Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or MLP, nor do I own the original idea that created this story.
“So...is he awake?” Rarity asked, attempting to break the silence brought on by Twilight's hard stare up into Fluttershy's bedroom. Fluttershy nodded.
“Yes, he just woke up a few minutes ago,” she replied, standing in front of the stairs to prevent her friends from going up just yet. “He seems relatively fine, but he's rather confused. He said he's never seen a Pegasus before...or even heard a pony talk.”
“Oooh, he can talk?!?!?!?!” Pinkie asked excitedly, practically bouncing twice her normal height.
“He's never heard a pony talk OR seen a Pegasus pony?” Twilight questioned, almost incredulous at the very idea. “That seems very unlikely.” Fluttershy shook her head.
“I don't think he's lying. He's young, possibly the same age as the Crusaders...at least in terms of whatever his species is,” she rebutted. “Poor thing is probably just as scared as he is confused.” Moving to the side, she gave one final piece of advice. “Go easy with the questions, please. We don't want to upset him.” Walking into the room, Twilight's horn began to glow again, but only for a moment. The ponies who hadn't seen him yet gawked as the little blonde boy tilted his head, eyes transfixed on Twilight's horn. Had anyone paid attention, they would have noted his eyes flash the same color as Twilight's magical aura. It was only a split second though.
“Naruto,” Fluttershy said, moving alongside the bed. “These are my friends. This is Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.” As she went through the names, she pointed a hoof toward whom each name belonged to, and one by one, they gave a little wave of their own hooves. “You already know Apple Bloom. The one right behind her is her older sister, Applejack.” Said pony gave him a reassuring smile, which he returned in kind. “These two fillies are Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.” The two, plus Apple Bloom leapt up onto the bed next to Naruto.
“We're the one's who found you!” Scootaloo announced excitedly, before Sweetie Belle took over.
“Why did you crash into a tree?” she asked. Rarity's eye twitched. Her younger sister was many things...Subtle was not one of them. Naruto just rubbed the back of his head.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he answered.
“Um, anyway, and last but not least, we have...um, where is Pinkie Pie?” At Fluttershy's question, all the ponies began to look around the room for their more energetic friend. From out of nowhere, the blankets on Fluttershy's bed were thrown off, along with the Crusaders, revealing Pinkie beneath. How she had been hiding beneath without being seen was a mystery...as was where the large amount of confetti came from. Before they could ponder it, Pinkie was in Naruto's face, much to her friend's embarrassment and Fluttershy's horror.
“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie. Your name is Naruto right? That's a funny name, but I like it! What are you? Where did you come from? Are you gonna stay long? What's your favorite flavor of cake, so I know what kind to get for your welcome party?” Naruto stared blankly for a moment, his eyes spinning, before he literally shook away his shocked stupor.
“Um, nice to meet you Pinkie Pie, yes, my name is Naruto, it's not a funny name, I am a human, I come from the village of Konoha, I have no idea how long I'm stuck here, and I've never had cake before, so I have no idea what flavor I'd like.” Most of the answer's were taken in stride by Ponyville's resident party pony, until the boy had said he had never eaten cake. With a gasp so long and so deep it threatened to remove all the oxygen in the room, Pinkie Pie dashed out of the cottage, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.
“Sorry about Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said. “She's always like that.”
“It's ok,” Naruto replied after a moment or two. “It's not the weirdest thing that's happened to me today.” Again, Twilight's horn began to glow, and it was beginning to get some attention from more than just Naruto.
“Ok, what is going on with that horn, Sugar Cube?” Applejack asked. “It's been doin' that since we all got here.” Twilight shook her head and fixed her gaze on Naruto.
“It's reacting to Naruto for some reason, but I don't know what that reason is...” she admitted, making the child feel even more uncomfortable. “Even in my books, I don't recognize any species resembling him...and I can't say I've ever heard of a 'human' before. I think our first course of action should be to send a message to Princess Celestia. She'll know how to handle this situation.” The other mares in the room agreed. The basic answers Pinkie had gotten weren't exactly informative, and with as young as he was, they were unlikely to get anything better, at least at the present time. “In the meantime, just because I haven't read about humans, doesn't mean they aren't in the books at the library. Fluttershy, would you mind coming over and taking another look through the books with me? Oh, and we'll need to find Spike. I haven't seen him since before the, um...accident, earlier.”
