Chapter 39-The First Battle

Me: Alright, a lot is going to happen in this chapter, so get ready.

Twilight: It's never good when you say that.

Me: Just trust me. Anyway, 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 and decided to give trying to find that pony's weakness. I walked downstairs and found Rarity in the kitchen. She was making breakfast for both of us. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. "Good morning my precious jewel." I said to her. "Hello darling." She said. I walked beside her. "Rarity, I think the precautions I have taken so far are not enough. That being said I'd like to enter you into the database at the base." I said. "Enter me into the database? Why would you do that?" She asked. "Entering you into the database will allow you to enter and exit the base as you please. Without me entering you into the database, you wouldn't be able to visit me. Besides, this will ensure your safety, in case anything happens." I said. She remained silent for a while. "Alright." She said finally. I smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

We ate and then left for the base. At that moment I felt a surge of power enter the city. At that moment a figure wearing a cloak approached us. I tried but failed to see his face, the wind blowing the hood over his face. He stopped some distance away from us. "I have come to give you a message. Back off or the safety of you and Rarity will be put in jeopardy." He said. I walked in front of Rarity. At that moment there was a strong wind and his body dissolved into mist, floating away from us. At the same time the energy surge disappeared. "Tid, who was that?" Rarity asked. "I don't know." I said. I put my hand on Rarity's shoulder and we walked to the base. When we got to one of the hidden entrances, I looked around to make sure no one was looking. At that moment I activated my Mangekyou Rinnegan and kept my right eye open. A few seconds later a secret passage appeared. I turned to Rarity. "Now, before we enter, there is something I must tell you. I am going to have to go on ahead and disable security system. As soon as that is done, I want you to quickly make your way to the center room. Once you are there I will rearm the system and join you." I said. She nodded. "I should be able to make it within five minutes, so that is when you should leave. No later. Do you understand?" I asked. She nodded once more. I nodded and went into the base. I quickly made my way to the system operation room and flipped the switch. Right on cue Rarity walked into the base. She quickly made her way to the central room. I flipped the switch and the system started back up again. I met her in the main room. I walked over to the computer and typed the access code for the registry process. The floor opened up and revealed a platform with four holes where the one who was being registered would put their arms and legs. This was raised on occasion when the registered person was a human or some other species that stood on its hind legs. "Step right here, if you'd please." I said. She moved into the machine, placing her hooves in the holes. I moved over to the lever that controlled the machine. "Now, this will take quite a bit of Chakra, so you may feel a little tired afterward." I said. "I can handle it." She said. I nodded and flipped the switch. The machine powered on and started to register her Chakra. It would absorb Chakra from all over her body, so as to get a picture of her Chakra. I looked at the monitor. The progress was already fifteen percent done. The computer also assigned a color to the person's Chakra. Itachi's was red, mine was black, and Rarity's was purple. After a few minutes the registry was complete. The machine sank back into the floor as Rarity stepped down. She had trouble standing. I rushed over to her and helped her stand, putting her arm around me. I had to stoop down a little to reach her height. "Come on, I'll take you home so you can rest." I said.

