Re:Harmony

by starcross7

33 - The Enemy's Advance

Chapter 33 - The Enemy's Advance

That night, a fire had broken out at the elderly prisoners' annex not too far off from the oppressive monolith that was Rock Prison. Cowardly guards fled a building that had been in clear violation Gaea's occupational safety standards. With the annex having endured a dangerously cracked foundation and bad electrical wiring, this fire was inevitable. The elderly prisoners that managed to flee to safety were promptly captured and rounded up by the braver guards in a muddy ditch close by. Some were shot when trying to escape. With the severity of the fire lighting up the night, it was concluded that almost half of the prisoners died in the fire, including that of the infamous matriarch of the Apple Clan. Based on dental records, she had been declared dead.

At least, that was what she wanted them to think.

In the very early morning, she leapt off a moving truck filled with indentured sheep on a road that lie between the Ponyville Slums, Rock Prison, and the Everfree Forest. The impact of the landing sent a shockwave of pain through her aged bones, and she fell flat on her face. If she had teeth, a few of them would have been knocked out. Of course, she still had teeth during her tenure in prison, but the complete sacrifice of her molars was well worth it. In addition to planting false evidence, they were also great for making shanks.

They told her a lot of things at prison. They told her lies. They told her that all her grandchildren were dead, but in this old mare's heart, she knew well that they survived the razing of Sweet Apple Acres. Granny Smith had been musing over a decision to find her lost grandchildren, but she reasoned that she should remain dead for the sake of the rebellion. She didn't want any of them to worry over an old pony like her.

Lil' Applejack will find the elements and overthrow the Government, she reasoned. Granny Smith would have to hide out for a while and eventually reveal herself once her clan had been avenged, the Government overthrown, and the war between Gaea and Pegasopolis stopped.

Granny Smith made sure nopony recognized her as she walked right into a shady village outpost built at the edge of the Everfree Forest. The place had no name, but it was still part of the jurisdiction of Ponyville Slums, which was then under Gaeaopolis's administration. With the bits she grifted during her prison stay, she bought new clothes but saved the orange and apple-patterned neck scarf, which she kept hidden in her saddlebag to protect her identity. After buying rations, camping supplies, and a generic set of dentures, Granny Smith began her trek into the darkness of the Forest. But she was being followed.

There was nothing she could do but pretend that she had not noticed her pursuers, who were likely to be the secret police under the employ of the Government. Granny Smith went further into the woods, hoping that the pony pursuers gave up. Yet even with her aging eyes, she saw their shadows dodging behind trees every time she turned around.

"Persistent young'uns," she muttered to herself. Granny Smith eventually found a clearing to set up camp. She started no fire, lest she risk being torn to shreds by timberwolves, and pretended to go to sleep.

Thus, the two plainclothes stallions emerged from hiding and made sure their flashlights were not turned on as they made their attack. The first one bravely ventured to the elderly pony's sleeping bag. He drew his knife, and made the stab.

Instead, he fell into a trap hole. Or rather, a short drop into a long trench.

The second one tried to go after him, but Granny Smith knocked him out with one blow to his head using a thick piece of wood.

"Drop your weapon, grandma."

Rats. Granny Smith did not count on there being a third pursuer, and her age would not allow her to beat a stallion in his prime and his hoof-mounted pistol. She sighed, knowing that there was nothing more she could do.

Then she heard an awful whinny echoing in the forest. The stallion suddenly trembled in fear. He dropped his pistol and attempted to gallop out of the forest. He did not make it, for bats, birds, squirrels, and other critters swarmed him like ants upon an invading termite hill. He let out a blood-curdling scream, and he was no longer heard--or seen.

Granny Smith knew the risks of the forest, but never in a night such as this would she run into the terror that was the Feral Pony--the Beastmaster. She barely turned around when she saw the Feral Pony surrounded by a pair of bears, several owls, rabbits, and a mist of Midnight Butterflies. The Feral Pony beamed upon Granny Smith her blood-red Eyes of Wrath. It had been said that seeing the Eyes of Wrath would immediately kill a pony, and Granny Smith felt as if her heart would immediately undergo cardiac arrest.

Yet her old heart did not give out, and none of the beasts lunged at her. The Beastmaster herself trotted closer to Granny Smith, and to the elderly pony's surprise, the Feral Pony turned out to be smaller than anticipated. She was a yellow filly, and to Granny's utter shock, it was a pegasus. She was an unclipped one at that, a complete rarity in these parts. While she had heard of pegasi being thrown off the cloudlands for dishonor or weakness, never would Granny Smith find one so young in this forest naked and with her Nature's Call fully exposed. The age of this filly briefly reminded Granny about her granddaughter Applejack.

