt the air around him spinning rapidly, forcing him to drop to his belly and latch onto his clay. "What the hell!?" Looking down below, he once again gasped. "What!?"

FleetFoot and Soarin were flying in a tight circular path around each other so fast that a tornado began to form in the center between them. While Deidara was so distracted with Rapidfire, this gave them the chance to catch him off guard with one of their own tricks. Both Pegasi were almost blue blurs at the speed they were going, increasing the twisters power even more than before. Deidara felt his owl begin spinning along inside of the powerful current, unable to control his flight. His head began to grow dizzy from the intense motion he was going through, yet he was not out yet.

"Damn it! This is not going to be my end!" He screamed out as his mane rushed behind himself in the wind. "I will not be defeated by you! Hmm!"

Forcing his back legs into his owl, he locked himself in so he could not be pulled off. Standing back up, he lifted his right hoof off the clay and pointed it down towards the wonderbolts. "Just die already!" Launching out an entire flock of birds, he watched them get caught in the current and begin spinning around, but still heading towards their targets.

Through Soarin's clenched eyes, he saw the white shapes coming straight towards him, causing his heart to jump. "Shoot! Fleetfoot, bail out!"

Fleetfoot looked up to see the same sight. Realizing they had no choice, she quickly tucked her wings in and dropped backwards out from the spinning vortex. Soarin quickly followed suit just before the birds detonated. The force of he explosions travelled outward and ripped through the air current of the tornado, breaking its flow and forcing it to quickly dissipate. Slowly coming to a stop, Deidara sucked in air as he tried to calm his spiraling head. Shaking himself, he stood back up straight and glared at the two hovering ponies. "You think that breeze is enough to stop me? I am the great artist of the-

"Rainbow, now!" Fleetfoot screamed out as she and Soarin turned and flew away as fast as they could.

Deidara was confused by this sudden retreat. "What?" The sudden sound of crackling began to invade the artists ears, growing louder every moment. Flipping around, his eyes became as big as dinner plates to the incoming shape coming down towards him. "What the hell!?"

Music link

Rainbow dash was shooting through the sky faster than she ever had that day, a cone forming in the front of her hooves as she came onto Deidara faster then he could react. The moment she passed-

BOOSH!

An explosion of rainbow colored light blasted out from behind the cyan Pegasus and collided into Deidara. He screamed out in pain and shock as the powerful shockwave hit him with more force than anything he had ever felt before in his life, ripping his grip off his owl and launching him through the air. Unable to fly, he was completely helpless as he tumbled uncontrollably lower and lower towards the incoming forest below him. "Shit!"

Spiraling down below, he crashed through the entire trunk of a tree and passed through the wood before colliding into the ground below. Skidding to a stop, he gasped for air has his crippled body slumped to the floor. Most of the ribs in his chest had cracked from the unbelievable force made from that strange attack. Even his legs felt like they had broken in several places throughout, halting his painful attempt to crawl off the ground. "*huff* what the hell was that?"

Rainbow Dash slowed herself once she saw Deidara not getting up from the ground. She still couldn't believe their crazy idea had worked; while he was busy trying to kill Rapidfire, Deidara was too distracted to notice Rainbow fly high above all of them and came back down and luckily timed her descent to create a sonic rainboom right next to him. While no pony had ever been struck by the shockwave from the rainboom so close, Rainbow knew it was not one to easily shake off.

"Rainbow!"

Turning to her name, Rainbow was met with Fleetfoot slamming into her and pulling her into a tight hug. "I knew you could do it! You are the craziest flyer!"

"Thanks Fleetfoot." Rainbow happily responded as she wrapped her hooves around her friend and returning the embrace.

Soarin flapped over and smiled at the two of them. "We finally did it, all of us."

Rainbow let go of Fleetfoot to approach Soarin. "We all did good, me, you guys and Rapid..." Se stopped herself. "Hey, where is Rapidfire?"

The trio of Pegasi turned down to see Rapidfire landing on the ground, picking up a large rock and began trotting towards Deidara.

(End music)

Both Celestia and Pain stared at each other for what felt like an hour, neither one breaking eye contact for one second. They sat still and idle, not moving an inch from their spot while every pony in the courtyard held their breath. The air itself seemed to suddenly go still as Celestia took the first step forward, her her horn radiating a bright glow. "I will give you one warning; stop this now or I will force you to stop."

"Hmph... Your threats are meaningless to me. I am done talking about this now..." Pain closed his eyes again. "I shall go obtain Discord if it means this place having to feel what true pain is like."

Music link

The princess clenched her teeth at his words. "I will not allow you to hurt my ponies!"

Charging her horn, she conjured a large ball of light and launched it at the unicorn. He sat idle as the ball came closer to him, not attempting to evade it. At the last five feet, he reopened his eyes, followed by a shockwave that struck the ball and obliterated it to pieces. All the ponies, including Celestia gasped at what they witnessed.

"My spell..." The princess stuttered, "how did you... You stopped it like it wasn't even anything."

"Six paths..." Pain replied, "the six paths of the sage grant unique abilities for the bearer. What you have witnessed is the power of the path of Deva. Any ability, item or form, no matter how powerful, will be repulsed." He lifted one of his hooves and pointed it at the princess. "Your techniques are useless against me."

Celestia watched in shock as a concentrated wave of energy rushed out from Pain's hoof to her direction, ripping up the ground below as it came closer. Quickly opening her wings, she flapped up into the air above the attack before it could hit her. Before she could prepare herself, Pain jumped off the ground and seemingly flew towards her with a black rod held in his hoof. Conjuring her glowing sword, she swung it forward and clashed with Pain's weapon.

While the two blades came back and crashed into each other again, Celestia attempted to catch him off guard by teleporting above him and bringing her sword down, but he wad able to quickly turn the tables by thrusting his sharp weapon up and forcing her to block. once at the same level, Pain swung down again and created another blast wave and struck Celestia directly. The princess was blasted backwards at unbelievable force and crashed into the street below. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight screamed in terror watching her friend and mentor injured.

Crawling out of the rubble, Celestia shook herself to clear her rattler head. As her thoughts reorganized, she noticed Pain was on the ground once again and slowly trotting towards her. Grunting she stood up and walked out of the crater she formed. 'His power can stop any of my attacks, but here has to be a trick to it.' She said to herself. 'There is a flaw to any power.'

Charging her horn once again, she shot another blast of yellow magic towards Pain, who once again blocked it with ease. This time, however, Celestia quickly teleported to the side of him and shot another stream off at him. This time, Pain did not stand still like before, but instead jumped to the side to evade it. Seeing that caught the princesses attention immediately. 'He didn't block it that time? Could he not do it?' She realized there was a small weakness to it.

Seeing a possible opening, she teleported back to his front and charged up another ball of magic, this one much larger than the ones before. Firing it, she watched as Pain landed back into the dirt and turned to face it on e again. He quickly threw his hoof up and at the incoming attack. "Ha!" He yelled as the ball shattered in a bright flash, destroyed by another one of his attacks. The guards watching the fight sat astonished at the ability of this unicorn.

"This is unheard of; he is stopping the princesses attacks like nothing!"

He can't be a normal pony. I have never heard of this kind of magic."

The princess however stared observantly at what she saw happen. 'So he can stop my attacks, but there is a small window of time in which he cannot use it until he can perform his power again. If I can try this again, I can learn how long exactly I have for me to land a wrong enough attack on him this time.'

The rinnegan bearer stared blankly at the white alicorn. He could tell exactly what she was trying to do by the style of her moves. 'In just a few attempts, she is already beginning to see the one flaw to the power of Deva. She saw the rapse period for the technique to allow my chakra to return.' He grunted to himself. 'Troublesome pony.' This reminded him of fighting the shinobi from the hidden leaf village, especially the gray haired shinobi with the sharingan, Kakashi. While they had been successful in learning of his ability, they were still unsuccessful in defeating him, just like he was prepared to do now.

As Pain lifted his hoof again in her direction, Celestia lowered herself in a crouch position to be ready for the next shockwave. While she waited for the attack to come from the front, however, the loud cracks and sitting of stone from behind rang through the courtyard, forcing the princess to turn in confusion. Unbelievably, a massive chunk of the castle perimeter wall was flying through the air in her direction. "What the!?"

Creating a shield around herself, the stone block crashed into the golden barrier with enough force that a crack spread up the side of it. Sweat dripping down her forehead, Celestia forced the shield outward and cast the eight foot block backwards. Panting, she deactivated her magic and looked back to Pain as he lowered his hoof back to the ground. 'What was that? He can not only repel any form of attack, but he can also pull anything towards him? What is he?'

Clasping his hooves together, Pain made two large pieces of rock rip out from the ground on each side of Celestia. As soon as they cleared the dirt, they rushed through the air at her in an attempt to crush her. The princess folded her wings in front of herself, then was suddenly encircled by another force field. When the rocks hit it this time, however, they quickly dissolved into piles of dust and falling to the ground. Twilight sat opened mouth at the sight. "Th-that shield isn't normal! How did she do that!?"

Celestia deactivated her strange barrier and glared at Pain. Resorting to the cremation barrier was something the princess had not intended to use. Defensive magic at that level actually becomes one that many will use as weapons, actually destroying other things that come into contact with it. At this moment though, she knew that if she was to protect her ponies, she would have to resort to dangerous levels of magic to win.

Turning his up to the moon, Pain stared at the glowing sphere, his face illuminated in the bright light from the sky. he gazed at the sight for several moments before shifting his eyes back at the dumbfounded princess. "Your skill is quite honed that I can tell. Trying to learn the limits of my ability will not help you however, for I am Pain. I am god."

Preparing their magic and weapons, the small platoon of guards slowly encircled Tobi. Leading the group, Barren cautiously stepped forward as he slightly shook with every step. 'What kind of power is that? He suddenly dissolved and yet he was still able to land an attack.'

Tobi chuckled at seeing their nervousness, his sharingan easily detecting the tremors running across their skin. "You all seem to be afraid of me. While I cannot blame you, I will say that you can escape here with your lives if you answer my request."

"And what is that?" One of the unicorns asked.

"If you just give me the location of the creature Discord, I shall leave you and be on with my goal." The mix of gasps and whispers among the guards gave Tobi the evidence he wasn't far from his goal. "I already have intel telling me that he is held prisoner here, and he will be a perfect candidate for our return."

Unsure of the true motives by this pony, Barren glared at the masked akatsuki member. "I refuse. Discord is far too powerful and dangerous to just be used for... Whatever you think you can a accomplish with him. He has been ordered to be protected by the princesses, and as a member of the royal guard, I will make sure that the is kept in the state he is in."

Several other guards yelled in agreement much to Tobi's annoyance. Looking around, he saw there was now nine guards in total that circled him. Seeing no challenge, he chucked to himself. "Fine then. I will show no amount of mercy to your pathetic lives then."

In the blink of an eye, Tobi dashed at unreal speed and grasped a Kunai blade in his right hoof. Before one of the unicorn guards to the left of the courtyard could react, the sharp end of the blade was rammed into his throat and slicing his windpipe. The stallions eyes went wide in shock as he began coughing up a mouthful of blood. Tobi ripped the knife out of the dying pony and kicked the body to the side. Turning to look at the terrified guards, he simply chuckled and shook of some of the excess blood off of his weapon.

Barren felt his breath catch in his throat as his fellow soldier slumped down and went still onto the cold ground. His own blood felt like it chilled to ice seeing what this pony had just done; he had slaughtered another with no hesitation whatever and seemed to enjoy it as well. Something inside his head was telling him that this new enemy was much colder and sadistic than the dark coated pony that had come to Ponyville the day before. 'This pony really is intent on finding Discord by any means. We have to stop him now.'

All eight guards simultaneously ran forward at Tobi and prepared to strike him down. The masked pony grunted and faced the nearest guard who attempted swinging a sword at him. Allowing the sword to pass trough his head, Tobi brought his Kunai up and rammed it into the chest of the guard before throwing the dying pony into another guard. As a Pegasus came rushing at him, he jumped up into the air knocked the sword out of its grasp and passed through the pony before solidifying himself and landing on the back of the guard. Crashing into the ground, Tobi prepared to kill the one before him until he saw Barren throwing a spear his direction.

Having no choice, Tobi had to force himself to allow the spear to pass through him, which gave the pony below him the chance to also get out through his confinement. As the Pegasus scrambled away, Barren saw how if Tobi was on the defensive he would make his body passable, but if he tried to attack, he had to materialize his form to allow a strike. "Guards, I figured out his weakness."

Before any of the others could respond, Tobi chuckled at hearing the statement. "So you think that learning something about myself will give you a chance?"

"There is a chance now; whatever your strange power is, there is one thing I noticed. When you want to simply evade an attack, you change your form to allow things to pass through, but yet when you go for an attack you have to rematerialize your form. That means when you attempt a strike you are actually vulnerable to be hit yourself."

"So... You learned one thing about my power. I'm impressed you could figure that out, and it only took you three of your friends lives to learn that." Tobi chuckled again, bringing furious glares from the guards around. "Don't even think that you have a chance however, since you lack even the slightest skill to defeat me."

"Lets see who has no skill!" One of the unicorns screamed out as he charged, aided by another Pegasus. The two sprinted forward and drew their swords and began swinging at their foe. Tobi instead of simply letting the weapons pass through him ducked and weaved around the swords or clashing his Kunai against the incoming steel. As the unicorn charged his horn and fired a bright stream of blue magic at the akatsuki member, who now made his body passable and ran through the magic and jumped into the air. Coming back down, he slammed his hooves into the unicorns head and crushed it into the street.

Jumping off the limp body, Tobi grappled the nearby Pegasus and got behind him, slipping his left foreleg below its chin and his other hoof on the back of its head. Applying pressure, he made the pony cringe in pain as its neck was pushed in an awkward angle to the side. His single act had forced the remaining five ponies to stop in their tracks. "I've grown tired of this annoying hinderance. Give me the location of Discord or I will snap his neck."

Hearing the guard cry out in pain and terror sent a chill up Barren's skin. He knew Tobi was not bluffing with his threat, and he could not stand the sight of another friend dying in front of him. "Stop, please! I'll... I'll tell you where he is."

One of the other guards eyes went wide, "Barren, don't!"

Barren ignored the warning. "I will tell you, but you will not hurt any more ponies once you have your answer."

"Agreed..." Tobi answered as he pushed a little harder on the guards neck, "Now, the location."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Barren gave up what they had been sworn to protect. "He is in the Canterlot gardens, west of the palace. His stone prison is by the large fountain."

Under his mask, Tobi grinned. "Thank you."

SNAP!

Barren felt his heart stop as Tobi broke the guards neck despite his promise to let him go. The akatsuki leader shoved the limp body to the side and stepped towards the petrified guards. "Unfortunately for you, I cannot allow you to reach your leader. That would simply cause me trouble that I do not need."

Rushing at them, Tobi grabbed one of the guards by the head and slammed it into the ground so hard it shattered the rock beneath its jaw. Before the others could even register what happened, he brought another Kunai out and slit one across the throat and then threw the blade into the forehead of another. The final unicorn tried to charge his horn and fire a beam of magic, but Tobi once again allowed it to pass through himself and ran at him. The moment the magic was through his body, Tobi brought a hoof and slammed it into the unicorns face and sent him through the wall of the building across the courtyard.

Barren was in pure disbelief at how fast this pony was able to move through and kill all of the others in the area. Never once in his life had he seen anything so horrible; not even when the changelings had invaded had they ever killed ponies, yet this one was almost seeming to enjoy it. His thoughts were cut off as Tobi charged him and slammed him into a wall, a hoof pressed up against his throat and suspending him off the ground.

Tobi chuckled as the guard in his grasp attempted to escape with no hope of it. "I thank you for saving me the time of searching for Discord. Now while the others were of no use to me, I see you as one of possible aid for the future."

From Tobi's hole in his mask, a swirling vortex began to form in front of it. Barren felt his body begin to shift and pull towards the dark hole. "Wh-what is this!?" He screamed as he started to feel himself pulled off the wall. Despite trying to fight it, he was caught inside of the mix and was pulled into the darkness of Tobi's eye, disappearing into his Jutsu, and vanishing completely from the courtyard.

Now alone, Tobi chuckled again and turned to look at the castle above the city. "So our goal remains there. Perfect."

Carrying the large rock in his hoof, Rapidfire stepped closer to the near dead Deidara. He was nearly drooling from the uncontrollable anger running through his veins at the sight of this pony that killed his sister. Now, after everything that had happened that night, that he was on the ground and unable to escape, the wonderbolt saw this as the chance to repay the damage that was done onto him.

Quickly dropping onto the ground, Soarin ran up to Rapidfire's side. "Rapidfire, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm gonna kill him." Rapidfire's voice was dripping hatred with every word that he spoke. "I am going to make him pay for what he did."

Fleetfoot and Rainbow landed onto the ground as well. "Rapidfire, don't do this, this isn't you. We have already beaten him." Fleetfoot pleaded, but felt her blood run cold by the terrifying glare she received from the enraged brother.

"You want me to stop? After everything he has done? After he killed Spitfire, my own flesh and blood!? No... I have never killed any pony in my life, nor have I ever wanted to before. But now... That has all changed with him. I don't care what you all think, but I am going to smash his skull in."

Rainbow cringed at the bloodlust of her friend, but she didn't dare say a word. She felt as if she said the wrong thing, he would suddenly lash out at her. Never had she ever seen a pony she knew change to this extent before, and she was afraid of what would happen if she or any of the others tried to stop him. Then, the sound of Deidara laughing brought her attention away from the others.

Now awkwardly sitting up, Deidara huffed for air as he grinned at them. "You all think that you have beaten me after that? Heh heh, you fools, even if I cannot move my legs anymore, I will not be the one to lose here."

Clutching the rock tighter, Rapidfire sneered at the crippled Pegasus, "you are nearly dead and can't even move away. There is only this rock and your head."

Music link

"Oh I am going to die, but it will not be by you." Deidara shouted as he painfully used his one foreleg to grip his cloak and ripped off what was left. The wonderbolts all stared in confusion to the odd tattoo that was on the left side of his chest. Smiling, he forced his right hoof up and used its mouth to bite at the center of the design. After a moment, a line of string was revealed to be sewn through the center, which he bit through and ripped the thread out. Using what strength he had left, he flexed his chest muscles, forcing the middle of the design open, revealing another mouth there as well.

Dropping the rock, Rapidfire stared in disgust and shock at the new sight. "What the... What kind of a freak is he?"

Smiling, Deidara brought a chunk of clay up and stuck it into the new mouth. As it began chewing, his legs began to suddenly become transparent, only leaving odd black lines visible. Soon, the rest of his body began to do the same as well. The lines then began to travel towards his chest, creating a dark mass in the center. "This will be my ultimate piece of art. I'll explode. I shall die and become art itself!"

Soarin felt his heart skip a beat at that. This pony was going to kill himself in an attempt to take them all with him. "We gotta go now! Come on!" Taking off into the sky, the blue Pegasus was quickly followed by Rainbow and the others.

As he watched the ponies fly away, he couldnt help but laugh to himself. "Go ahead and try to run away, but it will be pointless. This will be like no explosion before it, and it will leave a scar upon the Earth unlike anything else. Everything within six miles will be obliterated! Then, my art will receive the admiration it's always deserved!"

Soon, nothing of his body was left except for the small black sphere from his chest, yet his voice continued to be heard. "Tremble! Be afraid! Recoil in despair! Cower in awe! And cry your heart out, because my art… " a small crack alleared in the side of the sphere, "IS AN EXPLOSION!" From the ball, a blinding flash of blue light shot out from the center in a powerful blast and expanded outward. Every tree, rock or creature that was caught in the growing explosion was instantly vaporized into nothing.

All the wonderbolts were flying at breakneck speed away, but the attack was rapidly drawing onto them at a deadly rate. Fleetfoot felt herself begin to cry out of fear of her incoming fate. "I don't want this! don't want to die like this!"

"Come on, we have to go faster!" Rainbow screamed out as she extended a hoof to Fleetfoot, "we can't give up!"

Quickly grabbing onto it, Fleetfoot stuck her other hoof for Soarin to grab, and Rainbow reached out and grabbed onto Rapidfire's. together they tried to hold on and push harder, but it seemed like the blast was still gaining on them. The edge of the growing explosion was now almost touching Rainbows tail Then, she felt a strange sensation crawl over her body, almost like she was losing feeling of every sense. Her eyes grew hazy, and her mind went blank in an instant. What happened next, she wouldn't even be awake to experience.

Author's Note

Holy shit... This is growing more intense... All I have to say

Target Aquired

Music Link

The canterlot gardens had become a field of death. Scattered across the grass laid the bodies of seven bat ponies, there bodies broken and bleeding all over from their encounter with the masked akatsuki member that gave them no warning. None of them had the chance to land a single strike on Tobi with his nearly flawless jutsu. Not only had they failed to defeat him, now none of them could go and warn the princess that the prize the akatsuki wanted was so close to being lost.

Standing on top of the final guard that was alive, Tobi stepped down on the throat of the mare, causing her to gasp out in pain. Looking up, she locked gaze with the bright sharingan that shined through the hole in the mask, unable to take her eyes off the disturbing sight. Suddenly, the eye seemingly spun, causing her entire body to shudder as a eerie sensation crept over her mind, making her vision blurry and unfocused.

Chuckling, Tobi stepped off her, knowing now she was under his genjutsu. "Now, which statue here is the one Discord?" He demanded.

Almost lifelike, the guard pony pony turned her head and pointed a good to the right. "That is him there." She blankly answered.

Looking in that direction, Tobi saw a tall statue that was unlike all the others around him. It appeared to be a creature that possessed the body parts of several types of animals and at least ten feet tall. It was standing up on its hind legs, its forelegs pushed out in front of it almost to protect itself. Even it's face seemed to be stricken with a look of fear. "Hmm, so that is it then?" Tobi muttered, almost disappointed by its size. Looking back down to the pony, he quickly brought out a Kunai and buried it into her head and killing her.

Stepping away from the dead guards, Tobi trotted up and stood beneath the statue. He began to question how something this small could be considered a beast of extreme power, since the tailed beasts of his world were enormous to contain their amount of energy. And since he saw how weak most of the ponies here were, he was feeling unsure how reliable the information that Itachi delivered was. "If these ponies being so weak and were still able to subdue this creature, he surely cannot be that strong to have fallen to these pathetic souls." Sighing, he shook his head. "I have taken the trouble to get here. I might as well take him as well."

Activating his jutsu, the vortex appeared in front of his mask and began to pull onto the statue. The stone began to morph and suck up into the spiraling power and disappear little by little. Being larger than himself, Tobi’s skill took longer to absorb Discord than it had with a normal pony. After a few moments Discords head was pulled in, followed by his upper body and arms. Coming in next his legs were lifted off the ground. Then finally the end of his tail was pulled into the void of his visual power.

Down with his task, Tobi couldn't help but grunt in dissatisfaction. "All of this trouble to gain this small animal. I doubt this will even have the power to send us back to our-

The sudden explosion in the distance cut Tobi from his thoughts and making him turn around. Expanding up into the sky several miles up, a gigantic column of white light illuminated the entire sky in a blinding flash. The blast was growing outward at an alarming rate, closing in on the city at a terrifying speed. As fast as it came however, it stopped its spread before it could reach Canterlot. Just a half mile closer and the entire city would have been obliterated.

Tobi stared in disbelief at the sheer size of the blast, far more powerful than most of the jutsu he knew of. After a few moments of staring, his sharingan detected the chakra signature from inside of the attack, immediately recognizing the bearer. "Deidara..." He mumbled.

"That size of blast must mean Deidara killed himself as a last resort... That fool." He grumbled.

Deidara had always been a valuable member of the organization, and losing him was a serious loss to them. But Tobi couldn't help from smiling at the sight at the same time. "For someone to push Deidara that far... Means perhaps this place isn't as weak as I thought. There are a lot stronger beings here than I anticipated."

The sound of another blast caught Tobi's attention, this one coming from the front of the castle. Knowing that both Pain and Konan were in the city as well, he was curious to see exactly who and what they were up against. "This place may be more interesting than I thought before." Now that he finally had Discord in his possession, Tobi chuckled as he activated his jutsu again, sucking himself into his vortex and disappearing from the gardens.

The interior of Canterlot castle swarmed by hundreds of ponies from the city trying to find a place to sit. After they were ordered to evacuate from their homes and come to the castle, nearly every single space of flooring had been taken up almost instantly. The crowded citizens felt even more claustrophobic with the dozens of guards that constantly passed by on their security of the castle, pushing the ponies further together to make more room.

Walking in with a large group of evacuees, a young blue unicorn and her filly bumped and wedged their way into the castle interior along with all the other ponies. Her daughter whined and looked up to her, showing her discomfort with being forced into this place. Putting on a smile, she gave a comforting nuzzle to the small filly. "Don't worry, it won't be for long, sweetheart." Trying to best to keep her from becoming scared, the mare pushed her daughter along to find a place to sit down and rest.

