ADVENTURES OF THE EQUESTRIAN NINJA
Chapter 42: To Be or Not To Be
It was nighttime in Ponyville, Spike was pacing up and down impatiently in the library while dressed in a dark purple dragon costume for some strange reason. He groaned in frustration before looking up at the stairs leading to Twilight's bedroom.
"Come on Twilight, we're gonna be late for the Nightmare Night festival if you keep taking this long to get ready!" Spike called out with a frown.
No sooner he spoke that the door opened up and Twilight came out dressed in a wizard's robe adorned with bells, embroidered with golden stars and crescent moons, and she wore a long fake white beard to complete the outfit. Twilight pranced down the stairs and showed off her outfit with pride.
"What do you think Spike?" asked Twilight happily.
"…are you dressed as that one cooky grandpa from the Ponyville retirement home?" asked Spike confusedly, wondering why she was dressed like that.
Twilight's smile quickly turned into a frown at the question "What do you mean by that, I'm dressed as Starswirl the Bearded,"
"…," Spike simply looked back at her blankly.
"…father of the amniomorphic spell?"
"…,"
"Did you even read that book I gave about 'Obscure Unicorn History'?"
Spike began sweating nervously, not wanting to let her know that he never read the book and is trying to find a way out of this conundrum.
*Knock knock knock*
An escape route miraculously presented itself to the young dragon "That sounds important!" he zipped past Twilight and went to open the door only to be a bit surprised when a trio of fillies dressed in various costumes began to sing.
Nightmare Night!
What a fright!
Give us something sweet to bite!
"Sure thing!" Spike went inside to get a bowl of candy for the fillies while Twilight went to greet them.
"Hi everypony, great costumes. Happy Nightmare Night to you too, Granny Smith," said Twilight.
Granny Smith looked a bit grumpy though "I should have been asleep five hours ago,"
A little colt dressed like a pirate jumped before with a toy cutlass sword in his mouth and showboated with it but slipped up to fall on the ground before getting back up and putting it away "Pipsqueak the pirate, at your service. It's my first Nightmare Night,"
"Since you moved from Trottingham?" asked Twilight.
"No, this is my first Nightmare Night ever!"
Suddenly there was a chicken squawk and Pinkie Pie appeared in front of Twilight with a serious look on her face…while dressed as a chicken "Enough chitchat, time is for candy only!"
The Element Bearer of Magic quirked an eyebrow at her fellow Element Bearer "Aren't you a little old for this, Pinkie Pie,"
Pinkie Pie squawked in shock "I am never too old for candy or anything else that is sweet!"
Twilight rolled her eyes and handed out the candy to the young ponies including Pinkie Pie with the latter actually pecking at the candy like a chicken. Twilight jingled the bells on her outfit to catch Pinkie Pie's attention to show it off.
"So what do you think of my outfit?" asked Twilight.
"Oh yeah, I think it's a great oufit Twilight! You made an awesome weirdo clown!" said Pinkie Pie then pecking at the remaining candy in Spike's bowl before taking off with Twilight looking rather flabbergasted.
"A clown?! The borders on this outfit are hoof-stitched if you took a good look at it!" Twilight gestured to a part of said outfit.
"It is a great costume, grampa!" said Spike jokingly, closing the door before heading for the town square with a grumbling Twilight in tow.
In the town, everypony have already gotten into the swing of things as they eating and collecting candy, dancing, singing, playing games and many more while dressed in many varieties of costumes, one can even see Big Mac dressed as a vampire while pulling a carriage with a trio of ponies riding on it. Twilight wasn't really paying attention to any of them, considering that they kept getting the identity of her costume wrong.
Twilight grumbled as she walked "I can't believe no one knows Star Swirl the Bearded, he is like only the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era. Creating more than two hundred spells and even has a shelf in the Canterlot library of magic named after him. Perhaps I should start up a pony group to teach ponies about history, sounds like a good idea. Don't you think so too, Spike?"
"Mm-hmm!" Spike wasn't really paying attention, considering he was more focused on the large pile of candy in his hands.
