Upheaval: Journeys

by Visiden Visidane

Applejack 9: The Last Great Apple

Upheaval: Journeys

Applejack 9: The Last Great Apple

The approaching stallion walked slowly, hooves dragging across the soil with each step. Applejack recognized the low raise of the legs, the slumped shoulders, and the slightly drooping head. She had walked like this often enough. As did her brother after a long, hard day at the farm. That was a walk that demanded a great supper, a welcoming bath, and a good night's sleep. She had a good idea who this stallion was, and the serious mien on Sakylthos's face showed that he did as well. This was the stallion that they had both been seeking: Apple Slice, the Last Great Apple. At least, as the Barrier Lands saw him. She dug in her hooves to keep from shaking. She was about to find out herself how true that title was.

As Apple Slice approached, another thing became more apparent. He was huge, even for a stallion, probably slightly taller than Big Macintosh. Applejack couldn't properly gauge his size in her visions. In any Apple reunion, Apple Slice would stand at least head and shoulders above most of his relatives. Combine that with his short fuse, and his fighting expertise and he did seem like an outsider of an Apple. He was a veritable giant, a towering stallion with thick muscles rippling across his sides and chest, who had spent more time in the Legion than in the farm, yet he was the one given the leadership of the family. Wrong as it may have been, it was easy to see why the rest of the Apples didn't warm up to him.

Applejack shared neither those fears nor resentment. The Apples were different now. They didn't follow this whole "clan leader" thing and she knew what it was like to suddenly be different. To be involved in other things besides the farm and to clash with the family over it. Yet...what was this fear washing over her? She stared hard, bracing herself for the worse. In her mind flashed the sight of General Gravitas; soaked in the dark of the abyss with the black ice poking out of his hide, and his face contorted with rage.

As Apple Slice neared, however, none of that showed. Rather than hideous black crystals, large, hairless, vertical scars marred his russet fur; two parallel ones, claw marks most likely, from his left shoulder to his chest, and three from his back to his left hind leg. When he lifted his head, he showed a pair of lips in a grim line, green eyes clear and heavy-lidded, and a long black beard that spilled from his cheeks down his chin to his neck. He looked...solid. An oddity when he should be dead and a ghost. Yet, he looked like a living pony anyway.

"Apple Slice..." Applejack started.

"Great Bear-Wrangler," Sakylthos said. He slithered in front of Applejack, blocking her view with his bulk. He clasped his chain tightly in his right hand, and presented it. "The Empire of Ophidus has heard your cry for vengeance against your betrayers. As its champion, I pray grant me your true strength to smite Equestria."

"Don't listen to him!" Applejack shouted. She rushed past Sakylthos, her own chain now wrapped on her right foreleg to be presented. "Your chain's made its way home to the Apples! Just like you wanted. I..." Applejack's breath caught in her chest for a moment as she remembered the gruesome sight of her ancestor's rampage. "You ain't what this snake thinks you are, right? You're a hero who fought and died chasing these slaving snakes."

Sakylthos rumbled in his chest until Applejack turned to glare at him. "The message in your chain is clear enough, Great Bear-Wrangler," he said. "The grudge against Equestria is unmistakable, determined by my ancestors for centuries. The ease that it cuts through ponies, and its perfect fit to the hand of an ophidite warrior...I have spent my life perfecting its use and searching for your final resting place. I stand ready to fulfill your last--"

"Foul snake, I've killed more of you than you have scales. Don't talk to me as if I'd ever be your friend."

Even before Applejack could make sense of those words coming from her ancestor, Apple Slice moved in front of Sakylthos, his hind legs already finding homes just under the ophidite's chest plate. Sakylthos opened his mouth in pained surprise, but only a hoarse cry came out as he doubled over. When he looked up, Apple Slice was already gone. A pair of russet forelegs wrapped around Sakylthos's tail, and lifted him up with ease. Whatever fatigue he showed did not dull his fighting ability.

Between the elation of seeing Apple Slice have nothing to do with Ophidus and watching this tremendous show of strength, Applejack had to remember to breathe. Apple Slice hurled Sakylthos into a great clump of branches snapping dozens of them when the ophidite crashed back first.

