//------------------------------//
// New World, New Purpose 
// Story: Disharmony's Parallel 
// by Xutiepops 
//------------------------------//

Apple Blooms yellow fur was tainted with dirt as she snuck around the houses and buildings of her old town with her friends. She glanced back at them, seeing their stares on her as they nodded. She nodded back and looked out to the town, almost growling at the sight as she sneered.
Her long hair pulled into a lengthy ponytail draped down her back, her orange eyes shining as she looked at the dirtied town. It made her sick to look at it, only five years ago was it her playing grounds. Now, she turned away from her peaking as a guard stepped into view. She recognized those Cutie Marks she saw on the guards and bared her teeth. Snips and Snails, of course they were recruited for the small town's defenses. 
As they walked past the building, she turned to her friends and nodded towards the woods. She mouthed a countdown before they all lunged into the woods, her hair held in place by a small pink bow. Her Cutie Mark burned with her purpose, her shield with an apple that was so similar to her friends had a different meaning than before. She no longer helped ponies gain their Cutie Marks, she helped them protect the virtue that came with them. 
She skidded to a stop as an orange mare stopped in their tracks, her hatred for the mare seeping into her breathing as she stared at her. Orange coat with a golden mane, all topped off with a blue jacket with a white inside. 
"Out of our way," Scootaloo's brutish voice snapped at the mare. She started her steps foreward, but stopped as Apple Bloom put a hoof in front of her. 
"Cool it, she's our leader," Apple Bloom whispered to the two beside her, though she knew Trickery could hear what they were saying. Apple Bloom cleared her throat and took a hoofstep in front of her friends, her chest puffed out as she glanced at the bored mare. She bowed half-heartedly, "Princess Applejack." The words burned on her tongue as her eyes expressed her hatred towards the mare. 
"Y'all don't need to call me that. I ain't no princess," Trickery stated, sighing as she stared down at the girl. Her heart ached, even this version of Apple Bloom hated her. She couldn't blame her, she was the one who took the foals big sister away. Well, she wasn't so much a foal anymore as she was a young mare. 
"We're kinda needed somewhere else, so if you need something..." Sweetie Belle prompted, anxious to get back to the Everfree and away from this fake look-alike. Her stomach turned as the dirt beneath her hooves seemed to too. She hated running into Trickery, she always got sick to her stomach. 
"Nah, just wanted a chat with y'all," Trickery started, staring down at Apple Bloom's hate filled stare. It intrigued her, it also terrified her and made her want to cry, but she had seen it so many times by now. "'S been awhile. Y'all sure do look different."
"You saw us two months ago," Apple Bloom close to hissed. 
Trickery narrowed her eyes on her, as much as she understood the disrespect, she didn't like it. She was tempted to kick dirt at the foals hooves, to dirty her name and their mission. It almost made her smile in the prescence of her little sister, well, it wasn't hers. But they looked so, so similar. "Sweetie didn't have a short mane back then," Trickery stated, pointing at the unicorn with her usual gorgeous mane reduced to a bob and coat a dirty mess. "And Scootaloo didn't have that many scars," she said, pointing at the scar-ridden maiden. 
Apple Bloom held her head high, "Anythin' different 'bout me?" She rolled her head back to it's normal position, hatred and fury seeping into her features. "What y'all want anyhow? If you didn't know, we're kinda busy," she seared with anger. Enough anger to terrify her friends as she stepped towards Trickery, the two now face to face. 
Trickery didn't seem one bit bothered as she blinked at the mare slowly. "You foals sure grow up fast. I 'member when I was first here, y'all were scared out y'all's minds," she chuckled to herself as Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes. 
"Yeah, well, we ain't scared of ya no more. We ain't scared of none of y'all!" She shouted, sitting her forehead against Trickery's less than gently, her eyes a pillar for revenge and absolute and utter hate. 
"Apple Bloom!" Her friends yelled after her as rain started pouring down on them, dripping off the leaves and down on them, dampering their already ruined fur. 
Trickery shoved Apple Bloom off of her. "Watch it, filly. I don't know who you think you are, but you couldn't even touch one of us," Trickery sneered at the look alike to her little sister. "I ain't said nothin' 'bout y'all little cult cause I know y'all can't do 'nothin'," she seethed with hate for this disobedience. And even more the defiant look in each of their eyes. 
She huffed a laugh that turned into a cackle, the rain ruining her jacket and taking the gold out of her mane. Her eyes shined a murky green compared to their usual emerald. "Harmony ain't never comin' back. Those cowards are gone, they left y'all here, didn't even care."
