Chapter 18- The Grand Galloping Gala
Me: Alright, the biggest event of the year is about to begin.
Tid: I've never attended one of these events before. Is it fun?
Me: Hmm, just wait. I'll handle the disclaimer this time. I don't own the rights to Naruto Shippuden or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
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As we approached the guards standing stoic at the gate they stopped us by crossing their spears in front of the golden gate.
"Halt! Present your invitations." The guard on the left said.
Twilight used her magic to bring forth eight golden tickets from somewhere under her dress and presented them to the guards. The guards examined them each carefully before looking at one another and stepping aside. The large golden gates then began to swing inward as they opened to let us pass. Twilight led us up the path and up to the large brown double doors that curved toward a point at the top. At the top of the path lay a few marble steps that led to the large double doors. This entrance was framed on either side with large stone columns that supported a slab of stone. It was at the top of these steps where we met Princess Celestia.
"There you all are. I'm so glad you could make it." She said looking at each one of us in turn as she spoke.
"It's an honor to be here." I said kneeling in her presence.
"There's no need for that, Tid. This may be a formal event, but do try to relax and have fun." She said.
"Er, right." I said standing straight again, my face hot. She chuckled.
"Well come on in everyone. The Gala doesn't start until eight, so you have some time to kill." She said leading us inside.
Itachi and I looked at each other and shrugged, following the rest inside.
The inside of the castle was amazing. We entered first into the lobby of the castle (which I found slightly odd). The room was as big as any I had ever seen before, and that was saying something. White tiles made up the floor, the walls a similar white. Supporting pillars lined the walls, decorated with large ribbons of fabric that coiled around the pillars from floor to ceiling. Banners of two different designs hung opposite one another on opposite walls. The two designs were of a white mare silhouetted by a blazing golden sun and the other of a black mare silhouetted by a shining white moon on a midnight blue background. I assumed these were depicting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna respectively. We followed the others past the secretary's desk and into one of two large halls that broke off from the main room. We were led down a flight of marble stairs to a ground-level room where I guessed the event would be taking place. Supporting pillars also lined three of the four walls, the fourth appearing to be a giant window lined by the same white marble that the walls were made of. Decorative ribbons of fabric streamed from pillar to pillar, making the whole place look like it was ready for one of Pinkie Pie's parties. Tables with white table cloths draped over them were scattered about the room, separated by a single scarlet carpet that traveled from a door on the other side of the room and up the steps we were currently standing on. A stage stood against one wall with many instruments on it, standing right next to it was a sculpture of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna made completely of ice.
"This place is amazing." I said as I looked around. Princess Celestia smiled.
"Luna and I take great pride in our castle. We gathered some of the best decorators in all of Equestria put everything they had into this year's event. Though, there was one mare we wished we could've used." Celestia said winking at Rarity.
"Well I'm terribly sorry, but I was busy with my other work." Rarity said brushing her mane to one side. Princess Celestia giggled.
"I'm sure you were. Well, you're all free to enjoy yourselves as you wish. Just try not to cause too much damage, alright?" She said winking at the others. She laughed and left the way we had come.
For the next couple of hours, we all sat about and talked while we waited for the Gala to start. Eventually guests started to drizzle in from two separate entrances, one from the royal garden and another from the same way we had come. I noticed a few of the ponies climb on stage and take up their spots behind their instruments. The band consisted of a light gray mare with black hair and blue eyes that reminded me of Rarity's behind a cello, an aquamarine mare with a mane that was a mixture of two colors that appeared to be aero blue and light cyan on the harp, a stallion with cerulean frost blue skin and light gray hair on the piano, and a sapphire blue stallion with a dark blue-gray mane playing the violin. They began to play a classical sounding song that seemed to float about the room with a sort of grace. As I looked around the room, I felt a sort of ominous air about the room.
"Something wrong?" Rarity asked. I looked at her.
"No, everything's fine," I replied.
"You know, if something's bothering you, you shouldn't hesitate to tell me." She said. I smiled.
"Of course,"
At that moment Princess Celestia and Princess Luna entered the room wearing elegant gowns that flowed behind them like their manes did. Rarity sighed in admiration.
"Aren't they just simply beautiful?" Rarity asked. I nodded.
Celestia and Luna both stood at the top of the stairs, waving to everyone in the Gala. I turned to say something to Rarity but something caught my eye. I looked for it but couldn't see it anymore. I activated my Sharingan. Rarity noticed this and looked at me with concern.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"I'm not sure," I replied.
