//------------------------------// // Getting a Letter Back // Story: The Four Foxes // by colt alchemist //------------------------------// The next day, Ryota and Kichiro were walking the dirt road that lead to Sweet Apple Acres. The two brothers had just finished breakfast and were making small conversation as they made their way towards the orchard. Ryota couldn’t help but have this uneasy sensation in his stomach, mostly dealing with the idea of his younger brother having a job for the first time in a while. “I want you to be on your best behavior today. It would be the least you could do for her,” Ryota instructed. “Yeah yeah, listen to the apple pony and don’t blow anything up,” Kichiro replied. As they were walking, Ryota couldn’t help but notice that Kichiro had something long and shiny wrapped around his neck. His eyes widened when he realized that his brother had a chain wrapped around his neck and dangling to the ground. It dragged along the dirt as he walked. “Hold on. What is that?” Ryota asked as he pointed to the chain. “Oh, what? You mean my new necktie?” Kichiro held the chain with his paw. “I figured I would dress accordingly for the job. Look nice for the first day and all.” “What ‘job’ do you think you’ll be doing?” Ryota asked. “One that involves the boss using their authority to make the workers carry out their dirty deeds, obviously,” Kichiro answered. “Might as well give them something to tug on, hehehe.” “Take that chain off,” Ryota ordered. “Fine.” With a snap of his paws, the chain dissolved into dust and fell to the ground. The wind quickly blew the dust pile away. “Applejack is already annoyed with you for taking her apples, you don’t need to make her more irate with your…choice in neckties.” “Hey for all we know she could appreciate the fact I spent so long to look sharp for the first day.” “Materializing a chain around your neck takes up a lot of time?” “Yep! A full eight seconds!” Ryota rolled his eyes and let out a small groan. “By the way, I’ve been wondering, what did you do yesterday while the rest of us were busy with our own things?” Kichiro asked. “I spent the day with the princess and answered her many many questions,” Ryota replied. “She was curious about our kind and wanted to understand everything about us. Our anatomy, culture, and obviously our different magical abilities. I have to admit, I’ve never seen anyone so enthusiastic to understand everything about fox magic. It was kind of funny and a little creepy.” Ryota couldn't help but shudder at the mere memory of Twilights big, toothy smile every time she wrote down notes when one of her questions were answered. “Ok. Did you tell her about your ‘crystal balls?’” Kichiro quipped. The three-tailed fox let out a cheeky laugh as Ryota froze in place. The comment alone was enough to make him ignite sparks in his muzzle. If his face wasn’t covered with fur the red would’ve been more noticeable. “Grow up,” Ryota said. “Make me,” Kichiro retorted. Ryota grumbled as Kichiro continued to laugh at his own joke. “We each have only one orb, you do know that?” Ryota questioned. “Of course I do. Don’t ruin the joke like some kind paper lizard monster,” Kichiro remarked. “Then you must also know why we can’t reveal them to the ponies. Not yet at least.” Despite all of his joking, Kichiro knew the importance of their magic orbs. He had difficulty trying to come up with another quip to counter his brother's reasoning, he wasn’t wrong. Deep down, Kichiro hoped that their orbs would stay hidden as long as they continued to survive and breathe air. He also prayed that none of his other siblings revealed their orbs either. Not yet at least? How bout never? “Did you tell princess Twilight?” Kichiro wondered. “Of course not. Despite her hospitality, there’s still so much we don’t know about her. I only told her the basics about us yesterday. Nothing else,” Ryota assured him. “I should hope so. You of all foxes should know how important those crystal balls are.” Ryota raised an eyebrow at Kichiros words of choice, “Were you repeating the same joke or were you serious?” “Yes.” Not wanting to add more confusion, Ryota shrugged it off. As they continued to stroll towards the farm, Ryota had to admit that Kichiro had a point. Of course, he would never admit it to him out loud. It wasn’t until long for both brothers to arrive at the farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres. Ryota approached the front door and gave it a hard knocking. Five seconds went by and Applejack opened the door with a bright smile. Ryota noticed that she was more looking in his direction as opposed to Kichiro. “Howdy partner,” Applejack greeted. “Good morning,” Ryota said with a bow of his head. Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at his polite gesture. “Do ya do that every time?” she asked. “It’s just a standard greeting,” Ryota replied as he rose his head. “The how come he’s not doing it?” Applejack wondered as she pointed to Kichiro. Ryota turned and noticed his brother just stood there with a bored expression and half-open eyes. “Because he lacks any manners,” Ryota responded flatly. “I don’t doubt ya,” Applejack said. “Eh,” Kichiro muttered with a shrug. “Anyway,” Ryota paused for a moment, unsure what to say or do next. The awkward wind blowing was enough to make his muzzle dry. He wasn’t sure why, but he found himself unable to formulate a sentence. Applejack noticed this and gave a blank stare. “Here he is,” Ryota finally said. Applejack chuckled again, “Ah can see that. Thanks, Ryota, ah think I can take it from here.” Now it was Ryotas turn to give a blank stare to Applejack. “Are you sure about that?” Ryota wondered. “Yeah, ah’m sure. Ah’ve dealt with younger siblings before and ah know how to handle them when they get out of line,” Applejack stated. “Does one of your methods include tattle-telling on me to the princess?” Kichiro replied, snidely. “Excuse me?” “Kichiro,” Ryota said. “What? I’m only curious,” Kichiro defended. “Maybe I should stay and watch him,” Ryota offered. “There’s no need. Whatever he can throw at me, ah can take it, bundle it up, and throw it back at him like it was a hay-chucking contest,” Applejack assured. She looked and saw that both foxes had their heads tilted towards her. The farm mare figured that they still weren’t used to her style of metaphors, but she didn’t blame them. “That means ya can trust me,” Applejack translated. Ryota switched glances from Applejack to Kichiro. Part of him wanted to stay and monitor his brother. However, there was a small piece of him that told him to trust this farm mare. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt like he knew who was watching his brother, despite barely knowing anything about them. Ryota looked back at Applejack, just from one glance he could feel her strong and determined energy, and a confident smile looked even more convincing. “Ok, I’ll leave him to you then,” Ryota said. “But if does something that you don’t like, can and tell me. I’ll be at the castle.” “Will do,” Applejack said as she tipped her hat to him. Ryota turned towards his brother, “As for you, I want you to-” “Be good, listen to the tyr-I mean boss, and don’t do anything foolish. I get it, we’ve been over this already,” Kichiro sassed. “Alright. I’ll be back to pick you up by the end of the day.” Ryota bowed goodbye to Applejack and began to walk on the dirt path out of the acres. Before he left, he turned around and waved goodbye to Kichiro, to which he waved back. After their distant goodbye, Ryota started to make his way back to the castle. As soon as he was out of sight, Kichiro smirked and snapped his paws. Applejack looked down and saw that something long and shiny was materializing around his neck. Her mouth dropped when she saw a long chain wrapped around the young fox’s neck. Kichiro grabbed his chain and twirled it around like it was a mini lasso. “When do we get started?” he asked. Applejack let out a heavy sigh, “This gonna be a long day.” Back at the castle, Spike was just finishing up washing the dishes from breakfast, all while sporting a bright pink apron. Suds covered his claws and bubbles floated everywhere as he washed. He felt glad that none of the foxes were picky eaters, which meant no extra heavy duty. As he was washing, he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something was watching him. It was like he was being scanned by an invisible ray of magic. Spike turned around to see if anyone else was in the kitchen, only to find nobody there. No matter how many times he glanced over his shoulder, the kitchen would be empty save for a few dishes that still needed to be cleaned. “Ok then,” Spike said to himself. However, when Spike turned around to resume his dish duties, an orange blur tackled him to the ground. “Gah!” he yelped as he felt something pinned him down. He looked up to find a familiar set of golden eyes gaze down at him and a ribbon dangling down onto his snout. “Ha! Conquered you again!” Emi declared. Spike groaned in annoyance. “Please get off of me, Emi.” “Not until you say ‘please,’” Emi informed. “I just said that!” “Ok geez. You don’t have to yell.” Emi huffed and hopped off of Spike. The young dragon got back up and brushed off any dust that might’ve gotten on his apron while Emi scratched the back of her ear with her back paw. “So watcha up to?” Emi asked. “I was washing the dishes from breakfast,” Spike replied. “Sounds boring,” Emi commented. “It can be sometimes. But chores are chores.” “What’s the point in washing dishes anyway? I mean, aren’t we going to use them again later today? Why not eat off of the ground, it would save a lot of water.” Spike stared at Emi with his tongue sticking out in disgust, “H-Have you done that before?” “Hehehe, no,” Emi chuckled nervously. “Why do