Hey guys, its DE2810 again. Once again, I like to say thank you those who favorite and followed this story. It warms my heart to see so many people liking this story even though it's only the first two chapters. I also would like to thank to those who left constructive comments in the review section. I absolutely appreciate it.

With that said, let's move on to the story now shall we?

Welcome to the Castle of Canterlot

"Oh Kami, where am I now?"

As the sudden flash of light's intensity ceased, the blonde opened his cerulean blue eyes and expected to see the castle ruin grounds once more. Instead, he was standing in a blank white void which he assumed was another part of his mindscape that he never treaded through. How he came up to such conclusion he had no clue. Probably due to the fact that this wasn't the first time he ventured through such places.

"Kurama?" He called out as he looked around. "Anyone?"

Silence

Frowning slightly, Naruto pondered hard on how he got here when something clicked inside his mind. "Am I…dead?"

Had he done it? Had his stupidity really became his downfall? Or was it because Kami hate him so much that he decided to conclude his life in the most stupid way possible?

Fortunately, his negative thoughts ended when he felt something shone above him. Glancing up, he was greeted with the sight of six floating hexagonal gemstones, each having their respective colors of red, purple, violet, green, yellow and blue. Bathed in pillar of white light, the well-sculptured gemstones were easily the most beautiful thing he ever saw in the blonde's life. Whoever made these stones was obviously an expert though he had this odd feeling that they weren't man-made regularly. However, as beautiful as they were, these stones also seemed to emit some sort of an aura that he couldn't help but felt ease with. Almost like him when he entered his Tailed Beast cloak.

"Uh hi?"

Naturally, the stones gave no verbal reply. Instead, they proceeded on floating closer towards and formed a ring around him. Once they were in place, the stones then began twirling around him at a constantly increasing speed until they were nothing but a glowing ring of white with him still at the centre. The stones were spinning so fast that it triggered a whirlwind that caused his blonde mane and tail to whip wildly and his orange fur to stand on their ends.

Finally…

The single word alone served to break him out of his stupor. That voice. It's the same one he heard when he was in the castle ruins. Did the stones just talked to him?

Whereas talking gemstones weren't the weirdest thing he had encountered in his life – there were already plenty of things that took such spot – that didn't make it any less disturbing. If he knew a better, fate had a way of frequently involving him with inanimate objects that may or may not try to kill him on sight.

For several millennia, we have stayed dormant, simply doing nothing but waiting for the arrival of the chosen one.

Yup, the stones were definitely talking to him. Either that or he was having a serious case of concussion from the impact of the fall.

And now you're finally here.

As if on cue, glittering particles was scattered from the rings and spread away from him in an outward manner. Said particles then congregate into one spot before taking shape into something, or somepony to be exact.

The pony was big, almost the same as him except more feminine-looking with a long and narrow horn protruding out of the head, a pair of bird-like wings that were as big as the rest of the body and was clad in armor plating at some parts of her body. However, what caught the blonde's attention was the pony's mane and tail that looked like they were composed of a piece of the starry night sky instead of actual hair.

He was taken aback when the pony suddenly stood on its hind legs and let out a high-pitch horse whine. Before he could even ask what was going on, tendrils of darkness began reaching out from where she stood and spread out. Naruto himself found it to be slightly unnerving when said darkness broadened across whatever plane of existence he was on, anointing its previously blank state into a contrasting black environment.

As soon as it happened, the silhouette of the pony disappeared and was replaced with another presence. A presence he couldn't make do properly aside than it being a snake-like in shape with non-symmetrical body parts consisting of paw-like left arm, a clawed right arm, a talon-tipped left foot and a hoofed right leg.

Naruto didn't have time to identify any more of its features when the dragon-like being suddenly zipped away from its spot and flew around him in an uncoordinated manner. As he flew on, the surroundings around it would contort into an array of random colors and things that his unfortunate eyes appreciate. It was as if he was looking through a broken kaleidoscope and he never liked those things in the first place.

Once again, the particles exploded in a muffled explosion before taking another form. This time, the glittering particles took the shape of another pony that looked slightly taller in comparison to the first one. With a jagged horn protruding out of the forehead, wings that resembled of an insect and absent of any distinguishable tail. Ever so often, the figure would frazzle and was momentarily replaced by another pony with different features before resuming back its original form.

Alongside that, a fraction of the glittering dusts was used to form a smaller pony, a filly to be exact, in front of it. While it didn't looked like the taller one was about to do any harm, Naruto's eyes squinted in suspicion when he noticed faint trails of the same glittering particles flowed out of the filly and was seemingly absorbed by the other. The filly didn't even seem to be notice what was happening and by the time it did, it was already slumped to the ground, either unconscious or dead.

Not giving him any time to ponder what he just saw, the stones willed the particles into another pony. This pony was slightly shorter than the ones before this with a curved horn and a much more bulky appearance. Was it clad in an armor perhaps? Further examinations indicated that it was clad in some sort of a cloak that flapped under imaginary breeze. Stomping a hoof on the 'ground', the silhouetted pony unleashed what appeared to be a mokuton jutsu when rock spikes rose out of the ground around it and reached for the sky.

