//------------------------------// // Foxes Among Ponies // Story: The Four Foxes // by colt alchemist //------------------------------// The herd of Ponyville citizens that had approached Starlight and Trixie were filled with concern and panic. As soon as the explosion went off, ponies started gathering and forming a small crowd around Starlight and Trixie, asking questions and wondering what caused the explosion. “It’s alright, everypony! I was just practicing with some spells, that’s all!” Starlight assured. “What? No it wasn’t,” Trixie replied. “It was that fo-” Starlight quickly placed a hoof on Trixie’s mouth before she could finish the sentence. Trixie tilted her head at Starlight’s actions. “We don’t want them panic even more, do we?” Starlight whispered. Trixie rolled her eyes as Starlight removed her hoof. “Starlight, what’s going on?” Starlight looked over and noticed Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, and Discord staring at her with confusion. Her heart almost dropped when her mentor appeared before her. She had no idea how to explain herself in front of Twilight. She knew she couldn’t tell Twilight about her fox encounter here and now, not in front of this anxious crowd. She would tell Twilight later, when they were alone, inside the castle. For now, Starlight nervously chuckled as she tried to come up with an excuse. Meanwhile, Reiko hid behind one of the many cottages in Ponyville. She peeked around the corner of one of the cottages and noticed the majority of the village crowded around Starlight and Trixie. She tilted her head once she saw Twilight and the others appear. She couldn’t help but eye the bizarre creature sporting the knight armor. “What is that thing?” she wondered. She spotted more ponies walking towards the castle and retreated behind the cottage. She paced in place, trying to figure out a plan. “Ok, I gotta meet the others soon. But how do I meet them without being noticed?” she asked herself. She peered around the cottage to look back at the large crowd. She couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty for all the commotion. She could feel some of the guilt building up inside her. “This is what I get for being curious,” she remarked. “I just wanted to show my stuff. Is that so bad? Of course not! I already know I’m great with magic...But I’m in so much trouble. What will the others think?” “HI REIKO!” Reiko yelped and turned around. Her ears were ringing and her heart pounding. Her eyes narrowed once she found a tiny fox standing behind her, wearing an innocent smile and wagging her tail. “Geez, Emi! You don’t have to shout,” Reiko hissed. “I know. I just wanted to let you know I’ve returned!” Emi chirped. “I can see that.” That’s when something caught Reiko’s eye. She couldn’t help but notice a little purple ribbon wrapped around Emi’s neck. “Hey. Where did you get that?” Reiko wondered, pointing to Emi’s ribbon. “Hmm? Oh, this?” Emi asked, holding her ribbon. “I got it from a nice lady who runs a not-thrift store. I found this ribbon on one of her dresses and she saw how much I loved it and decided to give it to me and then-” “Hold on,” Reiko interrupted. “You mean one of those ponies just GAVE you a ribbon? For free?” “Yeah, it’s nice isn’t it?” Reiko was taken back by this gesture. “Emi, we don’t know anything about these creatures. I wouldn’t accept free stuff like that on the spot. In case you haven’t noticed, some of these ponies are capable of using magic. Some of them might have dark magic. Who know’s what they could’ve done to that thing?” “It’s a ribbon. I don’t think they would be mean enough to put a curse on a soft piece of softness,” Emi replied, deadpanned. “First, you said soft twice. Second, you really need to break the habit of finding and taking soft things, especially from strangers. Third, I would just be careful If I were you. We have no idea if these ponies can be trusted or not.” “I trust them,” Emi huffed. “That’s another bad habit you need to break. You’re too trusting.” “Oh, what about YOUR bad habits? Hmm? Biting your claws and finding random places to hide for no reason,” Emi retorted. “I stopped biting my claws ages ago!” Reiko argued. “But you still hide in random places. Like this one,” Emi pointed out. “I don’t think this is the place where we’re supposed to meet.” “I know. I’m just trying to find a way to avoid the crowd.” “What crowd?” “What crow- ...Are you blind?!” Reiko