Author's Note

This chapter contains parts of two songs, Carry on my wayward son by Kansas and Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. I'm sorry if AJ seems a little OOC.

Chapter 4 Old Memories and New Job

I opened my eyes to find myself in a makeshift bed, in what seemed to be a horse-drawn carriage.

“Dad, I think he’s waking up! Mr. Kyle, can you hear me?”

I shifted my eyes to see a girl with orange hair and dark blue eyes with a thin frame, though she looked like she would be slightly taller than Alice. I closed my eyes groggily and then got up in a start as I remembered what happened as—

“Am I dead?” I asked, placing my only remaining hand on my chest, where I had been stabbed by the demon’s blade.

A man behind me chuckled. “I don’t think so. Right now, I think we’re heading to Hyrule Castle, as your sister asked us.
Name’s Talon, by the way.”

My eyes widened. “Where is she?”

The man chuckled again. “Don’t worry, son. She’s right next to Malon.”

The orange-haired girl pointed over to a redhead with bandages over her eyes and blood on her cheeks.

“Alice?”

The girl smiled at me. “Hey, Kyle.”

“What happened to you?” I asked, horrified at what I was seeing.

“I used magic to heal you and the spell backfired, taking my eyes and legs,” my sister explained pointing to her missing limbs.

“Why would you do that? You never were good with the more advanced healing spells...You’re lucky you didn’t die,” I scolded my sister.

She frowned at me. “It’s better than letting you die. Mother wanted you to deliver the letter. Plus you knew that side of the forest better than I did. I probably would have gotten lost and you know what happens when Kokiri get lost in those woods.”

“And what if you hadn’t succeeded? Did you think about that? You’re lucky it brought me back and that it didn’t kill you.”
Malon intervened. “Please, both of you need to calm down. You’ve both already lost a substantial amount of blood, and I’d prefer to get you to Hyrule Castle in one piece.”

Malon’s father looked back at us. “You two won’t have to wait long. You’ve been asleep for most of the ride.”

“Thank you for doing this.” I said. “How many rupees will I owe you for this?”

The middle-aged man chuckled. “Save your money...Your thanks is enough. Besides, Malon said she’ll introduce you to a
friend of hers who can give you two autosynth limbs, and those can get pricey.”

“Autosynth Limbs?” I asked, curious as to what the old man meant.

“Auto Prosthetic Limbs, or Autosynth,” Malon explained. “They’re mechanical limbs that can function as an actual limb would. I doubt your sister would gain her eyesight back, but you both would be able to walk and function as normal citizens.”

“Auto Prosthetic, huh?” I said.

She nodded.

“You’re certain your friend would be able to give us our limbs?”

She nodded again. “She’s a brilliant mechanic, as well as a blacksmith.”

Talon looked back at us. “And I wouldn’t recommend telling anyone about your autosynth limbs once you get them.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Some people think that autosynth limbs are a bad thing and that anyone who uses them should be condemned to hell,”
Malon explained.

“Completely preposterous, if you ask me,” Talon grumbled.

“In a way, I can see where they’re coming from,” Alice said. “It could be seen as a corruption of what the gods gave to us, which might be why some people dislike the idea of people getting limbs that aren’t of flesh and bone.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed with my sister. “Though it’s the amputee’s choice, not theirs.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Malon agreed with me.

“So how did you meet this friend of yours?” I asked Malon.

“Well…” Malon lifted her dress up slightly to reveal her feet. One looked like a normal foot, though she had a small frame, while the other one looked like a mechanized foot. “I lost my leg from the shin down in a rock climbing accident as a child. My friend’s father fixed me up with a new leg.”

Alice and I continued to talk with Malon and Talon. They asked us about our personal lives and we answered most of them until they started to ask questions about how I lost my arm and why we were running away from our home. I didn’t realize where we were until the cart stopped.

“We reached our destination,” Talon said. “Malon, you’d better carry Alice since Kyle would have trouble doing so.”

I slid off the cart and grabbed my sword, strapping it to my back. I then reached for Alice’s bow and quiver and strapped them to my back.

Malon look worried. “Are you sure you won’t need help in the market?”

Talon chuckled. “Don’t worry about me. They will probably need your help more than I.”

“Well...All right...Just stay away from the bar this time, okay?” Malon said, still looking worried about her father. “I’d prefer not to have the whole city looking for you.”

Talon chuckled and rode off.

Malon sighed. “All right, let’s go see my friend.”

I nodded. “Lead the way.”

“Her shop’s actually right here.” She pointed to the door to the right of us.

I looked at the door. “Well, that’s…convenient.”

