//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: Retaking The Land part 2 // Story: The Mystic Fox // by Mysticfox //------------------------------// Chapter 20: Retaking The Land Part 2. "Alright time to get to work." I said after I shut the door back home and pulled out my earpiece. "Good evening Twink.(poof)" I said before changing to my fox form. "Good evening to you as well Fox. What is on the agenda for tonight?" She asked as I made my way through the market. "Tonight we have an infiltration mission and possibly a search and rescue too. (Sniff sniff) Oh something smells delicious." I said as I looked for where the smell was coming from. "Search and rescue?" She asked as I walked up to a black and white spotted Abyssian selling fried food. He had just pulled out some thick rectangular food out of his pan. "Please tell me thats what I think it is." I asked with a bit of drool running down my mouth. "Um this?" He said holding up the fried treat as I vigorously nodded my head. "It's fried tofu. Would you like some?" He said as he held up some that was wrapped in paper. "Yes please." I said with a large smile. "No problem and it's on the house." He said as he passed me the wrapped goodness. "Really?" I said with mild interest. "Yeah I've been trying to sell these for a few nights now and you're the only one who seems to want any." He said with his head down. "Well that sucks. Hmmm I did run out of tofu before I came here. You know what bud I'll buy your tofu stocks at full price that way you don't lose that profit." I said as I pulled out a bag of bits and set them on the stand. "You must really love this stuff." He said with a smile as he handed me a large container full of tofu. "It's a delicious and very versatile ingredient." I said as I put the tofu in my bag and went on my way. "Sorry about that Twink, I can't pass up a delicious snack like this. This one's for you and when we're done here I'll make us some fried tofu roman." I said before taking a bite of the crispy treat. "Thanks Fox. Now back to the matter at hand you said something about a search and rescue?" Twink asked before I heard a crunch from her end. "Yeah I talked to a customer yesterday about why we couldn't find any herbs from the forest and she said that before the coup happened they closed all borders but a pony author by the name A.K. Yearling was insistent to find some runes in the forest to gather research for a new book." I said as I left the market heading to the north side of the island. "If I'm not mistaken that is the author of the Daring Do series." Twink said before sending me her profile. I looked it over and saw a picture of a light gold mare in a purple cloak with red glasses and gray hat with a light tan bow. "Yep that's her. Hopefully I can find her before they do." I said as I walked up to the northern docks. "So who's the pony." Said a voice from my shoulder. "AAHHHH(poof) DAMIT!! Blake what the hell aren't you supposed to be back at my house right now?" I asked as I glared at the blue cat. "Yeah but I got bored when I realized that tv doesn't work here. Haha you look adorable by the way." He said with a shrug. "(Poof) your not goin back are you?" I asked as I stood up and wiped the sand from my butt. "Nope." He said with a wide smile. "(Sigh) fine but this mission is a stealth recon as well as a search and rescue. If things go south I want you to bookit back to my house and get word of what happened to the princesses. Got it?" I said as I pulled out my armor pendant from my shirt. "Yes sir." He said with a serious look and salute. "Oh this is goin to be a long night." I said as I summoned my armor and it spread out over my body. "Bad. ass. Where can I get one of those?" He said with wide eyes. "Sorry it's one of a kind. Mood shift Midnight Marauder." I said before the armor turned black and wisps of shadows rolled off me like fire. "Aww now I really want one." He said with a pout as I turned towards the distant shores. "Ok so how are we getting to the forest because I don't see a boat and like hell if I'm swimming there." He said as he looked in the same direction before I looked down at him with a smile. "What are you smiling about?" He asked with a raised brow but the smile never left my face as I reached down and picked him up. "Wait what are you doing?" He asked with growing concern as my smile grew bigger. "No no no nononononono NOOOOOOOO!" He screamed as I slowly floated up before shooting across to the other shore. After a quick flight I gently touched down on the beach leading to the jungle with a scared wide eyed blue cat hugging my arm. "I'm glad I put the armor on." I said as I tried to pry him off. "Fucking. Hate. Heights." He said with a shaky voice. "Ha never heard of a cat that was scared of heights." I said with a chuckle as I put him