Despite everything that was shown to him, the ever so oblivious Naruto still don't understand the situation. Why were the stones showing him all of this? Were they trying to brief him on a mission or something? If they were then they're certainly doing a bad job at it. Kami, even a drunken Tsunade-baachan can do better than them (though they had to wake her up whenever she snoozed)

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard another dull explosion. Apparently, the gemstone weren't done just yet and was showing him one last thing.

Unlike the first four, the particles this time resembled no distinctive shape and was scattered all over the place like stars in a nightly-dimmed sky; no head, no arms, no legs or anything for that matter. In its lack of visual appearance however was a guttural bellow that sounded like nails scrapping on chalkboard that seemed to vertebrate across his mindscape; the first actual sound he ever heard of aside than the talking gemstones. The blonde himself flinched upon hearing it as it served to remind him of a very unpleasant memory. A memory he wished he no longer be part of.

Equestria is in great need of help, chosen one, and only you are capable of doing such feat.

"Me? What do you mean me? I just got here!" he demanded incredulously. "Kami, I don't even know of this Equestria you're talking about!"

Silence. Rather than giving him a straight answer, the still-spinning stones glowed insignificantly brighter.

Sensing something was about to happen to him, he cried out once more, "Hey, you didn't answer my questions!"

All of your doubts shall be answered soon enough, chosen one. For now, your utmost presence is required in the real world.

Not giving him any room to talk, the ring of light around him shone brighter and he found his conscious being slowly dragged into the real world.

…

As his consciousness slowly rekindled, Naruto can already tell he was in an entirely different place upon sniffing the familiar scent of disinfectant instead of the murky smell he smell the last time he was awake that lingered through the air.

Opening his cerulean blue orbs, his suspicion was confirmed when instead of the dark and craggy environment, he was greeted with bright and warm scenery.

Cautiously, the blonde stood up from the bed he was laying on and began surveying his surroundings. With the enamel white curtain that ringed around the bed he was on, the rack full of medicines and tomes on the left and the writing desk on his right not to mention the sanitized air, it didn't take a Nara to tell that he was in an infirmary of some sort. But the main question was: Who brought him here and why?

He didn't have to ponder long when the door suddenly opened and a pink mare clad in nurse attire stepped into the room.

"Oh good morning, you're finally awake I see!" The mare greeted.

Naruto could only give a silent reply at that, too shocked by the sight of the pastel-colored pony to say anything despite being one himself.

Unfazed by his lack of response, the mare casually trotted to the side of his bed and spoke, "How are you feeling at the moment? Do you feel any pain of some sort? A headache or a sore muscle perhaps?"

Still in the state of utter shock, it took a while before his brain finally registered that she just asked him several questions. "Um no, I'm good I guess."

"That's good to hear but just to be safe, I'll need to do some examinations." There was a momentarily pause before she continued on, this time in a surprised manner. "Oh and where are my manners! I'm Nurse Redheart by the way but you can call me either by Nurse or Redheart for short. And you are?"

"Uh Naruto Uzumaki." He replied back.

"Naruto…Uzumaki, huh? That's quite a peculiar name you have there." She remarked as she took a pen in her mouth and jotted a few notes down on the clipboard she was carrying the entire time.

He didn't have a comment on that. Who names their offspring as Redheart? It almost sounded like a title rather than an actual name, just like how his father was called the Yellow Flash or Gai as the Green Beast. Then again, this was an entirely different world than his so it's probably their standard etiquette of some sort.

"You said you'll be doing some examinations, what kind of examinations exactly?" he asked, recalling the previous ones he had with a certain busty blonde and a pinkhead. None of which were pleasant memories to him.

Nurse Redheart. "Don't worry. It's nothing extreme."

The whiskered blonde would be lying if he didn't have a hard time believing that.

…

Past experience had led him to believe that physical examinations involved having his joints being bent at angles that weren't possible and his mental capacity tested to the very utmost limit. Yet, Nurse Redheart did none of that. Which makes him wonder, if examinations were meant to be this simply then what the heck was he doing a long time ago?

Heeding her words close to her heart, the only things the mare ever done was just pressing her hooves on several parts of his body as well as rotating his joints all the while keeping a lookout on his facial expression for any reactions; nothing that required him to tap into Kurama's chakra for any quick recovery, not that he can do so in the first place. In a few minutes time, she was done and went back to jotting down a few more notes on the clipboard.

"Oh, that reminds me, there's someone who would like to talk to you once you're awake." She stated upon remembering. "Can you walk?"

"I-I think I can…" Removing the blanket off him, Naruto tried to take his first step once more. He stumbled for the first few moments but aside than that, he was good to go. "I'm good."

"Great!"

Heading to the door she got in from, nurse Redheart opened it and motioned Naruto to go out first. He obliged and stepped outside, only to freeze at what he saw.

The blonde probably would've stayed there gaping like a fish on land had the nurse didn't speak to him.

"Come along, we don't want to keep her waiting any longer!"

"Uh, where am I exactly?" He called out.

"Why, you're in Canterlot, of course!" She replied simply, as if that alone would satisfy him. It didn't.

"I-I see…" Shaking his head off his stupor, he ran up to catch up with the white mare that was already a few meters ahead of him. "You said we don't have to keep 'her' waiting. Who is this 'her'?"

"Why, princess Celestia of course. She's the one who brought you here."

Naruto nodded in understanding but blinked when he finally processed what she just said.

