Chapter 1
The One Winged Pegasus
Applejack wakes up after her long night of rest shaking her orange coat and blonde hair and tail. Just the other day she had to fix everything on the farm because a certain Pinkie Pie decided to throw a party. Applejack grabs her hat off the desk in her room and walks outside. She looks around at her farmland but something feels different. She takes another look around and sees that there's a giant hole in the ceiling of the barn.
"What in tarnation!?" She shouts in her southern accent angered by this. She remembers vividly that that wasn't there yesterday when she cleaned up. She runs over to the barn house and the doors are open. "Whoever did this is gonna wish they never set foot in Sweet Apple Acres." She said stomping her hoof down. One of the doors wasn't as open as the other one and she decided to make her presence known.
She slammed her hoof against the door which sent the door flying open slamming into the wall. "Alright who's in here!?" Applejack looked through everything. She tore through hay bales and fallen wood looking for the barn crasher. "If y'all don't come out right now I'm gonna be purrty mad!"
Applejack walked a little further in to where the hole in the roof had collapsed in. Suddenly she heard moaning coming from that direction. This put Applejack on edge because now she knew someone was in here. She came around a corner and saw a white black hoof. Applejack ran up to the exposed hoof expecting to see a normal pony and shouted "Now I got—whoa!" She suddenly took a step back because lying in the busted up hay bail was a rather tall pony wearing a black pants, a black coat black gloves, two silver shoulder guards. His tail was silver along with his long hair. Next to him standing up through the ground was a nine foot long sword. Applejack couldn't believe that she had missed that. On his right side was a black wing but he didn't have a second wing.
"Hey pardner you alright?" Applejack touched the wing and it vanished with a blast of black flame. "Mister!" Applejack screamed thinking that the pony had just been incinerated. She looked back when the fog cleared to see that his wing had just disappeared and there seemed to be no injury to his body. Applejack decided that it must have been her imagination, but the wing looked so real and it felt real. She started to wonder how a wing could just vanish like that without any logical explanation. "Gosh darn it!"
"Sis?" A small and groggy southern voice came from the barn entrance. Applejack turned to see that it was her little sister Apple Bloom. "Why you gotta be so loud? It's too early in the mornin'." Apple Bloom came to Applejack's side.
"Sorry Apple Bloom, but there was a giant hole in the ceiling and I got really angry." Applejack patted her sister's head like she were a dog. "It's okay now though, I found him."
"That's great sis!" Apple Bloom faced toward where Applejack pointed and immediately shrieked to high heaven. "A dead body? Sis you didn't have to go that far to make your point across! What if someone finds out you'll be hated! Those dumb debt idiots will pile more on us." Apple Bloom was greatly over-dramatizing the situation.
"Apple Bloom he's not dead I don't think." Applejack really didn't know how to say but she found him like this so that should suffice. "Listen Bloom I found the varmint like this and I think he may be hurt badly we should see if we could do anything for him."
Apple Bloom didn't really understand but she wanted to help him. It may lead her to her cutie mark that she and her crusader friends have been trying to find for months. Apple Bloom put her head under one of his hooves and tried pulling him out. "He's heavy!" She tried pulling harder but the body wouldn't budge. "Um sis little help."
"Apple Bloom we'll probably need Big Mac to help us move him. He's probably the only one big enough to pick him up." Applejack grabbed her sister and brought her outside the barn and back into the house. "Alright you go wake Big Mac, I'll try and think of a way to explain this to him. He isn't going to be a happy pony about this. And neither is Cherrilee."
"Big Mac!" Applejack put her front hooves over her ears. Apple Bloom continued shouting, "Cherrilee! Wake up we have something we need help with! Get your lazy butts out of that bed before I get a bucket of cold water!"
"Way to go Bloom." Applejack said sarcastically as she heard a loud thud come from one of the rooms in the house. She heard another softer thud come next. "They aren't gonna be happy."
Big Mac, a red coated stallion with a blonde mane and tail, and Cherrilee, a purple pony with a very light purple mane and tail came out of a room side-by-side. Big Mac did not like being woken up from bed at all especially when he and his girl were together. "Applejack, you better have a good reason for waken us up like ya did." His accent was a little more southern than his sisters'.
