Twilight Sparkle is given permission to explore the Canterlot Caves after the invasion but, while inside, she discovers an ancient and primordial being, an literal force of nature, a creature said to be over a million years old...and it's now awake
Twilight Sparkle is given permission to explore the Canterlot Caves after the invasion but, while inside, she discovers an ancient and primordial being, an literal force of nature, a creature said to be over a million years old...and it's now awake, how will she, and her friends, handle an adventure of a lifetime? Will they be able to get knowledge from a creature older than Celestia herself? Will they be able to bring it out of its well of sadness? Will they be able to show it that friendship really IS magic, or will it be driven away by their persistence of trying to become friends with it after it was betrayed and cause it to never been seen again?
Be wary Equestria for the Nine Tailed Beast has arrived!
Crossover with Naruto/After the Naruto Anime, if you hadn't figured out yet
Twilight Sparkle was in a good mood, why might you ask? Because she had finally managed to work up the courage to go to Canterlot to ask for Princess Celestia's permission to go into the Canterlot Caves and explore for a bit! Oh she just couldn't wait to see what she might disco--
CRASH!!!
"Owwwie....."
Twilight looked up from where she lay on the ground, first seeing the common golden armor of the Canterlot guards, then the stern yet slightly concerned face of the guard she had so carelessly crashed into, though it was her who fell to the floor.
"Uhhh, Miss Sparkle, are you alright?" The guard peered down at Twilight with bright blue eyes, holding out a hoof to help her stand up.
"OH! Yes I am fine," She then turned from purple to red, "So, so, so, SOOOO sorry for bumping into you Sir!" She quickly grabbed his hoof and allowed herself to be pulled up from the ground, "Ummm, you haven't by any chance been sent by the Princess, would you?" Twilight asked, eyes shining curiously.
The guard’s brow went up as surprise shone slightly in his eyes.
"Yes, the Princess did actually send me to escort you, and she said even if you do know the way off by heart, you do sometimes get caught up in thinking and then you get lost...or crash into things," The stare he sent Twilight told her everything as she laughed sheepishly.
"Heh heh...well then, escort away Mr....."It was at this moment Twilight's expression suddenly went into one of shock. “OH, I’m so sorry, I didn't even think to ask you your name!"
The guard just chuckled and turned to start walking towards the throne room and Twilight had to jump into gear to keep up with him.
"It is quite alright Miss Sparkle, guards aren't really meant to give their names out to others as it would make the point of the illusion on the armor null to tell the truth, but because you are our Princess' trusted student, my name is Gleaming Shield, but just call me Shield as I’m not too fond of my first name" The now named Shield shot a glance at Twilight as they continued walking through the corridors of the impressive castle which stood upon a mountain.
"Well, for that I am thankful, Shield" Twilight beamed. She knew that the guards armor was enchanted to hide the real identities of the wear to stop any potential invaders from finding out who the ponies were when out of their jobs and at home, it just showed how much Shield trusted Twilight just because she was the Princess' student, it made her feel slightly embarrassed.
It didn't take long for the due to reach the great doors of the throne room and Shield bid Twilight a farewell as she walked on in to meet her most beloved mentor
"Twilight! How good it is to see you," Princess Celestia's smile shone like the sun which she rose every morning as she leaned down to wrap her neck around Twilight in a hug. "I do have to say, it was quite a surprise to receive the letter you sent me about exploring the Canterlot Caves, and I wanted to wait until we were actually speaking to ask what brought on the desire to explore such a dangerous place." Celestia's eyes seemed to harden as she disengaged from the hug with her student. "A certain type of magic was discovered in that place, and while it seemed to have dissipated I am still very suspicious of it"
Twilight blushed and looked off to the left though she did note what her mentor had said about a type of magic.
"Well Princess, when Queen Chrysalis sent me into the caves, I got a sense that the crystals could actually drain a bit of magic from the surroundings, which is how I guess she managed to keep Cadence from escaping because her magic was constantly being drained, though it could of been a mixture of stealing love from her by transforming into Shining Armor or even--" Twilight stopped to take a breather but after seeing Celestia's amused face she realized she had gone on a tangent.
"Heh heh, sorry Princess Celestia, today I seem to really be out of it..."
"It's alright Twilight, even I sometimes get caught up and, what was it young Rainbow Dash said...Ahh was yes, and pull a 'Pinkie Pie'," It was here that Celestia and Twilight giggled a bit. "Ignoring my tangent, I was thinking that by using a pulse of magic we could map the Canterlot caves as the crystals there would keep my magic signature which would allow us to see where all the caves go to and where they end! This could be an absolutely massive scientific discovery as the crystals down there have to be over thousands of years old! Who knows what they could have retained from times before ponies!" With this sudden declaration, Twilight couldn't help herself and squealed.
Celestia couldn't help but smile at how excited her little pony had gotten from the thought of learning something new.
"Alright Twilight, you have my permission to go explore the Canterlot Caves, “Twilight began to hop around happily."But! There is a condition, you can only do so for two hours and if you do not come back after that time I will send search parties for you, do you understand?"
At this moment Twilight had calmed down and realized the seriousness of the conversation.
"Yes Princess Celestia, I do. I promise I won't let you down!" It was at this moment that Twilight bowed and then teleported away.
Celestia, chuckling, then walked back to her throne
"Twilight, what will I ever do with you..."
Twilight slowly walked through the dimly lit caves, her only source of light at the moment being the crystals that held enough magic energy to sustain a constant light.
"Okay....I should be deep enough to do this," She took a deep breath. "Alright, here goes nothing!"
It was here Twilight started charging up as much magic power as she could, her horn being surrounded by a bright white aura, the crystals around her started glowing as well in resonance with her magic, and at the las moment she suddenly felt a sense of curiosity, a wonder of what would be found in the strange place....then she released all control she had on it and let it fire out as a lilac shockwave through the caves, and although she couldn't tell, all crystals it touched got a strong purple glow to it.
Deep, deep, deep the shockwave went into the caverns, passing a few bats and other small creatures which thrived in such conditions...until it met a cavern which could easily hold over 10 of the absolutely massive, rare and powerful Ursa Majors. The shockwave continued to pass around the cavern, but as it got to the bottom, it met a ginormous form, and while the wave wasn't the most powerful thing to ever pass through the caves, it was the only one that had a feeling of it, a feeling of curiosity and wonder.....
It was at this moment, eyes which had been closed for over a million years.....opened
Naruto Uzumaki was in his bed, surrounded by his friends, his children and their children. For a shinobi, he had lived to a remarkable age, 98, though some have said it was because he had the great Kyuubi no Kitsune, Kurama sealed in him. As he lay there, he looked around, first meeting the gaze of his second closest friend, Sasuke Uchiha, who was incredibly old as well but managed to last longer than him due to his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan.
"Hehe, I guess you managed to beat me this time, Teme...." Naruto's face, while wrinkled, still held that mischievous expression as he watched his friend's eye twitch.
"Alright, Dobe, it just means that I’ll have to catch up to you" Sasuke said the insult without any bite, showing that while he is an Uchiha, he wasn't without emotion.
Naruto continued looking around, seeing the faces of all his loved ones, His son and daughter, Bolt and Himawari, his grandchildren, and his allies, all waiting to watch him go off to the next adventure....all his friends but one.
"well, I’m just so glad everyone could actually come here to my death bed, but I’m sorry to disappoint, I hope I won't make you sad with my departure" Naruto grinned at the confused faces of everyone around him, then quickly he put his hand into a sign.....the sign to activate the Hiraishin.
"DAD!" "GRANDPA!" "NARUTO!"
In an orange flash, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi was gone.
Naruto stood alone in a clearing of the great forest that surround Konohagakure no sato, and after taking note that he wasn't being followed, he sat down, and drew in his mind to go and meet his closest friend.
Naruto's Mindscape
Kurama looked down at his partner, red eyes glinting with sadness, yet a strange amount of peace, the reason why? Because Kurama had accepted that he, the great Kyuubi, was going to die, not reform, but completely die. This was because even though the seal was open, it still connected his and Naruto's souls, so when Naruto died, he was going to follow.
"So, have you come to say that we're going to have fun on the next adventure? Because if you are, I’m going to hit you," the deep voice of the Bijuu rumbled around the sewers which they stood in.
Naruto started to smile sheepishly, putting his arms behind his head
"That does sound like something I would say, but, no that's not what I was going to say Kurama, I was going to say it's time for ME to have fun in the next great adventure" Naruto's sky blue eyes bore into Kurama's own red, slitted, ones.
Kurama's great laugh shook the very ground they stood on.
"Naruto, you are a foolish kit, even you should of remembered that we are bound together by a seal created by the Shinigami itself. I’m coming with you, whether you like it or not!"
Naruto's expression went into one of deep sorrow and the very moment Kurama saw it, it caused him to become still.
"Yeah, I guess you would come if I did nothing about it...you see, Kurama, while the seal has been opened, I've realized you've had every opportunity to leave me, but you haven't and while I’m glad you have stayed with me this entire time....." Naruto's expression darkened significantly. "I don't want to be the cause of another one of my friend’s deaths! And if I can do something to stop them dying, then I will!"
This declaration shocked Kurama, although he had heard Naruto say this about the humans he had lived with his entire life, he had not expected Naruto to say such about him.
Naruto continued after seeing the shocked face of his friend.
"That's why I've discovered that the seal can be opened a bit more...and if I flush it with my chakra, it will force you out, meaning you won't have to die here with me"
"Naruto, don't you dare! I have accepted my fate, do not think of separating us! It is not something I wa--"
"BUT LETTING YOU DIE IS NOT SOMETHING I WANT!" Naruto's aged face, with tears slowly travelling their way down, glared at Kurama. “That is why....." His voice trailed into a near whisper, though it still reached Kurama's ears "Why I must do this"
Naruto raised his arm, fuinjutsu marking appearing along it, then he slammed his hand into his own stomach, where the Shiki Fūjin seal was. A huge gust of wind released itself upon Kurama, pushing him backwards towards the wall which was slowly opening up to reveal a bright light.
"NO NARUTO, I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS, I DON'T WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!" Kurama's claws were losing grip on the floor as he slowly reached where the door was.
"Do you remember what I said when Neij died? When Hinata died? Even when our friends die, they are still alive inside of us!" At this moment. Naruto, with his face glistening with tears, pointed to his heart as he stared into Kurama's eyes. “So that's what I want you to do, Kurama! I want you to keep living with me in your heart! Show the world that even the Bijuu are capable of friendship!"
It was at this moment Kurama's eyes started to water as he stared at Naruto's form, then he vanished...
Kurama opened his eyes as he took in the forest which he had formed in.
"Damnit kit, I told you I didn't want to leav--"
As Kurama looked down, he noticed a body, it was still, and lifeless.....it was the body of his ex-jailer, Naruto Uzumaki, who had died with a smile on his face.
"NARUTOOOOOOOO!!!!"
