//------------------------------// // Ever Freedom // Story: Equestrian Fox // by Doukzor //------------------------------// Foxy`s left eye-lid slowly blinked opened. Light fluttered into his face, warming his circuits. Grass shuffled in the small breeze and- WAIT. Foxy pushed himself up, his hook digging into the soft dirt around him. Around him, many tall dark oaks spread out. "I ain`t dreamin... Am I?" Foxy asked. it felt real-enough. He even seemed, more... Alive, too. His fake fur seemed a bit longer, and felt (if you can imagine that) real. A quick glance at the forest around him gave a shiver down his spine. He wasn`t ANYWHERE familiar, considering the Pizzeria in mind, and it didn`t seem like a homey place to live at. Bushes and roots surrounded the tiny clearing he stood in too. Maybe a quick walk around would be in favor With the thought in mind, Foxy took to walking around. He pushed leaves and branches out of the way as he did so. His left leg faltered for a second. With a quick glance, the bipedal fox could see a few missing screws. And a missing wire or so. "Er! Dumb good fer nothing leg" he spat as he continued with a limp in each step. His growls were more life-like. And his mouth felt more flexible too, like a real animals. It didn`t feel refrained to just opening and closing anymore. Slowly, the pirate fox made his way through the thick forest. "Hey girls!" Twilight Sparkle shook each of the five furiously. "W-what?" a perky voice asked shakily. "Oh, Rarity... Celestia sent me a letter!" The alicorn replied happily. "okay..." Rarity sighed. "This one`s different. Trust me" Twilight assured the bored group. Well, Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down. "She said that she has a task for me! er, us!" the purple alicorn yipped. "So... What task is it this time?" Rainbow Dash asked. She was clearly bored out of her mind. "Well... She didn`t say much. Except we`d know when it was time" Twilight Sparkle sighed. "Well then, ah`m out. Maybe ah`ll find this task while ah`m at home, working in mah farms" the orange, country accented one began to walk away. "I`m with A-Apple Jack..." A small voice squeaked. Apple Jack nodded, before leaving the door open behind her. Rarity grunted. "Hm... I suppose..." Twilight tapped her chin. Rarity nodded and left. "Yeah. Okay, um, but when you find the task, come back! IMMEDIATELY!" Twilight Sparkle called out as her friends left. "Whelp, that was my shortest gathering with them ever" Twilight Sparkle gulped away her excitement. "Er, dumb trees..." Foxy grunted as he pushed an abnormally large bush out of the way. "And my leg. It`s `bout to break" he tapped his left leg, which gave off a small static hum. A sudden uneasy feeling grew in Foxy`s throat. Yes, his throat. A few bushes shook against the direction of the wind. "Who goes there!" Foxy snarled. He readied his hook in front of him. A small growl emitted from a larger bush behind him. "Hm?!" he turned around, just as a wooden shape lunged at him. He dodged the creature as it lunged past him and into another bush. To his right, another -wolf?- came out. It didn`t jump, but it did circle him. The creature was made entirely of wood, and it resembled a wolf in oh so many ways. "G-get away, ye, er, wood pugs!" Foxy shouted as intimidatingly as he could. It didn`t work. Another wood wolf lunged at him, but this time, Foxy dug his hook into it`s stomach. An explosion occurred, with splinters flying off this way and that. A few stuck into Foxy`s fur, but he ignored that as another jumped at him. With a simple swipe of his hook, it was gone too. "Best get outta here `fore more come" the bipedal fox growled. He limped off as fast as he could with his seemingly broken leg. "Spike, this, task, isn`t going to show up at our door step" twilight Sparkle paced her bedroom. She was talking to a foot high purple dragon, whom bore green spikes (hence his name!). "Yeah, but, so?" he contemplated back, his voice more-or-less like that of a young boy. "That means, we need to look" Twilight responded absently, "Name some places". "Um, Ponyville" Twilight shot him a glare. "You know what I mean!" she nudged him for more answers. "Um, the plains near Flutters house?" he asked. "...No. She feeds her animals everyday. I`m sure she`d notice something, different" Twilight countered his suggestion. "The sky?". "Rainbow Dash". "shops?" "Rarity..." Twilight sighed. "Um, the apple orchard`s pretty big, so...?" Spike suggested. Twilight perked up for a moment, but then settled back down. "No... She`s got it". "Well, there is the *gulp* Ever Free forest". "But... Wait. Yes, yes yes yes!!!" Twilight cheered. Spike sighed, but Twilight picked him up and smiled widely. "Perfect idea, Spike! We can go there! That forest has Manticore`s and Hydra`s, why not the task?!" Twilight dropped Spike and ran off to gather her things. "Um, Twilight? Should-" "There`s NO