1.3: The Faithful
Applejack had always found service to be rather lackluster. Whether she was the preacher or if she was being preached to, she always found it quite dull.
“Remember the lessons that Princess Celestia has taught us, Children of the Sun.” The preacher said, finally reaching the end of his sermon. “And let the holy light cleanse us.”
“Let the holy light cleanse us.” The crowd returned, dispersing away from the town square and returning to whatever nook or cranny the common rabble came from nowadays. The town was doing poorly in recent times, its citizens underfed, its buildings old and decrepit, the barely maintained order ready to collapse at a moments notice. Applejack sighed, shifting uneasily in her platemail.
“Ah, Sister Applejack. What a pleasant surprise!” The cleric on the small circular podium beamed at her, stepping down onto the cobbled ground and trotting towards her. “On your regular patrol, I presume?”
“That’d be right, Brother Feather.” Applejack said, in her signature southern drawl. “Nice sermon, by th’ way.”
“Thank you.” Feather’s smile dimmed as he recalled the crowd that he had preached to. “…Those poor souls need as much encouragement as they can get.” Applejack nodded in sad agreement.
“Ah’ll be on mah way, then.” Feather waved her off and trotted back towards the Church, and Applejack started off into the winding labyrinth that was the residence district. If residency could even be used to describe the disgusting living conditions that ponies had to stew in in this rathole of a town.
She sighed as she strode past a broken signpost, the sign for ‘Residences’ now pointing straight down at the muddy floor. The streets were a mess: garbage littered the ground, as the last street cleaner was mugged and sent packing a week after being hired; Trash cans and crates were overturned and discarded haphazardly all over the roads, becoming festering dens for all sorts of vermin; the road itself was riddled with potholes and cracks, so that any carriages passing though would almost instantly be broken. And mugged. The security was terrible in Dune Hill.
There were no guards - they’ve all fled when the thieves stole their precious equipment and they found out that the town couldn’t afford new gear. That meant that the safety of the general populace fell to the Church. To her, the first paladin in Dune Hill since literally forever, and a scant few other clerics who somehow managed to keep the heat to a bare simmer.
The town was falling apart under its own weight, and the Church of the Sun was just barely holding it together. Half of its population were ruthless cutthroats, thieves, brutes, and plain criminals. The other half were too hard-pressed in their own concerns to even start trying to help the community. Applejack didn’t claim to be the smartest of ponies, but she knew that the situation was delicately balanced, with the odds amassing against them with each passing day.
“Well looky here.” Applejack snapped from her thoughts to find two filthy looking pegasi glaring at her. They were absolutely coated in muck and their wings were so clogged in filth that she doubted they could fly. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their teeth were yellowed. These were the average citizens of Dune Hill. “We ‘ave ourselves a priest, eh?”
“A priest of ‘er Majesty Celestia, yeah.” The other pegasus spat at the mention of the Princess. “Praise the sun n’ all that.”
“Where is she now, priest?” The first said, stepping forward threateningly. “Where is the high an’ mighty Alicorn?”
“Bathin’ in ‘er gold while we roll in shit, yeah?” The second followed in her step.
“Enjoyin’ th’ high life while we live like rats, yeah?” They were getting uncomfortably close, now. “Watchin’ us die every day, yeah?!”
“Ah… Ah don’t…” Applejack took a step back, sensing something afoot.
“This is our city, priest!” The first pointed a threatening hoof at her. “It may be a stinking shithole, but it is our stinking shithole! Spread your lies somewhere else!”
Lies? Celestia’s word were not lies! They were holy word! Could a goddess lie? Applejack was not prepared to tangle with angry townsfolk. She had heard the stories from wandering merchants, of overzealous mobs tearing priests limb by limb.
“Yeah, you run away. Run away from th’ real truth, eh? Hide in your pretty little lies!” The first pegasus cackled, and the second joined in in a mocking chorus of laughs. “Yeah, lies! You liars!”
Applejack backed away, blasphemous thoughts forming in her head for the first time in years of service.
