//------------------------------// // Part 1 - Chapter 11: An Apple A Day // Story: Pony May Cry: Brotherhood is Magic // by Joey JoJo //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle was sitting at the small wooden table in the center of her library, nose deep in a book as usual. She was currently reading up on methods to improve her teleportation spell just as Spike had come rushing down the stairs with a scroll in one hand. “Hey, Twilight. You got a note from Celestia.” said the small purple dragon, approaching the ever studious unicorn. “What’s it say?” she asked, now turning her attention away from her book. Spike proceeded to unravel the scroll and cleared his throat. “Ahem, Dear Twilight Sparkle,” he read. “I thank you for bringing such an important matter to my attention. I assure you that this situation shall be placed on the highest priority upon my completion of the negotiations with the Griffon Empire. From all that you’ve told me in your letter, these two visitors sound like quite the lively bunch; however you seem to have the situation under control. I entrust in you, my star pupil, along with your friends, the responsibility of accommodating our visitors as best you can, and doing your finest to keep another tussle from breaking out. Luna and I shall make haste and will meet with both you and our new guests, Dante and Vergil at the Ponyville library within three days. In the meantime between my royal duties, I shall be looking into my studies to see if I can find any spells pertaining to dimensional transportation in hopes to send our guests back to their respective world. P.S. Should anything of dire emergency arise within the time being, feel free to contact me as soon as possible. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.” “Well it seems she handled my explanation pretty well, don’t you think, Spike?” Twilight asked, somewhat surprised at Celestia’s response. “Yeah, especially since you told her about that fight between Dante and Vergil. You’d think she’d act just a bit more concerned.” “I’m sure she is, Spike. It’s not every day ponies from another world just drop in.” Twilight replied, now pacing back and forth in front of the table. “Either way, Celestia is entrusting the girls and I to keep those two out of trouble until she can find a solution, so I’m hoping you’d be able to lend a helping claw as well, Ok?” “Sure.” Spike answered as he began rolling up the parchment. “Good.” Twilight said excitedly. “First thing’s first though. We need to tidy up around here and rearrange the library.” “Again?” Spike groaned. “Didn’t I just do that last week?” “Yes. But we want the Library to look as upscale as possible if we’re to host a meeting for the princesses and our new guests.” “If you say so.” Spike muttered as he began to take a handful of books off one of the shelves lining the interior of the library. Fluttershy and Vergil were about halfway down the path to Sweet Apple Acres when Fluttershy spotted a large red stallion with a bright orange mane toting a wagon loaded with apples slowly walking their way. She then gestured with one of her hooves for Vergil to follow along and trotted lightly to meet the stallion. “Hi, Big Mac.” she greeted cheerfully. “Is AppleJack out harvesting apples?” “Eeyup.” answered the stallion “Is Dante out with her as well?” Fluttershy pressed on. “Eeyup. Mah sis has him apple bucking out in the orchard with her. Quite a strange feller that guy is.” “Strange is too generous of a term to describe that fool.” Vergil stated, walking up next to Fluttershy. “Oh, by the way, Big Mac, this is Vergil.” Fluttershy said as she introduced the two. “He’s Dante’s brother. I’ve just been showing him around Ponyville and I thought Sweet Apple Acres would be one of the most inviting places to take him.” “Ah see,” Big Mac stated, looking towards the silverish grey pony. “Well it’s nice to meet ya, Vergil. Name’s Big Macintosh.” “Intriguing name to say the least.” Vergil said disinterestedly as he glanced over to the red stallion. “Vergil’s quite an interesting name as well.” Big Mac replied, unintentionally creating an awkward bout of silence before Fluttershy piped up to ease the tension. “So where are you heading with all those apples? I thought you all were harvesting them.” “Big delivery for some folks in Canterlot,” Big Mac answered casually. “Seems they only want Sweet Apple Acre apples. Speakin’ of which, I think I better head out now. Not too courteous to keep folks waitin'.” “Well have a good day.” Fluttershy said as she waved to Big Mac, who was now