AN: Hello and welcome to the newest chapter in this story, I apologize for the long wait in between chapters but I have been dealing with a change in my job. I work full-time instead of part-time and my work has been affecting my writing, I have had difficulty focusing so please bear with me and my incredibly slow updates.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mlp both are owned by their respective people or groups.

Celestia remembers when she first laid eyes upon Naruto, she had heard of him from numerous letters from Twilight. In her letters, Twilight had spoken very highly of him saying that he was a kind and caring stallion that always put the needs of others first.

Celestia would learn he joined up with the guard because of the rumors running rampant in Ponyville, she was saddened that such a thing happened to a nice stallion but was impressed that he didn't allow one event to give up on everything but instead chose to keep moving forward.

Celestia would see him multiple times on duty or patrol, she did not know why but she found himself drawn to the stallion for unknown reasons. Something about him reminded her of another stallion that she knew from long ago, she and her sister would end up falling in love with him only to lose him when he died protecting them from a great evil.

She had created the disguise of Glowing Sol to get a break from the burden of running the nation, she never expected to meet up with Naruto and become so close to him in the short amount of time that she knew him.

When the time came to tell him the truth about herself and Glowing Sol, he did not get angry or try to force her into anything or try to blackmail her into getting bits or becoming a noble. He just held her tight and told her that everything would be okay, it was this act that made her realize how much she loved him, and she showed him that night.

The two of them would form a relationship behind closed doors, neither one wanted to bring their relationship out in the open for fear of what troubles it would bring on the other. When she introduced him to her sister, Celestia did not know but Luna would have the same reaction as herself, but Luna's reaction would be stronger than hers was from the start.

Now besides trying to keep their relationship out of the public eye, Celestia had to worry about competing with Luna for Naruto's affections. Unfortunately, this would lead to the two sisters competing for Naruto's affections. Their completion with one other would draw unwanted attention to Naruto, many nobles would start to see Naruto negatively and would start causing problems for him.

Both she and Luna worried for Naruto, the nobles started creating more rumors to disgrace Naruto. He never let any of them interfere with his work or let them bother him, but the sisters were getting frustrated with the ponies spreading rumors around.

As the rumors got more out of control the sisters looked for a way for Naruto to get away from Canterlot for a while so they could deal with the foolish ponies starting rumors for their benefit.

It currently did Celestia receive a message from Mayor Mare about strange creatures and rising concern about the Timberwolves in EverTree forest. They sent Naruto there to monitor the situation and act when necessary when needed.

Naruto kept them updated through an enchanted necklace that worked like Spikes flame messaging, they were concerned with the rising attacks from monsters and the changes some of them were going through. Upon examining the remains of the monsters, they revealed they were being influenced by dark magic but who was doing it was a mystery.

Naruto also told them about Snow Angel, a mare he rescued from a Timberwolf attack. He wrote about how it started as a friendship but became something deeper with time and their relationship soon turned into a love for one other.

Just as everything was looking so good for Naruto did everything quickly fall apart, the events happened quickly one after the other. First was the murder of Snow Angel and her family with all evidence pointing towards Naruto, then came his imprisonment which made countless nobles overcome with joy.

The nobles saying that Naruto got what he deserved for trying to date Celestia and Luna when such a privilege should only be reserved for the most deserved stallions, not a filthy commoner.

Naruto's squad was in deep shock over his imprisonment, all of them were defending his innocence but the evidence was to over willingly against him. They were unhappy about it, but their hands were tied unless new evidence became known to clear Naruto of the charges.

It was after his imprisonment that many stallions came forth hoping to woo the princess and fill the void in their hearts that Naruto had left. They drew a line when they started and-mouthing Naruto to get in their good graces but that only angered the princesses, they said that Naruto would be the only stallion that they would allow into their hearts.

Unfortunately, it would be a year before the truth would come out and the real ponies behind the murders would be revealed. Celestia closed her eyes as she remembered how everything became known, it would be an accident that spike would uncover the truth and the ones in the shadows manipulating everything from the shadows.

[b](Flashback)[/b]

In a familiar library in Ponyville, a certain dragon was going about his day doing his normal chores, it had been a year since Naruto was imprisoned and Twilight and the others have moved on, each had found new relationships with different stallions.

As he dusted around the library, he collected books that were left around from various study sessions to be put back on the back on the shelves. There times he wished that Twilight would remember to put the books she took back on the shelf.

One of the books he collected was a book with a worn cover and yellow pages on the inside. Spike just chalked it to another book that Twilight had picked up.

Spike put the book down on a table with others to be re-shelved, later as Spike was re-shelving books the worn book was knocked to the ground with its opening upon impact. Spike went over to pick up the book but noticed it was opened and his natural curiosity made him look inside.

As spike read the book, he realized that the book was a journal belonging to Twilight's colt-friend Swift Quill, and to his horror, the journal painted a horrific picture of who he was. The journal revealed that he and his friends were behind the rumors that were spread about Naruto and it also revealed how he and his friends were the ones who killed Snow Angel and her family.

Spike was horrified by what he just read before every pony turned against Naruto the two of them were best buds. He would invite him out on gem hunts, come to the library to swap stories, and just have fun with him when Twilight and the others were off on missions for the Princess and other things.

Now that he knew the truth, he had to tell Twilight and the others as soon as possible. He would also send a message to Princess Celestia to get the guard involved just in case things got ugly.

In a stroke of good luck, Twilight entered the library has gone out to run errands, Spike ran forward with the journal in hand. Twilight immediately knew something was wrong from Spikes' behavior.

"Twilight, you need to read this!" Spike exclaimed while waving the book in his hands.

Twilight grabbed Spikes's shoulders to calm him down, "alright, I will but first, you need to calm down."

Spike took several deep breathes while Twilight took the book that Spike was waving around, as Twilight read the book, she realized it was Swift Quills journal from his handwriting.

Spike looked at Twilight's face as she read the journal, he noticed the various emotions on her face. The first was a shock which then turned into horror as she read everything that her colt-friend and his friends had done. The journal also revealed that the stallions were just toying with their emotions and used them to get to Naruto.

By the time Twilight was finished reading the journal, she was in tears at the end of it. She never imagined that any pony could do something so horrific, she knew she had to tell the others and Princess Celestia right away.

"Spike this is a horrific discovery, we have to warn the others and contact Princess Celestia right away," Twilight said while wiping away the tears in her eyes.

Spike nodded his head in agreement, first, they would get the others together and show them the journal, then they would contact Princess Celestia for help on the matter.

Before they could head out the library door opened and a unicorn stallion walked in the room, the stallion had a light grey coat with a chestnut brown mane and tail. he was wearing a pair of black dress pants a navy-blue shirt and a dark grey vest. This was Twilights colt friend Swift Quill, who did not know how much trouble he was in.

Quill walked in the room to see Twilight and spike talking in a hushed tone, as he walked closer, they noticed him in the room. He was confused as to why Spike seemed to be glaring at him while Twilight was looking at him with a scared look on her face.

Before he could ask what, the matter was that had then so upset, he noticed that Twilight had his journal in her hands. Quill knew he was in deep trouble and had to act fast, he knew it would not be long until her friends found out the truth.

Twilight was already preparing a spell to capture him, but Quill reacted faster firing off a magic blast that threw Twilight and Spike against a bookshelf and then ran out the door to warn the others.

Spike managed to recover first and then rushed over to Twilight to make sure she was okay before helping her get to her feet.

"Twilight are you ok? That jerk is going to pay for what to us," Spike said while slamming his fist into his hand.

"Before that, we need to warn the others, since Quill escaped, we need to send a message to Princess Celestia," Twilight replied.

Half an hour later everypony was gathered in the library, the rest of the girl's colt friends had disappeared already. Applejack and Rarity had also found journals like the one Twilight had found.

