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.

“Stupid cliff, stupid rocks, stupid bridge...” Applejack grunted to herself as she pulled herself up even higher.

After she and the Minotaur reached the end of the pass, they had gone their separate ways. She’d followed the mountain’s base this time, constantly checking the chaos clock for any changes. Eventually she’d had no other choice than to climb up a near sheer cliff face.

One slip meant certain death, and she was well aware of this. The sweat from the exertion made her hooves slick. That was another thing. She never thought she would live to see the day she actually wished she had something other than hooves. They were totally useless for climbing. She’d had to make countless detours because her large hooves simply couldn’t grip the small ledges and cracks.

At last she was nearing the top. Or at least she hoped she was. The cliff seemed to end up ahead. If nothing else, it meant a ledge where she could rest her aching legs.

Finally, mercifully, she put one hoof over the top. It was definitely flat ground. She lifted herself up and had both her front hooves up. She smiled, relieved she was done.

Then her back hooves slipped. Her whole body jerked backwards, sliding over the edge. She kept slipping until her entire body had fallen back down. She held on by one hoof, and her grip was slipping.

“Do you need help, or are you just hanging in there?” came a voice. A brown pony head poked itself over the edge and looked down at her.

“Ah’d appreciate ah hoof,” Applejack replied, dangling there.

“Sure, I have four. Which do you want?” the pony joked. Applejack just frowned. “Yeah, yeah, I got you, Ms. Serious.” He reached down and grabbed her leg.

The danger of falling reduced, Applejack scraped her back hooves against the rock wall. Her shoes caught on, and with the strange pony’s help, she managed to get all the way up this time. She collapsed to the ground, panting. He lay nearby, quietly observing.

The mountain leveled off into a ridge where they were. Applejack couldn’t see any sign of the bridge, and she wasn’t sure if she had passed it. The other side certainly didn’t seem foggy. At least she was back in the mountains. If there was a gem mine nearby, it would certainly be in one of them.

She also took the time to examine her rescuer. He was rather a large stallion. Not heavy, but strong, with brown hair and a jet black mane. His yellow eyes shone brightly. His face seemed cracked in a permanent smile.

“That was fun. Want to do it again?” he asked. Again, she glared at him.

“Ah’m just glad tah be up here.”

“And just what are you doing here, Applejack?”

Applejack stood bolt upright and drew her sword. Before the strange pony could react, she had the blade pressed against his neck. “Ah don’t recall tellin’ yah mah name. How do yah know who Ah am?”

“Are you kidding? You’re pretty famous!” the pony replied. “Please put that back, we don’t want somepony getting hurt, right?”

Applejack pulled away, but kept the sword ready. “How?”

The pony reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a paper. He placed it on the ground between them. “I heard about how you saved Appleloosa. Everyone knows who you are after this was issued.”

It was a bounty poster for ‘Samurai Applejack’. On it was a picture of Applejack. Hoof drawn, she doubted any photos of her still existed except any in Spike’s care. Below it was how much they were offering, and how they wanted her. She wasn’t too surprised Discord didn’t want her alive.

“Twenty thousand bits....” Applejack gasped.

“A lot of money. Ponies everywhere are talking about you. You’re a hero, Applejack.”

“Wow,” was all she could say.

“Look, I support what you’re trying to do. I don’t know what it is, but if it’s annoying Discord, then I like it. I... uh... I have a campsite not far from here, if you need anything. I’d love a chance to help you.”

“Uh... sure... but Ah should be thankin’ you. Ah thought mah beans were burned back there.”

“Well maybe you can help me. I’ll explain on the way,” he said.

He stood up and started walking along the ridge. Applejack followed. She could see something farther along the rocky path and assumed that was what they were headed for.

“I’m in these mountains for a reason. A lot of ponies, not just you, want to overthrow Discord by any means necessary. I’ve heard rumors that there’s an ancient magic gem mine in these mountains. I figure if I can get one big enough and have some unicorns charge it, it might be strong enough to kill him.”

“Uh huh.” Convenient we’re both looking for the same thing.

