//------------------------------// // Journey into Everfree and a Nightmare's Sorrow // Story: Home in Banishment // by Shadow Lord Malice //------------------------------// "Now remember you two, make sure you record everything." Said Twilight, giving Naruto a bag full of field journals, quills, and ink. "Twilight, you've only told me this about seven times. I get it." It was late morning in Ponyville, and Twilight, her friends, and a few other ponies were out to see Naruto and Trixie off on his mission to explore the Everfree Forest. Rarity had given him and Trixie cloaks enchanted to keep the weather off of them. Applejack had given them a week's worth of dried food. Fluttershy had given Naruto a peck on the cheek, much to both of their embarrassment when several ponies started chuckling good naturedly. Pinkie hadn't given the two anything, but promised to throw them a big party when they returned. Rainbow gave Trixie a survival guide in case she and Naruto ever got separated. By this time Twilight had finished going through Naruto's packs and checking off everything on her list. "Okay Naruto, you're all set. Just make sure you come back safe and sound, alright?" Said Twilight, her tone at the end reflecting her worry. At this, Naruto embraced his unicorn friend. "Don't worry about a thing Twilight. This forest has nothing that can take me down. If anything get's too big for me to handle in there, you know I got Kurama." It was then that Pinkie decided to get in on the action. "Group hug!" She hollered, and soon, every one of her best friends were in the embrace of her hooves. Sasuke had distanced himself from the pile, but Pinkie stretched her arm out and yanked Sasuke into the hug as well, much to his displeasure. Finally, everyone was released, Deciding to have some fun, Twilight turned her attention to Naruto, or more specifically, his stomach. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, big guy." She said, jabbing Naruto's gut with a hoof. What she wasn't expecting was a response. Naruto's eyes suddenly turned red, his pupils slit like a fox. His hair became more wild, and his whisker marks broadened and became more jagged. "I'll see what I can do, but half the things he does are always stupid." Said Kurama, causing everypony present to gasp in surprise. "Wait a minute, you can talk?" Asked Twilight in shock, having thought Kurama could only make his voice known to Naruto. "Last time I checked." He casually responded, getting a couple snickers out of a few ponies present. "Well why didn't you say something before?" At this, Kurama gave Twilight, an amused glance. "You never asked." This caused everypony to laugh at the dumbstruck expression plastered on Twilight's face. Naruto's features then reverted back to normal, and he shook his head rapidly, clearing the fog out of it. "Give a guy some warning next time Kurama." He muttered, then saw Twilight beginning to snap out of it. "Well Sparkles, thanks for the gift and sendoff. We'd certainly like to stay longer, but Trixie and I have to get going. See you all in spring." with that, he grabbed Trixie and bolted into the forest before Twilight could bombard Kurama with questions, Trixie making her displeasure known the whole way. After getting into the woods, he set Trixie down. The mare had become quite quiet upon entering the forest, piquing Naruto's curiosity. "Uh, Trixie. What's got you all quiet all the sudden?" Immediately, Trixie clamped a hoof on Naruto's mouth. "Silence foal." She quietly hissed. "We're in the Everfree forest now. Trixie does not intend to become something's lunch due to your shouting." Naruto pried the hoof off his mouth and glared. "Oh come off it Trixie, we're still in the fringe. We'll be fine." Trixie just huffed. "The great and powerful Trixie wonders if you even have a plan concerning this mission of yours." "Of course I got a plan. What do you take me for, a complete idiot?" Trixie just stared at the blonde with an affirmative expression on her face. "You know kit, you walked right into that one." Snickered Kurama. "Oh shut up." Naruto internally responded, then addressed Trixie vocally. "Okay, here's the plan. First, we're going to stop off at Zecora's for some medical supplies. While you're helping her, I'll be scouting out for a suitable base location. Once I find a spot, I'll come get you, and we'll set up camp." "Why does Trixie have to stay and collect medicine? Such chores are beneath her." Huffed the former showmare as she turned her head away from Naruto. "Oh, so you want to go roaming about a forest filled with all sorts of pony eating creatures and who knows what else roaming about?" Naruto inquired to a now quivering Trixie. "...Trixie is fine with getting the medicines." She finally responded, causing Naruto to smirk. "That's what I thought. Now come on, the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll get done." True to Naruto's word, the plan went off smoothly and quickly. Naruto had found a suitable location by the riverside and had soon rounded up Trixie, her task also finished. Zecora had been nothing but friendly to the duo, but when the blonde had come to pick up Trixie, said unicorn was practically rushing out the door. In answer to his question about this, Zecora simply said, "While her bravado and arrogance made a powerful wall, the story of her eyes told all." After a few more assurances that she had not in