The Truth of Bonds and Friendship

by Gadman85

The First Volunteers, the Expert and New Information

Naruko, wearing what looked suspiciously like a highly stylized military uniform, over looked the new recruits standing before her. She did feel a little embarrassed by her current outfit, but she couldn’t really say no after the face Rarity made once it was complete. It also wasn’t the most comfortable thing to wear. Naruko sighed mentally to herself. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told Rarity about the Ever-Free Patrol being like a more awesome and personal military unit after all.”

------- Flashback starts ---------

When Naruko woke up the day after receiving her assignment as Grand Captain, she happily told Twilight as much as she could about it. Surprisingly it was a good bit. The blonde unicorn figured this was because she hadn’t really come across much information that needed to be kept quiet yet.

She didn’t go into detail about certain subjects, because Spike was busy cooking breakfast this time and the baby dragon was very good at listening to what they said while he did so. Some of the things she wanted to explain about she felt he shouldn’t hear. Mostly because she didn’t want to be bothered with answering a million questions with what she felt were obvious answers. Twilight was the teacher type, not her.

Right when they were close to sitting down for breakfast, they heard a knocking on the door. “I’ll get it,” Twilight said as she cheerfully answered the door. “Oh hello, Rarity! How are you doing this morning?”

“I’m doing simply wonderful my dear friend. I just wanted to pop in and at least say hello to my two favorite unicorns in Ponyville,” came Rarity’s elegant and sophisticated voice.

“Well good morning then. Naruko, Spike and I are about to have breakfast. Do you want to join us?” Twilight asked with a cheerful smile.

She was more excited than usual because of what Naruko was telling her about. It all sounded so very interesting. Rarity was a bit surprised by this level of excitement from her purple coated friend at this time of the day. Twilight wasn’t usually a morning pony to this extent.

“I already had some this morning, but I wouldn’t mind a glass of orange juice.” Rarity then pretended to be looking for somepony before adding, “Just don’t tell Applejack.” Twilight burst into a laugh and Rarity soon did as well.

“Your secret is safe with me. If she ever bothers you about it, do what Naruko and I do,” Twilight said with grin.

“Oh and what is that?” Rarity asked playing along.

“We simply say it’s so we can better appreciate Apple juice when we have it,” Twilight said with a laugh as she led a laughing Rarity into the kitchen.

“Morning, Rarity,” Naruko said to their white coated unicorn friend.

“Morning, Rares!” Spike shouted from the kitchen. “Want anything?”

“Sure my dear Spikey Wikey. I’d like a glass of orange juice, if you’d be so kind,” Rarity said with a beautiful smile.

“Coming right up!” Spike said as he placed the waffles and fruit on the table quickly before heading back to get the juice.

When he returned he started up the interesting conversation from before again. “So you were talking about this Ever-Free Patrol thingy. Are you going to be like soldiers for Ponyville or something?”

“Oooo what is this?” Rarity asked with burning curiosity in her eyes.

“Not exactly, Spike. I’ll just start at the top again for you, Rarity,” Naruko said as she served herself some waffles. She didn’t mind answering some questions. She figured she’d have to get used to it anyways. Rarity would also be able to follow along better than Spike and he would try to act cool in front of Rarity and not ask too many questions.

“Princess Luna and Princess Celestia decided to re-establish the Ever-Free Forest Patrol again.” Naruko took a bite as Twilight filled Rarity in some.

“It was a very prestigious group that pretty much kept all of the towns in Equestria safe at its height. It was even in some cases more respected than the Royal Guard. Ponyville would have had a contingent if it was around during that time, even,” Twilight then took a bite of her breakfast as Naruko took back over.

“Princess Luna pretty much had full control over the Ever-Free Patrol. It was a bit of a problem during her rebellion, but even after that Celestia reinstated it for a brief period of time with herself as the Stewart of the patrol. She wanted it to still function as it was before things got complicated and it mostly did,” Naruko said as she took a break.

Twilight continued for her with a big smile. “It not only is back now, but Naruko here is pretty much the second in command of the entire Patrol! It’s only her and Luna right now and just for Ponyville, but even when it expands she will still be Grand Captain Uzumaki.”