"I can't believe they had been playing us the entire time, they murdered an innocent family and then set Naruto up to take the fall," Rainbow Dash said in a sad tone.

"I'm afraid it's true, the stallions we loved were just playing us while they were monsters in disguise," Twilight replied.

Everypony in the room was shaken by what they discovered, Fluttershy and Rarity were horrified by the actions of the stallions while Pinkie pie was in tears at the fact, she had turned her back on one of her oldest friends. Rainbow Dash and Applejack wanted to track the stallions down and get answers from them as to why they did what they did.

The reason they had not gone out to try and find the stallions as they were waiting for a squad of the royal guard to arrive to help them arrest the stallions.

"Don't worry sugar cube, once the guard arrives, we'll head out and track those varmints down and they will pay for their crimes," Applejack replied.

Applejack clenched her fists in anger as she remembered what she discovered in her colt-friends journal Shaken Earth, his journal talked about how they were given a chance to ruin Naruto's life from a strange stallion the group had met.

What angered Applejack was the way Shaken Earth written about AppleBloom, he wrote about her in disturbing and uncomfortable ways. She had a dark idea as to what he wanted to do to Applebloom, but she would not let the creep touch her sister.

Rarity was consoling a crying Fluttershy, both had been crying heavily after the truth was revealed about their colt-friends. Fluttershy should have known something was wrong with Silent Heart, Angel bunny and the rest of her animal friends did not like him at all and tried to keep him away from her.

Rarity was concerned for Sweetie Bell, the journal she had found was like the one Applejack had found with Class Act talking about her little sister in a disgusting manner. The CMC was with Big Mac on the farm until the Stallions were arrested, Big Mac was furious when he heard the news if it wasn't for the fact, he was protecting the CMC he would hunt down the stallions himself.

Pinkie was sitting down her mane and tail had gone flat due to how sad she was feeling with the learning of the truth. She like the others had thought the stallions genuinely loved them but they were just lying phonies who just wanted to use them.

She did not understand how they were so easily taken in by their charm, looking back Pinkie was confused about how easily the stallions wormed their way into their lives and how they turned their back on Naruto. They had known Naruto for years, but they turned on him so easily, it just did not make any sense.

The group was pulled from their thoughts by the sound of knocking on the door, Spike moved to answer letting in a tall stallion dressed in full armor. The stallion took off his helmet revealing his white fur tone and multi-shaded blue mane. He was Shinning Armor captain of the Royal Guard and proud older brother to Twilight Sparkle.

"Shining your leading this mission? It's also nice to see you as well," Twilight said as she hugged her older brother.

Shining returned the hug, "When I heard what happened I volunteered to lead the mission to capture the stallions."

When Shining learned of the truth about the bearer's colt-friends he was furious behind words, when he heard that a squad would be deployed to capture the stallions, he immediately leaped at the chance to lead the group.

Twilight easily so the real reason on why Shining wanted to lead the mission, she knew he wanted to get the first crack at Swift Quill for hurting her and deceiving her.

The bearers glanced at the group of armored ponies how were waiting to be deployed, among the armored figures there were two mares in matching jumpsuits. The mares were Spitfire and Fleetfoot, the commander and third in command of the Wonderbolts.

They had volunteered to come on this mission when they learned there was information that clear Naruto of the charges against him and get him released from his prison.

Shining was curious about how they knew Naruto, but he chose not to pry into their personal lives. He remembered both had leaped at the chance to come on this mission when they learned about how Naruto was going to be cleared of his crimes.

Twilight had made sure to let Dash know ahead of time that they would be here, she knew her friend would be excited at the fact they are here but they needed to focus on the mission first, she hoped that Dash could talk to them after the mission was complete.

"I will go over the mission parameters: the goal is to capture the stallions as alive and unharmed if possible. There is a chance they are working with an unknown party, so I want every pony to be careful. We have found tracks that lead into Evertree woods, so we will work in teams as a precaution against any threat," Shining Armor said.

"Zecora is familiar with the woods will be joining up with the group once we enter the woods since she lives in the woods and she knows the area, so she will be an invaluable resource in tracking the stallions," Shining said.

Every pony in the room nodded in understanding, they all knew how dangerous Evertree was, so they were not taking any chances. Shining had sent out a few scouts to spot any tracks from the air and ground, as soon as they returned, they would head out.

Suddenly, a pegasus guard burst into the library, he was panting heavily due to how fast he flew.

"Captain, we found the stallions, they are grouped in a clearing a little way into Evertree woods," the pegasus guard said.

"Okay you heard him, let's move out and capture these criminals before they get another chance to run away again," Shining Armor said.

At the same time in the clearing, the ex-coltfriends of the bearers were waiting for their allies to get them to safety. Swift Quill looked at the others, most of them and worried looks on their faces as they waited. Swift's mind went back to when the group first meet the strange doctor and his silent partner, they approached the group at a bar both were unusual looking stallions and gave off a strange feeling.

One was a tall earth pony stallion that could rival Big Mac in height, while he looked fairly then something told Swift that he was stronger than he appeared to be. When he looked at the stallion, he smiled back at him showing his teeth were not normal but appeared to be made from metal. He had a brown mane and tail with a tannish fur color.

The other was a shorter stallion dressed in a doctor's outfit complete with a lab coat, he was a unicorn with a dark golden fur tone and fading yellow hair. He was a pair of wire-rimmed glasses over his golden eyes. Swift felt from the beginning that the doctor was dangerous, something seemed off about him.

The doctor talked about how he could give them a chance to get back at Naruto, to put him in his place where he belonged and out of their sights. They had felt that he never belonged in their town because he was a freak in their eyes.

They talked it over and then leaped at the chance to put Naruto where he belonged or drive him away from their town.

The doctor gave them false evidence of him cheating on each of the bearers allowing them to swoop in and when the affections of the bearers. This allowed them to access some of the benefits that the bearers had and bask in their celebrity status.

For a while, it worked, and Naruto would eventually leave Ponyville, there were set in their relationships with the bearers, so everything was working out perfectly for them.

Unfortunately, Naruto would return to Ponyville, what was strange at first was he avoided the public eye as much as possible. They did not notice his return until one of the group head him talking to a mare that worked as a nurse in the hospital.

They would be visited by a strange stallion who worked with the mad doctor from earlier, he was a handsome unicorn stallion. He had silver mane and tail and a grey fur tone; he was a major play-colt known for breaking hearts.

His name is Silver Tongue, he is a master manipulator and the one responsible for destroying Naruto's reputation in the Ponyville. He is known for taking pleasure in manipulating others for his gain and watching them destroy themselves to earn his favor.

"You already know that Naruto as returned, this could be a problem for us because he could start snooping and around and uncover the truth on who spread those lies," Silver said.

The stallions looked nervous, if Naruto uncovered the truth, they would be in serious trouble for themselves.

"We already have a plan in motion we just need you to do what you are told to do," Silver replied.

The stallions nodded their heads in agreement, they waited until the right moment then broke into Snow Angel's home and killed her and her family. After that, they used the evidence given to them to paint Naruto as the guilty one.

Silver worked behind the scenes using his natural ability to cloud the minds of the town's residents and make them turn against Naruto and see him as a monster. The plan was an enormous success and the stallions went back to their lives with the bearers.

Now everything was falling apart due to their foolish mistakes, they could only hope that their allies would help them once more.

The silence in the area was broken by approaching footsteps, the group started to worry until they saw it was the doctor and his companions. This brought a sigh of relief to the stallions, they believed that they were in the clear and nothing else to worry about.

The trio was led by the same doctor as to when they first met him, the tall stallion and Silver Tongue were with him. Swift Quill began to get a bad feeling welling up inside of him, but he just waved it off as tension from the situation he is currently in.

"Well, well, well, you boys have landed yourselves into a heap of trouble. It would be awfully bad for us and our associates if you were captured, so we have been sent to take care of you," the doctor said with a menacing grin on his face.

