//------------------------------//
// Catch if Catch Can 
// Story: Adventures of the Equestrian Ninja 
// by hussbek 
//------------------------------//


ADVENTURES OF THE EQUESTRIAN NINJA



Chapter 34: Catch if Catch Can


*BOOOOOOOM!!!!!*

Normally when one hears that sound, it means something just exploded and it’s bad for everypony both far and near the source of the sound. Well that’s not what is going on despite hearing that, we locate the sound which came from Canterlot where at the Royal Palace within the barracks, the soldiers and cadets stood a very safe distance away from the training ground which is currently occupied by two combatants engaged in a heated spar.

Naruto kept jerking his head left and right to avoid incoming punches whilst backing away from the relentless assault from his sparring partner Luce Astro who suddenly stopped the assault and spun around to lash out with his tail towards his head like a whip. Naruto quickly ducked under the incoming strike and launched a chakra tendril to wrap around the tail, then he pulled back to fling Luce over his shoulder across the field.

Thinking quickly, Luce called upon his magic with the horn emitting a cyan aura as he called out “Escape Velocity!” a transparent dome surrounded him and levitated in midair as he came to a stop. Naruto quirked an eyebrow in interest of the new spell but snapped back into focus when he saw his opponent’s horn glowing again “Stellar Wind!” a star appeared overhead before a powerful gust of starry wind burst from it towards him.

Naruto formed a pair of chakra arms and weaved through a series of handsigns before calling out “Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!” he took in a really deep breath with his stomach bulging a bit as he brought a chakra arm to his mouth before blowing a massive gust of wind. Both gusts clashed in the middle, resulting in a strong shockwave that nearly blew the spectators away.

“Whoa, these guys are really going at it,” said a cadet.

“Tell me about, I kinda doubt anypony would want to face either of them in the field should they get any stronger,” said a soldier.

“Speed Star!” Luce shot off with a white aura radiating from his body like a comet at high-speed, Naruto summoned the Hoshi no Ha and transformed it into a shield to block the strike, however Luce continued with the onrush and began to inflict hits which Naruto wasn’t able to block in time.

“Shadow clone jutsu!” Naruto called upon a large number of clones around him only for Luce to take them down one by one until there were none left, however the original wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Luce stopped to look around, then he heard Naruto's voice right above him “Chakra Bullet: Rapid Fire!” he looked up to see Naruto launching a volley of white orbs down towards him.

“Circumstellar Disk!” a ring-shaped accumulation of stone debris swirled around Luce to block each and every one of the incoming projectiles before he retaliated with another spell “Binary Asteroid!” he conjured two large boulders that revolved around each other before launching them.

“Giant Rasengan Barrage!” Naruto summoned a pair of clones to help form two large spiraling spheres before diving straight towards the incoming boulders and rammed his technique into them, grinding both into pebbles before landing on the ground “Fire Lance!” multiple spears of flames appeared around him before shooting towards their target.

“Comet!” Luce conjured a gigantic ball of ice and rock and fired it, the comet slammed into the flaming spears which melted the ice but the rock part of it was in motion, Naruto formed large chakra arms and proceeded to rapidly punch at it, shattering into smaller pieces then he used his magic to pick them up and fling back at Luce who quickly set up a barrier to deflect them. The two were about to reengage in the spar when they heard a voice call out to them.

“Alright you two, that’s enough sparring for now,” they turned to see Shining Armor walking towards them with a smile on his face “But I gotta say, both of you really tore up the place,”

Naruto and Luce looked around to see craters and heaps of rocks surrounding them as well as the stunned looks from the cadets and soldiers that were watching them before turning back to Shining, feeling sheepish.

“Heh heh, sorry about that. I kinda went overboard there,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“I wish to apologize as well, captain,” Luce bowed his head in apology.

However Shining simply waved it off “Don’t let it get to you, this even tells us that the cadets have a lot of ground to clear if they want to keep up with you two. We hope to see you spar again, hopefully with me taking part,”

“I’m ready for you at any time, Shining!” said Naruto with a smirk which Shining responded in kind before walking away.