In the village of Konoha, villager's going about their lives heard a roar, one which they had hoped to never hear, but instead of it being filled with rage, it was one of sorrow.....
Kurama ran away from a burning village, as in his sorrow he had attacked it, though he kept from killing any villagers, as he knew it was something which would off caused Naruto pain. As he got further and further away from the village, he found a small mountain, so, using his mighty tails, he tore a chunk out and slid into the new cavern, and as he lay on the floor, Kurama allowed his chakra to rapidly melt where he was, which caused the hole in the mountain to be sealed up, forever sealing him under the ground. It was only now, that Kurama allowed his tears to flow as he went into a deep sleep.....
Now, Canterlot Caves
Kurama raised his head, eyes adjusting to the purple light which the crystals were giving off, and also, for some reason, giving off the same feeling he got from the wave of energy. With a grunt he shifted his great mass around the cavern, then with a small growl, Kurama sent a wave of chakra to where he detected the odd energy came from, though his held a feeling of annoyance.
'That should scare whatever it is away....'
And with that said, the Bijuu closed his eyes once more.
Twilight was ecstatic, while still standing where she fired the wave of magic, she could feel the crystals absorbing a bit, which in turn, gave her a map of the caves.
"Oh yes this is going wonderfully!"
She spoke too soon, as those word were released from her mouth, she could feel the crystals that were furthest away from her have the magic in them be destroyed and taken over by a new energy, and whatever was doing it was getting closer to where she was.
"wh...What’s going on?!?!"
As the young mare peered into the gloomy caves, she got a glint of red...a lot of red. If her magic was a wave, this energy was a literal wall! As the energy got close to any crystals, her magic was expelled as this new red energy was taken in. As soon as it reached her, she was sent flying backwards, and as soon as she landed, she realized that the energy accompanied a feeling of annoyance...which meant whatever that was down in the caves that had sent this energy, it was sentient and it had felt her own wave of magic and had dwarfed it.
Celestia sat on her throne, peering down at her student, who had come running in shouting about a presence being inside the Canterlot Caves.
"Twilight, are you a hundred percent sure you felt a presence and it wasn't just feedback from your spell"
"Yes Princess, this energy was entirely different from my magic, it not only had a completely different color, and it was also much more potent than any other type of energy I have ever felt before, including you, Princess Luna and even Discord!" As Twilight spoke she constantly shifted from left to right, showing just how nervous she was.
Celestia frowned, hearing from her prized student that whatever energy she had felt was stronger than even Discord did not sit well with her, especially considering the fact that such energy was under HER city. It was at this moment she made a decision.
"Guards! Give the order for Squad 9 to mobilize, tell them that it is an unidentified entity though its power is much more potent than Discord's own, and so bring everything!" The Guards, having heard what their Princess said, couldn't help but be shocked as then ran out the door to do as they were ordered.
"Uhhh, Princess, what's Squad 9?" Twilight couldn't help but be curious and had to ask.
Celestia looked down at her student with a small smile.
"Squad 9 are a group of remarkable warriors each with abilities unique to them only that are to defend Equestria should the Elements Of Harmony prove unable to defeat a foe or if the foe being fought must be....eliminated for the good of all ponykind, though they are much more qualified to fighting foes with high levels of magic due to all of their skills being able to contain almost any form of energy. Now, come with me Twilight, we must go and wake my sister so we may go with Squad 9 to investigate."
Twilight couldn't help but be shocked, after all, finding out that not only the energy she had found would cause her mentor to call a highly powerful group of warriors to go investigate, BOTH Princess' of Equestria would be going with them. To her, it seemed far too much, even if the energy was more potent than Discord, the Elements of Harmony had easily trapped him back in stone.
'Wait a minute......The Elements of Harmony!'
"Princess! We could just send a message back to Ponyville to bring the rest of my friends and if it is required we could use the Elements!"
Princess Celestia stopped to think for a moment, before shaking her head.
"No Twilight, the idea has merit, but it would take too long to call them here. We do not know how this presence will react to being awoken, it might retaliate soon so we must make the first move."
It didn't take long for them to reach Princess Luna's room, and Celestia simply looked at the guards in front.
"Protocol Chimera"
Those two words somehow caused the white stallions to seem whiter than before, then one ran into Princess Luna's room just to come back out five minutes later with a fully armored Princess Luna.
"SISTER! WE ARE READY FOR BATTLE!" The force of Luna's shot blew back Twilight's mane while Celestia simply sighed.
"I had forgotten no-one had told you the meaning of Protocol Chimera....it does not matter, just teleport that armor somewhere safe, though be prepared to bring it back if the situation needs it" Luna just blinked, then in a flash of light she was in her normal attire.
Celestia then lead them towards the courtyards and when the door opened, Twilight finally got to meet the esteemed Squad 9. Straight away, Twilight's eyes went to the absolutely HUGE, muscular minotaur who stood towards the groups back, he had almost black fur down from his hips, and slightly blue tinted fur above, he wore a strap around his chest which held up on his back, from what she could see, a long bundle of bandages with a very large handle which went over his shoulder that had a small decorative skull as the pommel. Next, her eyes went to a small, female, smiling griffin, who had heterochromiac eyes, one a deep green and the other a vivid purple, the lion part of the griffin was a pale grey, while the eagle part seemed to give off a greenish tint and she was coated in silver armor which was highly decorated with odd symbols and gems which seemed to crackle with magic. Lastly, her gaze went to the only pony of the group, first seeing the semi-long blood red mane that was slightly spiked, then the bright silver that made up his body's fur, the odd cloth armor, which was also covered in the same symbols as the griffins armor, he also had scrolls tucked up on where his flanks would be and across his back, then she finally noticed the somewhat familiar blue eyes which shone with mischief.
"GLEAMING SHEILD?" Gleaming sheepishly smiled, hoof behind his head and eyes squinted shut.
"Oh hey there Twilight, didn't think I would be meeting you here, but what can I expect with you being the student of our Princess of the sun"
"Well you could have tol--"
"There is no time for idle conversations, we must go and investigate the energy first" Celestia looked around with a stony look
"Yes my Princess, right away"
Then they were off to the Canterlot Caves
Twilight led Squad 9 and the two Princess' to where she had felt the energy come from and they came to a massive wall of glowing red crystal.
"Well looks like this is the place" Gleaming felt the need to point out the obvious and that caused the huge minotaur to glare at him, "What? I thought I would tell you lot!" The minotaur just grunted in annoyance.
"Hush Gleaming, we do not wish to provoke an attack from our unknown guest, Princess'" He then looked over to Celestia and Luna, “I think it would be wise for you two to use your magic to notify the creature that we are here to we do not surprise it, then could you please cut a doorway into the wall in front of us" This reasoning cause Celestia and Luna to nod, then look at each other. With a simple movement both Princess' shot a wave of magic out, and instead of the two waves fighting with each other, they both mixed together and melded into one form, showing the unity of the sisters. The new wave flew through the wall and nudged the great beast behind it.
Kurama opened his eyes, moving his head to the direction from where the nudge had come from and noticing a group of highly positive feelings coming from behind one of the walls of his den.
'I guess my little warning earlier didn't deter my little....intruder, seems like it's time to greet my new guests.....'The grin that accompanied that thought would have brought shivers down the spine of any onlooker as he stared at some energy cutting through the wall.
The group all took steps into the looming darkness which was revealed through the cave wall. Twilight was the first to notice and she had frozen in terror, Celestia saw this.
"Twilight, what’s wrong?"
"L...Look up....."
They all lifted their heads, slowly, it was then they all found themselves being stared down by a glaring pair of red, slitted eyes and a massive sharp toothed grin.......then it spoke
"Welcome to my parlour, said the spider to the fly, won't you take a seat?"
Twilight screamed as a leering fox's face came out of the shadows from above them.
Kurama couldn't help it, after having Naruto as his host some of his personality had rubbed of on him and he couldn't help but scare the.......odd things that had came right into his home, though he could easily say mostly their reactions had surprised him. Firstly, the two large horses with wings and horns had used some jutsu to create a dome of energy around them, and while he was the most powerful Bijuu alive, he could admit it would stop even the Gobi no Houkou, which for mortals was very impressive. Next he had seen that the man-bull thing had pulled a bundle of bandages with a handle which looked like a large pole,which looked strangely familiar, off his back and then stood in a solid stance ready to defend at a moments notice. Lastly, the winged lion had spread her wings wide which seemed to cause them to generate electricity that spread across the armor it wore. The only disappointment was the small lilac one, who had fallen to the floor after screaming at his performance and had yet to stop shaking.
"Hold creature, we do not wish to fight you, just to ask why you are under our city" The dark blue horse with what seemed like stars for a mane took a few steps forwards and stared defiantly into his crimson eyes.
Kurama took a few moments to process this, from the fact that the horse had spoken to him down to him and that the mountain which he had took residence in so long ago now had a city on it, then he snarled and swung his head around wildly.
"If you only want to speak, then why have one of your numbers vanished!" At this, the whole group, apart from the one shaking on the ground, looked around and then the man-bull stepped forwards.
"Him vanishing is our insurance you won't attack us, as if you did he would be able to interrupt. Now, after seeing you aren't too violent, i would wish to exchange names, I am Solid Grip, my griffin friend in the back is Charm Holder, the one who has vanished is Gleaming Shield, the two alicorns are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna", it was here he motioned to the two large horses, or should he say alicorns." and the young mare you have scared so much is Twilight Sparkle" Here he turned his head upwards to glare right into Kurama's eyes. "We do not appreciate you doing so, if you could apologize?"
Kurama was shocked, so shocked that a creature that was dirt, just dirt beneath his paws had the gall to ask him to apologize, he was about to smash the ground which they stood on till he saw the mare's, Twilight, tear stained face as she glanced up....it made him think of something....something a friend said....."Show the world even the Bijuu are capable of friendship!" Kurama clenched his claws together as he looked at the floor, slowly realizing that Naruto wouldn't of wanted him to continue to terrorize any sentient thing, even if he had thought of it as a simple prank, his great tails swirled around behind him in anxiety.
".....Fine, I apologise and about my name..... At this point, Kurama allowed his yokai to illuminate him and his surroundings, revealing his massive true form to the small group in front of him, all nine of his tails raising up to add extra height to himself. "I am the greatest of all creatures, all who fight me are defeated, i was called a walking natural disaster! I AM THE GREAT KYUUBI NO KITSUNE, KURAMA!" Here, Twilight, who had looked up when he had apologized, started to move forwards, a expression of what looked like hunger replacing the face of terror she had worn earlier.
"Umm, Ku-Kurama, is it? I've never heard of you or read any legend of you....so just how long have you been in this cave?" It seemed the small mare had gotten over her scare now, though the look in her eyes disturbed Kurama slightly.
"How long?.........I do not know that myself, though it must of been a great number of years"Kurama allowed his eyes to roam around the cave, attempting to use his ability to sense negative emotions to find the missing one, but it seemed that they either had extreme skill in hiding there emotions or had no negative emotions to speak of at the moment.
