Wild Magic

by Detsella Morningdew

First published 8th of December, 2019

The Castle of the Two Sisters has a long history, dating back to Equestria's early beginnings. As such, many artifacts still rest in its many hallways. Relics, ancient books... and old experiments.

The Castle of the Two Sisters has a long history, dating back to Equestria's early beginnings. Back when Star Swirl still taught the ponies who would become the future rulers of Equestria.

In the present day, Star Swirl's research into dimensional theory has created connections between two worlds, and even helped facilitate cross-dimensional friendships.

But not all of his experiments were recovered or even recorded. And not all of them were considered dangerous enough to be destroyed.

---

[Human-kitsune transformation]

Chapter 1: A Whole New World

Ryan just barely braced himself with his hands as he tumbled onto the rough stone floor.

"What the hell?"

If the sudden lack of solidity in his bathroom mirror didn't wake him up already, the sudden, piercing chill of the stone slabs definitely did.

At the same time, he was struck with odd sensations which made the whole scene surreal. The first thing he noticed was the lack of sound.

Nothing was this quiet, even in the fairly small city he lived in. He didn't live near some highway, and even his neighbors weren't particularly loud.

But he was suddenly and irrevocably in the middle of nowhere, and it was immediately apparent. This didn't feel like any dream he had ever been in before.

Another thing was the smell. He had been in attics before, and recognized the musty smell of stored antiques. But the slight breeze smelled faintly of a recent rain.

There was no way that a dream was like this. Certainly not something this specific and intense.

He quickly scanned the room he was in, but he soon ignored the weathered walls and light pouring through the cracks in the clearly ancient building. Instead his eyes were focused entirely on the only familiar thing in the room - a plain, unremarkable oval mirror. The one that had been hanging over his bathroom sink and now rested haphazardly against a stone wall among other rotting and forgotten objects.

Reaching out slowly, Ryan let his fingers touch the mirror once again. It shimmered faintly, startling him enough to snatch his hand back.

Is this really happening to me? he thought to himself. I get spirited away to some fantasy world, like Narnia or something? True, it could be possible that he was simply in some remote part of Europe, in a castle in the middle of nowhere.

But even that required him to have traveled thousands of miles in an instant. And this silence... it was absolute.

Hesitating slightly, he brought his head down to the mirror, closing his eyes before letting it pass through smoothly.

He was suddenly assaulted by the violent mediocrity of his apartment bathroom.

A sense of relief flooded him, the tension that had been building in his body releasing as he realized that he could indeed get back home.

But as soon as the normalcy imposed itself back on his mind, it suddenly raced.

He had long ago rejected his childhood fantasies, replacing passions for knights and dragons with the kind of drive that got him through college and landed him a solid job.

Yet here he was, with the opportunity of a lifetime. Here he was, with his own little "wardrobe." A place to escape the problems and responsibilities from everyday life.

There were no delusions that he would stay in this strange place. Even in Narnia, the most somebody stayed was... okay, it was a long time. But there was that time difference thing. They didn't just abandon their old life.

He would be back for work on Monday.

Ryan actually stifled a giggle as he pulled his head back through. He still almost didn't believe it, even with everything right in front of his face.

He had a magic mirror, and the place he came out was most definitely a castle.

He skipped around the room with an almost reckless abandon. Of course, since he got out of bed only about five minutes ago, his pajamas were most certainly not suited for a romp in a medieval fantasy world. Or his fuzzy slippers. But at the moment, he did not exactly feel like going back to his dingy apartment just for a change of clothes.

If he thought about it more clearly, there was no way he was going to spend the entire day in clothes so thin, but right now, the only thought in his mind was that he had to see this castle from the outside.

And also that the moss looked really interesting.

And was that a forest he saw through that crack in the wall?

He did make it out of the room eventually, as there didn't seem to be a door to bar his path. Though he spent a few seconds looking at the horribly rusted hinges still stuck firmly into the stone jamb. Or archway. Or whatever it was called in castles. The shape looked Gothic. He knew that much.

It was quite clear this castle was abandoned long ago. This didn't bother him, though. Most stories he read about hopping dimensions into a fantasy world started in a wilderness of sorts. And one of those was definitely near a ruined castle.

Though he had to admit that just the Narnia series was a pretty low sample size to go off of. He was sure there were others, but none that were immediately memorable.

Right outside the doorway, though, was a set of stairs, which struck him as rather odd. There were no other rooms, no corridors, just a small flight of stairs that led down to this almost empty room.

Uncertainly, he climbed them, shortly finding himself in a wide, expansive room. Right behind one of two objects that were unmistakably thrones.

The thrones, and rather, the room's other decorations, were rather lavish, but not gaudy, as he might expect to find with royalty. And instead of a family crest, the only images he could find were of a simple sun and moon motif.

But most strangely of all was that the thrones were in rather good condition - almost untouched, in fact. Yet that doorway in that room downstairs was rotted to the point where he couldn't even find a trace of the door.

There were even tapestries on the walls here.

He couldn't even say that they were untouched by the elements, either, as they all had wear. Most likely from the gaping holes in the walls and ceiling. And he couldn't put his finger on it, but all the damage in this ruined castle seemed a bit... out of place.

Still, Ryan couldn't exactly say that he'd even seen a ruined castle before. Maybe all those fantasy artists just got it wrong.

Or maybe something went wrong here.

His mind kept returning to the rusted hinges that were all that remained of a wooden door. No matter what might have happened, it was far too long ago to worry about now.

But now that about a third of his field of view was opened to the great outdoors, and the chill of the air was starting to pierce through his thin polyester pajamas, Ryan suddenly decided that maybe the exploring could wait for a bit. Maybe when he got some proper clothes. And maybe even camping gear, if he really was going to spend the night.

I mean, it's not like anybody at work is going to believe me, but staying overnight in a ruined castle? I would have put it on my bucket list, but it would have been too unrealistic.

He shuffled his feet more comfortably into his slippers before walking back behind the throne and down the stairs, still a little giddy, and still a bit overwhelmed. He certainly wasn't a guy that fawned over gold or jewelry, but seeing real, ancient art up close, and seeing gold and silver being used so elegantly was... almost a little frightening. Those were things he saw in pictures and museums, and now they were real. Real and touchable, in their natural place.

And as the plain, unobtrusive mirror came back into his sight, leaned casually against a castle wall, he was suddenly shaken with how alien everything really was.

He had a portal in his bathroom mirror.

He wasn't in Europe, in some historic site. He was somewhere new, possibly a different planet, and was viewing something never before seen...

This wasn't a dream. This wasn't a vacation.

As he placed his hand back on the mirror, an electric shock ran through him.

The mirror was solid.

Author's Notes:

I haven't tried a Human in Equestria story for a long time. (Not only am I often terrible at them, but I had realized that often, a purely pony story will work just fine for most story concepts.) But I found a concept just interesting enough to warrant a human character, and more importantly, was passionate enough about it to commit to writing about it.

Chapter 2: Wilds

Ryan pressed his hand harder into the mirror, for the first time feeling its icy surface. Panicking, he redoubled his efforts, and the plain frame sparked against the stone floor as it abruptly became flush with the castle wall.

The loud noise startled him into awareness, and he caught it before it actually fell over.

But his newfound alertness did not feel like a blessing. No more was the chilly air a nice, refreshing addition to his walk. Or even the mild inconvenience that led him back into this room. It was a reminder of both his unsuitable clothing and the alien world.

A world he was now stranded on.

He almost kicked the mirror in frustration before stopping himself. Yes, it was the reason he was stuck here, and the false sense of hope he had been given had only amplified this betrayal. But it was his only chance of getting back home.

A place to escape to, all his own, was a dream come true. But to abandon all that he knew?

Why did the portal have to fail now, of all times?

Still... maybe it needs time to recharge after use?

Ryan hesitated to use the term "magic," even within his own mind, but portals within ordinary-looking mirrors made the term almost unavoidable by association.

And if this was a magical artifact... or even a purely technological one, recharging was not exactly a foreign concept.

The problem is that I don't know how long that will even take.

He touched the mirror's surface once again with his fingers, just in case. Still cold.

Ryan shivered. This had quite abruptly turned into an exercise in wilderness survival. Without the part where instructors watched to make sure everyone made it out alive.

Okay, first... the shelter is kinda already covered. He looked at the cold stone. At the same time, I'm going to need a lot of leaves to keep from freezing to death.

He glanced once more at the mirror. Completely aside from a roof over his head, he was determined to use the castle as a shelter for a completely different reason. With a forest this green, he was sure that he could find water somewhere. And if he found dry enough wood, a fire to warm himself. But without a solid source of food... he wanted to know exactly when he could get back to his dull, boring, yet comfortable life.

And with one last check of the mirror, he left the safety of his small room and ventured out once again into the castle proper.

No longer was he impatient to explore the rest of the ruin. As soon as he saw a convenient hole in the thick walls, he was climbing out into the wild grasses that surrounded the castle.

The drop down was a bit steep and inconvenient, but climbable. And with a quick visual snapshot of where he climbed down from, he turned around and headed for the unknown.

Fortunately for Ryan, that didn't last for very long, and a sudden and steep drop spread out before him.

The castle had a moat.

Of a sort, at least. More of a small canyon. There was definitely a river down there, though. And farther upstream, it seemed that there were a set of rough stairs meant to access the water below.

He had water now. Not exactly a convenient source, and he had no bucket, but he wouldn't die of thirst.

All right. So the next priority... firewood. And maybe food after that.

The subject of food was one that Ryan didn't much like thinking about. Of course, he told himself regularly that the mirror would open up before he got too bad, but that didn't stop him from worrying. Sure, he knew a few edible plants, and even the way to make acorns not taste terrible.

But that was back home. Now that he was a lot closer, the forest across the river looked significantly more alien. None of the trees even looked familiar, and the ground-cover seemed thorny almost without purpose. There weren't any berries to speak of. Not that he would have even considered trying to eat one. Even on Earth, eating a strange berry was extremely risky.

And it wasn't like he could count on the "color rule" being accurate in the slightest.

Still, he needed to enter the forest, somehow. Getting a fire ready was one of the highest priorities, even if his fire-starting abilities weren't that great to begin with.

Fortunately for Ryan, there was a stone bridge that spanned the river a ways downstream. The remains of a cobble road led back to the castle, but the path continuing into the forest degraded within a few feet.

Instead, he skirted around the edge, searching for dead wood and fallen branches to pick up.

Quickly, he met up with another path, and another bridge, this one a simple wooden rope bridge. A simple test with his foot revealed that Ryan would much rather use the stone one, thank you very much.

But the path leading into the forest looked quite a lot better maintained. While it wasn't any sort of gravel path he'd expect in a hiking trail, it was clear enough that his old Boy Scout mental warning flags weren't being triggered constantly.

Now that he was closer to the actual plants of the forest, though, a lot of other flags were being triggered, and he wasn't quite sure why. The trees seemed relatively fine, despite not being any variety he recognized, but the bushes, the clover, the flowers...

Wait. The flowers. The clover!

Ryan wasn't much for superstition, but four leaf clovers were rare. And biologically, he knew sort of why. But all the clover had four petals each.

The flowers, completely aside from him not recognizing any of them, were all wrong. Four petals. Six petals. Seven. Pretty much any number other than what was natural.

The leaves on the bushes felt wrong in a way that was similar. Placed on the stem just a bit wrong. Thorns in places that despite knowing almost nothing about botany, just made him uneasy.

Ryan shivered again, completely unrelated to his poor choice in clothing.

This wasn't a fantasy world, ripped straight from his imagination. This was a real place, created by no one, and answering to no laws of fiction. This wasn't Narnia. This was more like a planet from Star Trek. Nothing could be taken for granted.

And everywhere he looked, there wasn't a stick in sight. Not a branch, leaf, or twig was out of place on the trees.

A howl echoed in the distance.

He took a nervous glance at the sky, as the sky rapidly darkened.

Ryan fell backwards, landing with his arms supporting him. His heart hammered in his chest as he forced his breathing into an even pace.

What is this place?

Ryan woke up tired, hungry, and sore. Shivering once again, he brushed the leaves off himself and placed his hand hopefully against the mirror.

And once again, it failed to yield.

He looked back at his makeshift bed. Without finding anything else, he had to make do with finding bushes without thorns, and taking off branches.

Green leaves and sticks made terrible bedding, but at this point, anything was better than the hard stone.

Briefly, he had considered sleeping outside, but looking through the crack in his "bedroom" wall, he was glad he had decided against it. Not only was there a generous portion of dew on the grasses, the smell convinced him that last night, it had probably rained.

At least it seemed that his room was for the most part rain proof.

These thoughts only stayed for a few moments. A far more pressing need was at hand.

Ryan knew by heart the bare minimum that a human could survive on. Water was the most pressing need, and that he had in abundance. It would take a week or more for him to actually die of hunger.

But it had been less than 24 hours, and Ryan had never felt so hungry.

Well, that was somewhat true, at least. The pain of hunger had passed a long time ago, some time around midnight. But what was left was seriously unnerving. Like his body had given up, and decided that food was not going to come for a while.

He still felt... something.

It was enough for him to want it to go away, and never return.

What he really wanted was to be home. Cooking an omelette. Eating some cereal. Watching the news like a normal, sane person would be doing.

Perhaps that's what he was. Insane. He was in a padded room somewhere, blabbering about four leaf clovers and the lack of wood.

But with the dull ache in his stomach, he couldn't afford to think that. It was time to find some actual food. Break off some branches and start drying them for firewood. It was no longer a matter of preserving the trees. This wasn't just a walk in some park.

He stood up.

Today, it's time that I do something.

Ryan woke up, tired and sore. That odd feeling had only increased. There were no plants in the forest. None suitable for consumption, at least. No berries, no soft nuts, or even oak trees with acorns. And the few promising leaves he had rubbed on his skin had started a rash within seconds.

Today, though, he had a plan. Yesterday, he had found a nice, sharp rock. And a stick he had ripped from a tree.

This morning, he had a sharpened stick. Nice and pliable. It wouldn't break easily.

There might have not been any edible plants, but there were certainly animals in that forest.

Today, he would hunt like a caveman.

Ryan's hand touched the cold, solid surface of the mirror, staring longingly into his own reflection. His thin pajamas were torn and stained so much that it was hard to tell that they had originally been light blue. And long ago, he had abandoned his slippers to the wilds.

With the beginnings of a beard starting to appear on his face, and the stick held in his right hand like a staff, he certainly looked the part.

The problem was that he was going to have to act the part.

Ryan froze, the rabbit pinned against the ground in one hand, and the sharpened stick in the other. The animal scrabbled in blind panic, trying to gain traction on the ground beneath its back.

Its fur was soft, a gentle blotching of greyish brown and white.

And Ryan couldn't bring his hand down.

Despite the hunger deep in his chest, he couldn't bring himself to do this innocent creature harm. This is a creature he should be petting, not eating.

He had eaten rabbit before. Several times, actually. It was quite tasty. But looking at the creature in his iron grip, it seemed wrong.

Ryan had owned chickens, once upon a time. His family used them for eggs. They were almost like pets. But he thought nothing about eating a chicken leg bought from the local store.

What is wrong with me? I need to do this!

But the rabbit had taken the brief advantage it could, and had slipped away from his grasp.

Ryan woke up, tired and sore. The hunger had grown no more insistent, but regardless, he felt a detached sort of panic at just how exhausted he was.

His body refused to get any more sleep, yet he felt dizzy as he sat up.

He touched the mirror once again, no longer surprised at the surface's insistent presence.

