Chapter III ~ The Wailing Mountain
Wrapped in the tattered remains of a long worn tunic darkened with grime and age, the titan moves with the glacial slowness of an iceberg along an arctic sea. Its thunderous steps are unhurried as it aimlessly wanders the eternally nighted lands of Ayafern.
Its mournful wails ring out ceaselessly in the dark, the sound all but drowning out the somber clink and clatter of the heavy iron chains that drag from the manacles bound to the giant's arms and legs. Its head hangs low with the weight of some unknown burden and its grotesque features remain hidden behind a long disheveled curtain of oily black hair.
Prodigious in its bulk, with arms like boulders, legs like the thick and wizened trunks of a tree several millennia old, and a murky grey hide as resilient as stone, the giant would paint a daunting picture of strength to any who would cross its path. The morning star it carries, half as large as the colossus itself and its barbed steel head blackened and rusted red with the blood of its previous victims only serves to reinforce that monstrous aura.
But the wolf, mad with hunger and blinded by its bloodlust, fails to comprehend its full might. Like a strike of lightning, it bursts forth from the shade of the surrounding trees, eager to play the part of the vicious hunter. Opening its maw wide, the would-be predator moves in with blinding speed and snaps its jaws down on one leg of the unsuspecting giant with enough force to crack through its stony flesh.
The giant cries out in pain and raises one shackled arm before bringing down its mighty morning star in response. The sluggishness of only a moment ago melts away as though it had all been some terrible ruse. Like the sudden eruption of a long-dormant volcano, the titan's rage explodes and the wolf is forced to release its prey and retreat.
It nimbly steps away just out of the titan's reach, but the impact of the morning star upon the ground causes the wolf to stumble. Stunned and reeling from the sudden attack, the wolf has little time to recover as the titan presses its aggressive assault. The titan closes what little distance the wolf had gained in an instant in an attempt to crush the smaller beast beneath the weight of its other fist.
Instincts honed only recently kick in and the wolf launches itself sideways, narrowly avoiding another attack. Seeing an opportunity for retaliation, it hops along the outstretched arm of the giant, racing up the limb to reach its neck. Another furious roar rips itself from the giant's throat as it tries to shake the wolf off, but the reaction comes too slowly.
The wolf sinks its claws into the titan's hide for purchase before tearing once more into the stony skin of its neck with all the savagery of a wild beast. More wails of pain and rage escape the titan as it thrashes about trying to dislodge the wolf. Desperate, it drops the morning star to the ground and reaches up to grab at the gnawing pest.
Lost in its bloodlust, the wolf fails to disengage itself in time to evade the giant's hand as it closes around its middle. With a surprised yelp, the distracted predator suddenly finds itself torn from the giant and thrown bodily into the trees where it smashes against several with bone-breaking force. With another battle cry, the giant takes up its weapon and charges in to finish what the would-be hunter started.
The collision with the many gnarled trees, while far from fatal, leaves the wolf bruised, battered, and dazed. Amongst the many trees felled from the impact, the injured wolf tries to pick itself back up from where it had fallen. As it struggles to rise to its feet, the thunderous sound of heavy footfalls reaches its ears. Raising its head, it spots the source of the noise.
The horrifying realization that the titan is already upon it is enough to allow the wolf a brief moment of lucidity before the bloody morning star falls and its world is reduced to nothing but agony and a newfound but short-lived sense of regret.
"Gah!"
Applejack's eyes snapped open and she let out a sharp yelp as disjointed images of wanton brutality flashed through her mind. She tried to scramble to her hooves only to immediately find that something was very clearly off.
"What in the—"
A quick look below and around herself was enough to confirm her suspicions, but not much else. Where she expected to find the orange hooves she was born and had lovingly spent her entire life toiling away on the farm with, there was instead a pair of dark red paws whos vicious claws dug softly into the ground.
"W-Wha...?"
Whatever thoughts or memories had assaulted her mind before were quickly pushed aside and momentarily forgotten as panic begin to set in. Twisting herself around, she saw to her horror that Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee had both been replaced by those same monstrous red paws. A sound escaped her lips then, a sort of keening whine—like that of a wounded or distressed canine.
It was something she'd heard many times before from Winona back home, but certainly no noise she'd ever heard herself make. And, no matter how little sense it made, no matter how much she didn't want to believe it, she had been the one to make that very canine sound. Applejack wasn't one for lies of any kind, not even to herself.
