“P-please give me a minute,” Twilight said to the train crew stallion.

“You have two. Hurry up. We wait for nopony.”

Twilight bounced off the steps and trotted to the mare. “Rarity?”

Rarity looked up and her face broke into a smile, but she hissed, “Shh, not so loud! and my name is Loushie Lotus.” And she said so in a different voice, with her best effort to suppress her natural unique accent.

Twilight was taken aback briefly but then realized Rarity was trying to operate under cover. Her dress and big fancy hat were meant to be some disguise, but Twilight found it hard to believe, probably because she was well familiar with Rarity’s brand of clothing. Who the hay would Rarity fool anyway? All those Apples? Twilight hoped. She couldn’t expect any good reaction from-

“Oh, I’ve missed you!” Rarity said, putting a foreleg around her tightly.

“Shh, not so loud!” Twilight hissed, “Please, look, we gotta get back on the train, it’s about to leave.”

“What? But I- I just got here, you can’t just expect me to get back on the train now-”

“We’re in danger, those ponies just might kill us-”

A breeze blew past, whisking the ticket out of Twilight’s mouth as she talked.

“~Gah! My ticket!” Twilight chased after it, but the wind blew it high up, and over the train. She tried to tractor it back but her horn hurt too much, and her headache spiked in pain. The doors on the train cars all slammed shut, and the horn belched. In seconds the motors in the locomotive roared, and the train lurched forward, out of the station.

Twilight could only watch in dismay as the train- possibly her only escape, pull away and disappear as it went around the bend behind Dawn Hill.

“I’m...I’m terribly sorry…” Rarity said, just seeing the drastic change she made to the lavender unicorn’s morning plans. She felt at a huge loss.

Twilight sighed and let her head hang a bit low for a few seconds. “No, its’...okay...I didn’t expect you to come back yet…” She was completely puzzled and dumbstruck by Rarity’s sudden unannounced arrival. Usually Rarity mailed fancy letters announcing her travels.

“Why now?” Twilight asked.
“I heard about everything,” Rarity said, trying to remain calm, “About Sweetie Belle...and everything Applejack’s done to her.” She tried not to sound angry but her voice constrained into a snarl when she uttered the Sweet Apple farmer’s name.

“Who told you?” Twilight asked.

“Nopony I know. This young mare came to my shop the other day, and told me all that had been going on here in Ponyville. She gave me the memory crystals, and said they were from you.”

“Who?”

“She said her name was...I think...no...wait, yes, it was Sundowner.”

Twilight would have been delighted knowing Sundowner made it to Canterlot, but she felt a huge surge of frustration. If Sundowner, carrying really important information, made it to Canterlot, why the hell did Rarity come to ponyville, and not Princess Celestia?

She failed to constrain a whined groan, and her stomach tightened. Well, that’s just great. FINALLY I can send out for Celestia’s help, but no, I get ANOTHER problem instead!

“Is something the matter dear?” Rarity asked in a hushed voice.

“It’s nothing...I just...There’s just too much going on here...I was really counting on...on Sundowner to contact Princess Celestia. I wrote her up all the clearances she would need and I was so sure the Royal Guards would take Sundowner right to Her…”

Twilight was so sure Celestia would show up and clean up the town with those Apples and set Applejack straight once and for all.

“Well, I wouldn’t know much about that dear. She told me Celestia is on vacation. Nopony knows for how long.”

Celestia on vacation.
Twilight tried not to grunt and gripe infront of her friend. But of all ponies, she knew that when Celestia was ‘on vacation,’ she was not to be disturbed. In her absence, Princess Luna dealt with all the major affairs.

“What about Princess Luna?”

Rarity shrugged, “I’m sorry, Twilight, I just don’t know. I came here to take my Sweetie Belle away from Applejack and...and give that mare a piece of my mind. If you want to leave town, that’s fine, I want to fetch Sweetie Belle, and we’ll be off. Now, where is she?”