After I walked her home, I went back to the base. A few hours later, after heavy thinking, I requested a meeting with the Council. The meeting was granted and I met with the princesses later that evening. We met in a secure room in the castle in Canterlot. "Hello everyone. Thank you for giving me this chance to meet with you all." I said. Princess Celestial nodded. "Now, I'll get into why I called you here." I said. I pulled out a scroll that contained a map of Equestria and Beyond. I rolled it out over the table. I also pulled out a bunch of figures I would use to represent forces. "Now, it seems that there are several forces we need to worry about. The first of which, is the Changeling Empire." I said putting a bunch of black figures on the map. I placed them on the map on top of the Broken Leylands section of the map. "Another of these threats is also the dark forces of Princess Luna, or Nightmare Moon as she is called." I said placing gray figures on the map somewhere to the south. "And the group of vigilantes that are determined to stop us." I said placing red figures in Las Pegasus. "Now, the main threat that we need to worry about appears to be the Changeling Empire. Their army, as I understand it, is several hundred thousand strong. This is much greater than our forces, so we will have to selectively target key points in their empire." I said. The others thought this over. "So, what point do you plan to attack first?" Princess Cadence asked. "Well, there are twelve districts to the empire, one of which is damaged. I was planning on dividing the forces to attack another district with a large force, while sending a smaller force to take out the already damaged one. This way we can strike from multiple fronts simultaneously, therefor confusing and disorienting the enemy." I said. Princess Celestia thought about this. While she remained silent, Princess Cadence voiced her opinion. "I think dividing the forces is a bad idea." She said. "Bad idea?" I asked. She nodded. "We don't have any idea how many Changelings are stationed at each district, so dividing our forces may just result in our early defeat. You said it yourself, there are hundreds of thousands of them. Now, assuming that means there are at least two or three hundred thousand, and that those are divided evenly amongst the twelve districts, that means that there are just under twelve thousand at each district, best case scenario. This leaves our forces outnumbered three to one." She said. I stroked my chin. "I never thought about it that way before. It seems we are going to need a different strategy." I said. "What if there was a way to decrease the number of their forces before we attacked?" Twilight asked. "And how do you propose we do that?" I asked. "What if we invaded from the inside?" She asked. "Invaded from the inside? What, you mean a spy?" Cadence asked. Twilight nodded. "Who would we send?" I asked. They all thought about this. "I think I know who we could send." Twilight said. "Who?" I asked. She looked at me. "There is a unicorn by the name of Trixie. She is skilled with magic, and we may be able to get her to join our side." She said. "Do we even know where Trixie is?" Cadence asked. "She was last reported to be somewhere around here." Twilight said pointing to a section of the map to the north. "The Arctic North? What would she be doing up there?" Cadence asked. "To be honest, I don't know. However, she is still our best shot at making this plan work." Twilight said. "Then who will go to recruit her?" Cadence asked. "I will go. My Fire Style will keep me warm." I said. "No, you need to stay here. We can't afford anything to happen to you. We will have to send someone else." Celestia said. "Then may I suggest someone?" I asked. Celestia nodded. "I would like to send Itachi Uchiha." I said. "Itachi Uchiha, hmm?" Cadence said. I nodded. "He is the only one here other than me to have mastered the Fire Style. I also believe in his capabilities. Itachi can be quite convincing." I said. The others all talked amongst themselves about this. "Alright, we will send him." Celestia said. "Alright, I shall inform him when I return." I said. "Until we recruit Trixie, what are we going to do?" Twilight asked. "The best thing to do right now is to wait and strategize. If we charge in blindly, we'll get massacred." I replied. I looked at the other princesses for confirmation and they both nodded. With that the meeting adjourned.

I walked up to Princess Cadence. "Cadence, may I speak to you?" I asked. She nodded and followed me out of the throne room. When I was confident we wouldn't be overheard, I began. "Do you trust me?" I asked. "Do I trust you?" She asked. I nodded. "Why would you ask something like that?" She asked. "Forgive me, but I've just been thinking that you seem a little hostile of me. Is it because I was placed in a higher position than that of Shining Armor?" I asked. She hesitated. "I suppose I do hold a slight grudge against you. Forgive me; I've just been jealous of you, is all." She said. "Cadence, there is no reason to be jealous. Shining Armor's abilities in protection far exceed my own; of this I'm certain. Twilight has told me what he is capable of, and I have absolutely no intention of replacing him." I said. "That does make me feel better. Forgive me for holding a grudge." She said. "It's fine. Honestly, you're not the first person to hold a grudge against me. I have been disliked, even hated, by many people from all around the world. Quite frankly, I've gotten used to it." I said. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said. "It can't be helped. Anyway, that was all I wished to speak to you about." I said. She nodded and headed back into the throne room after a short while.

