Chapter 14
A Change of Heart + The Fight Of The Good Versus Evil!
Nightmare Moon, Part II, Part VIII + Nightmare Moon, Part II, Part IX, 2013 Special
"How's it going, bros?" Sasuke's face lightened up again.
"PewDiePie. You've watched it, haven't you?" Max smiled.
"What!?" Bam! Another interrobang for Naruto.
"I'm okay." DJ answered with simplicity.
Sasuke then waved a hand seal. He then was covered in a cloud of smoke decent in thickness, as the jutsu normally does to cover the transformation. Then, out came a pony with a cobalt blue coat, with drooping hair spikes. It has the Uchiha clan symbol as a cutie mark, covered behind the Akatsuki cloak's red inner fabric.
Sasuke then asked them. "Do I look dashing?"
"Absolutely!" Max cheered.
But then, after a few seconds, the water serpent looked at his watch.
"Ohohoooo! I'm late for my appointment" He yelped and yanked his moustache. Upon seeing this, Max gnashed his teeth in fear of the moustache ripping dirtily from his face.
"A-alright! I'll help you right away!" Max stepped on the calm, cold river. Before he was about to send the serpent back on his track, Max asked one question.
"What is your name?"
Putting a hand on his chest, he said quite confidently: "My name is Leo."
Max giggled at the sound of hearing this, but the serpent didn't ask him about the reason anyway. He lifted his headband, revealing the Sharingan. Spinning the magatama seals to the right, he then shouted.
"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"
A non-sucking water whirlpool formed beneath of where he stood on. Then, a jet of water curved itself in front of Max, starting from the left front hoof to the right front hoof continuously, like an animal pulling its own tail. Then, it extended forward while drawing in more water from the river, making a twisting force that hit the serpent in the chest while sending him away.
"Thank you!" Leo gave a wave of hand before he vanished into the horizon.
"Well, that takes care of things." Max gave a breath that invigorated him, before turning his head on the other side of the river, sighting a bewildered Twilight.
"You can stand on water!? And control it!?" Twilight gasped.
"Why not? It's not like I can't do it." He ended.
"I mean, how…" Twilight suddenly ran out of words.
"Magic control?" Max tried to guess what's she thinking.
"Yeah! Maybe high-level unicorns can only do it!"
"Guess that explains it. Controlling chakra without hand seals for other ninjas is like driving with no hands. No wonder it takes some time for unicorns to cast magic. Mine, however… I wonder if their horns act as a one, big chakra point?"
"Alright, you three. Move out!" ordered Max as he stepped out of the river and joined Twilight while closing his bandana, hoping Twilight didn't see his Sharingan.
"Can you breathe fire, too?" Twilight asked.
"Pretty much, but hotter than Spike does."
"Well, it's not like Spike can breathe fire that hot." She smiled.
"Sasuke…" Naruto can't say anything but the ninja's name.
"What's the matter, Naruto?" Sasuke gave a very warm and welcoming smile.
"You're…kind…so close to the Sasuke I knew back then..." Naruto became overwhelmed with feelings of happiness and nostalgia, despite the great strife that damaged the bond of Sasuke to Naruto but not Naruto to Sasuke, mixing all together and creating a feeling he can't fight, he can't hold back his tears.
"Ah, yes. I'm sorry for what I've said and done. Throw some of your burden to me, and we'll fix the lost bonds between us, together. What do you say?"
Naruto doesn't want to do it, but he's forced to. He jumped on Sasuke, and gave him a tight hug. His crying made a quite wet part of Sasuke's cloak. All the while, Twilight was observing the two.
"What's with those two?" Twilight asked.
"Well, they've been separated for like, three years. The reason Sasuke had left Naruto because his own older brother wanted to make him strong by severing the bond between those two, so then the younger one can kill his brother."
Twilight widened her eyes. "Is what I heard is correct? The blue one wanted to kill his big brother?"
"You see, Sasuke's clan and my clan are the same. Our clan was known for having powerful chakra, the extensive use of Fire-based techniques, and primarily, our eyes."
"Eyes?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"Eyes, yes. The eyes contain hidden power. The power is so great, if combined with the chakra, and techniques, it can make the clan more than a threat to a village that it resides in."
"What's the name, anyway?"
"Uchiha."
"The Uchiha clan?"
Now, at this point, Max wanted to smash his head into the ground, because Twilight repeats everything he says with a question. But he continued on, anyway.
"Coming from the Japonese word, uchiwa, which means 'non-bending fan', it symbolizes the clan's greatest love of fire, made hotter by an uchiwa. Back to the point. Itachi, my uncle, was a…er…pony, blessed with incredible talent, so much that his abilites surpassed of any normal pony. He was tasked to kill his own clan, even his parents, save for a few…and his brother. He had no choice but to wipe out his clan so that his brother, and the village would experience peace and elude war."
"That's inconceivable! He never showed love for anypony!"
"If he was cold-blooded as that, why did he spare my mother and her parents, who was secretly a friend of Itachi, and his brother? Did he felt lazy after killing a ton of ponies and left the two?" He laughed.
"Hmm…I want to know more about this Itachi pony." Twilight looked down on the ground.
"Oh, yes, he was quite hard to take down. He raised me up-"
"He raised you up!?" Twilight snapped.
"If he didn't, you'd be panicking now. After all, who's gonna protect Equestria from harm?"
