Applejack was back on her hooves, barely. Her legs had decided to shake uncontrollably, which was making it difficult to stay upright. It was slowly dawning on her that she had just seen two ponies killed right in front of her eyes. Not even in defence, but cold blood. One was fleeing, one was unconscious. Then, even worse, Applejack had been fully expecting the same fate to meet her. She guessed her legs were quivering up a storm due to the surprise of still being attached to a breathing body.

Indeed, as she stood facing her ‘saviour’, her lungs were doing more breathing than they had done all day. She didn’t want to think how much of the disgusting air she was gasping in.

“Are you okay?” the pegasus asked. She felt like laughing at that. “Your cheek…” She had a right to be concerned. Applejack could still feel the blood dribbling down her face, soaking into her coat. She hadn’t intended to hit the mare as hard as she did, but after the feeling of the blade, her fight or flight instincts had gone into overdrive, and flight had hardly been an option.

She ignored this for the immediate future. “Who…” Woah! There was still not enough oxygen going to her brain. She tried again. “Who, are ya?”

“I can’t say,” the pegasus replied. “Not yet, anyway. Look, you need to stay hidden. The entire guard is on the lookout for you.” As if to emphasise the point, the pegasus flicked her head to either side, to check they weren’t being watched. “There are some ponies that can help you. A group called The Equestrian Resistance. Their base is near here. I’ll note down the directions.”

“No need,” Applejack interjected. For the first time since she arrived here, she felt more knowledgeable than ponies were expecting of her. She’d probably feel pretty pleased if this wasn’t already the worst day of her life. “I already know.” It was somewhat surreal having one of these soldiers advise her to seek out The Resistance.

“Right.” The pegasus nodded, her movements becoming quite impatient. “I… I need to go. Take this.” She lunged forwards, causing Applejack to unwillingly flinch. All the soldier did, however, was raise Applejack’s hoof, and drop a small disk in it. “If you find yourself against the guard, use this.”

Examining it, she saw it wasn’t just a disk, but a small button. She resisted the urge to press it, and slipped it behind her ear instead. The pegasus wasn’t finished. “Don’t do anything stupid. Do not trust The Chancellor. Change your appearance.”

She paused in her frantic commands, glancing around once again. Applejack took this moment to ask once more. “How do you know me? Who are ya?”

She turned her emotionless mask back to Applejack. “And I’m sorry. So, so, sorry.” The sentiment in that voice cast a spell over Applejack, and all she saw was a devastatingly sad pony looking back at her.

Applejack blinked, her eyes beginning to water, and opened them to see the pegasus already leaving. She launched herself off the ground, gliding through the tunnel as gracefully as one can in a full suit of armour, and disappeared into the sky. The Mile once again returned to an uncomfortable stillness.

Averting her gaze from the body of Lucky, Applejack made her way back the way she came. The mess that had once been the other stallion was a little harder to avoid. Keeping her eyes shut, she stepped around where his body must have been, gagging slightly at the smell. Once clear of the tunnel, she opened her eyes again, revealing the end of the road, where Tera was nervously waiting.

The mare trotted up to her, her carefree attitude now just a façade. “Hey. Uh-“

“Don’t,” Applejack cut her off. “I don’ wanna hear it.” She hadn’t the energy to be angry, but darn it she was going to try.

The uneventful trek back to Whisky and Radios was done in complete silence. Applejack needed some time to calm herself down, and Tera seemed completely content to let her. During the journey, her emotions waned, and the irritation she felt became more of a formality. As they approached the shop, Applejack decided to clear the air.

“Look. I don’t blame ya, ‘kay?”

Tera, who had been holding herself back, seemed to explode. “Oh Celestia, I am so sorry. I just moved without thinking, and I was sure you were behind me, dude! I’m really, really bad at fighting. I hate it. I couldn’t have gone back. But I wanted to, I really did!” The poor pony was in tears at this point. How could Applejack stay mad now?

“C’mere, Sugercube.” She reached a hoof around the other pony’s neck, pulling her in for a hug. As Tera sobbed into her shoulder, Applejack felt her own tears threatening to spill out again. She kept them in, however. It may be a bad idea to have them both blubbering in the street.

