The 5th Great Ninja/Pony War

Chapters

Prologue: Change of Destiny
Chapter 1:A New World
Chapter 2:Strange Visitors
Chapter 3:I Wonder What They're Up To?
Chapter 4:Another Settlement
Chapter 6:Two Artists Make It To Applewood
Chapter 7:The First Prisoner
Chapter 8:The Akatsuki Makes Its' Move
Chapter 9:Ultimate Art v.s. Army of the Oligarchy
Chapter 10:The Battle of Canterlot Begins
Chapter 11:Judgement of a God
Chapter 12:Reinforcements Arrive
Chapter 13:Living World of Hell
Chapter 14:Birth of War
Chapter 5:Forbidden Kinjutsu and Immortal Blood

Prologue: Change of Destiny

Some know me barely, others know me to the fullest possible extent. Some have never seen me before, others never will. I am Rokuro Yamamoto, and this is my story. A story unlike any other; a story of how I explored worlds previously considered impossible to explore. Without further delay, let’s begin.

Many people believe there were only 11 members of the infamous criminal organization known as the Akatsuki. Sasori, Deidara, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Hidan, Kakuzu, Konan, Nagato, Zetsu, Tobi, and Orochimaru, a former member. But there were dozens of them, several of whom worked with Hidan who killed them because of their insolence and disregard of his religion. But there is one in particular who I wish to mention, myself. Rokuro Yamamoto, I am the only surviving member of the Sand Village Puppet Master clan. Sasori was my teacher and I joined the Akatsuki after I murdered Ebizo, one of the Sand Village elders.

There’s a reason many people have not heard of me. When I was a junior member of the Akatsuki, I was sent on a mission with my senior, Hotaka, a mission that failed and changed my destiny forever. We were supposed to retrieve a statue from the Land of Tea. The leader there at the time used it to store massive amounts of chakra, and our leader became interested in it. I remember it almost as if it was yesterday.....

“Hurry, Rokuro! We are almost there!”

“I know, just slow down this is my first mission and I’m just a little nervous.”

Hotaka slowed his pace and stopped completely. I almost ran straight into him. “Rokuro, something’s bothering you isn’t it?”

I was stunned, we had only been partner for a few days and he could already read my actions and behaviors.

“What makes you think that?”

“They call me Hotaka the Mind Reader for a reason, you know. I can read people’s behaviors like an open book.”

I looked up to the moonlit sky and the stars that plastered it like a canvas. “Yes, I am very nervous. I can maim, torture, and kill people. But when I go somewhere new, I shut down.”

Hotaka stared at me with those penetrating eyes of his before speaking. “My former partner was the same way. So I think, perhaps you are lying. Tell me, are you afraid of me?”

He had figured it out, I couldn’t lie to him anymore. “Yes, I am. Please don’t take it as an insult, though. You must understand, when you showed me your jutsus, I was just...”

“Afraid? Does that sum it up in a true way?”

“Yes, your moves reminded me of Madara Uchiha.”

Hotaka stared blankly at the palm of his hand, then turned his back to me.

“He was my mentor.”

I gasped, then regained my composure. “But you told me you from Kirigakure, Hidden Mist Village!”

“Heh, funny story behind that one, Rokuro. I am from Kirigakure.”

“So how did you learn from Madara? That would have made you a rogue ninja long before you actually left to join Akatsuki!”

Hotaka stared at me for some time, laughed, and then spoke. “You know Rokuro? You really are a funny one.”

With that, he jumped back up into the trees and continued moving towards our goal.

“Wait for me, Hotaka!” I ran after to him back into the woods.

As dawn approached, Hotaka and I arrived at the Land of Tea.

“Rokuro,” he said, “we are a little behind; we were supposed to steal the statue last night so we had cover of darkness. That just means we’re going to set up camp here until tomorrow night and then make our move.”

“Alright, I’ll go collect some firewood so we-”

He cut me off before I could finish. “Rokuro are you mad? This close to the village someone will see the smoke and come to investigate. No, just set up the tent we have other means to stay warm.”

I knew he was right, so I began setting up our tent and watched with interest out of the corner of my eye as he pulled two metal rods, a jar with holes, some strange matches, and some beeswax from his pack. He inserted both rods through the sides of the jar; one on top and one on bottom of the other. He lit the matches, or at least I thought he did. There was no fire on the tips of them! He touched them to the beeswax to melt it, and then let it drip over the metal rods.

He noticed me staring and laughed. “You like this, don’t you? It’s a little invention of mine. From where I come from, the mist is heavy and aqueous, so you are unable to light a fire inside the village. Therefore I came up with this lamp that uses the matches to create larger-scale heat.”
I sat there blankly, amazed by my senior’s ingenious invention, but I got back to work and finished setting up the tent. Hotaka brought the lamp with him inside, and we talked for a few hours about the heist we were about to pull, then we fell asleep.

We awoke to discover it was nighttime, so we prepared ourselves and raced to the village.

The front gate was crawling with guards, so we decided to take another route. We dove into the river, and swam up the village's canal; straight towards the central palace. We got out of the water and proceeded on foot towards the palace with our prize held within.

As we approached, Hotaka noticed the two guards normally stationed in front of the palace were nowhere to be seen.

“Rokuro, I don’t like this.” he said. “Relax, maybe they just both took a piss break.” I replied.

“No, I watched these guards and their habits for two weeks. They never leave the door unattended. Something’s wrong.”

“Would you feel comfortable deviating from the original plan then?”

He stared at the palace intently for a few seconds before replying. “Yes.”

I nodded, and we moved around the palace to look for another way in. Originally, we were going to zipline from the nearby bento eatery, but now we would have to find another opening. After circling the palace, we found it: a window barely ajar with no light coming from within. We jumped up onto the roof and peered inside; nobody was there as far as we could tell. Hotaka went first and I followed, then suddenly, lit torches appeared all around us.

Eight guards, all pointing their swords at us; we had no chance if we fought them here.

“You really thought you could break into the palace of the Land of Tea and not get caught? You two are dumber than you look.”

A rather fat man stepped from behind the guards. He was wearing a purple kimono with silver designs sewn into it. His face was round, with a long moustache stretching from under his nose, all the way to his chest. It was the daimyo, the leader of the Land of Tea.

Me and Hotaka stared at each other for a few moments: how could we be caught?

“Pay attention when I’m speaking!” I snapped back into reality when the daimyo shouted at us.

“You two are coming with me and my guards to the dungeon, immediately. From there, I will learn from what village you two hail and I will send a message to your leader.”

Our situation looked hopeless, but Hotaka whispered in my ear: “Follow him, don’t make any problems for him or the guards. I have an idea.” I nodded, and kept my mouth shut.

We followed the daimyo and his guards until we approached a thick, grey door. The daimyo turned to face us and spoke. “Welcome to the dungeon, it is here you two will suffer unimaginable torture so we may learn where you are from. Unless you would rather speak now, in which case we can avoid all those unpleasantries.”

Hotaka winked at me, and then said: “Lord daimyo of the Land of Tea. We apologize for breaking into your regal palace. We, as freelance thieves, just couldn’t help but wonder at all the amazing treasures you have in here. We know you have far greater treasure than anyone else, even the shinobi villages!”

I realized what he was doing now. He was attempting to the get the daimyo to play into his hands by using excessive flattery. Good old, Hotaka; he would never let us die.

The daimyo’s expression changed at what happened next almost made me laugh right in his face. The daimyo smiled and spoke. “Well now, I believe maybe I was wrong. Perhaps you two are NOT as dumb as you look. In fact, you may be smarter than some of my advisors. How would you two like an official apology followed by a new career in politics?”

Hotaka look stunned, but decided to work with what he was given. “Of course, Lord daimyo, only you would have such a kind heart, unlike the ruthless kage that rules my lands.”

Lord daimyo smiled, then laughed, then spoke. “You two really take me for a fool, don’t you? I can tell when someone’s lying to me. You have only enraged me further! Guards, take them both to the dungeon immediately!”

Four guards pulled me and Hotaka off of our feet and dragged us through the grey door. They dragged us down a long, dark hallway for what seemed like ages. I heard the creak of a door being pulled open, then we were thrown in. The door closed behind us, and the guards walked away, laughing. As they threw me, my head hit the stone floor and I lost consciousness.

When I awoke, Hotaka was sitting on a stool across the prison cell looking at me.

“Did you sleep well, Rokuro?” he said.

“Don’t be that way, you know we are in deep trouble for failing our mission to Nagato! The Akatsuki might be sending an assassin right now as we speak; just so we won’t spill any information to the daimyo.”

He sighed then walked to a small window in our cell.

“Rokuro, you do not know me fully yet, and that is understandable. I am one of the senior members of the Akatsuki, which means I have been doing work for our organization for many years. Nineteen years, to be precise.”

“So you think they’ll rescue us?”

“Oh yes, they will. We will be docked our pay for the job and we will get an earful from Konan or Zetsu, but yes, they will come to help us.”

As the day drew on, my hopelessness and misery grew. I still didn’t think anyone would come to our rescue; and by the time night drew around, I became accepting of my fate.

Suddenly, however, I heard an explosion from across the palace. I turned to Hotaka, he was laughing. I thought for a moment of who it could be, then I asked.

“Deidara?”

“Deidara.”

We waited in our cell, listening to the sounds of battle and cries of death rage outside. After what seemed like only seconds, the door to our cell opened and in walked Hotaka’s previous senior, Sora.

“Well, I never imagined I’d ever see the great Hotaka captured by the daimyo. But it seems anything can happen.”

Hotaka laughed and responded, “Thanks for rescuing us, Sora. Now please, get us to our weapons they were confiscated by the guards.”

“You won’t be needing them, I have orders to take you both back to the Land of Snow, immediately.”

Hotaka and I looked at each other in confusion, but nodded in agreement anyway. We followed him outside of the palace to where a great battle was taking place. Deidara, Konan, Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori, Kisame, Itachi and many other Akatsuki members were there, fighting the enemy.

“Lord Nagato,” Sora began, “I have them both here.”

“Excellent Sora, you may join the battle now if you wish.”

Sora nodded and summoned his water horse, removed a large poleaxe from the horse’s side, and rode off to help Deidara and Konan.

Nagato turned to us and spoke. “While I am greatly disappointed in your failure to do this mission stealthily like I asked, I am giving you a chance to redeem yourselves.”

“Whatever you want us to do, it will be done.” replied Hotaka.

Nagato pointed to the daimyo and a new bodyguard of his sporting a large longbow.

“Kill him and his bodyguard, retrieve the statue, and you shall be forgiven this day.”

Hotaka and I nodded and off we went to finish the job.

Nagato shouted to the other members of Akatsuki: “Shinji, Miyuki, Raiden, Akira! Fall back to the hideout and await further orders!”

The four Akatsuki nodded and fled the battlefield immediately.

‘Now, we see what these two can do.’ Nagato thought to himself.

As we approached the daimyo, I saw Hotaka removing a round, silver object from his robes. I knew exactly what it was.

“Hotaka, you think you’ll need to use THAT?”

“I do not know the enemy’s full strength, and I would rather not keep Nagato waiting. We are trying to impress and do a good job, not waste his time.”

“Very well then, I shall use this one.” I pulled out a scroll with gold highlights from my robe.

Hotaka laughed. “I do so enjoy that one, it will make a good impression on Nagato to see our new teamwork in action, too.”

We stopped as we came up to the daimyo and his bodyguard. He turned to look at us, and his expression changed from one of fear, to one of uncontrollable rage.

“I was looking forward to killing you in my torture room. But killing you on the battlefield will leave me with a better conscience.”

“Hotaka, let me do it I want to start off wi-”

I was cut off at that moment as the daimyo’s bodyguard shot an arrow with a large, round, center piece towards us. It turned into a large black hole and absorbed all of us into it. All of us, except the accursed daimyo and his bodyguard. Even his own people came with us.

I watched as Konan and Deidara flew past me. Chairs, bricks, parts of the nearby houses and the daimyo’s palace were sucked up into it. I screamed for Hotaka to help me, but the hole sealed up and all became dark.

When I came to, I was floating in the air. This at first frightened me, but I learned quickly how to sort of “swim” and move around freely. As I was “swimming” I came up the rest of my comrades and some of the Land of Tea villagers. While I was approaching them, there was a great flash and an apparition appeared before us.

“Welcome newcomers to the Plane of Isolation.” it said.

Deidara, with his usually big mouth, shouted, “Who are you and where are we?!”

The apparition looked thoughtfully at Deidara a moment before speaking. “You don’t seem to listen intently, I already told you are in the Plane of Isolation. A type of limbo for all universes and alternate time periods.”

Deidara was about to speak, but Konan cut him off. “What do you mean by that, exactly?”

“I mean that you have been transported here by magical means. Many who come here come because they have died. Since you are alive, that means I have no choice but to send you to a different dominion.”

“Well if you must, send these peasants somewhere else. I don’t wish to be near them any longer.” said Kakuzu.

“Very well, your group will go separately from theirs. Now........go......”

The apparition pulled a portal from the “floor” and put it in front of him. Suddenly, we were all pulled into it. As we went through, our speed increased. It felt like I was going to hit something but then we suddenly slowed, and dropped.

The night air was cool and light, and I felt a slight breeze on the back of my neck. At the same time, a mosquito landed on my face. I smacked it hard with my hand, but I noticed something wrong. My hand was no longer a hand, it was a hoof!

Chapter 1:A New World

I was stunned. Was this some sort of genjutsu that the apparition used on me? What if it was all of us? I had forgotten about my comrades. I decided to check on them.

I stood up but found what I feared to be true. I had become an animal of some kind; some kind of four-legged creature. A mule? A zebra, perhaps? No, I had become a horse. I was shocked and I couldn’t move, all I could do was think: Why? How?

Itachi broke me from my trance. “I see you figured it out as well, good. Hopefully you’re not too shaken up about it either.”

“Actually, yes, I’m quite shocked. I....I don’t even know what to think....”

“I think I can explain it, but first let’s find the others. When we apparated here, some of us landed a little further away. Let’s go.”

Me and Itachi walked to the nearby cluster of trees to look for any of our comrades. As we looked through some shrubs, I felt my hoof hit something soft.

“Ow, quit it will you? An artist shouldn’t be poked and prodded like some voodoo doll, hmm!”

Deidara jumped out of the bushes and shook himself off. He tried to stand up on his back legs, so it was clear he hadn’t figured out what happened yet.

“Hey, why is this so uncomfortable? Why I am so offbal-” He cut off as soon as he saw his long, blonde tail swish in front of him.

“What was that? You both just saw that, right?”

Itachi explained what happened to Deidara.

“WHAT? I’m a horse, now? How am I supposed to make art with hooves, hmm?!”

“Calm down, Deidara. I’ve figured out how to use our jutsus without handsigns. It’s not a problem. But for now, we need to find everyone else and get them together so I only have to say it once.”

We searched high and low for everyone else and somehow succeeded despite the strange environment. Konan and Tobi were lying under a rock, Nagato, Hidan, and Kakuzu were stranded on a small island in the middle of a lake. Finally, Kisame and Sasori were in a tree scouting the terrain. Hahaha, like I didn’t know my own teacher all too well. He hates heights.

Once we assembled everyone, I noticed immediately that Hotaka was nowhere to be found.

I turned to Deidara, “Hey, did you find Hotaka anywhere?”

“No my man, I couldn’t find him. Then again, when we were trapped in that Plane of whatever, I didn’t see him there, either. Perhaps he just didn’t come through that portal with us, hmm?”

I nodded in agreement, but in my heart, I knew something was wrong. I could’ve sworn I saw Hotaka being sucked into the portal, too. Itachi’s voice brought me from my inner speculations.

“Now, I’ve figured out how to perform our jutsus without hands. All you have to do is put your hooves together and focus chakra there. Next, concentrate on the jutsu’s nature swelling up inside of you. So in my case, I imagine a great fire inside of me. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Itachi walked a safe distance away from us and placed his hooves together. He closed his eyes and concentrated for only a moment.

“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” A great flame erupted from Itachi’s mouth and covered the landscape, burning the grass and trees.

“See,” Itachi said turning towards us, “it’s not as hard as you’d think. As much as we should all practice, Nagato has something to say.”

Itachi walked back to our group and we all turned to face Nagato’s Deva Path of Pain.

“Thank you for your demonstration, Itachi. But now there is something far more critical to do.” Nagato began. “We need to find a way home. However, it won’t be easy. Zetsu has already informed me that many of the creatures who live here aren’t very powerful. Which means, we will have to find a source of energy that would be very hard to come by in these parts. So I believe we need to split up into our usual teams and look for some kind of massive, concentrated energy we could use to create a portal home.”

We all looked at each other and I could tell we were thinking the same thing: we have no idea what to look for, and even if we sense the energy, how do we contain it without sealing scrolls?

Obito, the true leader of the Akatsuki, spoke up. “I agree, Nagato. But we must remember that, should the object of power we find be something similar to a tailed beast, we will also need an object similar to a sealing scroll. Therefore, keep an eye out for something like THAT as well.”

Pain nodded then pulled a scroll of his own out of his robes. He placed it upon the ground, put his hooves together, and suddenly a grey smoke covered him and the new figures with him. As the smoke dissipated, we could see had summoned the other 5 Paths of Pain. He nodded to Konan, and they both teleported from the clearing.
Sasori and Deidara just walked north, away from the group, without a word. Kisame and Itachi began walking east towards a large river. I began to walk away, when Tobi stopped me.

“Rokuro, you’ve never worked alone before. So I’m having Zetsu go with you.”

Zetsu was the scout of the Akatsuki, being able to sink into the ground and “walk” unseen, anywhere he wants and the resurface again. His head was protected by a clam-like armor opened up to expose his two halves. One white, and pure of heart, one black, and more cruel than his other half.

Zetsu rose up from the ground beside me, his clam head opening up to speak. “After you, Mr. Yamamoto.” Said his more polite white half. I nodded, and we began to walk west, towards a small mountain.

Obito opened a portal with his Kamui ability and warped to another location. While me and Zetsu were walking away I heard Kakuzu sigh before walking south.

Hidan broke the silence, “Okay, seriously, am I the only one that thinks we should be worried about being fucking colored horses?!”

Kakuzu sighed again. “Shut up Hidan, let’s go.”

Chapter 2:Strange Visitors

Chapter 2:Strange Visitors]

When me and Zetsu left the clearing, it was to be the last greenery we would see. As night turned to morning, the grass turned to sand. We had come upon a desert of some kind. There were large mesas jutting up out of the ground everywhere, and occasionally I would see a small tuft of brown grass or a tumbleweed.

As we walked along, I noticed a patch of ground slightly less brown than the ground we had been walking on. It was covered in hoofprints going in various directions; we had found a road.

“Zetsu, I think we should follow this road. It could lead to civilization.”

“I agree, but we should stay off the road in case someone unfriendly should show up.” Said Black Zetsu.

“Aww, why do you never trust people? If you don’t trust people you’ll never make any friends.” Said White Zetsu.