The elderly pony and the filly stared briefly at one another before the former decided to tip-hoof around her and tread back to the village outpost hoping that the pegasus filly would not command her beasts to attack her from behind. Luckily, they weren't as cowardly as Granny thought they would be, and each step she took away from the forest, she could still feel their eyes watching her.

When she reached the outpost's signpost, Granny began to have some doubts. While she did not care for the three stallions who pursued her, she began to worry for any other pony who might innocently cross the forest without any inkling of malice. Her maternal instincts also worried over the pegasus filly, and while her birthplace might be the enemy nation of Pegasopolis, a pony was still a pony. The Apple Clan prided themselves in staunch independence, but they would never turn their backs on ponies who needed help. That filly looked as if she wanted to speak, but the way her mane had been tangled, she had not been civilized.

She sighed heavily as she made her decision. The elderly pony turned back towards the forest and disappeared into the thick woods. She never came out again.

---

The orange pony learned her lesson from the last time she discovered her family's whereabouts through a lost memento, but took every effort to prevent herself from bursting into Fluttershy's tree cottage to demand more answers from the shy pegasus. Twilight saw her excuse herself into her tent along a hoofful of apples to consume. As much as she wanted to comfort her friend, something told her that the orange earth pony needed to be alone for the time being and that the only way to get out of this rut would be to get more information about the orange scarf wrapped around her wounded hoof.

Twilight passed by the snoring and swelling bodies of Sunny and Pinkie Pie and made her way back to the tree cottage. She had gotten used to the feeling of the beady-eyed owl and the Border Collie trailing right behind her in the shadows, and without hesitation she knocked on the door.

"Didn't expect you to come back," said Spike. "Are we leaving now?"

"Not yet," said Twilight. "I know this is too much to ask for, but do you think you can get some information from Fluttershy?"

"I can try. What do you want me to ask?"

"Ask her where she got this."

Twilight momentarily shocked Spike when she took off the orange scarf around her hoof. A hard scar remained, but at least the bleeding stopped. Spike hesitantly took the apple-patterned orange scarf and went back inside.

Twilight idled not too far from cottage entrance, and the beady-eyed owl and the Border Collie kept on watch on her. Nearly a half-hour had passed when Spike finally emerged from the cottage with a written note in his claw.

"This was all I could get from her," he said.

The note, while it needed punctuation and spelling corrections, told Twilight what she needed.

"She also wanted me to give you this."

From his scaly pockets, Spike procured a tattered envelope sealed with tree sap. That was a surprise, but to Twilight's astonishment, it was legibly addressed specifically to Applejack. She resisted her temptation to open the letter, as it would simply be rude and disrespectful to both sender and recipient if she did so. Twilight thanked Spike with a pat on the head, and carried the note and the letter with her mouth back to the encampment. She passed right by Sunny and Pinkie, who were slowly rousing from their meal-nap.

Twilight gave the note and letter to Applejack once inside the tent. The earth pony took her time reading them both, and clearly she resisted crying even though she wanted to. Applejack eventually calmed down, but the shock of the news contained in the letter remained apparent in her face. Without a word, she rose up and trotted right out of the tent.

Worried for her sake, Twilight followed her, but she knew where she was going. The initial path began from the back of the tree cottage, and after a fairly moderate trek they arrived at what appeared to be an ordinary and serene clearing, and the afternoon sunlight beamed heavenly light upon the mossy ground. In the middle stood a tree distinctively civilized from the rest. Applejack gave it a quick buck at the trunk, and several green apples fell to the ground for her and her friends to sample in their mouths.

"It's definitely a Granny Smith," said Applejack with a mouthful of an apple.

"Your grandmother has survived?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah, and she raised Fluttershy for the few years she had left. This is where they buried her."

"You're not angry, are you?"

"I ain't sure. I would blame Fluttershy, but at the same token I would or should blame Granny Smith. But I could understand her not wantin' to find us after all that she had lost. She had written letters to Big Mac and Apple Bloom, but I think they all said the same thing."

"Which is?"

"That we gotta take care of Fluttershy. She's just a scared pony that's worthy of love and protection. Unfortunately, there is one thing I cannot do on behalf of Granny Smith, and that is to forgive Posey. That witch of a mare driven us Apples into near extinction, and she brainwashed my own little sister against me."