Twilight didn’t want to confess, but Sweetie Belle was missing as of 175° the previous morning when she ran away from school. Twilight Sparkle was notified when a filly disappeared, and she did her best to track it down. Unicorn foals were easy to track down, she locked onto their magic signatures, and it wasn’t long until she found the wayward foals. But yesterday, she was not informed of Sweetie Belle’s disappearance. She didn’t even know about her until she found Scootaloo.

“Well, the thing is...She’s...she’s miss-”

“Hey Twilight!”

Both mares instantly looked up and saw Rainbow Dash flying down towards them. She landed right in front of Twilight, and tried to catch her breath.

“What is it, Rainbow Dash?”

“Where the hay have you been, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash demanded, “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, where have you been?”

“I...I had some work to do with a family last night…” Twilight said, realizing there was no convincing Rainbow Dash given the condition she was in.

“Yeah well, guess what? Your treehouse is on fire!”

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

“WHAT?!

The raging inferno roared and pretty much swallowed the entire treehouse that was the Golden Oaks Library Sparks shot out from the base of the tree and the structure around it as the combusting wood released all the magic it had been imbued with. It had been burning for several degrees now, and the local air guard of pegasi were flying around the inferno, keeping most of the wind out of it and the smoke from spreading over Ponyville.

“My home...my works….my books…MY LIFE!! What the shit, what the shit, WHAT THE SHIT!?” Twilight screamed as she completely lost it and her mind just unraveled and fell apart. It was at times like this she went completely psychotic. She collapsed to the ground, and began stuttering, rambling and shouting, then she pissed herself when she realized that the entire spellbook collection being burned was infact the property of the Magic Academy at Canterlot.
Oh the things Celestia will do to her when she hears about THIS.

The town guard ponies had formed a blockade around the burning treehouse to keep ponies from getting too close, while the pegasi did their best to contain the flames, which easily towered ten trots over the tree.

“Stand back, Sparkle, the pegasi got this,” Town guard stallion Promontory barked at her.

“No, I can stop this!” Twilight shrieked, then she bolted around hem and galloped toward the raging inferno despite the intense heat the townguards and townsponies felt.
“Hey! Get back here, you!”

Twilight galloped and charged up her horn, frantically racking her brain for those anti fire spells she read up on eight years ago back at Canterlot. Before she could cast anything, Rainbow Dash tackled her to the ground. Twilight shrieked and panicked, and tried to fight RD off, but it was no use. Right after RD pulled her back, a huge burning branch broke off and hit the ground right where Twilight would have been.

Rainbow Dash and three other pegasi dragged her back to safety behind the townguard ponies. Rainbow Dash jumped on her and pinned her to the ground to keep her from running towards the flames again.

“Idiot, you want to burn to death? What the hell is wrong with you?” Rainbow Dash shouted at her.

“I have to stop the fire! All those spell books~ Celestia...She’ll bucking kill me!!” Tears streamed from her eyes as she screamed over the loud roar of the flames.

Rainbow Dash wingslapped her across the face. “Get ahoof of yourself!” Rainbow Dash shouted back. “My crew is on it! Look, here they come with the raincloud and waterspout now! Don’t make me keep you here, you try and go back in there, and I’ll pound you!”

Rainbow Dash leaped into the air and flew off to join the others.

Two big burly townguard stallions stood infront of Twilight, and threw her to the ground when she tried to make a break for it again. She could only watch helplessly as the the pegasi, well trained by Dash, smashed open the burning door and windows, then jammed the entire waterspout in through the largest of the windows. Steam violently spewed from the openings. Twilight looked up and saw that the waterspout stretched all the way down from the rain cloud the pegasi hastily assembled. More brought in another and hooked the twister up to it when the other cloud ran out of water. Using a third cloud, the Pegasi triggered a torrential downpour over the burning treehouse.

Twilight, on her back on the ground, could only look on as the Pegasi worked their water magic, and she realized if she went in, she would have been steamed to death instead.