Coming up to a spot along the wall, she noticed a group of three stallions sitting down, spread out in a space big enough for seven. Hoping for a seat, she trotted up to them and stopped by their hooves. "Excuse me, would me and my daughter be able to squeeze in their and have a seat?"

One of the stallions, a brown earth pony glared up at her. "Go find another spot. This is ours."

The mare stepped back in shock, caught off by the rudeness of the pony. "But, we just need a place to rest. She is very scared from what is happening and-

"Hey, my friend said beat it." Another one of the stallions sneered, stretching his leg out and filling up the space next to him. "Should have come here earlier for a seat."

Dropping her ears, the mother turned around in defeat but was stopped by the pink alicorn standing right behind her. "P-princess Cadence!" She gasped and quickly dropped into a bow. Her act was quickly stopped by the princesses wing lifting her chin up.

"There is no reason to bow..." Cadence said with a smile. "I believe you are looking for a place to rest now, correct?"

Yes, we... We were going to go-

"Why leave when you have a seat right here?" Cadence responded with a more stern tone, glancing up to the seated stallions who were wide eyed at her presence. Trotting up to them, the young alicorn glared at the trio. "Did you make this poor mother turn around because you refused to move for her?"

"N-no! We were uh..." One of the stallions tried to answer, but his response was cut off by the princess coming right up to him. "We-we are just going to move and-

"Yes, you are going to move. You three are going to go look for new seats and give this spot to other ponies that need it more than you." All three stallions jaws dropped in disbelief at the princesses order, but quickly got up and trotted away from her. Smiling, Cadence turned back to the stunned mare. "You can go and take a seat with your daughter now."

The unicorn looked back and forth between the princess and the new opening just made. "You... You didn't have to do that for us."

"Don't say that. If those ponies are too selfish to allow others to sit down then they don't deserve a spot themselves. Go on. Take it."

Smiling, the mare trotted over to the spot and sat down on the ground. Her filly ran up to Cadence and gave her a hug on the leg. "Thank you princess, you're so nice."

Cadence couldn't help but blush at the kind action. Watching the young pony run back over to her mom, along with the large opening quickly fill up with other ponies looking to rest, Cadence turns around and walks down the halls towards the large dining halls. She glances inside to where once again hundreds of ponies took seats across the tables and the ground, and walking through all the commotion were several waiters handing out snacks to try to calm the situation. Being already scared from the attack that hit the city, not to mention it being in the middle of the night most ponies were already upset and tired, the castle staff was doing their best to keep the ponies nerves together.

Her eyes then noticed a guard quickly run up to a mare and her young colt, giving them both a quick nuzzle. The princess smiled at seeing the soldier abandon his tough demeanor to give his family compassion in this time. To her left, another guard was hugging his Pegasi girlfriend, rubbing his hoof along her cheek to calm her down. While seeing this made her happy, a small pain shot through Cadences heart at the thought her own husband was not here.

While she was concerned about Shining Armor leaving this morning, and not knowing what was the threat, Cadence was already skeptical about the situation. After he had not returned for the whole day, her fears about his safety began to grow more and more, especially when the attack on the city started. 'What if Shining ran into these ponies outside the city? Did they fight? Why hasn't he returned by now!' She nearly screamed inside her head.

A sudden shockwave rocked through the castle, causing the walls to shake and ground to rumble. These tremors had been happening constantly for the last thirty minutes, every time making every pony inside worry even more than before. Cadence had enough of this. "Guards!"

Answering her call, several guards ran up to the princess. "Yes your highness." They all answered simultaneously.

"Make sure all the ponies stay indoors and safe. I'm going out."

The stallions eyes shot out in shock. "What!? No, stay inside princess. It's not safe." One of them said.

"Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are outside protecting the city. Your captain, my own husband is out there doing his duty! I am not going to just sit here and do nothing while they are in danger. I am going to help them." Trotting past them, Cadence walked straight towards the large doors leading out of the castle. Pushing them open, she left the safety of the palace and into the moonlit night.

On the outskirts of Equestria, the barren plains of the badlands were silent in the cool air. The wind whipped along the brown stone ground, picking up any loose dust that was on the ground and pulling it along in the air. No plants grew on the soilless terrain, partially due to lack of nutrients in the area, but mostly because of the near total absence of rain. Only a very select number of creatures can even tolerate the land, some being the black creatures flying above the ground.

The animals appeared to be ponies, but their bodies had black plating over their skin instead of fur. Their hooves were lined with holes, another odd feature for any life form. The wings on their backs were not feathers, but a thin membrane material like that of insects. Bright blue eyes shined beneath a small jagged horn that stuck up from their foreheads. Only one species besides alicorns in the land had both wings for flying and horns for the use of magic.

Changelings.

The pack of six changelings buzzed around, scouting the area for any intruders that may be heading towards the hive ten miles away. While it was a standard defense for the colony, the current scouts were annoyed that they had to be the ones doing it. "This is so boring..." One of the ones in the back hissed, "...Why are we the ones on this again?"

One of the ones in the front rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and fly. We have a few more hours of this."

"But this is the third time in a row we have had the outer rim check. If I have to be put on a patrol, I would take the inner line around the hive."

"I'm not too sure about that..." One of the changelings to the right chimed in, "being so close to the queen means we might have to be picked for draining."

All the others felt a chill run down their body at the thought. Ever since the failed invasion of Canterlot, the hive had stayed inside the badlands and not gone outside to search for nourishment. While they could live off normal food that grew in the caves of their home, changelings needed love to fuel their bodies magical flow. Due to the lack of love being absorbed from other creatures, Queen Chrysalis would have one of the drone changelings come to her and take nearly all the magic that it had.

The process was one that was excruciatingly painful, in fact nearly killing the changeling that had to do the process. Chrysalis herself despised ever having to harm one of her close followers, but with no source of power to gather, the queen needed to make sure she was at full strength to protect her colony from any threat. She would never draw enough power from the subject to where it couldn't recover, but having to go through nearly being killed was nothing any of them wanted to experience.

As they continued flying, the sudden bright flash in the distance caused them all to come to a halt. They looked up into the sky at the column growing high into the sky. They couldn't exactly judge how far it was away, only that it was well inside the land of Equestria, but it was still enormous to be seen in the badlands. "What do you think that could be?" One of them asked.

"I'm not sure. A magic blast or something..." Another one responded. "Never seen a magic attack like that though."

The massive light in the distance began to dissipate, leaving the moon to light up the night again. The changelings glanced at each other with their bright blue eyes, confused at what was happening. Before any of them could respond again, they noticed two figures walking towards them from the direction of the light. One appeared to be a light red unicorn, and the other was a massive blue stallion with what appeared to be a large sword across its back. And both were wearing black cloaks over their bodies.

One of the changelings bared its fangs. "Intruders!"

Another one cast a large grin, salivating for its first nutritious meal in a long time. "Alright fellas, lets drain every ounce of energy from these ponies that dare enter our home unannounced!”

Kisame and Sasori continued to walk forward, not watching the dissipating light behind them. There was no point to stare at it, knowing their one comrade was done for now. Sasori sighed at the thought of his old partner gone. "It will be quiet with Deidara not around anymore. I think I may actually miss our arguments."

Kisame simply chuckled. "I'm just curious on who or what Deidara as fighting for him to have to blow himself up like that."

While somewhat disappointed in not knowing what happened to Deidara, he honestly didn't care about the actual death of his comrade. He was more curious in the beings of this world. "I wonder if the others have run into serious trouble as well. Especially since Hidan and Kakazu hadn't returned to the meeting."

"Hmph, doesn't matter. We are just gonna grab our little target and then head back." Kisame stopped walking at the sight of six changelings rushing their direction. "Oh, looks like we are going to receive a warm welcome."

Sasori smirked at the scene; a small group of what he figured were soldiers coming their way. "This will be interesting. I would like to test a handful of my tricks on these ones before we reach the big one."

"I agree. I could use a stretch as well." Gripping his Samehada with a hoof, Kisame couldn't help but cast a sharp toothed grin. His excitement wasn't for this tiny group here, but for what lied past. 'Now that I am with someone like Sasori, there's no need to control anything. Itachi isn't here to hold me back from testing my full power on these things. It's time for the shark to let loose.'

Author's Note

Alright, this chapter is to get small scenes out of the way that would disrupt the flow of the major battles in the next few chapters, which is already being written.

(And please, I know it has been a while, but I would prefer comments about the story itself and not "Yay, update!") just a heads up

Luna's ability

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Luna charged at Itachi, her horn glowing brightly as she shot a beam of magic at him. Itachi barely moved his head, allowing the blast to harmlessly pass by as he slipped out several shuriken stars and threw them at the approaching alicorn. Luna quickly shot out a cluster of her own magic beams, each one precise and hitting the shuriken out of the air before they came close to her. Before she could see however, Itachi dashed her direction with a Kunai clenched in his mouth. Quickly summoning her blade, the princess brought it forward and clashed against the cold steel.

Jumping forward, Itachi swung his head and slashed his blade sideways as Luna swung upward, the two weapons sparking as they clashed against each other. Even with such a small weapon, Itachi was blocking the princesses long sword with no trouble. From the corner of Itachi's eye, he noticed the incoming guards of Luna's, their horns all glowing and ready to fight. Looking back at Luna, he jumped up and spit the Kunai at Luna, making her fall back to block it. Eyes going back to the guards, he dropped down into the center of them and readied himself.

Night Shine was the first to charge him, his horn forming a magical whip and snapping it at Itachi. The sharingan user didn't have to move, since his eyes could easily judge the movement of the long weapon. Just as the tip came snapping at him, he shifted his head down just enough for the whip to graze a few loose strands of mane from his head before charging the awestruck unicorn. Without a moments hesitation, he brought a hoof up to land a quick punch into the captains face, but his strike was stopped by a small patch of shield made my one of the other guards.

"Hmm, quick move..." Itachi muttered, "But a foolish one."

In the blink of an eye, Itachi slipped a Kunai with an explosive tag from his sleeve and stuck it into the side of the barrier. Night Shine noticed the end of the tag sizzling, giving him an odd feeling creeping up his spine. "Both of you, scatter!"

Following his orders, all three lunar unicorns jumped back, but to their shock Itachi didn't move. The next moment, a bright explosion illuminated the spot where the soldiers were, engulfing the dark pony with it. Luna sat in shock at the act. "He... He just killed himself. Why?"

Suddenly from above, the sound of hooves clopping together caught the princesses attention. Looking up, her heart skipped a beat at the sight; Itachi was above her, completely unscathed. His bright eyes stared down at hers, making her blood run cold. "What's going on, he was just caught in that blast..."she stuttered to herself.

"Fire style; fire ball jutsu."

A large ball of fire erupted from Itachi's mouth down at Luna, shocking her out of her daze. The princess quickly teleported herself out from beneath the blast before it crashed into the dirt. Reappearing to the side, she watched as Itachi landed back onto the ground and looked her way. The black shape of his Mangekyo stood out among his blood red sharingan, sending a small chill down the princesses spine. Confused at what had actually happened, she looked back towards the clearing smoke from the bomb tag and noticed something odd; a log with a white piece of paper was inside the crater instead of a body.

Knowing what she was looking at, Itachi gave her the answer she wanted, "substitution jutsu. Replacing my body with another object." He stopped speaking when he noticed the sound of charging hoofsteps, seeing the trio of guards charging him once again.

Seeing this annoyed the akatsuki member. He put his hooves together followed by the sudden blur from behind him, revealing itself to he two shadow clones of himself. The guards eyes went wide in shock as the two clones suddenly charged them.

"Watch out!" Night Shine yelled out as he jumped to the side, dodging the first clone as it came down of the ground. The lunar stallion spun around and shot a blast of magic at the clone, but its speed was too fast, ducking under the attack and came at him with a Kunai. Whiplash quickly formed a shield around his captain to protect him, but before he could set the spell the second clone jumped at him and imbedded a blade into the unicorns knee.

"Whiplash!" Moon Lit yelled out at his injured Friend. Before he could run to help him however, that one clone dashed at him faster than he could even see, wrapping its hooves around his neck and throwing him to the ground. Not giving the shocked unicorn a chance to recover, the Itachi clone slammed his hoof into the ponies knee from the side, cracking the joint instantly.

Night Shine was in shock; they had hardly begun fighting, and in just minutes, this pony had easily taken on several members including himself with ease. Angered, he quickly shot out a stream of magic, which was luckily fast enough to strike the second clone, forcing it to disappear. His victory however was cut short when the other clone swung a hoof around and struck him in the back of the neck, knocking him out instantly.

Luna winced as she saw the quick mix of events play out in front of her. The sound of her soldiers scream out in pain, seeing them easily overwhelmed by this dark pony. Her blood began to boil as she turned, glaring back at the real Itachi standing in front of her. "How dare thou hurt my guards!"

"Your guards were interfering with the fight between us..." Itachi coldly stated. "I would have preferred it they had stayed out of it from the beginning."

The lunar princess bared her teeth in anger. "Whatever your goal in our world is, I will not allow it to continue any longer!" Bursting off the ground, she swung her head forward and released an arc of magic.

Itachi jumped to the right to evade the incoming swinging aura, landing on a rock and jumped off it towards the princess. Pulling out another Kunai, he brought it forward to strike, but was caught off guard as a column of Earth exploded up from beneath him and made impact with his midsection. Luna forced the column higher up as it lifted her opponent, preparing to slam him back down and-

Itachi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What!?" Luna gasped. She couldn't believe that was a clone too, since... "No."

Flipping back to her soldiers, she saw the other clone standing there, but realized it was never a clone; that was the real Itachi. Somehow when making his shadow clones, he mixed himself into the group in such a smooth motion that she was unable to even see it. "His skill is beyond that of the other pony I have ever fought." Luna said to herself.

Itachi stared at her, almost as if to taunt her at showing his pure talent in deception. Being placed as a captain to the secret police in his old village, the Anbu Black ops at just thirteen years old, Itachi was perhaps one of the most skilled shinobi in secret and stealth combat in his time. Sighing, he brought out another Kunai blade from his sleeve. "It appears that you have failed to see a simple shadow clone trick, princess. Due to your mistake, your guards will suffer that fate."

"No!" Luna screamed out, but it was to no use as Itachi slashed Whiplash across the neck. Blood squirted out as the pony thrashed about in agony, desperately trying to stop the flow but to no avail. Luna tried to run forward, but to her shock, she was frozen. Her legs were stiff as a board and would not budge no matter how hard she tried to move. "Wh-what's going on!?"

She glanced down at her body, And in shock noticed how her hooves her actually locked into the ground, stone locked on her fur and keeping her body in place. "What? When did he do this?" She mumbled in utter confusion. Looking back up, Luna stared as Itachi turned his attention to the next helpless guard.

"Now Luna, watch as you are the cause of their deaths."

The screams of the other night guards rang out into the night as Itachi shoved his blade into them as well, sending a tremor of pain into Luna's heart. She was helpless here, doing nothing while her guards were being slaughtered in front of her. But as she tried to move again, she found it impossible to go and help them. All she could do watch in complete torment while all three of them slowly bled out, their life trickling into the dirt beneath them. It was like a living nightmare that Luna was having, unable to do anything while-

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'A nightmare...' The princess whispered to herself. She then looked back up to Itachi, who simply stared right back at her. She then looked down at her hooves, and remembered how he never did a technique for this in the entire time they fought. Not only that, but she realized she had never felt the stone grab onto her until she actually saw it. "Something's wrong..." She whispered to herself.

At first Luna was horrified at the events unfolding, but the more the analyzed her surroundings, she felt something was... Off. Whatever she was experiencing, it was a similar feeling that she has seen for her entire life. Nightmares that ponies cannot escape from.

All inside the mind.

'This isn't real...' She said to herself, 'it's an illusion.' She then realized this was the same technique he had used when she tried to strike him earlier; a power which warps the mind into believing something else is happening even though it is not. Almost like hypnosis, but much stronger. Luna then put everything together.. 'This is like the powers of nightmares over the subconscious, something I can manipulate.'

Closing her eyes, Luna concentrated and focused her magic into her horn. The next instant, a thin wave of aura pulsed outward, surrounding the princess in magic and clearing the dark energy inside of her head. After a moment, she reopened her eyes to see the stone at her hooves had disappeared. Glancing back up, she still saw Itachi standing with the injured guards, but to her relief they were all alive. Smiling she trotted towards her foe. "It seems your power also involves tricking my mind. Very clever, but I can see through it now."

Itachi's eyes opened slightly in surprise, noticing she wasn't under his power anymore 'She can break through genjutsu? Impossible.' In his time as a shinobi, he hadn't come across a person who could simply break through genjutsu by simply trying to fight it. Overtaking the mind, genjutsu cast a powerful illusion over the senses, taking control of the conscious and subconscious to create scenarios and feelings that are not real. With powerful enough use, ones mind can break from the stress it puts over it. While he hadn't used the tsukuyomi, his genjutsu was far beyond that of most shinobi, and only other high level genjutsu users could counter it.

The akatsuki member looked down to the injured guards at his hooves, then back up to the princess. He had hoped after taking out the simple guards, using a genjutsu trick on the princess, he could easily torment her mind to the point where she didn't have the will to fight anymore. This change had made it more interesting for himself. "You have the ability to counteract the effects of genjutsu. I never expected that to ever occur in a place like this."

"I am the princess of the night, and therefore I am dutied into overseeing the dreams of my ponies. The mind is a powerful object, and I have seen and felt the effects when something like this enters a ponies life. Now, while I could go on talking about my powers, I would rather punish you for the actions that have been done!" Pumping her wings, she burst off the dirt directly at him.

Itachi blankly stared at the approaching princess, his Mangekyo sharingan eyes shining bright in the night. "I must say princess, you are truly different than the others I have seen here. From what I have seen, you have the power that could easily be within our organization... If you weren't so eager to rush into combat to die."

Luna felt a nerve jump at those words, sending a sense of worry through her. Just to be cautious, she halted her approach and landed on the ground to keep some space between him and her. Taking a deep breath, Luna eyed the Uchiha cautiously for any sign of an attack. From what she had seen so far, his agility was far beyond any pony she had ever seen before. To rush in like she was just doing would certainly be foolish of her. He could easily be waiting to throw a counterstrike her way when she wasn't expecting it. "So, your ways of speaking to others are quite interesting. You assault my soldiers with no remorse of pain, and yet you give me praise for countering your evil magic. And you even warned me about a foolish tactic in fighting. Why?"

The dark stallion sighed as he used his hoof to brush out part of his mane that fell in front of his eyes. "I was giving you credit for your ability to fight me for this long. Your guards lack the necessary skill to challenge me in any form of combat. You however contain quite a unique talent I haven't seen in a long time. And I warned you since I see it disappointing when talent is wasted upon beings that don't know how to use it. However..." His cold eyes lifted up to her direction, "Whether I warned you or not, the results will be the same. No level of power you possess is near enough to be considered in my league."

In a small amount of truth, he was actually surprised at her ability to counter the few combo attacks he had thrown at her. Not only that, her strange power was also able to counter his genjutsu, something he has not experienced since he could remember. The alicorns speed and trained magic easily balancing with his in this fight.

So far.

Konan's heart and Pain's words

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Back in Canterlot, Konan dropped down to the ground from the air as Midnight Blossom followed quickly behind. The bat pony forced her wings to her side to increase her speed to close the gap between herself and her target. "Don't think you can escape from us!" She yelled out in anger.

Flipping her gaze back, Konan frowned at seeing how close her pursuer was. Her hooves made contact with the street below before kicking off again moments before the mares long claws slashed down her back. The female akatsuki member skidded to a stop and flipped around to face the guard once again. "Please listen to me, I don't want to fight you."

"You got some strange ways of trying to chat..." Midnight growled as she stood up, "Maybe you should have tried to talk before you and your friends attacked our city!"

"I can explain everything if you just listen to me." Konan wanted to try and avoid any conflict that she could at this point, but the look in the mares eyes walking her way didn't show any sign of simple talking. Deep in her bright irises, Midnight showed a pool of anger rising to the surface. The sight of her home being assaulted was causing her emotions to be ignored, and now she was reacting on instinct. To get the one that did this damage to Canterlot.

Standing on her hind legs again, Midnight scraped her blades together like earlier, reactivating the lightning power in her horseshoes. The bright bolts of electricity danced along the length of the claws, illuminating the bright eyes of the wielder. "How about you sit still and let me shove these down your throat!"

Bursting off the ground, the female guard launched at Konan with her hooves forward. She slashed at the akatsuki member over and over, who was able to evade the arcing paths of lightning. The cream colored Pegasus ducked and dipped around the incoming attacks, an internal urge to use her jutsu to fight back, but she fought back the feeling to her own choice. If she could. she was going to do whatever it took to not harm any of the ponies here. That urge was becoming difficult however as her eyes caught movement to her right.

The unicorn Flash Shot appeared through his teleportation right next to the engaged females. His horn conjured a bright ball of magic and concentrated his magic to the tip before pulsing in quick two flash intervals. Midnight grinned when she saw the glowing sphere on her comrades head, quickly breaking off from her scuffle and flying up to the air. The bat pony put her right claws and ran it along her left foreleg and tapped her other claws three times.

Konan caught note of the sign the bat pony gave her partner, making her nerves on edge to what was happening. Turning back towards the unicorn, she quickly jumped up into the air as a large ball of magic shot her direction, detonating and blowing out a section of the building behind her. Flash Shot quickly teleported to the roof of the building above Konan to give himself the higher advantage. As fast as he could, he shot two small volleys of magic beams down at Konan, who had to quickly bank upward and away from the face of the structure. Seeing his chance, Flash created another large sphere of magic above his head, this one over three feet wide.

Konan's eyes went wide as ball rushed through the air faster than she could anticipate. Unable to dodge this one, she realized she would have to counter it with her own power. Throwing her hooves to her side, her arms began to separate into her paper jutsu. As the ball came closer, she lifted her arms up to-

Poof!

The magic sphere burst outward, revealing Cloud Dasher coming out from the center. "What!?" Konan gasped in shock.

The white Pegasus brought his spear above his head and thrust it downward at Konan. Putting her arms out and forming a wall of paper above herself, stopping the tip of the spear from reaching her. Quickly spinning around, Flash jabbed the blunt end of his spear under the patch of paper to catch her in the chest. Solidifying her hoof, Konan blocked the incoming staff and pushed it down. Hitting it down however forced the tip up and above, allowing him to whip it down and slash across her cheek.
Wincing in pain, Konan kicked out against her attacker, striking him in the chest and getting away from him. The golden plated Pegasus grunted and brought his spear to his side and thrust it forward, making his staff separate again and launch down at the retreating Konan. Ducking down, she yelped out as the spear caught the end of her hair bun and ripped the the tie out, causing her hair to fly out in a wild mess. Flapping her wings, she steadied herself to catch her breath, allowing her hair to fall down to her shoulders.

Looking forward, Konan watched as Cloud Dasher whipped his spear up and reformed his spear. Flying up behind him was Midnight Blossom, the bat pony flicking her wrists several times which caused her claws to jingle. Directly below them was the final member of their triple unit, his horn glowing and lighting up the street. The akatsuki member sighed as she brought a hoof up to wipe away blood that leaked from the cut on her cheek. 'This is becoming too difficult to handle like this...' She mumbled to herself, 'how am I supposed to get through this without trying to hurt them?'

The entire time since she met the Trifecta, Konan couldn't really consider it a fight. The entire time she was on the defensive because she didn't want to hurt them. It was still a confusion to her... Why was she so concerned with the lives of these ponies? They didn't mean anything to her, and yet she couldn't bring herself to take them down. She had taken down dozens of shinobi in her world with no concern for their lives, but now this squad was causing her heart to turn over on itself.

What was amazing to Konan was the unit she was fighting was... Almost identical to a squad in her world. Two males and a female, just like this one. The way they fought with each other, the coordinated attacks and techniques they used together in such a fluid way that they had to be close. The use of signals to plan out strikes like Flash Shot teleporting Cloud Dasher in the mix of his blasts to catch her off guard. It was something that truly amazed the akatsuki member... Reminding her back when she was younger, training alongside her two comrades. One with orange spiked hair, and the other with straight red hair, his rinnegan showing under his bangs. "Yahiko... Nagato." She whispered to herself.

Cloud Dasher stared at Konan in curiosity, noting the spaced out look on her face. Looking back to Midnight, he shifted his head back towards their target, signaling her to cut off an exit. Nodding, she flapped her wings and positioned herself to the backside of Konan. "Hey, how about you just quit this act of yours and just roll on over like a good dog you are." Midnight snapped.

"Enough..." Cloud Dasher ordered, shooting a stern glare her direction before looking back at Konan. "I will give you one last warning. Surrender and give yourself up to the royal guard, or we will bring you down."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Konan floated her gaze back up to the leader. "Do you not have any intention of allowing me to speak to explain my reasoning?"