As Itachi was reading papers, Max, with his cloak on him, approached his uncle.
"Itachi, I realized something."
Itachi looked at his youthful face. Something similar to that main character in Monster Hunter Orage.
"What is it?"
"That my abilities are not just to protect myself in school. It's also essential to the safety of Konoha."
Itachi smiled genuinely. "Wow, Max. You're so bright!" Max replied with a smiley face, similar to that Asian emoticon by pressing Shift + 6, underscore, and Shift + 6 again.
"Look at him go. That must be me, without being a fugitive, without bearing the burden of guilt, and without this disease."
Meanwhile, an Akatsuki approached the two, It was tall, and had black hair. With shark-blue skin and a large muscular build, he looked very strong with that extra heavy sword he carries in his back.
"What's our score again?" Kisame asked.
Itachi looked at him. "3-1 on Max-Kisame. Max and I are 2-2."
Kisame gave a smile. "Hmm. Pretty good for a young ninja like you." Then, his smile became a grin.
Itachi gestured his hand to draw Max closer. Then, he rubbed his hand on the boy's hair. "That's my boy. I heard he's promoted to jonin because something happened…"
How many years have passed since the Third Hokage set foot on the vast ocean of trees the First Hokage created?
"You know, it's been a pretty long time that I haven't got outside of this village because I'm busy doing paper work." Hiruzen confessed while chewing the end of the pipe.
A ninja with combed down spiky hair on the Third's right smiled. "It's quite hard to find some free time, right? Especially in your age and at your position." Izumo then looked to the right to observe some plants and leaves.
Kotetsu replied. "Nah, you could always just escape and not do paperwork!" He smiled wider than his partner.
"Because you're too lazy!" Izumo shouted.
"Because you're too busy!" Kotetsu snapped back.
"You are wrong! Living life serious is boring!" Kotetsu continued.
"No, you are wrong! Living life without worrying any problem is too mainstream!" Izumo snapped.
Hiruzen laughed and smiled. Taking off the pipe form his mouth, he spoke. "Now, now, you shouldn't correct someone's beliefs. Instead, believe in yourselves and fight for what you believe is right, because in the end, only you, alone, can judge your own deeds, no one else."
"Alright, agreed." The two chorused.
Then, with no warning, a flurry of shuriken and kunai stuck to the ground surrounding the three with little effort. The two ninjas brought out their kunai blades, while the Third kept his pipe.
"Show yourselves!" Izumo shouted.
Laughs were heard from the trees as the two sweated, knowing they're surrounded. Then, one spoke out loud.
"We came here to assassinate the Third Hokage, arrogant sons of the Leaf!" shouted one with utter confidence.
"As if you can do it!" An unknown voice shouted. The three were surprised to see a kid just behind the circle of ninjas on trees-at the age of seven, to shout strongly at them. It has a Sharingan staring at somewhere near the foliage of trees with eyes that spell anger. Upon sight, Hiruzen saw a flash of a ninja whom he trusted, who had that look on his eyes, and was gone for a long time.
"I…Itachi?"
But Max looked too young, as a result, louder laughs were heard.
"Are you kidding? You're just a kid! You can't beat us!" The same voice shouted.
"Really?" Max gave a smirk, because then again, no ninja can't be too young. Then, grabbing a kunai, he threw it at a ninja, at the fastest speed possible. Then, one shinobi dropped down dead. It was wearing white clothes, with a bandana that tells the ninja was from the village hidden in the clouds.
Every ninja gasped in horror as the dead ninja lay down lifelessly with a kunai in his chest.
"Attack them!" Ordered one. Another flurry of shuriken and kunai were sent flying at the three. Max sprang into action as he pushed the three out of the way. Taking two handfuls of kunai and shuriken, he threw the kunai first on tree trunks, then throwing shuriken on the hilts of kunai, making the star-shaped blades bounce off. A set of dead jonin fell on to the ground. It was so many, it felt like massacre already. The ninjas decided to go down from the trees and fight Max with taijutsu first, before using ninjutsu on the Hokage. Running up at a ninja, Max kicked one in the chest, and flipping upside down, Max threw a kunai that killed the shinobi, then rotated and unfurled a fuma shuriken. He charged it with wind chakra, and then threw it on the long line of jonin. It cut effortlessly through skin, flesh, and bone, spraying blood everywhere, and then finally stopping at the ground, with half of it sunken into soil. Two ninjas were left, looking shocked and scared.
"We lost too many jonin! Retreat!" And without hesitation, they fled as fast as their legs could carry them.
Max didn't even pant, instead, he felt normal. Looking at the two running, he said: "They're all jonin, huh? What a shame."
"Wow…" Izumo sighed.
"Unbelievable…" Kotetsu felt like helpless.
"Amazing that a genin was able to defeat many jonin!" The Third brought out his pipe again.
"Well, they're out to kill you, anyway. Why hesitate to protect?"
"Well, seeing you are a legend to begin with, I shouldn't let you stay as a genin, because it's too unfitting of your abilities. I am going to use this method if I or any Kage personally witnessed a ninja with such skills. This is the first time I have to use this new method. You will carry on this kind method, and I will make you a jonin commando when the time comes. So for now, I hereby promote you to…jonin."
"What!?" It seems unfair to the duo, who were only chunin. And he didn't get a proper test/process, for ninjas need to undergo tests to prove their title and rank.
