Bats fluttered across the midnight black sky under the full moon, having far too much fun to feel the chilly wind that whipped through the bare apple trees. They fluttered this way and that way, but most of them conjugated around the town of Ponyville, where they hoped one of the costumed ponies would drop one of their many Nightmare Night snacks that only came out around this time of year.
And on this night in particular, nearly every pony within the town of Ponyville was out in costume, each having a ball on the spookiest night of the year. Mummies and werewolves and vampires were just some of the attractions, but then there were the ponies in the strange and bizarre. Some of the strangest costumes resembled insane creatures, such as hydras and timberwolves. And then there was the pony that was dressed as a being he simply called, "Scorpion."
But the thoughts of the strange costumes were far from the thoughts of a pair of ponies as they walked into the town from the orchard field, a pair of sisters that were late because the little one had spent too long deciding on what she was going to wear. And then there was their dog.
"Dorothy?" Applejack asked as she looked down at her sister, who was wearing a blue and white dress with her mane in pigtails that had a bow on each end. "Yer going as Dorothy? And Winona is Toto?"
"Yeah! She's from this movie that just came out about a pony who goes to see a powerful wizard to return home," Applebloom giggled as Winona raced around her, happily barking her head off as she did so. "It's called...well ah liked it!"
"Ah get that, but out of all the costumes you have..." Applejack tried to say, but Applebloom gave her older sister a look before poking her white kimono with an eyebrow raise.
"Yah want to talk about mah costume, yet here you are walking around with a tablecloth around yer waist. It's going to be embarrassing being seen with ya," Applebloom lamented sadly. "Ah'll never be able to show mah face around here again."
"It's not a tablecloth! It's a...kimono, ah think that's how Twilight pronounced it," Applejack corrected her sister, who was now looking at the fake sword that was attached to a black belt. "Twilight told me about these ponies called samurai, who lived in Japony and served their masters. She found this while ah helped her research their culture and she gave it to me as a gift for helping her. It'd be a shame if ah didn't wear it at least once."
"So why'd ya pick now?" Applebloom asked as "Toto" barked at one of the bats and started to chase it around.
"Are ya kidding? I'd never be caught wearing this on any other night besides tonight," Applejack said with a laugh as she galloped ahead, Applebloom chasing after her sister while whistling for Winona to follow them. The two slowed back to a trot as they entered into the town, greeting the large number of ponies that were walking around tents and activities with smiles.
"Ah'm going to go find the girls," Applebloom said as she raced off before Applejack got the chance to tell her otherwise. AJ rolled her eyes before walking off into the crowd, looking around for five other ponies that she was certain would be at the center of all the partying.
"And there they are," she muttered with a thin smile as she spotted a pink pony in a duck costume downing large amounts of candy, next to two other ponies who tried in vain to keep up with her. Off to the side Applejack spotted wizard Twilight, who was shaking her head at the antics, as well as pilot Dash, who was enjoying the show, and queen Rarity with bumblebee Fluttershy, who were comparing costumes.
"Howdy yall!" Applejack greeted as she raced over to them, all of them turning to greet her before a large cheer went up from the crowd next to them, and Pinkie hoisted a trophy into the air with a laugh. "Ah thought ah might find ya here, but ah didn't expect to see y'all plumb smack in the middle of a candy eating contest."
"I wouldn't call that much of a competition," Dash smirked as she pointed to the other competitors, who were being carted off with faces colored an ugly green. "What took you so long?...and why are you wearing a tablecloth?"
"It's a kimono!" Twilight corrected before Applejack could open her mouth. "It is a traditional garb worn by ponies who lived in Japony! It is NOT a tablecloth!"
"Looks like one," Dash shrugged as Rarity and Fluttershy joined the group.
"Applejack dear, if you needed a costume, you could have asked me. You didn't need to go grab your tablecloth," Rarity said, getting Twilight to clutch at her mane with frustration. The ponies gave her strange looks as the candy eating champion hopped over to them, a huge smile on her face as she held her trophy aloft.
"Silly fools! Nopony can defeat Pinkie Pie in a candy eating competition!" Pinkie laughed aloud as she came to a stop next to Applejack, looking up and down her costume with a large smile on her face that still had bits of candy stuck in it. "Wow Applejack, that's a really cool Japony outfit you're wearing."
"Finally, somepony gets it," Twilight muttered as she shot Rainbow and Rarity a glance. Pinkie shot them her own look as well, but she had a huge smile on her face as she did so.
