“Applejack.”
Applejack was slow to wake. She ignored the nudging of her hoof and the sound of her name, instead attempting to snuggle closer to the mare in her hooves. She had her forelegs wrapped around Rainbow Dash, who was resting peacefully against her, and she never wanted to let go.
“Applejack!”
With a few slow, heavy blinks, Applejack opened her eyes to see Twilight Sparkle standing above her, framed by a sky alight with the orange of sunset.
Sunset.
Applejack sat up, disturbing Rainbow from her slumber. Sunset meant one thing: they had to go, and her and Rainbow would soon be separated again.
“What...” Rainbow Dash said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “What’s going on?”
Twilight sighed. “I hate to do this,” she said, “but we have to go. We can’t risk you all staying out here past sunset.”
Applejack stood up, dislodging Rainbow Dash and drawing sleepy complaints from the pegasus. “We understand, Twilight,” Applejack said. “You’re only lookin’ out for us, and we appreciate it.” She elbowed Rainbow, who still looked half-asleep.
“Yeah,” she muttered. “Appreciate...” She trailed off, head slumping down and soft snoring coming from her a moment later.
“Long day?” Twilight asked, looking at Rainbow Dash, who was now successfully sleeping while standing up.
Applejack blushed a little. “Yeah, you could say that.” She grabbed Rainbow by the shoulders and shook her. Then she shook her harder. “Rainbow, time to wake up,” she said, but Rainbow Dash shrugged her off. Applejack smiled at Twilight and then leaned down next to Rainbow’s ear. “If ya’ll ever want a piece of this again,” she whispered, “you’ll wake up right quick.”
“What, what, I’m awake, I swear!” Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head to cast the sleep from her eyes.
“What did you say to her?” Twilight asked, arching her eyebrows.
“Oh, nothing,” Applejack responded, smiling a smug little smile.
“Right...” Twilight said. “Anyway, we need to get going. Come on.” She turned and started walking, gesturing for the other two mares to follow.
The two mares lagged further and further behind and, when they were out of earshot of Twilight, Rainbow leaned over to Applejack.
“You weren’t serious about that, were you?” she asked.
Applejack laughed a little. “Of course not,” she said.
Rainbow let out a sigh of relief. “Good,” she said, which made Applejack laugh even more. Of course she wouldn’t withhold herself; she had had just as much fun as Rainbow, maybe even more.
As they walked through the maze, Rainbow Dash leaned against Applejack, both mares softly nuzzling each other. Their pace became slower and slower, until a concerned look back from Twilight spurred the pair onward. The sun was almost behind the horizon, and they would have to hurry if they wanted to avoid suspicion.
They exited the maze and were greeted by Gamble, who, after making sure they were alone, approached the three mares. Applejack was amazed by just how big he was; he was twice her size, even bigger than Big Macintosh.
“You ladies enjoy your picnic?” he asked, his perpetual grin plastered on his face.
“It was wonderful,” Rainbow responded, locking eyes with Applejack. She leaned in and was met with a kiss.
“From what I was hearin,’” Gamble continued, “dessert was pretty good, too.” He winked at them, causing both mares to blush uncontrollably. Gamble let out a booming guffaw and put a forearm around each of them like they were old friends.
“Huh?” Twilight said, looking confused.
Gamble wiped a tear from his eye and stopped laughing long enough to speak. “It’s nothing, Twilight,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.” He released his captives and suddenly seemed all business again, though he was still smiling. “So, we all set?”
Twilight nodded and turned to Applejack. “I’m going to accompany Lady Dash back to her chambers. Are you okay getting back to the servant quarters by yourself?”
“Don’t worry about me, Twi,” Applejack said. “I’ll find my way there.”
They stood around for a long moment, nopony willing to initiate what would pull Applejack and Rainbow Dash apart once again. Finally, Applejack pulled Rainbow into a hug and gave her a kiss.
“I’ll miss you,” she said.
“We’ll see each other soon,” Rainbow responded.
Applejack reluctantly let the embrace dissolve and turned around, walking across the garden and back toward the front of the castle.
Having committed the route back to the servant quarters to memory, Applejack went on autopilot, thoughts focused on the wonderful day she had just had. The things they had done, not just the sex, but spending the day together, had been better than she could’ve hoped. When she had told Rainbow Dash she loved her, she had meant it, and she knew that Rainbow meant it, too.