walked out from behind the cottage and pointed to the large herd with her paw. Emi’s jaw dropped at the large group of ponies walking towards the castle. Both vixens retreated behind the cottage before they could be spotted. “Wow, there’s A LOT of ponies here,” Emi said. “Yeah. How did you not notice that?” Reiko asked. “Eh, to be fair I did travel here by rolling around in a barrel. See?” Emi stepped out of a way to reveal a tipped over and empty barrel with the lid off. Reiko switched from looking at the barrel to looking at Emi, and then back at the barrel. “What the? Why?” Reiko asked. “Well, my private reason was because I found the wrapper of a blueberry muffin in there and there were still some berries stuck onto it. And you know that I would NEVER let perfectly good berries go to waste,” Emi explained. “My public reason was because I always found barrel river rafting interesting. And so, I thought to myself, ‘here’s a barrel, might as well try it out!’” Reiko paused before she tried to reply. She just stared at the fox’s random explanation. She didn’t even know where to start. “Wha...Wha...What? That’s not a real thing! Also, you kind of need a river in order to, oh I don’t know, go barrel river rafting!” A Few Minutes Ago Many ponies were trotting their way towards the castle to find the source of the explosion. While that was going on, a single barrel was rolling away in the opposite direction. Some ponies didn’t bother to question it, didn’t notice it at all, or were too busy running towards the castle to care about it. After all, strange random stuff was normal in Ponyville these days, so most ponies ignored small stuff like self-rolling barrels. “Hold still, you stupid spinning wrapper!” Emi shouted within the rolling barrel. “This is the worst river rafting experience ever!” Present “Yeah, that idea wasn’t really well thought out,” Emi admitted. “Just like most of your brilliant ideas,” Reiko retorted. “I can have dreams, Reiko!” Reiko rolled her eyes and peered around the cottage again, only to see the same crowd still making a fuss. She noticed a purple winged unicorn step up and stood next to Starlight. Reiko cocked an eyebrow at this. Out of all the ponies she’d seen, she was the only one who had both a horn and wings. It was very strange to her. “Why is there a crowd anyway?” Emi wondered. Reiko turned around to face Emi. She felt ashamed to tell her the truth, to see how she might react this time. She knew though that she had to tell Emi. Reiko told the story of how she met Starlight and Trixie and how impressive Starlight’s magic was. She also told her how Trixie made her upset to the point where she decided to show off her own magic, which resulted in blowing up a few training discs and causing an explosion that was bigger than it needed to be. Once she was done, she looked away and prepared for Emi’s reaction. Surely, it was exactly what she expected. “Ooooo! You’re in trouble,” Emi teased. “I swear if you tell him, I’ll throw you back in that barrel and send you down a real river!” Reiko shot back. “You always say things like that, but you never go through with it. You’re just talk,” Emi retorted. “Wanna bet?!” Reiko seethed. “Sis, you’re smoking.” Reiko looked down and noticed the large amount of smoke that was emitting from her jaw. She shook her head to make the smoke go away. Sure enough there was still some left over. Reiko huffed some more smoke and looked at her little sister. “Even if I don’t tell him, he’ll find out eventually,” Emi added. “I know. I just don’t want him to find out what I did just yet.” “I already know.” Both fox sisters yelped and jumped back. Ryota stood before his sisters with a stern expression and his seven tails waving casually. Reiko’s heart nearly stopped when she saw the seven tailed fox stand in front of him. Her guilt was soon replaced with unease as she glared at the fox. “Hey Ryota!” Emi greeted, casually. The seven tailed fox stared at the two vixens. He turned his head and glared at Reiko. The five tailed vixen could feel his cold stare pierce through her fur and into her mind and heart. Reiko didn’t move. She couldn't move. “Is it that obvious?” Reiko finally asked. “There’s no mistaking your smoke clouds,” Ryota replied. Reiko averted her gaze and grumbled. “I told you not to draw any unneeded attention to yourself.” “Well, to be fair, we already stand out like a broken claw,” Emi pointed out. “Being foxes among