Sharing the Weight
Jack did not fear the strange sounds that came from within the Everfree Forest, but he did question the zebra's reasoning for bringing the both of them into it. Zecora had released him and allowed him to walk for himself, which he did without so much as a glance at the orange mare that walked beside him.
'I have no right to be angry with her. She is correct in saying that she did save my life,' Jack knew with a small sigh before he slightly shook his head. 'But that does not make what I said any less true. I am so weary of this journey...which, for the first time, I have no idea where it will take me. I hope that Zecora can provide the answers to her riddles, as I am far too tired to play games.'
The answer to Jack's questions was revealed when Zecora came to a stop in front of a hollowed out hole in the ground, one that meant nothing to Jack but caused Applejack's eyes to widen when she recognized the location. "The mirror hole? But ah thought that Princess Twilight sealed it up ages ago?"
"That is indeed where we be. But as for why, you must wait and see," was all Zecora gave as an answer before she motioned for the both of them to follow her down inside of the cavern. Jack did so with Applejack right behind him, following the zebra into a small chamber with a pool of water in the center of it.
"This pool here has the power to multiply any pony that enters it and mutters some magical words," Applejack whispered to Jack despite him not asking. "Ah figured that ya would want to know." Jack nodded in reply before stopping at the base of the ramp, watching as Zecora sat on the edge of the pool and removed a small vial from around her neck.
"Please tell me, why have you brought me here? What did you mean by your words earlier?" Jack asked the zebra, who gave Jack a look of sympathy before she pulled the top off of the vial and let loose a single drop of red liquid into the water. Both Jack and Applejack's eyes widened as the crystal clear water quickly became a murky red, unnerving the both of them as it started to bubble.
"Because I had hoped that your darkness inside, you would be able to purge without need of a guide," Zecora replied as the water began to swirl behind her, almost as if it was planning to launch itself out onto the land. Jack stepped in front of Applejack with his eyes narrowed, but said nothing before the zebra continued. "But now it is clear that I must cut you no slack. Or soon there will be no samurai called Jack."
"What are you implying, Zecora?" Jack asked Zecora once more, who turned to the water and began to mutter incantations into the pool of bubbling liquid. Feeling uneasy about what the zebra was doing, Jack gently pushed his sword from its sheath as a hint.
"I am saying that who you are is your own worst bane. Your own nobleness...is the cause of your pain," Zecora continued as she stabbed her hoof into the water and all at once the bubbling ceased, returning it to its calm and crystal state in which it had rested when they entered. "That the reason you fail is because you must complete your quest--without thought of another or desire for rest."
"That is not true! I have never once abandoned another when they have needed me!"
"Zecora, none of what yer saying is making any sense," Applejack intervened, but instead of reply Zecora looked down into the pool with a small shake of her head.
"If you wish to know what my words hold, then glance into the pool and be bold." Jack narrowed his eyes with concern for what she was saying, yet he could not fight back his curiosity as he stepped forward towards the pool. With a hoof on his sword he glanced down into the water, only to see his own reflection. He raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what trick Zecora had played on him, before the pool became a pitch black and a laugh echoed throughout the chamber.
"It cannot be," Jack whispered in a horrified tone as he backed away from the pool's rim as a black claw grabbed hold of its edge, slowly dragging a giant form out of the waters. Jack snarled while he drew forth his blade and prepared to face the being of darkness, yet when the beast lifted its head his eyes widened when he saw a face that had never dreamed he would see. "Father?"
"Indeed, son. It is I," his father replied in the strong and powerful voice that Jack remembered him having, yet the darkness around the samurai lord shifted into a black suit of armor. And at the top of the armor sat a helmet that cackled with a voice that Jack knew even better than his father's. "And it is I, samurai! Aku!"
"Aku!" Jack cried as the dark clad being drew forth a blade of darkness and swung at the samurai, who leapt out of the way of the strike which cleaved the ground he had been standing on in two. "Father, I do not know how you are here, but Aku has taken possession of you! You must fight him!"
