> Home in Banishment
>  by Shadow Lord Malice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The betrayal. Curse or blessing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Betrayal: Curse or Blessing

'So it's finally over.' Thought Naruto, a small, bittersweet smile on his face. They had won. Madara and Obito's sick plan for world domination had been destroyed, and the Juubi had been fractured back into the seven other Biju. The fight however had required Naruto to be hospitalized for severe chakra exhaustion, torn muscles, broken bones, and other injuries. Naruto could care less about that though, he was too ecstatic over the fact that Sasuke had finally come home. The blonde had been shocked out of all train of thought when Sasuke arrived on the battlefield, on their side, with Orochimaru and the four past hokages in tow. With Sasuke's help, Naruto was able to defeat Madara, while Hashirama Senju and Minato Namikaze dealt with the Juubi. It was a hard and heavy fight, but in the end, victory went to the allied forces. Though Naruto's mood was bright, there was still an ache in his heart. Many lives were lost in the war, including Neji, Kakashi, and Tsunade. Tsunade's death had hit Naruto especially hard, as she had been like a grandmother to the blonde boy. It was like losing the pervy sage all over again. Finally though, after five days in the hospital, Naruto and Sasuke were discharged with a clean bill of health, and were currently on route to the Daimyo's palace to be personally rewarded in their efforts in the war. With the two were an entourage of three Anbu, acting as guards and escorts. As the group of ninjas jumped through the treetops, Naruto started to get impatient. He wanted to get that award as quickly as possible dammit. Once he got it he'd be a shoe-in for the Hokage position for sure. His impatience getting the better of him, Naruto picked up speed, passing by Sasuke and their guard.

"Come on guys, pick up the pace. I want to get that award so I can get back to Konoha and become Hokage, dattebayo." Shouted the blonde as he sped away from the group.

"Dammit dobe, slow down. Do you even know where you're going? Slow down!" Sasuke hollered after the blonde, and sped after him. the two caught up to each other in a large clearing, leaping into the center side by side. Suddenly, a large seal flared to life underneath them, trapping them within the interior of it.

"Hey! Who put this seal here? Let me out, dattebayo!" Hollered Naruto.

"Now why would we want to do that?" Asked an elderly voice. Naruto and Sasuke spun around to the direction of the voice, and came face to face with the Mizukage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage.

"What is the meaning of this you three?" Demanded Sasuke, his Sharingan blazing. Onoki just chuckled.

"You're in no position to be making demands, Uchiha, but since I'm in a good mood I'll explain. We're eliminating you two." The statement shocked the two boys, especially Naruto.

"E-eliminate us? Why the hell are you eliminating us? Sasuke I can somewhat get, what with his criminal record and all, but what the hell did I do?" This time it was A who responded.

"It's not what you have done, but rather, what you can potentially do that demands your elimination."

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Sasuke, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Simple, we mean the prophecy that surrounds Naruto. Either he destroys the shinobi world, or revolutionizes it, both outcomes must be stopped."

"The hell! I would never destroy our world! In case you guys haven't realized it, I saved the world."

"And that's where you're wrong boy. Already you're bringing ruin to the shinobi world, and you're doing it through peace."

"And how is peace killing this world?" Asked Sasuke. Mei answered.

"Not the world, the shinobi way of life. Conflict is an absolute necessity in our line of work, and with true worldwide peace on the horizon, our way of life will become obsolete. Furthermore, If Naruto does revolutionize the ninja way, it will start in Konoha, which could allow the village to take down one of the other major villages before we can be brought up to speed. These outcomes must be stopped, and the best way to do that is destroy the danger before it cannot be stopped."

"Grr, just wait until our Anbu get here." Snarled Naruto, but Sasuke shook his head.

"Not happening dobe or they would have been here by now. Either they were dealt with by the kages or they were the Anbu."

"Dammit! Rasengan!" A ball of pure chakra whirled to life in Naruto's hand, and smashed into the barrier imprisoning them. The Rasengan shrieked and groaned, but the barrier held resolute. Finally, Naruto dispelled the technique.

"That's not going to help you get out. Nothing short of a Bijudama can damage that barrier, and that's out of the question seeing as you're much too confined." Chuckled Onoki.

"Dammit, my Mangekyou techniques are out for the same reason." Naruto was still wasting chakra by futilely slamming Rasengan after Rasengan into the barrier, and getting absolutely nowhere. Sasuke finally had enough. "Would you quit it dobe. If all this seal does is trap us, then we just have to wait for them to shut it down so they can attack us. Then we take them down, dust ourselves off, and go home. Simple as that, so stop wasting chakra." Growling, Naruto glared at Sasuke for a bit, then relented. A let out a chuckle.

"Normally you'd be right, Uchiha. However, the purpose of that barrier is not to trap you, it's to contain what that seal does. Obviously we can't fight you directly, you two took down Madara after all, it would be suicidal on our part to directly engage you. So, we're going to use a method that will guarantee that you'll never be a threat. This seal was something Kumo took from Uzushio when we and Iwa razed it. The seal is designed to transport whoever is in it into other dimensions. However, it's incomplete as the Uzumaki clan never had time to finish it, meaning only one end gets opened. So either this kills you, or you're trapped between dimension for eternity. Either option is fine with us, now let's get started." With that, the three kages pulsed their chakra and began to activate the seal. Sasuke and Naruto were frantically trying to come up with a means of escape, but nothing they could use would work, and nothing that worked could be used. As the seal brightened, Sasuke realized that he could do nothing, and with that realization, Sasuke felt lighter, like a great weight had been lifted off of him. Gently he placed a hand on his friend, no, best friend's shoulder. Naruto glanced at Sasuke, and saw the message he was being given, and as much as Naruto didn't want to admit it, Sasuke was right. He ceased his struggles, and let loose a shuddering sigh.

"Naruto." Said Sasuke, causing said blonde to glance at him, resignation and despair in his cerulean eyes. Undeterred, Sasuke continued. "Thank you, for sticking with me to the very end. I was very lucky to have a friend like you." The seal's intensity rapidly grew, and with the sound of extremely powerful suction, everything within the seal's range imploded into the center of the design and with a mighty explosion, Naruto and Sasuke were no more.




Princess Celestia was having a bad day. First, the castle's water main had burst, causing all water having to be shut off for the entire morning, denying her her bubble bath and morning tea. Then she had to deal with those thrice damned chauvanistic griffon ambassadors, who believed that any sort of ruler had to be male if they wanted respect. Celestia had to put up with those buzzards until lunch, where she had to deal with Blueblood's ranting on how his entire day is ruined simply because the servant stirred his tea counter clockwise instead of clockwise, and finally, she had to spend the next four hours dealing with the bane of every ruler's existence, paperwork. Finally, everything was done. The paperwork was finished, the water was back, and blueblood and the ambassadors were gone for the moment. Finally, she could relax. Pouring herself a cup of peppermint tea, she savored the aroma and gently took a sip. Ah, bliss.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!

The explosion rocked the entire city of Canterlot. Celestia's tea set went flying, shattering when it hit the ground. Celestia was thrown out of her seat from the force of the rocking, tables were overturned, busts and statuettes hit the floor and shattered, maids were screaming in the halls, and guards were furiously scurrying about trying to keep order. Finally the tremors stopped, much to Celestia's immense relief. Regaining her balance, she hauled herself back onto her hooves.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

Again Canterlot was rocked to it's foundations. Celestia was thrown off her hooves once more and crashed into a bookcase, which fell on top of her, pinning her to the floor and burying her in books. All Celestia could do was wait until everything stopped shaking. Finally, after five minutes, everything was still once more, though the halls were filled with even more pandemonium. Magically levitating the bookcase off of herself, and freeing herself from the pile of books, Celestia hurried to the window to see just what had caused such a massive explosion.

KRAKAKABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!

She saw it before she heard it. A large obsidian ball with a streak of amethyst impaling it literally shattered a hole in the sky over the Everfree Forest, like the vast expanse of blue was a window pane. A void of absolute darkness laid upon the other side of the jagged hole. then the strange ball impacted the ground, and a second later the sound and shock hit. It first sounded like every brittle substance in the world shattered at the same time. Glass, crystal, even stone, then with a colossal roar, the shockwave hit. The power was larger than the first two explosions combined, every window in Canterlot shattered, and the power of the shockwave literally threw Celestia across the room. She slammed back-first hard into the wall, and upon impact heard a snapping sound along with a burning pain in her right wing, which had been undoubtedly broken. Celestia could feel the entirety of the mountain tremble, as if cowed into humility by the sheer power of the blast. Finally, after five minutes of terrifying tremors, everything went still with the final roar of ripping cloth. Glancing back outside, she could see that the jagged hole in the sky had vanished like it had never been there in the first place. Then the screams of mass panic filled the halls and streets. Moving as quickly as she could, Celestia staggered out the door of her study, and into the chaos of the halls. Screaming maids and panicked guardsponies were everywhere, and the cacophany was too loud for Celestia to get any sort of word in to restore order. Finally, she had enough.

"Quiet!" Screamed Celestia in the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. The noise ended abruptly, allowing Celestia to take a deep breath and continue in a normal tone of voice. "All maids and servants not injured please return to your quarters immediately. All uninjured guardsponies will assist all injured to the medical wing for treatment. Once done you are to head into the city and assist the town guard in evacuating all citizens to the shelters and performing any required rescue mission."  With nods of acknowledgment, order was restored. The guards helped and escorted any injured pony they found to the medical wing. Thankfully, there weren't that many injured. Their jobs within the castle done, the guardsponies immediately headed out into the city. Celestia sighed as she listened to the panic outside the city.

"Sister!" Shouted a voice. Celestia looked behind her and was greeted with the sight of princess Luna. The alicorn mare looked as if she had been caught in a cyclone. "Art thou alright sister? We came as soon as the tremors ceased. What hath happened sister?" Asked Luna frantically, and Celestia only just managed to calm her sibling.

"Lulu, I'm fine, don't worry."

"Fine? In case thou hast not noticed, thine wing hast been broken. Thou must be in terrible pain."

"Luna, I am fine. It's nothing a simple healing spell won't fix. I have bigger things to worry about right now, like the state of the surrounding towns." With that, Celestia strode to her day court office, bracing herself to deal with the aftermath of this sudden calamaty.




Twilight Sparkle was in a panic. Three huge explosions had detonated within the Everfree Forest, and the shockwaves had caused significant damage to Ponyville. After it had ended, the town was in a state of mass panic. Thankfully Twilight took immediate charge of the situation, organizing rescue teams and getting other townsfolk sheltered in town hall. Currently, Twilight was heading to Sweet Apple Acres to check on Applejack and her family seeing as they weren't in town at the time of the explosions. When she got to the farm, the place was a mess. Apples were all over the place, along with broken branches, and even a few broken trees here and there. the barn had suffered some damage, the doors had been wrenched off, and a few sections of the roof had been damaged. The farm house was mostly intact, the only things damaged were the front porch and all the windows. Twilight was puzzling on how to get to the door with the porch totalled, when suddenly a trapdoor in front of the barn flipped open. To Twilight's immense relief, the Apple family were hauling themselves out.

"Applejack," Twilight called out in relief, "thank Celestia you and your family are all right. How did you guys react so fast? Those explosions weren't something that could be warned in advance against."

"Well yah see Twi," Replied Applejack as she grabbed Applebloom from Big Mac, "me 'n mah family were relaxin' after all the apple buckin' we'd been doin' today, when outta nowhere Granny Smith leaps outta her rockin' chair with ah wild look in 'er eye and starts screamin 'Mah leg's gone numb! Get to the storm cellar!' O' course when Granny's leg goes numb, it means somethin bad's gonna happen. Applebloom was questionin' it, but ah snatched her up while Big Mac got Granny, n' we hightailed it into our storm cellar. Just as Big Mac closed the door, them explosions started. Once again Granny's leg is right."

'Eeyup." Said Big Mac as he helped Granny out of the cellar. Normally Twilight would have questioned the fact of a numb leg predicting disasters, but her friend's safety currently overruled scientific thought.

"I'm just glad you and your family's okay Applejack." Said Twilight, catching her friend in a hug.

"Aw shoot Twi, there's no need fer that. As you can see, me and mah family are as right as rain." Responded Applejack, returning the embrace.

"Incoming!" Screamed a familiar voice, and a rainbow streak collided into the two mares.

"Tarnation. Rainbow Dash!" Hollered Applejack, who was not in any way happy of being slammed into the dirt.

"Twilight, AJ, thank goodness I found you two. It's an emergency. Those explosions collapsed Fluttershy's cottage." As soon as Rainbow Dash said that, the three mares were untangled in an instant.

"Well what in tarnation are we standin' around here for? Let's get goin'!" With that, the three mares galloped as fast as the could to Fluttershy's. Upon reaching her cottage, Twilight and AppleJack lost control of there jaws. The cottage was in ruins, the roof had literally been torn off and was thrown across the clearing, the west side of the cottage had been smashed inwards, and the whole thing had begun to collapse inward.

"Come on girls," Said Twilight, her voice serious, "let's get Fluttershy out of there." Approaching the wreckage, the three girls saw Fluttershy's pet bunny Angel desperately thumping against the door, trying to get it open.

"Stand back there, little bunny." Said Applejack, and the earth pony slammed her hind hooves into the door as hard as she could, causing the doorway to shatter into bits of wood. The inside was just as bad as the outside. The entire second floor had collapsed, leaving timbers and debris everywhere. The three mares dug through the wreckage, Finally after a few minutes, they found the yellow pegasus unconscious under a support beam. Twilight ignited her horn and levitated the beam off of the poor mare, while AppleJack and Rainbow Dash fished Fluttershy out from the wreckage. After two minutes, Fluttershy was free.

Alright," Said Rainbow Dash, "I'll take Fluttershy over to the hospital while you two find out what happened to Rarity and Pinkie Pie. I haven't seen them all day and that worries me."

"You heard her sugarcube, I'll head over tah the Boutique to see if Rarity's there. You head over tah Sugar Cube Corner and see if you can find Pinkie Pie. If she ain't there, meet me in the market square." Nodding, Twilight headed over to Sugar Cube Corner. Upon reaching the bakery, Twilight cautiously entered.

"Pinkie Pie, you in here?" Twilight called, but recieved no answer, Twilight cautiously made her way to the stairs, avoiding broken glass and dishes. Finally reaching and ascending the stairs, Twilight knocked on Pinkie's door.

"Pinkie, you in there? It's me, Twilight." After a small stretch of silence, light shuffling could be heard behind the door. then the knob turned and the door swung outwards, revealing a trembling and frightened Pinkie Pie.

"I-is it over?" She asked in a timid voice, and Twilight nodded. The lavender unicorn was not expecting Pinkie to catch her in a tight hug, while sobbing into her shoulder.

"Pinkie, what's wrong?" Pinkie continued to cry for a bit, then replied.

"I was so scared. When everything started shaking it reminded me of that day, and I couldn't stop thinking that my friends could get really really hurt, but I didn't leave because I was scared that I might get really hurt, and then I was thinking what would happen if one of my friend's got really hurt and I wasn't there to help, but I couldn't leave because I was too scared of getting hurt and nopony coming to help me, and, and, oh Twilight." Pinkie broke down on Twilight's shoulder once more, the unicorn mare doing everything she could to comfort her distraught friend. Finally, Pinkies sobs quietened, and her trembling stilled. Twilight noted with slight curiosity that Pinkie's mane was not bright and spoofy as usual, but had darkened a bit, and fell straight.

"Shh, It's okay Pinkie, it's okay. Nopony was seriously hurt, there's no reason to be afraid." Soon, the two broke their embrace, and silence fell between the two, though Pinkie would occasionally sniffle. The silence was broken when the shop door opened.

"Dear heavens, look at this mess. I do hope the poor mare's alright." Said a familiar voice.

"Twi, Pinkie, you two in here? Ah didn't see yah in th' market so I headed over here with Rarity." Called Applejack from downstairs.

"We're upstairs." Answered Twilight. "Pinkie was pretty shaken up by the explosions, so I've been comforting her."

"Oh how dreadful. Bring the poor dear down Twilight, it should do her good to be close to friends." Replied Rarity. With a bit of coaxing, Twilight managed to get Pinky downstairs, where they met with Rarity and AppleJack. The two captured Pinky in a warm hug after assuring her everpony was okay. Finally, The four left Sugar Cube Corner and headed to the hospital to meet up with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Soon, the group of six were all together, surrounding Fluttershy's bed.

"She's not hurt is she?" Twilight asked Rainbow Dash.

"Nah, the beam didn't have all it's weight on her, so she's perfectly fine. She was knocked unconscious by a hit to the head, so the doctors want to keep her in observation in case of a concussion."

"Still, I must ask just what was it that caused those explosions? They nearly tore the whole town to pieces." Remarked Rarity.

"I honestly have no idea. I haven't heard nor read of any monster in the Everfree being able to do that. I'll ask the princess in a letter, perhaps she may know more." Replied Twilight.

" I say we go into the Everfree forest ourselves and find what did this, then we pound it flat." Said Rainbow Dash, punching the air for emphasis.

"Easy sugarcube, I don't think we should try tah tassle with somethin' like that. Way too dangerous." Said AppleJack, yanking Rainbow back onto the ground.

"Alright everypony. I'll send a letter to the princess detailing the current state of Ponyville and I'll ask for instructions concerning the explosions. Sound good?" The four others agreed, and Twilight headed for the library.




Princess Celestia rubbed her temples with her hooves in an effort to quell her raging headache. The explosions from earlier had not caused any deaths, but had caused a lot of property damage. Fortunately, it was all small things like statues and windows, no buildings had been knocked down, and the mountain slopes were still stable and in no danger of crumbling. All in all, it could have been a lot worse. However, there were still injured despite the good news. Fortunately nopony was severely injured, the worst was a few ponies with broken legs due to something heavy falling on them. Still, having to deal with Blueblood for half an hour would give anyone a headache, and the reports were not helping. Canterlot was a complete mess, Manehatten was not as bad, but was still hit pretty hard. Cloudsdale was the only neighbouring city that wasn't affected, seeing as one couldn't get earthquakes in the sky. Dismissing Shining Armour after his final report, Celestia was about to summon four pegasi guards to head down to Ponyville to assess the damage there, when a stream of ash flew through the broken window and coalesced in front of her, becoming a rolled letter. Grasping it with her magic, Celestia unrolled the letter and began to read.

Princess Celestia
No doubt you know about the series of explosions that happened earlier within the Everfree Forest. Due to it's proximity to the blast, Ponyville was hit rather hard. many of the town's homes and buildings have been damaged, and a couple have been completely demolished. Sweet apple acres and Fluttershy's animal grounds were hit hardest due to their close proximity to the Everfree. Sweet apple Acres' orchards are a mess right now, and a moderate scattering of trees have been broken or uprooted entirely. Fluttershy's cottage was completely demolished, though thankfully she herself is fine, and her animal grounds have been torn apart. other than this, all other property damage is at a minimum, the worst being everyponies windows being broken. No deaths or severe inuries have been reported, the worst injury so far being Fluttershy with a mild head injury. Now that that's out of the way, I was wondering about your plans concerning the explosions themselves. If nothing has been planned as of yet, we, the elements of harmony, can be sent to investigate. Hopefully Canterlot is doing okay after all that, and I hope my BBBFF wasn't hurt.
Sincerely, your faithful student: Twilight Sparkle

The princess let out a groan. It seemed Ponyville had been hit the hardest out of everypony. She was also worried for her faithful student, something that was able to create an explosion of such magnitude was definately dangerous. thinking it over, an idea came to her.
"Guards." she called, and two unicorn guards trotted into the room and bowed. "Could you please bring me Shining Armour." The two bowed once more and left to retrieve their captain.




"C'mon Twi, there's probably a good reason why the princess hasn't written back yet." Said Spike as he continued to help Twilight re-organize the library.
"That's just it Spike, who knows what happened in Canterlot due to the explosions. It could be in an even bigger mess than Ponyville." It had been half an hour since Twilight had sent the letter, and in order to take her mind off the length of time passed, she was cleaning the mess of books that the explosions had knocked off the shelves. It wasn't working.

"Urgh, that's it, I can't take it anymore! Spike, take a message."

"That won't be necessary my faithful student." said a voice that Twilight was definately not expecting.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out joyously, running over to her mentor.

"Good to see you Twilight." said Celestia, wrapping her student in a brief hug.

"Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but why are you here?" Asked Twilight.

"I'm here to investigate the cause of the explosions, and after reading your letter I figured I could use your magical expertise to help." The two stepped out of the library and into the streets of Ponyville, where Twilight saw was a regiment of ten guards.

"Twiley!" The lavender unicorn blinked at the voice and nickname, and was suddenly swept up into a bear hug from a large white unicorn stallion.

"Shiney! I missed you BBBFF." Replied Twilight, returning the hug in full. Princess Celestia let the two siblings have a moment with each other, then got things back on track.

"If you two are quite done, we have work to do." She quietly snickered at the looks of mild embarrassment on the two siblings faces when they quickly separated. "Now then, Captain, we march into Everfree."

"Yes your highness." Saluted Shining Armour, and with that, the ten soldiers trotted into the forest, Celestia and Twilight behind them. After thirty minutes of the constant pace, they came to the origin of the explosions. The crater was huge, easily able to hold Ponyville within it. Wisps of smoke curled from the blackened ground and scorched trees, and the air was dead silent and filled with tension. As the guards were checking out the crater, Twilight and Celestia were having a conversation.

"So how's Luna adjusting to her newfound freedom?" Asked Twilight.

"Well, so far so good, However, three weeks is barely any time at all, and old traditions die hard."

"How does it feel to have your family back after so long?"

"That's a bit of a personal question my faithful student." Twilight glanced away embarrassed. "To be honest Twilight, it feels wonderful, like a void in my heart has finally been filled, yet at the same time the pain of my regret is still fresh, and I don't believe there will ever come a time when I can be free of it."

"Regret, princess?" Celestia sighed, perhaps she should tell her student.

"Yes my faithful student. I am willing to tell you of it, but you must promise me to never speak of it to anypony else. Not your brother, not your friends, and definately not to Luna." Upon Twilight's immediate promise, Celestia continued. "The truth is Twilight, as a ruler, you all see me as fair and just, but as a sister, I have been cruel beyond imagining. As you know, my day was greatly favored over Luna's night, and this is what caused my sister to succumb to darkness. I saw this Twilight, I saw the pain in my sister's eyes every day, how hurt she was that I was loved, and she shunned. The truth is, I did nothing to stop it, neigh, I encouraged it. I loved how I was favored more, and I reveled in the praise and superiority I had over my sister. The story claims I had tried to reason with my sister, I did nothing of the sort. I didn't question why she kept the moon raised, I didn't question her defiance, 'Lower the moon' I said, as if what she was doing was but a trivial nuisance. When she became Nightmare Moon, I did what I feel was my absolute lowest blow to my sister. The elements of harmony work on your deepest desires Twilight. When you defeated Nightmare Moon with them you simply desired to stop her. I could have done that as well, but I didn't. No, instead of wishing my sister to be purged of the negativity consuming her, I desired her to be out of the way, and the elements reacted to my desire by banishing her to the moon. Funny, how after my first century of her abscense that I truly felt regret for what I had done. Immortality is a horrible thing Twilight, watching all those you have bonded with wither and fade while you remain. By banishing my sister I threw away the only friend I could have that would stay beside me through my eternal life. Now that I have her back, I feel there is nothing I can do to make up for the suffering I caused my sister." Twilight for her part, was shocked to her core. Never had she thought the princess to be capable of such cruelty, to cast aside a sibling like that. Her first instinct was to be disgusted with her mentor, but then she remembered a little something she had been taught.

"If I was Luna, I'd forgive you." Said Twilight, much to Celestia's shock and interest.

"Why?"

"Because of what you taught me. Forgiveness should always be given to those who strive their hardest to recieve it. You really want your sister's forgiveness, so I know if you try your hardest to make your sister happy, you'll earn her forgiveness." Celestia could only be amazed with her faithful student.

"It's an odd thing, here I am, one of the oldest beings in this world, and yet I have been beaten in wisdom. You are an amazing pony Twilight." Before Twilight could respond, Shining Armour rushed out of the crater towards the two.

"Your highness, we found something that requires your immediate attention." Said Shining Armour with a salute. Princess celestia and Twilight followed the guard captain down to the bottom of the crater, and what was within caused both Celestia's and Twilight's eyes to widen considerably. in the center of the crater lay two beings that Celestia had no idea of. They both looked like some kind of pale hairless monkey of some kind. They were wearing what looked to be clothing of some sort, though it was badly damaged, and were also armed. Celestia could also feel powerful energy radiating off the two, possibly magic of some sort. One of the monkey things had a black mane, while the other had a bright yellow mane. Both were unconscious and badly injured.

"Princess, what are those things?" Asked Twilight, a bit frightened by the new strange beings.

"I'm not sure Twilight, but that is the least of our worries. They are obviously injured and we have no idea how to treat them."

"I have an idea princess, maybe Fluttershy can help us. Seeing as she takes care of animals, she might be able to help treat these two."

"It's worth a shot. Captain, prepare medical transport for these two creatures and bring them back to Ponyville." Doing as he was told, Shining Armour and his stallions set up two medical stretchers, and placed the creatures on them as gently as he could. He winced when he saw some of the wounds on the two.

"Hope this Fluttershy mare is good Twiley, these two are in pretty bad condition." Shining remarked. Once the two beings were secured to the stretchers and hoisted up, the group swiftly cantered to Ponyville as fast as they could without injuring the wounded cargo further, heedless of the massive changes these two would bring to future events.
> Memories, Revelations, and a New Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Um, I'm not sure how good I'll be, but I'll do my best." Said Fluttershy as she followed Twilight to the hospital room holding the two strange creatures found in the site of the explosions.

"You'll do wonderful Fluttershy, I'm sure of it." Replied Twilight. "You're the only pony who can heal them. Since you work with animals you're used to working with unusual body structures. None of the nurses or doctors here can heal him as they'd have no idea what to do." 

"O-okay, I'll do my best." The two finally arrived at their destination, two guards standing side by side in front of the door. Twilight led an extremely nervous Fluttershy to the guards and asked for access. The two guards nodded and parted, allowing Fluttershy and Twilight through. Once inside, Fluttershy couldn't help but gasp, both at the new beings before her, and the state they were in.

"Oh...my." Was all she could say. Immediately Fluttershy started to work. She cleaned their wounds and bandaged them, She checked for broken bones and internal injuries. Soon she had done all she could without medicine. Due to them not being ponies, the doctors could not use pony medicine on them, so Fluttershy had them gather ingredients for several herbal remedies. After an hour from start to finish, Fluttershy had done all she could for the two.

"That's it." She said, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more."

"Are you kidding Fluttershy? It was like you've been treating these creatures for years." Replied Twilight, astonished that her friend had thought so little of her abilities.

"Ah, it's just, well, what I did was very basic, and I've worked with monkeys on a few occasions, so I know a little about their skeletal structures. It was really nothing noteworthy."

"Still Fluttershy, you did far more than what any of the other doctors could do. So thank you."

"I-it was nothing, really." The two then left the room, and headed out into the waiting room, where princess Celestia and their other four friends were waiting.

"Well princess, Fluttershy has done all she possibly can." Said Twilight.

"That is all I can ask for. Thank you for your efforts Fluttershy." Replied Celestia.

"I-it was nothing princess." Squeaked fluttershy, a bit nervous from having the princess respond to her directly.

"Well, ah don't know 'bout y'all, but ah'm gettin' mighty tired. It's been one doozy of ah day for me, and ah got mah work cut out fer me tomorrow. Ah'm headin' back to the farm, see y'all tomorrow." With that, AppleJack headed for home, yawning all the way. Soon after she left the hospital, everyone started returning to their respective homes with the exception of Fluttershy, who was staying with Rarity until her cottage was rebuilt. Soon, only Celestia was left. Instead of leaving as well however, the alicorn headed for the room containing the two mysterious creatures. As a ruler, Celestia put the safety of her little ponies as her highest priority, and thus she had to know if these new beings were a threat to them. Making her way to the room, the guards standing at the door immediately parted for their princess, allowing her immediate access to the room. Closing the door behind her, Celestia made her way over to the yellow maned creature first. What she was about to do was considered a huge violation of privacy, but Celestia would break the rules to pieces if it kept her subjects safe. Horn ablaze with golden light, Celestia touched it to the creature's head.




Celestia found herself standing in an pool of  cloudy shallow water, surrounded in an endless expanse of darkness. She looked around, searching for some kind of representation to the creature's memories, when suddenly a large shadow was cast over her. Before she could react, it slammed down on her, smashing her against the ground and driving the air out of her lungs. She thrashed and struggled as hard as she could, but the thing on her didn't even budge. Then the thing on top of her shifted, she felt other things curl underneath her, then the sensation of weightlessness as she was lifted into the air, Taking the opportunity to glance at what was immobilizing her, Celestia saw herself caught in some kind of strange appendage. No, she had seen this appendage before, those two creatures had them on the end of their forelegs. Glancing at the base of the appendage, she saw that it was indeed connected to a foreleg, and when she saw what currently had her captured, her heart felt like it fell into her stomach. She had seen foxes before, but none of them were this massive, none of them had nine tails, and absolutely none of them had power that completely dwarfed hers.

"So horse," The beast rumbled, It's voice a gutteral growl like the sound of a predator and distant thunder combined. "What could possibly be your reason for intruding upon the sanctity of my partner's mind? Explain yourself."

"Wh-what are you?" Asked Celestia, her voice trembling from her sudden displacement of air earlier, and slight fear. She gasped and groaned in pain as the appendage holding her squeezed harder.

"I will be asking the questions here, horse, and I expect them answered. However, since I'm feeling gracious I'll answer your question. I am a Biju, and you may call me Kyuubi. Now what are you and why are you here, horse? Speak quickly, and if I do not like your answers prepare to be food."

"Well for one thing, I'm not a horse, I'm an alicorn. My name is Celestia, controller of the sun and day, and diarch of Equestria. The reason I'm here is because earlier today, a series of colossal explosions caused severe damage to my lands and settlements. When the site where the explosions originated was investigated, we found two creatures never before seen in the history of our world. After taking them back with us for medical treatment, I decided to look into their minds to see if they were a threat to my little ponies, and here we are." Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at Celestia, and the alicorn feared the worst, but was set on the ground and released.
"Well Celestia, I assure you my partner, his ally and I will be no threat to you or your people, as long as you do not give us a reason to be. As for the explosions, those were our doing. It would be too complicated to explain, so how about I show you." With that, Kyuubi made a gesture, and a large circle of the pool became clear. Celestia looked into it, and beheld the memory within.




A void of infinite darkness, that was what the realm between dimensions looked like. Naruto could see nothing, and all he could hear was his and Sasuke's laboured breathing. Laboured because apparently this realm was killing them slowly and painfully according to the fox. He had said that the pressures every dimension exuded to keep from smashing into each other would eventually crush them, though apparently movement helped ease the pressure slightly, so that's all they did and could do, move forward. Eventually, the pain became to much for simple walking to dull, and the two began to jog, which became a run, then eventually a sprint. Suddenly, the two smashed into some kind of wall, something they instantly regretted. A wave of pure repelling force flung them away, but if that wasn't bad enough, they slammed into another wall, which blasted them away as well, to once again hit another, then another. this continued for some time, until finally they hit whatever represented the ground instead of another wall. Coughing blood, Naruto felt around and was rewarded when he felt Sasuke's sandal.

"How you feeling Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"We just went through a literal re-enactment of Madara's judicious use of wood clones after you pissed him off with your abuse of shadow clones. How do you think I'm feeling!?" Screamed Sasuke, though that ended when he began to have a hacking coughing fit. Naruto barely managed to haul himself to his feet due to the pain he was experiencing. Stumbling over to Sasuke, he managed to help the Uchiha up.

"So kit, how was ping pong from the ball's perspective?" Asked Kurama, and Naruto didn't have to be in his mind to see the fox's smug grin.

"Not funny fox, and not helping either. Anything else before we finally die in here?"

"Well as a matter of fact yes. Those weren't walls that bounced you around, those were doors."

"And how the hell are we supposed to open them if the moment we contact them they send us ricocheting all over the place?"

"I don't know what to be shocked by more; the fact you asked an intelligent question, or the fact you actually know what ricocheting means."

"Damn you, you walking rug!"

"Talking to the Kyuubi I take it?" Asked Sasuke, unfazed by Naruto's outburst.

"Yes, and if he'd quit insulting my intelligence we could get something productive done."

"Lighten up kit, I was just having some fun. Now, your human ping pong ball stunt actually had a silver lining to it. I was able to sample the energy of the doors and can now see them with my chakra. Fire up the cloak Naruto." Needing no further prompting, Naruto activated his biju's chakra cloak, igniting himself in gold ethereal flame and the runic markings of his seal. The light from his cloak illuminated the area enough for Sasuke to become visible, and he wasn't looking too good.

"I assume there's a reason you're using Kyuubi's chakra?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, with the cloak up, the fox can sense the locations of the doors leading to other dimensions."

"And here's some good news, there's one right in front of us."

"That still begs the question of how to open the damn thing."

"We have to force it open, and the most powerful thing at our disposal to do that is the Bijudama."

"Oi dobe, what's the plan here? you got that look on your face." Said Sasuke, noticing the the look of anticipation on Naruto's face.

"The fox says that we need to force the door open with an extremely powerful jutsu, and the only thing we got that can do it is the Bijudama." Readying himself, Naruto unleashed the full power of Kurama, and the nine tailed fox burst into being around Naruto.

"Ready your Susanoo, Uchiha, you'll need something to protect yourself against any backlash." Said the massive golden fox. Sasuke nodded, and activated his Eternal Mangekyou, his full Susanoo flaring to life moments later. Satisfied, Kurama turned his attention to the doorway in front of them, visible only to his eyes. Opening his mouth, Kurama charged the technique, took aim, and fired.

"Bijudama!" The black ball of chakra impacted the door with a colossal explosion, above it could be heard the sound of cracking glass. That's when things went bad. The door retaliated with a blast of repelling force that tore the Bijudama apart, and impacted the the duo like thousands of lashing whips. The protection both Susanoo and Kurama offered were the only things that kept Sasuke and Naruto from being critically injured, and when the force died down the two were a mess.

"What the hell fox, I thought you said that would work!" Naruto hollered.

"I said no such thing. I only said the Bijudama was our best bet out."

"Again then!"

"Dobe, if this doesn't work we could get lethal injuries." said Sasuke through clenched teeth.

"And if we do nothing we're dead. Again Kurama, Bijudama!" Once again the attack was charged and fired, once again it slammed into the door and began to break through, and once again it was defeated and retaliated with lashing force. When it was over, Sasuke's and Naruto's bodies were covered in lacerations, and while they weren't bleeding too badly, the sheer number of them were dangerous.

"Dammit. It didn't work again? you have got to be kidding me!"

"Hold on kit. One more bijudama should do it, but it's gonna need some help. Uchiha, stop gawking and get your butt over here." Sasuke bristled at the remark but complied. "Now, I'm gonna fire one more Bijudama. When I do Uchiha, you're going to shoot it with one of your arrows. The added impetus and power should be enough to force the door open."

"And if it isn't?"

"Then nothing will be. Get ready Uchiha, Bijudama." With a piercing roar, Kurama fired his attack at the dimensional door with everything he had. Halfway through it's flight the ball of condensed power was skewered by an amethyst bolt of chakra, the force of the impalement transferred to the ball, boosting it's already impressive speed considerably. The two attacks collided into the door with a vengeance, and with the sound of every brittle material in existence shattering, the two attacks punched through and detonated. Then came the roar of a powerful suction force, and everything faded to white.




With a gasp, Celestia jolted back from the memory, which faded back into the cloudy pool. She was still trying to wrap her head around it all. Interdimensional travel had been theorized by Starswirl the bearded, but the study had been abandoned due to the sheer power necessary. Even Celestia herself had never been able to open a hole in dimension despite her power as an alicorn.

"So those explosions, they were actually your efforts of opening the door to our world." Said Celestia after a period of silence.

"That is correct. None of us meant to cause any destruction, we had no idea how the other side of the door would be affected and our lives were at stake. In any case, you have what you came for. Those two are not a threat unless you provoke them, and you now know how we got here. Now, begone." And with a massive roar from Kyuubi, Celestia was ejected out of Naruto's mind. Snapping back into reality, Celestia shook her head a bit to clear the confusion. She briefly thought about entering the other creature's, Sasuke if that memory was correct, mind, but decided against it. Who knew what could be lurking in there if Kyuubi was anything to go by. Leaving the room, Celestia instructed the guards to allow Fluttershy unrestricted access to the room, and headed back to Canterlot.




Sasuke opened his eyes to a vast expanse of white. Looking around, he saw no sign of Naruto anywhere.

"You know, I'd appreciate it if you turned around." Sasuke's eyes widened, it couldn't be. He spun around, it was. Sasuke was staring face to face with Madara Uchiha

"How did you get here?" Sasuke spat venomously, though Madara made no reaction to Sasuke's tone.

"Quite simple really, I brought you here. You're having what is called a near death experience, where your soul has left your body, but you are still technically alive. Due to this, I was able to pull your soul into limbo for a talk, and here we are."

"And why do you want to talk to me? better yet, why should I even care about what you have to say?"

"The reason I'm even talking to you and the reason you should listen has the same answer. I'm the only one who can tell you these things as it involves the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan." This gave Sasuke pause. Aside from himself, Madara was the only other wielder of the Eternal Mangekyou, so Madara was practically the only one who knew anything about these eyes.

"Fine, I'm listening."

"I hope so Sasuke, for the importance of this information can, no, not can, will change your life. First, lets pass the common ground, what do you know about the Eternal Mangekyou?" Inquired Madara.

"All I know is that the eyes strengthen my Mangekyou techniques and their use will no longer blind me." Sasuke replied.

"So practically nothing then.' Sasuke had to fight hard to crush the urge to burn the man with Amaterasu. "All right, I'll start with the most important. Tell me Sasuke, why is this Mangekyou called 'eternal'?"

"Because our eyes never fade from its use." Replied Sasuke in annoyance, he had just said that earlier.

"While that is true, there's more to it than that. The Eternal Mangekyou is the stage directly below the Rinnegan, and therefore begins to touch on a few of the Rinnegan's abilities. To put it simply, it doesn't just make our eyes eternal, it makes us eternal." Madara could practically hear the screech as Sasuke's brain hit the brakes.

"Wait, eternal? As in immortality?" Madara's response was a nod. "Liar."

"I assure you it's the truth."

"Really now? Well I got the details from Naruto while we were in recovery. According to Obito you died of old age. Seeing as how you unlocked the Eternal Mangekyou, that should never have happened. Therefore these eyes do not grant immortality."

"I assure you Sasuke they do. There is however a way to lose your immortality, which is what happened to me."

"And this way is?" Madara just smirked.

"Now why should I tell you that?" Was his smug reply, causing Sasuke to scowl. "Oh don't give me that look boy, I'm doing you a favour. It's extremely unpleasent and if it fails you're dead."

"Ok, back to the main subject. What else is there about these eyes that I should know about?"

"Mostly small things that you will discover for yourself as you use them, but the only really major thing is your Susanoo."

"What about my Susanoo?" Sasuke asked, his voice carrying a faint undertone of intrigue.

"When we fought, you obviously noticed my Susanoo, how it looked like two stuck together?" Sasuke's eyes widened.

"I see, so Itachi's and my Susanoo will eventually fuse."

"Indeed, though it's far more difficult than you make it sound."

"So how is it done?" At this, Madara was once again wearing his smug grin.

"Now whoever said I was going to tell you? You have to figure it out for yourself. Or do you actually need this old man to hold your hand as you toddle around like a babe?" Sasuke's eyes ignited into his Eternal Mangekyou, and Madara was covered in obsidian fire, though the man just laughed.

"I see that I have overstayed my welcome. Very well Sasuke, I'll send you back now as your body has been stabilized enough that you won't be dying anytime soon. Do keep all that's been said in mind though." Soon, there was a flash of light, then everything went dark for Sasuke.




Naruto eyes snapped open, only for him to slam them shut when the bright light visciously assaulted his retinas. After a few moments he cracked them open again, allowing them time to adjust. When he was able to see clearly, the blonde gave a cursory glance around. plain white walls greeted him, along with a matching ceiling. The smell of antiseptics soon followed, causing Naruto to internally groan. He had been imprisoned in the worst place imaginable, the hospital. Just then the door opened, prompting Naruto to glance over to it, and what he saw made his eyes widen. A butter yellow horse with a mane as pink as Sakura's hair walked in. Shocking the blonde even further was when said horse extended a pair of wings on her sides and flapped over to the window, where it drew back the curtains to let more light in. Then came the kicker, the horse turned and noticed him awake, and then it spoke.

"Oh goodness, you're awake." A talking, flying, yellow horse. Naruto did the only logical thing his brain could come up with. He screamed.
> Meeting the girls and settling in
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke was awoken by the sound of screaming, Naruto's screaming to be precise. Cracking an eye open, he saw that Naruto was currently screaming his head off as... a small yellow, winged, talking horse tried to calm him down, with little luck. He saw that the room they were in was obviously a hospital room, and there were no surgical implements around, meaning nobody was going to get dissected or experimented on.

"Would you shut up dobe! Some people need their sleep dammit." He hollered at the screaming blonde.

"Oh, you're up as well. That's good news." Said the horse, who looked relieved.

"But Sasuke, it's a talking flying horse!" Naruto exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the butter yellow horse.

"Um, pony actually." The pony, who was a female if the voice was any indication, piped up.

"And if you have forgotten dobe, we're in a different dimension. Of course there's going to be something crazy or weird here. besides, you're getting worked up over a talking pony with wings? Last I checked you summon weapon slinging, giant talking toads. There are plenty stranger looking summons in our world than a flying pastel pony." That shut Naruto up. "Now then, if you're quite done, I'm still exhausted. So if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep."

"Um, before you do, I need to check both of you to see how your injuries are faring. If um, that's okay with you two?"

"Fine by me. The sooner this gets done, the sooner I can leave. I hate hospitals."

"Hn, fine by me, just make it quick. I want to get back to sleep." Nodding, the pony got to work, checking Naruto first as he was closest.

"So uh, what's your name?" Naruto asked the pony. "Mine's Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Oh, my name's Fluttershy." the pony replied, whispering her name at the end, though due to their training, both shinobi caught it.

"Oi, Sasuke, introduce yourself and show some manners."

"You're the last person to be lecturing about manners dobe. My name's Sasuke Uchiha." Fluttershy nodded, and got to work checking Naruto's injuries. After five minutes, and a few pokes and prods, Fluttershy was satisfied.

"Well Naruto, I'm happy to say that all your injuries are completely healed. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great. Does this mean I can leave now?" The blonde asked, and Fluttershy nodded.

"Yes it does. Just let me check on Sasuke and I'll get the go ahead for your discharge." With that, Fluttershy flew over to Sasuke and began to check his injuries.

"How long were we out for?" Asked Sasuke.

"Oh um, about two days." Replied Fluttershy. After a few minutes, she frowned a bit. "Hmm, Well your cuts still need a little more time to heal, and your ribs are still cracked a bit. I'm sorry Sasuke but you're going to have to say in bed a while longer."

"Fine," Sasuke sighed, "but how long do I have to stay in?" Fluttershy thought for a bit.

"I'm not completely sure, but I'm guessing the day after tomorrow. Your ribs should be healed enough by then." With a nod of understanding, Sasuke got comfortable and began to doze off. Fluttershy then turned to Naruto. "Alright Naruto, just stay put and you'll be out in no time." With that, Fluttershy flapped out of the room.




After getting the go ahead for Naruto's discharge, Fluttershy was off to get the blonde, but was surprised by the arrival of her friends.

"Oh, hello everypony." She said as she was approached by the group.

"Hiya Fluttershy." Said Pinkie Pie as she bounced over in her usual jovial manner. "My pinkie sense told me those new things Twilight found are awake, so I decided to swing by to make new friends. Then I thought it wouldn't be fair if I was the only one who made friends with them, so I went and grabbed everypony else. And now we're here. So, are they awake? Can we go see them, huh, can we, can we?" Pinkie Pie was silenced when Applejack yanked her back.

"Easy there, Sugarcube. No need tah get yer tail in a twist." She said as she dragged the pink earth pony back.

"Um, both are awake, but one of them still needs to stay in bed. I was just about to get Naruto, as he can be discharged now." Replied Fluttershy.

"Gah, he can!?" Shrieked Twilight, eyes wide. "Oh no, I forgot to bring quills, ink, and paper. I have so many questions for him and I have nothing to write his answers with! Be right back girls!" With that, Twilight charged out the hospital and back to the library as fast as she could.

"Um, I'll go get Naruto now." Said Fluttershy, and left to get said blonde.

"Ooh, I wonder what he'll be like. Does he like cake? Does he like to party? (Gasp) I have to throw him a Glad-your-out-of-the-hospital-welcome-to-Ponyville-party!" Pinkie Pie was again silenced, this time by Rarity.

"Calm yourself darling. Let's just wait for Fluttershy to get back with this Naruto thing." Soon, voices could be heard coming down the hall.

"Man, I could sure go for some new clothes." Said a male voice, whom the group guessed to be Naruto.

"Um, I'm sure if we talk to Rarity, she'd be happy to help." Replied Fluttershy. Soon the two entered the hall, allowing everypony to get a good look at Naruto. He was tall, and stood on two legs. Instead of hooves, he had odd appendages on the ends of his limbs. He had no coat of fur, only sparse hairs running up his arms. His blonde mane was shorter than a pony's and a more vibrant yellow compared to Applejack's straw colored mane, and he had deep sapphire blue eyes.

"Wowee! So this is what he looks like." Said Pinkie excitedly, bouncing over to Naruto. "Hiya, I'm Pinkie Pie. So, do you like cake? Do you like parties? do you wanna be friends? When do I throw the party?" Pinkie was stopped when the other three girls pulled her away.

"Sorry 'bout that, she gets really excited whenever she meets somepony new." Apologized Applejack.

"Nah, it's alright." Replied Naruto with a grin. "To answer your questions Pinkie, I'm not sure if I like parties seeing as I've never been to one myself. Yes, I do enjoy cake, and of course we can be friends, friends are awesome. As for that last one, could you put the party on hold for the time being. My best friend's still recovering so I'd like to wait so we both get a party."

"Yay, new friend! Okie dokie, no party 'til your best friend's out of the hospital. Anyway, nice to meet you Naruto, but I got to get to work at Sugarcube Corner. See ya." With that, Pinkie bounced out of the hospital with a bit more spring in her hops than usual. As Naruto watched her go, Applejack approached him.

"Sorry 'bout her, she's got too much energy fer her own good sometimes. Anyways, I'm Applejack, and you must be that Naruto fella' that Fluttershy was talkin' 'bout earlier, pleased to make you're aquaintance." She said, offering a hoof. Naruto grinned and grasped the hoof in his hand, giving it a shake.

"Pleased to make yours as well Applejack." He replied. Applejack then stepped back into the small group, and was replaced by Rainbow Dash.

"So, you're one of those crazy creatures the egghead found in the Everfree forest. The name's Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria." She said to Naruto, a challenging grin on her lips, which brought a smirk to Naruto's own.

"Well if I had wings we'd see if that was true. Since I can't fly myself I'll take your word for it." He replied.

"You know what, I like you. We need to hang out sometime. Anyway, got to go help the weather team. See ya later." With that, Rainbow Dash flew out of the hospital. Finally came the last person of the group.

"Goodness darling, whatever happened to your clothes ? They're in absolute ruins." Naruto was about to respond when he was cut off. "Now now darling do not say a word. We need to fix this problem fast." With that, the alabaster unicorn started herding Naruto out the door.

"Um, can I at least get your name?" Asked Naruto as he was being pushed out the doors, causing the unicorn to halt.

"Oh goodness, how dreadfully rude of me. I am Rarity, but no time for chit chat darling, we absolutely must get you out of those mutilated things." Soon Naruto was out the door, Fluttershy following, and the three were on their way to the Carousel Boutique.

"Wait!" Screamed a voice from down the road. Naruto turned to look, and saw a lavender unicorn galloping at the group. There were bags filled with paper strapped to her sides, and a small violet lizard on her back holding on to her mane for dear life. The pony skidded to a halt in front of the group, sending the lizard flying off of her. Fluttershy flew after the airborne reptile.

"And you are?" Asked Naruto after giving the pony some time to breathe.

"Sorry about that. My name's Twilight Sparkle."

"Naruto Uzumaki at your service. You look like you want to ask me something?" The blonde remarked. Indeed, Twilight had a look of barely supressed excitement plastered on her face.

"It's just, ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! An entirely new sapient species standing right in front of me. What are your species called? Where do you come from? How did you get here? Gah, so many questions that need answers!" Naruto was now officially freaked out, and backed away from the crazy pony very slowly.

"Twilight, stop that. You're scaring him." Admonished Fluttershy as she came back with the lizard in her forehooves, with the sternest voice Naruto had heard her use. The yellow pegasus then let the reptile down. "Are you okay Spike? You're not hurt or anything are you?" She asked the lizard.

"No, I'm fine. been through way worse than that." Said Spike as he dusted himself off.

"Sorry about that Spike. And sorry to you too Naruto. It's just, nothing like you has ever been seen in the history of Equestria. I guess I got a little carried away." Twilight apologized.

"It's alright Twilight. I'd probably do the same thing if I were in your sandals." Naruto replied.

"Sandals?" Twilight questioned, having never heard of those before. Naruto then realized the cause of confusion.

"That will take some explaining. Tell you what, while Rarity does her work, I'll answer as many questions of yours as I'm able to. Sound good?" Twilight nodded, satisfied by the arrangement.

"Here we are darling." Chimed Rarity as they approached the Boutique. Upon entry, Naruto knew Rarity was a dedicated seamstress. Equine mannequins displaying suits and dresses were placed around the room. Suddenly he realized something very important.

"Um, Rarity, I don't have any money. Or at least, none of your land's money." Rarity just waved him off.

"No need to worry darling, I simply cannot ask for payment from those who are in dire need of help." Replied Rarity. Naruto was stunned by this act of generosity.

"Now wait Rarity, I'm perfectly willing to pay you back. I can-" Naruto was cut off when Rarity silenced him with a hoof.

"Naruto, I'm helping you for free because I want to help you for free. You don't have to do anything to repay me. You're a friend, and friends help each other." Naruto for his part, was stunned beyond belief. Here were was this pony, who barely even knew him, yet considered him her friend and was showing him generosity with no ulterior motive.

"I...I... Thank you Rarity, I can count on one hand the people who have shown me this kind of generosity. Just, thank you." Tears were threatening to breach the blonde's eyes, but he held them back.

"Think nothing of it. Now, let's get your measurements." Levitating a tape, Rarity began measuring Naruto. Soon she had all she needed. "All right Naruto, I have several colours you may be interested in. First we have-"

"Orange, please." Interrupted Naruto, causing Rarity to gape.

"Orange? Not that I have anything against it darling, but don't you think that may be a bit garish? There are plenty of-"

"Orange will be fine Rarity." Naruto interrupted once more.

"Why is orange so important Naruto?" Asked Rarity, curious as to why Naruto was so adamant about the colour for his clothing.

"Because I'm their legacy." Was the reply. Naruto saw the three were confused by his answer, so he elaborated.

"I've always liked orange, never really understanding why. It was only when I found out who my parents were that I realized why I loved the colour. My mother was known as the red hot habanero for her temper and red hair, and my dad was known as the yellow flash, and he had the same hair colour as me. They were the first things I saw when I was born, and I guess I saw a the colors of their hair blended together. I wear orange as a memento to who my parents were." At this, all three mares and one dragon had their mouths agape. Rarity was the first to snap out of it.

