A Pox life.

by Isenlyn

The Raider conundrum

“How could she have done this !” roared Salt, stomping his paw to the ground. The effect was not as impressive as he expected, his pad being meant to move in silence, not stomp in fury. Salt then concentrated his magic around his foreleg and hit a nearby rock. The boulder exploded on impact, but this didn’t relented one bit his anger.

“How could such a friend could betray me that way ?” he continued in a whisper. Then in realization of what he was saying he smashed repeatedly his head on one of the debris. Punctuating each strike with his words.

“Get… smash… out… smash… of… smash… my… smash… head !… SMASH” He felt ditzy for a moment but also felt more clearly the layers of illusion magic twisting his brain. He manage to get a hold on most of it and dissipated it.

“Those feelings aren’t mine, so stop believing that brain.” he scolded himself. Feeling drained he lit a bent cigarette, took a long puff, and laid himself against the rest of the rock, his gaze lost on the seemingly infinite landscape of deserted land, ruined signs and crumbled building before him. His mind now at rest focused on what had happened.

This disgusting dark kitsune had been the most subtle that ever attacked him. She must have stalked him for days, as he recalled this uneasy feeling of being watched. He could even remember those strange layers of magic that seemed remnants of a fight, and hadn’t paid enough attention. Now he understood. Those magic filament were a trap, illusion that stacked up in his brain, slowly but effectively, so much that he couldn’t remember when his frien… this dark kitsune took place beside him, as a long date friend. He even had a hard time remembering how he figured it out. All he can remember, was to be fighting with this witch, he thought as a dear friend.

Salt’s thoughts came to a stop when he realized something. He had attacked the dark kitsune first when he realized what was happening, but her figures showed a real surprise. Something exterior must have made him aware of the trick, and he could remember feeling a spiritual energy at the time.

Salt reached deeper in his mind, and surely he felt it, that same spiritual energy he regularly felt for some times. Something was in him, a something that he couldn’t comprehend, but seemed to have saved his life. He tried to follow deeper the spiritual magic in his brain, and felt it regress to a small part that felt different, then a blue light seemed to blind his mind-eye.

Pox woke up in a jerk, hit the back of his head on a rock, instinctively he took a breath, hissing through clench teeth but got his lungs filled with an aggressive hot smoke and was struck by a coughing fit. He felt something fall from his mouth and suddenly he felt a burn on his tail. Too much was too much and Pox stood up in a jump and began to run in circle trying to catch his hurting tail. The little game lasted far too long as he failed to catch his tail, because it always seemed to be elsewhere. When he finally ended up on his back and hurting tail in mouth as he groomed it, he blank as he realized he had three of them.

Five minutes later, Pox was still crouched over himself, playing with his three tails moving them independently and trying to catch them with his paws. He was so entranced in his antics that he jumped in surprise when he heard a voice near him.

“What the fuck are you ?” The male voice asked, in a tone that didn’t called for an answer.

Pox turned and took a few step back. What he saw was an awesome pony. He was half mounted on a broken rock, the sun behind him outlined him in rays of light in the dust, his cape flapping in the wind. The pony advanced, pointing some kind of metal machine at Pox, taking off his googles with his magic.

“Pox is Pox !” He answered in his happiest smile.

The pony stopped and aimed his rifle to pox. “What ! That shit talk ?” he exclaimed.

“Yes, Pox talks. Who are you mister Awesome ?” Pox asked in the confusing way possible to the raider in front of him. The raider stumbled backward, re-strapped a leather piece that detached from his spiked armor and was flapping in the wind then shrugged.

“Ok Fox thing, it’s been a while since I wanted a pet, now your mine ! Come here, no tricks !” He said brusquely, menacing Pox with his rifle.

“A pet ? And it’s Pox, not Fox. What’s a pet ?” He answered, trotting closer. He sat in front of the awesome pony and slowly shook his three tails. Up close he could see the pony had a yellow coat with a dark mane, and was a magic pony, with a horn. And he wore an awesome armor full of spikes. And he was talking but he wasn’t listening.

“Pox didn’t listen, sorry. What ?”

