//------------------------------// // I Don't Want To Fight You... Part 1 // Story: A Tale of Tails, Sunsets and Burned Bridges // by Ozone31 //------------------------------// +Telepathic Dialouge+ (Kurama's POV) Sunset Shimmer winced and held her phone away from her ear, shocked by the ear drum busting scream that had burst out from the little device. "Ow." she groaned rubbing the affected ear tenderly before returning the mobile to it. "Listen Pinkie Pie I'm sorry for not keeping my promise, but I don't have time to-" "Look out!" I yelled, tackling Sunset to the ground to avoid being hit by a blast of force that had come from where Vinyl had been sent by my kick. I didn't even have time to stand up before I sensed another blast coming our way. I scooped up Sunset and leapt into the trees, taking off as quickly as I could manage. "What in the hay was that?!" I heard a second voice call over the phone, although the thick Southern accent made it obvious just who it was. "Sunset where are ya', are ya'll in a fight?!" She was about to respond but an emergency dodge I had to execute jolted her and caused my Jinchuuricki to drop her phone. "My phone! We have to go back for it!" she shouted, trying to free herself of my grip but I made sure to keep a tight hold of her. "Kurama?! Didn't you hear me, we need to go back for my phone." "It's the phone or your life kid and the former ain't too useful without the latter, ya know." as I said those words a powerful stream of water tore past my right ear, just missing hitting both it and the top of Sunset's head. Glancing back I quickly caught sight of Vinyl, fast approaching us, and I gave a slight wince as I saw her crush Sunset's phone beneath her foot. She was worse now than she was before, surrounded by a first stage Tailed Beast Cloak she had already grown two tails. Crap, if she's growin' them that fast we'll have the Eight Tails to deal with before long... I thought to myself grimly, picking up my pace as I leapt from branch to branch. "Where exactly are we going?" Sunset yelled over the sound of a tree being blown apart by another water blast. "The Beach." I replied, jumping to a higher elevation to avoid yet another attack. "Seriously? You wanna fight a water monster right next to the ocean?!" "This damn forest is too dense, I haven't trained you to fight under these conditions yet. The beach is more open, we'll both be able to fight at our best there." with that said I kicked off harder than before, making a bee-line for the smell of the sea. (Third Person POV) "Ahhhhhhhh." Rainbow Dash let out a content sigh as she sank slowly back into the soothingly warm, soapy bath water. She'd basically just single-handedly won the qualifying match to get Canterlot High into the season. She deserved the trophy right then and there for all the hard work she'd put in, but that was apparently a 'non-sports manly' thing to ask for so she would have to settle for a nice relaxing bath for her reward instead. "Almost as good. Almost." she chuckled to herself as she laid her head back and closed her eyes, preparing to take a short nap. Sadly she would never get this nap and her relaxation time would be cut-short by a bright pink blur smashing through her bathroom window. The rainbow haired girl screamed and jumped five feet into the air, attempting to grab the ceiling in her terror. She failed at this and promptly fell straight back into the tub with an almighty: *SPLASH* After a brief moment spent at the bottom of the tub wondering where her nice, normal life had gone, Dash groaned and clambered out of the bath, quickly grabbing a towel to cover herself with. With her body well concealed she turned her attention to the shuffling pink heap on the floor. "PINKIE PIIIIIIIIIIIIE!!!" she roared. There was no initial response from the pink heap, she just continued to shuffle around. Rainbow began to feel concerned that her friend had injured herself crashing through her window and reached out a hand to the party girl to see if she was okay. "Pinkie?" she whispered, growing more scared by the second. However it turned out she had no cause for concern - just as her hand was about to meet the pink lump, Pinkie Pie exploded from the pile of shattered glass and window frame without a scratch. As she rose from the rubble the explosive girl took in a massive breath, similar to how she reacted if she met someone new. Taking a firm hold of the Rainbow haired girl's shoulders Pinkie Pie looked her friend dead in the eye, before promptly opening the flood gates on her explanation. "DASHIE!SUNSET'SINTROUBLESOMEWHERE'CAUSESHEMISSEDOURCOOKINGDATEANDWHENICALLEDHERSHEDIDN'TANSWERANDWHENICALLEDHERAGAINSHESTILLDIDN'TANSWERBUTWHENICALLEDAGAINAFTERTHATSHEDIDANSWERBUT-" she took in another massive breath to refuel her oxygen supply. "WEGOTCUTOFFAFTERHEARINGSOMECRASHIN'SOUNDSTHATMEANSSHE'SINTROUBLEANDNEEDSOURHELP SO COME ON!!" with that said she took a moment to catch her