> A Tale of Tails, Sunsets and Burned Bridges
>  by Ozone31
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Deal In The Dark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Argh, where am I? Why does my... everything hurt?

From the blackness a voice spoke. "You are here because you have died." It was soft and melodic to the ear, speaking clearly and patiently despite my growing anger. 

I didn't know why I was angry, I couldn't remember anything and this only proved to make my anger burn even stronger, quickly growing into a raging inferno within my body. The news I had just heard only proved to make it worse.

"Dead?!?!" I roared. I tried to strike out at where I thought the voice was coming from but quickly found my arms were not obeying me.

"Indeed" The voice replied. "You were killed, unfairly and before your time."

"Unfairly?" I asked. How can you be killed unfairly? Did I get stabbed in the back or something?

"How did I die? Tell me!!" My anger and impatience took control again and I tried to reach out for the voice.

"You were killed, shot mercilessly by a group of armed terrorists while on your knees." The voice replied, as calmly as before

That news was like a blow to the gut. It knocked me into a senseless stupor. My anger sort of blew away leaving me cold and speechless. Shot? Helplessly, kneeling before my killer? Questions whirled around in my head like a storm. Why? When? Where?

"But" The voice shook me from my thoughts. "I can give you a second chance to live, stronger, smarter, wiser than you were before."

I grew weary. "What's the catch?" Despite not having any memory of anything but academic knowledge, I would've liked to think I wasn't such a bumbling idiot in my past life as to accept deals without at least being aware of the fine print.

"There is none"

Bullshit. I knew shady when I saw it. But my collar was rising again, burning hotter and brighter that before. It was already clouding my judgement.

"So do you accept?" The voice asked, there was venom behind those words. It was planning something. But as I got more enraged the less I cared.

A glowing white hand reached out from the pitch black, offering a handshake. In a final burst of outrage I grabbed for the hand and this time my body complied, taking the hand firmly in my grip.

A flash of light consumed the space and I briefly saw my hand, my tan-white human hand. Little did I know, that was the last time I would see it for a very long time      
> Canterlot: They Appear
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Let the fun and games begin".



It was 2:00am, a peaceful October's night, in Canterlot. A light breeze blew through the, faintly shining, white coat of a tall, winged unicorn. 
She had a flowing mane made up of blues, pinks and greens. Her tail was the exact same, sparkling as it flowed like water in the night air. Her bright purple eyes looked down at the bustling city below, from her balcony in Canterlot Castle, in a motherly fashion. She loved all of her loyal subjects as a mother would her foals, nurturing them as they grew, picking them up when they fell down, forgiving them when they broke something.

"I only wish I had been like that then" Princess Celestia sighed to herself, as she looked up towards the the moon.

The Moon. One of the two celestial bodies she controlled with her truly immense amounts of magic. But it was more than a massive lump of rock floating up there in space. It was an eternal reminder of her greatest failure, the result of her arrogance and pride, her little sister's prison.

"Your majesty?"

Celestia shook her head to dispel these looming thoughts and looked down to another one of the castle's balconies below. A yellow coated unicorn mare in a hospital patient's coat stood there, looking up at her, curiosity in her dull grey eyes. Her brick red mane was long and messy, fresh sweat causing it to stick to her head and neck.

Cradled in one foreleg she held a small, delicate, newborn filly. Her coat was a pale yellow and her little tuft  of mane was half crimson red accompanied by a powerful blond. She was a unicorn like her mother, a little conical horn protruding from her forehead 

The mare was Day Break, one of Celestia's personal guards especially good at containment and sealing spells. She'd been in labour for the past few hours giving birth to the filly she was currently holding, Sunset Shimmer.

"Good evening to you Day Break" Celestia greeted as she flew down to meet the no longer pregnant mare. "I hope she didn't give you too much trouble?" She asked, peering down at the sleeping foal. I wonder who she will turn out to be?, she thought to herself.

"Princess, I have fought manticores, chimeras and even dragons while in your service. But this was definitely one of the most difficult things I've had to do." Day Break said tiredly."To say it hurt would be a major understatement"

"But I'm sure it was worth it in the end." Celestia reminded the warrior mare to see the posetive

"Of course, I'm proud as can be. I only wish Raven Wing could have been here now."

Raven Wing had been her husband. A black coated, blond pegasus stallion, who had died a few months before, in an Ursa Major attack on Ponyville. It had taken six hours for an entire guard regiment to defeat it. They hadn't even been able to kill it, only drive it back into the Everfree Forest to the west of the town, where it came from.

"I'm sure he would've been proud as can be" Celestia comforted her young friend. Day Break was one of the closest ponies to the Solar princess at the time and remained close to her side at almost all times.

"I know" Day chuckled sadly,"He was the kindest stallion whoever lived."

Celestia was about to respond when  she was interrupted by a sudden, low 'BOOM'.

The Princess of Equestria threw her vision towards the city center and gasped when she saw a massive smoke cloud billowing out from the city's geographical heart.


 
"Your new name is Kurama!"

Those were the last words I heard from the voice and despite the fact that I was blinded by a cloud of smoke I could tell something was off. I felt odd, like I was bigger, stronger, more powerful. It also felt like I had significantly more limbs, it was like having lots of arms sprouting from my backside.
But I ran out of time to think as I, the sentience, was consumed by blind fury.

The world went red as I felt myself unleash an almighty roar of outrage, that was so powerful that it blew away the cloud surrounding me.

I was right, I was huge. A massive ball of orange fur and furiously whipping tails, towering over most buildings in my sight. Except one, a castle not too far away. The rage spoke its first words out of malice and jealousy towards the building for being taller than us.

"Destroy. DESTROY!"

With that it, no, I attacked.
> Canterlot: The Great Battle Pt 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I make the first move."


 
(Third Person POV)

Kurama let loose another earth shaking roar, that tossed stone, wood and ponies flying, as he charged for the castle his starting push decimating large portions of road and buildings that were directly behind him, while his nine furiously whipping tails destroyed every building in direct vicinity to him. He flew towards Canterlot Castle, house sized fist raised, ready to take a chunk out of the majestic home of the solar princess.

But she had other ideas.

Just before Kurama made contact, Celestia reacted. A bright yellow shield dome surrounded the castle, protecting it from the coming demon spirit. He slammed into the shield, the point where fist met energy rippled before bouncing the mighty Nine Tails flying away (unfortunately into an apartment block).

Ponies screamed and yelled, running around the city in panic as the monster tore apart the building he was in while trying to pull himself out of it. His immense weight caused anything he tried to pull himself up with to crumble and fall, so after a short tussle trying to get free Kurama gave up, turning over, curling up and then spreading his arms and tails out with a roar of rage, destroying the stone building completely (sending more non-pegasi ponies flying through the air in the process).

Princess Celestia lowered the shield around the castle and took flight, glowing majestically as she climbed through the smoke filled night sky. She glared down at the orange menace with malice, wanting nothing more than to simply rain down a storm of magic bolts upon him for the destruction he had caused and the ponies he had killed with his mere arrival and for risking the lives of one of her dearest friends and her newborn foal. But never let it be said she wasn't a patient and forgiving ruler.

"You have transgressed against Canterlot and its citizens." Celestia proclaimed, her old royal voice finding its way to the surface again. "For that I should just destroy you right now. However I am willing to offer you a chance to leave now and never return, if you do not do so and continue to put my pony's lives at risk I will be forced to end your life right here."

For a moment there was silence between the two, filled only with the screams of the city around them. Then the sound of low, malicious laughter filled the air, gradually growing in volume until it was all that could be heard for kilometres around.

"You'll destroy me?" Kurama chuckled after his mad laughter had died down. "DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE THAT YOU SCARE ME?"

With that Kurama attacked. First he stared making strange signs with his massive hands, he then opened his fanged maw wide and with a shout of:

"FIRE STYLE:BLAST BURN!"

A massive torrent of brilliant red fire erupted from his mouth, heading straight for Celestia spreading wide as it did so. The solar princess gasped and contained herself in a shield bubble, but she could still feel the intense heat through it as she and the shield were consumed by the flames.

Kurama kept up the attack for a short while eventually letting the torrent subside and burn out. He wasn't even aware he could use jutsu or even had chakra. He had just assumed that his only offensive capabilities were his teeth, claws and tails, the use of that attack was on a form of instinct. His body knew what it could do and he supposed it just took the initiative.

From the smoke of the flames, burst Celestia. Her eyes aglow with fury and power, she let out a scream of effort and sent a beam of raw magic straight at the Demon Fox. It collided with his chest and exploded, consuming the area with even more smoke. Kurama was getting really bored of smoke.

He leaped from the smoke just as the princess had, his huge arm swung back, his fist closed and with that his arm swung forward again, knocking the Sun Princess back through the air and straight into Canterlot Castle. She smashed through the glass doors of the balcony she had been standing on less than five minuets before. She was able to stop herself before she crashed into a hospital bed, skidding along the floor digging in her hooves as she went to slow herself. 

"Princess!" Day Break exclaimed as the solar deity came flying through.

"Day Break! What are you doing?!" Celestia exclaimed as she watched the new mother slot her helmet down on her head, her bright red mane springing out to from the plume.

"I'm ready to go Princess Celestia. Just say the word and I'll join the rest of the guard regiment who have just begun attacking the beast." Secretly Celestia was deeply relieved that the guard had engaged, if they hadn't the fox probably would have gone after her and destroyed the castle in the process, still.

"No I can't let you go out there, not now." Celestia said as she slowly rose from her crouch.

"What! Why?"

"Day Break, think of Sunset. You need to be with her, I'll defeat this monster."

"And how do you plan to do that?!" Day Break shouted. Normally she wouldn't have dreamed about shouting at the leader of Equestria, despite there close friendship, but in this case she couldn't help herself. Her outburst woke the filly sleeping in the cot beside the hospital bed. She bawled her little eyes out even as her mother held her and offered her sweet words of comfort. "How do you plan to defeat it?" she asked again quieter this time.

"Do you doubt my abilities?" the Sun Goddess asked sternly.

The guards mare sighed in relief as her foal began to quieten down "I do not. But princess, with respect, I think he's more than even you can handle." Day Break said solemnly.

"He?"

"You can hear it in the voice." the mare dead-panned, before becoming serious again. "I do not believe you will be able to defeat him." Day Break repeated looking at the tips of Celestia's wings, which were slightly burned. "That fox has enough power to harm you through your shield and can withstand your attacks easily."

"Do you have any other ideas?" Celestia asked warily, she was afraid that she already knew the answer.

"We need to seal him, within somepony." Day Break clarified, before going through with an explanation. "I will gather all of my magic and use it to construct an Eight Sign Sealing formula and use that to lock him away."

"ALL of your magic!! But Day Break that'll...that will kill you! The seal won't work on you if you're dying! Who would you seal it in if not yourself?" Celestia finished her slight rant with a small hiccup like sound which was actually her trying to hold in her tears. This was one of her close companions and she was saying that she was going to kill herself in an attempt to seal this beast, a seal that would only work if the conditions were perfect. A powerful sealer, a strong willed host and the target had to be still and restrained. "I can't take it even my body couldn't take both mine and its power."

"I know. My plan was never for me or you to carry it." Day Break said, her calmness the opposite of the princess' panic

"Then who?!"

Day Break held up the little filly, who was asleep once again in her mother's cradling foreleg. Celestia stared blankly for a moment, her jaw hanging loose on its hinges. While it was true that foals were better choices for hosts, as there bodies were more accepting of external energies, she couldn't believe that Day Break was suggesting her own daughter should be the one who would become the monster's prison.

"No. Day that is your daughter, you can't..."

"I KNOW!" Day Break cut her ruler off. "I know."

"Why? Why subject her to such pain, losing her mother to become a living asylum for a monster?" The pain in Celestia's voice told Day that she had been defeated, but she still clung to the chance that she could change the guard-mare's mind.

"Because I believe that she can handle it. Her path will be a hard one and I feel tortured knowing that I'm setting her on this path without her consent. But I believe that if she can fight through these hardships, she will become a stronger pony than I could ever hope to be." Day Break finished her speech by planting a kiss on her little horn. "I know it's a lot to ask but I need you to take care of her for me. Guide her, teach her right from wrong, make sure she lives a good life - but not a spoiled one mind you." she finished with a cheeky smile. "Will you do that for me?"

Celestia sighed and wiped away a tear. "I will, you have my word."

Day Break smiled, she knew the princess would put her personal feelings aside for the good of her kingdom. "Thank you." She said simply. Now directing her attention back to the raging beast outside. "I'll also need a distraction and for you to hold him down when the time comes."

"Take your time, I need to pay that massive mutt back for knocking me through the castle." the Princess of Equestria smirked as she walked to the balcony. Before leaping out she turned to the guards-mare, who was already attaching a foal carrier to her back. "May we meet again soon in another life my dear friend."

"Not too soon, thou stillst has yet to experience the joys of pregnancy." Day Break giggled, openly taking the piss now.

"We'll see." With that the Sun Princess leapt from the balcony.



> Canterlot: The Great Battle Pt 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"From here the ball is in your court."



Large Creature Dialogue

+Telepathic/Mental Dialogue+



(Kurama's POV)

"MAGGOTS! I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!"

It's a strange thing taking a back-seat to your own life, still seeing through your eyes but not controlling where they look. Feeling your arms move but not choosing which flies to strike down and which ones to leave. I could hear screams and feel pain but I was not the one reacting to them. 'Kyuubi', as I had taken to calling him (for some reason), had completely pushed me out, and was wreaking havoc upon the ponies clad in gold as they assaulted us. They were armed with little lances that spat beams of bright yellow energy onto my fur, they didn't get any further than that.

After unleashing that 'Blast Burn' I had discovered the existence of a great and complex chakra network spread throughout my body. I didn't know how I knew it was called chakra, just as I didn't know how my anger had manifested into a separate conciousness, so I chalked it down to it being linked to that voice I'd heard in the darkness.

"NINE TAILS!!"

Speaking of voices.

The larger pony with wings and a horn was coming back, unfortunately she'd caught more than just my attention. Kyuubi turned our head to screech at her as she came for us, but didn't get that far, as a massive, armoured and scaly fist cannoned into the end of our snout. I felt a sickening crack and a surge of pain as our massive body was tossed across the city. We would have continued off the edge if this city didn't have walls, which were meant to keep danger out whereas in this case it kept it in.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HARM MY CITIZENS ANY LONGER!" The mare yelled from her position, atop the head of a massive white dragon, with royal purple dorsal spines and wings with a pale beige underbelly. It was clad almost completely in shining gold armour with a flag pole in its mighty claws. The flag was the same colour as the dragon's spines, and in the centre was an image of a white pony and a dark blue pony, both of this winged and horned variety, chasing each other around a sun and crescent moon.

"You think you and your glorified, leather purse can beat me?" The words escaped our maw, under Kyuubi's influence, with a chuckle which (like before) soon erupted into an absolute cacophony of noise that was somewhere between a roar and a laugh. However it didn't last long and the sudden shift from mad laughter to an icy cold glare even scared me slightly. 

+I hope she has more than just a big pet dragon+ I found myself saying from the back of the mind I was sharing with this beast. Kyuubi ignored me, but he did relay my words to the outside world.

"I HOPE YOU HAVE MORE THAN JUST THAT PET DRAGON TO HELP YOU, SUNBUTT!"

+Where the hell did that come from!+ I was tired of being silent and helpless in the back off my own mind. +Get out off my head!+

+SHUT UP!+ Kyuubi's strength proved to be greater than mine and he pushed me back to my place in the background. 

"How dare you call me a pet?!" The dragon exclaimed as he stabbed his flag pole into the ground, spreading his wings wide as he did so.

Undaunted Kyuubi forced us back onto our feet an roared his defiance, creating another shock wave as he did so."DESTROOOOOOY!!" All cognitive thought my roomate once had was lost as he charged, his kick off destroyed the wall we'd hit. We rocketed down the streets of the mountainside city, our tails tearing into buildings as we flew by them.

The dragon raised his arms in defence, held in a boxer's stance except he held himself lower. The royal pony that stood on his head could be seen plain as day to be charging her magic, so I couldn't help but wonder if Kyuubi either didn't notice or just lacked the ability to care. I quickly discover it to be the latter, as a powerful burst of magic was launched from her horn and into our head. However we were undamaged by such an attack, so Kyuubi pressed his assault. We came in low and to the side of the dragon, delivering a strong leg sweep to his ankles and taking his legs out from under him. Using our leg's spare momentum to flip us over onto all fours, Kyuubi sent and unbelievably strong uppercut into our opponent's falling and exposed jaw, tossing the unnamed dragon into the air and knocking his summoner off his head in the process, but Kyuubi wasn't done yet. We now leapt into the air after him, quickly adjusting our angle and sending our right foot straight into the dragon's armoured gut. His body closed around this point, bringing his head back into range, Kyuubi threw an earth-splitting right hook into the scaly knight's face. He was sent spinning through the air and into the mountain's snowy peak before rolling off and into the castle gardens.

Kyuubi now turned our gaze towards the pony.

She was approaching fast from below, horn ablaze with magical energy. My sentient anger weaved a succession of hand signs, the same ones as before, and cried:

"Blast Burn!"

I watched as the pony halted her ascent and surrounded herself in another shield, the stream of red flame consuming them and a small portion of the city below, setting it alight and sending dancing shadow all over the city, swaying with the fire.

The royal pony was no where to be seen, I held my metaphorical breath as both I and Kyuubi scanned the surrounding area, coming back down to earth with a crash. Our wet nose sniffed at the air but smelled only smoke, our keen blood-red eyes searched the entire city but saw only death and destruction. Our huge, pointed ears took in any nearby sound, trying to find his victim.

The distant screaming of the city and burning of its buildings was suddenly broken by a roar of outrage and effort as the snow white pony burst from a pile of rubble and unleashed a pulsing ray of pure solar energy. The battle continued.


 
(Third Person POV)

Day Break had finally made it to the town square, summoning a massive sealing array into the plaza and in the center was a small crib, The Ceremonial Throne. She laid Sunset in it and began gathering every last dreg of her magic, she would've fallen over if she wasn't already sitting down upon her haunches. She quickly began to sweat and her breath became heavy for the second time that night.

"Yeesh, never thought I'd have to give birth and cast one of my most powerful spells in one day, hun." She grunted to her small daughter the magical strain already beginning to take its toll on her. She gasped and almost lost focus completely, as Celestia flew overhead and crashed into a building. "Come on Day Break, her majesty can't keep this up for long."

This was true Celestia dodged and weaved as best she could, but she couldn't block the torrents of red flame and bullets of wind that were continually flying her way. One of these bullets had been moving too fast for her and when it hit her, it had exploded launching her into the multi-story office block.

"Argh, I can't take another hit like that, let alone that fire and who knows what other abilities he possesses" she groaned as she pushed desks and stall walls off herself. "I hope you're almost ready Day, or I'm a goner."

She didn't have much time to tell herself this before another bullet barrage came her way. Leaping from the hole in the building's wall and taking flight, just before the attack obliterated the office's lower floors, causing the upper ones to come crashing down upon the smaller apartments and businesses below. The princess' patience was running out, the sheer amount of damage he was doing was on par with that caused by Discord, though the lord of chaos hadn't been trying to destroy, simply control.

Despite this he had still done some major damage in his time and now this...monster was replicating such destruction, Equestria didn't need such financial and emotional strife, especially with the return of Nightmare Moon just around the corner. Celestia had to put a stop to this, one way or another.

"If I can hit the right spot with the right technique I could..." Celestia cut herself of when she noticed something new happening over with the Nine Tails.



(Kurama's POV)

+No. No you can't+ I tried to shout as I realized what Kyuubi was doing. I didn't know how I knew the jutsu's name or what it looked like, but I did and I quickly recognised what was forming in front of our maw.

+YOU CAN'T USE A TAILED BEAST BOMB!+  

It was fruitless, the dark purple ball of positive and negative chakra slowly grew in size until it was about the size of a carriage. I had to do something, anything, to prevent the destruction of (possibly) the only being who could stand against us. Just as Kyuubi was about to launch the attack, I gave a psychic roar of determination and took control of our shared body, veering our head as high as possible in the time given to me, managing to aim just above the crest of the mountain's peak before, with an almighty bang, firing the Tailed Beast Bomb.

It sailed high into the air, above the castle, above the snow covered mountain top and away. There was silence for a few seconds. Anypony who was still both in the city and above ground would see a great explosion in the distance, as the bomb collided with another one of the mountains that formed the (unbeknownst to me) Central Equestrian Ridge. That mountain's peak was reduced to a crater, as the detonation shook everything in a multi-mile radius. The blast was so strong it blew off and melted all of the snow on top of the mountain we stood on and shattered any and all of the surviving windows in the city.

I stood for a second, looking at it.

"I did that" I breathed watching as the light faded.

I didn't have long to stand and contemplate however, as Kyuubi struck back, having my control wrenched from me and being stuffed back into the back of my mind. Strangely, Kyuubi didn't say anything as he took back control, his presence simply 'brushed' past mine, like he didn't even know I was there.

Upon taking back the driver's seat, he let loose a roar and charged straight at his opponent, but he didn't get far, when roughly 300 tons of dragon crashed down from above pinning us down. It was then we both noticed it, a huge amount of charged energy and it was nearby. Looking down to our right, we saw (what I assumed was) her. A unicorn with matted red mane and bright yellow coat stared up at us her expression blank and unreadable.

From memories I could not recall making I recognized the strange black ink array that surrounded a small, cot-like object.

"A seal"

+A seal+

Kyuubi tried to move but a mass of glowing, magical chains wrapped themselves around our entire body. Linking our nine tails tightly together, firmly entrenching themselves into the ground to hold down our limbs and to top it all off, a golden muzzle forced itself around our snarling snout. Looking up we noticed the white, winged unicorn staring down at us, breathing heavily, her once majestic, rainbow coloured, flowing main was now still and coloured a dull and faded bubblegum pink.

But all of this would not stop Kyuubi, a simple brush over his thoughts told me. With a mighty grunt of effort, he was able to free our right arm from its restraints and sent it, claws out, straight for the sleeping filly in the crib. I watched as its mother desperately tried to throw herself between the claw and her child.

+No+ I sent. +NOOOOO!+

Once again I rested control from Kyuubi, spread our palm wide and sank the claws deep into the cobblestone on either side of and behind the crib. I fully expected Kyuubi to try and take back control, I was waiting for it. But no tug at my consciousness came, no furious attempt to lock me away again. Little did I know that his consciousness had fled as soon as I'd taken the helm.

I looked down at the mare clad in gold, and was shocked beyond belief when I saw what I saw.

She was smiling at me. A sincere smile, displaying kindness and gratitude. I watched her lips move as she said something to me, but the world had lost all sound so I didn't understand and I wouldn't understand, not for a long, long time.

Suddenly her horn, which had been steadily glowing the whole time, let out a brilliant, blinding flash and everything went numb.

(Third Person POV)

Kurama had disappeared, the flash burst of magic had reduced him to nothing but raw chakra, before sealing him within Sunset Shimmer. Day Break collapsed next to her daughter, she didn't have long. Reaching out a hoof she gently stroked her foal's little cheek and whispered, "Always remember, my Shimmering star, momma will always love you. And know that one day you will come to terms with your new eternal companion, and when that day comes you must find it in your heart to move past your hatred and grief to see him for what he really is." She sniffed, trying to hold back her tears. "I'm so sorry *sniff* that I have to leave you, but *sniff* I'll always be with you, in here" she said as she breathed her last, touching her hoof to her daughter's stomach where the seal was slowly fading. "Good bye, Sunset Qrow Shimmer".

With that, Lieutenant Day Break, lay still, her helmet rolling from her head across the ground where it came to rest, next to a raven's feather the morning sun shining off its golden crest as it rose slowly from over the horizon.


  

"Make your move."
                             

 

           
> Well, Isn't This Place Fun?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Kurama's POV)

I awoke, what I could only assume was, an hour or two later with a throbbing headache. I picked myself up from the flooded ground and promptly fell flat on my snout again.

"Ow. Gotta get used to these feet" I grumbled to myself, as I rolled into a sitting position, rubbing my bruised nose. "Stupid dragon."

I switched to a crouch, resting my knuckles down for support, as I looked around my surroundings. I appeared to be in the flooded basement of a factory, with pipes and vents sprawling across the walls. There was no visible ceiling, only blackness, reciprocated in the walls both in front of and behind me. The floor was there, but it couldn't be seen through the layer of murky water that covered it. There was some light, but it was a faded, mustard yellow that seemed to emanate from somewhere on the opposite side of the massive room, barely reaching far enough to illuminate my outline, as when I looked down at my huge, clawed hand all I saw was a squarish shape with five pointy cylinders sticking out of it. My final observation of the room was the gate, probably should've been my first one. It was very tall, reaching up into the darkness of the ceiling, made of thick metal bars that were covered in mystic runes that I couldn't read. There was also a piece of paper on the other side (god knows how I saw it) that had the rune for 'seal' on it.

"Probably a spiral lock under that, yeesh this is just like Naruto." Wait. "I can remember! Some...things. Damn it"

I then proceeded to comb through the memory I'd just regained, memories of family, friends, negative-friends! I chuckled at my big brother's alternate term for enemies and then at my cousin's outburst at how stupid it was.


 
"You can't get negative friends! Just call them what nature intended-Assholes."


   
I quickly found myself laughing out-loud at how annoyed my cousin had actually become and, just like then, I was quickly on the floor splitting my sides as I watched my brother simply pinch his neck and immobilize him. Unfortunately we had to then drag him home, where we then had our asses kicked by our guardian, our Grandpa. My brother for knocking my cousin out, my cousin for swearing in front of me and me for then calling my Grandpa my cousin's equivalent of negative-friend.

We'd been in our Grumps' (that's what we called him) care for as long as we could remember, or at least I could. The others didn't really talk about it.

"Good times" I sighed. I'd absent-mindedly been sending out small waves of chakra while wrapped in my thoughts and now these waves 'brushed' lightly against, something and before I knew it I had hearing and, if not a bit blurry, sight back."Huh?"

After more 'brushing' more recent memories came back.

"Oh yeah, I got sealed didn't I. How the heck did I forget that?"

"Are you feeling alright Princess Celestia? Did you lose consciousness at any point?" A voice asked. It was clearly female, young, but still professional sounding.

"I'm fine, Nurse Kind Heart. Please see to the child." That voice, it belonged to that winged, unicorn mare. Looking through the eyes of this 'child' quickly gave me a perspective on just how tall this being was, she towered above every other pony present and there were a lot of ponies present, none of whom even came up past her neck.

"Celestia, huh? Well at least I know the know the name and position of the pony who dropped a dragon on me." I deadpanned, knowing full well that I shouldn't, considering that a lot of ponies were probably killed in the assault, but I did so anyway. "Who's going to find out I'm being sassy?" I asked no one in particular, before realizing, "Great the insanity is already kicking in, I'll just have to-"

I was cut off when a wave of cold suddenly passed over me. I remained still for a second, thinking about what had just happened, before whipping around to look behind me and for a second I thought I could see a pair of glowing, bright red eyes staring straight into my own greengage pair, then they were gone as if they were never there at all.

"Hmm." Looking back at the image of the bright white unicorn above us I realized, "I can't afford to sit back and do nothing. I may not be able to practise outside, but I can still do so from here. And there's no time like the present."

With that I stood up fully (most of me getting lost in the darkness in the process) and focused my chakra, using it to alter my shape and size. Soon enough I was a far smaller, orange coated, bipedal fox/human combination, in a black waistcoat with red flames on the sleeves, hem and high riding collar. The Japanese for Nine Tailed Fox written in red going down the back. I also wore a pair of black combat trousers and boots of the same make and colour. On my head, along with a head of messy red hair with blond tips, was a black baseball cap with metal plate on it that had the Japanese symbol for nine engraved into it. With my clawed hands wrapped in training tape, I punched my right fist into my left palm.

"Time to see if I still got it!"

I came from a family of fighters. My brother was a Fifth Dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do, my cousin had an advanced brown belt in kick boxing, last time we exchanged blows and Grumps was a street fighter who, in his prime, could wrestle a polar bear to the ground in five minutes without breaking a sweat, although it's pretty difficult to sweat in the ice caps.

After living with them all my life, I'd picked up a lot of stuff and while the others were taught in dojos by 'professionals', I was taught directly by Grumps and pretty soon developed my own style, which, while it was unorthodox, worked.

"I don't know how some gun-wieldin' dumbass managed to put a bullet in me. But nothin' like that will ever happen again." I promised myself, as I, with the Shadow Clone technique, I summoned my training dummies.



Over the course of ten years, I trained rigorously, while remaining completely out of range of my prison's 'radar'.

Princess Celestia had never told Sunset Shimmer about me or what happened all those years ago on her birthday, only being informed that both of her parents were in the royal guard and had died in the line of duty, which wasn't strictly untrue.

She, unknowingly, had called on my chakra several times throughout the course of her short life. During the entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, when using a spell which allowed her to read multiple books at once and she'd even once used the Shadow Clone Jutsu-that was my fault.


 
(Third Person POV) 

"Right" Kurama grinned as he punched his hand to palm as he always did. "Time to give 'that' technique another go!"

........

"Okay, Sunset" The young unicorn said confidently to herself. "Your gonna do it this time!" She was standing over half of a daisy and hay sandwich, looking down upon it with horn lit.

........

"But first, as usual, some Shadow Clones." Kurama said with one of the largest smiles he'd ever had, spread from ear-to-ear, on his face. He wouldn't have been in such a mood if he knew what was about to happen.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

........

"Repleca Atomica!"

*POOF*

"Argh my head"

"Yeah, you said it"

Sunset promptly stopped rubbing the back of her head. Had she just heard what she thought she'd just heard? Turning around, slowly, to the source of the voice and came face to flank with...herself?

There was only one appropriate course of action in such a situation. She screamed and in turn so did the clone.

........

From inside the seal, Kurama could only watch his living container and her clone as they screamed at each other whilst running around the room, knocking down just about everything that wasn't tied down, or a shelf.

He could only assume that the streams of magic and chakra had crossed and, being so similar in purpose, had swapped their respective targets and power levels. It would explain why he was currently sitting in a pile of  soggy daisy sandwiches.

He sighed. "This will be difficult to explain if Sunbutt finds out."


 

I chuckled at the memory. I only wish what happened later that night could have been so comedic.




(Kurama's POV)

It was exactly 9:00pm in Canterlot and Sunset was having another argument with her teacher-Princess Celestia. These heated discussions have been becoming increasingly more frequent lately, and I'd been paying more and more attention to them as they continued. I'd discovered that Sunset had been creating mountains-out-of-molehills over just about anything she could. I know ten can be a strange age for both foal and adoptive-parent, but this was weird. Who could start a massive argument over one piece of pasta being a square rather than a circle, like all the others.

But this was different, this was actually bad.

"So you're giving up on me! Is that it?" Sunset yelled at the solar princess. "I'm not living up to you're ridiculously high standards, so your gonna drop me?"

It had all begun with Celestia saying that she was starting trials for fillies and colts to join her School for Gifted Unicorns and had then said she was looking for another, possible, personal protege. Sunset had evidently missed the word 'another' in that sentence and the words 'to work with you' in the next one, as by that point she'd stopped listening.

"Of course in not giving up on you, I'm only say-" The princess tried to explain

"No, I get it, I'm not doing well enough and you're gonna drop me and get another student before I make you look bad." The filly cut off her mentor and then went off on a tangent. "Well don't expect me to create a big fuss."

"You already have" I muttered to myself, but choosing not to interfere. In Sunset Shimmer's younger years, when she couldn't read the emotions in pony's eyes, I'd swear that Celestia would shoot looks straight through my Jinchuuriki and into me, as if saying you'd better not be planning anything in there. It was an unnerving experience.

"Sunset please just-" Celestia tried again, but the filly simply ducked her head, tears in her eyes, and ran from her room. I didn't see Celestia give chase, but for a short time I could hear hoof steps behind us, at least until Sunset jumped into an air vent.

After crawling around for a short while, Sunset pushed open a grate that was covering an exit to the ventilation system, back in her room. I could only watch as she began throwing objects of importance into a bag. A photo of her parents, her favourite book (The Filly And The Flea), a bag of bits, her journal and few other things, all shoved hastily into her saddle bags. Placing them on her back and donning a black hooded cloak, she dashed of towards the library, gathering her magic all the way.

Curious, I lightly touched against her thoughts with my chakra and instantly withdrew it again as I felt an overwhelming wave of cold, rush through me from that connection.

"The hell?" I questioned myself as I looked up to the blackness that was the ceiling. Something wasn't right.

After reaching the library, Sunset made a bee-line for the restricted section. With the guards hunting high and low through the city and more public areas of the castle for her, the more private locations were left completely unguarded. She searched for about ten minutes for the book she, apparently, needed.

I could feel it all around me now, the cold, the pain, the hate-filled rage. And it was all too familiar a feeling. I couldn't let it consume me, not now, not ever. Retreating back into the darkness, sitting myself down, crossing my legs and putting my fists together with my palms up and thumbs on the outer side. Finally I wrapped my tails around myself and closed my eyes.

Negating all emotion and thought, my entire body went numb and I entered a deep meditative state.

"I hope you can hold out against this on your own Sunset" I said quietly. "I'll help you when I can, but I can't fight him yet, not without...your...help" 

As my consciousness was going dull I began to hear voices from the outside, one was quite clearly Princess Celestia crying out to Sunset, telling her to "Please stop!" But listen my container did not and the spell continued and ended with a bright, blinding flash

"Great Plains Transportation!"