Within three degrees, most of the flames had been extinguished. Smoke and steam still hissed out and rose above what was left of the treehouse. All the leaves were burned to ash, leaving a grisly dead tree, charred black and white. The building constructed around it, once concealed by leaves and bushes, was no longer recognizable. The second floor was completely gone, give for a huge gaping hole where a part of the tree collapsed on itself. The upper part of it snapped off, fell and hit the ground, leaving the main part of the library wide open.

The fire out, the pegasi continued raining on the smoldering ruins, and walked and flew in and around the place, looking for burning, which they quickly put out.

Twilight Sparkle, in a complete daze, and probably a bad case of shock, entered the library. Pegasi walked around her, no longer concerned of her safety as the fires were eliminated. Wet soot formed a black muck that everypony had to step through. Nothing was recognizable. There wasn’t a single piece of property that wasn’t scorched. Twilight stepped down the stairs to the basement-

The stairwell beneath her hooves gave out, and she fell into a pile of burnt wreckage below.

Rarity, still in her ridiculous disguise, looked around the place, also in disbelief.

“Excuse me, miss mare, but we’ll need you to wait for your friend outside.” one of the pegasi told her.

“For your information,” Rarity snapped back, “I’m Rarity, the.....Element of Generosity, thank you.”

That made the pegasus think twice about trying to escort her off the destroyed property. Even though she said ‘former’ her voice could not be imitated, and the pegasus knew right off the bat it was her.

“Oh...my apologies ma’am. Uh, do be careful.” And he flew off.

Twilight climbed out of the basement. Nothing of her lab remained. The lavender unicorn had practically moved her life’s work from the library in Canterlot to here.

“I’m...I’m awfully sorry, Twilight…” Rarity said, trying to comfort her.

“It’s...it’s okay…” Twilight said, still in shock. When the shock wore off, she’d be nothing more than an immobile sad crying sack of dead weight.

“Come on dear,” Rarity coaxed her, “Let’s...let’s go...I still want to find Sweetie Belle, and we’ll be on our way back to Canterlot.”

Twilight gasped, the word shattering the stunned calm in her. Canterlot. Failure. Princess Celestia. Angry. Furious. Colossal rage. Holy condemnation. Moon. Fire. DEATH.

“No!” She shrieked as she suddenly sprang into a gallop and bolted out through what was left of the door frame.

“T-Twilight! Wait!” Rarity shouted after her. But the lavender unicorn was running off in a complete panic. Rarity chased after her.

But the two mares didn’t get very far. Because a horde of mighty pissed off Apple town guard stallions and mares came charging out of nowhere, shouting and screaming, and swarmed them both.

Both unicorns tried to evade and gallop in different directions, but the furious mob of earth ponies violently crash-tackled Twilight and Rarity to the ground, and piled up ontop of both unicorns.

Twilight was taken down instantly, but these Apple ponies yanked violently at Rarity's clothing, tearing everything off. She shrieked as she was shoved about, then somepony reared up on her hind legs and swung a hoof at her, bashing her right upside the head, knocking her large overfancified flower hat off. The hat fell gracefully to the ground where it was instantly trampled.

Once all her fancy clothes were torn off, and her true self exposed, Rarity was buck-kicked in the ribs, then slammed into the ground, bashing her nose on a rock, causing a nosebleed.

The mob slammed their faces into the dirt. Before Twilight knew what was happening, they had her hogtied, gagged, and capped.* The same horn cap Sweetie Belle was forced to wear was now on her bruised horn.

Rarity put up more of a struggle. "Unhoof me, you savages!"
She heard a stallion roar as he came at her with a large blunt farm tool, ready to swing right down on her horn-

"Hold it!" The voice of Anna Apple Pomme shouted.

They all stopped, just short of stomping and hoofbeating these unicorn mares, and looked up. So did Twilight and Rarity.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Apple Turner shouted, “You’re under arrest for reckless magic disturbances, gross negligence, criminal trafficking, animal cruelty and ponyslaughter. Take her away!”

Twilight tried to scream for help but the gag was tightened and they strapped a muzzle over her mouth and tied it tight, rendering her unable to speak. They roughly dragged her on her flank through the dirt back the guardhouse.