"Very well, orange it is. Does the shade matter Naruto?" Naruto thought about it, and shook his head. Orange was orange, it was awesome no matter what shade it was. Rarity then left for her work room, muttering about good accent colours.

"Alright Naruto, if you don't mind I'd like to ask you some questions now." Said Twilight, getting her quill and paper ready, after snapping spike out of his swooning for Rarity.

"Sure Twilight, fire away." And Twilight did. Many questions Naruto was able to answer easily enough. A few questions, like how his feet worked to keep him balanced on two legs, stumped him, but he answered as best he could. Spike would ask a few himself here and there, but mostly talked with Fluttershy.

"Oh Naruto." Rarity called from within her work room, "would you be a dear and tell me what sounds better for a trim color, crimson or violet?"

"Crimson, please." Naruto responded. Several minutes later, Rarity returned, bringing with her the finished product. A burnt orange long sleeved shirt with a black stripe going down each arm, starting at the shoulder, and ending before the cuffs. The cuffs themselves, as well as the trimming and inner lining of the shirt, were a vibrant crimson. The pants were mostly black, the trim being a brighter shade of orange than the shirt, with a thin stripe running up the legs, starting at the hems and ending at the waistline.

"So Darling, what do you think? Admittedly this is my first time making clothing for your species, so I hope I did a good job." Said Rarity, hoping she had done everything right.

"Looks good so far, let me put it on. Where are the changing rooms?" Rarity pointed to a door to the side, and Naruto headed through it, outfit in hand. After shedding the shredded tracksuit he had been wearing previously, he immediately dressed himself in the new attire. It fit perfectly, and the pant legs had enough width to them to make them comfortably flexible.

"How are you finding them darling?" Called Rarity from inside the main room. Naruto then exited the changing room and let the group see how he looked.

"I think they look pretty good. What are your thoughts Rarity?" Asked Naruto.

"Naruto, you look simply smashing. Wonderful, my first ever clothing design made for a human a complete success. Now then darling, I can make you several more pairs of that outfit, just give me an hour and we'll have your clothing needs set." Rarity started for her work room, but Naruto stopped her.

"Wait Rarity, if I may, there's something I want you to add." Rarity cocked her head in confusion.

"Oh, was the outfit not satisfactory?" She inquired, causing Naruto to wave his hands in the negative.

"No, not at all, I like it very much as it is. What I want added is something personal to me." He then grabbed his old tracksuit top and showed her the right shoulder, which had a white spiral on it. "You see this spiral? It's the clan symbol of the Uzumaki, the symbol of my family. I was wondering if-" Naruto was stopped when Rarity held up a hoof.

"Say no more Naruto. I'll make sure to add that symbol to all the outfits, the one you're wearing included." Nodding in thanks, Naruto let her proceed to her work room. 

"So Naruto, while Rarity finishes the rest of your clothes, why don't we head out for lunch?" Offered Twilight.

"Um, how would everyone react to me? I don't want to scare anybody."Asked Naruto.

"Um, you may have gotten a lot of stares from everypony, but I think they were just curious. Just be friendly, and I'm sure everypony will like you." Answered Fluttershy. With that the group headed for Sugarcube Corner. Just then, Naruto's stomach let loose a powerful rumble.

"Man could I go for some ramen right about now." Naruto remarked while rubbing his hungry stomach.

"Ramen? What's that?" Asked Twilight.

"Wait, you never heard of ramen?" Naruto asked, terrified of the answer.

"Nope" Replied Twilight.

"I haven't either." Said Spike.

"Neither have I." Said Fluttershy. And with that, cold despair ripped through Naruto's body.




Sasuke woke up and slowly rose to a sitting position.

"I just had the strangest feeling." He remarked to himself. "It was as if the voices of a million ramen lovers screamed in terror, then were suddenly silenced." After staying in a sitting position a few seconds longer, he flopped back down. "Well good. It's about time someone shut them up." With that, Sasuke returned to pleasant dreams of Naruto weeping before him after being told ramen no longer existed while tomato bread rained from the heavens.




Naruto was not happy. Scratch that, Naruto was so far from happy he was sure it was on the other side of the world. Ramen, his one true love, had no form of existence in Equestria. It was a sad sad day indeed. Well he wouldn't let that get to him. if ramen wasn't in Equestria, then he'd bring it to Equestria. He had learned from the ramen chef back home how to make the noodles, though the broth would give him trouble, seeing as the citizens of Equestria were all herbivorous, meaning all meat aside from fish was practically out. Thankfully the group didn't react all that much when he said he consumed meat. Fluttershy because she worked with meat eating animals plenty of times before, Twilight because she had seen Celestia deal with foreign dignitaries who consumed meat, and Spike because eventually when he reached adulthood he'd start requiring meat in his diet as well. As long as he didn't go eating ponies, they were completely okay with him eating meat. Currently the group was in Sugarcube Corner, eating a platter of cupcakes.

"Cheer up Naruto, it's not all bad," Said Spike as he ate another chocolate cupcake.

"Not all bad? Almost three quarters of my overall diet has been restricted, and you say it's not all bad? It's terrible. I can't live off sweets and confections all my life." Naruto lamented.

"Um, I might have a solution." Said Fluttershy, bringing the group's undivided attention onto her, causing her to squeak with fright.

"It's okay Fluttershy, we're not going to bite if you make a suggestion." Said Naruto, calming her down slightly.

"Well um, I care for several animal families that require fish to eat. I could always supply some for you Naruto. S-Sasuke as well when he's out of the hospital." Fluttershy was suddenly swept up in a hug by Naruto.

"Fluttershy, you are the best." Said Naruto, his mood brightening considerably.

"I-it's nothing, really." Soon the group resumed eating, the mood having brightened up.

"Hiya everypony." Said Pinkie Pie as she bounced up to the group's table. "How is everything? Want anymore cupcakes?"

"Everything is fine Pinkie, and no, we're good on cupcakes right now." Replied Twilight.

"They're really good by the way Pinkie, you make awesome cakes." Said Naruto, making Pinkie's smile even bigger.

"Aww, thanks Naruto. Anyways, I got to get back to work. see you all later." With that, Pinkie Pie hopped back into the kitchens. Once the four were done with the cupcakes, Twilight left some bits on the table and the group headed back to Carousel Boutique. Upon entering, Rarity was just leaving her work room.

"Oh, right on time Naruto." Immediately re-entering her work room, Rarity soon came back out with four copies of Naruto's current ensemble, complete with the Uzumaki clan spiral on the right shoulder of each shirt. "Here you are darling, and if you hand me the shirt you're wearing it will take me two minutes to put the spiral on." Naruto removed his shirt and handed it to Rarity, replacing it with a finished one. Two minutes later and the spiral was on the shirt.

"Well that solves my clothing problem, but where will I stay?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm, that does pose somewhat of a problem. You can't stay with me, as Fluttershy is staying here until her house is rebuilt."

"He can stay with me." Said Twilight.

"You sure Twilight? I don't want to impose." Replied Naruto, but Twilight waved his concerns off.

"Nonsense Naruto. You're a friend, and you need a place to stay. I'm not taking no for an answer." With that, Twilight led naruto to the Ponyville library, which was also her home. Upon showing him the guest room and helping him put away his new clothes, he and Twilight were currently sitting down at the table while Spike was dusting the shelves.

"So Naruto, what's your world like? Twilight asked the blonde. Naruto for his part, leaned back in thought, though stayed silent, Finally after a few minutes, he spoke. "Compared to Equestria, it's an awful place. Children are trained at a young age to become soldiers. Death is constantly happening, greed and hate run rampant, and war is always looming on the horizon."

"That, doesn't sound all that pleasant." Admitted Twilight, then she thought of something. "Hey Naruto, what's your world's history?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you tell me Equestria's history first, since I'm foreign. Once you're done, I'll tell you my world's history." Twilight thought about it, then nodded.

"Okay, sounds good. I'll admit though, I don't know much past a thousand years ago so I'll start where I know best." So Twilight told Naruto about The two diarchs of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She then explained Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon, her imprisonment in the moon for a millenia, about all the things that happened during those thousand years, and finally, her and her friends victory over Nightmare Moon and using the elements of harmony to restore Luna. All the while, Naruto stayed silent throughout the explanation, and when Twilight was finished Naruto spoke.

"Wow, it's shocking just how little conflict there has been in the history that you know. Well I suppose it's my turn." With that Naruto explained the Sage of Six Paths and the Juubi,. He then explained the clan wars, and of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. He explained the founding of shinobi villages, and the system they implemented. He explained the Great Shinobi Wars, and the Biju. Finally, he explained the Fourth Shinobi War and the goals of Obito and Madara, and of their defeat. At the end of it all, Twilight was shell shocked. It revolted her just how war torn and messed up Naruto's world was. She was also completely awestruck by the sheer power that humans could wield, the Sage of Six Paths had to have been some kind of god to be able to create the moon and cast it into the heavens on his deathbed.

"Wow. Just, wow." Was all Twilight could say.

"Dinner's ready Twilight." Said Spike from the kitchen.

"What, already?" Replied Twilight in shock. looking at the clock, she saw that Naruto's explanation had taken three hours. Spike came in with two plates of fried vegetables and set them down in front of Twilight and Naruto.  The blonde then found he had a slight problem, there were no eating utensils. Looking at Twilight, Naruto saw that she would levitate individual pieces of vegetables to her mouth to be eaten, so he assumed that ponies had no need for any sort of eating utensil.

'Then again I guess they can't really use any since the have no hands.' He thought to himself. Since he had no other way of eating his meal, Naruto used his fingers to eat, After dinner was finished, Naruto let out a yawn.

"Man, what a day. Well Twilight, I don't know about you, but I'm beat. I'll see you tomorrow." Said Naruto as he headed for the guest room.

"Goodnight, Naruto." Twilight called after him. After finishing her spell studies for the night, Twilight decided to write to the princess and tell her of her discoveries of Naruto and his kind. "Spike, take a note." She said and her dragon assistant shot over to her, quill and parchment in hand.

"Princess Celestia..."
> The Wonders of Ramen and a Royal Surprise 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"All right Sasuke, any pain?" Fluttershy asked as she gently pressed a hoof gainst Sasuke's ribs.

"Some soreness, but nothing painful." The raven haired human replied.

"Wonderful. Okay Sasuke, you're injuries are healed enough that you can leave now. I'll go let the staff know." With that, Fluttershy left the room, returning several minutes later with his clothing, or what remained of it. After dressing, the two left the hospital and were welcomed by the bright morning sun.

"Do you know where I can find a seamstress?" Sasuke asked the pegasus.

"Oh, you mean Rarity. Yes, I'll take you over to her shop." Replied Fluttershy. Giving a nod of thanks, Sasuke followed her down the road. Soon the two came across a pink earth pony that appeared to be a friend of Fluttershy's if the casualness of the pony's attitude was anything to go by.

"Hiya Fluttershy, where are you off to?"  Asked the pink mare.

"Oh hello Pinkie Pie, I'm taking Sasuke over to Rarity's." Responded Fluttershy. When Pinkie Pie noticed Sasuke, she leaped into the air with a gasp, then shot off down the road, much to the Uchiha's confusion.

"What was that about?" He asked.

"Oh that's just Pinkie Pie. Since you're out of the hospital now she's probably gone to get that party ready." This caused Sasuke to internally groan. He hated crowds, noise, and annoyances; everything that a party was comprised of. Fluttershy then realized her mistake. "Oh dear, I shouldn't have said that." She said, covering her mouth with a hoof.

"And why is that?" Sasuke asked.

"Um, well, Pinkie Pie always makes the party she throws for a new face a surprise party. Since I told you she was planning the party it kind of ruined the surprise. I hope you're not mad." Fluttershy seemed to shrink into herself at this.

"I'm not mad, I don't like surprises." Was Sasuke's response. Silence then enveloped the two as they headed to their destination. Upon reaching the place, Sasuke was not impressed. It looked more like a kind of octagonal circus tent then a seamstress' shop. The roof and trim of the shop was diamond checkered in lilac and lavender, with several brightly coloured tents behind the building. The walls were a pale blue with a white pattern that framed the circular windows on both storeys of the structure. Finally, the curtains and accents were done in gold.

"Well, here we are Sasuke." Said Fluttershy as she opened the door for the Uchiha.

"Hello out there, I'll be with you in just a minute." Called a voice from farther in the shop. Seeing as the seamstress was busy, Sasuke decided to look around. Though he was unfamiliar with the fashion of pony culture, he could tell that the clothing on display was for formal occasions. The fabrics used looked high quality, not to mention there were gemstones used in certain areas as well.

"Oh goodness gracious Fluttershy, the other one's out of the hospital now?" Sasuke turned to the voice, and saw an alabaster unicorn with a deep violet mane.

"Yes, he only just got out. We came to see you Rarity as he's in the same predicament as Naruto was two days ago." Said Fluttershy.

"I can see that darling." Replied Rarity, looking at the ruins of Sasuke's outfit.

"Would you be able to restore these, seamstress?" Asked Sasuke.

"Unfortunately darling I cannot. The amount of damage makes stiiching the tears closed completely impossible, and patching it would look horrendous. And please call me Rarity darling. There's no need to be so business like."

"Not good, I have none of this land's currency, so I'm unable to pay for your services Rarity."

"Not to worry darling, I cannot in good conscience turn away a pony, well, human in your case darling, in need simply because they lack the bits necessary for payment. I will make your clothing free of charge." Replied the unicorn.

"Are you sure, I could easily find a way to pay you back." Said Sasuke, a bit taken aback by the generous offer Rarity was giving him.

"Like I told Naruto darling, I don't have to, but I want to. Now stop complaining and let's get started, nothing you say will change my mind."

"Very well then Rarity. Shall we begin?" Nodding, Rarity brought out a tape and began taking Sasuke's measurements. Two minutes later she had all she needed.

"All right darling, would you like me to make you something basic or is there a certain something you want?" She inquired. Thinking it over for a bit, Sasuke nodded to himself.

"Yes there is. Could you get me some paper and writing utensils?" Nodding, Rarity's horn lit up and a piece of parchment, a quill, and an inkwell floated over to Sasuke. Accepting the proferred items, Sasuke got to work drawing what he wanted, his Sharingan enabling him to bring out what his mind's eye was seeing with perfect clarity.Once he was finished, he showed the design to Rarity, who looked over it in amazement.

"Hm, a three piece outfit comprising of an undershirt, overcoat and pants, with a cloth sash tying the overcoat closed. Very well Sasuke, now what do you want the colours to be?"

"Before we get into colour Rarity, may I see samples of the fabrics you have at your disposal?" When Sasuke said this, Rarity knew he was from the upper class back where he was from. Nopony but the wealthy were particular of the very fabric used to make their clothing.

"Of course Sasuke, I'll have them brought out momentarily." Heading out into the back, Rarity returned a few minutes later with nine squares of cloth, which she placed in front of Sasuke. Activating his Sharingan again so to see the weave of the fabrics, Sasuke rubbed each piece between his thumb and forefinger so as to grade it's texture, then he would slightly pull each square while observing the weave to test durability. As Rarity watched sasuke scrutinize each fabric, she realized that Sasuke was not just upper class, but nobility. Upper class ponies would ask to see a selection of fabrics, but only nobility would so thoroughly scrutinize each individual piece. After Sasuke was done, he handed Rarity back a small stack of three squares.

"These are the fabrics I've selected, the top one is for the overcoat, the middle one is for the pants and sash, and the bottom one is for the undershirt." Nodding, Rarity checked the fabrics selected, putting names to each one.

"Alright Sasuke, now what do you want the colours to be?" Sasuke pondered on his ideas for colour schemes, and eventually came to a conclusion.

"The undershirt will be a light grey, while the overcoat will be black. The pants will be a dark grey, and the sash will be lavender." Nodding, Rarity started for her work room, but suddenly remembered something.

"Oh Sasuke, I almost forgot. When Naruto had his clothes made he had me put a certain symbol on his outfits. Do you want your outfits to have one as well." She inquired.

"As a matter of fact I was just about to ask about that." With that Sasuke turned around, presenting his back to the seamstress, and the untarnished clan crest upon it. "Can you put this symbol on the back of the overcoat? same size please." He asked, gesturing to the red and white fan.

"But of course darling. Make yourself comfortable as this will take a while. I shall endeavour to finish quickly." With that, Rarity headed to her work room, leaving Sasuke alone with Fluttershy. After a few minutes of silence, Sasuke decided to strike up a conversation.

"I noticed the town looks, roughed up, for lack of a better term. Everything's been fixed as far as I can see, but what happened to cause it?" Fluttershy stayed silent for a bit, then spoke.

"It happened the day you two were found, about four days ago. It was a regular afternoon, when out of the blue there was this big explosion. It had shaken my house up pretty bad and I was terrified. When it had stopped I immediately started getting my animal friends out of the cottage. Then the second explosion happened, which blew out my windows. I wasn't hurt, and despite the tremors caused by the explosion, I continued getting my animal friends out of the cottage. I had just got the last one, my pet bunny Angel, out when the last explosion happened. It sounded like everything in the world shattered at the same time, then something hit me on the head and I was knocked out. When I come to, I'm in the hospital and Rainbow Dash is telling me my house had collapsed." Sasuke cringed slightly.

"That was our fault." Said Sasuke, causing Fluttershy to look at him quizzically. He then revealed his and Naruto's predicament while in the space between dimensions and how the only way to survive was to force this world's door open, which was the cause of the explosions.

"It's okay, I forgive you. Nopony was seriously hurt, and you had to do it, otherwise you would have died. Besides, Naruto has been helping fix all of Ponyville with that clone spell of his, so I guess you could say he's apologized for the both of you."

"Indeed, though I must admit, Twilight's face when he performed that spell was absolutely priceless. I've never seen her jaw hang that low before." Both Fluttershy and Sasuke turned to see Rarity levitating a completed outfit to Sasuke. "Here you are darling, I trust it is to your liking?" Sasuke looked it over, and was impressed with the ensemble. The undershirt was an ash grey, while the overcoat looked like obsidian, the Uchiha crest emblazoned proudly on the back. The pants were the colour of dark smoke, and the sash was a bright lavender that paired well with the black overcoat..

"This looks good, where are the changing rooms?" After being directed to the changing room, Sasuke quickly shed his ruined old garments, and dressed himself in the outfit Rarity had made him. Everything fit perfectly, the undershirt was short sleeved and loose enough to provide his full range of upper body movement. The overcoat was quite loose on his frame as to not impede movement, and it was also a bit lighter than Sasuke expected. The pants material was very flexible, which allowed Sasuke uninhibited leg motion. Finishing the ensemble by wrapping the lavender sash around his waist twice, then tying it off, Sasuke stepped back out into the main room.

"Darling, you look absolutely regal in that." Replied Rarity, excitement and amazement toning her voice high.

"Oh my, you look incredible, Sasuke." said Fluttershy.

"Well Sasuke, it will take me a good hour to make the rest for you, so why don't you find something to entertain yourself in town." Sasuke couldn't fault her logic, there was nothing to do in the shop except talking to Fluttershy, and he could do that while in town. The only question was, what to do in town?

"Hey Fluttershy, any idea where the dobe is right now?"




"So what's this stuff called again?" Asked Spike as he stirred a large pot of simmering vegetable broth.

"Ramen. Back in my world I ate this stuff all the time." Replied Naruto as he slammed a ball of dough hard onto the counter, the impact making a dull thud and causing a few implements to rattle. After the dough had been pounded enough to his standards, Naruto now had to perform the most difficult and delicate part; making the noodles. "Okay Spike, watch and be amazed." With his audience paying close attention, Naruto stretched the dough out and performed a complex bounce and twist maneuver with it, causing the dough to twist up. He then repeated the procedure, making sure not to screw up. Constantly he twisted the dough, until at last the dough looked like it was made of dozens of thin cables.

"That's it?" Asked Spike.

"Wait for it." Replied Naruto, and with that he sliced off one end of the piece of dough, then holding it in his hands he stretched the dough rope and gave it a shake, causing it to suddenly split up into a bunch of thinner ropes. Spike's jaw got lower and lower as Naruto repeated the stretch and shake maneuver, causing the dough to become more and more noodles, until pretty soon, Naruto was holding hundreds of thin ropes of dough.

"How in the name of Celestia did you do that Naruto?" Spike asked, amazed by Naruto's performance.

"Sorry Spike, trade secret. Now then, lets get these into the broth." With that, the blonde cut the noodles into shorter bunches, then placed them into the broth to cook. While they were cooking, Naruto added a few choice seasonings and gave the soup a stir. "And that my good dragon is how you make ramen." Just then the library door opened.

"Oi dobe, you in here?" Called a very familiar voice. Naruto bolted out of the kitchen and into the library itself.

"Sasuke, you're finally out and about, eh? I see you've met Rarity, what do you think of her work?"

"Hn, she knows what she's doing, I'll give her that." Sasuke replied.

"Um, I hope we're not interrupting anything." Said Fluttershy.

"Course not, come in, you guys are just in time for lunch. Hey Spike, go fetch Twilight for me will ya?" Giving a salute, the purple drakeling darted up the stairs leading to Twilight's room. Naruto headed into the kitchen while Sasuke and Fluttershy seated themselves at the table. Soon, Spike came downtairs with Twilight in tow, and the two seated themselves alongside Sasuke and Fluttershy. Soon, Naruto brought out heaping bowls of ramen, causing Sasuke to groan.

"Should have figured he'd know how to actually cook it." He grumbled. After everyone was equipped with a bowl and a pair of chopsticks that Spike had roughly hewn out earlier, they dug in, or at least, the ones with fingers did.

"Um Naruto, what are these for?" Asked Twilight, levitating her chopsticks.

"Oh, those are chopsticks. You use them to grab the noodles." After observing how Naruto did it, Twilight was able to replicate the action with her levitation spell.

"Um, Naruto, I can't hold these." Said Fluttershy.

"Whoops. Sorry Fluttershy, let me help with that." Crossing his index fingers, Naruto summoned a shadow clone that immediately went over to Fluttershy. The clone took the chopsticks and began helping Fluttershy eat her ramen.

"Wow Naruto, this stuff's amazing." Said Spike, before returning to the task of stuffing his face with noodles.

"This is great, The noodles are so soft and wonderful." Replied Twilight, before slurping up some more of the aforementioned noodles.

"Hey boss." Said the Naruto clone, getting the original's attention. "Looks like we got us a convert." He said as he gestured to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus had a look of absolute bliss on her face as she continued to slurp up noodles without any pause. Her wings were extended and lightly fluttered at random intervals, and her cheeks were dusted with a very pale blush. When Sasuke saw this, he let out a groan, while in his head a chibi version of himself was running around screaming "They're multiplying, the end is nigh!". Soon all were finished with the noodles, leaving only the broth. Bowls were lifted to mouths, and the guzzling began with gusto. Fluttershy and Naruto were the first done, followed soon after by the others.

"Wow, I'm stuffed." Said Spike, rubbing his content stomach.

"I know what you mean Spike, that was one of the best meals I've ever had." Replied Twilight.

"Knowing the dobe though, there's no stopping him until he hits bowl number twenty." Remarked sasuke, getting incredulous stares from the other two.

"More please?" Asked Fluttershy.

"Sure thing Fluttershy." Said Naruto, refilling his and Fluttershy's bowls. This continued while Spike and Twilight watched with mounting amazement, then awe, then horror as the human and pegasus kept going at it.

"Sweet Celestia, where are they putting it all?" Asked a shocked Spike.

"I'm doing the math wrong. There's no other explanation as to how their stomachs haven't exploded yet." Muttered a frazzled Twilight.

"Ok, the dobe i can get. I've seen him eat his body weight in ramen before, but how in the name of the sage of six paths is the pegasus keeping pace?" Indeed, both Naruto and Fluttershy were on bowl twenty, and still not slowing down. Finally, the inevitable came. Naruto saw that there was only enough ramen left for one more bowl. As to who would get it, well that much was obvious. Filling up the last bowl, he put it in front of Fluttershy.

"Here you go Fluttershy. Last bowl is always the best." Naruto said with a warm grin.

"Oh um, thank you Naruto." Replied Fluttershy, her blush deepening a little, and soon she was packing the last bowl away like a champ. Once she finished drinking the broth down, she promptly fell backwards out of her seat, barely holding on to consciousness. "Oh...my...that...was...amazing." She said between gasps.

"Is she going to be okay?" Asked Twilight, concerned for her friend's health.

"She's going to be just fine. Happened to me too on my first ramen binge. It was my seventh birthday and the old man was treating me to ramen. When we walked out of that stand the old man was weeping for his wallet and master Teuchi was weeping tears of joy. Ah good times."

"Dobe, now's not the time for getting lost on the road of life, that was Kakashi-sensei's job." Said Sasuke, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Right, don't worry, Fluttershy just needs to walk it off. I'll take her on a stroll and she'll be as good as new when you next see her." After Naruto managed to help Fluttershy to her hooves, the two left the the library, Fluttershy stumbling the entire way out the door. Sasuke looked at the clock and noticed it was almost time to head back to Rarity's. As he got up to leave, he was approached by Twilight.

"Um, if it's alright with you, I'd like to ask you some questions. Is it alright if I come with you?" She asked. Sasuke thought for a bit, and saw no harm in the request.

"Very well, though I reserve the right to refuse to answer any question I deem too personal."




Naruto wandered aimlessly through Ponyville, Fluttershy walking behind him drunkenly. After a while, the pegasus couldn't take it anymore and flopped down on the grass.

"You okay Fluttershy?" Naruto asked as he went over to her.

"I think all that ramen caught up with me." She groaned, causing Naruto to chuckle. Gently scooping her up into his arms, he brought her underneath the shade of a large tree and gently laid her down in it.

"Here, lie here and rest it off." Sitting beside the recovering mare, Naruto leaned back on the tree trunk and let his entire body relax. Idly, he noticed he was slowly running a hand through Fluttershy's mane, and it was causing her to relax even further, until finally her breathing became deep and constant, indicating she had fallen asleep. Chuckling to himself, Naruto began to turn his senses to nature. He was still stroking his fingers through Fluttershy's mane, thus being still in motion, so he was unable to draw the energy of nature in, but he was being still enough to get a feel for it. The energy of Equestria felt much more vibrant than the Elemental Nations, and a lot less chaotic. The energy also felt more, for lack of a better term, alive. A bird fluttered down and roosted on Naruto's shoulder, and the blonde didn't so much as twitch. After a while, more animals came and made themselves comfortable in Naruto's presence. When Fluttershy woke up, she was treated to the scene of Naruto surrounded by small woodland animals.

"Oh my, how long was I asleep for?" She asked.

"Just a few hours, you feeling better?" Naruto responded.

"Much, though I'm still quite full. I don't think I'll be eating anything more today." A squirrel came up to Fluttershy and chittered for a bit, then scampered up the tree, causing her to smile. "They really like you."

"Who?" Naruto asked, cracking open a cerulean eye in confusion.

"The animals. They say you feel like a peaceful forest grove. Safe, secure, homely, your presence instills these feelings in them, and they enjoy it greatly. How do you do it?" At this, a small grin formed on Naruto's face.

"One of my abilities is the ability to mix the energy of nature itself with my chakra, which puts me in a form that where I come from is called sage mode." Fluttershy cocked her head in confusion.

"Sage mode?" She echoed, to which Naruto nodded.

"Yup, sage mode. It allows me to fight with the power of nature itself. My physical attacks are stronger, my jutsus are more potent, and I become extremely resilient."

"Wow, could you show me? I mean, if that's alright with you of course." Asked Fluttershy, and Naruto grinned.

"No problem. Ok, sit tight, this will take a few minutes." With that, Naruto ceased his ministrations to Fluttershy's mane, much to her hidden disappointment, and went completely still. Not a muscle moved or twitched, and it looked like he wasn't even breathing. One minute passed, then two, then it happened. A powerful wave of warmth seemed to explode from Naruto, and in an instant it reached Fluttershy, enveloping her in a blanket of comfort and safety, like she was surrounded by all her friends, both pony and animal. Barely managing to keep herself coherent on her surroundings, Flutterhy saw that the area around Naruto's eyes had become deep scarlet in colour, and when he opened his eyes, Fluttershy couldn't help but gasp. Naruto's eyes had changed from a cerulean blue to a burning gold, and the pupil was no longer round, but had become elliptical like a dragon's. Unlike a dragon's however, she didn't fear these eyes. She wanted to jump into those liquid gold pools and be lost in them forever.

"...shy. Fluttershy. You there?" Naruto's voice snapped her out of her trance, and with a shake of her head she managed to come to her senses.

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"Are you ok Fluttershy? You looked like you were in some kind of trance?" Naruto responded, concern in his voice.

"No no, I'm fine. It's just, wow. I can feel for myself just what all the other animals were feeling. No wonder they like you so much if your presence gives them this much comfort." And what a feeling it was. Fluttershy felt like she was curled up in her cottage, surrounded by her friends, and nothing could harm her. She had to be careful not to be entranced by the feeling, lest she never slip out.

"No way." said Naruto, the shock in his voice helping to snap Fluttershy back into reality.

"What is it?" She asked, and saw Naruto gaping at a squirrel on his shoulder.

"I can understand her." he said after a bit of silence. Soon he and Fluttershy were conversing with squirrels, birds, and all other small woodland creatures. After twenty minutes though, Naruto's sage mode disengaged, taking the rapturous feeling of comfort with it, much to Fluttershy's disappointment.

"That's it?" She asked, the disappointment she felt seeping into her voice.

"Afraid so. Sage mode can't be held forever you know." Replied Naruto apologetically.

"Ah there you two are, I've been looking everywhere." Naruto and Fluttershy looked up to the source of the new voice and saw that it was Rainbow Dash. "You guys need to come over to Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie wants you for something pronto." With that, Rainbow flew off to the bakery herself.

"We should go, it wouldn't be nice to keep Pinkie Pie waiting." Said Fluttershy, and soon the two were in front of the bakery.




Sasuke was enjoying himself. After meeting Rainbow Dash, another pegasus like Fluttershy who had come to retrieve him for something Pinkie Pie wanted, she had boasted how she was the fastest flier in Equestria. Sasuke had shot down the claim as mere boasting, causing Rainbow to demand a race to prove her claim. Sasuke agreed on two conditions; one, she fly close to the ground, and two, they both stayed on the same paths with no deviations. With that the two had taken off like rockets, and there had been no stopping them. Rainbow Dash was flying as fast as she could in the restrictive conditions of Ponyville's streets, and Sasuke was easily keeping pace. Soon, it became less a race, and more a test of their limits and reactions. The two had been keeping neck and neck the entire way, and soon Sugarcube Corner could be seen. Dash put as much speed as she could into her final stretch, but was dumbfounded when Sasuke shot past her like a black lightning bolt. Sasuke easily reached the bakery first, skidding to a halt before he impacted into Naruto. Rainbow Dash however, didn't have the best brakes in Equestria, and promptly overshot the finish line. Fluttershy managed to duck in time, causing Rainbow Dash to collide into a pale grey pegasus pony with a pale yellow mane and gold eyes.

"Oh my gosh! Derpy, I'm so sorry, are you-" Rainbow was interrupted when she heard snaps and saw flashes, then she realized her position on the dazed pegasus mare. With a shrill scream, she leaped off of Derpy Hooves, an atomic red blush covering her face.

"Yes, blackmail material!" said Naruto with a disturbingly fox-like grin on his face and a camera in his hands. "We have evidence, Rainbow Dash is into mares. Sasuke and Fluttershy are my witnesses."

"No! Naruto please, if ponies start thinking I'm a filly fooler, my reputation will be ruined! I'll never get into the Wonderbolts. Please Naruto, I'll do anything, Anything!"  Rainbow Dash was clinging to the blonde's legs as she begged.

"Anything?" Asked Naruto, his grin only widening.

"Anything!" screamed Rainbow Dash.

"Anything?"

"I'll say it a thousand times if I have to, Anything!"

"Perfect." Rainbow Dash suddenly had a bad feeling in her stomach as the last rays of the setting sun cast dark shadows across Naruto's face




Sugarcube Corner was pitch black when the group of four entered it.

"Dammit, I can't see a thing. Where's the lights?" Said Naruto, when suddenly the lights were flicked on.

"Surprise!"  Shouted everypony in the bakery, which was at least half of Ponyville, causing Naruto to nearly jump out of his skin.

"Whoa, what's the big idea, dattebayo!" Hollered Naruto.

"It's a surprise party silly." Replied Pinkie Pie as she bounced over to Sasuke. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. Were you surprised? I saw you earlier today with Fluttershy, and I didn't know who you were, and since I know everypony in Ponyville I knew you were new. Then I remembered that Naruto had a human friend with him and he wanted me to..." Sasuke gave Naruto a pleading look, and the blonde decided to have mercy on his best friend.

"All right Pinkie, that's enough. Sasuke just got out of the hospital and needs to take it easy. You wouldn't want to put him back in there by accident would you." At this, Pinkie Pie gasped and profusely apologized, before going off to set up some games.

"Thanks for that, dobe. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get out of here for my sanity's sake." Said Sasuke, slipping out the door when nopony was looking. Having never been to a party before, Naruto decided to wander and mingle while trying to find something to participate in, then he spotted Rainbow Dash hiding under the refreshment table.

"Now now Rainbow Dash, you wouldn't be trying to skimp out on our deal now?" Said mare nearly shrieked in fright when she heard Naruto.

"Please Naruto, don't make me do this. My image will be completely ruined if you do. If this is about that fake ramen prank I pulled on you yesterday, then I'm sorry, I'll never do anything like it again. Just please don't make me do this." She begged.

"A picture says a thousand words Rainbow, and I've got several. Would you rather they get out?" Rainbow was sweating from the weight of each decision, her eyes flitting left and right, until finally with a resigned sigh, she answered.

"In all honesty, yes, I'd rather let those pictures out then spend an entire day beautifying with Rarity. I may get ridiculed as a filly fooler, but I could still get into the Wonderbolts. If it got out that I liked being prim and proper though, the Wonderbolts would think I don't take my training seriously and would close the door in my face. I am not going to ruin my shot at my dream simply because of some blackmail, so do your worst." Naruto raised an eyebrow at this.

"So what's the big deal about this Wonderbolts gang anyway?" He asked.

"The Wonderbolts are Equestria's top pegasus flyers. they are the masters of flight, performing amazing aerial maneuvers and feats, and it's always been my dream to join them in the skies." Naruto suddenly felt rather sick for blackmailing the rainbow maned pegasus like that. It would be like destroying his own former dream of wanting to become Hokage.

"Rainbow, why is being in the Wonderbolts so important?" Rainbow was silent for a bit, then spoke.

"It's personal, and if you don't mind I'd really not want to share it." Naruto however, saw her reason, deep in her eyes. Taking out the five photos of her collision with Derpy, Naruto channelled wind chakra through them, shredding the photos into pieces.

"Well if it means that much to you, I'd have to be pretty heartless to take it from you because of a prank." He said, causing Rainbow to let loose a deep shuddering breath of relief.

"Thank you." With that, she left her hiding place and joined the party. Helping himself to a few apple strudels, Naruto watched with mounting amusement as Applejack swung wide and took a spill when she tried whacking what the ponies called a pinata. Just then, the bakery door opened, and a voice came through that made everypony freeze.

"I was unaware there was a party going on. I hope nopony minds if I crash." Then the owner of the voice stepped through, and Naruto studied the newcomer. She was a lot larger than the other ponies, and came equipped with both wings and a horn. Her mane and tail seemed to be ethereal and were striped with multiple pastel colours.

"Princess Celestia!" Exclaimed Twilight as she ran up to her mentor.

"Hello my faithful student." Celestia responded. Soon, everypony was making a big fuss over the princess, much to her hidden displeasure.

"Please my little ponies, do not fret over me. This party is not in my honor, so there is no reason for any of you to cater to my needs. Please treat me as you would any other guest of this party." Though it took a bit more coaxing from the princess, the party was soon back in full swing.

"So princess, what brings you here? Simply not because of a simple party I assume." Asked Twilight.

"Indeed my faithful student. I've come to speak with you actually, in regards to the letter you sent me two days ago." Celestia replied.

"What about it? Did I forget something? Did I do something wrong?" Celestia calmed Twilight down before things escalated further.

"Calm yourself Twilight, you've done nothing wrong. I came because I wanted to talk to Naruto myself." She replied.

"Whatever for, your highness?" Said Naruto from right behind the princess, grinning when he saw that he made both her and Twilight jump in shock.

"Naruto, you shouldn't scare ponies like that." Admonished Twilight.

"Well you gave me a start, Naruto. As you probably already know I am princess Celestia. I command the sun and day, and co-rule Equestria alongside my sister Luna. After reading the notes my faithful student had sent me about you and your kind, I wanted to see you for myself. I also noted that there was not much information regarding human magic, or jutsu as you call it. However, now is not the time for questions, as we are at a party that should be enjoyed. So Naruto, would it be possible for you to come to Canterlot in two days?"

"By the way princess, the other human, Sasuke, has finished recovering as well." Twilight interjected.

"Oh? I was unaware of such news. Where is he then?" Asked Celestia in confusion, seeing no other human in the room.

"He's not a party person, so he slipped out the first chance he got. If you want him to come as well, I'll let him know.:" Said Naruto.

"That would be most appreciated, Naruto. Now then, I believe we've talked enough, there's a party to enjoy." Naruto grinned at this.

"You bet, see you in two days then, Sunshine."  With that, Naruto made his leave, leaving to shocked mare's behind.

"Naruto! That is no way to address the princess, show some respect!" Twilight hollered after the blonde.

"It's fine, Twilight. I get enough fomality every day that the informality of Naruto is quite refreshing. Now then, run along my faithful student, go enjoy the party." Nodding, Twilight went back to her circle of friends. Leaving the princess alone. Celestia looked around and let out a sigh.

"I see Sasuke wasn't the only one to disappear from the party. She must have run off when I wasn't paying attention." Just then, a large cake was brought out, passing under Celestia's snout as it was brought to the table.

"Oh, I really shouldn't." Celestia muttered to herself, though her willpower crumbled when she saw the cake being cut. "A few slices won't hurt." However, anyone who knew Celestia knew that she never stopped at 'a few slices' when it came to good cake.




Sasuke stared up at the starlit sky from his position on the roof of Sugarcube Corner, the noise of the party below barely noticable on it. He cast a disdainful glance at his perch. The entire building looked like it was constructed entirely of candies and baked sweets. If there was one thing he hated more than parties, it was sweets. Sweets reminded him too much of his past. He returned his gaze to the night sky, so to avoid a train of thought he did not want to take.

"May we join thou?" Asked a female voice. Turning to it's source, Sasuke saw it was a pony different from any he'd seen all day. She was a deep dark blue, the colour of the midnight sky. Her mane and tail had an ethereal quality to them and looked like the sky of a clear summer night filled with stars. She wore a small crown as blue as her body, along with a cloth chestpiece emblazoned with a crescent moon. The most notable thing about her, was the fact that she had both wings as well as a horn.

"And you are?" asked Sasuke, curious of the new arrival.

"We are princess Luna, sovreign of the moon and night, and co-ruler of Equestria alongside our sister Celestia. And thou must be one of these human creatures we have heard our sister speak about. may we have thy name?" The mysterious pony replied.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Well Sasuke, may we join thou in gazing upon our night sky." Sasuke thought for a bit, then nodded.

"Go ahead." He answered, and Luna laid down beside him to gaze upon the silent sky.

"So why art thou not partaking in the merrymaking within this building?"  Asked Luna after a stretch of silence.

"I could ask you the same." Was Sasuke's reply.

"The populace still fears us for what we hath done in the recent and distant past. We wish to avoid the fear and resentment, as many still see us as the monster we once were." Answered Luna, her expression one of great regret.

"That makes two of us." Said Sasuke, causing Luna to look at him in confusion.

"What dost thou mean?" She asked.

"I myself have done monstrous things. There were times where I was fully prepared and willing to end the lives of those I called friends. Back in my world I'd probably be in the same position as you." Silence fell between the two after that, as they both simply gazed upon the moon and stars.

"It's odd." Said Sasuke, breaking the quiet. "The night seems more alive than in my world. The stars shine brighter, the sky is clearer, and there's an air of tranquility that doesn't exist in my world."

"That would be our doing, Sasuke. The night is our domain, and we tried to make it as beautiful as possible so to win our subjects appreciation. What thou art seeing is the efforts of our work from long ago." Answered Luna. "Dost thou find it to thine liking?"

"Very. I've never felt this much at peace at night. Night back in my world is a time of bloodshed and death, where men and women are killed in silence as they sleep. to gaze upon the night like this can only be done in the safety of one's own village, and even then, there's a sense of tension in the air. This world's night; your night, it holds none of these things, and I enjoy it greatly." Silence once again drifted between the two, but Luna soon banished it.

"We hath heard from our sister that thine world was a dark and cruel place. Still, it has been a long time since anypony has appreciated our night, and we thank thou for it."

"So this is where you've been hiding, Luna." Sasuke and Luna turned to the voice, and saw another pony like Luna, though her colouring was vastly different, and she was larger. "I see you've made a friend." She said with a playful grin.

"No, it's nothing like that, sister. We wanted to avoid ruining the merrymaking, so we came up here and saw that Sasuke here was enjoying our night, so we joined him in stargazing." Luna sputtered.

"Well in any case Lulu, the party's over now, so we're heading back to Canterlot. I was hoping you would at least try to mingle at the party, but I suppose you making friends with Sasuke will do." Luna sighed and got up to follow Celestia.

"Fare thee well Sasuke, and may we see each other soon." With that, Sasuke watched as the two flew off the roof and returned to the ground, only to return to the air in chariots pulled by armoured pegasi, obviously royal guards of some kind. Getting up on his feet, Sasuke leaped off the roof, landing right beside Twilight Sparkle, much to her shock.

"Whoa! Don't do that Sasuke, you nearly gave me a heart attack." She admonished, to which Sasuke responded by rolling his eyes. "So where have you been this whole time? Naruto said you slipped out almost immediately after the party started."

"Just enjoying some peace and quiet with a friend." Sasuke replied, and refused to elaborate more on the subject despite Twilight's pleading.
> Trolling a Braggart and Demonstrations of Power
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The afternoon summer sun shone brightly down on Ponyville, filling it's inhabitants with warmth and cheer. On this particular day, Naruto was helping put the last touches on Fluttershy's rebuilt cottage. It was completely rebuilt, though the roof was still dirt as the sod and shrubbery had yet to grow, something Naruto was going to change. Activating Kurama's chakra cloak, Naruto directed the energy into the ground, and the results were instantaneous. What would haven taken months took minutes. The grass erupted from the dirt like a tidal wave, and bushes and shrubs grew and bloomed all around the windows and frames.

"There we are." Said Naruto as he disengaged the cloak. "All finished. What do you think Fluttershy?"

"It looks wonderful Naruto, thank you so much for your help." Replied Fluttershy. Naruto leaped off the roof and joined Fluttershy in helping some animals get aquainted with their new homes. Just then, two unicorn colts, Snips and Snails if Naruto remembered right, ran down the road hollering something about an extremely powerful unicorn being in town.

"Think we should go check it out?" He asked the yellow pegasus, who nodded. The two walked over to the town square, where a wooden trailer sat. Spotting Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, the two joined them.

"So what's going on?" He asked the three mares.

"Apparently, some unicorn who claims to have the most magical talent in Equestria is here to strut her stuff." Replied Rainbow Dash. The group was then joined by Twilight, Spike, and Sasuke.

"Come one, come all," Boomed a voice from within the trailer, causing it to unfold into a curtained stage, "and witness the amazing power of the great and powerful Trixie!" With that, a puff of smoke appeared on center stage, and once it cleared it revealed a pale blue unicorn with a white mane, dressed in a purple cloak and conical hat with colourful stars printed all over both items. many ponies oohed at this, though Sasuke and Naruto were not impressed.

"Watch in awe, as the great and powerful Trixie, performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!" Declared the unicorn, prompting a large amount of fireworks and other such fanfare to be released from the stage.

"My my my, what boasting." Said Rarity, unimpressed by the display. Spike began to agree, but suddenly choked up and ran for Twilight, saying something about a mustache along the way. Naruto then noticed Twilight being very insecure for some reason, and overheard her asking her friends if there was anything wrong with talent. Applejack's response seemed to have a negative effect on Twilight, seeing as she seemed to shrink into herself. Rarity's and Rainbow's responses didn't help either.

"Well well well," Said Trixie, having overheard the group, "it seems we have some neighsayers in the audiance. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the great and powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they are in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?!"

"Pfft, just who does she think she is?" Rarity asked, completely unimpressed by all the boasting. Spike was about to put Twilight out there, but said mare stopped him. It was then that Rainbow had reached her limit in tolerating Trixie's bragging. Flying up to the unicorn, she demanded to know why Trixie thought she was so high and mighty.

"Why, only the great and powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!" She replied, and with magic and fireworks, created visual aides to go along with her story of taking down the giant bear.

"Are you buying this?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke.

"Not a word." The Uchiha replied. Snips and Snails, being the young gullible colts they were, were, and began praising the boasting mare to the high heavens.

"How do you know, you didn't see it! And besides, Twi-" That was as far as Spike got before Twilight literally zipped his mouth shut.

"It's true my enthusiastic little admirers," Said Trixie with a giggle, "Trixie is most certainly the best in Ponyville." Complete silence greeted her at this. "Don't believe the great and powerful Trixie? Well then, I hereby challenge you ponyvillians; anything you can do, Trixie can do better, and Trixie will start with you!" She cried, pointing her hoof at Naruto. 

"Me?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, you. Trixie has heard of the new beings, the humans, in Equestria that have incredible and powerful magic. As the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria, Trixie must prove herself superior to such adversaries." Stated the unicorn, with more fireworks and fanfare erupting from the stage.

"Fine by me, I've been meaning to shut you up anyway." With that, Naruto leaped out of the crowd and onto the stage. Walking to the end of the stage, the blonde crossed his index fingers. "Let's see you beat this, oh great and powerful Trixie, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" With a puff of smoke, Ten Narutos stood at the end of the stage, causing everyone to cheer. "Well great and powerful Trixie, can you top this?"

"Watch and be amazed by the magic of Trixie." Replied the unicorn as she removed her hat, revealing her glowing horn. Coils of rope sprang to life from backstage, and snared all ten Narutos in their binds. "Well that wasn't too hard." She said, her voice dripping with arrogance.

"I'm not done yet lady!" Hollered Naruto. With a poof of smoke, all nine shadow clones vanished, and the real Naruto shredded the ropes ensnaring him with wind chakra. Suddenly, he was enveloped by a plume of smoke once again, and when it cleared, there stood another Trixie.

"Look at me, I'm the great and powerful Trixie!" Declared Naruto, his voice a perfect imitation of Trixie's. "Watch and be amazed as i boast and brag, and when somepony comes to challenge me, I humiliate them with cheap parlour tricks to distract the audiance from the fact that I can do nothing special." This caused the audiance to giggle. "Yes, the only real magic I can do is some colourful smoke and explosions, with some confetti and lights mixed in for variety." The audiance were laughing their flanks off at this point, and the real Trixie's entire body had gone bright red from anger and embarrassment. "What's that? How did I beat the Ursa Major? Oh it was nothing, I just ran away screaming my head off while it chased after me. Eventually it got bored and went back to it's cave." Most of the audiance at this point were on the ground, holding their sides in laughter.

"Sweet Celestia, make it stop. I can't take it anymore." Said Rainbow Dash, clutching at her sides in merriment.

"No more! My sides are gonna split open!" Chortled Spike, who wasn't doing any better than Rainbow Dash.

"Enough!" Screamed Trixie, and with a burst of magic, created a storm cloud to strike Naruto with. Naruto just smirked and disengaged the transformation, then just as the cloud rumbled for a lightning bolt, another plume of smoke surrounded Naruto and Trixie. The storm cloud then shot a lightning bolt into the smoke cloud that had surrounded Naruto, earning a shriek of pain from within. When the smoke cleared, Naruto and Trixie had swapped places, with Trixie having a blackened flank from the lightning bolt.

"Well folks, it appears the great and powerful Trixie doesn't like the taste of her own medicine." Said Naruto, renewing the laughter of the crowd.

"You haven't beaten Trixie yet, human." The unicorn snarled.

"Lady, please. The three jutsu I just used are what we humans teach our kids in our academies. Clone, transformation, and substitution, they are the three most basic techniques a human can learn."

"Is that true, Sasuke." Asked Twilight, and Sasuke nodded.

"Yes. Every shinobi, no matter their nation, all know those three jutsu."

"So how does it feel, oh great and powerful Trixie, to be trounced by the most simple of jutsu?" Naruto mocked.

"Why you! You haven't bested me yet, human. The great and powerful Trixie has only begun to show her magical might!" At this, Naruto put his hands at chest level, palms open and pointed outward.

"Watch it folks, we have us a badass on the stage." he said in a sarcastic voice.

"Badass?" Questioned Twilight.

"Human term." Replied Sasuke, and left it at that. Trixie had had enough of the blonde. Charging as much power as she could into her horn, she unleashed it in a concentrated beam that smashed into Naruto's chest, throwing him off the stage.

"Cheap shot!" Hollered Rainbow Dash.

"Why that no good, dirty rotten, two timin' scoundrel! Let me at 'er!" Screamed Applejack, who was held back by Spike and Rarity. Boos and jeers erupted from the crowd, nopony liking the fact that Trixie knocked Naruto out cold with a cheap shot.

"And once again the great and powerful Trixie proves herself to be the most powerful unicorn of Equestria!" Exclaimed Trixie in her usual arrogant tone.

"Lady, please. That little lightshow of yours didn't pack enough wallop to dispel my shadow clone."  And with that, 'Naruto' disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to the crowd's, and Trixie's shock. "I assume since you're now using actual combat techniques, I can do the same?" At this, a strange humming sound reverberated through the area.

"Where are you!" Trixie screamed, looking all around for the blonde.

"Down here. Rasengan!" With that, the real Naruto erupted from below the stage underneath Trixie, a spiralling ball of blue energy in his hand, which he rammed into the surprised unicorn's stomach. Screaming in pain, Trixie was rocketed off the stage, spinning around as she flew through the air. The crowd managed to duck in time to avoid the spinning mare, and Trixie hit the ground, dragging a shallow furrow through it, and coming to a stop in an unconscious heap of limbs and dirt. "Don't worry folks, that jutsu was at it's lowest power level." Naruto reassured the crowd. "The worst I've done is bruise her stomach area, her back, and most importantly, her pride." After being assured that Trixie was in no way seriously injured, the crowd cheered for Naruto.

"That was totally awesome! You rock, Naruto!" Cheered Rainbow Dash.

"Normally I do not condone such brutish action, but that mare had it coming. I'm quite glad Naruto put her in her place." Said Rarity.

"Wait, Naruto completely flaunted his magical ability in front of everypony. Doesn't that make him as bad as Trixie?" Twilight asked.

"Whoa whoa whoa, magical talent has nothing to do with it. Trixie's just an insufferable loudmouth." Responded Rainbow Dash.

"Most unpleasant." Rarity added.

"All hat 'n no cattle." Applejack finished.

"So you guys wouldn't have minded if I had done something about her earlier?" Twilight asked.

"Of course not, darling. Why didn't you do something earlier if you could have?" Asked Rarity in confusion.

"I'm sorry. It's just, I saw how everypony reacted to Trixie's magic tricks and thought I'd get the same treatment if I showed what I could do." Replied Twilight.

"Twi, yer magical ability is a part o' who yeh are, n' we like who yeh are sugarcube. We're proud to have a talented unicorn as our friend." Said Applejack. Twilight sighed in relief at this.

"Although it would have been cool if you showed Trixie who's boss, you got to admit Naruto was just awesome." Rainbow Dash exclaimed, causing the other three girls to giggle. The four then saw Naruto get mobbed by ponies asking questions about his magic, and get praised by Snips and Snails as the most powerful magic user in Equestria.