Ryan fell back to his knees, an odd sort of cloudiness around his mind. Yet somewhere in the back, he knew that this was his last day. His last chance.

He put his hands on the ground, getting ready to push himself up once again.

But his left hand met some unexpected resistance.

Some unexpected, furry resistance.

What?

Ryan stared, bewildered, at what had most certainly not been there last night.

It was the rabbit he had caught the previous day. It was dead, and the teeth marks made it obvious that it had been killed by some predator.

He almost threw up at the sight.

But he didn't have the luxury of being squeamish. Not anymore.

The strangest part of all of it, though, was that none of the "meat" seemed to be actually missing. In fact, there wasn't really any actual blood left in, almost like what he might have bought at the store.

Except... with the rest of the rabbit there.

Ryan shivered with sudden energy. He needed a fire. Now.

But... all the wood was wet. And he had found out the hard way that wood recently separated from the trees in this forest did not dry out fast at all.

No, he didn't need a fire. He needed to eat.

And he had food now.

It wasn't a matter of how it got here or how humans aren't supposed to eat raw meat. His stomach was telling him something very different.

Ryan adjusted his makeshift tunic, readying his much improved spear as he ventured once more into the woods. He hated this grisly work, yet at the same time, there was an excitement that would not leave him, no matter how much he tried to suppress it.

The mirror had been dead for a week. And if he had not adapted, he would have been, too.

And yet, where was he? Who had lived in that old castle?

And why did the Forest call to him so insistently?

Ryan moved silently on his way, oblivious to the pair of green orbs that observed him with interest.

Chapter 3: Wolves

I moved though the underbrush silently. The forest was silent today, and I hadn't been able to find anything. Still, something told me that I should stay, and it wasn't my stomach this time.

There was a rustle behind me.

I turned around quickly, as silently as I could, and my breath caught in his throat.

There was a wolf there. But not just a wolf. It was different. It didn't even look like an animal.

This wolf was made entirely out of wood.

For some reason, it didn't even seem to be bothered by the spear pointing at it, and I fervently hoped that it was because of the odd dog's friendliness rather than the spear's complete ineffectiveness against solid oak.

At least it looked like oak.

The wolf looked me in the eye, and barked a few times.

My heart did a somersault. I've owned a dog before. That was not the bark of an aggressor. It was more of a friendly greeting than anything else.

Could this really..?

The wooden wolf turned around and ran a few paces, before looking back at me expectantly.

"You want me to follow?"

The wolf nodded and started walking again, not leaving me enough time to properly collect myself.

I took after the strange creature. It seemed to run just slow enough for me to keep up, and yet with a relaxed enough gait that I knew it had to be keeping the pace on purpose.

I knew pet dogs were intelligent, and even that wild dogs had their own communities, but this was something else entirely. Those strange, glowing eyes pierced me in a way that I found hard to describe, and the way it nodded at me...

There was no denying its intelligence.

No, not just intelligence. I think this thing has actual sapience.

I supposed that I should have expected something like this. In the brief moment of wonder upon my arrival, I might have thought of something like alien intelligence. In fact, it was pretty much confirmed, due to the presence of that castle. But over the last month, I had been much more concerned about keeping alive from day to day. One day with a bad hunt, and the hunger returned.

My escort barked again, and I was brought back out of my thoughts. Just ahead, there were more of the same wooden wolves, laying down on the forest floor.

A few of them looked up and regarded me with interest, but all of them put their heads back down in short order. It looked quite a lot like napping.

Another sharp bark forced me to let sleeping dogs lie, and the wolf led me beyond them to a small hole dug underneath a tree. It was big enough for the wolf twice over, but I had to duck a bit uncomfortably to follow him.

Or her, really. I have no idea how to tell. Do wolves made out of wood even have genders?

Some more barking up ahead caught my attention, and I stepped out into a larger room, what seemed to be the den of a second wolf, this one a bit more... odd.

It was a little bigger than the others I had seen. A little darker of a wood. And instead of the slight curves of the others, the grain of this one's wood twisted and spiralled in strange and interesting ways.

Oh, and it was somehow holding a staff that was tall enough to reach my chest. It was hard for me to actually look away from the staff. That glowing emerald at the top was quite eye-catching.

It made some sounds at me, and I stepped forward, significantly more nervous.

I was significantly less confident in my choice to follow the thing, but I was now distinctly aware that I was surrounded by at least twenty wolves, which would have been a problem even if they were made of a material that a spear is particularly ineffective against. And that wasn't even taking into consideration whatever that glowing thing did. I just hoped it wasn't radioactive or something like that. Radiation sickness is one of the worst ways to die.

So I stepped forward.

It touched the top of the staff to my chest.

I actually had very little time to register this action, or even to panic.

I was just abruptly three feet lower to the ground.

"Do you understand the forest?"

...What?

I stared up at the wolf, which was now slightly taller than me. The suddenness of the change made my brain feel like molasses.

What happened?

"Fox! Do you now understand?"

"What?" I said out loud.

I looked down, my brain slowly registering the changes in the muscles used to do so. Foreign appendages were below me, very clearly black paws, that faded to an orangeish red as I looked up the new legs.

My head snapped up to the strange wolf with the staff. "What‽" I said shortly. "Why did you do this? Answer!"

The leaned in closer to me. Its words were soft, but I still felt a chill at the intensity of its stare. "I did favor. Form was wrong, would change on own. Change slow. In forest, change may kill."

The voice was oddly female.

"Change... did kill. Not enough food, no wolf to help. That was... long time ago."

I looked at the floor, unable to keep her intense gaze, and a sense of growing dread in my chest that seemed to come from nowhere. "So, I'm... supposed to be this way? I don't understand, I've always been human."

"Yes... I forget often, what was like then. But you know how hunt. You are now yourself. We do not know what else fox eat, but you must leave soon."

"Leave? Why?"

She gave an odd shrug that almost seemed human, but her words banished that thought entirely. "Fox is prey. Timber wolves will do duty to forest. But you survive after that."

A shiver ran through my new spine, a sensation that did nothing to calm my nerves. "Um... should I start running?"

"I not without justice. You have two days. We not seek you out of many. But fox does not count wolf as friend."

"Ah."

I backed away nervously, then walked out of the cave, all the while looking behind me. When it seemed that neither of the wolves was following, I started a quicker pace.

I don't know how I managed to get so far away from the wolves' camp without tripping over myself, but I did, and I finally collected enough of my sanity back to evaluate a little of what had happened.

For one, I thought I had a pretty good idea of who left the rabbit for me a few weeks ago.

At the same time, it was not long until the very beings that helped me survive might try to eat me.

To top it all off... I was a fox. Soft reddish-orange fur, fluffy tail, white underbelly... I was quite confused. According to the weird shaman-wolf, I was supposed to be like that, and I almost believed her. Despite how alien, well, everything felt, all the muscle memory was just... there. If I wanted to walk, I just walked.

But I also knew I was human. I was always human. I didn't even belong here, and was just waiting to see if the mirror could bring me back again.

Now more than ever, it all seemed hopeless. Even if the mirror was somehow open at this exact moment, would I even want to return in my current state? Maybe this world was just like Narnia, and all the animals were intelligent. It wasn't like that on Earth. Would I just lose my intelligence completely and become a dumb animal? Or worse, I'd be completely intelligent, just not able to prove it to anyone.

I suppose if every animal is intelligent here, that explains a little of why those wolves were just fine with eating me. I suppose I should just be grateful that they have good sportsmanship about the whole thing, or I'd be dead.

I was just glad that whatever that crazy wolf did to me, I was no longer hungry. Hunting rabbit again, knowing that they were perfectly intelligent... it was less than pleasant.

I suddenly shivered and started to run.

I can't stay at the castle.

It already had been a full month without progress on the mirror, and now getting back was even further from reach given my form. And while she had said that they would not hunt me specifically...

Yeah, easy prey is easy prey. One of the first things I learned while hunting.

It was time for me to leave this area entirely. Perhaps move as far as possible away from where the wolves were. I was one, and they were many. And they were also significantly bigger than I was.

And it's not like I had anything I had to bring with me. Not anymore.

I left my clothes and that spear with the wolves.

Once my panic had somewhat died down, the run became somewhat... enjoyable.

I was not... happy about what had happened to me. Home was now not just depressingly far away, but almost hopelessly out of reach.

At the same time, bounding through the forest was exhilarating, amplified by the fact that I could now do so with almost complete silence.

Now that the adrenaline was fading away, though, I started to slow, appreciating more of the forest around me. I was sure that some of the sounds had not been present in my previous hunts, and though that could easily have been attributed to my presence in a new area of the forest, I realized that the wolves' assistance might have extended more than a simple rabbit. And if they considered me as food, there... well, there might be others.

Still, the forest no longer seemed quite as... oppressive as it did before. Instead of the unease I felt when I first walked in, or even the underlying tension I felt every time I went out to hunt, I instead felt something very difficult to describe.

I guess I could say it felt like freedom.

A slight glow from the roots of a nearby tree interrupted me from my reverie.

I walked closer, poking my nose through the fortunately thorn-free bush.

There was a small ball there, a brilliant white, and clearly luminescent. I tested it with my teeth, finding it quite smooth. Jewel-like.

Odd finding it in a forest like this, but it wasn't mine. Perhaps the owner would be back later.

Or the owner was an animal and I was in its territory. Taking it would be a very bad idea then.

I started walking again. Roughly northwest, given where the sun was coming through the trees.

At this point, I knew that I was unlikely to still be in the wolves' hunting area. Well, I didn't know that. But I certainly had traveled a good distance already. Enough to feel reasonably safe, even if I stayed here more than the two days.

But the sun was still fairly high in the sky. It wasn't even noon yet.

Wait, am I supposed to be nocturnal now?

I shook my head. Still, I was curious to see what was at the edge of the forest.

If there was an edge, at least. It was completely possible that I had happened on a world completely covered in forest.

Still, that didn't make too much sense. If there was a forest fire, the entire world would burn at once. That was just silly.

Another glow made me stop in my tracks.

"What the..."

The bush right next to me was the culprit, and another brief exploration revealed another glowing orb.

I tested it with my mouth. It was the exact same shape and material.

And there was a deep feeling in my gut, that this was the same orb. That the orb was important. That I needed to hold on to the orb.

I started walking again, the orb fitting comfortably in my mouth.

I mean, it only made sense. And even if I was wrong, there was another one of these things a hundred yards back. Nobody would miss just one of them.

Huh, it feels kinda warm.

Chapter 4: Ponies

I stood at the edge of the trees, staring.

There was a house there. A real house.

Animals were intelligent here, or at least "timber wolves" and foxes were. Others probably were as well. And they seemed to just... live out in nature. There was that castle, but... that castle looked old.

This was an honest-to-goodness house. There might be someone who could help me here, and they probably wouldn't try to eat me afterwards, either.

I started to walk up the winding path, up the hill and to the cottage. It really was picturesque. Beautiful, and not just the wild beauty of the forest. There was even a little natural bridge that went over a little stream, which I drank a few laps of.

I resisted the urge to shudder. The fact that it felt so natural to drink like that was unnerving. Still, I brushed away those thoughts and walked up to the front door, briefly considering just how I would knock.

Eventually, I just banged on the door with the ball in my mouth. I didn't want to scratch up the wood with my claws.

A soft, "Just a minute!" floated out from inside, and the door opened a few seconds later.

It was... not what I was expecting. It was another animal. Or perhaps given the house, it was the closest I was going to get to a person. Still, it was rather strange, if vaguely equine, with large eyes, an odd, soft yellow color, and feathered wings, even though the rest of it had fur. Still, without even seeing another example of the species, it looked recognizably female. It sounded female, too.

"Oh! Hello!"

"Hello."

"What's your name?"

Perhaps talking animals was the norm here. Or she was an animal, and she just lived in a house? Or perhaps the term "animal" literally meant nothing if they all were intelligent.

"Ryan."

She smiled. "Shining Light. What a wonderful name. My name is Fluttershy."

Wait, what?

The wolves definitely spoke oddly, but this sounded more like a translation error than an odd speech impediment. Still, I came here for a reason.

"Um, do you know of a way to change my form? I need to not be a fox."

She looked at me curiously, and her eyes flicked down to the ball that I had dropped in front of me, but her face lit up after a moment. "Oh, you must be very young. I'm sorry, but I'm not a fox. I don't have your magic, so I can't teach you. Don't worry, I'm sure it'll come in time."

She smiled encouragingly as I tried not to show my surprise.

So magic is a thing here...

Of course, the starts of those kind of thoughts had already appeared back with the wolf's glowing staff thing, but to hear the word "magic" so clearly was still a bit of a shock.

Still, I had more things to worry about.

"I don't know what is edible in the forest. Do you know anything about that sort of thing?"

Fluttershy looked at me oddly. "Um... just eat what smells good? No, no... the Everfree has plants that trick you. I could give you some food, if you want. Still, if you're new to the Everfree, I have to warn you that there are a lot of wolves, and some other predators that might make it dangerous for you."

I nodded. "Yeah, they gave me some time to get used to everything, but I was going to try and move away from their territory."

"I... um... you talked with them?"

"But I really need to know something. Is there anything I can hunt that isn't... um... intelligent?"

She blinked in surprise, then smiled warmly at me. "Feel free to fish in the river." She pointed further northwest, where I could see the sunlight reflecting off some water, and a town in the distance.

She frowned slightly. "Still, if you wish to live outside the Timberwolves' territory, the Everfree forest is not the place to live. You're always welcome to stay here if you want some shelter, but many creatures just move to Whitetail Woods."

"Oh. Where's that?"

She sighed, and seemed to look disappointed, but she hid it quickly. "Just follow the river, and you'll find it, sure enough. The river goes through the Everfree a bit before getting there, though, so if you're still worried, you can just go around the edge and find the river again."

I smiled, and hoped that expression translated okay on a fox face. "Thank you, Fluttershy."

"No problem. I do my best to help all my friends."

I turned away, and started walking northwest, but it wasn't necessarily to get to the river. I still had two days, and maybe someone in the town knew about "fox magic." Whatever that was.

"Wait!"

I looked back. Fluttershy was waving around the white orb.

"You forgot this!"

I walked back, and she placed it in my tail, which instinctively curled to hold it.

"You need to be more careful," she admonished. "Somepony could steal it and cause all sorts of trouble for you. Didn't your mother teach you better than that?"

I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that.

She wilted. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. But you can't let anypony get that, you hear me? Not even if you trust them. If you went to Whitetail, and left it here..." She shivered. "Just keep it safe, all right? I don't want you to die."

I stumbled slightly. Die?

"Just... be careful, all right?"

I nodded.

"Thank you."

I walked away again, this time a lot less certain of myself.

After so long away from civilization, it felt strange approaching a real town. Yet the town itself only reinforced just how different everything was. The bridge that ran over the river was solidly built in a stone arch, something no construction crew would bother with today. And as I got closer, it became apparent that the world I was in was very much in the past. Thatched roofs, dirt roads, and that weird wooden frame house type that you'd see in historical places in Germany.

And all around were the strange equine creatures. Some had wings like Fluttershy, and I actually saw those from a distance, flying to and fro over the town. Some had no wings whatsoever, which threw me for a minor loop, as they seemed to be the same general type of animal. But then I noticed some of them had horns. Not like goat horns. Like, actual unicorns. But smaller, more stocky looking, and with bigger, front facing eyes.

Seeing them float things around made it quite certain that the word "magic" Fluttershy had used was not a translation error.

The strangest part was that they didn't seem to react to me much. Sure, most of them would look with curiosity, but it was certainly not the reaction of a wild animal just walking into town back home.