Malon chuckled while picking up Alice. “Dad didn’t want to risk you getting lost. If you wouldn’t mind knocking on the
door.”

I complied with her wishes and knocked on the door.

“Just a second!”

The door began to open.

I woke up in my bed in Ponyville.

“Another dream about him, huh?”

I looked over to see Twilight standing near my door.

“Yeah,” I replied groggily.

“You were talking in your sleep again.” She chuckled. “Maybe it’s a memory from a past life?”

I looked at the ground. “Maybe.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Just thinking of Ashfire. I’m going to go take a shower before I go to work.”

I exited my room and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. As I entered the shower and put the water on the hottest settings, I began to remember those I led to their deaths.

Flashback

“I need you and your squad to search that hospital for any survivors,” Shining Armor ordered me, when he noticed I wasn’t leaving. “Something wrong, Sergeant?”

I sighed. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

Shining Armor nodded. “Go for it.”

“I’m not sure my squad is up for it, sir. About fifty percent of my squad has died within the last week.”

“Sun...we all know the dangers of war. They knew what they signed up for. Besides, I’m sure they’d follow you to Tartarus
if you asked them to. I’ve seen your charisma with them. At times, it’s scary.”

“All right. I’ll do my best, sir. I’ll see if we can find any survivors.” I saluted him and left his tent.

I began to leave to give my squad our orders when I heard a soft, “Hello, sexy.”

I turned around to see a red unicorn mare with a short black mane and a torch for a cutie mark.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to talk to me like that, Ash?”

The mare grinned. “Come on, you know you like it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’d just love the shit I would get from Black Water. And that’s just in the squad. Never mind what chain of command would think. I mean you’re getting married to the guy.”

“I guess you’re right. I’ll go tell the rest of the squad to meet up at the hospital.”

I nodded and flew in the direction of our objective.

I scouted around the hospital for a while, when I noticed that my squad, or what was left of it, had gathered in front of
the hospital. I flew down to meet them.

“So we’re looking for survivors?” a grey pegasus mare asked me.

“Those are our orders, Windgrazer.”

We began search the hospital with no luck.

“Damn it. First fucking floor and there’s nopony around,” a blue unicorn with black and grey hair complained.

“There’s still two more floors, Black," Ashfire said.

I nodded and went to open the door labeled STAIRS.

Locked...of course. Rolling my eyes, I went on the right side of the door so the knob would be on my left. Turning around,
I gave the stubborn doorknob a good buck and it flew off.

“Let’s go.” I said.

We climbed the stairs up to the second floor. Upon reaching it, we found that the walls were smeared with blood, as well as dismembered body parts hanging literally from the walls, as if they were a part of them.

“Shit ...I think I’m gonna be sick,” Windgrazer complained, horrified by the sight.

“Sun, take a look over there. I think there’s somepony wounded,” Ash said, pointing down the hall.

I gazed down the hallway and saw a pony lying face down on the floor. I walked toward the pony’s body to see if it was alive. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was a male earth pony. When Ashfire turned him over onto his side, I noticed the pony had a bomb strapped to his chest.

“BOMB!!! EVERYPONY, GET BACK!!!” I shouted as my eyes widened.

We began to run back down the hall. I remember hearing a loud boom before seeing a flash of red and losing consciousness.
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“Damn it. An entire squad lost to a bomb,” I heard a pony say.

“Wait, I think Sun and Ash are still with us. Get a medic in here!” Shining Armor yelled.

“Stay with me, kid.”
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When I managed to regain consciousness, I found myself in a bed with a bandage wrapped around my left wing. As I attempted to sit up, a white hoof placed itself on my chest.

"Careful, soldier," Shining said. "You got banged up pretty badly."

"W-Wher-" I croaked. "Where's Ash?"

"She's over there," Shining said, pointing to the bed next to me. "Doctors are doing everything they can, but it doesn't look good. They’re saying she’s got maybe an hour left."

“Can I see her?” I asked.

“I don’t see why not. I’ll get a nurse to help you,” Shining said as he got up and left.

He came back with a white female earth pony with a pink mane.

I got up with the help of the nurse and walked over to Ash. She had bandages all over her body.

“Hey,” Ash said with a smile, as I sat down next to her.

“Why’d you do it?” I asked her.

“Do what?”

“Don’t play stupid with me, Ash. Last thing I remember seeing before losing conscious was a flash of red, which is the color of your aura,” I said pointing to her horn.

Ash sighed, “You were closer to the bomb than the others were. I used a shield spell to guard you from the blast.”

“Then how did you get injured?” I asked, with a look of confusion on my face.

“The blast ended up breaking through the shield and the force sent the both of us through a wall.”

“But why save me?”