"Please, it's nothing, I'm not that good." Naruto said to the two colts. Soon the crowd died down, and Trixie was taken to the hospital to make sure she was fine, and Ponyville returned to it's usual routine.




The night was dark and gloomy in the Everfree Forest, as it always was there, but that didn't stop Trixie. When she had been let out of the hospital she had been the laughing stock of Ponyville, but she wouldn't take this humiliation lying down. Ponyville would pay, the human would pay, she'd make sure of it. Stomping through the underbrush, she soon found what she was looking for. A massive cave opening that gaped on the surface of a cliff face like a hungry mouth, big enough to house one of two things; a dragon, or an ursa major. Concentrating a large amount of magic, Trixie fired it into the cave, and was rewarded with the sound of pained roars. Trixie smirked and headed back for Ponyville, but was stopped in her tracks when a roar far more powerful then the previous ones blasted from within the cave. The unicorn decided to beat a hasty retreat back to Ponyville, before whatever made that roar caught up with her.




Twilight was spending the early evening engrossed in a book as usual, while Spike was re-iterating Naruto's triumph over Trixie.

"And then the Naruto we all thought was the real one turned out to be a shadow clone, and he comes blasting out from underneath Trixie, and slams her with that awesome spell of his, rasengan he called it. That was just awesome!" Twilight let out a tired sigh, that was the fourth time Spike had gone on about that.

"Spike, I know. I was there too, remember?"

"Aw, let the kid have his fun Twilight." Replied Naruto as he brought out dinner, which happened to be ramen.

"Not that I'm complaining, Naruto, but don't you know how to make anything else?" Asked Twilight as her bowl was place on the table for her.

"No actually. Ramen's the only thing I can actually make. So what're ya reading?"

"Oh just a book about ursa majors. I was checking to see if Trixie's claim had any merit to it." Responded Twilight, heading over to the table for some delicious noodles and broth. Naruto went over to the bookstand and read what the unicorn mare had been checking out.

"Yup, complete hot air. One of these suckers is as big as a biju, and if what's written here is true, are strong enough to make the princesses wary. No way an ordinary pony can take them." Suddenly, there was a fierce pounding at the door. "I'll get it." Said Naruto, and the blonde headed for the door. Opening it, he looked around to see no one, then down to see Snips and Snails with looks of pure panic on their faces.

"Naruto! you gotta come quick, we got a big problem!" Hollered Snips.

"Yeah, major problem, ursa major to be exact." As if to prove that the colts were serious, A colossal roar was heard on the outskirts of Ponyville.

"Dammit! What the hell's an ursa major doing rampaging into Ponyville, dattebayo!"  Exclaimed Naruto. Twilight and Spike came rushing out, and gaped in horror when they saw the beast. It looked like someone had taken a piece of the darkest night sky, filled it with stars, then made it into the shape of a bear, and gave it massive claws and fangs.

"Twilight, can't you do something?" Asked Spike.

"I'm sorry Spike, but I have no magic spells strong enough to even try."

"That's why I'm here. You two get all the townsponies to safety, I'll deal with this." Replied Naruto.

"Naruto, not even you can bring down an ursa major."

"I can't, but Kurama can." Twilight was confused by the blonde's answer.

"Who's Kurama?" Asked Twilight.

"I'll explain later, we've got bigger things to worry about." Nodding, Twilight began getting the townsponies out of the danger zone. Naruto was soon joined by Sasuke.

"You got this or do you need some help?" He asked.

"No, I'm good." Naruto answered, and strode towards the massive ursa.

"Wait!" Shrieked Fluttershy, who had suddenly appeared right in front of the blonde. "Don't seriously injure it."

"Fluttershy, it's about to rampage into Ponyville. I've got to stop it, or somepony is going to get extremely injured or worse."

"You forget that I can understand animals, Naruto. That ursa's angry because somepony hurt her cub. I can't let you hurt a mother, Naruto, who knows what could happen to the baby."

"Somepony was idiot enough to attack an ursa minor? Who the hell did that, dattebayo!" Exclaimed Naruto. Sasuke then noticed something running down the road leading out of Ponyville. Focusing on it with his Mangekyou, he saw that it was Trixie.

"I think I have an idea. Naruto, you stop the ursa, I'll catch the culprit." With that, Sasuke rocketed after Trixie. Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, things just got more complicated.

"Okay, how can we get that ursa to leave without conflict, Fluttershy?" He asked the pink maned pegasus.

"the only way I can think of is to threaten her safety. She'll immediately withdraw for the sake of her cub back home. Problem is, only one of the princesses has that kind of power."

"No, I can do it. Get back Fluttershy, Kurama needs room."

"Kurama?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

"You'll see in just a moment, now get far back Fluttershy, it's going to be cramped enough with all these buildings. I don't want him to hurt you by accident." Nodding, Fluttershy ran off to help get the townsponies to safety. Taking a deep breath, Naruto engaged Kurama's chakra cloak.

"Ready for some fun Kurama?" He asked his partner.

"Just let me out already kit. I haven't been able to scare something my own size in millenia." Kurama grumbled back.

"Just remember, watch yourself. I don't want you breaking anything." With that, Naruto's cloak of ethereal golden fire transformed into a trench coat of pure power, and with a mighty roar, Kurama exploded into being. The townsponies, who were watching a large distance away, had their jaws touching the ground in shock and awe.

"Holy Mackeral! What in Equestria is that?!" Screamed Rainbow Dash. Twilight wasn't sure at first, then she saw that the fox thing had multiple tails. Counting them, she came up with nine.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's a biju." She answered.

"A biju? What the devil is a biju, darling?" Asked Rarity.

"Naruto only gave me a brief summary. Basically they're living, sentient beings comprised of pure magical power from his world. There are nine in total, and their power is represented by the number of tails they have, one being the weakest, and nine being the strongest."

"'An' unless I'm doin my 'rithmatic wrong, sugarcube, I'm countin' nine tails." Said Applejack.

Back to the confrontation, the ursa major halted her advance at the sight of the massive creature before her. The ursa let out a bellowing roar, demanding the newcomer to back off. Kurama roared back even louder, and slammed a paw down in between the two, indicating this was his territory and to back off now. The ursa major roared once more and began approaching closer in an aggressive manner, and Kurama decided to take the kiddie gloves off. Crimson and bright blue orbs of chakra erupted from Kurama's being, and he used them to charge a small bijudama, which he fired at the ursa, making sure to deliberately miss. The bijudama detonated far into the Everfree forest, and was far enough away that the resulting shockwave didn't damage anything. The ursa stepped back at the display; obviously this new creature was extremely dangerous, and fighting it would definately leave her unable to care for her cub. Kurama charged another bijudama, making it bigger this time, and aimed it directly at the ursa, though he did not fire it. Taking the hint, the ursa major's ears folded back, and it adopted a posture of submission, before backing away from Kurama's territory and retreated back into the Everfree. Kurama held the bijudama for one minute to make sure the ursa was really gone, then dissipated the attack. With a howl of triumph, the victorious biju vanished back into his partner's seal.

"Well you certainly had fun." Remarked Naruto as the trench coat vanished.

 Are you kidding kit, that was the most fun I've had in ages. Still not as fun as the time Matatabi tried taking some of my territory for himself, but thems the breaks." Naruto's internal conversation was cut short by a stampede of ponies surrounding him, all clamouring with questions, thank yous, and words of awe and praise.

"Please everypony, it was nothing. I didn't do anything, Kurama did all the work." Suddenly, Naruto was grabbed by many hooves and hoisted into the air by several pegasi, Rainbow included.

"Well then, three cheers to Kurama fer savin' Ponyville!" Hollered Applejack. "Hip hip."

"Hooray!"

"Hip hip."

"Hooray!"

"Hip hip."

"Hooray!"

"Wait a minute, you guys aren't scared of him?" Asked Naruto incredulously.

"Why in Equestria would we be scared of him darling? he hasn't hurt anypony, and he saved the entire town." Rarity replied.

"Sure he's immensly powerful, but so is princess Celestia, and nopony fears her. He made sure to tone down that explosive ball of his, and fire it far enough away that it wouldn't hurt anypony." Twilight added.

"Besides sugarcube. any friend o' yers is a friend o' ours. Don't matter if he's a giant nine tailed fox, if he's nice enough, we'll like him." Finished Applejack, getting nods of agreement from all the other ponies.Naruto was shell shocked for his part. Never had he heard of anyone back in his world praise a biju, simply because the idiots all thought that biju were mindless forces of destruction. After fighting against them when they were controlled by Obito, Naruto saw what they truly were, and after the war was over, had begun making plans to help them. It was a total shock to his system though that these ponies could and would accept someone like Kurama so readily.

"Guys, this has to be the nicest thing anyone's done for the big guy. Thank you, just, thank you is all I can say.

"Still, Fluttershy told us that the ursa was rampaging because somepony hurt her kid. Who was the uncool jerk that did something like that?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"I believe I can answer that."




Trixie ran down the road as fast as her legs could carry her.

"That will teach them not to humiliate the great and powerful Trixie. The human thinks he's so strong, well let's see him deal with an ursa major. Once he fails, it'll crush Ponyville into the ground, and all the ponies will have to rebuild there precious backwater town, all the while blaming the human for their misfortune."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." said a voice, and before Trixie could react, Sasuke suddenly appeared in front of her and struck her in her chest with a powerful kick, cracking bone and sending her rocketing back where she impacted a tree with a crunch. just as she was starting to drop forward off the trunk, Sasuke appeared in a blur of movement, grabbed her by the throat, and smashed her back into the tree, earning him a silent scream of pain from the showmare.

"What were you thinking, bringing something like that to Ponyville?" he snarled, his quiet anger scaring Trixie worse than if he'd been yelling. "Oh I know, you weren't thinking at all. All you could think about was how to get back at Naruto, completely ignorant of the consequences to your little scheme. You could have killed someone.

"They would have gotten away in time." Trixie gasped out, causing Sasuke to clamp down harder on her neck.

"How do you know? You just ran and led the ursa to Ponyville. You only assumed they would be fine, well reality doesn't care about assumptions." Roars could be heard from Ponyville, and Sasuke could distinctly hear the roar of Kyuubi. "It's a good thing Naruto's out there dealing with the ursa before it gets any closer to Ponyville, or I would have killed you right now." At this, Sasuke's Mangekyou flared to life, the natural killing intent the eyes exuded caused Trixie to lose control of her bladder. "But I'm better than that. I can already tell you that due to Naruto's intervention, no one will get hurt, so I have no reason to kill you. However, I'm going to drag you back to Ponyville, and you are going to answer for what you have done." Using his Mangekyou, Sasuke cast a paralysis genjutsu on the terrified unicorn. Throwing her over his shoulder, he sprinted back to Ponyville. Upon reaching the town square he saw Naruto surrounded by a huge crowd of ponies while pegasi held him in the air, and no ursa major in sight.

"Still, Fluttershy told us that the ursa was rampaging because somepony hurt her kid. Who was the uncool jerk that did something like that?" He heard Rainbow Dash demand.

"I believe I can answer that." He responded, getting the crowd's attention. Walking up to them, he uncerimoniously dropped Trixie in front of the crowd, and with a quick release, dispelled the paralysis genjutsu binding her. "Trixie here didn't take her humiliation all that well, so she thought it would be sweet irony to have an ursa major attack Ponyville, only she wouldn't be around to save the day. She was counting on the fact that Naruto would be unable to stop it, and you'd all lash out at him for failing and having to rebuild Ponyville." Gasps and shouts of anger surged through the town.

"Oh that's it. She's gone too far this time, I'm going to pound her sorry flank so hard, her cutie mark will run screaming for mercy!" Said Rainbow Dash, smacking her forehooves together for emphasis.

"Darn tootin' sugarcube. I'll hold 'er, n' you kick." Replied Applejack, and the two angry mares started advancing on Trixie, with the crowd cheering them on.

"Now wait a minute everypony," Said Twilight, getting between the two and Trixie, "might we be taking this a bit too far?"

"Twilight, we love ya, n' we respect ya, but there are just some things in life yeh can't let slide. This is one of 'em." Replied Applejack.

"Yeah, she brought an ursa major to Ponyville, Twilight. If Naruto and Kurama weren't around to help stop it, who knows how bad things could have gotten." Rainbow Dash added.

"Okay, how about we all calm down and settle for a compromise." Said Naruto, who had been returned to the ground. "We keep her imprisoned for the night, and in the morning, Twilight will write a letter to princess Celestia detailing Trixie's actions. The course of action we take will depend on the contents of the reply. If she says she wants to deal with Trixie herself, Sasuke and I will take her to Canterlot with us. If she says you guys get to deal with her, then by all means, beat her black and blue, she deserves it. Finally, if by the off chance Celestia lets her off with only a very stern warning, you guys will just have to settle for running her out of town, sound fair?" Mutters of assent and agreement floated through the crowd of ponies, and soon, Trixie was being hauled off to Ponyville's jail, which hadn't seen a lot of use in recent years. Soon, the crowd began to disperse, everypony thanking Naruto for saving the town, and Sasuke for catching the pony behind the entire mess. Finally, Ponyville began winding down for the night.

"Man Sasuke, I don't know about you, but I'm beat. See you tomorrow when we get this mess sorted out." With that, Naruto headed back to Twilight's, intent on hitting the hay as soon as he entered. Sasuke himself headed for Rarity's, the unicorn having allowed him to live with her for the time being now that Fluttershy had her home again. Unlike Naruto, he wasn't terribly tired, so he decided to sit on the roof of the boutique and stargaze until tiredness came to him.




"...Your faithful student: Twilight Sparkle." Hastily scratching down the ending of the letter, Spike rolled it up and burned it with his emerald green fire, sending it to the princess.

"So how long do you think we'll hear back from her?" He asked.

"Not long, Spike. The safety of her subjects is princess Celestia's top priority, and Trixie's fit of vengeance put a lot of ponies' lives at risk. We should be getting a letter back from her pretty soon." Answered Twilight. Spike then looked like he was about to regurgitate, and with a belch, released green flame that coelesced into a scroll. "See Spike, what did I say?"

"Well what's it say?" Spike questioned impatiently.

"At least let me read it first." Admonished Twilight, and unrolled the letter.

To my most faithful student:
What you have brought to my attention both fills me with great fury, and also greatly relieves me of a mighty fear that has been plaguing me ever since we brought the two humans to Ponyville. The focus of my great ire is as you might have guessed, Trixie Lulamoon. She brought potential disaster to Ponyville for the sole sake of petty vengeance, something that I will deal with myself. Ursa majors are not something to provoke into leaving the Everfree, as even with all my power it is still a challenge to subdue them before something goes horribly wrong. Tell Naruto that he is to bring Trixie with him to Canterlot today, as well as that the chariot I've arranged to bring them here will arrive at eleven sharp. Now you might be wondering what has had me so terrified ever since we brought Sasuke and Naruto to Ponyville? The answer to that is Naruto, or more specifically, the entity Kurama. Kurama frightens me more than anything in this world my faithful student. To tell you my reason I must tell you how I came to meet him. After you and your friends retired for the evening, I lingered behind. If you are reading this letter aloud, then stop doing so immediately, as what I'm about to confide with you must stay with you, my faithful student. I needed to see at the time if the two humans were a threat to my little ponies, so I used a spell to invade Naruto's mind. I know what your thinking my faithful student, and the answer is that when it comes to the safety of my little ponies, especially yours, I will break any rule to ensure it. When I entered Naruto's mind, I did not expect to meet a being that completely eclipsed my full power. At first I thought the being was some kind of mental guard, but after reading your notes on the history of Naruto's world, I realized it was a separate being entirely. After I gave him my reasons for intruding, he gave me a bit of information that I wanted, then effortlessly ejected me from Naruto's mind. Because of the sheer power Kurama wields; should he rampage, not even the combined might of I and my sister could defeat him. However, his actions last night showed me my fears are largely unfounded. I'm still cautious of Kurama's power, but I no longer fear him outright. Thus I end my letter with this; be safe Twilight, and be happy.
Signed: Princess Celestia.

Twilight's jaw had practically hit the floor when she finished the letter. It had dropped a little when the princess breached the privacy of Naruto's mind, then got progressively lower the more she read about Kurama. He was so powerful the princess was terrified of him? It was understandable, if he went on a destruction spree absolutely nopony could stop him. The elements of harmony could work, but who knows what the cost would be.

"...light. Twilight. Equestria to Twilight." Spike's calling eventually snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry about that Spike, it's just this letter had quite some shocking information."

"Oh? What kind of information? Nothing bad I hope."

"Sorry Spike, I can't say anything in good confidence, but I can say it's nothing bad." Just then, Naruto exited the guest room, yawning.

"Morning you two." He said, his tone heavily laced with his lingering drowsiness.

"Oh, good morning Naruto. Did we wake you? You don't usually get up til around ten." Asked Twilight, her tone apologetic.

"No no, it wasn't you guys. I'm just still a bit rattled over Trixie's little stunt last night." He replied, pouring himself some cereal.

"Well, nopony was hurt, and nothing was damaged, and we all have you and Kurama to thank for that." Twilight remarked.

"He really appreciates the praise, by the way." Naruto responded.

"Oh? We didn't do anything big. We just cheered him is all."

"And the fact that you actually praised him for it is what's shocking."

"How so? He deserved it, so we gave it to him." Naruto sighed, and collected his thoughts.

"Well Twilight, in our world, the nine biju are seen as property. Weapons of mass destruction used for wholesale slaughter during large scale battles and wars. Now obviously the biju do not take kindly to this treatment, and as such have fought back and resisted, causing us humans to see them as mindless bringers of destruction. In response, humans have devised a way of sealing a biju into another human, who becomes what is known as a jinchuuriki. Jinchuuriki are able to use the chakra and the passive abilities of the biju sealed within them. They are trained to be nothing more than weapons of their villages, and are often seen by villagers and other shinobi as nothing more than the supposed monsters they contain. So imagine kurama's surprise when you didn't praise me, the jinchuuriki like everybody else back home does, but him and him specifically." Twilight and Spike could only gape like fish.

"That's...that's... that is absolutely disgusting. They force the biju to be something they don't want to be, and they do it by caging them and having their powers forcibly used through a medium?" Twilight couldn't help but shudder as she imagined herself in that situation. Imprisoned with no way out, and her power wrenched from her control to be used for whatever sick purpose the medium wanted it for.

"Well like I said before Twilight. My race's history has just been one bloodbath to another. In order to survive you need to hit the opponent harder than he hits you, so when the concept of the jinchuuriki came about, everybody began doing it, to give their armies an edge in battle." Twilight was silent, and her ears were drooped low.

"Naruto, what was your life like as a jinchuuriki?" She asked. Naruto stopped eating, and stayed silent for a long while.

"You don't want to know." He eventually said, and resumed eating his cereal. Twilight couldn't take it anymore. She galloped over to Naruto and threw her forelegs around him, holding him in a tight hug, much to his surprise. After a while, she let go.

"Sorry, I just thought you really needed that. And to be honest, I needed it too." She said, mildly embarrassed. Naruto stared for a minute, then smiled.

"Thanks Twilight." Soon, breakfast was finished, and the clock read ten thirty.

"Naruto, princess Celestia is sending a sky chariot to pick you and Sasuke up in half an hour. She also said to bring Trixie."

"Will do." Said Naruto, and went to fetch Sasuke. Half an hour later the two humans and one bound unicorn were waiting in front of the library, and a chariot pulled by two armoured white pegasi came down and landed in front of the three. Naruto and Sasuke embarked on the chariot, yanking Trixie on with them, and the three were soon lifted into the sky towards the looming city of Canterlot. 
> Deadly Magic and a Mission Gone Wrong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a soft clatter and a slight jolt, the chariot landed in front of Canterlot Castle. Sasuke and Naruto diembarked, dragging Trixie out with them, and the three were approached by a trio of guards. The ones to the left and right looked ordinary, but the one in the middle was a bit bigger, and had a more ornate armour and helm than the other guards.

"Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha?" The middle guard asked, recieving nods from both humans. "I'm captain Shining Armour of the royal guard, I'll be escorting you two to the princess." He then turned his attention to the guards flanking him. "You two, escort Miss Lulamoon to the holding cells to await audience with the princess." With a salute, the two guards hauled the struggling unicorn mare off. Shining then gestured to the two humans to follow him and headed into the castle. As they walked through the halls, Sasuke decided to ask a question that had been bothering him since the start of the trip.

"So why exactly did the princess want to see us?" At this, Shining Armour gave a pony equivilant of a shrug.

"To be honest, I'm unsure myself. So I heard from my little sister you scared off an ursa major, Naruto. I'm impressed, the only ones who can usually do that are the princesses, and even then things get messy before they make headway."

"How messy?" Asked Naruto, a bit scared of the answer.

"At the most it's only happened twice, both times being before my grandparents were born. An entire town was razed to the ground, though everypony got out of there in time. Trust me Naruto, if you hadn't stepped in, Ponyville would have been a pile of rubble." As soon as Shining was finished, the trio came to a set of doors, A sun motiff emblazoned on the left, and a crescent moon emblazoned on the right. Currently, both symbols were glowing.

"Oh drat, Luna's here as well. Word of advice you two, as soon as princess Luna opens her mouth, cover your ears. She's a bit, well, loud is selling it short." With that, Shining Armour knocked thrice on the doors.

"Enter." Called a voice from within, which undoubtedly belonged to princess Celestia.Opening the doors, Shining led the two humans inside the throne room. True to his word, Celestia was inside sitting on the throne to the left, while Luna sat on the throne to the right.

"Hello, Naruto. Greetings to you, Sasuke, we have yet to introduce ourselves to each other. As you know, my name is Celestia. I command the sun and day while ruling Equestria alongside my little sister, whom you have already met." Sasuke gave a formal bow to the solar princess.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Strongest and last living member of the Uchiha clan." Sasuke replied curtly.

"Greetings, Naruto. We are princess Luna, We doth command the moon and the night. Why art thou covering thine ears?"  Luna's inquiry brought a slight giggle from Celestia, who knew full well why Naruto was doing that.

"Um, well Shining Armour told us that you could be really loud." Replied Naruto, taking his hands away from his ears.

"Ah, what Shining Armour refereth to is the Traditional Royal Voice of Canterlot. It is the voice we use to address our subjects. However, thou art not our subject, Naruto. We have no power over thee, so we do not speak to thou like we do." Responded Luna.

"In any case, I'd like to get on to the reason you two are here." Said Celestia, bringing all focus back to her. "You see, while my faithful student has been diligently sending notes on the two of you, information on your magical abilities, I believe you humans call it ninjutsu, is very lacking. Twilight has only made references to Naruto's clone spell, and just recently informed me of a second spell, Rasengan I believe it's called. Then there's absolutely nothing on the magical abilities of Sasuke. So I wish to see for myself the full magical power of you both." Sasuke and Naruto shared a look.

"With all due respect, Sunshine, every form of ninjutsu is a lethal weapon." Luna gaped at Naruto's lack of respect for her sister, and how he so informally addressed her right to her face. She was about to retort, but caught Celestia's look, telling her to leave it be. "You think we can just show off our ninjutsu? All the ones Twilight has seen, are all the ones I can adapt to be non-lethal."

"I agree with Naruto your highness. What you're asking us to show you will put the lives of innocents at risk. The reason Twilight has seen nothing in the way of jutsu from me, is because every single one of my jutsu are made to kill." Celestia thought about the situation, a slight downward curve to her lips as she thought.

"What if you were to demonstrate in an area where nopony could be hurt? There is an area of inhospitable badlands to the north-east of Canterlot, if we went there, would you be able to demonstrate?" Naruto and Sasuke shared a look, an entire conversation conveyed through their eyes.

"We could show you most of what we can do, though I still refuse to show any technique involving Kurama or his power." Replied Naruto.

"And I refuse to show three of my most powerful techniques due to the fact that I can barely control them, and if they were to get out of hand, things could get seriously dangerous." Celestia nodded in agreement.

"Very well then. Now, let's start at the bottom shall we. How does human magic work?" So, Sasuke and Naruto spent the next hour-and-a-half answering Celestia's questions, as well as demonstrating a few applications. Luna's gobsmacked expression upon witnessing the surface sticking exercise had been priceless. After Celestia was satisfied with theoretical knowledge, the alicorn teleported the four of them into the badlands.

"Well, here we are you two. Will this be good enough for a demonstration ground?" She asked. Naruto looked around and saw that the area was completely barren, not to mention very large.

"This will do great. I'll go first seeing as I've only got two real techniques to show. Now please bear with me, this takes a few minutes to activate." With that, Naruto sat cross-legged on the ground, and went completely still. Feeling the energy of nature surrounding him, Naruto began to draw it in, and soon he felt himself enter sage mode. As soon as he entered it, Luna and Celestia were suddenly hit by a wave of pure comfort and safety that seemed to wrap around them like a blanket, putting them into a trance-like state. Celestia was trying to remain aware, but all her mind was capable of doing was picturing her in between Luna and Twilight, the three of them curled up together, safe from all danger, and free of all burdens. Luna was faring no better, and was soon completely enthralled in her lucid dream-like state. However, after what felt like mere moments, the rapturous feeling that had ensnared them vanished entirely, snapping the alicorns out of their trances.

"What...was...that?" She asked between gasps of air, the sudden disappearance of the tranquil feeling having overwhelmed her slightly.

"That, was sage mode. When I'm in that state, my jutsu are amplified, my chakra control is perfect, and my physical attributes are greatly enhanced. I was going to demonstrate my other technique while in sage mode, but you two looked like you were enjoying yourselves. In order for the technique to work properly, I'm going to have to activate Kurama's chakra cloak." With that, gold ethereal fire surrounded the blonde, Putting his arm out, the fire on his shoulders extended and took the shape of two clawed arms  the two arms began to work Naruto's chakra, forming the beginnings of a rasengan, then he began adding his wind element to the mix. Celestia for her part was confused. From the sound and look of things, Naruto was forming a rasengan, something her faithful student had already decribed. Suddenly there was a subtle shift in the feel of Naruto's chakra, snapping the princess' attention back to the jutsu. It started as a whistle as the rotation began, then changed to a howl as the power was put in, and finally became a slicing screech as the jutsu reached completion. Celestia couldn't help but give a slight shudder of fear when she saw it. A large white sphere sat in the blonde's palm, with four large spinning blades comprised of wind orbiting it.

"Ok Sunshine, behold my most powerful jutsu outside the stuff Kurama can do. Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!" With that, Naruto reared back and threw the jutsu, sending it flying through the air with a scream. It then reached a rock outcropping a fair ways away, and upon impact, carved halfway through the rock face before detonating. Celestia watched in awe as the entire outcrop was consumed in a dome of white, which was still expanding. When it finally disappated, Celestia finally understood why the two were so adamant on not showing their magic in Canterlot. All that was left of the massive spire of rock was a colossal crater, there was nothing left to even indicate an outcropping had even been there.

"What was that?" She asked.

"That sunshine, was my most powerful technique. It's the complete version of the rasengan. A normal rasengan is just pure shape manipulation of neutral chakra, but this technique is what you get when wind natured chakra is added. In it's normal stage, it can carve through anything, and once it loses rotation, and thus stability, it detonates, and whatever is caught in the blast is shredded with a literal uncountable number of wind blades that destroy the target on a cellular level. With sage mode active, I can detonate the jutsu at will." Celestia couldn't help but be slightly afraid. Even the most powerful and destructive of unicorn battle magic had nowhere near this kind of destructive force.

"Well it looks like I'm up next." Said Sasuke, and he walked forward to trade places with Naruto. He started with small things, like fireballs and lightning bolts, then he displayed his Chidori variants, Finally, it came to his most powerful technique outside the abilities of the Mangekyou. Shooting massive gouts of extremely hot fire into the sky, Sasuke watched as the storm clouds formed. Once he was satisfied, he raised his hand skyward, and sparked some lightning natured chakra in his hand. The result was a trail of lightning streaking from the sky, that Sasuke seemed to grab with his electricity coated hand.

"This final jutsu is called Kirin." Said Sasuke, his voice, despite it being a quiet tone, sounded like the crack of doom over the pouring rain. "With this jutsu, I tame natural lightning, and guide it down to my target in one massive bolt." As soon as he said that, some kind of creature comprised of pure lightning broke from the black clouds. It roared and snarled, like a caged predator waiting to be released, and Sasuke opened the cage. whipping his raised hand down, the creature rushed back into the clouds, then rushed out in one titanic bolt of lightning. The impact of the jutsu was colossal, a roar of sound that threatened to deafen the group, and a burst of light that they had to cover their eyes to endure. When the explosion ended, The aftermath was startling. The affected area was literally torn apart, and loose dirt and sand had been turned to glass. Celestia was shocked to her core. They had told her their magic was deadly, but nothing could prepare her for the sheer destructive power that was their magic.

"Art thou well, sister?" Luna quietly asked in concern, snapping Celestia out of her reverie.

"Yes, Lulu, I'm fine." Sasuke and Naruto then approched the white alicorn.

"So princess, are you satisfied?" Sasuke asked, to which Celestia gave a nod.

"Yes, I am satisfied. Thank you both for your demonstrations. I'll return us all to Canterlot, where you may stay for as long as needed to recover your lost strength." Answered Celestia. With that, she charged her horn, and teleported the four of them back into the castle. After the disorientation wore off, Sasuke's and Naruto's stomachs groaned in hunger. With a giggle, Celestia suggested lunch. Ten minutes later, the four were in the dining room. Luna and Celestia were given blue menus, while Naruto and Sasuke were given red.

"'Scuse me, Sunshine, why are our menus different?" Asked Naruto. Again Luna was about to retort at the disrespect Naruto was showing her sister, but was silenced by Celestia once more.

"To answer your question, Naruto, the red menus hold dishes for foreign dignitaries who eat meat." Naruto nodded in understanding, and began to peruse his menu. Twenty minutes later, Naruto and Sasuke were enjoying their first meat dishes since coming to Equestria.

"So what animal is this meat from?" Asked Sasuke. Naruto was also listening intently, as he wanted know as well so he could get some for himself back in Ponyville.

"Actually, you and Naruto are eating two different meats. You are eating Hydra, Sasuke, while Naruto is eating Manticore." Naruto, suddenly went white.

"Wait a minute, aren't Manticores, you know, poisonous?" He asked.

"Only the tails are. The poison does not permeate the rest of the flesh." Celestia answered. Sighing in relief, Naruto returned to attacking his food; stir-fried strips of manticore meat and vegetables. Sasuke himself was eating noodles and cooked balls of hydra meat smothered in a red sauce, obviously made of tomatoes if Sasuke's brutal assault on the dish was any indication. The two were using the chopsticks they kept on their person to eat, the eating utensils of Equestria still foreign to them. Once the meal was finished, both humans thanked the cook for the meal, and followed the princesses to the armoury. Once they reached the doors, two unicorn guards exited the room whilst levitating two chests in front of them, which were set down in front of the two humans.

"Inside these chests are the armaments found on you two when we brought you to the Ponyville hospital. After hearing about your interactions with my little ponies from my faithful student, I trust you both enough to return these to you, knowing you will not use them to strike down anypony." Thanking the princess, Naruto and Sasuke opened the chests and began re-equipping themselves with their gear. Sasuke looked over the last item in his chest, his sword, making sure there were no chips or signs of tampering. Satisfied that it had been just as he left it, he slipped it into his sash in it's usual position, winching the cloth tighter to hold the sword in place no matter how rough a fight got. Once the two had all their shinobi tools and weapons, the princesses told him they were free to do as they wished, so long as a guard escorted them. Naruto went with Shining Armour, who had the rest of the day off. Sasuke himself had no idea what to do. He was contemplating going to the library, when he was approached by Luna.

"Thou looks like thou hast nothing to do." She said, her tone laced with mild amusement. Sasuke raised his eyebrow at this.

"And I suppose you have an idea?" Sasuke inquired, causing Luna to smirk.

"Follow us, Sasuke." She answered, and led him out of the hall. They soon came to a room filled with weapons, with a large ring in the middle.

"Wouldst thou care to spar with us, Sasuke?" She inquired, levitating two short swords in front of her.

"I didn't take you for a fighter." Said Sasuke, surprised by the princess' actions.

"We are opposite of our sister in more than just day and night, Sasuke. While Celestia likes to fight with words, we are not afraid to get our horn and hooves dirty. So, wilst thou spar with us Sasuke." Said human just smirked.

"Rules?" He asked, stepping into the chalked out circle.

"No magic, save for our requirement for levitation, no flight, and no killing blows. Victory by submission or ring out." Answered Luna, stepping into the other side of the ring. One second passed, then two, then on the third second, they clashed.




"You seem happier for some reason." Remarked Naruto as he and Sasuke were being flown back to Ponyville. The sun was being pulled under the horizon, while the moon was rising above it. When he and Sasuke met up earlier, Sasuke looked a little roughed up. Despite that though, Sasuke had a slight spring in his step, and his face held a slightly lighter expression.

"Just sparring with a friend." Said Sasuke, and despite Naruto's insistent pleading, Sasuke refused to indulge who his new friend was.

"Wow, you look pretty roughed up. Whoever they were, they must have been pretty good."

"I got overconfident in the end, and it cost me."




"You seem happier for some reason." Remarked Celestia as she and Luna returned from shifting day into night. Luna looked rather disheveled; her wings were ruffled, her mane was a mess, and her chest cloth was torn, but despite that, she practically skipped with each step, and wore a smile brighter than any Celestia had seen in a long time.

"Oh, just a spar with a friend." Luna replied.

"Just a spar? Luna, you look like you came out of a serious fight. Sasuke didn't seriously injure you, did he?"

"We hath underestimated our opponent's skill, and it cost us, though whoever said we sparred with Sasuke, sister?" Celestia just chuckled.

"Lulu, if you remember, my faithful student has been learning the magic of friendship and has been sending me her findings. I can see the signs little sister." Luna just rolled her eyes.

"So tell us sister, why dost thou allow such rude informality from Naruto?" She asked, confused and curious.

"Because I enjoy it dear sister. I'm always being treated so formally, when really I just want to be treated like any other pony. Naruto does so, and I appreciate and enjoy it greatly." Replied Celestia, who couldn't help but laugh at Luna's gobsmacked face..




A week had gone by since the ursa major incident. Nopony had heard what princess Celestia had done to Trixie, but rumours abounded like wild fire. Some said that the princess used an ancient spell to take the unicorn's horn and magic away. Others claimed that Trixie was imprisoned in the Canterlot royal dungeon. One pony had claimed that Trixie was now the pet slave of Nightmare Moon, but as soon as it had started, it had been instantly quelled by the pony who started it. When questioned, the pony muttered 'three days of Tartarus' and refused to say more. Currently, Naruto and Sasuke were relaxing in the library. Naruto was helping Spike organize things, and Sasuke was reading a book on equestrian laws. The silence was broken by a knocking at the door.

"I'll get it." Replied Spike, and went to get the door. The pony on the other side however, shocked him. "Princess Celestia? What are you doing here?" That got Naruto and Sasuke's attention in a hurry.

"May I come in Spike?" Asked the princess. Spike promptly opened the door fully and allowed Celestia inside.

"I'll go get Twilight." Said Spike, and he headed up the stairs.

"So what brings you here, Sunshine? If it's a friendly visit that's great. It would be good for you to get out of that court office once in a while." Said Naruto with a grin, causing Celestia to chuckle.

"I agree completely Naruto, but I'm here on business I'm afraid. I'll explain when Twilight joins us.

"Princess Celestia!" Exclaimed Twilight as she shot down the remaining stairs and galloped up to her mentor. "Oh my gosh, if I had known you were coming, I would have cleaned the place, or get some tea prepared!" Twilight was cut short by Celestia's hoof gently pressing against her lips.

"Calm yourself my student, there is no need to fret. My arrival was in short notice, so there is nothing to be faulted against. Now that you're here though, we can begin. I'm unsure if you've noticed, but currently there is a large plume of smoke smothering the skies around Ponyville." Naturally, this caused Twilight, Spike, and Naruto to look out the window, and true to Celestia's word, a large cloud of dark smoke was making it's way to Ponyville from a distant peak. Clearing her throat, the alicorn regained the attention of the three. "The cause of this problem is a dragon. It has fallen asleep on the Whistling Peak and will continue to do so for the next century. Normally I would have it left alone, but this one snores."

"Ah, yeah that's a problem." Said Spike.

"Indeed." Replied Celestia, then she noticed the looks from Sasuke and Naruto. "I see you are confused. When a dragon snores, it exudes smoke. Dragon smoke is not like ordinary smoke. It is thicker, more cloying, and will not dissipate for years. Eventually this smoke will cover Equestria and blot out the sun, killing the land." Sasuke nodded at this.

"I see. Well in that case the dobe and I could go over there right now and take care of the problem." He said, setting his book down and lifting himself out of the chair.

"No, I wish for my faithful student to do this." Replied Celestia.

"Whoa whoa Sunshine, no offence, but are you out of your mind? This is a dragon we're talking about here, and you want to send Sparkles against it?" Asked a shocked Naruto, ignoring Twilight's ranting about showing the princess proper respect.

"Not at all Naruto, the other element bearers shall accompany her. Besides, I don't intend to have her fight it, I want her to peacefully persuade it to leave." Answered Celestia calmly.

"Your highness, I agree with the dobe on this. If the dragon is hostile you could very well be sending those six to their deaths. Besides, from what I know of dragons is that they're greedy and prideful beings, I doubt it will listen to a bunch of ponies whom it probably views as inferior to itself."

"I have full confidence that my little ponies can resolve the issue without violence."

"And what if you're wrong? What if something does happen? I'm not saying that anything will happen, but there's always a possibility."

"I am aware of such, Sasuke. That is why you and Naruto will accompany them to the peak. Should things escalate to hostility, you two should be able to step in."

"It still begs the question of why can't Naruto and I do this ourselves. Any danger could be avoided by just the two of us going." Celestia remained silent for a small while, then she responded.

"I have a reason Sasuke, and I promise you that you will hear it, but only after the dragon has left." Sasuke growled, his Sharingan flaring to life.

"Fine, we'll go with Twilight. You can just come out and say it though, princess. You don't trust us." Celestia was taken aback by that.

"What? That's not true." She said. "What makes you believe I hold no trust in you two?"

"Two reasons, the first is that you've been adamantly shooting down our suggestions, even when you know they're better. Two, you said before you had full confidence in your little ponies, not Twilight/my faithful student and her friends. By saying my little ponies, you completely cut us out, as we are not ponies."

"I did not mean it like that, and my reasons for denying your suggestions are not due to any lack of trust."

"Then stop dancing around the issue and tell us, Sunshine. With the way you're keeping it to yourself it's no wonder Sasuke's jumping to conclusions." Naruto responded. With a sigh, Celestia caved.

"I suppose I should. Very well, the reason I don't want you two going yourselves is because I do not want to start tensions between other races. So far, the two of you are unknown to the other races, and if the power you two wield were to be known to them, tensions could rise. If you two went alone and ended up having to fight the dragon, you could be seen as some kind of super weapon for Equestria. If however, the dragon became hostile to my little ponies, and you two stepped in to defend them, well it makes you look more like a shield instead of a sword." Sasuke glared a bit longer, then relented and deactivated his Sharingan.

"Fine, we'll accompany Twilight and step in only when things get hostile. As much as I want to do this myself, or at the very most, with Naruto, I also understand you wish to avoid conflict." He replied, but Celestia caught something in his tone.

"You sound a bit angry about this decision." She said.

"Yes I am. It's different, too different. In our world, Clearing out powerful enemies, making a name for yourself, and demonstrating your power to other nations are acts that earn one prestige amongst his peers. I guess I'm... just not used to how things run here yet." Sasuke answered.

"That is understandable, if I was in your position Sasuke, I'd probably be the same."

"So, all we got to do is convince the dragon to leave, right? Well that's not so tough." Said Twilight, and began to leave. "I'll let Ponyville know, and round up the girls." She finished as she walked out the library, shutting the door behind her.

"Something tells me things won't be that simple." Replied Sasuke, and he too left the library, heading for Carousel Boutique to prepare. Upon entering the establishment, Sasuke immediately heard the sounds of someone struggling in bonds, causing him to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

'Rarity has someone tied up?' He thought, and headed for the source of the noise. Soon he found that the noises were coming from his room, and upon opening the door he was treated to a humorous, but annoying sight. Sweetie Belle, Rarity's younger sister, had gotten into his ninja supplies, and had gotten herself completely tangled in his ninja wire. Sasuke cleared his throat, getting the filly's attention.

"Didn't Rarity and I tell you not to go messing with my things?" He asked, causing the filly to look away in guilt.

"I can explain. Scootaloo and I needed some wire, and I remembered you had some. I was trying to levitate it, but then I lost control of the spell, causing it all to unravel and fall on me. I've been trying to get out of it ever since." She replied, still struggling to get out of the wire.

"And you couldn't have waited for me to get back and ask for permission because?" Sweetie Belle once more looked away in guilt.

"Well, I had no idea when you'd get back." Was her meager reply. Sasuke just sighed, and grabbed hold of a section of wire, and gave it a hard yank. this caused the wire to unravel from Sweetie Belle fast and hard, sending her into the air spinning and flipping, until she hit the ground with a small thump.

"Oof, I think I'm gonna be sick." She groaned dizzily.

"Let that serve as a reminder to ask first." Answered Sasuke as he re-spooled his wire. "Now out." Sweetie Belle obeyed, and stumbled out of the room. Sighing to himself, Sasuke put the spool of wire back into his supply pouch, and strapped it to his waist, he had a feeling this mission would not turn out well.




Half an hour had passed and the group of six ponies and two humans were gathered in front of the library discussing their game plan, well, most of them were. Fluttershy was doing all in her power to get out of the mission. She tried getting out of it by asking Twilight while the unicorn was preoccupied, but the lavender mare told her she needed to come due to her experience with wild animals.

"And don't worry about your animal friends." Replied Twilight, " Spike's got it covered while we're gone." Said dragon gave a salute while acting as a perch for several animals.

"You can count on me." Angel chose that time to stir up trouble, and caused all the animals to run off, Spike trying to chase after them.

"Um, I don't think he's up to the task." Said Fluttershy, desperately trying to get out of the situation.

"Don't worry Flutters," Said Naruto with a grin, "I'll give Spike some help, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" With a puff of white smoke, five shadow clones of Naruto appeared and began assisting the young drake with rounding up the animals. Fluttershy sighed at that, realizing that avenue of escape had been closed. Soon her mind started rebelling against her, conjuring all sorts of scary situations involving the sleeping dragon. Her eyes then caught movement, and due to her frightened thoughts, she thought it was dangerous and leaped into a bush in a panic to hide. This caused Rainbow Dash, who had just been telling Twilight that the butter yellow pony got scared by her own shadow, to facehoof.

"Twilight," Said Sasuke, getting the unicorn's attention, "I agree with Rainbow Dash on this, Fluttershy's just going to be a hindrance like this."

"She'll be fine once we get going, I'm sure of it." The unicorn answered. Naruto scratched his chin in thought, then hit on an idea.

"Oh, I know what to do." He said with a snap of his fingers. going over to the bush where Fluttershy hid, and fished her out. She immediately began struggling, wanting to run back to her cottage and not come out, but Naruto held her tight. He then sat down cross legged, and remained absolutely motionless, even with Fluttershy struggling in his embrace. Several minutes later, the struggling pegasus was hit by the powerful comfort of Naruto's sage mode at point blank range. Fluttershy practically melted in the blonde's arms, unable to even begin fighting the feeling of safety he radiated. Opening his eyes, Naruto noticed that while Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were also feeling the effects, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight weren't affected in the slightest.

" That's odd," Said Naruto as he got back up, "so far, every time I've used sage mode, everypony in the area ends up like Fluttershy here."

"Best... feeling... ever." Rainbow Dash drunkenly mumbled on the ground.

"Wo~ow, it feels so nice." mumbled Pinkie as well, in a tone of voice a lot more quiet and calm than what she usually spoke like.

"What the? I'm feeling nothin' sugarcube. Twi, how's Naruto doin' that? First he stays still, now his eyes are all red and gold and half our group's lookin' like they're cider drunk." Asked Applejack, causing Twilight and Rarity to shrug their shoulders.

"I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest, darling." Said Rarity.

"It must be a unique spell of his, I'll talk to him about it after the dragon has been sent off." Replied Twilight. The three then tried to rouse their friends, but they only managed to get Pinkie Pie sensible enough that she was able to move on her own. Rainbow Dash wasn't responding to anything they did, and Sasuke had to carry her, much to his annoyance.

"Alright everyone, let's move out!" And with that, the group was off to deal with the snoring dragon.




When Fluttershy snapped back to reality, she immediately noticed that she wasn't in Ponyville anymore. They were now at the base of the Whistling Peak. The sleeping dragon at the summit gave off a loud snore, causing the timid pegasus to squeak in fright and press herself into Naruto's hold.

"Oh, looks like she's snapped out of it." Said the blonde to the rest of the group, the last vestiges of his sage mode fading. At this point, Rainbow Dash was also coming out of it.

"Whoa." Said the prismatic maned pony, her eyes blinking to regain focus. "That was... that was..."

"Super dee duper amazing!" Hollered Pinkie Pie, finishing for Rainbow. "It was like being with family and friends, only ten times better!"

"Anyway, now that you three have regained your senses, we can begin climbing the mountain." Said Twilight. Rainbow immediately got out of Sasuke's arms, and Naruto gently put Fluttershy down. Unfortunately, the dragon once again let loose a mighty snore, causing Fluttershy to go into full panic mode and fling herself into a hedge by the mountain, her trembling threatening to shake every leaf off the bush. Dash face hoofed, and the five ponies began coaxing Fluttershy out. When that failed, yet again by the snoring dragon, they tried pushing her out, but the yellow Pegasus wouldn't budge an inch. Then Naruto stepped in. When being shoved, Fluttershy was practically an immovable object, but Naruto was able to pull her in the one direction she couldn't fight, up. Once again Naruto brought the frightened mare into his arms, stroking her mane to relax her, which was working wonders.

"Shh, it's alright Flutters, it's alright. If everything's that scary for you then I'll be more than happy to carry you up the mountain. No place is safer than the arms of Naruto Uzumaki." He said with his trademark grin. Listening to his confident words and seeing his grinning face, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel compelled to believe him, and she huddled herself in his arms. Soon, the group began scaling the mountain, making excellent time by Twilight's standards, though Rainbow was sulking as she had to stay with the group and could not fly ahead. Soon, the group came to a narrow path on the cliff side.

"Okay everypony, I need you all to be very quiet. We're heading into an avalanche zone, the tiniest peep could set off a colossal rock slide." She whispered to the group, and they tip-toed down the path, well, tip-hoofed in the case of the ponies. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash brushed against a tree bough, knocking a few leaves loose. One of the leaves floated down and came to rest on Fluttershy, who was so tightly wound that that was all it took to set her off.

"Avalan-!" Was what she managed to scream before Naruto's hand clamped around her muzzle. Everyone was silent and still as the scream echoed around them, until the silence was replaced by a rumbling sound.

"Avalanche!" The ponies screamed as a massive rock slide bore down on the group.

"You don't say." Said Sasuke sarcastically, and the dodging of boulders began in earnest. The grounded ponies scattered to and fro, Rainbow was fooling around flying in between boulders for fun, Sasuke was simply walking back the way they came to get out of the area of effect of the falling rocks, his ninja training allowing him to easily avoid being hit, and Naruto was using Kurama's chakra to smash massive boulders with rasengans to keep them from hurting anyone. Finally, the rumbling quieted, and the rock slide stopped.

"Sorry." Quietly mumbled Fluttershy. When the dust cleared they saw that the path forward had been blocked by dirt and rubble.

"It's okay Fluttershy, we'll just have to, climb over it" Sighed Twilight, causing the other four ponies to groan.

"Well it's not like things can get any worse." Muttered Rainbow Dash. As soon as she said that, the ground began to rumble, causing Sasuke and Naruto to facepalm. the ledge the group was on then began to crack and tremble, and with a grating crumble, the weight of all the debris on the ledge caused it to break off the mountainside, leaving a huge gap between the group and the next rise.

"Oh no, that was the only way up the mountain." Exclaimed Twilight. Everyone glared at Rainbow Dash, who was nervously scratching at the back of her head.

"Uh, heh heh, whoops." Was her response.

"Things couldn't get worse you said." Grumbled Rarity. "Well that should prove you wrong Rainbow Dash. Now look what happened, that was our only way up to the peak and you destroyed the path."

"Me? What did I do?" Angrily answered Rainbow.

"Now's not the time to argue you two. Rainbow, do you think you could fly us over the gap?"

"Not a good idea sugarcube, Ah don't know much 'bout rocks, but ah'm sure what's left of the ledge over yonder is unstable. It could crumble under our hooves faster than Big Mac can eat dinner." Interjected Applejack. Twilight was starting to panic, but before she lost reason, Naruto came up with a plan.

"Hey Sparkles, the dragon's directly above us right?" He asked the unicorn, smirking when he got a rise out of her from her unofficial nickname.

"Yes, but I don't see how that bit of info will help us." She ground out, doing her best to keep her cool.

"All right everypony, I got a plan." Said Naruto, getting everyone's attention. "First things first. Rainbow Dash, you fly up to the cave and wait for us there. We'll be right up as fast as possible." With a nod, Rainbow shot upwards to the dragon's lair. Naruto then shifted Fluttershy onto his back. "Just hold on and don't let go Fluttershy, I need my hands free. Sasuke, you take Rares and Sparkles, I got Pie and A.J." With that, Naruto hefted Applejack and Pinkie Pie under each arm, while Sasuke did the same with the two unicorns. Rarity was not pleased.

"Sasuke! How dare you! Put me down this instant, this is no way to hold a lady." She hollered, flailing her limbs about.

"Do you want to get up the mountain or not?" Asked Sasuke in annoyance, causing Rarity to huff and grumble, but otherwise remain still in Sasuke's grasp. Satisfied that their charges would not slip out of their grasp, Sasuke and Naruto leaped high into the air, causing screams of fear from their cargo, though Pinkie Pie was probably screaming in excitement. Channeling chakra into their feet, the two humans stuck themselves to the cliff face and began running up. Twilight immediately ceased screaming when she saw the two humans literally defy gravity.

"Holy mother of Celestia! How are you two doing that!?" She asked Sasuke, though her voice was still on high volume due to the fact all that was stopping her from plummeting to the bottom of the mountainside was Sasuke's arm around her.

"This? This is an exercise taught to young shinobi as a means of chakra control. By channeling the proper amount of chakra into our feet, we can use it to stick and walk up vertical and inverted surfaces." Twilight was practically drooling as her mind conjured all sorts of practical possibilities this exercise could do. Two minutes later, the group reached the ledge where Rainbow Dash was waiting.

"What took you guys so long, I've been waiting for ages." Complained the pegasus.

"It was only two minutes Dash." Twilight deadpanned as Sasuke and Naruto set their passengers down on the ground.

"Exactly, a whole minute and fifty second wait while having nothing to do." Twilight just  facehoofed at her friend's antics.

"All right everypony listen up. Rainbow Dash, I need you to clear the smoke." Rainbow Dash immediately fired herself into the black smog. "Pinkie Pie, you and Rarity provide a distraction should things get hairy." In response, Pinkie whipped a rubber chicken out from who knows where. "Applejack, you stand by with the apples in case he decides to attack. However, should he get lethally hostile I want everypony to back off and let Naruto and Sasuke handle the situation." The seriousness in her voice made the ponies gulp a bit. "But it shouldn't come to that, because me and Fluttershy should be able to convince it to leave, right Fluttershy?" Silence was her answer. "Fluttershy?" Twilight repeated, and looked around for the pink maned mare. Applejack moved to one side, revealing Fluttershy doing her best to be as small as possible. Twilight and the other ponies tried everything they could to get Fluttershy to move, but nothing worked. Then a particularly loud snore from the dragon caused the area to shake. Suddenly, the grind and crunch of falling stone could be heard, causing everyone to scatter. Moments later, the falling boulder hit the ledge and rolled a bit before coming to a stop at the lip of the ledge directly in front of the cave. Fluttershy wasted no time and dove behind the new piece of cover.