Pinkie Pie rushed up to them with the fillies from before following after her "Twilight, Twilight! Look at our haul!" she pecked at the bag of candy hung around her neck "Ah! Can you believe it? And then, we went to Cheerilee's house, and got a bunch more goodies. Didn't we, Pip?"
Pipsqueak nodded happily in agreement "Sure did!"
"And then, we had to stop and wait for Granny Smith, and-,"
*CRACKLE* *BOOM*
There was a sudden sound of thunder which nearly scared the feathers off Pinkie's costume as she ran off screaming and the fillies wasted no time doing the same. Twilight heard laughter and looked up to see Rainbow Dash sitting atop a dark cloud and dressed in a black version of the Wonderbolt's uniform.
"Rainbow Dash, that wasn't very nice," Twilight scolded.
The mischievous Pegasus waved her off "Chillax old timer, this night is the best time for pranks!"
The unicorn's eyes twitched in annoyance at the shot at her costume "But look at what you did to Spike," said dragon was sprawled out on the ground and choking on the candy stuck inside his throat and managed to cough it out.
"It's all in good fun…oh, there's another group over there!" Rainbow Dash pushed the dark cloud towards her next targets to surprise them.
"Looks like Dash's having fun in her own way," a familiar voice spoke up, Twilight turned round to see Naruto in a costume of his own design. He was wearing the standard outfit for Jounin, a white haori with red flame designs on its hems, and a kanji for 'Yondaime Hokage' written on the back.
Naruto smiled happily "Hey Twilight, nice costume. Are you some kind of old wizard from a long time ago?"
"Out of all ponies…and dragon, so far you're half correct. How did you guess?" asked Twilight.
"Well magic is your thing so I guessed that your outfit would have something to do with it,"
"That's true, well what's your own costume about?"
"Actually, this outfit is what my dad wore as a Kage of the Hidden Leaf village. It was kinda hard to choose between this one and the one Grandpa Hokage used to wear," Naruto looked at his outfit fondly.
"It certainly suits you,"
"Thanks, I can definitely say the same for you plus more," Twilight blushed a bit from Naruto's compliment.
"By the way, Spike and I are on our way to the Cakes' food stall to get something to eat, wanna come with us?"
Naruto hummed in thought "Maybe, I want to see how everyone's doing but we can meet up there,"
"Okay then, we'll see you later," said Twilight before walking away.
Naruto nodded in affirmation then walking down the street and marveling at the festivities with the ponies enjoying themselves this night. He even had a shadow clone stay at home so he could give out candies to the fillies and colts should they visit there. Naruto located Trixie having set up a stage and was pulling off magic tricks to entertain the audience, smiling warmly that Ponyville had completely forgiven Trixie and accepted her as one of their own. The blonde stallion was snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing someone call his name.
"Naruto!" he turned to see Dinky dressed as a firefighter galloping happily towards him with Derpy donning a costume comprised of multiple paper bags.
"Hey there you two, nice costumes you got on," said Naruto fondly.
"Thanks, but what are supposed to be?" asked Dinky curiously.
"This is what my dad wore back when he was the leader of my home village which was full of awesome ninjas like me!" said Naruto proudly albeit with a bit of nostalgia, wondering how everyone's doing so far since he last went to the Elemental Nations "I think I should make plans to visit the Hidden Leaf Village sometime later,"
He was snapped out of his thoughts yet again upon hearing the sound of ponies screaming and a rather loud and booming but familiar voice was heard even from where he stood.
"Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real Princess of the Night! A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!"
"Luna-chan? Didn't know that she was coming here, but why's everyone screaming?" asked Naruto confusedly.
"I don't know, maybe you should go and see what's happening over there," said Derpy with concern.
"B-Be careful, Naruto," said Dinky, having been frightened by the thunderous voice and flash of lightning.
Naruto took off in direction of the source of commotion and came upon what was happening, ponies running about in a panic and Luna appears to be trying to placate everyone and failing at doing so. He saw Twilight and Spike nearby and went to talk to them.
"Guys, what's going on?" asked Naruto.
"It's like what you're seeing; Princess Luna made an appearance but everypony got scared and went into a panic, thinking that she's still Nightmare Moon," Twilight Moon explained.
