Equestrian Heroes

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

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Naruto finished putting the final touches of the Hirashin formula on the scroll. Now it was just a matter of copying all the seals in key locations in both Ponyville and then Canterlot. In fact traveling to every town he could and transferring the seal would make traveling rather convenient.

The Hirashin formula was rather easy to make, but the clone technique he was working on was still a step away from being completed. Having long mastered the Kagebunshin, Naruto had been training up his Yin and Yang chakra so he could finally create a bunshin technique that could function as a true flesh and blood clone.

Using his chakra, his blood, and now the nature of Earth Pony magic in his body, he now had a component that would make this much easier. It would make the whole issue of handling things in Ponyville, while simultaneously handling the situation in Canterlot all the more convenient.

Now it was time to try again.

Going to the middle of his room, he began with the seal of confrontation and began concentrating chakra. Once the chakra increased through his tenketsu he began using Yin release and focused on the use of his spiritual energy. Using his thoughts he imagined a true bunshin right in front of him. His right eye began to tingle and with that he began channeling his Yang release. This was the hardest part as he always had more Yang then Yin.

Now it was time to add vitality and breathe life into the form. "Shadow and Light Style."

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of loud knocking on his door. He ceased the flow of his chakra.

Well there was always later.

He exited the living room and made his way over to the door. He opened it and sure enough there stood Applejack.

"Well howdy there Naruto." Applejack greeted him.

"What's up AJ, need something?"

"Ya I need a favor from ya. Do ya mind if ya pick up Applebloom from school? Ah have to go to the hospital for a follow-up for mah injury. You're not too busy are ya?"

"Nope, I'd be happy to pick her up."

"Oh thank ya greatly Naruto. She should be getting' out of her class in an 'our."

"Alright, say hi to Redheart for me." He told her as Applejack waved, calling out a bye as she went on her way to her appointment.

The hour flew by pretty quickly as Naruto made his way to the school. He arrived just in time to see the students trailing out. He spotted Applebloom and her friend Twist. She was a rather lanky earth pony with a light amberish coat, light scarlet mane and tail and light fuchsia eyes. She was one of the few ponies he had seen with glasses, a brilliant blue violet pair with large square frames. The lanky filly wore a simple pair of brown shorts and yellow top. A nice filly but kind of hard to understand because of her lisp.

Another couple of ponies walked near them as they talked about the day. "I don't know why we had to sit through a lecture about getting a cutie mark. I mean, waiting for your cutie mark is sooo last week. You got yours, I just got mine. We all have them already." The pony was easily identifiable with her pale magenta coat, brilliant cornflower blue eyes and a pale light grayish violet mane and tail with white streaks. This little filly was Diamond Tiara.

Like her namesake, she wore a silver tiara with a sky blue pleated skirt that fell to just above her knees, below that a pair of knee high boots, a simple white top, with a sweater vest that matched the skirt perfectly. "I mean, almost all of us have them already. Don't worry you two; you're still totally invited to my cute-ceañera this weekend."

"It's going to be amazing." Her friend agreed as they walked around Applebloom and Twist. With cornflower bluish gray coat, moderate violet eyes, and two shades of light azureish gray mane with part of it done in the style of a braided ponytail that hung on the side. Silver Spoon served as Diamond Tiara's yes mare.

Silver was dressed a bit more simply. Her hooves were encased in a pair of Maryjanes and knee length white socks. She wore a simple white blouse, similar to that of her friend, but no sweater vest.

"It's a party celebrating me and my fantastic cutie mark. How could it not be?"

"Bump! Bump! Sugar-lump, rump!" The two ponies announced in unison, doing their own cheer and laughing.

"Gimme a break…" Applebloom muttered.

"See you this weekend, blank flanks!" They both called out to the duo as they left laughing.

A frown formed on Twist as a result of the two filly's teasing. "I guess I'll see you later." She walked off as Applebloom looked gloomily at the ground.

"Hey Bloom." He called out to the filly causing her to lift her head up in surprise.

"Naruto? What are ya doing here?"

"Applejack asked me to pick you up from school."

"Oh…" She replied.