Luce turned towards Naruto and spoke “I’ll be going to rest for a bit,”

“Sure thing Luce, I’ll catch you later,” Naruto headed for the exit of the barracks, he glanced to side and saw most of the cadets swarming around Luce with looks of amazement and admiration “Just like how I used to look at Pervy Sage and Kakashi-sensei, because I wanted to be strong just like them,”

Due to the princesses being too busy to able to hold a conversation with earlier before the spar, Naruto was currently walking along the streets of Canterlot towards the exit whilst contemplating whether to fly and run, he snapped out of his thoughts when his ears picked a queer conversation between two aristocratic ponies whom he was passing by.

“Can you believe it? That rapscallion has made his appearance here in Canterlot,” said pony #1.

“As unbelievable as it is, the rumors are true. My brother just had his 24 karat carrot stolen last night, and the rascal actually had the nerve to leave behind a calling card of his thievery,” said pony #2.

“And apparently, your brother isn’t the only pony that has been robbed of their possessions,”

“I believe the scum’s name is…,” Naruto leaned a bit closer to hear more of this interesting story when one of the ponies suddenly hailed a nearby cab and they boarded it before leaving.

“Hmmm, sounds like a thief to me and a good one at that. But seriously…a 24 karat carrot? These high-class have some weird preferences,” said Naruto, he shrugged his shoulders before forming his chakra wings and making for Ponyville with the intention of getting some food to sate himself.



“Ahhh, now that hit the spot,” Naruto was smiling in satisfaction, having lunch over at Café Hay and was currently walking back to The Whirlpool to check up on sales as well as update a few of his pet projects “I better put a raincheck on revisiting Konoha and getting some more fuinjutsu scrolls from Pervy Sage without anyone seeing me though,” he had arrived at the door of the shop and grabbed the doorknob with his tail, ready to open it.

“I can’t believe that guy!”

Naruto was startled by the sudden outburst from within the shop, he even recognized the voice too. He opened the door and went inside to find Rainbow Dash hovering in midair with Trixie looking rather irritated for some reason much to his curiosity. Dash can be irritated for several reasons, like someone bullying her friends, proclaiming to be faster than her, long speeches, anything relating to slow, etc. etc. Admittedly the list is long.

Trixie perked up upon seeing the orange stallion enter the shop and smiled “Oh hello Naruto, how was your visit over at Canterlot?”

“Heya, it was okay…so what’s with the sour mood Dash?” asked Naruto as he approached them.

“Hi Naruto, it’s just that somepony stole something important from me last night,” Rainbow Dash grumbled out clearly upset.

Naruto was taken aback from the news “What? How did that happen?”

“Well, it was after I did some nighttime aerobatic training and I was on my way home…” Rainbow Dash began her story of what happened.


***Flashback***


It was night in Ponyville and Rainbow Dash was lazily flying low over the roofs of buildings after doing a few timed sprints to break her own records as well as brushing up on her flying skills.

“What a perfect time for a workout after that power nap today…I never would have thought of doing this kind of training if Naruto hadn’t given me these custom goggles of his, and I heard that the Wonderbolts requested for custom goggles too. And to think that I possess the second of its kind…I’m so lucky!” Rainbow Dash fondly prodded the goggles worn on her forehead.

She was currently flying over the town hall when suddenly a black silhouette leapt out from behind its spire straight at her. Rainbow Dash stopped in midair and was about to back away from whatever it was when she felt her goggles being grabbed and pulled from her hair much to her surprise which was soon replaced by anger. She turned to look at the perpetrator as Luna’s moon shone overhead to reveal that it is a male unicorn, though he seems to wear a black mask, a black vest with a gray shirt underneath it, a black fedora and trench coat long enough to be a cape.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?! Give it back, and who are you anyway?!” Rainbow Dash yelled out.

The mysterious pony seemed to shake his head whilst uttering ‘tsk tsk tsk’ in disapproval of the question “I should have known that a town like Ponyville wouldn’t be aware of me, but I guess I was hoping too much. Very well then, allow me to introduce myself…I am Umbra Yegg, the thief extraordinaire and the best escapologist in all of Equestria!”

Rainbow Dash momentarily stunned but her anger returned “A thief extraordinaire? Then why steal my goggles since it’s not exactly diamonds or any kind of jewelry?”