She made it a habit to be as open and honest as she could, and somewhere beneath all the panic and confusion, there was a rational mind capable of putting two and two together. That said, the mare wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination and she'd told more than her fair share of fibs in the past. As hard as she tried to live by the policy of honesty, there were still times when even she gave in to falsehoods and denial.
And in this case...
"A dream," she whispered, staring in wide-eyed disbelief at the bushy gold-tipped tail whipping anxiously back and forth behind her, "it's gotta be a dream, right? Or some kinda nightmare—"
"As an authority on both, and as much as I wish it were the case, I can assure you that this is neither a dream nor a nightmare."
Snapped out of her horrified reverie by the unsettling voice, Applejack whipped back around to see a pair of piercing eyes like icy blue flames staring back at her from a short distance away. Caught in the intensity of those smoldering blue flames, it took a moment for the bewildered mare-turned-wolf to notice the rest of the creature those eyes belonged to.
It was a heinous thing—a winged horror that Applejack could've sworn had crawled its way out of the deepest depths of Tartarus. The former cowpony saw this creature and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she was meant to be afraid, yet the fiend's ghastly appearance evoked in her not fear, but a strange sense of familiarity.
No, it ain't just that... it feels more like... like...
She shook her head, trying to gather her wits as best she could. The one thing Applejack knew for sure was that everything about this situation was wrong. She had to ground herself somehow or she wasn't going to make any kind of headway into figuring out what the hay was going on. There were questions that needed answering and she wasn't the kind of mare to hesitate.
As if bidden by some new instinct, Applejack took on a more intimidating stance, lowering her head and doing her best to ignore the low inequine growl rumbling from deep within her throat as she glared at the monster before her.
"Alright, start talkin'," Applejack demanded, "you know somethin', right? Where am I? Who—what are you? An' what happened to me?"
Now that she was able to think somewhat rationally, it was becoming increasingly clear to Applejack that there were more disturbing oddities at work than just her appearance. Though her voice had reached the other creature's ears, it hadn't been through word of mouth. Rather, the only thing that had been emitted vocally as she 'spoke' was a vicious snarl.
How the hay is that supposed to work?
"Now that's a fine tone to take with the one who delivered you from what was to be your fate as nothing more than a fine bloody paste upon the ground," the creature sniffed as she calmly approached the confused wolf.
"Woah, back up," Applejack's ear perked up and she raised her head in surprise, "ya'll did what now? Wait..."
Images once again flashed through her head, though they were hazy and indistinct. She recalled some massive hulking titan and shuddered at the remembered agony she suffered as it bore down on her with that barbed weapon, but even the recollection of that horrible pain felt vague and dreamlike in her mind.
Focusing on those hazy memories, she did, in fact, recall the distant sound of flapping wings and an obscure sensation of being lifted into the air. At the time, somewhere beneath her feral minded fear, she thought she'd imagined it, but evidently, that hadn't been the case.
"That was you?" Applejack muttered, trying to piece her thoughts together into something coherent, "you pulled me outta that... that mess?"
"And risked a great deal in doing so," the creature replied, "but nevermind that. Now that you've come to your senses, I need you to tell me your name as well as anything and everything you remember prior to that encounter."
"Now hold on just a second," Applejack shook her head again, trying to clear up the last of the fog in her mind. To her frustration and dismay, much of her thoughts were still shrouded behind a hazy veil, "Ah... the name's Applejack, but... but Ah... Ah don't..."
"You don't what?" the winged creature pressed impatiently, "out with it, girl. Do you or do you not remember what transpired before your encounter with the giant?"
"Ah... Ah can't remember," Applejack finally whispered after a moment, "Ah know Ah ain't supposed to be... whatever Ah am now. Ah know Ah was a pony at one point, but aside from that... Ah don't know."
"Really?" the creature asked, taking another step forward, "nothing at all? Not where you came from or how you got here?"
"Well..." Applejack wracked her brain, "it's vague, but Ah do remember somethin' about a farm... an' that Ah was lookin' for somethin', but Ah can't remember what. Aside from that... Ah don't know what happened before gettin' mashed up by that giant lummox. Don't even know how or why Ah got into that scrap in the first place."
"Hmmm..."
The creature studied Applejack silently for a moment, as though musing on how to proceed. Before she could come to a decision, Applejack spoke first.
"Alright, Ah answered your questions, now what about mine? Who are you, and..." she paused and looked past the winged creature to the radiant crystalline sprout as if just noticing it for the first time, "and... what the hay kinda saplin' is that?"
