//------------------------------// // How to evict a Dragon // Story: Adventures of the Equestrian Ninja // by hussbek //------------------------------// ADVENTURES OF THE EQUESTRIAN NINJA Chapter 13: How to evict a Dragon As Celestia’s sun rises over Ponyville, Naruto was currently in the kitchen thinking about what he should make for breakfast and what to pack for Scootaloo’s lunch at school. “I wonder what I should make?” his line of thought was broken when he heard hoofsteps descending the stairs and turned to greet them. “Good morning Scoots, Trixie, I hope you two had a good night sleep,” said Naruto with a smile. “Good morning big bro! I slept well,” said Scootaloo smiling back at him. “Trixie enjoyed her sleep as well,” said Trixie. “That’s good to hear, I’m currently planning on what I should make for breakfast so I’m up for suggestions, got any?” said Naruto. “Anything you make is delicious so I’m okay with whatever you make,” said Scootaloo. “Trixie also approves of whatever delicacies that you make,” said Trixie. “Alright then, you two can go and prepare the table, this won’t take long,” Naruto headed to the shelves to take out the ingredients while Trixie and Scootaloo went to set up the table in the summer hut. It had been a couple of weeks since the incident with the Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, Naruto helped out with the repairs of the damaged buildings. Fluttershy was quite upset with him for hurting the Ursa Major but forgave after hearing the reason. Many ponies were mad at Trixie for what she did, although a majority were able to forgive her after hearing about her helping Naruto and the others as a form of making up for her mistakes but a few were still upset. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity had also forgiven her when she came to apologize for her actions and got along, especially with Rarity due to their shared love for clothes. Due to her caravan being destroyed by the Ursa Minor, Trixie stayed with Naruto at his home and was able to get along with Scootaloo even though it was a shaky start. There were times when Naruto would speak with Trixie that she wouldn’t talk in a third person which displayed how comfortable she was with the blonde stallion although she was aware that the others liked him more than a friend and didn’t want to lose as she had also developed feelings because of his kindness and forgiving heart. “Okay girls, here’s what I’ve made,” said Naruto as he walked towards the summer hut while carrying a tray with his chakra arms. “I’ve made omelet, toast, a pitcher of orange juice and tea for you Trixie,” “Thank you Naruto,” Trixie smiled happily. “Yeah thanks big bro,” said Scootaloo. After a hearty breakfast, they got ready to head out, Scootaloo decided to go alone on her scooter while Naruto and Trixie walked towards their new place of work. With some assistance from Mayor Mare, Twilight and the other mares, Naruto was able to construct a shop in the marketplace which he named the Whirlpool where he sells his customized crystals. Ever since the grand opening which was a week ago, many ponies came to buy the crystals which ranged from storage medallions to light bracelets. Most customers comprised of nobles from Canterlot and he sometimes make deliveries to their residence sometimes but he always makes time for the others, especially when he can just leave a clone in charge of the shop. Along the way, many ponies waved at Naruto and Trixie but a few frowned at the mare which disheartened her, Naruto noticed this and quickly spoke up. “Cheer up Trix, I’m sure that it won’t be long until everypony comes around and forgive you for what happened back then. You’ve got me and the others so don’t worry,” Trixie cheered up a bit from hearing his words “Thank you Naruto, you always know how to cheer me up,” After reaching the shop and putting up the ‘we’re open’ sign, Naruto went into the workroom while Trixie was at the counter to attend to any customer that were to enter. Every now and then a pony would come in to purchase a crystal but aside from that, it was business as usual. “Naruto, we have an order from a noble from Canterlot for several storage crystals,” Trixie came in holding a note with her magic. Naruto took the note and read through it before speaking up. “Okay, I’ll package the items and get ready to set out for Canterlot while you watch over the