There were a lot of things i've been learning about magic pony land. The big thing was that there was a kind of language barrier here. It wasn't that we spoke different languages (Though that was weird in its own way when you really think about it.). It was more the fact that certain words were different here. "Someone" is "somepony" or "somecreature". Sometimes buck meant fuck depending on the context (God that was awkward.). But all of that paled in the fact that the ponies here had flashing tramp-stamps. I wish I was making that up. In other news, I finally found out what the hell Autumn was. All it took was asking why she didn't have a cutiemark(?) and her horn was flashing instead. Turns out, that was a sign that their work here was done and they could go home.
Even as I was helping Treehugger pack up her stuff this morning, I couldn't stop myself from laughing a little at the irony. I'm finally all set to leave the sanctuary and they're all leaving. All of that aside, last night was a lot of fun. A good way to see me off in this part of my new insane life. Of course, I still had at least one thing making things complicated when I stepped out of my borrowed cave with my blanket. Though, it was a complication I think I could live with.
"You know, you don't have to stick around," I said, my blanket draped across my back as I made my way to Treehugger's clearing. "The jobs done. You can go home."
"I guess," Autumn shrugged, keeping close to my side. "Too bad I don't feel like going anywhere right now."
I blinked at that for a second.
Something else I was learning about the natives around here was that they were really friendly. It was...a little jarring for me to be honest. Back home, I had to constantly be on guard around people. The nicer they seemed, the more suspicious they were to me. I wasn't always like that, but almost dying would make anyone more than a little jumpy around people.
I shrugged and gave the trail my full attention. A light silence settled between us, the sounds of birds and other small critters going about their business as we went about ours. A sigh slipped past my lips as I thought about how I was going to be leaving this place in a couple hours. Maybe it was an instinct thing or nerves, but a part of me didn't want to leave. I was going to miss the foxes and the routine I had established. It was going to take a long time for me to feel at home somewhere else, but I had to do it. Maybe I'd come back someday, but I have a few piles of bull to work through first.
"So," Autumn started. "Treehugger."
"What about her?" I asked.
"Are you two...you know?"
"Know what?" I asked, giving her a raised brow.
"Mates?" she offered with a sheepish smile and...was she blushing?
I shelved that thought as my pea-sized brain struggled to process what the Kirin was asking me.
Mate
Noun
1. Each of a pair of birds or other animals
2. A fellow member or joint occupant of a specific thing
3. (informal) (BRITISH) A friend or companion
4. (BRITISH) An assistant to a skilled worker
Verb
1. (of birds or animals) Come together for breeding; copulate
2. Connect or be connected mechanically
I'm pretty sure Autumn's not British and I'm not a machine part so that means-
Realization hit me like a haymaker and I reel back from her a little before I let out a barking laugh.
"You think we're-? No, no, no. We're just friends."
"O-Oh," she stammered, her smile growing a little bolder for some reason.
"Why'd you ask?" I asked.
"Just curious," she shrugged. "You two seem really close and she's giving you a ten mile lift to boot."
"Nah," I chuckled, turning my head towards the trail. "Like I said; just a friend."
Another moment of silence settled between us as we continued down the trail. Well, not total silence anyway. I could see Autumn fidgeting out the corner of my eye. It looked like she wanted to say something, but only got as far as a few faint squeaks before she'd lose her nerve. I mentally shrugged and gave the trail my full attention. If she really wanted to say something, she'll find the words eventually.
Turns out I didn't need to wait all that long.
"What are you going to do when you get to Whitetail?" she asked.
I shrugged.
"Same thing I did when I came here. Find shelter. Food sources. Water."
"Sounds kind of boring," she sighed, her frown visible in my peripherals.
"Maybe," I frowned. "But I could use a little boredom. After all of the crap I've been through around here, some fucking peace and quiet is sounding pretty good."
"It wasn't all bad, right?" she asked, her frown turning into a playful smile.
I chuckled at that and said, "Alright, not everything was hell. I could still use a change of scenery though."
She went back to blushing as she said, "You could come with me to Ponyville."
I gave her a raised brow and said, "Sound's fun, but unless you can pull a house and a ton of money out of your ass, I'd just be living in an alley somewhere."
