Metal Gear Rising: Marevengeance

Chapter 5: Adjusting

“So you’re pretty much stuck like this huh AJ?” Rainbow Dash said as she loomed over Applejack, eyeing her body up and down.

“From what I know, yes… And you don’t need to annoy me about it,” She groaned. “Ah was trying to adjust to my new body and live normally until you reminded me about it just now…”

“Yeah, because you bucking tree into space is completely normal.” The pegasus said as she pointed the up rooted trees. “I can see why Granny said take the day off.”

“A day off means me avoiding what needs to be done and that is called laziness. You do that, not me…” The earth pony snarled. “Ever since it was just Apple Bloom, Mac, Granny and I, I felt as if I need to pitch in more since my pa… you probably know what I mean.” Applejack didn’t want to speak on the matter further, given how the conversation was with Shining Armor shortly after the Metal Gear incident a week and a half ago. But it was still fresh on her mind because of it. “Ah just want to live my life normally… I don’t want to feel like ah’m different just because of what happened.”

“Kinda to late for that.” Rainbow Dash mumbled as she noticed a deadpan expression on Applejack’s face. “Just saying, this is ponyville after all. Weird stuff always happens here remember?” She said as Applejack raised a brow. “Um… why don’t you just take a walk around town, or meet up with one of the girls. Maybe that can get you out of that mood you’re having.”

“Sorry Rainbow, but this isn’t something I can just walk off…” She said, getting up and looking at her friend. “I appreciate you trying to help, but right now, I just need some time to adjust… and the best way to do that is alone.” Without Rainbow even getting the chance to say a reply, Applejack trotted off, going through the orchard and just trying to get some air. However, what she said just made Rainbow a little concerned for her… she had never seen AJ act like this before and to her, it was quite depressing. The pegasus wanted to see her friend be herself again, but that was hard ever since she became a cyberpony.

“Hm...Maybe Twilight might know what to do about this? She is the smartest pony, so she might be able to help.” With that in mind, the pegasus flew off to go see her friend as she soon landed in the castle that wa Twilight’s home a few moments later. To her surprise, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were there along with Twilight and they looked to be discussing something as well, but stopped when they saw her.

“Umm… did I come in at a bad time?” She asked, causing Pinkie to giggle a little in response.

“Ah, Rainbow Dash, perfect timing.” Twilight said as she looked over Rarity shoulder. “We were actually gonna send Pinkie to get you, but I guess that won’t be necessary.”

“Oh really? Then what are you girls talking about?” She asked, only to think of a possible answer as she looked back at them. “Is it something having to do with Applejack?”

“Yep! We’re planning on throwing her a surprise party to cheer her up!” Pinkie Pie said as she jump around in front of Rainbow Dash.

“I’m… not sure if that’s going to help,” Dash informed them. “She told me that she needed time to adjust… I tried suggesting for her to go on a walk or to spend some time with me, but she refused… She also told me that since her father disappeared, she felt as if she needed to play her part in helping with the family… which when she told me, it sounded kind of depressing.”

“Which is why a party will cheer her up. Especially when it’s being thrown by her bestest friends.” The party pony said, smiling as she zoomed off to sugarcube corner.

“Uh… did she just ignore what I just told her?” Rainbow asked, sighing a little. “A party is not going to help break Applejack out of her funk… Trust me, didn’t it take me a while to get over the fact that I couldn’t prevent winter from coming to prevent Tank from leaving me and going into hibernation?”

“I know, but it couldn’t hurt but to try. Plus this is Pinkie Pie. If anypony can bring a smile to somepony, it’s definitely her that can do it.” Rarity said as she looked up at Rainbow Dash. “Where is Applejack anyways?”

“Last I know of, she was going for a walk along her orchard after Granny Smith asked for her to take the day off.” Rainbow replied. “I think she just needs the chance to clear her mind a little… not have it bouncing all over the place with something to distract her.”

“Oh come on, Rainbow, how bad can it be?” Twilight asked, looking back at her friend… shortly before an apple tree came crashing through her castle in the living room.

“I believe that was one of the trees that Applejack was trying to harvest earlier… Who knew it would take that long to come back down from space.”

“Wait, she bucked it into space!?” Twilight said as her eyes widen, as a scroll and quill appeared in her hands.

“Honestly, I think that just happened from kicking it too hard. She did seem a bit frustrated…” Rainbow told her. “Like I said, she’s not aware of her full strength yet. Which means a high five from her could have you crashing into the mayor’s office… or worse.”