"This is getting us nowhere." Rainbow Dash complained. "Naruto, can't you do that thing you did earlier that caused your eyes to change to get Fluttershy to help?" Naruto shook his head at this.

"That wouldn't work, it would just throw her back into that trance she was in while we headed for the mountain, not to mention do the same to you and Pie." Eventually the group gave up, and Twilight headed into the cave alone. Negotiations didn't fare so well, as evidenced by a large blast of smoke that flung her out of the cave. Naruto and Sasuke checked on the unicorn, and were relieved to find that she was perfectly fine, though she was covered in soot and smog. Pinkie Pie went in next under the logic that she could persuade the dragon to leave after sharing some laughs. A minute after she entered there was a tremble through the ground, soon after which Pinkie Pie came back out of the cave, her laughter suit in ruins.

"Dammit, one razor spear and this problem's over, but we're stuck waiting as these ponies throw themselves into harm's way." Muttered Sasuke, his annoyance raging.

"Hey, our hands are tied on this. Sunshine made it clear that we can't go killing the thing or give it the boot unless everypony else are in danger. Unless of course, you don't care about bringing a war down on Equestria with your actions." Responded Naruto. Sasuke remained silent at that. If there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was cause a war. He had his fill of it before he and Naruto made their way here. Furthermore, the ponies here had done nothing to deserve a war and the nightmares it brought.

"Still doesn't mean I have to like it." Was Sasuke's reply. At that point, Rarity was taking a crack at dealing with the dragon. She was doing well, and lasted longer than both Pinkie and Twilight, thus the group gathered near the cave mouth to see what Rarity was doing that was so successful. When they listened in they found that Rarity was flattering the dragon, and it was working tremendously, until Rarity made the idiotic mistake of getting into his hoard. With a roar, the dragon slammed his tail down between Rarity and his pile of wealth, and with a deft motion, swatted the unicorn mare away. One of the dragon's tail spikes carved a bloody furrow across her side as the appendage flicked her out of the cave, though Naruto managed to catch her before she smashed into the ground. The ponies gasped when they saw Rarity's wound, and one in particular was enraged.

"All right, that's it." Said Rainbow Dash, her tone of voice reflecting her anger. "We've tried diplomacy, we've tried flattery, we've tried whatever the heck Pinkie does, and all we've got to show for it is a bunch of failures and an injured friend. Talking's over, if words won't move him, then let hooves do it." With that, Rainbow Dash rocketed in to the cave :"Get out!" She screamed, and impacted the dragon's snout with a kick carrying all her momentum with it, causing the dragon's head to fling back a bit from the force. Now the dragon was mad. These ponies were disturbing his sleep, and this current one had dared to attack him. That was the last straw, no more mister nice dragon. Inhaling, the dragon let loose a ground shaking roar of anger, sending Rainbow shooting out of the cave like a bullet. The dragon had also let loose a gout of flame at the pegasus. Rainbow careened into the group, but her momentum was so strong she simply bowled everypony over and kept going, though this saved them from the fireball that shot out of the cave. Normally Rainbow would straighten out, then avoid the flaming projectile with ease, but something from earlier stopped that. Just as Rainbow Dash managed to regain control, she slammed right into the boulder from earlier face first. Then the worst possible thing happened, and no one could stop it. The fireball slammed directly into Rainbow Dash's back, setting her back and spread wings ablaze.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!"




Rainbow screamed in agony until her throat was raw. Never before had she experienced this level of pain. Twilight and Rarity were using water spells in an attempt to douse the flames, but the dragon fire was stubborn, and refused to be extinguished without a fight. It also didn't help much that there were no nearby bodies of water to fuel the water spells the two unicorns were casting, thus they had to pull water from the air. Naruto then rushed in and threw his coat over the burning pegasus, using it to smother the fire. Then a roar sounded from within the cave, and the dragon stormed out, ready to incinerate the annoying ponies.

"How dare you!" The dragon turned to the sound and saw another pegasus shooting towards him. A snarl ripped from his throat, he would not be attacked again. With a roar, a large jet of flame raced towards Fluttershy, who had frozen up in terror.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Before the dragon's flames reached Fluttershy, another gout of flame collided with the dragon's, keeping it from reaching the frightened pony. Fluttershy then felt hands and arms wrap around her and get her out of harm's way. Soon, both blasts of fire stopped, and the dragon turned his gaze to the interloper who held his fire back.

"And just what are you?" The dragon asked the odd creature standing before him.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and I am what is known as a human." Replied Sasuke, his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan active and spinning. "I'll give you one chance; leave Equestria and never come back." The dragon snarled at this.

"Who are you to order me around? I will do as I please!" With that, the dragon released a massive torrent of flame, determined to completely immolate the human.

"Sasuke!" The ponies screamed when he was smothered in flame. After a minute had passed, the dragon let up on the fire, and to everyone's utter shock, Sasuke stood completely pristine amidst the blackened and half melted stone around him.

"My turn, Amaterasu!" And the dragon burst into flames. The ponies immediately noticed two big things about Sasuke's fire. One, it was the deepest black they had ever seen, and two, it was actually burning and bringing pain to the dragon, a creature that bathed in the hottest of flames and magmas regularly. The dragon was screaming in pain, doing everything he could to stop the agony, but everything he tried, the flames simply consumed. Even his own flames were devoured as if he had placed wood on the black flames. Sasuke concentrated, and the flames quickly rushed to burn the dragon's wings.

"Stop." The flames ruined the reptiles wings, but they wanted more, Sasuke was happy to oblige, and had the fire concentrate on the dragon's back, scales were burned and skin was blistered, and a dark grin formed on Sasuke's face.

"Stop!" Stop? Why would he stop this. He had this lizard writhing from the might of his fire, which began to cover the beast entirely. He was going to burn the lizard until not even ash was left. He was more dragon than this pathetic thing.

"Sasuke, enough!" Screamed Naruto, slamming his fist into Sasuke's cheek, and snapping the Uchiha out of his trance. Immediately, Sasuke realized what he was doing and began putting the flames out, but they refused.

"Extinguish." Said Sasuke, and while the flames quivered, they still burned. "Extinguish." Sasuke commanded louder, adding more power to his efforts, and while the black fire shrunk, it didn't go out. "Extinguish!" Sasuke roared, his left eye beginning to bleed from the strain, and with a final shriek the fires of Amaterasu vanished. The dragon was a mess, scales were burned away or melted, burnt flesh riddled with horrible blisters covered his wings and back, and the membrane of both wings were nearly gone entirely. Acrid smoke, and the smell of cooked meat filled the air around the dragon, his whimpers and open eyes filled with agony and terror the only indication he was alive. Sasuke then walked up to the dragon, both his eyes boring into the dragon's own, and spoke one word.

"Leave." Never had the dragon moved as fast as he had in his entire life. He knew his wings were in no condition for any sort of flight, thus he scurried down the mountain as fast as he could. Sasuke then turned and beheld Naruto's worried face. "Thanks dobe, I needed that punch."

"Hey, what are friends for." Said Naruto with a small smile, glad that Sasuke was back to normal. The two humans then went back to the group of ponies, who had huddled by Rainbow Dash. Sasuke noticed that the ponies would shy away at his approach, and saw the small flicker fear in their eyes.

"How is she?" Sasuke asked Twilight, indicating to Rainbow Dash.

"I don't know. The burn looks really bad, and she lost consciousness after you saved Fluttershy." She answered, her voice carrying a slight tremble.

"Alright, we need to get back to Ponyville immediately. Twilight, would it be possible to teleport us all to the base of the mountain, or at the very least, the ledge below us?"

"I don't think I can teleport all of us down the entire mountain, but I can teleport us to the ledge." Sasuke nodded, and with extreme care, lifted Rainbow Dash into his arms. Violet light ignited around Twilight's horn, and with a flash of light, the group vanished from the peak and onto the ledge they had been on when the rock slide struck. With that, the group ran as fast as they could to Ponyville. As he ran, Sasuke would constantly at Rainbow's horribly burned wings and back, an ugly reminder of this mission having gone completely wrong.




Princess Celestia had just finished closing day court and was heading for her private chambers for a good slice of cake, and a good book. She had left Ponyville while her faithful student had been gathering her friends, as she still had her royal duties to attend to. Just then, a rolled letter materialized in front of her. Looking out the window, she smiled when she saw the smoke caused by the dragon had been mostly cleared away. Her faithful student had come through again. unrolling the letter, she saw it was Twilight's report on the situation, and began to read. As she read though, her eyes widened, and it felt like ice water had replaced her blood, and when she finished, her heart plummeted into her stomach.

"Guards!" She barked out, and four guards were immediately by her side. "Prepare a chariot for me immediately. I need to get to Ponyville and time is of the essence."
> Masters of the Flame
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to the sound of a rhythmic beeping noise, only to snap them shut as the light was a bit too bright for her at the moment. Slowly reopening them as to allow them to adjust to the light, the cyan Pegasus glanced at her surroundings, finding herself to be in a hospital room. She then became aware of the sounds of hushed voices coming from close by. Turning her head to face the group of voices, she set her gaze upon her friends.

"Hey guys." She said, her voice weak and a bit hoarse. The group immediately turned their attention on to her.

"Rainbow, you're awake." Said Twilight, relief flooding her voice. The five ponies rushed to her, spilling out the customary questions of how she was feeling and if anything still hurt. After answering them and getting some water down her throat, she began asking the other ponies some questions of her own. After they had been answered, she asked the one question nopony wanted answered.

"So guys, what's the damage?" At this, everypony went silent. "Guys, say something. How bad is it?" Twilight was biting at her lower lip, Applejack had her eyes glued to the ground, Fluttershy was barely holding back tears, Rarity was shuffling nervously while looking away, but it was Pinkie's look that scared Rainbow the most. Pinkie Pie's normally curly hair was falling flat, and her entire body seemed to be a few shades darker. She was giving Rainbow a sorrowful look that was only adding ice to the pit of dread in the pegasus' stomach. "Girls, you're scaring me. P-please tell me how bad it is." Rainbow however, knew the answer, but she was still desperately trying to cling to any scrap of hope she could. Finally, Twilight spoke.

"You're going to be alright, Rainbow, mostly that is. Your back is going to have some scars, but your wings, they...they... I'm so sorry, Rainbow." And with that, everything, every dream, every ambition, everything seemed to shatter before Rainbow Dash's eyes.

'My wings are gone.' Every dream and fantasy of joining and flying alongside the Wonderbolts shattered like china hitting the floor.

'My wings are gone.' Her training had become meaningless. All her tricks and stunts were now utterly worthless. All her work and effort into making her dreams reality crumbled to dust.

'My wings are gone.' Her job as a weather pony. Her house in the clouds, the very sky itself was forever taken from her. Never would she feel the wind through her mane as she blazed through the skies. Never again would she feel the softness of the clouds as she slept. Never again would her body feel the speed and rush it constantly craved.

'My wings are gone.' She turned her neck to look at her right wing, and saw that while it was still attached to her body, it was tightly wrapped in bandages. The worst part was, she couldn't feel any pain from the burns.

"Why am I not feeling any pain?" She asked, her voice quivering.

"You're on some strong painkillers. It seems you managed to sleep through the usual side effects of dizziness and delirium, which is why you're coherent right now." Secretly, this relieved Rainbow, she had been scared her burns were bad enough to destroy her sense of touch in those areas.

"I-is there any way to fix them?" At this question, Twilight lowered her gaze.

"No. The burns have destroyed your wings to the point where they'll never regrow their feathers. I'm sorry, Rainbow, I'm so so sorry. This was all my fault. If I had done better I could have convinced that dragon to leave, I'm a horrible friend."

"No you are not, my faithful student." Everypony gasped and looked to the doorway to see princess Celestia walk into the room, both Naruto and Sasuke following behind her.

"But it is my fault. I was in charge of the group, and my failure at diplomacy cost Rainbow Dash her wings." Said Twilight, unable to look at her mentor in self shame.

"No Twilight, the blame for this falls squarely on my own shoulders. I put you into a situation you were not prepared for."

"Can you fix Rainbow Dash's wings?" Twilight asked her teacher, hoping that the sun goddess would be able to do something to help her friend.

"Though at the moment I cannot, Twilight, I will do all in my power to find a way. At this point in time however, I can do no better than the doctors here."

"There's still a chance right?"

"Yes, though I can make no promises, my faithful student." Celestia then approached Rainbow Dash. "I will not ask for forgiveness Rainbow Dash, for I deserve none of it. My decision cost you too much for simple words to even begin to repair. Know however, that I will do everything I can to find a way to return your wings to you, even if I have to give up my own to do so." Then she turned to Naruto and Sasuke. "I owe you two an apology. You were right and like the foal I was today I heedlessly ignored your input. I could have listened to your suggestions, but I had assumed your plans were to use conflict over diplomacy to get the dragon to leave. You were right Sasuke, I didn't trust you two, and I'm truly sorry." With that, Celestia bowed low to the two humans.

"While I accept your apology princess, words aren't going to fix Dash's wings." Said Naruto as he turned and headed out of the room. "I'll come back to visit later Dashie." He said just as he left the room. Celestia for her part could not help but wince. she could tell that Naruto's formality with her had meant she had lost respect in his eyes, and it hurt her more than a physical blow.

"I forgive you as well. The consequences of your decisions that you now have to face are penance enough." Said Sasuke, and left the room as well. Celestia rose from her position after Sasuke left, seeing that that was the best she was going to get from the two, and headed out the door.

"Do you think she'll find something? She didn't sound all that confident." Asked Rainbow Dash. Twilight bit her lower lip in thought.

"I'm not sure Rainbow, but if anypony can do it, it's Princess Celestia." Replied Twilight. Soon, everypony began to leave, being unable to stay as they had family and things to take care of. Fluttershy was the last to leave, and before leaving, she embraced Rainbow's prone form.

"I'm sorry." Was all she said, and rushed out the door, sobbing all the way. After everything was silent, only when she thought she was alone did Rainbow Dash cry, and cry hard.




Two days. Two days had passed since the dragon event, and not one of Rainbow Dash's friends were doing well. Twilight was tearing her library apart, hunting down anything, any measly scrap of information, even if it was just rumour or conjecture, anything at all that could help Rainbow Dash. Spike was being constantly cooped up in the library for several reasons, Firstly, he was helping Naruto take care of the unicorn as she worked herself ragged, and secondly, since Spike was the catalyst for messages between Twilight and Celestia, he was not to go anywhere in case the solar princess found anything regarding treatment for Rainbow and sent her findings via letter.

Applejack could barely focus on her work on the farm. She could barely buck all the apples off their trees, and could barely focus when hauling them away. More than once she had been too deep in thought to mind her surroundings, and painfully collided with something, or had misjudged her bucks and injured her legs. Rarity could hardly work at all. She was too deep in worry for her friend to find any sort of inspiration or even motivation for her work, the cut the dragon had given her was healing well, and would not leave a scar, and she hated it with all her heart. If she could, she'd trade places with Rainbow any day, as those burns wouldn't have crippled her, and the measly cut on her side wouldn't have stopped Rainbow Dash in the slightest.

Pinkie Pie had lost much of her bubbly cheerfulness. She still smiled, though they were small things, unlike the ear to ear grins she usually wore. She still laughed, though they were quiet giggles that ended in forlorn sighs. The biggest thing though was that in her current state, Sugar Cube Corner lost it's cheerfulness. She couldn't make the customers smile, and the general atmosphere of the bakery had darkened. Fluttershy however, was the worst of the five. She had locked herself in her cottage and had only come out to feed and care for her animals. Nopony had seen fur nor mane of Fluttershy in town at all, and those who had passed by her cottage and had seen her out and about with her animals had noticed her eyes were puffy and tear stained. Naruto was doing everything he could to help his friends out, whether it be helping out Spike in cleaning the library and getting Twilight to eat something, helping out in any way he could at Sweet Apple Acres, and helping Pinkie out with her baking. Sasuke was helping Rarity at the Boutique, cleaning the place and helping keep Sweetie Belle entertained and out of trouble. The two humans however, were avoiding going back to see Rainbow Dash.

It wasn't that Naruto didn't care, he cared a great deal, he just had no idea what he could do for her. He couldn't just go in, say hi, and let loose some speech about not giving up like he usually does in these situations. Naruto wouldn't deny he was an idiot at times, but even he knew that this wasn't something Dashie could just get up and brush herself off from. Naruto knew that without wings, she'd never fly again, and flight was mandatory to achieve her life's dream. He also couldn't just go in and tell her that the princess would pull through for her and find something, Celestia had not sounded sure that she'd find anything at all. He didn't want to build up false hope for Dashie, only to have it all torn down around her. Such a thing would crush her. Naruto knew he couldn't do anything to help her either, and that infuriated him more than anything else. Friends mattered deeply to him, and the fact that there was nothing he could do to help Rainbow recover from this hurt, a lot. Kurama's chakra was a powerful healing force, but it couldn't reverse the damage done by the flames. She'd still bear the scars of her burns, and her wings would still be ruined. Currently, the blonde was heading over to Fluttershy's, having gotten wind of her current state. Walking across the bridge running over the creek outside the cottage, Naruto soon came to the front door of the pegasus' cottage. Three knocks later and the door was soon answered by Fluttershy's pet bunny Angel.

"Hey Angel, how's Fluttershy doing?" A loud wail followed by muffled sobs coming from upstairs was his answer. "That bad, huh?" The rabbit just gave a deadpan stare, causing Naruto to sigh. "Look, I'm no good with these kinds of situations so I'm just going to be straight up with you. I can tell that Fluttershy needs a friend right now, and unfortunately everypony else is beating themselves up over Dashie, Fluttershy included. So since I'm the only one who can or will right now, I'm gonna go cheer her up. You gonna stop me?" Angel stared up at Naruto for a bit, wearing his usual stern face, then opened the door wide and beckoned Naruto in. Naruto took his sandals off when he entered and headed upstairs, following the sound of Fluttershy's crying. Upon coming to her bedroom door, Naruto sighed and went completely still, pulling the energy of nature into himself.




Fluttershy curled herself up on her bed, sobs escaping her throat, and shudders wracking her form. It was all her fault, Twilight had a plan, and she ruined it because she was afraid, and now because of her cowardice, Rainbow Dash was in the hospital and would probably never fly again. Twilight had said that she was a horrible friend, but she was wrong, Fluttershy knew that she was the horrible friend in their group. What kind of friend runs and hides when her other friends needed her? What kind of friend only acts when her best friend gets crippled for life? Fluttershy was broken from her train of thought when she heard her door open, and felt a familiar wave of comfort wash over her, though she completely fought it off. She didn't have to look behind her to know who was entering her room.

"Go away, Naruto." She said, and heard him sigh.

"No. You're a complete mess, Fluttershy, you need a friend right now." He answered.

"I don't deserve a friend, Naruto. It's my fault Rainbow Dash will never fly again. If I hadn't been such a coward, my best friend would still have her wings, but instead I had to be the frightened little filly I always am, and look what happened." Fluttershy buried her face into her pillow, crying into it. She flinched when she felt Naruto's fingers begin running through her mane.

"Fluttershy, everyone deserves to have a friend, no matter who or what it is. So you made a mistake, so what. Everyone screws up at some point. You have to stop crying about it, and instead learn from your mistakes." Naruto then began to rub behind Fluttershy's ear, causing her to lean into his hand as he did so.

"Yes, but my mistakes got Rainbow Dash crippled, Naruto. She'll never fly again now, and it's all because I'm a worthless coward who's scared of her own shadow." Fluttershy then brought her face out from her pillow. "Everypony was right about me, I was just a hindrance."

"That's not true, Fluttershy." Said Naruto, sitting down on the bed, beside the pegasus' prone form. "Just because you made a mistake, just because you let your fear get the best of you, does not mean you're a hindrance, nor does it make you worthless. I don't care what anypony else says, you are not worthless, and you are most certainly not a coward." Fluttershy turned her head to gaze at Naruto.

"How so? If I remember correctly I just hid the whole time, doing nothing while my friends tried and failed to get that dragon to leave."

"Oh? Then who was the pegasus that charged at that dragon, fully intending to give him a piece of her mind. Couldn't have been you, you're a coward, and a coward always runs away when things get dangerous." Fluttershy looked away in mild embarrassment.

"Well, yes, I did charge out like that. It's just, he hurt Rainbow, and when I saw that, I didn't want him to hurt anymore of my friends. It doesn't matter anyway, I still had to be saved in the end." At this, Naruto smiled.

"So? The fact is, you still were willing to fight for your friends, and that makes you no coward." A few more tears fell from Fluttershy's eyes.

"It doesn't change the fact that I'm worthless, Naruto. It took my friends getting hurt for me to do something. I couldn't even go up the mountain, you had to carry me all the way up, and all the way to the mountain to begin with. Only somepony as weak and worthless as me would need to be carried." Naruto responded by picking her up, and hugging her.

"That doesn't make you worthless, Fluttershy. You just needed some help, and I was more than happy to help you. You were scared, so I did what I could to make you feel better. That's what friends are for. When you're scared or alone, your friends are supposed to have your back and support you, because they know you will do the same for them. Just because you needed help from your friends, makes you in no way worthless." Slowly returning Naruto's hug, Fluttershy held herself closer to Naruto, crying into his shoulder. When her crying finally stopped, she brought her soft teal eyes to face Naruto's flaming gold eyes, eyes that looked like they belonged to a dragon. Those eyes however, did not pierce her very being with terror, these eyes banished all her fears and sorrows. Soon she felt the comfort of Naruto's presence begin to ensnare her, and this time she didn't fight it.

"Thank you Naruto, but still, it's all my fault. I got Rainbow Dash crippled. It still doesn't change the fact that even should I learn from this, it still won't give her wings back." Naruto sighed at that.

"I know, but you can learn from your mistakes so that something like this never happens on your watch again." Fluttershy cast her gaze downwards in shame.

"How can I? I'm not strong like everypony else, and I'm not much of a fighter. How can I protect my friends if I'm so weak?"

"You just have to protect them with everything you have. A friend of mine once told me this, a person, or in your case pony, is only truly strong when they fight to protect those precious to them. If your friends are precious to you, then fighting for them will give you the strength to protect them." Fluttershy thought about it, and slowly a smile crept over her lips.

"I think I get it. Thank you, Naruto, for helping me through this." She said, and began to let herself slip into the comforting presence of Naruto's sage mode.

"Your welcome, Fluttershy." Answered Naruto, and began stroking Fluttershy's mane once more, eliciting a pleased hum from the pegasus. The two stayed like this until Naruto's sage mode deactivated. Fluttershy then had her head gently lifted by Naruto's hands so that their eyes were once again meeting, and with his thumbs, he gently wiped away the last bit of moisture from around her eyes.

"Yup, just as I thought, you're much prettier when you're not crying." He said with a grin, causing Fluttershy to blush.

"I-I'm not that pretty." She said, averting her gaze in embarrassment. Naruto squinted his eyes, focusing on the pegasus.

"Hmm, while I do admit you're more cute than pretty, you're still very pretty, Fluttershy." This just caused Fluttershy's blush to intensify. Soon, Naruto released her head, and got up off the bed. "Now then, how 'bout I make us something to eat. You got everything for ramen?" Getting her blush and embarrassment under control, Fluttershy smiled.

"I'd like that, and yes I do. I wanted to try making it for myself." Naruto smiled at this.

"Well then, you just sit back and relax, Fluttershy. Naruto Uzumaki makes the best ramen in all of Equestria."

"You're the only one who makes ramen in Equestria." Remarked Fluttershy, causing Naruto to laugh, and herself to giggle.




Sasuke sighed as he was heading to the one place he didn't want to go to, the hospital. He most definitely did not want to visit Rainbow Dash, but the wary looks he was always getting from the other mares was driving him up the wall. It wasn't that he hated Rainbow Dash, far from it. Rainbow Dash was one of the three ponies out of the six he knew that he'd definitely call friend, the other two being Applejack and Twilight. The problem was he had no idea what he could say to lift Rainbow Dash's spirits without building false hope. What could he even say to make her feel better.

'What am I going to say? Hello Rainbow, sorry about your wings, wish I knew what it was like to be crippled so I could relate. Yeah, that would go over so well.'

Sasuke could see that Rainbow Dash valued her wings on the same level he valued his Sharingan. Granted, there was a time when he had been going blind, but that was fixed when he transplanted Itachi's eyes into his own sockets. Rainbow Dash didn't have a sure fire way to get her wings back. Well, that wasn't exactly true, there was one jutsu he knew that could help, but he had nearly forgotten it. He had only seen it when he was a kid, and that had been a long time ago. With another sigh, Sasuke banished that train of thought, and soon was entering the hospital. After checking in with the front desk, Sasuke headed to Rainbow Dash's room. When he got there, the first thing he noticed was that Rainbow Dash was asleep. The second thing was that he wasn't the only one deciding to visit the cyan pegesus. Sitting beside her bed was a burnt orange pegasus filly with a fuchsia mane, and amethyst eyes, who Sasuke remembered was Sweetie Belle's friend Scootaloo.

"And why are you here and not in school?" Sasuke asked the filly, causing her to jump in surprise.

"I, uh, um, I... Please don't tell Miss Cheerilee." Scootaloo stuttered.

"You still didn't answer my question." Replied Sasuke, who moved over to a free chair and sat down. "She your sister or something?" That caused Scootaloo to smile a bit.

"No, though that would be awesome. She's my idol. When I heard she was in the hospital from Sweetie Belle, I had to come see her. What happened to her, the doctors won't tell me anything." Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, this was a question he did not want to answer.

"She and her friends, along with myself and Naruto, were tasked by Princess Celestia to get rid of that dragon two days ago. Long story short, Rainbow here was struck by dragon fire and we were unable to stop it. Naruto had his hands full with Rarity, and I was bowled over by Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Her wings were burned to the point where she'll never fly again." Scootaloo had a look of devastation on her face at the news.

"Is there anything the doctors can do?" She asked, and Sasuke shook his head.

"No. All they can do is make sure the burns heal properly." At this, Scootaloo began to cry. There were no loud wails, only quiet sniffles and sobs, but there were more tears than such whimpers had any right of producing, and Sasuke couldn't help but remember the day when he had cried like that. The day he had learned the truth of his clan's massacre.

"Is th-there an-anyth-thing an-anypony c-can do?" Scootaloo stuttered out between sobs. Sasuke had to look away from the crying filly, seeing her in such a state was bringing back painful memories.

"The princess is looking, but to be honest, I doubt anything will be found. In my experience, if something that could help existed, everyone would know about it." The orange filly stopped her sobs, but the tears still flowed from her eyes.

"What about you? You and Naruto have magic, right? Don't you guys have some kind of spell that can help her?" Scootaloo's question felt like a blade ramming itself through Sasuke's chest.

"No, we don't." And the lie he told felt even worse. Sasuke could take no more, and rose from his seat to leave. On the way out, he suddenly felt a weight on his leg, and upon looking, saw it was Scootaloo clutching herself tightly to it.

"Please mister human, if you do find a way, you'll help Rainbow Dash, right?"

"Yes." Sasuke heard someone say, and with a start, realized it was him. Scootaloo clutched his leg tighter in a hug, then let go.

"You know, Rainbow Dash is lucky to be friends with a human, you're pretty awesome." With that, Scootaloo left the room leaving Sasuke alone in the doorway.

'Am I really?' He thought to himself. Leaving the room, and closing the door behind him, Sasuke left the hospital and headed to the Boutique to clear his head. The trip back was uneventful, and as soon as he was in his room, Sasuke sat down on his bed, thinking about the events that had transpired earlier. Sasuke knew he could easily remember the jutsu, but doing so would force him to remember the one member of his family he missed the most, his mother. It was a pain that he wished to avoid at all costs, as he had never gotten over his clan's massacre, despite the reasons that made it necessary. However, could he really let a friend be crippled to avoid the pain of his past? The dark part of him wanted to leave Rainbow Dash crippled as to spite Celestia, but that desire was adamantly crushed. Soon, Sasuke realized the right thing to do was to face what he feared, and remember the jutsu. However, the fear of the pain said memory would bring was holding him back. Soon though, his thrice damned conscience won out, and Sasuke prepared himself to face something that he had been burying for most of his life..




Sasuke heard the door of his family's home slide open, and upon looking down the hall, confirmed his suspicions of who it was.

"Big brother!" He shouted in excitement as he ran up to Itachi, impacting into his older brother with a tackling hug. "Your back early. How did the mission go? Did you beat any bandits? Did you get any new jutsu?" On and on the questions poured from Sasuke's mouth, not giving Itachi any form of reprieve to answer them.

"Sasuke, that's enough. Your brother is probably tired from his mission." Said the two brothers' mother Mikoto as she came out from the kitchen.

"Mother's right, Sasuke, I am a bit tired from my mission. I'll tell you all about it at dinner though." Said Itachi in his usual calm voice.

"Aww." whined the young Uchiha, but eventually relented, and released his older brother from his hug. After Itachi had retired to his room, Sasuke was sitting on the couch with a despondant look on his face.

"Sasuke, whatever is the matter dear?" Mikoto asked, concerned by her son's mood.

"I want to be strong, strong like big brother, but I can barely do a fireball jutsu. I want to learn something that Itachi , no, the entire clan doesn't know. Maybe then big brother will notice me more." At this, Mikoto paused, then a small smile crept onto her lips.

"Well Sasuke, what if I told you there was a jutsu I know that no one else in the clan can do?" At this, Sasuke's eyes and expression brightened.

"You do? Teach me, mom, teach me." Mikoto giggled a bit at her youngest son's behavior.

"All right Sasuke, come with me. It's in the clan's jutsu vault so we'll have to go there."

"But mom, you said nobody else knows the jutsu. If it's in the clan jutsu vault, shouldn't that mean that everyone in the clan knows about it." Mikoto just smiled.

"Precisely Sasuke. A lot of clan members know about the jutsu, but none of them know how to perform the jutsu, not for a lack of trying though. No one's been able to figure it out, thus, no one knows how to do it. Even Itachi tried learning it, but even he couldn't figure it out." Sasuke's eyes widened at this. A jutsu that even Itachi was unable to learn? The prospect of learning such a jutsu both excited, and scared him.

"Mom, just what is this jutsu?" Sasuke asked, and Mikoto smiled.

"A good question Sasuke. The answer is that the jutsu is a medical ninjutsu that can heal any and all burns, no matter how damaging or debilitating." Sasuke visibly balked at this.

"A healing jutsu? But mo~om, I wanted to learn something like an awesome fire jutsu, not a healing jutsu." The little boy whined. Mikoto's smile never left her face.

"Oh come now, Sasuke, medical ninjutsu are highly valued, because not everyone can learn them. And this one is something that many medical shinobi would kill to get their hands on. Burns are a very common debilitating injury, Sasuke, and while normal medics can usually heal most burns, some are so bad they can't do anything. That's where this jutsu shines, for no matter how bad the burn, no matter how ravaged the body, this jutsu can heal it like it had never happened to begin with." Soon the pair reached the Uchiha clan's jutsu vault, a small, non descript looking building. Mikoto put her hand on the door, and instantly several dozen seals flared to life, glowing a faint blue, then returning to black before fading. The sliding door then moved aside on its own, and Mikoto beckoned her son inside. The interior of the vault was filled with shelves of jutsu scrolls and precious clan history. Mikoto navigated through the labyrinth of shelves, and soon found what she was looking for.

"Aha, here we are." She said, and pulled a small scroll off the shelf. Upon receiving the scroll, Sasuke opened it to see something he wasn't expecting.

Understand the body, burned by fire's wrath,
a basic skill of the healer's path.
When what is thought as different, turns out to be the same,
ignite it into a healing flame.

Those four lines Had Sasuke completely stumped. Where were the hand seals, the instructions, the diagrams?

"What's this? I thought this was supposed to be a jutsu not a riddle." He said, causing Mikoto to giggle.

"The riddle is the jutsu, Sasuke. It requires no hand seals, and all you need to do is understand the riddle to be able to perform it." Replied Mikoto. With a huff, Sasuke began puzzling over the riddle, but he couldn't make any sense of it. With a frustrated sigh, the young Uchiha rolled the scroll up and handed it back to his mother.

"I'm completely stumped, mom." He said, slight shame colouring his tone. Putting the scroll back on the shelf, Mikoto knelt down and embraced her youngest son.

"Now now, Sasuke, there's no reason to be upset about it. There's no shame in admitting there's something you cannot do. The jutsu isn't going anywhere, so take all the time you need. Besides, you don't need to learn this or any unique jutsu to get noticed. You're Itachi's little brother, and although he doesn't say it, you are his entire world. There is nothing he loves more than you." She said, as mother and son shared a comforting hug.




Sasuke was snapped back into reality when he felt a pair of forelegs wrap around him in a hug, opening his eyes, his vision was obscured by alabaster white fur. Immediately he noticed the moisture around his eyes, and realized he had been crying.

"Are you alright, darling?" Rarity asked, worry evident in her tone. She had walked by Sasuke's room, and had noticed him crying when she looked through the partly open doorway. Sasuke trembled, every fiber of his being demanding him to shove the unicorn off of him. He was an Uchiha, his pride demanded he not be seen as weak.

Well to hell with pride.

Wrapping his arms around Rarity, he pulled her closer and continued to cry. It felt like someone was stabbing at his heart repeatedly with a white hot blade. All the while, Rarity continued to hold and comfort him. Admittedly, she was a bit unnerved to see Sasuke so... vulnerable for lack of a better term. He had always carried himself with confidence, and a fieriness that bordered on anger. To see him crying like this unsettled the unicorn mare greatly. She and her other four friends had been distancing themselves from Sasuke after what he had done to the dragon, but looking at him now, Rarity felt like this was her fault. Had their fear of Sasuke hurt him this badly?

"Sasuke, I know my friends and I have been... keeping our distance from you, and I would like to say I'm sorry. I didn't realize how it was hurting you. I'm sorry we let our fear get the better of us." She said, only for Sasuke to stop her.

"No." He responded, his voice cracking slightly. "No, that's not the reason for this, though I'll admit it has been getting to me." Sasuke then paused, and began pulling himself together. After he was sufficiently calmed he continued, his voice a bit more level. "The reason for all that, was that I was just remembering something rather painful."

"Do you want to talk about it, Sasuke?" Asked the unicorn, deeply concerned for the human's wellbeing. If that memory was enough to bring Sasuke to tears, it must have been pretty bad. Sasuke however, shook his head in the negative.

"No. This is something that is not meant for you or anypony to hear." This answer scared Rarity slightly, and her mind was whirling to figure out what had Sasuke so distraught. "However," Sasuke began, releasing Rarity from his embrace, and shifting to get off the bed, causing Rarity to let go of him as well. "some good news came of this. I know a way to help Rainbow Dash." At this, Rarity went silent, her jaw unhinged and eyes wide.

"Y-you can? You honest to Celestia can?" She managed to stutter out. Sasuke nodded.

"Yes, though there's a problem. The jutsu we need is encoded in a riddle that we need to solve to figure out how it's performed. The first part is simple enough, but the second part is what's holding the secret, 'When what is thought as different turns out to be the same, ignite it into a healing flame.' If we can figure that part out, we can heal Rainbow Dash." At this, Rarity let out a happy squeal.

"This is wonderful news! We have to tell Twilight, no doubt she can figure it out.." She exclaimed.

"No, she can't help, not with this. This is something from my world, Rarity, and as such Twilight would know next to nothing about it." That caused the unicorn to cease her merriment.

"Curses, you're right." She said, her words accompanied by a very unladylike groan, but then perked up a bit. "Still, doesn't mean we can't tell her that we have something. You coming, darling?" At this, Sasuke shook his head.

"No, you go ahead. I'm going to try figuring this out." Rarity nodded, and headed for the Golden Oaks Library Twilight was going to love the news she was bringing.




Princess Celestia snarled as she threw another useless book across the room. She had torn through every book she could find containing healing magic, but nothing she found could heal the damage of Rainbow Dash's wings.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." She snarled to herself, her frustration over recent events coloring her mood. "This was not how I saw it go, why did it go this way?" As she pored through yet another medical book, Celestia thought back to two days ago. When she had received word of the dragon, Celestia used a foresight spell to see the outcome of sending her faithful student to deal with the problem. She had seen the group fail for the most part, but when Fluttershy overcame her fear she was able to send the dragon away peacefully. Celestia decided to go ahead with the plan as it would be a good learning experience for both Twilight and Fluttershy. However, what had transpired that day was nothing like what had been foretold, and for the life of her, Celestia could not figure out why. The spell had been done perfectly, and had always been correct before, so why had it been wrong this time. With a frustrated growl, she cast the useless book away, and levitated another over. This hadn't been the first time she had seen such damage to a pony, but that had all been during the Discord war. This time, it felt like it was completely her fault. The sudden appearance of a letter pulled her from her thoughts.

'Has Twilight found something?' She asked herself, and unrolled the letter. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she read the letter. According to Rarity, Sasuke had claimed to have found something, but the problem lay in a riddle that needed to be solved in order to figure out the jutsu.  Celestia could immediately see that she could not help with this, as the riddle most likely dealt with something from Sasuke's world. All she could do was keep going with her own search and hope that either Sasuke figured the riddle out, or she found something herself.




Sasuke sighed as he stared up at the starlit sky. He knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight; the memories of the past he had stirred up earlier in the day would haunt his dreams, and he didn't want to face the days when he had a happy loving family. Nightmares of his clan's death would be welcome; he'd had them so much that he was practically inured to them, but fat chance of that happening. He'd never had them since he forgave his brother. As if things weren't bad enough, he was still no closer to figuring out that damned riddle than when he started. On the plus side, Rarity's news of the jutsu had improved the mood of the other four ponies tremendously. With a huff of boredom, Sasuke continued wrestling with the riddle while his eyes bored into the dark sky above. Soon, though, boredom won out, and with a frustrated groan, the Uchiha sat up

" You know dobe, for someone trained by a spymaster, you suck at hiding." He said to a random bush beside the carousel wall. Naruto immediately poked his head out of the bush.

"How'd you know I was here?" He asked.

"Aside from the fact that you are the only other one here with chakra, you're a heavy breather." The Uchiha replied, causing Naruto to facefault. Soon the blonde had joined Sasuke on the roof of the boutique, and both were staring up at the endless expanse of stars above them.

"So, Sasuke, Sparkles heard from Rares who heard from you that you got a jutsu that can heal Dashie, that true?"

"Partly. I have the instructions for the jutsu. I just can't figure it out." He then told Naruto the riddle, and the two boys pondered it as hard as they could, or at least Sasuke was, despite being about to give up earlier. Naruto suddenly jolted out of his prone position, causing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow at his friend.

"Sorry Sasuke, Kurama was being difficult. He did say that the answer was something related to medical ninjutsu."

"Well that much is obvious, dobe."

"Anyway, I have to go help Flutters with a bat problem. Good luck with that riddle." And with that, Naruto leaped off the boutique roof, and headed to Fluttershy's cottage, leaving Sasuke alone to puzzle out the riddle. Sasuke went through every memory he had that had a relevance to medical ninjutsu. Kabuto, Sakura, Karin, no matter how hard he thought, there was nothing. Oh sure there were the usual medicines for treating burns, but there were no specific jutsus. Furthermore, mediums were used in medical ninjutsu for extreme injuries, but only for things like deep lacerations and punctures, not burns.

"Dammit," Sasuke swore to himself, "now I get why no one learned this jutsu. The riddle's so damn vague. Why can't it be a regular jutsu scroll where everything's labeled in order." Then it hit him like an anvil, That riddle was a jutsu, thus it still had to follow scroll structure, as the system had been around well before Madara. Jumping off the roof and onto the balcony by his room, Sasuke clambered through the window and hunted down quill and parchment. Upon finding the necessary items, Sasuke begsn to write.

"Jutsu name: Nameless, Rank: Unknown, Prerequisites: Anatomic knowledge, Handsigns: none,  Affinity: Healing, Function: Heals any and all burns regardless of severity. If this jutsu required mediums it would be listed in prerequisites, but all I need is knowledge of pegasi anatomy. As vague as it is, the riddle would still have to make mention of any prerequisites, meaning this jutsu requires no mediums. This means the second part of the riddle is referencing one of two things, handsigns, or chakra, and this jutsu doesn't need handsigns. So healing chakra is what is being referenced, meaning that it is still fundamentally the same as neutral chakra, which means..." Focusing his chakra, Sasuke flipped through four handsigns, and his hands glowed with the light of healing chakra,

"Heh, who'd have thought stealing from Kabuto would prove so helpful." Sasuke said to himself, then refocused on the task at hand. Still maintaining the healing chakra, Sasuke began to add his fire element to it. The process was extremely difficult, with many failed tries, but finally, Sasuke's hands were cloaked in writhing teal flames. Nodding at his success, Sasuke kept practicing, and soon he was able to decently control the jutsu. "It'll have to do." He said, and immediately headed for his room, all the thinking he had done, and the chakra he'd expended had left him exhausted.



With a groan, Twilight dragged herself out of bed, and down the steps to the library. Morning was just reaching Ponyville, but nopony would begin to wake up until another hour.

"Sparkles, get back to bed. You are not opening one book for an entire day, you hear me." Unfortunately for her, Naruto was not a pony.

"But Naruto, I need to re-check the material. I could have missed something." She responded tiredly, punctuating her statement with a yawn.

"You've looked through everything in this library related to medicine six times now. If you've missed something, it's because you're too tired to catch it. Back to bed."

"I can't stop, not when Rainbow needs us the most right now."

"Dammit girl, you're doing more harm than good pushing yourself like this. You can't help dashie if you're dead on your hooves." The two continued to argue, but were soon interrupted by a banging on the door.

"What the? Who'd be here at this hour?" Asked Twilight. The pounding returned, louder this time. "We're closed, come back later." She shouted out the door. In response, the door was suddenly blasted apart by a beam of electricity.

"Well that's just too bad." Said Sasuke as he strode inside. "Now Twilight, instead of letting your jaw hang like a swing set, make yourself useful and get me every book you have on pegasi anatomy. I have some wings to restore."
> The Healing Flame and a Foreign Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponyville was once more treated to a beautiful morning. Everypony had now awoken and was going about their day, but one place in particular had been active much earlier. Twilight, and Naruto watched as Sasuke blazed through book after book relating to the anatomy of pegasi, his Sharingan spinning. Naruto was impressed that Sasuke's reading speed could give Twilight a run for her money, and Twilight was bewildered by Sasuke's lack of notes.

"Um, Sasuke, don't you need notes?" She asked.

"No. I can perfectly remember everything I read, thank you" Sasuke responded, continuing to go through another book. Not believing that Sasuke's memory was that good, Twilight grabbed a random book from the pile, and flipped it open.

"Sasuke, Body of the Pegasi, page forty five.." It took Sasuke one second to remember the book, one second to bring up the page, and a final second to bring up the text.

"The magic of the pegasi are stored and channeled through their skeletal structures. This allows them to instinctively alter their weight, allowing them to be capable of powerful flight despite their small wingspans. The magic can also be instinctively channeled into their hooves, allowing them to walk on and manipulate the clouds. With correct teaching, pegasi can channel their magic further to create and manipulate weather, and through this..." Word for word, Sasuke perfectly recited the text on the page, much to Twilight's complete shock. Doing the test further only yielded the same result.

"Wow Twilight, his memory's even better than yours." Remarked Spike, causing the unicorn to grumble.

"So Sasuke, how'd you figure out the riddle?" Asked Naruto.

"By complete accident actually. I was complaining how the damn jutsu was in a riddle and not just written out like a normal jutsu scroll, when it hit me that the riddle was written like a jutsu scroll." Answered the Uchiha.

"Huh?" was the blonde's intelligent response. Sasuke could only facepalm at the stupidity of Naruto.

"Okay, do you remember how a jutsu scroll is formatted? First name, then rank, then prerequisites, then handsigns, then elemental affinity. Every jutsu when written down has to follow this format. Therefore, the riddle was in such a format." Naruto just stared blankly.

"...What's a prerequisite?" He finally asked, and Sasuke's Etenal Mangekyou sprung to life.




Applejack was walking down to the market square, her apple cart being towed behind her, when suddenly the door to the library exploded, forcing her to reflexively cover her face. When Applejack looked back, she saw Naruto sprawled on the ground, and a weird purple appendage sticking out of the doorway. She then heard two voices arguing inside the library, whom she recognized as Twilight and Sasuke. Soon, the appendage withdrew back into the library, and the door was rebuilt via magic. Looking over to Naruto's groaning form, Applejack just shook her head.

"Nnnope, ah don't wanna know." And with that, she continued on her way.




"Okay, I feel better." Said Sasuke, the skeletal fist of his Susanoo still outstretched out the doorway.

"Sasuke! I can't believe you! Why did you do that?" Screamed Twilight, causing the Uchiha to raise a brow.

"Naruto's stupidity was getting overbearing, so I punched him as hard as I could. Worked for Sakura." He replied, withdrawing his Susanoo's arm from the entrance.

"I wasn't talking about that, Naruto had that coming. What I meant was why did you have to break my door again? That's the second time in this morning alone." She said, and used her magic to gather and reconstruct the door. Sasuke blinked at that.

Oh. Uh, sorry about that." He said. Soon, he was back to his studies, and an hour later, had finished the last book of relevance in the library. Spending another two hours reviewing and being tested by Twilight to make sure he knew absolutely everything he needed to know, he was ready to restore Rainbow Dash.

"Are you sure this will work, Sasuke?" Asked Twilight as they walked out the library.

"Very. My clan always made potent jutsu, so I know this one will be able to heal the damage done to Rainbow Dash." Soon the two reached the hospital.

"Alright Sasuke, I'll go round the girls up, you get in there and get Rainbow's wings back." Said Twilight, and headed back into town while Sasuke entered the hospital. Getting the doctors to go ahead with the procedure was tricky, but with enough persuasion, and a little genjutsu, Sasuke was soon ready, having an entire room to himself for the procedure.

"Um, Sasuke sir, are you sure none of the staff can help?" Asked Nurse Redheart as she finished prepping the room.

"Positive. Unicorn and human magic are completely different, so nothing you can do will help." He replied. Nodding, Redheart left the room, and one of the doctors brought Rainbow Dash in. "Lay her on the table." Instructed Sasuke, and the doctor did as he was told. Soon, Sasuke and Rainbow Dash were alone in the room, the only illumination being the overhead lights.

"Is this going to work Sasuke?" Asked Rainbow, her voice quiet.

"Yes, this will work." Answered Sasuke, and with that he began channeling his chakra, converting it to heal. Then he began adding his fire element to the mix, and soon his hands were cloaked in teal flames. Naturally, this made Rainbow Dash extremely nervous.

"Woah woah, back up. Nopony said this would involve more fire." She said, fear coloring her voice.

"Do you want your wings back or not?" Sasuke asked. Rainbow Dash gulped, and stayed still, and Sasuke placed his hands on her back. The effect was immediate, the flames instantly spread across Rainbow Dash, cloaking her in the azure flames, causing the cyan pegasus to gasp and whimper in terror.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, putmeoutputmeoutputmeout." Pleaded Rainbow, and she began to thrash.

"Would you quit being such a scaredy-cat and let me work here. I know those flames aren't causing you pain, so stop moving and let me concentrate. One slip up and things can go very bad." Snarled Sasuke, causing Rainbow to go still again, though she still shuddered in terror of being covered in fire, healing or not. Then the flames began to burn, not Rainbow Dash herself, but the bandages surrounding her injuries, and in moments the burns were exposed. Soon, the fire began restoring the burns, but Sasuke immediately noticed something wrong. There was no control, the flames were just healing, not actually restoring, and then he realized what he had to do. Sharingan active to help his focus, Sasuke reined in the jutsu, and began concentrating it to Rainbow's right wing. Immediately he began imagining the many diagrams of a pegasus wing, controlling the jutsu to restore the burned wing to it's proper state. Seconds crawled by as Sasuke kept the jutsu in control, as uncontrolled healing could permanently cripple Rainbow. Rainbow herself could literally feel her wing being mended. Every muscle, tendon, and patch of skin ravaged by the dragon's fire was being restored. As Sasuke worked, he soon became aware of another vital fact.

'Holy Sage of six paths, how much chakra does this jutsu take? I'm already through a third of my reserves and this wing isn't done yet.' Panting from the effort, Sasuke kept going, and finally the last of the wing's skin had been restored. As the feathers began to regrow, Sasuke idly noticed the structure of the pegasus' wing, and despite having seen it in diagrams, still thought it was interesting. The wing was structured mostly like a bird's, but it also had four finger like protrusions as well, allowing a pegasus to grip things with their wings. Soon the wing was covered in feathers, signifying it was completely restored.

"One wing down, now for the other one." Said Sasuke, his exhaustion seeping into his voice. As soon as Rainbow heard that, she flexed her right wing, and began to silently cry in joy when she felt it respond as naturally as it had before being burned. She was getting her wings back, she was actually getting her wings back. Immediately she felt her hopes and dreams re-ignite within her, no longer held back by her formerly crippling injuries. Meanwhile, Sasuke was working on the second wing.

'Come on, come on, hurry up, this is consuming way too much chakra. Damn it, what was I thinking, using medical ninjutsu without training.' He thought to himself. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the second wing was fully restored.

"Second wing done." He said, panting in exhaustion from the amount of chakra he'd used so far.

"Are you okay, Sasuke?" Asked Rainbow Dash, catching Sasuke's exhausted tone.

"I'm fine, now to get started on the back." He responded, and directed the flames to Rainbow's back. A quarter of the way through, Sasuke was running low on chakra, and the flames began to die. Sasuke immediately reached into his supply pouch, and brought out a clear jar of round blue pills. expertly unscrewing the cap with one hand, Sasuke retrieved a pill out of the jar, and popped it down his mouth. Almost immediately, he felt a portion of his chakra return. Replacing the lid on the bottle, and returning it to his pouch, Sasuke once more worked the jutsu, the flames reviving. Just as he was nearly done the back, Sasuke was hitting low levels again, but this time, he pushed through, keeping the jutsu alive. Finally, Rainbow Dash was completely healed of her burns, and Sasuke ended the jutsu.

"Done." He said with a gasp, and began sucking in deep breaths. Tentatively, Rainbow Dash lifted herself up into a crouch, and began to work her wings. There were no delays, nor anomalies in her flaps, nor was the effort causing her any pain, and with that, Rainbow realized she could fly once more.

"You did it Sasuke, you did it! I got my wings back!" She exclaimed in joy, flying around the room ecstatically. Sasuke watched her for a few seconds, then decided to interrupt.

"Well, are you just going to goof around or are you going to say hi to your friends." That got her to stop.

"Oh, heheh, right. Well let's go then." With that, Rainbow flew over to the doors. Sasuke began to follow, but it was then that his chakra exhaustion hit. With a groan, Sasuke toppled, but before he hit the ground, he was held up by Rainbow. "Okay Sasuke, you are definitely not alright. What's wrong?"

"Just a mild case of chakra exhaustion. I'll be fine tomorrow." Sasuke answered. Rainbow Dash felt he was hiding something, but since she had no idea how human magic worked, she had to trust his word on it.

"Well if you say so. You okay to walk, or you gonna need me?" Sasuke responded by getting back upright.