ponies and all.” “But that should be the only attention we should be getting,” Ryota lectured, turning back to Reiko. “I told you to scout out the area, not set some of it on fire. You don’t need to blow something up every ten minutes.” “That’s not true! It’s only seven and a half minutes since we’ve been here!” Reiko retorted. “I rest my case,” Ryota replied, deadpanned. “What about Emi? She took an offering from one of those ponies! An offering that could be rigged!” Ryota turned at Emi and approached the tiny vixen. He then noticed the purple ribbon wrapped around her neck. He lifted up the ends with his paws and examined it. He then turned his attention towards the smiling kit. “Did one of those ponies really give this to you?” “Yes!” she chirped. “It looks nice.” This made Emi’s smile grow bigger and Reiko’s jaw dropped. “Wha...What?” Reiko stammered. “Are you serious?! You too? What if the pony who gave it to her cursed it? We have no idea if that thing is dangerous or not.” “It’s a ribbon, Reiko,” Ryota replied. “The only ‘danger’ it will bring is if Emi accidentally chokes herself with it.” “Oh, you mean like how she is doing right now?” Ryota turned around and noticed how tight the ribbon had gotten. Emi’s paw was planted on one end of the ribbon as it constricted her neck, making her cough. Ryota approached her and unsheathed one of his claws. He then used his single claw to loosen the ribbon. Emi gasped as oxygen began to flow within her once again. She panted and Ryota retracted his claw. “Are you alright, sister?” Ryota asked. “Yeah, thanks,” Emi panted. “I thought it was a bit loose, so I tried to tighten it up a little.” “I think you might’ve overdone it,” Ryota teased. Emi sheepishly chuckled. Reiko grumbled at her brother’s attitude change towards her sister. She then noticed the many scratches all over Ryota’s body. They looked like they’ve been made by some kind savage animal. They were definitely fresh but with no blood left dripping or anything, as if they had been treated by a healer shortly after being inflicted. “Whoa, what happened to you?” Reiko asked. “I’m assuming the forest wasn’t very gentle with your body?” “I’ll explain my story later. Right now let’s regroup at the place we were supposed to meet at,” Ryota ordered. Ryota, Reiko and Emi all ran and hid between cottages to avoid being caught by any pony eyes. They kept on running and hiding until they reached their meeting point at the edge of the Everfree Forest near the school house. They hid between the trees and bushes so that they wouldn’t be spotted. They all waited patiently for one more member to arrive. “Kind of weird place to meet,” Emi admitted. “As long as we can’t be seen we should be good,” Ryota assured. “Ugh, this is taking forever!” Reiko complained. “Where’s Kichiro?” “Present!” Reiko jumped back. She noticed the tree next to her had eyes planted on the trunk. They were green and slightly slanted. She grumbled as she recognized the green eyed tree. “Dang it! I hate it when you do that, K!” Reiko yelled. “I only do it because I love you,” the fox chuckled. “Tsk, liar,” Reiko retorted. “Kichiro, come out of there,” Ryota requested. The eyes then stretched off of the tree trunk, taking the form of a fox with three tails. Kichiro looked the same but his fur color matched that of the tree bark. He shook his body, reverting his fur back to its original red-orange color. He noticed that some of his claws still looked like twigs, he shook them which made the effect wear off. Once he was back in his original form, he cracked his neck and joined the other foxes. “I never get tired of watching that,” Emi said. “Oh trust me, you will once you live with him for the rest of your life,” Reiko said. “How long have you been waiting, brother?” Ryota wondered. “As long as the river of the Kappa,” Kichiro replied. “What?” Reiko asked. “Oh, so not very long then,” Emi said. “Nope.” “What?” Reiko repeated. Even knowing him for her entire life, she still never understood the randomness that was Kichiro. Everytime she spoke to him her mind was being scrambled like a nest of eggs. Questioning him would confused her even more. “Alright, now that we’re all here, let’s return to the den and discuss on what we’ve discovered,” Ryota said. With that, the four foxes retreated into the forest to discuss their next plan of action. While that was going on, Twilight had managed to calm down the curious crowd and