"So we got Twilight Wizard, Captain Rainbow, Queen Rarity, Flutterbee, Pinkie Duck and Samurai Applejack!" Pinkie exclaimed with a large smile as she rattled off her names for each of her friends. "You've all got such cool costumes! But what's the point in wearing costumes if you don't...Applejack, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Huh?" Applejack asked as she lifted a hoof to her face, shocked to find that there were tears streaking down the side of her cheeks. "Ah...ah don't know. Must be something in mah eye," she said with a quick chuckle as she wiped the tears away, smiling at the group a moment later. "Uhh...why don't you girls go on ahead. Ah'll catch up with y'all in a moment."
Her friends all looked at her with concern before they slowly walked away from Applejack, who moved off to the side and leaned up against a building with a hoof to her heart. 'W-what is wrong with me? Why does mah heart hurt like this?' she asked herself as sorrow and agony flooded through her heart, tears starting to stream from her eyes again as she felt that something was missing...and that she would never get it back. 'Ah haven't felt like this since ma and pa...no, get ahold of yerself girl. Ya have to focus. Ya have to be strong.'
Applejack shook her head and forced the sorrow out of her heart, wiping away the tears once again with a surge of will. She then took in a few deep breaths before letting out a small sigh, lifting her head and racing off after her friends, not going to let whatever had just happened ruin her Nightmare Night.
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Sand whipped past the man's eyes as he pushed himself even further into the sandstorm, one hand clutching tightly at the cloak that was wrapped around his body while the other kept a firm grip upon the scabbard that rested at his side. The winds ripped at his kimono and tried to tear the straw hat from his head, yet the man kept his head down enough so that the hat would remain. The sand made it impossible for the warrior to see more that four feet in front of him and the whistling of the wind blocked out all other sound, yet the samurai's senses were still able to pick up more than any other person. And his senses were telling him that he was getting close.
Then, almost as suddenly as the sandstorm had begun when he first entered the desert, the sand stopped blowing and the wind stopped whistling. Finally free of the sand that had stung at his eyes, the samurai lifted his head slightly to see rusted buildings blocking out the elements and numerous beings walking around on metal roads.
Now that he had a moment to breathe, the samurai let go of his cloak and reached into his kimono, drawing out a small piece of paper with a location written in a language that he barely knew. Yet the samurai knew that his journey to find the location was at an end, for as he quickly glanced up at the buildings, he saw similar writing on the doors above them. He tucked the paper back away and slowly began to walk into the metal city, grateful that he was wearing sandals on such hot metal.
Yet the ending to his journey was not as quick as he believed it to be, because after searching for four hours under the harsh sunlight, he found that he was no closer than when he started. He was debating whether to take a moment to rest or not when he heard a sound he knew all too well coming from a building beside him. He heard the sounds of combat. The samurai turned his head towards the building just in time to see a muscular, three-headed beast carry two smaller creatures out of the place and hurl them into the sand.
"And stay out, ya lousy gits!" the center head roared before turning with a snort and walking back inside while the other two heads made faces. The samurai lifted an eyebrow before following the creature inside, glancing around at the establishment to find that he was in a place he knew all too well. A place that was called a "bar."
"Greetings, stranger," the three-headed creature said as he slipped behind the counter, pulling out a rag that he used to wipe out a glass. "Sorry you had to see that. We don't like fighting in this bar, ruins the furniture, but some idiots get one too many drinks in them and then think they can take on Aku himself," the bartender said with a laugh as the samurai sat down on one of the empty stools, ignoring the passed out creature next to him. "So, what can I do for ya?"
"I require water, please. And information," the samurai said in a soft but refined tone, a tone that the bartender had never heard before.
"Water, eh? Yeah, I got that," the bartender said as he turned around behind him, but the samurai could see through the spaces in his hat that the other two heads were keeping an eye on him. "Water is hard to come by in these parts," the bartender continued as he turned around and placed the glass of water before the samurai, who nodded in appreciation before taking a sip. "But information can be harder still, depending on what kind it is. What do ya need?"
Without a word the samurai reached into his kimono and pulled out the address, which he laid on the counter as he finished his water. All three of the bartender's heads looked down at the address with surprise before they all looked up at him with narrowed eyes.
"What did ya say your name was again, stranger?" the bartender asked. The samurai took placed the glass down with a small sigh, moving one hand to his waist before answering.
"They call me...Jack." The moment the samurai's name left his lips, he heard every breath in the room stop and felt every eye in the room upon him. As he sat on the stool in front of a room full of strange beings, he waited--waited for the first one to try and defeat him, just as he had waited many times before.
