There were a lot of things i've been learning about magic pony land. The big thing was that there was a kind of language barrier here. It wasn't that we spoke different languages (Though that was weird in its own way when you really think about it.). It was more the fact that certain words were different here. "Someone" is "somepony" or "somecreature". Sometimes buck meant fuck depending on the context (God that was awkward.). But all of that paled in the fact that the ponies here had flashing tramp-stamps. I wish I was making that up. In other news, I finally found out what the hell Autumn was. All it took was asking why she didn't have a cutiemark(?) and her horn was flashing instead. Turns out, that was a sign that their work here was done and they could go home.
Even as I was helping Treehugger pack up her stuff this morning, I couldn't stop myself from laughing a little at the irony. I'm finally all set to leave the sanctuary and they're all leaving. All of that aside, last night was a lot of fun. A good way to see me off in this part of my new insane life. Of course, I still had at least one thing making things complicated when I stepped out of my borrowed cave with my blanket. Though, it was a complication I think I could live with.
"You know, you don't have to stick around," I said, my blanket draped across my back as I made my way to Treehugger's clearing. "The jobs done. You can go home."
"I guess," Autumn shrugged, keeping close to my side. "Too bad I don't feel like going anywhere right now."
I blinked at that for a second.
Something else I was learning about the natives around here was that they were really friendly. It was...a little jarring for me to be honest. Back home, I had to constantly be on guard around people. The nicer they seemed, the more suspicious they were to me. I wasn't always like that, but almost dying would make anyone more than a little jumpy around people.
I shrugged and gave the trail my full attention. A light silence settled between us, the sounds of birds and other small critters going about their business as we went about ours. A sigh slipped past my lips as I thought about how I was going to be leaving this place in a couple hours. Maybe it was an instinct thing or nerves, but a part of me didn't want to leave. I was going to miss the foxes and the routine I had established. It was going to take a long time for me to feel at home somewhere else, but I had to do it. Maybe I'd come back someday, but I have a few piles of bull to work through first.
"So," Autumn started. "Treehugger."
"What about her?" I asked.
"Are you two...you know?"
"Know what?" I asked, giving her a raised brow.
"Mates?" she offered with a sheepish smile and...was she blushing?
I shelved that thought as my pea-sized brain struggled to process what the Kirin was asking me.
Mate
Noun
1. Each of a pair of birds or other animals
2. A fellow member or joint occupant of a specific thing
3. (informal) (BRITISH) A friend or companion
4. (BRITISH) An assistant to a skilled worker
Verb
1. (of birds or animals) Come together for breeding; copulate
2. Connect or be connected mechanically
I'm pretty sure Autumn's not British and I'm not a machine part so that means-
Realization hit me like a haymaker and I reel back from her a little before I let out a barking laugh.
"You think we're-? No, no, no. We're just friends."
"O-Oh," she stammered, her smile growing a little bolder for some reason.
"Why'd you ask?" I asked.
"Just curious," she shrugged. "You two seem really close and she's giving you a ten mile lift to boot."
"Nah," I chuckled, turning my head towards the trail. "Like I said; just a friend."
Another moment of silence settled between us as we continued down the trail. Well, not total silence anyway. I could see Autumn fidgeting out the corner of my eye. It looked like she wanted to say something, but only got as far as a few faint squeaks before she'd lose her nerve. I mentally shrugged and gave the trail my full attention. If she really wanted to say something, she'll find the words eventually.
Turns out I didn't need to wait all that long.
"What are you going to do when you get to Whitetail?" she asked.
I shrugged.
"Same thing I did when I came here. Find shelter. Food sources. Water."
"Sounds kind of boring," she sighed, her frown visible in my peripherals.
"Maybe," I frowned. "But I could use a little boredom. After all of the crap I've been through around here, some fucking peace and quiet is sounding pretty good."
"It wasn't all bad, right?" she asked, her frown turning into a playful smile.
I chuckled at that and said, "Alright, not everything was hell. I could still use a change of scenery though."
She went back to blushing as she said, "You could come with me to Ponyville."
I gave her a raised brow and said, "Sound's fun, but unless you can pull a house and a ton of money out of your ass, I'd just be living in an alley somewhere."
Her face seemed to get redder as she said, "You could take the guest room at my theater."
I mulled that over for a bit.
A guest room sounded a hell of a lot better then a cave somewhere. Plus, when was the last time I slept in an honest to god bed? Hell, when what the last time I had a home cooked meal? And...well...I hate to admit it, but I'd miss Autumn. Then again, there was still an issue that needed to get sorted out.
