Dear Twilight Sparkle, Selene, and the other princesses,
This may be the last time in a long while that I can write to you all though I will try my best to keep doing so. After so many years I have finally found what I was looking for and I am actually a little bit scared now that I am standing here preparing to take the final step. I had always wondered how beings that make Celestia worried could hide for as long as they did but upon arriving here I finally understand how they did it. I can’t say anything too specific about it as to preserve their privacy but I will say the spells used to do so are stronger than anything I’ve seen before, rivaling even what Discord does at his worst.
Still after all these years on the move I am always surprised by some of the things that I run into unexpectedly. There was this port city that changed its name recently and you won’t believe the reasons I was given when I asked around. The last one I heard before I left was probably one of the oddest ones by far and I still wonder what turkeys had to do with the decision. I’ll probably never know and I bet when others ask in the future the truth is going to be so muddled that they’ll probably make up something completely new that seems to make more sense.
One last thing I will say before I sign off for what is hopefully not the last time. I have actually met the first kitsune other than my mother after this whole time and he was the one to escort me here. After talking with him over the last few days I really found it hard to distrust him though I worry about some of the things he has said. If it is all true then I am a bit worried about the kind of reception I will receive when I get to the capital of the kingdom. From how it sounds I will somehow be counted as some kind of noble and while I disliked having to deal with them back in Equestria I still remember some of the things I learned from my friends that will hopefully help me here.
Oh and before Cadance starts thinking too deeply about that kitsune I met; while I find him interesting it’s more of a mentor relationship than anything. He seems to be willing to watch out for me at the courts here and generally seems to be a caring being. There is just something about him though that I can’t quite place; something about his voice just feels off to me but I’m not sure what it is. It’s not any sort of spell from what I can tell but there is just something that I can’t identify as of yet. While I’m sure that I can trust him well enough I will still be sure to be careful since I know so little as of now.
Your Friend,
Flarenza
I watch as the last letter I may ever be able to send to my friends flies off in a wisp of smoke and wonder if this really is the right thing to be doing. The Admiral had already gone ahead allowing me time to prepare myself for the final steps into a new world. I look at the portal he had gone through and wondered how much power and skill it took to not only keep it up and running, but to also keep it hidden from some of the most powerful beings I had ever met. I had taken some time to examine it and I had found that it was only visible if you were close enough to it but it also vanished if you were at the wrong angle as well. This made it where the only way to find it was to either know exactly where it was or to be the luckiest thing alive and find it on accident.
I wasn’t lying when I wrote that I was a bit scared, though it may have been closer to being completely terrified. It was really intimidating to finally have the answers I had been searching for over the period of two centuries that I was almost wanted to run away and not come back. Even the feeling of being pulled towards the portal wasn’t quite enough to stop that feeling as it was even worse than facing down Celestia the very first time. “I never did think about what I would do once I found my way here. Sure it will take me a while to learn everything that I want to but what do I do after that? Even when my friends obtained their dreams they still could improve themselves within it but once I learn what I wanted to here then what is next?”
This was the first time I had even considered that there would be something after I found my kind as before I could only find rumors and no real facts. In fact I was actually enjoying my time traveling around that I was taking more pleasure in doing that than my actual search. I almost regretted that it was all finally coming to an end but the relief at travels finally coming to an end was also a relief. This portal was the only thing standing between me and the end of my journey now and it took all of my being to prepare to take that last step. Drawing in the deepest breath I could, I hold it for a couple minutes before finally releasing it and walking through the shimmering entrance.
I had my eyes closed the entire way so I didn’t see anything as I went through but the feeling was worse than being teleported without consent. When it finally ended and my eyes opened I found myself at the bottom of a cliff in front of a vast forest. There was something familiar about it but I just couldn’t place my paw on it until I noticed something wander out of the forest towards me. “Are those timberwolves? And why does this place feel like the Everfree Forest?” I keep an eye on the two wolves as they advance on me while I try to figure out what is going on. The two wolves advance on me but they don’t seem to be hostile in any way. Once they get close to me they both sniff at me before nodding and wandering back the way they came from.
“Well that was rather odd behavior for them.” I snapping sound to the side caused me to whip around to find a three-tailed kitsune with fur that blended in almost perfectly with the surrounding trees. “Well the old admiral was right, you really never have been here before though that doesn’t explain how you know about the wolven guardians, or timberwolves as you called them. Anyways let me be the first to welcome you to New Sionnach, the last refuge of the Kitsune Kingdom.”