It was at this moment the white alicorn, Celestia he remembered, slowly took a few steps forward.
"Me and my sister, Luna, are the rulers of the city which you are under and recently we had been invaded, so we apologies for being somewhat hostile to you, and now that you are aware of being under a city, may i ask what will you do now?"
Kurama had to think for this, as he himself didn't know what to say, as telling them that he wasn't moving might cause them to become hostile and attack him, meaning he would have to incinerate them all and then break his way out of the mountain and escape and doing so increased the chances of others chasing him down, requiring him to kill them as well until he could get some peace......luckily for the ponies, he was too lazy to do such a thing. "I may just leave, there is not much else i can do but find someone to lay about as i do not wish to be hunted down if i accidentally destroyed something and that is a lot easier to do than you think"
At those words Celestia started to think deeply, until her face set into a small but comforting smile, which somehow affected even Kurama, though only to a small effect.
"I believe i know of a place you can stay, a small town called Ponyville, there is a forest which not many go in you could stay at and sleep, though i do ask that you sometimes come into the town so my student, Twilight, could possible put your great knowledge of time before ponies to use and have a few books published, you could even explain a few mysteries about magic and other artifacts which have been found, though the only problem i see is your size, as staying in Ponyville would be disastrous and not to mention trying to get you out of the caves here without destroying them...."
Kurama grinned, which once again cause the group to back away.
"I think i can help with that...."
A massive spiral of energy exploded around Kurama, cracking the ground he stood on, as he slowly became enveloped in it, the grin on his face could still be seen, then the now tornado of energy slowly got smaller, smaller, smaller and smaller until it was roughly the size of the princess' and it faded away to reveal.....an alicorn sized fox with large ears and nine small tails.
Kurama grinned as he stared into Celestia's eyes which had gone wide with shock at seeing his now much smaller form.
"That does make things....easier"
"I aim to please"
And with that they walked back through the caves.
After discussing all the rules Kurama had to follow in his stay in the forest, the Everfree forest if he recalled correctly, Kurama found himself in a carriage being pulled by a few pegasus guards who would take them to Ponyville and have them explain what he is doing there to the mayor and by them, he meant the small purple unicorn that was seated with him but had yet to say anything, though by her face he could tell she wanted to. He sighed as his mind went back over the rules he had been given.
"You will be taken to Ponyville and be allowed to live around the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, you are not allowed to become your full size as it would terrorize the town and the members of Squad 9 will come to town occasionally to check on you.Twilight can also send me messages directly in case you purposely hurt any ponies. you will be also be expected to also help defend the town from any threats
"What a shame......so many rules to follow, and I'm not allowed to harm anyone.....well, I wonder if pranks counts as harming, I'll just have to find out myself th-
"Do you want to be friends?"
Kurama was brought out of his musing by this as he whipped his head around to face the young mare who seemed rather embarrassed about blurting out that.
"I'm sorry, it sounded like you asked whether I wanted to be friends, could you please say that again?"
"Well, its just that i remembered you had been asleep for so long so no-one you knew in your time would still be....here....so i thought you would be alone and maybe we could be-"
"No, we won't be friends" Her reminding him that everyone was gone wasn't helping.....and reminding him of Naruto was even worse. "At least......not yet, first we will be acquaintances and maybe we can become....friends, though i don't guaranty anything"
Twilight's face brightened up at this then blushed and looked back at the carriage floor
Slowly, they started to descend to the ground.
"looks like we're here Kurama, don't scare anyone, please, it would make things much harder to explain as everyone here has the tendency to.....overreact"
The smile he gave Twilight as they landed in the very busy town square still gave her nightmares to this day.
"Oh ye of little faith" After saying this he turned to face the small crowd of ponies surrounding him and gave them a grin which showed of most of his impressive white, meat eating teeth.
"Hello, I am what you call a monster, pleasure to meet you all" with that, he flared his tails out which caused a small wave of wind to hit the ponies.
Silence.........
"AHHHHHHH IT'S GOING TO EAT US, RUN EVERYPONY!"
......didn't last long
And with that scream, the whole of the town square was abandoned, apart from two confused guards, an face-hoofing purple mare and a smirking kitsune
"It's good to be back" Kurama looked to the sky. "I'll make your dream come true Naruto, one step at a time. Then he turned to Twilight."So where to now?"
And with that, One tale has been released, Eight more are left What will happen when the count hits Zero?
"I can't believe you, after what I said about the ponies here overreacting, you go ahead and do that!" Twilight practically screamed, causing the large ears of the fox beside her to flatten down instinctively to try and block out the noise.
Kurama gave the young mare a small glare but said nothing as they slowly, in his opinion, walked out of the small town, which he had terrified oh so easily, and towards a rather large field of apples.
"I've asked the guards that took us to Ponyville to try and calm them down before we attempt to once again introduce you, nicely this time and I want you to apologise to all the po-" The lilac mare was instantly silenced along with all the other creatures around by anger-annoyance-wave-ocean-pressure-can't breath-crushing before it vanished.
"No" The word was not shouted, but in the silence which was left after whatever had affected everything, it was almost as if it was roared in her face.
"Wha-What? You have to, you scared all those poor ponies!" The very idea that someone wouldn't apologise for scaring someone was almost inconceivable for her to understand.
Kurama gave a small snort as he stared at the still frozen mare, wondering to himself how a so-called adult in this world could be so...innocent. 'I think I preferred it in the shinobi era...at least then people understood what I was'
"And I said no, you seem to misunderstand this situation" as he was saying this, Kurama slowly advanced on the still mare, his nine tails flaring out behind him, making him seem even larger than his already alicorn sized form was. "I am not your friend, you do NOT control me, I will not apologise to some pathetic creatures that cannot stand in the presence of a superior predator." All the while this was being said, red energy was slowly bubbling off Kuruma.
"I am a creature made of pure malice and you will do well to remember that I am only here because I cannot be bothered to kill you all and be forced to flee to escape your species pathetic attempts to get revenge on me!" With this said, the energy which had been gathering around Kurama evaporated and he turned away from the still frozen body of Twilight. "Come, let us go and you can finish my introduction to the inhabitants of this town.
With a small gulp, Twilight remembered just what exactly was walking ahead of her and the fact she tried to force him- no, tried to force it to do something which it didn't want to. 'Dear Celestia what have I gotten myself into...'
Kurama and Twilight walked silently through the forest of apple trees towards the barn which laid at the end of the pathway.
"Uh..Kurama...we're here to introduce you to my friend Applejack and her family, she owns Sweet Apple Acres which is where we are now and they grow the world's best-tasting apples!" Twilight at first started off as a meek sounding child but towards the end, the excitement of introducing someone to one of her closest friends took over and she recovered from the ordeal which she had experienced, but she didn't forget about it either.
"The sooner this can be over with, the better, right now all I want to do is sleep" Kurama lifted his nose up, catching a strong scent of sweat, dirt and...pride?
"HYAA!"
-THUNK-
Twilight's head turned towards where the sound came from and a small smile bloomed on her face.
"APPLEJACK!" She started to jog towards where an orange furred mare with a blond mane in a braid type thing with a band keeping it together towards the bottom and wearing a-'Is that a cowboy hat on a pony?' Kurama could only shake his head slightly as he slowly followed Twilight as she embraced the other mare.
"Twi!" The other mare, Applejack as he overheard, exclaimed with a shocked face but still wrapped a foreleg around the neck of the lilac pony. "As much as I don't mind the hug but...uh...what brought this about?" The confusion was very evident in her facial expression, especially in, now that Kurama was closer and could see, her green eyes.
"Oh...uh....hehe....I'm just...kinda jumpy I guess, a lot has happened recently" Twilight had a sheepish expression on her face as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.
"Well, I guess it's alright, nothing wrong with having a hug everyno-WOH TWI LOOK OUT!" With this bit said, it was rather obvious to Kurama that she had noticed him as she had pushed herself to stand between him and Twilight in a protective stance.
"Applejack, don't worry, he's the reason that I'm here actually." Twilight then proceeded to walk around Applejack to stand next to Kurama. "Applejack, I would like to introduce you to Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox!" Applejack stared.
And stared.
And stared.
"Uh...Twi....yah know that's just a giant fox...right?" With this, Kurama gained a small tick on his head.
"I am not just a giant fox mortal!" Nine tails flared out, twisting and twirling, proving to Applejack that this was not just some bigger than average vulpine creature.
"WOH NELLY!" With a small thump, Applejack fell to her rump as she stared at Kurama, who was now looking proud at what he had accomplished. Applejack then shook her head, climbed back to her hooves and went to stand right in front of Kurama.
"Well then, mighty sorry that I though you were just another fox Mr Kurama, put her there big fella!" Applejack raised her right front hoof out and kept it there.
Kurama stared.
"You're supposed to shake it, go on it's polite" Twilight staged whispered.
Kuruma slowly lifted up his hand and slowly grasped the offered hoof but was shocked to feel something grasp back. Before he could exclaim his shock he was rather quite quickly physically shaken around. 'Sweet holy sage this mare has a huge amount of strength in order to shake me around, even if I am in a weaker and smaller form.' With a large grin, Applejack stopped shaking the fox around before she slipped her hoof from his grasp. Twilight laughed a bit as she saw the slight swirls in Kurama's eyes. 'Not so invincible now are you?' With a quick shake of his head, Kurama stared at the orange mare.
"How did you do that?" Kurama asked with a slightly annoyed voice.
"Well, I'm mighty strong I reckon, spend pretty much all day everyday bucking these trees here to get the apples down, not only to mention all the chores I have to do around the farm." Applejack glowed slightly with pride, happy to let another soul know about what she did.
"Well, that wasn't what I had meant by my question but it did answer my wonder about how you could so easily throw me about." Kurama acknowledged with a slight nod of his head. "What I had actually wanted to know was how you could grasp my hand back with your hoof, you have no fingers of any kind and yet I felt a force hold onto me." Twilight gasped slightly before her face settled into a small grin.
"Oh I know why, you see, all ponies create a small field of localised attractive force around each of their hooves, though it is mainly strongest in the forehooves, this allows all types of ponies to use tools and open doors which have a twist based handle! Scientists believe that ponies had evolved to have this way before the separation of the tribes and that it gave all types of ponies an equal advantage to survive in life, such as an ability to use tools despite unicorns being able to use magic to manipulate things to a high degree or pegasi and their wings. In my opinion, I believe in each ponies hoof, there is a small foci that allows the innate magic that flows around the body to flow outwards slightly at the hoof and..." It was here she noticed the blank looks on the faces of her impromptu students. "You two didn't understand a word I said did you?" Shake of the head. "Hahhh....ponies make a force around their hooves that allow them to pick things up."
"Wow Twi, I never really thought about how I could pick up things, but I guess now that I know I can probably use it better" Applejack seemed to look a bit wondered at her hoof.
Kuruma just seemed to nod slightly.