"I still need a job," I frowned.
"Not a problem," she beamed, her mysterious blush almost gone. "I'm sure I could find something for you to do around the theater. And if that doesn't work, I know a lot of places in town that are looking for workers."
I blinked like an idiot at her as I struggled to take all of that in. Not only was Autumn practically giving me a place to live, she was going to help me get a job or put out recommendations for me if things hit the shitter.
As soon as my brain finished rebooting, I stammered out a, "I'll...ask Treehugger if that'll be okay with her. She's my ride after all."
"fair enough" she chuckled, a bit more pep in her step as the clearing came into view.
Guess she really wants a roommate.
***
"No problem brother," Treehugger said, her usual sleepy smile in place as she loaded a giant barrel into her wagon. "Ponyville is way closer than Whitetail Woods. Should take us, like, a week to get there from here."
"Thanks," I sighed. "Autumn's kinda eager to get me to come back with her."
She just smiled and nodded at me before she started walking towards a giant pile of folded fabric.
"She's a good doe brother. Lots of positive energy in that one. Keep her close."
"Doe?" I asked, as she effortlessly hefted the six foot tall pile into the wagon.
"It's what Kirin call their mares," she said.
I nodded in understanding, following her to the front of the wagon.
Mare. Doe. Are there any other word tricks I need to keep track of? Probably. With my luck, I'll probably stumble across some pony version of the n-word at some point.
"But yeah," I snorted. "Shouldn't be too hard to do that. She wants me to move in with her. Heck, she's even going to help me get a job."
Treehugger gave me a smile that looked like she knew something before she fastened herself into some kind of harness hooked up to the wagon's front.
"That sister works fast," she chuckled. "A fiery aura like her's should be able to pull yours out of the dark real quick."
"No clue what you mean by that, but yeah. She's pretty cool," I smirked. "Real easy to be around too."
She nodded, then asked, "Where is she?"
"Went by the cabin to get ready to go," I sighed, a frown growing on my muzzle as I looked in the building's general direction. "Her train's probably here to take her home ahead of us."
When I looked back at Treehugger, she gave me a raised brow and a crooked smile.
"What?," I blinked.
"Listen well brother," she chuckled. "Never assume what a mare or doe will do when she holds a torch."
"Why?" I asked, tilting my head.
Instead of answering me, she tilted her head past me towards something. I turned and nearly jumped out of my fucking skin. Standing about three feet away from was a smiling and panting Autumn with a pair of bags strapped to her sides.
FUCKING GODDAMN WEEPING ANGEL BULLSHIT! That's it! The second I get to Ponytown or whatever its called, I'm tying a goddamn bell to her horn!
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," I panted, paw pressed firmly to where I think my heart is. "Just don't do that. I swear you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days."
"Sorry," she chuckled, scratching the back of her head. "Force of habit."
I gave her a raised brow while Treehugger just giggled a little.
"All aboard soul brother and sister," she smiled. "Ponyville awaits."
I nodded and with Autumn at my side, made my way towards the wagon's back door. I froze in front of the door as some movement in the bushes by the distant tree line caught my eye. A warm smile spread across my muzzle as all of my foxes came out of the bushes, stoping a little less then a foot away from the sanctuary's outside border into the clearing. They locked eyes with me, Big Mama standing at the skulk's heart as they seemed to be getting ready for something. Then, all at once, they threw their heads back and howled. My smile grew as some part of me felt honored, like they had accepted me into their family and they wanted to see me off. I took a deep breath and howled right back.
With that, the skulk bowed to me, then towards Autumn before they returned to the safety of Fluttershy's Sanctuary. She gave me a questioning look at that, but I just shrugged at her and chuckled as I let myself into the wagon.
***
Over an hour had passed since we left the sanctuary and I was bored out of my fucking skull. Don't get me wrong, the rolling hills and untamed wilderness was great an all, but it started to get kind of old after a while. Sure, it was stressful (mostly my fault) back at the sanctuary, but at least it wasn't boring. Hell, I could always practice my moves if I needed to blow off steam over there. For obvious reasons, that wasn't really an option.
I sighed as I laid on my side in a half circle, legs tucked in like a labrador as I stared at an apple on the wagon's floor. Out the corner of my eye I saw Autumn looking at some papers she floated out of her bags with her jedi powers.
Don't I have those powers? I thought, brain numb to the world. How do I do that again?
