Tales of Foxtor

by Foxtorwho

Sun and Jolt

It was dark and warm, then suddenly it wasn't anymore, it was cold and bright, the light hurt my eyes and I cried out and shook my legs, trying to find the warmth before I was picked up in a gentle and tingling magic field before getting wrapped in a soft blanket.

“It's a little colt,” said a husky but still feminine voice “you have a son Mrs. Volpe” she said as she wrapped me in her magic and floated me gently into the embrace of a white unicorn mare with brown patches on her face and body. She held me close as my vision cleared.

The mare cooed in a gentle voice as she looked toward a hooded figure in the corner of the room “We have a son Taven, come closer” she said and the hooded figure came to the bedside and put his hood down, revealing a bold blue coat and a silver mane just like my own, the only thing that differed between him and I was our eye color which came from the mare holding me, my mother, a bright emerald green.

My father, Taven picked me up gently with his hooves and held me close with a gentle smile before letting out a soft chuckle. “He has your eyes Isolde.” he said poking the end of my muzzle softly with the end of his hoof. “What should we name him darling?”

She smiled and blushed softly, brushing her icy white mane out of her eyes “I was thinking we name him after your grandfather Fuchs.”

Taven flinched a little “Fuchs? My grandfather was a great pony, but not worthy of having his name reused..” he rubbed his chin as he held me form close with his other hoof, leaning against the bed “what about Foxtor?”

Isolde smiled brightly and nodded “it's perfect dear” she said looking at me and my father with a tired smile.

He held me high into the air “you, Foxtor Volpe, my son are going to make waves that the entire world will feel..” he brought me back down to his face and he smiled wide “and I’m already so proud.”

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I awoke with a start and sat up, being immediately greeted by a blinding pain in my horn as it struck a stone ceiling. Sparks danced in my vision and I rolled sideways and found myself falling and after a few airborne moments, hit the floor with enough force to knock the air out of my lungs for what seemed like a lifetime. Once my vision cleared I saw the grizzled face of Atrogus shaking his head over me.

“What am i going to do with you boy?” he said in an exasperated tone while he went back to his old ratty armchair. It was a chair he frequented and if any but him touched it they were destined for a beating. The feet on it were in the shape of griffons claws and the cloth covering on it was a frayed and faded red with an old wolfskin draped over the back. He picked up his book and got back to reading, shaking his head for a few moments.

I slowly stood up and looked up to where I fell from, my bed, two stories up from the base floor.

My home was with my master Artogus, an old Zebra and the closest one to a father I’d ever had. We lived with two other ponies, Sovent Sun; a bright cheery earth pony mare who always had a positive outlook on everything even in the darkest of days, and Fidget Jolt; a Hyper pegasus with a knack for getting in trouble, both were also apprentice assassins under Artogus.

