"...Byakkasha!" Fang exclaimed. Her expression was one Scootaloo had never seen on her before: Shock, confusion, even outright disbelief.
"So, you remember my name, at least," the tiger said. "Then again, a mere decade isn't that long for creatures like us, is it? I certainly haven't forgotten about you."
"What's going on?" Scootaloo asked. "Fang, who is he?"
"Really, have you told her nothing?" Byakkasha turned to glance at her. "I am your predecessor, girl."
Scootaloo's eyes widened. "You're... Fang's familiar?"
"Her former familiar," Byakkasha corrected, his tone cold and hard as stone. He faced Fang again. "And while on the subject, I must say I'm a bit offended. I could accept being replaced, but by a mortal, deficient pony child of all things? Seriously, in ten years this is the best you could find?"
Scootaloo frowned, fear momentarily giving way for indignation. "Hey!"
Byakkasha completely ignored her, keeping his eyes on Fang while slowly pacing towards her. "I never did understand your bizarre fascination with these creatures. I see you're even masquerading as one full time now. I would have hoped you'd at least grant me enough respect to show me your real face, or are you too afraid of what this pathetic creature will think of you if she sees it?"
Fang had regained her composure by then, but she still appeared uneasy, as if just looking at the twin-tailed tiger caused her discomfort. "I thought you were dead," she said in a quiet voice.
"No, you left me for dead!" Byakkasha snapped. "Ten years ago, on Sakloth. After the battle I woke up buried under the ruins of the temple, bleeding and alone with the darkness crushing down on me, and you left me there!"
Fang shook her head. "You're wrong. I thought I had lost you, I couldn't sense you anymore..."
"You couldn't sense me because you closed your heart to me!" Byakkasha roared, his tails crackling with blue lightning. "I felt it! You, with your vaunted power of clairvoyance, you didn't even try to find me! You never cared about me at all, did you? All those years I tried so hard to win your approval but all along I was just another tool for you to use, another pawn for your games. And then, in the moment I needed you the most, you simply turned away and abandoned me!"
Fang recoiled as if stung by his words. "That's not how it happened. Byakkasha, you don't understand..."
"Bah! I didn't come here to listen to your excuses!" Byakkasha growled. "I came to settle things with you once and for all."
Fang's eyes narrowed and when she spoke her voice had sharpened. "Revenge, is it? That's pretty ambitious for an upstart runt like you, Byakkasha. You of all should know just how little your magic amounts to my own."
"Spare me your empty posturing, Fang," Byakkasha snorted. "Do you really think I came here without a plan? I have spent ten years tracking you down, so believe me when I say that I've had time to prepare for this meeting. I've already tested you, and you never even realized."
"The attack on the castle," Fang said slowly. "That was your doing?"
The tiger grinned. "Correct. It wasn't meant to be a serious challenge, of course, but I was still disappointed by your performance. Your powers are weak and your spirit has dulled. You are just a shadow of what you used to be." He crouched down in a battle stance, his tails raised, his claws digging into the ground. "Now, let's cease these pointless games. Face me, Hunting Beast! Marshal whatever magic you still can! Show me your true form! All I want, all I have left, is this final battle!"
Fang sighed deeply. "You can't be serious. I don't know how you got this ludicrous idea into that thick skull of yours, Byakkasha, but I am not going to fight you."
Byakkasha paused for a moment. Then his tails charged a spell, forming an orb of lightning which he aimed at Scootaloo. "Motivation it is, then."
Fang reacted immediately, disappearing in a flash and appearing right in front of Scootaloo. She raised a magic shield just in time for a blue thunderbolt to collide with it. At the same time, the blue aura holding Scootaloo in place was ripped away by Fang's own spell. Pulling the pegasus into her hooves, Fang teleported again, bringing them out of the way of Byakkasha's attack which scorched the trunk of the tree.
They appeared a few yards away and Fang put her familiar down on the ground. "Are you okay, Scoo..."
There was another flash, this one bright blue, and Byakkasha appeared right next to them already poised to strike. His paw, surging with magical lightning, struck Fang across the side of her face and sent her flying. She rolled across to ground, sparks dancing across her body.