'It would make sense...the shinobi of my era could use chakra to grasp onto things not usually possible so this seems to be the most likely answer...and magic...it seems that the very nature of chakra has evolved over the years while I've been away, this will require more thought later on what this means for me, a creature of pure chakra.'
Applejack stood with a wondering face before she went over to a tree with a few apples under it and, picking up one of the larger ones, went back over to Kurama holding out the apple with a hoof and a smile.
"Here yah go Mr Kurama, a small treat, after all, you must be mighty hungry from coming here...where ever yah from. Don't worry about the price, its free of charge, think of it as a test to see whether yah like the fresh apples from Sweet Apple Acres!" Kurama stared at the apple which offered to him before he stared into the eyes of the smaller mare.
"Despite what I look like, I do not need to eat food, food for me does nothing noticeable on my level of energy as I regenerate far too quickly unless I am doing something extremely draining for a continuous amount of time and I do not get hungry, besides, I am a predator, apples are food for prey." Kurama shifted his tails slightly, attempting to convey to Twilight his annoyance at the situation.
"Now hold on a darn minute, 'apples are food for prey'?" Applejack strained up her neck at Kurama, sending a glare towards the unique looking fox.
"Yes, vegetation, most things that eat vegetation have no true place in the hierarchy of nature, I do not know how it happened but it has become apparent that somehow a prey species has become the dominant species on this land but as a predator even if I don't need to eat I eat only for taste and I will not lower myself to the level of prey." With this, a smirk opened up on his muzzle and he looked very smug to the two ponies. Applejack was furious, her fur bristled as she was prepared to start shouting at the Fox until she saw Twilights face. Twilight had let out a small grunt before a smirk appeared on her face.
"Actually Kurama, your species is actually classified as an opportunistic hunter, while you may hunt and eat other animals, foxes will actually eat anything which they can get, whether it's meat, nuts, fruits, berries or vegetables." Kurama's face was agape as he listened to the mare, but it seemed she wasn't done." You're officially an omnivore Kurama, so in actuality, you are a predator and prey."
Applejack's face was slowly turning from angry to highly amused as she watched as Kurama was put down from his high horse as she once again held the apple back up to Kurama.
"Nothin stopping yah now Mr Predator and Prey" She let out a small giggle.
With a small growl, Kurama snatched the apple from the young mare and took a large bite of the apple that was in his hand. His eyes widened as the flavour exploded in his mouth, sending sensations of pleasure throughout his body. With a few more chews and a swallow, Kurama looked down in shock at the apple.
'By my tails that were almost godly in taste...'
"Well Kurama, how was it?" Twilight leant in with a smile on her face and mirth in her eyes.
With a small grunt Kurama, went to turn back towards the path.
"It was adequate, good enough for a mortal I guess, now, let us continue on with our task today" He slowly started to walk back the way they had come.
Applejack walked up to Twilight and gave her a small nudge.
"Hooboy, that one's a real piece of work, I betcha have quite the job ahead of yah Twi" Applejack stared at the retreating figure of Kurama.
"You said it AJ...but....i think I'm starting to get through to him" Twilight stated with a small smile.
"What makes yah say that Twi?" Applejack turned to look at her with a confused face.
Twilight tilted her head to look at Applejack in the eye.
"He still has the apple you gave him" With a huff, Twilight turned to run to catch up to the fading form of Kurama.
"Heh...I guess yah right Twi...like yah usually are....I hope you do help him Twi...that fella has far too much sadness in his eyes and if there's anyone who can get through to him, that's you." With a small smile and a slight readjustment of her hat, Applejack turned back towards her trees.
"Now, it's time to deal with you lot..."
Kurama looked at the apple which still laid in his hand and grinned before he threw it up into the air and with a stretch the rest of the apple was engulfed into his maw.
'Those apples really are that good...I must find a non-suspicious way of getting a supply of them'
He continued to walk on down the path as he heard the panting breath and steps of the mare that was supposed to be leading him around.
'That didn't go too bad, I suppose I could do a few more of these introductions...but they'll be my way'
A wide grin slowly took over his face as an idea formed in his head.
'This is gunna be fun...'
On The Path, The Pink Flash And A Rude Awakening To Reality
"So..hehe.... Kurama, while we're walking how about you tell me a bit more about yourself?" Twilight, ever the inquisitive mare, asked hoping to get some more information about just what exactly she was dealing with, even if the mere idea of the huge amount of knowledge which the immortal being beside her must have was making her slightly drool.
Kurama, who had previously been focused on the path which they were on, slightly flicked one of his tails at a fly which had been getting far too curious for his liking, sending a small but concentrated burst of chakra into its small body, liquefying the insides of the insect and sending it to the ground to slightly smoulder.
"No, you do not deserve the knowledge of myself, only one other person has managed to earn that right and you are nowhere close to being on the same level as that man," Kurama stated, eyes not once leaving the hoof imprinted dirt they were walking on.
Twilight sighed, her eyes drifting back forwards to stare at the winding road. 'I guess it was too much to hope for'
Kurama simply sighed and extended his senses around, taking in all his surroundings and committing it to memory before he realized there was a huge amount of what seemed like natural chakra just loitering around.
'How did I not realize that was there...it seems to be a forest that is just saturated...an interesting discovery I wonder if-wait, what's that?'
What had stopped Kurama from his musing was a large amount of energy that was so sweet it was sickening, and it was moving fast towards their location.
With a slight growl, Kurama stopped and stared at where it was coming from while Twilight stared at him in shock.
"Kurama, are you okay?" Twilight seemed somewhat worried, wondering what could make Kurama
"Silence, something's coming"
Kurama watched as a blur entered his view and he waited, letting it get closer.
Closer.
Closer.
With a great crash, one of Kurama's tails pierced the ground in front of the pink blur, creating a large cloud of dirt and debris but to his astonishment, it swerved around the attack and continued its path to him. More tails joined the assault, smashing or stabbing into the ground repeatedly but the blur dodged around each attack and before he knew it all nine of his tails were stabbed into the ground.
Kurama was getting annoyed at this repeated failure which made his eyes start to glow an eerie red and he decided to stop holding back. With a grunt of exertion, Kurama's body glowed with chakra and his form increased, going from Celestia-sized to almost seven times as big, though still small compared to his true form. Kurama's tails, now much longer and thicker, pulled back, creating great trenches in the earth that flung up large pieces of the road, finally catching the blur in their grip.
Kurama smiled, glad to have finally caught the nuisance.
"WOWZERS THAT WAS FUN" An obnoxious and extremely loud voice shouted from atop his head.
'Wh-what...how?'
With a twist of his head, Kurama flung whatever was on his head slightly in the air and attempted to catch it in his maw with a great snap.
"HEY THAT WASN'T VERY NICE, YOU SHOULDN'T TRY TO EAT PONIES!" The voice once again screamed at him, this time from atop one of his tails. He turned his head to stare at it, revealing the blur to be a small bright pink pony.
"What....what are you?" Kurama could not hide his shock at this small pony, no, small creature that had managed to escape his grasp and now stood on him.
"Silly, I'm a pony, of course, and-OH HEY YOU CAN TALK!" With this, the creature almost seemed to vibrate in place.
Kurama slowly turned his large head towards the lilac mare which stood at the side of the decimated road.
"What....was....THAT?"
Twilight could only sigh, the ensuing explanation would be fun.
Kurama stared at the peaceful cottage in the distance with disdain.
"This is the place your friend lives?" A vulpine head swivels to look at Twilight.
"Yes, her name is Fluttershy and she is the absolute kindest and most innocent pony in all of Ponyville, she loves to take care of any animal, predator or prey" The purple mare replied, thinking back to their previous conversation.
"And they don't attempt to devour one another?" The kitsune asked, wondering how creatures that would usually devour another would be happy at all to be around prey and not want to eat it.
"No, why would they?" The confused pony replied, with a single eyebrow raised.
"No reason, it just seems things are much more...different from my time than I had expected" Kurama turned back to the cottage that was approaching
"Well of course, it has to of been hundreds of thousands of years since you were last awake I guess, especially since there is no record of you in any of our history books" Twilight informed the large fox, a knowledgeable smile on her face, but Kurama didn't reply, he simply stared ahead with a look of deep concentration on his muzzle.
'I suppose it is possible for the creatures of the world to have evolved some form of sentience in the time I’ve slept but for them to be able to determine a certain plot of land as a neutral zone seems highly unlikely...I’m missing something here, something integral' The Bijū was shot out of his thoughts when suddenly Twilight shouted.
"Fluttershy! Could you come out I’ve got somepony for you to meet!"
Kurama shot a glare towards the purple mare.
"If you have that magic you're so proud of why don't you use it to get your friends attention instead of causing me to become deaf" The fox snarled.
Twilight smiled sheepishly, however before she could apologise a yellow and pink blur zoomed by her.
"Ohmygosh you're such a handsome fox, your furs so well looked after, and your colouring is so unique, I’ve never seen something quite like it and you're huge" The blur turned out to be a small pegasus who was hovering around Kurama preening him with compliments.
"Well, at least someone can notice greatness" Kurama flared himself out, tails swirling behind him
Fluttershy's eyes slowly widened as the dots connected.
"You....you...you can....talk? EEEEEEP" The yellow mare zoomed off, shrinking herself behind Twilight, who simply sighed, looked and Fluttershy and shook her head.
"Fluttershy, this is Kurama, he's a....um...an acquaintance of Princess Celestia and she has tasked me with introducing him to ponies from Ponyville, he doesn't really see eye to eye with many ponies and I thought it would be best if I introduced him to our friends first" with that said, Twilight beamed at Fluttershy who slowly started to stand up and move to the side of the purple mare.
"H...hi I'm Fluttershy and...I take care of all the animals around here and sometimes even the Everfree Forest " The young mare slowly said, staring at Kurama with wide eyes, "What exactly...are you? I-I-I mean I know almost every species, but I've never seen a fox as large as you!"
Kurama gave a knowing glance over towards Twilight.
"I am a Bijuu, and I should hope you've never seen a fox as large as me, that would mean I'd need to show them their place" With that said, the large fox shot a toothy grin towards the pony while unfurling his tails.
I stood at the window chewing on my food slightly, not really feeling hungry, until I caught a horrifying image from the corner of my eye. The stupid mare was facing off against another predator and this time it was not going well for her as the monstrous red beast got ready for a lunge, teeth bared towards her!
With a glare, I brandished my weapon, knowing I wouldn't be able to kill the beast but I at least could give that mare and her friend time to run. With a burst of energy to my legs, I shot forwards, flying through the air aiming at the large red eye of the beast. A grin blossomed on my face, it was about time I became useful.
A white blur caught Kurama's eye, quickly coming closer towards his face.
'What...is that?' Kurama didn't move, simply staring even as the white blur was caught in a purple field only to be revealed as a small white bunny wielding a jagged carrot as a weapon, swinging it towards him, 'Wait a minute...I sense something coming from this creature'
"Angel! What do you think you're doing!" Fluttershy, well she didn't shout but she was mildly louder than usual, as she stared at the wildly gesturing bunny, "I don't care what your reason is, apologise to Mr Kurama now!"