“I mean I like a lot of the things he does, chocolate milk rain, cotton candy clouds, water fountains spewing soda, you know, standard stuff. But he hurt my friends, and nopony hurts my friends.”

It was at this point that Applejack noticed he happened to be hopping, not walking.

“Uh... would your name happen tah be Pie?”

“Nopes,” he replied. “My name’s Jollity.”

“It shows.”

“I wonder why everyone says that,” Jollity said. He paused for a moment before bouncing off again.

“Here we are, camp sweet camp,” Jollity announced. Applejack was quite surprised, given his nature, that the camp was a dull as it was. It consisted of a simple canvas tent, a sleeping mat, and some general supplies.

“Huh....”

“Anything to help a fellow warrior out,” Jollity said, going through his saddlebags.

“Yah say yer lookin’ fer a gem mine. Ah’m doin’ the same.”

“Well that’s convenient,” Jollity said, turning to her. “Apple?”

“Thanks,” Applejack said taking it. “So, do yah know where it is?”

“Not really. I just know it’s in these mountains, so I’m searching around until I find a big hole.”

“Well Ah’m not sure where it is, but Ah think Ah can help.” Applejack reached into her robe and pulled out the chaos clock. “It’s that way. Ah’m not sure how far, but it’s that way.”

“That’s a pretty nice compass,” Jollity said. “Pre-Celestian era, it seems,” he said looking at it closely. “Wherever did you find such an artifact?”

“Ah found in mah travels. They were sellin’ it at a shop and Ah bought it.” Whah did Ah just lie?

“Huh. Well it’s pretty cool. If that thing is right, we can head out!”

Within a minute he had packed up the whole camp into a large pack he placed on his back between his regular saddlebags.

“Yukon ho!” he declared.

The going was treacherous. The ridge they were following was very narrow, about wide enough for them to walk side by side, but uncomfortably close. It was very rocky with little vegetation. At least it was easy to see their progress as the mountain behind shrank into the distance, and the one before them loomed ever closer.

Suddenly, a rock slipped, and Jollity fell. He grunted incoherently as he rolled once then began sliding down the rock face.

“Woooahhhhhh!!!!!” Jollity cried.

“Hang on!” Applejack pulled out her rope and quickly twirled it in her mouth .She threw it down to Jollity who immediately grabbed it with his mouth. Applejack grunted, his weight threatening to pull her over the edge. She managed to dig in her horseshoes and catch them on a rock. Once she was sure she was secure, she began pulling him slowly back up. He was able to help too, using the rope to help walk up the steep slope. Finally he crested the ridge and collapsed, panting.

“This was a terrible slip-n-slide!” he said between pants. “I- I guess we’re even now.”

“Ah guess so.”

“Add some water, and less chance of death, and that would have been fun.”

“Let’s just keep movin’.”

“The sun’s goin’ down, and this place is pretty level. Ah think we should spend the night here, then move on. We might fall off in the dark,” Applejack declared. They’d come to a fairly level part of the mountain chain with a few flat rocks and some grassy patches. Jollity looked around.

“Okie, dokie, lokie,” he said. He shrugged off his bags and began setting up his tent. Applejack took out her canteen and took a drink, then rummaged around for some hay bread. It was some tasteless stuff she’d bought in the last town. It was awful, and about as bad as grass, but it would last months if not years.

She took a few bites before noticing it had gotten brighter in their vicinity. She turned and saw Jollity had a small fire going.

“Wow, yah got that goin’ already?”

“I had some wood to burn, and I used some magnesium to start the fire.”

Applejack sat down across from him and kept eating. She stared blankly at the fire.

“Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

Applejack shook her head, but didn’t look up.

“Why are you fighting Discord? I mean, is there a reason, besides he’s the evil emperor of the world?”

“He killed mah friends, tried tah kill me, and ruined mah life. You?”

“Well...” Jollity began. “Look, I’ve never told anyone this before. A long time ago, my home was attacked and destroyed by Discord’s forces. They killed everyone. I was hit, and it should have killed me, but it didn’t. They must have assumed it did, but I somehow survived. I was the only one. Since then, I dedicated myself to enacting revenge on those who wiped out everyone I ever cared about.”

