Naruto – Fox in Equestria

Disclaimer: This will be a Naruto and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction. Yes, I'm a Brony, deal with it!

Chapter 0: The Vanishing Fox

People often wonder about the existence of other worlds, worlds which are filled with life. Of course, it would not be surprising if these other worlds are inhabited by forms of life which are vastly different from our own. For all we know, these worlds can be inhabited by sentient autonomous robots, humanoid beings made completely out of rock, swarms of insects led by a single hive-mind, eldritch beings which are the stuff of nightmares, or even sentient magical ponies. That is not even counting the possibility that there are alternate universes which can be so vastly different from our own native universe that trying to make sense of it could drive any mere mortal mind crazy.

This is the story of how one boy, who originated from a world filled with ninjas known as the Ninja World, somehow found his way to a different world, in what might be a completely different universe, which is ruled by magical ponies known as Equestria…

Scene Change

Uzumaki Naruto, a six-year old boy with tan skin, spiky sun-blond hair, cerulean-blue eyes, and three whisker marks on each cheek, was dejectedly sitting on a swing all by himself. The reason, Naruto had been rejected by everyone, again. Hated by almost every adult local resident of his home village, Konohagakure, for as long as he could remember, the boy never understood why they hated him to the point that they would call him a demon or a monster. To make matters worse for him, the adults had convinced their own children to avoid and despise him.

Having recently started his attendance in the ninja academy of Konohagakure, Naruto had hoped that he could make some friends with his classmates as he learns how to be a ninja, a vital step to becoming the leader of the village, a Hokage. In the young boy's point of view, becoming a Hokage is to become a person whom everyone must acknowledge as a significant, and hopefully loved, existence, a dream which the love-starved boy yearned to achieve. However, not only did the adult teachers and staff ignore, berate or even punish him for every excuse they could find, his own classmates made it a point to either ignore, mock, or even bully him. Although far from defenceless, at least when it comes to playing pranks against his tormentors, it did not change the fact that Naruto is ultimately alone and unwanted. And so, after putting up with almost a week of "schooling", Naruto was close to tears as he looked up to an early evening star and thought, "If I can just gain even one true friend, I would happily trade anything, my ramen, my Gama-chan wallet, even my dream of becoming Hokage…"

Scene Change

Meanwhile, in the world of Equestria, a trio of young fillies known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, named so for their desire to acquire their "cutie marks" which will determine their unique skills and ultimately their futures, were busy preparing a magic circle. Now, one might wonder what in Celestia's name are these young fillies doing. To put it simply, they believe that they can get their cutie marks, which generally appear as unique symbols or pictures on their flanks, by creating a magic circle and use it to reveal their destiny which will also reveal their cutie marks. Of course, any adult pony would know that doing magic without adult supervision is extremely inadvisable but, being children, the crusaders did not know any better.

"Are you sure this will get us our cutie marks?" asked a young filly with a yellow coat, red hair, orange eyes, and a large pink ribbon tied onto her mane. Named Apple Bloom, the filly is an "earth pony", one of the three major types of ponies and the most basic kind of pony. Although the most basic, only earth ponies can successfully cultivate crops due to their connection to nature, plants and animals.

Rolling her eyes, a filly-unicorn with a white coat, pink and purple hair, as well as blue-green eyes named Sweetie Belle, said, "Of course it will! Don't you remember what my sister told us about her horn leading her to her destiny?" As a unicorn, she recently gained her unique racial ability to cast magic through her horn hence her desire to try casting a spell that will help the crusaders earn their cutie marks.

"You mean that story when her horn dragged her to a big rock?" asked a pegasus-filly with an orange coat, pink hair and purple eyes named Scootaloo. Like all pegasus-type ponies, Scootaloo can fly, rest on clouds as though they are solid ground, and, if skilled enough, manipulate the weather.

Nodding, Sweetie Belle clarified, "The very same rock which turned out to have a whole lot of gems inside after Rainbow Dash made that Sonic Rainboom which split it apart."

"Well, she does have a point," admitted Apple Bloom.