you ask?” “Because...nevermind,” Spike said. He walked towards the sink to resume his dish duties. As he was doing that, Emi walked around in circles, she whined and groaned and acted like she was about to explode from nothing. “Oh, I have an idea. Why don’t you take a break and play with me instead?” Emi suggested. “Sorry, I can’t do that. I’ve got plenty of other chores I need to finish today,” Spike replied. “That and I don’t really want you pouncing on me.” “C’mon! There’s nothing to do around here! Play with me!” Emi whined. The tiny fox then rubbed herself against Spike in the hopes of breaking his dishwashing routine. All Spike did was grumble as he tried to ignore Emi’s constant pestering. He even spat in the air when some of Emi’s hairs got caught in his snout. “I told you I can’t,” Spike reminded. “But you have to! You’re my servant,” Emi complained. Spike turned and glared at Emi with his jaw dropped. “No, I’m not!” Spike replied. “I know but wouldn’t it be cool if you were?” Emi laughed. Spike groaned and pinched his nose.“Why would you even say that?” “Because I conquered you.” “So?” “So, that means I can either play with you or eat you.” Spike stared at Emi again, this time with a feeling of anxiety and confusion. He couldn’t decide which fate was worse. “You’re joking right?” he asked. “Uhh….sure,” Emi smiled, innocently. “Look just because you ‘conquered’ me the way you did doesn’t mean I’ll play with you whenever you want.” Emi pouted and plopped down on the kitchen floor. She could feel a slight crunching sensation in her head as the young dragon continued to wash the dishes. That’s when she remembered the words Spike had just told her. ‘The way I did?’ So he wants to go with the other method? She snickered to herself. Emi looked up at the cabinet above Spike and noticed some bowls and plates were inside. She smirked as she started to come up with an idea. “Do you think you could at least give me one of those bowls?” Emi asked as she pointed to the cabinet. “Sure,” Spike said. He reached above and grabbed one of the bowls from the cabinet above. After he closed it, he reached back and offered the bowl to Emi without looking back. “Here ya go.” Emi chuckled to herself. In one swift move, she grabbed Spikes claw and dragged her tongue along his scaly limb. “GAAAH!” Spike yelled as he lost balance and toppled over. He hit the floor and clung onto his wet claw. The scales on his head were sprung up and a cold shiver crawled up his spine. Spike looked up at Emi who bore a cheeky smile on her face. “W-What was that for?!” “Hehehe! I have officially claimed you! You’re my dragon now!” Emi exclaimed. “And I hereby order you to take a break from drowning the plates and to play with me instead!” Before Spike could refute or fight back, Emi grabbed him by the apron with her teeth and proceeded to drag him out of the kitchen. “What just happened?” Spike asked himself. His head was going in circles as he was trying to process what Emi did to him. He could still feel the wet drool on his claw. When he was being dragged out, he felt his stomach began to rumble. A burning feeling was swelling up in his throat. Not long, Spike belched green fire and a scroll appeared when the flames died down. “What the? Did you just burp a baby?” Emi wondered. “That’s so cool! I wanna do that!” “Oh look! I better get this letter to Twilight!” Spike yelled and bolted out of the room before Emi could stop him. He ran so fast that his apron fell off and landed right over the tiny fox. Emi quickly shook it off only to find Spike was no longer to be seen. “Heh, wait til the boys back home see that I have my very own dragon,” Emi laughed and she ran off to find Spike. Meanwhile, Twilight was lying on her couch in her study room and reading a good book. The sound of a door being closed struck her ears. She turned her head and noticed Ryota entering her study, her smile grew when the seven-tailed fox approached her. “I just dropped off Kichiro at Applejacks,” Ryota said. “Now we wait for the anarchy to start.” “You think he’ll do something crazy on the first day?” Twilight wondered. “Knowing him, probably something a little crazier than crazy,” Ryota said. “I feel like I should’ve stayed to keep an eye on him.” “How come you didn’t?” “Because Applejack told me that she could handle him. She said that I could trust her.” “That does sound like something she would say. She may not have magic like me or wings like Rainbow Dash, but she more than makes up for that with her strength. Both physically and mentally.” “You have faith in her?” “Of course I do. Don’t you?” Ryota thought back to Applejacks assuring words, her confident smile and her upbeat energy. She seemed more than capable of keeping his brother in check. He didn’t know why, but he had a hard time doubting her. “No, I do. I’m just worried that Kichiro might do something thoughtless.” “If you’re that worried, you