Still, if all animals were intelligent, and could talk just fine, maybe this wasn't that much out of the norm.

I walked up to a nearby resident. "Excuse, me, does your town have a library? Or perhaps someone with a good understanding of magic?"

The pony looked at me oddly. "Sorry, I don't speak fox. You're better off looking for Fluttershy. She lives in a cottage over that way." She pointed with a hoof.

I knew that already. That's where I came from. But I nodded in confirmation.

It was weird, though. It made sense that perhaps the species that built things didn't know how to speak with the wild creatures, but Fluttershy and this pony seemed to be talking the exact same way.

Probably more "magic" nonsense.

Okay, magic wasn't actually nonsense. This was a world that worked on different rules, and for the first time, those rules were exciting, despite my abrupt realization that those rules could be dangerous.

Still, it was frustrating to be able to talk with the wolves that wanted to eat me, but not the actual civilization just around the corner. At least I could understand what they were saying.

Which was also weird, since I'm pretty sure the sounds coming out of their mouths was not English.

In fact, if thought of how my mouth was moving earlier, I was probably not speaking English, either.

I tried to speak again, this time being very conscious of what I was doing.

<<Hello.>>

Huh. Difficult, but oddly possible.

Several passerby looked at me oddly, which reminded me that I did that in the middle of the street.

The pony I had been "talking" to turned back again. "Okay, that was definitely not fox, but that wasn't Eqqish, either." She put a hoof up to her chin. "Twilight knows all sorts of weird stuff, though. She might know a bit about it. Her library's just up the street and to the left."

I blinked. "Okay."

"It's a giant tree. You can't miss it."

Right. That was easier than expected.

All of this was just very surreal. Here I was, a fox talking to a colorful alien, walking through a medieval town and looking for a giant tree.

And there it is.

The "treehouse" was quite impressive, really. For it to be that thick, it must have been alive for more than a hundred years. And then to keep it alive afterwards...

Eh, magic's probably involved somehow.

Still, it was a library. Exactly what I was looking for. Though really, now that I knew that what I was hearing was definitely not English, I was more interested in the librarian. The one that the pony thought might be able to help with languages. Medieval scholars were a lot less specialized than modern ones, so I might actually have a good chance at this.

Well, this wasn't exactly medieval, and the things I called medieval probably were more of what I remembered from fantasy stories than actually medieval, but I was hopeful.

I knocked with the orb in my tail. The door was still wooden, and the house-library looked nice, even though I couldn't read the sign.

"Library's open!"

After fiddling with the main doorknob for a few seconds, I thought better of it and opened one of the small half-doors on the bottom.

Wait, Fluttershy's here? She must have flew over here almost immediately after I left.

"Shining Light! I thought you were going to Whitetail Woods!"

"Oh, uh... Hi, Fluttershy. I thought I would look at the town first. I don't really know all that much about my magic."

I looked nervously at the other pony in the room, who looked far too excited at my presence. She (at least it looked like a she) was more of a purplish color, with a dark blue mane with some stripes in it. Interestingly, she had both a horn and wings. Which seemed slightly unfair to the others in town.

"Um, is she Twilight?" I asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked at me in surprise. "Yes. How did you know?"

"I tried talking to someone in town in my old language, and they said Twilight might know about it."

"You have an old language?"

Twilight started. "Wait, really? This is great!"

<<Yes. This one.>>

Fluttershy frowned and tilted her head. "That was weird. I still think I understood that."

Twilight sighed. "Well I didn't. It didn't even sound familiar. I guess it is exciting to know that a new language exists, and such an ancient one at that, but it's going to be frustrating if only Fluttershy knows what it means."

"Twilight, Shining Light is not ancient."

"But sacred foxes haven't been seen for over a thousand years! Since before even Discord ruled!"

She rolled her eyes. "And he only has one tail."

"Then a time spell must have brought him forward!"

I blinked. "Wait, what? Sacred fox?"

Fluttershy looked at me strangely. "Yes. That is what you are. Do you call yourselves something different?"

"...I don't know. You would know better than me, I guess."

She looked sad for some reason.

"I came here through a mirror."

Fluttershy gasped.

"I wasn't a fox before, and the wolves said something like this was my real form, and they were just speeding things up or something. It feels right, but I still don't know anything about myself. But I can't go back through anymore."

"Twilight, where's the mirror you went through to get your crown back? I think he might be from there."

"Celestia gave me permission to study it. It's right here in my basement. He couldn't have gotten through it, anyway, the portal's closed, and it will be for a while."

"Still, he says he came through a mirror. Could there be more than one?"

I raised a paw. "Um, the mirror was in a castle in the forest, if that helps."

"It was in the Castle of the Two Sisters?"

Well, there were two thrones.

Twilight gasped. "This is amazing! If there's a second mirror, maybe I can get back to that world sooner and study... um... I mean visit it again."

"Twilight, he said that he couldn't get back through. That one's closed as well."

"Still, if there was a second mirror, maybe there were more. Spike!"

I heard an odd set of hoofsteps coming down the stairs.

Wait, no, they were footsteps. The feet of an odd, bipedal lizard.

Okay then.

"I need you to take a letter to Princess Celestia. If there are any other portals, she should know where they are."

Chapter 5: Portals

"What do you mean, there aren't any?"

"Twilight, it means that there should not be any mirrors that remain, besides the stable one that you study now. At least none that I am aware of. Where is this mirror that the fox saw?"

I didn't respond. I was rooted to the spot in shock.

This "pony," if it even applied to this "Celestia" person anymore, was like nothing I had ever seen, or even expected to see, even from a wizard, given that magic existed here.

The sudden appearance in the middle of the library shortly after the letter was sent completely negated my shock at the lizard Spike breathing green fire. But something like teleportation, while certainly not something I was prepared to see, was nothing compared to her actual presence.

Waves of power were radiating off her with great intensity, and her mane and tail, colored like an aurora borealis, were pulsing in time with that power. The only fact that kept me from immediately bolting in the opposite direction is that the power itself felt undeniably right. It felt like warmth, love, and hope.

That didn't stop me from being terrified, though.

"His name is Shining Light. He said it was in the old castle, but didn't say where."

"Ah, yes. I suppose I did not... well, I didn't search the most carefully when I moved to Canterlot." She turned to me. "Would you please... oh."

She paused slightly, and the energy suddenly muted. Her hair slowed. "I am sorry. Most often I am in contact with creatures who already know who I am. Creatures who can already trust my character. I apologize for frightening you."

Twilight looked between us, a clear look of confusion on her face. "Princess? What are you talking about?"

She continued to look at me, a reassuring look on her face, but answered the question anyway. "Most ponies are used to my presence, and I doubt many notice the difference. And most neighboring nations have heard of my deeds, and know my character, even if they have not met me, personally. But my aura can be quite intimidating to those with little magic." She eyed the ball in my tail. "Or to those that store the majority elsewhere."

By now, I had gathered most of my wits. Still, there was no desire in my mind to be anything but cautious around her.

Still, a thought had entered into my brain, and it wouldn't leave.

"Are you the sun? In the old castle, I mean."

Surprisingly, instead of Fluttershy translating for me, as I had expected, Celestia answered me directly.

"You are perceptive. But not fully correct. I am not the Sun, but he is a friend, and I share some of his power."

Oh. Well, I was more asking about the coat of arms, given the mark on her rump. But that works, too, I guess.

Does this mean she's actually immortal as well?

I noticed that she, too, had both a horn and wings. She was a lot different than Twilight, though.

"Does someone else share power with the moon?"

Celestia smiled. "That would be my sister, Luna. I am lucky to have her back after so long. But if you wish to return to your old lands, we must not delay. There are many possible complications with dimensional travel, some of which include precise timing. If you would, could you tell us the location of the portal you arrived through?"

I blinked, suddenly reminded of the reason Twilight had brought her here in the first place. "Oh, uh, yeah. It was in this room below the throne room."

She nodded. "Ah. I see. His study. I wonder why it was not collected, if that is the case. Regardless." Her horn flared with light. "We must go there immediately."

I reeled, but not from the sensation, or even the flash of light. Given the pony's entrance, I half expected something like that. No, it was the sudden onslaught of smells, sounds, and sensations.

For a brief moment, I could smell the mold between the stones, the age of the dust, and even the grass far outside. I could hear the insects crawl in their dens below, and feel the smallest imperfections in the stones.

And then it was gone.

Celestia was already walking over to the mirror. "I apologize once again for the discomfort. But the right time may be anything from a few seconds away to a few years."

She frowned. "The enchantment is quite... rudimentary. It gets the job done, but there are practically zero safeties here for dimensional travel. Given the lack of ornamentation on the mirror itself, there is a very good chance this is one of his prototypes. I wouldn't exactly recommend traveling through it, even if it was currently active."

"But-"

She held up a hoof. "If this is indeed the only option available to you, I will not stop you from using it. But it is not a convenient option. It will not open for another thirty years."

Both Twilight and my eyes widened significantly. "Thirty years‽"

I looked at the mirror in apprehension. "Thirty years... I don't think my family will last that long..." And then there were the few friends he had actually made at work. They could certainly live without him, but still...

Celestia nodded. "That may be the case, but there is still some amount of hope. While instability is a significant liability, the spell on this mirror has a rather weak grasp on time. While what you say has a good chance of happening, there is a smaller, but significant chance that only a few years will have passed, or even none at all.

"Still, it is probably more productive to search elsewhere. After all, there is also a nonzero chance of simply not showing up at all, and being stuck between dimensions."

Twilight looked critically at the mirror. "What about the one in my basement? That one opens much sooner, and is much safer." She looked at Celestia uncertainly. "At least, I hope it's safer."

"One can hope that it goes to the same place. Still, Starswirl was never one to be easily predicted. And yes, Twilight, it is safe. It was the only one of his devices I considered safe enough to remain active." She looked over to me. "That is, of the ones I knew about."

"I really hope it does go to the same place. Twenty-two months is a lot better than..."

"Than half my life, yes."

Fluttershy looked at him oddly. "You only live for sixty years?"

"Eighty, but that doesn't matter much."

"Still, I wish he didn't have to wait that long to even see if it works." She looked at Twilight. "Is there any way to tell if it's the right world before the portal opens completely?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, sorry, Fluttershy. There is no connection at all when the portal isn't open. Even if I knew what his world was like, I couldn't get the spell across to check."

"There is one thing we could do."

"Princess?"

"When Sunset Shimmer was my student, we had a set of paired journals that we could use to communicate, just as easily as you do with Spike. She hasn't used it in... a long time." She sighed. "But I do know that it still works across the portal. Perhaps we could ask her questions about this world, and see if they match his experiences."

"But, umm... Twilight? Princess? If the portal didn't let any magic through, wouldn't Sunset's journal stop working once it's closed?"

All of us looked at Fluttershy.

"Um, I mean... I don't really know all that much about magic. I could be wrong."

"Fluttershy, you're a genius!"

"...Sorry?"

As it turned out, Twilight seemed to be quite the mad scientist. Except with, you know, magic instead of electricity. And based on what she seemed to be babbling about, advanced magic seemed to require a reassuring amount of math behind it.

Just, you know, the fundamental forces being different.

From the little bit I understood, she was using the small connection made by a set of paired journals (kinda like a very specific texting setup that could only transmit to one phone) to guide the main mechanism of the portal and give it a proper destination. And then power it with a bunch of magic machines I had absolutely no idea how to decipher.

Other than they looked really cool.

Still, I might be going home today.

Twilight explained to me (or rather, explained at me) that I should change back into a human, as the portal actually transformed you into your "correct form" in that universe.

Okay, so there are actually humans there. Good to know. Probably should have asked that sooner. Before they opened the thing.

"All right. You ready?"

I nodded. She wouldn't have understood if I had talked anyway. Fluttershy had already left, as apparently she had a double on the other side. Celestia did too, though Twilight did not.

We stepped through, and rather than the immediate and smooth transition, I was assaulted by strange and nonsensical colors and smells, and my body felt like it was being stretched like taffy.

I was no magical expert, but this felt less stable.

But we stepped onto concrete, which was a good sign.

Okay, I stepped onto concrete. Twilight kinda did a somersault in the air and landed on the concrete.

"Ow."

Oh, and she was also a human.

She looked at me. "Oh." It sounded disappointed.

She was also a human with light purple skin and the same dark blue hair as she had in pony form.

And now I noticed that I was quite close to the ground.

"Damn it."

Twilight blinked. "Wait, you talk here, but not in Equestria? I mean, Spike could talk here as a dog, but he could kinda already speak."

I rolled my eyes. "I could talk in Equestria, you just couldn't understand English. I find it more odd that you speak English now."

She started. "Wait, I'm speaking a different language?"

"Yeah, you are."

"Twilight! You're back already? I thought the portal wasn't going to be open for a while."

"Hi Sunset!" Twilight shrugged. "Well, Celestia told me about this connected journal thing, and then Fluttershy-"

"Wait, Fluttershy?"

"Yeah."

"Right, right. I keep forgetting the worlds parallel each other so closely."

"Well, long story short, we were able to force the portal open early."

Sunset nodded. "That's great, of course. It's definitely nice to see you, even though we left under... interesting circumstances. But why force it open now?"

"That would be me."

Sunset blinked, looking over at me. "You're a fox here. That's certainly interesting. What were you in Equestria?"

"A fox."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "No, seriously."

Twilight stepped in. "He was a fox, a sacred fox named Shining Light."

"Actually now that you can speak English, it's really Ryan. There were some weird translation problems with Fluttershy. Still have no idea what you mean by 'sacred fox,' though."

Sunset looked at me more closely. "You were a human, correct? Like, originally?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Speech patterns. Oh, and I think you might know the term 'kitsune' better."

I blinked. Suddenly the things Fluttershy were saying made a whole lot more sense. I didn't exactly know a whole lot about Japanese legends, but I knew what they were. "Oh. Right. Okay then."

"Kitsune? That's an odd name. Do sacred foxes exist here?"

Sunset shook her head. "Nope. But I got very interested in human mythology once I realized that a lot of the creatures that existed in Equestria are stories over here.

"Though it is strange you aren't a human right now. Most of the time the portal is consistent about these things."

"It was a different portal." I said simply. "But Princess Celestia says it is not only unstable, but there's going to be an obscenely long wait until it opens again. This was pretty much my only chance."

"That's not completely true," Twilight noted. "There's a chance that we could find a way to safely stabilize it, and that would most certainly increase the opportunities it would have to connect the worlds." She frowned. "Still, that's an insanely risky and delicate operation."

"Risky?"

"Not risky to us, but if we rush the job, and mess up, we could lose the original connection, and without knowing the original target, we might be able to create a portal, but not the one you need."

Sunset looked at me critically. "Still, I'm not entirely sure why you would want to become a human again. I stay over here, because... well, I kinda burned down my bridges in Equestria. And even then, now I have good friends over here. But all I get from your expression is just a sense of vague disappointment. Not a whole lot of drive."

Twilight glared at Sunset, but I shook my head at her. "No, Sunset's question was warranted. In all honesty, I was already an adult with my own life, and I didn't stay super close with my parents. I had a few friends, but they can take care of themselves."

I took a deep breath. "I do want to see them again, but the thing I'm actually worried about is the nature of my disappearance. If I had just died, then there would be a body. Everyone would be sad for a while, but get over it. At this point, though, I'm just an unsolved missing persons case, and nobody will ever know for sure."

She grimaced. "I understand the feeling. I have had similar thoughts myself, but at this point, it's been so many years, I'm sure coming back would only cause more trouble than it's worth."