breath and in that time Dash tried to process what she'd just been told. She understood the basic premise that 'Sunset was in trouble' but the rest was just: "Huh?" was all she could muster in response to her friend's statement. Pinkie sighed slightly, they had no time for her to explain it again. But she perked up immediately as she grabbed Dash's wrist and began to tug her towards the smashed window. "Applejack will explain it to you on the way, now come on!" and with that Pinkie leapt through the gaping hole she'd made in the window, pulling a furiously protesting Rainbow Dash out with her. "DAMMIT PINKIE PIIIIIE!" the all-but-naked athlete screamed as they fell towards the waiting back seat of Maud Pie's car. (Kurama's POV) If I were to sum up my decision to try and fight Vinyl on the beach, it would very quickly fall into the category of 'Not one of my finest choices', a category that was already quite heavily populated despite my young age. Sure the open ground would allow Sunset to fight at her best, but that doesn't mean squat if she can't even get close to her demonic adoptive sister. Vinyl had now taken on the third stage of Tailed Beast transformation, her body consumed by a second stage Tailed Beast cloak with the bull-like skeleton of the Eight Tails having formed around that and six tails whipping furiously behind her. She had very quickly been able to separate myself and my Jinchuuriki with a continuous volley of chakra cannon blasts, preventing us from regrouping or moving in to attack her. We couldn't even talk to each other over the shrieking chakra blasts and the explosions that followed them. I need to find a way to communicate with Sunset, but I don't wanna go screaming a battle plan across the beach... Damn if only she could hear my- That's It! +Sunset, can you hear me?+ I sent, desperately hoping our mental link was still intact. I waited a few unbearably tense seconds, continuously avoiding the never ending barrage of chakra blasts that were separating us, hoping beyond hope that my little plan would work. "Loud and...clear Kurama..." Sunset panted having trouble focusing on both dodging and sending her reply, despite the fact she had also said it out loud. That wouldn't do. +No Sunset, you can't respond out-+ I found myself cut off as my focus dropped, whilst just ducking a blast that would have taken my face off. I quickly refocused my thoughts and continued. +We can only speak mentally, Vinyl may be acting like a monster right now but if she hears us formulating a plan she'll try her best to stop us.+ "But Kurama..." +No buts kid! If we're gonna win you're gonna have to over come your weaknesses and fight harder than ever. That's what you have to do if you want to get Vinyl back.+ I could feel her uncertainty, clouding her thoughts like a smog and for a moment I feared that she would be unable to focus enough to pull it off. I guess she did fail to do this even in the calmest of situations... I thought grimly, reminding myself that she'd even failed to truly master this even in meditation sessions - one of the calmest environments I could think of. But all of my doubts were blown away in second by a surge of psychic force, emanating from Sunset. She'd been pinned down inside a crater created in the sand, rendered unable to move by the continuous spray of condensed death balls flying through the air. But in the seconds following her burst of psychic power, she leapt over the rim of the crater and threw herself from it across the beach, landing a few feet from me. +Shorten the distance between us to lessen the amount you have to concentrate, pretty sharp.+ +Did you honestly doubt me Kurama?+ she chuckled after seeing my slightly surprised look, the confident attitude she'd always favoured returning with her new found focus. +I am one of the smartest people in my year ya know+ +Didn't doubt ya for a second kid. But I did have to remind myself that you are a slow learner+ her air of confidence inspiring my own to resurface. +The plan is to split 'em+ +How do you mean split 'em?+ she sent, ever so slightly baffled. +It's the Eight Tails and its chakra that's causing this transformation of her body and mind. If we don't act quickly she'll end up turning completely into the Eight Tails, but one with double the power compared to him before. So we just need to get the Eight Tails himself to split from her and form in the real world, like I am now.+ +So, we just need to attack until an opening in her guard appears, strike at it and hope the Eight Tails will appear to defend her?