Shaken Earth approached the doctor, "Okay, let's get a move on before any pony shows up."

The doctor only chucked at the frightened stallions' words, the bad feeling Swift Quill had returned in force as he realized what was going to happen to them. The group was here to take them away they were here to dispose of them to prevent them from talking.

"I'm afraid you and the others have served your purpose and are no longer needed to us. So, to prevent you from talking we have been sent to deal with you," the doctor said while motioning to the tall stallion behind him.

The stallion nodded his head and walked forward and grabbed Shaken by his shoulder with one hand before making a fist with his other. The stallion then slammed his hand through Shaken's chest.

Shaken looked down to see the stallion's arm in his chest up to his elbow, the others behind Shaken could see the stallion arm coming through Shaken's chest and his heart clenched in his hand before it was crushed.

The other stallions were horrified by the action and knew they were next unless they could escape to safety. The panicked stallions tried to run away but a barrier blocked their escape except for Swift he managed to sneak away but not for long.

[b](With the Bearers and the Guard)[/b]

The bearers and the guard were approaching the clearing that the stallion was sited in, as they closed in on the clearing Shining forced everypony to come to a halt and ordered the other members of the guard to form a perimeter around the clearing to prevent any pony from escaping the clearing.

Shining motioned the group forward into the clearing, the tension in the air was thick and there was a strange stench in the air. Everypony could feel that something was very wrong, the closer they got to the center the worse the feeling became.

The group slowly entered the center of the clearing to find a horrific sight before them, the bodies of the bearer's colt-friends were displayed throughout the area all of them killed horrifically.

The clearing was littered with the bodies of the wanted stallions, all of them had been killed in a gruesome manner. The bearers were horrified by the carnage, they never wanted this for the stallions that hurt them.

"This is horrifying, who or what could have done this?" Twilight asked.

The others went in any better shape, the sight before them was a nightmare they never wanted to witness. Shining quickly ordered the guard to close off the area and try and find clues to who or what did this.

Before the guard could follow Shining orders, a scream was heard from the far side of the clearing, realizing that there could be survivors everypony rushed forward to the screaming.

As the group moved forward a terrified Swift Quill burst from the woods, they could see he had numerous tears on his clothing and several different cuts on his body. Overall, he was in rough shape, he noticed the bearers and the guard and tried to move towards them but was stopped when something wrapped around his legs.

Twilight moved forward to help but was stopped when Applejack grabbed her arm, "what are you doing he needs help?" Twilight asked.

"Look behind him, if you go out there you will be killed as well sugar cube," Applejack replied.

Twilight looked and saw another stallion emerge from woods, Twilight heard Spitfire and Fleetfoot gasp in shock. Twilight wondered if they knew who the stallion was, but before any pony could do anything the large stallion caught up to Swift Quill.

He placed his hands-on Swift's head and killed him by snapping his neck in one fluid motion, everypony watching was horrified by what they saw. Before any of the guards could move out to deal with the stallion two more appeared from the woods in the same manner as the first one.

Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Zecora would once again gasp as the doctor and Silver emerged from the woods, the bearers and the guard were confused on who these ponies were and their relationship to their former colt-friends.

"Well done, I see that you have taken care of the last of them, "the doctor said while laughing calmly.

The doctor then glanced towards the other end of the clearing and saw a large group of ponies, there were the bearers and members of the royal guard. He also saw three familiar faces he had not seen in years.

The Doctor smiled at the three, "Isn't this such a joyous day, I'd never believed that I would see such familiar faces today. I remember the fun times we had together when I had you on my table and used you for my experiments."

The group members turned to the three mares in question, the looks on their faces told them that this was an unhappy reunion. All three of them had immense looks of rage on their face and wanted nothing more to hurt the doctor.

Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Zecora remembered him as one of the doctors who experimented on the prisoners of the cult. He was a part of the chimera research which was focused on combining ponies with a single creature to gain new abilities.

The three of them owed Naruto everything since he was the one to give them their lives back from when the cultists nearly destroyed them. They promised themselves they would pay him back in any way they could.

When he was brought in for the murder charges of Snow Angel and her family, they did what they could to fight against it, but the evidence was too strong against him. They knew that he was being set up, but they did not know who was doing it.

Now with the Doctor right in front of them did the pieces become clearer, everything was set up by the cult to get revenge on Naruto.

"So, you're still around you piece of trash I would have thought you would have found a nice ditch to crawl up and die in," Spitfire said with substantial amounts of venom.

Zecora nodded her head in agreement, "It is such a shame that we have met once again, I wish that your fate would be the same."

The others were more than a little confused at the hate-fueled words coming from their companions, Shining was the first to ask the question that everypony had on their minds.

"Spitfire, what is going on? How do you know that strange stallion, what does he mean by experimenting on you?" Shining asked.

"That is a long story, it will have to wait until we have done with our current situation. I have no intention of letting these monsters go, they need to face the consequences for their crimes," Spitfire replied in an angry tone of voice.

The sound of laughter rang out through the clearing, looking forward the group saw it was the doctor that was laughing. The group wondered what was so funny especially the situation he and his companion are currently in.

"What do you find to be so funny in case you haven't noticed it yet you and you're your companion are outnumbered here. There is nowhere you can escape to without one of us stopping you in your tracks," Rainbow Dash replied.

The doctor merely raised an eyebrow at the arrogant mare's declaration, as much fun it would be to toy with her and the rest of their group it was time for them to go since the cleanup was done.

"You shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions; you haven't caught us yet and you won't catch us today. I look forward to telling the others about our little reunion," the doctor replied.

Shining stepped forward, "Not so fast, I'm placing you both under arrest for your numerous crimes."

The doctor only chuckled at the accusations, "I'm sorry to disappoint you but we must be going, do be kind and give the sister princesses my regards."

The doctor then pulled a round bottle with a long neck from his coat, the bottle contained a strange dark amber liquid.

Before the guard could move out and contain the prisoners, the doctor opened the bottle and poured it on the ground in front of him. The liquid turned into a cloud of smoke that enveloped both the doctor and the stallion, when it cleared both were gone.

"What! How did they do that? What was that strange liquid?" Twilight asked aloud.

"Search the area for any clues, examine everything for evidence that will lead us to find them," Shining ordered.

Twilight and the others turned to the three mares that seemed to know the strange stallions, they were hoping they could fill in the blanks on what was going on.

"I know you have questions but now is not the time or place for them, we will gladly answer all of them. Let us return home and then the story shall be told once again," Zecora said.

The bearers nodded they wanted to leave this area, the ones most affected were Fluttershy and Rarity. The just wanted to get away from this horrific place and rid their minds of what they saw in the clearing.

Shining walked up to the group, "Twilight I'm having a squad escort you and your friends back to Ponyville, while the group may be gone, I'm not taking any chances of anything happening."

Spitfire and Fleetfoot walked towards the group, "We'll be joining the escort, we are not needed here and head back as well."

The group quickly back through the woods, everypony was quiet with what they had seen in the woods. Twilight and the others wanted their former colt-friends to be punished but not at this extreme level.

Twilight wanted to return to the library as soon as possible to check on Spike and start talking to Zecora and the others about their connection to that strange stallion in the doctor's coat.

As the group entered the library Spike came running up to them a scroll held tightly in his claws while calling Twilight's name.

"Twilight tour back; I just got an urgent message from Princess Celestia. She wants you, the others along with Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Zecora to come as well. She is sending a carriage to collect every pony," Spike said.

"Right now, I wonder what she needs from us?" Twilight asked.

"I suppose we will find out when we get their sugar cube," Applejack replied.

The then headed outside where a large carriage was awaiting them, several pegasus guards were pulling the chariot. Everypony got inside except for Spitfire and Fleetfoot who chose to fly alongside the carriage with the guard.

