Applejack was busy out on the farm, bucking apples to sell, when a storm started to roll in. Ah’ll just get this last bushel in an’ call it a day. Applejack thought to herself as the rain started to fall. Just as she was about to get in one last kick, there was a great peal of thunder.
“Maybe Ah’ll just call it a day now,” she said out loud, getting ready to carry what apples she had back to the barn. As she headed towards the barn, there was a flash of thunder and a loud crack, and then everything went black.
~~~~
In the age of ancients the world was unformed, shrouded by fog... but then, there was fire...
~~~~
Applejack slowly became aware of her surroundings as she woke up. She was laying on the floor of the kitchen, in front of the fireplace where the cooking pot was.
“Oh, hey sis. Ah thought you were still out in the orchard buckin’ apples?” Apple Bloom asked as she walked in.
“Ah was... but then... Ah don’t remember how Ah got here,” Applejack said, sitting up.
“You don’t remember?” Apple Bloom questioned. Applejack gave her head a shake, trying to remember what happened.
“Hello? Sis?” Apple Bloom asked, waving a hoof in front of her sister’s face. “You sure you’re alright?”
“Ah’ll be fine. Why don’t you go find Mac for me,” Applejack said, turning to look out the window. She was sure that a tree had fallen on her after being struck by lightning, but here she was, sitting in her kitchen with not even a scratch. When Apple Bloom left to find their brother, Applejack went back out into the orchard to investigate what happened. When she reached where she thought she had been she saw that there was a tree down, and that there was a spilled bucket of apples.
“What in tarnation?” she said as she walked around the tree. What she saw after that made her speechless. There was a medium sized green orb, floating in the air above a puddle of dark red blood. The orb seemed to be the source of the puddle as it dripped little globules of the dark red substance. The sight almost made Applejack sick, but she choked back her nausea and stepped closer to the green orb.
She reached out her hoof to touch it, but just before she made contact, the orb seemed to burst, and the puddle of blood quickly evaporated. Applejack quickly withdrew her hoof, she saw something strange. On the bottom of her hoof was what looked like a burning circle.
“It is as we feared,” a voice said from behind her, making Applejack jump.
“What the hay? Princess Luna?” Applejack asked, bewildered to see the princess of the night. The Princess of the Night gave a heavy sigh as she laid a hoof on the apple farmer’s shoulder.
“That mark on your hoof is a phenomena that my sister and I had thought long extinguished. It is called the Darksign, and it brands the undead,” Luna explained.
“Undead? But Ah feel fine,” Applejack said, wondering what the princess could be talking about.
“Yes, but you did indeed die, the soul that you just reabsorbed proved that,” Luna said.
“Soul? Wait, that was my blood?” Applejack questioned, remembering the deep red pool.
“Yes, and that green orb was your soul. You absorbed it with the Darksign,” Luna said, confirming her fears.
“But, if Ah died, then how am Ah alive?” Applejack questioned, fear rising in her chest.
“The undead are reborn at nearby bonfires, specially made for their use, but any fire of significant size will due in the absence of one,” Luna said.
“That explains why Ah was in my kitchen...” Applejack said.
“I’m sorry Applejack, but you have to go now,” Luna said.
“What? Why? Where?” Applejack said, throwing questions at the Lunar Princess.
“I wish I could explain more to you, but it must be done quickly,” Luna said, her horn starting to glow.
“Wait, what’r you doing?” Applejack cried.
“I am sending you to the Undead Asylum, where you will be unable to harm any pony,” Luna said as she prepared to cast the spell that would send Applejack away.
“What? Harm any pony? But I wouldn't hurt a fly!” she protested, but it was already too late, Luna released the spell, and Applejack was gone. Luna was left standing by the fallen tree by herself, “We’re sorry Applejack...”
~~~
And amongst the living are seen, the carriers of the accursed Darksign.
~~~
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
It is with a heavy heart that my sister and I have to inform you that you’re friend Applejack has the Darksign, and will be taken to the Undead Asylum. I wish there was more that we could do.
My deepest apologies
Princess Celestia
Twilight read the note over for what seemed like the hundredth time.
“This doesn't make any sense!” she lamented to her assistant Spike, “What is this ‘Darksign’? And what is the Undead Asylum? For that matter, what is an undead?” It was at that time that Rainbow Dash happened to be flying by, and popped in to investigate.
“What the matter Twilight?” she asked.
“Rainbow Dash! Maybe you can make some sense of this,” Twilight said, passing the letter to her friend.
