Daily Life of an Equestrian Ninja

by PianoPony


Chapter 16- A Nighttime Visitor

Chapter 16- A Nighttime Visitor

Naruto slowly woke up, but kept his eyes closed. Immediately the thoughts of yesterday’s events floated up in his mind. While his pony friends’ intentions were truly good, they constantly made him think of back home. He wished he would just opened his eyes to find himself back at his room in Konoha.

His thoughts were disturbed as a noise of tapping reached his ears. “Five more minutes, Rarity…” he mumbled, still not quite ready to wake up. “Come to think of it… Rarity never wakes me up. What’s going on?”

“Just how much longer are you going to sleep? Sakura’s been waiting for you at the door for a while now,” Kakashi’s voice spoke.

Naruto’s eyes shot open as quick as a rocket. He looked around the room, and his jaw fell. “No way…” he muttered to himself as he took in what his eyes transmitted to his brain. The posters, the furniture… He was home. He was really home.

“She’s waiting outside. Get dressed and come out,” Kakashi said with a smile. Naruto barely got a moment’s look at him as he turned to the window. Kakashi was already pretty far away, jumping from roof to roof.

Naruto leapt out of his bed, his heart beating a mile a minute. He got dressed as quickly as he possibly could, quicker than he had ever in his entire life. He rushed to the front door as fast as his feet could carry him. He didn’t even bother to see if he still had enough ramen in the fridge, like he would do every morning. He went straight for the door, flinging it open. The light that suddenly penetrated his eyes blinded him for a moment, but he didn’t need to see to know who was standing there in wait.

“It’s about time, Naruto! I’ve rang like a million times already!” a familiar voice called. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the radiance outside, he could see pink hair and a pair of green eyes looking at him.

“Sakura-chan!” he yelled joyfully and hurled himself at his teammate and crush.

“N—Naruto! What the—” she called, stunned. “You’re acting as if you thought you’d never see me.”

“Oh, Sakura-chan!” he called again, digging his head a little too much into her chest to be comfortable.

“What the heck you think you’re doing?!” the pink-haired kunoichi yelled as she smacked him upside the head and sent him kissing the floor.

But he couldn’t care less. He was just so happy to see her. “You’re not gonna believe it!” he jumped up to his feet and began explaining. “There were talking ponies, and Pegasuses and Unicorns! They were all colorful and had magic and…”

To his surprise, Sakura put the back of her hand on his cheek. “Hmm, no fever. Maybe it was just a really weird dream you had?”

“Eh?” was all Naruto could mutter to that.

“Or maybe you didn’t drink enough?” Sakura pondered. “It could be a hallucination.”

“No, really. You’ve gotta listen—” Naruto began.

“Oh well,” Sakura cut him off, smiling. “Let’s go. We’re meeting everyone over ramen.”

Any thought he had about ponies and whatnot vaporized into nothingness as that last word came up. “Did you say… ‘Ramen’?” he asked slowly, reconfirming what he just heard her say.

“Yeah. Don’t tell me you already had some for breakfast,” Sakura arched a brow at him.

“Are you kidding?! I could eat ramen for breakfast, lunch, dinner and in between! I feel like I haven’t had ramen in a week!” he exclaimed.

“Well, let’s go then,” Sakura smiled.

A moment later, the two were on their way. Naruto looked around in disbelief. Somehow, he really was home. How did this happen? Maybe everything was just a really long and really strange dream after all?

“Hey, Naruto!” he could hear a very familiar voice calling him.

Looking up ahead to greet back whoever called, only for his eyes to shoot open and his jaw fall into the ground.

“What’s up? You look like you saw a ghost,” Shikamaru said. Or a pony that very uncannily resembled him. A green unicorn with the same hairdo as the human Shikamaru had.

“Maybe he’s so hungry he got paralyzed,” a red, overweight red Earth pony said in a voice that he recognized as Chouji’s.