Twilight moved over to put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure Celestia can forgive you, and you know that in Equestria, her opinion means a lot for ponies. You won't be the pariah you left as. And I'm sure your old friends would understand why you were gone for so long."

"I know, but... it's hard for me to even be able to make up for the stuff I did here. And I can't abandon my new friends."

Now that I knew that this world was not my own, and the conversation no longer revolved around me, I started to look around more closely. We appeared to be in front of a large high school, which was easy to tell, because it was all in English. Behind me was the portal, which was at the base of a rather impressive statue. Wherever this was, it was most likely not a public school.

Or maybe this world just had a better education system.

Concrete sidewalk still smelled and felt like concrete sidewalk, and a freshly mowed lawn of grass still smelled and felt like freshly mowed grass.

There seemed to be a lull in the conversation. "Sunset, is there a flower or something I could look at? Clover?"

Sunset looked at me oddly, before making a noise of appreciation. "There are some bushes near both sides of the school, but I can tell you what you need to know. One, two, thee, five, eight, thirteen-"

"Right, thanks."

Twilight looked at Sunset like she was crazy. "What-"

"He was asking for the Fibonacci sequence. It doesn't exist in Equestria, or at least the significance of it doesn't, due to magical interference in evolutionary traits. Those numbers appear quite frequently in Earth flora."

"And you know this off the top of your head... why?"

Sunset shrugged. "It's a common thing to be taught in high school mathematics. And... well, the plants bothered me a bit when I got here, so when I figured out why, it just kinda... stuck."

"Right, I'm going to head back. You two catch up. As much as I'd love to explore, I don't want to be caught by animal control or anything."

Twilight looked at me oddly.

"I'm still a fox."

Sunset looked at me critically. "I wonder what would happen if you came here after you turned one hundred."

"If. I don't plan to be in Equestria that long."

"Well, you said you would visit home. That does not mean you might eventually return under your own volition. I'm being hypothetical. Would you still turn into the same fox you are now, or would you turn into Tails? I mean, that mutation is technically possible without magic."

"God, I hope not. I attract enough attention just by being a fox. And, you know talking. Now, I'm going to get going before someone with a smartphone starts recording video."

She blinked. "Right. That's a good point. I sure hope none of the videos of my... magical mishap have been taken that seriously by the U.S. Government."

I nodded. "Good luck with that. See you later, if I'm not home before then."

I turned to the portal, and Twilight started to follow me, but I held up a paw. "Twilight, I'm sure there's more you want to talk about now that you don't have a time limit on your head or anything."

"But Celestia-"

"I'll just tell her that you'll turn the thing off when you come back through. I'm sure she'll understand."

I didn't give her any time to argue. I certainly didn't want to risk it much longer, myself. I jumped back through.

The sensations were just as unpleasant, but landing on the other side, I felt the comforting presence of the ball in my tail once more. It just felt... better.

"I see. It was not the same world, was it?"

"No, it wasn't. It was very similar, from fundamentals to technology level. Or at least it looked that way. But the people themselves were slightly different." I put a paw to my chin. "Unless ponies turned human have fundamentally different skin colors..."

Celestia shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. Twilight gave me quite the detailed report when she came back the first time."

I tilted my head. "Why couldn't you have just, like, read that out to me or something?"

She gave a light chuckle. "Believe me, this was faster. Besides, you really needed this. You can now speak proper Equestrian."

Chapter 6: Exchange

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"I'm sorry, Light. Despite the odds, I had hoped that you would find your home today."

"No, it's fine. You, Twilight, and Fluttershy have done nothing but help for the short time you've known me. I wish I had something to offer in return." I looked back across my body at the swirling portal. "Still, I'm at a loss. What is next, other than just wait... years?"

"There is still one other option. We could try to stabilize the prototype."

I nodded. "Right. Twilight mentioned that when we were over there."

"It won't be a sure thing. We will be able to lock down the spell to be more precise, fix the major instabilities, and we may even be able to reduce the time involved, but the more complex the changes are, the more likely it will be that the spell will break down, and lose the current connection. You probably won't be able to return as a human, even in the best scenario."

"Right. Twilight explained why that severed connection would be bad. Still, coming back as a fox is going to seriously suck. At least I can talk, but... I'm less worried about what my family will think, and more of what the government might do when they notice an alien fox."

Celestia looked confused. It was an odd look on her.

"Oh, it might help if I told you that humans are the only sapient species on my planet. Maybe even dimension, though we don't know for sure about that last one."

"Ah. That would be an interesting study. I wonder how differently your culture developed with only one type of being."

I rolled my eyes. "We just created more arbitrary divisions of who was "better." But that doesn't matter right now."

Celestia nodded. "Right. If you want my honest opinion, the most helpful thing you can do right now is to simply... live. Even with our best experts around, it is going to take some time, time that is better spent with others. Getting to know your new body."

She narrowed her eyes at my tail. "And for Faust's sake, get a saddlebag or something. Walking around with your star in your tail is just asking for trouble."

"But-"

"I know your instincts say it's just fine, but how do you think <kitsune> went extinct?"

I dropped my jaw. How does she know Japanese?

She sighed. "Sorry. That wasn't fair to you. I had a few friends... anyway. Perhaps it isn't as much a problem as it was then. Still, I wouldn't do that until you're at least ten times as old as you are now."

No matter. It was not the right time to be asking those questions.

"Right. Good to know."

"Forget about the portal, for now. If anything significant changes, you will be the first to know."

I glanced at the swirling mirror once more, then back at the Princess. "Thank you again. I just wish there was something I could do in return."

Celestia smiled warmly. "It will be enough to me if you live happily. But if that does not satisfy you, I'm sure you will find something."

The conversation felt over now, but it still felt awkward to turn away from Celestia and back up the wooden basement stairs.

And as I stepped out of the library and into the town, I felt a great weight lift off of me, even as an odd feeling of loss settled into my chest. I liked Celestia, but she was certainly different.

My previous plan of moving to Whitetail Woods was now thoroughly shot. Not only was it later than I was expecting, I was also hungry again. It would have been a rather uncomfortable, not to mention dangerous hunt in the Everfree Forest, and it was certainly not the time to learn how to fish, but if I could now speak the same language as all the ponies here, I might just get somewhere.

Most importantly, I could now read signs. The library Twilight lived in was called Golden Oaks. And many other businesses advertised their shops in much the same way. Though why a single store sold quills and sofas, yet nothing else was beyond strange to me.

I didn't exactly have to read anything, though, when I came across a giant gingerbread house. Or at least the building was styled like one. The overpowering smell of sugar in the air probably didn't help dissuade the illusion. It was called "Sugarcube Corner."

It was a place of food. I was hungry. I walked in.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Fox! Need something to eat."

"Shining Light. Sure."

I had decided to keep my mistranslated name. Aside from having to correct the ponies that already had heard it, it fit in rather nicely with the names I had heard the ponies calling themselves. Well, aside from Celestia. And her sister, though I couldn't remember what she had called her.

"Oh, cool! You learned a new language!"

The violently pink pony working the register was quite excitable, it seemed.

"Sure did. What sorts of things do you sell here?"

She grinned brightly. Or rather, her already bright grin somehow managed to intensify. "Anything you can think of to bake, we can make it!" She put a hoof to her chin. "Well, anything where the individual pieces involved are less than four feet wide. Or three feet tall. So many good ideas..."

I blinked. "Okay then, is there anything that you sell a lot of, so you'd have them already cooked and stuff?"

"Of course! We wouldn't be much of a bakery if we didn't, now would we?" She said this in the same, overly cheerful tone. The most disconcerting thing about it was that the cheer didn't actually seem fake.

"Do you have any muffins?"

"Yep! What kind do you need?"

It was at this moment that I realized that I literally had no local currency.

"Oh, wait, never mind."

"Okay, you want something else instead?"

"No, I mean, I completely forgot that I have no money."

She giggled. "That happens to me all the time. It is weird that it happened to a fox, though. No offense."

I had no idea what she was talking about. "Uh... none taken?"

"Tell you what. I give you a couple muffins now, and you help out the Cakes in a mysterious, vague way later. Deal?"

"Um... deal?"

It wasn't that I wouldn't at least try to pay it back later, it was that this random pony thought that I would. Also, the way she worded it was... odd.

"So... what kind of muffins do you want?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Surprise me."

She gasped. "I love surprises, especially when I can give them to others!" The pony started to dash into the back of the store, but stopped suddenly partway. "Oh, how much spicy stuff can you handle? I wouldn't want to give something you might not like."

Wait, aren't we talking about muffins?

"Uh, I guess a little spicy is fine, but I've heard really hot spices can damage your ability to taste things."

She tilted her head. "Huh. I've never had any problems. Oh well." She zipped off again.

Precisely three seconds later, she zipped back with a box.

"Twelve probably random muffins, to go!"

Probably?

Still... "Twelve? If I have to pay you back later..."

She waved a dismissive hoof at me. "Muffins aren't that expensive, Light. I was just making it your money's worth." She giggled. "Or rather, your not-money's worth. Either way, don't worry about it."

I took the box from her with my mouth, and transferred it to my tail, which curled around it.

Now that I thought about it, my tail was approximately the length of my entire body, which was probably not normal for a fox.

"Thank you." I tilted my head. "What was your name again? If you told me, I forgot already."

She started. "Oh! I knew I was forgetting something! My name's Pinkie Pie!" She held out her hoof for me to shake it.

The name certainly fits. I shook the hoof. "Well, see you around?"

Pinkie looked at me more closely. "Oh, are you staying here in Ponyville?"

I shrugged again. "I'm not sure. Maybe?"

She smiled. "Okay then! See you around!"

I walked out of the shop with my prize, and couldn't help but smile at that encounter. Almost all the ponies I had met had been unusually kind, at least by the standards I was used to, but there was a refreshing amount of... well, something approaching calculation with that one.

Pinkie Pie seemed just as friendly as the others, but unlike them, seemed to understand... something, a little better. Well, Princess Celestia definitely understood that it felt good to do good things in exchange for others, even if she didn't want anything particularly, but it wasn't the same.

I wasn't sure if I understood it myself, but somehow, Pinkie's "exchange of favors" was a lot more appealing to me. Now all I had to do was find out what the owners of this store needed, and do something about it.

I laid down on a nearby park bench, opened the box, and picked one out at random.

It was quite tasty, even though I couldn't quite identify the flavor.

There was definitely something strange about me, that was for certain. I had taken all of this well. Too well. I took another casual bite of the muffin, somehow holding it in a single paw, sitting on a bench designed for laying down on, in a body that definitely wasn't mine a month ago, and yet I felt perfectly fine. The fact that I wasn't freaking out about it almost made me freak out, which was stupid.

Perhaps it was more that the last month or so was a figurative hell, and this was just so much better, my brain didn't care what I was, or even where I was.

I picked up another muffin. This one I could understand. It was blueberry. I took a bite.

Oh, and lemon. Nice.

The fact was that I was stuck here. Probably for a long time, even if Celestia could fix the portal. Was it really that bad?

I took another bite of the muffin. No, that was... well, I couldn't say that was never a problem, but once I got out of that forest, my life improved significantly. It all really came down to time, didn't it?

Where is my family right now? Are they worried about me? Are my friends? Do they even care? What about the time thing? Did I get sent so far forward or back in time that it doesn't even matter anymore?

"Hmm... That certainly isn't something you see every day."

I looked over at the source of the voice. A white unicorn stood there, with a purple mane that looked purposefully styled.

"Hello?"

She started. "Oh my. I apologize for my rudeness. My name is Rarity."

"Shining Light."

"Terribly sorry, but have you seen Twilight anywhere? Lavender alicorn, blue mane, somewhat obsessive?"

I nodded. "Last time I saw her, she was on the other side of a portal, catching up with a friend. Not sure when she'll be back, but I don't imagine it'll be that long."

Rarity frowned. "She went to the Crystal Empire?"

"I don't know where that is, but she has the portal thing in her basement."

"Ah. While that makes more sense, it is quite unlike her to not keep her appointments."

I packed up the rest of the muffins, putting the box back into my tail, and hopped off the bench. "I believe that was my fault."

She waved a dismissive hoof. "It was no real issue. An oddity rather than a problem. We still had plenty of fun at the picnic, despite Twilight's absence. Still, I'm sure you have places to get to. I won't take much more of your time."

"Right."

Where am I going next, anyway? Oh, right.

"Rarity?"

"Hmm?"

"You wouldn't happen to know a tailor, would you?"

Chapter 7: Friends

There were so many friendly people here, I was almost suspicious. I needed to find a library? I found one. And not only did I find one, but I found the one pony that could help me when it turned out the books were in a language I couldn't read.

Oh, and my "translator" happened to be in the same building when I needed her.

I didn't have any bits? The pony selling food was just fine with accepting favors instead.

And now that I needed a backpack? For a species that literally was extinct? I run into a pony that specializes in custom tailoring.

Granted, it was hard to talk her down from making it just as flashy and noticeable as the orb itself, but...

"Rarity, I need to have this be functional, not beautiful. I admit that your designs do look nice, but I'm not looking for attention."

"But... your fur! The pattern! I've never worked with a three-toned coat before. Or a fox, for that matter. You are unique! All I want to do is enhance your natural qualities. Is that too much to ask?"

She had completely latched onto the idea of making something for me before I could even propose an exchange, and when I did let her know that I did not yet have money, she instantly dismissed the whole idea, saying it was a gift. And that I can forget paying her back.

Yeah, like I'm not going to do something nice for you later.

"And this jewel! I've never seen anything like it. It needs to be the centerpiece, not hidden away in some pocket!" She lifted it with her magic, admiring its surface.

I jumped up in a flash and snatched it out of the air with my mouth.

The various papers, needles, and bolts of cloth that were suspended in her grip froze in midair.

I put the ball back in my tail.

"That's why I need the backpack."

"I don't... understand."

"If someone steals that, I could die."

A literal pin dropped.

"But... but Equestria isn't like that. It might have been like that... years and years ago, but any crime is a newsworthy event!"

"Would you risk that?"

"I..."

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Princess Celestia was the one that lectured me about it."

She sighed. "I'm sorry. What did you have in mind?"

Since I was a fox, it was more of a vest with many pockets rather than a backpack how I was used to it. At first, she had designed it very similarly to the saddlebags that many of the ponies carried around everywhere, but after my brief romp through the forest, I had realized just how silently I could move. If I was going to return there again, I needed to be able to retain that silence.

Once Rarity understood what I needed and why I needed it, she was a practical fountain of good ideas. Making each pocket specially for a single purpose, so that nothing moved around was her idea, as well as a bit (that was their currency) pouch that was both elastic and filled with loose cotton, so that not only would they not move around much, but the almost inevitable clinking would be gone. Surprisingly, the dark forest green was her idea, as it would make me less noticeable in the Everfree. I wholeheartedly agreed, even though I had no intention of going back near those wolves any time soon. It helped that she had managed to make it look great with my fur.

At the end of it all, I had some specialized pockets for books, bits, my orb, and a few of various sizes for miscellaneous objects I might need to carry, but when I thought we were finished, she insisted that it wasn't "done."

I didn't exactly own that much, and she knew that. So she told me to come back for more of the custom work later. Anything that I needed to use often, or didn't fit particularly well in the existing pockets was fair game.

For free, she said.

Still, for as annoying as her insistence on giving me stuff was, I liked her. She was creative, in a practical sense. And feeling the new... vest thing, I could easily respect her talents.

