The Lost Serpents

Chapter 8: Fallen Heroes.

Meditation. It clears the mind and boosts the spirit.

Applejack didn't think so.

Applejack frowned as she tried to meditate, finding the idea next to impossible in the cold nights of the Badlands.

After the fall of Ahuizotl, the Serpony army had stayed in the fortress for two days to gather rations and water for the long march through the Badlands. The Badlands were easily conquered, because the only things that lived there were bandits and outlaws. Even when bands of outlaws and thugs came together to fight the Serpony army, Star Reader would send Applejack to eliminate them. Applejack would lead her force of fifty Serponies and easily destroy any band of marauders.

They had been marching through the Badlands for six days and had half a day's march left to come across Appleloosa. If they take Appleloosa, they will move to take Dodge city, capture Ponyville and the Everfree Forest and then move towards Canterlot. Cloudsdale will be dealt with during the Canterlot campaign.

Applejack felt stupid as she tried to meditate. Nothing was happening or working!

She sighed in frustration and decided to take a break.

Applejack went outside of her tent. The tent itself was on a hill that overlooked the tents of the rest of the army. She shared the hill with Ryoma, Vinyl, Featherfang, Lyra, the generals, Gold Hoof, and Star Reader.

She looked to the stars as she reflected on all that's happened. She would never had guessed that she would be fighting in an army of strangers, to learn to fight with fancy blades. Applejack still had her hat that had an arrow go through it, a reminder of who she was. She still had the heart of a country mare, but due to her training, she was a more… refined version of herself.

Applejack had enough of the cold, dry air and made her way back inside her tent.

She sat down and tried to meditate again.

(:-:)

Applejack found herself back on the apple orchards of her family farm. She was dumbfounded, and wondered if this was a dream. She could see the lights of the house on and her grandmother and Big Mac on the porch, talking in hushed tones with Apple Bloom wandering the orchards near the house.

Applejack started to go towards the house to say hello, to run up and hug her family, to tell them that she's alright. But before she could, a voice said, “don't try it, they cannot see you.”

Applejack turned to see princess Luna. Applejack’s eyes began to tear up and said, “Luna? It It really you?”

The alicorn of the moon smiled and said, “it is I.”

Applejack nearly tackled her in a hug. Applejack started to cry as Luna comforted Applejack, humming a lullaby of the moon. Soon, Applejack's sobs became sniffles.

“Art thou alright?” Luna asked.

Applejack pulled away and nodded as she wiped a tear from her cheek. She said, “sorry, It's that… I haven't seen any familiar faces in a while.”

Luna gave her a sad smile and said, “I'm here to give you information.”

“What kind of information?”

“Insights of the war.”

Applejack nodded and said, “I'm guessing that Celestia has heard of Ahuizotl?”

“Oh, she has alright. She was completely fraught with worry when a messenger came with the news. She now has her entire military force completely mobilized, ready to be deployed anywhere, anytime. She has also felt the ancient serpent rise again. She knows that Quetzalcoatl and Featherfang will try to smash aside her forces as hard and fast as they can, so she is pulling all her forces out of Appleloosa and the surrounding area and putting them in locations nearby like Ponyville and Cloudsdale, and their forces outnumber yours five to one. The townsfolk of the villages and cities beyond that are afraid that Celestia is not going to defend them. Because of this, riots are breaking out in Baltimare. Numerous towns are trying to form militia, and for those who can't… they became easy targets for bandits.”

“...”

“And if that wasn't bad enough, Quetzalcoatl has appeared in Los Pegasus, Fillydelphia, and Manehattan. He has caused some grade A destruction and has toppled a few skyscrapers. Last I saw of Los Pegasus, it was in flames.”

“Why?! Why is Quetzalcoatl doing this to the cities?!” Applejack said.

Luna hung her head, “divine retribution and judgement. He intends to spare those who accept him as a god, but destroys those that follow Celestia’s view on the Serponies.”

“But… that can't be right! Why would a divine being like him start destroying things like a rampaging Dragon?” Applejack said.

“Before my ancestor, before my sister and I, the world was ruled by gods and spirits. They were here to guide civilization, to be the ones to care for the ponies of the world. When we attacked them and destroyed their power and hold on Equis, they saw the very act as sacrilege and felt betrayed. As one by one fell to that foul sword, many gods’ spirits were lost and alone. To make a long story short, what Quetzalcoatl is doing is the divine version of the belt, and we are the naughty colts.”

Applejack grew concerned with the news. If Quetzalcoatl was appearing and destroying cities, he could appear in Ponyville and Canterlot, and wreak havoc and might even kill her friends.