Umbra Yegg nodded in agreement while twirling the goggles in one of his hooves “True I wouldn’t have had a second thought about stealing a pair of mediocre goggles? But after overhearing a filly talk about its features, how could a thief like me ignore such a perfect tool?”

“Well I’m not going to let you take them!”

“I would like to see you try,” Umbra Yegg stuffed the goggles into a pocket on his vest.

At those words, Rainbow Dash shot straight at him with great speed, wanting to take him by surprise and grab her goggles. However Umbra Yegg simply stood there with barely a flinch then at the last moment took to the air with a backflip as Rainbow Dash passed right underneath him before he landed on the ground and took off with her in pursuit. Umbra Yegg turned from one street to another with Dash closing in, she was merely a few meters within when the thief stopped in one place for her to pass by yet again and ran into a nearby alleyway where he jumped up several wooden crates to reach up to the roof of a house there he leapt from one roof to another.

Rainbow Dash rose to the air looking absolutely livid, she flew after but this time was ready for any of his tricks “You can’t outmaneuver me forever! I’ll get you yet!”

Umbra Yegg flipped off the roof which he was on, sliding down from wall to wall before hitting the ground and was on the run, he continued to jump and flip whenever Dash gets close to him which only serves to anger her more. This continued until they found themselves in the middle of the park when Umbra Yegg suddenly spoke up.

“I believe it’s time I took my leave,” said the thief.

“Not with my goggles you won’t!” Rainbow Dash sped towards him faster than normal, suddenly his horn emitted grey aura and black ropes shot out from under his trench coat as they lunged at a surprised Rainbow Dash who couldn’t avoid them in time, wrapping her up before she crashed to the ground and skid to a stop before Umbra’s hooves.

“On the contrary, I will…oh? I see that you’re still not giving up,” Umbra was mildly impressed, seeing Rainbow Dash struggle to free herself from the enchanted rope.

“I want them back, you no good thief!”

“Hmm, to value this item so much…tell you what let’s have a game,” said Umbra.

“A game?” Rainbow Dash was confused at what he’s talking about.

“That’s right, if you’re able to catch me in my home turf. Then I’ll give them back to you, but you have only three tries and so far you used one,”

“I don’t care, I’m getting those goggles back!”

“We’ll see, till then…I bid you adieu,” Umbra Yegg then took out a grey ball and tossed it to the ground which released a cloud of smoke, then it cleared to reveal that he was gone and a card laid on the ground.


***Flashback End***


“…and it was an hour later that those annoying ropes disappeared, this was the card he left behind,” Rainbow Dash finished her story as she took out the card from her medallion and placed it on the counter for them to look. It was a grey card with a black silhouette of a unicorn wearing a fedora and trench coat, and a white moon as the background. Naruto took note of a heart drawn on the card with an arrow piercing through it, causing his eye to twitch rather quickly and a growing urge to unleashed an Naruto 2K barrage on him multiple times.

“There’s something else written here, meet me at Manehattan for another nightly date, my Rainbow Pursuer,” said Trixie.

…okay forget the 2K barrage, make it a 4k Rasengan barrage!

“Grrrr, that guy’s totally asking for it! I’m going to Manehattan and get my goggles back!” said Rainbow Dash.

“I’m coming along too, I don’t like the fact that the fact that he stole from you and tied you up either,” said Naruto.

“It’s no biggie Naruto, I can catch this guy on my own,” Dash protested.

“But neither of us have actually been in Manehattan, so we’ll need to learn more about the place before heading there,”

Rainbow Dash wanted to say more but remained quiet, seeing that Naruto had a point on what he’s talking about.

“Well if you two want to get to Manehattan, you’ll have to take the train to the northeast of Ponyville across a long railroad bridge to the city which is built on an island,” said Trixie.

“Thanks for the info Trixie, did you go there before?” asked Naruto.

“No, Trixie was planning to go there after her ‘performance’ in Ponyville,” Trixie looked depressed at the end of the sentence, Naruto felt bad for bringing up what happened when she first came to Ponyville. She still blames herself for that incident with the two Ursa, despite Naruto always telling her all is forgiven.

“Now that we know where and how to go, let’s start packing then head for Manehattan right now! I’ll meet you at the train station in twenty minutes!” said Rainbow Dash as she started flying out of the shop.

