//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two 
// Story: A mission in friendship 
// by narutoponies 
//------------------------------//

Ramen! Sweet, beautiful, wonderful ramen! He hadn't had it in days! With a newfound resolution, he rushed off to find this gift from heaven. He didn't need a map to tell where the food court was, the smell was enough. Ducking and weaving in between people, he ran almost as fast as he could. (If he'd ran as fast as he could, his cover as a ninja would most likely be blown.) He was almost there! The smell was getting stronger, and he could see a Starbucks, meaning the food court was close. Putting on an extra burst of speed, he prepared to run the remaining distance to the ramen. Almost there...  CRASH! Before he knew what had happened, he was sprawled across the floor, skidding the last few feet. He groaned, rubbing his head. 
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" He looked up, and saw a beautiful red headed girl, also on the ground. She looked like she had recently been crying, there were tear streaks down her face. He shook his head.
"Nah," he said. "It was my fault. Anyway, you okay?" She nodded, sighing. Then she burst into tears.
"T-they won't believe me!" She sobbed. "Even after e-everything I've done, they still think I would betray them!" Naruto simply sat where he was, not knowing how to deal with this. He stood up after a moment of thought, and went over to her.
"Hey," he whispered consolingly. "It's okay." She continued to cry, and he stood there, feeling more useless than he had in a long time. 
"How 'bout this?" He asked gently. "Since I bumped into you, and you obviously aren't having a very good day, I'll treat you out to lunch. Is ramen okay?" She looked up, having stopped crying for the moment.
"You-you'd do that for me?" She asked, hiccuping a little. He nodded. 
"Of course I would," he said, "What type of a person would I be if I left you crying on the floor?" This was obviously the wrong thing to say. She started bawling again, throwing herself on the floor. 
"Why are you being so nice to me?" She wailed, "When they won't even here me out?" After a few moments, she regained her composure somewhat. 
"I-I'm sorry," She said, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "I won't waste your time anymore." She started walking in the opposite direction, towards the doors. He lunged to grab her sleeve. 
"Oh no you don't!" He said, he wasn't letting this person go. There was something wrong. Very wrong.
Half an hour later, and they were both peacefully eating their ramen. Or at least the girl was. Naruto was slurping it up quite noisily. He had tried to show some restraint, but it just wasn't happening. He finished it pretty quickly, and let out a longing sigh. Budgets were terrible. Usually, he would have at least six bowls, but he had to save money, and had already spent more than he was planning to on the girl. Speaking of which... 
"So," he said, "What's your name? I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He almost said, "Future Hokage of the village of Konoha," but decided that wouldn't be the smartest thing to do.
"I'm Sunset Shimmer." She answered quietly.
"So... I'm guessing you go to school at Canterlot High?" She nodded, a tear falling into her lap. He frowned. Something about that place was obviously making her upset.
"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what's got you so upset?" She gave a shaky sigh, and tightened her fists in her laps. "There's someone on Mystable," she began, "Who's been posting other people's secrets online. I don't know who it is, but they set up their account to look like it was me. And now everyone thinks that I'm the one posting people's secrets." Naruto's eyes widened. 
"Why would anyone do that?" He asked. She sniffed.
"I used to be pretty mean." She said, "But I changed, and I thought everyone had accepted me, but as soon as there was even the slightest possibility that I was the one behind the Mystable account, they turned against me." Naruto frowned. This Canterlot High place sounded like a pretty crappy place to go to school. 
"Well," he said, "I'm joining Canterlot High this year, so you'll have at least one friend." She looked up.
"Y-you are?" She asked. He nodded. "But... why would you suddenly make up your mind to be friends with me? You don't even know me."
"That's true," He said, "I don't. But I do know that you need help, and you don't have anyone else. I know what being alone feels like, and I wouldn't want anyone else to experience what I did. So of course I'll be your friend! Believe it!" 
"Hmph. I wouldn't be so sure you'd be saying that if you knew what that traitor did." He looked up. A rainbow haired girl had walked up beside their table. 
"And just what did she do?" He asked, wanting to hear what this girl thought.
"She posted everyone's secrets online! For the world to see! And school hasn't even started yet, think of how many more secrets she'll be able to get once it does!" Naruto stood up, looking the hothead in the eyes.
"Do you have any proof?" He asked, his voice dangerously calm. The girl raised an eyebrow.
"Um, Hell yeah!" she said, "Why else do you think I'd be saying she's Anon-a-Miss?" Naruto assumed Anon-a-Miss was the name of the Mystable user. A clever name, if nothing else. The girl pulled out her phone, and after typing away at it for a few seconds, shoved it under his nose. 
"See?" she said, pointing to the screen. "This is Anon-a-Miss's profile. It's obviously Sunset, it's got her colors and everything!" Naruto pushed the phone away, disgusted. 
"Seriously?" he asked. "You seriously believe that? That's got to be the worst framing job I've ever seen." The girl glared at him. 
"You can think she's innocent all you want," She said, "But don't come bitchin' to me when she posts your secrets." With that, she stalked off. Sunset sighed sadly. 
"That's Rainbow Dash," she said. "She used to be the most loyal person I knew. And yet, it seems I wasn't worthy of that loyalty." Naruto shook his head.
"No," he said. "It's her who's not deserving of loyalty. You never did anything wrong." Sunset gave a shaky laugh. 
"Naruto," she said, "I've done more things wrong in the few years I've lived here than most people do in a life time." Naruto shrugged. 
"So?" he asked. "You apologized for them, didn't you?" 
"Yes," she sighed, "but that doesn't make them go away."
"It does as far as I'm concerned." Sunset looked surprised. 
"If you wished you had never done them, and tried to make up for them, then, although they'll never go away completely, the people you wronged should be willing to move on."
Sunset cocked her head. Then sighed.
"Whatever," She said tiredly. "It doesn't make a difference either way. I need to get home. See you later, I guess." Naruto watched her go, deciding that he would help this girl, no matter what it took.