“Friends are, if anything, a tool to further my goals, nothing more.”

White Zetsu was going to say something, but didn’t. I followed Zetsu’s advice, and we stayed close to the road, but not on it, in order to avoid detection. The rest of our journey was one of silence; Zetsu never had much to say before we came to this strange world, and he didn’t start speaking his mind now ,either.

While we walked I thought about Hotaka, and wondered if he was doing alright, wherever he was. Hopefully, not here, then again, I did miss my senior. He was my friend, and while I wouldn’t want to wish him potential harm by being here, I was saddened all the same.

“Oh, little squirrel come back, please! Don’t wander, I won’t be able to find you!”

Fluttershy was in the middle of chasing one of her little friends. She was feeding them as usual, when this feisty squirrel decided he’d rather go exploring then eating.

She chased him all over her property, even all the way to Sweet Apple Acres. But as she began to catch up to him, she noticed he was running closer and closer to Everfree Forest, a place where nothing natural is said to occur. A place of real evil.

“NOOOOOOO!! Stop little squirrely, stop now, please!” Fluttershy knew there was only one thing to do, give him “the stare”. She flew in front of the squirrel and opened her eyes wide.

“Little squirrely, you may be fluffy, cute and super adorable, but I will not tolerate such reckless behavior. It is my job to protect you and I will, but if you go romping around and doing whatever you please, I get really mad. Please don’t make me mad, I don’t like to get mad, but I will if I must. Now you march your little rear back to my house, this instant, do you understand?”

The squirrel gulped, nodded, and turned to run back to Fluttershy’s house. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief and began following him back when she heard a noise. She looked behind her towards the Everfree Forest, but saw nothing.

She turned again, only this time to see a black unicorn with grey hair that had red streaks in it. His cutie mark was a series of sparks all going up at once. His eyes glowed a mysterious silver color that she had never seen before.

“Excuse me miss, but could you be so kind as to tell me where the nearest town or settlement is?”

Fluttershy shivered with fear and couldn’t say anything. She just stood there, staring at this fearsome pony. She screamed, and flew away from him.

“Hmm, how quite rude of her. I wish I had time to teach her some manners, but I do need to find everyone else, first.”

Hotaka started walking but stopped suddenly. “Mental note: I also need to find out what this pointy thing on my head does, later.”

After a few hours, I saw a small, wooden town not too far up from the road. I was overjoyed, but Zetsu didn’t seem to care.

“Remember Rokuro, we’re here to look for a source of unimaginable power. What makes you think such a thing exists in this.....this...shit hole?” Said Black Zetsu.

“Well, you never know,” I said, “remember when the Akatsuki found me? You said I was a treasure and I was only from a small town like this one, too.”

“He’s right, that IS how we found him.” Said White Zetsu.

“Hmph, maybe you’re right, but I doubt it. Still, it could be worth checking out just in case.”

So we headed towards the town. As we came to the entrance, we saw what a jolly place it was. Ponies were square-dancing in the streets, fiddlers were playing loudly for all to hear. Ponies walking down the street would tip their hats to each other, or get into a friendly conversation about the day’s events. It seemed like a pretty nice place to me. Of course, Zetsu had his own opinions.

“What a dirty, rat infested hole, this is.” Said Black Zetsu.

“Aww come on, you hate everything. Why can’t ever see the nice side of things?” Said White Zetsu.

Just then, we were interrupted by a brown pony with a leather vest and a cowboy hat.

“Howdy, y'all and welcome to Appeloosa! The finest town that’s ever been built from the ground up by hard-working ponies!”

I didn’t want Zetsu to ruin everything, so I spoke first. “I’m sure it is a wonderful town, but we actually need directions to somewhere else. You see we....”

The pony cut me off before I could finish. “Why in Equestria would you want to be anywhere else, stranger? This here is the finest town tha.....”

Zetsu had enough and exploded on the pony. He grabbed him by his vest and shook him violently. “Listen here cowboy, I don’t have time for your games. Tell us where your tailed beasts are and we will leave without destroying this pitiful excuse for a town.”

The pony was quiet for a moment, then spoke. “Listen here stranger, as much as we’re kind towards visitors, anyone that calls our town pitiful and then threatens to destroy it, will get no kindness from us.”

He wriggled out of Zetsu’s grasp and took a menacing stance against us.

“My name’s Braeburn, remember my name now, because I want you to know who kicked your limely butt!”

Several of the residents heard the commotion and had started to come over to where we were at. I didn’t want to start a fight and risk showing off my jutsus before we had to fight the military, should that situation ever arise. But it was starting to seem like we had no choice.

“Look Mr. Braeburn, I’m sorry for my comrades’ behavior and harsh words. But please we really do need directions.”

“I don’t care for y'all's apologies now. You done insulted my town and these fine people.”
I sighed and thought of what I was about to do. Zetsu had never seen me fight before, he just wanted to test my abilities on these innocents. It saddened me greatly, but it had to be done if our mission was to continue.

“Very well Mr. Braeburn,” I said as I removed two scrolls, both yellow, one with red accents and one with blue accents, from my robes, “then you will feel my art, passed down to me from my teacher!”

I summoned the two I was going to use. My second set of human puppets I had obtained when I first began to learn from Sasori. The smoke appeared, and they were around my shoulders.

“Secret Yellow Technique: Mist Ninja Revival!”

“Out of all of my puppets, these two work well together, my Zabuza and Haku puppets. You have no chance against me.”

Suddenly, I realized I had no hands to extend chakra threads from. How was I supposed to control my puppets. Then I thought back to when I first arrived in this land. The horn on my head! I thought nothing of it at the time, but maybe that was the key to working my puppets.

“Braeburn, what are those things?” Asked one of the townsfolk.

“I don’t rightly know, but I doubt they’ll stop us! Come on, y’all! Let’s kick some outsider rear! YEEHAW!”

The townsfolk cheered and rushed with Braeburn towards my puppets. I focused my chakra towards the horn and tried to send out chakra threads from it. It worked! I was right!

The townsfolk were very close, I knew it was time. I pulled Zabuza in close to protect me, and sent out Haku to meet the villagers.

“Ice Style: A Thousand Needles of Death!”

Several ice shards rose up from the ground, piercing the many townsfolk that approached. Initially, there were about 50 ponies running at me. Once the jutsu subsided, only Braeburn and about 25 ponies were left.

“What did I tell you? You can’t defeat me, you never will!”

Braeburn was filled with anger at what I had done, but it didn’t stop him and the survivors from trying to run at me again.

“What a nuisance, let’s try something different.”

I flicked my hoof out, and Haku’s chest opened up to show a large collection of kunai, shuriken, and sickles. This would finish off what was left.

“This fight was entertaining, but the show’s over. Time to drop the curtain on this act!”

I flicked my hoof out, then back in. The weapons exploded from Haku and shot towards the villagers. As the weapons struck them, many fell dead instantly, but some died slowly. Braeburn was hit by 13 shuriken and kunai and fell dead instantly. The fight was over almost as soon as it began.

I resealed my puppets back in the scrolls and walked away, but Zetsu stopped me.

“What are you doing? We may have killed all the villagers, but let’s make an even bigger example of them to other residents of this land. Burn the town to the ground.”

I couldn’t refuse his orders, he was a higher ranking member than I was. I turned towards the town thinking of all the memories the ponies built here. I pulled a match from from my robe, and lit it. I walked to the largest building in town and stared at it for a moment. Zetsu began yelling something at me, but I didn’t hear him. I threw the match on the building and walked back towards him.

“Good, you’re becoming as cold-hearted as me.”

“Hey, I’m you too, don’t include me in that reference.” Said White Zetsu.

Zetsu ignored his other half then sank into the ground. He rose up in front of the building I had set on fire.

“I thought I heard screaming, well we can’t let them get away.”

Zetsu moved a chair in front of the door, then propped it up under the handle; sealing the other ponies inside the burning building. He proceeded to do the same thing to the other buildings around town, which had also caught fire at this point.

Zetsu rose up beside me, and we left the town behind. As we walked, I could still hear the screams of ponies being burned alive. I still go to sleep at night, and wake up hearing those screams in my head. I can kill armed, warriors who desire to kill me. But civilians? What point is there in killing innocents?

I pushed the thoughts out of my head. Me and Zetsu changed directions, and we walked back the way we came to see if we could find a new town. Before we fully left town, I stopped Zetsu.

“When we get to a new town, or IF we get to a new town, we are NOT attacking civilians like that again.”

I realized I had been a little rough with my superior at that moment, but Zetsu didn’t react like I thought he would.

“Hmph, so be it.”

We continued to walk for a long time, all the way in utter silence.

Chapter 3:I Wonder What They're Up To?

Chapter 3:I Wonder What They’re Up To?

“Fuck Kakuzu, we’ve been walking for ages. We’ve gotta be lost, how else have we not found anything, yet?”

Kakuzu and Hidan had been walking all night, and while Kakuzu didn’t like to admit when he was wrong, he was beginning to see that they might be lost.

“We’re not lost, Hidan. We’re just in a new area. We’ve never been here before, how’re we supposed to know where anything is?”

“I don’t care, Kakuzu! My feet are tired, and I’m hungry! This walking is getting ridiculous!”

Kakuzu had had enough. “Fine then, you choose a direction to go from here and see if we get to a settlement or town any quicker.”

Hidan looked at Kakuzu, rage in his eyes, but decided not to insult his partner for once.

“Fine then, we’re going this way!”

Hidan turned to the left and began marching into the forest.

“Why did I have to be paired with him?” Said Kakuzu.

Despite all of his feelings against doing it, he followed Hidan into the forest.

They walked for hours, but the forest never got any thinner. The brush was thick, and the mosquitoes were terrible.

“Well Hidan, this is what happens when you don’t listen to me.”

“Hey, you know what? Fuck you, Kakuzu! It’s not like we were getting any closer to civilization going your way!”

“How can you know that? We haven't seen anything similar to a town or settlement going this way, either. At least when we were going my way, there wasn’t thick brambles and mosquitoes!”

“Hey! What did I say? Shut the hell up, Kakuzu!”

Kakuzu just sighed, liked he always does when dealing with Hidan, and continued on in silence.

Pain and Konan reappeared near a large mountain with a castle built into it. They both thought it would be a good place to start, so they headed towards immediately. Just as they were about to start ascending the mountain, they ran into Kisame and Itachi.

“Well, I had thought we dispersed very well, it seems I was mistaken.” Said Pain.

“Yes, I agree, but since we are here, would mind us travelling with you? It’s not like we need to be fanned out that well, and this city could contain some of this world’s military forces; you may need help.”

“Hmph, you make a valid point. Very well, let’s go.”

Obito reappeared on top of a large mountain. He regained his composure then looked around for anything interesting. Off into the distance, he spotted several large mountains with some kind of birds circling them.

“Hmm, they look far too large to be standard birds. I wonder what they really are.”

Obito descended the mountain and headed towards the strange birds, not noticing the sign as he walked past it: ‘Griffon Domain ahead.’

After destroying Appleoosa, me and Zetsu had left the desert behind and entered a large forest. The canopy was thick, so light was hard to come by in the forest, even though it was daytime. Brambles were everywhere, and tugged on my tail and hair as I walked past. I really did hate being a pony. Eventually we made it to a clearing, and Zetsu was mad with rage, he thought we were lost.

“Gah! We were better off staying in the desert, at least we knew SOMETHING about the area! Here we don’t know where we are, or even how to find out WHERE we are!”

While Zetsu was going off in his tirade, I heard something in the woods to our right.

“Hey Zetsu, listen.”

He stopped rambling for a moment and listened carefully.

“You hear it don’t, you? Sounds like we have company, and I don’t think it’s a forest animal, either.”

We prepared ourselves for battle, when suddenly Hidan ran out of the woods.

“FInally! I can’t wait to sacrifice you two to Jash-” He stopped when he recognized us.

“Hey, Kakuzu, it’s only Zetsu and the new guy.”

“I have eyes to see that, Hidan. Anyway, it’s good to see a friendly face for once, instead of all these damn mosquitoes.”

Zetsu laughed heartily. “Well Rokuro, it seems you have a new set of teammates to guide you. Obito ordered me to come back as soon as we rendezvoused with any of our comrades. Good-bye now.”

Zetsu sank into the ground and left me with Hidan and Kakuzu.

“Well then rookie, let’s go. We need to get you some battle experience.”

“Actually,” I cut in, “Zetsu and I already confronted some of the locals. They didn’t listen, and Zetsu ordered me to kill them and torch the town.”

Hidan laughed. “Good, now that means the first fight we get into, I kill them. You hear me, Kakuzu? I kill them, not you!”

“Fine, but just remember I won’t jump in to help you. I can’t say the same for...?”

“My name’s Rokuro.”

“Right, well, I can’t exactly stop him from coming to help you. Although I’m sure you would just push him away, as well.”

With that, we set off back into the woods. We didn’t travel for long when we saw light and hurried towards it. We had found our way out of the woods.

“Sweet sunlight! No more brambles and snakes!” Said Hidan.

“It was your idea that got us in that mess in the first place, you know.” Said Kakuzu.

Hidan ignored him, and we walked towards a river to get some water and rest for awhile.

“PRINCESS! PRINCESS! We have urgent news for you!”

Shining Armor and two of his pegasus soldiers, Wind Breaker and Shooting Star, were running towards Princess Celestia’s throne room.

They burst through the doors, out of breath.

“Princess, huff huff, we have, huff, something to tell, huff, you!”

Celestia and Luna both laughed. “Shining Armor, get some breath and then tell me what it is so important.”

Shining Armor took in two deep breaths then spoke. “It’s not me that will tell you what happened, I wasn’t there. But these two were. Go on soldiers, tell her what you saw.”

Wind Breaker and Shooting Star stepped forward, and bowed.
“Your highness, we were doing our usual patrol route over the Everfree Forest when Shooting Star thought it would be a good idea to scout over Appleoosa as well, seeing as how we weren’t that far away.”

Celestia, now very interested, broke in. “Well don’t stop now, continue. What did you see?”

Wind Breaker and Shooting Star looked at eachother then down at the ground.

“It wasn’t what we saw, it’s what we didn’t see. Appleoosa is gone.”

“What do you mean by ‘gone’?”

“The town was burned to the ground, the citizens were all dead. No survivors, your highness.”

Celestia looked grim for a moment. “This is simply awful! How could this have happened? We made peace with the Buffalo, so I’m sure it wasn’t them.”

“It wasn’t them, the Buffalo don’t use torches made from oak wood. That tree doesn’t grow where they live. We discovered a small match that was very charred at the foot of the town hall.”

Celestia cut in again. “Well if it wasn’t them, who could’ve done this?”

“We don’t know, your highness. All we do know, is that we discovered burned chairs pushed up against the doors of the burned buildings. Which means-”

“Which means this was no accident!” Shouted Celestia. “Thank you two for this report. Shining Armor! Gather up several of your best flyers and send them out in teams of 3 to each of the surrounding areas. See if anyone knows anything about what happened!”

Shining Armor bowed low. “Yes your highness. It shall be done.”

With that, Shining Armor and both his men ran from the room.

Luna looked towards her sister. “My dear Celestia, you should go rest. I see thou art quite troubled by this news. It can cloud your judgement.”

“You’re right, but I need to be here for my people now. A whole town and hundreds of ponies killed, and we have no idea who could’ve done it.”

Luna bowed her head low. “I know sister, I know. This is a bad sign of trouble to come, I know it.”

Chapter 4:Another Settlement

After we finished resting, Hidan, Kakuzu, and I stood up and continued walking. As we walked, Hidan talked about all the things he had planned for the first ponies we ran into; and how they would make great sacrifices for Jashin.

I thought about the next group of ponies we would run into, too. This time, Zetsu wasn’t around to force me to fight, and Kakuzu even said I didn’t have to. But Hidan was stronger than me, and I couldn’t stop him from killing more innocents. Knowing Hidan, he would target the innocents first and then the military forces. It was just his way.

As we were walking, we came upon a road. This one was far more travelled upon than the one I saw in the desert. Hidan was overjoyed.

“A road means ponies that travel on it, ponies means a city, and a city means plenty of sacrifices for Lord Jashin! Come on, you two! Don’t slow me down!”

Hidan began to run up the road, while me and Kakuzu looked at each other in disdain, then began running after Hidan down the road.

“This mountain sure is tall; much taller than the other ones around here. Do you think this makes it special, in some way?”

“Nagato,” said Konan. “How much further is it? We’ve been walking for hours.”

Pain looked down towards Konan. “You know, you do have those wings you could use.....”

Konan looked surprised for a moment. “I have wings? What are you talking about?” She turned in circles trying to get a good look, and then she saw it in the corner of her eye. A cream colored feather protruding from her body!

“Wow, I do have wings. Interesting.” Konan tried to flap her wings a few times before getting the hang of it and soaring above the rest of the group.

“This is useful, I suppose. I can get around faster this way.”

Pain looked up towards the mountain. “Konan, Kisame, Itachi! Double time it to the top. We’re dragging our feet too much.”

“Sasori my man, do you know even know where we are?”

Deidara and Sasori had been walking through the night without sleep and Deidara was a little cranky.

“Actually yes, I figured it out a little while back.”

Deidara looked surprised. “How exactly did you do that, hmm?”

“Using the position of the of the natural landmarks around us, the amount of travellers we’ve seen, and how frequent they move, I’ve determined we are only about 4 Km. from a town north of here.”

“Sasori, I still can’t figure out why you aren’t our leader. Maybe because Nagato thinks your art isn’t a good centerpiece for our group.”

Sasori stopped, then turned to face Deidara. “Sometimes, you make so little sense I believe a child could outsmart you. What does my art have to do with my fitness to be leader of the Akatsuki?”

Sasori turned again and continued on, with Deidara standing slack-jawed at what his partner had said. He shook his head and mumbled to himself. “Art means everything, it is the light of the world. How could it not be important in matters of leadership?”

He shook his head and ran after Sasori to catch up to him.

After Hidan, Kakuzu, and I finished resting, we continued up the road. Hidan saw a squirrel, and tried to kill it, but it got away. That only made Hidan more upset for the rest of the journey.

When we initially left our resting point, all we saw was nature around us, but after only 15 minutes of walking, we saw a small village or town of some sort up ahead.

Hidan squealed with glee. “That’s it! That’s where I will get my sacrifices for Jashin!”

“Hold on Hidan, don’t get too antsy. We need to get information from this town, not kill everyone in it.” Said Kakuzu.

Hidan rolled his eyes. “Whatever, then I’ll only kill one of them.”

Kakuzu’s eyes blazed. “No! You will not kill anyone UNLESS they start a fight, first!”

Hidan grumbled, but agreed. We quickened our pace to get to the town. However, as soon as we arrived, the residents took one look at us and fled into their houses. Doors locked and windows shut. It was starting to seem like we weren’t going to get anything from this town.

Hidan shouted again. “Well great, what’re we gonna do now Kakuzu?”