"Now Maccy," (Okay I'm laughing just writing this) Cherrilee said in a normalish voice, that really didn't match the family, nudging Macintosh to the left a bit, "you can't be mean to your sisters they have something important to ask you it seems."
"I'm sorry Cherry Pie, please forgive me." Applejack and Apple Bloom were looking at each other with raised eye brows as Macintosh looked into Cherrilee's eyes with hope and worry.
"I'll always forgive you my dear Macintosh. Let's hear what they have to say and then we can talk about that later okay." What Cherrilee meant Apple Bloom and Applejack had no idea. I'm going to leave it to your imagination what they are talking about because this could mean so many things.
"I don't know what y'all are talking about but we need some help moving something or well somepony." Applejack said somewhat hesitant. She knew that her older brother would question her.
"What do ya mean by somepony?" Big Mac asked his anger starting to build.
"Big Mac it's not what'cha think okay." Applejack tried calming him down only it made him even more suspicious. "Big Mac there's someone lying in the barn almost dead possibly and your worried about something so stupid like that. The stallion needs help and you're the only one who can help. You're the strongest and someone has to bring him inside."
"Alright then let's see this pony or stallion of yours." Big Mac still wasn't happy with what he heard. A stallion in the barn with his little sister and he's unconscious. Macintosh was ready to teach this pony a lesson. "He better not be some secret love Applejack."
"Mac it ain't some love of mine you know very well I'd tell you if I had a boyfriend." Applejack spoke with honesty because it was what she needed to do right now be honest with Macintosh. "I woke up saw a giant hole in the barn's ceiling, went inside to teach the pony a lesson and found him lying on the floor. No doubt the work of those collectors from before, they just won't leave us alone."
They all got to the barn quickly. Macintosh went in first with Applejack following close behind. Macintosh saw exactly what Applejack saw when he came across the body that lay there on the hay still unmoving. Macintosh poked the body and the body just let the leg fall. "Applejack I don't know if he's even alive." Macintosh went over to the mouth of the fallen stallion and put his hoof up to it. He felt a small breeze coming from the stallion's mouth.
"Okay everypony he's alive but his breathing doesn't sound or feel good to me." Macintosh went over to one of the carts that they used for hauling apples across the farm and brought it over to the fallen stallion. "Alright Applejack you pick up one side and I'll get another. We have to get him inside." Macintosh looked up and saw the clouds seemed to be against them. "Hurry it might rain soon!"
The family started to pick the stallion up and place him in the wagon. He was heavy even for Macintosh but they weren't giving up on the pony not until they got him inside. Macintosh and Applejack each took ahold of the wagon and began to pull it to the house. The rain began to come down, and it came down hard. The dirt beneath them quickly became slippery mud. Cherrilee and Apple Bloom both ran to the house and got the door opened. Applejack and Macintosh were falling almost every step as they pulled the wagon within feet of the door to the house. They both stopped pulling and grabbed the stallion's front two hooves and placed them over their backs. They hauled him inside all wet from the rain.
When they got inside Apple Bloom shut the door and grabbed one of the hind legs to the stallion trying her best to help. They went to an empty bedroom and slowly pulled him onto the bed. They let him lie there and fetched him a blanket and towels for when he woke up. Macintosh went with Cherrilee to inform Granny Smith. Apple Bloom went to get some water, Wynona, Applejack's dog jumped onto the bed trying to help warm the stallion up.
Applejack felt horrible that she didn't do anything when she knew she should have. She felt like such an idiot. If this stallion died it would be her fault. "I'm awful sorry mister. If only I hadn't thought you were trouble maybe we could have gotten you in here faster." Applejack put her hoof on the stallion's cheek and as if by magic he grunted. "Mister?"
The stallion's eyes opened slightly and Applejack saw the faintest green or dark teal that she ever saw. He began to rise from the bed letting the blanket that was lay over him to fall to the floor. He breathed heavily before taking softer breaths. He looked over to Applejack and his eyes opened fully. "Who are you?" His voice was deep and slightly dark. He tried taking a step but fell immediately to the floor.