"Wait, did you say princess?"

If the white mare heard his last question, she didn't show it. "Here we are!" She declared as they arrived at a pair of golden ornamented doors that were as tall as the ceiling above them, decorated with the abstract mural of a white pony seemingly reaching for the sun above her. The image looked familiar somehow but he didn't have time to ponder about it when Redheart relentlessly opened it before nudging him in. "Now go on, she's waiting for you inside."

"A-Alright, alright, no need to push me!" He said. For a mare that was a few inches shorter than him, Redheart was surely strong and it reminded him of Sakura somehow.

As he stepped in, the blonde arrived at a hall that was as grand as any other part of the castle he came across with its well-polished marble tiled floors, several white spiraling pillars used to support the ceiling whose surface was decorated with more mural paintings depicting several ponies doing different actions he wasn't familiar of. The walls weren't excluded from the decoration either as they were installed with color-tinted glass windows representing even more ponies.

As beautiful as the scenery was, his eyes were more focused on the table that lie at the centre of the hall. He instantaneously drooled at the sight of the numerous delicacies that was splayed before his cerulean blue eyes. He didn't even realize that he had trotted to the table until it was too late.

"Ah, you're finally awake, I see."

Looking at his front, his eyes went wide in bewilderment when he found the 'her' that nurse Redheart mentioned about standing on the other side of the table. From her elegant appearance, she was obviously a mare but with a more adult-like horse appearance unlike the other ones he encountered before this. However, what shocked him the most was her rainbow-like mane that seemed to flow under the slightest flow of air and the wings that were jutting out from her sides.

Unaware of his shock, the mare trotted towards him with a grace that reflected her beautiful emergence all the while giving him a smile that he couldn't help but feel tranquil with.

"Good morning, I am Princess Celestia, the current ruler of Equestria." She introduced, revealing her smooth and rich tone of voice. "And you are?"

"I ugh ah…" The blonde mentally slapped himself. "Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

The Alicorn smiled gently at that, unperturbed by his strange name. "Well then, it's a pleasure meeting you, Naruto Uzumaki. You must be terribly hungry right now, why don't you help yourself to some of the food here."

Celestia then motioned a hoof to the long dining table. The blonde was practically salivating when the smell of the food finally reached his nostrils and he wasted no time in flashing to one of the end of the table in the blink of an eye. The Alicorn of the Sun reflected his action and took a seat on the other side of the table, albeit at a much calmer pace.

Just when he was about to dine in, he realized that there was no sign of meat anywhere. Naruto was just about to ask her whether if she had any meat until Kurama spoke within his head. Kit, horses are herbivore; they don't eat meat. You're just gonna have to make do with what you have at the moment.

Looking upfront, Naruto flashed Celestia a sheepish grin when he realized that she was still looking at him expectantly, obviously waiting for him to start it off as means of a courtesy, before averting his gaze at all the food on the table. Amongst all the vegetables, he didn't know what to pick first. Literally. Add the fact that he wasn't a vegetable-lover to begin with made it all the more difficult for him to make his decision.

His cerulean blue eyes then fell on a nearby platter that was holding several sandwiches. It probably looked normal and safe to eat had it weren't for the white daisy flowers that were protruding out of its edges. Is it even possible to consider those things as a legitimate food? Was it even good for stomach to begin with? Then again, it didn't look like he had any other choice seeing that it was the only thing that he deemed to be at least edible.

Following his gaze, Celestia spoke, "Those are daisy sandwiches, one of the castle chef's main specialties. Why don't you give it a try, I'm sure you won't regret it."

Unable to turn back, he gingerly took one of the sandwiches with his hooves, briefly glanced at princess Celestia one more time before inching said food closer to his muzzle and finally took a nibble.

Having experience with eating plenty of vegetables food and herbal medicines courtesy of the advice from a certain pinkhead and a busty medic, he had expected the strange meal to have the usual of taste of bitterness. Oddly enough, the daisy sandwich has none of that and surprisingly, it had the juicy taste of sweet honey flavor mixed with flower nectar that set his taste buds ablaze.

Before he even realized what was happening, he had gobbled the entire sandwich in the blinking of an eye before proceeding on taking more from the plate. Celestia simply smiled in approval at this, seemingly unfazed by his greedy eating habit. She didn't even mind when the blonde when he proceeded on other food that was available on the table and casually reached for her tea cup.

As he continued to clear the meals off the table one by one, the blonde nearly choked and spitted out the cupcake he was currently eating when he saw her casually taking a sip from an ethereally glowing teacup that were levitating midair.

"Is something the matter?" She inquired as she lowered said tea cup down.

"I-It's nothing. Just got something stuck in my throat, that's all." He quickly spoke.

She smiled amusingly at that before she spoke, "There's no need to rush. None of the food will be going anywhere."

Kurama, did you see that. She just lifted the teacup with chakra! He mentally pointed out.

I see it but she's not using chakra.

What do you mean it's not chakra?

I can't say for sure but whatever form of energy she's using, it's definitely not Chakra. He stated. And if my guess is correct, I'd say it's coming from that horn of hers.

The blonde instinctively glanced up at that. Sure enough, the spiraling horn was also engulfed in the same yellowish chakra-like glow just like the floating teacup.