As Applejack slowly trotted through the ruined streets, the thoughts only grew stronger. They were traitorous, sacrilegious, and utterly heinous thoughts. But they were absolutely logical thoughts. And she hated them.
If there was indeed a goddess watching over them, why would she allow her ponies to be subjected to such pain and suffering? Was she not a benevolent goddess? Applejack could only think of two possible answers. One, Celestia did not care about the ponies, or two, Celestia could not help the ponies.
Both were incredibly disturbing thoughts. A heartless goddess, or a powerless goddess…
“Sister, you seem disturbed.” Applejack looked up, and saw a hooded priestess walk up to her. “Perhaps I may be of assistance.” She had a white coat, and with the snowy priest robes on, she looked like a phantom in motion. The sunbeam-like patterning on the hem of her robes marked her as a high priestess, potential leaders of their own temple.
“High priestess, Ah wouldn’t want to be imposin’ mah problems on you…” Applejack began, only to be hushed by the priestess who made a ‘shush’ motion with her hoof.
“Now now, sister, we’re all friends here. We’re supposed to alleviate suffering, yes? And you are obviously suffering from something, so please. Do tell.” The priestess smiled at her, and Applejack felt her nerves ease slightly. If a high priestess herself asked, she had no business rejected her kind offer…
“Well, Ah ran into a few, erm, ruffians on mah patrols, and they had some interestin’ ideas that they wanted ta share…”
The priestess raised an eyebrow curiously. “‘Interesting ideas’? Like what?”
“Well,” Applejack took a deep breath, “they had some doubts ‘bout the Princess and the Church, is all.”
“Doubts?”
“Ah mean… If Princess Celestia’s really watchin’ over us and keepin’ us safe, why is this town the way that it is? Why do monsters walk around in broad daylight? Why is life so… so… so miserable?” Applejack glanced at the priestess, who tapped her chin thoughtfully.
“The monster part is easy.” The priestess said, a small smile on her face. “You learnt that in training, being a paladin. Monsters are a direct opposite of what the Princess embodies. They’re chaotic and hateful, whereas the Princess tries to spread friendship and harmony. That’s why Princess Celestia can’t just stamp them out or convert them into allies.”
Applejack blushed. “Ah’m not all that good at book learnin’, priestess… Ah payed more attention in fightin’ trainin'.”
The priestess laughed politely at that statement. “It’s fine. It only means that you’re better at protecting the innocent from harm.” Then her eyes grew serious and she sighed. “As for the other questions… those are harder to answer. Come, sister.”
They had been so engrossed in conversation that Applejack didn’t notice when they had arrived at the temple. They strode through the tall front doors, and approached the statue of Celestia at the center of the entrance hall.
“Princess Celestia is a very complex being, Applejack. She may be an immortal goddess, but that doesn’t mean she can do everything.” The priestess sat down in front of the statue, and beckoned for Applejack to follow suit. “She is the warmth in our hearts, the Sun in the sky, and what seems like a permanent fixture in our great nation, but for each thing that she is, there is another thing that she isn't.”
Applejack sat, and sighed. “Ah know, it’s jus’ that… Ah feel so powerless when Ah look at the ponies living in this town. Ah try to help, but sometimes it feels like Ah’m doin’ more harm than good!”
“I understand.” The priestess looked up at the Princess’ statue, taking note of the gentle expression it had. “Here’s a little secret, Applejack, from me to you. The Princess is actually a lot like regular ponies. She has wants and needs and emotions too, and whenever she looks upon the land… She hurts. It hurts for her, because she is the Sun. She can’t go and solve every problem in Equestria, because anything that gets too close… gets burnt. She can provide light for ponies to work and live in, but she can’t go and live among her subjects. Sometimes, that happens to us, too. Even though we mean well, we inadvertently cause harm to others.”
“Then what do we do? What can we do?” Applejack asked, thoughts racing through her head. She was a farmpony turned priest, for crying out loud. Not a philosopher. Not a scholar. Not trained to think about such deep and complex questions. “Why do priests exist, if we can't help ponies?”