taking his leave. “You too, Ms. Fluttershy.” Big Mac called back. “Hope yer new friend likes it 'round these parts.” And with that, Big Mac had left, slowly walking down the dirt path back towards Ponyville with his wagon-load of apples in tow. “Doesn’t seem to be particularly one for words I take it?” Vergil asked as the two ponies continued on their trek towards AppleJack’s. “Not really.” Fluttershy said softly. “He likes to keep to himself alot…not that he’s rude or unsociable or anything…” she stammered on, trying to rephrase her words as nice as possible. “I think I get it.” Vergil interrupted, ceasing Fluttershy’s rambling. “I find that quite a respectable trait to be honest.” “Glad you think so too.” she sighed in relief. The pair had arrived at AppleJack’s shortly after. There, Vergil spotted AppleJack coming back from the orchard, toting a few bushels of apples towards the house. “I’m going to find Dante.” he stated to Fluttershy. “And before you ask, I’ll be sure to reacquaint myself with your friend…” “AppleJack.” Fluttershy finished, noticing Vergil was not at all familiar with the farm pony's name. “Right. I’ll return shortly.” he said, walking towards the orchard as AppleJack was approaching from the house. “Alright then. Just try not to start any trouble, please.” Fluttershy pleaded. “No promises.” Vergil muttered under his breath as he continued his stride towards the orchard, certain that Fluttershy was no longer in earshot. “Howdy there, Fluttershy.” AppleJack greeted upon approaching the yellow pegasus. “Afternoon, AppleJack.” she greeted back with a warm smile. “So what brings you here this fine afternoon?” “Not much really. Just dropped by to say hello and see how things are going with Dante.” “Thanks for the concern there, sugarcube, but ah think I got him situated here quite nicely if ah do say so myself.” AppleJack sniffed. “Speakin’ of which, where’s his brother? Vergil was it? Wasn’t he supposed to be stayin’ with you?” “Yes, he still is. He’s been doing a lot better since yesterday.” Fluttershy started. “Right now though, he’s gone out to the orchard. He said he wanted to talk to Dante about something.” “And you let him just go off?!” AppleJack shouted incredulously. “Even after Twilight said we should keep them apart at all costs?!” “Well…ummm...it’s just that he said he only needed to talk with Dante is all.” Fluttershy stated meekly as she shrank back from AppleJack, hiding most of her face behind her long pink mane. “I mean you have to give both of them a bit of trust after all. Otherwise we’ll just alienate them.” “Look, sugarcube,” AppleJack said with a more comforting tone. “Ah know you seem to trust this Vergil fella, and ya seem to have taken quite a likin’ to him as well, but ya gotta be a bit more cautious. Remember what happened yesterday? I’m not sayin’ it’ll happen again, but keepin’ those two apart for awhile is the best solution right now.” “I guess you’re right.” Fluttershy sighed. “I just don’t think its right for brothers to fight like they do. So I figured that perhaps Vergil would at least try and reason with his brother.” “I agree with ya there, Fluttershy. No reason family should be at each others’ throats, but I’m just lookin’ out for Dante. From what I’ve seen he’s pretty darn reckless and knowing him, he’ll probably end up trying to start something else with Vergil.” “So you think we should go and find them?” AppleJack sighed heavily as she noticed the concern in Fluttershy’s eyes growing at the thought of another conflict breaking out, and simply replied, “How ‘bout we give ‘em a few minutes? I figured seeing how there’s no other ponies around, I’m pretty sure they won’t cause too much of a scene if something does happen. Either way, I trust your judgment, Fluttershy. Perhaps I’m bein’ just a bit too paranoid and Vergil really does just want to talk.” “Ok. A few minutes sounds good.” Fluttershy said as her expression lightened. “Well then. How about we go grab something to drink?” AppleJack offered as she gestured for the pegasus to follow her into the house. “I got some fresh apple cider made. Heck, if ya want, feel free to help yourself to a few apples on account of we seem to be a bit overstocked at the moment.” “Thanks. I certainly appreciate the offer, AppleJack.” Fluttershy replied as she followed the orange mare into the house. THUNK THUNK THUNK, went the trunk of the tree as Dante repeatedly bucked it over and over, making sure not to miss a single apple. One by one, they fell almost rhythmically into the baskets surrounding the trunk until after a few more bucks, the tree was left devoid of anymore apples. Dante, somewhat satisfied with his progress, began to wipe the trickles of sweat off his forehead as a congratulatory praise. “Well, seems I finally got the hang of this whole harvesting gig.” he said, proudly looking back at all of the trees he had managed to successfully apple buck. “29…30…31…32…33. 