One of the things Fluttershy made sure of when she built her sanctuary was that it was close to a train station. This made the commute between the sanctuary and Ponyville a lot easier than it would've been otherwise when she visited. As such, it wouldn't take too long for the last member of the group's party to arrive. Said creature let out a bored sigh as she looked out the train window to her seat's left. Like most Kirin, Autumn Blaze had a light cream colored coat, but the emerald scales that covered her upper barrel, chest, forehead, and the top of her snout were a little less common. Her rust colored mane held the lion's quality that all of her kind shared as the early morning sun shined off of it and the long curly strip of fur that grew from the underside of her lion-like tail. Her golden eyes blinked dully as she watched a tree zip past her window, earning another groan as she sprawled out on her back across the length of her seat. As she stared at the ceiling of her train cart, the red bands around the bace of her branch-like burgundy horn glowed as she tried to levitate something out of her saddlebags. As a folder floated out of her bag from under her seat, a rattling earned a raised brow out of her.
"What the flare?" she muttered as she levitated the bags to her side.
When she opened the offending bag and looked inside, an annoyed sigh slipped past her lips.
"So that's where I left them," she frowned, levitating three brown bottles out of her bag.
Rolling her eyes, she smiled as she gently returned the bottles to her bag and opened her folder. As much as she loved her village, the playwright in her just couldn't help but want to see the world beyond. In time her travels brought her to Ponyville and she found her opportunity. Now she was the premier playwright of the whole town, her plays bringing smiles to all who came to see them. Of course, this also lead to its fare share of stress, something that her investments in fireproofing spells could attest to. Another thing that helped where a few therapeutic remedies she whipped up before she left her village that she kept back in her new home at the studio. As such, most of her days were spent going over scripts or making potions with the local shamans when she had the time.
"I wonder what's happening in Fluttershy's sanctuary," she mused as she looked over her latest script.
She wasn't told much before her friends ran off ahead of her. As far as she knew, something was going on at Fluttershy's animal sanctuary and they needed her help. At least, thats what they told her the glow in her horn meant. As soon as she found somepony to hold the fort for her, she ran to the station and grabbed the earliest train she could find.
She didn't get to mull over the thought for vary long. As soon as the outward thought passed her lips, the train lurched to a stop. Autumn let out a chuckle as she slid her saddlebags into place across her barrel and returned the folder to its compartment. She hummed happily to herself as she made her way to the train cart's exit. As she stepped out onto the platform, she paused as a group of seven ponies galloped out of the station's main office to meet her.
"Hey girls," she smiled as she stepped onto the station's main platform. "Sorry I'm late. It was kind of hard to find somepony that knew what they're doing to watch the theater for me."
Her smile shrank when she saw the panicked looks on the seven mare's faces. Poor Fluttershy looked the worst with her puffy eyes and runny muzzle.
"Are you all okay?" she asked, a bit of dread setting in her gut.
"Th-Things are a lot more complicated then we thought," Twilight said, her face a shade paler then the Kirin was used to.
"What do you mean complicated?" Autumn gulped.
None of the mares seemed willing to elaborate, until Starlight let out a shaky breath and stepped forward.
"I'll tell you at the cabin. Their's a big patch of open dirt there you to light up in."
Autumn frowned at that. The fact that her friends felt that she was going to need to go Nirik at some point told her all she needed to know about how bad things were.
***
I groaned as the morning sun burned my eyes, dragging me kicking and screaming back into the waking world.
"Fuck you sun. Go suck the biggest horse dick around," I growled as I covered my eyes with my paws.
Failing to find a way to get the damn fireball in the sky to fuck off, I staggered to my paws and blearily opened my eyes. It took me a minute to figure out why I was standing in the middle of an open field, but then I turned towards the teepee standing not too far away from me and it all started to come back to me. I could hear a light snoring coming from the structure as I approached it.
I stopped in front of the teepee and with a small smile said,"Thanks Treehugger. I'll see you later."