Tera eventually withdrew, her glasses crooked once again. Some of Applejack’s blood was smeared on her cheek. “This is why I only run the shop. I can’t deal with this- all this… y’know. Action and stuff.”

“Can’t blame ya. And don’ worry. I’m jus’ fine.” Applejack followed her into the shop, trying to keep her voice as understanding as possible.

“But your chee-”

“Jus’ fine! It’s a tiny scratch.” Tera’s silence indicated her submission to Applejack on the issue. “Does that kinda stuff happen often ‘round these parts?”

“No way.” Tera locked the door behind them, her shaking hoof fumbling with the keys. “Like, it happens. Sure. But not near here. I’ve never had to deal with those people before. We just got unlucky.”

“Unlucky? How?” A deep voice from behind launched the mares into the air. The keys dropped from Tera’s grip and bounced under a shelving block. Glen had appeared from the depths of the shop with less noise than a gust of wind.

“Oh, nothin’ really. A little scuffle. Nothin’ t’ worry ‘bout.” Applejack played it down, hoping to spare Tera from more guilt. The other mare wasn’t listening though, and was crouched down searching for the lost keys.

“But your chee -”

“It ain’t a big deal, really!” Applejack retorted, a little more impatiently than she perhaps intended. “It just needs some cleanin’. Be good as new in no time. Were you comin’ out to see if I hadn’t scarpered?”

“The thought crossed my mind,” Glen mumbled, latching on to the new topic. “But you seem like a pony that wouldn’t lie.” That was an understatement. “Tera, I’ll be taking Applejack back down. Will you be okay up here?”

Tera raised her head to respond, and smacked her muzzle on the bottom shelf. As she whinnied in pain, Glen turned away from the hurt pony. “She’ll be fine.”

She didn’t sound fine, but Applejack avoided disagreeing. Instead, she leaned towards the other mare, and nuzzled her quickly. “Thanks. And ya got a bit o’ blood on yer face there.” Tera merely mumbled her acknowledgement.

Trotting over to Glen, she reached him in the back room as he was tapping the code on the first door. “So? Come to a decision?” A decision to a question that only had one answer.

“I reckon I have, with some convincin’.” She avoided mentioning the source of this convincing. “I’d be happy to join ya’ll, till I work out where mah home is.” Glen nodded, content with her answer. “Firs’ thing’s firs’ though. I can’t go out lookin’ like this, as ya said. I’m gonna need a new look.”

