The original Naruto, still transformed into Spike, marched out of ‘Ink and Lamps’, the store managed by ‘Quills and Sofas’ owner’s wife, a yellow Pegasus with an orange mane and tail.
“Come again soon, Spike!” she called as she waved to him from the entrance.
“Yeah, thanks!” Naruto replied, waving back with a claw that held the flask of ink he just purchased. “I didn’t even bother asking why she sells ink and lamps. Those ponies really don’t make sense sometimes…”
“Okay,” Naruto said, trying to remember what to do next. “Now back to Twilight and—”
“Howdy, Spike!” rang a cheery voice with a southern accent.
“Oh, hey guys,” Naruto answered as he looked up ahead to see Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy trotting towards him.
“What’s up?” Rainbow asked. “Doing some shopping for Twilight?”
“Yeah!” he replied, showing them the small bottle of ink he was holding. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re goin’ out for a good ol’ bowl of Ramen, of course!” Applejack replied.
“We actually wanted to bring Rarity and Twilight too,” Fluttershy said. “But they said they were too busy preparing for the Gala. And we couldn’t find Pinkie Pie anywhere…”
“I get why Rarity’s so busy, making our dresses and all,” Rainbow said. “But that egghead is way too nervous! As long as we’re gonna look cool at the Gala, everything’s gonna go as smooth as a cloud bed,” she explained as she passed a front hoof smoothly in the air.
“Uh, I guess so,” ‘Spike’ replied awkwardly, not sure what to think of it.
“So, wanna join us for a quick bite before we head on over to Rarity’s?” Applejack inquired.
“Well I—”
“Of course he wants to join us!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You always say that you’re the ‘number one Ramen lover’, remember?” she laughed and quickly pulled him up on her back. “Besides, that ink can wait. Our Ramen’s getting cold right about now!”
A loud rumbling noise was then heard. “Sorry,” a blushing Fluttershy whispered, rubbing her stomach. Rainbow Dash and Applejack giggled in response.
“Hey, maybe we should hold a Ramen eating contest some time! What do you think, Fluttershy?” Rainbow suggested and began marching in the direction of the Ramen stand.
“A-A contest?!” Fluttershy cried out.
“All the talk about Ramen made me hungry too. Well, I guess Twilight can wait for her ink a little bit…” Naruto figured.
*****
“How’s it going, number one assistant?” Naruto, who was cleaning the dishes, asked Spike, who was busy stirring a freshly made batch of Ramen broth. He had already been taught the basics of creating the broth and was working splendidly.
“Everything’s great, number one boss!” the purple Dragon answered, looking at him admiringly. “This should be ready in five minutes!”
“Alright! Keep up the great work!” Naruto replied. “I can’t wait to try and sell some of that instant Ramen already!”
“Me too!” Spike replied enthusiastically. “Oh, this is gonna be great! Two hombres working together to bring the legendary tale of Ramen to all of Equestria!”
“Yup! I’m sure we’ll be so famous Twilight won’t even mind if you weren’t there to help her out anymore!” Naruto laughed.
“Yeah! I’m sure she’ll be—” Spike began speaking before freezing, staring blankly into the air.
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Spike?” Naruto asked, as he paused cleaning one of the porcelain Ramen bowls.
“Twilight…” Spike muttered as he lowered his gaze down to the floor. “She probably doesn’t need me anymore, with Owlowiscious and you replacing me…”
“Well, isn’t that a good thing? You said you wanted to work at the Ramen stand. After all, you’re getting free Ramen here whenever you want! You already had three bowls today!” Naruto smiled at him.
“Yeah, but…” Spike muttered. Naruto gave him a puzzled look, not sure what the little Dragon was trying to say.
“Never mind,” Spike said eventually with a sigh. “As long as Twilight is happy, it’s good enough for me,” he concluded and continued stirring.
“Don’t worry, Spike. I’m sure the real me is doing a great job!” Naruto assured him. “Twilight couldn’t be in better hands — er, hooves — no, I mean, claws! All those transformation are starting to give me a headache…”
“Heya, Naruto!” rang a voice from down the street. In response, Naruto and Spike looked towards the voice’s direction to see Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack trotting to the stand. Upon recognizing them, Spike quickly ducked back under the counter before he could be spotted.