Seeing no problem with Sweetie Belle's theory, Scootaloo said, "Okay, let's just hope this works. Wouldn't want it to end up like the last time we tried to get out cutie marks." All three fillies shuddered as they remembered what happened the last time they tried, an event which involved helping a yellow-coated pegasus with pink hair, blue-green eyes and a butterfly-themed cutie mark named Fluttershy, and a skunk with a problem of excessive flatulence. Needless to say, the three fillies swore to never give medical treatment to a flatulent skunk ever again.

Having completed the magic circle, which looks more like a childish doodle than a true magic circle, the three fillies stepped away from it with Sweetie Belle, the spell-caster of the group, being closest to the circle. Looking at her two fellow crusaders, Sweetie Belle saw them nod before facing the magic circle. Activating her horn, thus causing a wavy glow to form around it, Sweetie Belle concentrated her magic into activating the circle…

Scene Change

Feeling no appetite for dinner, Naruto decided to just head back home rather than gorge himself on ramen at Ichiraku Ramen, one of the extremely few places where the adults treat him with any form of true fairness or even kindness. Getting off the swing, Naruto ignored the glares and jeers from both adults and children alike with tragically practiced ease as he made his way back home.

Suddenly, just as he was about to step out of the school grounds, Naruto was surrounded by a beam of light which appeared on the ground below him. Shocked, Naruto tried to escape but could not as the circular beam somehow prevented him from leaving it. Panicking, Naruto desperately cried for help but no one rushed to his aid as he could make out some of the adults screaming.

"The demon is escaping!"

"Someone kill that brat!"

"We're all going to die!"

Slamming his fists onto the surprisingly solid circular "wall" of light Naruto realized to his dismay that no one was going to help him. Seeing the fear and hatred directed towards him and with no hope of escaping, Naruto finally allowed himself to cry in front of them, something which he had tried to hide for years beneath a mask of seemingly bottomless optimism. Falling onto his knees, Naruto simply surrendered to whatever terrible fate his cruel life had in store for him as the beam of light around him became blindingly bright…

Scene Change

Twilight Sparkle, a purple-coated unicorn with dark-blue and bright-pink hair, violet eyes, and a cutie mark of a red central star and five smaller white stars surrounding it, was rushing towards the beam of light which had suddenly appeared merely moments ago followed by a bright explosion. Galloping alongside with her was Rarity, another unicorn with a white coat, dark-blue hair which had been permed into elegant curls, light-blue eye-shadows, blue eyes, and a cutie mark of three pale-blue diamonds. Gazing at the beam of light which was starting to diminish, Twilight worriedly spoke, "I knew that something was missing when those girls visited my library this morning!"

"What spell could possibly cause that?" asked Rarity.

"I don't know, but I hope we're not too late!"

Hearing galloping from behind, the two unicorns looked behind and saw two earth ponies running towards them. One of them was Pinkamena Diane Pie, Pinkie Pie for short, who had a pink coat, darker-pink hair which is also incredibly "poofy", pale-blue eyes and a cutie mark of three party balloons. The other was Applejack, an orange-coated pony with blond hair, pale freckles, green eyes, a cutie mark of three red apples, and wears a brown cowboy hat. Quickly catching up with the two unicorns, Applejack asked, "What in tarnation is going on, Twilight?"

"The girls visited my library this morning to read about any books which might help get them their cutie marks. Since it wasn't anything unusual, I allowed them to browse through my books but they somehow managed to get their hooves on an actual spell book and took it with them without my notice!"

Already not liking the possible scenarios, Applejack asked Twilight, "So what spell do you think they used?"

"Assuming that it could actually work, they're probably trying a spell that would allow them to find whatever they are looking for."

Horrified by the possible implications, Rarity exclaimed, "Which means that they could have sent themselves to anywhere!"

"Or they could have summoned some terrible being that will hurt them," added Twilight. Her grim statement made the four ponies, even the usually cheerful and carefree Pinkie Pie, to gallop even harder…

Scene Change

Rubbing her sore horn, Sweetie Belle tried to see past the smoke surrounding her as she asked, "Is every-pony ok?"

