A Silver Light in the Darkness

Though it took some time to get the crew of foxes to understand the situation, as well as to gather what supplies, they eventually managed to walk alongside their pony companions as they headed back to Ponyville. High in the skies, Rainbow Dash flew above them all, acting as their guide as her elevated view allowed her to easily point out the humble town. Many of the foxes were behind the others however, weighed down by both what they could salvage being carried on their backs as well as their curious eyes looking about the scenery.

“Fascinating...” Arren said as he walked alongside Twilight, giving her his full attention as they held an enlightening conversation. “Such powerful magic... able to control the very weather... Beylah, your kind truly are an impressive lot.”

A simple smile was given by the pony, not one to look at the abilities of her kind with such grandeur. “We are who we are, I suppose,” she said modestly. “But I am curious about yours as well. How can we have never seen your own kind before? Where is your land?”

Giving a nod, understanding the confusion that the unicorn held, the prince looked upward at the sky, seeing the rays of the sun still shining down on them. “It is true,” he said, “you wouldn't have seen foxes before. We have always been a... secluded race. Truthfully, we had no idea of what else existed out in the world. Illaisier is our home... just as much as it was our prison...”

“A... A prison?” Rarity murmured. “What do you mean?”

A slight huff left the fox as he continued, saying, “Illaisier is its own landmass, an island of massive proportions, surrounded by water as far as the eye can see. Our own little world.” He paused for a moment, as if to gather his thoughts. “It's a beautiful land, with bountiful sources of food and supplies, having all we could ever need. But when you're certain that there's so much more out there, you get a little curious. We've never before been able to leave the land however. The waters surrounding us are teeming with ferocious monsters, able to pull down any sailing vessel with ease. It wasn't until Feral managed to perfect the airships were we finally able to leave. We were always certain that there were other lands besides our own, but we had no idea of what to expect.” Chuckling slightly, he eyed the scholar with a great mirth. “Certainly not ponies.”

“Well, Equestria is always welcome to new friends,” the lavender-coated mare replied. “It's a shame your first experience in a new land had to be so... catastrophic...”

Arren laughed at that, finding a great deal of humor in her words. “True, most certainly true,” he said. “Hopefully it is only a small upset in our plans. Perhaps once we've had our senses settled in with this foreign land, we will be able to work out a way to make sure we haven't trapped ourselves here.”

“I would hope none of your people are worried for you,” Rarity said. “I could only imagine what it would be like for their prince to simply go missing.”

For just a moment, Arren's expression became completely blank, staring off into the nothingness. Then, his lips parted into a large smile as he chuckled uneasily. “Uh... Heh... More so than you might think, actually. As... I may have 'ran away' by any technical means...”

“You... what?” Twilight asked.

“He wasn't even supposed to be on the ship in the first place,” Kaneri said from behind them, eyes narrowed in his continuing agitation. “The Skysaber was only going through its routine flight across the land. Our plan to leave Illaisier and explore the outlaying lands wasn't even supposed to happen for some time. But Prince Arren thought it necessary to take the ship for his own, dragging most of us with him as he set off across the ocean.”

“Oh, Kani,” the fox prince said with an amused tone, “you make it sound like I forced you. I only planned to take Feral and the Skysaber's crew with me. You, Ashera and Talsin were the ones who came on your own accord.”

Scoffing, the red-furred fox rolled his eyes. “Like I could let you run off on your own,” he retorted. “You'd be lost without me. And I wasn't going to sit around and wait for the king's reaction when he finds out what you did.”

“I couldn't let you go off on your own either,” said Ashera, voicing her own intentions. “There was no telling what dangers that could be out here.”

“And you can not explore new lands without one who can chronicle such findings,” Talsin added.

“There you have it,” Arren chuckled. “And none can say we weren't prepared for what might happen.”

Again Kaneri scoffed as he returned his gaze to Twilight. “Either way,” he said, “our journey was not as known as I had wanted. Why, King Inari himself was unaware. Though, I am certain he will figure out where Arren has gone soon, already aware of what he is capable of. The problem still lies in the fact that none of them would be able to find us now.”

“Is there no other way for you to return yourselves?” Twilight asked.

“Perhaps, yes,” Feral said with a shrug. “Repairs could be made to the Skysaber. Though the frame is barely intact, the inner workings might make a full recovery. Simply starting from scratch would be impossible here, as I'm certain this place lacks the adequate materials needed. Nope, no, nope, such a thing will surely be impossible here.”

