//------------------------------// // Applejack 7: The Broken Chain // Story: Upheaval: Journeys // by Visiden Visidane //------------------------------// Upheaval: Journeys Applejack 7: The Broken Chain "Why is there a second chain?" The question plagued Applejack throughout the rest of the trip to Neksyth's Glory. Moreso than the stinging, biting insects. More so than the slimy things brushing against her in the murky waters she had to wade through. The surviving crocodilians flanked them, all showing some form of injury. The ophidites may have been repulsed, but they had made their marks. Two of the crocodilians had been cut down, and they found the third farther away from the camp; a twisted, mangled mess of snapped bones and torn flesh. Sakylthos was certainly no believer in mercy. Oh, she had her musings since she first saw the second chain, but Sakylthos's words seemed to choke them all out as readily as he could choke a pony out in his coils. Sakylthos talked about "the Wrangler's will". Seshimyssen referred to Apple Slice as "the Old Bear Wrangler". They were likely the same. How could a murderous ophidite "hero" possibly carry out Apple Slice's will? Impossible. Apple Slice sought to protect Equestria, Ophidus wants to conquer and enslave it. There was no way... Again, the bloody scene in the outpost played itself in Applejack's mind. There were pieces missing between this scene and the Apple Slice that Sakylthos seemed to see. She had to find out, and she dreaded doing so. The going was a lot faster now. Or, at least, it felt that way. The crocodilians certainly knew their way around the swampy areas, and they stuck to some unseen route that avoided the thick clumps of trees with skirting too much from a southerly direction. Vanguard Clash walked next to her, eyes half focused on his footing and half focused on her. "Applejack," he said. "Huh?" was all Applejack could reply with, and this was after a while. "That second chain is bothering you, " Vanguard continued. "I don't understand," Applejack mumbled. "Why is it working for them?" She looked at him pleadingly. "He's a hero...he hated Ophidus!" Vanguard kept his voice low and his muzzle close to Applejack. "Suppose that chain really is the second half of Apple Slice's like that ophidite says it is, " Vanguard said. "How long do you think they've had it? Several centuries of magical manipulation can subvert even a powerful artifact. I wouldn't put corrupting the chain past the coatls." Applejack brightened a bit. "You think that's what happened?" she asked. "Guess that makes sense. Those scaly varmints try to enslave everything. Just one more thing of my family I have to take back from them!" Vanguard didn't look so enthused, though. Normally, that was fine by Applejack. His reactions always were measured and moderate. Still, the concerned look in his eyes gave her pause. "That's not just something you're saying to keep my spirits up, is it?" she asked. "No," Vanguard said with a sigh. "It was a possibility I was proposing. I can't say with certainty what happened, Applejack. None of us can. Not even Sakylthos, I'll wager, even if he acts like he does." "But there has to be some reason for this," Applejack went on. "He couldn't have allowed ophidites to use his weapon." Vanguard's eyes hardened. "Maybe we should also consider that Apple Slice turned on the Legion during his last days," he said. A moment ago, a warm feeling had been welling up in Applejack, stoked by having Vanguard near and keeping back the swamp's dampness. Vanguard's words just snuffed that out as easily as if he had poured water over a campfire. She bristled inside and stared at him, nearly missing a step in the process. "What do you mean?" she spluttered as she righted herself. "A second ago, you were saying that he can't be bad. Now you're saying he is?" "I'm saying that we came here looking for the truth," Vanguard said. "Even if it's not the truth we want. I hope Apple Slice is a hero too. He was the first of the earth ponies to be called that and he's inspired likely every earth pony who's joined the Legion. But it's better to prepare for the worst." Applejack chewed her lip for a while. She didn't want to. Vanguard was sort of right, but it felt as if considering it was a betrayal of Apple Slice, who had seemingly reached out from the grave to help her with his chain. "It ain't right," she muttered. "It just ain't." Why was he being so cold all of a sudden? She didn't even want to dwell on the possibility. She was so tired of finding this confounded