To Live and Die in Equestria
Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects; all the different types of ponies.
But as time went on, the two sisters became neglectful of the land. While they still performed their duties of raising the sun and moon, their interest in the harmony and stability of the kingdom dwindled; caring more about themselves than their subjects. Their ignorance had caused the once beautiful realm of Equestria to become a barren land of labour and sweat, as their subjects worked tirelessly to tend to the ever needy troubles that plagued their lives.
“Ah’ll see ya back at supper honey,” Applejack called to her beloved as the purple dragon stepped out of the outer gate to the farm.
It was early in the morning as usual, the sun and moon having just exchanged places in the sky. The now overlooking sun casted its rays down upon the ever modest orchard that was Applejack’s livelihood. The earth pony rarely found any time to pursue her true talent for apple growing and was lucky to harvest enough to feed themselves as well as keep the farm going. And with her partner busy at the factory all day every day of the week, Applejack had the responsibility of bringing up their infant child alone.
Applejack sighed and picked up an empty bucket laying just outside the door to the barn; intent on filling it with water from the well she was now walking towards. All of the water in Equestria now had to be foraged for from underground springs ever since the Pegasi stopped producing rain to fight in the ever-demanding war against Yakyakistan and The Crystal Empire. Eeeyup, the Pegasi made up most of the nation’s military now along with some unicorns practiced in the art of healing. Applejack and her fellow earth ponies were responsible for harvesting the food that went towards both the war effort and to the capital. And the unicorns well…
“Applejack! Front and centre!”
The farmer looked in the direction of the loud voice to find the area officer standing near the perimeter fence surveying the farm and taking a cold glance at the modest amount of trees that lay in the orchard. Applejack dropped the bucket she was carrying in her mouth; gently propping it against the moist bricks of the well before trotting over to meet the impatient unicorn at the fence.
“Yes, ma’am. What can ah do ya far?” Applejack inquired politely.
The unicorn’s narrowed unfeeling eyes still stalked the farm’s entirety before her turning head came upon the smiling orange earth pony. She cleared her throat before speaking.
“Is this month’s harvest on track? I don’t want a repeat of last month’s pathetic litter that you presented me with.”
“Ah y-y-yes ma’am! But ah can hardly get any water for my trees and ah can only do so much with-”
The earth pony felt her hooves leave the ground but soon the realisation kicked in that she couldn’t breathe and she croaked a plea.
“Pleas…legh…legh…ah...”
“You wouldn’t want me to remind you what happened to the last family that disappointed me?! Rock farmers at that. The only need for rocks is to pummel them into our enemies!” declared the purple unicorn with a sadistic laugh.
Applejack struggled for breath as the officer continued.
“We have a duty to our princesses dear Applejack and there is no room for incompetence!”
Applejack was close to passing out when the unicorn’s magical grip on her throat weakened. She felt herself being lowered gently.
“I will return at the end of the week to collect the spoils or lack of which. The choice is yours. Pray you don’t disappoint me again,” the officer said, surprisingly calm.
“Huh…huh…y-yes, Miss Sparkle,” wheezed the breathless farmer pony.
Twilight turned to leave and Applejack watched as her superior trailed off into the distance.
That pretty much summed up the unicorns. The princesses considered unicorns to be more privileged than earth ponies and pegasi and as such they were given administrative roles in the running of the kingdom. Not all however were considered great; really only those who lived in the capital where no other type of pony resided. So the local unicorns for instance had no real power but were treated with more courtesy than the rest of ponykind which did not sit well with the majority population of earth ponies. Ponyville wasn’t without trouble but few ponies wished to cause unrest in fear of suffering the wrath of Twilight Sparkle.
As Celestia’s prize pupil, Miss Sparkle was sent to oversee the day to day running of Ponyville as reports of slacking seemed to had worked their way into the capital. Well it was certainly easy for those to come across when every other city had the same problem due to the lack of rain. Anyway, since Twilight arrived the once friendly town of Ponyville had become a bunch of ever closed doors and silence with everyone too busy worrying about their shortfall for this month. And every month to follow. Applejack knew that nopony could be as unfeeling as that tyrant of a mare.
Applejack was still spluttering up coughs; her irritated throat still recovering from the ordeal it had suffered. She really had some mind to stand up to that awful pony and often wished her sweetheart was here to protect her. But he never was and with good reason. The princesses didn’t tolerate dragons and, by law, all of Equestria had to banish dragons or avoid them at all costs. And so rather than stir up trouble for his beloved, Spike worked for Zecora in the Everfree Forest – a perfect hiding place as nopony except the benevolent zebra would dare set hoof in it.
Of course, it had been a lot easier when the purple hunk was just a tyke. Applejack never did like to recall her life before she met Spike out of fear of reliving the overwhelming pain once more. She was however fine with the comforting thought of the day she met her darling dragon.
The night was still as a cold wind passed through the grass blades accommodating the earth pony’s hooves. It was indeed a rare sight to see a beautiful night like this from atop the hill overlooking the old barn. But Applejack was in no mood for sightseeing. The farmer had her head hung low and her iconic cowgirl hat which normally lay on the crest of the mare’s head, sat between the two stones in front of her. It had been dampened by the continuous stream of tears that trickled down overhead from Applejack’s face. Her hushed whimpering had no refuge in the tranquil night, the desolate mare being the only thing making a sound.
Until a rustle from the nearby bushes made the mourning earth pony look up and pause in mid-whimper.
