Shadow of the Leaves

by RandomEncounter

Chapter One: The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Apple Thief

Disclaimer: Oh god, why?! Why do we put these things in here?! I think we all know by now that fanfiction authors do not own the rights to any material they write...

A dull thud followed by a number of objects falling resounded around the apple orchard. This combination of sounds was repeated again and again, day after day, during harvest season at Sweet Apple Acres. It was a routine that Applejack enjoyed. Watching the apples fall from the tree after each buck gave her satisfaction each and every time.

Hefting two baskets of fallen apples, the orange earth pony began to make her way to the awaiting cart. Only a few more trees and she'd be done with this portion of the orchard. She paused when she faintly heard a voice calling her name. Looking around for the source of the voice, she quickly spotted the familiar coat of her sister Apple Bloom running towards her.

"Applejack!" cried out the little filly as she ran up to her older sibling. "Applejack! The east fields, there's-"

"Whoa now, slow down there, sugarcube!" said the older pony, motioning for the younger pony to calm down. "Wha' in tarnation are ya goin' on 'bout?"

"Th... there's this creature out there eating our apples!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "It's out in the east fields near the fence!"

The mention of an apple-thieving animal piqued Applejack’s attention. "A critter, ya say?" she questioned slowly. "What's it look like?"

"I dunno...it...it was wearing a black cloak so I didn't see it that well," replied her little sister. "But it was tall, and scary looking! It even looked at me an' said 'boo!' Ah've never seen anything like it before!"

"Alright, sugarcube. Go find Big Mac in the barn and tell him to meet me over there. Then find Granny Smith and stay in the house with her until we get back," instructed the orange mare as she set her baskets of apples down.

Apple Bloom looked at her sister and protested, "But ah wanna go with you two!"

"No buts," replied Applejack in a stern, no-nonsense manner, "now get goin' an' find your big brother!"

The little filly looked at her older sibling for a moment before nodding her head in disappointment and taking off in the direction of the barn. Applejack watched her sister go for a moment, making sure she wasn't going to do the exact opposite of what she was told; she did have a nasty habit of doing that, after all. Finally confident that Apple Bloom listened to her instructions, she grabbed her lasso off the cart and took off toward the east fields.

Applejack followed the fence line, looking everywhere for this cloaked apple thief critter. She looked around in every direction, trying to spot the obvious speck of black that should stand out in the orchard on a bright day. After a few minutes of searching, she began to think that the thing had run off after Apple Bloom left; it probably knew more ponies would be coming back.

She began to turn back in the direction of the farmhouse when a tingling sensation crawled up her spine; it felt as if something was watching her nearby. Turning back around, she scanned the field of trees, once again not seeing anything. Yet, the sensation did not go away. She eventually decided to look up into the trees near her... and found the thing sitting on a branch not twenty yards from where she was standing.

Just like Apple Bloom said, it wore a black cloak that covered its entire body. Applejack tried to get a look at its face, but instead found the eerie visage of a fox-like mask staring back at her. She managed to catch a glimpse of a blonde mane before the thing pulled the hood of its cloak over its head.

To be honest, the way it was dressed intimidated the earth pony, but she swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. This thing was trespassing, eating her apples, and scaring her sister...it had to be dealt with.

"So ya'll the apple thief that's been scarin' mah kin?" Applejack cried out accusingly, with barely a hint of nervousness in her voice. "What do ya think ya'll doin' eatin' those apples?"

The creature leered down at her, its intimidating look offset by the fact it cocked its head to her question in apparent confusion. Apple Bloom said it had spoken a single word to her. That meant it could probably understand her, right?

She hesitantly waited a few moments for a reply. The critter only continued to look back at her. Seeing that no reply seemed forthcoming, she sighed in irritation. "Alright, we'll jus' have ta do this the hard way then, ah reckon."

The earth pony readied her lasso in her teeth, intent on subduing the oddity in the tree. She threw the lasso at it, watching with bated breath as it flew towards the target. At the last moment, however, the thing dropped off the branch, catching onto the thick limb with its forelegs, before swinging itself forward into the air. It landed on the ground a few yards in front of her on its hind legs. She once again tried to set aside the intimidation she felt, especially now that she saw the creature stood almost twice her height.

"Slippery feller, ain'tcha?" she commented as she pulled the lasso back and readied for another attempt. She threw the lasso again, but this time the creature did nothing. Instead, it simply stood there as the rope fell around its torso. Applejack pulled tightly and bound its forelegs to its upper body in the process. She looked at the critter with smug satisfaction. "Well now, ah've got ya this time-"

She was cut off as the body in front of her disappeared with a pop and a poof of smoke.

