Adventures of the Equestrian Ninja

ADVENTURES OF THE EQUESTRIAN NINJA

Chapter 45: An Off Day

Naruto hates being lonely, practically knowing that feeling since he was born before even getting to learn the word attached to it. He wasn't given a choice whether to be alone or not and it's a struggle to be in the company of others without being scorned, perhaps it was why he got so scared of ghosts since he gets anxious at the sound of anything that goes bump in the night when by himself. It's why he values friendship so much because it's what keeps him stable, make him feel like he's not alone in the world.

So it's extremely rare for Naruto to want to be alone, to choose to be by himself without company. But he certainly has a good enough reason to do so as he sits atop the hill overlooking Ponyville in the distance while staring up at the clouds, lost in his thoughts.

"*Sigh*…," Naruto didn't say anything or rather couldn't, the memory of his conversation with Sasuke before his return constantly replaying in his mind.

"After all these years, you're still trying to figure that out? The fact that I burned you alive, broke your neck and struck you twice in the chest with the Chidori hasn't nailed the fact that I was trying to kill you into your head? My only regrets are that I didn't make sure to kill you more effectively the first three times and being unable to go to Orochimaru to gain the power I needed to kill Itachi. You and this damn village robbed me of my purpose!"

"Rob you of your purpose? You were about to go to the very same guy who killed Old Man Hokage and he wanted to take over your body!"

"That only shows how I could have been strong enough to kill my brother if he could kill a Kage,"

"You mean to tell me that you would be willing to do anything to achieve your vengeance?"

"Even if the price was to destroy this damn village to gain power…I'd pay it gladly,"

Naruto let out another sigh whilst looking up at the clouds "As much I want to blame Orochimaru for 'reminding' Sasuke about his desire for vengeance, I can't since other things could have triggered him to do so. Whether it's that he couldn't beat someone by himself or that someone is doing better than him, there would always be something that would bug him. Guess I played a part as well since I was training to better myself and that seems to bother him to the point of challenging me on the hospital roof. But he shouldn't be rushing like that, I mean this is the same guy who beat Kakashi-sensei before coming after me and it took Pervy-Sage to make him back off. I shouldn't be bothering myself with 'What-ifs' at this point, it won't change how things have turned out now; I died and was reborn in another world, Sasuke is imprisoned, this gave Kakashi more of a reason to visit the monument, and I can tell that Sakura has been having a hard time even though she tries to conceal it from me…Team 7 is shattered beyond repair,"

The stallion soon found himself being snapped out of his musing by the sound of something whooshing through the air for him to see something flying quickly while leaving behind a long trail of rainbow colors then realizing who it is with the pony herself slowing down to hover right before him.

"Heya Naruto, how's it going?" the mare greeted in an upbeat tone.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, doing pretty good," Naruto responded with a small smile.

Rainbow Dash quirks an eyebrow at that response "For some reason, I don't believe that. What's gotten you so down in the dumps lately?"

"*Sigh* Guess I'm having an off day today, I should be back to my usual self by tomorrow,"

"Yeeeah no, not gonna wait that long. Let's have some fun right now, how about a game of tag?"

"Dash, I'm really not in the mood for…,"

"If you have time to be bummed, then use it for something fun! One of my cool mottos! In fact…," Rainbow Dash suddenly swooped forward and swiped Naruto's forehead protector since he's being rather dull to react "I'll be taking this!"

"Hey, give it back," Naruto demanded.

"Then you'll have to take it from me or is the big bad ninja too slack to take on this awesome pony?" Rainbow Dash challenged.

Something about the Pegasus's words caused something to twitch within Naruto as he activates his Chakra Wings and hovering in the air.

"I'll be take my forehead protector back…," said Naruto seriously.

Rainbow Dash grins, seeing the fire in Naruto's eyes "Oh yeah? Let's see you try," then she took off at highspeed with Naruto pursuing her.

Several ponies in Ponyville look up to see two blurs flying above in the sky with one trying multiple times to catch the other who doesn't plan on getting caught before resuming their individual activities. Rainbow Dash was certainly having fun with this game of keep away and Naruto couldn't deny that he was actually having fun right now as he now formulates a plan on catching his flying friend off guard.