down. "Never again." He said with a shiver before looking to the jungle. "Twink can you give me a map of the surrounding area as well as any towns or villages." I said as I pulled up my display. "Yeah I definitely need to work on my magic." He said as he hopped up to my shoulder for a better look. "One moment please. Luckily it seems that there is only one major settlement and it's straight north of here. There also appears to be a ruin close to the settlement. I believe those are the ruins A.K.Yearling wanted to see." Twink said as a map popped up on my display with the spots circled. The city looked about the size of Canterlot with what looked like a castle right in the middle and off to the right in between here and the city was a stone structure completely hidden by the jungle. "Do we have any info on the ruins?" I asked as I zoomed in on the structure and noticed it was sitting in a deep depression. "How are you talking to?" Blake asked as we headed into the jungle. "My friend Twink. She helps me out quite a bit and I'd be pretty lost without her." I said with a smile. "Thank you Fox and I'm sorry to say I have no information about it. Either nothing was written or the information is being blocked from me." Twink said with worry and a bit of anger. "Alright I'll look around for some glyphs and maybe find some of its history." I said as the jungle thickened. "Hey Fox you getting a funny feeling right now?" Blake said as he looked around suspiciously. "Yeah where being watch. I felt this when I arrived in these lands but for some reason I don't feel any life from it." I said with squinting eyes as I scanned the jungle canopy until I spotted a dark brown owl with red eyes hiding in the shadows of the canopy. "Found it. It's an owl in the tree tops and I think it might be a type of surveillance spell." I said as I discreetly charged magic into my hand. "Like one of those drone things from our world?" He asked as we passed up the owl. "Yeah and it's got to go." I said before I quickly turned around and blasted it to pieces. "Well that takes care of one set of prying eyes. Twink I can feel an odd presence east of here, is there anything around the area?" I asked as I looked over the map on display. "No structures but there is a small clearing." She said as a small red dot appeared on the map. "Thanks Twink. Hey Blake have you ever played any of the Pokemon games?" I asked as a smile crept up on my face. "The last game I played was sword…why?" He asked as he grew more concerned. "Cool then you probably know about the ghost move shadow sneak." I said as I built up magic in my armor. "Yeah the user uses the shadows to get behind their opponent. Oh no." He said before I jumped into my shadow and moved from shadow to shadow until we reached the clearing. I slowly and quietly pulled myself out of the shadow of a large bush on the outer edge of the clearing. "Please warn me next time. I don't think my stomach can take much more." Blake said as he slumped on my shoulder. "No promises now hush." I whispered before slowly moving some of the bushes branches aside and what I saw was surprising. There in the middle of the clearing was a small round table with a coffee pot in the middle but that wasn't what surprised me. Sitting at the table was what looked like a human leaning back in a chair with his legs propped up on the table while reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. What stood out the most was his deep ocean blue eyes with small specks of light that made it look like you gazing up at a clear night sky. "Um Fox?" Blake said with wide eyes. "Yeah I got nothin." I said with the same look. "Hahaha oh Garfield you and your hate for mondays. You two know it's not polite to spy on someone especially if you don't know them." He said as he turned the page without even looking up from it. "Ok I'm completely creeped out right now." Blake said as I slowly stood up and walked into the clearing before I recalled my helmet. "Aw there we go. Would you guys care for a cup of coffee?" He said as two cups of hot coffee appear on the table. "Um no thank you sir." I said in confusion before the cups disappeared and a chair appeared. "Suit yourself. Come sit for a minute Fox I'm sure you can spare a few minutes for your tasks to talk a bit." He said with a smile as he set down his paper. I tried to get a feel for any Ill intent or any feeling at all but all I found was emptiness. "What are you?" I asked as I slowly sat down. "Now that is the right question to ask." He said as poured himself another cup of coffee. "Are you sure you don't want any." He said as he held up the pot.  "Sure I could use a cup." I said before a cup appeared and he poured my coffee. I must admit It did smell good so why not and I get the feeling that if he wanted to hurt me, I couldn't stop him. "Dude, this is weird." Blake whispered in my ear. "Oh definitely." I whispered back as some cream and sugar appeared on the table. "Alright let's get back to it then. My name is John but nobody really knows that, no they just call me Death.(sigh)" He said kinda sadly with his head held low for a second before he was back to cheerful. "Wait seriously, your Death?" Blake asked with a flat brow. "Yep." He said with a smile. "As in one touch and done?" Blake said flatly. "Ya-hu." He said with a smile. "Cloak, skull, and scythe?" Blake asked flatly. "Sometimes." He said as he sipped his coffee with a smile. "...Yeah Fox this guys nuts." Blake said as he looked at me and pointed to him with a paw. "Lil bit." He said before he reached down and plucked a flower before bringing it back up to the table just to watch it wither and die. "(Gulp) I think I'll shut up now." Blake said with wide eyes. "Good kitty." He said as the flower turned to dust. "Alright then my next question is what does the lord of death John want with me." I said seriously as I fixed up my coffee and took a sip. "Straight to the point, I see. I would like to make a request for your service." He said as he leaned forward resting his chin in his palm. "A request?" I asked with a raised brow. "Yes. Did you know there is a small village in your lovely dark forest home?" He asks as he leads back in his chair. "No I never had the chance to look around yet." I said with interest. "Well that village is called Sunny Town and there is something there I want you to collect for me." He said with a smile and closed eyes. "And that would be?" I asked with a raised brow. "Their souls." He said seriously as his eyes grew darker. "I won't kill anyone." I said seriously as I glared at him. "Hahaha no no they're already dead." He said with a laugh and leaned back in his chair. "So what like a town of ghosts?" He said with a tilted head. "Nope. Zombie." He said as he sipped his coffee. "Okay so why is there a village of zombies in the everfree?" I said as I began to get worried. "That is a good question but I'm not the one to ask, that question you should ask your princess of the knight." He said with a dark smile. "Luna?" I asked with surprise. "Yep. Before she became that Nightmare Moon, she placed a curse on that village. That curse kept the souls attached to their bodys. When the body dies the soul still remains ever to slowly rot." He said with a bit of anger. "So you want to save those souls?" I asked with a bit of confusion. "No those souls are damned and belong in the pits of hell but before I could collect them she casted her curse and saved from judgment." He said as darkness flared around him but quickly vanished as he recomposed himself. "They've lived far beyond their time so I would like you to collect." He said as he refilled his coffee. "So why can't you collect them." Blake asked point his paw at him. "That curse comes with a barrier meant to keep me out." He said as he sipped his coffee. "So you need outside help but if what you said was true about this curse, unless you destroy the body would that free the soul." I asked with concern. "Unfortunately the curse will just regeneration the body come morning just to rot away again." He said darkly. "So how do you expect to collect their souls?" Blake asked with frustration. "Wow he asked something smart." He said with a smile. "Hey!" Blake said before a long box appeared on the table. "This will sever the connection between the soul and body." He said as he opened the box to show a long black katana with a dark blue handle and cord. The scabbard was black and had specs of dark blue. "A sword?" I asked as I lifted it up and was surprised at how light it was. "Yep. This sword was forged using a part of my scythe. Try putting some magic into it." He said with a smile as I removed the blade from its scabbard. The blade looked jet black but as I added my magic lines of dark blue flowed through the blade. "It's Damascus." I said in awe as I admire the sword. "That it is. I call it Setsuden." He said before the box disappeared. "Setsuden. The severing sword." I said as I put it back into the scabbard. "This blade has the power to sever any connection. Like the bond between a soul and body." He said as he leaned back in his chair. "Hmm it is a beautiful blade but i'm not sure if I can do your request." I said as I placed the sword on the table. "I won't pressure you or anything. Keep the sword for now and talk to your princess. Then if you decide not to fill the request the sword will come back to me and I will not bug you again until it's your time of course." He said with a smile. "Alright I'll think about it when I'm not preoccupied with something else." I said as I picked back up the sword and started to put it in my bag. "Um, I wouldn't put it in