"Given that she's talking so loudly, it's kinda adding more to the supposed evil vibe, not to mention that tonight's Nightmare Night…plus Pinkie Pie was the one to start up the panic," Spike added.
Naruto groaned at this "For some reason, I'm not surprised that it was Pinks. Kinda wished it wasn't at Luna-chan's expense,"
Luna finally got fed up with her failed attempts to calm everyone down "What is the matter with you? Very well, then. Be that way. We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell," she walked away into the forest with her head lowered in sadness.
"Let's go talk to her," Naruto suggested.
Twilight nodded in agreement "Yeah, no doubt that she's been having some trouble adjusting after being gone for a thousand years,"
They followed after her with Spike remaining behind and found Luna sitting in the shadow of a statue of Nightmare Moon and poking at a piece of candy on the ground. She heard their approach and turned around only to brighten up upon seeing two of her dear friends.
"Oh it's you two, I can see that you're dressed as Starswirl the Bearded, Twilight. You even got the bells quite right. And it appears that you're dressed as someone from your old world, Naruto," said Luna amiably.
Twilight smiled happily "Thank you! Finally! Somepony who gets my costume! Although one particular pony was half-right," she glanced at Naruto who rolled his eyes with a smile.
"Yeah yeah, and you're right Luna-chan, this was what my dad wore as a Hokage back home. Anyways, we saw what happened and are really sorry about that," said Naruto.
Luna slumped a bit "But I don't understand, I wasn't trying to frighten them,"
"We know, just that you were kinda being a bit too loud," Twilight pointed out.
"But this is the traditional royal Canterlot voice! It is tradition to speak using the royal "we", and to use this much volume when addressing our subjects!" Luna proclaimed, almost blowing off Naruto's headband and Twilight's fake beard before having to readjust them.
"Perhaps that was why your appearance was met with…mixed results, maybe you need to change your approach,"
"Change our approach?"
"You don't have to speak so loud," Naruto clarified.
Luna blinked in realization of what he actually meant "Ohhhh, I've been locked away for a long time. I'm not very confident that I can do so,"
"But I thought that Celestia was helping you learn what goes on in Equestria?"
"She certainly has, but it's just that…she's often busy with other matters and I didn't want to bother her with my problems," said Luna unsurely.
Twilight hummed in thought before coming up with an idea "How about we ask Fluttershy? I'm sure she can give the princess pointers on how to speak to others and gain a much warmer reception,"
"You're kinda making it sound like we can't do the same thing, but I get your point," said Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.
They went on to guide Luna to Fluttershy's home due to Naruto sensing her there since he hadn't encountered her amongst the other ponies. Twilight went ahead to knock on the door and immediately got a reply.
"Go away! No candy here! Visitors not welcome on Nightmare Night!" Fluttershy called out in fright.
"Shy, it's us," said Naruto.
The door opened up just a bit for Fluttershy to peer and let out a sigh of relief upon seeing who it is "Oh it's you Naruto, Twilight…and Princess Luna?" the shy mare came out, looking a bit confused at the princess's presence.
"You see, Princess Luna doesn't really know exactly how to approach other ponies. So we're hoping that you could help us out," Twilight explained.
"O-Oh, I-I'll try my b-best to h-help," said Fluttershy unsurely.
"Should I mimic your voice?" asked Luna albeit loudly.
"Y-yes!" Fluttershy yelped and Naruto had to wound his tail around the mare to prevent her from getting blown back
"How is...this?
"A little quieter," said Twilight.
"How...about...now?"
"A b-bit softer please," Fluttershy muttered lowly.
"Luna-chan, you need to keep in mind that since you're close to a pony, you don't have to raise your voice cause they can hear you clearly," Naruto advised, thinking back to how he often makes himself be heard by others when he was in Konoha.
"...how about now?" asked Luna in a much normal voice.
Twilight clapped her hooves happily "Yes! Well done!" Naruto nodded in approval.
Luna pulled Fluttershy over with magic and embraced her happily "Thank you very much, dear Fluttershy! I should be able to win the hearts of the villagers now!"