I scanned the crowd and my eyes widened when I noticed several of the guests possessed Chakra networks different than the others. I turned my attention once again to Princess Luna and saw a bright, split-second flash as a dagger was pulled behind her. Without a second's hesitation I drew a kunai from my cloak and threw it at the assassin. As it struck him the entire room gasped. Both Princesses looked surprised and shocked.
"He's trying to kill Princess Luna!" I heard one pony shout.
Rarity looked at me with a look of utter confusion and astonishment.
"Tid?"
"I swear I wasn-"
"I'll stop him!" I heard a familiar voice shout.
The crowd parted to reveal Vinyl Scratch and her associate standing there. Vinyl had what appeared to be a small cannon mounted on her shoulder and pointed at me. As the cannon began to charge I looked behind me to see everyone moving out of the way. I turned to Rarity.
"I'd advise you to get down," I said.
"But what about-"
"Don't worry about me, just do it." I said. She backed away from me and lowered her body to the ground, just as I had instructed.
The cannon fired and a blue beam burst forth and flew toward me. I jumped to avoid the beam and it impacted the wall behind me, shattering the glass with a loud crash. I landed and quickly raised two fingers in front of me and started sinking into the ground. I reappeared just behind Princess Luna. I stooped down to pick up the wounded assassin, who appeared to be an insect-like mutation of a pony with black skin, blue eyes, and sharp white fangs. I held him up just as the royal guards burst through the doors, pointing their spears at me.
"Stop!" I shouted holding up the assassin and my other hand to stop them from impaling me.
Everyone gasped as they saw the wounded assassin, my kunai still sticking out of his chest.
"This is the true assassin! I was merely protecting the Princess!" I said, hoping they believed me.
Just then there was a low growling noise as several of the guests burst into green flames, their disguises dissipating to reveal their true forms. They each looked similar to the assassin I now held in my hands. The ponies screamed as they flooded toward the exits, the building trembling under the stampede. When everyone had cleared out the only ones left in the room were me, Itachi, the two Princesses, Vinyl, and her associate.
"What are you two still doing here? Get out!" I shouted.
"No, we're staying here." Vinyl replied; the cannon still mounted on her shoulder.
"You'll only get in the way. I can't afford to fight these things if there are civilians around." I said somewhat agitatedly.
"Well deal with it, bub." Her associate said.
I scowled and threw the assassin down the flight of stairs. I leaped over the two Princesses and landed next to Itachi. I looked at him and, without a single word being spoken between the two of us; he nodded- knowing exactly what I wanted him to do. We both weaved hand signs and jumped into the air.
"Fire Style; Phoenix Flower Barrage!" We shouted.
The Jutsu was a combo of ours that we had spent weeks working on; combining two Phoenix Flower Jutsu together to create a rain of fire. Several of the creatures sprouted wings and flew to avoid the attack, the slower ones getting caught in the fire. As the fire impacted the ground there was an explosion that sent up flames and black smoke into the air. When the smoke cleared several of the creatures had been burnt to a crisp, nothing more than charred corpses. Quite a few tables were now nothing but smoldering remains. I looked over to Vinyl and her associate battling quite a few of the creatures using the same cannon that had tried to take my life just minutes before, as well as chairs and shards of glass. I drew several shurikens from my cloak and threw them at the flying opponents, some becoming wounded upon impact; others only winged or slightly grazed.
The ones that were winged fell to the ground, concealing their wounded wings and advancing on us while their still airborne brethren advanced on us from the air. I glanced at Itachi.
"You take the ones in the air; I'll get the ones on the ground." I said. He nodded and activated his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
He closed his eyes and opened his right eye, the Amaterasu's black flames bursting to life in front of the airborne creatures. I ran toward the grounded creatures and dodged to the left as one attempted to leap onto me. I grabbed the back of its neck and punched it in the temple with as much force I could. The punch sent it flying across the room, crashing into the ice sculpture and causing it to fall to the floor. I flinched as the ice shattered on the ground, scattering large chunks of ice across the room. I shouted in pain as one of the creatures sank its fangs into my right arm, blood staining my cloak. I used my left arm to punch it in the face and then drew a kunai- spinning the kunai in my hand before swinging the blade across its face. It yelped in pain and I kicked it away from me as two more attempted to attack me from behind. I grabbed one by the head and stabbed the other in the side of the neck with my kunai. I held the creature in my left hand up and threw it into the air for Itachi to burn, which he did. I turned to see around fifteen of them coming at me at once. I ignited my hands and charged at them, throwing my kunai into the eye of one of them, downing it instantly. I leapt into the swarm and began to fight the creatures left and right, my Sharingan assisting me greatly. Unfortunately one managed to sink its fangs into my shoulder, bringing me down to one knee from the pain. After that they began to swarm all over me.