"Well, if you could pull off something like that in front of my eyes, I might change my mind about your rank as a shinobi." Hiruzen smiled, as he tipped his soft, white fabric sakkat hat to Max, which the latter nodded.
"A jonin? That's crazy!" Kisame scratched his head.
"If I should be careful of you, you should be careful of him."
Kisame still smiled. "Heh, a cycle, huh?"
But Max didn't like leaving some traces of superiority over them. "Hey, even one ninja outsmarted me!"
"Really? Who is that, then?" Itachi eagerly asked.
"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."
"Surprising! The Fourth's son!" Itachi shouted.
Kisame crouched down to match his height. "How old is he?"
"Just as my age."
Kisame stood up again, blowing a bit of air. "What was he like?"
"He likes to pull pranks on people."
"So that's how he got that smart." Itachi smiled.
"From what I heard, Naruto is a mischievous child; the result of being shunned by society; the result of being a jinchuriki. He had trouble using the clone jutsu, but able to produce shadow clones. Oh, the irony!"
Of course, Max didn't forget to ponify words while he was telling the story to Twilight.
"Jonin?" Twilight asked.
"Well, think of a Royal Guard. I believe that rank matches the jonin rank."
"And how 'bout a commando? What does a commando do? And how does a commando differ from a commander? Did you pretend to be a genin in the Chunin exams?" Naruto suddenly raised a question. By looking at his eyes, you know Naruto is done crying.
"Well, a jonin commando is a jonin that can give orders, and oversees the work of jonin. Yes, and no, Naruto. I only managed the Chunin Exams and secretly witness your performance."
"So it's impossible to say that a commando is different from a commander." Sasuke concluded.
Max took a breath, and then he exhaled. "Not exactly, no. A commander, like Shikaku Nara, that father of Shikamaru, is a pony that gives orders and commands while outside the battlefield. A commando like me is a pony that gives orders and commands while inside the battlefield while fighting. Should either be absent, the commander can take the place of the commando and vice versa as such. Also, the commando is a specially trained pony, perfect for carrying out raids, ambushes, rescue missions, you name it! At rare cases, the commando can finish an S-rank mission alone, or even be a one-stallion army, if that happens."
"Wow, I like your extensive knowledge of being in a military unit!" Twilight can't help but to grin. But, looking at her friends in front of them, she ran towards the bridge, shouting words that say "Rainbow Dash", and "Don't listen to them!"
"Well, let's see what that commotion is over there!" Sasuke sighted and pointed at the four, with one missing. They've looked at the bridge that has been halved by unknown force. What's even worse, the fog's covering most of the line of sight. The fog's so thick; sound is muffled by the thick layers of condensed water vapor, so shouting is a waste of effort.
Max walked close to Twilight, and stretched out his left frontal leg to prevent Twilight into rushing at the bridge. Twilight fought his leg, but her efforts are in vain.
"No! She can do it!" Max said to Twilight.
"No! She can't! I shouldn't have-"
"Have what? Brought us all here? Then how come you had reached this far?"
Twilight gasped in horror. Perhaps she was too reckless in her words. He made her smile by giving her one.
"Never underestimate your friends. They might look unfitting, goofy and all, but then again, you don't judge a book by its cover. There's more to Rainbow Dash than you think."
So all of them sat on the ground, waiting for Rainbow Dash to come out. Then, after a few seconds, Rainbow Dash came sweeping the fog on the bridge. Everypony cheered for her.
"Good job, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight gave a compliment. Rainbow Dash flew low, and replied.
"See? I'd never leave my friends hanging!"
Then again, she felt it for the fifth time already. Man, those times are good times!
"But who walks on hanging bridges?" Max shouted. He jumped on one stone peg, then jumped on the opposite peg. Three ponies followed. Guess who.
"What in tarnation!? How did ya jump so far like that?" Applejack asked.
Max turned back, and replied to her. "Well, we practiced jumping from tree to tree. Kinda easy, you know."
Applejack carefully made her way out of the hanging bridge. Finally reaching the other side, she said: "Jumping on trees? Ah tried once, it was awful!"
DJ gave a laugh. "Well, you know, our village is hidden in the leaves…quite literally."
Twilight was walking in the bridge, and finally reaching the other side too, she asked what she can't ask while she's on the bridge.
"Literally?"
Naruto spoke out. "Our village is covered by a ring of super thick forest, so thick that it takes us three full days of tree jumping to reach the border!"
Twilight smiled greatly. "That's crazy!"
"I know, right? I hate to be the gardener of that forest!" Naruto gave a smirk.
"Although, somepony wants those trees to be apple trees…" DJ gave Applejack a soft nudge.
They continued on the ruins. They saw it was once a magnificent castle, but now, it stands out deserted. Vines hugged the timeworn pillars. The roof is missing, leaving jagged edges on the wall. As Max took a step, he can feel the grime stick to his hoof. Naruto observed some corners and found cobwebs and overgrown plants. Some shards of broken glass were seen near at windows with missing pieces of glass, ready to injure the hooves of any pony who dared to step on it, if there were any, however. But the most prominent feature is the peg that holds six concrete orbs etched with distinctive polygon symbols, topped with a large marble orb. The five lined up horizontally in front of the large peg, while Twilight was behind the line. The four sighed upon the peg.
"Whoaaa…" Twilight was enlightened about the age of the orbs. God only knows how old are those heavy balls of smooth concrete.