Subconsciously, the blonde brushed a hoof on his own forehead, wondering why he didn't have a horn or a pair of wings just like her. Could it be that they're both of different horse race perhaps? If that was the case, what was he then and what was her?

Sadly, all these questions had to be put to the back of his mind when Celestia struck a conversation once more, "So how do you find the meal, mister Uzumaki?"

"Great!" He replied back without missing a beat before remembering who he was talking to. "I mean, the meals taste great, your majesty."

Celestia chuckled at that. "There's no need to be too formal with me, mister Uzumaki. Just princess Celestia is fine."

Naruto was surprised to hear that. "If that's the case, you can just call me Naruto then. I'm not actually the kind of title person."

Now it was the Alicorn's turn to be surprised. Being the ruler of Equestria, most ponies were usually exceptionally honored whenever she addressed them with titles. For somepony to dislike from being referred to with some sort of a title was quite rare. "Very well then, Naruto. If you don't mind, I have one question to ask.

Naruto took a second to swallow his food before he talked, "Sure, what is it?"

"Yesterday morning, a brief earthquake occurred a distance away from here and near to a town called Ponyville. Further questioning of the citizens there allowed us to pinpoint the origin of the tremor to be somewhere in the Everfree forest." The blonde continued to nonchalantly munch on his meal all the while keeping a close ear to Princess Celestia as she continued on. "After investigating the crater there, we discovered what seemed to be some sort of a trail that led to...a castle deep inside the forest; the very same place where we found your unconscious form."

The blonde stiffened at that.

"My question to you now is: What were you doing in the Everfree Forest and in the Castle of the Two Sisters of all places?" She inquired with a solemn expression. "In case you haven't known, those places aren't exactly safe for anypony to enter."

Now that his stomach was filled and his senses came back, it was only by then did he notice something was amiss. Before this, all he saw from her was kindness, now he can finally notice that this Celestia wasn't somepony you should be messing with. His instincts were internally screaming at him to be wary of her. Not in the hostile way kind of way but more towards the be-careful-of-what-you-tell-her kind of way.

Reaching for the glass of water meant for him, the blonde purposely downed it in one go as his brain churned for whatever lies he could think of. Yet, despite having a filled stomach, he found it difficult to think of such thing. Somewhere at the back of his mind, something aside than Kurama was strongly advising him to not do so.

"I'm…not from here." He finally admitted, the words slipped off his lips.

Celestia casted him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" She inquired. "Are you saying that you're a traveler of some sort?"

Parted his muzzle open, he was about to deny such statement when a metaphorical light bulb flickered above his head. Being stuck within the confinements of his mindscape, Kurama raised an eyebrow at what the blonde was currently thinking but said nothing otherwise.

"That's right; I'm actually a traveler, a freelancer to be exact." Whether if Celestia believed him or not, she didn't show it but Naruto maintained a straight poker face just in case and continued. "You said you saw a crater inside the forest, right? That was actually a residue triggered due to the teleportation technique I used to get here. Not too soon after I landed, I was attacked by a group of wolves—"

"Timberwolves." C elestia corrected.

"…what?"

"Timberwolves. It's the name of the wolves you mentioned…" Celestia elaborated with a smile.

"Oh. Anyway, I tried to fight them back but eventually had to run away to the castle when they keep on coming back alive over and over again."

"Were you the one who broke the bridge and doors then?"

Surprised, Naruto put a sheepish smile when he realized he was caught red-handed. "Yeah, those were me; I had to make sure those Timberwolves don't chase after me." He defended. "Once I was safe, I sort of fainted from all the fatigue I've gained."

"Well, that's quite…a story you have there." Celestia concluded.

"Yeah, sorry if I caused any unwanted trouble or anything." He apologized as he scratched the back of his head.

"It's alright. I'm just glad that you're safe." She reassured. "Though I must say, it's not everyday somepony decided to fight the Timberwolves, even if you don't know what they're capable of. You must be quite skilled combat."

Naruto let out an awkward laugh. "Well, I sort of learnt a few moves throughout my travel." He waved it off, hoping that doing so would make her drop the subject.

While Celestia's lips curved into a smile, her eyes continued to have that suspicious look. The blonde was glad that he was layered in orange fur; otherwise, she would've seen him sweating bullets. "How interesting." She praised. "And I believe there's somepony who would like to hear your story as well. Follow me."

Taking one last sip of her tea, Celestia left her side of the table and exited the dining hall with Naruto in tow. As they trotted through the castle, the blonde couldn't help but be amazed by practically every unfamiliar thing they came across: the unique architecture, the numerous pony troops that were marching about the place, even the flower garden seemed fascinating to him.

"This is a beautiful place you got here." He commented, effectively breaking the silence.

"Why thank you but I'm sure you've seen other places that are far much better. You are a traveler, after all."

"I doubt that." He muttered so that only he could hear it.

Unlike Konoha or any other villages within the Fire Country, the Canterlot Castle was clean, colorful and fancy. Mostly due to the fact the shinobis were too occupied with war, hostile threats and whatnot to care about such minute details. Sure, they have the occasional cleaning chores a.k.a. the accursed D-ranked missions but as for decorating, nope, not so much.

