Ch. 23 Stone Cold Vixen "And Proud Of It!"
The Twin Dragons was a new addition to Ponyville's restaurant line up, the establishment favoring a more omnivorous clientele as opposed to most of its neighbors' vegan menus. A natural addition, considering the recent influx of carnivores that had taken up residence in the town recently. As the name implied, the place was built with an oriental theme. Scenes from Neighsia and less visited eastern regions of the Dragon Lands were painted on the walls with two serpentine dragon statues coiling into a spiral towards each other on the ceiling. Ponies and various other creatures sat at tables that matched the theme, the clinking of glass and laughter filling the air with mirth along with the smells of food rarely seen in this part of the world. Two creatures in particular occupied a far corner seat, one a cheery Alolan Ninetales and the other an exhausted Kirin using their shared table as a pillow.
"You're an absolute demon," Autumn groaned, forcing her head to raise just enough to glare across the table.
"Sweet talker," Dahlia smirked with a wink. "Keep it up and Alex is going to have a Skulk on his hands."
Autumn straightened her posture and with a sharp glare, pointed at Dahlia as she said, "If he's going to have anything it'll be a herd!"
"So you're open to the idea?" Dahlia smirked, raising a brow.
Autumn's face turned bright red as her brain caught up with her mouth. Dahlia burst out laughing at that, the Ninetales struggling to keep herself from falling out of her seat. Even in a restaurant built with Dragons in mind, she failed to find a seat big enough for her.
"Relax," she sighed. "I don't think Alex would go for that kind of thing anyways."
"Right," Autumn huffed, her cheeks still red as she glared at her.
"Not like I have a shot anyways," Dahlia muttered, floating her menu up to eye level.
"Huh?" Autumn blinked.
"Don't worry about it," Dahlia snorted. "So, have you been to this place before?"
"Nope," Autumn frowned, pushing Dahlia's comment to the back of her mind as she looked down at her own menu. "I'e always wanted to, but work kept getting in the way."
Dahlia chuckled at that and said, "Not too many Neighsian places in Equestria. Normally, Sid and I have to go to the Dragon Lands to get anything close to the real thing. Hope this place can do the same."
"You've been to Neighsia?" Autumn asked.
"A few times," she shrugged. "We've been pretty much everywhere at least once."
"Define 'everywhere'," Autumn said, raising a brow.
"The Dragon Lands, Mount Aris, Saddle Arabia, The Bad Lands, Yakyakastan, The Crystal Empire, Ore Town," she shrugged, listing off each name on her paw as if they were written there. "Like I said, pretty much everywhere."
"Must've been nice," Autumn smiled. "Getting to see the world like that."
"I guess," she sighed, shoulders slumping. "It wasn't like we could really enjoy it all."
Autumn's smile fell, all too aware of what the Ninetales was talking about.
"What kind of creature is she?" Autumn asked.
"A bitch straight from the pits of hell," she snarled.
"I know that," Autumn said evenly. "But what kind of bitch specifically? All everycreature tells me is that she's evil, but no creature will tell me any more than that."
Dahlia gave her a hard stare, then sighed.
"To put it simply, she's a manipulator. She likes to find ways to turn people against each other and if she can't, she'll screw with you're head directly. She's also a brilliant negotiator and an expert actress, things she's used dozens of times against us in the past to get away. Add a dash of sociopathy with her powers and you get a terrifying fighter that won't think twice about killing you. Hell, she'd probably do it with a fucking smile on her face."
Autumn tried to digest all of that, but it was hard. What Dahlia described was, in short, a monster of truly nightmarish proportions. Sandra sounded more than bad or just simply evil. She sounded twisted to her in a way that even the leaders of The Battle of the Bell would shy away from. She shuddered as she imagined what such a being would look like. A Kitsune vixen with a twisted smile and eyes that glowed with bloodlust-filled madness.
"What could make a Kitsune like that?" she muttered, staring blankly down at her menu.
"She isn't," Dahlia frowned, her eyes narrowing as she did the same.
"She isn't?" Autumn blinked, looking over her menu at her. "But Alex said-"
"She, uh, looked like one when they were dating," Dahlia grumbled, the slight hitch in her tone hidden behind a small cough.
"So she's a Changeling?" she asked.
"God no," Dahlia snorted, still looking at her menu. "Sid, Alex, and I call her a Zoroark, but the rest of the world calls her kind Skinwalkers."
