//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Tobirama Senju goes to Equestria // by Marokk //------------------------------// Outisde Zecora's Hut, Cutie Mark Crusader's POV Slam! The door to Zecora's hut closed sharply and the crusader's were once again out in the Everfree Forest, now accompanied by Zecora. "How many times is this gunna happen. First Ah ask mah sister, then Ah ask Big Mac, and now Zecora refused to talk to me about it, the same every time..." Applebloom whispered to her friends. "Well it's getting late, at least Zecora is escorting us home. We'll do some crusading tomorrow." Sweetie Belle said, noticing how the forest was growing ever darker. "Well then, now that I am here, we can move safely onto Ponyville. There you can surely eat your fill." Zecora said in her trademark "rhyme-speak". "Zecora's right, it's probably about dinner time right now, Applejack and Rarity will definitely get suspicious if you two aren't back for dinner on time." With the short exchange, the crusaders and the zebra began trotting along the winding path back to Ponyville. After a while, the crusaders began humming a familiar tune, trying to keep themselves occupied and their minds off the increasingly creepy forest. "Do you two remember when we sang this during that sleepover with Fluttershy?" asked Scootaloo, recalling the time when they first created the song. "Yeah, although Fluttershy didn't seem to pleased with it. I still don't understand why." Sweetie Belle said, remembering the shy pegasus' reaction to their performance. "Maybe she's not a music lover?" Applebloom surmised. "She sings to her animals all the time, how could she not be a music lover, dumb-dumb." Scootaloo shot at her fellow crusader. "Ah'm just making conversation Scoots, don't call me names!" Applebloom spat at the small orange pegasus. Zecora then abruptly stopped trotting, turned her head and gave all three crusaders a baleful look. The crusaders shrank back and their ears folded against the sides of their heads. Needless to say, the squabbling ceased. Suddenly, there was a crunch and the muffled sound of a tree branch hitting the ground to the right of the ponies' location, catching their attention. Zecora immediately responded by calling out to the unknown cause of the noise. "Who goes there?! I warn you, I will not go easy on you if you do not reveal yourself here!" Now aware of a potential threat, Zecora headed toward the direction that the sound came from. As she turned around a large tree, the zebra felt a gust of wind, and she saw a blue and white streak leap from the ground into the other treeline, all before she could react. Before Zecora could even call out or confront whatever the blue and white thing was, it was gone. After staring at the opposite treeline for a time, Zecora returned to the main path, and the group continued on to Ponyville, only now, they had to tell other ponies about their trip, there may be a reason to fear for the small town's safety. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everfree Forest, Tobirama Senju's POV Curse it! Tobirama raged to himself, as he jumped swiftly from branch to branch in the great forest, heading toward his creator's location. No point in being angry at myself I suppose, the branch was rotten on the inside, I made sure to check. There was no way I could have known it was going to collapse. Now that I've attracted the attention of those ponies, I'll have to abort my reconnaissance mission and report back to the "boss". While the cloned Tobirama raced back to inform the real one of the situation, the original Tobirama was frowning, his brows furrowed in thought. This apple farm is massive, surely they wouldn't miss a few, this wouldn't be the first time I was forced to steal in order to survive, being stuck in unfamiliar territory is bad enough, but allowing myself to go hungry could be just as bad. Just then, Big Mac's body went rigid, and his ears twitched this way and that. What? Did he hear me? I wasn't even in motion! Tobirama thought to himself, eyes wide. After a brief moment of stillness, Big Mac went back to pulling the cart, mumbling something along the lines of "Someponie's plannin' on stealing some of our farm's apples, I jus' know it." Tobirama's left eye twitched. He has a sixth sense for when some one is planning on robbing his farm? What kind of nonsense is this?! Forget it, I'll just go hungry until I can find a place where I can snatch some food without being caught. So with his stomach rumbling in protest, Tobirama moved on from the apple farm, following a clear path that he surmised lead to a village, a little ways inside the line of trees on the right side of the trail, so he could remain hidden from view, the darkening sky reassuring him that his presence would go unnoticed. A group of small ponies alone in the woods, and a stallion running an apple farm, I have seen all these things in just one day, what strangeness lies ahead of me, I wonder. Tobirama mused, zigzagging between the smaller trees that lined the right side of the path that he was following. Suddenly, Tobirama sensed his clone that he formed some time ago closing in on his position. Returning so soon? Did those three give up and go home? Tobirama slowed to a stop and waited for his clone to catch up. Suddenly, the cloned Tobirama entered the small area between a few trees that the original had stopped at. Tobirama then dispelled his clone, his hand clasped in the corresponding seal. It seems those ponies nearly discovered my existence. Even though they didn't really see anything they'll probably report the sighting to the local authorities. That means that after tonight performing reconnaissance may be more difficult. I suppose that means I have to make the most of tonight's darkness so I can out what I need to know and leave this area. Tobirama then turned towards his intended destination and dashed forward, unaware of just how strange his life would be from now on.