No, not today. I thought.
I ignited my entire body in a desperate attempt to force them off of me. To my great pleasure it worked and they each backed away from me, some with burnt faces.
"It's time I got serious." I said.
I released a length of chain from my right wrist and grabbed the end of it, swinging it above my head like a propeller. One brave creature lunged toward me, despite me still being engulfed in my flaming aura. I threw my chain at it and wrapped the chain around its neck, bringing it to the floor and smashing it into the ground with a kick. I then proceeded to advance on the other creatures, forcing them to back away from me. I smirked.
"Do it, Itachi." I said.
"Right; Amaterasu!" He said and the black flames I had come to respect and fear burst into existence around the creatures, engulfing them.
I breathed a sigh of relief and extinguished the flames surrounding my body, withdrawing my chains as well. As the Amaterasu burned the creatures to ash, I turned to see one of the royal guard members approaching me. I still had my Sharingan active, so I saw he was one of the creatures as well. I released a bit of chain and flung it at him, but he deflected it with his spear.
"Fine, then I'll use the Frontal Lotus on you." I said.
I opened the First Gate and ran toward him. He swung his spear at me but I ducked down low, grabbing him by the throat and throwing him into the air. I jumped and followed with a kick to his midsection, sending him higher into the air. Then I wrapped his body in my chains and grabbed hold of his body from either side, forcing us to face the ground head-first. Then I used all of my might to make us spin rapidly as we descended toward the ground, pile-driving him into the marble floor. A cloud of dust was sent up all around us, the floor cracking and shattering beneath us and giving way to form a small crater. Bits of debris flew into the air and rained down on us as I released him, withdrawing my chains and standing straight again. I began panting heavily, the Frontal Lotus using up most of my energy. I looked around and saw no more of these creatures left, even among the guards.
"It seems we're clear, for now." I said.
The Princesses looked upon me with a mixture of amusement and respect.
"You seemed to have handled that quite well, Tid." Princess Celestia said. I nodded.
"Now you have saved both of our lives. For that, I am eternally grateful." Princess Luna said.
At that moment a sharp pain exploded from my chest and I went into a fit of violent coughing, falling to my knees and spewing blood from my mouth.
"It seems I haven't fully recovered from using the Seventh Gate a few weeks ago." I said as I stared at the blood that covered my palm.
"It seems you needed us after all." I heard Vinyl say as her and her associate approached me. She had a look of contentment on her face.
"Shut up, I handled it just fine." I replied. Her associate scowled and walked up to me, kicking me in the stomach and winding me. I coughed up more blood from the kick.
"Don't tell her to shut up!" He said in anger. When I had finally caught my breath again I looked at him with hateful eyes.
"Why you-"
"Tid, you can't afford to get into a fight right now." Itachi said walking up to me.
Vinyl's associate's eyes had widened when Itachi said my name.
There's something not right about this guy. I thought equivocally.
"You have his name, but you are not Tid." He said disdainfully.
I was about to ask him what he meant when I went into another fit of violent coughing. Vinyl grabbed her associate's arm and began pulling him away from Itachi and I.
"Come on Robert, he's not worth your time." She said. I scowled.
Mark my words, I will show you just how powerful I am one day, Robert.
A few seconds later Twilight and the others returned, eager to see what had happened. I heard them gasp and the sound of hooves on the marble floor as they rushed to my side.
"Are you alright?" Twilight asked.
"I'm fine; I just... haven't recovered from my fight with Spike yet." I said, wincing from the pain.
"You most certainly are not fine! We need to get you to a hospital immediately!" Rarity said after she noticed my wounds and the blood on the ground. I struggled to my feet, wincing the entire time as pain shot from my legs and midsection.
"I said I'm fine. I only opened one of the Eight Gates." I said turning to look at Rarity.
"'Eight Gates'? What are those?" Twilight asked.
"I'll explain later." I said waving aside the question. At that moment there was a loud outburst of maniacal laughter that seemed to come from everywhere at once. The lights in the room flickered and dimmed, shrouding the entire room in darkness. There was a powerful wind that swept in from the now broken glass wall. Finally the lights flickered to life once more, revealing a flesh and blood version of the creature I had come to know as Discord; based on the statue Princess Celestia had shown Itachi and I.
"It seems I've underestimated you, Tid." He said. I drew a kunai and threw it at him, but it passed through his body as if he weren't even there. My eyes widened in shock.
What? I thought.
"It's no use, he's not really here right now, it's only an illusion." Twilight said to me.
He's able to deceive my Sharingan? I thought in disbelief.
The image of Discord laughed.