It was true that Applejack had a slew of questions that needed answering, but upon noticing the sapling, those questions somehow seemed a bit less important than they'd been before. The sprout had seized her attention and wouldn't let go. She felt drawn to its warmth, and before she'd even realized what she was doing, she had already made her way past the other creature and now sat before the infantile tree.
Again, Applejack felt that strange sense of familiarity—the same sense of familiarity she'd felt from the winged black beast. Something about both the other creature and this sapling almost reminded her of something she'd lost. Basking in the sapling's warmth, she pushed herself once more to try and remember, but nothing came of the effort besides a painful twinge of longing and a deeper sense of loss.
"Tell me, Applejack, does the name 'Equestria' mean anything to you?"
The question was enough to pull some, but not all, of the wolf's attention back to the creature and she turned to see that the creature in question had moved to stand beside her, her gaze also seemingly ensnared by the young tree. Applejack was quiet for a moment, then shook her head slowly.
"Now that you mention it, Ah feel like Ah should know what that is... and Ah think Ah do to a certain extent," she finally answered, "but it's like... like almost rememberin' a dream ya had the night before. The pieces are there, but a lot of 'em are missin' an' what's left don't make a lick of sense," she cast the creature beside her another side glance, "but you know, don't ya? You know what's goin' on, what all of this is about, right?"
"It's true that I understand a good deal more than you do at the moment," the creature replied, "but it would be a lie to say that I know everything there is to know about our... current predicament," she turned to meet Applejack's gaze, "you feel it as well, don't you? That overwhelming sense of kinship that stifles our mutual fear and distrust of each other?" she motioned to the tree before them with her chin, "the warmth we each draw from this tiny sapling?"
Applejack merely stared back at the creature, both surprised and expectant. The creature, in turn, gave Applejack a wry smile.
"I heard your cry from afar, but it was that feeling of kinship that led me to save you from that raging colossus," she explained, "I led the titan away and brought you here, and it was this sapling that allowed for the full recovery of your physical health, though it seems the Tree's power wasn't enough to restore your memory."
"So lemme get this straight," Applejack replied after a minute, "you're sayin' you were a pony just like me, an' Equestria is... where we came from?"
"Indeed," the creature confirmed, "and really, it wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to say that we still reside in Equestria, though many things have changed."
"Like what?" Applejack asked before frowning, "an' Ah still don't got a name to put to the face, stranger."
"Ah... right," the creature replied liked she'd forgotten the fact, "once upon a time I was known as Luna, and that is what you may call me. As for these changes," Luna swept a somber gaze across the surrounding forest where both former equines stood, "a great calamity has befallen our world, perverting the very nature of everything we once knew into something dark and twisted.
"Though I once called Equestria home, I come from a time long before yours, so I know little of the Equestria of your era," she brought Applejack's focus back to the glowing sapling, "that said, I do know that we were once separated from this world ruled by madness and violence, but this calamity brought our peaceful world to an end and this... what you see before you is all that remains."
"This?" Applejack asked, pointing one massive paw towards the sprout, "this tiny thing is all that's left?"
"There are evidently many of these saplings spread far and wide across the land," Luna clarified, "and each of these small saplings holds a mere fragment of a much greater power. It is this power that swept away your madness and brought you back from the brink of death."
"My madness?" Applejack tilted her head in bemusement, "is that what happened? You're sayin' I went nutty in the head and got into a fight with that thing?" her eyes suddenly lit up in realization, "Wait, that oaf back there, that wasn't another pony was it?"
"That was no pony, but rather a... no..." Luna suddenly turned away from Applejack and the sapling to stare out into the darkness, "...perhaps it may be best for you to explain to Applejack the nature of that titan?"
Applejack stared at Luna in blank confusion for a second before following her gaze, but there was nothing in the direction she was facing, and that was given how well both their visions had adapted to the all-consuming darkness. Luna ignored Applejack's quizzical look and continued to stare out at the distant trees with an impatient scowl.
"Seldom have I seen such a coward as this one," the demon muttered to herself before calling out, "I believe we have thoroughly established that the wolf means us no harm. We still have much to discuss and I alone am not enough to shed light on this situation!"
A sort of awkward silence filled the air as Luna waited for some kind of response from beyond the light of the sapling. Applejack began to have her own doubts about the demon's sanity—that is until she herself heard someone call back from the shadows.