Fluttershy gasped. “Oh yes,” she said. “Pinkie Pie told us about that. What happened? Nopony got hurt, did they.” Twilight shook her head and the Pegasus sighed in relief. Eying Twilight, Rainbow Dash spoke up.
“What were you doing anyway? I saw that pillar of light from clear across Ponyville.” Naruto tilted his head. Pillar of light? Twilight just face-hooved.
“Not my fault. Pinkie Pie jumped out of nowhere and scared me, and it caused me to lose control of the spell I was learning,” she said, and the others mares in the room just nodded understandingly. They knew how volatile Twilight's magic was, and they also knew, a little too well, how unpredictable their Pink friend could be. Honestly, if this was the first time something like that had happened, each and every one of them would be surprised.
“And what exactly does your new spell do?” inquired Rarity. But before Twilight could speak, she once more glimpsed at Naruto and something in her brain clicked. A 'human' appearing from nowhere, with no knowledge of Ponies or Equestria. That was the reason her horn was reacting to him. Her spell must have overloaded and attached to an unaware 'human.' Her mouth snapped shut into a panicked smile and her eyes darted around the room.
“Oh, you know me,” she said quickly, nervously laughing for good measure. “I care more about learning the spell than what it does.” Her friends stared at her curiously, Applejack going so far as to look skeptical. Darn Element of Honesty.
“Well... I guess...” Fluttershy began, embarrassing Twilight further. She didn't really have that problem, did she? Of course she did scoff at the idea of her earlier spell going wrong. She was glad when attention turned back to Naruto and she continued. “Naruto, do you think you're ready to move around some?”
“Finally!” shouted Naruto, leaping out of the bed, landing next to the giggling crusaders. “Man, I hate being pent up. I wanna stretch my legs and go meet more ponies!” The Mares giggled now, though Twilight was still giggling more nervously than for mirth. Fluttershy stepped forward.
“Alright then, but I don't want you overdoing it. I really think you should take it easy and ride in Applejack's cart.” Naruto groaned.
“But Ms. Fluttershyyyyy!” Laughing at his childlike whine, Applejack moved lower to Naruto's level, looking him right in the eye.
“No 'buts' Mister,” she said. “If Fluttershy says you should ride, you should ride...but if you don't like the cart, I got another idea for ya.”
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
“WOOOOO!” Naruto cheered, riding through Ponyville, Applejack playing the part of his trusty steed. Looking that how much Naruto was being bounced and jostled, Fluttershy didn't know whether to scold her friend or to thank her, as it certainly seemed to be cheering the blonde up immensely.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
“Dear Princess Celestia. You'll never believe this...” Celestia smiled. Before her floated one of Twilight's letters. She loved reading them, and often looked forward to them. “We discovered a new species today. I've never seen anything like it...” The Princess tilted her head as the word 'it' appeared to be scratched out, and was replaced by 'Him.' “... he called himself a... human. That name is strange in and of itself. Have you heard of anything like that before?”
“I don't believe I have...” Princess Luna nodded as she passed by several of the palace guards. She heard her sister mumble, and nearly trample over her out of distraction. “Hmm... oh?” Celestia smiled down at her sister, who turned away with a light blush. “Sorry, dear sister.”
“It's fine.” Luna spoke, only to blink as the floating letter hovered before her face.
“Sister...” The note straighten out, and Luna read some of it. “Have you ever heard of... a human, before?”
After a moment, she shook her head. “...no. I... would have to see what it looks like first.”
Celestia nodded, and kept reading. “Hopefully we will be able to. Soon...”
“Anyway, Fluttershy has seemed to take a rather quick liking to the creature. At the very least we should be able to count on her to keep this 'human' somewhat comfortable...” Celestia grew a rather amused expression. Beside her, Luna took to peeking at the letter as they resumed their walk. “But I wrote this letter because we are in great need of your guidance. We know nothing of this creature, which we require if we are to care for him.” Luna looked up to her sister as she suddenly stopped. Luna glanced to the next line.
