A man who gets displaced as Tails the Fox right after seeing his daughter die. Will Equestria and it's ponies help him find again what he lost, or is he destined to be a Lone Fox for the rest of his life?
[Dark][Alternating Perspectives][Displaced] A strange creature has been living in the Everfree Forest for over seven hundred years. He lived there to keep hidden from the ponies, knowing that he could be considered a threat if he got out in public. He instead lived his life alone, because that's what he felt was better.
One thousand years after her banishment and two years after her return, Princess Luna tries to hide her most shocking secret from everypony. A secret so profound, that if they knew the truth about her... She doesn't even want to know what would happen.
Unknown to the two of them, they are closer than they expect, for they lost each other a long time ago. But they are about to reunite, while a new evil will rise to conquer their new world.
Rated Teen because of language. Gore tag because of blood. Very big amounts of blood. Drama tag because of... OMG, THE FEELS!!! Alt, Universe: This story happens after the end of Season four, but events of Season Five will be slightly altered by the main character.
I smiled as Melissa said that. She was a ten year old girl, and my daughter. She liked the night more than the day, so I named her Melissa Moon. Today, we had come to a convention, as I had enough money to take us both this year. I have always wanted to take us to a convention, but I hadn't had enough money. Things were difficult for us ever since my wife passed away. The thought brought a sigh out of me as I remembered that day. But I quickly shook my head to clear my mind and focus on the important things of today, as I didn't want to ruin Melissa's day with my bad mood.
"Sure thing sweetie."
It was a little hard to do something close to a costume for us. I was wearing a yellow jacket with a white shirt underneath, yellow trousers, and red shoes with white details. In my head, I was wearing a yellow cap with a pair of fox ears at the top that I had bought for this occasion. I was cosplaying, or at least was trying to cosplay, as Tails from Sonic The Hedgehog. Out of all the game and TV characters, he was my favorite. I like the way that he help to defend his friends, even if sometimes he can't do anything.
Melissa was wearing a dark blue dress that I bought to do her costume, and silver slippers. But the rest of the costume I had to do myself, as I dyed some parts of her hair of a blue color, almost the same as the dress, and made some cardboard cutouts of a pair of wings the same color of the dress to put on her back, and a cardboard cutout of a horn to put on her head.
When I asked who she was cosplaying as, she said "We are Princess Luna of Equestria! Thou shall bow to us!" She finished with a giggle, I think she was trying to talk like the character. Luna... I have heard that name somewhere... Oh yeah, some guys in work where talking about her, saying that she was from a show that they watched. I believe the name of the show was... My Little Pony? Something like that.
We go around the place, looking at all of the things going on and mostly having a good time. While passing for one of the stalls, something caught my eye. Exact replicas of the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald. I've never seen a replica as perfect as those. Being the Sonic fan I was, I had to buy them.
"C'mon Melissa, let's take a look at that stall. Maybe we can find something you like too."
"Okay daddy!"
We approached the stall and saw a weird man that I think was cosplaying as some merchant from a game. For some reason, a shiver ran down my spine just at the sight of that man.
"Hello mister. How much for the replicas of the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald?" I asked him.
"For you, Lone Fox, 80 dollars."
'So I can buy them all and I'll still have enough money for whatever Melissa wants. Today seems to be going great for us. But why did he called me Lone Fox?' I thought to myself.
"Daddy, look! I want this!" Melissa said, pointing at a collar and what I thought was a tiara, both the same silver color as her slippers, with a white crescent moon in the front.
I turned back to the merchant guy and asked "How many for these?"
"Ah, yes. For the little Night Princess, I'll make it 20 dollars." He said, smiling at Melissa.
After paying and taking our things, Melissa and I went to take one more look around, we still had enough time to have fun. But while walking through the place, I started to feel strange, as if something bad was about to happen. It was then that I saw him. In the corner of my eye, I saw a guy that was cosplaying as Nazo from that fan-made movie of Sonic the Hedgehog, Nazo Unleashed.
I didn't show it, but that guy was starting to make me feel nervous. I just kept walking with Melissa, pretending to not be paying attention to him. And then it happened.
He looked in our direction and pulled a gun, saying "I want everything you have, now!" At first I was surprised, but after recovering from the shock, I tried to reason with him.
"L-look, you don't need to do this. I'll give you my money, j-just stay calm and-"
"Don't tell me what to do! The money! Now!"
I hesitated for a moment. In that time of hesitation, the guy lost control. "If you don't want to give me the money, I'll take it from you dead body!" He yelled, pointing the gun at me. Seeing what was about to happen, Melissa ran out from behind me in the direction of the guy.
"Please don't hurt my daddy!"
BANG!!!
Time seemed to slow down around me. I watched in shock as Melissa stopped running and stood there unmoving. "M-Melissa?" I asked, approaching her. Something red started to drip from the front of her dress as she fell to the floor. I quickly moved to her side and turned her around to face me. My eyes widened when I saw that the bullet had hit her in the heart. Tears started to form in my eyes, but my sadness was replaced by anger when I heard the guy speak again.
"This is only your fault. If you had given me the money when I told you to do it, I would have gone away and she would still be ali-" A punch to the face silenced him. He dropped his gun in surprise and feel to the floor. I picked up the gun and pointed it at him. Hands shaking, teeth gritted and tears in my eyes, I spoke to him, revenge echoing in each syllable of my sentence.
"You piece of shit! Give me a good reason why I shouldn't just end your fucking life right now!"
The guy seemed terrified. In his place I would be too, after all, he was looking at one of the most dangerous things of the world: An enraged father.
"D-daddy?" This was spoken so low that I almost didn't hear it. But when I heard, I turned back to the body of my daughter with hope that she was still alive.
"Melissa?"
In that moment of distraction, the guy got up and ran away from us. I looked in his direction and for a moment considered just shooting him on the back, but discarded that idea. Hopefully, the police will take care of him. Right now, my daughter needs me. I threw the gun away and approached Melissa, sitting at her side and holding her hand.
"I'm here sweetie. Don't worry."
"Daddy, i-it hurts..."
"I know dear. Try to not move too much."
"D-daddy, am I going to w-where mom has gone?"
After she asked that, I couldn't contain my tears anymore. They flowed down my face like a river. A river of pain and sorrow. "Yes sweetie. You're going to be with her."
"A-and you daddy? Am I g-going to see you again?"
"One day, Melissa. One day." I hugged her, not caring for the stains of blood in my costume.
"Good b-bye daddy. I l-love you..." I heard her say softly before her breathing stopped completely and she went limp on my arms. The realization hit me like a truck. Melissa was dead. My only daughter was dead and it was my fault. I briefly saw the emeralds that I bought start to glow. As everything stated to go white, I managed to whisper one last thing.
"I love you too, my little Princess of the Night..."
I woke up on the ground. I noticed the Chaos Emeralds an the Master Emerald laying around me. I also noticed that my body felt wrong, different. I took a look around and saw that I was in some kind of forest.
But none of that mattered right now. Everything that happened came back to me. The convention. The merchant. The thief. The shot. The blood. Melissa dying in my arms.
My hands balled into fists and new tears started flowing down my face. A strange, dark aura formed around my body as I yelled to the sky as loud as I could.
Tails of Fate by CroisSunnyPlay Sonic the Hedgehog is owned by SEGA My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro CHAPTER ONE - FOX IN THE WOODS
((Third Person POV))
Inside the Everfree Forest, a timberwolf was searching for it's next meal. It sniffed the air and followed the scent that it knew all too well.
"Hey girls, did any of you heard something?"
Ponies. The perfect prey.
"No, why do ya ask?"
"I just had the impression that... Nevermind, let's just keep moving."
"Yeah, the faster we finish, the faster we can get out of this place."
The timberwolf watched from the shadows of the bushes, and if it could, would have smiled. Three little fillies, alone by themselves. Too easy. It just had to wait for the right moment to attack.
One of the fillies, the orange pegasus, turned in the direction of where the timberwolf was hiding.
"This time I'm sure I heard something..."
What happened next was a flurry of movement. The timberwolf jumped out of it's hiding place and attacked. The fillies screamed. Something appeared between them and the timberwolf and knocked it backwards.
