MLP: Equestrian Shinobi - Chapter 7 Part B

             Sweetie Belle and Naruto returned to the training ground where Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were waiting for them by the posts; the duo perked up upon seeing them before the unicorn joined her friends and their friend/mentor stood before them.

            “Okay Cutie Mark Crusaders, your hiding lesson is completely and despite me still finding you, I say you three did very well,” the stallion said with a smile.

            His students smiled at hearing his praise before Apple Bloom spoke up, “What’s next?”

            “Yeah, what’s the next lesson Naruto?” asked Scootaloo.

            Naruto chuckles before answering, “Glad you asked. The next lesson is . . . basic combat.”

            “Combat? Like actual fighting?” asked Sweetie Belle.

            “That’s right. So, any of you have any fighting experience?”

            Apple Bloom raised her right front hoof, “I do.”

            “In that case . . .” Naruto assumed a fighting stance, “show me what you got.”

            The earth filly needed no more invitations for she leapt forward in a flying kick though she missed when the stallion stepped to the side. She tumbled a bit after hitting the ground but she quickly got back to her hooves and charged straight for her mentor. It wasn’t long before she launched herself into another flying kick; Naruto did not dodge this one and instead, he grabbed hold of her then pinned her to the ground.

            “I’m gonna take a guess and say kicks are tradition among the Apple Family whether for apple-bucking or fighting, huh?” said the stallion with a smirk before he released her and backed away to see what her next move would be.

            “Kicks aren’t the only thing I got,” said the filly before she managed to get in close and try to punch but her attack was dodged.

            She went for another punch yet Naruto grabbed her front leg, turned her around, pinned her to the ground again, and held her limb behind her back.

            “Ah come on. You told me to show you what I got,” protested Apple Bloom.

            “True. But I didn’t say I would allow you free hits or anything,” chuckled the stallion.

            The filly just groaned in annoyance as her teacher let her up then she went back to her friends.

            “Overall, not bad Apple Bloom,” praised the orange stallion.

            She smiled at his praise despite her getting her tail handed to her just a few seconds ago.

            “But you will still follow this lesson.”

            Her mood went down a little as Naruto stepped before the nearest wooden post.

            “This is what I want you three to do - follow this exercise,” he reared up on his back legs and executed a left-right-right-left-right-left punch pattern onto his stationary adversary before backing away.

            “Is that all?” asked Scootaloo.

            “Yep but also remember to put all of your strength into each hit and repeat after each set. I will tell you when to stop,” Naruto moved back some more to give them room, “Okay Crusaders, pick a post each and start the exercise.”

            Each filly did so, reared up on their hind legs, and proceeded to do the punch combination; all three of them let loose a yelp of pain after the punches though Apple Bloom was little quieter.

            “That hurt. Do we have to punch so hard?” asked Sweetie Belle, holding up one of her front hooves.

            “That’s the second purpose of this exercise - to strength your hooves so they are more used to hitting. It may hurt now but it’ll be worth it in the end,” explained the shinobi-turned-pony.

            The unicorn moaned a little at what he said before going back to punching the post.

 

            Thirty minutes passed before Naruto gave the word for them to stop their exercise and their hooves were sore afterwards but their mentor came prepared with some healing ointment and bandages; after he patched them up, all four of them began having a small picnic lunch of riceballs, dango dumplings, and hot apple ramen.

            “You three are doing very well so far,” said the stallion before he slurped down some noodles.

            “Does that mean we don’t have to keep punching the posts?” asked Sweetie Belle.

            Naruto swallows his food then answers, “No, you guys are gonna have to keep doing that until your hooves are used to it.”

            The unicorn just made a deadpanned face before taking a bite out of a riceball.

            “Did you have to do stuff like this when you were learning how to be a ninja?” asked Apple Bloom.

            “Oh yeah. I think I was slightly younger than you three when I started my own training,” answered the stallion.

            “Wow. How long did you have to do stuff like this?” asked Scootaloo.

            Naruto thinks for a second then answers, “A few months . . . or years maybe.”

            Sweetie Belle almost spat out her ramen when she heard that, “Months? Years? You want us to punch posts for that long?”