"If you speak of giants, then there is only one that I know of who still roams these lands freely..." came a rough yet oddly cultured voice.
It was then, seemingly from thin air and just out of the reach of the sapling's radiant light, that another beast appeared. The boar-like creature was heavily robed, bipedal, powerfully built, and though it was no colossus, it still towered over both Luna and Applejack, even as large as both former ponies were.
With his presence hidden, Applejack hadn't been able to sense the beast at all, but now that he had revealed himself—and despite his intimidating appearance—the creature somehow had a rather underwhelming presence. At first, Applejack couldn't understand where the disconnect was coming from, but with her new instincts she picked up on it after a moment.
It's his scent... Ah don't smell any kinda hostility comin' from him. Actually, Ah think the poor fella's more afraid of us than we are of him...
With that conclusion, the tension vanished along with her surprise and she sat back down from where she'd suddenly jumped up. All that remained now was curiosity, both of who the robed boar was and what he had to say. The boarish creature eyed Applejack warily, no doubt making sure she wouldn't attack, and breathed a subtle sigh of relief when she went back to resting on her haunches. With a hand to his chest and a slight bow to both monsters before him, he spoke again.
"You said your name was Applejack, yes? I am Togg Tahlzul of Yarmha," he began in a gruff but courteous tone, "it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Pleasure's, uh... all mine, Ah guess," Applejack replied uncertainly, "Luna here is makin' it sound like the whole world is out to get me. Mighty glad to know not everythin' wants to smash me to bits."
"Alas, there is no shortage of vile and vicious horrors that want nothing more than to destroy and devour, but yes, there are those of us who still retain our wits, however small in number we may be," he shook his head sadly, "given this fact, I hope you can forgive my impertinence in keeping my presence hidden. In a ruthless age such as this, one cannot be too cautious."
"No Ah get it, believe me," Applejack replied with a rough snort and a dark grimace, "Ah don't blame ya none, an' hey, if you can tell me what the hay is goin' on I got no problem callin' you a friend," she flicked an ear and turned to Luna as another thought occurred to her, "an' Ah suppose Ah owe ya more'n a bit of thanks for savin' my hide."
Luna snorted and turned away.
"Keep your thanks, whelp," she replied in a curt tone, "more than anything I was simply repaying a small debt I owed to somepony else."
"A debt?" Applejack asked, "to who?"
"I'm sure you will find out soon enough," Luna replied cryptically.
The cold and vague answer left Applejack feeling somewhat irritated but before she could press the matter, Togg cleared his throat, catching both the former mare's attention.
"Yes well... there is still much yet to be discovered for all of us," Togg replied, "Luna and I have spoken of a few topics at length while you were indisposed, but it seems many questions still remain for both of us."
"Yeah, Ah've got a ton of 'em for sure," Applejack nodded and cast a quick glance back at Luna before looking back to Togg, "an' speakin' of which, what were you sayin' about the giant?"
"Ah yes," Togg's expression turned grim, "Miss Luna spoke of your unfortunate encounter with the Wailing Mountain."
"The... Wailin' Mountain?" Applejack gave a puzzled frown, "is that what ya'll call it? Ah mean Ah guess it was makin' a lot of noise, but..."
"Indeed," Togg nodded, "those few who have crossed his path and lived to tell the tale have taken to calling him the Wailing Mountain, but during the War of Liberation he was known by another name."
"Now wait just a darn minute," Applejack interjected, "War of Liberation?"
"A subject we only slightly managed to touch upon before you awoke," Luna clarified, "it was a war that took place between an eldritch goddess and an ancient king several hundred years ago."
"Huh," was Applejack's simple reply.
Something in her hazy memory stirred at the explanation, but try as she might, she failed yet again to penetrate the thick fog clouding her mind. She shook her head and grimaced in frustration, wanting to know more, but unable to recall anything. Before she could ask more about the war, Togg continued speaking.
"Yes, it was a long and grueling war—one of such a scale that it fundamentally changed the nature of our world," the conjurer raised a melancholy gaze to the broken moon above, "...and even much of what lays beyond."
He fell into a pensive silence for a brief moment before slowly shaking his head and letting out a despondent sigh.
"Ah, but it does me little good to dwell on the past," he turned back to Applejack and his tone shifted to something a bit lighter, "getting back to the previous topic, the giants are a pitiable people, you see.
