June 17, 1941 POV: Third Person
"There is no crueler tyranny than which is pertetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice." - Charles de Montesquieu
"There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed." - Woodrow Wilson
The country of Equestria was at war. It shocked every last one of them. Of course some, like Rainbow Dash thought of fighting for their country, honor, and duty. While others namely Rarity and Fluttershy thought of the horrors of war and were personally against it. Newly named general, Shining Armor, called for a draft for all ponies of age to join the First Equestrian Royal Army or the ERA for short. Young colts and mares lined up at enlistment booths all across the nation; all of them truly ignorant of the true tragedy that is war. But can you blame them? For their entire lives they had been sheltered from violence. What little experience they had in the concept of war was the Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Changeling incidents; which were by no means "true" war. How could they have known that this war would be the most horrific and deadly war to ever occur in human and pony history. In which millions would die. Soldier and bystanders alike.
Applejack had come back the previous day, enraged over the war. She and the Princess Luna had been the only ones who had vocally was against it. Luna was outraged by her sister's and the other element's (save Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie) decision. It made no sense to her. She had hoped that they would join the Allies who Luna saw as "the good guys" while she saw the Axis Powers as "the villains." She had said this to her sister the day before the declaration to no avail.
As this occurred, in the UK people were in agony and chaos. They realized that they now had another enemy for which they would have to fight alone. The British Prime Minister, Churchill, attempted to keep spirits up, arranging public speeches across London and the rest of the United Kingdom in an attempt to retain morale. In Germany, Adolf Hitler and his High Command celebrated for they had gained another asset in the war, and had brought themselves one step closer to total victory. Hitler himself had his ambassador in Canterlot send a message requesting that she send some Equestrian soldiers, experienced or not, to Warsaw along with a general or two to lead them.
Meanwhile at Sweet Apple Acres things ran as usual. Brother and sister bucked down apples that would be sold at market at Ponyville just as they had for many years. This all changed the day after the Equestrian Declaration of War. It was a day just like any other. Applejack and Big Macintosh were just about to leave the house to and go into the orchard. Granny Smith sat on her rocking chair, and Applebloom had left early to play with her friends, the Cutey Mark Crusaders. It was a perfect day until a certain unicorn prince, looking for revenge for a certain gala, arrived with a smug grin on his face, along with two guards of the new army.
"Ah...I see why you ponies are so uncivilized. You all live in this....small hobble in the dirt," said Prince Blueblood in disgust, "How quaint."
"Ah reckon you should get outta here Blueblood," said Applejack in absolute fury, "we don't want you folks on our property."
"It's Prince Blueblood, commoner," said he in superior tone, "And you cannot make us leave anyway. You are to give us 1,000 barrels of apples. For free of course."
"We don't even have that many. Why would ah even do that anyway?"
"You would be acting against the law if you don't. It is by royal decree," he said holding out a parchment with the seal of Equestria and the Elements of Harmony on it.
"Let me see that," She said annoyed and somewhat in disbelief, grabbing the decree from Blueblood."
"Royal Decree No. 9, 'all farms, public or private shall yield its produce for free in order to support the war effort. This decree shall be active throughout the entirety of Equestria's involvement in the war unless this decree is amended by the Princesses and the Elements. Signed Princess Celestia, Prince Blueblood, Royal General Shining Armor, and Element Twilignt Sparkle'."
"But that can't be right," said Applejack, in shock that her friend would sign a law that would her family, "It can't be a law, the Princess Luna didn't sign it."
Blueblood smirked at her, "Royal Decree No. 3, 'Royal Decrees must be approved by a minimum of two nobles and at least one member of the elements.' We are well within our rights, now yield the apples."
"Ah told you we don't have that many, you would have to come ba..."
"Silence," Blue Blood interrupted, "Since you do not hav the apples, I am forced to enact Royal Decree No. 10, 'Any farm that refuses to comply with Decree No. 9 can be seized in the name of the Crown until payment of a fine of 19,000 bits ($19,000,000. Exchange Rate in my story being 1 bit to $100)'."
"Ah...we can't..you can't do that."
"I'm afraid we can. Now leave the Crown's property immediately."
And thus the Apple family lost its orchard. Granny Smith decided to live among their relatives in Manehatten for a while, and Applebloom decided to live with her friend Sweety Belle at Rarity's Boutique which Rarity gladly allowed. And from that moment, Applejack decided to end her once great friendship with Twilight Sparkle.