The timberwolf stood up again and growled at the creature, but didn't move. It knew this creature all too well, and dared not attack it. The creature shook it's head and threw something in front of the timberwolf: A dead cockatrice.
"I know it's not much, but you better take it. After all these years, I see that some of you still don't want to keep away from the citizens..." The creature said to the wolf.
The timberwolf sniffed the corpse, grabbed it and ran away, leaving the creature and the fillies.
((??? POV))
I watched the timberwolf run away from me. When I was sure that it wasn't coming back, I turned my attention to the three fillies behind me. And if what I have learned in these last years is right, the one with the wings is a pegasus, the one with the horn is a unicorn and the one with neither is known as a earth pony.
They were huddled together with their eyes closed. Poor things, they must be too scared to even move. I approached them and whispered in a barely audible voice.
"Don't worry, you three are safe now. The wolf is gone."
They opened their eyes and looked at me, but gasped and started trembling. I don't blame them, I must look really scary with all these blood splotches in my fur.
"Please don't hurt us!" The little white unicorn said.
The frown on my face softened a little. "Don't worry, I would never do any bad to little fillies like you."
"R-really?" I nodded. They sighed with relief and got up.
"Thanks fer helping us, Mister." The yellow earth pony said. "But ah must say, ah've never seen anything like ya here on the Everfree..."
"That's because I don't usually talk with ponies. I mostly keep hidden. But I'll let you know that I'm a fox."
"Huh, then we have never seem a fox like you before..." Said the orange pegasus. I noticed that they were mostly looking at the two tails moving behind me. "You have two tails?"
I nodded. "Let's say that I'm a special kind of fox, then."
"Wait... Aren't you the creature that they talk about in the legend books?" I heard the unicorn ask me.
Well now. Been here a long time, but never heard of this 'legend'. I shrugged. "No idea. I don't go out of the forest that much, so I haven't heard of this legend. So, now that you're out of immediate danger, may I ask your names?"
"Oh, right. Ah'm Applebloom, nice ta meet ya." The earth pony said, pointing to herself. I noted that she has a little southern accent. Huh, interesting. Next was the white unicorn.
"I'm Sweetie Belle, it's a pleasure to make your... uh... make your acquaintance! Yeah, that." Hmm. It's like she is struggling to sound polite, just like the people- or in this case, ponies- that live with someone that is upper-class or something like that. Lastly, the pegasus stepped up.
"And I'm Scootaloo, the awesomest filly you'll ever meet!" Wow. Talk about boasting. I wonder why I'm suddenly thinking about chickens... The three of them then approached each other.
"And together we are... THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!"
OUCH! My ears! Why they have to be so loud? I quickly shook my head and addressed them again. "Well, it's nice to meet you three, but what were you doing here on my forest?"
"Your forest?"
"I live here. It's a home to me. So I call it 'my forest'."
"Well, ya see... We were trying ta get our cutie marks in forest survival, but we kinda... got lost." Applebloom said, rubbing the back of her neck with one hoof. I'm not even going to ask how they know what forest survival is.
"Then you better go home before it gets dark. It's dangerous out here at nighttime."
Scootaloo seemed to sadden a little for some reason. "Yeah, home..." She said. I noticed it and realized something. Could it be? At this age, is she really...?
"Anyway, I have to ask you three a favor."
"A favor? What kind of favor, Mr. Fox?" Sweetie Belle asked. Great, now I'm really feeling old...
"I have to ask you to not tell anyone that you met me, okay? It has to be a secret, at least for now."
"But why?" Ah, children innocence. It almost made me smile. Almost.
"Look, I know how the pe... I mean, how the ponies would react to me. And besides, do you really think that someone will believe that you met a talking fox with two tails?"
"...Ah guess yer right. Well, at least we know how ta find our way back from there, thank ya, Mr. fox. Are we going ta see ya again?" Applebloom asked.
"Who knows, Applebloom... Who knows..." I said before jumping up on the trees. I didn't leave them, and kept close in case something more tried to attack them. I watched as they looked around a little before shrugging and trotting in the direction of the exit of the forest. After some minutes of following them, they finally exited the forest just as the sun was starting to set. I took a look around and decided to sleep where I was, after all, no predator in it's right mind would try to attack me, I'm too strong for them. So, with one last glance at the sunset, I closed my eyes and let sleep overtook me.
I woke with a start. I took a moment to stretch and admire the sunrise. After that was done, I took a quick bath in the nearby river. After cleaning most of my fur, I got back to my training. Ever since landing here over eight hundred years ago, and after overcoming the sadness of losing everything that I had, I considered this a second chance and started to adapt, but I still don't understand how I'm not growing old. I may not be happy at all, but I'm alive.
I sighed. Seven hundred years, and I only exited this forest two times... I took out the dark blue Chaos Emerald that I always carry with me and stared at it. This is the only thing that help me remember of her. I'll always love you...
I was brought out of my train of thought as the Emerald began to pulse with energy. I have had a long time to understand the Chaos Emeralds, as they somehow are now linked to me. This pulse... I didn't like it. I knew what it meant: Someone is approaching the Master Emerald... And that makes me feel stupid for leaving them out of the hiding place.
Without wasting time, I tightened my grip on the Emerald in my possession and got ready to teleport back to the place where I kept the others. Whoever is messing with them, they better have a good excuse, or they are going to have a hard time.
"We're almost there, girls." I said. Earlier today, I received a letter from Princess Celestia, saying that she has been feeling a strange magical signature in the Everfree Forest, more specifically, in the old castle. In the letter, she asked that me and my friends took a look at whatever was emitting that signature.
"Hey Twilight, what do you think this thing that Princess Celestia felt is?" I heard Rainbow Dash ask as she floated lazily above us.
"O-oh, I just hope it's not d-dangerous..." Fluttershy whispered, hiding behind her long pink mane.
"Don'cha worry yer little head, shy." Applejack assured her. "If it's dangerous, we can just give it a good ol' buck in the face... or, whatever it has."
"Why always in this horrid forest?" Rarity whined. "I had just finished polishing my hooves! This better be worth of my pristine presence!"
"Oh, oh! Maybe it's another one of those enchanted comics like the one Spike found!" I didn't even need to look to know that Pinkie was hoping around. "I want to be the one to open it this time!"
I subconsciously smiled. I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for my friends. We have been through a lot of things together. But now isn't the time to think about the past, as we finally arrived at the bridge that lead to the castle.
"Well, let's ser what's insi-" I couldn't finish my sentence as Rarity's horn started glowing brightly, almost blinding everypony.
"Oh my! There must be a gem nearby! And a big one at that!" Without warning, Rarity was practically yanked toward in the direction of the castle. "WHAHAHA!!!"
We all quickly followed Rarity. It was as if her horn was dragging her in the direction of the gem. It must be really big. I grimaced a little as I looked at her. That looks pretty uncomfortable. When Rarity finally stopped, we all approached her to help.
"Are you okay, Rarity?" I asked. She didn't say anything as she sat there, simply facing forward, unmoving. I was already getting worried. It was then that I noticed a strange light coming from somewhere. Taking a look around, I noticed that we were in the throne room, where we fought Nightmare Moon. Looking in the direction of the light, I saw something that wasn't there before and understood why Rarity was so unresponsive.
Some kind of altar was built in one of the corners of the room, in which sat six small gems of different colors surrounding a big green one. I could feel an enormous amount of magic coming from them, but for some reason, it felt... Wrong, as if it wasn't normal magic.
"Simply fabulous..." I heard Rarity say. I looked at her and almost jumped out of my skin when I saw her with a smile so wide that it could rival Pinkie's. Needless to say, it was very creepy.
"Uh... Rarity, I don't think it's a good idea to mess with these gems..." I nervously said.
"Oh, why not, Twilight darling? Maybe this is what Princess Celestia has been feeling! Don't you want to make sure?"
"Y-yeah, but-"
"Wonderful! So let's take these gems with us, shall we?"
She lit up her horn and enveloped the giant green gem in her telekinesis. She was about to levitate it out of the altar when a blue flash of light blinded everypony momentarily.