“I said, a pet mean you’re gonna do as I say, ok ? Are you stupid ? For a long moment Pox reflected on that, his head slowly inclining to the right.

“Pox isn’t stupid, but Pox like to do stuff. Can Pox has a treat if Pox do the stuff ?” he pleaded, his stomach making its presence known.

“Yeah, sure, why not. Now follow me pet.”

“Pox.”

“What ?”

“It’s Pox, not pet.” Pox stated matter of factly.

“OK, listen, I’m gonna call you...” Pox went bouncing away and jumped on a rat that was passing by near the rock debris.

“Hey pet. Pet ! Listen to me !” The raider tried to get Pox attention. “Pox !” he finally shouted.

Pox turned his head toward the awesome pony which took a step back. Pox mouth was dripping blood, and because the pony didn’t continued his sentence, Pox began to wash himself, licking his paws to rub his muzzle. The raider was used to see gore, but the sharp teeth of this… animal, for lack of better term, was strangely freaky. He considered shooting the lupine creature right there, but it also seemed this Pox thing was willing to be his pet, so maybe he could keep it.

“Ok, er… Pox” the kitsune instantly looked up. “Follow me, I’m gonna bring you to the camp. Do as I say, and you’ll have a treat there.” He then turn and walked away, and smiled when the creature followed him and fell in step next to him. Strangely, looking at the fox, he couldn’t imagine hurting it. This creature had the biggest puppy eyes he’d ever seen, and seemed to look at him in awe.

“So Pox, what are you ?” he asked after a moment, deciding talking would be better, because the road was kinda long. He had been on survey all morning and had encountered absolutely nothing interesting before the strange creature at his side.

“Pox’s a pony.” Pox stated all happy.

“Hem… aren’t you a fox, or some shit like that ?” The raiders inquired, dubious.

“Nope. Pox is a pony. But ponies always say Pox is a fox, so Pox is a pony fox, so Pox is Pox.”

To the raider, that sounded strangely like a theater line.
“Did you rehearse that ?” he asked, more and more confused.

“No, but ponies always need Pox to explain so Pox explain a lot. What’s awesome pony name ? Ponies always prefer Pox to call them by names.”

“Well, for starter you can call me Master.”

The two of them continued their way toward a ruined city from which several structures made of scraped metal could be seen, making a makeshift barricade.

One hour later they arrived to the main entrance of the camp, a barbed metal door rolling to the side guarded by two junkies occupied to gamble dash inhalators over a card game. The area was filthy and Pox gagged, ears drooping.

“The Boss will smash you, if he finds out you’re playing on duty once again.” Pox’s master scolded.

“Yeah, it’s not as if somepony’s gonna attack us, asshole.” The first one answered eyes glued to his card as if it could help changing them into a better set.

“And you’re well placed to know it. Always on patrol, and never bringing anything interesting back… Holy shit !” the second exclaimed having inclined his head and noticed Pox inches of him scrutinizing his cards. The guard fell in the dirt, flailing but not managing to get up, then crawling toward his rifle laying against the wall.

“Hey ! I call a win on this one, you knocked the game over, you fucking cheater !” the second guard shouted, then turning toward Pox and his currently laughing master he added “And what’s that thing, Auto ?” his hoof pointing slightly left of Pox, probably due to his unfocused eyes.

“That’s my new pet. I found it on my way back. He’s called Pox. Pretty neat, uh ?” He smiled, as Pox was checking behind him, not sure of who that loud pony was pointing to. “Hey, say hello, Pox.” Auto added.

Pox raised his head to attention and hopped his way toward the new pony, sparing a look to the other one that was once again on his hooves fumbling with what his Master called a rifle. “Hi, Pox is Pox. Nice to meet you friend of Pox’s Master.” he said puppy eyeing as much as possible. “What was the game ? Pox like games !”

“This shit talks !”somepony screamed. Then a clicking sound was heard.

Three heads turned toward the pony Pox had scared who was pointing his rifle to Pox and pressing the trigger repetitively, his spooked and drugged brain not realizing he forgot to load the first bullet in the chamber.