“Ah’m sorry,” Applejack said. She stood up and moved closer to him. She put a hoof on his shoulder. “Ah can’t imagine goin’ through that, and yer still cheerful.”

“There’s no sense in moping around,” Jollity replied. “And I’ve had a long time to move on.”

“Then this quest means a lot tah both of us,” Applejack said. “If Ah can get that gem, this’ll all be fixed. Ah’m tryin’ tah go back in time tah before all this happened and stop Discord then. Yer home will be safe!”

“Maybe.” Jollity stood up and walked into his tent. “Night.”

“Night,” Applejack replied. She finished the bread then fell asleep where she was.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted. Her face twisted into a snarl.

Her horn glowed brightly before firing a powerful bolt of magic right at the chimera. It left a gaping hole as it bore through flesh and bone alike on its path through the creatures skull. Its eyes rolled about as the chimera collapsed to the ground.

“Fluttershy!” Pinkie cried, racing over to the downed creature. It took all her strength to force its jaws open. They all knew what she found when they saw her mane instantly lose its puffiness.

“Unicorn’s are quite useful,” Discord said calmly. Twilight turned her head slowly to see the draconequus standing right next to her. He looked back at her with almost adoring eyes. With his paw hand, he grabbed her horn. “You can use magic to to all sorts of things, even bend reality. Then there are the practical applications to having to having a sharp pointy thing on your forehead.”

He twisted his paw. A loud crack rang out.

“My horn!” Twilight wailed. “You broke- gahck!” Her final words were cut short by blood now pouring out of her mouth. She looked down and stared at where her horn now rested, right in her chest.

“It’s dangerous really. Giving me a weapon like that,” Discord said walking away. Twilight’s legs wobbled, then she fell. She didn’t get back up.

“Twah!” Applejack cried, jerking up. She was confused for a moment. She was outside! Where was... Right...

It was still dark out, so Applejack layed back down and turned over. Maybe she’d actually get some decent sleep soon.

“So I said, war golem, more like bore golem.”

“Uh huh,” Applejack replied. Jollity was really getting on her nerves. He barely stopped talking, even when they were asleep. Sure she could just ditch him, but she didn’t want to do that. There was just something so familiar about his annoyance. A feeling that reminded her why she was doing this.

They were in a deeper col this time, one with some stubby trees, and larger boulders. They had probably rolled down from higher up, centuries ago.

“Ah hope we’re almost there,” she muttered.

“Huh?” Jollity asked.

“Ah said-” she stopped. Something cold and metallic had just clamped around her neck. How hadn’t she’d heard it? Of course! Over his talking, and her efforts to block it out, she hadn’t heard the golem approaching. Now she needed a way to deal with it, but it wouldn’t be easy with her air being restricted like this. She’d need to be quick and grab her-

*Clank!*

The minotaur shaped golem released her and staggered back, grabbing it’s vibrating head. Jollity just stood there, wielding a massive hammer. It would probably be called a warhammer if it wasn’t painted a rainbow of fluorescent colors. Its handle was much thinner than it should be, it bent dangerously but it didn’t snap as Jollity brought it up and smashed it against the golem.

“Smashing!” Jollity said with glee. The golem’s head had caved in, but it was still moving like nothing had happened. Applejack saw another come out from behind a rock and she moved to attack.

“Stop!” Jollity said to the golem. It actually did so out of surprise. “Hammer time!”

A few yards away, Applejack was busy dispatching the other golem with her sword. With ease it carved through its metal hide. The dead iron fell to the ground.

“Well that happened,” Jollity said, putting the hammer away.

“How did we not see them? And whah were they here?” Applejack asked nopony in particular.

“You’re a wanted pony. Discord probably has golems all over the place looking for you.”

“Makes sense.

“Hey, check this out!” Jollity said. Applejack came over and saw he was pointing to something behind a boulder. “It’s part of a pickaxe,” he explained, kicking at the rusted piece of curved metal. “We must be close!”

