//------------------------------// // An Applejack Mad Max/Historical Fic // Story: Equine Omnibus Orphanage // by Fon Shaolin //------------------------------// In the beginning there was the Law written by the Eternal Queen and obeyed by her dutiful subjects. The Law provided what nothing else could: purpose. The pegasi with their wings would rule the air, forever managing the mists and clouds; to the unicorns, the old places in the world were given for they alone would tend those secrets; and, to the ponies of the earth, the till and numerous numbers so they might be the great foundation of the Law and society with their strong backs. Thus things were in Equestria and all was well. Earth ponies worked the land and provided food and shelter for the industrious pegasi and brilliant unicorns while they in turn enjoyed the upliftment that came about as a result of interaction with the other ponies – towns were built with the same masonry techniques that allowed the unicorns to construct their great stone city at Canterlot and their fields were tended with the irrigation inventions of the pegasus. However, the earth ponies were not satisfied. They grew jealous of the wings of the pegasi and their cloud cities, where none but other pegasi and unicorns could tread. Some dared to petition the queen for their own wings or horns and were exiled for questioning their role in the Law. These herdless wandered for many months, traveling to the farthest-flung reaches of the kingdom to rally ponies to their cause. When they returned, they did so with an army large enough to crush the old Law underhoof. Taking advantage of the chaos, other earth pony settlements took up arms in bids to increase their land holdings, long fixed in size by the queen. These kingdoms gained their own armies of earth ponies that took up the fight and even surpassed the size of the original rebellion. Queen Celestia, seeing that she did not have enough loyal earth ponies or pegasi to hold everything, abandoned much of her kingdom to the warring kingdoms that now turned on each other. “But you shall not escape lightly!” she said. “I curse you and your land: no more shall the weather be your ally, no more shall the stone bend to you! All that you have you shall toil for under the blaze of the sun!” The threat was not empty: famine swept the lands for years, the old kingdoms broke asunder, and it seemed that the rebellious earth ponies would turn back to the Law, but although the magics in the world had abandoned them, their cunning did not. The natural cycle of the earth took those early ponies into her embrace and they discovered the natural seasons, crop rotation, how to let fields fallow, and ways to bend iron and steel themselves. No longer did they need the fantastic machines and magics of the pegasi to grow their crops or the magic of the unicorns to make their armor and cities. Thus did the earth ponies grow and multiply. Some went back to the old kingdoms and grew their stone towers until they brushed the wisps of the free clouds in the sky; those great stone cities that were the peers of Canterlot. In these places commerce made many a pony rich beyond their wildest dreams and had great sprawling armies that shook the ground when they marched. Many ponies, though, continued to wander as the original free ponies did. They were the seeds of future empires and forever gnashing their teeth at the walls of the great pony kingdoms that lay just beyond the wild places of the earth and would prey upon the outlying settlements that lacked the strong security forces of the central states. These bands would not linger, as their hooves always craved being on the move. They would take food, gold, and other valuables before moving on to the next plunder. There were always the odd ones, though, among these nomadic ponies. At one small settlement outside of the Everfree Forest, in the Duchy of Hoofnhammer, battle lines were being drawn. A harras of fifty or so ponies were standing on one side of the Merryweather River that cut through the eastern half of the town of Ponyville. The buildings on one side had been broken into, their windows shattered and doors kicked in. Burgundy flags fluttered from some of the rooftops: trimmed with gold, they had a blood-red apple in the middle that advertised to all that this was a warband from the Saddle Coast, one of Equestria’s richest – and most violent – agricultural regions.   At the main bridge spanning the river was most of the band. They stood on the east side, clad in leather armor and galloping back and forth along the riverbank in unrestrained exuberance. On the other side of the barricaded bridge was the larger defense force of Ponyville. They too were in armor and it glittered brightly in the afternoon sun, polished and new as it was. A large barrier of bristling metal spikes kept the Khanate and defense force separate. One of the harras force wasn’t joining in the spectacle. It was a large orange pony with broad shoulders and thick legs. They stood at the mouth of the bridge and their barding was pure iron and steel. Broad, interlocking plates formed a neck guard that ran up to a helm that ran the length of the muzzle exposing only the mouth, nose, and eyes. It was nicked and scared nearly as much as the flesh under it was with old scars