“True, but it’s just a volunteer only thing. So I’ll still be doing the occasional odd job to get money. The patrol has always been a volunteer thing. That way only ponies completely dedicated to protecting their homes and other ponies join up. There isn’t any room for slackers or career only people,” Naruko said with a nod.

“That makes it sound even cooler! I mean you are like well Superheroes or something like that. I mean not with the super hero powers, but you know the whole fighting for what is right and not to get paid kind of thing,” Spike said as he ripped into his waffles.

“I guess we kind of are in a way. Anyways, we aren’t really full on soldiers, but we will more or less be trained like them. At the same time though, we are a civilian group. If that makes any sense to you," Naruko said with a nod.

Rarity’s eyes seemed to be sparkling. “Ideaaa!” she called with glee. Her eyes then narrowed on to Naruko and she said, “Naruko… You will come to my boutique after you finish here!” She then slammed down the rest of her orange juice and excused herself.

Naruko felt a little uneasy after Rarity left. The blonde unicorn wasn’t sure what to make of Rarity’s request/demand. She would go along with it. She just needed to get herself mentally prepared. There really wasn’t any way to say “No” to Rarity when she was like this.

------ End Flashback -----

When Naruko went to Rarity’s shop, she was soon outfitted in a paramilitary dress uniform. “So you can look professional and no nonsense for any new recruits while still being stylish,” Rarity assured her.

The blonde unicorn surprisingly found herself enjoying Rarity dressing her up. She even thought when it came to Gala Dress time it might not be that bad. Plus, doing these things with Rarity was usually a blast.

“Ha! Letting your girly side show are we, Naruko?” Kyuubi’s voice came to her as she thought over the memory again.

Naruko just ignored him this time. She was getting ready to meet with three potentials and talk to them. She doubted they would make it. She figured they were merely curious ponies wanting to see what was going on and nothing more.

{-} {-} {-}

Naruko looked out to the immediate volunteers again. Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings and Cloud Kicker signed up the moment the announcement was made more or less. This actually impressed Naruko a little. It showed they might actually be here for something more than just sating their curiosity after all once she noticed the dates and times they signed up. She didn’t know why that was recorded, but she figured it was just some kind of administrative paperwork thing. She’d have to look into it later.

The gathering started off with the Grand Captain giving them information about some more of the specifics of the Patrol’s purpose. They all stayed and looked just as eager. This was another plus in Naruko’s books.

“Alright, I need to give you all some physical tests and such to get an idea about where your skills actually lie. I’ll also have a bit of a spar with you all as well, but nothing too serious, so don’t worry. I just need to see what I’m working with to make sure this patrol will live up to it’s past. You can of course quit the training whenever you want, but you won’t be allowed to join the patrol,” she explained to them. They again weren’t disheartened.

Naruko was surprised at seeing how skilled Cloud Kicker was with flying at the start of the skills test. The honey gold maned pegasus wasn’t Rainbow Dash level, but she was much better at control. Also those airbrakes of her’s were amazing!

She was even more surprised to notice that Bon Bon and Lyra even had some form of working fight training. To further impress her, Lyra could even fight without using magic. The green unicorn wasn’t as good without it, but she was more than good enough.

“I’m guessing you two have some kind of previous training. That really is… interesting. I know you two weren’t a part of the Royal Guard. Where did you get your training?” Naruko asked.

The two ponies gave nervous laughs and Lyra answered. “Well we don’t really have any formal training. We kind of taught ourselves.”

Naruko’s eyes widened a little to this. That really was something else if they were to this level from self-study alone. “Why?” She asked.

Bon Bon answered this time. “Well after the whole Summer Sun Celebration and Nightmare Moon thing I asked Lyra to help me. She already sort of taught herself a bit out of plain boredom.” Lyra blushed as Bon Bon giggled.

Naruko gave them a critical gaze as she said, “You do realize by joining the Ever-Free Patrol you are one of Princess Luna’s subordinates correct? She is our boss. She even, in most cases, has superiority to us over Princess Celestia. Our main goal is still home front defense more or less, but she is our ‘Commanding Officer’. This isn’t going to be a problem for any of you, right?”

All three ponies gave her serious faces as they answered, “No, Ma’ma.” Naruko gave a small smile.

