//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Various encounters of several types // Story: My Little Shinobi: Friendship no Jutsu // by Alexandermon //------------------------------// A small group of Changelings led by Chrysalis and Shadow ran towards the Everfree Forest while making sure that they were not seen by the attentive eyes of the princesses of Equestria, apparently something was keeping them busy. "Are you ever going to tell me about your brilliant plan?" "Asked the Queen as they entered the thicket," And can you tell why the hell should we run when my subjects and I have wings? We could be miles away if it wasn't for your annoying lack of wings. Couldn't you use your "dark powers" to get a way to fly? " "Do you usually blabber so much? I start to suspect that was the reason they beat you; you spent so much time talking, that they could just beat you for not paying attention" - Chrysalis just grunted at the memory- "Although it's true. I don't have wings , but my "dark powers" are enough for me not to need them " At that moment it began to melt into darkness and travel through the shadows of the trees at a speed faster than its companion or any of its subjects. While in that form, his voice echoed in the heads of his companions. "My dark powers allow me to melt only the shadows, that is why I required dark clouds, fear and nightmares to keep myself omnipotent in my Empire. Now, in this kingdom, Celestia with her sunlight makes my powers useless without shadows in where to hide. But this forest ... allows me to use my element perfectly " "Impressive ..." - Chrysalis replied as she flew back along with her subjects to keep up with Sombra. Being beings used to flying and living in different positions like insects, flying between trees was really easy for them. "And regarding the plan" - Shadow continued - "I don't consider myself brilliant but rather the opposite..." "You consider yourself stupid?" "What? No! I mean... I don't consider myself someone of bright. "So you consider youself dumb..." "ANYWAY... since you want to know, taking Equestria is an operation that must be completed in phases. The first phase, which is the one that We will try to complete in these next days, it is crucial to complete the other two: We must get rid of the Elements of Harmony. "Perfect" "I said" the Elements "- He hastened to correct when noticing the confusion-" It is not the same to get rid of the Elements than to destroy Twilight Sparkle. No, we will make sure that there is nothing that can stop us, once the threat is assured, we can start having fun with some accounts to settle " "I understand. But how will we know where they are?" "With patience, talent, a good performance, and above all, style" Naruto and Zecora entered the town, each with their hoods covering their faces, although that didn't stop them from attracting attention. Naruto, despite being a young man of sixteen, was twice as tall as a normal pony, so seeing a Zebra with a companion twice her size who also walked on two legs attracted quite a few glances. The worst thing was that Naruto did not want to avoid attracting attention since that was already inevitable, what he wanted was to avoid interacting with anyone beyond whom he had come to look for. But Zecora knew that in Ponyville, there was a certain pony that would make that an impossible task. Gradually they passed through the front row of houses without paying attention to the whispers and suspicious or scared looks, Zecora was used to this, and in a bad way, Naruto too. "So ..." -Naruto asked to try to distract himself wile he saw the ponies talking wile watching him- "What do you know about Princess Celestia?" "Ah, Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun, Governor of Equestria! Together with her sister Luna they are in charge of transforming the night into day, and vice versa. It was hard for the princess, when she had to banish her younger sister, for having transformed into Nightmare Moon and try to bring everlasting night with a malicious thinking. "Do the rulers of this place control Day and Night? How old are they? "And what exactly does he mean by 'banishing'?" - Kurama asked with interest in the Night Princess "A thousand years ago, dark forces corrupted Luna, and thus she became Nightmare Moon, for letting jealousy consume her. Celestia, having no other choice, sent her to the moon, without any joy" "Interesting. Like the story of the Juubi together with the Bijuu" -the fox thought to himself. 