Adventures of the Equestrian Ninja

by hussbek

To the Dark Side of the Moon

"Huff huff huff!" the sounds of panting and hooves thumping on the ground could be heard in the night as we take a clearer view to see Naruto galloping through the forest as fast as he could with tears on his jacket along with his body covered in dirt and bruises. He slowed down to catch a breath, suddenly he heard something rustling through the trees and heading in his direction which enticed him to run again "Huff huff huff…*gasp*"

Naruto skidded to a stop at the edge of a cliff with a bottomless abyss, then he heard something emerge from the bushes and turned around only for his eyes to widen in horror. Before him is what appears to be a large dark cloud in the shape of a pony as a pair of pale blues eyes with slitted pupils as it stared down at him. Naruto tried to use his magic with his horn emitting the orange aura only for it to fizzle out and he couldn't access it again, he tried to use his chakra too but the same thing happened again then he heard a dark chuckle which sent shivers crawling down his spine.

"There's nowhere for you to run, little pony. Your light will soon be snuffed out just like the rest I've done the same to," said the dark entity, Naruto took a few steps back but stopped himself lest he fell over the edge.

"Just who or what are you?!" said Naruto fearfully.

The voice chuckled once more "It's rather obvious as to what I am…your worst nightmare!"

Tendrils of black smoke lashed out to wrap around Naruto's body before he could put up any kind of defense, the darkness began to slowly engulf him. Naruto felt his body beginning to feel numb as the voice's laughter grew louder, all he could do with what's left of his strength is to-

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Naruto opened his eyes widely as he sat up on his bed while breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his face with a haunted look on his face.

"…not again, why do I keep having the same nightmare whenever I go to bed and it gets worse every night," Naruto rubbed his head with a hoof to ease his disturbed mind "Maybe I should check in the library with Twilight for potent causes or maybe Luna since she would be more knowledgeable about these kind of things," the blonde pony went back and hoped that he won't be plagued by that nightmare again.

"Big bro, are you okay?" asked Scootaloo with concern as she looked at said pony who was the kitchen with her and trying to make breakfast but he wasn't being his usual self as he was making mistakes here and there.

"I'm fine Scoots, no need to worry," said Naruto in an assuring manner but his bloodshot eyes aren't convincing anyone.

"Scootaloo has good reason to be worried as do I, you look like you haven't been able to sleep well these past few nights," said Trixie in support of the young filly.

"…I have to admit you're right, I've been having nightmares the past nights which are making it hard for me to sleep. I'm planning to find a solution to it with help from Twilight or Luna," said Naruto truthfully.

"I see, then in that case you can go ahead while I look after the shop,"

"And I can go to school by myself with my scooter while you find a way to make yourself better," said Scootaloo.

Hearing that made Naruto smile fondly and in a way made him feel more awake "Thanks you two, that really means a lot. Now to make real some breakfast the right way this time," the blonde pony turned towards the kitchen table with full focus this time around to cook for everyone.

Sometime later, Naruto was walking down the street in direction of the library to find Twilight and have a talk with her before checking around town for anything interesting then heading over to the Whirlpool shop to see to things though he won't be doing any deliveries for the meantime. He heard the flapping of wings and looked up to see a familiar Pegasus flying overhead.

"That's Rainbow Dash, but isn't she kinda flying sluggishly?" said Naruto thoughtfully, then he noticed that she was about to crash into somepony and realized who it is "Oh on, she's about to crash into Twilight and Spike!" he tried to catch her with his magic but the lack of proper sleep really affected his focus and so was too late as the mares collided with each other as Spike jumped out of the way in time after trying to warn Twilight. Naruto galloped over to check on them "Are you all okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay now," said Rainbow Dash before turning to Twilight who was getting back up from the ground "Sorry about crashing into you Twilight, I'm feeling a little off course today,"

"It's okay, I wasn't watching where I was going either," said Twilight, looking rather tired with the same going for Rainbow Dash.

"You two look like you haven't been getting enough sleep," Naruto pointed out.

"Something like that, I've been kept awake no thanks to nightmares for a week now,"

Twilight looked surprised at that "You've been having nightmares too? I've also been having them,"

"And the same goes for me, this is too odd to be considered a coincidence," said Naruto with a frown.

"Not to be a pest, but would you mind keeping it down a bit Pinkie Pie, er Fluttershy, I mean Naruto?" a voice spoke up for the others to turn and see Applejack approach them without her hat and a drowsy look on her face while accompanied by Fluttershy and Rarity who's wearing a scarf over her mane and a pair of black sunglasses.

