Your Summon is Pink

by 5007

Sur-PRISE!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. MLP belongs to Hasbro.

Chapter One: Sur-PRISE!

Konohagakure no Sato (Hidden Village of the Leaves) was the primary military base for Fire Country. Konoha Medical Center, situated near the center of said "village", was a bastion of modern medical ninja techniques and technologies. While a portion of the complex was dedicated to civilian matters and mundane procedures, like birthing children and tooth extraction, the majority of it had been built like a fortress. Various injured ninja had a habit of trying to check out of hospital before they were fully healed, especially the Akimichi (the food was terrible, they frequently said). The walls were built of granite with seals carved into the walls for added strength and nullification of Doton (Earth Release) techniques. The wooden paneling on both sides of the walls (for insulation) was made from special trees that were fed water-natured chakra at regular intervals throughout life, both for fireproofing and additional strength. They even used special glass for the windows that shattered in such a way to prevent injury when people leapt out of them (leaping into any of the buildings through said windows had the opposite effect and usually resulted in the intruder being strapped to a gurney).

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage (Third Fire Shadow), had signed the building permits several decades earlier and was once again marveling at all the progress that had been done since Tsunade's, his prized student's plans of a medical center optimized to treat ninja had been implemented; he couldn't count the number of lives that it had helped save, both in the short- and long-term. Before he could enter the building, his squad of four white-porcelain-masked ANBU (Special Black-Ops Squad) silently materialized around him and took their usual positions. Two of them placed themselves on either side of the door while the third covered their leader's back and the fourth shinobi entered through the doors to check for ambushes or other potential threats. After the ANBU inside the building had given the all-clear sign, Hiruzen entered, flanked by the two shinobi guarding the doors while the last one had his back.

It was a confusing dance to watch, but the personal guard of the Hokage performed this choreography everywhere they went, always covering all possible angles of attack. They also did it with such fluidity and speed that the Hokage didn't even have to slow his stride as he walked through the double doors of the hospital.

The old Hokage marched to the front desk where he was met with the icy gaze of the Branch Family Hyuuga secretary manning his station.

"Evening, Hokage-sama," was his curt greeting.

"Good evening," replied the older ninja. "I understand that Jiraiya of the Sannin has been admitted. Could I bother you for his room number?"

The old man was allowed into the hospital room almost immediately. The Sandaime Hokage sighed when he saw Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, in the hospital bed, his leg in traction. While the Sandaime was a seventy-year-old man, Jiraiya was a physically-fit fifty-year-old with long, spiky white hair, some face paint, and a horned metal headband engraved with the kanji for "oil".

"Odd that you were the one who ended up in the hospital," chuckled the Hokage.

"Keep that attitude up, Sensei, and you won't be getting the next issue of my book," threatened the Toad Sage.

Hiruzen smirked. "Then I suppose that I'll have to arrange that you only get male nurses for the remainder of your stay, now won't I?"

Jiraiya's mouth opened and closed a few times before he shrugged and shook his head. "I suppose that's checkmate."

"What of Naruto? Did you have him sign the Toad Contract like we planned?"

The Sannin blinked a couple of times. He put his hand to his chin. "I taught him the seals for summoning, but I tried to help him improve his control before he started."

"And?" The Hokage was getting twitchy. It was almost as if he was worried something bad was going to happen.

"Well, he used too much chakra and in the end blew up the streambed we were standing on. I went tumbling down the mountain and my leg got caught between a couple of boulders."

There was a moment of silence.

The Hokage groaned. "He didn't sign the contract, did he?"

"Well, uh, no."

Sarutobi Hiruzen palmed his face. "Did you at least explain to him how dangerous it is to try using the summoning jutsu when you aren't contracted with any creature?"

Jiraiya paled. "No... He's going to practice it anyway, isn't he!?"

The Hokage turned to one of his ANBU shadows. "Tenzo, find Naruto and bring him to me!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

In a swirl of leaves, the masked ninja was gone.

A twelve-year-old (almost thirteen) boy with golden blonde hair, lively, blue eyes, and whisker marks seemingly tattooed on his cheeks growled in frustration as he sat down, cross-legged, in the middle of a clearing, unzipping his orange and blue jacket to release some body heat.

"Did that Pervert-Sage ditch me?" he murmured.

Naruto hadn't been able to find Jiraiya since the explosion. He'd have to remember how he did that - could be a nice surprise for anyone who got a hold of him. The blonde shook his head.

Not what I need to be focusing on anyway, he thought. He looked to the sun to see that he still had a few hours of daylight left. Nodding to himself, he decided to practice a bit.

His hands flashed through the signs for boar, dog, monkey, rooster, and sheep. He did it again. And again. He was repeating the signs to increase his speed before attempting the jutsu. Jiraiya may have only been training him for a few days, but the lessons had really stuck. He had already learned to think in different ways.