Her face seemed to get redder as she said, "You could take the guest room at my theater."
I mulled that over for a bit.
A guest room sounded a hell of a lot better then a cave somewhere. Plus, when was the last time I slept in an honest to god bed? Hell, when what the last time I had a home cooked meal? And...well...I hate to admit it, but I'd miss Autumn. Then again, there was still an issue that needed to get sorted out.
"I still need a job," I frowned.
"Not a problem," she beamed, her mysterious blush almost gone. "I'm sure I could find something for you to do around the theater. And if that doesn't work, I know a lot of places in town that are looking for workers."
I blinked like an idiot at her as I struggled to take all of that in. Not only was Autumn practically giving me a place to live, she was going to help me get a job or put out recommendations for me if things hit the shitter.
As soon as my brain finished rebooting, I stammered out a, "I'll...ask Treehugger if that'll be okay with her. She's my ride after all."
"fair enough" she chuckled, a bit more pep in her step as the clearing came into view.
Guess she really wants a roommate.
***
"No problem brother," Treehugger said, her usual sleepy smile in place as she loaded a giant barrel into her wagon. "Ponyville is way closer than Whitetail Woods. Should take us, like, a week to get there from here."
"Thanks," I sighed. "Autumn's kinda eager to get me to come back with her."
She just smiled and nodded at me before she started walking towards a giant pile of folded fabric.
"She's a good doe brother. Lots of positive energy in that one. Keep her close."
"Doe?" I asked, as she effortlessly hefted the six foot tall pile into the wagon.
"It's what Kirin call their mares," she said.
I nodded in understanding, following her to the front of the wagon.
Mare. Doe. Are there any other word tricks I need to keep track of? Probably. With my luck, I'll probably stumble across some pony version of the n-word at some point.
"But yeah," I snorted. "Shouldn't be too hard to do that. She wants me to move in with her. Heck, she's even going to help me get a job."
Treehugger gave me a smile that looked like she knew something before she fastened herself into some kind of harness hooked up to the wagon's front.
"That sister works fast," she chuckled. "A fiery aura like her's should be able to pull yours out of the dark real quick."
"No clue what you mean by that, but yeah. She's pretty cool," I smirked. "Real easy to be around too."
She nodded, then asked, "Where is she?"
"Went by the cabin to get ready to go," I sighed, a frown growing on my muzzle as I looked in the building's general direction. "Her train's probably here to take her home ahead of us."
When I looked back at Treehugger, she gave me a raised brow and a crooked smile.
"What?," I blinked.
"Listen well brother," she chuckled. "Never assume what a mare or doe will do when she holds a torch."
"Why?" I asked, tilting my head.
Instead of answering me, she tilted her head past me towards something. I turned and nearly jumped out of my fucking skin. Standing about three feet away from was a smiling and panting Autumn with a pair of bags strapped to her sides.
FUCKING GODDAMN WEEPING ANGEL BULLSHIT! That's it! The second I get to Ponytown or whatever its called, I'm tying a goddamn bell to her horn!
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," I panted, paw pressed firmly to where I think my heart is. "Just don't do that. I swear you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days."
"Sorry," she chuckled, scratching the back of her head. "Force of habit."
I gave her a raised brow while Treehugger just giggled a little.
"All aboard soul brother and sister," she smiled. "Ponyville awaits."
I nodded and with Autumn at my side, made my way towards the wagon's back door. I froze in front of the door as some movement in the bushes by the distant tree line caught my eye. A warm smile spread across my muzzle as all of my foxes came out of the bushes, stoping a little less then a foot away from the sanctuary's outside border into the clearing. They locked eyes with me, Big Mama standing at the skulk's heart as they seemed to be getting ready for something. Then, all at once, they threw their heads back and howled. My smile grew as some part of me felt honored, like they had accepted me into their family and they wanted to see me off. I took a deep breath and howled right back.
With that, the skulk bowed to me, then towards Autumn before they returned to the safety of Fluttershy's Sanctuary. She gave me a questioning look at that, but I just shrugged at her and chuckled as I let myself into the wagon.