“What does she...” Luna began, only to see her sister's face marred by a concerned look.
“We will be urgently waiting for a reply. Your faithful subject, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia glanced down, and saw that there was more. “P.S. I really need to speak to you about a private matter. One I cannot put on paper.”
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Twilight watched as Spike sent the letter to Celestia. Now she just had to wait for the reply. But first, to figure out what they should do about that creature. What did he eat? Was he anything like Spike? Would they be able to get Naruto home, or would he be forced to adjust to their way of life. And worst of all, how would the blonde-haired child, let alone her friends, take the news that this very well could all be her fault? She looked out the window at the boy, who looked around excitedly as her friends, sans Fluttershy and Spike, who were each going through and looking for books, respectively now, pointed out shops and places in Ponyville and what they were.
“Let's hope the Princess replies soon,” Fluttershy announced. “If Naruto is going to stay here, I'll need more information about him, and so far, I haven't found anything about 'humans' in these books.”
“I don't see what the big deal is,” Spike said. “I mean, he can talk, right? Why can't he just tell you what he needs?” Twilight sighed.
“He's a child, Spike,” she explained. “He needs somepony to look after him and make sure he has what he needs, not just what he wants, or thinks he needs.”
“She's right,” Fluttershy agreed. “Poor thing needs somepony to take care of him until we find out where he came from and send him back to his parents. I'm sure they miss him terribly.”
“I don't have parents.” Turning to look at the now very depressed child, the two mares and young dragon watched his brilliant blue-eyes dull in sadness as he rode in on Applejack's back. A collective gasp filled the air at the words and the sudden change in the bubbly blonde. Fluttershy practically froze from guilt, feeling responsible for touching on such a sore subject. For the moment, Twilight forgot her own guilt and stepped forward, ignoring the pulsating glow caused by her horn.
“You're an orphan?” she asked, receiving a nod in reply.
“But you must have family, or friends that take care of you,” Rarity said, hopefully. She of course knew that there were those without family. A frown marred her face when he shook his head in the negative.
“Nobody,” he said quietly. “Just the old man Hokage, but he has to run the entire village, so I never get to see him...” Seeing a chance to change the subject to something less depressing, Fluttershy spoke up.
“Hokage? Is that the leader of where you come from?” Naruto nodded. “Well, we have the Mayor of Ponyville, and then we have Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna.” Naruto perked up a bit.
“Princesses.” he said, getting excited now. “Are they Ponies too?” From beneath him, Applejack nodded, crouching low to let the young boy off her back.
“Yup,” she said. “But they're a bit different. They're Alicorns, which is a pony with wings like a pegasus, and a horn like a unicorn...and speaking of the Princesses...” She looked at Twilight expectantly.
“I sent a letter to Princess Celestia, but I haven't received a reply yet.” Applejack nodded. Made sense. She couldn't expect to receive a reply so soon after sending it out. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind, than Spike belched out the reply to their message. Levitating it over to herself, Twilight read the letter aloud.
“My dearest, most faithful Student. I have knowledge of nearly all creatures in Equestria, but never before have I heard of a 'human,' as you called it. Likewise, my sister, Princess Luna has no recollection of such a creature. We shall both consult the Royal Archives for any information, but the odds are most certainly against us.” The five mares shared a look, before Twilight continued reading. “If he truly is a new species, this is a remarkable discovery, and I will personally come to Ponyville tomorrow to speak with you and find out about this 'human.' Your mentor, Princess Celestia”
A crash took their attention away from the letter as they saw Pinkie Pie leap in through the library window, doing a combat roll and returning to her upright position. “Nobody move!” she shouted. “I have cake.” Naruto just tilted his head, staring at the pink pony in wonder as she strolled forward and, from seemingly nowhere, pulled a very large pastry. It even had a stick-figure of him drawn out of frosting. Looking from the cake to Pinkie, Twilight was just shocked she hadn't expected this of her.
“Two questions, Pinkie,” she said. “One, why did you go to all the trouble of baking a cake for Naruto instead of just buying him a single piece to try?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head now, staring at Twilight as if it was the unicorn that was the crazy one.