"Y-You're w-welcome," said Fluttershy, having not expected a hug from the princess of all ponies.
At that moment, Pinkie Pie was trotting up to them with the fillies following her.
"Fluttershy! You've gotta hide us! Nightmare Moon is here and...," Pinkie Pie trailed off when she saw Luna hugging Fluttershy who was blushing beet red.
"Now Pinks, it's not what it looks like so calm down an-," Naruto tried to explain.
"BAWK KAWK! Nightmare Moon has paralyzed Fluttershy so she can't scream when she gobbles her up!" Pinkie Pie squawked before running the fillies screaming after her.
Luna saw them run and tried to stop them "Children wait…I mean, children wait!"
"Oh dear, t-this wasn't supposed to happen," said Fluttershy.
Naruto saw how sad Luna looked and let out sigh "Darn it Pinks, we're trying to make Luna-chan appear more friendly, not scary,"
"Just we move on to plan B," said Twilight.
"And that would be?" asked Naruto.
"We ask Applejack for help, she's one of the most likeable and understanding ponies here in Ponyville. I should know since she welcomed me when I first came here," Twilight pointed out.
"Again, you got a point there. I hope that it turns out better than this,"
They now headed for the town square where many ponies were playing games but immediately halted the moment Luna came into view and ran off. Naruto kinda wished that they would at least try to approach Luna and learn more about her, it reminded him about how the people of Konoha rejected him just for containing Kurama. They soon found Applejack who was dressed up as a scarecrow made of straw.
"Hey AJ," Naruto called out.
Applejack turned around and smiled though was surprised to see the princess with them "Well howdy do y'all, it's a surprise to see you too princess,"
"We need your help Applejack, Princess Luna is having trouble fitting in and we're hoping that you could lend a hoof like you did for me when I first came here," Twilight explained.
Applejack hummed in thought "In that case, I reckon playing a couple of games would show everypony how good you are and they'll definitely view you differently,"
Luna became hopeful at her words "In that case, which of these games would you recommend for me to play?"
Applejack glanced amongst the games before settling on one of them "How about the Spider Toss game? Should be an easy start for you,"
"How is it played?" asked Luna.
"Try to land the sp-sp-spiders on the web," one of the ponies timidly suggested.
"I see…," Luna took one of the toy spiders from the bowl, then she tossed it at the web only for it to land on the ground inches before it.
"Try to aim and toss with a bit more strength," Naruto advised.
"Okay, once more then," Luna took another and tossed it, this time succeeded having the toy spider land in the middle of the web "I prevailed!"
"Well done, Princess Luna! I knew you could do it!" said Twilight happily.
"Thank you, are there more games like this one?" asked Luna eagerly.
"There sure are, ah bet yah gonna have a whoopin good time!" said Applejack happily.
Luna took part in the other games and was enjoying herself while she was at it, Naruto decided to compete with the Princess of the Night which seemed to have awakened a rivalrous trait which she never knew she had before. Everypony watched with growing excitement, seeing the princess act so differently from what they knew of her at first.
"You're pretty good," said Naruto, having just played the pumpkin catapult.
Luna huffed with pride "Expect no less from your princess, now what other game shall we partake?"
"How about bobbin' for apples? We got the best apples here in Equestria," Applejack suggested.
"How interesting, please show us as I intention of attain a lead in the score," said Luna, looking at Naruto who smirked in response.
"We'll see about that," said the blonde stallion.
They made their way towards the apple-bobbing tub when they came upon Pipsqueak teetering on the edge and slipped inside. Luna wasted no time to rush over and pull the young colt out by the scruff of his jacket.
"Hey, guys. Anypony seen Pip?" they turned to see Pinkie Pie with the fillies and Naruto felt a weird sense of Deja vu "We lost him the last time we had to run fr-," she trailed off from seeing Luna holding Pipsqueak in her mouth "Aaah! Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak! Everypony run!"
"Aaaaah!" the fillies ran off with everypony soon joining them.
Pipsqueak began to panic as well "Help! My backside has been gobbled!"
