//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Rainbow Dashed and a Side of Sleep Deprivation // Story: Shadow of the Leaves // by RandomEncounter //------------------------------// Disclaimer: Someone/some company owns the rights to both My Little Pony and Naruto - not me. If I owned either, I would probably have more money. Since my bank account does not look like I own the rights to any popular franchise, I think it's safe to assume that all rights to both of these series are not mine. Shadow of the Leaves Chapter Two: Rainbow Dashed and a Side of Sleep Deprivation Author: RandomEncounter Editors: 00Lizard and Meliron Twilight’s library was generally not a hub of chaos or noise; after all, no one goes to a library to party. Well…except Pinkie Pie. However, that was just once – at least so far. Other than that, the library was normally peaceful and quiet, and that was just the way Twilight liked it. She had much to learn, and so little time to commit herself to this endeavor; any distractions therefore made this task so much more…tedious. On that note, it must be stated that when the library was not quiet, and there was research needing to be done, Twilight Sparkle was not a happy pony. Coincidentally, she just happened to be in such a situation after Applejack had finished telling Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Spike, and herself the story of what had transpired earlier that day at Sweet Apple Acres. And just as the earth pony had suspected earlier, Dash had found the situation more amusing than serious…which was why she was currently filling the library with hysterical laughter. Applejack, needless to say, was not amused. "Rainbow," said Twilight as she continued to skim through another book of exotic creatures, "it's hard to concentrate with you being so loud." "Oh come on, Twilight, lighten up," Dash managed to get out through fits of laughter. "Even you've got to find this a bit funny!" Applejack groaned, but to her credit said nothing; instead, she merely rubbed her forehead with a hoof at friend's antics. Fluttershy chose to remain silent; or maybe she didn’t choose and was just having a hard time speaking over the laughter. Spike, well…he was ignoring the entire situation by now, instead opting to dust the top shelves and let Twilight sort everything out. "Funny?" questioned the purple unicorn as she turned her attention away from the book in front of her. "An unknown sentient being appears near Ponyville and buries Applejack up to her neck in the ground...in less than five seconds no less. And you find that amusing?” Twilight huffed at her friend in annoyance. "Frankly Dash, I find that more disturbing than humorous." "Well, I'm worried too...just...it's a bit funny..." Dash trailed off as she saw her unicorn friend narrow her eyes at her. The pegasus sighed in irritation. "Fine..." Applejack smiled at her unicorn friend, happy that someone had finally made the nuisance be quiet. "Thank ya kindly, Twilight. Sometimes the element of loyalty," she emphasized the word loyalty as she glanced in Dash's direction, "needs ta be reminded 'bout being loyal ta her friends..." “Hey,” Dash cried out, clearly insulted. “I’m loyal…but that’s just funny! I wish I had been there to see it! Especially the part where Big Mac had to-“ The door to the library abruptly slammed open. “Hi girls!” exclaimed their friend Pinkie Pie as she made her way around the library, looking under, around, and in random objects. "Hey Pinkie, you gotta hear this, earlier today Applejack…” she trailed off as she took in her friend’s seemingly erratic behavior. “Err, Pinkie...what are you doing?" "I'm looking for my new friend!" she called out as she climbed up the ladder Spike currently occupied. The little dragon lost his balance for a moment as Pinkie scanned the shelf, her eyeballs acting in ways impossible for other ponies. Spike managed to maintain his grip on the side of the ladder, and looked relieved as the pink mare made her way back down the ladder to examine other areas of the library. He looked at her strangely for a moment. "New friend?" "Yuppy guppy!" "Who's this new friend of yours…umm, if you don’t mind me asking, that is?" timidly inquired Fluttershy. "I dunno!" exclaimed Pinkie with her normal exuberance as she looked through the potted plant. "There was a new pony in town! I didn't get his name, cause I ran off to get his 'Welcome to Ponyville' party ready!" She then frowned. "But now I can't find him anywhere, and that means he'll miss his own party! Can you imagine how sad he’ll be if he misses his own party?!" Twilight watched her friend search in circles around the bust of the pony head on the table and sighed. "Pinkie, I'm sorry to hear that," she spoke in a no nonsense manner, "but we have to deal with something a little more important at the moment." "More important than a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party?" she asked incredulously, stopping her pursuit to briefly look at Twilight with bulging eyes. "Are you crazy?!" The unicorn started to say something, but stopped; she knew this was an argument she wouldn’t have a chance at winning. "Never mind, Pinkie. Carry on." The