When they brought her in, the town guard stallions dragged Twilight Sparkle, already tied up, gagged, muzzled, and capped, down into the basement where the ‘dungeons’ were located. They threw her into a dark damp cell lined with a plumbum*-steel alloy to block magic radiation and transmissions. After throwing her in, they slammed the steel door shut, and trotted off. The only light came from battery lamp at the end of the hall, through the three narrow slits in the door.

Rarity was also tied up, capped, muzzled, and thrown into a different cell. Both mares had little to no idea that their lives were now hanging in the balance, to be determined by a ‘righteously’ pissed off Applejack, who ordered their arrests and witnessed the whole spectacle.

Politics at the local level were an interesting affair, a construct governed by Princess Celestia’s degree, and established in such a way to prevent corruption.

First, all political and governing positions were voluntary, and not paid positions, as in ponies holding seats in village, town, or county councils were not paid to sit on their flanks and debate ideological governance, policy and law. Each and everypony to occupy a seat had a job of his or her own. Hence, in Ponyville, most town council meetings were held in the evenings.

Second, council members had no time terms during which they served. Every council meeting was first come, first served. No seat had a pony’s name on it. The only name signs were that of specific roles carried out by ponies, such as ‘mayor’ or ‘treasurer.’ The only fixed position in most small towns was mayor. In larger towns like Ponyville, additional positions such as treasurer and so on had their own seats. In general, there was mayor, treasurer (sometimes the mayor had this job too), and guard chief.

Third, elections were only limited to the top fixed positions, and only called when the mayor resigned or the council voted to host one when the mayor was undesired. As per the law of government at this level, automatic termination of mayor resulted from unauthorized use of the town coffer (the money), or a criminal offense. Votes to hold an election and oust the mayor were only called for when the majority of the council were unsatisfied. This was done by one pony calling for a vote, with the others responding by raising or not raising their hooves. By default if most council members had their hooves up, an election was called, and the final count held in two weeks.

Fourth, in most small towns, there were hardly any ideological factions or parties at work, as they were forbidden. In addition, lobbyist ponies, who pressured or bribed council members voting or calling for new law or for repeal of old law, hardly appeared at the local level.

Fifth, ponies from elsewhere had to wait a year in order to actively participate in the council sessions, and until then, they were silent observers standing at the sides or back of the room. Observers (which in theory could include lobbyist ponies) were forbidden from interfering in any way, and could be arrested and jailed up to 10 days.

This legal framework enabled a town council to properly function responsibly in the interest of the town, and enable every resident to participate. In short everypony 20 years and older who lived here for a year or more were basically all council members. And of course, participation in the town council was mandatory from two years (cut down from five years) for everypony, with a minimum 100 degrees’ time a month.

There was of course town and county administrative work, but again it was unpaid, voluntary and only compulsory for a short time. Of course, this framework wasn’t perfect, but was set in place to prevent corruption.

In the last year since Apples began showing up, many of them have keenly watched council meetings and kept tabs for Applejack. In recent council meetings, ponies have questioned the growing Apple presence, unicorns have lamented the growing anti-unicorn sentiment among the new residents, and the resident Apples, who participated more and more in the meetings, have shouted down their opponents citing that the Apple family helped establish and build Ponyville, and every Apple had a ‘Sun-given right’ to be there.

Other ponies became concerned of the Apples’ growing influence in the town council. Especially when permission was passed for mass ‘agricultural development’, a vigilante night watch, the mass acquisition of farm property (this issue was raised at county meetings), and the Apples’ interference in other ponies’ day-to-day life.

At the most recent council meeting, ponies raised their ire over the changes being made to the town guard, and the rising incidents of unicorn harassment, and ‘religious aggression,’ as the Apples’ Sun Book thumping was labelled.

And then, just the other week, the Apples attempted to oust Mayor Mare by calling for an election. They narrowly lost the vote thanks to the other townsponies in council. They also tried to do the same thing to oust the town guard chief Acorn Tibbs who was out of town, and appoint that position to one of their own.

