//------------------------------// // Ch. 20 A Foxy Reunion "This Is Gonna Be...Complicated" // Story: Cold Fire // by Arcanum -Phantasy //------------------------------// Magic horse world is definitely trying to kill me. Or drive me insane. Hell, maybe both! I don't know! All I know is that my brain felt like it was going to jump out of my head and do a breakdance right in the middle of the street. The damn thing was moving a million miles an hour in too many directions as I made my way towards the café Dahlia told me to meet her at. That was pretty much the only thing that happened last night, not that I could get myself to have a complete thought, let a lone a full conversation. As the early morning sun washed over me, hundreds of questions filled my head. How did she get here? When did she get here? Was Sid okay? How did she get that scar? Why did she leave? That last one hit me the hardest. I still remembered the empty days I lived through when they disappeared. Days I spent doing anything I could think of to push the loneliness to the back of my mind. I...I think it was also part of the reason I saw everyone as potential enemies on Earth. No! I am NOT going to blame them for my own fuck ups! But...no. It's not their fault! But they left me to die! NO! They tried to help me after Sandra nearly killed me! They're my family! They left me to rot! I fell to my haunches and covered my head with my paws, my torn mind trying to eat itself as I tried to get my thoughts in order. A frustrated growl passed my lips along with heavy pants. I could feel my core pulsing against the inside of my chest along with my heart. This was all getting to be too much! A hoof on my shoulder helped me pull myself back, my paws parting just enough for me to see Autumn's eyes. I could see her lips moving, but I couldn't hear her over the pounding in my ears. Slowly, my breathing leveled out and I could hear again, the pulsing from my core also started to fade as I started to come down from...whatever the fuck that was. "Can you hear me?" Autumn asked, concern heavy in her tone and posture. "Y-Yeah," I gulped. "W-What the hell happened?" "I think you were having a panic attack," Autumn sighed, resting her forehead on mine. "We don't have to do this now, you know. We can go back to the theater and I could send Vermillion or Spring to tell Dahlia that now isn't a good time." "Nah," I sighed, leaning into her. "That'd just make her worry about me. She'd probably bash the front door in and tear the place apart looking for me." And that's not taking into account whatever crazy powers she's gained since you last talked to her. Right. "Besides," I groaned, dragging myself to my feet. "I'll just drive myself even crazier if I don't get a few answers out of her soon." Autumn didn't look too happy about that, but gave me an understanding nod and smile as she moved back to my side. My whole body felt like lead weights were tied to each of my legs, but I managed to force them to move me forward. A few passing glances at Autumn helped keep me from spiraling again, which I was glad for, but I felt kind of bad about that. It wasn't fair for her to have to keep being my fucking emotional pillar. I need to keep all of this crap under control for shit's sake! Soon, the café came into view and a new wave of anxiety washed over me. I guess Autumn noticed, because I felt her wrap her tail around one of mine. A small spark shot through me, but it was different from the one I felt when that baby Kirin chewed on me. Instead of a surged of rage, I was filled with a warm comfort. All of my nerves started to settle as the warmth ran through me, a relaxed smile replacing my grimace. Again, I had a strong desire to give that warmth to Autumn, but I had no idea what that meant or how I was supposed to do it. Worry about that later, I thought, my eyes narrowing at the café. Let's get this shit figured out first. Wrapping my tail around Autumn's, I took a deep breath and opened the place's front doors with my Extrasensory. The first thing I did was try to see if I could spot Dahlia. Not the hardest thing in the world since everyone was avoiding her booth like the plague. You'd think that after all the time I spent in this town everyone would be used to seeing a Ninetales, but they all looked like they were a step away from pissing themselves. Then again, that was probably because of the...yep...that's an Absol sitting next to her. In Ponyville. A town that was apparently know for its natural disasters. Yeah, that's not ominous at all. I started to move