“Hey Dash wai-,” Naruto called out to her but she was already gone by then, he let out a sigh and turned to Trixie “Guess I’ll have to go and pack too, will you and Scoots be okay while I’m gone?”

“We’ll be fine, since you won’t be gone for too long. I’ll watch over the shop and keep records of any custom crystal requests,” said Trixie.

“Sure thing Trix, I’ll see you later,”

Trixie watched as Naruto walked out of the shop and let out a sigh “I wish that we get more time together if not for Twilight and others preoccupying him most of the time,”

Back as his home, Naruto went up to his room and packed up a couple of his clothes before descending towards his workshop to pick up some crystals as well as a few items which might serve as useful, sealing them all into his medallion. He wrote down a note for Scootaloo to inform her where he was going and reasons why before leaving for the train station. There he found Rainbow Dash there already waiting for him.

“What took you so long?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I had to pack a few stuff and leave a note for Scoots to know where I’ve gone,” Naruto replied.

“Well I’ve got the tickets, so let’s get going!”

“All aboard, train leaving for Manehattan!” the conductor called out as said train let out a loud whistle.

Naruto and Rainbow Dash quickly got on the train along with the other passengers, a few moments later the train slowly pulled away from the station and was soon along the rails with the duo watching the passing scene change from forests, plains for several hours until noticing that they’re moving across a very long railroad bridge over the sea. The conductor spoke up for the passengers present to hear him.

“We’re now drawing close to our destination, so please remain seated until the train comes to a complete stop at the Maneway Station. We hope you enjoyed the ride,” said the conductor. Naruto looked out the window and was surprised to see a large green statue of an earth pony standing on a small island, it depicted a mare wearing a robe and crown while holding a stone tablet in her left hoof and a raised torch in her right.

“Whoa, that’s pretty cool!” thought Naruto.

Sure enough, the train made it stop and the duo got off and marveled at the sight of the station’s interior with numerous ponies going in and out of the building. They made their way out by passing through the entrance, however the sight of the city truly stunned them. There are tall buildings and skyscrapers as far as they could see, asphalt streets with pony-drawn taxi carriages, elevated railways among others things they’re yet to see.

“Whoa, this is a pretty place. But how are we going to find Umbra Yegg?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Well the first thing we should do is find a place to stay while we’re here,” Naruto took out a brochure from the pocket of his jacket “Let’s see here….hmmm…here’s one, Manefair Hotel. All we have to do is follow the map here,” It took them a while along with a couple dead ends but they eventually arrived at the fancy establishment, there they paid for a twin room and settled it before taking to the streets.

“Ok so what’s next, how do we find this guy?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Naruto thought deeply, trying to recall something that Jiraiya told him when they were searching for Tsunade for her to become Hokage. He snapped back to attention upon hearing a growling sound, he turned to see Rainbow Dash clutching her stomach with a blush on her face.

“Sorry about that, I skipped lunch today. Let’s go find a place where we can get a bite to eat,” said Rainbow Dash.

That statement caused Naruto's eyes to widen in realization “That’s it, I remember now! Pervy Sage once told me that places like taverns or even restaurants are one can pick up all sorts of information, we’ll be sure to learn more about Umbra Yegg and how to find him,”

“Then it’s thanks to my gut that we have a plan,” Rainbow Dash spoke with smugness.

“More like reminding you to fill up your stomach,” Naruto smirked in reply, then a growl was heard but this time it came from an embarrassed blonde stallion.

“Same could be said for you,” said Rainbow Dash amusedly. The duo followed the map on the brochure map to locate a diner where they sat at a window seat and were looking through the menu when a mare lemon green coat and vermilion mane in a waitress uniform walked up to them with a smile on her face.

“Hello, how may I take your order?” she asked.

“I’ll take a coleslaw sandwich and orange juice,” said Naruto.

“For me it’s tomato cheese sandwich and a milkshake,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Coming right up!” the waitress walked off, it took about several minutes before she returned with a tray of their ordered food which she placed on the table before them “Here you go,”

“Thank you…by the way, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask,” said Naruto.

The waitress looked at him confusedly “Yes, what is it?”