My body went completely still and my mind grew silent. I became invisible. Where ever we would end up, it would be Kyuubi's playing field. But I would not give up, I failed to lock him away when we were sealed, I failed to notice him slowly take over Sunset's mind, but I would not fail to destroy him. Even if it destroyed me in the process, I would remove this demon from the face of existence. One-way-or-another.                      
> Hope For The Lost
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Kurama's POV)

Going into a deep meditative state is kind of like hibernating, which is just a really long nap. So I shouldn't have been too surprised when I found myself having dreams. No, dreams is the wrong phrase, more like flashing memories of a time long since past. Well long as far as I was concerned, in the grand scheme of things 16 to 32 years is just an eye blink and if I was to live as long as the Nine Tails from Naruto, it would prove to be as such in my mind too. But for now it felt like a long time ago.

Lots of my past had slowly returned over the course of my 10 years of imprisonment, that I spent conscious, but it was only in this deep sleep that some, rather, 'important' ones came back to me. The five days leading up to my death. I could see them, whizzing by at the speed of light, the good times and the times I wished I could have done more.

However it would seem I would have to think about these things later, as I could hear a voice calling out in the darkness.





(Third Person POV)

"Hello?" The girl called, as she walked through the dark-cellar-like room, her boots splashing through the thin layer of surface water as she went. "Is anybody here?"  She was wearing, along with the aforementioned black and magenta coloured boots, a short orange skirt with both a yellow and a magenta stripe. A black leather jacket over a shirt that was the same colour as her boot's secondary. She had light amber skin, bright crimson and brilliant yellow hair and a pair of cyan coloured eyes looked out, fearfully, at the dark world around her. 

This was Sunset Shimmer, sixteen years old and on the end of her rope. She'd spent her years at Canterlot High scheming and creating mistrust between its students, separating them out into nice, organized groups, that hated each other. She'd won the last three, biannual Fall Formal Princess awards through manipulation and cheating. All of this had left her without a friend in the world, just like in Equestria, but she'd only recently found out the reason for her loneliness in the previous world and now she was standing right in front of its cage.

Sunset gulped as she looked up at the massive, metal gate, with the paper seal keeping it shut, her eyes filled with tears of pain, sadness and terror.

"Please be asleep, please be asleep, please be Asleep" she repeated to herself with growing urgency as she inched closer and closer to the seal. She almost jumped clean out of her skin at what happened next.

"I WAS asleep, until you got here."

Sunset Shimmer went as white as a sheet of paper as she found herself staring up into pair of emerald green, slitted eyes. A bright orange fox's face came into view next, as the demon before her lazily moved himself into the dim light. He was huge. Far greater in size than he had been when he'd attacked Canterlot, even though he was crouching he would have towered over his previous self. Now more comparable to a moving orange mountain, with teeth, claws and a devilish grin spread across his massive face. Sunset was quite surprised as his body, aside from his face and tails, was pretty human looking. A wide chest and shoulders slimming down, slightly, to a waist that was clearly better for holding the Tailed Beast upright. He possessed thumbs and fingers, rather than an animal paw and toes that also looked like fingers-spread wide as he crouched down, with his elbows on his knees and knuckles on the ground. Nine long, powerful-looking tails lazily waved around in the air behind him, barely visible due to the poor light quality.

Sunset was terrified, despite already having met his so-called 'other half', this one was just a little bit worse as she could see (almost) his entire form, rather than just those teeth and horrible, red orbs. She couldn't say anything, she couldn't even blink let alone run.

"I'm a bit surprised at your appearance, you were a pony last time I checked." His words surprised Sunset Shimmer, enough so that they shocked her from her stupor and forced her to speak.

"Then where the hell have you been for the past six years?! Taking a nap?!" She blurted out, her collar rising. The beast merely cocked an eyebrow. "No, scratch that, where have you been for the past sixteen years?! As YOUR other half took control of my body every five minutes and made me do so many horrible things!"

Now it was Kurama's turn to be surprised, but it didn't last long.

"I'm sorry" He apologised, bowing his head and staring at his claws.

"Yeah damn straight you ar- Wait what?" Sunset was, once again, made speachless by what the Beast had said, but for a different reason this time. "What do you mean by 'Sorry'." She asked calming her temper, and relaxing a bit.

"I was so caught up in trying to make myself stronger, I didn't notice his presence in your psyche. It's my fault, if I'd seen him we wouldn't be wherever the hell we are and he wouldn't have such a grip on you!" He finished his rant by slamming his fist against the bars of his cage, shaking the entire room. But his bout of anger didn't last long and he went limp, toppling sideways and hitting the ground, sending a small tidal wave out in all directions. He laid there for a few moments, staring at nothing-in-particular before he felt something softly touch the end of his nose.

"It's not all your fault, I shouldn't have listened to that bastard and his honeyed words, telling me I could be all powerful and beloved by all if I just did as he said. Look where that got me. I'm in a foreign world, all alone and to top it all off I'm not even in control of my own body any more." Kurama was touched by his Jinchuuriki's words, but was suddenly put on full alert by that last statement.

"What do you mean your not in control? Did Kyuubi take full command of your body?"

At first Sunset was confused

"Who?"

"Kyuubi, that's his name, the dark one." Kurama said as he rolled his eyes slightly, they didn't have time to discuss things like that. "Did he take full control?"He asked as he pushed himself back into a crouch.

"Sort of" Sunset replied, keeping eye contact with Kurama as he rose up. "He did for a while, but recently he created another me, if that makes sense, from all of my negative emotions. He said he didn't need me any more and that he had to build up power." She said sinking down onto her knees as she spoke gathering tears in her eyes, "I can't believe what a horrible person I've been for him, all in the name of...of...I don't even know what I was working to achieve" She finally broke down into tears, loud sobs rocked her body as she cried into her hands.

Kurama, for a moment, didn't do anything. He sat and thought, his eyes shrouded in darkness.

"And what do you plan to do about it?" He asked

"Huh?" Sunset looked up from her palms for a second to stare at him.

"ARE YOU JUST GOING TO SIT THERE AND MOPE OR ARE YOU GOING TO GET UP AND DO SOMETHING?" He roared, righteous anger ablaze in his eyes.

Despite this out burst, Sunset simply went back to eyeing her palms.

"What can I do?" she asked "I'm just some worthless-"

"SHUT UP!!!" Kurama cut her off. "YOU ARE THE DAUGHTER OF A BRAVE GUARDS-MARE AND MY JINCHUURIKI, YOU STOOD STRONG THROUGH ALL THE LONELINESS YOU SUFFERED IN YOUR PAST AND CAME OUT STRONGER FOR IT! THERE IS NO ONE STRONGER THAN YOU SUNSET SHIMMER AND IF I WERE YOU, I WOULDN'T JUST SIT THERE AND WATCH AS THAT BASTARD CONTROLS MY LIFE!" After that rant Kurama had to sit back and take a moment to catch his breath. It was in that moment that Sunset moved.

Her face was shadowed by her hair and she looked pretty limp as she rose up, for a short time Kurama thought she'd just fall down again but she didn't. Soon enough she was standing tall, fists clenched, shoulders back and her head was held high. There wasn't a shred of evidence to the fact that she'd been crying less than a minute before. 

"Now, what do you plan to do?" Kurama asked again.

"I'm gonna get my body back" She said a knew determination glowing in her eyes. "And I'm gonna kick Sunfall's ass!" she followed up by punching the air.

Kurama briefly thought about asking who Sunfall was, but he could figure it out.

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but before we can kick out those two fakes, I need to teach you how to fight and I need to know the situation we're in. Kyuubi's plan, where we are, all that kind of stuff."

So Sunset began to explain how Kyuubi had told her to steal the element of magic from Princess Twilight Sparkle, saying that once the element was brought to this world its connection to the other five elements would be severed and its magic could be activated without them but it would be corrupted and its magic would become dark. She also told him that she'd misplaced the crown and now it was being used as the crown for the winner of the Fall Formal Princess competition and that Twilight, who'd followed her from Equestria, was competing against her to get it back, with aid of the human counterparts of the other element bearers, before the portal back to Equestria closed in three days time. She also explained how the elements worked when they were all together and which trait applied to each element and which bearer possessed that trait.

Kurama didn't interrupt her once, simply nodding occasionally to show his understanding. There was one thing he understood almost instantly, the elements weren't the key, the bearers themselves were. A plan began to form in his head as his mild clairvoyance showed him how things were most likely to play out, one of the perks to being a Tailed Beast was a very powerful mind with abilities beyond that of most other beings. He smiled as he realized what would happen, it wasn't certain but it was close enough.

"Well then, with that being said we can begin your training." His low voice echoing through the room.

"Training for what? You still haven't told me what we're training for." Sunset grumbled, she didn't have a relaxed personality and easily became frustrated.

"The day of the Fall Formal is the day we'll get the chance to free you, that's all I can say for now. We can't risk Kyuubi reading your mind and finding out how I plan to separate us from them" He said dismissively.

"Wait, he can do that?!" Sunset asked aghast.

"Indeed" 

"Great"

Kurama rolled his eyes at her response, This is going to be the longest three days of my life. He thought to himself, but put it aside knowing all too well they didn't have time for him to be complaining. So he decided to get straight to the point:

"I need you to open the seal." He said, an eerie seriousness in his voice

Sunset looked up at him, a look of distrust in her cyan eyes as they met his own emerald green ones.

"What?"

        



      
> Trust Between Outcasts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Kurama's POV)

I knew that Sunset wouldn't take what I'd just asked her to do too well, but she was doing better than I'd expected. We stared at each other for a long time, never once breaking eye contact. Her look was easy to pin, uncertain, afraid and angry. Her arms suddenly unfolded themselves and she jabbed a finger at me, pointing directly at my chest.

"Okay Fox, but under one condition" She grinned as she spoke, a new found confidence shining in her eyes.

"Name it" I said without hesitation, despite the fact that I couldn't count on my fingers and toes the amount of times that kind of attitude had almost ended me up at the bottom of a ravine or something similar.

"You've always known my name, but I've never had the pleasure of learning yours." She almost shouted, not afraid to take a rather self-confident tone. "If we're going to work together I have to be able to trust you. So, what is your name?!"

A tad over-the-top but okay I thought to myself with a smile.

"My name, IS KURAMA!"

"That's all I needed to know!" Sunset yelled as she made a, rather impressive, jump to where the sealing paper was on the gate. With a firm yank she pulled it from the gate, revealing the lock beneath. As soon as she caught sight of the lock, Sunset looked at me and shouted "What now?!"

I was about to shrug and reply 'I don't know' when:

"I'll handle that"





"Oh please, what exactly do you think you're going to do to stop me? I have magic and you have nothing!" A blood red demon, with glowing cyan eyes, glowered down at the pony princess turned human.

"She has us!" A certain cyan blue, rainbow haired girl exclaimed, coming to the lavender girl's side.

I took notice of this, as I'd been watching ever since I'd felt the massive boost in magic flowing through Sunset's body. Now her body was that of a mad she-demon with hair like fire, burned red skin with a yellow, black and red dress covering it and black boots that looked like they were a part of her body. A massive pair of evil looking wings topped off the whole ensemble.

"Looks like we're out of time Sunset" I growled as I felt both the demon and the group in front of her gathering power, the latter unknowingly.

"So what's the plan?" Sunset asked as she turned away from what she was testing, one final time, to face me.

"That group of girls, they are this world's counterparts for Equestria's element bearers, right?" I asked already knowing the answer, as I was now watching them undergo some form of transformation.

"Yeah..."

"They are about to unleash an attack that will attempt to remove the dark magic from you. When they do the energy from that spell will come in here, all you have to do is grab it."

"Really?" Sunset asked sceptically

"We'd better bloody hope so, or all this training will have been for nothing" She was now making me doubt my own plan and gut instinct.

Sunset was about to respond, when a blinding light filled the cellar glowing all the colours of the rainbow.

"That's it!" I yelled. "Grab it!"

Sunset made her second impressive leap of the past three days, grabbing firmly onto the powerful light before us.

"Let's Go, KURAMA!"

"RIGHT!"




(Third Person POV)

The light of the elements faded, leaving only a smoke cloud in its place. The new Elements of Harmony bearers stood, coughing to clear the dust and smoke from their throats. Rainbow Dash was the first to recover and spotted a figure standing in the clearing smoke, arms folded with its back to them, although it was no mystery as to who it was.

"Sunset Shimmer!" The cyan coloured girl yelled, pointing her out to the other girls, who quickly became confused as she was wearing a completely different attire to what she'd been wearing before she'd transformed. Now she wore a pair of black jeans over a pair of trainers of the same colour. She still had her leather jacket on but under it she wore a short cyan coloured dress. Around her head she wore a headband with (unbeknownst to them) the Japanese symbol for Nine and on her leg was a pouch full of who-knows-what. Her eyes were now a brilliant, emerald green and possessed slitted pupils.

"Did y'all come back fo' round two?" Applejack shouted, bringing out her lasso. Her deep southern accent almost made Kurama burst out laughing

+Shut up+ Sunset sent to her new partner, before turning her head slightly to look at the group.

"In a way, yes. But I'm not here to fight you." Sunset replied coolly 

"Then who are you here to fight?" Twilight Sparkle asked putting on her own defensive act.

Sunset was about to respond, when a chilling laugh cut her off. It echoed through the air, almost as if it was two people laughing, just ever so slightly out of sync.

"She's here to fight ME!" Sundown screeched, as she used a wave of chakra to blow away the smoke. She looked exactly like Sunset had before the demon transformation, except her all of her colours were now a shade or two darker and her irises were a haunting red colour with slitted pupils and black sclera. A mad grin was spread from ear to ear and was a stark contrast to Sunset's blank scowl.

"Yes. I. AM" She growled, clenching her fists. "And without that crown, it'll be easy."

"Oh no, I don't have the power of the crown" Sundown said in mock sadness, which quickly gave way to another grin as dark red chakra began to flow from her. "Oh well" Then the very air shook, as she let off a burst of power the red chakra consuming her form in a thin cloak.

"I don't get it!" Twilight exlaimed "We removed the dark magic from her!"

"That's not magic." Sunset said grimly, as crossing the index and middle fingers of each hand over each other, right laterally and left vertically. "Shadow Clone Justu!"

The six other girls almost jumped out of their skin as two more Sunsets appeared.

"Impressive" Sundown sneered. "But some measly shadow clones won't be enough to beat me." She leapt across the crater, created by the elements, and straight towards the group. One of the two clones moved to intercept, delivering a bone-breaking kick to the base of Sundown's jaw. The elements cringed at the resounding crunch, but Sundown only laughed unaffected by the attack.

"Is that it?!" She asked, punching the clone square in the face and causing it to 'poof' out of existence. "Pathetic"

"Don't worry" Sunset smiled as she appeared in front of Sundown, a magnificent, glowing, blue ball of highly rotating chakra in her right hand. She firmly took a hold of her enemy's shoulder with her left and said: "There's a lot more where that came from, have a nice Flight!"

"RASENGAN!!"

Sunset slammed the spiralling sphere right into Sundown's gut, the high speed rotation and energy quickly eating through the chakra cloak, through her shirt and into her abdomen. There it remained for a second or two, before its form was released and Sundown was sent spinning away in a flurry of rotating force.

The Jutsu's wielder was catapulted backwards by the shear force of the attack, but she found herself caught by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Once they were on the ground, Sunset gave them a look of confusion to which Rainbow responded:

"Don't give me a look like that, you're clearly not the bad guy here."

"And I wouldn't be a very good Element of Kindness if I just let someone fall and get hurt." The shy girl followed up her friend's statement, with a caring smile.

"But you could return the favour by kicking her butt." Rainbow Dash smirked confidently, to which all the others gave a nod of agreement. Sunset smiled at them until Kurama and her clone yelled:

+Look Out!+

"Look out!"

But their warning was unnecessary, as Sundown jumped from the wall she'd crashed through and into the air. She hovered there for a second before screaming: 

"YOU WANT TO GET SERIOUS?! FINE, LET'S GET SERIOUS!"

But Kurama was prepared, letting his chakra loose.

+NOW SUNSET!+

Sunset pushed Rainbow and Fluttershy away and her shadow clone stood guard in front of them all. Sure they were at a safe-ish distance, she ignited her body. She became covered in burning yellow chakra as it began to change her form: Her coat changed into a sleeved cloak, reaching down to her ankles. Her entire body became covered in black lines, forming spiral shapes on her back, shoulders, stomach and the backs of her hands. Three black whisker marks appeared on each of her cheeks and her hair began to flow in the air, waving like dancing flames. Her Link Mode with Kurama was fully active, but her transformation wasn't complete yet.

Kyuubi emerged from the spreading smoke, high in the air he eclipsed the light of the moon and stars with his mountain-sized form. He was formed completely from, convulsing, dark red and black chakra, with a pair of glowing white eyes, staring out from above a jagged white crack that was his mouth. It was a horrifying sight and it was getting closer and closer to the ground, preparing to crush the town with a body slam, with Sundown laughing maniacally from the top of his head.

"We're all gonna die!!" Pinkie Pie cried dramatically, pulling all of her friends (including Sunset's clone) close to her.

"Oh No You're Not!" A deep voice roared from the smoke and before anybody knew what was happening, a massive, burning yellow fist and arm burst from the smoke cloud, cannoning into Kyuubi's muzzle, with a crunch similar to that which had resounded around Canterlot all those years ago.

The rest of Kurama's body, formed of bright yellow a chakra with the same black line patterns as Sunset, came after his arm. He bent his arm as he travelled into the air, keeping Kyuubi's body still, allowing Sunset to jump out of his glowing form and punch Sundown in the face, knocking her off the demon beast's head. Before jumping off herself, she turned her head and looked at Kurama.

"Kick. His. Ass."

"Gladly"

Once Sunset was off Kyuubi's head, Kurama brought his arm back a bit further and then threw it forward again in an uppercut that tossed his foe even further into the air. After reaching about 5,000 feet, Kyuubi fell back to earth, in the massive valley behind the town, with a crash that could be felt multiple miles away. But it didn't end there as Kurama soon fell from the sky and came down with a greater impact than Kyuubi's landing.

Sunset looked at the dust cloud as it rose from over the mountains, in the direction of the valley.

"So much for 'Valley of Peace'" She mocked the name with a light chuckle before turning her attention to Sundown, who was on top of the roof of the School's western wing.

"I. Will. Kill. YOU!" Sundown screamed the cloak around her body was just like that of Kyuubi's.

"Then come and get me" Sunset smirked as she and her dark half leapt at each other, Rasengan in hand.

"RASENGAN!!"

"DIE!!"
> The Fox Fight-From Hell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Third Person POV)

Canterlot High was located in a small town by the name of Ponyville, west of the large city of Manehattan and east of the larger Metropolis of Canterlot City. It had a ocean coast line to the south and was boxed in by mountains to the north. Behind this northern ridge was 'The Valley of Peace', whose eastern skyline was dominated by the multi-mile tall, cone of rock known as Canterlot Mountain, after-which the school was named. Unfortunately, the beautiful, conical shape of the mountain had just been ruined, as two, one thousand ton, super foxes had just crashed into and decimated its south-western face.



 
(Kurama's POV)

I landed with enough force to create a massive crater in the side of this, very helpful, mountain and within this crater an imprint of Kyuubi was made, outlining his torso and head. But I knew that this wasn't going to be nearly enough to defeat him, this was only the beginning of the fight.

With a roar of effort, Kyuubi pushed me from his body forcing me to stumble back and leave my stomach exposed. Jumping at the opportunity-Kyuubi sent a double kick cannoning into my gut. With this blow came a surge of pain, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, both flowing past my ears as I flew through the air and from my lips as the impact with the ground a few seconds later winded me.

I stared at my foe as he too, struggled to pick himself up and out of the crater and indent we'd made. Pushing my feet off the ground and all my weight onto my hands, I pushed off backwards, flipping through the air a few times before crashing back down onto my feet. Then I went for him.

Kyuubi reciprocated my action, leaping straight for me, but as we neared each other I raised my fists in a defensive guard. This was my style, my way of fighting. Kyuubi lunged with a left claw swipe but I dodged to the right, getting so close to being hit my opponent thought he'd already won and lowered his defences for a second, that was what I was waiting for, my weakness. My right foot met the ground, just as I was about to fall over, catching my movement but allowing the momentum to continue through my torso and, now extended, right arm. Bringing this arm round, still carrying all of its momentum and force, I swung with an earth shattering right hook, right into the side of Kyuubi's undefended face, sending him stumbling down and to my left. Adjusting my stance to a wide, secure crouch I continued my assault with a firm left uppercut to his gut, not quite strong enough to launch him off the ground, and followed that up with a brutal barrage of hooks, jabs and lunging swings. After a particularly jarring left hook, I let my momentum to carry almost all the way around and finished my combo with a powerful side-kick to the sternum.

That last blow sent Kyuubi flying and then rolling up the mountain and back into his crater. On instinct, I leapt back while returning my arms into their guard and landed in a low crouch. But if there was ever a time to talk to your foe, it was while they were down. So I opened my  golden maw and spoke:

"What did YOU want with that element and how did you know exactly where to find it?" I yelled across the battle stricken landscape. The shockwaves created by our, respective, landings had blown down trees for miles around the mountain, and I myself had destroyed a small patch of greenery when I landed, after being kicked by Kyuubi."What could you possibly hope to gain by possessing it?"

"POWER KURAMA! THE REASON WHY EVERY LIVING THING DOES ANY AND EVERYTHING!" Kyuubi laughed as he climbed out of his pit."It's why Sunset was willing to help me, to gain it. It's why Celestia had us sealed away, in fear of it. And it's why I fight you now, to test mine and crush yours!"

With that Kyuubi reared up on his hind legs, brought all nine of his tails to his head, and began gathering little balls of blue and red energy. He gathered them slowly at first, but the ensuing ball of blackish-purple then began to increase in size very quickly, soon gaining the diameter of a football pitch. An absolutly enormous Tailed Beast Bomb loomed over the valley, blotting out the moon and stars directly over-head. Its detonation range probably extended all the way to the two cities in the distant west and uncomfortably close east and beyond them for an untold number of miles, on top of the cities' current distance from us. It would spread that far in ALL directions.

I had only one way of containing this without blowing it up, which would take every thing in a hundred mile area with it. Unfortunately, it would prove to be one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do, seeing as I'd only ever tried it once before-on a far smaller scale.



   
(21 hours prior)

"Come on Sunset, You need to concentrate!" I shouted from a few meters away. I'd taken a human form, which was similar to my Demi-Fox form, as I called it, except with a lack of fur, flat human face, whisker marks and all of my tails had disappeared. I donned a red and black, long jacket with only a spiral on the back. Black jeans and boots with a simple red t-shirt. On my head was a grey cap, with the words 'I Burn' written on the front, above the peak.

Sunset panted as she and one of her clones leant against each other for support.

"Why do we have to perfect the way we use this Rasengan thing?" One of them asked. "It's so damn powerful *pant* it doesn't really matter where we hit 'em, right?"

"There are Jutsu that can match the Rasengan and repel it. Also with such a small 'hit box' and if an enemy is fast, whether or not you can land a hit can depend solely on your ability to wield the Rasengan properly." I didn't like to rant-'n-rave at people or make them feel bad, but I knew that if Sunset wanted to use the Rasengan efficiently, she would have to train tirelessly to perfect its use. It was the only way.

I was broken from my thoughts when she cried:

"Oh yeah, just try and avoid this!" She was already charging, Rasengan in hand and I didn't have the time to dodge, so I acted on reflex. I reached out with my hand, sending out a stream of chakra in the process which got a hold on the orb. Just before contact was made, the Rasengan stopped. I'd created a field of my own chakra around it, cutting off Sunset's own (still developing) chakra, and granting me control. Reacting swiftly, I spun on the ball of my right foot, going around Sunset and heading straight for her clone. Placing the Rasengan right in the clone's stomach, I realised my hold on the Jutsu and letting all of the rotating energy free. The clone was destroyed in the storm of energy, as it travelled across the ground, parting the water below it along the way before finally dying out.

I turned around and looked at Sunset, just as shocked as she was, chuckling which then turned laughing and then falling to the floor, clutching my stomach as uncontrollable laughter escaped my body. She looked at me with a cocked eyebrow, before smiling and starting to giggle as well.

"You're so strange!" She said between fits of guffaws, almost keeling over from laughing so hard.



 
(Present)

I smiled at the memory.

"Right. Just have to do that again!" I grinned, looking up at the massive ball-of-pure-destruction. I'm Fucked

The ball swiftly shrunk to the size of one of our eyes and turned bright white, as Kyuubi sent it my way at the speed a shell is propelled from an artillery gun. However my unearthly reflexes and sharp eyesight gave me all the reaction time I needed, this duo coupled with my chakra and speed could pull off what I wanted to do.

I reached out with my right hand and sent off several chakra arms that surrounded the, now tiny, Tailed Beast Bomb. Encasing it in my chakra was the easy part, the real challenge came with stopping and then throwing it, high enough that it could detonate without taking out the town and distant city along with it. The Bomb hit my chakra wall and quickly transferred all of its momentum to me, which, knocked me back about five hundred meters before I could stop myself. Now I had to throw it, that was not going to be easy considering a Tailed Beast Bomb was a massive ball of condensed matter, which weighed more than the Beasts that used them. With a roar of effort, I swung my arm up in an under-arm throw, creating a tunnel of wind with my chakra to help it get high enough. Catching it had created deep and numerous trenches, as I'd used my tails as well as my feet to try and stop myself and keep me stable. Throwing it, created a crater and sink-hole so deep, I couldn't been seen standing in it.

I watched as the glowing orb soared, higher and higher it went, before eventually losing its speed and hovering in the air for a moment.

I HOPE this world doesn't have planes yet and if it does, none of 'em better be flying over-head right now. I thought as the tiny ball of energy hovered there.

Then it went off. There was no noise at first, just an immense ball of blinding light turning night to day. But the shock wave came shortly after accompanied by a cacophony of noise, that probably would have made my ears bleed if they weren't comprised completely out of chakra. The force of the blast flattened me against the floor of the crater, while also levelling the ground around it, replacing my sink hole with a crater about half a mile wide, that consumed several of the hills and smaller mountains that made up the valley walls.

To lessen the effect of the wall of force that was pressing down on me, I relinquished my full form and became a glowing, flaming, golden version of the human form I'd made for training with Sunset. It didn't make much difference, as it still felt like someone was ramming me with a train that was digging its own tunnel through a mountain.

The assault on the valley finally ended and I dislodged myself from the 'me' imprint inside an even larger one, and groaned both from the stress I'd put on my arm by throwing the Tailed Beast Bomb and by the amount of force I'd just had to withstand. I looked around, observing the destruction all around, before catching (or rather not) sight of something that made my heart drop to my stomach.

Kyuubi wasn't on the Canterlot Mountain any more. Was he blown off by the force of the explosion, or had he legged it before hand? Either way I had to find him. 

But just before I was about to set off, I collapsed to one knee and lost my chakra cloak. Letting out a brief grunt, I realized that the connection between me and Sunset was still new and that we couldn't hold Link Mode for any more than five minutes or so.

"Damn." I grunted, picking myself up slowly. "Time for Plan B." I crossed my fingers and created three shadow clones."You know what to do?" They nodded. "Right, come on." I motioned to one of them to follow me as the other two sat down in a meditative position.

We made it, quickly, to Canterlot Mountain and from its great height, we were able to see over a massive area. There was no sign of Kyuubi, except for a large, fox-shaped indent on the opposite side. I stared at it until my clone called out:

"There!" I looked to were he was pointing, were a man was leaping from mountain peak to mountain peak. He looked a lot like me, except his hair was pitch black, his eyes were blood red and instead of a long jacket he wore a pure black cape.

"Tch. Tacky" I chuckled, as I created a kunai with my chakra. It had three distinct points and the Japanese word for 'Flash' written on its handle. I spun it around my finger on its loop as I watched him go. "Be ready" I told my clone, not waiting for him to respond before throwing the kunai.



   
(Third Person POV)

Sunset was on her last legs. Her link mode had run out a short while ago and she was in a desperate struggle to keep their fight away from the students and the portal. The explosion of the Tailed Beast Bomb had surprised her and had held her attention for too long, giving Sundown the chance to get a good hit in. Now Sunset was jumping around the school, holding a deep cut in her side and trying to avoid being struck again. She landed, once again, in front of the portal but missed her footing causing her to stumble and fall. She forced herself onto one knee, but couldn't go any further than that. She watched as the powered down Sundown leapt from the top of the school's east wing, to the ground, spinning a normal kunai around on her finger and fiddling with the four shuriken in her other hand.

"No where left to go, whelp" The dark one sneered. She now stood above Sunset, adjusting her grip on the close-combat weapon so the pointed blade was facing the ground. "Are you ready to die?" The question sounded, almost, sincere.

"Go...to...hell bitch!" Was all the weakened Jinchuuriki could say as she knelt upon the ground, blood dripping from her wound and mouth.

"Feisty to the end I see. You should be honoured, to die with my respect!" The demon witch laughed maniacally, raising the kunai above her head, ready to bring the weapon down into the back of Sunset's neck.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Seconds later a blue sneaker-like boot dug deep into Sundown's side, sending her flying across the courtyard and into a car. With her wings and a good 'fly-up' Rainbow Dash could hit a lot harder than before.

Sunset Shimmer stayed on her knee for a second, staring at the athlete, before being hoisted into the air and being flown back to the school by Twilight. She was laid down next to the nurse's office and Fluttershy quickly began treating her wound with what they'd found in there. The others gathered around and showered her with words of concern, encouragement and praise. It was all a bit too much for Sunset to handle.

"Why are you being so kind to me?" She asked, causing all of the others to fall silent. "After all I did. After I tore your friendships apart and tried to take over this world and Equestria. Why?" She almost fell apart right then and there and probably would have if a hand didn't gently place itself on her shoulder.

"Listen sugarcube" The strong country accent of Applejack resounded in Sunset's ears, clearing out all of the stray negative thoughts that haunted her. "Sure y'all turned us all against each other, took over the school an' pretty much tried ta kill us."

It was at this point Rarity stepped in:

"But now we realise it was not you darling. It was that ghastly Nine Tails Twilight told us about." She clarified, shooting the farm girl a quick glare in the process.

Sunset looked at the pony princess turned human in question, with a cocked eyebrow.

"When I first became Princess Celestia's student" She began, sitting down next to Sunset Shimmer."I was told I would be working alongside another filly, who was a lot like me. Introverted, studious and without a single friend in the world." Sunset looked down at her feet at that, being the living prison for one of the greatest threats Equestria had ever seen tended to have that effect, no one wanted to be near you, let alone your friend.

"At first I was nervous, that you wouldn't like me or would try to have me shipped back to Magic Kindergarten." Twilight chuckled at how absurd the thought seemed now, before continuing."But when I heard that you'd ran away I was, admittedly, a little relieved but mostly...I felt sorry for you." The Jinchuuriki's head shot up at that, her eyes meeting the princess'. "I always had my parents and big brother, to help me when I needed it, but you didn't even have that. Now I wish more than ever that I could have been brave enough to start early, maybe saved us all of this pain."

It was Twilight's turn to look down at the ground and start tearing up, but before she could start crying she was brought into a tight hug. At first she was surprised but she felt her heart warm up as she heard Sunset speak:

"Just hearing you say that is enough to make me happier than ever" Sunset cried into her new friend's shoulder. Twilight struggled to choke back tears and returned the hug and soon everybody else joined in, if not slightly reluctantly in Rainbow's case. This meant that she had very little issue with interrupting it to say:

"Hey girls, not to break up this touching moment, but am I the only one to notice that she never followed us in here?" Sunset jolted, quickly getting to her feet and sprinting to the hole in the front of the school.

"Wait!" Fluttershy called after her. "What about your injury?!"

"Its already healed!" Sunset called back, turning the corner to the entrance.



               
(Kurama's POV)

I skidded backwards into the courtyard of Canterlot High, and leant against the portal statue, Being extra careful not to accidentally fall through. Before me stood both Kyuubi and Sundown, smirking at me. I couldn't help but grin back. They think that they're gonna' win. Hilarious. I thought to myself, letting my grin grow wider.

"Kurama!" I turned to see Sunset and the Elements running towards me. "Sorry I'm late coach."

"Argh, either call me sensei or don't bother" I groaned, rolling my eyes before training them back at our foes. "You gonna' stick around this time or am I gonna' have to take them on alone again?"

"Sorry for having a soul" She deadpanned, but allowed a small grin to form shortly after.

We both got into combat stances, hers like mine, fists up in defence and crouching slightly-a bit less than me.

"Bring it on assholes!" We cried in unison.
> Flight Of The Hawk: Pt 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Xeno-Terra, 20 years before the events of Trust Between Outcasts)
(Third Person POV)

Jonathan H. Lupercal was sitting out on the porch of his small, wooden cabin on the edge of a large forest. This area of woodland dominated a majority of the Tornado Isle, one of the seven islands that made up the the Storm Archipelago, an island cluster, off the coast of one the world's massive continents-Ark.

'Old Johnny', as he was called by most of the other islanders, was in his mid-seventies, with patches of grey infringing on the edges of his mop of hazelnut-brown hair. He was a big man, despite his age, widened shoulders and chest with a slimmed down waist and hardened stomach, his bulging muscles were clung-to by a thin black t-shirt with a grinning white skull on the front. He wore a pair of white trousers and black dress shoes that contrasted each other well, while a belt with a silver skull as the buckle looked a tad out of place. His bright grin was outlined by a greyed, scruffy moustache and beard combo. Darkened, sky-blue eyes squinted out at the world, trained on his youngest grandson specifically.

"What ya' doin' over there, O?" he laughed, as the boy punched that same tree for about the hundredth time. His attention span and patience were astounding, since he'd been sitting there for about fifteen minutes watching this display, before finally getting bored and decided to ask his offspring's offspring why he was trying to teach a tree the meaning of pain.