any way, shape, or form harmed Trixie, Naruto and his unicorn companion made their way to their new base camp; a small hilltop clearing close by a small river. While the water had frozen over, the ice was thin and easily breakable, making water easy to obtain. After setting up everything and with the whole afternoon still to go for the day, Naruto began planning out his next move. As he did he noticed Trixie sitting at the edge of camp looking out towards the river. The mare looked, for lack of a better term, vulnerable, something Naruto, in all his time knowing Trixie, had never seen the mare as. Not once, not against the princesses, not against the mob a few days ago, had she shown herself to be vulnerable. Fearful yes, but never vulnerable. To see her like this now was unsettling, and no matter how hard he tried, Trixie refused to talk about what was making her feel like that. After an hour of failure in getting the mare to open up, Naruto decided to explore the area a bit. "All right Trixie, I'm going to have a further look around the area, I don't know how long I'll be, but I'll definitely be back before sunset." Trixie just nodded at the blonde, who then made five shadow clones, much to the mare's surprise. "These clones will make sure you and the camp are kept safe. The first four will protect you while the fifth will immediately pop to let me know of the danger." "Trixie is perfectly capable of defending herself." She replied, though Naruto couldn't help but notice the hollowness in her tone due to the lack of her usual bravado. "And I believe you Trixie, but even you can't deny there are things in here that are far more dangerous than even you can handle alone." to this Trixie said nothing, and with a sigh, Naruto jumped into the trees and headed out across the river, curious as to what lay on the other side. At first there was nothing but rocks, more trees and the odd woodland animal, but soon Naruto came upon something that really got his attention, just on the other side of a large gorge, lay a large castle ruin. No way was Naruto passing up the opportunity to explore something like that. The chasm in the earth, while wide, was no trouble for Naruto as he traversed it with one chakra augmented jump, and soon he was walking into the ancient ruin. Giddy with excitement, Naruto eagerly looked about the main chamber. His excitement was curbed slightly when all he saw within of note was an odd statue of some sort, parts of it looking like it once held something. his excitement was soon drained when he noticed hoofprints on the dusty floor, and while they were old, their presence and the 'empty' statue meant one thing. "Aw man, looks like someone beat me to the punch here. And here I was hoping to find something awesome like a magic artifact or a horde of riches. Whoever got here first probably looted the place down to the doornails already." Looking around further, all Naruto found were shadows, cobwebs, and dust. Some old suits of armour were standing along the walls, as well as some old portraits, but age and nature must have damaged them to worthlessness if the treasure hunters who got here first had left them. With a sigh, Naruto turned back, disappointed and let down. The upstairs was even more a disappointment as it was completely barren. Naruto noticed there were a lot of hoofprints around the area, meaning this must have been where the treasure had been kept. He could practically feel those prints mocking him right now. "Ugh! What a let down." Naruto groaned, and he trudged dejectedly back downstairs, and through the main chamber. plip It was a soft sound, barely audible despite the silence, and yet it caused Naruto to whirl about, kunai drawn and combat stance ready. The blonde's eyes roved the entire area, taking in everything around him in a combative angle. Ambush points, hiding places, possible traps, Naruto scanned everything and everywhere in the room, but there was nothing, nothing but shadows and cobwebs and dust. That was when Naruto saw it. It was tiny, insignificant, and easy to miss, but Naruto was a ninja, and ninja's always treated the little things as the most dangerous. A single drop of liquid now blemished the otherwise bare and dusty floor, whether it was water or something else, Naruto was unsure. Keeping his kunai ready, Naruto carefully crept his way over to the splatter of liquid, his eyes roving the rafters and ceiling for any hint of an ambush from above. The only thing above him though, were the holes in the ceiling, flooding the room with patches of light, motes of dust within the pools glittering as they danced. After ten minutes of silence and seeing nothing that would indicate an attack, Naruto slowly put his kunai away, theories as to how a drop of what looked like water was able to get into an otherwise completely dry area. "What do you think Kurama? Any ideas?" Naruto asked his partner within. Kurama gave out a snort in response. "My idea, is that you are being way too paranoid." He replied. "Hey better safe than sorry. There could have been something." "And you would have noticed it was there immediately. Look at the dust on the rafters, it's completely undisturbed. And if something was hiding in them, they would be groaning worse than the Tsuchikage about his hips. There are no ninja on this world, and even the smartest predators can't completely hide the evidence of their presence. We're