            Naruto swallowed some food before speaking, “I know it sounds hard and unfair. Believe me, I know how you feel. I was the same way.”

            “Really?” asked Apple Bloom.

            The stallion nods, “Yes. Remember when I said I was the worst of my generation?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Well, I was speaking the truth. No modesty whatsoever. I was a terrible fighter, I wasn’t the smartest guy around, and my aim was the worst. I used to train my tail off day and night and I have more than once thought I should just give up and quit . . . but I refused to do that. I refused to let all of those who believed I was worth nothing to be right about me but most importantly . . . I refused . . . to give up on myself. I didn’t want to simply throw away my dreams like they meant nothing to me. I knew everything I would have to do would be hard . . . but I didn’t care . . . if it meant I could one day show everyone . . . what I could really do.”

            His three students listened intently to his words as they sparked something inside their hearts.

            “That’s why I agreed to help you get your cutie marks. I wanted to help you three . . . be what you were always meant to be. No matter how long it took.”

            The eyes of his students were glimmering like jewels at his words as well as tiny tears gathering in the corners of their eyes.

            “The road you face is a hard one . . . but as long as you refuse to give up and keep working hard, you can achieve your goals. And I’ll be there to help you . . . whenever you need me. So, what do you say now?”

            Each Cutie Mark Crusaders wiped their eyes before smiling at him and Apple Bloom saying, “Can we get back to training after lunch?”

            Naruto smiled warmly at his pseudo-sisters, “You bet.”

            All four of them soon returned to their lunch.

 

            Once their meal was finished, Naruto and the Crusaders went back to training with the former about to start a new lesson as he stood before the latter; he had his saddlebags with him.

            “Next lesson is familiarizing yourself with some of the tools of the trade . . . literally,” said the shinobi-turned-pony before he reached into his saddlebags and pulled out three flat boxes.

            He opened the boxes to reveal each holding what appeared to be kunai knives and shuriken throwing stars . . . made of folded paper.

            “What are these?” asked Scootaloo.

            “Kunai throwing knives and shuriken throwing stars, the staple weapons of almost every ninja. And since there are no places in Ponyville to buy actual ones, I had to improvise with paper ones,” said Naruto, “now each of you take a box.”

            The trio did just that.

            Their teacher spoke again, “Kunai and shuriken can both be used for long-range combat but kunai can also be used for close-range combat.”

            His students looked him with confused faces.

            Naruto decided to change his explanation, “You can throw kunai and shuriken at your opponents but kunai can also be used like regular knives and daggers.”

            “Oh,” the fillies said collectively.

            “But for now, we’ll focus on long-range,” he reaches into his saddlebags and pulls out three pieces of papers with targets on them and a small box of tacks.

            The stallion goes over to the posts and sticks a target on each before backing away, “Let them fly, girls.”

            Almost immediately, each filly grabbed a papermade weapon and threw one at a target . . . though things did not go well with Sweetie Belle not throwing hers hard enough, Apple Bloom releasing at the wrong time, and Scootaloo’s totally missing her target.

            The Crusaders each had an angry yet cute pout on their faces though they went away when their mentor spoke, “No biggie, girls. We got plenty of time. Try again.”

            His students nodded before each picked up another weapon and threw them; they didn’t hit their targets again but they were not the least bit distraught for they immediately tried again and again.

 

            For the past two hours, the Cutie Mark Crusaders threw their paper kunai and shuriken at the targets over and over again. Their progress was fair despite neither of them hitting the targets dead center at the start though the trio showed a lot of promise. Naruto watched and gave them guidance the whole time as his mind would picture them as his younger self thus making him all the more determined to help them achieve their collective dream. His determination may be dominating his spirit yet there was a small shred of doubt about whether these fillies were meant to follow the path of the ninja or not . . . however there was always the chance his training would give them the power to find their true talents and set them on the paths they were meant to be on. Only time would tell at this point and the stallion would gladly keep his word to be there whenever they need his assistance.

 

            It was not long before Naruto told them to stop their training so right now, his students were picking up their practice weapons and putting them in their boxes.