"Yes, some of us haven't had our beauty rest," said Rarity in agreement.

"You all had nightmares too?" asked Twilight.

"Whenever I close my eyes, I stuck with those ghastly images," said Rarity, shivering at the remembrance of the nightmares.

"Every night, I reckon Rarity, er Twilight," said Applejack drowsily.

"The baddest dreams ever!" Fluttershy wasn't happy in the least "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so negative. I think I'm a bit grouchy,"

"How can we all be having nightmares all week?" asked Twilight confusedly.

"Like I said earlier before, this is too odd to be considered a coincidence. There must be something causing all this," said Naruto with a frown.

"Well it can't be all of you right? Where's Pinkie Pie?" asked Spike.

"Now that you mention it, I don't see Pinks here either…hm?" Naruto felt something nipping at the tip of his tail and moved it to his front to see Gummy latching onto it while hovering in the air with a balloon tied to it, he also saw a white envelop attached to his tail too "I wonder what this is?" he used his magic to open the envelope and took a look at what's inside.

"What is it Naruto?" asked Twilight curiously.

"It looks like an invite to a…,"

"Welcome to my slumber party!" said Pinkie Pie happily.

She was currently wearing her pajamas while hugging Gummy who was also wearing one, apparently she was having nightmares too and so had the idea for a slumber party which could chase the bad dreams away. The others came over later that night with their sleeping bags along with a few other items.

"If anything can chase away the heebie-jeebie dreams, it's a girly night of fun! Right Rainbow Dash?" said Pinkie Pie.

"Super-duper fun," said Rainbow Dash while helping apply some cream for Rarity.

"By the way, I don't see Naruto here. I thought you invited him?" asked Fluttershy.

"I knew I forgot something, just a sec!" Pinkie Pie rushed out of the room and seconds later returned while dragging along a protesting Naruto with her "Come on Naru, it's no fun at all if you're left out,"

"But Pinks, it's an all-girls party and it would be weird since I'm the only guy here," Naruto pointed out to the excitable mare.

"That shouldn't be a problem dear, you already have the solution to that," said Rarity with a knowing look.

Naruto blushed at what she's talking about "No way, I'm not going to use that and you're not going to change my mind,"

"Pwetty pwease Naru, with icing on top?" Pinkie Pie looked at Naruto with the expression of a cute puppy seeking attention, Naruto was finding it extremely difficult to look away and refuse.

"…alright fine, I'll do it! Just stop looking at me like that!" said Naruto, finally giving in and blushed when he heard the others giggling at his reaction.

"Okay!" said Pinkie Pie cheerfully.

Naruto let out a sigh of resignation and perform the jutsu, he was soon in his female form and wearing pajamas which Rarity had prepared for him…he's not going to ask why she had it. Next thing he knew was that a pillow hit him in the face before falling off, he looked to see Rainbow Dash trying to act innocent and got the idea and picked the pillow up with his tail.

"If that's how you wanna play it Dash, en garde!" Naruto ran at Rainbow Dash which smirked back and picked up another pillow before flying towards him.

"Right back at ya!" said the speedster excitedly.

"Yay, pillow fight!" Pink Pie was quick to join in with a pillow of her own.

"Uhg, they can be so childish sometimes…although it's cute in its own way," said Rarity then giggled at how Naruto was behaving.

Twilight was reading one of her books but can't seem to be finding what she was looking for "There's got to be some kind connection between our dreams…"

"Sounds like an old coinky-dink to me," said Applejack while fluffing up her pillow.

"After such a fun party, I'm sure we'll all sleep like baby dragons tonight," said Fluttershy assuredly with an example already fast asleep in his cot.

After a couple more hours of fun and games, everyone was ready for bed and bid each other goodnight especially Pinkie Pie who was about to do so for every single pony in Ponyville but Rainbow Dash cut her off in time. Everyone was fast asleep and so were completely unaware of a black mist sifting through the cracks in the windows before entering their ears to reach into their minds and began inducing nightmares.

Twilight dreamt of being dismissed from the royal court of Canterlot by Princess Celestia forever, Applejack dreamt of her family blaming her for losing their land to drought, Fluttershy dreamt of her animal friends running away from her in fear, Rainbow Dash had a nightmare of being unable to fly with the Wonderbolts due to her wings having been crippled, Pinkie dreams of being unable to make ponies laugh, Rarity dreamt of her friends rejecting her gifts and abandoning her in favor of another pony. Finally, Naruto had a nightmare of the Akatsuki finding their way to Equestria in pursuit of him to find out where Kurama was hidden and laying waste to the land as he laid defeated before Itachi and Kisame with his friends laying around on the ground and remained unmoving as he saw the black ponylike mist hovering above him and laughing darkly.