Rainbow Dash looks to find no sight of Naruto and smirks "Looks like he couldn't keep up and lost me. Guess I'll be keeping this headband unti-,"

"Gotcha!"

Suddenly, something shot out from a nearby cloud and tackled Rainbow Dash, revealing to be Naruto who chose to hide in a cloud and waited for her to get close for a sneak attack as they're now spiraling downwards and ended up falling into a large heap of hay. Naruto and Rainbow Dash poked their heads out and looked at each other before breaking down into laughter at the amusement of it all.

"Well, this is one way to end our game!" said Naruto, trying and failing to rein in his laughter.

"You said it; reminds me of when we tried to create a new game called Sky Ball which is kind like football but Pegasus styled. We actually ended up splashing into the lake, was that something!" said Rainbow Dash who's still laughing.

"Boy, it really was something!"

"What in tarnation is going on!?" a voice suddenly called out, they turned to see Applejack who appears both flabbergasted and annoyed.

"Sorry about that, AJ. We kinda got carried away with our game," said Naruto sheepishly.

"Well your game caused a mess with our hay that we just gathered up,"

"No worries, we'll help you clean up,"

"By 'we', you actually mean you," Rainbow Dash flew out of the hay "I'll be heading off and keep the headband since you didn't exactly 'catch' me, see ya later!" she flew off before either Naruto or Applejack could say a word.

"She sure can be quick when she needs to…," Applejack commented with a deadpan expression "Ya gonna run off too?"

"No worries about that, I'll be staying back to help clean up the mess we made plus I get to hang out with you. Been having an off day today," said Naruto, figuring that he could always get his headband from Rainbow Dash later.

"In that case, I won't say no to some extra hooves since Big Mac is at the other side of the farm and Apple Bloom is still at school," Applejack cheered up, happy that Naruto is sticking around to help but is also mildly curious as to what could be making Naruto feel depressed.

"Alrighty then, let's start with the gathering of the hay,"

Naruto started by forming a pair of chakra arms projected from his back to weave through a short set of handsigns for a jutsu which conjures a mild mini tornado which gathers the scattered hay into one place before he and Applejack work together in tying it in several bundles before transporting them into the barn. Next up was apple bucking, Naruto was already hyped up from his game with Rainbow Dash which helps him harvest the apples much more quickly than usual.

"By the way, how are the Scarlet Apples coming along?" asked Naruto while he walks alongside Applejack through the farm.

"They're growing fine and dandy, the trees are already flowering so it's only a matter of time before they start bearing fruit. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie keep showing up to find out if they're ready yet since they really want to drink the cider and eat the baked goods of them," Applejack replied.

"Heh, I can imagine. But I think we need to be careful in case of somepony tries anything to get their hooves on the Scarlet Apples,"

"Ya got a point there, we might need to get some security later on,"

Naruto hummed thoughtfully "I could customize some seals for it and maybe Twilight could come up with something in addition, I'll ask her later,"

Applejack nods in affirmation "I'll leave that to you. By the way, have you visited the nymphs? Ptelea has been asking about ya,"

"Oh yeah, it's been a while since I last visited. I'd better resolve that, don't wanna upset her and the others,"

"Ya better do that,"

"Alright then, I'd better be on my way then,"

"Okay, but have some apples before you go,"

"Thanks AJ,"

Naruto ended up with a bushel of apples which he stores inside his medallion before leaving the farm while saying goodbye to Applejack and Big Mac before heading into town. He was greeting our ponies along the way when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey there, Naruto!"

Naruto turned and smiled upon seeing who it is "Hey Spike, what's my blazing dragon up to?"

"Doing the usual, got a lot of blank scrolls, quills and ink from the store for Twilight. Would have been a real pain to carry if not for the Storage Crystals you gave to me," Spike flicks at the medallion hung around his neck "It's a real lifesaver,"

"No problem, guess you're heading back to the library?" asked Naruto curiously.

Spike shrugs his shoulders in response "Pretty much yeah, what about you?"