When we all could see again, we looked in the direction of the altar, only to see a strange bipedal creature standing there, holding another one of those small gems and glaring at us before he opened his mouth and started speaking.
"You better explain why you were trying to steal the Master Emerald or I'll not hesitate in destroying you."
Castle of The Alicorn Sisters, Throne Room
W-what kind of creature is that? Looks like a type of... Fox, or something like that. There was the fact that it is bipedal and seemed to have... Two tails? It appears to be male, his fur is a dark yellow, almost orange color, except for the area around his mouth, his chest and belly, and the tip of his tails, where the fur is white. He was wearing a pair of red shoes with white details, and on his back he seemed to be carrying what apparently were two metal poles, and... Oh my Celestia, are those red marks on his fur blood? Is he some kind of predator?
My train of thought was interrupted when I looked at him again and saw that he was tapping his foot impatiently.
"So? Why were you trying to steal the emerald?"
Oh no, he thinks that we are thieves! I have to tell him that this is just a misunderstanding!
"I'm very sorry, we weren't trying to steal your emerald, we just-"
"Do I look like I was born yesterday!? Are you seriously trying to give me that bullshit of 'I wasn't stealing it'? Then what? Were you going to 'borrow' it?" He asked angrily.
I snapped my muzzle shut after that. I didn't want to admit it, but we were kinda stealing now that I think about it...
Rainbow Dash then proceeded to fly in his face and glare back at him.
"Hey, what's your problem!? Who do you think you are to be talking about Princess Twilight Sparkle like that!?" I groaned as she put emphasis on 'princess'. I don't like to use my title like that.
The fox only rose an eyebrow at Dash. "I don't care if you're a princess, a queen or whatever, I talk how I like to whoever I want. Now, I'll ask you to get off my face, or there will be a new bloodstain on my fur, and it's most definitely not going to be my blood."
"Ha! You think you can beat me? I'm the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria, you stand no chance to my awesomeness!"
"You seems like the type of much talk and no action. I don't have to tell you that I'm better than you. I KNOW that I am, and so, I'll let the facts talk for me."
"What fa-" It happened so fast. One moment, Dash was about to ask what he meant, the next she was sprawled on the ground in front of us. Eyes wide in confusion, I looked back at the fox and him holding one of the metal poles in his right hand. When did he do that? How fast is he? The others went to help Rainbow while I tried to wrap my head around what was going on.
"I suggest the rest of you take your friend and leave." He stated before turning towards the altar and mumbling something that sounded like 'I feel like Knuckles', I don't know.
I sighed and looked at the rest of the girls. "C'mon, there's nothing we can do right no-"
I was interrupted as Spike came running through the entrance of the throne room, looking like he had just run a marathon, which he might probably have.
"Twilight, you have to come quickly there's a hydra attacking Ponyville!" He said in one breath. He didn't appear to have seen the fox in the room, but I wasn't focusing on that.
"A hydra! Oh no, we have to get back, right now!" I said in a panicked tone. The others nodded and together we ran out of the castle and back to Ponyville. Had I looked back at the fox, I would have seen him looking inquisitively at us.
((Third Person))
"Why am I here..."
Tails questioned himself as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop in Ponyville. Truly, he didn't know why he decided to leave the safety of his forest to go into a town full of ponies who could spot him. Coming to a stop atop the building known as town hall, he observed the hydra that was attacking. Right away he noticed a glaring detail: The hydra was obviously a robot. His frown deepened at the implications of that.
"HELP!!!" His head snapped in the direction of the shout, and saw that the three fillies he had met in the forest were about to be stepped on by the hydra. Tails growled and pulled his chaos emerald from his pocket dimension.
"Not on my watch... Chaos... CONTROL!!!" Disappearing and reappearing in a flash of blue light, Tails' hands shot upwards, stopping the foot of the hydra from squashing the fillies. Grunting a little from the effort, Tails pushed the hydra back a few feet.
"Hey girls, are you oka- oof!" He started to say but was interrupted by a triple tackle-hug from the fillies, driving the air out of his lungs.
"Mister Fox! You came to save us!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed in her squeaky voice.
"Girls, I need air..." Tails gasped as the hug the fillies were giving him was more akin to being strangled. The girls blinked before gasping and releasing Tails, a sheepish look on their faces.
"Sorry, Mister Fox..." They said in unison. Had Tails witnessed something like this when he first arrived in Equestria, he would have died of cuteness induced diabetes. But surprisingly, after so long he had developed a sort of immunity to it. His frown softening a little, he sighed.
"It's okay, girls. And please, stop with the 'Mister' thing, it makes me feel old. Call me Tails."
"Okay, Mister Tails!" Tails face-palmed before looking up as someone shouted at him.
"Hey, it's you again!" Looking to his side, he saw the six ponies who were trying to take the Master Emerald. The blue pegasus was the one who shouted.
"What do you want?" Tails questioned, crossing his arms.
"How did you get there so fast?" It was Twilight who asked. Tails decided to humour her with an answer this time and pulled the blue Chaos Emerald from his pocket dimension (that is behind his back, right above his tails for some reason. Sonic logic, maybe.) and showed her. Twilight analyzed the Emerald but Tails attention wasn't at her.
He looked in surprise at the Emerald, feeling it resonating with something. Focusing in it, he was once again surprised when he discovered that the Emerald was interacting with the three fillies that were standing beside him.
"Interesting.../Fascinating..." Tails and Twilight said at the same time. Raising an eyebrow at each other, Twilight went to talk but Tails interrupted her.
"It's not important right now. We have literally bigger problems in our hands." He walked past the ponies and stood in front of the robot hydra and shouted. "I know you can hear me! What are your intentions here!?"
Everypony was surprised when a monitor floated in front of the hydra and a malicious laugh was heard as the image of a fat man appeared on it. "Hahahaha, you got me, alright. But in my opinion you should know the answer!"
Tails frowned as he knew exactly what he meant. "It was on purpose... You ordered the hydra to attack the town so I would come out of the forest! Away from the Master Emerald!"
The man on the screen laughed again. "You heroes are so easy to fool! Just put an innocent on the line of danger and you come running to help. As we speak, my robots are already bringing the Master Emerald here to Canterlot, where I shall begin my plans to conquer this new world!"
"How are you even here?" Tails asked, not taking his eyes from the robot hydra behind the monitor.
"Hehehehe, the same way as you, my friend. I was displaced. Me and a few others to help on my cause. You have no hope of stopping me, I'm not like the Eggman from the games. I have more knowledge than he could ever hope to!"
Tails rose an eyebrow at the monitor. "And yet you use the same designs as him. I'm betting that you even have built a Metal Sonic to help you. But it won't matter, I'll stop you one way or another!"
Eggman chuckled one more time as the screen went dark, only his voice coming through. "I want to see you try. Egg Hydra, destroy him!"
Ponyville Square Zone
Vs Boss
Egg Hydra
As the fight started, Tails immediately noticed some things on his field of vision. One the upper part he could see two bars, one blue completely filled and one red that was slowly filling as the time passed. A timer was in between the two bars, already running. On the bottom left corner he could see a ring counter while on the right there was a image of his poles with something written bellow them: Gear Change.
'Figures that I would have something similar to Shadow's game screen with the personality I have...' Tails thought to himself as he turned his attention back to the robot and saw some rings spread around it.
He decided to collect as many rings as he could, so, he dashed around the robot doing just that before one of the hydra's heads came down on him, forcing him to evade. The other heads also came at him, and he managed to dodge the second and the third head, but the fourth caught him completely off guard, knocking him back a few feet and making him lose all the rings he collected.
Tails grunted as he got back to his feet, only to be hit by a fireball from the hydra, sending him some more feet away.
"Note to self, getting hit with no rings by a giant robot hurts like hell..." Tails muttered as he stood up and dashed around collecting the rest of the rings before focusing on the robot. This time he managed to evade all the heads and send the fireball back at the robot with a precise swing of his poles. When the fireball hit the hydra, Tails noticed that the energy core became exposed, but only for some seconds.
"He even makes the same errors with his designs." Tails observed, shaking his head. "But maybe that will help me destroy that robot completely..."