“Besides… She isn’t really Nightmare Moon anymore and I’m pretty sure she isn’t going to be anywhere close to being that again,” Cloud Kicker replied.

“Plus, she is the one responsible for bringing the Patrol back in the first place. We agree that shows she cares about the safety of all ponies even in a town like Ponyville," Lyra added with a confident smile.

“Yes, she does. Princesses Celestia and Luna both care about all of us ponies. From what I have learned, Princess Luna was usually the one who took a more personal and active approach to things. Princess Celestia was the one who took a more ‘grander scheme’ approach to things. It is part of the reason before the whole Nightmare Moon incident Equestria was said to be an even better utopia despite all of the war issues and such in the world,” Naruko said to her very interested audience. She guessed it only made sense they wanted to know as much about the Night Princess as they could.

Bon Bon nodded her head in understanding. “That really makes a lot of sense and explains some things.” Others nodded in agreement.
Naruko continued giving them test after test to see if they had what it took to continue with the patrol. She was surprised all three made it to the very end and were relatively okay. They were tired and had some minor pains, but it wasn’t anything to worry about.

“Am I going too easy on them?” she thought to herself.

She heard a chuckle in return to her question. “If you were training full-fledged ninjas back home maybe… But here there isn’t an established military school that takes volunteers and trains them as children.”

“Alright everypony. Follow me. There is one more thing we all have to do. It is very important before you all are officially members of the Ever-Free Patrol,” Naruko said with a smile.

The other ponies were curious and followed her. She entered a protected area where she and Luna had agreed upon earlier. The Night Princess was standing there looking them over.

“So. These are my brave little ponies who have proven themselves and wish to join the esteemed ranks of the Ever-Free Patrol?” Princess Luna asked with a smile on her face.

The other ponies, apart from Naruko, were completely stunned. They didn’t think they would actually meet their Boss Princess ever really, but here she was standing before them. Luna sighed and made a mental note to try and get them past this reaction.

“However, for the moment it might be best. They will probably listen to me and do as I ask even if only because they are too stunned to do otherwise,” Luna thought to herself. She nodded mentally and gave them their instructions.

“Okay everypony. Please stand right here.” Luna pointed in front of her. As the other ponies did what she asked, she smiled and told them one last thing. “I am about to cast a spell on you all known as the Magical Swear. It will be intense, but shouldn’t hurt if you just let the magic flow through and not fight. It might actually feel good.”

{-} {-} {-}

After the magic swear was finished, the three new recruits were feeling pretty good. Not to the extent Naruko did, but good none the less. Luna and Naruko then answered questions the volunteers had for them.

“So why did we do all of that? Is it standard procedure?” Lyra asked out of curiosity.

“I had to go through the same thing as well. It is standard procedure,” Naruko answered first.

Luna followed. “The reason for the swear is because you will learn key information about Equestria’s defenses and past that could be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hooves. That information you won’t be able to share with anyone who hasn’t taken the full swear unless the worst case scenario happened in Equestria.”

The ponies were giving their full attention as their princess continued. “That would be if you had to protect Ponyville or other pony settlements in case an invasion force were to make it to the home front. Then you could share information with the Royal Guard and others as needed.”

The ponies were wide-eyed hearing this, but their Capitan put them at slight ease. “This has never really happened before. However, it is our duty in case it does. Relax. Something like that is very unlikely to happen.”

“Really? I thought that was something the Royal Guard had to worry about,” Cloud Kicker asked in amazement.

Luna answered. “Yes really. As for the Royal Guard… In the past, when the Ever-Free Patrol was last instituted and at its peak. It was considered more honorable and prestigious to be in the patrol. The Royal and Night Guards looked to those of the patrol as their superiors with respect in some cases.”

The new Patrollers were stunned again, but listened. “Because of this you will all receive training in combat from probably the most qualified pony in Equestria. Naruko Uzumaki your Captain and our Contracted Guardian. We will find an aerial combat trainer for you Cloud Kicker in addition to this.”

The group were actually kind of excited about this and cheered. They were going to protect their home and learn the skills to do so. They also thought it would be cool if the Patrol got to the level it used to be as well, though that was merely an added bonus to everything else.