"What happened?" Macintosh came running in with Cherrilee. The stallion picked himself up and turned to face Mac. The stallion was a little taller than Macintosh but not by much. "I see he's awake. Apple Bloom did ya give him the water?"
"Nope I just got back from fetchin' it when I saw him fall to the floor. Here you go mister." Apple Bloom pushed the water into the stallion's hooves and he drank the entire thing in two seconds flat. "Boy he was thirsty."
"Sorry I didn't mean to disgust anyone." The stallion apologized to the little filly and gave back the glass. "I'm sorry did I cause any trouble for you people?"
"No not really." Applejack said smiling at the stallion now awake, "I thought you were a goner there for a second or two. My name's Applejack. That pony over there, he's my older brother Macintosh and his girlfriend Cherrilee, and the filly there is Apple Bloom. There's one more of us our granny, Granny Smith. So mister ya got a name?"
"My memory is foggy and the only thing I do remember is my name." The stallion looked around and everypony seemed to draw closer wanting to hear what the name of the stranger is. "My name…is…Sephiroth."
"Sephiroth?" Applejack said trying to see if it felt right to say, "Well that sure is a strange name, I don't think I've ever heard someone called Sephiroth before. Well welcome to our home Sephiroth. Our home is on a place called Sweet Apple Acres, a large farm area where my family and I work together to keep this place alive."
"Thank you Applejack," Sephiroth said closing his eyes, "I don't know if I should ask but how did I get here?"
"To be honest none of us know." Applejack said looking sullen as she felt he really wanted to know what had happened to him before he came here. "I found ya in our barn unconscious. At first I thought you were dead but then your wing burst into flames so I thought that you might have been alive."
"My wing?" Sephiroth had no idea what she meant. Suddenly his head felt like a sword had pierced through. He screamed loud holding onto his head as if for dear life.
"Sephiroth what's wrong?" Applejack tried to stop him by holding him back but that was a failure from the thought. Sephiroth fell to the floor right over Applejack and started to breathe heavily as his head began to calm down. Applejack lay under Sephiroth with her front hooves out wide. Macintosh saw this and was about to pummel Sephiroth if Applejack hadn't said, "It's okay Sephiroth everything's okay now."
"I remember," Sephiroth looked into Applejack's eyes, "I remember that I do have a wing." Sephiroth closed his eyes and his wing sprouted from his right side in a burst of flames. Sephiroth looked at his black wing and saw that it was large very large. Unknown to him his wing was greater than any pegasus in all Equestria even Princess Celestia. He looked up to see that the roof was now on fire. He immediately flapped his wing sending a gust at the fire extinguishing it.
After the fire was out he looked around the room and saw that everyone was either against a wall or hanging from another part of the ceiling. "Okay," Macintosh got up and walked over to him, "you cannot bring that wing out or return it unless you are outside this house Sephiroth understand?"
"Yes and I apologize for causing such trouble with your family. I shall leave." Sephiroth tucked his wing in and walked out of the Apple Acre family home looking at the sky he unleashed his wing and took flight. He flew only a short distance though.
"Sephiroth! Wait!" Applejack called out to him stopping him in his tracks or cloud streaks. He turned around and flew back to the house. He landed right in front of Applejack because she told him to wait, but he thought that meant go to her. "Just cause Macintosh said you couldn't have your wing in the house doesn't mean you have to leave." Applejack said smiling again. "You can stay here for as long as you want. We got plenty of room for you."
"I have already caused you and your family enough trouble are you sure you want me to stay in the house that I have practically already torched." Sephiroth felt like he had done too much damage to be let off so easily like Applejack was doing. He felt that he should be punished.
"It's okay Seph you ain't gotta get all sentiment about it." Applejack held out her hoof trying to offer her version of peace. Sephiroth looked at her hoof like it was a dangerous object. "Oh come on now it ain't gonna hurt cha' friend. Go on and place yer hoof there on mine."
Sephiroth lifted up one of his hooves and extended it making it connect with Applejack's hoof. Applejack shook his hand and that was the start of their friendship. Applejack smiled at Sephiroth with happiness. Sephiroth looked at her and felt a strange warmth come from the smile itself, and he decided that he wanted to give off that same warmth. So he smiled joyfully at Applejack who had then opened her eyes and saw the joy in his smile. She believed that she and Sephiroth would be great friends.