"If you want to talk in any way, give yourself up and let us take you into custody." Cloud Dasher spun his spear in his grip. "If you don't, you won't be speaking pretty soon."

After a moment, Konan's gaze lowered to her usual calm yet blank look she had when arriving in this world. Her body began shifting in a mass of paper, increasing the size of her wings to over ten feet across. The shape changed as well, moving from normal Pegasus wings to what appeared to be... Angel wings. She looked around to the confused looks of the guards around her, her hooves rising up to head level preparing for battle. "I am sorry to say, but I don't think I can do that."

Midnight bared her teeth and raised her claws up. "I guess I won't have to bring the cuffs out then!"

As the bat pony took off through the air, Cloud Dasher noticed the small flick in Konan's wrist, releasing several pieces of paper into the air. His eyes went wide realizing exactly what she was doing. "Midnight, fall back! She's setting you up!" His warning went on deaf ears as she continued forward, her claws ready to strike.

Spinning her body around, Konan threw her hooves forward and released a large wave of paper at the now shocked bat pony. The jutsu rushed towards Midnight at unreal speed, almost making her stumble her flight pattern before she steadied herself. Slicing down, Midnight cut right through the wave, but was caught off guard as Konan charged her through the opening, a paper spear floating by her head. Not having time to dodge it, she could only gasp in shock as the weapon thrust forward at her head, until a sudden mass slamming into her side pushed her out of the way.

Wincing from the sudden force at her body, Midnight turned her head to see Cloud Dasher gripping her around the waist as he flew. "She was waiting for you to strike, Midnight. Don't be so eager to fight." He grunted as he let go of her.

Midnight sighed, but before she could respond Konan charged them again, her large wings pushing her faster than she moved before.

Preparing themselves, Cloud took his spear out and held onto the end of it while spinning it, the staff separated once again and whipped around in a long chain to hit the incoming Pegasus. Flipping forward, Konan's wings knocked the incoming spear tip away and shot another blast of paper at the two guards. Pulling his staff back, Cloud tucked his wings in and dropped below the incoming stream, but from beneath him another large patch of paper wrapped around his lower body and wrapped him like a mummy and restricting his flight.

As Cloud fell through the sky, Flash Shot quickly used his magic to catch his captain from hitting the ground. Settling him down, The unicorn knelt down by the confined Pegasus. "Captain, you alright?"

The white Pegasus thrashed several times to wiggle free, but the paper around him held tight. " I can't get free."

Using his magic, Flash attempted to rip off the paper, but to his shock it was resisting his power, as if it was infused with its own type of magic. "What is this stuff?"

Crashing down on the ground next to them, Midnight kicked off the ground to get out of the way of the incoming Konan. Gritting her teeth, she slashed forward again and created an arc of lightning from her claws and launched it at the akatsuki member, but it was useless as Konan hit her hoof into the ground and summoned a ball of paper to form around her and block the lightning from striking her. In a blast, the jutsu launched out and struck Midnight, striking her against a wall with enough force to knock her helmet off. As she yelped out in pain, her forelimbs were wrapped in paper and stuck to her sides against the brick.

Flash Shot watched in shock as his other comrade was incapacitated in a matter of seconds by this strange pony. His blood boiled in anger as he watched Konan casually use her hoof to brush out some of her hair out of her face. His horn glowed bright, illuminating the designs on his helmet. "You think you can get away with this? You already attacked the city and now have resisted arrest."

"I asked you to give me a chance to explain myself and you simply attacked." Konan mumbled as her jutsu wrapped her hair back up into a bun. "And about you claiming that I am a truly dangerous being, yet I haven't harmed any of you."

"Really? How about that spear or whatever the heck that was you made and tried to stab me!?" Midnight yelled out from her spot on the wall. "Get her Flash. Fry her up like a piece of toast!"

Flash was hesitant at trying to fight this strange pony, but as he saw her clasp her hooves together as a current of paper passed around herself, he panicked and shot out a blast of magic and struck her in the chest. To his shock Konan burst into mass of papers, the pieces of parchment floating to the ground. Before he could even contemplate, he felt a hoof to the back of his head, causing his breath to catch in his throat. "H-how?" He whispered, turning his head to see Konan staring right at him.

"If I really was a threat, why have I held back this entire time?" Konan whispered in a stern , yet almost blank tone. "I never tried to strike a single fatal blow to you or your friends." She turned her gaze to the two trapped ponies. "You fight well with each other, all of you look after one another in your squad."

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Swallowing the lump in his throat, Flash wanted to try and catch her off guard, but there was a part of him thinking back to what he saw; This pony did have the skill to take them out at anytime, never actually fighting back until they were in a position to be rescued by each other. She was keeping them in positions to not hurt them, and he wanted to know for what reason.

Deactivating his magic, Flash took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright then, you want to talk? Let's talk then."

Seeing she was finally in the clear, Konan stepped back from him and followed that by waving her hoof. The paper that was holding down both Cloud Dasher and Midnight began breaking apart, freeing them from their restraints. The captain crawled up from his spot, perplexed with what was happening. "You are just going to let us go like that?" His eyes looked over to Midnight as she crouched her legs to charge again. "Midnight, stand down!" He ordered.

The bat pony shot a glare to her captain. "Sir, after everything she has done, you are going to-

"What she has done is let us live. If she wanted us dead she would have just killed us." Cloud retorted as he stood up and faced the akatsuki member. "Who are you?"

Nodding, the cream Pegasus sat down to seem as least threatening as possible. "My name is Konan."

Levitating a large boulder off the ground, Celestia launched it towards Pain with all her strength. The stone rushed through the air directly at the pale unicorn, but he simply sat still as the giant rock came within touching distance before the boulder collided with his jutsu. The stone shattered from the force of the shockwave, the chunks of stone falling to the ground in a heaping pile of rubble. The pierced unicorn lifted his cold eyes up to look at the princess. "Your attempts to stop me are futile, princess. Just give me the beast Discord now."

"Never." Celestia grunted in anger. Her magic travelled behind to the broken wall, ripping off a section over forty feet wide and lifting it up. Ponies all around gasped at the sight of power, knowing that must have weighed over three hundred tons. Clenching her teeth, she through the giant mass forward at the akatsuki member. "Your power must have a limit to it. I will figure it out." Celestia whispered to herself .

While Celestia was hoping to succeed with her idea, Pain didn't even budge as the wall came closer towards him. "Hmph, foolish." He mumbled.

His shockwave rushed out from his body, striking the incoming stone like a freight train and shattering it to pieces. Celestia's jaw dropped slightly from the sight. "How... How can he be so powerful?"

When she took note that Pains ability had a small window of time until it could be used again, she couldn't set up an attack that could correctly tell the exact length of the duration. He was constantly changing up the types of attacks he was throwing at her, whether it be a shockwave or a boulder thrown at her. Having to remember about his black rods he threw at her was another problem to keep in mind as well. He could tell she was attempting to solve his power, so Pain was making sure that she could not analyze his technique properly.

Another problem she was facing was the repulse technique he had itself. No matter what she was using, magic, stone or perhaps an entire building, there didn't seem to be any limit to what was reflected by his power. Not only that, but the range of his technique seemed as if it did not have an end to how much it could be used. Most power still drains a ponies body, and must be stopped to allow the user to rest , and yet Pain continued without visible stress onto his body. "I can't fight much longer in the city like this. He will destroy the entire area if we keep this this up."

Stepping towards the princess, Pain's rinnegan pierced her soul and causing her to shudder. "You fight to protect your kind from a world of pain. It is foolish of you. Pain will always exist."

"I do not understand your reasonings..." Celestia said, "how can you justify your actions by saying we are suffering? Our home was at peace until you came here."

"No world is at peace until it knows the true meaning of pain. Your world is no exception to this. Love breeds jealousy, jealousy breeds-

"None of this is relevant to our home!" Celestia snapped, "We do not kill for jealousy, or for whatever ideas of hatred you think we possess. It is because we do not have that."

Pain tilted his head in annoyance to her rambling, reminding him of that yellow haired boy from the Hidden Leaf. The jinjuriki he had captured which happened to be another student of his fallen master. Like him, this child continued to ramble about finding peace through kindness, something that had proven time and time again was impossible in the shinobi world. 'Naruto Uzimaki.' He mumbled to himself.

"Whatever you think you are trying to prove through this attack of yours, it is completely useless. I do not know of the world you came from, but however violent or cruel it was, I assure you this place is nothing like it. Just stop this and-

"Shut up."

Celestia gasped as the ground in front of Pain ripped up from the ground and launched at her. Flapping her wings, she quickly flew up above the incoming debris moments before it struck the remaining wall behind her. Panting from panic, she looked back towards Pain as he watched her every move. "So you choose to fight instead of negotiate." She frowned at his display of action. "You truly are not one for peace."

"Words are useless when it comes to peace." Pain blankly said, "No matter what one says for peace, they use it for their advantage. I was betrayed into joining with another, one who claimed his goal was to bring balance to our world. His words were all lies however , setting us up to remove us from his path. He forced me to kill my best friend or the death of my other friend would come."

Celestia sat quiet while hovering in the air, listening to his past. While she was hesitant to believe him, she did however sense he was telling the truth. She didn't know why , but she could just sense it. "You were put into a situation of choice. One life or the other."

"In the end, the life of my friend was taken from me, and I had to save my other after we were betrayed once again. Once I experienced the true meaning of Pain, I discovered the way to peace." Slipping from his sleeve was another black rod clutched in his hoof. "No matter what you believe, peace is only obtained through pain."

Glaring, Celestia conjured her sword once again. "Whatever ideals you think are for peace, they will not be used in my home!"

Charging through the air, the princess swung were sword at Pain with all her strength. The akatsuki member raised his hoof up and countered with his own weapon, clashing against hers with a bright flash. The two struck at each other several times before Celestia shot a blast of magic forward, which once again was repelled by his jutsu. Kicking off the ground, he rushed at Celestia with his weapon thrusting at her chest. Quickly dipping to the side, the princess swung her wing forward to strike him off guard, but he was already prepared with a second rod in his other hoof. Shocked, she tried to focus her magic to make a shield, but was already too late.

The steel pierced the top of her swinging wing, easily cutting through her flesh. Screaming out, she tried to jump back, but Pain had quickly put his hoof to her chest, followed by another repulse push at point blank range. Celestia was catapulted through the air and slammed into the crushed wall behind, her body having enough force to break through the stone. Before she could even fall to the ground, a thrown rod pierced through her right wing and pinning her to the wall.

"Princess!" Rarity and the others screamed out in fear.

Celestia gasped for air as she sat against the stone. Blood dripped from her mouth from her teeth tearing the inside of her lips. Her breathing caused her pain, several broken ribs from the impact of his attack so close to her. Not to mention the weapon that was sticking her to the stone that was causing agonizing pain to her wing. She tried to move up, but the pressure to her wing made her yell out. She looked up in fright to Pain as he made his way towards her.

"You had no chance against me, Princess. Now, you will experience the true meaning of Pain." Before he came any closer though, a purple blast of magic shot by his face, almost catching him if it weren't for a quick dodge backwards. He turned to see something he did not expect. "So , you wish to fight as well."

Confused , Celestia forced herself up to see who was the one that helped her, but when she did, she wished they hadn't. "No..."

Her horn glowing bright, Twilight was crouched down, her eyes burning with anger towards Pain. "You will not hurt the princess anymore!"

Author's Note

................

To Accept Pain, to Know Pain

From her spot against the walls, Celestia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her own student was attempting to challenge Pain. "Twilight, what are you doing!? There is no way that you can stop him!"

Twilight didn't even look over to her mentor at hearing those words, because she knew it was true; she saw the power this pony had, and her magic wasn't even close to that level. She however didn't care, because the sight of her good friend and princess hurt caused her blood to boil. Even if it was impossible, she was willing to fight to protect Celestia. Her horn shot out several sparks as she focused her magic, pointing it straight at Pain. "I said to leave her alone!" She shouted out.

Looking at her in curiosity, Pain turned to face this new young opposer. "Do you hate me? Do you feel hatred in your heart?"

"Yes, I do hate you right now..." Twilight growled at him, "You hurt the princess, my mentor, because you are evil. I won't let you touch her again!"

"Twilight, what are you doing!?" Spike yelled out in fear, "you can't fight him. If the princess got hurt against him, you surely will!"

"Spikes right, don't do this Twi!" Applejack pleaded, "Ah don't wanna see you get hurt!"

Even with her friends calling out, Twilight shook her head in defiance. "I can't just sit by while this pony does what he wants. If he wants to hurt the princess or anypony else, he is going to have to go through me!"

The young mares words rang out across the courtyard, reaching the ears of the group of guards who were watching the battle. While they were scared as well, seeing this one pony willing to stand up against Pain gave them a boost of courage. Yelling out in unison, several guards ran forward and positioned themselves in front of Celestia. While this act seemed great that they were standing up against this threat, the princess was terrified at the thought; she knew the power Pain had, and she knew Twilight and the others couldn't even compare to the amount of raw strength he possessed. Not wanting to sit here anymore, she used her magic, wincing as she slowly started to pull out the rod that held her against the stone.

Glancing between the guards and Twilight , Pain sighed at the display before him. This one unicorn mare was going to risk her life for a pony she found dear to her. She was going to allow love to take control of her actions and determine what she does, something he had just seen at the hidden leaf village. That one young girl who jumped in front of him and attempted to stop him from taking the jinchuuriki from the village. That foolish girl believed she was doing the right thing, but in fact she was demonstrating the very idea he was talking about.

Pain looked over to Twilight, his Rinnegan shining through the night. "Do you hate me? Do you believe this will solve the source of pain in the world ?"

"I honestly don't understand all of your crazy ideas of peace like you do..." Twilight responded, "you say you want peace, and yet you are hurting ponies for your demand for Discord. We did live in peace, and I won't let you ruin that anymore!"

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Pain sighed at her words. "You think you're the only ones who matter. You think you can put off death. But that peace made you foolish and thoughtless. If you kill someone, someone else will kill you… this hatred binds us together. I want you to feel pain, to think about pain, to accept pain, to know pain."

Erupting out from Pain was a shock wave rushing at Twilight. The young mare quickly focused her magic and teleported to her right, just outside of the incoming attack. As fast as she could, Twilight shot off a beam of magic at her foe, but her speed wasn't fast enough as Pain easily dodged her blast. The other guards rushed forward, swinging their swords forward in an attempt to impale the Akatsuki member. After several unsuccessful swings, one of the Pegasi rushed in to tackle Pain, but was catapulted backwards as another repulse erupted out.

As Celestia slowly pulled the rod out from her wing, she screamed out slightly as she felt part of her muscle strain from the metal. While she did her best to gently pull out the object, she was also keeping an eye on the battle happening, knowing something had to show soon. 'He has to have some weakness to his ability.' She whispered to herself. 'There is a time gap between attacks, and he can't hide it perfectly. So far... It's been one second.'

The two remaining guards and Twilight all rushed in at the same time to try to overwhelm Pain. The pegasi and unicorn guard got to him first, both swinging their swords downward at him, which Pain countered with another black rod in his hoof.

'Two seconds.' Celestia counted to herself.

As Pain was holding off the two guards, Twilight tried to shoot a beam of magic at his side, but Pain was too quick for her as he overpowered the guards and shoved them forward, just dodging the blast by a few inches. Swinging his free hoof up, Pain landed a powerful uppercut to the Pegasi guard and sent him flying back, allowing him to focus his attention to the unicorn. His chakra rod lashed out and clashed against the guards sword, and after another hit, he shattered the weaker steel and impaled the pony through the chest. Celestia gasped at another guard struck down, but she knew she had to get out from the wall.

'Three seconds.'

Seeing the guard struck down sent a chill up Twilight's spine, but her fear would have to wait as Pain rushed at her with his hoof rushing at her face. Panicking, she jumped back and formed a shield between herself and the incoming Akatsuki member. Pains hoof collided with the magenta barrier, making him step back as he stared blankly at it. "An amusing power of yours, although it won't be of any use against me." He quickly flipped around and grabbed onto the incoming Pegasus by his right wing and yanked him down to the ground. Stomping down on it, the guard screamed out as his wing snapped in the center. Pain quickly silenced his cries as he slammed a hoof down onto his windpipe.

Celestia's heart rate was through the roof as she watched the guard gasp out from the stomp on the throat. The sight of her soldiers being killed in front of her made her sick that she wasn't doing anything to help now. Gritting her teeth, she focused her magic and pulled harder at the rod deep in her wing.

'Four seconds.'

Stepping off of the twitching soldier, Pain turned his attention towards Twilight, slowly trotting to the trembling mare. "You believe doing this will prevent pain. There will always be pain." Opening his eyes wider, a shockwave blasted out from his horn and shattered the shield as if nothing was there.

'There!' Celestia screamed in her head as she saw the opening in his power. 'Five seconds. That is how long it takes for him to use his ability agai- "AH!"

The princess gasped as the rod pulled against a deep muscle in her wing. Shaking her head, she lifted her face up as she yelled out. "Twilight, he can use his power five seconds after it is activated. That is the opening in his power.’

Pain looked back at the trapped princess, his cold eyes staring at the alicorn. "Hmph, so you used the lives of your soldiers to obtain the knowledge of my power. While you may have accomplished that, it is completely useless still." He slowly turned back to the frightened mare before him. "She will experience pain."

Twilight's eyes went wide as Pain charged at her once again. Jumping back , she tried her best to dodge the incoming punches from him, but his speed was far greater than hers. Pain’s hoof connected with the side of her chest, immediately knocking the wind out of her and causing her to cough out. Reacting on instinct, she teleported behind him, but as soon as she reappeared she was struck by another shockwave from Pain and catapulted across the yard.

"Twilight!" Fluttershy screamed in fear of her friend rolling to a stop on the ground.

"Hey you big meanie! You leave her alone now!" Pinkie yelled out angrily at Pain. "Why don't you pick on somepony your own size?!"

Crawling off the ground, Twilight panted to catch her breath, but her chest hurt and caused her trouble inhaling. She shook her head to clear her foggy vision as she caught sight of Pain walking towards her. She wanted to run, but her body wasn't responding to her demands. She was too afraid to do anything now.

Pain stopped until he stood directly above the terrified unicorn, his cold eyes gazing down at her. "Now do you understand the consequences of your actions? You seeked justice against me through vengeance. If you kill someone, someone else will kill you. Hatred is restarted in a never ending cycle of death, and death comes to all.

"No! Twilight!" Celestia screamed out from her spot. Ignoring the risk of her injury, she pulled with all her strength and ripped the rod out of her wing with a loud plop. Now that she was free, she stood up as fast as she could and ran towards her student. "Twilight, get away now!" But her call came to late as she watched Twilight lifted high into the air. "No..."

Tumbling helplessly above the street, Twilight could hardly think straight as she spun forty feet in the air. Pain watched her float for several moments before pulled his hoof down, followed by Twilight pulled out of the sky and slamming into the street.

Kicking off the dirt, Luna blasted out a large stream of magic at Itachi as he clasped his hooves together. Just before her attack reached him, a ball of fire shot out from his mouth and collided with her strike and caused both to go off in a small explosion. Charging through the cloud of smoke, Itachi brought his right hoof forward to punch the princess in the face, which she quickly blocked with one of her wings. Pushing up onto his other forehoof, the Akatsuki member flipped his body forward and brought his back legs overhead to strike Luna from above. Quick to react, her other wing stretched up and stopped his kick.

Grunting out, Luna pushed out and shoved the Uchiha back. 'He really is good...' She whispered to herself as she watched him pull something out of his sleeve. Flying back a few dozen feet, the princess eyed him cautiously on what he was using next. 'His speed is so balanced with his skill; it's as if he really isn't a pony at all.'

Slipping out the weapon, Itachi slipped his hoof into the hole at the end of the foot long black blade. In a quick flick of his wrist the strange weapon opened up all the way, revealing it to be a massive four blades shuriken. Bringing his foreleg back he threw the weapon forward, it's spinning frame whipping through the air as it rushed at the princess. Catching the shuriken with her magic, Luna threw the shinobi star back at its owner who easily ducked under the rotating blades. Charging forward again, Itachi pulled out another Kunai. "Do you believe you can continue on forever like this, princess?" He calmly asked while running forward.

"I can fight as long as I need to!" She shouted out in determination as she conjured her magic sword. Pumping her wings at her side, Luna burst forward as she swung her sword at his body, countered by the Kunai in his mouth again.

The two engaged in a quick flurry of swipes at each other, their weapons clashing against the other. As Luna slashed down at Itachi, he knocked the sword to the right and charged her front on. As she brought her sword around again, he twisted his head sideways and grazed his Kunai across the edge of her blade and jumped forward and over her, landing behind the princess. Dropping the Kunai into his hoof, Itachi spun around to the still turned alicorn to deliver the finishing blow, but was stifled as a sword Luna had hidden under her wing shot backwards and pierced his chest.

Turning her head around, Luna glared at the injured form of Itachi, his mouth trickling blood out of the corners. "Thou believed I didn't have my own tricks of my own?" She sternly asked him.

"So... You really are talented Luna..." Itachi slowly responded, "I am surprised at how well trained in combat you are. You would have made a fine shinobi."

"I shall take that as a compliment. And you fight well also..." Luna shut her eyes and sighed, "...for a fake." She grunted in frustration. Opening her eyes again, she looked to her right and confirmed her suspicion.

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The real Itachi was standing off to the side, his bright eyes burning through the night. Luna turned back to the Itachi she was fighting, watching it break apart into dozens of crows and fly up into the air around her. Deactivating her blades, she stood up and brushed the dirt off of her coat. "So you decided to use that illusion trick again."

"Indeed. I was hoping to end this struggle of yours without having to continue this useless scuffle, but it seems you are much too stubborn for that." Itachi replied.

Luna gritted her teeth in frustration. This was the third time she had believed to really be fighting him, yet like every time before, her magic sensed the genjutsu placed over her. Breaking its hold over her, she would try to engage him again, but it seemed she couldn't really fight him. The scenarios of his powers were so real it was hard for her to sense what was real or not until several minutes , or what seemed like minutes, passed by and her power caught sight of the jutsu.

While Luna and Itachi could see what was happening between each other, Zetsu saw how Itachi did fight against the guards before facing the princess one on one. Now however, the two seemed to just stand idly facing each other, talk for a few moments before standing still again. "What's going on? They are just standing there." The white half asked curiously.

The black half, much wiser than his counterpart, knew exactly what was happening. "They are engaged in battle with the other, but it's a fight we can't see."

White Zetsu's eye opened wide in realization of the sight before him. "Wait, do you mean Itachi has trapped her in genjutsu? Then the fight should be over."

"No, that is what confuses me." Black Zetsu responded, "That pony is actually countering Itachi's genjutsu."

"What? How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure. Genjutsu is not something that I thought these ponies would ever be able to fight against, yet she is resisting the effects. It's as if she has a similar ability to it."

"Amazing, to find one of the creatures here that has the power to fight against genjutsu… especially from Itachi."

"Yes it is..." The black half stated as he eyed Luna in amazement. "She especially is something of interest. To kill Kakazu as fast as she did along with her power against Itachi. Perhaps she could be of use to us."

The interesting part was Itachi was thinking the same thing as Zetsu. He could see the power that Luna possessed was far beyond anything else he had seen in this world so far. While she wasn't Discord and he couldn't compare the two in power, she was just what was needed for their plan; powerful creatures to obtain for return to their world. This also meant he would have to capture her alive and bring her back to the meeting place. 'If I can end this now, perhaps I can also get back to my home sooner' he thought to himself. Before he could go step forward though, a sudden tingling crawled up in his chest.

Bringing his foreleg up, Itachi coughed up several times into his fur. After he finally stopped, he pulled his hoof away and looked down to the small patch of blood that accumulated there. Taking several deep breaths, he shut his eyes and lowered his head down in disappointment. He could feel his illness growing stronger, slowly growing day by day. He knew it was coming close to when it would spread too far, so he had to make sure he was back to his own world as soon as possible. He had to die by one set of hands, and one set of hands only. 'I will not stop here. I will return home.'

Reopening his eyes, Itachi returned his gaze back towards the blue alicorn. "Perhaps you are ready to actually continue this time."

"I would prefer that yes. Using this trick of yours, you can watch what kind of techniques I use when fighting inside that illusion." Luna grunted in frustration. "You have been doing that from the beginning and trying to wear me down, haven't you?"

"One that simply rushes into a fight blind will never be successful in the end. To ensure survival, they must learn to analyze every situation possible before trying to do anything." Itachi shifted his weight more onto his back legs as he slipped a hoof into his coat. "While you may be bored of my style, I hate to disappoint you now. Maybe you would like to see exactly what I can do."

Crouching down, Luna prepared herself for what she felt like a real fight now. "I would very much appreciate it then. I was starting to think you weren't willing to actually fight me."