"I think I'll manage, but stay close just in case." He said, and Rainbow nodded. With that, the two made their way out of the room, and into the sunlit hall of the hospital, where a familiar group waited. Upon seeing Rainbow Dash flying like nothing had gone wrong, the five ponies gasped in shock.

"Hey girls." Said Rainbow Dash as she flew over to them. Suddenly, she was hit by a missile of pink.

"Yay, you got your wings back, Dashie. This calls for a super duper special party!" screamed Pinkie Pie in joy, squeezing Rainbow in a fierce hug.

""Gah... Pinkie....can't... breathe." Rainbow squeaked out, and was soon released, allowing her to fill her lungs with precious air.

"Well slice me up, an' bake me into a pie, Sasuke actually did it. It's great to see yah flyin' again sugarcube." Said Applejack, and gave Rainbow a fierce, but much less constricting, hug of her own.

"Oh I am so glad you have your wings back, darling. These past few days were just dreadful without you around." Said Rarity, overjoyed that her friend was back in top form.

"I can't believe it. Sasuke's healing spell worked perfectly. Is there anything human magic can't do?" Said Twilight, completely shocked by the power of Sasuke's healing jutsu. Rainbow was soaking up the attention she was getting, but then she noticed one of her friend's hadn't responded at all.

"Hey Flutters, is something wrong?" She asked the butter yellow pegasus, getting a squeak of surprise in response.

"N-no, nothing's wrong, I'm happy that you have your wings again. It's just that, I feel like I'm the reason you lost them in the first place. If I wasn't such a coward, things could have gone differently." She replied.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. Me losing my wings had nothing to do with you. That was entirely my fault. If I hadn't rushed into that cave, none of that would've happened. Don't go thinking you were at fault, because you definitely weren't." Rainbow responded, and swept Fluttershy into a hug. Soon, the two parted, and Fluttershy's demeanor was lighter than it had been for a while.

"See Fluttershy, just as I said, you weren't responsible for what happened."  Said Naruto, then he tousled Rainbow's mane. "Great to see you up and about, Dashie. Sasuke does a damn good job." Soon, the five ponies in the group went their separate ways, leaving Rainbow with Sasuke and Naruto. Rainbow Dash then impacted into Sasuke with a flying tackle, wrapping her forelegs around the Uchiha in a fierce hug, causing Sasuke to stumble back from the force. As much as Sasuke wanted to push her off, doing so would make himself look bad, so he let Rainbow Dash hold onto him, sobbing on his shoulder and repeatedly thanking him. Finally, her cries ceased, and she released him from her grip.

"Tell anyone I did that and I'll make sure you regret it." She told him, before flying back to her cloud home. With a grunt, Sasuke began heading back to the boutique, but staggered when the effects of his chakra exhaustion struck him again.

"You need help there, Sasuke?" Asked Naruto upon seeing the Uchiha sway.

"No. It's just some minor chakra exhaustion. I'll manage on my own, my pride's taken enough damage already." Sasuke answered, and with that, was on his way. Upon reaching the boutique, Sasuke made a beeline straight for his room, and upon reaching his bed, flopped right into it. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a bright flash of white light startled him out of bed. His hand instinctively reached for his sword, but the Uchiha stopped the impulse. The light then faded to reveal princess Celestia herself.

"Let me guess," Said Sasuke, cutting Celestia off before she could say a thing, "you just heard from Twilight that I completely healed Rainbow Dash, and now you want to thank me profusely for such an act, am I right?" Celestia chuckled a bit.

"Mostly. I also wanted to extend to you a boon. Whatever you wish, if it is within my power to grant within reason, it will be done." Sasuke thought about it, and came to a decision immediately.

"There's a plot of land for sale at the south western edge of Ponyville, close to the Everfree forest. The deed to the land, and a house atop it would fit the bill quite nicely." Celestia considered it and nodded.

"Easy enough Sasuke, but why such a quick decision?"

"I've been looking at that plot of land for a while now, but I'm still trying to figure out a way to make money here. I've taken enough of Rarity's generosity."

"Fair enough. You should have that piece of land by tomorrow, and the house itself will take two weeks. I will need a blueprint from you though." Sasuke nodded at this.

"I have an idea for the house, so the blueprint will take only a few days. Now if that's all princess, I mean no disrespect, but I need to sleep. Healing Rainbow Dash took an insane amount of chakra to do, and I'm running very low." At this, Celestia, raised an eyebrow.

"You and Naruto never informed me on the effects of low chakra, care to enlighten me?"

"Gladly. If a human uses too much chakra they enter a state known as chakra exhaustion. Depending on it's severity the effects vary from heavy drowsiness, to catatonic shock. If a human uses up more chakra than his body can produce, they die, as chakra also fuels our life force." Celestia went wide eyed at this.

"I see. Had I known, I would have never interrupted you at this time. Excuse my oversight, Sasuke."

"It's fine Celestia, but I would appreciate it if I could be allowed to sleep, I didn't get much last night and this chakra exhaustion isn't helping." ansered the Uchiha, and the solar alicorn nodded before vanishing in another burst of light. As soon as it faded, Sasuke got back into bed and was soon asleep.




It had been a week since Sasuke had healed Rainbow Dash, and things were finally winding down. Twilight, Spike, and Naruto were walking down the road to Ponyville square, when he and Twilight noticed something very peculiar.

"What? Where is everypony?" Asked Twilight as the group looked around.

"Is it some sort of pony holiday?" Asked Spike in confusion.

"Not that I know of." Answered Twilight. The guesses Spike made soon devolved into outlandishness from there. The group stopped when they heard Pinkie Pie whisper for them.

"Psst, Twilight, Spike, Naruto, in here, hurry before she gets you." With that, the group dove into Sugarcube Corner, the top half of the door slamming shut behind them encasing the three in darkness. The darkness was immediately pierced by a flashlight that shone directly into Twilight's eyes.

"Before who gets us? The zombie pony?" Asked Spike in nervousness."

"Zombie pony?" Pinkie stammered out, causing Spike to hug Twilight's neck in fright.

"Spike, there are no zombie ponies." Said Twilight in annoyance, then she turned to her friend. "Pinkie, what are you doing alone in the dark?"

"I'm not alone in the dark." She answered, and pushed open a curtain to let some light in, revealing the rest of Twilight's friends, Sasuke, and Applejack's little sister Apple Bloom.

"Okay then, what are you all doing here in the dark?" asked Twilight in confusion.

"We're hidin' from her." Answered Applejack, gesturing out the window. The group all looked out of it to see a strange pony in a cloak standing out in the market square, looking about, and pawing at the ground. The pony then glanced their way, causing everyone but Twilight, Naruto, and Sasuke to flinch away from the window.

"Did yah see 'er Twilight? Did yah see... Zecora?" Asked Applebloom, who was then admonished by her sister.

"Well, I saw her glance this way." She answered.

"Glance eeeeeevilly this way." Pinky interrupted, getting right up in her face.

"And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason." Twilight finished.

"No good reason?" Stated Applejack, offended. "Yeh call protectin' yer kin no good reason? Why as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shakin' in 'er little horseshoes." She punctuated her statement by shaking Applebloom.

"Did not." Applebloom countered.

"So ah swept 'er up and brought 'er here."

"Ah walked here mahself."

"Fer safekeepin'."

"Applejack, ahm not a baby. Ah can take care of mahself." The younger Apple stated angrily.

"Not from that creepy Zecora." Countered her elder sister. Naruto and Sasuke watched the proceedings with disinterest.

"Is it just me, or do you think they're all overreacting?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"I think overreacting is selling it short." Said Sasuke as he heard what Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie had to say about the pony outside. Soon, everypony looked back out the window, and once again all but Twilight and the two humans gasped when Zecora pulled her hood down, allowing her features to be seen.

"Will you cut that out." Said Twilight in annoyance at her friends' antics.

"Just look at those stripes, so garish." Said Rarity in disgust.

"She's a zebra." Said Twilight.

"A what?" Everypony asked. Sasuke and Naruto also listened in.

"A zebra. and her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, she was born with them." Upon hearing that, Rarity fainted.

"Born where? Ah ain't seen a pony like that in these parts, 'cept her." Applejack shuddered out.

"Well she's probably not from here, and she's not a pony. My books say that zebras come from a far away land, but I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?"

"That's just it. She lives in, the Everfree forest." Replied Applejack, and was followed up immediately after by a crash and boom, which soon changed to the clattering of pots and pans.

"Spike!" Yelled Twilight, and the dragon apologized from within the kitchen. Naruto and Sasuke became interested when Applejack said the forest was unnatural, but that turned to utter shock when the ponies gave the reasons why.

"Are you kidding me? that's why that forest is unnatural?" Naruto said in shock, halting Rarity's faint for dramatic effect.

"What do you mean, are we kidding? That kind of stuff should not be possible." Said Rainbow Dash.

"Dashie, that's pretty much how the entirety of my world works." At this, everypony gasped, and Rarity fainted.

"And here I thought the place was actually dangerous." Remarked Sasuke.

"oh but it is, Sasuke, what with all the monsters roaming inside it." Said Fluttershy.

"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing all her evil...stuff. She's so evil, I even wrote a song about her." At that, Pinkie leaped into song. However, nopony noticed Naruto's expression getting darker and darker, until he finally exploded after Pinkie finished.

"That's It! I can take no more of this. All of you are shunning someone for their differences without even trying to get to know them, all the while cooking up crazy rumours to justify your actions. And here I thought you ponies were better than that. I can't believe my friends turned out to be such bigots. The only one with any sense here is Twilight, and she's the minority, I'm outta here." With that, Naruto made a half ram sign, and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"You know what? Naruto's right." Said Twilight angrily. "You guys are just pointing hooves at every little thing she does to prove she's evil, when you've never tried to find out for yourself. And how do you think Naruto and Sasuke feel about all this? They're not ponies, do you think they're evil? They've certainly got powerful and dangerous magic. I mean, you all saw what Sasuke did to that dragon." Everypony was silent at that.

"Now those two are different. Naruto and Sasuke ain't like that." Defended Applejack

"Oh really? So two strange beings get brought into town, and you aren't frightened in the least? I'll bet if Naruto and Sasuke just showed up like Zecora did, then you would all be acting like this to them as well." With that, Twilight turned around and headed for the door.

"Twilight, wait. Where are you going, darling?" Asked Rarity.

"After Naruto and away from all of you." She answered, cantering out the door and slamming it shut behind her. Sasuke also used a body flicker jutsu to vanish in a swirl of black fire, leaving behind five mares that felt awful about themselves.

"Maybe we have been overreacting about this," said Rainbow, "I mean, none of us have so much has talked to Zecora. Who's to say she's really what we make of her."

"Now don't y'all go sayin' that, Rainbow. Ahm tellin y'all she's bad news." Argued Applejack.

"Um, I think Twilight may be right. Maybe we shouldn't judge Zecora until we get to know her." Fluttershy put in.

"Oh fer land sakes, not you too Fluttershy. Pinkie, Rarity, yer all with me on this, right."

"Definitely, darling. There is something definitely not right about that zebra." Said Rarity. Pinkie Pie was continuing with her song, which Applejack took as an affirmative. Rainbow Dash just glared.

"Fine. If you want to be like that, then I'm not stopping you. Come on Fluttershy, lets go." With that, the two pegasi flew out the door. After flying away for a bit, the two alighted on a cloud.

"So why are we here?" Asked Fluttershy. At this, Rainbow Dash let out a sigh and looked out over Ponyville.

"I think Twilight's right. By doing all this to Zecora, we're basically doing it to Naruto and Sasuke. If not for Sasuke, I'd never fly again, so hurting him in anyway is something I don't want to do."

"I know what you mean Rainbow. Zecora is a bit frightening, but that shouldn't stop us from getting to know her. Maybe we should go down and talk to her?" Offered Fluttershy. Rainbow looked down to see Zecora leaving Ponyville, when her eyes caught two ponies following her.

"Heh, looks like Twilight and Apple Bloom are doing just that. Come on, let's go meet up with them." And with that, the two flew towards their friend. Upon reaching the lavender unicorn, Twilight glared at them.

"And what do you two want?" She asked, her tone frosty.

"Listen Twilight, you're right. Just because Zecora's different shouldn't keep us from getting to know her." Said Rainbow in an apologetic tone.

"And it looked like our actions really hurt Naruto, when he's done nothing to deserve it." Said Fluttershy. Twilight continued to glare for a bit, then huffed.

"Well come on then. If you're serious about it you can come with us to meet her." Soon, the four ponies cantered off to catch up to Zecora. After passing into the Everfree forest, they were soon coming up to the cloaked zebra.

"Apple Bloom!" At that the four ponies and one zebra turned to the shout and saw Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie amidst a large patch of blue flowers. "Y'all get back here right now little missy." The orange earth pony finished.

"Beware, beware you pony folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke." Zecora called out.

"Leaves of blue?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I think she's talking about the flowers." Answered Twilight. Applejack rushed over to the group, and scooped up her little sister, then told the zebra to high tail it, the other two joining in. with a final warning, the mist closed in around Zecora and all was silent.

"Ah can't believe yah Apple Bloom. Why didn't yah listen to yer big sister?" Apple Bloom looked away in shame at that. Then Applejack tuned her angry glare to Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. "And you three. Ah thought we were friends, but here you are helping to bring mah little sister inta danger. Who knows what kinda curse Zecora could've put on her." Soon the situation devolved into an argument over if curses were real, and soon Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie headed home. Rainbow and Fluttershy were about to follow, when Twilight stopped them.

"Wait a minute you two, remember what Zecora said? I don't think we should go through those flowers."

"They're just flowers Twilight. Maybe Zecora was just saying that to scare us, to get back at us for being pushed away like that." Said Rainbow.

"Fair, but Zecora lives in the Everfree forest. Therefore, she knows a lot about it, and if she told us to watch out for those flowers there's probably a good reason for it. I don't think we should chance it." Sighing, Rainbow nodded in agreement, and she and Fluttershy took to the air while Twilight followed from the ground, skirting around any patch of blue flowers she came across.




With a groan, Twilight got out of bed. She had not had a good sleep that night as her dreams had been plagued by the previous day's arguments of Zecora and curses. Grumbling to herself, she walked over to her vanity.

"Whoa, maybe Zecora cursed my mane." She said upon seeing her reflection. After a bit of brushing she had it as pristine as ever. "There we go, some curse." Chuckling to herself, she walked downstairs, the scent of breakfast hitting her nose.

"Morning Twilight." Greeted Spike, bringing over her breakfast.

"Morning Spike. How's Naruto doing?" She asked, taking a drink of her orange juice.

"Uh actually, he didn't come back last night. He said he was going to spend the night cooling down." At this, Twilight got worried.

"Why did he take yesterday so harsh? I mean sure everypony was being bigoted yesterday, but that was nothing to get so worked up over." Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Better get that. If it's Sasuke, he'll bust it down." Spike went over to the door, and opened it up, revealing Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Naruto.

"Oh it's you guys. Come on in, we're just having breakfast." Said Spike, ushering the three inside. Ten minutes later, breakfast was done, and Naruto and Spike were doing the dishes while the girls talked.

"So we're going to see Zecora today right?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"That's right. We'll be off in a couple of hours. I also want you to come with us, Naruto, if you're okay with it of course." Said Twilight, and Naruto accepted the offer. Suddenly, there was frantic knocking at the door. Twilight opened it to reveal Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, and Sasuke, and three of the aforementioned ponies did not look right. Rarity's fur and mane had grown into huge shaggy dreadlocks, practically obscuring her. Appllejack had been shrunk to a comically miniature size, and Pinkie Pie's tongue had swollen to beyond her mouth's capacity and was covered in turquoise spots.

"Theeve thbn thurthed!" Pinkie exclaimed, her words barely decipherable and spittle flying everywhere.

"Well Twi, ah hate to say it, but ah told yah so." Said Applejack, her voice higher pitched do to her size.

"I have to agree with Applejack and Pinkie, darling. This has curse written all over it." Stated Rarity. Naruto and Spike were outright laughing at the states the three ponies were in.

"Look at you three, we've got Hairity, Appleteenie, and Spittie Pie." Chortled Spike.

"Now this ain't funny you two. Zecora doggone cursed us. Twi, yeh got somethin' to cure us right?" Asked Applejack.

"I'll look around, but I doubt it." Answered Twilight. Sure enough, two hours passed by and the lavender unicorn had nothing to show for it. "Sorry girls, but I have nothing. Every book I have claims curses to be supernatural phooey. My guess is if Zecora cursed you, then only she can uncurse you, and you three are in luck because Rainbow, Fluttershy, Naruto and I are heading there anyway to meet her. We can all get to know her as she fixes you three up."

"What!? Y'all expect us to go over there after what she did to us?"

"Do you want to return to normal?" Twilight asked, and thus started another argument. It was cut short when Rarity snagged on something, causing her to stumble and crash into her friends.

"Is everypony alright?" Asked Rarity, getting groans of affirmatives in response.

"Whew, thanks fer the save there, Naruto." said Applejack, who was grasped in Naruto's hand. Then the earth pony noticed something. "Applebloom? She's gone! She must have gone off to Zecora's!" She exclaimed upon seeing her sister to be nowhere in sight.

"Sasuke's missing too. I bet he went after her." Said Rainbow Dash, causing Applejack to sigh in relief.

"Thank Celestia. If Zecora does turn out to be evil, ah know Sasuke'll keep Apple Bloom safe."

"So we're off to Zecora's?" Asked Twilight, causing Applejack to sigh.

"Unfortunately. Ah don't like it, but ah gots to catch up to Apple Bloom." And with that, the group was off to Zecora's. The going was slow, as Rarity's dreadlocks would snag and snarl on practically everything, tripping her and forcing everypony to slow down. Finally the group reached Zecora's hut, the appearance of which was a bit unsettling to the ponies.

"Ugh, I look terrible." Complained Rarity as she caught up to the group while getting mud and debris out of her dreadlocks.

"Thith thlathe tthlooths thorrible." Said Pinkie, lifting Rarity's dreadlocks out of her face.

"Oh my, this place really does look horrible." Cautiously continuing on, the group looked into a window. "Nice decorations, if you like creepy." Odd, sinister masks adorned the walls, and stoppered bottles filled with unknown liquids lined the shelves. The door then opened, and Zecora walked through and into her hut, a red and yellow jar clasped in her muzzle. Tipping the purple dust within into a cauldron of bubbling green liquid, she then chanted something in a strange language. Pinkie Pie then went off on how the zebra stole her song, which Twilight shot down. Pinkie wanted to sing it, but two reasons stopped her. The first was her cursed tongue, and the second was that the last time she sung it, she had hurt Naruto, and Pinkie Pie hated hurting friends.

"You saw those horrible things, Twilight, now do you believe us?" Asked Rarity, and Twilight couldn't really fight the facts laid out.

"Or... perhaps Zecora's just making soup." as if to affirm Twilight was correct, Zecora tasted a sample of the brew, but what she said next shot that down fast.

"Ah, the perfect temperature for ponies I presume. Now, where is that little Apple Bloom?" Everypony recoiled at that.

"Or, maybe she's making Apple Bloom soup." Said Twilight in worry, then she and Rarity began to scream at the thought. Applejack went berserk at that, but Fluttershy held the tiny pony from tearing into the hut.

"Hold on," Said Rainbow Dash, quelling the two screaming unicorns and the enraged earth pony, "Sasuke's not around, so he still must be with Apple Bloom. Zecora might not know he's coming as well. we should wait and see what happens. If Apple Bloom is in danger, we bust through the window and step in with Sasuke."

"Good idea Rainbow." Said Applejack, and the group quieted down and waited. It wasn't long before the door opened again, revealing Apple Bloom wearing some saddlebags while riding on Sasuke's shoulders, while being accompanied by Naruto as well. The group of ponies looked at the Naruto in the hut, to the one beside them, only for that Naruto to grin and vanish in a smoke cloud.

"A shadow clone? When did he... oh, when Rarity tripped into us all at the library. But why did he leave the clone with us?" Twilight asked herself.

"Howdy miss Zecora, we got all the herbs yah needed. Sasuke and Naruto were ah big help." Said Apple Bloom excitedly, and Sasuke set her down on the floor.

"Marvelous, Apple Bloom, please bring those herbs to me. All what's left now is to wait for the poisoned three." Replied Zecora.

"No need Zecora, they're already here." Said Naruto, pointing over to the window the ponies were looking through.

"Oh? Well do come in young ponies, no need to intrude. One mustn't lurk about, it's very rude." Seeing as they were busted, the group went inside. "Now come here you three ponies, I just finished the brew. We must get that poison joke off of you."

"Poison joke?" Asked Twilight, and Zecora nodded.

"Yes, those dreadful flowers blue. Though to be honest, I was expecting to cure all of you."

"Wait, you mean those blue flowers are what did that to Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie?" Twilight asked in surprise, and at Zecora's nod, turned to her two pegasus friends. "Hah, see girls, I told you those flowers were bad news."

"Wait, so all this was caused by those flowers we walked into yesterday? But how does that work?" Asked Rarity, and Zecora explained in rhyme how poison joke worked.

"Alright little ponies, no more delay. Time to wash that poison joke away." Said the zebra, and gestured to the cauldron.

"Ah don't know, this whole poison joke thing seems mighty fishy. Maybe-" Applejack was interrupted when Pinkie dashed to the cauldron and jumped right in. A few seconds later her head poked out, and no swollen tongue stuck out of her mouth.

"So Applejack, still believe this is fake? And Pinkie Pie, I would appreciate a splash you didn't make." Said Zecora.

"Okie dokie loki." Pinkie answered, and hopped out of the pot. Rarity came up next, but couldn't get into the pot.

"Um, could somepony please be a dear and help me in? The pot's a little too tall, and this poison joke stuff isn't helping." Deciding to help her friend out, Twilight Levitated the alabaster unicorn into the pot. A minute later, Rarity popped back up, fur and mane the same as it was yesterday.

"Well I say, this bath feels absolutely luxurious. Zecora, would it be possible to get the recipe, I know the spa maidens would just love this for their business." A bit of talk later, and Rarity was ready to get out. "Oh Naruto, Sasuke, would one of you two please be a gentlecolt and help me out, please?" After Naruto helped Rarity out of the herbal bath, it was Applejack's turn. Rainbow Dash Picked the earth pony up and brought her to the cauldron.

"Um, if yah don't mind, Rainbow, could yah maybe lower me-" That was as far as she got before Rainbow Dash let go and plunked Applejack into the pot. A few seconds later, Applejack burst out of the bath in a spray of whter, back to full size.

"Tarnation Rainbow Dash! I was tellin' yah tah lower me in nice and slow!" She shouted at the smugly grinning pegasus, then clambered out of the cauldron. "Hooey, is it good tah be back to full size again."

"Aw, I was hopin' yah'd stay tiny. I was enjoyin' bein' the big sister fer once." Said Apple Bloom in mock disappointment, causing the two apple sisters to share a laugh. Soon, everypony talked to and got to know Zecora, and found she was an extremely likable zebra, even if she did always speak in rhyme. Soon the group of nine bid their farewells and headed home, making sure to avoid anymore poison joke on the way.




"Well that was fun, wouldn't you agree Sparkles?" Naruto asked as he, Sasuke, and Twilight walked into the library.

"Ugh, would you quit it with that nickname. And while I do admit meeting Zecora was nice and all, I was still worried for my friends the whole time." Answered Twilight.

"Aw come on Twi, you had to admit, those three looked hilarious." Said Spike as he approached the three. "Oh, while you guys were out, this came for Naruto and Sasuke." He said, holding up a rolled piece of parchment. Taking the offered message, Naruto opened it, and two things fell out, which Sasuke caught.

"To Naruto and Sasuke;
Within this letter I have enclosed two tickets for this year's upcoming Grand Galloping Gala. Consider it a reward for the services you've rendered for my little ponies. It is my hope you two will attend along with my faithful student Twilight Sparkle, and her five friends. I hope your time in Equestria has been wonderful so far, and I hope that your continued lives here will be far better than the ones you lived back in your world.

Signed: Princess Celestia
P.S: You should come to visit sometime, Sasuke. Luna greatly enjoys your company.

"Whoa, you two got tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?!" Twilight practiacally screamed.

"I guess so? What is the Gala like anyway." Naruto asked. Twilight then filled the two humans in, and when she was done, Naruto had a sour look on his face.

"Oi Sasuke, burn my ticket would you." Twilight's jaw hit the floor and her eyes extended five inches when she heard Naruto say that.

"No, you're going. It's doubtful, but those nobles might be able to pound some manners into you."

"Oh no. I am not dealing with stuffy nobles who think everyone not like them is beneath them."

"Doesn't change the fact that you're going."

"No I'm not."

"Twilight's going."

"Good for her."

"Everypony else is going."

"More power to them."

"That includes Fluttershy."

"Don't even know why. She hates large groups."

"If you don't go, you'll make her cry."

"..."

"Like I said, you're going. I'll let Rarity know so she can design your clothes." And with that, Sasuke left for the boutique, tickets in hand.

"That dirty rotten guilt tripping jerk." Naruto snarled out as he stomped off to his room, slamming the door behind him. All the while, Twilight's expression had not changed in the slightest.

"Um, Twilight, you okay?" Asked Spike, and tapped the unicorn. That tap however, set the bomb off.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!"
> Pest Control and Job Hunting.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun shone with cheerful brightness as Naruto was helping Twilight and Spike clean the library. Groups of clones were shelving discarded books as Spike directed them as to where everything went. Twilight herself was dusting and cleaning.
"Hurry you guys, the princess will be here tomorrow, and this place needs to be spotless." She said in panic.

"Hey, we're just putting the books away. You're the one who's dusting 'til everything sparkles, Sparkles." Said Naruto, causing Spike to fall off the ladder in laughter.

"Very funny, Naruto, and would you quit it with the nickname." She ground out. Soon every book in the library was properly put away, and Twilight nodded in satisfaction. She then passed the duster to Spike. "Alright Spike, you finish up the cleaning. Naruto and I need to check how everything else is doing." Saluting, Spike got to work, though he was still snickering a bit from Naruto's joke. The unicorn and ninja made their way through Ponyville, and things were looking good. The decorations were set up, the plants were being watered, Derpy wasn't causing pandemonium, and Berry Punch was sober. Unfortunately, said mare and Carrot Top had messed up a bit on the banner, having run out of room for Celestia's name. This got them chewed out by Twilight. After that, the two passed Bon-Bon who was taking care of the flowers, and headed for Sugar Cube Corner. Upon reaching the bakery, the two looked within and saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake working on the desserts for tomorrow.

"How's everything coming, Mr. and Mrs. Cake?" Twilight asked, getting the attention of the two.

"Oh everything's coming great." Said Mr. Cake.

"Sasuke's being such a big help." Mrs. Cake added in.

"Wait what? Sasuke can bake?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Oh no, not to my knowledge. He's helping keep the confections safe." This got confused looks from Twilight and Naruto, when suddenly there was a bang and crash in the kitchen, and Pinkie Pie blasted through the doors like a shark, jaws wide and her prey, the baked goods. Halfway to her destination, she was snatched up by a skeletal hand of lavender chakra, causing the Cakes to let loose a hefty sigh of relief.

"Great catch, Sasuke" Said Mr. Cake.

"Nooo! Sasuke, let me go!" Hollered Pinkie as she tried to wrest herself out of the grip of Sasuke's Susanoo.

"I don't think so Pinkie. As much as I hate sweets, you can't go eating these." Replied Sasuke as he walked out of the kitchen and into the shop, the ribcage of his Susanoo enshrouding him.

"Uh, Sasuke," Said Naruto, getting the Uchiha's attention, "is susanoo really necessary?"

"Yes, actually. She was completely tied in ninja wire before you guys came in, and somehow got herself untied." Sasuke answered. Just then, Fluttershy burst through the door, excitement plain on her face.

"Naruto, Twilight." shouted Fluttershy, though her shout was more like an indoor voice. "You won't believe... oh, am I interrupting?" She said shyly upon seeing how much of an audience she had.

"Not at all Fluttershy, come on in, and make yourself at home." Said Pinkie Pie, who then tried to snatch up a passing cake with her tongue, but Sasuke yanked her back before she could.

"So what's the big deal Flutters?" Asked Naruto in curiosity.

"Oh, you won't believe what I found at the edge of the Everfree Forest." She responded, then with some gentle coaxing, three little insect-like creatures flew out of her mane with cute chirrups, though the number surprised her.

"They're amazing." Said Twilight, looking at the creatures in wonder. What are they?"

"I'm not sure. I'm also not sure where these other two came from." Fluttershy replied. Twilight offered to take one, saying it would be great for spike to have a companion so he wouldn't bother her so much during her studies. Fluttershy then offered the third one to Pinkie Pie, who had a very different reaction.

"Blech, a parasprite, are you kidding?" She snapped, then squeezed herself out of Susanoo's fist and headed out of the bakery, much to the shock of her two friends. "Now I have to go find a trombone." That got even more confusion from her friends, who brushed it off as Pinkie being Pinkie. Sasuke however, was suspicious, and upon deactivating susanoo, followed after Pinkie.

"Oi Sasuke, where are you off to?" Asked Naruto, who had taken the third parasprite as Pinkie called them.

"Following after Pinkie to make sure she doesn't go eating what she shouldn't." Replied Sasuke, and with that, the Uchiha left the establishment and caught up to Pinkie. "I assume you know what those things are?" He asked the pink mare, who nodded.

"Yup, parasprites, we had an infestation of them once on the rock farm. They'll eat anything edible, and will cough up a number of new parasprites proportionate to the amount they eat in a certain amount of time, which will immediately do the same thing until the entire horde leaves the area barren of food." Sasuke's eyes widened a bit at the information.

"Hn, the ninjas back home would have loved those. Set them loose on an enemy town or hidden village, and sit back as the opposition starves to death." Pinkie shivered at the thought of starving to death, and the fact that the humans back in Sasuke's world would do that to each other. "So I assume you have some way of getting rid of them, or do I have to incinerate them?" Sasuke asked.

"I wouldn't do that. They eat meat too, and can strip a pony-or in your case, human-down to bone in seconds, and they'll start eating anypony that threatens them with lethal force." Replied Pinkie, and Sasuke immediately got rid of any ideas and plans involving violent measures.

"Okay, thanks for the warning. I assume then that you know a way to get rid of them?" He asked, and Pinkie happily nodded.

"Yuppers. We need to play some music."

"Wait, what? How does music help?"

"I don't know the specifics, it's just how we got rid of them the last time. During the pandemonium, the gramophone was turned on, causing the parasprites to start dancing to the music. We then shepherded them off the farm with it, and that was it."

"And I assume you can get us some instruments?"

"I'll have to ask around, and it'll take a while, but yes."

"I'll help gather instruments, but I can't play anything."

"That's fine. I can play everything we need."

"That's good and all, but won't we need more ponies to play everything?"

"No need to worry. As I said, I can play everything we need." Sasuke didn't even bother to reply on that. The two soon came to Carousel Boutique, and Pinkie looked inside. "Hey, does anypony know where I can find an accordion?" She asked, and got no response at all. Sasuke looked into the building, and immediately noticed Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Naruto, all cuddling parasprites.

"Maybe we should tell them what they are. They'll probably get rid of them then." Said Sasuke.

"Nope. You can only get rid of parasprites if you lead them off with music. Believe me when I say my family tried. They'll just come right back as long as food's available.". Pinkie answered, causing the Uchiha to facepalm.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me. Fluttershy, the one pony whose mouth you'd swear wouldn't melt butter, just screwed Ponyville over. Wow, just wow."

"I know what you mean. Still she didn't do it on purpose or anything, and we're gonna save it before anything too terrible happens."

"Famous last words Pinkie." With that, the two went all around Ponyville, asking for instruments. By the time the sun began to set, they had only half the instruments they required. They were heading off for the night, when sasuke realized something. Rarity had a parasprite, meaning the Boutique would be infested by morning.

"I can't believe I have to do this." He muttered to himself, then called out to Pinkie. "Hey Pinkie, since the boutique is going to be infested tomorrow, may I stay at your place for the night." Said Sasuke, though he really didn't want to, seeing as he had no place to stay. His own house hadn't even been started yet.

"Sure thing Sasuke. Ooh, It'll be just like a sleepover. We'll have cupcakes and cocoa with marshmallows..." Sasuke just followed along, walking behind the pink mare as she rambled on. Eventually the two came to Sugar Cube Corner.

"Wait a sec, you live here?" Asked Sasuke as they stepped inside.

"Yup. Isn't it great." Replied Pinkie, though Sasuke didn't exactly share her sentiments. He hated sweets, and now he was bunking in sweets central in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie immediately tried going for the banquet table, but Sasuke held her back by holding on to her tail and dragging her away, though he had to channel chakra into his feet to keep Pinkie from dragging him around. The two soon made it upstairs, and away from temptation, and after a lackluster dinner in Sasuke's opinion, were ready for bed, though one issue remained, Sasuke's sleeping arrangements.  Pinkie offered to share the bed, but Sasuke outright refused, stating the floor would be fine. Pinkie Pie was having none of it, and the two argued for well over an hour until they decided on a coin toss. If Sasuke won he'd get the floor, but if he lost he'd share with Pinkie. Upon nodding in agreement, the coin was flipped.




Sasuke was not happy. He was currently sharing a bed with Pinkie Pie, having lost the coin toss, and currently was being used as a teddy bear by the sleeping pink mare. Her cuddling was making Sasuke feel very uncomfortable, in a couple of ways. One, he hated physical contact. Short hugs, and other friendly gestures were tolerable, but prolonged physical contact like now was outside his comfort zone. Secondly, he was sharing a bed with a girl, a bubbly pink pony mare, but still a girl. In no way, shape, or form was this proper, and if anypony caught wind of this, well, he'd never here the end of it. However, it also opened up a third issue. Sasuke had fully realized and accepted that he was pretty much stuck here in this world, but what did that mean for his love life? Talking ponies were not something he was going to put on his list back home for love material. Still, now that he was permanently stuck in Equestria, did he really have another option? He would admit to himself that if Pinkie wasn't being so clingy, and just had a foreleg draped on him or something, he'd actually find it more enjoyable. Sasuke would admit that now that he was no longer pursuing any real life consuming goals such as revenge, he actually felt rather alone. However, one thing killed any hope for a relationship, even with a pony; his immortality. Sasuke didn't want to imagine how painful it would be to watch a loved one wither and age while he stayed pristine, that alone destroyed any chance of him having a relationship with any mortal pony. The only option he actually had in this regard were the immortal princesses of Equestria.

'Oh please, like I have any chance of that.' He thought to himself. 'I mean, the two must have had countless suitors, and every single one of them was turned down. Besides, I'm not even a pony. It's completely impossible they'd see me that way.' Deciding to no longer dwell on the matter, Sasuke ignored Pinkie's grip on him, and drifted into slumber.




The next morning was once again filled with asking around for instruments, though there was little success due to everypony scrambling to finish up for Celestia's visit to the town. The only thing they managed to get was a large drum, and a pair of cymbals. Unfortunately, Pinkie tried getting her friends to help, but they were futilely trying to deal with the enormous parasprite swarm they had brought about. Eventually, the five mares and one human gathered the swarm into a ball and rolled it into the Everfree forest. Unfortunately, Fluttershy had kept one, causing an entirely new swarm to spawn. Rainbow Dash then whipped up a tornado to gather up the swarm. It was working, until Pinkie's cymbals got sucked in as well, causing Rainbow Dash to lose stabilization of the twister. This caused the parasprite swarm to be released into Ponyville proper, and Pinkie's cymbals to go whizzing off.

"Pinkie Pie, what have you done?" Angrily asked Twilight.

"What have I done? I've lost a brand new pair of cymbals that's what I've done." Pinkie irritably responded.

"Would you forget about your silly instruments for one second? You're ruining our efforts to save Ponyville."

"Me? Ruin? I'm not the ruiner, I'm the ruinee, or is it ruiness? Or..." Pinkie then began to ramble on which was the proper term to use, causing everyone else to run back into town to deal with the mess. Pinkie tried to tell them what was going on, but they didn't stop to listen.

"You know, you could have handled that a bit better, Pinkie." Said Sasuke as he re-appeared in front of the pink earth pony. He then dropped the lost pair of cymbals in front of her. "Here, I found those while you were arguing with Twilight and the others." This got Sasuke hugged by the jubilant mare.

"That's great Sasuke. We only need a few more instruments, so let's go." She said, gathering up the cymbals and dashing to town, Sasuke following behind.

"You going to try to get everyone else's help?" He asked, causing her to shake her head.

"Nope. They'll most likely not even listen. C'mon Sasuke, we're on our own for this one." Pinkie answered, and charged faster into Ponyville.

'And just whose fault was that?' Sasuke thought to himself, a deadpan expression on his face as he followed. 'I can't believe I'm even doing this. I'd be like them if I had no idea Pinkie actually had experience with these things.' The two soon reached Ponyville, just in time to see Twilight cast an unknown spell on the parasprite swarm. Soon, the bugs were no longer touching food, they were going for inedible things instead. Sasuke and Pinkie could only watch in shock as Ponyville itself was slowly being devoured.

"Hey Pinkie, what was it you said yesterday? Something about handling the situation before anything terrible happened?" Sasuke asked, causing Pinkie to wince.

"Hey, in my defense, I had no idea Twilight would do something like this." She timidly responded, causing Sasuke to facepalm.

"I told you Pinkie, famous last words." he said.

"We can discuss this later, we need instruments." With that, Pinkie began to brazenly gather instruments in others' houses, coming back with three tambourines, a flute, and a tuba. Sasuke was admittedly having some fun watching Naruto try to deal with the swarm with his own horde of shadow clones, with little success from the uncoordinated mob. "Okay Sasuke, this should be good." Said Pinkie, as she gathered up the entire collection of instruments they had attained. "Now, help me out with this." It took a while, but eventually Pinkie was laden with every instrument the had collected, and was able to play each one at once.

"Alright Pinkie, you ready?" Asked Sasuke.

"Yup yup, I'll need a couple of minutes to practice, then we'll have these parasprites right out of town." With that, Sasuke left Pinkie to it and disappeared via his Amaterasu body flicker, re-appearing beside Twilight.

"Okay everypony," said the frazzled mare to no one in particular. "here's the plan. Rainbow Dash, you distract them." At that exact moment, Rainbow flew by screaming her head off as she was pursued by parasprites. "Good. Everypony else, we need to make an exact copy of Ponyville right over there. We have less than a minute." She finished, gesturing in a random direction. The only thing going on however, was the mayhem continuing. Sasuke tried, he really did, but Twilight's plan was too much, and he burst out laughing. This attracted Twilight's attention. "Sasuke?! Where were you! We could have used your help way earlier." She screeched at the Uchiha.

"For your information Sparkle," He said, getting his laughter under control. "I was helping." At that, trumpets sounded, and Twilight went pale.

"Oh no, the princess has arrived." Said Twilight in extreme worry.

"Nope." Said Sasuke. "That's the cavalry." Pointing down the road, Twilight followed his finger, and saw Pinkie coming down the road whilst playing a multitude of instruments on her back. The unicorn was about to protest, when Sasuke silenced her. "Look around." He said, and Twilight obeyed. To her complete amazement, the parasprites stopped eating the town, and began bobbing to Pinkie's marching band tune. Soon, the entire swarm was bouncing behind her single file as she carted them off to the forest.

"Wh-wh-wha?" Was all Twilight could manage.

"I believe you have a princess to greet." Sasuke casually remarked, causing Twilight to rocket down the road. Sasuke was then joined by Naruto, who was not amused.

"What the hell, Sasuke? Where have you been this whole time, we've been dealing with this all day, and now that everything's no longer a disaster site, you come waltzing in." Said the blonde, his tone being extremely annoyed and angry.

"Dobe, what makes you think I wasn't doing anything?" Sasuke asked, getting a confused look from Naruto. "Had you used your head yesterday, you would have realized those things were bad news. As soon as Pinkie put a name to these things when Twilight and Fluttershy were drawing blanks, I knew she had experience with these things, so I followed her and helped her out. As you can see, we succeeded." As Naruto tried to stammer out an excuse, Twilight returned from talking to princess Celestia, along with her other five friends

"Ugh, what a nightmare. Now what do we do?" She groaned.

"Now you fix the mess you made." Said Sasuke, and headed for the Everfree forest. "If you need me, I'll be at Zecora's."

"Oi, and who said you can just ditch us when we need you?" Asked Naruto.

"I already told you dobe, I helped deal with the parasprites, instead of make a fool of myself like the rest of you. I've spent all day, and yesterday afternoon dealing with Pinkie, and I'm in serious need of some sensible conversation." With that, Sasuke headed off, leaving Naruto, Twilight, and the rest with the ruined town.

"Well, c'mon everypony. If we get started now we'll probably be finished by... next Friday." Groaned Twilight, getting groans and complaints all around.




It took an entire week to repair the damage done to Ponyville, but after that laborious period of time, Ponyville was better than ever. Sasuke himself was immensely pleased at the time as well. Why? Because he was now the proud owner of his own place of residency. The entire building was built in the traditional architecture of his clan; sliding doors, paper lanterns, etc. It did have standard lighting and power as well, and had a large backyard that would make for a wonderful training field. The house itself however, wasn't completely furnished, so Sasuke still had to get that taken care of. That also led into his next order of business; getting a steady income of bits. The question was what to do. Sasuke admittedly wasn't all that great when it came to repairing things. Doing odd jobs around Ponyville felt way too much like D-ranks, and that was what Naruto was doing. Sweet Apple Acres was an option, but Sasuke knew Applejack's family was stretched thin on money as it was, so taking their money, even if it was well earned, was not a good idea. Sasuke continued to ponder his options as he walked through town towards the library, when the sound of dramatic wailing caught his ears.

"I'd know that wail anywhere." Sasuke muttered to himself as he headed for the source. "Wonder what has Rarity on a rant this time. Probably me moving out." His search led him to the spa, which caused him to remember the date. "Right, today is Rarity's and Fluttershy's weekly spa day. Probably just telling Fluttershy about me moving out in her own dramatic way." Sasuke was about to leave, when he was spotted by none other than Rarity.

"Sasuke! Thank Celestia you've come. It's dreadful, it's horrible, it's the Worst. Possible. Thing!" She wailed, swooning at the end. Fluttershy and the spa sisters were doing all in their power to calm the distraught unicorn, but to little effect.

"What happened?" He asked, stepping inside the establishment.

"Our masseuse moved to Baltimare three days ago, and we haven't found a replacement." Answered Aloe.

"Sasuke, you think you could fill in for us?" Asked Lotus, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen and his pupils to shrink to the size of pinpricks. That question scared him worse than Orochimaru's lusty grin and long tongue.

"U-um, I-I'm very sorry ladies," He squeaked, backing out of the spa. "but I'm, uh, very busy at the moment. I'm expected at the library you see. Twilight had some, uh, experiments she needed my help with. So sorry, but I gotta run." And run Sasuke did, like his life was depending on it. Reaching the library, he bolted inside and slammed the door shut, bracing his back against the door.

"Whoa, what's got you scared out of your wits Sasuke?" Asked Naruto, who was eating lunch along with Spike and Twilight.

"Uh, hey Twilight. Got any experiments that need a human?" He asked, a hint of panic in his tone.

"Sorry Sasuke, but Naruto has been a big help with those." She answered, her brows furrowed in confusion. Sasuke always avoided tests and experiments if he could help it, so what had changed?

"Oh. Uh, Spike, need some help around the library?"

"Sorry, everything's finished." Replied the purple dragon.

"Ah. W-well, sorry for just barging in like that, I'll just be on my way." With that, Sasuke opened the door, and screamed like a girl when he saw who was on the other side.

"Sasuke! You simply must fill in for Quake. If you don't my spa day will be rui-hi-hined!" Wailed Rarity as she clung onto the Uchiha, only to feel wood. Opening her eyes, she found herself clutching a log. "Sasukeeeee! Come baaaaaaack!" She cried, running off after the Uchiha. Said Uchiha was sprinting like mad down to Sweet Apple Acres, hoping Rarity would avoid the place like usual. He skidded to a stop when he noticed the Apple family leaving the property.

"Howdy Sasuke, fine day ain't it?" Greeted Applejack. Sasuke noticed that she and Big Mac had Saddlebags on, while Apple Bloom had a blanket, and Granny Smith held a basket.

"O-oh, hey Applejack. Out for a picnic?" Replied Sasuke, panic prevailent in his tone.

"Yessir, we've been workin' so hard on the farm, that Granny Smith practically forced us. Though I gotta say, it's a swell day for a picnic." She said, then noticed Sasuke's panicked state. "You okay Sugarcube, y'all actin' like a timberwolf next tah ah bonfire."

"I'm fine, just fine, no need to worry at all. I was just swinging by to see if you needed help with anything, but seeing as you're all off to a picnic, I'll just be-"

"Sasukeeeeee!" Came the unmistakable wail of Rarity from down the road, cutting Sasuke off, who went as white as the aforementioned unicorn.

"Sorrygottagobye!" Screamed Sasuke, and vanished in a swirl of obsidian fire. The Apple family just blinked.

"Huh, he's more wired than Rainbow in ah dress." said Applejack

"Eeyup." Big Mac agreed.




'Okay, think Sasuke, think! Gotta find something to keep me busy. Library's out, as well as the farm. Can't help Fluttershy, so that leaves...Rainbow Dash!' With that thought in mind, Sasuke kept an eye on the sky, hoping to see the familiar prismatic contrail. He soon found Dash lazing on a cloud.

"Uh, Rainbow Dash?" he called, getting the pegasus' attention. "I'm in need of a sparring partner, and Naruto's busy. Interested?" Sasuke knew that Rainbow studied martial arts, and would never turn down a good spar.

"Sorry Sasuke, today's my cooldown day. I'm totally up for it tomorrow though." She responded.

"Oh." He squeaked. "Sorry to bother you then."

'She's out! She's out! Crapcrapcrapcrap, what do I do!? Pinkie Pie! Absolutely not. I'm not going anywhere near-'

"Sasukeeeeeee!"

Sweets sound great right now. I'll bet Pinkie has plenty of things I could help with.' Making a mad dash for Sugar Cube Corner, sasuke rocketed into the bakery. He then noticed Mrs. Cake behind the counter.

"Uh, hi Mrs. Cake. Is Pinkie in?" Sasuke asked, barely managing to keep his voice level.

"Oh sorry Sasuke dear, she didn't tell you? She's taken the week off to visit her family." And Just like that, Sasuke knew he was screwed.

"I see. Sorry for bothering you, I hadn't been told." Sasuke was then impacted by a white missile, sending the two crashing into the wall.

"Sasuke, please be my masseuse today, it's all I ask. My spa day will be absolutely ruined if I don't get my massage." Sasuke was about to outright refuse. Friend or not, this was something he'd sworn he'd never do again. However, he never counted on Rarity bringing out the heavy artillery.

"Um, Sasuke, could you please fill in at the massage table today. It would be appreciated by everypony." Said Fluttershy, a look of pure concentrated adorable on her face.

'No Sasuke! You're an Uchiha, you remember what happened last time you agreed. You will say...you will say... Oh almighty sage, that's weapons grade cuteness. How do her eyes do that?'

"Please?" Fluttershy quietly asked, adding a small tremble to her lips.

'... Dobe, when this is over I'm going to beg for forgiveness. I should never have threatened you with making Fluttershy cry.'




"Once again Darling, we can't thank you enough for this." Said Rarity as the trio entered the Spa. Sasuke was sweating bullets, and the cause was certainly not the sauna. Fortunately, the Uchiha had managed to call in a fall guy.

"Uh, Sasuke, what's this all about?" Asked Naruto.

"Don't ask questions dobe, just follow the plan." Hissed Sasuke.

"Why do I have to do that anyway?"

"It's a matter of life and death. Now get ready, the girls are going in." With that, Sasuke took his place at the massage table with extreme reluctance. Thirty minutes later and the two were ready for their massages. Rarity was first, and laid down on the table. Casting a glance at Naruto to make sure he was ready to spring the plan when necessary, Sasuke got to work. First he began at the shoulders, making sure to apply enough pressure to loosen the muscles, his fingers allowing him to work the muscles far better than a hoof. Rarity let loose a moan at the Uchiha's ministrations, causing him to flinch, but continue massaging. Eventually, he finished the shoulders, and moved to the back, Rarity's moans becoming throatier and more frequent. Finally, he reached the flanks and began massaging, them, thinking the worst to be over. Then he pressed his palms into her cutie mark.

"I can't take it anymore! I want your foals!" Rarity screamed, and pounced for Sasuke. Slamming into the Uchiha, she drove him down to the floor and tried tearing his pants off, causing the three other mares to try restraining her, and Naruto to bolt. Once outside, he caught up with the real Sasuke.

"How long will that clone hold Naruto?" He asked as they dashed for safety. Naruto was about respond when he gained a look of horror on his face.

"Um, he just popped." Suddenly, the door to the spa blew off it's hinges, and Rarity dashed out after the two humans.

"Well Sasuke, it was nice knowing you." Naruto said, before using Kurama's chakra to speed away.

"I thought we were friends!" Sasuke screamed after the retreating blonde, only to catch sight of Rarity gaining on him despite enhancing his speed with chakra. Throwing all male dignity out the window and screaming like a little girl, Sasuke hit the gas. Suddenly, he was caught in a blue aura, and was completely immobile while being brought towards the lust crazed mare. Suddenly, Fluttershy appeared right in Rarity's face, eyes wide and imposing.

"Put him down." Was all she said, and Rarity dropped Sasuke and ran away screaming. "Sorry." she called as loudly as she could, which was regular volume for everyone else. She then went over to Sasuke. "Are you all right? You aren't hurt are you? She didn't...um?"

"In order, yes, no, and thank the sage no. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go kill Naruto.

"Whoa Sasuke, is that any way to treat the guy that got Fluttershy here." Asked Naruto from behind Sasuke.

"You ditched me, Dobe! I was about to be raped!" Sasuke screamed at the blonde.

"I didn't ditch you, I went and got Fluttershy so she could stop Rarity. Hopefully 'The Stare' snapped her out of it."

"I think it worked a little too well." squeaked Fluttershy.

"So what the heck was that all about anyway? You just massasged her and she was about to rape you." Remarked Naruto.

"Dobe, how do you think I got my fan club back in the day? Back rubs. I've got magic hands."

"Huh?"

"I'm practically a master masseuse despite having no training of any kind in it. I've been trying to avoid this fiasco before it began, but Rarity doesn't know when to quit." Fluttershy then hugged the Uchiha.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess Sasuke. It's all my fault." Said Fluttershy, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Fluttershy, I don't blame you one bit. You're just impossible to refuse. And don't you dare cry, I swear there's a law that'll get me sent to the sun if you do." The group shared a laugh at that, and they went back to the spa. Aloe and Lotus profusely apologized to Sasuke for being unable to stop Rarity, but he waved their concerns away. Then Rarity came back and begged Sasuke to forgive her.

"I'm so sorry, darling. I have no idea what came over me. You were doing a marvelous job, when out of nowhere it's like I was hit with my heat times ten. I couldn't stop myself."

"You're not going to try and go for me again right?" Sasuke asked in worry.

"Heavens no darling. I'll admit, I'm still winding down from that, but I'm in complete control of myself and my urges. I assure you it will not happen again." It took a lot of convincing on Rarity's part, but Sasuke finally managed to forgive the alabaster unicorn. Sasuke then headed to Twilight's in order to conduct an experiment.

"You want to what?" Twilight asked.

"I want to touch your cutie mark." Said Sasuke.

"Um, aren't you being a little...forward, Sasuke?"

"Why, is touching it wrong?"

"Well, no. It's just that, a stallion initiating physical contact around that area is considered an expression of interest towards the mare." Now it was Sasuke's turn to blush.

"Ah. Okay then, are cutie marks...sensitive?"

"Um, I'm not sure I follow."

