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// Confused much? I am. 
// Story: The Joke is on Me 
// by StandardIssue 
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	There was a knock at my door and I jumped. I looked over to the door and back to what I was doing. I looked down at the robe like clothes I was given to wear, those of which I had no idea how to put them on, especially with these tails. Somehow, I had managed to entangle myself like a child did with their bedsheets when trying to toga. I groaned in frustration-I never did that before-and called out to the knocker. 

“Please give me ten more minutes!” 

The door opened immediately after, Jade walking in with a face of annoyance. She took the view of me in my predicament, sighing she shook her head. I smiled and chuckled sheepishly. She rolled her eyes and ripped everything off of me. I immediately covered myself. Did they not hear of privacy?! I looked at her with a shocked expression, she seemed not to care, getting to work. 

“Arms out, stand up straight.” I blinked at what she just said. 

“uh...heh...what?” She looked at me again,  shook her head, then smacked thy thigh. I jumped in pain. 

“OW! That stung!” When I jumped and stuck my leg out however, she wrapped it three times with the cloth, moved across my waist and made an underwear and covered my right leg. I sat there mouth agape, blinking at how she did that with such ease.

“Will you listen to me now?” She asked with a bored expression. I simply nodded and followed directions. I mentally sighed and went into my mind. So much has happened in the past few days, granted I was asleep for two of them. I switched bodies, and I was acting weird from the way I normally acted. I was being more goofy compared to my more laid back self. I could blame the new world and body, but it shouldn’t affect my mind much, at least I hoped it didn’t. I couldn’t read others here well either. 

I looked over to Jade. Just twenty minutes ago, she was very giddy and chatty with her sister, or at least who I thought to be her sister. I guess I couldn’t make assumptions off of short meetings. 

“And...Done. Head on over to the mirror and check yourself, then head outside. We need to get going soon, the trip won’t be a short one.” I nodded, half paying attention since I was stuck in thought. walking over to the mirror, my mind wandered back to the lady from Target. I forgot her name already, if she even gave it to me. ‘This is going to be interesting...’ 

I got to the mirror and looked at myself. I was shocked, not believing I was the one in the mirror. I guess the fact that I was now female added to the effect. I took in my features completely. I had shoulder length brown hair oddly enough, even though I had fur all over. Looking at my face, I looked like a typical fox from what I could tell, my eyes were purple however. My ears were atop my head like a canines would be. I wore a dress like robe, it was red with gold stitches on it making a design of trees an moons.  My legs were covered in black cloth like they would be if I were a ninja, the best reference I had. I didn’t know what these clothes were called, but I looked good in them. 

I shook my head and blinked at the thought of liking wearing this. It was beyond me why I did, but I shrugged it off. I looked around the room for shows but found none. 

“Guess I’m going shoeless…” I shrugged again, I went barefoot a lot at home. My parents would often say I was part hobbit because of it. I turned and walked to the door. I would have thought my legs might have had backwards knees like most animals, but no, they were like a typical humans. I opened the door and was surprised to see it was dark inside. I looked around my room and at the window again. It looked like it was day outside the window, the sounds of a village still going on. Looking out the door, however, proved the opposite to be true. I stepped out and the door closed behind me. I looked around and saw a total of six buildings, two of which looked to be like houses, the rest resembled that of buildings of public use. This place was too small to produce the village noises I heard in the room. 

I thought about the fact that this place is supposedly Equastria, so the only explanation I had was Magic. That was some bullshit explanation for me, I was going to have to look into that later. 

“Are you gunna gawk all day, or are we gunna get headed on our way?” I looked over to see Ruby looking at me, Jade nowhere in sight. Next to Ruby was a wagon that I would see in the movies depicting the era of the 1800’s or sooner. 

“Uh...sorry...I was just...breathing in the fresh air.” I sighed as I made my way over to the two. Ruby shook her head at me. 

“Get your head out of the clouds, ya hear? If you were to do that in the council, her highness would surely send you to the lake.” ‘The lake? What about a lake?’ 

“That is why I shall educate her on how to address her.” I looked up to where the voice was coming from, inside the wagon sat Jade. I sighed, somehow getting a feeling these two were bipolar or something, but if memory serves, she was a bit sour during the bath. “Now come on, we don’t have all day. We must leave soon in order to not be seen by the locals.” 

I nodded and entered the wagon. It was rather cramped inside, just like they looked in the movies, the inside was of two benches laden in silk, the four walls had windows for you to look out of, but they were closed. I sat down and looked out the door at Ruby. Ruby looked at Jade and I felt they somehow made a silent agreement about something since Jade simply nodded in return. Ruby closed the door and left me alone with Jade. I looked at Jade, but she remained silent and looked at me. I just looked around soon after, eventually trying to pull the cover from the window to look outside, but Jade smacked my hand saying not to touch anything. Rubbing my hand soon after, I just nodded and apologized. ‘You would think I killed her cat the way she is acting.’ 