The mood inside of the carriage was quiet as everypony was trying to process what happened in the forest and who were those two strange stallions. They also wondered what their connection to their former colt-friends was and what did they not want to be found out that they were killed because of what they knew.

Twilight and her friend's thoughts soon turned to the friend that was set up for everything and who they betrayed so easily. He was a trusted friend and they turned their backs on him so easily, especially when their former colt-friends brought supposed evidence of him cheating on them.

Rainbow Dash was the one most affected because of her connection to the element of loyalty, she should have known that the friend she considered a brother would never do anything to hurt or betray her. He had been there for her numerous times when she had felt at her lowest, he was there offering her his hand to pull her back up to her feet.

She and the others that they could earn his forgiveness back with time, Princess Celestia was supposed to have him released from his cell due to the evidence clearing him for the murder of Snow Angel and her family.

They were pulled from their thoughts when they felt the chariot start its decent meaning they were arriving at the Castle. As Twilight and her friends disembarked, they prepared themselves for the long apology that they were going to give Naruto.

[b](Flashback end)[/b]

Celestia had sent a squad of guards to bring Naruto up from his cell and to the throne room, but instead of returning with him, they came back with horrific news. The guards that had been stationed to protect Naruto from any threats were killed and Naruto was missing from his cell.

Celestia knew that Naruto did not break out of his cell and kill the guards because his cell had special enchantments on it to alert her if any pony tried to enter or leave the cell without her knowing it.

Since the spells were still in place, some pony must have done something to Naruto while he was still in his cell. The pony or ponies would have to be strong since Celestia put her elite guard on the protection detail because she could trust them not to be influenced by any third party.

The guard brought back to items that were found in Naruto's old cell, one was a strange flower with her cutie mark on it and the other was a book with younger Naruto on the cover in rags with his wrists chained to the wall.

As Celestia read the book she realized it showed everything that had happened in Naruto's life from when he was born to his time when he was a prisoner of the cult and became a chimera. To growing up in Ponyville and everything else up until his last days in Equestria, Celestia wondered who or what made this book because it was far too detailed to be written normally.

As for the flower, Celestia recognized the flower as a unique magic flower that records anything that happens near it and replays it when magic is channeled into the flower. She could not help but wonder how it grew in Naruto's cell and what events did it record.

Celestia channeled her magic into the flower, the flower opened releasing a glowing up that enveloped the room. The orb showed Naruto resting in his cell then the two stallions approaching his cell and talking to him.

Celestia recognized the two from numerous descriptions from the ones that she and the guard rescued in the Badlands after escaping from the nightmarish facility. They among several high-ranking members of the cult managed to evade her grasp, all of them were highly dangerous criminals that she wanted to be found and captured to face their crimes.

Celestia remembered how she had found out about the hidden facility that was capturing her ponies and other innocent creatures from all over and using them for experiments. She and several squads of the royal guard to deal with the situation, instead, she would find a large group of ponies and other species worn down from the heat and other conditions.

As she talked with each of the leaders of the group, she would discover that their original leader, the one who gave them their freedom was lost shortly before escaping from the caverns. He started them on the path towards freedom but upon reaching a massive bridge across a bottomless cavern is when the monster that had been chasing them had appeared on the other side of it.

They talked about how he challenged the monster breaking its weapon before sending it into the darkness but before he could rejoin with the others the monsters ensnared him in its whip and pulled him into the darkness as well.

The memory would go on to show the scientist stallion bragging about the plan that destroyed Naruto's life and landed him in the cell. To prevent him from causing any more trouble for the cult they had been sent to deal with him, Celestia cried out as the stallion she loved was pulled into a strange arcane circle.

The memory ended their which left Celestia in tears because she had no idea what happened to Naruto, for all she knew the circle could have transported Naruto somewhere far away or to a hidden dungeon to keep him prisoner.

Celestia was pulled from her thoughts as a guard told her that Twilight, her friends, and a few others were waiting to come in. Celestia wiped her face of the tears and composed herself to face the others and the sad news that she would be giving them.

Twilight and the others entered the room, they could feel that something was wrong because of the tension in the air and the look on Celestia's face.

"I'm glad to see you all are ok, I wish this meeting could have happened under better circumstances before you say anything, I have already received a report on what happened in the woods. Shining Armor filled me in on the details in his report, I'm sorry what you had to see in the woods it wasn't my intention to expose you it such violence," Celestia said.

Spitfire was the first to step forward, "Princess I must ask is Naruto ok? Seeing Golden Scalpel and Jaws has us worried that something may have happened to Naruto, especially considering he was the one that revealed their plans to you."

"Princess Celestia, what is going on? Who were those strange stallions that appeared in the forest?" Rainbow Dash asked her curiosity peaked.

Celestia nodded her head, "The stallions you encountered in the woods belong to a very dangerous cult that I had encountered many years ago, despite my best efforts to unmask them and take down the cult they proved to be difficult to find. It was when the foal-napping occurred throughout Equestria was I able to start uncovering more about the mysterious cult."

The main six minus Applejack and Rainbow Dash gained confused looks on their faces, they never heard of any foal napping in large reports before.

"Umm, Princess Celestia what did you mean by foal napping?" Rarity asked.

"As Princess Celestia said, several years ago there were a large number of foal-napping occurring in both Equestria and the surrounding lands were stolen or bought from various cities and towns to serve as test subjects in a hidden facility in the badlands," Spitfire said.

The ones who were not aware of foal-napping were horrified that such an event took place, so many children ripped from their homes and the loving embrace of their families disgusted the bearers to know the end.

"Does that mean you are one of the lost one's Spitfire?" Twilight asked in a nervous tone.

Spitfire said nothing but nodded her head to confirm Twilight's question, she clenched her fist in anger as she remembered those dark times when they were imprisoned by the cult.

"The cult needed test subjects for their experiments so they went after children because they would be easy to mold into weapons under their control. The cult had various experiments going on, different ponies were selected for different experiments myself and Naruto were used in the Chimera experiment while others were used in either drug testing or the cyborg initiative," Spitfire said.

The bearers were shocked and disturbed by what Spitfire said, but at the same time, this explained Naruto's unique appearance.

"Is that why sparks and embers are coming from your hands, they started when you told us that was imprisoned by the cult and have steadily gotten stronger," Fluttershy said.

The others looked at Spitfire's clenched hands and saw the same thing that Fluttershy saw, like Naruto she had unique abilities granted to her by the cult's experiments. Spitfire had power over flames that she could summon at will, she learned how to better control, them as time went by.

"Yes, I gained the power to summon and control flames at will because of the cult's experiments. I also seemed to be able to heal at an accelerated rate, wounds that would take days or weeks to heal were healed in a few minutes," Spitfire said.

Spitfire demonstrated her fire conjuring ability by summoning a small fireball in her hands and making it change into a variety of shapes. The bearers especially Rainbow Dash were in awe at Spitfire's ability.

"If y'all do not mind me asking, why did Naruto's appearance change then? Yours didn't change because of the experiment?" Applejack asked.

Spitfire sighed aloud, she was going to answer Applejacks question she began to feel a chill and looked over at Fleetfoot to confirm her suspicion's. Fleetfoot had gained a faint Icy mist around her hands and wings, she was put through the same experiment as herself, but she preferred to keep her abilities under wrap unless necessary.

"The procedure that I went through and the one Naruto went through are two different ones, the one Naruto went through was much more dangerous than mine because of how they went about doing it and the number of creatures fused with the subject," Spitfire said.

"What do you mean by creatures darling?" Rarity asked.

"They used different creatures to make strong warriors, Naruto was fused with a breed of dragon and wolf hence why he looks the way that he does. I was combined with one and on a lighter scale hence why my appearance didn't change," Spitfire said.

"The cult used some form of alchemy to turn us into chimeras or transfer the powers of the monsters or test subjects into different hosts. It wasn't an uncommon sight to see a hosts body breakdown after the ritual, Naruto is the only pony to survive the one that turned him from an Earth pony into the chimera you all know him as," Fleetfoot said.