"Does touching them induce pleasure?" Twilight's blush began to rival that of a certain Hyuuga girl.

"Um, well, no actually, though I can't really say I have any sort of experience in those kinds of matters."

"I see, only one way to find out." With that, Sasuke jabbed Twilight's cutie mark before she could react. The result was immediate.

"Whoa!" She screamed, her tail shooting straight up and away, exposing her. Thankfully for both sides, Sasuke facing her side, and as such saw nothing. Twilight then collapsed onto the ground, panting hard, her blush intensifying to atomic levels.

"Theory confirmed. Cutie marks are pleasure points. Extreme ones if your reaction was anything to go by. Sorry for that Twilight, I had to figure out what could have caused Rarity to suddenly try and violate me. Now I find it was all my fault."

"It's...okay." She gasped, getting back onto her hooves. "Just, don't do that again."

"Got it. Anyway, I got to get back home. And I still have to find a job." With that, Sasuke began to head home, his thoughts still on earlier events.

'Dammit, I need a job, and the spa has a masseuse opening. Flip side; a single massage nearly got me raped. However, that's because I touched her cutie mark, so if I avoid it, then that might very well kill any chance of a repeat incident occurring. Pros and cons bounced around in Sasuke's head, and finally the Uchiha decided. Entering the spa, he was greeted by Lotus.

"Oh hello Sasuke, how are you holding up?" She asked with a smile.

"I'm fine."'I can't believe I'm doing this.' "I'd like to apply as a masseuse."
> The seeds are sewn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two months passed since Sasuke had taken the job at the Ponyville spa, and the final vestiges of Summer had long since fled into autumn. The beginning of September had heralded the beginning of a new school year for the children of Ponyville, and new friendship had been forged between three fillies, who now reffered to their group as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was also in the first week of September that Sasuke's birthday had come up, much to Pinkie Pie's delight. at the end of September came The Running of the Leaves, a race that helped the trees shed their old leaves for the upcoming winter. It had been amusing for Sasuke and Naruto to watch as Applejack and Rainbow Dash made fools of themselves during the race while trying to get ahead of each other. October was slightly less interesting, having only Naruto's birthday at the beginning, and Nightmare Night at the end. November had finally rolled around, and with it came the fledgling beginnings of winter. The air held a crisp chill, frost covered the ground, and everypony in town had scarves and hoof protection to ward off the cold.

Naruto and Twilight were walking through town, when suddenly Spike came running up to them.

"Naruto, Naruto, important letter from the princess." He gasped out, holding up the rolled letter for the blonde boy.

"Well now, lets see what Sunshine has to say." he said, smirking when he saw Twilight's cross face over his nickname for Celestia.

"Naruto! Show the princess proper respect!" She hollered at the grinning ninja. Letting out a chuckle, Naruto unrolled the letter and began to read. His eyes soon widened, then a massive grin formed on his face. This got Twilight curious. "What's it say, Naruto?" The violet unicorn asked.

"It says that sunshine has an important job for me that only someone of my talents can perform." Naruto answered excitedly. "I'm supposed to meet her today to discuss it. She also wants Sasuke to come as well.

"I assume the princess has sent you a chariot as well. The train doesn't depart for Canterlot until tomorrow."

"Doesn't say. That's alright though, I'll just travel by foot."

"Naruto, it takes an entire day to reach Canterlot from Ponyville, you'd never make it." At this, Naruto simply grinned.

"Oh believe me, at my top speed I could probably get there in ten minutes easily. If I was with Sasuke it would probably take us a half hour at least." Twilight went slack jawed at the information.

"How in my mentor's name are you able to travel at such speeds?" She asked in astonishment.

"Chakra." Stated Naruto. "Not only can chakra be used for ninjutsu, it can be channeled throughout the body for a massive increase in speed and strength. Granny Tsunade had a chakra technique that gave her enough strength to crush a massive boulder into rubble with one punch. Sasuke and I can use chakra to greatly enhance our running speed." Twilight filed the information away for later.

"Well, we better find Sasuke then. We can't keep the princess waiting." With that, the two walked through Ponyville, eyes peeled for the raven haired human. They found him in his house, within the training ground he had set up in the back lot. Said Uchiha was currently cloaked in an aura of electricity, a look of absolute concentration on his face.

"Hiya Sasuke!" Hollered Naruto, destroying Sasuke's concentration and causing the lightning aura to violently discharge and vanish.

"Dammit Dobe!" Screamed Sasuke as he lay twitching on the ground. "Can't you see I was in the middle of something important."

"What was that just now?" Asked Twilight as she levitated Sasuke back onto his feet and braced against him so he wouldn't fall.

"I'm trying to replicate the fourth Raikage's lightning armour technique. With it, my speed and reflexes will be enhanced by a factor of four."

"Oi, bastard, didn't you swear on your eyes not to go stealing other people's hard work!" Shouted Naruto, his finger pointed accusingly at Sasuke, who remained nonplussed at the outburst.

"For your information moron, I swore on my eyes not to take the techniques of an ally. The fourth Raikage was one of the three who chucked us out of our world remember? He's no ally of ours, so his techniques are fair game." The Uchiha  had to repress a smirk upon seeing Naruto's surly look of defeat.  "Anyway, you wouldn't be here with the dobe, Twilight, unless it was something important, so what is it?"

"A letter came for Naruto from the princess requesting both of you. She said she had something only the two of you could do." She replied. Nodding, Sasuke backed off from Twilight's support, standing upright once more.

"I see. When do we leave?" He asked.

"The sooner the better Sasuke, the letter said nothing about transportation, so we're huffing it on foot. Try to keep up will you." Answered Naruto, his ribbing at the end earning a small bit of ire from the Uchiha. With that, the two headed for the edge of town, their destination in the distance on the mountainside. Twilight accompanied the two, still doubtful of Naruto's earlier claims, wanting to see if the blonde was actually truthful. Upon reaching the road leading to Canterlot, Naruto grinned at Sasuke.

"Ready to roll?" He asked.

"Hn." Replied Sasuke, and with a small explosion of air displacement, the two hurtled for Canterlot, Twilight having been blown off her hooves from the explosion.

"Twilight!" Spike exclaimed in worry. "Are you okay?"

"Incredible." Was all Twilight said before she dazedly fell unconscious.




Twenty minutes passed, and Naruto and Sasuke skidded to a stop at the gates of Canterlot. Naruto gave a whistle of appreciation.

"Wow, looks completely different when you're at level with the place, and not flying above it." He said, Sasuke nodding in agreement. The two then walked into the city and headed for the castle, deciding to use the streets and not the rooftops. As they walked, ponies would stop and give them curious stares, though the two ignored them. Ten minutes of walking later brought the two ninja to the castle. The doors of course, were guarded by two white stallions in gold armour.

Hey, Iron Hide, Shield Blade, mind letting us in? Sunshine wanted to see us pronto." Said Naruto, much to the two guards shock. Iron Hide then grinned, and nudged Blade with a hoof.

"You owe me twenty bits." He said smugly.

"Oh come on!" Shield Blade protested. "How in Celestia's name did you know it was us?" He asked Naruto, who simply grinned.

"Sorry, trade secret." He replied. Sasuke watched the proceedings with mounting curiosity, and followed Naruto as they were allowed entry into the castle.

"So how do you know those guards?" Asked Sasuke.

"Oh, it was back when we were last here. Those two attacked me while I was with Shining, thinking I was a threat. After getting the facts straight, Shining had them both spar with me for three rounds. After that, we sort of hit it off from there." Sasuke shook his head in amusement. Only the dobe could make friends by beating someone up. The two then came to the doors of the throne room, both insignias upon them aglow. Opening the doors, the two saw Celestia and Luna on their thrones discussing something together. They were alerted to the two ninjas' presence when the throne room doors shut closed.

"Sasuke, Naruto, I wasn't expecting you for quite some time." Said Celestia in surprise. "I was just about to arrange a chariot for you two. How did you get here so fast?"

"We ran here on foot. No offense to your pegasi, but we're faster on the ground than in the air." Replied Naruto.

"I can see that. Well then, as you know I have a task for the two of you if you're up for it. You're free to refuse if you wish."

"Well that depends, what's the mission?" Naruto asked, his eagerness eliciting a giggle from Celestia.

"The mission is a long term expedition. I would like you two to explore and chart the Everfree Forest." At this, Naruto grinned.

"What are the details?" He asked.

"I want to know how big it is, what kinds of animals dwell within, what plants grow within, and anything and everything else you can find out about the forest. Nopony has been able to do this, but you two are far stronger than any of my little ponies. Would you do this?" Naruto grinned excitedly, but Sasuke was suspicious.

"There's something you're not telling us Celestia." He accused, and noticed the nigh imperceptible flinch Celestia gave off. "We'd like to hear all the details, please."

"Sunshine, we've been through this already, you can trust us." Assured Naruto. Celestia sighed in defeat.

"Oh all right. Guards, bring her in." With that, the throne room doors opened and in walked a pair of guards, but it was the mare between them that got the two ninja to glower.

"Release the great and powerful Trixie at once you ruffians, How dare you shackle a pony as... Oh, your highnesses. To what does Trixie owe the pleasure?" Asked Trixie, a nervous grin upon her face.

"Trixie here has been serving community service here in Canterlot as punishment for her actions in Ponyville, though throughout her service she has been quite... disruptive. I would ask that if you're willing to accept the mission, she accompany you as a field assistant." Said Celestia, causing Trixie to notice the two humans, and snarl in anger.

"What are you two freaks doing heEEEEEEK!" She screamed as not only Sasuke's killing intent struck her, but also as a snarling Luna teleported in front of her, eyes glowing white and mane wildly billowing with her fury.

"How dare thou callest our guests freaks! We should have thou thrown into the dungeons for thine insolence!" Luna bellowed in the royal canterlot voice, her voice and temper quickly leaving Trixie cowed and quivering in terror on the floor.

"Luna!" Celestia barked at her sister, "Enough!"

"But she.." Luna defended, only to be cut off.

"I said enough Luna. I believe you've reprimanded Trixie enough. And Sasuke, desist that at once." Sasuke grumbled and cut off the killing intent, allowing Trixie to gasp for air. With a snarl of rage, Luna stormed out of the throne room, the guards tripping over themselves in their haste to get out of the furious alicorn's way. Celestia let out a sigh, and leveled a stern look at Trixie, who was still huddled on the floor.

"I'm sorry about that. Luna still has a temper I see." Said Celestia.

"In all honesty Celestia, there's nothing you need to apologize for." Replied Sasuke. "But I can't accept this mission, not with Trixie accompanying us. I don't think I could control myself if I did." Celestia once again let out a sigh.

"I understand Sasuke." She said.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go find and calm Luna down."

"That would be best, thank you Sasuke." With that, Sasuke left the throne room and began to search for Luna. When the doors to the room closed, Celestia looked to Naruto.

"So I assume you'll decline the mission as well?" She asked.

"Hmm, I'll admit, Trixie's going to be a party killer, but Naruto Uzumaki has never let things like that get in the way of missions. Count me in Sunshine." Said Naruto with a grin, causing a more tame smile to appear on Celestia's face.

"Thank you Naruto. Now then, you'll be paid a monthly stipend for supplies and such, as well as four hundred bits per piece of information of any and all discoveries you make within the Everfree. I would classify this as an... oh what would be appropriate... I suppose an S rank seeing as there are who knows how many hidden dangers within the forest. I expect you to begin some time this month at least." Upon hearing the mission parameters, Naruto gave a salute.

"Yes your highness." He said, his tone all business.

"Good, now that that's settled, you have the day to yourself Naruto. Spend it however you wish." At this, Naruto grinned.

"Well how about we let our hair down-well, mane in your case- and just talk with each other, as just two friends wanting to know more about the other." Celestia thought about it. What Naruto was asking would be wonderful, and day court was pretty much finished today.

"I haven't been able to just drop my regalia in centuries, how about we take this to my study, oh and guards, return Trixie to her room until Naruto is ready to be off."




"Ungrateful, slanderous, arrogant little brat!" Screamed Luna as her twin swords shredded another training dummy with a spell cast upon it to look like the target of her ire. She had commandeered the night guard training room twenty minutes ago, and now the place was a mess. Straw, wood and cotton stuffing were strewn about everywhere, remnants of Luna's efforts to calm down. Just as she was preparing to tear another dummy asunder, the sound of the door opening snared her attention.

"We said we were not to be disturbed!" She roared out in anger, only to cool down when she saw who it was. "Oh, Sasuke. Forgive us for shouting." Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he looked over the state of the training room.

"It's alright, but why did you get so angered at Trixie's words. Sure she called Naruto and I freaks," Sasuke paused when he saw Luna's mane had begun to flow more swiftly. Once it had slowed down he continued. "but it was just petty insults. What made you fly into such a rage?" Luna was silent for a moment, then she replied.

"You are the first friend we've had in a long time, Sasuke. For Trixie to insult you so in front of us, our blood just boiled at it." Sasuke could see that Luna was still angry at Trixie, so decided to deal with it.

"You don't have to be so defensive for me. I've been called, and deserved to be called, far worse back home. Petty insults are nothing, I just flashed my killing intent at her to put her in her place." He noticed Luna had calmed down slightly, but was still nowhere near done. "Now I can still see you're still furious over the whole thing, so how about we spar. I've always found a good friendly fight calms me down." With that, he took his place at one side of the circle. Luna smiled, and horn aglow, cleared away the debris of her earlier rampage in the room.

"We have very similar minds, Sasuke. We don't suppose you need to be told the rules?" She replied, and took up her own position. One second passed, then two, and with the flickering of a candle, the spar was on.




Three hours had passed since Naruto's mission discussion with Celestia, and the two were in the solar princess' private study, sharing a good laugh.

"You mean to say you vandalized your village's greatest monument, in broad daylight, evading your home's top soldiers, all the while wearing bright orange?" Celestia asked after stifling her giggles.

"Yup, and those guys were Anbu too. Seriously though, you of all ponies went and bombed Canterlot with itching powder to see how long they could keep their posing and strutting?" Asked Naruto, who was having trouble getting his laughter under control.

"I made sure it was washable and wasn't too strong, but yes I did. I'll admit though, I had some help from a... a friend." For one instant, Naruto caught a flash of something in Celestia's lilac eyes, but it had passed before he could identify it. Calestia then let a small smile grace her lips. "Thank you for this Naruto. I haven't been able to do something like this in a long time. Everypony sees me as the immortal princess of the sun, never as the alicorn mare who just wants to enjoy life and have fun. So thank you for allowing me to show this side of myself, and for treating me like you do everypony else." Naruto gave the alicorn a toothy grin.

"No problem, Sunshine." He said.




Luna was splayed on the ground, her breathing ragged, as she glared across the ring at Sasuke. Throughout the entire spar, Luna could not lay a blow on him no matter what she did or tried. Sasuke had also completely dominated her in the entire fight, so much so that it was an embarrassment on her part. She thought herself a capable fighter, but the Uchiha across from her had made her look like a small filly waving a table knife about. Shakily, she began getting onto her hooves, but collapsed from the strain.

"All right, that's enough, Luna." Said Sasuke, sheathing his sword.

"No." Snarled Luna, "We can still go on. We can still, Gah!" Luna's defiant statement turned into a short scream of pain as she collapsed a second time, and remained on the ground. Sasuke was by her side immediately.

"What hurts?" He asked.

"Everything, but our legs hurt the most." She ground out through the pain coursing through her body. Sasuke had not been gentle in their spar, and Luna had experienced the power of his physical strikes throughout it. Kneeling down, Sasuke used a minor medical jutsu to scan Luna's injuries.

"I told you we should have stopped an hour ago. You've put a lot of strain on your body, especially from trying to keep pace with me. Fortunately you didn't pull or tear anything. It looks like your legs are too strained right now to do much, and you're going to be in pain for a while. Fortunately for you, I can fix this." With that, Sasuke cancelled the jutsu and brought his hands to Luna's hind right leg.

"Sasuke, what are you... oooooooh." Luna cut herself off with a moan when Sasuke began to massage her leg, working at the strained knotted muscles to relax them.

"I'm giving you a massage, what's it look like. Just don't kick me and we'll be good." He answered, continuing his ministrations on Luna's leg. He then began channeling small amounts of fire chakra through his hands and into L:una's muscles, relaxing them further.

"You have a talent for this." Said Luna, letting out another moan of pleasure as Sasuke worked out a particularly stubborn knot.

"So I've been told." He answered. Soon, Sasuke had one leg done and began working on the other, making sure to avoid both flanks' cutie mark. After both hind legs were finished, he got to work on the front legs. "Luna, you're carrying a lot of tension. You need to relax more often."

"If... oooh... you're the one... aaaah... to deal with this... oh yes, right there... we'll be sure to." Luna managed out between her moans. Upon finishing Luna's forelegs and shoulders, Sasuke, began working on Luna's back, slightly increasing the output of his fire chakra. Luna could barely think straight as Sasuke's deft hands worked out every kink and knot, leaving her a quivering lump of flesh on the floor.

"Oh you are good. You are very, very good." She panted out, her wings extending as the pleasure mounted. Finishing her back, Sasuke attacked her outstretched wings, making sure to pay attention to her flight muscles. Finally, he finished, and brought his hands away.

"So, think you can stand up now?" He asked.

"You're joking. After what you've just put us through, you honestly expect us to be able to stand? We can barely move." Was Luna's incredulous reply. At the most, she was able to get on your knees. Casting a spell, a small brush winked into existence, and floated over to Sasuke.

"Dost thou think thou can straighten thy mane whilst we wait?" Asked Luna, and Sasuke noticed she was once again speaking in a more traditional fashion. Taking the proffered brush, Sasuke began to work on Luna's messed up mane. Luna's mane felt pleasantly cool to the touch, and shimmered like water when he passed the brush through it, reminding him of a pond reflecting a clear summer sky.

"Sasuke, we-" That was as far as Luna got, when she had turned her head to address Sasuke, he had also inclined his head to be level with Luna's. The result was the two's lips meeting in a light kiss. Said kiss lasted for one second, then the two violently jerked back, hand and hoof pressed against their owner's mouths. A few seconds of akward silence later, Luna decided to break it. "Sasuke, we are very sorry, we didn't mean to do that." She stammered out.

"It's alright, though I think we should keep our distance. No need for a repeat." Replied Sasuke, his heart hammering in his chest. Silence once again descended over the two, but Sasuke banished it. "So, You were saying earlier that you didn't have much in the way of friends. Care to elaborate?" He asked, hoping to shift the mood. Luna's expression became mournful.

"Our sister casts a long dark shadow over us, Sasuke. All those who tried to become our friend, did so only to get closer to Celestia. Nopony genuinely wanted my friendship, save one." At that, Sasuke paid rapt attention. "Her name was Snowdrop, a young pegasus filly who was cursed with blindness. We first met her when she created snowflakes, telling us that she had emulated the stars of our night. When she grew older, she worked at the weather factory, creating each and every snowflake by hoof for the winter. She was the only real friend we had ever had."

"What happened to her?" Sasuke asked, and Luna looked up at the ceiling, her mournful look intensifying.

"We were consumed by our darkness, and banished to the moon, leaving Snowdrop to fade within time's grasp. When we were freed from our darkness these past few months ago, we did much research into our friend's genealogy, and the bloodline ends with a pegasus mare named Frost Wing. She and her husband live in the noble pegasus cloud city Psertenesia."

"Have you tried getting into contact with her?" At this, Luna shook her head.

"We haven't had all that much time, and we doubt Frost Wing to be anything like Snowdrop. It's enough for us to know that Snowdrop had a good life, filled with love and happiness despite her disability." Luna then turned to the door. "Anyway, we believe it is time for us to return. No doubt our sister and Naruto await the two of us." At this, Sasuke realized he had absolutely no idea what time it was. Following Luna, the two left the training room and made their return to the throne room, where Celestia and Naruto waited.

"There you two are. I was wondering when you'd show up." Said Naruto in slight irritation.

"Oh shut it dobe. You could stand to learn some patience." Sasuke responded, causing Naruto to start bickering with his friend. As the two humans argued, Celestia approached her sister.

"So what kept you two? you needed to raise the moon an hour ago, and you didn't show. You usually have a perfect sense of time." She said, causing Luna to fidget.

'Oh nothing much, just the most amazing massage we ever had. Oh, and the kiss. No, bad Luna, bad. That was a complete accident, don't dwell on it.' Luna thought to herself. "Oh, just another spar and some conversation." She said aloud. "And thou raised the moon on our behalf we take it?"

"Yes I did, and another spar? Sasuke didn't hurt you did he?" Celestia asked in concern, shooting a slight glare at the aforementioned Uchiha.

"No he did not sister, so cease thy glaring." She answered. Celestia was interrupted from pressing further when Naruto came to her, much to Luna's thanks. "Alright Sunshine, we're ready to roll. All we need now is Trixie." He said.

"Ah yes, the brat. We do hope she gets eaten by something." Said Luna disdainfully, then teleported away before her sister could reprimand her.

"I'm so sorry about that Naruto, I just have no idea why Luna is acting like that." Celestia apologized, though Naruto waved her concerns off. Soon, Naruto and Sasuke were standing in a chariot, Trixie being brought over to them. Celestia was there to see the three off along with Luna as well. As the chariot was about to take of, Sasuke looked back at the two princesses, and Luna's eyes locked with his, causing her heart to flutter in her chest. Their gazes connected for three seconds, then the chariot took off, tearing them apart. Celestia turned and began to leave, but Luna lingered upon the balcony, contemplating the feeling in her chest.

'What was that? I just look into his beautiful, deep, bottomless, no, bad Luna bad, stay focused. I look into his eyes and all the sudden my heart is racing a mile a minute. Still didn't feel as powerful as when we kissed though. Oh dear mother, why can't I get that silly kiss out of my head?'




'Sage almighty, why can't I get that stupid kiss out of my head?' Sasuke thought to himself.

"Yo Sasuke, snap out of it. You've just been staring ahead into space this whole time." Said Naruto, waving a hand in front of Sasuke's face.

"Dobe, get that hand out of my face before I burn it off." Said hand was immediately retracted.

"So what's got you all out of it? Something happen back there?"

"Shut up dobe."

"Seriously though, did something happen? I think we can fix it if we turn around."

"I said shut up Dobe!" Sasuke roared.

"Okay, okay, jeez I was just trying to help."

"We toldest thou to cease speaking, Tia!" Roared a voice with impressive volume from behind the three.

"Did Luna just use the royal equivalent of shut up?" Asked Naruto in shock.

"I think she did." Said Sasuke, just as shocked.

"You do realize that this means you are now an official bad influence, right?" Said Naruto with a grin, and the argument began.

"Humans are weird." Muttered Trixie.
> Preparations and Revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the morning after Naruto's acceptance of Celestia's mission, and the residents of Ponyville were going about their usual morning. Also up and about during this time was Naruto, who was gathering supplies for his mission to explore the Everfree Forest. Ponies would wave cheerfully as he passed, but then they would level death glares at the pony walking behind the human. Trixie was out with Naruto carrying all the supplies as they went from shop to shop, and she was not happy about it in the slightest.

"Why can't you carry all this stuff yourself, human? The great and powerful Trixie refuses to be your mule." The sound of braying made her look to her right. "Um, no offense to you of course."

"None taken." Replied the mule beside her.

"Would it kill you to at least use my name?" Naruto asked as they headed for a camping supply store.

"Trixie refuses to sully her tongue with your name, human." She answered. Naruto was ready to start beating his head against a wall. After their arrival in Ponyville last night, Naruto had taken Trixie to Twilight's, seeing as Sasuke refused for her to stay with him. Trixie and Twilight didn't exactly hit it off, requiring Naruto and Spike to help diffuse the situation. Now things were heating up again this morning, as the townsponies had been far less than pleased with Trixie's most unwanted return. So far, Naruto had quelled a rioting, but that wasn't stopping them from glaring and insulting the mare. Soon the two reached the supply store, and Naruto left a shadow clone out with Trixie so to protect her should anypony try something. Fortunately, all anypony did was glare and shoot out an insulting remark. Soon, Naruto exited the store with everything he needed from it, and deposited the items into Trixie's saddlebags. Just as he was finished, Trixie levitated the bags off of her and cast them aside, nearly spilling their contents on the ground.

"Trixie, please put the bags back on." Naruto asked her.

"No." Trixie replied, turning her nose up and looking away.

"Trixie, stop this. You're supposed to be helping me."

"Trixie is only required to help you in the Everfree Forest. Trixie has already stated she will not carry your things, so find somepony else to do your manual labour." Naruto slapped a hand against his face. He wasn't sure how much more of Trixie he could take.

"Trixie, you're my assistant for this mission, meaning you're supposed to be helping me with anything regarding the mission."

"Trixie doesn't care. She refuses to carry anything she doesn't want to." She answered, holding her defiant pose.

"Trixie, please."

"No." Now, Naruto was not in any way a patient person, thus it was a testament to his self control with how he was handling Trixie, but even he had his limits and Trixie had shoved past them.

"That's it. Trixie, pick up those bags or I swear to Celestia I will let the town loose on you." Trixie's eyes snapped open at that, and she looked at Naruto.

"You wouldn't dare." She said, a drop of fear colouring her voice.

"Try me, I dare you." He answered, his aggressive tone and straight face destroying all doubt of the sincerity of his threat. Wordlessly, Trixie levitated the bags and placed them upon her back once more, and the two resumed their shopping trip. Soon the two were finished and heading back to the library, Trixie remaining silent since after being threatened. Once the two were inside and the supplies set aside, Naruto turned back to the light blue unicorn.

"Trixie, I'm sorry for threatening you, but you forced my hand. Why do you have to be so defiant? Why can't you just cooperate?" He asked.

"Trixie refuses to cooperate because you have made a mockery of Trixie. She'll be lucky if at the end of all this, anypony notices her now." Something about that statement nagged at Naruto, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

"So you're still hung up about that magic show? Trixie that was months ago, can't you just let it go?" At this, Trixie got angry.

No, Trixie will not let it go. Trixie hates you, she despises you, and she will prove herself superior to you and all others, and be remembered as the greatest and most powerful unicorn in Equestria." Again, something about that statement niggled at Naruto, but he had no time to think on it as Trixie opened the door.

"Trixie, where are you going?" Asked Naruto in worry.

"Trixie is going out." She said simply as she walked through the doorway.

"Trixie wait. If I'm not with you, you might get attacked."

"The great and powerful Trixie is not afraid of the populace, and can easily defend herself if anypony gets violent." With that, Trixie slammed the door closed. She then decided to head to Sugarcube Corner for something to eat. Reaching the bakery without incident, Trixie entered the establishment and walked up to the counter.

"Hiya Trixie." Said pinkie Pie as she cheerfully bounced out of the kitchen and behind the counter. "What can I get you?" Ignoring the overly cheerful pony in front of her, Trixie pondered her choices.

"Trixie will have the large lemon cranberry muffin." She said after making her mind up.

"Inside or to go?" Pinkie asked

"To go." With that, a warm paper bag was handed to her.

"Here you go, fresh from the oven." Said Pinkie. Paying the necessary bits, Trixie took the bag and began to leave. "Don't I get a thank you?"

"I suppose." Said Trixie. "Trixie thanks you for being so fast with her order."

"Well it was a thank you, so I'll take it. I was going to throw you a welcome to Ponyville party, but nopony wanted to come. You can't have a party without guests after all."

"That is fine. Trixie hates parties anyway." That caused Pinkie's jaw to drop.

"What!? How in Equestria can you hate parties? Parties are super duper fun, and everypony loves them."

"Just because everypony else likes them, doesn't mean Trixie likes them as well."

"But why?"

"Trixie has no need or desire to tell you." Was the showmare's reply, and with that she left the bakery, muffin securely in her magical grasp. However, Pinkie was not giving up that easily.

"Can you pleeeease tell me why you hate parties?" Pinkie asked as she appeared out of a flowerbox beside Trixie, startling the unicorn.

"Trixie has already told you she won't say. Leave Trixie alone." She stated angrily, and walked away from the pink earth pony. This continued for a bit, Pinkie would constantly hound Trixie for answers while appearing out of nowhere, while Trixie would turn her away, getting angrier after each time. Finally, she had had enough.

"Enough of this! I've told you over and over that I won't tell you why I hate parties, so why can't you respect that and just leave me alone?!" Trixie screamed, and with a pulse of magic, shoved Pinkie Pie away from her. That got the townsponies attention. "All I want is some peace and quiet, but I can't get any with you constantly badgering me with questions I don't want to answer. Now go away and leave me alone." Just as Trixie said that, a rotten tomato impacted her in the side of her face, which was soon followed by other spoiled produce. The townsponies had thought Trixie was deliberately hurting Pinkie, and were retaliating. Trixie summoned up a barrier spell to protect her from the onslaught of rotting projectiles, but they would not relent.

"How dare you hurt Pinkie Pie. What's she ever done to you?" Hollered one pony

"So trying to destroy our town not enough for you? You have to go hurting innocent ponies now?" Yelled another. Pinkie's eyes widened when she saw what she had done.

"Everypony, wait. Trixie didn't do anything, it was all my fault." She said to the crowd, but everypony ignored her.

"Great and Powerful Trixie? More like weak and worthless if you enjoy picking on ponies all the time." When Trixie heard that, very unpleasant memories filled her mind, and her barrier began to waver.

Trixie, Trixie, such a stupid filly.

Trixie's barrier shimmered and weakened as a chorus of foal's voices echoed in her head.

Trixie, Trixie, such a stupid filly.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier, and Trixie was unable to concentrate magic into it to sustain it.

Can't do right, what a sight, such a stupid filly.

"With the sound of breaking glass, the barrier collapsed, leaving Trixie exposed to the insults and projectiles the ponies were throwing at her, the townsponies having stopped with spoiled goods when they had run out, and were now throwing sticks and stones. Trixie immediately ran, tears streaming from her face, the mob in hot pursuit. Soon she was running down a dirt road studded with mud patches. on pursuer's stone struck Trixie's leg, causing her to trip and fall, getting mud and dirt all over her. Her pursuers immediately caught up to the mare, and began tormenting her, pounding her with hooves and showering her with insults, all the while the sing song chorus of bullying foals rang through her mind.

Trixie, Trixie, such a stupid filly. Can't do right, what a sight, such a stupid filly.

"Enough!" Screamed a voice, and in a flash of yellow Naruto appeared, chakra cloak blazing, sending ponies flying back with the force of his sudden appearance. "I expected better of all of you." He snarled angrily. "Would somepony care to explain why you're all beating on Trixie here?"

"She was attacking Pinkie Pie." Replied one of the mob members, whom Naruto recognized.

"For your information Thunderlane, Pinkie Pie had been bothering her with questions she did not want to answer, She just pushed Pinkie to get her to stop."

"She brought that ursa down on us. She could've destroyed Ponyville." Said another pony in the group.

"Ugh, will all of you get over it. That was months ago, and she's been punished for that. It's not like anything was destroyed or anypony got hurt, so there's no need to hold on to past grudges." After a bit more convincing, Naruto got the mob to disperse. Deactivating his cloak, Naruto turned to face Trixie, only to get shoved back by pulse of magic. "What the heck was that for?" He said angrily as Trixie got up off the ground.

"I didn't want your help!" Trixie screamed. "I don't want your pity. I never asked for your charity. Just leave me alone!" With that, Trixie tore down the road as fast as her legs could carry her.Soon the path gave way to plain grass and trees, and unaware of her footing, Trixie tripped over an exposed root. Tumbling and rolling, the mare slid to a stop in a jumbled heap of cloth and limbs. Trixie didn't bother getting up. Remaining on the ground, she cried and sobbed, her memory tormenting her still with a sing song rhyme.

Trixie, Trixie, such a stupid filly. Can't do right, what a sight, such a stupid filly.




Big Mac was taking a leisurely stroll through his family orchard. The trees were all bare of leaves, so there wasn't much in the way of scenery. However, the sky was clear, the wind was crisp and fresh, and the ground firm beneath his hooves, and that was all that mattered to him this fine November morning. He was pulled out of his peace of mind, when he heard the sound of crying. Deciding to investigate the source, Big Mac headed for the origin of the sound. It wasn't uncommon for a pony to come to the orchards to cry, the trees provided all the privacy a pony needed to let out their sorrows. Big Mac never did like seeing ponies cry, and would always try to help cheer them up if he could, be it a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, or just a few kind words. Upon reaching the source of the cries, Big mac saw that it was the self proclaimed 'great and powerful' Trixie who was crying in his orchard. While not a fan of her arrogant attitude, Big mac held no resentment with the mare, thus he decided to help her.

As he came forward, the sound of his hooves alerted Trixie to his presence, as she jerked her head up and looked at him. Big Mac could then see how filthy she was.

'Townsponies must have gotten to her.' He thought to himself. Sitting down a short distance in front of Trixie, Big Mac waited for Trixie to speak first, having found this the best tactic for crying mares.

"What do you want?" Trixie asked, "Come to hurt Trixie as well? Come to call her names and throw things at her?"

"Nnnope." Answered Big Mac in his usual way, then he pointed to his right with a hoof. "There's a stream down yonder, if' y'all wanna wash up, though it's prob'ly goin' tah be mighty cold in this weather."

"Trixie does not want your pity." She lashed out. Big Mac only raised a brow in response.

"An' ah ain't givin' yah any pity, ahm just statin' facts. Stream's not mine, so ah can't dictate what anypony does with it. If y'all want's tah use it, be mah guest. If not, that's fine too." Trixie's eyes cast themselves downwards and she said nothing. With that, Big Mac turned around and headed back to his farm house. Fetching a towel, he headed back to Trixie's location, only to find her gone. Shrugging, he headed for the stream he had pointed out earlier, and found Trixie finishing up washing herself off. Upon exiting the frigid stream, Trixie came face to face with Big Mac once again, a towel held out for her. "Here, y'all can use this tah dry off." He said.

"Trixie did not ask for your charity." She said coldly.

"Well it ain't exactly charity if y'all ask for it. 'Sides, you'd rather freeze?" Trixie couldn't argue against that, and a pink glow surrounded her horn and the towel, which floated over to her. Once she had dried herself off, she handed the towel back over to Big mac, a mumbled thank you making it's way past her lips.

"Well then, the great and powerful Trixie must be off. She still has several errands to help run today." Said Trixie as she trotted past Big Mac, only for her stomach to loudly growl, reminding her that she had yet to eat anything today.

"Eeenope. Sorry Trixie, but nopony leaves Sweet Apple Acres on an empty belly. Yer comin' with me, a good meal will do yah wonders." With that, Big Mac led a mildly protesting Trixie to the farmhouse. Upon reaching the Apple family's home, he opened the door for the unicorn and beckoned her inside, following along after she had entered. After the two had entered, Applejack trotted over to see who was home, and saw her brother.

"Big Mac, there yah are. Granny's just settin th' table fer lunch." She said happily, then she noticed Trixie. "And what in tarnation is she doin' here? You know she brought that ursa inta' town." She stated angrily, causing Trixie to wilt a bit under the tone.

"She's here cuz' ah invited her to lunch, and that was months ago Applejack, get over it. Nopony got hurt, and nopony lost nothin'."

"But I, uh, she, er, oh fiddlesticks, fine." Applejack huffed, unable to counter her brother. That wasn't stopping her from getting the last laugh, however. "Oi, Granny!" She hollered into the house. "Set th' table fer five, Big Mac brought home a mare!"

"He did!?" An elderly voice hollered back. "Well it's about darn tootin time. My Big Mac's finally got himself a mare." If Big Mac wasn't already solid red, he would have been then.

"It ain't like that Granny!" He shouted, glaring at his sister, who was giving her elder brother a triumphant smirk in response. Soon, everypony was gathered around the dinner table eating lunch, potato soup with toasted tomato sandwiches. Conversation was light, then Trixie became the subject.

"So Trixie, where yah from?" Asked Applejack.

"Trixie is from Hoofington originally." She answered, sipping up a spoonful of soup.

"So what does yer cutie mark mean?" Apple Bloom asked the unicorn mare.

"It means that Trixie's special talent is magic itself, though Trixie specializes in illusions."

"Ooh, how'd yah earn it?"

"Well, Trixie was being bullied at school for being a blank flank, and she finally had enough. Trixie cast a spell on the bullies to make them think they were going bald. It was quite funny to see them running around screaming that their manes were falling off. Trixie got into loads of trouble with the teacher for it, but Trixie earned her cutie mark, so it was worth it."

"Now don't go puttin' ideas inta mah sister's head, Trixie. She an' 'er friends get in enough trouble as it is with all their cutie mark crusadin'."

"Me? Corrupt an innocent filly into troublemaking? Perish the thought." That got a laugh out of everypony. Trixie was honestly enjoying her time with the Apples, but then Apple Bloom asked the wrong question.

"So Trixie, what's yer family like?" At this, Trixie went silent, then her spoon dropped into her empty bowl with a clatter.

"Trixie is sorry, but she must leave now to help Naruto with his errands. Trixie thanks you for the meal Granny Smith, and apologizes for leaving so abruptly." With that, Trixie excused herself from the table, and left the farmhouse, much to everypony's confusion.

"Now what th' hay is wrong with 'er?" Applejack asked aloud.

:"Was it somethin' ah said?" Asked Apple Bloom in confusion. Meanwhile with Trixie, the mare was trotting down the road back to Ponyville, hot tears leaking out of her closed eyes. Of all the things that filly could have asked about, it had to be about her family.

'What family?' Trixie thought bitterly to herself. Finally she made it back to Ponyville, and while she was still getting looks, nopony was insulting her. Upon reaching the library, Trixie opened the door and stepped inside, earning the attention of the three occupants within.

"Trixie, there you are." Said Naruto as Trixie walked into the library.

"Trixie, are you hurt? I heard about what happened from Naruto and Pinkie." Asked Twilight in concern.

"The great and powerful Trixie is fine as you all can plainly see. Now then human, Trixie supposes we still have some errands to run?"

"Argh, could you please use my name, and not just call me human." Groaned Naruto, his hand pressed against his face. Trixie just smirked at the reaction she got out of Naruto. Just then, a pink blur careened into Trixie, enveloping her in a hug.

"I'm so, so so soooo sorry. I didn't mean to get all the townsponies mad at you like that. Please forgive me, I'll never pester you with questions you don't want answered again." Pleaded Pinkie as she continued to hug the unicorn. Trixie wanted nothing more than to shove her away and refuse, but decided that that was not the course of action she should be taking.

"Very well, Trixie accepts your apology, though she didn't even get to eat her muffin." Just then, a warm paper bag was handed over to her.

"I made you a new one, your old one kind of got trampled." Said Pinkie, her usual cheer returning. Letting go of Trixie, Pinkie Pie bounced for the door, but Trixie stopped her.

"Pinkie, wait." When Trixie had Pinkie's attention, she continued. "Trixie does not like parties because every party Trixie has been to has always ended badly for Trixie."

"Well whoever made those parties wasn't very good at it. A party's only good if all the guests leave happy." Said Pinkie.

"Unless the sole purpose of the party was to humiliate me." Said Trixie quietly, but not quietly enough.

"What!?" Everyone else exclaimed.

"Trixie, what do you mean by that?" Asked Twilight.

"Trixie does not wish to answer that." Trixie answered, and everyone got the hint.

"Well, I got to get back to work, break's over. Thanks for accepting my apology, Trixie, I was scared you wouldn't." With that, Pinkie bounced out the library and back to Sugar Cube Corner.

"Well, Trixie, we need to get going too. There's still a few things we need before we head into the Everfree Forest." Said Naruto, and with that, the two headed out. Twilight remained lost in thought. What Trixie had said about not liking parties had her head spinning.

'Why in Equestria would anypony make a party just to humiliate Trixie?' She thought to herself. She soon derailed such thoughts when she knew she couldn't work on them seeing as she knew practically northing about the unicorn. With a sigh, Twilight soon returned to her magic studies, though Trixie's words still hung in the back of her mind.




"Thank you for your patronage." Called Aloe and Lotus as another satisfied customer left the spa. Soon, the door jingled again to announce the arrival of another customer. The two sisters looked at who had entered, and were quite surprised to see none other than Rainbow Dash.

"Uh, hi." She said nervously, then presented a ticket to the two spa ponies. "I get a free massage with one of these right?" Aloe took the ticket, and saw it was one of their promotional vouchers. After Sasuke had massaged a few of the weather ponies here in Ponyville, their performance at work was nearly doubled. Aloe and Lotus decided to give massage vouchers to Ponyville's weather crew in hopes of attracting more clientele.

"Of course, come with me. I'll take you right over to Sasuke." Said Lotus, and brought Rainbow Dash to the back of the spa. "Sasuke, another customer for you." She called from in front of a closed door. there was a bit of rustling in the room, and soon, Sasuke opened the door. Immediately he took notice of his rainbow maned friend.

"Well I wasn't expecting to see you here, Rainbow Dash." He said, causing the pegasus to laugh nervously.

"I'm just here for the massage. I'm hoping it can improve my stunt practice." She replied. Sasuke soon beckoned her in, and shut the door behind her.

"All right, just lie down on the table and I'll be with you shortly." Doing as bidden, Rainbow Dash lied down on the table, stomach down. Sasuke then brought over several odd looking coloured sticks. "Could you smell each one and tell me which one you like most." He asked. Deciding there was no harm in it, Rainbow smelled each of the sticks, and told Sasuke the red one on the far left was what she preferred best. Sasuke then took the sticks away, and after several seconds, Rainbow heard him snap his fingers. Soon the entire room was filled with the smell of hot peppers and wood smoke, causing Rainbow to relax into the table.

"So what were those stick things anyway?" Asked Rainbow.

"Incense." Answered Sasuke. "I've found that aromatherapy helps the massaging process become much more enjoyable." Upon seeing Rainbow's lost face, Sasuke dumbed things down. "It will make your massage feel better."

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place." She said, and Sasuke could only sigh.

"Let's just get started." With that, Sasuke began applying massaging lotion to his hands.

"Hey Sasuke, can I ask you a personal question?" Asked Rainbow.

"Depends on the question I suppose."

"Do you think I'm pretty?" That made Sasuke pause in his lotion rubbing.

"Before I answer that, why do you ask?" Rainbow was silent for a minute as she organized her thoughts, then she spoke.

"Well, I've got my eye on this stallion, but I don't exactly think he notices me all that much. Wouldn't surprise me really, I'm just pretty much a garish, scrawny tomcolt." Finishing up with his hands, Sasuke came over to Rainbow Dash.

"Well Rainbow, I'm not exactly the right guy to discuss this with. Personally, I don't care too much for looks. For me, strength and skill is what I find attractive, something a lot of girls back in my world didn't get." Sasuke then began massaging Rainbow's shoulders. "Let's take you for example. You're a very strong mare, and very skillful in the air, which is what makes you look attractive in my eyes. Yes you have a lot of bright colours going on with you, but to be honest, your mane suits you. Furthermore, you're not scrawny." Sasuke emphasized this by beginning to massage her body. "Yes you have a slender build, but it gives you a very toned and athletic look to yourself. Another thing is your tomcoltishness, or tomboyishness as how it's said in my world. Personally, I like a girl who isn't afraid to do something usually reserved for males, it just shows how tough she is. add that to your skill and strength, and I find you a very pretty mare, though I can't say for that stallion of yours." Sasuke could feel Rainbow trembling and letting loose shuddering breaths as he continued to massage her, having added fire chakra to the mix.

"Thanks, Sasuke." Rainbow gasped out, though her tone struck Sasuke as odd. It wasn't the sound of a pony experiencing relaxing pleasure, but the sound of someone being relieved of  emotional baggage.

'Must have confidence issues when it comes to her looks and attractiveness.' Sasuke thought to himself. "So, if I may ask, who's this stallion that's caught your eye?" He asked aloud. That caused Rainbow Dash to tense.

"Uh, well, I'd rather not say. I don't exactly want it to become public knowledge that I like the guy. I know you're trustworthy Sasuke, but if it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep it to myself." She answered. Sasuke finished with Rainbow's body, and began working on her legs, making sure to avoid the cutie marks.

"Well it's not my place to pry. Can you at least tell me about him?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, he's kinda hard to describe. He can be really intimidating to those that don't know him, but he lets his friends see his softer side. He usually comes off as uncaring, but he often cares a great deal. He can be violent, but he won't hurt anypony unless they give him a good reason to. But one of the things I like about him most, is his willingness to listen. No matter what he's doing, he's always willing to put everything down and listen to a friend's problems, and help them through it." Sasuke tried thinking of all the stallions he knew to see if he could match one to Rainbow Dash's descriptions, but nopony came to mind.

"Sounds like some stallion. I'm sure if you try hard enough, he'll notice you.." Said Sasuke as he finished Rainbow Dash's limbs and began on her wings. Rainbow was practically melting at Sasuke's touch, and all too soon, her massage ended. "All right Rainbow, that's all you get." Said Sasuke as he brought his hands away from the mare.

"That's it?" Whined Rainbow as she shakily got off the table. Never before had her body felt so good and relieved, even after a good nap on a soft cloud. "Wow Sasuke, no wonder why Rarity tried to jump your bones, I feel awesome." Rainbow had to hold in a laugh at Sasuke's face.

"J-just get going already, before you convince me to quit my job." With a giggle, Rainbow trotted out of the spa, a slight prance in her steps. Upon leaving the building, Rainbow Dash took to the skies, her takeoff swifter than before, and flew to her cloud home above the town. Alighting in front of her doorway, she swiftly entered, closing the door shut behind her.

"Who's my mystery stallion, Sasuke?" Rainbow muttered aloud, secure in the privacy of her home. "Look in a mirror, and see for yourself.."




Fluttershy was nervous. Scratch that, she was petrified. She was standing in front of Golden Oaks Library, hoof raised to knock, but she just couldn't do it. Too many things could go wrong.

'What if he says no? What if he laughs at me? What if he says no while laughing at me.' These thoughts and many similar ones were currently raging through her mind, freezing her in place. Just as she was about to give up and leave, the library door swung open, revealing Spike.

"Oh, hi Fluttershy. What brings you here?" Asked the dragon.

"U-um, I-is Naruto here?" She asked, bringing her raised hoof down.

"Yeah, he and Trixie just got back from finishing all their shopping for the expedition." He then leaned closer to the pegasus. "You came at just the right time. Twilight's going crazy making sure Naruto remembers what to do when he comes across anything new. You need to come to the poor guy's rescue." At that, Twilight walked by with a book while raving to Naruto about how he couldn't get anything new and already discovered mixed up.

"And another thing you two, make sure whatever it is that you two find that's already discovered, is the thing already discovered. Who knows how many subspecies and variants the Everfree has within it. For all we know, poison joke comes in red as well." Said the aforementioned unicorn as she trotted by.

"Um, maybe this is a bad time. I think I'll just..." That was as far as Fluttershy got before Naruto came skidding into the doorway.

"Sorry Twilight, got to go. Flutters needs me for something, and it sounds big by the way she's acting. Make sure Trixie understands everything so she can tell me later." With that, the blonde ninja swept Fluttershy into his arms and dashed for the pegasus' cottage, and not a moment too soon.

""Narutoooooooooo!!!" Screamed the two unicorns he left behind.

"Well what do you know, Trixie finally used my name." Remarked Naruto in surprise. Soon, he and Fluttershy were at the aforementioned mare's cottage, and Naruto gently set Fluttershy down. She was a bit disorientated from the sudden takeoff, but recovered quickly. "So Flutters, what did you want to ask?" Asked Naruto, causing Fluttershy to nervously fidget as she hovered at eye level.

"Oh, um, I-it's nothing. Goodbye." Fluttershy tried to flee, but Naruto grabbed her long tail before she could get away.

"It's alright Flutters, I don't bite." Naruto reassured the mare.

"It's, um, would...." The rest was uttered so quietly, Naruto couldn't catch it.

"You're going to have to speak up, Fluttershy." Said Naruto, smiling in amusement at Fluttershy's timid actions. Fluttershy was hiding her face in her mane at this point.

"Would you go out with me?" Again Naruto couldn't hear a word she said.

"Flutters, I can't help if you won't tell me what's wrong. Besides," With his free hand, Naruto gently parted Fluttershy's mane, revealing her face once more. "hiding that pretty face of your's isn't helping." Fluttershy could feel her cheeks flush at Naruto's words.

"Would you go out with me?" Her response was very quiet, but Naruto almost caught it.

"You wanted something from me Flutters? What is it?" He asked.

"I, I, it's nothing, don't worry about it." Responded Fluttershy, desperately trying to free her tail from Naruto's grip. Suddenly, Naruto pulled her closer, and wrapped his arms around the yellow pegasus, eliciting a cute 'eep' from her. setting himself down cross legged on the ground, Naruto began gathering natural energy.

"It's okay Fluttershy, you can tell me." he said, scarlet pigmentation appearing around his eyes.

"No, it's not okay. You'll laugh, you'll say no, you-" She was interrupted from her physical and verbal struggling when the soothing presence of Naruto's sage mode slammed into her full force, causing her to sag bonelessly in his arms.

"Fluttershy," He whispered into her ear. "no matter what you ask, I won't ever laugh at you, and I'll only say no to anything you need only if I'm doing something a lot more important." Naruto then began stroking her mane, relaxing the mare further. "So ask away Fluttershy. You don't have to be afraid."

"Would you go out with me, Naruto?" That question gave Naruto pause.

"Out as in a date?" He clarified, and Fluttershy nodded. This brought only silence from Naruto, and Fluttershy feared the worst.

"I knew you wouldn't want to." Fluttershy said in dejection, but was stopped from speaking further with one of Naruto's fingers pressing against her lips.

"When did I say I didn't want to? I'm just shocked is all. No one's ever asked me out, and I didn't think any of you would be interested in me seeing as I'm not a pony." at this, Fluttershy's fears began to drain away, and soon elation rose to replace her melancholy.

"So, you'll go out with me?" She asked hopefully, to which Naruto simply smiled.

"Sure, I'd love to. And you're sure you're okay with me not being a pony, right?"

"I'll admit it might be a little strange, but ponies having relationships outside their species isn't unheard of, so I doubt anypony else will mind. So, tomorrow at seven?" Naruto thought to himself, then nodded.

"Yup, that works." With that, Naruto's sage mode fell away, and he released Fluttershy from his embrace.

"Well, I guess I'll see tomorrow then, Naruto." Said Fluttershy.

"Yup, see you at seven Fluttershy. Now if you'll excuse me, I got to break up Trixie and Twilight before they go at each other's throats, again." With that, Naruto vanished in a swirl of leaves. Not bothering to contain her excitement, Fluttershy raced into her cottage and slammed the door behind her, bracing herself against it. Sucking in a deep breath, she let loose a tremendous scream of elation

"Eeeeeeeeeeee." Well, tremendous for Fluttershy that is. "He said yes. He said yes. Oh yes yes yes, he said yes." Fluttershy was hopping about in elation, screaming her joy for the world to hear, and pretty much just acting like Twilight in a bookstore having a clearance sale. Suddenly, at the exact same time, both human and pegasus realized one key thing they had forgotten.

"Wait a minute, I've never gone on a date before. What do I do?!"
> Dating; Advice, Attire, Action
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The late afternoon sunlight washed over Carousel Boutique as Rarity went about her business, humming to herself as she worked. She was interrupted when she heard a frantic rapping upon her door.

"Now who in the world could that be?" She asked herself, and headed for the door. "I swear, if Sweetie Belle and her friends did something horrendous, again, there will be consequences." Reaching the door, Rarity opened it with her magic, revealing not three abashed fillies, but a frantic Fluttershy.

"Oh Rarity, thank goodness you're here." Said Fluttershy in rushed panic as she darted into the boutique. "I need help, serious help, and I don't know any other pony I could turn to." She continued as she frantically paced about.

"Darling, what in Equestria could possibly have you this stressed, and in need of moi?" Asked Rarity, confused over her friend's behavior.

