Chapter 3- Meet the Ponies (Part 2)
From the name of the place, it wasn’t hard to gather that he was looking for apple trees. A lot of them. And it didn’t take longer than a minute to find that the trees covered all the western view of Ponyville. As he walked in that direction, the town scenery gradually changed to a farm one, and he passed a gate with a picture of an apple painted on a plank tied to its roof. Beyond it, there lay a large, maroon colored farmhouse. A chicken coup was to Naruto’s right, and extending all around him from nearly all directions were apple trees.
As soon as he saw the fruit-filled trees, his stomach reminded him of its existence, grumbling loudly. “I suppose taking just one won’t be a problem,” he thought as he walked over to the nearest apple tree. The apples glittered slightly in the sunlight, looking very appetizing in their red color. Directing chakra to his legs, he started walking up the tree’s trunk in order to obtain one of the delicious fruits.
“Howdy there, pardner!” a loud, jolly voice rang out.
Naruto’s concentration broke as his eyes widened in surprise and he fell down from the tree. Rubbing his throbbing head, he looked upwards to find an orange mare with a yellow mane and an odd hat gazing at him with beautiful green eyes.
“Ya must be the visitor Pinkie told me ‘bout. Ya’re here to help out with the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, aint’cha?”
Stunned by her weird way of speaking, his head still hurting and hungry to boot, he just stared at her blankly for a moment.
“Y’all right there?” she asked as she saw him struggling to even speak, and pulled him up with an unbelievable amount of strength.
“Ah, yeah… I’m here to sample the food for the Celebration,” he lied after getting his thoughts sorted out, with food at the top priority after remembering this farm’s responsible for catering the event.
“Ah, really there?” she inquired and stared at him. She didn’t sound angry or suspicious of him, but looking at her made him feel bad for lying.
“Err… Actually not. I’m just here to help out,” he admitted, finding himself unable to be dishonest with her for some reason, but his belly sounded its protest right after saying it.
“Well, ah could use some extra hooves fo’ the Celebration. There are many apples to be picked there,” she motioned over to the vast, vast plantations of apple trees.
Naruto gulped. There were so many trees he didn’t know if he could even finish it in a week, let alone two days!
“Don’cha worry there. Ah’ll be here to help ‘cha, and Big Mac will be comin’ down to lend a hoof as well,” she said with a reassuring smile as she saw his flabbergasted expression. “Oh, and you can eat as much as you want on the job,” she added, smiling casually.
“By da way, name’s Applejack. What’s yours?” she said as she put her front up for a shake.
“N-N-Nar-r-ruto U-Uzuma-a-aki,” he tried to say as she shook not only his hoof, but his entire body up and down with her remarkable strength. “I bet her speciality is taijutsu!” was what he thought immediately.
“Mighty odd name ya’ve got there, but alright. Let’s get to workin'!”
*****
As they walked deeper into the apple grove, a loud thud was heard, followed by a barrage of apples falling down on the ground a few feet in front of them, into a few wide wooden buckets. Next to them, his back to the tree, stood the largest pony he’d yet seen. He was red in color, and had orange mane and short tail. The color of his hooves was white, and around his neck was a large wooden horse collar.
“Howdy, Big Mac!”, Applejack called as she and Naruto approached him. He smiled gently at them as they came to a stop next to him.
“This here is Naruto. He’ll be helping us with apple bucking today. Naruto, that’s my big brother, Big Macintosh.”
“Nice to meet’cha,” Naruto said to him. He noticed he’s the first pony to really towered above him. He was just about the height of the rest of the ponies he’d met so far.
“Eeyup,” the red stallion replied concisely, smiling to him. He picked up each bucket with his teeth and unloaded the red contents into a wagon that was a short distance from him.
“Now see here what y’all be doing. Just walk over to this here tree and…” she instructed and walked over to a tree with some more empty buckets around it. Then, she kicked the tree with her hind legs, and a shower of apples came down. Nearly all of the apples fell into the buckets, and those that didn’t she flicked skillfully with her tail into them.