33.” Dante counted. “Not too shabby if I do say so myself.” “Anything you do can easily be considered shabby at best.” said Vergil as he emerged from behind one of the empty trees. “Well if it isn’t Mr. Sunshine himself.” Dante replied mockingly as he turned around to see Vergil. “What brings you out here this fine day? You and your girlfriend having a picnic?” he chuckled lightly. Vergil only furrowed his brow at Dante’s lewd attempt at a joke. “What reason I have for being out here is of my own, you lowly simpleton.” “Whatever, bro. No reason to be so defensive about it.” Dante said as he began to collect the few bushels of apples onto a cart that AppleJack left him. “If you must know, I came to simply test a few things.” “Cryptic as always, huh?” Dante asked. “Probably aren’t even gonna tell me what you’re ‘testing’ anyways.” “I see no need to explain, seeing how your little performance managed to confirm my suspicions quite nicely.” Vergil answered back. “Then again, what can I expect from a devil whose subjected himself to simple farm work?” “And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Dante growled, suddenly showing interest in his brother's words. “What it means is that you've obviously regressed upon our arrival to this accursed world. Your fighting capabilities from yesterday showed it, and then there’s this sudden discovery. Shameful really; can’t even handle a simple tree.” “Hey!” Dante shouted defensively. “I’ll have you know I totally leveled one of these bad boys earlier…minus the fact it was with a sword, but never the less…” “But you can’t seem to harness that strength of yours you so callously flaunted about in our own world.” Vergil interrupted, thinking back to his confrontation with the timberwolves upon his arrival along with his unacceptable training session from earlier that morning. The thought certainly shed some light on their situation, if not proven to irritate him further. Dante began to think about what his brother was saying. From the sound of Vergil’s explanation, he definitely seemed to be getting at something. “Face it, Dante.” Vergil said, pointing a hoof at his brother. “This world, that body, have not only weakened you, but have even managed to suppress your Devil powers.” Dante only looked down at his hooves and looked back to his brother. Suddenly a smirk crept across his face as he began to walk back towards the cart of apples. “You make quite a convincing argument, bro.” Dante started, positioning himself next to one of the bushel of apples. “But if this little theory of yours is true…” he then flipped one of the baskets filled with apples straight up in the air by stomping his forehooves on its side, spilling the fruit out as they began their descent back to the ground. “Then I guess…” Dante continued as he reached back, grabbing his sword. “The same can be said for YOU!” he exclaimed as he swatted a few of the falling apples with the flat of his sword, sending them rocketing towards his brother. “Not quite!” Vergil snapped as he unsheathed Yamato and began to twirl his blade with such rapid succession. One by one, the speeding apples were shredded to bits as their remains scattered around him. “Show off.” muttered Dante as he stomped his back legs on the cart, launching an entire bushel of apples at Vergil as a distraction before proceeding to rush off towards him, sword at the ready. With such grace, Vergil sliced through the basket of fruit, but just as he had turned he was met with Dante ready to swing. Thinking quickly, Vergil spun his sword in a backhand (Or should I say backhoof?) style to catch the blow from his brother’s sword. In rapid succession, they had begun to swing wildly at one another, matching blow for blow, ducking and dodging almost as if it were some sort of morbid dance. With a forceful swing, Dante charged in for the kill, but Vergil, now grasping Yamato in both hooves, brought down his blade onto Dante’s, sending a deafening clash of metal to ring throughout the trees almost as if it were thunder itself. Their blades grinded against one another as both the demon twins struggled in their sword clash. For several seconds they stood their ground, constantly exerting force