darkness in pony history. She didn't want it in the roots of her family tree as well. More time passed, all taken up by slow trudging. Sometimes, they were lucky enough to walk on patches of dry ground. The crocodilians ahead hacked gleefully at the greenery, making loud, wide swings to work quickly and to scare off small creatures hiding in their path. Eventually, Vanguard did speak. His brow glistened with sweat, but he pressed on without panting or slowing. Part of her wanted some apology. Most berated her for expecting one when he was, infuriating it may be, right. "Since we're a good way away from Neksyth's Glory, mind if I share a story?" Vanguard asked. The sudden shift left Applejack merely staring at Vanguard. Eventually, she caught herself. "S-sure," she said. "After we took back Fangbreaker, I visited Pyre Valor, remember?" "Yeah," Applejack replied. Oh, she remembered alright. The awkward dancing, Rarity's words...hard to forget such things. "I was going to ask her why," Vanguard said. "And I wanted her so badly to say that she had been possessed by Nightmare Moon all that time. That Nightmare Moon made her destroy Fangbreaker and attack Bastion City. That she fought back as best she could." Vanguard closed his eyes tightly for a moment. "If she had said that, I'd have believed her. Proof or none, I'd do anything to get her free. Smuggle her out if I had to. She could have lied and that would be good enough." "But she didn't," Applejack said softly. She wanted to reach out and just stroke his cheek, but his harsh words earlier held her back. "No, she didn't," Vanguard said. "That was her true self, I suppose. I had to deal with it." A small smile creased his lips. "I was lucky, though. I left her cell in a foul mood, but I hadn't expected somepony to be with me during that time. She didn't need to have all the answers. She didn't need to have a way to save my oldest friend. It was enough that I had her there. " Try as she might, Applejack could not keep from smiling in embarrassment. She tipped her hat forward to hide her cheeks. "When you find the truth about Apple Slice, even if it's not the one we want it to be, I hope you find that same comfort." "Shucks..." was all Applejack could reply. She'd kiss him if they weren't on the move and surrounded by crocodilians. The day wore on, and the faintly gold morning sunlight passing through the branches brightened with the noon, then reddened with the sunset; all spent trudging through this place. Still, Applejack walked with some spring to her step. That spring proved necessary as it turned out. The swamp only worsened as they kept going. Ahead, the crocodilians struggled to chop away at the increasingly thick woody growths that blocked their way. They proved strangely familiar to Applejack, but she couldn't quite place them. The looks of concern and the troubled grunting among the crocodilians showed that even they didn't expect this. Anektor hung back to walk with her and Vanguard, one hand resting his huge, crescent blade across his shoulders. "You wouldn't mind sharing some information about this place you're going to, yes?" Anektor asked. "Why?" Vanguard asked. "What happened here, Anektor?" "These growths," Anektor said. "They showed up in Neksyth's glory when all this started. They've spread very quickly, it looks like." "These...these are apple roots and branches," Applejack blurted out. She should have recognized them earlier, but the sheer dissonance of finding them in this swamp left her unsure. Something else was wrong with them as well. The wood was gnarled, twisted, and unusually pointed in the ends, as if some malice lay in the plant and it wanted to cut and poke as much as possible. The leaves had dark spots on them, purplish around the edges and a sickly black in the middle. If these were indeed part of some apple tree, then it must be a terribly sick one. As if to confirm that, there was a lingering stench in the air, one that had crept over the odor of damp leaves that had surrounded them for most of the trip. It smelled of...really bad farm soil; moldering fertilizer, rotten leaves, apple trees not growing right. Her mind went back to not so happy times in Sweet Apple Acres, when a harvest was bad or the market didn't go so well, there would be an air of despondency around the whole place. Sure, her friends helped out when they could, but there were those times when they barely scraped through... "This is from an apple tree?" Anektor asked. He suddenly took more of an interest in the growths, pushing a few