Naruto was surprised to see that the tree was now completely free of apples. Applejack grinned at him. “Don’cha worry. A few years of good apple bucking and you’ll be as good as us Apples.” She unloaded the apples into the wagon.
“Now try to give it a shot too.” The orange-colored mare motioned towards another tree. Big Mac had already set up four barrels nearby it.
“Just kick it for some apples? No problem at all,” Naruto said nonchalantly as he walked over to it. Turning his back to it, he kicked the tree with his hind legs as hard as he could and prepared himself for the barrage of apples… Which didn’t come. Only three apples fell down and into the buckets.
Bic Mac and Applejack gazed at each other, with slightly embarrased expressions on their faces. “Well, at least they all fell into the buckets,” Applejack muttered.
“Uhh… Eeyup,” her brother added.
“I-I was just warming up!” the ninja exclaimed, red-faced. “Wow, those trees sure are tougher than they look… But let’s see if they can handle a bit of chakra!”
Infusing some chakra into his back legs, he delivered a kick smack ib the middle of the tree’s trunk. This time barrage did come down, mixed together with plenty of leaves.
The two ponies glared at him, jaws down to earth. “That was the darndest strongest kick I’ve ever seen a non-family member do! Right, Big Mac?”
“Ee… Eeyup.” He also sounded quit stunned, even if his answer included just one word.
“Still, ah doubt we could finish everything today. Since it’s afternoon already, ah think we’ll only manage the east section. We can count on ya for tomrrow for da rest, right?” Applejack questioned Naruto, a hopeful smile on her freckled face.
“Heh, don’t worry. I’ll be here to help out. Believe it!”, he assured, earning a smile from Applejack and Big Macintosh.
*****
Several hours have already passed, and the sun had already set. The white full moon began to slowly rise over the horizon. Over his time volunteering at the apple farm, Naruto was getting more proficient and used to the apple bucking process, having figured out just how much chakra to put into his kick to get all the apples and only the apples to fall down. He’d also rewarded himself an apple for every tree he bucked, so by the time he finished his stomach was filled to the brim with the sweet fruits.
The disguised ninja bid farewell to the Apple siblings and headed back towards town. As he reached it and gazed at the buildings, a worrying thought popped into his head. “Where am I gonna sleep? I don’t have anything on me, unlike when I go to missions… Maybe one of those ponies would let me sleep at their place? Hmm… I wonder if they sleep on hay like horses back home.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO REDO IT ALL?!”, an ear-deafening screech reached his ears and made him shut them, only to fall forwards on the joints of his front legs. Needless to say his line of thought was cut down like string cut by an axe. However, his mind began racing once more as he recognized the voice as Rarity’s. He ran towards the town hall as quickly as he could, to find Rarity conversing with a light brown colored Earth pony.
“I’m really sorry, Rarity, but I’ve just got a note from the royal Summer Sun Celebration commitee. They’ve said that we need to take down the ribbons and instead put up the flags they’ll send us tomorrow morning. There’ll also be a supervisor sent by Princess Celestia herself from Canterlot to oversee the preparations!”, the brown pony told her.
“But mayor, I only managed to get all this up today with a miracle! I don’t know how it will be possible to remove the current ones and replace them all in a single day!” Rarity pleaded.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get by somehow. You’re used to getting last minute requests by Canterlot fashionistas, aren’t you?”
Rarity let out a sigh. “I suppose it cannot be helped. I will try to get this by somehow.”
“Sorry to interrupt, but is it anything I can help with?” Naruto spoke up, and the two mares gazed at him, finally noticing him.
“Oh, Naruto! Just the miracle colt I was hoping for!” Rarity said with much relief in her voice. She walked over to his side and faced the mayor. “This is Naruto, the gentlecolt I’ve told you about,” Rarity introduced.
“A pleasure meeting you, I’ve heard some very good things about you,” the mayor smiled and reached out her hoof for a shake, to which Naruto complied. “I’m Mayor Mare, mayor of Ponyville.”
