The warmth felt good on Jack’s skin.
The samurai opened his eyes, seeing a blue sky above him and a bright sun shining down. He was lay in a small pool of water, yet the water felt warm and comforting, as if its touch soothed his muscles. The air was a perfect temperature and pink petals swirled around, dancing on the breeze. He felt like he could lay there forever, drinking in the tranquility.
Jack.
At the sound of his name, Jack sat up and stretched his body before looking down at his hands. Hands. He had hands again. But he was a stallion. How in the world did he…?
Jack tried to remember what had happened. Faintly, he could recall a battle against a powerful foe. He recalled roars strong enough to shake the land and blows that created lightning when they collided. Then he recalled being on the edge of victory…only for his foe to reveal one last trick they had been saving. And then there was nothing but a feeling of peace.
Jack.
Jack stood up and walked out of the pool he had been laying in, surprised to see his kimono was dry. Someone was calling to him. Someone familiar. The samurai began to walk, surprised to see a path appearing before him with blossoming peach trees on either side of him. The more he looked around the more the world seemed to form around him, filling in with what he longed to see most. Peach and apple trees, lanterns that he had not seen since he was a child and the sound of stringed instruments filling the air. It almost felt like home.
Finally, the samurai’s path came to an end, opening into a clearing that rested atop a small hill. And on the top of that hill two figures sat upon a blanket, enjoying a nice picnic together. Two figures that Jack had thought he was never seen again.
“Father. Mother,” Jack whispered. The shogun and his wife looked up from their picnic, their eyes going wide when they saw who stood there.
“Son,” they both whispered. Then the two of them were on their feet and ran to Jack, both of them hugging him at the same time. Jack returned the hug, pulling them in close. Numerous different emotions welled up within him. The desire to cry, to laugh, to fall over or to simple smile. He decided on the last one.
“It has been so long. I truly thought that I would never see either of you again,” Jack whispered. The family broke apart from the hug and Jack looked upon his parent’s face, noticing they were exactly the same as he remembered them. Proud, strong and filled with life. Then he locked eyes on his father. “Father, I am so sorry. Had I not fallen for Aku’s treachery, you would not have had to suffer as you did. I am a failure of a son.”
“No my son, you are the one who freed the world of Aku’s evil once and for all. If anything, I must apologize to you. Had I ensured the monster’s destruction when I first fought him, our nation would never have fallen and you would not have been stripped of your life. I am a failure as a father,” the shogun said with a bow.
“Oh will you two cut it out. This should be a celebration, not who’s guiltier than who,” Jack’s mother said with a small glare. Both samurai glanced at each other before smiles broke out on their faces, knowing that there was no point in arguing with her.
“But know that I am proud of you, my son. You did what I failed to do. You destroyed Aku,” the shogun finished, pulling Jack into another hug. “You are truly the greatest son that I do not deserve. Thank you, my son. Thank you for bringing peace to our world.”
“You are welcome, father. I am happy that I have made you proud,” Jack replied, before turning towards his mother.
“I am proud of you as well, my son. Not just for you sacrificed, but what you refused to give up as well. Your kindness, you compassion and yourself. Even after all you have gone through, from being trapped in AKu’s future to your battles in Equestria, you never sacrificed yourself. You have made your mother proud.”
“Thank you, mother,” Jack replied with a smile and a bow, before he looked at his mother with some confusion. “But how do you know of Equestria? Or that Aku was defeated? Have you been watching me from the afterlife?”
“Well, yes, but we’ve actually been talking with someone for a while now and they just have the most wonderful stories to tell about you,” Jack’s mother said with a sly smile. “And they have been waiting here with us for a while now. You chose well, my son. She is a perfect match for you.”
Then Jack’s mother stepped to the side and revealed a figure leaning up against one of the trees, causing Jack’s eyes to go wide when he saw her. It was a person who wore an orange, checkered shirt, as well as jeans, cowboy boots and a hat to finish the look. But all of those details Jack noticed later. For it was her eyes that he was drawn to. A pair of emerald eyes that were filled with confidence, love and strength. A pair of eyes that only belonged to a single soul.
“Applejack?” he whispered. AJ smiled at Jack before she walked over to him. He reached out and gently touched her face, tears welling up in his eyes when he found she was actually there. “Is it truly you?”
“Hey, Jack,” she replied…before punching him in the arm. Even though it didn’t hurt at all, Jack still clutched at it instinctively.