branches aside and inspecting them. "No apples though." Oh, she knew that disappointment too. "Have you tracked the source?" Vanguard asked. "Yes," Anektor said. He stared at Applejack as he continued. "Tell me more of this quest of yours, ponies, I promise to share some things as well." Applejack shook her head to clear it of bad memories, then stared back, suddenly aware why Anektor focused on her. She didn't have to look to know that, next to her, Vanguard was tight-lipped and nonchalant all at once. She didn't want to look to him for permission. They were partners here. He hadn't said anything, obviously because he felt the same. Anektor fixated on her clearly because she appeared the easier target. She was going to have to prove him wrong. "I just told you what kind of tree this is," Applejack said. She hoped she had some kind of shrewd look on her face. She wasn't used to making those. Still, she may not be used to the sort of wheeling and dealing that Legion agents got up to, but she'd been haggling since she was old enough to stand next to an apple stand. "How about payin' me back for that and throwing in a little extra?" She struggled for a moment, recalling a phrase Black Rose had used. "A gesture of good faith." Anektor's fangs flashed in the dimming light. He glanced briefly at Maldaktor ahead. He was not part of the Rebellion, Applejack remembered, but he knew things about their situation. They may not want him to share, but he had that mischievous look to him. Maybe that's why he and Seshimyssen were friends. Speaking of Seshimyssen, he had been silent for most of the trip, slithering among the crocodilians once in a while, but mostly keeping to himself. "The Rebellion followed the growth as far as their shamans could navigate," Anektor said. "In the deepest parts of Neksyth's glory, they had to stop because it was too thick. These growths respond poorly to their magic, the same must be for cobrahn magic as well." Anektor fell silent for a while. This must be where the information got a bit more sensitive. "You encountered your restless dead earlier," Anektor said. "When I passed there, I felt their cold, but they did not appear. I watched some of your rangers pass, but they did not appear. I felt the same cold in the deeper areas of these growths. There, I have told you much, Applejack, tell me things in return." His grin widened. "Equestria rewards good faith, yes?" "It's my chain," Applejack said. "They think whoever has it is Apple Slice so they show up...I guess." Anektor eyed the chain around Applejack's neck with renewed interest. "If I take that chain, it won't do the same for me, yes? That is something only for ponies." He put on a definite shrewd look. "Or maybe just for you." "That Sakylthos also used one," Applejack said. "Yes," Anektor replied. "I saw. He was very eager to get yours. Maybe we can get more than restless dead if we get both, yes?" Applejack nodded. She wasn't sure, but she wanted to take down this Sakylthos anyway. Might as well give that idea a whirl. When Anektor relented with his questions, she finally permitted herself to look at Vanguard. He had the same idea, as it turned out, because her gaze immediately locked on with a satisfied look and a curt nod from him. They didn't speak again, preferring to focus on trudging and paying attention to the darkening jungle. True to what Anektor had said, the apple growths got thicker and more menacing. They looked like woody versions of Oceanus' tentacles; vile disgusting things sneakily trying to drag her down into the murky waters. More unsettling was that Applejack found her tail still for the first time since she got here. No stinging insects to bother her, no weird swimming things brushing past her legs, and no ominous sounds in the background. Nothing but the soft splashes of their wading, the harsh grunts of the crocodilians ahead, and the snaps of wood falling apart. Applejack flicked her ears at every direction, hoping to catch anything. "Weird place for the Rebellion to stay," Applejack muttered. "That's if they were given a choice," Vanguard said. "This may be the one place the Empire is having a hard time striking at them." "Maybe-- ow!" A large piece of snapped off apple wood floated past Applejack, its pointed tip somehow managing to graze a gap in her barding. A trickle of blood escape the minor cut, staining the wood. "How far?" Apple Slice roared. He waded through the water so furiously that he sped along as easily as he would on land. "A couple miles," a black-furred pegasus said as she hovered next to him. "Apple Slice, they're going to join up with Neksyth's troops, they'll overwhelm us!" Apple Slice looked behind him, revealing to Applejack a large group of legionnaires struggling to keep up. 