One Day Ago
Dusk fell upon the high-class city of Canterlot. Many ponies were calling it a day while others were getting ready for some night time luxury. Princess Celestia was in her room, sorting through some papers from the nobles. It felt like every day they had a new issue to address. That, or they wanted to praise Celestia before inviting her to a big event. Either way, the Princess was always occupied with something to do. She gazed out the window and spotted her sister, Luna, slowly raising the moon into the sky. Celestia smiled as she continued her work. As she did, a letter flashed and appeared before her. She could tell it was from Twilight seeing how it was emitted by Spike’s green fire. Curiosity got the best of her and she unscrolled the letter and began to read it. Her eyes lit up at the context of the letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I am writing to inform you that I have some exciting news. My friends and I have befriended some interesting new creatures today. They are not griffins, dragons or changelings, but they are something else completely. One by one, my friends have discovered four foxes in Ponyville. But these foxes have multiple tails, unlike regular foxes. They call themselves Kitsunes, or fox spirits for better understanding.
I suspect they might be from some other world, similar to the other world I visited through the Mirror-Portal, but a world where foxes are the dominant species rather than ponies or humans. Or they might be the result of some kind of magic anomaly somewhere here in Equestria. They haven’t told me yet. All I know is, their intelligence is on the same level as ours, they’re able to talk and reason, and they have magic unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I don’t think It’s Equestrian magic.
They do wish to meet you, but they also want to adjust to their new environment before they can take any big steps. We have never come across creatures like these before and I want to let them know that they are not in any danger. Is there a time in which they could all meet you in the future?
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Celestia’s eyes grew wide with interest. A new species discovered, one of which was not common in Equestria. Celestia smiled feeling proud of her student, it looked like Twilight will have to add another accomplishment to her list. It seemed like something fascinating will happen yet again in Celestia’s kingdom, and this one didn’t sound world ending at all.
“Foxes? Very fascinating,” Celestia said.
She brought out a quill and some paper and began writing a response immediately. She looked out of her window and in the direction of where Ponyville was.
“They must be learning so much about them right now.”
Present
Back at Applejacks home, Kichiro and Rainbow Dash had finished their fifth mugs of apple cider. Kichiro hiccuped between sentences and Dash couldn’t stop giggling. The scent of apple belches could be smelt a mile away.
“And you know what they *hic* did next? They made me pretend to be my friends! Just get a laugh out of it,” A drunken Rainbow Dash slurred, telling the story of the time when she was a newbie for the Wonderbolts.
“Dude. They *hic* sound like jerks! Let me track them down and put an end to their worthless lives for ya!” Kichiro replied, barely able to hold his mug straight.
“Nah! You don’t...I don’t...D-Don’t do that. They were just messing,” Rainbow added.
“Messing? Hehehe,” Kichiro laughed. “You want to hear about messing? Let me tell you a story...about a prank I pulled. Are *hic* you listening? A-Are you listening? Are you..”
“Yeah,” Rainbow nodded.
“Ok, s-shut up and listen. One day, for no reason, I stole ALL the doughnuts from my village in one night. And you know *hic* what I did next? I ATE them! Every. Single. One,” Kichiro explained.
“W-What was the joke?” Rainbow asked.
“My village had doughnuts one day. But they didn’t have any the next!” Kichiro replied with a small laugh.
Rainbow, in her drunken state, smiled and covered her mouth with her hoof. The Pegasus fell out of her seat and fell to the floor, cracking up. She held her stomach as she was unable to contain any of her drunken laughter. Kichiro joined in and fell back on the couch, laughing and squeaking. The sober ponies and foxes, who were sitting at the kitchen table, stared at the two drunken fools as they continued to laugh like hyenas.
“I don’t get it. It doesn’t sound that funny,” Spike said.
“No kidding! Stealing all of the doughnuts and not sharing them with anybody? That’s not a prank, that’s cruel and unusual punishment!” Pinkie yelled.
“Did he actually do that?” Twilight asked.
“Unfortunately, yes. You would be surprised at what Kichiro is capable of,” Ryota replied.
“Given what we just went through today, ah don’t doubt ya,” Applejack said.
“At least they’re getting along,” Fluttershy mentioned.
“That’s kind of what concerns me,” Applejack admitted.
“Same here,” Ryota said.
A loud belch filled the room before he could answer her question. All eyes turned towards Kichiro. Most jaws dropped once they witnessed Kichiro burping up a rather large flame in the living room. It wasn’t big enough to set the house on fire, but it was definitely bright enough to be spotted a mile away. The fiery burp quickly died down as the room resumed to its original dim light. Rainbow and Kichiro burst out into laughter once more.