+ Sunset summarised simply whilst summoning three shadow clones. +Easy+ +Leave the Eight Tails to me. You just focus on keeping Vinyl's attention on you+ I landed hard on my right foot, lowering myself low to the ground in preparation to charge. +Right+ Sunset followed suit, going low on her left foot in perfect unison with my own movements. Vinyl paused her barrage for a second whilst trying to analyse our strategy, that was our signal. "LET'S GO!" we yelled as one, kicking off hard and heading straight for the bestial form of Vinyl Scratch. I moved the quickest, closing the distance between myself and her without even touching the ground. But despite my speed she was still ready for me, lashing out at me with one arm and three tails. Slamming one foot sidelong into the sand I ducked below the strike and kicked up a face-full of sand into her eyes, blinding the demon DJ. With my diversion complete I teleported away to kunai I'd affixed to a tree upon arriving on the beach. In the precious seconds Vinyl spent clawing the sand from her eyes Sunset and thirteen shadow clones were right on top of her. The teen herself was the first to land a hit, her foot planting itself firmly in her opponent's face and sinking into it slightly. However, from there on out it was a mad scuffle that even I couldn't follow accurately - just a mad mix of whipping tails, flying limbs and destroyed clones all disappearing in growing cloud of dust, smoke and sand. Damn. I grimaced as I watched the cloud steadily grow around them, almost completely obscuring them from my view. At this rate I won't be able to- I found my thoughts cut short, once again, this time by one of Sunset's clones flying out of the cloud like a bullet. As she flew past me I caught a glimpse of her giving me a thumbs up and mouthing the words: "Go now." So, without a thought I kicked off the tree, taking my kunai with me and sprinting towards the still growing cloud. It only continued to expand as I got closer and for a split-second I wanted to slow down, but I quickly abolished these thoughts from my mind and continued sprinting towards the battle. I was mere moments away from them now growing less sure all the time. +Come on kid. Were's that opening?+ I asked over our mental link as I leapt into the air, aiming to land on the Eight Tails chakra I could feel within the cloud. And then it happened. "RASENGAN!" Sunset yelled as she cast the jutsu into her fellow Jinchuuriki's stomach, whilst simultaneously blowing away the dust cover revealing her six remaining shadow clones and our foe. Four of the Sunset clones were grappling with Vinyl's six tails, with two of them holding two each while the remaining grapplers each held a single tail. The final two clones were retraining her arms and legs, brows furrowed and teeth clenched as the sharp bull's skeleton stabbed into them. Lastly there was the demon DJ herself and I smirked as I noticed that the clones were holding her limbs in a way that left her back exposed. +Now Kurama! I can't hold this Rasengan for long+ Sunset sent hurridly, but I was already falling towards the opening. "Knock knock, Eight-O!" I yelled, going in to stab the Jinchuuriki's exposed back with my kunai and out he came, exploding forth from his Jinchuuriki's back still cloaked in fading second state tailed beast chakra. However, before I could catch a glimpse of his face Sunset lost control of her Rasengan and ,without the chakra of its wielder, it exploded. Vinyl was thrown bodily across the beach and only stopped when she crashed into a tree, while my Jinchuuriki was tossed into the shallow waves lapping at the shore of the island. They only went relatively short distances due to there connection to the ground at the time of detonation, but myself and the Eight Tails were still in the air at that moment and angled upwards of the rasengan itself. So we were sent flying high into the air before crashing back down in the forest again. (Third Person POV) Sunset Shimmer was the first to recover, striding free of the shallow waves whilst wringing out her hair. She looked down at her sodden clothes and sighed, noticing there wasn't an inch of her body that wasn't soaked through. Looks like all of this is goin' straight in the wash when we get back home. she concluded as she tied her still sopping wet hair up in a ponytail and kicked off her water filled boots. "At least the plan worked though." she mused aloud as her gaze fell on her adoptive sibling who was still slumped against the tree she'd hit. The fiery haired teen swallowed her fear and slowly approached the still figure, but with her stance lowered and guard up. She'd gotten within a few feet of her opponent and sister before she noticed her begin to stir. In a sudden flash of movement Vinyl lashed out, catching Sunset in the gut with a savage backhanded strike which sent her crashing back across the beach. The DJ slowly rose from the ground and growled, fixing her gaze on her adoptive sister with her wide, pupil-less, white orbs. Most of her skin was a harsh pinkish-red since the protective top layer having been peeled away by the second stage chakra cloak, but it was already healing over with wispy clouds of steam being created as the flesh repaired. "Cheap shot." Sunset groaned as she righted herself, dusting off her jacket and meeting Vinyl's