"Ah counted a hundred and eighty-six days, iffin mah math is right." Applejack smirked, in spite of herself. "Probably ain't." Rarity blinked as she added the numbers in her head.
"No, my dear, you're spot on," she said. "I do hope you're, erm, comfortable. I wish I could offer more." Her white coat jumped out from their dingy gray surroundings. "Could you benefit from extra pillows? Perhaps an air-freshener? I do have some old potpourri."
"Ah guess ah'm all right," AJ said. She quickly added, "Ah can't thank you enough, though. Yer doin yer darndest an Ah sound plum ungrateful, huh?" This basement was safe. She was safe. That was more than many ponies could even hope for anymore.
Rarity shook her head. "Not at all," she cooed. "I imagine you miss the sun."
AJ nodded. She looked around the dimly-lit basement workroom in Carousel Boutique. It had become her home since the Ponyville raid. Last spring, when word came that the Eradication Police was going to demolish Sweet Apple Acres, Mac took the family and ran. It was the last time she saw her family. And it was... she pawed at her tally marks... 186 days ago.
"Yer not comin' with us?" Applebloom asked, with tears in her eyes. "Mac says we can stay safe an stay together."
"I'll meet up with ya'll soon enough," Applejack said. She fully intended to reunite with them, so it wasn't a lie, right?
"Promise me you ain't gonna try 'n fight them police," Mac demanded. "Damn law says they can blow your head off iffin' ya raise yer voice to them."
"We can start another farm, Jackie," Pinkie reasoned. "When it blows over we'll plant new trees. And harvest them and do it all over again every year. We can't do that without you-" Pinkie stopped herself. She knew she should have stifled herself sooner for the sake of Apple Bloom. But somepony had to find middle ground between optimism and the reality of the blatant genocide that was sweeping Equestria.
Granny Smith was silent. She knew better than to argue with her oldest granddaughter.
"Ah'm gonna distract them an give ya'll a good start. Nothin' more. Don't worry none. Ah can handle mahself." AJ held back tears as she spoke. She hated lying to anypony about anything, but she couldn't surrender her home so easily. Granny, Bloom and Pinkie would be safe with Mac. She had to fight. She could face dying with honor much more readily than running away.
On that crisp April morning, she watched her family leave the land they loved. And then she waited. Armed with a single old shot gun, she stood ready for the Eradication Patrol's arrival. She knew they hated her very Earthen pony guts. She was proud to meet her maker this way and sickened by her impending death at the same time.
She could see her tombstone already. "Applejack Apple died April 9th defending her beloved farm while her family escaped to carry on the Apple legacy." Her courage had never tasted so bitter.
She didn't remember much of the onslaught. It was a smoke-filled blur. A barrage of soldiers marched up to her front porch with fury etched in their stance. She defended her farm with all she could muster, but once her shotgun ran out of ammo, she didn't last. She felled a meager five or six of the soldiers before a blow to the head and three broken legs left Applejack unable to fight anymore. Nestled in the grass, immobile and helpless, she watched as Sweet Apple Acres burned to ashes.
Flames swallowed the hills once dotted with thriving trees. AJ paid special attention to the tallest hill in the east orchard. When it, too, was engulfed in the blaze, she finally shut her eyes. She couldn't bear it anymore. Knowing that burn marks had desecrated her parents' marble headstone was too painful.
With her eyes so tightly clasped, she never saw the face of the pony who was designated to be her executioner. His peers jeered him on while the cold barrel of his pistol jabbed her ribs. She held what she feared was her breath and the shot rang out. Metallic taste overwhelmed her senses and she slipped away. The soldiers mistook her for a goner; they underestimated Apple hardiness.
When she came to, pain coursing through every inch of her, she was heavily bandaged and hunkered down in Rarity's basement. She remembered her own listless form resting on an ornate pillow in the same spot where she lay now. She spent hours in silence watching her chest rise and fall to convince herself that she was alive.