            “Good work, you three. You all are making good progress. Better than me in fact,” praised the stallion truthfully.

            The Crusaders smiled in unison before Apple Bloom spoke, “So what now? What’s our next lesson, Naruto?”

            Their teacher closes his eyes and smiles, “Well, next is not exactly a lesson.”

            “Then what is it?” asked Sweetie Belle.

            His response came in the form of him suddenly leaping over them and onto one of the training posts; the girls were in shock as he took a stance of confidence.

            “The next step . . . is a skill assessment,” said Naruto.

            “Skill assessment?” asked the Apple filly.

            “Yes,” answered the stallion before he hopped off the post and landed in front of them, “for this skill assessment, I want you three to come at me . . . all at once.”

            “Hold on. We barely made in progress training. We don’t stand a chance against you,” said Scootaloo.

            “I didn’t say you had to beat me, I said I wanted you three to come at me at once. I want to see where your collective skills stand as of now,” said the orange stallion.

            “Why?” asked Sweetie Belle.

            “Trust me when I say it’s for your own benefit. When I open my eyes all the way, you three better be ready to come at me . . . with all you got and with all that you have learned. On your marks . . . get set . . . go!” Naruto begins to slowly open his eyes.

            It is not long before he was greeted with the sight of no one before him thus bringing a smile to his face as well as sensing his students surrounding him on all sides from the safety of the woods; he even noticed the weapon boxes were missing.

            ‘Very good so far,’ he thought to himself as he walked past the posts, stopped, and stood still to wait for what the Cutie Mark Crusaders had in store for him.

            He didn’t have to wait long since he quickly picked up the sound of paper shuriken coming at him from the right; he looked and dodged the assault.

            ‘Sneak attack. Classic and smart,’ thought the stallion with a smile.

            Naruto did not get the chance to recuperate from the previous strike for Scootaloo came charging out of the woods and started throwing punches and kicks at him. The oldest of the combatants dodged and deflected her attacks though it was not long until he took hold of one of her punches and pinned her to the ground like he did with Apple Bloom earlier. There was no time for him to relax after this attack for the last two Crusaders leapt from the bushes and threw paper shuriken at him.

            A smile appears on the stallion’s face as he thinks, ‘Teamwork Double Attack. They learn fast.’

            The oldest pony there quickly leaps away to dodge the incoming weapons then reaches into his mane and, with the skill of a true ninja, pulls out three paper shuriken before he throws them at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

            “Incoming!” called out the Earth filly before she and her unicorn companion moved out of the way; the paper stars stuck to the ground.

            ‘Yikes! Naruto’s really good’ thought the young horned equine, seeing the stars sticking out.

            Apple Bloom did not waste time noticing her mentor’s skill for she immediately bolted over to him and engaged him in close combat by dishing out punches and kicks; she barely got started when Scootaloo got up off the ground and joined in. Despite his skillful dodging and deflecting of their attacks, this double-teaming was certainly giving him some trouble yet this teamwork brought a small smile to his face. His expression got a bit wider when he saw Sweetie Belle throw four shuriken at him.

            The fake weapons were zooming right at him though they started to veer off target then like instinct, Sweetie Belle mustered up some of her magical ability to get them back on course to her mentor.

            ‘Using her magic to keep her shuriken on track . . . very good Sweetie Belle,’ thought Naruto as he kept up the fight with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

            Knowing he had to do something, he grabbed hold of his two attackers and tossed them away from him then he reached into his mane again and pulled out four paper kunai; he threw them at the oncoming shuriken and knocked them out of the air.

            ‘They are learning fast,’ he thought as his two students regrouped on his position to resume their attack.

            Unfortunately, they did not get to throw one punch or kick since he grabbed them again then throw them towards their unicorn teammate; the two fillies managed to land on their hooves mid-throw and skidded the rest of the way. They were about to go at him again but they did not take one step thanks to three paper kunai sticking into the ground before them followed by Naruto appearing in front of them as well.

            The Cutie Mark Crusaders were prepared to another attack . . . except all they got was the stallion laughing in joy.

            “Nice work! You three did great,” he said as he started to calm down.