"Come on, Twilight! Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?" Applejack said to Twilight. The latter walked on the narrow space between Rainbow Dash and Rarity, while the two made way for the Princess' student.
"The Elements of Harmony! We found them!" Twilight exclaimed, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy worked on the orbs. The four rushed to look at the rear of the peg. Looking on the sixth orb, Max said:
"You know, if you rewatched this episode, at the thirteen minute mark, you'll see that there are six, but when the two pegasi are done hauling them, the sixth suddenly disappears!" Max looked at Naruto, DJ, and Sasuke. Then, he looked up again, seeing the sixth orb vanish into thin air.
"See?" Max pointed out a hoof.
Sasuke suddenly had realized something. "Well, that's why they call the sixth, a mystery!" He shared a good laugh with them, and walked slowly out of the rear side of the peg. Meanwhile, Twilight lay down in her hooves to focus making that so-called 'spark'.
"Well, how did you get so strong, Max? It almost seemed that everyone in Konoha looked up to you!" Naruto gladly asked.
Max brushed his right hoof on the ground, and answered. "According to Malcom Gladwell, you need to dedicate 10,000 hours of doing what you like to do best to be successful. I did, starting from the age of 7 and ended with it."
Sasuke noticed something. "Hey, doesn't that seem odd? I mean, 10,000 hours within a year? That's too fast!" He pointed out.
Max laughed, and replied happily. "Who needs years when you can have shadow clones for one month?"
"Oh yeah!" Naruto's face lightened up, knowing that he can relate to what Max said.
"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed. "Also, I heard about you being called 'Naked Max'…because you always had your shirt off, is that true?"
"No, don't get the wrong idea!" Max smiled back. "The reason they called me 'naked' is because I often go into missions without gear or food, requiring me to procure everything on site and make use of what there is."
"Kinda copying Naked Snake, that is…" Max thought.
Max noticed his earpiece was in his right ear, something he didn't quite noticed until he felt his right ear receiving quieter sound. Then, he realized it was on, seeing the bright, blue neon light designs shine even on the dusty floor. As he was finished talking and informing himself that he unconsciously wore the earpiece when he rushed to see the rear of the peg, he heard Kakashi's voice talk into his earpiece. Unbelievably, the copy ninja heard everything he said.
"You mean they sent you without even wearing a pair of pants!?" Kakashi's voice was heard by the three.
"While traveling the Konoha forest that stretches more than ten kilometers ahead, mostly doing S-rank missions, rarely returning to resupply? Sweet Jesus, you are a legend!"
On the other side, Kakashi was with his jonin and chunin friends, along with Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Rock Lee, Neji and Hinata Hyuga, Tenten, Kiba, Shino Aburame, the Sand Siblings, Tsunade, Shizune, and Ebisu and his team, are in one room, sharing the transceiver Kakashi's using. Guess he's not the only one who heard what Max said.
"You're busting my balls, aren't you, Kakashi?" Everyone in the room laughed.
"Yeah…quite." Warm laughter was heard again.
"…hilarious." Max said, while he noticed himself smile. The ninjas laughed once more.
Nightmare Moon slid behind Twilight in her nebulous form, knowing it's the evil mare's chance. Peeping from a crack in the concrete wall, she said:
"Hmm…those things are old and dusty. Perhaps a little wind will do…"
She rushed towards the circle of balls, and started her work. Spinning counter-clockwise, she scooped up the balls, rising higher and higher. Twilight felt soft wind blow on her face. Opening her eyes, she's horrified to see the evil mare taking away the five elements.
"I won't let you get away with this!"
Without thinking, she jumped on the tornado, shrinking her with it. The five rushed to catch Nightmare Moon, but they were too late.
"Where did Twilight go?"
"Where is she?"
Faster than the five can react to, lightning struck them dead-center in the chest, sending a thousand volts that overloaded their neurons. The four rushed to check on them if they're still alive.
"Grrr…Hrrrg!" Naruto chewed his teeth in rage.
"Bloody hell…" Sasuke whispered sadly.
"DJ, check on them." DJ immediately followed, placing a hoof on each of their chests. After he's done with Pinkie Pie, he turned and said:
"They've been knocked out cold real good."
"Well, how much time we got?"
"We got 45 minutes."
"Time to drop the disguise!" And with a cloud of smoke, they returned to their human form. Naruto did a little stretching.
"Ah, I'm so mobile!" Naruto smiled and cracked his bones one more time.
"Let's follow her!" Sasuke said with passion as he pointed to a tower with glowing windows.
The Fight Of The Good Versus Evil!
Twilight coughed upon being teleported on the tower. Horrified once more to see Nightmare Moon floating the orbs, she stood up straight, brushing her hoof, ready to charge that evil mare. Simply, Nightmare Moon just laughed.
"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?"
"Nope!" Max shouted, breaking in from the window and landing in a crouching stance.
"Twilight, get away!" Naruto jumped over her and broke his fall. "We'll handle this matter!"
"Yeah, it's for your safety, too!" Sasuke broke his fall, too, and landed next to Twilight. DJ did the same, and landed behind Twilight.
But no, Twilight didn't react, in contrary to what the four would expect. Max noticed the hint of silence on her mouth, so he turned around, seeing the face of a shocked Twilight.
"You're…not ponies?"
"Never was!" Max smiled back, giving her a nice guy pose.