Applejack never would have expected to owe her life to a frilly unicorn, but this Eradication was changing everypony. Rarity had nursed her back to health over the last few months. Now it was almost Nighmare Night. It had been one-hundred and eighty-six days since the sun warmed her coat. Since she'd seen her family. Since anything had any semblance of normality. Rarity rested a hoof on Applejack's shoulder.
"I came down here to deliver a letter. Its, well, relatively cheery. Applebloom is still with Sweetie and my parents. No cutie marks yet." They shared a knowing smile.
"How are Pinks and mah brother doin'?"
Rarity paused. She knew the only thing worse than the truth was a lie.
"Fillydelphia is in a panic. It's dreadful, Applejack. From the sounds of it, the real food has run out. Ponies are dropping like flies. This Lab Crop obviously isn't suitable for keeping us alive." Rarity had become AJ's primary informant, though reading newspapers and listening to the radio was no longer an enjoyable pastime, to say the least.
This all started with the damnable "lab crop." The fruits and vegetables from the hellish corporation weren't grown in the soil and nurtured with the sky and rain. They were synthesized and sold at high prices. The scientists behind the movement said they wanted to create a healthier, more self-sustained Equestria. But since most poor ponies had starved to death and the Eradication Police started detaining Earth ponies the same day Lab Crop hit the market, any pony with half a brain knew something was amiss.
"Knew it," Applejack said simply. It made her hot with fury to know all this pain and suffering was happening so somepony could disguise racism and eugenics as a way to better ponykind by "eliminating a need for reliance on earth ponies for sustenance."
Rarity moved the conversation along.
"Pinkie Pie and Big Mac are holding on. He found a small patch of viable land in the cellar where they're hiding. They're living off of corn for now."
Neither spoke of Granny Smith, who left the hiding cellar one day and didn't return. AJ had her suspicions. The wise old mare must have known how low supplies would get. She'd lived a full life. It must have been the hardest way to go, but AJ admired her grandmother's courage more than anything else. She decided a long time ago that she had to focus on her loved ones who were still with her or she'd lose her mind.
"Growing corn, eh? Smart. Hardy crop. High yield." Applejack smiled. She looked at her own meager cornstalks growing in Rarity's basement. Her earth pony magic was dwindling without any connection to Celesia's creation, but the harvest from this crop of corn would feed her for a few weeks.
"Any news 'bout Celestia returning?" AJ prodded.
"I'm afraid not." Rarity hung her head. "No sign of Luna either. The scientists who started this whole... thing have taken over. Needless to say, the Lab Crop fiasco is making them rich. Ponies buy the synthetic food since they can't afford real food anymore." Her ears dropped. "Ponyville will be out of stock by next week anyway."
"Kay," Applejack said numbly.
"Well, at least the last Eradication Facility was reportedly shut down."
"No more earth ponies being gassed to death? Or experimented on?" There was a weathered kind of bitterness in her voice. Rarity bit her lower lip.
"No... The soldiers were given orders to kill on sight instead, since..."
"It's okay, Rarity." Tears were stinging her eyes already. "How many earth ponies are left?"
"An estimated 400. The troops swept Minneighapolis yesterday."
"Damn."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Here, AJ, I brought you some daisies," Fluttershy said gingerly.
"Thank ya, Flutters." Applejack took the flowers without hesitation. They would make a great breakfast/lunch/dinner.
"Aaand an orange!" Dash boasted. "I know how you feel about oranges, but food is food!"
"If she won't take it, I most certainly will!" Rarity put in. AJ rolled her eyes.
" 'Ts all yers," She said. Dash stuck her tongue out at both of them.
"And I wanted to, um, tell you that... um..." Fluttershy squeaked out the next part quickly. "I'm so sorry! Poor Winona won't leave the Sweet Apple Acres property. I've tried everything!"
