Starbeam walks alone through the forest...

[Starbeam]

Starbeam skipped as she traveled on the well-worn forest path. Singing a merry tune, she was careful not to drop her telescope. She had been looking forward to camping-out in her favourite place: a forest clearing by the lake.

“…like a diamond in the sky!” Starbeam sang loudly, forgetting her mother’s advice to cautious when walking alone in the forest.

[Delta]

A snow white fox slipped from behind a tree to another. It watched the earther with glowing eyes.

It jumped out into the path of the earther, and it did it's best attempt to look cute.

Come on... give me a scratch behind the ear... Pet my fur... Then I'll see if you have anything I want...

[Starbeam]

Starbeam stopped and stared. Wow a fox, she thought. Carefully setting her telescope down, Starbeam pulled out a bag of marshmallows from her bag she was carrying. I must be careful not to frighten it, she thought; remember Mother said never to make any sudden movements around wild animals.

Forget that!

Starbeam dashed over to the fox and scooped it up. She squeezed tight and squealed, “Oh you’re so cute! I’m gonna' call you ‘Sniffles’ and we’ll be best friends! We’ll go everywhere together. I’ll introduce you to all my friends—even though I don’t have any friends.”<br>
Still holding the white fox, Starbeam picked out a marshmallow and offered it to…“Sniffles.”

“Would you like a marshmallow—they’re the food of the future!”

[Delta]

"Sniffles" had thought she was in control of the situation, until Starbeam shot forward and scooped her up. Exodus, although usually quick, did not even have time to blink before she found herself in the mare's arms.

Exodus struggled and squirmed but she was unable to escape from Starbeam's grip. She stopped struggling and sighed.

Great

The fox that was Exodus decided she would play along anyway; There wasn't much else she could do, and she wasn't a big fan of killing her victims instantly; She liked to play around with them first. [*grins evilly*]

Exodus sniffed the marshmellow willingly, and took it from the mare's blue hoof. After swallowing it she lifted her head and licked Starbeam's cheek.

[Starbeam]

Starbeam giggled as the fox licked her cheek.

“C’mon, you can join me under the stars tonight,” a suddenly calm Starbeam told her companion as she began to carry the fox to their destination. “I’ve never had anyone join me before. It’ll be great! We’ll roast more those marshmallows and sleep on dirt with the sky as our ceiling. We’ll sit around the campfire and I’ll tell you some toast stories…I don’t like ghosts. I just know we’re going to have so much fun!”<br>
Once they reached the forest clearing, Starbeam set “Sniffles” and her telescope down and began to unpack her bag a little. She pulled out some food and blanket. She quickly made a fire and offered her “Sniffles” some more food. Starbeam lay near the fire.

As Starbeam lay on her back and gazed at the stars, she sighed, “I wonder if my parents are up there…they left for a city called ‘Ponyville’ a long time ago but never came back. Every night I wonder if they’re dead or alive. If they are alive, I wonder why they haven’t let know they are…” Starbeam became even sadder at a new thought, “What if they didn’t want me anymore so they left and never came back.”

Starbeam sat up and gazed at Exodus, “Did you know, Sniffles, that you’re the only other living soul I’ve told that to? You’re also my only friend I have. No one likes me because I’m too…...different.”<br>
Starbeam jumped to her feet and smiled her acquaintance, “I must be boring you to death; talking about all sorts of depressing stuff. You wanna’ play a game?”

[Delta]

As Starbeam set Exodus down she stretched and then sat down, her fluffy tail curled around her body. She watched Starbeam with her glittering eyes of blue, and took the extra food the mare had offered her.

'Sniffles' listened intently to Starbeam. Her story, although different from Exodus' own past, had the same loneliness as the fox's. For a moment, Exodus felt like taking pity on the mare, and leaving her unharmed, but the moment Starbeam uttered the word 'friend', all those thoughts dissapeared.

I've been told that before... She hissed to herself angrily.

But it was all a lie...

I meant nothing to him...

At the mention of a game, the fox leapt up eagerly, ready for the game. She had already won Starbeam's friendship, but she also had to work to keep it.

[Awww! *snuggles Starbeam* I just wanna take you home!]

[Starbeam]

"I really don't know many games," Starbeam admitted. "Do you have any ideas? I wish you could talk."

She walk over to her bag and pulled out a stringed instrument.

"Even though I don't know of many games, I can still sing for you. I know one that my father taught me when I was really little."

Starbeam began to play the instrument and sang, "I call this one 'The Campfire Song Song.'

"Let's gather 'round the campfire
And sing our campfire song.
Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song
And if you don't think that we can
Sing it faster then you're wrong,
But it'll help if you just sing along.

"Bum bum bum....."