“What...” Rainbow Dash questioned, dropping the letter.
“I don’t know, none of this makes any sense, but I've been to Applejack’s and no pony’s seen her since last night,” Twilight explained.
“I can’t believe this... how could she not tell you anything about this? Applejack’s our friend, and all the explanation we get for why she goes missing is that she had something called the Darksign? I’m not buying it,” she snorted.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what to do all morning, and I just don’t know!” Twilight lamented, hanging her head.
“I know what we’re going to do,” Dash said.
“You do?” Twilight questioned, almost on the verge of tears.
“We’re going to get the others and we’re going to march into Canterlot and ask Celestia what in the hay is going on,” Dash said.
“But we can’t just barge into the Castle,” Twilight protested.
“We have a right to know! Besides, you’re her student, you have special privileges or something right?” Dash asked.
“Well...” Twilight trailed off.
“Great! I’ll go get Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy,” Rainbow said, taking off out the door to round up the rest of their friends.
--
“Wha-Where am Ah?” Applejack asked as she awoke. She looked around and found that she was in some kind of cell, with what looked like two corpses in either back corner, and a large hole in the ceiling through which light filtered in. Applejack then took a look at herself, and was that she looked rather gaunt. Her hair was rather pale and her skin clung tightly to her frame.
“What did the Princess do t’ me?” she cried.
She was interrupted from her mild panic attack my the sound of some rustling above her followed by a corpse, much like the two in the corners, being dropped through the hole in the ceiling. She could barely see an armored head pull away from the hole before looking down at the corpse that had been dropped in front of her. It was odd, but Applejack felt that there was something special about the corpse that had been dropped and she tentatively stretched out her hoof towards it.
As her hoof touched it, she could have sworn that she could see a slight glow about it. She looked the corpse over and found a key around its neck. She took the key and looked it over. She looked at the key, then to the hole in the ceiling, then back to the key. It then dawned on her that some pony was trying to help her get out of there.
She walked to the door, and it occurred to her that it was clearly made for something about twice her height. She put the key to the lock, and found that it turned. She pushed the barred door open and looked down the gloomy hallway before her. She could make out the shapes of two more corpse looking figures, the only difference was that they were moving. One was in a crouched position, beating a sword hilt aimlessly against the ground, while the other was standing against a wall.
Applejack noticed what looked like three glowing orange claw marks. The first of these claw marks, of which there were three, was just before her. She walked over to it and looked down at it. Upon closer inspection, she could see that it was actually three lines of arcane characters.
“Ah sure wish Ah could read this mumbo jumbo,” Applejack said, running a hoof under the top line. As she did so, the letters started to morph and shift, changing into something that was comprehensible to her.
This is a message sigil, they will help guide you...
“That’s it?” Applejack questioned the orange writing, but as soon as her hoof left the text, it went back to it’s normal form. She went up to the second, which was close to the kneeling figure. She cautiously approached it, but the figure paid her no mind and continued it’s mindless task of beating at the ground. When she touched the second sigil, this one was a bit longer.
You, and this creature before you are hollows. Most hollows are mindless undead who have long since lost their humanity. Some, like you, are not too far gone, and can retain your sanity. Kill this one, put it out of it’s misery...
“Kill it?” Applejack questioned. The very idea that whoever was writing these messages wanted her to kill this helpless creature sickened her.
“Hello?” Applejack called to the hollow. The creature didn't respond to her.
“Hey! Ah’m talkin' to ya!” Applejack called in a firmer tone. The hollow continued to beat at the ground. Applejack went over to it and tapped it on the shoulder. This got a reaction from it and it turned its head towards her before standing up. At it’s full height, it was twice as tall as Applejack, though it looked rather frail.
“Finally, my name’s-” She was cut off as the hollow swung the broken blade it held in its hands at Applejack. The blow didn't particularly hurt, the blade had only a few inches left to it, and what it did have was dulled to the point that it could barely be called a blade, but it caught Applejack by surprise.
“What was that fer?” she snorted as she backed away from it. It didn't answer but it turned to her and began to shuffle after her. In a few steps the shuffle turned into somewhat of a run as it prepared to attack Applejack again. This time she didn't give it the change, and bucked it in the legs before it could swing. She didn't think it would have that much of an effect, but the hollow fell to the ground, unmoving. Applejack was sad that she had to kill the thing, but she felt almost good as something flowed from it to her. Applejack moved to the third sigil and read it.
Unlike the land of the living, here, you’re strength will diminish with each action, and you will have to rest to replenish it. Try beating on this hollow and you’ll understand...