“Luna, what about the areas near Canterlot? Has Quetzalcoatl appeared anywhere there?” Applejack asked.

“No, he has learned to stay away from Apocalypse. Until he is at full power, he would not dare challenge Celestia.” Luna answered.

Applejack then asked, “what about my friends? Are they okay?”

Luna gave Applejack a sad look, “I’m afraid that Celestia has already got to them. She has them trained and are now Celestian commanders. Rarity has already been a pain in Helm’s side and-”

“Wait, Rarity is fighting who?!”.

“Helm. He is the current Grandmaster of my Knights Lunar. He is the reason why Celestia's Sun Squad haven't played you guys a visit. They have been fighting Rarity’s force at Neighagra Falls for the past few days. Did thou really think that Ahuizotl wouldn't call for reinforcements?”

“So… this Helm pony… he’s been fighting his own war against Celestia?” Applejack asked.

“Indeed,” Luna confirmed, “but he has lost some good stallions. He clashed with Rarity a few times, but their fights always get interrupted by something.”

Applejack was concerned. She didn't want Rarity to die fighting somepony that was a part of the Knights Lunar. She asked Luna, “what about my other friends?”

“Twilight has found some kind of… Brand. She used it and now she has access to magic usually seen in another world. She is the main tactician for Celestia. Pinkie Pie has, somehow, became a berserker. Rarity is riding some kind of bird called a Kinshi into battle. Fluttershy, or more accurately, Flutterbat, has her army in the Everfree woods. And Rainbow Dash… she seems the strongest of them all. She already has the rank of Hero, and she has been seen with a sword and axe on her flanks. She is leading the Cloudsdale regiment.”

Luna continued, “Applejack, they know you are helping the enemy. Most of them would refuse to fight you, except for Rainbow Dash. She has proclaimed that she will be the one to end you.”

Applejack hung her head, tears threatening to escape her eyes.

“Then so be it. Ah’ll will be the one to defeat her, to end her suffering.”

(&;&)

Neighagra Falls is usually a place for vacations and camping. A place of peace. But that peace is long gone, replaced by the sound and acts of war.

Helm and his ponies currently have the high ground in this battle, striking down charge after charge. He was losing ponies, He was losing time.

Helm quickly slashed his sword in a horizontal arc, taking a couple of heads as well. He turned and impaled another Celestian, then kicked him off, the Celestian’s body crumpled to the ground.

Helm then pointed to the main army body of the Celestians and said “Fire!”

The Lunar archers then sent a wave of flaming arrows into the Celestian mass, killing a good number of them.

Helm knew they couldn't hold out for much longer. They have been fighting for days now, no long breaks, barely fed, and tired. However, the Knights simply refused to submit and would rather die than surrender. reinforcements were coming to the aid of the Celestians in the form of the Sun Squad.

However, Helm lifted Sir Lance’s sword, (now called Moonsorrow) above his head and gave a war cry that sent chills down the enemies spine.

After Helm had single-hooved beaten the advancement at the bridge that was key to the high ground, the Celestians were more wary than before. Not one dared step on the bridge for fear of Helm’s wrath.

Helm pulled out the dark magic tome and quickly flipped through. His species, the Sleipnir, were warriors by nature. They barely had any magic they could perform. However, that is why tomes were invented, to draw power from the books themselves.

Helm chanted, and a bolt of dark lightning ripped through the air and struck the Celestian force at the bridge. The Celestians were either fried, consumed by the dark magic, or were thrown by the force of the blast.

The bridge has never been taken, but Helm was very tired. If this continued, he would soon be overwhelmed.

But the troops instead backed away from the bridge, and Helm could see why.

A giant bird with a certain unicorn riding on it came from behind the Celestian army. It landed on the bridge with a graceful thud. The unicorn jumped off, her spear held aloft.

“Come back for round seven, Rarity?”

“Indeed I have, Helm.”

The bridge and the surrounding area got quiet. All eyes were trained on their respective commanders, waiting to see the battle unfold.

Rarity broke the silence, “Helm, you must surrender. You and your ponies are cornered and exhausted. Barely any food, barely any sleep. You can't go on for much longer.”

Helm readied himself and said, “the Knights Lunar code states that any knight shall not surrender, not even after the banner falls. I will stay true to the code, and I will defeat you and put your head on a pike.”

Rarity’s eyes became steel, “You sealed your fate.”

Rarity and Helm charged at each other.