Starbeam sang faster, "C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song
C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song
And if you don't think that we can
Sing it faster then you're wrong,
But it'll help if you just sing along.

"C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song

"It'll help, It'll help
If you just sing along!"

She began to smash her instrument to the ground in her excitment and yelled, "Oh yeah!"

Starbeam starred at the smashed object and said regretfully, "Oh not again!"

(OOC: The song is from the Spongebob Squarepants TV show. Sorry I really couldn't think of anything else. )

[Delta]

Exodus watched on as Starbeam smashed the instrument. She laughed, although made sure that Starbeam did not see. It would probably freak her out to see a fox laughing.

Exodus walked slowly over to the remains of the instrument, and nosed one of the pieces, then slipped slowly over to Starbeam.

Don't worry about it...

We'll find something else to do...

Exodus' voice spoke inside Starbeam's head, clearly showing her that she was no ordinary fox.

[Oh I LOVE Spongebob. ]

[Starbeam]

Starbeam gasped, "Did I just hear you speak? Foxes don't talk...but I think I just heard you inside my head! What am I--a mind-reader?!"

Starbeam paced a little.

"Perhaps you are no ordinary fox. Perhaps you're really a pony disguised as a fox in order to trick me and steal all my belongings and then viciously murder me and leave my carrion to rot out here in this forsaken wilderness!"

She stopped pacing at her next thought and smiled, "Nah...that's impossible. Nobody's that heartless."

She thought to herself, Maybe I can do it again. Maybe I have a special power after all: I can read minds. This ability could come in handy...

Starbeam glanced at Exodus, "What would you like to do? Do you have a favourite hobby at all?"

[Delta]

Exodus blinked.

"Uhh... Yeah! You must have the powers to read my mind or something... You must be some kind of a SUPER-PONY!"

But her ears drooped when she heard what Starbeam said next.

"Nobody's that heartless."

Exodus felt a pang of guilt inside her somewhere. Don't let her get to you Exodus... don't let her get to you like Zero did...

She shook her head and pushed the thoughts away.

"I don't really have any hobbies... I'm a fox, remember? We just sleep and eat all day."

[Starbeam]

Starbeam smiled at the thought, "Perhaps you're right, 'Sniffles,' maybe I am some sort of a super pony! I can read minds...and I can fly! I've always wanted to do that."

Starbeam ran towards the lake at full speed and took off into the sky. She "flew" fairly high, but soon she plummeted and fell into the lake with a huge splash. Spitting water out of her mouth, Starbeam gagged, "Well, I still can't do that." She coughed a bit, "This water tastes like fish! Yuck."

Starbeam waded ashore and shook off the dripping water.

"Well that still leaves us a problem: what do we do? Didn't you play any games with your friends when you were little?" Starbeam asked her companion.

[lazehdelta]

The moment Starbeam hit the water, Exodus, as uptight as she usually was, found herself lying on her back, laughing, her tail whipping playfully about in the air.

"Didn't you play any games with your friends when you were little?"

When Starbeam emerged from the lake and brought up her childhood, Exodus rolled over onto her stomach, her ears back and her head c0cked to one side.

My childhood...? Ugh, it was so long ago... Maybe thousands of years... but Starbeam can't know that.

"We mostly played games like play fighting, stuff like that, things that ponies don't really like to do."

[Starbeam]

"Well, I could sing you another song, but my poor guitar-like-thing is...well, has passed on," said Starbeam said, starring at the smashed instrument with pity, "It was so young too..."

Gazing out onto the lake thoughtfully she came up with an idea, "Why don't I give it a burial at sea?"

Starbeam picked it up and threw it into the lake, where the "guitar-like-thing" sunk to the bottm of the lake.

Starbeam began to sob, "What a brave, brave stringy-thingy it was for going in the line of duty like that! Why?! Why?!"

[Delta]

[Sorry to break up the fun, but...]

Exodus was just about to follow Starbeam to the lake when Cold burst out of the trees.

"Get away from her!" He yelled, galloping towards the fox.

Exodus, although in the form of a fox, hissed like an angry cat. She jumped into the air and morphed into a white dove in a whirl of feathers, and flew away.

Cold stopped, panting, watching the bird escape. When Exodus was out of sight, he looked around and saw Starbeam.

"Sorry," He said deeply. "But you don't know how much danger you were just in."

He felt awkward, having just burst out of the forest and scared away the mare's only friend. He sat down, feeling sheepish.

[Starbeam]

As she watched her "friend" morph into a dove and fly off, Starbeam said saracastically, "Okay, nothing strange about that." Then she added, "I should have expected something like that to happen."

She looked curiously at the stallion and asked, "How did you know she's dangerous?"