could check up on them later during the day,” Twilight suggested. “Yeah, maybe,” Ryota shrugged. “Anyway, I imagine you might have some more questions about us today?” The moment he said that Twilight’s smile grew three times bigger. She slammed her book shut and brought out a quill and notepad that was twice as big as a normal one. The eerie feeling from before was crawling it’s way back up Ryota's fur again. “I thought you’d never ask! It was so fascinating to know all types of fox magic yesterday!” Twilight chirped. “I didn’t tell you everything about fox magic,” Ryota reminded. “Well, that’s why we’re here today! Tell me more!” “I can’t tell you everything. But I already told you as much as I could about our illusion magic.” “Oh I know, here are the notes I took on them yesterday!” Twilight’s horn illuminated its light purple aura and in a flash, a large scroll pile landed on top of the two. Ryota struggled to breathe under all of the parchment. His eyes shrank from the size of the length of one scroll. “I didn’t tell you that much about illusion magic, how many notes did you take?” Ryota asked. “Oh only the basics: the advantages, disadvantages, withdrawals, limits, the functions, how much energy it takes, the creation process, how only other foxes can touch them, the different types of illusions, just the normal things,” Twilight giggled. “I don’t think I told you about our different types of illusions,” Ryota pointed out. “Oh, I know. I just took some estimated guesses,” Twilight smiled. Ryota laughed nervously, “Why don’t we move onto something else.” “Very well. I’ve noticed that when Kichiro used some of his magic his tails would often rub against each other. Do all of your abilities stem from your tails the same way a unicorns magic comes from their horns? Or do you get it from an outside source? Like some kind of artifact or magic battery?” Ryota's mind froze for a moment. He knew Twilight was a curious mare, but he didn’t realize she would look into every little detail. When she mentioned artifact, the first thing that popped into his head was his orb. Did you tell her about your ‘crystal balls?’ We each have only one orb, you do know that? He knew he couldn’t tell her, but he also felt like he needed to give some kind of answer. Though he remained calm and stared at Twilight in the eyes, his heart was racing. Before he could give a good answer though- “Twilight!” The unicorn and the fox turned and saw Spike bursting into the room with a scroll in claw. He stopped right in front of Twilight, he placed his claws on his knees and panted. The young dragon kept on gasping for air and sweating a rainstorm. Ryota managed to knock all of the paper off of him by the time Spike was able to catch his breath. “Spike, what is it?” Twilight asked. “A-A L-letter!” Spike gasped as he held up the letter. Twilight levitated the letter and unrolled it with her magic. Her eyes carefully scanned down the page. By the time she finished, her smile grew even bigger than ever, if that was even possible. She even let out a high-pitched giggle. “What is it?” Ryota asked. “It’s a letter from Princess Celestia! She said she would meet with us next week!” Twilight exclaimed. “Next week?” Both Ryota and Spike asked. “And it sounds like she’s very eager to meet you all! I need to tell the others! We’ll have to continue this later. I’ll be back in a flash!” In a literal flash, Twilight vanished. Ryota's heart managed to slow down the pace once the alicorn had left the room. “Next week? How long have we been here for?” “Only a couple of days,” Spike answered. “Oh. Still, that’s pretty soon. I thought Twilight said she would have her mentor give us some time to settle down before we all met,” Ryota noted. “Maybe next week is the only she can meet you. When you’re the ruler of Equestria your schedule tends to get filled up,” Spike reasoned. “True. But I still can’t shake the feeling like we’re being rushed.” “Well, next week is still a long ways away. Who knows? Perhaps you and your siblings will be used to Ponyville by then. And you never know what might happen in these next few days.” “A fair point.” Ryota then noticed the sweat that was dripping from Spikes scales. “Hey, how come you were running here? I know Twilight's castle is big, but not THAT big,” Ryota asked. “Oh, uh, I was just trying to escape,” Spike answered. “Escape? From what?” “Fro-GAH!” Emi had pummeled and pinned him to ground once more before Spike could finish his sentence. The tiny fox sat on top of Spike’s belly and gazed down at him with the same cheeky smile. Suddenly, the dots connected in Ryota's head. “Found ya! You almost got away, pet,” Emi laughed. “Help. Me,” Spike breathed. “Good grief,” Ryota sighed. As things weren’t strange enough. Deep down, Ryota knew he was wrong. Things would only get stranger from here. He could only imagine how things were back at Sweet Apple Acres.