It had been two years since Sweetie Belle’s life changed forever. Before being sent to Sweet Apple Acres, the filly had been living with Rarity at their home, the Carousel Boutique, which doubled as Rarity’s workshop and business. Then, on that fateful day, while Sweetie Belle was at school, the Boutique burned down, and Rarity was taken to the hospital, badly burned and in a coma. Soon afterwards, she was sent to a better hospital in Canterlot.

A few weeks later, when Sweetie Belle asked about Rarity for the umpteenth time, Applejack sternly replied, “Rarity’s dead, sugarcube. She died two weeks back.”

That left Sweetie Belle heartbroken.

The day of the fire, Applejack picked her up at school and took her and Applebloom back to the apple farm, and in the year since, Sweetie Belle learned often the hard way just how different life was with the Apple family than what outsiders perceived them to be. On the outside, everypony saw the Apples as a kind, honest, and hardworking bunch. Guests to their events and weekly markets in town portrayed them as a very joyful bunch. Foals galloped around playing games with one another while the grown up ponies chatted cheerfully to one another.

However, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders discovered, the Apple ponies were very territorial, strict, and abnormally religious and obsessed with apples and apple products. One time, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were caught trespassing in one of the apple orchards by a guy named Bushel Packer. He put them to work for the rest of the day for trespassing. As far as the CMC’s or any other foals wandering around Apple turf uninvited were concerned, the Apple family considered them no different than their own foals, and put them to discipline or labor, pending on where they were or what they were doing. Then at the end of the day, the foals were sent back to their parents.

Complaints from parents rose of foals being punished harshly by the Apples, but the Ponyville town council dismissed almost all of them, citing the county family charter, and the Apples’ territorial rights to their land and all who trespassed on it. None of the town council or even the town guard’s judge deemed the discipline hoofed down to trespassers exceeded moral guidelines despite the outrage.

Foals took to making a game of it: race a selected course through Sweet Apple Acres, or pinch some apples without getting caught. Some foals got bold and brazen about it, but the CMC’s heeded Applebloom’s advice, and steered clear of the most reckless games other naughty foals took part in. It was often debated among young and naive foals as to which place was more dangerous: Everfree or Sweet Apple Acres. Over the years, even before the CMC’s were born, stories retold became urban legends as to how the Apple family captured trespassers. The CMC’s themselves heard some horrific stories themselves, all which Applebloom had dismissed easily.

But living with the Apple family was far different than being a mere visitor, customer or even a trespasser. They weren’t as cheerful as Sweetie Belle thought they were. Most of the times, they were apple obsessed workaholics, overly religious, and old fashioned. They disciplined their foals by beating them harshly. Strict orthodox religious codes were observed and enforced at Sweet Apple Acres. Of all things strictly forbidden was the use of magic, hence, unicorns aren't the Apples’ most favored visitors.

Sweetie Belle’s transition was somewhere between quick and gradual. From the day Applejack brought her home, she was put on tough chores, and whenever she gave any sign of displeasure or dread, Applejack always found more ways to work her to the bone. Applejack was very authoritarian, and came down hard on her and Applebloom whenever they got careless and talked back. One good note was that Sweetie Belle’s school grades went up, since Applejack, Big Mac, and the other ponies threatened to give her a painful ‘hoof beatin’ if she came home with a bad report card.

The labor regimen was gruelling and even after a few months, Sweetie Belle dreaded the hard work, even more so. The day began well before sunrise with the cleaning of manure, feeding the animals, and doing an endless checklist of things that better get done before the two fillies went to school. If they didn’t finish the tasks in time, they got walloped, before and after school.

As Big Mac once explained to her and Applebloom, all the strict adherence to everything was the only key to a good harvest of apples and everything else they produced on the farm. If they slacked off even the slightest, it was feared the whole operation would be derailed and the whole family would be in big trouble, as in their good fortunes in terms of weather would dry up, the apples would wilt and rot prematurely, animals would sicken and die, and their products wouldn’t sell very well. This ill-logic became an ages old obsession, long before their ancestors even settled in Ponyville.

But there were always days when Sweetie Belle and Applebloom failed to behave perfectly, or work hard enough, and they got spanked, smacked, and even fully beat for their failures or misbehavior. Even worse was the punishment they received when they disobeyed any of the grown up ponies. Sweetie Belle witnessed an equally harsh beating Applebloom received a month after she came to live with them.