“Charming,” Rarity remarked.
“Yeah. Maybe letting Rainbow offer that cider stuff to make him feel better wasn’t such a good idea,” Reiko admitted.
“You think?” Starlight asked, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.
Reiko shrugged and took a sip from one of the mugs. The cider slid down her throat and into her stomach, filling her taste buds with a sweet flavor and her body a warm sensation. She down in her mug, surprised by it’s warm and sweet taste.
“Huh, this is actually really good,” Reiko said.
“Thanks, it’s our family’s special recipe,” Apple Bloom informed.
“I want to try some,” Emi said, reaching for one of the mugs.
“Sorry there, Emi, but this is an adult drink,” Applejack said, sliding the mugs across the table and away from Emi’s reach.
Emi’s smile quickly disappeared when the mugs were out of her tiny reach.
“Aw C'mon! That’s suspension!” Emi declared.
“You mean oppression?” Twilight corrected.
“That too!” Emi replied.
“Emi, if Applejack says you can’t have it, you can’t have it,” Ryota said. “You probably wouldn’t like it anyway.”
“Hmph!” Emi pouted.
An idea then came to her head which brought a grin to her face. She coughed and lowered her head. When she looked up, her golden eyes shone brighter than usual and frowned at the mares. Ryota knew what she was doing and sighed.
“Really now?” Ryota asked.
Emi whimpered as she continued to eye back and forth between the mug and at Applejack.
Hehehe, nobody can say no to this face!
Applejack grinned and leaned inward to face the tiny fox.
“No.”
Dang it!
Emi reverted back to her normal face and pouted once more, disappointed that her simple plan didn’t work.
“I have a dog who constantly begs for treats whenever she can and a little sister who gives me the exact same look whenever she doesn’t want to go to school. It ain’t gonna happen, sugarcube,” Applejack smirked.
“Ha!” Kichiro laughed.
“Hey, I don’t do that anymore!” Apple Bloom protested.
“It was worth a try. You win this round, but I’ll be back,” Emi proclaimed.
“You’ll just get the same results,” Ryota laughed.
Twilight and Spike couldn’t help but laugh as well. Which made Emi pout even more and crossed her front paws.
“Anyway, I still can’t believe Kichiro created all of those monsters today,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Don’t remind me. I’m still trying to get the image of that spider out of my head,” Rarity shuttered.
“Why would you put an image of a spider in your head? Wouldn't your brain get a papercut?” Emi wondered. “Or is it one of those already developed photos you see in those tiny cameras? I guess you could get a headache either way.”
“What?” Rarity asked. Most of the other ponies didn’t know how to respond to Emi’s question either and just stared at her.
“I’ve actually been wondering,” Twilight said, ignoring Emi’s comment. “How did Kichiro create those illusions today?”
“As I said before, it’s an ability that all grown foxes can do. We use our illusions to fool our enemies or play tricks on other creatures we don’t really get along with. It’s one of the few things we’re best known for,” Ryota said.
“Are you not as good as Kichiro?” Twilight wondered.
“It’s not that. He just uses his ability more than the rest of us. And as you’ve all witnessed, it can leave a nasty strain on our eyes and minds if we use it for too long.”
Ryota looked back towards Kichiro who was still drunk talking with Rainbow Dash. Not surprisingly, they were still talking nonsense.
“So you see? It’s not WHY you’re *hic* chasing the rabbit. It’s what you’ll GAIN when you finally catch him!” Kichiro slurred.
“Whoa!” Rainbow exclaimed, making an explosion sound effect.
“Well, he seems to be feeling better now,” Spike remarked.
“Yeah. The illusion creating process is just as strenuous though. We can create an image in our heads and use our magic to bring it to life. Of course, we can only make it look like it’s there when it’s really not,” Ryota explained.
“Amazing,” Twilight said as she was writing all of the new information down.
“So ya can just imagine something in yer head, and it will come to life?” Applejack asked.
“Yes and no. Our deceptions are based on our memories. That’s what makes it difficult for us. We can only create objects we’ve observed or interacted with in our lifetime. But we would have to have an experience with said object in order for that to happen,” Ryota continued. “For example, I can create something like….a miniature version of one of you.”
Ryota snapped his paws and something appeared in one of the mugs. Applejack inspected the mug, only to find a miniature version of herself pop out of it. She was taken back by it as her mini self, smiled and waved at her. She then leaped out of the mug and shook all of the cider off. The ponies couldn’t help but laugh at the tiny pony, including Applejack herself.
