Black Tail Life

"Celestia damn you Blaze! Why did you drag me into this? Throw the damn dynamite!"

"Yes! Finally! Dy-nami-tay!"

As my brother and I ran for our lives through the street, I though to myself. When the hell did this all start?

Two Days Earlier - Thursday

Before I let you into my life, you might like to know a few things first. My name for one, is Jero Kyubo. Is that a strange name for a pony? Why yes it is, but I am not a pony. I'm a Homunculi, a fox type to be exact. I currently live...well I am moving out of my parents house over in Pearl Point. They said something about a new school opening up over in Tandem Valley, then I stopped caring. The next thing I know my mother is packing my stuff, her furry ass doing it in a hurry. As much as I protested, that fox knew how to shut me up quick. With her claws.

But yeah, back to me. I am about 5'11, my skin is pale and smooth. The hair on the top of my head is amber, sleek and my eyes are blue, family traits. The color of my tail though is black, tipped with white. It is said to be a bad omen within the members of the fox type. Which is almost none, the only others I know of are my mother and grandpa. I have a sliver ear ring and a silver finger ring that I always wear. I usually wear a solid white T-shirt with my black pants and brown shoes. I usually have an expression of indifference above my long Sun and Moon chain. I just don't care about somethings, so I don't express it. Like transferring.

Celestia knows why I have to come to this school. I was doing quite well in Pearl public school, why do I need to travel 36 miles inland just to go to school with my brother? I will never know, but it is too late to turn back. I stood outside of the train station at 7 in the mourning with my mother and step father waiting with me as we waited for Blaze with his carriage to take all my stuff. Sitting on a bench, my step dad tried to comfort me. Earth ponies have a way of doing that stuff. "Cheer up Jero, you had a great summer with you friends in Pearl Point. Know is the time to make new friends with your brother here at Tandem."

I looked down to the brown and black maned pony. "Dad, I shall ask this only once more. Why the hell must I go here? I had everything good over in Pearl, I had my whole business set up!"

My dad said with a sigh, "Jero, I know you were doing well with your services. You must understand where I am coming from. This town is big and only a three hour train ride away from Pearl. More opportunity here than back home."

"Oh really? Than why don't you move here?" I asked, trying to pock a hole in his logic.

"Both your mother and I have to work in Pearl."

I hissed under my breath, "Damn."

"Don't worry baby." My mother cooed. "You will be fine, just make sure you get to your classes on time. You should be happy, this is a brand new school. It was just finished this summer!"

I finally caved in and stopped protesting. "Okay Mom, but I'm going to be late if Blaze doesn't show up soon." I then took a seat next to my pony dad. I turned on my E-Deck I had in my wrist and listened to my music for about five minutes before Mom and Dad had to board the train once more. I said my goodbyes and hugged them. I looked at my E-Deck and saw the time was 7:30. I looked around and saw that there was only one other homunculi and a blue earth pony sweeping the floors of the train station inside. I turn to my belongings and search through the four boxes and three bags to find my 'special box' that I kept out of sight. It was tricky but I'm a fox, tricky is in my blood. I picked it up and presses it close to my chest, tempted to open the book right then and there. I moved my hand along the box like it was a frightened cat. "Don't worry baby, you'll be safe soon."

I lower the E-Deck and hear a low hissing sound. It was like fire was escaping from a pipe in the back of...dear Celestia he brought the "Craze Cart". I look up and down the street, I take a double-take up the street and see a blue flame coming out the back of a black and red painted carriage. The wood was clean and showed no sign of damage and the metal pegs that held everything together were shining in the light of the early mourning. From the front seat of the carriage, I could see my brother Craze Blaze, another earth pony. He is red with a smoke grey mane with a white dyed tail. His cutimark was a ring of blue fire with a red ember in the center. He is the craziest pony I have ever had the joy of meeting other his cousin, but that is a whole other story.

I placed my special box down and prepared to leave when I heard an explosion and the laughter of Blaze. "Haha! Burn baby burn. To mass fires, yes! One hundred stories high! Burn baby burn!" Yup, still not singing the whole song, just the part he likes.

From the front bench, he pulled a lever and slowed to a stop as he neared the entrance of the station. He jumped down from the carriage and ran up to me, opening up for a hug. "Jero! How the hell are you? Oh, hell has fire." He smiled his usual crazy smile, creepy as fuck.

I took the pyromaniac and hugged him. "I'm good bro. So what took you so Celestia long! Hmm?" I then began to tap my foot, waiting for his answer.

