(Skies)
(10 minutes later)

Zeko floated along gently on a small cloud of sand, taking his time in going towards his goal. “Delivering a... whatever she said the name of the damn thing was. This is going to be very boring I can tell already.” As he drifted through the skies he teenager took the time to think about various things that have occurred over the last few weeks in his life... going so far as to consider the few months he’s spent in Equestria. His thoughts were cut short as he saw Ponyville in his sights and decided to quicken his pace to see what he had to deliver. “And here I thought I was done with D-rank missions.”

“ZEKO!” He’d heard a familiar bubbly voice scream, causing him to look down and see Pinkie Pie jumping up and down with her arms flailing next to a giant cake being carried on the shoulders of a larger than average red stallion with the Mane six helping to hold the massive confectionary with ropes, a trampoline behind him, and a sphere of mana surrounding the cake. Two earth ponies stood behind and looked between the cake itself with concern and the train just ahead of the group. “Ok everypony... We’re almost there.”

The train car grew closer and closer as the group approached and Zeko floated down to greet the hyperactive pink mare and the group carrying the massive cake. “Please don’t tell me this is the delivery I have to help with.” Zeko stated as he jumped from his sand platform to the ground, his weapon having been left at his residence due to the nature of his job.

“Okay! We’re here, now all we need to do is get the Marzipan Mascarpone Merengue Madness into the...” As Pinkie opened the small boxcar door she saw that the giant confection had no chance of going in on its own. “Train?” Zeko stepped forward and grabbed the sphere surrounding the cake, carrying it to the boxcar and to the surprise of everyone there... walked through the wall. The protective sphere was left outside of the wall.

Twilight was the most shocked considering she’d had the teenager lost his various abilities to her and even went so far as to pull out her notebook to chart down the new skill. “Phasing through solid objects... when did you learn this?!” She got close to Zeko as the rest of the Mane six piled into the boxcar but he only stepped back as the train engine fired up and Pinkie began to describe the flavor of the Marzipan Mascarpone Merengue Madness to her friends.

“Well it’s not new... but it’s not really old. I haven’t fully figured it out but I’m starting to learn a little more about it. But right now I don’t know enough to tell you what it really is.” Zeko said as he went to lean against a wall right as a heavy accent filled his ears.

“Your silly cake will not be winning this competition... For I Gustave Le Grand will win the competition with my-“ A flourish of a white covering allowed the griffin to reveal. “My Exceptionally Exquisite Eclairs!” The group was blinded by a bright light that turned out to be a personal spotlight which was discarded immediately. “They will surely win the competition and crown me Le champion!”

“Not a chance Le Grand.” A white tarp covered cart was wheeled in and behind it was the expert of doughnuts, Pony Joe.

Zeko leaned off the wall and walked into the next car, uncaring for the idle chatter of the dessert competition going on in the background. “I’m not here to worry about their bickering, it’s the job I have to worry about.” Zeko said to himself as he checked the luggage in the room and made sure there weren’t any objects that could take him off guard or risk the delivery going anything other than smoothly.

An object hitting the ground behind him caused him to draw a chakra rod and ready his Rinnegan but he calmed down once he saw that it was just a small bag falling over. The silence was broken by a pinching feeling on Zeko’s neck, followed by him grabbing and throwing a small insect away and feeling a small bump on his neck. “Hmm... A bite...”A familiar voice rung from Zeko’s head.

“Do I want to know why you decided to be here at the worst possible time? I’m on a harmless mission so leave me alone.” The white haired ninja walked towards the door to go back to the car with the desserts.

“Unfortunately whatever that bug was must’ve done something since I’m not going anywhere.” Zeko shook his head and tried his best to will the less than desirable voice away but to no avail. The sand demon was unable to be willed away. “Don’t think of this as me taking over, I don’t know why I’m stuck here with you instead of me pushing you away.” The sand demon explained to the surprise of Zeko who quickly used his Rinnegan to look for the insect that bit his neck.

“There’s nothing else here but whatever happened is starting to make me feel weird...” Zeko looked at his hands and saw that his clothes started to grow around him. “What the hell?!” He looked at the luggage near him and went to it, emptied it out and found a mirror which he used to look at himself and see that his clothes hadn’t grown.

“Looks like you’ve shrunk boy, it seems like you’re twelve again.” The sand demon said but it fell onto deaf ears once Zeko had seen that his eyes stayed the same but he started to notice that his stomach was burning and tore through his top to see a black spiral appear on his stomach. “Now that doesn’t make much sense. You aren’t the host of Shukaku anymore so why is the seal there?”

Zeko took five deep breaths as he took his sandals off and his ripped top as well, then proceeded to cuff his pants and tighten the waist. “I’m at least gonna be presentable if anything else happens. But my top priority is making sure...” Zeko stopped once he’d heard something strange but paused when he realized the odd sound was his own voice. Whatever had happened to the previous young adult didn’t just give him the appearance of his younger self but he’d actually reverted back to his preteen state. “I-I’m gonna...”