Unfortunately, I didn't know how to pay her back yet. I didn't know enough about Rarity personally in order to pay her back like a friend. And I didn't know enough about myself yet to pay her back like a stranger. I was a fox with magic, but didn't know a lick about magic, and if I wanted to be able to help people again, I needed to learn.

But if my new species has been extinct for that long, who would know..?

Oh, right. Celestia. The only one that called me <kitsune.> And I left her at the library and told her that Twilight had things handled. She's probably gone.

I yawned, reminding me suddenly of the time. The sun had almost set.

Wow, that took longer than I thought it would. Now I definitely won't make it to Whitetail Woods on time.

Well, I could probably stay up a little late, but I didn't know exactly how far down the river it was, and if it went through the Everfree first, and then went to another, separate forest, it probably wasn't particularly close.

Fluttershy had offered me a place to stay, but at the same time, Twilight had books. Books I could read now. And honestly, this town wasn't that dangerous. I could probably just sleep outside if need be.

Rather than going directly there, though, I took my time. This town, "Ponyville," or really, any town was different near sunset. Ponies still walked the streets, but there was a certain stillness that was hard to come by back home, except for perhaps the smallest towns I had been in.

But the real reason was that here, I could see the horizon. One of the things I had noticed earlier on, when I was still human and living in the castle, was that the moon worked very differently than Earth. It seemed to orbit at the same rate as the planet rotated, in the opposite direction.

Also, the sky always darkened and lightened very rapidly. The colors of sunset and sunrise appeared to be the same, so the atmosphere wasn't that different, but there was a good chance that the star itself was smaller.

It was still yellow, though, which was strange.

Still, I had never gotten a chance to view the actual rising and setting while I was in the forest. There hadn't been a clearing large enough.

The sun suddenly moved beyond the horizon, and the moon took its place.

Wait, what?

What I had just seen was patently impossible. Completely disregarding the moon, which was even bigger than Earth's, the sudden rotation of the Earth should have launched me sideways at a ludicrous speed, as well as everything else on the planet.

The only possible explanation would be if the sun was somehow...

Oh, uh...

I remembered Celestia's comment about "borrowing" the sun's power. And called the sun a "him."

Well, this certainly meant we were talking about actual dimensions, rather than just a very far-off planet.

Still, this blatant demonstration of just how different things were was rather dizzying.

I started to walk back to the library, a little faster this time.

The lights were still on, so I barked once, then entered.

"Ryan!"

"Shining Light is fine. Fits better with all the other names I hear."

"Oh!" Twilight blinked. "You speak Eqquish now."

"You can thank the better portal for that. I'm just glad it didn't take away my ability to speak English. Princess Celestia says that the more they add to the one in the castle, the more likely it won't work."

Twilight nodded. "Right. So, was there anything in particular you needed?"

I gestured around me. "This is a public library, right?"

"Yes. Well, it is past closing time, but friends are always an exception. Was there anything in particular you were looking for? Chances are, I'd be able to find it quicker."

"Well, the first thing I think you'd just be able to tell me. Does Princess Celestia and her sister influence the trajectories of the Sun and Moon?"

Twilight tilted her head. "I thought you already asked Celestia about that."

"I had meant something different at the time, but yeah. Thank you for confirming that."

"Who raises the Sun and Moon on your world?"

I looked at her oddly. "I thought you spent a lot of time on the other side of the mirror. Studied the world, that sort of thing."

She flushed. "Well, I didn't really have that much time for research, though I did write down all I could remember from my experiences. But since the worlds are paralleled, I just assumed their versions of Celestia and Luna had the job."

I put my paw over my face. "It doesn't work that way. Nobody raises the sun or moon. Look, it would take too long to explain, but apparently, the fundamental forces of our worlds are different. If you have time to do research over there, just look up <<orbital mechanics.>>"

"But if nopony-"

"Just trust me for now, look up the details later. Anyway, do you have any books that might talk about <kitsune?> Without knowing what my magic does, I'm just a fox that can talk."

"Why do you use the human term for sacred fox?"

I shrugged. "Celestia used it earlier."

Twilight's face fell. "Oh. Celestia was the pony that told me about them. I guess she just told me the colloquial term rather than their real name. And since the only other ponies that knew about them, like the Apples or Pies, called them that..."

"Don't worry about it, Twilight. Languages change over time. Over where I come from, <kitsune> is not only in a different language than my own, it literally just means 'fox.' I like it better, since I can differentiate myself from a normal fox, and I'm used to it, but I'm not going to get offended if you don't."

"Still..."

"I'm guessing this means that there aren't any books that describe them?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Not any that I have read, at least. It is true that I haven't read Spelle's Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures cover to cover, but no books have mentioned them in any major capacity."

My ears perked up. "Where's that one? Even a short blurb might give me a clue."

Twilight sighed. "Canterlot Royal Archives. It's a twenty-four volume piece."

"Right."

"Sorry I couldn't be more help. I was a unicorn before I got these wings, and magic was a huge part of my life, even before I came to Ponyville. I can't imagine just... not having it."

She smiled. "Still, if it helps any, most beginner's magic for any species is instinctual. The only difficulty in your case is knowing what sort of magic that will manifest as. Some magic requires a bit of effort to start, like a unicorn foal learning to levitate objects for the first time. Some magic is completely automatic, like an earth pony's natural strength, but can be refined to do more than simple kicking. And some pegasus magic is a mix of both. Dragonfire is more affected by emotion than technique. But without knowing what you are trying to do, it might take a while to stumble across the correct trigger.

"Still, if Celestia knew about your name, maybe she knows more than that."

I nodded. "Yeah, she does." I stopped there. I didn't know how much of that conversation was something she exactly wanted public. It was one of the only times I had seen emotion on her face, at least not that... unrestrained.

"All right, then. I'll simply ask Spike to send her a letter in the morning."

I yawned. "Yeah, that seems like a good idea."

Twilight looked at me more closely. "Hey, do you need a place to sleep tonight? I have a spare bed I can set out if you want."

I just shrugged. "Sure, that would be great. Fluttershy offered me a place to sleep, but it would be nice not to have to walk any more tonight."

"By the way, those are nice... uh, saddlebags?"

"Thanks. Rarity made them. You're friends with her, right?"

She smiled, walking up the stairs slow enough for me to follow her easily. "Yeah. You get along well with her?"

I laughed. It sounded odd. "I had to talk her down from a few things, but I definitely respect her art."

"I meant the pony."

"That's just the thing. I can't really explain it, but every pony I've met has been nice. Like, unusually nice. I'd be suspicious, but your facial structure is familiar enough to me where I don't think anyone is actually faking it."

Twilight frowned slightly, opening a closet and taking out a bedframe.

I backpedaled. "That wasn't meant as an insult or anything. I was just surprised."

"No, that's not it. I just don't want you to be taken advantage of later. Not everypony is like that. Ponyville tends to have a lot of friendly ponies. It's a small town. If somepony starts to act up, everypony instantly notices. Most actually unfriendly ponies don't like to live here. But every species has its bad eggs."

"Right. I suppose it makes sense. Ponyville isn't a good representative group."

She smiled. "Exactly! Now, many ponies would argue that most of history's greatest threats came from outside Equestria, and that says something about us, but... I argue that it's more of a result of Celestia's good ruling. Oh, and Luna, too, now that she's a bit more caught up." She took a mattress out of the same closet, tossing it onto the frame with her magic.

"...You think about this a lot?"

"More now that I became a Princess myself, but that doesn't matter much. We need to get to bed soon, or you're going to have me talking all night." A quick flourish with her magic, and the blanket spread out evenly over the surface of the bed.

"All right, all right." I nosed myself under the sheets and curled up in a way that felt comfortable. "Good night, Twilight. I'm glad I got to meet you."

Twilight smiled. "Good night, Shining Light."

Chapter 8: Dreams

I was back in my apartment.

I ripped the blanket off, and sprang to my feet.

I felt great, but heavily disconcerted. That had to have been the most realistic and painful dream I had ever experienced. And the longest, too. I've certainly had some weird, super-realistic dreams before, but this one took the cake.

It didn't fade away, either, as I got out of my nightclothes and dressed for the day. Was it a vision or something? Did it mean something that my subconscious want me to know?

I walked over to my little kitchen and got out a frying pan to make some eggs. I had heard some interesting things about dreams, and what your brain could do with memory. For example, every background face in a dream was someone you had seen before, even if you didn't have any recollection of the actual event.

Still, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. I had never gone hungry before. In all cases, that should have been a new experience. At the same time, it was easier to believe that I had dreamt the last month rather than I had actually traveled to another world. Actually became an unaging fox yokai from Japanese mythology.

I put a little onion powder and salt into the eggs.

I pulled out my phone and checked the date. Saturday. No work today, which was good. That doozy of a dream completely messed with my internal clock.

I turned off the burner and scooped the eggs into a bowl. I opened the silverware drawer, and got a spoon.

I took a bite, then meandered over to the small three-person dining table. The eggs were good. Nothing too special. I didn't feel like doing anything fancy this morning. But good.

"Impressive."

I looked up, and blinked a few times. Hovering above my table was some... somepony.

What's going on?

She was a dark blue, and her hair was full of stars. More than that, her presence was very noticeable, in the way that makes it hard to dismiss as a lack of sleep or delusion.

"I... I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are. Quite intricately, I might add. Is this what your home was like?"

I dropped the spoon. It clattered very solidly with the glass bowl. "Yes. This was where I lived. You really are here, aren't you? Not just part of my imagination?"

"I am really here, yes. Your dream looked... odd, and I had to make sure it wasn't anything dangerous."

"Is it?"

She smiled. "No, no. It simply has been too long since I've met another Dreamwalker."

"Dream walker? What do you mean? Like how you are showing up in my dream?"

"Yes. The clarity of your dream is a clear indication that you have the ability. If perhaps not the knowledge. Were you not able to do so before your transformation? From what I have heard, such things do not change your spirit."

"No, the world I lived on did not have magic at all. Maybe I had a few lucid dreams, but nothing more than that."

The alicorn, which I was almost certain was Celestia's sister, Luna, nodded decisively. "Right. It is reassuring to know that you had some ability, even if the world you lived in was not suited for your skills. Come with me for a moment."

A hole appeared in the middle of my apartment. I couldn't see through it - it was a brilliant white. But somehow, I knew it was a hole. Luna stepped through it. And after a moment's indecision, I followed.

It looked as if I had stepped into the depths of space, if space was more... blue. The hole behind us blinked out of existence. Still, it felt more as if the hole filled up rather than just closed.

Luna looked at me expectantly.

"Why is it so blue?"

She frowned. "Normally ponies are much more impressed. Are you sure you haven't been here before?"

"No, I'm sure. It does look beautiful. It just looks so much like space, that the difference was particularly noticeable."

"Space? I don't think I understand. Space is the in-between where air resides, is it not? It is true that the Dreamscape is the in-between for the mind, but that is not something that I had perceived just by looking at it."

I put a paw to my face. "I'm sorry. I don't even know how your world works, if the sun and moon are so different. 'Space' has another definition where I'm from, and it means the area beyond our planet's atmosphere, where there is a total vacuum, and nothing that hinders us from seeing the stars."

"Your kind can go past the stars? I thought you said they had no magic?"

"Past the-" I gasped. "Your stars are really close? But... right, your Sun is a lot different, too."

"What do you mean?"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Princess. It would take a lot of time to explain. Our worlds work very differently. I could probably answer a lot of your questions, but we would quickly get into areas I know little about. Just trust me that I have seen similar sights to this one, impressive as it is. It is rather different being surrounded by it, rather than seeing photos."

I suddenly realized that I had reverted to a fox.

Luna noticed my surprise. "This is the in-between. No illusions or fabrications are allowed here. If it were not so, nightmares would be able to make my job significantly more difficult."

"Ah." I sighed. "Well, I suppose it's for the best. If I won't be able to be a human again in real life, staying as one in my head probably would hurt more than it would help."

"Not necessarily. All <kitsune> I have met personally have had limited shapeshifting ability. And even if you prove untalented in that area, all have talent with illusions."

My ears perked up. "Wait, you know about fox magic? Is there anything else you can tell me about it?"

"It doesn't work quite the same as unicorn magic, so other than walking with you in a dream, I cannot teach you properly. I can tell you that you should start with illusory fire. It is the most common among the foxes I knew, and from what I understood, it is as simple as levitation for a unicorn."

"Interesting."

"Certainly. It is also the only kind of fire magic I'd trust not to harm my own ponies in a battle. Though for us, it takes quite a bit of skill."

I blinked. "Wait, so it's combat magic? Not, like, intimidation or something?"

"No. Many called it fox-fire, due to its strange properties, but it was eventually reproduced by unicorns as well. It seems that <kitsune> have a particular talent for making illusions feel real."

The world around me started to waver.

Light?

"I think I might be waking up."

Luna made an annoyed noise, but nodded. "I had hoped to show you more of your gift, but it appears we have run out of time. Time is so inconsistent when one is asleep."

Light!

I could barely make out shapes anymore. "Thank you anyway!"

I woke up.

"Light! What are you doing down there?"

I looked up, and instantly hit my head on something solid.

Ah. The underside of a bed.

...Why am I under the bed?

"Um... I have no idea."

It felt good.

My seeming unconscious desire to be in small spaces would have to wait. It was breakfast time, and I wasn't going to take advantage of her anymore. (Though I did use her fridge to store my muffins.)

If I really wanted to, I could probably have gotten away with a muffin breakfast, but the only thing I had eaten yesterday were two muffins. While filling... I probably needed something more substantial.

Like fish.

I waved at a few ponies who were outgoing enough to greet me on the street, but I didn't stay to chat. I wasn't ravenous, but I had learned very early on that while hunting, you are always going to be out at least two hours longer than you'd like. And I didn't even know how to fish.

Okay, like, I knew how to fish with a pole. But most animals that ate fish, fished just fine without one, and I highly doubted that ponies would fish just for sport.

The river itself was actually quite promising. Not only did Fluttershy think there would be fish there (and I was inclined to trust her), but the river itself was quite large.

Now that I was actually looking closely, I could actually see a few every once in a while. The only difficulty was getting the fish without, you know, being swept away and drowned.

I mean, I was probably in better shape than if I had been a human, since I couldn't swim at all before, but I had a feeling that a slightly-more-efficient doggy paddle wouldn't exactly do me much good.

Why am I doing this again?

Right, right. Food.

...And because I would much rather not depend on Fluttershy's kindness.

My paw shot out at a fish. It was a lot faster than I was honestly expecting it to, but I still managed to miss. The second try probably hit it, actually, but it was hard to tell, because the fish swam away like nothing was wrong.

Right. Not having fingers is actually a problem here. How exactly do bears do this, then? I looked down. Yes, I technically had claws. They weren't exactly the long, retractable claws designed for catching things, though. That's what my teeth were for.

The problem was that I had to be fast, and being fast at shoving your head in a river meant the rest of you was fast at being shoved in a river.

Maybe an underhand thing? Or rather, underpaw.

"You're really bad at this, aren't you?"

I looked around. Behind me, floating to the right, was another winged pony - a pegasus. She was light blue, and had the most singularly impressive multicolored mane I had seen yet from the ponies. Maybe she was part tropical bird?

"Yeah, I really don't know how to fish without a fishing pole." I grimaced. "To be honest, I'm not all that great at that, either."

She looked at me oddly. "Fishing pole? Well, Fluttershy did say you weren't exactly the normal foxes she talks with. And um... like... I can understand you and everything. But yeah. You aren't the worst pony I've seen try and fish - you got the speed down better than most pegasi. But you got the angle all wrong."

