Long ago, in a magical land, I Discord, lord of chaos, defeated the Elements of Harmony and their bearers. But, a foolish earth pony mare, wielding all six Elements in the form of a magic sword, continued to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time, and flung her into the future, where my chaos is law. Now the fool seeks to return to the past and undo the future that is Discord.

Applejack confidently walked up the rocky mountain pass. There was a clearly defined path, and regularly used, judging by the wagon tracks dug deep into the earth. However, it was steep, so the going was tough. And she enjoyed it. The hard work really made her feel good. The chaos clock still showed the way, and she finally had a way back in time.

Something made her stop. She took a deep breath, looked away, and continued on. She just had to walk past the pony skeleton lying on the side of the path. It’s bones were broken, but she couldn’t tell if the pony had simply fallen or something else had caused the damage. They didn’t have any visible teeth maks, but she wasn’t going to give it a closer look. She walked right past the next three skeletons, though she began moving slower and slower each time.

The path suddenly widened and she stopped. The path continued beyond the wider area, but she had to stop. Just to the side of the path was a stone statue.

It looked vaguely like a sapien, but crude, like a foals drawing. It had a simply blocky mouth and hollow eyes, making the head look like a helmet. It wasn’t very large, it was only slightly taller than Applejack if she reared up on her hind legs. It stood there with both hands resting on the pommel of a large sword, embedded in the ground at its feet.

Applejack admired the craftsmanship for a minute before continuing on. As she tried to leave the wide area, a stone slab slammed down in front of her. Surprised, she backed away and took another look at the statue. Now that it had moved, its sword now blocking her way, she could clearly see a glow in its empty eye sockets. The runes must be inside

“If you wish to pass, you must fight me,” the golem said.

Applejack shrugged. “Ah won’t pass then.” She could always go around, so she headed back the way she had come. Again the sword slammed down in front of her.

“If you wish to go back, you must fight me,” the golem said.

“Is there any way Ah don’t have tah fight?” Applejack asked.

“No. You must fight me, pony.”

“Whah is it no matter where Ah go, Ah have tah fight somethin’?” Applejack grumbled.

“Discord seems to like the world this way,” the golem replied.

Applejack stared blankly for a moment. “Wait... did you just talk back to me?”

“Yes,” the golem said.

“And yer a golem?”

“That I am.”

“Huh. Ah never met a golem that talked back bahfore,” Applejack said.

“I am not a normal golem,” the golem said. “Draw your weapon so we may fight.”

“Fine,” Applejack said. She pulled out the sword and got into a fighting stance.

“That sword,” the golem said. “I have seen that sword before. I wielded it, in fact.”

“Ya’ll are a bearer? How is that possible?” Applejack asked.

“Would you like to hear my story before we fight? It will answer all your questions.”

“Might as well,” Applejack said. The golem sat down, crossing its legs. It sat its sword aside and began its story.

“It all began a long, long time ago, not far from this spot. Here there was once a small kingdom, but it did not belong to any race you know. We called ourselves humans. We were prosperous and happy.”

“Ah’ve never heard of yah,” Applejack said. “Did yah look like yah do now?”

“We were wiped out some time ago. This body was made to be similar to ours, yes.”

“So... what about the sapiens? Yah look like one,” Applejack said.

The golem humphed. “Mother nature trying to repeat herself. They are a mockery of the human race. I guess whatever gods there are want to replace us.”

“Yer race was that important?”

“We could not use magic like the other races of this world. It wasn’t universal, but many beings with magic used it to exploit us. It changed, however, when we discovered that our very written language could give life to things. We created thousands of these artificial creatures to aid us in our work and to protect us.”

“You... you created golems?” Applejack said, surprised.

“We discovered them is more like it. It was fortuitous that our language allowed us access to magic. No longer were we helpless against those that would abuse us with their magic. At our height, golems outnumbered humans three to one.”

“Ah’m almost afraid tah ask....”

“Ponies were among our abusers,” the golem said. “Though there were no unicorns, nor pegasus or even earth ponies ponies back then. There were only alicorns. The alicorns did lord their magic over us until we wiped out one of their platoons with our golems. After that, they left us alone. I do not bear any ill will towards you. You are a bearer. If you are good enough for the sword, that’s enough for me.

“I had a family back then. A wife and son. In those days I was a golem maker. It made me proud to see my son following in my footsteps.”

“What was yer name?”

“I’ve forgotten it,” the golem said.

“How could yah forget yer own name?

The golem shrugged. “It wasn’t important.”

“Weird,” Applejack said.

“I was always trying to make the best golems I could. This body you see was to be my masterpiece. An entirely new class of combat golem, far beyond anything we had ever made before. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to try it before... He came.”

“Discord,” Applejack growled.