"I knew it!" Applejack said. She trotted towards Apple Slice head high in pride of her ancestor. "He was lying all along, you are a hero--"

Applejack was still a few feet from Apple Slice when something smacked into the side of her head. The world went black for a few moments. When her senses returned, she was face down on the ground, her head spinning and her cheek swelling. The gashes that Sakylthos had inflicted reopened, pouring blood down the side of her neck. She tried to get groggily to her hooves, and failed a few times.

"Don't touch me, you weakling," Apple Slice said. His hooves crunched some loose pebbles as he walked towards her. "As if you're any different, seeking out the dead and forgotten to profit yourself."

"That's..." It was a struggle to speak as Applejack had to maneuver her tongue past the swelling. She tasted blood in her mouth, and some of her teeth had probably shaken loose. "That's not true. I wanted..." She hesitated. Well...it was partly true. She had come here also hoping to gain some strength her ancestor was famed for to better fight Equestria's enemies. "I wanted to know what really happened to you." She backed away as he approached. The branches were Sakylthos crashed were already rustling.

"I died, filly," Apple Slice growled. "The ophidites outmaneuvered and outnumbered me while my 'allies' dithered, dallied, and covered up everything I dug out." He gestured to the corrupted apple branches all around them. "But there is justice after all. The guilty stay here until the day comes."

Applejack stopped backing away. "What day?" she asked. "Apple Slice, what have you done here?" Even as she spoke, the branches around them quivered and rustled. The anguished murmurs of dozens of ponies swept through them like a breeze.

Apple Slice held out a front hoof and made a tugging motion. Seemingly out of nowhere, a trail of dark, ooze-like substance materialized in his grip, forming a long chain of blackened links. Thin wisps of equally dark vapor rose from the chain like some perverted form of ice. "The day when the weakness of ponies finally drags us all to where we deserve," Apple Slice said. "The slavers, the cowards, and..." he glanced briefly at his chest. "...and the murderous brutes. All dragged down to the depths."

"No..." Applejack whispered it first, but her voice rose to a shout. "No! We're not falling into the abyss!" Her voice softened afterwards. "Look, what the Apples did to you was wrong, but we ain't like that anymore. Our family didn't turn bad like what you were afraid of. And the Southern Legion...they ain't so bad either. Nothing that deserves the abyss!"

"The Apples..."

For a moment, Apple Slice's brows furrowed and his lips twisted. He stared at Applejack, squinting as if he struggled to recognize what she was. "That chain..." he finally said. "Crow Flight made it after all..."

"Your chain made it back," Applejack said. "It found the Apples like you wanted."

"For what little it matters!" Apple Slice snapped. "My family! My family of collaborators and cowards! They left me here by myself for their precious business. How dare you come here now!"

With that, Apple Slice swung his chain. The black links lengthened as they tore through the ground in a spinning loop that flew towards Applejack. She swung her chain reflexively, smacking into the approaching attack with a wide, horizontal sweep. To her horror, her chain bounced away without slowing Apple Slice's. She jumped away at the last moment, catching some shards of rock on her hind legs as well as a numbing blast of cold. She crashed nearby, tumbling to her hooves as best she could. This time, she concentrated on her shield. Sure enough, Apple Slice had followed his attack with an overhead smash. The black links struck the golden shield with a loud, metallic bang. That she felt some vibration from her shield concerned her. Nothing had come close to that so far. Maybe her newfound power was not that invincible.

Apple Slice's chain retracted so swiftly that it was as if it was as part of his body as his own tail. He looked at the golden shield with nothing more than mild annoyance. "I see," he said. "You've called on them too." He squinted at Applejack and tilted his head. "What's your name, Apple mare?" he asked. "Why did you call on whatever you did to get that shield?"

Before Applejack could reply, the nearby apple branches finally erupted with a flurry of movement. Sakylthos rose from the leaves and twigs, his left arm nursing his right shoulder. "If we must prove ourselves to you, Bear-Wrangler, I gladly oblige." He stared at the black chain wrapped around Apple Slice's foreleg. "If there is nothing to inherit, then I will make do with that upgrade."

