Twilight and Spike had met up with Fluttershy and Discord at the train station. They had just come home from the trip and Twilight decided to greet their friends while everyone else was busy. Fluttershy took the train but Discord, being the chaos lord that he was, unzipped a dimensional rift above the platform and appeared out of it. This surprised absolutely nopony.
“Welcome back. Did you two have fun on your trip?” Twilight asked.
“Oh yes. It was so good to visit the breezies again. And Discord enjoyed meeting them for the first time,” Fluttershy replied.
“Yes, delicate little things aren’t they?” Discord replied. “I’d say they had a blast leaf surfing with me.” He added.
Fluttershy explained to Twilight and Spike how Discord found it funny how the breezies could be overpowered by a simple leaf and decided to “join in on the fun.” Needless to say, it was an unusual experience for the two friends and the breezies. Once again, surprising nopony. Twilight and Spike expected this kind of behavior of Discord.
“He didn’t hurt them or anything, did he?” Spike asked.
“Oh no, he was very gentle,” Fluttershy assured.
“Hey, not my fault they can’t have a good time,” Discord said, earning a glare from Fluttershy. “I mean, yes, I treated them with utmost respect and care.”
Fluttershy’s glare turned into a smile, causing the chaos lord to smile as well.
“Well, I’m glad you two had a good time. Maybe we cou-”
Reiko’s explosion went off before Twilight could finish her sentence. Everypony on the platform jumped at the noise. Spike hid behind Twilight as Fluttershy hid behind her own wings.
“W-What was that?” Fluttershy stammered.
“Not to fear, Fluttershy! I shall protect you!” Discord proclaimed, zapping a knight’s armor, sword, and shield onto himself.
He stepped in front of Fluttershy into a defensive position. Twilight rolled her eyes at Discord’s new look.
“It sounded like it was near the castle. C’mon!” Twilight ordered.
The two ponies, dragon, and draconequus ran off towards the castle to see what was going on. The explosion wasn’t just heard from the station. It was so loud that creatures from the Everfree forest were starting to freak out, running and flying out of their homes. Even the forest zebra, Zecora, heard it from inside her hut.
“What was that? An explosion?” Zecora wondered. “Whatever it was, I hope it will cause no commotion.”
The smoke cloud rose into the air, disappearing as it ascended and the noise died down. A rather large fox spotted the smoke cloud from the forest. He gazed upon it with his bright, golden eyes. A gentle breeze blew by his red fur and made his seven tails wave. The fox knew who had caused that sudden boom and formed that smoke cloud in the sky. He sighed and rubbed his head with his paw.
No doubt Reiko’s work, he thought to himself.
He dug his sharp claws into the earth, figuring out where to go next. He turned away from the smoke cloud and continued to trek through the forest. As he strolled, he noticed many of the forest creatures, mainly rabbits and birds, race past him. He didn’t find it hard to believe that they were still spooked by the loud noise. He scanned his surroundings to see what lied within the forest. They only thing he could spot was the surrounding plant-life and many creatures run by him, some of them could provide a snack for him later on.
Meanwhile, Zecora was resorting all of the potions on her shelves, just like how Twilight often reorganizes her book shelves. As she was readjusting everything, she noticed an empty bowl.
“Hmm, it seems I am out of purple mushrooms,” Zecora said, grabbing her cloak and basket. “I just hope there are no poison joke are abloom.”
The shaman zebra stepped out of her hut and ventured into the forest for harvesting. The fox was still walking along the forest floor, trying to figure out where to go next. It seemed like he was going in circles. The fox’s nearly torn left ear perked up when he heard a faint growling in the distance. He turned his head, only finding trees and bushes, nothing out of the ordinary. He kept on walking but stayed alert. He heard the growling again, only louder. He turned around to find nothing but more trees and bushes. His eyes scanned the whole area, but found nothing. He closed his golden eyes and focused. His ears began twitching and scanning the entire area for sounds; until he finally picked up something. In his right ear, he could hear the rapid heartbeat of some large creature. His left ear kept on receiving the same mysterious growl. The noise was getting louder and louder. The beats and growls didn’t slow down, they kept on rising and filling the fox’s body with noise.
His golden eyes shot open. The fox jumped back as a mysterious force came pummeling through the trees. The mysterious being stopped before it could crash through another set of trees. The fox regained his senses and faced his attacker. The beast turned around, revealing a lion’s body, head and mane, but with a large scorpion tail, and a huge set of bat wings. The fox knew what this was. A Manticore. It sniffed the air and turned around, finally spotting the fox.