'However, a miracle happened recently "- Zecora continued- And it was Twilight Sparkle who managed to achieve it. With the Elements of Harmony he transformed the Princess, and Luna returned to control the Night, as it should have been. "So the Princesses are like a thousand years old?" "A thousand years, and many more, because she was already older when she banished her sister long ago" They continued walking without saying anything else, each one with his thoughts. Naruto was about to ask his guide about where they were going when she pointed out a tree house that stood in the middle of a meadow far from the other houses. They did not advance much when they were crossed a certain pony that they did not expect. "Hello Zecora! What brings you here? - Said the pony, jumping up and down as she normally did. "Ah, uh ... Pinkie! Good to see you! I was just taking my friend here to the house of ... uhm." Naruto was alarmed at how nervous that little pony had made the zebra, and in fact, he was also a little uneasy: At first glance it was a simple pink pony, but her hair, her way of moving, was so active. .. so ... crazy Pinkie fixed her gaze only for a moment on Naruto and let out a scream that made the boy almost run away. Without knowing how, he was suddenly surrounded by streamers and with the pony jumping around him singing an impromptu song. "Very well, Mysterious Friend of Zecora!" - She said as she sat him on a bench and tried to see his face, while Naruto tried to hide under the hood - "You don't have to be shy. Now. What's your name? What's your birthday, favorite color, blood type and name of your pet? It is my duty to make sure I have all the necessary details for your welcome party. Oh! I will also need details such as favorite food, drink, shoe number. You wear shoes! You will love to talk to Rarity I need one to take measurements! " "Hey, how are you?" Naruto said when he saw the pony throw himself against his feet, trying to remove one of his shoes. "Pinkie, look!" - Zecora shouted pointing to the sky- "A pink balloon with a funny shape!" "Where ?!" she exclaimed as she ran off with amazing speed. "Let's go before she returns!" "Thank heavens ..." -Naruto sighed as he ran next to the zebra to the opposite side from where Pinkie had gone- "Who the hell was she? Forget it. What is the place where we have to go?" "The library, the library!" Unaware that he had formed another rhyme, Naruto reached the treehouse and was about to knock on the door when Zecora hit him on the hand, shaking his head. "You can't go in that way just like that, let me explain while you wait outside" "I'm not going to let that crazy pony find me again!" - "Okay. Let me introduce you here at the entrance, then I will retire when Twilight knows of your presence" - Whatever ... just hurry up before she gets back! Spike started to stretch and got out of bed. He started down the stairs and found Twilight in the middle of a mountain of books, with injected eyes and a certain tremor, it seemed that this was going to be a long day. "Uhm ... Twilight, were you awake all night?" "No, it's alright, Owlowiscious went hunting last night" "What...?" "Make it straw, Spike" -he answered as he turned the page and shook his head a little confused- "With daisies, and soft bread please. You are the best" "TWILIGHT!" - Spike yelled as he threw a cold water bucket at her, making her scream- Snap out of it! Were you up all night reading? "R ... r ... rude, spike! But ... Uuh ... I think so" -She answered as she put her hooves on the ground and cast a spell to dry herself- "I was left with some doubt about the shurikens we found in the woods and then I started looking through different culture books to see if I could find anything about those weapons. Unfortunately I didn't find much, although ... Did you know that sometimes dragons melt metal on their bodies to make themselves more resistant?" "This is all very interesting, but ... How did you end up reading about dragons when you were searching about strange weapons?" "I suppose one thing led to another, and I ended up rereading the ..." - Suddenly he remembered something- Dragon ... fire ... magic ...! Spike, write a letter for the princess! We must send our report of yesterday's events. "Uh ... don't you think it would be convenient to have breakfast first ...?" "Now!" "Ok ... ok- The dragon gave up, while collecting ink and pen" "My dear mentor ... Yesterday morning ..." At that moment the door sounded with a loud knock causing them both to look at each other. "Could you pick up the books while I go see who it is?" - Twilight said while fixing her hair in the mirror and taking a sip of coffee. Spike just grumbled and got on with his homework. Twilight walked to the door where she met her old friend. "Zecora! What a pleasant surprise. Is something wrong?" "You see, Princess. Yesterday I met a certain someone who might well need your assistance" "Someone? Who?" - Well ...