"Stupid snake, stay your greedy hand," Apple Slice growled. "Both of you came here expecting me to give you something. My own family sharing the same purpose as an Imperial Champion. Somehow, I'm not surprised."

"I'm nothing like those snakes!" Applejack said.

"You both want my strength," Apple Slice said. "Even though it accomplished nothing in the end." Again, he focused on Applejack. "Answer my questions."

"My name's Applejack," Applejack said. "And I didn't call on anything to get this shield. The Queen gave it to me on her own."

"Why?" Apple Slice's eyes narrowed. "You were close to death, weren't you?"

Applejack nodded.

Apple Slice sighed, and, for a moment, a brief smile crossed his face. "Yes, that sounds about right..." He stretched out his chain between his forelegs his eyes now hard. "If it's my strength you two want, then I'll give it to you. One lash at a time."

"Finally, a clear goal!" Sakylthos bellowed. He extended his own chain and let out a weird mixture between a growl and a hiss. His coils swiftly threshed the ground as he charged, likely to employ the same aggressive strategy he used against Applejack. That hind kick to his gut and being hurled like an old horseshoe clearly wasn't enough to convince him that he wasn't going to outmuscle this long dead pony.

Applejack wasn't so quick to dive in. This wasn't what she had in mind when she first thought of finding this place. She wanted to clear her ancestor's name, not fight him. Not discover his involvement with the abyss. She could only watch as Apple Slice met Sakylthos's charge head on, deftly stepping aside when a scaled fist came his way. He raised his forelegs and caught the shoulder charge that followed it. His hind hooves dragged across the ground for a short distance.

If Sakylthos had been surprised that a pony half his size could stop him, he didn't show it. He disengaged, and slithered back, his chain lashing out in a downward strike. Though the countless ponies this ophidite had surely killed remained in Applejack's mind, she had to respect his sheer battle prowess and confidence. He was up against a great unknown, but he charged fearlessly and remained focused on his fighting moves.

Sakylthos's strike met Apple Slice's chain before it came anywhere near. The black links spun in an upward loop with a flick of Apple Slice's neck, flinging away Sakylthos's chain with ease. With an other flick, Apple Slice changed its direction into his own downward lash. Sakylthos dashed away, but the very tip of the black chain suddenly flicked upward, striking his tail with surprisingly brutal force. The ophidite grunted in clear pain and backed away to recover. The broken ground where the black chain had struck was somehow rimmed with frost.

With that strike, the quiet, anguished murmurs from the broken apple branches turned into pained groans and muffled pleas. Apple Slice glanced at his surroundings, his nose briefly wrinkling and his upper lip curling. Sakylthos saw this as an opening and charged again, but the black chain lashed at him three times, the first striking the ground in front of him as quick as a snake strike, the second piercing the side of his armor with the chain's tip and drawing blood, and the third lashing his chain away in a preemptive defense.

Sakylthos backed away cowed. At last, that fierce confidence in his stare gave way to wary doubt as he nursed his wound. Applejack noted that while the tip of the black chain dripped with blood, the gash on Sakykthos's side didn't.

Apple Slice did not press the advantage, instead turning towards Applejack again. "If you don't help him, you won't stand a chance. Shouldn't be a problem for an Apple."

That was it.

"Don't you lecture me, Hero of Equestria," Applejack said between grit teeth. "Not when that's the power of the abyss you're swinging. Don't you tell me a thing about working with evil folk when you've made a worse deal than your brother!"

The black chain slammed against Applejack's shield. A good thing she never lowered it. That strike was so fast that there was no way she would have put it up before getting hit. Again, the shield quivered. It was like walking on a floor that she wasn't sure would hold her.

"Peel called out to the Empire for a profit," Apple Slice said. "I called out for justice and I called out to anyone who would hear." He twirled his chain for a second strike. "The abyss answered. Why shouldn't I accept?"

