Of Samurais and Ponies

The walk through the forest was darker than before, the only light that lingered in the Everfree was the light emanating from the horns of Twilight and Rarity. The six mares shoke lightly at the sounds of the residents of the Everfree, the only one who seemed calm was Jack, he did not ever let fear overcome him, after all his experiences in several fights he had learned how to stay calm in the face of danger. The slightest rustle would send a shock down the ponies spines, they knew of the lingering dangers that resided in the forest, from the very common timberwolf to the very deadly manticore, the only other thing that worried them more than the residents of the forest was their lack of knowledge of the area, that fact made the trip ever more terrifying for the mares.

"This place sure is creepy at this time of night" Fluttershy said with a slight shake in her voice.

"Yeah, well it should be morning." Rainbow Dash said in a joking tone, trying to calm the light gold mare, but it only furthered the fact that Celestia might have been captured, making the six even more unsure if this journey was pointless, how could they even think of taking on a beast that could defeat the most powerful pony in all of Equestria.

They were only reassured by the presence of Jack, he seemed calm, but inside he was enraged by Aku's blatant disregard for the feeling of the poor ponies of this planet, he had fought Aku several times before, and this time he was determined to kill the evil entity, he was sick of the bloodshed Aku had strewn across several worlds, now including these ponies planet, the six had told Jack of the relative peace their planet lived by, but it seemed when there was a bad situation that it would always escalate to almost horrid levels of insanity.

"Yes, I guess so." Fluttershy said halfheartedly.

The seven kept on walking for a while, discussing a plan on how they would save the princess and defeat the two evil entitys that now resided in the castle of their beloved princesses. Princesses... That word described it all.

"Hold on girls, we have completely forgotten about Princess Luna, oh no, we should have thought this through better and remembered about Luna." Twilight said in shock of her ignorance, she and the six stopped for a moment while Jack continued walking without noticing the others.

He was stuck in thought of what type of plan Aku would have this time to evade him, Aku would not be able to try the portal trick again as he would need to regain his magical power to its full strength to try that again.

"Jack, hold on now, we need to think of something real quick!" Applejack called to him.

Jack turned to face Applejack, he was just snapped out of his trance, unknowing of the current situation. He could only walk back toward the group, still confused.

"Now then, what could we think as of now, the moon is still up, so she couldn't have noticed it by now, she does live in another location in the castle, so the only hope is that she is still asleep in her room, far away from any violence." Twilight said unsure.

"Now who could sleep through such a large amount of noise such as her sister being ponynapped!" Rarity said in disbelief.

"You could be surprised, Spike would always sleep through the loudest of study sessions."

Suddenly, a heavy rustling fills the air, the six mares suddenly stop in their tracks, what could it be that is making such a loud noise, it seemed to be coming from several directions, what could make such a noise from several directions?

"Twilight, what is this thing!?" Rarity asked

"I don't know, I haven't even seen it!" Twilight said loudly back.

Out of nowhere, a timberwolf seemed to jump from a nearby bush.

Jack noticed it, was this thing made of... wood? He had no time to ponder, the thing seemed to pounce toward Applejack. Jack took action, he quickly took his blade and slashed the creature right on the side, launching it onto the floor, only a small amount of tree sap seemed to come from the wound.

"No, please don't hurt them, they are only hungry is all!" Fluttershy yelled at Jack.

Now why could Fluttershy try to defend this beast that tried to defend the beast that wanted to make her friend into a tasty snack? Jack could only ponder such an idea, before more timberwolfs seemed to walk calmly out of the nearby foliage and toward the group, they stopped to see their fallen member on the ground, heavily breathing and lightly bleeding their version of blood. The timberwolfs then started to circle the group, looking for the slightest weakness in their formation, which consisted of the six huddled around Jack.

Jack could only stand in his usual fighting stance, waiting for the next of these unfamiliar creatures to pounce and make the mistake their last number had made.

They grew angry and even more vicious at the sight of their fallen number, they could only pounce at the huddled group one by one. Jack was not one to show hesitation, he had slashed three more in the few moments that they were surrounded. The mares that surrounded him were frozen in fear, they had never been caught in the dreaded circle of these horrifying creatures.

"Jack please, stop hurting these poor animals, they are just looking for some food!" Fluttershy yelled. Jack could not help but look at her, why was she so prepared to defend such vicious creatures.

With Fluttershy's yell, the timberwolfs launched themselves at the group, Jack could only jump from the middle of the group of ponies and start to slash as quickly as possible. The six were astounded at how fast he was slashing, they had only seen such speed whenever Rainbow Dash flew.

Jacks precise cuts always hit, never missing a single hit, he was very rarely this focused this much, only when the lives of others were on the line. He finished of the last of the timberwolfs with a sigh, he knew he had upset one of the few mares in the shaking huddle that was stationed around the slurry of timberwolfs carcasses. They were in lighter words shocked, they had never seen such a display of violence before.