"Well, that does not matter now. You're too late!" With those words, she raised her front legs, and stomped on the ground, sending a shock that shattered the element stones. Twilight looked at the shiny, shattered pieces.
"You little foal! Do you think that you could defeat me? Now, you'll never see your princess or your sun again. Because the night, will last, forever!" She gave louder, sinister laughs while she twisted her magic in the air above her. The four remained calm, but Twilight felt her eyes wet.
Max bent down and touched her chin.
"I don't know what to do now!" Twilight cried.
"Twilight…the elements are your five friends."
She transferred her tears to her hooves. "Really?"
"Why would Princess Celestia send you with friends for no reason?" Max smiled, before giving a nod and turning to face Nightmare Moon.
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Max gestured his hand to his ear.
"What!?" Nightmare Moon was very surprised.
"I didn't hear what you're saying earlier. Care to repeat?" This caused Twilight to giggle and cheer her spirit up.
"This is how ponies ignore about my art-"
"I couldn't care less about your art!" Sasuke shouted insulting words.
Bowing her head, she made a gloomy aura around her. The four became observant to her actions, crouching so they're ready to flash and flicker. Max, DJ and Sasuke activated their Sharingan, for evasion, of course.
"So...this is how you care about my art?!" Nightmare Moon's eyes glowed brightly.
"Yeah! It's so sad nopony cares about your art! WAHAHAHAHAHA!" They jeered on Nightmare Moon.
"Ask and ye shall receive…" Nightmare Moon's magic made her horn glow dull. A highly concentrated magic bullet shot through the air. Max, who was quick enough to respond, clasped his hands, making a dome of wood. By the force and impact of the magic bullet, it caused the elastic material to bend and creak, making Naruto sweat out of fear. Max switched his hands to form a Ram seal, and muttered some words, and a few moments later, the dome reflected her attack, sending it back to her with lossless velocity.
"KIIIOOOOWWWW!" The bullet shrieked in the air, and near missed Nightmare Moon, who jumped before her attack got close enough.
"Come out there, you coward!" Nightmare ordered Max. Suddenly, Max jumped out of the dome.
"Hmm…this'll be interesting!" Nightmare Moon landed at medium distance from Max.
Max grabbed shuriken between his fingers. This caused Nightmare Moon to jump backwards and cast a magic shield in front of her. She retained the shield for a few seconds, before dispelling it.
"You were able to read my movements and cast a shield. Impressive…"
Nightmare Moon was shocked to feel pain in her back. She then realized Max's shadow clone stabbed her with a kunai.
"…but not smart enough." Max's shadow clone let her catch him, pinning him on the ground. A smirk reaped across his face.
"Not today." Max whispered.
The shadow clone exploded violently, causing knockback on the evil mare. The explosion removed the mercy left in Nightmare Moon, and her sparkling effect, too.
"That does it!" She pointed her horn on Max, grabbing him by magic. Bringing him closer, she encased her in a large water ball.
"Max! Hang in there!" Naruto shouted while Max punched and pounded the wall of the water ball. She can hear the bang of water, making her laugh.
"Your efforts are in vain! Stop doing that, you'll only hurt yourself." Max calmed down.
"Damn!" He punched the water ball one last time. Then, he sat, looking at a worried Naruto and an angry Sasuke.
"You can do it…just remember the fight like this, and it might help you…"
DJ immediately crossed his fingers. "Shadow clone jutsu!" He created fifteen shadow clones, making them line up to Naruto.
Sasuke stood, not moving a muscle like a statue, while observing Nightmare Moon and her captive.
"Naruto…" Sasuke called out.
"Yes?" Wind blew across Sasuke softly.
"You know…remember when we fought Zabuza?"
"Yeah…oh, that's right!" Naruto smiled back greatly.
"We'll do it again!" Sasuke held his katana out.
"Ready?" Sasuke asked.
"Always!" Naruto did a hand seal, yelling, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
And out came a hundred battle-ready clones. Rushing at Nightmare Moon at full speed, Naruto and his clones, with the combined efforts of DJ's, wasted no time to pin her down. And success came to be. But by Nightmare Moon's raw strength, she pushed them all away, making them grind the stone-cold floor. Poof here, poof there. The popping sound of dispelling clones was heard in the castle. Sasuke threw a kunai near Nightmare Moon.
"I'm still not giving up!" Naruto reached for his bag. Grabbing the metal handle, he sent the folded weapon flipping to the ninja.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled out.
When the metallic surface of the handle reached Sasuke, he smiled with hope. Twisting his body clockwise, he said:
"Ha! Your tricks never get old, Naruto!"
Opening the four blades, he held it in his left hand, the curved part of the blades facing up.
"Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!" Sasuke yelled.
"Windmill of Shadows?" Twilight wondered.
Nightmare Moon looked at Sasuke's weapon and scoffed. "Do you really think you could beat me with a puny weapon like that?"
With this, Sasuke smiled, and jumped, throwing the weapon while he's upside down. The fuma shuriken zipped through the air as quickly as possible, covering a distance of roughly one hundred meters in just a few seconds. Nightmare Moon simply stopped the weapon with magic.
"I told you so!"
Another fuma shuriken flew towards her.
"So…he threw another shuriken. Great." She took a step back, and the shuriken just missed.
"I told you it will take more than that to defeat me!"
