Reading Chapter 4: Awakening from the Dreamless Sleep
"I wanna read the next one." Rainbow Dash said taking the book from Pinkie Pie.
"Don't leave any good parts out!" Pinkie Pie smiled.
"Don't worry." Rainbow Dash grinned before she starting to read. "Chapter 4: Awakening from the Dreamless Sleep"
"Where am I?" thought Naruto as he looked around, he was walking on top of clouds in the sky on a starry night. "I better take a look around." As he walked through the clouds, Naruto heard somepony crying and headed to the source. When he reached there, Naruto saw pony sitting alone crying to herself. She is an Alicorn with a coat of dark blue and brilliant blue mane and tail with mark of a crescent moon with a dark purple background on her flank and chest.
"He meets me?" Luna said surprised.
"It would appear so, sister." Celestia said.
"So this is an Alicorn, the combination of all three types" thought Naruto as he approached the mare. "Hello there, why are you crying?" the mare turned to look at the blond stallion in surprise.
"W-who are you and how did you get here?" asked the mare.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I don't know how I got here, by the way what is your name?" said Naruto with a gentle smile, making the mare relax a little.
"My name is Luna" said the mare smiling slightly. Upon hearing the, Naruto was surprised at meeting one of the royal princesses of Equestria.
"You're Princess Luna!? What are you doing here? Asked Naruto, Luna began to cry again.
"I am imprisoned here with no way of escape" said Luna amidst tears, Naruto immediately comforted her in order to stop her crying.
"Please stop crying" said Naruto using his tail to wipe her tears which felt soft to the touch and calmed her down. "Who is it that is keeping you prisoner here?"
"That would be me" said a voice. Naruto turned to look at a plume of purple mist which slowly took the shape of an Alicorn. It smiled evilly at Luna who quivered in fear. "I need her for power to fulfill my goals."
"Nightmare Moon." Twilight frowned.
"I don't know what your goals are but I am not letting you harm her" said Naruto standing in front of Luna to protect her. "Its beings like you that I detest the most"
"You foal! You dare stand in my way of conquest!?" it growled before launching a beam of magic at Naruto who leapt into the air to avoid the attack but was unprepared for the second attack which slammed into him and sent him flying off the clouds to falling to the ground below.
"NARUTO!" Luna cried out for him.
"Oh no!" Everyone shouted with worry.
Naruto woke from his bed with a start, "What kind of dream was that? It felt so real like I actually met the princess" thought Naruto wiping the sweat from his face with his tail. *Everyone sighed in relief* Naruto looked out the window to see that the sun had risen, signifying the day of the Summer Sun Celebration has arrived. "I'll think about it later. I'd better go to Mayor Mare to see if she has any tasks for me to perform" he thought before putting on his headband and leaving the library.
Along the way, Naruto met up with Ao and continued onto the Mayor's office while greeting the residents along the way.
"Aww, he's got Ao with him." Fluttershy cooed.
"Good morning Mayor Mare, I came to see if you have any job for me to do?" said Naruto with a smile.
"Oh good morning Naruto, as a matter of fact I do have a job for you. I just received a message from the royal castle that their representative will be coming to supervise and I was hoping that you would serve as an escort for her through the town" said Mayor Mare with a smile.
"Sounds like Naruto will get to meet you guys, Twilight and Spike." Applejack grinned.
"Guess so." Spike nodded.
"Of course I will do it, I will get the job done believe it" said Naruto with a foxy grin to which Ao rolled her eyes at his verbal tic.
"Oooh! He has a verbal tic!" Pinkie Pie squealed.
"And it's a cute one." Rarity smiled.
"Yeah, he kind of inherited it from his mother." D-nasty smiled.
"Thank you Naruto, you'll meet the mare at the front of the library" said Mayor Mare. Naruto nodded in affirmation before trotting towards the library.
As he headed for the meeting place, Naruto saw a golden chariot being pulled by two Pegasus in armor flying in the air before landing in front of the library. He was about to approach when he felt somepony run past sending him into a spin, when he recovered he saw that it was Pinkie pie who run past and is currently bombarding the guests with questions and trotted to them while laughing to himself and Ao looking on in amusement. As he drew close, Pinkie pie took off in a cloud of dust which he knew was going to plan a party for the mare since he has been around her for a while now.