Looking at the bars on top of his vision, Tails saw that the red bar had filled completely, so he went back to the fight. The pattern of the attacks had changed slightly as each head now attacked two times. Finally, when the hydra launched the fireball and Tails sent it back, he dashed towards the robot and jumped right at it.
"Chaos..." Tails' entire body began to glow with a red light. "BLAST!!!" A massive explosion shook the town square as Tails and the robot were enveloped by a bright flash, and when it died down, Tails stood besides a smoking pile of what was left of the robot.
Tails was slightly surprised by his leveling system, but decided to not question it. He distractedly noticed some ponies cheering that the threat to the town was stopped, but didn't care as he made his way back to the group of six ponies and three fillies that were looking at him with varied expressions, ranging from shock and awe, to fear in Fluttershy's case.
Twilight was the first to recover. "How did you do all that!?" She almost yelled at Tails face, who unfazed by that, walked past her and knelt down in front of the fillies.
"Girls, can you show me where the train station is?"
The three nodded energetically and started pushing him in the right direction. Tails grumbled a little at first but let them guide him as the rest of the mane six shook out of their stupor and followed them.
On their way to the train station, Tails kept being thanked by the townsfolk for saving them. To not appear rude, he nodded to them, but said nothing.
Not long after, they arrived at the train station, which was deserted, most likely because the ponies that worked here fled when they heard the hydra attacking.
Tails also kept ignoring any questions the main six asked, but answered those of the fillies. The six were getting aggravated by Tails attitude, but when Rainbow Dash finally had enough and asked what was his problem, his answer had made all of them go quiet.
"I don't trust any of you six. In my eyes, you're still thieves who tried to steal the Master Emerald."
He then looked at the train tracks before turning his attention back to the three fillies.
"So if I follow this tracks I'll arrive in Canterlot?"
"Yep, ya can't miss it." AppleBloom answered.
"Okay then." Tails then stood besides the tracks and started stretching. Rainbow Dash, having noticed what he was doing, chuckled.
"Are you planning on running there? Haha, you're never going to arrive in-" She was interrupted as Tails took off running at high speed, leaving six ponies speechless and three fillies more awed than before.
Back with Tails, he spotted some single train carts in the distance. 'Probably Eggman's robots' He had to do something. He wouldn't let Eggman take this world. He looked up as he heard a thunder. Looks like a storm was coming. He had a strange feeling on his mind, like something was going to happen in Canterlot, something that would change him. But another thing kept nagging at Tails mind.
What did Eggman mean by 'displaced'?
⚠ Warning ⚠ These decisions affect the path of the story. Please choose only one:
Tails of Fate CHAPTER THREE - EN ROUTE TO CANTERLOT!
((Third Person POV))
The rain was coming down heavy. He was soaked to the bone, but kept his speed, intent on catching up to the train wagons. He had to intercept them before they reached Canterlot.
In the middle of the sound of the rain falling, of the wagons moving, and of the thunderclaps overhead, Tails heightened hearing caught a distinct sound coming from the direction of the wagons.
"Help!" The voice was distinctively young, leading Tails to believe that a foal was inside one of the train carts. Tails sighed, knowing that now he couldn't simply destroy the wagons, he would have to search all of them to find the foal.
"My day only gets better and better..."
Tempestuous Trainline Zone
Mission requisites: *Find and rescue the foal that is in one of the wagons; *Stop the wagons before they reach Canterlot. Total wagons: 5
Speeding up his current pace, Tails began to collect the rings that were appearing on the way, but he had to keep following the wagons. Even with his heightened vision, it was raining heavily enough that he could only see some of the lights that the wagon emitted.
That was another thing on Tails mind: If pegasi controlled weather, then were did this rain come from? He put the question out of his mind as he noticed that he was nearing the first wagon.
As he was about to jump up on the wagon, he instinctively dashed to the right just as the sound of bangs rang over that of the rain, and from where he was he could see a machine gun mounted atop the wagon.
"Ugh, the frustrating part of waiting to go in. I hated this part on the games, and hate it even more in real life." Tails grumbled as he dodged the oncoming bullets.
It would be so much simpler if he could use Chaos Control, but it was apparently still recharging. Ironically, his Chaos Blast was fully charged already. He wondered if these game physics were playing with him but decided to ignore that for now.
Eventually the machine gun ran out of bullets and Tails wasted no time in tearing down the back door of the wagon to go in. Surprise surprise, he found robots. He let out a humorless chuckle.
"Seriously? He thinks these robots are enough? They are an annoyance at best." Tails said as he proceeded to take one of his staffs off his back and hold it in one hand. Casting a critical glance around, he saw that the wagon was fairly small, and his hearing didn't catch any sound that could be related to a foal.
He sighed. "Not on this one..." He then seemed to blur between the robots before stopping at the other end of the wagon, sheathing his staff again and opening the door to the front. He jumped out and started running again just as a explosion was heard behind him, and the wagon slowed down as it was destroyed from the inside by the robots exploding.
The same happened on the second wagon, but as Tails neared the third a very loud bang was heard as the ground to his right exploded, pelting his fur with mud and small rocks.
Tails, caught off guard, barely managed to dodge a second explosion to his left, followed by more explosions along the way. Tails looked at the wagon and saw the reason why.
"They have a proximity mine deployer!? That... Okay, I guess I underestimated Eggman for once."
Dodging the explosions was a pain, but Tails managed to enter the wagon unscathed, only to discover that the foal wasn't on this one too. In a fit of rage, Tails Chaos Blasted the wagon from inside, destroying it and the robots completely.
The same happened as he was nearing the fourth wagon, but this time over the sound of the explosions he heard the distinct voice of the foal.
"Please, somepony help me!"
Tails glanced at his Chaos Control bar, and, seeing that it was fully charged now, wasted no time in using it.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
In a flash of blue light, Tails reappeared inside the wagon, noticing that this one was bigger than the others. Holding his staffs firmly on his hands, Tails made quick work of the robots around him as he proceeded to the end of the wagon, where he found a larger robot with two machineguns mounted on it's arms, one of which was pointed at the head of a crying colt. From what he could see of the colt, his coat was white with light brown splotches and his mane was a dark brown color with streaks that seemed one shade lighter. The colt seemed fairly small, but Tails didn't have time to continue his observations as the robot started firing at him, forcing him to dash around to dodge the bullets.
Gritting his teeth and focusing, Tails decided to throw one of his staffs at the robot. Carefully calculating the trajectory, he swung his hand, letting his staff fly and impaling the robot with it, who immediately stopped firing. Not wasting time, Tails dashed forward and pulled his staff free from the robot with one hand while he used the other to scoop up the colt. Checking to make sure he wouldn't fall off, Tails ran out of the wagon just as a loud explosion went off. Tails didn't question why the wagons exploded everytime he exited them, it was handy in this situation.
Sheathing his staffs again, Tails heard a whistling sound as a rocket missed his head by inches. 'Dammit, even the annoying rockets too!' Tails thought angrily as he dodged the barrage of explosive projectiles coming towards him. If the proximity mines where a pain, this was certainly worse. Tails had to rely on his instincts to dodge, as the visibility was very low and he had little to not time to react.
Having had enough, Tails moved the colt to the back of his neck so he could proceed with what he was about to do. "Hold on tight!" He shouted over the sounds of the rain and the rockets exploding somewhere behind him. Feeling the firm grip of the colt on his neck, but not enough to choke him, Tails turned his attention forward again and started to speed up. Behind him, his tails started spinning as his feet lifted some inches off the ground.
In seconds, Tails speed doubled and he easily caught up to the wagon. Jumping atop it and keeping his speed, he kept dodging the rockets. As he reached the front of the wagon, he saw the rocket launcher about to unleash a new volley of projectiles at him, but a precise hit with his staff made the launcher point downwards, at the wagon itself.
Tails was already some ways ahead as he felt the explosion shake the ground just as he caught sight of Canterlot's train station. Skidding to a stop in front of it, Tails took a second to catch a breath after the intense chase he was on some seconds ago as the storm cleared overhead.
In the heat of the moment, Tails had forgotten to collect more rings, but he didn't dwell on that as he turned his attention back to the colt still clinging to his neck.