Rarity thrusted forward with her spear, and Helm dodged, knowing that her spear was meant to pierce armor. Helm then closed the distance, smacked her with Moonsorrow’s hilt and rammed her. Rarity recovered and rolled out of the way as Helm did a downwards slash that punched a hole in the bridge. Rarity then used her magic to levitate some good sized rocks from the other end of the bridge and sent them flying at Helm. Helm, tired and near his limit, was hit by a barrage of rocks that dented his armor and knocked him senseless. He staggered and had to use Moonsorrow as a supporting item to make sure he didn't fall.

Sensing his weakness, Rarity started to chant a spell that would finish him for good.

Helm also managed to get his tome. He drew ragged breaths as he began to chant himself.

The two ponies chanting couldn't be so different. Rarity chanted using Equestrian Equinian, invoking the Sun and positive emotions. Helm chanted in ancient Bitin, invoking dark magic and the moon. The two different armies saw glowing symbols as bright as flame revolve around Helm, and streams of light radiating off of Rarity.

Helm finished his chanting first and unleashed a dark fog that consumed the entire bridge. Rarity was about to unleash her spell, but her spell suddenly gave out and dissipated.

That's when it hit her. It was the fog, the fog has somehow cut off her connection to the magic forces.

Then she was hit by a dark fireball.

Rarity was thrown off the bridge from the shear force of the explosion. The explosion destroyed the bridge. Rarity landed on the ground with severe burns that covered her entire right side of her body.

The fog cleared and Helm was on the other side of the destroyed bridge, He said, “fire!”

A storm of arrows rained upon the Celestians near the bridge, killing most of them. The Kinshi grabbed Rarity with its talons, causing Rarity to cry out in pain due to her burns, and it took off.

Helm congratulated himself, but still had the Celestian army I'm front of him, and he knows his men cannot hold out. He was looking for a solution when a loud voice rang out, “HELM LUNAR, I HAVE COME.”

“What?” Helm asked in bewilderment, for the voice sounded like it came from everywhere.

A loud dragon-like roar was heard, and a sky serpent appeared from the heavens, lightning flashing from its eyes.

The Celestian army saw this divine monstrosity turn its head to them. It asked out loud, “WHO FOLLOWS CELESTIA’S CLAIM OF THE SERPONIES?”

Most of the Celestians raised their weapons to confirm that they supported Celestia’s claims. Those that did not where getting the evil eye from their comrades.

The serpent roared and said, “THOSE THAT DON'T FOLLOW HER SHALL BE SPARED, BUT NO MERCY FOR HER FOLLOWERS!”

The Celestian army screamed in terror as the serpent opened its jaws and unleashed Tartarus.

(!?!)

Applejack had just told the war council about her dream that had Luna in it. They were pretty disturbed that Celestia's armies outnumber them five to one. Although Appleloosa and Dodge City was easy pickings, it was nothing to what they have to face later one. Their trump card, Quetzalcoatl, will not go near Canterlot, making the generals doubting their chances of victory.

However, Star Reader has gotten hostile when he heard the news, “so, you expect me to believe that Luna came to you in a dream, suddenly changed sides and is fighting Celestia, and has a force of knights already fighting Celestia. Does it look like I have the word ‘stupid’ etched on my forehead?!”

“Star Reader, you-”

“Don't even speak to me, Celestian. Luna would never turn on her sister and give us information regarding her entire army. I name you traitor! Guards, arrest her!”

The Band of Gold members that were guarding the war tent lowered their spears and trotted slowly towards Applejack. Applejack ignited her Darksaber and said, “please! Ah didn't do any wrong, ah’m not a spy!”

Star Reader sneered, “your lies fall on deaf ears, deceiver!”

Ryoma's and Vinyl drew their blades as Ryoma said, “you lying fiend!”

Star Reader then said, “I change my mind, kill them.”

The Band of Gold then charged.

Ryoma's got in front of Applejack and did a horizontal slash, slicing through all the aggressors with his lightning wreathed katana, killing them. As the bodies fell, Ryoma then pushed Vinyl and Applejack out of the tent, “Run you fools, RUN!”

Applejack and Vinyl began to gallop out of the camp, with Ryoma right behind them.

Star Reader then galloped out of the war tent and yelled, “kill the three samurai, they are traitors!”

The Serpony soldiers looked at each other in confusion. How could three heroes that risked their lives for the glory of the Serpony have betrayed them?

While the confusion was strong, Applejack galloped into her tent and dressed herself in her armor. She then got back together with Vinyl and Ryoma and together, the three ran out towards Appleloosa. The camp was on the horizon when they turned around and tried to regain their breath.

Suddenly, a portal opened up behind them, its swirling vortex taking all three ponies by surprise. An earth stallion popped out and landed unceremoniously on his face.