and battle wounds. The flank plate rattled as the pony slowly walked forward. On either side were two short javelins in a loose leather holster. Her tail flicked and the harras came to attention. A small light-blue colt trotted out from the group. He wasn’t wearing much armor, nor did he have any weapons, but he carried himself proudly. He marched right up to the lip of the bridge and cleared his throat. “Greetings from the Khan! The Lord Khan of the Saddle Coast, leader of the Apple Harras! The conqueror that sacked the provincial capital of Palomino; who fought the great Ursa Major of Alamar to a standstill; that galloped the length of the Saddle Coast in a single night; and champion of the thirty-fourth Meeting of the Coastal Clans!” A terse silence from the other side of the river met the colt, but he was not deterred in the slightest. He looked at the gathering herd of militia and smirked – his audience was growing. “The Khan wishes that I present your leader with the terms of your surrender! Where is your leader?” That finally did provoke action in the opposite line. A gaudily-armored unicorn trotted out to the break in the barricade. He was flanked by two pegasi in golden armor, bearing the seal of Canterlot. “Amusing! I was just ordering the iron collars for your capture and march to the capital.” The middle-aged stallion’s voice had lost none of its youthful pride and it projected well. “If you desist in this barbarism immediately, I shall ensure that most of you reach Canterlot alive.” With a sad, long-suffering shake of his head, the colt responded, “You do not seem to realize the futility of further defense! Very well!” He trotted over to the armored pony standing in the middle of the street behind him. “The Khan’s champion, Applejack, wishes to fight any horse of your choosing to demonstrate what you will face if you continue to resist! Since many of your guardsmen were too busy fleeing from us in the initial attack, you may not have witnessed the keenness of resolve. Send your champion!” The taunting, as well as the challenge, left the unicorn shaking with rage. As the Khanate horses cleared a fighting space, one of the armored pegasi galloped forward with death in his eyes. He bore a glancing wound on his flank that wasn’t quite covered by the armor there; probably one of the few first defenders that had managed to retreat to the city center during the fighting. His opponent, the well-armored harras pony, scuffed at the ground with her hooves as the speaker dashed out of harm’s way. “Did ya have to needle him so much that he sent out a pegasus, Snips?” Her eyes were on the hooves, wings, and armor of her opponent. “I might actually have to try with this ‘un.” “That’s what you said about the last one,” Snips laughed. “Come on, it’s a great day to fight!” He didn’t slow down and was soon behind the main line. It was a beautiful day – one broken by the sound of thundering hooves on dusty cobblestone. Applejack ran towards the pegasus and he took to the wing right before they collided at the bridge. His hind hoof came down hard, but the earth pony ducked and leaned forward on her front legs. The pegasus had made a mistake in trying to land a hit as he hadn’t put that much lateral distance between them. Applejack’s back legs caught him in the wing as she kicked up. There was a horrible cracking sound as the brittle bones there shattered and the pegasus crashed into the ground a few feet away. Horrified gasps from the bridge confirmed that many of the soldiers there were militia that had never seen such a wound. Their gasps became cries as Applejack chased after the wounded pony. He was up, and though his wing was hanging limply against his side and oozing blood, he wasn’t out. The guard squared his hind legs and pushed forward right as Applejack was on him. They clashed! Armored chest against armored chest met in a hit that drowned out the spectator noise for a moment. Each pony tried to get enough purchase to get the other under-hoof. Rearing back, Applejack connected several times against the pegasus’s armored head. They weren’t mere taps, either – her horseshoes were studded steel and dents were starting to appear. Still, the guard would not duck his head so that a clean shot could connect. His armor was such that she couldn’t get in a bite, either. Maybe, if she could just maneuver him further away— His wing, the good one, fluttered for a brief moment and Applejack’s attention was off the guard’s face. His head came up quick and the armored helmet slammed into her jowls, pushing her back. He kicked out at her faster than she thought he could with that injury and put a fair knick on her chestplate. The shot had rattled her – she had forgotten how light pegasi were. The guard was over her now and his hooves came down. She took the blow on the helmet and pulled her head out of it before it was crushed. Applejack’s blond mane spilled out as she ran. The pegasus was in hot pursuit, nipping at her bobbed tail as it fluttered about. Their run was stopped every few spans as the Khanate champion stopped to kick, but none connected. Eventually she’d have to turn to get a better purchase for an attack and it would give him the advantage. The problem with running was that Applejack was slowly being corralled. It took several minutes, but