forward, but a tug on my tail made me pause. I turned my head back a bit and my heart sank. Autumn looked like she just saw a ghost, her terrified eyes locked onto Dahlia's table. "Autumn?" I asked, waving a paw in her face. "Are you okay?" "B-B-Bai Ze. Why is there a Bai Ze in Ponyville?" she whispered. "A what?" I asked, staring back and forth between her and the Absol at the table. At that moment, said Absol saw us. It smiled as it raised a claw and waved it at us like it was trying to get our attention. "Yo! Alex! Long time no see bro!" it said in Sid's voice. My jaw dropped at that. "Sid?" I sputtered. "Who the fuck else?" he called, a crooked smile sitting on his face. "Get your ass over here bro!" I laughed and started walking towards the table, Autumn practically clinging to my side as we walked. My happiness dimmed when I felt how bad my girlfriend was shaking. I had never seen her this scared before, not even when we were in the Breezy Forest. When we finally took our seats, she clung to me for deal life and acted like someone had a gun up to her head. I wrapped all of my tails around her and pulled her into a one-armed hug for good measure. Her shaking slowed by a lot, but when I looked down at her I could see she was still scared shitless. A sigh from Sid pulled my attention away from Autumn towards him. "Happens every time," he muttered, then flashed a reassuring smile as he said, "I promise that nothing bad is going to happen today. I'm just here with my sister to meet Alex, that's it." "A-Are you sure?" she gulped. He nodded. Autumn closed her eyes and let out a slow sigh, all of her terror seeming to leave her with her breath. When she opened them, she gave him a thankful smile as she relaxed into my side. Now that that whole crisis was averted, I gave the two of them my full attention. Like before, I had a million questions running through my head, only now they weren't shooting around so much that I felt like it was going to explode. The tricky part was trying to fucking pick one. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I guess Dahlia decided to break the ice instead. "So, found yourself a mate, eh?" she asked, giving me a sly smile. "You guys banging yet?" Well, that's one way to get my brain to freeze. While I sat there sputtering like an idiot, Autumn looked like her head got replaced by a steaming cherry. Dahlia busted up laughing at that while Sid just rolled his eyes. Even though a part of me wanted to strangle her for that, I couldn't fight the smile growing on my muzzle. "Jealous?" I quipped, planting a kiss on top of Autumn's head. "A little," she shrugged, then gave me a softer smile as she added, "I'm just happy you're doing okay. You are doing okay, right?" "I'm...making progress," I frowned. "How did you guys get here? What happened?" They traded looks, then Sid sighed as he said, "We didn't have a choice." "Huh?" I blinked. Dahlia gave Autumn a quick glance then said, "It took us a while to figure out the whole story, but a portal decided to pull us away from home while we were dealing with...her." My heart sank straight to my ass at that. "Is she the one that gave you that scar?" I asked. She nodded, a feral growl coming out of her as she brought a paw up to the scar. "You should see the one I gave her," she growled. A heavy silence fell over the table as I let all of that set in. Sid cleared his throat, probably to break the tension and asked, "So Alex, how did you end up in Equestria?" I gave him a small smile and nod to thank him. My eyes went distant as I tried to remember what happened that night. Key word being tried. "I don't really know," I sighed. "All I know is that I went to a bar that night after a shit week of work and then I woke up in a pony's animal sanctuary." "Typical saturday happy hour?" he asked, brow quirked. "Not really," I frowned. "I was in a pretty bad place that night." *** Everything was spinning. Nothing was real aside from the blurry colors and muffled noises coming from all around me. Those, and the table I sat at with a mug clutched firmly in my hand. How many drinks had I drank before this one? Who the fuck cares. It's just one more thing I wanted to forget. That's all I really wanted to do tonight. Forget. Forget the crushing loneliness that waited for me at home. Forget the faces of all of the people that wanted to use me for some shit. I just wanted to forget for a few minutes. I wanted to let the numbness in my heart fill my veins for a change, something the god knows how many drinks I've had was already doing a pretty good