- She made a sign and he went through the door Before Twilight appeared a hooded creature whose figure reminded her of a certain person she had met not long ago. Her suspicions were dispelled when the stranger took off his hood and revealed a middle-aged boy, blonde hair, blue eyes, and combined orange-black clothing. The princess simply stood with her mouth open and eyes wide, Zecora pulled her out of her reverie. "I just brought him here to tell you how he got here and ..." "Yes, yes, yes, yes ... He'll tell me everything himself. Thank you very much. I'll take care of it, and you did the right thing by bringing it to me. I'll let you know how everything turned out. Goodbye!" She whispered quickly as she pushed him inside and then closed the door on the zebra's face. "Thanks for everything, Zecora!" - Naruto shouted before the door closed- "So ... Are you Princess Twilight ...?" "Yes .. "- she replied quickly surrounding Naruto and looking the boy up and down-" Who are you, exactly?" "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and ..." "Are these things by any chance yours? - Twilight continued while showing her the six stars she had found" "My shurikens!" - He exclaimed picking them up and then watching Twilight use her magic- "Amazing! Do you have any kind of special power or ...?" "We'll talk about that later ... And how did you get here, precisely?" "Well. It was on a normal day when a kind of multicolored whirlpool appeared and ... Wait ... I'm answering all your questions and you didn't answer any. Can you contact Princess Celestia or not?" "Princess ... do you know ... the princess?" Twilight hesitated as she sat down. "Well ... not personally but ..." Suddenly the door opened and three more ponies poured in: Rainbow, Rarity and Pinkie who closed the door once they entered. "Twilight! Did you hear the news? It is said that there is a strange creature that was in the company of Zeco ..." - They were stunned to see the boy and he was horrified to see Pinkie. "Eehhm ... Good morning? My name is Naruto ..." "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" - A deep and amplified voice shouted as Princess Celestia entered slamming the door- "Sorry for appearing suddenly but I need you to tell me you have seen something ..." - She was silent when she saw Naruto and everyone was stunned to see her- suspicious ... "Princess Celestia!" - They all shouted leaving Naruto more confused. "Is she Celestia?" - Naruto thought making her remember her Hokage- "Is this the governor who is thousands of years old? What a swindler. She must have a rejuvenation Jutsu like old-Tsunade" It is difficult to explain the pandemonium that started in the tree house. Naruto trying to talk to Celestia, Celestia trying to listen to Twilight, she trying to apologize for the delay in her report that Celestia had no idea about, Pinkie trying to get Naruto to fill out her questionnaire, Spike trying to get Rarity's attention, the unicorn watching the Naruto's clothes and voicing his idea about his new fashion line and finally Rainbow Dash looking Naruto up and down and wondering what the hell was going on. Deep down, Kurama thought exactly the same thing. "Very well, enough is enough! SILENCE!" - Celestia ordered casting a paralysis spell. Then he took a deep breath and released the magic- "Now ... Let's go in stages. Who are you, where do you come from and how did you get here?" "I just said it..." - The boy protested while trying to be as fast as possible- "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I come from the Village of Konoha. I arrived here by means of a space-time technique that seemed like a kind of whirlpool I have no idea how it happened, or who did it, but from the moment I arrived I was attacked by wooden wolves, a multi-headed snake and this crazy pony wanted to steal my shoe " "Hey!" "They told me that I should speak to you if I wanted to return to my Village. Now, Zecora, the striped-rhyming one, told me that I should speak to this princess" - Pointing to Twilight- "so that I can contact you and that you could return me " At that statement, Twilight swallowed, finally closing all the mysteries about her book, the Shurikens and the Timberwolfes. "I see ..." - Celestia replied with a serious look- "Twilight, do you have anything to add to this?" "Well ... yesterday we tried that teleportation spell that he sent me, although due to certain problems the spell did not work. This boy seems to come from a world just like the one Spike and I arrived when we used the Crystal Mirrors. It is possible that I accidentally touched another dimension with my magic while sending my book through the portal and when I returned to focus on this world it would have brought ... "Were you the one who threw me from the Hokage Tower into that forest full of swamps, wolves and snakes, and you traded me for a book ?!" "I am so sorry!" - The princess tried to apologize with a regretful face- "I just wanted to try a new spell. And it was a good encyclopedia ..." "Leaving that aside" - Celestia intervened- "This explains why he continues in his human form. By going through the mirrors you told me that you