“Interesting.” The Alicorn said as she wrote it down on the scroll. “This might be a problem if she doesn’t keep her strength in check.”

“True… But one of the reason’s why Applejack is like this is because she knows that you are still spying on her.” Rainbow pointed out, causing Twilight to blush and her wings to flare up for a minute. “Oh come on, do you honestly think hiding in a cardboard box is going to help you?”

“I told you that wouldn’t work!!” Spike yelled from across the hall, causing Twilight to roll her eyes in annoyance.

“I’m just taking notes to see if I can help her with her problem. Plus this is something that has never happened before in Equestria. So I figured I collect some notes to bring to Celestia to see if she might help with more intel on this.”

“And the last time that happened was when that Armstrong guy showed up,” Rarity reminded her. “Look, if Applejack needed our help, she would tell us. She is the Element of Honesty after all and I think that right now, unless she says otherwise, she wants to figure this out on her own. We should at least give her the chance to do so and allow for her to come to us if it doesn’t work out, am I right?”

With a sigh of defeat, Twilight’s horn began to glow as the scroll and quill disappeared. “I guess you’re right.”

With that though, only one other question was said in that particular moment that had everyone else stressing out. “So who’s going to be the one to tell Pinkie Pie about this?”

“Stupid pony and that stupid deal he made with me.” Applejack said, walking around the Apple Orchard while kicking a rock around the ground. “Should’ve known that colt was suspicious. Now look at me. How am I suppose to work on the farm if I’m like this?” The earth pony’s mood and thoughts on the situation only made her feel worse about herself as she continued to think down on what had happened recently. She never had asked for this… She never wanted this… but it happened anyways. “When I find that pony, I’m going to make him tell me how to fix this. Or at least tell me where to go to get myself turned back to normal.”

It was during this moment that she heard a ringing sound again, which upon looking at her wrist, was from Doktor. One person which she did not want to talk to… but didn’t want to come off rude by ignoring it.With a press of a button on her wrist, her visor covered her face as a digital screen appeared showing Doktor’s face on it. “Hello?”

“Oh good to see you, Applejack. I was hoping I could get the chance to talk to you about something…” The Doctor replied, only causing her to groan a bit and for him to hear that. “It’s not too strenuous… I just thought of something that could help you with something regarding your strength.”

“....Go on.” Applejack said as she raised a brow.

“Well, I have been developing a program that I can install for you that allows you to suppress your cybernetic strength for normal daily events like labor, but also allows you to enhance it when in dangerous situations. That way, you can still live normally and not have to worry about your newfound strength destroying anything.” What the doctor said was promising, but still had Applejack wonder a few things because of it. First and foremost, how was he able to develop this? Second, when could it be ready for her?

“You do not know how happy I am to hear that partner. So how do I get this program from you?”

“That’s the thing though that we are trying to figure out… It would involve trying to figure out how Armstrong and them have opened up rifts into your world from ours. Because this isn’t something I can upload digitally. It needs to be a manual installation… fortunately though, the program itself is complete and depending on how some of our recent test go with a newly acquired portal device, we could have ourselves a gateway to where you are very soon…” Doktor explained, sighing a little as he took a moment to clean his glasses. “But there are two things I can do in the meantime… In the combat maneuvers folder for training, I sent you a new series of moves focused on hand to hand combat and martial arts… The other? Well… I’ll let you see for yourself.”

“If it involves a sword, then I’ll look at it later. Right now I’m more interested in the program thing you’re talking about and how to get it.”

“I understand that and we are working around the clock to get it to you… But, I believe there is someone here that wants to see you…”

“And who would that be? Not to be rude or anything, but I’m not in a very talkative mo-.”

“A-AJ?” She heard a male voice and soon saw Doktor move out of the way to see somepony she never would think she would see again. “AJ, is that you?”

“P-Pa...is that really you?”

“Oh dear Celestia… It is you.” He said, the stallion almost on the verge of tears now. “Y-you’ve grown so much…”

“Oh pa, I missed you so much.” Applejack said as tears began to flow down her face. “W-Where have you been all these years?”

“Well… remember the letter I left for ya?” He asked. “Well, what we were going to investigate in the badlands was actually the thing that brought me here… Desperado, or whatever Doktor calls them, pulled me and my squad here, killing the others and capturing me… Raiden freed me recently and we’re trying to find a way for me to come back home…”

“Wait, in the badlands? Why were you investigating that place?”