The stallion was a little larger than Big Mac. He had a sky blue coat and a no mane on his neck. Instead, his messy, dark blue hair was retrained by a headband. He wore armor on his left foreleg and on his chest. His red cape had a tattered end.

And just as he was getting up, a two-hooved sword popped out of the portal and landed next to him. The stallion grumbled and was about to pick up the sword when another stallion came out of the portal and did the scorpion.

The unicorn stallion had a light brown mane, brown coat, and brown head hair. He had a mustache and a goatee. His mark was a menacing whip. He wore a sort of long, brown coat.

After picking themselves off the ground, both stallions looked over their New bodies and both said in unison, “different dimension.”

Vinyl spoke, “who are you guys?”

The one with the sword spoke first, “I'm Ike, the Radiant Hero. Will you mind telling me what the hell is going on? Who are you and who is the guy next to me?”

Ignoring his question, the brown unicorn spoke, “The name's Julius Belmont. Monster slayer extraordinaire and slayer of Dracula.”

Vinyl smiled and said, “we got lucky.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow and asked Vinyl what she meant by that, but Vinyl wasn't listening as her eyes were fixed on Ike.

“Well, are you an outrealm traveler?” Ryoma asked.

Ike nodded, “I am. Ever since the war in Tellius ended, i've been wandering here and there. All I saw was a light and now I'm here.”

Julius said, “yeah, same with the white light, but different story.”

Ryoma trotted up to Ike and shook his hoof, “I come from the same universe that you are from. Good to see another one like me.”

Ike shook his hoof and said, “same here.”

Julius spoke, “I wonder… why are we here?”

Ryoma shook his head, “I have no idea. Whoever is causing the portals to appear must have some reason for ripping people out of their world's abd bringing them here. However, we would like your assistance.”

“Assistance with what?”

“We need to destroy the head of the Serpony army.”

Applejack and Vinyl looked at Ryoma in shock. “Ryoma! You can't be serious!” Vinyl said.

“I am. That stallion is willing to kill s over info that could help the army. He is an infection that needs to be cleansed,” Ryoma stated.

“What about the rest of the army? We'll die if we fight them,” Applejack said.

Ryoma frowned, “We will get him to confess about this attempted assassination of you. Featherfang clearly stated that colony was to prosecute you as long as you fought on his side. He is going against divine instruction and, if he is willing to kill you over true information, then he has no place leading an army.” Ryoma then turned to the two newcomers, “we need your help, heroes. We are going to extinguish a mad pony.

Ike nodded and said, “what kind of hero would I be if I didn't help the good guys.

Julius nodded and decided that he would follow.

Ryoma smiled, “thank the gods. What we will do is attack his war tent, no doubt that he is still in it, and take him by surprise. We will get that confession from him and hand the army over to Featherfang.”

“A fool's plan, Ryoma.”

Everypony turned to see Remnant.

Applejack's gaze turned as hard as steel.

“I've come for our duel, Applejack,” Remnant said.

Ryoma nodded towards Applejack and said, “Applejack… show him the power of a samurai. We will go forth and fight Star Reader.”

Vinyl then trotted up to Applejack and gave her a hug, saying, “you got this, just don't die on me, okay?”

Applejack nodded. Vinyl then left with Ryoma, Ike, and Julius.

Nothing made a sound, save the gentle breeze.

Remnant had a menacing spear that was definitely not the work of his tribe. His skull necklace was glowing, and his pouch full. His eyes where the eyes of a vengeful warrior, and it regarded Applejack like seeing was the one that killed his family and then pissed on the corpses.

Applejack's heart was pounding. She steeled herself and said, “you really mean to go through with this, aren't you…”

She grabbed her Darksaber and ignited the blade. She got into the Hoshidan samurai stance and looked Remnant in the eye. She then said, “Ah’m sorry that it has to end this way.”

“Spare me your sympathies, sympathy is for the weak, further proof that you will die and I will win.”

Applejack paid no attention to his comment, instead she focused herself and was prepared for everything at that moment, even death.

The wind began to pick up.

Remnant charged and so did Applejack, with determination being the fuel of their drive to win.

Their blades connected in a small shower of sparks. Applejack was taken by surprise as her Darksaber failed to cut into his spear. Remnant wasn't, and he lunged at her, clipping her ear. Applejack gritted her teeth and jumped back, got back into her stance and waited for him. As he charged again, Applejack parried his spear and struck the shaft of the weapon, cutting it in two.

Remnant then jumped back as well. He threw five stones and held out his hoof, causing five separate streams of lightning to launch themselves at Applejack. Applejack jumped out of the way of one, while she blocked the other four with her Darksaber. Applejack then got back into her stance.

Remnant then held up his hoof again, with Applejack getting ready for anymore lightning.

