Chapter 9- Rainbow Dash
Me: Okay, I promised in the last chapter that this chapter would have an exciting race, and you're gonna get one!
Tid: I'm going to be racing Rainbow Dash?
Me: That's right! Good luck! I don't own the rights to Naruto Shippuden or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
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The day began like any other, a pleasantly warm summer's day with a comfortable breeze blowing through the gaps between the trees and carrying my hair in the direction in which it blew. Naturally I was much too concentrated on my ritual to pay much attention to these small facts, though I had time to note them before hand. My eyes remained closed for the duration of roughly a half-hour. My hands were folded in the "boar" hand sign and my legs were crossed, my cloak dispersing to either side of my legs. Everything was quiet for once in the dark forest that was the Everfree Forest, but that silence wouldn't last much longer. I finished my riutal and opened my eyes, leaning back on my hands just before I heard a thunderous boom and a shockwave blasted past me with impressive force. I looked up and saw a trail of rainbows following a blur the same shade of blue as the morning sky.
"Such power," I commented as my eyes followed the pegasus across the sky. I followed her until she was concealed from my vision by the trees. I sighed and stood up, brushing the dust from my cloak. With that I knew exactly whom I was to spend the day with that day, and her name was Rainbow Dash.
I made my way out of the forest and scanned the sky for the rainbow-maned pony, but I couldn't locate her anywhere.
"She must've landed somewhere," I said looking around. I sighed and made my way toward the village to look for her. I searched the village for the pony, but she seemed to have disappeared into thin air. As I continued to search I marveled at the spectacle of the pony life. I had never before taken the time to observe their culture nor their everyday lives, but I felt the need to on this day. It was a wonderful community filled to the brim with kind ponies of all colors and talents. It was a rare site, I could gather, to see a familiy of ponies that looked similiar to one another, even in skin color. Then a thought dawned on me, a thought I hadn't considered before. What if I were to settle down with a pony? I stopped in my tracks and stood motionless for a second, contemplating the idea. Finally, I shook my head. While I'm certain it was possible, would it be politically correct? Would they accept it? While they are kind, they don't seem very accepting of humans. Besides, by doing that, I would put whomever I was to settle down with in terrible danger. I shivered as horrible images of a past memory filled my head. That won't happen again, I won't let it. I vowed to myself.
Finally, after an hour of searching, I found Rainbow Dash conversing with Rarity at a sunny table outside Sugarcube Corner. I approached them silently and Rarity was the first to notice me, as she was sitting facing toward me while Rainbow Dash had her back to me. As I approached I noticed her ears perked up and she began to smile warmly.
"Why hello, Tid!" She exclaimed as I approached. I smiled and raised my hand to her as Rainbow Dash turned in her seat to look at me.
"Hello girls," I said as I continued to approach. Finally I reached their table and gestured to Rarity to see if it was alright if I joined them. She nodded and I pulled out a chair and sat down. I crossed one leg over the other, just as Rarity was doing and folded my hands in my lap.
"Tid? What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked somewhat bewildered.
"Yes, I was about to ask that very same question; albeit in my own words." Rarity added.
"Well," I began. "I was actually looking for you, Rainbow Dash." I said turning my attention to the rainbow-maned pegasus that sat to my right.
"Me?" She asked. I nodded.
"Why me?"
"I have made it my mission to get to know each of you better, so today I decided I would spend the day with you." I replied simply. I glanced at Rarity and her eyes seemed to soften a little, as if she had just recovered from a terrible scare.
"Is something the matter?" I asked her, turning my head to face her.
She shook her head. "None at all my dear, what would make you ask that question?" She asked.
I shrugged. "Must've been my imagination," I replied. Then I returned my attention to Rainbow Dash.
"Well? What do you say?" I asked her.
She contemplated for a bit before answering. "Fine, but on one condition," She answered.
"Which would be?" I urged. She seemed to grin at this, as if she were about to ask me to do something I would later regret.
"If you can beat me in a race, I'll spend the day with you." She said. I sat back in my chair a moment, my eyes widening with surprise at this request.
"Is that so?" She nodded.
"A race, you say? Well, alright then. Where, may I ask, are we going to race?" I asked.
"We're going to race from one end of Ponyville to the other. Whoever crosses Ponyville first, wins. Anything goes." She replied leaning forward and placing one hoof on the table as she stared at me with confidence. I smirked. Anything goes, eh? We'll just see how that plays out. Finally, I extended my hand.
"I accept your challenge. If you think you're faster, we'll put that to the test," I said.
"Ha!" She scoffed. "You think you're faster than me? You have no idea, buddy." She slapped her hoof into my hand and we shook on it. I looked at Rarity.
"Care to spectate?" I asked her.
"Certainly. I'd like to see just how fast you both are." She replied with a smile. Rainbow Dash and I both glanced at each other with crossed arms and grinned, each of us confident in our own abilities.
"Let's head there right now," She said.
"Fine, the sooner, the better." I said. Rarity nodded and we all walked leisurely to one side of Ponyville.
"Alright, I'll set up the finish line at the other end of Ponyville and I'll give you both the signal to go, so be ready." Rarity said. Rainbow Dash and I nodded. There was a bright flash of light as Rarity teleported away. Rainbow Dash began stretching and I merely stood beside her and watched.
"You aren't going to stretch?" She asked in confusion.