“If you think the death of Kakazu is scaring me, I assure you that is not something I worry about. In fact..." Itachi locked gazes with the princess, his cold eyes bearing down a sight of determination despite the blank expression, "... That makes this even more interesting."

The two combatants sat perfectly still in the open field, the slight breeze gently blowing through their fur. The bright moonlight illuminated their through Luna's bright mane, while seeming to reflect off of Itachi's Mangekyo eyes. Neither seemed to breathe, both waiting for the other to make the first attack and take this fight to the next round. Luna's hoof shifted slightly in the grass to adjust her weight, the grass crunching beneath her hoof almost echoing across the clearing. Then in an instant, everything changed.

Standing up, Itachi flicked both hooves forward and released the shurikens he had hidden through the air. Luna quickly charged her horn and shot off multiple small beams and struck each mid-air before they came close. With such fluid motions, Itachi whipped out more shuriken one after the other and launched them at the princess as she continued to shoot them down. Soon the air between them was a mass of spinning blades clashing against magic blasts so fast that many of the shinobi stars didn't even have the chance to fall to the ground before eight more clashed against each other and spiraled off. After a few moments Luna was having trouble keeping up with the rate he was throwing the Kunai at her. Knowing she had to end this, she formed a small wall of magic in front of her to shield herself and teleported right above Itachi.

Dropping down, the princess spun her body sideways and swung her wings to strike his head, but his sharingan read her movements and allowed him to duck in time as she came to his level. As soon as she landed on the ground, Itachi flipped around and bucked his back right leg out into her body, countered by her right wing. Pushing off her, Itachi preformed a 180 and thrust a Kunai directly at her chest. Luna jumped back just before the knife could pierce her flesh, quickly conjuring another sword and swinging forward to slice him down the center. Tossing his Kunai into his mouth, Itachi lunged forward and met her in the middle, their weapons stifling the other and coming to a stop.

Finally still, time seemed to return to normal after the two seemed to move so fast. Some of the shuriken in the air were still spinning during the change from long to short range fighting before they fell to the ground too. Pushing forward, Luna's sword shook from the pressure of Itachi's dark blade. The two appeared deadlocked in their positions, neither gaining an inch from pushing as the other pushed just as hard. The princess glared at the gray stallion in front of her, truly amazed by how talented he was. Her amazement was changed to shock when a clone of Itachi leaped up into the air from behind him.

"What!?" She gasped out loud, "Another clone?"

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The clone dropped down with a bundle of shuriken in his hooves, throwing all of them at the shocked princess. Shoving forward with the sword, Luna quickly jumped back as the shuriken dug into the ground where she was. Before she had time to fly back however, the clone landed on the ground and burst after her. 'How was he able to create a clone in the middle of that entire attack? Is he really that fast?' She pondered to herself.

Swinging her sword up, Luna easily slashed through the clone and caused it to break apart. Focusing her attention back to Itachi, she saw him spinning another one of the very large shuriken in his hoof before releasing it her direction. Charging her horn she shot a blast of magic and sent the weapon spiraling off to the side, but was not prepared for a second shuriken that was hidden in the shadow of the first flying at her. "A second one!? How is he able to throw them so perfectly to disappear like that!?" She yelled to herself.

Casting a barrier around herself, the shuriken grinded against the magic before dropping to the ground below. Deactivating her magic, Luna charged at her foe while levitating a large rock from the ground. Launching it at him and quickly following it with a beam of magic she was sure to get him this time, but Itachi simply slipped his hoof into his cloak again. Jumping up and backflipping away from her, he threw a bomb tag up to the boulder while putting his hoofs together and shooting a fireball at the blue magic coming to his front. Both of Luna's attacks detonated in bright flashes, large clouds of smoke blocking her sight of Itachi.

Bursting through the smoke came another large shuriken spinning through the air. Not going fall for the same trick twice, Luna shot the one she could see and conjured her sword again in preparation for the second as it came into the moonlight. When it did though, her eyes widened in panic when she noticed the bomb tags attached to the top of each blade. Jumping off the ground, Luna flew up above the shuriken as it spun by below, sighing in relief. Looking up, she hardly had time to scream in shock as Itachi was already in front of her.

Spinning through the air, Itachi landed a powerful kick to the princess’s head and sent her careening down and crashing into the dirt. Luna tried to force herself off the ground, but Itachi's hoof quickly came down and pushed her head back against the dirt. The weight of his body stepped down, pinning her side and wings from moving anywhere. Grunting, she focused her magic in her horn to teleport, but the sudden pressure of his other hoof coming down onto the tip caused her to yell out in pain.

Itachi stared down at her with his cold eyes, her own meeting his in pain and fear. "I warned you that there was no comparison in our power, yet you chose to ignore my words." His voice calmly stated as he moved his hoof further down to the center of her horn. "I am surprised however by your ability to counter my genjutsu. I haven't had that happen in a long time."

Luna could only stare up at him in confusion at what was to happen next, but the sudden increased weight on her horn made her scream out. The cold gaze of the Mangekyo eyed the long appendage out from her forehead as he spoke again. "Your power comes from this horn on you. As long as you have this, it will be trouble for me."

A loud snap rang into the night, followed by the scream of Luna as her horn was broken off.

Author's Note

so, here we have the completed chapter I promised you.

and if you were confused why I deleted the old version? well, some comments between members were... quite heated, so lets wipe the slate clean.

enjoy

Canterlots End and the Power of the Sharingan

Author's Note

This chapter I had to revise, since I realized I somehow missed an entire section of the story with pain. Sorry about that.

Canterlots End and the Power of the Sharingan

Celestia stared up at Pain as he floated in the city, confused to what he was doing up there. She took several steps forward, glaring up to the akatsuki member hovering in place. "Pain, what are you planning right now?"

Cadance looked back and forth between her aunt and Pain, her heart beginning to beat faster in uncertainty. "We should get back to the palace. I feel like something bad is about to happen."

"Cadance, I want you go back inside and take the girls with you." Celestia turned back to Spike and the others huddled together. "They are already scared with what's going on and what happened with Twilight. I will deal with-

"ALMIGHTY PUSH!"

The entire capital of Canterlot was rocked by an enormous explosion in the center of the city. A massive shockwave far bigger than anything before erupted from a single point beneath Pain and expanded outward, ripping apart everything that stood in its path. Buildings were stripped out of the ground and reduced to piles of rubble tumbling through the air. Even the street and the ground beneath that shredded in the intense force rushing out.

Rarity screamed out as the ground shook beneath her hooves, nearly toppling over before catching her balance. "What on Earth is that?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't feel good!" Fluttershy cried out, latching her hooves around Applejacks neck.

Spike wobbled before falling back onto his back, his eyes wide and scared from what felt like an earthquake. "Princess, what is that!?"

Celestia and Cadance couldn't answer him. Their eyes were locked onto the sight which one could only describe as a horrible nightmare.

Inside the city, Cloud Dasher and the other two trifecta members felt the entire street shake beneath them. The captain braced his legs as he looked to the others. "Careful, watch out for falling debris from the buildings!"

"Screw the buildings, it feels like the ground's gonna break out beneath us!" Midnight Blossom flapped her wings to lift her body a few inches off the ground to keep from falling over. "Where did this earthquake come from?"

Before he answered, Flash Shots eyes widened as he looked over to see a giant wall of shrapnel and building rushing right towards them. "That isn't an earthquake Midnight."

Midnights mouth fell open in shock at the gargantuan wave barreling through the buildings as it came, breaking through them like simple piles of gravel. "Wh-what is that!?"

"Flash, get behind me!" Cloud Dasher yelled as he drove his spear into the ground, wrapping his arms around it and squeezing it for all he had. Midnight and Flash Shot reached and latched onto his back as Flash cast a force field around the three of them. Looking back forward, they all felt their bodies tighten in response to the shockwave closing in on them.

"Hold on!"

The dirt and rocks smashed into the magic shield with the force of a train, shoving them so hard that Cloud Dashers spear was immediately ripped out of the street below. Without anything to hold on, the trio was launched along with the current of debris, bouncing and tumbling inside of the barrier. After only a few moments however, their shield shattered from the massive force, leaving them at the mercy of the wreckage they were locked inside.

"All of you stay back!" Celestia yelled out to the ponies and drake behind her. "Cadance, with me now!"

Both Celestia and Cadance charged their horns up, their magic expanding above their heads before releasing simultaneously. Their aura molded together and formed a giant force field stretching outward and covering the main castle behind them. Cadance's knees shook in fear as the incoming wall of crushed buildings rushing at them. "Celestia, I don't think we can-

"We have to try! Hold it!"

The debris crashed into the barrier like a wave against the beach, smashing into it and echoing through the dark night. The two alicorns nearly fell back from the massive impact, feeling the strain on the magic already as it increasingly grew stronger from holding it. Celestia dug her hooves into the ground and pushed her head forward, adding strength to the spell.

"Cadance, don't give in! Stay strong!" She forced out between grunts,

"Cadance, don't give in! Stay strong!" She forced out between grunts.

The girls and Spike cringed and held onto each other under the loud roar of the shockwave pushing into the barrier. The crumbled buildings piled up on the outside of the shield, widening out alongside the castle perimeter. Pinkie pie looked up to the pulsating magic around them, causing a cold chill of fear up her spine.

"This is not fun at all." She whimpered, holding on to her friends.

Struggling to keep her footing, Cadance continued pushing her shield outward to hold back the jutsu. Then, she gasped out as a series of massive cracks began spreading out through the surface of the barrier. "Celestia, it won't hold!"

"Don't give up! Just a little more and-”

Celestia's words were drowned out by the loud crash of their barrier shattering, the shards scattering in the air as the wave of crushed buildings came rushing at the castle. Before she attempt to recast her magic again, Cadance quickly shoved her back and stood against the force herself. "Cadance no!"

Her words went to deaf ears as Cadance’s horn exploded in a blinding light of magic rushing out forward. Both her magic and the Almighty Push collided with a deafening crash, thrusting harder and harder against each other as the loud scream of Cadance rang through the night.

Then... Everything went silent.

Pain slowly lowered himself back to the ground beneath him, his hooves gently touching the dirt. He sighed as he looked down to his leg as he attempted stomping down, seeing nothing come out from it. "Even with this push not as strong as my last one, it will take some time to use it again."

Looking back through the wall of blinding dust, he saw something that truly did surprise him. "For them to be able to do that... Is quite surprising. Perhaps their power may be something I should keep in mind."

Turning his back to the capital, Pain trotted out of the aftermath of his powerful jutsu, his face not even showing a sign of pleasure in the act. "After my chakra recovers, perhaps we should return back here for them."

Several quiet minutes passed before Celestia moved. She coughed up chunks of dirt caught in her throat, wincing as she stood back up to her hooves. She shook her head to clear her dizziness spinning her mind before she could see clearly. When she could however, she felt her heart drop in her chest.

"Wh… What..."

The entire city of Canterlot wasn't even in a state of destruction that seemed recognizable to the eye. Where once sat a sprawling metropolis sat a deep crater over a hundred feet deep, not a single structure or even speck of grass left standing within the interior. Celestia fell to her stomach at the sight of her city decimated like this.

"What... What kind of nightmare is this?" She whispered as she looked to the wall of shattered buildings and rubble on the perimeter of the hole in the ground. Her eyes began growing wet as she felt the pain from not only herself, but to the hundreds of ponies that lost everything they had in their lives.
"Why is this happening to us?" Celestia wiped her eyes with her hoof to rid the tears, only to have new ones pour out right after. She turned her head to see the worst of her fears confirmed, but shot her eyes open to what she saw. "Can it be?"

While the entire city was destroyed from the blast, the main castle of Canterlot was miraculously saved from the Almighty Push. A mountain of rubble lay skewed about to the side of it, almost like it was pushed out of the way. "I... I can't believe it. She stopped it."

Despite the loss of the buildings to the city, Celestia realized the most precious part of Canterlot was saved. She remembered how she had evacuated all ponies out of their homes and into the interior of the castle, meaning that no ponies were killed in the destruction. Even with everything she had just went through, she couldn't help but smile. She turned her neck to see Cadance standing alone, staring at the crater.

"Cadance, you saved us all... Thank you." Celestia stood up and trotted over behind her niece. "Don't grieve over the city. A ponie’s life cannot be replaced, but a home can be rebuilt. And what you did was save everypony here, and that is more important than anything else."

When Cadance didn't respond, Celestia came to her side to comfort her. When she was close enough and saw her face however, Celestia put a hoof to her mouth and whispered. "Oh my gosh...."

Cadance's mouth hung open in an almost lifeless state. Her nose was dripping with blood, trickling down her muzzle and dripping to the ground below. Even her eyes lost all white and were replaced with a deep crimson hue as she stared blankly out to the distance. Then, her legs gave out from beneath her, flopping down to her belly before rolling to her side.

"Cadance!" Celestia screamed as she dropped to her knees, lifting Cadance's head up with her wings. "Cadance get up!"Celestia though knew exactly what was wrong with her.

Magic exhaustion.

When a unicorn or alicorn pushes their magic past the point of both physical and mental limits, it begins going against the user and actually damages them. Celestia, however, had never seen it pushed so far in just one usage.

"Cadance... Why did... I have to get you inside now!" Celestia levitated the bleeding alicorn onto her back and turned back towards the palace. As she trotted along, she glance up at the moon, her eyes focused on the large glowing shape. "Luna... Where are you?"

"Take this!"

Luna grunted out as she shot off a bolt of lightning from her horn at Itachi. Racing through the air, the bolt was on Itachi just as he clapped his hooves together, striking him in the chest and launching him across the grass. Luna smiled triumphantly at her success.

"I can tell that wasn't an illusion again. I won't be falling for that any-

Her words were cut short as Itachi disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to be replaced by another one of his substitution logs. Turning back around she quickly created a small shield just as he brought a Kunai towards her. The steel scraped across her magic, the sparks lighting up the space between the two of them. Jumping back away from each other, both Luna and Itachi landed on the grass in another standstill.

The Lunar princess took several deep breaths trying to regain her composure. Sweat dripped down her forehead in a mix of exhaustion and frustration from her battle with Itachi. To her surprise, Itachi seemed to be suffering from the battling as well, his brow also dripping sweat along with a small trickle of blood out of his mouth. "When did I do that to him?" She questioned herself.

His small injury however didn't give her any hope. Never before had she come across a pony like this before. It was as if she was fighting a pony that rivaled the magical capabilities of Discord. But it was something different. Whatever kind of power he had, it wasn't normal magic. It was something different.

Something not from her world.

Itachi gritted his teeth as he stood back up straight. He knew now that Luna was able to break the tsukuyomi with her strange power, meaning all use of genjutsu was useless for trying to subdue her anymore. The only way he would be able to end this battle was to finish it off with his own power. Sighing, he took several steps in Luna's direction before stopping again.

"You are much stronger than I had anticipated princess. The skills you possess would have easily made you a high level jounin in my world." Itachi said.

"I'm not sure if that should be a good compliment coming from your world." Luna snapped back at him.

"It is one. Being a leader, you could teach others the ways to master their own power, guiding them down the path they should go."

"If it is such a good way of life, why didn't you take that path? Too good for it I assume?"

Luna's words sat with Itachi for a moment, the power of the meaning surprising him. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he looked back up to her, the Mangekyo spinning in his irises. "That path is not one that I was meant to take. Life for me was meant a different way to take, and the actions that I have done have set my fate in place already."

"You already decide your fate before it has even come?" Luna questioned him, a small smirk spreading across her face. "You have to make it to your goal of fate if you wish to experience it."

Music

Lifting his eyebrow in surprise, Itachi slid his hoof into his sleeve once again. "If you honestly assume you'll defeat me, you are mistaken once again."

Launching off the ground, Itachi dashed towards Luna as he whipped out a shadow shuriken and through it through the air. The large star raced towards Luna as she charged her magic, shooting off a large ball of energy big enough to strike both the top one and the shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first. Overpowering both, the magic rushed back at the Uchiha, his hooves clasping together before he slammed one into the ground.

A large dirt wall rose up out from the ground and blocked the incoming magic, a large dust cloud rising up from the explosion. Itachi jumped over the cloud and came dropping down above Luna. Conjuring her dual magic swords again, Luna tried slashing up to catch him as he came down. But to her disbelief, his sharingan read her movements perfectly, giving him the time to dive in between the two swords by just the smallest margin.

Itachi landed on the dirt right in front of his opponent, his front hoof rushing towards her face. Luna tried ducking out of the way, but in a split second he leapt over her and caught her neck with his other passing hoof. His strength easily allowed him to launch the princess across the grass, her body bouncing over the plain before she skidded to a stop.

Luna grunted out in pain as she quickly stood back up, sore from the skipping her form over the grass. Turning back around, she readied herself for Itachi running at her. To her confusion however , he wasn't where he was just a moment ago. "Where'd he go?"

"Fire style: Phoenix flower jutsu."

A barrage of bright fireballs from above made Luna's eyes to wide in shock, the dozens of burning streams careening down towards her. She flapped her wings and took off through the sky, ducking and weaving her way past the first wave of flames. She shot her magic up and countered out the next few that were too close to dodge around, but there were too many to evade completely. Having nothing else to do, she cast out a shield of magic just as seven fireballs closed in on her , the bright explosions of flame lighting up the night.

Itachi ceased the release of his Jutsu at the sight of the detonations, hoping he had finally ended this fight. As he was descending however, he barely had enough time to dodge the triple shadow shurikens whipping by his face, one actually catching him across the shoulder. Wincing at the pain, he brought out a Kunai as Luna barreled through the flames with her sword in tow. The two clashed blades in the air before shoving back against each other as they dropped to the grass.

'She is far stronger than I could have thought...' Itachi said to himself, 'I can't judge her fighting completely. She has so many different techniques that I can't tell what is coming next until it happens.'

He knew he would need something much stronger than he had been using. Just in case, he closed his right eye in preparation.

As soon as Luna touched down onto the ground, she took off ice again straight at Itachi with her swords ready. He in turn brought his Kunai in his mouth and charged as well, the two of them returning to a rapid exchange of slashes at the other. Luna then tried teleporting behind him, only to have Itachi's back legs buck backwards and strike her directly in the chest. She screamed out from the hard impact as she jumped back several steps, looking down and thankful for the small breastplate she always wore, the hard jewelry dented in but softened the impact.

Baring her teeth, Luna once again ran towards him, making Itachi sigh. "You keep rushing into your battles head first, but you will never get ahead if you-"

A bright flash around Luna cut his words off. As the light faded, Itachi was caught off guard as five Luna's were running straight at him. "She can create clones herself?"

Bringing his hoof forward, Itachi punched the first incoming one... Only to have his hoof pass right through it. "What!?"

As it passed by his body, Itachi attempted hitting the next two, but like before he just phased through them like they weren't there. "What is this? A genjutsu? No... It's something- AH!"

The powerful strike to his side sent Itachi rolling across the field. He panted as he sat up to see the real Luna standing to the side, her horn glowing from her blast. At the same time the five fake Luna's disappear in small pops of sparkles. "What kind of clone technique was that? My sharingan couldn't detect them..." That next moment, his left eye pulsed in pain, forcing him to his knees. "Damn it, it was a just simple illusion, but my eyes are losing their sight and can't detect it as easy before. I have to stop this now."

Seeing him down gave Luna a burst of confidence, sensing she had the chance to end this before it went on anymore. Charging her magic, she pointed her horn forward, releasing a massive beam of energy strong enough to push herself backwards a few inches. Itachi stood back up to his hooves and faced the incoming attack. Putting his hooves together, he inhaled deeply before exhaling a giant fireball jutsu.

The two opposing attacks collided in an enormous flash with each other, forcing the opposite to a standstill. From across the field, the trio of lunar guards watched in complete awe at the battle taking place in front of them. Never before had they ever seen such a great display of power in their eyes. Here their princess was battling onward while they were stuck sitting on the sidelines. Whiplash could only shake his head as he watched.

"This is unbelievable. I never knew Princess Luna was this powerful." He said.

"She has a near unlimited amount of magic at her disposal..." Night Shine mumbled, still groggy from his hit to the head. "The princess is truly amazing with the abilities she has. you haven't seen everything she can do."

"Have you?" Moon Lit asked him.

"No..." Night responded to the two lunar stallions, "I have only heard some of the magic spells that she possesses. There are some which she says that would we too dangerous to use amongst others."

Looking back at the duel, Whiplash smiled when he saw the fireball began to slowly get pushed back. "It seems that she won't be needing to use those spells tonight."

Itachi noticed it as well, the magic beam steadily overcoming is fire jutsu. Amazed at the power she possessed, he realized he had to use the power he had been holding back. 'Its time to show her the true power of the Uchiha.' He said to himself.

From his closed right eye, a stream of blood suddenly began leaking out from his eyelids. The next instant, his eye shot open as his Mangekyo sharingan spun.

"Amaterasu!"

A wave of roaring black suddenly engulfed the entire fireball that Itachi was releasing. Growing outwards, Luna watched in horror as the flames connected with her magic and overwhelmed it almost instantly, rushing through her attack as if it wasn't even there. Before it could reach her, she quickly stopped her blast of magic and flew up into the sky just as the flames rushed through and ate the last of her magical beam.

Slowly coming back to the ground, Luna sat opened mouth in complete shock at the strange new flames flickering, barely visible in the light of the moon. The odd power was unlike anything she had seen, dancing on the spot of grass where she just stood moments before. "What was that? My power was overwhelmed in just seconds from that."

Luna turned back to Itachi, taken aback by the sight she saw; his right eye was so bloodshot that the whites in his sclera was nearly gone. Several thick trails of blood trickled out from his eyelids and down the side of his face, staining his fur before dripping to the ground. His sharingan suddenly spun again, sending a cold chill down her spine from fear of it coming again. Her magic reacted in just the knick of time, the shield rising up just as the flames burst out in the blink of an eye.

The black fire raged up as it struck the magic barrier, completely encircling the blue shield. Luna felt a small wave of relief of safety... But that soon turned to terror as walls of the shield began disintegrating around her, melting from the intense flames roaring on the surface.

"Im-impossible! No fire can burn through a barrier this strong!" She screamed as part of her shield dripped down past her head. "What kind of dark power is this!?"

After a few more seconds, Luna realized she was no longer safe inside her shield. Quickly teleporting outside of it, she looked over to see the barrier suddenly collapse, the fire dissolving the remainder of her magic. Her heart could not beat any faster from the terror rushing through her veins, terrified at this new kind of power. "No..." She whispered to herself. "These powers can't be real. Nopony can possess these things."

"I told you earlier already... I am not your kind."

Luna did not even have time to turn to the voice at her side as Itachi drove his hoof into her chest, completely lifting her off the ground and catapulting her twenty feet across the grass. The three guards watched in fear as their princess skidded to a stop before spitting up a small puddle of blood out of her mouth. Itachi simply lowered his hoof back to the ground and stared at the downed princess. "You just witnessed the second power that my Mangekyo sharingan grants me. The black flames of Amaterasu, hotter than any form of fire in existence."

Crawling back to her hooves, Luna panted in an attempt to breath, feeling like one of her ribs was broken and rubbing against her lung. She glared up at Itachi as he sat where he was, simply watching her with those red eyes. "Do you get enjoyment of seeing me bleed? I bet from the place you come from that would be a common sight."

"Blood is something that is common, whether it be from the blade or the simple use of power..." Itachi paused as he wiped away some of the blood from his cheek. "To simply wish upon seeing it is that of which comes from the soulless of the land."

"And what makes you think you are better than that?" Luna snapped at him. "You're comrades killed some of my own soldiers, along with those of my sisters. You've done more than enough to show me what you are." Her body suddenly began shimmering in a bright blue light, pulsing out every few seconds. She then looked across the field to the guards watching her. "Night Shine, I would suggest that you get further away from here."

The lunar captains eyes widened in realization of what she was saying. "No, she wouldn't..."

"What's going on?" Whiplash questioned, "What is she talking about?"

"Get out of here now!" Night Shine stood up to the ground and helped the other two to their hooves. "The princess is going to use an internal summoning spell!"

"What?" Moon lit asked as he stood up, trying to hobble on is injured leg. "What are you-

"Just come on!" Night Shine yelled as he helped support the two guards along. "We don't want to be close when it goes off."

Watching the three guards trying to get away made Itachi grow curious to what exactly she was planning on doing. His sharingan focused in on her body, noticing the sparks beginning to jump out from her fur. 'So she is planning on using a lightning style technique. Whatever it is it feels quite strong.' He stood up and clapped his hooves together. 'Its seems I will be using your technique for this, Sasuke.'

Leaning forward, Itachi's left hoof became enshrouded in a bright display of blue lighting. The bolts danced out from his body, the small bolts arching out all around him. The pulsing electricity gave off the sound of a thousand chirping birds, echoing out in the quiet night. He stared down at the jutsu he copied from his brother, noting perhaps this could be the very technique he may be killed by. He looked back towards. Luna, his eyes focused and ready. 'You will see me again, little brother.'