glare with a level stare. "I don't want to fight you sis, but you aren't leaving me with many other options here." she grunted as she gave her neck a rough crack and rolled her shoulders, limbering herself up in preparation for the battle knew was coming. The two stood facing each other in a tense silence, each one waiting for the other to make a move. Never having been the most patient of souls, that person was Sunset. She kicked off the ground hard, coming within range of Vinyl in three long strides and ending the third with a short leap straight at her opponent, her right hand balled into a fist and raised to strike mid-jump. Despite her rage-fogged mind the demon DJ reacted surprisingly slowly to the coming attack, calmly clenching her own fist before sending it in on a collision course with Sunset's. The instant before the two teens' fists met, time seemed to slow to a snail's pace. Tiny sand particles floated lazily in the air, the waves seemingly frozen mid-crest, the two combatants locked away in a motionless cut of time. The fiery haired teen peered deep into her friend's eyes, desperately seeking for any sign, any minuscule indication that the girl she'd known for so long was still there; reaching out for her aid that very second. She stared into those blank, pupiless eyes for what seemed for an eternity looking for what she sought and was about to give up hope of ever finding it when; There it was. Quick flash of colour in those bleak, emotionless orbs. A glint of red around the edges. And it was all Sunset needed for proof. With a titanic cry, invigorated by her determination, the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki poured every ounce of chakra she had into her closed fist. The energy instantly infused itself with her skin, causing it to harden and turn a metallic black in colour. "ARMAMENT JUTSU!" When it seemed their fists finally connected an almighty blast of force came exploding out of the contact point and in the same second a massive cloud of smoke erupted from the centre of the forest, before it was immediately dispersed by another, even larger shock wave. Revealing Kurama and the Eight-Tail also clashing fists, sending a hail storm of trees flying through the air with the power of their strike. Sunset and Vinyl broke their connection and leapt back to avoid the incoming volley of flying foliage. +I thought you said that if we separated them, the Eight Tails wouldn't form?!+ she almost screamed down their mental link. Kurama didn't even acknowledge her message, instead letting loose an earth-shaking roar and unleashing a storm of furious punches upon the Octo-Bull. Unfortunately he appeared to have had the exact same idea and brought forth his own barrage of hammering blows, with the two meeting in a glorious spectacle of raging strikes that tore apart what little was left of the island jungle. The Nine-Tails couldn't afford to lose his focus, even for Sunset. For losing concentration in the middle of combat could almost certainly spell one's doom... The time was indiscernible. The sun was blocked out by an infinite canopy of dense foliage, sprouting from the trunks of the massive, thousand-year-old Ancient-Oaks. A light mist hung just above the waist high bushes and shrubs that covered the forest floor. And it was through these shrubs that a boy came crashing through, large stick in one hand and a blood-stained cloth in the other. He ducked and weaved under great tree roots, darted around trunks and altered course as much as possible - trying to remain unpredictable. He finally came to a stop behind a particular tree, resting his back against it and pressing the cloth to the open gash above his right eye. "Shit." swore Oscar Lupercal as he did his best to halt the flow of blood that was obscuring his vision. As much as he wanted to say that the hit scored on his forehead by the Manto-Ursus (or Mantis-Bears as they're more commonly known) was nothing more than a lucky shot, he new that the only luck involved in that encounter was his own. He was lucky it was Balgrum-The-One-Eyed he'd encountered, as it was the creature's lack of depth perception that had saved his neck. "Stupid, overgrown, winged weasel. If I'd mastered Red Hawk already, he'd be torched right now." He dabbed up some of the fresh blood leaking from his wound before stuffing the cloth into his pocket and slowly easing his head around the trunk, peering into the gloom and fog to try and find his surprisingly stealthy adversary. After seeing nothing but empty forest, the young Lupercal lent back around the tree and slid to the ground. As he caught his breath, he took a moment to think back to what his grand-father had told him about Mantis-Bears. "Big, mean, ugly. Lotsa teeth. Two huge scything claws on the fore limbs. Oh and wings too!" This final thought made Oscar flinch as he realised something, something that made his heart drop straight to his feet. That was when he