The Four Foxes

by colt alchemist

Fox-Fire

The outside market was swarming with smiling ponies. They were all either selling their products or socializing with one another. It didn’t seem like anything could ruin their day. That was, until they spotted it. As every pony was busy walking around and chatting with another, a strange creature appeared. Every pony stopped what they were doing and gasped. They couldn’t look away as a large red fox with five tails casually strolled through the market. The foxes many tails waved as it strolled, its piercing green eyes were enough to turn a few heads, and the black tips on its ears were very noticeable. Whispers and mutters could be heard among the crowd, so many voices and so many scared faces all around. Almost everything seemed to go quiet as the fox passed by a stand and ponies immediately got out of the way when it came near them. Even though it was still smaller than them, it was rather big for a fox. The fox glared at all the scared faces it was getting.

“Yes, I am a fox. Don’t let me interrupt your day,” the fox said.

All of the ponies could tell it was a vixen from her voice. All of the ponies in the market tried to resume to their individual days, but still couldn’t help but feel intimidated as the fox strolled by. The vixen felt no better, every stare she was receiving felt like a stone was being thrown at her.

What is it with these midget horses? The vixen thought. They’re acting like they’ve never seen a different creature before. What a bunch of weirdos. Of all the places to appear in, it had to be THIS kind of place? It’s way too colorful.

She turned to her right and noticed some of the ponies at the stands averted their gaze. Some of them turned their heads as soon as the vixen spotted them. There were even some ponies who were pretending to whistle as if they didn’t notice her. The vixen rolled her eyes.

“I know you’re all staring at me!”

All the ponies turned their heads and avoided eye contact with the fox. The vixen grunted in response. Her first day and the citizens were already afraid of her.

Mind your own business. Judgemental donkeys.

“Hi there!”

The vixen jumped back. She soon found a strange pink and poofy pony standing right in front of her.

“Oh my gosh! Are you new? You must be new cuz I’ve never seen you here before! I love meeting new ponies! But you’re NOT a pony! You’re a fox. But you can’t be a normal fox because you have more than one tail! That’s weird, but so cool!” The pink pony exclaimed rapidly.

The vixen didn’t know how to respond, but at least one pony didn’t show any apprehension towards her, but she couldn’t tell if this was better or worse.

“I-I blinked, what happened?” the vixen asked.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” the pink pony introduced.

“I’m leaving.”

The vixen walked away from the strange pony, but soon found her right in front of her again.

“Nice to meet you, leaving!”

“What the? How did you...?” the vixen stammered.

She looked back at where Pinkie was previously standing and only found a pink outline blinking in the air. The vixen rubbed her head and grunted.

“Don’t you worry! Most ponies here are super friendly! And I’ll make sure you’ll have lots of friends at my party tonight! Gotta go, got so much to do. Bye!”

With that, the pink pony zipped off before the vixen could raise a paw. She just stood there with her eyes widened and her mind in scrambles. She shook her head and just stared at the empty space.

“Ok then.”

The vixen continued her stroll.

‘Don’t draw too much attention to yourself.’ How am I supposed to do that if everything in this village either sees me as a freak or is random as scat?! I have no idea what this place is, but I already hate it.

The sound of magic suddenly hit her heardrums. Her right ear perked up and she turned her head. She noticed a big, shiny, and crystal-like castle at the edge of town. However, the castle wasn’t what caught her attention. Instead, she focused on what was going on behind it. She could see small sparks going off in the air behind the crystal castle. The vixen cocked her head. She decided to make her way towards the castle to see what was going on behind.

Starlight Glimmers horn was smoking with magic. It was just another day of practicing spells for her, not that she minded it. She wore a confident smile on her face as she stared at the book, nest, and tissue box that lied before her. Normally she would be practicing her magic inside, but decided that practicing outside in the open field behind the castle would be a nice change of pace, and sure enough it was.

“Good, but I think I can do better,” Starlight said, as she was writing something down in her book. “Why don’t we try five this time. You ready, Trixie?”

She looked over to her blue, magician friend who’s eyes were barely open and looked rather tired and impatient.

“Do we have to?” Trixie complained. “You’ve already mastered this spell, why do you feel like you should practice it? Besides, you said that we could go to Sugarcube Corner today. I am craving a chocolate oat shake.”

“I told you. I want to see how effectively my transfiguration spell can work on moving targets. You never know when a technique like that could come in useful,” Starlight explained.

“Yeah, like if you needed to turn a bird into a magic teacup or something,” Trixie joked. “Hey! I just thought of a new trick for my next show!”

“Don’t go and steal my ideas,” Starlight laughed. “After this last test, we can head on over to Sugarcube Corner. Ok?”

“Oh alright.”

Trixie walked away from Starlight and got ready in her position.

“Ready?”

Trixie nodded.

“Now!”