Sephiroth opened his eyes to see Applejack take her hoof away from his. He thought that she didn't want to give him her friendship and turned around feeling broken and shattered. "C'mon friend we gotta get cha somethin' to eat." Applejack said nudging back to looking at her. He watched as she trotted toward the house. She stopped and knew that Sephiroth wasn't following her. She turned to see him staring at her as if waiting to be ordered.
"Sephiroth come on." Sephiroth shook his head once quickly and walked over to Applejack who shook her head in irritation. Sephiroth gave a half smile thinking that it would help. As if by luck it made Applejack smile to. He felt relieved that he didn't turn her away. To him she was his only friend, or at least the only pony he could call a friend.
"Applejack is he with you?" Macintosh although no one would have believed it if someone said it, he was keeping a close eye on his sister and how she acted with this newcomer to their home. He saw Sephiroth come into the room. He wanted more than anything to tell Applejack to send him away, but he knew it would just cause an argument, and he was always on the losing end of those battles with Applejack.
"Sephiroth come over to the table," Applejack stayed next to Sephiroth as they entered the kitchen together. Sephiroth was led to the table by Applejack who then proceeded to get him a napkin and plate. "You're going to love our apple pie Seph."
Sephiroth didn't know what apple pie was but if Applejack said he was going to love it he might as well see what it was. Applejack brought over a slice of their family's famous apple pie and set it on the plate in front of Sephiroth. Sephiroth looked at it as if it were a foreign item from another world. Applejack looked at him and Sephiroth couldn't take the unhappy look that she had. He threw his face into the pie taking the whole thing in his mouth with some across his face. He chewed it with his eyes closed waiting for that horrible taste that he feared would come. It never did though and Sephiroth opened his eyes as he tasted the most amazing pie ever.
His eyes sparkled as he savored each chew since the entire thing was on his face or in his mouth. He gulped it down and breathed sweetly never feeling such an experience before. "Thank you Applejack that was indeed delicious." Sephiroth said smiling over to her. "To be honest I thought I wouldn't like it but seeing you look disappointed made me try it and I'm glad I did."
"Thank you Sephiroth. That's mighty thoughtful of ya. Like I was saying before though, you don't have to leave this home. You can stay here with us in our home until you remember where you're from and who you really are and all that." Applejack made Sephiroth give a light smile. Hearing her voice made Sephiroth happy because everything she said was honest and true.
"I thank you for the offer but I don't know if everyone would welcome me like you Applejack." Sephiroth completely forgot that Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Cherrilee were standing right behind him. He turned and saw them and quickly took a step back toward Applejack. "I'm sorry I had no idea you three were standing there."
"It's alright Sephiroth." Bloom came to his side hugging his front left hoof. "You can stay here for as long as you want to. We don't leave a pony in need that's how our family rolls." Sephiroth liked little Apple Bloom for her enthusiasm and how eager she was to have him in their family. "Please let him stay here Big Mac. He ain't got anywhere to go right now."
"Let me think about it for a little while. I still don't trust him that much." Sephiroth nodded his head in understanding as Macintosh left the room with Cherrilee. Sephiroth knew that was going to be his response. Sephiroth was a stranger who had unknown abilities that not even he knew of at the moment. How do you give someone the benefit of the doubt when they just blast a wing on their side with fire?
"It's alright Sephiroth he'll come around in a while. Till then how's about helping us with the chores around the farm?" Applejack asked him pushing Apple Bloom off his leg.
"I guess I could but I don't really remember much so I may not even know what you're talking about." Sephiroth hated the fact that he couldn't remember a thing. His head being as blank as it was made him even angrier. "I'll do my best is all I can promise."
"That's all we need you to do anyway so it's alright. Everyone is good at somethin' we just gotta find what you're good at." Apple Bloom said skipping or trotting next to Sephiroth who followed behind Applejack.
"I'll do whatever you two need me to do." Sephiroth walked out of the house and looked at the barn that the Apple Acre Family had said he was found in. Suddenly he saw the huge sword sticking out of the ground and his head bursted into pain. Applejack and Apple Bloom turned to see him screaming and holding onto his head. Applejack quickly ran to him but as fast as it had come it stooped and Sephiroth was taking deep breaths to calm his body down.