“Those are big questions, Applejack.” The priestess said, smiling sadly. “Ones that you will unfortunately have to find your own answers to.” Applejack groaned inwardly. More cryptic answers. She was beginning to wonder if it was a requirement for high priests to give cryptic responses.
The priestess moved to stand up, and Applejack did as well. “High priestess, Ah'm mighty thankful for helpin' ta answer mah questions.”
“Nonsense, it's my pleasure to help, Applejack.” And she was gone, leaving Applejack no less confused but feeling slightly better.
Applejack sighed, and turned to look at the statue. Did Celestia feel the same confusion that she felt? It was so difficult to imagine Celestia as anything less than a goddess amongst mortals, a paragon of goodness. Was there a time when the Princess herself was divided by conflict? Applejack shivered at the thought of the Princess abandoning her task for her own sake. It was more than fair if the undoubtedly overworked alicorn decided to abdicate her throne and duty, but still...
The bells started to toll.
“APPLEJACK! GNOLL RAID!”
She ran.
Gnolls were utterly despicable creatures. They were bloodthirsty barbarians made with the explicit intent of pure slaughter and chaos. It didn’t help that, since they were mutated from diamond dogs, that they had near-pony intelligence and far superior strength.
And being so close to the border meant that Dune Hill was constantly under the threat of invasion from these creatures. It was a wonder that the little town had escaped the notice of the various gnoll warbands patrolling the lands beyond the ash plains. Perhaps they had deemed the town worthless. But whatever the reason was, clearly wasn’t strong enough because the moment Applejack stepped out of the temple, she saw that the town was in absolute anarchy.
Ponies were running and screaming, most of them flocking towards the temple, but a significant portion of them were simply flailing about and panicking. Already, Applejack saw what few clerics they had guiding the townsfolk, and she started off towards the nearest pegasus priest.
“Applejack! You have to get to the outskirts, the gnolls will be here any minute now!” The priest was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, her eyes looking wildly to and fro, barely managing to keep the crowd under control.
“Calm down, sister. Ah need you to fly to the closest settlement an’ find help.” Applejack said, firmly. “Tell ‘em everything that has happened, an’ be quick about it.” The pegasus gave a small nod before taking off, flying as fast as her wings could take her.
Just as the pegasus left, a massive roar shook the town. Or rather, many roars shook the town. Applejack steeled her nerves and ran straight towards the source. To her death, perhaps. But at least her death would be worth something.
The most obvious sign was the destruction. The closer to the border she got, the more chaos she saw - upturned carts, smashed buildings, broken property, and - to her horror - corpses. But still no gnolls. The town was practically torn apart at the edges by the razor sharp claws of the gnolls. Applejack, confronted by this view, felt rage fill her.
This town was under her protection. And the gnolls were intruding.
With a horrific warcry, the flimsy wooden buildings exploded into flinders as gnolls poured from just about every hiding place possible - the rooftops, behind walls, inside containers and, courtesy of their diamond dog ancestry, from underground. Each gnoll was different: some wearing crude hide armor, some robed in cloth, some completely naked, some armed to the teeth, and some simply flexing their claws. But each and every one of them were terrifying forces of chaos.
There was no warning, nothing to prepare Applejack for the assault. One moment, the streets were clear - and next, it was lousy with gnolls. The cowpony paladin dropped down into a familiar defensive stance, and braced herself as the first gnoll charged.
This one wielded a spiky mace made from wood and bone, extremely flimsy looking but still probably deadly. It pounced, ready to bring the mace down, and Applejack slammed her full weight into its form just before it swung. She heard ribs crack and spun on the spot to deliver a powerful buck to the head of another. This one was helmeted, but it was earth-forged steel against leather - the skull crumpled like paper.
“Back down now, an’ Ah might just let ya leave alive!” Applejack shouted, but her claim fell on deaf ears as more gnolls surged forward. She gritted her teeth and charged in turn, using her armor and weight as an advantage, and forced her way through three or four more gnolls before being forced to stop and fight.
