Just an Everyday Princess

by Wages of Sin

Ponyville Maximum Security (it isn't) *now with 20% more explained AJ emotion!

Applejack sat in her prison cell (which consisted of a locked room in town hall after the guards had confronted the reality that such a small town didn't have a jail) and she thought about what she had seen that day.

"Mac..." she said as she stared off into space.

She was brought back to reality when the door to her "cell" opened and one of the guards from before walked in.

"You are hereby formally charged with treason and assaulting the princess. Due to the nature of your offense you face the potential for banishment or life imprisonment. To expedite your processing I must ask you some questions. Will you comply? Before you answer, I am required to inform you that if you do not, you face..." There was a knocking at the door. "One moment." the guard said as he left the room.

After a few minutes of Applejack alone with her thoughts two guards came into the room together.

"You have a visitor." one guard, the same one who was about to ask 'some questions', said. The other just stood in the corner.

The door to the cell opened to reveal the purple princess in question.

"Hey there Applejack." Twilight said with a concerned smile.

Applejack didn't even turn to look at her.

"Uh... So, uh, sorry about the jail thing, I'll have you out soon. ...But Applejack? I'm kind of worried about you... Why'd you jump me? And why'd you get so upset and leave this morning?"

Twilight flinched as Applejack shot her an icy stare.

"Oh, I'm sorry princess. Maybe you should order ME into your bed, or you could ride ME around, actually I'm sure that it'd be such an honor to be your doormat! Psh! I can't believe you." Applejack resumed her staring at the wall, scowl still etched on her face.

"Uh... What? I don't understand what..."

"Of course you don't see it! You’re from Canterlot! None of you hoity-toity snobs think about anything but yourselves! Demeaning the Earth Ponies like we're you property. I used to think you were different, now I see you're just like 'em."

"AJ? What are you talking about? How have I 'Demeaned Earth Ponies?'"

"I've seen the way you treat us since you became princess. Getting your guards to ransack ma' house, forcing Mac to carry you like some kind of slave, and forcing those four into your bed to do who knows what!"

"Sleep, Applejack, that's what! I 'ordered' them to sleep with me because they wanted to sleep on the hard wood floor, you would've known that if you had stuck around to hear me explain myself. And as for Mac carrying me, he was being a gentlecolt after he saw me twist my ankle on the way here!"

Applejack's hard expression faltered a little. "What about you havin' him tied up like that, and yer guards breaking into our house?"

"After pinkie managed to run off with me this morning my guards have been especially on edge. They put those ropes on Mac while he was carrying me to make sure he didn't run off with me (like Pinkie did), while the other guards checked out the place Mac offered for me to sit while they called for a doctor. They were checking the house for- I don't know- an ambush or something, and when you went and bucked the guard captain, they were even more inclined to believe that there was a trap."

Applejack's jaw was no the floor. It all actually made sense, Mac being nice and the guard being overprotective suddenly seemed a lot more reasonable than Twilight's personality doing a one-eighty.

... But that meant that everything was effectively her fault. If she hadn't jumped to conclusions and ran out she would have heard the explanation. If she would have herd the explanation Twi wouldn't have been worried and come over. If she hadn't come over she wouldn't have twisted her ankle and needed carried. If she hadn't been so violent, the guards probably would have been nicer about their search. If she hadn't jumped to conclusions about Mac helping Twi, and subsequently jumped Twi, she wouldn't be in jail awaiting possible banishment charges.

It was all her fault... and the worst part was, it was all because she assumed the worst about her friend.

"Twi..." the orange farmer looked to her friend-turned-princess-turned-victim, "I..." she choked a little on the words, "I want to say I'm sorry... I just... Granny always used to tell us about back in the day when there were unicorns from Canterlot who would come down here and…” She looked her princess friend right in the face, “-and I’m right sorry about it, but I think on some level I’ve always just been waiting for you to, I don't know, turn out bad or something.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked neutrally.