The six could only stare at the scene, what sort of pony would just slaughter all of those innocent creatures? They could only ponder that idea before another one struck them, he only protected them, they did not think this beforehand due to such a hasty introduction to such a violent concept.

Jack was covered in tree sap, he was unusually sticky and he loathed the feeling of the sap. He rubbed his blade once on his torn kimono to remove any remaining sap before he sheathed his blade. He turned to the six mares, they were still in shock. "I am sorry you had to see that, I did not want to see any one else hurt." Jack said warmly, he was aware that they had never seen such violence, the mares could only stare as he turned to keep walking.

The six mares could only follow, they were now unsure of Jack, they never took the time to fully analyze his intentions, they were still unsure of what he truly wanted by tracking Aku, did he only chase him to absorb his power and rule with an even harder fist, or did he truly want to liberate the princesses.

"Um, mister Jack, I hope you don't mind me asking, but why did Aku do such a thing to you and your village?"

Jack could only clutch his blade harder than before, he did not ever think of the intentions of his foe, why did Aku do such a thing, did he only do such things for the fact that he had the power, or did he have another goal in mind. "I wish I could tell you, but I have never pondered that, I could never think of a reason for his actions, nor do I wish to talk of it, such things are something that only a madman could think of."

Twilight looked at him in such a confused fashion, why did Aku do such things, she had never encountered such a madman. "Then why do you want to defeat him?"

Jack stomped his foot, why did she ask that, did he not explain in full detail how his village was completely destroyed by that horrid creature. He did not bother answering such a simple question. Twilight saw the stone expression on the man, and backed down from the question.

...

Luna awoke with a comfortable roll, and then she realized something was wrong, where was the usual blinding light that seeped through her window.  She started to gaze at the still night sky, why did Celestia shirk her task like this, she was nearly fuming as she walked out her door.

The guards just stood there, staring at her, they were not told to do anything to this princess and they decided to not act on their own accord to not anger their new master.

"Celestia, how dare you leave our poor subjects without the warmth of the sun!" Luna yelled from the top of the stairs leading into the throne room.

"Discord, might I ask who that annoying voice belongs to?" Aku asked in the most annoyed of tones.

Discord only looked at the stairway that lead to the other side of the castle. "Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that Celestia had a sister?" He said as he ran his left hand through his hair, he seemed calm about the whole thing. "She is weaker than her sister, so could you please take care of her, it is my turn on the throne."

Aku looked at him with a glare. "How could you forget something so important as the most powerful entity in the land's sister? You blithering oaf!"

"Who resides in the room that is my sisters?!" Luna no longer held anger for her sister, she now held it for the one familiar voice that come from under her, and the other more menacing voice that she did not recognize. She started to gallop faster with anticipation for a fierce fight.

As Luna walked through the stairway exit, she was meet with a very powerful hand at her neck, she did not feel choked, but she did feel pressure.

"How dare you attack royalty!" Were the only words she could muster before she felt herself be dropped for a moment, before she felt herself being grabbed by the mouth.

"My, you talk so awfully loud for such a small creature." Aku said with an evil cackle, he did not bother with the respect he shown Celestia, he had only gotten up and was ready to throw her in another cell, he was to smart to place the two in the same cell.

All Luna could do was talk some muffled words, she thought to use some magic to prevent Aku from moving, but he seemed to move just fine even within the her grasp, she could only think of one more trick. She started to charge up the very powerful knock out blast, she was not one to use offense magic, but at this point, she had no choice.

Aku quickly saw the magic welling within her horn, he knew the implications of being hit with whatever magic she was preparing, after his encounter with some other royal guard. He went to grab Luna's horn, knowing what to expect.

Luna's magic was immediately canceled. She could only move violently in Aku's grasp in fear of the unfamiliar creature, she was terrified, what would they do to her, what have they done with her sister, was she ever going to even see her again? She did not question the health or well-being of her sister for to long as she saw Celestia trapped in the cell in front of the one she was thrown in "Sister, oh my goodness! Are you alright?!"

Celestia weakly lifted her head, she let out a small cough and a wheeze "Yes Lulu, i'm alright, don't worry about me, are you alright?" Celestia said weakly.

Luna only rubbed her sore neck where Aku had grasped her with all his might "I will live."

"Aww, how touching." Aku said as he turned to walk out of the cell block.

"Wait *cough* who are you *cough* and why are you attacking us." Luna said with one more cough.

"Well, I need somewhere to stay in my time here, and what place is better than a castle that is owned by the rulers of the lands." Aku said in a mocking tone "And you're adversary Discord said it needed to be done, I am the owner of this land now, and we will run it as we please." Aku said with a grin. "As for who I am, it is not important at the moment." Aku said as he walked out.

"So tell me, were they as annoying as I had told you?" Discord said with a snicker as he waited for his companion outside of the cell room.