“Easy, Hidan. Think about it first. The likelihood that every resident is in a house or building is low. There is probably still one or two of them out on the streets hiding somewhere. So we find one...”

Hidan jumped in. “We find one, and “talk” to them, and then I kill them!”

“You know something, Hidan? Because of the way these ponies have treated us, I give you permission to kill the one we interrogate.”

Hidan looked surprised. “Murder with Kakuzu’s approval? That just makes it all the more fun!”

We proceeded down the street, checking alleys and looking into hay carts with no avail. However, at the end of the main street, we something that looked like a tail sticking out of a small barrel.

Kakuzu laughed. “See that? I told you there would be at least one.”

We walked towards the tail and stopped just outside the barrel. We could hear voices coming from inside.

Hidan smiled. “Looks like at least two sacrifices for Jashin! Let’s bring out the contestants!”

Hidan smashed the barrel open with his scythe, and out tumbled two little fillies.

One was pink with a purple and white tail. She wore tiara on her head.The other was dark grey, with silver hair and turquoise-colored glasses.

Both of them shrieked at the sight of us.

“Well Kakuzu,” said Hidan, “which one do we interrogate first?”

“Both of them at once.”

The little ponies shrieked again, and started to cry.

Kakuzu was annoyed by this. “Listen you two! You’re going to tell us where the tailed beasts of your land reside, NOW!”
The pink one spoke up. “Wha-What’s a tail-tailed beast? I’ve ne- never heard of one bef- before!”

Hidan laughed. “These two are only kids, Kakuzu! They aren’t going to tell us anything!”

“You’re probably right. Best to kill them both now so they can’t tell anyone else who we are.”

Hidan looked worried. “Sure Kakuzu, but....”

“But what?”

“Jashin frowns on the murder of children. Their minds haven't developed the will to resist Lord Jashin, yet.”

Kakuzu rolled his eyes. “Really Hidan, stop being a wimp and end it! Otherwise, I will.”

When Hidan hesitated, Kakuzu grabbed his scythe from him and severed the heads of the two little fillies from their shoulders. The bodies stood upright for a moment, then fell to the ground.

Kakuzu returned the scythe to Hidan and continued to walk down the street.

“Well,” he said, “are you two coming, or not?”

I was stunned by what he did. It was a moral principle of mine and many other members of the Akatsuki to NEVER harm a child. But Kakuzu killed both girls without even batting an eye!

Hidan and I looked at each other, concerned for a moment, then ran after Kakuzu.

Zetsu rose up from the ground beside Obito.

“Rokuro is in the company of Kakuzu and Hidan, now.”

Obito nodded approvingly. “Excellent, those two are quite strong together. He will be safe with them. This is good because I also need your help now.”

“With what?”

“These strange birds, that aren’t birds either. Look for yourself.”

Obito pointed in the sky at a group of the birds, circling. They had the body of a lion, but the head of an eagle.

“What do you think of them, Zetsu?”

Zetsu thought a moment. “I think they are majestic, but they could also be used.”

“We don’t need to use them, can’t we just look at them and admire their beauty?” Said White Zetsu.

“Shut up, you! No one asked for your opinion!”

Obito laughed. “Sometimes, I do like your two halves as one. At others, you two seem to hinder each other a lot.”

Obito became stern again. “But that’s beside the point, I do agree with what you said. These birds can be used, but we need to figure out how to capture them. That is why I need you here.”

Zetsu smiled. “What would you have me do?”

Shining Armor watched as sets of 3 pegasi scouts were sent out from Canterlot. The last 3 were prepared to fly when he asked the flight controller where they were going.

“Sir, these 3 are set to go to Ponyville.”

Shining Armor’s eyes got wide. ‘Oh no,’ he thought, ‘if the Princess is sending out scouts there as well, that means she must think the ones who massacred Appleoosa could’ve gotten there.’

Shining Armor suddenly yelped, “TWILIGHT! I’m coming, little sis!”

He ran from the tower all the way to the barracks across town where some of his men were relaxing.

Shining Armor burst through the door.
“I want every able-bodied unicorn and earth pony to come with me, immediately! We’re going to Ponyville; there might be trouble brewing!”

Three earth ponies and two unicorns nodded, got their gear together, and rushed out the door after their captain.

As they ran through the streets, Shining Armor thought to himself, ‘Don’t worry, I’m on my way, Twi.”

Chapter 6:Two Artists Make It To Applewood

After walking for another few hours, Deidara and Sasori had come upon a barrier: a large, impassable mountain.

Deidara moaned again. “Sasori my man, this is getting ridiculous! You should just let me make one of my owls so we can cross this mountain easier.”

“No, Deidara. Think about it, we are just trying to scout the area then report our findings back to Obito. If you make one of those owls, we would be a hell of alot easier to detect, and this is a scouting mission. So stealth is key to success.”

“Whatever, so how do you intend for us to get around this mountain, hmm? The forest is too thick around us, and there’s no way to get over the mountain.”

Sasori laughed. “Well, then we go through it!”

Deidara looked shocked for a moment. “Hmm?!”

“Do you remember when we pulled that job back in the Land of Rice Fields?”

Deidara thought for a moment. “Oh, yeah! You mean the one where we had to blow up that clan’s temple?”

“Yes, well when we did, it opened a hole into the catacombs. I descended into it, and found the coffin of a ‘Martyr Jonin of the Glorious Fuma Clan.’ I opened it and discovered one of my newer puppets.”

Sasori pulled a brown scroll from his robe. Smoke appeared, then dissipated quickly to show a brown, hunchbacked creature.

“This is one of the Fuma Clan jonin, despite it’s looks, this is a woman named Kagero. She specialized almost exclusively in underground Earth Style techniques.

“Wow, Sasori my man, I knew your student was a grave robber, but you? I thought you were above that.”

Sasori ignored his comrade’s last remark and put his hooves together. Then he remembered: he didn’t have any fingers to connect chakra threads to his puppet.

Deidara noticed almost immediately. “What’s wrong, Sasori? No digits for your chakra threads?”

Sasori ignored Deidara again and thought carefully. ‘This horn on my head, I wonder if I can use that, of course it still is only one horn; so I should only be able to propel one chakra thread, but it’s worth a try.’

He focused his chakra towards his horn, and suddenly five chakra threads shot out from it! ‘Hmm,’ he thought, maybe I was wrong. It’ quite possible I can extend as many as I want from one point. I’ll have to remember that for later.’

Deidara’s words snapped him back to reality. “Sasori my man, you’ve really outdone yourself, this time. So tell me, what can this puppet do?”

Sasori smiled, then put his hooves together. “Earth Style: Antlion Jutsu!”

The ground underneath the mountain turned into a large sinkhole, swallowing the mountain into it; and leaving the path clear for Sasori and Deidara to continue.

Deidara chuckled. “That was amazing I must say. But stop showing off, we need to make up for lost time.”

Sasori resealed the puppet into the scroll, and the two began running down the newly-created path towards civilization, or at least if Sasori’s prediction was right, civilization.

However, the road proved long, and rigid. Then again, the road Sasori had discovered wasn’t really a road.

They were forced to rest several times, and soon, darkness fell upon them, as well as rain, forcing them to find shelter. The two ducked into a shrub on the side of the road, considering there wasn’t really anywhere else to go.

“Ok Sasori, you said civilization or some kind of town was down this way. Why the hell are we here, soaking wet, cold, and without true shelter?”

Sasori was deep in thought, but responded to his loud-mouthed partner. “I said there was a POSSIBILITY a town of some sort was down this way. Which means there may not be one at all. Secondly, I never said how far away it would be. So quit whining and let me think.”

Deidara was angry, but tired. So he gave up and tried to sleep on the wet ground.

Sasori stayed up, trying to think of a way out of the current situation. ‘As much as I hate to admit it to myself, Deidara is right. Who knows how far away this town is? Maybe there isn’t even one.’

The more he thought about it, the more it made him tired. Eventually he drifted off to sleep alongside Deidara.
The next morning, Sasori awoke to someone shaking him.

“Wake up! Why are you sleeping outside in a bush? Ah, questions can wait till later. WAKE UP!!”

The stranger then slapped Sasori, hard. This made him angry.

Sasori’s eyes snapped open immediately and he jumped to his feet.

“DEIDARA! Wake up! We’re under attack!”

Deidara jumped to his feet quickly ready for a brawl, but saw only a pony dressed in a tuxedo standing before them.

“Uh, Sasori, you sure THIS is the guy who’s attacking us?”

The stranger jumped in before Sasori could respond.

“No! I’m not attacking you! I’m trying to wake you guys up! We’d heard that a new road opened up yesterday when some of the Applewood workers removed a mountain blocking the way, so Ms. Shores decided she wanted to take this new route to Applewood, but the road is of the lowest quality...”

Sasori and Deidara looked at each other, confused.

“What do you mean ‘a new road opened’?” Inquired Deidara.

Sasori remembered back to yesterday when he destroyed the mountain. That means someone saw what he did and told everyone else around him/her who in turn spread the news about it. Which also means......

Sasori’s eyes lit up. “Excuse me sir, is there a town of some sorts around here?”

The pony looked back towards Sasori.

“Why yes, how could you not know about Applewood? It’s the place where all the famous ponies go when they make it big. They go to Applewood to make it even bigger doing professional movies, acts, and music videos.”

Sasori’s smile grew large. “Would it be OK for me and my companion here to accompany you and...” He looked behind the stranger to see a cart being pulled by two large ponies, and white canvas-covered back where undoubtedly this “Ms. Shores” was. “Ms. Shores, I believe you said? To this ‘Applewood’?”

The stranger, who Sasori assumed was the driver of the wagon now, looked worried.

“I don’t know. I’d have to ask Ms. Shores and she’s sleeping right now, so I don’t think I can-”

A feminine voice shouted from the back of the wagon. “Jacques! Whatever is taking so long? We need to get to my rehearsal yesterday!”

Deidara laughed. “It looks like Ms. Shores is awake now. Why don’t you go ask her, now?”

Jacques bit his lip, then bowed his head, and walked back to the covered wagon. He went inside, and muffled voices could be heard. Jacques walked out the back of the wagon and back towards the Akatsuki.

“Ms. Shores would be delighted to have travelling companions to accompany her. She told me to inform you both to ride with her in the back.”

Sasori and Deidara proceeded to the covered rear part of the wagon, then entered through the flap. Inside was a cream colored pony wearing a white, frilly-lace outfit. She had on a dull green eyeliner, and wore a white hat with a purple stripe across it.

“Hello! Hello! Please, come in and make yourselves comfortable.” Said Ms. Shores.

The walls of the wagon were covered with pictures of her at concerts in various places. The floor was a soft, plush carpet with pillows scattered around. It did look nice, so they sat down beside her.

“Now,” she began, “what brings you two all the way out here? Were you on your way to watch me perform in Applewood?”

Deidara was about to speak, but Sasori cut him off. “Yes, we were. A good friend of mine mentioned what a talented musician you were and we had to come see you!”

Ms. Shores looked disgusted for a moment.

“Your friend told you I, Sapphire Shores, was a MUSICIAN?! I am no musician! I am a singer!”

Sasori tried to think of a comeback, so he laughed it off. “I’m sorry, my friend told me about you a long time ago, so I forgot what it was you actually did. We’d been saving up enough money to come to one of your concerts for a long time now.”

Ms. Shores laughed. “My dear, all my concerts are pro bono! I don’t know who this friend of yours is, but it sounds like they have never been to one of my concerts, before!”

Sasori grimaced. ‘Damn,’ he thought, ‘I never counted on being wrong on both accounts! Now I look like a moron, and she may not fall for my crap again.’

“It doesn’t matter darling,” she said, “you have heard the truth yourself from the one and only Sapphire Shores herself! So all the confusion has been cleared.”

Sasori, Deidara, and Sapphire all laughed, then settled down into a conversation about her career. As it turned out, she did concerts for free all over this land. This land she called Equestria.

‘Excellent,’ thought Sasori, ‘this means our scouting is almost complete. Now all we have to do is accompany this hag all the way to this ‘Applewood’ place and learn everything we can there.’

The trip proved lively, as Sasori and Deidara joked around with Ms. Shores and swapped stories until they arrived at Applewood.

“We’re here!” Shouted Jacques from the front seat.

As everyone disembarked, Sasori and Deidara said goodbye to Ms. Shores

“Oh why must you two go? You’re both so exotic and fun! I don’t have that much fun, considering my schedule. Please promise me you’ll come to my rehearsal in a few days, won’t you?”

Deidara put on his best fake smile. “Of course we will, Ms. Shores!”

Ms. Shores batted her eyelashes at Deidara. “My dear, you can call me Sapphire.” She kissed him on the cheek.

“Ta-Ta, now you two!” She said as she walked away with her posse.

Deidara was stunned, then broke out in unstoppable giggles.

Sasori rolled his eyes. “Oh, brother. You were seduced by that hag? Come on now, we need to scout this town for information leading to the procurement of the tailed beasts of this region.”

“Hey Sasori, why do you think that there even ARE tailed beasts in this region, hmm? Isn’t possible these...ponies...don’t have any?”

Sasori stopped walking. “You’re right, I don’t know if they exist here or not. But there could be tailed beast equivalents here. They could just be powerful beings of nature like a walking tree or something...”

Sasori started moving again, but Deidara stopped this time.
“A- A walking tree? Sasori my man, I think you may have just lost your mind.”

Sasori ignored Deidara and they continued on.

They were stopped minutes later by a voice in their heads.

“Come back to the clearing, you two. We need to go over what we’ve all seen.”

“Yes sir,” replied Sasori, “we’re on our way now.”

Sasori came back to reality and turned to Deidara.

“Nagato wants us to return to the clearing where they landed when we first got here. It’s time for our report.”

Chapter 7:The First Prisoner

Pain and Konan teleported back to the clearing with Itachi and Kisame. When they arrived, they found Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, Sasori, myself, and Zetsu already there.

“Good, you’re all here. I assume Obito is still out in the field for a good reason...?” Pain said turning to Zetsu.

“Yes, he is in the middle of “acquiring” certain assets.” Said Black Zetsu.

Pain nodded. “Well, he’ll have to hear the results of everyone’s discoveries later.”

He cleared his throat and continued.

“I called you all here because Konan, Itachi, Kisame and myself have discovered something important. The ponies of this land are ruled by 4 Princesses who reside in a city formed from a single marble block built into the side of a mountain.”

Everyone’s mouths dropped open, including mine. Of course, it did sound very strange.

Pain was silent for a moment before speaking. “I can understand your skepticism. But it is true. Allow me to explain what happened.”

“When we reached the top of the mountain, we found the trail we’d been following actually led to a city built right into the side of the mountain! We ran along the path until we reached the gate; which was opened to let us in.”

“However, the people weren’t too friendly towards us. They stared and they whispered to each other. I ignored it, since we needed to look for tailed beasts, not pummel street vermin. We found the city only had one main street, and four side streets. We were going along the main street which led to a large, white castle at the far end of the city. So we decided to look there for information.”

“Before we got to the castle, I noticed several people in the streets were crying. It seemed someone everybody loved had died, or so I thought.”

“I found a flier on the side of a building that announced some town called ‘Appleoosa’ had been destroyed. All the residents were slain, even children. The houses and buildings were all burned.”

“While I was looking at the picture, a pony with armor approached and informed us that the Princesses needed to see us in her castle. I wasn’t sure if the residents were just hospitable towards strangers, or if we did something wrong. Either way, we followed him to the castle.”
“When we walked through the castle’s main doors, I saw the beauty firsthand. The walls were solid marble, with gold carved into them in patches. Rare jewels encrusted the rugs and carpets in the rooms we walked past. But the most amazing room, was the one the guard led us to: the Princesses’ Throne Room.”

Pain took a moment to catch his breath before continuing.

“The guard led us through the doors, and we saw a room like no other. The walls were all windows, with various designs carved into them. The floor was solid marble, with a purple carpet leading to four solid gold thrones with four Princesses sitting in each one.”

“The Princesses were listening to a pony who was telling a story of how he had just escaped, barely alive, from a confrontation in some place called ‘Ponyville’.”

“He says three ponies dressed in strange clothing, two of which showed exceptional combat prowess, successfully killed both of his comrades and a whole squad of reinforcements; consisting of the Captain of the Guard, and five of his men.”

Deidara interrupted. “Geez, boss. Just get to the point, already. You’re boring me to death, hmm!”

Pain looked disapprovingly towards Deidara, then continued.

“As soon as we walked in, the Princesses stared at us for a moment. The pony on the ground looked up, then followed their gaze to us. He jumped up shouting, ‘That’s the clothing they were wearing! Princess, they’re the ones who killed the Captain!’ Immediately, two of the Princesses, one purple and one pink, jumped up and flew towards us. We had no choice but to flee.”

“We ran back through the castle and then out into the streets. The two Princesses were right on our trail, and yelled for the guards to close the gate.”

“The guards successfully closed the gate, and forced us to go another way. We ducked into a nearby alley and ran all the way to the end. There was a sewer grate, and, as disgusting as it was, we entered.”

“We closed the grate behind us, and placed a sealing tag on it so it couldn’t be opened. While we were descending into the sewer, I heard the Princesses above shout to have their armies split. Half of the pink Princess and half of the purple Princess, to hunt us down.

We followed the sewer all the way to an exit pipe near a small lake. We cleaned ourselves in the lake and then called everyone to meet here.”

Pain finished his story, then sat down.

“Which means a few things, “ he continued. “three of you have blown our cover, and now two halves of possibly very large armies are hunting us down. I would also like to guess that the three of you who killed the Captain of the Guard also torched that town? Would anyone like to confess?”

Kakuzu stepped forward. “The three that witness was referring to was me, Hidan, and Rokuro. We killed the Guard Captain and his men. But we never destroyed a town.”

“Why should I believe you?” Pain asked.

“You have no reason, to. But I’m telling the truth. Me, Hidan and Rokuro were in the town and we killed the Guard Captain. I can’t present any solid evidence to back that up. All you can do is believe me.”

I felt as if Kakuzu and Hidan were about to take the heat for something they didn’t do, so I decided to tell the truth.

“Sir, it was me and Zetsu that destroyed that other town. Zetsu started an argument with the locals, and they charged at us, with the intent to attack. I killed the residents that attacked us, and Zetsu burned the buildings after I lit the town hall on fire first.”

Pain looked at me intently. “Then it is not your fault. Zetsu is your senior, which means you must listen to his orders. Did he direct you to kill the residents of that town then burn it?”

“Yes, he told me to burn the buildings, but he never told me to kill the residents. I did that out of self-defense.”

Pain nodded. “I see, well the damage is already done. Nothing to be done about it, I suppose. But you,” he said facing Zetsu, “should’ve known better than to expose ourselves so openly without my order to do so!”

Zetsu didn’t say anything. Instead, he sank into the ground and disappeared.

“Hmph, typical Zetsu. If he can’t or doesn’t want to defend himself against me, he just runs away.”

Pain looked at me next and spoke. “By the way, did you ever find Hotaka?”