Her hooves, iron-shod and hardened by years of use, lashed out by instinct and caught another gnoll on the full. Applejack would have smiled if it weren’t for the gravity of the situation. These gnolls were strong, but not nearly smart enough to outmanoeuvre a pony. They just charged and hoped to hit something. As long as she kept her wits about her, they were not a significant threat.
“By Celestia’s light,” Applejack suddenly dropped to the ground, throwing a few gnolls off balance with a well placed leg-sweep. “YER BLINDED!” She slammed her hooves into the cobble road, and the world exploded in a burst of golden light. As the light faded, Applejack was no longer surrounded by gnolls. Instead, she was already half a street away, with a trail of snapped bones and spilt blood in her wake. “How’d ya like THEM apples?!”
Slamming her hooves into the ground again, the cracks began glowing a soft gold, and radiant flames engulfed Applejack’s limbs so that they blazed with a fierce golden light. Charging back into the fray, Applejack whipped her hooves around at unnatural speeds, downing gnolls left and right. With each hit, the energies of the sun itself seemed to fill her, and she felt fatigue melt away in the heat of battle.
This was where she was supposed to be. Not in a church, giving out sermons. She was a fighter, utilizing divine power to spread the truth of Celestia’s light.
With a quick glance, she saw that a few of the gnolls were making their escape. Not anymore. Calling upon divine sanction, all who dared insult a holy battlefield with cowardice were punished by a searing bolt of radiant light that engulfed their whole being, burning them to ash.
“Cowards an’ bullies, tha’s what ya varmints are.” Applejack growled, as she slammed a glowing hoof into an attacking gnoll. “Ain’t nothin’ but trash. It’s monsters like you that make the world such a terrible place ta live in.” She didn’t even flinch as an axe came down on her neck, as a flash of radiant energy burned the weapon away before it could touch her.
Princess Celestia couldn’t protect her subjects in fear of harming them. But she could. She would. She would protect everypony and anypony incapable to defending themselves, the oppressed and forgotten, the downtrodden and helpless.
“Ah am Celestia’s cleansing light, her instrument of justice on this land.” She muttered to herself, taking a solid mace strike in stride. The weapon shattered on impact, leaving her unharmed. She raised a hoof, and it shimmered with a blazing aura. With a wild swing, a whip of holy fire lashed at all six gnolls in front of her, immolating them in deadly flame. "Foul beasts, Ah'd suggest that ya scram if ya don't wanna die!"
“Puny little pony.” A deep and guttural voice pierced through the rage of battle, and a silence descended upon the battlefield. “So far from her little goddess…”
A truly gargantuan gnoll stepped onto the battlefield, a massive blood stained battleax in its paws. “You may channel her will, pony, but this is something beyond the pony princess!” It took a step forward, swinging the axe menacingly. “Oh yes, Lupus’ rage will consume the sun, so the dark one may return...”
Applejack glared at it, unimpressed. Seeing this, the gnoll’s lips curled up into a toothy sneer. “You have spirit, pony.” It suddenly broke into a charge. “But the darkness will consume you!” Applejack braced herself, her vision filled by a storm of golden flame.
“DIE!” They both screamed simultaneously, and hurled themselves at each other with deadly intent.
The townsfolk watched in horror as the slummy town was slowly consumed by flames. The fire had started in the outskirts, but had rapidly spread until it has nearly reached the residence area. Compounded by the fact that golden pillars of light and flame started erupting where the gnolls were first spotted, and it was easy for the citizens to panic.
“My house!” “My bits!” “My savings!” “My-“
“Shut up!” A stallion finally shouted, standing up and pointing a hoof at the ponies who had spoken. “Are ya seriously so blind tha’ ya don’t see how bad this is?!” The stallion started pacing around, his breathing heavy. “As I’m understandin’ it, AJ’s the only one down there fightin’ those… things!”
He glared at the ponies again. “This ain’t about bits anymore! If AJ doesn’t beat ‘em, we can kiss our asses goodbye! This is life n’ death here!”
Now the ponies started to panic.
“We’re stuck!” “It’s a trap!” “We’re all gonna die!”