I turned away from the scene and made my way back into the tree line. Once I made my way onto a familiar nearby trail, I noticed a few things that felt different about me. I felt strange. Lighter I guess, but my head felt less cloudy. I didn't feel sick anymore, though I did feel a little lightheaded. Everything looked a little clearer to me too, like I had on a pair of smudged up goggles and only recently took them off. It was weird, but it felt kind of good at the same time.
"What the hell happened last night?" I muttered as a lake came into view.
The second I saw the crystal clear water, my brain reminded me just how dry my throat was. I practically flew towards the water before I rammed my muzzle into it. As I slaked my thirst I tried to think of what I could do to accomplish my main goal. While I didn't know where Whitetail Woods was, it wouldn't be that hard to find out if I asked Treehugger for directions. Okay, I'd be going against a Princess' request, but she could go eat her own tail as far as I was concerned at this point. Staying put practically gave me a stomach tumor and I sure as hell didn't want to go through any of that again. Besides, I don't think Princess Twilight Sparkle would be too keen on me flipping out on her friend if we ran into each other again.
I let out a relieved sigh as I pulled my muzzle out of the water and fell to my haunches.
"First I need a map of the area," I mused. "From there I should be able to set up a travel plan. I could use the blanket Pinkie gave me as a hobo bag for any food I'll need if there aren't any good hunting spots on the way. Water's going to be an issue though. Maybe I could ask Treehugger if she'd help me get there."
As I ran a bunch of possible plans through my head (most of which I had to shoot down because I couldn't pull plastic bottles out of my ass), a strange smell caught my attention. I took a few deep sniffs, curious as to what this scent could belong to. It was kind of like cinnamon, but had a kind of campfire burn to it, like someone threw giant sticks of the spice into a bonfire. It was kind of nice, but that wasn't what made it weird to me. Well, okay, it wasn't the main thing that made it weird to me. It was the fact that there was a strong hint of smoke and tar mixed in.
"The fuck?" I muttered, looking around.
I spotted a small column of smoke as it crept up past the canopy in the distance. A column that looked like it was moving back and forth for some reason. I glared at the smoke and started walking towards it. The way I saw it, smoke like that meant one of two things. A: someone was setting up camp nearby and had no idea how to make a fire pit. Or B: someone was getting ready to start a fire. Either way, something was up and I was sure as hell gonna find out.
***
Autumn was seeing red as she paced back and forth in a large patch of dirt twenty feet away from the sanctuary's cabin. Just like the ponies feared, the second they told her about Alex and what they learned she didn't handle it very well. Her coat turned pitch-black and her scales lost all color as her rust colored mane and tail turned into blue and pink flames as she paced. Her eyes were glowing white orbs of rage that matched the long snarling fangs that peeked past the gnashing frown that marred her muzzle. Incoherent vitriol pored out of her muzzle as she let her fury known to the world like demonic mantras. All the while, outraged thoughts ran through her mind with a little more cohesion.
That flaring ash stain! How could anycreature be so cruel?! I swear, if I ever get my hooves on her I'll make her choke on her own tails! ALL NINE OF THEM!!!
She let out a furious roar as she slammed her forehooves into the slowly crystalizing ground beneath her. Deep heaving gasps pored out of her muzzle as her blood boiled in her veins. She'd never been this angry before. Not even when she was forced into exile by her village, did her temper flare this wildly. Such wicked cruelty was unheard of to her, especially for such stupidly petty reasons. No creature deserved to have their heart trampled on like that.
Her rage shifted to sadness as she imagined how horrible it must've been for Alex. To have his mate turn on him after all the love and trust he gave her. It tore her heart in half just imagining how awful it must've been for him. Tears slid down her face as she felt herself turning back to normal, her body no longer full of the rage needed to maintain her more violent form.
"How could anycreature do something so horrible?," she sniffled, falling to her haunches.
A male voice from the distant tree line made her flinch in shock.
"Hey! Are you okay?!"
Still sniffling, she wiped her eyes and turned her head towards the source of voice. What she saw made her still teary eyes widen.
***
There were a lot of things I expected to see when I found the source of the fire. A shitty fire pit. A burning trashcan. Hell, maybe a dragon smoking a giant blunt. Burning demonic dragon horse? Nope. Deffinately the last thing on the crazy list.
