(Hidden Sand Village)
(Day after the Reunion)

Kotetsu had to let Zeko’s parents know that their son had decided to go somewhere else for an inordinate amount of time to train and deal with issues there; “He’s staying somewhere else to train for a while, he said he’ll be able to visit every now and then.”

“WHAT?!” Needless to say it wasn’t going to go well but Kotetsu never expected to nearly go deaf

“Damn! No coming back now, there’s problems that he felt like he could deal with so he’s gonna-“

“No he’s not!” Zeko’s mom interrupted. “You better go tell him that he needs to be here strengthening our ties to the other villages.” Kotetsu scoffed once he remembered what she meant

“Ok I’ll try to convince him but he was pretty sure that he would-“

“WE DON’T CARE! BRING HIM BACK!” They yelled simultaneously forcing Kotetsu to cover his ears and run outside where he was greeted by Nouka

“So that didn’t sound like it went too well.” Nouka said and received an angered look from Kotetsu who decided not to vent his anger yet and walked to the Village exit with Nouka in tow

“It didn’t go well at all, and now I have to tell Zeko what his parents said...we all know how this is gonna go...” The duo got onto Nouka’s clay dragon and took to the sky leaving some villagers surprised at the display of a rare technique.

==============================
(Appleloosa Outskirts)
(2 Hours Later)

“A Manticore on the loose and they sent the newest member? Granted I’m me but if it was anybody else this could be pretty damn dangerous.” Zeko commented while he walked through the town searching for the Braeburn from the bounty so he’d have a clue as to where to look but he found that most were scared of the Manticore being around.

“Excuse me sir...” Zeko turned and saw an Earth pony colt with ranchers clothing on. “Are you here to take the Manticore away?” The child asked with overly large eyes

“Why are children always adorable here?!” Zeko thought while he was mesmerized with the inherent cuteness of a child but broke out of his internal struggle in time to move the colt out of the way of a scorpion stinger. “Damn! That couldn’t have been closer, kid you need to get indoors now.” The colt ran into a saloon while the Manticore made itself better known to Zeko by giving off a lion’s roar, making townsfolk look out windows to see what was happening

“Is that a colt out there?” A yellow stallion questioned while witnessing the Manticore sizing up its prey.

“It looks like it but that thing on his back... it looks like a weapon. Is he with the Golden Blade?” A mare pointed out that the figure was armed and the yellow stallion noticed as well

“I hope he knows what he’s doing...” By this point Zeko dodged a swipe from the Manticore and another sting attempt

“Geez, I just gotta relocate you why are you so...” Zeko looked closer and saw that there was a scar and a purple mark on the Manticore’s head. Before he could further connect the dots the beast crashed into his chest headfirst to both of their displeasure, but before the fight could be finished the Manticore found its paws covered in water

“Wait did he turn into water?” The yellow stallion saw the display and slowly made his way to the door of the building while the Manticore found Zeko who was holding a hand over his chest

“Didn’t expect that but you’re the same one I fought when I first got here aren’t you? And by the looks of it I hit you harder than I thought.” The Manticore was dizzy from its injury and shook its head some to focus. Zeko made a chakra rod come from his finger and aimed at his target. “Just focus on pushing the piercing hard enough but not to kill... Almighty push.” The needle like rod shot to the Manticore and embedded into its cheek stopping it entirely while Zeko walked closer causing the town inhabitants to come out and investigate

“Did he stop it?” A mare questioned

“It’s not moving.” The colt from before stated while others watched on unaware of the conversation they couldn’t hear...

“Why can’t I move? What did that thing do to me now?” The Manticore struggled against its paralysis but could only shiver

“Calm down, I’m trying to help.” The Manticore looked up and noticed it was in a black void with Zeko who had his palms pressed together

“How are you supposed to help me? You’re why my head hurts now.”

“Talkative for an animal, I had to link our minds because you’d feel more pain than ever if I didn’t.” Zeko closed his eyes to focus while the Manticore decided to humor the one before him.

“So what do we do? They’re both just sittin there?” The yellow stallion asked while the sheriff walked forward

“We need get this Manticore out of our town, and fast. I don’t know much about magic but spells can’t last forever and this... thing that did it can’t keep it up.” The Sheriff said sternly but stopped once Zeko created mosquitoes out of water and sent them to the Manticore where they drank the white fluid from the wound on its forehead while the townsponies looked disgusted or completely covered their eyes

“That... oh dear Celestia...” The yellow stallion turned and took his hat off, revealing auburn hair. The mosquitoes drained the fluid away and flew to the ground where they burst leaving no trace that they were there.

“So that’s over... now I owe you a life debt so what do we do now?”

“You can come live in my part of the Everfree.” Zeko offered to which the Manticore agreed. “You wouldn’t have a name would you?”

