Chapter 4- The Princesses
Me: There's not really much to say at this point, so let's get right into it. I don't own the rights to Naruto Shippuden or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
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I woke up the next morning with a headache as the light streamed in from the lone window that lay beside my bed. "Damn." I said as I sat up and held my head with my right hand, my eyes still closed. The pain gradually left and I was able to open my eyes. I looked around the room to find myself in the same environment that I had been in last night. So it wasn't a dream. I thought. I glanced to my right and saw the bed that Itachi had occupied was now empty. I sighed and threw the blanket off of my legs, swinging them over the edge of the bed and feeling the warm wooden floor beneath my bare feet. I stood up and stretched, looking around for my cloak as I did so. Finally my eyes fell upon the fabric folded neatly on an empty bookshelf. I walked over and grabbed the cloak, letting it unfurl and donning it as I looked out the window. As I watched I saw ponies running around, smiling, and laughing. They seemed to have no worries at all. Was this the place that Obito was trying to find? I thought to myself. No pain, no sorrow, no hatred. Where there is light, there are shadows. Those words echoed through my mind as if I had just heard them yesterday.
"This world has plenty of light… If that's true, how much bigger are the shadows?" I asked. With that I turned from the window and walked out of the room.
As I appeared at the top of the stairs, I saw Itachi and Twilight sitting opposite each other at the table we had sat at last night. Two mugs of coffee were sitting before them, the steam still floating from their mugs in thin wisps. Twilight sat on the end of the table facing the stairs, and as such looked up when she saw me.
"Oh, you're awake." She said. Itachi turned and glanced at me, holding up his hand in greeting. I returned the gesture and made my way to the foot of the stairs.
"Why don't you sit down? We've got some time left before the Princesses arrive." Twilight said.
"The Princesses?" I asked. She nodded.
"You see, this country is called Equestria. It is led by two Princesses, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Twilight explained. "And they're coming here? What for?" I asked.
"I don't really know." Twilight replied.
"Hm. Well, I can't really stay right now because I have something I need to do." I said.
"Do you need me to accompany you? We wouldn't want another incident, and it may be difficult for you to adapt to the nature energy of this world." Itachi asked. I shook my head.
"I'll be fine." I said.
"If you say so." He said.
"Wait, what incident? What are you two talking about?" She asked.
"Sorry, but this is one secret I want to keep." I said. I walked toward the door and was just about to leave when Itachi asked me something.
"You're going to go barefoot?" I looked down and saw that my feet were in fact still bare.
"Yeah, I guess so." I replied and he shrugged. I then walked through the door and shut it behind me.
As I stepped outside into the warm sunlight, I looked around for a secluded area where I wouldn't be bothered. Eventually my eyes fell upon a particularly dark forest that seemed to radiate gloom and darkness, despite the pleasant atmosphere of the village. I could go there. I thought. Immediately I made my way toward it, making a beeline for the dark trees. As I went I could see ponies stopping and staring at me in bewilderment, shock, and even distrust.
"Mommy, what is that?" Asked one colt whom was following a mare that looked extraordinarily unlike him.
"Don't look at it, Billy." The mare said turning the colt's head away from me. This didn't bother me. My association with the Akatsuki had naturally made me a shady character, which I guess being dumped in a world of magical ponies whom have hardly ever seen a human before didn't help. I tried my best to ignore the stares and head straight for the forest. Finally, I emerged from the village and made my way to the edge of the forest. Just as I was about to enter, I heard a voice call my name.
"Tid, wait!" It said. I turned around and saw Pinkie Pie bouncing (literally) toward me. When she reached me she stopped bouncing immediately.
"You weren't about to go into the Everfree Forest all by yourself, where you?" She asked.
"I was." I replied.
"But you can't go by yourself! It's too spooky and dangerous!" She said.
"I can't go alone, huh?" I asked. She shook her head.
"Fine," I said. I crossed four of my fingers in a plus symbol in front of me. At that moment there was a puff of smoke as a clone of myself appeared.
"I won't go alone then."
"Whoa! How'd you do that?!" She asked amazed at my shadow clone.
"I'll explain that later." I said. She zipped about around my clone, examining every aspect of it.
"It looks exactly like you!" She said looking between the clone and myself.
"That's kind of the point. Anyway, I must really get going." I said turning around.
