Chapter 2

Twilight's Heart

"Twilight how could you say that about me?" Naruto asked feeling greatly hurt.

"I saw you with Rarity don't you lie to me Naruto!" Twilight was obviously angry with him as her words were greatly filled with anger. Tears were running down her face as the harsh reality that she had lost someone very near and dear to her had been taken by one of her friends.

"Twilight I was never with Rarity. Why would I be and what did you see that has you so angry?" Naruto was so confused by Twilight's words that he found himself getting angry with Twilight.

"Shut up!" Naruto was taken aback, "I saw you kiss her. You said that the only reason you said you liked me was to make her jealous of me and come at you more! You used me Naruto how could you do that to me?" Twilight smacked Naruto with her front right hoof.

Naruto held his hoof to his face. "I wasn't with Rarity I don't even like her like that!" Naruto looked like he was about to do something drastic. He did as he dove at Twilight knocking her on her back with Naruto standing over her. "The only pony that I like is you Twilight!"

Twilight's eyes grew wide when she heard those words come from his mouth. Her heart raced a thousand miles an hour. "What?" Her voice was softer now as Naruto got off of her. "What do you mean Naruto?"

"I like you Twilight I have since you kissed me. Before I was just happy to call you a friend. I never knew how you felt until I started to feel it too. Actually I don't like you! I'm in love with you Twilight Sparkle!" Naruto flew at Twilight and their lips met each other.

Twilight's eyes grew wide but soon began to close as they started to get closer to each other deepening the kiss that Naruto had started. Twilight couldn't believe what was happening right now. She had wanted him to say it for so long but she was wishing that she hadn't said such things about him. She recalled everything she said about him and tore her lips away from him. "No I can't have your kiss Naruto not after everything I said to you."

"Twilight listen to me," Naruto slowly turned Twilight's head to look at him. "You said those things because of what you saw, you were so hurt and if I saw that from you I would have done the same thing. I don't want you not wanting us to be together because of something stupid like that. I want to be with you, besides I like that softer side of you." Twilight looked into his eyes, "I like when you show your emotions to me. I want you to do it more. I want to be the first who gets to see you smile, I want to be the first thought you have when you get out of bed. I want to have a family with you. More than anything I want to spend the rest of my life with you Twilight! I can't stand being apart from you. Just like you feel the same about me. So I will ask you right now," Naruto knelt in front of Twilight as she gasped in shock at what Naruto was about to do, at least what she hoped he was going to do. "Twilight Sparkle will you marry me?"

Twilight's eyes grew wide and her mouth became the largest smile she had ever shown. "Yes of course I'll marry you Naruto!"

Twilight shot out from her bed the covers flying off onto Spike's small bed. She found herself breathing heavily. She began wondering why she had dreamt up such a fantasy about Naruto. Why did her fantasy, though, feel more than that, she wondered. She flew out of bed and went to a mirror to find herself blushing greatly.

"Twilight what's wrong with you this morning?" Spike asked crawling out from under the covers. "You look like you've just seen death."

"I just awoke from having a dream where Naruto confessed his feelings for me. It felt like it was actually happening in my head as though it was real. I don't get why it felt that way do you have any ideas Spike?" Twilight spoke rather fast and all Spike got was feelings for Naruto.

"Well if you're thinking about him that much, I think you should ask him if he likes you." Spike said as Twilight's face lit up with red anger and embarrassment. "Twilight why else would you dream of him doing that and why would he want to be with Rarity, she's my girl after all."

"Spike I don't think that Rarity is your girl." Twilight sighed wanting to get that off her chest. Then she got back to matter at hand. "I don't like Naruto how many times do I have to say it to you stubborn ponies and dragons!"

"You don't have to yell Twilight for one because that is likely to wake Naruto." Spike said trying to get her to calm down a little. He then got an interesting idea. "Twilight what do you think of Naruto?"

"What?" Twilight was slightly confused as she backed away in surprise of the question.

"You know do you think he's cool, funny, smart, nice, you know what do think of Naruto?" Spike explained a little vague but at least it was to where he knew Twilight would understand.