became a human. That was because the Mirror, being a bridge between dimensions, took charge of transforming yourself into a human being in the image and likeness of how you would be if you were from that world. But in this case, being a transportation spell, no change occurred, but you transported an unchanged human being to this world " "AGH! Let's stop explaining!" Naruto shouted to everyone's surprise and annoyed at not understanding almost anything- "It doesn't matter how I got here, what I want to know is just this. Granny-Celestia ..." "GRANNY ?!" - Twilight shouted while Celestia showed no signs of annoyance, at least on the outside, and Rainbow Dash along with Pinkie laughed out loud. "... Can you return me to my world?" "It is not as simple as casting a spell" - the Sun Princess calmly replied- "We do not fully know your world. If we use the same spell and transport you to a random world, you could end up stuck in a world that you cannot escape, or worse, get caught between dimensions " "So ... am I stuck here?" - Naruto hesitated "Don't worry" - the princess reassured her as she put a hoof on his shoulder- "I will not let you stay against your will in this world, I will speak with certain contacts and I will begin to investigate about the old theories of Starswirld The Bearded about travel between dimensions. We will start looking for your exact dimension and then we will use the same spell to return you to your world. But all this will take a few days at least " "Princess?" - Twilight asked while Naruto was stunned trying to assimilate his situation- "Why not use the Crystal Mirrors?" "For the same reason. We don't know if the mirrors are going to transport him to his world and we must investigate exactly where to take him. Other than that, we don't know if he will undergo any kind of change if he uses the mirrors. If we consider that he is not a pony, and the magic of the Mirrors is not fully known ... "I'll handle this matter myself!" Twilight offered. "Thank you, my faithful student, but I have another task for you, and for your friends too!" - She put herself in a firmer pose and said seriously- "Twilight Sparkle, I entrust to you and your friends the custody of Naruto Uzumaki during his stay in Ponyville! Make him feel at home as he is a guest in our kingdom, and learn to the best of each other " "Hear me, granny! I didn't sign for any of this! Does that mean I have to stay here ?: "You don't want to stay here?" - Celestia replied with a smile- "Where else could you go?" "Well ... I ..." "Let it be, Naruto" - Kurama spoke to him from inside, Naruto closed his eyes to meet him- "We can't do anything else. Besides ... Didn't you want to take a vacation from the Village?" "I'm not looking for a vacation. I want to continue my training!" "Better yet. You no longer have anyone barking orders at your back. And this place is full of natural energy, it would be very beneficial to train here." And I could entertain myself in this world and its princesses "- he thought to himself with a smile of emotion With no objection left, Naruto opened his eyes and found all the ponies and the dragon staring at him strangely. "Agree!" - He finally exclaimed with a satisfied smile- "I will stay here until you find a way to return me to my world" "Very good" - Celestia said as she went out the door. "Princess!" Twilight called out to her as he stepped out behind her and closed the door, leaving the others inside. "Why can't I accompany you in this investigation? I know I could be of help in ..." "I ask this of you because I need several trustworthy eyes watching over Naruto" - Celestia interrupted her in a low voice- "There is more to that boy than the view shows. Let him live with you and alert me to any strange event. Trust me, if I'm right, it will be much more interesting than studying old manuscripts " "And who is going to help her in this task? I don't think Princess Luna ..." "Oh, I know who can help me with this. It will do him and me good to do this research, after all, he loves the chaotic, right?" - She added while winking at her- "I am entrusting it to you, my faithful student" -She said goodbye while flying. "NOW!" -he heard Pinkie scream inside the house- "Are you going to tell me the number of times you were in the hospital or not ?! "NO! Why do you even want to know that ?!" - He exclaimed to the boy in reply. Twilight simply looked up and went back into the house with a smile on her face. At the edge of the Everfree Forest, Sombra and Chrisalys watched the town as they watched Celestia fly away. - Shall we attack now? - asked the Queen to the shadows of the trees - Patience. I already told you. We cannot alert Celestia or Luna to our alliance or everything would go to Tartarus, including us. We will wait and watch. We need to find our potential targets and then we will start with the first phase.