sent them all to their homes with cool heads. Twilight, Starlight, Trixie, Spike, Fluttershy and Discord were all in the map room discussing what had happened. “Starlight, what happened while I was gone?” Twilight asked. “Something tells me you were doing more than just practicing spells.” Starlight grew nervous. She didn’t know how to tell Twilight that she met a new and strange creature that she had never seen before, let alone tell her that it could use magic. She kept trying to find the right words, but nothing came to mind. She wasn’t even sure if twilight would accept the news lightly. Or if she would even believe her at all. “Yeah, I’m not sure you would believe me even if I told you,” Starlight said. “Starlight, as your mentor and friend, I’ll listen to what you have to say. You can tell me anything. You don’t have to feel like I wouldn’t believe you. All I want is the truth,” Twilight assured. Starlight felt a smile forming on her face. She felt a little comfortable knowing that her friend wouldn’t doubt her if she told her what she encountered today. “Well, the thing is,” Starlight started. “You know how there’s a lot of creatures that reside in Equestria?” “Yeah?” “Do you think it’s possible that we haven’t encountered all of them yet? Or that some of them could possess magic that we’re not familiar with?” “What are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything?” Twilight asked. Starlight grew nervous again. She knew she couldn’t dodge around the question for much longer. She couldn’t just tell her straight up what happened without it sounding confusing. She started biting her hooves, thinking of a response. “You see the thing is, I was practicing spells with Trixie, and when I was about done-” “Oh for the love of, we met a fox that can use magic!” Trixie blurted out, frustrated. The room was silent. Trixie just stared awkwardly at Trixie while the rest were trying to process what they just heard. They weren’t even sure if they heard her correctly. “What?” Twilight finally asked. “Uh, yeah,” Starlight said. “We met a vixen earlier with five tails and she looked interested in my magic. So when I asked her if she knew any magic herself, she demonstrated one of her ‘spells’ and made some of my discs explode.” A forced smile appeared on Starlight’s face in a hopes that Twilight understood that, or to make herself not sound too crazy. Twilight cocked her head, still not knowing what she just heard. Discord, had a much different reaction. He was floating up in the air laughing up a storm. “D-D-Did you say you met a fox, that could use magic?” he laughed. “I’ve never heard of anything so absurd in my life. And I’m the lord of chaos! What’s next? A tap-dancing spider?” Discord snapped his claws where said tap-dancing spider appeared, tapping away on the cutie map. Discord fell onto the floor, rolling around in his own laughter while everyone else stared blankly at him. Trixie could help but feel little creeped out by the tap-dancing spider and slowly backed away. “Discord!” Fluttershy scolded. “Well I for one think that’s adorable.” “A magic fox? That’s new,” Spike said. “I agree with Spike. I’ve never heard or read about anything like that,” Twilight added. “That actually sounds interesting! A ne-” The doors opened up before Twilight could finish her sentence. They all turned around and noticed an irritated Applejack storm through those doors. She approached the large group. “Howdy Twi, can I ask you something real quick?” The farm mare asked. “Maybe later, Applejack. I’m kind of in the middle of something here with Starlight. She just told me that she discovered a new creature!” Twilight replied, excited. “A new creature ya say? It wouldn’t happen to be a sneaky, thieving, three-tailed, talking fox would it?” Everyone’s eyes went wide at what Applejack had said. Twilight quickly approached Applejack, almost getting too close to her face. “You too?” Twilight asked. “Huh?” “Starlight was just telling me that she made friends with a fox that could use magic!” Applejack stared at Starlight in shock. “Seriously?” “Yeah, but I wouldn’t exactly say I made friends with her,” Starlight said. That’s when she realized something. “Wait, you said a three-tailed fox?” “Yeah why? You having trouble with him too?” “Him? No. The fox I met was clearly a vixen, and she had five tails instead of three.” “What? You mean there’s more than one of them?!” Applejack said, growing worried