"I'm practising!" Oscar Lupercal, a twelve year old boy with nothing but a sense of determination, advanced combat knowledge and bloodied fist, was currently propped up against the tree he'd been beating in for the past quarter-of-an-hour, breathing heavily and looking at the blood-stained tape that covered his right hand. His dark blond hair, streaked with red, was hanging down over his emerald green eyes, concealing the small tears that were forming due to the pain. His light grey hoodie and and blue, denim jeans stuck to his body as sweat coated his skin. His old, red running shoes showed clear signs of their age, covered in scrapes and faded, it was amazing that they were still holding together. Hooked onto his plain, old belt was a green cap also heavily worn and had patches of faded colour, however the Lupercal family crest, a grey, snarling wolf's head, still grinned menacingly at any who dared mock its family name. 

"Practising what exactly?" Jonathan asked as he slowly stood up and made his way over to his tired pupil. "Being an enemy to nature?"

"A move, a punch that'll show my dumb brothers and that kid in the village *pant* that I can fight!" The old man smiled. The trio of boys in his care had always referred to themselves as 'brothers', despite one of them being a cousin to the other two. It was reassuring that the family spirit was still going strong, even after all the loss it had gone through.

"Got any plans as to what this 'punch' should do, or even be called?" Xeno Terra was no stranger to supernatural feats. It was once said that a man had split a mountain in two with a poke and there were many recorded moments of other such abilities and occurrences.The history of the Lupercal family alone held records of quite a few people capable of wingless flight, several who could breath fire and Old Johnny himself could lift a battleship above his head without breaking a sweat.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

So it was more than possible that 'something' could happen.

Right?



      
(Kurama's POV)

I leapt to the side to avoid having my head squashed between a wall and Kyuubi's fist and retaliated with a swift leg sweep to his feet, removing their connection to the ground, putting my opponent on his back.

"Armament Jutsu!" With those words said, I coated my forearm in a layer of chakra, so potent it caused the skin to turn the colour of pure lead, as it formed a firm shell around my raised fist. I brought my fist down in an attempt to crush my opponent's head into the ground, but he rolled out of the way at the last minute, so instead my fist hit the ground directly. A meter wide crater was created in the cobblestone floor, looking at it made Kyuubi falter slightly.

"What was that?!" He snarled, bearing fanged teeth in anger. I'd surprised him.

"Something to make the trees break" I grinned, letting the armament fade from my arm. "And your'e just another glorified plank of wood that's in my way!"

"Well this tree is fighting back!" With a roar he re-entered the second Nine Tails cloak state, creating a small shock wave in the process.

I was just able to dodge a furious tail swing, meant for my head. In my retreat I bumped into Sunset, who was breathing heavily and had a look of fear in her eyes, Sundown had also taken on the second Nine Tails State. We stood side-by-side about a meter in front of the school's, newly widened, front entrance. We'd been trying our hardest to protect the students of the school, by keeping the fight away from the school as all of the staff and pupils were still within the main hall.

"Looks like were at the end of our rope Kurama." Sunset said, already taking on a defeatist tone.

I had no time to really respond as our enemies both fired blasts of concentrated chakra at us and the school. I barely reacted in time:

"Wind Style: Tornado Wall!"

The wall of air tore into life, the rushing wind moved so fast it was visible. The chakra blasts hit the wall and were dispersed by my own, furiously whipping chakra. I was pretty worn out by this point, I'd used up most of my chakra and after taking a particularly strong punch to the abdomen I was finding it hard to breath.

"I still have something in reserve, but I need a second when Kyuubi isn't focusing on me to use it." In my mind I was desperately trying to come up with a good plan to give me time, but we lacked the numbers to pull anything off. Sunset seemed to read my mind on that, placing a hand on my shoulder and smiling.

"You're not on your own here Kurama, I'm here with you." Her smile was contagious, quickly spreading onto my face as well.

"We can help to!" A voice yelled from behind us. Turning around we saw Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Applejack running towards us, the former two still had their wings and they were all still influenced by the elements magic, despite the fact that it had been an hour since we'd been separated from our darker halves.

"No!" Sunset quickly shouted back, trying to stop the three. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I lost my friends after just making them."

"Are y'all sayin' we can't handle this?" Applejack asked, with a tone of mock-offence. "Ya don' have ta' worry Sugarcube, we can help."

"Applejack's right Sunset. And besides, even if we thought we couldn't deal with this, we'd help anyway." Twilight nodded, backing up her friend. "We want to help."

"But this is really dangerous! You could die!" Sunset yelled, causing her new friends to flinch, before growing quiet and afraid again. "Why would you put your lives on the line for someone like me?"

"Because that's what friends are for." The four girls looked at the source of that statement. I was still holding the Tornado wall in place, now with an almighty grin on my face. "And I have an idea" I let the jutsu go, leaving just enough chakra to keep it stable.

I walked over to the group, with a plan in mind, I began giving instructions:

"Twilight, Rainbow put one of your hands on Sunset's shoulders." They looked at me a bit sceptically at first, but still complied. After they'd done that, I looked to Sunset, "Hold out your hand, I'm going to release some of my chakra that's still in you." I'd left a majority of my chakra within the seal, knowing that if I removed too much at once, it could kill her.

"What good'll that do?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. In response I did just as I said I would and cloak of dark orange chakra formed around Sunset and the other two, like a shield.

"That has a continuous connection to the large collection of my chakra that's still in the seal, so it shouldn't run out." Shaking off a quick bout of dizziness I began to search around the 'Valley of Peace' with my chakra.

"Whoa..." Rainbow grinned, as she looked at her hands to observe the reddish energy that surrounded them. "I feel like I could take on every soccer team in the world right now."

"This energy...its so warm." Twilight muttered to herself, ogling at her body just as Rainbow was.

"Not to sound like... well, Rarity." Applejack began, looking for the best word to describe a whinny baby. "But don' Ah get a glowey, red cloak, thing?" Her question made me grin even wider. I walked over to her, unaffected by her slightly un-trusting look.

"Tell me farmer-"

"Applejack"

"Gesundheit. When you took this form, did the world all-of-a-sudden get louder? As if everything started talking?" After my quick apology and questions, Applejack gave me a strange look.

"How did y'all know?"

"It doesn't matter" I dismissed her question and held out my hand, palm up. "All that matters is that you can. Hold out your hand."

Complying with my request, Applejack placed her hand atop my own. I then let my chakra connect with the active magic within her and held up my other hand, index and middle fingers raised. Deep in the middle of the Valley Of Peace, two figures suddenly 'poofed' out of existence. A second later a massive power boost overcame my body and I knew Applejack felt it too.

Red shading formed around my eyes, with three small spikes at the top points. Applejack's eyes also became shaded, but it was coloured apple green, and it sprouted out all over her cheeks and nose with plant-like shoots and roots. Opening our eyes, we'd both developed toad-like pupils with orange irises.

"Whoa Nelly, what they hay is this?" Having the massive system of nature energy shown to you must be pretty eye-opening, but we didn't have time for Applejack to gawk at all the energy around her.

"Its Sage Mode we don't have time for you to get used to it." I said, allowing some urgency to filter into my voice. "Just use it to sense your enemy's intentions and attack when they leave themselves open." Applejack snapped to reality and nodded

"With that done." Sunset put in. "What's the plan?" It was clear that she was still unsure about bringing her new companions into battle with her. I went to her and put a hand on her head.

"Just remember what I taught you and-" Addressing all of them. "Cover each other's backs. I'll separate Kyuubi from Sundown and leave her to you guys." With that I walked over to the fading wall of wind and tossed one of my Kunai into the ground. "Now" I whispered

My third and final clone appeared next to me, using the Flying Raijin Jutsu. With him he brought the most, unbelievably, painful noise ever heard by the four girls. The noise was being emitted by a massive, spinning, shuriken shaped mass of chakra.

"Is that..." Sunset breathed

I didn't give her a chance to finish that sentence, as I took the Jutsu in my own grasp and with a roar of:

"WIND STYLE: RASEN SHURIKEN!" I threw it.
> Flight Of The Hawk: Pt 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



   
(Third Person POV)

The ball of furiously spinning wind style chakra burst through the Tornado Wall and flew straight for Kyuubi. He reacted quickly leaping to the side, the air blade just catching his  chakra encased cheek on the way past. It continued on past them, curving off to the right as it went. Upon landing, Kyuubi turned to where the Jutsu had come from, expecting to see Kurama and a clone facing him. Instead he saw three of the Element Bearers, Sunset Shimmer and one Kurama.

His heart dropped into his stomach when he heard a quiet, whizzing sound around where the Rasen Shuriken had flown off to. Turning back to face it, he caught a brief glimpse of Kurama, holding the Jutsu once again, before it was thrown back at him. It went straight for him this time, no slant in its angle to cause it to bank in one direction or another, it just flew at top speed straight for Kyuubi. Having no time or room to dodge this time, the dark incarnation of Kurama's hate could only raise his arms in defence. It hit him and the blade of wind quickly tore into his chakra cloak before detonating, the hundreds of thousands of tiny, needle-like wind blades shredding his dark red shield.

Sundown saw an opportunity open up, as Kurama slowly descended through the air with his attention firmly fixated upon where the Rasen Shuriken was still tearing apart matter on the sub-atomic level. She was about to jump for him and end his life with the kunai in her hand, but not before she was hit by about nine stone of farm girl, travelling faster than the human could see. A sharp *Crack* resounded around the area as sage chakra counteracted dark chakra and allowed Applejack's kick to hit Sundown at full force. The demon girl was thrown across the courtyard, all the way into the park opposite the school. But before she could hit the ground once, a blue, rainbow and dark orange coloured blur flew between her and the ground and gave her a powerful double kick to the back, sending her high into the sky.

"Damn, no one could be that fast" Sundown groaned as she slowed and reached peak altitude. But there was no time for her to catch her breath, as a purple flash lit up the sky behind her.

"You'd better hope nothing happened in Equestria while all this has been going on." Twilight threatened, not even bothering to hide her thoughts and emotions now. "Because, if something has happened and I wasn't there to help, I'll make Sunset and the good Nine Tails seem like the least of your problems." With that said Twilight unleashed a blinding burst of awakened Alicorn magic and Tailed Beast chakra, forming and unstoppable ray. Sundown felt her back burning, even under her defensive cloak, but her troubles weren't over yet. Sunset and Kurama's shadow clone were on an intercept course, holding between them a bright orange Rasengan that possessed a diameter that equalled the distance between Bulk Biceps' shoulders.

"Oodama Rasengan!" They cried in unison, slamming it into Sundown's undefended stomach



  

"Argh" Kyuubi groaned, staggering out of the classroom he'd been knocked into by the Rasen Shuriken. His dark Nine Tails cloak had been ripped away in some places by the bladed wind as it had assaulted his body and there were even some places where he was bleeding from, mainly his forearms and hands since this was where the Shuriken blade had first hit. He winced at a sudden pain in his shoulder when he tried to move it. Looking at the area in question, he could see one of Kurama's special, three pronged kunai sticking into his flesh.

That's how he did it He grimaced while pulling the weapon from his shoulder and tossing it to the floor. He had his clone form this Rasen Shuriken with one of his Flying Raijin kunai within it, allowing him to easily teleport to it at will

Kurama stood on the other side of the courtyard, the shadow clone who'd formed the Rasen Shuriken standing at his side.

"Remember" the clone began. "We can only form two Rasen Shuriken before our Sage Chakra runs out and since you gave the rest that our other clone gathered to the farm girl, two is all we'll be able to do. I suppose it's a good thing that I formed that one, cause' I doubt Kyuubi will let us out of his sight now."

"Go help Sunset" Kurama ordered the clone. "She'll need your help and insight more than me."

"Got it." With that he ran off to help the Jinchuuriki.

Without any further words for each other, Kurama and Kyuubi charged. They clashed in a furious exchange of punches, hooks and kicks as they leapt around the courtyard like bullets, Kurama using a form of Kumite to hit Kyuubi even when he dodged. In Sage Mode, Kurama's need for Jutsu formulas as markers was lessened, now he was capable of teleporting short distances without them. This advantage did not go unused by the lighter fighter, but his kunai were still his game-changers.

Once the combat broke up for a second, he used that time to create two kunai using his chakra. He then threw them, in a way that they would fly either side of Kyuubi's head. The shadow fox-man caught them easily, a wide grin spreading across his face when he thought he'd disrupted Kurama's attempt to create an extra advantage. So one could imagine how surprised he was when his opponent created two shadow clones, one at each kunai, who each grabbed one of Kyuubi's wrists and tossed him backwards. A quick sound of rushing wind told him that Kurama had just teleported behind him, which was confirmed when he received a sharp kick to the back that threw him back at the clones. The two unleashed bone shaking uppercuts in unison, launching Kyuubi head-first into the air. A final flash put Kurama above Kyuubi and he delivered a side-kick that sent the shadowy being crashing and sliding onto the roof of the school's west wing, sending tiles shooting all over the place.

Kurama didn't give him any respite. Teleporting onto the roof a short distance away, he threw a kunai into the ground and one of his sage clones teleported to it. With that the two began to create another Rasen Shuriken, Kurama forming the Rasengan and his clone adding wind nature chakra.

Sunset, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack and Kurama's non-sage clone landed in the courtyard near the statue and watched him forming the power-house Jutsu.

"When did he have time to come up with that?" Sunset breathed, wondering why he hadn't taught her how to do that.

"What did you think we were doing for the ten years we were in Equestria?" The clone asked her, dropping Sundown's limp body on the ground. Sunset shrugged in response, causing the clone to roll his eyes. "Creating all of the Jutsu he taught you. We created a total of seven, major techniques."

Kurama had finished preparations and threw the spinning blade of wind at Kyuubi as he charged.

"The Rasengan, the Rasen Shuriken, Sage Mode, Oodama Rasengan and the Flying Raijin techniques are all ones you've seen before"

The Rasen Shuriken tore into Kyuubi's right shoulder, quickly cutting through the skin, muscle and bone. However it didn't release, so instead it kept going and severed the Shadow Fox's arm completely. But he kept on going and punched Kurama, straight in the face with his one remaining arm, tossing him back across the roof and almost sending him tumbling off the edge. But just as the tiled roof was about to completely disappear from below his feet he was caught and pushed back by his other sage clone who'd stayed on the ground, awaiting his time, while the other joined them. The three ragged lookalikes shared a glance and a nod with one another, before the two clones gathered around Kurama's outstretched hand as all three began to gather and manipulate chakra. First a Rasengan formed, the wind chakra was added by one of the clones, not enough to make a Rasen Shuriken, but enough for what they wanted to do. Finally the second clone began infusing Fire nature chakra, turning the baby-blue coloured orb to a bright, fiery orange ball of intense heat.

"Gaia Style: Rasen Orb!" Dissipating both clones and losing his Sage Mode, Kurama threw the miniature sun, straight at the still charging Kyuubi.

The five onlookers down below watched in awe as the orb flew through the air and collided with the Shadow Fox's chest, creating an explosion that consumed the top of the building in an intense flame, that sucked in the surronding air, at an alarming pace, to fuel the roaring inferno.

"The Gaia Style: Rasen Orb. A perfect combination of Wind and Fire style chakra natures, infused into the Rasengan." Kurama's clone nodded, as he explained the Jutsu.

"Ta be perfectly honest, uh...sir." Applejack began, unsure of what to call the clone. "We have no idea wha' the hay y'all are on 'bout."

"I'll try my best to explain it to you later." Sunset reassured her, before turning her attention back to the roof as footsteps echoed from within the smoke cloud that had formed after the explosion.

Kurama had noticed as well. He'd already created another shadow clone and was using some of the chakra that composed his physical form to create one more Rasengan.

"And here comes the last Jutsu." Sunset turned to Kurama's longest lasting clone to inquire further, but he 'poofed' before she could do so.

Kurama was far smaller now, looking no older than twelve years old. He now donned a light grey hoodie, pale blue jeans and faded red trainers. A baseball cap, the same emerald green as his bright, young eyes, sat upon his head with a grey, grinning wolf's head glaring at his opponent. He clenched his fist and released his last shadow clone and thought of all he fought for as he channelled what little chakra he had left to spare into his right forearm.

For my home. For my friends. For my family. And...for Her. "Armament Jutsu!"

His right arm became encased in a layer of chakra, so thick and strong, it turned his skin black and it began to steam in the cold night air.

Kyuubi was struggling to reactivate his Nine Tails cloak, but with little result. However he knew where Kurama was aiming and put all of his focus into shielding that point. He also dug his feet into the ground, preparing for impact.

Rasengan in his left hand and with his right fist growing hotter and hotter all the time, Kurama charged.

"Lupercal Style:"

He reached Kyuubi and slammed the Rasengan into the thin layer of cloak-chakra, breaking through it almost instantly and throwing Kyuubi back across the roof.





"So that's why your doing this. So you can beat up anyone and everyone?"

"No!"





"Rasen!"

He let out an ear-ringing yell, as he used all of the strength in his legs to push himself after the flying Kyuubi. His forearm now glowing bright red as the extreme heat caused the chakra and air around it to combust.





"Then what?! If not to destroy then why would you need such a move?!"

"TO PROTECT EVERYONE!!!"





He was upon Kyuubi now and with that last memory of his talk with his Grandpa, his fist caught alight, and just like then memories of everyone he knew and loved flashed across his mind.

"RED!"





"Good. 'Cause there should be no other reason to truly fight someone."





"HAWK COMBO!"

Kurama's fist met exposed skin and a wave of fire exploded out from that point, before a long stream of flame burst out from Kyuubi's back. After the flames faded, Kyuubi was catapulted back. As he flew his entire body began to disintegrated, starting with his limbs and the new hole in his chest. Kurama collapsed to the tiles and watched him go.

"Well fought...Oscar." Those were the last words Kurama ever heard Kyuubi say and the last few words he would hear for a while, as his own cheek met the cold, slate tiles and he released his own physical form-with a: 

*Poof*
> Tell Me Something...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Xeno-Terra, 25 years before the events of Trust Between Outcasts.)
(Third Person POV)

A seven year old Oscar Lupercal sat before his Grandfather, in between his older brothers. They were all rubbing their heads after a particularly shameful attempt at 'wooing' someone, that person being the local bar maid and Jonathan had wasted no time in giving them each a firm clip to the back of the head. She was nineteen years old putting her five years above the eldest of the adoptive siblings, but they'd tried anyway under his leadership, even the love-blind Oscar.

"What the hell is wrong with you three?!" The old man roared at the boys sitting before him, he knew that she was pretty and he shouldn't have been surprised when his eldest grandson had tried to flirt with her as he was only just beginning to notice his attraction to hot girls - so he didn't quite get that she was too old for him, but why the other two? he thought to himself.

Alexander Lupercal, the oldest of the brothers, was seven years older than Oscar and five years older than his cousin-Dan. He wore black denim jeans and a dark blue t-shirt with the Lupercal family crest on the back. His hair short, spikey was a dark blond with the occasional streak of brown, and his eyes shared the greengage colour of his little brother's. He was too proud for his own good at this point in his life and got himself, and his kin, into far too many scrapes and tousles with the local bullies. He didn't look for fights, in-fact he often possessed the right intentions, but over estimated what he and his brothers could do. This often lead to fights, that their Grandpa had to step into so they didn't end up killing someone. This was Alex's flaw-overconfidence.

Danziel Lupercal, aka Dan, was the middle brother. He was actually the cousin of the other two, but he was treated like and often referred to as their brother. Unlike the other two, who were quite thinly built, he was built like a tank. Naturally wide shoulders and arms and with more meat on his bones than both of his siblings combined, anyone who didn't know him would question how he was a kick-boxer. He wore simple blue jean-shorts and black t-shirt under a red, hooded jacket which also had the family crest on its back. His eyes were a deep, cerulean blue and he had short, sharp, black hair almost cut to his scalp. He was always the first one to punch if one of his elder brother's 'little talks' went south. Quiet but plain spoken, his flaw was he resorted to violence too easily without once speaking his opinion on the subject.

Then there was little Oscar Lupercal, an aggressive little bugger with a fighting style like none that existed as a formal martial art. In his usual attire of blue jeans and grey hoodie, the latter being too big for him at this point, he stared up at his furious Grandfather from beneath the rim of a green family cap, which was adjusted to several sizes too big for him. His flaw was as it would be in the distant future - lowering his guard too early in a fight.

"I would expect something like this from you Al, but why you two!? You're nine, you're seven!" Jonathan continued, pointing at Dan then to Oscar in turn.

"Because it's love Grumps, love I tell ya!" Alex shouted back, causing his Grandpa to face-palm.

"Al, she's out of your league." This simple statement caused Alex to deflate like an old balloon, he stared at the ground for a minute before meeting his Grandparent's gaze.

"You think so?" He asked emptily.

"Yes." That was easier than expected the old fighter mused to himself, before deciding he had to set these wild boys straight now as far romance went. "Tell me boys, would any of you be willing to die for that girl? And answer honestly."

The three looked between each other, then at the floor, their faces furrowed in thought. Eventually the brothers rose their heads, and said as one:

"No"

"Nah"

"Nope"

"One day" Jonathan began sitting down in front of the youngest members of his family."You'll find someone. Someone who you'd throw your life down for. Someone who you'd protect without having to think about it. Someone who you will truly love." The serious tone in his voice pulled in the full attention of the rowdy youngsters. "But it will not be a case of-'I love this person because they're pretty, I'll ask them to marry me'- You'll love this person for who they are on the inside, no matter what they may look like or do on the out."

*Bang*




(Kurama's POV)

I was jolted from my memories by the sound of what I could only identify as a gunshot, the same sound that had ended everyone of my dreams for the past sixteen years. I yawned and stretched, feeling every inch of my body, from the tips of my clawed fingers to the ends of all nine of my tails, click and crack as the movement released all of the stiffness that had built up while I was asleep. Opening my eyes, I was surprised by my surroundings, as I was no longer in a massive cage that looked like a warehouse basement, but in a cave with a grass covered floor and high, but visible ceiling. Wondering to the mouth of the cave my eyes were met with blinding light, as bright as the sun. It illuminated a lake of sky blue water surrounding the cave I'd woken up in. It was serene, peaceful.

"Curious" I muttered, my deep voice echoing around the wall-less space. I reached out cautiously with my chakra, unsure of what to expect. Have we won? Has been Kyuubi defeated for good this time? Or am I dead for good this time and this is just what the afterlife looks like? These sorts of questions revolved around in my head until I reached the consciousness that was in control of the body I was in.

"You really have to stop going wild at these parties, you may not be drinking yet but no one would be able to believe that if they saw you now." It was Sunset Shimmer, I could feel it in her presence- calm, friendly and thoughtful. I let out a deep sigh of relief.

"We did it. We won." I felt as if a massive weight was just removed from my shoulders. He was gone, completely. Letting my chakra search through the entirety of Sunset's psyche, looking for any sign of him or Sundown, there were none. The evil we'd worked so hard to destroy was finally gone."Good riddance" I let the spite role off my tongue like poison. It was then that I realised that he wasn't gone, only moved from Sunset back to me. However he wasn't a being of his own any more, instead with his destruction all of my negative emotions had returned to me.

"Well, it's good to see you're awake" I directed my attention to the source of the voice and the closest thing I could get to a smile formed on my face. Sunset Shimmer stood before me on a patch of grass that had formed below her feet when she arrived, with her arms folded and a triumphant grin spread across her cheeks. "That's a week longer than it took for me to recover. That must be pretty irritating for an all-powerful, super fox huh? You missed ALL of autumn break ya' know."

"I probably would be irritated" I said, looking up to the ceiling for a moment in mock-thought, before flattening my look to a deadpan. "If I cared. I'm an ultra-powerful demon fox spirit trapped within the body of a whiny teenage girl. I doubt I'll ever really get a break again." I found my grin again as Sunset replaced hers with a pout at my lazy nature and then with a 'Hey!' at my insult.

"So I can see you found somewhere to live during my absence" I commented, causing my Jinchuuriki to start and look towards the ground, a forlorn smile decorating her lips.

"Yeah, when I first arrived here I had no idea what to do or where to go. I was cold, hungry and tired, so when Kyuubi suggested stealing...well I barely thought twice about it." While she spoke I laid myself down on the grass next to her and allowed her to climb atop my muzzle and sit back against my nose bridge. "I found a house with an open window and a table next to it. There was food on that table so I went for it, I was so close to grabbing it when someone shouted at me." she winced slightly at the memory.

"At first they were angry, but once I told them I had no home or parents...well...long-story-short they let me stay with them and their niece, who is more like a sister to me now." I smiled at that, memories of my own family flooding into my mind. "This was one of the few places where Kyuubi didn't have much influence on me and these were some of the few people I really cared about." I watched her own smile grow as she recounted some fond memories with these people and couldn't help but feel a little bit sad knowing I probably wouldn't see my own family again.

"Take it from me kid, not much can beat having a loving family..." I paused for a bit before finishing my thought. "And not much is worse than the feeling of being without them" I averted my sight from her as I desperately tried to repress that very feeling, trying to ignore it as it filled my chest. She shot me a concerned look and was about to pry further when:

"Suuuunseeeeeet." A voice called from nearby. It sounded drunk or out of energy or both.

"What is it Vinyl?" Sunset called back with her true voice, disappearing from her mindscape  in the process. I chuckled, knowing more than well the cries of someone with a headache, whether it was hangover induced or not. I welcomed this distraction from the painful well of loneliness that was slowly taking up all the space in my chest.  

+She probably wants water+ I sent, making sure my deadpan tone shone through.

"Can you get me some...some...what's that clear stuff that comes from the tap again?"

+Yeesh I thought I knew out-of-it.+

"Water, Vinyl?" Sunset giggled at her friend's drunk-like behaviour.

"Yeah...that."

"I'll get you some now, gimme' a sec." Sunset took a breath to break her laughter and grabbed a cup from a kitchen cupboard.

+You have a lot to tell me, who is this person who is letting you live here?+ I questioned through our mental link.

"One: you've got a lot to tell me too." She listed with an authoritative tone, filling up the cup with tap water. "And two: Vice-Principal Luna, that's who."

After that, it was a matter of us telling each other about things. Sunset told me about what had happened over the past six years since she left Equestria at the tender age of ten, how she'd won all three of the biannual Fall Formal Princess awards since arriving here and the forth had been on the day we'd fought Kyuubi and Sundown. While I told her of my past, of how I'd died in another world and had been reborn here.

"Do you miss them?" Sunset asked after I'd finished telling her about what I wanted her to hear. I couldn't tell her how I'd died because even I wasn't sure how that'd happened exactly, so instead I'd diverted the conversation to talking about my relatives - those I knew of at least.

"Of course, but I know that they'd not want me wallowing in self-pity over what I can't change. I remember Grumps telling me once:"

"Every atom of your being was forged in a star! Stop being a Pussy!"

"That's a really...weird thing to say." Sunset said, unsure of how to respond properly.

"Back when he said that particular phrase I was too young to truly understand what he meant, I was always confused as to why he was calling me and my brothers cats..." I looked to the ceiling briefly and contemplated my Grandfather's lack of tact and sensitivity. "Now I understand that he was calling us something very different and that he was a piss-poor parent."

"I'm sure his intentions were-"  

We were broken from our conversation by a voice calling from the door to the house:

"Sunset, Vinyl. I'm back." Came the voice of Vice Principal Luna from below. I'd heard it a few times before through Sundown's encounters with her, but I'd only heard the voice and hadn't really taken notice of what it was saying.

"Do you mind if I tell her about this, she's wants to know but I didn't want to say without your permission." Sunset asked, sounding a little nervous.

"It's your choice, you're the Jinchuuriki" I'd already sort of lost interest and with my laziness kicking in, I started to manoeuvre back to the cave-home she'd made for me.

"I'm a what?"

"A person who has a Tailed Beast sealed within them" I answered her question before adding:"You might as well tell your adoptive sister too. Save some time."

"Your not going to help?" she asked indignantly. 

"Nah, I need to get some more rest, that fight took a lot of chakra." I replied dismissively

"Most of your chakra was in here!" she yelled back. "You look fine!"

I turned my head back to her, a massive toothy, grin spread from ear to ear. Putting a clawed finger to my lips and winking.

"Shhhh" I whispered, entering the cave's welcoming darkness.         

                                
> Enter: The Eight Tails
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Kurama's POV)

I watched quietly as Sunset Shimmer ducked and weaved her way through the corridors of Canterlot High, desperately trying to avoid the glares and hateful looks of her classmates, as she headed towards the school's front doors. It was the end of the third school day after the Fall Formal 'incident' and as far as the rest of the school new, it had been all her doing. Only a select few people knew of my existence: the principals, the five of the human elements and Vinyl Scratch.

"Speak of the devil"  I chuckled to myself from within my cave. As Sunset exited the school building, after almost having a door slammed in her face by a particularly rude student, I spotted the shades-wearing, teenage DJ standing in the school courtyard, waving over-enthusiastically at her adoptive sister.

"HEEEEEEY, SUNSET!" she yelled, waving so hard her arm almost came off. "I'M OVER HERE! CAN YOU SEE ME?!" I couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, falling onto my back and kicking the air. I'd always found it funny how one of the most reserved people in the school had two of the most energetic people in the world as friends.

"Shut up Kurama." she muttered to me under her breath, having not quite mastered passive telepathy, so she had to say everything to me, either, out loud or come visit me in the seal-which involved her passing out in reality. So she could look a little mad some times as she was regularly telling her belt buckle to shut up. Upon reaching her sister, Sunset was immediately caught in a bear hug that pushed all of the air from her body.

"Did ya' see me?"

"Yes Vin...yl" Sunset was able to wheeze and as the pressure didn't release: "Could...you...let...go? Can't...Breath." she was on the edge of fainting from oxygen starvation, when Vinyl let her go. Despite her boundary and social ignorance, Sunset loved Vinyl and I knew that the DJ acted that way because she reciprocated those feeling, but just had a different way of expressing them.

"It's good to see ya survived another day at Canterlot High sis." Vinyl smiled, giving Sunset a firm slap on the back and began to escort her towards the mobile music station that was her car.

"You know you don't have to pick me up everyday, right Vinyl?" Sunset began, rubbing her sore back. "I've been walking home ever since I started coming here."

"I know, but I realized that you need me now." Vinyl said bluntly, staring straight ahead.

"Huh?"

The two stepped into the car and sat in silence for a while, as Vinyl stated the car up and drove away from the school. I was intrigued, I had no idea that Vinyl could think with sentiment, or any emotion other than blind happiness.

"I know you've been having a bad time of it recently and the fact I yelled at you a last week only made it worse." Sunset turned her head to look down at her feet at that point. That had been the same day Kyuubi had replaced Sunset with Sundown. She told me that she'd had a massive argument with Vinyl, who said she was nothing but a grumpy stick-in-the-mud and Sunset, in return, had said that Vinyl was nothing but a stupid DJ whose brain had been rotted away by years of listening to loud music. Kyuubi had used that anger to create Sundown and lock Sunset away within the seal. It still stung her to think about it.

"I know I can never really atone for abandoning you." Vinyl quickly rubbed away a tear as it began to roll out from under her shades. Sunset reached across and put a hand on her sister's shoulder and smiled. Vinyl couldn't turn to smile back since she was driving, but she made sure her smile was wide enough to be seen from the side of her face. "But I'm gonna' try." her smile broke into a full grin, as she violently turned a corner and whooped as another driver honked their horn at her. Sunset let out a small scream as she was pressed against the car door, her finger nails dragging across its surface in an attempt to find purchase. She then had to take a minute to calm her breathing and slow her heart rate down. 

"First, Vinyl, you should know that I've already forgiven you." Sunset said her tone friendly and sincere, before going dangerously calm: "And second, STOP DIVING LIKE A BLOODY MANIAC!!"

I chuckled as Sunset vented at Vinyl for being, possibly, the worst driver in the world and was about to go back to sleep, when I felt a massive amount of power discharged from somewhere, in the direction of the coast.

I reacted quickly, slamming my palms together and focusing chakra. I appeared in the real world in puff of smoke, that scared Sunset and Vinyl out of their skin. Luckily the DJ was, actually, a pretty good driver and she was able to pull over and stop before we crashed into anything.

"Kurama what the h-" Sunset began, clearing away the smoke to look at me, but found nothing.

"Down here." Sunset looked down and spotted me-in a miniature version of my full form. She stared at me for a second, jaw slack and eyes wide.

"What. The. Hell." was all she could force out.

"What?"

"What the hell is...this." she strained to hold in the urge to shout, gesturing to my form. 

"Chibi mode." I said flatly. "Hey Vinyl."

"Yo." she grinned with a wave. Sunset shook off her surprise and face-palmed.

"Do you need something?" she huffed, forcing away the need to ask about how or why I'd created this form. "Or did you just come here to show off how small you can be?"

"Oh yeah that's all, s'not like I felt a massive and potentially dangerous energy surge of the coast, or anything like that." I had to admit, it'd been awhile since I'd gone off on a sarcastic tangent like that. "But ya' know what does it matter in comparison to my ability to take on chibi mode."

Sunset was about to respond, but couldn't find anything to say, so she simply sat back huffily in her seat and Vinyl sniggered.

"Something funny?" the passenger asked grumpily.

"He looks so adorable, with his little arms folded and that cute little pouty face." she attempted to scratch me behind the ears, but I swatted her off with my tails.

"Hey! Fate of your home in the balance here!" I shouted, trying to swipe at her with my stubby arms, to no avail.

"I'm guessing you two need a ride?"

"Please" Sunset said curtly.

"Okay, under one condition." Vinyl grinned evilly, making me dread what horrific thoughts were cycling through her psychotic head. 

Oh no, I know that look. What does she want? Will she ask me to wear one of those pet dresses? Or make me do cute poses for photos?Or...or make me watch the shopping channel?! I was so nervous I was sweating, tapping on the seat with one claw and a twitch had developed in my right eye. My anxiousness only grew worse as Vinyl took in a deep breath. Not the shopping channel. Not the shopping channel. Not the shopping channel.