“That was where we had recieved the reports of the portals from… Originally, we had thought that something escaped from Tartarus, but it turns out it was something else entirely… By my word, you have grown so much, AJ…” He said. “You look just like your mother…”

“Um...T-Thanks pa.” She said. Shortly before Doktor sighed and looked at her father.

“I’ll give you two some privacy. You must have a lot of catching up to do.” He said before walking out of the room and leaving the two earth ponies to talk amongst themselves. However, the first thing her father said sort of surprised AJ… along with embarrassed her.

“So… Have you been seeing anypony recently?”

“PA!”

“What? I haven’t seen you in some time and you’re a grown mare. Can’t ah just ask a question?” He sighed, looking back. “You know what… I think I messed up. Let me rephrase that. How has everypony on the farm been recently?”

“W-Well everypony is fine on the farm. Though just a heads up. If you see some uprooted trees, let’s just say that I might have done it when I was apple bucking.” The mare said with a sheepish smile on her face.

“Hey, accidents happen sometimes.” He chuckled. “I was just curious… though, I’m worried that if I come home too soon, Granny Smith might have a heart attack from seeing me.”

“Granny will be fine. It’ll take more than seeing you to give her a heart attack...although she might smack you upside the head for disappearing for past couple of years.”

“That… I would expect.” The Stallion chuckled. “So, have you been taking care of your little sister?”

“She’s going well. She met some friends a while back and are now part of a club call the cutie mark crusaders.”

“Judging from the name, it sounds like they’re desperate to get them… You’re making sure she doesn’t get into any trouble right? Both you and Mac?”

“Yes, we been keeping her out of trouble. Though I’m a bit surprise they’re able to get away with most of the stuff they do when they go out crusading.” That just had the stallion raise an eyebrow. A sign that Applejack needed to be a little bit more specific and provide some examples for him in the process. “Okay so maybe I’ve been a bit distracted with farm work, and duties on being the element of honesty and stuff to pay attention to what Apple Bloom been doing on her crusading a bit…”

“What sort of things do they do on their crusading?” Came her father’s next question.

“You know when I was little and I was trying to fly off the barn to see if I can fly? Well imagine that but with them trying to find their cutie marks with stuff similar to that.”

“Oh boy… That… can be a handful… in all honesty though, using the kite that you had as a kid was a good idea… But then came gravity… Please don’t tell me they tried something on your brother…”

“Unless you count the love poison they gave Ms. Cheerilee and Big Mac on hearts and hooves day… then it’s a bit too late.”

“Great… Now I’m just getting flashbacks.” Jonathan Apple replied, causing her daughter to look confused for a moment.

“Flashbacks? Wait did you do something like that?”

“No, more like something like that happened to me… One of your uncles when we were kids thought it would be funny to try the love poison trick on me and also another mare… which later on turned out to be your mother… Let’s just say that he got grounded for a couple of months afterwards.”

“.....I...don’t know how to respond to that.”

“Funny thing is, he is a lot like your cousin… Braeburn I believe.” He replied. In that moment though, Applejack did not realize somepony else coming up from behind as somepony tapped her on the shoulder. Turns out, it was actually her brother.

“You okay, AJ?”

“Ah! Um! Y-Yeah I’m fine!” Applejack said as she turned around to see Big Mac behind her. “What are you doing here Big Mac?”

“Ah was coming to check on ya. Ah heard ya talking to yourself and-.”

“Hang on, is that Mac? AJ, is that Mac talking to ya?” Her father asked, causing Applejack to sigh for a moment.

“Well… Mac… I think there’s something you need to see…” She said. With her free hand, she had the visor disappear and instead, had the communication screen form from the palm of her hand where it was big enough for her and Mac to see the pony she was talking to.

“Mac? Oh dear C-celestia…”

“P-pa?”

“Yes Big Mac, it him.” The stallion stared at the screen, slackjawed. He was going to ask about how it was possible, but Applejack and Jonathon Apple gave him a quick summary on it so the stallion would understand.

“I-i… honestly don’t know w-what to say…” He said, looking back at both AJ and his father. “I-it’s good to s-see you again, Pa.”

“Same here son… though, there’s something I would like to ask from both you and AJ.” He said, just making the Cyberpony confused a little.

“What would that be?”

“I would like you to not tell anypony else that I’m alive until I come back to Equestria…” He said to both of his eldest son and daughter.

“Why would you want us to do that?”