"Fang!" Scootaloo cried. Byakkasha, meanwhile, ignored the pony and advanced on his former master. Fang struggled to get up, but the tiger had already caught her in his levitation spell. He lifted her into the air only to slam her back down on the ground hard enough to dent it. Then he pulled her up again and flung her, sending her hurtling through the air. She struck one of the trees hard enough to snap it in half, sending dying leaves whirling everywhere. The impact did little to slow her down and she landed near the edge of the clearing.
Lying on the ground, Fang winced and groaned through her teeth. In the next moment, she saw something come flying towards her. Byakkasha had levitated the broken tree and thrown it at her. It landed on top of Fang, burying her under its branches.
For a moment, the fallen tree lay still. Then a small explosion of invisible force blasted the last remaining leaves away and Fang emerged from the branches, violently snapping them as she moved.
Fang was enraged. Her pupils turned into narrow slits. Her gritted teeth began to sharpen as a growl made its way through them. "Why... that... little..."
"Is that all you've got, Fang?" Byakkasha shouted. "Don't tell me you've already reached your limits?"
"Stop!"
Before she could think about what she was doing, Scootaloo had run past the tiger. Standing in his way, she flared her wings in defiance. "She doesn't want to fight you! Just leave us alone!"
Byakkasha looked genuinely surprised. "Oh? This is unexpected. You aren't afraid of me?"
She was. Scootaloo was terrified and wanted nothing more than to run away. But even so, something she didn't understand – a small spark of fire deep inside her – made her stand her ground. "I... I won't let you hurt Fang!"
Byakkasha rolled his eyes. "Listen, kid, I'm doing you a favor here. She would just end up breaking your heart like she broke mine. I have no further interest in you, so just run home to the other ponies and live your life. Forget about all of this."
"No!" Scootaloo shook her head. "Whatever happened between you two, I know Fang would never do something like that!"
"You know nothing, little pony," Byakkasha growled. "She is Fang Jinhuo, the Hunting Beast of the Citadel! She is the Destroyer of Cadmea and the Ninth of the Nine Great Masters. She is a true monster, and you have no idea what she is capable of." He raised his head. "But you're about to find out."
A clawed paw struck the ground hard right next to Scootaloo. Around it, a few stray leaves caught fire and turned into ash. Scootaloo stared at the unfamiliar leg for a moment before slowly turning her eyes up. What she saw made her stumble backwards.
Before her stood a giant fox with fur of pale gold and nine long tails spread out like a sunburst. It was easily as large as the tiger, perhaps even larger. Its amber eyes locked unto him in a furious glare and its lips were pulled back into a snarl full of sharp fangs.
Scootaloo's mind went numb. Ancient primal instincts erupted within her. "Danger!" they warned. "Predator!" they cried to her. "Run! Run away!" But she couldn't move, stunned by the sight, paralyzed by the truth before her eyes.
"You said something about my limits, Byakkasha," the fox said, and it spoke in Fang's voice. "Very well! Let me remind you what happens when I'm pushed to my limits!"
Her tails lunged forward and each of the nine tips transformed into gaping dragon heads blasting fire at the tiger. Byakkasha leaped straight up into the air, dodging the inferno that burned the vegetation into a large, black swathe of charred ground. He came to a rest high above them, hovering in the air, and laughed.
"That's the spirit!" he called out, his tails powering up another spell. "Finally you're taking this seriously!"
"Scootaloo," the fox said.
"W-Wha...?" Scootaloo mumbled in confusion, still dazed.
"Scootaloo!" Fang repeated. "Get away from here, it's not safe to be near us!"
Something about those words snapped Scootaloo out of it and her legs started moving, stumbling at first, then as quick as she could make them. She turned and ran, stopping at the edge of the clearing and taking cover behind one of the larger trees. Part of her wanted to keep running, far away from the battle, to find Rainbow Dash or anypony else that could tell her what to do. But she couldn't leave. Somehow she knew that if she did, she would always regret it.
In the air above, Byakkasha had summoned a ring of blue flames circling him before merging into a large fireball floating between his tails. Looking up at him, Fang scoffed. "Trying to use my own spell against me?"
"You taught me well!" Byakkasha replied, releasing the spell and firing a huge blast of blue fire towards her. "Let me show you!"