AJ smiled. There were no shortage of small critters for Winona to hunt. She was thankful that her dog wasn't going to bed hungry every single night. It was a hard pill to swallow though. The Eradication Police had released rhubarb. foxglove, oleander, and other toxic plants into the forests and meadows of Equestria. While other herbivorous wildlife had vegetation to eat, ponies couldn't eat any plant out of the ground without taking a huge gamble of being poisoned.
"As long as you keep visiting her, she'll pull through. I hope." AJ sighed. "I 'preciate it, Flutters. Winona deserves it. She's a good dog." Applejack purposefully swiveled her head toward the earshot of a blue pegasus. "Maybe even more loyal then Dash!"
"Hey now! Watch it cowpony!" Dash tackled AJ. "I am the one and only Element of Loyalty!"
Applejack was so glad to see Rainbow Dash. She never stopped being her lovable self. The chaos had affected all of her friends one way or another, but besides the weight loss, Dash was exactly the same. The two began wrestling around and laughing like old times.
"Why is everypony here today anyway," Rarity interrupted their fun. She had already consumed the whole orange.
"Not everpo- " Fluttershy didn't finish her sentence. A sudden blast of light propelled them all backwards. The taunting purple glow reminded Applejack of the sunlight. It was the closest she'd gotten in months and it was torture.
Out of the flash there came a stream of confetti, followed by a voice.
"I haven't seen you girls in sooooo loooong!!!"
"Pinkie! Thank Celestia!" Dash had already wrapped the party pony in a hug. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever!"
"I know! Forever and ever! Hey, don't forget, Twilight's here too!" Pinkie produced and distributed six homemade party hats as Twilight cleared her throat. She rubbed her horn, having transported two ponies an extremely long distance, and looked around. All of her friends were in the same place again. It was amazing, in every sense, to see them.
"Where exactly have you been?" Rarity sounded hurt. "You disappeared after we rescued Applejack! You healed her broken bones and... and... remember? You said you were running one quick errand! I was so worried!"
"I know, Rarity, but I was summoned to Canterlot, and before I had the chance to contact anypony, Princess Luna transported me to a secret conference. It truly was an emergency. I've been there ever since. Just got out, actually, and you don't know how glad-"
"Wait, you saved me too?" Applejack interjected, jumping past the happy news that somepony had heard from Luna. It took her a minute to process. She thought back to the day she woke up, recalling how the physical pain of broken legs was nothing compared to the pangs of uselessness they caused. She owed Twilight and Rarity her life and her sanity for setting her bones so well. A permanent disability would have driven her mad.
"Call it a team effort," Twilight insisted. "And you shouldn't have been so brash! You could have been killed. We need you. Equestria needs the Elements. Without them, we'll never find Celestia. It will be hard enough as it is."
"Slow down!" Rainbow Dash ironically requested. "You know how to save Celestia?"
"Yes! Kind of. We might be able to track her down and bring her home," Twilight summarized. "The Lab Corp scientists don't see the Elements of Harmony as a threat to their power. So they haven't sent troops to interfere with us. Additionally, if they do discover our plan, they don't have any strategies to use against us! We'd have the best chance of success because we're invisible to our enemies."
"Not a threat?" Dash seemed offended. "What? Do they know who they're dealing with?"
"No, Dash, they don't," Twilight said hopefully. "They know the Elements are useless when we're not all together and all their documents say that AJ and Pinkie are dead. Shining Armour has full access to the records. He sent them to me yesterday. It says-" She grabbed a rolled up piece of parchment from her bulging saddlebag- "'Applejack S. Apple 'died' via execution in the raid at Sweet Apple Acres, and Pinkie D. Pie 'died' of starvation in a Fillydelphia Eradication Facility'."
"I did?" Pinkie asked, her mane deflating a little.
"Of course not, Pinkie. Shining forged your papers."
"So that's why you brought me here?" Pinkie asked. "To use my element?" Twilight nodded.
"I told you it was important."
"Aw, I thought everypony just needed a party hat."