"Don't any of you think about it," all three heads of the bartender growled in a very dangerous tone as his six eyes glared around the room. For a long moment the room was dead silent...before the patrons started to drink and talk again, ignoring the samurai for the most part. "You. Come with me."
Without another word between them, Jack followed the bartender behind the counter and through a door into a backroom, where the samurai found a being sitting on the floor in front of a strange pool. "I heard that you would be coming, so I had this all set up in advance. He...it...will help you."
"Thank you," Jack said before sitting down on the opposite side of the pool from the being, eyes glancing up and down at the being that sat before him. It was sitting with both of its arms and legs crossed, and its head was bowed slightly so that Jack couldn't see under its hood. But the more Jack looked at the being's hood, and by extension its jacket, he realized that he had never seen such a silver color before--or such strange patterns.
"Excuse me, but I have been told that you can help me?" Jack asked the being, who sat there for a moment before he lifted his silver hood to look at Jack. Jack spotted a pair of silver eyes underneath of the hood, as well as a smirk upon a silver face that seemed to know far more than it let on.
"Ah yes, I know of you. Samurai Jack. Gotta get back, back to the past," the silver being said with a chuckle as he uncrossed his arms, allowing Jack to see that his arms underneath were made of silver as well. "Yes, you are here because you seek a way to go back in time, back to an age before Aku. Before this future."
"Yes, yes that is exactly what I want! Can you help me!" Jack asked with excitement in his voice, but the silver being held up a hand to silence the samurai.
"Yes...return to the past. Return to your home. To those who love you," the silver being said before he snapped his fingers and caused the pool before the both of them to change. Jack looked down into the water to see a strange land filled with a rainbow of different colors, with ponies laughing and talking with one another.
"Don't remember it? Didn't expect you to," the silver being said with a chuckle before a soft banging sound could be heard coming from the closet behind him. "Oh, don't worry. I'll deal with you in a minute," the being muttered so that Jack couldn't hear before turning back to the samurai. "Jack, let me get hypothetical here for a moment. What if I were to tell you that there is a place for you. A home that you can return to. A place that accepts you already."
"Yes, I know of it. And that is why I must-"
"Shut up and let me finish," the silver being cut him off with a cold stare. "Now then...ah, right. A place of love and happiness. Everything you ever wanted...everything you've longed for."
"But...if such a place exists, then how do I not already know of it? Why am I not there?" the samurai asked, gaining him a sad look from the being.
"Because you're a hero Jack, one of the most selfless beings that ever lived. You were willing to give up that happiness to save their world, to be forgotten and to forget the joy that you brought them," the silver being said before he turned both of his palms towards the sky and created two spheres. One red. One blue. "But in all honesty that ending blows. And I don't like it. That's why I'm going to offer you a choice. You can pick the red sphere and stay here. Stay in this land with Aku and try to find a way to return home here...which you will eventually find."
"Or I can take the blue one and go to this...love that is gone," Jack finished, getting a laugh out of the silver being.
"Oh, you may not remember it Jack, but that doesn't mean it's gone," the silver being laughed before reaching out and waving his hand once. "Look deep inside of you. Don't you feel that something is...missing? Like there's something gone that you feel you can't get back?"
Jack opened his mouth to answer, but before he could do so he felt...sorrow. Sorrow that something was indeed missing. Jack closed his eyes as he felt there was something that he couldn't recall, but that was so important to him. And then he felt the warm sun, the cool breeze and the smell of...apples. Jack opened his eyes once again with the hint of tears welling up in his eyes before he looked at the silver being, who had a large smile on his face.
"If you take the blue orb you will go to a place you can't remember, yet you miss so dearly," the silver being said as he floated over before Jack and held out both his hands, showing Jack both spheres before floating away. "You have no idea what's there, what challenges you'll face or even if you'll find a way to defeat Aku. But you feel it calling to you. So what's it going to be?"
So the silver being floated back, crossing his arms as Jack looked between the two spheres. For a moment the being remained silent, but then he smirked as one of his many voices spoke to him.
'Care for a wager? For I bet he picks the red one. His mission means too much to him.'
"Sure, if you feel like losing. He'll pick blue. That's the kind of guy he is"
And as the being watched, Jack looked back and forth between the two spheres, knowing that his mission to defeat Aku meant everything. But then he remembered a laugh, a laugh that made him feel happy. A laugh that reminded him of a place that had made him feel like he could defeat any foe. A laugh that he needed to protect. The samurai stared down at the two spheres, torn between his mission...and his heart.
And then he made his choice.