I tried to knock the cobwebs out of my skull so I could remember how my new body worked and gave the apple my full attention.
Let's see. First, gather energy from my chest to my forehead.
It took some work, mostly to get the energy to go where I wanted it to go, but soon my forehead started to tingle.
Next, pick a target to force lift.
I focused on the apple, imaging it floating off of the ground like Autumn's paper's were for her. Nothing was happening. I glared at the fruit as I added more power. Still nothing.
Stupid piece of- MOVE ALREADY!!!
I poured more power into my move, but the apple refused to , well, move. I let out a frustrated sigh and canceled the flow of energy.
How the hell did I do it last time? Do I need to want a drink for it to work? Nah. If that was the case, I would've been lifting things nonstop since about day three in the sanctuary.
"Did you train that apple to do something?"
I rolled my eyes towards a smirking Autumn, snorted, and went back to glaring at the fruit.
"I'm trying to get the damn thing to float."
"I see."
I heard and saw her move to my side out the corner of my eye.
"Are you having trouble concentrating?"
Only when you're nearby.
Shut up brain!
"Not really," I shrugged. "I think I'm just missing something."
A moment of silence, then Autumn said, "Can you sit up for a second?"
"Um, sure?" I blinked, dragging myself to my haunches. "Why?"
"I want to see something," she smiled. "Now, stay still."
I was about to ask her what she was going to do, but froze as she gently guided my head down to her level with her hooves and pressed her forehead against mine.
"Now," she smiled, closing her eyes. "Try using your magic."
I gulped and closed my eyes as I tried to regather my energy to my forehead. At the same time, I couldn't help but notice how ho- warm Autumn was. Soft too. Okay, it was really hard to focus with a cute Kirin practically shoving her face into mine. Good to know.
After a while, I finally managed to get my forehead to tingle like it did last night. My eyes slid open a little when Autumn slowly brought her face away from mine. At the same time, I saw a colorless blur hover in the space between our heads. My eyes widened at what I was seeing.
"There you go," she chuckled. "Now aim it at something."
Nodding, I looked down at the apple. The shimmer instantly enveloped the fruit and lifted it into the air. Autumn let out a happy cheer while I made the apple shakily float towards me. Then, just as suddenly as it came, the tingling on my forehead faded away and the apple fell to the ground with a loud thump.
"How the heck did I do that?" I muttered, staring at the fallen fruit.
"You were forcing it too much."
I gave the smiling Kirin a confused head-tilt.
"Huh?"
Autumn's smile turned a little cocky as she cleared her throat and said, "When learning to levitate objects, its important to have a clear head and a full understanding of how much magic is needed for the task. If you just shove magic into the spell, but don't give it clear mental direction then it'll just sit there."
"And the whole forehead thing?" I asked, feeling the fire inside me heat up my face again.
Autumn looked sheepish at me and said, "A, um, trick my mom used to use to help me focus. No good?"
"No, no, it's fine," I stammered, chuckling awkwardly. "I just wasn't expecting it. I'm not usually the touchy-feely type."
She gave me a smile and raised brow as she said, "Says the Kitsune that cuddled with me in the middle of a field."
"Hey!" I exclaimed, pointing a paw at her. "I was drunk and you know it!"
"Whatever you say pal," she winked.
I groaned as I rubbed my forehead with a paw.
"Whatever," I sighed. "I'm gonna keep practicing."
"Alright," she smiled as she went back to her corner of the wagon to go over her papers.
I rolled my eyes and went back to staring at my apple. Taking a deep breath, I fallowed my friend's advice. To my surprise, the apple started to drunkenly float towards me. A smile spread across my muzzle as I moved the fruit around. A yelp was the only warning I got before something knocked me to the ground and shattered my concentration.
The fuck?
I groaned as I tried to get my bearings. At the same time, I heard Autumn groan from...on top of me? Sure enough, when I looked down on myself I found a dazed Kirin using me as a futon. I also noticed a few flecks of my Extrasensory's clear aura falling off of her.
Now kiss.
FUCK! OFF! BRAIN!
"Um, this isn't what it looks like," Autumn stammered, her whole face turning bright red.
"Ditto," I gulped, pretty sure my whole head was on fire.
"Never tell anypony about this?" she asked.
"About what?" I asked stiffly.
"Exactly," she nodded.
We quickly got off of each other and moved to opposite sides of the wagon. I would sneak a few quick glances at her over my shoulder only to go back to looking at my wall whenever she started turning her head towards me.
God, this was going to be a long ass trip.