"Everything okay Sephiroth?" Applejack asked then quickly remembered that the last time this happened he remembered about his one wing. "Did you remember something?"
"Yes and I will ask this now," Sephiroth stood on his hind legs and his two front hooves inverted themselves as though they were human arms, "does your family need any cutting done by any chance?" He brought forth his wing which extended from his side higher on his back now.
"Yes but can you explain how you're standing like that?" Applejack asked in disbelief of what she was seeing. She had never seen any mare, stallion, filly or princess stand like that before. Sephiroth was definitely a unique character.
"Is my sword in the barn?" Sephiroth was asking some strange questions to Applejack, at least from her point of view. She nodded her head once and Sephiroth took off for the barn. He caused a large gust to blow behind him which almost sent Apple Bloom flying. Sephiroth glided over to the sword he knew as Masamune, a sword that only he was capable of using. He held his hoof toward the sword wondering how he was going to hold it and then it just magically appeared in his hoof. It acted like it was magnetized to his hoof. Sephiroth thought of his sword being put back in the ground and it flashed into a black light and extended from the ground where it had originally been.
Sephiroth realized that all he needed to do was think of Masamune in his hands and it would come to him. Sephiroth flew out of the barn, leaving Masamune in the barn, quickly causing the back of the barn to blast out. He stopped half way to Applejack and Bloom and turned to see the damage he had just done. It was completely by accident. Sephiroth simply doesn't know the extent of his powers right now.
Applejack shook her head in sighing as she came up to Sephiroth's side. He looked down to her somewhat pathetic looking, and it is hard for Sephiroth to look pathetic believe me. "Sephiroth how bout we don't use that wing of yours inside any of the farm houses okay?" Applejack was t=starting to get irritated by all the damage that Sephiroth was causing to her home.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that. I just…AGH!" Sephiroth head went ballistic again and he fell to the floor holding his head with his hooves. Applejack was starting to get use to these cries of pain but this one seemed slightly different to her. She noticed that it didn't stop as quickly as the other ones did. His pain was still coming on strong and there was nothing he could do about it.
Sephiroth!" Applejack got to his side and saw his eyes opened wide with constricted pupils. He was in serious pain. "Sephiroth calm down! Sephiroth only continued to scream out in pain as his eyes shut. Applejack was really starting to get worried when she noticed the sword in the barn glowing. "That sword." Applejack ran to the barn hoping that the sword would have the cure for her friend. She ran up to it and slammed her shoulder into it and a blast of light shot from it. The beam of light went straight for Sephiroth.
Sephiroth became engulfed in the light as he slowly began to stop screaming. His head was finally able to calm down after being soothed by the light's energy. Applejack ran back to Sephiroth and put her hoof on one of his and held it close to her. Sephiroth soon felt a warmth, a similar warmth that he felt when Applejack had smiled at him, but he didn't know what caused it all that he knew was that it helped calm his mind as the memories flooded in. He remembered everything about his powers, how far they could go and how destructive he could be if he wanted to. Sephiroth remembered how to fight with Masamune and how to use magic.
Sephiroth left the light at that moment. Applejack continued to hold onto his hoof even when his three others touched the ground. She was scared that something bad had happened and she wanted him to feel like he wasn't alone. Sephiroth opened his eyes to see his hoof in Applejack's hoof. He blinked once and remembered the warmth he felt inside the light where everything seemed to fade away. Yet that warm feeling stayed and helped him along the way of recovering his memories to fight.
"Sephiroth you alright now?" Applejack asked feeling great pain in her hoof and body. Whatever that light was Applejack felt like it had drained her of her strength. She could barely stand at the moment.
"I'm fine now. Thank you for being concerned I guess." Sephiroth saw the trembling in her legs and thought that maybe Applejack gave her strength to him, but he felt terrible from it. "Did you give me your energy Applejack?"