As they conversed with one another, the two arrived at what seemed to be a garden area flourished with a spacious neatly-trimmed grassfield and a few colorful flowers patches here and there. Naruto's sight then fell on two more pastel-colored ponies who at the moment were currently sitting on one of the marble benches erected around the garden. They were casually laughing and chatting with one another until the armored one saw them approaching.

"P-Princess Celestia!"

"I hope I'm not disturbing anything important." Celestia inquired with a mirth smile.

Shining Armor fumbled over his words. Rolling her eyes at his clumsiness, the pink foalsitter took over, "Of course not, Princess Celestia. Me and Shining were just chatting to pass the time, that's all." She then averted her gaze to the blonde. She smiled. "He's finally awake, I see."

He took that as a cue to introduce himself. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm a freelancer traveler."

"Hello Naruto, my name is Princess Cadence but you can call me Cadence for short."

"I'm Shining Armor, lieutenant of the Royal Canterlot Guards." He introduced, having regained his composure once more.

Lieutenant?

It's probably a military ranking of some sort. His Bijuu assumed. Just play along for now.

Nodding, the blonde averted his attention back to the three ponies.

"I have a favor to ask to the both of you."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Seeing that you both are free, I was wondering if you can bring our newly-profound guest here on a tour around the castle." Celestia requested, surprising Naruto at the background. "I would've done so myself but I need to attend a meeting with merchants in a few minutes time."

"Of course we'd love to!" She cheered. "It's not every day we get to have guests. Right Shining?"

"Uh…yeah sure." He said in partial disappointment, something that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto.

Celestia smiled at that. "Wonderful, I'll leave him in your capable hooves then." She responded before facing the blonde. "I look forward to seeing you again later during lunch time."

"Sure thing," He replied back, unaware of the bewildered expressions on Shining and Cadence's faces as he said so.

Still smiling, the Alicorn of the Sun trotted away from the garden, leaving the blonde under the two's care.

"So where do you want to go first, Naruto?" The pink Alicorn inquired once she was out of sight.

"Are you sure it's ok?" Naruto inquired. "I don't wanna be a drag or anything."

Understanding what he was hinting at, she quickly interjected, "It's fine really. Shining is just sad that our dates kept on being interrupted, that's all."

"I'm still here, you know." The Lieutenant grumbled. "And you make it sound like it's a good thing."

"Shining, Princess Celestia asked the two of us to do a favor for her. How can we refuse to that?"

He sighed at that. "I know but still…"

Feeling a little sympathetic for her lover, the Alicorn of Love approached him and used a hoof to lift his head up. "Tell you what, if you help me bring Naruto on a tour around the place, I'll make sure our next date to be…" The pink Alicorn paused to put in a dramatic effect. "…extra special."

Said Lieutenant perked up at that, albeit slightly. "You promise?"

"I promise."

"Alright," He said with a soft smile. "I'll trust you."

As they stared into each other's captivating eyes, the two ponies found themselves slowly inching their muzzles towards one another. And it probably would've escalated further had Naruto didn't clear his throat, a silent reminder to the two loveponies that he was there as well. Blushing, the two took a step back all the while sheepishly laughing to one another.

"So, where should we start?"

…

"This here is the kitchen area; the place where our meals are cooked and prepared!"

Naruto could only gape at that. This was a kitchen area? Kami, it was so huge! Then again, the blonde suppose he was partially at fault for this seeing that the only kitchen he ever saw was the pathetic one in his worn out apartment, Teuchi's glorious ramen stand and the occasional BBQ stand.

On the left side of the kitchen, the blonde saw a total of five stoves, four being gas-operated while the last one was traditional coal-orientated next to several oak shelves and cabinets that probably hold the small ingredients such as spices and dried food. While on the right there were the typical sinks and a dishwasher used for cutleries and other whatnots. A huge stainless steel refrigerator stood at the end of the kitchen which obviously was used to hold more food ingredients and Naruto assumed most of them being vegetables. The long and narrow table top was the key area though as it occupied practically majority of the kitchen space and was littered with numerous kitchen tools that he wasn't entirely familiar of.

Adding to the prosperous atmosphere was the numerous cooking staffs that were roaming about the place – each dressed in the standard chef uniform consisting of a white puffy hat and a white buttoned-up top – that seemingly unable to remain rooted at one spot for too long. A few passing-by ponies bowed in respect upon noticing their presences but immediately went back to work soon after.

"Quite a busy place you have here."

Cadence nodded at that. "Mmmhmm, the chefs here in the castle take their job very seriously."

"I can tell."

"Speaking of seriously…" Shining remarked, earning the other two's attention. "There's Gustave over there. Hey Gustave!"

Having seen so many ponies in the area, the shinobi had expected this Gustave character to be a pony as well. Wrong.

Naruto involuntarily took a step back when a figure emerged out of the crowd. Instead of a pony like he expected to be, Gustave was a…he didn't know what he was actually. First sightings indicates him to be a lion of some sort but with the minor difference of an eagle's head instead of a lion's, a set of four talon-tipped legs instead of a cat's paws and a body covered in feathers instead of fur. If the sight of such an unidentified mythical being wasn't strange enough, he had a black curly moustache on his yellow beak.

"Well, if it isn't Princesse Cadence and Monsieur Shining Armor!" He exclaimed in a deep French accent. "Bonjour! What brings you two here in my beloved kitchen? Another round of my wonderful breakfast perhaps?"

