//------------------------------// // 4. Afterparty // Story: My Little Ninja // by NoMoreNormalcy //------------------------------// It took most of the day, but after lunch, they were able to meet most of the group of friends that were close with the princess as well as most of Ponyville. The girls were slowing down a bit and Randy decided that they should take a break. That break happened to be Sugar Cube corner. The bell rang as they entered the shop, they noticed something odd. The lights were out and hardly anything could be seen. “Hello? Anypony here?” Randy called out. He jumped about half a foot into the air when the lights flicked on and half the town yelled out, “Surprise!” Pinkie Pie rushed up to Randy and picked him up into a big hug. “Surprise! Have a wonderful ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ Party!” She almost screeched. “Bones, being crushed. Can’t. Breath!” Randy gasped. “Whoopsie! Sorry!” Randy felt air rush into his lungs as Pinkie set him down. “Were you surprised? I bet you were!” “All this, just for me? But I just got here!” “Trust us when we say she does this for every pony,” Apple Bloom said. “Bruce. So,” he looked around, “cake for supper?” There were games played, cake eaten, and punch drunk as the party hit full swing. After sundown, the crowd began to thin out as they all headed home. Even Randy was beginning to tire, his eyes trying to get him to fall asleep even. “This was the cheese! Thanks again, Pinkie Pie!” “No problem! If you want to hang out, just let your friend Pinkie know!” She then proinked over to the stairs and sat on the rail before sliding up, jumping onto the landing and walking into her room, closing the door from a curl in her tail. “How does she do that?” There was no response and a brief examination of the room showed him that the young girls had fallen asleep. Applejack, an orange earth pony mare with straw mane, had Apple Bloom draped over her back. Rarity had Sweetie Belle in her magic aura. Rainbow Dash, a cyan pegasus mare with rainbow mane and tail, was hovering with Scootaloo in her forehooves. They all said their goodbyes and headed to their respective homes and to drop Scootaloo off. Tiredly, Randy also slowly trotted back to the castle. Seemed that Twilight had missed the party as she was still looking for Discord, along with Fluttershy, a crème yellow pegasus mare with light pink mane and tail that he met earlier that day. As he stumbled over to his bed, he fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. Right before he did so he thought, I never did ask Twilight about that message the ‘Nomicon gave me. He was human again and leaping through the air of Norrisville as The Ninja. He flipped, spun, and twisted through the air. “Fear not, citizens of Norrisville! I am still here!” However, the streets were empty. “Huh? What the juice is going on?” He leapt from the tall building he was on to the street with ease and no injury. “Where is everybody?” “Oh, hey Ninja!” “Howard! Hey, where’s everyone?” “Oh, they’re all worshipping McFist. Seems he got a superpower or something, I dunno,” his portly friend. They stared at each other for a bit before Randy laughed hard at the notion. “McFist getting a superpower! Ah ha! He could only get that if the Sorcerer got free and he never did get anything. He’s defeated!” “Nope, there’s another group worshiping him, too. They don’t wanna get stank’d.” “WHAT?!” Suddenly, noon-day sky gave way to dark, ominous overcast, tinged with green. A wicked laugh echoed through the streets. “Whelp, see ya, don’t wanna get stank’d, so I’m going to just head home, bye!” And with that, Howard ran as fast as he could away from Randy. In front of Randy, however, was a man with gangrene skin, thin limbs, a surprisingly pear-shaped body, and crooked teeth riding a giant rat. He was draped in green robes with gold trim. “Sorcerer!” Randy exclaimed. How the juice…? He was then momentarily blasted from his feet just before getting into a battle stance by green and black energy from a spell of the Sorcerer’s. Using another spell, the Sorcerer summoned a sword that was wicked and jagged. Randy flipped back to his feet and reached for his own sword. Only to pull out a hilt with a broken blade. “Oh, wonk.” He then dropped it and pulled out his staff as quickly as he could and barely parried the mounted charge. Both combatants then pushed themselves away and dropped into ready stances. Twirling the staff, Randy charged first, leaping into the air, spinning the staff all the while and then swung it down as hard as he could, only for the Sorcerer’s sword to cleave the weapon in two. Dismayed, he then pulled out his chain-sickle opting for mid-ranged combat. He sung, shouting “Ninja Chain-sickle!” as the bladed end was swung to his opponent in hopes of wrapping him up. However, the rat only reared up to catch the blade in its teeth. “Whuh?” Randy was then thrown into the building by the rat’s tail as the Sorcerer directed it to spin around. Groaning