After a stressful day of bucking the trees to the point they were too sore to walk, Applebloom said out loud in frustration, “Ah’m sick of these apples, and this whole dang farm!”

Applejack happened to be right around the corner of the barn when she heard that statement. Fully enraged, she pounced on Applebloom and started thrashing her with her hooves. Applebloom was beat to a pulp and in bed for a week. That time Applejack took time out of each day to shout at her and ‘remind her of the values of the family,’

Other times, Applejack was slightly more reserved about giving a beating, and when either of the two acted up, she’d drag them one by one to a private spot and whipped them them to her heart’s content.

The regime of discipline set Sweetie Belle straight and caused her to live each day in fear; from the minute Applejack woke her and Applebloom up at 35° (4:40) in the morning for early morning chores, to the minute she rested her head on her pillow between 70°(9:20) and 75° (10:00) late at night, completely exhausted almost to the point of tears. Some nights Sweetie Belle was so tuckered out she fell asleep within minutes of Applejack closing their bedroom door, other nights, she was so tired she could hardly fall asleep, and spend the night tossing, turning, thinking and worrying.

Another hard knock of Apple family life was their religion. Extremely conservative and orthodox than one pony could imagine. All Apple family members worshipped Celestia fearfully, and often kept to olden traditions, which essentially commanded that life be work and worship. The religion itself didn’t ban rest and relaxation, but the Apples were very superstitious, fearing if they rested on their laurels and slacked off, Celestia would bring an infinite number of curses and plagues on them and their land.

Every Sunday, the Apples often attended church, either at the one in Ponyville, or they just held their own service on their farm. Each family unit within the huge Apple clan had an elderly member sanctioned by the deranged priests from Nimbuscait to preach to them. But in the case with Applejack’s family, nopony could preach, so they went to another apple farm to attend the Sunday service there.

The church thing was sombre, dull, and boring. While the liberal church in Ponyville erupted in song, the ultra orthodox atmosphere of services the Apple family attended were boring and repressive.

The whole religion was centered around a fear of Celestia, the god queen of Equestria and pretty much their entire known world. Orthodox celestialism was dead in major cities and towns where ponies took on more liberal and favorable views, beliefs, and loyalty. But out in the smaller towns, old habits from centuries past still held on.

The Apple family was huge, and originated well before the Summer Sun Celebration. The entire family tree consisted of thousands of family members, branching out over several places and times in ponyfolk lore. They essentially became their own nation in a virtual sense. some ponies believed them to be a cult, much like the human mini civilisation, the ‘Amish.’ whom lived and worked off the land, and shunned the rest of society. Apple scholars wrote numerous papers explaining to the rest of Equestria their history and ways.

The Apples were like the Amish. They were very orthodox, they only used basic tools and machines to till the land, they shunned magic and electricity (few family units used electricity), and kept themselves distanced from the rest of society. Either Apple clans established small settlements outside of a town, or they established their own town, such as Appleloosa. That and their labor intensive and painfully disciplined, and irrationally superstitious way of life persevered through over a thousand years’ worth of generations. The olden times’ values never wore off.

A sad aspect of the Apple moral fiber related greatly to unicorns. Historical records revealed Apple family members leading their earth pony brethren in persecuting unicorns, carrying out witch hunts, executions, and de-hornings. History, often hidden away, was scarred with the suffering of unicorns at the hooves of fearful and delusionally righteous earth ponies. Persecutions got so bad that unicorns were either driven out of many areas or driven to extinction (via wars, executions, and dehornings.)

After the Summer Sun Celebration, unicorn numbers slowly rose again in earth pony dominated cities and towns. For centuries, many of them remained a persecuted minority. In “rough” towns inhabited by old fashioned, rough-and-tumble ponies and deranged priesthoods, dehorning became the most common method of a ‘non-lethal’ genocide. The human civilisation’s equivalent was circumcision. Proponents of dehorning unicorns argued that removing the horn eliminated any threat of magic, and allowed the use of the unicorn as labor, as opposed to outright killing.

Opponents of dehorning, many of them unicorns, fiercely argued against it, citing very high death rates, and the painful, horrible death suffered by unicorns once their horns were removed.