He took a closer look and saw that it was unicorn with a coat of purple and a dark blue with a violet streak mane and tail, she has a mark of a star pattern. The other is a purple lizard that stands on two feet with green spikes running from its head to the tail.
"There's me." Twilight smiled.
"Sorry about that, Pinkie pie always gets excited when she meets a new pony since I was the recent, my name is Naruto Uzumaki by the way and this is my friend Ao the blue jay, I have been sent by the Mayor to serve as your escort" said Naruto while using his tail to point at Ao who is sitting on his head.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my assistant Spike. No worries, I just wasn't expecting that kind of reception. Mr. Uzumaki is it? Could you direct me to the library, I have some urgent business there" said the mare. Naruto frowned slightly at her attitude.
"This mare reminds me of Sasuke with that high and mighty attitude, it's almost like she doesn't have any life experiences and is more on theory, and I'll need to find a way to tone her down a bit" thought Naruto.
"Sasuke? Isn't that the name of the guy that killed Naruto in his world?" Luna asked.
"Yeah, Sasuke was from a clan whose eyes could copy anything they've seen. Given that he thought we was above everyone else." D-nasty frowned.
"Ouch, that's gotta hurt, Twili. Being compared to that jerk." Rainbow Dash grimaced as Twilight bowed her head in shame thinking there was a time she acted like Sasuke.
"Hey at least she's better now." Spike said trying to cheer her up.
"That is true." Applejack smiled.
"Thanks guys." Twilight smiled.
"But Twilight, the princess told you need to go around the town to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration" said Spike to which Naruto was surprised to hear speak.
"Whoa, I didn't know you could talk" Naruto said with curiosity.
"All dragons can talk and I am still a baby" said Spike. "Okay then" said Naruto although smirking inwardly at the reaction a certain pony will have when she sees him.
"Oh! I think I know who he's talking about." Rarity smirked at Fluttershy who blush in embarassment.
"Alright then, let's get this over with where are we going to first?" asked Twilight with an annoyed look to which the baby dragon pulled out a scroll and read through it.
"First on the list is catering which is managed by the Apple's family" he read.
"Okay follow me, I know the way there" said Naruto setting off with the two guests following behind.
When they reached the farms and entered the apple orchard, they heard a thumping against a tree which Naruto is familiar with and so called out.
"YO AJ! We got some guests here to see ya!" Naruto shouted out. The thumping stopped and the orange mare appeared from behind a tree smiling.
"Nice nickname." Rainbow Dash grinned at Applejack who blushed.
"Shut yer trap." Applejack huffed.
"Heya Naruto, how is it going and who is this? Said Applejack to Naruto before turning to Twilight and Spike.
Twilight stepped forward "Good afternoon, my name is Twilight Sparkle" she said right before Applejack grabbed her hoof for a rapid shake although it resulted in the purple mare being shaken as well much to Naruto's amusement.
"I remember that." Applejack chuckled sheepishly.
"I was shaky back then too." Twilight laughed nervously.
"It was pretty funny." Spike snickered as did D-nasty.
"Well howdy there Miss. Twilight, my name is Applejack. We Apples just love to make friends so it's a pleasure to meet ya" said Applejack smiling broadly. "So what are you here for?"
After finally letting go of Twilight, she was trying to regain her sense of balance with Spike helping out a little. "Well I am here to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration and I believe you are in charge of the food?" asked Twilight Sparkle shaking her head to clear it.
"That's right we are, would you like to have a sample?" said Applejack while smiling.
"Well as long as it doesn't take too long" said Twilight although Naruto smiled inwardly, knowing what is going to happen next.
Twilight rubbed her stomach remembering how she ate too much food.
Applejack immediately left them and began to ring the old triangle and calling out, "SOUPS ON EVERYPONY!"
Soon Twilight and Spike were grabbed by the members of the Apple family and taken to a table which had an assortment of confectionaries made by them. Twilight tried to leave but a combination of Apple Bloom's puppy eyes and the families' disappointment made her stay which ended up with her being stuffed silly with a bulging stomach with Naruto doing his best not to roll on the floor and laugh.