"Okay, see ya later alligator!" She said. I raised my hand in a goodbye gesture as my clone and I walked into the forest.
When the light from the sun had faded I released the Jutsu, my clone vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"Now, where to do it?" I asked as I looked around the forest. The forest was unnaturally dark, the sun seemingly non-existent underneath the trees. Enough light to hold away pitch-black darkness trickled through the leaves, but I found it difficult to see twenty feet in front of me. Finally an exposed tree root tripped me and I stumbled into a circular clearing with a twenty foot diameter. The sun shone brightly in the center, shadows of the trees stretching until they formed a smaller circle a quarter of the size of the clearing.
"This should do just nicely." I said as I stood and brushed the dirt off of my cloak. I walked toward the center of the circle and sat down, crossing my legs and putting my hands into the "boar" hand sign. I closed my eyes and waited. I could feel the Chakra moving through my body as though it were blood. It moved through the Chakra network that lay adjacent to my veins. I received an odd bulging sensation when I thought about it, as if my Chakra were pressing up against my skin. Then something happened. The Chakra in my body began to move faster, casting aside its smooth shell and jetting raggedly outwards. I winced, clenching my teeth and eyes. I could hear the familiar deep laughter booming through my head. It seemed to come from a source located in my lower mid-section. Itachi was right; I am having trouble adjusting to the nature energy of this world. I thought regretfully. Sweat beaded down my face as I concentrated, trying to avoid another incident. I could feel something growing loose in the same location where the laughter seemed to be coming from. No, not this time. I thought. I concentrated and re-tightened the seal. That ought to hold you, bastard. I thought with a smug grin. At that moment I began to pant heavily, as if I had just run a marathon. It was as if all of my breath had been taken from me at once. I opened my eyes and had to hold myself up with one hand on the ground. I could feel myself growing weaker with every breath I took. Eventually I collapsed backwards and stared up at the blue sky, still panting. My eyes slowly forced themselves shut as I lost consciousness.
I was awoken a few hours later by Itachi lightly slapping my face. My eyes opened and I glanced around, seeing not just Itachi, but the six ponies we had met as well. I sat up and noticed they were surrounding me in a circle.
"What happened?" Twilight asked. I glanced at Itachi and saw that he was staring at me with his Sharingan.
"You almost had another incident, didn't you?" He asked. I nodded.
"Incident? What incident?" Twilight asked for the second time that day.
"It's nothing." I replied glancing at her.
"It certainly doesn't sound like nothing." Rarity said. I sighed.
"I'll explain later." I lied. Itachi stood and extended his hand to help me do the same. I brushed the dirt off of my cloak and glanced once more at everyone.
"Why are you all here?" I asked.
"We were worried about you, of course." Rarity replied.
"Worried about me?" I asked. She nodded.
"We had heard you were going into the Everfree Forest by yourself and we thought something might happen to you." Twilight said.
"I see." I said.
"Well we better get movin' along; wouldn't want to be late for the Princesses." Applejack said.
"That's right, let's go." Twilight replied. Twilight led the group on the way out of the forest, Rainbow Dash and Applejack walking next to each other directly behind her. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stood in front of Itachi, and Rarity and I stood next to each other following him. I watched Rarity for a while with a certain contentment. There was something about these ponies that fascinated me, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. She noticed me looking at her and glanced in my direction, forcing me to look forward quickly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare." I said quietly, somewhat embarrassed.
"It's alright, dear." She said just as quietly, winking at me. It wasn't in a way that was flirting, but more of in a way that said she understood me.
"Tell me, Tid; did you really love my dresses so much yesterday?" She asked me.
"Of course, I meant every word. I have no reason at all to lie to you." I replied.
"Well I'm flattered that you think so highly of my dresses." She said.
"Heh, my opinion isn't anything to relish in." I said looking forward again.
"Tid, I think we could become great friends." She said.
"I'd love to be your friend. Friends are everything to me." I said smiling at her.
"Good, then from this point on we will be friends." She said extending her hoof and somehow still walking.
"Best friends." I said winking and taking her hoof and shaking it.