in pain, he carefully lifted his head up to notice that his vision doubled and spun. Never a good sign. There was also the Sorcerer standing over him. “Finally!” He spoke joyously in his grating voice, “I will have my revenge on you, ninja! Yet first,” he reached down and ripped Randy’s mask off, black ribbons trailing as they unraveled from his body, leaving him back in his street clothes, “I want to see your face proper when I destroy you!” His laugh chilled Randy’s blood. As he cried out, covering his face, he waited for the final blow. “Back, foul dream! Thou shall not harm this one’s dreamscape no more!” A blast of midnight blue energy struck the Sorcerer, causing him to cry out in surprise and pain before vanishing in white light. All that was left was Randy, the streets, and the new comer. Once he opened his eyes, he saw someone he recognized from Discord’s magic. Princess Luna was almost twice as tall as Twilight with midnight blue fur and an ethereal mane and tail that looked like the night sky, complete with stars. Her wings were half-way unfurled as she swim-walked down towards Randy, her horn still alight. A moon adorned her flank, white against black. “Art thou alright?” When she landed, her hoof lowered to Randy in a gesture to aid him up. “Uh, yeah.” He grabbed the hoof and stood, noticing that he was perfectly eye-level with the mare. “So, I was dreaming this whole time?” “Indeed, and such a strange one, this. I have not seen fighting that intense for a long while, even in the dreamscape.” “Wonk. Well, uh, Princess Luna, right?” She nodded. “Well, uh, thanks for helping out. I don’t thing I would have liked falling onto crystal floor.” Randy chuckled at that last bit. “Thou art a strange being. Are thou one of those creatures called ‘human’ that I have heard tale of from Twilight Sparkle?” “Yes?” “Yet thou art in Ponyville, correct?” “No, yeah, that sounds about right.” “Does thou know how you’ve come to this place?” “Oh, is that a story I gotta tell!” With Randy’s words, the scene shifted to the strip that the Game Hole was located on. “Oh, convenient. Me likie, me likie. Though first, I gotta ask.” The princess rose a brow. “How much of the dream did you see?” “I believe I trotted in upon seeing you getting tail-slapped by an oversized rodent.” Randy groaned and completed a double facepalm. “I apologize, t’was that an embarrassing moment?” “No, it’s what happened after,” Randy groaned out. “Okay, you can’t tell anyone what you saw, I’m not supposed to tell anyone that I’m, well, ya know.” Luna stared at Randy with a deadpan. “No, I do not.” Randy’s resolve wilting, he finally blurted out, “I’m not supposed to tell anyone I’m the Ninja!” He then flinched, flailing his arms before drawing one leg up and shielding his body. “Huh, normally the ‘Nomicon would so chew me out for this.” “This ‘nomicon’, is it malicious?” Luna’s voice became steel. “What, no! Wait, what does that mean? Nevermind, it’s an 800-year-old book of ninja knowledge and it kinda tries to keep the current ninja in check.” A replica of the NinjaNomicon appeared between the two, causing both to take a momentary step back. “You tell someone who you don’t trust to keep it secret or perform any other act unbecoming of a Ninja, you get the Ultimate Lesson early, get mind wiped as a result, and someone else gets chosen to be the Ninja!” After his final word, the book vanished in red smoke. “So, Princess, can we keep this between us?” Princess Luna was stoic throughout the whole explanation. Oh, cheese it, I’m shoobed aren’t I? However, it wasn’t long before she smiled unexpectedly. “Does thou not know how many times I have accidentally trotted in on an awkward dream? I may as well be the Mare of Secrets,” she chuckled out. “Oh, thank cheese, I thought I was shoobed there for a second.” “Dost thou always say such strange things? Is it this ‘slang’ I’ve heard of, or at least just where you are from?” Randy smiled, “It’s a Norrisville thing, yeah.” He then cracked his knuckles. “Now, where were we? Ah, yes, getting stuck in Ponyville.” It took not too long, though Luna was caught up on pretty much everything. “You have done well to make friends as swiftly as you have, though with your presence of mind, you tend to, how they say, ‘go with the flow’, do you not?” Randy’s eyes darted around, “What? That’s ridiculous, me? Just go with whatever?” He became thoughtful, however. “Though I do tend to go with whatever Howard suggests, but they are good ideas. Though I do end up getting us in trouble because of that, though I do learn something from it.” Luna only blinked at the ramblings. “I am confused, if this Howard is a friend, then why is following their suggestions potentially bad most of the time, even if they are considered to be good at the time?” “We’ve been best friends since we were three. How is that not biffers forever? Huh?” “Perhaps it is not my place unless I must need to make a royal decree. Sleep well, human.” His sleep was then peaceful and dreamless.