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// Non story, skip if you wish: Basic Kitsune Lore, and their relation to Equestria 
// Story: From the Outside In 
// by DarkParable 
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What follows is extremely basic lore for Kitsune, some of it is overly simplified or amended to make it easy to understand. This is not realy a part of this story and is put up only to provide a bit of insight into what a Kitsune is.


Kitsune are the servants of the goddess of rice, Inari. Most of them anyway. There are two types of kitsune. The Myoubi who serve Inari, and the Nogetsune who have forsaken Inari's rules and gone rogue. All kitsune have the same basic abilities, those being the ability to change their shape at will (though weaker kitsune require a small ritual spell involving a leaf to do so) and using foxfire. Foxfires are bright little balls of fire that vary in color, but they're not harmful to anything mundane beyond being blindingly bright in the dark. Furthermore they are one and all accomplished illusionists. As spirits they are capable of taking the laws of reality and flouting them as they see fit... Or at least seeming to.

Kitsune are accomplished tricksters and enjoy playing pranks on people who travel through their area. Most commonly kitsune are thought to have nine tails, however only the most powerful kitsune have nine tails. The number of tails directly reflects the level of power the kitsune possess. Kitsune have a strong sense of honor, they will uphold any deals they make to the letter, just as long as nothing happens to make them see the deal as sour. For instance, one could hire a kitsune to steal whatever they were told to. If one then told this kitsune to go and steal from small children, and the kitsune found this repugnant, it would consider the deal null and void, freeing it from its contractual obligations. If one saves the life of a kitsune then the kitsune in question will usually swear itself into the service of the one who saved it.

Kitsune grow a new tail for every hundred years of age, kind of making the statement “Knowledge is power” a bit true, for as anyone ages they gather knowledge. Kitsune are seen to have only one tail by mortals without the second sight, thus are often times thought only to be a normal fox, just an oddly colored one. All kitsune live an indefinite amount of time, they can however be slain as easily as any normal creature. If a kitsune remains in an area for a significant amount of time it eventually takes a hefty toll on that area, draining life from the land to sustain its own, this is what gives them their reputation as demons.

Kitsune are NOT to be confused with Kyuubi. A Kyuubi is a nine tailed fox demon. They have no real ties to Inari or the kitsune which they resemble as far as I am aware. Be that as it may Kitsune and Kyuubi have similar abilities, but only Kitsune are unbound by such things as physics.


Kitsune of Equestria


Much remains unchanged, Kitsune, fully grown ones at any rate, are immensely powerful beings who often flaunt the rules of reality to amuse themselves. Often times they were seen in the service of Discord, finding the Dragonequis' antics to be amusing beyond belief. That said, Kitsune are by no means truly cruel. They simply operate on a different mindset than ponies. They found Discords acts funny, and as such assumed that ponies did as well.

There are very few adult kitsune left in Equestria, as most have simply departed the world looking for something more entertaining. Those that have yet to leave content themselves with minor bits of mischief every now and again, quite happy to turn the unsuspecting mare's mane a seaweed green color. When not doing such things they set themselves up as guardians for the wild places of Equestria, meaning the Everfree. They keep such places free of the hum-drum boring drull that is harmonious order and make it a point to frighten unwanted ponies out of their home without doing direct harm.

Every now and again a kitsune will leave the forest in search of entertainment, resulting in a string of random and completely odd events. Tap dancing frogs, heckling flowers, and killer carrots among the most obvious of these... events.

Much like their mythological counterparts, Equestria Kitsune have a strong sense of honor, going out of their way to balance the scales when they need to. When a Kitsune owes a dept it will always be repaid in a way that benefits the one to whom the debt is owed. When owed a debt the Kitsune is one of the fairest dealer in history. You pay what you owe however you can pay it and the deal is considered complete. Give a Kitsune an apple to sate it's hunger, it will feed you a meal fit for a Princess in return and call it even. If a Kitsune gives you an apple, it will happily accept the seeds in return, after all one apple in exchange for an apple tree it can force into maturity in a matter of moments is a fair trade.