'Slow down, partner,' she thought. His legs burned with strain and he was breathing hard, but he stood tall, defiant even, as if he could intimidate his own fatigue into backing down. "If we don't catch up with them now, they'll unload their haul of colts and disappear into Ophidus to live fat, comfortable lives, Crow Flight," Apple Slice growled. "If we run into Neksyth's troops like this, then Equestria loses those colts and a contingent of legionnaires," Crow Flight said. "Slice, please, we need to break pursuit. Let's regroup at Greenfang and wait for reinforcements." Apple Slice let out a furious cry. Again, his chain just appeared on his hooves, even though Applejack was waiting for it just to see how fast he drew. The links coiled and flexed, more like a massive muscle rather than metal links, thrashing across the water, then slamming into a nearby tree. The wood cracked splintered before the whole thing crashed into the water. Applejack would have shaken her head, better yet, knocked some sense into his. If Apple Slice had a temper before, separating with his family only made it worse. "The Prince can catch up to them," he muttered. "Our report..." "The Prince is tearing the west up dealing with an extermination campaign," Crow Flight said. "That's if our report even made it. Who knows how high up this goes." "Some other alicorn then...I'm not picky at the moment. Somepony strong enough!" "Slice, please..." "Then they'll just die as slaves," Apple Slice said. "And no justice is meted out for these filth? That's how this ends?" He looked at Crow Flight, muscles still tense. For a moment, Applejack was actually afraid he was going to whip the poor mare for speaking her mind. She hovered before him, obviously trembling with that same fear, but resolute nonetheless. After what seemed like hours, Apple Slice faced the other legionnaires. "To Greenfang!" he shouted. A collective sigh of relief escaped the exhausted stallions and mares. The whole scene faded to black, and Applejack braced herself for another embarrassing awakening before Vanguard and the others. Instead she found herself surrounded by wooden outpost walls, assaulted by the cacophony of a furious battle. There was a large breach that nearly split one of the walls in two, the edges of the torn wood were blackened and charred. From there, dozens of ophidites poured in, only to be engaged by pony defenders. Far too few of them, Applejack realized. Apple Slice-- wait...she was still Apple Slice? Blood sprayed across his face when his chain slammed so hard into a constrictor's head that its skull burst into bloody, goopy shards. The body crashed to the ground, joining the dozens of pony and ophidite corpses littering the soft, blood-soaked ground. Apple Slice kept whirling the weapon as more ophidites came at him. Massive constrictors threshed the muck with their thickly-muscled tails, as they slithered towards him with their halberds. Behind, several of the smaller vipren fired arrows. Applejack recognized the tell-tale flash of magic from the two-legged, upright snakes in the background brandishing wavy-bladed knives with one hand and a skull with the other. So this is what cobrahns looked like. Apple Slice growled deep in his chest as he spun his chain lasso. Only now did Applejack notice the diiferent feel of the weapon on his hooves. The weight and balance was certainly different, but that was probably just the chain adjusting to his preferences. There was a "feel" to it that she couldn't pin down. The chain always had that weird hum of power to it. Like a sound that only her skin felt. Her chain's was soft and muted, barely noticeable. Apple Slice's rumbled like an angry volcano. It's base length was much greater as well, nearly twice as long. The chain shot in a straight line, end-first through the chest of a charging constrictor. It burst out of the ophidite's broad back in a burst of red mist, then looped itself, landing perfectly around the hooded neck of a cobrahn. Apple Slice yanked, ripping flesh and bone apart. The chain flew up with that yank, slicing through the dead constrictor's torso until it clove its collar. With a shake, Apple Slice flung the head away, then slammed the chain down on a pair of vipren archers with bone crushing force. The brutality of the attack gave the the ophidites