"A Skinwalker?" Autumn blanched. "That's what we're dealing with?"
Dahlia nodded, then in an uninterested tone said, "Oh, they have plum wine here. Wanna split a bottle?"
"I think we have bigger problems here!" Autumn squawked.
"Right," Dahlia muttered, still staring at her menu. "We should probably figure out what our entrées should be. Do you like eel?"
"I'm not talking about food!" she snapped, flames creeping up her back.
Dahlia's coat took on a faint silver glow and the space around them took a sudden drastic drop in temperature. Autumn squeaked, shivers overtaking her as the sudden cold washed over her. The shock snuffed out her flames along with her frustrated panic, replacing it with confusion as she looked around for its source. It didn't take long for her to piece it all together when Dahlia's glow faded and the space around them returned to normal.
"Chill out or I'll make you," Dahlia said, smirking over her menu at the Kirin.
"But Alex-"
"Has Sid and a ton of other people watching him. Sandra may be clever, but we haven't been sitting around with our paws up our asses either. Plus, you're mate isn't helpless. Don't know if you've noticed, but he's been getting his ass whipped into shape this whole week."
He has been coming home more tired than usual, she mused.
"But what about her illusions? Aren't Skinwalkers really good at those?"
"Yes and no," Dahlia frowned, glaring at her menu. "From what we've been able to gather, Sandra's illusions have a few rules she has to follow."
"Such as?" Autumn pressed.
Dahlia set her menu down and in a dead serious tone said, "First, she needs to be near her target and they have to be in her line of sight. Second, she cannot make herself or others invisible. If she wants to sneak around, she would need to do it by making herself look like someone or something else. And finally, she can only affect senses that she has full access to."
"What do you mean?" Autumn blinked, tilting her head.
Dahlia let a small smirk form on her muzzle as she said, "It took awhile, but Sid found out that Sandra has a weak sense of smell. Probably had to do with me banging her head into a wall in one of our fights. Anyway, ever sense that day, her illusions failed to mess with that sense and we use it to keep track of her in a fight."
Autumn visibly relaxed at that. While not as common in the more central parts of Equestria, Autumn had grown up to countless legends about the ever elusive Skinwalkers that staked claim to the more wild parts of the world outside the country's borders. While they tended to shift back and forth between portraying them as either clever tricksters or lethal boogymen, they never failed to put her on edge all the way up to adulthood. To know that Alex's friends had a way to deal with one that was several levels more deadly than the ones she grew up hearing about was a massive weight off of her shoulders.
"Enough of this depressing shit," Dahlia smirked, propping her forelegs up on the table and resting her head on her paws. "Spill."
"Spill what?" Autumn blinked, smiling nervously as she leaned back.
"Come on," she snorted, rolling her eyes. "How the heck did Alex get a hottie like you to give him a shot?"
"It's.... um.... not that exciting," Autumn mumbled, her face turning bright red as she fidgeted in her seat.
"Bull. Shit," Dahlia said, her smile steadily growing the more the Kirin squirmed in her seat. "Now spill."
Autumn whined pitifully under the Ninetales' gaze.
"It... Alex...we agreed not to tell anycreature unless we're together for it."
"Even better," she chuckled, leaning back in her seat. "Lord knows its been a while since I busted Alex's chops."
Before Autumn could respond, a red Dragoness dressed in a gold kimono approached their table with a notepad in her claws.
"Are you ready to order?" she asked, clicking a pen.
Dahlia's poise took a sudden formal shift as she said, "Yes. I will have a large bowl of pork ramen with extra noodles and shrimp dumplings on the side."
Autumn blinked, taken aback by the vixen's sudden shift in demeanor. Instead of slouching or leveling a rough look at the waitress, Dahlia's back was straight and she bore a more dignified smile. Even her tails seemed to be effected by the shift, the nine appendages coiling elegantly around her on the ground in a manner similar to a patch of freshly fallen snow.
"Autumn? Do you know what you want?" she asked, tone eerily similar to a Canterlot noble.
"Uh, yeah!" she stammered, shaking her head to rid herself of her mental whiplash. "I'll have the same, but with extra bean sprouts."
"Alright," the Dragoness nodded. "Anything to drink?"
"I'll have a bottle of plum wine," Dahlia nodded.
"Same!" Autumn chirped.
Their waitress nodded, jotted down their orders and went on her way. The second she left, Dahlia's formal demeanor completely collapsed. The Ninetales eyed the Dragoness with a cheeky smirk, propping her head up on the table with a paw as she tracked her with her eyes.