“One step ahead of you, lass. I have just the pony.”

~~~~~~~~

“It’s, uh…” Applejack struggled to find the words as she stared into the mirror, the foreign pony in the reflection staring back. “It’s different.”

“It’ll take some getting used to, I’m sure,” the pony working on her hair, Populus Tremula, reassured her.

“Oh, sorry. I really ‘ppreciate what ya did, Populus. But-”

“It doesn’t look right. I understand, honey.” He dropped back onto all fours, returning the scissors to his trolly. A small section of Glen’s office had become a makeshift hairdresser. Something that the owner didn’t look too impressed with. “And please, call me Aspen.” The forest green stallion grabbed a smaller mirror in his mouth, and held it up for Applejack’s convenience, showing off the back of her mane.

“I never thought I’d see mahself with such a short mane though. And… the colour.” Applejack was perched in a folding chair. Sitting for that long in such an unnatural position had been uncomfortable, and her muscles cried out for a stretch.

“Midnight blue,” Aspen informed her, his voice soft and musical. “It compliments your coat. And I thought you’d look good with a pixie cut. It suits your facial structure.” In Applejack’s opinion, so did her ponytail. But she had to admit, it did the intended job. She certainly looked nothing like what she did before. Even her tail, sticking out a hole in the chair, matched her new appearance. Hair could grow out, however, given time. What she suspected would never go away was the large scar covering her cheek. It had been cleaned up, and wasn’t deep enough to need stitches, but was still horribly noticeable.

“I know it’s a big change, but it’s better than being recognised.” Aspen’s own olive green mane and tail were carefully styled, and over his sparklingly clean fur he wore a pinstripe jacket. He seemed the only pony in The Resistance who put any care into his appearance. “I know how you mares are with your hair. My own wife won’t let me near hers until I’ve promised to not change her ‘style’. Before you know it, you’ll be as familiar with this as you were with your old ponytail.”

“We’ll see,” she replied. Aspen tittered at the scepticism in her voice. “Still, thank ya kindly for takin’ the time over this.”

“Not at all, dear. It’s what I do best. And do try to take care of yourself. I’m sure I’ll see you around, however. I work as the provisional medic, after all.” As he made his way over to the brush resting against the wall, Applejack spied his cutie mark. A tree carefully cut into the shape of a pony, representing topiary. Cutting hair was obviously not what Aspen did best, but it was close enough.  Applejack had to grudgingly admit, while she didn’t think it suited her looks, it was a very stylish job.

She finally descended from the seat and stretched, feeling her muscles sighing in happiness, before shaking herself. Blue hair danced in the air around her, before drifting to the floor like confetti. Aspen was already beginning the sweeping process, so Applejack left him to his work, and trotted over to Glen. The larger pony had been watching quietly the whole time from his chair, his expression unreadable. However, as Applejack approached, he broke out into a small smile.

“That works, Honeycrisp.” He referred to her by her cover name she had decided on, taking her own great grandmother’s name Granny Smith had often spoken kindly of. “Now there’s one last thing to change before you become a brand new pony.”

Applejack had been dreading this part. Her cutie mark. But as much as she wanted to avoid this step, she released it was vital if she was to remain incognito. “How’s this gonna work? I thought it was plum impossible to change a cutie mark.”

“Oh it almost is,” Glen mysteriously agreed. He spun in his chair, facing the screens. “But we have a pony that can go beyond the impossible.” Tapping a few buttons on the remote, the monitors sprang to life, displaying a grey canvas. “Specialist? Can you hear me?”

There was a pause, in which Applejack suspected the machines weren’t working. Then, in the top left of the screen, out of nowhere, thick black letters appeared.

Yes

“Grand. If you’re up for it, I have a job especially for somepony of your talents.” Glen continued his conversation with a talking screen. There were moments where Applejack questioned who she was agreeing to work with. This was one of those moments. “Are you free?”

Of course

“Thank you. Just give me a moment to explain to my newest recruit before you teleport in.”

You have a minute

With these words, Glen swivelled to face Applejack.

“Is this… a pony?” Applejack was almost going to continue with ‘or a machine’, but didn’t want to tempt fate. The thought of some lifeless creature having control over her cutie mark wasn’t an encouraging idea. Then again, neither was such a mysterious pony.

“Yes. A unicorn, to be precise. There are a few nice ones out there, surprisingly.” This wasn’t so much of a surprise to Applejack, but she widened her eyes in shock for Glen’s sake. “This unicorn’s called The Specialist. Specialising in any magic we need, to be precise. They’re powerful too, so changing your cutie mark won’t be a huge issue.”

“They? You’ve never met ‘em?”

“Well, yes, I have. In theory. The thing is, they don’t really like anypony knowing their identity. Look, you’ll see what I mean in a second. There’s no need to panic, though. I’ll admit, the first time is a bit weird.”

Applejack opened her mouth, her patience at an end. Glen was going to start making sense if Applejack had to force him. However, in the time it took her to blink, she found herself standing on the other side of the room, facing Glen, who was out of his chair. The words, that were on the tip of her tongue, seemed to vanish. Had she just teleported?

“Like I said, a bit weird.” He tilted his head slightly, looking at Applejack’s flank. “There we go. Problem solved.”

“What-” Applejack looked back. Her cutie mark had completely changed. The pony now had a lasso emblazoned on her hindquarters. “What!?” She stumbled, collapsing to the floor. How did- What-

“The Specialist has come and gone,” Glenlivet calmly informed her. He was failing to hide his humour, if his wide smile was anything to go by. The darn pony was finding Applejack’s incomprehension amusing. “A spell they never fail to use is the memory wipe. By the looks of things,” Glen glanced to the corner, where Applejack’s hair had been completely cleaned up, and Aspen was casually pushing his trolley to the door. “They were here for a fair amount of time.”

Applejack didn’t quite know what to say to that. Her mind was preoccupied with feeling robbed. “An’ ya trust ‘em!?” is what she eventually managed.

“Not much else we can do. They’ve helped us so many times in the past, and if they wanted to report us, or destroy us, they could at any time. And anyway, your cheek’s fixed.”

He was right. The scar was completely gone. Instead of having stupid hair and a scar, she only had stupid hair. She slowly shook her head in exasperation. In a matter of a second, her cutie mark had been changed, perhaps permanently, and a significant chunk of her memories had been stolen. Looking to the ground with a sigh, a piece of paper under her hooves caught her sight. Moving her limb out the way, she realised there was a note written in her own hurried handwriting. ‘Future me! The Specialist is-’ The rest was entirely cut off, the paper having been ripped away.

Hearing a light chuckle, she looked back up. “Nice try, Applejack.” Glen had noticed the note. “I’ve tried that one before. They’re smarter than that. There’ll be a gap in the security footage as well.” As he spoke, more words appeared on the screens behind him.

Clever idea ;)

Was everypony having a joke at her expense? It sure seemed like it. The words continued.

Good luck, Applejack. You will need it.

Then, with a flicker, the screens returned to their original black.

“I think,” Applejack blinked furiously, her eyes unfocussed. “I think I need sleep ‘fore this day gets the better of me.” Her legs chose this moment to buckle, unceremoniously collapsing her flank to the floor.

Still with that frustrating smirk on his face, Glen shook his head. “If you want my opinion, it already has.”