"Hey, you okay?" Tails asked. His response was a trembling nod as he took the colt off of his neck and lowered him to the ground. He had a look of pure admiration as he looked at Tails.
"T-thank you so much, mister! I-I was so scared when n-nopony came to save me!" He spoke in a shaky voice. Other than a small cut on his cheek, he seemed fine.
"No problem. What's your name, little one?" Tails asked as he put a hand atop the colt's mane. The action seemed to calm him slightly.
"I'm Pipsqueak, but some ponies call me Pip."
Tails nodded. "My name's Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails. Are you feeling-" Tails sentence died on his throat at what happened next. He felt his Emerald pulse as the cut on Pip's cheek healed, looking as if it was never there before. 'Even this little colt seems to have Chaos Energy in him. This is starting to make less sense...' Tails thought to himself.
Shaking his head and deciding to put the matter aside for now, Tails once again addressed Pip. "Listen, I need you to stay here. Hide somewhere, I have to deal with a problem, and when I'm done I'll come back for you, okay?" 'God, that sounded wrong somehow...'
Pip nodded and went to hide inside the station. Tails turned his attention to the castle that was visible from his position. He didn't see any robot on the way, in fact, the very city seemed empty, not a soul was present. Tails took his Chaos Emerald out of his pocket dimension and was about to teleport to the castle when something on the ground caught his attention.
Picking it up, Tails noticed that it was a pendant that seemed to be similar to the rings on the Sonic games, but in a small scale. Tails didn't know what happened, but he started speaking automatically as he held his Emerald in one hand and the pendant on the other.
"I am the Lone Fox. If you're in desperate need of aid then call upon me and I shall assist you in any way I can. Beware, that if your intentions displease me, I shall not show any mercy."
The pendant flashed with blue Chaos Energy, and a small replica of his emerald now stood at the center of the ring. A small portal opened above his hand and swallowed the now modified pendant before closing again.
Tails blinked. "What the hell just happened?" He questioned himself. He sighed and decided that this too he should look into later. For now, he had a mad scientist to stop.
I appeared inside the castle with the Chaos Control. I have to question this logic as apparently when I'm not in a fight I can use the Control and the Blast freely. I'll look at that later.
I looked around the castle. Empty and silent. That's not a good sign, but I can use it to my advantage. Closing my eyes and focusing on my hearing, I let my feet carry me towards the direction of a faint noise, something that sounded like metallic steps.
Even if the show portrayed Tails as an adorable and highly intelligent fox, the fact that he is still a predator didn't change, and so, I too had predator instincts, like the heightened hearing to guide me in the direction of a possible prey. But I had to admit, even if the time I passed here changed my body a lot, I could still play the 'cute, weak and innocent fox' card if I tried. Very good for luring other predators to me to strike them down if I want. But I'm getting sidetracked, back to the matter at hand.
Minutes later, I stopped and opened my eyes. I was close to a corner where the metallic steps could be heard. Pressing my back to the wall and peeking around said corner, I saw some robots walking in front of a pair of big double doors, which apparently lead to the throne room, where I could hear some voices coming from inside. Just gotta find a way to get the robots out of the equation without making too much noise, I need the advantage of the element of surprise.
Remembering some of the devices I found on my pocket dimension, I quickly took out a jamming device I modified to have an adjustable area of effect and programmed it to the area of this hallway. As silently as I could, I slid the device around the corner and towards the robots, and watched as their systems glitched and shut down. Perfect.
Approaching the double doors, I took a deep breath and gripped one of my staffs tightly, before pushing the doors open just a crack, enough for me to squeeze through without attracting attention. I hid behind a pillar and observed the scene going on inside. I could see Eggman in his usual floating contraption, the Master Emerald laying in front of the throne and nearby on a cage with electrified bars, was Princess Celestia. Curiously, next to her was a smaller form, I couldn't see very well from this angle, so I couldn't identify the pony's features.
I was about to continue my observations when suddenly the pillar I was behind crumbled, forcing me to leap away from it. I cursed under my breath as Eggman turned to face me, but my attention wasn't on him. I rose an eyebrow at the thing responsible for destroying the pillar, thinking that it looked familiar somehow. (Couldn't find a good image, so this will have to do for now.)
I heard Eggman start chuckling. "So nice of you to join us, fox. Allow me to present you to my latest creation: Metal Changeling C-272!"
Now I remember. I have read about changelings once, a race of shapeshifting bug-like ponies who fed on emotions. Sadly the information I had on them wasn't much, to my frustration. I hate incomplete information.
"I don't have time to play with you now, but luckily I just have the perfect place in mind for you to test my new minion for me." Eggman laughed and pressed a button, causing a portal to open under me and the changeling robot.
I didn't have time to react and fell through the portal at an alarming speed, barely managing to slow down by spinning my tails. I landed on the ground with a loud thud and cracked it a little bit. I sighed and stood up, looking around at my surroundings, and blinked at what I saw.
"No. Way." It really was. I was in Stardust Speedway. I groaned slightly at the cliché of fighting against a metal being here. Eggman may not be the same as on the games, but it really feels like he is trying to be. I mean, really? Couldn't be a little original, like, fighting underwater with the robot? ...I guess I'm just rambling. I was always very vocal about things that displeased me in games (I almost shot the Sonic 06 copy I had, but I didn't have a gun). I should just focus on the fight ahead.
Another loud thud signified the robot landing behind me. I turned to face it and took out one of my staffs. I tensed as it's eyes and horn briefly glowed, but it didn't seem to make any move to attack. I wondered what it was doing until it's entire body glowed brightly, forcing me to shield my eyes from it. When the light finally faded, I uncovered my eyes and looked back at the robot, but was surprised to find it absent. Instead, there was an exact copy of me standing in it's place. It opened it's eyes, revealing glowing blue orbs with no pupils.
"No matter what trick you use, I will not lose!"
Stardust Speedway Zone
Vs Rival Boss
Metal Changeling
((Third Person)) The clone also took out one of it's staffs and mimicked his stance. If it wasn't for the glowing eyes, Tails would say he was looking on a mirror. The two stared down one another for a moment before dashing forward and clashing their staffs against each other, neither giving an inch to the other. They then jumped back and started along the road in Stardust Speedway. Tails managed to collect as many rings as he could this time. The speed of the two was impressive, but equal to each other. Seems like the robot managed to turn itself into a exact copy of him, down to his abilities.
They kept speeding up, until finally they broke the sound barrier, adjusting their courses to fly at one another and engage in combat again. They were blurs at this point, the only sign of their combat being the shockwaves that happened each time they collided. Tails managed to get some hits on the clone, but also received a few in return, causing him to lose part of the rings he collected, but he managed to grab most of them back before they could disappear.
The two skidded back from each other after a particularly strong collision, both with eyes narrowed. Tails started building up energy and the clone did the same.
"Chaos..." Yellow energy started cackling one their right hands, growing in intensity with each passing second. When the energy accumulated was enough to encompass most of their bodies, they launched the energy spears at each other. "...SPEAR!!!"
The two energies collided in the middle and struggled for dominance for a moment before exploding, and in the middle of the smoke, Tails and the clone dashed at each other again and engaged in combat one more, even if vision was limited by the smoke. They seemed to really be evenly matched until Tails' attacks started to increase in speed, and soon, he began to overwhelm the clone, forcing it to lean more to the defensive. Finally, with a mighty swing of his staff, Tails knocked the clone into a wall, where it crashed through the wall and the two others after it, badly cracking a fourth.
Various parts of the clone's body were sparking from the damage it took, but it wasn't defeated yet. It stood up and began to gather a large amount of energy, focusing it on a final attack. Tails did the same as he was dashing towards the clone, he would have to carefully time this, else he gets hit instead. When he was about twenty feet away from the clone, it unleashed a powerful shockwave, trying to hit Tails one way or another. When it was about to impact with Tails, he back flipped over it and brought his hands together by his side, the power he was charging forming into a purple ball of energy. Using the momentum of his jump, Tails turned his body and aimed his attack at the clone, who was too close to dodge now.
"Soul... BLASTER!!!" Tails unleashed his attack in the form of a massive purple beam, carving a path of destruction in a straight line and utterly destroying the clone. As the beam stopped, Tails gazed at the destruction he caused, and took a moment to stare at his hands.