Luna placed the colt on the ground and was rather offended "That is completely untrue, that was quite rude of you!" she stomped a hoof on the ground which caused thunder to boom, making the ponies scream even more "Wait please, no need to fear me! We can still have fun together!"
She tried to play some of the games but ended up overdoing things, making things even worse than before.
"Please don't run away…as your queen, we command you!" a look of frustration appeared on her face "Be still!"
Naruto called out to the Alicorn princess "Luna-chan, please calm down!"
"Princess, please remember that you need to lower the volume!" said Twilight.
Luna turned towards them with eyes glowing white with power "No! We must use the traditional royal Canterlot voice for what we are about to say," she turned to the Ponyville residents "Since you choose to fear your princess rather than love her, and dishonor her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be canceled! Forever!"
Luna stormed off to the forest once more, leaving the ponies in silence as the meaning of the declaration became very clear to them. From this point onwards, Nightmare Night is cancelled for good.
Applejack let out a sigh "Shoot. We had everything goin' our way. Luna was happy, everypony in town was happy, now look at 'em..," Naruto looked around and saw the sadness on every pony's face, especially the fillies and colts.
Naruto then spoke up "I'll go and talk to her, see if I can resolve this and hopefully change her mind," he trotted away to where Luna would be and sure enough, he found her at the Nightmare Moon statue "Luna-chan…,"
"Leave me alone…," said Luna sadly.
"I'm sorry that things didn't turn out the way we wanted them to be, I was really hoping that you would enjoy yourself on Nightmare Night especially since it was made with you in mind," said Naruto.
"Indeed, to make everyone run away from me and being isolated,"
"Come on, Luna-chan. You can't give up on having everypony acknowledge you for who you truly are,"
"And if I was?" Luna felt something lift up her chin, revealing to be Naruto using his tail to raise her head so she would look at him.
Naruto smiled in understanding "I can tell you now; being alone sucks and we both know that all too well. I can also tell you that crying, sulking or giving up won't help one bit. I already did that and got nothing to show for it, so I'm not planning on letting you do the same either,"
Luna looked at Naruto in confusion "I don't understand,"
"Back in Konoha, my greatest desire was to obtain the acknowledgement of my home and for them to see me for who I really am instead of what I contained back then. To be frank, I got tired of crying and sulking in hopes of everything resolving itself. So I decided to do something about my problems with my own two hands. To be honest, you have a bit of an advantage compared to the me of back then,"
Luna was curious about that, what good thing does she have that Naruto didn't "What would that be?"
"Friends and a sister more than willing to be there for you and help with all their hearts, so don't give up on yourself when we haven't given up on you,"
Luna felt her heart pound against her chest with how Naruto looked at her with warmth and complete faith in her "Naruto...I…,"
The princess wondered if she would have never become Nightmare Moon had Naruto been around all those years ago. But at the same time, she's grateful that she met him in this time and that he rescued her from the darkness. Luna felt her cheeks heat up and was about to speak when Twilight trotted up to them in excitement with the Alicorn feeling rather annoyed that her moment with Naruto is being interrupted.
"Princess Luna, Naruto! I finally figured out why she has so much trouble being liked thanks to Pinkie Pie!" said Twilight.
"Pinkie Pie?" asked Naruto with a quirked eyebrow, considering that it was her overreactions that practically reset their attempts of getting everypony to like Princess Luna.
"I understand your skepticism, but I was able to come up with an idea which is sure to work thanks to her. And I'll need help from both of you,"
Naruto ruffled his spiky blonde mane with a sigh "Okay Twilight, what's the plan?"
Back at the town square, ponies were trying to make do with what's left of the cancelled celebration whilst trying to placate the saddened children who had been looking forward to this night.
"I never would have thought that my first Nightmare Night would be my last," said Pipsqueak, looking down at the ground sadly.
Zecora was about to cheer the little colt up when there was a puff of smoke which surprised everypony before dissipating to reveal Naruto holding up a hoof as if doing a handsign.
"Citizens of Ponyville, I have news for you all. Upon confrontation and great sacrifice on my part, I have made an abetting with Nightmare Moon!" Naruto proclaimed.