"Oh that, I over slept. I was getting our dorm ready when I was ready to crash. I had to sleep in the back of the Craze Cart last night because I wasn't able to sleep in the dorms yet. Enough of that, we need to move quickly! The first bell of our first day is in about," Blaze started to count the non-existent fingers on his hoof. "We have about one hour and it took me about fifteen minutes to get here. Then we have the entrance welcoming that is about 30 minutes I hear." Blaze took literally a hoof full of my bags and ran to the carriage on his hind legs. I took hold of my special box and satchel, not a hand bag, and followed him to the carriage were we put my things inside. We both jumped on the front bench and he turned a few knobs and a lever.

"So what does this thing do again?" I reached for a lone lever when Blaze slapped my palm away. I retracted it and held the stinging hand. "In all my 18 years of life...what the hell does that lever do!?" I took my hand and threw it at the lever, pushing it forward.

Blaze looked at me like he heard a joke he knew was both funny and also not appropriate. Which is always a bad thing. "Do you know what you just did?" We both heard a hiss come from the back of the carriage and what sounded like matches scrapping against something. Blaze started to pull and push levers and hit a few buttons. "Jero, have you ever heard of Luwa?" He smiled at me once more with his creepy smile and turned two levers next to him in the opposite up and down directions.

Now, being a dumbass I answered. Never answer, "What are you talking about? Luwaaaaagh!" The flame in the back of the carriage was once again ignited, the carriage spun around once and we blasted off back up the road. We were going so fast my tail felt like it was going to be pulled off. The only good part about this was that Blaze was able to keep the carriage from crashing as was sped through the streets of Tandem Valley. I was too busy praying to Celestia and Luna to pay attention to the city as it passed by us both. "Dear and almighty Celestial Sisters, save me from this torment!" Just then a miracle happened, the sounds of the rushing flame died. As I smiled with happiness, Blaze was smiling more menacingly. This made me frown and I simply said, "There is more, isn't there?"

"Hell yeah!" Blaze took out a pair of goggles and strapped them on. A hang gladder was released from the top of the carriage and that was when I knew, I knew I was going to die. The sound of a large explosion erupted from the back of carriage and I felt it being lifted into the air. I could see the ground getting further away. I turned to my brother and yelled, "I though you were a pyromaniac? Not a dam inventor!"

"I'm not! This is just one more reason in my book to blow shit up and set things on FIRE!"

"When we land I am-" I started but was quickly shut up by the rumbling of the carriage as it soared through the sky, leaving a trail of smoke in the sky. I closed my eyes and held on tight to the bench.

Blaze snapped his head over to me with his brow raised. "What do you mean land?"

My eyes slowly open and I looked into Blaze's and saw he wasn't joking, "Blaze, please tell me you can land this thing."

"I have never even tried it! But this will be great!" He strapped on a belt that seemed to be attached to the wooden bench. Adjusting his goggles, he searched for a single spot in front of us. With a smile he roared, "Aha! There she be ahead! Tandem Academy!"

I looked away from the psycho and toward the academy. I didn't really see anything because the Sun got in my fucking eyes and the carriage started to shake again. I heard a pop and something falling. "Bro, what was that?"

"That was the beautiful sound of the engine exploding and falling. Hold on tight, I'll try and crash into the lake." He pushed a lever and pulled a knob. Now I would normally say, Oh we have a lake on the school ground? That is kinda cool. But right now, I just curse at the top of my lungs because we were about 300 fuck feet in the air! I saw ponies and homunculi gathering around on the ground. I think they were looking up at us because I hear one pony faintly saw, "Dear Celestia what is that!" Or something close to that. The crowds grow larger as more gathered.

I scanned the area for this lake Blaze just mentioned to no avail. "Okay Blaze, just where is this lake. All I see are buildings."

"Well you see the lake is inside the-[Pluck]" The carriage leaned to the left and I was hanging onto the bench as my legs dangled in the air. The hang glider on top of carriage had snapped and now we were going to crash into the ground in a fucking spiral. A brave few pegasi ponies dashed up into the air in an attempt to save us. As we spun I counted about five.

Blaze extended his hoof out to me as I yelled. "I told them nothing good was going to happen! I should of just stayed in Pearl!" I tried to reach for him but the second I let go, I was thrown off. Blaze cried my name and I cried his, this was the end of my life. It fucking sucked. Like really, like this? I couldn't die touching fluffy tail? I would expect one of the pegasi to bolt down to save me, but they all head straight for the carriage. Assholes, but wait...yes! This is good, a bunch of unicorns had made a huge bubble for me to land on. My guess is that when I hit it, it'll act as a cushion. Then I'll be gently brought down with magic. It was coming up fast so I extended all my limbs and relaxed myself for the soft-[Pow]."

That shit was not soft, it was a solid fucking dome! I hit that shit face first and my tail stood straight up in reaction to the mega-ton of pain that is coursing through my body. Damn you Isaac Nowten and Merfi, those Prench bitches. Gravity is a bitch and everything that can go wrong can also go fuck itself. But wait, there is more! These unicorns weren't able to hold that shit, so it broke and I started to fall again! Yay. I was still about two stories high and there was almost no time for anyone to catch me.