The seven tailed fox got into an attack position, not backing down for a second. The Manticore licked it’s lips and snarled, drool spilling from it’s hungry jaw. The fox growled and bared his teeth as he continued his stare-off with the beast. The Manticore lunged at the fox, swiping it with it’s claws. The fox leapt out of the way and chomped down on the Manticore’s paw, causing the beast to roar in pain. It swung its paw around, trying to shake the fox off, but to no avail. When the manticore swung close to his face, the fox used his back claws to strike it’s snout. The beast roared again, slamming the fox into the ground. The fox let go and coughed, quickly jumping out of the way of another strike. The fox leapt past the Manticore, striking the beast in the side with his sharp claws.
The Manticore reeled back and prepared for another attack. The fox, however, was too fast. He kept on running and leaping past the Manticore, striking it with every chance it got. Streams of red flew everywhere. The Manticore eyed the speedy fox and fired it’s tail at it. The fox dodged out of the way, but it did not see the oncoming lion claw. The claw hit him and he was launched back into an old tree, cracking the trunk in the process. The fox slowly got back up and spat. Before he could strike back, the Manticore rammed him through the tree trunk. The fox stumbled and grumbled. The Manticore grabbed his body with his jaw and began thrashing the fox around like a rag doll. The beast spat him out, causing him to crash into a shrub. The fox grunted as he slowly got back up, pain coursing through his body.
He peaked out of the shrub and noticed the Manticore charging again. The fox jumped out of the way and into another shrub before the beast could make contact. The fox escaped the shrub and hid behind a tree as the beast searched. The fox couldn’t help but growl at the beast. Not even a week in this place, and he was already having difficulty surviving. He glared at the Manticore, his mind and body aching with frustration. Smoke suddenly clouded his vision. The fox looked down and noticed smoke emitting from his jaw. He looked around and noticed the various trees and plants that could easily catch on fire. He shook his head to make the smoke go away.
No, he thought. Too risky.
He didn’t know what to do. He tried to come up with a plan to try to stop the monster, but nothing came to mind. His ideas either sounded too weak to defeat it or so strong it would risk destroying everything else too. His mind was racing.
Can’t burn it, the forest could perish. Can’t overpower it, given it’s size. Perhaps more quick hit-and-run attacks?
He peaked out and noticed the very tiny scratches and bite marks he had inflicted on the Manticore. They were definitely strong enough to break its skin, but not serious enough to kill it.
But speed and agility will only get me so far. What do I do?
His thoughts were interrupted when the tree was knocked over. He gasped as he found the Manticore looming over him, drooling with hunger. The fox growled and prepared for whatever attack were to come to him. The Manticore fired his tail again. Without thinking, the fox extended one of his own tails to block the attack. His tail carefully wrapped around the Manticore stinger before it could hit him. The Manticore growled as he swung his right claw, only for it to be stopped by the fox’s own paw. He went for the fox’s left, but was blocked yet again. The beast used his weight to try and crush the injured fox. The fox could feel the beast crushing him, the energy and strength slowly leaving his body. One of the fox’s other tails extended and slapped the Manticore dead center in the face. The beast stumbled back and held his snout from the sudden tail whip. The beast wailed and held it’s face to the ground.
The seven tailed fox noticed this and couldn’t help but chuckle. The Manticore glared at the fox and prepared for another attack. However, before it could pounce, something came flying and hit the Manticore in the head. It was a slight tap than a full hit, but the fox still took notice to this. He saw the object fall to the ground, revealing it to be a small purple mushroom. The fox tilted his head in confusion. The Manticore turned to see who had assaulted him with the fungus. Both fighters were surprised to find a zebra with golden and tribal-looking earrings and necklace staring at them.
“Feral beast! Step away from the kit! Or prepare for another hit!” The zebra warned.
Confused didn’t even begin to describe what the seven-tailed fox was feeling. The Manticore, on the other hand, knew exactly what to feel. Irritation. He charged towards the zebra. The fox’s heart skipped as he saw the beast about to attack the innocent. He couldn’t let another creature perish.
However, before the creature could even touch her, the zebra spun around and swatted the beast in the back of the head with a wooden staff. The beast fell with a thud. The zebra then began searching her saddlebags and pulled out a small bottle with a strange violet liquid inside. The fox didn’t know what to make of it. The Manticore shook its head and got back up. It turned around and roared at the zebra, no doubt tired from all the beatings it was getting today. It charged again with it’s stinger ready.