Away from the battlefield, Nightshine and the others came to a stop on top of a hill, turning back around to the fight in front of them. Whiplash set his body on the grass as he stared at the strange power radiating out from Luna. "What is she doing? I've never seen her use that spell before."

"Neither have I, but she has told me enough about it that I can tell what she is doing. That is an alicorn level magic of arch conjuration." Night Shine answered.

"A what? What the heck is that?"

"It's a level of spells only the princesses possess. She is summoning the power of an entire lighting cloud right now."

Moon Lit turned back to the pair of ponies on the field charging their attacks, still confused to what he was talking about. "What do you mean? There are no clouds being summoned above her."

Night Shine shook his head as the energy around Luna suddenly stopped glowing. "She isn't creating a cloud to hold the energy... She is using her own body as the carrier."

Music

Screaming out, Luna's body released dozens of lightning bolts, arching out through the air and tearing up all the nearby ground. Her now solid white eyes sparked out in streams of static, beaming across the grass at Itachi. Her legs kicked and catapulted her forward, ripping up all the dirt that laid in her path. "This is the end for you Itachi!"

Itachi glared as he watched Luna charging his direction, bracing his body to counter as well. He shoved his hoof into the ground and rushed forward, tearing a scorching path in his wake as he ran forward. The two ponies shone in the night, their lightning matching the others in brightness. The princesses scream rang in his ears as they came closer, their powers making them appear to be arching towards each other. Itachi gritted his teeth as he thrust his hoof forward just as Luna's horn thrust his direction.

"Chidori!"

The two combatants clashed in a massive explosion of lighting, arcs of rampaging electricity erupting in every direction out from the epicenter. Craters seemed to form from the powerful chakra and magic ripping through the crust of the plain, vaporizing anything around them. An entire sphere of pulsating lightning formed around the two ponies as they tried overriding the other, their faces scrunched in focus and anger.

Thrusting her wings backwards, Luna shot out two lightning bolts behind her and pushed herself forward hard enough to break through their stalemate. She then began swinging her horn at Itachi, creating a lightning sword with each slash. Ducking and weaving through the incoming attacks, Itachi tried to come in for another strike only to be stopped by her magically charged wing swiping right at his head and grazing several of his hairs. He then quickly jumped over her body and disappeared from her sight for just a moment.

Spinning around, Luna shot off a blast of magic and struck Itachi right in the chest before he landed... But gasped as he vanished in a puff of smoke. "What!?" Her eyes looked up in realization to the real Itachi coming down at her. "He made a clone in that small gap of time out of my sight? Impossible."

As he came down thrusting his chidori however, Itachi's eyes went wide as he suddenly convulsed, coughing up a large mouthful of blood. Seeing this as a window of chance, Luna jumped back out of the way and focused her magic to her wings. Just as he came down to her level, her wing swung out and blasted him with a giant wave of electricity.

Itachi gasped out in pain as he was rocketed through the air and crashed into the ground, his body pulsing with streams of static. Before he had time to recover, Luna was already on top of his body, pinning his hooves to the dirt as she stood over his form.

"It's all over Itachi..." She whispered out as her body began losing its glow, all her magic focusing into her now rapidly pulsing horn. Itachi could only stare up at her as the energy began growing out from her tip, sparking out as she raised her wings up. "Your time of threatening my home of Equestria is no more. Goodbye." She then pointed her horn straight at Itachi, her magic rushing out as his eyes widened.

The entire land was suddenly lit up in a blinding light erupting out from the princess. The single lightning strike completely obliterated all land within one hundred feet of Luna, ripping out trees by their roots and catapulting them through the air. The shockwave rushed out and nearly pushing all three of the guards over from their spots. Zetsu also closed his flytrap to help shield against the bright light and flying debris from striking his face.

After a few seconds, the gushing force disappeared, leaving an eerie silence over the land. Peeking through the green trap teeth, White Zetsu stared in awe to the land. A massive crater laid where Luna and Itachi were, the dust cloud still blocking out most of his sight. "This is unbelievable. She is completely in another league of power to what we thought."

"Indeed. I figured she would be strong, but to this extent..." The black half paused as he looked at the slowly dissipating dust, seeing a single standing form in the center. "She is easily amongst the rank of the kages."

"It seems that she won't be one to be taking with us at the moment..." The white half sighed. "To think Itachi would be killed here by this pony. It does seem this place is very troubling now."

In the center of the crater, Luna fell backwards onto her rump gasping for air. Her horn lost its glow as her spell began to wear off, reaching its limit of use. "*Huff* it seems I can't use that for more than a minute or so." She said to herself between breaths. She glanced over to the dust cloud still enshrouding Itachi, his still form bringing a smile to her face.

Before she got up, she felt a strange, warm sensation falling from her nose. Bringing her leg up, she wiped it up and felt her heart speed up at the blood on her hoof. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her nerves as she knew what it was. "I guess this does put more strain on my mind than I remember."

Standing back up to her hooves, Luna wobbled for a few moments before she regained her balance properly. Smiling happily, she turned away towards the guards watching her in the distance and trotted their way. She felt a great sense of pride in herself at the accomplishment she done tonight, defeating not only one, but two of the ponies that threatened the safety of her home. Along with the other already in custody, she could return home to the castle and give the great news to her sister.

...

"That was a very good attempt of you, Princess."

Music

Luna's blood ran cold at the voice behind her. "No... It can't be." She turned back around to see Itachi crawling off the ground, but the sight around him was what truly disturbed her.

A dark red aura swirled around Itachi's body, dancing in the air like a whirlpool. Seemingly from the air, some of the chakra solidified into a large rib age that Surrounded him. His bleeding eyes shuttered open as he looked towards the trembling princess. "To use my condition as an opening for you was quite smart. If I hadn't used this at the last moment, I wouldn't be standing here."

Luna's legs gave out from her, falling to her belly in pure shock and disbelief. She felt her body trembling as Itachi stood up from the ground. "Wh-what is that?"

"What you see is the ultimate ability given to me by the Mangekyo sharingan. What you see before you... The Susanoo."

The chakra around Itachi burst upward through the air, the skeletons size growing up high above his body. The entire chest cavity completed itself as the shoulders extended downward and formed the rest of the arms. The spinal column stretched up and ended with the large skull thirty feet above the ground. The empty eye sockets glowed bright yellow and stared down at the terrified princess, it's dark gaze piercing her soul.

"If you thought your abilities were at my level, I assure you are wrong once again." Itachi's cold voice said as his sharingans spun in his eyes. "You shall see the true difference between our power."

All good feelings that Luna had felt just moments before shriveled up inside her heart as she stared up at the monstrosity that had come before her. It's mass towered above hers, making her feel like a terrified filly in its presence. Instead of a feeling of determination like she had before, Luna only felt one thing inside her heart now.

Fear.

Feel the Pain

Konan sat staring at the massive dust cloud growing up from the center of Canterlot. She felt a massive knot inside her chest at knowing exactly what had happened.

"Why... Why did that need to happen?" She said to herself, "there was no reason to do that to them."

"What is your concern with this place?" Tobi questioned from behind having overheard her words. "These creatures are of no meaning to us."

"Does that give us the right to destroy their home? They have no part in our plans and should be left out of it." Konan glared in his direction. "Hurting them has no benefit to us."

Tobi's eye narrowed at her words. "What is the matter with you? You've been acting strange since we've been here. Don't tell me you have grown to care for these animals."

"They aren't animals. They are living, breathing souls that haven't done anything to us."

"Standing in my way is more than enough reason for this. Besides... This isn't the first time you two did this, correct?" Tobi shot at her.

Konan's breath caught in her throat at the words she just heard. "Careful with the words out of your mouth."

The sharp tone in her voice was enough to set Tobi's hair up on end. "Perhaps you should be the one watching what you speak. Don't forget who exactly you take your orders from."

The ground behind Tobi began shifting up as if something was pushing up from beneath. Suddenly, it shifted its color and shape into Zetsu's green fly trap, opening up to reveal the two toned akatsuki member. Tobi turned around in surprise to his arrival. "You're back now? I assume something has happened to Itachi."

"Something has happened in fact, but it's not what we were expecting." The white half stated.

"It seems that there are ponies that rival our strength here." The black half added.

"Yes, I've seen the strength that they have, especially since Deidara is dead. To be pushed that far meant he had no choice." Tobi sighed in annoyance. "He was an important member to the organization. His loss was a big impact."

"Well, that is only the first problem..." Black Zetsu mumbled, "Kakazu is dead as well."

"What?" Tobi took a step back in shock. "He is gone too? What did this?"

"This new pony showed up to the battlefield and ended the battle that was going on between a group of soldiers and Kakazu. Hidan was captured, while this 'princess' took on Kakazu alone and defeated him in only a few minutes."

"The amazing part is now that princess is engaged with Itachi, and that has been going on for the past few hours." White Zetsu said, a small uneasiness in his voice. "She is able to overcome the Tsukuyomi."

Konan's ears perked up at the comment she overheard. "What? That's impossible. Itachi's genjutsu is inescapable."

"But this pony did. She is pushing him to his physical limits."

Tobi sat quietly as he took in the info he was hearing. A single pony being able to fight any one of them was interesting enough, let alone it being Itachi the one it was fighting. Not only that, to learn she was able to counter genjutsu of that level was astonishing even by the strongest of their own world. 'perhaps there is a lot more for this world to offer us than we had thought before.' He said to himself.

"Alright then..." Tobi turned back around to Konan and came up to her. "I will go on ahead to see who this new pony is. You can wait here for your friend and rendezvous back at our original location."

"You want us to build a base for you as well?" Konan spat out. "You want somewhere to relax, don't you?"

The sharingan in Tobi's mask glared at the blue haired shinobis sarcasm. "I would watch the words that come out of that mouth of yours. Don't forget who you are talking to."

"And you don't forget who were the ones that originally formed the akatsuki in the first place." Konan responded right back.

Tobi grunted before walking back over to Zetsu, leaning towards the flytrap. "It seems we have another one to keep an eye on as well. After we return, I want you to watch her movements too. Something seems to have changed her heart."

"If Pain learns that we are suspicious of Konan, he won't take that easy." Black Zetsu warned him.

"Do not worry about Pain, I will deal with that when it comes to it. For now... Let us go see this next candidate."

Tobi's sharingan activated and pulled himself into his void, leaving the other two akatsuki members staring at each other.

Konan furrowed her brow at Zetsu. "Aren't you going to follow your master?"

Grunting, Zetsu slowly lowered back into the ground and disappeared. Alone once again, Konan sat quietly in the chilled night. The wind slowly blew her dark akatsuki cape, reminding her of exactly what was the reason their organization was originally founded for.

'Have we fallen that far from our beginning?' She questioned herself.

The sound of hoof steps behind her snapped her out of her thoughts. Turning around, she felt her heart jump at the sight of Pain making his way towards her. She quickly ran his direction and skidded up to him. "Why did you do that? Why did you use that technique!?" She yelled at him.

"I did what they needed to feel. They needed to know the truth of the world." Pain dully responded to her.

"And killing them proves what? That our world is something cold and violent?" Konan angrily stated, "What if they didn't need to know experience that? What if they had found peace already?"

"Humph, that cannot happen..." Pain mumbled as he walked past her, "you've seen what happens when people try to find peace that way. They realize everything they have done is a lie."

Biting her tongue, Konan saw she was getting no progress this way. "Either way, you cannot be doing that technique anymore. You're body cannot handle the stress anymore. If you continue doing that, you will die."

"I cannot die now. I won't... Not until Yahiko's death is made up for..." Pain walked off through the night, leaving Konan alone in her spot.

"Nagato... Perhaps we have lost what his death meant to us." She quietly whispered to herself.

........

"Princess wait, you shouldn't be leaving now!"

Celestia turned around to the group of guards begging her to stay at the castle, frowning at their demands. "I cannot stay here while my sister is out there. I have to go and find her."

"But princess, your injuries have to be treated." One of them quickly said.

Looking down to her pierced wing, she flapped it several times, grunting at the small shocks of pain traveling up it. Even with the minor patching the doctors did to it, that and her damaged ribs were still in need of rest, but she wasn't going to tell them that. "It's alright. I can manage. I need you to watch over the castle for now."

"But... We can't..." The young unicorn in front dropped his head in shame, "if that pony returns, we would be useless to stop him. You're the only one that has a chance."

Celestia loosened the hardened features on her face seeing the look on theirs. Fear was gripping their hearts at the moment, yet she could not be upset at that. She knew all too well the power these strange ponies had, and that they were right. If another attack were to happen, they wouldn't stand a chance against it.

Sighing, she trotted up to the small platoon and sat down in front of them. "I understand the feeling you all have. Do not have any shame and try to hide it. I need to do this however, and I need all of you to do this for me. Keep the citizens inside for now, and alert all other guards of where I am going."

"If you are leaving, at least take some of us with you for support."

"I'm sorry, but I need you to stay here. I... I don't want to see any more of you give your lives like what happened earlier. Please understand."

Standing up, Celestia turned around and trotted off down the hallway once again, this time without the clattering hooves following her. Pushing through the main castle doors, she was met once again with the sight of the massive crater that was once Canterlot. A massive knot spread through her chest at the reminder of what happened just hours ago. She then turned around and stared at the untouched castle, her heart cringing at how that happened.

"Cadance..." She whispered.

After they had rushed her into the castle, the medical staff immediately went to work stopping the internal bleeding. It took a hard hours of work, but they were able to stabilize her heart and cease the bleeding. Unfortunately though, she was now in a coma to an unknown extent from then on. Celestia felt as if she was responsible for what happened to her. If she had been able to stop Pain, none of this would have ever happened.

But guilt would have to be put aside for now, and she knew it. She had to go and find Luna now.

Opening her wings, she lifted off the ground and glided through the air. Each flap sent a wave of pain through her wing, but she pushed through it and went onward towards the edge of the city. The crater passed beneath her as she reached the outer edge of the city limits, a wall of rubble and dirt lining like a barrier. The princess couldn't take her eyes off the sight, the homes of so many ponies destroyed in a single swoop.

"Those monsters..." She gritted her teeth together in fury, "they will not get away with this."

Before she past the end of the debris field however, a loud thud caught her attention. She quickly stopped in the air and looked down, noticing it again. "What is that? Is... Is somepony down there!?" She shouted in surprise.

Dropping down, she quickly ran over to the source of the sound and began levitating chunks of building off the ground and out of the way. Suddenly, a slash of lighting broke through the ground beneath her hooves, making her shriek out and jump back. As the dust cleared, a dual clawed horseshoe rose up and was quickly followed by a coughing bat pony.

"Bleh! What the heck was that!?" Midnight Blossom shouted out as she crawled out of the hole, shaking her head to get the crud out of her fur. "I swear, if I have to..." She paused when she opened her eyes and was met with Celestia standing there. "Princess?"

"Midnight, are you alright?" Celestia asked her.

"Yeah, I'm a little rattled from that and... And..." The young mares words froze on her tongue when she looked past the princess to the decimated landscape in the background. "What... What happened to Canterlot?" She quietly muttered.

Celestia's ears folded down against her head. "This is the work of one of those ponies."

"One?" Midnight asked in disbelief. "Just one pony did this!?"

"Yes." The princess responded.

Before either could say anything else, a bright beam of magic erupted out of the rubble to their right. They both turned to see the unicorn Flash Shot wobbling out from the ground. Midnights eyes widened in excitement seeing him. "Flash, you're alright!"

"Yeah, I think so..." He mumbled out. He looked down at his torn cloak over his back, glad to see his chain mail armor in good condition and-

"Wait..." His eyes shot open when he realized what was missing. "My helmet! My helmets gone.!"

As the unicorn began frantically digging through the rubble, Celestia trotted towards him. "Flash, if it has been damaged I am sure the castle blacksmiths can-"

"No, I need that helmet!" Flash yelled out, flipping through whatever chunks of rock he could. "It took me years to design the inner workings for that helmet. I lost the original blueprints back when I finished and-

"Flash."

The panicking unicorn turned around to see his captain standing there, his helmet in the Pegasi's hoof. Quickly running over to it, Flash levitated the helmet over towards himself and looked it over. He sighed in relief at the very minor scratches lining the surface of it. He looked up and nodded in gratitude. "Thanks Cloud. You alright?"

Cloud Dasher nodded.

Celestia couldn't help but smile at the captains quiet personality. Even with his own personally picked unit, he hadn't changed too much. Although she knew it was to be expected after everything he had gone through. She was actually surprised he was even still in the royal guard. 'He must truly find peace with this new unit of his.' She thought to herself.

She knew that was true at the sight of all three ponies together, making sure the other was fine. 'The trifecta unit wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that mission." She quietly whispered.

After a few more moments Cloud Dasher walked past his partners and knelt in front of the princess. "Are you alright, Princess?" He calmly asked her.

"I am fine. I'm glad to see you three made it through that." Celestia responded. "Luckily the damage to the city is not as bad as It could have been."

"Wait what?" Midnight tilted her head in confusion, staring at the obliterated landscape. "I think this is pretty bad."

"All citizens were inside the castle when the blast hit, which has been spared. Now that you are all here, I need you to head back to the castle."

"The castle? But where are you going?"

"I am going out to find Princess Luna."

"What? You are going out there alone?" Midnight shouted out in surprise at the sight of Celestia's injuries. "Looking like that?"

Flash Shot rolled his eyes at Midnights bluntness. "I do have to agree with her though, Princess. You should be resting now."

"I can't now. If Luna is engaged with another one of those ponies, I'll have to help her."

"Then we're coming too." Cloud said with a salute.

Celestia shook her head. "No, I can't allow that. I can't risk your safety to-

"No offense princess, but I think you are the one who should be waiting here and rest." Cloud said with a shrug. "We can go and look for Princess Luna. We have already engaged one of those invaders."

Celestia's eyes widened in memory of sending them to confront the other member that entered the city. "What happened with that one?"

All three members glanced between each other before Cloud looked back to Celestia, a small smirk on his face for the first time that night. "We will explain everything on the way to Princess Luna."

....

"Fuck you guys! Get this shit off me!"

As the large group of guards slowly made their way back to Canterlot, Hidan continued to throw and cuss about in the restraints strapped to his body. Four different lunar guards were panting in exhaustion from holding the chains in their grip as he never stopped pulling.

"Just stop this crap already! You aren't going anywhere!" One of them shouted in anger.

"Get these chains off me you little bastard! I swear to Jashin that you will suffer a horrible and painful death!"

Shining armor glared over at the struggling Hidan, the pissed off pony still thrashing about in his restraints. "Is he ever going to shut up?" Shining mumbled.

The lunar guard member carrying him sighed in annoyance. "Probably not. How are you, captain?"

"I-I'm fine." Shining lied. His broken leg was throbbing in pain with every bump he felt. He also felt like a few of his ribs were cracked as well from the hard impacts he had with the ground earlier. 'At least that one pony is gone.' He said to himself at the reminder of Kakazu.

Blitz and Blaze slowly trotted towards the back of the group, both of them wobbling with each step. They felt the exhaustion taking hold from the battle with the two akatsuki members in the field. Their bruised and battered forms ached and felt like they wanted to just collapse right where they were, yet this crazed pony in chains looked as if he could go on for days

"What is he? What in the heck was his crazed friend?" Blitz asked.

"How the heck are we supposed to know." Blaze responded. "This entire last day and night has been a freak show. So far today we saw a pony shoot water from his hooves, another spits fire and did I don't even know to Swift. Then we meet these two who didn't seem to die."

"Yeah, then that strange explosion in the Everfree forest. That had to be from another one." Blitz added in.

"Yeah, but now we have this pony in chains, and we are going to figure out his plans.. And he is going to pay for what he did."

They both looked towards the bodies of the dead guards on the backs of the others. The sight of the dead was not something common in the lands here. To suddenly have so much happen in such a short time was not a thing to take easily for most ponies, even the ones in the guard. They could only stare in pain, and they couldn't do a thing about it.

After a few more minutes of walking they reached a large hill, bringing a small wave of relief to the group. Once they reached the top, they would now be within sight of the city. "Come on soldiers, we are almost there!" One of them shouted.

A small burst of cheers erupted from the group in news of their position, for the exception of Hidan who only shouted louder. Before they could climb up however, they saw something they never expected to see.

Or should say, who they expected.

"Princess?" They all gasped in shock.

Coming straight towards them was in fact Celestia, along with the trifecta members. Shining Armor leaned up from his position at the sight. "Princess? What is she doing here?"

Celestia quickly came up to Shining, shocked at his condition. "Captain, are you alright?"

"I'm fine princess, but what about you?" Shining responded seeing her own injuries. "What happened?"

"One of those ponies came to the city. I... I..." The princesses words fell flat on her tongue when she saw the bodies carried in the back. Her heart sank at the sight of their limp and bloody forms, life stripped out before their time. "What... What happened to them." She stuttered out in shock.

Shinings ears fell flat on his head and turned his gaze away from her. "We also came across two of those ponies you mentioned. We didn't stand a chance against them and lost several good ponies. If it weren't for Princess Luna, we would have all perished."

"Wait, Luna? You saw her!?" Celestia exclaimed. "Where is she?"

"She came in the end and saved our lives. She managed to kill one of those ponies and-

"She killed one of them!?" Celestia gasped.

This was some good news for her to hear; if Luna had been able to kill one of these strange ponies by herself, that meant some weren't as strong as the others. 'If some of those weaker ones are taken down, perhaps we have the chance at working together and defeating the stronger ones like Pain.'

"Hey you big ass bitch, let me out of here!"

Every guards mouth fell open at they all just heard. Celestia's eyes widened to the size of plates as she looked up to the direction of the voice, coming to the chained Hidan looking right at her. "Why don't you order your little shits to let me go right now!"

Shaking her head, Celestia looked back down to Shining. "Who is that pony?"

"He is the other one we came across. We captured him and were bringing him back for questioning." He answered.

Celestia looked back up to the restrained pony, amazed to learn this was one of them. She trotted closer towards him expecting to see something strange about him. Yet she saw nothing different than any other, except for one thing.

His eyes.

The cold gaze he gave her was one of pure bloodlust, something to which she did not see often. While she had seen it before, this here was the most. The only emotion she could read from him was pure hatred and anger, wanting nothing more than death.

Glaring, she marched right up towards him and put her face right up to his. "Are you responsible for the death of my soldiers?"

Hidan simply grinned at her. "Their souls were wonderful to give to my god. I can sense he was happy with the pain they felt."

The princess bared her teeth in fury to the words coming out of this ponies mouth. He truly enjoyed the suffering of others. "You will learn to have regretted ever touching a single pony in my lands. You will pay for your crimes."

"Oh, I don't think you even know who you are talking to, you stupid bitch. Just because Kakazu is dead you think you have won? Ha! You have another thing coming!" Hidan laughed at the angered glare she gave him. "You gonna try and punish me? Your tactics won't do shit!"

In a split second, Celestia's magic wrapped around his throat and yanked him her direction. All of the guards gasped out at the sudden action, but none dared say a word when they saw the look of fury in her eyes.

"Do not try and insult me here. I have seen the deaths of countless guards today, and now I just saw the ones you have killed. I have always believed in the fair treatment of criminals and their right to a fair punishment, but you are not a criminal. In fact, you aren't a pony. You are a monster. A vicious monster that preys on the pain and suffering of others."

Hidan simply smiled at her words. "I think you got me figured out now. Feels good I get appreciated for my prayers."

Grunting in anger, Celestia threw him back and turned around, walking back towards Shining. "Lock him in the castle dungeons and keep him there until I return. Where is Luna?"

"She stayed behind." Shining responded.

"But if you have defeated one of them and captured the other, why isn't my sister with you?"

"Before we made our way back, another one of those ponies showed up. She ordered us to leave as she engaged him." One of the lunar guards answered.

"She is fighting another one!?" Celestia questioned dumbfounded. "How far away is she?"

"About seven miles to the west."

Staring out to the sky, Celestia trotted past them and opened her wings. "I'm going to go help her."

"Ha! You think you can help her? Itachi's gonna fuck both of you up!" Hidan yelled out before bursting out in laughter. "Every single one of you little assholes are gonna get it sooner or later!"

"Does this dude ever shut up?" Midnight growled out.

"All of you go on towards Canterlot. I only have one thing to say though." Celestia turned her head back towards the silent guards. "Be prepared for what you will see."

"Wait what?" Shining questioned.

Without answering, Celestia flew up into the sky in the direction her sister was, quickly followed by the trifecta members. The group of guards sat silently for several moments before they decided to go on forward. The moment they came to the top of the hill however, they all felt their hearts stop at the horrible sight before them.

Canterlot was nothing more than a large crater.

"What... What happened to the city?" Shining stuttered, his mind racing in fear of his wife.

The other stallions all sat silent in utter disbelief, unable to comprehend what they were seeing. Not a word was said between them. Except for one pony.

"HAAAAHAHAHAHA! You fuckers now see what I was talking about! Cower in fear you damn atheists, HAHAHA!"