There was this one light green unicorn that still tried though, I was engulfed in her magic and started to fall towards her. I slowed down a little, but it the unicorn in the head. We both the hit the ground hard. I heard the crowd gather and chatter as I drifted out of my mind. The last thing I saw was a huge homunculi take the unicorn and me up off the ground as he started to run. I tilted my head over to the mare on this guys shoulder and saw she was almost out. With the last of my consciousness I whispered to her, "Sorry about that." Boom, out like a light.

The dog type homunculi ran through the first floor, he darted around looking for the nurses office. After running down a long hallway, he turned back around and reread a small sign on the side of a white sliding door. With his hands full, he used his foot to throw the door to the side. Inside and directly in front of him was a white coat and purple mane unicorn pony and a cat type homuculi woman. There were four beds on both sides of the room with curtains around them all. The homunculi was typing something up on a computer while the unicorn gasped at the sight of blood dripping down the heads of the unconscious duo. The blood was little but still flowing. "My Celestia, what happened to them?" The unicorn asked.

The homunculi gentle placed both Jero and the unicorn on two beds and explained. "I don't know what exactly happened ma'am. From what I saw, a carriage almost dropped what looked like a huge engine on me and I saw his guys falling to the ground. A few pegasi managed to get the carriage under control and some unicorns made a magic dome for this guy to fall on. While the pegasi were bringing the carriage down from the sky, the dome broke and he started to fall again."

The unicorn gasped. "What? How does a carriage get into the sky?"

"No idea ma'am. As he started to fall, that unicorn there used her magic to try and save him one last time. It mostly work, but they hit their heads together."

"Ow, that had to hurt." The unicorn nurse flinched at the though. "So you took them and ran here?"

"Yes ma'am."

She started to inspect the two of them for a minute before coming to a conclusion. "Well they maybe bleeding, but it seems that they aren't in comas. With a simple recovery spell, they should be up in about half an hour. They may miss the introduction, but they should be in first period."

"That is good news. I should be going myself then. It was nice meeting you nurse...?"

"Nurse Purple Heart. That is Nurse Bline Kine over at the computer. I'd like to thank you once again for this kind deed. What is your name son?"

"Oh my name is Lethroldus Hex. I'm a junior, have a nice day. Take care of those two." He then started for the door. He had to duck his head in order to get out of the door frame. He disappeared from sight and then Nurse Purple Heart closed the door.

She returned to the two patients laying in bed. Engulfing them both in her magic, she pulsed magic throughout their bodies and activated a simple healing spell on both of them. Nurse Bline stood up from her seat on the computer and walked over to the window. As she opened it, wind blew her brown and grey hair back. She said with a sigh, "Isn't this great. The very first bell hasn't even rung and we already have students hitting each other." She pulled out a carton of cigarettes from her lab coat.

"Bline, you know you aren't suppose to smoke on school grounds." Purple Heart warned.

Bline chuckled. "Purple, smoking on school grounds is the lest of my worries now."

The magic that engulfed Jero and the unicorn died out and Purple Heart walked over to Bline with a confused look. "What does that mean?" Bline inhaled a puff from her cigarette and gestured over to Jero. "You mean the boy?"

"Yeah, I know it is not something a pony would know about but I'll tell you." Bline exhaled the smoke and narrowed her eyes on Jero's black tail. "There are omens surrounding those born with black tails. A long time ago, things happened and the reason for those things was a lone fox homunculi with a black tail. It may seem a little harsh, but the reality is that it is such a rare trait that there is myth behind it. Most who know about it believe in it."

Purple Heart was intrigued by Bline's claims. She was ready to ask about it when the door slid open and Blaze ran into the room yelling, "Jero! Is Jero in here?" He snapped his head over to the beds and saw Jero laying on it. "Oh dear brother of mine. How could this happen to you? You were so young, so ready for life! So ready to catch that fluffy tail!" He ran up to the bed and hugged his brother. "Don't worry, I'll burn your body with the best fire I can make. It shall be glorious!"

Bline strafed a laugh as she held her cigarette in her hand. "Wow kid, you really think he's dead? He is just out for a while." She then looked at Blaze's tail. "You also has an ember on your tail."

Blaze snapped his neck back and saw the smoke and small flame on the tip of his white tail. He turned back to Nurse Bline confused. "So what?" The bell rang and his ears perked up. "Ow, I'll be back Jero. Don't go anywhere!" He then patted Jero's head and dashed out the door.