“Nope, y’all ain’t dyin’ today.” The doors to the temple burst open, and a heavily armored mare appeared, silhouetted against the setting sun. ‘They’re dead. All of ‘em.” She threw something at the crowd, and the ponies shrunk back, staying a safe distance from the thing the mare had thrown.
It was a head. The decapitated head of a truly massive gnoll, in fact, its cheek branded with the mark of the sun.
Applejack snorted and strode into the hall, a small squadron of war-priests right behind her. “You asked me where Princess Celestia was. Where she was when y’all starved to death in this shithole of a town.”
She stamped her right hoof, armor crashing against stone and causing golden flame to engulf the hoof, which she lifted up victoriously. “Ah don’t claim ta know much about prayin’, or preachin’, but when Ah was out there, fightin’ those filthy varmints, Ah realized where she was.”
She slammed the hoof down with as much force as she could muster, creating a deep crater in the stone tiles. “Here’s yer goddess.” The radiant flame exploded from the crater, shrouding Applejack in a cloak of fire. “Celestia is here, as long as we are here.” The flame surged forward, wrapping around everypony but causing no harm. Instead, it filled them with warmth rarely felt in such dark times.
“Let us help you, ‘cause it’s what the Princess asked us to do.” Applejack called off the flames. “We are tryin’ ta help, but if ya don’t let us… honestly, we can’t do much ta help y’all.”
There was silence. Applejack gulped nervously. Divine warrior she was, but preacher she was not. But her worries were quickly dispelled when the whole room erupted into cheering and stomping, ponies thanking her and the church, and apologizing for their disrespect to the princess.
Applejack gave a sigh of relief. “Oh thank Celestia…” She muttered under her breath.
“No, thank you, Applejack,” She looked up, to find the high priestess from before. ‘For saving the town and earning their trust. And for that…” She leaned in closer to Applejack’s ear. “I’m giving you a promotion.”
With some difficulty, the priestess climbed up onto a crate. “Attention, attention!” It took a while, but eventually the room quieted down. “By the power vested in my position as high priestess, I commend Applejack for her valorous actions in defending this town, and hereby promote her from Knight-Captain to Knight-Commander , thus granting her the right and responsibility of establishing and leading her own temple, as well as accepting new initiates into the church and bestowing upon them the power of Celestia’s light.”
There was another bout of cheering, and Applejack blushed uncharacteristically. “Aw shucks, Ah just did what was right is all, high priestess… uhm, mighty sorry, but Ah don’t think Ah actually caught yer name, ma’am.”
“Just call me Sunny Skies, Applejack. Now that you’re a grandmaster, we’re close enough to being equals.” Sunny Skies smiled. “By the way, if you want to make headway on spreading Lady Celestia’s word, there’s a quaint little town a bit south of here called Ponyville which, while aware of my Lady’s light, has yet to house an official temple. Just a passing note.”
“‘Lady’ Celestia?” Applejack tilted her head. “Ah thought she was a princess?”
“From experience, she likes Lady more.” Sunny Skies gave a sad smile. “But that isn't the point." She raised her voice. “So! Ponyville. Might you want a map or some such, Dame Applejack?” Applejack flushed at the mention of her new title.
“Eh… It seems as though Dune Hill is in good hooves…” Applejack hummed as she thought. “Ah suppose it is about time to expand mah horizons… and something the gnoll said was kinda interesting. Ah want ta look into it a bit more.”
“In that case, you should get some rest after that awful fight before going anywhere. Channelling that much divine magic isn’t exactly the norm.”
Applejack coincidentally yawned the moment she said that. “Yer right, Ah guess. Ah’ll hunker down in a bit. It’s been a pleasure, Sister Skies.”
“Likewise.” And like before, she simply dissolved into the crowd, leaving Applejack with a scroll that she recognized to be a detailed map of the area. Inked into the margin, connected to an arrow pointing to a dot, was a name.
“Ponyville, huh…”
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I say it's a good entertaining story sure you have a few problems here and there by those are minor. Please keep writing.