"Wha' in tarnation wa-" was all she managed to say before she felt something grab her left hind leg. She looked back to see what looked like a claw extending out of the ground grasping her hoof. Before she could even process the situation any further, felt a sharp tug and was pulled underground yelling, "What the hay?!"

Applejack quickly found herself buried in the earth up to her neck. She began to struggle to free herself, watching as the creature responsible for her current state pulled itself out of the ground in front of her. It then proceeded to crouch down on its two hind legs, once again looking down at her even from its lowered position.

After a few moments of struggling, Applejack came to the horrifying conclusion that she was stuck, and no amount of effort on her part seemed to help. A lump formed in the pit of her stomach as she realized that she was now at the mercy of this thing in front of her. But, there was no way that she was going to let her captor know she was afraid. Mustering as much courage as she could, she began to struggle once again. "Just ya wait, when ah get out of 'ere-"

"I'll be gone," she was cut off as the creature in front of her responded in a playful tone of voice. She took note that it also sounded male...giving her a good idea where she could buck him when she got out of this hole.

The orange earth pony found herself at a loss of words. Whatever she was anticipating, she did not expect the creature to just talk. Maybe attack...but not talk. After a few moments of confusion, she managed to stammer out, "W-what the-"

"When you get out of there, I'll be gone." The masked thing in front of her then slid his left arm out of the long sleeve, revealing two apple cores in its claw-like appendage. In a taunting tone of voice he continued, "I really do want to thank you for giving me these apples though, they were delicious."

The creature reached out and placed the two apple cores just a few inches in front of Applejack's face. Chuckling, it stood up and looked back in the direction she came from. She stared at the cores placed in front of her, her left eyebrow twitching violently at the taunt. Beginning to struggle against her confines again, she looked at the thing in front of her and growled out, "Why...yooouuuu...dirty...low life...no good...rotten critter! When ah get out of 'ere, ah'll-"

"Looks like another one of you is coming," he cut her off again in a casual manner while stretching his limbs. He turned back to her, and in a cheerfully annoying voice said, "I'll be seeing you around...and once again, thanks for the meal."

Applejack watched as he turned to go, a burning rage welling up from deep within her. This...thing...had just humiliated her like no pony had ever done before. She was not about to let him leave without getting something from him in return. Thinking quickly, and hoping to stall long enough for Big Mac to arrive, she yelled out, "name!"

The creature turned to look at her, before responding in a confused voice, "What?"

"What's...ya’ll's...name?" she screamed out at the thing. Blowing a loose strand of blonde mane out of her face so she could glare at her tormentor, she spoke in a deadly calm voice, "Ya take mah apples...bury me in the ground...and then taunt me with the cores? The least ah expect from ya is a name if ya got one. That way ah'll know what to call ya, when ah chase ya down am' buck yall's sorry flank into the dirt!" She began to angrily struggle against her earthen confines once again.

The creature studied her and remained silent for a moment before erupting into a fit of laughter, which served to only further irritate the trapped pony. It looked down at her once more, before replying, "The name's Naruto...and good luck with 'bucking my flank into the dirt,' little pony."

"Just ya wait, Nah-roo-toe," she pronounced his name with as much disdain as possible, "ah'll find ya and ya will get what's comin' to ya!"

Instead of saying anything, Naruto simply lifted one of its forelegs into a mock salute before once again turning around and taking off in the direction of the Everfree forest. Though she downright loathed the thing, she also couldn't help but somewhat admire how the creature moved so quickly on just two legs. She'd be willing to bet few ponies could outrun that pace.

A few moments later Big Mac showed up. He worriedly looked down at Applejack still furiously struggling to get out of the ground, then back to the retreating figure in the distance.

"Ya hurt?" questioned the red stallion.

"Aside from mah pride...ah'm fine. That thing didn't hurt me." Motioning with her head in the direction this Naruto ran off, she asked through grit teeth, "Can ya catch up to 'em?"

Big Mac looked back at the quickly disappearing figure for a moment more before he shook his head. "Nnnope."

"Didn' think so," Applejack sighed in irritation. "Well then, don' just stand there. Go get a shovel and get me out of 'ere!"

Though his face remained neutral, she swore that a glimmer of amusement shone in his eyes for a moment before he responded with a simple, "Eeyup."

The stuck pony watched as her big brother turned and galloped back the way he came. By now she had stopped her struggling, fully aware that it was useless at this point in time. Instead, she took the time to think of her next moves after she got free. She'd clearly need to ask Twilight about this Naruto feller. After all, if anyone knew what he was, Twilight would, most likely. Maybe even Fluttershy as well. She would need Dash's help too...

Thinking of her last friend caused her to sigh in annoyance; she was not looking forward to telling Dash about her experience. There was no way that pegasus would overlook the fact that this earth pony had just been beaten by the very earth beneath her hooves. Applejack groaned at both the irony and the eventual storm of laughter...