time to waste! Come on!" And with that, Twilight levitated her dragon onto her back and left for the dark forest known as the Ever Free. "How in Fazbear am I gonna get out?" Foxy growled as he moved a bush. His hook was getting to be an unsettling dirt covered mess, and his left eye had begun to droop even farther than normal. He eventually had to flip his eye-patch up so that he could see more clearly. The damp forest even started to dampen his fur, and some bit of water had found it`s way into leaking through to his wires. Small bits of static spurted out. "I need ta get outta here, and soon..." Foxy sighed. "Okay, Spike! Ready?" Twilight Sparkle asked. She was standing just on the rim of the ever-free. "No" came a small resistant sound from the dragon on her back. "Good! Let`s go!" She padded into the forest. The sun was high in the sky, so she had plenty of time before she would be forced to leave. "So, what are we looking for again?" Spike asked after a little while. "The task!" Twilight Sparkle answered. "I know that", Spike deadpanned, "I mean, what does it look like?". Twilight stopped and tapped her chin. "Um... Well, you`ll know it when you see it. Keep your eyes peeled" she yipped before continuing on through the bushes and over hanging oaks. A few distant growls came from far away, but she did her best to ignore it. They came a bit closer. "Hey, um, Twilight? I`m scared..." Spike frowned. The pony he was laying on gave out a long sigh. "I know, I know. This place can give any pony the creeps..." she said as she looked around the dam, darkening forest. "Can you maybe, take me home?" The dragon asked, as he curled up into a ball. Twilight gave him a look, but breathed out to calm herself. "I suppose, though my magic`ll be drained" She powered up her horn. Spike gave a confused look. "Aren`t WE gonna go home?" he asked. "No, sorry. I have to look for the task, whatever it is" Twilight frowned. Spike waved good-bye as he vanished in a cloud of pink. "Whelp, i`m on my own now-" her sigh was cut off. A growl emitted from a nearby bush. Twilight let out a bored growl to herself. "C`MON! Already?!" she prepared herself to fight. "What did you do, WAIT for me to send him home?!". More light fluttered through the tree-tops. The trunks of each oak became smaller and thinner, too. Which meant the end of this wretchedly haunting forest was finally coming to an end. It meant once he got out, he could relax. Er, no. But he could find a way back. But why he want to go back? Foxy shrugged his messed up thoughts away, and continued towards whatever lay beyond the edge of the forest. He couldn`t see a break in the trees, but that didn`t really mean anything, did- "AH!!!" A spine-curling scream filled the air. Foxy whipped his head around towards the source of the sound. It seemed to have come from a bit of thicker trees, back in deeper. With a sigh, and then a quickened pace, the pirate set off towards whomever committed that cry. He lashed through bushes and branches, and as he grew closer, growls were beginning to be heard. And what seemed to be an, well, it couldn`t be described, but it sounded some what light. "Eek! S-stay away!" came a feminine voice. It sounded like a teenager`s voice. Foxy stood right behind the tree to a tiny clearing, much like where he first awoke. In front, at least five of those wood wolves were lunging at a... Unicorn?! He didn`t have much intellect, but Foxy did know what cartoonic ponies with horns and wings looked like. This was one of those. A purple pony was throwing- magic?- at the wolves. They all nimbly dodged -her- attacks though. Foxy stepped out from the tree. A small explosion was heard, which caught the purple mare off guard. Which, sadly, got her attacked by a wooden dog. It slammed into her form, and she fell to the ground, her eyes narrowed. "Do ye need help, lass?" Foxy asked. She didn`t look up at him, but nodded furiously. "P-please" she responded, pain cracking her voice a little. The fox nodded, and struck down another dog. It got his fur even more matted with chips, but he shrugged it off as a sharp pain filled his bad leg. "Ah! Stupid wooden mutts!" Foxy growled. He struck it`s face, which resulted in wooden sticks getting tangled inside of his leg`s wires and circuits. With the last one down, the fox turned to the purple unicorn. "Here, lass. Let me give you a, er, hand" he smiled, though his circuits warmed as she took his hook in her -hoof- and got up. Once she was content at not having any sprained limbs, she looked up to thank the pony... "Phew, thank you. your one brave po-" she stared at the six foot tall fox- "ny...". Foxy scratched the back of his neck. "I suppose ye aren`t familiar with the looks of me..." he sheepishly smiled. "W-what are you?" The winged unicorn asked. "Well, I was built to resemble a fox..." the two just looked at each other blankly. 'Oh no' was all Foxy thought.