"How perceptive of you, Twilight," He said.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked taking a step forward.
"I don't have to answer to you, Twilight. I can do whatever I please now." He replied crossing his arms. Princess Celestia took a step forward and looked up at Discord's image with a looking of disdain.
"Discord, you had another chance. Your sins had been forgotten. Why throw that away?" She asked.
"My sins? Ha! How amusing it is that you would call my fun sins. I never really could see eye-to-eye with you, Celestia. Besides, let's face it, the only reason you forgave my 'sins' in the first place is because you missed me, didn't you?" He asked disappearing in a puff of smoke and reappearing by her side, his arm wrapped around her.
Princess Celestia scowled and he laughed.
"Well that's not what I'm here for. I've come to take her." He said pointing at Vinyl.
Robert stood between Vinyl and Discord.
"I won't let you take her!" He said. Discord chuckled.
"How cute," He said.
He snapped his fingers and two of the creatures we had fought moments ago appeared on either side of Vinyl and dragged her underground. Robert looked behind him in surprise and shock. He scowled and turned back to Discord.
"Well it's been fun, really it has. It's always a pleasure to meet you again, Celestia." He said scratching her chin with one finger.
"However, I must be going now." He finished.
"Hold it! Where did you take her?!" Robert demanded angrily.
"If you want to find her so badly, she's somewhere northeast of here. I'd hurry though, if you really want to find your girlfriend alive that is." Discord said with a malicious grin on his face.
He then snapped his fingers and vanished.
"Damn it!" Robert shouted in rage.
He ran and leapt over the small wall that had once held the large slab of glass in place and disappeared in the night.
"Should we follow him?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight shook her head.
"No, Tid's too badly injured. We need to get him to the hospital." She said.
"I said I'm-" I was interrupted by another fit of violent coughing, more blood spewing from my mouth and running down my chin.
"Alright, fine." I resigned.
Itachi threw my arm over his shoulders, helping me walk. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna began to follow us.
"Twilight, when we get to the hospital, there is an important matter we must discuss." Princess Celestia said.
"I know," Twilight replied.
We walked out of the castle, a few members of the royal guard accompanying us to protect Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. We traveled through Canterlot, the hospital seeming miles away. Aside from a fit of coughing I'd have every now and then, the trip was silent. Some ponies that were wandering about at night stopped and watched us, bowing to the Princesses as we passed. Finally we made it to the hospital, the nurses rushing from behind the counter immediately upon our arrival.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you here?" One of the nurses asked.
"This man is critically injured; please see to his injuries right away." She replied.
"Yes ma'am, right away." The nurse replied.
She was a white pony with lime green hair and a similarly colored cross on her flank. I was escorted down the hall and into a room that looked exactly like the one I had been treated in in Ponyville.
"Please set him down here, the doctor will be in shortly." The nurse said to Itachi. He nodded and helped me onto the bed. The others stood aside and let the nurse pass before entering the room.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"We'll discuss that after you're treated." Princess Celestia replied. Just then the doctor rushed in, pushing his way through the others and emerging on the other side of them.
"What in Equestria happened to you?" He asked. I opened my mouth to respond but I was interrupted by Twilight.
"Changelings attacked the Grand Galloping Gala." She said.
"What? Changelings you say?" He asked in shock. She nodded.
"That's not good at all." He said approaching me.
He was about to remove my cloak to examine my injuries, but before doing so he stopped and turned back to the others.
"Please allow me to assess his injuries in private, if you'd please." He said.
"As you wish," Princess Celestia said. With that her and the others turned and left the room, closing the door as they left.
A few minutes later the doctor was examining my injuries, prodding my muscles and performing other kinds of tests I didn't really see the point in. After a few minutes of this he stood up and looked me over from head to toe.
"Well from what I can gather, you have three broken ribs, a dislocated left arm, and massive blood loss from the punctures on your arm and shoulder." He said.
"You said my arm's dislocated, but I don't feel a thing." I said.
"You may not feel anything, but it's most certainly dislocated." He said walking over to a shelf.
"I do have another question about your torso." He told me.
"No, it's not from the Gala. It happened long ago." I answered without the question.
"That's not what I was going to ask. It's obvious it didn't happen at the Gala, so what the hell was it?" He asked.
"You wouldn't understand," I replied.
"Try me," He said glancing over his shoulder in amusement.
"It's a long story," I warned.
"We've got time. It'll take a little while to treat your injuries and mend your bones. Besides, I've got your medical records right here, and it says your muscles had been nearly disintegrated not three weeks ago. You're almost certain to have more internal injuries, albeit not as severe, but we'll have to treat them before they get out of hand." He said.