"Nope, don't need to." I replied. She laughed at me.
"Suit yourself then," She said.
Rainbow Dash and I stood at what we had decided would be the starting line and waited eagerly for the signal. I activated my Sharingan and prepared myself by kneeling into a racing position. Rainbow Dash crouched her four legs and her stomach was only inches away from the ground. She unfurled her wings and stretched out her feathers, a few of them falling to the ground from the sheer force with which she did this. Finally, as I turned my attention the sky, I saw a red spark shoot into the air before exploding and changing shape to be a gigantic Go! in the air. Rainbow Dash was the first out of the gate, her speed incredible. I burst out after her and began building speed. Gradually she pulled away from me and disappeared behind a building. I grinned and opened the first of the Eight Gates.
"You see, Rainbow Dash," I said. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve as well."
I dodged and weaved between the ponies of Ponyville who stood in wonder and amazement as I ran passed them. Finally I saw Rainbow Dash, or rather, the blur of rainbow following her as she turned another corner. I opened the Second Gate and pushed forward with even more speed. Finally I could see the finish line in sight, with Rainbow Dash speeding toward it. I sighed.
"Itachi's going to kill me for this, but..." I said. I closed my eyes and opened them to reveal my Mangekyou Sharingan. I could see Rarity cheering at the finish line, but I couldn't make out whom she was cheering for. Blood poured from my eye as I felt the massive strain on it. The air around the focus point of my vision began to swirl and in a fraction of a second I was standing at the finish line, neither Rarity nor Rainbow Dash realizing it until the latter crossed as well. Rarity couldn't believe it, and her eyes were wide with amazement and shock. I closed my left eye and clasped my left hand over it as the pain grew.
"Are you alright?" She asked in concern. I nodded just as Rainbow Dash walked over to us.
"What the hay was that?!" She asked infuratied.
"You said anything goes, right?" I asked her.
"Yeah, but how did you do that?! I didn't even see you!" She said.
I grinned. "Well, it'll be my secret." I said still holding my eye. Rarity moved her head to try and get a glimpse of what I was trying to hide and her eyes widened when she saw the blood dripping down my cheek.
"You're bleeding!" She cried pointing to my eye.
"It's nothing," I tried to assure her, but she wouldn't listen.
"We must get you to the hospital!" She shouted and began to push me in the direction of the hospital.
"Rarity," I said turning to face her, making her fall into my chest. She lightly pushed herself a few inches away from my body, but she was still leaning on me. She looked at me with plenty of concern showing in her eyes. "I already told you, I'm fine. The pain will fade soon," I said.
"Are you sure?" She asked. I nodded. She breathed a sigh of relief and stood back on her own hooves.
"So, I guess you won, eh?" Rainbow Dash said as she walked up to me.
"Yeah, so we're going to spend the day together now, aren't we? You don't have any other conditions, do you?" I asked her.
She shook her head. "Just know that I have a boyfriend already," She said. Rarity looked at her in surprise. Apparently this was news to her as well. I shrugged the news off as it didn't matter to me.
"Where are we going?" She asked me.
"Well, you're a wanderer, aren't you?" I asked her. She nodded. "Then we'll just wander around." I replied.
"Oh, okay." She said. I nodded. I motioned for her to lead the way and she obliged. I followed her and we began to walk around Ponyville, talking about various things that ranged from her past, to part of mine (I didn't share much information in this field), to various things about ourselves.
"So you've got this 'Sharingan', or whatever, right?" She asked me. I nodded in confirmation. "And that's how you beat me?" She asked again.
"Actually, I used my Mangekyou Sharingan to beat you. You see, my eyes give me the power to teleport to anywhere that I can see." I replied correcting her.
"Oh, okay, I guess." She said. We continued to walk for a while and I contemplated telling her more about my Mangekyou Sharingan, but I eventually decided against it. After a while we had explored pretty much the entirety of Ponyville. We walked around the outskirts of the village and continued to talk.
"So, you said that you wanted to get to know me better. Why?" She asked me as the sun was beginning to set. I glanced at her for a second before looking back in front of me.
"Like I said," I replied. "I wanted to get to know my new friends. It seems that you, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight have accepted Itachi and I, and I would like to develop a close friendship with the six of you. She looked at me for a few seconds, her mouth open like she wanted to say something. After a few seconds she closed her mouth and looked ahead again, never uttering a word. I looked to the horizon and the sun was setting to our right, casting a golden and scarlet light over us and Ponyville.
"It's getting late," I said to her. "I should be heading home." She nodded.
"Same here," She said. I stopped walking and turned to her, holding out my hand for her to shake.
"Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to get to know you better, as well as to race you. It's been an honor." I said to her. She turned to me and smirked, putting her hoof in my hand and shaking it.
"Yeah, well I still want a rematch. Next time I'll beat you for sure." She said. I grinned and nodded, releasing her hoof. As soon as I did she shot into the air in a blur of rainbow. I watched as she raced off higher and higher into the sky, the setting sun immortalizing the image as one of the greater things I've seen up until that point.
"Rainbow Dash, eh?" I said to myself as I placed my hands on my hips. "She's certainly interesting, isn't she?" I chuckled and began my walk home, hopping I wasn't too late to eat some of Itachi's cooking.
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Me: Well that wraps that up! Don't worry, many more great chapters are soon to come, so keep reading! Thank you, and see you next time!