“Then we will have to recover what we can once we are properly situated in the land,” Kaneri said.

“Let's not be too hasty now,” the prince interjected. “We can take our time. I'm certain father isn't pacing the floor for our return. Why not enjoy our time here? We set out to find a new land, we can at least make the most of it.” He smiled toward Twilight as he continued. “I would love to know more about your land and people.”

Twilight returned the smile as she nodded her head. “Certainly,” she replied. “Actually, as it turns out, I live in the Ponyville library. You can learn most of Equestria's known history there. You're more than welcome to the books once you're settled in.”

“That sounds fantastic,” Arren returned, still smiling broadly, even more so at the prospect of learning more about the land that he found himself in. It didn't last very much longer however as his ears twitched and the ponies could faintly hear the sound of a flowing river.

As the fox turned away from the group, moving closer toward the source of the sound, Rainbow Dash's voice came from her position above them all. “Hey,” she called down, “I see something in the tree.” From where the cyan pegasus was, all eyes became trained on what blatantly stood out among the green leaves and brown branches, a large piece of metal with a blue piece of fabric attached to it.

“Is that... your chest piece?” Kaneri questioned.

Before the prince could answer, Ashera was already climbing the tree. “I've got it,” she said as she jumped from branch to branch, balancing on the precarious platforms as she ascended it. In moments she was already on the same level as the armor, the cape badly tangled and gripped by the branches. But with one quick swing of her sword, the piece of metal was freed, crashing onto the ground with a light thud.

“That's right,” Arren murmured as the others began to crowd around the chest plate, “I crashed into a tree when I was tossed off the ship...”

“It's badly damaged,” muttered Rarity. Though her expertise in attire was mostly with fabrics and the like, she could still see the excellent care put into the armor. “Such a shame, it looked quite beautiful.”

Besides the thick dents smashed into it from the abusive landing it suffered, the cape itself was in tatters and noticeable cracks stretched across the metallic surface. “Perhaps it can be repaired?” Kaneri thought aloud, running a paw against it.

Shaking his head, Prince Arren merely turned away from it and stood on the path they were once on. “No,” he said, almost offhandedly, “just leave it.”

“But this is your ceremonial armor,” Kaneri protested, looking shocked that there was little care in the royal fox's voice. “It can't just be cast aside.”

“Sure it can,” Arren returned. “It's not everyday I'm bested in such conflict, by a tree no less. Let the forest keep its prize, I never cared for the insufferable thing anyway.” Leaving the discussion at that, the fox continued on the path that they had already been following. With only a simple glance back toward it, the others did the same.

Things remained quiet for some time, more of the forest passing them by and being left behind. Any sense of progress seemed to be non-existent as much of the forest looked the same, always crowded with brush and trees, odd plants and the constant sounds of insects and other wildlife.

“There's something I'm curious about,” Arren eventually said, looking at Twilight curiously. “The ruler of your land. It seems as though it has its own royalty if I'm not mistaken, you mentioned a Princess Mole-”

“Celestia,” Twilight corrected.

After a short chuckle, the fox nodded and said, “Ah yes, that's right.” He then turned to Rarity. “Perhaps it is you I should be asking however.”

The alabaster mare looked at the fox in confusion. “Excuse me,” she questioned, not understanding him.

It was Arren's turn to look confused as he said, “Surely you are in touch with the nobility of this land? From what I've seen of you, you remind me greatly of the nobles of my own home. I would had assumed to call you Lady Rarity had you used the name yourself, I thought it simply a matter of humility on your part. You certainly seem like one cut from noble cloth.”

“Oh, you think that I?” Rarity burst into a small fit of giggles, cheeks blushing slightly. “Oh, well, while I do like to hold myself with an elegance and poise befitting royalty, that is not the case. I am of humble beginnings and nobility is far from my family. Actually, out of all of is, Twilight's the closest to the princesses.”

“Just as Celestia's student,” the unicorn replied. “Under her, I was able to develop my magic.”

“So your rulers have the most powerful magic?” Talsin asked, listening to the unicorn with an intrigued look about him.

“Well,” the scholar explained, “there are only two, Princess Celestia and Luna, they are both sisters who rule Equestria together.”

Just two princesses?” Kaneri questioned, looking skeptical. “You are not ruled by a king or queen?”

Twilight merely shook her head. “There hasn't been a true king around for over a thousand years, even longer since one had any real power. And yes, Celestia and Luna are the most gifted out of all of us. Besides ruling Equestria, they also move the sun and moon across the sky for each day and night.”