~~~~~~~~

The dormitories had been downstairs, back in the corridor Applejack had travelled through all that time ago. Once again passing by Commander Firefly’s door, Glen had shown her into one of the several doors that lined the walls. The dorm was surprisingly expansive, with many bunk beds lining the walls. Showing her to a free bed, he had left her to collapse into the itchy sheets. They weren’t important though. It was a bed. A soft bed, lovingly embracing her, whisking her off to a deep slumb-

“Hey! Applejack!” A squeal violently brought the cowpony back to the waking world. Blearily raising her head, she spied a little pony’s head hanging from the bunk above her. “I told you we’d be bunkmates! I was right!”

Applejack gave Idared a long, cool stare. “Ya sure did, sugercube.”

To her annoyance, the filly dropped down from the top bunk, and jumped in next to Applejack. “So, what do you think? Cool dorm, huh?”

“Sure is.” She gave the room a look over, something she’d not done when she wearily entered. “Looks great for sleepin’ in.” Applejack guessed Idared wouldn’t get the hint. She was right. “Wait. Who sleeps there?” She pointed at a bunk that had caught her eye. Nailed to the wall above it was a giant poster of a changeling.

“That’s Tera’s. She’s can be a bit of a geek when it comes to extinct species. Donkeys, buffalo, most of the big ones. Her one true love is changelings though. Little creepy, if you ask me.”

“Huh. That so?” Applejack’s reply was mediocre. She was done with surprises for the day. Everything else was just background noise.

The look on Idared’s face suggested she had noticed Applejack’s sleepiness. Would she finally give her some rest? “Big day, huh? Most interested part had to be the jailbreak, right? That was pretty crazy.” Guess not.

“Actually… this city’s intolerance is what’s gettin’ me. Why would any single pony not think everypony was equal? Let alone a whole darn city of ponies? It just… ain’t right.”

“Well,” Idared’s voice was softer. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

“…What ya sayin’, Idared?”

“It’s true. Earth ponies just aren’t as good as the others. We can’t do magic, right? We can’t fly. What use do we have?”

“Now wait a minute!” Applejack’s pride snapped back at the filly. “We ain’t got all them fancy abilities, sure. But we’ve got our strength, our endurance. Heck, no pegasi or unicorn would even know the basics of workin’ a farm. They’d just make a mess of it all.”

“Sure, we can farm and fight.” Idared returned anger with more anger. “Whoop de doo. That’ll help us show them what for. Who needs longer lives, or special ability, or more intelligence? We got farms!”

“Idared.” Applejack dropped her tone. Snapping at each other was the last thing they needed, even if what the filly was saying was complete horseapples. “Don’t ever think like that. Lifespan means nothin’ if ya ain’t puttin’ it to good use. And if these higher ups are usin’ their lives to make others suffer, then your life is worth a hundred times more than theirs. As for intelligence, please. Just ‘cause we earth ponies ain’t as fancy as them, don’t mean we’re dumber. You’re as smart as you want to be, puttin’ in the effort and all. You don’t need some silly horn on your head to do that. Y’know, the dumbest ponies I ever knew was a unicorn and a pegasus.” She ruffled the filly’s hair, pulling her closer. “Weren’t it Glen himself that said us earth ponies built this city? If that ability ain’t special, then I don’t know what is.”