The zebra opened up the bottle and spun around, splashing the elixir towards the charging beast. The stuff covered its whole face. Upon contact, the Manticore slowed down it’s charge, it’s wings and tail becoming limp. It suddenly found itself unable to keep it’s eyes open. In a matter of seconds, the beast fell to the ground, defeated and snoring. The zebra smirked as she put her empty bottle away.
“Sleep well, Manticore. I hope you enjoy your peaceful snore.”
Zecora turned and faced the seven tailed fox. She couldn’t believe what she had saved today. It was unlike any creature she had come into contact before, she knew it was no resident of the Everfree forest. The fox was equally surprised by this. Out of all the creatures to save him, it was a zebra with a magic elixir. All he could do was stare at the mysterious creature. Zecora slowly approached the fox. She lowered her head so that she would be at eye level with him. Even though he knew she wasn’t a threat, the fox couldn’t help but step back.
“Do not be afraid, I will not hurt you. I am very amazed at what you can do,” she assured.
The fox just stared in confusion. He couldn’t tell if that was her personal way of speaking, or if all the residents spoke that way. Either way, he could clearly see that she was no harm to him. He at least felt safe knowing that he was in the presence of an intelligent creature.
“Thank you,” he spoke.
Zecora was taken back by this. Not only did she not expect him to talk, but she didn’t expect his voice to sound so deep yet soothing. Almost like some of the younger stallions in Ponyville.
“So, the new friend speaks? And here I was, expecting nothing but squeaks,” she teased.
The fox tilted his head. New friend? Squeaks? He didn’t dwell on that comment for too long. He let out a small chuckle, not knowing what else to say or do. Zecora decided to do introduce herself.
“I am a resident around these woods. Zecora is what I am called. What is your name, fox who has brawled?”
“Ryota,” the fox introduced, bowing his head. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Zecora replied. She then took notice of all the injuries on the fox’s body. “Come, let us return to my hut, seeing this many scratches is never a good sign.”
Zecora led the seven tailed fox, Ryota, away from the sleeping Manticore and towards her home. Once they arrived, Ryota was a little surprised to find an actual hut in the middle of this strange forest. He thought she was kidding. He decided not to make a big deal of it and followed her inside. Once inside, she began healing some of his injuries with some herbs and potions. She then explained to him how she was out foraging for purple mushrooms when she heard growling in the distance and went to check it out. Ryota didn’t mind the rhyming, he was too busy staring in awe at all the trinkets, items, scrolls, and other bottles the zebra had in her tiny hut. His jaw was practically left half open.
“What was that blue stuff that you threw at the Manticore?” Ryota wondered.
“That was the extracted essence of the sleepy sage. One drop of it, and it will calm down your rage,” Zecora explained.
“Luckily I’m not a very angry fox,” Ryota replied.
“Precisely.”
“Do you really live in this forest?”
“Indeed, it is my home. Some of the creatures here can get quite muddy, but not as long as you make them your buddy,” Zecora explained.
“Home, huh?” Royta mused.
“I can tell you are not from around here. Tell me, where do you come from? Do you live near?”
Royta paused. He didn’t know how to answer her question. He barely liked thinking about his old home, much less telling someone about it, and especially a stranger he’d just met. He just looked down and avoided eye contact. Zecora could quickly sense the somber aura he was emitting. Guilt soon filled her body.
“I am sorry. I did not mean to strike a nerve. You do not have to tell me, if keeping it private, you prefer.”
“It’s Ok. It’s not your fault.”
Zecora had just finished healing Ryota’s injuries. The young fox was amazed at how well she healed him, it felt like he wasn’t even injured at all. True, the marks and scratches were still there, but he still felt mobile. That’s when a thought struck his mind, or rather something that he remembered.
“Thank you, Zecora. I’ll be heading off now.”
Ryota made his way towards the door. He turned and faced Zecora before leaving.
“Where are you going now, without a bow?” Zecora asked.
“I have to meet up with my skulk.”
“I understand,” she smiled. “I will leave you to your walk. And you are always welcome to come by, if you ever want to talk.”
Ryota nodded and exited her hut. Zecora couldn’t help but smile, making a new friend with a strange and mysterious creature entering Equestria. The thought of Twilight Sparkle freaking out was enough to make her laugh. Ryota strolled through the forest, becoming more alert with his surroundings. He felt glad that he made a new friend in this strange new land, and that his new friend was just as strange as he was. After some more walking, and avoiding of any other creatures, Ryota headed for the exit of the Everfree forest and towards the entrance to Ponyville.