“What are you doing, you dumb shit !” Auto exclaimed, seizing the rifle in his magic and taking it to pieces in a few actions. “Do… not… shoot… my… pet !" he shouted, punctuating each word by throwing a piece of the gun to the head of the junkie who ended up sprawled under the table.

“Holy shit, your dog talks.” the second junkie blanked.

Auto sighed deeply then magically grabbed Pox by the cloak, dragging him away from the playing cards he was inspecting. “Come here, we don’t time to spend we such, idiots !” he said spitting the last words toward the two most useless doorkeepers the camp ever have seen. He then grabbed the door and slide it to the side in an awful sound of rusted metal grinding, more effective than any alarm system. Walking toward his shack he continued to pull Pox, three of his legs leaving claw marks in the ground while he reached out with his last front leg toward the entrance.

“Pox wanted to plaaaay.” he whined.

They continued those shenanigans for ten paces, catching the attention of several other raiders in the camp, trying to understand what was going on and laughing at Auto.

“Enough !” Auto shouted at Pox. “I said, do as I say and you’ll get a treat. Now i’m seriously reconsidering that ! Now, follow me and behave, Pox.” He turn back and immediately stoped, his way blocked by a mischievous smile. His features drooped as he faced one of the pony he would never consider lightly or anger.

“Well Auto, what do you have here ?” The orange mare with a yellow fiery air asked in a sultry voice. Her smile grew when the stallion before her seemed to shrink. She swayed hips walking past him, rubbing her tail under his chin.

“Sooo, you belong to this guy now...” She looked Pox in the eye. Everypony in the vincity took a step back, except Pox that didn’t know what to do.

“Hem, Pox don’t now… Pox likes him, and he promised treats.” He said thoughtfully, thinking about what meant to belong to someone.

The earth pony mare turned back toward Auto. “You should really tighten the leash on you Pet. I wouldn’t accept such a disappointment.”

“Pox, not pet.” A low voice was heard. Then nothing was heard anymore. Even screeching bugs and the whistling wind seemed to have stoped.

“What does the fox say ?” The mare said in an icy voice that this time froze Pox in fear.

“Pox said his name is Pox, not pet.” he repeated, shameful for some reason. Everything happened so fast that Pox didn’t understand how he ended up on his back. Half a second later the mare was on him, pinning him to the ground, her hatred deformed face inches away screaming in his sensible ears.

“Listen here Pet ! Dog goes *woof*, cat goes *meow*, bird goes *tweet* and mouse goes *squeek*, But the fox shut the fuck up ! I think you misunderstood where you’re standing ! This is no game, you’re a pet now, so you do as told, no but, no bargain. Now you shut up unless told and you obey ! So what does the fox say ?”

Pox was scared beyond anything. It was the first time somepony was mean to him, and so he didn’t know how to react. Clenching his muzzle shut, he closed his eyes and waited. Soon the weigh of the meany pony left his body.

“Good boy.” he heard the mare say in an overly joyful voice. Opening an eye he could see her brushing her sides on Auto’s, his face showing a blatant lack of pleasure at the motion. The mare resumed then in her sultry voice, “You should come visit me with your pet soon, I’m sure we’ll be able to work something interesting, just the three of us.” She winked and left, swaying her hips. Auto seemed not to breath until she turn the corner behind a metal shack.

“Shit. Come on Pox. I need to find a way to stay away from her for a long time.” Pox listened to his master, still on his back rotating his head to follow his motion. When he was on his back with his head rotated 180 degree, his body finally followed the motion and stood up before catching his master in a quick trot.

“I should be able to convince the Boss to send me with the team delivering the slaves tomorrow. It’ll take a few days before we’re back, that should do the trick.” Auto continued.

They walked for only a few seconds more when Auto realized something was missing. Turning his head to the right, meeting Pox’s gaze, he found that it was the voice of Pox he was missing, having heard it almost none stop walking back to the camp.

“You can talk if you want, you know. Just, don’t do it when the She Deamon is here.”

“Pox don’t like meany pony. She is bad pony.” Pox responded in a low voice, tainted with sorrow. Auto almost missed a step while hearing that. “Pox prefer awesome pony, you is good pony.” he added with a smile.

