Thwack

A dozen apples fell from the tree above and landed in carefully arranged buckets below. Applejack turned around to inspect the tree to see if any apples remained on it. Seeing none, she gave a satisfied nod and began dragging the apples into the barn.

It had been a hard seven years for the Apple family. The war had ended a mere six months after the death of Applejack's father. The Changeling forces had been nearly decimated by the end and they had been driven out of their homeland. Granted, it wasn't like Equestria had gotten away scot-free from the war. Nearly two million of Equestria's sons and daughters never returned home from the front. Another three million had come back wounded in some way, including Applejack's brother Big Macintosh. Two million dead and three million wounded of the seven million soldiers who had gone off to fight.

Applejack's mother had been so devastated by the news of her husband's death that she had never fully recovered. The birth of Apple Bloom hadn't done wonders for her health in the first place. She passed away just before the war ended. Three months after that, Granny Smith followed. Granny Smith had been old though, she had passed on at the age of 96, a ripe old age for anypony.

The Ponyville Apple family had endured, much like they always had through the hard times. Big Macintosh was able to get back to work within a month or two of returning from the war. In those few months, the town had rallied to help Applejack take care of the farm. She had met many fillies her age from those workdays, fillies that she now considered her dearest friends in the world. Their names were Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity. Together they had grown into as close of a family as any friends can and without them Applejack knew that she wouldn't have gotten through these past seven years.

Apple Bloom was a fast growing filly now, eager to explore the world and squeeze as much out of it as she could. Applejack often saw a lot of herself in her sister.

Applejack finished apple bucking for the day and went back inside the farmhouse, making sure to close the barn door tightly as last time she had failed to do so...well...pigs could be greedy sometimes.

Big Macintosh had finished his portion of the apple trees earlier than Applejack and was now sitting at the table, reading a newspaper.

"What's the world like these days Big Mac?" asked Applejack, sitting across from him at the table. He continued reading the paper for a brief moment while formulating his answer. Big Macintosh was not one to speak unless he knew what he was going to say.

"Not good AJ," he said. Applejack rolled her eyes but she gave her brother a break. If he had been silent and contemplative before the war, after he came home he was practically mute. Even his normal 'Eeyups' were fewer and far between in those first few years. he had gotten much better since then, but Applejack had never heard a single detail about the war from him.

"Care to elaborate?" asked Applejack. Big Macintosh paused for a moment.

"Peace talks not looking good."

"With which country?"

"Both." Applejack grimaced. There had been rumors circulating that the Changelings were formulating another invasion of Equestria and this time they would be enlisting the help of the Diamond Dog territories. Celestia and Luna both were trying to negotiate peace but more rumors circulated that the talks were falling through. "It seems that they want reparations for the war," said Big Mac.

"Reparations!?" said Applejack, her blood beginning to boil. "They invaded us! We didn't do anythin' to them and they just plum attacked us outta nowhere!"

"You know that it's more complicated than that."

"No it aint!" said Applejack angrily. "If anythin' they should be givin' reparations to us! In fact, we should have slaughtered every Celestia forsaken one of 'em! Then we wouldn't be dealin' with this mess!"

"Eeyup, we'd be dealin' with a million other worse messes," said Big Mac in his usual calm demeanor. This occasionally irritated Applejack. How in Equestria could Big Mac be so calm like that after the horrors he had seen!? But nope, he was still his usual calm self these days. Even after the war, Big Mac suffered his scars quietly and calmly. Applejack couldn't figure out for the life of her how he did it.

Applejack gave a frustrated groan. She knew Big Mac was right though...still, what she wouldn't give for the changeling race to be extinct. Big Mac turned a page in his paper. "I miss 'em too," he said. Applejack looked at him quizzically.

"Huh?" she asked.

"You want the Changelings eradicated because one of them killed Pa which tore our family to shreds for a while there. You want vengeance for what they did because they took our parents away from us. I miss 'em too." Applejack paused for a moment, and not because Big Mac had just said the longest sentence that had come out of his mouth...ever, but because she knew he was right. She sighed and banged her head on the table a little bit.

