Thanks to Twilight’s teleportation, the ponies and Kai managed to quickly catch up to Myar. Just as he reached the external walls of the castle he was met head on by the group of friends. His magic was slowly weakening, as teleporting himself and the two servants was taking a heavy toll. Twilight on the other hoof, she hadn’t even broken a sweat from all the magic use.
“Give it up!” Twilight called out.
Kai stood at the front of the group, his ears lowered and teeth bared. Brother or not, nothing was going to prevent him from doing whatever was needed to free the mind sapped kin. Revenge seeped subtly into his mind as the thoughts of his home being taken from him clouded his judgement.
Myar on the other hand, simply stared at Kai from behind his minions. The look in his eyes was that of a dejected spirit, something both Kai and Fluttershy noticed. Needless to say, it didn’t last long. The eyes changed back to the evil glare they had in the castle, only to be accompanied with a smirk.
“Destroy them!” Myar yelled.
The two firefoxes leaped into the air towards Kai - only to be halted as they descended upon their friend.
“You should have given up when you had the chance! Now, Kai!” Twilight raised up the firefoxes using her telekinesis, higher and higher into the air away from Myar.
Without hesitation, Kai charged at Myar. “Oh? You think that’s how it’s going to be, brother?” Myar accepted the challenge as he too raced towards his brother, only to teleport right before they clashed. His words echoed throughout the trees as everyone scanned the area, looking to spot anything white and furry.
“I’ll let you have those two, but you won’t stop me from my plans!” A maniacal laugh sent shivers down the ponies’ spines, something they had felt before.
Kai flew up into the air above the treetops, looking to spot his fleeing brother. Trying to sense him using his antenna had become impossible this close to the two held by Twilight. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had flown up to help him, but the treetops made it difficult to narrow their gaze on the escaping creature. Even with the bright white coloring of his fur being a distinct feature, he managed to slip away into the darkness of the Everfree.
Meanwhile, Twilight had placed the two servants of Myar back on the ground, their eyes had reverted to normal. They collapsed to the ground whilst panting heavily. Both Rarity and Twilight were unsure if they were even conscious.
“Oh my, are they going to be alright, Twilight?” Rarity asked as she meandered over to them.
Twilight was unsure of firefox anatomy as she had yet to make a good study of Kai. Would her magic even been strong enough to administer first aid? The only way to know how they were feeling was to ask.
“Excuse me. Can you two understand us?” She asked with a concerned look as she drew closer to inspect them.
The smaller firefox was the first to rise to their feet, quickly running and blocking the path between Twilight and the larger firefox.
“Knthuuth rthkh!” It snarled and bared their teeth.
The larger one let out a sigh of exhaustion as it moved to an upright position. After sitting up it placed a paw on the smaller version. “Vkhlyh, Roshk. Krrtlh rthbrh.” The language meant nothing to Twilight and Rarity, he could sense that.
‘I apologize for young Roshk.’ The noble firefox entered the minds of the two ponies before him. ‘He is far too young to communicate with you telepathically. Please, forgive his insolence.’
Rarity and Twilight looked at each other in bewilderment. The two pegasi and Kai floated to the ground gently, Kai rushing immediately to embrace his kin.
“Rldrrh, Roshk!” Kai spoke in his language as the three nuzzled together.
‘It is good to see you young Kai, but have you lost your manners during this time away?’ The large firefox patted Kai on the head as he communicated to the entire group.
Kai tilted his head as if he misunderstood. He looked down at Roshk who gave him a simple shrug.
‘Please, Kai, I am no longer your master. You must call me by name. You should also not speak in a language these kind creatures cannot understand, it is shameful.’
‘I am sorry! I did not mean, well, it has just been…’ Kai embarrassingly apologized to the elder, lowering his head as a sort of bow. ‘It is good to see you Artimas.’
A short gasp came from the ponies.
“Hey! You’re the guy who can teach us how to speak your language!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. The look of happiness and joy filled her eyes.
Rarity pushed her hoof against Rainbow’s side. “Don’t you mean teach Twilight?” A snickering grin filled her face.
The joy fled Rainbow’s eyes and was replaced with a blush of humiliation. “I-I never said that! I’d love to learn! I’m a learning machine!”
‘Kai, are these friends of yours?’ Artimas questioned.
A laughter had risen amongst the ponies from Rainbow’s embarrassment. Kai looked to them, and then back to Artimas. With a smile across his face, he answered.
‘Actually, they’re family.’
‘I am humbled by your acceptance of us and of young Kai. Thank you for allowing us into your home Miss Sparkle.’
“Think nothing of it Artimas, just please, call me Twilight.”