“I can do that because I’ve had at least one interaction with you, Applejack,” Ryota said. “But I can’t create something like a chimera because I’ve never encountered one in real life.”
“Well we’ve got plenty of those here, so maybe you’ll get lucky,” Applejack said.
“Hey, tiny Applejack is back,” Apple Bloom laughed.
“Back?” Ryota asked.
“Don’t ask,” Applejack said.
“So those creatures that Kichiro created...?” Twilight asked.
“Were very common at our home,” Ryota finished. “And we’ve encountered them at least once or twice. They can be very deadly and persistent.”
“How so?” Twilight asked.
“I would go into detail about what dirt spiders can really do, but I don’t want to give the fillies nightmares,” Ryota said.
“Are they really that bad?” Sweetie Belle wondered.
“I’ll just say this: the spider that Kichiro created today was the safe version. If you were to see what a real dirt spider could do, then you wouldn’t feel as safe.”
The three fillies gulped. Dealing with creepy crawlies was one thing, but having to encounter them several times their own size was just unnerving. Scootaloo didn’t even want to know how dangerous dirt spiders can be, the very thought of it was enough to send a shiver down her spine.
“Good thing we have normal-sized spiders here. Hehehe,” Scootaloo nervously chuckled.
“So you do have spiders here? How big are they?” Ryota wondered.
“Oh don’t worry. The spiders here are no bigger than my hoof. And they’re very friendly too,” Fluttershy assured.
“A friendly spider? You’re making that up,” Reiko scoffed.
“No, I’m not. They may seem mean and scary but they can be very sweet,” Fluttershy said.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Reiko said.
“Ryota, you said earlier that your illusions are only real to you. What does that mean?” Twilight wondered.
“Exactly what it sounds like,” Reiko remarked.
Twilight stared blankly at Reiko. She already knew the vixen didn’t trust her, but does she have to be so cheeky with her? Twilight couldn’t help but feel a sting in her chest from Reiko’s comment. She decided to ignore it for now.
“Reiko!” Ryota hissed.
“It’s fine,” Twilight assured. “You were saying?”
“We put most of our magic into creating our false images. So much so that they even feel real at some point,” Ryota explained.
He then picked up the miniature Applejack and held her in his paw for emphasis.
“But since we use our magic to create them, we’re the only ones who can physically touch them. And vice versa. Much like how Kichiro rode his giant arthropods today. So if anyone or anything else were to touch them…”
Ryota tossed the miniature Applejack towards the real Applejack. The farm mare caught her, but the moment she made contact the tinier farm mare dissipated. However, it wasn’t in a small dust pile like Kichiros, but rather came apart in a series of small sparks. The sparks flew from Applejacks hooves and fizzled onto the table. The sparks fazed away as soon as they made contact with the wooden table. Applejack looked down at where sparks would have landed and back at her own hooves. There were some sparks that were still fizzing away. The farm mare couldn’t look away from her own hooves where her miniature self would’ve landed, but she was more baffled as to why Ryota's magic dissipated differently than Kichiros. Twilight looked at the sparks too, taking both a mental and physical note of it.
“Just like with Kichiro’s creations...in a way,” Twilight concluded.
“Wow, sounds like you guys had a wild time today,” Starlight said.
“No kidding! You two missed out on a lot today,” Spike said. “You should've been there. It was so cool. But also strange and creepy, but still awesome!”
“Well, we were a little...preoccupied,” Starlight said, rubbing the back of her head.
Most of the ponies and foxes focused their attention towards Starlight and Reiko, who in turn was trying to avoid as much eye contact as possible. Twilight and Ryota noticed this, unsure what happened with their day.
“Preoccupied with what?” Rarity wondered.
“Yeah, what did you two do today?” Fluttershy added.
Starlight and Reiko looked at each other, trying to figure out the best way to start their story. They figured that there was no point in beating around the bush and started to speak.
“Well…” Starlight began.
“Flashback! Voo voo voo voo!” Pinkie exclaimed, waving her hooves around live a flowing river.
“H-Hey does anyone else feel like that the room is swirling around?” Kichiro slurred.
“Wha…?” Rainbow asked before passing out.
Earlier
“I don’t know about you, but I told Reiko I would show her around Ponyville today,” Starlight said. “Let’s get going.”
“Right behind you,” Reiko replied and began to follow Starlight out of the throne room.
The unicorn and five-tailed vixen walked out of the castle’s big doors. Starlight was more than ready to get the day started. Her only concern was whether or not the ponies would still be worrisome towards the fox, she remembered how Reiko’s fox-fire managed to attract the attention of the whole town. Reiko walked slowly next to her pony guide, she scanned her surroundings and noticed a certain blue mare was missing.