"What'll we do if we go to war again Big Mac? The last one was barely seven years ago and that was just against the Changelings! I don't know if we can win if it’s the Changelings and the Diamond Dogs," said Applejack worriedly.

"Well, we have the Griffins willing to go to war with us and the Disciples of Discord have also pledged their support." Applejack raised an eyebrow at this piece of news.

"Why in the hay would the Disciples of Discord want to join us?" Big Mac shrugged.

"If Celestia trusts them then so do I," said Big Mac. Applejack nodded.

"I gotta go meet the girls at the spa," she said, the last word bringing a look of mild contempt to her face. It was a running joke among the townsfolk that it was Rarity who single-hoofedly kept the spa in business since she was there so often.

"Eeyup."

Applejack walked out the front door and made the fifteen minute trek into town towards the spa. Truth be told, despite how much she hated the spa, she did love seeing her friends there so it almost balanced out...almost.

With a ring of the bell over the door, she entered the spa to see her friends all chatting away with each other. Applejack even spotted Rainbow Dash there, a rare occurrence to be sure. Seeing their farmer friend come it, the five of them stopped their conversation and went over to greet her. "Howdy, y'all," said Applejack

"Hey Applejack," said Twilight greeting her with a grin. Applejack raised an eyebrow as she sensed something was off.

"What were y'all talkin' about when I came in?" she asked.

"What everypony is talking about these days, the impending Second Changeling War," said Rarity. Fluttershy shrank back at this.

"I don't want to go to war! I don't want to be drafted, I would never hurt anyone!" she said worriedly.

"You don't need to worry about that Fluttershy," said Rainbow Dash comfortingly. "With your medical training with animals, they'd put you to work taking care of the...sick ponies." Fluttershy nodded, only slightly comforted by the thought.

The two spa ponies led them to the steam room where they were left to relax in the steam for a while. "So," said Applejack, breaking the customary silence as everypony got settled in. "What are the odds that this is really happenin'? Twilight, you're close to the princess, what do you know about it?" Twilight sighed and looked at the floor sadly.

"Princess Celestia has basically given the Changeling Empire and the Diamond Dogs until the..." tears began forming in Twilight's eyes, something that unnerved the other five greatly. "...until the end of today to back off or we go to war again."

Silence ruled the room. Even the hiss of the steam seemed to mute itself as the gravity of the news sunk in. "Are...are you even allowed to tell us this darling?" asked Rarity. Twilight merely shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter anyway the way I see it. In my mind, we're already at war. It's only a matter of making it official." Tears of fear began falling from the eyes of the other ponies in the room too. The last war had been devastating for all of Equestria. With the Diamond Dogs, the griffins, and the Disciples of Discord in the mix, the war would undoubtedly be the most brutal war in the history of any of those countries.

"Should we just call it a day then?" asked Rainbow Dash, standing up to leave. "I don't really feel like going to the spa when we're about to go to war."

"No," said Applejack to the surprise of everypony. "Let’s...let’s just enjoy this one small comfort as friends. If this is the last day of peace, we should spend it doing something peaceful and relaxin' don't ya think?" the other five heads in the room nodded and Rainbow Dash sat back down.

* * * *

The rest of the spa day had passed in relative silence. Despite the best efforts of the spa workers, nopony was very relaxed. Even Pinkie Pie hadn't felt like smiling which was, for them at least, the biggest reminder of the gravity of the situation.

The friends had gone to Twilight's house for the rest of the day as they knew that Twilight would hear about the verdict one way or the other immediately. They did their best to pretend that the war was not coming, feeling that maybe if they pretended hard enough, then it wouldn't. They all knew the folly of it but they kept pretending, if only to keep themselves sane for a little while.

* * * *

"Okay, Pinkie Pie, do you have any threes?" asked Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie examined her cards, searching for a three to give to Rainbow. Finding none, she turned to her Pegasus friend.