“Gonna what? What will you do little boy?” A voice spoke from seemingly everywhere, intimidating Zeko as he scanned the room for any sign of an enemy but found nothing in the vicinity that was a threat to him. “Oh you’re looking for me? Sorry to say but I’m not near you... But shortly we’ll be acquainted with one another very shortly.” At that proclamation the train shook violently.

“The hell?!” Zeko brought out one chakra rod

“There’s something else on this train.”

Zeko went to the car with the desserts and saw multiple dents in the walls of the car, with more coming in. “Looks like the best thing is- Taking the fight off the train?” Zeko paused when he heard his voice and fully heard how young he sounded before jumping out a window cross armed. Looking back at the train going down the tracks from a steep incline he saw the culprits of the attack.

“Ah those bug like ones. Hmm these ones are different.” The sand demon saw that the changelings were in fact different than the regular variety in the sense that they had a yellowish coloration to them and a more feral appearance to them.

“These aren’t normal at all. And those weapons look like the ones those Minotaurs had... this could be bad.”

The changelings looked up at the falling human and quickly changed their target from the boxcar to him and flew towards him weapons in their hands. As Zeko fell he managed to count his assailants and saw that there were six in total; one with a battleaxe, two with swords, and the remaining three had bows with full quivers on their hips. The odd thing was that they all had armor that fit them and their chitinous bodies perfectly. “Don’t kill him!” One snarled as they flew down the slope of the land. The bow users each fired a shot as the battleaxe wielder rushed after the volley and after the arrows were each crushed into dust he swung and clashed with the rod in Zeko’s hand.

“Why is he so strong?!” Zeko thought as he was sent careening into a small forest canopy, and ended up stuck in a tree. “Wait he’s not strong... I’m twelve!” The teen realized that his physical strength has changed along with his body. “Ok so I can’t rely on overpowering them physically, and I’m willing to bet my chakra is going to change too.” He stabbed a black rod into the tree but was confused when a pattern didn’t appear on it.

“This could be unfortunate for you brat. It seems that you’re starting to forget some things you taught yourself.” The sand demon said as Zeko struggled to remember the jutsu he was trying to apply but couldn’t bring back any memory of it. The sound of falling trees let Zeko know that he had to start moving but decided to begin a better plan than running and hiding.

The changelings flew through the forest, blade users chopping down trees as they went. “Where could he be? The effect of the Queen’s spell should’ve started to work.” A raspy feminine voice spoke.

“I’m not sure but I’ll chop down every tree in my way until he falls down with it.” The fall of another tree was followed by a springing sound and a scream. The battleaxe user was relieved of his arms and his axe fell to the ground and the other changelings took notice of the wire coming from the branches of the fallen tree and the green blood slowly dripping from it as their ally screamed in pain.

“Ok so he’s not fighting anytime soon, now-“ Zeko stopped his thoughts as he started to get a pounding headache. “I- I just-“ He grabbed his head before he slipped from his perch and was caught by the female bow user.

Two of the others helped their injured partner up, leaving the axe behind. “Do I get an extra reward for catching him? Praise or even promotion?” She beamed at the idea but her groaning associate brought her back to reality and made her realize their mission was mostly complete.

A sword user spoke up. “None of us get anything until he’s at the hive, so come on!” He led them out of the forest and into the cloudless sky above.

“What’s happening to me?”

==============================
(Hidden Leaf Village)

“Huh?!” Nouka stopped causing Jenki to bash into him, and fall backwards.

The green haired boy rubbed the back of his head in frustration and looked up at his older friend. “Why’d you stop when I was right behind you?” He got no response. “Nouka? Hello?” He walked around his friend who was starting to sport a thousand yard stare.

“I’m not sure... But my fifth sense is telling me Zeko is weaker now...”

“What do you mean weaker? Just cause he’s in rainbow-ponyland doesn’t mean he’d stop training.” He dusted himself off and popped his neck.

Nouka looked over towards Kotetsu’s village with an expression of confusion. “No not like soft. Like his strength just... got reduced. Almost like- I dunno but he can handle whatever it is.” Jenki only stared at his friend as he thought to himself.

“He might be a little slow sometimes but he still has his moments, so what does he mean by ‘reduced’?” He shook his arm before speaking again. “Well either way it’s not our problem right now so let’s get back to our drills.” He jumped over Nouka and followed his older friend after he started running, no longer concerned about the destructive artist’s premonition.

======

Author's Notes:

A bit shorter than some but it’s overdue, unfortunately there’ll be another break for a few months because I ship out for the army this coming Tuesday. But I’ll be back for Christmas and I’ll do my best for a longer chapter