Once they calmed down, they saw the Princess giving them a beautiful smile along with Naruko. “In addition to that,” Naruko started. “You will all be given monetary reimbursement for your sacrifice.”

They ponies just stared and blinked with their jaws hanging open as their Captain continued. “We don’t advertise this because it would draw undesirables to our cause. The reason you all made it is because you showed you were here to help protect Ponyville and/or showed extraordinary dedication in your commitment. You can tell your family if they wonder about your surplus of income, but we have discovered they too undergo a magical swear as well. It’s just more or less an extension of your own. They won’t be allowed to tell anypony else directly.”

“Of course if you choose to go full time. Your salary will increase a good bit along with your responsibilities,” Naruko reminded them. This caused some excited chatter, but none of them were full time at this moment.

{-} {-} {-}

Luna and Naruko took turns explaining things to the other ponies and answering questions. In conclusion, Naruko said a few closing thoughts. “We are still working on some defense protocols and strategies so there will sometimes be meetings to explain these things in the future. Also in closing…”

“Two days from now at about this time we will be meeting with Fluttershy at the Library. She will do what she can to explain what she knows of the surrounding wildlife that we will possibly be interacting with on our missions. She knows that we will have to use aggressive tactics, but will not be aiming to grievously harm the animals. She will do what she can to tell us what she knows,” Naruko said.

“Really? That sounds rather… unfluttershylike,” Cloud Kicker said.

“She has been through some things that have changed her views a little bit. She wasn’t happy about it, but she knew it was important. You would also be surprised how many of her animal friends are actually more or less forest refugees. She knows the dangers and she came to realize how important our role will be not only for ponies but other animals as well,” Naruko assured them.

They asked a few more questions before dismissing for the day. All three of the recruits decided to meet up and celebrate their new positions. They asked Naruko who regretfully replied, “I am sorry I can’t go this time. However, I will join you all some other time. You better believe it.” She finished with a wide smile and the others smiled in return before going off excitedly.

“Well, do you think they will be up to the task, Naruko?” Luna asked seriously.

Naruko nodded with confidence. “I believe so. Tartarus! Lyra and Bon Bon already have some training they did with each other on their own. Cloud Kicker will be really amazing as well. She is very good at air braking and maneuvering already. Give her some training like you promised and she will be good in the air. Plus, it is my job to get them in shape for the task and I will do my best there.” Luna nodded in thought to that as she started to mentally list possible names of trainers.

{-} {-} {-}

It was now a couple days since the new Patrol members were accepted. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane gave a sigh to herself. She wasn’t sure how to do what she was about to do. She knew few if any ponies had her talent of understanding animals like she did. She thought back to her discussion with the princesses and Naruko.

---- Flashback starts----

“You want me to do what?!” Fluttershy asked in an uncharacteristically loud voice, for her, due to surprise.

“We want you to teach the Ever-Free Patrol what you know about animals and how to fight them, but without the intention of seriously harming them… unless there really isn’t any other way,” Celestia said calmly.

“I-I-I get the first part and have no problem with that… but that second part…” Fluttershy said in a much more quiet, but normal for her voice.

“I know how you feel about your animals, but the Patrol will be vital to protecting both ponies and animals alike in the grand scheme of things. I will not ask ponies to risk their lives without all the help and tools they can get to perform their job,” Luna said in a firmer voice than she wished.

Fluttershy still looked unsure. Naruko then gave her a serious look. “Fluttershy.” The pegasus nodded showing she was focusing on her blonde unicorn friend. “Do you remember the things we came across in the Forest Temple?”

The pink maned pony gulped and then steeled her nerves and nodded. Naruko continued, “Their might be other threats like that out there that we need to watch out for. We will do all we can to make sure the animals we encounter will be fine.”

Naruko narrowed her eyes, “However, like the Princesses are saying. We will have to be aggressive at times to achieve our goals. We can’t talk to animals like you can, and unless you want us coming to you for every problem. Including Timberwolves… You need to do this.”

Fluttershy blinked with wide eyes. She knew a lot about Timberwolves and more of the meaner animals in the forest. She understood the scale of what the patrol would be facing.

“Also…” Naruko started darkly. “We do still have that overarching danger out there to deal with and it might cause problems for the animals in the forest as well. The Patrol will be dealing with that as well if needed.”