Applejack waved her hoof towards crying, broken branches, where she was sure dozens of ponies were somehow trapped as "restless dead", as Anektor called it. She had heard enough of the explanations of Twilight and the others about these sorts of things. "This ain't justice," she said. "Where's the justice in you being stuck in this watery hole with all these guilty ponies?" The Queen's words came to mind. "Especially when you've got a place for you in the Eternal Herd with all the other Apples."

The black chain slammed into Applejack's shield again. This time, so hard that sparks erupted from the lash and the golden disc wavered. A second followed, then a third. Apple Slice wasn't even retracting his weapon now. The links moved as if they had a life of their own. Almost like a slim, metal tentacle. Applejack couldn't stay defensive for much longer. She waited until the black chain struck again, then dispelled her shield before it hit, already rushing Apple Slice as she did so. As she expected, his attack overshot its mark, and crashed into the foliage behind her. Her guess should be right; she could move in to attack just fast enough for one before the chain retracted.

As the figure of Apple Slice drew nearer, however, her charge faltered briefly. He was so imposing, not just because of his size, but because of who he was. Already, she despaired of any thought that she could land a hit. He glared at her, more annoyed at the mere thought that she would dare attack him than concerned for any danger. When she came even closer, his lips split into a smile.

"I never would have expected this from an Apple," he said.

Applejack lashed with her chain. Though unsure of what fighting Apple Slice would even accomplish, she struck as hard as she could. That was the first time she had seen show anything besides contempt for her. Though she didn't understand, instinct spurred her to keep fighting.

Apple Slice stepped away from her strike casually, the turned his head just so to avoid her follow up. His chain returned to his hoof, but he made no move to swing it. Instead, he stepped even closer, his foreleg rising for a strike. Applejack struck first with a quick jab from her foreleg, but all she met was his thickly muscled shoulder. She might as well have struck a tree from the result. Again, she lashed. This time, horizontally. She twirled the chain mid-air in a dizzying dance of silver links, but Apple Slice deftly stepped past each swing.

"Filly, I started slinging rope while I still suckled on my mother's teats," Apple Slice said. "I just need to look at your neck and shoulders, and I know where the chain goes." To illustrate his point, he dipped his head, and the chain whizzed past his mane. He closed in with a sudden burst of speed, his hooves already going for Applejack's neck.

Another chain wrapped around Applejack's torso, though. In an instant, she was flying back, towards Sakylthos. His chain unwound from her once she was by his side some distance. He was still holding his injured side, and his massive chest heaved with exertion. "Think this through, Applejack," he said. "We cannot match him in single combat. He is too fast, too strong, and too skilled."

"Tell me something I don't know," Applejack said warily. She was also starting to pant from exertion.

"We will subdue him as a unit," Sakylthos said. "Once he respects our might and calms down, we can negotiate our inheritance. If he must be destroyed, we shall split the reward or kill each other for it." His jaws opened slightly to reveal a row of small pointed teeth. "All instances are better than both of us being slain by this vengeful spirit."

"You're asking me to team up with an ophidite to fight my family, and loot his remains?" Applejack let out a harsh, ragged exhale. "This is crazy!"

Sakylthos glanced at Apple Slice to gauge their distance, then slithered back a bit. "You must not treat him like a living pony just because he appears corporeal. He is a wraith, and all that concerns him is his vengeance."

"What would you know?" Applejack snapped.

"I've studied you ponies enough," Sakylthos said. "The Empire excels at making wraiths. I had hoped that his vengeance would be focused on Equestria and that I could offer myself as his instrument. Once satisfied, he would grant me the succession. Clearly, his rage has a broader focus. We will die in this defiled place if we do not cooperate, pony."

His vengeance. There was a thought. It was meaningless to fight Apple Slice. He might just end up like Black Rose, and be sucked into the abyss. If only there was a way to get him to...to stop being so vengeful. What did he want anyway? He was the one who sent Apple Peel to the Heartland. If he resented ophidites so badly, why was he attacking her as well? Indeed, his focus was mostly on her. And that contempt he has when he speaks of the Apples...