She shrugged. “I couldn’t just let you die back there. Besides, I don’t think your mother or Princess Celestia would be very happy if I let you die when I could have done something.”

“I’m sure they would have understood.”

“Yeah...Remember when we first met?”

I nodded. “Yeah...The Heavy Cloud...”

“I’m surprised you remember that name, considering how hammered you were.”

I chuckled. “I remember getting yelled at the next day by my mom in the Royal Canterlot voice.”

“Do you remember that song we sang? I believe it went something like this…”

“Carry on my wayward son...There’ll be peace when you are done….” Ash began to sing a song before she started to cough uncontrollably.

I finished the lyrics. “Lay your weary head to rest...Don’t you cry no more…”

She smiled weakly as she said, “You remembered.”

“Kinda hard to forget.”

She coughed into her hoof and as she lowered it, I saw something red.

Blood.

I got up to find a nurse but Ash grabbed my shoulder. I looked at her as she shook her head.

“Don’t bother… It’s too late for me…”

“Don’t say that,” I said. “You’ve still got a lot to live for.”

“All due respect, sir...It would be a waste of their time and energy.”

“Damn it, Ash...Let me do this for you,” I said sternly.

“I heard the doctors, Sun...I don’t have long to live. It would be better for them to save someone who would live than to prolong someone else life who won’t,” Ash said, noticing my sad expression,” You can’t save every pony you see… you’re only one pony.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t try.”

“Pony’s sake...You’re so stubborn.”

“Yeah, wel- Ash!!!” I shouted as I noticed she had lost consciousness. “I need a doctor in here now!!!”

I turned the water knob and stepped out of the shower. After grabbing a towel from under the sink and drying myself off, I exited the bathroom, walked down the hall and the stairs, only to be greeted by Twilight.

“You going out?”

“Yeah. First day of work,” I replied.

“Well, stay safe,” Twilight said.

“No promises. You know me better than anyone,” I said, exiting the library.

I jogged most of the way to the sign of Sweet Apple Acres, as I wanted to get there quickly, but not so fast that I would be
too tired to do my job. By the time I got to the Apple house, AJ and Big Macintosh were already leaving.

“Crap, am I late?” I asked.

AJ yawned while Big Mac answered, “Actually, yer a few minutes early.”

I sighed in relief. “Thank the heavens.”

“You ready to get started?” AJ asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

We walked to the orchard to start applebucking.

-One week later-

I sat on the hill that Applejack, Big Mac and I had been meeting on for the past week.

“Hey!”

I turned around to see AJ and Big Mac walking uphill toward me.

“You haven’t been out here long, have you?” Applejack asked.

“Nah, just got here a few minutes ago. Ready to get started?” I replied.

Big Mac replied with his normal, “Eeyup.”

We walked off to the orchard and began to work on the trees. After a few hours of working in silence, Applejack decided to start up a conversation.

“So how are yer legs feelin’?” Applejack asked out of the blue. “Sore at all?”

I chuckled. “No, I think on the first couple days I was sore, but that might have been because I was a bit out of shape.”

Big Mac, AJ and I began to walk back to the house to grab a bite to eat before I left for the day.

“So Hearth’s Warming Day is coming. Got any plans?” I asked.

“Gonna spend time with my family. You?”

“Might go visit my mother in Canterlot. Other than that, I can’t really think of anything.”

“Well, You’re free to come visit us if you can’t get to Canterlot. You’re practically part of the family.”

I nodded. “I’ll definitely think about it. Train tickets to Canterlot can get pretty pricey this time of year.”

“Why don’t you fly there? Wouldn’t that be cheaper?” Big Mac inquired.

I lifted my left wing to reveal the burn scars on the inside and along my side. “This makes it difficult to fly long distances this time of year.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what caused those scars?” Applejack asked, looking afraid to upset me.

I closed my eyes. “I was in the military a few years ago. I ended up accidentally setting a bomb off by turning somepony over who had one strapped to their chest.”

Applejack looked shocked. “A bomb?! How did you manage to survive?”

“A friend blocked it with a spell, but the force of the explosion was too much and some off the blast ended up burning the inside of my wing and my side. It also killed most of my squad.”

“I’m sorry.” She looked at the ground.

”It’s not your fault,” I said.

“So what happened to this friend that shielded you?”

“She’s dead,” I said, grimacing. “She bled out in the operating room.”

“Oh.”

When we arrived at the house, I opened the door for AJ and Big Mac to enter.

“Thanks,” AJ and Big Mac said consecutively.

As I entered the house, I was greeted by the smell of fresh baked apple pie, apple fritters, and other apple-related food. Granny Smith was setting the table when she noticed us walking in the door.

