Friendship Shorts!

by Saro0fdemonz

Tournament

This idea brought to you by Yu Yu Hakusho's Dark Tournament and me thinking of doing a Versus series with all of our characters thus far.

---

"I'm concerned...I doubt either of them will die, but this tournament is going to demand a lot of all of us," Spitfire sighed as she watched Spike enter the arena below.

"You are right, but they have had this duel before under different circumstances. I had hoped for this pairing in favor of many others. In this way, we make it easier for the Elements to move forward," Celestia admitted.

"But do we want the Elements to move forward Princess? Wouldn't it be better if we knocked them out of the tournament and fought ourselves?" Spitfire almost begged. Celestia hid a smirk behind her glass.

"My only reasoning for not wanting us to face them, is their sheer determination and willpower to win. I do not want them wearing themselves out on us before their real challenge comes along," Celestia explained herself.

"They...They really have gotten stronger...haven't they?" Spitfire mumbled, hanging her head.

"Rainbow is going to be alright Spitfire. She's too much like her mother," Celestia winked.

"Nightgale took herself out," Spitfire sighed, blinking as Celestia grabbed her shoulder.

"I meant you," Celestia said, sounding a bit hurt. Spitfire felt her entire body begin to shake.

"I can't just stand here and let this happen. She could die out there!" Spitfire yelled

"And so could any of you Spitfire. I've played my cards and rolled the dice, now we can only wait and believe in them."

---

Vinyl took a slow breath as she entered the arena. Sure, she'd fought Spike before, a few sparring matches. She'd even kept up with him. But they'd never had so much on the line before. Spike had only two things on his mind. The Sparkle Family, and Fluttershy. Which meant Rarity was being thrown to the wolves unless she could pull one over him.

Sure, they'd had a few matches, but she'd never won a single one of those. She grit her teeth, removing her shades and tossing them aside, her mana flaring around her body in an instant. Spike gave her a sad smile as he removed his cloak, standing in just a pair of purple sweats and letting out a small flame as he exhaled.

"Don't do this boss..." Vinyl begged quietly.

"If we don't fight, they'll kill everyone with a snap of their fingers. If we hold back, they'll know, if we give up or give in, it's all over Vinyl. We've both got too much riding on this. So show me why you've come as far as you have, give me everything you've got and more, because I won't stop until I can't go on," Spike growled, his eyes shifting.

Fuck...FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! Vinyl screamed in her head. She threw her head back, screaming at the top of her lungs as her magic flared, causing many people to shield their eyes as she poured all she had out for the world to see.

She had no choice, Spike wasn't going to hold back this time. Not with his remaining family on the line. But Vinyl's family was on the line too. She roared as she flickered forward, reaching for Spike's throat, only to have her arm shoved aside, Spike spinning and smashing his knee into her chin, a roll forward and his heel had slammed into the back of her head, sending her face first into the arena.

He hopped backwards, brushing his thumb over his nose as blood dripped down from a fresh cut on his cheek. Vinyl was on him in an instant, fists a blur as she desperately tried to land a hit. All the while Spike danced backwards, bringing up his knee into her arm to knock a punch aside, lifting his own arm to catch hers and even throwing his head forward to duck under another.

"You fucking lied to me!" Vinyl screamed, catching him off guard, her knee flying into his chin and tossing him in the air. Seeing her chance she jumped after him, flickering out of sight and throwing her arms around him, tightening her hold even as flames erupted around his body.

"Nice try boss, you know, I saw this one in an anime," Vinyl chuckled, her magic wrapping around him just outside of his flames, a bubble forming around them as she spun and plummeted towards the ground. Spike began to shift, scales covering his body, until Vinyl chomped down on his ear, causing him to yelp and the transformation to halt, moments before crashing into the ground below.

The dust slowly settled, revealing Vinyl and Spike a short distance apart. Vinyl was out of breath, her clothes singed and burns along her arms and legs. Spike was badly scratched up, but other than that he just stood as calmly as ever.

Vinyl chuckled, hanging her head.

"Wasn't meant to be, huh boss?" Vinyl asked softly.

"Don't give up on your sisters Vinyl. Your family needs you to be strong," Spike said quietly, hanging his head, his hands in his pockets.