The time for thoughts and planning had come to an end, however. Applejack and Sakylthos had to leap apart as the black chain smashed the ground between them. With one more look at Applejack, Sakylthos dragged himself to action. He still slithered swiftly, though with obvious greater labor than before. His chain strike looked labored and no longer appeared fluid. Applejack galloped to get behind Apple Slice. If she wanted her chain to have chance at hitting, it had to be swung from where he didn't look.

Sakylthos's overhead lash struck the ground just an inch to Apple Slice's front hooves. Instinct told Applejack to make her attack now, to strike at her ancestor's unprotected back. She had something else planned though. She kept charging, closing in until she was a few feet away. At this range he would have to back away, or use his hooves. His chain flew towards Sakylthos almost by itself, flying in a straight line to impale the ophidite. When Sakylthos began to slither away, a flick of the neck turned the unerring stab into a wide, horizontal lash.

Sakylthos had pulled his weapon back at the last moment, and stretched it out vertically with both hands to stop Apple Slice's attack. The silver links stretched taut and bent at the force, so much that even Sakylthos's bulk was pushed back. The black chain quickly spun into a second lash, then a third in rapid succession. The second blow flung Sakylthos's arms back from the impact. The third struck the side of his head so hard that it smashed him to the ground. Applejack was surprised that the blow didn't take his head off. He did fly to the side, and tumbled across the ground. If he had gotten up after that, Applejack couldn't spare the moments to see. She did hear something; a large splash in the background, like a great boulder hurled into a lake. No time to check, though.

The focused assault left Apple Slice open, though not surprised. He glanced at Applejack, clearly confident in his ability to dodge any chain attack. He was still turning to face her when she was on him.

Apple Slice may be nearly un-hittable with lashes, but there was no dodging an attack just inches away. Applejack bit into her chain, then flung her forelegs around his neck. To her relief, even up close, he didn't smell of dead fish and stagnant salt water. In fact, he smelled like nothing at all, not even like a pony. Her forelegs tensed as she gripped as hard as she could, twisting her hips and shoulders to throw him to the ground or even put him off balance. It was like trying to wrestle a tree stump out of the ground. He answered by smashing his forehead between her eyes. Again, her vision darkened, but she refused to let her grip slacken. He put his front hooves against her forelegs and began to pry while a shift from his shoulders lifted her hind legs from the ground. Applejack wasn't done, though. She had her chain in her mouth, and she flung it around so that it encircled his torso and part of his foreleg.

"You've done some wrangling, have you?" Apple Slice asked. His strength was immense, and he had already figured out her goal. Now, it was a grappling contest. The last thing Applejack wanted was to be hogtied now. The black chain was ice-cold against her fur, and she squirmed to keep it from tangling her. She had the advantage for now. With a tug from her neck, she drew back his left shoulder, keeping him from breaking her grip.

"Plenty," Applejack grunted. "Apple Slice, listen, I..."

Something was wrong here. Her chain was glowing very brightly and started feel hot between her jaw. And her chest...her heart was aching. A sudden wave of loneliness, resentment, and despair, alien and familiar all at once, crashed into her. She was suddenly in front of a barn just like the one back home, wanting desperately to go in, but knowing that she wasn't truly welcome in there.

"I wanted them to stay. To love me like they loved each other. I wanted to farm, and harvest, and raise my own branch in the family."

Apple Slice let out a brief cry as Applejack's chain flashed a searing light. With a roar, he reared up, broke her grip, and flung her away.

The rough ground grazed large cuts across Applejack's legs and shoulders as she tumbled. When she staggered to her hooves, her eyes flooded with tears, not from her injuries, but from another hurt. "I'm sorry," she half-sobbed. "I'm sorry for what happened to you."

Apple Slice had his chain raised. It would a killer blow that she wouldn't be able to evade, but it had yet to come. "You..." he growled. He glared at her, the furious words seemingly choking him.

"I'm sorry for what the other Apples did," Applejack went on. "For the wrong stories they told. For what your fellows did. Apple Slice, you've every right to be angry." She sobbed loudly for a moment. "But, if you just let go, you can be happy with Apple Peel, and Apple Core, and all the others."