Once he was able to do the hand signs in under a second, he figured he was done practicing. When he heard the sharp cawing of a crow and searched for the origin of the sound he spotted the bird in a tree. The sun was directly behind it - only ten minutes of daylight left. He'd try summoning just once and then he would go to Ichiraku's. He'd look for Jiraiya tomorrow.

He bit his thumb, channeled all of the chakra he could muster (despite the fact he still couldn't consciously reach his secondary chakra source), flashed the five signs, and slammed the palm of his hand down onto the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

Summoning without a contract is incredibly dangerous. Doing so would be like gambling with one's soul. One could summon a demon, an angry dragon, an irate giant snake, or any number of deadly things. There was no telling what a summoning could bring out.

Naruto was gifted with extremely good luck when it came to gambling - and he was wagering his soul and that of the Kyuubi's. He had a one-in-a-million chance to even survive an uncontracted summoning, but when it comes to people like Naruto...

"Sur-PRISE!" cried out the summon from within the smoke, confetti and balloons suddenly appearing from within and going everywhere.

Naruto found himself face-to-face with what appeared to be a bright pink horse with a darker pink mane standing on its hind legs. It wore a skintight, black bodysuit with ceramic armor plates (also pink) placed in strategic positions on its body. Around its neck was some kind of jeweled necklace with a balloon-shaped pink gem. Covering its muzzle was a black veil, making its bright blue eyes seem brighter by comparison.

The horse summon wrapped its forehooves around Naruto, enveloping him in a hug. Needless to say, Naruto was floored, both because he had been expecting a toad summon and because he'd never really been hugged before. The horse smelled like cookie dough and cake frosting, of all things.

"I'm so excited! This is the first time anypony has been summoned! Are you excited!? You're going to be the first Pony Summoner in the history of the world! If I knew this was going to happen I would have baked a cake to celebrate!"

"That... sounds like fun?" Naruto replied hesitantly. He tentatively returned the hug. "So, you're a 'pony'?"

"Yes! An earth pony mare! My name's Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can call me Pinkie! All my friends do!" She nuzzled his face as she swung him around before setting him down again and pulling back to get a good look at his face. "What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. And I'm going to be Hokage some day!" He smiled at her - while she wasn't what he was expecting, he already liked her. "But I'm training for the Chuunin Exams and I was kind of expecting to summon a toad."

Pinkie snorted. "Toads are just big meanies! Wait, you're in training?"

Naruto nodded.

"You should train in Equestria! Especially since you need to see Princess Luna to sign our Summoning Contract."

"Wait, what?"

And with an explosion of smoke, they were gone.

Tenzo landed in the middle of the smoke cloud, sighing as he realized that the equine had already taken Naruto to the Summon Realm.

Maybe Hokage-sama knows something about these horse summons, he thought as he made his way back to the hospital.

"I swear that child's going to kill me before I can give him my hat!" fumed Sarutobi. He turned back to Tenzo. "And you say it appeared to be a pink horse summon?"

The ANBU Captain nodded.

Jiraiya rubbed his chin before summoning a small toad. "Hey, Kusari-Gama, I have a question."

The pale green toad that carried a coiled chain on his back grunted. "'Sup?"

"Have you heard of any Horse Summon Clan?"

"Horse?" repeated Kusari. He sat back and closed his eyes in contemplation. "No horses. Sorry."

The Sage rubbed his temples as he sighed. "Sorry, Sensei."

As Sarutobi gripped the armrests of his chair more tightly due to the stress, the small toad croaked again.

"Ponies though," he started as he opened his eyes. "Pony Summons do exist. They tend to keep to themselves and seem to be at war with most of the rest of the Summon Clans. They tend to not like us toads."

Sarutobi raised his eyebrow at the small toad's explanation. "Do you know if any of them are pink?"

Kusari nodded. "They come in all sorts of colors."

Jiraiya posed his question. "What other clans, if any, are they allied with?"

"That's a real short list," chuckled the small toad. "They are allied with five others - Griffins, Bulls, Zebras, Donkeys, and Minotaurs specifically - and have a long-standing cease-fire with the Monkeys."

"Thanks, Kusari-Gama," the Toad Sage sighed. "You may go now."

With a salute, the small toad was gone in a puff of chakra smoke.

All of the ninja in the room turned expectant eyes towards their Hokage who was wearing a contemplative expression.

"I'll have to see what Enma says," responded the old man.

For a moment, Naruto thought Pinkie had killed him. He felt like a lake that is being sucked through a straw in under the course of a second, while on fire. He coughed up a lot of phlegm, the smoke burning his lungs for a bit, convincing him for a split-second that he was indeed on fire, when an appendage helped him to his feet while another patted his back, helping him spit out the last bit of errant mucus.

"Are you okay?" he heard Pinkie ask, concern evident in her voice.

"What happened?" Naruto croaked.

"Oh, I took you with me back to the Summon Realm!" she beamed, all worry about the boy's health apparently forgotten.