“Hey, guys. What’s up?” Naruto greeted.
“I’ll tell you what’s up, Naruto! Lunch!” Rainbow grinned.
“Yup! We sure could use a tasty, filling meal before heading over to Rarity’s,” said Applejack.
“Right! Three bowls coming right up! And don’t worry, these are on the house!” Naruto said cheerfully as he turned to the stoves.
“Four actually,” Fluttershy corrected him and pointed at Rainbow. ‘Spike’ revealed himself by moving his head away from behind Rainbow Dash’s and waved at Naruto.
Naruto’s eyes shot open when he realized what was happening. “Hey, ‘Spike’!” he called, badly masking the worry in his voice. “What brings you here today?”
Upon hearing that, the real Spike looked up at the counter, a panicked expression on his face.
“Heya, ‘Naruto’,” he replied with a wink. “Just coming for a quick bowl before I head back to Twilight.”
“You can’t just leave her! You’re her assistant, remember?” Naruto-clone growled at the original.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. But I barely ate anything for breakfast! I’m starving!” ‘Spike’ complained.
“Baby dragons must eat a lot if they want to get big and strong,” Fluttershy said with a confident nod. She froze a moment later, her eyes widening. “Well… Maybe becoming a big dragon isn’t really a good idea…” she stuttered.
“Yeah, quit being such a stick in the mud, Naruto,” Rainbow said. “A quick bite never hurt anypony, right?”
“’sides, I’m sure if you were hungry, you could just eat on the job, right?” Applejack grinned knowingly.
“I… actually had three bowls too today,” the clone admitted to himself. “Sorry, Spike. But I can’t let myself go hungry, right? That’s just stupid!”
“Okay! Four bowls coming right up!” Naruto-clone called and moved towards the stoves.
“Sorry, Spike. I’ll make sure he eats quickly and then he’ll go back to Twilight,” he whispered.
“Yeah, alright,” Spike replied half-heartedly. “I just hope Twilight won’t mind.”
*****
“I knew you liked Ramen, Spike. But this is just AWESOME!” Rainbow exclaimed. She and the others were still sitting at one of the tables outside Naruto’s Ramen stand, watching ‘Spike’ downing his fifth bowl.
The purple drake then finished drinking the remains of the meal in the bowl and lay back on the chair. *BURP* “Woah, excuse me!”
“Bless ya!” Applejack laughed. Rainbow and Fluttershy smiled at him, seemingly not minding his lack of table manners.
“That was great, ya know!” ‘Spike’ called. “I wish I could spend every day like this, without a care in the world…”
“Spike! What are you doing here?!” came a shout to his left. Everypony quickly jerked their heads in the voice’s direction to see a very unhappy Twilight Sparkle standing there, glaring at them.
“Oh, hey Twilight,” ‘Spike’ replied as he made an effort to get off the chair and walk towards her. However, his inflated belly prevented him from doing that. “I was just about to come back with the ink I bought,” he continued, still fruitlessly trying to get off the chair.
“Yeah, thanks a lot, Spike,” she said sarcastically and floated him to the air in front of herself. “I was counting on you! I sent you over an hour ago to get some ink and here you are, stuffing yourself with…” she began and looked at the table. “One… Two… Three…”
“Five bowls! You should have seen him go!” Rainbow exclaimed. “What?” she then asked, seeing Applejack looking at her scornfully.
“We’re going home now, and you can think about what you’ve done on the way there!” the Unicorn furiously said as she put ‘Spike’ on her back and floated the flask of ink next to herself.
“Oh, right. How much do I owe you, Naruto?” Twilight asked as she turned to Naruto’s clone.
“Oh, it was on the house, Twilight,” the clone answered as he finally looked up from the area underneath the counter, seemingly fixated on something.
“Alright then. I’ll see you later, Naruto,” Twilight replied before trotting back to the library.
“I’m so sorry, Spike…” Fluttershy muttered as she looked at Twilight heading away. “It’s my fault… I should have asked him to stop after the third one…”
“You did,” Rainbow deadpanned. “He just didn’t hear you over all the Ramen he was slurping.”