“Well duh,” she replied, as though it was common knowledge. “I can't let him try just any cake for his first. If anything was wrong with it, it could turn him off to cake for life. I can not let that happen.” She stomped her front hoof for emphasis. “Since this was way to important to leave to chance, I decided to make one myself. And everypony knows that freshly backed treats are the best anyways.” After a moment to process, Twilight just nodded. It did make sense, in a sort of bizarre, Pinkie Pie kind of way.
“Alright,” she said. “Next question...why did you break my window instead of just using the door?” Again, the earth pony scoffed.
“Cause then it wouldn't be a surprise, silly.” As Twilight's eye began to twitch, she giggled, snorting a bit. Crouching to eye-level with Naruto, she sliced the cake and had one on a place in front of him faster than his eyes could follow. Seeing her expectant look and smile, Naruto tentatively reached out and grabbed the fork she had brought. For a second, he wondered how ponies could use forks, but then he realized Spike had fingers, so maybe there were other species that did too. Taking a small chunk of cake, he put it in his mouth. It took him less than a second to figure out that cake was the only thing he had ever eaten that came close to Ramen. It took less than five second for him to scarf the rest of his piece and an entire other piece.
“Oh, Naruto...” Fluttershy said, worriedly. “Don't eat so quickly. You'll make yourself sick!”
“Mission Accomplished,” Pinkie Pie said, giggling as the boy, mouth full of cake, leapt up and hugged her around her neck. “Don't ever worry about your sweet needs,” she told the blonde. “You just come to Auntie Pinkie Pie. I could always use a taste tester.” Naruto nodded vigorously, causing the others to laugh at his enthusiasm. His mouth still full of cake, the blonde uttered something that sounded only vaguely like 'thank you.'
“Wait until he tries some of your apple goods,” Spike snickered to Applejack. “He'll never want to leave.” Fluttershy perked up at that.
“That's probably not a bad idea,” she said, turning to the farm-mare. “He obviously likes sweet things, and while they might not be the right diet for him, apples are usually pretty healthy. I can use them to hold him over until I find out his proper diet.” Applejack nodded, asking her how many she thought she'd need. “Oh, maybe start with three pounds,” the Pegasus replied. “If I need more, I can always buy more.”
“Three pounds, comin' up,” Applejack announced, moving toward the door. “I'll drop 'em off at yer place.” Fluttershy nodded.
“I'll have the bits for you when you do,” Fluttershy replied. With the food at least taken care of for now, it was Rarity's turn to do her thing. With her horn aglow, a tape measure popped into existence levitating around the still-eating boy.
“Hold still, please, Naruto,” she said, and the boy stopped what he was doing long enough for the measure to snake its way around his chest, waist, arms, legs. It was actually rather uncomfortable, and Naruto didn't even want to know what he was being measured for. “Hmm, definitely not what I'm used to, but I can make it work...Some dress clothes, casual wear...Fluttershy, darling, are you going to try and see if he can attend school? If so, I should make a few outfits for that too.” Naruto paled as the other four mares shared a look, before collectively looking down at the blonde, who turned a little pale at the mention of school. If it was anything like the Academy, he was sure he wanted nothing to do with it.
“...It probably wouldn't be a bad idea,” Twilight said after a moment. “It would help him learn more about Equestria, which will be useful if he's stuck here. Not to mention, it will give him something to do while he's here...”
“Yeah, but school is kinda boring,” blanched Rainbow Dash. She was prevented from continuing when Pinkie leaped out from behind her, toppling her over.
“Yeah, but he might also make some super-cool friends there!” she announced. Naruto watched in a combination of fear and confusion, more from the fact they were talking about sending him to pony-school...and doing so right in front of him. “He already knows Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”
“It might be nice for him to hang around others his own age...” Fluttershy agreed.
Naruto paled as the girls started to agree that school probably wouldn't be such a bad idea. He gulped.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Applejack smiled in victory as some apples fell into her basket. As soon as she left the group, she immediately went to a tree that was just ripe with the red fruit. It was better to get Fluttershy and Naruto fresh apples straight from the source. But, she was very curious to what Naruto's kind ate. Regardless, she hoped apples would suffice.