Trixie used her magic to launch five flying discs into the air. Starlight focused on each of the flying discs and drew five mental pictures. Once she had the pictures in her mind, she fired her horn. Her magic beam hit the first disc and zapped it into a red rubber ball. She quickly fired her second beam and turned the next disc into a carrot hotdog. She turned the third one into a hat, the fourth into a guitar, and the fifth into a watermelon. All five objects landed on the ground in one piece. Starlights horn was smoking again, so she blew it out.

“Amazing!”

“Thank you, Trixie,” Starlight said.

“That wasn’t me,” Trixie replied.

“Huh?”

Both unicorns turned their heads to find the source of the voice. Their jaws dropped once they noticed the five tailed vixen standing next to the castle, watching them. The vixen realized she had been caught and stepped towards the two unicorns.

“Uh, hello,” she greeted.

Neither Starlight or Trixie knew how to respond. Out of all the many creatures they had come across, this one was by far the strangest. Starlights heart was pumping and her head swarming with questions. The fox noticed the stares she was receiving from the two unicorns, filling her with the same uncomfortable feeling from the market.

“Q-Quit staring, would you,” the fox said.

“Oh, sorry!” Starlight replied.

“I’ll just be going now.”

The vixen turned around to leave, but Starlight wasn’t going to let a new creature get away like that.

“Wait! Don’t go,” Starlight called out. The vixen turned around and faced Starlight and Trixie. “We didn’t mean to stare, did we Trixie?”

“Well-”

“Trixie!”

“No, we didn’t.” Trixie replied, deadpanned.

“Sorry, but can I ask you a few questions?” Starlight asked.

“Fine,” the vixen groaned and approached the two unicorns.

As she walked up to Starlight she realized how tall she really was. The vixen was shorter than Starlight but but taller than an ordinary fox or filly.

“Wow, you ponies are a lot taller up close,” she commented.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that,” Starlight replied.

She still couldn’t believe that she was coming into contact with a new species, she couldn’t wait to tell Twilight this.

“My name is Starlight Glimmer. Who...What are you?” Starlight asked.

“I’m a fox, obviously,” the vixen replied.

“Really? Because last time I checked, foxes didn’t have five tails,” Trixie remarked. “Or could talk!”

“You’re a real charmer, aren’t you?” the vixen snarked.

Trixie grumbled in response.

“I’m really a fox spirit. But don’t expect me to grant you any wishes.”

“We won’t, just questions,” Starlight assured. “What’s your name?”

“Does it matter?”

“Well, kind of. I already told you my name. Plus, we’ve never seen a creature like you before and we’d like to get to know you more. Are you new around here?”

“Please don’t tell me YOU'RE throwing me a surprise party too?”

“Something tells me she met Pinkie Pie,” Trixie said.

“Clearly,” Starlight giggled. “We don’t want you to go. We just want to know who you are.”

“Aren’t you scared of me?”

“Not at all. Why would you think that?”

“Take a wild guess,” she said as she eyed some bystanders.

The two ponies passing by quickly averted their gazes and bolted away from the trio. Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Don’t let other ponies get to you, they’ve just never seen anything like you before.”

“So it would seem.”

Starlight tapped her hoof to her chin to figure out a way to make the fox more comfortable.

“You said that my magic was ‘amazing.’ Did you like what you see?” Starlight asked.

The vixen couldn’t help but blush a little. Having her little outburst was embarrassing enough, having someone remind her of it made it all the more awkward. She looked at the ground and avoided Starlight’s gaze.

“D-Don’t talk down to me,” the vixen muttered.

“I’m not talking down to you. I was just wondering if you liked it?”

The vixen lifted her head and looked at Starlight. The unicorn stared at the vixens green eyes. Starlight couldn’t look away, something about the vixen’s eyes really caught her attention. Maybe it was the fact of how bright the color was or how fierce it made her look. Starlight could also sense something from the vixen’s eyes. Loneliness? No, that wasn’t it. Whatever it was, Starlight decided not to focus on that at the moment.

“I noticed you were turning those flying discs into random stuff. I thought it looked cool,” the vixen admitted.

“You mean my transfiguration spell? Thanks, I’m glad you liked it,” Starlight replied. “Do you know any magic?”

“Sort of, in a way. But I don’t think it’s magic you’re familiar with,” the vixen replied.

“Foreign magic? That’s so interesting! If Twilight were here, she’d be freaking out,” Starlight said. “Do you want to show us some of your magic?”

“What? But you said that we could go to Sugarcube Corner after this last test,” Trixie complained. “They don’t have an unlimited supply of chocolate oat shakes, y’know.”

“Can I demonstrate my magic on her? I’d be more than happy to,” the vixen asked.

“Trixie, we have a new creature with unknown magic, we can’t pass up an opportunity like this!”

“I don’t know,” the fox replied. “I really shouldn’t draw any more attention to myself than I already have.”

“You’re a talking fox. I’d say you have enough attention,” Trixie retorted.

The vixen growled at Trixie, not appreciating her snide remarks.