Apple Bloom stood up next to her friends, hate flooding their veins and making their Cutie Marks burn with purpose. 
Their new purpose, their new duty was to bring Harmony back to Equestria. To protect the Cutie Marks of those who lived her from the corrupt and hopeless world around them. They were Equestria's last hope, their cult, their rebellion was their last hope and reviving Harmony, reviving the Kindness and Laughter in their kingdom once again. No, not specifically in their kingdom. Apple Bloom's narrowed eyes sat on the mare, her confident, power filled glare staring them down. They were going to revive Harmony in their home. 
"Go," Apple Bloom said quickly and quietly, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo jumping to the sides in some trees as Apple Bloom readied herself for an attack from Trickery, crouching onto the ground with sharp eyes on the mare who tried following Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo by sound. 
While Trickery was focused on them, Apple Bloom dashed at her, faster than Scootaloo had seen Rainbow Dash fly. Trickery looked at her and jumped over her, pushing on her back to launch herself away. Apple Bloom looked back to see Trickery mid summersault, a smirk on her face before she landed on her hooves, her eyes darting up to the trees above them as the leaves rustled. 
Apple Bloom smiled as she pushed her hooves to the ground, stopping herself as she took in her immediate surroundings, her hooves covered in mud. She saw plenty of rocks and grinned to herself as she went after them, looking back to see Trickery occupied. 
An orange blur leaped out at Trickery, the mare quickly stepping out of the way, expecting to see orange hind legs sticking out of the ground. Instead, she saw the filly flying away. Cursing to herself, she looked around, waiting for Sweetie Belle's attack. 
Her eyes widened when Scootaloo rammed into her side, pushing her into the ground and pinning her. It was all too familiar, so familiar it made her blood boil. She jabbed the mare off of her, just sitting up as she heard some noises behind her, seeing rocks being launched in her direction. 
She crouched with a grin, watching them go the other way. With a whistle, she turned to Apple Bloom, who shouted, "Sweetie Belle!" Trickery raised an eyebrow when she heard magic. She whirled in the other direction and saw rocks coated in light green magic flying at her. She looked at Apple Bloom and saw her throwing rocks as well. Trickery smiled to herself and crouched once again, pieces of rock falling onto her as the two sets collided and broke overhead. 
As she once again stood up in victory, she was pinned to the ground, except this time, Scootaloo held a knife at her throat, her teeth bared around the handle.
She swallowed as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked over to them. "Couldn't even touch one of you, huh?" Sweetie Belle taunted. 
Trickery shot Apple Bloom a plea of help with her eyes, they were now their normal emerald green, her uneven breathing furthering her honesty. Apple Bloom looked up at Scootaloo, "We can't kill her."
"What?" Sweetie Belle asked. "We could show them what we can do! We can go ahead and get rid of one of them!" She fought, going against her leader, something she didn't do often. 
Scootaloo spat out the knife. "Yeah! Show 'em who's boss! Don't tell me you got feelings for her cause she's got the face of your sister. We agreed, AB." Her hooves were digging into Trickery's shoulders, ruining her fur with even more mud she'd have to clean off before returning to Canterlot. The rain reduced to a sprinkle, the pitter-patter against leaves the only noise past the arguing.
Apple Bloom shook her head. "I want to rip that grin off her face as much as you do, but they'll suspect something when she doesn't go back, then they'll search for us and figure out we're in Ponyville." She glared down at Trickery's thankful green eyes. She spat at the ground next to her. "Tell 'em 'bout us, and I'll deliver your end very, very slowly." 
Apple Bloom looked up at her friends as Trickery nodded helplessly. Apple Bloom nodded towards the woods, and as she mouthed a countdown, they were gone on three. 
Trickery sat up, panting as she put a hoof to her throat. She stared off into the woods, wondering where they went, and how they did that. All of it. She growled as tears stung at her eyes, the rain now thundering down once again. She laid back in the mud with a sad smile at the sky. 
Her little sister disliked her in her world, even ran away cause she didn't want to be like her. She huffed a smile as she looked up at the sky. Look Apple Bloom, I'm independent now, I don't need Flim and Flam no more, she thought as tears fell out of her eyes. She let out a scream at the sky at the unfair world. Even with an entire country to herself, she couldn't have the one thing she wanted. 
The love and acceptance of her brother and sister was all she wanted. 