for her apple farm. “Apparently,” Trixie replied, still eyeing the dancing spider. “This is fascinating! Not only is there a new creature in Ponyville, but there’s two of them! Who know’s how much more could be out there!” Twilight exclaimed. “I don’t plan to find out. This is actually why I came down here, Twi,” Applejack said. “I found that strange fox eatin up my apples and ah was wondering if ya knew any spells that would help keep him away.” “What? Applejack, there’s a new type of creature out there! We can’t let an opportunity like this go to waste. I need to see them for myself!” “Do ya hear yerself? They ate my apples! We have no idea if these things are dangerous or not!” “That just gives us another reason to study them! I’ve never heard of a creature like this before,” Twilight turned to Starlight. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” “Because I knew you would act like this,” Starlight joked. “Act like what?” “And also there was that crowd of ponies. No need for the whole town to know about this, at least not yet.” Starlight added. “HI TWILIGHT!” Everybody jumped back as Pinkie randomly appeared behind one of the thrones. Then again, this was Pinkie Pie, so they weren’t really surprised to find her popping up out of nowhere like that. She often did. “Can I borrow your castle tonight? I need to prepare for another one of my super amazing welcome parties tonight!” Pinkie chirped. “What? Sure, but can you prepare later?” Twilight asked. “I’ve just been informed that we might have some new creatures in Ponyville that we’ve never heard of before.” “Really? Oh! You should invite those creatures to my welcome party tonight! Then they could meet my new fox friend!” Once again, everyone was silent. Even Discord’s tap-dancing spider stopped dancing. “Wait. YOU’VE met a fox too?!” Twilight exclaimed. “Yeah! But she wasn’t like any fox I’ve seen before! This one could talk and had more than one tail. It was kind of weird, but super cool!” “How many foxes have you met?” Trixie wondered. “Seriously. How many?” Twilight asked. “Umm, just the one. Why do you ask?” “Because those new creatures I was talking about might be that fox you invited to your party tonight,” Twilight replied. “Really? That’s awesome! Then tonight will be a foxy night!” Trixie groaned at the lame pun. “Hold on, how many tails did this here fox have?” Applejack wondered. “Hmmm, about five,” Pinkie answered. “Yeah, that’s definitely the one we met earlier,” Starlight confirmed. “Ok, has everyone met a strange talking fox while we were gone? Because I’m starting to feel left out here from all of this commotion,” Discord said. “It would seem that way,” Applejack said. “We don’t exactly know how many more are out there. It seems right now that there are only two,” Starlight added. “Either way, this calls for some researching. Imagine, all of us discovering a new species in Equestria! A species that’s intelligent enough to use magic? We need to look into this,” Twilight said. “Let’s gather up our friends and search for these foxes. This is so exciting!” “Oh boy,” Spike groaned. In the middle of the Everfree forest was a small, makeshift den near a large tree. Underground the skulk of foxes were talking about their recent discoveries in the new land. Some of the stories were interesting while others were more than average. Either way, it was still a lot of information that the foxes needed to know. Kichiro was telling his story about Sweet Apple Acres while having a run-in with an angry farm mare. “And you ate their apples?” Reiko asked. “I did. And they were delicious,” Kichiro replied. The sounds of low growling hit their ears. All eyes were aimed towards Emi. “Great, now I’m hungry,” Emi whined. “You’re welcome,” Kichiro said. “Kichiro. I told you to scout out the area, not to steal from the natives,” Ryota informed. "Funny how some of us don't always follow your orders," Reiko remarked. “I told you, I was hungry and needed to find something to eat,” Kichiro reasoned. “That doesn’t change what you did. You may have been ‘surviving’ but it’s still theft no matter how you look at it. You’re going to have to pay for those apples.” “I would, but I don’t know what this place’s currency is. The angry farmer mare kept yelling ‘bits!’ of something. But she never told me what.” “Well that’s just not specific,” Emi added. “Agreed. When we do find out what they use here, you have to make up for the apples