“Your magician friend not joining us?” Reiko asked.
“Trixie? Not today. She’s a traveling magician, so she comes and goes whenever she wants,” Starlight replied.
“How convenient,” Reiko jested.
“Huh?”
“Nevermind,” Reiko quickly replied. “So, where do you want to take me?”
“I was thinking I just take you around Ponyville. You know, show you the sights,” Starlight said.
“What sights? Isn’t this just a normal village but filled with ponies?” Reiko wondered.
“Well, yes,” Starlight admitted. “But there are places around here that are worth checking out. I’ll show you.”
Starlight led Reiko towards some of the sights she mentioned. As they were walking through Ponyville, Reiko couldn’t help but detect some unwanted eyes on her. The two looked around and noticed all of the nervous stares and whispers they, mostly Reiko, was receiving. A pair of ponies, a mare and a stallion, were walking in their direction. They trotted as they both shared a good conversation, their laughter could be heard from the crowd. Then they looked forward and noticed the five-tailed vixen. Their smiles vanished and they came to a halt as Reiko and Starlight walked past them. The two ponies gazed at Reiko’s waving tails as she continued to walk. The two ponies exchanged looks and tilted their heads. Reiko didn’t even bother noticing the pair.
“I can’t shake the feeling that some of these guys remember me,” Reiko remarked.
“Well you did show up here unannounced and caused a fiery explosion behind Twilight’s castle,” Starlight mentioned.
“Fair point. But judging from their reactions it’s like they’ve never seen anything exciting happen before.”
“Oh trust me. Exciting things happen here more often than you think.”
Reiko chuckled. “Perhaps you’ll show me sometime.”
The two continued their walk through Ponyville as they tried hard to ignore the constant stares and whispers from other ponies. Starlight and Reiko kept walking until they reached a gingerbread shaped building.
“This here is Sugarcube Corner,” Starlight pointed out.
Reiko looked up and down at the peculiar bakery. “Huh. For some reason, I want a snack.”
“I guess just looking at it can make anyone hungry. C’mon, let’s go inside,” Starlight said as she trotted to the building. Reiko closely followed.
The two entered the bakery to find that there weren’t very many customers today. The only ponies were three mares sitting at a table who didn’t even notice Reiko and Starlight enter. The two walked to the counter to see one of the owners, Mrs. Cake, putting some freshly made cupcakes on display.
“Hey, Mrs. Cake,” Starlight greeted.
“Hello, dearie-AH!” Mrs. Cake yelped.
She jumped back and nearly dropped her empty tray at the sight of Reiko. Her yelp caused the other mares to look up and noticed Reiko, their jaws dropped. They immediately returned back to their meals, pretending they didn’t see her.
“Oh, this is Reiko. She’s new here so I’m showing her around,” Starlight introduced.
“What’s up?” Reiko greeted.
“Oh. Well, it’s nice to meet you, dearie,” Mrs. Cake replied. “What can I get you two?”
“Nothing for me,” Starlight said. “Reiko?”
The vixen looked down at the glass display case to see what her options were. Most of the choices were mainly cakes, pies, and desserts. Most of the stuff they had at their welcome party last night. Nothing really piqued her interest, but her mouth was already watering. She looked back up at Mrs. Cake.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any taiyaki by any chance, would you?” Reiko wondered.
Mrs. Cake raised her brow at her request. “Tai-what?”
Even Starlight stared blankly at Reiko. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Ok. How about red bean buns? Daifuku? Dango?”
Mrs. Cake wasn’t sure how to respond. Only one thing came to her mind. “Um...wha?”
“I don’t think she’ll have any of the desserts you’re familiar with,” Starlight informed.
“Do you have anything that’s red and sweet?” Reiko asked.
“Oh, why didn’t you say so?” Mrs. Cake chirped. She reached into the display and pulled out one of the red cupcakes. “I just baked a batch of red velvet cupcakes. They may not be what you’re looking for, but they’re red and sweet nonetheless.”
“Great. I’ll take one of those,” Reiko requested.
“That’ll be five bits,” Mrs. Cake said, as she put the cupcake in a small brown bag.
Reiko turned to Starlight and jolted her head towards the cupcake bag.
“Oh, right. I got this,” Starlight said.
After she paid for the cupcake, the two said their goodbyes and left the bakery. Once they were out, Reiko immediately chomped down on the cupcake. The red velvet crumbled down her throat and landed in her stomach, filling her with a savory chill.
“Not a red bean bun, but still pretty good,” Reiko sighed.
“You’re welcome,” Starlight remarked. “I’m assuming those other things you asked about are deserts from your home?”