“You three are done, I take it?” Granny asked, looking at the clock.

Big Mac replied with his simple, “Eeyup.”

“I don’t know about y’all, but I’m starving,” Applejack said.

“This all looks and smells delicious, Mrs. Smith,” I said, complimenting the food.

“Why, thank you, Sun,” Granny said. “Could you be a dear and go get Applebloom from her room?”

“Sure,” I said, walking through the house and up the stairs towards Applebloom’s room. As I approached her bedroom door, I started to hear music coming from inside, and the closer I got, I recognized the artist I assumed Applebloom was singing to.

“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number. So call me maybe,” she sang.

I knocked on the bedroom door, causing her to jump. Peering in the room, I observed that she had a lot of Sapphire Shores posters.

“I take it you like Sapphire Shores,” I inquired, look around at the posters.

“Yep, she’s one of my favorite musical artists.”

Good to know.

“Your grandmother wanted me to come get you, I think it’s time to eat.”

“All right,” the little filly replied. I walked back out of the room and down the stairs with Applebloom following close
behind. By the time we got down to the dinner table, Granny, Big Mac and Applejack were just sitting down. Applebloom and I both walked around the table to do the same.

“Let’s eat!” Applejack said impatiently. “I’m starvin’.”

Everypony nodded and started to grab random food off the table. I had managed to grab a couple fritters and began to
chow down. After we all ate, I got up to start heading home.

“You headin home, Sun?” Big Mac inquired.

“Yeah, I told Twi I’d help her with some stuff at the library, so I’d better start heading home.”

“Well, somepony should go with you, just in case,” Granny said.

“What do you mean?”

Applejack got up and began to walk to the door.

“Come on, I’ll explain on the way.”

We walked through the orchard and about halfway through town, when I asked the question.

“So what did your grandmother mean by ‘Just in case’?”

Applejack sighed, “Ponies have been seeing...things...comin’ out of the Everfree Forest.”

“What kind of things?”

“It’s different with some ponies,” she explained. “Some have been seeing friends and family they’ve lost, while others see tall, grey-skinned creatures walking on two legs.”

That sounds familiar...

My eyes widened as I realized why.

The demons from my dream.

“I…”

Wait...What are you doing? She’ll probably think you’re crazy!!!

“Something wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, noticing that I had stopped moving, and looked concerningly at me.

“It’s nothing,” I lied, putting on my best poker face.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”

“Yeah, just think it sounds familiar is all. Might have read about something similar.”

“Ah,” Applejack replied. “Oh, my.”

Looking over in her general direction, Applejack appeared to be staring intently at what appeared to be the window of a jewelry store.

“What’s up?” I asked, following her eyes to a pair of eagle-shaped earrings.

“Not much. Just browsing the store for the Hearth’s Warming Gala,” she responded. “Twi got invitations for it a few months ago. Normally, I ain’t a fashion pony, but I’d like to dress nice again. Hopefully, it’ll be better than the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“What happened at the gala?”

She explained to me about what happened at the gala; about how she and the girls had gone for their own reasons and found that the gala had not been what they had thought it would be.

“The Hearth’s Warming Gala tends to be an exclusive event, so that shouldn’t happen again,” I said as we continued to walk to the library. “As well as being less...formal."

“Have you attended it before?”

“Once, but I was a guard,” I said

As we approached the library, the weather had begun to change. Rain started to pour heavily and the wind was blowing furiously. Twilight was standing inside of her house holding the door open, waving towards us.

“Applejack! Sun! Come on and get inside!” Twilight shouted to us, as we ran into the library as quickly as we could.

“Thank ya kindly for yer hospitality, Twilight,” Applejack said.

Twilight nodded. “You’re welcome. The weather team certainly has created a doozy of a storm, haven’t they?”

“I don’t think this was the weather team,” I interjected.

“What makes you say that?”

“Well I asked Dash yesterday when the next rainstorm would be and she said it wouldn’t be for a few more days,” I stated matter of factly.

“That’s odd,” Twilight said while levitating every book in the library. “Shall we get started?”

“Yeah.”

Twilight dropped the books around the library and we began to get to work.

“Hmm. That’s odd,” Twilight exclaimed as we were about halfway done.

“What’s wrong, Twi?” Applejack inquired.

“There’s a book in here I don’t recognize,” Twilight replied, levitating the book to me. “Sun, is this one of yours?”

“I didn’t come here with anythi…” I started to say as I glance at the title, shocked.

Hylian Demonology, Vol. I.

“Sun, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked with concern in her voice.

Applejack looked over to me, ”Talk to us, Sun.”

They’re real.

The world started to become heavy as I collapsed.