Fluttershy was finally firm in her resolve and nodded. “I will do it. I think I can even see how this will help the animals there as well possibly. Some of my animal friends left because they had no choice.”

“Great!” Luna said excitedly and smiled. “Now to discuss when and how to approach this….” With that they started working out the details the best they could at this moment.

---- End Flashback----

Fluttershy took a deep breath and let it out slowly using Twilight’s and Naruko’s hoof motion. She was still surprised how effective it was in calming her down. “I will and can do this,” she said with confidence. Despite her resolve, it was still frightening talking in front of a group of ponies like this.

She had a lesson plan and everything for it. She would be meeting with them a few times to cover everything. Naruko would be attending and taking notes as well. She was going to use Fluttershy’s lessons for future ponies who joined the patrol later.

She also kept in mind what Naruko told her many times. “You are the expert here. They will want to learn from you. They will already respect you if not like you. If not I will whip them into shape extra hard.”

The memory gave her both confidence and a chuckle. She was surprised how close she had become to Naruko after their mission. She only hoped she would get closer to her other friends as well.

Apart from Rainbow Dash she had never really had any ponies she considered friends. She got along with lots of them, but none of them were friends. Now she had already gotten closer to the other girls and maybe she would get closer to the princesses as well. This thought caused her to smile.

“I will do what I can to be there for my friends and Equestria. These lessons will be best for everyone. Pony and otherwise.” As she asserted herself again, she felt warmer and gave a more confident smile to herself and unknowingly narrowed her eyes in a confident and sensual manner.

Her animal friends were surprised by this, but didn’t feel it was bad or anything. One of them gave a thoughtful look unseen by the pony. He could feel things were coming together slowly and his mission was about to get more involved. He was excited by this and a little nervous. He would do his clan proud though. He’d bet his fluffy tail on it.

Fluttershy took in a deep breath and gave her usual content smile. She gathered her things and left. She was now eager for what was to come. It might actually be a lot of fun to teach others about animals.

{-} {-} {-}

Naruko looked to her three new patrol partners. She hoped more would join them sometime. She didn’t want to over burden these three brave ponies alone. Still she gathered herself and smiled. “I’m glad you all could make it.” She then noticed their notepads and pencils.

“I’m further glad you're all ready to take notes. This will be very important information. After Fluttershy’s time is up, I will start your physical training and in later sessions train you in hoof to hoof. Even you need to know this Cloud Kicker before you move on to your personal training,” Naruko said as Cloud Kicker nodded.

“Without further ado… Fluttershy. Ponyville’s expert on animals,” Naruko said as she joined the others and pulled out her own notepad and pencil to take notes. The others gave polite claps.

Fluttershy gave a nervous smile and cleared her throat. “Come on Fluttershy… You can do this… it will help everyone… especially Naruko, and she is a very important friend that helped many times.” She thought in an attempt to calm down. The trick worked. Her blue eyes steeled and she nodded to herself.

Naruko thought she might have to help her friend, but soon her flying friend was ready. “That’s impressive compared to how she was.” A deep rumbling voice said in her head.

“Kyuubi?” Naruko asked in response.

She could have sworn the fox rolled his eyes and gave a sigh before grinning. “Of course. Who else would it be? You know I will be helping you a lot. I need to know this as well as I can by following through your eyes and ears so pay close attention.” Naruko mentally nodded in return.

“Alright… It is good to know that Princess Luna got the patrol back up and running. I was a little concerned at first about what I would do, but I soon realized your work is important for ponies and animals alike. I will do what I can to teach you what I know. Feel free to ask questions. We will be meeting several times. I will even sometimes get my animal friends to help,” Fluttershy said in introduction. She then started talking about all of the different animals.

{-} {-} {-}

It was coming to the end of the first session and the ponies were asking questions. “Ummm… I hate to ask this, but how do we deal with cockatrices again, and why is it important?” Lyra asked.

Fluttershy was smiling now. As the lessons went on, her confidence rose and she came to actually feel more comfortable around the other ponies and relaxed. She also noticed the glances from Cloud Kicker ever so often. They caused her “Sexy Confident Shy” side to smirk. She didn’t want to think of it as her “Crueltyshy” side anymore.