"Nope, go fish!" said Pinkie. Rainbow Dash gave a good-natured grunt of frustration and picked up a card, hoping that it was the three she needed. No dice. She placed the card into her hand. Pinkie's turn came and she reciprocated. "Rainbow Dash, do you have any sevens?" Rainbow Dash gave another good-natured groan of frustration as she handed Pinkie Pie the card that she had just drawn from the top of the pile. "Woohoo!" said Pinkie placing four cards down on the ground. “Book of sevens for me!" she said happily. It was Applejack's turn now and she examined her cards. Unfortunately for her, all of her cards were different so there was no one card in particular that she was looking for.

"Uh, Fluttershy, do you have any nines?" she asked. Fluttershy looked at her hand and grabbed two cards and passed them to Applejack. She examined the cards before nodding and putting them in her hand.

"Uh, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy. "Um...do you have any sixes?" Twilight nodded and slid a solitary card over to Fluttershy. Fluttershy picked it up and placed four cards down on the floor. "Umm...I'm out of cards then...I guess..." The other five ponies laughed and gave Fluttershy congratulatory high-hooves.

Twilight used her magic to put the cards back into one deck. "Play again?" asked Twilight to the approving nods of the rest of the group, sans Rainbow.

"I don't know. Fluttershy has won the last eight games! How does she keep doing it!?" asked Rainbow in a slightly irritated manner. Fluttershy blushed and looked at the ground, obviously embarrassed.

"Oh um...well, we don't have to keep playing if my winning makes you feel bad," she said quietly. Twilight glared at Rainbow before turning her attention to Fluttershy.

"Don't mind her, we don't care that you win Fluttershy. What matters is that we're all hanging out having a good time! Isn’t that right Rainbow?" said Twilight. Rainbow mumbled something but nodded just the same.

Before Twilight could shuffle the cards once again, Spike came into the room. Everypony froze and stared at what was in his hand: a scroll from Princess Celestia. Twilight put the cards down and grabbed the scroll from Spike. The entire room held their breath and waited for the verdict. "Dear Twilight," said Twilight, reading the scroll. "Our scouts have reported that the Changeling army is mobilizing for an attack on Equestria. I sent messengers to the Changeling capital with the declaration of war. I just received one from both the Changelings and the Diamond Dogs. We have the full support of the griffon lands and the Disciples of Discord. I will make the official announcement tomorrow. You may tell your friends but nopony else."

Twilight put the scroll down. And the room was silent once more. For the second time in the decade, Equestria was at war.

* * * *

Applejack was given a letter from Spike the next day, telling her to meet back at Twilight's house. Being Celestia's protégé automatically made her a high ranking officer in the war and she was being sent back to Canterlot. Applejack was sad to see Twilight go, but she hoped that they would all be together again when the war was over...whatever that meant.

Applejack went back inside the house for a quick bite to eat before she headed off to Twilight's. She only had the stomach for a hay bar at the moment so she sat at the table alone and chewed it in silence.

A few minutes later, Big Mac came in with the mail. "Mail's here," he said, placing it on the table. Applejack nodded and glanced down at the pile that Big Mac had placed down on the table. The most prominent piece of mail was a special report from Princess Celestia herself explaining the war and what must be done for Equestria to survive. Applejack tossed it aside. She really didn't have the stomach for that right now.

She took a bite of her hay bar and turned her attention back to the pile of mail. She sorted through it while Big Mac got a hay bar for himself too. Applejack was just about to take another bite of her hay bar when she saw it.

It was an envelope with the official stamp of Celestia on it. Applejack would have recognized a letter of that type anywhere. Tars began to fill her eyes as she began trying to hold back sobs. This wasn't fair! They had already asked Big Mac to go to war for Equestria and he had been wounded doing his part! How could Princess Celestia have the nerve to ask him to go to war again?