“This is the first time my friend and I came to Manehattan from Ponyville and we’ve been hearing rumors about a thief who goes by the name Umbra Yegg,”

“Oh! So you’ve heard of him, Umbra Yegg is a thief well known for his ability to steal valuable items and never get caught no matter how hard they try. I hear he alerts the place that he’s going to rob ahead of time and then leaves behind his calling card after doing so,” said the waitress.

“I see, thanks for telling us about him,” said Naruto with a foxy grin, Rainbow Dash’s eye twitched in annoyance as she saw the waitress blush before walking away. “Okay then, let’s eat…Dash what up with the look?”

“It’s nothing! Let’s just eat and get out of here so we can find that guy!” Rainbow Dash started on her meal in a rather angry manner much to Naruto's confusion before he began on his own.

Later on, the duo were moving along the street in direction of the Manehattan Museum of Art. A place like that would definitely attract a thief like Umbra Yegg. They made their way inside and took in the sights of the many artifacts on display with one in particular being a golden scepter adorned with multiple gems.

“I bet Umbra Yegg would go after this scepter soon,” said Rainbow Dash.

“You might be right Dash, something like this would be too good for him to pass up,” Naruto nodded in agreement.

Then a pony wearing a black suit ran out of his office looking distress as he called out “Security! Security!” then a pair of Earth ponies wearing guard uniform ran up to him and stood with a salute.

“Sir, how may we help you?” asked one of the guards.

“I just received a message from Umbra Yegg, saying that he’ll be coming to steal the Gemmed Scepter tonight!”

“Not to worry sir, he won’t be able to get past us,” said the other security guard.

“That’s what you said last time and he got away with that priceless painting!” said the apparent curator.

Behind the hallway, Naruto and Rainbow Dash were listening in on the conversation attentively then they looked at each other and nodded in affirmation as they left the building back to the hotel.

“So he’ll be coming tonight huh? That’s when we’ll catch him!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, so we’ll be staking out the museum tonight,” said Naruto.



Hours later and Celestia’s sun went down with Luna’s moon rising into the night sky. Naruto and Rainbow Dash were perched on top of a building and looking down below at the museum where they saw a lot of the security guards patrolling the area with searchlights around the place.

“Whoa, these guys really came prepared,” said Rainbow Dash.

“True, though it would have been easy for me,” said Naruto amusedly.

“Heh, we both know that your ninja skills would have gotten you in and out without a hitch,”

Next thing they knew was that the power was suddenly cut off and lights went out, covering the place in darkness. Naruto immediately activated his Aura Sight and saw multiple magic signatures running around confusedly, telling him that those are the security guards. But there was one magic signature that was moving in a well-coordinated manner away from the others which piqued his curiosity, he saw it move around and stopped in one place before moving again but this time at a much faster rate and was soon out of the building which was more than enough to tell him exactly who it was.

“Dash let’s go! Umbra has stolen the scepter and is on the move!” Naruto took off, leaping from one roof to the other.

“Gotcha!” Rainbow Dash flew after him in anticipation of her second encounter with the thief.

Elsewhere, Umbra Yegg had just landed on top of a skyscraper with a black satchel at his side. He pushed up the goggles to his forehead and turned to look at it with a nonvisible smirk of his face.

“Once more a successful operation, these goggles certainly make my job much easier than ever before. Too bad that they weren’t able to give me a good chase since I wasn’t seen. Oh well, I’ll return to the hideout and get ready to cash it in,” said Umbra, he was about to leave when a voice suddenly called out from behind.

“Not so fast, Umbra Yegg!”

He turned towards the voice to see a familiar Pegasus, he was about to greet her when somepony landed next to her. It was a male unicorn with an orange coat and yellow spiky mane while wearing an orange and black hoodie jacket, a medallion, headband, and a pair of goggles similar to the one that he stole from the Pegasus.

“Ah my dear Rainbow Pursuer, you came just like I thought and I see that you brought along company. So pray tell, who might he be?” asked Umbra.

Rainbow Dash was about to introduce Naruto but he beat her to it “The name’s Naruto Uzumaki and Dash just so happens to be my best friend, I came along to help catch you and take back her goggles,” he glared at the unicorn heatedly especially for that nickname he gave to Rainbow Dash.