Naruto took a look around, now that the chakra smoke had cleared. He was in a bedroom of sorts, with pink-painted walls. Upon these walls were weapon racks holding all sorts of... baking utensils? In a crate in one corner several tanks marked as "Helium" sat next to a box filled with empty balloons. Near it was a calendar that had every day of the year upon it - and nearly every space had at least one name of some sort written within. Near that, on the back of the door, was a full-body mirror.

The bed was, unsurprisingly, covered with pink sheets and blankets. Near it was an open kennel in which a lizard of some sort was sleeping. Littered all over the floor were various bits of streamers, confetti, and all sorts of odd blueprints. Near a workbench in the far corner was some sort of bicycle-like contraption that had seen better days. Obviously, Pinkie was repairing it, but it didn't seem to have any way of moving along the ground. It might have been a submersible for all Naruto knew. Finally, against one of the walls surrounded by a pair of windows was a modest bookcase filled with a number of well-read books. Many of them had to do with chakra theory, ninja tactics, and siege weaponry, but there were plenty of cookbooks as well. Naruto could tell that they were not sorted in any specific fashion.

Naruto turned to see Pinkie sitting on her haunches smiling at him, hoping that he approved of her room. Seeing such child-like expectation on the pony's face cause Naruto to smirk.

"This is your room, right?"

She nodded vigorously. Naruto could have sworn he heard the sound of rocks rattling around inside of a wooden box but he ignored it.

"Much better than my place," he admitted as he scratched the back of his head.

Her eyes closed as she smiled behind her veil, looking very similar to how Kakashi-sensei smiled on occasion.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as Enma paced the length of the private Sarutobi Underground Training Chamber.

"I was just a young primate," began the Monkey King, "when my father finally met with Celestia, Princess of the Ponies, to finally work out the terms of the cease-fire. That was eight hundred years ago..."

Son Gokuu, the Monkey King, grunted as his Four Silverspear Guards escorted him and his son to the summit of the hill both parties had agreed on. It was a mesa, really, sitting within the confines of Everfree Forest, a territory all summons considered to be neutral. As the Monkeys reached the center, a brilliant flash of light heralded the arrival of Princess Celestia, Goddess of the Sun, and Primary Monarch for the Pony Clan. Her escorts were an Earth Pony wearing heavy bladed armor with claw-like extensions on all four of her hooves, a Unicorn with a massive assortment of weaponry strapped to his armor, and two Pegasi, one wearing a sleek, form-fitting, black garb and the other in golden armor, blades attached to the first three primaries of each of his wings.

Gokuu nodded his head towards his Pony equivalent, getting a nod in return.

"We, the Monkey Clan, are tired of this war," stated the ape monarch.

"As are we," agreed Celestia, her pastel mane flowing in an ethereal wind. "I have already taken the initiative of silencing those of my subjects whom wish to take your territories from you."

Gokuu took a step back out of surprise. Enma was confused, but remained silent as his father had instructed.

"Wh-" the Monkey King began before composing himself. "What do you mean?"

"It is my understanding," explained the Pony monarch, "that even though hostilities between our clans began over two-hundred years ago after my sister had gone mad, the movements of the Monkey Clan had initially been attempts at restoring the order of day and night. As such military actions took the lives of Equestrians, my subjects began calling for revenge, and many wished to conquer Monkey territory in retaliation."

"That sounds about right," Gokuu responded, his guarded tone revealing nothing despite the relief he felt internally.

"While I cannot offer any of my territory in reparation, I will declare my current capital and the surrounding area to be part of the Everfree and abandon the palace and much of the treasure within to those who can take it."

He rubbed his chin. "It would be booby-trapped, wouldn't it?"

Celestia gave a small grin, but did not respond to the question vocally.

"One other condition I have," stated the Monkey King.

"Please elaborate." The tone of her voice, while polite, had absolutely no inflection whatsoever.

"My allies wish to not have to mention your Clan to summoners, even when directly asked about Ponies."

There was a long, tense moment where the guards of both monarchs prepared for a fight due to being uncertain if Celestia would agree or disagree with such a condition. Summon Clans that had living summoners had great prestige and political power in the Summon Realm, and by accepting such a term, Princess Celestia would potentially permanently hobble her Clan. But not accepting might cause the war to last longer.

Celestia needed time to reconsolidate her power and reorganize her government. Signing a cease-fire with the Monkeys (and by extension, their allies) would reduce the number of fronts she would have to fight on by a significant margin.

Celestia's eyes glowed with the light of the Sun for a split-second, filling her with a vision of the future - a young human male with sun-kissed hair kneeling before her, signing the Pony Contract at her hooves in its blood - before the vision suddenly vanished from her mind's eye. But she remembered it. Even knowing the potential problems this final term Gokuu presented to her could cause, she took it all into consideration.