The ponies and Kai had returned with the cleansed firefoxes from the Everfree. They began to explain the situation once they arrived in the map room of Twilight’s castle.
“I’ve already got a plan in mind.” Rainbow Dash said with a strike to her chest, seemingly proud of her idea. “We’ll just split up! Then, somepony can take Kai to the south to meet up with Applejack and Pinkie, while the other three head north with Artimas!”
‘And what of Roshk?’ Kai looked up at her with a tilt of the head.
Her look of pride quickly vanished as she had completely forgotten about the telepathically silent cub.
“Actually, Roshk could probably go with Artimas. It would be better than staying here and waiting for Myar to show up.” Rarity clarified.
Fluttershy was holding Roshk in her embrace, the little firefox was easily worn out from the day and had fallen asleep.
“I’m more worried about Myar. Even if we stick together, can he still mind control all three of you?” Twilight asked as she brought up the map into view on top of the table.
Artimas looked over to Roshk. ‘No. He managed to soak into our open minds while we waited. It was my fault for telling Roshk to have his mind open.’ He paused his statement and looked to Kai. ‘As much as I would like to keep him from this danger, as well as you Kai, we must find the others or we will all be lost in the end.’
“Wait so my plan was good!?” Rainbow Dash yelled.
The sleepy Roshk moved slightly from the noise. “Shh!” Fluttershy voiced with a slight glare.
“Sorry!” Rainbow replied in a quiet tone with two hooves covering her mouth.
Rarity sat up and put her front hooves on the table. She looked over the map, staring at each other of the red dots that were the locations of the firefoxes.
“Well, if I may say, Myar appears to still be in the Everfree. If we split up now we can probably find them all before he does. Plus, Applejack and Pinkie may already be waiting on us to arrive. I don’t want them to worry.”
They all nodded in agreement.
“Awesome! I’ll take Kai to get AJ and Pinkie.” Rainbow said with a grin on her face.
Twilight sat up with an eyebrow raised. “Actually, I’d like to be the one to take him to the southern plains. It would make sense for me to go with Kai, since his brother may try to come after him again.”
“Oh please, I can take him on!”
“Alright, if you’d like to go south with Kai, that’s fine. I’ll just be part of the group that takes the other two up north… You know, the Crystal Empire, Yakyakistan… Cloudsdale.” The smirk on Twilight’s face pierced Rainbow’s pride. She knew Rainbow couldn’t resist showing off in Cloudsdale, especially when everypony was going to have their eyes on the firefoxes.
Rainbow gritted her teeth. It was a difficult choice. She wanted to spend more time with Kai, but loved to go to Cloudsdale.
“Fine!” She pouted. “But wait, why aren’t you two arguing to go? Rarity!? Flutteshy!?”
Fluttershy smiled as she stared at the sleeping cub. “Well, I’d like to go wherever this little guy is going. He’s so cute.”
Kai stared at Fluttershy, the look of the two together reminded him of how much he missed his own mother. He could only hope that heading south would lead to his parents.
“Darling, it’s the Crystal Empire. I rarely have a chance to head up there. As much as I’d love to spend some time with Kai, Artimas is sure to be just as good company.” Rarity answered.
‘You are too kind.’ Artimas bowed his head.
“Ughhh! Fine!” Rainbow slumped down into her chair with forelegs folded across her chest.
Twilight grinned in victory. “Then it’s settled!” She threw a scroll to Rarity. “Here’s a copy I made for you guys. Good luck! Let’s go Kai!”
She rushed out of the room with a bag on her back. Kai followed to the doorway before turning around. He bowed to the room.
‘I shall return, I wish you the best in your journey as well.’ He communicated, scampering off afterwards.
“Well then, shall we be off as well?” Rarity stood up from her chair, expecting to be ready to head off.
“Um.” A soft spoken syllable came from the pink haired pony. “Actually, if you don’t mind, can I ask something?”
A yawn came from the small cub that lay next to her.
“Myar, did any of you, well, notice that at one point he seemed kind of solemn in his actions? Like he didn’t really, y’know, want to do what he was doing?” Fluttershy finished.
Artimas looked at Fluttershy. The noble firefox understood what she had meant, while the two ponies did not get the same message.
“Darling, he attacked us. I’m not sure how intense his look could have been to say otherwise.” Rarity said, with a furrowed brow.
Rainbow sat up from her pouting. “C’mon. Let’s go. We’ll worry about beating friendship into his brain later.”
“What do you think, Artimas?” Fluttershy asked.
Artimas sat there with his eyes closed. ‘Kai and Myar… Both must prove something to the other, but neither know how. Modest must be their tongue, but exceptional must be their actions.’
As the ponies looked at one another in bewilderment, a sleepy Roshk yawned once more.