Applejack sighed. “It was my fault too. It ain’t like me to drag a pony off his work like we just did. I’mma apologize to him when we go to Rarity’s later.”
“Me too,” Fluttershy nodded.
Upon hearing no reaction from Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy turned to gaze at her. Rainbow looked back and forth between them, a puzzled expression on her face. “Oh!” she exclaimed in realization. “Well, I guess I’ll apologize too, if I gotta…”
“We’ll see ya later, Naruto,” Applejack called as the trio set off. “Thank ya mighty again for the Ramen!”
“Bye, Naruto,” Fluttershy added.
Naruto’s clone, however, didn’t listen. He was looking down worriedly at Spike, who was sitting down with his face buried in his claws.
“Oh, what have I done…?” Spike cried quietly.
*****
The door slammed shut after Twilight entered the library. She then turned over the sign from ‘open’ to ‘closed’, hovered the ink to her desk and placed ‘Spike’ down on the floor, before pacing over to the kitchen.
“I’m sorry, Spike…” Naruto thought. “I promised you I’ll do a great job covering for you… Some ninja I turned out to be… And Twilight must be really mad at you now…”
“Spike,” came Twilight’s voice from the kitchen shortly after. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t sound angry at all, but actually quite sad.
‘Spike’ paced over to the kitchen, a small room containing only a few cabinets, all carved from the tree the library was in, a sink, magical stoves, a small fridge and a simple table with four chairs. Twilight greeted him just outside the room.
Twilight let out a sigh. “I’m sorry for shouting at you back there, Spike. You’ve been all over the place today and you hardly had anything to eat this morning, since you ran over to Rarity’s as soon as you got that letter…”
Naruto was surprised as Twilight suddenly embraced him tightly. “I actually made lunch for us and I got really worried when you didn’t come back, so I went out to look for you. That’s why I yelled at you earlier,” she explained before releasing him.
“Will you ever forgive me, Spike?” she asked softly.
“Yeah… It’s okay,” Naruto replied, still somewhat stunned by her sudden gentleness. “Woah… I guess I was kinda wrong about you, Twilight…” he thought.
“Well, since you already ate lunch I guess I’ll save your meal for dinner. It’s too bad, because it’s your favorite,” Twilight said.
“Really? What is it?” Naruto asked, curious as to what a Dragon would eat.
“Hay, honey and ruby powder sandwiches,” Twilight smiled.
“I’m… really glad I ate lunch already,” was Naruto’s mind’s immediate response to that.
“Oh well, I’ll just eat by myself now,” Twilight said. “Think you can get back to the checklist without me?”
“You can leave it to me! Believe it!” Spike replied.
“Great! That’s why you’re my number one assistant, Spike!” Twilight replied happily before turning back to the kitchen. “Believe it…?” she then muttered, baffled.
“Alright, let’s see…” Naruto said to himself as he walked back to the table at the middle of the library, upon which lay the checklist scroll. “Rearrange the fantasy section by publishing year?!” he cried.
*****
“Oh, what should I do? What should I do?!” Spike asked, pacing back and forth inside the stand, with Naruto’s clone watching him. “I’ve never seen Twilight this angry with me before!”
“Well, a lot of people were really angry with me a lot of times, and everything turned out okay,” Naruto said, remembering some of the pranks he used to pull and the reactions of their victims.
“No, no, no! I have to be number one! If I don’t be my very best all the time, do you have any idea what will happen?!” Spike cried, looking at Naruto.
“Uhh…” Naruto mumbled, trying to think of an answer. Eventually he just shrugged, having come up with nothing.
“I’ll be replaced… by Owlowiscious!” Spike cried. “I’ll be downgraded to number one point five, or maybe even worse… To number two assistant! NOOOOOOO!!!” he screamed in horror.
Naruto rolled his eyes. “Then just tell Twilight. Then she’ll know it wasn’t really you,” he suggested.
“Are you crazy?!” Spike cried. “If she was this angry with me for being gone for just an hour, just think what she’ll do if she knew I was gone since morning!”
“Don’t worry, I promise it won’t happen again. The real me won’t let Twilight find out. After all, a ninja always sticks to his mission,” Naruto replied in a tone unusually serious for him. He instinctively looked back at the large pot that was still on the floor. A pair of light blue eyes that appeared underneath the pot vanished a moment later in the darkness.
