//------------------------------//
// Equine Explanations 
// Story: A New Generation, and an old mare 
// by Paradise Oasis 
//------------------------------//

These Pegasus.... She thought to herself, shaking her mane. How in the name of Celestia do they live like this?

Shoving and pushing her way through the endless crowd of Pegasus, Applejack tried her best to keep herself and the twins from being noticed. It wasn't that hard, however, as most of the winged ponies  had their attention everywhere but around them, as the distracted herd shuffled through the crowded streets. The lights, sounds, and glowing screens all around her was too much for a mare who had spent her whole lifetime in the countryside. Sure, she had lived in the city of manehatten for awhile back in the Harmony era, The cacophony of sights, sounds, smells, and other stimuli were almost overwhelming to the point of freezing A.J. in her tracks. It was only her concern for the twins in the stroller in front of her, the kept the ancient mare pushing onward.  

Following the directions the Dream Valley Pegasus spy had given her, the disguised earth pony made her way towards an abandoned area in the city's middle district. Pushing against the sea of equine bodies, the youthful-looking old mare  made her way to a mostly boarded- up area in an alleyway, with stairs leading down under the street. Glancing around to make sure no one was looking, AJ tore off the boards, and slowly trotted down the stairs into the under city. Total darkness and silence now enveloped her, replacing the awful din and brightness of the city above. Pulling out a flashlight from inside her bag, Applejack lit up the darkness, trotting forward into the shadows as she pushed the stroller along. 

The two foals, whose crying and wailing had been drowned out above, had now fallen silent in the shadows below. As Applejack trotted along, she found herself in an old subway tunnel, probably dating back to the later years of the harmony era. travel posters from every corner of Equestria- bearing names of cities that no longer existed- Phillydelphia, Vanhoover, and Trottingham- with the departure times for trains and airships. ignoring these relics of the past, Applejack continued onward towards a large train platform unloading are, which seemed remarkably free of cobwebs and fallen debris. It was almost as if somepony had been here many many times before...

"Welcome, harmony bearer Applejack," a voice called out from behind her. "we have been expecting you."

The earth pony mare spun around, and was surprised to find two mares covered in cloaks with hoods, and wings sticking out from underneath. A masquerade spy from Dream Valley, looking exactly like the twinkle-eyed Pegasus mare who had first led her into Zephyr Heights, was waiting with the two disguised Pegasus.

"Oh, you must be with the resistance." A.J. sighed with relief. "I was almost afraid I had been caught by the Pegasus royal family's guards."

"You were lucky to make it past those guards, Applejack. Your Pegasus disguise put together by Stalight and Heartbright were all that saved you from capture." The Spy mare's twinkle eyes glittered in the dim light. "The plans have changed, my fair harmony bearer. With all of the pony communities on the lookout for these foals, the twins must be split up, and each placed in the corresponding pony community for their own safety."

"So they do have to be split up?" A.J. replied sadly. "Oh well.... I suppose it is for the best." Reaching down with her hooves, she picked up the Pegasus child. "May I ask who I am giving this child to?" 

The two ponies pulled their hoods back, revealing a pale yellow mare with  green mane, and a blue stallion with an orange mane. "I'm Shutter Snap, a photographer for Zephyr Heights media. And this is my husband, Philly, he's a Pegasus construction worker." The mare opened her wings to take the baby. "We will take care of the little one, and raise it as our own."

AJ held onto the Pegasus child for a moment, hugging the foal tightly, before handing the baby off to Shutter. The two Pegasus bowed to Applejack, before trotting back though the tunnels towards the surface. 

"I'm gonna miss that little foal." A.J. replied with a sigh, watching the new family go. "But at least that child is safe." 

"There is still the matter of the other foal, who still isn't safe here in Zephyr Heights." Masquerade spoke up, snapping AJ back to the present. "The unicorn foal must be taken to Bridlewood, where our agents there will make sure and provide anew home for the child there."

