Chapter 18- The Foxy Turnabout (Part 2)
Chapter 18- The Foxy Turnabout (Part 2)
The Crusaders all came to a stop on the road leading back from Fluttershy’s cottage to Ponyville just outside the forest.
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were panting heavily. The encounter with the fox and all the running definitely took their toll on the three little fillies.
“Are you okay?” Naruto asked, barely masking his grin over his successful plan.
“Yeah! Thanks, Naruto!” Apple Bloom said merrily.
“You were really brave!” Sweetie Belle smiled.
“You were just awesome!” Scootaloo called, clearly really impressed.
“Haha, it was nothing! But please, keep praising…”
“So what are we gonna do next?” Apple Bloom asked, ignoring Naruto’s last sentence.
“Isn’t it obvious? We’ve gotta catch it!” Sweetie Belle replied.
Naruto froze. “Huh? What? Did she just…”
“Yeah! And with Naruto, that stupid fox doesn’t stand a chance!” Scootaloo smirked towards the orange stallion.
“I just made this worse!!!” Naruto thought in horror. “Don’t they know when to give up?!” he cried mentally.
*****
Back in Ponyville, the Crusaders were trying to decide their next move against the vicious fox. Naruto, however, was desperately trying to think of something to foil their daring plan, to no avail. It seemed like there was absolutely nothing that could deter the three determined fillies.
“So I was thinking, maybe we should buy really REALLY big nets,” Apple Bloom suggested. “And then ambush it!”
“But we’ll need some kind of bait…” Scootaloo said. “What do foxes eat? We really should have asked Fluttershy earlier…”
“Well, the fox said it was gonna eat us. It’s kinda risky, but maybe one of us should be bait?” Sweetie Belle spoke. As she said that, the three fillies turned their gazes to Naruto, smiling brightly with their puppy eyes in full effect.
“Great… I’m gonna be bait to catch myself…” Naruto sweatdropped. “Alright, alright,” he consented reluctantly. “But I doubt the fox will like me as a bait after I scared the hay out of it today.”
“…Bait? Are you four planning something dangerous?” a familiar voice asked.
The Crusaders turned their gazes to behind Naruto to see Twilight trotting towards them with Spike on her back.
“Hi, Twilight and Spike!” Apple Bloom greeted. “Don’t worry, it ain’t anything dangerous!”
“Yeah, we’re just trying to catch a fox!” Scootaloo explained.
“A really REALLY big fox that likes to eat ponies!” Sweetie Belle chirped.
“So… It eats ponies, not dragons, right?” Spike confirmed fearfully, hiding under Twilight’s mane.
The lavender Unicorn rolled her eyes. “Foxes don’t eat ponies. In fact, even the biggest of foxes are too small to even theoretically prey on ponies.”
“No, Twilight! We’re serious! It was as big as you, and it had like a dozen tails, and it said it wanted to eat us!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“Right, and I’m the Princess of Friendship,” Twilight said sarcastically. “Now tell me, where is everypony? The town is deserted!”
Only when Twilight said this did Naruto allowed himself to free his mind of worries about the fox and look around. Twilight was right. There was not a soul to be seen.
“Look over there!” Spike called, pointing to Sugarcube Corner. “I think I saw the curtains move!”
The group galloped to the tasty-looking building, and Naruto peered into the open, top part of the two-part entrance door and into the darkness inside. Suddenly, his orange snout was pushed back by a pink snout.
“Gah! Pinkie Pie! What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise.
“Shh!” Pinkie hissed. “Get inside, quick!”
“Uhh… What’s going on?” Twilight asked.
“Hurry up! Before she gets you!” Pinkie said ominously.
The group outside exchanged confused gazes, but then walked inside one by one.
*****
“Who?! The zombie pony?!” Spike asked in fright as Pinkie closed the door behind them and turned the room nearly pitch black.
The purple duo was then blinded momentarily by a flashlight Pinkie directed at them. “Zombieeee ponyyyyy?” she then asked in a spooky manner, positioning the light below her face.
“Spike, there are no zombie ponies,” Twilight growled.
“What’s a ‘zombie’?” Naruto asked, baffled.
“Ponies that rise from the dead and then eat your brains!” Apple Bloom replied fearfully. “I saw them in one of Spike’s comics.”