A figure emerged from the foliage, clawing its way across the ground with the sheer look of exhaustion on its face. The battered scars on its scaly skin said enough to Applejack what kind of ordeal the dragon had been through. It certainly looked vulnerable and in need of help but the farmer was well aware of the law forbidding the aiding or interaction with dragons. And with that in mind, the ever honest pony wiped the remaining tears from the corner of her eyes and trotted to offer her assistance to the clearly defenceless dragon.
With a small sniff, the orange mare asked, “Are ya alright, sugarcube?”
The dragon had yet to notice the pony standing above him and strained a look up to meet the anxious eyes of the mare who had uttered the question.
“I…I…I…” He struggled to answer. The clear fatigue and fear of the new presence looming over him made it difficult to even mutter an answer. Luckily, Applejack could sense his fear and pulled the young dragon gently to his feet. The dragon flinched slightly at the touch but soon settled down as the full sight of the orange mare washed over him. His cheeks turned a tiny shade of red.
Applejack giggled in amusement. “Ah guess that means yar alright then?”
“Y-yes,” the dragon stuttered, shaking his head to bring himself back to reality. “Just very tired.”
“Ah can see that…,” the farmer said anxiously, looking at the bruises on the dragon’s skin up-close.
The dragon soon realised who or what he was in fact talking to and hastened back in fear. “You’re a pony! Are you going to turn me in?!”
“Now why on earth would ah wanna do that, sugarcube?” She trotted over to the cowering dragon and put a hoof around the dragon’s neck. The dragon looked up again at the trustworthy eyes of the orange mare and he relaxed. Besides, he was unsure how long he could keep being scared before he’d pass out.
The at ease dragon let out a deep sigh. “Thanks. I’m just so relieved I don’t have to run anymore.”
“Is that why yar in this state?”
The dragon nodded. His face turned sad again at the sound of the query.
“Cornfeathers, where are ma manners? Ah’ve not even introduced maself. The name’s Applejack.”
“Spike,” the dragon responded, again smiling at the never fading trust in Applejack’s eyes. In the corner of them, he caught a glimpse of a single tear.
“Hey, are you alright yourself?”
The question surprised Applejack but she simply wiped the apparent tear away and said softly, “Yeah, ah’m fine.” The orange mare broke out of the embrace to let Spike breathe a bit more.
“So how’d ya git here in the first place?” pressed Applejack.
There was a slight tone of panic in the dragon’s voice as he explained but he maintained his cool.
“I was running away from the royal guard at Canterlot and they chased me as far as the train station where I managed to escape on the departing train. I got off at the next station but soon found myself trapped by the local police and so I had no choice but to run and run and run…”
The dragon began to hyperventilate until his mouth was covered by the hoof of the listening earth pony.
“That’s enough, hun. No need to cry o’er the past,” she said reassuringly. “But what the hay were ya doing at Canterlot anyways?”
“I…I…I don’t remember!” the dragon admitted, his panic returning quickly. “I...I..."
The dragon was yet again interrupted mid-speech with the intervention of Applejack’s familiar hoof.
“Alright, sugarcube. Ah think ya’ve said quite enough. Now ah suggest ya come inside before ya keel over!” Applejack said.
The dragon began to protest but his fatigue told him otherwise and nodded his head in acceptance of the kind offer that he had been presented with.
Applejack smiled in reply and walked back over to her resting Stenson between the two gravestones. She picked it up and set it square on her head before turning around to see that Spike had gone.
“Here lies Applebloom, my forever cherished sister.” Spike read the engraving on the first gravestone aloud and looked to his kind host in shock. He saw that the mare now had her eyes closed with tears springing from underneath the flaps. He spoke gently and very sympathetically.
“Applejack, was she…?” Spike started before the catching whimper in Applejack’s throat answered the dragon’s question. “I’m awful sorry, Applejack. I had no idea…”
Applejack tried to compose herself and wiped away the new sprung leaks in her eyes. “Don’t be…” she sniffed. “The winter claimed many lives even…sniff…even that of my brother and sister.”
The farmer couldn’t help but whimper slightly and was slightly elated to find the dragon’s claw stroking the right side of her body.
“But ah’ll tell ya this, Spike,” she continued, anger boiling in her tone. “Ah wonder what those hoity-toity princesses would think o’ all the misery that they bring down upon all us ponyfolk; those that have suffered endlessly ta please ‘em while trying ta make ends meet themselves?!”
Spike did his best to soothe the raging pony but he soon found himself being confronted by the mare face to face.
“Ah’m telling ya now, Spike! Ah will never rest til’ those monsters see what it feels like to have nopony to look out for. Ah swear by my siblings’ graves that ah will see justice done upon those ponies and have them live the life ah lead now with nopony caring for me!…sniff…(whimper).”
“Well, I’ll be here for you now.”
Applejack opened her eyes to see the small purple dragon gently drying away her tears as he caressed her moist fur with his right claw. The anger within the earth pony evaporated into thin air as her heart began to pound in motion again. Applejack painted a wide smile across her face and tears of joy rather than regret and hate now flowed down her cheeks. She darted a hoof around the caring dragon and pulled him close to her, her happiness exploding despite the sadness she had experienced just moments ago. She couldn’t be sad now. She tightened her grip around the dragon with him digging into the mare more in return. It was no longer cold that night.
The two embraced under the night sky; the stars twinkling away in their everlasting vigil. And two in particular shone bright that night.