"Are you sure that's what the letter said? Can I see?"

"That's what it said," said Applejack as she crushed the envelope and the letter beneath her hoof.

The two mares heard the rustling of fallen leaves. A low, recognizable whelp sounded from behind a tree, and a messy pinky mane could be seen from the edge. This was typical of the timid Beastmaster Fluttershy, and her shyness made her adorably cute. It was no wonder that Granny Smith would be smitten by her.

"Fluttershy, you don't have to hide from us," said Twilight. "Come on out."

Her head had been lowered when she emerged from behind the tree, and her long pink mane and tail dragged along the forest floor along the way. Applejack's expression appeared neutral, but it did not seem to put the shy pegasus at ease. Twilight would want to grab one or the other's hooves and bring them together, but this was something they need to work between each other.

"So, um," began Applejack, "I take it Granny Smith looked out for you despite bein' a pegasus and all."

"Gran-Gran very nice," said Fluttershy. "Taught me words. Looked after her till she stopped moving."

"At least she died in peace and with dignity. Thank you for lookin' after her."

"You're her granddaughter?"

"Yes I am."

"Different color. Don't see mark on flank."

"That's, um, somethin' you don't show off unless it is a close friend or relative. Oh, what the hey."

Applejack was hesitant, but she did it anyway. She dropped her pants enough to expose the three apple marks that constituted her Nature's Call. Fluttershy surprised Twilight and Applejack and when she confidently trotted right into the orange pony's flank to give an unnecessarily long sniff at it. It was too long, and Fluttershy nuzzled the flank to make it appear she would literally bite at it. It cause Applejack to go red in the face, and the embarrassment forced Twilight to suppress her giggle. Eventually the orange earth pony sidestepped and pulled up her pants.

The sound of rodents screeching interrupted their moment. Above both squirrels and flying squirrels garbed in black ninja outfits leapt from branch to branch before they landed between the Beastmaster and her two equine guests. They kept Twilight and Applejack at bay with shuriken and kunai daggers while a group of angry beavers carried into the grove clearing soiled boxes that spilled into the ground.

The sight of what they shown to Fluttershy dismayed Twilight. She thought she and her friends mended the relationship with the Beastmaster and the animals, but the sight of a broken Robopony had essentially torn it up. The beavers angrily communicated about what they found while pointing accusingly at Twilight and Applejack. It was then that Fluttershy turned around and lowered her head ashamedly, and the ninja squirrels began corralling the unicorn and the earth pony back to the encampment.

They were imprisoned once more, but nopony was strung and hung up on racks. It was more like house arrest, and in this case and in the immortal words of Pinkie Pie, camp arrest. The beady-eyed owl and the Border Collie kept watch at them once again. Their usual entourage of other owl species and dog breeds were not with them. Instead, the rest of the animals were preparing for war. Lines of fowl towed machine guns on wooden carts. Their chicks, each carrying on their backs boxes of bullets or magazines, followed behind their parents in a single file line.

"Even this is testing my patience!" cried Twilight. "You have to let us see Fluttershy!"

"Who?" asked the owl.

"Flutter--oh, never mind! Look, I'm sure you two understand us, but we need to have her and the rest of you animals evacuate the forest. We fought the Roboponies, and we barely escaped from them with our lives."

"Who?"

"Ugh, I really don't want to resort to force for this one… Applejack, I'll need your assistance."

"Hold the phone!" cried Pinkie Pie. "I've dealt with prison guards before, and if this owl and doggie are like them, then they can easily be bribed."

"There is no way that's going to work."

Yet it did. It happened in a blink and without the flash of a magical artifact. Twilight shook her head to make sure that really was a snazzy red bow on the owl and a red collar around the Border Collie's neck. Satisfied with their bribes, they happily danced around each other before they went towards the mares. The owl perched itself on Twilight's back, while the Border Collie sat in front of Applejack wagging her tail.

The beady-eyed owl and the Border Collie eagerly lead the four ponies back into the tree cottage, and their commanding presence allowed Twilight and her companions pass by a line of bears carrying drums of oil on their backs and a group of goats wheeling old gatling guns. The same presence allowed them to, with some difficulty, distract Angel Bunny and his fellow rabbits long enough for the four mares to pass through the front door.