Author's Note

Alright, some of you may be upset you aren't seeing the conclusion of the fight after such a long break, but I wanted to get this crap out of the way. I was planning on having the climax as well, but time is the issue for me as I am leaving the country for a week. I will have the next chapter in 1-2 weeks. Enjoy

The Sharingans Trump Card

Author's Note

Important: this was written on my phone without double checking for edits

Second, you will probably notice my decrease in talent after 2 years not writing. Hope you enjoy still

The Sharingans Trump Card

'Get up...'

.....

'Get up....'

.....

"Get up!"

"Ah!" Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open at the sudden yell. Her eyes shifted around several times trying to focus. She looked up to the blue face staring right back at her. "F-Fleetfoot?"

Fleetfoot smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you're up. I was starting to think you weren't getting up."

Rainbow rolled herself onto her side, wincing at the sharp pain in her side. She grunted and put a hoof to her head. "What happened... We-

Her eyes widened as she whipped her head around behind, her jaw nearly dropping to the ground at the sight. Wh-what the...."

A massive crater as far as she could see lay across the landscape. Every tree and and shrub had been disintegrated into dust, leaving nothing more than a dusty brown hole in the earth over three hundred feet deep. This was all that was left of Deidara's final attack.

"Is... Is that from that crazy pony?" Rainbow slowly stuttered out.

Fleetfoot just nodded her head.

"what happened... I don't..." Rainbow rubbed her head in confusion.

"Honestly... I don't know."

Hearing that voice made Rainbows ears perk up. Her eyes shifted over to Soarin trotting over towards them. She could see his burns still there, but he was alive and that is what mattered. She couldn't help but smile. "Soarin, you're okay!"

He nodded in agreement."Yeah, all thanks to you.."

"What?" Rainbow asked in confusion, "what do you mean me?"

"As we were fleeing from the blast, we weren't able to fly fast enough. We were all going to die... Until you started flying faster than I had ever seen." Soarin answered. "You starting going faster and faster, pulling us away from the explosion. We tried calling out to you but you never answered us. It was as if... You past out but kept going."

"Wait.... What?" Rainbow shook her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He's right..." Fleetfoot interjected. "I yelled out to you several times but you never looked back. Once we made it out of the range of the attack, you collapsed and fell to the ground already knocked out. You've been down for about an hour now."

Rainbow couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I... I don't know what happened. All I remember was we were all flying and trying to get away from that crazy pony, then that's when I can't remember anything else."

"Well, he's gone and that's all that matters." Soarin answered with a grin.

Rainbow smiled back. "Yeah, now we can..." Her smile disapeared as she looked around. "Wait, where's Rapidfire?"

The smiles of the other two wonderbolts disappeared at the question. "He took off the moment we landed on the ground." Soarin answered.

"What?" Rainbow yelled out in shock, "He left us?"

Fleetfoot nodded. "He didn't even say a word. He started walking off towards Canterlot."

Rainbow turned towards the direction of the capital, now concerned of the condition of her friend. "Rapidfire..."

Fleetfoot had to wipe away the tears that formed in her eyes. "Spitfire was one of my best friends, but she and her brother were inseparable. I can't even imagine what he is going through now."

Soarin shut his eyes to hold back his emotions bubbling up. "We have to head to Canterlot now. He'll be there and we have to tell the princesses what happened. I just hope the city's been okay while we've been gone."

Princess Luna stared up in terror at the massive red skeleton that formed around Itachi's body, illuminating the area around both of them.

"What.... What is this power?" She shakingly said out loud.

Itachi cast a small grin at the look on her face. "It is only natural you would be this confused at what this is. Ninjutsu isn't something of your world. But this... Even most shinobi have never seen this before."

The susanoo's body began growing tendril like features down its arm, eventually solidifying together and making muscle over the bones beneath. The same thing began happening to the upper body, it's head growing an outer skin and thickening into a strong casing.

Luna's skin crawled at the sight in front of her. She knew her own forms of conjuration, but that was only limited to weapons and smaller enchantments. No kind of magic she had ever heard of created something like this. It was as if he had created a living creature from himself.

Itachi closed his eyes, squeezing out the blood that had formed in his eyelids. Streams of red continued down his cheeks, constantly soaking the fur there. The pain was growing stronger every moment he used his sharingan and was not subsiding in the least. He knew he only had a little more time left.

Itachi opened his eyes and looked toward the princess. "I hope we can continue this now so that we can finish-

His words were cut short as he felt a piercing pain shoot through his chest, forcing him down to his belly. His body lurched forward as a large pool of blood burst out of his mouth and splattered all over the ground in front of him. The susanoo itself also sputtered out, reverting back to its skeletal form.

Luna jumped back in shock as she watched her foe seeming to give out in front of her. "What the... What's happening to him?"

Itachi gasped for air as he spit out another mouthful of blood, using his hoof to wipe away what didn't fall. He could only get a few quick pants in without swallowing back any blood, causing even more discomfort without enough air.

"Damn it..." He cursed between breaths, "... It's worse than I thought. Without my medicine I can't slow it down any further."

The illness in his body was something he had been fighting for several years now, the last several months really taking its toll on him. Along with that and his diminishing sharingan, his pain only escalated even further. But that only encouraged him to push harder than before.

"I can't give in yet..." He said as he pushed himself back up. "...only one can finish me off."

His breaths came quicker as he raised all the way to standing. "Only one person..." The aura around his body began to swirl around faster than before. "Only one..."

Itachi's eyes shot open in anger at the alicorn. "Only one can be allowed to kill me!"

Music link

Luna's eyes widened as Itachi and the susanoo leaped through the air at her, the skeletal arm throwing a large punch towards her. Jumping at the last moment, she barely dodged the fist as it crashed into the spot she was just standing in. Before she could react again however, the body spun around and swung its other fist at her. She shot out a beam of magic and struck the palm, directing it just a few inches over her head.

Flapping her wings, Luna rose up above the susanoo and charged her magic once again, her horn sparking with static and burst out in another lightning bolt. Striking her target, she was shocked it only bounced off the skeleton as if nothing happened.

"But... How.?"

"Fire style; fire ball jutsu!"

Luna's focus returned as the fire rushed up towards her, forcing her to duck and release another beam of magic. She circled around and released several more streams of magic, all seemingly useless as they simply sputtered out against the red armor. After a few more shots, her head pulsed in pain and nearly made her crash down.

"My magic..." She whispered as she shook her head. "... My body only has enough for a few more strikes.

Her eyes shifted back to Itachi's, his bleeding sharingans staring right back at her. "I have to finish this now before I can't even move."

Itachi spit out a mouthful of saliva and blood as he reached into his cloak. "I can tell she's almost spent as well. Let's see which of us can outlast the other."

He released several shuriken towards the princess, clasping his hooves together and creating dozens of shadow clone shuriken as well. Luna quickly created a shield, blocking all of the incoming weapons and followed up with another large beam of magic. As it crashed into Susanoo's chest, she teleported herself behind and unleashed another strike onto the spinal area of the skeleton. This time, she noticed a small crack beginning to form on the back.

"Right there! A weak point." Luna shouted to herself. If I can hit once more..."

"Amaterasu!"

Luna's eyes shot open as the black flames rushed towards her body, barely fast enough to create a magical shield in front of her. The intense fire immediately began melting her barrier, forcing her to fly to the side and into the path of an oncoming fist. Panicking, she created a bubble around herself as susanoo's fist crashed into it, launching her across the ground and into a massive tree.

Luna gasped out in pain as her bubble burst around her and she slumped to the dirt. Her body ached in every place and she could hardly feel her magical connection, meaning her power was nearly depleted. Never once in her life had she ever been pushed this far before, and she knew she had used everything the had available.

"No..." She gritted her teeth and stared up at the Uchiha. "I won't let you win!"

Luna's eyes glowed white as her body began producing electricity across her fur. Her horn shined bright as she charged up for one final blast. "I won't lose!"

A massive beam of energy burst out from her body, blinding out all sight of anything in front of her and racing directly toward Itachi. In the next instant, everything around susanoo exploded in a giant burst of blue energy, vaporizing all the dirt and rocks from the intense heat of her attack. Then in another instant, the blast disappeared, leaving nothing but an enormous dust cloud behind.

Luna gasped out and fell to her knees, barely able to calm her racing heart. Her hoofs clenched the side of her head as she tried to lessen the pulsing sensation of her mind, gritting her teeth in pain. She could feel her nose dripping blood once again, much more than before. She knew this was now her physical limit now. Any more would be putting her into life threatening levels.

"I can't.... I can't anymore." She whispered to herself. "That was all I had."

She opened her eyes in hope she had nothing else to worry about... Only to feel her heart drop even further. "No."

Through the clearing smoke, the susanoo's body was now encased in a thick suit of armor. It's head was covered by a large open helmet with a long horn protruding off the forehead. The biggest difference however was the massive flaming shield set in front of it.

music link

Deep in the badlands, the cold wind whipped across the barren landscape, whipping over rocks or whatever plain thing happen to be in its path. On this night however, the dust blew over something that wasn't seen often in these parts, especially since this species ruled the lands here.

Changeling bodies lay scattered across the ground, their limp forms sprawled out in broken and dismembered pieces. Their green blood was sprayed all across the rocky ground beneath them, creating a bioluminescent glow. In the middle of all the bodies however, a single changeling coughed life. His eyes flicked open and could barely see what was in front of him.

"How..." He winced out in pain as he tried to lift his head. "Who are those monsters..."

"Now monster is a great compliment."

Before the changeling could turn towards the voice, a hoof slammed down onto his back and forced him back to the ground. He screamed out in pain as the shell on his back cracked under the pressure from above. His eyes looked up in terror at the one responsible. "Y-you."

Kisame cast a tooth filled grin down at his victim, his large Samehada blade held on his shoulder by his other hoof. "I'm disappointed by how weak you all are. You looked more intimidating than the soldiers I came across earlier."

"I wouldn't know about that myself..." Sasori commented from the side, wiping off some off the changeling blood that got on his cheek, "but I was disappointed as well."

The changeling couldn't respond out of total fear running through his body. His eyes slowly drifted over to the other pony, who was rolling up a scroll he had pulled out for earlier; along with the horror that came out of the scroll.

When he and the others on patrol came across these two earlier, they had assumed it was going to be like every other time some strangers came into their land; although this was unlike anything they had even seen. Powers that were not like any magic they had ever seen before came from the blue one who wasn't even a unicorn. Water erupting out of him and crushing those who got hit, along with a blade that ripped apart several of his comrades. But the scariest part wasn't that one... It was the other.

The red unicorn pulled... Something out of the scroll he had inside his sleeve. A monster covered in a cloak that produced blades out of every part of its body. Black clouds of metal shot out of the creatures mouth and obliterated anything in its path, and clouds of poison burst out as well. It was something even the nightmares of this world were terrified of.

Even when another patrol of twenty changelings came across the battle taking place to help, it only added to the bloodshed that came by the akatsuki members. Not a single one of them were able to escape and warn their queen of what was coming.

Kisame sighed at the little creature beneath him. "Well, I do thank you for this warm up, but now I have better things to do."

Raising his hoof up once more, Kisame slammed it down onto the changelings neck, snapping it like a twig. He only smiled wider as he watched the creature twitch several times before going still. "I won't lie, that was a little fun actually. I was growing bored."

"Agreed." Sasori finished rolling up his scroll and slipping it back into his cloak. "I was surprised when a few of them changed their appearance to look like us."

Kisame grunted. "Kind of useless I think. It's not like they could use our ninjutsu or anything."

"Perhaps if it were a larger scale battle they would use that to confuse us with each other..." Sasori added, "we should remember that at least."

"Doesn't matter. Let's just go and find this leader of theirs. I hope it this one is strong like Zetsu mentioned." Kisame chuckled to himself as he imagined what he would see. "I want a challenge to see what I can do now in this world."

Sasori raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh, but didn't you get injured by only a few warriors when you were with Itachi?"

music link

"Heh heh, that's true. That was when we first came here though...." Kisame chuckled as he began walking towards their target. "It's just been over a day and I already feel much better." He licked his lips and looked back at his partner.

"I'm getting stronger the more I'm used to this body."

Itachi's full susanoo towered above the grassland, it's burning form showing off its power to the terrified princes.

"Now you've accepted you don't have a chance at defeating me, Luna?" He said coyly. "My susanoo has fully manifested itself now. This shield you see it's the true ultimate defense that comes with my ability."

He paused and wiped away more blood from his mouth. "You however don't have any power that I can see. Don't cause me more trouble."

Luna couldn't believe the sight that was in front of her; after everything that had been thrown at him, even her most powerful spells that she knew, they were nothing. Nothing compared to the power that Itachi had. Now it seemed that it had become even more powerful than before, the size of susanoo seemingly doubled and still glowing bright.

And she had nothing left.

Seeing he was in total control, Itachi slowly began walking towards his target. "Now you will be coming with me."

Luna's skin trembled in fear as the giant susanoo began creeping its way towards her, following its owner across the dirt. "No... Stay away!" She shouted

Her horn sputtered up and gave off hint of light, barely enough to see. "Stay back!"

Using whatever power left, she shot off a minuscule beam that simply sizzled against susanoo's shield, the puff of smoke vanishing instantly.

"Don't try and fight anymore..." Itachi whispered as he stumbled towards the alicorn. "I have won this battle."

Luna couldn't move.

Part of it was her body's condition; her muscles hurt worse than she had ever felt before. Her magic was completely drained. The wings on her back were cramped and couldn't even fold right against her side. Finally the tree behind her kept her from running backwards. But that wasn't why she couldn't move. Not out of pain or exhaustion.

Fear.

She couldn't have made her legs move even if she tried. Her fur stuck up as adrenaline coursed through her, but it didn't make her want to run. Instead, it froze her in place and made her watch as Itachi continued is slow walk in her direction. She knew she could do nothing to stop him at this point. And he knew the same thing as well.

Itachi was now only several feet from her, his breathing very uneven. "I will... Return home." He stuttered out between pants. "I have to."

Luna could only tremble as the Uchiha was within touching distance, her body sweating profusely as she knew it was over. "No... Please stop."

I.... Must return."

Reaching up with one of his hooves, Itachi shakingly brought a Kunai up and pointed it at the princess. "I have to go back."

As he stepped forward once more however.... He collapsed.

music link

In a single moment the susanoo disintegrated into thin air, leaving the field dark and cold. Luna's shivering body stared off into nothing... Confused as to what just happened. Her trembling gaze shifted down to the pony now beneath her, even more shocked at what was below her.

Itachi's body convulsed several times before he coughed up several more times, the blood continuing to come out every time. His breathing was even more labored than before, coming in very shallow gasps between his coughing. Even his legs began to shake as well.

"No... Not now."

His bleeding sharingans deactivated, leaving only his faded grey eyes in their place. His blurry vision struggled to focus on his blood covered hoof, already knowing what was happening. "It can't be... Not this soon."

His illness had finally caught up to him.

Itachi could feel his inside tearing itself apart, causing more pain to him every moment. But the fact that he was going to die wasn't what bothered him. In fact he wanted death to come to him. The thing that hurt him more than anything was who he was leaving behind.

"S-Sasuke..."

His entire life he had lived in the shadows, allowing his name to be written in hatred. He didn't care though. He had a purpose for what he did and he knew the consequences. He chose to live the life of a criminal. He only wanted one thing in the end, however, and that was for one person to end his life.

He needed that more than his own name to be cleared. He wanted his families honor to be restored through the one he cared for the most in the world, the one that was worth going through everything for. And now he was unable to let that happen.

"I'm sorry brother..." He whispered out, his voice cracking under the strain. "I'm sorry."

His mind began visioning himself back in his village, happily walking amongst the other shinobi of his home. The smiles of the people around him when peace was over the town. People greeted him like one of their own. Then around the corner, a young black haired boy ran up to him with open arms.

Even as he laid bleeding on the ground, he smiled as he remembered his brothers happy face coming up to him, asking him to go play or to let him come train with him. He gave a small chuckle when he remembered poking his little brother on his forehead, his trademark for promising next time.

"It looks like I won't be doing it another time... Sasuke."

His vision began going black, unable to see anything else in front of him anymore. Even his mind began losing focus on his memories, images blending together until a fog seemed to hold over his dreams. He couldn't tell most things apart any longer, but that didn't matter to him. He could still see his brother there, that big smile still on his face.

"Perhaps with me gone... You can find your own peace... Sasuke."

Keeping that thought to himself, Itachi let his mind go, Allowing the darkness to take him.

Paths to be Taken

Dozens of bright yellow eyes glinted in the shadows, belonging to the large pack of timberwolves slowly slinking through the dense foliage of the forest. The seven wooden bodies creaked with every cautious step that they took across the ground. Under the low hanging sun, the faint light gave perfect cover to the beasts.

The wolves were double the size of the average pony, making them formidable killers to anything that happened to fall in their wake. Stopping at the edge of the forest, they peered through the leaves at the single pony that was walking away. They eyed the ignorant pony with murderous intent, noticing the black cloak that draped over its body. Several members growled as they began to take steps out of the bushes, but stopped at the sound of a commanding snarl from behind.

Shoving the smaller wolves aside, the alpha male walked to the front, causing them to cower down out of submission and fear. At over four times the size of a large stallion, the timberwolf leader was perhaps one of the most deadly individual creatures in this region. His raw power and speed allowed him to hunt on his own when he had to, not having to rely on his subjects to bring him a meal. At other times, it did enjoy being in the presence of the others during a kill to prove its power to them.

Looking at his next meal The alpha salivated, it's wooden jaw becoming soaked with saliva. To it's surprise, the pony stopped walking and turned around to stare straight at them. It's face was littered with piercing that filled the bridge of its nose and running up to its eyes. It's ears also had a large number of black piercings lining the outside. Even to the wolf, the strange pattern in the purple eyes of the pony sent a chill through the bark of it's skin.

The pony stared blankly at the wolves in the trees for a moment before choosing to speak. "You should come out, creatures. I know that you have been following me."

Despite not being able to speak, timberwolves have the ability to understand a certain degree of language from other creatures. Knowing that they were no longer hidden, the leader emitted a low growl, signaling some members to his right to go out and take down the pony. Lowering their heads in preparation, three wolves burst through the trees, their long legs pumped rapidly as they closed the distance between them and their prey.

Pain sat still, allowing the creatures to come close to him before focusing the chakra in his horn. "You animals do not know the power that I hold." In the next instant, a powerful shockwave burst out from his horn, striking the wolves with the force of a locomotive. They barely had time to howl out as their bodies burst into hundreds of splintered pieces.

The alpha wolf stared in shock as he watched his comrades body parts scatter across the grass before the unicorn as it sat in its same spot. The ponies unemotional face stared blankly at the pieces of wood that fell before it before returning its gaze to the members still in the forest. "You should all leave while I still let you. If not, you shall experience rue pain."

If timberwolves had any form of blood, it would be boiling with hatred inside of the pack leader. Running forward itself, it barreled towards the standing unicorn before it. Baring its teeth, it bellowed out a loud roar as it came closer. It then noticed the pony lift its right hoof off the ground. Suddenly, a thick black bar slid out from the sleeve that draped its limb, falling into the grasp of the hoof. Pain threw his spear blade at the large wolf, but missed as the beast jumped to the side.

The wolf landed in the dirt, it's eyes glaring with anger at the pony that tried to strike it. Digging it's clawed paws into the ground, it charged at the pony and leapt into the air, its mouth wide open and teeth ready to bite down on flesh. To its surprise, the pony sat still until the two of them were only two feet from each other. The purple eyes of Pain opened even wider than before, followed by a blast of force that launched the wolf thirty feet backwards and crashing into the ground, shattering on impact.

The remaining wolves trembled in fear at the sight of their pack members being blown apart by this odd pony. Never before had they seen their leader even slowed by a pony, let alone obliterated like they had just witnessed. Turning tail, they sprinted as fast as they could back into the depths of the forest, yelping into the darkness of the trees.

Pain shut his eyes and turned back to the direction that he desired. "Troublesome animals." he muttered to himself. He had grown tired of the wolves after they had stalked him for the last hour. Now that his little annoyance was behind him, he continued on back to the field to meet up with the rest of the Akatsuki.

After another ten minutes of walking, he saw the small group of cloaked figures all gathered together. As soon as he approached, they all turned and stared at him. "So, you finally decided to show up." Kisame sneered.

Pain didn't even turn to look at him as he came into the circle, "I come when I choose to come. You should learn your place and not accuse others of being on time."

The large blue stallion glared at Pain, but chose to hold his tongue out of respect to the figurehead of their organization. Itachi chose to speak up as he saw Pain without a partner.

"Where is Konan?"

"We chose to separate and search more areas for information."

Sasori looked up into the sky when he noticed a shape coming towards them. "It looks like she is here as well."

Dropping down to the ground, Konan folded her wings to her sides and approached the other members. Deidara noticed that she had an almost sorrowful look on her face as she came forward. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Konan lifted her head and glared at the blonde maned Pegasus, "You should mind your own business, Deidara."

Deidara lifted an eyebrow at her reaction, "What is your problem? I can tell that something is nipping at your ass. Hmm."

At that moment, Tobi stepped forward into the center of the circle, his eye beaming through the hole in his mask as he stared at Konan. "you act as if you encountered something strange that is bothering you."

Konan furrowed her brow, recalling the place she just left.

five hours earlier

Flying through the sky, Konan looked around the land as she past through the center of did appreciate the wings that she had, allowing her save chakra by not having to create paper wings. Flying southwest from where she left Pain, she now found herself over a large desert region.

Stretching for what seemed like miles, the bright sand and stone ground raced below her as she flapped her wings, pushing her further into this barren area. She began to believe that she was going on a pointless scouting mission for whatever could be useful for the group. Frowning to herself, she prepared to turn around and head back to the meeting spot, but caught the glimpse of what seemed to be buildings in the distance.

Curiosity coming into her mind, Konan banked downward towards the ground, leveling out as she approached the ground. Continuing to fly, she began to pass over what seemed to be a large apple grove, trees lined in perfect columns around a road that passed directly through the center of it. She watched the trees suddenly stop at the outskirts of the oncoming village.
Dropping down to the sandy ground, she folded her wings to her sides and chose to continue on foot... Or hoof for that matter. From what she could tell, most of the buildings were all made out of wood, giving the impression it was older despite the structures looking new. Before she came into the town itself, a voice shouted to her from the side, "Howdy, stranger! What brings you to here?"

Konan turned to see a golden colored pony trotting up to her wearing a brown leather vest. Under the brown hat it wore it had a two toned orange mane coming down, identical color to the tail on its behind. Not wanting to act suspicious, she nodded as the pony approached, "Hello there. I was just passing through here."

A bright smile spread across the ponies face, "Well ya came to the right town to stop by. Mah names Braeburn, and welcome to Appleloosa!" he shouted out as he pointed to the town behind him.

Konan lifted an eyebrow and looked to the town Braeburn pointed at. She was perplexed by the sound of the name of the town. 'They name after fruit?' she then looked back to the smiling pony. "So what is this place?"

"Why, this here is the finest place this part of Equestria fer apple farming. This town was built..." Braeburn paused and gave a small chuckle,"Here, why don't ah show ya a tour of the town before ah start ramblin'. Come on." Turning, he trotted on down the road into the town.

Konan was hesitant at first, but decided to just follow along. She knew that if she just started searching around the town, the citizens may become suspicious of her actions. Following another around for a small tour would give her a way inside to look, as well as possibly learning some things from this pony. She saw that most of the citizens were dressed in a fashion similar to Braeburn.

As Braeburn continued to ramble on about the history of how this town came to be and the different things to enjoy here, Konan just followed along and looked around for anything that could lead to information on something useful. After a small time, though, she began noticing several things about this town that was interesting. Most of the ponies walking around seemed to be so happy; younger ones were running around giggling as they kicked a ball around. The older ones. Casually walked in and out of different shops that lined the streets. Some even danced to music that was being played for them.

In every village in her own world, no outsider shinobi could walk in without others becoming suspicious of them being a possible spy or threat. The head leaders would have sent their own shinobi to check them out for information. Even inside of a single village, tension was always felt between different clans that resided their, arguing who should have more control or power than the others.

Here, not only did this Braeburn fellow not question who she was, he actually invited her inside as if she was an old friend. Even more than that, but most of the other ponies she passed by would smile at her, also welcoming her to their home. 'Do none of them worry who I could be? They act as if there is nothing to ever worry about.' she thought to herself.

"Hey Braeburn!"

Konan's gaze turned to what seemed to be another type of creature she did not recognize walking over to her guide. The apparent female also walked on four legs, but was shorter and much thicker built than the ponies that walked around. In its orange mane it wore a feather that stuck up above its head. She watched as this new figure and Braeburn chatted happily with each other for a short time before the newcomer turned to her. "Oh, who is this?"