Groaning, Scootaloo replied, "For the most part. I think I'll feel that bruise in the morning!"

Shaking her head to clear her dizziness, Apple Bloom asked, "So, did it work?"

Quickly looking at their flanks, the three crusaders sighed dejectedly as they saw that their flanks were as blank as always. Hearing a low moan, the three fillies turned their attention towards the centre of the magic circle they drew and saw the strangest creature they had ever seen.

Spiky blond hair on the top of his head, three whisker-like marks on each cheek, and dressed in rather peculiar clothes which were obviously worn-out, the three fillies were at a loss for words. Being the boldest, if most foolhardy, of the three, Scootaloo cautiously approached the strange creature and saw that he had five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot, hardly uncommon for non-ponies. She also noticed that the fingers included an opposable thumb, not unlike the clawed hands of a certain purple-scaled baby dragon with green spikes and green eyes named Spike. What she found most peculiar however is the fact that the boy's unusual nose and mouth were distinctively separate from one another and did not form a muzzle of any sort.

Following Scootaloo's lead, Apple Bloom and later Sweetie Belle approached the creature and noted the same things as Scootaloo. Seeing that the apparently unhappy boy was unconscious but is otherwise unharmed, the three fillies relaxed their guard as Apple Bloom wondered aloud, "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, maybe we should ask Twilight," replied Sweetie Belle.

"Hey, what did you kids do this time?" asked a familiar tomboyish voice.

Turning around, the three fillies almost cringed as they saw a blue-coated pegasus with messy rainbow-colored hair, dark-red eyes, and a cutie mark of a cloud with a single rainbow-colored lightning bolt. Known as Rainbow Dash, the tomboyish pegasus asked, "Well?"

Looking at each other, the three fillies were about to make an excuse of some sort when Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and even Fluttershy appeared at the scene. Seeing the gathered elder ponies, all of whom were either worried or displeased, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had one common thought, "We're bucked…!"

Scene Change

After what felt like an eternity of blissful oblivion, Naruto finally regained consciousness and felt surprisingly comfortable. Opening his heavy eyelids, Naruto groaned and tried to get up from what must be the most comfortable bed her had ever been on when a gentle voice quietly spoke, "Please, don't strain yourself."

Feeling a pair of hard objects gently pressing him down, Naruto did not resist against the push as he opened his eyes fully and saw a concerned face looking at him. Under normal circumstances, Naruto would either be thankful or extremely suspicious of anyone who would offer to help him, especially since he is the hated pariah of his own home village. However, it is not everyday anyone sees a yellow-coated miniature horse, albeit an incredibly cute version of the said animal, with a pink mane not unlike that of a certain girl he has a childish crush on, gentle blue-green eyes, and was hovering above him thanks to her flapping wings on her shoulders. Staring at the flying winged pony and then at her hooves which were pressing against his shoulders, Naruto pinched himself on the cheek to see if he was dreaming and, realizing that his cheek felt sore from the hard pinching, screamed, "Where the hell am I?"

Scene Change

"How could you have let this happen!" demanded an elderly man. Known as Sarutobi Hiruzen, the elderly man is the Third Hokage of the village and is among the very few people who cared for Naruto. As such, the elderly man was furious as he demanded answers from his ANBU, elite ninjas who act as the black ops of their respective ninja villagers, who had witnessed the apparent abduction of Naruto and yet had done nothing to help him. Granted, the event occurred so suddenly and quickly that it caught even the ANBU off guard not to mention that they had to consider protecting other people who were present at the time, including a number of clan heirs. Nevertheless, Hiruzen was both disappointed and infuriated by their lack of initiative to protect Naruto and their inability to get any clues to locate and retrieve Naruto other than mere traces of the unusual energy which contained the boy and sent him to heaven-knows-where. That is not even counting the possibility that they had somehow allowed an enemy ninja to infiltrate Konohagakure undetected and had successfully kidnapped Naruto as a result.