"And the two children will grow up in the same cesspool of hate, becoming just like all the rest of these bigoted equines." The earth pony mare sighed. "This is madness, how in the hay did Equestria go from a place where everypony could be happy to... this awful, horrible society? I lived through the Coltural Revulsion, and even I don't know what the heck happened around me!" 

"Only the few remaining alicorns know the actual answer to that, last of the Harmony Bearers, though there are many theories." Masquerade explained with a sigh. "Most believe it started with the advent of the philosophy of equine equity, which arose in the earth pony town of Coltonville, and taught earth ponies were oppressed by the equines who could use magic."

"Coltonville, yeah... ah lived there fer awhile, ran a baking shop during one of my lifetimes." Applejack winced at the memory. "They were cuttin' off the wings and horn of newborn foals ta make everypony equal, until Celestia and Luna went there undercover an' put a stop ta it."

"But they didn't manage to stop the ideology, which spread from Coltonville into all of Equestria." Masquerade continued. "But equine equity did not manage to get any traction, until Twilight sparkle cast that tragic spell to the magic of Equestrian ponies into some magic crystals, to thwart the evil fallen alicorn princess of fire, Opaline. The loss of magic caused each pony type to believe the others were oppressing them, each blaming the others tribes of the disappearance of magic." 

"Yeah, I remember that mess with Opaline, happened in the last years of Twilight Sparkle's reign." A.J. replied sadly. "So the loss of magic is what allowed that 'equine equity' hooey ta take hold, and the coltural revolution split everypony in Equestria up."The former harmony bearer looked up. "But why didn't Ponyville, Flutter Valley, the Crystal Empire of the snows, and the other kingdoms fall to that junk, too?"

"Some say because those ponies had stronger wills, a stronger sense of individual identity, and a stronger faith in horsemasterism and alicornism- though I personally think it was not losing their magic to Twilight's spell." The twinkle-eyed pony replied. "And those dream Valley ponies... I think you could drop the whole world on those stubborn equines, and present them with every 'logical' argument and concept ever thought up by Pony academia-and it wouldn't shake their beliefs one bit. They are totally and utterly immune to any kind of new radical ideas."

"So when are the Pony council of monarchs going to take a stand against this evil society?" Applejack asked, annoyed. "How much longer are these stubborn ponies to hate one another?"

"The council has decided that while we can work to quietly educate them, the pony mystics have foreseen that a new group of pony friends may soon reunite ponykind, and restore magic to deal with the returning  threat of Opaline once and for all." Masquerade sighed. "But even if they don't succeed, there is a more ancient threat stirring beyond the borders of this land, one that will burn Equestria away like a cleansing fire."

"W-what are you talking about?" AJ asked nervously, felling her blood run cold. "What threat could be worse than Oplaine?"

"Have you forgotten, Applejack? It has been four hundred and fifty years since you and your friends banished the city of Tambelon and it's evil lord to the dark Dimension. We are fifty years away from Tambelon's return to the light world." Masquerade stared right into A.J.'s soul, with her two blank gemstone eyes. "Applejack... he is coming."

"W-we need to get this child to Bridlewood quickly, and then I need to get back to Ponyville, to help them prepare."  Applejack began to pace nervously, an uncontrollable panic rising in her throat. "If only some of our old powerful allies from the harmony era was still around..." 

"Celestia and Twilight Sparkle are long past, and Princess Luna disappeared long ago- though the mystics say will return to lead Equestria in the war when Tambelon returns." Masquerade shook her mane. "Discord perished centuries ago, as well... though I have heard part of his spirit still lingers in the mountains to the west, haunting a replica of Canterlot he built for himself. So there is no one left who can help us, I'm afraid."

"Then I'd best stop worrying about things I can't so anything about and try to help this child." Applejack trotted towards the exit, motioning for Masquerade to follow her. "Now, help me get to the edge of this city safely, so we can get this little tyke out of Zephyr Heights."