Captivity
Applejack lay in a lonely cell. Chained in a cell made from rock with chains about her forelimbs and hindlimbs allowing for her to move about to some extent and lay down to sleep but not much else. Applejack lay on the floor on a fresh bed of hay wondering when everything had gone so wrong.
Flashback:
Applejack was plowing a field to ready it for the new season after winter wrap-up. Big Mac had gone to an agricultural convention in Canterlot to see about finding new buyers for some of their products to see if they could branch out more beyond Ponyville. As she pulled the plow through the earth and completed row after row a sheen of sweat appeared on her forehead and slid down her face. Applejack stopped for a moment to wipe her brow to rest for a moment. Big Mac had already cleared the field of rocks so all that was left was to plow the field before the next stage "I should be able to get at least half an acre by nightfall" Applejack thought. She continued on plowing as the day went on seeing no sign of anypony else.
As the day wore on and she finished the field early she stretched and tensed as her joints cracked and popped allowing her to relieve the tension that had built up. She put the plow away and made her way to the property's water pump and placed a bucket down and began to move the long pump handle up and down. A stream of water came up and filled the bucket to the brim. She took a moment to take a long drink and briefly wondered if Applebloom would be back soon from her crusading or if Granny Smith would be awake at the moment. She finished her drink and picked the bucket up and poured the bucket contents on herself to cool down. A spring day it may have been but after plowing the field she had worked up a good sweat. Her ears perked up hearing something very briefly and then she knew darkness as a pair of rogue griffons swooped down and caught her in a leather sack.
"What the hay!? What in tarnation is going on!?" Applejack screamed. She struggled and attempted to punch through the leather bag and attempted to bite her way through but the bag must have been enchanted as she could not make out what was happening. The group of griffons flew off in great haste eager to make their way to their own hideout and seek a fortune from the ransom of one of the elements of harmony.
End flashback:
Applejack sighed as she thought on those events. It had been seven months and not a word from her captors other than to tell her to stay silent and cause no trouble for them or else and beyond a question or two she had initially asked. They kept her well supplied with fresh water, vegetables, apples, and hay for food while providing fresh straw for bedding every three or four nights and left a bucket for her to relieve herself taking it out and cleaning it each night. She had spoken up to ask why they provided such things if she was a prisoner "A dead hostage isn't of much use. We want you alive and healthy for the ransom money not dead." A nameless guard had replied. They kept her healthy but allowed no physical activity she had long ago grown used to her own stink due to not bathing in a fair amount of time as her captors allowed her to be washed but twice a month and even then under heavy armed guards which had ended some three weeks ago, she dared not try to escape hoping against hope Princess Celestia and Luna would pay the ransom.
The lack of activity though had taken a toll on the mare where her once strong and able muscles had been now they were mere shadows of their former selves her muscles having atrophied greatly due to lack of physical activity to say nothing of her stamina. The lack of physical activity for a mare who had grown up running free and playing in the countryside and working the land was mental torture for the poor mare and many an hour had gone by and she knew neither when it was day or night until quite recently when a window had been installed with iron bars. She simply slept when tired and ate or drank when hungry or thirsty. Her spirit had been broken within the first few weeks as she realized that even her earthpony strength earned from years of labor wasn't sufficient to break her bonds let alone overpower her captors. She had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions of defiance, anger, then onto sadness, depression, and finally simply accepting the situation.
As she languished in her cell she overheard her guards drinking beer and talking regarding their basic camp training and rolled her eyes as they compared and contrasted the performance they had gone through in their bandit "boot camp". She had tried pushups and situps to try and exercise but the chains prevented her from being able to move to such an extent that she couldn't. She could move around the cell to some extent and could grab the straw and other items in her cell to bring them in through door built into the heavy wooden door of her cell and likewise to give items out but she was otherwise stuck and even being taken out to bathe had recently ended the Griffons choosing to simply let her rot as their ransom had yet to be paid as a natural consequence of Celestia's refusal "We do not negotiate with terrorists" she had said. They would keep her alive and provide what she needed but only just in terms of food, water, bedding, and a means to relieve herself and deal with her waste. Runes carved into the cell prevented Princess Luna from locating her in her dreams to her great sadness.
Applejack strongly suspected however that the longer time went on without a ransom being paid the worse her treatment would get. The wooden door to her cell was solid and the door upon the door was also hard oak in a circular shape. The door was reinforced with iron. It was a no-go to get out that way. She had spoken up to request for a window to be installed so she could get sunlight "I can't live like this! I gotta at least get some sunlight, don't I?" she had cried. A Griffon doctor agreed due to the need for vitamin D. It had been a few days only with the larger amount of her captivity not knowing when it was day or night but Applejack was just glad to have fresh air and some semblance of time which she was still getting used to.