“I bet those things only happen to you, Chouji,” a light blue Pegasus with blonde mane chuckled. She could be Ino’s pony twin.

“Are you alright, Naruto?” a frail-sounding voice belonging to a light purple unicorn with a dark purple mane asked. Naruto didn’t need to look at her to know it was Hinata.

Naruto slowly looked around. Ponies. All his friends turned into ponies. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get whatever was in them out of there. When that didn’t help he turned to look at Sakura and hopefully regain some sense of sanity.

“What’s wrong?” a white Unicorn with pink mane and green eyes asked him. She was standing to his left, right where Sakura was a moment ago.

“Gah! Sakura! Why are you a pony?!” he yelled in horror as he jumped away from her.

“That’s an odd question… You should ask that about yourself first, though,” the Unicorn replied.

In response, Naruto slowly lowered his head and looked down to see no hands, but a pair of hooves. He felt something moving at the base of his back. He looked back to find a long, fox-like tail waving there, attached to his body.

There was but one proper reaction to the situation. “Nooooooooo!

*****

Naruto shot out of his bed, breathing heavily. He looked around. There was no light outside, meaning it was night time.

“Whew… All that craziness was a dream,” he said to himself as he let out a sigh of relief.

Stretching his hands, he took a look at the clock above the door in his room. It was eight o’clock. Meaning it was evening.

“I wonder why I’m in bed so early,” Naruto said to himself as he got off the bed. “I’m not even tired.”

A grumbling stomach gave him an idea. “I think I’ll treat myself to an evening helping of ramen,” he said to himself happily.

*****

After changing out of his pajamas and into a pair of black short pants and a shirt with a red whirlpool picture on it, he grabbed some money for the meal and went out into the street outside, heading straight to the best ramen store in town, ‘Ichiraku Ramen’.

Smiling to himself as he breathed in the warm night air and constantly looking at the beautiful full moon shining outside, he walked along the different streets in the quickest way he knew to his destination.

As he got closer and closer, he noticed that the number of people on the side of the road was gradually increasing, and they were all whispering for some reason.

Eventually the number of people was so large he had to squeeze in between them, until he found himself in a large clearing right in the middle of the street, and surrounded by people.

“Look, there’s that demon again,” one whisper reached his ears.

“Ugh, when will it just disappear?” a woman asked in a tone of disgust.

“I hate him. Why does he even live here?” yet another voice said.

Naruto looked around. All the people were staring at him, but they’re faces were all hidden in shadows. There were so many they created an impassable barrier all around him.

“Go away, you monster!” one yelled and threw a rock at Naruto, which luckily only landed at his feet.

“Eh?” he muttered, not fully comprehending what was going on. Wasn’t it only a few days earlier that he saved the entire village, and was hailed as a hero?

“Get lost!” a man shouted,

“Don’t get near us!” another woman yelled.

“Is he infectious?” a little girl asked.

“Monster fox!”

“Evil demon!”

The slurs and insults continued, and people started throwing rocks at him. Naruto was too stunned and afraid to answer. Only tears came out silently from his eyes.

“Ugh, look at it crying! Does it think we’ll have sympathy for a creature like him?!” yet another woman called in disgust.

The crying turned uncontrollable, as Naruto couldn’t handle it anymore. “Why? Why do they all treat me like that? What have I done?” were the only thoughts that went through the blond boy’s head. He just wanted them all to disappear. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare, a nightmare which he had far too many nights.

ENOUGH!!!” a voice suddenly roared, one strong and commanding enough to shake the entire village, and seemingly even the air and the sky themselves. The people and rocks they threw all turned into clouds of fog, and vanished under a beautiful, lavender light.

That light came from the moon, which now shone many times as bright as before. Suddenly, inside the white sphere, appeared a silhouette. The silhouette gradually became sharper and sharper, and descended down to the ground below. As the light from the lunar sphere returned to its normal level, the image of the one who descended from it came into full focus, revealing Luna, the Princess of the Night.