The small white bunny simply looked towards Kurama before once again attempting to take out his eye with the jagged carrot.
'Now I get it, this place is finally starting to make sense' Kurama's grin slowly widened, even as he slowly started to laugh.
"Um, Kurama...are...are you okay?" Twilight was honestly worried, Kurama hadn't laughed once while he was around her and for him to do so now was creepy.
"The Summon Realm! That’s why this place constantly feels weird, that's why the creatures of this land were able to make this place a neutral area, because obviously during the time I was asleep something had happened that made the Summon Realm mix with the current land which has made it so all the creatures are sentient to a certain amount" Kurama couldn't help but reveal this information, this had been bothering him for so long since he awoke and sensed the new world.
"Okay...what is the Summon Realm?" Twilight asked as she floated Angel towards Fluttershy.
Kurama glanced over to the mare, teeth bared in a grin and tails swirling behind him.
"Well Twilight, wouldn't you like to know"
"That’s why I asked you Kura-"
"STAY BACK TWILIGHT!"
Kurama leaped back as a blur smashed into the ground where he was stood before.
'Why do I keep being attacked today...' Kurama could only sigh, as he stared at the now revealed cyan pegasus with-'Is that rainbow hair?'
"Don't worry Twilight, as the fastest flyer in Equestria, I'll take care of this in 10 seconds flat" With that said, the rainbow haired mare dashed off into the air, swerving around Kurama before zooming to smash into his side.
Kurama grinned and leaping upwards and over the blur, elongating one of his tails as he lands. The blur once more curves around, aiming towards Kurama, however this time his elongated tail shoots out, smashing into the blur and entrapping it in the red fur which then slowly dragged its captive towards Kurama.
"Fastest flyer in Equestria? I've fought children who can run faster than you" The grin on Kurama's face grew as his eyes glowed subtly red, "Your speed...is subpar" With that said, Kurama tossed the limp pegasus away, watching as she smashed into the ground by Twilight, who had been frozen is shock at how fast the situation was dealt with.
"KURAMA WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Twilight shouted as she shot over to the cyan mare who was slowly moving up, revealing the blood that was streaming down her face from the mess of a mane she had, "Rainbow Dash oh my gosh are you okay can you hear me?"
"Urgh....Twi? My head hurts...bad" The now named Rainbow Dash mumbled.
"Its fine you're gunna be okay, we'll just have to get you to the hospital okay?" Fluttershy said, her caring nature quickly taking over as she fluttered over the cyan mare, then quickly turning towards Kurama with anger in her eyes, "And you! How dare you attack Rainbow Dash like that, imagine if you did even worse damage!"
"How dare I attack her? I’m not sure if you're blind or just stupid but that mare attacked me first, as pathetic as she was" Kurama spluttered, anger appearing on his vulpine face as well as he subtly grew in size.
"It doesn't matter if she attacked first! You could have just talked to her and made her realised you were nice when you grabbed her, but instead you smashed her into the ground!" Fluttershy shouted, flying right into Kurama's face and staring at him with big eyes full of anger, "I want you to apologise to her right now and then help take her to the hospital!"
'Is this supposed to be intimidating?' Kurama thought before lunging forward and snapping his teeth right in Fluttershy's face, making her freeze up in fear.
"Made her realise I was nice? Just to let you know I am not nice and never will be nice, you are hypocritical and pathetic, I thought the inhabitants of this world had changed how they acted as well as how they looked, but it seemed I was wrong." With that said, Kurama tore off towards the distant forest, form steadily growing larger as he picked up speed.
Fluttershy slowly looked over to Twilight, who had summoned bandages and wrapped them around Rainbow Dash's head and was staring at Kurama's fleeting form.
"Twilight...my....my stare didn't work" Twilight could only sigh as she glared into the ground.
"Its fine Fluttershy, we need to get Rainbow to the hospital, I'll deal with him later"
"Are yah sure bout this Scoots?" The bow wearing yellow filly asked.
"Of course I am Applebloom, just image how amazing it would be to have such cool cutiemark?" The orange pegasus filly replied.
"But isn't this kind of extreme, even for us?" The white unicorn filly piped up.
"Oh come on Sweetie Belle, how often do we get to do stuff like this? come on...for me?"
"Urgh...fine" Scootaloo cheered, throwing one of her hoofs up as her small wings fluttered
"CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS MONSTER HUNTERS YAY!" The three fillies sprinted off into the looming Everfree Forest, laughing and cheering, not knowing what awaits them.
Kurama stalked through the dark shades of the forest, form still faintly aglow with power from his previous rage.
'Hypocrites, the lot of them. How dare they believe that I shouldn't defend myself, all creatures deserve the right to defend themselves that is the way of the world, besides the force I put behind that throw wasn't near enough to hurt Naruto when he was a child, simply pathetic' Kurama's anger still engulfed his mind, the grass and twigs underneath his paws as he walked crumpled up and steamed, patches of the outer layers peeling away into the air as dust, the same happening with the dark bark of the trees that his tails brushed in their swirling antics, leaving great lines in the thick, gnarled wood that exposed the pale innards of the tree to the outside world, the knots and holes in the trunks forming grotesque faces in the corner of the eye, looking as if they were in agonising pain as the lines were burned into their forms.
'I cannot believe that I was willing to give them a chance...hmph, I need to find something to kill' With that though in his mind, Kurama went deeper into the forest with a bloodthirsty grin, never once noticing the glowing sickly yellow eyes watching him through the foliage.
"WOWZERS LOOK AT THAT!" Scootaloo exclaimed, pointing excitedly towards a large scar across a tree within the Everfree Forest.
"Well ah be, Scoots, Sweetie, looks like there’s ah lot more where that came from" Applebloom looked to the darker parts of the woods, "pawprints as well"
"Girls should we really be in here? I mean, Rarity always tells me that we should never, ever, ever, EVER go into the Everfree Forest unless we're on the path to see Zecora and even then, she prefers it if somepony takes us there" Sweetie Belle, with her head shooting around at every creak of the forest, asked, “I mean...don't you remember the cockatrice that was in here?"
"Che, we'll be fiiiine, Fluttershy scared that away" Scootaloo waves a hoof as she traverses deeper, “Besides, Rainbow Dash comes in here all the time and she's fine, nothing can beat her!" This was exclaimed with a bright grin.
"Rainbow Dash can fly though, unlike you" came the deadpan reply from Applebloom.
"HEY! I CAN TOO FLY"
"Hovering doesn't couuuuunt~" Came the sing-song reply from Sweetie Belle, her earlier mood forgotten as she and Applebloom trot off past Scootaloo following the path made of pawprints and tree scars.
"Wha-no-wai-TAKE THAT BACK!" The purple maned filly spluttered and shouted, a slight smile on her face as she chased after the other two, laughing all the way, all of them forgetting for a moment just how deadly a place they were in and just having fun. This would be a mistake not forgotten any time soon.
"Pathetic" Kurama said, slit pupils glaring down at the thrashing wooden wolf held down by his human-like hand which was wrapped around its throat, smoke streaming from the contact as his chakra burned into the outer bark of its skin. He looked up, surveying the surrounding area, eyes glancing at each smouldering pile of broken twigs that were each once a fully grown timberwolf, trying to catch a single hint of movement before his vision came to rest on another wolf, this one enwrapped in one of his large tails, once again smoke wafting from the gaps in the curls his tail, this ones maw was open in silent agony, still feeling the pain yet not possessing the lungs nor vocal cords to express it.
"Honestly, your teeth and claws couldn't even pierce my skin, you have no form of extra durability," with this, the timber wolf held in the tail was crumpled up into a ball, compressed by the flexible movements of the limb, wooden bones and skin snapping and cracking as pressure increased before the steaming pile was slung to the floor like the garbage it was. Kurama's gaze once again went to the wolf held in his grasp.
"At first I believed you were nature's way of remembering Hashirama, what with the wooden forms and no presence, but I was wrong,"Kurama grinned, slowly increasing the pressure on the wolf's neck and watching as it's thrashing became more frantic," You're simply a construct with the minimal amount of nature chakra required to stay alive, you can't even manipulate the surrounding woods to your own advantage, hell, there isn't even a point in telling you this because you aren't even sentient," More pressure," Truthfully? Anything that gets hunted by something like you has no point in surviving anyway" The wolf is now attempting to claw at Kurama's side in its futile escape.
"You're just a cheap knock-off, a phoney, a sham, a-" Kurama's paw hit dirt as the timberwolfs head rolled to the side, the now revealed inside sizzling and peeling from the acidic qualities of his chakra.
"Che, I suppose I got too aggravated" Kurama lifted his pawn and turned away from the clearing filled with wooden corpses, traveling deeper still into the forest.
"A shame really..." Kurama's eyes flashed a violent red as he stared into the darkness ahead while his form convulsed and glowed with power.
"I still haven't drawn a single drop of blood yet"
The denizens of the Everfree Forest would never forget the day that one of the old ones viciously tore its way back to the top of the food chain
"Huh, whatever critter made all these tracks they sure ain't stopping" Applebloom mused, glancing around as the three fillies continued to traverse deeper into the Everfree Forest.
"I know, it’s kinda weird that it’s just walking straight through the forest" Scootaloo decided to input her own opinion, as she stared at a tree, running a hoof along the edge of the white scarring.
"Urgh why can't it take a break, I'm so tired and my hoofs acheeee" Sweetie Belle whined, following behind slowly.
"Uh...girls" Applebloom turned towards Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, face paling, "Ah think it did take a break...but not the kinda break we want, look" The three fillies then proceeded to stare at the clearing that had appeared in front of them.
"Why are those piles of twigs smoking Applebloom?" Scootaloo asked, making her way over to one before kicking it slightly with a hoof, "There’s no fire and it’s not hot"
"Ah don't know Scoots, if Ah did Ah woulda said so" Applebloom snapped back, pacing on the spot slightly, " Ah ain't liking it here...something ain't right"
"Girls...isn't...isn't that a.." Sweetie Belle stuttered, pointing with a shaking hoof.
"TIMBERWOLF!" All three fillies got ready to run until Scootaloo noticed something.
"Hang on," Scootaloo slowly trotted over to the splayed-out body, "Applebloom....weren't timberwolves meant to be basically immortal?"
"Yeah, what bout it?" Scootaloo turned around, kicking the something towards them which they realised to be the head of the timberwolves, the usual sickly green eyes were dark voids in the corpses face.
"I don't think whatever did this got the memo"
"Applebloom, Scootaloo, can we please go home...I'm scared" Sweetie Belle begged, sweat dripping down her face, legs shaking and eyes jumping nervously around the clearing.
"Zecora's hut is closer, plus we need to warn her about whatever this is, c'mon you two, it’s this way" Scootaloo spoke in a quite tone, going off into the brush to the side with the two other fillies following her out of the clearing.