there." He said as he finished his coffee. "...yeah not the best Idea." I said as I stood up and tied the sword to the armor. "Thank you for the sword and...coffee." I said as I looked up and saw an empty clearing. "You might want to find that mare in the ruins she doesn't have much time left." He said before his voice faded. "Well we can definitely take "meet death" off the end of the bucket list." Blake said as he looked around. "Fox are you alright. As soon as you entered the clearing I lost all connections with you. What happened.?" Twink asked with worry. "Oh just had a nice cup of coffee with my new friend John." I said with a smile and shrug as I pulled up my display and map before Twink popped up in the display glaring at me. "Explan." She said seriously. "I had a cup of coffee with John...the lord of death." I said casually as I left the clearing. "You WHAT!" She said loudly, making me flinch. "Ow that's goin to ring a bit." I said as I pulled off the earpiece and scratched my ear before putting it back in. "You had a cup of coffee with death!?" She asked with a bit of anger. "Ya-hu." I said as I pulled a snack from my bag. "It's true. The dude was pretty weird." Blake said before asking for a piece of my snack. "(Sigh) why?" She asked as she slowly shook her head. "I don't know, he just was. Seriously fried tofu?" He asked with a flat look. "What's wrong with fried tofu?" I asked as I glared at him. "You know how cliche that is?" He said before taking a bite of the tofu. "What do you mean?" I asked as I munched. "Really? You're pretty much an anime fox spirit and fried tofu is always their favorite food." He before popping the last bite into his mouth. "Well you kinda look like Happy. You just need a fish and bandana around your next." I said with a smirk as I finished my snack. "Take that back." He said as he glared at me. "BOYS FOCUS!!" Twink yelled in frustration. "Sorry." We both said with a small head bow. "Thank you. Why did you have a cup of coffee with death?" She asked as she squeezed the bridge of her nose. "He wanted to ask a favor." I said seriously. "Why would death ask a favor?" She asked with interest. "He wants me to collect the damned souls in a place called sunny town in the everfree. Know anything about it?" I asked before her mood turned sad. "Yes its a town deep in the everfree cursed to live an eternity as the living dead." Twink said sadly. "Yeah he wants me to collect their souls so they can be judged. I plan to talk to Luna about it when I get back but for now we need to get to the ruins. John said that she doesn't have much time left." I said as we picked up the pace and ran toward the ruins. I didn't take us very long before we reached the ruins. "They should be just ahead." I said as light shone through the tree line but as soon as we left the trees I had quickly stopped before we fell into a massive pit with the crumbled ruins in the middle. "Whoa what the hell." I said before jumping back from the edge. "I don't think it's supposed to be like this." Blake said as we looked down at the ruins. "Temples like these tend to have underground rooms and passages. They must have collapsed recently." Twink said as we scanned the area before sliding into the pit. "I hope that mare is ok." Blake said as we looked around. "Me too. Let me try something." I said as I held out my hand palm down and focused my magic then gently set my hand on the ground. "Life scan." I said as I set out a pulse of magic through the rubble. "(Thumpthump……….thumpthump) I'm picking up a heartbeat but its weak. Its over there." I said as I quickly ran to a pile of rubble close to the center of the pit and began to move it with my magic. After removing some large stones we found a light gold mare in an exploration jacket and hat but she was in bad shape. "Fox this is not good. She has multiple broken ribs, a skull fracture, broken hip, one of her wings is crushed and one of her front and back legs are broken in several places. She's extremely lucky to be alive in this shape." Twink said after a quick scan before I gently picked her up in my magic and set her down on a flat piece of fallen wall. "Yeah I hope I can heal her well enough to survive this." I said as I closed my eyes and placed my hands on her hip and head before gently letting my magic flow into her. Slowly the cuts and bruises began to fade, her wings and legs straightened and minded. Her hip popped back into place before I fell on my back in exhaustion. "That….should do it….she should….be fine now." I said as I tried to catch my breath. "You alright dude." Blake said as he poked my cheek with his paw. "Yeah just took a lot of magic to do. (gggrrrrooooowwwwwlllll) and now I'm hungry." I said holding my stomach as I sat up. "Fox her vitals have stabilized. She'll be sore for a few days and