Twilight frowned, even though no one could see it. “Is that why you’ve been coming to the library so much?! Spike’s comics?!”
“Then no more comics for you, young lady!” Applejack scolded.
Only then did the newcomers looked around to see that Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack were in there as well, their eyes barely adjusted enough to the darkness to make out their forms.
“So… Why are you all hiding here in the dark?” Twilight asked with an arched brow.
“We’re hiding from her!” Applejack exclaimed as she paced to the window and moved aside the purple curtain.
Naruto looked outside to see some shady-looking figure covered in a brown robe digging in the ground and looking around, as if looking for something. She was actually not far from where the Crusaders had gather earlier. By her overall shape, Naruto was sure she was just another pony. But then, she turned to look at their direction, revealing a slightly sharper mouth and an odd, creepy pair of yellow eyes, as if glowing in the shade of the robe’s hood.
Everyone, excluding Twilight and Naruto, ducked away from the window to hide themselves. The two still standing ponies looked at each. Twilight seemed quite upset at the other’s reaction, while Naruto was simply baffled.
“So… Who is it?” Naruto was the first to break the tense silence lingering in the air.
“It's Zecora, right?! Did you see her?!” Apple Bloom asked Naruto and Twilight in excitement, completely forgetting about the fox.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack barked. “I told you never to say that name!”
“Well… I just saw her glance this way,” Twilight said about all that could be said. Save for Zecora’s gray snout, Naruto couldn’t see anything either.
“Glance EVILLY this way!” Pinkie said as she pressed her snout against Twilight’s, who promptly pushed her out of her personal space.
“What’s the big deal? You’re all making a big fuss about her,” Naruto asked. It was the first time he saw them act so suspiciously.
“What’s all the big deal?! Just look at her!” Applejack called, turning his head back towards the robe-wearing creature.
“She’s really mysterious,” Fluttershy said. Naruto put down Applejack’s hoof to look back at the group.
“Sinister…” Rainbow, who was floating above him, added.
“And Spoooooky!” Pinkie said, pressing her snout once more against his. Naruto turned back to look at Twilight. The two exchanged brief gazes and then rolled their eyes at the group’s odd behavior.
Naruto and Twilight looked again at her. She took off her hood to reveal a coat of dark and light gray stripes. She also wore many gold accessories on her legs and ears. As she did so, the others gasped in fright.
“Psst! Naruto, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo whispered. She and Sweetie Belle stood some distance away, seemingly not minding at all that whole Zecora business.
“While they’re all busy being afraid of Zecora, we can go out there and catch that fox!” the orange filly said as the two approached to make a circle.
“But everypony’s hiding from her now. We’ll have nowhere to buy the nets to catch it,” Naruto whispered, still trying to somehow foil their plan. “Besides, your sisters will freak out if we go out now.”
“She lives in… The Everfree Forest!” Applejack’s fearful voice reached them from the conversation the others were holding, followed by an ominous, loud rumbling voice.
“Sorry!” Spike called from the kitchen, holding a bunch of tasty treats. He knocked over one of the frying pans onto the floor.
“Hey… You don’t think…” Sweetie Belle whispered. “She knows the fox?”
“Maybe it’s even her pet!” Apple Bloom suggested. “We could get her to show it to everypony!”
“Did you say… She has a pet fox?” Pinkie asked, her head located between Naruto’s and Apple Bloom’s.
“Ah!” the Crusaders yelled in surprise, nearly falling back on their rumps.
“That would totally enhance the song I was about to sing to Twilight!” the pink Earth pony called happily.
“What song? About Zecora?” Twilight asked with an arched brow.
“Here we go…” Rainbow sighed.
She’s an evil enchantress,
she does evil dances!
She has some pet foxes,
she casts on you hexes!
And if you look deep in her eyes,
she’ll put you in trances!
Then what will she do?
She’ll mix up an evil brew!
Then she’ll gobble you up
in a big tasty stew, so…
Watch out!
“Wow… Catchy…” Twilight muttered in slight awe.
“It’s a working progress,” Pinkie said in a somewhat proud tone.
The Crusaders could hear Twilight and the others begin to bicker and argue about Zecora again, but they had no interest in taking part in it.
“So, are we doing this, or not? Zecora will get away at this rate,” Scootaloo said, looking outside to see Zecora starting to leave Ponyville.