As the fire approached her, Fang drew a quick breath. Turning her head up, she let out a deafening cry, part roar and part scream. It resounded throughout the forest, rattling the trees and shaking leaves off their branches. The sheer pressure of the sound caused the fire to disperse before it reached her.
"What in the hay was that?" Rainbow asked.
"Ah have no idea," Applejack replied. "Ah've never heard anythin' like it."
All around them, the ponies had stopped what they were doing when the strange sound echoed across the forest.
"It sounded like some kind of animal," Golden Harvest pointed out.
"What if it's a timberwolf?" Caramel asked, looking around nervously. A murmur rose from the crowd of ponies. They all looked worried.
Applejack raised her hoof. "Now just calm down, everypony! There ain't no timberwolves in White Tail Woods. 'Sides, Ah've heard 'em howlin' plenty of times and they don't sound like that."
"Well, whatever it was, it sounded really big," Caramel said. "And really dangerous."
"He's right," Cherry Berry said. "Maybe we should call this off and get to safety?"
The murmur increased and took on a tone of agreement. "I say we get out of here!" somepony said. "Yeah, I didn't sign up for this," said another.
Biting down on a curse, Applejack realized something had to be done before they all panicked. "Alright, alright! If that's how y'all feel, we'll leave as soon as all ponies are accounted for. But Ah need y'all to keep yer heads cool and vacate the forest in a calm and ordered fashion, okay?"
Her declaration calmed the crowd down a bit and the crisis seemed averted, at least for now. Applejack sighed in relief, then noticed Rainbow gazing into the woods with a frown on her face. "Dash?"
"Scootaloo and Fang are still out there," Rainbow said.
Applejack walked over to her friend and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Go," she said. "Ah'll make sure everypony gets home safely."
The pegasus smiled at her. "Thanks, Applejack." Then she spread her wings and shot into the air like a rocket, leaving her trademark rainbow trail as she went.
"Just be careful!" Applejack shouted after her. "...An' don't do anythin' stupid."
The tiger swooped through the air, sending a barrage of magical orbs raining down. The nine-tailed fox dashed out of the way, gliding across the ground as they exploded behind her, leaving craters marring the earth. She teleported, appearing in the air next to her opponent, swinging one of her tails at him. It struck Byakkasha in the side and sent him tumbling through the air until he slammed into a tree.
Fang wasted no time closing the distance and struck at him with her paw. He only barely managed to teleport out of the way of her claws. The trunk of the tree was slashed to pieces.
Reappearing some distance behind Fang, Byakkasha fired several large lightning bolts at her. Fang shot higher into the air, avoiding them. Turning as she moved, she opened her mouth and a ball of energy started to form between her jaws. Realizing what was coming, Byakkasha cast a shield around himself just as a bright beam of golden magic lanced out from Fang's maw. As it struck the shield, pushing Byakkasha backwards, it split into several smaller rays curving around him. They burned through several trees, mowing them down, leaving only burnt stumps standing.
From her hiding place, Scootaloo watched the battle in awe and trepidation. The two fighters seemed evenly matched, each pushing the other to the edge yet neither gaining the upper hand. It was not an elegant duel – this was a heated, brutal clash between enemies; a furious storm of fire and lightning.
Beyond her own feelings, Scootaloo found she could sense emotions that were not her own: Just as in the battle with the hivers, she had begun to feel Fang's emotions through their bond. Back when they fought in the sky over the castle, Fang had found the battle exciting. But it was different this time. All Scootaloo could discern was fury and desperation. Fang was not enjoying this fight at all.
And something else was different as well. The feelings flowing through the bond seemed jumbled, conflicting, dissonant. Once Scootaloo noticed, that sensation started to grow stronger.
Fang and Byakkasha raced towards each other in the air, their paws blazing with magic. They collided and waves of light flashed blue and gold around them, pushing against each other.
Growling, Fang focused her power and her aura grew in size and intensity. For a moment it seemed it would overwhelm Byakkasha. But then, all of a sudden, Scootaloo felt a hot, red pressure in the side of her chest – the same she had felt when they faced the hiver swarm moderator. Fang's aura rapidly started to fade.
Byakkasha saw his chance and doubled his efforts. His aura surged and a shockwave of magical energy sent Fang crashing to the ground. Byakkasha followed up by throwing a fireball that struck the fox, exploding and engulfing her in flame.