Twilight gasped in horror. She witnessed how the evil alicorn effortlessly dodged the shuriken. But Sasuke, no, he didn't react like that. Instead, he gave a sinister smile.
The shuriken was not a real one, but it's Naruto's shadow clone. The clone, after returning its form, grabbed a kunai, and then threw it in a direction.
"Eat this!" yelled the clone. Nightmare Moon took a step away from the clone, thinking she could dodge it again. But wait! The clone did aim not for her, but for the kunai that stuck on the floor! The kunai bounced off the hilt of another kunai Sasuke threw earlier, changing the trajectory of the thrown kunai to the horn of the alicorn. The blades grazed the long and black side, freeing Max from the water ball.
"Aggghh…kahhf…" Max regurgitated some water swallowed.
"HHRRRRRRRAAAAAHHHH!" Nightmare Moon spun the fuma shuriken so fast, it created some wind around it. Max saw this, and as a result, he seared chakra underneath his feet and sped up, disarming her, and back-flipping.
Generating chakra threads, he pushed the shattered pieces towards Twilight, and running back to her to regroup. Meanwhile, the voices of Twilight's pony friends rang through the stairs. Twilight's pupil widened greatly. She felt the spark inside her. Now, feeling the newfound confidence, she boldly said:
"You think you can destroy the elements of harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong!"
Naruto ordered Max. "Max, the lion-headed kannon!"
To keep her still, and to make one final move, he threw a ball that contained an improvised lion head. The ball ruptured, causing the head to grow exponentially in just a matter of few seconds. The head pinned her down in a window, albeit the object holds no windows. A sealing jutsu was activated at contact, marking the smooth, large portion of the lion head. The four immediately transformed back to ponies.
"Because the spirits of the elements of harmony, are right here!"
Then, the pieces began to float and glow.
"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of…honesty!" The respective pieces encircled Applejack.
"Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of...kindness!" Same goes for Fluttershy, although, she is quite shocked.
"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of…laughter!" Pinkie Pie was excited and happy for receiving the element.
"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of…generosity!"
"And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of... loyalty!"
Nightmare Moon thought she had little hope left. "You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!"
As she turned around to see her friends and the four, she said: "But it did! A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all…" She can't help but to shed a tear. Turning around to face her one more time, she continued: "…are my friends!"
With a bright light that filled the castle, the sixth orb levitated above Twilight, with an engraved vector symbol of her cutie mark. It descended just right above her horn. A brighter light emitted from the orb.
"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those elements were ignited by the…uh…the spark!..that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element! The element of…magic!"
As the pieces of the orbs materialized into necklaces, with the exception of Twilight's, which became a tiara, the six levitated while being covered in a coat of luminescence. As the power of each element combined, two towering rainbows twisted at each other to the height of the ceiling, before striking Nightmare Moon, which screamed while being devoured in a rainbow tornado.
"Hey, Max!" Naruto looked at him, with both wearing shades.
"What?!" He shouted for him to hear.
"Guess we didn't need the senjutsu anyway!"
"Yeah!...probably, that'll fatigue us real good after doing it, if we did!"
Naruto looked at the ground as if he was observing something.
"Wait…how did you know about those chakra strings?!"
"Grandma Chiyo taught me!"
"I also relayed info while Sasuke was looking at me!"
Sasuke and DJ were wearing shades, too!
"That's right! The Sharingan can communicate, too!"
As the six were done purifying her, they passed out on the ground, briefly. The four slowly walked in, while Rainbow Dash recovered first.
"Ughh…my head." Rainbow Dash rubbed her left temple.
"Everypony okay?" Applejack asked.
"Oh! Thank goodness!" Rarity yelped, while looking at her tail and standing tall.
"Why Rarity, it's so lovely." Fluttershy gave a compliment.
"I know! I'll never part with it again!" She waved her tail in the air, before she had her snuggle time with it.
"No, your necklace! It looks just like your cutie mark!" Fluttershy pointed out.
"Woo?~ Oh?~" She looked at the necklace first, before shifting her flank to see the cutie mark.
"So is yours!" Rarity looked at Fluttershy's.
Fluttershy gasped in amazement as her necklace.
"Look at mine! Look at mine!" said by an excited Pinkie Pie while jumping greatly.
"Aww yeah!" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings.
Twilight adjusted her head to see her tiara.
"Gee, Twilight! I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey…but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship." Applejack confessed.
"Indeed, you do." A familiar voice rang out. As the sun rose and become awaken from its would-be eternal slumber, a bright light synchronized with the movements of the sun. The orb of light floated in, finally glowing brightly, until the ball materialized into Princess Celestia, with her wings splayed amazingly. Upon seeing this, the five ponies bowed to show reverence, while Twilight gasped.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight rushed towards her.
"Twilight Sparkle! My faithful student." She hugged Twilight lightly buy placing her neck on Twilight's back neck.
"But…you told me it was just an old ponies' tale!"
"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more." The princess raised a hoof.
"Reporting for duty, Your Highness!" Max and his gang saluted.
"And you, Max…thank you. I'm very sorry for curiously entering the portal I accidentally made." She whispered.
"No problem, Your Highness! These prats and I ready to help!"
The princess continued.
"I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. Now if only another will as well."
"Princess Luna!"
The six turned around to see a young Luna, lying on the ground, along with sharp blue-tinted shards of glass, with the pieces of the lion-headed kannon. The princess opened her eyes and gasped upon seeing her sister.