Naruto was bolted awake by how horrendous the nightmare was "*Gasp* Darn it! It keeps getting worse every time and…huh? What's with this black mist?" he looked around to see said mist swirling around in the room and noticed some of them entering the ears of the mares with looks of discomfort on their faces "Could it be what's causing these nightmares? I better wake them up," he went to wake everyone u-

"Aaaahhh!" Rarity suddenly screamed out loud, which surprised the stallion as well as woke the others up to blink in shock at the sight of the mist.

"What's happening?" asked Twilight in confusion, the mist began swirling around Rarity and lifted her up into the air.

"Help me!" Rarity called out in fear.

"Hang on Rare, we're coming!" Naruto rushed in to help when a tendril of the mist lashed out without warning and smacked him away, completely catching him off guard.

"I gotcha!" Pinkie Pie swiped at the mist with a butterfly net but that didn't work in the least "That worked so much better in my mind,"

"Gee you think?" said Rainbow Dash sarcastically.

The mist began carrying Rarity out of the house through the now open window and into the night sky as everyone rushed out to go after it, there they noticed something rather odd about the mist.

"Are they going to the moon?" asked Applejack confusedly.

"We can wonder about that later! Go after her, Naruto! Rainbow Dash…you too Fluttershy!" said Twilight urgently.

"I'm on it!" said Rainbow Dash.

"We got this!" Naruto activated his chakra wings.

"Me too," said Fluttershy.

The trio took to the air in pursuit with Naruto and Rainbow Dash being faster while Fluttershy was trying to keep up with them, the black mist tried to smack them away but Naruto was prepared this time as he formed chakra tendrils to parry the attacks and clearing the way just enough for Rainbow Dash to use her Sonic Rainboom for a great burst of speed and was rapidly catching up to them.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity was hopeful upon seeing the Pegasus rapidly approaching her.

"Hang on Rarity, I'll be right there!" Rainbow Dash was getting closer and reached out to grab her "Just a little further…" she was just about t-

*Poof*

Rarity and the mist just disappeared from sight right in front of Rainbow Dash as Naruto soon caught up and saw what had happened much to his shock and disbelief. They began looking around for any traces of their friend or the mist with Naruto using his Aura Sight but coming up with nothing much to their growing frustration.

"I can't seem to find her at all," said Naruto with a growl.

"Talk about bad sportsmanship," Rainbow Dash huffed in annoyance.

"Which way did they go?" Fluttershy caught up with them while panting slightly.

"We don't know, they just disappeared. We better head back to Twilight and the others so that we can come up with a plan to find Rare," said Naruto.

"Yeah, come on speedy," Rainbow Dash began dragging Fluttershy away with Naruto following but he paused and looked back towards the moon then he noticed something black on a certain part of the moon's edge before following after the others while wondering about it.

Everyone has gathered at the library to try and figure out what's going on and just why Rarity was kidnapped in all this, Spike was bawling his eyes out with Applejack and Fluttershy comforting him, Rainbow Dash was banging her head against the wall in frustration of not being able to reach Rarity and Naruto moving to stop her from hurting herself further, Pinkie Pie was thinking…to say the least, and Twilight was writing a letter to be sent to the princesses for help.

"That icky stuff looked really familiar," said Pinkie Pie thoughtfully.

"Pinkie's right, I saw it in my nightmare," said Applejack, recalling what she saw then.

"Me too," said Fluttershy.

"I woke up to see the black mist finding its way into our minds, which means that it's the cause of the nightmares," said Naruto.

"But then where did that black stuff come from then?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"That's what we all want to know so that we can get over there and save Rarity," Applejack pointed out.

"We can ask Princess Luna, she's the protector of dreams and she was taken over by Nightmare Moon. She can help interpret our dreams and help find Rarity, we just need to wait for her to arrive," said Twilight.

"You needn't wait any longer as we're already here," a voice spoke up and everyone turned towards the voice and were relieved upon seeing it is.

"We're glad to see you're here, Celestia and Luna," said Naruto with a smile.

"I believe a dark energy has been infiltrating your dreams, my sister may be able to help," said Celestia.

"Could you please tell us what in tarnation is going on here?" asked Applejack.

"And more importantly, how do we get Rarity back?" Rainbow Dash was quick to add.

"Honestly, I don't have a clear answer for you all," Luna looked rather unsure of herself, Naruto's senses subconsciously triggered for him to detect fear and guilt, making him wonder why she's feeling that way.

"But you're the protector of dreams, you must know something at least," asked Twilight.