"Fool! Even now, you understand nothing!" Aku cackled as he lunged forward with blade outstretched. Jack lifted his own blade and parried the strike, yet when he swung at the demon Aku leapt back with a sinister smile. One of Aku's arms then doubled in length and lunged towards Jack, whose reactions were too slow and he took a left hook to the side of his head. Jack was sent sprawling by the blow and dropped his blade when he fell onto the stone, gritting his teeth as he fought to get back up.
"Fight my son! Do not let the evil win!" the Samurai Lord said from within the armor of darkness, his words forcing Jack back to his hooves with a cry. Jack grabbed his blade and lunged at Aku, sword held high as he screamed with all of his fury. Yet when he brought the blade down upon the demon's sword, to Jack's horror, the blade did not break.
"That...cannot be," Jack whispered before Aku slammed his left fist into Jack's head again, hurling him across the room and into the wall. Jack slowly slid down it with a groan of pain, eyes watering as he forced himself to stand back up.
"Rise my son! You spent your whole life training to defeat this evil! Do not let him destroy all that we love!" With his father's voice pushing him onward, Jack rose with another cry as he lunged back at the dark samurai. He swung with wild and fierce power, unleashing all of his strength so that he could cleave the evil in two. Yet once again, to his absolute terror, the dark armor was barely even scratched by the ancient blade designed to destroy evil.
"Do you still not see, fool? You are just as blind now as you were all those years ago," Aku taunted before driving his blade across Jack's chest. Jack cried out in pain as he staggered back, dropping his sword while he clutched at the wound upon his chest. He glanced up just in time to take a boot to the face that hurled him across the ground. He skidded to a stop at the edge of the pool, glancing down to see only darkness and pain reflected back at him.
"How...are you so powerful? Why can my blade not pierce through your darkness?" Jack asked while panting heavily, shakily getting back up with a snarl at the demon armor.
"Can you still not see, samurai? Does the truth still not pass through your eyes?" Zecora asked the samurai from the sidelines, using her own strength to prevent Applejack from rushing to Jack's side. "This is what you cannot comprehend. This is why your journey has no end. Aku is the force that you believe is your greatest bane...and to honor your father you rise again and again. Yet despite your courage and your heart, this quest of yours will tear you apart."
Jack shook his head at her words, unable to find the meaning in them. "Do not listen to her, my son! She is trying to distract you from your destiny! Fight on! For what I taught you!" the voice of his father called out again, once again causing Jack to race back into battle with the shadow armor. Aku let out a laugh as he swung at the samurai with his blade of darkness, yet Jack slid underneath the strike and took hold of his blade once more.
"That is right samurai, throw yourself against me once more. Fight me with all of your strength and courage. But only one of us is mortal...and therefore only one of us will eventually break." Jack screamed at Aku as he hurled himself at the dark monster, slashing with all of his might while his blade clashed with the blade of darkness. Sparks flew across the room, setting even the cold stone ablaze as all of Jack's hatred and fury were poured into his strikes. yet despite all of his power and resolve, the blade of Aku refused to break.
"Can he still not see the fact? That the being he faces is Jack?" Zecora asked herself as the battle raged on. Applejack stood on the sidelines, eyes filled with fear as Jack continued his battle against the dark samurai. The creature slammed the butt of his sword into the face of Jack, drawing blood as the samurai staggered backwards. Yet when his father demanded that he continued to fight, Jack screamed and hurled himself back into the battle.
"Zecora...what do ya mean by the fact that he's fighting himself?" Applejack asked the zebra, who shook her head with a pained expression.
"What you see now are the two most driving factors in Jack's life--his honor to his father and the being that caused his strife. Yet the pressure that he places on himself is more than he alone can bear...but it is also a burden that he refuses to share," Zecora explained gravely. "So each failure takes its toll, carves another chunk out of his soul. For he believes that when he fails, he fails not just to go back, but also fails the man who helped create the one called Jack."
"Yet he refuses to tease the thought of not fighting alone, for the death of so many he feels he must atone," Zecora continued as Jack hurled himself at the beast, only to be beaten back again. "For Jack has seen far too many die...he will not allow another at his side. Alone he believes he must get back...and that line of thinking will kill Jack."
