Hunting Down the Creature

Equestrian Heroes

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

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Naruto arrived to the location of the shop the mayor provided. He walked in and greeted the store owner, an earth pony stallion with chestnut colored fur and a rose red mane. He was an older stallion by the looks of him.

"My name is map maker. What can I do for ya?"

"I need any maps of the surrounding area, especially those of the Everfree Forest. The more recent the map is the better."

"The whole town is cheering on you guardsmen. I hope ya put down that creature hunting down those poor fillies. I have a filly around the age of those missing ones and my heart goes out to those young ones parents."

"If everything goes according to plan then all manner of creatures will be dealt with." Naruto promised. The shop owner soon returned with the requested maps. "How much will it cost?" Naruto asked as he brought out a bag from his satchel.

"Fifteen bits. I'm afraid the maps aren't too recent seeing as only the bravest or foolish dare go into Everfree and not many of them tend to have a lick of book sense."

Naruto kept the frustration off his face. He wasn't going to take it off on the shop owner. He supposed he should have taken it upon himself to have maps made earlier in case he would find himself ever having business in the cursed forest. He placed the bits down and secured the maps on his person.

"It was nice talking with you map maker. Let's hope next time we meet the circumstances surrounding our conversation are on a more positive note." Naruto bid the shop keep farewell as he made a stop on his next destination.

Naruto started to familiarize himself with the map. As he looked at it, he found many different locations. He found the Everfree Forest, which had an entrance surprisingly close to a section of town he hadn't been too often. He continued studing the geography when he suddenly ran into something, causing him to fall flat on his butt.

He looked up as he rubbed his head in pain to find Pinkie Pie on the ground in front of him. "Ow… sorry Pinkie didn't see you there. You okay?"

Pinkie Pie, who had also been rubbing her head as well, immediately perked her ears up and gave a very cheerful smile before tackling Naruto. He gave a yelp as he suddenly found Pinkie Pie on top of him.

"Ooh, Naruto! Good to see you again! How are you doing?" She said as she lightly hopped on his stomach. "Are you having a great morning? I'm having a great morning! I ran into Twilight and she's been doing all these weird tests on me. Then she got all angry and explodey and now we're playing hide and seek…" she trailed off as Naruto did his best to follow what the ball of energy was relaying to him. "And…that's why you don't eat pies at 3 AM in the morning? Ooh is that a treasure map? Are you hunting for treasure? Can I come? Can I?" Pinkie had switched from practically mounting him to excitedly bouncing around him.

"Sorry Pinks I don't have time for any games today Pinks. I'm sorry, but this is the matter I discussed with you girls the other day. My team and I are going to hunt down those creatures who have been kidnapping fillies."

Almost immediately Pinkie began to deflate. She didn't lose her characteristic fluffs, but she had stopped bouncing around like she was previously. "Those poor fillies." The look on her face was absolutely heart breaking. Pinkie Pie was the only pony who possibly adored children as much as Fluttershy adorned animals.

"Naruto…" Pinkie Pie began in a subdued tone, lacking the luster of her usual energetic bluster. "When you go out there don't take any unnecessary risks ok?"

"Of course." He softly answered. "I'll be ok Pinkie." He said as Pinkie shied away.

"Becareful when you go after those awful meanies okay. You're one of my best friends and I don't want to lose you." Naruto found himself swept into a hug. He was so stunned it took him a few seconds to return the gesture.

"Come on I'll be fine. I'll be back before you know it." He assured her as the hug ended as suddenly as it began.

"I'll be waiting." With that Pinkie finally began channeling her usual energy. Naruto had no idea what was going through the mare's head, but he supposed it'll have to wait until he came back.

"It's been a while since I've been in these depths." Naruto announced as he, Nightwing, and Raven began adventuring into the forbidden forest.

"So this is the Everfree Forest, huh… I can't believe anything would want to live in such a creepy place." Raven said as she glanced around.

"Raven keep focus." Nightwing hissed at her as he used his wing to keep her from stepping on a venomous snake. "Use your head more." Of all the times for Raven to be so careless he didn't expect he would have to chide her when they were on such an important mission from the princesses.

"Hey chill it Nightwing. I don't need you to lecture me." The Unicorn huffed. She wished he stopped treating her like she was an idiot.

"Maybe if you took things more seriously I wouldn't have two."

"Cut it out you two!" Naruto snapped at them. The two recoiled at the sharp tone of Naruto's voice. The fact that they were snapping at each other was a good indicator of how nervous they were. After all, no amount of training could ever replace actual battlefield experience. "You two have to focus. Now is not the time to turn on each other."

"Forgive us captain/I'm sorry captain." They apologized.

"Its fine, just keep your emotions under control." He cautioned them as they continued pushing deeper into the forest. Sounds from creatures of the night to moving shrubbery assailed their ears, not giving them a chance to relax.

"Nightwing I need you to take to the air. I need to know if you can see this formation on the map anywhere nearby." Naruto went through his bag and pulled out a map.

Taking the map Nightwing took to the skies. "This place gives me the creeps…" Raven remarked in an obvious manner. "What if there's more than one Bugbear? And how are we supposed to capture it? We didn't bring any supplies to capture it."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Naruto lied. Whether or not, they would end up getting information from the creature, Naruto fully intent on killing this creature. He would not repeat his predecessor's mistakes. He would not repeat his past mistakes any longer. The trio continued their search as the sun began to go down. Raven's horn being the only thing to illuminate their darkening path. "This is new territory for me." Naruto did his best to only go a reasonable length into the forest to avoid getting lost. So far no sighting of the Bugbear and unfortunately Noi had been too emotionally distraught from her situation to give any directions to where she was taken by the creature.