back and forth, anticipating for their opponent to falter by even the slightest bit. “What you fail to realize dear brother...” Vergil said as he began to drive Dante back slowly. “Is that while you were off partaking in your frivolous activities...” he continued to press on as Dante was beginning to kneel in desperation, trying to hold back his brother’s overbearing force. “I was regaining my strength as a worthy Son of Sparda!” “I’m getting real sick of that Son of Sparda speech!” Dante shouted as he knocked back his brother with a quick and forceful push of his sword. Vergil leapt back, taken by surprise by Dante’s sudden burst of strength. “Well, it seems you haven’t regressed as much as I thought.” he said, sheathing his blade. “However, I still doubt you’ve even begun to reawaken that potential.” Vergil then stood up onto his backhooves and readied himself into his signature fighting stance, causing his cutie mark to glow. Suddenly, four bright shimmering lights began to shine from each hoof, eventually forming brilliantly crafted silver gauntlets and greaves on his backlegs and forehooves. “Wait! How the hell did you keep Beowulf in this dimension!?” Dante cried out in confusion. “It’s nice of you to remember my arsenal.” Vergil grinned. “Now tell me if you remember the pain just as vividly!” In a blur, Vergil had seemingly vanished before Dante could act. The next second, he reappeared above the demon hunter, diving downwards to deliver his signature Starfall Kick. Dante managed to flip back just before Vergil’s hoof collided with the ground, leaving a small crater in his wake. Before Dante could so much as think, Vergil was back on the offensive instantly as he dashed towards his brother and delivered a gut wrenching blow right in his stomach. Dante could only silently gasp for air while Vergil continued his onslaught, delivering bone shattering blow after blow with his gauntlet encased hooves, each hit sending Dante careening backwards, but not so far enough to escape the barrage of punches. Dante, finally mustering up the strength to find an opening, swung his sword just as Vergil was about to land another blow in the hopes to deflect his attack. However, the force from Vergil’s punch was far too powerful and instead, sent Dante’s sword flying out of his hooves as he staggered backwards from the recoil. “TRASH!” shouted Vergil as he advanced towards the off balance devil hunter, and with such force and power, delivered a spinning round-house kick into Dante’s chest, sending him flying backwards until he collided with one of the apple trees; the resulting impact shook every single apple loose from their branches as the worn out pony slid down to the base of the trunk in defeat, followed by his sword, Rebellion, just now falling from the sky, plunging into the ground right next to Dante. “Pitiful, Dante. Just pitiful.” Vergil criticized, lowering himself onto all fours as he walked past his barely conscious brother. “Either way, I think I should get going now. I do thank you however for allowing me to test my theory. Perhaps this will serve as a lesson to you once we return to our own world.” “The only lesson I learned is that you’re a cheap bastard.” Dante coughed as he clambered onto his back hooves, grasping his sword for balance. “Still defiantly hard-headed I see.” Vergil berated, shaking his head in disappointment. He then reared back his hind legs, still equipped with Beowulf, and bucked the tree that Dante had stumbled in front of; sending it crashing down on top of the weary demon hunter. “Now that is cheap.” He stated matter of factly; the gauntlets and greaves now fading from his hooves as he walked off, leaving Dante pinned under the large apple tree, surrounded by nothing more than the scattered debris from their fight. Back at the Apple family house, Fluttershy and AppleJack were sitting on the porch, sharing friendly conversation with one another along with a few mugs of apple cider. “So I just take a teaspoon to help ease a stomachache?” Fluttershy asked, looking at a small jar that AppleJack had brought from her kitchen earlier. “Eeyup. Nothing like good ‘ol Apple Family Apple Cider Vinegar to cure what ails ya.” AppleJack said proudly, passing Fluttershy the jar. “Go on, sugarcube. We got plenty of this stuff here. No sense in turning down a hospitable gift.” “I suppose not.” Fluttershy mumbled as she took the jar from the farm pony. “Thank you so much.” “Think nothin’ of it, sugarcube.” Just then, Vergil had returned from the apple orchard, making his way to the front porch. “Oh, you’re