“Is this it?” Jollity asked. He looked into the cave before them. It was a massive stone tunnel that seemed to have been dug out of the mountain. It was too dark to see anything so the two hung around the mouth, a bit uneasy.

Applejack pulled out the chaos clock. “It’s pointin’ this way. Course, it could always mean the other side of the mountain. This thing ain’t exactly perfect.”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Jollity said. He pulled a lantern from his bag, lit it, and walked inside. Applejack quickly followed.

“We did it!” Applejack said in awe. She gazed around, her mouth wide open in a smile. All around gems glinted in the lantern light. It wouldn’t be hard to locate one big enough now.

“This place is amazing!” Jollity said. “This was too easy, but I like it when things are too easy.”

At his words, a rumbling sound started up, just ahead of where they were.

“Way tah jinx it,” Applejack grumbled.

They ran forward to see what it was. A pile of loose rocks was no longer a pile. The boulders were floating together into one big form.

“Of course there’s a guardian,” Jollity said. “What’s a quest without a boss fight?”

The rock creature seemed done. It appeared to be a large, lumpy pony, with gemstone eyes.

“I got this!” Jollity said. He galloped forward just as the rock pony reared up. Applejack closed her eyes, not wanting to see her new friend get clobbered. However, she looked again when she heard the rocks hit something solid. Between them and Jollity there was a solid red bubble.

“Magic? But yer an earth pony!”

“Not exactly,” Jollity said. The bubble burst violently, knocking the rocks away. He leaped up and swung his hammer right into the rock monster’s face. It utterly pulverized the solid rock. With a grinding sound, the entire construct fell apart at once. Jollity sifted through the rubble and found what he was looking for. It was a giant gemstone, larger than he was.

“Ahlright! Yah did it!” Applejack cheered. “And with that Ah can go back!”

“Yes, you definitely could,” Jollity said with a smirk. Then he kicked with both his hind legs. It sounded like a giant window had shattered. Fragments of gemstone flew all over the room; little sharp pieces reflecting the lantern light.

Applejack stared in shock. “What... Whah would yah do that?”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Jollity asked. “Wow, you really are just a hick farmer.” He began laughing. It was a very, very, familiar laugh.

“You no good-”

Jollity snapped his hoof. A pony shouldn’t be able to do that, but, he wasn’t a pony. His body vanished in a flash and was replaced with a draconequinian form.

“Don’t you get it? This is MY world. You can never win. Just give up. As long as I am alive, you will never go back to your own time.”

Applejack glared at him with all of her hatred. “So yah made up some sad story tah make me feel sorry for yah? Yer sick!”

“Oh it wasn’t a lie, Applejack. Every part of my story was true, I just changed the characters around,” he said. “And you can probably find another crystal in here, but remember, you do have a time limit.”

“Ah got all the time in the world, thanks tah you,” Applejack shouted back.

“No, you have about one minute before this place collapses,” Discord replied calmly. He snapped his talon. At once, the mine began shaking. A few stalactites fell to the floor nearby.

“Ah’ll kill you fer what you did!” Applejack shouted. She drew her sword and charged.

“Now, now. Someone could get hurt,” Discord said. He teleported out of the way, just as the sword passed through where his neck had been.

“Ah’ll find another gem. Ah’ll find a way back. And Ah will stop you,”

“What, with this?” Discord asked, pulling out a notebook.

Applejack stared at it, wide eyed, and began feeling her robe. The unicorn’s notebook was gone!

“This could ruin my fun. We can’t have that,” Discord said. He held the book in both hands and tore it apart. A few pages floated in the air. Applejack quickly ran over, grabbing at them, but as soon as they got close to her, they burst into flames. “Tah tah, samurai.” He snapped his talon again and was gone.

“You’d better run, cause when Ah find yah, Ah’m gonna slice you intah so many pieces, everypony ever will get a piece!“ Applejack shouted at where he had been., looking around. The whole mine was caving in. “Aw hayseed.” With that, she had no choice. She galloped out of the cave as fast as her legs would carry her.

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.