"What do you mean, Naruto?" asked Mayor Mare confusedly.
"She agreed to give us all one more chance to please and awaits at her statue for the annual offering of sweetness. But beware that this offering must live up to her expectations else she gobbles us all, be prepared!" Naruto swiftly took out another smoke ball and toss it to the ground to disappear in a puff of smoke.
"Could it be true?" asked one of the ponies unsurely.
"We'll never know unless we try, might as well do it," said Applejack.
Pipsqueak looked down at his bag of candy silently before steeling himself and began walking in direction of the statue with the fillies and soon the other ponies following him. They soon arrived at the statue and found Luna there with her back towards them but not saying a word.
"Um, Nightmare Moon; we've come to offer you our finest candy with hopes that you like them and not gobble us up," said Pipsqueak before placing some of his candy on the ground before her, others followed suit and a heap was formed.
"…," Luna still didn't say a word and turned to face them.
Pipsqueak sighed sadly at the lack of response "We're sorry for disappointing you, goodbye then," he turned to leave when there was a flash of lightning and thunder, everypony looked to see Luna hovering before them with eyes glowing of power.
"Citizens of Ponyville, it appears that your offering has pleased me. So much that I shall eat it…instead of eating you!" Luna declared.
"Aaaaaaahh!" everypony screamed before running away.
Luna landed on the ground with a frown "I did what you suggested, Naruto, Twilight Sparkle. But I don't think this is going according to your plan," Naruto and Twilight emerged from behind the statue with smiles on their faces much to her confusion.
"It is actually, just wait a bit more," said Twilight in confidence
"For what? For them to scream some more?" Luna felt her mane suddenly being tugged and looked down to Pipsqueak timidly looking up to her.
"Um Princess Luna, I know that you said Nightmare Night is over forever but could you come and scare us again next year?" asked Pipsqueak, Luna glanced over to see the children peering from behind a bush with eyes full of hope that she would come again.
"You mean you actually like that I scare you?" asked Luna confusedly.
The little colt nodded happily "It was scary but it was also fun!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year!"
Luna smiled almost as brightly as the moon…considering her sister is in charge of the sun and all "In that case…Nightmare Night is back!"
"Thank you very much, you're my favorite princess ever!" Pipsqueak hugged Luna's leg before galloping back to other children "She said yes, guys!"
"Yay!" the foals cheered at the good news.
"See what happens when you don't give up? You'll eventually succeed and the feeling of doing so is amazing," said Naruto walking up to Luna with Twilight in tow.
Luna looked like she wanted to say something and she did "Oh the most wonderful of…I mean; oh, the most wonderful of nights." She used her magic to pull Naruto and Twilight into a happy embrace "Thank you both, I'm so happy to have you as my friends!"
Naruto smiled and hugged her back "No problem, Luna-chan. Friends care for each other,"
"I'm going to have Spike write a letter to Princess Celestia about what we've learnt on this night," said Twilight.
Luna rejoined the festivities and this time didn't have to worry about actually being feared by the ponies and was having fun with everypony. An oddity was of Pinkie Pie running and breathing fire out of her mouth, Twilight noticed that Naruto was smirking and suspected him to be the cause. The sly pony revealed having snuck in a pepper flavored candy into Pinkie Pie's bag, and when asked why he said.
"As much as I understood Pinks simply having fun being scared, part of me wanted a bit of payback for those hoops she had us jump through,"
Twilight was enjoying her candy with Spike, unaware that Rainbow Dash was hovering above on her dark cloud and ready to surprise h-
*BOOM*
"Gyaaaah!" she flew off in fear from the sudden lightning zap from behind.
Twilight saw her fly away and turned to see Luna descending from atop a dark cloud of her own, giving the unicorn an idea of what exactly happened.
"Ah, I am honored to have witnessed the princess's very first prank. It brings a prank master great joy to see another take the first step on the path of mischievousness," said Naruto, brushing a hoof along a long fake beard like an old kung fu master.
Twilight noticed that her fake beard is missing and realized that Naruto swiped it without her knowing, Naruto gave her a playful wink and they all broke into laughter.