job at doing. That was fine. It made what I had planned later all the easier. If I can't feel the pain, if I can't think, then I won't be able to stop myself. I'll finally be done with all of this shit. All of the pain and cold will be gone and I can finally find some peace. What happened after that? Who the fuck cares? Anything, even hell would be better than this fuck hole. I dragged the mug to my lips to take a long pull, but froze at the last second. The whole bar was dead silent, yet I could still see the blurry shapes of all of the people still around me. What made a flicker of fear fill me was the fact that none of them were moving. I sighed and set my drink aside. Looks like someone decided to slip something funny in my drink. That's fine. I really didn't care how I left this world at this point. I just hoped that whoever drugged me would let me enjoy my high before they dragged me off to do fuck knows what. "My, my, quite the melodramatic, aren't we?" a male voice said from...somewhere. A chair pulled up to my table and a man took a seat. He looked tall and thin with black and gray hair styled in a messy combover. He wore a good looking gray suit with a red tie and fancy white gloves on each hand. He gave me a wicked smile as he looked me over with red eyes. I sighed, took a swig of my drink, then said, "So, you here to take me?" "Pardon?" the man asked. "Don't fuck with me," I growled. "Most people don't have red eyes. So, do you go by Satan or Lucifer or what?" The man chuckled then said, "Please Alex, I like to think I have more style than those stiffs." I rolled my eyes at that, then said, "Fine. Who are you then?" "Is that really important?" he asked. "Whatever," I muttered, downing more of my brew. "If you're not here to kill me or take my soul, then fuck off." "Quite the tongue," the man tsked. "I bet it makes everything taste bitter." I let out a growl and slammed my fist onto the table. "That's cuz the world's nothing but shit!" "Oh?" he asked, raising a brow. "It's everyman for himself," I snarled. "Family. Friends. Love. None of that shit's real! If you want to get anywhere in this world, you have to tear down every person stupid enough to get in your way! That, or find someone dumb enough to follow you around long enough to stab you in the back!" Cold dread shot through me as memories of that very same thing flashed through my head. Panicking, I grabbed my mug and chugged almost all of what was left of it. I needed to forget. I needed to stay in the present. The man waited for me to set my mug down, a deep frown on his face as I panted my trauma away. When I started breathing normally again, he started talking. "You want to die?" he asked, tone empty of theatrics. "I don't see any point not too," I sighed, too emotionally drained and drunk to beat around the bush. "So you don't care what happens to you." I nodded. A smile spread across the man's face as he said, "Then let's make a wager. What if I show you that friendship, family, and, oh what the heck, love is real?" "I'd say you're full of shit, but what the hell, why not? If I win, I get to die." A somber look fell across the man's face as he said, "And when I win, you must live." "When?" I snorted. "If you can pull that shit off, I'm a fucking Ninetales." "As you wish," he said, then snapped his fingers. *** "And that's the last thing I remember," I sighed. Everyone looked at me in horror, Autumn even crying a bit as she hugged me. Not gonna lie, I was starting to tear up a little too as I leaned into her. "Y-You wanted to kill yourself?" Dahlia stammered. I reluctantly nodded, "D-Do you still-" "No," I smiled, pulling Autumn further into my side. "Good," Sid sighed, then smiled impishly as he added, "You still owe me a drink." I chuckled at that, offering Autumn a napkin to wipe her tears away. "You fucking better not kill yourself," Dahlia growled. "If you do, I swear to god I'll find a necromancer to bring you back just to smack some sense into you!" "Got it," I nodded, still smiling. "Not like we really need to worry about that. I've got Autumn and you guys here and the one person that wants me dead is out of my life for good." Both Dahlia and Sid traded looks that instantly killed my good mood. These were the "should I tell him something bad" kind of looks. I braced myself as best as I could while I waited for them to come to a decision, something that I didn't need to do for vary long. "Alex, I want you to stay calm, okay?" Dahlia asked, cautiously. "Trust me," Sid added. "I wish we didn't have to tell you this." "Tell me