“Right now… With what Raiden and Doktor told me, I might be hunted by Desperado since Raiden helped me escape from their prison facility. Since they are both here and back home where you are, it may mean that they might have spies trying to snuff out any possible information about my whereabouts or find anypony that knows about me and interrogate them. It’s for their own safety as well as the safety of my family… I don’t want my dear Applebloom to get caught up in this mess or anypony else I know…” He explained. “It’ll only be for a short while. Doktor said that they’re real close to finding a way for me to come back. They just need some time to run some ‘small scale tests’ or something like that first beforehoof. But I will be back home soon… I promise.”

“I guess I can understand what you mean by that. But you better not put yourself into any danger you got that.”

“Same can be said to you now, AJ.” Jonathon chuckled. “Oh and when I get home, I promise I can teach you a few things with how to fight from my days in the guard.”

“Wait, you were a royal guard?” Big Mac questioned, surprised to hear that.

“Long story, Mac…” Applejack sighed. “I’ll explain it to you later once we get back to the farm.”

“Alright… I’ll have Doktor contact you two once we got the program ready for you AJ. Stay safe.” With that… and a little bit of fiddling around, Jonathon ended the call and left both siblings sitting next to one another. Until Big Mac then asked something.

“So what’s this thing about a program?”

“I need something to eat before I can explain the whole story from the beginning. Let’s head over to sugarcube corner for a bit to eat and then I’ll tell you every that I know so far on the way there.”

“Alright. Sounds fine to me… Need a jacket or something?” He offered to her, holding out a light orange one with three apples stitched along the right pocket.

“What for?”

“I thought you would want to cover up your… new appearance for now. I had this custom made for you from Rarity earlier in the week.” He said, giving it to her to wear. “Besides, ah care for ya, sis… I just wanted to do my best to help ya.”

“That or the fact that most of the colts in town were looking at me.” Applejack said with a deadpanned expression on her face. Only for Big Mac to toss the coat at her face. “Hey!”

“Come on, get the coat on and let me help ya up. You deserve a bite to eat after everything today.” He insisted. “Plus, Applebloom is with the Crusaders so we don’t need to worry about them… for right now at least.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll put the coat on for your sake.” She said as puts the coat on. Big Mac extended a hand to help her off of the ground as she took it and used a little bit of strength to pull herself up. Surprisingly though, she felt real comfortable in the newfound jacket she was wearing. “Huh, not bad. You said Rarity made this right?”

“Yeah. But ah told her the size since ah have been the one who does most of the laundry in the family… But still, it’s her craft and she didn’t even charge for it. Her exact words were ‘Anything for a friend’ I believe.”

“Well that was nice of her. I’ll have to thank her next time I see her.” He smiled, nodding his head in the direction of sugarcube corner as the two of them walked off of the ranch and into town. To Applejack’s surprise, everything actually felt… normal so to speak. No strange looks, no weird glances… It felt like one of the days before she became a cyberpony. “Well this is...odd.”

“What is odd?” Big Mac asked her, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean odder than usual. Shouldn’t everypony be looking at me like how they did throughout the week?”

“Not always… Remember when the same thing happened with Zecora a couple of years back? They were afraid originally, but not so much now… Maybe sometimes, it takes time for other ponies to adjust to new things…”

“Maybe...I’m just not use to stuff like that stopping in less than a week or so.”

“Yet, they’re not seeing you as a new pony… Just because of one small change, you’re still you Applejack. There’s nothing different about that.” Big Mac said, before taking something out for his sister and giving it to her. “Here. I even saved you your favorite hat.”

“You hold on to it for a while. Kinda a feel out of place with it on head with this new body I have.”

“You’ll get used to it. Everypony needs time to adjust to something. Some need a bit more time than others, but not always… Besides, you’re my sister… You can overcome anything that’s thrown at you. Including this… Now, how about we get ourselves a treat? We’re a block away from Sugarcube Corner.”

“Sure.” She smiled, following her brother inside the small bakery and taking the chance to spend a little bit of time with her brother. It felt good to be able to not have anything crazy happen while they were out in Ponyville. Now it felt like some things were finally beginning to get back to normal… for the time being.

However, that notion was short lived the moment Applejack and Big Mac returned back to the barn… to find the Cutie Mark Crusaders jumping for joy and for Diamond Tiara of all ponies to be with them. Shortly afterwards though, Applebloom turned to face her sister… and catch her off guard with some surprising news. “Look sis!! We got our cutie marks!!!!”

“……… How the hay-?”