            “But you beat us at every turn,” said Scootaloo.

            “Scootaloo, I told you - you didn’t have to beat me, I wanted to see how you progressed so far and so far . . . I like what I see.”

            “Really?” asked a happy Sweetie Belle.

            Naruto nodded, “Yes. You three are learning fast and I’m proud of you.”

            He quickly scooped up his students into a hug which they giggled at a bit while hugging him back.

            Apple Bloom spoke, “Can we do some more training?”

            The stallion put them down before he gained a semi-serious atmosphere about him, “Before we can return to training, there’s something we must do . . . something you three must do.”

            “What’s that?” asked the Apple filly.

            “I need you three . . . to take an oath . . . a promise.”

            “What kind of oath?” asked Sweetie Belle.

            Naruto looked at them with a serious expression before speaking again, “As long as you three are my students, you must promise . . . to not simply use my teachings for the sake of fighting only.”

            His students looked confused then Scootaloo asked, “Then what do you want us to do?”

            “I want you to use my teachings . . . to protect.”

            “Protect?” asked Apple Bloom.

            “Yes . . . to protect yourselves, to protect each other, to protect your friends, to protect your families, to protect those in need, and to protect your dreams.”

            The fillies were all quiet as he spoke again, “We shinobi . . . we ninja . . . do not always fight to simply fight. We use our skills to protect because that is what it means . . . to be a true ninja. Now . . . do you, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, promise to use these skills I teach you to protect and to not simply boast your strength?”

            His students all looked at each other before Apple Bloom stepped forward, “I promise.”

            Naruto smiled before Scootaloo followed her friend’s actions, “I promise too.”

            Sweetie Belle did the same, “Me too. I promise too.”

            The stallion’s smile grew a little wider before he spoke, “Good. Now . . . let’s get back to training.”

 

            For the next few days, the shinobi training of the Cutie Mark Crusaders under the tutelage of Naruto continued with the latter focusing on refining the basic skills of the former. Their lessons were pretty much the same with the fillies practicing their hiding and stealth skills, their weapon handling, and their hoof strengthening followed by a skill assessment fight at the end; each assessment showed a raise in the CMC’s skills and this made their mentor very happy. His apprentices demonstrated more effectives methods of hiding and covering their tracks, a better handling of their weapons and aim, their hooves toughening up, and a greater show of their teamwork techniques.

            Naruto could not ignore the advancements the fillies made so he decided to introduce a new lesson - tree traveling. His three students were initially confused at this concept but once he explained that this new technique was used as a main source of travel back in his village, they pretty much understood everything. They were pretty excited to learn though their eagerness turned into slight disappointment when he mentioned they would have to heighten their balance before taking on their next shinobi exercise.

            The stallion had the Cutie Mark Crusaders stand on top of the training posts on one leg; they initially thought it was not so hard yet that was before Naruto start throwing stuff at them like paper weapons and small rubber balls as well as making the posts shake. His methods naturally caused the trio to fail for the first few times but as time went on, these three managed to either dodge or deflect the oncoming fire and ride out the vibrations while staying balanced.

            Once the balancing exercises were through, Naruto decided to have his students take turns hopping across the posts like stones in a river. The Crusaders thought it would be easy until their mentor restarted his actions from their previous training thus causing them to fall down during their traversing; it took a while but the trio managed to ace the mini-lesson. Their progress made the shinobi-turned-pony happy and it was then he believed they were finally ready to begin the lesson.

 

            All was fairly quiet at the training ground of Naruto and the Cutie Mark Crusaders where the only sounds were the occasional breeze and the song of a bird. Nothing was really happening . . . though this was different in the nearby woods because the aforementioned equines were leaping from tree to tree. Ponies may not be built for leaping through branches yet these four were certainly proving this fact wrong due to them moving swiftly and accurately.

            “This is so cool!” exclaimed Scootaloo as they leapt onto a branch before leaping onto another.

            “I know it is Scootaloo but stay focused right now,” advised Naruto as they kept going.

            They continued to leap through the trees  before the stallion gave them the word to take a break. The group of four stopped though Sweetie Belle almost lost her balance but Apple Bloom managed to keep her from becoming a pony pancake.