“Did you parents know you’ll be a mayor when they named you?” Naruto pondered on this enigma.
“Naruto, I’m really in a bind here. Do you think you’ll be free to help me out tomorrow? You’ve heard what I said, right?”
“If you mean what you YELLED,” Naruto chuckled mentally. “Actually, I’ve already promised to Apple—,” he began, when he realized “Duh, I’m a ninja! I can be at two places at the same time, and as long as nobody sees both me, none would be the wiser!”
“Sure, you can count on me. Believe it!” Naruto said with his usual catchphrase and a beaming grin.
“Oh, you’re a real life saver, Naruto!” the white Unicorn called and grabbed his front hooves, overjoyed. “How could I ever repay you?!” she asked, smiling brightly at him.
“Well… Actually I’ve been looking for somewhere to crash. Got any ideas?”
“I could arrange a bed for you back at my home,” she offered him generously.
“That sounds great—“, Naruto froze when yet another worrying thought appeared in his mind. “What if the transformation jutsu wears off while I sleep? My real form will be compromised!”
“Ah, thanks, Rarity. But I really have to decline. A guy’s gotta have his privacy, you know. Ha ha ha…” Naruto excused himself as politely as he could, but still scratched the back of his head, his face tainted in red embarrassment.
“Oh! Well, of course. Right, silly me,” Rarity quickly replied, a slight blush spreading on her face as well.
“I’ll give you the key to the library. No one lives there at the moment,” the mayor suggested. "There’s a bed there too, so as long as you aren’t allergic to books you’ll find it quite comfortable,” she chuckled and pulled out a key.
“Wait, where did she pull that key from?!” was the only thing that occupied Naruto’s mind for a few seconds, until his brain started functioning again. “Oh, thank you, mayor,” he said as he took the key and put it into one of his suit’s pockets.
“Well, I’ll be going home now. I expect from you two to finish this little task tomorrow, alright? Good night!” the mayor said as she trotted outside.
“Well, it is getting a bit late. Shall I walk you to the library? You probably haven’t seen it yet,” Rarity offered.
“Oh, sure. Thanks, Rarity,” Naruto smiled.
*****
The town was really quiet now as the two ponies walked down Mane Street, bathed in the moon’s soft rays.
Looking at the moon, a thought popped into his head, as he smiled to himself cynically. “Say, if Princess Celestia raises the sun, does it mean she also raises the moon?” He still couldn’t believe the words that came out of Pinkie’s mouth.
“Well, of course, darling. Who else but her?” the unicorn answered with a hint of confusion in her voice.
Naruto’s smile vanished like the light from an extinguished flame. “Wait, Pinkie was serious about it?!”
“About…?” Rarity questioned.
“Uhm, never mind,” Naruto quickly said, as baffled at the subject as ever. “I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes,” he concluded to himself.
“Well, here we are!” Rarity announced as they came to a stop in front of a huge tree. Into it was carved a house, while still maintaining its shape. On several places there were windows, and the front door was bright and red. Next to the tree was a sign with a drawing of an open book on it.
Naruto took out the key and put it into the keyhole, but was surprised to find out that the door was already unlocked. He pushed open the door into the darkness of the interior.
“SURPRISE!” multiple voices yelled as the lights suddenly turned on, revealing many, many ponies waiting inside, all wearing party hats. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack approached the entrance to greet Naruto. A blue cannon fired in the back of the room, sending to the air a cloud of colorful streamers and confetti.
Naruto just stared, dumbfounded at the unfolding event, and Rarity smiled. “I should have seen this coming,” she laughed.
Pinkie Pie hopped over to them and put party hats on their heads as well, and then turned to the ponies behind them. "Everyone, together! One... Two... Three..."
“Welcome to Ponyville, Naruto Yuzumaki!” rang out so loudly all of Ponyville could hear it.
The orange ninja-pony smiled from ear to ear, so much so he completely disregarded the mispronunciation of this last name. “W-Wow, thanks everyb—pony! It sure looks great! But wait, Pinkie, how did you know I’ll be coming here?”