"Would it be possible to change that condition to no mention of Ponies to any summoner except those that already have knowledge of our existence?"

"... and that is how the cease-fire agreement was signed," finished Enma. "Though the Toads did not agree to any terms..."

"This Celestia-hime," began Sarutobi, looking at his favorite summon. "You say she is the Sun kami?"

"Of the Summon Realm, yes."

"So, she wouldn't be in control of our own Sun?"

"I doubt it," replied Enma. "Her younger sister was the Moon kami and the more militant of the two. About a thousand years ago, the younger went mad and forced the Summon Realm into perpetual night, sparking a civil war in the Pony Clan. My father sent warriors and assassins to try and restore the balance, but many other Clans took the opportunity to try and steal some territory from the Ponies."

Tapping out his pipe, the Hokage refilled it with more tobacco and used a minor fire jutsu to ignite it. "What caused the balance of night and day to be restored?"

"Celestia-hime sealed her sister inside of the Moon."

The Hokage nodded. While harsh, the punishment seemed appropriately ironic in his mind.

The current Monkey King continued. "It is rumored that the younger sister has returned recently; during the Summer Solstice the night lasted several hours longer than normal. While this phenomenon supports these rumors, I have yet to see any evidence that the mad Pony monarch has been freed."

"Sister?"

"Yes, Luna? What are you doing up at this time of day? It is noon."

"It felt as though one of our subjects hast answered a Summoning..."

"Indeed. Pinkie Pie, the Bearer of Laughter, answered an uncontracted Summoning."

The Goddess of the Night blinked. "Thou art not worried?"

"No, Luna. Ms. Pie can take care of herself."

Princess Luna nodded. "Good day to thee, Sister. I shall return to slumber and shall rise at dusk."

"Good day, Sister. Sleep well," bade Princess Celestia.

Naruto found himself almost literally dragged through town. He could see many different Ponies - some that were definitely warriors and some that were certainly civilians. These Ponies came in a variety of colors and some were shaped like Pinkie, but he noticed two other breeds - some that had a horn in the center of the forehead, and others that had wings. All the Ponies he passed paused in their activities, gazing hopefully at Naruto. For a split-second, he was confused as to why, but then he remembered that no Pony had ever been summoned before. They must be hoping that he'd be their summoner!

Well, I'm not going to let them down!

A mint-colored unicorn with a powder-blue mane, amber eyes, and an apparatus made of wood on her back jumped into Pinkie's path, causing the pink mare to stop. The contraption on her back opened up to reveal a pair of puppet arms with disproportionately large hands that clamped down on Naruto's shoulders, though not hard enough to cause pain - only mild discomfort.

"OH MY GOSH!" squealed the unicorn. "A HUMAN!"
She then hugged Naruto with her forelegs. And her false arms.

The blonde child tentatively hugged her back.

"Hi Lyra!" chirped Pinkie.

While many ponies are "civilians", nearly every single one has been combat trained to some extent. Some younger summon creatures only see ponies as "namby-pamby wimps" and often try to bully the equines. Fine examples of this are young dragons, who think that just because they breathe fire, fly, and can bathe in lava without harm, ponies are easy pickings for raiding and pillaging.

One very good example is a raid from eighty years ago when four adolescent dragons attacked the settlement of Ponyville. While a number of homes were destroyed and many ponies injured, not a single one had been killed or crippled. The four young dragons were sent back to the nearest communal Wyrmnest. All four of the dragons had been mutilated in some way.

While many dragons still try to pick fights or kill other summon creatures, the wise ones never go after Ponies. Although friendly, the equines will not hesitate to deal harshly with anything that dared attack them if push comes to shove. Much like humans, in fact.

Naruto found himself walking at a sedate pace with both Pinkie and Lyra.

Speaking of which, the unicorn mare was actually a civilian, but she had developed her puppetry techniques to such an extent that she could fight, potentially, thanks to her artificial arms. Lyra Heartstrings was obsessed with hands, for some reason. Even when the blonde child asked her why she liked hands so much, he couldn't make heads or tails of her explanation, so he dropped the issue.

"So," he began. "Where are we going?"

Pinkie blinked, putting her hoof under her veil to supposedly scratch her chin, before she suddenly gasped. "THAT'S RIGHT! I need to take you to my friend, Twilight Sparkle! She needs to let the Princesses know about you!"

Naruto suddenly found himself sitting on Pinkie's back. Well, I guess she is a horse, after all, he thought to himself.

"Sorry Lyra! I need to hurry hurry hurry!"

"GAH!" yelled the human as the pink mare sped off.

"'Salright!" Lyra called after them, a genuine smile plastered to her face.

"While I do like to chat with you, Hiruzen, why bring up the subject of Ponies?" Enma asked.

"Our Jinchuuriki summoned one without a contract," replied the aged Hokage.

The Monkey King sat down. "That boy is lucky he still has his soul - imagine if he summoned a demon, or worse, a draconequus!"