Spike had remained inside the entire time cleaning. By then, the romantic table set had been put away, but with no lit candles, darkness filled the interior. Knowing whom his friends were searching for, he motioned upstairs before resuming sweeping the wood floor.

When they arrived, they found the room empty.

"Where could she be?" asked Twilight. Her answer came when a sneeze echoed out from the closet. She along with Applejack opened the door and found the pegasus trembling in fear underneath a pile of clothes while holding a teddy bear against her chest.

"Fluttershy, call off your animals," said Twilight. "They won't survive the Robopony onslaught."

"Leave," said the pegasus.

"We will, but you and your critters gotta go too," said Applejack.

"You ponies led them here."

"We did, and ain't no amount of apology is gonna make up for it. But we can make it up to you by leadin' them away from your home. You jus' have to leave if things turn violent."

"Leave me alone!"

The pegasus pushed the unicorn and the orange earth pony away so she could seal herself back inside the closet to whimper in peace. The ponies then heard the sound of a masculine "ahem", and from behind Angel Bunny waving his derringer pistol towards them. He motioned the four to leave the bedroom, which also meant leaving the tree cottage. Once outside, Twilight and her group met up with Spike, who sat on a tree stump watching the animals continuing to suit up and arm themselves for battle.

"You think we should leave now?" asked Spike. ""We might still have time to divert the Roboponies away."

"Ain't gonna happen," said Applejack. "I trust Granny Smith's letter, and I wanna repay the debt my family owes Fluttershy for takin' care of her."

"So we're going to stay and fight then."

"'Fraid so. We brought this menace upon Fluttershy and her animal critters, and we gotta be the ones to fix it. We need to do this to let her know that there are still good ponies out there. We'll teach these Roboponies not to mess with us."

"But Twilight is still unable to cast any magic."

"I don't need my magic to fight, Spike," said Twilight. "I can coordinate a counterattack plan if I could get my hooves on that broken Robopony."

"That means enlistin' all the help from these critters," said Applejack.

"Then we'll have to talk to... Angel Bunny," said Spike with a shudder.

Comments

[Aatxe360]

Let me reiterate: Applejack seems to be getting the short end of the stick. Again. The only one in the group(even outside of the group) really amicable towards her is Twilight.

Fluttershy still doesn't like AJ, even though she's related to Granny Smith.

And did Granny Smith plan that fire? Arsonist with the guilt of ponyslaughter hanging over her head. Cold.

Still: I've been liking this story from the get-go. Continue, please.

[BlackAion]

2661636

Yeah Applejack seems to be getting it bad, but maybe she'll get a break eventually. Atleast, now that most of her family is now gone from the world, celestia aka "Sunny" will be less...well, less of a bitch to her when something to do with AJ and Twi emerges up into the air.

[Serendras]

This story is really good, it's one of the best AU that I've read. I still wonder what's going on with Posey and Fluttershy, are they sisters? Are the Unicorn hunters the sisters of Pinkie ? Where is Shiny ? How Octavia managed to survive the explosion ? While there be a Trixie X Gizmo shipping? Why is Ace so annoying? There too much question no answered. But I love it !

[GMZ_Casper]

FORGIVE POSEY

Hmmm, odd…I guess Granny Smith must have figured something out during her stay in the Everfree Forest. Sad to read that she passed on, though…

Now, time to see the warzone as I catch up on the chapters...

C&Cs:
Lil' Applejack will find the elements and overthrow the Government, she reasoned.
> Delete the extra space before ‘she’.
She barely turned around when she the Feral Pony surrounded by a pair of bears, several owls, rabbits, and a mist of Midnight Butterflies.
> Add ‘saw’ after ‘she’.
That meant Twilight had to serve as a go between her friend and Fluttershy.
> Put a dash between ‘go between’. Add ‘for’ after it and add a ‘s’ to ‘friend’.
"I shouldn't have spent too much teaching Fluttershy about grammar and vocabulary."
> Add ‘time’ after ‘much’.
Their chicks, each carrying on their backs a bullets or magazines, followed behind their parents in a single file line.
> Remove the ‘a’ after ‘backs’ or remove the ‘s’ from ‘bullets’.
But we can make it up to you by leading him away from your treehouse.
> Replace ‘him’ with ‘them’.

[Kapuchu]

2666789
I think that Octavia survived because of that anti-freezing gear she had. She did mentioned it earlier.

[Just Sandy]

2666789 in an ealrier chapter posey was a changeling for a second so posey is a changeling in a fluttershy disguise that has no wings