"Getting a bit winded, old-timer?" he taunted. "You know, if you're this infirm I almost feel bad about beating you up!"
A pulse of magic erupted from within the fire, extinguishing it and revealing Fang getting back on her paws, breathing heavily.
"Your jokes... are as terrible as ever," she grunted. "A bit of a handicap just makes fighting a pretentious, immature brat like you more fair!"
She launched off the ground once more, and Byakkasha immediately fired several lightning orbs at her. But rather than attempting to evade, Fang turned in the air and swung her tails, simply batting the projectiles out of the way. Taken by surprise by the maneuver, Byakkasha couldn't react in time and Fang's last tail wrapped around his neck. Dragging him along, she spun around in the air, swinging the tiger in a circle while quickly building speed. After three rotations she let out a mighty battle cry and released him, slamming him into the ground.
Byakkasha immediately rolled out of the way, perhaps on instinct, and in the next moment Fang embedded her tails into the ground where he had just been. Cracks formed in the earth, fire seeping out of them moments before the ground violently exploded.
Back in her hiding spot, Scootaloo was growing increasingly confused. The feelings flooding into her were now so clear to her that they were almost overwhelming, but they didn't make sense. She felt triumph mixed with trepidation, worry and relief at the same time, burning fury and cold rage. It was like hearing two different voices screaming at each other, as if she was feeling two...
...Two hearts.
Suddenly Scootaloo understood everything. It was the bond. Even now, after all those years, Byakkasha's heart was still bound to Fang's, just as Fang's heart was bound to Scootaloo's own. Master and apprentice, she was sensing them both at the same time; their hidden feelings unveiled as they battled one another, echoing each other, synchronizing.
Without thinking, Scootaloo started to move. She left the relative safety behind the tree, wandering into the battlefield like a sleepwalker, those terrible feelings whirling inside her.
"Stop..."
She could feel their anger, burning like a wildfire, raging like a storm.
"Stop!"
But beneath the anger: Resentment. Frustration. Regret that had lingered for too long, turned putrid and bitter, a slow and terrible poison.
"You have to stop fighting!"
And beneath the bitterness: Sorrow, vast and dark and crushing like the ocean depths. Desperate longing for something so very precious lost long ago. Unbearable anguish tearing at two lonely hearts.
"Please, stop... This is all wrong..."
Misery. Despair. Heartbreak. Pain.
Not malice. Not hatred. Just ordinary pain.
Scootaloo had fallen silent. She was crying, huddled on the ground, not even looking at the fighters anymore. The feelings flowing through the bond overwhelmed her and she could no longer tell them apart from her own. She didn't want to feel those things. She didn't want to feel anything.
Dark shadows danced before her eyes, painting her world in shades of black and grey. Her sobbing stopped. A hole had opened up inside her – a dark maelstrom swallowing up all those painful feelings. In their place, the darkness filled her entire being until it spilled over and flowed out of her. Her mind slipped and fell into that endless void.
It was cold. It was dark. It was empty.
The fox and the tiger collided in the air, spells and technique forgotten. They wrestled and clawed at each other like savage beasts. Byakkasha clenched his jaws around Fang's neck and she choked on a scream as she struggled to breathe. Her tails coiled around him and sharpened into spears aimed to strike at his back.
Then the air around them shuddered and they both felt an unseen force press down on them, heavy and unyielding. It pulled them out of the air and smashed them into the ground, the shock causing them to let go of each other and separate. They quickly rolled back on their paws, neither sure what had just happened.
"What..." Fang coughed, catching her breath.
"...the hell?" Byakkasha wasn't looking at her. He was staring at something to the side of them with an expression of utter confusion. Fang turned her head to follow his gaze.
And then she saw Scootaloo.
The pegasus filly stood a few yards away facing them. Her whole body flashed in a black aura of negative light and the very space around her vibrated with some unknown power. At the center of her chest was a single dark spot: A hole into nothing that seemed to siphon raw magic directly out of the surrounding air, drawing it into a swirling vortex. Her eyes were a pair of glaring purple lights surrounded by utter blackness.
The thing looking back at them from behind those eyes was not Scootaloo.
It was a monster.