“Yeah, alright…” Spike replied half-heartedly. “Well, let’s get back to work.”
“Oh, wait. Isn’t it time to go to Rarity’s now?” Naruto asked, looking at a clock on one of the nearby buildings.
“Oh, yeah. It is,” the Dragon answered. “Are you gonna close the stand for now?”
“No way! It’s almost peak hour, and a lot of hungry ponies are gonna come eat soon,” Naruto said. “I’ll just make another clone and send him instead.”
“Good idea, Naruto!” Spike complimented.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Naruto called as he crossed his forelegs to activate the jutsu. As before, a pony clone of himself came into existence in a cloud of smoke.
“Okay, I’ll be back later, Naruto,” Spike said as he headed for the door and reached for the handle. “Oh, I can’t wait to see the suit Rarity made for me! I bet it’s gonna be amaz—”
“Wait!” Naruto called. Spike turned back to look at him. “The real me is already going as you with Twilight, did you forget?”
“Oh,” Spike said as his arm slumped down. “Right,” he said with a sigh. “I guess I’ll have to go see it another time.”
“Sorry about that,” one of the Naruto’s said as he headed for the door. “But at least you get to keep working at the stand. Pinkie, are you coming?”
In response, the pot under which Pinkie was constantly appearing was lifted up by four pink legs, and then walked over to the door.
“Can you leave the pot here?” the other Naruto asked.
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie replied and removed the pot, dropping it on the floor. “Let’s go-go-go!” she called and promptly started hopping towards the exit. Naruto opened the door for her and then went out himself.
“See you later, Spike!” he called as he closed the door.
“See ya…” Spike answered and let out a heavy, depressed sigh.
“What’s wrong?” the Naruto who stayed with him inquired.
“It’s just… I’m starting to feel like I’m missing a lot while I’m here, you know?” the baby Dragon replied.
“It’s too bad you can’t use chakra. I could have taught you my shadow clone jutsu,” Naruto said as he got back to work.
“I guess so. Oh well,” Spike replied.
“This time, you’re gonna make the broth alone from scratch,” Naruto said. “Do you accept the challenge?”
Spike then smiled, happy to get back to work and get his mind off Twilight and Rarity. “You betcha, Naruto!”
*****
“Are you alright, Spike?” Twilight asked in worry as she trotted down the street, on her way to Rarity’s. The purple Dragon was sitting on her back, rubbing his aching head.
“I never knew books could be so… painful,” Naruto muttered.
“Well, sixty of them falling together on your head are sure to leave a mark. I can’t believe you told me you were alright when it happened!”
“Well, I accidentally changed back to a human, so I couldn’t call you. I was really lucky she didn’t notice my voice wasn’t Spike’s…” Naruto thought.
“It’s been months since you’ve last caused an entire bookcase to cave down on you like this,” Twilight noted. “Is everything okay? You’ve seemed kind of… distracted today.”
“I’m okay, Twilight. Don’t worry about it,” ‘Spike’ assured her.
“If you say so,” Twilight replied. “Well, here we are!” she announced upon arriving at Carousel Boutique. “I bet you’re as excited as I am to see our new clothing for the Gala!” she smiled.
“Sure,” Naruto replied and jumped off Twilight’s back. “Let’s get this over with.”
Twilight glared at him as he opened the door, bewildered. “Something’s definitely wrong with Spike! He nearly cried with happiness when Rarity suggested making him an outfit!”
“Say… You’re not angry with me because of earlier, right?” Twilight asked, worried.
“No, no!” Naruto quickly exclaimed. “I’m just… Uhh… Worried you’ll… not like the dress Rarity made?” he spoke off the top of his head.
“Oh, don’t be silly, Spike,” Twilight chuckled and paced into the shop. Naruto closed the door and followed her. “If Rarity made it, then I’m sure it will be no less than perfect,” she assured him. “Phew… I was starting to get worried there…”
*****
After Twilight and Naruto made it up the stairs, they turned to Rarity’s room, where she had told them she prepared all of the clothing for the Gala.