“He walked through our golem army like they were nothing. We did everything we could to stop him. We sacrificed cities, thousands of lives, just to slow him down.”

“Ah heard golems use souls. Is that true?”

“Yes. The soul is what gives a golem it’s limited intelligence. They don’t remember who they were or anything about themselves. It’s a bit like being asleep and having amnesia, or so our researchers deduced. They’re not really aware of anything on a conscious level, they just react. I, of course, am an exception.

“Sacrificing all those people bought us time, and allowed us to make more golems. We tried to buy ourselves more time. Time to build bigger and more devastating weapons to stop him. Nothing worked. I was there when he reached our capital.

“When he attacked, I was repairing golems damaged in battles with him. I abandoned my work and ran to my house. I had to protect my family, what little I would do against that demon. I was too late. My home was burning before I arrived. I was angry. I didn’t think things through. I was going to make him pay with my last breath.

“What I did was forbidden. I’ve had thousands of years to understand why. Though, if I had known back then... I probably would have done it anyway.”

“Forbidden?”

“My people knew every rune and what it would do. Because of this, certain runes were forbidden from use. Runes that gave a golem independence, for example, or gave the soul consciousness. Use of these runes was punished most severely.

“That is what I did. I couldn’t enact my revenge, but my golem could. I carved the right rune, then I sealed my own soul inside this golem. It worked. I now had the will to stop him, and the body to match my heart.

“I faced Discord. He merely laughed at me. I struck him will all my might, but my blows did nothing, and in retaliation he plunged me deep underground. I lay there, helpless while my home and people burned and died. By the time I emerged, none were left alive.

“But what he had done to me, was his own downfall. As I climbed out, I found an ancient tunnel I didn’t know existed, far below my home. It did not look like it was made by human hands, or pony hooves. I explored it and found a chamber with six stone balls. They reacted to my presence and became a brilliant golden sword. It wasn’t exactly like the one you wield. Yours is more like a katana while mine was a claymore. This one I have now is a replica.”

“Ah ain’t too familiar with swords. Ah just know there are big swords and little swords.” Applejack could tell just by the difference in appearance that they were meant for different fighting styles. Is it only this shape fer me? And why would this shape be fer me? It that whah they keep callin’ me ‘samurai’?

“Regardless, I found the sword and climbed out of the hole Discord put me in. From that point on, I became a relentless phantom, haunting him as he continued his rampage. Wherever he went, I followed. It took two hundred years for me to catch him.”

“Two hundred.... golly....”

“The battle was fierce, but in the end my work paid off. With the power of the Vanquishing Blade, and the ability of my golem, I defeated Discord, turning him to stone.”

“Vanquishing Blade? Granny Smith called it the Sword ah Harmony,” Applejack said.

“Eh, two names for the same thing. Same use,” the golem said, shrugging.

“So... what did you do after yah beat him?”

“I traveled the world. Most beings feared me, and with good reason. Some wanted the forbidden rune, but I refused to share it. Eventually I came back here. And here I have waited for a warrior capable of slaying me in battle for thousands of years.”

Applejack gazed at it in silence for a minute. “It’s an honor tah meet yah. Ah didn’t expect tah meet another bearer. But... whah do yah just stay here, fightin’ random ponies?”

“I don’t fight random ponies. I watch all beings that pass by. If they seem like the warrior type, I fight them. If not, I let them pass. Sometimes I try to talk with them. Sometimes they listen, other times, they run.”

“But whah?”

“Because I wish to die.”

“That’s quitter talk!” Applejack said sternly.

“I have lived for over thirty thousand years!” the golem shouted. “When I put my soul in this body, I did not realize the long term consequences. I cannot die of natural causes. I do not require food, water, rest, or anything else a body of flesh needs. The only way for me to pass on is to be killed.”

“But Ah could use yer help,” Applejack said. “Discord’s been free fer a thousand years! Yah could be out stoppin’ him again.”

“As my story explained, I can’t without that sword,” the golem said, pointing to her. “And there is no point to fighting him.”

“Sure there is! He’s makin’ everypony’s lives miserable!”

“What do I care if a few ponies are unhappy. Where were they when my entire race was wiped out? And don’t tell me they’ve changed, they haven’t. After Nightmare Moon was banished, I went to your Princess. I told her that the Elements needed to be put back where they belong and they had been in pony hands too long. She attacked me and I was branded an enemy of the state. She couldn’t destroy my body, I had really outdone myself in its construction, but I was still forced to flee.”

“But he’s hurtin’ everyone, not just ponies. We gotta stop him.”

“I agree. It is noble to fight against such a being, but fighting Discord is a waste,” the golem said. “I have seen him break free of his stone prison a dozen times in my life. The sword is the only thing that can actually harm him, and even it cannot slay him. As I said, it is a waste.”