When he mentioned the name of this place I almost went into shock as I hadn’t thought about that place I found in the Everfree for a long time. Thinking about the things I found over the years it actually made sense and the timberwolves being here were pretty solid proof of it being true. It also explained the feeling of familiarity of this place as it meant that the Everfree was once the home of my kind. It actually made a bit of sense as I had always felt at home in that place and enjoyed looking out over it from my window.
“Hey, are you okay there, miss?” The voice of the other kitsune snapped me out of my daze and I turned my attention back to him. “Oh sorry, it’s just a bit of a shock to finally be here. I had been searching for a long time and only now do some of the pieces finally fit.” He smiles at me and nods, though doesn’t say anything else regarding that. “Well anyways, the admiral said he would meet you in the capital which you can reach just by following the path there, you’ll know it when you see it. Why he would ask for a two-tail to meet him there though.” He trails off there and heads back to where he was hiding before as I look back over my disguised form.
I’m not sure I like how he said that but I’ve already had some worries when he mentioned that just by having five-tails makes you royalty. Maybe I can figure out a few things while I travel there while I also try to figure out why I feel so strange right now. At least there will be something familiar to me in a place I thought would only be unknown to me. Feeling a bit lighter with these revelations I begin my jaunt along the indicated path. I spot the occasional timberwolf on the outside of the path and judging from what I’ve heard they must be guarding it.
“So they really are guards of some kind. I was wondering why they were ate that place but never could figure it out. I kind of wonder why they were left behind though since they were there to be changed by Discord.” At this point I realize that the questions I have are probably going to increase as I find out about things. My dream might take even longer than I thought to complete as I wonder if the timberwolves are created, grown, or born. If I’m already coming up with new questions just minutes into the kingdom then I’d probably have dozens by the time I reach the capital.
I could tell that the forest wasn’t an especially safe place as the feeling of danger was present all around me. Yet at the same time it was also controlled in some way outside of the use of timberwolves. “It’s rather weird how I can feel the chaos from this place yet it also feels ordered as well. It kind of makes sense though if they really created the place then they’d have a way to control it too. I wonder how the Everfree was controlled by the princesses for as long as they did or if it just ran wild.
I was so busy thinking of all the new questions I had that I never noticed when I arrived at the first town. It was reaching the end of the day when I arrived which made me wonder if there was any sort of inn or something that I could stay at. Strangely enough there didn’t really seem to be much of anything that could be classified as a market with the only building that I can identify a purpose for being a tavern. I was prepared to find somewhere outside of town for the night though when I was accosted by a pair of three-tailed kitsune, both with a brown coloration.
“Well lookie here. Looks like we got some fresh meat in town.” He nudges his partner with his paw who is chuckling. “Lucky us, we get to welcome her into town.” I don’t like the way they are looking at me and it makes me want to get out of town fast. “I’m sorry but I’m just passing through on my way elsewhere.” I try to just slip by them but am surprised when I feel a wave of magic pass over me, holding me in place.
“Now, now, it’s rather rude of you to just greet and run like that. You should really allow us to show you the hospitality of our fair town.” The look on his face, combined with the spell his friend cast over me gives me a good hint of what their hospitality entails. Probing lightly at the spell shows that it is really sloppily cast and I find that I don’t even have to use more than two tails worth of power to break it.
Seeing as they are just local bully boys then I feel no need to make sure they are completely uninjured for attempting to waylay me as they are. Finding the weak point in the spell I pour energy into it causing a feedback loop which causes the on casting the spell to cry out and collapse unconscious. When his partner turns to him in shock I send him to join him in dreamland with a well-placed rock to his temple that I grabbed with my magic from the other side of the street. “Unfortunately boys I’ll have to be declining your invitation. Maybe next time you try to pick somebody up you’ll be a bit more polite.”
I can see other looking at me from their homes and the nearby tavern as I walk away and wonder if this kind of thing is normal here. I was almost out of town when I heard the sound of a group of things in armor approaching me from the center of town and I turn to see a squad of diamond dogs being led by a four-tailed kitsune. Huh, so they also have diamond dogs inside of the kingdom as well? Still, I wonder what it is that they want to have come after me. I soon find out when the kitsune leading them speaks up.
“You’ll have to come with us ma’am. We can’t allow a two-tail that can take down those above them to run wild. Come peacefully and we won’t have to hurt you.” I raise an eyebrow at this as I don’t quite like what this tells me about the society here. Is this place really like an extreme form of the nobility? I don’t like the thought of anything with more tails than me being able to do whatever they want. I hope there is more to this than what I think but for now I think I’ll just follow them since if that’s how things work then I have an advantage they don’t know of.