“There is no reason to feel shy about that question, Lyra. It is very important. The Cockatrice is a very tough and dangerous animal. You do not look it in the eyes. If you make eye contact it starts to turn you to stone.” The ponies again gulped, but they weren’t about to call it quits.

“I have my stare which can get them to reverse their power, but no pony else does that I know. If you look at their body you can counter them and do what needs to be done. You can have their eyes just barely in your vision and be safe. Still be careful,” Fluttershy ended.

The ponies nodded and Bon Bon asked a question. “About Manticores… Can you go over the basics again there?”

Fluttershy gave a nod. “They are tough and you will have to fight them sometimes if you can’t avoid them. If you only need to scare them off you should be good so long as you prove to them you aren’t worth the effort for a meal. If you travel in pairs or more they will be less inclined to attack.”

The ponies nodded and took notes, “They are even more vicious and stubborn if they have a nest or a cub in the area. In that case, back away while not dropping your guard. They will pursue for a bit, but once you get a bit past a certain distance they will leave. BUT do not let your guard down or show weakness to them. If you do they will see you as food for their cub probably.”

Naruko nodded to her words remembering the encounter they had with a manticore family on their mission. She was still in awe of what Fluttershy did in that situation. She partly wished Fluttershy was in the patrol even if only part time, but she knew the pony had many other obligations.

{-} {-} {-}

Once they finished asking Fluttershy questions for this session and they planned out their next lesson, the pink maned pony left and the others joined Naruko in a clearing. They were now going to start their physical training. They weren’t sure what to make of this.

“Alright ponies. These first sessions are going to be mostly just exercises on conditioning. I need to see where you all are at physically. A few sessions later I will spar with each of you again and see just where you need help the most. I know you don’t have any training Cloud Kicker, but I want to see how your instincts are alone,” Naruko said as she looked them over.

It was a couple of hours later and all of the new recruits were tired, but not collapsing surprisingly. Naruko couldn’t help but give a smile. She was really impressed and happy with this first batch of volunteers. She might even have to push forward her schedule.

“I know they aren’t academy students, but with minimal training they are much better off than academy students would be from that world. This place really is much better,” Naruko thought to herself.

“That may be the case, but don’t let up on them because of that. I have a feeling they can be better than ninja would be in their own way and will need it. This patrol is very important for Ponyville and Equestria,” Kyuubi replied. Naruko agreed.

“Good job ponies,” Naruko said with a smile. The first patrol members smiled at this. “We will rest for about twenty minutes and go for one last round and call it a day.” She then narrowed her eyes as she added, “If… you give it your all.”

She gave a smirk as the ponies groaned in frustration. However, they didn’t complain further and rested before getting ready for the last round of the day. They were serious about this patrol after all. They also didn’t really complain any more because Naruko did all of the exercises with them. This gave her more respect from them. She wasn’t just giving them the orders she was doing it with them.

Naruko had punishments planned, but she didn’t need them because they were for the most part in line and didn’t want to slack off. At this time, the Ever-Free Captain knew she had a squad any Jonin Instructor would dream of having. She knew they could go further too with the right training and proper attention.

The blonde pony never really thought of being a Jonin Instructor back in Konoha, but she felt excited about this opportunity. It was turning out to be even more than she wanted. She would still make time to foal sit and do some other things when she could, but this was part of her true calling she felt.

“I would love to bring a squad like this to the ninja world. Once they are trained up at least. Just to see how they would perform. I bet Konoha would be jealous of them,” Naruko thought with a grin.

She heard a chuckle in response. “Are you really saying ‘battle hardened’ ninja would be jealous of a group of candy colored ponies?”

Naruko gave a mental half frown at her partner. She took minor offense even if she knew he was probably joking. “Yes, I did say that. I believe it is true. Give them some time to get trained up and that will be the case. Though I suppose the ninjas would be even more jealous of the Elements of Harmony bearers trained up and ready to fight.”

“Missing your home, Naruko? You seem to be thinking about it a lot more lately,” Kyuubi replied smugly.

Naruko shook her head and sighed. “Of course not. I’m just once again realizing just how awesome these ponies really are. I mean for crying out loud you saw what Fluttershy did in the Forest Temple.” Kyuubi nodded to this as he remembered.