The Crusaders panted as the finally settled near a tree far away from where they left Trickery. "I can't believe it worked!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, her multi-colored bob framing her smile. She was covered in mud from her previous encounter, her fur and mane was already ruined from the raid they were on, and she was out of breath from excitement and exhaustion, yet she still smiled and beamed brightly. 
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom weren't nearly as lucky as they panted, staring at their optimistic friend with a chuckle and a smile. Apple Bloom's features hardened to serious as her friends talked. "We can take down one of the eight," she said in disbelief, the large number giving her chills, but she was still amazed. "We can defeat one of the eight all on our own, without our sisters or their friends or the princesses."
Scootaloo smiled softly, her spiky pixie cut an odd contrast, the new cyan streak in it glimmering in the wet despite the pouring rain around them. "Yeah, just as we were losing hope," she smiled at the rain around them. It all felt so gloomy, yet her heart floated. "That's how I know they aren't dead." 
She lowered her head at their curious stares. "Just as we run out of hope, we get it. Harmony has to be alive for that to work," Scootaloo grinned happily. She was never one for optimism and profoundness in their group, so it warmed the two's hearts that she thought that truthfully. 
Apple Bloom looked out around them at the pouring rain, even peaking out under the tree's weak cover to get a better idea of what to do next. She looked at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, they hadn't slept in a few days, well, a complete sleep. They deserved some rest, but she didn't trust Trickery. Apple Bloom was ready to face some of her friends in combat as Trickery had blown their cover. 
She sighed, facing her friends. "I'm sorry, y'all, but we need to keep movin', we can't wait for her to come after us." The two nodded regardless of their exhaustion. "One last stretch and we can rest all we want," Apple Bloom encouraged as she thought of the best way to get to their hideout. 
She decided on a route and nodded, looking to her friends as she leaped right, starting forward on the path only to waver to throw off whoever may be following them. 
The rain pelted them harshly as their bodies ran on nothing, hunger eating at their stomachs as their muscles and bones ached with a need to rest. They all sighed in relief at the sight of a familiar tree covered in vines. 
They took a turn left and headed straight again, seeing more and more trees with more and more vines on them. Sweetie Belle even dropped from exhaustion and relief as she saw a familiar rock wall covered in leaves. She looked to the right and left, seeing the rock stretch. 
Scootaloo crawled under her, picking her up on her back as Apple Bloom sneaked past a small opening in the leaves, big enough to fit any pony in their cult, but still very small. Scootaloo smiled as she followed, ready to report their extremely successful encounter instead of their very unsucessessful raid. 
After a few more steps, she saw a different type of beauty as Apple Bloom and her fit past the opening, staring up at their home with happiness and relief they were okay. 
A few ponies they knew as nurses approached them, Scootaloo dropping to the ground and rolling Sweetie Belle off of her back. 
Vines covered the entire forest it seemed, a magic overhang saving the village from any rain. Vines wrapped around trees and decorated tree houses, made bridges, and supported make-shift buildings. The tree houses were very well-kept, established buildings that had been there since the start. The same with the bridges. 
Though they were used solely for housing, more public areas were much less finished and were barely started. The clinic was probably the most far along building on the ground, a small house connected to the base of a tree with a tattered banner with a hospital symbol on the front.
Other places were simply sticks holding up huge pieces of fabric, the different colors of fabric distinguishing them. The red was the make-shift school used to teach Pound and Pumpkin Cake, Cheerilee was only ever happy if she was teaching those two anymore. 
An orange was used to symbolize a kitchen, where Mrs. Cake and Berry Punch resided as the villages cooks, other mares and stallions helping them often. A slightly darker orange that doubled the sizes of the others, held a huge table, tree stumps and rocks decorated with pillows and fabric served as seats for the dining area. 
A dirty green was used to symbolize a combat zone, a place the Crusaders visited almost daily. A table draped in flourishing vines sprouting from the ground decorated the table it held in the middle. Pebbles and many markers sat unused at the table.
"We're so thankful you're back!" A more familiar voice said. Scootaloo peaked her eyes open and saw the pink-maned nurse. she huffed a laugh and a smile as she shut her eyes, happy she was home again. "Sleep, we'll take care of you," the nurse reassured as some other nurses picked up the two. Nurse Redheart smiled as they were taken to the clinic before turning to Apple Bloom with a soft smile. "You should rest too, you know," the Nurse reassured. 
As tempting as it sounded, Apple Bloom knew she couldn't rest. "Is Zecora here?" She asked, getting an amused smile and a shake of the Nurse's head. 
