Four Corners

Fox was now officially pissed.

First he'd locked himself out of his own room, and now the front desk can't help him because the mare wasn't there. He tried ringing the bell, but the first 6 times didn't work. Not even his superior patience could help him now; he trudged his way up the stairs that led to the castle's second floor, hoping to take refuge in one of his friends' rooms.

Naughty? No, he was too... creepy. Fox felt strange around Naughty, as if he had a horrible past that none were meant to know. He didn't like the continuous angry glaring he gave everyone either, not to mention staring off into space on occasion - a sure sign of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Milvar? He wasn't the worst guy around, but fox still felt a tad awkward around him after their fight. Fox still couldn't bring himself to look his friend in the eye, even if they were allies again. Fox also didn't like his unkempt beard and body hair as it made him seem like an angry bear, ready to pounce on anyone that got in his way.

Horatio? Meh, he wasn't so bad. The only real problem Fox had with him was the guy's jumpsuit; it had several tubes around it to keep him cool in his suit, and the only other outfit he had resembled a mechanic's jumpsuit. And it looked just like one, too - grease and oil stains were visible all over the jumpsuit. Otherwise, the man was spick and span, and Fox even considered growing a mustache himself in jealousy of Horatio's. However, he didn't like how the guy smelled. Fox, being a fox, had a superior sense of smell, and what he smelled on Horatio reeked of nylon and laundry that rubbed him in all the wrong ways.

Then there were the ponies. Of course, he couldn't bear to sleep in the same bed as Celestia again. It was just... weird. She was so much bigger than him, and even if she was an ally, he was still intimidated by her horn. It looked a lot sharper than Twilight's. She wasn't an option either, since she was obviously in no shape to share her bed.

Then there was Luna.

Fox didn't know Luna too well. He'd said hello when he walked by, and she returned the gesture each time. That was pretty much it. Fox didn't really want to get to know her better by suddenly requesting to sleep in her room with her. Other than that, there we no other options besides a bench in the lobby. He reviewed his options.

"

Luna it was.

It had taken her at least an hour to get it all out of her fur, but she had done it. Luna was now clean as usual. Of course, her mane was still a mess and she'd just stepped out of the shower, so her fur was messy as well. After taking a glance at herself in a foggy mirror, she giggled to herself. She resembled a giant, blue fluffy bear. Her fur being stuck up made her look much larger than she actually was.

She was in the middle of brushing her mane when a knock on her door.

"Who would ask my presence at such a time?" She mumbled to herself.

Luna set down her brush and did her best to make herself look presentable. Her fur was already patted down, so she had no worries. The only thing that looked bad about her was her mane and tail, which had several strands each of ghostly hair sticking up. Luna reached her door.

"Yes?" She asked through the wood.

"It's me, your Majesty," Came a voice. It was Fox's.

Luna opened the door cautiously, hoping her appearance wouldn't distract Fox. She smiled and greeted Fox with a smile.

"Fox! Nice of us to see you."

"Us?" Fox asked, peering behind Luna. Nobody was there.

"Ahem," Luna corrected. "I meant to say nice of me to see you."

"Likewise."

An awkward silence followed.

"Um...?" Luna glanced over her shoulder idly.

"Oh!" Fox remembered. "Sorry, I was distracted. I had a favor to ask."

"Distracted?" Luna was secretly hurt inside; was Fox joking at her appearance?

"Yes, sorry about that. I've just never seen you without your necklace or crown on."

Luna suddenly felt naked. She pressed her haunches together absentmindedly. "I... see. What was the favor you ask of us?"

Fox was thrown off again by the royal tongue. "Uh, I got locked out of my room and have nowhere to go. I was wondering if..."

Luna's cheeks flushed a bright red, triggering Fox's awkward excuse mechanism.

"I, uh, just need somewhere to go, cause, um..."

"We understand," Luna said, chuckling to herself. "You are welcome to stay in our bed while we go about our nightly duties."

"Really?" Fox asked, surprised. He hadn't expected it to be this easy.

"Of course, my subject. What's ours is yours!"

"Well, uh..." Fox looked away, pawing the ground with his boot. "Thanks, I guess."

"You're more than welcome!" Luna flashed a smile and turned to walk back into her room. "Enter." It sounded more like a demand than a welcome.

Fox walked into the room. Rather than the bright colors of Celestia's room, the walls sported a dark navy blue and seemed to sparkle as moonlight reflected off of them from the window. Her bed was much like Celestia's, but with purple sheets instead of red. Beside it sat a bedstand decorated with multiple picture frames, filled with smiling pictures of what Fox assumed was Luna and Celestia as children. To his surprise, in one picture, he barely recognized Celestia without her fancy mane. In the photo it was a solid color, but due to the black-and-white effect of old-timey photos, he couldn't tell what color it originally was. Luna's mane was the same.

"Her mane was pink," Luna stated, appearing from nowhere and making Fox jump in surprise. He found himself standing next to her bed, admiring the photos.