pause...and the ponies fighting them. Apple Slice did not relent, though. He lashed and lashed, slaying ophidites with each strike. His neck and shoulders were burning. The links ground against his teeth until his jaw was numb and throbbing. He switched to his hooves until his fur started wearing down. The bodies piled up around him; scaled corpses broken, dismembered, and ravaged. Still, more ophidites came at them. The vipren focused their fire, as did the cobrahn. The chain knocked arrows out of their flight and killed casters before they could finish their intonations. Still, some attacks came through. An arrow grazed Apple Slice's shoulder, sending bolts of pain across his torso. Applejack wanted to scream, but Apple Slice's lips were locked in a permanent grimace. The attack eventually dwindled, and the ophidites still inside the walls began retreating. Apple Slice wasn't done. Each step was agony, from his exhaustion, to the cuts, to the poison writhing in his veins, but he kept swinging. Two more constrictors ripped in half, a vipren lost its head, a cobrahn's arm fell off. And the chain snapped in half. The loud chink finally brought Apple Slice to a halt. Not just him, all the ponies around him stopped and stared. Fear and uncertainty spread across their faces. The separated half shrank down to a familiar length, writhing in the process like an earth worm exposed. Apple Slice picked it up and stretched out the force links. The magic still remained, but Applejack didn't need to be a unicorn to know that the magic must have been weakened. That it now felt more like the chain she wielded was not lost to her. The slow flaps of an anxious pegasus blew the jungle's musty air down on Apple Slice. "Slice..." Crow Flight said so solemnly, one would think that she just saw Apple Slice lose a relative. "Crow Flight, do you remember that time I broke you out of that ophidite kitchen?" Apple Slice asked. "Of course, Slice," Crow Flight said. "How can I possibly forget?" Apple Slice nodded, then faced Crow Flight. "You remember your promise, then. I'm calling that favor in." He picked up the half that had broken off. Like the one he still held, this half hummed with the same familiar power. "Leave this place while Neksyth's forces regroup. Take this chain to my family." "Slice, how am I supposed to reach them in the Heartland?" Crow Flight asked. She was already reaching out for the chain, though. "Find a way!" Apple Slice snapped. "Give me your word, Crow Flight. No matter what or how long it takes, this chain will find its way to an Apple." "It will, Slice," Crow Flight said, her hoof finally closing in on the chain. The hum immediately disappeared when Apple Slice let go. "I gave my word. No matter what, this chain will make it to your family." "Then, leave this place," Apple Slice said. He turned around, ready to lend a hoof to the hurried shoring up of the outpost's defenses. "The ophidites will miss you while they're regrouping." "At least tell me why, Slice," Crow Flight said. A glance showed her dead set on getting an answer. "I'm about to dedicate my life and more to this near-impossible task. Tell me why, at least. You've never spoken about your family since you transferred south. Why do they matter now?" Apple Slice didn't answer right away. He breathed hard, focused on his heartbeat, and stared at the ground for nearly a minute. Crow Flight kept her hover up, waiting. "This is the end of the road for me, Crow," Apple Slice said. He chuckled briefly. "The great hero, Apple Slice, dead in this morass. If my father was alive, he'd die of embarassment. I'm not raising any kids, I'm not training any successors, and I'm not even stopping these slavers. I've got nothing to show for myself, just half my chain. Give it to my family. Let them figure out what for. Maybe some cheap inheritance, a remembrance, or just proof of what a failure I was." "You haven't failed, Slice," Crow Flight said softly. Applejack was right there with her on that. She choked back a sob. "I promise you, the Southern Legion will be purged for this." Whatever grim mirth Apple Slice showed but a while ago faded. "You see to that," he growled. "See to it hard." Applejack awoke to a weird gentle bobbing, as if she were on a boat. A second later, she realized that she wasn't moving her legs. It was Vanguard's broad back beneath her that caused that bob. "Vanguard," she mumbled. Vanguard looked over to her, relief obvious on his face. He didn't stop moving though. "You're up," he said with a sigh. "Fenrir's Hide, you were