//------------------------------// // Ch. 5 A Sad Tail... "I do have nine of them." // Story: Cold Fire // by Arcanum -Phantasy //------------------------------// "This is going to be more difficult then I thought," Twilight sighed. "It would appear that way darling," Rarity nodded, frowning. The seven ponies sat in silence as they processed what they learned so far. It had been a year since the map sent them out on a friendship mission. After the battle against Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, friendship problems had become few and far between. As such, it came as a huge shock to them all when the map sent them out on their current mission a couple weeks ago. Now they found themselves sitting in a cabin just outside the perimeter of Fluttershy's sanctuary trying to figure out how they were supposed to proceed with their mission. "He seems willin' ta talk to us fer the most part," Applejack frowned. "Well, most of us anyhow." As she said that, she cast a sheepish smile at Fluttershy. Said Pegasus was dead silent, a deep frown the only thing visible under the shadow of her bangs as she sat on her haunches across from her friend. The rest of her friends gave her sympathetic looks, Pinkie going a step further as she moved to her side and gave her a hug. "Is he okay?" she asked weakly. The mares that met Alex didn't know how to answer that. Physically, they could tell he was fine, but his emotional state was a completely different matter. "He's eating right, as far as I can tell," Starlight offered with a weak smile. "And he's keeping warm thanks to the blanket I left him," Pinkie added with a small smile of her own. "Oh," Fluttershy said hollowly. "That's good." Another moment of silence fell over the group, but only a brief one as Rainbow let out a frustrated groan. "I hate this!" she snapped. "Let's just ask him what his deal is with Fluttershy and get this over with!" "It's not that simple," Twilight frowned. "If we don't handle this delicately, the whole sanctuary could be destroyed." "How?" Fluttershy asked. With a flash of magic, a book appeared in front of Twilight. She let out a frustrated sigh as she opened it to a specific page. "According to this, Kitsune are an ancient tribe of magic foxes found in the highest and most sacred mountains in all of Equis. While all of them are powerful, the greatest amongst them are either golden or pure white in color with nine tails. These types are known to either give great blessings or terrible curses to those that cross their path. If a golden Kitsune is insulted, they will cause a horrible drought that will not end until the guilty party's land is nothing but dessert while a white Kitsune will drown the land in endless snowstorms. Both can take away a creature's good fortune and even steal a creature's dreams at night." Everypony cringed at that, even Rainbow looked a little less eager to test her luck. "Any specific taboos we should know about?" Starlight asked. After turning a couple pages, Twilight answered. "Aside from attacking them or saying anything degrading, the sure fire way to insult a KItsune is to touch their tails without permission." "Seems simple enough," Rarity smiled. "So long as we stay civil and keep our hooves to ourselves, we need not worry about any curses." "Does it say anything else?" Applejack asked. "Only that they generally hold fire creatures in high regards," Twilight frowned as she snapped the book shut. "Well, that explains why the map called her over too," Rainbow sighed. "That reminds me, how soon did she say she would be able to get here darling?" Rarity asked Applejack. "Either today or tomorrow," Applejack shrugged. "She's still tryin' ta get somepony to hold things fer her back in Ponyville while she's out here." "Ponyfeathers," Rainbow growled, stomping a forehoof in frustration. "She better hurry up!" *** I sighed listlessly as I wandered aimlessly through the sanctuary, the afternoon sun warming my back and the soft grass under my paws. I didn't know where I was going, nor did I really care at the moment as I enjoyed the tranquil silence around me. I just had to move. Meeting a Princess yesterday really took it out of me and I still hadn't quite gotten over the shock. Who knew something so cute could fill me with so much stress. Not helping was the fact that she wanted me to stay put for a couple of days for some reason. That, and the memories were starting to take their toll on me. "Fuck," I muttered as I fell to my side into the grass. "Why can't I make them stop?" I knew the answer. The longer I stayed in the sanctuary, the longer I was reminded of who owned the place. That in turn forced me to remember "her" by proxy. I felt four small prods in my stomach and smiled as I turned my head towards their sources. As I expected, four small kits were nudging my belly with their heads. I leaned over and gave them small affectionate licks. I don't know why, but it felt right to do it. They didn't seem to mind as they happily returned the favor with a few yips. I chuckled as I rolled onto my belly and nuzzled the little foxes. "I'm okay," I said through a forced smile. "Don't worry about me." The kits gave me some soft whines, their ears folding back and I swore that they looked