“You may call me Lachlan.” Zeko removed the chakra piercing and explained to the inhabitants of Appleloosa what happened while Lachlan started towards the Everfree

“Well we’re thankful for what ya did. I’m Braeburn, a member of the apple family.” The yellow stallion introduced himself

“Like Applejack? That’s cool to know but we can’t delve into that, I have to let the guild know the Manticore isn’t a problem.” Zeko formed a cloud of sand and floated leaving a crowd of waving ponies behind him

“He’s a weird one but he got that done... I wonder how he knows Applejack.” Braeburn wondered while their savior drifted off

==============================
(??????)
(That same day)

A Red Claw member was rushing through a forest searching for something; “Where the? Ok Titus calm down... the door has to be around here somewhere.” The Griffin told himself as he continued going from tree to tree searching

“Having trouble there Titus?” A silken voice called out and was revealed to be a Unicorn mare sitting on a branch, twirling an arrow in her magical grip. “Because the door’s in this tree.” She jumped down and pushed a knot of bark on the tree inwards, opening a built in door that lead downwards

“That’s one way to have a hideout I guess..Titus walked in after the mare and noticed the door shut itself, scaring him noticeably while the mare was surprised at his lack of experience

“Wow Titus, I know you’re kinda new but you really gotta catch up on the basics.”

“Well not every member can be as good as True Shot.” Titus raised his hands over his head to add flair but didn’t get a response as the duo walked into a large crowd of Red Claw members seated in rows and sat down themselves once they saw one of their leaders walk drop from above the stage like area

“Why does Mistress Culina need all of us here?” True Shot asked and earned a shrug from Titus but there wasn’t a chance for further inquiries as Culina raised a hand and sent a weak shockwave through the room prompting silence

“I’m sure you wonder why you’re here and I can tell you that we may have a threat to our entire organization.” The crowd began to murmur before calming down to listen again. “A target we were sent after managed to kill five of our more experienced members and we cannot allow this, so I’ve gathered you here to select eight of you to go on a mission to alert the four other groups of the threat and to inform them of his abilities.” A hooded figure walked out and perused the crowd and randomly tapped the heads of eight individuals, True Shot and Titus included. The pairs had one pony and a member of another species: Pony and Griffin, Dragon, Yak, but one pair was two ponies leaving them the odd ones out

“These are the ones who will carry this out, I’m sure they will not fail.” The figure spoke in a raspy voice indicating their age and subsequent wisdom. The chosen eight walked to Culina and bowed their heads while she gave each pair an envelope

“Why do we need to do this? How dangerous is the target?” Titus thought as he took a red crystal from the robed elder and walked back down an aisle with True Shot who was looking over a map

“So we have to go to the Griffin kingdom... looks like they made one of the pair the corresponding species for the branch.”

“So we have to go to the Black Talon? My brother was recruited a few years ago...” Titus held a look of remembrance as the duo left through the same tree they entered through.

“You might see him while we’re there, maybe he can come back with us so you can catch up.” True Shot suggested to the currently daydreaming Griffin who continued to walk, narrowly avoiding a tree in his path before being guided back on course by the Unicorn.

“Oh, yeah let’s do that.” Titus said once he realized what happened and followed his friend out of the forest

==============================
(Ponyville)
(30 minutes after Zeko’s mission)

“I need to see if Rarity can make me a new shirt or just patch this one up.” Zeko said to himself as he fiddled with the hole left in said shirt due to the assassins. He came closer to the Boutique but as he went to knock the door opened and he was pulled in quickly and thrown onto a couch where Kotetsu was waiting.

“This gave me the wrong impression but I’m not wearing these.” The older teenager was seated next to a series of well made outfits next to him which he showed no signs of wearing

“May I know as to why you would deny such lovely articles of clothing and continue to wear your... strange attire?” Rarity gestured to Kotetsu’s asymmetrical shirt

“It’s a typical shirt in my village. And I’m not wearing that fancy shit.” Rarity was flabbergasted by his choice of words but said nothing and refocused on Zeko

“As for you... how did you do this?!” She held up a magazine with Zeko modeling for Photo Finish. “Why didn’t you tell me you were modeling for THE Photo Finish?! Rarity questioned Zeko with a ferocity that neither shinobi would have expected from her but their shock was reduced when she calmed down

“I didn’t know you’d be interested, next time I gotta model I can tell you.”

“That’s a generous offer. I’ll need time to prepare outfits.” Rarity nearly ran off but was stopped by Zeko getting in front of her and pointing to the hole in his shirt

“Do you think you can fix this? It’s a replica of a family member’s and it means a lot.” Rarity looked at the damage silently while Kotetsu looked on

“I could try, it is a different material than what I’m used to. How did this happen anyhow?”

“Caught on a thorn in the forest.” Zeko lied but luckily Rarity didn’t notice as she had walked back into her working area telling Zeko she would try to find a similar fabric allowing the cousins to leave. Once the two were outside Kotetsu decided to drop the information right onto Zeko’s head

“Your parents want you to come back and finish what they-“

“No thanks.” Zeko didn’t let him finish, “I’m busy here, I don’t really care what they want me to do.” Zeko interrupted and continued to walk, showing his cousin the town

“You live in this place? I don’t see how you do it, I’d have killed everything by now if I was stuck here.” Those within earshot practically scrambled to be as far from the pair as possible while Zeko looked at Kotetsu accusingly

“I don’t live here, I made a desert in the forest. And can’t you tell my parents I’m somewhere... practicing my courting skills?” Zeko shivered from disgust

“That might work, but before I do anything I gotta go get that treasure.”