"Fine, if you insist," I said.
As the doctor treated my wounds I told him the entire story of how my torso had gotten like this. I even explained the scar across my chest. By the time I had finished, he had hooked me up to an IV, re-located my shoulder, and bandaged my wounds.
"I see, so that's what happened, is it?" He asked as he finished wrapping my right arm. I nodded.
"Well it seems like this Hidden Leaf Village has some serious talent in the medical department." He said.
"They do. In fact, we have the best medical Ninjutsu user in the world as our Hokage." I said.
"Is that so? Well I'd love to meet them." He said.
"I don't think that'll be possible." I said. He shrugged.
"Oh well, a man can dream, right?" He said standing up.
"I guess," I replied.
"It'll take a specialized team to mend your bones, so I'll send them in right away." He said as he turned to leave.
"Thanks," I said.
"No problem," He said as he walked through the door and shut it behind him, leaving me to my thoughts.
I sighed and began replaying the events of that night in my head.
It's obvious Princess Celestia and Discord have a history, though what history I'm not entirely sure. I thought.
That Discord is going to be a pain in the ass, I can already tell. If he can really trick my Sharingan, I'll be next to useless in a fight against him. Hmm, maybe I could convince Itachi to help me train. Yeah, that'd be nice. Maybe once this is all over, I can even-
My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and a team of nurses entering. They were all unicorns, their manes different colors of the rainbow. They surrounded my bed and looked down on me.
"This'll hurt a little, so try to bear with us." The nurse with a purple mane said.
"I can handle it," I said.
"That's good. Alright girls, let's do this." She commanded them.
They each closed their eyes and an aura that matched their mane surrounded each of their horns, magic surrounding my left arm. After a few seconds a pain like my arm being torn off shot from my arm as the bone started to be healed. I winced from the pain, my face beading with sweat. The pain continued for what seemed like an agonizing eternity before they stopped. They each opened their eyes, panting heavily. Sweat was beading down each of their faces.
"Alright, there's your arm; now your ribs. Come on, we can do it ladies." The purple maned nurse said.
They each nodded and closed their eyes again, this time surrounding my stomach with their rainbow colored magic. The agonizing pain resumed and forced me to scream with pain. After another agonizing eternity the nurses stopped.
"There, your bones are completely restored to their former condition," The purple maned nurse said between breaths. I had to catch my breath too, having screamed my head off from the agonizing pain.
"Thank you so much," I managed to wheeze out.
"You're welcome. Do try not to do anything rash, okay?" She pleaded. I nodded.
"The doctor will be back in in a few minutes to treat your internal injuries." She said.
I nodded once more and each of them turned and walked through the door, closing it behind them.
As I was waiting for the doctor exhaustion began to take hold of me, making my eyelids heavy. I tried to stay awake, opening my eyes as often as I possibly could. A few minutes later the doctor entered the room.
"Ah, I see you're about to fall asleep. Good, go ahead and do that; it'll make it a hell of a lot less painful for you that way." He said grinning.
Upon hearing that I closed my eyes and resigned myself to exhaustion brought sleep. A few hours later I was awoken by the sound of the door opening and closing. I looked around quickly to see that the others had entered the room.
"Oh, you're awake," Twilight noticed.
"How are you feeling?" Rarity asked walking up to my bedside.
I raised my hand and wiped the sleep from my eyes before answering.
"Well, I'm not in pain," I answered.
Rarity smiled with what seemed like relief.
"I'm glad," She said.
I glanced over her shoulder to see my bloodied cloak hanging on a coat rack. My eyes widened as I realized I wasn't wearing it and I quickly looked down at my torso. Luckily it had been wrapped completely in bandages and hid my discolored skin.
"What's wrong?" Rarity asked.
"Nothing," I replied.
"Well now that you're awake, we can finally discuss our plans to take care of Discord." Twilight said.
Rarity looked between me and the others.
"Actually, Princess Celestia, if it's not too much to ask, I think we should let Tid rest for now." She said.
Princess Celestia smiled warmly at her.
"You're absolutely right, Rarity." She said. Princess Celestia turned to the others.
"Come on everyone, we'll return in the morning." She said.
The others nodded and followed the two Princesses out of the room, Rarity being the last to leave. As the door closed behind Rarity I lay my head back and let out a big sigh.
"Recovering sucks," I said before closing my eyes and returning to sleep.
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Me: Seems like Tid is out of commission once again.
Twilight: What are we going to do?
Me: Wait for the next chapter, that's what. Anyway, as always, favorite, follow, and please leave a review! I'd love to hear how you guys think I'm doing, as well as any suggestions you might have! See you next time!