I nod to the kitsune and watch as the diamond dogs move to surround me. At the same time the leader throws up a spell around me that is supposed to stop me from using my own magic but I know I can easily break it if needed. As they escort me through the town I see the other inhabitants watching me from windows and doorways with expressions I can’t quite identify. Eventually we come to a building in the center of the town which turns out to be some kind of guard outpost where they lead me to an isolated room in the center of it then guard me from the outside.
As I sit in the room alone I do a quick check over myself and wonder at the incompetence that seems to be going on here and wonder how much more I will find. My packs were still firmly attached to me and they could have easily found them through the aversion spell if they bothered to check properly. The diamond dogs alone should have been able to locate them from the spells of the gems in the packs alone. Even the measures that they did use are rather slipshod as if they haven’t bothered to even practice the spells which made them easily breakable if I desired.
Shaking my head and chuckling I bit I make myself comfortable for what is probably going to be a long night. I am surprised to see the four-tail that brought me in enter the room though as I expected to have to wait a while. “Do you know how much trouble you are in young lady? I don’t know how you did whatever you did in the first place but a two-tails attacking a three-tails is against every law we have.” I raise an eyebrow at him and try to hold back a chuckle.
“Well I am rather new to the area so I’m a bit rusty on the local laws. Could you maybe inform me of exactly which laws those are?” He looks at me as if I’m crazy though I try to look as serious as possible. “I really hope you are joking but I’ll humor you anyways. While you may now be classified as an adult by having two tails you still have to follow the orders of any with more tails than you until you earn your third. Even then those with more tails than you still have more authority than you. By attacking those above you it means you refute all of the laws that make our kingdom great.”
Well I guess that explains most of it. So until you reach three tails you are considered to be beneath everyone, and even then those with more than you are still pretty much in charge. I’m actually glad it was the admiral that I first met otherwise things could have been really ugly. It’s probably time that I end this charade though as I’d like to eat and rest for the night. “Well after hearing that then I guess you don’t need to do anything. I’m sure those two have already learned their lesson.” He looks rather confused at the smile on my face and is thrown off a bit.
“What are you talking about? You’re the one that is in trouble here and I don’t like how you are just flouting our laws.” I just chuckle at him as I flex my power and snap the spells around me, though more gently than I did to the other two. He just looks at me in fear as I do this and starts to back away from me towards the door. “You really do seem to be bad at your job as well, your spell-casting is so sloppy and you don’t even bother checking to see if your information is correct. You didn’t even bother searching me properly and left me with all my things when you locked me in here.”
His eyes nearly pop out of his head when I remove the spells on my bags bringing them into view, and he starts to stutter. “A-a-and what information is incorrect?” He seems even more fearful as he says this and I lean forward a bit. “Who ever said that I only had two tails? That alone would have been obvious if you asked my age which is over two centuries now.” His jaw drops open as I start revealing my tails one-by-one and he starts whimpering in fear when the fifth one shows. I am surprised myself though when a sixth one reveals itself when I fully drop the concealment though I do my best to hide it. Of course yet another one appears without my knowledge of it happening. At least I’ll be on a more even keel with the admiral whenever I arrive at the capital.
Once the sixth tail appears he is scrambling to get out of the room and is calling out for the others in the building. The sound is muffled by the door by I can catch the words ‘emergency’ and ‘noble’ as well as a few less important ones. I am slightly amused though also a bit annoyed that he just left me here without a word. Seeing as I already revealed myself fully I take the time to draw out something from my packs to eat and chew on it while waiting. “It would have been nice to have time to cook something but dried food will have to do for now. At least I can probably get access to a real kitchen whenever I get to the capital.”
I wasn’t sure how long I was waiting but it felt like an hour until they finally came back to the room for me again. When the door opens it reveals a line of diamond dogs and the kitsune who was here before in a uniform as well as nine others in the same outfit. “Ma’am, Duchess, we’re sorry for the inconvenience we caused you. We would like to offer you the best room in our fair town for your convenience tonight and we shall gladly prepare an escort for you to your destination.”
They all look scared of something and I am a bit surprised by the title though I wonder if that is the correct one or if I even have one in the first place. While I was told I would be counted as a noble I would like to get confirmation at the capital to know for sure. Seeing as they seem to be awaiting my answer and on the verge of breaking down I decide to take them up on their offer. “Yes, it’s been a long day and some rest would be nice. I’ll also take you up on that offer of an escort as well. You don’t have to worry about me being angry about anything either.”
This seems to have been the right thing to say as a wave of relief passes through them all as they escort me to my housing for the night. After only being here for a single day and already finding this much excitement I wonder what is in store for the future when I arrive at the capital.