“We’re finally here!” Twilight announced happily and opened the door. Everypony was already there, waiting for Rarity to unveil her newest creations. Behind the Unicorn designer stood in half a circle eight large mannequins and a small one, all covered in pink blankets.
“It’s about time!” Rainbow complained. “What took you so long?!”
“Sorry,” Twilight apologized. “Spike had a little book accident.”
“Spikey-wikey!” Rarity cried and rushed to him. “Are you alright? You have a positively humongous bruise!” she called, looking at his head, which had a red mark on it, left of the first green spike.
“It’s nothing, Rarity. Don’t worry about it,” Naruto assured her.
“Did everything go okay, ‘Spike’?” asked the Naruto clone who arrived from the Ramen stand.
“Yeah, everything’s alright, ya know,” ‘Spike’ answered.
“No, it ain’t, Spike,” Applejack said as she stepped forward. “I’m mighty sorry for distracting ya off your work,” she apologized as she took off her hat. “Please don’t be mad at him for it, Twilight.”
“We didn’t mean to make you so angry, Twilight. We’re sorry,” Fluttershy continued. “Please forgive Spike. It wasn’t his fault.”
“Yeah, we didn’t think you’d be this uptight about him getting some grub,” Rainbow Dash added.
“Don’t worry, girls,” Twilight smiled. “Spike and I talked it over already, so no hard feelings. Right, Spike?”
“Oh, yeah,” ‘Spike’ said. “Don’t worry about it!”
“So Twilight’s not mad? Spike will be glad to know,” Naruto-clone thought, relieved.
“Well then, now that everything’s settled,” Rarity spoke, after Spike’s issue was cleared. “I can finally show you my latest creations!” she announced proudly, with the other mares in the room smiling in anticipation.
“But first, would you please wait outside, boys?” Rarity asked. “It would be bad luck to see our dresses before the big night!”
Naruto and ‘Spike’ exchanged baffled gazes. “Umm… Okay then,” Naruto said and turned back to the door. ‘Spike’ then followed him, and closed the door behind him.
*****
“So how’s it going with Twilight?” Naruto asked.
“It’s really just a bunch of chores. Kinda like the boring D-rank jobs we did back when we first became ninjas,” ‘Spike’ replied.
“Well, ya can’t help it. It’s not like there’s anything exciting to do here in Equestria.”
“Yeah, and since we’re doing it for Spike, I guess it’s okay,” ‘Spike’ said, partially in order to convince himself that it all this wasn’t a waste of time.
“Yup! We really need Spike at the stand! Especially since I found out he can make instant Ramen with his fire breath,” Naruto grinned.
“Woah! Really?! Then I’ve gotta work extra hard to make sure Twilight doesn’t find out!”
“Yup, ‘cause if she does, we can kiss goodbye all the instant Ramen Spike will make!” Naruto nodded.
“Boys, would you please come in?” Rarity called from inside her room. Her voice clearly lacked the excitement it carried before Naruto’s clones left.
“Coming!” the pair called simultaneously, as Naruto opened the door.
*****
“Umm… What’s up?” Naruto asked over the unusual atmosphere in the room. Rarity looked somewhat discontent, while the others looked troubled.
“It’s nothing, Naruto. Don’t you worry about it one bit!” Rarity assured. “A-Anyway, let me finally show you boys your suits for the Gala! I think you’ll be quite impressed with the results!” she said, a hint of distress in her tone.
Rarity’s horn lighted up, and the blankets covering one of the large mannequins and the small one floated up and then placed down on the floor, unveiling Naruto’s and Spike’s suits. A top part of an elegant black tuxedo with a red bowtie for Spike, and a simple collar with two layers, the back black and the front white, with a large, dark orange tie for Naruto.
“Woah, looks nice, Rarity!” Naruto smiled as he approached his suit and examined the tie. “It feels really smooth!”
“Of course, my dear! Nothing but the best fabrics and materials for a good friend like you!” Rarity smiled, the relief in her voice clear.
“Yeah!” ‘Spike’ agreed, examining the small tuxedo. “I bet Spike will really like this suit!”
The odd sentence caused everypony to glare at him. ‘Spike’ glared back, quickly realizing he said something he shouldn’t have. “I-I don’t have a crush on Rarity!” he quickly proclaimed in panic, causing arched brows to be added to the glares.