The two of them began making their way to Sweet Apple Acres. "So what's up Bloom? I couldn't help but notice Rich's daughter said something to get you down."

Applebloom let out a sad sigh knowing that there was no used in hiding it. "They were just making me feel bad because ah don't have mah cutie mark yet…" As she finished she looked up at Naruto waiting for his response.

His expression was neutral for a moment before he averted his eyes, looking ahead but not really looking, it was more of a distant gaze. "I can't relate to the cutie mark issue, but I know exactly how you feel when it comes to being made fun of."

Applebloom with her eyes widened expressive in disbelief. "You? But you're like one of the coolest ponies ah know. Who would make fun of ya?"

Naruto playfully ruffled Applebloom's hair, causing her to let out an exclamation of protest. He knew the filly didn't like being treated like a kid, but sometimes she was in too much of a hurry to grow up.

"I was as young as you once. Loud. Noisy. Never paid attention to my teachers. When I look back, I think about all the times I got lucky and how others would not have walked away from my experiences. I realized how much I changed. How much I grew up. While some things never change once you grow up, you can't indulge in the same behaviors you did as a child. That is a problem of an adult, but you bloom, you still have more time. You still get to enjoy your youth, so don't be in such a hurry to grow up."

"It's not that ah'm in a hurry to grow up, ah just want to know what my special talent is. It's just not fair. Diamond Tiara invited me to her cute-ceañera, but it's only because she KNOWS ah don't have a cutie mark!" She lowered her head." Everypony is gonna make fun of me…"

"Do you really want to go to the party or not Applebloom?"

"Ah don't know…"

"Well… If you really think you'd have fun at the party, you should go, cutie mark or no cutie mark. You don't have anything to do and you shouldn't do something to please anypony if it hurts you or makes you upset. You should go to that party with your head held high. I know you may not understand it now, and yes bullies will probably still make fun of you and insult you, but the only pony who can take away your self-worth and respect is you and you can only do that by the decisions you make. You understand what I'm getting at right?"

"Aah think so." She got the gist of what he meant, but that only did a bit to stem the Filly's dejection. They continued along the path, mostly in silence as they made their way through Sweet Apple Acres.

To Naruto's surprise Big Mac was tending to the grass. He felt like it had been quite a while since he last seen him. "Hey there Mac, good to see you up."

"Eyup." He acknowledged the blond with a nod before turning his attention to Applebloom."What's wrong, sugarcube?"

"Ah got invited to a party but ah'm not sure if ah want to go?" Applebloom responded softly.

"Problem?"

Applebloom remained silent for a moment. "…Because I don't have my cutie mark…"

"Seems to be a tradition that keeps on churning. Ain't no shame in not having your cutie mark little seed. Ah was the last in mah class to get mah mark. Granny Smith and Applejack too."

"I really don't see how that's supposed to make me feel better." Her eyes opened wide, as if she discovered something great, instantly changing her mood and releasing a great and wide grin. "Runs in the family! Runs in the family! You've got apples for your cutie mark, Granny Smith has an apple pie, and Applejack too, my unique talent must has som'n to do with apples! Apples apples apples!" Applebloom hopped around excitedly, which eventually caused her to crash into a bucket of apples that Mac harvested for Applejack to take into town to sell. " Oops... apples."

"Careful there Bloom. AJ is taking those into town to sell later." A happy Applebloom dashed off for preparation of said idea.

"Well at least she's not moping anymore. Anyway I got to go, good seeing you Mac." With a wave Naruto was about to start his journey back home when a grip on his shoulder stopped him. "Umm, problem?" He wondered.

"Didn't git a chance to properly emphasize this earlier with me bein' in recovery and all. The family's fond of ya and ya are family in all but blood, but if ya break AJ's heart or hurt her, ah break yer school. We clear?"

Aah, there we go. Naruto was waiting for the over protective big brother speech.

"Trust me Mac, I know and I care about AJ and will do whatever I can to avoid hurting her." Naruto couldn't even remember all the times he had sent glares or threats at the boys trying to date his little himawari-chan. Being the strongest person in the world and village leader made one rather scary, far scarier than simply being a girl's father. Hell, he almost got away with sending Himawari's boyfriend on an S-rank mission with an estimated mission time of fifty years if Hinata hadn't gotten involved and talk some sense into him. Even the great Seventh Hokage couldn't stand up to a combination of no home cooked meals, no nookie, and that patented Hinata look that says 'I still love you but I'm disappointed in you'.

