Applejack had to fight the desire to scowl with all of her might, leaving her face in a long frown while her eardrums were assaulted with the sounds of a dozen fillies all talking at once. Even the beauty of the day couldn't help Applejack's mood as she felt a spitball catch her in the back of her mane, yet when she turned with a glare every foal pointed to a different one.
'Ah swear Cheerilee better make this up to me,' Applejack thought while turning back around. 'Just because she's dating mah brother doesn't mean that ah'll do things like this fer free. Especially since one of these little varmints keeps hitting me with spitballs!'
"Uh, sis? Are ya sure ya can do this?" Applebloom whispered to AJ from the side. Applejack nodded with confidence before a third spitball shwacked her in the side of her head, the mare barely containing her rage as she glanced back at the foals. "Mah class can be kinda rowdy and even Cheerilee has issues with us. Ah could help ya if ya wanted, but that would require..."
"Still grounded till the end of time," Applejack clarified before whistling to the class as they reached the town center. "Alright ya little...ah mean, class. Cheerilee left me with instructions to take ya on a tour of the City Hall, where ah worked fer a time. So please stick together and...why are there already two of ya missing?"
Applejack snarled with irritation as she began to glance around the almost deserted square for the missing two foals, yet to her surprise the escapees were being dragged back over to her by a warrior in a white kimono. He slid the two pouting foals off of his back and onto the dirt at Applejack's hooves, bowing to her before turning away without a word.
"Jack?" Applejack asked before the samurai could escape, stopping his flight as he swiveled his head slightly to glance at the mare.
"Yes?" he asked in a very different voice than what he normally used, and one that made the mare hide behind her hat slightly.
"W-well it's just that ah haven't seen ya in a few days and ah just...wanted to make sure that you were alright," she said with a small chuckle, but Jack's eyes remained devoid of any mirth while he silently stared back. After a long, awkward moment, Applejack cleared her throat and gained the attention of the class once more. "Alright class, can any of ya tell me when this building was built?"
"Why? Don't you know?" a foal smirked from the back, earning him a look from the teacher before she glanced around for any student that was raising their hoof--of which there were none.
"Ugh...it was built when Ponyville was first founded, back when mah Granny Smith first came to this area," Applejack began to reminisce, not noticing that two foals were trying to sneak out of class once more. But the moment they turned to leave they found themselves glaring into the eyes of Jack, which instantly spun them back around and in line.
"Now all of ya follow me, ah have something ah want to show ya," Applejack teased with a smile as she led the group inside of the large building, which, upon entering, the group found that it was nearly completely empty. "The mayor owes me a favor, so ah had her empty the building so that we could get a full tour. But before we do any of that, one of the assistants have set up a movie fer ya all in the break room."
"Finally, something that isn't boring," a voice from the back called out before another spitball flew towards the mare's head. Yet a flash of steel decimated the wad of spit, causing all eyes to shrink while they turned their eyes towards Jack. The samurai sheathed his sword with a gaze over the class before motioning for Applejack to continue.
"Er...thanks. The movie will be about how Ponyville has risen up over the years from nothing more than a simple dot on a map to one of the greatest towns in all of Equestria," AJ explained before ushering the students towards the break room, waving at them before turning to Jack with concerned eyes. "Alright, we've got a moment to talk. Jack, what's been going one with ya? Ya haven't been at home, yer constantly away from town, and ya don't talk to me anymore. Please, tell me what's the matter."
Jack wished to remain silent, to not burden another with his issues, but when he saw the pleading in the mare's green eyes he could not resist. "For the first time in my life, Applejack, I feel lost," Jack finally admitted as he glanced towards the pictures on the wall, each showing a different mayor of Ponyville for as long as it had been around. "I have always had my quest, my knowledge that no matter what, I must slay Aku. And to do that I would need to return to the past. But now...my faith has been shaken."
"By what Zecora said?"
"Somewhat, but mostly by my most recent failings. If my ancestors are with me, then why have I not succeeded? Are they not guiding me to where I need to be? To a place where I can return to my home and slay the beast before he unleashes his evil?" Jack asked, though it was clear to Applejack he was talking to himself more than he was to her. "And if they are not leading me back...then why here? Why bring me to Equestria?"
"Jack...ah can't begin to know the answers to any of these questions. Ah don't know why yer ancestors led ya here," Applejack admitted before smiling up at Jack and gently placing a hoof on his face. "But what ah do know is that ah'm grateful they did. If not fer ya, a lot of bad things would have happened in Equestria."
"Thank you for the kind words Applejack, but I need answers," Jack sighed as he shook his head.
"Um...Jack? Ya never did...answer mah question." Jack raised an eyebrow at AJ as she said this, reading fear in her eyes as he did so. "What happens if ya alter the past? Wouldn't that mean that there was no Aku in the future...meaning that there'd be no you that traveled back in time?"
"I do not know myself, Applejack. There is a lot that I do not seem to know anymore," Jack admitted with a small shake of his head before the both of them heard the sounds of complaining foals. "You should see what ails those children. Whatever it is, I wish you luck."
Applejack sighed with concern as she turned from the samurai and walked into the break room, finding that the assistant had been tied up in a chair while the foals ran around screaming at the top of their lungs. Papers were scattered across the room, chairs had been overturned and one of the wastebaskets had a fire burning in it. Applejack tried using her words to calm them, yet when the rebellion continued she found it was much easier to gain their attention by driving her hoof through a wall.