"You want to know what I think of Naruto then I'll tell you what I think about Naruto." Twilight was angry and she felt like she could finally take it out.

...

Naruto woke up to the sounds of the birds chirping outside his room. He jumps out of the bed and takes a deep breath of fresh air that made him feel euphoric. He walked out of the room and looked to see that he was the only one up at the moment even in the house.

Naruto decides that he'll go wake up Twilight because he didn't want her to oversleep or anything. He walked up the stairs with a smile knowing that Twilight was a great friend to have and that he wouldn't have wanted to be saved by anyone else. "Naruto is nothing but a problem!" Naruto heard Twilight's voice and felt something in his chest break. He slowly crept up to the door and put his ear up to it.

"Naruto can't be trusted, he could be evil or a robber for all I know. How am I supposed to trust someone like that? If someone were to ask if he was my friend I would say no, there's no way I would ever be his friend." Naruto pulled away from the door but not before Twilight said something that hurt him greatly. "I wish I had never saved him. I wish I had just left him to die."

Naruto didn't want to believe what he heard but he couldn't get the words out of his head. Twilight didn't think of him as a friend at all so then everything she had done for him was for her own benefit and not for him. He couldn't stand being in the house anymore. He quietly went down the stairs and left Twilight's home. He had never felt such rage before or at least he couldn't remember the last time he was this angry. He ran as fast as he could to his home.

Naruto felt like such an idiot to have trusted someone like Twilight who had just stabbed him in the back. He wanted to leave but he didn't know where to go but he did have his home outside Ponyville where he currently ran. He rushed into his home slamming the door behind him. He didn't want to see anyone especially Twilight. Maybe her friends were the same but then again they didn't say such things about him but they might have behind his back he didn't know and that only led to his anger growing stronger inside.

He felt this sharp pain in his side but he couldn't care less about it because he knew that Twilight was the cause. Little did he know that a darkness was changing him. A demonic presence was beginning to turn him. Not evil but Naruto felt like nothing was happening except that his power was growing. Naruto had changed outside but not inside.

….

"Is that what you really think of Naruto Twilight?" Spike said a little shocked by the harshness in Twilight's words.

"No I'm not that cynical Spike. I just wanted to say what I thought someone might say about him if they had just met him and he did something bad." (Oh man did Twilight ever pick the wrong time to do that.) Spike nodded his head at Twilight. He then made a gesture as if to say 'come on, lets here what you have to say about Naruto.' "I think he's a little different from the other ponies we know. I don't think he's a bad pony and I think he's a great guy but whenever I look at him I get this gut wrenching feeling like if I don't get closer to him that my inner body is going to explode. His eyes are nice and he….." Twilight stopped talking as she got lost in thought.

She didn't understand why she was always like that when she thought of Naruto but she did. "Spike I don't like him alright." For some reason it hurt Twilight to say those words. She couldn't get Naruto's image out of her head. She remembered how he had saved Applejack and began wishing that she had been the one in trouble. Twilight quickly gasped as her face was red with embarrassment. "No, no, I can't be thinking of things like that, not today. Princess Celestia's coming to town today and I need to help get everything ready for her." Twilight was just making excuses for herself not to think of Naruto.

When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs she noticed that Naruto's door was open slightly. She walked over and looked inside and found the room to be empty. "Naruto?" She whispered thinking that he might still be in the room. She turned on the light and found that the room was completely empty. She left the room confused and then began to search the house for Naruto. After ten minutes of searching she hadn't found him. By this time she was screaming his name. "Naruto where are you?!" She was acting like Pinky Pie at this moment, looking in the most ridiculous of places.

Spike watched in confusion as his friend stormed through the house looking for someone she didn't "like". "Twilight." He didn't reach her. "Twilight." She was still frantically looking for Naruto as though her life depended on it. "TWILIGHT!"

Twilight flew up at Spike's roar. Her head hit the ceiling causing the lights and bookshelves to rattle slightly. "Spike what is it? Can't you see that I'm looking for Naruto?" Twilight asked not realizing what she had said.