"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked Zecora in a near whisper. Before the zebra could answer, Jack came flying by the both of them and slammed into the stony wall. Applejack let out a cry before rushing to his side, helping the bleeding samurai back to his hooves as he struggled to take in breath. "Jack, yer hurt. Please, rest while Zecora and I-"
"No, this is my demon," Jack replied weakly as he threw himself back into the battle, leaving Zecora to shake her head at what he had said.
"It is as I said. He'd rather die than see another dead," Zecora spoke as she walked up to Applejack, who watched the battle continue with pain on her face. "He believes Aku's victory to be his sin, fueling him with an incredible desire to win. Yet Aku is a foe that cannot be bested by a single man. Yet Jack has not accepted that...if he can."
Applejack snapped her attention away from Zecora's words as Aku slammed Jack into the ground, where he coughed up blood before Aku slammed one of his boots into the chest of Jack. "Get up my son! You cannot die here! All of our nation and our people depend on you!" the Samurai Lord's voice bellowed down at Jack, who coughed weakly as he struggled to push the boot off of him.
"He bears his father's destiny and the weight of his whole nation upon his back. But alone with that weight, how could one do anything but crack?" Zecora asked herself as she shook her head and popped open her vial once more. Yet she glanced over at Applejack and read the look in her eyes. "You would do well to leave this alone. You know better than any that Jack will fight this demon alone."
"Alone? Zecora, haven't ya been listening to what ya have been saying?!" Applejack screamed at Zecora, taking the zebra aback as the mare's eyes flashed with a fury that she had not seen before. "All of his life Jack has been fighting this evil alone, fighting with the weight of his family and his world upon his back. Jack is the strongest pony--both morally and mentally--that I know, but as ya said even he would break under all that pressure after a while. But he won't fight it alone any longer! Not while ah'm still breathing!"
Never seeing the thin smile that spread across the zebra's lips, Applejack hurled herself into the battle and drove herself head first into the dark samurai. Aku let out a cry of surprise as he staggered back from the blow, giving Applejack time to grab Jack and drag him away from the creature.
"Applejack?" Jack whispered weakly as he gazed up into the emerald eyes of Applejack, who smiled down softly at him before giving her most menacing glare to the dark samurai.
"Don't you worry no more, Jack. Just rest here and leave this to me," she scowled as she pawed the ground with her hoof, glaring into the eyes of Aku and the Samurai Lord that resided within the darkness.
"Fool! Do you truly believe that you can defeat the great and powerful Aku?!" Aku cried out as he twirled his blade.
"Out of the way, you foolish horse! Only my son can slay Aku, so-"
"Shut it. The both of you." Despite being a being of pure darkness and a lord, both Aku and Jack's father silenced immediately at her words. She then glared into both of their eyes as she called upon a power within her, a power that she had not had to use in so long. Her body then began to glow like the orange rays of the sun, red and pink streaks running down her mane and tail while numerous apples formed around her hooves. And in the face of such light the creature let out a snarl and staggered backwards, unable to stand before her rainbow power.
"Ah honestly don't know which of ya ah hate more right now," she whispered in a tone that was dripping with venom, her emerald eyes burning like a fire as she stared down the creature of darkness before gazing at the Samurai Lord. "Ya did what no parent should ever do. Ya forced yer own failings upon yer son, subjected him to a life of misery and loneliness because you couldn't finish Aku."
"But then there's you. The demon that stole Jack's home, his family and any chance he had at being happy. The demon that torments him no matter where he goes, forcing him to stay away from those he cares about so that they can be safe...forcing Jack down the path of loneliness," Applejack trembled with rage, which only caused her power to burn brighter and shake the whole cavern that they were in. "Thinking it over, ah hate you far more than ah ever believed ah could hate."