A unicorn’s horn is essentially a vital organ, much like the heart or lungs. It is the control piece of the unicorn’s magic system, and regulates conversion of chemical energy (food, oxygen), sunlight, and kinetic (exercise) into magic; safe storage of magic saturated substances (or mana); distribution of magic throughout the body; and ultimately, the unicorn’s use of its’ own magic. another interesting feature is the nerve connection between the horn and the brain, enabling the unicorns to cast complex spells, as well as simple tasks such as levitating and moving objects.

When the horn is snapped off, the entire magic system is destabilized by electrical signals throughout the nervous system (as in the case of a headless chicken running and flapping its’ wings), which cause explosive activity of the magic in the body. Within minutes or hours, the unicorn becomes sick as it is poisoned by the toxic mana and radiation, triggering a series of complex ailments, which kill the unicorn within days of the dehorning.

The removed horn itself becomes a bomb and eventually detonates, releasing energy as harmful radiation.

To combat unicorn deaths, dehorners often carried out the procedure when the unicorn was a filly, long before the development of the magic system. However, even then, dehorned unicorns suffered a lifetime of migraines, and other related illnesses.

The once-prevalent practice of dehorning was fuelled mostly by superstition, still strong in remote pocket regions throughout Equestria.

In the late 9th century, the settlement that became present-day Ponyville had a brief history of dehornings, mostly carried out by earth ponies on foals whom ventured onto their property. It was common for unicorn foals to be caught by mobs of angry earth ponies, violently dehorned, and sent staggering home to their parents. The uproar caused by unicorn residents and other earth ponies and pegasi opposed to such mutilation and the social attitudes that fostered the practice resulted in the establishment of a law that banned dehorning and imposed the death penalty on those arrested for carrying out the practice. During that time, a doctor set up a clinic and offered a ‘safer’ way for the practice to be done to unicorn foals, often paid for by ultra-conservative earth ponies who snatched the foals off the streets and brought them to the clinics. After the procedure, the filly was sent home.
To show that they meant business, the town council ordered the arrest and execution of the doctor and his staff. They were burned at the stake.

When Ponyville was formally established decades later in Year 903, and the county formally established in 914, it was written in both town and county charters that dehorning be strictly outlawed. The laws were endorsed by Canterlot. The ultra conservative earth ponies, disgruntled with the outcome, packed up and relocated to the more conservative Nimbuscait region, where dehornings, along with other brutal archaic practices are still in use.

However, despite the law, enforcement is another matter. The Apple family was so well respected (mainly in part for their assistance in founding Ponyville), town guards never ventured out to Sweet Apple Acres in 140 years since it was built. The Apples were left to enforce their own laws as they saw fit. And incidents in which unicorns were dehorned did happen.

of all terrible things Sweetie Belle experienced living with the Apple family, the worst was when Applejack tried to have her dehorned. It came up during late autumn when Applejack was speaking to a visiting relative named Applegem, the meaner family equivalent of Rarity.. From the moment Sweetie Belle met her, she did not like Applegem one bit. she was of the creepy ‘regal’ type from Nimbuscait. She scorned Sweetie Belle the minute they met and said, “Applejack dear, what in Equestria is this unicorn doing on your farm?”

An hour later, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were in the house when Sweetie’s name came up in the conversation.

“...we adopted her. Her mother was killed in a fire early this year. She knows full well that magic is strictly forbidden on this here farm,” Applejack explained.

“That simply won’t do, my dear. A unicorn’s a unicorn. If you intend to keep her, I highly recommend she be dehorned at once.”

“B-but there’s no place in this here whole county or even the next counties over where somepony’ll do that fer’ us,” AJ replied.

“Well then.” Applegem sipped her tea. “I think a trip to your relatives in Nimbuscait is in order. Afterall, we miss the lot of you and only I was able to travel down here to visit you.”

“That’s a great idea. Up there, we could take her in and have her dehorned,” Applejack replied.

Sweetie Belle listened from the kitchen where she and Applebloom were washing dishes, and she was filled with fear. She was always afraid of Applegem.