"I get to go with you, where ever you go."

"Yes"

"We haven't even told yo- Wait, what?!" after her double-take, Sunset looked at me as if I'd just sprouted an extra head.

"There's a small island of the coast of town right?" I asked quickly

"Well yeah but-"

"That's where it is and Vinyl can come with! See ya!" I 'poofed' as soon as I'd finished, not waiting for Vinyl to think of something, that I considered, to be far worse that what she'd asked for. Sunset sighed, rubbing her temples and sitting back in her seat.

"So I can come?" Vinyl was not a good winner.

"*sigh* Yeah, why not?"

"YEAH! ROAD TRIP!"



 

Before long the three of us were standing on the deserted beach, the two girls side-by-side, me on Sunset's shoulder. We were looking out towards the island in the distance, a thin fog surrounding it.

"Can you still feel it?" Sunset asked, turning her head slightly to look at me.

"Clear as day." I whispered, the sheer amount of power astounding me so much it made me lose my voice.

"How're we gonna' get over there?" Vinyl asked, looking around us. "I don't see a boat."

I leapt off Sunset's shoulder, putting my palms together again and channelling more chakra. With another puff of smoke I was in human form again and without hesitating I created a shadow clone and we picked up Sunset and Vinyl respectively.

"Woah, what's going on?" the DJ asked, blushing slightly at the gesture.

"Last time I checked, neither of you can run on water." 

The trip over was fairly uneventful, except for Vinyl whooping and cheering all the way over, as if she was at a rave. There were a few times where my shadow clone lost focus and almost fell into the sea, as every now-and-then Vinyl would let out a cry of excitement and nearly punch him in the face with her flailing arms. But he survived the journey and before long we arrived at the island, my shadow clone disappeared and I returned to chibi mode.

"So now what?" Vinyl asked, getting up from the floor as my clone hadn't put her down before 'poofing' himself. I jumped up onto Sunset's shoulder again and pointed towards the other side of the island.

"I can sense the surge as being strongest in that direction." There was a thick but small forest in the centre of the island, reminding me of the deserted islands that I heard about when I was young, tales of sailors becoming stranded on beaches bordered by dense forests and going missing once entering the foliage. Some of the stories went into more detail than others and I couldn't help but become a bit antsy at the thought of giant bugs, carnivorous plants and large predators. Then I remembered, I'm the legendary, demonic incarnation of hatred and fury. What the hell am I afraid of?

Then I felt it. Another massive power surge and it was heading straight for us.

"Sunset, Link Mode!" I cried bringing my palms together again.

"What, why?"

"Do it!" hearing the urgency in my voice, she complied. Placing her own palms together we linked consciousnesses, and as I left the physical realm, Sunset became covered in golden flames of chakra.

"Stay close Vinyl" Sunset ordered, as what I'd felt came into view, in the form of a massive torrent of electrified water. I didn't have long to react, forming my head as a shield around the pair. But we didn't stop there:

"Wind Style: Jet Stream!" Sunset cried, launching a blast of wind from her mouth.

"Fire Style: Blast Burn!" I roared, at the same time a ball of bright red flame formed in my maw and when it met the tunnel of air, it erupted forth in a tornado of red fire.

The two forces met with an explosion of air, steam and static. I didn't waste any time and quickly went into my full size, Sunset and Vinyl rising up within my head. It didn't take long for my glowing, golden and black-striped form rising above the cloud of steam and the fog. It was then we saw it, a creature - easily as big as me - with a bull's head, man's torso and eight octopus tails. It was covered in thick, dense, muscley skin and a pair of white, pupil-less eyes glared at us from the sea on the other side of the island. It let out a deep, ear-ringing roar that shook the very air around it and sent tidal waves crashing against the shore line.

"Woah..." Vinyl breathed, removing her shades to get a better look at the thing. "What is it? An octopus or a bull?"

"Neither" I said grimly, clenching my fists, not in anger at the creature opposite me - but at the voice, the one that created me had created another.

"Kurama?" Sunset asked, the concern clear in her voice. "

"The being that made me what I am today, made another Tailed Beast like me." I got down on to all fours, bracing myself against the sand beneath me and the sea behind, making ready to jump. "You want to know what he is Vinyl?" She nodded.

"That is the Eight Tails - Gyuki"    

           

                
> Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Kurama's POV)

I snarled, bearing my massive golden fangs at the Eight Tails before me. Pushing against the ocean behind me, with a layer of chakra allowing me to find physical purchase against it, I was about to launch myself at my fellow monster. However a fit of laughter distracted me and looking down I saw its source. It came in the form of a man wrapped from head to toe in a dirty, maroon coloured cloak and holding an odd looking wooden staff, with a green crystal in the top, in his right hand.

"YES!" the man cried manically, a grin spreading out across his lips, causing his grey skin to crease. "My call has been answered once again, with the delivery of another great beast!"

"Who the hell are you calling a beast?" I glowered down at the mad hermit. He ignored my question and continued:

"And this one already has a vessel, while also bringing me one for the beast I already have. Oh, thank you divines above."

"Okay," Sunset grimaced as the man started to chant and preach about great deities. "How about I send you to thank them personally!" With that she leapt from within my head, fist raised and ready to flatten this guy into the ground. But just as she was about to reach him, he flicked the top of the walking tool in her direction, sending her flying back into my chest with a wave of pale green force. "So you wanna play rough, huh?" she asked as she pushed herself from the sand back onto her feet, glaring at the man as he walked backwards into the tree line behind him.

"Make your Nine Tailed brother ready, Eight Tails." he laughed, disappearing into the darkness

With a snarl, she went for him, charging after the hermit into the forest.

"Sunset, wait!" I called after her

"Kurama!" Vinyl yelled, but it was too late. For a massive bulk of muscle without legs, the Eight Tails could move surprisingly fast and he was already only a few feet away, hammer-like fist raised. I sent Vinyl into my left palm with a current of chakra, then bowling her onto the beach as I was thrown across the sea by the earth-shaking swing connecting with my muzzle.

I flew about two hundred meters over the water's surface, before slamming into it once, twice, thrice. A total of six times I skimmed across the sea until I eventually stopped. Slowly attempting to rise to my feet I yelled to the teenager sitting on the beach:

"Run Vinyl! Find Sunset!" I only had time to see her nod before my foe's shadow loomed over my head. The bull-headed beast came crashing down, head first, knocking me down deep below the waves. An immense wave of pain washed over my entire body as I was forced down into the dark

Damn, how the hell is he that fast? I guess not even I can stand two, chakra infused, blows to the head... Was all I could think as my vision began to dim along with the glowing golden flames that comprised my body, before long I was my normal, my orange-furred self again. Now deep in the blackness of the ocean floor and unconsciousness, with the last thing I felt was the sandy floor on my back and the last thing I heard was I triumphant roar from my enemy.




(Third Person) 

Sunset threw another enraged punch straight into a third unsuspecting tree. The impact not only shattered the tree's trunk, but uprooted the entire thing - tossing it deeper into the foliage.

"Damn it!" she swore, relaxing her stance once again. She was pretty worried now, her Link Mode having faded away almost instantly after entering the dense jungle of green leaves and tall trees. That was almost an hour ago now. 

"What happened Kurama? Don't tell me you lost to that thing?" she turned and ran further into the forest, her eyes scanning her every surrounding carefully, not that it did her much good. Whoever that hermit was, he was very adept at messing with her head. She would catch a brief glimpse of him for a second and strike at him, only to find it was a tree. "Is it magic? Or a jutsu? Or am I just going insane?"

"All very good questions young vessel, very good indeed." a devious chuckle echoed between the trees, from out of the darkness. But more training with Kurama had honed her senses to a fine point and allowed her to pin-point the laugh's origins - directly behind her.

She whirled on the spot, raised her leg and waited for the crack of broken cheek bone.

It never came. Only another bout of laughter filled the air, as the cloaked man stood behind her, holding the outstretched limb in a field of sickly green aura produced by the crystal lodged in his walking aid. Sunset looked straight into the snot-green eyes as they glowed just as brightly as the emerald on the end of the old man's staff. They illuminated his pale grey face, revealing a trio of scars running down the left side of his face, from his forehead to his dry, chapped lips. At that moment they were spread wide open is a devilish, creepy grin of triumph that made the respective grins of Pinkie, Vinyl and Kurama look straight up normal.

"At first I was quite angered to discover that your charge had been knocked to the bottom of the sea..." he began, his smile growing wider and distorting his scars. "But it was a blessing, as it saves me the hassle of having to restrain him while we undergo the process of removing your free will."

"If you think I'm just gonna' give up and become your puppet, like the Eight Tails, you got another thing coming!" The telekinetic grip on her shin and foot was only restricting her ability to move away from him, it didn't stop her moving it. With a gargantuan yell of effort she pulled her entire body into the air, using her restricted leg as an anchor to pull herself up on. Next she balled a fist and allowed herself to fall towards him, ready to bring the entirety of her weight down upon him through a punch. He barely reacted at all, flicking his staff slightly to the side, he tossed her into a nearby tree with sufficient force to knock her out.

"Simple punches and kicks will never be enough to defeat me, my young vessel." he laughed at Sunset as the world around her went black.




(Kurama's POV)

I awoke with a jolt, my head springing up from the blue exam desk it had been resting against. I was wearing a faded, hand-me-down, black blazer with (what was meant to be) golden piping running down the inside of the collar, but it was actually a horrible mustard yellow in colour. Underneath this was a stark white shirt and a tie striped with the same gold as the piping and a rather repulsive maroon colour. I was also wearing a pair of thin black trousers, black work shoes and clipped to my belt, my beaten up, old Lupercal Clan cap. It was the only part of my current attire that I actually enjoyed wearing - the blazer looked horrible, the shirt itched and scratched and the tie looked as bad as the blazer. The trousers and shoes were tollerable, however the former was thin and black, providing no defence against the biting wind in the winter and absorbing too much of the searing heat in the summer. The latter just got uncomfortable to wear after a long day of school work.

That was where I was, the educational jewel of Xeno-Terra's Northern Hemisphere - Strider's Academy. Located on Lighting Isle, the largest island in the Storm Archipelago, it was considered one of the finest and known to be one of the largest secondary schools on Xeno-Terra. A place driven by pride, and funded by the taxes of the poor - it certainly wasn't a place I enjoyed attending. But as Grumps always reasoned:

"You'll get a good education out of it, now get on the boat!"

I commuted daily from my home on Tornado Isle via one of the massive Sky Barges sent to every island in the chain, and was ferried on the floating air ship to the academy complex that dominated a large portion of land in the South side of the Lightning Isle. Admittedly it was an amazing looking site, if only some of the richer nobles that lived in the Archipelago had put at least some money into building it, I would probably enjoy coming here.

Of course I didn't have to do that anymore. This was a memory and I knew it, a bad one at that.

"Now isn't the time to see how I died-" I whispered to myself, but I was quickly cut off by a familiar face telling me to 'shush'. This middle aged woman was the mother of one of my childhood friends, saying that I was only sixteen at the time. I watched her walk back to her place at the front of a long row of eleven, lined up exam desks - each one with a student sitting at it, scribbling about who knows what.

All of this was running according to my memories and could not remember for the life of me what this test had been on.

Although I'm pretty sure she 'shushed' me for talking to myself about waffles or something like that. I thought in a whimsical manor, before turning my attention to the test paper on the table before me. There wasn't much to look at, the gaps in my memory causing the page to appear blurry and distorted.

"Great. What am I gonna' do while I wait for death to role around?" I questioned myself out loud, this time what I said ringing true to what I had said at the time, however in a less sarcastic way than then. My eyes scanned the large exam hall I was sat in, a total of twenty six rows filling it from left to right, labelled A to Z. I searched for people I knew, my friends, my teachers, my negative friends but none came into view.

Maybe I should just write about waffles until-

*BOOM!*

My thoughts were interrupted by and almighty explosion that consumed everything to my left. I was in seat T1, fairly close to the exam hall's right wall (judged from a North facing perspective, while I was facing South) and at the back - so the while the detonation, that destroyed a large part of this wall, did burn my entire left side and tossed my from my seat, it didn't kill me. I crashed to a stop against another desk, two rows away, as more explosions tore through the hall. The world spun around me, screams and shouts filtered through my right ear as my left was filled with a continuous, high-pitched ringing. I caught a few words of concern shot my way and even a few tugs on my body to try and get me to move, but I could barely feel my limbs past all the pain, let alone move them.

Next came the gunshots. Loud and echoing in the large room, they provoked further screams and shouts of shear terror as it dawned on me and just about everyone else what was happening.

The Serial Fang were attacking. A radicalistic group who believed strongly in the all-powerful Gods Of Old, who openly fought against Xeno-Terra's leading government - The Terran Union. The Serial Fang were a people to be reckoned with, strong in number and even stronger in will and fuelled by a belief in the divine, they had existed for thousands of years as the, equally long lasting, Union had never successfully put them down. This was all in alignment with their typical strategies, attack an important civilian centre in an attempt to spread fear throughout the world and scare people into joining their cause. 

Makes sense that they'd come here...but why am I here now? I thought as my vision began to darken once again. Crap...

> The Man Inside The Monster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot High School.
After School PTA Meeting
(Third Person POV)




Vice Principal Luna groaned and let her head thump against the, doughnut shaped, table for the sixth time now. She'd been sitting in the same seat, at the same table, in the same Faust be damned meeting for the last three hours, with 100% of nothing being achieved. They'd been unable to decide on what to spend the school's new, larger budget on - with half of the group thinking it should go into building a new Sports and Recreational Building and the other half saying it should go into improving and expanding the school's ageing computer lab. 

They'd come to a stalemate on whether or not they should include more carnivorous options in the cafeteria menu, with Granny Smith Apple saying: "Over mah' cold dead carcass" and Mighty Biceps practically screaming: "THE KIDS NEED MORE PROTEIN!" And so the Apple Family matriarch and the fitness obsessed PE teacher argued back and forth, to and fro, until Principal Celestia was eventually forced to ask the bickering adults to leave the room.

Now they were discussing whether or not they should repaint the whole school aswell when they painted the recently repaired entrance to the building. Luna's eye twitched,

"This is going to take yeeeeears" she groaned quietly, leaning back in her chair and fixing her attention to the vastly more interesting task of counting ceiling panels. "I wonder what Vinyl and Sunset are doing right now. Bet it's fun whatever it is. Heck, with Kurama there they could make studying fun. Maybe he's got a jutsu that could allow you to enter the book-"

"Luna" a stern voice interrupted her thoughts and caused her to lose count of the ceiling tiles. The vice principal turned her gaze lazily to her elder sister, ready to be asked the rhetorical question that teachers ask students who talk when they are. "Do you have anything to add?"

"No" Luna grumbled, turning her gaze to the table. I wish I was with them right now Luna thought, completely naive to the situation her niece and adoptive daughter were in...





Vinyl came crashing into a clearing in the trees, gasping for air after the marathon/adventure hike she'd just run. The snow white hoodie, with dark purple hems and sleeves, she was wearing was ripped in several places along the arms and sides and the same could be said of her simple denim jeans. Her neon blue sneakers were more dirty and damaged than all of her previous shoes that she'd ever thrown away combined. Her cobalt blue and bright cyan coloured hair was even more of a mess than normal and there was a large crack in the lenses of her signature shades, earned during a head-on collision with a stray tree branch.

She'd been running for the past three hours and was now completely lost, covered in mud and sporting some rather painful cuts and bruises. The aspiring DJ shoved herself back against a tree on the edge of the clearing, half for cover from either the crazy hermit or the Eight Tails and half for support as she caught her breath.

She quickly silenced her loud breathing when the very ground beneath her shook, displaced by a mighty impact. Vinyl clapped a hand to her mouth and cowered below the canopy of leaves above her. Another impact shook the ground again, followed presently by another and another and so on - clearly the movement patterns of a very large creature. She hoped beyond all hope that it was Kurama, finally having climbed out of the ocean to help his Jinchuuriki and her sister, but a continuous shaking filled in the gaps between each heavy impact and she knew exactly what that meant - this creature was dragging itself over the earth. This made it clear that the approaching creature was the legless Eight Tails and she could only hope that he was not coming from directly behind her, lest she would be crushed by his lumbering mass.

The rumbling and the earthquake-like hand falls were growing closer, almost directly on top of Vinyl now. The teen was on the verge of tears as one hand came down less than one hundred yards away from her on the left, so close she could see it. Terrified she went straight down into a crouch, holding her head in her hands and knees pressed against her mouth she began to cry.

I'm sorry auntie Luna, big bro, Sunset. I'm so so SO sorry. I'm sorry for being a bad student, a bad sister, a bad...everything. I'm sorry I broke so many cups and plates, I'm sorry bought so many pieces of junk with other people's money, I'm sorry I never did my chores. "I'M SORRY!!" Vinyl let out, what she thought was, her last scream venting her apology to the world, tears streaming down her cheeks from under her shades. What she failed to notice was that the rumbling and impacts had stopped, apart from her cries and sobs the jungle had gone silent. 

In fact, she only noticed something was off when a voice broke through the new silence. It was clear, deep and distinctly male; with his sentence being ended with a rasping cough.

"I too, am sorry" it was clear as day that he hadn't used his voice in a long time.

Vinyl's head shot up from her knees, resulting in her hitting the back of it against the tree behind her. Groaning slightly as she rubbed that section of her head to alleviate the pain, she looked towards the source of the voice.

The speaker was a tall, heavily built man with shaggy, hazelnut brown hair and dark pink skin. Most of his body was concealed in a faded brown trench coat and black cargo trousers, at the bottom of which he wore a pair of light brown boots. All of his attire appeared to be battered and beaten to the point of falling apart. The toe of his right boot was torn open, revealing the steel toe cap protecting his feet. All of his pockets on both his coat and trousers were either ripped or burned open, revealing the inside of the pocket and occasionally the skin beneath. He had a pair of emerald green irises, almost the same as Kurama's, which were shrouded in the shadow of his hair. However this man, unlike the Nine Tails, had no pupils whatsoever; just an almost completely green set of eyes with a faint bordering of white at the edges. His expression was flat and unreadable, his nose small and slightly crooked and he had small ears that pointed outwards. His face was also completely covered in freckles

"S-sorry? Vinyl eventually forced out, growing anxious. "Sorry for what?"

"For what I must do" the man answered slowly, raising a balled fist and stepping towards the young DJ.

Vinyl flinched and dived out of the path of the incoming fist. The man obliterated the area of the tree her head had been in front of. The three foot thick lump of bark and wood stood no chance, as the man's fist flew straight through it as if it were a stick. Completing her evasive roll, the shades wearing teen turned around to see the top half of the tree come crashing down mere inches from her. She had no time to dwell on this however, as the one man tank kicked the fallen half of wood straight at her; forcing her to press herself flat to the ground as it flew through the air and deep into the forest.

Taking a second to watch the tree fly was almost a massive mistake, as the man was upon her in no time; another fist ready to crush her into the ground. Vinyl executed another emergency jump, scrambled to her feet and began to run, but this guy was fast. Glancing back allowed her to duck just in time to avoid a violent arm swing, which she could identify as a lariat. Looks like all that time I spent watching wrestling actually amounted to something Vinyl thought to herself as she looked up from her crouch, only to be faced with a horrible sight. The man had managed to terminate all of his forward movement and was now sending a powerful back kick her way. Vinyl could do nothing but raise her arms in defence. Heavy boot met the soft cotton of the girl's sleeves and quickly won out, tossing Vinyl across the clearing and into a tree. 

The force of the kick put the young DJ in a daze, the impact with the tree knocked her straight out and threw the shades from her face. She fell two feet from her impact zone to the forest floor and was completely unconscious by this point.

Her attacker approached her prone body, laying almost motionless on the forest floor and he sighed. Picking her up by the hood, he lifted the unconscious girl to his eye level; leaving about a foot of distance between her feet and the ground.

"Once again," he said forlornly. "I am sorry."



    
(Kurama's POV)

I awoke with a start, but in attempting to sit upright I hit my head against something wooden and tough. Quickly going back to laying down, I brought a hand up massage my throbbing forehead, to find the appendage to be a black fur covered paw. I rolled out from underneath the wooden overhang and gave myself a once-over, observing I was in chibi mode but with some slight changes. All four of my paws were now black, as if I'd been walking in a shallow pool of black paint and each of my nine tails was tipped with white making them look like used, orange paint brushes.

I next moved on to observing my surroundings. I was in a forest of tall, autumnal oak trees standing in an endless sea of soft green grass. The sky was unnaturally blue, so bright it hurt the eyes to look at and not a single cloud to break it up. It all seemed so real, but a continuous blurriness surrounding my field of view told me it was nothing more than a dream.

I turned my attention back to the object that had made my awakening very painful and saw that it was just a low hanging branch, almost snapped off from the main trunk, it was hanging in the perfect position to hit me when I sat up. I groaned and rubbed the small lump forming on my forehead.

"I heard pain is only in the mind, but this is ridiculous." I grumbled to myself, as I began to explore to dream world. For a time the scenery remained the same, the dense foliage preventing me from seeing too far in any direction other than the one I was walking in. I was following an open trail that twisted and turned constantly, so I couldn't tell what I was heading towards. Prepared for the worst but hoping for the best, I broke into a run as my anticipation got the better of me. Then, upon rounding a last corner, I was blinded.

My eyes took awhile to adjust to the brightness, leaving me stumbling and confused for a few moments. But after some time (and lots of eye rubbing) I found myself looking out over a massive grassy plain. Straight out in front of me there was nothing rolling hills and grass almost as far as the eye could see, but I could see the further away from me I looked the darker and less bright everything grew. Squinting I could see that all the grass in the distance was dead and black and looking behind me I could see the forest growing even more dark and less inviting every second. 

Something to my left was casting a faint shadow over it all. Casting my gaze off in that direction, I had to crane my neck back in order to take in the entire sight before me. It was a volcano. It was so stupidly large, it was impossible to see the whole thing at once. If I wanted to see the base the crater would be cut from view, but if I turned my attention towards the crater I could not see the base. From said crater a continuous, thin column of smoke rose and floated high into infinite, blinding blue. It was certainly quite the spectacle.

"I'd hate to see that thing erupt" I muttered to myself, attempting to fathom the amount of destruction a volcano of that size could unleash.

"It would certainly be quite the show, wouldn't it?" a voice said heartily, from behind me. I was about-face in a flash, teeth bared and claws out. But I froze when I saw just who it was.

"You..."

"Hello there, Kurama" Day Break said with a smile
> The Iron Armour Closes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Kurama's POV)

I sheathed my claws and stood up straight on my four legs. I took a minute to observe the pony before me, as part of me still refused to believe she was here. The same sun-yellow coat and brick-red mane, coupled with those simple grey irises containing a distinctly cunning look. Yep that's the same mare who both sealed me and released that same seal.




(A week prior, the events of Trust Between Outcasts)

"My name, IS KURAMA!"

"That's all I needed to know!" Sunset yelled as she made a, rather impressive, jump to where the sealing paper was on the gate. With a firm yank she pulled it from the gate, revealing the lock beneath. As soon as she caught sight of the lock, Sunset looked at me and shouted "What now?!"

I was about to shrug and reply 'I don't know' when:

"I'll handle that"

In an instant, somepony was upon Sunset. My eyes widened as my brain tried to comprehend what it was being shown. The glowing yellow unicorn mare placed her hoof on my Jinchuuriki's stomach and twisted it clockwise. There came a 'clunk' from within the gate and the sound of metal sliding over metal. Before long the lock was opened and the gate was sliding away from me on its hinges. I watched the gates move completely apart and fade into the walls and I took a few tentative steps forward, to explore my new freedom.

A light 'splash' drew my attention to where the unicorn and ex-unicorn had landed, with the former turning to face me and the latter just sitting in stunned silence.

"Don't make me regret this decision, Fox" Day Break shouted to me, a stern look on her equine features. "You won't, will you?

"If I was going to do something like that, I would have already" I chuckled, doing my best to sound as arrogant as possible. "Besides, I have bigger fish to fry right now than my urge to get you back for sticking me with this whiny kid for sixteen years"

To that she only smiled and nodded, turning her attention to the speechless teen still laying the dank pool of the chamber. She knelt down next to her and smiled, taking the girl's hand in her hoof.

"My beautiful, little Shimmering Star I don't have much time here" Day Break said, barely holding back her tears. "I know you may not be proud of every choice you've made so far, but know that it's not too late to do the right thing and while you may not gain allies easily after this, if you continue down this path of good, I guarantee you will find the friends who will stand by you until the end..."

"She already has one" I said as I lowered my head to the ground, to be on level with the two. Day Break smile grew slightly and she turned to face me.

"Keep her safe for me" she whispered, an almost pleading look in her eyes as she locked her gaze with mine.

"Your word is my law" I stated dutifully, not breaking off eye contacted with the guards-mare but bowing my head slightly to look straight down my snout at her.

"I'll hold you to that" she warned, placing her hoof on the end of my nose and smirking. I was about to return her smirk with a witty reply, but I was cut off when the steady glow she'd been emitting intensified and she began to fade away. She caught my eyes widening slightly and glanced down at herself, letting out a small chuckle as she turned back to her daughter - who was still sitting stunned in the water.

"Looks like my time here is up, good luck you two" she was about to close her eyes and relinquish her form completely when the frozen teen finally called out:

"Wait!" her call caught Day Break's attention, but she didn't dim her glow. "Who are you?" Sunset asked, the look in her eyes telling me she already knew the answer in her heart but her mind refused to accept it. To that uncertainty the unicorn only smiled lovingly.

"You may not know me, but a mother never forgets her child." with that said, her glow brightened to an unbearable degree which consumed the whole room and when the light faded;

She was gone.

I turned my gaze down towards Sunset, seeing her slowly stand up with her eyes locked on the place the mare had been.

"You gonna be okay?"

"Kurama..." she ignored my question and proceeded to question me. "Was that...my Mom?"




(Present Day)

"Hey, Kurama? You still with me?" I was snapped back out of my flashback by a bright yellow hoof waving itself in front of my face and the voice of the same mare who had freed me from the seal she put me in. I shook my head a few times to clear away the fog of my memories and looked Day Break in the eye and smirked.

"I don't know what social etiquette  is like in Equestria, but where I come from it's considered rude not to answer someone else's question" I let my smirk evolve into a grin when she rolled her eyes and began to trot off along the forest border, away from the volcano. I made no hurry to catch up to her, lazily following just about a foot behind her as I waited for her retort.

"Believe me, I've seen where you came from through your memories" she said flatly, not looking back as she spoke. "And your 'social etiquette' leaves a lot to be desired, considering it's perfectly acceptable to punch someone in the face if you disagree with their point of view." I almost laughed at that, reminiscing about all the times fights broke out in bars over simple matters like which way to cross your legs was 'right' and whether or not it should be allowed to send your 10 year old son into the Howling Forest to see if he can survive for three days and earn the title of 'man'. I both chuckled and shuddered thinking of my own harrowing journey into the forest.

"In all fairness Day Break, my world has seen worse times" I reasoned, drawing level with the guards-mare. "Despite the far less than caring parental methods of my home, at least there were parental methods to speak of." Day Break shot me a concerned and questioning look. Apparently she hasn't looked that far into my memories. "But as much as I would love to indulge your curiosity Day, I don't have the time..."

"Indeed you don't. You have a promise you need to uphold." she agreed as we approached what looked like a table next to the edge of the darkening forest. It was a pea green, round wooden table with a doughnut-like hole in the centre. Around it there was placed a number of soft-looking cushions of varying colours and sizes, while atop it there was a large selection of cakes, muffins, cupcakes and pots of tea with tea cups and saucers to match. 

Day Break moved to sit at the side of the table that faced towards the forest, sitting herself down on a plump lavender coloured cushion. It was while she did this that I first took notice of her cutie mark - A rising sun having half come above the horizon, but the other half of this sun was a shield with a four pointed star in the centre. However I didn't realise that I was staring and it once again took Day Break calling out to bring me back into this world.

"My eyes are up here Kurama" she giggled as I blushed and shook my head free of its stupor. "Take a seat" she offered, indicating to a crimson-red cushion opposite her.

"Thanks" I said simply after finding my voice again, placing my rump down on the feather filled pocket of cotton. I went back to observing my surroundings while Day heated up a bubblegum-pink tea pot with her magic, apart from the table this place wasn't too different from were I exited the forest. The volcano certainly doesn't look any smaller

"Tea?"

"Hmm?" Day sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Do you want any TEA?" she repeated, holding up the pot in front of me as if I'd never seen such a thing.

"Oh, no thanks. I'm not really a tea person. Sorry for blanking you then, just got some stuff on my mind right now." she only laughed at my apology and I couldn't help but sound a tiny bit offended when I asked: "What's so funny?"

"Sorry Kurama, it's just I'm hardly surprised you've got something on your mind" she explained as her laughter died down, earning only a rather bemused expression from me. "Haven't you figured it out yet? she asked, I shook my head.

"We're in your mind"



         
(Third Person POV)

"Argh..." Sunset Shimmer groaned, her eyelids slowly fluttering open against the heavy feeling left on them. She could practically feel her brain pulsing inside her skull as it tried to fight off the spell that had been put on it. Suddenly remembering what had happened to her, the teen's eyes now flew open and she attempted to sit up but found herself tied in place.

"Huh?!" she struggled desperately against her bonds, but she only succeeded in rubbing her wrists and ankles raw against the rope that held her. She resorted to just moving her head to get a look at where she was. Tightly packed trees, thick clumps of foliage, smell of weird hermit. Yep, I'm still in the pissing forest. I wonder how long I've been out...

"Ah, you're awake. Splendid." Sunset had to resist the urge to vomit as the disgusting old man approached her from the left. It didn't take him long to come into her field of vision, his scarred old face contorted into a sickening smile. His eyes glowed fiercely and the emerald atop his staff was pulsating with a menacing frequency, he was certainly dabbling in some powerful magic.

"Only ropes?" the jinchuuriki taunted. "What your magic bubble of goo on vacation or something?" Despite her defiance on the outside, on the inside Sunset couldn't help but feel a bit scared. The hermit's smile merely widened as he leaned in closer to her, coming dangerously close to poking her in the eye with his sticky, grease-filled hair.

"While I would love to continue with our little chat, I have business I must attend to with your friend. Isn't that right Eight-Tails?" the hermit whispered as he straightened up and looked off to Sunset's left. She quickly followed his gaze and caught sight of a tall man in a faded and battered trench coat. 

The Eight-Tails has a human form? she thought to herself, before spying something in the man's grasp.

"Yes master..." Eight-Tails rasped as he held up the object in his right hand. "I have her..."

Sunset gasped. For there, hanging limp by the hood of her jumper was:

"Vinyl!"

Sunset fought even harder now has she struggled to free her self from the stone slab she lay upon, but it was no use - she was wrong in her assumption that these were 'Only Ropes'.

While she was rubbing her wrists so raw they started bleeding, the hermit had led the Eight-Tails over to a second slab covered in mystic runes and in the centre was the Kanji for 'Iron' inscribed in the stone. The man laid Vinyl down upon it and stood at her right side as the hermit moved around to the end of the slab - by her feet.

"NOW LET THE SEALING COMME-!" the crazy old man began throwing his arms in the air, but he was quickly cut-off by:

*RING-RING RING-RING RING-RING.* 

All eyes were quickly drawn to one of the pockets in Sunset's leather jacket. For a moment no one did anything, simply allowing it to ring through. After a few seconds of silence, he continued chanting manically and his staff began to glow and pulse furiously. The evening sky became shrouded by massive, dark clouds with lightening jumping around between them. The runes began to glow and the very air itself seemed to-

*RING-RING RING-RING RING-RING.*

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" the old man roared at Sunset.

"That's my cell phone genius. Someone is trying to call me." she deadpanned not even bothering to look at him, instead she focused on trying to wiggle the device out of her pocket.

"What's a cell phone?" the hermit asked Eight-Tails, who leaned over and whispered the answer into his ear. "Really?" Eight-Tails nodded. "Fascinating. Well, WHO'S CALLING YOU THEN?" he went back to shouting.

"HOW THE HELL AM I MEANT TO-?!" Sunset began, but she was quickly cut-off by her phone.

*Bleep* "HEEEEEY SUNSET, IT'S PINKIE PIE! You said you would come round and help me and AJ bake pies. Where are you? CALL MEEEEE!" *Bleep*

"Damn, I did say that." Sunset muttered to herself, biting her lip slightly.

"Are you done?" the hermit asked sarcastically, the glow of his staff starting to intensify again.

"Unlikely, she'll probably keep calling me until I answer."

"Oh well" he sighed, raising his staff as the runes began to shine white again. "THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!" he yelled bringing his staff down again and with it came a bolt of neon-blue lightening. The bolt struck both Vinyl and the Eight-Tails, consuming the latter completely.

"AAAAAHHHH" Vinyl screamed as her eyes shot wide open and her entire body began to spasm and convulse from all the energy charging around her body. As soon as the Eight-Tails was consumed by the energy the bolt's nature changed, no longer electrifying the DJ's entire body it now concentrated on her stomach. It burned a hole in her hoodie and the tank-top beneath, striking directly at her skin. Her scream intensified as the energy was poured into her body, burning the same kanji that was inscribed in the slab, into her flesh.

Sunset tried even harder now to break free of her bonds, but it was fruitless.

All she could do was watch her sister writhe in pain.

"VINYL!!!"




(Kurama's POV)

"So if I'm in my mind..." I mused whilst stirring the cup of coffee Day Break had made for me, in an attempt to calm down after the short freak out I'd just had. I lifted the mug to my lips and took a sip letting the warm, bitter liquid calm my nerves further before continuing my thought: "-then why are you here? I thought you were only tied to the seal and only loosely at that."