I shook my head. We still hadn’t found him yet. I wondered what became of him?

“Huh”, said Hotaka out loud to himself, “I wonder where everyone else is? I’ve been walking forever, and I haven't seen them or anyone else except that rude little pony the other day.”

Hotaka had decided to keep walking and follow the path he found after he left the edge of the forest where he met the yellow pony with pink hair. He believed he would run into somebody at some point, but it had been two days and still no luck.

“Well I can always look on the bright side. I’ve figured out how to use this horn.”

Hotaka continued walking, until he was stopped by a blockade up the road. The blockade consisted of four ponies, all wearing armor. Three of them had wings and swords at their sides. The other one had a horn on his head, just like he did.

“Excuse me, why I am being stopped, here?”

“Because,” said the unicorn, “you are suspected of the crime of murder. Your clothes gave you away. You should’ve disposed of them when you heard of Princess Cadence and Princess Sparkle’s decree.”

Hotaka looked confused. “What decree? Why do my clothes make me guilty of murder? What are you ponies talking about?”

The guards laughed. “You must be a complete idiot, I never doubt the Princesses, but I hardly believe you’re capable of murder with your brain capacity.”

Hotaka cringed. If there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was people without etiquette. While these offenders were ponies and not people, they still fit the book.

“You ponies have just made the biggest mistake of your lives. Perhaps, the last even.”

Hotaka’s horn glowed, and a small, grey rod appeared from out of his robes. It was his wand he used for casting various jutsus.

The guards became alarmed. “Look out! He’s got a weapon! It looks like we might have to take this one in dead!”

The three winged ponies drew their swords, and the unicorn captain created a sword using magic from his horn. They rushed towards Hotaka, ready to strike.

Hotaka laughed. “You fight like genin straight out of the academy!”

With that, Hotaka waved his wand. “Earth Style: Needle Floor!”

Sharp rocks jutted out from the ground, forcing the winged ponies to fly away, and the unicorn to jump to safety. But it didn’t stop them; they continued to run towards Hotaka.

“Hahaha! That was just a warm-up jutsu, anyway. Now we get to the real fight!”

Hotaka waved his wand forward then pulled it back sharply. “Water Style: Tears of the Heavens!”

Large drops of water began to fall from above. Several struck two of the winged guards, forcing them to fall to the ground. However, the other one and the unicorn continued to approach.

Hotaka looked disgruntled. “I am a warrior!” But I refuse to resort to my most powerful jutsus! However, you are forcing me to the edge!”

The wand moved up then to the left. “Wind Style: Nimbus Hammer!”

Small clouds began forming in the air, then massing together into a large, white block.

Hotaka waved the wand towards the flying pony, and the cloud mass flew towards the pony. It was so large, he couldn’t dodge it. The block hit him hard, and sent him crashing into the ground.

Hotaka looked at the captain unicorn running towards him, and waved the wand in his direction. The block hurtled towards him; but the unicorn created a shield with his magic that absorbed the blow. The cloud dissipated, leaving Hotaka unprotected.

“Well, you seem to be far more talented than your colleagues. Very well, let’s end this fight with a jutsu worthy of such an elegant warrior!”

Hotaka waved the wand up, then to the right. “Fire Style: Dance of the Atronach!”

A being made entirely of fire appeared. It wielded a large, two-handed axe made of fire, as well.

“Now, you die.” The wand pointed towards the unicorn. The atronach ran at his victim, axe raised.

The captain closed his eyes, thinking of his fate. The atronach reached him, and swung his axe. The unicorn disappeared!

Hotaka’s eyes grew wide. “What?! How? Where did he go?”

The unicorn appeared in a tree, not far from where they were fighting.

“I need to contact the Princesses! I can’t win this fight, and they’ll want to deal with him directly at some point, anyway.”

“Where did you go, coward!?” Screamed Hotaka. “You think you can run from a battle that easily? I will find you and double the suffering of your death!”

Hotaka looked viciously for the unicorn, but couldn’t find him.

“This is ridiculous! As much as I shouldn’t, I’m about to leave this battlefield since this coward won’t show his face!”

Hotaka began to walk away, when suddenly two more ponies flew down from the sky onto to the battlefield.

One was purple with black, purple, and pink hair. The other was pink with purple, red and yellow hair. Something else, both of these ponies had horns AND wings! Hotaka had never seen one of these ponies before.

“What stunning young ladies, you both are! I must say, I feel lucky; and not in the way you two might be thinking, either.”

The pink one spoke up first. “You shut your mouth! You’re under arrest for murder!”

The purple one chimed in. “You killed my brother, you scum!”

Hotaka was surprised. “Why, whatever do you mean? I never did such a thing. Although I will admit, I may have killed one or two of these losers. But I’m not sure; maybe you should check their pulse.”

The pink Princess became infuriated. “I don’t care about interrogating you, now! You are just so abrasive and hateful, that I want to end you now!”

The pink Princess flew towards Hotaka, her horn glowing.

“Hahaha I know what that glowing horn means. It means trouble, but I think I can cause a lot more trouble than you!”

The wand moved back and twirled a few times in the air. “Water Style: Voracious Tsunami!”

A large wave appeared and rushed towards the pink Princess.

The purple one jumped in to warn her. “Cadence! Look out!”

Hotaka thought to himself, ‘Hahahaha, foolish little girl. Now I know the name of one of the rulers of this land. I’m sure Nagato would be pleased with this information.’

Cadence unleashed the energy charged in her horn in the shape of a large shield. She plowed straight through the raging water, and right into Hotaka; knocking him off balance.

Hotaka tried to get up, but the purple Princess flew right over and stood on him.

“You aren’t going anywhere! You are hereby under arrest for the most heinous crime in our land! Murder!”

The unicorn captain jumped down from the tree he was hiding in and rushed over.

“Oh! I’m so glad your here, your highnesses! If it wasn’t for you, I could be dead, right now...”

Cadence turned to him. “You shouldn’t doubt your abilities so much, soldier. But enough of the pep talk. You need to see to your men and get them medical attention, immediately! Me and Princess Sparkle will fly the prisoner back to Canterlot.”

‘Again!’, Hotaka thought to himself, ‘They let me hear another one of their names! It seems they don’t understand how powerful their own names are in a land filled with their people, who know all about them! All my comrades have to do is capture one of these peasants, talk to them a little, and we’ll get most of what we need to know about them!’

Cadence bound Hotaka with rope and hauled him onto her shoulders.

“Cadence! Don’t you think we should call a chariot to carry the prisoner?” Said Princess Sparkle.

“No, I want to carry this scum myself. Now come on; we need to get back to Canterlot.”

With that, both of the Princesses flapped their wings and began flying back towards Canterlot, with a new prize in hand. Not realizing that they would soon become a part of something bigger than all of Equestria had ever seen before.

Chapter 8:The Akatsuki Makes Its' Move

Chapter 8:The Akatsuki Makes It’s Move

“Tell me what you know, scum! Talk!”

Cadence hit Hotaka again, and, as she expected, Hotaka spit at her. “I won’t tell you anything, bitch!”

Hotaka had been taken deep into the bowels of Canterlot Castle, deep enough where the sounds of torture couldn’t be heard. He was in a small, dark cell; tied to the wall by chains attached to metal rods sticking out of the brickwork.

Cadence roared, and hit him even harder. “You must know what happened to Shining Armor! You have to! We’ve seen others wearing those robes! They’re the rest of your gang, aren’t they?”

Hotaka laughed. “I don’t know, maybe those guys love my fashion and got jealous. It wouldn’t be the first time, I assure you.”

Cadence was about to hit him again, when the cell door opened. “Princess! A message from Princess Celestia. She requests your audience in the throne room, immediately.”

Cadence scowled, and looked down on her victim. “I’ll be back to finish our ‘conversation’.”

She left the room with the guard, and followed him back upstairs to the Throne Room.

When she arrived, Princess Celestia was waiting for her.

“You’re here, good. We have much to discuss.” Said Princess Celestia.

Under normal circumstances, Cadence would sit on her own throne, but these weren’t normal circumstances.

“Where’s Luna?” Inquired Cadence.

“She is away coordinating our defenses here in Canterlot. But that’s not what we need to talk about.”

“We have a problem,” Celestia continued, “Twilight has taken her ENTIRE army and has begun tearing across Equestria! She hasn’t been to Cloudsdale or Applewood, yet. It is at one of these points we must intercept and stop her.”

Cadence looked confused. “But why? She isn’t destroying anything, is she?”

“No, but she is breaking into people’s homes inquiring about the robed gang. Which is making some ponies extremely uncomfortable. We simply can’t have her hurting our subjects like that. Especially with these shady characters about causing trouble. It will cause major unrest, and possibly even violent outbreaks.”

“But Celestia,” Cadence said, “these people killed her brother! My husband! The subjects’ rights need to be temporarily annulled while we hunt down his killers!”

Celestia eyes blazed. “Cadence! How could you say something like that? Even in these desperate times the subjects are respected and treated fairly. Twilight can’t be allowed to do this. That is why I’m sending you and one battalion of your army to bring her back.”

“But why only one battalion?”

“We need the rest of your army here to reinforce mine and Luna’s. It’s a good possibility that the four robed ponies we saw earlier could come back with the rest of their friends.”

Cadence still was confused. “But why? There’s not that many of them.”

“You don’t know that, and if these ponies were strong enough to overpower and kill Shining Armor, they are fearsome warriors, indeed. They could cause major damage, and the larger the army we have here, the better our chances against them.”

“Fine; I’ll be on my way, Celestia.”

She was walking out the door when Celestia stopped her.

“Hold on, Cadence. Since you do agree with Twilight’s mission, I am sending one of my aides to go with you. He will ensure that you do not make any decisions you will regret later.”

A brown pegasus with silver hair came from a door to the right of Celestia’s throne. He bowed to Cadence.

“Your highness, I am Flashing Thunder. I will be accompanying you on your mission to recover her highness Princess Sparkle.”

Cadence groaned. “Alright, let’s get going then.” She and Flashing Thunder flew out of the Throne Room to meet up with the rest of her troops.

Celestia sighed and walked over to the window, looking out across the land.

“Twilight, what have you done?”

Mr. and Mrs. Cake and their foals, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake, were sitting down to dinner when suddenly they heard a knock at the door.

Mr. Cake stood up. “I’ll get it.”

He walked to the door, but just when he was about to open it, the door smashed open; and there stood Twilight Sparkle and two of her soldiers.

Mrs. Cake and the babies screamed. Twilight looked over at them. “Mrs. Cake, have you seen any strange ponies wearing black robes with red clouds on them?”

She shook her head no, and still did not speak.

Twilight groaned and ordered her men to move onto the next house.

It continued like this for another hour, until Twilight had been into every home.

As she was walking back to her men to move on to the next town, her friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity stopped her.

“What are y’all doing, Twi?” Asked Applejack.

“Yeah, Twilight. This isn’t like you at all. “ Said Fluttershy.

Twilight grew angry and shouted at her friends. “My brother has been killed! He was killed in Ponyville yesterday! I’m asking these ponies if they saw anything, but they keep telling me no! I’m very frustrated, so the only way I can get any information out of them is to scare them!”
Twilight’s friends became startled. Shining Armor had been killed? By who? And why?

They tried to speak, but Twilight cut them off. “I don’t have time to dilly-dally! I need to go find my brother’s murderer! Get outta my way!”

Twilight ran back to her army, and they began marching out of town.

Pinkie Pie started to cry.

“Oh come now, darling,” said Rarity, “I’m sure Twilight is just going through a hard time, right now. Her brother was killed, after all. It’s going to be hard on everyone, her most of all.”

The friends sat staring after Twilight’s army as it moved further and further away before finally disappearing altogether.

“Come on, men! We need to double time it if we want to catch up to Princess Twilight!”

Cadence had just left Canterlot with a sizable army and was on the move. However, Twilight did have a head start, and Cadence didn’t even know where she was; just where she was going.

“Silver Wind! Racing Bullet!” She shouted.

Two pegasus flew up to Cadence. “Yes, ma’am?” They said.

“I need one of you to fly Cloudsdale, the other to Applewood. Wait there until Princess Sparkle shows up, then use one of these.”

Cadence gave each of the pegasi a small firework.

“Light the streamer firework and it’ll go into the sky leaving a bright, multi-colored trail that can be seen for miles. We’ll come running when we see that happen.”

Both of the pegasi nodded. “Right, your highness. We’re off!” They both flew off in different directions towards their goals.

Cadence turned to the rest of her men. “Now we wait for the signal! Set up camp, then rest until then. Dismissed!”

“So the plan is simple. We each divide up into our usual teams and work with another group to help boost our strength, but still allow us to see what’s happening since the Princess' armies mobilized, how many soldiers are after us, etc. Basically, any activity in relation to us. Any questions?”

Pain was going over the plan to evade capture and assess the enemy’s strength.

“Good, then here’s how it’s going to work.” Me, Konan, Sasori, and Deidara are going as one team. Rokuro, Itachi, Kisame, Hidan and Kakuzu are the other one. I wanted to split into three teams, but with Obito and Zetsu absent, two will have to do. Now scatter!”

“Right!” They all said together, then jumped back into the surrounding woods.

My group was heading through the forest towards Ponyville. That was the plan, but I had a bad feeling about it. After all, that’s where we killed the Guard Captain. The main reason why we were being hunted in the first place.

Pain’s group was going to head through the eastern part of the forest and move towards Canterlot, the city they escaped from not too long ago. I didn’t understand it: why would he want to go back? What was there that was useful for us now?

But it didn’t matter, Pain was no fool, and I had to worry about me and my group, now anyway.

Despite being in a very large group, even with Itachi, one of our most powerful members, I had doubts. What if we came upon one of the armies Pain told us about when he was fleeing Canterlot? Even with Itachi, I doubt we could fight an army. Although, I did have my masterpiece art, I didn’t want to use it in a world where it wouldn’t make any difference since I would be leaving it anyway.

We moved quickly through the forest, exiting near Ponyville in only a few minutes.

“Alright, I was designated leader of this team so listen to what I say since I’m only going to say it once.” Said Itachi.

“Our goal is to avoid detection, and it should be easy due to the cover of night. However, if we are found and it turns into a large scale battle, I want Rokuro and Kakuzu up front. You both will be the spearhead of our attack.”

“Right!” We both said.

“Now I want Kisame to be with me in the rear, providing long-range support to Rokuro and Kakuzu.”

Kisame nodded.

“Finally, Hidan I need you to stay far in the rear to avoid detection even when thes rest of us get found out.”

“Huh? Why are you keeping me outta the fight, Itachi?” Inquired Hidan.

“I’m not keeping you out of the fight, I want you to stay out of sight so you can ambush the enemy during our engagement with them. Your Curse Technique is perfect for just that.”

“Hidan nodded. “Okay, I see what you’re saying. But after I do that, I’m joining the fray!”

Itachi looked at each of us in turn. “So all of you understand what we’re doing then, right?”

We all nodded in unison.

“Good, then let’s proceed into town.”

Our group moved quickly through Ponyville. In the darkness, we looked like common thieves casing houses for easy entrance.

We saw a light down the road aways when we came to an intersection.

“Jump to the roof of this house!” Whispered Itachi.

We all landed on the roof, and watched as a three-pony patrol went by.

“Good, now move across these roofs until that light is no longer visible, then jump down. We can’t take any chances here in the belly of the beast.” Said Itachi.

We jumped off the roof and proceeded down the road until we reached the end of town. The same spot where Kakuzu brutally killed Shining Armor.

“Alright, now all we have to do is follow this road out of town a ways an-” Itachi was cut off as several spears, and a bright light appeared around us. We had been found.

A pink pony with wings and a horn walked, laughing towards us.

“I am Princess Cadence, and I will be the one killing you this night. My husband will be avenged!”

We were so careful; how did we get caught? But Itachi did have a backup plan, and we knew it all to well.

Itachi nodded to the left, and everyone but me and Kisame evaded in that direction.

Cadence was angry. “Stop them, you fools! We need to get all of them! Don’t let them get away!”

But Cadence’s soldiers weren’t quick enough and the rest of your group fled into the trees. All except Itachi, who turned to face us before he left.

“Remember, use any means you need to. Bring her back to Nagato alive, if possible. But kill the army; we don’t need them pestering us.”

I nodded to show my understanding. “Right! Now go, Itachi! We’ll handle this!”

Itachi ran into the trees, with several hundred of Cadence’s troops in pursuit. However, at least a quarter of her army stayed.
“Kisame,” I said, “how many do you think there are?”

He laughed. “Oh, I don’t know. I’d say at least 500 left. But again, I’m not so good at math. I prefer killing. What do you think?”

“I agree. Which means....”

Kisame knew what I was going to do. “Which means you’re going to use THAT one. But I suppose it is fair, we are outnumbered several times over. I’ll back you up, but remember you are still a rookie. Don’t hesitate to back off and let me take care of things.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

I directed my attention to the Princess. “Princess Cadence, was it? I want you to know I respect you.”

Cadence glared at me. “Why do you mock me? Is it because it is your only tool left, since you are going to die here?”

“No Princess. I am serious. You command great respect from your soldiers. They follow your every order, heed your every whim. You are indeed a great leader. You are a good thing for these ponies to have in such troubled times.”

“Stop it! Stop mocking me! Fight me now, or I will strike the first blow!”

I laughed. “Don’t worry Princess. All in due time. But first, a question. Do you know anything about art?”

“What?! Why does art have to do with this situation?!”

“I see that you don’t. How sad, let me show you something, then.”

I pulled two scrolls from my robe, both with gold accents and a symbol on the front. It was a wolf with a katana in it’s mouth.

“This is the quantity side of my art. Long did it take me to assemble this collection. Princess, you will be the first to witness this masterpiece.”

I focused my chakra to my hooves. I then placed one of my hooves on my chest, the other on my forehead.

Kisame was interested. “What are you doing?”

“I am linking my brain and chakra network together. In this way, I can control the puppets with my thoughts. It is the only way I can control them."

When I finished, faced the Princess again. “I have surpassed my teacher in only a few ways. His collection has more quality than mine. However, mine has far more quantity!”

I unravelled the scrolls, and several puppets wearing yellow cloaks with grey fluff collars appeared above my head. With each passing second, the cloud grew larger and larger. Chakra threads appeared from my chest, connecting to all of them.

Kisame, Cadence, and her army all dropped their mouths open in total shock.

“Secret Yellow Technique: Land of Iron’s 1000 Samurai Puppet Army!”

Chapter 9:Ultimate Art v.s. Army of the Oligarchy

I stared at Cadence and her army, as they shivered with fear.

“What’s wrong, Princess? Does my art frighten you? Normally, I would take that as an insult; however to me, it seems you are truly fascinated with it. Of course, that could just be the fear.”

Cadence managed to speak. “Wha- What are these things?”

I beamed. “So you are interested. That pleases me; I shall reward you with an answer. In your world I have yet to see a human, so it doesn’t surprise me that you don’t know what these are.”