“Yeah. Let me tell you this, you haven’t lived unless you’ve tried a red bean bun,” Reiko proudly stated.
“Then I guess I haven’t been living,” Starlight quipped.
“I kind of knew that gingerbread bakery wouldn’t have what I was looking for, but I wanted to keep my hopes up,” Reiko admitted.
“So you were lying to yourself.”
“Essentially.”
The two laughed at the small joke and continued on their way. They walked past other small areas throughout Ponyville and by some more staring ponies. Of course, Reiko ignored all of the stares she was receiving.
“This here is the fountain,” Starlight stated as she walked past a pink fountain with a pony statue on it.
“Thanks, I wasn’t able to point that out on my own,” Reiko remarked.
Starlight trotted past the crooked water tower next. “That’s the water tower.”
“That doesn’t look very stable,” Reiko pointed out.
“Well it has been removed from its spot before,” Starlight explained. “More than once.”
“Do I even want to know?”
“Ehh.”
The two approached a small and red schoolhouse where colts and fillies were walking towards.
“That’s the school.”
“How classy,” Reiko jested.
They walked up a hill where a small and purple tent-shaped building was down below, it had a sign of a smiling pony hanging above the door. A wave of nostalgia was filled inside of Starlight the moment she laid eyes on the building. Reiko merely tilted her head at the place.
“There’s the day spa where I met Trixie,” Starlight pointed out.
“Your village has its own spa?” Reiko asked.
“Yeah. Pretty cool, right?”
“Ok, I may sound like an animal for saying this, but what’s the point in having a spa?”
“What? You didn’t have one?”
“We actually had bathhouses, but that’s not what I’m asking,” Reiko replied. “Why would you pay someone to groom you when you can do it yourself for free?”
Reiko brought her paw to her muzzle and licked it. She then used her paw to brush the fur on her head for emphasis. Starlight’s eyes widened and formed a half frown as she continued to watch Reiko naturally groom herself. It was like watching a normal dog clean its own fur.
“You’re joking, right?” Starlight asked.
“Sure…” Reiko replied as she finished grooming herself.
“Ok, moving on.”
Starlight and Reiko walked away from the spa. The tour was almost over as there was not much else to show within Ponyville. Starlight showed some sights she was familiar with, such as the Carousel Boutique, the bowling alley, and the hay burger joint. The tour was nearly finished and the two found themselves at the edge of the lake.
“So how do you like Ponyville?” Starlight queried.
“It’s alright,” Reiko replied. “I still can’t believe you have a place that sells ‘hay burgers.’ I can’t decide if that’s funny or just dumb.”
“C’mon. Their food isn’t that bad,” Starlight defended.
Starlight and Reiko walked along the beach of the lake as the sun slowly began to descend. The calm blue in the sky was slowly starting to be replaced with a warm orange. It was almost time for Kichiro’s game.
“Looks like it’s almost dusk. Should we head on over to Applejack’s place?” Starlight asked.
“What for?” Reiko asked back.
“So we can watch her ‘game’ with Kichiro,” Starlight answered.
“That doesn’t really answer my question,” Reiko said, flatly.
Starlight stared blankly at the fox. “Don’t you want to support your brother?”
“You mean cheer him on because he stole some apples from a simple farmer? Yeah, I’d love to support the fox who wants to become a thief and pull dirty tricks in order to get by in life,” Reiko stated. “Actually who am I kidding? He’s already doing that!”
A small chuckle escaped from Starlight’s mouth, but she quickly covered it with her hoof before Reiko could notice.
“But in a seriousness, I don’t really care what K does. If he wants to steal from the lower class and not have to pay the consequences then that’s his choice. I can’t control him,” Reiko added. “Not that anyone can.”
“Lower class? Applejack’s not poor,” Starlight said.
“Whatever.”
“And I wouldn’t say he’s completely uncontrollable. Ryota seems to have a good grasp on him. He is the one who told him that he needed to-”
“Yeah, well, Ryota doesn’t know Kichiro like I do!” Reiko interjected. “He thinks he understands him, but he doesn’t!”
The very mention of her brother was enough to make the inside of her head twitch. Her claws were even digging into the sand of the ground. Starlight’s heart started to beat faster once she noticed some faint sparks emitting from Reiko’s muzzle.
“I can’t help but feel like I’ve struck a nerve,” Starlight assumed.
“It’s nothing,” Reiko sighed. “Let’s just change the subject.”
“Um. Ok.”
What was that about? Starlight thought.
“What do you want to talk about?” Starlight started.
“I don’t know. What do you like to do for fun?” Reiko asked.
