After traveling for a couple more days, we ended up in the middle of nowhere, because we were still heading up to Gryphus, the capital city of Griffonia. Blaze often ended up being the main attraction on the trip, as she would often make us play fetch, tickle me or Chryssy, and overall just make the trip feel less like a drag. Honestly, she did a good job. Between me and Chryssy making out, to Blaze being Blaze, to even some of the scenery, this trip felt fun. Eventually we did stop because we stopped by what might be the equivalent of Niagara falls, or something like it, because we were at the bottom of a huge, absolutely enormous waterfall. I hopped out of the wagon as soon as it came to a stop to stare at it in wonder…

It was gorgeous.

The sounds of water crashing down into the massive lake filled the air, but not in an unpleasant way. Where the water was crashing was a long way away, and was quite nice. There was a nice, double rainbow, shining brightly and looking incredible. Blaze had hopped up in the wagon for cover; there was a slight mist, almost rain in the air as stray water droplets acted as a very, very like drizzle. Chrysalis had followed me out of the wagon, the buzz of her wings stopped as she landed beside me. “Oh my… days…” She whispered. “This place is…” She paused, seemingly at a loss for words. “I have only seen something like this in Neighara falls, and that pales in comparison to what I’m seeing right now.” She laid down to just stare up at the waterfall above us.

“This… I’ve only heard of this sort of thing back on Earth; I’ve never had the opportunity to even see this in person...” I laid down next to my marefriend, and she quickly pulled me closer to her side while we drank in the wondrous sight.

“I’m glad you two are enjoying yourselves; I hate getting my fur wet!” Blaze let out a high pitched whimper. “I admit, it is stunning, but I cannot enjoy it if it’s constantly drizzling due to the sheer scale of this waterfall.” She hummed. “I believe my homeland has something more brilliant than this; I’m sure you two will want to see it?”

“Your homeland… Why the heck are you even so far away from where Kitsunes are typically found?” Chrysalis asked, turning to my fox. “If I know Kumiho and Kitsune, they usually never venture far from where they are born.”

“I have several reasons for leaving Hisui behind, Chrysalis. One is hunting; griffins, ponies, everyone that liked how nice my pelt is, loved to try and hunt both myself, my kind, and our Hanbandonian counterparts. They weren’t successful, never were, you would be hard pressed to kill a Kitsune with any physical means, and Kumiho had outright tortured any hunters that stepped foot onto their land.” Blaze took a sniff of the air. “Though I am sure you two would rather enjoy the view than hear of this old hag’s backstory. That is for another time.” I hopped up, before leaping over to the wagon to hop right in, leaving me right next to Blaze.

“You aren’t getting off that easy, girl.” I nuzzled into my Kitsune’s side, hugging her head, and laying my wings over her. “What’s wrong?”

“Am I really that bad at hiding my desire to not speak of my homeland?” Blaze tilted her head, probably as a ploy to look cute so I’d forget about this conversation. “Curses, that didn’t work… Why are you so intent on hearing this anyways?

“We’re going to be stopping in Hisui at some point; you may as well tell me now. It is better to be prepared than to end up not being ready for your home because you didn’t tell me anything.”

“Well…” Blaze shuddered. “I am what you would consider a halfbreed.” What? “I am part Kumiho, part Kitsune. It’s why I haven’t truly stopped you from killing anything, but not overtly aggressive or cruel. In fact, you’ve helped curve that darker, more animalistic side of me, Ostri. You are nice to me, cuddling me, treating me as your friend and pet… That appears to appease my Kumiho side, that secretly just wishes to be loved. It also does not help that I am technically a ‘Princess’ for Kumiho and KItsunes; I didn’t want to choose to rule over one or the other, so I ran away to Equestria oh so long ago… I may be old, older than Celestia, but I am quite young for a Kitsune or Kumiho. I was only a century old when I first met you. Any number that I gave you at the time… Was a bit of a cover up; I am a halfbred freak, and I hate it.”

