“Ah! Itch! Itch! Itch!” John thought to himself as he struggled out of a pile of hay, trying to brush the hay off of him and shake it out of his clothes. As he was doing so, he took a look around where he was. The fields around the area had apple trees as far as the eye could see. Behind him and the hay pile was a bright red barn and something trickling down the side of said barn. Looking up he saw Jackson impaled on the barn’s weather vane, bleeding...sand?

John then shook his head at this before looking up as he shouted up to Jackson, “I’m taking this as a no. But are you okay up there?”

Jackson removed his mask and gave him the ‘Really?’ look. “I’m impaled on a barn. So stick with your earlier answer and see if you can either get me down, find help for that, or just @#%$ OFF!!!” He bellowed.

“Well if you don’t want help, I guess I’ll leave you be for now.”

“Help with what?” Jackson asked. “Dealing with that anthropomorphic pony thing that seems to be looking like you pissed in his territory?” He pointed towards a red, muscular earth pony with an orangish blonde mane and tail, and wearing overalls that was stomping towards him with the hair on the back of his neck standing on end and he seemed to have a growl on his face.

“Why does this always happen?” John asked himself pinching the bridge of his nose, “Alright, if I’ve stepped in at a bad time, I can only apologise.”

“Get off the the property! You’re trespassing!” The ponyman thing practically barked. “Off! Off! Off! Off!” As he “barked,” he started crouching down onto his hands and knees and looked ready to tear off John’s ankles with his teeth. Before anything could progress into further barking and possible physical conflict, a lasso looped around the pony’s torso and pulled him back.

“Down Mac! Heel! Heel!” A different pony thing yelled out, as she pulled and kept this “Mac” from attacking. The pony in question was an orange color with a blonde mane and tail, was wearing jean shorts, a flannel shirt, and a stetson hat. Once “Mac” was calmed down, she gave him a stern look and said, “Bad! No pie for you after dinner! And get your rear end off your hands and knees! You ain’t a dog, regardless of what Discord did and how much you may have liked it!”

As John watched this he just shook his head before he stated, “Is this a normal thing for you? Or should I be worried?”

“It only just started happening,” the pony girl said. “We just finished taking care of Discord and all of that silly over-the-top stuff in Canterlot a few days ago. I come home to find Mac her still acting like a dog and had to get one of those psycho-whats-it people to know what was wrong.” She then shook her head. “Turns out, he liked the time he was mentally a dog so much, that he started having moments of acting like a dog.”

“So… should I expect you to have a lead for him or something?” John admitted.

“I’d rather hogtie him than practically choke him,” she said to him. “I have a strong arm, and you saw how hard I pulled to keep him from attacking you. I would have either choked him out, or broke his neck with the pull I did.” She took a deep breath before speaking again. “By the way, my name’s Applejack.” She stuck her hand out for a handshake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Applejack, my names John.”

“The pleasure’s all mine. Now, what were you doing here that got Mac all riled up and going dog for?” She asked.

“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” John responded as he rubbed the back of his head.

“John! This is Equestria we’re talking about!” Jackson shouted from above the two. “Just tell her and she’ll decide if she’ll believe her or not!”

“What the...? What is he…? Who is…?” Applejack stuttered before turning to John. “Can you help me understand what’s going on?”

“And make it quick, the iron is starting to itch,” Jackson said, shifting a bit, causing a brief surge of sand to spurt out and hit the back of John’s head.

“Umm… I’m sorry to impose, but you wouldn’t happen to have some ladders I could use to get him down?” John asked.

“Won’t it hurt him?”

“Miss Applejack, I’m already in pain. A little more won’t ‘hurt.’” Jackson joked before accidentally spitting up some sand. “Urgh, that taste is gonna linger for a while.”

Shaking her head, she pointed to the barn. “There should be some to the right of that door as you go in. While you’re in there, grab the hacksaw. I don’t want to drag him through the weathervane and cause more damage than should be.” She turned to Mac. “Go get Twilight and bring her here. If you’re fast, but civil about it, I’ll let you have some pie for dessert.” Mac perked up, undid the rope around his torso and started towards town.”