"Yes, very much so." Aku said with annoyance in his voice.

"So, what are we to do now? We have been here waiting all day. We should go out and cause chaos!" Discord said in a giddy tone.

"You can go ahead, I will stay here and contemplate on what to do with our new land." Aku said as he sat on Celestia's throne.

"Fine then, you can stay here and be boring, have you ever thought about just wreaking havoc for the fun of it, just think of it!" Discord said as he moved closer to Aku with his hands clasped.

"I have other uses for my powers, but you can do as you please." Aku said as he dismissed Discord.

"Whatever buddy." Discord said as he appeared next to Aku and punched him in the shoulder, and quickly teleported to... who knows where? Aku just sat there, thinking of what precious resources and other valuable things that this planet had for the taking.

...

The group kept walking for what seemed like hours, they were tired and scared. After their encounter with the timber wolfs, they had strayed too far from the familiar dirt path that lead to the center of the forest and out the other side, they did back track for some time, but they could not find their path of origin like they had hoped.

"So... what are we even going to do when we get to the castle? I mean, if this "Aku" guy is strong enough to trap Celestia, how are we even going to take this guy on?" Rainbow asked with a heavy heart, ever since she froze in fear from the timber wolfs, she felt terrible for not helping Jack with his fight, she had always help her friends in bad situations, but she did not know why she froze like she did.

"I don't know, I mean, what could Aku have done to them anyway?" Applejack asked with a hoof on her chin.

"Jack, do you have anything to add?" Twilight asked with curiosity. Jack only shoke his head, he was not sure what he could have done, he had only been there for a day and he still didn't know much of this world. "Well, what do you think he did?"

"Imprisonment." Jack said coldly.

"Where could he have imprisoned them?" Twilight asked, she was used to people being locked up in the castle, but what about some... other methods she was not used to. "Moon" That word ran through her head at light speed, she worried that Aku could have sent them to the moon, she was still not aware of Aku's true power. Jack only lowered his head in indifference.

"This is bad, where the heck is a clearing when you need one!" Rainbow yelled in frustration.

"I could show you one." A voice rang through the forest in the very moment Rainbow finished her yell. All the ponies froze, the voice was raspy and raw, it also had a hint of madness that only resided in the worst of ponies.

"Who-o's there?" Rainbow dash weakly called.

"Oh... nobody important." The voice seemed closer than before, and now a heavy breathing filled the air. Twilight intensified the light that emanated from her horn in hopes that she could see the thing in question, but to no avail. "How cute, the ones that use magic are always the most fun to slaughter." A loud forced slurp was suddenly heard.

"H-h-help." A meek voice called from behind the group. They all turned to see a frighting sight of their friend Fluttershy, being held by an unfamiliar earth stallion.

"What did I tell you about talking?" The stallion said as he prodded her flank with his knife. Fluttershy gasped, he had kept the knife at her side for a while, but feeling the cold steel lightly puncture her skin gave her a shock.

"Fluttershy!" The five mares called in horror.

"Ahh, so that's her name, how adorable." The stallion said as he removed the knife from her flank to her neck. "I want to see you all dance for me."

"What?!" Rarity yelled in disgust.

"I said dance... or I will make her into confetti." The stallion said as he placed the flat of his blade onto her cheek. Fluttershy was now lightly sobbing, her nostrils were caked with mucus.

"Twilight do something!" Applejack yelled in worry.

"If you even dare use magic, I will remove your starswirl glands myself... and what is that hairless ape with you? Or has my mind finally snapped worse than before?" The stallion said with a cackle.

"How did you even find us?!" Twilight angrily yelled at the stallion.

"My new friend told me to find you and... well... do I really have to say it?" The stallion said as he twirled the knife in his hoof. "This tall black thing with a goatee, I thought I had gone completely insane all over again when he came to release me from the castle, now my buddy Discord dropped me off here and said to do what I please with the six that trapped him in stone."

Twilight looked at him in shock "A-are you the... Pony Slasher?" Twilight said weakly.

"Does anyone remember my real name anymore? And yes, I am the Pony Slasher." Slasher said as he placed the knife back to Fluttershy's neck. "And are you Celestia's protegee, Twilight Sparkle by any chance?" Twilight only nodded "I remember seeing you as a filly, so small and adorable. The small ones are the most fun to torture you know." Slasher said as he licked his lips.

Jack had enough, he gripped his blade and got into a fighting stance, ready to charge at Slasher. "Hey, tell you're pet to calm down before I have my way with this one." Slicer said as he placed more pressure on Fluttershy's neck.

"Jack, please don't do anything you will regret, he has our friend and the last thing we need is for her to die." Twilight said as a tear ran down her cheek. Jack paid no mind, he just squatted even more, bending his knees. "Jack, please stop!" Twilight yelled as Jack jumped high into the air toward the Slasher.

...

Chapter end