will need some rest." Twink said as I pulled out my camp cooking stuff. "Um what are you doing?" Blake asked as he jumped onto the table. "Making a quick meal. I'm starving and I'm pretty sure she'll be hungry too. All I did was drastically increased her body's natural healing so her body will need to restore that lost energy and a good meal will help her and me." I said as I began to make a quick egg fried rice. Soon enough I had a large wok full of golden brown fried rice with eggs, vegetables, and pieces of fried tofu. "There we go, all done." I said as I began to fill up bowls. "Ugh where am I." The mare said as she slowly began to raise her head only to grab it in pain. "Whoa easy there miss. Take it nice and slow. You were trapped in the rubble but I managed to pull you out and patch you up but you'll be sore for a few days." I said as I picked up a bowl and spoon before walking over to her and sat the bowl down. "What?" She said as she slowly sat up. "We found you buried under the rubble. Here, eating this will help you feel better." I said as I gave her the bowl. "(Grroowwll) thank you but who are you?" He asked as she looked at the food with concern. "Oh my name is Fox and you must be Daring Do or A.K. Yearling." I said with a smile. "How did you know that?" She asked with a glare as I stood up and grabbed my bowl from the table. "You just told me but I won't say anything. You should eat it took alot of magic and natural energy to heal you." I said before I happily ate my food. "(Growl) What do you mean by that? (Munch) mmmm." She asked before eating a spoonful of fried rice. "When I found you, you were badly injured and on death's door. I used my magic to drastically increase your body's natural healing. You'll be fine now just sore and really hungry." I said as I scrafted down my rice. "Then thank you for saving me but what are you?" She asked with interest as she ate. "Hi I'm Fox Lilly, Mystic Fox king of the everfree, and knight of Equestria. Nice to meet ya." I said as I refilled my bowl. "Seriously? The Mystic Foxes disappeared twenty years ago." She said in disbelief. "Actually it's been eighteen years and as far as I know I'm the last one." I said with a bit of sadness. "Sorry." She said with remorse. "Don't worry about it. So miss Do what brings you here." I asked as I sat down next to her. "I came here looking for an ancient artifact so it can be destroyed but I was too late." She said with a tear rolling down her cheek. "What happened?" I asked with concern. "When I explored these ruins I came upon a large underground chamber where a large amount of ponies were excavating a massive horned skull with the artifact embedded in its forehead. Before I could sneak in somepony in a cloak broke the skull and removed the artifact. Then the whole place started to collapse." She said with anger. "What's the artifact?" I asked with Interest. "All I know is that it's supposed to be a key to a massive amount of dark magic." She said as she scooped another spoonful. "Well that's not good." Blake said after he pulled his head out of his bowl. "...did your pet just talk?" She asked with wide eyes. "Hey I'm not a pet. I'm Blake, a split tail Abyssian." He said with a huff as he crossed his tiny forelegs. "Down boy or no catnip." I said with a smile until he threw his spoon at me but I caught if and flicked it back into his bowl. "So what is a Mystic Fox and Splittail doing here." She asked as she set down her now empty bowl. "I came to investigate missing equestrian trade ships and their crews but now I'm looking into a coup that happened in Haflinger." I said as I pulled up my display and added to my notes. "Is that why they closed the borders?" She asked with a surprised look. "Yeah But I think there's more involved. I'm sorry miss Do but I need to head out." I said as I opened a portal back to my cart. "This portal will take you to my cart in the market of Shree Lanca. If you go through the door on the right you'll be at my place. There will be a mare named Merrin there. Tell her I sent you and get some rest. I'll be back by morning." I said as I put away all my stuff. "But what about the artifact?" She asked with worry. "I'll look into it." I said with a smile. "Fine but if you find it destroy it or lock it away." She said before she jumped through the portal and I closed it. "Alight that's one task off the list." Blake said as he jumped back onto my shoulder. "Yeah and I hate to say it but I think we also found some of the ship's crews." I said sadly as I looked down at the ground. "Hers was the only life sign I felt." I said quietly before pulling a bouquet of flowers from my bag and set them down with a short prayer. "Lets go. We still have more to do." I said as I slowly stood up and jumped out of the pit before walking back into the shadows.