Harshly dismissing the terrified ANBU, terrified because Hiruzen is considered the strongest present ninja in the entire village for a reason, the elderly man sighed as he prayed, "Naruto, wherever you are, please be safe…"

Scene Change

"So… let me get this straight," said Naruto. Peering at the assembled ponies before him, Naruto then pointed at the sheepish Cutie Mark Crusaders and said, "Those three girls were trying to use magic to help them find their cutie marks, which is something like the ninjas at my home village earning their forehead protectors, BUT…!" Pointing his finger at Twilight, Naruto continued, "…according to you, they messed up with the magic circle big time and somehow managed to bring me here, a place called Equestria which is inhabited by talking magical ponies. Also, because the messed-up magic circle basically went "KA-BOOM", you have no way to make another circle to send me back and that I might be stuck here for life." Taking a deep calming breath, Naruto then asked, "Did I get it all right?"

Nodding, Pinkie Pie wore her trademark smile and said, "Yup!"

A moment of awkward silence later, Naruto slumped with a heavy and weary sigh and said, "Well, it could have been worse I guess."

"Sure and sugar could be, partner," replied Applejack. Turning her attention to her younger sister, Apple Bloom, she pointedly asked, "And what do you have to say to Mister Naruto here?" Both Rarity and Dash turned their gaze upon Sweetie Belle and Sctootaloo respectively.

Looking at each other for support, the Cutie Mark Crusaders then hesitantly stepped forward and spoke in unison, "We're very sorry for taking you away from your home."

Not used to having anyone apologizing to him, Naruto actually felt both sheepish and bad as he spoke, "That's ok… I think. I made some dumb mistakes myself and… to be honest…" Naruto's expression became much sadder as he mumbled something under his breath.

Raising a brow, Dash asked, "What was that?"

Concerned by Naruto's sad expression, Fluttershy approached the boy and gently said, "You don't have to force yourself to tell us you if you really don't want to, Naruto." Before Dash or the other ponies could protest, Fluttershy turned her attention to them and shook her head, making it clear that they should respect Naruto's reluctance to speak. While not the most assertive of ponies, no one knows how to deal with non-pony creatures better than Fluttershy and, seeing that Naruto is most certainly not a pony, they decided to trust her judgement and remain quiet.

Looking at the kind pony, Naruto wore a small melancholic smile as he spoke, "Thanks, Fluttershy-chan."

"Well, it is getting late. You should get some rest to get ready for tomorrow. We might have a busy day tomorrow trying to help you find a way back home, or even have you settled down here in Ponyville, at least for a short while," said Fluttershy.

At the mere mention of home, Naruto lost his smile as he mumbled, "Yeah… assuming that anyone back home actually misses me."

Although the only one to hear what Naruto said, Fluttershy's shocked reaction was quite telling for every other pony present as she asked, "W-what do you mean by that Naruto?"

Looking away from Fluttershy with a bitterly sad expression on his face, Naruto said, "I'd… rather not talk about it."

"But don't you want to reunite with your family, your friends?" asked an increasingly concerned Fluttershy.

Unable to ignore her sincere pleading expression, Naruto sighed and said, "I… don't have any family, at least none that I know of. As for friends… let's just say almost everyone at my village hates me and leave it at that."

Horrified by Naruto's statement, every pony gasped in shock at the mere idea that a young child had suffered such persecution. Tears welled in Fluttershy's eyes as she asked, "Why?"

"I really don't know. For as long as I could remember, almost everyone hated me and would always call me a monster or a demon whenever they think that I can't hear them." Naruto's hands balled into fists as he continued to speak about his life, how people would often ignore him, insult him, overcharge him for even rotten food, drive him away from almost any home or shop he had visited, refuse to help him, and even went so far as to "accidentally" harm in on several occasions. Tears freely fell from his eyes as he continued to speak about his painful life, how he had recently started to attend the ninja academy in his home village with the hopes of becoming a Hokage, the strongest ninja and leader village, to finally earn the acknowledgement and respect of others. However, not only did the teachers in general hate him, even the students refused to befriend him as they chose to ignore him and, in some cases, bully him. "And the next thing I know… I come to this place and you… are some of the kindest and nicest peo… ponies I know…!"