“Yeah, come on! For our cutie marks!” Apple Bloom whispered, raising her hoof towards the center of the circle.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo put their hooves on top of Apple Bloom’s, and Naruto too, reluctantly, having found no way to get around this.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yay!” they all whispered and raised their hooves, then snuck outside while the others were still arguing regarding Zecora’s true nature.
*****
The Crusaders gave chase after the hooded creature, and managed to catch up to her as she was entering the Everfree Forest. They came to a stop just before entering the dark shadows of the trees.
“Hey! Zecora!” Sweetie Belle yelled… Barely loud enough for even them to hear.
“What’s wrong?” Naruto asked.
“N—N—Nothing! I’m not afraid of her or anything!” Sweetie Belle quickly replied, her voice slightly shaking.
“Oh, so she is afraid… Well, might as well get this over with it. There’s no way she’ll know anything about the fox.”
“Hey! Zecora!” Naruto called as he walked towards her and under the thick canopy of the Everfree Forest, the rest of the crusaders just a few steps behind him. The small clearing they stood in was decorated by beautiful blue flowers, yet thick mist was hanging in the air, obscuring many of them.
The figure stopped and turned back to them, her face once more hidden by the brown robe’s hood. “Who was it who spoke my name? Watch your step, these flowers are no game.”
“Uhh… I’m Naruto…” he answered hesitantly, a bit baffled by her strange way of speaking. “Anyway… Have you seen a—”
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity was suddenly heard yelling in fright.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack voice then called as well.
The six mares had quickly rushed to the Crusaders’ side.
“Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!” Zecora called.
Applejack quickly put Apple Bloom on her back, as did Rarity and Rainbow Dash to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
“You keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, you hear?!” the cowmare shouted, although her voice shook in fear a bit.
The others also started shouting different things at Zecora, except for Pinkie who sang her song again.
“Oh, brother,” Twilight sighed.
“Beware! Beware!” Zecora called one last time, before disappearing into the mist.
“Yeah, back at you, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!” Rainbow shouted back, digging her hoof angrily into the flower-covered ground.
“And you, Naruto!” Applejack called furiously, pressing her snout against his. “How could you let these three innocent fillies put themselves in such danger!? I trusted you to know better than that!”
“What danger!?” Naruto replied defensively. “She’s a just a pony with a weird coat… And accessories… And speech…”
“Technically, she’s a zebra,” Twilight corrected. “But I do agree with Naruto here. You’re all just superstitious!”
“Try saying that again after she puts some nasty curse on you!” Applejack turned angrily to her.
“Yeah! Just like in my song!” Pinkie exclaimed, and began singing again.
“There’s no such thing as curses!” Twilight called angrily, tired of repeating the same thing over and over again.
“Well, that's interesting to hear, coming from Miss Magic Pants herself,” Rainbow smirked as she poked Twilight’s horn.
Twilight let out a sigh and began explaining lengthily. “My magic, real magic, comes from within. It's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations. All smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale.”
Growing bored of the explanation, everyone simply turned around and began leaving through the blue patch of flowers.
“…Right. And what does Naruto think of it?” Rainbow then turned to look at the orange stallion, as the two were pacing side by side out of the shadows of the forest.
“Well, I guess there are some curses where I come from,” Naruto quickly said as to not add fuel to the fire. “Does Orochimaru’s curse seal count?” he pondered to himself.
“You mean… Manehatten?” Apple Bloom called.
*****
After leaving the forest and being scolded by Applejack some more for putting her sister in a close proximity with Zecora, Naruto met up with the rest of the Crusaders one last time in the town’s center. Much to Naruto’s dismay, the group decided to meet up the next day and go fox hunting, without Zecora’s help. They were to buy nets and ropes to catch the orange monstrosity, and then show it to Rarity and everypony else to prove its existence, and hopefully earn their mystery-solving/fox-hunting cutie marks.
The four of them said their goodbyes for the day, splitting up at the middle of town and each heading home. Naruto had pretended to live nearby Sugarcube Corner, so that Sweetie Belle wouldn’t find out that they both lived together. After the Unicorn filly was out of sight, he went back to Carousel Boutique, and simply walked up on the wall to the guest room’s window. He pushed it open from the outside and jumped on the floor next to the bed.