"She really rocks that uniform. Think I could pull that off?"
Autumn blinked dumbly at her for a second, then spat out a quick, "Sure! Maybe we could see if they have any openings here on the way out."
"Would be nice," she mused, still watching the waitress. "Maybe I could make a few friends around here."
"Aren't we friends?" Autumn asked, actually hurt by the lack of possibility.
Dahlia chuckled at that, gave her her full attention, and said, "Not that kind of friends. Unless you and Alex are cool with the whole Skulk thing."
"Herd," Autumn huffed.
"We'll see," Dahlia smirked.
***
"Ohhhhh, I think I gained ten pounds," Dahlia groaned, as she stepped out of the restaurant into the mid-afternoon light.
"I told you not to get that fourth bowl," Autumn giggled, not far behind her.
"But it was all so gooood," she sighed, then groaned.
"I'm surprised you could afford all of that," Autumn frowned, looking back at the Twin Dragons.
"We did a few odd jobs when we could while hunting Sandra," Dahlia shrugged, shaking her saddlebags. "Some of them paid really well."
"Really?" Autumn blinked. "What kind of jobs?"
"Bounty hunting mostly, but we basically took whatever jobs we could get at the time."
"Bounty hunting? You're a Bounty Hunter?" Autumn gawked.
"And a Chef, a Bodyguard, an Exotic Dancer, an Ice Cream Maker, and a Demolition Expert."
"Is that all?" Autumn asked, half joking.
"I wish!" Dahlia laughed. "That shit was all just the tip of the iceberg! Give me a year and I'll still need more time to give you my resumé!"
Autumn didn't even know where to go with that. Since the moment she met her, Dahlia always left this cold impression on her. When she wasn't strictly dragging her through the mud in their training, she seldom showed any kind of kindness beyond harsh encouragement. The fact that she wore so many hats before, some more hazardous than others in addition to hunting Sandra, gave some justification to that rough approach. It was slow, but as Autumn progressed in her training, the Ninetales' attitude towards her slowly started to soften. Now they talked in a more casual manor, she smiled more, and changed her aggressive egging into playful teasing. It made her wonder just what kind of adventures her and her brother had been through up until this point.
"Now, what do we do now?" Dahlia muttered, scanning their surroundings.
"Huh?" Autumn blinked.
"It's still pretty early and I want to treat ya to a few more things before its all over."
"What?! Oh, no no no! You don't need to do that," Autumn stammered.
"Need? Fuck no. Want? Fuck yeah!" she chuckled. "I've put you through hell and you've more than earned all of this. Like it or not, I'm treating you to a day Hot Stuff."
Autumn rolled her eyes at that, a small smile forming on her muzzle as she said, "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?"
"Nope," she chuckled. "Now lets see what we have to work with."
She gave the businesses around them another quick glance over and found something that caught her attention. It was a large elaborate building painted a soothing mix of blues and lavender. Hung over the entrence was a silver sign covered with pink lotus petals, Ponyville Spa printed proudly across it in finely drawn calligraphy.
Perfect, she thought, already looking forward to what was to come.
"Hope you're ready to get pampered," Dahlia chuckled, floating her reluctant friend to her side as she made her way towards the building.
"Are you sure you can afford that?" she asked cautiously.
"Let me worry about that," she winked.
Seeing that she was not going to win any kind of argument, Autumn decided to sit back and just let things happen. If things went south, she could always send a message to Alex to send them some bits later. Besides, what better way to learn more about her teacher/friend than in a hot tub or while they were getting massages?
A bell over the door dinged as it opened, Dahlia finally setting Autumn back onto the ground when the door shut behind them. They were immediately hit by a strong wave of lavender with a subtle hint of the other scents the spa used in their products. Autumn barely reacted to the shift while Dahlia had to fight to keep a straight face, her sharper sense of smell struggling to adapt to all of the flowery scents. A powder blue Earth Pony mare with a long pink mane and tail manned the front counter, her dark blue eyes widening with wonder the second they landed on Dahlia.
"Welcome to the Ponyville Spa," the mare smiled, a thick Prench accent coloring her voice. "How can I be of service to you?"
Dahlia's back straightened as she once again spoke in a more formal manner.
"Good afternoon. My friend and I would like to sample your complete package, if that would not be too much trouble."
"No trouble at all," the mare smiled. "That will be two hundred bits."