alone." "Then how did this get here then?" Asked the blonde, mentally indicating the drop of liquid. "You do realize there's a hole right above us, right. My guess is some bird had a drink at the river or something and as it flew above this place, a drop landed in here. "A bird? It's November, the Pegasi have all sent the birds south for the winter." "No, they sent all the birds in Ponyville south. Who knows if the ones in the Everfree migrate at all." The more he thought along this reasoning, the more sense it made. looking closer, he immediately knew it wasn't blood as the discoloration of the ground it had impacted upon was definitely not dark enough. Saliva was out as well as the liquid looked way to dull and thin. Fully relaxing, Naruto then left the ruins, unaware of more drops of liquid joining the first on the floor. Over the course of the month, Naruto and Trixie charted and recorded everything they had found so far within the Everfree forest, though with winter upon the duo, it wasn't all that much. The three unique things they did find were all trees. The first tree was carnivorous and captured prey in very sticky acidic resin. The second tree was a fruit tree, though they didn't know what kind of fruit it bore as the remains of the fallen fruit had been rotted and eaten down beyond recognition. The final tree looked normal enough, but every branch looked like it was a braid of smaller branches, the two couldn't tell anything else about it due to the current season. No new animals were discovered, though most of the forest's predators were currently in hibernation as well as most prey animals. The only things up and about at the moment were manticores, a few species of common birds, and wild boar. At the beginning of the last week of the month, it began to snow, something that made Trixie nervous and mutter something about crazy weather and being behind schedule. Naruto had just shrugged, to him it was completely normal for the weather to do as it wished. Currently, Naruto and Trixie were at their basecamp, eating some vegetable stew. Due to it being winter, Trixie and Naruto had no means of foraging their own food, thus they had turned to Zecora, who helped supply the two with food every week. As they ate Naruto's thoughts wandered to the ruin he had discovered at the beginning of their mission. "Hey Trixie." He said, getting the unicorn's attention. "At the beginning of the month I found this castle ruin, and I was wondering if you knew anything about it." To this, Trixie rolled her eyes. "Well of course Trixie knows of this ruin, as does every smart pony. It used to be the two princesses old castle before princess Celestia fought against her corrupted sister and completely destroyed it, in which she relocated to Canterlot." At this Naruto nodded, when suddenly a wild thought crashed through his head. He remembered Twilight telling him about her first adventure with her friends, how they found the elements of harmony and fought Nightmare Moon in the ruins of Celestia's old castle. If that was the case then those hoofprints he saw were definitely not from treasure hunters, and he hadn't exactly been thorough in his search. Quickly finishing his bowl, Naruto immediately got to his feet, much to Trixie's confusion. "Where are you going?" She asked "I'm going back to that ruin. I saw hoofprints in there and I thought it had been from treasure hunters, but if what you told me is right, then I know who made those tracks, and they were definitely not treasure hunters." Naruto replied. "Wait, you can't go, it's getting dark and the weather might get worse." Trixie replied in worry. Naruto waved the concern off and made five clones to guard Trixie and the camp from manticores, then dashed full speed for the ancient castle. Waning light from the holes in the roof provided the only illumination as Naruto skidded into the main castle chamber. "Okay, time to search this place top to bottom." Said the blonde with glee, and search he did. After fifteen minutes with the use of shadow clones, the last of them dispelled and Naruto's mood sank like a rock. "What. All that's in here is an old library and a crazy pipe organ? Where's the treasure?" plip Instantly, Naruto spun around to face the other way, and for an instant he saw something. It had disappeared in an instant, but Naruto had seen something bright turquoise. Anypony would have dismissed such a thing as a trick of the light or their mind getting the better of them, but Naruto was no pony, and a Rasengan flared to life in his hand. "All right, I know you're there, so get out here right now or I'll make you. I had a friend who could manipulate shadows, so don't think for a second they'll be any good to you." At first nothing happened, but suddenly there was movement, a slight shifting and writhing on one of the pillars, and soon what looked like a pony's shadow detached itself from the rest that were there. It flowed over to a wall and stayed there, two luminous cyan eyes opening where they would be on a pony's head. Naruto didn't know what to make of this oddity. Was it magic or was it real? Was it some new animal of the Everfree or something else. "Now just what are you?" he asked the odd shadow on the wall, which remained silent. After several minutes of silence, the blonde theorized that maybe it wasn't able to speak. "Uh, can you talk?" He asked the shadow, which responded by shaking