"So much power..."
He was brought out of his musings when the ground under him shook and he glanced behind him to see the entirety of Stardust Speedway falling apart. He cursed under his breath and started running away, weaving between falling debris and looking for a way out. Finally, after some seconds of running, Tails saw a shimmering portal in the distance. Putting a burst of speed, Tails desperately dashed towards the portal, dodging more debris. He was almost crushed twice by a particularly big rock, but managed to dodge, even if barely. When he was almost making it to the portal, the ground under his feet caved in, sending plummeting down. He quickly spun his Tails and managed to catch himself, and flew towards the portal with a sigh of relief.
Tails nodded in satisfaction to his new stats and jumped through the portal, ready to put an end to Eggman's plans.
Eggman floated his machine close to the cage where he was keeping the two princesses captive. He was enjoying mocking them, saying that it wouldn't be long before their supposed "hero" was destroyed by his creation. But, only one of the two royals was listening.
Princess Luna was lost in her own thoughts. She had managed to catch a glimpse of the one that had came to save them before he fell through the portal. Something about him felt very familiar. Could it be... She thought to herself before shaking her head. No, it's been thousands of years already... He wouldn't be alive anymore... She then shot an annoyed glare at the fat man on his floating machine as he kept gloating about a "Eggmanland". He was worse than Discord!
Meanwhile somewhere, a certain draconequss suddenly felt insulted for some reason.
"...And when Eggmanland is built, I'm gonna display you two as trophies on my-" Eggman's statement was cut short by the fact that he suddenly found a staff sticking out of the control panel of his floating pod.
"You should never celebrate before being making sure if you have won or not." Said Tails, retracting his staff and attaching it to his back again.
"What! No! How did you defeat my robot!? It had the ability to copy everything you could do!" Eggman exclaimed, desperately trying to stabilize his pod.
"That may be true, but even a robot cannot duplicate my full strength." Tails couldn't help the smugness in his voice, and it annoyed Eggman to no end.
"Grrr, you may have won this time, but mark my words! I will be back, and this world will be mine!" Eggman managed to make his pod fly out of the window and escape. Tails briefly considered just ending his life by piercing his heart with his staff while he had his back to them, but decided he didn't want to go down that path.
He turned his attention to the cage the royals were in an destroyed it with a single swing of his staff. Princess Celestia stood up along with the other pony he didn't recognize.
Another Alicorn? But there's no mention of this in any of the history books I read... Tails thought to himself, but was interrupted by Princess Celestia catching his attention.
"I deeply thank you for rescuing us from that "Eggman" as you called him. We would have defeated him ourselves but he somehow managed to overwhelm and cancel our magic..."
Looking past the princess and to the Master Emerald, Tails noticed what seemed to be a small antenna atop it which was siphoning energy from the emerald. With one swing of his staff, the device was destroyed and instantly the two princesses felt their magic return. Even during all of this, Luna wasn't paying attention to anything but the two tailed fox in front of her. The presence, the way he carried himself, even his aura...
Celestia glanced concernedly at her wide eyed sibling, who slowly approached their savior, as if in a trance. Luna stood a few feet apart from Tails, and gazed into his eyes, him doing the same. Some say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and that is true. One can catch a glimpse of another's soul just by looking into their eyes. And what the two saw into each other eyes, shocked them to the core.
After defeating Eggman, Tails stood over his destroyed floating pod, his expression blank as he stared at the mad doctor.
"How dare you..." Said Eggman. "This was not supposed to happen, this world should have been mine! My plans, shattered! Curse you, fox... CURSE YOU!!!"
Tails however, wasn't phased by that. "Your plan was foolish. If not me, then another would have come and done the same. You will never have your way with the world." He then raised his right hand, coating it with Chaos Energy. "Your time has come. Goodbye, doctor."
"NOOOOOO..."
The mane six, arrived in time to see Tails driving his hand through Eggman's heart. They instantly turned green in the face, and Fluttershy fainted. They kept looking in horror at they scene in front of them while Tails walked towards the Master Emerald. Even if some things caught his attention during all this, he ultimately decided that he shouldn't worry about them. It was time to go.
"My job here is done. I'll leave the cleanup to you." He said.
"W-wait!" Shouted Twilight, forcing herself to swallow the bile rising in her throat. "W-what are you gonna do now? Where are you going?"
"I'm going back to the Everfree Forest. With this treath taken care of, I am not needed anymore. So from now on, please refrain from bothering me in my forest. I would appreciate that."
He turned to them as he put his hand on the Master Emerald and offered a nod.
"Farewell."
And with that, he teleported away. The rest of the mane six then proceeded to free the princesses, who then helped with the cleanup. After Eggman was defeated by Tails, all his robots stopped functioning, so now they were only a bunch of scrap metal. Also, on their way, the mane six found Pipsqueak and escorted him to the palace, and from there, back to his home. The princesses also disposed of Eggman's... Corpse. This was the end of it. They all sighed in relief. Things could finally go back to normal. Though this day would be forever marked in the memories of everypony involved, and they would never forget the one who saved them, not because he needed to, but because he wanted to. They would do their best to keep the memory of their savior alive.
SEVERAL YEARS LATER...
Despite the efforts, Tails faded into history and became nothing more than a legend for those who didn't knew him. Sadly too, five of the mane six have passed away recently, and one of them went off on a journey. Histories of both theirs and Tails' feats were passed down along the generations. Many were awed by the histories, and part of them believed those to be true. There were also those who thought that it was only an old mare's tale, but they were few.
Along the years, Ponyville has grown and prospered, due to it being the location of the supposed historical events. Many turists came and went, and some even settled down in there. Sweet Apple Acres became a famous exporter of apple-related products, ranging from food items to cleaning products, all under the name of the owner, AppleBloom, her wife and supporter, Diamond Tiara, and their adopted daughter, Golden Skies.
Similarly, Carousel Boutique became quite famous in the clothing department, having at least of shop on each of the major towns, such as Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, The Cristal Empire, etc. All of this thanks to the owner Sweetie Belle, who is also a famous singer, having done many shows around the world, and her niece, Pearl Blaze, one of the few Kirin to live in Equestria.
The same could be said for Sugarcube Corner, ran by the twins Pound and Pumpkin Cake and their cousin, Cotton Pie. Sugarcube Corner is now the main supplier of sweets for the major towns of Equestria, resulting in them hiring ponies who could help them with the orders, and expanding their business. No other sweets could compare to theirs.
Scootaloo herself became Captain of the Wonderbolts, once her wings grew in fully, she discovered she was as fast, if not faster, than Rainbow Dash, and began the arduous process of climbing up the ladder to the top at the Woderbolts Academy. She got together with Rumble some years later, and had a beautiful daughter, which they named Spectrum due to her resemblance to Scoots deceased idol.
Fluttershy's Animal Sanctuary, which was named after her to keep her memory alive in the hearts of everypony, has expanded a lot, housing some of the most endangered species of animals, like the albino mountain bats, and the wall-eyed spitter snake (as the name implies, it was a snake with eyes pointing in different directions from each other that sometimes spit uncontrollably). It was now run by her daughter Pandora, the first draconequus to be natural born in thousands of years.
The Everfree Forest however, was one of the few things to remain unchanged by time. It's area never expanded or shrunk, due to a certain Cristal Tree, along with a certain big gem now, keeping it in control.
Now, we take a look at the Friendship Castle, which name was agreed to remain unchaged. Here on the balcony, we see Starlight Glimmer, Princess Of Time, overlooking the once small town of Ponyville. She ruffled her wings, barely resisting the urge to jump off the balcony and go for a flight around the town, as she still had some duties to perform.
Starlight ascension happend when she used her magic in a powerful Time spell to revert all damages that a small town suffered from a rampaging dragon. The cause of the attack was never discovered, and said dragon seemed to have no memory of what happened after coming to his senses. Everypony was amazed by her mastery of Time Magic and praised Starlight. She explained that she did it out of her own will to help them before disappearing in a blinding flash of light. When she finally returned, everypony was even more shocked to see her as an Alicorn. Slowly, she got used to the status and accepted it, promising to only use her magic for the good of the ponies. She was greatly saddened when her best friends, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Trixie Lulamoon passed away and when her mentor, Twilight Sparkle along with her assistant Spike left for their journey. They do keep in touch via letter though.