Everypony in the room that didn't know the truth was horrified and disgusted to learn what had happened to those imprisoned by the cult, the bearers especially were disgusted to hear what happened and understood why Naruto refused to talk about his past.

Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of Spitfire and Fleetfoot, she pulled both mares into a hug while sobbing loudly crying over the pain they had suffered.

"That is so sad that you and so many others were forced to go through that nightmare, but you all managed to escape that dark place and retake your lives that the cult stole from you. If you don't mind me asking but how did you and the others escape the cult?" Pinkie asked with large sparkling eyes.

"Pinkie brings up a good point, how did you and the others escape from the cult?" Twilight asked.

Spitfire told them how it was Naruto that started them on the path to freedom, he used the abilities that the cult gave him along with weapons that he stole from the cult lead them into the caves to escape the cult.

"It was when we reached a massive bridge overlooking a bottomless chasm that things took a darker turn, across the bridge we could see sunlight leading into what we would later learn to be the Badlands. Naruto had us move quickly across the bridge because there was something following us since we escaped the facility," Spitfire said.

Everypony was on the edge wanting to find out what happened to Naruto and what was following the group.

"Naruto helped those who had difficulty crossing the bridge themselves, it was when he was bringing the others over that he noticed there was a spot in the bridge were time had weakened it. He planned to break the bridge to stall the cult and give us time to run away. As Naruto was prepping for the final strike to break the bridge did the monster that had been following us reveal itself," Fleetfoot said.

"So, don't keep us in suspense what was chasing y'all and how did Naruto get separated from your group?" Applejack asked.

"A wall of flames erupted from the cavern where we had just left from which was followed by a massive roar that shook the cavern. From that flames did a monster emerge; we could do nothing as the monster approached Naruto on the bridge. The monster summoned a blade made of fire and swung it at Naruto with him swinging the ax he stole from the cult at the blade. The monsters blade shattered, and Naruto used his ax to break the bridge and send the monster into the endless darkness. As Naruto made his way to rejoin us did a flame whip crack and wrap around Naruto pulling him into the darkness," Spitfire said.

She remembers how helpless she felt on the bridge as she watched the one, she and the others considered to be their leader and strongest amongst themselves was pulled into the darkness and his believed death. They would end up being proven wrong later when they reunited with one other.

"We believed he was killed at the time and moved on hoping to finish what he had started when he had freed us from our shackles that the cult had forced upon us," Fleetfoot said.

The bearers wherein different emotional states upon hearing the end of their tale; Rarity and Fluttershy were in tears, Pinkie was openly sobbing at what had Naruto had been through, Applejack and Rainbow dash were clenching their fists in anger because of what their friend had suffered through, and finally, Twilight was horrified at what she had learned.

"We didn't learn that Naruto was alive until after he joined the guard and was serving under a friend of ours," Spitfire said.

"It was after the incident with the poison joke that Naruto sought me out after hearing of me from the others," Zecora said.

The bearers blushed in embarrassment as they remembered that event and the lesson that they learned about judging others by their appearance and the consequences that it can have.

"Umm, excuse me but we're getting a little sidetracked. Can we find out what happened to Naruto please if that's okay," Fluttershy said in a timid tone.

Celestia frowned, she wasn't looking forward to telling the others Naruto's fate, "I'm afraid I have bad news regarding Naruto when the guards went to retrieve him from his cell they discovered some pony else had gotten to him first."

Every pony was shocked by the news, they had heard the cell Naruto was placed in was a unique cell that had several different enchantments on it to keep Naruto locked up and to protect him from outside threats. The cell could only be opened by either Celestia or her sister, this raised the question who could have gotten past the spells.

"Princess Celestia, how is that possible? The cell was enchanted to prevent any pony from messing with Naruto, how could any pony break your spells?" Twilight asked with a concerned tone in her voice.

"We indeed enchanted the cell to only be opened by us or a special key that I kept hidden from everypony, yet somehow a pair of stallions managed that to do just that," Celestia replied.

"In the cell, we found a strange flower that bore my cutie mark and showed us what happened in the cell and a book showing Naruto's life from when he was born to his imprisonment," Celestia said.

Spitfire stepped forward, "Can you show us what happened to Naruto in the cell?" Spitfire asked.

Celestia nodded her head and grabbed the flower from the nearby table and channeled her magic into the flower. Everypony was shocked at Naruto's change in appearance but when the two stallions emerged from the shadows.

Every pony turned to Spitfire when they felt a large amount of heat coming off her, she was surrounded by flames but was slowly coming down after seeing that she had lost control of her powers.

The others watched as the memory ended with Naruto being pulled into a glowing arcane symbol on the ground, the flower closed itself once more signaling the end of the memory. Everypony in the room was silent as they processed what they had seen, two strange stallions had away taken their friend.

Who were they and what was their connection to Naruto?

"Okay, who were those two strange stallions? The one in the lab coat gave off an extremely dangerous feeling that is giving me the creepies?" Pinkie asked.

"The stallion in the doctor's coat is Mixed Elixir, he headed the most advanced level of the chimera project. The other pony is Steel Bones and he serves as Mixed Elixir's bodyguard as well as his right hand," Fleetfoot said.

"So, Mixed Elixir was the one responsible for making Naruto a chimera?" Luna asked.

Spitfire nodded her head, "Elixir took delight in the pain he caused, as long his personal goals were met, he would sacrifice any pony or anything to fulfill them."

The others were disgusted to learn about such a stallion would do such heinous crimes, he is a monster in the form of a pony.

"Umm, not to distract every pony but who placed the items in Naruto's cell since it seemed like whoever did want us to find them in the first place?" Pinkie asked.

This caused everypony in the room to stop and think, Pinkie raised a good question who placed the items in the cell and what was their motivation to do so. This raised so many questions but what made it more difficult was what little information they had to go on.

Everypony in the room was pulled from their thoughts when the sound of laughter broke the silence in the room.

They soon found the source of the laughter; it was coming from a strange figure dressed in a jester's outfit. The outfit was colored in various shades of purple and white, covering his face was a theater happy mask.

Rainbow Dash was the first to react and flew up towards the strange figure, "Just who the buck are you and how did you get here?" Rainbow demanded.

The jester stood up and laughed at Dash's question when she tried to tackle him, he just moved into the darkness and moved to a different location in the room.

"To answer your question, I am many things as for right now I am the only link you have to the friend you betrayed," the jester said.

Celestia stepped forward, "What do you want in return for helping us take back our friend?"

The jester shook his head, "There is nothing I want from you, I have a personal score to settle with the cult, and helping you benefit me in away.

Celestia frowned at the current situation, she did not trust this jester but more than anything she wanted the stallion she loved back in her arms once more. She would work with him, but she would be careful since he is after his own goals and what benefits himself.

"It seems we have little choice but to ask for your help then," Celestia said.

The jester laughed once more before moving in front of Celestia, she could tell he was far from an average pony or if he was a pony at all. Right now, he held all the cards and there was little she could do about it.

"As much fun as it is being the center of attention, I must take my leave now, new books will appear that document Naruto's journey through the void and the worlds he will traverse. Until must bid you ado until next, we meet then Princess," the jester said before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

Everypony in the room was confused and wondered who or what he was and what was the hidden connection to the cult was. Twilight looked to her teacher for guidance on what to do next but Celestia had no answer to give to Twilight she was just as confused as everyone else was.

"So, what happens now, do we wait until the cult makes their next move or until they make an appearance?" Rarity asked.

"I say we find those bastards and make them return Naruto to us," Rainbow dash said in an aggressive tone.

Applejack stepped forward and grabbed Dash by her tail and pulled her down, "Simmer down Dash. I know you want Naruto back so you can apologize to him, we all do but rushing off won't do us any good."