“My Pinkie Sense told me!” she responded with a grin.
“What?” was all Naruto could say to the awkward answer.
“Don’t question it, Naruto,” Rainbow Dash advised. “Just accept it.”
“Well, alright then,” Naruto shrugged. “Besides, having a giant demon fox sealed into me is much more out there than that.”
Naruto took a look around—cake, snacks, a bowl of fruit punch and games were strewn all around on tables in the entrance hall, which now he noticed had its walls filled to the brim with books. However, these were partially obscured by the party decorations. A huge pack of balloons were tied to the ceiling, and streamers and other colorful matter were practically covering all of the books.
“Now let’s get this party started!!!” Pinkie called out as she started the party music to a loud cheering from everypony around.
*****
After a few hours, during which Naruto drank, ate and just had fun with his strange new pony friends, the party was over. Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy stayed behind a bit longer to help him clean up. After bidding them farewell, Naruto cancelled the transformation, turning back into a human, and took another quick look around.
As he noticed earlier, the entrance was large and spacious. Bookshelves carved into the tree itself contained many books. A ladder was next to one of them, in order to help reach those which were higher up the shelves. Above them were many large, round windows, and next to one of them stood a huge black telescope. Another door was to his large staircase was leading upwards.
Naruto walked up the stairs, to find a smaller room. He had to lower himself in order to get through the doorway leading to it. Like the entrance downstairs, it had fully stacked bookshelves carved into the tree, and above another, small staircase, he found the bed he sought. His heart sank when he realized that the bed was far too small for him and let out a disappointed sigh. He’d have to sleep as a pony after all.
Naruto then prepared to change back into a pony when he saw a book resting on the bed. Picking it up to get a closer look, he noticed that the front cover was embedded with a picture he saw on the flags in town hall today—two mares, one black and one white, circling the moon and the sun. Upon closer inspection, Naruto was surprised to see that the mares had both Unicorns’ horns and Pegasi’s wings. All of the ponies he’d met today had only one of those at most. Curious, he opened the book to find a beautiful drawing of Equestria.
“Sure is the most colorful place I’ve ever seen,” Naruto smiled to himself as he began reading. “Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...” he began and flipped to the next page. “There were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land.”
The second picture showed the two sisters, which Naruto recognized as the same ones from the symbol. Naruto rolled his eyes. “This sounds like a children’s fairy tale,” he chuckled and flipped to the next page. “To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night.” “So that’s where Pinkie got this idea from?” Saying he was skeptical to this was an understatement, and this little kids’ fairy tale certainly wasn’t helping his opinion of it.
“Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies.” “And they all lived happily ever after, right? Haha,” Naruto continued sarcastically. However, his eyes widened up a bit at the next page. “But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night.” “I guess even in this colorful place not everything is perfect,” he said to himself.
“One fateful day, the younger sister refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.” He flipped to the next page to find a picture of a pitch-black, sinister-looking pony. “The heck? Are they trying to scare the kids with this?” Naruto asked, slightly stunned over the quick, dark turn.
“She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night.” “…Yeah, right.” “Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to Ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both the sun and the moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.”
Naruto put the book down on a nearby stool. “I wonder what these ‘Elements of Harmony’ are. Are they some kind of ninja tools? Hmm... Well, I don’t get it. And I shouldn’t even care anyway, I’ll get that Princess Celestia pony to send me back home. Just one more day. Heck, maybe I’ll even wake up to see this was all an odd dream,” he smiled to himself at the possibility as he performed the transformation jutsu, to emerge back as a pony from a cloud of smoke.
Naruto took off the top of the jump suit, his tool bag and his headband, and set them on the stool on top of the book. He then got into bed, getting comfortable as he gazed at the moon at the window. A silhouette of a pony was definitely evident on it. “Guess that’s where they got the idea to that story from,” Naruto thought as he closed his eyes, and shortly after fell into deep slumber.