shop,” “Okay but Trixie doesn’t understand why you don’t like taking the train but rather prefer the road?” Trixie was confused with his odd choice of transportation. “Let’s just say that I had a bad first impression with trains and I get bored to death riding in them. Besides, I can get to Canterlot and back thanks to my ninja skills,” Naruto sealed the package inside his medallion and got ready to leave “I’ll see you later,” Naruto reached the outskirts of town and got ready to jump through the tree when he started to cough for a bit before it stopped. “Why did I start coughing like that? Never mind, I’d better get move on,” Naruto took off, unaware of the smoke which started to rise from a nearby mountain. Meanwhile, Twilight had gathered the other bearers of harmony at the library to discuss a mission which was given to them by princess Celestia. “What in tarnation is a dragon doing around here?” asked Applejack. “Sleeping” the mares were confused by Twilight’s answer. “According to princess Celestia, the dragon slumbering in a cave at the top of the mountain close by but his snoring is what’s causing the smoke,” “Well what are we supposed to do about it?” asked Rarity. “I know! We’ll just go up there and kick him out of the cave!” said Rainbow Dash confidently. “Or we can simply persuade him to leave and sleep elsewhere because if we fail this mission, he’ll be sleeping for the next hundred years. So you’ll have to gear up meet back here in less than an hour,” “Alright girls! Let’s show that we can do!” said Rainbow Dash, flying out the window and the others going to get themselves ready, but Fluttershy stayed behind feeling unsure of herself. Later on, they met up with Twilight in front of the library with their saddlebags. “Alright girls, the dragon is located in a cave at the very top of the mountain. I’ll plan out the route so we’ll be able to make it there within the day,” at hearing Twilight mention the mountain, Fluttershy felt even more scared. “Uh T-Twilight, I wanted to ask w-why Naruto isn’t here with us,” said Fluttershy. “Now that you mention Fluttershy, I haven’t seen him for a while now,” said Applejack. “I tried to look for him at his shop, but Trixie told me that he had gone to Canterlot to make a delivery to a noble and won’t be back for a while, so we’ll have to go on without him,” hearing this made Fluttershy feel depressed, she was hoping that his presence would reassure her. “Oh darn, if I knew that Naruto was going to Canterlot, I could have asked him to buy some fashion catalogs for me,” Rarity whined at a missed opportunity. “Twilight, are you sure that you want Fluttershy to come along? The mare looks like she could be scared of her own shadow,” said Rainbow Dash. “Fluttershy is probably nervous, I’m pretty sure that she’ll calm down on our way to the mountain,” Twilight and Rainbow Dash heard a squeak and turned to see Fluttershy actually duck in the bushes to hide from her own shadow. Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a look that said ‘I told you so’. “Alright girls, let’s move out!” said Twilight. With that, the mares took off towards the mountain while carrying a squealing Fluttershy. Meanwhile, Naruto had already arrived at Canterlot is currently trying to find the address on the note with no luck. “The note says that I’m supposed to meet someone here to deliver the crystals,” Naruto was looking around while levitating the note with his magic. “Excuse me, but are you the pony who is supposed to deliver a package?” Naruto turned to the voice and saw a pony in a butler’s outfit whom he was familiar with. “Hey! I know you,” said Naruto in surprise. “Ah you are the pony that I met back in Ponyville, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” said the pony. “Same here! So you’re the one I’m supposed to deliver the crystals to,” “And I believe you are the pony who has been selling those crystals, many nobles had developed quite a fancy to them, which must be why the master and mistress ordered for them. I haven’t introduced myself the last time we met, my name is Jonathan Clay but you can call me John for short,” said the pony. “The name’s Naruto Uzumaki, you can just call me Naruto. Here’s the package, release parcel!” an orb floated from the medallion and faded to reveal the parcel. “Thank you, and here’s the payment. I do hope that we meet again in the future Naruto,” John received the