“Besides, isn’t it normal to feel pride in your unit?” Naruko mentally asked.

“True enough. Just don’t let it get to you and start slacking in training them,” Kyuubi replied.

“I know. They deserve the best I can give them as a fellow patroller, a captain, and an instructor,” Naruko answered back. Kyuubi just mentally nodded in reply.

{-} {-} {-}

Naruko was now on her way home. She was really looking forward to a shower and then a good meal hopefully. She hoped Twilight wouldn’t ask her too many questions right off the bat. She gave a giggle and shook her head. Twilight would ask her lots of questions right away. That pony didn’t know patience when it came to something she wanted to know. Still, that was one thing she had come to find a bit endearing until it got to be too much in one sitting.

Naruko opened the door, gave a smile and called out, “I’m back!” She might have been careful of customers, but not many came by often. Plus, like everything else in Ponyville things were a lot laxer even here.

It took some time for Twilight to fully understand that, but she came to love having a library like that. Ponies talked in the library, but they weren’t too loud. They also weren’t too soft and quiet either. The two Canterlot unicorns were pretty sure quiet wasn’t something ponies in Ponyville were capable of usually. They blamed/thanked Pinkie Pie for this. She was rather loud, fun like that and very much everywhere here. As a result, quiet here meant something different from the usual.

“Hey Naruko!” Spike called from the kitchen as he peaked out wearing his favorite apron.

“Spike? I thought it was Twilight’s turn today?” Naruko asked.

“It was, but she got carried away looking into something she said was very important. So she asked if we could switch. I take today. She takes tomorrow,” he answered. “So how was the training?”

Naruko was glad they had the foresight to put Spike and Twilight next to each other on their duties calendar. She gave him a smile. “It was great. Fluttershy was really helpful and informative. I knew she would be, but she still managed to impress me further. The volunteers were exhausted after training, but they were in better shape than I thought they would be.”

Naruko continued to tell Spike all she could about their day while he fixed up dinner. “Geez… I really wish I was big enough to join the patrol. Sometimes it’s tough being a dragon in Ponyville,” he said with a sigh.

“T-t-then I wouldn’t have my number one assistant here to help out,” Twilight yawned and smiled as she stretched and made her way to the table.

“It’s good to see you’re back,” Twilight said as she sat down.

“So how did your research go, Twilight?” Spike asked as he served up their meal.

“Pretty good. It was really interesting. I’ve known that music has always been a part of our culture, but I never knew there was at one time a temple dedicated to music alone. In the distant past it turns out most ponies saw music cutie marks as blessings from the gods,” Twilight said happily.

“You mean goddesses right? I mean that’s what many ponies believe the princesses are,” Spike asked.

Naruko actually answered this, “Celestia and Luna weren’t always so well known in the past. They don’t really control everything in this world.” She hoped this would head off a lecture about the past from Twilight.

“Wait… Wouldn’t ponies in the past have to keep moving because of the Wendigos?” Spike then asked.

Naruko gave a small sigh. They were going to get a Twilight lecture after all. “At least Twilight doesn’t screech like those two 'future Kunoichi' did,” she thought to herself.

“That is part of the reason music was held in such high regard back then. It kept them away. Also the Wendigos weren’t really a problem until later when the three tribes formed from what I have managed to put together so far,” Twilight stated.

“Woah! So you mean this is like ancient ancient stuff?” Spike asked. Naruko’s eyes widened to this. This was looking to be more interesting than she thought.

“This whole project Celestia has me working on has been filled with things like that. This is really ancient history. It is interesting but a little sad that ponies were very well unified, but then something happened to cause them to form the Earth Pony Tribe, the Unicorn Tribe, and the Pegasus Tribe. While those three groups sort of kind of worked together barely... before them, ponies were very different…” Twilight then went further into detail about what she knew about Wendigos and the tribes to some extent, but that was mostly stuff Naruko already knew.

Once they finally had supper and Spike went to bed, Twilight and Naruko were still up and talking. “It’s good to hear things went so well, Naru,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Thanks. I’m really looking forward to training them more. I feel like this patrol and hunting down the artifacts is what I was meant to do. I’m really glad I’m full time being the Grand Captain and all, but I will still make time for the odd job here and there to keep up appearances,” Naruko said.