"That's what I thought too." she shrugged, taking a few sips from her tea cup and I was sure that if she had pinkies they would be raised as she sipped. "When I opened the seal for you and my daughter, I thought my time was done. But after I faded away and everything became dark, I was thrust back into the light again before I knew what was happening." she gestured to the world around us, in particular to the blinding blue above.

"How long did it take you to realise you were in my mind?" genuinely curious as to how she knew at all. She finished off her tea and began pouring herself another before she answered.

"Not long. The forest behind you-" she nodded to it and I turned to look at the nearest tree. "-It is comprised of all your memories. If you look closely at the bark you can see a moment of your life, from you perspective of course."

As per her instructions I stared intently at the tree, glaring into the grains of the wood trying to see something - anything. And there it was:

I felt myself get sucked into the memory, being thrown back into my younger self to live that in time again. There was one rather large problem - it was THAT memory. No, I'm not going through that again. I wrenched myself from the memory, coming free from it like a sticker peeling off a wall. I crashed back against the table panting and holding my head in one paw and my chest in the other, trying to steady my breathing.

"I can't. I can't go through that again." I panted trying to claw my way away from the demon tree. It wasn't until I felt a soft hoof on my shoulder and a soothing voice in my ear that I began to calm down.

"You don't have to face it now Kurama." Day Break whispered in a motherly way, actually pulling me into a hug and rocking me slightly. "But you are immortal, so you will have to face it one day." she pushed me back to look me dead in the eye, with a caring but serious look. "But it's better sooner rather than later." 

I sighed. I get the feeling I'm gonna hate it when she's right... I opened my mouth to reply, but at that moment my ear twitched - reacting to a distant cry. I looked off into the distant plains behind Day Break where a faint light was glowing in the dark edges of my mind. Day was looking at it too, a grim and fearful expression on her face. We both knew who was screaming.

I stood up and walked around the table, heading towards the light.

"Kurama!" I looked back to Day Break, expecting a stern look or a disappointed one. Instead, I found her smiling at me. "You'll need to face it one day and I hope for your sake that my daughter is okay on that day." her smile evolved into a sly grin as she spoke, but I knew full well that she wasn't bluffing about it being for my sake.

"Keep that coffee warm for me." I replied with a grin of my own, before setting off at lightening speeds towards the light in the dark.




(Third Person POV)

It took a little while for the smoke to clear, so for a time the small clearing was completely engulfed in a pale white haze. Sunset lay in silence, hoping that Vinyl was okay or as okay as a girl who'd just been struck by lightening could be. The first thing to break this silence was a cacophony of maniacal laughter, whose owner was fairly obvious.

"Yes, YES!" the hermit roared triumphantly as the smoke finally dissipated. He was standing alone by the stone slab, with Vinyl's body now laying still upon it. "I've done it! The Iron Armour seal is in place! THIS GIRL IS NO-!" he was cut-off rather abruptly by a titanic kick to his gut. His body was tossed across the clearing and into a tree, where he then slumped to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Sunset now lay stunned, staring at the silhouette of her sister who was now standing where the hermit had been. She wasn't standing up straight, rather she was slouched forwards with her arms and head hanging limply. Unfortunately, Sunset didn't take this as a sign that something was wrong.

"Yeah! Go Vinyl! Untie me and let's get the hell outta here!" she called to her adoptive sibling happily, not noticing the strange growling sound the DJ was making. "Vinyl?" This time she reacted to her.

Vinyl's head whipped around, her teeth bared and without her shades her eyes were exposed. Sunset had seen her sister's eyes before and while their bright red hue could be considered rare, they weren't out-of-place in a human or equine head. These were not considered 'normal' in either. The eyes in her head at that moment were large, completely white orbs with thick, black outlines. They seemed to stare right into Sunset and straight out the other side. The flame-haired teen couldn't help but shudder under the gaze.

"Vinyl?" she whispered one last time. In response the new jinchuuriki opened her mouth and unleashed a sound that was somewhere between a bestial howl and an Ox's call. Sunset flinched, trying once more to free herself as the demon DJ leapt at her with fists raised. However this time her escape attempt succeeded, without its caster's influence, the magic enhanced ropes snapped easily and Sunset was able to flip off the table. A second after she was off the slab Vinyl came crashing down upon it, turning it to nothing but a pile of rubble.

Sunset began to stretch as she watched the rising dust cloud, but she didn't have much time to relish her freedom as she was forced to leap out of the way of the rampaging, monster DJ who came charging from the dust cloud. After completing her evasive roll, Sunset turned around to watch Vinyl go careering into a tree. What's wrong with her? This can't be the hermit's mind control, cause he was the first one she hit. Could this be the Eight-Tails' doing? She was forced to cut her thinking session short when Vinyl came charging at her again, swinging punches and kicks in a rather clumsy fashion. But not clumsy because they were random, rather they were clumsy because Vinyl's body was not used to throwing them.

"Vinyl what's wrong? Why are you acting like this?" Sunset pleaded as she blocked and dodged all the attacks being sent at her, which were becoming more and more fluid with each one. The DJ's only response to her sister's pleading was a roar of outrage and a particularly violent right hook that the flame-haired teen was barely able to avoid.

Dodging that last swing did however, caused her to stumble back and almost lose her footing. In this time Vinyl was able to leap into the air and bring both of her fists down at once, aiming for Sunset's head and there was nothing she could do to defend herself.

*Flash* *Crack* *Crash*

Sunset watched wide-eyed as the demon DJ was thrown across the clearing and into the darkness of the forest, by a side-kick that would have broken a normal person's ribs.

"Lemme guess, she's got the Eight-Tails sealed within her?" Kurama grunted as he landed next to his jinchuuriki. He was caught a bit off guard when she threw herself at his side and latched onto him with the strongest hug she'd ever given. "Yeesh" he grinned and patted her gently on the head. "Never pictured you for a hugger."

"Thanks Kurama" she thanked as she realised her grasp on him. She then proceeded to punch him on the shoulder and snap: "But you've got lousy timing!" he only laughed and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Yeah, I know... Your Mom says 'hi' by the way." Sunset blinked.

"Wait, Wha-"

*RING-RING RING-RING RING-RING.*

*Beep*

"Hello?"

"WHERE ARE YOU????!!!!
> I Don't Want To Fight You... Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

+Telepathic Dialouge+

(Kurama's POV)

Sunset Shimmer winced and held her phone away from her ear, shocked by the ear drum busting scream that had burst out from the little device.

"Ow." she groaned rubbing the affected ear tenderly before returning the mobile to it. "Listen Pinkie Pie I'm sorry for not keeping my promise, but I don't have time to-"

"Look out!" I yelled, tackling Sunset to the ground to avoid being hit by a blast of force that had come from where Vinyl had been sent by my kick. I didn't even have time to stand up before I sensed another blast coming our way. I scooped up Sunset and leapt into the trees, taking off as quickly as I could manage.

"What in the hay was that?!" I heard a second voice call over the phone, although the thick Southern accent made it obvious just who it was. "Sunset where are ya', are ya'll in a fight?!"

She was about to respond but an emergency dodge I had to execute jolted her and caused my Jinchuuricki to drop her phone.

"My phone! We have to go back for it!" she shouted, trying to free herself of my grip but I made sure to keep a tight hold of her. "Kurama?! Didn't you hear me, we need to go back for my phone."

"It's the phone or your life kid and the former ain't too useful without the latter, ya know." as I said those words a powerful stream of water tore past my right ear, just missing hitting both it and the top of Sunset's head. Glancing back I quickly caught sight of Vinyl, fast approaching us, and I gave a slight wince as I saw her crush Sunset's phone beneath her foot. She was worse now than she was before, surrounded by a first stage Tailed Beast Cloak she had already grown two tails. Crap, if she's growin' them that fast we'll have the Eight Tails to deal with before long... I thought to myself grimly, picking up my pace as I leapt from branch to branch.

"Where exactly are we going?" Sunset yelled over the sound of a tree being blown apart by another water blast.

"The Beach." I replied, jumping to a higher elevation to avoid yet another attack.

"Seriously? You wanna fight a water monster right next to the ocean?!"

"This damn forest is too dense, I haven't trained you to fight under these conditions yet. The beach is more open, we'll both be able to fight at our best there." with that said I kicked off harder than before, making a bee-line for the smell of the sea.




(Third Person POV)

"Ahhhhhhhh." Rainbow Dash let out a content sigh as she sank slowly back into the soothingly warm, soapy bath water. She'd basically just single-handedly won the qualifying match to get Canterlot High into the season. She deserved the trophy right then and there for all the hard work she'd put in, but that was apparently a 'non-sports manly' thing to ask for so she would have to settle for a nice relaxing bath for her reward instead.

"Almost as good. Almost." she chuckled to herself as she laid her head back and closed her eyes, preparing to take a short nap. Sadly she would never get this nap and her relaxation time would be cut-short by a bright pink blur smashing through her bathroom window. The rainbow haired girl screamed and jumped five feet into the air, attempting to grab the ceiling in her terror. She failed at this and promptly fell straight back into the tub with an almighty:

*SPLASH*

After a brief moment spent at the bottom of the tub wondering where her nice, normal life had gone, Dash groaned and clambered out of the bath, quickly grabbing a towel to cover herself with. With her body well concealed she turned her attention to the shuffling pink heap on the floor.

"PINKIE PIIIIIIIIIIIIE!!!" she roared.

There was no initial response from the pink heap, she just continued to shuffle around. Rainbow began to feel concerned that her friend had injured herself crashing through her window and reached out a hand to the party girl to see if she was okay.

"Pinkie?" she whispered, growing more scared by the second. However it turned out she had no cause for concern - just as her hand was about to meet the pink lump, Pinkie Pie exploded from the pile of shattered glass and window frame without a scratch. As she rose from the rubble the explosive girl took in a massive breath, similar to how she reacted if she met someone new. Taking a firm hold of the Rainbow haired girl's shoulders Pinkie Pie looked her friend dead in the eye, before promptly opening the flood gates on her explanation.

"DASHIE!SUNSET'SINTROUBLESOMEWHERE'CAUSESHEMISSEDOURCOOKINGDATEANDWHENICALLEDHERSHEDIDN'TANSWERANDWHENICALLEDHERAGAINSHESTILLDIDN'TANSWERBUTWHENICALLEDAGAINAFTERTHATSHEDIDANSWERBUT-" she took in another massive breath to refuel her oxygen supply. "WEGOTCUTOFFAFTERHEARINGSOMECRASHIN'SOUNDSTHATMEANSSHE'SINTROUBLEANDNEEDSOURHELP SO COME ON!!" with that said she took a moment to catch her breath and in that time Dash tried to process what she'd just been told. She understood the basic premise that 'Sunset was in trouble' but the rest was just:

"Huh?" was all she could muster in response to her friend's statement. Pinkie sighed slightly, they had no time for her to explain it again. But she perked up immediately as she grabbed Dash's wrist and began to tug her towards the smashed window.

"Applejack will explain it to you on the way, now come on!" and with that Pinkie leapt through the gaping hole she'd made in the window, pulling a furiously protesting Rainbow Dash out with her.

"DAMMIT PINKIE PIIIIIE!" the all-but-naked athlete screamed as they fell towards the waiting back seat of Maud Pie's car.




(Kurama's POV)

If I were to sum up my decision to try and fight Vinyl on the beach, it would very quickly fall into the category of 'Not one of my finest choices', a category that was already quite heavily populated despite my young age. Sure the open ground would allow Sunset to fight at her best, but that doesn't mean squat if she can't even get close to her demonic adoptive sister. Vinyl had now taken on the third stage of Tailed Beast transformation, her body consumed by a second stage Tailed Beast cloak with the bull-like skeleton of the Eight Tails having formed around that and six tails whipping furiously behind her.

She had very quickly been able to separate myself and my Jinchuuriki with a continuous volley of chakra cannon blasts, preventing us from regrouping or moving in to attack her. We couldn't even talk to each other over the shrieking chakra blasts and the explosions that followed them. I need to find a way to communicate with Sunset, but I don't wanna go screaming a battle plan across the beach... Damn if only she could hear my- That's It!

+Sunset, can you hear me?+ I sent, desperately hoping our mental link was still intact. I waited a few unbearably tense seconds, continuously avoiding the never ending barrage of chakra blasts that were separating us, hoping beyond hope that my little plan would work.

"Loud and...clear Kurama..." Sunset panted having trouble focusing on both dodging and sending her reply, despite the fact she had also said it out loud. That wouldn't do.

+No Sunset, you can't respond out-+ I found myself cut off as my focus dropped, whilst just ducking a blast that would have taken my face off. I quickly refocused my thoughts and continued. +We can only speak mentally, Vinyl may be acting like a monster right now but if she hears us formulating a plan she'll try her best to stop us.+

"But Kurama..."

+No buts kid! If we're gonna win you're gonna have to over come your weaknesses and fight harder than ever. That's what you have to do if you want to get Vinyl back.+ I could feel her uncertainty, clouding her thoughts like a smog and for a moment I feared that she would be unable to focus enough to pull it off. I guess she did fail to do this even in the calmest of situations... I thought grimly, reminding myself that she'd even failed to truly master this even in meditation sessions - one of the calmest environments I could think of. 

But all of my doubts were blown away in second by a surge of psychic force, emanating from Sunset. She'd been pinned down inside a crater created in the sand, rendered unable to move by the continuous spray of condensed death balls flying through the air. But in the seconds following her burst of psychic power, she leapt over the rim of the crater and threw herself from it across the beach, landing a few feet from me. +Shorten the distance between us to lessen the amount you have to concentrate, pretty sharp.+

+Did you honestly doubt me Kurama?+ she chuckled after seeing my slightly surprised look, the confident attitude she'd always favoured returning with her new found focus. +I am one of the smartest people in my year ya know+

+Didn't doubt ya for a second kid. But I did have to remind myself that you are a slow learner+ her air of confidence inspiring my own to resurface. +The plan is to split 'em+

+How do you mean split 'em?+ she sent, ever so slightly baffled.

+It's the Eight Tails and its chakra that's causing this transformation of her body and mind. If we don't act quickly she'll end up turning completely into the Eight Tails, but one with double the power compared to him before. So we just need to get the Eight Tails himself to split from her and form in the real world, like I am now.+

+So, we just need to attack until an opening in her guard appears, strike at it and hope the Eight Tails will appear to defend her?+ Sunset summarised simply whilst summoning three shadow clones. +Easy+

+Leave the Eight Tails to me. You just focus on keeping Vinyl's attention on you+ I landed hard on my right foot, lowering myself low to the ground in preparation to charge.

+Right+ Sunset followed suit, going low on her left foot in perfect unison with my own movements. Vinyl paused her barrage for a second whilst trying to analyse our strategy, that was our signal.

"LET'S GO!" we yelled as one, kicking off hard and heading straight for the bestial form of Vinyl Scratch.

I moved the quickest, closing the distance between myself and her without even touching the ground. But despite my speed she was still ready for me, lashing out at me with one arm and three tails. Slamming one foot sidelong into the sand I ducked below the strike and kicked up a face-full of sand into her eyes, blinding the demon DJ. With my diversion complete I teleported away to kunai I'd affixed to a tree upon arriving on the beach. In the precious seconds Vinyl spent clawing the sand from her eyes Sunset and thirteen shadow clones were right on top of her.

The teen herself was the first to land a hit, her foot planting itself firmly in her opponent's face and sinking into it slightly. However, from there on out it was a mad scuffle that even I couldn't follow accurately - just a mad mix of whipping tails, flying limbs and destroyed clones all disappearing in growing cloud of dust, smoke and sand.

Damn. I grimaced as I watched the cloud steadily grow around them, almost completely obscuring them from my view. At this rate I won't be able to- I found my thoughts cut short, once again, this time by one of Sunset's clones flying out of the cloud like a bullet. As she flew past me I caught a glimpse of her giving me a thumbs up and mouthing the words:

"Go now."

So, without a thought I kicked off the tree, taking my kunai with me and sprinting towards the still growing cloud. It only continued to expand as I got closer and for a split-second I wanted to slow down, but I quickly abolished these thoughts from my mind and continued sprinting towards the battle. 

I was mere moments away from them now growing less sure all the time. +Come on kid. Were's that opening?+ I asked over our mental link as I leapt into the air, aiming to land on the Eight Tails chakra I could feel within the cloud. And then it happened.

"RASENGAN!" Sunset yelled as she cast the jutsu into her fellow Jinchuuriki's stomach, whilst simultaneously blowing away the dust cover revealing her six remaining shadow clones and our foe. Four of the Sunset clones were grappling with Vinyl's six tails, with two of them holding two each while the remaining grapplers each held a single tail. The final two clones were retraining her arms and legs, brows furrowed and teeth clenched as the sharp bull's skeleton stabbed into them. Lastly there was the demon DJ herself and I smirked as I noticed that the clones were holding her limbs in a way that left her back exposed. +Now Kurama! I can't hold this Rasengan for long+ Sunset sent hurridly, but I was already falling towards the opening.

"Knock knock, Eight-O!" I yelled, going in to stab the Jinchuuriki's exposed back with my kunai and out he came, exploding forth from his Jinchuuriki's back still cloaked in fading second state tailed beast chakra. However, before I could catch a glimpse of his face Sunset lost control of her Rasengan and ,without the chakra of its wielder, it exploded.

Vinyl was thrown bodily across the beach and only stopped when she crashed into a tree, while my Jinchuuriki was tossed into the shallow waves lapping at the shore of the island. They only went relatively short distances due to there connection to the ground at the time of detonation, but myself and the Eight Tails were still in the air at that moment and angled upwards of the rasengan itself. So we were sent flying high into the air before crashing back down in the forest again.




(Third Person POV)

Sunset Shimmer was the first to recover, striding free of the shallow waves whilst wringing out her hair. She looked down at her sodden clothes and sighed, noticing there wasn't an inch of her body that wasn't soaked through. Looks like all of this is goin' straight in the wash when we get back home. she concluded as she tied her still sopping wet hair up in a ponytail and kicked off her water filled boots.

"At least the plan worked though." she mused aloud as her gaze fell on her adoptive sibling who was still slumped against the tree she'd hit. The fiery haired teen swallowed her fear and slowly approached the still figure, but with her stance lowered and guard up. She'd gotten within a few feet of her opponent and sister before she noticed her begin to stir.

In a sudden flash of movement Vinyl lashed out, catching Sunset in the gut with a savage backhanded strike which sent her crashing back across the beach. The DJ slowly rose from the ground and growled, fixing her gaze on her adoptive sister with her wide, pupil-less, white orbs. Most of her skin was a harsh pinkish-red since the protective top layer having been peeled away by the second stage chakra cloak, but it was already healing over with wispy clouds of steam being created as the flesh repaired.

"Cheap shot." Sunset groaned as she righted herself, dusting off her jacket and meeting Vinyl's glare with a level stare. "I don't want to fight you sis, but you aren't leaving me with many other options here." she grunted as she gave her neck a rough crack and rolled her shoulders, limbering herself up in preparation for the battle knew was coming. The two stood facing each other in a tense silence, each one waiting for the other to make a move.

Never having been the most patient of souls, that person was Sunset. She kicked off the ground hard, coming within range of Vinyl in three long strides and ending the third with a short leap straight at her opponent, her right hand balled into a fist and raised to strike mid-jump. Despite her rage-fogged mind the demon DJ reacted surprisingly slowly to the coming attack, calmly clenching her own fist before sending it in on a collision course with Sunset's.

The instant before the two teens' fists met, time seemed to slow to a snail's pace. Tiny sand particles floated lazily in the air, the waves seemingly frozen mid-crest, the two combatants locked away in a motionless cut of time. The fiery haired teen peered deep into her friend's eyes, desperately seeking for any sign, any minuscule indication that the girl she'd known for so long was still there; reaching out for her aid that very second. She stared into those blank, pupiless eyes for what seemed for an eternity looking for what she sought and was about to give up hope of ever finding it when;

There it was. Quick flash of colour in those bleak, emotionless orbs. A glint of red around the edges. And it was all Sunset needed for proof.

With a titanic cry, invigorated by her determination, the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki poured every ounce of chakra she had into her closed fist. The energy instantly infused itself with her skin, causing it to harden and turn a metallic black in colour.

"ARMAMENT JUTSU!"

When it seemed their fists finally connected an almighty blast of force came exploding out of the contact point and in the same second a massive cloud of smoke erupted from the centre of the forest, before it was immediately dispersed by another, even larger shock wave.

Revealing Kurama and the Eight-Tail also clashing fists, sending a hail storm of trees flying through the air with the power of their strike. Sunset and Vinyl broke their connection and leapt back to avoid the incoming volley of flying foliage.

+I thought you said that if we separated them, the Eight Tails wouldn't form?!+ she almost screamed down their mental link. Kurama didn't even acknowledge her message, instead letting loose an earth-shaking roar and unleashing a storm of furious punches upon the Octo-Bull. Unfortunately he appeared to have had the exact same idea and brought forth his own barrage of hammering blows, with the two meeting in a glorious spectacle of raging strikes that tore apart what little was left of the island jungle.

The Nine-Tails couldn't afford to lose his focus, even for Sunset. For losing concentration in the middle of combat could almost certainly spell one's doom...





The time was indiscernible. The sun was blocked out by an infinite canopy of dense foliage, sprouting from the trunks of the massive, thousand-year-old Ancient-Oaks. A light mist hung just above the waist high bushes and shrubs that covered the forest floor. And it was through these shrubs that a boy came crashing through, large stick in one hand and a blood-stained cloth in the other. He ducked and weaved under great tree roots, darted around trunks and altered course as much as possible - trying to remain unpredictable. He finally came to a stop behind a particular tree, resting his back against it and pressing the cloth to the open gash above his right eye.

"Shit." swore Oscar Lupercal as he did his best to halt the flow of blood that was obscuring his vision. As much as he wanted to say that the hit scored on his forehead by the Manto-Ursus (or Mantis-Bears as they're more commonly known) was nothing more than a lucky shot, he new that the only luck involved in that encounter was his own. He was lucky it was Balgrum-The-One-Eyed he'd encountered, as it was the creature's lack of depth perception that had saved his neck. "Stupid, overgrown, winged weasel. If I'd mastered Red Hawk already, he'd be torched right now." He dabbed up some of the fresh blood leaking from his wound before stuffing the cloth into his pocket and slowly easing his head around the trunk, peering into the gloom and fog to try and find his surprisingly stealthy adversary.

After seeing nothing but empty forest, the young Lupercal lent back around the tree and slid to the ground. As he caught his breath, he took a moment to think back to what his grand-father had told him about Mantis-Bears.

"Big, mean, ugly. Lotsa teeth. Two huge scything claws on the fore limbs. Oh and wings too!" This final thought made Oscar flinch as he realised something, something that made his heart drop straight to his feet. That was when he heard the buzzing.

With barely a second to react, he leapt to the side, just as around 790 pounds of chitin armoured grizzly bear came crashing down from the canopy - cutting a deep gash in the trunk with both claws on the way down. The boy only just rolled clear of the beast's landing area as it came down, quickly scrambling to his feet only to find his escape route blocked by a tree root. He sighed and turned to face the abomination as it tore its forelimbs free of the shredded bark.

It was a truly terrifying sight, 12ft 3inches of hardened, black chitin plate and thick, golden-brown fur with a pair of scythes stemming from down from its elbows and standing upright on two long, thin, reversed kneed legs. It turned to face him, crossing its blade limbs over its exposed stomach, and looking straight down at him with a single, black insect eye. Oscar gulped, very few things in his life even comparing to the fear he felt now, staring down a genetically-engineered war hybrid. They had been created many millennia before for a purpose that modern biologists and historians still hadn't quite discerned.

This didn't make them any less dangerous though...

With a sound that was somewhere between a roar and a chitter, the biological killing machine charged forward with its bladed forelimbs raised and teeth bared. Oscar stood firm, desperately resisting the urge to run or dodge or do anything that would put him out of the beast's war-path. But he did none of these things, instead he braced his stance, switched the stick he was holding into his left hand and took hold of the combat knife sheathed away on the back of his hip. He was ready to fight this monster and if he died doing so...

"There're worse ways to go out I guess." he reassured himself, struggling to bring a smile to face as he watched his nemesis approach. "Beats rotting away on a bed."

"Focus O!" a voice called from behind him and although it sounded strained, Oscar could hear the determination in it. "Save thinking about dying for your mid-life crisis and DUCK!"

He did as instructed and went to the ground, just as a dustbin-sized boulder was catapulted over the root and sent straight into Balgrum's face. There was a sickening crunch as the beast's head was crushed between the rock and the tree behind him. But it seemed like for a moment the creature couldn't quite grasp this fact, as it brought up its forelimbs to try and remove the rock that was now, securely lodged in the tree, right where its head should have been.

The hoodie wearing youngster watched this pitiful display for a few seconds on his knees, before rising to up and sighing. As he let his breath free he felt some of the stress and tension that had built up in his stomach over the last few days escape with it, flowing free of him and into the darkening world around him. He was not completely free of it and unbeknownst to him he would not be really free of it for a very long time, but for now it was enough.

He dropped the stick and relinquished his grip on his still-sheathed knife, dusted off his grey hoodie's shoulders and adjusted the hood neatly back into a central position. It had been a long two days. He pulled the cloth from his pocket and wiped away the blood that had managed to leak from his wound during the minute since he'd last tended it.

"You're welcome." the voice huffed as its owner came up alongside Oscar, and despite its miffed tone the relief was clear to hear through it. But that was Benedictus Buran, as easy to read as an open book.

"Ya know, I didn't ask for you rip off your sleeve just so I could have a blood cloth, Ben." the future Nine-Tails shrugged, wrapping the cloth over his torn eyebrow to restrict the bleeding. The pale skinned boy sighed and shook his head, causing his shaggy hazelnut-brown hair to whip around everywhere. He let a small smile grace his freckled features and fixed his deep brown eyes on the Lupercal's deep green set.

"I was talking about Balgrum idiot." he chuckled, folding his arms across his surprisingly broad chest. For his age Ben had a rather large frame, making him comparable to Oscar's older brother Danziel in height and design, although he was hardly the walking death threat the middle Lupercal was.

"Oh right. Speakin' of, he was a bit of a pushover don'tcha think?" he pondered aloud, wandering over to the corpse with a confused Ben following with a cocked eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well he was always made out to be the biggest, baddest thing in the outer forest and yet we killed him with a rock." Oscar said dismissively as he drew his knife and began cutting away the beast's elbow, seeking to use its blade-like forelimb as proof of their accomplishment.

"Well it's not as if it was a pebble we threw at him." Ben commented as he drew his own knife and began working on the creature's other limb. "It did take us about an hour to drag it onto the catapult and it was only ten metres away from it to begin with. We should be glad it was killed so easily, I don't think we could've taken it head on and..." he trailed off after that, halting his hacking to ponder the 'what-if's'.

"Hey Ben" the young mechanic was broken from his pessimistic reveries by the voice of his friend, who was now standing back from the corpse and brandishing the limb he had severed like a sword. "Ya reckon I could forge a good blade with this? I would look so cool with a sword made of this stuff." he laughed with a cocky grin, taking a few mock swings with the biological weapon.

"I'm sure you could make a great sword with these materials O and I would be honoured if you made me one too." he chuckled as he claimed his own prize. With blade limb in hand he walked over to his friend and placed his free hand on Oscar's shoulder. "But for now let's just focus on surviving the last few hours of our trial, eh? I don't want you losing focus again and getting us both killed."

In response the youngest Lupercal let out something between a laugh and a sigh and smiled at his newest friend.

"Sure thing bud. How about we head back to camp and spend our last few hours sparring huh?"

"You kidding? I'd take you out in a second with my Thunder Lariat!"

"Like hell you would. Your Lariat is nothing compared to my Red Hawk!"

With that said, the two boys began to wander back to their camp. They would face many hardships in the future, with some looming just over the horizon. But for now they were happy, accomplished and free. What more could be asked for?





"So remind me again why we decided Sunset would be here?" asked a still sopping wet Rainbow Dash, as she stood shivering in her towel on Ponyville beach.

"Because Fluttershy said she saw Sunset and... Vinyl, was it? Driving this way earlier. Isn't that right, darling?" a surprisingly upbeat Rarity smiled sweetly. She too was only clad in a towel, having been in the same circumstance as Rainbow when Pinkie Pie had arrived.

"Umm... yes I saw them almost crash when their car exploded in smoke." the shy girl spoke from behind Applejack, her voice never rising above a whisper. "At first I thought they were having engine trouble, but then I think I saw Kurama in the car with them and that's how Sunset said he appears."

"Well no wonder she's in trouble then." the cowgirl stated loudly, a stark contrast the the pink haired animal lover who was peeking out from over her shoulder. "If he wanted 'em to go over there it's probably 'cause of some mystical doohickey or somethin' like that."

"Now Applejack we don't know for certain th-" Rarity began before being cut off by an ear-splitting roar accompanied by a powerful shockwave, which threw the entire group back across the beach.

After the blast the five girls began picking themselves and each other up, with Rainbow and Rarity scrambling to grab their towels. Applejack was the first up and she headed back to the shoreline, desperately trying to see through the gathering darkness and fog that was obscuring lone-man's island.

"Okay... WHAT THE FU-"

"LOOK OUT!!" a voice screamed and the farm girl was tackled into the surf, just as an entire tree dropped from the sky and crashed onto the beach where AJ had been standing. The three still standing elements stood, staring in awe at the piece of flying foliage that had almost crushed their friend and for a time no one said a thing.

"A... flying... tree?" but it was no surprise that Pinkie was the first to speak. The recently saved farm girl, swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and looked at her saviour, slightly shocked to see who it was.

"Um, thank ya Fluttershy." the farmer muttered, barely understanding what had just happened. The caretaker gasped and hurriedly removed herself from being on top of her friend. Applejack let out a slight chuckle as she picked herself up, looking over her sand and sea covered form.

"Oh my gosh, Applejack. I'm so sorry. I've got some napkins on me somewhere." she patted herself over, looking for some of the paper towels she had leftover from her second encounter with Twilight.

"Hey don' sweat it Shy. Ah'm good. Hey Rainbow can Ah borrow your towel a sec?"

"Like hell you can!!" the athlete yelled. "Get your own!"

"Oh come on, Ah need it more than ya'll do right now."

"AS IF! I'm just as wet as you and it's freezing out here."

Despite the situation, Pinkie watched the scene before her with a growing smile. Her friends were so funny.

"Pinkie Pie." the monotone voice of Maud Pie called from behind her, her big sister wearing the same blank expression she always did, although to the pink party planner it always showed something more. "Are you alright? Did you suffer injury?"

"Don't worry about me big sis, I'm fine." she grinned and stuck her thumbs up to confirm it. Maud sighed in relief, before fixing her gaze on the direction the roar had come from. Her eyes narrowed and she tensed.

"That's good. Because I fear that your friend might not be so lucky..."
> Old Habits Die Hard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Third Person POV)

Sunset Shimmer was bored. 

It was the day after Kurama had recovered from their battle with Kyuubi and Sundown, and she was sitting at her window seat in Calculus class with nothing to do. The class was about one sixth of the way through a surprise test and while most of her classmates were horrified at the idea so soon after the school was attacked by a DEMON SPIRIT, Sunset herself was okay with the notion. It gave her still-butthurt classmates less opportunities to shoot her venomous looks or to launch spitballs at her head.

That and she was really good at Calculus.

So good, in fact, that she had finished the entire two hour test within twenty minutes and was now left with nothing to do except stare absently out of the window and wish she was somewhere or someone else. She'd been getting nothing but bad looks, insults or the cold shoulder from her fellow students since the Formal and while her pride would always deny any suggestion of such by her 'friends', it was actually starting to hurt a little.

She had very few lessons with a majority of the element wielders of this world, which meant that she spent most of her periods sitting alone in a corner of the room, quietly getting on with things. There were only two exceptions to this; English which she shared with the Element of Honesty and Calculus with the tremendous company of...

"Psst, Sunset. Psst, Sunset. Psssssssssss..."

Pinkamena Diane Pie.

"SUNSEEEEEEET." the overbearing pink party planner hissed at the Jinchuuriki from her desk, just to the left of the studious teen's. She cast a lazy glance to her classmate and cocked an eyebrow, silently questioning what she wanted so desperately that she would try and fuse a scream and a whisper together to be quiet enough to not bring attention to herself but also draw Sunset's attention too her. "What's the answer to three B?" she screamspered whilst pointing at the particular page and question.

Sunset briefly threw her gaze to the front of the classroom, specifically to their rather elderly Calculus professor. He was a pencil-thin man, with grey skin only a few shades darker than his thinning hair. He wore a tattered, brown, stripped sweater vest over a white shirt and light grey suit trousers and was currently conked straight out in his desk chair, snoring quietly and with his hearing aid on the desk. After making that observation the teen just shrugged, picked up her test paper and handed it to Pinkie.

"Please try to make it look like you didn't copy me. Oh, and wake me up before his egg timer goes off." and after seeing the party girl's confirmational nod, she rested her arms across the desk, put her head on her forearms and went to see if Kurama was in a talkative mood.




(Kurama's POV)

Boredom. No matter where I went, how long I'd lived or who I was, I always ended up getting bored sooner or later. Is it some sort of universal constant? An unspoken rule of reality alongside the likes of; Water - Wet. Star - Hot. Mosquitoes - Flappy-About-Buzz-Cakes. I paused after that last thought, slightly confused at my censorship of my own profanity. Hmm, I'm censoring my own thoughts now... She's been out of my life for 16 years now and she's still having an influence on how I live it. I chuckled lightly to myself and turned from my back onto my right side first and then onto my front, placing my hands under my chin in an attempt to get comfortable.

I'd been desperately trying to fall asleep for hours now, but had been unsuccessful and I was just becoming more and more frustrated as time went on. It was pushing my patience to the brink of its limits and by the time She arrived I'd already lost it. 

