Applebloom walked up the stairs of the old house, groaning slightly. “You’d think Ah’d have learned by now not to eat that last piece of pie,” she muttered under her breath. The filly was just coming from dinner with her family, where she had, once again, eaten too much. It was a common problem among the Apple family, as a good deal of the ponies in the family turned out to be excellent cooks. The trick, she’d found, was to set experience of past bellyaches against the present food. It worked most of the time, although occasionally food still won out.
Applebloom walked down the hall, reaching her room at the end. She opened the door with her muzzle, and then closed it behind her with a rear leg. The filly walked to the side of her bed, where her saddlebags still lay after she had thrown them down when she had first entered the house. Most days, Applebloom came straight home from school, did her part in helping around the farm, and by the time she was done with her chores, dinner was done, cooked up by Granny Smith while Big Mac and Applejack were out working in the orchard. Afterward, she would do her homework, and then she had the rest of the time to do whatever she wanted.
On days when she and her friends were able to, they would go crusading, and her sister Applejack would pick up the chores that had to be done that day. The next day Applebloom would do the non-essential chores she had missed while with her friends the day before.
Sitting on the hardwood floor next to her bed, Applebloom opened her saddlebags, pulling out a folder marked Homework in large, somewhat sloppy letters, and after a moment of rooting around found a slightly dull pencil at the bottom of the bags. She pulled a worksheet from the bag, covered in equations for her to solve, as well as a few word problems. Applebloom was quick to complete the math work, and although she had a bit of trouble on the word problems, it wasn’t long before she had completed the entire page. The filly returned the paper to the folder and put it back into her bag, trading it for the book she had checked out from the library a few hours before, glad to be done with all of her work for the night.
Applebloom set the saddlebags down next to her bed, and turned her attention back to the book in front of her. She didn’t really know why she’d chosen the book, besides the Warrior part in the title. Certainly it wasn’t nearly as flashy as some of the other books in the library, although the green ink contrasting on the brown background was a nice effect, almost like plants growing in the warm soil. It was almost like there was something about seeing an earth pony as a brave warrior that drew her in. So often when Cheerilee taught history, it seemed like it was all decided by the unicorns, or the pegasi. The earth ponies were always grunts, unimportant in the big scheme of things.
Applebloom lay down on the floor next to her bed, setting the book in between her front hooves. Opening the book, the filly began to read the somewhat spindly script.
The Warriors of the Earth were an elite group of earth pony guards formed and employed by Princess Celestia nearly nine hundred years ago. They served as her guards for over two hundred years as she returned the land to its peaceful state, repelling numerous invaders and monsters that had come into Equestria over the course of her century of grieving at the loss of her sister.
It is speculated that they may have had a crucial role in many events that occurred over the following century. Some of the events these warriors were rumored to have been involved with include the Gryphon Wars, the Draconic Treaty, and the Zebra Alliance, although no concrete evidence has been found for any event.
While some is known about these warriors, much is simply superstition and rumors, while much more is completely unknown. This book is an attempt to shed light on the habits, abilities, and influence of these mysterious ponies. However, it is important to note that while this tomb’s purpose is only to inform, much of the information is but speculation, and it is up to the reader to judge whether they believe it to be true.
Applebloom turned the page, moving from the prologue to the actual first page of the book. Applebloom had inherited from her sister and brother a steadfast approach to life, and that carried over to how the filly read the book itself. Her sibling’s had taught her to start a task from the beginning and carry it all the way through. As such, Applebloom started from the beginning of the text and started to read it straight through.
While the language itself was somewhat dry, the meaning certainly was not, and the filly found herself enjoying the history text immensely. It was gratifying for the earth pony to read about ponies that weren’t unicorns or pegasi having an active part in history, however mysterious that part may have been. The intrigue surrounding the group only served to pique the filly’s interest in them.
The first part of the book was a discussion on the formation of the group. Some sources said that Celestia had formed the group, training a collection of earth ponies to be her guard, while others told of a band of mercenaries that Celestia had hired and had quickly grown into an extremely loyal group of guards. All agreed that they had intense loyalty to the princess from their first appearances.
The next chapter was speculation over the major events that had occurred, and the Warrior’s impact on said events. Though Applebloom normally found herself bored with the minutiae of history often taught in school, she now found herself engrossed by the tales the author had gathered from different ponies on what roles they had played in various wars and treaties.
Finally, the pony reached a chapter on the weaponry used by the elite soldiers. Although the tales differed on some weapons, some tales detailing ponies who had skills with a sword, others mentioning talented archers, they all agreed on one weapon which all of the ponies seemed to use. Applebloom came to an illustration of the weapon they shared, and froze.