Every fox listening immediately stopped in their tracks, surprised looks on their faces as Twilight suddenly found many pairs of eyes on her. “They... move the sun and moon?” Arren asked, thinking he had heard the mare wrong.

“That's ridiculous,” Kaneri said flatly.

“It's true,” Twilight argued understandingly. It wouldn't be the first time that an outside nation had trouble figuring out what Celestia and Luna did. It was well written in history that the neighboring lands each had their own bouts of skepticism.

Feral shook his head, goggled-covered eyes looking skyward for a moment, seeing the fiery circle that was the sun bearing down on them. “Such a thing?” he questioned aloud. “No, no, no, that can't be right... It's a gravitational thing... The world moves around the sun while the moon moves around us. It's the most logical reasoning. Very good sequence.”

A mild laugh escaped Applejack as she looked at the disbelieving foxes. “Gravity? Now that sounds like nonsense.”

Most of the foxes continued to look at the ponies as though they were crazy. The only one who looked any different was Arren, scratching his muzzle in thought before finally saying, “Well, I suppose it could be true. After all, ours is only a theory... It was never fully proven.”

Kaneri then looked to his friend, raising a questioning brow as he said, “You can't seriously think that it's possible to-”

“It just might be,” the prince said, giving the red fox a knowing look. “After all, we know full well what kinds of things magic can do.”

Kaneri didn't say anything after that, just giving a slight nod of his head as he developed his own expression of thought. The others showed their own understanding as well, no longer looking skeptically but more open-minded toward what the ponies were saying. Of course, thy weren't fully convinced just yet.

The kitsune royalty was clearly intrigued however, a somewhat excited smile on his face as he looked at the scholar, saying, “I would like to meet these princesses. They sound very interesting.”

“Of course,” Twilight said, already aware that they would have to meet eventually. “I know they will want to meet all of you too. It's not everyday we come in contact with a whole new species. I'll write to them as soon as I am able.”

Just then, the seemingly endless expansion of trees finally ended. The forest broke open, revealing a large, open landscape where off in the distance, a simple town rested. The straw roofs and wooden walls could be seen from the distance, looking just as happy of a place as it had when they left.

Relieved smiles were had by the ponies, glad to finally be free of the forest and to return home. As the mares and foxes all headed toward the town, Arren continued to stand beside Twilight as he offhandedly said, “Speaking of royalty... I'd prefer it if you didn't mention my title to any others we might be introduced to.”

Twilight looked at the fox curiously for a moment, not sure if she fully understood. Rarity seemed to catch on quickly however as she almost looked shocked at the request. “You don't wish for them to know you're royalty?” she asked.

“When we meet your own rulers, then very well,” the prince replied. “But I see no need for every soul we meet to know. I'd rather not make them feel any sort of obligation to treat me as they would their own nobility. I get enough of that in my own land, I don't need it here.”

Though about to question why, the young scholar paused as her thoughts returned to Arren's reaction to his own regalia, how uncaring he seemed toward it. It made her think how little weight he put onto his own title, maybe even a resentment. “Alright,” she said, “you won't have to worry.” Arren gave a small smile of gratitude before the mare continued. “But it's not like something you should worry about. Everypony is nice to everypony else. They might act a lot differently toward the princesses when they visit, but I doubt they would make you feel too uncomfortable about it, even if you are a-”

“Monster!”

Everyone stopped as the shrill cry of a frightened mare filled the air. Practically standing on the edge of Ponyville, they looked into the two to see a mare staring wide-eyed at them, a shaking hoof pointed toward the furred creatures.

“Monsters from the Everfree forest are attacking! Everypony run!” another pony shouted. In moments, all that could be heard were the panic-stricken screams of the town's inhabitants as they frantically galloped across the streets, running into their homes and slamming them shut.

Then, everything was silent. The dust kicked up from the many fearful hooves began to settle, the doors and windows of all of the homes were barred and locked, the entire town now looking deserted. The group of foxes, now dubbed monsters, simply stared blankly at the emptiness now around them, unsure of how to react. The ponies on the other hand held deadpanned expressions, Twilight bringing to her hoof to her face as she sighed in exasperation.

The silence between them all was quickly ended, shattered as Prince Arren burst into a fit of laughter. “Not the reception I was expecting!” he said in his merriment. “But certainly much better compared to what I'd receive back home!”