The real drastic changes to the demographic in Ponyville began when the Apples carried out their nightly campaign of terror- disguising themselves as thugs and brutes and going after ponies they didn’t like. In response, other ponies began leaving town, starting with the unicorns, who had no interest in resisting the Apples, widely known for their hatred of unicorns and magic.

And of course the other flavors of corruption were present, bribing, bedding (a few Apple mares tried to get close with other townsponies), and harassment.

By the morning Twilight Sparkle tried to leave Ponyville, the town seemed a lot less welcoming, even those ponies who lived there for their entire lives.

Six degrees after the two unicorn mares were arrested, an urgent meeting was called and held in a room on the upper floor of the town guard house.

The room was crowded, and all seats at the table were taken. Mayor Mare, and those who oversaw the administration offices sat on one side of the table, facing Applejack, Anna Apple Pomme, and Apple Turner. Pomme and Turner had been carrying out an impromptu role of vice chief, and were taking their orders directly from Applejack.

A bunch of other Apples and town guard ponies attended the meeting, including a pegasus, Airheart, and a unicorn named Applestar, both were ‘racial advocates’ of their own. The ‘earth pony’ advocate was old Mr. Greenbuck, who had been on the force for over 30 years.

An interesting note Sundowner passed on to Twilight and whoever she reported to at Canterlot, was that Applestar (legal name Apple Stars), was by blood, an Apple family member despite being a unicorn. Her mother, also an Apple mare, mated with a unicorn stallion, and when the Apples found out, filly Applestar witnessed the brutal beatings her parents received, and she was locked in a basement and missed out on what really happened to her parents.

Rather than be burnt at the stake for her insolent existence against Celestia’s demand on the Apples, Applestar was later placed on a cart that took her out of that town. She was discovered and adopted when she arrived in Ponyville.

She had a good fillyhood from that point on, but when she and Applejack met, they were anything but friends. Applejack scorned her from their first run-in at school as fillies. Granny Smith forced Applejack to be welcoming when she invited Applestar to Sweet Apple events.

When she got out of school Applestar worked several jobs over the years, and she even worked at Sweet Apple Acres during applebuck and zap apple seasons.

Then when Granny Smith died, and Applejack called in all her relatives, Applestar was fired, and went two weeks without money or food (her bank account was put 'under investigation') and she had to live on hoofouts. Ponies refused to take her in, then she was arrested over false charges and dragged into the guardhouse. There she met Anna Pomme (who orchestrated her job loss.), who gave her the ultimatum to give up magic or face the brunt of the Apple wrath. She complied and was given a low level job at the guard house, and was under constant supervision.

Being named Applestar seemed to the others like a mere naming coincidence as the official word on the Apple family is that they are all of them earth ponies, and they sure as hell will never admit otherwise.

Truth be told if ever told was that there were quite a few unicorns and even some pegasi living in Apple clans throughout Equestria. These families overlooked the moral infractions they incurred regarding magic and ‘Apple purity’ for the sake of their daily work being made easier. Unicorn Apples easily lifted tens of thousands of bars’ weight in apples from the trees, saving the others the hoof breaking work of bucking them out.

But of course, these clans hoofed a fine line with their neighboring relatives, whenever they came to visit, their unicorn and pegasus Apples were kept out of sight. Sadly, in Applestar’s case, she was found out and cast away.

Other town guard ponies stood along the walls and by the door. Some were relieved Mayor Mare was here, thinking she would put Applejack in her place. Fat chance.

“Awright,” Applejack said as she put on her hoof claw (pen attached), dipped the pen in her jar of ink, and opened her notebook, “This meeting will start now. Ah thank you kindly, Mayor Mare, fer comin’ in ‘ta see us, what’s up?”

“Likewise,” Mayor Mare said uneasily. She was quite frazzled from the last round of high stress council meetings and dodging oust votes. She even forgot to dye her mane and tail this week, and the pink at the hair roots began to show. She had more than a small hint it was Applejack who told everpony to vote her out.

“I want to address this growing crisis between us, AJ. I’m hoping a little chat will do us all some good.”