"So you do like him because you were acting like Pinky Pie when you were in the kitchen and living room." Twilight blushed heavily from her words because she had just reacted without thinking. She began to realize how she had acted and how worried she was. She had thought that something terrible had happened to him and she was ready to lose it on whoever hurt him. "Twilight did you forget that he has a house right outside of Ponyville or were you preoccupied in finding where your love was?"

Twilight used her magic and sent Spike right into a wall, well actually through a wall. She stormed out of the house heading right for Naruto's home. "How could he just up and leave like that? Why would he make me worry so much? Wait, come on Twilight snap out of it he doesn't mean that much to you!" Twilight couldn't help herself and she screamed in the middle of Ponyville causing the entire crowd that was there to look at her. She didn't really care that they were all looking at her because she was dead set on getting to Naruto and getting some answers.

Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity all saw Twilight scream and storm off and looked at each other with worry. "Girls I think we need to follow Twilight. The way she just screamed has me slightly on the fence with everything being okay." Applejack said practically stating the obvious.

"I agree we need to see what is wrong with our friend. I don't believe I've ever seen dear Twilight so angry before. It does trouble the mind." Rarity spoke with concern in her voice.

"I don't think we should girls." Fluttershy spoke up, well whispered really but the other two heard her well.

"Fluttershy what do ya mean we gotta go make sure nothin' bad happens to Twilight." Applejack stated almost dropping Fluttershy's comment.

"I don't think we should be getting involved because she looked rather mad when she screamed. I think that she's just going to go blow off some steam. Or maybe she's going to see Naruto." Fluttershy just didn't want to be sneaking on her friend really. She didn't want the trust they had to be lost.

"I understand what you mean dear but if it does have anything to do with Naruto we should check it out." Rarity spoke like a worrisome mother. "I remember seeing Naruto stay at Twilight's house last night. He went in during the big storm we had and never left the house. They may have had a fight. I want to know if both of my friends are alright."

"Well so do I but isn't this their problem to deal with?" Fluttershy asked sounding awfully strange. "I'm sorry for sounding this way but what if they like each other and he left her, wouldn't that make anyone mad?"

"If they like each other than that just makes me want to go see what's up even more." Rarity had this twinkle in her eye that made Applejack and Fluttershy worried for a second. "We also don't want what happened last week to happen again do we?"

"You have a point there Rarity. No point in risking her safety especially when she almost lost her life going out of Ponyville." Applejack said agreeing with Rarity.

"Well if you put it that way then I can understand why we need to go watch what happens. Let's go then friends." Fluttershy unveiled her wings and flew above them as the three headed in the direction that Twilight had headed in.

Twilight arrived at Naruto's house rather fast but then again she was in an enraged state and just about anyone could move this fast when they're that ticked off. She walked up to the door and knocked on it rather roughly. "Naruto! Get out here now! I need to talk to you!" Twilight really wanted to know why he had left her house without telling her and she was also angry about being put into such a frantic fit.

The door opened slightly and Twilight began to talk. "It's about time Naruto what was the big idea making me worry about you like that?

"Leave now." Naruto sounded like he was depressed and angry at the same time. Twilight looked at the small opening with confusion stumped by what could be wrong with him. "I have nothing to say to somepony like you." At that the door slammed knocking Twilight back into the ground.

"Twilight!" Her three friends came running up as they saw their friend fly through the air. "What happened just now?"

"Naruto, what does he mean by that? What did he mean by someone like me?" Twilight wasn't even listening to her friends who were worried like crazy about her.

"Let's get her back to her place girls now!" Applejack said with worry.

"Yes but how are we going to do that?" Rarity asked not knowing what to do.

"Discord, honey, if you can hear me, please come to me I need your help?" Fluttershy flew in the air holding her hands over her heart. Her words were carried on the winds of Equestria as they went to the dragon that she loved more than anything.

"Discord? Honey?!" Applejack and Rarity were baffled they would have never thought that those two would become a couple.