Bline laughed and dropped her smoke on to the white tile floor. "Wow! Maybe it won't be so bad for Jero." The nurse moved from the window to a supply cabinet and pulled out gauze for the patient's heads.

She moved over to Jero and this unknown sea-foam colored unicorn with white and sea-foam mane. As Bline came closer, the unicorn groaned and stirred awake. She opened her gold colored eyes and looked around.

The mare tried to sit up straight, but only stretched her neck out and rubbed her head. "Good Celestia, what hit me?"

"Whoa, easy there dear." Nurse Purple Heart cooed. "It seems that you tried to save this young homunculi and you two clashed. The impact knocked you unconscious along with Jero here."

"Jero?" She looked to the bed next to here, seeing him made her remember. "Oh, so that's the guy? Well is he okay? A buddy of mine usually does the saving stuff, but she isn't there and there was no one brave enough." She gave a sheepish smile. "So I tried."

"Well that is good, the making of a fine mare!" Bline shouted with pride. "What is your name dear?"

"Oh, my name is Lyra Heartstrings."

"Well Lyra, how bad do you feel?" Nurse Purple Heart asked.

"Well my head still hurts, but I'm mostly okay."

"Good, because you're missing the introduction speech right now."

"Introduction speech, that's right!" Lyra jumped out of the bed and ran to the sliding door. "Thank you Nurses!" She threw open the door and ran off.

Bline sighed and went back to her computer. She tossed the gauze over to Purple Heart. "I need to type up this accident on here. I don't think he'll be needing those, if a mare can wake up quickly than he should too."

"Fine." Purple Heart sighed and placed the gauze back in the cabinet. "I'm going to the auditorium, watch Jero and keep him regular."

"Okay bye." Bline waved to Purple as she left and closed the door behind her. Once the door snapped shut, Bline jumped up from her seat, ran to the door and locked it. Bline put on an uncharacteristic smile and sang, "While the mare is away, the cat will play. New school, new computer, new space for my porn. I just don't have to wake up the fox."

--
The auditorium was nearly filled to the brim with new students and teachers. All of the back row seats where taken so Lyra had to walk down the carpeted stairs in order to get to an open seat. She rushed down and grabbed the last cushioned chair in the front of the large black room. There was one podium on a barren stage with a red curtain and a panel of teachers sitting in chairs on both sides of the podium. A total of four where on the stage, two pony and two homunculi. From behind the curtain a single wolf homunculi and unicorn wearing suits approached the podium.

The wolf stood tall with his blue eyes fixed to the crowd. He was fair skinned and he had his naturally grey hair combed back with his ears sticking out to the sides. The blue unicorn mare had her white mane brushed straight down her left side along with her tail. Her cutimark being a clipboard with a ruler. They both seemed further along in their lives.

The homunculi tapped the microphone and drew the attention of everyone in the room. "Hello, Hello there." He said in a relaxed tone. "I am Principal Grey Mane and this here is my assistant, Vice Principal Ruth Loss." A collected gulp came from the student body at the sound of her name. "I am so proud to be the first to welcome you all here to our brand new Tandem Academy. As many of you were clearly able to tell while outside on the grounds, Tandem Academy is one of a kind. We are 'thy' large school in Equestria and take up big plot of land from Tandem Valley. The school itself is like a small town in multiple senses of the word. This school as been tasked with educating all high school and collage applicants that come to us and I will fulfill that task. We will not treat you like children though, that is my number one rule here. As long as you are here, we will have real world consequence for every action be it good or bad." A low mutter flowed through out the auditorium as concerns of the student body were shared.

Principle Grey Mane cleared his throat and reestablished order. "You should not be afraid though, we are fair and just here. We will listen to you and speak with you. As old as you all are, you are still my students and I plan to take care of you all. Now today I will have you all report to your homerooms and await there for further instructions. I will now allow Principle Ruth Loss say a few words." Grey Mane stepped down from the podium and Ruth Loss stepped up.

She adjusted her glasses and took out a clipboard from out of thin air. "Hello students. As Principle Grey Mane just said, we will be having you report to your homerooms. From there we have asked your teachers to bring you around Tandem Academy so you can understand what our fine Principle said about our size. We were given funding from our own Princesses to construct this school and by Celestia we used it! We used all of it to build this school so you, our students, our protegees can live and learn in both a functional and a glorious environment. I hope you all find friends amongst yourselves and the staff here at Tandem." She slowly turned her head but quickly snapped back. "Oh, before I forget. Two things. One, yes my name may sound like a play one words. But I must warn you," She took a ruler that she also took from thin air and smacked it against the podium."I don't play. And will the owner of a once burning and falling carriage report to my office, NOW!"

From the far back of the room, Craze Blaze jumped up and shouted out, "It was worth it!" Then bell rung and everyone was dismissed from the auditorium to their homerooms.