Sunset Shimmer arrived to find her once serene and peaceful mindscape reduced to smouldering rubble and small fires burned atop the highly disturbed pool that once surrounded the large island that had become my new home.

I towered over this carnage, my titanic maw still lightly smoking and my monstrous fists still clenched with small chunks of rock still ingrained into them. My chest rose and fell rapidly as I tried to regain my composure and realign my frazzled thoughts, but whilst doing this one rather frightening thought crossed the front of my mind; Man did THAT feel good. It was gone as fast as it had arrived and with its departure came a fresh sense of clarity, as well as a quick spell of light-headedness. 

I was back on the floor again in moments, coming crashing down from my immense height like a giant, orange tree; coming to rest spreadeagled in the shallow water of the scape and for a few seconds I lay there, pondering where that sudden fit of rage had come from. The sound of splashing footsteps indicated that I wasn't the only one who wanted to know.

"What the hell Kurama?! Why'd you blow this place to bits?!" she yelled with an exasperated look plastered on her face whilst flinging her arms about in an attempt to indicate to the entire place at once. For a while, all I could do was stare sidelong at her, at a complete loss of an explanation. How could I explain something that I myself didn't understand, at least not with a satisfactory answer. "Well?"

"Honestly, I have no idea... Except..." I hesitated, questioning whether or not I should continue. "...that I might be returning to the way I used to be." I eventually murmured, slightly afraid to admit it. I was a little afraid of being the old me, especially in a body as powerful as this one.

"What do you mean; 'The way I used to be?'" she asked, far more calmly. When I didn't respond instantly she approached my mighty form and jumped up onto the bridge of my nose, knelt down and put and hand reassuringly on the spot between my eyes. "Who did you used to be Kurama?"

"Short tempered and aggressive with a tendency to lash out and blow up at things that either annoyed or confused me." I stated, matter-of-factly, letting out a slight sigh as it was certainly not something I was proud of. "Not exactly the way you want a condo-sized demon fox to act, that is unless you want to watch the world burn... and it's just a shame that there are people like that in the world. People who just want to see everyone else's hard work reduced to nothing at all."

By saying this I'd struck a particular cord within Sunset and she suddenly became very forlorn. At first I couldn't quite figure out why, but then I connected the same dots she must have and instantly regretted what I'd just so carelessly said. But that word tended to describe me and my actions quite well too. I quickly went to apologise, but she got her words out before mine.

"Just like I used to be..." she whispered, her voice sounding empty and lifeless as she lent against my snout for support. That in itself made me feel like I'd just taken a punch to the gut and I tried to start playing damage control, but once again she beat me to speaking. "Guess we both used to be people who we'd hate to become again, right..." the empty smile on her face and the bleak look in her eyes tore at my very soul, reminding me of just how badly I’d blundered by letting my mind run away with my mouth.

"Listen kid." I began, pushing myself up into a sitting position and holding up my paw for her to jump onto. "I know you're not proud of your past, frankly I'm not proud of everything that I did in my own. But there's no point in letting those memories corrupt the better ones that you do have. Often worrying too much and purposefully trying to avoid a certain fate can cause us to only make that event more likely to come to pass." I reasoned, calling upon some of the greater philosophical knowledge I had at my disposal. But despite my attempt to ease her mind a little she still looked down, her fear of losing herself to the greed and selfishness within clearly something that had been eating away at her possibly since the battle. There was little else I could think to say, my mental dredging coming up with nothing that could possibly make her feel better. Nothing except...

"Sunset, look at me for a second." I prompted, giving her a gentle nudge with one finger. She begrudgingly complied and shifted her gaze to meet my own. "Let's make a deal."

"A deal?" she parroted, slightly confused as to what I meant.

"If one of us should start to fall to our individual 'dark sides' then the other must do everything in their power to try and pull them back, with a deal like that in place we can both rest, at least a little, easier. Right?"

For a moment she said nothing and simply stared up at me, her expression questioning me silently. Seeing as she was a sceptic and cautious by nature I was hardly surprised she didn't instantly jump to take me up on the 'deal'. For all she knew every event of her life up to today could have all been part of some elaborate plan of mine to get free. Not that any of it was, I didn't really do forward planning and instead just played life by ear, choosing to be reactive rather than proactive, because it was easier. Not only that, I also had no desire to break free of my prison or destroy the world.

"Heh, I suppose you're right." she eventually chuckled lightly to herself, before smiling and raising one balled fist. "Alright, you got a deal, flea-bag." it was my turn to grin and chuckle at her attempt to push my buttons. I raised my own fist to meet hers, resulting in them coming together with a light 'bump'.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, dumb kid. Remember, I could still destroy you in an instant if I wanted to, ya know" I laughed, reminding her of my capabilities to end the lives of others on a whim and reminding myself how weird that was. I forget sometimes just how much power I have now... I thought sullenly to myself as I lowered Sunset to the floor, raising my other paw to my face and flexing it a few times whilst picturing a red ball there, imagining myself crushing it in my grasp until it popped. Such a strange concept... That I could reduce this entire world to nothing but smoking ruins...

"You're head is weirdly designed, ya know that?" my Jinchuuriki blurted out, breaking me out of my dark revelries with her rather random and mildly offensive comment.

"Eh?" was all I could manage to say in response, my brain unable to catch up quickly enough with the sudden change in thought patterns. It was hard to tell if she was insulting me purposefully, or merely commenting on the way I looked without realising she'd just called me ugly.

"Well, when I look at you from the front, it seems like your ears start really far forward on your face." she explained, not that it really accounted for why she'd chosen to point this out now. More or less at a loss for words, I simply cocked an eyebrow and shrugged.

"So?" she raised a finger and opened her mouth to respond, when she was interrupted by someone shaking her body and hissing in her ear.

"PSST, SUNSET. TWO MINUTES LEFT." came the voice of the pink one, who's name escaped me when I knew that it probably shouldn't. Sunset shrugged and lowered her hand, giving up on what she was going to say.

"Oh well. Looks like I have to return to the land of the living." she sighed as she turned to leave, walking off into the watery distance. "Oh, wait." she remarked before turning her head back to grin at me evilly. "Clean up and rebuild in here for me, would ya Kurama?" she asked rhetorically, recommencing her journey out.

"W-WHA?!" I stammered out, looking between her and the pile of rubble that was the cave I'd destroyed, like a cat watching a clock's pendulum. "Couldn't you just snap you're fingers and 'poof' this all back to the way it was before?!"

"I could!" she guffawed as she reached the exit point - a little glowing circle below the surface of the calmed mental lake, not too far from where the cave used to be. "But you need to learn that all actions have consequences. Good Luck."

And with that, she returned to the living world and woke up giggling to herself.

"Git." I grumbled before begrudgingly getting to work piecing the cave back together, using a combination of chakra moulding and brute force to meld it all into one structure. Unfortunately, there were a lot of pieces.




(Third Person POV)

It was a brisk yet sunny day in Ponyville that particular afternoon, with only the occasional light breeze disturbing the cold quiet. This chill was enough to put off almost all of Canterlot High’s student population from going outside during lunch period, but not one particular fiery-haired teen, who was sitting alone on the bleachers of the soccer field, enjoying her sandwiches in the calm, studentless atmosphere.

Most would consider this kind of activity a very lonely one, but to the high school’s most recently reformed tyrant it was a peaceful respite from the scorn of a majority of her fellows and peers on the campus proper.

Besides... she thought to herself wistfully, taking a bite from one of the sandwiches Vinyl had prepared for her that morning. I’m never truly alone now anyway. So who needs human friends?

+You do still need those.+ Kurama’s voice resounded bluntly through her head. The feeling of having someone talk directly into her mind was still something Sunset was not used to, almost like the inside of her head was being tickled and that tickling was somehow being translated into language. It always caused her to cringe and shiver, similar to the reaction she got when chalk screeched on a blackboard. +Goes straight through ya, don’t it?+

“You bet it does.” she grumbled to her partner as she listened to him snickering away at the back of her mind. She really did envy him sometimes; his carefree attitude, his lazy lifestyle, his wisdom and his awe-inspiring form. Must be easy being a Tailed Beast.

+Trust me, it’s not as easy as I make it seem. Though I do appreciate the compliments.+ the beast in question chuckled, although his words were serious. Sunset cringed as another wave of tingling washed over her brain and had a sudden and desperate urge to yodel.

“Please stop that, Kurama.” she groaned whilst giving her temples a firm rub, in a futile attempt to ‘scratch’ the tickle in her head caused by his psychic voice as it rolled around inside her skull. “This mental communication thing is wreaking havoc on my brain. Can’t you just appear in the real world to talk to me? At least until I get used to this.”

+I could do that.+ the demon fox began with his mental voice, his mocking tone practically allowing her to see his smug grin.

“But then how would you get used to it if I’m always doing this?” asked the cocky prick as he appeared in his human form, suddenly exploding into existence in a puff of smoke a few seats behind Sunset. The teen twisted around to regard her partner with a death stare, but was unable to hold it very long as her surprise shone through. He was wearing a surprisingly casual attire; a simple, button-up white shirt and blue jeans with black trainers and a plain red bandana tied loosely around his neck. His messy blond and red hair was styled back into sharp waves and a dark stubble had accumulated along his jawbone and neck. He looked like a mess, but he was clearly comfortable with his look and was making no attempt to improve it. “It’s rude to stare ya know.” his grin widened as he lent back against the bleachers and swung his hands up behind his head.

“Uh... Yeah, sorry. Just never seen you outta that training suit and cloak before.” she said quietly, turning away from the demon in disguise and taking yet another bite from her sandwich. Kurama was about to respond, but he was stopped when he caught sight of what was spread inside the sandwich his Jinchuuriki was eating - a sight that almost made him hurl right then and there.

“Is that...peanut butter in that sandwich?” he asked cautiously, shifting himself a few inches away from the offending article. Sunset arched an eyebrow at his antics and nodded.

“And mayo. Not exactly a killer combo but -” she was cut off by the sound of Kurama keeling over and rolling disastrously down the bleachers, eventually coming to a stop at the concrete foundations at their base. She briefly considered jumping down there to see if he was alright, but quickly dismissed the notion when she realised he was just being over dramatic. “Oh grow up! It’s not as if I’m making you eat it!” she shouted down at the crumpled heap on the grey stone as he groaned his disgust into it.

“You’ve literally taken two of my least favourite foods and... shoved them horrifically into a single sandwich.” he cried, still not moving from his position on the cold, hard floor.

“You hate peanut butter?” she asked incredulously, finishing off the last of her sandwich as she did so and then proceeded to close her bright-orange lunchbox.

“Allergic.”

“And what you got against mayo?”

“No idea, I like most of the stuff that’s in it.”

She opened her mouth to rebuke him for being such a baby, but closed it again when she heard approaching foot (or rather high-heeled-boot) steps and the sound of a rather 'upper-class' voice calling her name. She glanced over to the entrance to the bleachers and spotted two approaching figures. One was a tall girl in a simple white shirt with an apple-green collar and a denim skirt. She wore a pair of knee-height, leather boots with a trio of red apples on the shins of both and a stetson perched itself almost impossibly on the back of her head. From Kurama's view she was the most 'normal-looking' of all the people he'd met in this world so far; with pale amber skin, striking blond hair and light green irises. This was Applejack.

The second teen was only a little shorter than AJ; possessing stunning alabaster skin, deep, flowing purple hair and eyes of shining azure. Sunset giggled as she remembered Spike's description of the dress designer when he'd talked to her after the 'incident' at the Formal. She'd switched out her normal blouse and skirt combo for a long, frilled, silky dress of light lavender and her boots had been replaced with white, high-heeled sandals. She looked like she was ready for prom, or maybe a rerun of the Fall Formal. Rarity, ever the fashionista. If she wasn't conforming to the trends, she was setting them.

"Hello dear." the seamstress greeted as she took a seat next to the reformed teen with her lunch tray. She was in her usual mood, bright and cheerful with boat-loads of class. "I trust you have been well. I see you've managed to make a new friend as well." she chirped, looking down at the groaning heap at the base of the bleachers. She then shot Sunset a devilish look and whispered to her; "Or is he more than that."

The sudden wrongness of that thought struck the fiery-haired teen like a bolt of lightning, causing her to go tense as aboard and crush the juice box she'd been planning to enjoy. She went as red as a tomato and started waving her arms around frantically as she tried to explain.

"N-no Rarity! That's just Kurama, geez. Do you have any idea how weird that would be?!" she stuttered as she cringed like she'd just seen someone nut-meg themselves on a metal bar. She knew Rarity had never formally met or even seen Kurama in human for, but why did she have to say something so... Wrong?

While Rarity had manoeuvred in and sat next to Sunset, Applejack had just placed her own tray down on the Fashion-mad teen's other side before moving down the bleachers to check on the human incarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox spirit. He'd managed to push himself up onto his hands and knees, but had gotten no further. She jumped down to the concrete floor and arched an eyebrow at one of the two saviours of the town.

"Need a bit 'o help there pardner'?" she chuckled lightly, offering a hand to the stricken spirit. He accepted the hand up, muttering a 'thanks' as she pulled him to his feet. Once she'd gotten him upright the farm girl grinned and gave him a firm slap on the back. "Wha's the matter there Fox-boy? Eat somein' funny?"

"Luckily, no." he laughed hollowly, taking a deep breath to clear his head and suppress the nausea he got just thinking about the contents of that sandwich. "I can't actually remember the last time I ate anything... Oh gods, it's been over sixteen years since I've eaten anything..." as this dawned on him so did the hunger that had been hidden beneath all of the stress and adrenaline that had been consuming his life since he'd become the Nine-Tails. He was about to fall to the ground again out of hunger, but a voice calling out to him halted the process.

"Here." Applejack, having returned to her lunch tray, tossed him her apple. He caught it in one hand and first looked at it, then to AJ. He arched an eyebrow, unsure of whether or not he should politely refuse or just accept the kindness. "Jus' have it. Ah live on a' apple farm remember? Ah got more apples than y'all got tails."

"I would certainly hope so." Kurama chuckled, taking a hasty chunk out of the apple and slowly ascending the bleachers to join the trio. "Nine apples to an entire farm ain't exactly what I'd call a profitable produce curve." he grinned mischievously at the farm girl as he devoured the rest of apple, core and all, in his second chomp. When he reached where the three teens were sitting Rarity rose courteously and offered the Tailed-Beast her hand to shake.

"I do not believe we've been formally introduced, or even really conversed before now-" she muttered that last part to herself, hoping to make it not sound like an accusation. "- I am Juliet Rarity Belle-"

"Fashionista extraordinaire, and Clothing Queen of Canterlot High." Applejack interjected, throwing her arms out in dress maker's direction in mock praise.

"Hush." she shot back quickly before turning back to the man standing, slightly confused, before her. "-Ahem. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr Kurama." she finished her greeting with a bright, toothy smile and streched her arm out closer to him, further prompting him to take it. But for a second he did nothing except look Rarity dead in the eye, unblinking and unmoving and for a moment Sunset wondered if they even had handshakes where he came from (they certainly didn't where she came from).

But that tense second eventually passed and Kurama's stoic features were split open by a sharp toothed grin as he took her hand in his own and shook it once, with a firm grip but gentle movement.

"The pleasure's all mine, m'lady." he said with a dry, yet, friendly tone, dipping his head in a shallow bow before releasing her hand. She blushed slightly at his polite compliment and gave him the 'Oh you old charmer' wave off as she sat back down and retrieved her tray. Kurama then proceeded to take a seat next Applejack and the four lapsed into relaxed conversation about the trivial, meaningless and objectively void, yet most important things in life.





It was the dead of night and all was quiet in Vice-Principal Luna's household. Both her niece and adoptive daughter were fast asleep, the time for house parties was over and for once next-door's dog was not howling his little heart out at the moon. The first dead-silent night the sapphire-haired woman could remember experiencing since moving to the town;

"And I CAN'T fall asleep." she snarled to herself as she stumbled down the soft, carpeted stairs into the hall of her home. She'd decided to turn to one of her oldest and truest friends during long nights like these - A nice, soothing glass of warm milk with soft, gooey-centered cookies.

But as she went to turn into the open archway that lead to the kitchen she stopped, her ears twitching slightly as they picked up on a very familiar sound;

The sound of a spoon scraping the sides of a glass jar, the distinct 'clinking' echoing quietly through the dark hall way. Luna tensed up, clenching her fists and rolling her neck in preparation for what or whoever was in one of the most sacred places in her home. Is it one of the girls? she speculated to herself as she slowly went to lean her head around the corner. No, I heard Vinyl snoring and I saw Sunset in bed on my way down. Wait, Sunset's door was open? She never leaves her door open at night... she eventually got her head past the wall and peeked into the dimly lit kitchen, searching for the source of the sound.

Her eyes widened when she caught site of a tall, square-shouldered figure standing in front of her kitchen counter, clearly digging around in a jar of something judging from the fact it was the source of the noise. The outline of the figure looked a little familiar to her, but given the situation she didn't give it much thought. 

With barley a split second of hesitation she charged into the room, leapt into the air and swung a powerful kick at the figure's head. But she could tell before her attack was even thrown that she'd been out matched from the start.

The figure was about-face in an instant, one arm raised up to block her incoming strike while the other pulled back and prepared to retaliate. However, she was surprised to see in the faint moonlight, the hand didn't clench into a fist and instead remained cupped and open, as if it were holding a ball or balloon. In the palm of that hand a ball of raw power formed, huge amounts of energy spinning and rotating around like a storm vortex with a thin bubble of blue light. It was then that all became clear as the rasengan bathed the room in sea-blue light - Sunset's door being open, the fact barely a sound was made while the kitchen was plundered, the familiar outline and now this technique. The intruder was;

"Kurama?" Luna asked, stunned to see the human form of the demon-fox spirit standing there with a jar of chocolate spread in one hand, rasengan in the other and a dessert spoon in his mouth.

"Uuna?" he tried to respond, but with the metal utensil clamped between his teeth, forming coherent words was difficult. Time seemed to slow down in that moment, with Luna freezing in mid air desperately trying to redirect herself to stop from crashing into him and Kurama closed his fist around his jutsu to cancel it. Unfortunately he also dropped the arm he'd had raised in a guard moving it to catch her instead, thus allowing her still extended foot to carry on unmolested - straight into Kurama's face. Not long after that the rest of her body crashed into him, knocking him flat and leaving them both in a crumpled heap on the floor.

They lay there for some time, not only recovering from the heart-attack experience but also waiting see (or rather hear) if their commotion had woken either of the house's other two occupants. Hearing none, Luna let out a sigh of relief and rested her head against the cold tile floor beneath it.

"What are you doing down here, Fox?" she said without looking at him, keeping her eyes fixed on the blackness that consumed the ceiling above. It was needless to say that she didn't quite trust him yet, as in their two previous encounters with one another she'd shown open contempt towards him for his role in Sunset's suffering, despite the teen's constant reassurances that it wasn't his fault. It was his inability to control his own emotions that led to the major damage of the school and to the relationships of the students in it. There's a reason the phrase; 'Don't let your emotions run away with you' exists. Kurama's response was curt and to the point, as he wasn't exactly fond of her either.

"I was hungry. Came down to grab something." 

"Then why didn't you just eat dinner with the rest of us earlier?" she huffed back, folding her arms across her chest but still refusing to look him in the eye, not that doing so would be particularly easy from her position - laying diagonally across his chest.

"Didn't wanna impose." he grunted nonchalantly, turning his head to look off away from her's and into the darkened hall to his right. "I'm getting the vibe that you don't particularly like me." he looked back to her as he pointed this out and even began to sit up, shifting onto his elbows and arching an eyebrow at her. It was almost as if he was daring her to deny it. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, the vice-principal sighed and stood up, quickly striding over to the entrance of the room to flip the light switch. When she turned back to Kurama he was also on his feet and returning the jar of chocolatey goodness to its rightful place in the fridge, seemingly having given up on getting her to open up to him even slightly.

"Can you at least see my reasons for being apprehensive of you?" she asked, lowering her voice to just above a whisper and dropping her harsh tone somewhat. From what Sunset could tell her, it was clear to Luna that the being before her hadn't had the easiest time of it - the only reason he was in this world after all was because he'd died in his own, at the age of 16 no less. It was strange for her to think that he, with all of his bravado and power, was only a year her elder. When he didn't respond immediately, she walked over to the counter top and stood at his side. "You're an all-powerful demon spirit from another universe. You say you have no real goals, but how can I truly know that? You say that you'd never meaningfully bring any harm to anybody unless they gave you reason to, but I do not know what you consider a 'good enough' reason to attack somebody. You say the one who took control of Sunset and caused SO much damage to her psyche and the school has been destroyed, but..."

He looked at her when she paused, knowing what she wanted to say and wanting to interject and deny such possibilities, however, he knew doing that may only incriminate him more in her eyes. So he let her well up the courage and gather the words to speak her mind correctly, while only watching quietly, expecting an accusation.

"But what if he's not." she muttered, turning her head down but meeting his gaze with her own, allowing him to see the desperate fear in them. That one statement elicited a flinch from Kurama. He'd mulled over the possibility of Kyuubi returning many times since waking up the day before, but he'd never really feared the prospect. Maybe that was because he overestimated himself or maybe it was simply because he wasn't afraid of the consequences of the dark Fox's return would cause. Either way, seeing someone who was truly terrified of that possibility was a sharp reality-check for him. "What reassurance do I have Kurama? How can I ever be absolutely convinced, that you won't let him take control of you OR her again?"





A thunderous impact shook the very atoms of the air around what little remained of Lone-Man's island, an impact that sent Kurama flying backwards into the sea. He accomplished three surface skims before righting himself mid-air and coming to a stop on the water's surface. He brought a paw to his bruised ribs, gingerly massaging the area where Gyuki had struck him to break their flash slug-fest.

Better not take too many more of those. he noted as he rose from all-fours to stand at almost full height, fixing his gaze on his adversary and retaking combat stance. In terms of physical strength, he's clearly more powerful than me. I'm gonna have'ta rely on speed and manoeuvrability if I'm gonna have a chance at winning this. But I can't do that if I'm always worrying about squishing Sunset... This guy's really starting to piss me off.

"You always were hesitant to fight if others could get in the line of fire, weren't you O?" a low voice rumbled across the battlefield, causing two of the four fighters present to flinch, its deep pitch reverberating inside Sunset's lungs like music in an echo chamber.

"Wait! He can talk?!" she yelled as she leapt back from Vinyl and created two shadow clones to restrain her as the teen comprehended what just happened. For a moment Kurama did nothing but glare at the Eight-Tails, seemingly frozen in place by his opponent's words. The tension in the air was palpable as the two monsters stared each other down, a mad grin splitting Gyuki's features wider and wider with every passing second. But the silence was shattered and the octo-bull's smile faltered by a low chuckling emanating from the demon fox opposite him.

"Well, ya know what they say about old habits." Kurama shrugged as his laughter increased in volume and became slightly manic, his head thrown back as he laughed harder. Before long it was all that could be heard for miles around was the titanic guffaws of the massive vulpine, with even the crashing waves and shrieking wind being drowned out by it. Sunset swallowed back a lump that was forming in her throat, a physical manifestation of the fear that was growing within her.

Please don't tell me... that's Kyuubi I'm looking at... she shuddered as she took a few steps back, beginning to feel weak in the knees and slowly began to hyperventilate. Please don't tell me that monster is back, please tell me you haven't snapped, Kurama... But as the seconds ticked by, she began to lose hope as it really began to look to her like the demon they'd worked so hard to destroy was returning. As the Nine-Tails continued to roar with laughter, the Eight-Tails only watched on confused. On the one hand; this may be the perfect time to strike his opponent while he was open. But on the other; it was impossible to tell the fox's angle. What was he thinking, letting his guard down so blatantly in the middle of combat. With this in mind, he decided against attacking and instead chose to wait and see what games his opponent was playing. A question he would get an answer to very soon.

In a personality switch that would make even Two Face jump; Kurama stopped laughing, brought himself low in a flash and with his greengage eyes glowing with a triumphant glint, growled quietly;

"I mean, your just as unobservant as ever, Benedictus. NOW!" the use of his old name left the Eight-Tails stunned for a brief second, but it was enough time for Kurama to spring his trap. After he gave the signal, the water in three places around the island exploded and three full-sized, Nine-Tails clones flew up from the frothing water. Two hovered in the air either side of the Eight-Tails, their huge hands weaving a signature set of hand signs whilst they both took in a huge breath. The third hovered behind the octo-bull, holding a 'Rasen Shuriken' above his head.

It took Sunset less than a second to realise her partner's plan and suddenly found herself overcome with the irresistible urge to pelt it away from the island as fast as possible, but before she could act on this instinct Kurama appeared at her side in human form. He gripped her shoulder tightly and whispered;

"Time to go." and with that said he used his Flying Raijin to transport them away just as his three clones unleashed their joint attack

"GAIA STYLE: BRIGHT RED STAR!!" they roared as two of them unleashed their 'Blast Burn Jutsus' and the third threw his 'Rasen Shuriken'. The three attacks met right on top of the Eight-Tails, exploding and consuming his body in a hurricane of furious, red flames that burned bright as a star.





Back on the lamp lit Ponyville coastline, the five human Elements of Harmony and Maud Pie were standing in a loose circle around the tree that had come terrifyingly close to turning Applejack into an Apple Flapjack, inspecting it like investigators would a dead body at a crime scene. 

"From what I can see..." Maud began, scratching her chin as a way to stimulate brain activity. "It is clear that it has been forcefully pulled free of its foundations and hurled through the air by an immense force. So I'm guessing this is the work of your friend, correct?" she asked, turning to Pinkie as she did so but leaving the question open to any member of the group to answer."

"It's more likely Kurama did this with his full form... Remember how much damage he did to the mountain just by landing on it?" Rarity answered, prompting the group to remember that he'd flattened an entire forest just by landing in it. They all nodded in agreement as they turned their attention to all the OTHER uprooted trees that littered the beach. It was during this observation that the party planner noticed something on one of the closer trunks. So, while the rest of the group deliberated on what their next course of action should be, she approached the coconut palm and knelt down next to it. She recognised the symbol she found on the bark, and although she didn't know what it translated into, she knew what it meant.

"Hey guys. You may wanna-" she started to shout back to her companions, but she was cut off when two figures suddenly flashed into existence right in front of her face. Less than a split second after Sunset and Kurama's arrival the night was turned to day for the second time that month, by the birth of a bright red star in the distance. Burned there majestically, a crimson semi-circle sitting half-risen on the horizon, bathing the town a brilliant, blinding light. Sunset watched it burn for a few seconds before something clicked in her head, causing her to turn to the exhausted Nine-Tails with a terrified look.

"What about Vinyl? Why did you just leave her there?!" she asked pleadingly, standing up and looking down at the bijuu who was now slumped against the tree he'd teleported to. He looked up at her but didn't answer. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, preparing to lay into him for acting like a jackass when she was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out to her with the answer she sought.

"Don't worry Sunset, I got her here." called a Kurama clone from Vinyl's car, holding the limp DJ propped up against himself. The fiery haired teen gasped with joy and sprinted over to the two with most of her friends in tow, while Maud and Applejack made their way over to the original Tailed-Beast. When Sunset reached the two she immediately began looking her sister over, searching for any serious cuts, burns or surface breaks and was relieved when she eventually found none. "She's probably gonna be unconscious for a while now, I had to knock her out before getting her outta there. Oh and speaking of getting out of places, your clones probably ain't gonna be very happy with you when you next summon them." the clone chuckled as he laid the prone DJ down on the back seat of her own car. The Nine-Tails jinchuuriki looked at him and arched an eyebrow at this statement, clearly confused. Firstly, if it were that easy why didn't Kurama just restrain her and knock her out to begin with? But as pressing as that issues seemed in her head, she decided to address the clone issue first.

"What're you talking about?"

"Well, we clones are technically alive ya know. We don't just stop existing when our jutsu is released." he explained plainly, wandering over to the original and prompting her to follow him, with her begrudgingly agreeing to but only after being assured by Fluttershy that her adoptive sibling was going to be okay. "When you summon, say, just one clone. That clone will almost always be the same one, unless they are already in existence."

"So wait." the teen said while raising her hands, indicating him to slow down a little as this was a little much push upon her, especially given their current situation. "You're saying that if I were to create two clones now, they'd be the exact same pair who just got blown up on the island?"

"Yep." the original Kurama replied simply, slowly getting to his feet with the aid of the apple farmer and young geologist. "They'll also be the most talkative and most willing to offer their opinions, even if you don't ask them for it." he said that last part whilst shooting his own clone a glare, obviously accusing him of doing just that. The clone merely shrugged and grinned, unable to deny the claim.

"The more you summon them and the longer they are summoned for, the more alive they will become. For example, I act very freely because I spent a very long time training in single combat with Kurama. I am also the one who helped you with that Oodama Rasengan, you're welcome for that by the way." he rounded off with a pleasant smile mixed with a certain amount of smugness. Sunset opened her mouth to point that out but the original Kurama cut her off;

"This is no time to act smug ya know. He's here." he said grimly as he brought himself up to full height and pushed AJ and Maud behind him. As if on cue, the turbulent surf was broken by a humanoid figure pulling itself free of the waves. It clambered up the beach on all fours before stopping around four metres from the forward group, panting on his hands and knees like a dog that had just competed in a triathlon. When he eventually rose, it was with a pace similar to that of a zombie rising from its grave - painfully slow.

When he finally rose to his full height, he fixed a wrathful glare on Kurama with his wide, disc-like eyes - although they were no longer consumed by a sickly green and were now completely white, pupil-less orbs. His freckled features were split open by a snarling grin and his fingers were clawing at the air but not clenched, emulating the holding of a roundish object - maybe a stress ball or... a beating heart.

"Well played Oscar..." Benedictus drawled, his voice still raspy and gravelled as if he hadn't used it in a long while. Most of the girls were confused at his statement, some of them even looking around confusedly and Rainbow even uttered a quiet 'Who's Oscar?' to Pinkie, who could only shrug as she was just as confused. Sunset was the only one there with a slight inkling of an idea as to who this 'Oscar' was and she looked to her partner seeking confirmation but he was standing too far forward for her to see his face.

"But play time's over now..."
> I Don't Want To Fight You... Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Third Person POV)

The two Tailed Beasts in human form launched forward, closing the gap between them in an instant and moving to strike. Gyuki swung first and, in his beaten and weary state, Kurama was unable to dodge in time - taking the punch straight in the cheek. The hit was accompanied by a powerful shock wave and a slight electrical charge filled the air. But, despite the power of the attack, Kurama was unmoved. With a fist still firmly placed on his face, he swung a hook straight into his foe's side - a second, rather warm shock wave filling the air as it landed.

Gyuki was sent skidding back a few feet, but otherwise seemed unfazed as Kurama charged in again. The charge was met with another punch, which the Demon Fox Spirit, again, took straight in the side of the face. Once more he continued his own assault unabashed, retaliating with another hook - this time sending it straight to his opponent's jaw. This time, Gyuki gained air, spiralling away for several yards before landing, just about, on his feet. The Fox was barrelling back at him again when he looked up-

"Stop!" he growled as he brought his arm across his chest to catch his enemy's punch, stopping him dead this time. Triumphantly he raised the other arm and brought its fist crashing down against the back of Kurama's head. He was forced onto one knee by the first hit, while the second drove his face into the sand. Gyuki grinned as he raised his fist to strike a third time, pleased at the situation he'd caught the other Tailed Beast in.

"No, YOU!" Kurama roared, loosing his other fist in a straight punch into the other man's gut. The Eight Tails once again was sent tearing down the beach, his grip lost on his opponent when the shot into his solar plexus left his body temporarily paralysed. But he still kept his footing, eventually coming to a stop a hundred or so yards from the focus of his anger.

"STOP!!" he said again, this time at a far greater volume and with significantly less patience. Why does this always happen?! he internally despaired as he watched the other monster rise from the ground and fix him with a, frankly, rather bored look. That same damn look he always gives me. "Is this not exciting enough for you?!" he thundered, his fury barely hiding the utter defeat he felt. "AM I STILL NOT WORTH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE?!"

Kurama's look of general indifference broke a little at that, creasing into a confused stare. He remained silent, however, keeping his curiosity internal. This only infuriated the other man further.

"THIS IS A FIGHT TO THE DEATH! AT LEAST ACT LIKE IT IS!" Gyuki's howl shook the very air, before he launched himself down the beach at the shorter man. The Fox responded in kind, setting off to meet the storming Octo-bull with an Earth shaking kick off. So that's what this is about he thought as he flew through the air towards the moving mountain that was his opponent, a certain calmness settling over his mind as everything came into perspective.

He recalled his brief conversation with The Voice in the darkness and his birth into the other world. When he was dropped into Canterlot all those years ago, he had been consumed by rage - blind anger at anything and everything he saw. This was the entity he called Kyuubi, a conscious manifestation of all of his anger, hatred and fury.

You have a 'Kyuubi' of your own, don't you Benedictus? 'Hachibi' is in control of you now. It was all clear to him now. The Voice had dropped his friend here, and placed this Hachibi at the helm - an entity born of jealousy, frustration and feelings of inadequacy. "I want you to fight me seriously!" images of the past flashed in his mind's eye as they closed on one another, giving him the answer he needed to end this madness. I guess Day Break was right, I really need to take a look at those memory-tree things when this is over.

The Eight-Tails was coming in fully guarded, summoning a cloak of lighting around his right arm and raising his left arm up to protect his face and upper body from retaliation. Kurama, on the other hand, was coming in completely open - his right fist raised and ready to punch, while his left simply remained at his side. 