"Hmmmm, I didn't really have a definite destination in mind. Hope you won't mind a tagalong to the library,"

"Not at all,"

"Alright then, hop on my back and we'll be on our way,"

Jumping on to Naruto's back, they made their way to the Ponyville Library and went inside to find Twilight Sparkle reordering the books in the shelf...for the fourth time today according to Spike. Naruto shakes his head in mild amusement since he's long since familiar with Twilight's quirk of being very organized with what she does that it sometimes clashes with his unpredictable nature but at times meshes well in the case that her plans don't go well then he steps in to turn things into their favor.

Looking away from her work, Twilight perked up and smiled upon seeing Naruto "Hello there, Naruto. Wasn't expecting to see you while I'm rearranging the books today,"

"Not for the first time either, you always rearrange the books more than twenty times in a month," Naruto pointed out.

"Well, it's necessary since I can't risk missing out any details for when certain critical information is needed in the future,"

"But I'm pretty sure that you've read each and every one of the books here at least a hundred times," thought Naruto with a sweatdrop.

"So, what brings you here besides escorting Spike and saying hello?" Twilight asks curiously.

"I figured that I could come over and hang out for a bit, plus there's something that I want to discuss with you,"

"Okay, just let me finish with the rearrangement then we can talk,"

After said rearrangement, Twilight took Naruto to the balcony and prepared tea with snacks for themselves while having the conversation.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" asked Twilight curiously.

"It was when I was at the Sweet Apple Acres with AJ…," Naruto went on to tell Twilight about the growth of the Scarlet Apple trees and concerns for the potential need for security in the case that someone might try to steal them in the future "…then I figured that I'd come and talk to you about it,"

Twilight hums thoughtfully "You certainly bring up a good point since not only at the Scarlet Apples both rare and valuable, there's also the gateway leading to the Nymphs' forest that we need to safeguard as well. I'll need to research on spells in order to protect the trees and the gateway,"

Naruto nods in response "Same here, I'll see about customizing special seals that would do the job,"

"I'll also send a letter to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about it," Twilight magically takes out her inked quill and blank scroll to start writing "By the way, what have you been up to?"

"Not much at first, I was feeling a bit down until Rainbow Dash found me and since then, I figured to hang around with you girls,"

Twilight became concerned when she heard that Naruto was feeling depressed since it's unusual of Naruto and it would take something serious to feel that way "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but I'm already starting to feel better," said Naruto assuredly "I can't reveal to them yet that I'm being sent to other worlds to help the heroes against evil, even my former world,"

"Okay, just know that I'm always here to listen to whatever you have to say,"

"Thanks Twilight, I really appreciate it,"

After discussing new spell concepts with Twilight, Naruto left the library and was back on the streets, wondering about his next destination before deciding to visit Fluttershy at her home. Forming Chakra Wings, Naruto took to the air and flew over to the timid yet gentle mare's home. He knocked on the door and didn't have to wait too long when it opened to reveal Fluttershy who smiles upon seeing him.

"Hello Naruto, what brings you here?" asked Fluttershy curiously, her cheeks tinged pink.

"Just thought it's been a while since I last visited you and the other animals," no sooner he said that, the very animals Naruto spoke of rush past Fluttershy and swarmed him from head to hoof "Hahahaha, take it easy! I know you miss me!"

"Please be gentle," Fluttershy tries to calm the excited animals.

"It's alright, Shy. I've already gotten used to this by now," Naruto assured her.

Going inside, Fluttershy went to prepare lunch for the animals with Naruto helping her even though she politely refused at first since he's her guest but gave in to his insistence. While they were pouring the food into the bowls and distributing them with Naruto making use of his Chakra Arms and magic, Fluttershy notices that some of the animals were sticking to the stallion longer than usual and suspected something.

"Naruto, are you doing okay?" asked Fluttershy with concern.

Naruto quirks an eyebrow in response "Hm, what makes you ask that?"

Fluttershy gestures to the small critters perched on his back and mane "It's the way that they're being around you more than usual. They seemed to have sensed that you're not in the best of moods and offering comfort,"

"Oh I see…," Naruto smiles at the critters gratefully "Thanks guys,"

"So, are you doing okay?" she asks again.