The day had just ended, and Applejack already wanted to do it all again. She couldn’t rid her face of the infectious smile that her happiness placed there, and her reflections occupied her all the way back to the hall leading to her and Twilight’s room.
“Hey, wait up,” came a voice from behind her.
Applejack turned and saw a stallion trotting up to her, and she stopped to let him catch up. He was tall and thin, a dull grey coat accented by the little bit of pitch-black mane that stuck out from under his chef hat. His cutie mark was what looked like a silver tongue.
“You’re the new maid,” he stated. “Applejack, right?”
“Yup,” Applejack responded with a nod.
The stallion stuck his hoof out and flashed a winning smile filled to the brim with perfect white teeth. “I’m Quince. Nice to meet you, Applejack.”
Applejack smiled and shook his hoof. “Likewise,” she said.
“Listen, I’m gonna cut right to the chase,” he said, leveling his gaze at Applejack. She regarded him, but allowed him to continue. “A bunch of the serving staff gets together once a week and has a little party. You know, plenty of drinking, sometimes ponies’ll play music, just a fun little shindig to blow off steam and relax after a long day. I was just wondering if you wanted to join us tonight.” His smile had faded a bit in intensity, but Applejack could tell he was used to having mares swoon over that toothy grin.
Applejack glanced toward her room. “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s been a long day, and I wouldn’t want Twilight to worry about me.”
Quince snorted. “Don’t worry about Twilight. She knows we have these little get togethers, and I’m sure she’ll be able to put two and two together. She is the ‘royal tutor,’ after all.” Applejack could hear the quotation marks around “royal tutor.”
“Hey,” Applejack said, narrowing her eyes, “Twilight’s my friend, and I won’t have anypony makin’ sarcastic comments about her.”
Quince held up his hooves in defense. “Sorry, it’s just.... I’ve invited her a few times, but she always ignores me, racing past like she has somewhere more important to be. I guess she does, most of the time, it just seems a little rude, that’s all. Didn’t mean to offend.”
Applejack nodded, but inside, her mind raced. Twilight had said that these ponies didn’t trust the royalty, or even anypony associated with the royalty, and Applejack was about as close to one of the uppers as she could get. But what harm could it do to check it out? If things started to go downhill, she could just leave, and at least she would know not to go anymore.
“Alright,” she relented, and Quince’s smile grew a little larger.
“Great!” he said. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into a room and reappeared a moment later, minus one chef hat, and Applejack could now see that his black mane was cut short. He glanced both directions down the hallway, then said, “Follow me.”
Quince walked all the way down to the end of the passageway, right next to Applejack’s room, where two torch sconces hung on the wall. With another glance back, Quince reached up and pulled on one of the sconces.
The cobblestone wall in front of Applejack swung outward to reveal a shallow stone ramp. Quince smiled at Applejack’s wide-mouthed expression, grabbed the other torch off the wall and ventured into the black maw that awaited them.
For a moment Applejack debated not following him, but her brave side won out and she took her first furtive steps into the darkness. She followed the torch light that danced along the walls until she caught up with Quince.
“What is this place?” Applejack asked.
“This passageway connects the servant quarters to the old dungeon,” Quince explained as they walked. “Where we live now used to be the main dungeon, but it was repurposed awhile back. Now the whole thing’s been moved to the other side of the castle and every entrance to the old one’s been sealed up. Every entrance except this one, of course.”
The conversation faded into silence, the clopping of their hooves on the hard stone the only sound accompanying them. The air grew colder as they descended and the torch started to flicker. Applejack could see her breath.
“How far down does it go?” she asked after a while.
“This far,” Quince responded as the staircase ended and they came to a thick wooden door.
He put the torch in a sconce on the wall and grabbed the large ring that hung from the front of the door. He nodded toward the entrance. “A little help, please?” he requested.
Applejack put her front hooves on the door. “On the count of three,” Quince said. “Ready? One, two, three!”
On three, both ponies pushed with all their might. The door moved slowly, swinging on ancient, creaking hinges, but soon it was all the way open.
The room behind the door was big, about as long as the hallway in the servant quarters but five times as wide. The room was well-lit, despite the absence of torches, and Applejack wondered how until she saw the magelights suspended in the corners of the room, no doubt controlled by the unicorns she saw in the crowd gathered a short distance away. From the looks of it, there were at least fifty ponies there.
Quince started forward and Applejack followed. There were dungeon cells lining the sides of the room, and shackles and manacles stuck stuck out from the walls, floor, and ceiling in a seemingly random fashion.