Big Mac picked up on her emotions and spotted the letter on the table. He wordlessly picked it up and examined it. Applejack was shocked to see tears beginning to fall down his eyes. Although, she shouldn't really be surprised; the horrors of war had already ripped him to shreds emotionally once and now they were asking him to go through it again.

Big Mac took the letter in his teeth, walked over to Applejack and placed it in front of her. Applejack closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face. She pushed the letter away, not wanting to read the horrible letter that could very possibly send Big Mac to his grave.

"It's not for me," said Big Mac simply. Applejack's eyes snapped open and she brought the letter back over to her. Sure enough, the letter specified whom the letter was for on the front. Applejack stared at the letter, horrified to see that her name was emblazoned on the front.

* * * *

Applejack ran towards Twilight's house, letter in her teeth and tears falling down her eyes. As she ran into town, she saw ponies checking their mailboxes. Applejack knew that many would receive the same letter as she had just received.

She banged on Twilight's door and within a few seconds, Twilight opened the door. Applejack saw that she was crying too. Twilight wordlessly beckoned Applejack into the house. Applejack entered to see Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all sitting on the floor. Applejack's jaw dropped at what she saw.

Each of them had identical letters in front of them. "Celestia no," said Applejack, sitting next to her friends. "Not you too!" she said. The other four said nothing as Twilight sat next to them.

"Well hold on everypony, we don't even know what they say yet. They may not even be draft notices or...uh...maybe we'll be sent to a department where we won't have to do any fighting," said Rarity.

"Well, the only way to know is to open them and find out," said Rainbow Dash. "I guess that I'll go first." Rainbow Dash picked up the letter and broke the seal on it. She scanned it briefly before reading it aloud. "Dear Ms. Rainbow Dash. We are writing to inform you that you have been chosen to be a member of the Equestrian Armed Forces in this time of war. You will report to Camp Arawak in Canterlot in two days’ time. Failure to do so will result in strict disciplinary action." Rainbow Dash re-read the letter a few more times before looking up. "Well," she said. "I guess I'm going off to go kill some Changelings," she said shakily. Fluttershy opened her letter next.

"Dear Ms. Fluttershy. We are writing to inform you that you have been chosen to be a member of the Equestrian Medical-Combat Corps in this time of war. You will report to Camp Stonewater in Canterlot in two days’ time. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action." She looked up at the group, shaking in fear.

"Well look on the bright side, you're a medic," said Twilight.

"Medic-soldier!" said Fluttershy. "I have to be a medic sometimes and a soldier at others! I can't kill anypony, I won't kill anypony!" said Fluttershy who began sobbing hysterically. Twilight moved over to Fluttershy to comfort her. Rarity picked up her letter and opened it. She scanned it.

"I don't understand, there must be some mistake! It says here that I'm going to go into the armed forces like Rainbow Dash! I...I don't think I can do that!"

"You have to," said Applejack. "We all have to do our part for Equestria. Don't worry girl, they're gonna train you up so that you'll know what you're doin' out there." Pinkie Pie nodded and opened he letter up. She read it and frowned.

"Dear Ms. Pinkie Pie, you are to be sent to officer's training with Twilight Sparkle. You will be stationed wherever she is. You will report to Camp Manabe as soon as possible. Your Pinkie Sense is required in these dark times." Pinkie read the letter once more. "I'm gonna go be an officer because they want to use my Pinkie Sense?" she said.

"I suppose so," said Twilight who was just as confused as everypony else in the room. Their eyes all turned to Applejack who slowly opened up her letter. "Dear Ms. Applejack. We are writing to inform you that you have been chosen to be a member of the Equestrian Armed Forces in this time of war. You will report to Camp Arawak in Canterlot in two days’ time. Failure to do so will result in strict disciplinary action." Applejack put the letter down on the ground. "I guess it's infantry for me, just like Rainbow and Rarity." said Applejack simply.

The room was silent for a moment before the six ponies gathered together in a large group hug. Each pony in the room wondered if it would be the last time they would ever have one.