"But that doesn't excuse either of ya. Fer thinking that ya can do this to Jack, to force him to keep on fighting because of what ya did or failed to do. Yer failed destiny is not his responsibility, samurai. And Aku? Ya would just be better off dead, if ah'm honest," Applejack scowled before pawing the ground and glaring at the pair. "So what are ya both waiting for? Try and get to Jack like ya have been. Try to break him under your pressure. But this time ya might find it a touch bit harder."
"What...is she doing?" Jack weakly asked Zecora as Applejack let out a whinny and charged the dark samurai, who swung at her with his blade. Applejack ducked out of the way and drove both hooves into his gut, sending the dark samurai backwards across the ground.
"She could not let you bear the burden of this pain alone any longer, and she has chosen to instead fight your demon for you...despite it being far stronger." Jack looked back at the battle to see that even with her stronger form, Applejack still could not harm the creature just as he had been unable to do, and was forced to dodge its attacks while Aku mocked her.
"How...do I stop it? My blade does not harm it and it is far stronger than me," Jack begged the zebra, who sighed before helping him to stand back up. "She cannot best it and neither can I...so how can we hope to win?"
"That creature is your father's destiny, and that creature will not let you be. For so long have you fought, all by yourself...but Jack, there is no shame...in needing some help." Jack stared at her with eyes that slowly had realization dawning in them, allowing Zecora to smile slightly before continuing. "Even the greatest of warriors and strongest of heroes, could not always by themselves defeat their foes. But by fighting with those they trusted and loved...did they finally find a way to rise above." For the first time Jack understood what the zebra was saying. He nodded to her to show that he understood before he limped back into the battle, turning the creature's eyes away from Applejack and to him.
"Son! You have returned! Now hurry, slay this evil and free our people!"
"Yes, fool! Fight me, so that I may finally cut you down once and for all!"
"No." Both Aku and the Samurai Lord seemed confused by Jack's answer, yet as he glared at the both of them there was only strength in his eyes. "I see now that you are neither Aku nor my father, but instead the physical manifestation of my destiny, the weight that I have carried with me for so long. And for so long I believed that I would be able to best you, Aku, by myself. As I believed I was destined to."
"But now...I finally see the truth. That this destiny...that slaying you, is far too much for me to bear alone. That if I continue down this path, I will fail as my father did. That I alone...cannot defeat Aku." Then Jack cast his gaze to Applejack, a smile of guilt crossing his face as he extended a hoof to her. "And because of my blindness, I tried to drive away those that wished to share my burden, wished to aid me in the fight against my evil. Yet, fortunately for me, the friends that I made are as stubborn as me."
"I know I have no right to ask of your aid, but...if you wish, will you fight with me?" Applejack's response was a wink at Jack before she let out a whinny and lunged at Aku, who spun around and lifted his blade to intercept her. Yet with all of his remaining strength, Jack leapt into the air with blade drawn. Aku howled with rage as the samurai's sword slice through his shadows, yet when he turned to face Jack a blast of rainbow struck him from behind as well.
"Of course ah'll fight with ya, Jack. Even if ya didn't want me to," Applejack said as she joined the samurai's side. He smiled gratefully at her as the both of them grabbed the hilt of Jack's weapon, thrusting it forward at the shadow samurai with all of their might. Aku brought his own blade down to intercept he blow...only for his sword to be cleaved right in two.
"How...?" was all Aku got the chance to ask before the magic sword pierced through the shadowy demon. With one last scream of rage, Aku vanished back into the darkness of Jack's mind, leaving only his father to gaze down at the mare and the samurai.
"Son..." he began before turning away in shame, choosing to look at Applejack instead. "Take care of my son."
"Don't worry. Ah will."
"And Jack..."
"Do not worry. I shall not fail you. For this time, I do not fight alone."
The Samurai Lord faded away into nothingness after Jack spoke, leaving the samurai to let out a sigh before he started to fall over. Yet an orange hoof caught him and when he lifted his eyes he saw Applejack, normal once more, smiling down at him softly.
"Ya alright?" she asked him as he leaned against her, allowing the mare to pick up his sword and offer it to him.
"Yes...for the first time in a long time," Jack replied slowly as he sheathed his blade, glancing around the cavern to see Zecora smiling at him before vanishing in a flash of light.