"I wasn't at first but I'm doing okay bit by bit, thanks for your concern,"

"Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help,"

Naruto grins "Of course, you know I will," Fluttershy smiles softly at his words, but then he got swarmed by the animals yet again much to the amusement of both ponies.

After feeding the animals, Naruto stuck around for a bit longer before taking his leave and deciding to visit Rarity at her boutique next. He went inside and found the fashionista hard at work, sewing up several ball gowns of varying colors and designs with pinpoint accuracy and speed. Knowing that she doesn't like being interrupted during her work, Naruto sat down and waited until she was finally done with the dresses before calling out to her.

"Hi there, Rare. I see you're busy as usual," Naruto greeted.

Rarity spun around to meet Naruto with a smile "Why hello, Naruto dear. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to visit me,"

"Sorry about that, got a lot on my mind and it took Rainbow Dash to snap me out of it. I figured to drop by and see how you're doing,"

"I'm quite fine as you can see, my dear. Just working on some requests by customers from Canterlot for an evening party, they'll be sending their butler to collect them in a few days," Rarity explains to the stallion.

"Seems like you're almost done before the deadline or is there something else to add?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

Rarity looked thought for a bit before coming up with an idea "Why of course, and I'll be needing your help!"

"What is it you need from me?"

Rarity goes over to a table and starts writing down on a piece of paper "I'd like for you to customize and mold some of your crystals to do this…,"

Naruto walks over to look at the sketches and notes with keen eyes, coming up with ideas based on the concept before giving an answer "I should be able to customize the crystal like you requested, I'll get started on it once I return to the shop,"

"How soon would you be able to complete them?"

"Definitely before the deadline, that's for sure," Naruto knows that it would take longer by himself but he intends to use his Shadow Clones to cut the duration of the process short, it also helps that the scrolls given to him by Jiraiya would be of great use to him.

"That's great to hear. By the way, would you have some free time in the next weekend?" asked Rarity albeit nervously.

Naruto tilts his head in mild confusion "Probably, since I don't have any plans by then. Why?"

"I was hoping to ask you to be my escort to Canterlot for a dinner party which I've been invited to," Rarity explains.

"Hmmm, it's been a while since I went to Canterlot. Sure, I can join you,"

Rarity beams at the positive response "That's great! Now come along so I can take measurements for your new tuxedo!"

"But I already have a tux?" said Naruto confusedly.

"No no no, my dear. You can't just be satisfied with on tuxedo. Every special event requires a special outfit; that's the rule I go by!" Rarity pointed out to Naruto before lifting him into the air with her magic to carry into one of the rooms for the measuring.

"I can walk on my own, you know?"

"I know…," Rarity responds with a playful smile, causing Naruto to roll his eyes albeit he's not all that bothered by this.

Later on, Naruto was back on the road after leaving the boutique "Let's see; I've hung out with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity. Which leaves…,"

"NARU!"

*WHAM*

"OW!"

Naruto suddenly found himself flying across the street after being slammed into by a pink blur in a full body tackle before rolling to a stop with the culprit right on top of him.

"Are those stars spinning around your head or are you glad to see me?" said the pony in a cheerful tone.

"I'd say a bit of both, Pinks. Kinda wish that you greeted me less painfully," said Naruto while looking up at the cheerful Pinkie Pie who got off and started hopping around him as if she hadn't tackled him earlier before.

"You know me, Naru. I gotta spread the smiles!" said Pinkie Pie as a matter-of-factly.

Naruto couldn't stop himself from smiling as he got back up from the ground "No denying that,"

"Hey hey, let's go and make something!"

"Uh why?"

"The bakery needs a new addition to the menu and I figured that we can work together to do that. Come on, it will be lots of fun!" said Pinkie Pie excitedly.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment "Well, I've still got time so I don't see why not!"

"Yay! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Pinkie Pie happily hops away in the direction of the bakery.

"Hey, wait up!" Naruto trotted after the excitable mare before she got too far from him.