***
Over an hour had passed since we left the sanctuary and I was bored out of my fucking skull. Don't get me wrong, the rolling hills and untamed wilderness was great an all, but it started to get kind of old after a while. Sure, it was stressful (mostly my fault) back at the sanctuary, but at least it wasn't boring. Hell, I could always practice my moves if I needed to blow off steam over there. For obvious reasons, that wasn't really an option.
I sighed as I laid on my side in a half circle, legs tucked in like a labrador as I stared at an apple on the wagon's floor. Out the corner of my eye I saw Autumn looking at some papers she floated out of her bags with her jedi powers.
Don't I have those powers? I thought, brain numb to the world. How do I do that again?
I tried to knock the cobwebs out of my skull so I could remember how my new body worked and gave the apple my full attention.
Let's see. First, gather energy from my chest to my forehead.
It took some work, mostly to get the energy to go where I wanted it to go, but soon my forehead started to tingle.
Next, pick a target to force lift.
I focused on the apple, imaging it floating off of the ground like Autumn's paper's were for her. Nothing was happening. I glared at the fruit as I added more power. Still nothing.
Stupid piece of- MOVE ALREADY!!!
I poured more power into my move, but the apple refused to , well, move. I let out a frustrated sigh and canceled the flow of energy.
How the hell did I do it last time? Do I need to want a drink for it to work? Nah. If that was the case, I would've been lifting things nonstop since about day three in the sanctuary.
"Did you train that apple to do something?"
I rolled my eyes towards a smirking Autumn, snorted, and went back to glaring at the fruit.
"I'm trying to get the damn thing to float."
"I see."
I heard and saw her move to my side out the corner of my eye.
"Are you having trouble concentrating?"
Only when you're nearby.
Shut up brain!
"Not really," I shrugged. "I think I'm just missing something."
A moment of silence, then Autumn said, "Can you sit up for a second?"
"Um, sure?" I blinked, dragging myself to my haunches. "Why?"
"I want to see something," she smiled. "Now, stay still."
I was about to ask her what she was going to do, but froze as she gently guided my head down to her level with her hooves and pressed her forehead against mine.
"Now," she smiled, closing her eyes. "Try using your magic."
I gulped and closed my eyes as I tried to regather my energy to my forehead. At the same time, I couldn't help but notice how ho- warm Autumn was. Soft too. Okay, it was really hard to focus with a cute Kirin practically shoving her face into mine. Good to know.
After a while, I finally managed to get my forehead to tingle like it did last night. My eyes slid open a little when Autumn slowly brought her face away from mine. At the same time, I saw a colorless blur hover in the space between our heads. My eyes widened at what I was seeing.
"There you go," she chuckled. "Now aim it at something."
Nodding, I looked down at the apple. The shimmer instantly enveloped the fruit and lifted it into the air. Autumn let out a happy cheer while I made the apple shakily float towards me. Then, just as suddenly as it came, the tingling on my forehead faded away and the apple fell to the ground with a loud thump.
"How the heck did I do that?" I muttered, staring at the fallen fruit.
"You were forcing it too much."
I gave the smiling Kirin a confused head-tilt.
"Huh?"
Autumn's smile turned a little cocky as she cleared her throat and said, "When learning to levitate objects, its important to have a clear head and a full understanding of how much magic is needed for the task. If you just shove magic into the spell, but don't give it clear mental direction then it'll just sit there."
"And the whole forehead thing?" I asked, feeling the fire inside me heat up my face again.
Autumn looked sheepish at me and said, "A, um, trick my mom used to use to help me focus. No good?"
"No, no, it's fine," I stammered, chuckling awkwardly. "I just wasn't expecting it. I'm not usually the touchy-feely type."
She gave me a smile and raised brow as she said, "Says the Kitsune that cuddled with me in the middle of a field."
"Hey!" I exclaimed, pointing a paw at her. "I was drunk and you know it!"
"Whatever you say pal," she winked.
I groaned as I rubbed my forehead with a paw.
"Whatever," I sighed. "I'm gonna keep practicing."
"Alright," she smiled as she went back to her corner of the wagon to go over her papers.
I rolled my eyes and went back to staring at my apple. Taking a deep breath, I fallowed my friend's advice. To my surprise, the apple started to drunkenly float towards me. A smile spread across my muzzle as I moved the fruit around. A yelp was the only warning I got before something knocked me to the ground and shattered my concentration.