We approached the edge of the forest and I could already hear cheering coming from the village. As we emerged from the dark forest into the bright sunlight and saw a crowd of ponies gathered in front of the entrance to the village. Itachi and I shielded our eyes to attempt to see what they were all looking at, and saw two armored Pegasi escorting a golden chariot that fit two very tall ponies, almost as tall as horses from my best guess. The taller one was a white mare with a long, flowing, multicolored mane and a symbol that resembled the sun on her flank. I guessed she was Princess Celestia. The shorter one was a mare that looked to be midnight purple with a long flowing mane that resembled the night sky. She had a mark that resembled a crescent moon on her flank. I guessed that was Princess Luna. One thing I noticed was that they both had both horns and wings, like Twilight. I glanced at Rarity and saw that she lacked wings. Why do they have wings but Rarity doesn't? I thought in confusion. We watched as the chariot flew and landed just outside of a large building in the center of the village. The two Princesses dismounted and entered the building, the large crowd following.
"Come on, we're going to be late." Twilight said. At that moment there was a bright flash of light that blinded me. When I could see again we were standing in the front row of the crowd of ponies, the Princesses standing about twenty feet away from us. The sea of ponies was chattering excitedly as they waited for what their Princesses were about to say. After a few minutes, Princess Celestia raised her hoof into the air, the crowd falling silent immediately. She took a few steps forward and looked over the crowd with a beaming smile.
"Our loyal subjects, we are honored to be welcomed by such an enthusiastic reception. As you all know, we are here to make sure everything in this wonderful village is going well. To do that, we have asked Twilight Sparkle and your mayor to compile a list of issues that we need to look into." She said. She spoke loudly and clearly so that everyone in the building could hear every word she said. Just then a brown pony with a gray mane tied in a ponytail stepped forward and presented a scroll that she held between her teeth to the two Princesses. Princess Celestia took the scroll using her magic and unfurled it, examining the list. When she had finished she smiled.
"This should take no time at all. Thank you." She said rolling the scroll back up again. The mare bowed and returned to the crowd.
"Now, Princess Twilight Sparkle has brought to my attention that we now have two new citizens in Ponyville. If they would, I'd like to see them." Princess Celestia said. My eyes widened when I heard Princess Twilight Sparkle. I looked at her in astonishment.
"You're a Princess too?" I asked her. She looked at me and nodded. I looked over and saw Itachi standing on the opposite side of her.
"Come with me you two. Celestia has requested to see you." Twilight said breaking from the crowd. Itachi and I, not knowing what else to do, followed her until we were standing in front of the sea of ponies.
Itachi and I stood before the Princesses and kneeled in respect.
"There's no need for that." Princess Celestia said in a tone that made us believe she might've been about to laugh.
"Is something funny, Princess?" Twilight asked.
"It's nothing; just seeing these humans give respect to a leader they have yet to come to know is a sight that pleases me." She replied. Itachi and I stood and stared at the two Princesses. The two Princesses examined us for the longest time with unwavering expressions. As I stood there I felt the eyes of the hundreds of ponies boring into the back of my head as I became aware of the tension in the room. Princess Celestia turned to her sister and whispered something I couldn't hear. Princess Luna whispered something back and the two nodded in agreement. Princess Celestia turned back to us with a great smile on her face.
"We've made our decision." She said cheerfully. If the room could've gotten any quieter, it did as the ponies eagerly awaited the Princesses' judgment.
"Tid and Itachi, please step forward." Princess Luna said. Despite my first impression of her, she was actually very kind, just like her sister. Itachi and I stepped forward and as we did so I could feel the crowd of ponies' eyes fix on us once more.
"After much consideration, my sister and I have decided to make you two honorary citizens of Equestria, should you accept." Princess Celestia said. Itachi and I glanced at each other. After a few seconds we both nodded. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the crowd of ponies staring at the two of us, waiting for our answer.
"We accept." Itachi said at last. The Princesses smiled as the building erupted with cheering. Twilight walked up to us with a beaming smile on her face.
"Congratulations on becoming honorary citizens of Equestria!" She said happily.
"Thanks." I said. The other five ran up to us and crowded around us, giving us their congratulations with smiling faces. Each of them gave both Itachi and I hugs.
"That went well." Itachi said to me as the Rarity relinquished her hug with me.
"I'll say." I said. I extended my fist and he did the same, fist bumping me. This was looking up for us.
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Me: Congrats be to the two newest citizens of Equestria!
Tid: I'm surprised they accepted us so easily.
Itachi: As am I.
Me: Well don't be. Anyway, stay tuned for more in this series! See ya next time!