A big blast of light appeared and the dragon with the legs of a deer and alligator, the arms of a lion and eagle, the horn of a unicorn and elk, wings of a bat and bird appeared before them all. "What's the problem my sweet Fluttershy is everything well?" Discord asked holding onto Fluttershy's front hooves in a loving manner. He then looked down seeing Twilight. "Oh my, Fluttershy what appears to have happened to Twilight?"

"We don't know my sweetheart but we need help getting her back to her place. Please help us for me." Her eyes turned into puppy like begging eyes and Discord only laughed.

"My love you need not do such dramatics I would happily give my life for you. You gave me a second chance at life and first for love I could not ever repay you but I promised on the day I asked if you would become my girl that I would never leave your side. Now okay, I am still working on my light magic so here goes." He snapped his fingers and teleported everyone back to Twilight's house, except now Rarity and Applejack shared the same body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" They both cried out as Fluttershy looked at Discord slightly displeased that this might have been another one of his tricks on the girls because they still didn't trust him. "Discord, what the heck is this for?"

"I'm terribly sorry for that." He snapped his fingers and the two ponies separated to their respected bodies. "I'm still working on that whole transporting others together thing."

"Oh Discord it's alright." Fluttershy flew over to his cheek and gave it a kiss. Rarity's and Applejack's mouths dropped. Discords tail shot up becoming straight and his cheeks grew red. "Girls we need to snap Twilight out of this." Fluttershy flew back down to her and began to slap Twilight's face back and forth.

When she stopped Twilight's cheeks were puffed up and red. Twilight shook her head and they returned to normal. "Girls, where…what happened, and when did I get back to my house?" Twilight was confused because she knew that she was at Naruto's place no more than three seconds ago. She looked around and immediately discovered Discord within her home. "Oh now I see how I got back home." She suddenly remembered what Naruto had said to her and she felt another tug at her chest.

"Twilight what happened over at Naruto's?" Applejack asked feeling like she Twilight needed to do some explaining.

"Yes dearie what exactly did happen? We followed you and then all of a sudden you fell to the floor and dirtied up your lovely mane." Rarity said putting in the horrors of getting dirty yet again.

"Girls what does a stallion mean when he says someone like you?" Twilight asked.

"Well Twilight it would depend on how the guy asked it. So how did Naruto exactly say that little piece?" Applejack wasn't going to let Twilight confuse her and wanted to help her. Sure she may never have had a coltfriend but she thought that she might be able to help with her sorrows.

"He said he had nothing to say to somepony like me." Twilight said looking down at the floor. "What does that mean anyway? I have no idea and it hurt so much when he said it. Why did it hurt?"

"Because you're in love with him Twilight." Twilight looked at Fluttershy who looked at Discord with love in her eyes. "I didn't believe what I felt at first but as it kept coming to me Twilight I began to realize that I was in love with Discord and now we're a couple. Maybe you need to accept what's in your heart just as I had to."

Twilight couldn't believe that she was getting love advice from Fluttershy. "I don't feel that way about Naruto!" She screamed and her eyes grew wide as when she had said the words her heart felt like it fell from her body. "Could I really be in love with him?" She whispered to herself.

"Oh look there's Naruto now." Rarity said which caused Twilight to shoot her face up and look out of the window. She didn't see him and then went to the door opening without hesitation. She didn't see him. She looked back to Rarity who just shook her head. "You're in love dear."

"Why, how is this even possible?" Twilight wanted so much to say that this was impossible but she couldn't deny her actions or the pain she felt in her chest. "Girls I don't understand how this could happen? Why has this happened to me? Why now?"

"Twilight, love works in strange ways that I never predicted. Neither Discord or myself saw us becoming one but we did." Everyone but Discord looked at the two of them as their mouths dropped. (I'm going to leave that to the imagination because who knows what I mean).

"Okay then," Rarity decided it was time to get back to the matter at hand, "Twilight what you need to do is make up with Naruto. Go to him Twilight he's probably as upset as you are right now. What does your heart say to you right now?"