“Naruto. It’s alright now,” she said warmly as she hugged him with one wing, and wiped his tears with the other. Naruto slowly stopped crying, and looked to see who the gentle soul was exactly.

He looked up, and was surprised to see a dark blue pony with wings and a horn smiling at him. Just then, everything came back to him. Every single memory regarding Equestria.

“Luna… *sniff* Weren’t you shorter?” he asked.

Luna smiled. “No, but you were taller. Take a look at yourself.”

Only when she said that did he finally notice his arms and legs were way shorter than what he was used to, and he noticed that his voice was higher than usual. He could guess he was about ten years old.

“Maybe this would be more to your preference,” Luna said as her horn lighted up in a dark blue aura. In response, his body did too, and with a flash of light he turned into his sixteen year old self.

“Wow, this sure was strange,” Naruto said as he looked at his arms and legs once more.

“Wait a second…” he muttered when he realized something wasn’t right. “How come you’re in Konoha?!” he yelled, stunned.

Luna chuckled. “Did you not notice? This is a dream. Your dream.”

“Wait, so does this mean I’m still in Equestria?” he asked, completely disheartened.

“I am sorry to disappoint you, but yes,” Luna answered.

“Oh, no, no, no! I’m not disappointed or something,” he quickly lied to not hurt her feelings. “I’m just surprised. I just had another dream I was in Konoha so I kind of forgot about Equestria.”

“But wasn’t it about ponies as well? I must say, I think your friends would make excellent ponies,” Luna chuckled.

“What?! You saw that too?!” Naruto yelled in shock.

“Ah, yes. I was quite bored tonight, and so I figured that since I could go into ponies’ dreams, I shall head into yours,” the lunar princess explained.

“Really? I didn’t know you could do that!”

“Of course. I am the Princess of the Night, so that is one of my abilities.”

“So do you always go into ponies’ dreams and get rid of their nightmares? That sounds amazing,” Naruto complimented.

“Hmm…” Luna muttered. “I never actually did that before. Maybe that was the reason I used to think my night was not as important as my sister’s day. Alright then, I shall do that from now,” she told him with an optimistic smile.

“By the way… Thanks,” Naruto said, smiling at her.

Luna smiled back at the ninja. “You’re welcome. Now tell me, do you mind the two of us walk a bit?”

*****

The couple slowly strolled around Naruto’s dream version of Konoha, under the beautiful moon and through the warm air. Naruto showed her some of his favorite places, starting with Ichiraku Ramen and the Hokage’s residence.

“So this is your home town… It’s beautiful,” Luna complimented as she looked all around.

“Hehe, thanks,” Naruto chuckled. He also enjoyed looking around. It was a sight he sure have missed.

“By the way, might you explain what the faces on that mountain are?” Luna asked, directing his attention to the five faces on the mountain.

Naruto grinned. “Those are the Hokage of the village. All the previous ones and the current one, granny Tsunade. They’re the leaders of the village. And one day… I’m gonna be the Hokage myself! Believe it!”

Luna chuckled. “Good luck, though I am sure you will make it happen.”

“Oh wait, if this is a dream…” Naruto said as he got an idea. He closed his eyes and seemed to be deep in thought. Suddenly, the area of the mountain next to Tsunade’s face began moving about freely, as though it was made of dough. Eventually, it turned into a face of Naruto, sticking his tongue out at the village.

Naruto opened his eyes, and looked back at the mountain. “Ha! It worked!” he cheered. “Do I look awesome or what?!”

Luna smiled. “Yes, very artistic, Naruto. But you must not—“

“I could imagine myself the hugest bowls of ramen, or Sakura smooching me, or—“

“Naruto!” Luna roared, making Naruto focus back on her.

“You must not forget that this is naught but a dream. Always remember that this is not reality, lest you come to believe it as one,” she said gravely.