"Apple Bloom, you're still young, you need rest, you need to recover-" The Nurse fought motherly, Apple Bloom's determined stare cutting her off. She sighed, "She's not here right now. She left yesterday." When Apple Bloom walked past her, she followed, determined. "S-She did tell me to tell you to rest, and to force you to rest at that," the Nurse threatened. 
She followed Apple Bloom to the green tent, the mare looking around before down at the table, noticing the still crude drawing of Equestria on one sheet of large paper that covered the table, a smaller sheet of paper on top of it depicting Ponyville. 
Apple Bloom didn't speak as she picked up a crayon, afraid any one of the markers was dried out, Thunderlane had a tendency of leaving the lids off. She marked more x's onto Ponyville's map before turning away, Nurse Redheart following worriedly. "There's more guards in Ponyville?" The Nurse asked, even more worry creeping into her voice.
Apple Bloom nodded as she looked over at the infirmary, stopping in her place to get her look over the village. "I noticed some different ponies than the ones we know of wearing armor. Snips and Snails," she said coldly, even as Nurse Redheart gasped. She knew the Nurse was going to cry and didn't exactly care for it. 
She turned back at her and asked her a question to take her mind off of it, "Where's Thunderlane? Sweetie Drops? Lyra?" 
Redheart sniffled and wiped her eyes, "Infirmary." 
"Seriously!?" Apple Bloom whirled to face her. "And you expcted me to rest? Without Zecora here and our top forces in the clinic, you expect me to rest?" She couldn't believe the Nurse didn't understand the urgency of this, she couldn't understand it at all. What if there was an ambush? An unsuspecting pony that could join their forces? They had to have somepony in charge!
Redheart cowered slightly. "Zecora said not to worry! She really said not to worry! I trust her!" She fought, wanting desperately for Apple Bloom to listen to her. "A sick leader isn't a good leader."
"But it's better than no leader!" Apple Bloom fought, stomping away and towards the map again, she needed to mark her findings, which were none. 
"No! It's worse!" Redheart fought. "A sick leader dies and leaves their ponies with no one!" Redheart's voice got louder, attracting the attention of some of the other members of their village. Apple Blooms orange eyes watched her with no emotion, only calm seriousness was found with their little leader. 
However, Redheart was fuming. She stomped her hoof down, "Now listen to me, Apple Bloom. You're still young, too young to take on every leadership like task with everypony else out of condition. Especially after a mission!" She narrowed her eyes on Apple Bloom, not feeling the slightest bit defiant that others around her felt for her. "Now! Go rest," Redheart ended calmly, but harshly. 
Apple Bloom stared for a while, holding the stare as an attempt to win this argument. She sighed and looked away, hearing Redheart's squeak of joy. "Only," she started coldly with an annoyed glare at Redheart. "If you wake me the second any of our main forces wake up or return. That includes Sweetie Belle and Scoots." The nurse nodded happily as Apple Bloom groaned, getting up and walking towards the clinic. Was this a good idea? 



Apple Bloom woke up after an incredible sleep, stretching gladly as she saw the sun seep into the clinic through the cracks in the roof. She stared up happily before sitting up, quickly noticing how she was the only one in there. She growled to herself as she threw the blanket off of her, stomping out of the clinic, too angry to notice the copious amounts of bandages on her, or the herb-like smell she was covered in. 
She peaked out of the clinic to another normal day in the village, Pound and Pumpkin Cake running around frantically as chatter filled the small area. There weren't many ponies in their group, but there were enough to make her worry of being too loud. 
She put a hoof up as the sun shone down bright on them, telling her to expect either a completely good day, or a horrible twist. 
No matter how homey and happy the village could be inside this world of torture, it still wasn't like it was before, because deeper in those woods and just behind that thick rock wall, was chaos and despair raining around them. She shook her head, it was already a good day, she should be enjoying it while it lasts. 
She smiled as she walked past Pound and Pumpkin Cake, both with blank flanks at their young age. She huffed a laugh, they reminded her of herself. She knew exactly why as she walked towards the dining area, a lot of the chatter coming from the concentrated ponies that haven't gone outside in months, maybe years. 	
She shook the thoughts from her head again, she needed to find Nurse Redheart and chew her out for not keeping her end of the deal. "You're up!" Sweetie Belle's voice rang behind her. She turned to the mare, her fur a new sleek white that reminded her of the mare's older sister. Thankfully the rough-cut bob didn't remind her of Rarity. 
