Fluttershy was right. As strange as it was to me, my nose found all sorts of stuff that was good to eat. A few types of berries that were likely not native to Earth, some mushrooms, that sort of thing.
My body even insisted that some of the bugs I found were just fine. I wasn't going to go that far yet. I have standards.
And I wasn't exactly starving at the moment.
I also made a hole for myself.
Yeah, I wasn't exactly happy with it, but it was better than sleeping on leaves. My legs weren't exactly being cooperative after my walk, so I couldn't do much about it anyway.
It was freaky how satisfying it felt to dig, though. I wasn't exactly prepared for that. Like, it was really fun for no reason whatsoever.
That might have been a factor in my decision to stop early.
It was in a nice little mound of dirt next to the river, though. It wasn't very visible from a distance, which was also good.
I was fairly certain that Timberwolves didn't exist here, but I was also fairly certain that there were regular predators that weren't exactly going to be my friend.
Why am I here again?
Rainbow had already told me that I could probably make a home for myself near Ponyville, within reach of everything I needed.
Okay, I could get food here, without the guilt of taking from others. But I could get the same food from the river.
I could get varied food here, then. Just until I got more control over my magic. Then I might be able to pay ponies back.
Maybe Luna could teach me some more about dreams. And other stuff. Ironically, sleep might end up being the most productive part of my day.
I was pretty much out of magic, anyway. A little of it had come back already, but I could barely feel a trickle in there when I reached out with my mind.
"Hello?"
My head poked out of my little hole in the hill. That hadn't been Equestrian. That sounded almost like...
...another fox.
Okay, that is the weirdest feeling.
There was another fox there. She was female. Apparently I found her attractive.
Okay then.
There was a lot to unpack there, but she had just said something.
"Are you new to Whitetail? I haven't seen you before."
"Yeah." I said that part in Equestrian, more than a little distracted by the strangeness of the situation.
She suddenly gasped, her ears perking up, before she went into a quick bow. "Oh, I apologize. I did not realize you were one of the Chosen."
I just stared at her, more than a little off-balance. When she looked back up, the expression on her face was reminiscent of the kind of expressions that ponies gave Celestia. But there was a lot of excitement there, too.
"It's been so long, I was certain that magic was forever gone to us. If you don't mind me asking, who were your parents?"
Oh. Oh no.
It started to dawn on me that perhaps "sacred foxes" and normal foxes weren't quite as different as I thought. And compared to the other animals I could understand, she seemed extremely well-spoken. Almost pony-like in intelligence.
I attempted some damage control.
"I didn't come from Equestria. I just got here from... uh... somewhere else."
"Are there others with magic there?" The hopeful look on her face almost gave me physical pain.
"I don't think so. I don't think there was magic of any kind there. This is new to me, too."
Her ears droop. "Right. Sorry, then."
I attempt a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. What is your name? Mine is Ryan."
"Naomi." She pawed the ground. "Sorry for... all the pestering. You're obviously not really old or anything, so I'm probably getting excited for no reason, it's just... I can't help but remember all the stories of when we had our own nation. Like Equestria. Or maybe just the deer. It's hard to tell how much is exaggeration and how much is actually fact."
I looked at her with interest.
She smiled nervously. "Not that it isn't good now! Most of us are just fine doing our own thing, and it isn't like the ponies treat us badly or anything. I uh... I didn't think foxes like you really existed anyway. But the stories always told of a time where not just ponies had alicorns."
"Alicorns?"
"Magic users. Like, really strong ones. Ones that could protect us from the other powers of the world, rather than just having to disperse like we do now. I know, it's probably a stupid dream, but..."
I shook my head. "No, that doesn't sound stupid at all."
Though it did make me feel incredibly guilty, all the same. "Do you know how many others feel the same as you do?"
Naomi frowned. "Seriously? I have no idea. My dad was super into that sort of thing, and mom didn't really care one way or another, but other foxes? I don't see too many in the forest. And it doesn't exactly come up in normal conversation, you know? It's more of a 'story time' thing." Her ears perked up. "Can I see it, though?"
"See what?"
She grinned. "Magic!"
I concentrated on my tail. Nothing happened. "Sorry, I used it all up practicing on my way here."
Her eyes suddenly widened. "No, nonono no. Don't do that. Like, the number one cause of death in all the stories I've listened to is not having enough magic. And I don't know if this was exaggeration, or it was just to increase dramatic tension in the retellings, but I'm pretty sure you need to have magic to get magic back."
I blinked. "...Oh."
She let out a slow breath. "Don't beat yourself up about it. It's not like you're super experienced or anything. Just don't do that again."
