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// Prologue: The fox she found in a crate. 
// Story: My Little Pony: Secrets of the Kitsune tribes 
// by OtakuBrony47 
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	On a breezy autumn night, Fluttershy sat in her cottage. Donning a warm fuzzy robe and slippers, she sat contently watching the flames of the fire. Angel, her small white bunny, snuggled up against her side relishing in the warmth of his pony companion as well as the fire. The night was crystal clear and bright, and all the stars were out. Fluttershy was sitting warmly in her cottage, enjoying the warmth of the fire place with her pet bunny, Angel, and the rest of her little woodland friends. With a cup of hot chocolate at hand and a warm fuzzy robe and slippers, Fluttershy laid back on her couch as Angel nuzzled up beside her. All was quiet and peaceful, at least for a while, anyway.

As Fluttershy stroked Angel's head, she heard a loud sound from outside her cottage. Fluttershy immediately paused what she was doing. She turned to Angel to find him looking around the room to see what had made the noise. "Goodness." said Fluttershy, "What was that?" As she got up from the sofa, she heard it again. It sounded like a wooden tap sound followed by a thud: Tap, Thud...Tap, Thud. Fluttershy let out a small shriek of fear. Whatever it was, it sounded scary. Fluttershy turned towards Angel. He had a nervous expression on his face. Fluttershy walked up to him and place him on top of her back. "What do you think that was, Angel?" she said nervously

As she slowly tiptoed towards her door, she began quivering in fear. What could be out there that was making the noise? As she slowly opened her door, there it was a gain. Tap, Thud...Fluttershy hide behind her door letting out a lout yelp. Angel rolled his eyes. He tapped on Fluttershy's head, trying to say "Hey, Man Up." Fluttershy slowly nodded and took a small peek outside. Nothing was out there, nothing was around. All her animals were hibernating and the only creature awake was her and Angel (minus a few birds that were in the house). What was making that noise , she thought to herself. Just then she hear it again. It was coming from the backyard. "AAAH!" yelled Fluttershy, "There it is a-g-g-gain." Angel hopped off of Fluttershy's back and landed on the ground; with a frown, he pointed towards the backyard.

"Uh, you know Angel, I'm sure whatever is making that noise, it really isn't any of my concern." said Fluttershy with a nervous smile. Rolling his eyes, Angel tried to push Fluttershy to the backyard. Fluttershy tried to push back, but found herself moving towards the backyard. With a shove and a push, Fluttershy fell to the ground of her backyard. Then she heard it again. She slowly looked up and found it. It was...It WAS...a...Crate?

Fluttershy was confused. "A crate?" she said softly, "All this time it was just a crate? Oh boy, do I feel silly." Suddenly, the crate began to move. Fluttershy jumped up from the ground and landed right on Angel's arms. Surprisingly, Angel was able carry her, despite his size. Rolling his eyes, Angel dropped Fluttershy and slowly hopped over to the crate. He sniffed it softly to see if anything alive was inside it. As he did, the crate began to move again. A slight forwards before it snagged on the ground and tipped over. Tap, Thud...

"Oh, so that's how it was making the noise." Fluttershy announced, "But then...what's in the crate." Angel turned to Fluttershy with a sly smile on his face, pointing to the crate. "Oh yeah." she said, "That's how." As she slowly walked up to the crate to open it, the crate suddenly hopped off from the ground. Fluttershy took a huge step back, shaking in fear, and completely afraid of what could be in there. Angel slapped his forehead. He jumped on top of the crate and thumped on it, attempting to communicate with whatever was in there. Sure enough, the crate was thumping back. Angel tried to see if he could peek inside, but he couldn't. Then, the crate began to twitch. With a small hop, the crate tipped over, this tip, the top of the crate cracked open. Angel was able to peek inside now. As he slowly leaned closer and place his eye on the crack, he was stunned from what he saw.

Angel quickly hopped over to Fluttershy and grabbed hold of her hoof, trying to drag to look inside the crate. Fluttershy nervously followed Angel and slowly peeked inside. Fluttershy saw only darkness at first, but then, she saw an eye looking back at her. She got scared and flinched, pull herself away. But at least she knew now that something was inside the crate. "Goodness me!" she softly exclaimed, "It’s some kind of creature." Angel nodded and pointed back to the crate. The creature was lightly tapping on the cracked area of the crate. Fluttershy slowly approached the crate and tried to pry it open. Just then, the crate cracked open completely and out came falling a small pile of carrots. On top of those carrots, was a very odd and peculiar creature? It looked a bit like a fox...but it was different from any fox she ever saw. It had two legs, and she assumed her arms with claws  (though in reality, they were fingers). And it must've been a baby creature, because he was really small . She also noticed that he was dressed in some kind of robe.

Whatever this thing was, it was clear that it wasn't an Equestrian creature. Fluttershy slowly looked around to try and find if any other creatures like this one were hiding around her backyard, but the winter air was too think; it was getting pretty cold. She began to shiver. As Fluttershy picked up Angel and placed him on her back she looked at the little baby creature. It was smiling at her, trying to get up. However, the little creature couldn't, and he fell of the pile of carrots to the snow on the ground. Covered in cold snow, the baby creature began to cry.

"Uh...Uh....UUUUWWWAAAAAHHH-HAAAAA-HA-HAAAAA!!!"

Fluttershy began to panic. "Oh no, uh? Shh, shh! There, there!" she said slowly stroking the baby's head, "Don't cry. It's okay, I'm here for you." The little creature looked up at Fluttershy and saw her happy face. The creature slowly stopped crying and began to smile. "Aww." said Fluttershy, "Isn't he cute, Angel?"

Angel rolled his eyes. "You don't say." he thought to himself. Of course he was cute, why else would he want to show her? As Fluttershy slowly picked up the creature and placed him on her back next to Angel, she began to feel the freezing wind blow, and thick white began to cover her eyes.

"BRRRRR!" exclaimed Fluttershy, "Its getting cold, we should get back inside guys."

Back inside the house, Fluttershy sat the baby creature on her couch and wrapped him up in a blanket, then she went over fireplace, which was cooking a kettle of soup. She scooped up some soup with a ladle and poured it onto a small bowl, but as she walked over to her couch to feed the little baby creature, she saw he was already fast asleep. "Aww, poor little thing." said Fluttershy, "He must be really tired." It was strange though. How did this little creature end up in a crate, and how did the crate end up in her cottage? And more importantly, what was he? As Fluttershy slowly leaned over and kissed the baby creature on his forehead, she noticed he was something on his head. Some kind of headpiece. It had the appearance of a circlet (a jeweled head band like crown made of either gold or silver). Also, she noticed it had some engraving on it. A symbol, one she wasn't familiar with.

"Oh my, what is that?" said Fluttershy to herself. She was curious to know what the symbol meant. But she decided it was best not to get involved. I mean, she didn't even know what kind of creature he was and why he was here. But maybe, she knew someone who did...

To Be Continued...