heard the buzzing. With barely a second to react, he leapt to the side, just as around 790 pounds of chitin armoured grizzly bear came crashing down from the canopy - cutting a deep gash in the trunk with both claws on the way down. The boy only just rolled clear of the beast's landing area as it came down, quickly scrambling to his feet only to find his escape route blocked by a tree root. He sighed and turned to face the abomination as it tore its forelimbs free of the shredded bark. It was a truly terrifying sight, 12ft 3inches of hardened, black chitin plate and thick, golden-brown fur with a pair of scythes stemming from down from its elbows and standing upright on two long, thin, reversed kneed legs. It turned to face him, crossing its blade limbs over its exposed stomach, and looking straight down at him with a single, black insect eye. Oscar gulped, very few things in his life even comparing to the fear he felt now, staring down a genetically-engineered war hybrid. They had been created many millennia before for a purpose that modern biologists and historians still hadn't quite discerned. This didn't make them any less dangerous though... With a sound that was somewhere between a roar and a chitter, the biological killing machine charged forward with its bladed forelimbs raised and teeth bared. Oscar stood firm, desperately resisting the urge to run or dodge or do anything that would put him out of the beast's war-path. But he did none of these things, instead he braced his stance, switched the stick he was holding into his left hand and took hold of the combat knife sheathed away on the back of his hip. He was ready to fight this monster and if he died doing so... "There're worse ways to go out I guess." he reassured himself, struggling to bring a smile to face as he watched his nemesis approach. "Beats rotting away on a bed." "Focus O!" a voice called from behind him and although it sounded strained, Oscar could hear the determination in it. "Save thinking about dying for your mid-life crisis and DUCK!" He did as instructed and went to the ground, just as a dustbin-sized boulder was catapulted over the root and sent straight into Balgrum's face. There was a sickening crunch as the beast's head was crushed between the rock and the tree behind him. But it seemed like for a moment the creature couldn't quite grasp this fact, as it brought up its forelimbs to try and remove the rock that was now, securely lodged in the tree, right where its head should have been. The hoodie wearing youngster watched this pitiful display for a few seconds on his knees, before rising to up and sighing. As he let his breath free he felt some of the stress and tension that had built up in his stomach over the last few days escape with it, flowing free of him and into the darkening world around him. He was not completely free of it and unbeknownst to him he would not be really free of it for a very long time, but for now it was enough. He dropped the stick and relinquished his grip on his still-sheathed knife, dusted off his grey hoodie's shoulders and adjusted the hood neatly back into a central position. It had been a long two days. He pulled the cloth from his pocket and wiped away the blood that had managed to leak from his wound during the minute since he'd last tended it. "You're welcome." the voice huffed as its owner came up alongside Oscar, and despite its miffed tone the relief was clear to hear through it. But that was Benedictus Buran, as easy to read as an open book. "Ya know, I didn't ask for you rip off your sleeve just so I could have a blood cloth, Ben." the future Nine-Tails shrugged, wrapping the cloth over his torn eyebrow to restrict the bleeding. The pale skinned boy sighed and shook his head, causing his shaggy hazelnut-brown hair to whip around everywhere. He let a small smile grace his freckled features and fixed his deep brown eyes on the Lupercal's deep green set. "I was talking about Balgrum idiot." he chuckled, folding his arms across his surprisingly broad chest. For his age Ben had a rather large frame, making him comparable to Oscar's older brother Danziel in height and design, although he was hardly the walking death threat the middle Lupercal was. "Oh right. Speakin' of, he was a bit of a pushover don'tcha think?" he pondered aloud, wandering over to the corpse with a confused Ben following with a cocked eyebrow. "What makes you say that?" "Well he was always made out to be the biggest, baddest thing in the outer forest and yet we killed him with a rock." Oscar said dismissively as he drew his knife and began cutting away the beast's elbow, seeking to use its blade-like forelimb as proof of their accomplishment. "Well it's not as if it was a pebble we threw at him." Ben commented as he drew his own knife and began working on the creature's other limb. "It did take us about an hour to drag it onto the catapult and it was only ten metres away from it to begin