I didn't know what to expect from this creature, but I had two things going in my favor if things went south. The first was that there wasn't a lot of plants in the area so I didn't need to worry about burning the place down so long as I kept this a midrange battle. The other was that I had my Iron Tail attack to fall back on if things turned into a close quarters battle. Granted, I wasn't sure how effective a steel-type move would be against a fire dragon, but it was the best I could do with what I had.
As I crept out from behind the trees the creature stopped its rampage and just...stood there, muttering to itself in a tone to low for me to hear. After a few minutes of this, it did something that made my jaw hit the fucking floor. It fell to its haunches and started crying. At the same time, it changed from a fiery horse monster into some kind of Dragon, Unicorn, lion hybrid thing.
I blinked dumbly at the creature as I cautiously stepped out from cover. In spite of the demon form I saw earlier, this creature looked kind of cute. Then again, I could've said the same thing about the ponies too.
Keeping my tails ready to iron-up, I cleared my throat and asked if the creature was okay. It jumped a little, then wiped its eyes before she looked at me. The look in its eyes kind of put me on edge. It was the same look someone would give a kicked puppy or a drowned kitten. Pity.
I hid my grimace as I asked, "Are you lost or something?"
She continued to stare at me.
"Uh...Hell-"
I blinked and suddenly it went from twenty feet away from me to right in my face.
Holy fucking Weeping Angels Batman! I thought as I jumped back with a yelp.
"You're Alex, right?" she asked with a gulp.
"Y-Yeah?" I blinked. "And you are?"
"Oh! Right!" she blushed. "I'm Autumn Blaze."
"Uh, nice to meet you?" I blinked again, taken pretty far aback.
"Same," she smiled.
I sighed, deciding that the best move was to get right to the point.
"Are you here for business or pleasure?" I asked flatly.
She gave me a crooked smile and said, "Ain't you going to take me to dinner first, bub?"
I reared back a bit at that.
"Dinner first? What are you-"
Realization hit me a second later and I glared at the...whatever the fuck she's supposed to be.
"Nice one."
She shrugged and said, "Hey, you're the one flirting with me pal."
"Right," I frowned, rolling my eyes. "So are you here to fix a friendship problem or what?"
"Yeah," she nodded, her smile shrinking a little.
"Well, let's get to work then," I sighed as I fell to my haunches.
"You...uh...don't seem very enthusiastic about all of this," Autumn frowned, raising an eyebrow at me.
I shrugged.
"Lately, I've had ponies come popping out of my ass trying to get to know me left, right, and center. It's kind of become a routine at this point."
"Sounds rough," she smirked as she fell to her haunches.
"You have no idea," I groaned, rubbing the bridge of my snout with a paw. "Treehugger, Applejack, and Pinkie are alright, but the rest of them are a bit much. Then there's the whole thing with Fluttershy."
I saw Autumn's lip quiver a bit at that.
I raised a brow and asked, "Are you okay?'
"Y-Yeah," she stammered, forcing a smile onto her face.
I narrowed my eyes at her for a minute, then sighed as I let the topic drop. If she didn't want to talk about it, fine. Not my problem.
"Anyway," I continued. "I wouldn't have any problems with them coming around to see me if they didn't treat it like a damn therapy visit! Get a couple tumblers and bottles of booze and we can drop all the bull and have a party!"
"Didn't Pinkie try to throw you a party?" Autumn asked.
"Yeah," I laughed awkwardly. "I kind of thought her and her friends were out to get me at the time. Sort've ran the second I knew they were there."
Autumn gave me a flat stare.
"What?! I was kind of nuts at the time!" I exclaimed.
"And now?" she deadpanned.
"Now I'd kill for a bottle of Jack," I sighed.
I watched as a wide smile slowly spread across Autumn's face.
"I don't know about Jack, but I do have a something that'll perk you up a bit."
Before I could say anything, Autumn ran into a nearby cabin. I sat there dumbfounded as I tried to piece together what just happened. I barely got the puzzle started before Autumn was walking back towards me with what looked like three brown wine bottles and two shot glasses floating next to her.
Well that's a neat trick, I mused as the whatever-she-is sat back down in front of me.
