The sun's rays were blasting down hard on this particular afternoon, and with the dead, leafless trees providing her little to no shelter from it, all Applejack could do was wipe her brow with her gloved hand and use her hat to fan herself, both providing little pause in her heat-induced discomfort. Her boots softly padded the ground with each step she took, interrupting an otherwise quiet journey to wherever she'd end up when she couldn't go any further.
She missed how bright and vibrant Equestria used to be. Everything had a feeling of peacefulness and cheer, like everything was right with the world. Now, with the landscape ensnared with dull hues of brown and grey and an almost complete absence of plant life, she could barely even remember what everything looked like before her world came tumbling down around her, and her happy life right along with it.
It felt like it was years ago when it happened, and even now, long after the fact, she still wasn't absolutely sure what exactly did happen to cause it. Was it some sort of massive natural disaster? Was it some kind of global conflict? Was it something else entirely? She didn't have an inkling of an idea, and probably never would.
She had lost her family, in the aftermath of whatever it was that happened. First it was Granny Smith, her heart and body just couldn't take the strain of such a violent shift into this new, apocalyptic earth, and she passed within the first week. Big Mac followed soon after, but for an entirely different reason: he held off bandits as Applejack and Apple Bloom fled the farm they once called home. She wasn't sure if he was really gone or not, but she figured he was since it was years since she saw him last.
Finally, even her little sister, sweet and innocent Apple Bloom, had her death thrust upon her much too quickly, her life ending when a building they had taken shelter in for the night collapsed onto them. Applejack survived, and she sometimes wished she hadn't and had instead joined the rest of her family in an eternal sleep. But for whatever reason, she was still alive and kicking, and she was determined to go on as long as possible.
She stopped walking, standing in the middle of the path she was following as she put her hat back on her head, reaching back and unslinging her bag from its position on her shoulder. She rummaged through it until she gripped the canteen inside, letting the bag fall to the ground as she unscrewed the top, praying there was still some water left inside it to quench even a fraction of the thirst she was feeling. She lifted it to her chapped lips and tipped her head back, greeted with only a droplet or two of the liquid she so desperately wanted gallons of. Sighing, she dropped the empty canteen into her bag before slinging it back onto her shoulder and continuing her slow pace along the path.
She wondered what had happened to all of her friends. She hadn't heard from them in a long time, and she assumed the worst. Fluttershy for sure wouldn't stand a chance in this kind of world, and she figured the same for Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The only person she gave any kind of chance was...
Rainbow.
Her thoughts turned to think of the blue-furred pegasus. She was spunky and strong enough to survive, Applejack was almost entirely certain. Last she heard about her, she went off to Cloudsdale to look for her family, but that was months ago. Her mood dropped lower than it was before at the thought of her being the last Element of Harmony alive, and she tipped her hat down to keep the bright light out of her eyes.
The sun was still hot and stung at any fur-covered skin she had exposed, but it didn't sting as much as her memories of the past.
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It was so dark out, that Applejack could barely see without stumbling over something every few steps. Her body was sore, but she kept walking, pulling Apple Bloom behind her.
"Come on, sugarcube, we hafta go-"
"But what about Big Mac? We can't just leave 'im back there!"
Applejack tried her hardest to block out her sister's protests. Big Mac told them he'd hold them off for as long as he could, and as much as it pained her to admit it, if she wanted to keep her little sister safe, then she had to leave him and the farm as far behind as possible.
"There's nothin' we can do now. He told us to go, we had to go."
In the distance, gunshots were echoing over the fields of dead apple trees, constantly reminding her of the fight her brother would most likely not win. She made the stupid decision to glance back, and she could just faintly make out the clouds of smoke the burning barn was releasing into the sky. She shivered before turning back and continuing their trek forward.
And suddenly, just like that, the gunfire stopped. Applejack froze, stopping her sister from taking another step with an arm outstretched in front of her. It was eerily quiet all of a sudden, until a crack of a single shot rang through the night sky. Her heart stopped dead in her chest, and her mind whirled, trying to decide what to do next. She quickly scooped her sister up into her arms, breaking out into a dash, despite her body's protests.
"AJ?"
"Apple Bloom, just stay quiet. I'll get us out of here, I promise."
"But what about-"
"I said stay quiet."
And with that, the only sound they heard for the next few minutes was Applejack's boots thudding into the dirt as she ran. She didn't know where exactly she was going, but going anywhere else had to have been better than staying back there. After a good 20 minutes or so of running, and with the muscles in her legs screaming for her to stop, they had made it to Ponyville. She was about to set Apple Bloom down and sit so she could rest her legs, but she noticed something that made her uneasy, and she tightened her hold on her little sister.
The town was just as eerily quiet as the orchards were after that last gunshot. No one was outside, and no lights were on in any of the houses, the only thing giving her any kind of visibility was the moon shining down from above. Surely someone had heard the commotion going on at the farm down the road?
"AJ, lemme down, I have legs ya know-" The little girl tried to pry herself from her sister's hold, but Applejack didn't loosen it at all.
"Apple Bloom, quiet now." She slowly trudged forward, looking around the town. Something was definitely wrong.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the glint of something on a rooftop reflecting the moonlight. As she turned to look at it better, she saw the muzzle flash and then heard the loud crack of a rifle right before she felt a sharp sting in her right shoulder.