Naruto’s excited smile left him, leaving only a bittersweet one. “Hmm, yeah. I guess you’re right.”

“Oh, yes. I have been meaning to ask you, Naruto.”

“Hmm?”

“WE HAVE BEEN PRACTICING THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE! WHAT THINKEST THOU OF THIS?!” she practically screamed into his ear.

Naruto immediately covered his ears. “WHY IS THE ROYAL THINGIE SO LOUD?!” he yelled back. “And who’s ‘we’? You and Celestia?”

Luna sighed. “No wonder sister advised me against this. She said this was too ‘old fashioned’ for modern times.”

“Regardless, there is one very important reason I came into your dream, Naruto,” she continued normally.

“Huh? What? You had something to tell me or something?” Naruto inquired.

“No, to somepony else. Well, he is not a pony, probably.”

Naruto only gave her a puzzled look, which made her elaborate. “The one responsible for the nightmare you had.”

“The one…?” Naruto pondered. Immediately he realized just who she was talking about. “Nope! That was me! Who could possibly be responsible for a dream besides me?” he asked, deciding to play dumb.

“When we meet him, we both shall know,” Luna replied, and began raising her hoof.

Having a horrible feeling about this, he tried to protest. “Luna, don’t do this!” he implored her.

However, it was too late. The moment Luna brought down her hoof, the town began spinning all around, turning into nothing but blurs.

*****

The blurs began changing into a darker, gloomier shade, and slowly came more and more into focus.

Naruto looked around in horror to see the one place he did not wish to arrive at, especially with someone else. The sound of dripping water echoed all around them, and they were standing in knee-high, murky water. Behind them was a pitch black tunnel, and in front was a huge, red colored, barred gate. On the gate was a large piece of paper, with a large word ‘seal’ written on it.

“Grrr… Naruto…” a deep, terrifying voice was heard echoing from behind the gate. A moment later, a huge, demonic red eye with a narrow pupil opened to look at him and Luna.

“So he’s the one who caused you so much misery?” Luna asked, an angered tone in her voice.

“Who are you? How did you come here?” the voice asked. As it did, its owner moved closer to the gate and out of the darkness inside, to reveal the head of a humongous fox, with orange fur and teeth as sharp as razors.

“Hmm… So you’re the one… I must say you feel quite familiar, though I do not know you,” Luna said.

“Huh?!” Naruto blurted, astonished. That was the last response he imagined Luna to have to a monstrous, huge fox.

“Grr… I’m starting to remember… You’re that foal from back then…” the fox replied.

“I see now… I think I am beginning to understand,” Luna then said, although she still seemed deep in thought.

“Luna, what’s going on?” Naruto asked her. “Do you know him or something?! How is it possible?!”

In response, Luna just looked back at him. “I’m going to have to talk to him privately now,” she said as she stepped closer to him.

“Though I do have one more thing to say to you,” she added as her horn lighted up. With a flash of light, Naruto found himself once more in his pony form.

Luna’s mouth was now only inches from his ear, as she whispered her message. “There will soon be a great event in Canterlot called the ‘Grand Galloping Gala’. Please accompany there when that night comes.”

Not even waiting for his answer, she gave him a magical peck on the cheek. Naruto could feel his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

“Luna… Don’t…” was all Naruto could mutter, before he passed out to a dreamless sleep.

Luna smiled at Naruto, who was floating calmly on the shallow water, before turning back to the fox.

“Now, I do believe you have caused some trouble for Naruto in the past,” she said in an angered tone and a serious expression on her muzzle.

“Don’t blame me for how these foolish humans treated him, Luna. Or do you actually think you can do something to punish me for it?”

Luna smiled. “No, I am not here to blame anypony, nor I am here to punish. I merely wondered why you harbor so much hatred inside you.”

“You pony are trying to figure me out?! Bahahaha!” the fox laughed at her.