The duo made it to the Sugarcube Corner and were soon looking at the giant cookbook, flipping through the pages in search of a new recipe to add to the menu which might take some time since some of the recipes are already on the menu.

"Hmmm, what to choose…normally I'd find a nice recipe within five minutes," said Pinkie Pie while looking at the cookbook with a small frown.

Naruto tries to calm her down "No need to rush, Pinks. I used to think the same way and it took several of my senseis and friends to learn that rushing would result in me missing something critical. So let's just take our time and we might find something good,"

"Okie dokie lokie!" said Pinkie Pie cheerfully.

They continue to flip through the pages before coming across the fruit juice section which gave Naruto some thought before speaking to the pink mare.

"Say Pinks, what kind of fruit juice do we already have on the menu?" he asked curiously.

"Oh oh we have orange juice, pineapple juice, mango juice, lemonade…," Pinkie Pie listed them off rapidly like a machine gun before finally stopping "…and that's all of them, why do you ask?"

"What we've been serving is something that could be seen as basic and common…," Naruto then pointed at a page "But we could combine some of these fruits and vegetables to make fruit cocktails that could be both tasty and healthy for others!"

Pinkie Pie's eyes sparkle with excitement "Oooooo, sounds like fun! Let's do it!"

"Alrighty then, let's get started!" Naruto looks at the cookbook while Pinkie Pie hops over to the refrigerator "Okay, here's the first one; we're need apples, carrot and tomato…,"

"Coming right up!" Pinkie Pie reaches inside and tosses out the ingredients with them landing perfectly into the bowls placed on the kitchen tables.

"Great, now to peel the apples and carrots before cutting them into smaller pieces," Naruto uses his chakra arms to pick up some knives and infuses the blades with wind chakra to sharpen them…can't say he wouldn't use this as a form of training for his wind Ninjutsu. He proceeds to quickly peel then slice the ingredients into smaller pieces before pouring into a large bowl filled with water "Now to blend them all together…,"

"How do we do that?" asked Pinkie Pie curiously.

Naruto smiles playfully as he forms a chakra arm which creates a smaller than usual Rasengan "Just like when I made the ramen, I'll be using the same method here," he positions the small Rasengan into the bowl and they watch as the ingredients are being blended together with great effectiveness given the nature of the jutsu while often adding in a few splashes of water in order to loosen the pulp until it was completely void of any chunks.

"Now then, let's get the cheesecloth and use it to separate the pulp from the juice," Naruto instructed.

"Coming right up!" Pinkie Pie soon returned with the cheesecloth.

Naruto uses his magic to pour the pulp into the cheesecloth then squeezes it tightly to pour the juice into a glass jar till it was almost filled to the brim.

"Perfect, let's get some ice cubes! Drinks are best served cold after all," said Naruto before Pinkie Pie was already placing two glasses with ice cubes inside on the table.

"One step ahead of ya!"

"Heh, that you are,"

Naruto pours the fruit cocktail into the glasses and they waited for a bit for them to chill before they each took a glass and drank a bit, the result was that it was incredibly tasty.

"Woowee, it tastes so good!" Pinkie Pie exclaims in amazement.

"You're telling me, this will definitely be a great seller for both adults and kids. There's more types of fruit mixes in the cookbook, let's try some of them out too," said Naruto.

"Yeah, let's!"

The two went on to try out more of the fruit mixes with each of them proving to be just as great as the first one. Pinkie Pie stores them in the fridge so that the Cakes could try them out and see if they would approve of them to be added into the menu.

"Okay Pinks, I'll need to be heading out and pick up Scootaloo from school," said Naruto, preparing to leave but finds himself being hugged by Pinkie Pie with her pressing her cheeks against his.

"Okie Dokie, be sure to say hi and come back soon!" said the party mare happily.

Naruto smiles in response as she stops hugging him albeit reluctantly "Sure thing, Pinks. Catch ya later!"

He took his leave and began making his way to the schoolhouse where he finds the Cutie Mark Crusaders waiting for him.

"Hey there, you three. Had a good time at school?" asked Naruto.