Idared returned the hug. “I guess so.” Her voice remained unconvinced.

“If ya agree with all this rubbish, why’re ya in The Resistance?”

“Just because they’re better than us, doesn-” Applejack gave her a light smack on the head. “Okay, okay. Just because they think they’re better than us, doesn’t mean they should treat us how they do.”

“Now yer makin’ sense. Nopony has the right to make you live in filth!”

“Or take the food and stuff we work hard making!”

“Or lock you up fer no good reason!”

“Or kill my family!”

“Or tell ya whe- whu- uh…” Applejack’s momentum spiralled off a cliff. That had taken a darker turn. “Idared?”

“Wow, uh. Haha. Sorry. Kinda broke the mood there, huh?” There were tears building in her eyes. “Guess I’m as tired as you are.”

“Sugercu-”

“C’mon! Why aren’t you asleep yet?” She wiped her eyes on the back of her leg, reverting quickly to her natural grin. “You have no idea what crazy stuff you’re going to go through tomorrow. Initiation is a bitch.” She jumped out the bed, grabbing onto the ladder, and hoisted herself halfway up.

“Idared!” This time Applejack was forceful enough to stop the filly. The split second expression the older mare received was powerful, begging her to drop the subject. “H- have a good sleep.”

The grin returned, “You know it, roomie!” Applejack reluctantly watched Idared return to the top bunk.

Lying back, sleep didn’t come quickly this time. As she stared into the darkness, the memories of the day came crashing home, ending with the lonely pony above her. The tears that had threatened her all day finally escaped. She silently cried herself to sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Applejack had no idea what time it was when she woke. Was it just another disturbance like the ones she had been suffering all night, or was it actually morning? The lights were still off in the dormitory, but she doubted they actually existed. Surely, with such a group as this, there would be at least one pony sleeping during the day. The shuffling of limbs and clopping of hooves behind her were a decent indication of morning’s arrival, however. She had hoped it had all been a dream. That she would wake up in her bed at Sweet Apple Acres to the sound of the cockerel. Still clinging on to this belief, she curled up tighter in the bed, blocking out the sounds, the thoughts, the hoof sadistically poking her in the back.

“Lass. Making a ball of yourself won’t stop me from waking you.”

“Five… more minutes, Mac…”

The poking stopped, and once again the bed was the only sensation on her skin. That is, until she was pulled out by the scruff of her neck.

“Hey! C’mon! I’ve had better monin’s on harvest day!”

From her supine position on the icy floor, Applejack stared into the unamused eyes of Glenlivet. “I’m going to pretend I understood that for the sake of argument, and disagree. Look alive, sunshine.”

“Stallions allowed in this dorm?” From what she had seen last night, there were only mares sleeping here. Well, there had been. It was mostly empty now. A few sleeping ponies were ignoring this little exchange.

“I own this building, filly.”

“I ain’t a fi-”

“Commander Firefly wants to speak with you.” Now Applejack was awake.

She scrambled to her hooves, eyes wide. “What? Why? Did I do somethin’ wrong?”

“Possibly.” Glen wasn’t the reassuring type. “But I doubt it. It’s probably to do with yesterday’s report.” When Applejack hesitated, Glen flicked his muzzle. “On yer way. She won’t bite your head off, unless you provoke her.”

“Can’t I have a shower first? Brush mah teeth? Have some break-”

“Stalling tactics. Do I have to explain to her why you insist she meet you outside her office? She may be more inclined towards the head biting then.”

Applejack hastily shook her head, blue hair catching her vision. That was going to take some getting used to. Making her way to the door, Glen took up position at her side. Did he think she’d really run off? There wasn’t exactly many escape options. Nevertheless, his presence didn’t make the walk from the dorm door to the Commander’s door any easier. The corridor seemed to stretch on longer than it had the day before. The only information she had heard about the Commander danced in her head. She was harsh, brutal, an unforgiving leader. Applejack was determined to not be intimidated though. She didn’t want to be pushed around. She was doing a pretty poor job of staying strong at the moment though, if her racing heart was any indication. Before she knew it, the imposing wooden door loomed above her; the crooked nameplate with its carved letters looked larger than they had yesterday.