Apple Slice jerked his chain between his front hooves, causing the links to clink loudly. A scowl, finally something that showed anything besides scorn for his family and would be successors, marred his face. "Applejack, what makes you think that I'm striving to be happy?" he asked. His voice trembled as he took a step forward. "The things that I've done have made me undeserving. All I can strive for now is justice." He gestured to the foliage surrounding them. "Every pony soul here, these liars, slavers, and oath-breakers, are bound to my grudge for as long as I hold on to it. My fall will drag us all to our rightful punishment." He looked down morosely. "Equestria will have its justice, and Mighty Apple Slice would have accomplished something after all."

"No!" Applejack charged again.

"Begone!" Apple Slice roared. "There's nothing for you to inherit here, Applejack!" He swung his chain vertically, the links slashing down at her so fast that they were mere blurs.

The blow struck Applejack's shield with a loud crackling protest of magical energy. The ground behind and to the side of her erupted in a cloud of raised dust and soil particles. Finally, Apple Slice had broken through a small portion around the edges of her shield. She pressed on until she was within a foreleg's reach again. It figured that he was a skillful grappler as well and immensely strong. Still, she had sparked something. Something painful without a doubt, but it was the only way of reaching him. Apple Slice was ready for her this time. His front hoof found her already swollen and bleeding face. Blood ran freely from her nostrils now, making it even harder to breathe. Her mouth was awash in metallic taste from the resulting stream as well as her busted lower lip. Her ears rang loudly. Findingthe right distance to grab Apple Slice proved difficult with barely any vision from her nearly closed right eye, but she found purchase regardless.

Again, Applejack's chest ached with familiar feelings. It wasn't just her chain glowing now. Some inner light was shining from her as well, just like that time in the abyss. She held on for dear life while Apple Slice tried to pry her off. "Tell me then," she grunted. "Tell me why the path to this place opened when I got this chain. How'd I get here at all? Tell me the truth, Apple Slice!"

Apple Slice answered with a furious growl and a redoubling if his efforts. Applejack strained to keep her hooves clasped. Her shoulders strained until she could start to feel them tear from their sockets.

"You wants to see if this chain made it, didn't you? You wanted to see your family after all this time!"

For a moment, Apple Slice ceased grappling. His voice was low and ragged when he spoke. "Filly, your body is almost broken. You know full well that you stand to acquire nothing from this. Why do you persist?"

"Because you're family, you idiot," Applejack said. "The One Bad Apple, the Last Great Apple, I won't let you fall into the abyss."

Apple Slice let out a sigh. "Yes," he said. "I did want to see my family. One last time. I didn't expect an Apple to carry that chain back to me. Especially not one with the skill to use it in combat." He let out a chuckle. "I wasn't the lone freak after all."

Applejack didn't quite know how to react to that, and in that moment of doubt, Apple Slice suddenly gave her foreleg a sharp twist so that her face was in front of his.

"But this changes nothing," Apple Slice said. "I will bring justice to these fiends, and myself!" His forehead smashed into Applejack's face again. And again. On the third time, Applejack's forelegs went limp. She would have collapsed on her back, but Apple Slice grabbed her chest plate to steady her. "I'm glad that a sliver of courage remains in my family. Now, begone. Take that broken chain as your inheritance. The time is almost right, and I will bring everything here to the abyss."

With that, he flung her back for several feet. She land on her backside with a painful thud, but hardly anything compared to the numbing mess of her face. "Wait..." Applejack said. Before she could continue, the ground started to tremble. All around her, the pained murmurs erupted into screams and wails.

"Leave this place, Applejack!" Apple Slice shouted. "You have no place in the abyss!"

The ground cracked open, forming quickly widening chasms. Applejack strugged to her hooves and looked around. The place was breaking apart. The foliage was screaming in agony. Before long, she was going to fall through the chasms. Instinctively she scanned the place for an exit. She got here by falling into a pond. Diving into another one might get her out. Then, her thoughts focused on Apple Slice again. No, she wasn't leaving here without pulling him out. That stubborn, stupid stallion was dead set on falling into the abyss. The place where hideous ponies like Clover the Clever went was no place for him, no matter how bad he thought he was. She found him at the center of a network of widening cracks, his eyes closed and welcoming of his fate. At a distance, Sakylthos was getting groggily up.