with. We should be glad it was killed so easily, I don't think we could've taken it head on and..." he trailed off after that, halting his hacking to ponder the 'what-if's'. "Hey Ben" the young mechanic was broken from his pessimistic reveries by the voice of his friend, who was now standing back from the corpse and brandishing the limb he had severed like a sword. "Ya reckon I could forge a good blade with this? I would look so cool with a sword made of this stuff." he laughed with a cocky grin, taking a few mock swings with the biological weapon. "I'm sure you could make a great sword with these materials O and I would be honoured if you made me one too." he chuckled as he claimed his own prize. With blade limb in hand he walked over to his friend and placed his free hand on Oscar's shoulder. "But for now let's just focus on surviving the last few hours of our trial, eh? I don't want you losing focus again and getting us both killed." In response the youngest Lupercal let out something between a laugh and a sigh and smiled at his newest friend. "Sure thing bud. How about we head back to camp and spend our last few hours sparring huh?" "You kidding? I'd take you out in a second with my Thunder Lariat!" "Like hell you would. Your Lariat is nothing compared to my Red Hawk!" With that said, the two boys began to wander back to their camp. They would face many hardships in the future, with some looming just over the horizon. But for now they were happy, accomplished and free. What more could be asked for? "So remind me again why we decided Sunset would be here?" asked a still sopping wet Rainbow Dash, as she stood shivering in her towel on Ponyville beach. "Because Fluttershy said she saw Sunset and... Vinyl, was it? Driving this way earlier. Isn't that right, darling?" a surprisingly upbeat Rarity smiled sweetly. She too was only clad in a towel, having been in the same circumstance as Rainbow when Pinkie Pie had arrived. "Umm... yes I saw them almost crash when their car exploded in smoke." the shy girl spoke from behind Applejack, her voice never rising above a whisper. "At first I thought they were having engine trouble, but then I think I saw Kurama in the car with them and that's how Sunset said he appears." "Well no wonder she's in trouble then." the cowgirl stated loudly, a stark contrast the the pink haired animal lover who was peeking out from over her shoulder. "If he wanted 'em to go over there it's probably 'cause of some mystical doohickey or somethin' like that." "Now Applejack we don't know for certain th-" Rarity began before being cut off by an ear-splitting roar accompanied by a powerful shockwave, which threw the entire group back across the beach. After the blast the five girls began picking themselves and each other up, with Rainbow and Rarity scrambling to grab their towels. Applejack was the first up and she headed back to the shoreline, desperately trying to see through the gathering darkness and fog that was obscuring lone-man's island. "Okay... WHAT THE FU-" "LOOK OUT!!" a voice screamed and the farm girl was tackled into the surf, just as an entire tree dropped from the sky and crashed onto the beach where AJ had been standing. The three still standing elements stood, staring in awe at the piece of flying foliage that had almost crushed their friend and for a time no one said a thing. "A... flying... tree?" but it was no surprise that Pinkie was the first to speak. The recently saved farm girl, swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and looked at her saviour, slightly shocked to see who it was. "Um, thank ya Fluttershy." the farmer muttered, barely understanding what had just happened. The caretaker gasped and hurriedly removed herself from being on top of her friend. Applejack let out a slight chuckle as she picked herself up, looking over her sand and sea covered form. "Oh my gosh, Applejack. I'm so sorry. I've got some napkins on me somewhere." she patted herself over, looking for some of the paper towels she had leftover from her second encounter with Twilight. "Hey don' sweat it Shy. Ah'm good. Hey Rainbow can Ah borrow your towel a sec?" "Like hell you can!!" the athlete yelled. "Get your own!" "Oh come on, Ah need it more than ya'll do right now." "AS IF! I'm just as wet as you and it's freezing out here." Despite the situation, Pinkie watched the scene before her with a growing smile. Her friends were so funny. "Pinkie Pie." the monotone voice of Maud Pie called from behind her, her big sister wearing the same blank expression she always did, although to the pink party planner it always showed something more. "Are you alright? Did you suffer injury?" "Don't worry about me big sis, I'm fine." she grinned and stuck her thumbs up to confirm it. Maud sighed in relief, before fixing her gaze on the direction the roar had come from. Her eyes narrowed and she tensed. "That's good. Because I fear that your friend might not be so lucky..."