you ate,” Ryota ordered. “Fine. Buzzkill,” Kichiro muttered. “What about you, Emi?” Ryota asked. Emi told her side of the story of how she wandered into the Carousel Boutique, met Rarity and Sweetie Belle and how she acquired her new ribbon. Her story was definitely less striking than Kichiros, but Ryota knew that she still brought a little too much attention to herself than what was needed. “So, in other words, you made contact with these creatures as well?” Ryota asked. “Yeah. But I swear I didn’t steal from her shop, she gave this ribbon to me!” “I believe you,” Ryota replied. “But did you do anything else that would make this ‘Rarity’ apprehensive of you?” “Well, she was a little scared at first, but once I told her I liked her dress she started to calm down,” Emi said. “A little shallow much?” Reiko remarked. “Hmm?” “It sounds like she was only nice to you because you had similar interests. If you were into something else like cliff diving, tree climbing, or spray painting, would she have spared you?” Reiko asked. That thought did strike Emi in a way. What would have happened if she wasn’t into dresses and soft fabrics like Rarity was? Would she have killed her on the spot? Would she have some more powerful ponies take her away? Emi didn’t dwell too much on that as she found herself distracted by her soft ribbon. “There’s no need to put that thought into her head, Reiko. What’s important is that Emi was able to befriend a potential ally that we could trust in this world. If anything, she should feel lucky that her interest in soft things saved her life,” Ryota reasoned. Emi smirked at Reiko, who in turn grumbled at her. Reiko then noticed all the wounds on Ryota’s body again. “What about you? What happened in the forest?” Reiko asked. Ryota told his side of the story and his fight with the Manticore. He also told the others about his encounter with Zecora. Rhyming patterns aside, he felt that she was definitely a creature they could trust. With her knowledge of the forest and the beasts that reside in it she could prove to be very useful to them. Ryota also explained how she was able to heal his wounds. However, one of the wounds on his right paw started to bleed again. Ryota brought his paw to his muzzle and licked his wound until the blood was gone. “That doesn’t look good,” Kichiro commented. “It’s just a little blood. I’ll live,” Ryota assured. “You’re no good to us if you’re dead,” Emi laughed. Ryota then turned and glared at Reiko. The five tailed vixen noticed this and blinked. She soon saw that Kichiro and Emi were also looking at her funny. “What?” “Do you want to explain your encounter?” Ryota asked. “Or should I?” Reiko knew this would happen. Messing up was bad enough, but having her older brother about to scold her for her actions made her feel more uncomfortable. She tried to not to bring a lot of attention towards herself but her anger got the best of her, it wasn’t the first time this had happen either. “What? Ok. There’s a perfectly good explanation for that explosion.” “Enlighten us then,” Ryota said. Reiko really didn’t wanted to be lectured by her older brother. So she tried her best to explain her encounter to make herself sound as innocent as possible. Of course Ryota could tell she was obviously trying too hard. “So, there’s my side of it,” Reiko finished. Ryota just stared at her. “Told you were going to be in trouble,” Emi teased. “Shut up!” “Seriously, you stood out more than flaming sword shouting, ‘don’t look at me! I’m just a sword on fire!’” Kichiro added. “I said shut up!” Ryota was about to scold his sister for her recklessness, when a sudden thought came to mind. He remembered a key element from Reiko’s story that could prove to be useful to him and his siblings. “Wait. WHERE did you say you met this ‘Starlight Glimmer,’” Ryota questioned. “Huh? I told you, I met her just outside some kind of castle castle,” Reiko replied. That’s when it hit him. His face froze as thoughts and ideas started to fill his head. Thoughts that would involve whoever resided in that castle. “A castle? Do you know if anyone lives there?” Ryota added “I don’t know. Probably Starlight lives there. Why?” Reiko wondered. “Because, where there’s a castle, there’s usually a ruler living there.” “So?” “SO, if this village does have a ruler living in that castle, then we should consult them immediately.” “What?” Emi wondered. “Face it, if we’re going to adjust to living