I continued. “A human is a creature that comes from my world. They walk on two legs, and speak just like you. They eat and drink to survive, just like you. They have money and wage wars, just like you.”

I noticed I had said “they” instead of “we”. Did I lose identity of my former self? Had I been a pony so long I no longer felt human?

Cadence interrupted. “We have never waged a war! We fight in self-defense of ourselves!”

“So the surrounding lands just leave you alone? You never had to beat back their advances to take your land for themselves?”

“Well,” she said biting her lip, “we did have to fight amongst each other....”

“That certainly sounds like a battle, to me. I suppose the horned ponies, like myself, the winged ponies, and the ones without either horns or wings fought for supremacy over the others?”

“They’re called Unicorns, Pegasus, and Earth ponies! How can you not know that?’

I laughed. “I come from a world where your kind doesn’t exist.”

“But you are one of us! You are a unicorn!”

I didn’t feel like explaining myself to her. I had a job to do, and it was time to do it.

“Enough talk, Princess! Maybe we’ll have time to finish this discussion later; while you beg for your life!”

The Princess assembled with her army. “Watch out for those “things” flying around! Those are most likely his weapons, not some showpiece!”

The soldiers drew swords and spears; then drew in close together to prepare for my attack.

I focused my gaze at the center of her army.

“Primary Attack Strategy!”

Almost instantly, 250 of my puppets flew straight at her forces. As they approached, a few gutsy members of her army rose up, and threw their spears at my puppets. Surprisingly, I saw a few of them go down before they reached their target.

However, this small victory was short lived. My puppets crashed into her army, each puppet entering a melee fight with one or more of her soldiers.

Cadence looked around, as many of her men started to fall before my puppets’ superior combat prowess.

‘This isn’t good, she thought to herself, ‘We have taken out a few of his puppets, but there are just so many! They already outnumber us, but it seems they are controlled by the unicorn. So if I rush him, and take him out now, the puppets should cease to fight!’

She put her plan into action, and rushed straight at me.

“Sorry Princess! But I am not part of this performance, deal with them, instead!”

I sent a swarm of puppets in her direction.

She saw them all coming, charged her horn, then flew straight into them! She shattered all of them with a single charge!

“Huh,” I said to myself, “it seems this is going to be a little more difficult than I first imagined.”

I put my hooves together.

“Primary Defense Strategy!”

Several of my puppets flew down, and began to create a protective wall around me. Some of them flew under me, and created a kind of tower, escalating me off of the ground and enhancing my view of the battlefield.

The Princess saw what I had done and reacted accordingly. She flew up to my level and charged her horn, again. However, this time, the light emanating from the horn was a lot brighter than last time.

“Haha, I can see what you’re trying to do. Getting hit by that would be pretty nasty. That’s why I won’t allow it!”

I put my hooves together again.

“Secondary Attack Strategy: 1 Target!”

50 of my puppets flew straight at Cadence. She unleashed her charged energy at my puppets, however, this time, I had direct control over them, and she only managed to take out a few. The remaining puppets charged straight at her.

“This is it, Princess! Now you die!”

The puppets surrounded her, and I couldn’t see what was happening; but I could only imagine her pain.

‘Heh,’ I thought to myself, ‘my poison may not be as strong as Sasori’s, but it does do the trick. I carry three levels of the poison, all in various colors. Level 1 is a red poison that damages chakra flow slightly. Level 2 is a green poison that paralyzes the target. Level 3 is a yellow poison that causes death in 10 minutes after taking a hit. Each puppet doesn’t carry the same poison, but each puppet does have 1 type of poison on their weapons! Which means, odds are, my death poison got her!’

I pulled my puppets back to see what had become of Cadence. But, she wasn’t there!

“Gah! Where did you go? Huh?! Why do you run, coward?!”

I looked around everywhere for her, until finally I looked up. She was flying in the air; engaging the puppets I wasn’t controlling!

“Cowardly, bitch! I’ll end you for destroying my art!”

I gained control over the puppets and resumed the fight with her. However, she had charged her horn, and released the energy in the form of a shield. She was blocking every attack, and counterattacking with her hooves.

I grew angry. I couldn’t hit her once, and yet she destroyed each puppet in one blow, over and over again. Until I saw it: her weakness. The shield only covered her front, which meant I could sneak up behind her in the heat of battle and thrust a blade into her back.

“Well Princess, you certainly are a fierce warrior. But your fight ends now.”

I sent a slew of puppets at her, just as a distraction. She seemed to fall for it.

“You’re going to have to do better than that if you want to defeat me, murderer!” She screamed.

While she was busy, I sent a single puppet with level 3 poison under her, then flew it up to her level. I sent the puppet spiraling towards her, blade at the ready.

“For the last time, fall dead this time!”

She looked at me, then turned behind, just in time to see the puppet only a few inches from her neck.

I saw the fear in her eye, and then......

‘CRASH!’

She destroyed it; just in the nick of time, by generating that shield in front of her again.

I laughed. “This is good, Princess. You have forced me to my limit. Never before even in my practice sessions with Sasori have I used this, but....”

I put my hooves together, several of my puppets gathered in the air above me, circling.

“Secret Yellow Technique: Dark Poison Cloud!”

The puppets spewed a huge mass of level 3 poison at Cadence. This time, she wouldn’t escape; she couldn’t escape.

The Princess’ eyes darted around wildly; looking for a way out of the cloud. But it covered all of her flanks, pretty soon, her men yards away from us would breathe the smoke and die, as well.

She stared at me, eyes glaring. “You will pay for what you did to Shining Armor!”

Her horn began to charge a bright red color. Soon, the color surrounded her whole body, and she became encased in a sphere of this energy. The poison surrounded her; enveloping her.

Eventually, the cloud grew so thick I couldn't’ see through it.

“What’s happening? Did I finally get her?” I said to myself.

Suddenly, even through the smoke, I could see a faint, red glow. Then, I heard her voice.

“FOR SHINING ARMOR!”

The color faded for a moment, then expanded violently, destroying everything in it’s wake. My puppets, and her soldiers, were incinerated by this violent explosion.

Even though I was in my puppet armor, I felt the heat, then my armor was destroyed. I was knocked off my pedestal of puppets and fell to the ground. I watched the color recede again, and the Princess falling to the ground. Kisame stepped over me and started to laugh.

“Ha! I must say, she certainly did give you a run for your money! She even destroyed all your puppets, and all of her own soldiers. Just hold on for a moment, would you?”

He walked over to where the Princess lay, and dragged her back to where I was.

“Are you alright? Can you get up on your own?”

I tried to stand up, then felt a sharp pain in my back leg, so I layed back down.

“Seems you’re left back leg is broken. Probably because of your little tumble off your tower of puppets. We need to get you to Kakuzu, but I have no idea where he could be at.”

I struggled to get up again, but Kisame stopped me.

“Don’t even try it! I just said your leg was broken. I’ll make a water clone to stay here with you and the prisoner. But first...”

Kisame pulled a knife out of his robe and gave it to me.

“Kill her. You earned it. She destroyed all your puppets and broke your leg. Besides, we have no need for her.”

I looked at the knife, then back to the Princess. Surely, I did survive and she lay defenseless before me. But was that any reason to kill her? I couldn’t do it.

“No, Kisame. I can’t kill her in this state. It’s just not honorable. I wanted to make her part of my collection, yes. But I can’t feel any appreciation for art that was created from this.”

Kisame’s expression grew cold. “Well, if you won’t kill her....”

I cut him off before he could finish. “I never said I wouldn’t kill her. Bring her closer!”

I don’t know what possessed me to even say what I said. My morals placed me above this. But the cowardly bitch! She attacked my puppets when I wasn’t even controlling them! She deserved to die! I had to do it!

What happened next has haunted my dreams since. I grabbed the knife, and plunged it deep into the young Princess’ heart.

As the knife sank in, her eyes opened quickly, and she turned to look at me. While the blood trickled down her sides and onto the moonlit grass, I felt her life slip away from her body. The knife slowly felt loose as her muscles relaxed. I watched as her eyes closed, and her heart stopped beating altogether.

Kisame put this hooves together. But not for a jutsu, he was clapping.

“Hahaha! Excellent! That was ruthless! I don’t think I could’ve done a better job, myself!”

I stared at the bloody knife in my hoof, and then at the lifeless corpse of the Princess. When had I changed? There was a time I would have never even contemplated what I just did.

Kisame broke me from thoughts. “Well, we’d better get your leg looked at. I’ll get Nurse Kakuzu to come have a look at it, alright? But just so you don’t get lonely....”

Kisame put his hooves together. A moment later, an identical clone of himself was standing over me.

“This water clone will protect you until I get back!”

He ran over to where I saw Itachi last, through the forest, then I was alone.

Pain looked out from behind a rock. There was Canterlot, looking just the way it did when he left only a day ago.

“Nagato,” asked Konan, “what are our objectives?’

Pain turned towards her. “The only objective is utter destruction of this city. You are coming with me to start trouble in the city. Attack civilians, destroy buildings, whatever it takes to lure the Princesses from the castle. Next, Deidara and Sasori will make their appearance; assisting us by distracting the large army that undoubtedly is inside the city.”

“So does that mean...?”

“Yes, Konan. We will be fighting the Princesses, however many of them there are, just the two of us. But our tactics are perfect. These Princesses cannot defeat a god and his angel.”

Deidara overheard the conversation and jumped in. “And don’t forget two great artists! Hmm!”

Sasori rolled his eyes. “You need to stop inflating your own ego, so much. It really angers other people, Deidara.”

“Mind your own business! I can do what I wa-”

Pain cut him off. “That’s quite enough. We have a job to do here, so let’s get it done.”

The group moved from behind the rock, and ran towards the city gates. As they approached, two guards above the gate noticed them.

“Halt!” Said one of them, “You ponies are wanted by the Princess for questioning, come with me now, or face the consequences!”

“Hmm!” Said Deidara, “I don’t like his tone. Maybe this will change his attitude!”

Deidara reached into his robe, putting his hooves inside the bags that contained his detonating clay. The mouths on his hooves chewed the hard clay, forming it into moldable clay. Once they were done, they spit it out into his hooves. He then formed the two masses into small birds.

“Get ready, this is gonna be explosive!”

Deidara threw the small birds, but they grew to five times their original size! The birds got extremely close to the guards, then Deidara put his hooves together. Then spoke his command word.

“Katsu!”

The birds detonated; killing both guards and creating a large hole in the wall for the group to enter through.

Sasori shook his head. “You didn’t change his attitude. You destroyed them both. Honestly, subtlety would’ve been nice.”

Deidara stared rudely at his partner, but didn’t speak.

Pain, however, complimented the artist. “Excellent work, Deidara. Now, everyone knows their roles. Let’s get to it.”

Deidara created one of his clay owls, and, after Sasori jumped on it with him, took flight to other parts of the city.

Pain looked at Konan. “Come, the bugles of battle call us; and we must heed their tones.”

Konan nodded, and together, she and Pain walked towards the castle.

Chapter 10:The Battle of Canterlot Begins

As I was lying in that field of battle, dead soldiers and my destroyed art all around me, I pondered why my behavior of late has been so unusual.

‘Back in Konoha, the world was violent, cruel and murderous. I managed to uphold my code of morals. I never killed a defenseless soldier or a civilian. But here, in this peaceful world, I’ve broken both rules. Is there a connection? Or have I just become another senseless killer without ideals?’

While I thought about it, my vision began to blur from the pain in my leg. Then, almost instantaneously, my vision was gone, and I fell asleep.

When I awoke, I was on a bed in a small room. There were fish hung up on the walls to dry, and I could hear seagulls outside. There was a window only a few inches above me, but I couldn’t sit up to look outside. My leg was wrapped up with white cloth.

I layed there for a few minutes before Kakuzu came in with a platter.

“You’re awake. Good. That means the surgery went well.”

I was shocked. “What surgery? What are you talking about? Where I am I?”

“You are in the home of a fisherman that we discovered when Kisame and myself dragged you off the battlefield. We came upon this house and put you in the bed. As for the surgery, your leg wasn’t completely severed; so Tentacle Stitching wouldn’t have worked.”

“What about the pony who lives here?”

Kakuzu laughed. “Oh, he’s in the ocean. Probably feeding the fish breakfast, by now.”

“Never mind the fisherman, then! What about me? How long will my recovery take?”

Kakuzu brought the platter with soup and water over to my bed. “I’d say at least 2 weeks. But it will go even quicker if you eat this soup. I mixed some calcium-building vitamins into it. It will speed up your bone’s repair. That, and plenty of sleep with minimal movement might make your recovery last only a week.”

I blinked. “What do you mean a WEEK?! There’s a full-blown war going on! I need to get out there and help!”

“First of all, war hasn’t been declared....yet. Second of all, there are only four rulers in this world. You killed one of them all by yourself; a rookie no less! Third, even if you could participate in the conflict, it wouldn’t help. All of your puppets from the Samurai Performance were destroyed.”

“Oh, no! I forgot about that! She really did destroy all of them with that red-sphere of energy!”
Kakuzu nodded. “Now rest. I was ordered to stay outside and guard you until you were alright. Kisame joined the others in the fight.”

“Who? Our group was supposed to go to Applewood, though?”

Kakuzu shook his head. “No, Pain ordered them to ignore that target and rally to him. Since Kisame, myself, and you separated from the group, Pain deemed us too weak to continue without support. They are on the way to him and his team, but they had already traversed a large distance. It will take them almost 3 days to get to Canterlot.”

With that, he walked out of the room and closed the door.

I wondered about what everyone was doing, and how I couldn't help. Eventually, I just decided to follow Kakuzu’s advice, and rest.

“Watch your flank, soldier! They’re still coming!” Screamed a Royal Guard pony.

Sasori and Deidara had jumped off the owl, onto the ground, as Deidara’s owl rammed into the guard barracks; luring every guard out into open conflict.

“Relax, my man. I’ll take care of these chumps.” Said Deidara.

“You know you can’t do it alone. Let me help, you.”

Deidara glared at his partner. “I can do it myself, alright? Sheesh!”

“Fine. But as soon as you get into trouble, don’t expect me to join in. You’re acting a lot like Hidan; and you hate him.”

“Gah! Alright! You can take that half over to the east. I’ll take this half over to the west.”

Sasori nodded. “Sounds good to me. Now let’s show them the true meaning of our art.”

Deidara had already prepared some clay while he was flying on the owl. He formed it into two snakes that went slithering towards the ponies.

“Gah!” Said one of the guards, “What are those things? They look like snakes, but-”

The guard was cut off as the snakes reached him.

“Katsu!”

The snakes detonated, leaving a small crater, and no trace of the guard and some of his companions surrounding him.

Deidara then began preparing more clay. “Now, see if you can stop me from destroying the rest this city just like your friend!”

Deidara then turned and ran down the street; lead a group of the guards away from Sasori. As he did so, about half of them stayed; and turned their attention on the other artist.

“Playtime is over!” Said one of them.

“Oh,” Sasori replied, “you have no idea how right you are.”

Sasori removed a white scroll with red accents from his robe. He unravelled it, then the smoke surrounded him. After it dissipated, the summoned object could be seen: a puppet wearing a brown robe with grey fluff around the robe’s collar.

Sasori smiled as the puppet appeared. “Behold! My finest piece! Collecting this one took a lot of patience and finesse. The 3rd Kazekage!”

The ponies were confused. “What’s a ‘Kazekage’?” One of them asked.

“I don’t know; I’m just as confused as you are.” Replied another.

Sasori’s expression changed. “Whether or not you know my art is inconsequential. What is important, is that you die!”

Sasori extended chakra threads from his horn to the puppet, then sent it towards the group of guards. While it raced towards them, a large claw appeared from under the sleeve of the puppet’s right arm.

The guards noticed immediately. “Get out of the way! That things’ gigantic!”

The soldiers scattered as the claw swung, and missed. As they recovered, they drew their swords from the sheaths at their sides.

One of the pegasus guards saw an opportunity to charge at Sasori, blade pointed towards him.

“Ha! It will take much more than that pitiful attempt, I can assure you!” Said Sasori.

He pulled the 3rd back in front of him just as the pegasus reached him. As he did, the iron claw blocked the pegasus’ blade.

Sasori smirked. “Now, now. Not so hasty!”

The puppet overpowered the pegasus, then hit him hard with the blunt side of the claw. The pegasus flew back towards his comrades.

“Are you alright, soldier?” Asked one of the guards.

The pegasus stood up, shaking the dust off of himself. “Yeah, I think so. He just knocked the wind outta me tha-”

He was cut off as the 3rd Kazekage rushed towards him, and, in an instant, decapitated him with one swing of the claw.

The other ponies were stunned as the head rolled off the guard’s shoulders and onto the ground. The body soon fell to its’ knees, then fell over.

They looked over to see Sasori laughing. “Really now. If that’s all it takes to kill one of the soldiers of this land, Hidan could kill you all!”

One of the soldiers grimaced. “I don’t who this ‘Hidan’ character is, and I don’t really care! He can come and get some too, if he wants!”

This cocky pony ran ahead of his group straight at the 3rd Kazekage. The puppet raced forward to meet him, and their blades clashed. The guard looked back at his comrades.

“Quick! I’ve got his puppet caught! Rush the freak controlling this thing and get him back for Swift Speed!”

The guards looked down at their fallen comrade, then nodded towards their friend. “Right!”

They all rushed towards Sasori; blades out. As they neared the puppet, it’s left hand opened to reveal a rapidly-rotating buzzsaw. It blocked the ponies approach immediately.

“Did you really think it would be that easy? I’m no pushover; not like your pathetic friend over there, anyways.”

The guards didn’t care about the comment this time. They wondered how they would get past this strange being. It seemed it had weapons everywhere! What was next?

Sasori heard screams and explosions just down the street from where he was at. ‘Huh,’ he thought to himself, ‘it seems the other guards have caught up to him. Well, he could use my help, so I should end this fight quickly. Of course he isn't going to like it, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.’

The 3rd Kazekage’s buzzsaw whirred even faster than usual, and cut apart the ponies’ blades in just a few seconds!

While the guards were stunned, the puppet struck all of them at once with the buzzsaw; making contact and ripping all of them to shreds.

“No!” Cried the last guard. “You’ll pay for that with your life!”

“I’ll tear you to shreds!” Said Sasori, as he swung the buzzsaw towards the last guard. It struck his side, and tore a massive gash into him.

He fell onto his side; blood spurting from his wound and his mouth.

“And now,” said Sasori, “you will fade into history.”

The guard’s eyes grew big as the iron claw came down upon him.

Another explosion came from a building to the guards’ right.

“Hahahaha! My art is making this city of yours look like a quarry!”

After Deidara left Sasori, he ran down the street throwing C1 birds at every building in sight. In just minutes, he left holes in almost every structure he passed by.

One of the pegasus guards tried to fly towards Deidara, but his captain pulled him down.

“No! You stand no chance against him on your own! We need to think of a plan of action before we strike!”