parcel and gave Naruto a bag of bits which was put in the pocket of his jacket. “Me too, see you around!” Naruto waved at the pony before walking off. Naruto was walking through the street, thinking of what to do before returning to Ponyville when he heard someone calling out to him from behind. “Hey Naruto!” Naruto turned to see that it was none other than his good friend Luce Astro. “Yo Luce! How’s it going buddy?” said Naruto happily. “Everything’s fine, I was hoping to see you,” said Luce. “What is it that you want to see me for?” asked Naruto who was a bit confused. “I wanted to introduce you to my captain, he wasn’t around the last time but he’s currently present in the barracks,” Naruto got curious about who this captain was and decided to come along. “Alright Luce, let’s go meet this guy,” Naruto followed his friend to the barracks and was led to the training grounds. “He’s over there,” Luce raised a hoof to point, Naruto looked in his direction to see a pony supervising the cadets. He is a unicorn with a light gray coat and a sapphire blue mane with cerulean and phthalo blue streaks, his cutie mark is of a deep blue shield with a pink star at the center and three stars above it. Naruto noticed that he was wearing armor which was different from the others. “Must be how they show rank,” thought Naruto as they approached the unicorn. “Captain, I’ve brought the pony whom I was telling you about,” the unicorn turned to look at the new arrivals and his eyes locked onto Naruto with interest. “So this is the pony I’ve heard so much about, what’s your name?” asked the pony. “My name’s Naruto Uzumaki,” “I am Shining Armor, captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. I’ve heard from the cadets about the match you had with Luce which piqued my interest,” “What do you mean?” “I was hoping to have a sparring match with you,” Naruto wasn’t the only one who was surprised by what Shining said, everypony nearby were stunned. “Why would you want spar with me?” asked Naruto. “Like I said before, you caught my interest and I want to see how you stack up to me,” said Shining Armor. Naruto thought deeply for a bit before looking up with a foxy grin “I’m up for a match, so what are the rules?” “It’s just a clean and fair fight, hoof to hoof combat and magic are allowed,” said Shining Armor to which Naruto nodded in agreement. Naruto followed Shining to one of the training grounds waited at the other side for the match to start, many ponies gathered around to watch. Some of them who had witnessed the match between the blond stallion and Luce knew that this match would be just as interesting. “Battle Begin!” said Luce who was the referee. Play Music: Kingdom Hearts OST; Working Together Naruto dashed at Shining in a zigzag pattern to throw him off, but Shining kept a close eye on him to make a move. Naruto launched a straight punch which was blocked and received a hook in the jaw which dazed him, leaving an opening which the unicorn exploited to blast him with a magic beam. “Damn, this guy is good, I’d better be careful,” Naruto charged in again, but this time he twisted his body while sliding to perform a double kick. Shining quickly jumped in the air to avoid when Naruto used his tail to wrap around the unicorn and slam him to the ground before throwing him to the other side of the ring. Shining Armor quickly recovered in midair and landed on his hooves “That’s pretty impressive,” “Well you haven’t seen anything yet! Fire lance!” Several spears of flames appeared around Naruto before towards Shining who quickly put up a barrier and fired magic beams back at him. “Terra bunker!” Naruto was protected by an earth dome from the beams “Windflaw dash!” then he burst out of the dome while covered in the wind and charged at Shining Armor. Thinking quickly, Shining teleported out of the way right before Naruto slammed into him. Naruto used his ninja senses and quickly backflipped to evade a punch from his left, then he lashed out with his tail which connected successfully. Shining jumped back and then summoned spears of light and fired at Naruto who leapt out of the way but was surprised when they changed directions and pursued him. “They must have the ability to home in on their targets, then if that’s the case,” Naruto turned to face the spears with his horn glowing. “Bolt chain!” a stream of lightning surged out of Naruto’s horn and struck one of the