The fuck?
I groaned as I tried to get my bearings. At the same time, I heard Autumn groan from...on top of me? Sure enough, when I looked down on myself I found a dazed Kirin using me as a futon. I also noticed a few flecks of my Extrasensory's clear aura falling off of her.
Now kiss.
FUCK! OFF! BRAIN!
"Um, this isn't what it looks like," Autumn stammered, her whole face turning bright red.
"Ditto," I gulped, pretty sure my whole head was on fire.
"Never tell anypony about this?" she asked.
"About what?" I asked stiffly.
"Exactly," she nodded.
We quickly got off of each other and moved to opposite sides of the wagon. I would sneak a few quick glances at her over my shoulder only to go back to looking at my wall whenever she started turning her head towards me.
God, this was going to be a long ass trip.
They're adorable. Lemme take a moment again to thank you for writing a really good Autumn Blaze story, there haven't been nearly enough of them.
So, my guesses as to what moves he learns.
Physical: Iron Tail (he already has it)
Quick Attack /or/ Flareblitz (how could you not?)
Zen Headbutt (I think the practice in this chapter could easily lead to it)
Flame Charge /or/ Dig (could be either, one for a physical fire move, one for utility and type coverage)
Special: Flamethrower
Extrasensory
Fireblast (this one is almost a given unless you wanted to go for more type coverage)
Solarbeam /or/ Hyperbeam (either is a good pick given that he has Drought, would be really fun to see him figure out how to use either as well)
Status: Nasty Plot /or/ Calm Mind (a solid buff for half of his attacks)
Will O' the Wisp (never a bad idea to light someone on fire)
Confuse Ray (good for tricky situations)
Agility (a great ability to get an advantage in a situation)
??? Move:
This one is tricky since I think it will either be a move not normally learned by a Ninetails, or a special thing only he can do. I imagine it would be something along the lines of a fire aura type of attack or buff.
Some special mentions for abilities that he might also learn:
Rest (just for some easy healing with a slight drawback, I think he might benefit from sleep even if he doesn't learn this ability)
Protect (I should probably add this to the list of status, but I think he might just learn this one the hard way)
Mystical Fire (I can see him picking it up, but I wouldn't bet on it)
Substitute (would be fun, but the health drain seems detrimental for such a situational ability)
Heatwave/Overheat (I think he could get either of these, but that other abilities would probably be stronger)
Dark Pulse (now this would be fun to explain to others, considering this world and dark 'magic', but I don't think he'll learn this one since it doesn't suit his personality at this moment in the story)
Foul Play (one of my favourite moves in pokemon, but probably not one he'd learn for the same reason as Dark Pulse)
Hypnosis (Very powerful when used at the right time, I might put this as a status move he learns instead of Will O' the Wisp)
Roar (A very fun ability that can be used for avoiding combat, might give him more 'bark' to go with his 'bite')
I'm excited to see your take on the moves Alex learns as he explores more. It's looking like he will be very infrequent to fight or get into confrontations with the friendly ponies, so maybe the moves he learns for combat don't really matter. One one hand seeing a nice story about a romance slice of life is right down my alley, on the other this has the setup to be on more of the epic side of adventure, either way I'll be around to see it continue.
Don't ever let Twilight know you having trouble using magic. Otherwise, she will take out her labcoat and whiteboard and do her Science Presentation.
I loved this, and I can't wait for more, please keep up the good work buddy
This is turning out to be far longer ride that I expected it to be.
So... what exactly was the friendship problem? Because it just looks like HE is the problem, because he wants to be left alone by ponies who intrude on him without his consent and remind he of trauma, when he should let them in to do what they want against his will. They didn't care about him what he wanted and refused to leave him alone, eventually forcing him to have a party he doesn't want with them and accept them as "friends", thusly solving the "problem".
Instead of them accepting they were in the wrong and metting him halfway, they force him to be not-friends and now instead of leaving to get far away from the ones intruding on him, he goes into their village to live with them. That doesn't resolve things, it makes them worse.
10041545
I think the problem was resolved by Autumn getting him drunk, and then getting him to open up and face his feelings. Huh. You're right, that doesn't seem like a friendship problem, unless it was about his ability to be friends with Fluttershy...