Dahlia nodded, then floated a large diamond out of her bag onto the counter. Autumn's and the mare's jaws hit the floor. The Ninetales daintily laughed behind her paw at their reactions.
"I'm sorry if this isn't enough," Dahlia said behind a bashful smile. "I left the rest of my money back at my camp and wasn't sure how much of it I would need today, Miss....?"
"Lotus Blossom," the mare chirped, her actions a lot more animated as she took the diamond and placed it under the desk. "Two complete packages coming right up!"
"Excellent," Dahlia nodded. "But fare warning to everypony working here. Under no circumstances are anypony to touch my tails without permission. I fear doing so will cause....problems for everypony here."
"Understood," Lotus nodded. "Just let me fetch my sister and we will begin your sessions."
With that, she turned and made her way further into the spa. A second later, a voice very similar to Lotus' could be heard shouting, "ALOE! GET THE GOOD EVERYTHING!" A momentary pause, then "I SAID EVERYTHING!"
Dahlia chuckled at that, her posture visibly relaxing as she said, "Looks like we're in for a good time. Hope they know what their doing here. I've got a crick in my back that could drop a fucking Dragon."
"Uh...sure," Autumn blinked, again taken aback by her friend's seemingly schizophrenic nature.
A moment later, Lotus returned with a near identical mare at her side. The only difference between them was the fact that this mare had a pink coat and blue mane and tail. The mystery mare gave Dahlia the same shocked look Lotus did moments ago, before a relaxed smile took its place a few seconds later.
"Sorry for the wait," Lotus said with a small bow. "My sister and I shall personally see to your care while you are both here. I hope we will preform to your satisfaction."
"I am sure you both will preform admirably," Dahlia said, again donning a more formal demeanor as she bowed back. "Shall we begin Lotus Blossom and..."
"Aloe Vera," the new mare, Aloe, said with a slight bow.
"Thank you," Dahlia smiled. "Shall we?"
The twins nodded and guided them further into the spa. The second the mares turned their backs to her, the Ninetales dropped her formal demeanor and leisurely followed them. All the while, Autumn gave the vixen a concerned frown as she lagged behind her.
***
The time spent in the spa was better than Autumn thought it would be. Granted, she didn't have too many experiences to compare it to, what with her job taking away most of her free time, but it was still a very pleasant experience. It would've been better if she didn't spend half of it worrying about Dahlia. Every so often, the vixen would shift back and forth between her usual rough self and a Canterlot noble. So much so that by the fifth time it happened she started to see a pattern. Every time Aloe or Lotus talked to her, she would shift into her Nobel persona, but the second she was out of their sight, she shifted back to her normal self. While a bit of an unnerving distraction at first, it gradually became too much for Autumn to ignore. After letting it slide by through massages, seaweed wraps, and steam rooms, it was time to get to the bottom of this.
Dahlia let out a content sigh as she eased herself into the hot tub, her muzzle pointed at the ceiling as she leaned her back against the pool's inner walls. Autumn sat on the opposite end of the tub, but her attention was centered on the vixen. While she tried to find her words, Dahlia let herself enjoy the rare moment of peace. Between hunting, training Autumn, and trying to find work, she was a giant pile of nerves. Add to it the fact that Alex was in this world too and it was a small miracle that her head was still attached.
Alex. Right. What the hell am I going to do about him? God damn it! This would've been so much easier if he wasn't here! If he didn't have to see me like...this...
She mentally cringed as her mind drifted towards her scars. While she wasn't the type to overly worry about her appearance, that didn't mean she didn't care on some level. While a part of her took pride in her scars, another one couldn't help but see them as ugly. Especially when Alex came to mind. While he was on Earth, she could fight without any worries about him seeing her. She could get cut, stabbed, even lose an eye if it meant putting Sandra in the ground without any worries. She didn't give a fuck if some random nobody on the street saw her as ugly, but Alex was a different story. She actually cared about him. Always had and aways would all the way until she was six feet under.
A soft cough from Autumn pulled her out of her musings and she gave the Kirin her full attention.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Can I ask you something?" Autumn asked behind a concerned frown.
"Shoot," she shrugged.
"Are you....bipolar?"
"Huh?" Dahlia blinked.
"I-It's fine if you are!" Autumn stammered, putting her forehooves up in a placating manner. "I just wanted to know..."
"No, why?" she frowned, raising a brow.