            “Good work you three. I’m greatly impressed you managed to perform this lesson very well,” praised Naruto.

            Scootaloo smiled a little smugly, “When it comes to being up in the air, a pegasus like me can handle it no problem.”

            “Then how come you fell like ten times at the start?” smirked Apple Bloom.

            Sweetie Belle giggled while the pegasus blushed and glared at the Earth filly.

            The orange stallion with them chuckled, “Okay, okay. Bottom line is you three are progressing fast and well.”

            “Does that mean we’ll get to learn Pony Style real soon?” asked Scootaloo.

            “Well have to advance your fighting skills a bit but . . . yeah, I think so,” said their mentor.

            This got his students all excited and happy then Sweetie Belle spoke up, “In the meantime, can we keep tree traveling? This is so much fun.”

            “Yeah. Can we?” her two friend asked in unison.

            They received a smile from the stallion, “I don’t see why not.”

            The moods of the fillies turned brighter and happier before they all took off into the trees again with Naruto in the lead and his three students following close behind; the young fillies laughed in joy during their arboreal traversing. They kept this up for about a half of a hour until the flora around started to look different which Naruto took notice of and it was very soon before he landed firmly on a branch and gave the order to the trio to do the same.

            They landed beside him then Apple Bloom asked, “What’s wrong?”

            Naruto looked at their new surroundings, “I don’t remember seeing trees like this in the woods before.”

            The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked around before Scootaloo spoke, “Looks like we might have stumbled into the Everfree Forest.”

            Their mentor looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “The Everfree Forest? As in the dangerous and mysterious Everfree Forest where nopony should ever visit without good reason?”

            “That’s the one,” said Sweetie Belle.

            “Hey, we should see how well we can tree travel through the Everfree Forest. That would be so cool,” suggested the pegasus.

            Her two friends agreed with a united ‘Yeah!’ and were about to leap onto the branch in front of them though their teacher held out a front leg to stop them, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We’re not going in there.”

            “Why not?” asked Apple Bloom.

            “Because I’m your teacher so that means I’m responsible for you three. I’m not letting you go in there, it’s not safe,” he said.

            “But you’ve been teaching us. We can handle it,” said Sweetie Belle.

            “I’ve taught you guys how to hide, throw fake weapons, punch posts, and leap from tree to tree. I haven’t taught you how to really fight yet.”

            “Ah come on. We just wanna keep tree traveling for a little while longer and won’t being in a different area test our skills?” urged Scootaloo.

            As much as he hated to admit it for the sake of their safety, Naruto had to agree with the young pegasus. Before them was a really good opportunity to test their techniques and even push them to the next level . . . but he was going to have to be smart about this.

            “Alright. We can go,” said the stallion.

            The fillies smiled at his answer.

            “But at the first sign of danger, we are immediately leaving. Understood?”

            They nodded their heads in agreement.

            “Okay. Let’s go and stay together,” said Naruto before the whole group took off into the trees of the Everfree Forest.

 

            The Everfree Forest was known to be an incredibly dangerous place since it was the home to numerous deadly creatures but now it had gained a new title - the perfect place for tree traveling. All the different kinds of trees made the activity interesting for Naruto and the Cutie Mark Crusaders; the former may have been against coming to this place for the sake of the latter’s safety yet he had to admit this idea was a fairly good one. A hour passed when the group of four finally took a break within the branches of a large Oak tree at the time of sunset.

            Naruto was lounging like a cat when he spoke, “You three are doing great.”

            His students smiled before Scootaloo said, “You gotta admit. Coming here was a good idea.”

            Their mentor chuckled in agreement then heard the sound of a twig snapping and bushes rustling somewhere on the ground beneath their arboreal roost.

            “Stay out of sight,” he whispered before quickly standing up on his branch.

            The fillies followed his example and orders as he started moving slowly towards the source of the sound. He peeked his head out of the leaves to see a pony with striped fur and there was only one equine in or near Ponyville with that kind of coloration and who had good reason to be in the Everfree Forest; she was apparently picking some kind of flowers and putting them in a basket.