“Okay, and thank you,” John responded as he walked to where Applejack had told him the ladders were before he grabbed them carrying them to the side of the barn and setting them up before walking back and grabbing a hacksaw as she had requested before going back to the ladder.

“Okay, now when you get up there, use that hacksaw and remove the part of the weathervane that’s sticking out. Then you can get your friend out without doing more damage,” Applejack instructed.

“Okay, and I’m sorry for any damage I cause to the building getting him free,” John responded as he began to climb the ladder before getting to the roof as he approached Jackson.

“Don’t worry, that barn’s getting old. We’re due to rebuild it sometime this weekend,” she shouted up to him.

“Okay,” John shouted back down before he said to Jackson, “Okay, time to get you free,” as he began to the section of the weathervane below where Jackson's body had skewered itself, freeing him in the process.

“Thank you,” Jackson said after he was pulled out of the weathervane. He then did a Leap of Faith into the pile of hay that John woke up in. Just as he got out of the pile, Twilight showed up with Mac following, more civil, thankfully.

“Applejack, are you sure that he’s okay?” Twilight asked curiously looking over Jackson’s form seeing no visible injuries on him from his impalement.

“I’m right here, you can ask me,” Jackson said, briefly miffed at her asking someone else about him while there.

“He’s got a point there, Twi,” Applejack agreed.

“What am I, chopped liver?” John asked from on the roof as he jumped off the edge of the roof into the haystack he had woke up in.

“Let’s just let the unicorn talk,” Jackson said, before turning towards Twilight.

Twilight then seemed to stutter momentarily before she asked Jackson, “How did you even survive that fall, it makes no sense that a haystack could stop you from hurting yourselves jumping from that height.”

“It’s called a Leap of Faith for a reason. And while I agree, I also disagree,” Jackson said.

“Would you mind explaining what you mean?” Twilight asked as she seemed to get a notepad out from seemingly nowhere.

“Why don’t you try it yourself and describe it from there?” Jackson said, pointing to the barn roof.
“Why would I do that? Do you know the number of calculations and planning I’d need to do, just to have a idea if it could do that?” Twilight asked.

“That’s where Faith comes in,” Jackson responded. “Sometimes, thinking as you do simply shows your lack of such and holds you back. You just jump.”

Twilight went to protest more, but Applejack stopped her. “Twi, remember what happened when you questioned what Pinkie asked of you to take on Faith?”

“Maybe it would be better if you didn’t do the jump. Besides, I can assure you two have a lot of questions not relating to that you want us to answer anyway,” John admitted with a kind smile.

“So how did you two get here?” Applejack asked. “Especially the fella who got himself stuck where he was.”

“It’s simple, yet at the same time, it isn’t,” Jackson began. “We were at a convention and met a merchant who sold us some items before we got here. I don’t know about John, but shortly after I put on the mask I bought, I suddenly felt tired and blacked out. Then I wake up to find several inches of iron through my stomach and my blood replaced with sand.”

“And for me it was the same, but after he collapsed I went to check on him and got kicked in the back of the head, fell unconscious and woke up in the haystack and you know the rest.” John admitted.

Twilight then looked at the two of them before she said, “You realise that sounds like a half-baked lie right?”

“This coming from a mare of magic,” Jackson commented dryly. “The guy who forced us here could have been a being higher in power than anyone here and used a magic best left alone by most.”

“I doubt there is any type of magic strong enough to manage to accomplish what you claim happened to you.”

“How much do know about anything outside of this world?” Jackson asked. “I personally doubt you even know everything about this world to begin with.”

“Well, I don’t know what you’re talking about entirely, but I can’t argue either,” Applejack said.

“Kind of the point. The worlds outside this one have things that are completely different from what you know. There can and will be beings that have unimaginable power and magic, if any magic at all, and with how large the universe is, the possibilities are endless.”

“So you are referring to Multiverse theory? Correct.” Twilight asked.

“Universe, Multiverse, Omni-@#$%ing-verse, however you name it, it’s pretty much the point,” Jackson said. “What may be true here, may be false or half-true elsewhere in existence.”

“Okay, can I ask, how exactly you are alive after being impaled?” Twilight asked Jackson in a mix of curiosity, confusion and fear.

“I’m not sure, but I think that the magic or whatever that guy used to bring me and John here, it caused my costume to become real, which made me undead to some extent.”