“Let’s go together, I have something to test.” The duo jumped dozens of feet into the woods to the shock of many spectators including a certain Apple family member

“Did they just... I gotta tell Applejack.” Applebloom ran off to her family’s farm leaving the apple stand she was at

==============================
(Mountain Top)
(Minutes later)

“So this is where the dragon lived. And that’s where it is now.” Zeko pointed to a charred mass at the base of the mountain with occasional scavenging birds flying to it.

“Who gives a damn? The treasure!” Kotetsu ran into the cave leaving Zeko standing outside shaking his head.

“I just need to see if I can use gold dust... or maybe even gems for-“

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!” Kotetsu yelled right before a pillar of flame erupted from the cave

“The hell?!” Zeko thought right as the flames got near him but were split around him in a cone. “Thank you Rinnegan.” After the flames stopped Kotetsu appeared out of his Kamui next to Zeko

“Didn’t think that would work, there’s some lizard guys in there.” As if on cue two teenage dragons walked out, one was a crystal blue with green eyes and the other a reddish gray with silver eyes both were male.

The blue dragon spoke first, “Ash it looks like some hairless monkeys want our treasure.”

The dragon now known as Ash crossed his arms and glared at Kotetsu. “Yeah Selonus, do you think they know what dragons are?”

“We know what you are, and if you wanna keep your legs you’ll leave.” Kotetsu unsheathed his sword, then activated his Sharingan and Zeko grabbed Samehada’s hilt. There was silence as both sides eyed each other until a sole leaf fell to the ground prompting Zeko to rush Selonus and Ash to drive his claws into Kotetsu’s stomach.

“Looks like your friend couldn’t step up to a dragon after all.” Selonus said while struggling to hold Samehada away from his neck, but a smirk remained on his face. “All I need to do is hold you back then we’re gonna roast you.”

“So that’s all you had? Thought you’d be fun.” Ash grinned as Kotetsu coughed up blood, then Kotetsu threw his sword over to the mountain side where... he was standing making Ash do a double take. “What! How the?!” He looked at what was in his grip before it smiled and its mouth swelled and spat a large spider onto Ash’s face before turning into a swarm of spiders

“I never get sick of seeing that one.” Zeko commented as he slammed Samehada into his foe’s side, sending him straight into the wall next to the cave. “He’s not dead... I think.” By this point Kotetsu walked back to Ash who managed to get the spiders away and lunged to swipe Kotetsu with his tail but made a huge mistake when he tried to do so... he looked him in the eye

“Now the fun can begin.” Kotetsu said as he lifted his left arm and let thousands spiders pour from his sleeve and crawl to Ash who panicked instantly

“AAH! GET THEM OFF!” He screamed and tried to swat them off but couldn’t. Soon he found that he couldn’t move as they bit into his skin with no resistance from his scales and pumped venom that felt like fire in his veins. He could no longer scream since they started crawling into his mouth and biting his tongue, swelling it and his throat. As he blacked out he looked at the sky and saw that it was blood red with a moon that resembled Kotetsu’s eye.

Fortunately none of this truly happened to Ash but he would never forget it and would be traumatized for the rest of his life. “How’s that for fun?” Kotetsu sheathed his sword and walked into the cave where Zeko was waiting. “Now before I start filling my back with gold and jewels, here’s your tool pouch.” Kotetsu tossed a satchel to Zeko who caught it and looked inside

“This makes things a lot easier on me.” He said before enjoying the sight of someone essentially swimming in riches. After a few minutes of watching Zeko got to work on his idea and grabbed some harder looking gems and took his gourd out, sand came from the gourd and circled the gems at high speed. Kotetsu saw this and came over with hands filled with gold coins

“What’s going on here? Are-Are you mixing those with your sand... I get it, you’re making it tougher and those particles are sharp so it’s pretty much bladed. Zeko nodded at every sentence while Kotetsu put the gold to his eye and sent it to the Kamui with a flourish of his hands. “Magic at its finest, not even a trace of where it went.”

“As funny as that is shouldn’t you be getting back and telling my parents about my... charisma training?” Zeko tried not to laugh but let snickers out while his cousin gathered more treasure

“I guess I should, by the way something tells me that I’m going to be back to help you with something. I don’t know what or why but I got a feeling, and check this out it took me a while but I can do this now.” Kotetsu took his right arm and waved it over his face making it disappear, the rest of him following and lastly his arm all went into he space where his left eye had been.

“That’s pretty cool. I wonder what my Sharingan will do... If I ever get it...” Zeko continued to grind gems down as the sun began to set over the horizon

=======

Author's Notes:

Even more comes from the shadows. What can you interpret to happen? What will actually happen? Even I don’t truly know but I hope you’ll be there when it does