"Good, just makin' sure." Big Mac replied, removing his grip and going back to work.

Naruto made his way back in town, where should enough he ran into Rarity and Sweetie Belle wearing sun dresses. Sweetie was wearing a simple floral cloth dress with blue floral print, while Rarity was wearing a cotton strapless dress with a slim tie accentuated the waist with the short skirt flares with a flirtatious finish. "Hey there Naruto!"

"Whoa!" Naruto nearly found himself nearly barreled over as Sweetie Belle practically tackled him.

"There's my baby sis! Been forever since I've seen you." He scooped her up and placed her on his shoulder. "So what are you ladies up to?"

"Well we just finished helping Pinkie Pie with a cute-ceanera she is hosting." Rarity answered.

"Oh, is it a quiet affair?" He wondered.

"From what I hear, everypony is invited. Will you be attending as well?"

"I might as well. I couldn't think of anything better to do than escort two lovely ladies to a party."

"Flatter." Rarity replied with a demure smile.

"Can we go pick up my friend Scootaloo as well. Please…" The little filly pleaded, putting extra plead in her voice as where she was sitting, she wouldn't be able to use the eyes.

"Well?" Naruto asked, as Rarity nodded.

"Sure, I do not see any problem with that."

Thrilled, Sweetie Belle maneuvered herself off Naruto's shoulder. Once on the ground, she began practically dragging the blond to where the filly would be.

Scootaloo, like Applebloom and Sweetie Belle was a filly classified as too cute for her own good, but with a tomcoltish twist. Her features consisted of grayish purple eyes, a brilliant gamboge coat, and moderate cerise shaggy mane that was often unkempt and wild. The Pegasus had a body that was a bit bigger than fillies around her age with the exception of her wings, which seemed to be a bit under developed.

The two things that came to mind when it came to Scootaloo was that she was always traveling by scooter and apparently thought Rainbow Dash was one of the greatest ponies ever. At that, Naruto had made it his personal mission to steal away Rainbow Dash's number one fan not out of jealousy, but mostly because he found it personally amusing and he was sure the filly enjoyed the attention.

They arrived at the party and the quartet was greeted by Pinkie Pie.

"Alright you two, go have fun." Naruto gestured to the other kids and they scurried out into the festive fray.

"Oh wait! Don't forget your party hats!" Pinkie hurried after them, leaving Naruto and Rarity behind.

"Hey Naruto, Rarity!"

They looked over to the see where the voice was and saw it was Twilight. "Hey Twilight."

"Hello Rarity. Naruto. Have you seen Apple Bloom? She was just here a minute ago."

"So she did come?" Naruto asked, looking around. The place was so packed he couldn't pick her out of the crowd. "She seemed so uncertain because of her whole cutie mark issue, did she tell you?"

"She came by the library earlier and begged me to use my magic for a cutie-mark. I tried but nothing worked, as I knew it would. I only hope she'll be ok."

"You got a problem with blank flanks?"

The ponies all looked to the source of the voice. To their surprise, Sweetie Belle and Scootalo were in between Applebloom and the filly whose party this was celebrating her cutie mark.

Silver Spoon answered the question that came from the little Pegasus. "The problem is it means she's like totally not special."

"No, it means she's full of potential." Sweetie Belle replied.

The Pegasus started again. "It means she could be great at anything. The possibilities are like endless." She mocked Silver's way of talking.

The unicorn continued. "She could be a great scientist, or an amazing artist, or an amazing writer. One of them could even be mayor of Ponyville someday."

The Pegasus picked up from there. "And she's not stuck up like you two."

Diamond Tiara was mad at this. "Hey, this is my party, why are you two on her side?"

The Pegasus answered. "Because." The two fillies showed they didn't have any cutie marks either.

Applebloom commented. "You don't have your cutie marks either? I thought I was the only one."

Diamond went off again. "Whatever, your still just a bunch of blank flanks."