I sat there patiently waiting, we haven’t moved yet and I was getting antsy. Looking around the carriage, I tried to find some way to distract myself before I eventually grew bored. I finally resorted to asking her what we were waiting for. 

“We are waiting for our outposts head, the man you saw the earlier. We are also waiting for the carriage pullers.” I nodded as if this interested me. In all honesty, it didn’t. I was kinda pissed I had to share a space with smoke breath, and if he lit up in the carriage, I was going to flip a shit. I was about to speak my concerns when the door to the right of me opened and smoke breath met my gaze. I mentally sighed. 

“Are we ready to head off?” Jade simply nodded back to him. He looked to his right and smiled.  “Ah, our carriage pullers are here. How good to see you again Horseshoe.” I leaned forward in my chair to try and see who he was talking to, but I couldn’t see. 

“Nice to meet you again, Hisao.” The voice was rather hoarse. I heard a clopping of hooves on dirt, then a figure appeared in the doorway. It was a brown pony with same eyes. He wore a hat of straw, I couldn’t see his flank from this position. “So where am I taking y’all?” 

I was stopped stupid at seeing a pony. Now I know I was of a different race myself, a race that I had no idea existed, but when you see a pony that you thought didn’t exist but hoped it did, it had this effect on you. However, smoke breath, or Hisao as it was, talked as if this was nothing. 

“You are taking us to the port of Foxx Hollow.” Hisao grabbed onto the carriage and put one foot in but not entering entirely. “You know the usual. Precious cargo, no looking inside. His majesty prefers our secrecy above everything.” He then entered, leaving the door open for Horseshoe to look inside. 

“Alright. Let us get going. The morning rush will start soon.” Hisao nodded and closed the door. I continued to stare at where the face of my first pony encounter was. I heard Hisao clear his throat then wave a hand in front of my face. 

“Are you alright young one?” I blinked and shook my head to clear it. 

“Sorry...I just...uh...got lost in thought. Did you say Foxx Hollow?” I tried to sway the conversation to something that didn’t bring about the questions of why I was looking the way I was. Apparently I asked a good question, because Hisao chuckled like a boy. 

“I sure did. We will be taking the royal ship.” ‘The royal ship? Like Celestia’s?’ 

“Really?!” I asked, sounding a little too enthusiastic, but I didn’t care. 

“Yes. We are.” He smiled at me, then ruffled my hair. I adopted a bored expression at this, but it quickly went back to smiling. I looked at the wall in thought. ‘The royal ship!’ Things were going well, in the case that I didn’t look too weird, I could pull this off without many questions my way. 

	


<oOo>




It had been nearly thirty minutes and all I’ve heard was the straining of the carriage and the breathing of Jade and Hisao. It wasn’t even sunup yet and I was getting tired. I eventually found a corner of the bench across from me and got lost in it. I literally just sat there, thinking about nothing, doing nothing, just staring. I don’t know how long I sat there like that, but before long, I felt a tap on my shoulder that brought me back to reality. I looked over and saw Hisao. He had a smile on his face that reminded me of a father. 

        “You get bored easy, don’t you Julia?” I nodded to him, yawning soon after. He was right. I would be on my phone or reading a book if I were at home. That, or I would be sleeping. But I needed a pillow to sleep on. 

        I rubbed my eyes, trying to dislodge the sleep from them but not really succeeding. In the end, it really made me more tired. He chuckled and shook his head. 

        “How would you like to hear a story to help pass the time?” I smiled and nodded. I always enjoyed listening to what my father and grandparents had to talk about. I would engage in conversation all the time, or simply listen to some facts they had on something. 

        Hisao smiled and then looked over to Jade. She was fast asleep. He looked back at me and signalled me to get closer. I scooted closer. He whispered to me, “Wouldn’t want to wake her, now would we?” He chuckled. I giggled in return, then yawned again. He sat back into the seat and took upon a thinking pose. 

        “Now, the story I am going to tell you is the same one that was told to me by my father, and my fathers father, and so on. It is one we all know, but my family knows the true story.” He began, his voice now soft and naturally a relaxing deep sound, very unlike the first time I had heard it. 

        “Back before we could speak or walk on two feet, we were simply foxes. You see, we all began from a regular fox in the woods. We foraged and gathered like typical animals. We lived in boroughs and the like. One night, after one particular fox had lost half her stored food, she set out to gather again. This night was one of a full moon. Well, the fox entered a field for she knew of a berry bush that grew here near a stream. Once the fox got to the stream it had found the berry bush, but sadly, it had already been picked. The fox sighed and turned to head back the way it came. As it did, a bright blueish white light shown down from the heavens, scaring the fox. The fox ran and hid behind a tree in the wood off the edge of the field.” 

        I yawned again and tried leaning back on the chair, listening to the story. I kept slipping due to the carriage and the uneven trail. And I thought Michigan roads were bad. After fixing myself a third time, I felt an arm rest around my shoulders that pulled me slightly. I smiled and allowed Hisao pull me in. I rested my head on his shoulder, it was soft much like the pillow I used on my trips. I sighed happily. 