“Ah so you must be the famous Naruto Uzumaki, the owner of The Whirlpool as well as the creator of those special crystals. They may not be gems but they certainly possess great value amongst the nobles, not to mention that you made these goggles which I must say is of great help in my work,” said Umbra.

“Yeah well not for long, we’re gonna get my goggles back and return the scepter to the museum!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Like I said before, I would like to see you try my Rainbow Pursuer,”

“Stop calling her/me that!!” both Naruto and Rainbow Dash yelled simultaneously.

“Oh my, did I strike a nerve?”

Both ponies decided to stop talking and charged straight at the thief who turned to run and jumped off the roof onto another one, Naruto did the same much more easily since it’s nothing compared to what he does back at Konoha. They moved around any obstacles like water towers or vents while jumping from roof to roof, Naruto saw for himself how Umbra’s movement shares similarities to his freerunning skills. Umbra Yegg vaulted over two rows of vents before finding himself at the edge of the building, however the gap between it the other building ahead was too big for him to jump across.

Umbra gazed downwards for a split second before taking a running start and jumping of the edge, Naruto skidded to a stop to see Umbra land on a fire escape and proceeded to climb up before diving into an open window. Naruto was impressed but performed a chakra-enhanced jump as well then used a Pegasus dash in dive into the window too and resumed the pursuit through the hallway of the apartment so Rainbow Dash remained outside but flew around to the other side of the building in hopes of heading the thief off. The duo crossed through the hallways whilst somersaulting and vaulting over card boxes and luggage obstructing the path. Umbra fired a magic bolt to blast open a window which he jumped through then he shot out an enchanted rope to latch onto the edge of roof and zipped up to it

He heard the sound of flapping and quickly jumped to the side right as a rainbow blur passed by before slowing down to reveal that it was Rainbow Dash “You’re not getting away!” she launched a straight punch at Umbra who ducked under it and retaliated with a punch of his own, she flapped her wings hard enough to move backwards and out of range before planting both hind legs on the ground then kicked off to lunge at him. Umbra fired a rope with the intention of binding her but this time Rainbow Dash was ready as she performed a barrel roll to evade before landing a punch on the chest. Umbra grunted in pain from the impact, he raised a hoof and several ropes shot of the sleeve at her but then something whizzed past and sliced the rope to bits before embedding into the wall revealing to be black metallic throwing stars, he glanced to the side and noticed Naruto running towards them.

“Fighting both of them at the same time won’t end well for me, I need to keep away from them,” thought Umbra, he flicked his sleeve a bit for a grey ball to fall out and suddenly release a cloud of black smoke to impede their vision.

Naruto formed chakra arms and weaved through a set of handsigns “Wind style: Wind Blast!” he breathed in before opening his mouth to expel a gust of air to blow away the smoke to reveal only Rainbow Dash but no sign of Umbra Yegg. He looked around sharply until he caught sight of the thief swinging away on one of his enchanted ropes “He’s heading that way, come on Dash!” Rainbow Dash flew after him and for Naruto, he jumped off the roof and landed on the side of a building using chakra to cling onto it before running after them whilst jumping from one side of the building to the other.

The chase took them all the way to a major commercial intersection which is brightly adorned with billboards and advertisements. Umbra continued to swing and took to the left with Rainbow Dash close behind, with the gap between buildings being too wide Naruto jumped off the side which he was currently on towards on then he channeled chakra to his fore hooves to form hands which grabbed onto a streetlight to swing from one to another till he was back on top of the rooftops. Umbra was at the arc of his swing when something whizzed by and cut it, forcing him to land roughly on the ground. He got to see Naruto and Rainbow Dash standing before him with frowns on their faces.

“I have to admit, nopony has ever given me such a chase unlike you two since the start of my career,” said Umbra.

“Thanks for the compliment but we’ll be taking back my goggles and the scepter,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I would like to but…”

“But what?” asked Naruto cautiously.

*Hooooooooot*

“I have a train to catch,” Umbra took a step back over the edge of the roof.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow Dash and Naruto lunged forward in an attempt to grab him, however Umbra took out a yellow ball from his vest and threw it at them to release a yellow cloud, Naruto got ready to blow the smoke away but Rainbow Dash suddenly flew through it and started moving around sluggishly.