Braeburn smiled, "This is Konan. Ah was just showing her around town." he paused and looked to konan, "Konan, this is Little Strongheart. She is a buffalo that lives 'round here."

Konan looked over to the buffalo and nodded, "Pleasure to meet you."

Strongheart gave a warm smile, "Nice to meet you too. Well, I have to go. take care Braeburn." turning around, the young buffalo trotted off.

Konan looked back to Braeburn with a hint of confusion, "Is she from another village?"

Braeburn was a little caught off by that, "Uh, ah don't know if ya consider tents a village, but yeah, she and her group live in the valley nearby."

"And you are at peace with each other?"

"Yeah of course. Well..." the farm pony scratched the back of his head with his hoof, "We did kinda have some trouble when we built here in the beginning, heh heh. No worries, we worked it out. In fact, we are good friends now."

Konan was amazed at what she had heard this pony tell her; how both groups were in conflict with each other, but were able to overcome their differences and be at peace with one another. In fact, if Braeburn had not told her that, she would have never even guessed that there was ever Any tension between him and the buffalo. 'This place has the ability to actually make peace with each other in such a short time, unlike my world.'

She looked around to all of the happy faces that walked around the town, enjoying the wonderful day with each other. It seemed that this world had reached something that she always dreamed that she could see happen to her home. Peace. A warm sensation spread through her body, bringing something to her face that she couldn't recall the last time having.

A smile.

Sasori gave a snicker at hearing the story from Konan. "So what about this little place made you go soft?"

I am just trying to say that this world does seem at peace. If we are trying to find a way home, we should try and not disturb the ponies that live here." konan replied.

Tobi grunted out of annoyance, "I already told you all, I do not care of what happens to the individuals in this world. My goal is to return back to our home and complete the plan there." he paused as he looked around. All the other members were here except for two. "where are Hidan and Kakazu?"

"How should I know? I'm not their babysitter. Hmm." Deidara sneered.

Kisame grinned as he imagined what the two of them were up to. "They probably decided to enjoy themselves and slaughter some of the ponies here."

Zetsu turned to his leader, "Should we wait for them?"

"No, I do not want to waste time waiting for them to show up..." Tobi paused as he glanced to each member in the clearing, "I want to hear what you have found out in this world."

Deidara frowned, "We did not find anything where we went. I wanted to fly..." he glared over to his red maned partner, "But someone did not want to."

Sasori glared at the blonde Pegasus, "We could have continued longer, but the bomb maker chose to try and kill a blue horse and got stopped by its friend. We had to go back because the two that escaped could have alerted the rest of their comrades."

"Heh heh. Me and Itachi came across that blue one in a small town north of here. She yelled at us saying how we wore the same thing as you. You failing to take her out caused us trouble." Kisame chuckled, knowing he was getting under the bombers skin.

Deidara glared at the tall blue stallion, "I would have killed her if her stupid friend didn't come and-

"Ah, I see. You were outdone by a girl."

Flaring his wings out in frustration, Deidara bared his teeth, "Watch your mouth or I'll make you into art! Hmm."

"Enough." Tobi shouted, "I can see that you did not find anything. Pain, what about you?"
Pain's stone like face looked to the masked uchiha, "I did not find anything as well."
Sneering at another failure, he turned to the cream Pegasus, "You already stated your failure, so no reason to speak." his comment brought a furrowed brow to Konan's face. Tobi then looked at his two toned assistant. "Zetsu has found something that could be useful to us."

The two toned pony stepped forward into the center of the circle. "Down in the southern region, there is a wasteland that has another type of strange horse. They seem to have black scales instead of fur, and all of them have bug like wings and horns." the white half said.

Sasori was puzzled by this, "What makes them important? I thought we were supposed to find large sources of power?"

There is one there that is much larger than the rest of them. It possesses much more power than any other thing i have seen so far in this world. It could help us with what we need."

Tobi noticed one member sitting quietly to the side, eyes closed. "Itachi, you have been silent this whole time. Anything you have to add?"

The dark ponies eyes opened, revealing his bright sharingans, "Kisame and I found what could be our goal. In a place called Canterlot, I discovered that they have a beast known as Discord in stone held there. They say that this creature has unbelievable power."

Tobi was very intrigued at what he was hearing, "Where is this Canterlot place?"

"To the northeast from here."

The masked ponies single eye widened at hearing that. 'That is where I was. So, that place did have something very useful for me.' He looked back to the rest of the akatsuki. "Now, let us go and capture our goals."

"Who should go after what?"

Judging from what I was told by Zetsu, I want Kisame and Sasori to go to capture the beast in the wasteland. Pain, I want you and Konan to lead the strike on Canterlot and clear out the way to the beast Discord."

Konan gave a concerned look at the order, "What about the ponies that live there?"

Deidara raised his eyebrow at her reaction, "What the hell is wrong with you? You had no

trouble wiping out the leaf village. Why you acting all soft? Hmm."

"I'm just saying that if they are at peace, we should be careful how-

"There is no such thing as peace through love." Pain suddenly said. He turned to Konan, his eyes staring right at her, "Love breeds sacrifice... Which in turn breeds hatred. Living here will only cause pain to them, no matter what they do."

"Pain, I know it sounds unbelievable, but I assure you that this place has found-

“I think that your partner knows what he is talking about." Tobi interrupted Konan. Seeing the powerful rinnegan user agreeing with him brought some satisfaction to him. "Now, let's go."

Nodding in agreement, Kisame and Sasori took off towards their target south. The others prepared to start off before Deidara shouted out, "Hey, let us travel faster there." sticking his hooves in his pouches, he pulled them out and formed a small bird out of one of his mouths. Letting it fall to the ground, he put his hooves together, causing a large cloud of smoke to burst out from the bird. Once it cleared, one of his prized giant clay owls was standing ready for flight. "I would rather fly than walk. I'll give you a ride to save the time. Hmm"

The others began to walk towards the large bird, but Tobi then called out. "Not you, Itachi."

Itachi turned around, his cold gaze staring at the masked pony. "Is there a reason you are not allowing me to go? After all, I was the one who discovered this beast."

"I want you to go and find out what is keeping Kakazu and Hidan. If you have to, take out anything that gets in your way." Tobi looked up to Deidara. "You all head out. Go to Canterlot and take care of any troubling interferences."

Nodding, the bomber flew up into the air, his giant owl following suit carrying the other two members into the sky. After it left, Itachi looked back to Tobi. "Is there another reason that you are sending me away?"

The masked pony chuckled. "Itachi, you may fool the other members, but I know your true goal. If you could, you would do anything to get back to our world and trap me here."

Itachi eyes narrowed, "If I could I would have gotten rid of you years ago."

"But you can't, can you? Besides, you need me to help return back to our world if possible. And just to make sure you don't try anything foolish, I want to keep you in line by going to see our other companions."

The blood inside Itachi's veins boiled, but he kept his face blank of emotions. "Fine. I will go and see what they are doing." He then began to trot off before stopping and turning back. "Remember, if we do return back to our world, our deal still stands. You are not to touch my brother."

Tobi let out a cold laugh, "I wonder if you will last long enough to make it back." he glanced down to Itachi's hoof, noticing the traces of blood in the fur. "Judging by the progress of your illness, I cannot tell how much longer you may have."

Itachi turned his gaze forward again, not wanting to look at that cold hearted figure taunting him. Leaping away, his mind continued to flash memories of his past, images of the many things that he did to protect what he believed to right. Many times, he saw the face of the one he cared for most, and the one that he needed to be killed by.

Tobi watched as Itachi disappeared into the forest canopy. He turned to the final figure in the clearing with him. "Follow him, Zetsu. I want to know if he does make it."

"Do you really want him to die?" the white half asked.

"I am not expecting him to actually perish. He is still extremely strong, and I doubt anything here could defeat him. I just don't want him to interfere. If he does die, then no matter. He will be out of my way."

The Ultimate Trick and Ultimate Destruction

Luna screamed out in agony from her spot beneath Itachi. She felt the horrible throbbing pain radiating from her forehead, her brain pulsing from the immense shock of her horn being snapped off. Shifting one of her hooves, she was able to move out to try to stand up, but Itachi quickly stepped down and locked her leg in place. The princess snarled in anger as she glared up at the pony.

"You monster! You broke my horn!" She screamed out at him.

Glancing down to his hoof, Itachi stared at the broken horn before turning back to the alicorn beneath him. "I told you that you didn't possess the skill to combat me, Princess. If you had just submitted in the beginning perhaps you could have avoided the pain you are in now."

Baring her teeth, Luna thrust her body upwards to shove his weight off. In a split second, she was able to flip her wing out from under her and swung it towards him. Jumping out of the way, Itachi settled several feet away from the princess as she scrambled to her hooves. His calm gaze never changed as he brushed his bangs out of his face, sighing before looking back to her. "You should just accept the fact that no matter what you do, it won't change the facts: you have been defeated by me and have no way of protecting yourself anymore."

Luna felt her heart race in realization to what he stated. She reached up with her hoof and touched her horn, instantly yelping out in pain as soon as she made contact. She traced along the jagged, shattered part of her horn that still remained on her forehead. Glaring, she attempted to use her magic, which in turn caused a searing amount of pain to burn through her skull. Luna staggered backwards as she lost her balance from the shock before catching herself, sweat dripping down her fur in complete disbelief to what had happened.

She had lost her ability to use magic.

'No... This can't be happening...' She shakingly said to herself. Looking back up, she felt her heart drop as Itachi slowly made his way back towards her. 'How can a pony be this strong? What is he?'

"Now princess, I suggest that you quit your attempts of trying to resist any longer and just submit." Itachi demanded as he pulled another Kunai out from his sleeve. "I require that you come with me now. I would prefer if you came quietly without anymore trouble."

Not wanting to find out what he was planning, Luna quickly spun around and sprinted as fast as her legs would carry her. Quickly unfurling her wings, she lifted off the ground and up into the sky. "I have to get back to Canterlot... I have to warn Tia of this pony." She shouted in her mind as she gained more altitude. Looking back over her shoulder, she expected to see her opponent far behind her now. To her shock however, he wasn't even there anymore. "What?"

Before she could even turn back forward, Luna was blindsided by a form smashing into her back and pinning her wings to her sides. Unable to slow herself down, she could only scream out as she watched the ground come closer and closer. Then suddenly, the force let her go and jumped off. Seeing her chance, Luna attempted to open her wings back up to slow her descent, but she was too close to the ground to completely stop. Bracing herself, she shut her eyes tight just as she collided hard into the meadow. The lunar alicorn slowly crawled up from the dirt and tried to stand back up, but a sudden Kunai against her throat froze her on the spot. She shakingly turned her gaze around to meet the bright red eyes of Itachi staring right at her.

"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be. It is the goal to keep you alive. I would rather not bring back a body... But I would suggest that you do not push what little luck has come your way."

"W-what?" Luna responded in utter confusion, "what are you-" she stopped speaking as the strange knife pressed right up against her windpipe, causing her breathing all together to stop. Itachi leaned in closer so that his muzzle was right against her ear.

"It would be wise that you not worry about anything else than what I tell you. Your powers of combat are useless now without that horn of yours, and even if you still had it, it wouldn't matter. Your talent is nothing compared to what I have. No matter how hard you try, you are not my equal."

Beneath him, Itachi noted how still and quiet Luna was now. Her head hung low towards the ground, signaling her acceptance of her defeat. Seeing how he had won, he pulled the Kunai away from her neck and slipped it back into his sleeve. Before he stepped off however, he felt her body begin to shake. Then, he heard a sound from her that he did not ever expect to hear, causing him to grow confused.

She was laughing.

Tilting his head, Itachi stepped off her back to let her move. "Do you find something amusing?"

Still laughing, Luna slowly turned around to face the Uchiha, a grin plastered across her face. "We actually believed that thou had us defeated for a moment there. Very skilled of you."

Taken aback by her odd statement, Itachi stepped back towards Luna. As he did however, a bright blue glow began to radiate from Luna's body, lighting up the entire area. The shinobi used a hoof to help block out the blinding light that was growing out from her form. "What is this?" He questioned as the glow only continued to shine brighter.

"You think that you could stop me like that, Itachi? Let me tell you you are the one mistaken." Luna stood up completely as she lifted her head up. The glow from her body was now growing out and seeming to wrap the air itself. "You cannot stop the princess... Of the night!"

In a loud crash, the entire sky seemed to shatter like glass, the bright and lit up sky was replaced by the dark night once more. Luna gasped out for air as she collapsed to the grass, her body drenched with sweat. Her mind felt like it was pulsing like a drum, sending wave after wave of numbing pain through her body. Even with the pain though, she had a grin on her face. Opening her eyes, she looked up and saw something they caused her heart to flutter.

Her horn was still there.

From his position, Itachi stumbled to the ground as well, catching himself on his elbows. His breathing was also slightly ragged, coming in deep pants as he attempted to uncover what had happened.

"That's impossible... She was able to break out of the Tsukuyomi. How coud that happen?"

Luna took a few moments before attempting to stand up. While she was aware that whatever power over her was gone, she could still feel its power lingering. Her head was still spinning in a daze, causing her vision to blur. Whatever this new power he had used on her was, it was much stronger than the ones earlier. Shutting her eyes, she took several deep breaths, Luna slowly began to clear her head and think clearly. Reopening her eyes, she focused her gaze towards Itachi, thankful for the one thing she had on her side that he could not have predicted.

The moon.

Being bonded to the moon, Luna sensed lunar waves of energy from it while it was in the sky. After she believed her horn was broken off, she was still receiving them, which meant that her horn was still there. Able to focus past the genjutsu placed over her and access her magical powers. While she was fortunate for her ability, Luna knew she was lucky; if she had been caught in that ability in the day, she wouldn't have been able to receive the moons energy, thus making it impossible to break out of that genjutsu.

Panting, Itachi looked down at his hoof beneath him. As he expected, his vision was extremely blurry to the point where he couldn't focus on the end of his own leg. Then, a sharp pain shot through his left eye making him wince out. Putting his hoof to his eye, he tried to get through the pain that was the after affects of using the Mangekyo sharingan. After another minute, The intense throbbing subsided, but the pain never truly disappeared from Itachi's eyes. 'Damn it, I can't keep using it like this. At this rate I won't have any more vision to spare.'

Across the field, The white half of Zetsu gave a questioning look to the battle before him. To his sight, both Luna and Itachi had simply been standing for sometime, and now both collapsed to the ground. "What is going on now? What happened to Itachi?"

"I can't believe it... How is that plausible?" The black half stated in disbelief. "She broke through Itachi's tsukuyomi."

"What? But that's impossible. No one can break through Itachi's ultimate genjutsu."

"Apparently this pony can..." Black Zetsu focused his gaze onto the blue alicorn. "Whatever she is, she is unlike any other creature we have seen here."

"I agree. Never would I have figured to find creatures able to counter Tsukuyomi. Even standard genjutsu itself I thought would overcome anything that lived here." The white half lifted his eyebrow as he watched both Luna and Itachi stand back up. "Oh? It seems they are ready to go at it again."

"With that last attempt, genjutsu is useless in this battle now. Now it will strictly be a battle of ninjutsu against her." The black half gave a small chuckle to himself. "Now... We will see who is truly stronger."

The courtyard in front of Canterlot Castle was eerily silent as everypony stared at the cloud of dust where Twilight had been slammed into the street. Rarity and the other girls were frozen in terror at seeing their friend hurled to the ground. Rarity put a hoof to her mouth as tears began to form in her eyes. "Twilight..." She whimpered. Something then suddenly brushed past her side and catching her off guard, before her eyes went wide in panic. "Spike! What are you doing!?"

The young drake was snorting in anger as he charged towards Pain. Before he could continue though, Rarity's magic quickly grabbed him and pulled him back. "Hey! Let me go! I'm gonna make him pay!" Spike yelled out in anger as he thrashed about in the aura. "Look at what he did to Twilight!"

"And what in tarnation do ya think you are gonna do? That pony is strong enough to fight the princess." Applejack said as she gripped the dragon around his chest and pulled him backward.

"I don't care! I'll make him pay for that!"

Celestia could only stare in disbelief at the dust cloud in front of her. She had seen her student and friend slammed right in front of her and she wasn't able to save her. "Twilight... No." She whimpered out in fear of the worst. A gentle breeze came through the street and began to push the dust out of the way, giving Celestia sight to the impact. What she saw however made her eyes widen in shock. "What!?"

Twilight was trembling in a tight ball, her eyes clenched tight as she prepared for her impact. Realizing it wasn't coming, the young mare opened her eyes to see herself floating in the air just inches from the ground. Then she noticed the light blue shield of magic surrounding her, revealing what absorbed the collision to the ground. "Wh-what? What happened?" She asked herself in confusion. As the bubble dissipated around herself, Twilight settled her hooves to the ground as she looked around until she spotted the pony that had saved her.

"C-Cadance!?"

Princess Cadance's horn slowly faded its glow as she released Twilight from her grasp. The pink alicorn quickly galloped over towards her friend and pulled her into a tight hug. "Twilight are you alright?"

Happy to see who it was, Twilight wrapped her hooves around Cadance and pulled her close as well. "Thank you a Cadance. I thought I was done for right there."

Seeing the two ponies embracing in front of Pain did nothing to change the blank expression on his face. "You chose to intervene, fool."

Cadance's smile fell off her face as she looked up to Pain staring at her. She quickly stood back up and moved Twilight behind her. "Go over with your friends, Twilight."

"But Cadance, you can't possibly-

"I'll be fine, just go."

Before she objected, Twilight nodded and ran away towards her group of friends waiting for her and pulled her into a big group hug.

"Twilight, I'm so glad you're okay!" Rarity yelled out as she wrapped her hooves around Twilight's neck and squealed in happiness.

“WOOHOO! I knew you were always a tough cookie!” Pinkie Pie giggled as she embraced her friend.

"Oh goodness, you're not hurt are you?" Fluttershy asked when she noticed the few scratches over Twilights shoulder.

"I'm alright, thank you." Twilight then felt claws wrapping tight around her foreleg. Looking down she saw Spike clenched on to her leg, several tears falling down his face. "Spike, it's alright, I-

"Don't do that to us again Twilight!" Spike yelled out in frustration. "Don't ever do something that dangerous! I thought I was going to lose you!"

Hearing that caused Twilight's own eyes to glisten over. Reaching down, she gripped Spike and pulled him to her chest. "Don't worry Spike. I'm not going anywhere."

Celestia gave a warm smile seeing a Twilight save and with her friends now before turning over to her niece. "Thank you Cadance. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't shown up."

"I'm just glad I came in time..." Cadance quietly responded as she focused her magic once again as Pain came closer. "What worries me is this pony here."

"That is why I want you to go back with Twilight. I'll handle this on my own."

"Auntie, look at yourself, you can't even think on doing this on your own now!" Cadance snapped out. "You should be the one sitting this out.”

The white alicorn looked down to the bloody opening in her wing from where the black rod had been ripped out, making her wince from the sharp sting from it. The cracked ribs in her chest also caused discomfort, but she shook it off to focus on the problem in front of her. "I'll be alright. I don't want you getting hurt."

"You should both remove yourself from my path now..." Pain demanded as he slipped another black weapon from his sleeve. "I want the location of the creature Discord now. I am growing tired of this game."

"I don't know what your motives are pony, but whatever it is it must be something horrible!" Cadance burst out at the pale unicorn. "You come here and have attack our home when we have done nothing wrong to you, and you tried to kill Twilight just now!

"One who stands in the way for my plan for peace will feel the pain that comes with defiance."

"So you think that hurting our land, one that doesn't contain the problems your home contains, will solve this quest for peace you claim of? How can you justify reasoning like that?" Celestia demanded sternly.

"You believe that you have lived in a world of kindness, but you are only deceiving yourself. There is always hatred no matter what. There will always be one that tries to take from others, and will cause that group pain. To say otherwise is a lie."

Seeing both Celestia and Cadance facing Pain, Twilight knew they couldn't just sit there any longer. "Girls, we can't be here any more and get in their way. We have to go grab the elements of harmony."

"The elements?" Fluttershy whispered, "but how can we use them without Rainbow Dash?"

"If I know Rainbow Dash, she will be coming back any moment. She would never leave us for too long. But right now, the princesses need our help. If we are to have any chance against this pony, we have to use the elements of harmony against him. I can go retrieve them so that we can all use them to stop this from going on anymore."

"Do you think some weapon of yours is going to stop us?"

music link

The girls all froze from the chilling voice that came from behind them. Flipping around, they were met facing Tobi staring down at them. Twilight felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest in fear from facing another one of these strange ponies. "This... This can't be happening."

As he took a step towards them, Twilight charged her horn up and shot a bolt of magic at his head. To her utter disbelief though, the beam passed right through him like he wasn't even there. The only thing that did come out of it was a chuckle from Tobi from her shocked expression. "That was a nice try, but nothing you do can phase me." The masked stallion reached his hoof up and reached towards the group of mares. "Your plan is already foiled."

Backpedaling in fear, Twilight and the others tried to keep their distance away from the approaching Tobi. Twilight cast a force field to her front to keep the akatsuki member away , but to her shock he once again simply phased through the shield. "What... what kind of pony is he?"

"Your attacks have no affect on me young one..." Tobi answered as he came closer towards them, "And I heard you plan on retrieving some sort of weapon to use against us. Whether it would even work or not it doesn't matter. You won't be reaching them."

Before any of them could even react, Tobi swung his hoof out and struck Twilight across the face and sent her flying into the nearby wall. "Twilight, NO!" Applejack screamed out in terror of seeing her friend collapse to the ground.

Hearing the girls scream behind her sent a trail of fear up Celestia's back. Turning her head around, she felt her heart double its pace at the sight of another member of the akatsuki standing there over the limp form of Twilight. "No... not another one."

Pain lifted his head at seeing his leader having arrived now. "So you have chosen to come out now? It must be important for you then."

"Indeed it is. You no longer need to waste your time with these creatures anymore..." Tobi said with a hint of spite in his words. "I have already retrieved Discord."

"What!?" Celestia gasped out loud at hearing that.

She could not believe it. The entire time she had been trying to stop Pain from discovering the location of Discord that she was too distracted to see it was all in vain. “It can’t be. They have him now.”

Tobi only laughed at seeing the fear in the princesses face. “So you are that frightened by the thought of having this beast in our possession? Perhaps I was wrong to think it was a waste to capture him now.” Tobi then turned towards his subordinate and nodded. “Pain, we are done here, let us go.”

The pale unicorn nodded to Tobi before looking back at the princess. “It seems that our meeting has come to an end. Now that we have what we need, we shall leave.”

"Wait… After everything you have done, you just plan to disappear like this?” Celestia questioned, dumbfounded by the actions these ponies were doing now. She turned back around to Tobi and stomped her hoof in anger. “You aren’t going to simply walk away after the destruction you have caused us!”

“I have no desire to even waste time with the likes of you. I have my own needs to fulfill.” Tobi was prepared to move away, but when he saw twilight beginning to stir at his hooves he stopped himself. "So, you're still conscious after that. I'm impressed. For a girl you seem to be more durable than most of those pathetic guards I've seen here."

Shaking her head, Twilight began to focus her vision as she started crawling off the ground, coughing several times to regain her breath. When she looked up, she froze in fear as Tobi leaned down so that his mask was face level to her. "Wh-what do you want with me?"

The bright sharingan under Tobi's mask stared through the young unicorn’s soul, burning its image into her mind as he spoke."If I left you here, that means you could go and retrieve those elements you mentioned from before. And from what I heard it seems that you all must use them together." His eye opened wider as he raised his voice. "If one of you is missing, that makes it useless, correct?"

The swirling vortex appeared in front of Tobi's face and began encircling the mare beneath him. Twilight panicked as she felt her body begin to be pulled towards the mask. "What's going on!?" She tried to scrape her hooves on the ground to get away, but she was no match for the power against her. " Somepony, HELP ME!"

Spike dug his claws in the dirt as he sprinted towards his friend in trouble."Twilight , hang on!" But the drake skidded to a stop as he watched Twilight whisked into the air like a piece of parchment, spinning inside the vortex as she screamed in fear of what was coming. Then, she was gone. "Twilight, no..."

"Wh-where did she go!?" Pinkie Pie said in confusion.

Celestia's mouth quivered seeing her friend disappear in front of her. Not only had she failed to keep Discord guarded, she had failed in protecting a pony as precious to her as Twilight. "Twilight. No... Where did-" the white alicorn stopped when she saw her niece sprinting towards the new foe. "Cadance, don't!"

"No!" Cadance screamed out as she sprinted towards the masked pony. Her face became twisted with anger as her horn glowed brighter. "What have you done with her!? Let her go!"

Cadance shot a stream of magic off at Tobi, but to her disbelief the beam passed right through his chest as if he wasn't there. "What!?"

Tobi simply chuckled at seeing the perplexed look on their faces. "Your reactions amuse me, but I am done wasting my time here. Goodbye."