back.” Fluttershy greeted him happily. “How’d the talk go, if you don’t mind me asking?” “Swimmingly.” he declared. “Dante and I exchanged a few words before I remembered it’d be rude of me not to introduce myself to your friend.” “Oh, I see.” Fluttershy said. “Well Vergil, this is my friend, AppleJack. She helps run Sweet Apple Acres with her family.” “Pleased to meet ya, Vergil.” AppleJack greeted, holding out a hoof to greet the light grey stallion. “Likewise,” Vergil replied flatly, turning down AppleJack’s hoofshake. “Although I must admit, I am quite impressed with how you’ve handled Dante. It’s not every day someone instills a work ethic into a lackadaisical fool such as him.” “Why thank ya kindly,” she said, tipping her hat to Vergil. “Though, ya might wanna ease up there on the insults. I mean sure Dante’s a bit of a slacker, but that’s no reason to go and bring yer own brother down.” “AppleJack’s right, Vergil,” Fluttershy joined in. “I understand you two don’t get along, but maybe if you treated each other with just a bit more respect, you probably wouldn't fight as much.” “Put it this way,” Vergil started. “Discipline is one of the few things Dante’s willing to avoid. Unless you keep on him then he won’t learn a single thing. That’s the way it’s always been. Surely you can agree that a bit of force here and there would do him some good.” “No excuse to try and kill each other though,” AppleJack protested. “I see where you’re coming from as his big brother, but ah'm starting to think yer methods are a bit extreme.” “Please, had I wanted to kill him, neither of us would be here right now.” Vergil chuckled. “Well, as much as I’d love to stay, AppleJack, Vergil and I still have to visit Twilight.” Fluttershy announced as she loaded a small saddle bag filled with the apples that orange mare had given her onto her back. “Alrighty then, sugarcube,” AppleJack said, standing up to say her goodbyes. “Glad I could have ya over for a visit. Oh and don’t forget this.” She then placed the small jar of Apple Cider Vinegar into Fluttershy’s bag. “Trust me. You’ll never know when that’ll come in handy.” “Thank you.” Fluttershy said as she and Vergil began to walk off the front porch. “It was nice meeting you again as well, Vergil.” AppleJack then said, walking them both towards the dirt path leading back to Ponyville. “It was pleasant to say the least.” Vergil stated. “However I do appreciate you keeping Dante under your watch. Perhaps a good work ethic is just what a slacker like him needs.” “Hehehe, no problem,” chuckled AppleJack as she adjusted her hat. “Glad you approve of mah methods.” “Bye, AppleJack.” Fluttershy then said as she and Vergil made their way down the dirt road. “Seeya later, sugarcube!” AppleJack waved, seeing the two ponies off. As they continued down the path, Fluttershy then remembered something. She reached into her saddle bag to pull out an apple and held it out to Vergil. “I forgot that you didn’t eat this morning, so I figured maybe you’d like something to at least snack on.” Vergil went to decline her offer, but his stomach had other plans as it let out a small growl. “It seems as though you’re right.” he said casually as he accepted the apple, taking a few bites out of the juicy red fruit. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” Fluttershy smiled at him. She couldn’t help but notice, but Vergil seemed to be in a lot better mood now than he was this morning. I’m guessing things went better than expected with Dante, she thought to herself. Vergil was simply enjoying his apple, fondly recalling his confrontation with Dante. It certainly made up for the annoyances known as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash earlier that day. It seems as though this day may just turn in my favor, he thought to himself as he and Fluttershy trotted lightly down the road towards Ponyville. Meanwhile, Dante had managed to regain consciousness before dragging himself out from under the toppled apple tree. “Vergil, you asshole.” he cursed under his breath as he retrieved his sword out of the ground. “Next time I see you…” Dante trailed off before he was alerted by the sound of hoofsteps closing in behind him. Before he could turn around to see who it was, his ears were met with a rather furious scream, immediately confirming his suspicions that he was in for a world of trouble. “DAGNABBIT, DANTE!” screamed AppleJack as she saw the mess he left behind, along with the toppled tree that the demon hunter had just so happened to be standing by. “Fuck my life.” Dante groaned.