“Ah ain’t gonna kill yah. Do it yerself,” Applejack said defiantly.

“Don’t you think if I could, I would?” the golem growled. “The very runes I put on this thing to control it, prevent me from doing just that. Plus, this body is too durable for most things to even damage it.”

“So just stand there and Ah’ll stab whatever runes yah want. Surely this sword will work.”

“Again, I cannot. I am forced to retaliate against any hostile action.”

Applejack looked grim, unsure of what to do.

“Please. I wish to see my family again. This world of the living holds nothing for me and I have waited long enough. Think of it as practice for Discord. I beat him, so if you can beat me, you can beat him as well.”

Applejack was deep in thought. “Ah’ll do it,” she said, looking up. “But on one condition.”

“Name your terms,” the golem said.

“Ah want the forbidden rune,” Applejack said.

“This is a cursed life. I will not give it to you. I do not want another to suffer as I have suffered.”

“That’s mah condition. Give it, or Ah walk.”

The golems face held no emotions, not that it could. “If you beat me, you can have the rune.”

“Thank you,” Applejack said sincerly. “And if you win, yah can have mah sword.”

“I will only put it back where it belongs.”

“Ah don’t think Ah’ll need it anyway.”

“Here,” the golem said. It opened its mouth wide and pointed at the back of its hollow head. She could see the faint scratchings of a rune there. “That is your target. Hit it, and I am slain.”

Applejack didn’t wait for the golem to get ready. She leaped at it, thrusting the sword forward. It knocked her aside with one hand, and brandished its large sword with the other.

She hit the ground hard, but was up in a second, slashing at the golem. It blocked her with its sword. She was quite surprised when the Sword of Harmony didn’t cut through the other sword.

“It’s a really good replica,” the golem said. It pushed forward, forcing Applejack back with its sheer weight.

Applejack wasn’t going to give up so easily, so she jumped at the golem again, roaring as she brought her sword down. Again, the golem block her, but this time, it only used one hand. The other, it swung below the crossed blades, catching her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her.

She retreated, rubbing her stomach and trying to breathe.

“If that’s the best you can do, Discord has already won!”

Applejack just stood there, wheezing.

“Are you giving up already?” the golem asked, walking over.

Applejack shouted and threw her sword at it. It easily caught the sword, even though it was going to miss the golem completely.

“It’s always a bad idea to throw your weapon. Who taught you how-” the golem was cut off by Applejack. She had jumped at it with both forehooves outstretched and had collided with its head, her horseshoes causing the golem’s head to ring.

The golem staggered back and dropped her sword. Without giving it a chance to recover, Applejack grabbed her sword and thrust it forward, towards the golem’s head. With a grinding sound, her sword sank into the metal, damaging the rune. The golem sank to its knees with a loud thud. Wisps of black smoke began billowing out of its joints and the holes in its head.

“Thank you,” the golem said.

“The rune?” Applejack said.

“Of course,” the golem said. It opened up a cavity in its chest and pulled out a small stone bird. On each of its wings was a rune, each different. “This is what you seek.”

“Which one?” Applejack asked.

“Both. A modification must be made to the soul seal rune for it to work.”

“Okay,” Applejack said.

“My.... my son made this. It was the first golem he ever made. He even worked out the consciousness rune by himself. He wanted to make a bird golem that would act just like a real bird. I stopped him from sealing a soul in it. I had to.

“And all these years, it’s the only thing I’ve had of him. Do you know what it’s like to lose a son?” the golem asked.

Applejack nodded. “Mah sister died a long time ago. Ah never to the chance tah see her grow up cause ah Discord. Ah missed her gettin’ her cutie mark, gettin’ married, hay, Ah never got tah see her foal. She may have been mah sister, but Ah had tah take care ah her like our mom woulda.”

“Good luck on your journey,” the golem said. It placed the stone bird on the ground. Then it stood up and picked up the sword. Its movements were awkward and it jerked around a lot. Finally it stood in the position Applejack had found it in. “What... what is.... your name, samurai.... pony?”

“Mah name is Applejack.”

“Thank.... you...., Samurai....... Applejack.”

The golem fell silent. The glow in its eyes died, and the smoke ceased to come. Applejack carefully put the stone bird away and continued up the mountain.

“Ah’ll come back and free yah again. A thousand years ago.”

If you like this story, you should check out some of my other works:

My tumblr, an alternate universe mixing MLP and Cyborg 009.

The Seven Tribes, a rather long fanfic that, like many stories, tries to explain the past.

Forever a Changeling, my new story starring Rainbow Dash as a changeling.

Night of the Werepony, what I consider to be my worst story, but it’s surprisingly popular. It’s just one chapter long.