She then gave a fond smile as she said, “Plus, I kind of like Pipsqueak. So I’ll probably always foal sit for him when I can.” Naruko gave a laugh as she added, “I never thought there would be a day I like foals this much.”

Twilight gave a giggle as she said, “In time, I just may get to see more of the mare just waiting inside you to jump out. The one who likes cute things like dresses, sweets, foals and fillies.” Naruko rolled her eyes but laughed.

“It is good to see you are making more progress on your assignment. Just try not to get too absorbed again in the future and make Spike take over for you too often,” she told her friend.

Twilight gave a blush that caused Naruko to giggle a little. The blonde unicorn really liked it when her best friend blushed, a lot. “What caused you to get that distracted?” she asked.

“I think I might have found another one of those artifacts. I was trying to narrow down the location of this next temple. I still have some work to go, but I know for a fact the next temple will be something music based. It’s too bad none of our closest friends have music cutie marks. The princesses might have to get you help from other ponies. Maybe Lyra can help you,” Twilight said with a thoughtful face.

Naruko shook her head. “I don’t want her for this. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna want to keep the knowledge of these things closely guarded and the ponies with that knowledge small. Lyra would have to keep secrets from the rest of the patrol. I don’t want to put her in that position. I don’t want to put any of them in that position if possible."

Naruko gave a frown and continued, "Keeping secrets from ponies in general is hard, keeping them from those who you will be fighting besides is even harder. I was trained to do such things since I was six years old. I’ve had experience in such matters since then as well. No one was allowed to know about Kyu back there. I didn’t even know about him until after I died of starvation.” Twilight moved over to hold Naruko close as she talked about her past. Naruko was thankful for her friend's action.

Naruko gave a deep sigh as she looked to the floor, “I’m only alive because he more or less brought me back soon enough thanks to the seal... Later the patrollers might have to keep some secrets from the others, but that should be much later if ever.”

“I’ll be sure to mention that in my report when I have finished everything,” Twilight said quietly. She then turned to her friend and nuzzled her affectionately as she said, “That was in the past, Naruko. Things are much better now. I’m here for you.” She knew Naruko would remember other unpleasant things as well when talking a little about her past on the ninja planet. It took Twilight a little while to realize this when they were younger, but she learned her lesson back then.

Naruko returned the gesture and said, “I know. And thanks, Twilight.” After they held each other like that for a while, they finally stood up and shared a pot of tea before calling it a night. Each of them would be busy the next day and they needed their rest. Twilight especially needed it. She probably only made it to her bed because Naruko helped her.

Author's Note:

Alright… so yeah… it’s been a long time… I know. I know. It will probably still be a long time until the next chapter. Hopefully this one wasn’t too boring. I’m not sure how messy it is grammar wise or the quality compared to other chapters in other stories of mine either. I did make some more corrections. I really wanted to put this chapter out because it was fairly far along to begin with and also I wanted people to know that even with the… two years of silence (on this fic)… I haven’t forgotten about it.

As I have said before, I have written future chapters for this fic, but they are kind of all over the place timeline wise. I do still one whole arc apart from a fight completely and fairly clean, but that is far in the future of this fic. Hopefully people enjoyed it .

Comments

[Anquietas]

Yes! Worth the wait.

[Waynin2012]

I think the party pony would have to know what music to play at party's so maybe pinkie pie is going and this was total Worth the wait

[conigwolf]

SO so so glad to see this update and was really worth the wait. Can't wait for the next one.

[SilentMech]

Okay, I broke down the ranks of the Patrol into their counterparts from Naruto when I first saw them. The way I figure, Luna is the Hokage, Naruko is the head of ANBU and leader of one of the teams of chunin and below ninja officially, unofficially she is a jonin instructor like Kakashi and Might Guy (bushy brows sensei).

[Gadman85]

7532355 That was the inspiration. I even listened to the Forest Temple OST some while I was writing that chapter.

7525450 That is more or less correct for now, but the command structure will get more complicated as the patrol expands.

[zoruatrainer66]

Poke.

[Anquietas]

*poke* any chance for a one year update?

[Mourningmist]

Is this dead or on hiatus?

[thedarkalicorn]

when can we expect the next chapter?