Instead, chains appeared. They draped themselves around his body and forelegs. He then stood up on his hind legs and held up both of his hoof, causing two handles with curved, glowing purple hooks that were attached to the chains.

“My patron made these in his own weapon’s likeness. Feel the wrath of my Claws of Hades!”

Remnant then swung and twirled the chains, causing the claws to dart back and forth, slash here and there. The weapon was quite an unpredictable, as Applejack could only barely parry and not dodge, since dodging would only get her sliced to ribbons.

Applejack was getting completely overwhelmed by the sheer speed and power the chains held. Every block or parry she did felt like she was blocking a giant fist. If she wasn’t fit from the training and all that apple bucking, she would be smashed to bits by now.

She was barely hanging on as Remnant laughed manically as he toyed with her. He then decided he had his fun and swung one chain towards her and swung the other at her jaw. She blocked the first swing, but the other claw got her in the jaw, causing agonizing pain. But, instead of drawing blood, the claw snagged something else.

Applejack saw her ethereal copy of herself coming out of her and was being pulled out by the chain’s claw. She didn’t know if it was her soul or not, but she figured that she should probably resist it.

Applejack gritted her teeth as she tried to resist the soul taking ability of the chains. Her soul was now quite literally in a tug-of-war of death. She could feel her soul moving back towards her body. However, Remnant saw this and swung the other chain. Applejack blocked the chain, but was losing focus on her soul. Applejack resumed her willpower, and her soul started to come back to her. However, she knew that she would get tired and her soul will be captured if she didn’t do something.

“Your soul is mine! Mine to torment as I please for the dishonor you have given me and my family!” Remnant shouted in pure, unadulterated rage and madness. He pulled even harder on the chains, causing Applejack to gasp as she felt most of her soul coming out. She literally was on her last leg as she hung on to her soul’s left hind leg.

Applejack felt helpless. Despair was creeping in her psych and taunting her on how she failed everypony that was near and dear to her. She could see flashes of her life. One moment she was a filly, another was her first apple bucking season, another about her friends and her rivalry with Rainbow Dash. All of her memories were going at such an accelerating rate that she saw her entire life story in half a second.

But those memories triggered something within Applejack. She felt a familiar force enter her body and soothe her soul. It was something she hasn’t used in a long time.

Applejack was channeling Honesty. The magic energy flowed and strengthened her, giving more power to take back her soul. Remnant noticed a shift of magic power in the air and then saw Applejack’s soul rapidly sinking back into her body. His chain’s own magic combated the magic of the element of Honesty, causing rocks and soil to rise into the air on their own.

Remnant pulled as hard as he could, but with a deafening yell, Applejack pooled all her strength and tore her soul loose from the chain’s claws and the grip of death. Her soul went back into her body.

Applejack then got into her stance, determination and conviction written on her face. Remnant then struck with both chains again. But this time, Applejack parried and blocked the chains with no effort. Remnant tried again, but Applejack dodged all the swings and charged at him. Remnant launched attack after attack with his Claws of Hades, but Applejack was dodging and parrying every attack as she moved closer. Remnant was about to launch another attack, but Applejack used a tecnique that was taught to her by Ryoma, the name of it was Astra. Applejack launched five strikes in a blur of speed that slashed his abdomen, his face, his left hind leg, and sliced off his two foreleg hooves. She then kicked Remnant with her right hind leg and slashed him diagonally downwards.

Remnant flopped to the ground, his wounds sapping his life away. Instead of yelling in agony, Remnant began to cry.

Tears streamed down his face as he sobbed. “I’m so sorry, my wife and colt,... I won’t be coming home. I’m so sorry, so sorry.”

He kept on repeating “i’m sorry” over and over again, as if he had a lifetime of regrets. He didn’t look at Applejack at all. Instead, his gaze was fixed towards the Undiscovered West.

He raised his stump right foreleg and said, “i’m sorry,” for the last time. Life fled from his body, and the chains he used floated over to Applejack. Applejack took them cautiously, and looked over to Remnant’s body.

Applejack slowly trotted towards his body. She sat there as the wind that was blowing furiously during the duel calmed itself into a gentle breeze.

Applejack shed a single tear as she said, “I hope you get a good afterlife, Remnant. Don’t worry about your family anymore. As soon as this war is over, I will find your family and help them in any way I can. I will provide them a better life.”

With that, Applejack extinguished her Darksaber. She grabbed the chains, which magically shrunk so she could carry them easily. She dug a grave with her hooves, put the body in, covered it and placed some rocks on top of it in the shape of a lightning bolt, and left the site, the breeze swaying the grass around the grave.