Naruto then proceeded to slump into the bed, lying on his back. “Transformation Jutsu, Release!” he called, as usual crossing his front hooves to do so.
He then let out a deep, long sigh. “Those three don’t know when to give up. Heh, they really tired me out today,” he chuckled to himself, and for some reason he was suddenly reminded of Konohamaru and his team back in Konoha. “Hmm… Well, I guess they do deserve to know about me. Heck, maybe if I tell them that much I can keep the Kyubi a secret…”
Smiling to himself, he nodded to reaffirm his decision. “Alright, I’ll tell them first thing tomorrow.”
Naruto then turned to his side to find his pajama, all cleaned and straightened out. “Thanks, Rarity. I really don’t know what I’d do here without your help,” he said quietly as he jumped up on his legs to get dressed for sleep. “Maybe those ponies are different than humans when it comes to trusting other creatures… Though, this whole Zecora thing is really confusing me…”
“Oh, right,” he muttered as he remembered something. Concentrating his thoughts, a red cloud floated out of his abdomen and condensed near the bed, turning into the miniature nine-tailed fox. The fox promptly turned away from him and lay down to sleep.
“What, no ‘thanks’ or ‘good night’?” Naruto scowled.
“I didn’t ask you to let me out,” the fox replied in his usual deep tone and sarcasm.
Naruto sighed. “Right, right. Of course,” he muttered to himself as he went to turn off the light, and then returned to his bed.
“Hey, Naruto,” the fox growled.
“What?” Naruto replied. “Maybe… He’s starting to warm up to me?”
“That little show you put on today was incredibly retarded.”
“…”
*****
The next morning, Naruto was woken up by the soft, golden rays of the sun peering through the window, and the song-like chirps of the birds outside. Stretching all of his limbs, he suddenly felt incredibly at peace, as if he had a major burden off his chest. Even when he jumped out of the bed, he somehow found the floor to be softer, and his senses sharper. “This feels like it’s gonna be a great—”
“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Rarity’s blood-curdling screech was heard from downstairs.
Naruto’s eyes widened in horror. “Rarity!” he yelled and started racing towards the door.
“MY MANE! MY BEAUTIFUL MAAAAAAAAAAANE!” Rarity cried very vocally.
Naruto skidded to a stop. “Are you freaking kidding me?! She’s just having another bad mane day?! It sounded like she was—”
Naruto froze when he realized something was wrong. Instead of his words, all he could hear were incoherent howls. “Eh?” he muttered in confusion. Even that very basic sound seemed to come out strange.
“Naruto Uzumaki! Testing, testing!” he called repeatedly, confirming his ears and mind were not simply playing tricks on him.
“No, no, no. This can’t be right,” he muttered to himself. But once again, all that was heard were confusing howls. That was when he felt something brushing against his tail. Something that felt like another tail.
“Wait a second… I didn’t use my transformation jutsu yet! Why do I have a tail?! Why do I even have more than one?!” he thought fearfully as he dashed over to one of cupboards. When he got closer, he noticed how much bigger it seemed compared to when he was a human. Having a horrible feeling about it, he hesitantly reached out a light orange paw to open it and reveal the large mirror inside. When Naruto looked into it, he fell backwards due to the shock he got.
“W— W—What kind of joke is this?!” Naruto yelled in horror, which only came out as several agonized howls.
“Bahahaha! That’s what you get for putting on that stupid performance yesterday, Naruto!” the fox laughed out thunderously inside him.
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
883 users online
562,023 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ooh that's not going to do his fears and emotional scars any good.
5039236
HOLY SHIT I'M FREAKING JEALOUS.
HOW THE HAY DO YOU THAT?!
*Catching Breath*
But it's okay, I pretty much finished this arc, INCLUDING ALL THE F*CKING RHYMES!
OH GOD, HOW I HATE RHYMING!!!! I EVEN MENTION IT IN THE NEXT AN.
5039236
You know what, if I'm ever writing a Discord song for this story (I also hate writing songs...), YOU'RE FUCKING HIRED!
4501522
Just some old improvement tips, maybe they're irrelevant and I should delete them.
By the way, I see you started reading, so I hope you'll enjoy it!
I'd like to say the writing improves as it goes on, but that's to your judgment!
5039400
What did I do?