"Hope you can hold your liquor," she grinned as she set the glasses down between us. "Cuz this stuff's strong enough to knock Discord's head off!"
"No idea who that is, but I'll try anything once," I shrugged.
"Good to hear," she beamed as she used her Jedi mind powers pull the cork out of one of the bottles and poured the shots. "Need any help?"
"I've got this," I smirked as it grabbed the glass with a paw.
Something I found out a couple weeks ago is that my paws were pretty dexterous. Not quite at the level my hands used to be, but enough to grab small things like sticks or, in this case, a shot glass. We shared cocky smirks as we tapped our glasses together and downed them. My eyes widened the second the brew ran down my throat and hit my gut. It had a slight burn like whisky, but the strong cinnamon and apple flavor took me by surprise. It was kind of like drinking a apple pie with a small hint of warm rum at the core. It was one of the tastiest drinks I've ever had.
Autumn let out a satisfied sigh as she set her glass down on the ground for a refill.
"So, what do ya think?" she smirked.
"Not bad," I shrugged as I set my glass down. "Might need to take a few more to tell if I really like it."
"Right," she chuckled as she pored me another shot. "Have as many samples as you want. I've got a whole basement full of these back home."
"Really?" I smirked. "You might just catch me sneaking off with a few bottles if I like this stuff."
"Flare, I might just give you a few," she sighed. "Celestia knows you deserve them."
"Wha?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it," she sighed, waving my question away with a hoof before downing her shot.
I stared at her for a few seconds, then shrugged as I polished off my own glass.
No point killing the mood. If she doesn't want to talk that's her business.
That's how things went for a while. We'd down drinks, talk a bit about ourselves, then do it all again. It was a lot of fun and it turned out Autumn was a pretty cool...uh...whatever-she-was. Turns out that the whole Ghostrider thing only happens when her kind get angry, something to keep in mind if we ever hung out again after this. She was also a Playwright with her own theater and everything in a place called Ponyville. She also mentioned that she was friends with most of the ponies that I met so far, especially Applejack and Fluttershy. That...made me a little uncomfortable, not gonna lie, but I didn't dwell on it for too long. Good drink and company can do that to a person. I filled her in on my plans to leave the sanctuary, how I was going to see if I could talk Treehugger into taking me and the foxes to Whitetail Woods. Of course, by that point we'd already gone through half of the second bottle and it was getting kind of hard to tell the difference between Autumn and the weird yellow shimmer standing next to her.
Whoa... this stuff packs a wallop, I thought blearily as the world started to sway.
"Y...You holding up?" a voice I could barely register as Autumn's slurred.
"You know it," I laughed, my tongue hanging out the side of my mouth. "Give me another!"
I saw a few colorful shapes move around before the sweet smell of apples and cinnamon graced my nose. I reached for the glass, only for it to suddenly move a little out of my reach. I frowned as I tried to grab the damn thing, but no matter where I grabbed, my paw came up empty.
"Fucking shot," I muttered. "Get in my mouth!"
I barely noticed a light tingling in my forehead as the shot hovered towards my open mouth. A second later, I spat out an empty shot glass with a satisfied sigh.
"I...I think we should stop," Autumn giggled. "I can barely hold the bottle anymore."
"I...guess," I slurred, the whole world swirling as I tried to sit up. "Nap sounds good right now anyway."
"Ash straight," she declared , putting what looked like a hoof at me. "Lead the way Lord Alex."
I burst out laughing at that.
Well...Lady Autumn....as lord of the land, I claim this spot as the sacred napping spot of Ninetalesia. May all sleep here and be happy."
"HAlL NINETALESIA," the Autumn blob cheered.
We both burst out laughing at that, too full of spirits to give a fuck about what we were doing. Feeling that sitting was too much trouble, I flopped bonelessly into the grass. I chuckled about how good it felt to lie there like this, how the sun was so warm on my coat and the grass was so soft. I was so lost in how nice the world was that I barely noticed it when something warm settled down next to me.
"All hail the lord of Ninetalesia," the Autumn blob muttered.
That was the last thing I heard before whatever I drank finally kicked my ass and I nodded off.