"Um, well, I..." That was as far as Fluttershy got before she indecipherably whispered the rest whilst hiding her face within her mane.

"I'm afraid you'll have to speak up darling, I couldn't hear that."

"I have a date tomorrow."

"A trifle louder dear, if that wouldn't inconvenience you?"

"I have a date tomorrow." Rarity's ears twitched as she nearly caught the phrase.

"Just a little louder dear, I very well cannot help if I have no idea what you need help with." Mustering what little courage she had, Fluttershy managed to squeak out her dilemma.

"I have a date tomorrow." A pin rolled off of Rarity's worktable, hitting the ground with an audible ping. Rarity herself was stunned, no, beyond stunned. Just as Fluttershy feared the worst, the alabaster unicorn exploded into praise.

"That's wonderful news darling! Who's the stallion? what are your plans? Oh gracious me, you'll need a dress!" Before Fluttershy could interpret what was happening, she was on the stand while Rarity was fussing over her for dress details. "So darling, who's the fine stallion who's caught your eye? Is it Big Mac, Celestia knows you two would be perfect together, two gentle souls getting together, the bread and butter of every wonderful romance story." Gushed Rarity as she began looking over dress materials.

"U-um, well, it's not Big Mac. He's nice and all, but he just doesn't feel 'right'." Replied the timid pegasus, causing Rarity to gasp.

"Goodness darling, you're aiming for a serious relationship? Well then, this stallion must be something special. Please, you must tell me who he is." Fluttershy clammed up at this, having no confidence to declare she was asking Naruto out, especially to not only her friend, but the biggest gossiper in Ponyville. She wasn't ready for it to become public knowledge yet. No matter how much Rarity pleaded, Fluttershy remained silent. Finally the seamstress gave up.

"Ugh, fine, have it your way then. If you won't tell, then I won't press. However darling, whatever do you need my help for? Besides the dress of course."

"Well, I've never actually been on a date before. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

"Oh I see. Well then, first things first, who asked who out?"

"Um, I did."

"that means you need to do the planning." Rolls of material levitated off their shelves and began floating around the two mares. "Now then Fluttershy, the first thing you need are flowers."




Naruto re-entered the library, still wrapping his head around the fact he had been asked out. No one had done that before back home, and the novelty of it, combined with his own impulsiveness, had caused him to accept without understanding what he was getting into. Sure he liked Fluttershy and all, but dating a pony wasn't exactly something he had been planning to do in this world.

"...ruto. Nauto!" Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by Twilight's yelling.

"Huh? What was that Sparkles?" Twilight groaned at the use of her nickname, causing Trixie to snicker.

"As I was saying, what has you so lost in thought?" The lavender mare asked the blonde.

"Well believe it or not, I just got asked out by Fluttershy." That got everypony's attention.

"Wait, do you even know how dates and courting are conducted here in Equestria?" Twilight asked the ninja.

"Not a clue." Replied Naruto. "I figure it's pretty much the same as my world." Twilight resisted the overwhelming urge to smash her head against the wall, settling for facehoofing instead.

"Naruto, how could you possibly go about thinking that two completely different worlds would have the same dating practices?"

"What, so cleaning up, dressing snazzy, and giving the partner a good time doesn't happen here?" Twilight shook her head.

"That's an extremely small aspect of it all Naruto. There's so much more to it than that." With that, Twilight brought Naruto into the main room of the library and sat him down in a chair. Naruto was surprised by the fact that Sasuke was also in the library. Said Uchiha was soon sitting beside Naruto, and Twilight brought over a large chalkboard, setting it up in front of the two humans. "Okay then, to begin, the pony who asked the other pony out plans and sets the date up." She said, scribbling some things down on the board.

"Wait. You're giving us both a lesson in dating? The dobe I can get, but why me?" Asked Sasuke.

"Because you need to know these things as well. Continuing on, this means that Fluttershy will be in charge of everything. Fluttershy was the one who asked you out right, and not the other way around?" She asked, directing the question to Naruto.

"Nope, Flutters asked me out." Answered the blonde.

"Alright then. Now The first date is always formal, meaning we'll need to stop by Rarity's later so she can make you something. Fluttershy is going to give you a flower that matches her coat colour to show she is courting you. Normally this would be put in your mane, but with it being such an intense shade of yellow as it is, the flower won't stand out there, but we'll get to that later. Now, Fluttershy's going to be the lead of the date, meaning she's in charge. She opens the door for you, she pulls out the chair for you, and all that stuff."

"Wait a minute, I thought the guy was supposed to do that?" Interrupted Naruto. Twilight's eye twitched at the interruption, but she answered smoothly.

"Yes, if he was the lead. Since Fluttershy asked you out she has taken the lead for this date and as such it's her responsibility to do all that. If the partner starts doing that, it's a sign that they are unimpressed by the date, so remember that."

"That's going to be a tall order for the dobe. Back in our world, the male is always the 'leader' of the date, so no doubt he's going to fall on old habits." Remarked Sasuke, getting a response of indignance from Naruto.

"We'll have to work on that then. Moving on, the second date is much more casual." Twilight scribbled some more things down on the blackboard. "Usually the couple go to a town event or festival, or do something fun together. The third date is expected to be scenic, like a night of stargazing, or having an picnic near a lake or something. It's also after the third date where the two are required to kiss."




"Wait a minute, I have to kiss him?" Asked Fluttershy, a blush spreading across her face.

"Only on the third date darling. And besides, you must. If you don't, the relationship is off." Answered Rarity as she stitched together a portion of Fluttershy's dress. Fluttershy gulped at that.

"So what happens after the third date?" The pegasus asked.

"Well, dates one to three are merely a means to test the waters so to speak, the real dating begins with dates four to ten. You will also have to give him something a little more permanent then flowers."




"So you get something else than a flower this time?" Asked Sasuke, to which Twilight nodded.

"That's right. You also give your partner something as well. Earth ponies give each other pendants with a jewel matching their coats, pegasi give each other shed pinion feathers, and unicorns give each other vials of their magical essence."

"And we keep getting these things on each date?"

"No, just the fifth date. It symbolizes the two of you as special someponies. It's also the point where others can join the relationship." That got the two humans' attention very fast.

"Others?" Asked Naruto. "You're saying that you need to have more than one?"

"Well you don't 'need' to have multiple partners, it's just a lot more accepted. Monogamous relationships are becoming much more common now that the gender skew is stabilizing, but herds are still the dominant type of relationships."

"Aw heck, it's the CRA all over again." Groaned Naruto, not keen with the idea of having more than one partner.

"While I share the dobe's sentiments, I'm more interested in this aforementioned gender skew." Said Sasuke.

"Well, from the time before Equestria's founding to about five hundred years ago, the gender ratio was pretty uneven. Six mares for every one stallion was the ratio I believe. From five hundred years to fifty years ago, it was four mares for every one stallion. The present day ratio is still four mares per stallion, but colt foals are becoming more common, so that ratio could decrease again."




"Oh m-my, I don't know if I'd be comfortable with a herd." Squeaked Fluttershy.

"You don't have to have one darling. Nopony will look at you differently with a single partner. Now then, what color should the trim be?" With that, Rarity began levitating fabrics over to her for trimming the dress.




"Now, you stopped the date count at ten. Why?" Asked Sasuke.

"Oh, that's because at that point it's socially acceptable for the couple or herd to marry. The six dates are drawn out over the course of the year, and in between them you're still spending a lot of time with them, so by the time those dates are done you two would be ready to tie the knot. To be honest, there is no maximum to the number of dates before marriage, it's just that everypony eventually gets married after the tenth one." Sasuke nodded at this as it made sense.

"Of course Sparkles, you forgot to mention that during that period, the stallion is entitled to rut his mares." Said Trixie, grinning at the flabbergasted expression on Naruto's face, and the enraged expression of her fellow unicorn. Sasuke however, didn't seem all that fazed.

"Trixie!" Twilight hollered, thankful that Spike was currently out at the moment.

"What? The great and powerful Trixie is only making sure that these two humans understand the full scope of things. They should be thanking her." She said in her usual arrogant tone, though that was quickly stopped when Sasuke leveled her a glare.

"Wait wait wait, I gotta...well... screw Fluttershy?" Naruto asked, his face going bright red from embarrassment.

"Dobe, it's like relationships back home. Sex between close dating couples is completely normal. I don't see what the fuss is all about." Trixie then conjured up a neon light image of Naruto and Fluttershy going at it, much to the aforementioned human's embarrassment.

"Trixie, you're not helping!" Hollered Twilight as she dispelled the image with a wave of magic.

"Wasn't trying to." Was the cornflower unicorn's response, causing Twilight to grit her teeth in aggravation.

"Anyways Naruto, no you don't have to, though there's nothing wrong with it either." Naruto for his part was looking a bit nervous, something Sasuke instantly picked up on.

"What's up with you dobe? the whole thing about sex couldn't have jittered you that bad, you were trained by a self proclaimed super pervert." He said.

"Don't remind me. I miss the pervy sage, but why did he always have to be like that" Groaned the blonde, eliciting a shrug from the Uchiha.

"Everybody's got to cope somehow." He answered. "Still, you haven't answered my question." Then Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "In fact, as soon as Twilight started talking about relationships getting serious, you've been extremely high strung."

"What? No I haven't." Said Naruto, but Sasuke heard the slight hitch in his tone.

"Okay dobe, now I know something's up. What's up with you." At this, a pained look crossed Naruto's face.

"I just don't think I'm ready for anything serious yet. I mean, all I've done is have chats with teammates over dinner." Sasuke didn't buy it for an instant.

"That's a lie and you and I both know it. You told me yourself you were going to begin settling down after everything cooled off from the war. Well now you have your chance, unless..." Suddenly, everything snapped into place for Sasuke. "Unless you're still trying to delude yourself that we can get back." at that, Naruto got angry.

"Or maybe it's you who's just going to give up after someone says it's impossible!" Naruto snapped back.

"Dobe, Celestia herself told us none of these ponies have the individual power to go ripping holes in dimension. And even if they made it a collaborated effort, the absolute most that could be done would be sending us back into that void between worlds."

"Kurama can see the worlds when we're in that place, so we can get back that way."

"Kurama can only see the worlds, not what kind of worlds they are. We'd have no way of knowing which one is ours. Face it dobe, we're stuck here." Naruto tried to retort, but only silence poured from his mouth. Finally, Naruto gave up, and with an aggravated growl, stomped off.

"Yeah, well who asked you, bastard?" He said as he stormed past Sasuke. "And I'm not going on that date." The blonde added with authority as he slammed the door closed behind him, causing Twilight, and even Trixie, to flinch. Twilight tried chasing after Naruto, but an outstretched arm from Sasuke barred her way.

"Shouldn't we go after him?" She asked the Uchiha.

"In time. Right now, give him some time and space to work things out his own way. I'll go talk to him later." Replied Sasuke.

"If the great and powerful Trixie's memory serves, wasn't it you who caused this? Why would he listen to anything you say?" Stated Trixie.

"Because the dobe knows I'm right, but his pride and emotions are putting him in denial. Don't worry though, I'm pretty sure I can talk him into that date."




"Now then darling, if there's anything else you might need, do not hesitate to ask. My door is always open." Said Rarity as she and Fluttershy trotted out of the boutique.

"I will, and thank you for the dress, as well as the advice." Answered Fluttershy, a dress bag hanging on her left wing. Suddenly she had Rarity's forelimb pulling her close to the alabaster unicorn.

"Oh no need to thank me Fluttershy, just be sure to give me all the details." Rarity replied with a grin. With a shrill 'eep', Fluttershy zoomed back to her cottage, sporting a bright blush, leaving a snickering Rarity behind.

"Oh that mare can be so fun to tease sometimes." She said to herself, then proceeded to trot back into her boutique. "Now then, to set up. I have a stallion to prepare for."




(Insert BGM)
"Rasengan!" Shouted Naruto, demolishing another boulder with the spinning chakra orb. Piles of rubble, as well as some craters, dotted the field he was practicing in. Naruto had been blowing off steam for an hour, and doing it the only way he knew; training till he dropped. Panting, Naruto formed another ball of blue, practicing on getting it down with one hand in a situation outside of combat.

"You know dobe, I don't think the ponies would appreciate you tearing up the place." Sasuke's voice cut through Naruto's concentration like a blade of wind, causing the Rasengan to detonate in Naruto's hand. Shaking the victimized appendage to rid the pain and slight numbness, Naruto glared at the fellow human who was lounging upon a tree branch, back pressed against the trunk.

"And what do you want?" Growled the blonde, aggravation still bubbling within him.

"I came to tell you you're being a fool." Was Sasuke's casual response.

"Oh, so it's foolish to want to try everything before claiming something's impossible?"

"No. It's foolish to make it your sole commitment." Sasuke's response startled Naruto, having not been expected. "You want to go back why? To become Hokage? To bring peace?"

"I promised." Said Naruto, but was cut off before he could say more.

"And those whom you promised to would understand given the situation should you not fulfill them. Besides, what are you going to do should returning to our world actually be impossible? You're just setting yourself up for the one thing you hate the most, loneliness."

"And what do you want me to do then, huh? I want to get back home, dammit."

"Why? Aside from your promises, why do you want to go back? Why do you want to go back to a world where every day could be the day you die? Where every man you fight and kill could have had friends and family waiting for him back home. Where every job you do only adds to the hate that shackles us?"

"I'll change that."

"It's not about if you can or can't. It's about how fast you can do it. You're good dobe, but even you can't change the world in an instant. How fast can you change the world before you start losing friends? How fast can you change the world before you start losing family? How fast can you change the world before you start losing hope?" Every word cut into Naruto like a blade, causing him to flinch with each question. "You know what dobe, you'd suck as Hokage."

"Oh you take that back you bastard! You saw what our shinobi were like during the war. Who do you think caused that? Me! When the kages came back saying granny was dead, who stepped up to lead the leaf? Me! After seeing me lead them, after seeing me protect them, do you seriously think I would suck as Hokage!" Naruto roared in outrage.

"Yes!" Sasuke roared right back. "Yes, and I'll tell you why. You may have the strength to lead, the will to command, and the power to protect, but you can't for the life of you learn to let go!" Again Naruto flinched back, and before he could retort, Sasuke continued. "Lets say you got the hat, that you married Hinata, that you did everything you said you'd do while we were stuck in those hospital beds. Every time you'd go to assign the missions, as soon as you saw someone precious to you, you'd stop and think to yourself, is today the day I lose them? With that thought, you'd immediately assign them something you know wouldn't get them killed, even if the dangerous mission would potentially fail without that team. That is why you'd fail as Hokage Naruto. You may be willing to die for the village, but you are unwilling to send those you care about to die for the village." Naruto wanted to retort, to prove Sasuke wrong, but no matter how hard he tried, his voice refused to work, because deep down he knew the Uchiha was right on the money.

"So what should I do then? Just give up on trying to get back home?" He asked, his voice quieter.

"No. Like I said, don't make it your sole commitment. Build up bonds and relationships here so that if there truly is no way back home, at least you have precious people here." Sasuke replied.

"And if there is a way back? I don't want to go breaking hearts, Sasuke." At this the Uchiha shrugged.

"As they say, better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. I'm sure given time they'll all heal and move on. I'm sure if you make your intentions to get back home known to Fluttershy, she'll understand if you do manage it." Soon, the conversation dissolved into a glaring match, something Sasuke won hands down.

"Fine, I'll go on a date with Fluttershy." Naruto relented. "But I'm not going to be aiming for anything serious with her." Sasuke once again shrugged.

"Not my place or problem." He replied. Casting his gaze up, he noticed the sun had gotten much lower. "It's gotten late dobe, I'll see you tomorrow at Rarity's." This confused the blonde.

"What are you going for?" He asked.

"If Twilight is anything like she's shown herself to be, she'll insist that I get some formal wear as well so that I'm prepared for dating as well." Sasuke answered, causing Naruto to chuckle and nod.

"Yup, that sounds like Sparkles." With that, the two humans went their separate ways.

(End BGM)




With a final scratch of the quill, Rarity finished all her fabric and accessory orders for the next year. Smiling to herself, she sealed all the order forms and payment into their proper envelopes, and prepared to head out to the post office to drop off her order forms, when suddenly Sweetie Belle rushed by, nearly knocking her older sister over.

"Sweetie Belle! Watch where you're going. You could hurt somepony dashing about like that." Sweetie Belle skidded to a stop, an admonished look upon her face.

"Sorry sis, it's just that Scoots and Apple Bloom are here." She said.

"Well just be careful alright? Just because you're excited doesn't mean you should go rushing about without regard." Picking up her fallen envelopes in her magical grasp, an idea suddenly came to her. "Sweetie, could you and your friends deliver these to the post office for me please? It might get you your cutie marks."

"Sure, sis." Sweetie answered gleefully, taking the offered envelopes.

"Cutie mark Crusaders: Mailmares, Yay!" The trio of fillies chorused, and sped off to the post office, Rarity watching them go with a giggle.

"Oh those fillies." She muttered to herself, and trotted back into her boutique, setting up shop for a new day.




The chill morning air greeted Sasuke, Naruto, and Twilight as the trio made their way to Carousel Boutique. Sasuke and Naruto were walking alongside each other, whilst Twilight followed from behind.

"Now remember dobe, let me do the talking." Said Sasuke as the boutique came into view.

"Hey, it's my suit she's gonna be working on, so why do you get to call the shots?" Replied Naruto, his tone aggressive. Calmly sidestepping the trio of fillies calling themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they dashed by, Sasuke gave his answer.

"Because, dobe, if you had your way, your suit would be something ridiculous in solid bright orange. You'd blind half the town with it." From behind the two, Twilight was trying hard not to giggle, not only at Sasuke's rather accurate statement, but Naruto's indignant expression. Naruto was about to retort, but the three had reached their destination before he could. Stepping through the doors, the doorbell jingled in announcement of their entry.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique. Where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique." Called out Rarity as she entered the main room, a look of surprise adorning her face upon seeing her first customers of the day.

"Sasuke, Naruto, what a surprise. What is it you two need of moi?" She asked.

"They're going to need some formal attire, Rarity." Said Twilight, stepping out from behind the two in front of her.

"Oh gracious, forgive me for ignoring you Twilight, I didn't see you there." Apologized Rarity, then her expression became thoughtful. "And why pray tell, do these two require such garments? The Grand Galloping Gala isn't until the end of April."

"Naruto's been asked out on a date, and I want Sasuke to be prepared in case he ever is as well." Answered Twilight. That got Rarity's attention fast.

"Somepony asked Naruto out?" She asked in surprise.

"Yes, and believe it or not, but it was Fluttershy of all ponies." Twilight answered.

"Wait, Fluttershy!" Exclaimed Rarity in absolute shock, to which the three just nodded in response. "Well, I didn't take her to be an exotic. I suppose her silence on the matter yesterday makes complete sense now. Excuse me for a moment you three, I need my supplies." With that, Rarity trotted into her storage room, leaving the three to themselves.

"Exotic? Asked Sasuke, looking down at Twilight.

"That's basically the common term for ponies who are dating outside their species." She replied. "It's usually a lot more common amongst the border towns." Soon, Rarity returned, a cluster of objects levitating behind her.

"Alright you two, on the stage." Doing as they were told, Sasuke and Naruto were soon standing on the stage, partially surrounded by mirrors." Now then, I still have your measurements, so we can skip that, and I have an idea for Naruto's suit. Sasuke however, is going to be tricky."

"How so, Rarity?" Asked Twilight.

"Well darling, when I do these kinds of things, I usually make the suit and dress match each other. Sasuke doesn't have a dress designed to go with his own suit, so I need to come up with something that can go with anything I make. As I've said though, it's a tricky thing to do."

"Can't you just, I don't know, make a dress to go with the suit?"

"You really need to stop putting your hoof in your mouth Twilight." Answered Sasuke, beating Rarity to a response. Upon seeing Twilight's look of confusion, he elaborated. "Rarity makes her suits and dresses unique to the individual, thus, what you're suggesting is impossible. If she does go with what you're saying, who's to say the dress will match the wearer."

"Why Sasuke, I had no idea you knew me so well." Said Rarity playfully.

"I lived with you for three and a half weeks, Rarity. I picked up a few things about you during that time." With that, Sasuke got off the stage. "I also know Rarity can't create a one look fits all, so I'm not going to bother. Just worry about Naruto, I'll come by for something if I'm ever asked out."

"Are you sure, darling? I'm positive I could make something." Asked Rarity, to which Sasuke shook his head.

"It's fine. Just work on Naruto. However, if I may, I'd like you to follow these instructions on the design." Sasuke then whispered some things into Rarity's ear. Nodding, Rarity began working on Naruto's suit.

"Now, I know how much you like orange darling, so I've come up with something I know you'll like." With that, Rarity got to work. For two hours the only sounds were the snipping of shears, the flapping of fabric, and Rarity's humming. With one last stitch, the suit was complete. With Sasuke's advice, Rarity had created a kimono. The main colouring was an intense marigold orange, with obsidian black used as the accent and trim colours. The arms of the overcoat had been made in such a way that the undersides looked like spines were jutting out. The top of the sleeves also extended past Naruto's hands making his arms look longer than they were. The overcoat also extended at the backside, ending in a point four inches off the floor. A large black sash wrapped around Naruto's waist, and his pants were mostly black with smatterings of orange. The inner shirt was reversed, with orange predominant and light touches of black.

"Oh darling, it's perfect. So this is what the suits of your world look like? I must say Sasuke knows his way around an outfit." Rarity gushed, her eyes sparkling in awe.

"I don't know. Kimonos don't usually have these." Replied Naruto, gesturing to the 'spines' on the underside of the sleeves. "Or this." He added, gesturing to the 'tail' of the overcoat.

"Oh those are for the theme of your suit darling. You and Fluttershy are going to look absolutely radiant together." After paying Rarity for the kimono, the trio headed back to the library to prep Naruto for is upcoming date. 




"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness. I can't do this, I just can't." muttered a terrified Fluttershy as she paced around the room. She was currently wearing the dress for her date, and had a wildflower ready to give to Naruto, but the poor mare just couldn't find the courage to walk out the door. Having enough of Fluttershy's nonsense, Angel hopped up in front of the distraught mare, his arms folded, and his glare piercing. Having got the pegasus' attention, he pointed a paw at the door.

"Oh no, I can't go out Angel. Ponies will talk, and they'll laugh. I just can't do it." Fluttershy responded, and curled up on the floor. Angel did all he could to shift the pegasus, but Fluttershy wasn't budging an inch, Slapping a paw to his face, the rabbit hopped out of the room, and into the kitchen. The sound of the back door opening and closing reverberated through the household, and Angel was soon in front of Fluttershy again, a look upon his face that clkearly said, 'I didn't want to do this'.

"Angel bunny, what are you doing?" Fluttershy asked upon seeing her rabbit. In response, he pointed a paw over her shoulder. Tilting her head in confusion, she looked behind her, and suddenly her eyes glazed over and her face became blank. Her teal eyes slowly changed to blood red, three tomoe marks shot out of her pupils and began to slowly orbit them.

"You will go out with Naruto." Sasuke commanded, his Sharingan glowing.

"I will go out with Naruto." Was Fluttershy's monotonous response.

"You will not let your fear inhibit you."

"I will not let my fear inhibit me." Fluttershy echoed.

"You will be as confident as you can be."

"I will be as confident as I can be." She repeated.

"You will not remember this little talk."

"I will not remember this little talk." With that, Sasuke cancelled his hypnosis technique on Fluttershy, the marks reflected in her eyes spun crazily as they withdrew into her pupils and red returned to being teal. Blinking, Fluttershy shook her head a bit to clear the sudden fogginess, and saw Sasuke standing in front of her.

"Oh, Sasuke, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Twilight sent me over to see if you were coming. Aren't you running a bit late?" He asked. The pegasus looked at the clock on the wall, and gasped when it showed the time to be six fifty.

"Oh my goodness, I'm going to be late!" With that, Fluttershy shot out the door towards the library. Sasuke however, noticed that she forgot something. Grabbing the object, he strode over to the door and leaned out of the top half.

"Fluttershy, flower." He called out, and in an instant Fluttershy was in front of him. Taking the flower from Sasuke with a thank you, she once again shot down the road, her wings buzzing furiously to give her the speed she needed.




Naruto was nervous. He had never done anything like this before and he was scared he'd screw things up, big time.

"Naruto relax, you'll do fine." Said Twilight, hoping to reassure the blonde.

"I can't help it. What if I screw up, she'll hate me." He answered, causing Twilight to shake her head.

"Honestly, you're acting just like I did when faced with my first test from the princess. Fluttershy will not hate you Naruto, I don't think it's even possible for her to hate anything." Just then, there was a knock at the door. "That's her, show time Naruto." Horn alight, the library door swung open, revealing a slightly panting Fluttershy behind it. The gown she wore was an intense cerulean blue accented with rich dusty rose elliptical spots, Her wings were in sleeves made to look like a butterfly's wings, and the whole thing was trimmed with ivory white.

"Oh goodness, I'm not late am I?" The pegasus asked in a worried tone.

"Not at all Fluttershy, you're just in time." Nudging Naruto out the door, she waved from the doorway. "You two have fun now." She said, and closed the door. Glancing at each other, Fluttershy broke the silence.

"Here." She said, offering Naruto the wildflower that matched her coat colour. "For you." With a smile, Naruto accepted the flower, tucking it into his sash.

"Well, shall we be off, princess?" He asked. Blushing from the pet name, Fluttershy led Naruto into town. While the sun had set, some ponies were still up and about. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see ponies glance at her and whisper, though every time she felt like running or hiding, the urge was suddenly replaced with the confidence to keep taking one more step forward. Soon the two had reached the restaurant that was their destination. A few minutes later the two were seated and had ordered. Once their food and drink had come, the two began eating and telling stories, well, Naruto told stories.

"So, we rush him with a frontal assault, and just he prepared to counter, I go and start spoiling the ending to the new book I gave him. Slapped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes tight, and boom, we got the bells off of him." Fluttershy giggled at that, but her mirth was cut short when she noticed Naruto's despondent look.

"Naruto, are you alright?" She asked.

"It's just, I miss him, you know? Kakashi sensei was, well, I don't know exactly where I'd place him in it, but he was like family to me." A sorrowful sigh escaped his lips. "And it isn't just him. Granny Tsunade, the pervy sage, Neji. So many were killed in that war, and I couldn't do anything to save them." Fluttershy saw a tear trickle down the blonde's cheek, and her heart went out to him. leaning over, she dabbed the tear away with a napkin, causing Naruto to slightly flinch in surprise.

"I'm sure, seeing you now, they'd be very proud of you." She said.

"Why's that?"

"Because even after all you endured, you didn't let it change you." Naruto smiled at the pegasus' words.

"Thanks Flutters, that means a lot to me." The rest of the meal was finished in silence, and soon the two were heading back home. It was then that Naruto remembered something.

"Fluttershy." He said, getting the mare's attention. "There's something I need to tell you." Confused as to what Naruto was getting at, she spread her wings and hovered in the air so she was face to face with the blonde. "Listen, I don't want you taking this the wrong way, but you know how I am when it comes to these kinds of things. I'm just no good at them. So I'll be blunt here; I'm trying to figure out a way back home." This confused Fluttershy.

"What do you mean? isn't your home..." Then it hit her as to what he meant by home, and tears started brimming her eyes. "W-why? Don't you like it here? D-don't you like u-us?" Naruto felt like utter crap when he saw Fluttershy's despairing expression.

"No no no, Fluttershy, I love it here, and you and the girls are the best friends I've ever had."

"T-then why?" She asked. Naruto heaved a great sigh at this question.

"Because I promised my family I'd become Hokage, and bring peace to my world. If I didn't do everything I could to keep that promise Fluttershy, how could I face them in the afterlife, knowing I had thrown away my promises and dreams. If there's really no way for me to get back, well, I guess we'll be seeing more of each other. But if there is a way, well, I'll promise you right now, if there is a way for me to go back home, I'll find a way to come and go as I choose, dattebayo!" While she didn't like it, Fluttershy always admired Naruto's adamancy to his promises, and his promise of coming back should he find a way to leave lessened the sadness she felt somewhat.

"I understand. As much as I hate the idea of you going away, I know how you are with your promises. Just... just make sure you keep your promise to me as well." Then, with a sudden surge of boldness she didn't know she had, Fluttershy shot her head forward and captured Naruto's lips with her own. their kiss lasted for several seconds, and just as Naruto was about to return it, Fluttershy broke away. Blinking rapidly, the blonde was trying to compute what had just happened.

"Um, not that I'm complaining, but isn't the kiss reserved for after the third date?" Asked Naruto, causing Fluttershy to nervously tap her forehooves together.

"Well, yes, but I wasn't sure if we'd get that far before you... well, you know." She answered, and Naruto nodded in understanding. Pulling her close, he gave the mare a gentle hug.

"I had a wonderful time." He said to her.

"I did too." Fluttershy answered. The two then separated, and Fluttershy prepared to head for home, when she was stopped by Naruto.

"Wait, um, Flutters, after I get back from my exploration mission, do you wanna, go out with me again?" Fluttershy couldn't help the smile forming on her lips.

"I'd like that." she answered, and with that, the two said their goodbyes and headed for home, both with thoughts of the future on their minds, and thoughts of each other in their hearts.
> Journey into Everfree and a Nightmare's Sorrow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now remember you two, make sure you record everything." Said Twilight, giving Naruto a bag full of field journals, quills, and ink.

"Twilight, you've only told me this about seven times. I get it." It was late morning in Ponyville, and Twilight, her friends, and a few other ponies were out to see Naruto and Trixie off on his mission to explore the Everfree Forest. Rarity had given him and Trixie cloaks enchanted to keep the weather off of them. Applejack had given them a week's worth of dried food. Fluttershy had given Naruto a peck on the cheek, much to both of their embarrassment when several ponies started chuckling good naturedly. Pinkie hadn't given the two anything, but promised to throw them a big party when they returned. Rainbow gave Trixie a survival guide in case she and Naruto ever got separated. By this time Twilight had finished going through Naruto's packs and checking off everything on her list.

"Okay Naruto, you're all set. Just make sure you come back safe and sound, alright?" Said Twilight, her tone at the end reflecting her worry. At this, Naruto embraced his unicorn friend.

"Don't worry about a thing Twilight. This forest has nothing that can take me down. If anything get's too big for me to handle in there, you know I got Kurama." It was then that Pinkie decided to get in on the action.

"Group hug!" She hollered, and soon, every one of her best friends were in the embrace of her hooves. Sasuke had distanced himself from the pile, but Pinkie stretched her arm out and yanked Sasuke into the hug as well, much to his displeasure. Finally, everyone was released, Deciding to have some fun, Twilight turned her attention to Naruto, or more specifically, his stomach.

"Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, big guy." She said, jabbing Naruto's gut with a hoof. What she wasn't expecting was a response. Naruto's eyes suddenly turned red, his pupils slit like a fox. His hair became more wild, and his whisker marks broadened and became more jagged.

"I'll see what I can do, but half the things he does are always stupid." Said Kurama, causing everypony present to gasp in surprise.

"Wait a minute, you can talk?" Asked Twilight in shock, having thought Kurama could only make his voice known to Naruto.

"Last time I checked." He casually responded, getting a couple snickers out of a few ponies present.

"Well why didn't you say something before?" At this, Kurama gave Twilight, an amused glance.

"You never asked." This caused everypony to laugh at the dumbstruck expression plastered on Twilight's face. Naruto's features then reverted back to normal, and he shook his head rapidly, clearing the fog out of it.

"Give a guy some warning next time Kurama." He muttered, then saw Twilight beginning to snap out of it. "Well Sparkles, thanks for the gift and sendoff. We'd certainly like to stay longer, but Trixie and I have to get going. See you all in spring." with that, he grabbed Trixie and bolted into the forest before Twilight could bombard Kurama with questions, Trixie making her displeasure known the whole way. After getting into the woods, he set Trixie down. The mare had become quite quiet upon entering the forest, piquing Naruto's curiosity.

"Uh, Trixie. What's got you all quiet all the sudden?" Immediately, Trixie clamped a hoof on Naruto's mouth.

"Silence foal." She quietly hissed. "We're in the Everfree forest now. Trixie does not intend to become something's lunch due to your shouting." Naruto pried the hoof off his mouth and glared.

"Oh come off it Trixie, we're still in the fringe. We'll be fine." Trixie just huffed.

"The great and powerful Trixie wonders if you even have a plan concerning this mission of yours."

"Of course I got a plan. What do you take me for, a complete idiot?" Trixie just stared at the blonde with an affirmative expression on her face.

"You know kit, you walked right into that one." Snickered Kurama.

"Oh shut up." Naruto internally responded, then addressed Trixie vocally. "Okay, here's the plan. First, we're going to stop off at Zecora's for some medical supplies. While you're helping her, I'll be scouting out for a suitable base location. Once I find a spot, I'll come get you, and we'll set up camp."

"Why does Trixie have to stay and collect medicine? Such chores are beneath her." Huffed the former showmare as she turned her head away from Naruto.

"Oh, so you want to go roaming about a forest filled with all sorts of pony eating creatures and who knows what else roaming about?" Naruto inquired to a now quivering Trixie.

"...Trixie is fine with getting the medicines." She finally responded, causing Naruto to smirk.

"That's what I thought. Now come on, the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll get done."




True to Naruto's word, the plan went off smoothly and quickly. Naruto had found a suitable location by the riverside and had soon rounded up Trixie, her task also finished. Zecora had been nothing but friendly to the duo, but when the blonde had come to pick up Trixie, said unicorn was practically rushing out the door. In answer to his question about this, Zecora simply said, "While her bravado and arrogance made a powerful wall, the story of her eyes told all." After a few more assurances that she had not in any way, shape, or form harmed Trixie, Naruto and his unicorn companion made their way to their new base camp; a small hilltop clearing close by a small river. While the water had frozen over, the ice was thin and easily breakable, making water easy to obtain. After setting up everything and with the whole afternoon still to go for the day, Naruto began planning out his next move. As he did he noticed Trixie sitting at the edge of camp looking out towards the river. The mare looked, for lack of a better term, vulnerable, something Naruto, in all his time knowing Trixie, had never seen the mare as. Not once, not against the princesses, not against the mob a few days ago, had she shown herself to be vulnerable. Fearful yes, but never vulnerable. To see her like this now was unsettling, and no matter how hard he tried, Trixie refused to talk about what was making her feel like that. After an hour of failure in getting the mare to open up, Naruto decided to explore the area a bit.

"All right Trixie, I'm going to have a further look around the area, I don't know how long I'll be, but I'll definitely be back before sunset." Trixie just nodded at the blonde, who then made five shadow clones, much to the mare's surprise. "These clones will make sure you and the camp are kept safe. The first four will protect you while the fifth will immediately pop to let me know of the danger."

"Trixie is perfectly capable of defending herself." She replied, though Naruto couldn't help but notice the hollowness in her tone due to the lack of her usual bravado.

"And I believe you Trixie, but even you can't deny there are things in here that are far more dangerous than even you can handle alone." to this Trixie said nothing, and with a sigh, Naruto jumped into the trees and headed out across the river, curious as to what lay on the other side. At first there was nothing but rocks, more trees and the odd woodland animal, but soon Naruto came upon something that really got his attention, just on the other side of a large gorge, lay a large castle ruin. No way was Naruto passing up the opportunity to explore something like that. The chasm in the earth, while wide, was no trouble for Naruto as he traversed it with one chakra augmented jump, and soon he was walking into the ancient ruin. Giddy with excitement, Naruto eagerly looked about the main chamber. His excitement was curbed slightly when all he saw within of note was an odd statue of some sort, parts of it looking like it once held something. his excitement was soon drained when he noticed hoofprints on the dusty floor, and while they were old, their presence and the 'empty' statue meant one thing.

"Aw man, looks like someone beat me to the punch here. And here I was hoping to find something awesome like a magic artifact or a horde of riches. Whoever got here first probably looted the place down to the doornails already." Looking around further, all Naruto found were shadows, cobwebs, and dust. Some old suits of armour were standing along the walls, as well as some old portraits, but age and nature must have damaged them to worthlessness if the treasure hunters who got here first had left them. With a sigh, Naruto turned back, disappointed and let down. The upstairs was even more a disappointment as it was completely barren. Naruto noticed there were a lot of hoofprints around the area, meaning this must have been where the treasure had been kept. He could practically feel those prints mocking him right now.

"Ugh! What a let down." Naruto groaned, and he trudged dejectedly back downstairs, and through the main chamber.

plip

It was a soft sound, barely audible despite the silence, and yet it caused Naruto to whirl about, kunai drawn and combat stance ready. The blonde's eyes roved the entire area, taking in everything around him in a combative angle. Ambush points, hiding places, possible traps, Naruto scanned everything and everywhere in the room, but there was nothing, nothing but shadows and cobwebs and dust. That was when Naruto saw it. It was tiny, insignificant, and easy to miss, but Naruto was a ninja, and ninja's always treated the little things as the most dangerous. A single drop of liquid now blemished the otherwise bare and dusty floor, whether it was water or something else, Naruto was unsure. Keeping his kunai ready, Naruto carefully crept his way over to the splatter of liquid, his eyes roving the rafters and ceiling for any hint of an ambush from above. The only thing above him though, were the holes in the ceiling, flooding the room with patches of light, motes of dust within the pools glittering as they danced. After ten minutes of silence and seeing nothing that would indicate an attack, Naruto slowly put his kunai away, theories as to how a drop of what looked like water was able to get into an otherwise completely dry area.

"What do you think Kurama? Any ideas?" Naruto asked his partner within. Kurama gave out a snort in response.

"My idea, is that you are being way too paranoid." He replied.

"Hey better safe than sorry. There could have been something."

"And you would have noticed it was there immediately. Look at the dust on the rafters, it's completely undisturbed. And if something was hiding in them, they would be groaning worse than the Tsuchikage about his hips. There are no ninja on this world, and even the smartest predators can't completely hide the evidence of their presence. We're alone."

"Then how did this get here then?" Asked the blonde, mentally indicating the drop of liquid.

"You do realize there's a hole right above us, right. My guess is some bird had a drink at the river or something and as it flew above this place, a drop landed in here.

"A bird? It's November, the Pegasi have all sent the birds south for the winter."

"No, they sent all the birds in Ponyville south. Who knows if the ones in the Everfree migrate at all." The more he thought along this reasoning, the more sense it made. looking closer, he immediately knew it wasn't blood as the discoloration of the ground it had impacted upon was definitely not dark enough. Saliva was out as well as the liquid looked way to dull and thin. Fully relaxing, Naruto then left the ruins, unaware of more drops of liquid joining the first on the floor.




Over the course of the month, Naruto and Trixie charted and recorded everything they had found so far within the Everfree forest, though with winter upon the duo, it wasn't all that much. The three unique things they did find were all trees. The first tree was carnivorous and captured prey in very sticky acidic resin. The second tree was a fruit tree, though they didn't know what kind of fruit it bore as the remains of the fallen fruit had been rotted and eaten down beyond recognition. The final tree looked normal enough, but every branch looked like it was a braid of smaller branches, the two couldn't tell anything else about it due to the current season. No new animals were discovered, though most of the forest's predators were currently in hibernation as well as most prey animals. The only things up and about at the moment were manticores, a few species of common birds, and wild boar. At the beginning of the last week of the month, it began to snow, something that made Trixie nervous and mutter something about crazy weather and being behind schedule. Naruto had just shrugged, to him it was completely normal for the weather to do as it wished. Currently, Naruto and Trixie were at their basecamp, eating some vegetable stew. Due to it being winter, Trixie and Naruto had no means of foraging their own food, thus they had turned to Zecora, who helped supply the two with food every week. As they ate Naruto's thoughts wandered to the ruin he had discovered at the beginning of their mission.

"Hey Trixie." He said, getting the unicorn's attention. "At the beginning of the month I found this castle ruin, and I was wondering if you knew anything about it." To this, Trixie rolled her eyes.

"Well of course Trixie knows of this ruin, as does every smart pony. It used to be the two princesses old castle before princess Celestia fought against her corrupted sister and completely destroyed it, in which she relocated to Canterlot." At this Naruto nodded, when suddenly a wild thought crashed through his head. He remembered Twilight telling him about her first adventure with her friends, how they found the elements of harmony and fought Nightmare Moon in the ruins of Celestia's old castle. If that was the case then those hoofprints he saw were definitely not from treasure hunters, and he hadn't exactly been thorough in his search. Quickly finishing his bowl, Naruto immediately got to his feet, much to Trixie's confusion.

"Where are you going?" She asked

"I'm going back to that ruin. I saw hoofprints in there and I thought it had been from treasure hunters, but if what you told me is right, then I know who made those tracks, and they were definitely not treasure hunters." Naruto replied.

"Wait, you can't go, it's getting dark and the weather might get worse." Trixie replied in worry. Naruto waved the concern off and made five clones to guard Trixie and the camp from manticores, then dashed full speed for the ancient castle.




Waning light from the holes in the roof provided the only illumination as Naruto skidded into the main castle chamber.

"Okay, time to search this place top to bottom." Said the blonde with glee, and search he did. After fifteen minutes with the use of shadow clones, the last of them dispelled and Naruto's mood sank like a rock.

"What. All that's in here is an old library and a crazy pipe organ? Where's the treasure?"

plip

Instantly, Naruto spun around to face the other way, and for an instant he saw something. It had disappeared in an instant, but Naruto had seen something bright turquoise. Anypony would have dismissed such a thing as a trick of the light or their mind getting the better of them, but Naruto was no pony, and a Rasengan flared to life in his hand.

"All right, I know you're there, so get out here right now or I'll make you. I had a friend who could manipulate shadows, so don't think for a second they'll be any good to you." At first nothing happened, but suddenly there was movement, a slight shifting and writhing on one of the pillars, and soon what looked like a pony's shadow detached itself from the rest that were there. It flowed over to a wall and stayed there, two luminous cyan eyes opening where they would be on a pony's head. Naruto didn't know what to make of this oddity. Was it magic or was it real? Was it some new animal of the Everfree or something else. "Now just what are you?" he asked the odd shadow on the wall, which remained silent. After several minutes of silence, the blonde theorized that maybe it wasn't able to speak.

"Uh, can you talk?" He asked the shadow, which responded by shaking it's 'head', though Naruto only recognized the gesture by the way the eyes moved. Naruto was puzzled by this. It couldn't talk, but it could understand him well enough to communicate back. However, it appeared to be restricted to physical gestures, so only yes or no questions could be effectively answered.

"So uh, are you some sort of Everfree creature?" At this, the shadow shook it's head. Naruto immediately knew then that it wasn't an animal.

"Okay then, are you a pony?" At this he got a nod in response. That got Naruto's mind whirling.

"Are you using magic or are you trapped in that shadow?" That question only got a blink in response, and Naruto realized his mistake, but then thought of a way past it. "Blink once for the first and twice for the second." Immediately, the shadow rapidly blinked twice, causing Naruto's own to widen. A pony was trapped in a shadow? How did it happen?

"Was this an accident with a spell of your own, or did somepony do this to you?" Naruto was answered with two blinks again, which sent the blonde reeling. Somepony had trapped another in a shadow, but why. Then he realized something. Those eyes on the shadow were not normal. For one thing pony eyes weren't luminescent unless they were charging some serious magic, and nopony had slitted draconic pupils. There was only one way to find out if his suspicions were correct.

"Could you turn to the side please? And if you have wings, could you please show them as well." At this, the shadow became very hesitant, withdrawing in on itself in an obvious act of fear. Naruto simply channeled chakra into his hand, causing it to illuminate, and the shadow's eyes widened in fear. Slowly, the pony shadow began to turn, and soon Naruto was looking at it in profile. Due to the new angle of view, Naruto could immediately see the horn on the shadow's head, and soon the shape of a wing joined it. Now Naruto knew exactly who he was speaking to.

"You're Nightmare Moon, aren't you?" Turning again to the front, Nightmare Moon's eyes took on a look of sadness, and she slowly nodded. At this, Naruto had no idea what to think. Here was the being that tried to bring about eternal night, twice, and yet, here she was, a shadow on the wall with eyes full of sadness and fear.

"Why?" He asked, the only thing his mind was able to throw out. However, only silence greeted him, and Naruto realized his folly. "Oh right, you can't talk. But wait, I thought you were changed back into Luna by the elements, but you're still here. Oh that's just great, now you're probably going to possess somepony and try to cast the world into eternal night again, huh!" At this, Nightmare's eyes widened and she recoiled back as if struck. Her eyes then closed, and suddenly water was appearing on the wall. Naruto noticed this, but soon realized that the 'water' was something else.

'Wait a second, those are tears. She's... crying?' Naruto didn't have time to ponder further. Nightmare Moon suddenly shot across the wall at Rainbow Dash speeds and down a hallway. Naruto for his part was utterly stunned. All the stories of Nightmare Moon he heard had portrayed her as a wicked monster, but Naruto knew a few things about monsters, and the biggest thing about them was that they did not cry. Monsters felt no remorse for the things they did. They did not cry over their past deeds. Crying meant remorse and regret. Crying meant shame, and while those tears could have been fake, Naruto was an expert at telling truth from lies. Few people, and absolutely no ponies had been able to deceive him, and Naruto could tell by that look she had in her eyes, that look of pain, that those tears on the wall were real. He had to apologize. There was obviously more to this than what the stories said. Racing down the hall, he soon came to a room where the trail of tears on the wall ended.

"Nightmare? Nightmare you in here?" Silence however, was his only answer. Naruto looked about, but the tear tracks along the wall didn't start up again anywhere else, so she had to be in the room. "Nightmare, if you're in here, then I want to tell you that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you like that. It's just, all the stories about you say you're an evil monster. But if I know one thing about monsters it's that they don't cry about the things they do, at least not truthfully. You though, I can tell your tears are real, so I can say for certain you are not a monster." Despite this, silence still hung around the blonde. "Fine, I hurt you, and now you want nothing to do with me, I get it. I don't blame you, and I'd probably feel the same way in your position. So, I'll go now. I won't tell Luna or Sunshine about you so don't get the idea that your days are numbered or anything, and again, for what it's worth, I'm sorry." With that Naruto turned around and began to leave. However, he stopped when he felt something odd on his shoulder. Looking at it, he saw that some kind of black tendril was gripping his shoulder, and looking behind him, he saw Nightmare Moon on the wall, the look in her eyes telling Naruto all he needed to know.

Please don't go.

"Alright, I'll stay, and again, I'm sorry. But I have to know, I need to know, why you did you do it? Why did you try to bring about eternal night. Legends say you got jealous of the praise your sister received, but I know there's more to it. So please, if you can, tell me, because I want to believe you aren't the monster the stories make you out to be." At this, a few more tears trailed down the wall from her eyes, and the tendril on Naruto's shoulder then moved up to his forehead. At first the blonde was confused, then the tendril touched against his forehead, and he was suddenly hit with memories. He saw, he heard, he felt what she had. All the memories she had pertaining to her trying to bring eternal night were laid bare before the blonde.

If there are two things Equestria is better without, it is the night, and winter.

Why can't she show off during the day like a more sensible pony. Kept me up half the night with her silly sky lights.

What's so special about the night anyway? It's dark, it's cold, and it's dangerous. I mean who can possibly appreciate something like that?

A holiday? of complete night? Luna I don't care if it's one day or one minute, it's not going to happen.

I know it's hard Luna, I really do. But even though I can't see it, the sounds of your night make it the most beautiful thing in the world.

And what am I supposed to do, Luna? Demand everypony to start attending night court? No, better empty and true, than full and unwilling.

Luna, lower the moon.

With a cry, Naruto wrenched himself out of the deluge of memories, his heart racing a mile a minute. The things he had seen, that he had heard. This mare was no monster, this mare was just like him. In some cases she was worse off, Naruto didn't exactly have a sibling who treated him like dirt. All she had wanted was to be appreciated and adored like her sister was, yet instead she received scorn and slander, her talents mocked and ignored. And when she went to the one pony in Equestria who should have always supported her, she was instead always turned away. Naruto could never look at Celestia the same way ever again. And when Luna finally snapped, they all blamed her. Naruto did not sympathize with her goals. He didn't understand all the technical stuff but even he knew eternal night was a bad idea. Naruto did however sympathize with her choices. After all, he too had been in that dark and lonely place. He too had that same choice presented to him, to endure or to justify. He had chosen to endure, for the old man he had seen as nothing less than his flesh and blood grandfather. But he had seen the results of justification, and the pain it had brought to his brother of burden. Well he had saved Gaara, but what could he do for Nightmare Moon? Well it was simple.

"I think I get it. All you wanted was to be acknowledged, to be necessary. Believe it or not, I know that feeling of being unwanted, and it's probably gotta be the worst feeling ever. So let me be the second to tell you this. Thank you, for all your hard work in making such a beautiful night." Instantly, Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide, and her whole image began to tremble. tears once again began to leak out of her eyes, and with a swiftness Naruto was not expecting, her form lunged forward and impacted him, two tendrils partially wrapped around him. For an instant, the thought of an attack or possession ran across his mind, but Naruto quickly crushed it, and soon realized that the shadow was hugging him. Gently, he put his arms around Nightmare Moon, slightly surprised to find her fully tangible. He could feel the wetness on his shoulder where Nightmare was crying into it. The two stayed like that for a bit, then they slowly separated, and Naruto couldn't help but smile at the joy practically radiating out of those draconic eyes. Then he noticed just how dark everything was.

"Dammit, I should have been back at camp ages ago. Sorry Nightmare but I gotta go, Trixie's probably blowing her top because I've been gone so long." With that, naruto turned to leave, but was stopped by a shadow tendril wrapped around his arm. Looking back at Nightmare Moon, he saw her eye's filled with fear and sadness, and knew exactly why that was.

"I'm sorry Nightmare, but I have to go. I promise you though, I'll come back whenever I can and stay however long I can. I've got all winter, so don't think this is the last you'll see me." Nightmare's eyes slowly closed, and she gave a nod, and with great reluctance the tendril released Naruto. With a thank you passing through his lips, he immediately ran out of the castle and charged back to camp. When he got there he was greeted with five cowering shadow clones, and one very angry Trixie.

"You were gone for three hours! The great and powerful Trixie demands to know why you are so late!" She roared out, causing Naruto to remember very vividly the many times he had run afoul of such a temper.

"Um, uh, well, uh, I uh, I got lost on the road of life?"

KA-POW!!!




Sasuke was walking through Ponyville town square when he suddenly got a very odd feeling of satisfaction, the likes of which he had only felt during his genin days in team seven. Specifically when Sakura landed a wallop on Naruto. Suddenly Pinkie came by, scratching at her ear.

"Ooh, ooh, itchy ear." She said, rubbing furiously at the itching ear with a hoof, with little relief.

"Something wrong Pinkie?" Sasuke asked.

"Just my pinkie sense acting up." She replied, stopping her rubbing as the itch had left. "An itchy ear means somepony just broke a record." With that, she bounced away, leaving Sasuke alone.

"I will never understand that mare." He muttered to himself, before once more trekking to his destination.
> A Warm Return and Fashion at it's Finest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winter months flew by for Ponyville. Hearths Warming came and went, and before anypony knew it, it was time for Winter Wrap up. Ponyville had the nasty history of being late for spring five years running now, but the mayor was determined to make sure spring came on time this year. The going however, had been rocky, and it was only thanks to Twilight's organizational skills that spring had finally come on schedule this year. Currently, Twilight and the girls were chatting and giggling and enjoying the warmth of the upcoming season.

"Ooh, spring is here! Spring is here! Spring is finally here!" Pinkie jubilantly exclaimed, bouncing about around the group.

"It is very wonderful isn't it, Pinkie Pie." Rarity responded.

"An' we fahnally got it done on time this time 'round." Said Applejack proudly.