“What kind o’ chat, Miss Mayor? If yer’ thinkin’ this here town guard is steppin’ outta line, that ain’t so. We’re followin’ all them rules on how we operate.”

“We, Applejack? Last time I checked, you were hardly involved in the town guard at all.” Mayor Mare countered.

“Things change, ma’am, now Ah’m here. But Ah ain’t taken the Chief’s chair if that’s what yer thinkin.’ Chief Tibbs is up in Abille right now, so we’re just coverin’ fer him. His vice quit cos’ he got sumptin’ against us Apples. Ah got Ana an’ Turner coverin’ till Acorn Tibbs gets back. Why, take a gander over at the Chief’s seat. Ain’t nopony sittin’ in it.”

It was true, the Chief’s pad was unoccupied by none other than the wood-carved sign saying ‘CHIEF’.

“So, tell me,” Mayor Mare asked, “Even if nopony’s on the chief’s pad, then why are so many of your family members all in the town guard? As per the county charter, nopony may serve in the town guard until they’ve lived in town for at least five years, ten years out in the county, unless there’s exceptional permission from the chief and myself.”

Applejack stood up. “You accusin’ me o’ breakin’ the law? All o’ these Apples have been in the county for five years, and many o’ them been livin’ in Ponyville. Just ain’t no pony been taken a notice at them yet.”

Mayor Mare grunted. After a tense meeting with the ponies who ran the administration offices and other meetings with ponies in other towns, she learned there was no record on any of Applejack’s distant relatives. The Sweet Apples were the only Apples in Ponyville County. She felt she had to be careful, given everything she knew was going on. “But that still doesn’t explain to me why there are so many Apples-”

“Fer yer information,” Applejack barked, “That should be no dang problem, even if the entire town guard is all Apple ponies! Ah’ll tell you why they all joined, and need Ah remind you that it is mah family who built Ponyville from the ground up. We established this town, and there wouldn’t be no Ponyville without us! Maybe just some half-ass crap hole full o’ squatters! Ah am so sick of all them ponies livin’ here amongst taken us and dragging our name through the mud! Ah will not tolerate the disrespect goin’ on around here! Because we built this town, mah family deserves no less than to be revered! Even by all them unicorns who live here. They wouldn’t have nothin’ fer homes an’ jobs without us! And need Ah remind you it was mah family who helped write up the town charter! Mah great great grampa Apple Smoker penned the damn paper! All yer disrespect fer us is unacceptable!”

A pony sitting next to Mayor Mare quickly whispered something in her ear. Then she spoke:

“Applejack, no town is perfect, and I’m sorry you feel that you’ve been...disrespected, but pray tell, what do you define as disrespect? In my entire career as mayor of Ponyville and on council and in admin, I have heard nothing but good things about you and your family. I even held an award ceremony when you steered away that stampede, and I organized that sendoff when you went to the Canterlot Rodeo. Did anypony admonish you for not winning first place or not bringing back the bits to fix town hall? By the light, no. That was a competition, and we knew you’d do your best but victory and prizes are never guaranteed! We still gave you a warm welcome when you came back, and we still found means to raise the money and we fixed Town Hall! Where is this disrespect coming from? Because, the only-”

“Okay okay, so it ain’t comin’ from you,” Applejack snapped, a little jilted from the flashback. “And Ah thanked you time an’ time again fer all o’ that. But everypony in town is tarnishin’ us! Especially them unicorns!”

“Maybe they’re not tarnishing your family, Applejack,” Mayor Mare challenged, putting her entourage on edge. “I’ve spoken to many ponies this past year since Winter, and they were merely raising concerns or telling me of incidents involving certain Apples-”

“Jus’ what the hell does that mean?” Applejack shouted, slamming her front hooves on the table. “‘Raisin’ concerns’? That’s just outright lies! We’re only doin’ what we have to ta’ protect ourselves!”

“Such as the repeated attempts to vote me out as mayor? What is that all about? Seriously? You should know I only worked for the interests of this town.”