party pony smiled, then proceeded to check under the table. "Umm, where did you last see this pony?" inquired Fluttershy quietly. "Just outside Sugarcube Corner," replied the hyperactive mare as she looked through more bookshelves in the library in her quest for the elusive pony. "I was putting some icing on another batch of super delicious cupcakes when I saw him walk by. Then I went–," she gasped sharply, "– and after that I went up to him and told him 'Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?' and I left to get the party ready! He was all surprised and everything! Now I can't find him anywhere though!" Fluttershy nodded for a moment, then tilted her head in confusion. "Well...umm...why are you looking through the bookshelves for him?" Pinkie looked at her animal loving friend with a knowledgeable expression. "Well, duh. Because he's that good at hide and seek, you silly filly!" She walked up to Fluttershy and patted her on the head with a hoof. "But don’t you worry, Auntie Pinkie Pie is better!" Dash couldn't help but laugh at her friend’s behavior at this point. Her renewed laughter, however, earned her another brief glare from Twilight, forcing her to stifle her amusement to controlled giggles. "Hey Pinkie, maybe he's hiding in your mane?" Pinkie Pie's eyes went wide at this statement. "OH! Good idea, Rainbow Dash!” she happily exclaimed. Quickly running to the door, she stopped just long enough to say, "Bye everypony, I’ve got to find a brush now!" With that, Pinkie Pie left the library almost as fast as she had come in. Twilight immediately went back to looking through another book, while Applejack shrugged at Fluttershy’s confused look. Dash on the other hand was thoroughly examining the floor through fits of laughter. At least this time Twilight was done skimming through the last book on different species of creatures throughout the world, so the additional noise did not bother her as much as previously. Yet, her expression was still sour; she simply could not find any reference to anything remotely like the being Applejack had described. A diamond dog came close, but she was sure what was at the farm was entirely different from the behavior and abilities described, even if it did burrow. “Fluttershy, are you sure you haven’t heard of any creature like this before?” The kind pegasus nodded and confidently replied, “Oh yes, I’m sure.” “I see,” muttered the annoyed unicorn as she looked at the ground, briefly lost in thought. She sighed and looked at her friends. “Well girls, I can’t find any reference in any of the books here. But perhaps there’s something in the archives at Canterlot…or Princess Celestia may even know what we’re dealing with…” She shook her head and smiled, “I’ll write her a letter immediately. But in the mean time we should keep a look out for him just in case.” Twilight turned to look at her polychromatic friend. “Dash, starting tomorrow I think perhaps you should watch the orchard for Applejack over the next few days. If it was looking for food, there’s a chance he might be back again.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Oh yeah, just you wait! If I see this thing, I’ll take it down in ten seconds flat!” Twilight turned her attention to Applejack and smiled apologetically, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you today. Hopefully I’ll hear something back from the princess soon after I send the letter.” “That’s okay, sugarcube,” said the farm mare as she waved a hoof at her, “ah thank ya fer at least checkin’.” She looked out the window to see the sun had already begun to set. “Well, ah best be headin’ back ta the farm then.” Applejack nodded her head at the remaining occupants in the library, before leaving. She was quickly followed by Dash who kept muttering how awesome it would be if she met the Wonderbolts when she captured the unknown apple thief. “I should get back as well, there’s a few things I still need to do around the cottage,” said Fluttershy as she made her way out the door. “Goodnight, Twilight.” Twilight waved goodbye at her friends one last time before closing the door and looking up at her assistant. "Spike!" "Yeah, Twilight?" answered the dragon as he finished dusting another shelf of books off. "Come down and take a letter please,” she paused and waited for him to climb down. She began to pace back and forth, thinking of her exact wording as Spike grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment. Once she was satisfied that he was ready, she began to dictate. “Dear Princess Celestia..." ~'.'~'.'