Slowly, a large scorpion tail brushed against a tree on the edge of the clearing before large lion paws stalked forward, going in the same direction the CMC had just gone...
"Well it’s only a slight head injury, nothing too bad, it was a good idea for you to bandage it Ms Sparkle as that helped with cleaning the wound and preventing possible infections" The doctor turned away from Twilight and faced Rainbow Dash, "Alright so, Ms Dash, there's nothing stopping you from leaving now and continuing your daily activities but I would recommend you not to go too fast while flying, the sudden forces and difference in air pressure could, and I repeat, could cause you to lose consciousness while flying and we wouldn't want that would we?"
"No Doc don't worry I'll be fine" Rainbow Dash droned, bored out of her mind.
"Hm, alright, you can leave then, and I'll sign you out but come back if you feel any light-headedness, fainting, nausea or vomiting" The doctor sent Rainbow Dash a harsh look.
"Okay okay doc, thanks again, hopefully yah won't see me for a while" With that last bit said, Rainbow Dash, with her head bandaged, left the hospital with Twilight.
"So, Twilight...what was the whole thing with that fox?" Now out of the hospital and nothing wrong, Rainbow Dash thought now would be the best time to ask.
"His name is Kurama, he's and ancient and primordial being older than all of Equestria that was asleep under Canterlot, despite him being much bigger than the actual city. He was originally here in an attempt to re-connect him with any form of society but he's far too violent to be left around so I'm going to send Princess Celestia a letter to see if she will allow us to use the Elements of Harmony on him to try and put him back to sleep, He's too dangerous to be allowed to roam....I mean, look what he did to you!" Twilight gestured with a hoof towards Rainbow Dash's head.
"Well...I guess I’m lucky he was so nice then" Rainbow Dash replied, looking down at the floor.
"NICE? Rainbow, he smashed you to the ground and injured your head! How can you call him nice after that?!" Twilight was shocked," Maybe we need to get you diagnosed by the doctor you're obviously not thinking straight"
"Not thinking straight? Twi, if what you said is true I'm lucky to be alive, he could have easily crushed me or some other magic powerful thing that he knows, he probably does know magic because all old things know magic, but instead he threw me to the ground, I dunno, relatively gently?" Rainbow Dash shook her head before looking at Twilight with a confused look in her pink eyes "I would have thought you realised this?"
Twilight could only stare, mouth agape in shock.
"N-no I didn't...I just saw that you were hurt, and I got so angry that I sorta...snapped...oh no Kurama what have I done..."
"Oh Darlings?" A new, prim and proper female voice called out to them.
"Hi Rar, what’s up?" Rainbow Dash replied in Twilights stead, for she was still thinking.
"Oh, not much, I was simply wondering if either of you had seen Sweetie Belle, last I saw of her she was with Applebloom and Scootaloo going on another of their silly adventures but that was hours ago, and I am starting to get slightly worried" True to her word, Rarity's usually well taken care of mane of royal purple was semi frazzled, stray strands sticking out.
"Sorry Rarity, I haven't seen any of those three at all toda-"
"IT'S A DOOZY" A high pitched voice squeaked out from around the corner, which was soon revealed to be Applejack, Fluttershy and a rapidly twitching Pinkie Pie.
"Twi, thank Celestia we found yah, Pinkie here was round mine to give me ah invitation for some welcoming pardy when all of a sudden she started twitching mighty fierce, and on mah way here we met up with Flutter's and came straight to you" Applejack explained, wiping her head with a hoof.
"Another doozy? Pinkie do you have a feeling about where it is?" Twilight asked with slight worry on her face, last time this happened they all had to escape from a hydra.
"Y-y-u-u-u-p i-t f-f-f-e-e" All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie stopped vibrating and talking, her mane and tail losing any form of poofyness it was usually associated with and her eyes losing any kind of shine they had, “Oh....oh no...."
"Pinkie? are you okay?" Rainbow Dash shot forwards, hovering around Pinkie Pie, "What does this one mean?"
"It... It means something terrible will happen...it means....somepony's gunna get really really badly hurt" Pinkie Pie said slowly, all emotion lost from her voice.
"Who could it be that gets hurt?" Fluttershy's soft voice cut through the silence, her caring nature shining through.
Twilight stood there thinking deeply, ideas rapidly being created then shot down.
'Somepony gets hurt bad...Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle missing for the past few hours....a doozy...' Suddenly the dots all connected.
"Oh no...Not them..."
Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are all slowly backing away from the large Manticore in front of them, not turning their backs to it.
"D-d-don't worry girls, as long as we keep an eye on it we know when to get out of the way" Scootaloo stuttered, her small wings fluttering nervously.
"Y-y-yeah, and if it gets too close, ah can give it a good buck on the nose, just like A-Applejack" Applebloom added, red bow shaking slightly as she walked backwards.
"I-I-I can use some m-magic to scare it if it comes to that...I think" Sweetie Belle whispered, small sparks spluttering from her horn.
"We're gunna be a-okay and nothi-Oh no" Scootaloo tried to say but stopped as she backed into something, glancing quickly over her shoulder she noticed that the manticore had slowly but steadily backed them into a dead end with high mountain walls on either side of them, the only way out being where the snarling manticore stood.
"S-s-shoot, it cornered us" Applebloom pointed out, her own back against the rock wall as well.
The snarling manticore stopped, staring at its prey, licking its lips with a large tongue, flexing its wings outwards slightly and manipulating its stinger so that the faint sunlight that cut through the foliage of the trees shone on the gleaming liquid toxins that were being produced by it.
Neither predator nor prey noticed shining red eyes watching from the side lines.
'Hm, so this is the way of the world, glad to see it hasn't changed all that much' Kurama watched the large hybrid creature corner the three small ponies, eyes jumping around the area, 'There doesn't seem to be any adults nearby who can stop it in time, those three are as good as dead' Kurama smiled darkly, but not long after the idea to save them popped into his head, but he quickly shook it out, 'What am I thinking? Save them? I am not some hero for a couple of animals', but the traitorous voice in his head kicked in once more.
'They're just children, they do not deserve to die so young' Kurama shook his head, snarling slightly to himself
'So what, I've watched children die, I'm sure I'm also the cause of thousands of children’s deaths as well', The voice didn't reply to that and so with his mind made up, Kurama turned away from the slaughter waiting to happen and sauntered back into the forest.
"G-g-girls..." A trembling voice made him stop, an ear swivelling around, “I’m so...so sorry this is all my fault...I-I want you to know I love you two, you are my family but-" The trembling voice cracked, a small choked sob escaping into the air," I-I don't want to die..." The sobbing was coming strong, all three of the small ponies crying, scared of the encroaching doom as the smell of tears hit Kurama's sensitive nose.
The Beast lunged forward and claws like razor blades sliced into flesh...
Fresh blood was finally spilt on Everfree soil.
Blood Coated Claws, Flame-Writhing Maw, A United Town And Nightmare's Become Reality
Scootaloo screamed as she felt the huge claws of the manticore rip through her side, watching in an almost dazed trance as she saw blood splatter onto Applebloom and Sweetie Belle’s faces.
’Oh wait...that’s....that’s my blood.’ the thought echoed in her head as she slowly fell towards the ground, body numb. Her vision slowly went black as she laid on the forest floor, blood gradually pooling beneath her still form.
The manticore, sure that one of its prey was down, turned to the other two defenceless and frozen fillies. Mouth agape, it lunged forwards, aiming to snap the neck of the one with the red bow atop its head, however it was unable to reach it, with a confused glace it tilted its head to peer behind it, where the lionlike creature saw a slim, red fox with a large bushel of tails holding it back by its stinger with its front paws that looked like diamond dog hands. With a sharp grin, the fox gave a humongous tug and pulled the manticore from the ground, its claws creating huge trenches in the dirt and held it in the air in an impressive stunt of strength, then the manticore’s back slammed into the ground with a large crash.
With a fang-filled snarl Kurama stared down his opponent, body becoming battle ready.
’It’s about time I kill something worthwhile’
“TWI, WHY ARE WE RUNNING?” Applejack shouted, her more athletic body allowing her to easily keep up with Twilight as the rest of the Elements of Harmony followed behind.
“THE CMC, THEY’RE MISSING, AND I’VE GOT A REALLY BAD FEELING WITH PINKIE’S DOOZY, SO WE HAVE TO FIND THEM FAST AND RAINBOW ISN’T ALLOWED TO FLY THAT FAST” Twilight shouted back, eyes frantically jumping around as she sprinted down the main road of Ponyville.
“TWILIGHT DARLING STOP AND TALK TO US!” Rarity shouted, sweat pouring down her face as slowly Twilight stopped, turning to face them with a wild look in her eyes.
“What! We can’t waste time here we need to find them at all costs!”
“Twilight instead of rushing into things use your egghead brain!” Rainbow Dash was, surprisingly, the voice of reason again, “You’re much smarter than all of us so find a use for us instead of just follow you!”
Slowly, the wild look in Twilight’s eyes left as she panted heavily.
“You’re...you’re right Rainbow...today hasn’t been a good day...Okay, a plan, plan plan plan...” Suddenly, an idea popped into Twilights head, one that could work, “Rainbow! You can’t fly fast but you can still be our eyes in the sky, get as many pegasi as possible to look for them and report back to us if you find them.”
“Gotcha!” With a salute, Rainbow Dash flew off, not as fast as she could but still enough to be a blur as she moved.
“Fluttershy, see if you can get your animal friends to tell if they’ve seen them nearby.”
“O-Okay Twilight, I hope they’re alright...” With that said, the yellow pegasus flew off at a hurried pace.
“Applejack, go back to your farm and see if you can get Winona to help find them and Big Mac in case there’s something heavy we need to push or break, I’m sure you remember when he pulled that house along”
“Ahm not sure he could redo that sugar cube but as soon as he hears Applebloom’s in danger he’ll become unstoppable” With that said, Applejack turned to the directions of Sweet Apple Acres and sprinted off.
“Rarity, stay with me and you can teach me that gem finding spell and we can see if we can adjust it to find Sweetie Belle”
“Right Darling, by why only Sweetie?” Rarity asked with a slight breathlessness, still recovering from the sprint.
“Because you and her have the same DNA so it’s easier to configure it to her” Twilight explained before turning to the last pony still there,” Pinkie...” The still deflated mare looked up, eyes blank.
“Yes Twilight?” The tone was dead.
“I know you’re not in the best state of mind, but with Rainbow injured, you’re currently the fast one we have, so I need you to go around Ponyvillie gathering anypony you know, but more importantly those with tracking skills, please Pinkie...I need you....The Crusaders need you as well...” The pink mare stared at Twilight, face becoming harder with determination as a slight fire lit up in her eyes.
“You’re right Twilight, I can’t let them down” With that said, the pink mare became a pink line as she zoomed off, quickly becoming a missile seeking help.
’If only Kurama was here...he could have helped look for them...’ Twilight quickly shook her head free of such thoughts.