“What is the matter?”
“What’s the matter?! How bout ya fighting Tundrous in a duel to the death on a mountain top, how’s that fer the matter?! Ah thought ah told ya to not get hung up over me and use yer immortality to help our family and others and instead ya go and get blown up!” AJ said.
“I did do that! I made sure that our family and Equestria would be safe for generations to come!”
“And then ya went and got yerself killed against a dragon. In the middle of nowhere without leaving any clue to our family or Twilight about what happened to ya. Do ya know how worried they are going to be?”
“I told them that I would be gone for a long time trying to complete the tasks I had to complete. My rematch with Tundrous was one of them.”
“Ya can’t fool me, Jack. Ya went up against Tundrous fully expecting to die.”
“Well…yes, but he wouldn’t allow it. If I didn’t fight him as if I was trying to win, he wouldn’t fight back. So, technically, I was trying to win,” Jack said with a small smile. Applejack was not amused. That was when Jack’s mother stepped in.
“Jack, you shouldn’t have made Applejack worry like that. And Applejack, you should tell Jack the truth as well,” she said. Jack looked at his wife in confusion as AJ sighed and looked to the side.
“Jack, ah wanted ya to keep helping our friends and family so that when yer time did finally come, ya would die surrounded by those who love ya. Who ya saved. To show ya that yer life was a good one. Ah didn’t want ya to die some warriors death in the middle of nowhere believing death would bring ya peace. Ah wanted ya to see…how much of a difference ya made. To yer world. To Equestria…to us.”
“I am sorry my love. I…failed to notice that. I apologize if I have angered you. I was just so…distraught without out in my life. Without your love, your kindness and your strength, I believed life to not be worth living. I should have listened to you…I always should have,” Jack said. Applejack looked away for a moment, only to sigh with a smile before she tackled Jack and pulled him into a tight hug. “Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
“Ah guess ah can. But only because yer so darn good at flattering me,” AJ whispered. Jack wrapped his arms around her and stood with her for a time. He knew not how long. Time seemed to not matter here. All that mattered to Jack was that he was with his family again.
“Come, my son. Sit and stay with us,” the shogun said, motioning to the picnic. “We have spent our time here sharing stories with one another and I am sure there are plenty of stories for you to tell.”
“As well as hear. I have been telling Applejack all about your childhood and she just adores it,” his mother said. “But I’m more interested in hearing about your married life and especially about my granddaughter. You both made such a wonderful child.” Both Jack and AJ turned red at that. “So please my son, sit and rest for as long as you need. You’ve earned it.”
Jack looked down at the cloth before looking to his father, his mother and then his wife. And for the first time in a long time, he felt a smile cross his face. Not a smile he forced himself to wear, but a smile of genuine happiness. So Jack sat down, his father to his left, his mother to his right, and Applejack at his side, leaning her head on his shoulder.
And so he began to recount all of his stories. From meeting the dog archeologists to saving a moth prince and princess, he told his stories of Earth and beyond. Of his life with Applejack and how he lived after her passing. Of his grandfoals and great grandfoals. Of despair and hope. And when he was finished, he leaned against Applejack and enjoyed being in his family’s company. It was almost perfect.
“Something the matter, Jack? You seem like yer missing something,” Applejack asked. Even in the afterlife, she could still read him like a book.
“You are right, my beloved. There is just one more person missing from here to make this perfect. Not our daughter, she will be here soon, but…someone who helped me through those years on Earth.”
As if heaven decided to answer his prayers, a moment later a beam of light erupted not far from where they were sitting. The family wasn’t startled, but they were intrigued by what the light could mean. And then they heard someone begin to talk.
“What in the name of me grandpappy’s kilt is going on. Where in the bloody hell am ah? And why am I so young and good looking? And why have ah got both me legs? That machine gun has supported me fer more years than that miserable stick of flesh ever did! Ah’m ah dead? Well good job, ya bunch of divine pansys, it only took ya seventy bleeding years to finally kill me off! Yer all a bunch of miserable, toad licking, lightshow throwing bunch of panjama wearing ninnies! Wait a moment. If ah’m dead, that means ah can see mah beautiful wife again! Ah bet she’s already made herself the queen of heaven! Ah bet the other angles and gods weep when they look upon her, because they finally know what perfection looks like!”
“Jack,” the shogun asked Jack, who was doing his best not to burst out laughing. “Who is that?”
“He is a friend, father. He’s my friend.”