~ ”Dash, starting tomorrow I think perhaps you should watch the orchard for Applejack over the next few days." Rainbow Dash let out a long exaggerated sigh, followed by an annoyed growl. That had been three days ago. Three long...slow...agonizing…days for the cyan pegasus. It had been simple at first. All she really needed was a good eye, which she had. Some luck, another resource that she could readily count on. A comfy cloud positioned over the orchard, of course; no pony wants to be uncomfortable for hours on end after all, right? And above all else, patience...and that is where the problems began. Sadly, Rainbow Dash was never known for embracing that particular concept. She knew it really wasn't her fault either; it was just that being patient meant the same thing as sitting around and being bored. Could any pony really expect Equestria's fastest and most awesome flyer to sit around doing nothing? Of course not! Besides, she had expected the creature to return the next day. She’d take him down, and everyone would tell her how awesome she was! Instead…it had turned out like this… "Ugh," moaned Dash as she let her head hang over the cloud in a dejected manner. "Can't that thing just come out so I can catch him already?" She rolled onto her back to stare up at the sun, trying to think of something interesting to keep her mind occupied. Sadly, that was never one of her strong suits. As she lay there, she couldn’t help but notice how heavy her eyelids seemed. She looked down at the orchard again, not surprised in the least bit to see no indication the creature had returned. She glanced around to see if anyone was looking, before shrugging and lying on her back. “Well, a five minute nap won’t hurt anypony,” she muttered as she closed her eyes and quickly dozed off. And thus, this brings us to our next great flaw of Rainbow Dash – keeping time. She was horrible at doing so while awake. Often times she would guess an hour had passed while bored, but in reality it had just been ten minutes. Other times she would concentrate so much on practicing a new trick that she forgot that time even existed. Why, then, she assumed that she could keep up with time in her sleep would forever remain a mystery to a sane mind. So it should come as no surprise then that Dash slept for more than a few minutes…or a few hours even. By the time the mare awoke from her slumber the sun had long since set, and the moon was hanging brightly in the sky overhead. Stretching out her legs, then wiping some drool off her face, she quickly glanced around and chuckled guiltily. “Guess I overslept a bit. Oh well, what Applejack doesn’t know can’t hurt me.” She stood up, and this time stretched her back. Dash took a moment to look at the orchard bellow her, then towards Ponyville. Hardly any of the town’s buildings had any lights left on; except of course the library where Twilight was pulling another of her late nighters. Dash respected and cared for her friend deeply, but she just couldn’t understand that unicorn’s motivation to spend so much time reading books. Then again, that’s why Twilight was the egghead, and not her. Stretching her wings, she spared a glance back towards the Everfree Forest. As always, it seemed far more sinister and foreboding at night than it did during the day; and though Dash would never outwardly admit it, the thought of that place at night always gave her the creeps. Just as she was turning around to take off for her cloud house, she did a double take as something in the forest caught her attention. She looked back and squinted. Deep in the forest she could barely make out a faint glow. It was distant, though; so distant that a pony would probably not see it from the ground. But from her vantage point it was unmistakably there. “Huh, that’s…strange,” muttered the pegasus. There was no reason anything should be out that far in the forest, unless it was Zecora of course; but the zebra’s hut was nowhere near whatever the source of light was. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she threw caution to the wind, not that she was ever really cautious, and flew off to investigate the source of the light she saw. As Dash got closer to the light, she began to fly closer to the treetops. It wasn’t long before she reached the light source: a small fire. And sitting near the fire, resting against the trunk of a tree, was the creature Applejack had warned her about a few days earlier. Quickly and quietly, she dropped in under the tree line through an opening, making sure to make as little noise as possible. Dash hid behind the trunk of a tree, which was situated far enough away from the fire to easily hide her presence in the shadows. The pegasus saw that it was reading a book in the light, and her presence had seemingly gone unnoticed. Its mask was currently laying on the ground, though she couldn’t see the being’s face due to the hood on his cloak, obscuring it from this angle. She would have to risk getting in its field of vision to see what it looked like. Or she could just capture him and find out that way…which of course made the most sense to her. She watched for a few more moments before the creature closed the book it was reading. It then picked up the mask lying on the ground next to it and placed it on its face before standing up and stretching. She tensed up for a moment as she thought that perhaps it had heard her sneaking up on it. However, when the cloaked figure began to poke the fire with a stick, she grinned. It still didn’t know she was here, and that meant now was her time to strike! Dash reared back, an assured grin plastered on her face as she got ready to tackle the thing while it was distracted. Before she could even yell out 'Got ya,’ however, something brushed up against her ear. "You make too much noise to sneak up on