“How do we know she isn’t lying to us? Foxes are sneaky creatures after all,” Trixie added.

This made the vixen growl even more, her ears were folded back and her sharpest teeth were exposed.

“Trixie!” Starlight scolded.

“I’m just saying! Only unicorns and alicorns can use actual magic. Besides, how do we know this isn’t just some regular fancy fox who’s all bark and no bite?”

The blood in the vixen’s body had reached its boiling point. It was one thing to judge foxes as a whole, but openly suggesting a sign of weakness was too much for the fox. She could literally feel the fire within her burning.

“You want to see some magic?! Alright, I’ll show you,” the vixen growled.

Trixie huffed and walked off to her position to load the next set of discs. Starlight couldn’t help but glare at Trixie for her rudeness. The vixen calmed down before smoke could form and followed Starlight to where she was previously standing and firing her magic.

“I’m sorry about my friend,” Starlight said.

“Is she always like that?” the vixen wondered.

“Well, yes,” Starlight replied. “But she’s not so bad once you get to know her.”

“Not sure if I want to know her.”

Starlight ignored that last comment and prepared her notebook to write down her observations.

“So, you ready to show us what you got?” Starlight asked.

A toothy smile formed on the vixen’s face as her heart began to pick up the pace, ready to make the blue unicorn eat her words.

“Oh yeah,” she chuckled.

Starlight couldn’t help but feel a little anxious at the vixen’s new attitude. Just to be safe, she stepped back as the vixen prepared herself. Trixie was getting ready with her discs, ready to get this last test over with.

“Ready?”

Trixie nodded, reluctantly.

“Now!”

Trixie launched five discs into the air with her magic. The vixen spotted the flying discs and closed her eyes to focus. Starlight cocked an eyebrow at this action. Why close her eyes when the targets were right in front of them? Her answer soon came when the vixen opened up her eyes. Her green eyes started glowing a bright golden light brighter than fireflies. Starlight noticed some sparks igniting from the vixen’s mouth. Before she could ask what was going on, the vixen shot a fiery beam out of her mouth and right for one of the discs. The beam struck a flying disc and it exploded into a big, fiery cloud. The cloud spread to the other discs, incinerating them in the process. All that was left was a smoke cloud in the air. Both unicorns eyes had shrunken to the size of bits. Starlight turned to the vixen, who’s glowing eyes were beginning to dim. Smoke was emitting from the vixens jaw as she panted. To say that Starlight and Trixie were surprised would be an understatement.

“W-W-What was that?!” Trixie asked.

“Fox-fire,” the vixen breathed.

“Good thing Twilight is at the train station, she would’ve flipped out for sure!” Starlight exclaimed. “When you said your magic was different, you weren’t kidding!”

The vixen turned towards Trixie, causing her to yelp.

“Still think I’m all bark and no bite?” she chuckled, smoke still emitting from her jaw.

Before she could answer, or hide behind Starlight, the sound of voices and hooves trotting suddenly hit their ears. They turned around and soon noticed a large group of ponies making their way towards the castle. Starlight had deduced they were concerned about the loud noise.

“Looks like we got company,” Starlight said.

“Yeah, I think I might’ve overdone it,” the vixen admitted. “Well, it was nice meeting you, time to go!”

The fox exited the area before the herd of ponies could reach them.

“Hey wait!” Starlight called out. The vixen turned around.

“Can you at least tell me your name?”

The vixen thought about it, avoiding eye contact with the mare. She tried her best not to draw attention, but had failed from the start. Figuring that there was no point in trying to lay low anymore, she faced Starlight.

“Reiko!”

With that, the vixen bolted on out of there, before Starlight could ask anything else.

“Reiko?” she wondered.

“Um, Starlight?” Trixie muttered.

Starlight turned around and noticed the large crowd of concerned faces and worried ponies. They kept on flooding the air with questions like ‘are you ok?’ and ‘what was that noise?’ Starlight didn’t know how to answer the crowd as she chuckled nervously. She just felt glad that Twilight wasn’t around to see this.

Author's Note:

Thanks again to TP Night for editing this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and be sure to let me know what you think. Thanks.

Comments

[KingKang]

ou made a story about my favorite creatures in Mythology! i could kiss you!

[Sirdubya]

Suddenly, I'm getting flashbacks to Okami. That said, I like the idea of a renegade kitsune who doesn't care if she's seen or not despite her capabilities.

[Viper Pit]

i thought the fox was going to send wisp after the disk not use hyper beam

[colt alchemist]

8192981 Never played Okami, but I heard it was a fun game. And cool, wait til you meet the last fox.

[BurningBright]

Trixie got ruddy LUCKY, annoying a Kitsune is never a good idea XD

[Timuri]

9665320
Annoying? She was outright offending Reiko. No kidding about dangerous territory. Though after that display of combat magic, she'll hopefully either hold her tongue or be more courteous next time she bumps into a kitsune.