"Right. Sorry, but I don't know any other way of proving this to you, other than showing you my ball, which everyone has repeatedly told me is a bad idea."
Naomi rolled her eyes. "You don't have to prove anything. Unless you hit the most unbelievable genetic lottery, you definitely have magic. And you already speak the ponies' language, anyway." She blushed. "I just wanted to see magic."
"Well, when I get it back, I'd be happy to show you. The only stuff I know how to do is the fire. Oh, and I can dream-walk, too."
She gasped. "Already?"
"Well, I don't know how to do things properly, but Luna says I have the talent. She said that it was common among kitsune."
Her ears perked when I used that last word, but she didn't comment on it. "Yes, it is, at least from what I've heard, but usually it was after they got their second tail."
"Does getting a second tail mean a lot? Does it strictly appear after a hundred years, or just at a certain threshold of magic, and it just happens to take that long in the majority of cases?"
She smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. I don't know anything like that. Even the information I think I have might not be reliable. The only thing I can really offer you is that most of the Chosen seem to have certain talents. Like the ponies, but I think it might be less specific than that. Maybe like an 'Equestrian Princess' talent."
The little pictures on all the flanks in Ponyville suddenly made a whole lot more sense.
A shudder went through my body as I realized that Celestia and Luna's connection to the sun and moon may be more than just a "friendship" between immortals.
The thought that I might have something similar...
Naomi waved a paw in front of my face. "Hey! Don't worry about it. Really! I'm probably wrong about most of this, anyway. And I certainly didn't come here to dump all my problems on someone else."
I sat down, rubbing behind one of my ears with a paw. "Sorry, Naomi. I just... I think I need to tell you something. The place I was before... well, it didn't really have any magic."
She tilted her head. "Except for you... right?"
I took a deep breath. "No. I don't think any creature in that entire world had any magic."
She mouthed the word "world," her eyes wide. Her amazement faded to confusion. "Wait, only the most powerful Chosen could travel between worlds. And the only one I've heard about that did that... had that as a talent. ...And you said you didn't have magic."
"It was a mirror. Made by the ponies."
She nodded. "Oh. Must be a pony secret, then."
"I uh..." Looking at her cheerful face, it was hard to say anything, but I knew I had to. "I wasn't a fox before I came through."
She froze.
"I learned from... well, several sources that in Equestria, I'm supposed to be how I am right now. That I really am a kitsune."
Naomi nodded silently.
"But before now... well, I went though the mirror on accident. I got stuck here. Before all this, I was planning on going right back through when they fixed it."
She seemed to deflate.
"Naomi."
An ear flicked.
"Naomi, I don't know what to do. I want to go home, but I don't want to just leave people who need help."
"Go back through."
"What?"
She picked up her head. "Go back through. Even if you were from here, I was asking for too much from you. I already knew I was getting my hopes up. Even if you were 100% on board with everything, it would still be at least two or three hundred years before you could be the leader I was waiting for. Besides, we're... fine. We're fine."
Something clicked in my head. "Naomi, how many foxes are there?"
"What?"
"You don't have to give me an exact number. I know that you don't live all grouped together anymore. I just want an estimate."
She suddenly looked nervous. "W-why would you want something like that?"
"Naomi, you already said that you don't see many other foxes in the Whitetail Woods. I just came from the Everfree Forest, and the wolves there made it very clear to me that I would not be welcome. If they had not given me an unprecedented amount of leeway, I would likely be dead. How many more forests are there in Equestria? How many foxes are able to make each one their home? Fluttershy told me that Whitetail was one of the best places for all sorts of animals to make their home.
"So how many are there?"
"Um.... I don't really travel that much..."
"I don't care how broad an estimate it is, I just-"
"One hundred."
"What?"
Naomi shook her head. "Probably more. ...Maybe less. Whitetail Woods is a big place, and I don't go that far from my own den, but I've seen maps of Equestria, and what the other forests look like. You asked for my best guess, that's it." She closed her eyes.
I sighed. "Thank you."
That was actually worse than I thought. That wasn't a good number. For any species.
Logically, there wasn't any reason for me to involve myself in this. Logically, I had lived for 20 years more as a human than a fox. There was no reason to give up what I had. Especially for a life that was likely to result in watching my back every moment of the day.
But here was someone in front of me. Sure, she looked like an animal. But she was just as much a person as I was. Humans could take care of themselves. Probably. And it's not like I could affect the outcome, anyway. Here, I might be able to do something, even if it might take... a long time.
"Ryan, just go. Home is home for a reason."
I gritted my teeth. "I know. I just..."
The choice was there. Door One, or Door Two?
"...I think I'm just going to break down the wall instead."