Hiruzen steepled his fingers and leaned forward onto his desk. "I don't know what a draconequus is, but you are correct that he is lucky."

The old man took out his pipe and tapped the ashy remnants of his last smoke into his waste bin before grabbing some fresh tobacco from a drawer. A quick and minor fire jutsu later and the Sandaime's nicotine addiction was sated.

"When my successor, the Yondaime, sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto, I had hoped that the child would be seen as a hero."

Enma nodded. "You were always far too optimistic when it came to the quality of your own people, Hiruzen. Young Naruto was ignored at best, verbally abused at worst throughout his childhood, I take it?"

"Indeed," replied the wizened ninja. "Recently, Naruto has been able to turn the perceptions of a small few around. He counts them among his treasured people. Regardless, when it comes to luck, I think the boy may have inherited the luck of the kitsune."

The Monkey summon had connected the dots at this point. "So Naruto gambled with the Summoning jutsu and pulled a pony from my world, hence our earlier conversation."

"Yes, and the pony took him to the Summon Realm."

Enma laughed. "You don't have much to fear, Hiruzen. While ponies are vicious fighters, they are friendly enough outside of combat." Rubbing the back of his head, the Monkey continued. "Additionally, I'm not surprised that whichever pony Naruto summoned brought him to the Realm. Since it was unlikely that he summoned the Contract Bearer with his first try, he was taken to them."

Naruto was surprised to see that Twilight lived inside a tree. And it was the public library to boot.

As Pinkie throttled her speed once they had arrived in view of the library, a relieved Naruto loosened the death grip he had held the pony's neck in. He rolled off of her back and landed on his buttocks.

"That," he began, gasping for air. "Was. Fast!"

"Yup!" the mare giggled. She then turned to the door of the tree/house/library and raised her hoof.

Tap tap tap tap tap. KNOCK KNOCK!

He could hear a female voice calling from inside.

"Oh Spike, could you get that!? I think it's Pinkie."

"Of course it's Pinkie," came the immediate retort from a young male voice. "She's the only pony who knocks like that."

Naruto sat up in time to see that what opened the door was not a pony, but a small purple lizard thing with green spinal frills.

"Hi Pinkie!" the creature greeted. It turned to look at Naruto with green, slitted, cat-like eyes. "What is that?"

"A human," chirped the pink mare.

Before Naruto could speak, the lizard turned back to Pinkie. "Have you shown it to Lyra yet?"

Frowning, Naruto interrupted the conversation with his best impression of a haughty voice. "It has already met Lyra and would appreciate not being talked about as if it weren't present."

"HOLY GUACAMOLE IT TALKS!"

Naruto face-palmed.

"Pinkie, can you help Spike with the refreshments?" Twilight asked as she led Naruto to a chair where he could sit.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

Twilight, a lavender-colored unicorn mare with a dark violet mane and tail, wore a loose-fitting black outfit. In her mane were two stripes: one purple and the other pink. She had a sheathed katana strapped to her back and wore metal bracers on her fetlocks. Upon her head she wore a weird crown thingy that had a six-pointed purple star gem mounted on it. Naruto idly noted that it looked a lot like the symbol he could see stitched into the flanks of her pants.

Naruto sat in the plush armchair Twilight indicated with a hoof. She then turned to one of the many bookshelves. Naruto saw a glow envelop her horn as well as a similar energy field wrap around a particular book on the shelf. Slowly, the tome floated towards her, pages flipping all the while, and stopped in front of her eyes.

Her purple eyes flitted several times between the tome and the young ninja.

"Huh," she sighed. "Are you sure you're a human?"

... the Hell? he thought. "May I see what you're looking at?"

The book rotated around. As soon as the page in question entered his field of vision, he started laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" the unicorn asked, obviously not getting the joke.

"That's a medical picture of the insides of a woman's body!"

"What!?" Embarrassed, Twilight tried to hide her blush behind the book.

"Here," he put his hand forward. "Let me help you find the one for the male body."

Naruto noticed that that the book and by extension Twilight's horn stopped glowing as soon as the book had been safely deposited in his hands. He thumbed through it until he found the appropriate diagram.

"I haven't fully studied human anatomy yet, but my insides look kinda like this," he said as he turned the book around.

Twilight blushed a bit. "I haven't even gotten to that book in my reading yet," she explained. "I only knew it contained information about humans because these books keep getting knocked off the shelves."

Naruto nodded. He sort of understood her problem, but only because he hadn't been able to read many books back home either - something about the public library never being able to keep his records up to date. He also swore that he always turned his books in early, but the librarian kept claiming that he turned them in late. After about the fourth time, Naruto simply gave up on trying to read.

Still, Naruto thought, I might be able to actually borrow books from this library.

The energy field enveloped the tome once again and when Naruto felt a tug on it and he released it from his grasp. It closed itself and floated back to the shelf before the glow disappeared again.