She hovered over to the center of the river, looking down intently for a few seconds, before lashing out with a hoof and batting a sizable one up into the air and over to the riverbank.

"See? Easy as pie."

"I can't fly."

"Oh, right. Not exactly used to ponies other than pegasi being that interested. Well, it's more or less the same thing, but, um..." She looked at the river, then back at me a few times. "Maybe try to aim for the opposite bank? No, that's kinda far. Uh, I guess the only way I can think of is if you are really fast, and cup your... paw, underneath, and then hit it out of the water." She nodded to herself. "Yeah. That seems like it would work."

So, basically what I was about to try before she showed up. Still, she tried.

"Thanks. What's your name?"

She gasped. "You don't know my name? What, you live under a rock?"

"Um, no, but I lived in the forest. I just got here."

She put a hoof to her face. "Right, yeah. That makes sense. Anyway!" She flapped her wings suddenly and forcefully, corkscrewing into the air with a flourish. "The name's Rainbow Dash! Soon to be a household name throughout Equestria!"

If it's "soon to be," why did she expect me to know it already?

Still, despite her obvious grandstanding, she wasn't nearly as annoying as someone like her would normally make me feel. Her smirk was not the "I'm better than everyone else" that I would have expected, but seemed more of a... persona.

It probably helped that she told me she was friends with Fluttershy, if I were to be completely honest with myself. Usually, the people that bragged the most had the least talent, but if Fluttershy liked her...

I mean, that aerial flourish was impressive to me, but I wasn't a pegasus.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Shining Light."

"No relation to Twilight's brother, obviously."

"Is he a fox?"

She grinned. "No. If he was?"

"Still no."

Rainbow laughed. "I like you. Anyway, I'll leave you to fishing. If I leave the weather work past lunch again, Mayor Mare will have a fit. Good luck fishing!

"Oh, and keep the one I got out for ya. Think of it as a 'welcome to Ponyville' present."

She zipped off.

Okay, so that was a bit more impressive.

Huh. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen her actually land.

I picked up the fish in my mouth and started walking back towards the library.

Chapter 9: Fire

"What are you doing? This is a library!"

"What?" It came out muffled, as I had to talk around the rather large fish.

The book that Twilight was reading flew back to the shelf without her even looking at it. "'What?' That thing smells–" She cut herself off. "Okay, not as bad as it usually does, but still! There are books around here! Not everypony is a pegasus. Or uh, a fox."

She put a hoof to her head. "Sorry, I'm used to giving this lecture to Rainbow Dash."

I stepped back, closer to the exit, then tossed it through the open door. "Oh. Sorry about that. I was just going to see if I could use your kitchen. I can eat it outside or something, but I always feel better eating things cooked."

Twilight's ears drooped. "Oh. I forgot you don't actually have a place of your own."

"Don't worry about it. I was just going to check out the woods that Fluttershy recommended to me. White Tail Woods?"

"Wouldn't you want to find a place here in Ponyville? I uh... I thought you had already found a few friends. I thought we..."

My heart skipped a beat. "Wait, Twilight. That's not what I meant. I'm not trying to... cut off ties or anything. But White Tail Woods can't be that far away, can it?"

"But Light, if you're willing to go back to living in the wilderness just to–"

I dragged a paw across my snout. "No. I just can't stand having a debt over my head. And certainly not increasing the one I already have."

She opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off. "I don't care whether you consider there to be one or not. I'm not saying that I hate gifts, but it's nauseating to always be helped, and yet have nothing I can do in return. Last night, I found a glimmer of hope that I can do something for everyone, but it's just that. A glimmer. I need to learn more, and I can't start by taking more from you, or anyone in Ponyville."

Twilight's mouth hardened, and I could tell that she still wanted to argue, but she let out the breath she was holding a few moments later. "All right. Just promise me that you'll come back, okay? I'm sure it's not just me that wants to be your friend."

"I promise."

I walked back out the door, picking up the fish on my way and shutting it with my tail.

I knew, of course, that I was right in my decision. But something about her expression just made me feel wrong. Staying, though, would only feel worse.

It would only be a short time, I told myself. And I have to come back anyway. I don't want to miss something happening with the portal.

I took a deep breath. I needed to figure out more about my new magic, anyway. And I didn't think fire magic would be a good idea to practice in a wooden house. Or really, anywhere near Ponyville.

Luna said it was an illusion, but she also said it burned things for real.

And that's if I even figure out what I'm supposed to do to begin with.

As soon as I got back to the river, I started to brainstorm.

And gnaw on the fish a bit. It tasted good.

According to Twilight, beginner's magic was instinctual. Luna said that it was fire. Or at least it was so common that it was a solid bet.

I also had a fairly good idea of where my magic was. Celestia flat out looked at my ball when she said that I stored it somewhere else.

Even with it tucked away in a pocket, it was still in the back of my mind, and without even looking, I knew exactly where it was, and I could already feel the warm power it seemed to hold.

The problem was that I had no idea about anything except the vague concept of fire. I didn't know if it was the "set things on fire with your mind" kind, or the D&D-style fireball kind. Luna said it only hurt who you wanted it to, which was a reassuring thought, but she didn't say anything about things that might be caught on fire.

I knew where my power was, but if I didn't know where to focus it, it was useless.

Still, Twilight said it should be instinctual, just like my weirdly clear dreams were.

Combat spells probably went off of a fear instinct. So maybe if I saw a timberwolf or something, that would help.

Okay, maybe not a real one. I didn't want to risk there being another pack that didn't agree to the two day truce thing. Or set one on fire if they did agree.

Maybe anger would work. That was a common thing to represent fire.

I picked a rock next to the river and decided it would be the object of my ire. It was quite obviously ugly. Too smooth to be a proper tool, yet completely awful for skipping. Just utterly useless.

It failed to burst into flame.

Perhaps I wasn't trying hard enough. This rock obviously was the entire reason I stayed too long and got stuck on the wrong side of the mirror. This was the reason I didn't have enough food. Why I got stuck as a fox, and the reason the portal was faulty.

"Hey, Light?"

"Rainbow?"

"I'm sure that rock is super important, but your tail is kinda on fire."

I whipped around. Sure enough, it was. Well, not really. There was a fire there, but it was hovering in a vaguely ball-like shape about a centimeter above the tip.

And apparently, my tail curves upward when I'm tense.

Oh, and the fire is white for some reason. I thought making an illusion of fire would look a bit more like normal fire, but apparently not.

"Oh, right." Sure enough, I could feel the power going through my tail. Not exactly what I was expecting, but sure.

I flicked my tail at the rock, and sure enough, the ball flew to strike it.

And the rock was now on fire. That weird, white fire. Fox-fire, Luna had called it. Maybe the weird color was the reason for the new name to be even necessary.

Oh, and the fact that a rock caught on fire.

It wasn't like the fire was being burned as fuel or anything. Though I was getting slowly but steadily more tired. That was a problem.

I cut off the flow of power, and the fire went out.

"Okay, that's officially awesome."

"Thanks." I smiled. "And thanks for, you know, telling me about it. I had no idea it would come from my tail."

"Don't mention it." She giggled. "Though I suspect you won't want to mention it to anypony, anyway."

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, this is my first time trying magic, but still."

Rainbow laughed again. "I think everypony has one of those stories. At least you hit the rock. Twilight's brother - you know, the other Shining - let me watch some of his training sessions with the other Guards. I swear, lotsa those guys couldn't hit the broad side of a cumulonimbus."

I nodded. "Ah, yeah. But it probably helps that this fire stuff is supposed to be instinct for me."

"Not every pegasus starts flying instantly."

"I also had Twilight giving me advice."

"Eh, I suppose you have a point. She's awful at flying, though."

I looked at the hovering Rainbow Dash critically. "I thought you had weather stuff to do or something."

She shrugged. "Finished it already. I just had to get it in before my nap. So... what are you doing? Other than getting angry at rocks, that is." She gestured down. "I see you already ate."

"Thanks for that, by the way. Well, I was planning on finding White Tail Woods. Find a place to stay, that sort of thing. I don't like mooching off people all the time."

"Ah, I get you. Still, White Tail is a fairly long walk. I mean, it's great for camping and stuff, but... yeah." She put a hoof to her chin. "Do foxes make dens or something?"

I shrugged awkwardly. "I mean, I woke up underneath Twilight's spare bed, so digging and small spaces probably has something to do with it, but I honestly have no idea."

"Okay, so I have an idea. So, uh, my house is made from clouds. And uh, clouds aren't free, per se, but they're pretty darn inexpensive."

"I can't live on clouds."

She groaned. "I know that, dude. I have a point, I'm just using this as... what do you call it?"

"A metaphor."

"Yeah, that. Well, for my cloud house, I don't actually have to pay for the land, as long as I keep it floating away from the town. On, like, land nopony owns. I actually think nopony is allowed to own stuff so close to the town. But as long as you don't, like, mess up nature or something, you can live there."

"Like Fluttershy's place?"

She grinned. "Yeah! Exactly like that. They just don't want you to build huge stuff that makes the animals move away. And since you kinda are one, I don't think you'll have problems."

"So, uh... where are the city limits, then? I don't really want to live this close to the forest with wolves that want to kill me."

She shrugged. "I dunno. They have all sorts of maps and stuff in Town Hall. I only pay attention to the bits that I have to keep my house from drifting onto."

"Thanks!" I looked back down the river. "I'm still probably going to check out the woods, though. I want to see if I can find anything edible in there. Fish is great, but just fish and muffins is going to get pretty boring."

She looked at me oddly. "Uh... the market's every day at noon."

"And I have no bits."

She put a hoof to her face. "Ahhh, right. Well, there's always somepony with an odd job to do. Like, the Apples always could use extra help on their farm. But yeah, I can see where you're coming from. How did you survive in the Everfree?"

Right, she talked with Fluttershy.

"I only recently became aware that other creatures were sapient."

"Sapi-what?"

"Could think and stuff. Unlike fish."

She winced. "Ah. I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do. But, uh, just to let you know, not every animal is like that. I've heard from my... uh... well, my old griffon friend that only Equestria makes animals intelligent and stuff. Something with magic, or harmony or something. I dunno about all that egghead stuff."

"Well, at least I can eat fish without feeling too guilty."

Rainbow chuckled. "You can say that again. I just get way tired when I don't. I can't understand how other pegasi can manage without it."

Huh. Interesting.

"Well, see you later. Good luck with the food, and that fire stuff. Once you get something impressive, I want to see it, you hear? If it's good enough, I'll totally do a Sonic Rainboom for you."

I had no idea what that was, but I brushed it off anyway and waved. "Thanks. See you later!"

She zipped off.

I looked at the remains of my fish, which was mostly eaten, but still had a bit of good stuff attached to it. I looked at my tail, which was no longer was flaming, but still had the potential.

I wonder...

Chapter 10: Journey

As it turned out, my flame could indeed cook things.

The problem was that it was just as exhausting as when I was setting that rock on fire. When it was just on my tail, it didn't seem to take all that much energy, but all I managed to do was slightly heat the fish before immediately cutting things off.

Eh, it still tastes good raw.

It was a bit weird, going back to eating raw meat after something as ordinary as muffins. (Though the muffins themselves were anything but ordinary, in terms of flavor.)

Still, sushi was a thing back home, even if I had never eaten any. But I had a sneaking suspicion that being a fox was a big factor in it tasting this good raw.

I tossed the remains of the fish in the stream.

I shivered involuntarily, and a light from behind me spooked me for a second.

I put my tail out.

Aliens existed. I lived among them.

I was an alien, and also alone in being one.

My tastes had changed. I shot fire from my tail. My brain was quite obviously modified. What else had changed? How much of me was Ryan, and how much was the fox?

I started to walk along the river once more, now quite conscious of the feeling of my new paws against the grass and rocks. My odd gait. Even the sensations of my ears and tail. My tongue against my teeth.

The smells around me had never been this sharp, either. I wasn't even sure how to describe them, other than "river," "wet grass," "raw fish," or "apples."

Wait, apples?

I looked up from the riverbank. I hadn't even noticed the trees that now surrounded me. They were spaced rather far apart compared with the Everfree. And, as my nose had deduced, they had apples hanging from them.

Huh, interesting. Looks like an orchard.

Well, I probably shouldn't pick any of them, then. As good as they smelled.

Though, given my new nose, that probably didn't mean much.

I don't think I've actually seen a wild apple tree though. Like, ever. Only pictures of them. In orchards.

I looked back at the river, and picked up my pace again. Even if Fluttershy was wrong about her directions, I was sorta fluffy. Even after waking up on Twilight's hard wooden floor, I wasn't exactly uncomfortable. As long as I was away from the Everfree, I'd be fine.

I looked to said forest, still visible on my left. I shuddered. I had no desire to go back in there. Only the promise of a portal back home made me even consider thinking about returning.

And that's even before the timberwolf threat. They were the entire reason I was stuck as a fox.

Okay, that wasn't entirely true. If I understood it correctly, things might have been worse if they hadn't done something. And being a fox wasn't awful. But I was getting increasingly suspicious at how my body just did things on its own. Had muscle memory that worked perfectly with an entirely different skeleton.

And even though my inner seven-year-old skipped with glee at the revelation, it seemed... odd that something like magic would exist without some sort of horrible price.

Well, okay, there actually was a horrible price for me. I had an Achilles' Heel of the highest degree. Which was another reason I shouldn't be taking this well, from a logical perspective.

Still, my seven-year-old insisted that white flames were awesome, and I should quit whining about it.

I could die, though.

That's even if I can trust all these overly friendly ponies.

"Howdy!"

I blinked rapidly.

Okay, of all the things I might have expected to find in an alien world, that accent is certainly not one of them.

It wasn't even English being spoken, either. It was the strange lyrical language of the ponies, in a Southern accent. Which made it just that much more bizarre.

But I shook those thoughts out of my head and turned to greet the new pony. An orange "earth" pony with blonde hair and a honest-to-goodness Stetson. I tried my best to hide my surprise and not to just gape awkwardly.

"Hi. Is this your orchard?"

She smiled with clear pride. "Sure is. What brings you to this here neck of the woods?"

I pointed with a paw. "Just following the river. A pegasus named Fluttershy told me that it leads to Whitetail Woods."

"She'd be right. It's a ways, but it's a good bit safer than the Everfree, I can tell you that."

"Thanks. I trust Fluttershy, but it's nice to be sure."

She nodded. "So, you have a name?"

"Uh... Shining Light."

"Name's Applejack. But really. If you didn't want to tell me, just say so."

I looked at her again, making sure I heard her correctly. Her deadpan expression remained the same.

"Fox, I can read your face. That's a pretty good pony name, but you ain't a pony."

"Oh." It was certainly not the welcome I was used to with the other ponies, but she didn't seem quite hostile, either. Just exasperated. "My name is Ryan."

She smiled. "That's better. I hope we can eventually be friends."

"Shining Light is what Ryan translates to, according to Fluttershy."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "I've spent enough time around Twi to know that translations always lose somethin'. Names ain't about that anyhow. Only time it's good to make a new one is if ponies can't say it right. But I can say 'Ryan' just fine."

I rubbed the back of my head with a paw. "Right. I don't know why I didn't just correct every pony back when it was just two."

"Well, I'm sure I've taken quite enough of your time. Feel free to stop by anytime." Her eyes flicked back. "Uh, well, maybe it would be better to have some advance notice. Give me time to tie up Winona, that sort of thing."

She looked at me nervously. "Actually, I probably should do that now before things go sideways."