"Now that ah have yer attention, what in tarnation's is going on?!" she asked with a raised voice.
"The movie that you promised isn't working! That means everything is boring again!" a foal cried out, but a death glare from the apple pony stopped any more rioting before it had the chance to begin. AJ then sighed as she freed the pony from the chair, glancing around at all of the expectant eyes of the foals with no idea what to do. It didn't help when the foals began to chant for a movie, Applejack's face falling as she looked into each of their demanding eyes before flashing her sister and her friends a look for joining in.
"Look, ah know that ya want a movie, but just give me a minute and ah'll see what..."
Applejack stopped talking as the lights slowly dimmed in the room, turning the demanding chants of the foals into murmurs of interest. A flash of light then shone from behind a large sheet of paper, along with two shadows of what looked to be...
"People?" Applejack muttered as she and the other foals gathered around, watching with keen interest as the shadows began to move around. The shadows, one a man and one a woman, danced happily with one another, constantly linking hands as they spun around and around.
Then a faint music began to play, a soft tune that matched up perfectly as the two continued to dance. AJ chanced a glance at the foals that were watching, awed to find them completely mesmerized by the images. Then the music took a darker turn as a shadow of a massive, winged beast landed before the two. The man placed himself between the pair as he drew forth his blade, but with what seemed to be a laugh the beast swatted him to the side. The man's shadow vanished from the images as the wing beast grabbed hold of the lady and took off with her, dropping her off at the top of a massive tower.
Then all of the shadows vanished except for the one of the man, who slowly walked back into the light. His head was hung low and his body was slumped over, getting the foals eyes to soften at his pain as he glanced up at where his love had been taken. He slowly lifted his broken sword with despair, falling to his knees as he tossed his blade down and shook his tiny fists at the sky.
A bolt of lightning then crashed down before the tiny figure, who walked over to the point of impact. He knelt down before drawing out a blade that was in the shape of a thunderbolt, holding it high as the blade caused more lightning shadows to strike around the warrior. With the new weapon in hand, the scene shifted from the man on foot to the man on horseback, racing across the land with the blade still held high to find his love.
The tower shot up from beneath the paper, casting the massive structure with the winged monster still at the top. The creature laughed as the warrior approached the tower with his blade, pointing it towards the creature before the two began to do battle.
To the amazement of Applejack, the foals were completely into the show that began to have sound effects as the two clashed. She could hear the striking of steel, the roars of the monster as the blade cut at its skin, and the yelling of the warrior. The warrior struck the beast dead in the chest and caused it to fall to the ground, where he lifted the sword over his head as he prepared to finish it.
Yet to the crowd's shock, the creature began to bow at the warrior's feet, apparently begging for its life. For a brief moment the warrior considered sparing the creature, which was the moment that the winged beast chose to strike. Its tail knocked the warrior off of his feet and sent his blade flying away, leaving him defenseless as the beast closed upon him.
Yet to the delight of the screaming foals, a piece of the tower came falling down from above and shattered upon the creature's skull. The beast staggered back as the warrior rose to his feet, tossing his arms into the air when his love ran up to him with the sword in her arms. The two then gripped the blade together as they drove it into the heart of the beast. The shadow of the winged beast flailed around in agony before it fell of the paper, leaving the two to embrace once more before they began to dance again as the light faded.
The foals applauded before they rose up and began to leave the room, the return of the lights telling them that the show was over. Applejack told them to wait by the door before she walked over behind the paper, finding the samurai who was picking up a large amount of origami pieces that resembled the shadows that she had watched.
"Thanks fer yer help back there. Ah thought they were going to burn down the town with the way there were acting," Applejack smiled down at Jack, who simply nodded in return as he picked up the final piece and tucked it away in his kimono. "So what kinda story did ya tell there? It seemed like one that hit close to home fer ya."
"It was a shadow play that I used to watch as a child," Jack explained as he recalled the performances from long ago. "There were actual actors who told an entire story just with their actions and with faint music playing in the background. Some spoke, but I found the silent ones to be the best. This was my favorite tale, the tale of the thunder warrior. I assumed that it would amuse the foals as much as it amused me."
"Well, yer gamble paid off," Applejack said with a smile before looking around the room. "Mayor Mare is gonna kill me, though, fer having this happen to her office. Can't imagine she'll ever let me back in here again."
"Do not worry Applejack, I will explain things to her if she gets too angry," Jack promised before he felt a strange tingling in his flank. He flashed his eyes back to his rear and slightly lifted his kimono, his eyes narrowing in confusion while AJ shielded hers. "Strange...for a brief moment I felt a sensation on my flank. Almost as if...something was appearing."
"Maybe that's yer talent that Zecora was talking about! Maybe yer cutie mark is working with foals," Applejack suggested, getting a look from Jack as he dropped his garb. "Think about it, back when we were traveling ya got along with those foals when ya showed them yer origami!"
"Perhaps you are right," Jack muttered under his breath before a pony caught his eye, a pony that was a midnight blue. "Princess Luna? What brings you here?" Jack asked her as he bowed.
"You do, samurai. My sister and I have news that you may like to hear," she said with a smile. "We have found somepony that may be able to return you to the past." Both Jacks' eyes went wide before they glanced at each other, Jack's face surprised while AJ wore a smile on hers, one that Jack wondered if it were entirely true.
"Isn't that great, Jack?! Just let me round up the foals outside and we can be on our way."
"Um, Applejack?"
"Yes Luna?"
"There are no foals outside."