10041545
The "problem" was that he wasn't open to the idea of having friends or moving past his trauma in a healthy way. Remember even in the show, friendship problems didn't necessarily have anything to do with conventional friendship. One of them involved defeating Starlight. Another involved getting Starlight and Sunburst to stop avoiding their parents. Also, Alex is going to Ponyville to be with Autumn, not the other ponies.
Wait, how did Ninetales learn Drought?
10041751
It's a hidden ability.
Ship under construction. Set to sail soon.
........woah, Fluttershy's sanctuary is huge
If Whitetail Woods is only ten miles away, and Ponyville is way closer than that, why would it take a week to get there?
Ten miles in a day is easy peasy for a wagon. You could do twice that on favorable terrain in good weather, without even pushing hard.
Walking on your own, you could do it in a few hours. Including breaks if you wanted them.
Shoot, I made it 4 miles in an hour nonstop on a rather hilly and rutted forest road during deer season, and that was with me being kind of a flabby, out of shape IT type.
10042055
Add a slow pace, the weight of a Kirin and a Ninetales, at least three breaks for three meals a day, no movement at night, and all of the weight of a giant wagon and all of her usual travel supplies (made bigger to accommodate the additional party members). With all of those factors in place, a week is pretty quick.
needs sunny day
10042109
He has the drought ability. He IS sunny day.
10042084
Historical wagon usage would tend to disagree with that, was my point. Military wagon trains, limited by the speed of their slowest wagon, made ten to twenty miles a day. And I guarantee you those weren't loaded lightly. Nor could they always stick to the best roads. The needs of the campaign, after all.
Bump it to a hundred miles and you'd be in good with the logistics gods, though, if your story plans require it to take a week to get there. Still, that's an awful long way to commute from Ponyville for poor Fluttershy to get to work...
Or change it up so they expect to get there sooner, but suffer an unexpected breakdown. Broken wheel or axel, and the spare they dig out is rotten... oops! Now you have a teamwork building exercise for the incipient couple.
It was probably already brought up but if he and the foxes were in fluttershys sanctuary, then why was he offered a rabbit when hunting was forbidden inside of it like in the show?
Also, any chance we'll see him dynamax? Probably not, but I'd totally geek out if he did! Xp
10042150
Point taken, but I believe I wrote that there's a train station near Fluttershy's sanctuary.
10042185
That was more the foxes being fed up with Angel over something then actual hunting.
10042130
old strat for ninetails here is how it works
At first glance, Sunny Day on Drought Ninetales seems completely redundant. I mean, why would you use Sunny Day on a Pokemon that can already summon permanent sunlight just by switching in? What appears to be a useless gimmick on the surface actually conceals an innovation that shook up the metagame, for this simple, yet deceptive move, can turn the tides of a weather war. While Ninetales normally has no business staying in on either Tyranitar or Politoed, a well-timed Sunny Day can actually force them out! Not only is the opponent's attempt to change the weather negated, but SolarBeam no longer has a charge-up period. Should the opponent be foolish enough to keep their weather inducer in, their cold-blooded creature will be instantly vaporized by a super effective SolarBeam. With sufficient entry hazard support, Ninetales can back the opposing weather inducer into a tight corner. Either stay in and eat a SolarBeam, or switch out and take massive damage.
10042313 Because Ninetales has Drought, it can spam Solar Beam whenever. As far as entry hazards go, it could start with Stealth Rock or Toxic Spikes. I know for sure that it can learn Dig to counter poison types and Protect in case anyone has Earthquake. Because of that ability, Inferno, Fire Blast and Overheat deal more hekkin damage and are more accurate.
I don’t have a Switch and I’m too poor for competitive Pokemon matches, but I do know my way around battling. I’m just unlucky enough to encounter lv 100 trainers on online matches when my teams are lv 80 at max. I only managed to achieve lv 100 when I bought Alpha Sapphire.
yes a new chapter down cant wait for a new one keep up the good work
need more please. running out of good stories to read or I go crazy
10042084
Not really. If we factor everything the way you are suggesting. It shouldnt take more than 2 days. 10 miles just isnt that far.
10042514
Fair enough. Though, it would probably make more sense if Treehugger is over shooting it or planning something.