spears before arcing towards the rest, destroying them in the process. The spectators were amazed at the battle before them. “They’re really going at it,” “The orange pony is no slouch,” “I’ve never seen anypony use magic spells like those before,” “The captain looks to be enjoying the battle,” “I can’t tell who’s going to win this match,” “Here I come! Pyro breath!” Naruto took a deep breath and released a stream of flame at Shining who quickly put up another barrier to defend himself. Naruto ran in for an uppercut but Shining dodged it and punched him in the gut. Not giving in, Naruto spun around and used his tail to knock Shining off his feet and stood over him with his horn glowing. “Give up?” Shining Armor stared at the blond stallion for a while before sighing and looking back with a smile. “Yeah, I give up,” Naruto smiled back and helped him up while the ponies applauded at the match they had witnessed. End Music “I’ve never seen a fighting style or magic spells like those before, who was your teacher?” asked Shining. “Actually, I created the fighting style myself and it’s called Poniato, I got the idea from a good friend whom I can proudly say is a genius when it comes to hard work and hoof to hoof combat. The magic spells are also an original with the help of another friend of mine,” said Naruto, thinking about his friend Rock Lee. “That’s quite impressive for a pony like you, I really enjoyed our match and I hope to spar with you again. I can tell that you didn’t go all out,” said Shining Armor with a smirk. “The same could be said for you,” Naruto smirked back at him “Although I can rank him to Jounin level like Kakashi-sensei,” “See you later!” Naruto left the barracks with Shining Armor looking at him with interest. “A pony like him might catch my sister’s attention due to her love for learning new things, I’d better keep an eye on him if that ever happens,” Shining Armor thought deeply. Naruto have already left Canterlot and was currently jumping through the trees but then started coughing again, forcing him to stop for a moment. “Why am I coughing again and why does the air smell strange?” Naruto looked up and saw plumes of smoke floating above him “Where did this smoke come from? I’d better get to Ponyville quickly just in case” Naruto took off only moving faster this time. Upon arriving at Ponyville, Naruto headed to the shop to meet with Trixie. “Hey Trixie, I just got back from delivering the package at Canterlot,” said Naruto upon entering. “Welcome back Naruto, oh Twilight came here looking for you,” said Trixie. “Really, then I’ll head to the library to see her and here’s the payment,” Naruto placed the bag of bits on the counter before leaving for the library. When he reached the library, Naruto saw Spike arranging the books and called out to him. “Hey Spike, Trixie told me that Twilight was looking for me at the shop but I wasn’t around,” said Naruto. “Oh Naruto you’re back, princess Celestia had given her and the others a mission to go and wake up a sleeping dragon,” Naruto was surprised upon hearing what Spike said. “Wake up a sleeping dragon?” “Yeah, apparently it’s unconsciously releasing smoke in its sleep and if they don’t wake it up and get it to leave, it will sleep for the next hundred years,” said Spike. “That explains the smoke I saw, then I’d better catch up with them, which way did they go?” Spike pointed at a tall mountain through the window, Naruto could see the smoke originating from there. “The dragon is sleeping in a cave up there, that’s where they’re headed” “Thanks for the info Spike, I’m heading out,” Naruto dashed out of the library and in direction of the mountain. When he reached the foot of the mountain, Naruto used his Ora kokei to locate them. “I’ve found them and they’re halfway up the mountain, I’d better step it up,” Naruto started running up the mountain after channeling chakra to his hooves. As he was making his way up, Naruto heard a loud voice shout out. “Avalanche!” Soon after, the ground started to shake and large boulders fell from above. Realizing the danger that the mares might be in, Naruto galloped even faster all the while dodging the falling boulders and sometimes shattering some with chakra infused punches and kicks. Naruto finally arrived to see Twilight and the others dodging the boulders for their dear lives, he swung into action by summoning some shadow clones and they proceeded to shatter the rocks until they finally stopped falling. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and joined up with the others. “Naruto, you’re back!” Twilight and rest of the mares were happy to see him, especially Fluttershy. “Yeah, Spike told me about you’re up to when I got back and here I am,” said Naruto. “We’re really glad that you came when you did darling,” said Rarity. “Yeah, none of this would have happened if Fluttershy hadn’t yelled,” Fluttershy was depressed at hearing what Rainbow Dash said. “Take it easy Dash, I’m sure Shy didn’t mean it,” Naruto smiled gently at Fluttershy, well aware of her timid nature which cheered her up a bit. “Naruto’s right Dash, so let’s get a move on,” said Applejack. After a few hours of climbing, the group finally reached the top of the mountain. Naruto could see the smoke which was coming out of the cave and turned to see Fluttershy hiding behind him, quivering in fear. “Here we are, now Fluttershy, you’ll go in there and try to persuade the dragon to leave and to go and sleep elsewhere,” but Fluttershy didn’t move as she was still quivering. Twilight tried to make her go along with Applejack and the others except Naruto but she won’t even budge. “Fluttershy, why won’t you go?” “I-it’s j-just that I-I’m scared,” said Fluttershy. “Scared of what Shy?” asked Naruto with concern. “I-I’m scared of d-dragons,” “How can you be scared? we saw you walk up to a Manticore like it was nothing,” said Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, and you aren’t scared of Spike,” said Pinkie Pie. “That’s because the Manticore is not a dragon and Spike is a baby dragon,” Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to lose her patience. “Well we can’t force you to do what you don’t like,” said Applejack. “R-really?” “Yeah, we’ll just have to find another way to get the dragon to leave, I’ll go in first,” Twilight went in first, after a few minutes she came out looking annoyed. “How did it go?” asked Naruto. “He completely ignored me, didn’t listen to a word I said,” said Twilight. “Now what do we do?” asked Applejack. “Allow me to talk to him, this requires a feminine touch,” Rarity walked in cave, in another few minutes they heard a loud roar and Rarity came running out. “Darn I was soo close,” Rarity whined. “Close to getting the dragon to leave or getting the diamonds?” questioned Twilight. “I was hoping for both,” They heard a kazoo and turned to see Pinkie Pie wearing a costume which made Naruto want to laugh. “What in tarnation are you doing, wearing that getup Pinkie?” asked Applejack. “I was hoping that getting him to laugh would have him on our side,” Pinkie went in and a few second later, she came out with some of her costume missing. “I’m guessing that he doesn’t have much of a sense of humor huh Pinkie?” asked Naruto. “Yup,” Rainbow Dash had finally hit the limit of her patience. “That does it! We’ve tried everything and they didn’t work, so I’m going in there and kick him out myself!” Naruto immediately formed a chakra tendril to wrap around Rainbow Dash, stopping her from going anywhere. “Why did you stop me Naruto?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Calm down Dash, if it was my old self I would have done the same thing. But we’re dealing with a dragon here, irritating it would lead to even bigger problems,” said Naruto. “Naruto has a point, but what do we do?” said Applejack. “I’ll go in and see what I can do to convince him to leave,” Naruto was about to go into the cave when he felt a tug on his tail and turned to see that it was Fluttershy. “P-please be careful, I-I don’t want you to get hurt,” said Fluttershy with a look of concern. “Don’t worry, I’ll be okay believe it!” Naruto went into the cave and kept walking until he came upon the sight of a large red dragon who was currently sleeping on a treasure trove. “This guy could get along with Shikamaru as they both love to sleep,” thought Naruto as he drew closer. “Excuse me, I know that we might be annoying you but we’re really hoping that you would sleep somewhere as it’s causing major problems for my friends in the nearby town. We would really appreciate it and if you would comply, what do you say?” Naruto received an answer when he got slammed by the dragon’s tail and sent flying out of the cave and crashed into a boulder. “Damn, I couldn’t dodge since I still sore from that spar with