Without a second’s wait, Glen rapped on the door. “Commander. Applejack here to speak with you.” Oh Celestia, the nerves weren’t easing up.

After a moment’s pause, one that stretched on for hours, a heavily muffled reply came. “Send her in. You can go.”

Glen nodded, not that the Commander would see it. “Well, you heard her.” He opened the door, and Applejack took a few tentative steps inside. “Good luck.” Good luck? Why would she need luck? Before she could ask, the door slammed shut behind her, and the oppressive silence crashed down.

Gulping, she realised she was alone. The room was a dimly lit office, similar in size to Glen’s. This one, however, was much more organised. An ornate mahogany desk stood in the centre, mostly cleared of items, with the exception of a few letters, trinkets, and a picture frame facing away from her. The walls contained bookshelves, filled with hardbacks. A large globe sat in the far left corner, lit up by the wall mounted light above it. The far right corner was brightly lit, as atop a simple bird stand, a silent phoenix watched her with careful eyes. Well, she wasn’t entirely alone then. Under her hooves was the first carpet she had seen in this world so far. Everything was coloured a deep red, black, or soft brown, giving the room a very warm, yet imposing feel. It was a complete contrast from the metallic feel of Glen’s office, with its blue walls, and giant screens. Somepony had put a lot of thought into appearances here.

That somepony, she assumed, had been Commander Firefly. The pony in question was behind the door at the back of the office. It was slightly ajar, giving Applejack the thinnest view into what looked like a bedroom.

“Applejack, eh?” A weary, course voice called out from the other room. From the sound of it, Firefly was a fairly old pony. Late sixties, at least. “The name on every guard’s lips. And here you end up, sauntering in to my base.”

“I wouldn’ta called it saunterin’ to be honest with ya.” Applejack regretted the reply as soon as she said it. The Commander probably wasn’t a fan of smartass replies.

To her surprise, a cracked laugh was her responce. “No, no. Maybe not. Still, how in Equestria did a young mare like yourself end up here?”

“I, uh, was rescued by Idared. Some of them armoured pegasi threw me behind bars.” Applejack dared another few steps into the room, trying to peek a better view past the back door.

“No, you misunderstand.” There was a tone of understanding in the voice. A tone Applejack wasn’t entirely comfortable with. “How did you end up in Nova Equestria? Any pony with half a brain can see you’re not a local.”

Glen must have given her a brief explanation. “No. I’m from outside the city, I suppose. Magic got me here.” Taking another step, her attention was drawn to the picture on the desk.

“Some spell went wrong, and you arrived here?” How did she-? “That must have been… disorientating.

“That’d be about right. Disorientatin’s puttin’ it lightly.” The picture came into view as she circled the table. The phoenix released a warning growl as she drew close. Ignoring common sense, she slowed her pace so as to not spook the bird. The heavily faded paper under the frame meant a better angle was needed.

“And you have no idea where you are? Is that right, AJ?” The use of her nickname missed her recognition as the picture came into focus. Staring back at her from the frame was the image of herself. Standing next to her was a violet unicorn, a yellow pegasus, a pink earth pony, a white unicorn, and hovering above, a cyan pegasus. “This just seems like a different world to you?”

The cowpony yanked her head up. “How in sweet Equestria did you get…” The loud demand instantly lost its power, finishing with a weak “…this?” In the door, Commander Firefly had joined Applejack in the front room.

Her face was lined with wrinkles, while her entire body seemed thin with age. One eye stared weakly at Applejack, while the other gazed blindly, a solid white. Her thin hair hung around her, the different shades of grey betraying what must have once been an impressive variety of colours. Her coat was also an imposing shade of silver, with the faintest of blue tints. Two wings were tucked into her sides, sporting fewer feathers than a younger wing probably would. The brightest show of colour was her cutie mark. A lightning bolt erupting from a cloud, highlighted in red, yellow and blue.

“A memento from a forgotten age,” the pegasus explained to the dumbstruck mare. “Taken days before I last saw you, Applejack. About three hundred years ago.”