Okami: Equestrian Legend

After Applejack was back to normal, she forced Ammy and Issun to follow her back to the house. As soon as the door opened, though, Applejack was knocked over by a hug from little Applebloom. "Big sis! I missed ya so much!" Tears of joy poured from Applebloom's eyes, and Applejack patted her back lovingly.

"Ah missed you too, Applebloom. Sure is lucky these to fella's came along and helped get me down, huh?" She tugged them over, and Applebloom gave them a hug too. It was about five minutes later that she realized Ammy had stopped breathing and was hanging limply in her arms.

"Oh no!" she cried, as she let go and Ammy fell to the ground, sprawled out. Suddenly, she started breathing again, her eyes bugging out. Beside her, Issun laughed hysterically.

"Ah, serves ya right, furball!" he managed to say through his own tears. "Oh boy, that was a riot!"

Amaterasu, once she regained her breath, sat down on top of Issun. 'Sometimes it is better to laugh on the inside, Issun,' Ammy thinks with a smile. She gives Issun a good couple of minutes before getting up. He gasps for air.

"Too... much... pony butt," he breathes out. Applejack and Applebloom laugh at the remark.

"You two outta meet Rainbow Dash!" Applejack says once her laughter subsides. "She lives on up in Cloudsdale, but I'm sure you can find a way to reach her. Yah seem capable of doing quite a bit for being some Earth Pony." Neither Ammy nor Issun felt the urge to correct this thought. However, Issun did think to ask an important question.

"Would this Rainbow Dash happen to be an Element of Harmony?" AJ nodded. "Then she's who we'll be going to next! Ammy, looks like we're heading to Cloudsdale!"

Amaterasu waited about three minutes before the Poncle realized the apparent problem.

"Um...Applejack? Where is Cloudsdale exactly?" Issun asked with a blush that was unseeable to the others. Applejack gave a hardy laugh at the question, as if the answer were blatantly obvious. When she looked at them and saw they were really clueless, she stopped.

"Cloudsdale is up in the sky," she said. "Ya'll never heard of it? City of pegasi?" Issun and Ammy look up. In the not too far distance, they see a large cloud, that looks very, very dark. Two and two come together.

"We're going to need wings to get up there... and I can only think of one person, er, pony, that can do it." Issun slowly rubs his temples, preparing himself to say the horribly painful inevitability. "Ammy, I think we're gonna need to get the fake prophet to help us."

A gust of wind blew past all the ponies present. When it settled, Waka appears standing with Pillow Talk pointed at the sky, his face in a goofy smile signifying he was about to do something overly complicated. "Ah, mon amie, we meet in such a scenario once more. So, you wish to hang in the clouds? I can dig it. I shall assist here, for your journey isn't meant to end by something so simple as an inability to reach into the heavens." With a flourish, he slices down with Pillow Talk, splitting a hole in the very air itself! Slowly, the cut formed into a strange hole, which slowly formed into a doorway. When it finished, Waka put away Pillow Talk and waved at the doorway. "Consider this my gift to you, ma cherie. A door to take you to the clouds. Of course, there is a fee..."

Issun started hopping up and down angrily. "A fee?! You're charging us you two-bit sideshow?!"

"Yes, for this is a lot of help, and it's pretty close to crossing the border of deus ex machina." Waka looks at them all sternly, then reverts to his normal state. "My fee for this help is simple: bring me a rock named Tom." Amaterasu and Issun look each other in the eye, then look back at Waka. It takes a moment before anypony can say anything.

"You want us... to bring you... a ROCK?!" The question exploded out of Issun, who began to glow red with anger. "Of all the stupid, useless, annoying, idiotic, impractical things I have ever heard spill from your mouth, asking us to find a ROCK is the worst!"

"A rock named Tom."

"I DON'T CARE IF ITS NAME IS YAMCHA, IT'S A STUPID PRICE!" Before more words could be exchanged, AJ stepped forward.