"It's telling, screaming at me to go to him. No matter how much I want to deny it I fell in love with a pony in a day! I'm going to him now!" Twilight didn't leave the girls a second to say good luck because she darted out of her home. She ran as fast as she could with her friends following her unable to match her speed. She arrived at the front door to Naruto's home. "Naruto! I need to talk to you."

"I thought I told you I don't have anything to say to somepony like you?" Naruto was back to being mean as he was when Twilight first came.

"Please Naruto let me talk to you please." Twilight was begging him to open the door and talk to her.

"I don't want to talk with you." Naruto now wanted her gone. Twilight gasped, she never begged for anything, almost anything. "I don't want to talk, hum, see you. You are nothing but an eye sore. You should go back to your home and get back to studying. That's all your good for. You will never be my friend do you hear me? I will never talk to a horrible pony like you!" Twilight's eyes filled with tears and Naruto heard Twilight begin to cry. Twilight ran off her heart now shattered from the first stallion she ever had feelings for.

The girls watching all watched horrified as Twilight ran straight for the Ever Free Forest. Applejack wasn't upset she was furious. She ran at Naruto's house with all her might and rammed the door down. "Naruto!" She looked into the house and found him standing no more than ten feet away from her but his coloring was different. His coat was a dark red with black lines that started from his eyes, his red swirl cutie mark had turned into a strange circle that looked somewhat like a seal. His eyes were red with anger. "Naruto?"

"What was that for Applejack?" Naruto asked feeling irritated that his new house's door had been taken down. "Listen if you're here about Twilight there's nothing to say to her and there's nothing to say to you then."

"Oh yes there is!" Applejack snapped out of Naruto's sudden change of color. She got into his face and had a lot to say to him. "You made Twilight cry do you know that?" Naruto's eyes widened when he heard this. He just didn't want to be hurt again, he didn't think Twilight was one to be hurt by words. "You have no idea what you mean to her you idiot. That girl is…."

"Worried about you!" Rarity dragged Applejack away from Naruto. "We can't tell him how she feels that has to be done by Twilight herself. "Naruto what did you do to Twilight? Why would you make her cry?"

"She doesn't deserve to be hurt that much. I didn't mean to make her cry. I just wanted her to leave is all, but why would she cry? " Naruto was confused by Twilight's reaction to his words.

"Maybe that's because Twilight sees you as a special friend dearie." Naruto looked at Rarity with stern eyes.

"That can't be true." Naruto remembered what Twilight said this morning. "She thinks of me as some criminal not a friend she even said that she couldn't trust me. A real friend wouldn't say something like that."

"They would if her friends constantly continued pestering her about liking you." Naruto looked over to his door and saw Spike standing there with Discord. "Naruto all of us minus Discord have been poking at Twilight saying that she liked you and she was becoming angry with it. I asked what she thought about you, but for some reason she told me how someone else would see you before she told me how she really saw you."

Naruto looked at Spike and began to think what if he had tried to listen for a little longer? "How did Twilight see me Spike? How does she see me?" Naruto wanted to be sure Spike was right before he acted because he knew that he had hurt Twilight pretty bad and would need to explain himself.

"She thinks you're a great guy Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened when he heard that. She thought he was great. "She trusts you more than I think she trusts the girls here for some reason. From what I've seen she really likes you Naruto."

"What, s-she likes me?" Naruto asked shocked by that last statement most of all. Rarity and Fluttershy both pounced on top of him which made a squeaking sound.

"Yes Naruto and you have personally hurt her." Naruto felt anger rise within him. How could he have been so stupid? "Now she's in the middle of the Ever Free Forest the most dangerous area of all Ponyville! Not to mention that last week she was practically torn apart by timberwolves."

"Which way is the Ever Free Forest?" Naruto asked needing to get to her as quickly as possible. Applejack just turned her head to him which wasn't smart. He slammed his front hooves down and shook the entire house, "Where is the Ever Free Forest I don't have time for this!" Naruto wasn't playing around anymore he was getting serious. For the first time ever, in my opinion.