I, despite being older than both of them had still yet to receive the apprentice title from Artogus and be accepted into the order, much to my frustration.
Our home was called Hightower, an assassin outpost based in the valley of Canterhorn, it was once a watchtower for a kingdom in a long forgotten age, hundreds of years of resting on the swampy ground had buried it until only the roof was exposed, making its name pretty ironic. The inside was dressed with banners holding the insignia of Artogus’ chapter of the assassin order and shelves with a few tomes and scrolls upon them and a half dozen armchairs in front of a small fireplace. It wasn't much but it was home for the four of us.
I walked over to Artogus in his armchair prepared to voice my frustrations, “when will I get initiated master Argo, I’ve been around longer than both Sovent and Fidget and I still haven't received my blades yet, its..”
I was interrupted by him slamming his book “I told you that you would be initiated when you're ready..” he said, getting up out of his chair “you get closer by the day but you still aren't prepared yet, Sovent knocking your ass out cold is testament to that, outside our own home of all places!” Arto said, getting close to my face like he would always do when upset.
I took a deep breath “So that's who got me..” I said looking up and seeing Sovent sticking her head over the edge, her orange coat looked dull in the faint glow of the fire, she stuck her tongue out and shook her bright yellow mane around.
Arto nodded and pursed his lips “And if your senses aren't keen enough to see a mare with the colors of the summer sun flying at you then you sure as hell aren't ready to receive your blades” he said, sighing and sitting back in his chair “Foxtor, patience is also one of the greatest virtues of our order, practice it and you'll have your blades before you know it”.
I sighed and smiled softly before trotting lightly up the stairway that encircled the inside of the tower until I reached the top and walked through the hole in the stone roof.
I stepped out into the fighting yard and appreciated the colors of dawn being painted upon the horizon by the sun, coloring the clouds with bright orange and leaving the tops a royal purple, the fog upon the forest clearing swirled with the first touch of breeze and a flash of orange out of the corner of my eye?
Sovent tackled me but with me being ready this time I kicked her off and pinned her instead. I held her for a moment before she twisted out of my hold and pinned me against the roof of Hightower with a single hoof, holding me with ease with her earth pony strength. Upon seeing a sparring blade in the grass I grabbed it in my magic and clipped the back of her knees with it and broke her chokehold, reversing it onto her. She struggled for a few seconds, then tapped my hoof and I released her with a grin.
“You're learning,” she said rubbing her neck and smiling brightly “Arto’s right, you'll have your blades before you know it.” she gave me a light nuzzle and nipped at my ear.
I smirked and whipped her hindquarters with the end of my tail “you know as well as I that you don't win that ga-” I was cut short as i was plowed into the dirt getting Sovent to giggle.
The cause of my plowing into the dirt was none other than Fidget, who shook back the hood of his black handmade robes, freeing his green mane and grinning wildly “you're still letting yourself get too distracted I see” he reached out and poked my nose with a hoof before I grabbed his leg and flipped him over the top of me. “yeah but I’ll still kick your arse” I grabbed his hood with my magic and pulled it down over his face, blinding him for a few moments before he made an attempt to tackle me, plowing headfirst into the roof of Hightower. He untangled his head from his hood and snorted angrily before taking flight and diving into the fog in the clearing. I squinted and tried to pick him out in the thick fog before receiving a hard kick to the back of my skull, sending me tumbling and triggering a dull ache in my horn from the rock earlier.
Fidget grinned and bowed “You're too easy to sneak up on fox” he landed and danced in place for a second, sticking his tongue out and closing his eyes, a mistake hed regret the second my hoof uppercutted his jaw and make him bite down hard on his tongue. He staggered back a few feet and spat out a mouthful of blood before putting his head down to charge me, I readied myself to counter it before Sovent’s voice rang out sharply over the sound of our scuffle.
“BOYS STOP!” she was staring intently out into the fog with a worried look on her face.
Both Fidget and I stopped to look where she was looking, Fidget punched me in the shoulder with a hoof getting a glare from me as I walked closer to the clearing, hoping to be able to see what Sun was seeing better.
“What are you seeing?” I squinted at the fog, not seeing a thing but swirling mist. I tried to remember a method Arto mentioned for seeing things without my eyes but the memory was rather fuzzy to remember it well enough to use.
She shook her head and glanced over at me for a split second. “I didn't see anything, I heard a groan.” she pursed her lips and closed her eyes before stepping into the dense fog, the mist so dense that even her with her bright coat disappeared in a second.
I gave a worried look to Fidget before he took to the sky and started flying in a loop around the clearing, lifting the mist and revealing both Sovent and a strange pony dressed in red.
Upon looking closer the pony appeared to be wearing assassin robes of a style not local to our chapter. The robes were made from a heavy yet breathable looking material meant for long journeys and versatility and after seeing the first drops fall I realized that the robes weren't made from red cloth, but were stained with blood. I wondered whose blood it was until the he turned to look straight at me, his bright blue eyes seemed to pierce my soul before he coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed into the wet dirt.