"DIE!" the larger man roared, planting his foot and throwing all of his weight and strength into his punch. It covered the mere  few feet of distance that separated them in moments, quickly honing in on his weakened foe's uncovered face. "THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR UNDERESTIMATING ME FOR ALL THESE YEARS!!" his last victorious cry came with his electrified attack precious millimetres from impact - split seconds from the victory he'd been yearning for ever since he'd met the hot tempered boy. 

But, as he stood on the cusp - the precipice - of achieving his childhood goal, something happened that he just couldn't believe. Time seemed to slow around them, as he watched Kurama tilt his head off to one side and out of the path of the encroaching strike. Then the typically bored, tired and overall apathetic look that regularly adorned the Fox's face disappeared - hardening into a fierce glare. His dulled, emerald-green eyes flashed bright before changing colour entirely to a fiery red.

"You're right, old friend."  Kurama said quietly, a touch of feral heat edging into his voice as he suddenly surged forward. Weaving inside his opponent's arm, the furious arcs of lighting desperately clawing at his face as he leaned into his own counter strike. His right arm swung back further as he clenched his left fist and brought it in close to his side. He planted his right foot hard into the ground and in a blinding flurry of movement - sent his left fist flying straight in under Eight-Tails' arm and into his exposed side. "Play time is over now."

A resounding *CRUNCH* echoed around the surrounding area, signalling the immediate failure of his ribs to stand against the force of impact. The girls positioned at the beach car park winced collectively, feeling the sound run through their bodies almost as if they were the ones who'd been hit. The force of the punch was even sufficient enough to lift the solid, block-like frame of Hachibi's human body clean off the ground, although not enough to send him tumbling away. The suddenly airborne Tailed-Beast let out a snarling cough as he left the ground, desperately holding back a cry of pain as his bones buckled.

"Damn..." he coughed out, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth as the intense fires of despair and defiance flooded his mind. "No! I refuse to beaten by such a cheap trick!" as those pained words left his lips, he threw his left arm out wide - sending a blinding current of electricity charging through it and preparing to strike back. "I WON'T BE BEATEN BY SUCH A WEAK PUNCH!"

"I know you won't." the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit stated firmly, his eyes still burning crimson and gaze set in a powerful, determined scowl. "But that's because..." as he spoke, his right hand - still balled into a tight fist - began to steam in the cool night air. "I HAVEN'T PUT MY BACK INTO IT YET!"





Xeno-Terra, Some Sixteen Years Ago
(Kurama/Oscar's POV)

I steadily rose to my feet, dusting myself off after a particularly patience-testing spar with Benedictus - scowling when I discovered a sizeable burn in the shoulder pad of my Academy blazer. I was less miffed about the damage itself and more annoyed about the grilling I was gonna get for it upon arriving at the Academy.

"Seriously dude?!" I'd woken up early that day to humour a request my friend had made of me the day before; to fight him, no holds barred, no holding back. But hold back I did, as I always did. "Just because I'm durable enough to take lightning bolts, doesn't mean that my clothes are!" I exclaimed exasperatedly at him as he rose from where he'd been kneeling on the ground, recovering from the gut punch that I'd used to end the bout.

"Dammit, Oscar!" he shouted at me, giving me a full glare when he'd risen enough for his eyes to be visible from under under his mop of messy, brown hair. I couldn't help but be shocked, not by the shout or the glare, but by the small tears forming at the corners of his eyes. I didn't hit him that hard, did I? I thought, a wave of fear washing through my body as I pondered the possibility.

"Are you okay?" I asked hurriedly, rushing up to my best friend and attempting to check him over. "I didn't over do it, did I?! Anything broken?! Internal bleeding?! Ruptured organs?!!!"

"NO, Oscar!" he harshly batted my hand away and began to climb up the grassy incline that bordered the field we'd been fighting in. "You didn't over do it. And that's the problem."

"... huh?" was all I could manage as my brain attempted to comprehend what my ears had just heard. "Sooo... you want ruptured organs..?" I'd often been called a very dense person, by many people and this moment was a fine example of their opinion being justified - since, looking back, that was obviously not what he wanted.

"I want you to fight me seriously! Why do you think I said, repeatedly, that you shouldn't hold back?!" he yelled from the road at the top of the bank, before stomping off in the direction of the town. I quickly took off after him, spluttering weak retorts as I went;

"I-I was... being... serious..." was all I could manage by the time I'd caught up with him. As I did reach him he stopped dead in his tracks and turned sharply, glowering down at me from his several inches of additional height. It wasn't a threatening sight in itself, I'd stood up to people almost twice my height before then, but the fact that Benedictus was annoyed was something to be, at the very least, aware of. "... ish..."

In response to my less than convincing defence, he simply huffed and turned away - walking off to sit back on the grass bank. I joined him, seeing as the Sky Barge to the Academy wouldn't be arriving for another two hours and I had time to kill before the sun rose and my family woke up. That and I cared deeply about my friend and wanted to help ease his troubles, of course. He didn't speak when I took a seat next to him, instead he continued to stare at the horizon - where the clouds were sheathed in a distinct golden glow, foreshadowing the sun's immanent arrival.

"So I didn't get serious... like I promised..." I began awkwardly, revving the motor on my addled brain as hard as possible, attempting to coax some better words out of it than that. His feedback on my opener was appropriate, a solid glare and a; 

"Try again."

"Okay, what do you expect from a 'serious fight'?"

"I expect you to be coming at me with red eyes and flaming fists! I expect you to act like you're fighting me for real! I expect to be fighting the 'Red Terror', not Oscar - the kid who has no interest in DOING ANYTHING!!" his final out burst did cause me to flinch a bit, leaning away from him as he flailed his arms about and threw his feelings at me like a sock full of change.

"I... see." my reply was very lacklustre in comparison, coming out hollow and quiet in comparison to my friend's seething, emotional shouts. 

I'd lost my fire - it had gone out years ago, blown out by the harsh rigours of life. And with it, went my powers. I could no longer summon a cloak of flames to cover my arms or light a stove with my bare hands. I couldn't even warm my hands with my power anymore - it had left me completely. And serious fights were part of the reason.

"You know my fire is dangerous." I said flatly, leaning back in the grass to stare at the portion of the sky above that was still mostly dark. I hadn't told anyone that my fire had gone out, at first it was to maintain my 'Tough Kid' image, but after a while I started hiding it to stop others from worrying. I hated being fussed over. "Or don't you remember when I burned down a corn field and hospitalised three people?"

"But-" Benedictus started, standing up to get back into my line of sight and attempting to argue - but I waved him off in a nonchalant fashion, desperately trying to get him to drop the topic.

"And my eyes only go red when I'm mad. Ya know, on the verge of bashing someone's head in levels of mad."

"I need to prove something to myself, Oscar!" he eventually yelled losing his cool yet again, opening his mind and heart to spill his thoughts and feelings into the world. "Pretty much my entire Academy life, you've been standing up FOR me! I've always been too weak or too placid to defend myself and I'm sick of it! To prove to myself that I'm not worthless, I need to face you at your best!"

"And win?"

"Not necessarily... I just need to see how I do. I've got a pretty good idea of where everyone stands when compared to you, so how long I can stay standing and what I can do in return will help me to... to..." he trailed off, seemingly either losing his train of thought or he'd run out of words to best express it. I rose to my feet slowly and with a lethargic sigh, the weight of the waking world already pressing heavily on me, despite the fact it wasn't even seven in the morning yet.

"I'm not gonna use my fire against you." I asserted, fixing him dead in the eyes with a steely look. "The phrase 'Don't play with fire was invented for a reason, ya know." he seemed to sag a bit at that, but I didn't give him a chance to complain. "However, if you can do better than me in the exam today - then, and only then, I will give you a full on fight. Red eyes and everything."

"What?! That's bull!" he exclaimed, although his expression clearly brightened a bit at the prospect of getting another chance to brawl it out. "And I thought you said you only got red eyed when you're mad?"

"Hey, if you can beat me in a Tornadic Language paper that's plenty enough reason to be annoyed with you, considering it's what I'm meant to be good at." I laughed, clapping him firmly on the shoulder in an attempt to get the feeling to spread. It worked and soon enough he was laughing along with me, as we made our way back onto the road and prepared to split ways - him heading back to his home in Gale's Town and me to mine on the forest outskirts. "And 'sides, life has given me plenty to be annoyed about recently anyway."

"So, see ya on the barge?" he asked, his typical friendly and upbeat personality shining back through.

"Well, I haven't miraculously sprouted wings recently... sooooo yes."





"YOU WANT MY FIRE?!" I roared, my fist catching alight and casting a halo of light across my vision while the chakra that was holding my form together began to wane. Planting my left foot hard, while pushing off my right, I began to lunge in for my final strike.

My transformed best friend attempted to stop me, throwing his left arm forward and launching a lighting bolt straight into my chest. The pain was excruciating, wracking and consuming my body in terrible contortions - leaving me lightly smoking and bleeding from my nose. But I pressed onward, undeterred.

"YOU WANT SERIOUS?! YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU STAND?!" I hurled my fist at him, pitching it into his gut and letting my fire run rampant. But I didn't completely extend my arm.

"PHOENIX-!!!" at the moment of impact, I pushed off once again with my right foot throwing my whole body over and forward. As I leaned in, my arm folded back - maintaining its position but altering its angle of attack downwards.

"DRIVER!!" I yelled, completing my strike with an earthshaking downward punch, the roaring flame surrounding my arm exploded and evolved into a raging inferno that all but completely consumed my vision. Hachibi was planted firmly into the bedrock below the beach while the sand around us turned to glass under the heat. The air pressure from the punch created great whipping storms of grit and pebbles, the flames incinerated the surrounding trees and the force of the ground collision shook the entire town from top to bottom.

"You're one of the strongest people I've ever met." as I said those words, I felt as if a great weight had been suddenly removed from my shoulders. I suppose I should have told him that a while ago... was all I could force out of my brain as reasoning - before my body gave out entirely and I was plunged into darkness for the third time that fortnight.





(Third Person POV)

It took a grand total of only thirty seconds for Kurama to land his two devastating blows on Gyuki and Sunset had found herself unable to move or look away as the brief melee unfolded. Or at least that was the case until the after effects of the last hit kicked in. She, along with all of her companions, was blown off her feet by the huge blast of searing air erupting forth from the mighty column of fire that sprang up from the impact zone. She kept her eyes on the mighty spectacle for as long as she could, marvelled by its bestial ferocity and stunned by its destructive beauty. It twisted and writhed in the air like a frenzied predator, snapping at the dark sky and clouds above as if it were trying to strike them down.

But before long she was forced to shut her eyes as the heat became even more intense and as a barrage of sand and soot was thrown against her. She reeled away from the onslaught as she continued to tumble through the air, eventually coming to a stumbling landing on the soft sand some two hundred yards from where she had been standing. She ended up laying flat on her back and staring at the late evening sky, the column of raging heat having already made its leave - leaving only the faint glow of a few smouldering trees to cast dim illumination onto the surrounding area. All she could manage was to stare dumbly at the flickering stars as her friends started landing around her, with "oofs" and "ouchs" as they thudded down onto the relatively soft sand. A particularly heavy sounding *thud* indicated the arrival of someone close to Sunset and after only a few seconds of silence a distinctive country accented voice intoned flatly;

"Welp... at least Ah'm not wet 'nymore."

"Yeah..." the fiery-haired teen agreed, sitting up slowly and quickly observing the calamity around her before turning to look at the farm girl laying near her. AppleJack was wearing a dusty, brown long-coat over her typical attire, to protect her damp self from the chills. Her famous stetson had been displaced from her head by the blast, but just as Sunset was about to go search for it for her, she spotted it hanging from a nearby signpost. "Found your hat." she chuckled a bit and pointed out the vagabond hat.

"Ah'll... grab it in a sec." the middle Apple child groaned as she sat up and rubbed her aching neck, shaking some sand out her hair before standing up. She turned to face the Jinchuuriki and offered her a hand up, but she maintained a straight serious face as she did so. "First, we need ta talk 'bout what in the hay jus' happened."

"Girls!" Rarity called out from nearby, her voice riddled with distress. When Sunset and AJ looked over, both then had to immediately averted their gaze as their eyes clapped sight on the young fashionista sitting stark naked in the sand. "I appear to have misplaced my towel..."

"Oh crud. Here Rarity, have mah coat." AppleJack quickly offered, dashing over to her exposed friend and draping the old item over her. The ex-Equestrian smiled as she watched the normally stoic apple farmer helping her friend while completely flushed and trying not to look at her modesty. She was about to go over to help cover the alabaster skinned girl when she felt something poking her shoulder. She turned and instantly went red as a beet when she caught sight of the also towel-less Rainbow Dash. The young athlete chuckled nervously as she looked up at the form of the girl she had hated only a few weeks ago.

"Hehe... think you could spare a jacket?" Sunset Shimmer wasted no time in removing her leather jacket and quickly enclosed her upper body in it. Unfortunately it was far too short to cover all of her friend's 'assets', so she quickly ushered her over to Vinyl's car, dug out her far longer winter puffer coat and hung that over her as well.

"Feeling better?" she asked the multi-coloured teen, offering her a sincere smile - which still felt a bit alien on her face even now. Dash nodded, returning the smile with a small grin but not saying anything just yet. "Are you sure Rainbow? I don't want to walk away thinking you're okay, just to find out tomorrow you got hypothermia or frostbite or something."

"... I-" the cyan coloured girl began, struggling with words as a battle of expressions on her face symbolised the war of thoughts being waged in her mind. Sunset cocked a curious eyebrow as she watched the human Element of Loyalty physically fight herself to speak her mind. "I guess this means we owe ya two now." she eventually sighed, looking off towards the sea to avoid making eye contact with the Jinchuuriki. Sunset's only responses to that was a befuddled look and a blunt;

"Huh?"

"Well, first you literally fight yourself to protect the school. And now you've saved the entire town from another rampaging monster."

"Please." the praised teen half-scoffed-half-laughed, looking off at the not so distant Ponyville wistfully. "What happened at the school was my fault to begin with, I was fixing my own mistake and deserve no praise for it. And I didn't really do anything here... It was Kurama who stopped the Eight-Tails, all I did was get in his way." Rainbow was silent for a short while after that, staring rather blankly at the reformed side of the monster she'd known from before. Then, inexplicably, a wide grin suddenly split her face.

"I guess that makes us even then."

"It... does?" Sunset blinked at the athletic teen, more than a little bit surprised. Rainbow had, by far, been the one to give her the widest birth following the 'incident' - all but avoiding her completely. Not that she blamed her for that, especially considering how often she'd used her feminine appeal to manipulate the male athletes to obey her every whim.

"Yep." Rainbow continued to grin, seemingly unabashed by the past and by the fact that she was standing around in naught but a pair of coats on a beach in the early hours of the night, a stark change when compared to how she was acting before. She'd perked right back up from meek and trembling to her normal self in less than ten seconds flat. "Means I don't have to hold back now."

"Hold... back?" Sunset asked slowly, stumbling around mentally trying to track down the other teen's train of thought - failing of course.

"From here on out I'm gonna challenge you to something everyday!"

"H-Huh?" What in the heck is she talking about?!

"Listen, I'm gonna level with ya here." Rainbow finally began her explanation, clapping both hands firmly onto the other girl's shoulders. "After AJ... maybe, you're probably the most physically fit person I know - you can jump clear onto the roofs of building's for cryin' out loud! So, ever since the Fall Formal, I've been dying to compete with ya!"

"I... see. So... why are you waiting until now to talk to me about this? Ya know, instead of literally any other time in the last week?"

"Twilight said to take it easy on you." the multicoloured athlete said bluntly, clearly clueless as to what the otherworldly princess had meant when she'd said that. "I normally wouldn't listen, but since ya saved... everything I know, I figured I would and gave ya some space." Sunset had spent past the week killing for more positive interaction, a chance to maybe redeem herself in a few eyes, and as it turned out Rainbow had been keeping herself from doing exactly that.

+Funny how the world works+ a deep voice rumbled within her skull, that she failed to notice as Rainbow brought her face within inches of Sunset's and grinned fanatically.

"But now we're officially even. First thing after school tomorrow, you and me, on the running track."

"It's Saturday tomorrow Rainbow." came Shimmer's level response, although her deadpan expression soon broke under the force of the smile that was trying to break onto her face.

"Even better!" Rainbow grinned, throwing her arms out wide - accidentally throwing off the coats as she did so, exposing her to the cool sea breezes again. She instantly drooped and curled into herself, both to prevent as much heat loss as possible, but also to cover her modesty. 

Seems that even the infinitely confident Rainbow Dash isn't immune to embarrassment. Sunset thought to herself, re-enclosing her new 'rival' in the coats once more and standing her up."How about we leave it until Monday, Rainbow? I'm kinda sore... everywhere at the moment."

"Yeah... so... Monday after school?"

"Sure thing. I think it would be best if you got in the car now, before you freeze."

"That'd probably be smart, huh?" the athlete chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck and going to open the door to Vinyl's car. "Oh, wait a sec. My friends call me Dash, 'Rainbow' is kinda... too obvious... if ya get what I mean."

"R-right. Right! Okay, so Monday then, Dash?"

"Monday, and be prepared to be amazed by my shear awesomeness."

Satisfied with that, the fiery teen smiled at her official friend before she looked back in the direction of the other girls, seeing AJ and Fluttershy huddled around and supporting the all but stark Rarity back to Maud's car. The two Pie sisters were far from the others, crouching around on the sand not too far from the edge of the crater made by Kurama's punch. Maud was using a chunk of tree bark to prod at a piece of the sand glass created by the heat - muttering about chemical compositions and impact forces.

"What're ya thinking sis?" Pinkie asked, her voice unusually calm and quiet as her mind processed things seriously for the first time since moving off her parents' 'Rock Farm'.

"I think..." the dour teen began, rising to her full height and throwing her prodding instrument away. "You've made some rather dangerous friends Pinkie."





(Kurama's POV)

A tense silence filled the air as I stood in the back yard of Luna's home, with the woman herself lancing a dragon-slaying scowl into me. The ride back here had been fairly uneventful, with the only conversations being had were a brief one about who should drive Vinyl's car while she was unconscious (Applejack) and a very one-sided one where Sunset all but insisted that the other girls stay over here for the night as a form of apology.

Luna had absolutely no objections, even before we told her the whole story, she was adamant that no student of hers would be turned away on such a cold Autumn night. This by no means meant that she was happy about what had happened - in fact, at the moment, I'd say she looks down right livid.

"Anything to say for yourself?" she hissed, her fury barely contained behind her grinding teeth.

"Only that I'm sorry for what happened and that this sorta thing will happen again." I sighed, leaning against the cool brick of the house's exterior. While this body was completely injury free and stocked full of chakra from within the seal, my mind was still worn out to the point where just holding myself upright was a chore. Apparently one that I couldn't do, even with the wall's help, resulting in me slumping down it with all the grace of a landslide. Luna didn't take this as a reason to relent however, leaning her face in right on down to my level - leaving her baleful glare precious inches away from my own face.

"Care to run that by me again?" she said in the classic 'calm voiced teacher' routine, her even tone a complete contrast with her internal rage. It failed to have the effect she desired though, as instead of withering into a stammering mess under it I simply sighed again before meeting her gaze steadily and spoke without falter.

"It's pretty clear to me that I'm not the only person from my world to be sent here. There are nine Tailed Beasts of Legend and I don't believe that whatever sent us here is gonna stop at just two."

"How can you be sure it's not just a coincidence?"

"Because that's not how Legends work."
> A Return To The Familiar... Somewhat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Third Person POV)

"So... uh... sorry." Sunset Shimmer began awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck as she tried to avoid eye contact with any of the seven people positioned all around the modest living room of her guardian's home. It was a large room at the front  of the house, directly on the left of the front door when one enters the building. While not exactly lavish, it was homey - illuminated by a number of cosy wall lamps and centred around two modular couches and three lavish armchairs, evidently perfect for hosting a complete posse of probing people. "For making you worry... and stuff..."

"For making me worry?" Luna's voice was like a blade of ice when she spoke, cutting deep into all present and chilling them straight to the bone. It was little wonder why she was such an effective teacher, you couldn't even listen to her speak without shivering let alone try and speak over her or goof off. "You absolutely terri-"

Kurama decided to stop listening after that point, closing himself off from Sunset's senses and resting his chin on his paws - she'd already chewed him out plenty enough and he had no interest in a repeat of the experience. Instead, he reached beyond the fiery teen and sought for another mind. A sleeping mind. Let's see how they're doing in there he thought idly as he used his chakra to search the room for what he sought. Luckily the close proximity of Vinyl's sleeping form made finding her unconscious mind easier and before long his scenery began to shift, the calmness of his lake and cave fading away and being consumed by bright light and plenty of green.

From what he could discern, the 'inside' of a Jinchuuriki's seal was an amalgamation of several rather obscure things. It reflected both the prison's and the prisoner's current mindsets. For example, in Sunset's youth it had looked a lot like the basement of a prison from a horror movie - representing her feeling of being a monster and his feelings of being a prisoner. However, since it was also just a construct of magic, it was also malleable to an extent - which was why the cave in Sunset's seal was there, simply because she put it there.

His last observation of the 'Seal Space' as he called it, was its rather odd connection with memories. Atop his 'home' there grew a tree, it wasn't particularly impressive - a simple oak, maybe only a few decades old. But it was familiar to Kurama, for it was the tree that had been planted by his family when he was born. Its presence was both obvious and a complete mystery to him, it was obviously one of his most treasured items but it was also a world away now and sixteen years older than it had been when he'd last seen it. This too had an obvious but equally mysterious answer, it was older because he was older. However he only knew its sixteen year old appearance and younger, so how could his mind conjure up an image of a thirty two year old tree he'd never seen?

He shook off his ponderings as the world around him finally came into focus. Hazy green splodges became fine needles, blank, brown towers became trunks covered in bark and a painful, high-pitch whistling became melodic bird song. It was a pleasant space, a peaceful pine forest standing proud under the light of a sun that didn't exist. At his full size, Kurama towered over everything - the trees rustling harmlessly against the thick fur of his wrists and ankles, cool river water barely even elicited sensation on the base of his left foot. At least he towered over almost everything.

Blocking his view of the horizon's curve directly ahead was a dense collection of far taller trees, absolutely behemoth flora that stood far taller than him and, if anything, looked a tad more imposing. Their colossal trunks were wider than he was while their immense branches were longer than his tails. They also appeared to be curved, bending inwards on each other and forming a dome of thick green pines. Like a birdcage... his thoughts echoed through the world around him, prompting a rather abrupt scream from something on the forest floor below. By angling his snout downwards Kurama was able to spot the sound's origin, unsurprisingly it was a tiny person - with alabaster skin, neon blue hair and shockingly scarlet irises.

"Oh Faust." he heard her words as clearly as if she'd been standing right in his ear and couldn't help but smile as she began to approach him at a sprint. In a great explosion of smoke his titanic fox form disappeared, leaving a scruffy-shirt clad man in its place. Vinyl covered the distance between them in very little time at all, reality seemingly bending around them to make the gap smaller. Upon getting within a few feet of him she catapulted herself into a bone breaking hug, almost knocking him off his feet and leaving him rather bewildered as he awkwardly accepted what was happening.

"Ah, okay, we're hugging now..." he forced the chuckle out gracelessly, like a ham through a wood chipper, it was easy to get through but the result wasn't pretty. He gave her a few stiff pats on the back before she eventually let go and stepped away,  grinning at him.

"Hehe. Sorry 'bout that Kurama." the new Jinchuuriki continued to smile as she apologised, clearly just happy to have the company. "I've kinda just been sitting here, alone, for ages. Seriously, you're the first person I've seen in..." she paused as what she was saying was processed by her brain, causing her smile to fall from her face and her pupils to dilate as a horrifying prospect suddenly dawned upon her. "I don't even know how long! How long have I been out?! What happened to the crazy wizard guy?! And The Eight-Tails?! Is Sunset okay?! Please tell me she's okay!"

"Relax, relax." he reassured, waving his hands lightly at her to try and calm her down. "Everyone's okay, no one died... 'cept maybe an island's worth of jungle creatures... and maybe a hermit." he let out another slight chuckle, slightly more nervous than the first, as he realised that he had no idea what had become of the mind controlling whack-job that instigated this entire mess.

"Just as important as all that, it's good to see that you're still in here." he smiled a genuine smile as he said that, glad to see she was alright on the mental front and not slaved to a malignant intelligence - although he would be keeping a sharp eye out for any such force, in light of the 'Kyuubi - Sundown Incident'.

"Thanks, Kurama. Glad to see that you're okay too." her smile returned at that and she let out a sigh of relief as flopped, spread eagle, onto her back.

They lay and stood, respectively, in silence for a little after that, letting Vinyl revel in the knowledge that her family was safe and allowing Kurama to take in the sight of the gigantic cage of trees standing not too far from them. He narrowed his eyes at the immense construct, one of the teen's questions sticking out in his mind as he glared at it.

"And I think you know what happened to the Eight-Tails." his voice had a dark edge to it as he spoke, aligning well with his scowl and slightly bared teeth. She followed his gaze and once again her face fell, but into a more neutral expression this time. They kept their eyes locked on the cage for some time before the DJ pulled her stare away and returned it to what was directly above.

"I was kinda hoping that this was all just a dream..." she whispered grimly, gazing into the bright, skyless sky wistfully. Her mind was filled with hundreds of nagging questions and screaming worries. What's gonna happen now? Will I be stuck with this monster forever? Will he try and take me over like before? IS HE GONNA TRY AND STEAL MY SOUL?!. Kurama also looked away and turned to face her, kneeling down at her feet. He did nothing immediately, other than stare blankly at her. "What?"

"Nope."

"... Come again?" Vinyl blinked in confusion at the fox-man's statement, her racing mind tripping over itself as it tried to wrap itself around the simple input of information.

"It ain't a dream. On toppa' that, the path ahead of ya is gonna be rocky, winding and long." there was a foreboding sense of finality in the way he spoke, a grim tone that sent a chilling wave through the one listening. His expression and posture matched the tone, his face creased by a thoughtful grimace that showed off his overly long canines - while his back was straightened out of its usual slouch and his shoulders were squared. "It ain't gonna be easy Vinyl..."

"But..." in the space of a word everything about him changed. He relaxed, the tension in his neck and collar simply melted away, his eyelids fell back to half-open, his brow uncreased and his snarl was suddenly upturned into a lazy grin. "At least now you got a life partner around for the road, that's good right?"

Before Vinyl could respond, he changed again and cut her off - his grin bleeding off into a sincere smile. "He's a great guy, he was just a bit... mind controlled before." all the teen offered him as a response was a blank deadpan stare, unconvinced. "Please just give him a chance, he's probably just as scared and confused as you are right now."

"Why? What makes him so trust worthy in your eyes?" in stark contrast to Kurama, Vinyl's expression had remained entirely fixed in a neutral stare during this part of their conversation, stoically analysing the situation rather than openly reacting to everything as she normally did.

"Well, he did save my life..."





Luna was asleep. So was almost everyone else in the room for that matter. The vice-principal's five minute rant about responsibility and recklessness had been too much for the group of teens and even Luna herself and after she'd finished they'd all nodded off in quick succession - collapsing onto the selection of couches haphazardly and falling asleep.

Luna herself had promptly passed out upon finishing and had fallen onto Sunset, who had then fallen asleep before she could pry her foster mother off herself. Vinyl's sleeping form had been laying near the fiery haired teen when this had occurred and thus had gotten tangled up in her aunt's and adoptive sibling's limbs as the latter had been trying to free herself - the result of this being the family of three turning into a crazed mess of quiet mumbling and snoring that took up one of the two couches almost entirely.

Pinkie Pie had been able to force out a single explosive laugh at the sight, before she too fell straight to sleep against her already snoozing sister - laying onto Maud's upright form as the older girl kept herself propped up on the arm of the couch that the five had been inhabiting.

Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy claimed the second couch, the former sprawled out over her armrest and snoring loudly, the latter stretched out between the middle seat and Dash's - her head resting on a pillow that the athlete had been using to keep her legs warm. Both she and Rarity had been provided with clothes, but because of the former's short, lithe stature the only thing that they had in the house that fit her without dragging along the floor were shorts.

The same could not be said of Rarity, who was around the same height as Sunset and thus had been able to fit quite comfortably into a pair of joggers that she only kept for sick days - spent lounging around the house, watching TV and sipping soup. The Fashionista had curled up against her own armrest and was now snoring quietly into a cushion, occasionally mumbling about fabrics and "Fabulous new shirts". The sight made Applejack smile as she draped a blanket over the last of her uncovered friends (and teacher).

She was the last one up, although only just. She took a step back to take in the sight of her recently re-acquired friends sleeping peacefully against one another.

"I can see why Sunset says you're the 'Big Sister' type." the sudden voice cutting through the peaceful silence, regardless of how quiet its owner was trying to be, almost made the farm girl jump clean out of her skin. She whirled around to face the source of the voice and had to do a double take when she caught sight of a pint-sized, dark-orange, multi tailed fox sitting on one of the armchairs. "Oh come on, I'm not that scary, am I?" the tiny terror grinned slyly, his voice seemingly just emanating off him, rather than pronounced from his mouth.

"Can ya blame me?" Applejack sighed, the fright tension leaving her muscles with the breath, as she slumped into the neighbouring chair like a section of falling cliff. She was exhausted, there was too much excitement going on in her life at the moment and she wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week at this point. There was a faint *poof* from the chair on her left and when she looked over to it with the lethargic pace of a tectonic event, she found Kurama's human form staring sympathetically back at her.

"Not really. I must admit, I'd be pretty afraid of me too..." he chuckled, turning away to stare at his hands - observing the way they still trembled slightly, feeling how warm they were.

"Ya 'fraid of yer power? Or somethin' more along the lines o'... bein' afraid that one day ya won' be?" the middle Apple child was surprisingly sharp, refreshingly so even. Sunset was constantly dealing with her own issues, so Kurama rarely got to discuss his own with anyone - for fear of pressing his Jinchuuriki even further into dispair. If she couldn't rely on him to be her 'rock' then who could she?

But, despite how much he wanted to, Kurama didn't bite onto AJ's probing questions - instead choosing to clench his fists, lean into the armchair's soft embrace and bottle everything back up. He'd deal with it later.

"It's nothin', just pointless fretting over nothing." he sighed, releasing his built up tension just as his current companion had. They sat in silence after that, Applejack simply shrugging in response to Kurama's dismissal of his own trouble and going back to simply enjoying the comfort the armchair provided.

"Ya know..." the farm girl was the first to break the almost-quiet (Rainbow was snoring like a walrus with sinus problems), her country drawl further accentuated by how tired she was. "If ya'llre bored in the day, mah Pa could always use an extra pair o' hands on the farm. 'Specially a pair that know... wha... they're... doin..."

With that she too was out like a light and the room returned to relative silence - excepting for a certain athlete's obnoxious snoring. Kurama was left pondering the Apple's last words, before she'd ventured off to dreamland, and found himself strangely drawn to the idea. Granted, he had never worked on a farm before, nor did he get along with animals particularly well - even before he became 'Kurama', most animals, excepting dogs and (ironically enough) foxes, either tended to give him a wide birth or outright attack him.

But even with that taken into account, he still wanted to give it a try. He got bored just sitting around in Sunset's seal all day and had done quite enough sleeping already - he was ready to get up and about, just not in a way that involved fighting giant monsters and mind controlled teenagers.

"It'd hardly be glamorous work..." he muttered thoughtfully to himself, idly picking up a pencil from the end table that separated his chair from Applejack's and starting to twiddle it between his fingers - a side effect of his thinking process, his hands had to be entertained while he thought. "But I've never really been one for glamour anyway." he countered himself, his other hand staring to lightly tap on the armrest of his seat.

"I have absolutely no experience in the field..."

"Now's not the time for puns, idiot. And that doesn't matter, it's manual labour. I can pick up the ropes quickly enough if I put some effort in."

"What about the animals? It's pretty obvious by this point that they don't like me..."

"Regardless of what they think of me, I'm not going there to battle with cattle. Let them have their beef with me, I won't make the miss-steak of provoking them."

"..."

"..."

"By the Gods, Kurama..." he muttered to himself, defeated by his own terrible humour. Most people would be concerned about having an actual, two-sided conversation with themselves - but for the Xeno-Terran who had grown up having to shout just to be heard in his own home, talking to himself just helped to bring him a sense of clarity.




(Kurama's POV)

"Ah'm home Pa."

"Ah'm goin' Pa."

I had to press myself into the pale-peach coloured walls of the Apple residence, as to avoid being trampled by a turbo-charged preteen as she charged past Applejack and me, straight through the still open door and off into the miles of apple trees that lay beyond.

I'd decided to take Applejack up on her suggestion to seek employment with her family and being the early riser she was, she'd been more than happy to take me to the farm today, rather than leave me to stumble around town looking for it on Monday. Although, in hindsight, I don't know what I was worried about - half-a-dozen acres of apple orchard is a hard thing to miss, even for someone who's only been awake in this world for about a fortnight.

After eating a quick breakfast and leaving a note to inform our sleeping compatriots of our location, we'd left Luna's house and caught a bus, that would take us directly to the farm's doorstep.

"You seriously have your own bus stop?" I'd asked incredulously, my brain struggling to understand such public transport development. Considering I had to walk over three miles into town everyday just to catch the Sky Barge to the Academy, the concept of literally having a stop on one's own property was a bit beyond me.

"The farm han's were gettin' sick of havin' to walk so far from the 'Outskirts' stop, so they complained to the town council. Coupla weeks later an we had a bus stop parked right at the entrance." her response had been nonchalant, almost dismissive, but even as I walked up the dirt path lined on either side by towering apple trees, I could barely wrap my head around the existence of such convenience.