Luna, however, was not offended. “I believe your imprisonment is to blame. With this cage you are only limited to seeing the world through Naruto’s eyes.”

“Grr… What are you getting at, Luna?”

“You shall see soon enough,” the dark Alicorn replied as her horn lighted up.

*****

Naruto immediately opened his eyes when the sunlight piercing through the window hit them. Just feeling the unusually soft bed was enough to ascertain that he was still in Rarity’s guest room in Carousel Boutique. In other words, he was still in Equestria, and all this was real. Probably.

Suddenly, an odd sensation began spreading in his abdomen. Turning his look down to see the cause of it, his eyes went wide as saucers when he saw a red cloud floating from it, and collecting next to the bed. The red cloud became more and more dense, and then slowly came into shape. Naruto’s eyes widened even further when he realized that the form the cloud was receiving was…

“Nine-tailed fox,” Naruto muttered in shock as out of the cloud emerged the demon fox. A very, very small form of it, though. It was roughly Naruto’s size when he was in pony form.

Naruto quickly looked under his shirt at his belly. The seal along with all the markings was visible, and looked completely normal… Save for a hole in the shape of a crescent moon in its right side.

“Luna! What did you do?!” he thought in horror. “If anyone sees him… No, that’s nothing compared to the destruction he can cause with his chakra…”

“Naruto…” the fox growled. Naruto immediately looked at the creature next to his bed. “Naruto!” it roared before lunging itself at his host.

Naruto tried to shield himself with his hand, but before the fox could even get him, it dissipated into the red cloud, which then vanished.

“Damn that Luna… She gave Naruto control over that hole she created in the seal,” Naruto heard the fox speak inside of him.

“How did she make a hole in the seal?!” Naruto thought.

“Great. Now I can’t have private thoughts as well,” the fox said sarcastically.

“Same goes for me too, you know. Now tell me, fox. Why and how did she make a hole in the seal?”

“Something stupid like me making friends with ponies. How laughable. I’m a demon of hatred, what isn’t clear about that?! And she used her stupid pony magic for all I know.”

“And why did you only come out so little? What happened to the rest of your chakra?”

“The hole only lets me take out just enough to project myself outside. To be honest, I’d still die if I killed you.”

“So… Can I let you out?” Naruto asked.

“What would you gain from that?” the fox asked back.

“Nothing. Just that if you can go outside and not kill me I don’t see why I should keep you in,” Naruto explained. “Although it would be troublesome if other ponies knew of you.”

The fox didn’t answer. Naruto, however, still decided to give him another chance and concentrated his thoughts on the seal. The crescent moon in the seal started glowing in bright light, as the red cloud once again flowed out through it, collecting once more near the bed and transforming into the miniature version of the nine-tailed fox.

“Do we have a truce?” Naruto asked hesitantly.

“Hmph,” the fox spoke without moving his mouth. “Don’t get all mushy with me just because of that stupid hole. I still want to break that damn seal.”

“Stop going on about that damn seal! You think I wouldn’t take it off if I wouldn’t die?! Just be grateful I’m letting you outside, especially after what you did back when Pain attacked!” Naruto yelled at him.

“Don’t blame me for losing control of your anger after you thought he killed your girlfriend,” the fox scoffed.

“She’s not my—! Ugh, never mind! All I’m asking is that you don’t cause trouble, and don’t let anypony see you.”

“It’s really painful to hear ya, you know that? You’re already talking like one of those ponies.”

Naruto’s face was now redder than a cherry, what with that last remark and the girlfriend remark, and was about to shout at the fox again, when he cut him off.

“But fine, it’s not like I’m interested in those ponies anyway. You’re letting me breathe some outside fresh air, and I won’t show myself to them. Sounds like a great deal to me.”

Naruto smiled and let out a sigh of relief. “Maybe this will work out after all, and I’ll get to change his attitude too.”

“No, you won’t,” the fox deadpanned. “And I can still hear your thoughts, you know.”