“I mean, I was raised in an Earth-pony village by a deep-rooted pure-Earth-pony family. As a filly always heard stories about unicorns from Canterlot being just downright bad, flaunting their magic and treating us like- like- well, like how I thought you were treating those mares we found you with.” Applejack turned away and bowed her head, “Rarity’s always been a nice gal’ but sometimes she’s just a little insensitive about flaunting her magic, I know she doesn't mean to, it’s just…" she released a tense sigh, composure breaking down "...Looking back at it, I see that after I really found out who you were, being so powerful and all, I kinda always… How do I... Like during winter wrap up, or when I worked myself so hard during harvest season... I saw that our traditions… I mean, you could do the work of almost the whole town by yourself and it was just so… I guess I’ve always just seen you as just too good to be true. Like one day you’d just turn around and be somepony else... Somepony like the unicorns from granny’s stories… I guess that all that's been happening I finally just saw what I wanted to see…”

Both mares were silent for a moment before Applejack retrained her eyes square with Twilight’s, still lacking their signature spark, but with no lack of determination.

“I’m sorry. I'll take my punishment like a Mare. Do what you want with me, but please make sure Mac takes care of Aplebloom..." The proud farm pony's face only betrayed the slightest hint of sadness through its charade of stern confidence.

"AJ,” Twilight’s even tone calmed the farm pony down a little “I’m glad to hear that you’re working through a problem you may not have even recognized you had, and I’ll try to be more sensitive about this in the future, but for now we have a party to get to and I still have some things to do before it starts." Twilight turned and opened the “cell” door, “Come on now, I wouldn’t want any of my friends to miss a Pinkie party.”

"Wha? Twi, I'm in jail for assaulting a princess!-"

"Yeah, I know, and that princess realizes her friend was just being an idiot. Let's go get some cake."

With faint smiles, Twilight and AJ walked out of town hall, breaking course from one another, one heading to Sugarcube corner, and the other heading to the library with her guard company.

"I'm going to a party tonight, and since you all have been a little less than adaptive to good old Ponyville, I'm asking you all to just stay here while I'm at the party." Twilight spoke with authority, leaving little room for argument.

...but true to form, the guards didn't respond well to the idea of their charge going off alone.

"Princess," the Captain spoke, "I must object to this, what if there are-"

Twilight, who had assumed that the guards had received her message and had turned to leave, wheeled back around.

"Captain? Do you know who I am?" the princess asked, annoyance thick in her voice as she put a hoof to her temple in hopes of quelling an approaching headache.

The guard snapped to attention, "Princess, You are Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, Princess!"

"~and before that I was?~"

"The Element of Magic, Princess!"

"~and as the element of magic, what did I do?~" she asked, building to her point.

"Um..." the guard captain was at a loss for her expected answer.

"I'll tell you, I defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, an Ursa, the Changeling Queen and Army, and the Dark King Sombra. Since then I have even created new magic and ascended to the even more powerful, and potentially immortal, form of an alicorn. Do you know what that means?"

The guard stood stock still, a bead of sweat running down his face, he didn't respond.

"I'll tell you: it means I can handle going to a private party with my friends without you. That's what it means." she promptly walked out and slammed the door with her magic. Or at least it felt like a slam to the guards who remained griped by the fear that plagues those who cross a mare.

After probably ten minutes one guard finally shook off his shock. "Uh... So captain? What do we do now?" he asked.

The captain shook away the visions of his demise at the hooves of a violet alicorn and looked around the library, "Well..."

Comments

[Sketchy Markks]

HAH! Take that! You've been served guard!

[Changeling-Drone]

oh that makes sense phew thought twillight got snotty

[TheTwelfthDoctor]

[Mossflower]

immensely powerful and immortal alicorn - twists ankle.
great chapter! applejack decided to see everything her way again...

[Fourpony]

Entertaining, but could definitely use some proof reading.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

You go Twilight, you show those guards who's boss!

Also there's no fun in being royalty if you can't pull a few strings every now and then.