me," quietly spoke a masculine voice. "Gah!" squealed a startled Dash as she blindly took off to her left, flying straight into a tree, and falling to the ground in a heap. Shaking her head from the impact, the pegasus turned to meet the sudden voice. Standing tall above her, and far too close for comfort, was the same creature that had been sitting at the fire. Sparing a glance back towards the small camp, she no longer saw anything standing there. Rainbow quickly looked back at the figure in wide-eyed confusion. "What the hay? But…you were just…" The figure in front of her crossed its forelegs and chuckled. “Yeah, I get that a lot. I’m curious though…” he trailed off and briefly glanced up at the sky. “It’s long past midnight…and I was sure that all of you little horses would be in bed by this time of night. Trouble sleeping?" Dash’s surprise quickly turned into a mild irritation at being called a horse. "Hey! I'm a pony, not a horse…and I sleep just fine!" "Seems I hit a sore spot. So.." the masked figure trailed off as he crouched down to get a better look at his stalker. "You look familiar..." he said with a scrutinizing tone as he stared at the mare in the dim light. "Ah, I know why now. You're that flying pony that's been trying to watch that apple orchard for the past three days..." "What?" she asked wide eyed. "How do you know about that? "I've been watching you of course," stated the creature matter-of-factly, "waiting for you to take naps before I got more apples." “Wait…huh…” she trailed off for a moment before getting defensive. “Who the hay…WHAT the hay are you?! Are you a spy?!" "Hmm…I never was really good at that part of my...profession," he chuckled, "so no, not a spy.” He paused for a moment. “Well, technically I was watching you…so I guess in this case yeah.” “So you are a spy?!” “If only to get some apples for lunch,” he replied nonchalantly. “Otherwise, what reason could I possibly have to spy on you?” She narrowed her eyes in irritation. "Listen, Chump! You're talking to Equestria's most awesome pony ever! If there was any pony in Ponyville to spy on, it would be me!” "My name's Naruto, not Chump!" countered the biped. "And that's supposed to mean something to me?" "Yeah, it should!" yelled Dash. She pointed her hoof at him, "And your name's Chump cause you look like a chump, Chump!" Naruto said nothing for a moment, but eventually sighed and shook his head. “You don't even know what I look like,” he said in an exasperated tone of voice, “and thinking sounds like it's painful for you. Perhaps you crashed into that tree a little too hard?" Dash narrowed her eyes at that last comment and dropped low to the ground, once again preparing to tackle her opponent, even if this time she didn't have the jump on him. "You're going down," she paused, and then smugly added, "in ten seconds flat even, CHUMP!" "Oh, is that so?” he questioned as his voice suddenly took on a slightly challenging tone. “A long time ago, someone important to me once said that those with no talent often bark the loudest..." he said nostalgically. His voice then went back to its now familiar, and annoying, mocking tone while he adopted a more defensive posture, "And just in case you weren't aware, you're extremely loud..." That statement finally pushed Rainbow Dash over the edge. She ground her teeth and lunged at the annoying creature in front of her. It was time some pony put him in his place…and he was about to find out what happened when you messed with pure awesome! ~'.'~'.'~ "Well, it certainly did take ten seconds for you to go flat," muttered Naruto as he finished tying up the struggling pony; Dash really was intent on not making this easy for him. "Hold still already, you sore loser..." “Somepony…anypony, HELP ME!” screamed Dash as she fought against the ropes. "No one…err, pony can hear you out this far, you know that, right?” All he got in response was a few more shouts from the mare. “Do I need to suspend you from a tree branch?" Once again, he received no direct response other than her continued struggles and calling for help that would never come. He looked down at her and shrugged. “Fine, have it your way, then.” “What are you going to do?” she asked angrily as he tied another rope to her restraints. She saw him throw one end of the rope over a thick tree branch overhead, before feeling a tugging sensation as her body was yanked upwards. “Let me go!” She tried to buck the jerk with her hind legs, but he dodged them easily enough. Soon she found herself at eye level with her jailer. He then bent down and tied the other end of the rope through a thick root protruding from the ground. “What do you want from me?!” “Hey, just remember that you’re the one that came looking for a fight, not me. As for what I want,” his voice became mischievous, “oh, nothing much. In fact, I’m hoping that we can get past our differences, and talk like adults for a while.” Her captor chuckled. “You know, just hang out with each other.” Dash’s eyes narrowed at his attempted joke. In turn, he let out a few more chuckles. "Sorry about this," his voice still sounded amused, yet also held a hint of sincerity, "but you decided to come out here, and