worried. I laughed and said, "Really, I'm fine. I'm just going through some sh-...uh, stuff right now. Give me a couple days and I'll be back to normal. I promise." The kits didn't seem any more convinced than I was and let out whines as they nuzzled into my side. I sighed as I rested my head on the grass. I knew I wasn't fine. I felt sick. Like I ate something nasty, but my body wouldn't let me puke it out. I can't keep this up. I've gotta' get out of here. My ears perked as I heard a dull thumping, like a heartbeat or a drum not far away from me. Oh what the fuck know? I thought, forcing myself to my feet. The kits let out nervous yips at me as I turned my head towards the sound's source. I felt one of my ears stay pointed in the sound's direction as I gave the kits a small smile and jerked my head in the general direction I left the Skulk. They gave me what sounded like some protesting barks, but I just narrowed my eyes and pointed a paw into the forest away from the sound. With folded back ears and wilted tails, the little foxes sulked back home. As soon as I heard their steps fade into the distance, I gave the sound my full attention. "Let's see what all this is about," I frowned as I followed my ears through the forest. After a few minutes of walking I started picking up a weird smell along with the drumming. It was as if someone pulled open a spice cabinet and dumped everything into a huge pile then lit the whole thing on fire. It didn't smell that bad, but it was pretty strong. Hell, I was pretty sure it would've been a bit much even if my sense of smell wasn't razor sharp. After a few minutes of walking, I walked into an open clearing and was greeted by a weird sight to go with all the other weird things I've been exposed to today. At the heart of the clearing sat a rickety wooden caravan with a red tree painted on the sides with the top half of the tree painted in the shape of a heart. Next to the caravan stood a giant patchwork teepee made of what looked like at least a hundred random blankets and sheets stitched together. Tending to a campfire about five feet from the two structures was a light green Earth Pony. They had a reddish-orange mane and tail with peach colored bands all done up in dreadlocks and a yellow bandana keeping her bangs out of her eyes. As she poked the fire with a stick she was lightly tapping a small drum with her free hoof in a slow steady rhythm. Curious, I decided to see what this new pony was up to. At the same time I channeled some of my energy into my tails in case I needed to use it. Just because none of the ponies I've met so far wanted to start something didn't mean that was always going to be the case. I was about ten feet away from the pony when they noticed me. They gave me a dreamy half-lidded smile as they looked me over then said, "Hey soul brother, come to cleanse your mind under the sun's aura?" I blinked dumbly at her for a minute. Out of all the things I expected her to say, that was so far below the bottom I'm pretty sure it hit something on the opposite side of the planet. "Uh...sure?" I said, still wrapping my head around everything. She just kept smiling, still tapping her drum as she gestured towards a space in front of her by the fire and said, "Far out. Come soul brother, let's enjoy the sun's aura together." A part of me wanted to refuse, but at this point I was too drained to really care. I sighed as I took the offered seat, practically flopping onto my belly by the fire. The pony just smiled as she closed her light purple eyes and continued to play her drum. I shrugged as I did the same, letting my other senses take the reins for once. The drumbeat was oddly soothing as it echoed through my head. That, and the strange herby smell that seemed to soak the air made me feel...something. It was kind of hard to describe, like being asleep but awake at the same time. It was weird, but very relaxing at the same time. "What do they call you soul brother?" the pony asked, her tone just as dreamy as the smile she gave me. "Alex," I sighed. "You?" "Treehugger," she said, her smile audible in her tone. "But you can call me soul sister if you want." I chuckled at that. "I'll stick with Treehugger," I smiled. "What are you doing out here anyway? Did you get called out here for a friendship problem too?" I could sense her smile as she said, "I needed to clean my chakra and this place was full of good vibes. Can you feel it Alex?" I chuckled at that a bit, only it was more rueful than I wanted it to be. "I don't feel anything, but I guess this is a pretty good place for a nap." She didn't say anything and we sat like that for a few minutes, her drum beat and the smell of herbs easing me into a rare state of calm. As the tension eased out of me, I gently let my head fall into the grass like a soft green pillow. I even felt the energy I gathered in my tails dissipate as any need for it became less likely. I felt so light as I let myself get lost in Treehugger's drumming, but that didn't last as that same sick feeling settled into my gut. I barely noticed it when the drumming stopped, but I did flinch when I felt something round and hard settle on my back. "Wow brother, your chakra is tied in knots," Treehugger whispered, her frown