The illustration, and accompanying description, was of a hoof guard made of two bands of thick fabric, each embossed with a small jewel, and loose embroidered cloth connecting them. Apparently, hidden in the cloth was an incredibly sharp and strong blade of obsidian, which they were able to retract and extend at will. However, it wasn’t the weapon itself that had shocked the young filly. She was surprised for an entirely different reason.
The cloth band was very familiar to the young filly. It was one of the only pieces of jewelry that Applebloom owned, passed down to her from her mother, after her death. And currently, it was sitting in a drawer of her bedside table, no more than three feet away from her.
Applebloom stood up, ignoring the cramp her rear legs had acquired from her sitting on them. The filly slowly walked over to the table next to her bed and pulled open the drawer. Sitting there was the cloth band, an almost perfect duplicate of the one illustrated in the book. Applebloom pulled it out as delicately as she could with her mouth.
Trotting back over to the book, she gently set the cloth ring down on the ground, comparing it to the illustration. She was slightly surprised to find that it was an exact match. Sitting back, she came to the conclusion that it was a really good imitation, which seemed to her unlikely. The alternative was impossible, of course- that she had in her possession a weapon that had belonged to a mysterious group of warriors, hundreds of years ago. If it was real, though…
Applebloom looked back at the page, trying to find more information about the weapon. Apparently, it was supposed to be worn on the front leg, near the hoof. The jewel was supposed to control the blade itself, although it didn’t mention how. Hesitantly, Applebloom slid the ring around her right foreleg. It was just the right size to fit around her leg, almost as if it had been made just for her. The jewel almost seemed to glow as she put the band on, and she felt a tingle of exhilaration run down her spine.
The filly held her leg away from herself, holding her breath as she waited for the blade to slide out. A long moment passed, tension slowly gathering in the air, and in the filly’s body. As nothing continued to occur, she let out the breath that she’d been holding, disappointed.
“Figures,” she muttered under her breath. The chance that the ring was legitimate was astronomical. It was probably just a knock off, a replica made for some kind of museum. “I just wish you’d work!”
Applebloom let out a quiet yelp, jumping backwards as the blade silently shot out of the cloth, just beneath the jewel that was now gently glowing. The filly lost her balance, falling backwards onto her flank away from the knife that was attached to her leg. She stopped for a moment, entranced by the dagger.
The book had described it as a piece of black obsidian, but that didn’t do it justice. The blade was black as night, and polished to such a shine that Applebloom could see her reflection in its surface. A small groove ran down the center, completing the symmetry of the rest of the blade. Applebloom turned her hoof slightly, examining the edge, a barely visible line that looked so sharp she almost felt it would cut through the air itself.
A knock came from the door, making her jump. Quickly, the filly attempted to scramble to her hooves, keeping the leg with the blade off the ground. It wasn’t as hard as it would have been for most ponies though, as the filly had developed a keen sense of balance during her Cutie Pox episode. The knock came again, letting the filly know that the other pony was about to come in.
Applebloom looked down at the knife and panicked. Her sister had given her the cloth a few years ago, as something to remember their mother by, but Applebloom doubted that she knew it was a weapon. If Applejack saw the blade, it would be gone quicker than the filly could say “not suitable for younger ponies.” Applebloom focused on getting the blade to retract, hoping it would work the same way it had popped out. To her great relief, the blade sheathed itself, just as the door to her room opened.
“Hey there, sugarcube,” her sister said, walking partway into the room.
“Hiya, Applebloom,” the filly responded.
“Ah heard a thump from in here. Y’all okay?” Applejack asked, looking in on her younger sister.
“Yeah, Ah’m fine. Just, uh, tripped is all!” she lied, hoping her sister wouldn’t catch on.
Applejack looked at the younger filly, about to call her out on her bluff, before she noticed the cloth ring around the filly’s leg. She let go of what she was going to say, then looked towards the window. “Get some sleep soon,” she said. “Sun’s almost down. Night, sis.”
Applebloom turned around, looking out the window as well. The filly was surprised to see that the sun was at the horizon already, painting the sky red.
“Night, sis.” Behind her, the door closed as Applejack left the room.
Involuntarily, the filly gave a giant yawn, and a wave of tiredness swept over her. She hadn’t noticed until Applejack had come in, but the day had really worn her down. Still, she had just discovered something incredible; shouldn’t that take preference over base urges? Applebloom looked at the band, conflicted, before she yawned once more. Recognizing an unwinnable struggle, the filly reluctantly gave in to her need for rest.
Walking to her bed, the filly put the heirloom back in her drawer, shutting it. She would have more time to experiment with it the next day. Slipping into bed, the filly gave one more massive yawn, a last ditch effort to stay awake, before she gently slipped off to sleep. Her dreams that night were filled with ancient earth pony warriors fighting menacing arithmetic problems.