"You hear that?" Nightwing asked as they came to a stop. The sound of dead leaves crunching under their hoof steps came to a stop. A cool breeze coursed through the forest as the foliage took to the air. Low growls resonated around them.

"Hhm…I guess we're having round two. It's been a long time Timberwolves." Naruto said as several bodies leaped from the darkness. The Lunar Guard reacted accordingly. Naruto dashed past the side of one wolf and brought his hoof down on the creature splitting its skull in two.

Bringing out his concealed knife Nightwing floated up out of the reach of the snarling creatures, doing a spin and diving down towards the creatures. The knife was shoved deep into the back of the creature's neck while Raven used her magic to blast them into little wooden bits.

A few wolves regenerated and began their second attack. Using his back legs Naruto bucked two Timberwolves into the nearby lake. The remaining Timberwolves regrouped as they readied for a second attack.

"Big mistake!" Naruto remarked as he brought his hooves down into the ground. Suddenly the Wolves found themselves sucked into the ground and buried six feet under by earth. "Let's continue." Naruto suggested as they continued their trek. Movement among the foliage caught the trio's attention.

"Raven." Naruto called as the unicorn nodded and fed magic into her tip lighting up their location. Emerging from behind the bushes was a massive ape like creature. The creature swiped its arms causing the trio to dodge. "Take it down!"

"Conjantus!" Raven shouted as a pulse of magic shot from her horn. The blast of magic slammed into a tree and caused it to explode into several chunks of wood. The creature let out a shirking howl and began scrambling through the forest.

"Don't lose sight of it." Naruto ordered.

"I'll go high!" Nightwing shouted and with a flap of his wings took to the air. Naruto and Raven began trotting after the creature. Leaping over a downed tree there hooves stamped against the ground as they chased after the surprisingly agile creature.

"Ignitus!" Raven shouted again only for the creature to suddenly turn to the right avoiding the spell. "Aah darnit!" the unicorn shouted.

Focusing all his chakra into his hooves Naruto shot forward and crashed into the Bugbear. Right before Naruto could plummet over Nightwing shot down and grabbed his captain by the shoulders, slowing the descent as the Bugbear went falling down to the ground before.

Raven began making her way down the cliff side using the crevices.

The Bugbear seemed no worse for wear as it got on its feet and let out a feral growl. It began charging towards Naruto and Nightwing.

"Conjantus!" the unicorn's spell hit the Bugbear's eyes causing it to howl in pain and flail around. Taking advantage of the distraction Naruto angled around the creature and shot forward landing a solid blow sending it flying across the area and into the very Cliffside they tumbled over.

"Unless you want to suffer more I suggest you stay down."

The Bugbear didn't take kindly to his taunting and immediately charged him. The force of the creature's attempt to charge him resulted in the tree being uprooted. Naruto landed on all fours on the opposite side of the creature. "You're just a mindless brute aren't you? You hardly know better, unfortunately for you we have to eliminate you."

The Bugbear charges towards. Faster than the creature could react something surged right by it and the next thing the creature knew it felt pain. The wet sensation and coppery smell there was nothing the creature hadn't experienced before. The damage to its limb was definitely something unknown to the creature.

The Dark Pegasus slightly adjusted the now bloody blade in his mouth.

"Petrifiyus!"

The creature landed on the ground, completely paralyzed by the spell. Naruto walked over to the paralyzed creature. "Three lives. The lives of three little fillies are on your hands Bugbear. I assure you your master will be joining you in the afterlife shortly. Raven if you will." He said as Raven stepped forward.

The Unicorn nodded and began to silently chant. She pressed her horn into the creature's skull and her aura began to wash over the creature. Her will and consciousness began tearing at the mental barrier of the creature until nothing was left. With its mental shields gone nothing stopped Raven from having free roam inside its mind. A minute passed in silence as Nightwing put away his blade and Naruto focused his thoughts.

Meanwhile Raven was immobile as a solid statue. The only noise that could be heard was faint breathing and heartbeats as the Unicorn continued to use her magic to drain what knowledge the creature had. Finally the connection was broken and a sharp gasp escaped her lips. "Twilight Sparkle is in trouble! The creature's master plans on draining her of her magic."

Raven and Nightwing recoiled back at the sudden explosion of power that radiated from their captain. Like a rocket he shot off back towards Ponyville before it was too late.

Ever since she was a filly stars had intrigued Twilight Sparkle. Though she could never pinpoint what part of the stars had actually peaked her interest. To the normal eye they were small twinkling dots, but in reality they were balls of gas that burned with so much energy that the light that radiated from them traveled across the whole galaxy.

One of the things Twilight enjoyed more than anything was spending her nights examining the stars and her favorite constellations. Tonight was no exception as she prepared for a night of star gazing. Prepped with saddlebags she made her journey towards the hills. Setting up her telescope and blanket Twilight began gazing at the stars. Suddenly a cold chill passed through her, which was stranger considering she was wearing the jacket made for her and the temperature was seventy-three degrees. She had made sure to double and then triple check with the weather ponies beforehand.

She went back to studying the stars only to notice a shadow began obscuring her light. She looked up from her telescope and began addressing what she thought was another pony. "Oh hello excuse me do you mind… " she trailed off as she came face to face with a mammalian creature of the Chiroptera persuasion. A terrified scream escaped Twilight's lips as the creature lunged at her.