eventually the pegasus had maneuvered her so that her back was to the river. The orange pony was panting horribly and it looked like she was having trouble standing. She pulled the knot to her breastplate with her teeth and let it fall to the muddy riverbank since it was too dented to do much good anyway. Adding to the mess, the soldiers had taken the entire bridge in the confusion of the fight. Seeing their champion perform like he had must have bolstered their confidence as nearly a hundred of them were now surrounding ringing the area of the river Applejack was trapped by in a mule shoe formation; even if she managed to beat the pegasus it would either be death by drowning or stampede. “I think you will be the first to be collared,” the governor oozed. He was with the other royal pegasus guard and was bold enough to stand a few hooves in front of his champion. “Now, if you do not surrender your…dear Celestia…” A heavy boot landed at the unicorn’s feet, but he was too busy looking at the sight now presented to him. Scars covered nearly every inch of Applejack’s body: ruptured skin long-healed, cuts from bladed weapons, stab wounds, burns, and more than a few bites. Her face had been uncovered earlier, but the harsh crisscrossing white scar tissue hadn’t been easily seen. Applejack took one step forward to get out of her boot. Everyone else took one step back. The unicorn was unsure of what to even say. His jaw flapped about as he struggled with articulating the rest of his orders. Looking hopelessly at his guards, they looked almost as lost as he felt. Only the leather harness holding her javelins was still on when Applejack finished. She ticked her neck from side to side to work out the kinks; her bones cracked menacingly. “Come on,” she breathed. “Come on, come on, come on!” The mare was bouncing on her hooves almost. “M-Monster! You can’t possibly think you can take all of us?” At that very moment, there was a great clamor from the other side of the bridge. The guards who had been watching the causeway were shouting for help and fleeing helter-skelter towards the main line. At the same time, the unorganized band that had been watching the duel had reformed and was advancing. Applejack smirked and began stepping into the water. “By mahself? No, nopony could do something like that. The main group being led by my brother, though, that would be enough.  ‘Specially since you don’t hold that nice little chokepoint no more.” And then they understood. A band of horses twice the number on Applejack’s side of the bridge wheeled around through the center of town and fanned out on the other side of the river. They were led by a truly massive crimson-coated stallion in heavy barding. None of the town guard seemed to know what to do, least of all the governor. His light yellow coat was rapidly turning red and he thundered out a, “Kill her!” right before Applejack’s first javelin gored his throat. The mare grabbed her second lance between her teeth and jerked her neck. It hit the wounded pegasus dead-center in the chest, splitting his armor and buried all the way to half-shaft. This triggered the Khanate harras to fall upon the helpless defenders en masse. Screams and shouts from ponies being trampled to death seemed to follow Applejack’s remaining javelins through the air: one struck a glancing blow on the uninjured pegasus, cutting into his helmet and drawing blood, while the other took the legs out of one poor mare trying to get back to the bridge barricade. Cold water washed over Applejack as she hit the river with ten armored ponies after her. In their fine, never-used armor they sank to the bottom while the orange champion cut through the cool water. Soon it would be dyed red from the afternoon’s butchery, but now it was a pure and pristine as her home on the Saddle Coast used to be. Memories, memories. A pair of teeth lightly grabbed her mane and she allowed herself to be helped up on the opposite bank by the large stallion. The battle for the bridge was all but over and dozens of the former defenders, trapped by the reinforcements with their backs to the river, were surrendering. The ones that had managed to flee wouldn’t escape the hoard of scouts left in the forest next to town. “Were we late?” Applejack shook her head. “Nah, you just missed me getting kicked around for a few extra minutes.” She looked at the empty town now spread at her hooves; untouched and virginal. Big Macintosh had ignored it all on his run through town. “It’s a pretty sight, isn’t it?” “Eeyup. It’ll be a shame, what we have to do with it.” “But that’s the Khan’s decision.” She raised an eyebrow at the stallion. “Unless you want to challenge it?” Big Macintosh’s face drooped and he lowered his head. “Now, you know I ain’t saying that. It’s just that it’s a change from what we’re used to.” He let out a huff. “Besides, we both know you’d just kick my flank and make me do it anyway, Khan.” The youngest Khan in fifty years and she was already drawing heat from a decision. Oh well, the men would grumble no matter what but in the long run they’d see the wisdom of this; Applejack was sure of that. She nodded at her brother and started trotting into the town. “Then I’ll leave it to you. Tell me men no looting, no property damage, and no womanly spoils: we’re putting down roots.”