5039387 Well, I'm honoured and truly that would be swell, and as a child up the stairs I fell. I suppose that makes me one of a kind, if not only messed up in the mind. As for the Poison Joke, well I guessed with ease. Take you, your nightmare, shake it, and squeeze. Guess you won't wanna be a feminist prick, else wise you'll turn into a giant dick. Not that all are bad, I say. I know some some cool ones to this day. Though, it maybe hard to write a Discord based rhyme, when he can mess with all setting, place and time. All jest aside, I would need those prior, if you want me to write one fit for the choir. As for this chapter, I almost shit, as I laughed off my ass and yelled CALLED IT! Now tell me this straight, no need to mock, but is Naruto gonna blame this on our resident witch doc? If so I may have to stop doing these things, 'cause I don't want to reveal your plot strings. And if you really are serious about the song, send me a PM, though if it's to be done right, the return may take long.
5039347 Got that right, that's gonna fuck him up real good!
"Right and I'm the Princess of Friendship"
5039442
Regarding Naruto and Zecora...
I think it would be right to say he somehow feels the similarity between them, as he was an outcast just like her, so I don't think he'll really blame her.
And if the Discord song does happen, it won't be soon at all. I'll PM you if I require your lyrical capabilities eventually.
5039544
p1.pichost.me/640/41/1645640.jpg
Nope. It's an accident.
5039579
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQ]
NO. ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NO.
)
Well, if someponies wanna make clop fics based on this for some insane reason, be my guest, but I'm NOT a clop writer/reader. (At least openly.
If so then I can only imagine the look of their faces if all of Ponyville or at the very least the Mane Six plus a determined CMC find out that the fox they were chasing and trying to catch using their unique and crazy ways.
Also nice work on keeping Naruto distracted by the CMC when the others where telling Twilight about Zecora otherwise he would've blow his top.
I can't wait for more!
Ahahah. Kyuubi you troll you
Be careful what you say, Twilight...
A really good chapter so far. I really like how seamlessly you place Bridle Gossip into the CMC's search for the dreaded fox! As for what happened at the end of the chapter, I have to wonder.... is this karma for Naruto??
5039544 sorry, I suggested the pic. I just don't have that dirty a mind.
5040617
He pretended being a fox the previous chapter, so it's only fair he'll get to have a real experience at that now.
I think that Naruto and Zecora are probably going to bond, considering they both know how it feels to be treated as an outcast. Also I'm still kind of worried about what Kurama can, and will, do if he decides to mess things up a bit.
If this is going to happen like it did in the episode could you please have Naruto explain the situation before they vandalize her house? Please? She doesn't deserve this crap!
5041619
Just so you know, I usually only upload chapters when I finish the next one too, to make sure the plot goes correctly without flaws.
And Naruto can't really talk. So there'll probably be no explanations.
5043254 Wouldn't Fluttershy be able to understand him?
5043479
I'm afraid the moment Flutterguy would open her mouth, Naruto will run for the hills.
5043504 You just gave me a spoiler didn't you?
5043508
Actually, no.
Just go on with the plot, and don't think about it too hard.
Well, at least Naruto is cuter than Kurama, so all the ponies will want to hug him.
5043504 Dumb Ass Alert! Dumb Ass Alert! You activated the Dumb Ass Alarm! Why? Because you called FlutterSHY FlutterGUY! You fail sir!!!!!
thank you for partcipating in out drill if you were talking about someone on fimfiction. If you weren't well congradulations! You're A Dumb Ass! 
...
...
...
Unless you were talkiing about someone on fimfiction in which case I would like to thank you for participating in out drill. Had this been an actual DAA then the smack down would have been much greater! Because you don't listen! You're ignorant how many black men come flying through the window on the back a train car-... wait sorry wrong movie!
Jk! Though seriosly if you screwed up on Fluttershy's name I will send you 1 hate letter telling you how stupid you are everyday for 1 week. Fluttershy is my FAVORITE character so I will take personal if temporary offense...
...
...
But other then that great chapter!
P.s. I'm not black so sorry if I offended anypony with the reference... though why is beyond me since it is originally said by a black guy and isn't offensive in the first place but you never know some ponies get all but hurt for no reasons sometimes.
The picture is missing
8440836
Thanks, fixed.
5039236
Killer Bee?!