10042451
😨Please don't hurt me. (Gulp)
10042258
….uh, so that was angel? …"snerk", whatever he did he probably deserved it. xp
Capitalize the next to second.
I thought kitsune magic was sent through their tails....?
10045052
The ponies think he's a Kitsune, so they're making assumptions based on that.
10041319
If he’s gonna learn willo of the wisp hex Is gonna be learned to good combo
10045052
The majority of Ninetails' power is focused in their tails in an inert state as a kind of storage, which is why it's a big no-no to touch them without permission and you can get cursed. However Pokemon moves are about transferring and focusing power in various points inside and around the body. Also, the human legends of Kitsune are really only different from what I recall in that they go from a simple one tailed fox to nine, one new tail each century they live, and their power is focused in a little marble thing which you can steal and blackmail them with. Side note, technically he CAN curse them and their descendants for a thousand years if they touch his tails, but it's not wholly certain as to what that'd do. According to Pokedex entries each tail has a different power/curse attributed to it so which one they touch determines the curse.
Don't let pinkie know about it.
I laughed way harder then I should have at that...
Hmmm... I think Flash Fire would have been a better choice.
While in the game drought was a better option. In this story setting where Alex has more then the 4 move limit. Putting sunny day as one of those extra moves makes more sense because it's basically the same thing. I assume he would have to activate it to get it to work which is the same as the move. The benefit of going with sunny day is you leave the ability slot open for Flash Fire which given his situation is very beneficial.
Flash Fire would grant him a 1.5% fire power boost which can stack with sunny day weather effects.
It also grants him Fire immunity which given his love intrest is super helpful. She can provide support by using her fire on him to boost his attack. And she doesn't have to be afraid of her rage flame hurting him allowing them to stay close in those tough moments.
And by Immunity he take no damage at all which is better Then being resistant to something. Also if you want to extend the immunity to stuff like lava that would give him even more advantages, tho some may consider that a stretch.
10049102
I considered it, but drought worked a bit better for what I have planed for him. Plus, the way his moves are explained implies that using Sunny Day would put a huge strain on him to pull off. One allows him to raise existing heat and light while the other forces him to create a small star with his energy supply. Plus, with this kind of ability, he can strengthen Autumn without needing to take the time to fire off Sunny Day. Another fact is that it might not look that good if Autumn is lighting him of fire without a narrative consequence considering his past. It would kind of look like Autumn would have an excuse to lose her temper around him bad enough to become abusive.
"Yeah, remember that time we got to frolick in the grass with an actual god? Good times..."
I think he is turning into deadpool.
Cough* cough* somethingtodowithzebrastripes cough*cough* sorry had something in my throat
Again, that's Autumn being Autumn.
It's solved already?! What?! Forget about his serious trauma affecting him everything is fine now. What was the friendship problem? It wasn't exactly clear and you can't even use the first person perspective as an excuse. A better written story would have still made it clear. You could have had him ask the ponies questions about what they were up to in better detail than the vague bones vague we are just here on a friendship problem. For a character thinking it's nonsense he sure didn't think to question them further and make they actually answer other than Applejack's deflection "What I said." I think I am done with this story it isn't really for me. Many plot points were vague and not properly explained and the main character doesn't ask questions or get answers to things he find to be strange. Everything was handled in bare bones vague ways and I can't handle any more.
11201323
I think I figured it out. The problem didn't start till Alex started actively seeking to avoid FS and ended when he established the distinction between FS and Sandra.
So, I do not understand how Autumn's advice of keeping a clear head makes sense with the noted times he's used it, which include 'while drunk' and 'directly after confronting a trigger of his trauma'. Like, clear head he did not have, and overcharging it would do nothing? a non-reaction? I would expect something to be crushed or explode or simply be flung in a way he didn't mean rather then nothing given he already knows how to expel fire-type energy. And if we're using mlp telekinesis as a basis for ninetale telekinesis, then we have to include all the times unicorns have used telekinesis when given no time to 'have a clear head' and that's a lot. I would have assumed it's more a muscle memory thing rather then a state of mind thing with how it's used and how often.
But don't let my complaints of internal inconsistencies of the magic system ruin your romance tale, it's just a nitpick in the end
This actually had me rolling
11763829