That smile on Pox’s face turned Auto’s frown even more down.

“You know Pox, what you just said might questioned by sooo many out there.” As he spoke, they passed a row of cages in which a dozen of pony where waiting their fate in various states of resignation. Most of them with chains and explosives collars, and all of them living in muck. Pox watched then while they passed, his head cocking to one side and his tongue slipping out of his mouth as he tried to understand why ponies were in cages.

“There.” Said Auto when they entered a rusty metal shack. “Stay here while I’ll go see the boss. And don’t touch anything.” He slammed the door, flinching as he didn’t meant to, and went away.

Now alone, Pox looked around him, taking in the room. Everything was worn out, made of rusty steal, scratched leather and duct tape, but strangely enough it felt cozy. A destroyed couch had been turned into a comfy bed, an old desk had been turned into a working bench put in a corner with several rifles hooked to the wall over it, all of them different kind of automatic weapons, several shelves screwed and taped all around the room supported anassortment of stuff, and two rusty refrigerators were stacked with cans and bottles.

Pox’s eyes grew wide upon seeing the interior of the refrigerators, and the warning of his maser vanished in a little puff of smoke soon replaced by a bottle of Shimmering Sunset Sarsaparilla surrounded by a mystical light. A few moment later Pox was once again on the ground, shewing the cap of the bottle, but after ten minutes of a one sided fight, the cap gave out with a whistle and pox gave a yelp of victory. Dropping the empty bottle, after having spill a good part of it on the ground, Pox resumed his inspection and his gaze fell upon something he never expected to see.

Across the room was a strange opening in which an even more strange pony was watching him. The pony was dark, draped in a grey coat, three tails swinging around as is eyes stayed on him, unblinking. Those eyes were strange, one was yellow, while the other was blue. Pox surprised that he didn’t hear the pony arrive inclined his head and stuck a bit of his tongue, deep in thought, he was though surprised to see his new friend do the same.

“Emm, hi ? Pox is Pox, who is strange pony ?” he asked. And was once again surprised to see the other pony speak with him but emitting no sounds. He walked forward but stopped when the other did the same. “Hey, why are you doing what Pox is doing ?” he asked pointing a paw to the pony, who did the same in toe. Something clicked into Pox’s head and he slowly moved his paw to the right, watching the other do the same, then to the left. “Awesome !” Pox exclaimed as he rushed forward and put a paw on the mirror. The glass was cold and he could see the other him doing the same. He turned from one side to the other, watching himself in the mirror, amazed as how this magic glass showed himself from outside his body. He scrutinize his yellow and blues eyes then twirl, rolled on his back to watch himself upside down, what didn’t worked well, his reflection doing the same, but he ended up gaining back his happy mood he felt like loosing ever since encountering the bad pony earlier. After a last twirl he stood up in front of the glass and contemplated one last time his gray eyes.

Pox stumbled back as he watched his eyes, unblinking. They were gray, and even if they were different from earlier, they he felt like they belong. He concentrated on this feeling of belonging, and soon saw blueish lights stripping his now ill fitted dark coat and a center one on his chest that seemed to crawl out of his body. That light was warm, it was his light, and soon it was a blueish ball of warm light surrounded by cold flames floating in front of his eyes. Pox’s mind was blank. He never saw anything like it, but he was attracted to the light as if it was calling him, he reached out with his paw and everything went dark.

For a long moment, Pox was scared and kept his eyes shut. But after the eternity of fifteen seconds he got bored of it and opened them, to see nothing. Pox usually could see well in the dark, but this here wasn’t dark, it was black. So black he couldn’t even see his white paw in front of his eyes.

Pox yelp in surprise as he watched his paws. They were now white ans seemed to emit they own light. Turning about he began to run, try to find something else. The sensation of running yet getting nowhere was getting on his nerves, yet he wouldn’t stay in place, running he felt like he could escape what was going to happen, because he felt he was going to experience something. Suddenly, as he continued his seemingly immobile running, two voices could be heard, coming from everywhere and nowhere, echoing in the great nothingness. Pox tried not to hear them, but has he barely heard them he could fill the blanks as if he remembered them. Of the two voices, one was female and the other male, and they seemed to be arguing.