At Jackson's admittance, Twilight looked at him with a look of disgust clear on her face as she muttered under her breath to herself, “Disgusting.”

“If I’m thinking correctly, I’m not a rotting corpse or a necromancy type of undead,” Jackson said. “I’m more of a Servant to a god kind of undead. Amun or something.”

“I’m pretty sure they have no idea who that is,” John pointed out as he looked at Applejack and Twilight a clear look of confusion on their faces.

“Amun is a “sun god” that mine and John's ancient ancestors worshipped,” Jackson simply said. “And if my new undead status, I'm thinking that somewhere in the cosmos, most, if not all, pantheons exist.”

“So pretty much you think we’re in the God of War universe… I’m pretty sure neither of us are Kratos,” John pointed out.

“Did that franchise come out of my mouth at all?” Jackson snapped at John. “As good as the gameplay is for that Nordic instalment of the series, I'm not a fan of the story. I mean, what mother deprives her son the ability to feel anything or die?”

“I get a feeling we shouldn’t ask what you mean by that,” Twilight started looking at the two of them.

“Best not...and in all of this Q&A session madness, I don't think I've introduced myself,” he said before briefly bowing. “I am Bayek, Servant of Amun.” Silence. “And why is everyone talking all at once?” He tried to joke. More Silence.

It was then that the group turned to see a young yellow Earth Pony with red mane and tail and wearing jeans and a flannel shirt like her sister. As she was approaching, Bayek noticed that she was holding a half brown, half yellow choker that had a burning heart symbol of some kind on it.

“Umm… you haven’t got a missing dog have you?” John asked Applejack curiously.

“We’ve got a dog, Winnona, but why did you ask if he was missing?” She counter questioned.

“Because the little lady that just arrived looks to be holding some sort of collar. I’m just making an assumption,” John responded.

“It’s a choker, not a collar,” Bayek said. “Think of a collar in jewelry form, meant for the neck. Looks tight enough to choke someone, hence the name.”

“Applebloom, where did you find that? It better not have been from mother’s old jewelry box that we tell you to keep your paws out of,” Applejack asked.

“I didn’t take it from there Applejack,” Applebloom responded seeming annoyed by the ideas she would have taken it from the jewelry box, “I found it inside the clubhouse as I was tidying it up.”

“Huh, well, a nice lucky find,” Applejack said, taking the choker and looking it over. “I’d have to take it to Rarity to see what it’s worth.”

“May I see it before you go ahead with getting it checked?” Bayek asked. Applejack held it out for him to take. When he did, a voice seemed to speaking into his and John’s mind.

“If you need me, preferably not for fighting, call me over. The phrase is: Come forth, calm flame.”

“What was that?” Bayek asked, looking at the choker more closely.

“I may not be as versed in the whole Displaced thing as you, but If If the ass who we brought from was that Merchant we can make a assumption from the stereotypes of those stories, what could that be?” John asked.

“A token with a passcode?” Bayek wondered out loud.

“What in tarnation are you to going on about?” Applejack asked.

“Trust me when I say, it’s something you are better off not knowing,” John admitted.

“Or if you do end up knowing, it’s best left for us to handle,” Bayek added. “So, want to confirm our theory and obtain a friend in this big multiverse?”

“I can’t see any harm it could do, but why should we even both with calling someone when we have no need of assistance, or know what we need to do ourselves?” John asked

“Fair enough,” Bayek said, slipping the choker into an invisible pouch. “So, now that we're introduced and a few things out of the way, what now?” He asked John.

“Well let me put it this way. We have nowhere to go, nothing to do, and a few people we need to pay back for admittingly unknowingly trespassing on their property and plenty of time on our hands. So, what do you think would be the right thing to do?”

“Farmhand work?” Bayek inquired.

“If the owners of this placing are willing that is,” John responding looking to Applejack.

“Sure thing,” she said. “I can give you a basic rundown of how to do what we do...mostly. No offense, but you both don't look like you could buck apples off a tree. Standard picking should work for you.”

“If you think that will be for the best, just tell us where we are needed,” John responded with a smile.

“Alright then, follow me,” Applejack said, walking towards the fields.

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