"The forest, that's on the right side of your house." Spike said pointing in the direction of the forest.

Naruto didn't wait for the girls, he flew out of the house and headed right for the Ever Free Forest. He was so angry with himself that he couldn't believe what he had done. He had to make it up with her, that was all he could think about. He ran into the forest not caring what awaited him. He suddenly heard a scream come from just up ahead. "Twilight!" Naruto ran even faster and came to an opening and saw Twilight surrounded by at least twelve timberwolves.

"Hey bark breath!" Naruto shouted getting all the timberwolves attention even Twilight's. "Come on I'm a lot more tasty than her bring it on!"

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. The guy who had, five minutes ago, broken her heart was now here to save her. Naruto went at each timberwolf smashing their bodies to bits and their pieces to bits. Some darted away from the group that was attacking Naruto and went for Twilight. Naruto saw this and jumped over the ones attacking him and landed in front of Twilight. The wolves all looked at him with anger but also fear as he sent the pack leader flying back into a tree with just a simple light punch from his front left hoof. Twilight couldn't believe Naruto's power. He looked like he wasn't even trying to beat the wolves. Truth is he wasn't, he was only trying to keep them away from Twilight.

The rest of the wolves saw their leader form back together and run for his life. They pursued their leader leaving Naruto and Twilight alone. Naruto breathed then because he hadn't fought like that in a while. "Thank you Naruto." Naruto turned to a depressed looking Twilight who still had tears coming out of her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Twilight. I'm a complete idiot!" Twilight looked at Naruto with confusion. She began wondering where this had come from. "Spike and your friends told me everything that happened last night."

Twilight blushed heavily, did he possibly know everything? Twilight thought that her feelings were out. How could she have been so cruel to her friends? They were only trying to help her and she just pushed them away. "Naruto, how much did they tell you?"

"Practically everything." Naruto picked his head up to look into her sparkling purple eyes. "They told me what the conversation between you and Spike was about. I was an idiot to think that you wouldn't see me as a friend. You wouldn't have let me stay the night if you didn't view me as a friend." Naruto kept apologizing and apologizing.

"Naruto it's not your fault." Twilight said wiping her cheeks and nose. "It's my fault for even saying those things about you. I never should have said them. Especially with the way I feel about you."

Naruto looked up at that point. Twilight suddenly realized what she had said and took a step back her cheeks having gone completely red with fear and embarrassment. "Twilight is it true," Naruto began to ask the question that Twilight feared would one day be asked just not one day after meeting the guy, "is it true that you like me? I won't be mad if you say no but I need to know the damage that my words caused."

Twilight began to wonder why he needed to know the volume of hurt that his words caused. Why would he even need to know? Twilight kept asking herself these things over and over until she decided to tell him how much he had hurt her. "You want to know how badly you hurt me is that correct?" Twilight asked getting a nod in response. "You really hurt me then Naruto. I haven't ever felt such pain before. I was telling myself over and over again that I couldn't possibly like you because we had just met but I did and do still. I was happy when that storm hit and you were forced to stay at my house. But with everyone saying that I liked you I just couldn't bring myself to admit it. How could I when everything I do I try to base off of logic. So I kept telling myself that I couldn't like you, but the more I said it the more it stung in my heart. The more I wanted to be with you. I even thought of sneaking into your room, but then I didn't want to make you think I was a freak. I wanted you to like me before I decided, but it seems that my feelings were decided the moment I met you."

Naruto kept feeling worse and worse only making his anger grow and grow. How could he have said those things to her? He asked himself feeling the sting in his chest. Then he began to think, do I like her? "Naruto I don't know why it hurt me so much, but all that I can think of is that I'm…I'm…" Naruto looked up at her as he saw more tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm…"

"Twilight you don't have to say it if you're not ready to." Twilight looked at him now as he walked closer to her. She turned away but that didn't stop his approach. He got up to her side and put his hoof around her bringing her into a hug. "I can't tell you how sorry I am Twilight. All I can say is that I will never do it again. I swear it upon my name and my life, I will never hurt you like that again."