            He smiled before retracting his face and looked at his students then he motioned his head towards the previous direction, “False alarm.”

            In a single file line, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo came over to him and stuck their faces through the leaves; their teacher followed their actions.

            “It’s Zecora,” said the Earth filly.

            “Wonder what she’s doing,” the young unicorn thought aloud.

            “Let’s ask her. H-” the pegasus was interrupted by the stallion placing a hoof on her mouth as he had a small mischievous smile on his face.

            “Hold it. Let’s do this properly. Ninja style,” he said before retreating back into the leaves.

            “Yeah. Ninja style,” said Apple Bloom as she did the same.

            “Ninja style,” said Sweetie Belle who followed her friend and teacher’s actions.

            “Ninja style,” said Scootaloo as joined the other three.

 

            Zecora was gathering up various flowers from a small patch she came across during her search for ingredients.

            She had just placed a red-pink flower into her basket when the voice of Apple Bloom called out, “Hi Zecora!”

            “Hello my dear Apple Blo-” said the zebra but stopped when she noticed the filly in question wasn’t anywhere in sight, “Apple Bloom?”

            “Over here Zecora,” called out the Earth pony.

            “Your voice I can clearly hear, but I cannot see you far or near,” said Zecora.

            “Of course you can’t. We’re hiding,” called out Sweetie Belle’s voice.

            “That I can plainly see but why do you wish to hide from me?” asked the shaman.

            “Just testing our skills,” blurted out Scootaloo from their hiding place.

            “Just testing skills you say? In what I ask if I may?”

            “Being ninjas,” said aloud the voice of Naruto before he burst forth from the tree and landed in front of Zecora who was taken back by his sudden appearance, “That is what we are testing in.”

            He whistled up to the tree and held out his front legs then almost immediately, Apple Bloom leapt from their hiding spot and into his awaiting appendages. It was not long after he set her on the ground that Scootaloo did the same followed by Sweetie Belle once he set the winged filly on her hooves; the placed the unicorn down and turned to Zecora.

            “Impressive, aren’t they?” he smiled.

            Naruto’s smile roused a small blush from the zebra’s cheeks but before either one could say anything, Apple Bloom beat them to the punch, “Hey Zecora, what’re these flowers for?”

            The older equines looked to find the Crusaders peeking into Zecora’s basket.

            “The colorful plants you three see before you, they’re are for a potion I’ve been meaning to do,” answered the striped mare as she and the stallion walked over.

            “Ooooo. What’s the new potion for?” asked Sweetie Belle.

            “It is a very special brew. It allows nopony for a whole day to never see you.”

            “You mean like an invisibility potion?” asked Naruto.

            Zecora nodded.

            “Hey Naruto, maybe we should try that potion. We would be awesome ninjas,” suggested Scootaloo.

            Her mentor shook his head, “Real ninjas don’t need potions like that. Their stealth skills are more than enough . . . plus you don’t have to wait almost a whole day for them to wear off.”

            “Point taken,” said Apple Bloom.

            The interaction between Naruto and the Cutie Mark Crusaders brought a smile to Zecora’s face before she spoke, “Now that I have what I need, the creation of my new potion is guaranteed.”

            She takes hold of her basket’s handle with her mouth then she looks at the fillies, “I will now take my leave, even greater skills I hope you three achieve.”

            Zecora turns around to leave but her attempt to continue is interrupted by the stallion suddenly speaking, “Hold it Zecora. It’s gonna get dark soon. Wanna escort home?”

            The zebra looked back at him with a small chuckle, “There’s no need for you to come. I know where to find the tree I am from.”

            Naruto smiled, “I know but it’s not uncommon for somepony to request a ninja escort.”

            “Really?” Scootaloo asked him.

            He answers the pegasus, “Oh yeah. Because of the skills the ponies in my village practiced, ponies from other villages would sometimes hire an escort for protection. Escorting is a mission all ninja must fulfill sooner or later.”

            His students seemed to understand before the stallion looked back at Zecora, “What do you say, Zecora? Care for a escort? Free of charge?”