Dash knew Applejack was right but that still did not make her feel any better, she made a huge mistake that is eating away at her and there was only one thing she wanted to due to fix it.

"Unfortunately, that may be the case, I've tried numerous times to track the cult and its members but that has proven to be easier said than done. They are well versed at staying under the radar and know how to mask their movements to the point where I can't track them," Celestia said.

When she received word of a large group of ponies in other species wandering the Badlands in horrific conditions she leaped into action, she had several carriages ready and a squad of the royal guard to escort her to the Badlands and rescue the group.

The group was in even worse condition then she had first heard, most of them had severe burns from sun exposure others were on the brink of collapse. The leaders of the group spoke of the nightmarish place that they had escaped from and they told her of the brave colt that started them on the path to freedom.

She would help guide the former prisoners to rebuilding their lives and fitting in with society. The group never forgot the sacrifice of the colt and the life that he had given them, they lived their lives always thanking him for starting the journey.

The throne room was quiet as everypony wandered what will happen next, there were so many questions that needed answers, but they were grasping at straws unable to figure out where to start. The only certain thing was the fact the group was planning something dangerous and they needed to be careful in finding out what that was.

It was a few years after rescuing the group from the Badlands did, they uncover a cult base, however when the royal guard arrived all members of the cult were killed. Each member was cut down, but who did it was something they did not know.

Celestia wonders if the one responsible for that massacre was the same creature that was just here, he spoke of a grudge against the cult and maybe attacked the base looking for information.

Pinkie suddenly raised her hand, "I have a question, how did Zecora, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot meet up with Naruto. He never mentioned knowing you three in the past."

Zecora nodded her head and stepped forward, "Yes, I reunited with my friend, soon after the incident with the poison joke bloom."

"I would find out he was away from the town when the incident had occurred and sought me out in my home," Zecora said.

[b](Flashback Start)

[/b]Naruto was wearing a dark orange shirt and a pair of black pants with blue flames around the bottom and sides. He was walking towards the home of some pony that he had not seen in several years, not since he led the others to freedom from the facility.

He was praying that the zebra is his friend from that nightmarish place, Naruto hoped she could inform him on the fate of the others as well. Despite his best efforts, he could find nothing on what happened to the rest of the group, he learned that there was a large group rescued from the Badlands around the same time he arrived in Ponyville so he knew that they were safe.

Naruto took several deep calming breathes to relax and prepare himself for what was to come, he stepped forward and knocked three times on the door.

Zecora opened the door to the sight of an unusual stallion waiting outside her home, as she examined the stallion, she felt that there was something familiar about the stallion. She felt if she knew him but could not place where they had met before today.

"I'm sorry for coming to your home unannounced, but when I heard about you from my friends I wanted to see if you were the same zebra that I had met a long time ago," Naruto said.

Zecora gained a confused look on her face, "you say we met before, but this is the first time we have spoken, so please tell me when we met before."

"We last met a long time ago, we were a part of a group escaping from a horrific place. To reach the surface lands, we had to cross a massive stone bridge after everypony had crossed over I ran back to the center to break the bridge and delay any ponies from coming after us. As I prepared to break it, a monster that had been following us since our escape emerged from the darkness. The monster made its way toward me on the bridge and swung its blade at me I met it with my ax and shattered its blade. It summoned a whip next and I used my ax to shatter the bridge, the monster fell into the darkness but pulled me into it at the last second," Naruto replied.

By the time Naruto had finished recalling how he was separated from the group, Zecora was already in tears. She was hopeful that this was the friend she lost so long ago but there was one way to be sure. Each of the leaders of the group before they escaped partnered up with another, each pair had a code phrase that would tell if one of them had been replaced by some pony else.

Zecora was Naruto's partner, she would say her phrase and see if he responded with his own, this would confirm if the pony before was her friend.

Zecora stepped forward, "If I were to ask you, I am a traveling herbalist seeking herbs to heal the sick."

"Then I would reply with, I am a chimera with the heart of a dragon and the soul of the wolf who guides the lost," Naruto replied.

Zecora said nothing at first merely looking ground at first before raising her head and looking at Naruto, tears were freely falling down her face. She suddenly moved forward and embraced the friend she had lost so long ago.

"I can't believe it's you're still alive, everypony thought you died that day. When we lost you on the bridge we chose to carry on, we didn't want the sacrifice you made to be in vain so kept moving forward chasing the sun as you told us to do," Zecora said while pressing her face into Naruto's chest.

Naruto just pulled her tight letting her know that this was not a dream, he was glad to see that Zecora had managed to rebuild her life after the cult tried to take it away.

Zecora invited Naruto inside to discuss what happened after they had spilled apart; she was curious to know what happened to him after he was pulled into the darkness by the monster.

"We fell through the darkness for what felt like forever, after a while I began to notice as large clumps of water started to appear before us. The clumps would continue to grow in size in shape until we slammed into an underground lake, the water quenched the monster's fire left us in the darkness," Naruto explained.

Zecora sat across from him listening to every word of his story, they had a cup of tea in front of them. Naruto took a long sip of his before continuing his story picking up after they had fallen into the lake.

"Before we hit the water I latched onto the monster with my blades to help shield me from the impact of the water, this worked out well for me because the monster would swim into an underwater tunnel that would lead us to a ruined castle. I surfaced first and tried to put distance between us, but the monster surfaced to fast, it was without its fire, but it was still a dangerous foe. I used to hit and run tactics using the environment to my advantage to strike and retreat out of its sight. In the end, I lured into an area while the tiles on the ground were weakened and caused it to fall through the floor before finishing it off with a plunge attack from above," Naruto said.

Zecora was shocked at the fact Naruto was able to slay the monster, but there was a reason she and the others saw him as a leader of the group. He was always stronger than everypony else and that was even before the cult turned him into a chimera.

"What happened after the battle, how did you go from the castle ruins to Ponyville?" Zecora asked.

"After I recovered enough from the battle, I began exploring the ruins for supplies and information on where I was. It was a while later after raiding a storage house for old supplies and placing them in a bag, I had found I encountered a strange ball of light that would lead me to a strange door. The door was made from black stone with gold edging, in the center of the door was a design of a tree. As I got closer to the door I began to notice a strange black ooze coming out from the cracks of the door and around the tree, I began to back away but the ooze ensnared me and pulled me into the door. I remember blacking out as the ooze consumed me but then waking up in a forest clearing," Naruto said.

Zecora was on the edge of her seat, Naruto seemed to go through one problem after another. He just kept pushing forward as best he could no matter how difficult the problems became, he just kept moving forward. She realized his tale was not done and motioned him to finish his tale.

"I would wake up at the base of a strange tree made of the crystal inside a sunken clearing. The tree gave off a peaceful feeling that would relax and soothe me, I could feel the pain and stiffness from my battle fading away. I would scale a tall tree to gain my bearing spying another ruined castle and what looked like a town far off in the distance. I would stop by the castle first before the town, I knew that it was for the best because the woods would become more dangerous at night," Naruto said.

Naruto went on to explain how he made it to the castle ruins without much difficulty, he would later learn that it was the former castle of the two Princesses before the castle in Canterlot was built. He would hunker down in a room for the night before exploring the castle in the morning.

"I would find a map of the area and make a route that would lead me to the town that I knew was called Ponyville, as I made my way through the forest I would meet a strange river serpent named Stephen he would help me with directions and warned me of the residents of the forest especially one of the most common predators the timberwolves. From there I continued the path to Ponyville while walking on the path I would be attacked by the timberwolves that Stephan had warned me about. l they were relentless in their attacks, I repelled all that I could but took damage from their attacks I would escape them by leaving the woods and slipping into Sweet apple acres," Naruto said.

Naruto went on to explain that he would be found a stallion and brought to the hospital, he would be later placed in the orphanage where he would grow up into the stallion in front of her. He would try to find information on the others but found scraps leading to dead ends and trouble when he brought the cults eye on to himself and nearly ended up in their hands once again.