There were several large barrels on tables on the left, and a stack of mugs next to that. Most ponies in the crowd had a drink, and sounds of boisterous conversation and laughter greeted Applejack and Quince.
“Hey, Quince is here!” called one of the ponies in the crowd. As Applejack and Quince passed through, every pony in the room seemed to have a greeting for Quince. Some offered him drinks, some patted him on the back as he passed, and some just said hello, and he took the attention in stride, returning every greeting and shaking every hoof offered to him. He smiled and laughed, politely declining drink offers and making his way through the crowd like a celebrity.
Who is this pony? Applejack wondered.
Applejack stopped once she reached the other side of the crowd, but Quince left the group of ponies behind and approached a small wooden box that rested on the ground. He smiled out at the crowd, seeming to make eye contact with each one of the ponies present. Then, without breaking that contact, he stepped up onto the box, elevating him just high enough to see the entirety of his audience from his vantage point. Everypony went silent.
“Well, here we are again,” he said. “You all know me, and I know all of you. In fact, everypony in this room is a familiar face. That is, everypony except one.” Quince looked down at Applejack, and she could feel the eyes of fifty ponies prodding her from various directions. Despite herself, a hint of blush crept into her face.
“Come on up here and introduce yourself,” Quince said, holding a hoof out to Applejack. She looked around, then looked back at Quince. “Yes, you,” he said. She took his hoof and he pulled her up onto the box at the same time he stepped off, leaving her alone in front of the crowd.
“Uh... howdy,” she said, nodding her head to the large group of ponies who were now staring at her. “I’m Applejack.” Everypony in the crowd returned a “hello Applejack.”
Quince stepped back up onto the box, leaving barely enough room for either of them to stand. “As I’m sure you’ve all heard,” he said with a grand gesture of his hooves, “Applejack here is the pony who stood up for our poor Daisy when she was about to be punished by one of them.” When he said “them,” he looked up and nodded to the ceiling. “Not only is it impressive in and of itself that she stood up to one of the nobles, she did it on her very first day here, without being prompted and with nothing to gain.” Quince leaned forward, and the whole crowd seemed to follow. “Out of the kindness of her heart, out of the goodness of her soul, Applejack helped a pony she had never met, who was about to be beaten and thrown into the dungeon by none other than that pony whom we all despise: Prince Blueblood.” The venom dripping from Quince’s voice as he said the name sent uncomfortable shivers down Applejack’s spine.
The crowd erupted with boos at the mention of the hated prince’s name. Quince, nodding, held his hoof up, and the uproar settled down almost immediately. Applejack marveled at the control this pony had over the rest of the servants.
“I know, I know,” he continued. “Believe me, I feel your hatred, perhaps more than I care to admit.” He started, then smiled. “But, but, my friends, this pony, this simple pony from the charming little hamlet of Ponyville, stood up for what was right. She has shown us that we can do it, it is possible to stand up to them, to stand up for what is right, to stand up, speak up, and finally be counted!” The crowd murmured its assent.
Quince was almost in a frenzy, so much so that he didn’t notice when Applejack stepped off the soapbox. “Isn’t that what we want, in the end? We want equality! We want to be treated the same as they treat each other. Not as inferiors, not as subservient creatures that they can push around and throw out when they’re finished!”
“But what can we do?” came a call from the crowd. Other ponies nodded and looked back at Quince.
“What can we do!” Quince said, gesturing wildly out toward the crowd. “He asks what we can do! I’ll tell you what we can do. We can continue this existence, living under the hooves of other ponies, never reaching our full potential. Or we can be like Applejack, stand up to these oppressors, show them what we are capable of, and take what we deserve! These ponies have taken our pride, have stolen our dignity, have forced us to wait on their every whim with no chance of gaining any social ground, and for what? Power fantasy? That may be part of it, but no. They do it for money.
“That’s right, money! They treat us like dirt, like garbage, doing whatever they want to us, forcing our protests by the wayside, so they can keep their money. Money! That’s all it comes down to! They don’t care about treating all equines equally, they don’t care about being kind, being decent, being friendly! They live in splendor, waited on every moment of every day, and by who? By us! We stand by and let this happen! We let them walk all over us, stealing the very things that make us equine in the first place!”
Applejack stepped back into the crowd, but Quince didn’t seem to notice. In fact, nopony seemed to notice. Every pair of eyes in the room were fixed on the pony speaking from his soapbox.