Starlight turned when a guard informed her that the guests arrived. She thanked the guard and went to the meeting room, where she was greeted by the King of The Changelings, Thorax and The Dragon Lord, Ember. She smiled at them.
"Ember, Thorax, I'm so glad you came!" She said.
Ember offered a nod and a smile while Thorax rushed in for a bear hug, which nearly crushed Starlight.
"I missed you so much! How are you?"
"Ack... In need of... Air..." Starlight choked out, causing Thorax to release her immediately.
"Oh, sorry! I guess I was just excited to see you again..." He said with a sheepish smile.
Starlight took some healthy gulps of air while Ember snickered. After recovering, she directed her gaze to the two rulers. Thorax remained relatively unchanged, but that was probably him using his magic to mask his age. Ember had grown some over the years, but wasn't still too big, she was probably two heads taller than Princess Celestia. She was wearing her ceremonial armor, a variation of the one she used on the Gauntlet of Fire. She smiled as memories of how they first met came to mind. They all have been great friends since that day.
"It's alright. How have you two been? I heard Smolder and Ocellus are planning to travel around with the others to spread what they learned?" Starlight asked.
Thorax smiled eagerly. "It's true! I am so proud of Ocellus, to think that when she first arrived here she was really shy, now she can talk openly with anyone and is really comfortable in her natural form."
"At first I didn't think Smolder would really want to stay and learn at the school, but I must say, I'm glad she did. It really made her attitude a lot better, and she has made some great friends." Ember nodded. "By the way, how's the school doing?"
"Oh, it's doing great! It was a little hard to find new teachers after... Y'know, but we managed, and have a lot more students this time. Scootaloo is doing a very good job, even though she really didn't like school when she was younger. Same goes for AppleBloom and Sweetie Belle, sometimes the three even get together to make field lessons for some foals who don't have their cutie marks, and even Flurry Heart came over to help. It's been nice seeing her around." Starlight smiled fondly, looking out of a window at the school beside the castle.
They talked about multiple topics, including how Twilight would be coming by to spend a month before leaving to Neighpon, and they were all eager to see their old friend again.
While that was happening, we see a curious group of foals standing in front of the dreaded Everfree Forest. This group consisted of Spectrum, Golden Skies, Pearl Blaze, Cotton Pie, and Pandora.
Spectrum was an ocean blue pegasus, her short messy mane being a multicolored consisting of all the colors in a rainbow, the reason being, as explained by her mother, that one of her ancestors had that mane color, but it had never appeared again in the family until now. She had magenta colored eyes. She was as tomboyish as you could get.
Golden Skies too was a pegasus, she had dull gold fur and her blond braided man had one of her mother's old bows atop it. Her eyes were a beautiful emerald color, which her mother said, in these exact words, that they "remind me of yer aunt Applejack". Her southern accent wasn't as thick as her mother's, but it was still present.
Pearl Blaze was a white Kirin (half pony half dragon) with green spikes amidst her light purple mane and going down her back to her dragon-esque tail, instead of hooves, her legs ended in claws. On her head, two dragon horns pointed backwards while her unicorn horn angled upwards at the front, and her mouth sported a razor sharp row of teeth. Her eyes were ocean blue with a hint of green on them, which contained slit pupils. She had that 'prim and proper' air about her, just like how her mother was.
Cotton Pie was a cream earth pony with a curly light brown mane, which made her often joke that she was a 'vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting'. Her eyes a soft blue color. She was hyperactive most of the time, almost never managing tonsit still, unless something really caught her attention.
Lastly, there was Pandora. She was rather odd for a draconequus, what with her body being so... Simmetrical. That meant her limbs on one side of her body were the same as the other side. Her body was a brown color, and two dark grey dragon wings rested on her back. Her arms were two lion paws while her legs were two brown hooves. Her serpentine tail was a pink color, with a lighter pink tuft of fur on the end. On her head there were two black horns, that slightly arched backwards out of her white and pink striped mane. Finally, here eyes were a soft pink color, while the sclera was yellow. She was rather shy, but there were times where her attitude would do a complete 180 and she would become a cheerful jokester, like Cotton.
The odd group stared at the forest for a time before any of them spoke.
"Are ya sure about this, Spectrum?" Asked Golden Skies. "I mean, what ya just told us is just an old mare's tale."
"Of course I am! And I'm sure you heard about how Nightmare Moon wasn't an old mare's tale and was real, so why wouldn't this one be too?" Spectrum crossed her hooves while hovering over the group.
"Oh I'm not sure... This forest is really scary, and I heard a lot of monsters live here, from Timberwolves to Manticores, and Cragdiles and..." Pandora said tapping two fingers together.
"What are you, chicken?" Spectrum smirked. Pandora's eyes narrowed before she shot a sly smile at her.
"Well, I wasn't the one that didn't know how to fly until a few days ago."
"Yeah, want to come over and say that to my face!?" Thankfully, the two were interrupted by Pearl before things could escalate.
"Really girls, must you do this every time? This is getting old really quick. Also why do we have to go in there? This forest is so... Uurgh!" She said while cringing at the thought of getting her impeccable fur dirty. It was rather hard to clean, since under the fur she had scales.
"But it could be fun!" Cotton Pie said, hopping around the group. "Imagine if the legend really is true, we can become really popular, and make a new friend in the process!"
"Alright then, it's settled! Let's get going!" Spectrum proclaimed as she flew into the forest.
"Consarnit, Spectrum! Wait for us!" Golden grumbled as she followed her friend, with the others following suit.
The Everfree Forest was labeled as dark and foreboding, stories being passed that as soon as you stepped inside it would become even darker, as if the forest itself was trying to scare the ones in it. But this didn't happen. Instead, as soon as the foals crossed the tree line into the forest, a warm sense of safety washed over them, as if there was someone keeping watch over them, making sure they didn't hurt themselves. This confused the group, but they just shrugged and kept going.
While going towards the old castle, where the supposed legend was located, the ground stumbled upon a sleeping Timberwolf. Trying to make their way around the ferocious beast, Cotton accidentally stepped on a twig, causing a loud snap to be heard and subsequently waking up the wolf. The group seized up, already looking for a ways to escape, but were surprised when the wolf lifted it's head to look at them for a moment before laying back down, producing sounds that were akin to sleepy grumbling. The foals, deciding to not question their luck, walked away as fast as they could, looking back every now and then to make sure the wolf was not following them, and surprisingly, it wasn't.
A few minutes of uneventful walking later, the group arrived at where the rope bridge was supposed to be. But instead of falling apart wooden planks on an unstable rope, they found a sturdy and safe looking stone bridge. They once again decided not to question and crossed the bridge, soon entering the old castle. The rubble that once littered the place was cleaned, most of the holes on the walls fixed, and a lot of the broken windows replaced. Golden scratched her head.
"Ah don't understand. If this place is as old as they say, why does it looks like this?"
"Yeah, shouldn't it be, like, a lot more broken than this?" Spectrum asked.
"Hey girls, come check out what I found!" Cotton's voice came from a doorway, the group finally noticing that she wasn't with them.
They followed her voice and found her at what seemed to be the throne room. How she got there they didn't know, but had an answer. It was just Cotton being Cotton. As soon as they entered, they noticed a glow coming from the other side of the room. Looking over, the foals saw a pedestal containing a huge green gem, surrounded by seven smaller gems of different colors.
"Oh my... Those gems look so beautiful and... So tasty..." Pearl was trying hard not droll at the sight of the magnificent gems.
"They look cool enough. Think somepony left them here and hasn't come back?" Spectrum said flying closer to take a better look.
"Ooh, and theybare all glowy! I like it!" Cotton giggled.
"I don't think we should be messing with them... What if the owner come back and gets angry at us for messing with their things?" Pandora said, fidgeting in place, the gems however were making a warm and soothing energy wash over her, calming her down.
"Ah agree with Pandora. We should just leave now, we weren't even supposed to be in the forest in the first place!" Golden supported her friend.