"It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this."
She knelt down to speak.
"Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."
"Sister?!" All six asked.
"Oh my God, Twilight!" Max shouted.
"What? I didn't know it was her sister!" Twilight shouted back.
Max is not amused when he heard this. But, he smiled when he said, "Ready, Sasuke?"
Sasuke raised a straight hoof. "Ready!" He nodded and smiled.
Naruto ran at full speed towards Sasuke. After a few seconds of running for half a hundred meters, he launched himself in the air, making his face hit Sasuke's hoof. DJ shouted with passion:
"ULTIMATE FACEHOOF!"
Naruto dropped down, feeling pain and happiness at the same time. DJ and Sasuke invited him to laugh wholeheartedly, while they held their bellies.
"But actually, ultimate facehooves are done with the help of Rainbow Dash…" Max whispered.
"What? Seriously, I didn't know it was her sister!"
"Impossible, Twilight! You know you read the prophecy! It said…" Max perfectly imitated the voice of Princess Celestia. "One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon."
A lightning crack followed. Max spoke in his normal voice. "Hmm…well, where did that come from?"
DJ and the other two shared some moments.
"Likes reading, but didn't comprehend thoroughly."
Sasuke tilted his head down. "Please hit me as hard as you can…" Louder laughs were heard.
"Will you accept my friendship?" Princess Celestia calmly asked.
The six leaned forward, hoping for the young princess to accept. Pinkie Pie leaned too much, causing her to trip over.
"Come on, now." Princess Celestia persuaded for a reply.
"I do, but…"
"Come back with us. Everypony's waiting for you." Max interfered.
"I can't go back…I can't face everypony…"
"Oh boy, this'll take a while. I thought she'd accept it…"
"Nothing to be ashamed of. Pain gets the better of us all."
Sasuke's ears twitched. "It's…that sermon…" he whispered.
"That sermon?"
"Yeah! That sermon!"
"I wish I was dead…" This made everypony gasp. Everypony except DJ, Sasuke, and Max. With those words, he extended his tail to get his .500 Smith and Wesson white magnum revolver, opening and loading the cylinder with six rounds. Placing back the cartridge, he pointed the revolver at Princess Luna's head. The weight of the gun plus the natural softness of half of all the tail muscles caused him to point the gun in an oblique manner. The other half of his tail reached for his pockets.
"Alright. I'll put you out of misery. Any last words?" A soft gun click was heard, before being stalked by silence.
"Shoot, you're only going to kill a pony."
"Stop!" Naruto and Princess Celestia chorused. Sasuke got a hold of Naruto.
"Don't! Let him do it!" Sasuke tugged at Naruto's tail.
"He's gonna kill my sister!" Princess Celestia cried and shouted.
DJ rushed to stop the princess in her tracks.
"Trust me! 'I' know what I'm doing!" DJ restrained her.
Princess Luna felt his body freeze, albeit her heart pounding against her chest loudly. She felt a rain of sweat drip down from her forehead to her cheeks. She can't think clearly, because there is an instant, fatal threat pointed at her. Somehow, even without looking, she can tell where is the gun is. Panting loudly, she felt her body shaking. She wasn't sure he wanted an eternal reward, but she's going to be shot anyway. Max pulled the trigger.
A loud gunshot was heard.
"Huh?!"
A photo swingingly descended into the ground. It showed a portrait of Princess Luna, smiling, and in full color. The hole in the photo was located at the princess' chest. It was almost set on fire; only to have it produced a considerable amount of smoke.
"I just wasted a bullet. Don't waste your life." Max calmly told Princess Luna. It turned out that Max quickly shifted the gun's direction away from her, and shoot the photo instead. Princess Celestia almost fainted, dropping into the ground heavily and quickly, realizing that her head was wet with sweat. Naruto looked like he has been petrified, because he was rigid when Sasuke jokingly tapped his back to check if he was still alive.
Bending his knees, he said, "Listen to me, Princess Luna. You died here today. You understand?"
Princess Luna felt crying some more, while Max raised his revolver at shoulder-level.
"You're a new pony. Now…give that new life to your sister."
Keeping his revolver inside his cloak, he continued.
"Rule with her, little princess. Show her how good you really are."
Princess Luna felt crying a bit more to take off the remaining pain, so she did. Max approached her, and continued.
"Dry your tears, then promise me one thing."
Max paused. "No more escaping from your duties."
Reaching out his hoof, he said: "Remember, real princesses are never as polished as the powers that they carry with them."
Princess Luna wiped away her tears, then touched the hoof of Max. Nearing her head to him, she smiled. "You got it, boss!"
Max replied with a worried but funny smile. "Ehhhhh…..just call me Max."
She then gave a kiss on Max's forehead. With that, happening unexpectedly, his cheeks blushed rosy red. Of course, he returned it with a kiss, too.
"Aww…" All the ponies chorused.
"She kissed him and he kissed back…how sweet…" Princess Celestia smiled while her head tilted.
"Is…is that what I'm hearing?" Kakashi butted in by Max's un-disabled earpiece.
"The younger princess kissed you?! And you kissed her?!"
Murmurs were heard in the room. Everyone was like 'wow, this is good!'.
"Yeah…why?" Max touched his earpiece. For a few moments, everyone in the room is almost silent thanks to the soft counting Max carefully listened. Then, synchronized singing followed.