audible along with her concern. I frowned as I opened my eyes and looked at her. Sure enough, she was right next to me petting me. I sighed as I stared into the fire, only just noticing the night sky above us. "Knots huh? Sounds about right," I sighed. "This is, like, seriously bad," she frowned, seemingly ignoring my comment as she continued to trace a hoof across my back. "All these bad vibes are like, soul poison." "Poison," I mused, barely paying the pony any mind as I continued to stare at the fire. "Maybe that's why I've been feeling so crappy lately. I must've ate something poisonous." Treehugger continued to inspect my back, gently rubbing in a way that felt kind of like a massage. I felt my eyes get heavy as she went about her business. I was just so tired. "You've been hurt," she whispered. "Yeah," I droned, mind sitting at the edge of the waking world. "I've been in a few fights. Who hasn't?" "Not like that," she stated. "Somepony hurt your soul." I let that hang the air as my hazy mind struggled to form a response. "It...happened a long time ago," I sighed. I felt a hoof lightly grip my paw as she said something that filled me with dread. "What happened?" I let the question hang in the air, hoping that if I didn't say anything long enough she'd drop it. I didn't want to talk about what happened. Talking about it brought back those fucking memories and all the shit that came with them. It was better to keep it all sealed in the back of my mind. If I never have to deal with it, then I didn't have to relive it all. I didn't want to go through all that pain again. I felt a hoof rest on my shoulder and I looked at Treehugger. The concern in her eyes made me pause as my brain struggled to digest something it hadn't processed in a long time; this pony actually cared. Not just her either. While we got off on the wrong...hoof?....Foot?....Paw? Whatever. While we didn't start out on the best terms, Pinkie still wanted to make me happy. I took a deep breath to brace myself for the pain that was around the corner and stared into the flames. "A while back, I met this...other Ninetales. We got along really well, dated a few times for a few months. I thought she was the prettiest thing in the world and she made me so happy just being there. She was so gentle and had the softest voice. She was like an angel and had a smile to match. After a couple years together, we started living together. It wasn't anything fancy. Just a crappy one-bedroom apartment in one of the better places in town, but we made it work. For a while, things were pretty good. Or....I thought they were." I frowned as the worst night of my life drifted to the front of my mind. I started to feel sick again as I continued. "I found out from one of my friends that my girlfriend was seeing other guys behind my back. I confronted her and it turned out to be true. Worse then that, she told me that she was only with me because I had a pretty good job and she wanted to leech off of me. We had a huge fight that night, things got thrown around, and I told her to fuck off as I walked off on her. I guess she didn't like that, cuz the second I turned my back she put a knife in it." I heard Treehugger gasp as she somehow gripped my paw tighter. "She got me ten times before she was satisfied. Doctors told me I was lucky to be alive when they patched me up. But do you know what really fucked me up? While I was laying on the ground bleeding, she looked me straight in the eye and said not to worry. That it would all be over soon." I felt tears start to build up as the pain and fear from that night filled me again for the first time in over a year. The sick feeling in my gut got worse as I took a shaky breath. I hated this. It felt like acid was running through me, burning me from the inside out as I tried to get the words past my muzzle. I wanted to puke, to scream, anything if it meant making the pain stop. "She almost killed me," I sniffled, my whole body trembling as the dam started to break. "I still remember how scared I was back at the hospital. I kept having nightmares about her sneaking into my room to finish the job, even after I got patched up. I even moved to a different state just to get away from her. I....I....." I broke down, tears rolling down my face as I was forced to relive the worst time of my life. I bawled like a baby as I was pulled into a soft hug. "It's okay Alex," she whispered. "Let it all out soul brother." I cried as hard as I could, pain, anger, sadness, and a ton of other emotions I didn't have a name for at the time running through me like a waterfall as Treehugger held me close. *** Starlight stared out into an open clearing, mouth agape as she struggled to process what she just heard. She knew that something wasn't right with Alex, that he had been through something painful. This was the last thing she expected. As she watched the pony and Kitsune in the open field she quietly walked back into the forest depths. Her friends are going to need to know about this. Her lower lip trembled as she turned her back on the painful scene and continued walking. "Please get here quick Autumn," she muttered to herself as the shadows of the sanctuary's canopy hid her from sight. "We need you more than we thought."