"All I know right now are that the evil dark forces have taken your friend to the nightmare dreamscape,"

"But why? What evil could still exist after you were freed?"

"Let's just blast up there and get Rarity back, we're wasting time here!" said Rainbow Dash impatiently.

"It isn't that simple, you don't know what they're planning…," said Luna unsurely.

Fluttershy seemed to have noticed the princess's unease and spoke to her gently "Princess Luna, I don't mean to be rude, but um, is there something you need to tell us?"

"It's…it's troubling,"

"Princess Luna, there's nothing to be scared of when you're around friends,"

"Remember what Naruto said the first time he visited us, we're in company of trustworthy ponies," said Celestia.

Recalling exactly what Naruto said before, assured Luna enough to speak "Thank you Fluttershy…something is happening, something I had hoped would never come to pass,"

"What is it?" asked Applejack after stopping Pinkie Pie from asking random questions.

"When I was trapped as Nightmare Moon, I thought I could show everypony how special I was by making them fear me. The nightmare forces somehow knew exactly what to say to convince me…to give me their energy and hate. After the curse was broken by the elements of harmony, I believed the forces of darkness would wither and die…but I was wrong,"

"How so?" asked Naruto.

"Legends say that if the nightmare forces can harness enough strength through the cycle of the new moon, they are granted one more chance…"

"One more chance to do what?" asked Twilight nervously.

"To claim what Nightmare Moon promised…an all-powerful kingdom of their own," Luna answered.

"At least we know what their objective is but the question is how they would be going about it and what it has to do with Rare," said Naruto.

"And why did they target the seven of us in the first place?" asked Applejack.

Naruto noticed that Luna had a haunted looked in her eyes as she quickly shook her head to clear it of any memories which came up before responding to the question "Together, you all possess the elements of harmony along with a newly created element which have defeated the dark forces before. Now they will come after all of you, the only ponies who can defeat them…and destroy your home,"

"Not only do we have to save Rare, now we gotta stop the dark forces from attacking Ponyville and Equestria in general," said Naruto with a frown.

"Then we need to get Rarity back home in a jiffy!" said Applejack.

"That's what I've been saying that we're already wasting time here!" said Rainbow Dash.

Luna quickly spoke up "No! I'll go and investigate alone, the nightmare dreamscape is full of your worst fears. Its denizens will not hesitate to use them against you, it's not a place for regular ponies,"

"Regular ponies, excuse me but that ain't flying!" Rainbow Dash refuted with a smirk.

Twilight stepped forward "If we have to face our fears to get Rarity back, then we'll do it,"

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie was all for it while Fluttershy nodded in agreement despite feeling a bit scared about all this.

"You can't expect us to just hang back and let you go alone into enemy territory without any backup, Rare needs us and we're not going to let the dark forces do whatever they like plus it would go against what Kakashi-sensei taught me," said Naruto with a look of determination.

"I must agree with them sister, the elements of harmony are very powerful and were what brought you back to me. I trust that they will help you greatly," said Celestia.

"But what about Ponyville?" asked Luna worriedly.

"I'll will stay behind to help the residents prepare while you all save Rarity and stop the attack,"

"But how do seven ponies and a baby dragon get to the moon?" asked Fluttershy confusedly.

"Okay hear me out, first we get an enlarging ray and hit me with to grow into giant size then I carry you all there, next we surprise them by having Naruto use his shadow clones to take it to em!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Solid idea Dash but we're missing one thing, we don't have anything like an enlarging ray," said Twilight in a deadpanned expression.

"You won't have to worry about that…I know of a way," Celestia playfully winked at them, causing Naruto to smile as well.

"I can only hope that your friend is brave, the nightmare dreamscape is not for the faint of heart," said Luna.

Next thing you know is that Pinkie Pie's wearing a cheerleader's outfit and waving a pair of pompoms about while calling out a cheer "Rarity is as strong as an ox, riding a fox, trapped in a steel box, using her teeth for locks!"

"Pinkie is right, Rarity would never back down if she didn't want to do anything," said Applejack.

"We all have to be strong for Rarity," said Twilight.

"We must move fast, we don't know how long Rarity's bravery will protect her," said Luna.

"In that case, I'm heading home to get my gear before setting out for the moon so we can save Rare and be back for a nice bowl of ramen!" said Naruto while galloping out of the library.

"I call for seconds in advance Naruto!" Rainbow Dash called after him.

"Thirds for me!" Pinkie Pie was quick to add her request.

Meanwhile at the moon, Rarity was inside what appears to be a dark throne room and was tied to the throne itself.