"And can you explain why that notion is such a bad thing?" Naruto spoke up as he went over to where the fillies were. "Or better yet, can you explain what your cutie-mark symbolize?"

"Hmph!" Diamond Tiara smirked "Well obviously it shows how special I am!"

"Really?" Naruto asked, keeping his same polite tone. "But special how? From what I understand, you're not royalty. You haven't completed some great feat. Sure, your family might have money, but there are hundreds, neigh thousands of family all over the nation with wealth, but far higher standing. Even then your special talent doesn't mean it'll be viable for a career. Having money might bring you nice things like clothes and food, but it won't buy you genuine love, friendship or respect. You'll find yourself on the fast track to being alone or without genuine warmth. These three fillies may not have cutie marks, but so what? They have all the time in the world to become whoever or whatever they want. Their friends and family that love and support them in spite of not marks. They don't have to resort to insulting or humiliating others to make themselves feel better." All the while, the whole party had practically gone silent as Naruto continued his lecture. Not once raising his tone or making a face towards the two prissy fillies who were standing there speechless, unable to find a comeback. Naruto decided to keep going by asking Silver Spoon. "And what does your cutie-mark represent?"

"Well, I…er well it…" She stammered, unable to recall.

"You were so quick and obsessed with getting it you missed the best part of having a cutiemark. That warmth sensation you have whenever you recall the memory. That excitement you get when you can finally apply your talent to your life's goals. Now you might end up never properly developing your talent in a way you can enjoy it. I hope you two take everything I said to heart. I understand, you're just kids and while its up to the adults to correct such behavior and set good behavior, you also have to take personal responsibility in how you'll interact and treat others. Have a good party Diamond Tiara and I hope you and your friend will take everything I said to heart."

As he made his way, he was suddenly hit by various ponies complimenting and cheering him. He couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. He was simply addressing the behavior issues of a few kids, it was nothing that big. Quite honestly he was just making sure he didn't overstep his boundaries as he didn't know about either filly's home life.

The only reason he was able to do what he did and speak on the topic so well was because he had his own misbehaving son who he was an absent father for a good portion of his life while busy being the leader of Konoha. He now had a new promise he needed to keep. That if he had children, he was going to work hard on being a better father and keep that consistency instead of trying to play catch up later.

"Naruto!"

He turned and was surprised to see Applebloom, with Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, along with Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity standing in front of him.

He was stunned when Sweetie and Bloom enveloped him in a hug.

"That was so cool!" Sweetie said as her eyes practically twinkle with admiration.

"Thanks for standing up for me!" Apple Bloom beamed at him.

"Yeah, I have to admit that was pretty cool," Scootaloo complimented, standing off to the side to emulate being cool, but unable to keep the smile off her face.

"It was a very nice thing you did for them, Naruto," Twilight said. "…hopefully those two fillies have learned a lesson from it."

"That was real sweet of ya Nar. Thank ya for standing up for Bloom. " She side hugged her fellow blond. 'Come by the farmhouse tomorrow evening.' She whispered in his ear as she broke apart from the blond.

Naruto only had moments to contemplate Applejack's words when he felt a pair of lips on his cheeks.

"As always a shining example of a gentlestallion." Rarity swooned, "Next time you come to the boutique I shall simply have to make something special for you."

Naruto nodded, before turning to the three fillies. "So, what will you three do now? I take it you're going to be budding friends right?" He asked as a grin broke out on Applebloom's face.

"We're gonna find our cutie-marks t'gether!"

"Totally!" Scootaloo agreed.

"Yeah it's going to be so cool."

"But we'll need a name for this group!" Apple Bloom insisted.

"The Cutie-Mark Trio?" Scootaloo suggested.

"The Cutastically Fantastic?" Sweetie Belle threw in her suggestion.

"How about... The Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Applebloom decided after some thought.

"That's perfect!" Scootalo cheered.

"We're gonna be unstoppable!"

The adults merely watched with grins at the excited expressions of the fillies. Things were definitely going to be livelier from now on.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Yay!" The trio let out a cheer.

Next Chapter: Gathering of the Herd! Rarity Speaks Her Feelings! Estimated time remaining: 48 Hours, 32 Minutes