A unicorn suddenly spoke up. “Captain! What if we split into three groups? One runs straight towards him, the others run through the buildings on our left and right? We stand a better chance to catch him on one of his flanks that way.”

“Hmm, you may be onto something.” Replied the captain. “What the hay? We got nothing better to try! Let’s do it!”

He sorted the ponies into three groups of two. “Alright, split up!”

The ponies split up and ran different directions towards Deidara.

“What do you expect to accomplish? Even if you separate, my art will still find you!”

Deidara sent out a different kind of bird this time; they were slightly smaller than the old ones. These were his tracking birds.

As the guards in the street ran, they noticed the birds racing towards them.

“Look out! More of those explosive birds!”

The guards leaped out of the way; successfully avoiding the explosives.

“Whew, that was close! It almost go-”

*BOOM*

The bird had turned around and crashed directly into the pony; killing him and his partner.

“What?! How? I just saw them avoid the birds!” Said the captain.

At that moment, another bird came towards him and his partner.

They both leaped out fo the way, but the captain looked back to see the bird turning back towards him.

“I see now! These birds follow you! Don’t let it catch you! Trick it to run into something to avoid getting hit!”

As the last four ponies ran, Deidara sent out snakes to slither through the rubble and strike at the guards’ hooves. They hid under some rubble and waited for the second group to approach.

The captain saw them as they stopped, and tried to warn his men.

“No! Stop! He has some right under that rubble in front of you!”

The ponies were running too fast to slow down in time.

“Katsu!”
Just like the other two, these guards went up in the explosion, too. A leg fell in front of the captain.

“No! This is wrong! We should be defending our city! But we can’t even do that!”

Deidara laughed. “Defend your city against US? Hmm! You really don’t know who we are.”

Another bird appeared from Deidara’s hand and flew towards the captain.

‘Your highnesses,’ he thought to himself, ‘forgive me. I’ve failed all of you...”

The bird made contact with the captain.

“Katsu!”

Celestia looked out the Throne Room window as Deidara’s explosions continued to ravage the city.

“How? How could this happen? I was sure Luna and I had enough soldiers to stop something like from happening!”

Luna ran into the throne room at that moment.

“Sister! Two of these robed murders have made their way to our front door. I go to meet them. I shall smite them with mine power from the moon! I will return when I have finished.”

Celestia was about to say something, but a messenger ran into the Throne Room.

“PRINCESSES! IT”S JUST AWFUL!” He screamed.

“Calm down,” said Celestia, “please, tell me, what has happened now?”

“Princess Cadence.....”

“Yes? What about her?”

“Your highness.....she....she’s dead...”

Celestia and Luna froze. How could a princess be killed? They were the most magically gifted beings in their realm!

Luna broke the silence. “These beings shall pay! Their lives will be the currency!”

She flew out the door behind the messenger.

She flew through the hallway and finally out the castle’s main door.

There stood two of the Akatsuki waiting for her.

“Ah,” said Pain, “we’ve been waiting for one of you to show up.”

Chapter 11:Judgement of a God

“Who art thou ponies? Why art thou attacking us?” Inquired Luna.

“We are merely a group of people caught in a bad situation. We have done nothing to you or your people that wasn’t in self defense.” Said Pain.

“How can thou sayest that? You have killed many of our subjects and soldiers! You can not expect me to believe they attacked you first?”

“In reality, I don't’ really care. We have our own goals that we need to accomplish. If your people get in our way, they will be crushed. It’s just that simple.”

Luna was shocked. “If that is the way you feel about it, then I have no choice but to end thine pitiful life. Prepare yourself.”

Pain turned to Konan. “Stay out of this, one. I can defeat her myself.”

Konan nodded. “Be careful, Nagato. I’ll be waiting for your orders.”

Konan spread her wings and flew back from the soon-to-be battleground.

“Tell me, Princess. Do you think you can fight a god?”

“You are no god! Thou art simply a unicorn with more power than most others. Instead of using it for good, you kill ponies. That is what thou art. Do not mask it with your false self-confidence.”

“So be it, Princess.” Pain removed a scroll from his robes. He placed it on the ground, and summoned its’ contents. Five ponies known as the 5 Paths of Pain: himself, representing the Deva Path, then the others; each being a different path. Animal, Asura, Human, Preta, and Naraka. Each one had several piercings from which Nagato controlled them, just like the Deva Path.

“What is this dark magic?” Said Luna.

“These are my Paths of Pain. It is through these 6 ways of suffering, comes peace. That’s enough questions now, Princess. Let’s begin.”

He focused his attention towards his paths. “Scatter!”

The paths flew off in different directions, except the Animal Path, who instead placed her hooves on the ground; creating a seal.

“Summoning Jutsu!”

A large crab appeared from the seal. It had several piercings throughout it’s body from which Nagato controlled it.

Pain put his hooves together. “Water Style: Wild Bubble Wave!”

The crab’s mouth opened and released a jetwave of water.

Luna saw the water and jumped out of the way, just as it struck the castle’s front doors; sending wood chips and debris flying everywhere.

Luna charged her horn; then rammed the crab. As she did, the energy released and enclosed the crab in a black bubble. It ruptured; destroying the summoned crab.

While Luna was fighting the crab, the Asura Path approached. He opened his head; revealing a chakra cannon. Pain put his hooves together. The path opened fire on the Princess.

She looked over as she heard the weapon fire, and dodged as the chakra struck the ground. When it did, the surrounding area, including the stairs leading up to the castle, were gone. Only a crater remained in the weapons’ wake.

‘Hmm,’ thought Pain, ‘this one is particularly talented. Especially if she can avoid the Asura Chakra Cannon. I thought I would be able to finish this fight a little more quickly; but perhaps a distraction would be better.’

Luana smiled. “Now, it is mine turn to deal a blow!”

Luna flew up, then straight at Pain; all the while charging her horn.

“Foolish.” The Animal Path again appeared in front of Pain; hooves on the ground.

“Summoning Jutsu!”

This time, instead of the crustacean, a green bird appeared. It’s beak was large, and jagged; almost half the size of the bird itself! But what was more noticeable was its three legs and three wings!

Pain turned away from Luna. “Deal with this one, now. It’s speed will make a difficult fight for you, I’m sure.”

“Where are thou running to? We are still fighting!”

The bird flew up, pointed it’s beak at Luna, and dived.
Luna saw the bird coming, and jumped out of the way just as the beak struck the crater.

Pain continued walking. “It seems your fight is no longer with me. Come Konan, we have work to do.”

“Oh, dear! Stop everyone. Stop! STOP!”

Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash froze as Rarity screamed at them.

Applejack faced Rarity and sighed. “Really now! This is the 3rd time ya’ll stopped us! We have to catch up to Twi! If we don’t, she could do some horrible things to them ponies down at Applewood!”

“I know, darling but my hooves are worn out from all this running!”

“Your hooves aren’t important right now, Rarity!” Yelled Rainbow Dash.

Even Fluttershy jumped in to say something. “I don’t mean to be rude, Rarity. But, umm, they’re right. We really should catch up to Twilight.”

Rarity moaned. “Oh, alright! You right, girls! We need to stop Twilight from doing something just awful to more ponies!”

The group continued running towards Applewood. As they approached a cluster of trees near the highway, Itachi and Hidan burst out; running straight into Applejack.

“Ow!”, Said Applejack as she fell to the ground. “What gives, pal? You got a prob-!”

She stopped talking when she saw who it was she ran into.

“BLACK ROBES WITH RED CLOUDS!” She screamed.

Itachi and Hidan flinched. “Hey! No need to yell like that! You’re gonna give me a headache!” Said Hidan.

The ponies cowered in fear at the sight of the Akatsuki members.

“Where’s Twilight?!” Screamed Rainbow Dash.

Itachi and Hidan looked at each other then back at the rainbow colored mare.
“I’m afraid I have no idea who you are referring to.” Said Itachi.

“Like hell you don’t!” Rainbow tried to fly into Itachi, but Applejack pulled her back.

“Woah, hold your horses, sugarcube! You ain’t got any idea what those two is capable of!”

“Damn right, you don’t! Itachi, you go on ahead. I’ll take of ‘em!”

“No. We have to stay together; remember Nagato’s orders. Besides, we’re almost to Canterlot. Ignore them, we need to continue on.”

Hidan scowled. “Jashin hasn’t had any sacrifices for a long time, now. I need to kill soon!”

“When we arrive at our destination, there will be a feast of murder and sacrifices for you and your god.”

“Alright, Itachi. I’ll believe you, but you better not be bullshitting me!”

The two Akatsuki jumped over the ponies and continued running towards Canterlot.

“Come on, everypony! We need to catch up to them!” Said Rainbow Dash.

The group turned in pursuit of the robed ponies; hoping to catch up to them before they could get to Canterlot.

“Tell me what you know! You’re hiding something, aren’t you? What do you know?!”

Twilight was interrogating a couple from Applewood about the Akatsuki's presence in the area.

“I swear we don’t know anything, your highness! These robed ponies you speak of never showed up here!” Said one of them.

“Gah! Useless! No pony ever has anything useful to tell me!”

Suddenly, a pegasus wearing the royal armor of Celestia flew down from the sky next to Twilight.

“Princess! I bring you a message from her highness, Princess Celestia!”

Twilight turned away. “I don’t want to hear it, messenger. Please leave before I get angry.”

“You don’t understand! Princess Cadence is dead!”

Twilight’s expression changed. “WHAt?! HOW?”

“The information you seek is inside this letter. I must go now, your highness.”

With that, the messenger flew back into the sky.

Twilight opened the message from Celestia.

‘Dear Twilight,’

‘I know you are dealing with inner demons I couldn’t possibly begin to comprehend. However, you should know that Princess Cadence has been found dead in a field south of Canterlot. Along with her was her entire army; slaughtered. As well as some strange beings wearing yellow robes.

You must return to Canterlot, immediately. Four of the robed ponies arrived and began destroying the city. By the time this letter reaches you, much of the city could be gone.

So I ask you, release your feelings and give up on revenge. We need you and your army here to defend against this attack. Please, I beg of you, come to Canterlot and help defend your people!’

Princess Celestia

Twilight sighed after reading the note. “She has a point. I should go to Canterlot; it’s possible one of those robed ponies killed my brother! I can get revenge and listen to the Princess at the same time!”

She turned to face her troops behind her. “Soldiers! We are leaving for Canterlot, immediately!”

The soldiers saluted. “Right away, your highness!” They said in unison.

The army began marching away from Applewood; towards Canterlot.

Twilight smiled devilishly. “From one city to another; from nothing to revenge!”

Pain, Konan, and all of his paths had left the battle with Luna behind, and walked to the town square. Many bodies of the guards Sasori and Deidara had killed were strewn about. Fires were lit here and there; a sign of an artist’s explosions.

Pain began focusing chakra to his horn.

“Nagato! You aren’t going to do it already, are you?”

Pain nodded. “I must. If I don’t-”

Pain was cut off as Celestia flew in. “Hold it!” She yelled at Pain.

“Why do you interrupt me, Princess?”

“I interrupt you because you need to be stopped! Your destruction of this city ends now!”

“I am not destroying anything. In truth, my comrades would be the ones ‘destroying’ your city. But even then, it’s not really destruction. Peace is being created through their acts.”

Celestia’s mouth dropped open. “PEACE?! How do death and ruin ever resemble peace?!”

“They do not resemble peace, nor are they peace. They are the results of the means to get peace. They are the catalyst in the formula for peace.”

Celestia opened her mouth, but no words came out. Pain continued.

“If one, great war is fought that leads to the end of all current things, the world can be rebuilt as one sees fit. In my case, it would be rebuilt in the form of tranquility and love. I would control all of the world’s races and factions. They would never fight, because I wouldn’t allow it. But to attain such a goal requires sacrifice. This so called ‘destruction’ is one of those sacrifices.”

“But how,” asked Celestia, “can you kill ponies to achieve a peace like that? We already possessed such a peace!”

“Did you really? What about the other races surrounding you? Are they at peace with you? Can they walk into your nation’s boundaries and not be considered an enemy?”

“Of course not! But that has nothing to do-”

“It has everything to do with it. Just because you are at peace with those races from afar, doesn’t mean you are fully at peace with them. It is a mask, hiding the truth. In reality, you would like to see them gone so you can distribute more land to your people. Thus allowing yourself to gain renown among your followers.”

“That is not true! My subjects love me because I take care of them and protect them from danger!”

“Do you now? Tell me, why have my associates been able to kill one of your fellow Princesses, slaughter an entire town, and kill numerous civilian and military targets? You aren't fully protecting them at all.”

Celestia grimaced. “You’re right.”

Pain recoiled in shock. “You don’t really believe that. You still have your own beliefs. I am the enemy that must be crushed so you may ‘protect’ your people.”

“No, I mean it. You are correct. I haven't been able to protect my subjects from you and your gang. You have ravaged this land, killed a Princess and her army, and even destroyed Appleoosa. You truly have bested my defense of my subjects.”

“Hmm. Your attitude is not of a leader. Even in such dire circumstances, what you say is cowardly.”

“That may be. But it is the truth. I am not one to lie to myself, or my subjects. So believe me when I say....” Celestia’s expression became vividly determined. “I will destroy you to right the wrongs I have made to these ponies!”

“A noble speech. But it will do you no good now.”

Pain began flying up into the sky. Soon he was about 100 feet above the ground.

“Now Princess, I will demonstrate my words to you. Your world will know pain, so that it may know peace.”

He put his hooves together. “ALMIGHTY PUSH!”

A large shock wave spread outwards from Pain, flying in all directions. Buildings crumbled to the ground in mere moments. Dead bodies, carts, bricks, and all other small objects flew off the city, down to the ground below. The castle was struck by the wave, and the many turrets and towers fell away from the castle immediately. Soon, all that was left was the first floor of the castle and the square in which Pain, Konan, and Celestia stood. The entire city had been leveled.

Pain looked down at the Princess. “Now do you see? This is peace. Peace that can only be obtained through the power of a god.”

Chapter 12:Reinforcements Arrive

A loud explosion woke Hotaka from his sleep. He turned on his side, listening for the sound again.
“What the hell was that? It sounded like one of Deidara’s birds, but it was much-”

*CRASH*

“Bigger. Huh, I wonder what it could be?”

“Itachi! There it is!” Said Hidan.

“I know, I have eyes to see the city; or at least what’s left of it. Either Deidara or Pain have been very busy.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? The city is fine it-” Hidan looked back and saw what Itachi was talking about. “Fuck! The whole damn city is gone!”

Itachi nodded. “Yes, now come. We’re only a few hours away. Whoever is there, and I’m sure some of our comrades are there, will need our help.”

They started running again, only to be interrupted a few minutes later by another Akatsuki member.

“There you are, Itachi! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Said Kisame.

“Kisame, there’s no time for greetings. We must get to the city, now! I’m almost certain Pain has begun his judgement.” Said Itachi, pointing towards Canterlot.

Kisame followed his partner’s hoof to the destroyed city hanging off the side of the mountain.

“How in the world did Pain begin his judgement without our protection?”

“Konan, of course. That, or the military had no idea what he was doing to begin with. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go!”

“Right!”

As Itachi and Hidan neared the city, the ponies took a shortcut to beat them.

“C’mon, y’all! We go up this path here, and we shave some hours off our trip!” Said Applejack.

“Oh, Applejack. Why do we have to go down such a rugged path? Can’t we just take the road?” Whined Rarity.

Applejack shook her head. “No time, sugarcube. We need to beat those robed fellers to Canterlot. The Princess needs our help now. If there was ever a time to use the elements of harmony, it’s now.”

Rarity moaned, but followed Applejack and the others down the path.

“Hmm? It seems Pain has started the party a little earlier than expected. Oh well, this just gives me more time to show off my art!” Said Deidara as he raced back through the streets towards the source of the shock wave.

Deidara passed Sasori on his way to Pain. “Sasori, my man! Did you feel that quake that just happened a little while ago?”

“You know very well it was no quake. Pain is showing off his “godly” powers, again. I don’t know why he would need to. These creatures are quite weak.”

Deidara groaned. “Whatever! C’mon we need to get to him. You remember the plan, right?”

Sasori looked at his comrade, smiling. “Down to every last detail.”
Deidara laughed, and the two ran together back towards Pain.

“Huy! Take this, foul winged beast!” Screamed Luna as she shot another bolt of energy at the bird.

Again, just like the last few times she tried it, the bird avoided the attack.

‘Curses,’ she thought to herself, ‘this beast can dodge everything I throw at it! I can only dodge about half of it’s attacks; as it is much faster than me! This is starting to appear hopeless.’

The bird came spiraling towards her again. Luna flew out of the way just in time to only have her side scraped by the beak again.

“Hua!” She cried out in pain.

She had similar scrapes all over her body from the bird’s repeated attacks.

‘Wait! That’s it! The creature only uses the same corkscrewing attack upon me every time! I’ve been trying to figure out how to defeat the creature itself; what I need to do is figure out how to defend, then retaliate against, it’s attack!’

As the bird flew up, then began corkscrewing again, Luna tried to dodge to the right. This time, however, she stayed right where she was.

“Approach me just a little closer, fowl!”

The bird was only inches from Luna, then she blocked the attack by generating a shield of energy in front of her. While the shield was active, blocking the bird, she scanned for weaknesses.

“That’s it! It corkscrews from the right to the left! So if I can get under the bird before the attack begins and attack it’s left side, I will score a hit!”

She let the shield dissipate, then flew back to gain some distance between herself and the bird.

It flew up again, then began corkscrewing towards Luna. Just as the attack started she focused energy in her horn then flew to the left side of the bird as fast as she could. The quick movement caught the bird off guard, and it had to locate her again to attack. However, it was too late.

“Fall before I, Princess Luna, Queen of the Night!” She rammed her charged horn into the bird’s side, causing it dissipate from the area.

“I am victorious! Now I must find mine sister and aid her how I can!”

“Well, Princess? What do you think of my power?” Said Pain.

Celestia was stunned. She was the most powerful pony in Equestria; but not even she could do what Pain had just done!

“How....how can you....do these things....”

“To gain my power, you must become a god. To become a god, you must know real pain. The 6 paths of pain that lead to peace are difficult to comprehend. Not many people will ever experience them all in a lifetime. Since you haven't yet, you know you will never ascend to become a divine like me.”
“Your words are full of arrogance! Does a god really do this to his subjects?”

“He will if he must, and right now, I have to teach you and your people the meaning of pain so that peace may come to this land. Consider it my gift to you before I leave your world.”

“How do you intend to leave our world? You may have gotten here by magical means to begin with, but I’m sure those same means are lost to you, now!”

“Right you are. But it doesn’t mean we cannot find another way. However, it doesn’t really concern you. What does concern you is me. After what I’ve done to your city, I’m sure you are aching to fight and kill me. Make an example of me to your subjects.”

Pain waited, but Celestia did not attack. She couldn’t believe if this pony was true. The way he acted, the things he could do; it just didn’t seem real to her.

“If you won’t fight me, then I will leave. I have nothing else to say to you, or do here at the moment.”