"Yeah, how long it's been?" She asked, wanting answers and details about how things had gone in her slumber. She felt great, she might as well jump back to leading the camp again. 
"Three days," Scootaloo pushed in beside Sweetie Belle, getting an annoyed glare from her. Scootaloo rocked a camouflage jacket, a red ball cap covering her mane and the new cyan blue in it. All of this was matched with her wide grin. 
"Three days!?" Apple Bloom shouted worriedly, drawing everypony's attention to her. She didn't expect them to do anything, but they all cheered loudly for her. A grey hoof drew her attention as she looked to find the only stallion apart of their main forces. 
"It's fine! Everything's fine!" Thunderlane smiled down at her widely. "And you weren't," he deadpanned before jumping back into emotion. "Redheart told us you wanted to actually work when you got back!"
She raised an eyebrow at him as Scootaloo sat next to him, intent on lecturing her. "Yeah! And do you see the state you're in?" Scootaloo asked rudely, prompting Apple Bloom to look down and see the bandages covered her hooves and her torso, she looked down and saw her hind legs and back covered as well. 
She glanced up at them. "What's all this?" She asked. "I feel fine," she continued, very confused as to what gave her this much damage and why she didn't feel it. 
"That's all the herb-medicine they have you jacked up on," Thunderlane explained. She once again raised an eyebrow, she didn't feel like she was on anything. Nothing felt numb and she could think perfectly straight. She ignored him and glanced back at the crowd. 
She pointed at the continued cheering. "What's that all 'bout?" She asked, glancing at the three. 
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo beamed proudly. "Well, our little encounter with the enemy may or may not have gone unheard," Sweetie Belle said confidently. 
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "They shouldn't be this happy, they do understand we cant do anything to the rulers, right?" 
Thunderlane nodded. "I told them we aren't going to act until we can find the Elements. According to Redheart, Zecora said she went out looking for more clues after I came back empty."
Apple Bloom nodded as she looked around for Sweetie Drops and Lyra Heartstrings. "Alright, we'll rethink things when she get's back. Hopefully she finds something," Apple Bloom stated. She mentally groaned as she saw a specific mare approach her. 
A calm and composed mare with a bowtie walked up to her. "It's nice to see you've waken up, Apple Bloom," Mayor Mare had stated. 
The end of Harmony changed many ponies to be strong, others it made weaker. And Mayor Mare was one of the weaker ones, she craved control similar to her mayor hood, and she had been bugging Apple Bloom over Zecora about it for years. "Yes, Mayor Mare?" Apple Bloom asked half-heartedly. She thought maybe the continued title would fix her issue, but it didn't and now the habit stuck as a horrible reminder of the mares failing sanity. 
"Well, all our strongest have recovered, with your awakening and all, so I thought, maybe we could start planning for another mission?" Mayor Mare asked condescendingly. Apple Bloom looked behind her to see the three had backed up and gave her their smiles of encouragement. She groaned inwardly as the Mayor's voice took back her attention. "Then when Zecora gets back, she can just check it off and you all can go out."
Apple Bloom held so much dislike on the back of her tongue that she hid when she spoke as nice as she could. "Sorry Mayor, I was hoping to rethink the entire mission thing entirely. Lately we've all been coming back with nothing, so maybe a new set of priorities is needed," Apple Bloom said as she walked past the mare. 
Of course, the desperate thing followed. "Oh, oh! I can help brainstorm ideas! So we can narrow down the list for when Zecora gets back," Mayor Mare continued clawing at anything she could grab to have even a sliver of power in how things were done. 
"Uh, I think the ponies who actually go out would be much more useful for that," Apple Bloom continued as she started off deeper into the woods, staring up at the treehouses aimlessly. 
"Well maybe some pony who stays inside the village could offer some ideas on what we need as ponies," the Mayor hung over her head. 
She wanted to snap the Mayor's head off and ask who was boss now. She sighed. "I guess so," she replied, almost thinking it over. It wasn't bad, but she assumed most suggestions would be wants and not needs. And wants that only Mayor Mare would want.
She heard the Mayor squeal as she turned back to the village. And she was looking forward to breakfast, but the Mayor ruined her appetite, and wanted to start right away. 
Half an hour later and Sweetie Belle was, for the umpteenth time, telling the Mayor 'no'. "Well why not?" Mayor Mare asked, a raised eyebrow and a puffed out chest in offensive. 
Sweetie Belle held back a groan. "Because, this entire village is about getting the Elements back, so other than necessities, nothing's really gonna make the list."