The cracks widened until the ground heaved and splintered. The agonized howls rose to deafening heights. At the epicenter, Apple Slice began to sink. A nebulous, black substance boiled up from the cracks, reaching out like foul tendrils. The a cloud of the foulest odor followed the sight, enough to turn Applejack's stomach. There it was; stagnant salt water and dead fish. She turned away and hurled, the remains of her meager rations mixing with the blood in her mouth before spewing out to the ground. She tried to focus on Apple Slice, but her vision blurred and her head swam. Two Apple Slices stood next to each other until she squinted as hard as she could. It was now or never. She flung her chain at him in one last attempt to lasso. She could only grit her teeth when he immediately spotted the bright silver links glinting in the creeping dark. He swung his own chain to simply swat her attack away.

A second silver chain flew across the dark, swatting away Apple Slice's. Applejack's lasso landed on point around Apple Slice's neck, though he had placed a foreleg into the loop to keep it from tightening around his neck.

"He's no use lost to this world!" Sakylthos bellowed. He stumbled as he recovered his chain. "Pull him back!"

"Easier said than done!" Applejack grunted. She pulled as hard as she could, gripping her chain with both forelegs and her mouth. Apple Slice pulled back, throwing his whole weight in the opposite direction.

The result was a stalemate. Applejack was expecting him to pull her into the abyss, though, so this wasn't so bad. She strained against the chain, her shoulders loosening just a little more with each second. She had made up her mind. She was going to pull her idiot ancestor out of this hole even if she ripped her forelegs off in the process.

An eternity of struggle seemed to pass by. Beads of sweat stung Applejack's eyes despite the steadily freezing air around them. The dark rose to the point that its tendrils wriggled close to her hind legs. Sakylthos was trying to get to a position so he could throw his own lasso, but the ground heaved around him. Trying it now would only result in a tug-of-war between them.

A foreleg, an all too familiar gray-furred foreleg grasped the chain alongside Applejack. Her heart leapt and she had to fight an urge to turn around. "Vanguard!" she mumbled between the links. So that was what that odd splash was. He made it here too! But why did he take so long to get to her? The elation melted away when she realized that his fur was soaking wet, and it was black liquid that dripped from it.

"On three," Vanguard growled softly. "Give it everything, Applejack, I've only got enough for one try."

Applejack nodded and waited as he counted down. Could the chain amplify Vanguard's strength too? Didn't it work only for an Apple? Yet, the links glowed until a portion seeped into his fur. Maybe he was close enough. Her heart lurched with some sense of giddiness. Yes, perhaps the chain recognized what he meant.

"Three!"

With that, she pulled with everything still left. The silver links stretched taut, and, for a moment, she feared that nothing would happen, but they loosened again as Apple Slice finally flew througn the air and towards her. The chain flashed with power, and the screams all around them softened. The ground stabilized as Apple Slice crashed a few feet away.

Behind her, Vanguard fell on his back. That he was getting up so slowly was worrying. He was soaking wet all over and shivering. Why? She had arrived here completely dry. Still, he looked up at her, red eyes still bright and fierce, then nodded towards Apple Slice.

"Stubborn filly," Apple Slice groaned. "Why go so far? You could have sunk into the abyss."

"Maybe some ponies gave up on you," Applejack panted. "Maybe you gave up on yourself." She staggered closer, and tugged on her chain. The links unlooped as she pulled it back. "But I won't." She coughed, and hacked up some left over vomit from the back of her throat. "I won't lie...I did come here hoping to gain something from you, but..."

She closed in on Apple Slice, and clasped his face with her forelegs. "I can never abandon family. Apple Slice, tell me the truth. I heard you before. You've always...you've always wanted to be together with the others as well. All this talk of justice is just you being too afraid of being told 'no' one more time."