I reeled back. “Blaze, you are not a fucking freak. Do not, I repeat, don’t you fucking dare call yourself a freak. You can’t control who the fuck your parents were, Blaze. You can control who the fuck you become, and who you choose to be, not your parents. You are my friend, I love you, you are my pet, I love you. You are Blaze, and I love you. You aren’t ‘Blaze the Kitsuneho’ or whatever the fuck a crossbreed between a Kitsune or Kumiho are called, you are somebody I love.” I pulled Blaze into a tighter hug, and Chrysalis soon followed. “Don’t you dare think that I think you’re a freak. You’re my best friend, and that’s all there is to it. What’s in your blood, if you have any, doesn’t mean shit to me.” Blaze let out a very canine-like whimper.

“Ostri, this is why I choose to stay by your side,” Blaze wrapped her tails around me. “You… It appears I still have some self esteem issues despite how old I am.”

“Hey, no shame in that, bud.” I nuzzled my fox. “I love you, and that’s final. I will help you accept yourself if you want, but just know… I already accept you; if we ever drift apart, all you have to do is find me, and I’ll let you cry into my shoulder, alright?’ Blaze nodded and started licking my cheek. After that, we all climbed out of the wagon to get some water, have a swim, and explore around the waterfall until we got bored.

After a couple more days of travel, we made it to Gryphus. I could tell because of the giant fucking sign out front. It looked eerily similar to a less colorful version of Everfree City. It was much, much larger, but it just reminded me of home. I quickly noted the Roman style colosseum, along with a bunch of advertisements for a tournament for anyone to enter. The winner gets a huge pile of bits, a trophy among other things, and a ton of respect amongst the griffins.

Even an audience with the King.

Oh, the only rule was you weren’t allowed to kill anyone during the event. You can beat the shit out of them, but you cannot do anything lethal or permanently maim, anyone in the event. “You should enter the event,” Chrysalis said, sipping on some more hot cocoa(where the fuck does she get some much of this shit?). “We could use more money to fuel our road trip, and at worse, you just get knocked out as we go.” That was a good argument, and if nothing else, it was good exercise. So we kept heading towards the colosseum so I could get signed up. Once we got there, I gave my full name, what race I was a part of, and was signed up and given a roster for the tournament.

There was only one other pony in the whole event, some dumbass unicorn named Fruit Punch. There was a teenaged dragon, a fuckload of griffins, a minotaur, and a changeling or two. Though it was mostly griffins participating. It made sense; this was a city full of those birdcats.

The tournament was to start in a day, so we hopped in our wagon and waited for the tournament to begin. The next day, I was put up against a griffin. Though my match wasn’t meant to happen yet, that other pony from earlier was ahead of me. The pony in question was a brown, boring looking unicorn. From the looks of things, he was buff as fuck. Chrysalis whistled at the sight of his muscles. You see, I would’ve been angry about that, but listen, Fruit Punch was ripped, and actually pretty handsome. So I couldn't even blame Chryssy for taking a double take on that son of a bitch.

I’d probably be gay for somebody that ripped.

Anyways, one hop and a skip, and the griffin that was fighting Fruit Punch was screaming for mercy. It all happened in a flash, the griffin ran in, got one swing and a miss, and then got punched in the shoulder repeatedly until a loud ‘snap’ could be heard. Fruit Punch simply nodded to the griffin and let off of him. “Fucking christ…” The unicorn shouted. Huh? Nobody else uses that phrase but me! “That’s right, Bloodbeak, I ain’t no pussy!” The unicorn walked off stage.

Several matches later, and several griffins kicking ass, I was up next. You can tell how excited I am about how I quickly glossed over the rest of the matches, because this match was a curbstomp. I was actually going to murder whoever came up with this lineup. I, the only other pony in the event, gets to fight the one, fucking dragon in the whole event! What makes things better… The dragon was taller than Chrysalis, buff as fuck, and one of his claws was the size of my leg. Needless to say, this was a very fair matchup. I coulda gottenchangeling and beat their ass. I coulda gotten the unicorn and speed blitzed him. I literally could’ve been put up against anyone else, and I got to fight a teenage dragon.