"But you've never come back with anything for the Elements!" Mayor Mare replied as if she was in the right, the six ponies around her froze as she continued talking with shut eyes. "So maybe we should start getting things to make this place more like home."
Apple Bloom couldn't take it as Thunderlane and Scootaloo already went to stop her. They were too late as she shot up, standing on the table with bared teeth. "What was that?" Apple Bloom asked harshly. 
Mayor Mare put her hooves up in defense. "I-I apologize, Apple Bloom," she said honestly before looking down, lowering her hooves. She sniffled, "I sometimes forget you were closer to them than I was. I'm truly sorry, you-you're right. We need to focus on getting the Elements of Harmony back." 
Apple Bloom nodded as she slowly sat back down, eyes pinned on the mare. "Right. I suppose since we're cutting looking for new allies on our list, we can add one thing the village as a whole would want," she said cautiously, seeing the mare light up. "As a side mission. If we see it, we get it. We're not going to search for it deliberately," Apple Bloom warned. 
Mayor Mare sat in thought as they all waited. They knew it was going to her head, them waiting on her for a decision like she was the expert. "Hmm. Maybe sugar? As nice as Mrs. Cake and Berry Punch's food is, it isn't very sweet," she suggested. 
"We ever gonna see sugar that isn't inside someone's house?" Sweetie Drops asked the others. 
"Doubt it, want anything else, Mayor?" Scootaloo asked before she saw the Mayor's furrowed eyebrows. "Mayor?" 
"How come you all hate my ideas!?" Mayor Mare asked, standing to her hooves and slamming them on the table. "It's like you're all... against me or something!" 
Before Sweetie Belle could comfort her, Apple Bloom put a hoof in front of her. She was their leader, she'd deal with the problems. "Mayor Mare, I apologize if you first, didn't understand priority, and second, didn't think of something we could easily obtain without stealing," Apple Bloom spoke surprisingly calmly. 
Lyra looked at the Mayor. "I'm sorry, but this kinda comes with making decisions for a society, a weak one at that. You can't always appeal to ponies, we'd thought you'd know all about this and be a great help," Lyra tried to flatter and comfort her, but it didn't work as Mayor Mare blew air out her nose, her eyes pinned on Apple Bloom. 
"Yet all of your ideas are final," she hissed at Apple Bloom's calm stare quickly becoming less calm. "You're what, fifteen? I'm a lot older than you, and a lot more capable and knowledgeable of this kind of thing. Even Thunderlane and Sweetie Drops are more capable than you!" The mare fought, taking out her anger on Zecora's right hoof mare. 
The rest stayed out of it, understanding Apple Bloom would either snap or handle it. All of them put their money on snapping. Apple Bloom sighed before standing up, putting her hooves on the table as well. 
"I apologize if someone who goes outside is more capable of making decisions for this inside based on the outside's conditions," Apple Bloom started calmly and everypony around knew she was finally going to snap. "I apologize if I do have experience as a leader, I apologize if I am capable of doing this job, I apologize for trusting the zebra who saved our lives!" Apple Bloom's voice got louder and louder, sopped with more and more hate as she spoke. Less hate and more irritation and offense, they all learned that with horrible leaders, hate really was a strong word. 
"I apologize if I'm young, I have a drive! I want to find my sister and bring her back home!" Apple Bloom shouted, tears springing to her eyes the others didn't expect. "I'm sorry if I want to see my friend's sisters come home, I'm sorry I wanna see my friends come home, I'm sorry I wanna save Equestria!"
Tears spilled down her cheeks, filled with hate as she climbed onto the table, but she didn't stop there. She continued forward until she was back on the ground, backing the terrified Mayor into a corner. "I'm sorry I wanted to learn how to fight, I asked Zecora to take us under her wing so I could find my sister." 
The Mayor crouched onto the ground, completely underneath their young leader. "I'm sorry I know I'm fifteen and don't need to be doing this. But now I'm a monster just so I can see my sister again! You know what it's like to have something ripped from you and you have to change into something you hate just to get it back?" 
She noticed the silence around her and the shivering Mayor beneath her. "You probably do. Your title was tough to lose," Apple Bloom tried to comfort her. "But those days are over and they'll be back soon, so let Zecora and us take care of things. I promise, Apple Jack and the others'll be back real soon," she smiled. 
She was a leader, she couldn't worry her village. She didn't focus on anything as she walked into the woods, wanting to get so deep she didn't know if she'd come back.