starting to scare me." The pale rays of the morning sun lightly touched Applejack's eyes. "I was out all night, huh?" she said. "This is embarassing." That was probably the last time she would get that. Her half of the chain separated from Apple Slice after that. That meant that whatever happened during that last stand would have to come from the one Sakylthos used. "You were out two nights and a day," Vanguard said. "We're about to reach Neksyth's Glory." The rest of Applejack's senses came into focus. For one thing, she was incredibly hungry. The sound of hacking and slashing ahead of them had become more vigorous, frantic even. Around them, the apple growths looked like a swarm of claws reaching out maliciously. As for the air, this was unusually chilly compared to the muggy heat of Serpentwatch and Highstable. "So, our fair sleeping maiden is awake," Seshimyssen said as he slithered alongside them. "You've been riding your stallion continuously. I hope you return the favor." "Shut it, snake," Applejack grumbled. She heaved herself off Vanguard and nearly fell over when she landed on wobbly legs. "We're here," Seshimyssen replied as he pointed ahead. They approached a great outcropping of rock, the one great marker of stability in the swirling, shifting muck and foliage. Several crocodilians emerged from the entrance upon their approach. "The Fungus Complex," Seshimyssen said. "It figures." "You know this place then," Vanguard said. He squinted at the place. "Solid, defensible location. The high points give good vantage, the entrance will choke large assaults. These apple extensions will only make it even harder to approach. Even for allies." Seshimyssen stretched out his neck and rotated his shoulders. "A good spot to harvest Fool's Cap among other ingredients," he replied. "This is strange, I helped search this place before. It stretches pretty deep beneath the jungle, and we combed it thoroughly, but found no tomb." "You must know its insides, then," Vanguard said. Seshimyssen glanced at the crocodilians traveling with them. "Yes. I should also say that things have gotten worse while they were away," he whispered. "They talk away from you and in their language to hide it, but the Rebellion will not last much longer like this. The growths are chasing away game, making it too difficult to move about, and making their main base hostile. If things get any worse, they will likely start begging Equestria to take them in." Vanguard put a hoof on his chin for a moment. "That explains the creatures moving closer to Serpentwatch. This could be a useful development." Applejack frowned at that. She may not like these crocodilians much, especially after hearing about what they did to earn Equestria's hostility, but she knew what it was like to face an uncertain future with little food. "Sounds like they're badly tuckered out," she said. "I'm sure Equestria can help more. If they don't turn against us again." "Really?" Seshimyssen said with that weird chuckling hiss of his. "Will Equestria take them in fully? Make them part of the nation? That would make you an empire as well, wouldn't it? The Equestrian Empire." "Woah now!" Applejack said. "That's going too fast. Let's think about not letting them get wiped out first. They approached the cave's entrance, and it was clear that most, and the largest, of the apple growths were coming from the cave. "Tenaktor!" Maldaktor growled. He and the other crocodilians approached first. "Bakit dalawa lang kayo diyan? Nasaan yung ibang bantay?" "Maldaktor!" one of the crocodilian sentries was panting as he spoke. "Sakto dating niyo! Sinusugod tayo sa loob!" Every crocodilian in the group Applejack was with growled and pulled out their weapons. Despite not knowing what was going on, she did the same. It was only when she noticed the thrumming from her chain and the light shining from it did she get a sinking feeling as to what an attack inside the cave might mean. "Putaragis," Maldaktor snapped. "Paano nakapasok yung mga lintik na ahas sa loob?" "Hindi ahas, Maldaktor," the sentry replied. "Kabayong multo!" Anektor looked to Applejack, then to her obviously agitated weapon. "Restless dead from inside the base!" he said. "You just might be the one to pull us out of this, Applejack." His eyes narrowed. "Or finish us off. Come then!" Applejack broke into a gallop as everyone in the group rushed in. As they moved past the entrance, a horn blew from behind them. No more than a hundred feet away from the cave, dozens of ophidites let out a loud hiss and charged.