"Good morning to you too, Gustave. And no we're not here for second rounds." She politely replied back. "We're just here to show our guest around the castle, that's all."

Moving aside, she then proceeded on introducing the newcomer. "Gustave, this is Naruto, he's our new guest for today. Naruto, this is Gustave, he's the head chef here in this castle."

"Bonjour! Gustave le Grand, at your service!" He proudly greeted, his left forepaw raised for a (hoof)shake.

The orange stallion was skeptical at first but shook his claw nonetheless. "Naruto Uzumaki."

"As much as I wish to entertain you, I'm afraid I can't. My presence is needed for the preparations of ze lunch." He stated with an apologetic smile. "Very sorry for zis inconvience, monsieur Naruto."

Naruto inwardly groaned. First, it was mister Uzumaki, now its Monsieur Naruto. Why can't they refer to him normally?

Cadence shook her head. "Its fine Gustave, we're not planning on staying here for too long." Cadence spoke. "Come along Naruto, we still have plenty more places to explore."

…

"This is the main archive." Cadence introduced again. "It's pretty self-explanatory but this is where ponies do their studies."

Standing at one of the many balconies available, Naruto got a perfect overview of the maze of bookshelves below him. Contrast to the bustling kitchen a while ago, he only saw a few ponies trotting about the place, either dressed in scholar robes and hats or librarian suit uniforms.

"This place is huge." He commented.

"It should be. Considering how that all of this belongs to Princess Celestia."

Naruto couldn't help but whistle at that. "This is Princess Celestia's collection, huh? Did she mentioned how many years it took to gather this much." Hearing no answer, the blonde looked back only to see the two trotted down the stairs that was positioned at the side of the very balcony he was on. "Hey, wait up!"

Catching up with the couple, the blonde finally asked the question that bugged him. "So uh, why are we going inside the library again?"

"There's somepony we like you to meet." They both answered in unison.

"Who?"

"You'll see."

As they turned around a particular corner, Naruto caught the sight of a filly that was as tall as his legs. She had flat-trimmed mane and tail that were a mixed of sapphire blue and violet with a few strands being brilliant rose and was covered in a well-matched pale, mulberry-colored fur. As of the moment, it didn't appeared like she noticed their as she was too engrossed in reading the book.

"There she is!" The Lieutenant said when he saw who it was. "Hey Twily!"

Said little mare glanced at their direction upon hearing her name. She smiled brightly. "Oh hey Shiny, hey Cadence!"

"What are you reading?" Cadence said, tilting her head to get a better view of the book's content.

"Calculus." She simply replied.

"Aren't you a little too young for that?" Cadence asked with a raised brow but a knowing smile.

"Since when I'm not?" She answered cheekily before tilting her head to the side and look at the orange stallion. "Who's that?"

"Twily, meet Naruto Uzumaki, he's our guest here in the castle for today." Shining introduced. "Naruto, this is my little foal sister, Twilight Sparkle."

Do these ponies have a thing for weird names or something?

I'm sure they'll say the same thing if they go to our world.

"Hello Twilight." He greeted with his signature foxy grin.

If he knew any better, she was scrutinizing him with those calculative eyes of her, not in the kind of a curious child seeing something new but more towards how a professor would examine an interesting specimen. "Hello." She finally said though in a much more monotone voice compared to when she greeted Shining and Cadence.

"Say, we're bringing him on a tour around the castle. You wanna join, Twilight?" Cadence asked.

"No thanks, I need to go back to studying."

"Alright then. Don't forget to join us later during lunch time. We don't want you to study yourself to death again."

"Okay." With that said, she resumed back to reading.

"Well, that was short and sweet." He pointed out once they trotted out of earshot. Not that he need to do so seeing that she was too engrossed in reading to begin with. Kami, he can probably do a Dynamic Entry behind her and she won't even bat a single eyelash.

"Sorry about that, she can be a bit shy to strangers sometimes."

Naruto instinctively looked back at the filly upon hearing the statement. "I'm not sure 'shy' is the right word."

…

"This here is the training grounds: The place where the Royal Canterlot Guards practice and hone their skills." Shining declared proudly.

Dramatic declarations aside, the castle training grounds was almost the same like any training fields back at his home village except for a few details. While Konoha's training fields came in small but large quantities, the castle's had theirs in the complete opposite and was divided into several sections that focused on different things. Some had straw dummies installed while others have obstacle courses and odd contraptions whose functions he had no clue off.

Unfortunately, as spacious as it was, there wasn't anypony training practicing in the area at that moment. Naruto was disappointed by this. With the numerous guards he saw throughout the castle wielding different sorts of weapons, he wanted to see the ponies in combat action. If he's lucky, he might learn a few things from them which he can use as his own.

"When I said we have plenty of places to explore, I don't actually mean the training grounds, you know."

"Hey, the training ground is fun to look around too."

"Not for me, it's not."

As the two engaged in another round of bickering once more, the orange stallion took the opportunity to survey the several weapons stacked at the corner consisting of mostly swords, a few spears and the occasional shield and armors. While he applauded the ponies for their means of defense, he couldn't help but wonder just how they would wield such things.

His pondering was put on hold when he sensed a looming presence behind him.

"And who in the Tartarus are you?"