"Oh c'mon! Can't wejust take at least one?" Spectrum crossed her hooves while Cotton nodded in agreement.
"Yeah! There plenty of them here!"
"Pearl, c'mon back me up here!" Golden looked at her kirin friend but only fachoofed at the sight of her now drooling openly at the gems. "Argh, fine! But only one!" She grumbled.
The three cheered and Pearl was about to levitate one of the gems out of the pedestal before a loud "AHEM" brought their attention tonthe doorway. There stood a bipedal fox-like creature, it's fur was orange with white details on it's belly and the area around it's mouth, blue colored eyes, white gloves on it's hands and red and white shoes on it's feet. The most striking thing about the fox however, was it's two tails waving about behind it, being the same color as it's fur with white tips. Tails had his arms crossed as he stared at the foals with a raised eyebrow, his right foot tapping on the ground.
"May I know what are you foals doing here in my forest?"
The scene looked oddly familiar to him for some reason.
Tails and Luna stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, ignoring the confused questions of the others in the room. The world fell away from them, and in that moment, there was no Fox or Pony Princess. Only father and daughter reunited. Tails wrapped his arms around Luna- no, around Melissa, faintly noticing how her horn lighted up and she got steadily smaller as she hugged him back. In a few moments, he was holding a small filly in his arms, but he didn't care. His little girl was alive, she was here!
"D-daddy..." He heard her sob, and couldn't hold it in anymore. His let his tears flow for the first time in eight hundred years.
"Shhh, it's okay sweetie... Daddy's here..." He started petting her mane gently, slowly and surely stopping her sobs. The two held each other tightly, in fear that if they let go the other would just disappear in thin air. The others in the room watched as he started whispering comforting words to her, unsure of how to process the scene in front of them. Well, everypony except Pinkie and, surprisingly, Rarity, who were sharing a box of tissues as they cried at the 'beautiful and touching moment' that was happening. Princess Celestia, a little confused herself, decided to approach the duo and get some much needed answers.
"Luna?"
Opening her eyes after a moment, it a minute for Luna to process the position she was currently in. Tails just watched in amusement as she squeaked, finally noticing the others in the room staring at her before she started flailing on his grip.
"Dad, let me go!"
Tails merely chuckled- something he also hasn't done in a long time- and rose an eyebrow. "Why? Is my little moon princess embarrassed of hugging her daddy in front of her friends?"
"Daaaaad!" Luna squeaked out with a deep blush.
This caused the others to chuckle, despite the situation. Slowly, the tension in the room drained, and as Tails decided to climb and sit atop the Master Emerald with Luna on his lap (who was still blushing a lot), the others approached and started asking questions, but where silenced when Tails rose a hand calmly.
"Before I answer anything, can I ask for a small favor?"
Princess Celestia thought for a moment. It didn't seem like he would ask for much, so she didn't see a reason to say no.
"Very well, as long it's reasonable, we'll see what we can do."
Tails nodded and pointed out fhe window. "I rescued a young colt on my way here, and he's currently hiding in the train station. Can you send someone to fetch him?"
With a nod, Celestia called for one of her guards and sent him to retrieve Pip. With that done, the questions began. Especially from a certain purple Alicorn, who was apparently writing down everything about him. Tails politely incinerated the parchment asked that she refrain from writing anything. He understood her, he was an undocumented species of intelligent creature after all, but it still made him a little uncomfortable. Which was surprising to him, since he too was partly a scientist himself. Where do you think his staffs came from? Throughout it all, Tails refused to let go of Luna, much to the embarrassment of the small princess. Though there was a question that has been burning in his mind ever since they embraced, and as soon as the questions slowed, he decided to ask it.
"Melissa, how did you get to Equestria?" The others leaned in, interested to hear that too. She took a moment to organize her thoughts before answering.
"I'm... Not really sure, Dad. First, I was in a lot of pain, then everything slowly faded to dark. Then suddenly a bright white light filled my vision, from everywhere at once. There was this voice telling me to not cry, that I would see you again... And then I started falling. I fell for a long time, I don't know how much, it seemed like an eternity. Next thing I know I'm waking up as a little foal with Celestia. I never forgot about you, even when I became Nightmare Moon..."
"Wait, so that commotion I heard in my castle some years ago was you and those six?" Tails asked in confusion.
"Well... Yes, but by that time I was only staying in character. Nightmare and I actually became friends after a few months in the moon. She was like the little sister I always wanted. She even taught me a time spell to jump forward in time so I wouldn't have to wait long for our return. She's actually sleeping in the back of my mind right now and... Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Tails looked up to find that yes, Celestia and the others were staring at Luna with wide eyes. He took a few guesses as to why that was, but didn't really need to.
"So..." Began Rainbow. "You weren't stuck in the moon for a thousand years?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Well, duh! I don't think my sanity would agree with that."
"And the Elements did not destroy Nightmare Moon...?" Twilight followed up.
"Of course not! She was not evil in the first place."
Tails stood and placed Luna down besides her sister. "Okay, back up a little. From what I gathered here, you're telling me that the story of The Mare in The Moon was real, and that you banished her to the moon for a thousand years over jealously?" He pointed first to Celestia, then to Luna before pointing out a window while he spoke. The two princesses could not meet his eyes. Tails rubbed his face with a sigh before approaching and pulling both their ears.
The rant that followed would be marked down in history for years to come.
And so, the questions continued. Well, after the awkward air in the room lifted, that is. Tails himself seemed more cheerful, at least to the point of managing more expressions than the constant frown. The mane six had to admit it seemed to suit him better. While they talked, the topic of what's gonna happen to all the deactivated robots all over Canterlot and Ponyville.
"Ah, those. Just give me a moment." He said before bringing his emerald before him, a bright light filled everypony's vision for a moment.
As soon as the light faded, everypony became aware of the sound of metallic skittering around the room. Rarity herself shrieked in fright as they all noticed how multiple small, dome shaped robots with many little legs were crawling all over the room, repairing damage and collecting any robot parts left around. Tails himself was fitting what looked like a very futuristic watch on his left wrist with a little trouble.
"Right, have to remember I don't have noodle arms like in the anime..." He muttered to himself. Luna flew over to him.
"U-uhm... Dad? What are those things?"
He over at her before glancing over the room and shrugging. "They are a project I have had in the backburner for a long while now. Made them with a lot of difficulty, since Equestria doesn't have some of the components I really needed. Thankfully there are some parts of this world that leads to random places in Mobius, so I was able to visit Scrap Brain and get myself what was missing. Anyway, I'm rambling. Back to the question, I still don't have a name for these little robots, and as to what they can do, I managed to get them to repair most damage to an area while also collecting all scrap metal and technological pieces scattered around. They are also solar powered. Basic thing."
Twilight's hair started to stick all over the place.
"Basic? BASIC!? That kind of technology is leagues above our own! Do you how how much this could help ponykind!?"
She latched her front hooves to his face while grinning widely.
"You HAVE to teach me! The advancements we could make are near limitless!"
Tails stared at her. Twilight stared back. It took a moment to register that their noses were almost touching.
"Just kiss already, eggheads!" Rainbow called out.
Twilight's face tried to imitate a tomato with how red she became. Muttering an apology, she let go of his face and shuffled back a few feet, avoiding his gaze. Tails only kept staring before turning to the others.
"Does this happen often?" He pointed at Twilight.
"More than we care ta count." Applejack said with a snicker while Twilight pouted.
Any further conversation was interrupted as the doors to the throne room opened and the CMC were led in along with Pip. Tails found himself on the receiving end of yet another tackle, but due to the addition of a fourth pair of hooves, couldn't keep his balance this time and got buried under the foal pile. Luna looked strangely jealous as she watched. Celestia looked at her and chuckled.
"Aren't you gonna return to normal, Luna?"
The small alicorn responded by sticking her tongue out at her. "You should know that we always refused to grow up, sister."
They shared a laugh as Tails managed to get the foals off of him and, at their insistence, started telling them what happened after he left, with Pip embellishing a little the part of his rescue. Tails himself could feel his heart get lighter. Feelings once lost slowly came back to him, and at that moment, he decided that maybe, just maybe, it was time to give social life a chance again.