"How do you do that?" Naruto asked.

"Do what?" Twilight responded, confused.

"That glowy thing that made the book float."

"You mean telekinesis?" She looked puzzled.

"She's a unicorn," Spike said as he carried a tray with a teapot and cups into the room. He set the tray on a short table in between Naruto and Twilight before sitting on an ottoman. "Asking a unicorn how she uses telekinesis is like asking you or I how we use our thumbs."

"Spike," the mare admonished. "It's 'you or me' not 'you or I'."

Pinkie bounced into the room with a small, round cake balanced on her head. Giving a wink she tossed the cake into the air and jumped right behind it.

"Hi-YAH!"

She landed in front of the desk with her eyes closed, body contorted into a dramatic pose, wielding in the crook of her fetlock a freshly used spatula coated with frosting and crumbs as four identically cut pieces of cake landed on conveniently placed plates that hadn't been there before.

As she took a bow, Naruto couldn't help but clap. Spike was also applauding while Twilight was rubbing her face with a hoof.

"Pinkie," she began. "How many times have I asked you to not play with food in the library?"

Pinkie just grinned widely and instantly responded with: "Eleven!"

Twilight groaned as Naruto snickered.

"So, Naruto," Twilight began. "Would you like to become a Pony Summoner?"

"Yeah," he replied. "You guys are pretty awesome!"

The unicorn nodded. She turned to Spike. "Take a letter."

The purple reptile pulled a scroll and a quill, seemingly from nowhere. "Right."

"Dear Princess Celestia, I am writing to you because we have a potential summoner sitting right here in the Ponyville Library. We request transportation to Canterlot so Uzumaki Naruto may sign the contract. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

"... kay, elle, eee. Done," reported Spike. He suddenly breathed green fire at the scroll which quickly disintegrated into a dense cloud of smoke that flew out of the window. "It's on its way!"

"Wait," Naruto began. "You can breathe fire?"

"Well, I am a dragon." Spike thrust his chest forward and held his head high - as high as he could, anyway.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Can dragons be summons?"

"Yes," responded Twilight. "But unlike other Summon Clans, dragons do not have a centralized contract. Each individual dragon has their own contract and their own requirements for being allowed to sign it."

"But you're allowed to sign any of their contracts in addition to ours!" Pinkie giggled.

Twilight continued from there. "Spike isn't old enough to generate his own contract yet, though."

Spike's face gained a downcast look, but he looked up when Naruto placed a hand on his head.

"Hey, cheer up! I'll sign yours when you get it!"

"Actually," retorted the dragon, "I won't have a contract for another fifty or so years."

"Then I'll have my grandchildren sign it! No worries!"

Spike beamed, showing his fangs. Suddenly, his cheeks puffed out and he turned away from the group. He belched out some flame and a scroll bearing a wax seal materialized from the smoke.

"Oh, a response from the Princess!" he exclaimed as he picked up the scroll and broke the seal.

"What's it say!?" Pinkie chanted several times while bouncing around the room like a bouncy ball on speed before Twilight stuck a hoof in her mouth.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Spike, and Uzumaki Naruto," the dragon read. "I have arranged for a skywagon to pick the four of you up in five minutes. As there was another matter of business I was going to request your assistance with, it was already on its way. As Princess Luna has regained her place as Contract Bearer, she will also be in the throne room to receive you. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

"'Another matter of business'?" quoted Twilight. "I wonder what she wanted me to do?"

"I'm more interested in finding out how the Princess knew Pinkie was here," said Spike.

"What's a 'skywagon'?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, that's a skywagon!"

A large carriage floated through the air pulled by four white pegasi in golden armor. All four of them had blue eyes and stoic expressions, even as they touched down in front of the library.

"Are they using some sort of bunshin technique?" Naruto whispered to Twilight.

She shook her head. "No, they wear special armor that makes them all appear identical to each other."

The blonde nodded, but he was still puzzled about something. "They don't seem very ninja-ish with that armor."

Twilight snorted in amusement. "They're more like samurai, Naruto."

"Ah."

"FASTER!"

"Naruto!" Twilight admonished. "Please calm down! You're annoying the soldiers!"

"How can you tell!?" the child hollered back. He was attached to the bottom of the skywagon with the chakra he expelled from his feet.

The unicorn brought a hoof to her face. She had been escorted by the soldiers of the Royal Guard on many occasions and had learned the subtle tells as to their moods.

"WHEEEE!" giggled Pinkie as she held onto the hubcap of one of the wheels, allowing the motion of the skywagon to spin her.

Spike chuckled beside Twilight. "I think this is Pinkie's first skywagon ride too."

"Nope," Pinkie replied. "I just don't get to ride them often!"

Spike and Twilight turned to see her walking backwards on top of the wheel completely opposite from the one she was on before.

"How... ?"

"Did she just... ?"

Before they could complete their thought processes, one of the pegasi looked back and began speaking, distracting the unicorn and dragon.

