As the pair approached an old church, they found the woman they met in the museum about to enter the church. As she turned back to face them, however, the church exploded. The blast knocked her back, but Dante leapt to catch her and place her safely on a high ledge, away from the explosion.
Applejack moved up behind Dante, ready to throw her two cents in if the woman got clingy over 'being saved'. She needn't have bothered, however, as she immediately moved towards the destroyed church. When the smoke cleared, she began racing around the rubble. "Where's Matier...?" she asked desperately. "Matier! Matier!"
Applejack glanced around, then pointed to a staircase leading down into the ground, just as an old woman slowly climbed the stairs. "Good grief," the woman - Matier, presumably, by how relieved the other woman appeared - said as she climbed, "they really made a big mess, didn't they?" As the woman approached Matier's side, she continued to muse. "It sure took him a while to find this place." She looked up and spotted Dante. "Oh? You have arrived, Son of Sparda."
As Matier sat down, Applejack looked away. "What am I, horse feathers?" she grumbled, then blinked, confused at her own words. She'd meant to say 'chopped liver'.
Matier looked closely at Applejack, and then began to laugh. "So...Geryon's daughter has joined the blood of Sparda? He did say a great destiny had already laid its hand on you." She took a closer look. "But it is not this one...that destiny is calling you back."
Applejack looked between Matier and Dante. "I...I don't understand..."
"You had another life before this one," Matier explained. "Bits and pieces...flashes of memory...they've come through at times. More and more are coming back now. Words you don't expect to use...flashes of emotion...your soul knows you will soon return, and is slowly preparing your mind and heart."
Dante blinked in shock. "Then...do you know how she got here in the first place?"
"Regret!" Matier replied firmly. "Geryon regretted that he was not there to see his children grow, to be there for them when they needed him most...and his power was to manipulate the time stream. Without even meaning to, he called to the most magical of his blood, and she found her way to you, Son of Sparda." She tapped Dante's chest with her cane, causing him to briefly glow blue-white with Geryon's light. "And through you, to him. And through you, he has and shall finish his business, and one day will be able to rest in peace."
"How...how do you know so much about all this?" Dante asked. "About Sparda, and Applejack? All of it?"
Matier cackled in amusement. "I fought alongside him long ago to protect this land, Vie de Marli. We are its Guardians. And now...we must call on Sparda again, with the magic he gave us to call for him or his children to lend us aid."
"So you sent the letter in magical fire!" Nevan said in surprise.
"Indeed," Matier replied. "A man has transformed this land into a paradise for the lesser demons, those who do not obey the rules of the Spardan Tournament to visit our world. His name is Arius. He is the President of an international public corporation, and he uses demon power."
"Oh," Applejack replied. "Ya mean like that Black Black club Yusuke told me about that ran the Dark Tournament? Humans who used demons and demonic power to gain power and wealth on Earth?"
Matier nodded. "Exactly like that. And now he seeks to use that power he has accrued to bring the demon he has contracted with here...to conquer the world."
"Of course," Applejack replied sarcastically.
Matier smiled. "Please...won't you two deal with Arius and his demon for us?"
Shrugging, Dante flipped a coin and caught it before it landed. He revealed it landed on heads. "Looks like it's your lucky day," he stated.
"Wonderful!" Matier replied as she rose slowly to her feet. "I am very pleased." She indicated the staircase she had climbed up. "It leads to a harbor. If you are successful, I have more stories to tell you about your father, Son of Sparda...and yours, Geryon's Daughter."
Applejack felt quite unnerved as the pair descended down the stairs.
The pair progressed through the waterway carefully, breaking through several stone barriers. However, Dante was quick to notice his pony daughter's disquiet. "What's bothering you, Applejack?" he asked.
She looked up at him, then looked away. "Well...it's just...everything Matier said...about Sparda, and Geryon, and me and you...it's just..."
When she hesitated, he knelt down beside her. "Yes?"
Applejack looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Are...are ya still my Pa?" she whimpered.