"Max and Luna, sitting on a tree!~" At this, Max, was quite annoyed, yet, dominantly amused.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Max said with a lazy, monotonic tone. Everyone in the room laughed.
"You guys really do have a knack for chopping my confidence, don't you?" The group laughed, yet again.
Max gave a sigh. Pinkie Pie was suddenly crying, with a fountain of tears jumping from her eyes. Wiping her tears, she said:
"Hey, you know what this calls for?"
"A party!"
She ran into the town, celebrating with ponies that had a good time. Jumping around, trotting happily, doing every excited action conceivable. Max and the three are having a walk.
"You know, Max…sorry for the things I've said, like "things I can't understand", and 'the very idea of a world of ponies is not cool'. I found out that it was the reverse."
Max laid a hoof on Naruto's back. "Don't fret, because we are always naturally quick to judge things, because the outside appearance is what we look for."
"Hey, I'm starting to like this place!" Sasuke smiled, while looking at ponies and houses.
Suddenly, a stallion appeared in front of the four. It had a cream-colored coat, with brown mane and tail, with cobalt blue eyes. It had itself wearing a white shirt with tints of black smudged over it. It appears interested by the gaze of his look, protected by a pair of glasses, and by the posture of his body.
"Oh, hello. Nice meeting you." Max greeted him.
"Nice cutie maaaaaark!" Naruto gasped at the sight of the stallion's cutie mark. It had a light blue sphere, with same-colored rays that shoot out in an X formation. In the center of the sphere, lies an hourglass.
"Well, whadda you know? Somepony did too many talents!" Max smiled.
"Hello. I'm Dream Chaser!" Dream Chaser shook Max's hoof. Then again, after half a second. And again, after.
"Okaaayyyy…" DJ took a step back.
"Nice meeting you!" He ran away as if he stole something.
"What did he just do?" Naruto jawdropped.
"Boo!"
With Naruto's fast reaction, he jumped at the mischievous, little devil, knocking him off from the roof, and pinning him with one hoof. Both of them fell on the ground, with Dream Chaser receiving more crushing force from the weight of Naruto.
"Help…me…" Dream Chaser coughed and puffed.
"That's for surprising me!" Naruto shouted.
"Hey, release him." Max ordered as he pressurized his cheek. Dream Chaser let air rush in his lungs, before pushing himself from the ground.
"Well, I didn't notice you have wings." Max pointed to the well-camouflaged wings.
"Ah, it is naturally hidden, as what ponies say." Dream Chaser fixed his glasses.
"Well, you really are a funny colt!" Max gave a compliment.
"I came from Canterlot."
"What is your age?"
"14."
"Well, you sure do have an age."
"Of course! What would be us without an age? It completely defines the time spent in three dimensions!"
"What?" Naruto asked.
"Are you sure about three spatial dimensions? No fourth dimension, the time dimension?"
Dream Chaser's head magnetized his right hoof. "Oh, horseapples!"
"Hey, no swearing here. Swear all you want in Canterlot, but not here."
Dream Chaser bowed. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Turning to his back, he saw the main six.
"Well, gotta go greet them! I'll just step right in…" And the silly colt went off in the pool of ponies.
"Look how've they grown!" A spiky-haired pony sat on a roof, along with some ponies he knew.
"Yeah…I miss them." A black-haired pony answered.
"Aww, doesn't it bring you happiness, sweetie?" A red-haired pony told her husband.
"More than happiness, honey. It makes me proud." The yellow-colored spiky-haired pony replied.
"Well, off to writing my eighth book. Gonna do my research…" The pony dropped down from the roof.
"Off to go, too…" The couple took a landing.
"I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to tell you, straightly. So forgive me…Sasuke…"
"Max? What've been you looking at the hills?" Naruto asked a busy Max.
"Hmm…" Max grumbled to himself. Then, a red twinkle shone on his eyes somewhere atop a roof."
"It's him." He whispered. He went to Twilight, which was going to doze off in the bed at the library tree.
"Well, make it fast. I want you to be experimented on." Twilight responded, while wiping off a drop of tear in the outer corner of her eyes.
With her authorization, Max made short work of the rooftops. The three followed, with DJ at Max's side, and Sasuke at Naruto's side.
Finally, Max made a stop. He yelled in the air. "ITACHI!"
Sasuke gasped. "Brother?!"
Max poured all his time on searching for him, jumping from house to house, making speed bleed on his legs. After reaching the hills, he finally gave a stop. He stuffed his lungs with air. Touching the ground with his hooves, he said:
"Come out, you little fucker."
A pony came out. Sasuke became delighted on what he saw. "Itachi?!"
"Sasuke! Max! Naruto!" Itachi transformed into a human, hugging the now-transformed Max, Naruto, and Sasuke. He hugged them tightly and warmly.
"Good to see you! Pervy sage?" Naruto turned to see the Sannin. Later, the rest of Akatsuki were present, except for Kabuto and Tobi.
"Guys! You're here!" Max exclaimed.
"Hey, thanks for the eye scope you gave me!" Deidara thanked Max.
Then, Twilight teleported near Max.
"Max! I found a-" She stopped when she saw a group of people in front of her.
Could things get any better?
Announcement: I'm gonna write the story of 'Max' in the next chapter. So, what do you guys think? Do you like it? Does it need more cowbell?
Update: Changed a word that begs for death.