I just stared at the dragon dumbly as the referee counted down. The dragon flipped me off mid-countdown, because I guess being fully capable of beating my ass into the ground wasn’t enough. Fuck you, Stormfly looking motherfucker. I sat down and brought my hooves up to my chest as I signed my own death warrant. “God almighty, I know I don’t believe in you, but eat a massive dick,” I whispered. The match started and the dragon and I charged each other. On the bright side of this whole ordeal, I got hit once and everything went black almost immediately. Nah, I got thrown into a wall and then knocked out! I only got to hear the crowd roar after I hit the ground.

When I came to it, it was several days after I got knocked the fuck out. Chrysalis was sitting next to me, I was laying in a hospital bed, and the nurse had a newspaper. “Good news,” Chrysalis said. “You didn’t come dead last…” Oh great. “In other news, the winner was a unicorn. He beat Tartarus into the dragon during the final match, and I believe… He is currently drinking his ass off in the palace with King Bloodbeak.” Wow… So cool.

If only my face didn’t hurt.

“My spine feels like somebody used it as a toothpick…” I groaned. “My face feels I got fucked in the mouth by satan’s flaming dick.” I coughed a couple of times. “I’m alive though! Ain’t that neat!” Chrysalis sighed.

“Luckily, the tournament organizers are paying for your hospital bill. On the downside… We will have to be anchored down in Gryphus until you recover,” Chrysalis’s form was enveloped in fire, before revealing her usual form… In a nurse outfit. “And luckily for you, I have some… Heavy experience in being a doctor, and I think you would enjoy it if I were to nurse you back to health!” The nurse outfit… was very clearly made to be as visually appealing as possible. Stockings that ended in high heels on the hindlegs, held up by suspenders, stockings for the front legs, a nice skirt that only revealed enough of Chrysalis’s ass to let you guess how glorious it is, and it hugged the Queen’s body so tightly that it left little to the imagination as to how curvy she was. Her nurse hat didn’t have the usual medical symbol on it, which was the Red Cross for some fucking reason, but rather a pink heart on it. “Well? What do you thinK?”

“I think I am going to have a good week being bedridden is what I think!” Chrysalis pranced in place, before summoning several bits of medical equipment and looking me over, and occasionally hitting me with ‘diagnostic spells’. She nodded, before going full doctor mode. “Okay, you are going to need to be hit with a healing spell once a day, which will make you pretty drowsy for most of the day, which is good. That means the spell is using spare resources in your body to heal you a little faster, but not enough to kill you or ruin your figure once you get out of the hospital. You will need to eat a sizable meal to make the healing spell safer for you, I will cook for you, and then you are to be supplied with cuddles and love until you fall asleep…” She got up close to me and whispered that last bit.

I was as red as a tomato.

Chrysalis trotted out of the room, so I was stuck, sitting alone for a few hours. “Hello, Ostri,” Blaze poked her head over the window. “Don’t ask how I am seeing into your room, that is on the second floor of a three story building. What matters is you’re recovering. Between myself and Chrysalis, you should be in tip-top shape! You may also get a visit from a certain alicorn; she was in the lobby recently.”

“Wat… Equestria’s at war though.”

“Apparently Twilight Sparkle was sent out on a quest to find some means to defeat the Storm King for good. One of her stops was in Gryphus, and as it turns out, the tournament was a front to gather fighters for Equestria’s militia.” Oh son of a cock sucking thunder cunt! “I know, you are so excited to meet your favorite alicorn, Twilight Sparkle. Remember what you said earlier? About her not being that bad? Well, she is just as bad as I said she was.” Blaze shook her head. “I don’t understand why Celestia doesn’t just go down to where the Storm King is, and drop a bit of the Sun on him, if her very existence is tuned into the sun.”