it's 'head', though Naruto only recognized the gesture by the way the eyes moved. Naruto was puzzled by this. It couldn't talk, but it could understand him well enough to communicate back. However, it appeared to be restricted to physical gestures, so only yes or no questions could be effectively answered. "So uh, are you some sort of Everfree creature?" At this, the shadow shook it's head. Naruto immediately knew then that it wasn't an animal. "Okay then, are you a pony?" At this he got a nod in response. That got Naruto's mind whirling. "Are you using magic or are you trapped in that shadow?" That question only got a blink in response, and Naruto realized his mistake, but then thought of a way past it. "Blink once for the first and twice for the second." Immediately, the shadow rapidly blinked twice, causing Naruto's own to widen. A pony was trapped in a shadow? How did it happen? "Was this an accident with a spell of your own, or did somepony do this to you?" Naruto was answered with two blinks again, which sent the blonde reeling. Somepony had trapped another in a shadow, but why. Then he realized something. Those eyes on the shadow were not normal. For one thing pony eyes weren't luminescent unless they were charging some serious magic, and nopony had slitted draconic pupils. There was only one way to find out if his suspicions were correct. "Could you turn to the side please? And if you have wings, could you please show them as well." At this, the shadow became very hesitant, withdrawing in on itself in an obvious act of fear. Naruto simply channeled chakra into his hand, causing it to illuminate, and the shadow's eyes widened in fear. Slowly, the pony shadow began to turn, and soon Naruto was looking at it in profile. Due to the new angle of view, Naruto could immediately see the horn on the shadow's head, and soon the shape of a wing joined it. Now Naruto knew exactly who he was speaking to. "You're Nightmare Moon, aren't you?" Turning again to the front, Nightmare Moon's eyes took on a look of sadness, and she slowly nodded. At this, Naruto had no idea what to think. Here was the being that tried to bring about eternal night, twice, and yet, here she was, a shadow on the wall with eyes full of sadness and fear. "Why?" He asked, the only thing his mind was able to throw out. However, only silence greeted him, and Naruto realized his folly. "Oh right, you can't talk. But wait, I thought you were changed back into Luna by the elements, but you're still here. Oh that's just great, now you're probably going to possess somepony and try to cast the world into eternal night again, huh!" At this, Nightmare's eyes widened and she recoiled back as if struck. Her eyes then closed, and suddenly water was appearing on the wall. Naruto noticed this, but soon realized that the 'water' was something else. 'Wait a second, those are tears. She's... crying?' Naruto didn't have time to ponder further. Nightmare Moon suddenly shot across the wall at Rainbow Dash speeds and down a hallway. Naruto for his part was utterly stunned. All the stories of Nightmare Moon he heard had portrayed her as a wicked monster, but Naruto knew a few things about monsters, and the biggest thing about them was that they did not cry. Monsters felt no remorse for the things they did. They did not cry over their past deeds. Crying meant remorse and regret. Crying meant shame, and while those tears could have been fake, Naruto was an expert at telling truth from lies. Few people, and absolutely no ponies had been able to deceive him, and Naruto could tell by that look she had in her eyes, that look of pain, that those tears on the wall were real. He had to apologize. There was obviously more to this than what the stories said. Racing down the hall, he soon came to a room where the trail of tears on the wall ended. "Nightmare? Nightmare you in here?" Silence however, was his only answer. Naruto looked about, but the tear tracks along the wall didn't start up again anywhere else, so she had to be in the room. "Nightmare, if you're in here, then I want to tell you that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you like that. It's just, all the stories about you say you're an evil monster. But if I know one thing about monsters it's that they don't cry about the things they do, at least not truthfully. You though, I can tell your tears are real, so I can say for certain you are not a monster." Despite this, silence still hung around the blonde. "Fine, I hurt you, and now you want nothing to do with me, I get it. I don't blame you, and I'd probably feel the same way in your position. So, I'll go now. I won't tell Luna or Sunshine about you so don't get the idea that your days are numbered or anything, and again, for what it's worth, I'm sorry." With that Naruto turned around and began to leave. However, he stopped when he felt something odd on his shoulder. Looking at it, he saw that some kind of black tendril was gripping his shoulder, and looking behind him, he saw Nightmare Moon on the wall, the look in her eyes telling Naruto all he needed to know. Please don't go. "Alright, I'll stay, and again, I'm sorry. But I have to know, I need to know, why you did you do it? Why did you try to bring about eternal night. Legends say you got jealous of the praise your sister received, but I know there's more to it. So please, if you can, tell me, because I want to believe you