Applejack ran off, leaving me completely befuddled next to the stream.

The rest of my walk through the orchard was quite pleasant, after I shook off my confusion. I didn't grow up next to any farms, but it was nice to have a very Earth-like scene, if I couldn't have the real one. Something that I could recognize that wasn't plucked straight from a storybook.

Maybe I should have asked Applejack for one of the apples.

No, no, I still didn't know what I could do to even help anyone. I mean, I could look at dreams, hypothetically. And I could make fire. Both of which were objectively cool, but of questionable usefulness.

But maybe a single apple would have been okay.

It's too late now anyway.

And the orchard was already coming to an end. So was the river.

At least the part of the river I was willing to follow.

Really, the part of the Everfree on this side didn't look too bad, and it didn't have half the menacing air of the southern part, but I wasn't exactly going to risk it.

Besides, there was a dirt path that lead around it, so ponies obviously had the same idea.

Or maybe it was just the path from the town, and it had nothing to do with following the river. It was handy regardless. It didn't feel as good as grass on my paws, though.

I wish Fluttershy gave me more specific directions.

Or I brought something to do.

Not sure exactly what I would have brought to do, but absently looking at clouds had already lost its charm. I had gone hiking before, but at least then I had a walking stick to play with mindlessly.

I did have a tail that shot fire, though.

Thank goodness being magically tired was, like, on a separate system than physically being exhausted, otherwise I don't think I would have been able to finish my little trip.

Sure, I had gotten a lot more physically fit during my hell of a stay in that castle, and I think that even translated to my new body, but that was something very different from this slow but constant physical activity.

Or maybe foxes just weren't built for walking this far.

The path had quickly run off in the wrong direction, so I found a railroad that hugged the edge of the forest more closely.

Not too closely, though.

The rails themselves were rather shiny, though, so it was clearly still in use. As entertaining as it might have been to walk on them, I was staying far away.

I was vindicated, too. No less than two trains went past in the hour or so I followed the track.

It was only after the second train and probably an entire mile of track that I actually realized what that meant. This society already had steam power. And they still had thatched roofs.

Eh, magic probably made things easier in general.

But the tracks went over the river. So I continued my trek alongside it once more.

It did give me a great view of the mountains, but this was the longest and most boring part of my trek yet.

I did learn that my flame could burn on water, though. Which kinda made sense, since it worked on rocks.

Still, I ran out of magic power before I even got halfway there, which probably contributed to the extra boredom. It was nice to be rid of the shadow of the Everfree completely.

My plans of just 'casually visiting Ponyville' tomorrow were shot, though, that's for sure. I could see the forest in the distance now, but based on the position of the sun, it took almost half the day just to get here.

Oh, and my legs hurt like hell. That was also a thing.

Still, as I came close, I could see that as forests went, this was well worth the trip. It was a lot closer to what I grew up with. Sure, there was the odd plant that looked just a bit off, but Sunset said that was just a magic thing, not necessarily a "dangerous forest" thing.

Even my new sense of smell told me it was better. Which was freaky in its own right, but reassuring in another.

Still, I probably should stay near the river for tonight. Even if it takes me a while to figure out a way to fish, it's guaranteed food and water.

Shelter probably was the most important thing to get done tonight. As strange as it would be to dig like a dog.

Fox. Whatever.

Maybe I should look for a hill or something. Make a Hobbit-house. That would be fun, but probably not very good-looking unless I suddenly gained the ability to chop down trees and make them into planks.

Still a better plan than just digging a hole and curling up in it.

Eh, I'll deal with it later. There's still plenty of daylight left. I wonder if there are any berries worth eating here.

Chapter 11: Fox

Fluttershy was right. As strange as it was to me, my nose found all sorts of stuff that was good to eat. A few types of berries that were likely not native to Earth, some mushrooms, that sort of thing.

My body even insisted that some of the bugs I found were just fine. I wasn't going to go that far yet. I have standards.

And I wasn't exactly starving at the moment.

I also made a hole for myself.

Yeah, I wasn't exactly happy with it, but it was better than sleeping on leaves. My legs weren't exactly being cooperative after my walk, so I couldn't do much about it anyway.

It was freaky how satisfying it felt to dig, though. I wasn't exactly prepared for that. Like, it was really fun for no reason whatsoever.

That might have been a factor in my decision to stop early.

It was in a nice little mound of dirt next to the river, though. It wasn't very visible from a distance, which was also good.

I was fairly certain that Timberwolves didn't exist here, but I was also fairly certain that there were regular predators that weren't exactly going to be my friend.

Why am I here again?

Rainbow had already told me that I could probably make a home for myself near Ponyville, within reach of everything I needed.

Okay, I could get food here, without the guilt of taking from others. But I could get the same food from the river.

I could get varied food here, then. Just until I got more control over my magic. Then I might be able to pay ponies back.

Maybe Luna could teach me some more about dreams. And other stuff. Ironically, sleep might end up being the most productive part of my day.

I was pretty much out of magic, anyway. A little of it had come back already, but I could barely feel a trickle in there when I reached out with my mind.

"Hello?"

My head poked out of my little hole in the hill. That hadn't been Equestrian. That sounded almost like...

...another fox.

Okay, that is the weirdest feeling.

There was another fox there. She was female. Apparently I found her attractive.

Okay then.

There was a lot to unpack there, but she had just said something.

"Are you new to Whitetail? I haven't seen you before."

"Yeah." I said that part in Equestrian, more than a little distracted by the strangeness of the situation.

She suddenly gasped, her ears perking up, before she went into a quick bow. "Oh, I apologize. I did not realize you were one of the Chosen."

I just stared at her, more than a little off-balance. When she looked back up, the expression on her face was reminiscent of the kind of expressions that ponies gave Celestia. But there was a lot of excitement there, too.

"It's been so long, I was certain that magic was forever gone to us. If you don't mind me asking, who were your parents?"

Oh. Oh no.

It started to dawn on me that perhaps "sacred foxes" and normal foxes weren't quite as different as I thought. And compared to the other animals I could understand, she seemed extremely well-spoken. Almost pony-like in intelligence.

I attempted some damage control.

"I didn't come from Equestria. I just got here from... uh... somewhere else."

"Are there others with magic there?" The hopeful look on her face almost gave me physical pain.

"I don't think so. I don't think there was magic of any kind there. This is new to me, too."

Her ears droop. "Right. Sorry, then."

I attempt a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. What is your name? Mine is Ryan."

"Naomi." She pawed the ground. "Sorry for... all the pestering. You're obviously not really old or anything, so I'm probably getting excited for no reason, it's just... I can't help but remember all the stories of when we had our own nation. Like Equestria. Or maybe just the deer. It's hard to tell how much is exaggeration and how much is actually fact."

I looked at her with interest.

She smiled nervously. "Not that it isn't good now! Most of us are just fine doing our own thing, and it isn't like the ponies treat us badly or anything. I uh... I didn't think foxes like you really existed anyway. But the stories always told of a time where not just ponies had alicorns."

"Alicorns?"

"Magic users. Like, really strong ones. Ones that could protect us from the other powers of the world, rather than just having to disperse like we do now. I know, it's probably a stupid dream, but..."

I shook my head. "No, that doesn't sound stupid at all."

Though it did make me feel incredibly guilty, all the same. "Do you know how many others feel the same as you do?"

Naomi frowned. "Seriously? I have no idea. My dad was super into that sort of thing, and mom didn't really care one way or another, but other foxes? I don't see too many in the forest. And it doesn't exactly come up in normal conversation, you know? It's more of a 'story time' thing." Her ears perked up. "Can I see it, though?"

"See what?"

She grinned. "Magic!"

I concentrated on my tail. Nothing happened. "Sorry, I used it all up practicing on my way here."

Her eyes suddenly widened. "No, nonono no. Don't do that. Like, the number one cause of death in all the stories I've listened to is not having enough magic. And I don't know if this was exaggeration, or it was just to increase dramatic tension in the retellings, but I'm pretty sure you need to have magic to get magic back."

I blinked. "...Oh."

She let out a slow breath. "Don't beat yourself up about it. It's not like you're super experienced or anything. Just don't do that again."

"Right. Sorry, but I don't know any other way of proving this to you, other than showing you my ball, which everyone has repeatedly told me is a bad idea."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "You don't have to prove anything. Unless you hit the most unbelievable genetic lottery, you definitely have magic. And you already speak the ponies' language, anyway." She blushed. "I just wanted to see magic."

"Well, when I get it back, I'd be happy to show you. The only stuff I know how to do is the fire. Oh, and I can dream-walk, too."

She gasped. "Already?"

"Well, I don't know how to do things properly, but Luna says I have the talent. She said that it was common among kitsune."

Her ears perked when I used that last word, but she didn't comment on it. "Yes, it is, at least from what I've heard, but usually it was after they got their second tail."

"Does getting a second tail mean a lot? Does it strictly appear after a hundred years, or just at a certain threshold of magic, and it just happens to take that long in the majority of cases?"

She smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. I don't know anything like that. Even the information I think I have might not be reliable. The only thing I can really offer you is that most of the Chosen seem to have certain talents. Like the ponies, but I think it might be less specific than that. Maybe like an 'Equestrian Princess' talent."

The little pictures on all the flanks in Ponyville suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

A shudder went through my body as I realized that Celestia and Luna's connection to the sun and moon may be more than just a "friendship" between immortals.

The thought that I might have something similar...

Naomi waved a paw in front of my face. "Hey! Don't worry about it. Really! I'm probably wrong about most of this, anyway. And I certainly didn't come here to dump all my problems on someone else."

I sat down, rubbing behind one of my ears with a paw. "Sorry, Naomi. I just... I think I need to tell you something. The place I was before... well, it didn't really have any magic."

She tilted her head. "Except for you... right?"

I took a deep breath. "No. I don't think any creature in that entire world had any magic."

She mouthed the word "world," her eyes wide. Her amazement faded to confusion. "Wait, only the most powerful Chosen could travel between worlds. And the only one I've heard about that did that... had that as a talent. ...And you said you didn't have magic."

"It was a mirror. Made by the ponies."

She nodded. "Oh. Must be a pony secret, then."

"I uh..." Looking at her cheerful face, it was hard to say anything, but I knew I had to. "I wasn't a fox before I came through."

She froze.

"I learned from... well, several sources that in Equestria, I'm supposed to be how I am right now. That I really am a kitsune."

Naomi nodded silently.

"But before now... well, I went though the mirror on accident. I got stuck here. Before all this, I was planning on going right back through when they fixed it."

She seemed to deflate.

"Naomi."

An ear flicked.

"Naomi, I don't know what to do. I want to go home, but I don't want to just leave people who need help."

"Go back through."

"What?"

She picked up her head. "Go back through. Even if you were from here, I was asking for too much from you. I already knew I was getting my hopes up. Even if you were 100% on board with everything, it would still be at least two or three hundred years before you could be the leader I was waiting for. Besides, we're... fine. We're fine."

Something clicked in my head. "Naomi, how many foxes are there?"

"What?"

"You don't have to give me an exact number. I know that you don't live all grouped together anymore. I just want an estimate."

She suddenly looked nervous. "W-why would you want something like that?"

"Naomi, you already said that you don't see many other foxes in the Whitetail Woods. I just came from the Everfree Forest, and the wolves there made it very clear to me that I would not be welcome. If they had not given me an unprecedented amount of leeway, I would likely be dead. How many more forests are there in Equestria? How many foxes are able to make each one their home? Fluttershy told me that Whitetail was one of the best places for all sorts of animals to make their home.

"So how many are there?"

"Um.... I don't really travel that much..."

"I don't care how broad an estimate it is, I just-"

"One hundred."

"What?"

Naomi shook her head. "Probably more. ...Maybe less. Whitetail Woods is a big place, and I don't go that far from my own den, but I've seen maps of Equestria, and what the other forests look like. You asked for my best guess, that's it." She closed her eyes.

I sighed. "Thank you."

That was actually worse than I thought. That wasn't a good number. For any species.

Logically, there wasn't any reason for me to involve myself in this. Logically, I had lived for 20 years more as a human than a fox. There was no reason to give up what I had. Especially for a life that was likely to result in watching my back every moment of the day.

But here was someone in front of me. Sure, she looked like an animal. But she was just as much a person as I was. Humans could take care of themselves. Probably. And it's not like I could affect the outcome, anyway. Here, I might be able to do something, even if it might take... a long time.

"Ryan, just go. Home is home for a reason."

I gritted my teeth. "I know. I just..."

The choice was there. Door One, or Door Two?

"...I think I'm just going to break down the wall instead."

Chapter 12: Magic

"...What?"

I chuckled. "Sorry, I just got caught up in my own metaphor. I realized that I couldn't just choose between going home, and staying here. So I found a way to do both."

"How?"

"Just a loophole with the ponies' portal technology. Fluttershy came up with it last time, and it's been proven to work."

"Still..."

"Naomi, I'm going to do something about it. At this point, I don't care how many will be content with how things are. I don't care if you want to become a nation, or remain the way you are, and I don't care if nobody wants me as their leader. But if your number is even close to your estimate, I can't wait for the proper time. I need to get good at magic now."

"But you can't just abandon-"

I shook my head. "I already said, I'm not abandoning anything. There's still a lot of work before I go home, but right now, all that is out of my... paws." I looked down. "You've finally given me some actual direction. Something to do that helps others rather than just being a burden on others."

She growled, bringing my attention back up quite quickly. "You don't get it! What am I supposed to do? Here you are, promising to fix all my problems - all our problems - and you are thanking me? You aren't asking to be a ruler, you aren't asking for worship... you aren't even asking for gold!"

I froze.

I just did a Celestia, didn't I?

I didn't feel comfortable with any of this, if I was perfectly honest with myself. I didn't feel like anyone particularly important, and especially not a "chosen one." It felt more like I was just stumbling through everything, and everything was just handed to me as I went along.

But it didn't matter that I felt like an impostor.

I put a paw over my eyes. "All right. I get it. I haven't exactly done anything yet except perhaps give you hope. But if you need to do something for me, tell the others. Any fox you can find in Whitetail, and if you can manage it without too much hardship, the other forests as well. I don't care if they don't like me, or whatever. As long as they know what's going on, and what our current plans are. Tell them I'll be either here, or in Ponyville, in case they want proof or something."

Her face relaxed into a smile. "All right. That's much better. What will you be doing?"

"Magic training."

Naomi gave me a warning glance.

"Hey, I don't mean like what I did on the way here. I won't be using up everything I've got like an idiot. But I've got a rather sneaky idea that might help me get better a lot faster."

She raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You can't just cheat life, Ryan."

I grinned. "I'm certainly going to try my best." I looked at her with a small amount of worry. "Magic does get better the more you use it, right? I've never had it before."

She shrugged.

"Well, I'll be in Ponyville if you need me next. The ponies are the general experts when it comes to magic, it seems."

I looked at the sky, which was rapidly darkening. My legs reminded me what I had been doing all day.

"Okay, if you need me tomorrow, I'll be in Ponyville."

Naomi gave a barking laugh. "See you, Ryan. I'll give you reports when I can."

She disappeared quite abruptly.

I leaped back over the hill and made my way back into the cozy hole I had dug myself.

It seems I should train myself in more than magic.

---

When I woke up in the morning, my legs felt no less sore. In fact, they almost felt worse.

Of course, that only reminded me of exactly why I couldn't just procrastinate the day away. So I started walking.

I did walk slower this time. No reason to destroy my muscles completely. But judging on the way Naomi didn't even hesitate when I suggested traveling to the other forests, I was seriously out of shape, even for a fox.