        “Better?” He asked me. I nodded and then closed my eyes. He continued his story. 

        “The fox looked out to the field to see a spirit of unmatched beauty descend from the heavens. The spirit, once on the ground, started to walk into the woods. The fox, out of curiosity, followed the spirit at a distance. The spirit walked deep into the woods, but sadly did not know the land well. She eventually wound up lost. She tried to find her way out of the woods, but sadly couldn’t get out. She wandered, exhausted and lost, not knowing what to do for hours. The fox however, knew the woods, so she ran up to the spirit. The spirit looked at the fox, and decided to follow the fox, since she was all out of options. Well, not too long after, she was out of the wood and in the field again.

        “More than thankful for the foxes help, the spirit wanted to repay such kindness and helpfulness. She gave the fox a part of herself, granting the fox great intelligence, the gift of magic and speech as well a new form. And so the first Kitsune came into existence, a Kitsune with ten tails. Using it's newly given gift of speech, the Kitsune asked the spirit what it should do now that it knew so much. The spirit only smiled and said, "Live," before ascending back to where she came from.

        “The Kitsune took the spirit's advice and lived, but not too long after she discovered that living was not so easy. She was lonely. She wondered what she could do to ease her loneliness, but she could think of nothing. Then she saw a fox coming towards her with curiosity. And that was when she got an idea. Using the magic she had been given she took a piece of herself and gave a small amount to the fox, giving it a part of her own power. So came to be the second Kitsune. Thrilled by this new idea, the Kitsune and her new friend went to spread her gift. And so the Kitsune race was born.

        “At some point though, the ten-tailed disappeared without a trace. It is said however, that she will return to us again. In her old body or new, it isn’t said. But her soul shall return to the Kitsune race once again one day.” 

        I just thought after that, once the story ended. The Kitsune race was born out of kindness. The element of kindness was shown by a fox. Now the element was of kindness, if the show was accurate, was now Fluttershy. The animal was the kind one. ‘Is that why Fluttershy relates so well to animals? Is she the reincarnation of the ten tailed?’ 

I yawned, and without thinking, I laid my head on Hisao’s lap. I had so many questions now. ‘Why was I here? What am I supposed to be doing? Is Fluttershy a reincarnation? Is Hisao petting my head…?’  

He was, in fact petting my head. Instead of feeling repulse or weird however, it felt good and calming. I relaxed and snuggled up to him. 
 
“How old are you Hisao?” I asked after a second. 

“I’m 26. You?” I smiled and decided to choose the magical age for all teens. 

“21.” 

“We are fairly young compared to the rest.” He chuckles. “I’m surprised I’m a noble. Usually nobles are a 40 before they start their service.” I nodded. This was very comfortable, with the petting and such. 

“So…” I twitched an ear to try and listen to what he was going to ask. He didn’t say anything though. 

“So, what?” 

“Nothing.” He said pretty fast. ‘Alrighty then...’ I did have a question though. 

“Do you smoke much?” He shifted a bit. 

“Huh?” 

“The pipe. Do you smoke much?” 

“The..pipe...oh! That.” He chuckled softly. “Yeah, no. No. I don’t. But it is the base of my magic.” He shifted and put his hand into a jacket pocket. He then pulled out the pipe and held it in front of me. It was as white as bone, with small engravings that looked like crescent moons on it. “It’s been in my family for years.” I smiled. 

“It looks cool.” He chuckled and put it back into his jacket. 

“Yeah, it kinda is, isn’t it?” He then shifted really fast, my ears shifting to my left. I instantly sat up and looked. 

“What is…?” I didn’t know what to ask. I heard something. 

“I don’t know.” He opened the door slightly and called out. “What is going on?” The air felt heavy all of a sudden. Horseshoe called back. 

“Nothing. We are fine where we stand.” 

“Okay.” Hisao closed the door and looked at me. “We shouldn’t be worried. Horseshoe knows this route better than anyone. If he says it is fine, then it is fine.” He didn’t sound so sure though. I looked at the window to my left again. 

You know that feeling you get in the movies? When the person is about to do something stupid and you know the monster was or bad guy was right on the otherside? I felt that right then at that moment. I didn’t stop though, I reached a hand out and grabbed the cloth. I took a deep breath and looked back at Hisao. He was looking at his pipe. I looked back at the cloth in my hand. It was red. I took another deep breath and pulled the cloth to the side. Outside, all I saw was woods and darkness. Nothing. I let out the breath I held and let my heart calm down. 

I studied the outside for a second and smiled happily, seeing nothing. I looked over to Hisao. “I see nothing.” I said with relaxation. 

“What?” He looked up and his eyes went wide. “NO! Don’t! The light will attract-” He was cut off by what sounded like a freight train, then everything went up in an explosion, my side screaming in pain.