"I can imagine yours was black?" Fox asked, curious.

"Nay, t'was a baby bluish color," Luna corrected. "Though at one time, my coat was black."

"I imagine that would've been cool," Fox said, crossing his arms. "But I think navy blue suits you better."

Luna turned away, blushing wildly. "Fox, please!" She giggled. "Such flattery is unneeded in my chambers."

"I'm being honest," Fox said, holding his arms up in protest. "You know, you remind me of someone."

"May I ask whom?"

"Her name is-"

DONG!

Both Fox and Luna jumped in surprise. The noise came from a tall grandfather clock in the far corner of the room. Its hands showed midnight. Luna yelped in realization.

"I forgot; my duties. I must leave for an hour or two, Fox. Keep yourself occupied!"

Fox didn't even have time to respond as Luna dashed into her bathroom to finish powdering herself up. He had to admit, she was a pretty mare. The hair sticking up was humorous enough. When Fox first saw her, he struggled to hold back a laugh. Within a minute, Luna was back out again, with her armor on and mane in place.

"I now depart," She stated, pushing open a huge window that was actually a door to Fox's surprise. It led to a balcony, much like the one he landed on.

Luna was off without another word, her wings unfurling and lifting her into the night sky where she blended in so well that Fox thought she had disappeared. He looked on with amazement.

"Wish I had wings," Fox remarked.

He decided to settle down for a bit. He took off his jacket, minding the hole where he had shot himself, and hung it on a coat rack by the door. On it hung a simple black cloak, and standing beside it was a statue that sported silverish-blue armor that looked far too big to fit on Luna. Celestia, maybe. Perhaps this was meant for her to wear when she got older?

Fox took another look at the photos next. In the first, Celestia and Luna sat next to a tall white alicorn with a simple mane. Their mother, by the looks of it. Luna, a baby in the photo, sat on the head of a smiling teenage Celestia, who wore an ancient pair of what looked like braces on her teeth. He noticed then that Luna didn't have her Cutie Mark - butt stamp, as he called them - in that particular photo.

The next photo had a beaming Celestia sitting next to a huge cake. On top of the cake sat a giant wax candle that read "1000" on it. Her 1000th birthday. Luna, however, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, an older picture of her with a short blue mane sat on a golden platter surrounded by flowers. Had Luna died and returned at one point? He had to ask her later.

The third picture was a fully grown Celestia standing tall next to an intimidating jet black mare, wearing the same set of armor that had been spotted next to the coat rack. Her mane looked almost identical to Luna's current mane. Fox noticed for the first time that the black mare was smiling, instead of snarling, which had been Fox's first guess. Above the pair, a banner was strung overhead: "Happy Nightmare Night!"

The final photo was what really caught Fox's attention. Teenager Celestia was standing next to a... thing. It looked like a dragon got thrown into a blender with a mule, lion, chicken and... God knows what. It also had one oversized fang that hung from its upper lip, and two mismatched wings jutted out from behind it. Celestia was putting on a mock angry face at the monster, while a much younger Luna, once again with the short mane, rode on its back.. The dragon thing leaned his elbow on Celestia's head, giving her a fake noogie. It looked like they were great friends, but the thing that jutted out the most was the monster for sure.

Ten minutes later, Fox was bored out of his mind. He sat in front of a large television screen, which had a white game console plugged into it. The word "Xbox 360" was printed on the front of it, and a large selection of different games sat beside it in their cases. Fox had something akin to this on the Great Fox II, but it was much more advanced.

He tried to get the console to turn on, hoping to try out a game or two, but he couldn't seem to find out how to hook it up. On the Great Fox II, everything was hard-wired into the ship, so Fox didn't really have any experience with wiring things together; that was Slippy's job. He eventually gave up on it, and sat back on a sofa that was planted in front of the TV. He picked up the remote and tried to figure out which button was the power button. After a few tries, the TV clicked on.

"... and only 19 were injured, but luckily, there were no casualties."

Click.

"When this baby hits 88 miles per hour... You're gonna see-"

Click.

"Now we'll move onto cleaning the fish. First, you-"

Click.

After about 10 minutes and 90 channels, Fox finally found a good channel. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, as he couldn't understand a word the ponies were saying, but he liked where it was going; A huge battle consisting of battle mechs resembling ponies on their back legs fought each other on top of a volcano, each side fighting for the higher ground. Blue mechs blew up red ones, and red ones tore apart blue ones. Defeated and destroyed mechs lay in the path of molten lava, which melted the unlucky pilots who managed to survive the battle. The final two mechs now grappled at the peak of the volcano, and a close-up of the red pilot's face ensued.

"Sore o akirameru!" he snarled. "Anata wa, watashi ga katsu koto o shitte iru!"

The blue pilot's mech suddenly crumpled under the weight of the red one, sending it sprawling on its belly over the edge of the volcano's mouth. In a final bout of defiance, the blue mech dug one giant sword into the lip of the edge.