Zecora was processing everything Naruto had said, she was happy beyond words that he was still alive. She was amazed at what he had gone through and even more amazed at the fact he had brought down the monster that had struck such fear in them so long ago.

"Zecora I am sorry to interrupt your thoughts but what happened to the others, I heard rumors that Princess Celestia had rescued a large group from the Badlands. I could only guess that it was you and the others when I heard what had happened from the others and learning that you were the one they had encountered I rushed over here to find out for myself," Naruto said.

Zecora smiled at Naruto she was happy to he had not changed over the years, he still cared for others more than anything else. He always tried to give others aid while hiding his problems from prying eyes.

"It's true we were rescued by the Princess and her guards and were brought to Canterlot castle, Princess Celestia cared for us and helped us get back on our feet and find our paths in life. Everyone soon went their separate ways, some chose to return to their homelands and others chose to create their own homes in Equestria," Zecora said.

Naruto smiled at the fact the others were able to rebuild their lives after everything the cult had taken and put them through. He hoped he would get the chance to meet with them again to see and hear what happened.

The two would continue to discuss their lives and what happened in between what had happened in the years they had separated. The pair would end up talking to one other until long after the sun had set.

Naruto would bid his goodbyes to his friend and back to his home, the creatures of Evertree forest would pose little threat to him but he would be cautious none the less.

As Naruto made his way back to his home his thoughts turned to the others, for the first time in a long while he was happy because he finally found out what had happened to others and this gave him peace of mind, hopefully, he could see them all once more in the future.

[b](Flashback end)[/b]

"It was a few months later that Naruto told me, that because of the rumors spreading about him that he had lost his job. His former boss offered him a chance to start a new one in Canterlot as a member of the royal guard," Zecora said.

This shocked the Twilight and the others were shocked by what they had just heard, they had heard rumors Naruto had lost his job as a lumberjack and wasn't around as a handy stallion anymore but they never expected him to sign up with the royal guard.

"Wait, wait, wait, Naruto left Ponyville to become a member of the guard, I don't see that happening, Naruto never gave off the warrior vibe he was just a regular stallion," Dash said.

"Naruto always was a fairly relaxed pony had never really acted like a fighter, he acted like Big-Mac the strong silent type darling," Rarity said.

Zecora, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot laughed at the mare's statement, they did not know the Naruto from when he was a prisoner of the cult. There was a reason he was selected as the leader of the group despite his age.

Naruto was some pony to be feared especially when angered, he was a force to be feared when those he cared about when threatened. The cult found that out the hard way after they had transformed him into a chimera and tried to remind him of his place. He went berserk on them and tore them to pieces; he was not in control of himself at the time due to the transformation and the new instincts running through him.

The others were curious at what they found so funny; they knew more Naruto then they did due to the fact Naruto never talked much about his past. He always avoided the subject or steered the topic away from his past.

Pinkie was the first to respond and looked around with a confused look, "What's so funny? Is there a clown pony on a unicycle juggling pies to cool them down?"

Pinky's question brought many confused looks to those present in the room but quickly faded away. The others knew it was just Pinkie being herself while everypony else let the comment pass.

"To answer your question Pinkie, out of everypony in our group Naruto was the strongest one. Most had lost hope or were broken from the torment but Naruto would always put on a brave face and try to help others as best as he could," Zecora said.

Her mind began traveling down the dark path to those buried memories of when she was a prisoner of the cult and Naruto would always try to shoulder the burden of protecting the others by himself no matter how badly they beat him.

This brought up more questions to the group, they had heard how Zecora's reunion went with Naruto went and now they were curious to know what happened when Spitfire and Fleetfoot met up with him.

"Um, excuse me, Spitfire? How did you meet up with Naruto, you meant after he joined up with the guard, that is if you don't mind telling us?" Fluttershy said in her normal shy tone.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot remembered that day, they were at the castle to report on an incident that had happened and ended up reuniting with him when a friend introduced him to them.

"We were in Canterlot to explain the details of an incident that occurred outside of Los Pegasus, we were there doing a show when we headed outside to get some fresh air and clear our minds when we were attacked by a monster," Spitfire said.

[b](Flashback Start)[/b]

Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin were having a simple night flight around Las Pegasus to stretch their muscles from the earlier show, they were warned before they went out of a strange creature that had spotted around the area.

The descriptions of the creature had been vague with few sticking around to get a good look at the monster, it looked like a pony had oozed black slime wherever it appeared. They ooze it left made it easy to see where it went but it would just vanish again after a while.

The trio would first notice signs of the creature in the form of a large area of the desert coated in black ooze, they decided to investigate the area. The sand was blackened because of the strange substance that seemed to be coming up from underneath the sand itself.

All three of them looked at the area with confused looks on their faces, "What do you think could have caused this?" Soarin asked his teammates.

"I'm not sure what could do something like this, but this area gives me a bad feeling none the less," Spitfire said with Fleetfoot nodding in agreement.

Before they could take off and report the strange area a roar and shaking tore through the area, the sand at the center of the area began to rise as something was pushing up from underneath the sand.

A second roar sounded off as a claw-like hand burst from the sand, the flesh on the hand was blackened and torn with bone showing in multiple spots. The rest of the body soon followed the hand, like the hand the flesh on the pony was blackened like leather no traces of fur was seen on the body.

The body resembled that of an earth pony, the body was thin with bones showing through the skin in multiple areas. From the pony's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth leaked the same black ooze as on the ground. It turned towards the trio of pegasus its face turning into a snarl, it gave off a large howl before charging at Spitfire and the others.

The creature fired off several blobs of at the trio Spitfire and Soarin took to the air to dodge the blobs but Fleetfoot got struck by one in the leg pinning her to the ground.

The creature rushed towards Fleetfoot while forming a tentacle from the black ooze, the tentacle lashed out striking Fleetfoot and sending her skidding across the desert sands. Soarin rushed towards the downed Fleetfoot while Spitfire faced off against the tentacled monster.

Spitfire moved forward dodging the creature's attacks and following up with a mix of punches and kicks of her own, but the attacks failed to affect the monster in any way. Spitfire was forced to pull back when the monster switched out its tentacle arm for a clawed appendage.

Soarin was attending to Fleetfoot, she had a small concussion from the attack along with a few cracked ribs. She also had light bruising on her wings, she was down for the count on this fight. Fleetfoot was awake and aware of the situation, she was grounded for the time being unable to help Spitfire with the monster.

"Don't try to move, you injured your ribs and moving will only make them worse," Soarin said placing a hand on his friend.

Both looked back towards their captain who currently engaged in a fierce battle against the unknown monster, Spitfire was doing what she could, but it was easy to see that the monster was shrugging off the attacks with minimal effort.

Spitfire hovered in the air she could see that her regular attacks were not doing enough damage to the monster and it may be time to switch tactics. Spitfire knew she would have to call upon the abilities forced upon her by the cult.

Spitfire formed a fireball in her hands and launched it at the creature, it screamed in pain as the fireball impacted against its body. Flames licked the flesh, the ooze that came from its body was highly flammable because it caught alight when sparks from the flames touched it.

Spitfire continued to attack the creature using fire attacks switching from long-range fireballs to blast mines which she laid on the ground and made the monster trip them when he charged forward to attack her.

The relentless attacks were wearing down the creature little by little, Spitfire knew that it was time to end this charade for the last time. She readied another fireball this one larger than the others and had swirling fan blades around it.

She threw the charged attack at the creature, it exploded on contact engulfing it in flames. The creature failed about screaming in pain as the ooze flowing from it burned itself from the inside out.

It stopped and collapsed on the ground as the fire burnt it to ash, the fires died down leaving a black soot outline of the creature on the sand. Spitfire was panting lightly the fight was tiring and the fact she had to use the gift that the cult forced upon her did not help her mood in any way.

