Forked Tails of Fire

by Serenade Sketch

A New Adventure

Within the Everfree Forest is a two-tailed cat creature called a nekomata named Maya Pyrexia. She comes from a secret place in the forest where nekomatas live in peace. There is a ritual where a nekomata on their tenth birthday will gain small flames on their tails which are symbols to them. Each flame is colored and what color they will be is unknown until they appear. During her tenth birthday, her flames were revealed to be pink which symbolize sensitivity and playfulness. Two years later, she went out for walk with her friend, Selena Flare. "So Maya, where are we going?" she asked.

"I've always wanted to see more parts of the forest and I wanted to bring you with me," she responded.

"Well, let's not forget we shouldn't stray too far and if we do, you know how to shapeshift, right?"

"Uh-huh, practiced every day," Maya answered as she then used her flames to envelop her and in her place, was a red unicorn filly with a dark pink mane, yellow eyes, pink ears, white hooves, and a pink and white flame Cutie Mark.

“Impressive, want to see my pony form?” Selena then shapeshifted into a slightly taller black earth pony with a dark blue mane and eyes, white hooves and ears and a lantern Cutie Mark. As they continued to walk, they soon came across the edge of the forest and saw what was ahead. "Wow, what's that?" Maya asked.

"Looks like a town of ponies to me," Selena asked. "I've never really been there before actually; you want to go and check it out?" Maya nodded and the two walked over to the town. "Oh, before I forget, do you know what your pony name is?"

"I went with Fire Dance, what's yours?"

"You can call me Lantern Light, Fire Dance," she answered with a wink. Soon, they came across the edge of the town and saw so many ponies walking around and talking to each other. "We might get lost here so we should stay close to each other, got it Maya?" Selena asked waiting for a response. "Maya?" she asked as she turned around to find that Maya has vanished. "Oh no, she's gone!" she said as she ran off to find where she went. "I know she tends to wander off, I just wish it didn't happen now!"

Meanwhile, Maya was wondering around seeing all the sights in the town with a happy and awe-struck expression, "Wow, this place is kinda pretty, isn't it? Selena?" She then turned around to see that Selena was not with her and that she was at the middle of a park. "Uh oh, I can't believe I just wandered off like that." She then saw a bench and sat on it hoping that Selena would find her soon.

---

Near at the edge of the park were three fillies who were well known throughout Ponyville, a team called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, consisting of Apple Bloom, an earth pony, Sweetie Belle, a unicorn, and Scootaloo, a pegasus. They were known for helping other ponies with any problems involving their Cutie Marks, whether it was helping them find their special talent or if it was to help them look at them from a different angle, they were more than happy to help. "So, what are we going to today?" Apple Bloom asked.

Sweetie Belle then looked ahead, "Maybe we should help her?" The other two then turned to look and saw a sad unicorn filly sitting on a bench and walked towards her.

"Hey, are you alright?" Scootaloo asked.

"Not really, I wandered off and now I probably have my best friend worried," the filly said.

"We could help you find your friend if you like," Sweetie Belle offered. The unicorn then cracked a small smile.

"Thanks, I was hoping she would find me here because I don’t really know my way around here, but I've been here for a few minutes, so I guess I should start finding her. I just hope she’s not lost like me"

"Great, I'm Sweetie Belle by the way.

"I'm Apple Bloom."

"Name's Scootaloo."

"My name is Fire Dance, nice to meet you. I'm actually new here, so I don't really know my way around here." After they got introductions out of the way, the group then started to search for Fire Dance's friend.

"So, who is your friend anyway?" Scootaloo asked.

"Her name is Lantern Light, she's a black earth pony with a dark blue mane and a lantern Cutie Mark," Fire Dance answered. “She’s very nice and fun and about three years older than me. She’s actually kinda like an older sister to me.”

"Aw, that so nice," Sweetie Belle commented.

“We’ve known each other for a few years, I couldn’t have asked for a better friend to grow up with,” Fire Dance continued.

“Maybe, you could introduce us to her when we find her,” Apple Bloom said.

“Oh, I bet you’d get along great.” The small group then started to search all over town, from Sugar Cube Corner to Carousel Boutique, from Twilight’s Castle to Sweet Apple Acres. While at said apple farm, Fire Dance started to get more worried little by little the longer they took to find her friend.

“Not here either,” Sweetie said looking over the view of the orchard. Soon, an orange earth pony with a blonde mane, Stenson hat, and three apples Cutie Mark came trotting over to the barn.

“Apple Bloom, who’s the new filly?” she asked.

“Oh, Applejack, this is Fire Dance. Fire Dance, this is my big sister, Applejack,” Apple Bloom introduced.

“Howdy Fire Dance, pleasure to meet ya,” Applejack greeted.

“Nice to meet you to Applejack,” Fire Dance replied.

“We were just helping her find her friend,” Sweetie said. “Have you seen a black earth pony with a lantern Cutie Mark?”

“Can’t say I have, sorry I couldn’t help you here.”

“It’s fine, I just wish I didn’t wander off like that when I did,” Fire Dance said frowning.

"Well, it's getting late," Applejack said looking of into the sunset. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"Not really, me and Lantern just came here today."

"Well, your welcome to stay here for the night, and don't worry about finding your friend, I can tell my friends the situation and we can all help," Applejack offered.

"Really? That makes me feel so much better," Fire Dance said happily.

"We could have a sleepover," Apple Bloom said. "Can we Applejack?"

"Well, if it's alright with you, it's alright with me. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, you're welcome to sleep here too."

"Yay!" The four fillies then went upstairs to Apple Bloom's room and got out three sleeping bags. Soon after, Fire Dance looked out the window.

"Hey, are you OK?" Apple Bloom asked her.

"Yeah, just still worried about Lantern. Wonder if she's doing fine."

"Don't worry, Applejack said she and her friends are going to help look for her. But right now, we should get some sleep."

"You're right." The two then went to go to sleep so they can continue to look for Lantern Light tomorrow morning.

---

Late at night, on the rooftop of one of the houses, Selena, who wasn't disguised anymore, was looking our for Maya. "I hope she's not hurt or in danger, I should've been looking out for her more." She then started to jump from roof to roof looking for Maya, wondering where she could have gone by now.

Author's Note:

Finally, it's done! The first chapter to my second story is finally done! For this story, I've decided to include one of my favorite creatures from Japanese mythology, the nekomata, but with a little twist to make these ones a little unique. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, there will be more to come.