That would solve a lot of Celestia’s current problems. I could go tell her to do that. I won’t though.

Chrysalis trotted in the room with a bowl of tomato soup and a couple of breadsticks. A small smile formed on my face as she approached.

Twilight Sparkle buried her face into the table. Sitting before her was the champion of her little tournament, and he didn’t seem to care. “Look Sparkles, I know your country is kinda fucked, but like… I don’t give a shit! Bloodbeak here, he’s my bro, and he made a bet with me on entering a fighting tournament and winning one round.” Fruit Punch was not very cooperative. “That dude owes me so much booze,” Fruit chuckled. “So go fuck yoursefl!” Twilight is going to be stuck here for a while.

Pinkie Pie was with Twilight; she somehow found the unicorn to be familiar.

A couple of days later, I was able to at least get out of bed without Chrysalis leering at me. I… actually kinda enjoyed just settling down for a while after traveling. Currently, Chryssy, in her maid outfit, was ‘kissing my booboos away’ and it felt like heaven. Chrysalis was oddly warm, but her exoskeleton was soothingly cool to the touch. Blaze wasn’t ever allowed in the hospital because the griffins thought she was just an oversized fox with nine tails. “You know, I always did find a guilty pleasure in healing sick stallions. You may be my first true lover, but I have been, while in disguise, married before. It always felt a little… Nice to take care of my sick ‘husband’ while it lasted. This time, I get to care for my coltfriend without the fear of being found out or chased away!” Chrysalis wrapped her hooves around my neck and laid her head over mine.

“I’ll make sure to get injured and sick more often; if you enjoy taking care of me, I'll let you do so… You best get sick every once in a while though; I love caring for my fallen Queen. Chrysalis clapped her hooves together.

“I cannot wait for you to nurse me back to health one day!

Luna was sitting next to Celestia in her private chambers. They were sitting at a table with Bald Ostri’s diary. “There appears to be nothing in regards to strategies, or battle tactics if you are cornered,” Celestia hummed. “He did seem to quite enjoy it when you got sick and had to cook you some tomato soup though,” she hummed. “It… is quite surreal to read these events from Ostri’s perspective; he even wrote down the main summary of a play I told him I was writing.”

“It is… A bit disheartening,” Luna laid her head on her hooves. “Ostri truly did care about us, and we drove him away in such a horrible fashion. We drove him into hating us,” she sighed. “Sister, I doubt we’ll dive into the mind of Ostri while on the field,” Luna’s eyes widened, and she turned the pages to the exact date of the Battle of Everfree City.

So, I got shot at by a fuckload of griffins. I sucker punched the general of this tribe of griffins and it was great… Until he sicked the whole army on me. The only reason why I’m alive is because Blaze used some voodoo magic to raise a shield. I also only ran as hard as I did, because I still had a Princess to go massage after I’m done writing this. Well, now Luna’s gonna be pampering me; I kinda got shot in the leg and it kinda hurts a lot. I’ll live though!

Luna sighed. “Of course there’d be nothing about the tactics he employed…” Suddenly a scroll popped into existence with after flash of magic. It was from Bald Ostrich.

It wasn’t even formally written.

“Hey Celestia. You’re only getting this advice because I’m bedridden after getting my ass pounded by a dragon and Chrysalis is keeping me in a good mood. Surrender to the Storm King and then hold him hostage. Capture him, torture him, and make him give up. If he doesn’t give in… Kill him,” Celestia read. “That… Is quite a terrible way of achieving victory, but I suppose Ostri was never about keeping things harmonious.” She sighed. “I shall write a letter to the Storm King, then.” Celestia got up to go inact Ostri’s idea.

Twilight was leaning a hoof on her head, an empty cup of mead laid before her. Fruit Punch was going on about some, strange, bucked up version of the Mirror World.

Author's Note

There is now a third Fruit Punch in the Nugverse.