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I sat on the roof of Hightower watching the night fade as the sun rose, the stars getting fainter by the second before the first rays of light broke the horizon, giving shape to the land and setting the lake ablaze with a thousand suns. Next to the lake was a small town with chimneys smoking lightly from fires that died during the night before. The town was all but invisible to any who didn't know it was there, it's only giveaway was hightowers roof just peeking above the tops of the trees, making us the town's last line of defense against any ruffians and occasional wild creatures that came from what would come to be known as everfree.
Canterhorn mountain was silhouetted next, the ruins of an ancient and now near abandoned fortress clung tightly to the side of its tall spire, a waterfall falling hundreds of fathoms down into the mouth of what most of the locals called the Everfree River, flowing all the way out to the southern sea it formed a natural border keeping most threats to the south away, that's probably what Hightowers original purpose was, to keep an eye on the north or perhaps just a general watch tower, it's hard to say decades after the fall of its founding kingdom.
I heard a soft sound just behind me and glanced back to see Fidget, he sighed and sat next to me, shortly followed by Sovent who looked at the two of us and herself before starting to laugh. Fidget and I looked at each other for a moment before I broke the silence “What's so hilarious?”
She laid back on the roof “we’re all covered in blood.” she attempted to wipe it out of her coat and onto the roof, not getting very good results.
I blinked for a few seconds at her “How is that funny?” I said as I looked at my own blood covered hooves. The last hour had been rather stress filled as we had to help Arto how we could to patch up the wounded pony. In the hour of scrambling to get him down into Hightower and get him patched up enough that he wouldn't bleed out, we hadn't even got his name, though Artogus seemed to know who he was. Upon asking the old zebra we merely got a stern glare and were all ordered to get out as he got to work on applying bandages and ointment to the near uncountable number of punctures in the strangers hide.
“Well he's stabilized and he's not gonna die, and we’re all covered in blood that we didn't spill for the order.” she looked over to see Fidget glaring at her. “Isn't it just a little bit funny?”
She received an immediate “NO!” from both Fidget and I in unison
She flinched a little and stared at the sun rise, thoughtfully staring at the ruins hanging off the side of Canterhorn whose name now escapes me. As the sun rose to its prime height a large flock of birds escaped the ancient city and swirled around in the air before gliding down to rest in the lake that formed at the bottom of the steep spire before the water ran west. The birds turned the small fire of the small ripples in the lake into a large blaze.
Just then we heard a shout from down below and a loud clattering of things hitting the floor. The three of us looked at each other for a second before rushing back into Hightower. I jumped from the entrance, hitting the wall on the other side and pushing off hard enough to do the same on the other side before landing gracefully and kicking up a cloud of dust from the ancient floor. When I landed I realized what I had accomplished and looked up to see every eye in Hightower locked on me with a look of disbelief on their face.
Sovent was the first to say anything, “How did you do that?” she said wistfully as if she still thought her mind had made the whole thing up.
“I-I don't really know, I just sorta did it and it worked out..” I looked to Arto to see if he had any idea.
He frowned “that should be out of your paygrade Fox but you somehow did it, impressive!” his frown shifted to one of the biggest grins I’d ever seen on him before he turned to the stranger in the room who was also staring in awe, covered in his own dried blood, cracks showing his silver coat through. Artogus stared at him intently, “Who are you brother? You wear the robes of the Crystal City order of Assassins but I don't know you” he turned and picked up a prepacked pipe full of tobacco, tilting it slightly to light the leaves with a candle on the table next to his armchair. “Though it could really be cause you're covered in your own blood” he chuckled softly before taking a pull off the pipe and blowing a small smoke ring and sitting down in his chair.
The stranger looked at all of us warily for a few seconds before relaxing a little bit upon realizing he was truly among allies. He spoke in a very articulate way for someone in our profession “I am Seraph Silver, an elder from the Crystal City order, I came because you sent a raven to us saying you needed a guide for your three initiates to undergo their rites of passage.”
Sovent, Fidget and I all looked at each other in disbelief for a moment before staring at Arto who sat there grinning widely. “Well I didn't expect anypony to show up this fast!” he exhaled, letting out a cloud of smoke. “But you're going to have to wait anyway because Seraph isn't going to be fit to travel for a week or so, doctors orders”
Our excitement wasn't dampered by that news, but from Seraph gasping, we all turned to him with looks of concern and Arto almost dropped his pipe.
“Did you remember something that cha-” Arto started looking a little irritated
“THE FOLLOWERS OF DISCORD ARE NEAR!” he shouted
The room went dead quiet and Arto dropped his pipe.

-------

The next hour was spent in organized chaos as Arto gathered the ingredients for a healing potion from his alchemy garden and gathered us a few essentials of his while the rest of us prepared for the long journey.
As I packed my bed I shouted down to Arto “So what kept you from making the healing potion in the first place?!”
Arto growled “Because the ingredients are expensive and hard to come by” a pounding noise came from below “Plus if the followers of discord are near then time is of the essence and the village needs to be warned as well”
“Shouldn't we be staying to protect the village if the followers are coming?” Fidget piped from his bunk hole
“Well judging how an elder assassin was poked so full of holes it took an hour to patch him up enough that he wouldn't bleed out, I'm not sure we have the combat capability to take them” a loud crash resounded from below “at least without your initiate equipment anyway”.
As I finished packing I went down to the lower level to see how I could help Arto and found both Sovent and Fidget there as well. Arto was in his robes, a rare sight for us as the old assassin almost never wore them, they were made from a heavy gray linen with a red sash and trim that matched, there were eagles embroidered onto the trim in bright silver that seemed to shimmer even in the low lighting. He was putting on pieces of armor as he brewed the healing potion and seemed to be struggling with his pauldrons.

I reached out and buckled the straps for him, getting an appreciative smile out of him as he poured the contents of the cauldron into a dozen glass bottles, the liquid a bright cherry red. He tossed one to Seraph who somehow had managed to take a seat in Artos armchair without getting fresh holes in him.

Seraph drank the potion and sighed in relief as his cuts and scrapes healed before our eyes. “Well shall we be underway?” he said as he packed the bottles into his saddlebags and looked us over with a slight smile.

We all nodded and didn't say a word, merely went to grab our things and headed up to the yard outside the old tower. The afternoon sun was high in the sky, looking to the north I could swear I could almost see a faint shimmer of the crystal city, similar to the shimmer gleaming through the dried blood on the coat of the elder we’d be taking the long journey with. I looked at Arto and he noticed the look, giving me a reassuring smile.

“You'll see me again before you know it kiddo, you all will” he said, looking toward where I had looked only moments prior.

At that we all set out on our journey and I took one last look back at home before the trees blocked it from sight. The open road was ahead...

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait everyone! I'm living back at my parents house at the moment and balancing a 60 hour work week with my responsibilities as a monarch in the LARP group I'm in:Amtgard, I've had little to no time to work on my work. Enjoy chapter two and hopefully the next chapter will be out soon!