Spike snickered but was bobbed on the head by Twilight who didn't see everyone trying to hold in there laughter.
After finally leaving the Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight asked Spike what is next on the agenda who looked through the scroll.
"Well there is supposed to be a Pegasus who goes by the name Rainbow Dash who is in charge of clearing the clouds from the sky" said Spike.
"Well it doesn't look like she is doing a good job of it" said Twilight, Naruto's senses quickly alerted him of an incoming projectile heading their way.
"You might wanna brace yourself for impact" said Naruto before grabbing Spike with his tail and jumping backwards. Twilight was about to ask what he meant when a blue blur crashed into her, sending her into a puddle of mud to which Naruto sweatdropped since he was used to it.
"Oh sorry about that, here let me clean you up" said Rainbow Dash looking at Twilight who was covered in mud. Before she could say anything, Twilight was surrounded in a small rainbow tornado which Rainbow named the "Rainblow Dry" that cleaned the mud but also left her with a large afro making Naruto, Spike and Rainbow Dash herself roll on the floor laughing.
The look made everyone else laugh at how ridiculous she looked.
"I'm sure you'll turn heads at a disco, Twilight." D-nasty laughed.
That made everyone laugh harder while Twilight crossed her arms and looked away.
"You guys are mean." She huffed.
After everyone calmed down Rainbow Dash began reading again.
"I believe that you are Rainbow Dash" said Twilight Sparkle, trying not to blow her top.
"That's me! The one and only, you must know of me?" said Rainbow dash with pride.
"Well I know that you are supposed to keep the sky clear of clouds" said Twilight.
"Hey I can clear those clouds in ten seconds flat" said Rainbow dash
"Really? Then prove it" said Twilight skeptically.
"I wouldn't underestimate Dash if I were you, after all I know her the best" said Naruto with a grin. "In fact why don't you show her your speed Dash"
"Of course he knows me best! He's my racing buddy!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed proudly.
"So you didn't miss the fact he gave you a nickname?" Applejack teased as Rainbow Dash's face flushed.
"Whatever." Rainbow Dash grumbled.
Upon hearing that, Rainbow immediately took off and pierced through the clouds, clearing all of them before landing on the ground.
"See what I told you? Ten. Seconds. Flat" said Rainbow Dash grinning at Twilight stood there stunned.
"Hahahaha! The look on your face is priceless, anyway see you later Dash we will race next time" said Naruto laughing.
"Your face was priceless." Rarity giggled making Twilight whine.
The next stop was at town hall for the decorations, when they entered the hall Spike was mesmerized.
"So beautiful" said Spike with a dazed look on his face.
"Yes the decors are beautiful. With the decorations being perfectly arranged, I should be able to get to the library much sooner" said Twilight. But Spike shook his head in negative.
"Not the décor: Her!" said Spike pointing at a white unicorn standing in the middle of the hall using her magic to add some finishing touches. Naruto's eyes twitched in annoyance at Spike who was ogling at Rarity along he doesn't know why he was so irritated but decided not ignore the feeling for now.
"Oh snap! Someone was getting jealous of someone ogling Rarity!" Scootaloo laughed while Apple Bloom snickered and Spike blush in embarassment.
"It's okay, Spike. Ignore them." Sweetie Belle soothed placing her hoof on his leg in comfort.
"Thanks, Sweeite Belle." Spike smiled placing his hand on her hoof. "Good think I got over my crush on Rarity or I'd be even more embarassed."
"Looks like somepony sees Rarity as his." Twilight smirked at Rarity.
"Hmph!" Rarity pouted turning her head a little flushed.
"Hey Rare, how is it going with the decorations?" Naruto called out. Rarity turned to smile at Naruto.
"And he even gave Rarity a nickname." Apple Bloom laughed making Rarity more flushed.
"Oh hello there Naruto it's good to- My goodness what happened to your hair!?" said Rarity quickly approaching Twilight.