“Dash what are you-whoa!” Naruto shot out a chakra tendril to wrap around Rainbow Dash and pull her back before she crashed into a building and watched as Umbra Yegg landed on top of a train which sped along an elevated railway as he made his getaway with a nonvisible smirk on his face. Naruto looked back at Rainbow Dash to see that her eyes were glazed over and started to shake her “Hey Dash, snap out of it!” she finally came back to normal and looked around confusedly.

“Huh what? Naruto, what happened and where’s Umbra?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“He used some sort of powder that you jumped through and it made you start acting weird, I had to catch you when you were about to crash into a building so he got away,” said Naruto.

“What?! And we were so close too! We need to go after him!” she yelled in frustration.

“No, right now we’ll need to return to the hotel and rest before planning our next move. Who knows what side effect that powder would have on you,”

“But-” Rainbow Dash wanted to protest but Naruto's look of concern placated her to nod reluctantly and they made their way back to the hotel. Naruto checked to make sure that she was okay before going to bed, but Rainbow Dash remained awake and was looking out the window for a little while longer before finally going to sleep as well.



Morning had arrived and Naruto woke up feeling refreshed, he turned to greet Rainbow Dash only to see that she was gone much to his shock.

“Dash? Dash where are you?” Naruto ran out of the room and into the streets, quickly activating his Aura Sight to track her down, it took him a while but he finally located her magic signature and it was situated on top of a tall skyscraper with a giant sculpture of a horse’s head on top “What are you doing up there?” he started running at moderate speed towards the building to avoid attention from the passerbys. Upon arrival, he started running up the side of the building not knowing that a young filly saw him and wondered if he was a superhero who was missing his costume. He finally got to the top and found Rainbow Dash sitting there, sensing the depression from her “There you are Dash, I was looking for you,”

“Oh hey Naruto, I just wanted to be alone for a bit,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I understand, but you shouldn’t let this bother you. We’ll be sure to catch Umbra this time,” said Naruto, he was surprised when she turned to look at him with eyes full of frustration.

“But this is our last chance! If we lose then he gets to keep my goggles. They were a gift from you and it really upsets me that a thief is using it to steal stuff,”

Naruto walked over and sat next to her before using his tail to wrap around as a sign of comfort “Don’t say that, this isn’t the confident speedster of Ponyville that I know. Now isn’t the time for you to lose your confidence but the time for you to get yourself fired up like you always do. We may have seen what he can do, but it’s time for him to see what we can do. Besides he got lucky since we couldn’t really go full force or we might end up damaging part of the city,”

Rainbow Dash looked at Naruto's look of confidence and faith with wonder, then a smile slowly appeared on her face as she stood up and punched him lightly in the shoulder

“Yeah, you’re right! I wasn’t being myself until now. Time to show Umbra why I’m the fastest pony in all of Ponyville!” said Rainbow dash, full of her usual confidence.

Naruto smirked in agreement “You got that right! Now let’s go get some food and prep for tonight,” he started running back down the skyscraper with Rainbow Dash following him.

Night fell once more over Manehattan, Naruto and Rainbow Dash were sitting on top of a building once again in anticipation of Umbra Yegg’s next move.

“You got anything from your clones yet?” asked Rainbow Dash curiously.

“Nothing yet Dash,” Naruto replied, he had created Shadow Clones to stake out areas of great importance like jewelry stores, banks and others since the museum had already been struck. So far he hasn’t gotten any feedback from the- “Hang on, I got him! He’s on the run after stealing a large diamond from a jewelry store!”

“Okay then, lead the way!” she followed after Naruto as he used the memories from the clone to trace Umbra for the final pursuit. It took a couple jumps and wall runs but they soon located the evasive thief running along the rooftops, he skidded to a stop when they landed before him, looking ready as ever.

“Back again eh? You do know that this is your third and final attempt in capturing me and regaining your goggles right?” asked Umbra.

“Yeah we know, but there’s no way we’re going to let you get away this time!” said Naruto.

“That’s right, this time we’re going for broke!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Very well then, let the final chase begin!”

The chase started once more and it was apparent that Umbra had been holding back on their last pursuit for he began by throwing red balls towards Naruto and Rainbow Dash whilst a rope shot out from underneath his coat to latch onto another roof and was pulled towards it, Naruto formed a chakra arm to knock the red balls away with a backhand before they went after him.