I have to admit, I like the home of the Apple Family of Ponyville. Sure, the bright crimson paint makes me feel like I'm staring at a scene from the 'Cabin In The Shredder Leaves' movie, to this day I am still very wary of helicopter leaves, and the fact that even the dog house looks like a barn makes me want to roll my eyes along the floor. But despite this, I like it - the homey feeling it gives off, the hard work that clearly went into its construction and maintenance, the open porch design - it was all so... Nostalgic.

As the comforting feeling washed through me, a slight, yet sharp, pain shot through my head - not quite enough to elicit a physical reaction, but enough to prove annoying. I knew exactly who was pinging my brain and exactly why she was doing it, Day Break evidently being a pony not famous for her subtlety. But, I couldn't figure out Why she was trying to get me to confront my memories, why does she care whether or not I block out the haunting figures of my history?

All such thoughts were promptly shelved for later as Applejack opened the door to her family home and called out in greeting to her 'Pa'.

"Git back here Apple Bloom!!" a towering mass of muscle and crimson hair roared after the daughter that shared his colour scheme to a near identical level - excepting the eyes, his were bright green while hers were a light orange colour, and the fact that he was a shade or two darker skinned than the tiny terror who had just flown the coop. "YA'LL HAVEN' BRUSHED YER TEETH!!"

I did my best to press myself further into wall as said mass came thundering down the hallway ahead of us, before flying on past and out the same door his youngest daughter had just vacated through. As I watched the two go, a phantom shiver ran first right the way down and then all the way back up my spine, my brain left tingling and my eyes widened and misted over by the ghostly familiarity of the scene that I'd just watched play out.

"An' there he goes..." the eldest Apple sister watched her father pelt after her younger sister, like a bull chasing down a chihuahua. She sighed as she took note of one of their front door's hinges, hanging loose and away from the frame it had been torn out of. When I didn't respond, she turned to me and waved her hand in front of my face - even snapping her fingers a few times to try and break me out of my trance. "Hey. Hey, Ponyville to Kurama. Ya'll in there tough guy?"

"Y-yeah... I'm here." I mumbled slowly, trying to ignore the headache that was forming at the base of my skull and instead trying to get my vision to regain focus. It took a good few blinks and some squinting, but before long my sight cleared up and the pain in my neck subsided to a dull discomfort.

"What happened there? Looked like ya'll saw a ghost."

"It's nothing. Just... deja vu." I got an arched eyebrow and a confused half-grimace from the Apple teen, but no actual enquiry - Applejack instead electing to simply shrug and continue down the hallway that led to a living room-dining room-kitchen ensemble that took up most of the ground floor, with the exception of a washroom and a small bedroom towards the back. "Guessing you spend a fortune on door repairs?" I asked as I followed her, trailing a hand over the banister of the stairs with my right hand as I went.

"Ya'll have no idea, sonny." a different, much older sounding voice answered my question as I stepped into the room, although it was by no means a tired voice - just distinctively the voice of an elderly person. The voice's owner was a squat, old woman with pale, pea-green skin and stark-white hair, although the latter was more likely an age thing than anything else. She was certainly... weathered looking, but hardly the bitter, haggard corpse that was my grandaunt Lucile - Grump's older sister by eleven years. In comparison to her, this apron wearing woman looked downright youthful.

She was sitting at the head of an eight-seater, oak dining table - slowly making her way through a bowl of porridge that had clearly gone cold ages ago. In the seat directly to her left there sat a tall, pinkish skinned, late-teenage boy with pale-orange hair and the same green eyes as the raging mass of farmer that had just knocked a heavy wooden door off one of its hinges. Said eyes were half-lidded, but they held a certain sharpness in them, his calm - almost dull - expression being a clever cover for the very astute person I could see he was.

I could feel those eyes assessing me in the same way I was assessing him, our two pairs of emerald-green orbs staring straight into each other like a pair of competing hawks before the start of a race. It was a short lived 'confrontation', however, both of us ending it with a blink and a small smile. While we had been doing that, the elderly Apple had risen from her chair to embrace Applejack, cementing in my mind the likelihood that this was AJ's grandmother, or some other elder relation.

"Ya'll gave us a shock when ya rang las' night." the older woman said simply, it was not a reprimand nor did she sound particularly worried. She was just stating that they had been surprised, which to me was a bit of a shock in itself - my family would have been livid if I'd gone out, gone radio silent for hours - during an 'Unforeseen/Unknown Astronomical Event' no less - and then casually declared that I would be staying over a friend's house for the night. These humanised ponies are so weird I thought to myself as I watched the two interact, feeling critically out of place in this world, so far as my mind set went at least.

"Sorry 'bout that, Granny. We all jus' got so distracted on the beach, we didn' even notice the sun go down." if Applejack had been trying to sell that story to me I would have been sceptical, to say the least - especially considering that, from what I've observed of her over the past week and a bit, she is an astonishingly poor liar. But, luckily for us, she technically wasn't lying at this point - so she was able to get through the explanation without letting slip one of her 'tells'.

"Ya'll did notice that second sun comin' up though, right?" a deep voice called from the hallway, although not quite as deep as Big Mac's, going off what few words I'd heard him speak during the last few days - mostly through idly listening to lunchroom chit chat from within Sunset's seal. Out from the entrance to the Apple House's main room stepped a towering farmer, head of the Apple Farm in Ponyville and father of Big Macintosh, Applejack and Applebloom - Bright Macintosh.

He was dressed simply in a pair of ragged-old jeans, red flannel shirt and perched on his head was a dust-brown stetson - far newer and less aged than the one that his eldest daughter wore. His feet were clad in beaten worker's boots and his hands in leather, finger-less gloves that looked older than Applebloom did. The whole look was topped off by a tiny steel pin, fastened to the left collar of his shirt - a stylised... Jam Jar? Or was it Marmalade?

Under one arm he was carrying a particularly grumpy looking pre-teen, pulling a face that one might expect from a very inexperienced lemon chewer.

"Ya'd hafta' be blind or on the other side o'the country to miss that, Pa." Applejack chuckled as she approached her father to give him a warm hug, which he happily returned with his free arm.  It was actually a little funny to see, how effortlessly he held his youngest daughter like a barrel of ale while embracing his oldest daughter on the other side of him.

"Don' Ah know that." he chortled in resonance with his progeny, releasing her from the hug and tussling her hat-clad hair. "Was so bright, it woke me up from mah after-work-nap, had a heart attack thinkin' I fell asleep in mah chair again and missed 'Tractors for Masters'."

"As if, ya'll haven' missed an episode since it aired when ya'll were barely old 'nough ta speak." Granny Smith scoffed playfully, having returned to the comfort of her chair at the head of the table. "Ya'll even moved ya bachelor party the day before it was set, jus' so ya wouldn't miss one."

"H-hey, ya'll are makin it sound worse than it was!" Bright Mac retorted, the stutter and slightly increased voice pitch accompanying it was rather unfitting for his size and bulky stature. This whole situation was becoming increasingly funny to me, to the extent where I was struggling to suppress the smile that was fighting its way onto my face.

"Ah wish Ah was exaggeratin', Mackie - but unfortunately that's exactly what happened."

"Ah always finish what Ah start, that's jus' how Ah am!"

"Clearly, ya'll have three kids."

"Can Ah get down now, please?!"

And just like that, my composure shattered. The first guffaw exploded from my face before I even new it was on its way, coming out first as a quick snort before mellowing out into a proper belly-laugh. It had been a long time since I'd last had a good laughing fit, so long that the genuine feelings of overwhelming joy and the splitting aches in my sides felt almost completely alien to me. It would have been a sobering thought, the idea that I had gone so long without the warm, bubbling feeling of a good laugh - but at that exact moment, I didn't care.

I was too busy sliding down the wall I'd been leaning against, trying not to throw up from how hard I was laughing. Tears of joy stung my eyes like swimming goggle-less in a salt lake, my stomach clenched painfully with every successive joyous exhale of laughter and I was loving it. 

I'd forgotten how much fun dying of hilarity could be.

I'd forgotten that such happiness existed in the world.

I'd forgotten how good it felt to just laugh my heart out, even if I was the only one who found the joke funny.

And I was so glad to have finally recalled it all - the joy, the pain, the Laughter."




(Third-Person POV)

Pinkamena Diane Pie shot up from her sleeping position, against her sister's surprisingly comfortable side, her entire body vibrating like a restaurant table caller. Her gut was churning, her ears were swivelling like radar dishes and her teeth were chattering as if was Sub-Zero in the room.

Despite all this, her face was split by a mile-wide grin and she couldn't hold in the joy she felt, from a source external to herself, as she jumped to her feet and bellowed:

"SOMEONE'S HAVING FUN WITHOUT MEEEEEEEE!"
> Life Goes On
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Kurama's POV)

"So..." the six-foot-five, tank of a techni-coloured human known as Bright Macintosh began - shuffling through some passport and medical papers hastily formed from, the solve-all macguffin, chakra. "Mr Sunspot Shimmer..." he said whilst squinting at the less than flattering image of me, taken only half an hour earlier with an instant camera, in front of Luna's stark-white garage door and fused with the chakra paper of my passport. "Ya'll new in town, huh?"

"Yessir." I answered hoarsely, nursing a cup of water between my palms - my seventh since my laughing fit about ten minutes ago. "Came in a coupla' days ago from Mane." A blatant lie, but it was the only place on this continent that had even a remotely similar climate to my storm scourged, forested homeland. 

'Mac Sr' was a tough character to read, unlike his eldest daughter - Applejack always tended to wear her heart on her sleeve - so I found it tough to figure out exactly what his thoughts on my papers were, or me in general for that matter. At that moment, I was just the crazy guy who his daughter brought home.

"Ah'm assumin' that ya'ller here ta see that Sunset gal, am Ah right?" everything he said was blunt, conveyed with an even tone and a short, expressionless glance up over his far-too-dainty looking reading glasses. "Yer name would seem ta suggest so."

"Uh, yeah." I chuckled warily, taking a deep breath and preparing to test my lying skills as they had never been tested before (in this world at least). "I'm her uncle, ya see. I received a call from the school after the... uh... 'Incident', during this year's Fall Formal. So I pretty much dropped everything and flew over as quickly as I could." Pretending to be a member of Sunset's family had always been my go-to idea for a cover identity in this world, as it was pretty much the only valid, non-mystical reason I - a thirty-two year old man - could have for being around her so much and sharing a house with her. The next most viable option after that was being Luna's 'Boyfriend', and there was no way in heaven or hell that that idea would fly - for multiple reasons.

Luckily, I shared a similar colour scheme to Sunset - red & yellow/blonde hair, dark-orange skin, emerald-green eyes - so the possibility that we could be related wasn't too far-fetched.

Bright Mac was silent for a bit after my explanation, fixing me with a stare laced with the same blankness that had been occupying his face since we began this interview. I'd weathered worse gazes in my life... er, Lives. A Sun God, a highschool Vice-Principal and a military Grandfather to be exact - but the Chief Apple's glare was nothing to sneeze at and it was clear that he'd played this game many times before.

"So ya'll jus' dropped, pretty much yer entire life, an' rushed here - purely for the sake of a niece who ya'll can't have seen hide-nor-hair of in years? Is'at right?"

"With respect, sir." my voice taking a slightly firmer tone as I lent my elbows on the table before me - matching his hard stare with my own steely gaze. "I'd drop Anything and Anyone for my family."

"Even yer responsibilities here?"

"Yes, sir. In a heartbeat."

The atmosphere in Bright Mac's tiny office was so tense it was palpable and the air felt distinctly colder, however I refused to buckle - holding my glare against his.

Why am I even bothering with this? a little voice whispered in the back of my mind, the more malignant part of my personality rearing it's ugly head to voice it's opinion. I'm one of the strongest living beings in this realm. I could reduce this farm to nothing but a smoking crater with an errant sneeze. Why am I sitting here, being interviewed for a job I don't need? I could be asleep right now, or training or... oooooor... huh. Maybe I do need this job... I certainly need a hobby in the very least...

"Ah like ya." Bright Mac said finally and as soon as he did so, everything about him changed. His brick wall-shoulders slouched, he leaned back in his office chair, his brow lifted and a small, yet genuine, smile spread across his face. He relaxed completely and with him, so did the tension in the room. "Too many folks these days put work b'fore family - it's refreshing ta see someone who'd set me straight, if Ah tried to get b'tween him an' his family."

I found myself taken aback by his bluntness once again, but for completely different reasons this time. I could think of very few bosses who'd take particularly well to having one of their employees 'set them straight', let alone one who'd welcome such an action - under specific circumstances of course. This world is so bloody weird. I mused internally while returning to a semi-relaxed position myself, returning the atmosphere to the norm for a casual, mid-Saturday-morning interview.

"Well then, in that case..." Bright Mac said as he tapped the papers on his desk to straighten them all out, before laying them down flat on his desk surface. "Ah've got only one more question for ya."

"Shoot."

"Ya'll any good at Math?"




(Third Person POV)

"Wait... HE DID WHAT??!!" Sunset Shimmer screeched down the phone line, the shrillness and the volume of her voice together startling awake all of the remaining occupants of Vice-Principal Luna's plush living room. 

Rainbow Dash woke with a, less than discreet, snort and shot bolt upright as a result of the sudden commotion. The athlete's violent awakening, in turn, startled Fluttershy awake - throwing herself into the air like a spooked cat with a frightened "Eep".

Rarity woke with far more grace than the other two occupants of her sofa, started into consciousness by Sunset's outburst -  she rose slowly and with dignified composure. That was, at least, until Fluttershy returned to the ground - or, more accurately, the fashionista. With a muffled shriek she was smothered by the timid girl, sandwiched between her and the sofa.

Vinyl replicated Rainbow's explosive awakening, going from laying flat to sitting at a right angle in under a second. Unfortunately, her legs were tangled up with her adoptive sister's and Sunset's head was directly in the path of her own. Their foreheads collided, at an angle, with a dull *thunk*, causing Vinyl to collapse back onto the sofa and Sunset to topple off the sofa entirely.

Maud, Pinkie and Luna were all already awake and had wandered into the kitchen for breakfast - but the latter two came charging back into the living room in response to the commotion. They arrived to find Vinyl in the exact same place that she'd been set down the night before - albeit, now awake and groaning. Sunset Shimmer was also groaning, however, she was crumpled feet-over-head on the floor. Fluttershy was laying, shocked and dazed, on the close end of the sofa she'd been sharing with Rainbow Dash and Rarity. The former's feet were just visible on the other side of the armrest that she had, evidently, fallen over while laughing. What exactly she had been laughing at became clear to the two when they caught sight of the latter mentioned person's limbs, flailing out from under Fluttershy's prone form.

The final two things that Luna took notice of were; a distinct lack of a certain young Apple farm girl and a thick, country accent emanating from Sunset's phone, which had conveniently slid in right next to her foot when her adoptive daughter had fallen onto the floor.

"Sunset?... Sunset? Ya'll still there sugar-cube?" Applejack's concerned voice came from the sunset-orange electronic device as Luna plucked it from the floor and held it up to her ear.

"It's rude not to answer someone's question, Miss Apple." Canterlot High's Vice-Principal spoke with a voice colder than an ice-cube running down the back of the teen's neck, causing Applejack to physically shudder when she heard its sound come from her phone's speaker. "Who, exactly, has done, What?"

Sunset cringed as her adoptive mother walked back into the kitchen with her phone, leaving an icy-cold silence behind in the room as she went. A silence that didn't last long, as Rarity's muffled voice reached the world from under Fluttershy's... 'bulk'.

"Fluttershy, darling, I don't mean to be a bother, but would you mind please getting off me?!" the smothered fashionista just about managed to force out before the meek teen finally stood up and away from the sofa with a quiet "Oh, sorry." With her face freed, Rarity was able to finally sit upright and suck in a huge gasp of air - as if she'd been trapped underwater for three minutes, rather than beneath her very light friend for a little under one.

"That-" Rainbow Dash began as she wandered around to the front of the sofa and plonked herself back down where she'd been sitting before, still giggling a little bit. "-was the funniest thing I've seen all week."

"Are you okay, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked softly, sitting down as well and beginning to examine her dazed friend for any visible damage. "I was going quite fast when I landed on you, do you feel dizzy, is your vision blurry, do you feel sick."

Sunset watched on, a little surprised at how vocal and forward Fluttershy was being, as she continued to question the alabaster girl about her health, to which Rarity eventually replied:

"Fine... I'm fine darling, just a little... breathless." somewhere deep in the recesses of her brain, a very childish and deviant part of Sunset laughed at that response - but she easily suppressed it, she didn't want to be labelled as a pervert. However, Rainbow and Vinyl were not as abashed by such things and laughed openly - although the laugh that came out of the latter was distinctly not right.

It was deep, bass and very.... Male. She clapped her hands over her mouth almost immediately and silence descended over the room once again, as everyone trained their gazes on the senior student. The room itself seemed to be stunned, the sound had been so loud and rumbling that even Maud slowly lent her head around the door frame with an arched eyebrow. Everything was so still that it started making Sunset feel very uncomfortable, all the eyes staring giving her a sense of nostalgia that she really only wanted to forget - even though none of them were looking at her. She had to move, she had to escape, she had to fix this.

"OH, hey Vinyl. Those clothes are absolutely filthy, lets get you to your room right now so you can change!" without waiting for a response from anyone she stood up, grabbed her adoptive sister from the sofa and bolted out of the door. "Stupid Tailed-Beast bullshit." she growled as she flew up the stairs, three at a time, and into Vinyl's room - kicking the door closed behind them.




(Kurama POV)

"Well, then it's all settled." Bright Mac said with a wide smile as he opened the door to his office and gestured for me to go first. I would normally play the 'Oh-no-I-insist-you-go-first' game at this point, but I could tell that it would be a futile effort with this guy, so I obliged with a simple: 

"Cheers." I stepped out of the office into the corridor beyond, and was almost run over for the second time that day by a very tall man moving very quickly. Unable to move backwards, forwards or to either side I went in the only viable direction left to me - up. I didn't need to put much strength into the jump, as the ceiling was quite low, but at its pinnacle I reached out with both arms and latched onto the ceiling-rafters - hoisting myself up and clinging there like a cat. Less than a second later Big Macintosh came rolling past the office door, before sliding down the banister and charging through the house.

"Pa, she's breakin' for it again!" he called to his father over his shoulder as he went, disappearing quickly into the floor below. Bright Mac reacted almost instantly to his son's words, starting to make a run towards the stairs himself.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!!" I hear a defiant, diminutive voice yell from outside - the voice of Applebloom, no doubt, making another desperate attempt at freedom.

"Ah'll see ya'll bright 'n early on Monday mornin', take care now." Bright calls back to me as he dashes through the house, hot on Big Mac's heels.

"You too..." I reply, knowing full well that he can no longer hear me, before unlatching myself from the ceiling, slowly descending the steps myself and returning to the house's dining room. I can hear Applejack's voice echoing from another room and decide that I'll stick around to bid her farewell before getting on my way. So I move towards the dining table, which Granny Smith is still sitting at the head of, and gesture if I can sit.

She smiles and nods to grant my request, returning to the newspaper she was reading. I pulled up the nearest chair and all but collapse into it - not even a week of sleep seems to be enough to hold back the exhaustion that follows me around everywhere I go like a bad reputation. I sigh and lean back into the chair, taking in the bloom-like ceiling pattern and the simple apple shaped lamp shade.

"Your family really does love apples, huh." I chuckled as I lazily swung my head around to take in more of the very appley homestead - everything from the wallpaper and picture frames to the skirting boards and even the whiskey decanters were apple themed. Aside from being a touch maddening to look at, it was a very nice place - cosy, homey, loved.

"Ya'ller a perceptive one, ain't ya sugarcube." Granny shot me a deadpan look over the top of her paper, although I could see a small grin spreading across her aged features. "There'd be no Apple Family without Apples." she continued, giving the paper a quick whip to set it back square. Assuming she'd follow up that rather obvious statement with some form of elaboration, I decide against saying anything in response - instead quietly waiting for the Apple Matriarch to continue.

Little did I know at the time, it would be quiet a some time before she finally explained that sentence to me. Before I could prompt her to continue, the world was suddenly engulfed in a flurry of hazel and white - all sound drowned out by excited barking and all sensation drowned in dog drool.




(Third Person POV)

"Yes ma'am. Ah understand. Okay. Guess Ah'll see ya'll soon then? Right. Ya'll too ma'am. Right, stop calling ya ma'am, got it. Bye now." after a gruelling fifteen minute conversation with her vice-principal, Applejack was finally able to end the call and stow her mobile away in the pocket of her denim skirt. With a heavy sigh she finally let her shoulders relax and slump a bit, leaning back against the mantelpiece in the house's main living room. She idly picked a photo frame from the top of said mantelpiece and began regarding it with a tired fondness.

"Heh, Ah can see why the two o' ya were so close back in Highschool, Ma." she chuckled to the beaming face of Pear Butter, smiling warmly back at her through the glass of the frame. It was one of the few photos that the family had of her on her own - in most of the others she was either with her children or Bright Mac, as well as one with Grand Pear which was stowed away in a desk drawer somewhere, out of Granny Smith's sight. In the picture that Applejack held now she was stood in front of a flame streaked, powerful hog motorbike - a long lost piece of a life that Pear Butter had willingly abandoned to be a mother. "Vice-principal Luna certainly can't be turned off a track she's decided to walk down, huh?"

The photo had nothing to say in response, the woman it captured remaining firmly in place - grinning devilishly at the camera and flashing a proud thumbs-up. She was clad from neck to toe in thick, heavy, black biker's gear and held a full-head helmet under her spare arm. A bright spark shone in her brilliant turquoise eyes - a spark of life that she took into every action she'd taken in her life.

"Miss ya, Ma." the young apple farmer whispered as she replaced the photo on the shelf, although she continued to regard it for a few moments more after doing so.

"Would it be out-of-line for me to say you two look a lot alike?" a slightly ragged sounding voice said from behind her, prompting Applejack to yelp and spin around arms raised. What she saw standing in the doorway immediately drained a majority of the shock from her system and in its wake she was left struggling not to laugh. Under the arch of the door stood the human form of Kurama, canine drool quite literally dripping from his face and with a very self-satisfied looking Winona cradled in his arms.

"Ah can see ya've met Winona." AJ snickered, holding one hand against her mouth and the other against her midriff in an attempt to stifle further laughter. It was such a contrasting image, the Tailed Beast's stoic face attached to a body that was holding a dog as if it was the most precious treasure in the world.

"Ya could say that." came his response, as even as ever - although his seriousness was undermined by Winona licking his chin. "Do ya mind?" he asked the pooch, leaning down to return her to the ground. She dropped to the floorboards willingly and made her way over to her bed near the large glass sliding doors that made up one of the room's four walls.

"Sizeable photo collection ya got going on here." Kurama smiled as he turned his attention back to the frames sitting on the mantel and hearth.  He didn't approach them however, instead maintaining his position in the doorway - if she wanted to talk about anything she could do so of her own volition, he would not pry for answers she was not willing to give.

"Yeah, got a big family to keep a track of." Applejack mused as she looked back to the picture of her mother, sparing it one last quick glance, before turning back to Kurama. "Never mind that though, ya'll get the job?" eager to change the subject she moved to leave the room, prompting him to step back out in the living room, allowing her to figuratively and literally close the door on the things she didn't want to think about.

"Yep, you're currently speaking to the newest farmhand and finance coordinator of Sweet Apple Acres." he said proudly, flashing a grin and throwing his hands behind his head.

"Yer kiddin'? Pa pawned the finances off onto ya?"

"For better or worse, yeah." his expression quickly went back to his standard, relaxed look as he began to make his way back towards the house's entrance - he felt antsy, like every muscle in his body was tensed in anticipation. He felt like an over coiled spring, desperate to set free the energy built up within it and it was starting to consume his thoughts. "Ya mind if I head out? I need some fresh air, maybe a run."

"Sure, but there is somethin' I need to pass on, from Vice-Principal Luna." Kurama visibly shuddered at the mention of her name, but he didn't bolt instantly like she had expected him to, he just continued to walk steadily towards the front door. "Still not gettin' on with her?" Applejack asked as she followed him down the short hallway that lead out to the front of the house.

"I wouldn't say that... exactly..." he replied, trailing off towards the end as he became aware that he didn't wholly believe what he was saying. "We've hardly spoken since I woke up and each time we have the situation was... less than favourable, to understate it immensely. So I'd say it's too early to say for certain if we get on or not."

"Sunset told me she kicked ya in the face."

"That's... not untrue. But there's more to it than just that, ya know."

"Ah'm sure. Ya can tell me aaaaall abou'it tonight." Applejack chuckled, rolling her eyes in a good-natured manner as the two stepped out onto the porch of the Sweet Apple household. Kurama regarded the apple farmer with confusion for a moment, his somewhat addled mind struggling with what exactly she meant. Instead of waiting for him to figure it out, she simply chuckled again before explaining;

"Vice-Principal Luna has insisted that me, an' the other girls, have a 'proper slumber-party' over at her house tonight. 'Parently she thinks we might get a bad impression of her home after last night, so she wan's us to come back to make sure that doesn't happen." the whole idea sounded a lot like needless paranoia to Kurama, but with how stubborn Luna was - a fact he was already well aware of - he knew full well there was no point disagreeing vocally. "S'far as Ah'm concerned she's makin' a mountain outta a molehill, but there's no poin' arguin' with her-"

"Because she'll just ignore ya." Kurama rounded off, taking his turn to chuckle, before turning back to Applejack and smiling. She gave a hearty laugh and nodded her agreement - at least she wasn't the only one that saw how frustratingly inflexible her teacher could be. "Fancy heading back together then? No point travelling alone when ya have the option for company."

"Ah was jus' about to suggest the same thing." AJ continued to laugh as she clapped the farm's newest employee firmly on the shoulder. Although the gesture was meant to be a friendly one, she seemingly struck him with enough force to cause pain, as he winced and took a step away from her almost as soon as her hand made contact with him. "Oh, sorry 'bout that... Didn' mean to hit ya that hard..." she faltered as she took a step towards him to check if he was okay, suddenly very conscious of her every movement.

She took a step back herself, drawing her arms in close to her body and observing her open hands as they trembled ever so slightly. This had been happening a lot to her recently. In the last week alone she had shattered six glasses, broken the handles off two tea cups, popped three tennis balls she'd been throwing for Winona and shut one door so hard that it had broken clean through the frame, ripped free of its hinges and gone crashing to the ground. 

Wha's happenin' ta me? she stressed, curling her hands into fists to try to stop them trembling. This only had the effect of transferring the involuntary tremors from her fingers to her lower arms. Her every individual muscle felt like it was trying to shake itself free of her skin, like they were all desperately attempting to gain the freedom to stretch out and move. She felt restrained, as though everything in the entire world had been replaced with cardboard cut-outs all of a sudden. How long before Ah do somethin like that an' really hurt somebody?. The thought genuinely terrified her, Applebloom, Big Mac, her father or frail old Granny Smith - she could accidentally put any one of them out of action for months... Or worse...

She was broken free from her spiralling train of thought when a strong hand clasped onto her shoulder, locking it in a firm grip and not moving when she flinched slightly. Her head flicked up to look her sole companion in the eye and for the briefest moment she thought she caught a glimpse of a red flash in the steely eyes that stared back at her. But then she blinked, only a quick flutter of the eyelids to clear out some faint moisture that had been welling up, and all she saw was emerald green.

Kurama smiled at the trembling Apple relaxing his grip and giving her a gentle shake.

"Ya may wanna work on reigning that strength of your's in." his smile grew into a slightly devilish grin, revealing his pointed teeth and slightly elongated canines. "Ya ever need any help with that, I'd be happy to lend ya a hand. I'd wanna get a handle on it as soon as possible if I were you. Anyone who wasn't tough like me, they could get really hurt ya know."

It was strange. To almost any other person, his words probably would have been quite reassuring - knowing that someone is there to support you is normally a very positive thought. But it only made Applejack more concerned. His tone was off, distant and unfocused - seemingly reciting the phrase without really thinking about it. His smile was strange too, it didn't exist beyond his mouth, stopping before it lit any form of emotion in his eyes - replaced, instead, by a glazed-over, thousand mile stare.

"A-Ah... Ah should go pack..." she stuttered, desperate to get away and clear her head - she had to be the strong one after all, she was always the strong one. She tried to turn and re-enter the house, tried to put this moment behind her, but she found herself stopped by the hand that was still affixed to her shoulder.

"Nope." the porch of the Apple Homestead was briefly consumed by a cloud of white smoke, which quickly dissipated into thin air. In its wake, the two inhabitants of the space had been joined by a third - another Applejack. "She will go pack. We are gonna go clear your head."

Before the young farmer could protest, the entire world seemed to flip on its head around her - the scenery bent and became distorted. All the colours around her seemed to mix and mash together, shifting around unnaturally in front of her vision. Her sense of balance failed her entirely, with only distortion in front of her eyes and nothing under her feet, she felt like she'd been thrown into the air by her Pa while she was looking through a kaleidoscope. This only lasted for a brief second however, as in the time it would take for a lightning bolt to return to the clouds, the pair had moved from the porch to the Sweet Apple Acres bus stop.

"So, we're currently lookin' south, Ponyville is to the west and mountains are behind us to the north..." Kurama rambled aloud as his companion tried her best to regain her balance and prevent herself from throwing up all over the pavement. She was only partially successful, while she was able to keep her light breakfast in her stomach, she had to collapse to her hands and knees to stop the world spinning. "Oh, right. Sorry about that... the Flying Raijin takes some getting used to."

"Ah'm starting to not regret hittin' ya'll jus' now." Applejack growled as everything began to return to focus around her, her nausea beginning to recede at a mercifully rapid pace.

"That's progress." he replied absentmindedly, his focus diverted on his planning. With all the finesse and gentleness of a walrus on roller skates he yanked her to her feet and held her in place until she could stand without wobbling again. With a satisfied nod when she didn't immediately topple over he continued speaking. "What's that way then?"

"The east?" she asked, following where Kurama's arm pointed towards the road heading away from Ponyville. "Canterlot City's that way."

"Really? Why's the school here then?"

"Ponyville's a district of Canterlot City." she replied with a small shrug, dusting off her knees now that she was confident that she wouldn't fall over again. "Ponyville an' Canterlot school were founded first an' when the next town over began gettin' pretty big, some brainiac decided to combine the two towns and call the resulting county Canterlot."

"Huh... how needlessly confusing." Kurama cocked an eyebrow in the city's general direction before he too shrugged and asked another question. "How far off is it?"

"'Bout three miles... why?" her query was answered by a gradually widening grin spreading across his face, a reaction which caused a pit to drop in her stomach. "No. Kurama, noOOOOOooooooooo." and with that, she was pulled off her feet once again and led into a stumbling jog down the road leading to Canterlot City.





Sunset was laying flat on her back on Vinyl's bed when her adoptive sister finally returned from the bathroom, clad in a fresh pair of long jeans and a loose-fitting white T-shirt with the phrase "Jack Jiro" sprawled across the front in dynamic black and yellow text.

"When did you have time to change?" Vinyl was the first to speak, shooting the question over while Sunset was sitting up on the bed. She'd switched into a simple attire she'd fished from the bottom of her wardrobe, a simple orange Tee with slightly ripped shin-length jeans. Her classic jacket lay off to the side near her, a little crumpled and neglected.

"You were in there for twenty minutes ya know. That's plenty of time to change, providing you aren't picky." the fiery haired teen answered nonchalantly, not particularly in the mood for a lengthy dressing session - she'd simply settled for the first things she'd spotted when rifling through the boxes at the bottom of her wardrobe.

"You're normally the pickiest person I know, besides Tavy anyway." there was a measured degree of caution in the young DJ's voice as she spoke, taking extra care not to come off as nosy - knowing how much her company particularly disliked it when people nosed into her business. Despite knowing this, she had to pry because if Sunset wasn't fussing for hours over her appearance, then something was seriously wrong. "You once took an hour picking out an outfit for a family trip to the park, on a Sunday no less!" she attempted to stoke some humour into the conversation to cover her probing and avoided asking questions directly, employing her arsenal of social skills to their fullest in an attempt to get something, anything, from her sister.

"To be frank with you Vinyl, I've just been trying to dress in any way that's different from how I used to dress."

"Trying to put some distance between you now and you from back then?" social tactics be dammed, if this was going to be a 'frank' conversation then Vinyl was going to just jump straight into the meat of this issue. She only received a nod in return, but it was enough of a response for her. "Then let's get you a complete wardrobe make over!" she exclaimed, pulling the two of them to their feet she began to drag her friend towards the landing.

"W-w-wait! What about the Eight Tails, that laugh earlier?!" Sunset attempted to pull against her pseudo-sibling's grip and protest, but found no purchase in either case - continuing to stumble along after her determined, neon-haired friend.

"Fuck that, we got shopping to do." the two were downstairs and heading for the door before Sunset could even formulate a response to that, reduced to little more than fumbling over half thoughts of resistance as she was 'escorted' to the exit of the house - barely managing to slip a pair of sneakers on before she was yanked up and along again. "Come on you lot, we're going shopping!" Vinyl called to Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie on her way past the living room. They hardly needed to be told twice, having already changed into some day clothes (generously donated to them by the Luna Household as they hadn't had a chance to return home yet) they removed themselves from whatever it was they'd been doing and bustling to follow the two out of the open front door.

"Come on Auntie Luna, we're hitting up Canterlot for a shopping trip." the Vice-Principal in question was just finishing up a conversation with Bow Hothoof, the last of the parents who needed to be contacted in preparation for the 'Operation Slumber Party 2.0'. She blanched a little at her niece's call and was about to call out to oppose said plans, but decided against it.

"What would be the point? She's already halfway down the street anyway." she grumbled to herself before sighing and letting a small smile grace her features, jogging to catch up with the gabbing group before they got too far. "Hold up you lot, let's do a headcount before we leave!"