This time Celestia spoke. “How dare you! You kill my subjects and destroy my city then expect to just walk away? I think not!”

Celestia charged her horn quickly then shot off a bolt of energy at Pain. He easily dodged it, then returned to his original position.

“It seems she is brave enough to attack me directly. Just like the other one, did.”

“You wouldn’t be referring to me, by chance would you?”

Everyone turned to see Luna land beside her sister.

“Sorry I’m late, sister. The unicorn left me a fowl to duel with and it was quite troublesome.”

“Now there’s two of us.” Said Celestia.

“Nope! There’s seven!”

Applejack and her friends rushed to Celestia and Luna’s side.

“Heh, your math is still a little off!”

Deidara and Sasori moved beside Konan on the ground.

Pain looked down at all the new arrivals. “It seems there will be a full-scale battle to be fought here. Interesting, I never saw this happening so early.”

“There’s no need to fight,” said Celestia, “we have you outnumbered! You can’t win!”

“Actually, you don’t outnumber anyone, little girl!”

Kisame, Itachi, and Hidan walked from behind a destroyed building.

Rainbow Dash gaped. “But how? We took a shortcut....”

“Heh heh, we’re just magical then, I guess.”

Actually, Kisame had summoned a wave that Itachi and Hidan rode all the way to Canterlot. It increased their speed, and allowed them to arrive much quicker.

“This is interesting,” said Pain, “seven on seven.....could it be...?”

Konan looked up. “Nagato, what is it?”

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it; right now concentrate on our enemy.”

Celestia turned to the ponies. “Where is Twilight? If she was here, we could activate the Elements of Harmony.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “She won't’ come. We talked to her already. She just wants to find out who killed Shining Armor.”

“Very well. It seems we will have to fight without that edge, then.”

“No you won’t!”

Everyone looked up to see Twilight flying down. She landed next to her friends; followed by her army coming on hoof behind them.

“Twilight! You did it! You overcame your selfish desire for revenge to come help us! I couldn’t be prouder of you!” Said Celestia.

Twilight nodded. “I’m sorry, Princess. I was blind, but now I can see. We need to deal with these invaders and prevent them from destroying anymore of Equestria!”

“Hmm, this is quite a lot to deal with. Let’s split it up.” Said Pain. “Konan, stick with me. I’ll need your help against the two Princesses.”
“I'm right behind you.” She said.

“Kisame, Itachi! Deal with the five ponies that came here before the purple one.”

Kisame grinned widely. “Oh good! I’ve been waiting a long time to spill some blood!”

“Deidara, Sasori! Take care of the new arrival and her army. Everyone try to get them to follow you away from here. Too much fighting in one area will result in mass confusion and possible friendly fire. We can’t have that seeing as we are outnumbered heavily. Now scatter!”

“Right!” They all said.

Kisame ran at Fluttershy, sword out, ready to strike.

“Ahahahaha! Come on, little girl! It’s time to meet your maker!”

He swung his sword, but Rainbow Dash flew in and kicked him in his side, hard. Kisame was knocked off balance and failed to strike.

“Gah! You fucking cunt! I’ll make you regret that!”

“Ha! If you can catch me!” Said Rainbow flying down a nearby alley. “Come on, girls! We need to get them away from the Princesses!”

The other ponies nodded and followed Rainbow, leading Itachi and Kisame away from the battlefield.

“Good,” said Pain, “the ponies did their job for them.”

Deidara created a large, clay owl. He jumped on top it and flew towards the army. As he flew over them, he dropped exploding clay ants into the crowd. Several landed directly on the soldiers.

“Katsu!”

The dead soldiers’ heads were completely blown apart; shooting grey matter out and covering other soldiers.

Deidara landed on the other side of them, picked up Sasori, and flew off again.

The soldiers gave chase, and as they did, Twilight followed them.

“I’m sorry, Princess! I must go with my army! They’ll need me!”
“I understand, Twilight. Go, Luna and I will take care of these other two.”

“Be careful, Princess!” Said Twilight as she ran away.

“Are you ready, sister?” Asked Celestia.

“Of course! Let us combine our powers and defeat these foes!”

“Hmph, if you really think you can fight me, come forth and demonstrate your abilities to me. Prove you have the talent to become a god and protect your people through the only way you can: by defeating me.”

Chapter 13:Living World of Hell

“Princesses,” said Pain, “the night is young; which means you are safe.”

The Princesses looked confused. “What does thou mean? The night cannot hurt anypony, can it?”

Celestia shrugged. “I don’t get it either; but this unicorn is no pushover. It must have some meaning. But enough talk, let’s go!”

Celestia and Luna charged their horns and rushed at Pain. Konan stepped in front of Pain.

“No, Konan. Back away for now. They have no chance against me; even in my weakest state.”

Konan disagreed silently, but moved. The ponies got closer, and almost touched Pain.

“Almighty Push!”

A smaller shock wave than before struck both Princesses, knocking them back and off their feet.

“Are you alright, sister?” Asked Luna as she stood back up.

“I'm fine. But we must remember not to walk in front of that one again!”

The Princesses, their horns still charged, flew towards Pain from different angles.

“All the same, no matter what you try, you have no chance against a god.”

“Halt! Stop this foolish chase!” Said one of Twilight’s soldiers.

“Hmm! Sasori my man, do you think we’re far enough?”

“Yes, stop here.”

Deidara nodded, and he redirected his owl towards the soldiers before he and Sasori jumpped off.

The owl got within feet of the first soldier.

“Katsu!”

The owl exploded, but after the smoke dissipated, Twilight stood in it’s wake. She had created a shield at the last moment to save her troops!

Deidara laughed. “Well Sasori. There’s not much more I can do unless you help.”

“Right.” Sasori removed the white scroll with red accents from his robe and summoned the contents.

The 3rd Kazekage reappeared around Sasori as it did earlier.

“You know the iron claw won’t work with so many? So are you resorting to the puppet’s jutsu then?”

“Of course.” Sasori put his hooves together.

The puppet’s mouth opened, and a stream of black particles was loosed.

“Princess!” Asked one of the soldiers. “What is that?”

“I don’t know, but be cautious! These ponies have done so much damage; undoubtedly it’s some kind of weapon.”

“Right you are, Princess!” Said Sasori.

As he did so, the sand formed into small, diamond shaped clusters.

“Princess? What is he going to-”

“Too late! Iron Sand: Scattered Showers!”

The clusters accelerated quickly towards the army. Because of their diamond shape, they had sharp points which easily pierced the soldiers’ armor and skin.

Many of them cried out as they fell from the piercing sand clusters.

“Hahaha, Sasori my man, I count 17 from that one shot! That’s got to be more kills from one jutsu than I’ve ever seen before, very nice!”

Twilight faced the two Akatsuki. “What?! Is setting a record for you two?! You just killed ponies! How can you act like it’s a game?!”

“Deidara, back away from this one. I want to show her my art is no game.”

Sasori put his hooves together. “Iron Sand: Six-Inch Nail Cluster Attack!”

The sand reformed into a large nail-shaped object and raced towards Twilight.

She jumped over it, forcing it to plummet into the ground.

‘This is tense,’ she thought to herself, ‘and I’m sure it’s also only the beginning!”

“Kisame, this is far enough. We need to engage them, now.” Said Itachi.

“I couldn’t agree more. I’m just dying to cut these five open. Besides, Shark Skin hasn’t fed in a while.”

They stopped chasing the ponies. When they no longer heard hoofsteps behind them, they turned around to face their enemy.

“I’m afraid this game of tag ends here, weaklings!” Said Kisame.

“Who you calling ‘weaklings’?” Said Rainbow Dash.

“The dirty little girl in front of me who thinks she can take on a man!”

Itachi saw this was going to continue for a while, so he intervened.

“Enough! Kisame, stop arguing. Just kill her and her friends so we can get back to Pain.”

“Hehehe, sorry Itachi. I do get carried away sometimes. Now I will more than ever!”

Without warning, he raced towards Rainbow Dash. “Die, you worm!”

He swung his sword over and over again, but the little mare was just too quick for him.

“I'm not there, stupid! I’m over here, now!” Said Rainbow, mocking him.

He swung repeatedly, but finally he got tired of her little game.

“That’s it!”

Kisame put his hooves together.

“Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!”

A shark, made entirely out of water, appeared and “swam” towards Rainbow Dash.

“Yikes!” She said, flying away from it.

“Hehehe! You can’t run from the shark, rainbow pony! It will stalk you till the end of time!”

True to his word, the shark didn’t give up; it kept chasing Rainbow.

While Kisame was focusing on Rainbow Dash, Applejack saw her chance and rushed in with Pinkie Pie towards him.

“C’mon let’s get ‘im!”Said Applejack.

“Yeah!” Said Pinkie.

As they approached, they reared up; preparing to kick the grey pony.

Kisame saw them coming and placed his sword in front of him to block the ponies’ kicks.

“Hmph! I was dealing with your friend; but it seems now I must deal with you, as well!”

“No,” said Itachi, “I will deal with them. You focus on the rainbow one. The yellow one and the white one over there don’t seem too intent on fighting for some reason. So just keep an eye on them for now.”

Kisame nodded, and redirected his attention towards Rainbow Dash and the water shark.

Applejack looked back towards Rarity and Fluttershy. They were both hiding under some rubble; watching the fight unfold.

'Worthless!' Thought Applejack. 'Here we are fighting for our lives, and they're hiding'?'

Applejack and Pinkie Pie faced their new opponent.

“I have no desire to kill either of you. However, seeing as you will just become a problem in the future should I let you live, I can’t afford to give you any mercy.”

Itachi put his hooves together.

“Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!”

A great ball of fire erupted from Itachi’s mouth and sailed towards the ponies. Applejack leaped out of the way, but couldn't’ see whether or not Pinkie had made it.

“Pinkie! Are you alright?” Called Applejack.

The smoke and fire faded to show a jumping Pinkie Pie.

‘Whew’ thought Applejack, ‘Pinkie’s not really a fighter; so I was afraid wouldn’t make it.’

“Yay!” Yelled Pinkie. “Again, again, again again! More fire!”

Itachi looked surprised. ‘She wants me to shoot more fire at her? Unbelievable....’

“Very well. If fire is what you want, then I’ll make sure you don’t survive this next one.”

Itachi put his hooves together, again.

“Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!”

Several smaller fireballs were released towards Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

Applejack dodged most of them, but was slightly singed by one of them.

Pinkie, again, dodged every one of them.

Itachi was furious now. ‘How does she do it? She can avoid every last one of them like it’s nothing!’

“Come on! Again! I want to play with more fire!”

“I usually don’t overreact like this; but it seems none of my lesser jutsus are getting it done. It’s time to end this, now!”

Itachi’s dojutsu, or ocular ability, was the Sharingan. His eyes change colors from black, to a solid red sclera that had black curves around a dot in the center.

“No, Itachi!” Said Kisame. “You can’t use that so soon!”

Itachi couldn’t hear his partner, the jutsu was already under way.

He looked into Applejack and Pinkie Pie’s eyes and they looked back into his.

“The connection is complete.” Said Itachi.

Suddenly, the two ponies felt their surroundings change. They were no longer on the street, they were now in some open area. Everything was red, even the clouds, trees, and grass.

“What is this place?” Wondered Applejack.

“I don’t know, but it sure is nifty looking!” Replied Pinkie.

The longer they stood there, looking at their surroundings, the more dizzy they became. Finally, they both passed out.

When the ponies awoke, they found they were strapped to some kind of table.

“What’s going on here? Let us go!”

The tables they were on straightened out, until they were facing Itachi.

“AAAAHHHH!” They both screamed when they saw him.

“Welcome to the Tsukuyomi. This is my world in which I control space and time itself. In this world, what will seem like days, will be mere seconds. You will be here for 2 hours as I torture you.”

Itachi pulled a sword out of his robe and stabbed Applejack in the lower abdomen.

“Ah! How does this hurt if we’re not in the world anymore?”

“It hurts because it is my world. I make the rules here, and I say anyone here except myself suffers pain.”

He stabbed her again and she cried out.

“However, you I am not so interested in. I will have a clone take care of you.”

A clone of Itachi walked from the red surroundings and began stabbing Applejack instead of the real Itachi.

She kept screaming in agony as the blade pierced her again and again.

“Scream all you want. It’s not even half over yet.”

Itachi turned to Pinkie.

“You I will torture even slower for mocking me the way you did.”

And so, Itachi stabbed her the same way over and over again.

As the red surroundings grew lighter then darker again, Applejack figured a few days had passed.

“What the hay?! You said we would only be here for a few hours?!”

“Do you now remember what I told you earlier? I control space and time here. Which reminds me, about something sad.”

“What’s so sad, you evil pony?”

“It’s sad that I only get 1 hour 59 minutes and 59 seconds left with you.”

Applejack’s eyes grew huge. “WHAT?! It's only been one second?!”

Itachi nodded. “Yes, quite a long time for how much you’ve been tortured. Of course, you’ve been tortured for only one second. Your friend here, on the other hand, has been here for three seconds.”

“What?! I don’t get it! How did you slow down her torturing but not mine?”

“I don’t need to explain anything to you. Just relax and suffer well.”

Applejack continued to be tortured for what seemed like days, or was it seconds? She was too confused to care any more. At this point, her body felt numb to the pain. Every part of her except her head had been stabbed by that brutal sword.

Itachi looked up towards a red moon hanging in the sky. “It’s time.”

“Time for what?” Asked Applejack.

Suddenly the red faded; and she and Pinkie were back in the real world. But Pinkie wasn’t moving at all.

Applejack crawled over to her. “Pinkie? We made it! C’mon, now! Stand up and help me fight these scoundrels!”

She didn’t respond.

“What did you do to her?!” Screamed Applejack at Itachi.

“What do you think?”

‘No, it can’t be,’ thought Applejack, ‘did he really....?’

Kisame broke her out of her thoughts.

“He killed her in the Tsukuyomi! If you die there, you die in the real world, as well!”

Applejack stood up, crying and faced Itachi. “You....you.....BASTARD!!!!”

Itachi was emotionless. “Insulting me won’t bring your friends back.”

“Frie- FRIENDS?!”

Itachi looked at Kisame.

Applejack followed his gaze to see Shark Skin sticking straight through Rainbow Dash.

“While Itachi was taking care of you and the pink one, I killed this annoying little girl. She was a quick one; I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to get her. Of course, no one can outrun the water shark.”

He threw her body off of his sword against a building; laughing.

Itachi and Kisame then both advanced towards the frightened and crying Applejack.

“What's your next move?” Itachi asked.

Chapter 14:Birth of War

Luna and Celestia were worn out. “Sister,” said Luna, “we can’t fight him much longer! My energy is almost gone!”

Celestia nodded. “But you have enough to use your greatest power should the moon show itself. Wait until it happens; let me fight him solo until then.”

“WHAT?! MY ROYAL WHOOM STILL CAN'T CONVEY MY FEELINGS ABOUT THAT DECISION!”

Celestia flinched from her sister’s screaming. “I don’t like fighting him on my own anymore than you do; but it must be done. If we are to beat him, we will need your power!”

Luna was silent for a moment. “Yes, you’re right. I cannot allow mine feelings to cloud good judgement on your part. Very well, I will wait until the time is right.”

Luna flew a short distance away, and sat down, waiting.

“Where does she think she is going?” Asked Pain.

“None of your business! Your fight is with me and me alone, now!”

Pain nodded. “Then I will eliminate you as quickly as possible.”

The Animal Path stepped forward and put her hooves on the ground; creating a seal.

“Mass Summoning Jutsu!”

Four very large animals appeared from the seal: a rhino, a panda, an ox, and a multi headed dog.

Celestia gasped. “How- How are your powers possible?!”

Pain ignored her. “Go.”

The large animals rushed towards Celestia, creating large holes in the ground wherever they stepped.

Celestia flew up to be at the animals’ eye level. When she did, she began charging her horn.

“Nagato!” Said Konan. “She’s doing it again! But this time...”

“I know. It’s brighter than before.”
The animals got closer, and Celestia’s horn grew even brighter. Within moments, the animals almost touched her; then she released the stored energy.

A great, yellow wave sped from her horn towards the animals. It struck all of them, sending them sliding across the street. They were pushed to the edge of the city, and finally, forced off the edge; making them fall to the ground below.

The animals dissipated in a cloud of smoke before they did, which angered Celestia.

“Where did they go?!”

“They were sent back to the animal realm. My summons are immortal and they can choose to leave this world of their own free will. If I let them have it.”

Pain nodded towards Celestia before continuing.

“A good show on your part. Your abilities are greatly honed. However, mine are divine; which means you still have no chance.”

Pain put his hooves together.

“I see I won't’ be able to beat you with my lesser powers. That is no matter; let me show you the true power possessed by a god!”

Pain began focusing his chakra; intently.

“Konan, protect me while I prepare this jutsu.”

She nodded, and stepped in front of him.

Luna faced her sister. “Celestia, you will need to protect me, as well. This ability takes some time to perform.”

Celestia moved in front of her sister, and the four of them sat there; waiting.

“Nagato,” asked Konan, “doesn’t it seem strange that the blue one is also deciding to concentrate her chakra now, too?”

Pain brushed her off. “I doubt it. It must be a coincidence; no one else possesses this ability.”
Celestia noticed it too. “Luna, doesn’t it feel odd? He is focusing his energy at the same time! You don’t think....?”

Luna shook her head. “No, I don’t think he possesses the true power of the night. It must be for something else he is concentrating for.”

Celestia nodded, but still felt uneasy. It didn’t take long for Pain and Luna to open their eyes at the same time.

“It’s ready.” They both said simultaneously.

Luna shrouded herself in the energy she charged. It glowed brighter and brighter before finally exploding in a flash.

Pain and Konan had to cover their eyes the light was great. When it faded, they uncovered their vision to witness what now stood before them. The pony Princess was gone; replaced by a new pony.

It wore glittery blue armor with a face protector.

“Who is that?” Inquired Pain.

Celestia laughed. “This is my sister’s other form; all of her hatred for me, now focused towards you, has changed her body into that of Nightmare Moon!”

“Well, this is certainly an upgrade to her weaker state. But I still don’t believe she can fight me.”

Nightmare Moon faced Pain. “Foolish words, mortal! I’ll make you regret every last one of them!”

She charged her horn, and released the energy in a wave around her.

Konan saw what was happening and formed her hands into little paper squares. She separated them from her body and formed a shield; blocking the energy wave.

“What? Paper blocked that attack?!”

“Konan,” said Pain, “stand back.”

Konan nodded and moved away from Pain.

“Princess, it is my turn, now.” He stood up and faced Nightmare Moon; keeping his hooves together.

“Planetary Devastation!”

He opened his hooves to reveal a small, black orb. He released the orb into the sky, and as it soared, it gathered materials from all around: bricks, some of the destroyed buildings, parts of the street, and both of the princesses began to be sucked up into it.

Celestia was terrified, but Nightmare Moon kept her cool.