"Naruto," She pushed off of him to look into his eyes. His eyes were sincere and they showed his promise within them. "Naruto!" She threw her face into his chest as he stroked her mane as she let more tears fall from her eyes.

Naruto couldn't believe how much he had hurt her and how much she cried about his hurt. "Twilight," Naruto embraced her even tighter, "I won't let you feel that way ever again." Twilight looked back up to his eyes to see that he was also crying. "I don't know how I feel right now but I know that I care about you. You helped me when no one would have. I can never repay you for that but I promise if you want I'll never leave your side."

"I know now that I do like you Naruto but I don't want to be hasty about it either. I want you to have that same feeling, and have a true feeling. Not a feeling that you made up to make me happy." Twilight although she had been with him this entire time had just now noticed his change in color. "Also what happened to you? How did you change color like that?"

"I don't know really." Naruto wiped his eyes clean as he thought about what made him change his color. "I think it has something to do with my anger and my emotions. All I remember, before you came to my door, was that you didn't trust me. That possibly no one trusted me and I hated that fact and wanted to bash something in but I couldn't. I guess something inside me woke up and is now showing what happens when I get really angry."

"I don't care how you look. To me everything you are is important." Twilight pulled herself even closer to him. Naruto liked having Twilight this close to him. He enjoyed the warmth that his heart gave off when she was near him now. He didn't want it to leave but he knew that sooner or later he would have to get up and lead the way out of here.

"Twilight we need to get going alright? We don't need the girls worrying about you." Naruto smiled as he let her go and stood up. "Come on let's get out of here together and I'll make sure nothing hurts you."

"Okay." Twilight said standing up. She didn't want to leave now, not when she felt so close to him. She followed him the way he came in but at a slower pace because he jumped over a lot of things to get to her.

Suddenly Naruto heard something come from their left and pushed Twilight to the ground as twelve thorns lodged into his side. He cried out as each one sent fire through its wound. Naruto got angry at whoever it was as the attack was originally meant for Twilight. He jumped into the thick forestry to see a strange beast with a tail covered in thorns. The beast had the body of a snake but the torso of an eagle, for some strange reason. Naruto roared out not wasting any time on this creature. He tore his knee into the beast's gut sending it flying over the forest to who knows where.

Naruto quickly got back to Twilight worried that she still might have been hit by those thorns. He got to her but immediately felt weak from the thorns still lodged in his side. He found her standing there where he had left her looking scared out of her mind. She saw him and immediately flew at him wrapping her front hooves around him. He put his front left hoof around her to tell her that he was okay. Twilight let go and looked at his side to see the thorns sticking out of them. "Oh my gosh are you okay!?" Twilight asked worried.

"I'm fine but could you get them out please." Naruto said feeling weaker by the second. Twilight nodded her head and used her magic taking them all out of his side at once. The pain was enormous but his powers seemed to dull the pain a bit. "Thank you Twilight." Naruto vision began to get a little off. "Now let's get out of here."

Naruto took lead again but soon found himself slowing down. "Twilight, why don't you, take the lead for a little bit. That monster really took a lot out of me." Naruto lied not wanting to worry the girl he had just gotten back to liking him, but he couldn't help but breath heavily.

"Naruto are you sure you're alright?" Twilight asked getting worried about Naruto. He was fine just a couple minutes ago, even when he had those thorns in him. She really hoped he was okay.

"I'm fine Twilight don't you worry about me, just a little winded is all." Naruto said trying to make her not care so much. Dude that is never going to happen, girls have an innate sense that makes them care about the one they really like. Basically it's not going to happen.

Naruto's powers slowly started to fade as they continued walking out of the Ever Free Forest. Naruto looked at himself and saw his original cutie mark there on his flank. His coat was turning back to normal as well and his strength was quickly declining. He soon found his vision blurry and he could barely see Twilight. Then the edges of his eyes became dark as he fell to the floor. Then everything went dark as the last thing he heard was the sound of Twilight's voice screaming his name.