aren't the monster the stories make you out to be." At this, a few more tears trailed down the wall from her eyes, and the tendril on Naruto's shoulder then moved up to his forehead. At first the blonde was confused, then the tendril touched against his forehead, and he was suddenly hit with memories. He saw, he heard, he felt what she had. All the memories she had pertaining to her trying to bring eternal night were laid bare before the blonde. If there are two things Equestria is better without, it is the night, and winter. Why can't she show off during the day like a more sensible pony. Kept me up half the night with her silly sky lights. What's so special about the night anyway? It's dark, it's cold, and it's dangerous. I mean who can possibly appreciate something like that? A holiday? of complete night? Luna I don't care if it's one day or one minute, it's not going to happen. I know it's hard Luna, I really do. But even though I can't see it, the sounds of your night make it the most beautiful thing in the world. And what am I supposed to do, Luna? Demand everypony to start attending night court? No, better empty and true, than full and unwilling. Luna, lower the moon. With a cry, Naruto wrenched himself out of the deluge of memories, his heart racing a mile a minute. The things he had seen, that he had heard. This mare was no monster, this mare was just like him. In some cases she was worse off, Naruto didn't exactly have a sibling who treated him like dirt. All she had wanted was to be appreciated and adored like her sister was, yet instead she received scorn and slander, her talents mocked and ignored. And when she went to the one pony in Equestria who should have always supported her, she was instead always turned away. Naruto could never look at Celestia the same way ever again. And when Luna finally snapped, they all blamed her. Naruto did not sympathize with her goals. He didn't understand all the technical stuff but even he knew eternal night was a bad idea. Naruto did however sympathize with her choices. After all, he too had been in that dark and lonely place. He too had that same choice presented to him, to endure or to justify. He had chosen to endure, for the old man he had seen as nothing less than his flesh and blood grandfather. But he had seen the results of justification, and the pain it had brought to his brother of burden. Well he had saved Gaara, but what could he do for Nightmare Moon? Well it was simple. "I think I get it. All you wanted was to be acknowledged, to be necessary. Believe it or not, I know that feeling of being unwanted, and it's probably gotta be the worst feeling ever. So let me be the second to tell you this. Thank you, for all your hard work in making such a beautiful night." Instantly, Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide, and her whole image began to tremble. tears once again began to leak out of her eyes, and with a swiftness Naruto was not expecting, her form lunged forward and impacted him, two tendrils partially wrapped around him. For an instant, the thought of an attack or possession ran across his mind, but Naruto quickly crushed it, and soon realized that the shadow was hugging him. Gently, he put his arms around Nightmare Moon, slightly surprised to find her fully tangible. He could feel the wetness on his shoulder where Nightmare was crying into it. The two stayed like that for a bit, then they slowly separated, and Naruto couldn't help but smile at the joy practically radiating out of those draconic eyes. Then he noticed just how dark everything was. "Dammit, I should have been back at camp ages ago. Sorry Nightmare but I gotta go, Trixie's probably blowing her top because I've been gone so long." With that, naruto turned to leave, but was stopped by a shadow tendril wrapped around his arm. Looking back at Nightmare Moon, he saw her eye's filled with fear and sadness, and knew exactly why that was. "I'm sorry Nightmare, but I have to go. I promise you though, I'll come back whenever I can and stay however long I can. I've got all winter, so don't think this is the last you'll see me." Nightmare's eyes slowly closed, and she gave a nod, and with great reluctance the tendril released Naruto. With a thank you passing through his lips, he immediately ran out of the castle and charged back to camp. When he got there he was greeted with five cowering shadow clones, and one very angry Trixie. "You were gone for three hours! The great and powerful Trixie demands to know why you are so late!" She roared out, causing Naruto to remember very vividly the many times he had run afoul of such a temper. "Um, uh, well, uh, I uh, I got lost on the road of life?" KA-POW!!! Sasuke was walking through Ponyville town square when he suddenly got a very odd feeling of satisfaction, the likes of which he had only felt during his genin days in team seven. Specifically when Sakura landed a wallop on Naruto. Suddenly Pinkie came by, scratching at her ear. "Ooh, ooh, itchy ear." She said, rubbing furiously at the itching ear with a hoof, with little relief. "Something wrong Pinkie?" Sasuke asked. "Just my pinkie sense acting up." She replied, stopping her rubbing as the itch had left. "An itchy ear means somepony just broke a record." With that, she bounced away, leaving Sasuke alone. "I will never understand that mare." He muttered to himself, before once more trekking to his destination.