“Not much. Just basic stuff. Like reading, studying magic, writing letters to friends. And...kites.”
Starlight chuckled nervously at the very mention of her interest in kites.
“Neat,” Reiko said.
“What about you? What do you like to do in your free time?”
Reiko tapped her chin with her paw. The gears in her head were turning as she tried to come up with an answer that wasn’t completely embarrassing. Simply thinking about her hobbies was enough to fill her heart with uneasy beats. The more she thought about them, the more her chest pumped. She bit her tongue and kicked a pebble. There were only a few safe answers she could think of.
“Um...wow. Listen to music. Go hunting. Uh...Oh! Sometimes I like to practice my magic,” Reiko answered. “For hunting.”
“I’ve actually been wondering about that. How different is your magic from ours? Are they anything like that fire-beam you used?” Starlight wondered.
“It’s fox-fire,” Reiko corrected.
The vixens ears perked up as an idea popped into her head. A toothy grin formed on her face and her heart started to fill with pride. Even a couple of faint chuckled escaped her muzzle.
“But why tell you, when I can show you.”
“Show me?” Starlight asked.
“Why don’t we have a little game of our own? A magic off!” Reiko declared.
“Magic off?”
“I’ve also been wondering what other tricks you might have. So let’s show each other what we’ve got! Whoever taps out first buys dinner.”
“Ok but why?”
“Well, it’s no fun if there’s no wager involved.”
“No, I mean why do you want to have a magic off with me?”
“I just want to see how powerful unicorn magic can be. And since Trixie is not here and that Rarity chick doesn’t really seem that magically gifted, you’re the only candidate.”
“Hey, I don’t think it’s very fair to judge Rarity like that.”
“I’m just saying what I’m thinking.”
“Still, you don’t know her li-”
“Like you do?” Reiko interjected. “I’ve heard the whole ‘judge a book by its cover’ bit before. Let’s just skip the morals and get to the showdown!”
“Are you sure? Here? Now?”
“Why not? It’s not like anybody’s looking.”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s the matter? Afraid to hit a little foxy?”
Starlight scoffed. “Alright, I’ve never been one to back out of a challenge. I’m ready when you are.”
The two creatures readied themselves for their short magic off. Reiko dug her paws into the earth as Starlight focused her energy into her horn. Even though they were showing off for fun, Starlight couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. She stared at Reiko as the fox continued to glare back at her.
“So who’s going first? Should I go or-”
Reiko jolted towards Starlight before the unicorn could finish. The vixen even left a small fire trail in her tracks. Starlight yelped and quickly formed a dome-shaped magic shield with a star emblem in front of her. Reiko struck the magic shield dead center, sending vibrations all over. Starlight rattled as she felt vibrations through her horn. Her eyes spun from the impact. Once she regained focus, Starlight got a good look at Reiko’s claws. They were much longer than she thought they were, longer than typical fox claws and even those belonging to a timberwolf. It was like she was staring at daggers that were sprouting out of Reikos paws.
“Whoa!” Starlight exclaimed. “Are you crazy?!”
“Oh relax, they’re not nearly as sharp as they should be,” Reiko assured.
Reiko swung her other claw into Starlights shield, which caused to rattle all over once more. The vixen attacked the round shield with a flurry of swipes and slashes from both her front and back claws. Starlight expanded her shield to cover her face and body more.
“See? If my claws weren’t so blunt that shield of yours would’ve been cut to ribbons,” Reiko proclaimed.
“It’s a magic shield! You can’t destroy it!” Starlight retorted.
“Want to bet?”
Reiko vanished and resorted to a pile of ashes. Starlight stared down at the pile of ashes where Reiko used to stand. The dots in her head quickly connected. She turned around just in time to find Reiko reappearing in a fiery flash, dashing right for her. Thinking on her hooves, Starlight formed around round shield behind her. Reiko smacked the second shield as well and caused Starlight to shake. Reiko jolted away and left behind a trail of ashes, only to reappear at a different angle. Starlight raised her second shield and blocked Reiko's attack. The vixen jumped back from the shield and vanished again. She jumped in front of Starlight, only to receive the same results. This went on for a while as Reiko kept on appearing at different angles with Starlight blocking each of her attacks with her shields.
“Teleportation, huh?” Starlight pondered.
Reiko continued her attacks as Starlight formed an idea in her head.
“C’mon, don’t just defend! Hit me with your best shot!” Reiko demanded.
Starlight expanded her shields and launched Reiko back before she could strike again. The light from the expanding shields was enough to make Reiko shield her eyes. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes once the light died down. However, once Reiko regained her vision, Starlight was gone.