“When the time comes, what will we do? Will we be servants, like we always have, retreating to our hole in the ground whenever they tell us to? Or will we stand up to them? Will we have the courage to be like Applejack, to be heroes, to be remembered for changing the way things are in Canterlot once and for all? I know I will. Who’s with me?”
Quince, who was now breathing heavily, stuck his hoof into the air. Applejack watched from the back of the crowd. The tension in the air was palpable, the ponies who were hanging on Quince’s every word waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, the spell he had cast on the crowd with his fervor seemed to dissolve.
“You’re crazy,” somepony yelled, shattering the silence.
“Come on Quince,” said another, “why don’t you have a drink?”
Applejack watched as the fire faded from Quince’s eyes. His shoulders slumped and his jaw clenched, but then he returned almost instantly from his frenzied rally-speaking to his charming, everypony self.
“That sounds great,” he said, his smile diminishing for only a second.
Quince stepped off the box and disappeared into the crowd, which slowly began to return to normal conversation. Applejack felt a little sorry for him, seeing the way the other servants treated something he believed so strongly in, but her sympathy was overruled by her desire to protect Rainbow Dash.
Applejack turned and prepared to leave, but was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. She turned around to see a pale yellow earth pony mare with an azure mane that flowed freely around her face. Applejack knew she recognized her, and then it clicked: it was Daisy, the mare she had protected from Blueblood on her first day.
“Excuse me, Applejack?” she said, her voice soft and gentle, reminding Applejack af a certain pegasus she knew back in Ponyville.
Applejack smiled. “Howdy. Uh, Daisy, right?”
Daisy nodded. “I just wanted to thank you for standing up to Prince Blueblood for me. I never got the chance before, and I wanted to say that it was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen.”
“Aw, it ain’t no big deal,” Applejack said, blushing a little and rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof.
Daisy widened her eyes. “I don’t think you understand. It may not be a big deal to you, but nopony in the castle stands up to Blueblood like you did. Even the other nobles fear him. I’m just glad he was in a caring mood that day; I don’t know what I would’ve done if you had been punished on my behalf.”
Applejack gulped. Even the other nobles were scared of Blueblood? Had she just been lucky that day? No wonder Twilight had been so quick to stop her.
“Well, I’m just happy to help,” Applejack said.
Quince appeared in Applejack’s peripheral vision, and he was rapidly approaching the two mares. “I see Daisy has introduced herself at last,” he said, flashing that smile of his and making Daisy blush. Daisy squeaked something like “sorry gotta go bye” before rushing away. Quince gave a small wave before turning back to Applejack.
“So, how are you liking our little gathering?” he asked.
“It’s, uh, nice, I guess,” Applejack said, putting on her trademark plastic smile.
Quince smirked. “Has anypony ever told you you’re a terrible liar?” he asked.
Applejack rolled her eyes, but inside her heart quickened. The last thing she wanted was to be caught in a conversation with a pony with such radical ideas of “change.”
“Are you on board?” Quince asked suddenly.
“What?” Applejack asked, taking a small step backward toward the door.
Quince advanced the same distance. “Don’t play like that. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Will you stand with me against our oppressors when the time comes?”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘stand with you?’” Applejack asked, taking another step back.
Quince matched the step again. “I mean doing whatever needs to be done to achieve equality. Whatever needs to be done. When the time comes, I need your help. The whole thing falls apart without you.”
Applejack stopped retreating and regarded Quince. “What do you mean? How can I be important; I just got here."
"Exactly!" Quince exclaimed, a little of the fire returning to his eyes. “All of the ponies who already live here, who are used to this life, don’t want to change it. They think that nothing will come of standing up to the nobles. But you,” at this he pointed at Applejack, “you don’t think that. You’ve stood up to Blueblood, you are the pony I, we, need, a pony we can rally behind, and a pony we can believe in.”
Applejack was reeling. Quince wanted her to become a symbol to these ponies, and all she wanted was to see Rainbow Dash. Her mind raced. If they did achieve equality, if what Quince was preaching really were possible, would Applejack and Rainbow Dash be able to be together, unimpeded by classist social stigma? She shook her head; Quince was talking treason, and Applejack wanted no part of it. Despite how nice the end goal might be, nothing short of a war would achieve it.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m the mare you’re lookin’ for,” she said.
Quince just nodded slowly. “I thought you might say that. Before you decide, will you let me tell you a story?”