"They were once a mighty tribe of fearsome warriors who'd thrown their lot in with the King during the war," he explained, looking almost wistful, "the strongest among them all was their war chief and champion, the one they called Yodyr. Better known back then as the Raging Mountain, both for his remarkable size even among giants and his unparalleled ferocity on the battlefield."
"No kiddin'," Applejack commented bitterly, "assumin' that's the brute Ah ran into back there, Ah'd say that's as fittin' a name as any."
"A beast among beasts," Togg said, nodding in agreement, "sadly, many of the giants fell to the Goddess' eldritch forces during the final battle.
"Those that survived were said to be imprisoned by the Goddess in a dungeon hidden somewhere deep beneath the earth. Yodyr in particular suffered a crippling defeat at the claws of the Goddess' Fell Guardian and the fallen war chief himself was confined along with his kin, that is until he escaped.
"No one quite knows when or how he managed to escape his imprisonment, but many believe it was centuries of torture that drove him mad and the fate of his tribe that causes him to weep endlessly," he paused to let the gravitas of his tale settle, then scratched at his chin thoughtfully, "this is all hearsay mind you, and while a good bit of it has some basis in truth, there is still much that remains in the dark."
"Well shoot," Applejack muttered in the ensuing silence, "now Ah feel kinda bad for the big guy, an' this 'Goddess' sounds like a real piece of work."
Again, she felt the distant pull of some memory veiled within the fog, but nothing came of seeking it out.
"Just who is this Goddess anyway?" she asked, turning to Luna, "somethin' about the name sounds familiar, but Ah can't put my hoof—er... paw, on what it is."
Luna, having already heard most of the story from Togg earlier, was content to let the conjurer explain, but she let a bit of surprise slip into her mostly passive expression at Applejack's words.
"You know of the Goddess?" she asked, "the Dead Goddess, Skal-Gazaath?"
Applejack tilted her head, her lupine features scrunching up as she contemplated the name. Eventually, she shook her head.
"Ah think so," she said slowly, "there's definitely somethin' there, but I can't reach it."
Luna opened her mouth to say something else, but then closed it and stared at and past the former earth pony, her eyes dimming slightly as her mind suddenly ran along another line of thought. Applejack watched her ponder on something or other with increasing unease. She looked over to Togg who looked just as perplexed. She blinked and turned back to Luna.
"Uh... Luna, ya got somethin' else you wanna say or...?"
Just then her eyes blazed back to life and she turned as if to stare out at something amidst the trees.
"Luna?" Applejack tried again, "what's—"
"Come, there is something I must show you," she all but commanded as she began a brisk trot into the surrounding forest. She stopped a moment and turned back to Togg, speaking almost as an afterthought, "you may come as well if you wish."
"Wait, where are ya goin'?" Applejack asked, scrambling to follow behind as Luna continued forward, "where are we goin'?"
Though she didn't stop this time around, Luna turned her head to address the baffled wolf.
"We're returning to the sight of your skirmish with the Wailing Mountain," she answered, "there is something nearby that I believe you might have left behind."
"I left somethin' behind?" Applejack asked, she took a quick look back to see that Togg had decided to follow as well, and was surprised to see that the bipedal boar had no issue moving through the thick underbrush despite the heavy robes he wore. Impressed but ultimately distracted by Luna's words, she called back to the demon in front of her, "what was it? What'd I leave behind?"
"I thought it a bit strange at the time though I paid no mind," Luna continued, ignoring Applejack's questions entirely, "now I think it may just be the key to recovering the past that eludes you."
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Yay an update
Hmm... things are interesting.
Did Luna leave behind a... hat, by chance?
Thank you very much for the update!
We've forgotten the hat Applejack!
Has Applejack really been reduced to "pony with hat" in our collective consciousness? No matter, she needs that hat back.
I just read both these stories in two big ol' sittings, and now, my bum sore, I must implore you for more!
But actually though, this shit is great, ponies ascending to Godhood, gore, horror, corruption, all that good stuff, its all here!
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Thanks, glad you're enjoying the story.
Still working the next chapter but in the meantime you can read what's essentially the prequel to this whole story here. It is full on Lovecraft and I'm not sure if it's your thing or not but the story is complete.
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Oh hell yeah, I'll get reading that right away
Fantastic! What an excellent read! I can NOT wait for more haha. Onwards!
Hope this story is ready to update soon.
I'm very eager to see where this goes.
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Have something special planned but I need more time. Soon though... soon...