"She was a victim of the 'Rainblow dry' a few minutes ago" said Naruto trying not to laugh at the memory.
"It wasn't that funny." Twilight pouted.
"Yes, it was." Rainbow Dash snickered.
"It's alright, I will soon be out your hair after this" said Twilight but was carried off by Rarity with her magic.
"Forget my hair, what about yours?! We need to fix this fashion disaster" said Rarity while Naruto is following close behind again trying not to laugh.
After having a makeover thanks to Rarity, the group headed to the last stop to supervise the last thing on the agenda was music which Naruto knew that Fluttershy was in charge of. As they drew close to her place, they heard the chirp of birds singing in a fanfare. Following the source of the music they saw a yellow Pegasus sitting on a hill coordinating a choir of birds.
"Hello there" Twilight called out rather loudly behave Naruto could warn her which resulted in surprising the mare and scaring the birds away.
"Oh I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to frighten you and your birds. I just came to check on the music which sounded beautiful" said Twilight looking apologetic. Fluttershy had hidden behind Naruto and was peeking at her shyly. "Well my name is Twilight Sparkle"
"Hiding behind Naruto to feel safe, huh Fluttershy?" Luna teased making Fluttershy blush.
"My name is Fluttershy" she said quietly.
Twilight took a step closer, "Sorry but could you repeat what you said?"
"My name is Fluttershy" she said more quietly.
"Can't believe I use to be so nervous." Fluttershy sighed pitifully.
"She said her name is Fluttershy" said Naruto deciding to step in "Anyway, Shy the birds have returned" pointing to the tree with his tail the birds were sitting on.
"It appears he gave you a nickname as well." Celestia smiled feeling Naruto was close to the mares.
However when Twilight turned to leave, Fluttershy saw Spike which did a complete 180 change from her shyness to excitement.
"A baby dragon!" she cried out before tackling Spike and began bombarding Twilight with question to the amazement of Naruto.
"I wonder if Hinata would act like this if she saw something that excites her" Naruto thought.
"Hey I've heard that name before, who is Hinata?" Sweetie Belle asked.
D-nasty pulled out a remote and changed the channel to show Hinata on the screen.
"This is Hinata. A girl who is in love with Naruto her whole life, but was too shy to ever tell him. It was a shame Naruto never picked up on it." D-nasty sighed.
"How come?" Applejack asked.
"Well it is obvious. I mean being in a village that hates you, being thrown out of class to help you learn. And the fact that he didn't have parents or anyone to teach him into the ways of women left Naruto pretty oblivious. Which to me isn't right." D-nasty frowned.
"When you say it like that, I can't help but agree." Twilight said.
"The more I hear about how Naruto's world treated him the more I think they don't deserve him." Rarity huffed in anger.
"Yeah! Those guys are big jerks!" Pinkie Pie shouted.
"It's nice to see you all taking a liking to Naruto." D-nasty chuckled.
"We he is our friend, so it's only natural." Rainbow Dash said with everyone else agreeing.
By the time they finally reached the library, it was already dark out and Twilight was quite irritated.
"I can't believe I had to waste my time with a bunch of crazy ponies when I should be studying on how to stop nightmare moon and convince the Princess about her return" said Twilight which caught Naruto's attention.
"To be fair, they were only trying to be nice to you." D-nasty said.
"I know." Twilight said knowing she could've handled it better.
"Wait a minute did she just say Nightmare moon will be returning, looks like my feelings were spot on. I'll have to ask her about it later" thought Naruto before he heard a loud 'Surprise!' from when Twilight opened the door and turned on the lights, knowing that Pinkie pie had set up the party here.
Naruto entered to see Twilight surrounded by Applejack and the others who were talking to her decided to hang around for a bit until he noticed her quickly climbing and chose to check up on her. He climbed up the stairs to see Twilight on the bed with a pillow covering her with a depressed atmosphere around her.
"Hey are you okay?" asked Naruto with concern as he doesn't like it when ponies around him are sad.
"Well isn't that nice caring for somepony he just meet." Apple Bloom.
"Yeah, Naruto can be a nice person when the situation calls for it." D-nasty smiled.