Soarin and wounded Fleetfoot made their way over to their captain, they could see that she was tired from the fight but had no injures to speak off.

"Are you ok? What in Equestria was that thing?" Soarin asked.

"I'm positive I have seen something like that when the cult held us captive," Fleetfoot replied.

"We will worry about that later first let us get Fleetfoot to a hospital then inform the local law enforcement what happened in the desert," Spitfire said.

A few days after they had reported what happened they were called to Canterlot to report on what happened in the desert. Spitfire and Fleetfoot were planning on meeting with a friend in the castle and catch up with her.

[b]The next day…

[/b]The trio was had just finished giving their report to Princess Celestia, Spitfire and Fleetfoot was planning on meeting with a friend in the castle while Soarin headed back to the Wonderbolt H.Q. to hold the fort until they got back.

The friend they were meeting was having difficulty dealing with the son of some noble pony, he was far too used to having his way, so he constantly caused problems with the other team members.

They learned recently that she was finally able to get rid of the jerk and had a strange new stallion take his place.

"Do you think the replacement will be different from the stallion he is replacing, from what Blast said he was new to the guard and kept to himself most of the time," Fleetfoot said.

Spitfire shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, Blast seems to think highly of him, and he doesn't cause trouble for the other members so that could mean he is a good fit for the team."

The two would continue talking and walking down the hall until they saw the friend, they were looking for ahead of them.

"How are you two doing? There are alrighty rumors spreading about what you three fought against in Los Pegasus," Blast said.

Spitfire sighed, "It's not surprising that the rumors are spreading quickly, the encounter with the monster was unusual and maybe far from over."

Fleetfoot feeling the tension in the air decided to switch topics, "tell us about the replacement, you described in as being an unusual stallion."

Blast put her hand to her chin as she thought about Naruto, Blast was very happy with how well he worked with the other members of the team and had proven on multiple occasions he could handle anything that was thrown at him.

"He is a unique stallion, to say the least, he came from Ponyville but left when rumors surrounding him got out of control and made him lose his job. His former boss knew some pony in the guard and recommended him and helped him join the guard. He proved to be self-reliant and has a strong will that constantly pushes him to keep moving forward despite whatever challenges come his way," Blast said.

Spitfire started thinking about what Blast said, and her thoughts immediately turned to Naruto. The stallion Blast described sounds so much like him, he always tried to keep pushing forward even when life looked its bleakest.

Fleetfoot had similar thoughts as Spitfire, this stallion reminded her of Naruto from when he was alive and still with the group.

Blast turned to her friends when she noticed that they had stopped moving, "Are the two of you okay? Both of you seem to be spacing out right now."

"Sorry, what you said made us think of a friend we had lost long ago," Spitfire said.

As they entered the training ground Blast saw Naruto was wrapping up his usual session, Naruto seeing Blast waved her over not seeing that she had company with her.

As they drew closer Spitfire and Fleetfoot started to recognize the stallion as the friend they lost but how was he here.

"Naruto!" Spitfire and Fleetfoot shouted at the same time.

Naruto looked up and saw Spitfire and Fleetfoot standing across from with Blast, he readied himself for the yelling and punching that they would give him.

Spitfire rushed forward and grabbed Naruto by his shirt and started shaking him back and forth demanding answers.

"How are you still alive? Why didn't you contact us to let us know you were ok?" Spitfire cried out.

Naruto said nothing at first, he just pulled Spitfire into a tight hug and rubbed her back to help calm her down.

Spitfire started hammering blows on Naruto's chest, Naruto did nothing to block the attacks he just let Spitfire get her frustration out. The blows soon slowed down as Spitfire just buried her face in Naruto's chest, tears fell from her eyes as Naruto held her tightly letting her know everything would be okay.

Fleetfoot was not fairing any better than Spitfire, she was openly crying while holding her hands over her mouth. She was not sure if she should believe what in front of her is authentic, but he must be him.

It took a while, but Spitfire eventually calmed down and was able to compose herself, the group moved to the cafeteria to have lunch and for Naruto to explain what is going on.

Naruto started with what happened when he was separated from the group to his journey to Ponyville and growing up in the town. He ended with how he lost his old job and was talked into joining up with the guard.

"I have one question for you, why didn't you try to find us? We all thought you died when you were pulled into the darkness. You're the one who started us on the path to freedom and are the reason we have the lives and freedom we have," Spitfire asked.

"I tried to find you but I found nothing leading me towards you and the others, it was not until later in life that I found about you two when I saw you on a wonderbolts poster," Naruto replied.

The others were quietly reflecting on what they had heard from Naruto, they were unsure of what to do next. They did not know what to do next, their friend was back though that is what mattered to them to two of them.

Blast was on the sidelines watching everything unfold, she was a member of the guard that was with Celestia when she rescued the group from the Badlands

Fleetfoot placed her hand on Naruto's, "We are just happy that you are alive, the others deserve to know that you are alive."

Naruto sighed, "that will be difficult to do, I am nervous about facing every pony again after failing them when they needed me and avoided them for so long."

Spitfire and Fleetfoot hugged Naruto on both sides to reassure him that everything would be okay. He was the beacon that leads them to freedom and now the had to help him find his path out of his darkness.

[b](Flashback end)[/b]

"That is how our reunion went, we would try to visit and hang out with Naruto during our breaks and downtime," Spitfire said.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot remembered all the fun times they had together after their initial reunion, they would go out to different things or get together at Naruto's place and just enjoy each other's company.

Soon enough things began to change between the trio, Spitfire was the first to change in what she felt towards Naruto. She from the beginning had developed feelings of admiration towards Naruto for always being so strong and helping others stay strong. It was after their reunion did the feelings she had begun to change and grow uniquely.

Fleetfoot noticed the same thing happening to her at the same time as Spitfire, upon talking with one other they realized they had developed feelings for Naruto. They would discuss this amongst themselves figuring out a plan to talk to Naruto.

Spitfire pulled herself from her thoughts when she felt the others trying to get her attention, she quickly shook her head to rid herself of the distracting thoughts.

"Is everything ok Captain Spitfire, your mind seems to be elsewhere at this moment in time?" Celestia asked.

"I am fine Princess Celestia, I just have a lot going on in my mind right now," Spitfire replied.

"I believe that now is an appropriate time to stop, it's getting late and it is time for my sister to raise the moon. Everypony should head home and get some sleep, if there are any new developments, I will let you know," Celestia said.

Everypony agreed the day had taken its toll on all of them. They needed time to process all that they had learned and inform others about what was going on.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot headed to Cloudsdale while Twilight and her friends were taking the train to Ponyville. On the way to the train station, the group was discussing what happened and what they had learned about their friend.

"I can't believe that Naruto was one of the Lost Ones, I heard of the group in the past but never would have guessed that Naruto was a member of the group," Twilight said.

"Agreed, I heard the rumors about Ponies and other races being kidnapped, no pony knew what happened to them, but I guess we do now," Rarity replied.

"From what yawl and the others described it the time you spent in the facility seemed like a nightmare that would never end," Applejack said to Zecora.

"Indeed, it was back then, many times we had nearly given hope of being free of that nightmarish den," Zecora said.

"It sounds it was horrible during those times, so many scary things. It was a never-ending nightmare you could not wake up from," Fluttershy said.

Everypony nodded their heads in agreement, what Naruto and the others went through during their time at the facility. They were surprised to find out Naruto was such a bad flank then he let on.

He always gave off the air of a relaxed pony, he rarely got angry at anything that was thrown at him. Twilight and the others realized there were many things they did not know about their friend and that he kept many secrets from them and everypony else.

AN: Well another chapter is done and the next one will see where Naruto ended up and the first world, he will visit. I may not due a chapter for each world he encounters some maybe talked about in Multiple short parts in a single chapter or brief mentions through flashbacks.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to send me message, I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.