As she lay and looked up she walked over to the new window. Three vertical bars of solid iron prevented her escape but allowed her to view outside. The prison she had learned was on the ground level of a building deep within the Everfree forest in an area that allowed the bandits to strike out when needed but supplied sufficient wild game for the griffons and vegetation for her food. How they kept themselves unseen or unknown right in the heart of Equestria Applejack didn't know but she was glad she finally knew where she was if only to a limited extent. She lay down in a huff of anger and sadness "If only I wasn't chained up like this! Ponyfeathers! Even if I wasn't I still couldn't get free with that gosh darn door. I might be able to get through those bars of theirs but I doubt I could do much to them right now with my muscles being so far gone" she thought to herself.
As she lay down and fell asleep she dreamed of former years. There had been a traveling circus one year that came to Ponyville. There had been a wrestler with that circus two or three years prior. The wrestler had urged all challengers to come forward and see if they could throw him outside of an arena that had been built the reward being 3000 bits. Stallion after stallion and some mares had tried, but to no avail. Big Mac himself had tried and even though he was larger than the wrestler and looked stronger than the wrestler pony, which curiously enough had been a unicorn of all things, and when the two made contact they pushed and twisted each trying to throw the other pony. Big Mac had seemed to be winning but the wrestler pony had picked up Big Mack in his hooves all his muscles straining and bodily tossed her brother like he was a bale of hay! She had gone up after the show to try and figure out how a unicorn of all ponies had gotten strong enough to toss her own brother and an earth pony to boot.
"How in tarnation did you throw my brother and the other earth ponies here in Ponyville? I know unicorns can get stronger but you sure as shootin don't look like a guard pony. So how in the heck did you throw my brother?" Applejack asked eyeing the wrestler pony up close for the first time.
The male unicorn looked at Applejack and seeing her curiosity answered her "It's really quite simple where I come from there is a very large tree where I grew up and as a young colt I was often made fun of for not being as strong as the earth ponies in our town. I finally got tired of it and each night I'd go out and push on the tree and pull it from different directions to try and work out my anger and I did it every night for many months. I eventually got into a fight during recess with a pony who had been bullying me and when he came to strike me I defended myself and knocked him out flat in a moment of panic when I punched out to defend myself. The other colts never gave me trouble after that"
Applejack had looked at the pony and sized him up. He had a medium build certainly more muscular than the average unicorn. She had looked at him as he told his story and being the element of honesty she could tell when somepony was lying but couldn't detect a single lie from him. She had thanked him and walked off and forgotten about the encounter until just now figuring the unicorn must have been mistaken or simply been born naturally strong she she had also seen him helping to load and unload things when the circus came into town. She awoke with a start and pondered the memory.
"That pony said he got strong enough to knock out an earth pony as a little colt. Sure they were just colts but all he was doing was pulling and pushing something that couldn't be moved. If I pushed and pulled these chains could I at least get some exercise in at night and not alert the guards? She thought to herself. Secrecy would be of paramount importance but the guards no longer came to check on her other than to pick things up and drop things off and stay away leaving her to stew in her own prison and misery. So Applejack laid a plan to acquire to what degree she could some exercise if nothing else it would relive her boredom she had concluded.
Each night she practiced pulling the chains with all the effort she could muster. She pulled outward one way and another and in any direction she could think of. She pulled at the large chain that was connected to the cells wall and she did so night after night her muscles aching from not having been used for so long and her heart racing from the effort and her breathing labored. She heaved with exertion and effort and slowly ever so slowly she felt her old strength returning and her stamina as well. Much to her surprise her muscles came back anew as the weeks and months passed.
"I can't believe it. I figured I'd get my heart working at least and maybe a little bit of strength might come back, but not this." She thought to herself. "What did Twi call it? Muscle memory or something?" She again thought her mind going back to a conversation she had had with her bookish friend on physical activity which the unicorn had been studying for whatever reason. "Maybe this can work full time." She again thought. For the first time in a long time Applejack's spirits were up. She kept on training until 10 more months had elapsed her strength growing more and more until she felt that her new strength might actually exceed her old strength though she had no way of knowing if it had or not.
Applejack was heaving and pulling one night at the chains like she usually did and then without warning the long chain anchored into the wall broke "ping!" she heard as the chain broke. Applejack stopped worried the guards might have heard but nopony came. She carefully picked up the long chain and went over near her window examining the chain in the moonlight. It had snapped and she could now move about somewhat better not being as limited in terms of how much she could move around now that the main chain anchored to the wall had been broken. She sat stunned as she considered her situation.
"Did I really break this here chain? I knew I was getting stronger but even on the farm, I couldn't ever break iron chains. Big Mac sure could but I couldn't. I wonder..I wonder if I can break the other ones?" She thought to herself. She thought more and considered her situation. It had been 17 months and no one had come and no ransom had been paid and somehow or another the Griffons were able to keep Celestia, Twilight, and even Discord from knowing where she exactly was. She didn't know how but suspected it might have something to do with runes like the ones carved into the cell. Help was not coming and she suspected the longer things went on the more she would lose value as a hostage to the Griffons.
She flexed her muscles and decided she would give things a try.