Well, these sigils were nothing if not helpful. Applejack walked over to the Hollow and proceeded to start swinging her front hooves at it. After a few swings, the hollow was dead, and Applejack understood what the sigil meant; she felt unusually tired after the pummeling she had given it. After a few seconds though, she felt strength return to her limbs and she went farther down the hallway until she got to a room that had another hollow in it. There was also a sigil on the ground which she proceeded to read. If you hadn't noticed, you have been absorbing souls from each hollow you defeat. If you prove yourself, these souls will become very important...
“Alright, now you’re just bein’ cryptic,” Applejack complained to the orange writing. She proceeded to kill this third hollow and she felt the souls flow into her. She proceeded into the next room and climbed up a ladder and into a courtyard. The courtyard was almost empty, except for a large door on the opposite side, and a small sword stuck in the ground in the center, buried in a small pile of fine white powder. Just in front of the sword was another sigil.
Resting at bonfires will restore your health and estus.
“What in tarnation is estus?” Applejack asked out loud. Giving a sigh, she sat down in front of the sword, but nothing happened. She sat for some time until she got sick of it.
“How is this restin’? Ah don’t feel any different than before!” she snorted, kicking at the base of the sword, where there was a small pile of ash. At her touch, the ashes suddenly sprung into life and soon a little fire was burning brightly at the base of the sword, its tips curling around the mysterious blade. This time when Applejack sat down, she could feel something change. Her surroundings darkened and she found herself staring into the flames, their warmth coursing through her gaunt body.
--
Twilight and her four friends walked up to the castle and were ushered inside by the guards. They were led to the throne room where Celestia was sitting on her throne. Her normally sunny visage darkened when she saw Twilight and her friends enter the room. Celestia waved off her guards so that they could be alone for the discussion that was about to come.
“Twilight, I’m sorry to you and your friends about what fate has befallen Applejack, and if you follow me, I will explain to you why things must be as they are,” the princess of the sun said, beckoning them to follow her. Celestia led them to a tall tower where Luna was sitting, looking into what appeared to be a mirror and writing on it with an orange stone.
“Sister, it’s time that we explained to them what happened...” Celestia said to her sister. Luna gave a sigh and turned away from the mirror and walked to join her sister.
“Sit, this tale is a long one,” Luna said, bringing over some cushions for every pony to sit on.
“Long ago, in another realm, there was nothing in the world, only fog, and barren rock,” Celestia began. “During this time, nothing lived, and nothing died. It was ruled over by nothing more than archtrees, and everlasting dragons. Then, came fire, and with it came light, but also darkness. From this first flame, they came, the first to claim the lord souls. Nito, the first of the dead; The Witch of Izalith, and her sisters of Chaos; and Lord Gwyn, and his knights.
These three lords banded together, and with their combined powers, they took the surface from the immortal dragons, and ushered in the Age of Fire. However, there was a fourth lord soul, the Dark Soul, claimed by a being known only as the Pigmy. The Pigmy brought about the creation of humans, a race of bipedal apes that behave much like ponies, with the exception that they are full of darkness. When The First Flame was kindled, and the Age of Fire ushered in, it created a growing darkness in humans. Unknown to Gwyn and the other lords, the cause of the growing darkness was not only the spread and growth of the fragmented Dark Soul, but that the light from their world was being drawn off. Our world is what is drawing off their light.
The events of their world correspond with those of ours. When the Witch of Izaleth created the flame of Chaos, Discord was created in our world. When Gwyn’s daughter, Genevieve was exiled from Anor Londo, Luna was transformed into Nightmare Moon. When the chosen undead linked the fire, you six became the Elements of Harmony. Our two worlds are interconnected, but one curse hasn’t been in our lands since the Darkness was unleashed upon Olicile.”
“As you might have guessed, the curse is the Darksign,” Luna said. “It last appeared just before I was turned into Nightmare Moon. Back then, thanks to Gwyn’s foresight, we were able to rid ourselves of the Darksign.”
“Now, it has appeared on Applejack,” Celestia finished.
“Wow...” Twilight said.
“Is there anything we can do?” Rarity begged. Celestia and Luna exchanged a look.
“I have been guiding her, but as of yet, there is nothing more we can do,” Luna said.
“Can we see?” Fluttershy asked.