here, we’re going to need all the help we can get. Right now, we have very little knowledge of this place. All we do know is that it’s mostly inhabited by ponies. So if we can gain help from the ruler and prove to them that we’re not a threat, then it could increase our chances of survival,” Ryota explained. “Now that’s a plan I can get behind,” Kichiro agreed. “Also, perhaps he or she could accord us with a proper home to live in,” Ryota added. “What? What’s wrong with this one?” Reiko asked. “The forest here is too dangerous for us to live in. I’ve experienced that first paw,” Ryota said, reminding his siblings of his Manticore encounter. “For all we know there could be a dragon’s cave nearby.” “Oh! That would actually be awesome! I’ve always wanted to conquer a dragon!” Emi mused. “You really do have bizarre dreams,” Reiko commented. “You can conquer a dragon later. Right now we need to focus on getting out of this hole and gain some assistance from the ruler,” Ryota assured. Reiko thought about Ryota’s reasoning. On one hand, the den they were currently in was cozy and out of sight from all the other creatures of the forest. However, she couldn’t help but notice how stuffy it was underground. Her nose had been sniffling ever since they dug their den. It didn’t feel as comfortable as she thought it would be. “Now that you mention it, yeah, I do feel a little primitive living in a den like this,” Reiko admitted. “Of course you would feel like that, our kind haven’t lived in dens for years. Now let’s get going,” Ryota ordered. All four foxes climbed out of den and began walking through the forest. The tried their best to avoid as much of the wildlife as possible, Ryota didn’t need another Manticore encounter, he already had enough wounds. As they were trekking through the woods, a thought came to Reiko. “Wait!” she yelled, causing everyone to stop. “How can we be sure this ‘ruler’ can be trusted? How can we be sure any of these ponies can be trusted?! What’s to stop them from attacking us right on the spot? In case you haven’t noticed, but K and Emi didn’t exactly make a good first impression on them.” “Hey!” Kichiro yelled while Emi looked down in shame. Ryota went over and placed a paw on her shoulder. “That’s why we’re going to them, Rei. To see if they CAN be trusted. We can’t blame K and Emi if the ponies decide not to accept us,” Ryota reasoned. “If they are willing to help, then great. If not, we’ll do everything in our power to defend ourselves.” “We’ve dealt with worse situations,” Kichiro added. All the other foxes muttered and nodded in agreement. “Besides, you trusted that Starlight pony, didn’t you?” Reiko thought about that. Sure, she admired the unicorn’s skill in magic and felt glad to show off her own, but she wouldn’t exactly call that ‘trust.’ It was more like a friendly first meeting. She still didn’t know Starlight or anything about this world. She didn’t know what, but something about Starlight Glimmer really intrigued Reiko. She wasn’t sure if it was her magic or her personality or what. She couldn’t put her paw on it. Reiko knew she could fight it and decided it would be best to follow her brother. This time. “Let’s just get this over with,” Reiko muttered. Ryota nodded and led his skulk out of the forest and towards Ponyville. While that was going on, Twilight and Starlight had just finished gathering her friends and were all grouped up in front of the castle. During that time, Rarity had told Twilight about her own fox encounter. “You too? Why didn’t you tell me?” Twilight asked. “I was going to. I was actually just about to leave to tell you the news when Spike came by and told me everything,” Rarity replied. “Has Ponyville received a new fox infestation?” “That’s what I plan to find out.” Twilight turned towards the rest of the friends and went over the plan. “Alright, everypony, dragon, and draconequus. I’ve just been informed by Starlight, Trixie, Rarity and Applejack that we have a new creature residing in Ponyville,” Twilight announced. “Magic using foxes to be exact,” Starlight added. “As the princess of friendship, it is my duty to welcome these foxes into our home and show them that we mean no harm,” Twilight finished. “For the most part,” Applejack muttered. “It won’t be easy to find them, but I want to make sure these foxes don’t feel threatened and that they can make friends with us. With a new species in Equestria, who knows what could