"We sure did, we even came up with new ways to get our Cutie Marks!" said Sweetie Belle excitedly.

"We just need to finalize our plans over at the clubhouse," Apple Bloom added.

"Can you take us home, big bro?" asked Scootaloo.

Naruto grins in response "It's why I'm here after all, hop on and I'll get you there lickety-split," he crouches slightly for the fillies to climb onto his back before activating his Chakra Wings in order to take to the air and fly back home.

Later that night, Luna appeared in Naruto's dreamscape which resembles Konoha during the night but she notices that there were a few dark clouds looming overhead and thunder echoes throughout the night sky. The Alicorn of the Night frowns at the sight of the dark clouds, knowing that such clouds resemble mild negative emotions and so needs to find Naruto in order to learn the cause of it.

She flies over to the top of Hokage Mountain since it's where she often finds him, but he wasn't there this time "That's strange, he's usually here. I wonder where he went, I'd better go look for him,"

Luna checked Naruto's favorite places which he had shown her whenever she visited his dreamscape but said person wasn't at any of those places either, confusing the princess even more. But there is one place that she hasn't checked yet…

Naruto stands before three large wooden trunks, lost in the memories of his past where everything was fine the way they were before it all went downhill, he was at the training grounds where he, Sakura and Sasuke officially formed Team 7 by Kakashi. He heard the sound of wings flapping and figured who it is that arrived.

"Hello Luna-chan, it's been a while," said Naruto without looking back, his eyes fixed on the wooden post.

"Indeed it has…," Luna looked up at the dark clouds hovering above them "…but it seems that you have a lot on your mind,"

"I guess it's obvious with the dark clouds and that you didn't find me at the usual spots,"

Luna walked over to stand next to him "If you don't mind, could you tell me about it?"

"You and Celestia are the only ones in the meantime I can talk to about this, it all started when I went to my old world…,"

Naruto went on to tell Luna about how he aided the Hidden Leaf village when it was attacked by the Sky Ninjas, his battles against the Zero Tails and the evil Dr. Shinnou, the destruction of the flying fortress, and finally his confrontation with Sasuke.

"After all these years, I thought he would have calmed down and realized that I stopped him from making a serious mistake, but he rather blames me for getting in the way is even willing to sacrifice anything even if it includes for the sake of revenge…disregarding everything we went through as Team 7," Naruto chuckled bitterly.

"Oh Naruto…,"

Luna felt her heart go out for him, she couldn't help but find the relationship between Naruto to be similar to Celestia and hers. Luna was at first content but then began feeling envious of how ponies seemed to gravitate more towards Celestia and less towards her with the feelings of jealousy growing stronger as time went until she couldn't take it anymore and became the persona Nightmare Moon which forced her own sister to seal her away no matter how much she didn't want to do so. That's why after being freed from the darkness, Luna didn't want such a thing to repeat itself but thankfully ponies like Naruto and others were there for her and she truly values them for they accept her as herself and they proved that greatly during the nightmare incident. And that's why she feels like her heart hurts when she sees Naruto who always lights up her day feeling this way.

Naruto suddenly found himself being hugged by Luna with both her front legs and wings, blanketing him with her warmth much to his surprise.

"L-Luna-chan…?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"It's okay, you don't need to say anything,"

"But…,"

"It's okay…,"

"Lu-,"

"It's okay," Luna insisted, hugging him tightly "Let's just sit here, just like this. No talking…just us hugging it out,"

"…okay," Naruto finally allowed himself to be silent and let Luna hug him. Come to think of it, he had never been hugged for this long. He closes his eyes in growing contentment, gradually coming to terms with how things are.

Luna looks up and smiles softly, seeing that some of the dark clouds dissipate with a few still remaining but is confident that they will eventually fade away as well in due time. She's still learning how to be a proper princess for Equestria but is determined to always be there for her friends no matter what.

Unbeknownst to the two, a pair of eyes were gazing at them from within the shadows of the trees nearby. The unknown figure leers at Naruto with eyes crinkled with glee before disappearing with intentions unknown but it's clear that it would benefit Naruto at all, just a matter of time before revealing itself to him.