Autumn fidgeted nervously for a moment, then said, "Well...you've been acting weird all day."
"Weird how?"
"You keep acting all formal whenever you talk to Aloe and Lotus."
Dahlia blinked once, twice, then groaned out a frustrated "Ffffffuck!" as she face-pawed.
"Okay, here's the deal," she sighed, letting her paw flop into the water. "Alex, Sid, and I didn't grow up around other Kitsune or Bai Ze. The place we lived in was a bit of a melting pot; lots of creatures from all over the place living together. It wasn't perfect, but everyone managed to make it work for the most part. Anyway, After our first fight with Sandra, Sid and I got split up. He ended up in some backwater place called Clung Town and I got dumped in a Kitsune village called Shirinui. It was kind of like the Kitsune version of Canterlot except it was ruled by a King and Queen.
"That's....weird," Autumn blinked, struggling to wrap her head around such an arrangement.
"Not that different from how the Crystal Empire is run," she shrugged. "Anyway, I had no idea how Kitsune did things and this dick weed noble thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of that. He put me through all of these stupid etiquette exercises, trying to make me all prim and proper. He...mostly succeeded. Now if I run into someone that talks or acts formal in some way, I just lapse into doing it too. The worst part is that its all so hardwired into me that I don't even know when I'm doing it!"
"That's... awful," Autumn frowned, then growled as she said, "I hope that jerk gets whats coming to him."
"Oh, he did," Dahlia smirked.
"How?" she asked, raising a brow.
"Before Sid helped me get the fuck out of there, I made the fucker eat his own tails after I Iron Tailed him in the junk. I think dogs heard him scream all the way to Canterlot!"
Dahlia burst out laughing at the memory while Autumn just let out a sigh. It seemed she was destined to always be surrounded by crazy. A small smile spread across her muzzle as she came to an, in itself, maddening realization. She wouldn't have it any other way.
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Now I'm worried that she might be playing the long game by pretending her illusions can't do smells
Small nitpick, you're switching "Nobel" in for "noble".
Otherwise, nice chapter!
I just want to see them all happy
At first I just wanted to see Alex and Autumn get through their issues together but now i also want Sid to be happy with Wallflower and I am somewhat interested in the whole herd/skulk thing between Alex, Autumn, and Dahlia if only because of the “not like I have a shot anyways” comment and how much she cares for him. It’d be best to see where you take their relationship though before I jump to any conclusions in case she actually sees him as a little brother or vice versa.
10581866
A good actor can make sacrifices, like pretending weaknesses
"Clung Town"? Did you possibly mean Kludge Town, the craphole dump Capper's from? If so, I'm curious to hear how Sid fared there.
Need an 'e' (lapse) to fall back into previous habits instead of running track ...
10582014
Maybe she just didn’t know what it’s actually called?
Lapse
You accidentally a letter.
10582227 Maybe it's a running joke?
Ouch, our snow fox got Paulowed
Exercises might be the word you were looking for. Though the picture of this stuffy kitsune trying to exorcise 'improper' behaviour is kinda fitting.
This is one hell of a story , please do keep it going
Hmm a nice three chapters I got to read.
Any other Pokémon exist here?
HAAAAA!!!!!
This g8ves me mixed feelings. On one hand Autumn is the only one I'd expect would actually care that Alex would be opposed to a herd. This is generally because she has earned her position as Best Friend, and really seems to be his only one. Their relationship is reciprocal where with other equestrians its one-way. Dahlia is nice but she seems kinda neutral, and Sid seems like he's a huge dick after beating Alex the way he did.
On the other hand, with how the narrative has been so far if Autumn wants something from Alex he would be opposed to does he even have any right to say no? Doesn't Friendship require that he disregard what he wants for others, even if they don't do the same?
10582784
Agree!
As a Nero-Divergent, I have to say this is a really good depiction of Masking. Keeping it up as long as people you aren't truly comfortable with are talking to you, but letting those you're comfortable around see someone truer to yourself.
I think this would justify calling Luna and Chrysalis out of retirement. Their experience if nothing else could prove invaluable.
I don’t know if this is a typo put when you mean Ore Town, do you mean Our Town or something else?
11558663
Ore Town is the Diamond Dog village from a few chapters back
11228921
I think you mean Celestia. Chrysalis is currently a Statue. Battle of the Bell is about Grogar's Bell after all, and the villains were Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow. (Also known as Crazy, Tyrant and Glare. Your pick on who is who with that one.)