Shining,” Naruto gritted his teeth as he endured the pain. “Oh no Naruto, are you okay?!” while the mares ran to the fallen stallion, Fluttershy had a look of shock before it turned to anger and faced the dragon who had come out of the cave to laugh at them. “How dare you… How dare you! Listen here, mister. Just because you’re big doesn’t mean you get to be a bully. You may be bigger, stronger and scarier than anyone I know. But you do not and I repeat not hurt those I care about! You got that?!” Twilight and the others were stunned at how Fluttershy spoke to the dragon when she was being timid a moment. “I must say that I’ve never seen this side of Fluttershy before,” said Rarity. “I’ll say,” said Rainbow Dash Naruto smiled gently as what he saw reminded him of when Hinata stood up to Neji during the Chuunin exams. The Dragon was stunned for a moment and then had a look of anger. “How can I let a pony talk to me like this?! I won’t stand for it!” When Fluttershy turned to check on Naruto, the dragon let out a breath of fire at the ponies. “Watch out!” Twilight shouted out. They closed their eyes to brace for the hit, but that didn’t happen when they heard a voice call out. “Kosei no giachenji: Shirudo!” When the flames died out to reveal that a shield hovered in between them as if defending. The shield disappeared in a flash of light to show Naruto standing there and with a look of anger on his face. “We tried to be nice to you just so you can leave, but you had the guts to attack those I consider precious to me huh? Well you can pat yourself in the back because you just made it on the list of someone to be beaten up by me!” Naruto slowly walked towards the dragon who began to feel uncomfortable from the glare that the orange pony was giving him while the mares were once again stunned at what they are seeing. “Have you ever seen Naruto get this mad before?” asked Applejack. “I don’t think anypony has ever seen Naruto get mad before,” Twilight. Instincts told the dragon not to cross this pony but his arrogance overwrote that thought. “And what is a little pony like you going to do?” No sooner he said that then large chakra arms appeared from Naruto’s back made the dragon tremble in fear. “You got anything else to say?” asked Naruto with a look that promised pain. “Um mercy?” “Sorry, that flew out the window the moment you attacked us, now clench your teeth cause it's gonna hurt!” With those words, Naruto proceeded to pummel the dragon till he was black and blue before he went back to check on the others. “Are you all okay?” “We’re okay but remind us never to get you mad,” said Rainbow Dash. “Hahaha! There’s no way I’ll ever get mad at any of you but it’s rather the opposite,” Naruto gave them a foxy grin which made them blush. “Let me finish what we came here for,” Naruto turned to the dragon who flinched when he saw the stallion look at him. “Alright you overgrown lizard, here’s what you’re gonna do. You pack up your stuff and sleep elsewhere, if I ever see you again, keep in mind that you’re still on my list. Are we clear?” Dragon nodded meekly and in a few minutes was flying away with his treasure. “I guess that was a mission accomplished,” said Twilight. “Yeah, but we give most of the credit to Naruto and Fluttershy,” said Applejack. “Yeah, they were so cool!” Pinkie was hopping around happily. “Indeed, Naruto was like a knight in shining armor,” Naruto blushed at Rarity’s compliment. “I-it was n-nothing, I didn’t like how the dragon was being so mean,” said Fluttershy. “Me too, I’ll never let anyone hurt my precious ponies,” said Naruto. Later, the group arrived back at Ponyville and Trixie was surprised at what happened. “Trixie still finds had to believe that Fluttershy stood up to the dragon,” “Well you’d better believe it Trix, Fluttershy was very brave right Shy?” Fluttershy used her mane to hide the blush on her face. A falling leaf landed on her back, causing Fluttershy to squeal loudly and jumped into the air before landing on Naruto’s back. Both ponies jumped away from each other blushing while the other mares looked at them with jealously, wishing that it was them in her place. Meanwhile in a void, the mysterious figure was watching over the other dimensions before setting eyes on one of them. “The time has come, I can only hope that he is ready for the trials ahead,” The mysterious figure disappeared, off to meet the ninja turned pony.