“Dash, curl up for a fastball!” Naruto called out, Rainbow Dash immediately did so as he formed a chakra arm to grab her, then he took aim and flung her straight at Umbra. However he seemed to have noticed as he darted to the side and was about to attack her but then noticed a white rope made of energy attached to her. Rainbow Dash grabbed onto it and pulled as hard as she could and Naruto came speeding towards Umbra and sent him flying with a shoulder barge.

Umbra Yegg flipped in midair and connected the magic from his horn onto the trench coat, causing it to harden and was gliding away from them. Then he reached into his vest and started throwing multiple colored balls at them. Naruto and Rainbow Dash darted from side to side in order to avoid with the pony ninja using the chakra tendrils to whip them out of the way before they discharged the powder, however some had already discharged and a gigantic multicolored cloud hovered between them and the thief.

“How do we get past it?” asked Rainbow Dash worriedly.

“Don’t worry Dash, I got a jutsu just for this! Wind Style: Wind Tunnel jutsu!” A large gust of wind swirled around Naruto before he thrust his fore hooves forward with the gust following his command to pierce through the cloud of power and forming a tunnel straight at Umbra “Go get him Dash!”

“Got it!” Rainbow Dash flew through the tunnel as fast as she could, unexpectedly the wind tunnel actually increased her velocity rapidly to the point that no sooner did she exit from the tunnel that there was a loud bang and a vibrantly colored ring expanded from the shockwave and a rainbow wake trailed behind a surprised Rainbow Dash “Did I just do the Sonic Rainboom?” then she smirked “Sweet! No way’s Umbra getting away from me now!” she was immediately upon a stunned Umbra and slammed right into him, sending the thief crashing into a rooftop.

Umbra painfully got up to run again when he heard someone land in front of him and placed something on his forehead, next thing he knew was that his body felt numb and he collapsed back on the ground, only able to look up at Naruto with Rainbow Dash landing next to him with smirks on their faces.

“What did you do to me?” asked Umbra.

“That’s one of my seals, the paralysis tag. Anything it’s placed on will lose the ability to move unless it is removed,” said Naruto.

“How was I able to go fast enough to perform the Sonic Rainboom?” asked Rainbow Dash curiously.

“That’s because of the Wind Tunnel jutsu, the space within it eliminates all friction in the air and seriously reduces the gravity, therefore increasing the velocity of any objects or creatures within. So you must have been able to perform the Sonic Rainboom much sooner than normal,” Naruto explained.

Rainbow Dash looked excited upon hearing the explanation “That’s so awesome! I can’t wait to show the others when we get back to Ponyville!”

Umbra chuckled softly “After many years, I’ve finally been caught and yet it doesn’t irk me. This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Well a deal is a deal, you may have your goggles back,”

Rainbow Dash gingerly reached over and took off the goggles before wearing it around her neck with a look of contentment “Finally…back where it belongs,”

“Now then, to take you to the police station,” said Naruto, using his to lift Umbra into the air.

“Quite so, just know that when I’m free, I hope to engage you both in another chase,” said Umbra.

“We’ll be waiting to take you on at any time,” said Rainbow Dash with a look of competitiveness.



Hours later, Naruto and Rainbow Dash were back on the train and returning to Ponyville. They had turned Umbra in at the police department where the staff were stunned to see that the most evasive thief in records has been captured by two civilians. With Umbra actually approving that he was caught by them, the staff rewarded Naruto and Rainbow Dash with a large bag of bits, strange thing to note is that they couldn’t take off the mask no matter how hard they tried. Back on the train, Naruto could see that Rainbow Dash had dozed off while leaning on his shoulder but was clenching her goggles tightly causing him to smile softly at her.

It just goes to show him how much she valued his gift which touched his heart rather deeply “Even though I was mad at Umbra for stealing the goggles and even calling her that nickname, but to me you’ll always be Rainbow Dash the fastest pony in Ponyville…and my Speed Queen,” Naruto mumbled out a nickname which he had come up for her but kept it a secret, knowing that she might be a bit embarrassed to hear it. Soon enough, he too fell asleep and leaned back against Rainbow Dash with their heads touching each other as the train rumbled along the tracks back to Ponyville.  9