Turning around, Naruto was met face to face with a stallion. A stallion he would've said hello to if it weren't for the scowl on his face.

Contrary to all the pastel colored ponies he saw, the pony standing before him had a pair of sharp golden eyes and was layered in a set of heavy armor consisting of a black Trojan helmet with red plume on top, an equally black chest plate that had the golden Canterlot Guard crest emblazoned in the centre as well as four leg armors that was layered over one another to increase protection efficiency over his obsidian black fur.

"General Iron Hoof!" In a blur of purple, Shining appeared beside him in a firm stance with his head raised high; a standard military posture that signified a soldier's discipline and firm resolution.

"Lieutenant Shining," The black pony began in a deep rough voice, his piercing glare never straying away from the blonde. "I've received reports of a civilian pony roaming about the castle grounds. Care to explain what's all that about?"

"This is Naruto Uzumaki. He's a guest of Princess Celestia."

"A guest?"

"We found him unconscious in the Everfree forest yesterday and it was Princess Celestia who ordered him to be brought here for medical treatment."

"I see." He said after a long silence, his sharp gaze unraveled as he stared at the blonde. Naruto wasn't far off either and returned his gaze with his own.

"Naruto Uzumaki, huh?" He spoke out slowly, almost as if he was testing out how it will sound like when pronounced. "I'm a keeping an eye on you, Uzumaki."

With the final words said, General Iron Hoof turned around and left. Once he was out of sight, Shining let out a breath he didn't realized he was holding while Naruto maintained his composure.

"Who's that?"

"That's General Iron Hoof. He's the leader of the Canterlot Royal Guards."

"He's a genuine prick. I can say that much."

Shining cracked a smile at that. "He's always like that." He agreed. "But I'm more surprised that you managed to maintain your composure in front of him. Most ponies won't even bother making eye contact the first time they saw him."

The blonde shrugged at that. "Let's just say I've dealt with ponies that were much worse than him." The statement alone picked Shining and Cadence's curiosity but they didn't delved on it further when he showed no sign of telling.

"Speaking of which, it's nearly time for lunch. Let's head to the dining hall where Princess Celestia is waiting."

Almost instantaneously, Naruto's stomach groaned and he found himself unconsciously licking his lips at the prospect of eating another batch of daisy sandwiches. Even though he already had quite a few not too long ago.

"Sure thing, lead the way." He quickly agreed, not bothering to hide his excitement.

With Cadence and Shining upfront leading the way, he was just about to follow them when he suddenly felt something.

What was that? He questioned to himself as he looked around in pure confusion. I could've sworn I felt something just now.

Whereas his battle instincts weren't tingling, something was tugging him at back of his mind, something bad. And it was never wrong before this.

Finally making up his mind, the orange stallion casted the couple one last glances before silently trotting to the opposite direction.

…

Relying on his instincts alone, the blonde found himself wandering into a part of the Canterlot castle he haven't went through; he was in unchartered territory. As indicated by the General Iron Hoof's reaction upon seeing him, he's going to assume that his presence in the castle wasn't notified to all the staffs. As such, he needed to keep a lookout on all the guards that were patrolling by. Simple as that. At least, it would've been simple had it weren't for the fact he now had hooves that does not go well with the marble floor.

Eventually, Naruto found himself on another grass patch field located on the other side of the castle with nopony in sight, something that greatly puzzled the blonde. If there wasn't anyone in the area then why were his senses telling him to get here then? Could it be that he was just imagining things? He shook his head at such thing. No, something was definitely going to happen here. He can feel it – His instincts never failed him before and it never will now – but what?

The blonde broke out of the stupor when a piece of papyrus paper flew across his line of sight and landed near his feet. Curiosity got the better of him; he picked it up and gave it a quick read. As expected, he couldn't understand a single since it was written in this world's language. But why was it here?

"Help!"

Glancing up, his eyes went wide in absolute bewilderment when he saw a certain purple dangling helplessly on one of the crenellation gaps several meters above his very spot. Even though he was living in a world full of pastel-colored ponies, the blonde can easily recognize the filly from a mile away.

"Twilight!"

"Naruto?" She said as she looked down at him, tears swelling under her eyes. "I-I can't hold on much longer!"

"Hang on!"

Easier said than done. Without Chakra in his disposal, there was no way for him to get up there in time. Going around it was definitely out of the question either since that would take a much longer time. So what should he do? More importantly, what can he do?

His heart took a double take when the inevitable happened and Twilight's hoof grip on the edge finally gave up and she plummeted down with an echoing scream. His mind gone blank, Naruto dropped the paper and galloped straight for her falling figure with all the agility his Chakra-less body can muster.

…

"Are you sure he was with you the entire time?" Celestia inquired. She had been in the dining hall, simply waiting for lunch to be served as well as the three to arrive, when Shining and Cadence busted into the place with distressed looks. Needless to say, it can't be anything good.

Her suspicion was confirmed when she heard their story of how the blonde suddenly disappeared just when they were about to head for dining hall, almost without a single trace of sound.

"Yes, he was with us throughout the whole time but then he suddenly disappeared just when we're heading to the dining hall!" Cadence spoke, concern evident in her tone of voice as she paced back and forth.

"I'm sure he's fine. He probably went to the toilet or something." Shining tried to calm her down.

"But we haven't showed him where the bathroom is!"