"Seriously? I've had bad hair days much more intimidating than this, show yourself then take me home immediately," said Rarity with defiance. Suddenly a gray wisp of mist whooshed right past, sending a sense of discomfort through her coat "R-really? That the best you got? Whooshing around in the dark?" more wisps were quick to join the first, making the fashionista more uncomfortable and a bit fearful by the minute.

"Admittedly, that's a twinge creepy…and a step-up from the first. Good show whooshie things," Rarity could see the many pairs of red eyes staring at her intently from the shadows around her and couldn't help but feel scare, she could only hope in her heart that her friends could come over quickly to help her out of this uncomfortable situation.

Prince Blueblood was currently walking down the streets of Canterlot while being his haughty and arrogant self as he uses the reflections of nearby objects to ensure that his appearance is an absolute perfection.

*POP**POP**POP**POP**POP*

Suddenly there was the sound of popping with confetti flying all around the pony much to his shock as he looked around to see several mares surrounding with party poppers and a stallion blowing a trumpet.

"Congratulations! You have been chosen as the very first passenger for the TOUR-O-RAMA!" a stallion wearing a black tuxedo with a monocle and a top hat stood before him.

"YAY!" the ponies cheered happily while shooting more party poppers.

"Tour-o-rama? What on earth are you talking about?" asked Blueblood confusedly.

"Do forgive our rudeness and allow us to explain, you see we travel all around Equestria to give a lucky pony the most luxurious and unique tour absolutely free with the only requirement that that they have to be incredibly handsome or beautiful and you sir have the fortune to be chosen," said the monocle wearing pony with a twinkle in his eyes as his crew were snapping photos of the prince.

Blueblood was surprised at first but then having been chosen because of his handsomeness made him feel great pride in his appearance "Well it is to be expected as I am the best suited for the tour,"

The pony looked pleased "Excellent, please come this way and we shall begin our tour!" He and the crew began leading the prince to the outskirts of the city much to the unicorn's confusion.

"Excuse me but where exactly are we going?" asked Blueblood.

"We're taking you to our vehicle which will give you a Birdseye view of things,"

"Oh you mean a hot air balloon?"

"Psh, we have no use for such mundane mode of transportation. We wish to surprise our chosen ponies, not bore them with stereotypical methods…ah here we are," said the pony.

Blueblood looked ahead and was shocked at what he was seeing, before him and a giant tri bladed boomerang with a seat in the middle while attached to a giant catapult.

"Is that what we are going to use for the tour?" asked the prince in disbelief.

"Of course, but you'll be the only passenger but no need to worry as it's absolutely safe since we had tested it earlier before plus it's guaranteed to return here," said the monocle pony assuredly.

"…very well, if it does succeed then I would recommend you to my friends," said Prince Blueblood.

"You honor me with your words, now let us begin with the tour!" the crew quickly scooped the prince up and carried him over to the boomerang where they strapped him into the seat with lots of seatbelts before moving away as the monocle pony walked over to the lever and placed a hoof over it "We hope to hear of your experience when you get back!" he pushed the lever to launch the catapult.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone watched the prince scream like a little girl as he was launched to the skies till he wasn't seen or heard anyone.

"Once more, we're about to have a successful tour," said the monocle pony proudly, he felt someone tapping and turned to see one of the crewmembers looking rather nervous "What's the matter?"

"Uh sir, you might want to look at this…it's a receipt for the boomerang," said the crewmember.

The monocle pony took the receipt and began reading it out loud "One genuine giant boomerang from ACME Company, 50% guaranteed to return…where exactly did you buy this?"

"We bought it off a coyote who was selling it at a cheap price, said he needed the money to buy something to help catch a road runner…should we be worried?"

"…nah, I'm sure the deities also blessed him with luck as well as handsomeness, if not…" the monocle pony pulled a mask off to reveal Naruto who then put on a pair of eyeglasses with a pair of thick eyebrows and a mustache attached to it "…we were never here,"

"Good point," the crewmembers disappeared in puffs of smoke to reveal themselves as shadow clones as Naruto sealed the catapult into his medallion before sneaking away.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP, THESE ROGUISH CREATURES ARE RUINING MY 500 BIT MAKEOVER!" Prince Blueblood ran as fast as he can while being doggedly pursued by Timberwolves in the Everfree Forest at night with his outfit already shredded while covered in mud and leaves.

Naruto popped up from behind the bushes and took a picture with the camera he had bought while smirking like a mischievous fox, he turned towards the readers to speak "At least we all know that he's been working out to maintain his appearance but certainly not his wits! Kukukukuku…I seriously need to stop laughing like that,"