I went out to find Itachi. I was looking for around an hour before I found him conversing with Pinkie Pie in the park. I walked up to them. "Hello, Tid." Itachi said. "Itachi, I've come to tell you that you've been selected to travel to the Arctic North on a recruitment mission." I said. "The Arctic North?" He asked standing up. I nodded. "Who am I going to be recruiting? It must be someone very important, if you're having someone go all the way up there." He said. "You are to recruit a unicorn by the name of Trixie. As Twilight has informed me, she is very skilled in magic and we are planning to use her to thin out the opponents lines a little." I said; lowering my voice during the last part. "I see. And I have been selected for this mission because?" He asked. "Because you are the only person who can. I was going to do it, but Princess Celestia won't allow it. I suggest you because I believe in your abilities. You are, after all, stronger than I am." I said. He closed his eyes. "Alright, I'll go." He said finally. I nodded. "You are to report to the Council for more details." I said. He nodded and turned to Pinkie Pie. "Sorry, but we'll have to continue our conversation later." He said. "Pinkie Promise?" She asked crossing her chest and placing one hoof over her eye. "Pinkie Promise." He said doing the same. After that Itachi and I walked away. "You seem to have quite the friendship with these ponies." I said. "Well, I might as well make friends here. After all, it's not like we're not going to be here forever." He said. "Yeah, you're right. Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to go back." I said. "I see what you mean." He said after a short period of silence. I looked at the sky as we walked. "I've come to enjoy this place, and those in it. Our world was full of nothing but strife and war, whereas this place is full of peace and harmony." I said. "Funny you should say that during a war." He said. I chuckled. "You know what I mean." I said. He nodded. We stopped at the outskirts of Ponyville. "Well, I'll be seeing you when you return." I said holding out my hand. "That's right." He said taking it. We shook hands and then he walked out of the barrier. I stood there watching him for a while. "I have faith in you, Itachi." I said.

As I was walking to Rarity's house that night, I saw that she was outside waiting for me. "Hello Tid." She said. "Hello." I said. "Say, want to go for a stroll?" She asked. "Sure, sounds good." I said. We walked through the park, like we had done hundreds of times before. Eventually she stopped and looked at me. "Tid, I have to tell you something." She said. "What is it?" I asked. "I don't think I can handle it anymore." She said. "Handle what?" I asked. "This war. I wish you'd hurry up and end it already." She said. I looked at her. "What are you talking about? If I could stop it now, I would, and you know that. I'm not a miracle worker." I said. "Well, maybe you should be." She said. "Is something the matter? You don't sound like yourself." I asked. "No, nothing's wrong." She said. "I don't believe you." I said. Something didn't quite add up here. I started to grow suspicious. "Quick question." I said, activating my Mangekyou Rinnegan. "What is it?" She asked. "Who are you, and what have you done with Rarity?" I asked clenching my fists. She grinned. At that moment she launched green goo at me, binding me to a tree. I attempted to break free, but couldn't. "So, you finally figured it out, did you?" She said walking up to me. At that moment she changed form and revealed that she was Queen Chrysalis. "What have I told you about impersonating Rarity?" I asked her furiously. She dismissed the comment with a wave. "Anyway, I've come here to give you an ultimatum." She said. "An ultimatum? What are you saying?" I asked. "I'm saying that we have your precious gem, and if you want her back you'll do one task for me." She said. "What have you done with her?!" I asked. "Oh nothing for the moment. However, if you don't do this task, I can guarantee the same can be said in the future." She said. I clenched my fists. "What is it that you want me to do?" I asked. "I want you to kidnap either Vinyl Scratch, or her children." She said. "Why? What do you want with them?" I asked. "Well, basically the same thing I wanted last time. I would like to use Vinyl Scratch as breeding stock for my Changelings, but if I can't have her I'd like her children to raise as my own. They will make great subjects." She said. "You sick bitch!" I said. "Now, now, I don't think you're in a position to be making such comments. After all, you have to choose between the two things you hold dearest: your reputation, or your precious gem. Which will it be?" She asked. I sighed. I remained silent for a little while, debating on whether or not there was another way. "And just in case you're wondering, don't even think about trying to deceive me. She's in a secret place that would take you years to find on your own. You'd never be able to save her." She said as if reading my thoughts. "Fine, I'll do it." I said. She grinned. "Great. I'm glad you see things my way." She said. At that moment the green goo disappeared. "Now, you have three days to turn either Vinyl Scratch or both of her children in to me. You'll have to bring them to the Changeling Empire in the Broken Leylands. I'll be waiting there." She said. With that she vanished. I sank to my knees. "How did she manage to kidnap Rarity? I never even felt her presence." I said. Then it hit me. They must've simultaneously switched places, Rarity and Queen Chrysalis having the same energy levels. I gradually stood up and looked into the sky. "Three days to achieve this task. Can I actually pull it off?"

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Me: Will he be able to pull it off?

Tid: Will you knock it off already? We both know you already know what's going to happen.

Me: Can't you ever let me have fun?

Tid: Can't you ever let me have fun?

Me: I do, I do. Just trust me, this next chapter is going to be chock-full of great content. Anyway, favorite, follow, and leave a review! See you next time!