May 1863,
The war had been going on for a couple of weeks already. I, a Manehatten Daily reporter, was sent to Appleloosa to interview ponies that are victims of the famine, and the war itself. I was actually rather surprised that I was even allowed to interview ponies that live in the Western Union areas. This was, you could say, a “special treat”. Ever since the war had started no Eastern newspaper company would dare take on a Western point of view, nor wanted any Western influence in their paper. I would believe it would be the same for Western newspapers as well, not wanting to give any sympathy towards Easterners. While this is a fantastic opportunity, it is also a great risk. To be honest, I still don’t know why I was suddenly sent to Appleloosa. I hadn’t any of the slightest ideas on how me being a Northerner would effect the view of the ponies over there. This was also the first time any pony was doing this, going over to the other side, which could generate a punishment from the government. Overall, I had no clue how this would turn out.
I left for Appleloosa shortly after I got the opportunity to go. In fact, this job had been hovering over the newspaper company for quite some time apparently. I hadn’t known about it until a colleague of mine told me about how crazy it was. I guess no one had the guts to go. As for me, I actually don’t really fear the Western Union. This is mostly because I was born a Westerner. I was born a unicorn in Yanhoover and actually grew up around a farming community. In fact, I was devastated when I found out about the drought.
The trip took two days to get to Appleloosa, most of the train tracks had been destroyed in a conflict between the two unions, so trains would always have to take longer routes. When I got there the town was anything but lively. First off, military troops and Police forces marched around the streets, which created a dreary feel to the place. The buildings looked as if they were slowly decaying, as large chunks of paint were gone, roof tiles were missing, windows were shattered, and even some buildings had demolished rooms. Every pony that was walking through the streets were frowning, some ponies even jumped and ran from fear when a frying pan fell from inside one of the houses there. It was clear that there had already been a battle here.
I had taken note of every detail of the city, I had been so riveted into the detail of the city that I almost forgot that I needed to also interview ponies. Of course, due to the lack of time I had, I needed to be selective of which pony I chose. I wanted to aim for a pony that worked as a farmer, that way I can receive more information on the Westerner’s opinion of the war, and the decline of funding. Although I didn’t want the pony to be too biased, I wanted one who could rationalize the whole situation. I peered through the crowd of ponies, and at first, it was immensely difficult to find what I was looking for. I thought that I might have been a little too picky, I needed to be more realistic. I was about to just give in to my first ideal interviewer and just interview a random pony, but then suddenly a stallion about my age came up to me. His skin was a dark blue, and he had a short golden main which his bangs came about up to the top of his eyes. What I noticed unique about him was that he was a pegasus, while the rest of the town folk were earth ponies. “Your coat, you're an Easterner aren't you?” he asked. I looked down to notice that I was still wearing my brown trench coat even though it was boiling hot outside.
“Yes, I suppose I should probably take this off now considering the weather” I smiled. I took off the coat and stuffed it into my saddle bag.
“If you're an Easterner, then what are you doing in Appleloosa? You're not a spy are you?”
“First off, that’s a dumb question to ask. If I was a spy do you really think I would confess it to you?” I started, “I’m actually a journalist, and I came to Appleloosa to get a Western perspective on the war for the next issue”
“Wow, that’s rare to hear. I don’t believe anyone would even think about getting the other sides opinion”
“I assumed so myself as well” I began, “but I am finding this to be more difficult than I thought because I don’t want a completely biased opinion”
“So you want a Westerner’s opinion, but you don’t want the opinion to be completely biased, how exactly does that work?” he asked,
“Well you see from previous experiences, ponies that are too biased and too entitled on their own belief tend to be inadequate. They give you short answers, and provide no evidence or support to their answers” I explained,
The stallion next to me nodded his head as he understood what I was talking about, “What I think is that you need a pony who has had experiences in both the West and Eastern side of Equestria” he explained,
“I guess”
“Perfect! Then I’m your stallion!” he cheered, “You see, I was born and raised in Cloudsdale, but I moved to Appleloosa because I inherited my great uncle’s farm here after he died”
This was perfect! He understands both cultures, which means I can get a broader perspective from him! He took me back to his farm so we could start the interview. The house to his farm had a green color to it’s exterior, though just like the houses along the main road it looked like it was also effected from battle. The inside was small, but it was that cozy kind of small. There wasn’t a separate room for the bedroom, and instead, the stallion’s bed stayed tucked into the corner of the house. The inside looked like it had been recently damaged, I assumed probably also from battle.
“Sorry it’s a little messy” the pegasus sighed, “If I had known someone was coming over I would have cleaned up a little”
We sat down at his wooden dining table to begin the interview.”First, let's start off with introductions” I started.
The stallion hit his forehead with this hoof, “Oh my god, I should have introduced myself when we first talked to one another. I cannot believe my manners! My name is Astro”
“I'm Cyn” I replied, “Okay let's start the interview”
I started out with pretty basic and generic questions such as, “How has the war impacted you?” and “What do you hope to happen in the near future?”,
“What do you do to endure this antagonism?” I asked,
“Well it has currently been a living hell, purgatory sums it up better. Right now I think we're all struggling with trying to find a way to endure this. We’re all starved, and on top of that, we have to live with the constant fear of if we’re going to live the next day. There has already been two acts of warfare here and we're all as paranoid as hell. Ponies have lost their loved ones, others homes have been destroyed and they are forced to relocate. The Western Police Force seems to become more and more corrupt with power, and right now there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of this tunnel” he explained,
“You said that this has been a ‘living hell’, but then you changed that to purgatory. Could you explain why you think it is purgatory?”
“When you are in Hell you at least know what your fate is, while purgatory you're faced with the unknown. The unknown right now seems pretty scary. None of us know about our fate in this war”
“Do you think that the Equestrian Government was irrational about their decision about declining funding?” I asked,
“Well in some ways yes, if you couldn’t tell all of our crops are dying. But I don’t entirely think that's true. I believe that the government is attempting to do the best for the ponies of Equestria; there has to be something good coming from the rebuff, right?” he paused for a second and looked down at the floor, “I believe in our government”
Suddenly we both heard screams slowly growing louder. Instinctively we both ran outside to see what was going on. From a hill in Astro’s farm, we could see a perfect visual of the main street. Ponies were frantically running in all directions. Other ponies were shooting guns at one another, constantly pulling the trigger until one pony falls. I could see blood flooding the whole street. Suddenly Astro started to shed a couple of tears, saying “damn it” under his breath. We were caught in the crossfire.