"Well I for one will not allow tardiness on my schedule." Answered Twilight, bringing about another round of giggles from her friends.

"So Fluttershy, you excited for spring?" asked Rainbow Dash, who was hovering a few feet above the group.

"Oh yes, very much. I get to see all my animal friends again, and of course tomorrow is going to be even better." She replied with glee. That got everypony's attention. Thinking about it, Twilight suddenly gasped in realization.

"That's right, Naruto's coming back tomorrow." She said, causing the rest of the group to remember as well.

"Well tie me up an' call me a hog, Naruto's comin' back home." Said Applejack, rearing up in glee.

"Sweet. Then he'll be able to tell us about all that he found out in the Everfree. Maybe he found a hoard of savage monsters and fought 'em off." said Rainbow, punching the air with her forehooves.

"Or maybe he found a long lost treasure trove full of gold and gems!" Squealed Rarity, her eyes glittering in wonder.

"Oh my goshness! I gotta throw him a party!" Exclaimed Pinkie, who then rocketed off to Sugar Cube Corner. Soon the rest of the group dispersed as well, Twilight being the only one not to go.

"Hmm, I have the oddest feeling I'm forgetting something." She muttered to herself.

"GWAABLUBBLUBBLUB!!"

"Oh no, Spike!"




The morning was a bit chilly, but Fluttershy wasn't bothered in the slightest. Her mood alone was enough to keep her warm. Humming tunelessly to herself, she pranced down the path away from her cottage, and towards town. just before she entered the town proper, she turned to the right, and headed down a much less used path. Soon she came upon the entrance to the Everfree Forest, and just when she was a foot or two away from the shade the forest cast, she sat down and waited, eyes wide and excited, and ears perked forward. After ten minutes her patience was rewarded, for two voices could be heard coming up the path. One was a mare's voice, obviously belonging to Trixie, whilst the other voice was definitely Naruto's. Fluttershy began pawing at the dirt beneath her, and her wings began fluttering in excitement. Soon, the two aforementioned explorers rounded the corner, and began heading out of the woods. Unable to contain herself any longer, she rocketed towards the blonde ninja she hadn't seen for months.

"Naruto." She cried loudly, well, for her anyway.

"Flutters!" Naruto exclaimed, and dashed for the speeding pegasus, meeting her halfway down the path, and snatched her out of the air and into a hug.

"Oh Naruto, I missed you so much." Said Fluttershy as she nuzzled her muzzle into Naruto's chest.

"I missed you too, Flutters. I missed you too." The blonde answered, stroking a hand through Fluttershy's mane, much to her delight. it was then that Twilight came upon the two, and she gasped in excitement.

"Naruto, you're back!" She cried and began bombarding the blonde with questions whilst bouncing around him like a schoolfilly. It was then that Trixie managed to catch up to her mission partner.

"The great *huff* and powerful *puff* Trixie *gasp* does not appreciate *wheeze* being left behind." The unicorn gasped out, and with good reason. Trixie's saddlebags and packs were loaded with books, scrolls, and rolled up sheets of paper, along with other assorted things the two had brought out of the forest with them. Carrying them all out with her as well as keeping pace with Naruto had been quite a strain on her. Suddenly, a magenta aura wrapped around her cargo, which then levitated off of her back and sides.

"Thank you so much for all this, Naruto. I'll get it all categorized and sent to the princess. You and Fluttershy can come and help if you want. No doubt Fluttershy wants to spend some more time with you." Said Twilight, earning a bashful eep from Fluttershy. Soon the trio began to leave.

"Wait a minute," Said Trixie, trying to get the three's attention, "what about me? The great and powerful Trixie..." But the group just kept on going until Trixie was the only pony on the path. "...helped." She finished, her face adopting a look of sorrow. With a sigh, she slowly trudged away to Sugar Cube Corner for something to eat, though with the sadness she felt, she wasn't exactly feeling hungry.




With fillylike glee, Twilight pranced into the library, Naruto following her at a much more relaxed pace. Soon the unicorn began sorting and categorizing everything Naruto had brought out of the forest. maps and documents were in one pile. Rocks and minerals, as well as what looked to be a tusk, were placed in a second pile. And finally, flora samples were placed in a third. While the second and third piles were quite small, the first pile was very large. Soon, Twilight began reading through the heap of maps and field journals to properly categorize everything, Fluttershy helping where she could. Meanwhile, Naruto was looking through the bookshelves of the library in mild interest, something that Spike noticed.

"Hey Naruto, whatcha lookin' for?" He asked the human.

"Hmm, nothing in particular, though I am curious how binding spells work." He replied, causing Twilight to bring her attention onto him.

"Binding spells? Like, chaining another pony to your will?" She asked with trepidation. This caused Fluttershy to gasp as well.

"No no no, nothing like that. I was thinking more along the lines of binding a pony within something." Silence was his answer. "Okay, that didn't sound much better."

"Naruto, why in Equestria do you want to learn something like that?" Twilight asked, shocked and a little disturbed. Naruto held his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Whoa whoa, back up there Sparkles. I'm not trying to bind anypony into anything. What I'm trying to achieve here is to find similarities between human ninjutsu and pony magic. The reason I said binding spells is that it has a similar ability to sealing ninjutsu. I was hoping I could recreate some minor binding spells into seals and work from there." Twilight's and Fluttershy's expressions lightened immediately.

"Oh, I see. well sorry Naruto, but the library doesn't have any books like that, and the princess never taught me binding magic." Naruto snapped his fingers in disappointment.

"Well darn. Back to the drawing board I suppose." Suddenly, the door burst open, and Pinkie Pie rushed in. The pink mare then zipped over to Spike, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Naruto, before zipping back out the door, which slammed shut behind her. Eyes quirked in confusion, the quartet then saw the party mare had left them all with a sealed envelope. Opening his first, Naruto's envelope let out a noisemaker whistle and blew out some confetti. Inside was an invitation to a party.

"Hehehe, Pinkie Pie never changes." Giggled Twilight as she opened her own party invitation and read it over. "Hmm, looks like the party's tonight, do I have anything on my schedule?" Naruto just chuckled, and stashed his invite into a pocket.

'It's good to be back.' He thought to himself.




The day passed by rather quickly, and Naruto, Twilight, and Spike were now heading to Sweet Apple Acres for Pinkie's party, as their barn was one of the only buildings in town that was big enough. Reaching the red and white building, the door handles were engulfed with magenta magic, and the doors swung out to reveal the party in full swing, much to Twilight's confusion. Soon Pinkie Pie bounded up to the trio and welcomed them in.

"Uh, Pinkie, isn't the party supposed to be starting now?" Twilight asked.

"Well that was the plan, but a few ponies decided to start as soon as they got here and things kinda took off from there. No worries though, it only got really started up just before you three got here."

"So Pinkie, what's the occasion?" asked Naruto, causing said mare to giggle.

"Silly Naruto, it's for you. It's your 'Welcome back from your big important mission' party." With that, Pinkie ushered the three in, and hopped off into the crowd. Exploring the crowd a bit, Naruto saw Fluttershy and Rarity by the gramophone chatting away about a topic Naruto couldn't hear. Suddenly, he remembered something he had told Fluttershy last fall and grinned; now was a perfect time. Making his way over to the two, Naruto got their attention.

"Hello Rarity, hello Flutters, enjoying the party?" He asked.

"Oh hello Naruto," Said Rarity in excitement. "How was your mission in the Everfree?"

"Pretty interesting, though I didn't find as much information as I wanted due to it being so close to winter. I'll be going again in the summer when there's a lot more available for study." He then cast his gaze to Fluttershy. "Anyway, I believe I asked Fluttershy for something the night before I left." Said pegasus, tilted her head in confusion, but soon a blush adorned her cheeks when she remembered what Naruto was talking about.

"R-really, here?" She asked timidly. Rarity's ears perked at this and she started paying more attention.

"Why not here? isn't this the kind of place for the second time?" Asked Naruto. Rarity's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a bit.

"We-well, everypony will be watching." Rarity's jaw was completely hanging at this point.

"So? We'll be having too much fun to notice. If they want to watch, let 'em." Rarity's eyes had gone completely white at this, a tiny thread of crimson traveling down from her snout. and her face glowed atomic red.

"I, uh, o-okay." Said Fluttershy with all the courage she could muster. Suddenly, the two heard a dull thump beside them. Looking at the source of the noise, they saw Rarity sprawled on the ground, violently twitching, along with a substantial snout bleed. Fluttershy gasped and checked over her friend. Naruto however, had seen enough perverts to know what had happened.

"Oi, Rarity, get your head outta the gutter! I was asking Fluttershy for a date. Like I'd ask her to do that, in public of all places." He said, nudging the prone unicorn with a foot. Fluttershy blinked at this.

"That? But what could..." Suddenly, Fluttershy was aware of just how their earlier conversation could have been interpreted if they hadn't known what Naruto was talking about. "Oh. Oh! O-oh... m-m-my." She stuttered out, her face becoming as pink as her mane, and her wings beginning to stiffen against her will.

"Now don't you start thinking like that Flutters. All I want is a date and nothing more." With Naruto's help, Fluttershy was able to get herself under control, though she couldn't help but fret over her friend's condition. Naruto assured her however, that Rarity would be completely fine in a few minutes, having seen this kind of thing plenty of times back home. Soon the two were enjoying the many activities the party supplied, from pin the tail on the pony, to bobbing for apples, although Rarity, once she recovered, practically took over. When asked what the problem was she merely said she needed to cool her head, and dunked said appendage right back in the barrel. Soon it was time to cut the cake, and everypony was surprised when it was Trixie who was selected to have the honors, much to everypony's, as well as her own, confusion. Of course, Naruto started cheering for her, and soon got a crowd going to do the same. Bolstered by this, Trixie began cutting the cake, getting cheers all around, the townsponies having been given enough time to mellow out from her past grievances. Soon cake was passed out and about, and the partying recommenced with fervor. Soon Naruto noticed someone missing from the party, though he wasn't exactly surprised.

"Hey Pinkie." He called the mare as she bounced by, causing her to scoot up to him. "You know where Sasuke is? I know he's not one for parties but I was half expecting you to drag him into this one."

"Oh sorry Naruto, he couldn't make it. He told me that today was a really important day for him and that he needed to be alone for it. My Pinkie sense also told me it was very important, so I let him be." With that, she bounced away, leaving Naruto and Fluttershy alone.

"I hope he's alright." Said Fluttershy. She didn't visit Sasuke much, but she still worried over him.

"Ah don't worry, it's Sasuke we're talking about. I'm sure he's fine. Now then, where to next Flutters?"



(Insert BGM)
The night wind carried with it a chill nip, winter's final defiance against the onslaught of spring. The temperature however, did not stop Sasuke as he knelt down in front of a humble shrine. Inside was a jar of burning incense and a bouquet of forget-me-nots, between them being the last picture of Itachi Sasuke had in his possession.

"Hello big brother." Said Sasuke, though the picture remained silent as expected. "Sorry for taking so long but things have finally cooled down enough that I could get around to this. Sorry about the shrine, I made it myself, but I don't think I'm so good at this." The shrine was not all that pretty nor was it ornate, just a humble collection of planks and dowels fashioned into what was now before the Uchiha.

"Anyway Itachi, I'd like to say thank you once again for your help in opening my stubborn eyes. I've made a lot of bad decisions in my life and you helped me get off that path, along with the four previous hokages, though personally I think it would do lord second some good if he got that stick out of his ass, as Naruto would say." Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle at his own remark, but his slight mirth did not last long and he was soon serious once more.

"I don't know if you can tell from the other side, Itachi, but I'm in a new world now. Yeah I know, sounds crazy, but it's true. The other kages didn't exactly like the idea of the peace our world was heading towards, so they got rid of me and the dobe to stop it. You would love it here Itachi. Kids laughing and playing without a care in the world, parents chatting and gossiping without the lingering tension of conflict. No wars, no pain, no suffering. A world of peace, just like you always wanted." Again, as it always had been, the picture remained absolutely silent. Tears began to stream from Sasuke's eyes as the memories of his brother played through his mind.

"I... I miss you Itachi. I miss you so much. I know it was what you wanted me to do, but I'm sorry, I'm sorry for taking your life, I'm sorry for the hatred I heaped on you, I'm... I'm sorry." Sasuke tried to stop his tears, but all it did was make them fall harder. Finally getting his crying under control, he let out a bittersweet chuckle. "Sorry about that. No offence but right now I'm kinda glad your dead, so you don't have to see the mess I am right now. It's not just you I miss, Itachi, it's everyone. Mother, Father, everyone who had to die that night. I miss them, I want them back so bad, but that's just wishful thinking on my part. I know you had to do it, Itachi, but that doesn't make the loneliness any less hard. I got Naruto, but for how long?" Sasuke cast his gaze downwards, away from the picture, His vision now filled with the green grass he knelt upon.

"I... learned some things when I got here Itachi. I'm immortal now, unknown and unaffected by time. Funny, who hasn't dreamed of living forever, but would they if they knew the price? I may be eternal, but everyone else around me will die and fade. I've made friends here Itachi, and now I'll have to watch them wither and die whilst I stay put. Time will march them along as I just stand still and watch. I don't know if I can do it Itachi. I don't know if I can stay sane through it. I've got Luna, and her sister Celestia, they too are immortal, but I don't know if it will be enough." Sasuke's gaze once again came up to the picture. And though it said nothing, it did not need to. Sasuke felt a weight in his chest, a weight born of his sadness, guilt, and despair, lighten. It was still there, but the burden felt lessened.

"Thank you Itachi. thank you for taking the time to listen to your little brother. It's getting late, so I'll be going now. Rest in peace big brother, and once again, I'm sorry." With that, Sasuke bowed low to the shrine, a small, but genuine smile upon his lips. It was then that the slight cloud cover parted, and the light of the moon shone down upon the scene, illuminating the picture. It was a crude, incredibly worn drawing of a smiling Itachi. The tear troughs were asymmetrical, the face was disproportionate, but anyone would have known it was Itachi had they known the man. Sasuke had drawn it when he was six years old, and had found it in the ruins of his old clan compound after he had revived the kages. The picture had been crumpled, and the bottom portion of it, the place where it had said 'best big brother' had been completely torn away, but now it was the sole picture of his brother that Sasuke had, and he cherished it dearly. Rising from his bow, Sasuke looked upon his drawing's face, his smile still present, and rose from his kneeling position. Turning around, he then headed for his house, a faint happiness beating in his chest.
(end BGM)




Four days after Naruto returned to Ponyville had passed, and a lot had happened in that time. Two days previous, Rarity had offered her friends to make their formal attire for the Grand Galloping Gala, and display her work in an in town fashion show. Everyone was great with the idea, though Applejack expressed concern over the difficulty of such a project. Rarity however, was completely confident in her ability, and in two days had it all done. Currently Rarity was leading the five ponies to her room where she was keeping the finished garments, the group of five having their eyes closed the whole way.

"That's it, keep them closed, don't look." Said Rarity as she guided the group into her room. Finally the five mares were in position. "Okay you can look now!" And with that exclamation, five pairs of eyes opened and the group let out a collective gasp. Before them stood five mannequins, each displaying a dress. After Rarity finished gushing about her work she asked her friends for their opinion. What she got was not what she was expecting.

"They're very nice." reassured Twilight.

"And we're plum grateful cause you worked so hard on 'em." Continued Applejack.

"Mine's just not as cool as I was imagining." Remarked Rainbow Dash, causing the others to glare at her. "...She asked."

"I guess what we're all saying is that they're just not what we had in mind." Finished Twilight, much to Rarity's barely concealed devastation. Suddenly the group heard the door to the boutique open with a jingle, and the tromping of footsteps.

"Jeez Sasuke, you don't have to push."

"Just making sure you don't go bolting, dobe."

"Hey, what do you take me for? Rarity's made me something nice so of course I'm going to come see it."

"But will you put it on is the question?"

"Okay, that's it. You have got to start having more fai- HOLY MOTHER OF THE SAGE!!! Those are gorgeous!" Exclaimed Naruto as he walked into the room. Sasuke didn't speak, but one could tell he was also amazed by the slight widening of his eyes.

"Really? You like them?" Asked Rarity, a touch of hope colouring her voice.

"Are you kidding, they're awesome!" That cheered Rarity right back up.

"Well darlings, if you think those are good just wait until you see yours." She said as she walked up to two pieces of white cloth draped over something as to conceal them. "Behold! My coup de grace!" She exclaimed, yanking the cloth away with her magic. Both boys were stunned when they saw the outfits Rarity had designed for them. Both of them were kimonos, though they were nothing like the one Rarity had designed for Naruto previously. Sasuke's was a standard three piece kimono, with the inner shirt and pants being an ashen grey with black trim. The overcoat was a dark bluish grey with crimson trim and maroon inner lining, the Uchiha clan crest present on the front of both shoulders, and a crimson sash tied the overcoat together. Naruto's kimono, was a simple two piece affair. the top was dark orange with white trim and inner lining, while the pants were a rich chocolate brown, held up by a simple cloth belt of the same colour. The Uzumaki clan symbol sat on the back of the shirt.

"So, what do you think? Do you like them? Sasuke, I know you like simple so I kept it like that, just more refined if I may say so. Oh, and Naruto, I wanted to make you something airy since you'll be no doubt spending the gala with Fluttershy, I hope it's to your liking. I've never realized just how tricky it is to work with orange until you came along." The two ninja began scrutinizing their outfits, and after a minute of lip biting tension for Rarity, both boys nodded their approval.

"they're amazing Rares." Said Naruto, though Sasuke remained silent. His slight smile however, told Rarity he was quite pleased. Both boys then took their garments to the changing rooms, and returned dressed in them. Rarity grinned in delight when she saw that everything fit perfectly, then she remembered her friends behind her.

"Anyway darlings, don't worry about your dresses, they were only a first pass anyway. You're my friends and I want you to be one hundred and ten percent satisfied. So no worries, I'll redo them." She said with a smile, though Sasuke could tell it was pained, though he refrained from saying anything.

"Oh Rarity," Said Fluttershy, "you don't have to do that. They're fine."

"I want them to be more than just fine. I want you to think they are absolutely perfect." Answered Rarity, who began taking taking the dresses off the mannequins.

"Are you sure? Ah mean, we wouldn't want tah impose." Said Applejack.

"Oh it's no imposition." Said Rarity with a giggle, though by the way she threw Twilight's dress off it's mannequin told the two shinobi otherwise. "Really I insist."

"Well, in that case, thank you again Rarity." Said Twilight as she and her friends left. As soon as they were gone however, Rarity immediately dropped the façade.

"What have I gotten myself into?" She asked herself.

"Something you don't have to do." Said Naruto, causing Rarity to jump in surprise, having forgotten the two humans were still with her. "Rares, you made these dresses from scratch. You worked hard on them, and now you're just going to ruin all that effort?"

"They didn't like them Nauto, what am I supposed to do?" said Rarity despondently. Naurto was about to answer, but Sasuke stopped him, and gave him a look that said, 'I'll explain later'. With a huff, Naruto acquiesced.

"Alright Rares, but if you need help, you can always ask us." With that, Rarity gave him a small, but genuine smile.

" Thank you Naruto. I'll be sure to keep that in mind." With that, the two boys said their goodbyes, and left the boutique. Once they were outside, Naruto immediately rounded on Sasuke.

"Okay, what gives Sasuke. Why the hell should we just let Rarity go through with that?" He asked, anger saturating his tone.

"Because they all need to learn a lesson." Was Sasuke's answer. Upon seeing Naruto's anger shift to confusion, Sasuke elaborated. "Dobe, Twilight and the others need to learn that when a friend offers you something, you don't shove it back in their face demanding something better."

"Now wait a minute, Sparkles and the others did not do that." Naruto cried in objection.

"Yes they did, they were just nice about it. Moving on, Rarity also needs to learn that she doesn't have to make everything perfect for her friends' sake. She could have just as easily said take it or leave it back there, but she didn't. She got herself into this mess, and us getting her out won't teach her anything." Naruto growled angrily at that.

"So you're saying we should just let her work herself to the bone over something that she doesn't need to do?"

"Precisely. both lessons will stick much better that way. Besides, this is a good experience for Twilight if those friendship reports of hers are anything to go by."

"Urgh, this isn't right Sasuke. We shouldn't let Rarity do this."

"Sometimes dobe, the best thing you can do for a friend is let them fall, but be there to help them back up."

"Oh, and I suppose you know?" Naruto snarked.

"I'm pretty sure I do." Said Sasuke as he began to leave. "After all, I speak from experience." Any retort Naruto had died in his throat when Sasuke said that. No matter how much he worked his mouth, he couldn't come up with anything.

"Fine." he finally managed out. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."




Four days had passed, and things had gone disastrous for the alabaster unicorn. Having only one day to completely remake her friend's dresses, Rarity had followed all her friend's specifications as to how they wanted their dresses to look. The results had been horrendous, but the girls loved them. Rarity however, knew the fashion show was going to be a bust when these dresses were presented, but things got worse. In an effort to impress Rarity, Spike had managed to convince a prominent fashion figure by the name of Hoity Toity to come down from Canterlot to check out the fashion show. Naturally, Rarity was horrified and panicked, and true to her predictions, the fashion show had been a catastrophe. Now Rarity had holed herself up in her boutique for two days, unable to show her face in Ponyville due to the humiliation. On the third day her friends tried getting her out, but Rarity wasn't budging.

"Well, you girls happy?" Asked Sasuke from behind the group, causing all five mares to leap into the air in surprise.

"What do you mean?" asked Applejack, confused by the question.

"Well, you all got the dresses you wanted didn't you? They were perfect and everything. So, are you happy?" At this, the girls sagged in despondence.

"Not really?" Said Twilight.

"Why not? You all worked with Rarity to make those, you should be proud of them"

"Yeah well, Rarity ain't too happy 'bout it." Applejack responded.

"And? Why should that matter? It wasn't stopping you before?"

"Hay, don't look at us. She's the one who insisted." Rainbow Dash defended.

"And who's fault is that?" Asked Sasuke, getting confused looks from the group. Sasuke saw they weren't getting it, so he went into detail. "I agree with you that Rarity didn't have to do that, and hopefully this experience will teach her a lesson, but you five arte also to blame here."

"Why's that?" Asked Applejack.

"One thing I've learned about Rarity is that her dressmaking is not just her profession, it's her life passion. She's dedicating her entire life to her fashion and dressmaking career. When you five declined those first dresses she made for you, it was the equivalent of slapping her in the face and spitting on her work. And when she tried to make you all something you loved, look at what you did. You not only embarrassed her in front of all of Ponyville, but also in front of a prominent figure in her industry. Now she'll never achieve her dream. But hey, you all got the dresses you asked for." Throughout the explanation, the girls hung their heads lower and lower, and when Sasuke finished, They couldn't help but feel sick.

"I... I never realized." Said Twilight.

"Oh my gosh, what kind of friend am I? I'm a mean ponyyy!" Wailed Pinkie Pie.

"Alright Sasuke, we get it. That was plum rotten of us tah do that tah Rarity." Said Applejack.

"Way uncool." Rainbow agreed.

"Okay, but Rarity is still a laughingstock. Apologies and realizations aren't going to fix that." Sasuke retorted, causing all five mares to wince. "You five are going to have to do something big if you want to fix this." With that, Sasuke left the five mares to their thoughts. Twilight then peered through the keyhole into Rarity's inspiration room, and saw a half finished dress within.

"Hmm." She mused aloud, then she thought of something. "Girls." She said, getting the attention of the other four. "I got an idea."




"Exile." Rarity mused to herself, though she was interrupted mid lament by a cry from Opalescence. Opening her bedroom window, she found her cat clutching the branch of a tree for dear life, mewling in terror.

"Opal! How did you get up there? Hang on there darling, momma's coming!" With that, Rarity charged out of her boutique with the intent to save her cat, however, she skidded to a halt when she found a certain somepony in the tree with her cat.

"Rainbow Dash!?" She exclaimed in shock. "How dare you strand my poor Opal in a tree."

"Well how else were we going to get you out to show you... this!" Explained Rainbow, indicating towards the rest of their friends and the completed dress she had designed for herself. Upon seeing it, Rarity could only stutter in shock.

"We all finished your dress for you!" Exclaimed Pinkie.

"Thanks tah Fluttershy's freaky knowledge o' sewin'." Applejack added in, causing said pegasus to blush.

"Do you like it?" She quietly asked.

"Like it?" Rarity asked, then began inspecting the dress. "Like it?" She said again in a harsher tone.

"Uh-oh, she doesn't like it." Said Fluttershy quietly.

"No, I don't like it." Rarity said with finality, turning her back to the dress, causing the four mares to let out a groan of disappointment. "I love it!" Rarity exclaimed, turning her head to the group. At this the group let out a cheer. "You ponies did an amazing job. It's exactly the way I imagined it."

"We just followed your brilliant design." Answered Fluttershy.

"Like we should have let you do for our outfits." Said Twilight. "Those first dresses you made for us were perfect."

"You worked extremely hard to make our dresses exactly the way we wanted them, and look how well that turned out." Said Rainbow Dash as she brought Opal out of the tree.

"Rarity, we're extremely sorry for everything, especially that disaster of a fashion show." Said Twilight with her head low.

"We're super sorry, Rarity. We were really horrible friends back there." Said Pinkie.

"Oh girls, I forgive you." said Rarity, bringing Twilight into a hug.

"Well that's mighty big o' ya." Said Applejack.

"But my whole career is still ruined." Rarity finished despairingly.

"Oh...right...that." Said Applejack, having forgotten about that detail. Twilight then noticed somepony by the boutique, and upon looking, grinned.

"Maybe not." She said, for there stood Hoity Toity, who was just finishing talking to Naruto.

"All right, all right. But I haven't got all day." He told the blonde, who nodded and went over to the girls.

"Okay girls, you're in luck. I managed to convince Hoity there to give Rares a second chance, but he says it had better be good." He told them.

"Don't worry Naruto. " Said Twilight. "This time it will be."




With a sigh, Hoity pushed Opal away from him.

"Take two." He said, his tone of voice relaying the message that he'd rather be elsewhere at the moment. With that, Spike drew the curtains shut, cloaking the room in darkness, which was pierced by the light flowing from Rarity's horn. Casting her spell, Rarity portrayed the illusion of shooting stars, which soon caught onto and became the accessories of Twilight and her dress.

"Well hello." Said Hoity, bringing his sunglasses down at the display. "Well this can't be the same designer." Suddenly the scene changed, revealing an apple orchard under the midday sun. Suddenly one of the fruits was lassoed and yanked away becoming the brooch to Applejacks outfit. The pony herself had also braided her mane and tail.

"Simply magnificent!" Exclaimed Hoity, who's stomach then grumbled. "And I suddenly have an intense craving for some Dutch apple pie, candied apples on a stick, apple turnovers, apple cobbler." the stallion was interrupted when the illusion spell began causing candy to rain down from the sky. Said candies then became the accents to Pinkie's dress.

"Brilliant." Toity hollered, when suddenly the crash of thunder silenced him. The illusion depicted dark clouds opening up to rays of multicoloured light, which joined together to become Rainbow dash's dress.

"Oh spectacular." The fashion critic exclaimed, and the illusion then depicted growing flowers blooming. The petals then erupted off their stems and fluttered to the ground, revealing Fluttershy in her gown.

"Now this is a fashion show!" Said Hoity, clapping his hooves at the display. "All these dresses are absolutely amazing! Who is responsible? Step forward, show yourself!" Hoity then had to shield his eyes, the light of Rarity's horn intensifying, before fading to reveal the mare along with her friends all in their gowns. "Brava, brava! Magnifico! Encore!" Hoity hollered, clapping his hooves in jubilation. Rarity herself was overjoyed, her dress was complete, and her career was saved.

"Oh thank you all." Was all she could say.




Sasuke and Naruto were currently relaxing at the library, both of them reading a book. While Sasuke was reading a fictional novel, Naruto was reading a spellbook, much to the Uchiha's confusion.

"Uh, dobe. Why are you reading a spellbook? Last I checked, we couldn't use pony magic." At this, Naruto looked up from his book.

"Yeah I know, but I'm trying to see if I can convert spells into ninjutsu." At this, Sasuke snorted, and returned to his own book.

"Hn, as if a dobe like you could do something like that. You'd have to create a chakra ratio and a handsign chain, while knowing which handsign manipulates what component of the jutsu." Naruto just ignored him and returned to his reading. Sasuke glanced at the book's title and was surprised when he saw it was a book on sealing magic.

"So why sealing magic?" Asked Sasuke, startling the blonde across from him.

"Oh, uh, well it's because I figured it was the closest equivalent to sealing jutsu.." Sasuke raised a brow at this.

"You know sealing jutsu?" Sasuke asked, as he hadn't seen anything from the blonde in regards to the discipline.

"A bit. I was hoping I could expand on it with this, but things are looking tough." Answered Naruto. Sasuke just shrugged at that, figuring the dobe would get nowhere with it. Just then, the door opened and revealed Twilight and Spike.

"Hey Sparkles." Naruto greeted, causing Twilight to growl from the use of that stupid nickname, though Spike was muffling his chuckles. "How did everything go?"

"Fantastic Naruto. Rarity's already got a large order from Hoity. Those dresses she made for us were a hit. Thank you so much for convincing him to give Rarity a second chance." She said with glee.

"No problem Sparkles." Replied Naruto.

"So Twilight, did you learn your lesson?" Asked Sasuke, to which Twilight nodded.

"Yes I did." she said. Sasuke stared at her a few moments longer, then returned to his book. Though one thought still plagued Sasuke.

'Just why is the dobe trying to expand his sealing knowledge?'
> A new Arrival and a Bond Begun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle was not having a good day. All she had wanted was to practice her spell for Spike's suit for the upcoming gala, but such a plan was ruined the moment Pinkie Pie entered the scene. Thus had Twilight been introduced to the nonsensicality of Pinkie sense. Spending the whole day trying to figure this strange sense out, Twilight had nothing to show for it other than being battered, bruised, and brought to the hospital.

However, all that paled in comparison to the here and now, which involved her back to a chasm, and staring up at a very large, very hungry, and very mad hydra.  Twilight was currently in the bog nearby Ponyville, with her friends Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Spike, and Fluttershy, the four of which were on the other side of the chasm. Twilight herself couldn't cross due to the fact that the stepping stones leading across had all collapsed, leaving Twilight stranded with the hydra. Meanwhile, the group on the other side were having various reactions to the event. Applejack was trying to come up with some way of getting Twilight out of there. Spike was screaming and hollering for help. Pinkie Pie was shaking her coat off, both from the scene and her Pinkie sense. And finally, Fluttershy was crouched on the ground, hooves over her tear streaming eyes, and was pleading for somepony, anypony, to save her friend.

"Fluttershy!" screamed Applejack, "What in tarnation are ya waitin' for? Put those wings tah use an' get Twi outta there!"

"I c-c-c-can't." Fluttershy whimpered back, her own fears and insecurities preventing her from even trying to open her wings.

"Fluttershy, if y'all don't do somethin', Twi's gonna get eaten!"

"Twilight! Try to teleport!" Spike screamed to the mare across the chasm. Twilight heard Spike, and could easily teleport over the gap, her head was too scrambled with terror to even begin focusing magic. She tried to move, but found herself paralyzed by the fear rushing throughout her being. Meanwhile, the hydra's third head recovered from the pain it had suffered breaking down the stepping stones of the ravine, and with a snarling howl advanced on the lavender unicorn.

"Twilight!!!" screamed the group in horror as the Hydra advanced. Fluttershy couldn't bear to watch. Once more she could do nothing to save her friend, just like last time.

"No no no, Fluttershy do something." her mind screamed at her, but her body refused to cooperate.

"Come on, you can get her out of there. You've got to save your friend." Desperately, she tried to get her wings, her body, to respond. Alas, her efforts were wasted as her wings and body remained right where they were.

"I can't do it. I can't save her. She's going to die and it's all my fault." Tears leaked from Fluttershy's eyes, manifestations of her despair. "I'm just too weak.". However, just as she thought that, a piece of a certain conversation she had quite some time ago sprang into her mind.

A friend of mine once told me this, a person, or in your case pony, is only truly strong when they fight to protect those precious to them. If your friends are precious to you, then fighting for them will give you the strength to protect them. And with that memory, sprang forth a buried determination that erupted within the pegasus with the force of a volcano.

'My friends are precious to me.' The tremors racking her body abruptly ceased. 'They are everything to me.' Her wings snapped open, ready to take flight. 'And I will not let them down again.' And the speed in which she took flight had the rest of the group wondering if Rainbow had dyed her coat yellow and her mane pink.

Meanwhile, the hydra had reached Twilight, who was backed up to the very lip of the chasm. Snarling, all four heads reared back, preparing to strike, and Twilight thought it was all over. The end however, was abruptly halted.

"How dare you!" Fluttershy screamed, her form level to the heads and her eyes locking onto the hydra's own eight.

"F-Fluttershy?" Twilight squeaked, having never seen her friend like this before, being able to stop a hydra cold. Said mare paid the unicorn no mind, having her attention currently on the hydra.

"Now you listen here mister, you do not get to eat one of my friends! Are we clear!?" Fluttershy roared, which was set on the correct volume for once. The hydra growled something, but soon went faces to face with the pegasus, her glare more petrifying than a cockatrice. "Well if you're so hungry, then pack up out of this bog and leave. You do not get to go around eating ponies. If I catch you chasing another pony again, so help me, I'll be very, very angry. And you will not like me, when, I'm, angry." Throughout Fluttershy's tirade, the hydra's heads had been sinking lower and lower, until they were nearly touching it's back, Fluttershy staring them down all the while. "So, you're going to turn around, walk away, and get something else for dinner, Now!" With a whimper, the hydra about-faced, and scurried away. Her job done, Fluttershy turned around, and soon became very aware of the entirety of the group's gaze upon her, their mouths dangling open, Pinkie Pie included. Feeling extremely self conscious, Fluttershy blushed whilst tapping her forehooves together. With the danger now passed, Twilight charged up her horn and teleported back to her friends.

"Land sakes girl. We thought y'all was a goner." came Applejack's relieved remark as she embraced her unicorn friend.

"I'll admit, I thought so too, but then Fluttershy came in out of nowhere, and well, you all saw that, right?" answered Twilight. Fluttershy then gently alighted back onto the ground with the rest of her friends.

"I'm sorry everypony, I don't know what came over me. Was I being mean? Was I too harsh?" Her panic attack was halted when Twilight, Applejack, and even Spike swept her up in a group hug.

"Girl, y'all were amazin' out there." replied Applejack.

"That was totally awesome, Fluttershy. Way to give that hydra the what for." Spike responded next.

"Fluttershy, you saved my life. I know Pinkie predicted a doozy today, and  between you and the hydra, that was one hay of a doozy. Right Pinkie Pie?" However, said party mare was still shaking.

"That wasn't it." she replied.

"That wasn't? How was that not a doozy? What in all of Equestria could be doozier than that hydra, and Fluttershy gone super assertive?"

"Sasuke and Naruto having the friendship spat to end all friendship spats?" Spike offered, though his mouth was magically zipped shut for his troubles.

"I don't know, it just wasn't the doozy." Pinkie replied, and Twilight erupted into flames.




It was later in the day when Twilight returned home after spending some more time with her friends.

"Ugh, today took everything I had and then some." she moaned.

"Aw, is little Twilight all tuckered out?" came a voice that Twilight hadn't heard in years. Exhaustion completely cast aside she turned to the source of the voice. Her eyes were greeted by a coal black unicorn mare that stood a good head taller than her. She had a long mane of neon teal, and intense violet eyes. Upon her flanks were adorned a cutie mark of three jade dragonflies, and perched upon her muzzle were a pair of rectangular frame glasses.

"No way." was all Twilight could say.

"Hello Twilight, miss me?" Said the mare with an impish grin.

"Gossamer Wing!" Twilight shrieked in delight, charging right up to the unicorn. Soon Twilight was in her so called 'secret hoofshake dance' position.

"Twilight, no." Twilight's tail wagged about.

"Twilight, you're a grown mare. That's for fillies." Twilight shook her rump this time, causing Gossamer to face hoof.

"Ugh, fine." With that, their dance began.

"Sunshine , sunshine, dragonflies abound. Clap your hooves and twirl yourself around." The two sang together, and when it was finished, Gossamer soon found herself introduced to the floor as Twilight leaped onto her.

"Oh Gossamer, I missed you so much. Where have you been? How's Cadence doing? Oh my gosh, has Spike seen you yet?" An ebon hoof stuck in her mouth silenced any further questions.

"Calm yourself, Twilight, I'm not going to vanish into thin air." replied Gossamer Wing, and removed her hoof from Twilight's mouth. Twilight had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Sorry Gossamer. I just haven't seen you in the longest time." Gossamer had a small smile on her lips when she heard this.

"Well I'm going to be staying here for quite some time Twilight. I am on a research assignment after all." It was then that Twilight noticed the book in the viridian glow of Gossamer's magic.

"A research assignment?!" Twilight exclaimed in jubilation, hopping about around Gossamer shouting yes every moment.

"Twilight, this is not a caterpillar or ladybug hunt. This is a serious mission given to me by the Equestrian scholars of Entomology. I'm afraid where I'm going is not some place I can take you with me. Your brother, if not your parents, would throw a fit if I did." That stopped Twilight cold.

"But Gossamer, this could be huge. You could discover some amazing species, and I want to be there with you." Twilight whined, earning her a bop on the muzzle from Gossamer's hoof.

"What did Cadence and I tell you about whining?" Asked Gossamer whilst Twilight rubbed her muzzle. "Anyway Twilight, the only reason I even got clearance for this mission is because princess Celestia apparently has somepony extremely powerful charting out the Everfree Forest for her." Gossamer then looked about. "Now where in tartarus is he. Cadence told me he was living with you if I'm not mistaken, and rest assured, we will be going down that particular path soon, but where is that, human I believe his kind are called?" At that, Twilight perked up.

"Oh you mean Naruto. I haven't seen him today so I think he's in the Everfree Forest. He's always going in there when he has the time. He should be back sometime this evening." Twilight then thought of something. "Hey, Gossamer. If you need a place to sleep, I got some space available."

"No need Twilight. While I very much appreciate it, the scholars are paying for my room and board over at the inn. It would be an utter waste of their bits if I crashed here instead." At Twilight's despondent look, Gossamer pulled her into a hug. "Now no need for that Twilight. I'm quite tired from my journey here, so I'll be going back to the inn now. Rest assured though that we'll have all the time in the world tomorrow to catch up. I want to meet all your new friends and hear all about your adventures with them. So just be patient." At this, Twilight nodded, and Gossamer turned to leave.

"Hey, Gossamer." called Twilight, getting the ebon unicorn's attention. Said unicorn was then brought into a hug. "It's so good to see you again. When you moved away I thought I'd never see you again." Gossamer returned the hug in full.

"So did I Twilight, but it seems life saw fit to reunite us, so let's not waste the opportunity." Soon, farewells were bid, and Twilight was alone once more. Suddenly, her exhaustion returned with a vengeance. Blearily looking out the window, Twilight saw that the sun was dipping into the horizon.

"Whoa time flies. Well, bedtime." With that, Twilight trudged into her room and was soon asleep on her bed, memories of times passsed playing in her head.




To Twilight, it was as if Celestia herself was trying to make the day as perfect as possible for her. The mid morning sun was bright and warm, bringing cheer throughout the town of Ponyville. Currently, Twilight was heading to Ponyville park, where her friends would be gathering at her request. grasped in her magic was a basket full of baked treats, and upon her back rode Spike.

"So let me get this straight." said Spike, only freshly aware of the situation. "You're telling me that Gossamer Wing, co-foalsitter and Cadence's best friend Gossamer Wing, showed up yesterday evening."

"Yup." replied Twilight. "She's working for the Equestrian scholars of Entomology. Apparently they want her to team up with Naruto so she can document the species of insects residing in the Everfree Forest."

"Make's sense I suppose. Her talent was always bugs." Soon the two reached their designated meeting place, though they were not the first there. Applejack, Sasuke, and Rarity were already there.

"Hey Sasuke. Hello girls." Twilight greeted as she set herself down with her friends. After pleasantries were exchanged, the others began showing up as well. First came Pinkie, who hopped towards the group and began attacking the snack basket.

"Pinkie! wait until everypony shows up first." Twilight admonished her friend.

"Fwowie." muttered Pinkie through a mouthful of danish. Next to arrive were Naruto and Fluttershy, who sat down within the group side by side. Feeling a little bold, Fluttershy draped a wing over Naruto's shoulders, pressing herself into his side. finally, in a prismatic streak, Rainbow Dash skidded into a landing right next to the group.

"Woohoo, ten point landing!" she exclaimed, then she and Pinkie launched an all out assault on the snack basket.

"Hey! those are for everypony you two. Share!" hollered Twilight as she valiantly tried saving her baked treats from the two ravenous mares. Thankfully, Applejack and Rarity had brought there own baskets of refreshments. Applejack had brought a load of apple baked goods, whilst Rarity had brought tea.

"So Twilight," began Rarity as she poured herself a cup, "I have hardly ever known you to organize these kinds of gatherings yourself. What happens to be the occasion, darling?"

"Well girls, and of course you two as well Sasuke and Naruto, there's somepony special I'd like you two to meet. she's a good friend of mine from my days as a filly." Everyone snapped their attention to Twilight at that, as they had thought their current group were the only friends Twilight had.

"Whoa whoa, back up, what's this about a friend we haven't met yet?" asked Rainbow Dash, everyone else agreeing.

"Well, she moved away a long time ago and I'd honestly thought I'd never see her again." Twilight answered. Just then Twilight noticed a certain somepony coming up to the group. "Oh, here she is now. Everypony, I'd like you to meet Gossamer Wing." she introduced the new arrival.

"My my, Twilight. What a circle of friends you have." Said Gossamer as she looked upon the group.

"So who are you exactly?" asked Rainbow, catching the unicorn's attention.

"Well, as you know, my name is Gossamer Wing. I first met Twilight when she was a young filly. My best friend and I were her foalsitters, and well, she grew quite attached to the two of us. Now, I believe introductions are in order. You all know my name, but I'm afraid I haven't been given yours." She replied. Applejack was the first to respond.

"Well howdy miss Wing. Mah name's Applejack, an' ah run Sweet Apple Acres." she said, grabbing Gossamer's hoof and giving it a wild shake.

"Ah yes, I've heard of your orchard. I love the apples you grow there, and please, call me Gossamer. Miss Wing was my grandmare's name and I'm nowhere near that old."

"Well shucks, t'aint nuthin." Rainbow Dash was next.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, the name's Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all Equestria." She boasted. Gossamer just raised a brow.

"Hm, that's nice." Was all she said. Fortunately, before Rainbow could blow her top, Rarity interjected.

"Hello Gossamer, my name is Rarity. I must say your coat and mane are a very striking contrast." Gossamer chuckled at that.

"The pleasure's mine Rarity, and yes I know about my colouring. I get that a lot." Gossamer then noticed something wrong. "Wait a minute. One... two, weren't there five of you mares?" At this, the group looked, and true to Gossamer's deduction, Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, that's jus' Pinkie bein' Pinkie. Don't worry y'all, you'll meet 'er later. Fair warning though, she can be a mite…" said Applejack, though she struggled to find a proper word to describe Pinkie's behaviour to newcomers.

"Eccentric." Gossamer finished, amused.

"heh, eccentric maybe puttin' it mahldly." A burst of giggles exuded from the mares at this, and Gossamer then noticed the pegasus trying to hide behind one of the humans.

"So my dear, care to intoduce yourself?" she asked the pegasus, her tone gentle.

"Oh, me? Um, my name is…." was all Gossamer heard from the pegasus, as she had whispered her name too quietly to hear. Fortunately, Naruto came to the rescue.

"Sorry about her, she gets real shy around new ponies. Her name's Fluttershy." said Naruto as he brought an arm around Fluttershy in an effort to calm her down. It worked, as Fluttershy soon relaxed in the human's grasp.

"Oh my, are you two together?" asked Gossamer, excitement in her voice.

"Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked, her face flushing crimson, and buried her head within her mane. Her reaction brought forth a chuckle of merriment from Gossamer.

"Oh, I apologize dear, but that reaction." she apologized, though she continued to laugh. Soon, she had her mirth under control, and faced the final two members of the group. "Now then, I've heard of you two. Two new creatures suddenly appearing in Equestria, word like that tends to spread fast. So who exactly are you two?" she asked.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki. Any friend of Sparkles' is a friend of mine." declared Naruto.

"Naruto!" Twilight screamed, her face blushing as crimson as Fluttershy's from embarrassment. Gossamer's laughing both resumed and intensified.

"My goodness Twilight, he lives with you and you have a pet name. Has little Twily gotten herself into a herd?" This got a laugh out of everypony, though nopony noticed Fluttershy hold herself closer to Naruto, a muted 'mine' on her lips. Soon everypony calmed down, and Gossamer addressed the last of the group.

"So human, may I have your name?" Gossamer asked.

"It's Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke answered curtly.

"Not much of a lively one are you, Sasuke?" replied Gossamer, to which Sasuke said nothing.

"Ah, don't mind him." said Rainbow. "He's always like that meeting new ponies. Give him some time to know you and he'll start opening up." With that, the group chatted and learned more of each other. Rarity was slightly perturbed that Gossamer's hobby was caring for pet bugs, and was even revolted when she brought out a pet beetle. Rainbow however, thought it was awesome. Fluttershy was also interested in Gossamer's line of work, and Naruto told her of his friend Shino, who hailed from a clan that used their own bodies as a host hive to a special breed of insect that fed on chakra. Though the other girls-minus Fluttershy who understood how nature worked- were utterly revolted by this information, gossamer was absolutely fascinated by the information. Soon though, Sasuke stood up to leave.

"Well everypony, it's been nice hanging out, but I have work to get to." With that, the group bid him farewell, and he headed for the spa for another day of work.




Scootaloo was not having a good day. scratch that, her day absolutely sucked. Sweetie Belle was home sick today, so she and Apple Bloom couldn't go crusading. Then after school, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, along with a group of other fillies had chased after them, insulting them about them being blank flanks. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo decided to split up to lose them, but that plan didn't work out. Now the group of bullies were just chasing her, and the insults weren't stopping at a lack of cutie mark.

"Hey, somepony let Fluttershy know one of her chickens are loose. Oh hey, it's just Scootaloo." Jeered one.

"Scootaloo's a chicken! Scootaloo's a chicken!" Tears were beginning to burn in Scootaloo's eyes, but she kept running despite it. Suddenly, she crashed into a pair of legs, and after shaking off the slight daze from the impact, dove behind them in hopes that whoever owned them would shield her from the bullies. Those legs belonged to none other than Sasuke. The group of bullies then skidded to a halt before the Uchiha, glaring up at him.

So what's all this about, then?" he asked the group.

"None of your business, creature." said Diamond Tiara, "What are you anyway? Some sort of minotaur with no horns and mange?" A few members of the group snickered at that, but all were silenced when Sasuke's eyes went from obsidian black to blood red, the tomoe of his Sharingan lazily orbiting his pupils.

"What I am doesn't matter. Why are you all bullying this filly? She's done nothing to you."

"Pfft, so? She's a blank flank, and on top of that, she's a pegasus that can't fly. Who's ever heard of a pegasus that can't fly?" Sasuke could feel Scootaloo trembling behind him at their remarks.

"Doesn't matter. Stop your bullying. You have no right to do so." Diamond Tiara growled at that.

"Listen you, I don't know who you are but you do not tell me what to do. My daddy is the most important pony here in Ponyville, so I can do whatever I want." That hit a nerve on Sasuke. There were three kinds of people he absolutely hated; cowards, weaklings, and those who hid behind their family's wealth and influence. At this, Sasuke started to chuckle, but they did not convey a humorous mood.

"You know, you seem to really push at the whole blank flank thing, but I've got to ask which is worse, to have no cutie mark, or to have a cutie mark representing a completely useless talent." Gasps rang out from the crowd, and Diamond gritted her teeth.

"My talent is not useless. I am a princess, my daddy's princess, and that talent is far better than anypony else's."

"So as I said, a completely useless talent. And your father is either useless himself if he lets you do all this, or he's ignorant of the way his little 'princess' acts outside his watch." Everypony, even Scootaloo sharply gasped at that. Nopony had ever dared insult mister Filthy Rich. Sasuke then made a half ram hand seal. "So, such a useless talent," The air around Sasuke pulsed, and a second later, the entire group shrieked in shock. "doesn't deserve to be marked." Diamond Tiara's mouth hung, and her eyes widened in shock and horror. Her cutie mark had completely vanished.

"What did you do?!" she screamed at Sasuke. "My cutie mark, what did you do to my cutie mark!?"

"I took it away, until such a time comes when I feel you deserve it back." Sasuke simply replied, then he held his fingers up again. "Anypony else?" The rest of the group instantly fled, leaving Diamond Tiara alone. said filly immediately charged at Sasuke, only to slam into some kind of purple shield.

"Just you wait. My daddy will hear of this. You'll be sorry." With that, she stormed off, and the purple aura of Sasuke's Susanoo faded.

"That, was, Awesome!" squealed Scootaloo as she bounced out from behind Sasuke. "Did you see their faces? They looked they were gonna run each other over trying to get away." Her merriment was cut short when she noticed Sasuke's ordinary black eyes staring down at her, making her feel very small.

"You shouldn't laugh at other ponies' misfortune, else you're no better than those bullies." Scootaloo's joy was instantly replaced by guilt at that statement, but then she perked up.

"Hey, you're the human who healed Rainbow Dash's wings, Sasuke right? Sweetie Belle told me all about you."

"Sweetie Belle also talked about you, Scootaloo." Sasuke answered, remembering the filly who had got him to heal Rainbow's wings in the first place. Just then a cry pierced the air.

"Scootaloo!" hollered Apple Bloom, as she and her sister came running up to the two.

"Sasuke, what happened." asked Applejack. "Ah heard from Bloom those darn bullies were chasin' Scootaloo, so ah got here fast as ah could." sasuke glanced over in the direction said bullies had fled.

"I handled it." was all he said.

"He took away Diamond Tiara's cutie mark." said Scootaloo excitedly.

"Y'all did what now!?" exclaimed Applejack, nervously glancing at her own mark to check if it was still there. Sasuke for his part simply shrugged.

"If she was going to bully those without one, then she didn't deserve hers. And no, I didn't 'take' her cutie mark. I put an illusion over it to make it seem like nothing's there."

"Whoa! Scoots, why didn't y'all get Sasuke sooner? We coulda done this months ago." asked Apple Bloom.

"Apple Bloom, y'all do not get tah use Sasuke tah get back at yer bullies." Applejack scolded her sister. Then she turned to Sasuke. "In any case, I wants tah thank y'all, Sasuke. Diamond Tiara has been givin' Bloom an' her friends ah lot ah grief over them havin' no cutie mark yet. So thanks for defendin' 'em."

"I have a question though." said Sasuke. "Does Diamond Tiara's father have any idea how she acts around others." Applejack sighed at this.

"No, he don't. Furthermore, Filthy Rich is 'bout as important tah Ponyville as we Apples are, so nopony dares speak 'gainst him or his filly." At this, Sasuke nodded.

"I see. Well I'm running late for work, so if you'll excuse me, I trust you can get your sister and Scootaloo to where they need to be?"

"Sure as shootin'. Ah'll get these little fillies outta your hooves, well hands ah suppose. Take care Sasuke." Sasuke turned to leave, when a weight suddenly clutched his leg. Looking down, he saw Scootaloo looking up at him whilst hugging his leg, it being the only thing she could reach.

"Thanks Sasuke, for helping me and Rainbow Dash. You're awesome." With that, Scootaloo let go and hurried after the two Apples, leaving Sasuke alone.

"Hn, you're welcome kid." he said to himself.