happen? Perhaps they came from another nation that we don’t know of, and if we can make friends with their kingdom then it could expand our friendship beyond Equestria. Are you with me?” All her friends, save for Trixie, all cheered with excitement. They were ready to meet these new creatures and the possibilities that came with them. Twilight was the most excited with her big and toothy smile. “Let’s spread out and search for them!” “Yeah!” They all cheered. “Or perhaps we could just wait for them to come to us,” Discord suggested. “Huh?” Twilight asked. She turned to where Discord was looking at and her jaw dropped. In the distance, the four foxes emerged from the forest. They all scanned the area until one of them spotted the castle with the group of ponies and other creatures waiting for them. “Aw man, I was kind of hoping for an awesome searching montage,” Pinkie whined. The four foxes all faced the same direction and began walking towards the castle. Ryota was in the middle to make sure his siblings stayed in line. Even though he knew they had to do this, he couldn’t fight against the butterflies in his stomach. His siblings all shared the similar anxious feeling, especially Reiko. She narrowed her eyes towards the colorful group of friends, but soon eased up once she noticed Starlight. Emi’s eyes lit up once she spotted Rarity in the crowd and waved to her. The designer mare noticed the cheerful kit and waved back. Applejack glared at Kichiro as he got closer. The strange three tailed fox didn’t feel worried once he saw Applejack, instead he felt quite the opposite and wore the same innocent smile he used when he first met her earlier. Twilight’s heart picked up the pace. The strange new foxes she had been hearing about from her friends were mere feet away. Her heart beated faster as they got closer. Twilight couldn’t help but smile once all four foxes reached her castle. The skulk stood in front of the elements, Spike, Starlight, Trixie, and Discord in silence; tails waving in the breeze. This was it; finally meeting the ruler of this nation. Or at least this village. All kind of thoughts and concerns swam around in Ryota’s head. Most of the ponies recognized the other three foxes, but they were all surprised to find Ryota leading them, since no one in Ponyville had encountered him yet. “So, is anyone going to say something or are we going to continue this staring contest?” Reiko finally asked. “Wait, we were having a staring contest? I didn’t know that! Can we start over? I blinked,” Emi exclaimed. Some of the ponies couldn’t help but chuckle at Emi’s outburst. Discord noticed Fluttershy’s eyes lit up and her jaw slightly open. “Oh my gosh! Actual talking foxes!” Fluttershy squeaked as she approached the skulk. She lowered her head so that she was at eye level with them. “I didn’t think these animals could exist! They’re so cute!” “Aw, I know I am,” Emi replied. Kichiro approached Fluttershy and started sniffing her hoof. “Oh, hello there,” Fluttershy giggled. Some of the ponies couldn’t help but be taken back by this gesture. They didn’t know if this was how the foxes greeted each other or if it was just him. Fluttershy didn’t mind though. The same could not be said for Applejack and Discord as they both glared at the three tailed fox. Kichiro looked up and smiled at Fluttershy. “You smell delicious,” Kichiro teased. “Huh?” “Ok! I think that’s enough friendliness for one day,” Discord interrupted, snapping his claws making Fluttershy disappear from where she stood, and re-appear next to him. “I’m sorry, but which of you is in charge?” Ryota asked. “That would be me.” Twilight stepped forward and approached the skulk. They were impressed by Twilight’s appearance and voice. Out of all of the ponies in front of them, they were a little surprised to find out that SHE was their leader. She looked so young. Even though she appeared calm, Twilight was secretly screaming, Ohmygosh!ohmygosh!ohmygosh! On the inside. “I am Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight introduced herself, trying to contain her excited screams. “It is an honor to meet you, your highness,” Ryota replied. Ryota, Kichiro and Emi all bowed their heads to the alicorn princess. The only one left standing was Reiko, who was just looking around in confusion. “Really?” She remarked. The five tailed vixen rolled her eyes and bowed her head as well, finally acknowledging the princess of friendship.