“Have no fear; I have charged more energy into my horn than ever before. Let this force pull you up, and we arrive, I’ll show him a surprise like nothing he’s ever seen!”

Celestia nodded. “I trust you.”

The debris surrounded and crushed them, forming a large, round mass in the sky.

“It is done. Not even they can escape from this jutsu.” Said Pain.

As he sat down to rest from using so much of his chakra, a bright blue light appeared through one of the cracks in the mass.

“What?! Imposible!”

The light grew larger as the crack opened up more and more before the mass finally shattered all together; falling back down to the city.

Nightmare Moon came flying towards Pain from the debris; eyes and horn ablaze.

“You will die, unicorn! For what you have to this city, these ponies, the other Princesses, and me!”

Konan stepped in front of the horn; paper shield ready to block the energy.

The horn made contact; and the wall held at first. However, the energy soon tore away at Konan’s defense; and, with reduced momentum, struck Konan.

“Hunh,” she sputtered, before falling and striking the ground.

“KONAN!” Screamed Pain. He looked at Nightmare Moon.

“You will pay for this! My angel will be avenged!”

Suddenly, a shadow began overtaking the city.

Pain, Nightmare Moon, Celestia, Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Kisame, Hidan, Twilight’s army, and the Mane 6 all looked up; mouths agape.

What they were looking at was the largest army of griffons ever assembled. They were clad in armor and wielding spears and swords. At the front of the army rode the three largest griffons, and two familiar characters were on the backs of two of them: Obito and Zetsu.

“This foolish fight ends, now!” Yelled Obito from above. “I am here to gather up my comrades and we will then leave peacefully. Resist, and we will tear what is left of this city down to the ground!”

Nightmare Moon and Celestia looked at each other. Could they really just let these evil ponies go? But they knew they couldn’t take on the Akatsuki AND this massive army of griffons. So, they did what they had to do.

“Very well,” replied Celestia,”your friends can go with you. We will not attempt to stop you.”

Obito nodded in reply. “Good, resolution without conflict, my favorite. Commander Steel Wing, can you send down some of your soldiers to pick up my comrades? We need to get them back to our hideout.”

The third griffon who was riderless nodded, and motioned several of his troops to go pick up the grounded Akatsuki.

They raced down and picked up Pain, tenderly holding Konan. The other Akatsuki were soon on griffon-back and returned to the main group.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you, Princesses! And now, we go.”

The cloud of griffons flew away from Canterlot; leaving the Princesses on the ground.

“What did we just do, sister?” Asked Nightmare Moon, who turned back into Luna.

“We did what we had to. You know in our weakened state there was no way we could’ve fought that army.”

Luna nodded and looked towards the sky with her sister. It didn’t take long before the Mane 6, Twilight, and her army arrived.

“Princess Celestia! What just happened?” Inquired Twilight.

Celestia shook her head. “We were beaten by an enemy who I thought was no longer our enemy. It seems that masked pony convinced the griffons to aid his cause against us.”

Twilight and the others looked alarmed, yet solemn because of the death and destruction that surrounded them.

It didn’t take long before Obito, Zetsu, and the rest of the Akatsuki touched down at the shack where I was recuperating at. Outside of the shack was a large collection of various creatures.

"Obito," asked Kisame,"who are they?" He said pointing to some ponies with crooked horns, black skin, and green manes.

"Those are changelings; a type of pony that can transform into other entities. Their leader hasn't arrived yet; but they have agreed to help us along with the griffons. Another group, the so called "Diamond Dogs", are also meant to be here. Again, they haven't even arrived yet."

“We must go inside. There is much to discuss.” Said Obito.

The Akatsuki and the three griffon leaders filed into the small lobby outside my room.

“I want you all to meet the leaders of the three largest griffon clans: Steel Wing, Iron Beak, and Bronze Claw.”

The three griffons were all very large; and each carried a unique weapon.

Steel Wing carried many knives in the feathers of his wings. Iron Beak had a very large claymore with a large emerald built into the hilt. Bronze Claw had a spear with a head made of ruby.

The three griffon leaders bowed to each of the Akatsuki.

“It’s good to finally meet the soldiers of our ally.” Said Steel Wing.

“These are my men; Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori, Deidara, and Pain. The wounded one is Konan. We have two others as well; Rokuro Yamamoto, who is wounded in the next room, and Hotaka, who is MIA at the moment.”

Obito walked to a table that was in the center of the room with a map sprawled out on it.

“Now let’s get to business. If we are to commit the act that will destroy all of the residents in this land, you three should know a few things.” Said Obito, gesturing to the three griffon lords.

“We have currently destroyed this town here,” he marked an X over Appleoosa. “and this larger one here.” He marked an X over Canterlot.

The griffons looked surprised. “Your men destroyed their capital by themselves?!” Said Bronze Claw.

Obito nodded. “Yes, but this is news that that was their capital. It will deal a major blow to morale.”

Itachi jumped in. “What exactly is going to happen? We don’t care about the minor details right now.”

Obito laughed. “Why Itachi, we are starting a show.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“This would be the fifth war fought in Equestria. The first few involved only ponies fighting against each other. But this one will be different.”

“What does this mean then, Princess?” Inquired Twilight.

Celestia looked grim. “It means that....”

“A new war has begun. It will be known as the 5th Great Ninja/Pony War!” Said Obito and Celestia.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for reading, everybody! "The 5th Great/Ninja Pony War" is over, but I have begun work on a sequel soon to be published. I felt that I needed to divide the story up just like, for example, the Harry Potter books. While you could keep the story running in one book; dividing it up allows for a fresh start and new perspective. I have included an ending song if you would like to listen to it. You guys are the best! Thanks for your support and I hope you like the new story.

The Great Eternal Artist,

Akasuna no Sasori

Chapter 5:Forbidden Kinjutsu and Immortal Blood

As we moved through the town, I noticed doors were opening behind us. I looked behind me to see them open for a just a second, before they closed again. The ponies really did want us to leave.

“Hey Kakuzu,” I said, “I think the ponies really want us to leave. So can we just go, quietly and quickly, since we aren’t going to get any good information here?”

Kakuzu stopped and stood motionless. “Rokuro, I have no intention of leaving these ponies alive after how they’ve treated us. I myself don’t care too much about manners, but there is a point where it becomes unreasonable.”

“So then why are we leaving the houses behind us and their residents unharmed?”

Kakuzu laughed. “You’ll see.”

I gulped. This didn’t sound good.

We continued up the street some more until we reached the end of the town entirely and were just barely outside of it. Kakuzu turned to face us and the town.

“Now, young Rokuro, you will see why I left the town the way I did at first.”

I panicked, I didn’t know what Kakuzu was going to do, but I could only assume he was going to wipe out the whole town. I tried to stall for time, even though I didn’t know what I was stalling for, exactly.

“Hold on, Kakuzu. Shouldn’t you let Hidan get some kills? After all, you did say you wouldn’t get involved in the first fight....”

Kakuzu thought for a moment. “You’re right, I did say that. Fair enough. Hidan, kill as many as you please.”

Hidan’s eyes lit up. “Sure thing! Hehehe, these ponies will know true fear!”

With that, he cut his foot and spread the blood in the shape of an upside down triangle, then drew a perfect circle around it, with all 3 points of the triangle touching the circle. This was Jashin’s Mark. At the same time, his skin changed to a dark black with white lines throughout representing bones.

“Kakuzu and uh....other guy...yeah. Lure some of these wretches out here so I can complete the ritual.”

Kakuzu and I looked at each other and nodded. I pretended to get run towards a house across the street, but I didn't actually go inside. Kakuzu rushed into the first building he saw and began yelling at the ponies to vacate immediately. Soon afterwards, two ponies rushed from the building, frightened. Hidan immediately threw his scythe towards them, cutting them both.

“Now, let’s experience true pain together!” He shouted. At that moment, he licked the scythe, ingesting the blood from the ponies on it. He then pulled out a rod from his sleeve. The rod extended to the length of a small sword. He laughed maniacally then stabbed himself in the heart. However, he didn't die; but the two ponies did.

“No need to have slow fun with them, there’s plenty more fish in the sea to do that with!”

At that moment, three armored pegasii flew down and struck Hidan. He toppled to the ground with the pegasi still upon him.

“Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are those two on the ground?” The pegasi screamed at him, while at the same time beating him.

Kakuzu, a man of his word, did not intervene; neither did I.

“Get the fuck off of me! I’ll kill all of you, too!”

Hidan kicked all of the pegasus ponies off of him and stood up. He was still in his circle, which means the ritual could take place again if he cut any of them.

“Hidan,” said Kakuzu, “look at the armor, these are military. Be cautious; you don’t know what they’re capable of.”

Hidan looked back towards Kakuzu, annoyed. “Yeah, yeah same old shit. I don’t care Kakuzu, I can take ‘em!”

The three pegasi stared at this strange pony wielding a large, red scythe.

“What is it that thing? I’ve seen magically conjured weapons, but nothing like that, before.” Said one of them.

“Yeah,” said another, “and why does his skin look like that? It’s like a skeleton!”

“I don’t know,” said the third, “but we have to take him down. Those two ponies aren’t getting up. It’s a safe bet he’s either hurt them pretty bad, or killed them.”

Hidan laughed. “Well, if you think you can take me, come at me then!”

The three pegasus flew into the air and drew swords from the sheaths at their side. The center one nodded to the other two, and they flew off together towards Hidan’s flank.

Hidan saw what was coming. “You can’t trick me! I have eyes in the back of my...head!”

At that moment he hit both incoming pegasi with the broad side of his scythe, sending them both flying into a nearby building.

Hidan turned to deal with the third pegasi when he saw he was only inches away from him.

“Your eyes must not be that good! Otherwise I wouldn’t have managed this!”

The pegasi stabbed Hidan in the chest; a fatal blow. But this pegasi didn’t know Hidan’s immortality. Which explained why he was shocked Hidan didn’t fall over dead right on the spot.

“Ow, that really hurts you know.” Said Hidan, sarcastically.

“Bu-but how? How can somepony survive that? I pierced your heart with that blow!”

Hidan rolled his eyes. “Well duh, I’m immortal you dumbass!”

The pegasus’ eyes grew huge. “What? Only alicorns are immortal! You are just an earth pony!”

Hidan looked confused for a moment. “What the hell’s an alicorn? Ah, it doesn’t matter since you’re going to die anyway.”

Hidan raised his scythe, then brought it down on the pegasus. His blood ran from the wound into a small puddle under him, and he was coughing up blood droplets. Within seconds, he was dead.

Hidan drew the scythe from his victim. “Eh, not exactly a good kill, but Jashin should be pleased all the same.”

“NOOOOOO! Roaring Thunder! Air Cutter! Supersonic!”

We all turned to see a white unicorn with blue hair, and blue hooves running towards us; and he wasn’t alone. He had a group of five other ponies with him; two had horns like me.

“Who are you supposed to be, exactly?” Inquired Kakuzu.

“I am Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard. What is the meaning of this? Why are these pegasus all dead? You three must’ve kill them! I bet you killed everyone at Appleoosa, too!
I cringed at the mention of the town I helped destroy, and Shining Armor noticed. He looked straight at me, his eyes ablaze with mirth and rage.

“You! You know something about it, don’t you? We’ll question you, first then! You are all under arrest by the order of Princess Celestia!”

Kakuzu laughed. “Under what charges, Captain? Do you have proof we killed anyone else other than these deadbeats?”

This only angered Shining Armor even more. “They aren’t deadbeats! They’re members of the Royal Guard, too! Which means you will rot in the dungeon for the rest of your life for taking theirs!”

Kakuzu stepped in front of Hidan and me. “This won’t end without bloodshed, so I will fight them. You two back me up and support me as I need it.”

Hidan was angry. “No Kakuzu! You said the first fight we got into I would get to kill everyone!”

Kakuzu nodded towards the two dead ponies and the three pegasi. “The TWO battles were yours. So this one is mine.”

Hidan started to say something, but grumbled that Kakuzu was a big jerk.

Shining Armor spoke again. “Will you come peacefully? Or...” at that moment he created a sword using magic from his horn, “will we have to use violence to bring you in, alive or dead?”

“I prefer a good fight, actually.” Kakuzu removed his robe and let it fall to the ground, revealing his disfigured body. He had stitches all over his body, giving him the appearance of a ragdoll, or a toy that had been broken and sewn back together multiple times.

Shining Armor and his men gasped at what they saw before them. Was this pony for real? How could he be alive?
“Let’s get to it, then” Kakuzu separated his stitched hand from his arm and shot it towards the ponies. The hand was trailed back to his arm by black tentacles.

“Look out, men! This pony is no average earthy pony!”

The ponies jumped out of the way, but Kakuzu shot his other hand straight into the ground. The confused guardsmen suddenly realized what he did when his fist came shooting out of the ground and hit one of the earth ponies, hard. He went flying towards a building and struck it hard.

Shining Armor looked just in time to watch his soldier close his eyes forever.
“NO! This can’t be happening!” Screamed Shining Armor.

Kakuzu was taunting the ponies. “You do realize, don’t you? Your life ends here, as I will soak this ground red with your blood.”

Shining Armor was riled up again. “How can you do this to your fellow ponies? Why do you kill?”

Kakuzu laughed. “I kill because I need to defend myself, as does everybody. Or the individual I’m killing is worth a lot of money to me dead.”

Hidan glared at Kakuzu. “Hey! What did I tell you about that? Killing for money will give you a one-way ticket straight to perdition!”

“I don’t care what you think, Hidan. Now stay out of this.”

Shining Armor saw a chance to use the two’s relationship against each other.

“Seems like your friend doesn’t agree with your reasons for killing. Doesn’t that make you angry?”

“Stop stalling, you pathetic worm! Enough talk, now die!”

Kakuzu pulled both of his hands back to his body, then wrapped them together and shot them off in a spiraling motion. Shining Armor dodged the initial would-be strike, but the attack kept coming, following him everywhere he went.

‘This isn’t good, my men and I can’t keep dodging,’ Shining Armor thought to himself, ‘Besides, if this earth pony can do this, I wonder what else he can do. It’s possible he has deadlier tricks up his sleeve, so it would be wise to finish him off quickly; I just don’t see how we can manage that.’

“That’s enough of this!” Said one of Shining Armor’s men. The remaining soldiers rushed forward and severed the black tentacles keeping Kakuzu’s hands attached to his arms.

The ponies were at first relieved, but suddenly the tentacles came to life and grabbed all four of Shining Armor’s men at once.

“Gah! Let go of me!” One of them shouted.

Kakuzu laughed again. “I’ve had about enough of you interfereing. My fight is with your leader, but since you seem so intent on dying, I’ll grant your wish. It was time to step it up a notch anyway.”

Kakuzu strained his muscles and one of the four white masks on his back popped out. It had red markings on it.

“Let’s end your lives in as spectacular way. This jutsu should do nicely.”

The mask came out with some of the black tentacles attached, but it used them to form a body with it’s mask as a face.

“Time for your men to die!” Shouted Kakuzu. “Fire Style: Intelligent Hard Work!”

The mask produced a sea of flames that covered the entire area, burning the houses and the four guardsmen. Shining Armor jumped away just in time to avoid the blaze.

When the fire settled, two houses were burned to the ground, and not even skeletons remained of Shining Armor’s men.

“You- You monster!” Screamed Shining Armor. “I’ll kill you myself! Even if it means my death!”

Shining Armor began charging a blue ball of energy in his horn.

Kakuzu noticed what the unicorn was doing. “Whatever it is, it won’t work. If I can kill four of your men with one of my weaker jutsus, how much do you think it will take to send you to the underworld, as well?”

‘He could be right, this is more energy than I’ve ever used in one shot before; it’s risky, but I need to end this quickly.’

He finished charging the energy in his horn. It had grown in size tremendously.

“Now, this attack is for me, my fallen comrades, and all the other ponies you may have killed had I not used it now. Die!”

The mass of energy shot from Shining Armor’s horn and sped towards Kakuzu.

“Ha! So predictable.” Kakuzu built up a mass of tentacles in front of him just as the energy struck. There was a large flash, and I was blinded for a few moments.

When the flash was gone, a large hole was blown into Kakuzu and he was on the ground, Shining Armor stood, breathing heavily, victorious.

“There, tha- that’ll teach yo- you to nev- never mess with the Ro- Royal Guard again!”

But suddenly, Kakuzu’s tentacles began moving again, and started connecting inside his body! The hole was repairing itself! Before long the hole was gone and Kakuzu stood up, seemingly unscathed.

“While I must admit,” he said, “that attack did have some kick, more than I expected, it still wasn’t enough, just like I expected.”

Shining Armor was shocked. “How? Are you immortal, too?”

“Something like that. I have five hearts in my body. Which means, you must destroy every single one to kill me. You only got one, which means I’m still alive, and it looks like you’ve reached your limit with that last attack.”

Kakuzu began walking slowly towards Shining Armor. The Guard Captain fell on his hind legs and tried to crawl away, but Kakuzu caught up to him.

“By the way,” said Kakuzu, “do you have any family?”

Shining Armor was angered again. “Why do you want to know? Do you intend on killing them, too?”

Kakuzu stared at Shining Armor intently. “No, I just want to make sure they give you a decent burial. Seeing as I won’t.”

With that, Kakuzu charged his hoof with chakra till it was growing a bright blue, then rammed it into Shining Armor’s chest.

“Wha- What are you doing?” Shining Armor choked out.

“I’m stealing your heart to replace the one you destroyed.”

As he said this, Shining Armor’s heart was pulled from out of him, leaving a bright, red hole that spewed blood in all directions.

Kakuzu reopened the hole in his back where the red mask usually was and placed the heart inside, then he removed the mask from the creature and replaced it, sealing the hole.

Hidan and I were speechless. I had heard of Kakuzu stealing hearts to prolong his own life, but I thought it was just to scare new recruits of the Akatsuki!

Kakuzu put his robe back on and began walking out of the town.

“Come on you, two,” he said, “it’s time to leave this pitiful town. We aren’t going to get any useful information here.”

Hidan and I began walking after Kakuzu, past the slowly dying Guard Captain. As I walked past I heard him sputter something. I looked down at him, and took pity on him. I leaned in closer to hear what he was saying.

“Ta- Take thi- this mes- mess-age to m-y sis- sister. She’s a prin-”

As he tried to say his last word, a large glob of blood escaped through his throat and covered his face. The Guard Captain was dead.

I shook my head and wondered what his message was. It must’ve been important for him to ask me, one of his assailants, to deliver it for him.

I caught up to Hidan and Kakuzu, and while we walked away from the gruesome scene I thought about it some more, but eventually gave up. Evening was approaching, and I was quite tired.

“Kakuzu,” I said, “it’s getting late, we should find shelter and rest for the night.”

Kakuzu nodded, and we walked away from town quite a ways. Hidan discovered a small alcove under a large boulder, so we all laid down under it. It was funny, trying to sleep with four legs. It felt strange, but I soon felt the heavy weight of sleep fall on me, and I passed out in minutes.