“You must tell no pony of this,” Luna said, going back to the mirror. The others crowded around her to look at the mirror. What they saw was Applejack being crushed by a grotesque monster many times her size. Fluttershy passed out, while Rarity averted her eyes, but Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash continued to watch, as Applejack’s body disappeared, and their view shifted to a courtyard, where Applejack was now sitting by a fire, punching the ground. Luna sighed, “This is her fifth time trying to fight the Asylum Demon. She doesn't realize that she cannot kill it without a weapon, so she keeps throwing herself at it.”
“There’s no way she can fight that thing!” Rainbow Dash cried.
“Of course there is silly, she just needs to jump on its head, Pinkie said.
“But... But, how did you know that?!” Luna questioned the pink mare.
“It says it right in the walk-through,” she replied merrily.
--
Applejack was tired of this ugly thing. It had smashed, crushed, and sat on her, seven times, and she was sick of it.
“There’s no way to kill this thing!” she wailed. Then it hit her. The beast was far too strong for her to take on, even if all her friends were here, they would have a tough time besting it. So what if she tried to run away from it. Applejack pushed open the huge double doors and stepped into the room where she could see her soul sitting in the center. She rushed in and grabbed it before the monster could attack her, and she tried to keep as far away as possible from it.
After backing up to a wall, she noticed a small, nondescript doorway on the other side of the room, so she dashed in between the monster’s legs while it readied to smash her, and bolted for the door. Upon making it through, a gate shut behind her, and finally, she was safe. She went down the short sloping path and entered a room with a bonfire in it. She rested at the bonfire, and felt better.
If there was one thing that she did like about that monster, is that it made her appreciate getting away from it, and actually living. After that, she looked down a hallway and saw a hollow with a bow standing at the far end. It hadn't noticed her, but she could see that this wasn't like the first ones she had seen, it looked more alert. When she entered the hallway, it let loose an arrow at her, which she dodged before ducking into a small room. There was a sigil on the ground that she read.
Applejack, grab your shield and bash that baddie! Oops, wrong game...
“Pinkie?” Applejack asked the orange writing that seemed to be mimicking her friend. She didn't dwell on the thought though, and found a shield on a corpse. She strapped the small wooden shield to her left foreleg and tested out her stance. She found it easy enough to block while staying in her regular stance, but if she was going to be using her other hoof to attack, she would have to get used to standing on her back legs a lot.
She peeked out and saw that the hollow was still firing arrows at the doorway. She put up her shield and charged at the hollow. As she neared it, it turned and ran down a side hallway. Applejack stopped to investigate the telltale glow that something was on a corpse on the ground. She looked it over and found a mace.
She felt the heft of it, and decided that it would make a better weapon than her bare hooves, at least the front ones. She still had her legendary apple bucking skills that could take out these hollows no problem, but it left her worn out after only doing it twice. Applejack strapped the mace to her side where she could easily grab it and went after the hollow that had fired arrows at her.
At the top of a short ramp she confronted it, and promptly bludgeoned it with her new mace, which took it out on a couple swift hits, rather than the pummeling that her hooves would take. After that, she saw something rather strange, a doorway blocked by fog. She walked up to the fog and her hoof went up against it like it was solid. She tested it a few more times to make sure, and found that it wouldn't let her pass.
She then held out her hoof with the Darksign, and walked forward, and the fog parted revealing a large area that overlooked the courtyard where the first bonfire was at. Across from the doorway where she stood, through some metal bars, she could see an armored figure, laying in a pile of rubble. She walked around the side of the room and found that there was no way to get to the figure, so she went back to the bars.
“Hey, are you alright in there?” she called to the figure. The figure either didn't hear her, or couldn't respond, because the only thing that answered Applejack was silence. She tried a few more times, but gave up and went back around the room to two adjacent stairways, on leading upwards, and one leading down.
Applejack decided it was better to see if the latter lead to the bonfire, so she went down the staircase and found a bar door that was blocked from the side she was on. She removed the block and pushed the door open, and stepped into the courtyard. She went over to the bonfire and rested, not that she needed to. She was barely scratched since the last bonfire, with only one hollow to deal with, but she enjoyed the comforting warmth.
After resting for a bit, she went back up the way she had come and tried to go up the other staircase. After just a few steps though, she heard something shift in the gloom ahead of her and an iron ball bigger than she was came rolling down the stairs. Applejack didn't have time to get out of the way, so she was flung to the bottom of the stairs by the iron ball, before it finally took out a wall and came to a rest.
Applejack knew that something must be broken from the pain she felt, but was able to get up again without any problem. After taking a moment to catch her breath, she looked at the wall that the ball had taken out, and realized that it was the same room the armored figure was in.