As the vortex appeared again to absorb Tobi into it, Celestia bared her teeth in anger and ran at him as well. "No! You aren't leaving until you have released Twilight!" She charged her magic and released a large glowing sphere at his head, but by the time it reached where Tobi was, he was completely gone. “No, Twilight!”

Celestia turned back around to face Pain, but to her shock he was already gone. All that was left in the courtyard was silence, only broken by the quiet whimpers of the young ponies.

“What do you mean you aren’t even a pony?”

Konan closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. After explaining to Cloud Dasher of her arrival to Equestria, she came to the part of explaining how she wasn’t even a creature that lived here. “Yes. I am something that you would call a human. When we came here, we must have somehow been transformed into your race. I have no answer for how that came to be.”

“And what about those powers that you have, what is that?” Cloud demanded, “You aren’t a unicorn and yet you contain power like one.”

“The abilities you saw were that of what I had in my world. A shinobi have many different powers that they can use, mine are of paper techniques that you saw."

Cloud looked down to his spear that laid down at his hooves, still tempted to pick it up and finishing what he came here for. Even though she spared them, he had no idea if she was simply deceiving them or planning on tricking them into trusting her, but he knew he didn’t have a choice and continued. “Alright, I get that part. Now I ask once again; why have you and the group you came with attack our city?”

Konan’s ears dropped against her head in guilt of the question. “Once again, I am sorry for that. I assure you though that I have not killed anypony in the city.”

While Konan and Cloud spoke to each other, Midnight Blossom and Flash Shot sat to the side to give their captain his chance to speak. Although it was more to keep Midnight back from starting another fight. The bat bony sat with a glare as she tapped her clawed shoes on the ground. “This is ridiculous. Why are we giving this pony a chance to talk like this? Weren’t we supposed to arrest her?”

“If he had tried to subdue her, we wouldn’t be talking right now.” Flash mumbled as he lifted the helmet off his head. Shaking out the tangles in his silver mane, he set the piece of armor on the ground to his side. “She let us go after she could have taken us out. We have to respect that and have no choice but to let her speak her case.”

“Respect my flank, Flash…” Midnight hissed at him, “Her friends attacked the city and have already killed guards. And now we are just sitting here!”

Flash tilted his head up and noticed the strange silence that hovered in the air. “Wait… if they were still attacking the city, where are the explosions?”

“Huh?” Midnight flicked her pointed ears several times, attempting to pick up any sound of combat. To her surprise, it was quiet to what it was before. “It has stopped. Do you think the others from her group were stopped?”

“What!?”

Midnight and Flash turned at the sound of their captain yelling out. “Captain, what’s-

Before the could even finish their sentence, Cloud Dasher whipped the spear up into his hooves and pointed it straight at Konan. “You came here for Discord? What do plan to do with him!?”

Konan stepped back as the other trifecta members quickly galloped up to the pegasi’s side. She gritted her teeth in frustration at realizing what she said. ‘I should have figured that Discord must be the equivalent to the tailed beasts, they must be terrified by his powers.’ Holding her ground, the akatsuki member raised her hoof to her heart. “You may not believe me, but our plan involves to use Discord to return to our world. And that includes him coming with us.”

All three of the guards eyes went wide at what she said. Konan knew that if they truly did fear him, perhaps giving them a reason to let her take Discord could get the other members of the Akatsuki to leave before any more damage was necessary. “I know you may not think what I say is true, but I just want to return to my home without causing any more trouble to your home. I just-

Konan froze mid sentence and shot her eyes wide open. the three guards stepped back in confusion at her sudden change of demeanor. “What the heck is wrong with her?” Midnight whispered.

Almost coming out of a trance, Konan blinked several times before bringing a hoof up to the piercing on her lip. Almost instantly, her wings shot open to her sides as she looked back to the guards. “I no longer need to be in the city anymore. I’m leaving.”

As she turned to fly away, Midnight bared her fangs and raised her claws up, “Oh no you don’t! You aren’t going to-

“Let her go.” Cloud Dasher ordered as he turned to his comrade. “There isn’t a reason to fight her if she leaves our city.”

“But captain, we were ordered to-

“To stop her, yes. As you may have noticed though, we weren’t able to do that.”

Seeing that she could leave in peace, Konan nodded to the white pegasus as she flapped her wings and lifted off the ground. Midnight felt her eye twitch in irritation sneered as she turned away from her captain. “I still don’t understand how you can trust her. If what she said is true and how dangerous her friends are, how do we know that she isn’t deceiving us?”

Before he answered, Cloud stared down at the spear he held in his hoof. He had no idea what to expect from letting her go, but he had to trust his gut. “We just have to. There’s nothing we else we can do besides that.” He then shut his eyes and breathed in deeply, thinking back to that one night years ago. “Trust is sometimes the only thing you have.”

Before Midnight responded, she quickly shut her mouth as she realized what Cloud was referencing. Even now she couldn’t forget the darkness that enshrouded her that night, only to be pulled out by a pony she never expected. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Flash give her a warm smile, which brought a small grin to her face.

As Konan flew through the sky, she slowly reached up with her hoof and rubbed the small piercing she had beneath her lower lip. The small piece of jewelry was actually a chakra receiver that she got from Nagato to put onto herself. They always knew that if they were separated and had to communicate, he could contact her via the piercing just like he did with the other paths of Pain. While it couldn't physically transfer conversations, the device allowed them to show each other's location.

What Konan received through the last message was the same location where they had first met at outside the city. After a few moments, sure enough, she reached the spot and saw Tobi waiting there for her. Slowing down her speed, she stretched her legs out and touched down onto the grass gently. Taking a breath, Konan straightened her face to her usual blank tone, trying to appear as she did before and looked at the Uchiha. "So have we completed the task we came here for?"

"Yes. Discord is in my possession now. With that done, we can move on. I want to know if Kisame and Sasori have completed their task as well." Tobi sighed as he looked in the direction where he saw the massive explosion earlier. "It seems that Deidara was taken down. That wasn't something I was expecting."

Konan also looked to the direction of the Everfree forest. She had also seen the explosion and knew it was Deidara's. She was surprised to know there were ponies here that could have pushed him to the point of suicide. Even though she personally was never too fond of the bomb maker, she knew To I wouldn't be happy with it. In fact, his death she realized could be used to her advantage of leaving now.

Nodding to herself, she towards Tobi and came to a stop at his side. "I know. Perhaps it would be best to leave the city then. It could be more dangerous here than we anticipated and would be a problem if we lost any more members and..." Konan stopped herself when she realized only she and Tobi were the only ones in the clearing. "Wait, where's Pain?"

Tobi was silent for a few moments before he turned his gaze towards Konan, his eye showing a hint of excitement as he whispered quietly.

"It appears these ponies do not understand the true meaning of pain. I think its time they know what it is like to live in the world we come from."

Konan tilted her head in confusion to what he meant, but then the realization hit her. "What!? You mean he..." Whipping her head back towards the city, her eyes widened in horror at the sight of the single figure high above Canterlot. "Nagato, no..."

Floating in the sky over the city, Pain beamed down to the capital with his cold gaze as he raised his hooves above his head. "Now you will feel the suffering that I have lived through in my life."

In his mind, he remembered back to that fateful day years ago when he was forced to kill his own friend by the shinobi that promised him friendship. He could still feel the blood dripping down his hands as one of the only two friends he had perished in his arms. Pain shut his eyes as he lowered his head down towards the ground. “I will never forget Yahiko’s pain.”

“Come on! we have to go look for Twilight!” Spike attempted to run off towards the exit of the city, but the girls kept grabbing him and pulling him back. “Knock it off! Let me go!”

“Spike, get a hold of yerself! We can’t just run after those crazy ponies after what we saw they did.” Applejack said as she wrapped her hoof around the dragon’s stomach and pulled. “Ah know what y’all are feelin’ but-

“If you knew what I felt then you would come with me!” Spike snapped at her.

“I want to help Twilight too, but without her or Rainbow Dash, the elements are useless.” Rarity quickly added, “We can’t do this without the help of all the princesses. We have to wait until Princess Luna returns.”

Hearing her sisters name caused Celestia to perk up suddenly. She couldn’t believe that she had forgotten about Luna during this entire time. “Where is Luna? She should have been back by now along with Shining Armor and the other guards.” The princess suddenly gasped and put a hoof to her mouth. “What if she ran into another one of these ponies!? ashe could be in trouble as well!”

Cadance beginning to panic as well, pacing back and forth as she contemplated what was happening. Being outside of the castle she now saw just how bad the situation was. These ponies were far more powerful than anything they had faced before besides Discord, and there was no knowing how many of them there were. Her husband was still missing from the castle, and now her foalhood friend Twilight was captured by this group. This only made her worry more and more.

“Oh Celestia, what are we going to do now?” Cadance mumbled as she rubbed the side of her face with her hoof. “We have to do something now!”

“I know, but we can’t be rash Cadance. I don’t know how we are going to find those ponies after they disappeared like that. Not only that, If we do anything they could hurt Twilight.” Celestia shook her head as she tried to think of a solution. “I want to go save her, but we have to first gather up the guards in the city and reorganize our protection first. If they decided to come back and…” Celestia stopped talking when she noticed a single figure high in the sky, barely silhouetted by the moon. “Is that… Pain?”

In his spot in the air, Pain opened his eyes as he prepared his act of power to Canterlot. “Now this world shall know… Pain.”

Silence then overtook Everything that instant, only disrupted by the gentle flutter of his black robe. The purple Rinnegan shined bright as his eyes never let the center of the city, getting ready to watch for the second time this technique preform. “Knowing true pain will bring you…. peace.”

That moment, everything seemed to freeze in time. The rustle of the leaves became nonexistent to any ears nearby. the chill of the night air was unnoticable to every pony that was outside staring up at the unicorn. Only one thing registered inside of their minds at that second. All it was to them were two words.

…

“ALMIGHTY PUSH!”

Prologue: Sealing Process failure

The air gave off just a small chill for anyone about the night. The bright moon lit up the large, sprawling forest below. Wind whistled through the gently swaying leaves, giving off just the slightest rustle.

One spot in the trees contained a large, deep crevice in the earth, hidden by the canopy of the surrounding forest. The floor of the canyon contained an enormous skeleton of some fallen beast. Directly past it was the mouth of a cave leading into the side of the mountain.

Down past the dark, moist tunnel was a very large room containing a monstrous statue of a multi eyed humanoid creature coming out of the side of the stone wall. It's chained arms came up from the ground, towering over the small group of cloaked figures standing directly below on the ground.

All of the ninjas standing together bore matching black robes with red clouds patched throughout. Some of the group wore headbands over there forehead, which bore a deep scratch over the symbol on the metal plate in the center. All members also wore a unique ring on one of their fingers.

All of these items were evidence of belonging to the highest ranking criminal organization in the land of ninja. All members were S-rank criminals, each bearing extreme and unique powers.

The Akatsuki.

In all, five members were standing in the room, awaiting for the others to arrive. All were sitting quietly, except for one member who sat twirling his long, triple bladed red scythe over and over. The gray haired ninja yelled out in frustration, "Damn it! How much longer do we have to wait?"

"Shut up, Hidan..." the masked member grunted, his solid green eyes burning through the darkness, "quit complaining. We were given orders all meet up here."

Hidan sneered at his partner, "Why don't you kiss my ass, Kakazu! I know why we are here, I'm asking what is taking so long."

"Whatever is the reason, it can't be changed."

Hidan growled, walking over and getting in Kakazu's face, "Well, aren't you a clever shit! I never realized that!" his sarcasm thrown in every word.

The two ninja continued to bicker as the other members sat frustrated as well; they knew what was happening, but did not understand why they had to all be together to complete the process. The red haired ninja to the side glanced to his side, seeing his blonde haired partner slowly shifting his closed hands together. Curiosity took over his boredom, wondering what was being made, "what are you creating this time, Deidara?"

Deidara glanced up, his hair covering half his face. He grinned at the fellow artist, "This, Sasori, is one of my personal favorites..." he opened his fists, revealing the mouths on each of his palms. The left handed mouth spit out a glob of clay on the ground, which began to shift into a long snake. Deidara smiled at the now slithering creature, "my self guided snake bombs. Once they go, they search for whatever they see or whatever gets in their way."

Sasori rolled his eyes; his form of art was the creation and control of puppets, able to last forever. Deidara only cared for creating art which was 'an explosion' as he always said. The two contradicting styles always clashed about which was better.

Standing off alone, another ninja tapped his food up and down impatiently. He was much taller than all the others in the room with him. His blue skin shine from what light was in the room, revealing the gills on his cheeks. Slung over his shoulder was his weapon; an enormous sword inside of a white wrapping except for the end, revealing bluish-purple mass of razor sharp denticles spread throughout the surface.

Kisame did not understand why his partner Itachi went off to capture the Eight-tails by himself. He wanted the chance to fight the considered perfect jinjuriki warrior of the hidden Cloud village. His thoughts were cut short when footsteps began echoing through the cave.

Entering the room was Itachi Uchiha, one of the strongest members of the group. His red sharingan eyes shown through the darkness beneath his black bangs hanging in his face. Slumped over his shoulder was the unconcious body of a dark skinned ninja, who sported multiple swords over his back.

Kisame cast a grin, revealing his razor sharp teeth, "So, Itachi, you have finally chosen to join us. I expect the Eight-tails caused you trouble?"

Itachi looked over, his emotionless face staring at the shark skinned Kisame, "The rumors were true of him being able to completely control the beast. However, he was still no match for my genjustu."

Hidan walked over to Itachi, Smirking at the body being carried in, "Well, that is one of them, now where is the other?"

Suddenly, a green mass began to come up through the ground in the middle of the group. The giant Venus fly trap Splits open after a few moments, revealing the main body of Zetsu; a split personality being consisting of one half body of white and another black. Bright yellow eyes shown under his green hair. The black half suddenly spoke in a deep, raspy voice, "they are here."

All of the members in the room went quiet as the pair of figures walked into the large cave. The figure on left was a female with blue hair put up in a bun. She wore a paper flower in her hair and had a piercing below her lip. Konan was the only female member of the Akatsuki, yet she was not one to be called weak. Her unique jutsu made her a formidable opponent to any ninja. Her partner, however, was considered a god to all.

Pain came into the faint light, revealing the many black piercings through his face, especially his nose. His eyes slowly opened, revealing what gave him his extraordinary powers; purple eyes surrounded by a pattern of rings; the rinnegan.

Being one of the founding members of the organization, he was the figurehead to the other akatsuki members.

Deidara noticed something strange about Pain; there was only one of him. "Pain, wheres the rest of... You?"

Similar to Itachi, Pein's face contained no emotion; just a cold gaze appeared from his eyes, "the Nine-tails was much more powerful than I expected; it destroyed the other five paths."

"So, being here means you succeeded, though. Hmm." Deidara smirked.

Konan lifted her arm, which controlled the mass of paper floating behind her. The body levitated into the room, wrapped inside of her paper jutsu like a mummy. The body was laid on the ground in front of the rest of the members.

Itachi looked over to the unconscious form, then back to Pain, "what happened to the Hidden Leaf Village?"

The orange haired figure looked at him with the straightest face, "I showed them the true meaning of pain."

"So, you took the liberty in destroying it?"

Kisame chuckled at his partners curiosity, "Why do you care what happened to your former village? You were the one who destroyed your entire clan."

Hidan looked back and forth between the two jinjuriki that had been brought into the room by the other members. He looked up to Pain, his eyes filled with unanswered questions, "Alright, we have the final two beasts now. Why did we all have to come here instead of just sealing it from where we were?"

"Because it is the two final beasts." a voice said from nowhere. Suddenly, a swirling vortex of energy appeared in the air. Through the blurry mass, another cloaked figure started to materialize into view. After several moments, the energy disapeared, leaving the final member to the akatsuki in its place. His face was covered by an orange mask, which had a swirl design flogging from the outer edge toward the single hole where the right eye was located. Gazing out of the opening was the shine from a sharingan.

It was true leader of the akatsuki; Tobi.

All of the others sat silently as Tobi slowly walked towards them, his dark voice echoing against the walls, "The eight and the nine-tails are the strongest of the beasts. The sealing ritual is much stronger when all members are present at the site of the host." Glancing down to the figure on the ground, Tobi couldn’t help but chuckle, “Finally, after all these years, my plan will finally take affect after this night. From this moment on, I will be-”

The sudden explosion of red chakra cut Tobi off midsentence. All of the akatsuki in the room were startled by the sudden rush of energy from the body they thought was unconscious. The paper around the figure began to expand, and then burst open as the chakra enveloped the room. The sheer force from the energy threw all of the ninja across the room.

The red aura began to dissipate. Tobi rolled off the ground, brushing off the dust that collected on his cloak. He looked up to something he did not expect; standing where the body was placed was a towering beast that nearly took up half of the large room. Its enormous body was covered in orange hair. Its red eyes shot back and forth around the cave in which it was trapped inside, gazing at the many bodies below him. It was what was contained inside of the young boys body, and the target of the akatsuki; the nine-tailed demon fox.

Pain and Konan got up as well, shocked to see how the creature had awakened. Konan was sure that Pain had subdued the jinjuriki before the beast had completely awakened. She didn’t understand how this could have happened.

The giant fox growled at the many figures that surrounded him, then suddenly spoke, “You thought that you were strong enough to subdue me!?” its voice boomed inside of the rock cavern, “You were only able to capture me because I was contained inside of that pathetic boy!”

Itachi jumped into the air, and quickly waved a series of hand movements, “Fire style: Fire Ball jutsu!”

A stream of flames shot out of Itachi’s mouth, which formed into a large fireball that rushed towards the great fox. The giant beast swung one of its massive tails, smacking the fire as if it was swatting a fly away. The tail came crashing down on the ground, creating an earthquake that was strong enough to make the entire cave tremble. Rocks came crashing down from the ceiling, landing hard onto the ground below.

The beast laughed as it watched its captors evade the falling rocks, trying desperately not to get crushed. The fox then turned its attention to the masked figure that stood at his feet. He glared down at the ninja, “Now that I have been released, I will not be one to be captured by the likes of you.”

Tobi stood there in front of the fox, not moving an inch as a boulder dropped directly where he was standing. The rock, instead of crushing his body, simply passed through him as if he was never standing there. He walked forward out from where the rock was on the ground now, and stopped as soon as his foot cleared the edge of it, “I have no intention of allowing you to leave, fox. You are the most important factor for my plan to succeed. I will make you obey just like I did sixteen years ago.”

The giant fox roared in anger, “I was able to be controlled because you pulled me out of my former host! Your genjutsu trick won’t work on me this time!” Opening his enormous mouth, a mixture of red and blue energy began to swirl inside of his open gape. The chakra came together and formed a solid purple sphere of dense matter. And then-

BOOOOOOOM!

The giant purple blast of energy rushed towards Tobi, who once again used his jutsu, allowing the sphere to pass straight through him, “Hm hm hm, no matter how powerful you are, your attacks cannot hurt me as long-” he suddenly stopped and remembered where he was standing. Whipping around, he saw the blast was heading directly for the Gedo Mazo statue, which contained the energy of the seven beasts already sealed. Fear struck his heart as the ball of plasma struck the giant head .

The blast caused even more sections of the ceiling to fall, revealing the dark sky above. Seeing its chance, the fox burst through the remaining rocks above and disappeared from view. All that could be heard from inside the cave was the great roar from the beast, bellowing out in celebration of its freedom.

Deidara prepared to chase after it, but saw a thirty foot rock coming straight at him. Lifting his hands up, he shoots out multiple clay birds, all flying up to the massive chunk. As soon as they are inches away from it, he claps his hand together, “Katsu!”. The birds detonate, blowing the rock into millions of specs of gravel that rain down to the ground.

Pain evaded a number of small boulders falling his direction, and headed towards where Itachi dropped the body of the eight-tails. When he reaches the spot, however, he is shocked to see that the body is gone. He then thinks to himself, ‘In the heat of battle, the genjutsu placed on the mind must have been disrupted. The jinjuriki must have woken up and used the fox as a distraction to escape.’ He looked over to Tobi, who was staring at the smoke that enshrouded the statue.

Tobi was unsure what had come from the attack on the Gedo Mazo. He tried to make out through the cloud of dust surrounding it, but before he could see anything, a bright blast of light shot through the cloud, striking him before he had a chance to materlialize his body. He felt himself be lifted off the ground, unable to control the movement of his body. Looking around he saw, the other akatsuki members were also caught in the strange energy.

Hidan began thrashing around, trying to escape the grasp of the energy, “What the hell is going on!?”

“I can’t get free!” Sasori yelled out.

Konan screamed as she felt herself be forced into the air, “What is happening!?

Before any of them could comprehend the situation, the light pulled all ten of the akatsuki together, forming a ball of energy which began to spin rapidly. Suddenly, the akatsuki felt themselves being plunged through a bright vortex of light, hurdling them through a tunnel of matter.

As he fell, Tobi had the strangest sensation, almost as if his body was shifting as bolts of electricity shocked him. Looking down, he could have sworn his hands started to morph, his fingers being pulled into his palms. then, his hands began to solidify in the end, becomming a blunt, hard stump. Before he could truly believe it, the end of the tunnel suddenly disapeared, giving sight to the rapidly approaching ground.

One after another, the ten bodies hit the ground with tremendous force, knocking each one out instantly.

___________________________________________________

The night sky above Canterlot shone beautifully from the moon and many stars out that night. Princess Luna smiled from her balocny to the work she had done. Earlier she had decided that she wanted to take extra time to put detail into the sky this night, since the last few nights were mostly blocked by the clouds. Looking down below to the gardens, she saw two figures walking amongst the many statues throughout. Even from the height of her room, she immediatly recognized both of them.

Trotting slowly on the grass, the tall white alicorn Princess Celestia walked by the statue of a large unicorn. Looking up to it, she sat quitly for a few moments. After several seconds of silence, she glanced down to the purple unicorn by her side, "Now Twilight, what statue do you think this one is?"

Twilight Sparkle stared at the statue, pondering the many options in her head. She noticed the many pieces of armor the
unicorn was wearing. Her eyes followed down the side of the body to the flank, and saw the curved sword cutie mark etched into the stone. Her mind immediatly clicked, "Oh,this is Quickswipe! He was a commander two thousand years ago during the dragon rebellion."

Celestia smiled, "Correct. you havent missed one yet."

Twilight smiled, proud of her success. Despite coming to Canterlot to visit her mentor, she always enjoyed having occasional tests of history. She continued to walk through the garden, but suddenly stopped when her eyes caught a glimpse to the statue to her right.

Set up on top of a hill stood the stone prison of Discord. It was placed on that hill after Twilight ad her friends defeated him with the elements of Harmony several months before. Walking up to the base of it, Twilight could have sworn that she heard his sinister laugh inside of her head. A sudden chill ran up her spine, causing her hair to stand on end.

Celestia saw how her student reacted to
Seeing the imprisoned spirit of chaos. Walking over to Twilight, she draped a wing over the young unicorns back, "you do not need to worry anymore, Twilight. There is nothing to fear."

Twilight looked up to Celestia, her face filled with fear, "But what if he gets out again? I don't think I can face him again."

"He will not return, Twilight." a voice said from behind.

Twilight turned to see the lunar princess standing behind her, causing a smile to spread across her face, "princess Luna."

"Thou should not worry about Discord, for we always warn him to stay as he is." Luna said in her standard Canterlot style.

Twilight raised her eyebrow out of confusion, "You warn him?"

"why of course, we give him a taste of the royal Canterlot voice. Like this..." a large grin spread across her face as she trotted past her sister and her student, then flew straight up to get into Discord's face, "IF THY VILE CREATURE RETURNS, THOU SHALL FACE THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!!!" she boomed out, causing the statue to nearly fall over.

Twilight couldn't help but laugh at seeing Luna scream at the imprisoned spirit. Celestia smiled up to Luna, happy that her sister lightened the depressed moment. "Well sister, it seems you have learned how to use your voice at the right moments."

"Well of course! Twilight showed us-" Luna stopped herself, catching the improper grammar she used on occasion, "showed...me how to control my voice for casual talk. But, I still enjoy using THE ROYAL WHOOM!"

At first Twilight cringed at the final sound wave that hit her, but rubbed it off when she saw how much Luna enjoyed it. After a second, all three in the garden began to laugh at how the evening ended up being like.

The moment of happiness was cut short when a bright blast of light appeared several miles away. All three in the garden stared in shock to what they were seeing. Twilight looked up to her mentors face, and saw she was just as confused as she was.

Luna flapped her wings and flew above the others trying to get a better view, "Sister, is this thy magic?"

"No, Luna. I do not know what that is." Celestia yelled up. Something that did bother Celestia was what she detected; her magic noticed that the light contained multiple powerful clusters of some form of energy she did not recognize.

After about twelve seconds, the light disappeared, but the energy remained in that location. Princess Celestia felt concerned on what happened; whatever appeared in the distance with the light, it did not Leave with it.