"Come on, let's get ya home," Applejack said as she helped Jack towards the exit of the cavern.
"Applejack...I am sorry for what I said to you," Jack apologized with deep regret once the two of them were free of the forest. "I should not have said what I did. I am grateful that you cared enough about me to defy Tundrous to save my life. Now I see...that I should not measure my life simply by my failures or my destiny. That I should accept the aid of others in aiding me with this burden. Perhaps there is more to me...than just my destiny."
"And all it took ya to finally realize that was two hooves to the back of the head," Applejack joked before smiling at Jack. "And ah forgive ya, Jack. With everything that ya have gone through and all the weight that ya tried to carry by yerself...but don't ya worry about that shouldering that weight alone, because I'll be right here beside ya the entire way to help. Aku may have driven everypony else out of yer life, but he won't get rid of me. That's mah promise to ya."
"I truly do not deserve you," Jack whispered with a smile under his breath before sighing and leaning against the mare as the exhaustion took over his body. But then he heard Zecora speak to him once more, though it was in a different tone than before.
"Here is the advice that I have saved for last. There are things more important than returning to the past."
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I personally am of the opinion that, where time travel is concerned, you don't typically need to be in any kind of rush. Once you find a way back, you can go back to the exact point you left, regardless of how long it takes. Given just how many methods Jack's world seems to have, I always thought he'd be better served taking his time to follow leads, properly prepare, and otherwise ensure that he isn't wasting his time.
This was an awesome chapter and all, but...
Oh come on, I can't see anything past your foreshadowing.Yeah, ignorance will be Applejack's downfall of
Quite a nice fight. I was quite happy to see Zecora again since her last appearance felt underwhelming. Even though she didn't fight, Applejack using her rainbow powers to help Jack fight against his clone more than makes it up for the lack of Zecora action. I am looking forward to the next chapter now that Jack made peace with his burden.
Aku is SCREEEEEEEEEEEWED!
I want Aku to be haunted by cupcakes. Every morning, no matter how many eyes he has watching, a minion will report, and when blasted to ash, a cupcake remains behind.
We can but hope that Tartokovsky ideas on how to finish and hopefully complete Jacks journey will be just as epic.
And the Scotsman comes to the party.
Awwww, a really sweet chapter.
Very nice. I almost expected Mad Jack to make another appearance before that creative manifestation showed up.
I SMELL A ROMANCE CHAPTER
I am Aku, and I approve this chapter.
Well, I mean... theoretically, Aku CAN be defeated by Jack, it's just that happenstance keeps getting in the way (Case and point, Jack and the Gangsters). However, I will admit that accepting help from others would GREATLY improve his chances, as proven by various episodes where he's accompanied by another.
And yeah, there is more to life than just trying to complete your journey. Sometimes, you have to stop and smell the roses: saving people from robotic aliens, rescuing some person from the grasp of weirdos, going out with a pony who has a part of your name in her- wait, what?
Anyway, this was a pretty cool chapter. It was kind of sad that I didn't get to see Mad Jack, but he wouldn't be the right opponent to face, given the circumstances.
Is it just me or does Jack seem weaker than in the cartoon?
Writing Zecora's dialogue is not the easiest of things. I do not mind the occasional rhyme, but why must she do it all of the time?!
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I'm not a fan of the romance that os going on. Applejack doesn't seem to be thinking about what she's doing. She has responsibilities, her friends, family, and duty as a former bearer of the Elements of Harmony. Heck she got herself KILLED for not listening to Jack and making him give up his chance to go home. Is she really going to abandon everything to go with him?
While Jack may like Applejack, it doesn't make sense for him to be attracted to her as she is not human. I never saw the whole show but if what I've read is right then he CAN beat Aku, he just needs to reach him first.
Personally, for some reason I hate scenes like this that have that supposed wise person do things like this. Zecora could have gotten them all killed. Jack has a perfectly valid reason to stay solo though he should still accept help outside of battles.
The shipping is strong with this chapter.