"Truth be told I don't know Sephiroth. I saw you were in pain and I wanted to help you. I guess your sword or that light decided to help me with that in their own way." Applejack fell to the ground after saying those words. Sephiroth quickly caught her in his hooves. He put her on his back and felt like he was to blame for her drained energy. If only these memories didn't hurt me as much, he thought, then Applejack wouldn't have been hurt the way she was. Damn it all!
"Sephiroth what happened to Applejack?" Apple Bloom was completely confused as to what just happened then. All she saw was light and then saw her sister fall to the ground. "Is she alright?"
"I don't know. She had her energy taken by force to help me. Curse my past and all the memories!" Sephiroth wanted all his memories to just go to hell. He may have just woken up in this world but he knew what he wanted to pay the debt that the Apple Acre Family did for him, even though it was small. That and Applejack saw him as a friend. He never remembered having a friend so he wasn't going to lose his first friend because of his own selfish memories that decided to come whenever they felt the need.
Macintosh was downstairs when he saw Sephiroth walk in with Applejack on his back. "What happened to my little sis? Sephiroth if you did something to her…"
"Get out of my way now." Sephiroth spoke cold and dark to him. "I need to get her to a bed and if you get in my way I'll toss you through a wall." Sephiroth didn't care that it was her brother he only cared about making sure that Applejack was okay. He wouldn't let anyone keep him from doing that. He owed her that much.
Macintosh couldn't believe how much Sephiroth had changed since he left him. He moved out of his way and watched Sephiroth take Applejack up to her room. He uncurled his wing and placed her on the bed. He turned around almost stepping on Bloom. "Sephiroth are you okay?" Apple Bloom was starting to worry about Sephiroth who was acting a little different than he was before the flash of light. Sure they only knew each other for about ten maybe twenty minutes but she didn't think Sephiroth wouldn't be so protective.
"I'm sorry Apple Bloom. Please tell Macintosh that I am also sorry for the way I treated him. I don't know what came over me." Sephiroth began to head back down the stairs when he heard something fall to the ground. He turned to see that Applejack had fallen out of bed. "Applejack!" He rushed over picking her back up with his hooves and wing and replacing her on the bed.
"Sephiroth," Applejack whispered from her sleep. Sephiroth leaned in hearing his name, "Please don't leave the house. I don't want you to get yourself hurt."
Sephiroth couldn't believe the words that he heard come from the weak pony. She had just been sapped of her energy to help him when he didn't want it. He would have rather had have the pain than what did happen. "Applejack I promise I won't leave, not until you're better." Sephiroth said putting his hoof over his heart.
"Sephiroth I need to talk to you." Sephiroth turned to see Macintosh and Cherrilee standing in the doorway, "We can talk downstairs."
"If you have something you want to say then say it. I am not leaving Applejack's side." Sephiroth turned back around and sat down facing Applejack. His head lowered as he felt a great pain. He believed that this was his punishment for what he had done to her. "It was my fault this happened to Applejack, so I'm going to stay with her till she wakes up. She practically did the same thing for me."
"I wanted to tell you this without interrupting her sleep, but I'm okay with you living here." Sephiroth turned his head to face Macintosh. He had better not be joking with him. "We have a spare bedroom, you can stay there, but you'll have to do everything we ask because we aren't a charity here and we need all the help we can get."
"If it's help you want I shall provide." Sephiroth said turning his body to face Macintosh. "I thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt."
"Don't thank me, thank Applejack. She may not have said anything to me but I know her and she would get on my saddle about me not allowing you to stay here." Macintosh smiled at Sephiroth for the first time since he's been here.
"Thank you Macintosh, if it's okay with you I'm going to stay by her side." Sephiroth said now asking permission because he lived in this house now and didn't want to force himself on anyone.
"You don't need to ask me." Macintosh said holding out his hoof to him "You already said you weren't leaving her side. I'd be a bad brother if I didn't have someone staying near her to watch for when she wakes up. Just make sure to tell us when she does alright?"
"I promise you I will notify you the moment she wakes up." Sephiroth put his hoof against Macintosh's and they shook. Macintosh grabbed Apple Bloom and walked out of the room with Cherrilee at his side. Sephiroth turned back to Applejack, "Applejack I promise you I won't allow this to happen again. I will protect you from now on, I will be your one-winged angel."