"I just wanted to get some research done because before I left Canterlot, I read an old prophecy that foretold of Nightmare moon's return in a thousand after being sealed in the moon and that on the longest day of the year, the stars will aid her escape which is today on the Summer Sun Celebration" said Twilight.
"Is there any way that we can defeat her?" asked Naruto thinking of the dream he had last night.
"Well the book also spoke of six elements of harmony, which comprises of Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty, but no one knows what the sixth is as it's a total mystery. It's written that they are located at the ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters located in the Evertree forest" said Twilight.
"If that is the case, I will be there to help you out when you need it, anyway I'm heading downstairs to the party" said Naruto with a foxy grin leaving Twilight with a stunned look on her face.
"Wow, Twilight. He decided to help you just like that." Spike smiled.
"Yeah." Twilight smiled at how considerate Naruto is.
At the crack of dawn, everypony had gathered in the town hall waiting for the festivities to begin. Naruto was standing beside Twilight with Spike sitting on her back, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was standing with the birds who began to sing and Rarity was standing on top of the central balcony ready to pull the curtains to reveal the appearance of Princess Celestia. Pinkie pie was talking to Twilight about a lot of things especially about when Naruto first came to Ponyville.
Mayor Mare appeared at the podium and began to give her speech, "Fillies and Gentlecolts, as mayor of ponyville, it is my pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration" to which everypony began to cheer except Twilight whom Naruto noticed was looking worriedly through one of the windows at the moon.
Following her gaze, Naruto looked at the moon and was surprised to see a cluster of stars crash into the moon, causing the silhouette of the mare to disappear from the surface. "That isn't good" thought Naruto.
"Uh oh." Everyone frowned.
"And it is with great honor that I present to you the ruler of our land, the pony who gives us day and night, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria- Princess Celestia!"
When Rarity pulled on the rope, the curtains were drawn only to reveal nothing. "Scratch that, this is definitely not good" said Naruto with Twilight nodding in agreement. The crowd soon began to whisper in worry and Mayor Mare was trying to calm them down although Pinkie Pie took it as a guessing game and that the Princess was hiding.
Naruto saw that a purple mist gathered at where the princess was supposed to appear and dissipated to reveal an alicorn in its place. She had a coat of pitch black and mane and tail which looks like field of stars in the night sky. She wears a lavender helmet and breastplate which shares the mark of a splotch of purple with a crescent moon on her flank.
"Nightmare moon" whispered Twilight making Naruto tense and Spike fainted.
Everyone tensed seeing her again.
Gazing upon the group of ponies, the dark Alicorn spoke in a dark tone "Hello my beloved subjects, it has been so since I've seen your sun-loving faces"
"What did you do with our princess!?" Rainbow Dash demanded, about to launch herself at Nightmare moon if not for Applejack holding her back by the tail.
"Why? Am I not royal enough for enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" she said. Naruto was getting angry at the evil Alicorn as she is beginning to frighten Fluttershy, reminding him of when Neji looked down on Hinata back at the chuunin exams.
"Who?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Neji is Hinata's cousin/brother. He always use to look down at her for being weak, til Naruto got done with him and made him see otherwise." D-nasty explained.
"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?" she spoke arrogantly.
"I did!" Twilight called out, "and I know who you are, you're the mare in the moon: Nightmare Moon!" The ponies all gasped in shock.
"Well, well, well. Somepony remembers me, then you also know why I'm here!" Nightmare moon said to her.
"You're here to….. to…!" Twilight was afraid to finish the sentence
"Remember this day, little ponies for today is your last! From this moment forth, this night will last forever!" said Nightmare Moon, laughing out evilly as she released lightning and darkness around.
"This is the sand and sound invasion all over again, but no one is dying this time!" thought Naruto with a determined look.
"Invasion?" Celestia frowned.
"Two villages banded together to take down Naruto'ss village in a invasion. They were able to push them back but they lost their leader in the process." D-nasty said remembering that incident.
"That sounds terrible." Fluttershy gasped.
"Yeah, but Naruto will make sure no one falls to Nightmare Moon." D-nasty grinned making everyone smile at the thought of Naruto fighting for their world.