“Come on Rarity, lets head to the library, there’s books that can help us plus Spike can see if the Princesses can come down to help as well” With that said, Twilight and Rarity turned towards the direction of the library.
'What am I thinking, Kurama wouldn't help just because somepony was in danger...'
Kurama and the manticore charged at one another, the manticore lashing out with a paw but Kurama easily batting it away with one tail before lunging forwards at the wing of the manticore but missing as the manticore swirled around and smacking him away with the thick scorpion stinger.
'That stinger is annoying, suppose it would be best if I were to sort that out'
The manticore's stinger trembled slightly, revealing deep scratches in the chitin from where it came into contact with Kurama's fur, with a grin Kurama shot towards the weak point, twirling his slim body around the manticores slow hits and leaping upon the back, nestling himself between the wings, wrapping his tails around them as well as the neck of the manticore, while facing towards the tail.
With a loud growl, Kurama rammed his claws into the segment closest to the main body of the manticore, causing it to roar in pain as it tried to buck him off, jumping around frantically as Kurama slowly pried the tail off, thick gloopy blood squirting outwards, splattering onto Kurama's face. With a great heave, the tail came free and along with it a horrifying scream of pain escaped from the manticore's jaw.
With a twirl, Kurama swung himself around the manticore, latching onto its left forearm with his razor-sharp teeth as his fur carved great trenches into the flesh of the beast, a brutal snap echoing through the forest as the wings were twisted way past their breaking point and were yanked off as well, making small fountains of blood erupt from the back of the manticore.
The Biju used his tails that were still wrapped around the neck of the lion beast to heave it to the ground, ripping the forearm still in his mouth out the elbow and crunching through the bones easily, snapping it in twine. The manticore once again let out a roar of agony before Kurama leaped onto its chest, claws slashing around the muzzle and eyes of the beast before he grinned a vile smirk. Still pinning the manticore down, he grabbed the jaws of the beast and started to slowly pry them open.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stared in horror as monsters battled it out in front of them, the Red Furred One instantly having the upper hand and now it stood upon the manticore, ignoring all of its attempts to throw it off, the Red being having surprisingly a huge amount of strength despite its thin frame.
As they stared, the Red One has forced open the mouth of the manticore, its own mouth slowly widening as a deep and primordial voice rang out.
"Open Wide"
With that said, flames erupted from the maw of the Red Being, quickly engulfing the upper face of the manticore. Immediately, the smell of burning hair and flesh hit the noses of the two fillies and they were quick to start puking at the horrid smell, still watching the quickening movements of the manticore, both the uninjured and the stump of an paw beating at the Red Things side, having no effect as the Being continued to breath flames.
The manticore didn't know where it went wrong, it went out to hunt as it usually does, crippling one of its prey just as it was taught by its parents and just as it was teaching its cubs, so while it was pinned by the monster that had simply played with it and having its face slowly cooked it thought about what it could have done different.
'Maybe I shouldn't have attacked those ponies' Was the last thought that ran through its head as its eyeballs popped and the blood inside the brain boiled and burst.
Flames stopped exiting Kurama's mouth as he pulled away and looked at his handiwork, staring at the disfigured and melted face beneath him as the hair and fur continued to burn away. The lower jaw, surprisingly still intact, was pulled from the burnt face it was still attached to and thrown to the side as Kurama saunter off his kill towards the fillies, his form losing sharpness it had while fighting, where the overwhelming smell of stomach contents and blood was emitting from.
"S-stay back or Ah'll....Ah'll hurtcha" The trembling yellow filly shouted at him, standing surprisingly strong for a pony with vomit coating its mouth.
"If you wish for your friend to live, I would suggest you to move, I've saved your lives...I have no reason to save hers" That said, the yellow and white fillies turned to look at their orange, scratch that, their red furred friend.
"SCOOTALOO!" They both ran over to her, ignored the blood that pooled at their hooves as they reached to roll her over.
"Don't move her fools, otherwise you'll lose any chance for her to survive" Kurama walked over to the three, red eyes roaming around the fallen pony, looking to see the true extent of the injuries, "hmph, if we move fast she might live, might" with that said, one of Kurama's tails reached out to wrap around the originally orange pony, completely engulfing her in its warm fur, "How fast can you two move? Never mind", two more tails quickly wrapped around the two non-injured fillies, leaving only their heads unwrapped and held them close to his body.
"Try not to puke on me or else I'm dropping you" Kurama was then off, tearing into the forest towards Ponyville, simply barrelling through trees underneath the darkening sky.
Twilight stood at the head of a large crowed, Spike upon her back and the rest of the Elements of Harmony split on either side of her, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie to her left, Rainbow Dash and Applejack to her right.
"Okay everypony! Fluttershy's animal friends have confirmed that Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went into the Everfree Forest and have not yet returned, so we are all going to go in and rescue them, remember, there is safety in numbers as well as all me teaching all the unicorns here a flare spell, so stick with at least one unicorn and remember, if you get lost its yellow flares, if you get attacked its red and if you find them its green, so remember those colours!" Twilight turned away from the crowd of determined ponies as Spike leapt to the ground, "Let's go everypony!"
"YEAH!"
"SAVE THE FILLIES
"LET'S DO THIS YEAHHHHH"
Everypony turned to look at the white pegasus with small wings.
"Uhm...sorry..." Twilight shook her head and looked into the forest.
'Don't worry you three, help is on...the....way?' In the middle of her thoughts the ground began to shake and trees in the distance fell to some unseen creature, quickly making its way to the large group of ponies. Quickly, red flares were shot up into the sky as unicorns panicked and pegasi took to the air, hoping to get a look at what it was.
All of a sudden, Kurama, now easily the size of the average house of Ponyville, broke through the tree line, red eyes widening slightly at the panicking crowd before they zeroed in on Twilight.
"TWILIGHT, WHERE'S THE HOSPITAL, ARGH NEVER MIND" Instead of stopping, Kurama leaped over the crowd, flinging one of his tails at Twilight and wrapping it around her. Twilight stared blankly at the fur coiled around her barrel, before looking towards her friends, then she was pulled into the sky after the huge fox.
"WAAAAAAAH"
Off into the distance Kurama ran to Ponyville, one more passenger screaming instructions into his ears.
Kurama and the Elements of Harmony minus three stared into a hospital room through a visitation window, showing three unconscious fillies hooked up to many different machines and their respective sisters or sister figures.
"Kurama...I-I want to-" Twilight tried to begin.
"Twilight shut up. Nothing you say to me has any worth, thanking me for saving them? I was simply in a good mood after a fresh kill, if it had been me to see them first I can assure you, I wouldn't be standing here and they would not be laid there, luckily there was something much more worthwhile than children," Kurama glanced to Twilight's paling face, red eyes glaring deep into her soul as the meaning behind his words hit, "And if you apologise you would be killing them, for if your hypocritical ways hadn't appeared, I would have continued to think there was a chance here and not entered that forest, meaning I would have never killed that creature and it would have continued as it pleased" with that said, Kurama turned away and started to walk away.
"I don't care" That made Kurama stop and turn back towards the purple mare, brow raised.
"It doesn't matter if you hate me, you still could have just left after killing the manticore, leaving Applebloom, Sweetie belle and S-Scootaloo in the forest and we would of never known, but you made the choice to take them back to Ponyville and even put aside your hatred of me enough to ask me for directions to the hospital so you could save them" Twilight then bowed low to the ground, "So I thank you, not for saving them but for making the choice, I won't beg for forgiveness or a second chance as I know I don't deserve one, so in the morning I'll send a letter to Princess Celestia so she can select a new guide for you."
Kurama stared at the bowing mare, red eyes glowing slightly.
"The only things I hate is a woman named Kaguya and a man named Madara, as well as the accursed Sharingan, you are not worth hating, so don't bother messaging the white mare, there’s no point in me getting a new guide, besides" Kurama grinned, showing off sharp teeth, "there isn't a guarantee I will be able to scare the next one so easily as you"
Twilight looked back up, a slight grin on her face and tears of happiness appearing before the situation once again hit her and the grin and happiness disappeared, becoming tears of sadness quickly as she stared back into the room along with her two other friends.
Kurama turned back, making his way outside the hospital, ignoring the way he was stared at and growled at anyone who came close to call him a hero. When he was outside he laid on the cobblestone paved on the ground, ignoring the way small stones stabbed into his stomach as he stared into the night sky and watched the stars.
'Did I do the best thing...Naruto, Father?
Rainbow Dash stared with blank eyes, watching Scootaloo sleep under the medically induced slumber, listening to the high-pitched beeping of the life support, there just in case something was to happen during the night.
Pink eyes roamed the small fragile body of the pegasus filly, drifting along the bandaged side.
'I....I wanted to see you become the fastest...faster than even me...'
Tears slowly leaked from the corners of her eyes and she finally allowed herself to break down on the side of Scootaloo's hospital bed.
A stump where a wing once was sat innocently unaware of the agony it has and will cause.
The Aftershock And The Forgotten Hero's Story Told Once More
Slowly, purple eyes cracked open, allowing small slivers of bright light to slip through which caused a groan to escape the body of the small filly.
"Oh, you're awake, that’s good" A somewhat musical voice spoke up from the side of Scootaloo, which turned out to be a rather tall yet skinny pale grey earth pony with a green spiral for a cutiemark who stood with an odd glean in her green eyes, framed by a deep red mane, "I'm Nurse Foresight, your nurse and you've been asleep for quite a while, gave us quite the scare" The smile she sent Scootaloo didn't quite reach her eyes.
"W-what happened?" Scootaloo couldn't stop the question escaping her, sleep and medicine still clouding her mind.
"Oh, don't you worry, I’m sure your friends are worried sick about you, how about I go get them hm?"
"Wait! I need you to answer my question!" The tall mare didn't even hesitate as she left the room, leaving Scootaloo all to herself, "Stupid nurses...ignoring the ponies they're caring for" Scootaloo couldn't help but grumble, eyes roaming around the room, finding balloons and many get well soon cards littering the small table which stood to the side of her bed.
"What did happen...last thing I remember was-" The images of trees and pain-pain-PAIN engulfed her mind, "ARGH" Scootaloo clutched at her head, memories assaulting her as she shook slightly in her bed, though it didn't last long as the pain quickly dulled, and she opened her eyes once more.
"The forest..." Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open to reveal two fillies stood with wide eyes staring into the room.
"SCOOTALOO" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle shouted, tears unshed shining in their eyes as they sprinted to the side of Scootaloo's bed, Applejack and Rarity walking into the room at a more sedated pace, unease on both of their faces.
"O-oh hey girls, how have you been?" Scootaloo could only ask, confusion written on her face.
"How have WE been? You're the one who’s been asleep for the past two days!"
"Wait, really?" Scootaloo stared at the blank faces of her two friends, hoping to see a hint of a joke, “Why am I even in the hospital what happened?" When that was said Applejack took a step forward, worry in her eyes.
"Scootaloo, do yah remember anything?" The mares voice was calm and kind, with nowhere as much strength as it usually does.