While a weeping Fluttershy was gently cradling the sobbing boy, the other ponies were also crying as his suffering was among the worst they had ever known. Even the usually cheerful Pinkie Pie was crying, her usually bouncy curly hair now hanging low and straight, as the mere idea of being so lonely and unloved was almost too much for the party-loving pony to bear. Applejack and Rarity on the other hand were hugging their sobbing little sisters, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle respectively, while Scootaloo tried her hardest not to cry too much while her idol, Rainbow Dash, held her closely. After hearing about Naruto's past, is it really any wonder that the ponies would almost immediately decide to let him stay with them for as long as he wanted to needed to?

Before long, it was getting late and the ponies needed to return home with the exception of Fluttershy as she and Naruto were already in her house. Knowing the pain of being lonely and unappreciated by others, Fluttershy was more than willing to let Naruto stay with her, at least for the time being. While all the ponies agree that Naruto needs their help, one certain unicorn pony knew that there was more to Naruto's story than meets the eye…

Scene Change

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am writing this letter to inform you of an urgent matter. Earlier today, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had "borrowed" one of my books and created a magic circle which was originally used for mass-teleportation spells but ended up creating one which brought a child from another land, if not another world or even another universe, to ours. The child's name is Uzumaki Naruto, with the surname, Uzumaki.

A member of a race of two-legged beings known as "People", Uzumaki Naruto had been persecuted and hated by his own people for as long as he could remember, probably from the day he was a baby even. From what little we could find out about him, the source of Naruto's mistreatment is that he is deemed by his own kind as an evil being incarnate. As much as I hate to admit that such horrible people are right in ANY way, I cannot deny that when I used my magic to check on him while he was unconscious I was able to sense a terrible malignant energy or entity, separate from his own, living inside of him. Although I cannot confirm its true nature, I can quite certainly claim that the terrible energy that I detected is both powerful and hateful. It is therefore my belief that Naruto is a host or a container of the terrible energy or entity within him and is completely unaware of it. If my theory is correct, then as a member of the Elements of Harmony I wish to humbly request for your help in finding a way to either ensure that the energy is properly contained or have it purged entirely much like how we saved Princess Luna from her Nightmare Moon state. I have yet to inform the others about it though as they were already deeply upset with the revelation of Naruto's ultimately unjust suffering, I myself being no exception.

Although the fact that Naruto is the living container of some unknown terrible entity is worrisome all by itself, what I am more concerned about are the other people from his own home village. While I hate saying this, having Naruto's own kind ignore the incident which resulted in his disappearance from his own home village would probably be the best for him. If they choose to bring him back despite obviously not caring for him, I fear that their intentions for him would be anything but benevolent. And if they hate him as much as he had told us, I dread to think of what they would do to any-pony that cares for him. Please, help him.

Your most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

Scene Change

Reading the late-night letter send by her protégé, Princess Celestia, one of the extremely few but powerful alicorn ponies, also known as pegasus unicorns, frowned in worry. A large but elegant pony with a white coat, ever-flowing aurora-like hair, violet eyes, and a sun-themed cutie mark, Princess Celestia is one of the two major rulers of Equestria and the one responsible for manipulating the sun. It can also be said that she, alongside with her sister and any other alicorn, can be considered demigoddesses as they do not physically age unlike the other types of ponies. The fact that she could easily live for a thousand years without aging a day pretty much confirms her status as a living demigoddess.

Placing down the magically-levitated letter, Princess Celestia sighed as she considered Twilight's message. "If what she had informed is true, then the boy most certainly needs our help. The real question is, should we be more concerned about the malevolent entity within him, or from his own people who hate him and possibly any-pony else that cares for him?"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Just so you know, Naruto will not be paired with any the ponies anytime soon, partly due to his young age and his status as a human being (unless he somehow becomes one himself). Also, this fanfiction will be written with the assumption that Naruto is at the same age as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Feel free to review this story and let me know what you think.