Okay, there was a chance that she was either super athletic, or perhaps naïve, but if I was aiming to be the protector of anything, I probably needed more than just magic.

Especially if this magic thing couldn't be cheesed as much as I thought.

Speaking of...

My tail actually felt better than my legs did, all things considered. The flow of magic felt smooth and consistent. I couldn't tell if I was "full," so to speak. Just that there was a lot of energy, and pretty much how much I felt earlier when I was discovering my magic to begin with.

Maybe even a tiny bit more, if that isn't just wishful thinking.

I directed the magic through my tail, and lit a small flame on the end of it. It was easier to control after practicing for so long, but this time, my intent was not to make the flame big or to burn anything.

My goal was to create a small fire, perhaps as big as a candle flame. And just have it sit there.

That's it. Just have it sit there.

Oh, and then monitor how much magic I had as closely as possible. If I felt magic draining from my reserves, I'd make the flame a little smaller.

And, of course, if after a few minutes, nothing changed, I'd make it a little bigger.

It was harder than you might think. Just getting the flow consistent enough to even know whether my plan was working took half the trip. I frequently took stops just to steady myself.

What Naomi said had intrigued me. 'You need to have magic to get magic.' In gaming terms, the mana regeneration was a function of the current mana.

So theoretically, using magic while keeping the main pool high would maximize the effective training potential, since it would mean I would be able to cast a higher quantity of magic overall.

Of course, that only would apply if I was correct about how magic works. That's why I was going to Ponyville so urgently, instead of making my new den more livable.

I just hope Twilight's as much of a mad scientist as I think she is.

---

"Twilight, do you have something that can measure magic?"

"What kind of magic, and what type of measurement?"

Nailed it.

I pointed at the pouch my ball is hidden in. "Just the total magical quantity. I don't care what units you use, I'm only looking for relative change."

She stared uncomprehendingly at the nondescript pouch a few seconds, before gasping. "Oh! I see. Come with me."

She led me back into her basement, and after a moment of rummaging in a closet, brought out a scale. It wasn't even one of those digital ones - it just had an analog dial.

I raised an eyebrow.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "It works, okay? It's old-fashioned, but accurate. Do you want the measurement or not?" She held out a hoof.

...

She retracted the hoof. "Ah. Right. Well, when you're ready, just put it on the scale. The dial should show the total stored magic in milliStars."

Something clicked in my head. "Wait, Star?" I opened the pouch and took out my Ball. "That's what Celestia called this."

"I know. That's been eating at me, too. It certainly looks like a material well suited for magic storage, like she implied, but it looks nothing like an actual star." She rolled her eyes. "Probably just another colloquial name. Wouldn't be the first time she's used one, apparently."

"Why is your unit for magic storage a Star, then?"

She looked at me oddly. "Starswirl the Bearded? Pretty much the greatest mage in Equestrian history? I swear, nopony knows anything about history."

I gave her a deadpan look. "I'm not from this dimension, Twilight."

"Oh. Right."

I placed my ball on the scale, keeping as close as possible to the actual object as possible.

"Okay, I'm not sure how to read this dial. Is this 1.7, or 17?"

Twilight frowned, and leaned in closer. "No, you were right the first time. One point seven. Are you sure this is where you store your magic?"

I felt vaguely offended. "Yes, definitely. Is there something wrong?"

Twilight pulled away quickly. "No, of course not! It's just... well, it's smaller than I expected, given the legends and stuff..." She drug a hoof on the floor.

"Don't feel guilty, Twilight. I won't mind how low I start, as long as my experiment is successful. Out of curiosity, how bad is it?"

She grimaced. "About half the potential of your average filly. Not unprecedented, but..."

I sat down on a nearby chair, putting my paws on the seat in front of me. "Magic capacity can be improved, right? For ponies, that is. I know you don't know for sure about foxes."

"Well, I know foxes get more powerful as they get older-"

"I'm not talking about time, I'm talking about training. Do ponies get more capacity for magic if they train it?"

Twilight blinked. "Of course. Why wouldn't they?"

"I don't know anything about magic, Twilight. It wasn't a guarantee."

"Right, sorry."

"All right. I have another question, but if you don't know the answer, don't worry about it too much. I plan to experiment regardless. When ponies train with magic, does it matter if they use all their magic, or only a little?"

She frowned. "Using all your magic is a very bad idea. Your body uses magic for important purposes other than spells."

"Well, almost all of it, then."

"I don't really get what you're trying to ask, but the pony who trains more probably gets better faster, if that's what you're talking about."

I shook my head. "Never mind. What I'm trying probably doesn't apply to ponies at all. I was more asking if you get better because you stress, uh... whatever you use to store magic or whatever, or if just using magic is enough."

Twilight blinked. "...Oh. Huh. I don't really know." She grinned. "That's a really good question!"

"That's what I'm trying to test today. You probably have been wondering why my tail has been a candle for this entire time-"

"That did cross my mind, yes."

"-and that's because of something I learned from a new friend of mine. Apparently for foxes, you have to have magic in order to get more."

"Interesting. Using magic to gather magic, rather than absorb it naturally? I've certainly never heard of a spell like that, but that doesn't mean your native abilities might not include something of that nature."

"It does seem to hold true, though. Yesterday, I managed to exhaust my magical supply completely while practicing."

Twilight gave me an alarmed look.

"Don't worry. It apparently isn't as dangerous for me as it is for ponies. But it is just as stupid, so I'm definitely not going to do it again. My point is, even five or ten minutes afterward, I couldn't get so much as a spark." I gestured over to the scale. The number had not budged an inch. "I've been keeping this flame going this entire time, and it hasn't affected my total pool whatsoever."

Just to make sure, I let the flame go out. The scale remained the same.

Good. I relit it. The needle twitched, but went back to the same position as before.

"Oh!" A quill floated over to Twilight, and she began to furiously write on a nearby piece of parchment.

"My experiment is fairly simple. I'm going to keep this up for... I dunno, an hour, and see if my total magical capacity changes. If I can't see any difference, I'll try three."

I suddenly frowned. "Wait, Twilight?"

She looked up. "Hm?"

"Do you have any device that can measure the current output of the flame I already have going? I want to see if I can do this properly, and not just guess at things."

"Hmm.... total output, not just density..." She eyed the flame. "It's fairly small, so it shouldn't be too hard to do. Still, it would be a whole lot easier if it was a targeted spell."

"Targeted?"

"Oh, like, if you were able to launch the flame or something."

"I can, it just takes much more energy, and... well... that sort of defeats the purpose of this experiment. Later, though, I'll probably be doing exactly that."

She frowned. "What are you planning?"

"Well, I'm trying to be smart with my magical training. Of course, if after three hours, I know my total capacity hasn't changed at all, it obviously means that my current method is ineffective, and something else is required. But if anything actually changes, I still need to make sure it's efficient. So if I use the same amount of magic as I used in the first session in an instant, and it gives me the same effect, I know for sure that stress is not a factor in magical development. And if it gives me an improved result, I will then need to further test just how much of a factor it plays in similar, incremental ways."

Twilight blinked. "Oh. Well... that was certainly well thought out. Especially since you didn't even know if the devices you needed actually existed."

"I was... uh... well-motivated."

She pranced in place. "...I'll get the calorimeter."

Chapter 13: A Second Opinion

...Okay then.

So my wonderful plan wasn't quite as broken as I expected.

It took a little more than four hours to test enough to confidently determine exactly how much stress affected magical growth, and an additional three once Twilight pointed out that magical improvement might not be uniform, due to diminishing returns.

When we finally determined the optimal strategy (with some equation solving from the helpful alicorn), I had a strategy that was almost as good as I was hoping for.

But, you know, significantly more annoying. It involved making as large a flame as possible until a very specific percentage of magic had been burned, then cutting it off until it recharged. It maximized the effectiveness of my regeneration as well as the effects of stressing my magic pool just enough to help.

Of course, the absolute optimal strategy would be for me to launch an actual fireball and burn something, before cutting it off, since that would drain my magic much more rapidly, but... well, it wasn't like I was about to start burning things in the middle of Ponyville.

I chomped down on another muffin, and let my tail go out once again. The other ponies in the street paid me surprisingly little attention, perhaps giving me a glance each time the light from my fire spread across the street, but definitely not the sort of reactions I would expect if someone at home just walked around periodically lighting a blowtorch.

It did a decent job of showing me where I needed to go, too. Annoyingly, my practice meant that I had to turn it off every four seconds, so my nice clear view of the street was interrupted periodically. Ponyville looked a lot different at night.

Perhaps it would have actually been easier had I not been using the light at all, as the nights in Equestria were always just a little bit brighter.

Maybe it was that the moon was so much bigger. Or perhaps that was just because I was a fox.

Or maybe it's just that everything seems bright after living in the Everfree for so long.

Still, my little experimentation session with Twilight took a lot longer than I expected, and I wasn't going to be able to get home at any sort of reasonable hour. And while I did not exactly have a schedule I needed to keep, I was tired.

But I didn't really feel comfortable asking Twilight for a place to stay again. She would say yes, of course. And I had already come to terms with the fact that I was going to repay her regardless, so it wasn't that different from my current plan, anyway.

It was more that, well... I liked sleeping outside. It was probably a stupid instinct thing, or maybe that now that it wasn't uncomfortable, I would have liked it anyway. But sleeping in a place that I made was something I didn't really appreciate until I woke up this morning and felt an odd sort of manic energy that I could only associate with the accomplishment.

So rather than stay with Twilight and practice my magic, I had decided that Fluttershy's cottage was my next stop. I only hoped that she was awake.

I wasn't exactly going to impose on her, either. But Rainbow Dash said that her cottage was built on public land, just like Rainbow didn't actually own her section of sky. And it was always nice to ask if Fluttershy was fine with having him be an occasional neighbour.

I didn't think she would object, but it was polite.

---

She did not object. In fact, she seemed positively delighted, even despite the late hour. I had probably woken her up. Really, I should think before doing these things. Still, she insisted on making sure I was comfortable, and that I knew that I could settle wherever I wanted.

I didn't make this little burrow too fancy, either. Just a hole in the ground. Fluttershy did look at me a little strangely, though.

"Do you have a mate?"

I stopped digging. "What?"

She blushed. "I mean, that's what it usually means when you dig a den."

I looked up out of the hole. "Wait, really? Where would I sleep, then?"

Fluttershy did an odd sort of shrug. "Anywhere?" She suddenly shook her head. "Oh, silly me! I forgot you don't really know much about being a fox. Have you ever felt really hot or cold? Have you felt uncomfortable when you lay down?"

"...I guess not?"

"I haven't really met many foxes before, but I've read a lot about all sorts of animals. Unless they are protecting family, most foxes just sleep anywhere out of the open. Still, I don't mind it if you make this place your little patch of safety when you visit Ponyville."

My ears perked up at that, as something I wanted to ask her re-emerged in my brain. "So have you met other foxes?"

"Um, well... not for very long."

"Did you... um... notice anything different about them?"

Her attention snapped to me, and she seemed very awake now. "Wait, you found more foxes like you in Whitetail Woods? I thought sacred foxes were extinct before you came here."

So she didn't notice.

"No, they were normal foxes. But Fluttershy? Kitsune, or 'sacred foxes'... They aren't so different from normal foxes. You understand animals, right, Fluttershy?"

"Of course. That is my special talent."

"Those animals... they aren't quite as coherent as a pony, are they?"

She frowned. "I guess not. They are still intelligent, though. I thought you understood-"

I raised a paw. "That's not what I meant. I was just setting something up. Foxes... well, they are just as intelligent as I am. As ponies are. They just speak... fox."

She gasped quietly. "Really?"

"From what I can understand, they just don't have enough magic to change how their vocal chords work. Not enough to speak like ponies."

"Strange. Of course, I know that some of my animal friends are more intelligent than others, but... Of course, every creature deserves the same amount of care, but I never considered that there were..." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, this is all a little strange. No one has come to me with anything but requests for shelter or food. But if there are creatures that are just like ponies..."

"Fluttershy! Don't worry about it. It wasn't really that important. I was just curious."

"But it is important! I care about all my animal friends, but I can convince a lot more ponies to save an endangered species if they really are on the same level. If the only difference is a lack of magic... ponies accepted griffons just fine."

"But without a translator-"

Fluttershy's suddenly piercing expression stopped me from continuing.

"Ryan. I am their translator. I always am the one ponies to go to when ponies have problems with animals here in Ponyville." She sighed. "And as much as ponies call on me because it's often easier than 'dealing' with them the normal way... a few of them have started to see things my way, just a little. If ponies started to understand that there was an entire species under their noses, perfectly intelligent, but unable to speak..."

She looked at Ryan significantly. "Well, I'm sure Princess Celestia or Luna wouldn't just sit around."

I opened my mouth, but wasn't really sure what I was supposed to say. I didn't think of it like that. Naomi would probably rather have an actual fox, but-

Fluttershy's face was hard. "Sacred foxes really had two duties, didn't they? Magic for protection, and speech for negotiation. Well, I can do one of those things. And even if the average pony doesn't quite see things the way I do, neither of the Princesses are going to let a species go extinct."

"I-"

She put a hoof on my back, and stroked it gently, giving me a gentle smile. "I understand that you feel like you need to do something about this. Trust me. I've never even heard of another pony like me, who could really understand animals the way I do. But you need to go home. You still have a family."

I looked down. "I can still help, right?"

"Of course. I haven't seen a fox since I moved next to the Everfree. I'm sure you can organize things better on that side of things. But please... generosity is a wonderful thing, but the worst thing you could do is give up yourself."

"...Thanks, Fluttershy."

I didn't fall asleep until it was almost midnight.

---

I suppose it was a blessing that I did not sleep very soundly.

I didn't hear his hooves. I didn't hear the slight shuffling, or the brush of his fur against fabric. I didn't feel the slight dust fall from the roof of my little den.

But the low light of his horn woke me up just as a hoof opened a pouch of my vest.

The vest I had neglected to take off before sleeping. I had been too tired.

But I was very glad that I did so. If I had left it just beside me, it would have been directly in the moonlight. He wouldn't have needed the flashlight.

Or perhaps it was worse. If I had taken it off, I might have used it as bedding, which would have made this very thing impossible.

Because he was opening a pocket.

The pocket that could mean my death if the object was stolen from it. That pocket.

I didn't really have time to really think about what I was doing. Fortunately, my instinctual reaction of snarling at the pony in front of me was exactly the correct thing to do. He stumbled back out of my hole, which meant I actually had an exit point. Another stupid design flaw with my den. What if it caved in, and I had no secondary air source?

But it didn't matter. The pony didn't seem like he was giving up quite yet. And so I ran.

I briefly thought of burning the bastard that basically tried to kill me, but I immediately recalled my previous experiences with trying to heat things. My magic wasn't going to be that useful for at least a couple months.

Of course, since it was primarily an illusion, it could have scared the bastard into backing off, but I still wasn't thinking that coherently.

Fortunately, Fluttershy didn't lock her door.

Unfortunately, Fluttershy didn't own a lock for her door.

But for some reason, the stallion chasing me seemed to lose his nerve, because he never even tried to open it. So my attempts at moving furniture to place in front of it were pointless.

Doubly fortunate, because those attempts were a complete failure. My body was definitely not suited for pushing stuff.

...I didn't fully calm down for at least three hours after that, though.

Fluttershy won't matter too much if I take a quick rest on her couch, will she?

Wait no. Trying not to die. No sleeping now.

But... maybe a quick nap..?

No.

Still, maybe I can just rest my head. While watching. Yes...