*lights Cigarette*

I was born sometime after the war, but I suppose that was rather fucking obvious right? I mean, a Kitsune can live for centuries, but I ain't that Fucking old yet hahaha.

*puffs cigarette*

We never got much sunshine over in Vulpisia the Fox Country. Not since the mega spells hit and Royally ass fucked the Whole world. The least it could have done we use a little lubricant first for fucks sake. I was among a small litter of kits that was tucked away in heavily secluded dens that separated the Civilized from the Savages. After Years of dwindling resources and limited food, many of the Foxes have been reduced to near mindless bloodthirsty monsters. Due to the excess of dark Aura in the atmosphere, many of the Guardian Spirits became corrupted by its influence and began changing into deadly Yako or dark Kitsune.

*Puffs cigarette*

At a very young age, I was taken to live at the niji monastery temple where I was raised as a monk and instructed in the ways of Kitsune Magic by the Supreme 9 tails himself. The Niji monastery temple is the largest and safest sanctuary spots in Vulpisia. This monastery is in the center of a large protected city that was once called "Foxtrot Hills" in centuries past.

There are statues of all of the many Kitsune Spirits as well as sacred artifacts, training and meditation halls, magic classes and dozens of rooms to sleep in. It sure is a fancy ass place despite the shitty conditions damn near everywhere else. The city in which the temple resides is a veritable Oasis thanks to the Grand Kitsune's Magic. There's food, water, plant life... Everything else is beyond the Gated boundary... *Puffs cigarette*

The outside of the boundary however... well... If you value taking air into your lungs, you'll just keep your sweet ass inside the city! Out there's like a Devil's Playground. Savage feral foxes, Banshees, Yokai beasts, ghosts, demons... And that's just the start of it.

Much of this Fucking land has been permanently warped thanks to the fallout of those Fucking mega spells. Nothing grows beyond those Gates and there's hardly any sustainable Water too, If those nasty predators don't get to you first. *Puffs Cigarette*

We still have to fend for ourselves inside of the walled City too.

What? Did you think it was some kind of Fucking Paradise or something? I suppose it would be if it weren't for the constant invasion from not only evil Kitsune foxes, but creatures and beings from other lands and erie shit from beyond the walls.

It wasn't recommended to be out of doors at night due to the fact that blights would come out in the darkness.

Very year, Grand Kitsune selects a small group of young civilized foxes from the local dens to come live and learn at the Niji monastery. Many who are selected may range of elderly, to as young as kits. Hell, I was still a young kit when I was chosen so I didn't quite mind that at all.

*Puffs cigarette*

Life at the temple was pretty okay I guess. We had lessons every day in the of Kitsune Magic as well as martial arts training. Beginning lessons about the basics which consisted of shape-shifting, creating illusions, casting fire and making will-o'-the-wisps. It was also required that we learned how to counter act opposing magic and Yako Kitsune tricks.

Every student that progresses substantially gains a new tail well as a measure greater wisdom. Once You have mastered the basics of fox magic, you are then free to learn elemental magic and strive for more tails. As monks, living with honor and integrity was the standard and failing to do so puts you at risk to manevolent spirit forces.

Shapeshift magic was a struggle to me for many years as well as Aura manipulation and Ki balance. Couldn't really get the hang of that Fucking shit for such long time. *Puffs cigarette*

An old classmate of mine by the name of Ajax was the one who eventually helped me to finally master it. I used to hate that Fucking guy. He used to make fun of my my Colored eyes when we were kits... Fucking cocksucker...

"Hey Claymore, what the hell is going on with your eyes? They can't make up their minds or something? Haha!"

He would say inthe most sarcastically annoying wat as he possibly could.

He even dared me go out beyond the walled City and spend the night. One time I actually took him up on that dare like A dipshit and was nearly killed by Werewolves near a blood pond!

*Puffs Cigarette*

Damn, almost done with these cheap ass Cigarettes... what was I sayin? ...oh yea, Ajax. Now as we grew progressively at the temple, Ajax became less and less of an Asshole to me. For some reason he started being hella Kind and supportive to me. I don't know if it was because the integrity lessons were finally getting to him or if it's cause I'm related to the Grand Kitsune.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter since we became good friends by the time we reached our Early 20s anyway. It was also around that time when I first learned about my pony heritage from the Grand Kitsune himself. He used to live in Equestria sometime before the War, AKA "How to Royally ass Fuck the entire world simulator", broke out. He married a unicorn Mare and they had Children which obviously lead to me being born.

Going Back to the temple life, martial arts training was fun as shit lemme tell ya! I excelled tremendously at Paw to paw combat and that lead to me earning my second tail. I was Felix's star pupil and eventually, I became top Kyuubiken martial arts instructor!

*Puts out Cigarette*

Once I turned 30, I was recruited into the Special Defense Militia or SDM which was tasked and defending the walled City. Though at times, were tasked with more dangerous fucked up missions involving exploration into the Badlands beyond the wall in order to find extra resources or civilized foxes that may have wandered out and got lost.

