PrologueView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapePrologueIt had been years since Whiterock, Dragontongue, and Still Coldwater were assassinated. In Whiterock's talon was a note in his cold body. To the one reading this note: Should Foxfire be alive and well when the tragedy of my death hits her ears, tell her to search for a conspirator. She must search far and wide.... Or perhaps within herself or her kin for an answer. Ponies passed by graves with 'Flowerfeather,' 'Coldwater,' 'Dragontongue,' and 'Bloodstream' engraved on them and spat on the tombstones. It was a common thing to see every day, though some cursed to the heavens above that there should be a fourth Flowerfeather grave on which to disrespect. The night, however, was an entirely different story. There in the dead of night cleaning the graves and lighting candles with blue flames stood three beings. One was a night blue alicorn mare with a mane and tail made of the cosmos. Another was your average changeling drone, just mute and deaf. The third, another alicorn mare, was an anomaly. She had a tri-color coat and multi-colored wings. A monotone mane didn't match with her huge tail, the tip lit ablaze with a soft, cyan flame. Her eyes were shrouded by her mane, tears held back as the candles glowed alongside her tail. Her wings lay limply at her sides, black ears folded back. The full moon was blood red because a lunar eclipse was happening. The graves would always have wax on them upon the brink of dawn. And again the ponies who did not like who the graves belonged to removed the wax and continued to spit and curse. There was the occasional Canterlot riot regarding a student of Luna. Guards had to hold off the rioting ponies and ended up making a few arrests over the months that followed. But they all shared the same story: they learned the truth from somewhere, yet they wouldn't say where. Cloaked ponies also began wandering throughout Equestria, all chanting some ominous prayer that nopony else could hear or make sense of. They all bore an inverted gold cross with bat-like wings on their back for reasons unknown. They carried daggers forged from silver, their purpose unclear. But what was odd about these cloaked figures was that they wore necklaces of severed Changeling horns and translucent wings stitched onto their hoods. The more decorations probably meant the highest ranking. They would walk by, saying their unheard prayers and doing no harm despite the daggers and decorative assortments on their beings screaming otherwise. They would not talk to anypony aside from other cloaked beings that shared their insignia and whatnot. But when one looked underneath their hoods, their eyes glowed a dark gold-blue. This was true for all of the cloaked figures. Every last one.
Chapter I- Last SolaceView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapeChapter I- Last SolaceFoxfire curled up in her bed, her breath hastening as tears formed in her eyes and sparkled in the moonlight. She grunted and wheezed as soft murmurs escaped her seemingly dry throat. Her wings fluttered ever so lightly as her fangs glinted in the silence of the night. "Please, no...." Foxfire sniffled as she suddenly began moving her legs in full gallop, kicking off blankets and pillows in the process. The only other survivor, a changeling drone who was mute and deaf, couldn't help but ignore the fact that something was amiss. He rose groggily and saw his once-mighty queen thrash about in her sleep, ears folded back as she jerked her head so suddenly. A high-pitched scream suddenly came from her mouth and danced in the darkness, echoing as it seemed to wake even the most sound sleepers. Foxfire, in turn, had awoken herself, grey-blue eyes open in terror. She quickly got up and checked her surroundings before slumping down onto the ground crying, a holey hoof of her own holding the other as if she had a child. "I-I must be insane....yeah, that's it. I've j-just lost my damn mind." Sobbed the odd changeling as her wings flared out, stretched to their fullest extent. "S-Sleep be damned, that is all." The guard got up and held her in his holey forelegs. He could not understand a damn word his queen was saying with ears alone, as his original swarm was dead and so was that of his adopter of sorts. All he knew was something was very wrong. Luna walked into the room and sat next to her student. Nightmares had been plaguing everypony nowadays. They always depicted something being stolen. Crops. Innocence. Lives of loved ones as well as the petty criminal. It was then the mobs, riots, and chaos started. They knew what Foxfire was, and what she had done. But that was not what toppled her hive into utter ruin. It was something nopony at the time could point their hoof on. Foxfire's nightmares, however, were different. The past was affecting her full force, each episode worse than the next. Her family, taken from her. Then, the bad stallion and his atrocities. Then, Queen Chrysalis. But something was different this time. Foxfire had dreamt of being surrounded by cloaked figures, each wielding daggers of unknown origin. "We shalt bring him back." The figures chanted in ominous unison, "We require the sacrifice of the odd pony. Only then shall this world be purged of the monarchy, and that which we seek shalt become our new god, our new order." Cornered, shackled, dragged to an altar only from Hell. Her throat was slit in one swift movement of all the daggers at once. Perhaps they were only one dagger? "Crazyponies.....cultists..." Foxfire murmured to Luna, who was taken aback in shock. "I hope it was only another dream. If it isn't, then what is it?" Luna asked in a soft, motherly tone of voice. "I wish I knew." Foxfire cooed as she broke down into more tears.