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I think the idea is that Jack has gotten pretty worn down from his repeated failures and that is inhibiting him. Plus he's fighting is a different kind of body so that obviously isn't doing him any favors.
Besides Jack has lost plenty of times against different opponents before.
I hope you bring the scotman and the hunter to the scene.
6712956 is what you are writing intentional? cause you rhymed. LOL!
6713724
So is the foreshadowing
If it weren't for the fact we were basically shown Jack could only return to his time when he was much older and more skilled, I would disagree with that last line A LOT more than I already do considering Jack's predicament
I'm glad it was specified that it was Jack's own thought process about his destiny that was weighing down on him so much and NOT his dad passing the responsibility to him. Because in Jack's Aku plauged world, this little shitty thing happened called LIFE.
The responsibility being passed to Jack was to save their nation (and the world) and it was only to be done in the worst case scenario where Jack's dad couldn't do it AKA what happened
Oh my, Zecora are you saying what I think you are saying?
.....It's not going to be easy to give up what you know to embrace what has been given to you. Familiarity always has an edge when it comes to cross roads. Although, practically speaking, this is different from the othe HIE fics because his goal was to return to the past in his world and time travel always carries complications in a story. I think from here on out, I have an idea on how this story is going to end, unless the author a few surprises I have not anticipated.
You know, in retrospect, Jack's father probably shouldn't have betted Japan's entire future on Jack. Since there were probably plenty of other Samurai around, Jack's father should have made jack the head of a team of elite samurai. That way, even if Jack failed, those samurai, who would have traveled the world to learn at Jack's side, could have been helpful. It would only have taken one to push Jack out of the way of Aku's time portal. Then, Jack would have killed Aku without fail. Or, since Jack had managed to significantly weaken Aku, he might have been vulnerable to ordinary weapons, allowing his conrads to finish the job. Of course, having more than one magical katana would have helped too.
6994756
Magical swords like invisible flying castles are quite rare
7146405 Yes, but the other Samurai might have been helpful even without magical swords. Also, Jack doesn't need to be the only one who wields the the katana. If he had been sent to the future, he could have tossed his katana at the last moment, allowing one of his allies to finish Aku off. Or, as I said, Aku might have been weakened enough to fall to non-magic weapons.
YES!!! JACKJACK IS IN THE HOUSE!!!
And that's the kind of a chapter that I love finding on fimfiction.
And the later parts of this story unravels this sappy not fighting alone subtext. Cause only holy weapons can defeat Aku and its clear that this version of Equestria's Elements of Harmony are not included among holy weapons. When Jack's father tells AJ that only Jack can slay Aku, HES TELLING THE TRUTH! Every time Jack has fought with Aku up until the series finale, he was able to at least seriously harm Aku. So as nice as it would be on paper for Applejack to fight Aku with Jack, she wouldn't be able to do a single thing to hurt Aku, as proven in a future chapter. So it kind of undoes the moral you try to push forward here. And where did this whole "not wanting any help from anyone" thing from Jack come from? He's taken help before, but nobody has ever asked to permanently partner up with Jack, so his loneliness is more circumstantial than it is self-inflicted. Plus, Zecora is literally telling Jack to stay in Equestria even when his own world is still under Aku's control. Zecora comes off as negligent in this. And the key factor that unravels this story is another problem. A lot of Onomonopaia's stories as great as they are, tend to heavily weaken the ponies and the Elements of Harmony and make them suseptible to defeat. Especially since they are supposed to be Equestria's versions of the all powerful Chaos Emeralds from Sonic or the Dragonballs, or the Millenium Items from Yu-Gi-Oh, not some trinkets that can easily be overpowered by any kind of dark magic. One of the stories in his collection that seriously has that problem is Oh Captain, my Captain.
9329908
Spoilers my dude!
If I remember correctly Jack also needed help from someone else to finally beat Aku. I have no idea how you managed to pin point Jack's character this well to figure out that he must have a partner in order to finish his mission.
Well what do you know, the writer's a prophet.
I thought for sure this was when Jack gets his Cutie Mark.