A few days after Applegem left, Applejack brought the idea of going to Nimbuscait.
“I haven’t seen our folks out there in so many moons,” Granny Smith lamented, reminiscing of old but good times.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac grunted.
“Then how ‘bout we leave first thing Lunday morning?” Applejack suggested, looking at Grannysmith.
“That’s dandy with me-”

“I don’t want my horn chopped off!” Sweetie Belle suddenly shouted.
“What? You shut yer’ dang muzzle, you little brat!” Applejack snapped, pounding the table with a hoof. “It’ll be good fer’ you, Apple Belle. You won’t be casting any o’ that infernal magic, and you won’t be cursing us and Sweet Apple acres. It’ll make you an honest hard workin’ pony like the rest of us! An’ don’t you dare gimme any guff about it, or Ah’ll-”

“Applejack, simmer yer saddle,” Granny Smith barked. “And you, Apple Belle, eat yer supper.”

“But Granny Smith, she’s gonna curse us all soon,” Applejack protested.

“Applejack, that is a load of hooey and you know it. Since when have we been ‘cursed’ by them unicorns?”

“Well...maybe not curse, but if they contaminate us with their magic, Princess Celestia jus’ might burn up Sweet Apple Acres and kill us all.”

Granny Smith cast a contorted angry look at the fillies. “You two, beat it!”

Both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle quickly and quietly retreated from the dining room. When they were gone, Granny Smith gave Applejack a serious look. “Is that what this whole Nimbuscait trip is about? Dehorning Sweetie Belle? Ah can’t believe you let Applegem get to you so easily. You ought to be smarter than that. Ah should’ve stayed at home when she was visiting.”

“Granny Smith, it ain’t hooey, it’s tradition. Unicorns and their magic have always been a threat to the Apples-”

“Applejack, that’s enough outta you. That’s only because they were gettin’ back at those who hurt ‘em! This whole war on the unicorns was started by the earth ponies long ago, an’ I won’t have any of it seep into Sweet Apple Acres, ya hear?”

“But the apples? What if-” Applejack tried to protest.

“Applejack Sweet Apple,” Granny Smith snapped, “Gimme one time a unicorn was on this here farm who actually caused a problem! What about that time Big Mac injured himself and you had to ask yer’ unicorn friends for help? Was any o’ them apples Twilight levitated outta them trees poisoned or make any ponies sick?”

“Well, uh, no, Granny Smith-”

“And what about all them times you had to run off and do things with your unicorn friends? Did they ever hurt you?” Granny smith challenged.

“Well, no...but King Sombra-”

“He was taken down by unicorns!” Granny Smith snapped. She didn’t have to refer to Twilight Sparkle or Princess Cadence, or even that battle at the Crystal Empire.

“Think about it AJ,” Smith continued, “If them unicorns and us earth ponies really were unfit to live together, y’think Princess Celestia would’ve put us all together?”

“Well, no,” Applejack conceded, her ears lowering.

“Exactly. Ah’ve seen plenty of dehornings in mah lifetime ever since I was a filly, AJ, and it sure as hell ain’t pretty. Them unicorns that got dehorned were sick and suffering beyond yer comprehension, and they were even more useless than earth ponies after gettin’ dehorned because they were so ill.

“We came to this here land because we wanted nothing to do with them deranged superstitious lunatics or their twisted religion, always thinkin’ Celestia would breathe down death and destruction fer Nightmare Moon knows what. We settled in Ponyville to get away from them freaks. Them ponies who founded Sweet Apple Acres vowed they and the rest of us to live and work in this county would not take up the twisted sick ways of them religious nutters. And ever since Ponyville was founded, the unicorns who came to live in our town hardly ever gave us a problem. They were no more trouble than the pegasi, or you an’ me.”

Applejack just listened, torn between the fear of hell re-instilled in her by Applegem, and the value and truthfulness of what Granny Smith was telling her.

“But...but...what about Trixie?” AJ protested.

“What about her? She was no more envious and jealous of any other pony. Had you gotten the alicorn amulet, you would have been behaving jus’ like her. And Twilight, your unicorn friend, used her magic to deal with that ursa minor and she put them two punk foals who brought it here in their place.

Granny Smith continued to lecture and dress down Applejack, then she said,
“We’ll go pay our relatives a visit, AJ, but mark mah words, I will be keeping a sharp eye on you and Sweetie Belle.”