Chapter II- RevelationsView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapeChapter II- Revelations"I fear she is starting to lose her sanity," Luna sighed, "and it is because of the nightmares. I sincerely wish I could fix this mess." "I fear something is stirring." Celestia scoffed as she turned to Foxfire. "Tell us what thou hast seen." Foxfire began trembling, tears welling in her eyes. "I-In my nightmares?" She asked. Celestia nodded. Foxfire gulped, her eyes shrinking. "I saw cultist ponies...." "Cultist ponies?" Asked the sisters. Foxfire nodded. "They had odd daggers and...sick decorations. Horns and wings of changelings were worn on their hoods like ornaments on Hearth's Warming Eve!" Celestia's face went aghast with shock. She seemed to glare at the fallen queen, yet in reality she immediately knew something was wrong and it had to do with Foxfire. "Did they do anything to you?" Luna asked in place of Celestia. "They killed me to overthrow your kingdom!" Foxfire suddenly yelled before she slumped down crying. The mute drone once more clutched her in his forelegs. "The nightmares hit her hardest, sister. She can barely sleep." Luna explained. "I understand." Celestia said with a nod, "Perhaps we need to find the cultists she speaks of and interrogate them." "That won't be easy." Luna snapped, "The prisoners we spoke with did say the cultists in question ignored everypony else except for those in their ranks, or so they say judging by their observation." "Guard! Bring Discord at once!" Celestia bellowed. "Yes, your majesty!" Replied the guard as he ran out the door. A few minutes later, the draconequus appeared. He was confused, to say the least. "Why is Foxy crying?" Discord asked, raising an eyebrow. "We're going to discuss that." Luna sighed as she magically lulled her student to sleep. "She really needs all the help she can get now." Foxfire was fast asleep, dreaming a good dream for once thanks to Luna and her nighty-night spells. She occasionally twitched a hoof or wing, maybe mumble in her sleep about a fillet of fish or some other meat. Other than that, she was in a deep sleep. The mute drone covered her with a nice, warm quilt and already had a bed at the ready specifically for this occasion. He stroked her mane and kept her from rolling off the bed, making sure to touch her as little as possible because the slightest thing could wake her up. Who knows for how long she'd sleep, and all she needed was a dark room. Luna went and rambled on about the things and the dreams and all that other good stuff. The drone yawned. Luna kept rambling. The drone was drinking cups of coffee now. He wondered how Discord didn't fall asleep. The drone was about ready to fall asleep when Discord fully understood the situation at hoof--or in his case, claw. "There is simply no way she had been through all of that!" Yelped the draconequus in shock. "I personally beg to differ," Celestia scorned. The drone wheeled Foxy out of the room, and Luna went with. Looked like Sun-butt was gonna bitch at Discord, and who was to blame her?