She placed the chain she had broken aside and unwrapped it from around her midsection where it had been previously been connected to a large piece of leather and removed the leather piece that had been wrapped around her midsection her to prevent the chain from chaffing and cutting into her. She began the enormous task not sure if she could do what she was about to try but deciding that waiting would no longer be of use. So she started to pull and strain her forelimbs seeking to break the chains.
She pulled and pulled and she thought of her home, family, friends, and her life. She had to pull harder! Harder than she ever had before she breathed in and out and kept pulling willing her earthpony strength more and more along with that strength which she had built up. The stress upon the links of chain grew and grew and one of the links began to bend and then broke. Applejack fell back from the shock. She had done it! She had broken some of the chain! Her heart infused with courage and hope she started her back legs to pulling one going forward and the other back and began the same process.
She strained and pulled over and over again filling her thoughts again with the hope of freedom and of her family and friends. She pulled over and over breathing in and out taking breaks and finally a "Ping" resonated in the chamber. For the first time in over 17 months, save for the bathing "privileges" she had initially enjoyed, Applejack had full movement of her limbs again. She cried and cried tears staining her fur and stretched her limbs once more. She could now move but her problem now was she was still trapped in her cell. She walked over to the window.
With confidence born from the knowledge that she had broken the chains, she hooked the long chain from earlier and wrapped it around one of the bars and put on the leather piece, and tied off the chain as best she could at both ends. She faced the opposite direction and began to pull. She again exerted her muscles and her body. Her limbs that were now free strained under the enormous demand already being exhausted from the previous efforts. She pulled over and over her hooves digging in and slipping from time to time and finally looked back...The bar had been bent. She did the same procedure to each of the bars and sure enough, the iron used was of a low enough quality that they bent even with her muscles being exhausted by the efforts. She hadn't broken them likely she thought from her body being so exhausted but she had created an opening. It was a small opening but maybe she could get free.
She exhaled as much air as she could and pushed herself through the opening. She heaved forward over and over. She took a breath and exhaled again. Twelve times she repeated the process and then for the first time in 17 months she was free. She looked around and saw a large dome of some type of magic "This must be why no one could find me" she thought to herself. She wandered around cautiously only to see the bandit Griffons drunk from too much wine and beer and made her way to the front gates. Outside of the encampment she began to trot and then gallop as much as she could. She headed for freedom and home and came outside the magical barrier. She kept running and didn't care if she died running but just ran like she had never run before walking and jogging to catch her breath when needed and pushing vegetation out of her way using the north star to guide her way in the general direction she hoped Ponyville was in.
She ran and ran for two days and nights through the forest drinking from streams when she could and eating grass where she could find it with no sleep. It seemed to be summer. She walked up a hill and looked over. Ponyville was in the distance and all that she knew and loved. She ran to the tiny hamlet.
As she approached she saw a lavender pony looking up into the night sky through a telescope taking notes. She walked up to the lavender unicorn. "Twi?" Applejack asked with tears running down her face. Twilight looked behind her and up her jaw dropping and her face in utter shock "Applejack?" Twilight asked.
They both stared and Twilight raced to Applejack "Applejack! Applejack!" Twilight cried in joy and stunned relief. She hugged her friend and her friend hugged her both crying as they had never before cried. Twilight didn't know or care how her friend was safe just that she was. After seventeen months she had given up hope and most others had as well.
Twilight released the hug and looked Applejack over. She looked exhausted with leaves and twigs in her fur her mane matted and filled with knots. She looked strong and somewhat healthy but very, very tired. She was about to ask her a question but Applejack held her hoof up.
"Twi we don't have much time those darn feather-brained hooligans had me held in the Everfree two days journey from here and they had some type of a dome of magic that must have kept you and anyone else from finding me. We need to get to Spike and let the princess know." Applejack said. Twilight nodded in agreement. They made their way to the Golden Oaks library to send a certain alicorn a message.
Spike needless to say was overjoyed as well and a message detailing the general location of the bandit camp was given to the best of Applejack's ability. Celestia needless to say was not amused by the abduction of one of her little ponies who was also one of her friends and many a night she had come to console Twilight and her friends as time had gone on. She ordered a full assault on the camp once a guard pony had located the camp. It was a slaughter unseen since ancient times. Celestia made sure there were no survivors. Yet questions still remained in the aftermath. How the Griffons had gotten ahold of magic that could keep herself and others from locating the earthpony and more so how had Applejack escaped she did not know. The latter of those questions would have to wait as in the days after the message the young mare simply slept, ate, and bathed at her home.
Celestia would permit more time for Applejack and her family. The reunion she was told had been a happy one and a shocked one and two weeks had passed since the note was sent and the Griffons destroyed. The question of how Applejack had escaped could wait a bit longer. A certain Pink Pony would likely be throwing a "You're safe and Escaped from the Evil Griffons But You Made It Back Home Party". Festivities aside Celestia was certain of only one thing her enemies had means to hide under her very nose and not just Changelings. She would root them out and make her lands safe again. Of that, she vowed.