"…oh right."

"Alright, that's enough you two." She firmly declared, earning their attention at once. It was just two words yet it was enough to keep them both quiet. "There's no need to fight here. We'll call in the guards here and conduct an extensive search for him around the area."

"Extensive search for who?" Blonde inquired as he sneaked his head between the gaps of the door.

"Naruto!" The three exclaimed in unison. "Where on Equestria have you been? We've been looking all over for you."

The blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of his head at that. "Yeah, sorry about that. Got something to do for a bit."

"Do what exactly?" Celestia questioned.

"Yeah, about that…" Rather than answering her directly, Naruto stepped into the dining hall, revealing somepony that they didn't expect to be there at all on his backside. "Hey Shiny, hey Cadence, hey Princess Celestia!" The purple cheerfully greeted as she stood on Naruto's backside, as if they were old buddies

Said three ponies could only stare at the two with bewilderment at that. Then, in unison, they spoke, "Twilight!?"

"It's kind of a long story."

…

Time seemed to go in slow motion as he watched Twilight plummeted down. Under the current speed he was in and at the rate she was falling, he didn't think he'd make it in time to rescue her. The negative thought alone made his heart quenched.

However, just when he thought he wouldn't make it, a surge of energy suddenly coursed through his veins and the blonde soon found himself galloping horizontally along the castle walls in a speed that would put the Wonderbolts to utter shame.

As shocked as he was, he didn't have time to question what just happened and immediately jumped off and caught the little filly mid-air. Once he was secured under his embrace, he prepared himself for impact all the while making sure that she won't be affected by the wall. It wasn't going to go well for his side but he couldn't care less so as long as she's safe.

Thud!

Yup, definitely won't go well for him. He probably broke a few horse bones now that he thought about.

Craning his head forward, the blonde couldn't help but crack a smile when he saw the purple filly still had her eyes closed shut and was shaking fervently, still unaware of her safety. He gave her a quick nudge.

"Twilight?"

The filly opened her eyes slowly at that. "W-What happened? How did I—" She stammered, confusion etched as she looked at her surroundings. "Did you save me?"

Naruto nodded in confirmation at that before sporting a concerned look. "Are you alright? You're not hurt anywhere now, are you?"

"N-No, I'm fine, I think…"

Naruto sighed in relief before flashing him a foxy grin all the while ignoring the pain that was coursing through his body. "That's good to know."He said. "In any case, did anyone ever mention how heavy you are?"

…

Naruto wasn't kidding when he said it was a long story. He himself didn't know how to explain the situation seeing that it happened due to his own pure instincts. Fortunately, the three weren't too keen on hearing the details, mostly because they were also occupied with eating lunch as well. By the time he was done, the table was already cleared off any more food mostly by him.

"This is the second time you've surprised me."

"He was so fast. I really thought I was goner!" Twilight added her two-cent excitedly, still caught up by the incident. An act that was obviously out of her character if the three's perplexed looks was of any indication.

"While I applaud your desire to study more, Twilight, you should always be careful with yourself." Celestia spoke. "It was a good thing mister Naruto—"

"Naruto." The shinobi interjected.

"—Naruto was nearby and rescued you. Otherwise, things would've turned out for the worse."

"The Princess is right, Twily." Shining scolded sternly, his older brother instincts kicked in. "You really need to be careful next time you read on the move."

The purple filly slumped at that. "I know, I'm sorry for that you guys. I really am. I'll promise to be very careful."

"Let's just be glad that she's fine." Naruto defended. "What matters the most now is that Twilight is alright."

"He's right." Cadence agreed upon seeing her lovable foal's down cast expression. "Let's just forget that this ever happened. No point crying over spilt milk, right?"

The ponies present silently agreed at that. There was no point in dwelling over something that has happened in the past.

"Unwanted incidents aside, how have you found the tour around Canterlot castle so far, Naruto?"

"It was amazing. I honestly didn't expect this place to be so beautiful!" was his honest feedback, munching on one last daisy sandwich.

He wasn't joking about that. This place certainly was beautiful, way beautiful than Konoha or any other villages within the Fire Country if he must say so himself.

Celestia smiled at that. "I'm glad you hear that." The white Alicorn said. "Because this will be your home for now."

The orange stallion nearly spitted out his daisy sandwich upon hearing that. "Wait, what?"

"Seeing that this is your first time here in Canterlot, I figured I'd let you stay here in the castle to save you the effort from having to spend additional effort and money to find a place to stay." She elaborated. "In fact, I've even requested my servants to prepare a room just for you while you went on your tour."

Twilight evidently perked up at that. The same goes for Cadence and Shining though the latter two were more towards surprise.

"Are you sure about this? I don't want to be a drag or anything." He asked for the second time of that day.

"But of course. After everything you've done, it would only plausible for us to return the gesture by doing so."

Naruto pondered hard on this. As a shinobi, staying in one place for too long was never a good idea. But at the same time, he couldn't just refuse the offer, especially if said offer came from a princess of all ponies. He sighed. Then grinned afterwards.

"So where do I hit the sack then?"

That's it for chapter 3 of Sentinel of Harmony. Don't forget to leave a review, as well as follow and favorite this story – in case you haven't done – so for further updates. More reviews means more updates, more updates leads to even more reviews and the cycle goes on!