“You don’t understand, Bro !”

“But Sis, you don’t know if you can control them !”

“I have to do something ! Our village won’t last long !”

“I know that, but have faith ! The monks will be there soon, we know our messengers reached the city.”

“No they won’t ! We do not interest them, we have nothing !”

“But you might make things worst ! Or even lose control ! I don’t want to see monks getting here to fight YOU !”

“But I also might solve the problem !”

* * * *Bro ?* * * *

“I don’t want you to risk your life!”

“And I want to protect you !”

* * * *Bro. * * * *

“I'd rather be a slave to these monster over seeing you becoming slave to your own power, Sis. Don’t risk so much on so little odds.”

“But we’re already slaves at this point !”

* * * *Bro !* * * *

“This won’t end well, I just know it ! Please stoop this madness !

“It’s too late. Sorry, Bro.”

* * * *BROOOOO !!!* * * *

“Pox !” Auto screamed into Pox’s ear. Pox jumped bumped his head on the desk he fell asleep under, then crawled away from Auto who currently wore the angriest face he could manage.

“I can’t believe it, I told you not to touch anything and here we are, twenty minutes later Sunset Sarsaparilla spilled everywhere, and my mirror broken !” He kicked at the bottle. “You’re up for a beater my pet, because this crosses the line waaaay over.” he began to walk toward Pox when this one nailed him in place with one question.

“Are you a bad pony ?”

“What ?”

Pox’s eyes where full of tear as he repeated. “Are you a bad pony ? Pox thought you were awesome, and you promised Pox treats, and you wanted to protect Pox. But you are with bad ponies, and you want to make other ponies slaves, and Pox isn’t sure of what that means, but pox feel like it makes you very bad. Is Awesome pony good or bad ?”

Every drop of energy let Auto as he slumped to the ground. “This is complicated Pox. If you ask most creatures, they’ll say I’m bad. But I simply did what I had to to survive.” He pointed a hoof toward the cages outside. “Most of those ponies in cages. They are what you would call good ponies, but if you free them and give them a gun, they’ll kill me the instant they can. Won’t that make them bad too ? It’s not a matter of good or bad, it’s a matter of survival.” He got up and went to lay on his bed. “You know, I spent years entertaining the idea of getting away, start being something else. But the past always catch you. Right now, my only friends are living here, and if I ever leave, they’ll be my worst enemies. I’ve chosen a path, and I can’t get away from it, now.”

Pox walked toward him and sat near the bed. “Pox don’t think bad ponies say such things”

“Yeah, but it’s too late for me.”

“Pox know someone that gonna help.”

“What ?” Auto exclaimed, straightening up in his bed.

“Pox is going to sleep. Awesome pony master will think. And if Awesome pony decided he want to be a good pony, awesome pony will wake Pox. Pox doesn’t know how Pox will be when waking, but if Awesome pony is good, then good things will happen.” Pox walked toward the desk and curl into a ball under it. “Goodbye, master, Pox was happy to meet you.”

“Gooood mooorning Wasteland ! This here is DJ-Pony with the news, and we have quite a tale this morning. You might have heard of the strange spirit fox from the north ? Several ponies declare to have seen or met a strange nice fox that turned out to be a tough bad magical spirit. Some even declared he destroyed a saloon after having fooled the whole town into believing he was nice. But today we learned something a bit more precise. Remember the big camp of a raider gang in the ruins of Rockshoe, in the north ? Well, the camp is no more. The Spirit Fox went in, found the only pony in the camp that could be turn back from monster to hero, and together using their amazing skills in magic and gunblazing they freed all the slaves, killed the boss and his sargents and dispersed the remnant of the former biggest raider group in the area. Unfortunately they few ex slaves that told my dear informer the whole story never got the name of our fox friend. They only talked about him being salty or something, others saying he was called Box. Either way, thank for showing us Ponies aren’t the only ones to fight the good fight Spirit Fox, and also to help reminding us that ponies can change even when they seemed lost for good.