[ShadowWing09]

Woo! We finally find out what had Applejack so ticked

*Looks back at the coronation scene* Woah, those four mares DO look like they're Earth Ponies, I didn't notice that at first. Their light colored coats didn't make it immediately obvious they don't have horns, and although they could have wings under their capes, I doubt they'd keep their wings covered

Applejack, I do forgive you now that you're sorry. However, you kind of had all this coming for being so quick to assume the worst of your friend. Twilight would never become snotty, fear not, she's still the same humble, kind unicorn we fell in love with back during the pilot

Also, did you really think Macintosh could be restrained by a mere four soldiers?

I don't blame Twi for being a bit irritable, but to be fair those guards DO have reason to be paranoid

Oh boy! Character development for the guards? Can't wait!

[ocbaker]

Nice chapter. I like that I can read a story that finally puts the guards in there place.
(Finds out next chapter guards follow her anyway)

[BenRG]

Applejack's real Achilles Heel isn't her stubborness (although that flaw makes her real primary flaw worse), it's her temper. Once she gets this bull-headed notion, she flies into a rage and won't listen to anything that doesn't fit in with her current perception of events. What is worse, for AJ, is that she's suddenly realised that she's a racist. She's assumed all sorts of things about Twilight's motives and attitudes basically for no other reason than she's an alicorn. That's going to hurt and it's going to hurt for a while.

I think she's wrong to abandon her guards. Get them to explore their environment and familiarise themselves with the people. Remember, they'll need to protect the ordinary ponies too; an alicorn princess can look after herself (as Twilight pointed out); the mortals wouldn't be quite so able in a crisis. I would take the Captain to the party, though. After all, he needs to familiarise himself with the core of Twilight's court. RD is almost certainly going to be Twilight's Paladin eventually, Rarity her dresser and lady steward, Applejack as Twilight's closest adviser and, perhaps, the voice of her conscience; they'll all have roles for which he needs to be prepared.

[garfan]

I understand the misunderstandings are part of the story, but given Twilight's history and personality it's time for her to give her guards and attendants some homework. Namely studying up on Ponyville, her friends and the places she frequents.

[Guardian Talon]

I've been waiting for the " things that would kill you, I can slap around for the fun of it." talk

oh and minor pony based error "his demise at the hands of a violet alicorn'

[James Rye]

Awww, those poor guards. I pity those guys. They just wanted to do their job very good to impress their princess they love so much just like the hoofmaidens. I hope they didn´t took the scolding too hard, some of them seems to be newbies and that this is their first job or their first really important job. :c

I hope Twi will get them some cake and juices from the party to raise their spirities. Cause honestly, it must suck to be the guard of a princess who doesn´t need guards. I can already see a very depressed captain heavily drinking some cider while the soldiers aren´t sure what to do with their drunken leader and Twi comes to the rescue to give the captain some self-confidence back.
As for the maidens i hope for more snuggling in bed with Twi.^^

[Bulder]

And then the guard got obliterated by an angry Twilight after they arrested Pinkie for pinning the tail on Twilight instead of the poster

[Snowy]

2296841
That's not an error. Twilight's been talking to Lyra. She has this spell now...

[Larger Seagull]

It could've been worse Mr. Guard, she could've gelded you and not used an anesthetic spell.

[xBeeCharm]

>herd
>ponies
HAH
But yeah, that's a "heard" good sir

I like the premise, I like the story, but things are a bit... sloppy? ...I'm not sure which word I'm looking for

[Greentea68]

Anyone elce wonder why twilight didn't just fly over.
You know ALICORN. WINGS.
or did I miss that part?

[rannu182]

2332681 i think she does not know how to fly yet. it is posible.

[Vates Despero]

"AJ? What are you talking about? How have I 'Demeaned the Earth Ponies?'"

"I've seen the way you treat us since you became princess. Getting your guards to ransack ma' house, forcing Mac to carry you like some kind of slave, and forcing those four into your bed to do who knows what!"

Her maids are Unicorns. I'm also left wondering why you named one of your OCs 'Applejack'.

[OmniFox]

Actually it was Shining Armor and Princess Cadence who defeated Chrysalis and her changeling army and Spike and Cadence who saved the Crystal Empire.

[Draco Dei]

Applejack's jaw was no the floor.
- on