I've got some questions I need answered-" She cut him off. "I'm not telling you anything!" He sighed and crossed his forelegs again. “Do you know how many times I’ve heard that? They all say that, you know. Every last one of them,” his voice had gone cold, sending a shiver down the pegasus’ spine. She really had no idea what he was talking about, but she did not like that tone one bit. It screamed…predator. “But, everyone…well pony in your case, talks eventually,” he walked back up to her and raised one of his forelegs up to her side, the claws at the end of it eventually falling out of her field of vision. She began to once again struggle vigorously against her bindings in vain only to freeze up as she felt those five small appendages at the end of its legs come into contact with the side of her neck. Naruto brought his masked visage close to the mare’s face, forcing her to look into the pitch-black eyeholes of the mask. “Have I got your full attention now?” She said nothing in return, opting instead to continue staring at him with wide eyes. “Good,” he said in a more pleasant tone. “Now, I’m going to ask you a question, and you’re going to answer it.” Rainbow Dash cringed slightly, fully aware of the unspoken ‘or else.’ A few agonizing moments passed before he finally spoke again. “Are you ticklish?” Whatever she was expecting, the pegasus certainly wasn’t ready for that question. The pony paused, her brain trying to process the strange inquiry. “Uh, wha..?” “Wrong answer,” he trailed off as he began to tickle her neck. She quickly found out that those strange claws of his proved to be much more effective at such an act than a hoof ever could be. “H-hey!” she managed to choke out. “Q-q-qq-quit it!” “Maybe I will,” he said in an amused tone of voice, “that is, if you decide to cooperate with me and answer my questions.” He stopped for a moment to let her catch her breath and wait for her reply. She gasped a few times for air, before looking at him with a determined expression. “I’m not going to tell you anything, CHUMP!” Rainbow Dash found out that was probably not the best way of dealing with the situation at hoof. For the next few minutes he proceeded to mercilessly tickle her neck, this time with both of his claw-like appendages. Her sides were beginning to hurt, and breathing was becoming a luxury, but she was determined not to lose. Unfortunately for the mare however, so was Naruto. It took a few minutes, but Dash could only take so much before caving in. “O-o-o-kay, okay!” she cried out gasping for air. “I’ll tell you whatever you want! Just no more, alright?” “Told you, everyone…you know what,” he said in mild irritation, “I’m sure you know what I mean when I say everyone, so just deal with it. Anyway, as I was saying…everyone eventually talks.” She merely grunted in reply. “Well then, as I’ve said before…I have a number of questions that need answering, and I'm glad that you've finally decided to-“ He was cut off by a loud growl coming from Rainbow Dash’s stomach. An awkward moment was shared between Dash and her captor as they both looked at each other in silence. The mare was wide-eyed, and a small blush could be seen on her cheeks. Naruto continued to stare at her for a moment before chuckling. "Hungry?" "What's it to ya, chump?" she huffed in annoyance. Naruto ignored her calling him a chump once again, and instead walked over to his bag near the fire. Quickly rummaging through it, she saw him pull out one of the apples he must have pilfered from Sweet Apple Acres…probably that day even if his earlier comments were to be believed. He walked back over to her, brought the apple up to her face, and held it there. She looked at the proffered fruit, then back at him in confusion. “Huh?” "I may seem mean at the moment, but I’m not cruel," he said in a joking manner. Tilting his head to the side, his voice then took on a more somber tone, "And I won't let someone go without food in front of me. I know first-hand how much it sucks to go hungry…” ~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~ Author’s Note: Well, hello there again everyone. I just want to take a moment to thank everyone, all three hundred plus of you, that favorited this story. In all honesty, I did not think for a second that something I wrote as an offhanded idea in a matter of hours would garner as much attention as it did, even if it IS a Naruto crossover. Once again, thanks everyone, and I hope you continue to enjoy where this story will go. This chapter was certainly…interesting, and a little bit longer than I envisioned; first time writing for Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. How did I do? Feedback would be helpful! Just a heads up, but each chapter will generally feel a bit different than the others; after all, the main pony of each chapter (if there is one) should bring a new feel and interaction to the table. Wouldn’t you agree? Also, the next update has no ETA; I got to beat Diablo 3 on nightmare difficulty next. I also want to get chapter three of Thunderstruck done first. Once that is out I’ll begin work on chapter three of SotL. Anyway, until next time, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!