"If all passengers would please be seated we will come in for a landing in Canterlot Castle."

He quickly turned back to his job. When Twilight and Spike looked around again, Pinkie was already in her seat and Naruto was climbing back into the passenger area.

As the skywagon came to a gentle vertical landing, Naruto murmured something about an awesome idea for a prank.
Pinkie immediately said "I'll help!" to him when she heard what he had said.

The four pegasi guards unhitched themselves from the skywagon, causing it to sag in place, as if gravity had just remembered it existed. While Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie thought nothing of the phenomena, Naruto's mind focused on it.

Back home, even when going through the Ninja Academy, Naruto was seen as ignorant or stupid when it came to just about everything. For one, the blonde couldn't care less about the minutia of the history of the Elemental Nations because the names and dates ran together in his head and he had difficulty keeping them straight. It wasn't like they had pictures of these supposedly important historical figures. Additionally, to get attention, Naruto had to be willfully ignorant and a troublemaker.

The main problem was that the villagers didn't realize, or care, that Naruto was actually slightly dyslexic and his problems with reading could be dealt with by practicing. He was also a visual and kinesthetic learner, meaning that as long as he had pictures or visual aids, or he was being taught something by doing it, his memory would retain it a whole lot better than any lecture or text could teach him.

Additionally, Naruto had to be observant of certain odd details in order to pull off the pranks he was famous for or to be able to judge the moods of the various people around him.

He noticed that the skywagon became a lot heavier when the last of the pegasi guards ceased touching it. He wasn't sure why he had even noticed the strange occurrence, but he knew that the effect could potentially be powerful. Even duplicated if he could figure out how.

He shelved the information in the back of his mind and allowed the pegasi to escort them to the receiving room.
The doors on that side of the castle's keep were massive and ornate, covered with a mural depicting the sun on the left and the moon on the right. On either side of the doors were two unicorn guards, each a dark grey. They too wore golden armor.

The guards' horns glowed, making two differently-colored auras that enveloped the handles of the massive doors, turned them, and opened the doors.

Inside was a white unicorn wearing a more ornate set of armor than the rest of the guards. His stern face instantly brightened when he saw Twilight Sparkle.

"Twily!" he exclaimed, removing his helmet with his forehooves to reveal his blue eyes and indigo mane (with blue streaks).

"Shining!" she replied, rushing forward to hug the other unicorn. "Wow, you actually made Captain! When were you going to tell me?" She pushed away from him and glared at the taller stallion.

"Sorry Sis," he began. "I've been really busy with reorganizing the entire guard, which was necessary now that Princess Luna has returned. I meant to send you a letter though!"

He turned to see the remainder of the guests and focused immediately on the dragon. "Hey Spike! How you doin', buddy?"

"Alright," the dragon replied. "Twilight keeps me busy every time she finds something new to research."

"She's still having you reshelf books, huh?" The stallion chuckled, turning to his sister. "So, when are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Right," Twilight responded. "The pink one is Pinkie Pie, she's one of my best friends."

"Hi!" She waved. Suddenly, her hoof went behind her back and returned with a pristine cupcake with a lit candle in the middle of it. "Have a cupcake!"

Spike was the first one to speak after that weird occurrence. "Where did that come from?"

"Sugarcube Corner!"

Naruto chuckled.

Ignoring the pink mare's disregard for physics, Twilight then pointed a hoof at the blonde human. "That is Uzumaki Naruto - I just met him today. He wants to become the Pony Summoner. Guys? This is Captain Shining Armor, my older brother."

"Neat!" Pinkie exclaimed, smiling behind her veil.

Naruto, on the other hand, saluted Shining by brining two fingers to his eyebrow. After a second's hesitation, Shining saluted back.

This event would have startled most who knew Naruto personally, because it was known that the child did not respect authority just because they were authority. Rather, he was familiar and friendly with the few authority figures in his life that he came to respect, but he followed no formal protocol.

Still, Naruto wished to make a good impression on these ponies, so he saluted Shining Armor because he was a fellow soldier.

Ending the salute, Shining spoke to the human. "Tell me something about yourself, Naruto."

"I plan on being the Hokage, which is the strongest ninja in Konoha, in order to protect the ones I care for from those that would do them harm."

Shining snorted. "Impressive, but I meant something more casual. Something that has nothing to do with your career."

Naruto didn't even need two seconds to think of something. "I love ramen."

Twilight grimaced as Shining whooped in joy.

"Me too!" declared the guard captain. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine!"

Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, and Naruto did not have long to wait until Shining Armor told them they could enter the throne room. The large stained-glass windows depicted scenes of battles long ago against various creatures including some that Naruto didn't know the names for. There were tall marble columns to support the ceiling from which dangled magnificent chandeliers. Instead of candles, special crystals that glowed with an ethereal light were mounted on the walls and chandeliers.