“What the?”
A shimmer of light appeared out of the corner of her eye. Reiko turned around to find Starlight floating in the air, covered in a light green-blue aura.
“Heads up!” Starlight yelled.
She shot one of her round shields at Reiko and the vixen quickly dodged out of the way as the shield flew past her.
“Ha! Missed!”
The shield bounced off the ground and ricochet off a nearby tree which landed a direct hit on the back of Reiko's head. Starlight laughed as the impact was enough to make Reiko spin up in the air and hit the ground. Reiko grunted as she stood back up, literally shaking off the attack. Reiko glared up at Starlight.
“What? You said ‘hit me with your best shot,’” Starlight reminded.
Reiko growled at the floating unicorn. She jumped back and disintegrated into a pile of ash. Starlight made sure to keep an extra close eye out, she knew she could pop up at any moment. A warm fire emitted over her and Starlight looked up. She had no time to react as Reiko reappeared above her and swung all five of her tails onto Starlight, sending her to the ground. Luckily, Starlight’s aura was enough to break her fall and took no real damage, but did leave a small crater in the ground. Reiko landed back on the ground and Starlight stood back up at the same time. Starlight shook off her hard landing and focused on the fox. Reiko sprinted and began to circle around Starlight. Her tails were flickering as she ran and her eyes began to glow.
“Another fox-fire?”
It wasn’t the fire beam from before that Starlight was expecting. Reiko opened her muzzle and several fireballs came shooting out. Starlight gasped and shot her magic beams at the oncoming projectiles. She countered every fireball that was thrown at her, she circled around herself to be sure she shot at every fireball from every angle. A cloud of smoke covered the two creatures and blocked their vision. They coughed and closed their eyes so that the smoke wouldn’t blind them. Starlight rubbed her eyes and waited for the smoke to die down. Once it was clear, Reiko was standing still with all five tails waving. Starlight’s heart thumped once she realized the vixens tails were flickering against each other and her eyes were emitting a familiar bright glow.
Reiko stood her ground as she prepared her fox-fire. Starlights brow furrowed as she readied herself as well. Tails were flickering faster and eyes were glowing brighter. Sweat dripped and Starlight’s horn was charged with aura. Reiko opened wide and let loose her fox-fire attack while Starlight fired her magic beam at the same moment. The two beams made an impact and unleashed an explosion full of sound and fire. It shook the ground which made both Starlight and Reiko loose balance and wobbled in place. A wave soared through the ground and past the lake which created many waves. The smoke cloud was full of red fire and blue magic, it evaporated into the air as the sound continued to echo throughout Ponyville.
Starlight and Reiko had a sharp ringing in their heads and rubbed their temples. Starlight could feel her horn sting and Reiko felt her muzzle becoming stiff. They both noticed a small crater between them, Starlights eyes widened to see how strong their attacks were. Reiko slowly approached the crater, amazed and scared of what they had created. Then they both looked up at the cloud they created as if slowly began to flow with the wind.
A sharp pain stung Reiko in the head like a wasp. She grunted and held her head with her paw and waited for the pain to go away. Reiko soon noticed Starlight staring at her with shocked eyes and a half-open mouth. She couldn’t help but chuckle nervously as she approached the unicorn, guilt slowly replaced the pain in her head.
“I think we might’ve overdone it,” Reiko chuckled nervously.
“WE?”
The sound of ponies voices entered their ears. They turned their heads and noticed a group of frantic ponies making their way towards the lake, no doubt wanted to investigate where the explosion came from. Starlight looked up at the dusk sun and decided to take advantage of it.
“Well, I think that’s enough sightseeing and magic offing for one day. Shall we make our way to Sweet Apple Acres?”
“Yep!” Reiko complied and the two quickly exited the scene before anyone could notice.
Present
“Voo voo voo voo!” Pinkie exclaimed as she waved her hooves and finished the flashback effect.
“So yeah, that’s pretty much how our day went,” Starlight concluded.
The remaining sober creatures had no responses, mostly blank stares either filled with intrigue or confusion. It explained the sudden surge they felt earlier during Kichiros game, but they couldn’t believe that they were the cause of it. Reiko had her eyes glued to the table the whole time and waited for the response she knew was coming once the story was over.
Ryota was the first to speak, “So you explored Ponyville, bought some snacks, and had a small magic off to see how powerful unicorn magic can be and ended up causing an explosion that startled the majority of lives, including our own, that could’ve done some serious damage to yourself and Starlight?”
“When you say it like that it almost sounds like a bad thing,” Reiko muttered.