"You've got hundreds of years of bullshit on me boss. You really could've killed Big Boss couldn't you?" Vinyl asked, standing upright.

"If I had truly tried, I might've been able to. I didn't truly lie to you Vinyl. Back then, that was my limit, I couldn't go any further than that without risking my sanity, without losing who I am," Spike explained as he began to walk towards her, hands still in his pockets. Vinyl let out a slow breath, her mana compressing into a shell against her skin instead of flaring outwards.

"Then I embraced who I really am, what I really am. Just a stupid beast," he spat, exhaling another small flame. He stopped as Vinyl smashed her fist across his face.

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" She yelled, punching him again, Spike skid back slightly, but kept his hands in his pockets.

"You were there for us...when we needed you, you were fucking there...Don't you start with this animal bullshit," She growled. Spike chuckled, lifting his hands out of his pockets, his hands shifted into claws and spikes running along his knuckles and wrists.

It was far different from his normal transformation and in an instant his body changed. He grew in height, matching Vinyl, his tail dragged against the ground and his feet shifted into claws, his body remaining mostly human but covered in scales, shoulder pads forming and even horns sprouting from his forehead along with spines running from the center of his head back down his spine and towards the tip of his tail which had formed into a makeshift spiked mace.

"Holy fuck..." Vinyl breathed. Spike exhaled once more, looking at himself.

"This...is the real me. Something I've held back for years, because I was afraid, because I didn't want to admit...that I'm not human, and I never can be. I'm just an animal, a beast, a Dragon," Spike stepped forward and Vinyl collapsed, her eyes wide as she dropped to her knees. She hadn't even seen the attack coming.

Her world slowly faded to darkness as she tipped over, Spike turning to walk away.

"VINYL!" A chorus of voices cried out. She could hear Sweetie Belle...and Rarity, and even Octavia. She couldn't lose this easy!

She bit her lip, rolling as she hit the ground and springing to her feet, blood running down her chin as she stabled herself.

"WE AREN'T DONE YET!" She yelled, Spike glancing over his shoulder at her. His chest puffed out slightly, a massive flame rushing toward her as he exhaled. She threw up her arm, casting it aside and gritting her teeth as her arm turned black, smoke rising from the burnt flesh.

"If you keep going, you'll die," Spike warned, his eyes holding not even the smallest hint of mercy.

"What happened to you boss?" Vinyl asked as she walked toward him.

"I grew up Vinyl, we all do at some point," he shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets. She kept marching, clenching her fists as she broke out into a run, hopping over his tail as it swiped, her magic flipping her around in the air as the tail come for a second strike, before throwing up her arms as it smashed into her, sending her flying backwards.

Blood dripped down her arms as her magic held her and slingshot her around the arena toward him, Vinyl rolling in the air and slamming her leg hard into the side of his head, crying out as her shin cracked. She hopped back on her good leg, panting heavily.

"So it's true what they say? Hard as diamonds huh?" Vinyl chuckled weakly, her magic tearing up her pants and tying the fabric around her leg, wincing as she put pressure on it.

"This fight is taking everything from you Vinyl...I won't let them die, none of them, you have my word," he said quietly

"Fat lot of good your word has done me in the past you selfish fuck!" She screamed, her eyes rolling back into her head as Spike turned toward her. He flickered across the arena in front of her and she bounced into the ground before skidding out of bounds into the grass.

"THE WINNER IS SPIKE!" The announcer cried out, cheers rising up in the stands. Spike's body began to glow and shrink, returning to his smaller human form everyone had come to know and love. Smoke drifted off of his body as he walked away, medics rushing to tend to the defeated vampire.

---

"I had no idea Spike could be so...brutal..." Spitfire nearly heaved, Celestia gripping her shoulder.

"I've put him through much in our time together Spitfire, much more than you could imagine. He isn't fighting for me in this tournament. He's fighting for what he believes in and won't let anything stop him. But had he not held back, Vinyl surely would've died,"

"H-He was holding back? How are the Elements going to beat him then?" Spitfire demanded.

"Their strength is different from raw power Spitfire, they will find a way. If they can't defeat him, then they cannot win this tournament," Celestia said with a sad smile.