Two thrones, side by side, sat on a raised dais at the end of the room. One was pure white with golden accents and red velvet cushions, whereas its twin was the darkest black, with silver accents and pale blue cushions. Upon the first throne resided a large pony, at least twice the size of any pony Naruto had seen yet. She was white as snow, but had a prismatic mane and tail each of soft pastels which fluttered in an unfelt breeze. Around her horn she wore a tiara of gold. She wore golden slippers on her hooves. She also had massive wings like a pegasus and the mark on her flank was that of the brilliant sun.

From what Naruto had gathered, this mare was Princess Celestia, Monarch Primary of the Ponies. Her race was a special one called an "alicorn".

Seated on the black throne was a smaller, drowsy-looking alicorn of the deepest, darkest midnight blue. She wore a silver tiara and silver slippers. Her mane and tail looked like twin fields of stars that constantly shifted. On her flank was a dark patch with a crescent moon in its center. At her hooves was a huge scroll.

To Celestia's right was one of the pegasus guards. To Luna's left was a fifth kind of pony - this one had slitted eyes, much like Spike's, extremely pointy ears, and bat wings. The "batpony" was a dark ash grey with a dark blue mane.

The four guests, escorted by Shining Armor, approached the twin thrones on the plush red carpet. When Twilight and Spike bowed, Pinkie was quick to follow. Naruto, remembering only a little of etiquette training, bowed at the waist. Not knowing how far he was supposed to bow, he settled for bowing at a ninety-degree angle, using chakra to root himself to the floor so he didn't topple forward.

Naruto heard a gasp, but he also heard Shining clear his throat. Naruto took that as his cue to stop bowing. When he straightened, he found himself eye-to-eye with the Sun Princess. He was almost afraid to breathe as she inspected his face and hair. With a nod, the sudden violation of Naruto's personal space was over and Celestia returned to her throne. Figuring it was a personality quirk of the Princess, Naruto put it out of his mind.

Princess Luna opened her mouth to speak. Immediately, the batpony to her left covered his ears with his wings.

"WELCOME, TWILIGHT SPARKLE. WELCOME, PINKIE PIE. WELCOME, SPIKE THE DRAGON. WELCOME, HUMAN CHILD. WE HATH BEEN EXPECTING THEE!"

Pinkie and Twilight were rubbing their ears while Spike had fallen backwards from the force of the Princess's shout. Naruto simply swallowed to fix the pressure in his ears; his Academy instructor, Umino Iruka tended to shout at about that volume, so Naruto was inured to it. The blonde spared a side-glance to Shining Armor and found that the stallion's entire head was encased in an energy aura, probably to block out the sound.

"I'm surprised none of their ears are bleeding," joked Celestia.

"WHY DOST THOU JOKE, DEAR SISTER? AND WHY ARE THOU NOT SPEAKING WITH THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE?"

Celestia blinked at her younger sister for a moment before voicing her reply. "I haven't told you, have I? The use of the Royal Canterlot Voice has been out of practice for nearly nine-hundred years."

"AND THOU WAS GOING TO INFORM US OF THIS... WHEN?"

"Quieter, Your Majesty," requested the batpony.

"How about now?"

"A little lower," the guard suggested as he folded his wings up against his sides.

"And now?"

"Perfect, Your Majesty."

Naruto noticed that Shining's technique to dampen sound was still running so he poked the stallion in the ribs as surreptitiously as possible. The bubble of energy enveloping his head disappeared quickly.

"Human Child, come forth, if thou wouldst."

Naruto stepped forward, making certain to stand equidistant from each throne.

"Thou wishes to sign the Pony Contract, yes?"

"I do," the blonde replied as seriously as possible.

"Unfortunately," Celestia began. "It is not as simple as asking to be allowed to sign it."

"Indeed," Luna agreed. "Though we dost not have a summoner, it dost not mean we will lowerest our standards."

"A trial of valor will be issued to you, Naruto," the older alicorn continued. "Please step back, as it coincides with the assignment I have for Twilight and her friends."

Naruto nodded as stiffly as he could manage before returning to stand next to Pinkie.

"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said. "A large dragon has taken roost at the heights of Whistling Peak. Normally, I would allow it to slumber there uninterrupted, but this particular dragon snores. As you have experienced with Spike, when a dragon snores, they exhale smoke. This dragon's smoke is so thick and voluminous that it could cover much of Equestria in a dark haze if left unchecked. You are to take the other five Bearers of the Elements and persuade him to leave. If he refuses, you are authorized to resort to other methods. Take Naruto with you. The Night Guard to Luna's left will accompany you to observe his behavior."

She then turned her head so that Naruto knew she was talking directly to him. "You are to help them remove the dragon. If it comes to the worst possible outcome, you are to help Twilight and her friends escape."

Naruto swallowed. "Yes, Ma'am."

End Chapter One.

Next Chapter: the other Four Elements, and a dragon.