“I mean, I love this suit, Rarity! Hahaha…”
“By the way, Rarity,” Twilight spoke, breaking the awkward silence. “Whose are the other suits? You didn’t show us two of them.”
“Oh, why one of them is for me,” Rarity answered. “And the other one… Well, it’s a surprise. You shall all see at the Gala,” she said, winking towards Naruto and ‘Spike’.
“Come to think of it,” Rarity remembered. “You never did say you wanted to go to the Gala, and neither did you get an invitation, Naruto. How were you planning on getting inside?”
“Oh, I’m just coming because Luna asked me to come. She sent me an invitation,” Naruto explained nonchalantly and pulled out the invitation and letter from his jump suit’s pocket.
“Oh… D-D-Did she?” Rarity asked, a hint of panic in her voice, before levitating the letter towards her and reading through it. Little by little did her eyes enlarge in size, her breathing getting deeper and quicker.
“Are you alright, Ra—” Fluttershy began.
“Y-Y-Y-YOU’RE PRINCESS LUNA’S DATE FOR THE GALA?!” Rarity screamed, cutting Fluttershy off and causing her to squeal in fright, before flying off to hide behind Rainbow Dash. Rarity stared at Naruto in horror, looking like she was about to pass out again.
“It’s not a date!” Naruto quickly objected.
Rarity, however, flatly ignored his words. “No, no, no!” she yelled and quickly covered up Naruto’s outfit. “This simplistic suit shall simply not do!”
“Look, it’s really no big deal,” Naruto said.
“No big deal?!” Rarity asked as she marched up to Naruto. “NO. BIG. DEAL?!” she screamed, taking deep, quick breathes as if she just ran a marathon.
“Settle down, nelly,” Applejack said calmly and put a hoof on her Unicorn friend’s shoulder. “Breathe in, breathe out.”
Rarity composed herself for a few moments, doing as the cowmare suggested, before explaining to Naruto. “As Princess Luna’s personal escort during the Gala, all eyes will be upon you, Naruto! If you do not look tip-top, you will be the laughing stock of all of Canterlot’s royalty!” the white Unicorn explained, and then pressed the back of her hoof against her forehead, her tone getting more and more dramatic by the word. “And more importantly, as the suit’s designer, I will be the laughing stock of all of Canterlot’s royalty!”
The others all arched brows at Rarity on account of her odd prioritization and conclusion.
“That settles it, I’m making a new suit for you too, Naruto!” Rarity called. “I shall summon you all later.”
“Look, you really shouldn’t—” Naruto began, before he was quickly levitated by Rarity’s spell and got literally tossed out of the room.
“And that’s final!” Rarity yelled after him.
The others all quickly left the room, the door slamming behind them. Rainbow helped Naruto up on his hooves.
“Sorry, Naruto,” Twilight said. “It’s just that the dresses are really important to Rarity. She’s even making our own dresses again.”
“Huh? Why?” Naruto asked.
“They’re just… ain’t what we expected,” Applejack tried to explain.
“And it’s not like we made her make them again, it’s just that she wanted to,” Rainbow said.
“And Rarity’s really good at making dresses,” Fluttershy smiled. “It was really important to her that they’ll be as perfect as we’ve imagined!”
“You definitely can’t argue with talent!” Twilight said. “If somepony wants to do something and he’s good at it, then why not let him?”
“I can definitely agree with that!” Naruto smiled, thinking about a certain Dragon’s Ramen talent.
“Yeah, like a good party! Nopony can stop the party pony!” Pinkie exclaimed, a small explosion of confetti occurring behind her.
“Well, maybe too many parties could be—” Fluttershy began.
“Nopony can stop the party pony!” Pinkie repeated ominously, pressing her snout against Fluttershy’s.
“Umm… Okay,” Fluttershy yielded quietly.
“Well, we’ll see you all later!” Twilight said. “Let’s go, Spike.”
“Yeah,” ‘Spike’ said as he hopped on Twilight’s back. “See ya!”
“Pinkie, are you coming?” Naruto asked and turned back to look at her, only to find out she no longer where she was only a few moments ago. “Oh, well… See you all later,” he said to the others as the group left Carousel Boutique.