She walked into the room and approached the armored figure cautiously. She couldn't be sure if it was a hollow or not because of the armor, but she didn't want to get caught unprepared if it was. So, shield and mace ready, she stepped up to the figure.
“Ugh... Hmm?” the figure said groggily.
“Um, are you a hollow?” Applejack questioned.
“What’s this? A talking horse? I must be going mad...” the figure said.
“Hey!” Applejack complained, “Ah’m not just some figment of yer imagination, and Ah’m a pony.”
“Well, I’m sorry pony, but I can’t help you. I’m done for I’m afraid. I’ll be hollow before too long. But, I do have something,” he said, as he slowly reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out an emerald flask.
“What’s this?” Applejack asked, taking the shiny bottle.
“Estus, an undead favorite. It will heal your wounds. Now go, I don’t want to hurt you after I go hollow...” he said.
“Alright...” Applejack said, putting the estus flask on the same belt as the mace. “But what about you?” But he was already gone, his body starting to fade. Applejack walked out of the room and took a look at the estus flask. She was still hurting from the iron ball, so she decided to take a drink from the emerald container. She felt her whole body fill with warmth as the golden yellow liquid went down her throat.
The pain instantly disappeared, and she placed the flask back on her belt. When she got to the top of the stairs, she saw a hollow, and a door behind it. She quickly dispatched the hollow and opened the gate to see some of the landscape beyond.Aside from a small hill, the only thing around the place she was in, were cliffs and mountains.
Applejack went to step to the edge of the platform, when she barely registered the fact that a hollow was aiming an arrow at her. She quickly jumped back and readied herself for a fight. Around the corner were three hollows, two holding swords, and the one that had fired the arrow at her.
Applejack waited for the first hollow to shuffle around the corner before dispatching it with a couple blows to the head. The hollow crumpled to the ground just before it’s companion shuffled around the corner. Applejack decided to dodge around this one, and rushed around the corner to take out the hollow archer. Before it even had the chance to loose one arrow, Applejack had begun to beat away at it with her mace, until it fell to the ground, leaving only the last hollow to shuffle towards her.
She waited until it was close, then blocked it’s feeble attack with her shield, causing it to recoil. As it was recovering, Applejack bludgeoned it, until she was sure it wouldn't get back up. Applejack paused for a moment, looking at her fallen foes. Before she had been sent to this strange place, the worst she could do to some pony, was give them a black eye; now, she had killed a dozen hollows, and she felt oddly alright with the fact.
“There’s somethin’ off about this place...” she said to herself, reflecting on her new found killer instinct. After recollecting her thoughts, Applejack looked over her surroundings. To one side, there was another fog door, but this one was much larger, and lead to the area where she had fought the killer monster. On the other, was a smaller doorway, which led into a dimly lit room.
She decided it was better not to take the risk, and cautiously trotted over to the smaller doorway. She peeked in, and saw a hollow wearing some form of armor, and holding a shield as well as a sword. She also saw a message sigil on the ground near this new type of hollow. Applejack decided to take caution with this armored foe, and put her shield up before tentatively stepping into the room. The hollow appeared to take notice of her, but made no move to attack her as she stepped fully into the room, mace at the ready.
She crept forward towards the sigil, but halfway through the small room, the hollow put up it’s shield, and started to move to meet the orange pony. Applejack stopped and watched the hollow slowly approach her, until it was a few steps away, then it dropped its guard and swung it’s sword at her. Unlike the other hollows’ blows, this one jarred her arm as it met the shield, causing it to feel sore. After a couple more blows, Applejack’s arm was starting to hurt, and she knew she couldn't keep blocking this thing’s strikes for much longer.
Applejack darted away from the hollow’s next attack, and rushed over to the sigil, hoping that the hollow would stay away long enough for her to read it.
At the right moment, just as an opponent is about to strike, parry them, and they will be left open to attack.
Applejack wasn't left to ponder the instruction, as the hollow was soon upon her. She waited until the hollow readied for an attack, then, instead of blocking the blow, Applejack swatted the blade to the side, leaving the hollow reeling, and open to attack. Applejack didn't want to take any more of a beating from the hollow, so she did a quick turn on her front legs, and bucked the hollow as hard as she could, sending it back a few feet before it landed on the hard floor with a thud. After dealing with that, she ran the action through her head a few more times, thinking hard on how it felt to deflect the blow.
Applejack returned to the bonfire after that, and sat down to rest. After finding something that wasn't a hollow, and learning this new parry technique, she felt exhausted, and wanted nothing more to sleep beside the comforting warmth of the bonfire.