She was about to buck the tree to bring down some more fresh apples, only for an apple to land on her head and roll right into the bucket. “What in tarnation?” She turned back to the tree, only to see her little sister. “Huh? Apple Bloom?”
“Hiya...” The little pony grew a look of concentration as she bucked the tree, only for the apples to swing, but not fall. “...c'mon, you.”
“Mind if I ask what brought this on?” Applejack raised a brow at her little sister, but she had a small smirk hidden on her face.
Bucking again, Apple Bloom didn't bother to look at her sister. “I found him, and I feel that I should be helping.” One apple fell this time, which Applejack quickly move the bucket for it to fall in. “...somehow.”
Applejack smiled. “That's the spirit, Sis!” She smiled. It looked like her sister had found a new friend. One she wanted to help feel more at home. Apple Bloom kicked again, but alas, the apples only swung from the impact. But slowly, one apple fell and struck the little filly in the head. Then another which was followed by a third. The scene caused Applejack to laugh, and swirls to appear in Apple Bloom's eyes. “Alright, I think that'll 'bout do for the order. Unless you could do with a few more lumps on your noggin'!”
“Ow...” Apple Bloom mumbled. She shook her head, and stared at the apple before her. Maybe Naruto wanted a nice, juicy red apple right about now. She hoped Applejack wouldn't mind.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
“No, no... that will not do.” Rarity's horn glowed as she tossed a large piece of cloth to the side. Come on, girl. I have to think... Before her was one of her mannequins. But, Naruto didn't walk on four legs. He had two legs he walked on, and a pair of arms. If she wanted to pull this off, she would have to think of Spike. Luckily, she had a Spike mannequin made for just the occasion. But Naruto was a tad bigger, and lacked a tail Well, as far as she could see.
Her horn glowed once again, and she brought in her little tape measure. She would have to modify the Spike mannequin, until she could get a Naruto one made. “Now... what would be a color that would go with the child. Perhaps a blue to match his eyes?” She kept mumbling to herself, but to an outsider, she was nothing but a blur. It was like there were ten of her. Tape measures, cloth, needles and other items flew around everywhere.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Inside the library, it looked like Pinkie had one of her parties. Books were in a pile, and the pony and dragon were zipping about the entire place on their mission.
“Not this one. And not this one. Maybe this one? Ah, nope. Ooh!” Spike grabbed a book, and held it up in triumph. “Found you!”
“What? You found it!” Twilight yelled with a smile.
“Hmm?” Spike looked back at the book. “Oh, no. I was looking for this one last week. Must've fell over and got lost.”
“Spike...” Twilight mumbled. Around the library, books lie scattered. “Not a single mention of the word.” Twilight brought another book to her face. On it was the word, 'Dimensions'. She flipped it open, but like the others, not a single mention of human. But, the book held other information.
“Anything?” Spike asked as he tossed another book onto the pile.
Using her magic, she flipped through page after page. “...I don't know.”
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Dash flew around Fluttershy and Naruto as she pointed to the shops, in which Naruto looked in awe. Around them, many ponies looked at the young child in curiosity. But to Naruto, it was strange. The looks weren't filled with hate, or anger. Some even smiled and nodded to him.
“And over there is the Carousel Boutique. Rarity's shop.” Naruto looked in awe as Dash pointed to building nearby. It looked almost like a castle. No place in his home looked like that. Especially the colors. “...and over there is the evil place that Fluttershy wants to send you too.”
Naruto looked further down the road, and saw a red building with a red flag in front of it. That was a school? His school never looked like that.
“D-don't say that. I'm sure Naruto will love attending school.” Fluttershy smiled down at Naruto. She was about to continue, but was interrupted by a loud growl. She glanced to Dash, who only shook her head in the negative. Then she looked back down at the now very red child, whose stomach was growling. “Oh, my.”
“Whoa, kiddo. Didn't you just eat an entire cake?” Dash flew down and examined the child.
“Still hungry,” he replied, embarrassed. Rainbow Dash simply laughed, while Fluttershy began to think she'd need more apples. And looking at the blushing blonde, she also realized she would need all the help her friends could give her.
Chapter End