"Of course not! If I did would I be asking what happened?" Scootaloo was starting to panic now," Why is everypony being so down and not telling me anything!"
"Scootaloo, darling?" Rarity slowly walked forward towards the bed, eyes flickering to Scootaloo but not staying for long, quickly jumping away," Don't panic but could you please check your wing"
With a frown, Scootaloo looked over her left shoulder, seeing the, albeit small but healthy orange featured wing fluttering slightly.
"The-the other one darling..." With an eyebrow raised at the stutter, Scootaloo complied, twirling her head around to her right side, expecting to see the feathers of her other wing but finding nothing. Eyes widening, she continued to turn her head, hoping and wishing to see it simple bandaged to her side, but finding nothing but a bandaged bump way too small to be a whole wing, even one of hers.
"From what we heard, the manticore that did that to yah go what it shoulda, ahm sorry but they couldn't do anything for yah wing sugarcane, it wasn't fair for you, but least you're alive" Applejack continued, hiding her eyes with her hat, "The one who saved yah said he wanted to be here but he's kinda busy at the moment, so we're here"
"...Saved?" Scootaloo almost whimpered.
"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle said loudly, a wide smile on her face, "You shoulda seen him, he ran in all like 'RAH' then beat up the manticore and it was so amazing yet scary cause he was big and strong we thought we were done for the-" Scootaloo wasn't listening, she was simple staring at nothing, mind blank with horror as realisation hit.
"Girls, we should go...give Scootaloo some time to herself"
"But why? She's only just woke up!"
"She needs time to adjust sugarcane, we should leave her be" The protests of the two fillies were unheard as they were ushered out of the room, Applejacks eyes lingering on the frozen filly on the bed.
"Ahm sorry" With that said, the orange mare closed the door with a slight click.
Scootaloo didn't say anything as other ponies came to visit her, all of them giving her varying forms of pity, yet pity all the same, however not a single one of them was the one she wanted to visit her, she was waiting for her hero to come in, tell her it’s all alright and that nothing was going to change, to tell her she was gunna help her, but as the hours flew by Scootaloo slowly lost hope.
A faint knock interrupted her train of though and the door opened to reveal the mare that she'd been hoping would be there when she awoke.
"Rainbow Dash..."
The named mare's head shot up, pink eyes locking onto Scootaloo as she walked to stand at the side of her bed.
"Scoots, I'm...I'm so so sorry, I should have been there, I wish I could have stopped that thing before...before you got hurt," tears slowly slid down the cyan mare’s face as she lowered her head onto the sheets of the bed, "Please forgive me..."
"Why...?"
Rainbow raised her head, her eyes meeting Scootaloo's as the filly bared her teeth in rage with tears pouring down her own face.
"WHY ARE YOU GIVING UP ON ME? WHY IS EVERYPONY THE SAME, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE DIFFERENT AND STILL BELIEVE IN ME BUT I'M WRONG AREN'T I? YOU THINK I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO FLY DON'T YOU" Scootaloo shouted, all her pent-up rage from the day escaping her as she raged to the pony that she had believed in.
"WELL HOW COULD YOU EVER LEARN HOW TO FLY WITH ONLY ONE WING?" Rainbow Dash shouted back, face filled with anger before shock overcame her as she realised what she had said, "Scootaloo I am so sorry, I shouldn't have sa-"
"Get out" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she heard the quiet whisper.
"W-what?"
"I said GET OUT GET OUT I DON'T WANT TO LOOK AT YOU" Scootaloo started to rage, throwing the cards and small candies which sat at her side at the rainbow maned mare,"IM NOT INVALID OR ANYTHING I'LL LEARN TO FLY I DON'T NEED NOPONIES HELP NOW GET OUT!" Rainbow Dash quickly rushed out the room, leaving Scootaloo alone breathing heavily staring at where the pegasus had previously been. A slight whimper escaped the filly before she broke down sobbing, curling up on her bed and shaking, alone and betrayed.
It was late, that was all Scootaloo knew as she stares out the window into the night sky, her eyes red and swollen from tears that no longer dropped , nopony else had come to visit her but she was fine with that.
"You ponies are pathetic, crying when things don't go your way" Scootaloo jumped, twirling around to face the darkened side of the room, looking for the pony that spoke in the deep growling tones, but all that she saw was two slitted red eyes shining from the darkness.
"W-who are you?"
"Who am I?" The red eyes slowly moved forward and from the darkness a red furred canine face was revealed to Scootaloo, along with a large, thin body and what looked like 9 bushy long tails swirling around, "I am Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox, and I'm the reason you're alive at this very moment" Kurama puffed up, a proud look on his face which was quickly wiped away when a small box of hard boiled sweets smacked him in the face, with a snarl, he glared at the filly who was no longer looking at him.
"Go away, you're gunna be just like all the others, apologising and pitying me...But I don't need it, I'll still learn to fly, even if it kills me" The filly's declaration struck a chord in Kurama as he stared wide eyed, before huffing and making his way to sit at the side of Scootaloo, also staring out the window.
"Many, many years ago, a great monster, bigger than the tallest mountains attacked a village, this monster was so great and fierce, so full of rage, none could even hope to slow it down, yet alone stop it. None but the young leader of the village, for you see, he that night had just become a father, and he wanted his child to grow up in the same village he had, so he went to fight the beast, but he knew he could not kill it, so he took the next best option, he sacrificed his life to seal it inside his new-born child, the only one who could survive to have it sealed inside them. He did this with a smile, knowing the child would still have its mother to love and care for it, but the beast in its last moments before it was sealed attempted to kill the child, flinging one of its razor-sharp claws at it. The father, not wanting his child to die, flung himself in front of the claw," Scootaloo, who had been listening, enraptured by the fox's story, gasped quietly, “It would not of been enough to stop the beast, however the mother, knowing her child would die, flung herself in front as well and the two parents stopped the claw from reaching their child. Now knowing the child would have to live without knowing the true extent of its parent's love, they both said their goodbyes as the sealing took effect, transforming the beast into a huge cloud of pure energy and forcing it inside the body of the babe as its parents faded from this life," Kurama breathed in deeply, licking his dry lips as he continued, "The child would grow up being hated by the village his father loved, none of them knowing who the child was apart from the fact that he held the beast that had slaughtered loved ones not long before, yet the child still swore he would be the leader of the village and be loved by all . Anything that child had, he had to work for, nothing was given to him. So, as he got older, he made a friend, a child who had everything at one point, but had his family torn from him by his elder brother, and so, with rage and vengeance on his mind, the friend wanted power, following a traitor of the village who had promised him everlasting power and leaving his friend behind, but not without first nearly killing him"
"Why are you telling me this?" Scootaloo couldn't help but interrupt, but Kurama quickly wacked her lightly on the head with a tail.
"Hush child, I am not done," Kurama shook his head as he turned back to the night sky, “The boy left his village, training to become stronger than ever, he'd need it as he was being hunting for the beast which laid inside him, and so years went by, he made new friends and met old ones once more, but then his home village was attacked by the leader of the group that was hunting him, and so he went back, hoping he was strong enough to defeat the man, but he wasn't, the man killed his old teacher and nearly killed one of his friends, so he gave into the rage of the beast that was inside him and attacked the man viciously, but before the beast could escape fully the failsafe the father put inside the seal activated, summoning a small portion of the man back to the world of the living, to finally see his son and reseal the beast, in the end the man was moved by the boy who had forgiven him despite all he had did, and so the man sacrificed his life and used an ability to bring back all he had killed from the dead at the price of his own life. Then, the boy was herald as a hero by the people of his village, for their home may be destroyed, but their spirits had prevailed."
Kurama turned to look at the filly by his side, "But that was not the end, for it turns out that man had simply been a puppet for the true leader, so the boy, now growing up to be a man, wanted peace between all the villages to help defeat the true leader, but for that to happen he needed peace within himself...and the beast sealed within, so he went into the seal to try and get the beings help, but the being would not relent in its hatred of all things as it accepted actions over words, and so when the time came, the man helped save one of the beasts siblings from the leader's control and in the end made the beast realise that it could trust once again in the world, so it gave the man its power, but didn't take over, instead it worked with him. It was then, the man’s friend from his childhood came back to help, having found out his brother was not to blame for the death of his family and so they defeated the true leader together," Kurama sweat dropped, "And then again defeated the true true leader behind the true leader"
"Wait what?" Scootaloo spluttered, confused at the phrasing Kurama had.
"Never mind it, after that, the man was happy, he had saved the world and had his best friend back...but it was not to last, for the people who were behind the deaths of his family was the leader of his village, and so he decided all the leaders must die, but the man would not have that, so they fought, long and hard, until it came to the final blow which destroyed one arm from each combatant, in the end...it was a draw, yet to the man, he had won, and even with his missing arm, he became the leader of his village and one of the strongest beings in the world, but also one of the nicest"
Scootaloo stared at the fox, confusion in her purple eyes.
"What...what was the whole point of that? I mean, it was an interesting story, but it doesn't make sense!"
"Oh, it doesn't make sense?" Kurama stood, a sharp grin on his face, "You use words and say that even without your wing you'll learn to fly but all you've been doing is sitting there crying, the man in the story didn't make it to where he was by himself, he was pushed forward by his friends, pushed away from just saying he'd be the leader to doing something about it, so instead of shouting and screaming at everyone that comes in use them to your advantage, you want to fly then get working on it, you aren't going to be given some magical gift, you'll need sweat, tears and blood to achieve your dream child," Kurama eyes glowed an eerie red as he stared down the small filly, "Or are you going to prove me right that you're pathetic?"
Scootaloo stood with her mouth agape, meeting the gaze of the being that had just thrown her world upside down, “That....that story isn't just a story is it? It actually happened and...and...you're the-" The smile on Kurama's face widening stopped what she was going to say originally before a look of determination overcame her.
"I'll do it, I'll prove to you and everypony else I will be able to fly, no matter what, I won't just be empty words"
"Good, now, young children like yourself should be asleep now," A long slender tail lifted her into the bed as Kurama made to leave the room," And remember this...I was never here, and you never heard that story from me"
"Okay, thank you Mr Kurama, for everything" Scootaloo said softly as her eyes slowly drifted closed.
Kurama simply huffed as he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
"So, there is something...new in Ponyville, something more powerful than even the Elements of Harmony"
"Yes, it matches the stories which we all know, a primordial being of rage and hatred with nine tails"
"Hm...and do they know what exactly they have in their village"
"It doesn't seem like it"
The black being turned its head, staring at the walls of her home, before looking at her hoof, slitted eyes tracing the cracks in the armour plating that was now a part of her injured form.
"You should get back to your post, we are all injured, many of us dying, it’s odd...we are the only beings that have the knowledge of how to maybe defeat such a beast, yet we are close to extinction, so such knowledge will soon be lost..."
"Have hope my queen, some of us will survive" with that said, the tall and thin changeling turned away, flicking her red tinted mane out of her green eyes which quickly flashed yellow as she left the injured Queen of Changelings.