One evening Me, my pal Ajax, A Vixen Kitsune named Rose Diamond and a few others were given our mission beyond the walls. It was a search and rescue mission that was pretty standard when read on paper; "Go find the lost civilian and her child, then return". but we had no idea just how "Bad" the Badlands really were on that fateful night.

"Alright SDM, stay close together and do not get separated from the group at all cost!" Said Commander Redcoat.

The old Commander was a 4 tailed Kitsune and tough as nails and took no bullshit from anyfox. He always wore his aviator sunglasses on every mission and in every battle. But this mission would prove to be much different.

Soon after leaving the gates of the walled City, we Quickly found ourselves at the mercy of Blood thirsty mindless Feral foxes.

A few well placed rounds right between the eyes was enough to scare the pack away. I suppose seeing you Friends get their brains blown out would make most foxes want to shit themselves. But we were far from Finished.

As we wandered deeper, the air became more as more unbearable and at one point it felt like I was breathing in knives that were shredding the lining of my throat. A few of us started to Cough up blood and one of the grunts nearly passed out. Commander Redcoat instructed us to put on our oxygen masks to spare us the pain of lacerated lungs.

An acid rainstorm started up and we were then instructed to Quickly build temporary shelters and wait out the storm. It was this very mission that started my smoking habit.

After the acid storm, our group set out further. The sun never shined out there, so it was often hard to distinguish between day and night. God, the Fucking smells out there made me vomit in my breathing mask so you can probably guess how the rest of the trip was like for me.

We made it to the remnants of a long destroyed town and decided to stop and survey our surroundings for a bit. Commander Redcoat sent Rose, Ajax and myself along with a rookie cadet Southwardwe could scout the perimeter for Yako spirits and Tengu that could potentially Ambush us. As we made our rounds, all seemed clear so Rose signalled back to the base.

Ajax and I started telling jokes to one another as we all Headed back. Redcoat radioed us informing that they found the missing foxes and that the mission was complete.

A sigh of relief come over us all as we returned to the abandoned city, but Something didn't feel right about this...not one bit...

The journey back to the walled City seemed to take much longer than It didn't when we left, and that was strange...too fucking strange. A bunch of places in the Badlands started to overlap in a weird Deja Vu or some shit. A bunch of us started to notice.

"Hey Commander... doesn't this seem strange? It feels like we are going in circles"

said Ajax. He was just as concerned as I was about the whole situation. The commander simply gave a bizarre drone-like response

"Everything is just fine..."

He said.

I still can't explain it but something inside was telling me to look at the mother and son we were escorting. Not once did they show any signs of fear of anxiety since we found them. We started crossing the Blood ponds And After about an hour of observing them I finally whipped out my pistol and pointed it all them.

"Ok, what the fuck is actually going on here?! I know you are responsible for this endless marathon!!"

I shout as I put my claw on the trigger.

"what do you mean...? W-We didn't do anything wrong..."

They said.

I shot around up into the air and warned them to stop Fucking around and cut the bullshit. The other squad members tried to get me to stand down, but I definitely know an illusion spell when see one. It was the one type of magic that I had practically mastered due to it being so hard for me to learn it years prior.

The mother and Son sudden started Chuckling as deformed twisted grins came on their faces. I quickly turned to look at Redcoat, who now looked like a zombie due to a very powerful Brainwashing spelling that practically left him Completely braindead...

The environment started shifting around us then came screams of terror from the cadets as they were swiftly snatched away by monsterous Tengu. Some were snatched so violently that their bodies were literally torn apart like bloody ragdolls! The rest of use shot at the Tengu as we ran for our lives. I took the lead and guided us through the shifting illusions.

It was all a Goddamn trick! The whole fucking mission! The mother fox revealed her true form as we continued running and Fighting off the beasts that she kept summoning.

She was a Large dark blue 9 Tailed Yako Kitsune Spirit. Most of us were only 2 Tailed Foxes so We wouldn't have stood a chance if we tried. We finally reached the boarder of the walled City sanctuary, too terrified shitless to turn around and see if the Demon was still persuing us. We all yelled for the guards to let us in as we just barely made it back to safety.

Once the gate was closed, the the remaining three Cadets including myself, Ajax and Rose diamond, nearly collapsed from sheer exhaustion. I almost wore that as the wind was blowing, I could hear a faint whisper saying "Nogitsune"...

It kept repeating for minutes on end.

Once word got back to the Grand Kitsune about the fake mission involving the nine-tailed Yako and how I guided every Fox back home to safety, I was promptly promoted to commanding officer. I maintained that position for the next 12 years, all the while still improving on my magic lessons at the temple. I soon picked up the nickname "Salt" due to my No Nonsense take no Bullshit way of running things. By the time I turn 50, I retired my position as commanding officer and returned to being a monk at the Kitsune monastery where I earned my third tail.

I suppose I could have earned it a lot sooner, but I still had some parts of discipline to work on.

It wasn't long after that I was summoned by the Supreme Nine-tails himself to go on this mission that I'm currently on here in Equestria...I seem to always get the shitty jobs...

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get me a little pack of smokes. All that reminiscing has really fried my nerves.

--END OF CHAPTER--