Chapter III- DreamscapeView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapeChapter III- DreamscapeFoxfire was in alicorn form again, and she was traveling the night skies with Luna. Her marvelous wings shimmered in the light of the blue crescent moon. A thick layer of clouds obscured the area above the Everfree Forest. They were blacker than the darkness in Nightmare Moon's intentions all those years ago. Suddenly, a blur of orange, purple, black, and white charged at Luna and knocked her out of the sky. "What the?!" Foxfire said as she was now face to face with the creature that hurt her mentor. She had a somewhat unusual feature--she had two coat colors, black on top and white on bottom. Her forehooves were clawed and her horn was black on the first four sections and white on the last two. Her legs from the elbows and knees down were also white, and the mane was purple outside and orange-streaked within. Heterochromia was present--one green eye and one red. Wings that started out with white feathers and ended in black demonic membrane held her aloft. On her flank was a gold-rimmed mirror separating a dove from a raven whose wings were spread wide. "Hello, whorse." Spat the abominable mare, "I am Dark Reflections. I am your every opposite." "Every...opposite?!" Foxfire cried as she turned tail and dove to the earth, hoping her mentor would be alright. The supposed opposite swiped a claw, missing the long tail by mere strands of hair. Dark dove in after Foxy, intent on doing something horrendous. Foxfire miscalculated her landing and as a result hit her head onto a rock horn first. She cried in pain before the darkness took her away... ...into the dream world. Staring face to face with him. Him in all his horrid glory, him in all his pride. The bad stallion. He who shall remain nameless. Surrounding both were the cultist ponies, their decorations billowing and clanking in a mad breeze as they chanted spells and hexes of ages past. A knife to the throat felled the fox-pony, and darkness returned. She could hear her supposed opposite's cold-imbued laughter. "You can never hope to truly flee from your mistakes. I guess I should call you mother now." Dark cackled in insanity before even her voice became one with the silent black of Tartarus.
Chapter IV- AwakeningView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapeChapter IV- AwakeningFoxfire thought she had died. A horrid pain hit her head. It hit her over and over. What happened to my horn? It hurts... She murmured sparsely. Then...she began free-falling towards Ponyville. Wait....wasn't this when she fled from Dark Reflections and miscalculated her landing? She got up wearily. The pain wracking her entire body got worse. She didn't care. She got up and shambled like a zombie towards the door. It was dark, so her eyes had to adjust. She bumped into things....another bed, a vase, and perhaps a painting of some event. She tried to use magic to open the door. Her vision suddenly went red as pain shot through her horn. Her vision returned. Great, she'd have to do manual labor. It didn't really matter much for alicorns, but Foxfire was a bit of....the lazy type. Unless you think of the past days when Tsuna dominated her, so to speak. She lifted a hoof and nearly fell. Quickly finding and turning the doorknob, she opened the damn thing and shambled into the outermost hallway. She shambled to the balcony and gazed at the crescent moon, and then the moonlit town south of Canterlot. She could make out a small fire at the square. It wasn't her own, that was for sure. She could do all colors of fire, yes, but that would require her horn, which contained the needed magic. The drone poked her, causing her to look at him. He then turned white....with Gryphon fore-talons... She turned back to the moon shedding tears. Just looking at the shape--let alone the very memory--of Whiterock Bloodstream made her cry. She couldn't do anything to save him, or the others. She was forced to let them perish. And the blood on her hooves amounted to self-hatred. Why had she done all those things she damn well knew were wrong? An epiphany happened that night. The world, regardless of how old it was, had seen more than she. It too was stained with blood long before ponykind took over. It had so many secrets buried in its ancient soil. Some never meant to be known. Tartarus being a good example. The world had secrets that were waiting to be discovered, long-lost relics for which dated back to the period where alicorns walked the earth and ruled. Until Discord almost killed them all off--save for two Princesses. "What art thou doing out of bed?" Asked a regal mare's voice as a tall and familiar white form stood next to Foxfire. The blood-colored alicorn didn't answer, for she had none to give. But Celestia....seemed very sad. "Luna won't be coming back....for she has been killed by another alicorn. She sent me a final letter detailing this....Dark Reflections...." Celestia sighed before falling onto her stomach and clutching her head with her hooves crying. At that moment Foxfire screamed a cry of agony so loud the Gryphon Kingdom could hear her.
Chapter V- SadnessView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapeChapter V- SadnessSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter VI- DarknessView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapeChapter VI- DarknessSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter VII- At PeaceView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapeChapter VII- At PeaceSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Bonus Chapter: Celestia's POV; The FuneralView OnlineFoxfire's Tail II: A Fleeting DreamscapeBonus Chapter: Celestia's POV; The FuneralSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