The blue said nothing.

"Tetsu no hidzume no shita de kurasu ka shinu!"

"Watashi wa anata no fashisuto junban ni kussuru koto wa arimasen!"

The blue mech's second sword swept the red mech's legs out from underneath it, causing it to trip and fall into the volcano as well, grabbing onto the blue mech's back leg with a giant claw.

"Ane, matte!"

"Anata wa watashi no kyōdai kamo shirenaiga, anata wa watashi no mikata ni naru koto wa arimasen!"

The blue mech reached down with a giant sword and sliced its own leg off, sending the red mech and its screaming pilot sailing into the lava below. With a loud smack, the mech disappeared into the molten rock, the last sounds of its pilot disappearing into the exploding fuel tanks that powered the mech.

Then came the credits. All in a funny language Fox couldn't understand.

"I never knew you liked anime!"

Fox leaped out of the sofa screaming in surprise. Out of instinct, he reached for his blaster, which was nowhere to be found. He wheeled around to see Luna staring at him, cocking her head curiously. She smiled innocently.

"How long have you been there?!" Fox asked, clutching his breast to slow his heartbeat.

"About 10 minutes. I like this episode."

Fox was still astonished. She had been silent the whole time. Not even Fox's ears could pick up her wingbeats or hoofsteps.

"I got bored, and I came across the channel randomly."

"Well, it's a good channel," Luna said, picking up the remote with her magic and switching to a different channel. "Come, watch the screen with us."

"I dunno, your Majesty. I'm kind of tired, to be honest."

"Just for a bit?" Luna's eyes were pleading.

Fox groaned in frustration. "Fine... but only one," Fox said as he flopped onto the couch next to the lazing Luna.

Fox couldn't help but laugh at the mare. She was splayed out on the couch, taking up at least half of his space. She looked tired too, but she still smiled at him. She had her rump towards Fox, and she had to swing her tail to make room for Fox. He sat down and crossed his legs, resting one arm on the armrest and the other on his lap. He handed Luna the remote, and she took it in her magical aura. She switched a few more channels until she found one that interested her.

Together, they awkwardly watched an episode of a police chase show. A single colt wearing a bandito mask sprinted away from three pegasus police officers, each wielding a baton and tazer. After being cornered, the crook took no hesitation in hauling out a knife before stabbing one of the officers and getting his face bashed in by a baton.

"This crook thinks he can get away with stabbing a lawman. The only thing he got away with was a black eye."

Fox idly turned his head to look at Luna, who was engrossed in the show. He couldn't help but glimpse at her rump, and just as he did, Luna snapped her eyes toward him.

Caught red-handed.

"See something you admire?" She asked, wiggling her hiney a bit.

Fox was taken by surprise, turning his head quickly. "N-no, no! It was an accident!"

"So Tia was right, you really are sheepish!" Luna giggled to herself before adjusting herself so that her behind faced the armrest.

"So... you were kidding?"

"Naturally!" Luna put a hoof to her mouth and let out another giggle.

"You're just like your sister," Fox teased. "All these sex jokes, and so playful..."

At the mention of the word playful, Luna's eyes widened and she blushed profusely.

"... What?" Fox asked, ears folding back. "I didn't offend you, did I?"

"Nay... You just..." Luna cleared her throat awkwardly. "Surprised us, is all."

"... Oookay," Fox joked, turning his head back to the TV to watch more police chases.

Luna was never so embarrassed in her life. Sure, she had been pranked by Discord and Celestia countless times, but never before had she been complimented by someone she liked. At first, she liked Horatio, but after getting to know Fox, she shifted more to him. Suddenly, her neck almost gave out, jolting her awake.

She looked around the room to find the television turned off and Fox snoring away beside her. He was still in a sitting position, albeit a bit slouched, with his arms crossed and ears pinned back. She blushed at the thought of sleeping with Fox, then proceeded to snag a spare blanket from her closet and drape Fox in it. All the while, she sat still, letting her magic do the work. She eyed Fox every now and then, admiring just how peaceful he was when he slept. His ears twitched with every snore, eliciting a giggle from Luna.

Luna's eyelids were heavy, and she felt even heavier. It had been a long day, and she needed sleep. She moved to stand up, but her legs screamed in protest and forced her to plant her butt right on the couch again. She glanced to her bed. It was so far away! At least nine feet!

Seeing as she was exhausted, lazy and hungry for breakfast already, Luna decided to share the couch with Fox. She snuggled up against her side of the couch, accidentally bumping Fox's thigh with her hoof. She froze in place, her eyes the only thing moving, observing Fox. He shifted, but fell back asleep in seconds.

Smiling in content, she levitated a pillow from her bed and rested her head on it, using the armrest for support. She pulled a bit of Fox's blanket on top of herself, then let herself drift off to a wonderful sleep, her sore muscles unfurling and headache receding.

And somewhere, just outside the bedroom window, a white goddess hovered, a bag of interesting items at the ready.