what?" I asked, dread filling my gut. Dahlia took a deep breath, then said something that make my heart rate spike. "Sandra's here too." The world seemed to pause at that point. The air became heavy as lead. I felt my heart pound in my chest harder than it did on the way here. My core felt like it was shrinking and expanding every second. I couldn't breath! Everything was spinning! Air! I need air! Why was everything so hot?! I- Everything turned black. *** Dahlia and Sid sat in quiet contemplation just outside of Alex and Autumn's bedroom. They knew that he wouldn't've taken the news well, but it was better that he knew. The severe panic attack he had in the café hit them hard, though Autumn took it the worst. In a matter of seconds, the foul mouthed Kitsune she had fallen for was reduced to a gasping, seizing mess on the floor. Had the Kirin not been so terrified, she might've tried to torch the two creatures responsible. "So, what's the plan sis?" Sid asked. "Do you really need to ask?" she said coldly. He shrugged. She sighed, then said, "Obviously, we're going to be staying here. It wasn't that hard for us to hear about Alex, so it's only a matter of time before Sandra hears about him too." "Right," he frowned. "I'll see if there are any places open for rent tomorrow. Hopefully none of them act like I'm going to burn them at the stake while I'm doing it." "Good," she nodded. "While you're doing that, I'll stick around here to keep an eye on Alex." "Not gonna happen," Autumn growled, stepping out of the room. Both siblings turned to face her, most of the Kirin's mane and tail a writhing mass of blue and pink flames. Sid took a cautious step back, but Dahlia closed the gap between her and the irate doe. "Want to run that by me again hot stuff?" she growled. "You heard me," Autumn snarled, her form shifting further into its Nirik state. Dahlia's glare sharpened as she lowered her head down to Autumn's level. "What's your name?" she asked in a frigid tone. "Autumn Blaze," she growled. "Well, Autumn, have you ever tried to kill someone before?" Autumn blinked, the shock of the question almost reverting her back to her normal form. "I'll take that as a no," Dahlia frowned. "Then let me make this simple. If you try to stop Sandra, you and Alex will die. Period. Now, I've just seen my friend for the first time in years and I am not going to let some psycho take him away from me again. I'm glad that you're willing to stand up to me for Alex like this, but if you can't kill, then you'll just be one more body on the ground when Sandra shows up." For a long, heavy moment, they stared each other down with Sid the only witness to the stand off. As Autumn stared into Dahlia's eyes, she could see her conviction in them as clear as day. Her eyes drifted briefly towards her scar, only to realize that it wasn't the only one the Ninetales had on her. All along her legs, her neck, even the thigh of her left hind leg sported inconsistencies in their fur that matched the patches that hid Alex's scars. While not as large as the one that ran from Dahlia's eye to her chest, they still showed that she had been through many deadly situations in her life. "Okay," Autumn sighed, her Nirik form vanishing with a puff of smoke as she stared up at the Ninetales with teary eyes. "B-But on one condition." "And that is?" Dahlia asked, raising a brow. Wiping away her tears, the Kirin said something that made the two siblings trade shocked looks. "I want you to teach me how to fight." *** The forest was as silent as a tomb, blood and viscera painting the trees and grass like a macabre art project from hell. At its heart stood the one responsible for the desecration of the forest's sanctity. The creature was bipedal, its fur as black as night as it seemed to devour the few rays of moonlight that made it past the forest's canopy. It's claws were as red as the blood that soaked the ground while its eyes were a deep shade of blue. A massive wavy black and red mane came out of the back of its head that trailed down its back down to the point of almost giving it a tail. At the end of this mane was a pale blue bead tying that part of it into a faint semblance of a pony tail. Three grown manticores laid at the creature's feet, deep gashes covering their bodies. The beasts stared up at the creature with faint breaths, the life fading from their eyes as their lives colored the grass beneath them. "Shhhhh, don't worry," the creature whispered, it's feminine voice soft as a cloud as she stared down at the dying creatures. "It will all be over soon."