//------------------------------// // Life among the humans // Story: Applejack Through the Ages // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// These humans were a productive race, Sugar Apple would give them that. She had been with them for two weeks, traveling across the countryside, and making their way to the lands the princess ponies had appointed for them to build a village. They would journey with their carts and animals by day, stopping by night to form a circle around a campfire with their wagons. They had tried to encourage Sugar Apple to sleep with the other horses, but she continued to fly out of the small corral they had set up each night. In truth, the mare had tried to stay with the soulless brutes in their enclosure, but the stallions continually tried to force themselves on the newcomer, leading to the more civilized equine to insist on sleeping near the human's campfire. To the mare's surprise, the humans made no move to stop or restrain her, as if they understood as an enchanted pony she was something more than the dumb primitives they used as beasts of burden. She would often sit by their fires at evening time, listening to then happily chat away in the firelight. "I say, Wantall, do you think we could get a decent piece of land to work when we get to where we're going?" The woman asked her husband, as they sat near the fire. "I'd love to have a small place to keep and feed my chickens." "Chick-ens" Sugar Apple repeated, slowly stumbling over the words, as she sputtered them out. "Why I say, Edwina! I do believe that pony is trying to talk!" The man exclaimed, his eyes going wide. "What an extraordinary creature!" "P-po-ny" The Pegasus muttered, saying the human word for her race for the first time, while pointing a hoof at herself. "P-pony t-talk." "My word, she CAN speak!" Edwina exclaimed, standing up from her seat at the fire. "I didn't know the ponies were THAT intelligent!" "Bah, you give her too much credit, my wife!" The man replied with a snort. "Just a clever form of mimickery, I'd imagine. Like a bird that can say a man's words back to 'im!" But the woman gave the seemingly intelligent Equine the benefit of the doubt, and slowly began trying to teach her words. As the continued their journey, Sugar Apple would fly overhead, circling around the group until the woman would motion for her to come down. Edwina would then point to an object, and get the Pegasus mare to repeat the name. "Tree." Edwina told her, pointing at a nearby oak. "Th-ree" Sugar replied slowly. "No, three is a number. Trrreeee." "Tr-ee" The equine repeated again. "rock" Edwina said, pointing to a rock. "r-oc-k" Sugar replied, stuttering again. Looking at the mare's flank, the woman pointed at the candied fruit on the image there. "Apple". "Ah-pple." Sugar replied, awed to learn the human word for the fruit that had made such an impact upon her life. Pointing a hoof at herself, she repeated. "Ap-ple." "Hey, don't waste your time educatin' that dumb animal, Edwina!" Wantall grumbled. "No good can come from puttin' ideas into her head!" "Dummy." Edwina replied, pointing a finger at her husband with a smile. "Dum-my." The Pegasus replied slowly, pointing her hoof at the man. "Oh, well that's great! Why don't you just teach her how to fish or farm, why don't ya?" He growled, pointing a finger at the mare in disgust. "Make er' a real jack of all trades!" "Jack...jack..." She put a hoof on herself, realizing the man had been referring to her. "Apple-Jack? I... Applejack?" And thus a mare did receive the English version of her name. Not from a human cereal or an alcoholic drink, but from a simple misunderstanding of language. The humans words forced Candy Apple to use muscles in her jaw and mouth she had never used before, muscles the dumb brutes didn't have. It was like learning to talk all over again, practicing the words over and over and over again in repetition. By the time the human convoy reached their destination, Sugar Apple had at least a passable usage of the language. "What kind of a name is Sugar Apple?" The woman asked her, when they could finally communicate. "It sounds like a baked good, not a pony!" "Well, what kind of name is Edwina?" The Pegasus asked with a grin. "It doesn't even mean anything!" The two got a chuckle out of that, while Wantall simply grumbled. "I just can't believe! My wife's talkin' to a flying blue pony!" It didn't take long for the humans to get their houses built, and create a thriving community amidst the wilderness. Wooden homes, fences, and barns soon arose. And the humans soon began to cultivate land, clearing the growth away, and tilling the soil. Having been a farmer herself once, the mare was able to appreciate what the humans were trying to achieve. Grabbing a hoe in her wings, she joined them in the work of planting the crops, and organizing the fields. Fine Saxon houses rose around a central feasting hall, and the promise of a new life seemed ahead for the good human settlers. As for Sugar Apple, she found spending time with these humans most pleasurable. They wouldn't speak much of the place they had come from, save that they had undergone much suffering there at the hands of a tyrant. But they looked forward to a pleasant new life in these lands. They would be happy to treat the talking ponies who already lived here as kinsmen, Edwina told her, and it wasn't long before several of the villagers had constructed a small barn for the mare to live in and have privacy, all to herself. Life seemed very good for these people... until somepony came in to ruin it for them. It was a cool spring day when they came... flying down from the sky above, equines with wings and armor. The humans thought they were of their pony friend's tribe. But the armored Pegasus swooped down with torches, dropping them on the barns and houses and setting the buildings ablaze. Several of the Pegasus flew into the barns, and began pulling out bags of the human's crops to cart away. The townsfolk were running and screaming in every direction, and many of them were running for their pitchforks and farm tools to use as weapons against the looters. Sugar Apple had just come out of her barn in the morning, awakening to be greeted by the sight of all the chaos. Her eyes went wide at the ponies attacking the human settlement, and suddenly she was filled with great anger. The Pegasus mare zoomed straight up to the stallion who appeared to be the commander of the unit, and began to yell directly into his face. "Hey, what do y'all think yer doin here, acting like a bunch of ornery outlaws?" The mare snapped in equine, glaring at their captain. "What did these humans ever do to you?" "Hey, what a member of the Apple family doing among humans?" The stallion asked, judging from her accent and cutie mark. "These pesky primates are dangerous!" "That's none of your business, stallion!" The mare barked angrily, glaring at the pony of the culturally-inferior gender, causing him to flinch. "Now why are you bothering these innocent people?" "These invaders have no business being here, madam, so our Margrave asked us to come and teach them a lesson!" The stallion snapped, narrowing his eyes. "We Fort Rainbow Dashians are gonna drives those apes clean outta Ponyland!"