Without hesitation, Dante pulled her into a hug. "Of course I am," he replied easily. "I could hardly claim you as my biological daughter, despite my blood giving you the Old Man's power. You were always adopted, Applejack. And Nevan and Cerberus told me that Geryon was the spirit of your biological father way back in Temen-ni-gru."
"We did," Nevan piped up.
"His mortal name was Gala," Cerberus added.
"But..." Applejack began. "But what about what she said...about my old life and destiny calling me back?"
"I'll take you there."
Applejack's eyes widened. "...eh?"
"If you have another world and another life to return to, then I'll take you there...and I'll stick around until you're settled, and however long after that you need me to." He smiled down at her reassuringly. "And that's a promise on Father's Sword."
In her aura, Sparda pulsed in response to the oath. Tearing up, she bruied her face in Dante's chest, crying in joy and relief. "Pa..." she cried, hugging him as best she could as he held her gently.
THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH TEARS IN THE WORLD TO SHOW HOW SAD THIS CHAPTER MADE ME!
All the tears! We cry together!
>>Tatsurou You have a way to bring out the best in your characters and make it seem like that was how they always were.
Also that promise sounded stronger than any pinkie promise and 10x as deep. Bravo! Bravo!
HNG THE FEELS THEY HURT
A very enjoyable chapter. Well done.
Awwwwwwwww...
That was double-headed coin wasn't it?
The FEELS man! Very heart warming and adorable. I truly do love moments like these
DAAAWWWWW. Of course... Dante will probably scandalize Equestria with his manners whenever he visits. I can just see Rarity fainting dead away. I do have to wonder how Apple Bloom will react to her big sister's changes, but I can totally see AJ being a little more relaxed about Crusades and possibly trying to help. Will the Devil Arms be able to manifest fully in Equestria thanks to all the magic??? Because I can see Cerberus totally crushing on Winona and manifesting at an appropriate size to romance her.
Dante in Equestria.... Oh dear
...Now the REAL fun begins
You know... with the amount of fathers coming to Equestria, and them being a brutal group of 9 mercenaries, a violent god killer, an eccentric millionaire playboy scientist, a broody millionaire and playboy, a armory toting lombax plus many more, I don't see why some people are worried about the idea of Dante going there.
Also, what's with this with Greyor or whatever? Applejack is a pony from Equestria so why... oh... Gala... Red Gala?
So there are pony roots somewhere but... explanation?
6146361
Look back at the chapter "The Race", when the ghostly blue stallion is mentioned.
6146401
Ah... alright, all this information in stories, I have trouble picking up the small stuff...
Oh thank god I got through the rest of the story before you posted this chapter. Otherwise, it would of marked my fifth time tearing up in as many days. Only one of those times resulted in actual crying, but yeah.
Dante didn't exactly answer her question. Perhaps you should rephrase that.
6146987
His first words in response were, "Of course you are." He just went on to explain how this made the situation no different than it had been before.
6147039 The problem is that that's the wrong answer for the question. it should be "Of course I am." "Of course you are," only works if the question is "Am... am I still your daughter?"
Excellent story Can't wait to read more
Tirek gonna get crushed... and Applebloom will learn to use guns!
6161297 "Applebloom, yer grounded from using Artemis."
"That's not fair! Big Mac get's to use it!"
"Well, Big Mac wasn't using our crop for target practice or to destroy wooden planks for fun."
"Eeyup."
"Don't you 'eeyup' her; you still need my supervision to fire Artemis."
I can't believe nobody caught that this whole time.
Unsure if normal saying, or if I'm too much of a Potterhead...
Silly me, there is no such thing
6147039
Only issue I see now is his mortal name may have to be changed since Bright Mac is now Canon.
But that's up to you honestly.
And leaves another fun question...story involving what happened to Pear Butter,aka, Buttercup,aka Apple siblings mother?
Would be interesting if she showed up in Three More Things o.o
Unless you have a Big Mac story too?
8280523
Do have a Big Mac story.
And I'm mostly going to be ignoring new revelations as far as these stories when it comes to names and the like. Much like how I'm ignoring Fluttershy's canon family as far as the Fortresshy story.