Apple Slice let out a sigh, and placed a hoof over hers. A trickle of tears escaped his eyes."The Apples have changed," he said huskily. He stood tall, suddenly looking to the distance. "Lord Spatiator!" he called out. "I've made my decision!"

The dark seeping out of the chasms had not receded at all, though it had stopped rising. The moans and cries fell silent. Applejack perked her ears, catching the faint ring of armored hooves touching the ground, and heavy, metal plates clanking together.

"For many of your centuries you made me wait, Apple Slice...now, tell me your answer."

Author's Note:

One more chapter, then shift.

Comments

[High Priest Of Entropy]

It's not dead! Huzzah!

[Pheblorganzardo]

In the first paragraph, I'm not sure "Mien" can be used that way. Fantastic chapter. Well worth the wait. Has this "Lord Spatiator" been mentioned before, or is he someone/something new?

[Midnight Musashy]

(Don't mind me)

[son_of_heaven176]

Well done, as usual (though there are a lot of technical errors, as usual). Even though it's been a while since the last chapter, I wasn't lost, and the stakes were clear. Of course, I'll be awaiting the next chapter.

So, what will happen to Apple Slice now? And who is Lord Spatiator? Is he one of Oceanus's agents, or is he part of the Eternal Herd?

[HolyCross9]

Thank goodness that Applejack (with help from her beloved) managed to rescue Apple Slice.

[wolfstorm56]

Pretty good fight.

[Always Breakfast]

It sounds like Vanguard has his own ties to the abyss.

[Amethyst_Dawn]

Curiosity peaked, inner critic intrigued. I look forward to the next installment.

[Lord Despair]

more!!!

[Penwing25]

great another two month wait

[theunbalancedone]

Worth the wait as always. Eagerly looking forward to the next one. Also, interesting that attacks that could threaten AJ's harmony shield didn't just destroy Sakylthos. I'm guessing that the Void that was powering Appleslice's chain is at least a partial counter to it, even in whatever diluted form it was in.

[godofthunder4242]

As always I'm very glad to see this update.

[Visiden Visidane]

7926403

He appears in Reckoning. At least, a phantasm of him during the fight with Fulmen Lancea.

[Charliehorse]

That snake is, to me, the more interesting character today. You'd typically want to just dismiss him as a "kill on sight" bad guy but he has personality and his own motivations. He's a *thinking* enemy.

[Daralyn]

great to see continue
Tough for the final version I think that it would be better to switch between different characters to rougly keep chronology ( simillar to Song of Ice and Fire series )
It would be more interesting than half of book without change of view and it would serve as natural cliffhanger if done right.

[The Iron Pony]

Good chapter.

[FiredragonX]

That was so epic!

[Lunar Vanguard]

You know after Reckoning, I started reading this and lost interest at about chapter four. Since then I've kept it on my watch list, but really wanted you to get on with the story and drop AJ's arc much sooner. Now I've read through all the content and don't know what to think. It certainly has all the elaborate details and complex characters like the first two, but I just wasn't engaged anymore. I really wished you had condensed this arc into a shorter span, because I just wanted to get to the ending.

This is criticism on my read through. It's a fantastic story and all, but it just dragged on and on. Your first two stories were fantastic because the extended details and change of perspectives between chapters enriched the story and developed the characters that much better. I hope your next arc is a bit more gripping than AJ's.

Thanks for the stories again.

[Follower of Chaos]

It's funny how people accuse you of ripping off Dark Souls but you had the perfect opportunity to go the Artorias route with Apple Slice and his fate. But you didn't just do that and I really enjoyed the whole confrontation, verbal and physical aspects both.

Sakylthos is an interesting character and I'd give him credit for surviving an encounter with Apple Slice, if I didn't get the impression Apple Slice just didn't care enough to kill him quickly. He is still the only member of the 3 enemy races to not be total fodder (though that's still mostly because of the chain). Can't see him surviving unless he decides to help Equestria or at least agrees to go back to Ophidus and warn them about Abyss, Oceanus and the like.

So we're going to see the guy that reduced Ornstein to a shaking mess at the mere thought of them.
Let's see what scared him so much