Applejack chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before nodding. What harm could it do?
“Not here, though,” Quince said. he started toward the door. “Come on.”
Applejack followed. They journeyed back up through the cold passageway and reemerged in the servant quarters. Quince led Applejack to a room on the left and pushed the door open, going in and lighting the lantern before inviting Applejack in.
The room was almost identical to Applejack’s; the same dresser, bed, and mirror stood around the room in the same spots. Quince closed the door behind them, pulled a small stool out from under the bed and offered it to Applejack, who sat down, before taking a seat on one himself. Applejack tried to relax, but the cramped space made it difficult.
He started with a long sigh, leaning back and running a hoof through his hair. “This story starts, like so many others, in the bustling city of Canterlot, capital of the Equestrian Empire. In this city live countless ponies, but I’ll be talking about two orphans, brother and sister, whose parents died while they were still young, too young to remember. These ponies went from foster home to foster home, never staying in one place long enough to make any friends save for each other. All they had in the whole world was each other, and they always stuck together. The brother loved his sister, would’ve done anything for her, protected her from everything life tried to throw at them, and they always came out stronger for it.
“Then, it seemed like they had caught a break. They managed to secure jobs, as servants in Canterlot Castle. It seemed like the perfect gig; it was stable, food and lodging were provided, they could even room together. Everything fell into place, they worked diligently, and life was good for a while.” Quince’s eyes became unfocused.
“But it couldn’t last. The brother made a mistake, a mistake that any other pony could’ve made, a mistake that shouldn’t have mattered. And it wouldn’t have mattered, if it weren’t for who he offended. Prince Blueblood was not a forgiving pony, and when he thought his honor was tarnished, he would go to any lengths to right what he viewed as wrong.
“But simply punishing the brother wasn’t good enough. The brother didn’t mind; he had been getting into fights his entire life to protect his sister, and he could take a beating.” Quince’s face darkened. “So Blueblood found the brother’s weakness, the one thing the brother couldn’t live without and would give his life to protect: his sister.”
Quince started spitting his words. “Blueblood, in his infinite cowardice, started punishing the sister, beating a defenceless mare just because it hurt her brother. But he took it too far. He beat the mare too badly, beat her into unconsciousness, beat her without mercy, without discretion, and she had to be hospitalized.” Tears started forming in Quince’s eyes. “Blueblood said he was sorry, apologized over and over again, but he didn’t mean it. The brother could tell he was just saying it to ease his conscience, so he wouldn’t have to feel guilty.
“The brother visited his sister every day, talked to her, tried to comfort her, but her condition never got better. She slipped into a coma, her brain irreparably damaged by Blueblood’s cruelty. The doctors said they couldn’t do anything for her, but the brother knew it was a lie. If it had been one of the nobles, they would’ve stopped at nothing to make them better, but no, it was just a lowly servant. Then, a few days later, she died. She was buried in a communal grave set aside specifically for servants who passed away. There was no funeral; the brother mourned alone.”
Quince looked up and locked eyes with Applejack. He was trembling. “And do you know what happened to Blueblood, the pony that committed murder, the pony that killed an innocent serving mare for something she didn’t even do? Nothing. He apologized, and the whole thing was swept under the rug. But the brother never forgot. He never forgave Blueblood, or the rest of the ponies who call themselves nobles, for what they did. They took his sister away, and he intends to give them exactly what they deserve.”
The silence left by the end of the story was deafening, the look on Quince’s face making Applejack want to run in fear and comfort him at the same time. She tried to imagine what it would be like to lose one of her siblings, but she couldn’t comprehend that level of pain; it was too much.
“Promise me you’ll think about my offer,” Quince said. “Please.” Applejack nodded, and Quince let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
Quince stood up and put the stools away before opening the door for Applejack to leave. She put a hoof on his shoulder on her way out, and he just looked at her.
Soon, Applejack was back in her room. It wasn’t five minutes before Twilight showed up, bubbling with energy.
“So,” she began, “tell me everything about your day. Lady Dash wouldn’t say anything, and she told me to ask you.”
Applejack just climbed up onto the top bunk. “Not now, Twi. Maybe tomorrow?”
Twilight’s expression wilted, but she gave a somber nod. “Okay, tomorrow then.”
Once both mares were safely in their beds, Twilight extinguished the lantern and cast the room in darkness. Applejack lay awake, listening to Twilight’s soft breathing and thinking about Quince’s story.
She didn’t get very much sleep that night.