Ryota grunted and pinched the bridge of her nose with his paw, “In what way would that ever sound like a good thing?”
“I was curious!” Reiko defended.
“That’s exactly what the cat said before said curiosity turned on him and cut off his tails!” Ryota retorted.
“Odd analogy,” Rarity said under her breath.
“We’re trying to blend into this society and make it a new home. Not cause enough attention to make the locals fear us!” Ryota scolded.
“Did you not hear the part where we mentioned that nobody got hurt?” Reiko hissed.
“That doesn’t change the fact that what you did was reckless. We really thought something bad might’ve happened. What if somepony really did get hurt?” Twilight added.
Reiko growled and bore her teeth. It was bad enough she was getting lectured from her own brother but now from the princess herself? The very sound of her voice defending Ryota's argument was enough to get the vixens blood boiling.
“Uh oh,” Spike muttered.
Reiko growled even more. Starlight could sense the tension building between Reiko and Ryota. Fluttershy ducked under the table in case if things were about to ugly between the two foxes. They were both glaring at each other as if they were having a dagger staring contest. Starlight knew she needed to think of something fast in order to avoid the oncoming drama.
“Ryota, I understand what we did today got out of hoof, but the only reason Reiko challenged me was that she was eager to understand our form of magic and how it works.”
Upon hearing her words, Reiko ceased her growling and stared at Starlight. She couldn’t believe that this unicorn whom she barely knows is defending her like that. This filled with a feeling that she hadn’t felt in a while. Reiko had the sudden urge to grip her chest but remained strong.
“And what’s important is that we’re both safe, alive and that it’s all over. Shouldn’t that be what matters?”
“I suppose so,” Ryota sighed and turned to face Reiko again. “At least you’re alright.”
Reiko avoided eye contact with her brother, “Tss. If I had an orb every time I heard that.”
Despite her response, Ryota cracked a smile at the vixen. Applejack was the most confused out of the ponies, the way the two siblings interacted with each other boggled her mind. At least when she compared them to how her own siblings usually acted towards one another.
“Seriously? That’s how they’re gonna end it,” Applejack asked.
“Yeah. I cherish these sweet moments,” Emi sniffed with a smile.
The farm mare tilted her head at the tiny fox. She did not understand their dynamic at all. After some more idle conversations, it was about time for everybody to call it a night. All the ponies, dragon, and foxes left the apple house with Fluttershy lugging a passed out Rainbow Dash over her shoulder in flight and with Twilight carrying a drunk Kichiro on her back. Ryota turned around to face Applejack before he left.
“I’ll bring K over tomorrow first thing in the morning!” Ryota called out.
“Much appreciated, partner!” Applejack replied as she tipped her hat to him.
Ryota bowed and went to go join the others on their journey home. As the group was walking along the dirt path, Reiko walked up next to Starlight.
“Hey.”
Starlight turned and looked down at the five-tailed vixen walking beside her.
“I-I appreciate what you did back there. Telling Ryota and Twilight off like that,” Reiko muttered.
Starlight smiled. “You’re welcome. But I wasn’t telling them off, I was just explaining what really happened.”
“Still. It was nice,” Reiko admitted. “B-But could you not do that again?”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Starlight asked.
“No offense, but I can defend my own arguments on my own pretty well.”
“Really? Because all I saw was you growling and struggling to say your first words.”
“Jerk.”
The two shared a quick laugh as they both walked out of Sweet Apple Acres.
“But don’t worry, I won’t defend you all the time,” Starlight joked.
“Thanks,” Reiko replied. “And I guess I might’ve gone a little overboard with my fox-fire.”
“A little?”
“Ok, maybe a little bit more than a little. But not a lot.”
Starlight rolled her eyes at Reiko.
“My bad.”
“Don’t worry about it. And hey, if you ever want to practice magic again just let me know,” Starlight assured.
“Really?” Reiko asked.
“Of course. Just try not to do anything that will cause half of Ponyville to come and investigate what we’re doing.”
“No promises. Now, about that wager.”
The two friends continued to talk and laugh about the things that happened today as they made their way home. Twilight looked back at Starlight and Reiko talking to each other. Even though she knew Reiko didn’t trust her, she still felt glad knowing she made at least one new friend in Ponyville.
“This has been an interesting first day in this village,” Ryota said.
“Yeah. And I have a feeling that you and your siblings will fit in just fine,” Twilight replied.
Ryota looked back at all of his siblings. Reiko chatting up a conversation with Starlight, Emi laughing and jumping around Rarity as she walked, much to a small dragon's great envy, and at Kichiro who was snoring away on Twilight’s back.
Ryota smiled, “I hope so.”