Not everypony in Equestria lives within the nice safe towns towns, or within the sprawling urban jungles of Manehattan , Fillydelphia, Canterlot, and other such places. On the fringes of the hayseed swamplands, at the boundaries of the badlands and the edges of the Dragonspine mountains herds of earth ponies and Pegasi still roam freely. They live by the old ways, nomads by nature they make camp, settle for a few days, eat, rest, make friends, maybe make love and then just as quickly as they arrived they move on, leaving as little trace as possible of their passing, just the way they always had, they tread as lightly on the land as they can, leaving nothing to mark their passing but memories and hoofprints to show they were there.
Swamp living isn't easy, but these ponies aren't exactly the regular stock either. Their coats aren't light and brightly coloured like their more aloof kin in the towns and cities. They're rough and coarse with downy tufts on the legs to keep the worst of the mud and dirt out of their frogs and from rubbing their legs raw. They're slightly shorter and stockier than normal too, for the rough terrain they live in they need to be. There is nothing on equestria they love more than a drink in good company, maybe a fight to get the blood pumping. No farmers these, farming requires settling and they hate to stay in one place too long, the longest they ever stayed in one place was a few weeks when a foal was due.
One such occasion was right now, About 11 months ago they had stopped outside Appleoosa for a time, while they were there a pretty young apple mare, Elstar Apple had fallen for one of their own. His calm quiet demeanour had somewhat sparked her curiosity. While the others of his herd had explored the town, having fun and causing friendly mischief he had quietly watched. Never idly though, if things ever went to far he had been there to smooth things over and ensure there was no harm done.
Strangely, and much to the suprise of the herd when they left Elstar had run with them. They had been even more surprised though when rather than falling by the wayside and heading home when the road had gotten rough the determined mare had endured, she continued to run with them. Apples are made of sterner stuff after all, and she was determined to stay by her chosen mate Blackthorn's side . So it was that 3 months later she joined Blackthorns herd.
As they had run Elstar had been reassured that she had made the right choice, he kept the pace to the weakest in the herd. Taking care of the ponies who needed it most within their ranks. Whenever the herd was threatened in any way he was always there using his body as a shield. Under his coat were many healed scars, Timberwolf bites, and countless other wounds, yet he stoically kept his expression calm. Kept everything under control even when every instinct must have been telling him to flee.
Whenever a wagon broke a wheel he organised and pulled the herd together to get it rolling again. He refused to call himself a leader or put himself above the others, to him all that mattered was the herd. Their welfare , their safety, he treasured them more than life itself, and more than anything else in the world Elstar wanted to be a part of that. Her father had not approved when he had heard of her plan, in fact he had tried everything to stop her. But Elstar had being determined. So she had feigned reluctant agreement with his will, and then snuck away during the night. Even after all this time that still ate away at his conscience. Lying never did sit right with a member of the apple family, but in this case she felt it was justified, and looking back at her choice of mate she felt better. She had made the right choice with him. She felt safe, and yes the run was exhausting, at first it had just being simple curiosity , but as the run continued she had found herself falling for him more and more every day. Until the day he had finally asked her to be his, that had been the happiest day of her life , Elstar hadn't felt the need to even hesitate before giving her answer, it flowed off her tongue fast as lightning, like it had always been waiting there patiently for the day he would finally ask.
Elstar apple didn't care about that right now though, she didn't even care about the herds healers careful instructions, right now all she cared about was the searing agony, it felt like her body was being split in half. All she wanted was this bucking foal OUT. If she got through this she swore to herself she was never letting blackthorn near her again. Definitely not while he was in an amorous mood. Panic gripped her as she realised that getting through this wasn't as certain as she'd have liked either.
She was after all in the middle of a swamp right now, miles from civilisation and days at a steady gallop from the nearest hospital. Their nearest neighbours the Changelings were hardly going to be inclined to help either. Having an unspoken agreement with the hayseed ponies that each side would leave well enough alone.
The burning agony took over again as the healer shushed and reassured her, she was doing very well, the head was clear, this would soon be over , just one last PUSH. The pain was unbearable as her mind shut down somewhat, mercifully instinct took over and the delivery was successful.
When Elstar snapped out of it and the pain had subsided she was passed a tiny little Palomino foal, just like that she felt the pain was worth it the wall eyed little one nuzzled up to her to suckle. “So” said Blackthorn striding up to her with all the pride of a new father “What are we going to name 'er?
Looking up at the sky she thought for a moment, “How does Dawn Apple sound?” She asked.
Blackthorn nuzzled up to his mate proudly as he looked at their Daughter, her beautiful coat shining brightly in the golden light of celestias sun, he thought about it a moment his heart swelling with joy knowing that he was a father. “sounds good to me” He said with a smile.