"Now hold on just ah second... when y'all says a rock named Tom, do ya mean that big ole stone Rarity carried around back when Discord went and made our noggins all messed up?" Waka nodded, and AJ smiled. "Well, if that's all y'all want, then I can help you two get it. I know where she chucked it when everything settled down." Issun stops with his raging, and simply leaps into Ammy's fur, which wakes her up from her sleep.

"I shall be here when you return. See you soon, Amaterasu."

~~~~~~~~~~

"So, this is Tom. This giant freaking rock, is Tom. How exactly are we supposed to get it down?" Issun stated the problem on everypony's mind. Apparently (and this story was based off of Applejack's recounting of the events after the Discord event), Rarity had been so angered by her foolishness that she chucked Tom as far as she could. This apparently lead to it getting lodged in a crevice. Good news: it was a straight shot to Waka. Bad news: they couldn't get it out. "This is why I hate that useless prophet. Even when he's useful, he's useless!"

Amaterasu thought about it carefully. Despite their past disputes, Waka had always proven helpful... in one way or another. 'Wait a moment,' she thought. 'Past disputes? What past disputes?' It appeared more of her missing memories were appearing. But why did it seem like they were appearing in patches, as if only the barest pieces of somewhat relevant information appeared? She shook away the thoughts.

"Well, we could try using magic... course, none of us is unicorns or such. Well, this is quite a pickle." Applejack tried bucking Tom again, to no avail. Applebloom went over and bucked alongside her sister, but their power still wasn't enough to dislodge it. Ammy decided to help as well, yet it still seemed they were too weak. "This is useless! We need something stronger!" Her words sparked a thought in Issun's head.

"Ammy! That new technique of yours... the Power Buck, right? Well, maybe it's strong enough to dislodge this thing?" Despite coming from Issun's mouth, it made sense to Ammy. "Try drawing two hooves and let loose some havoc!"

Drawing a sideways eight (which is totally two hooves beside each other), Amaterasu let loose the Power Buck. The technique sent the boulder flying. "Well I'll be a fish outta water..." Applejack said, slack-jawed. Applebloom stared at Amaterasu in awe.

"Whoa, Nelly!" she exclaimed in glee. "You gots to show me how to do that! It'd be so cool! I could be a Cutie Mark Magical Filly!"

"But you didn't make a wish with Kyuubi..." Issun interrupted.

"Technicalities." Applebloom rebutted.

"The hay you two going on about?" Applejack asked, horribly confused by the exchange and still at awe over the brush technique. Ammy, tired of this listening to the two, runs down after Tom. She was pretty far behind, but was close enough to watch it roll to Waka...

...and smash him against a tree. Both Ammy's and Issun's jaws dropped. "Whoa... didn't see that coming, huh, ya half-baked prophet?" Though he joked, there was a sad tone to his voice. It was just apparent enough for Ammy to not want to eat him. Whatever her mysterious connection to the strange prophet was, she felt it deeply enough that she didn't want him to die getting crushed by a... rock. He didn't deserve to go out like that. He deserved better.

"Oh? Such kind thoughts... your amnesia this time is much more pleasant than your last, mon amie~"

Appearing on top of Tom, completely unharmed, was a smiling Waka. "You... you... raaaaargh!" Issun couldn't (or wouldn't) form proper words to express the emotions he was feeling. Waka chuckled, then pointed at the gate he had formed for them.

"It is about time for you to get a move on... but first, I must provide a prophecy." Waka assumed a pose on top of Tom. "In the land of clouds, where the sun shines the brightest, a shadow is cast. Where rainbows are made, rainbows are freed, but who knows what is found in the Rainbow Factory?" He let out a small laugh, then picking up Tom with ease, he bound away to who knows where. An eerie chill seemed to blow through Amaterasu and Issun though.

"Ammy..." Issun began, "Something about that half-baked prophet's words is giving me a bad case of the heebie-jeebies."

Amaterasu understood the feeling. She turned her head towards Cloudsdale. What would they find there? What was this shadow, and what did it have to do with a Rainbow Factory? There was only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath, she waited for Issun to burrow back into her fur, then walked through the doorway to meet their next challenge.