“I doubt that,” Apple Turner grunted. “If you were truly working for the benefit of all ponies, then you and your administration would have not made efforts to block our products from entering the markets, namely our-”

“Those blood apples of yours have never been tested. There was no due process on the matter. You acquired so much farmland quickly, you destroyed entire crops of other food plants, you then imported large amounts of the blood apple plants, and the soil have never been tested. Nopony knows what will be the total environmental impact of this ‘import’ of yours!” Mayor Mare shot back. “And nopony knows if these blood apples are even safe to eat!”

“They are safe to eat, and we had a crop of 900 blood apples ready to go to market and you signed the order to block them! There’s a lot of bits at stake here!”

“Don’t forget the health of your customers, particularly your loyal unicorn customers,” Mayor Mare argued, “I wanted a full inspection of those blood apples before allowing them on the markets. No doubt your family encountered similar obstacles when you tried to sell them to other towns around here. I consulted Twilight Sparkle on the matter-”

“That witch has been lying to you on the entire thing!” Applejack shouted, startling the mayor.
“Applejack! Calm yourself!” Turner barked. He and AJ exchanged looks and the orange hick sat down and placed her Stetson hat on the table. “Proceed if you must, Mayor. Might as well know about all this crap being thrown at us.”

Mayor Mare nervously tapped the stack of papers on the table. “As I was saying...I consulted Twilight Sparkle on the matter. She has experience conducting agricultural inspections around the county and she’s done much to prevent infestations, and huge problems that undesirable farm plants (Applejack grumbled) would have wreaked on the local environments. Her reports on the blood apples were unsettling to say the least, given the extreme toxicity of the plants and trees themselves, and the way these plants operate. Miss Sparkle also explained, referencing publications on the subject, that blood apples are known to suck dry the magic within the pony that consumed it, a huge hazard to pegasi and unicorns. You, yourself, received the memo, Applejack: I still wanted your blood apples thoroughly tested properly, to see for real what these things do to those who eat them. That’s why I hoof-stamped that paper to ban them from the markets.”

Mayor Mare took a quick glance at Applestar, who looked visibly unsettled. She also thought about Sundowner’s account and memory records Twilight Sparkle showed her.

“...and from what I heard of the tests already conducted on these things, I am no further inclined to let you sell them here.”

“What?!” Applejack shouted, “Who the hay told you about these tests?”

“Twilight did-”

“No,” Applejack barked, “Who told Twilight Sparkle?” She looked more alarmed than angry and didn’t even want to contemplate the details of Sangshine Blood Apple’s experiments getting out.

“A mare named Sundowner.”

“That bitch! When Ah see her, that Sundowner will be in fer a world of pain! T-them tests were not meant fer eatin’ qualities,” Applejack muttered bitterly.

Sundowner’s disappearance had been a huge strain on her. That dumb mare disappeared one night. She robbed Applejack’s study and vanished without a trace. Applejack ordered a marehunt, and still nopony found Sundowner.

“Anyhow,” Turner grunted, “Since you so callously disregarded our word on the blood apples- we have Blood Apple family members who have grown blood apples their entire lives, for Light’s sakes! Mayor Mare, you and your administration disregarded us and our product so quickly, without consulting us on the issues-”

“We did so many times, Mr. Apple Turner-”

“Quiet! I’m talking! You blocked our efforts to sell them to hungry ponies. A huge economic blow to us Apples who are only trying to feed everypony. That is why we no longer see you as fit for your duties as mayor. You have demonstrated a bias against us, and we will not let that stand!”

“Ah reckon it was them unicorns who payed her to block them blood apples,” Applejack muttered.

“With all due respect,” Mayor Mare shot back, “for all anypony knows, I probably saved you a huge bag of problems that could have occurred had ponies been getting sick or suffering magic problems from your blood apples. It could have been a much bigger loss to your bits and reputation! Thousands of more ponies would have issues with you than there do now!”

“There won’t be any issues,” Applejack spat bitterly.
“I concur,” Ana Apple-Pomme added, “The only problems being raised are all part of your grand scheme to relegate us out of the scene and into some dark corner.”

"And, what about this...," Mayor Mare checked her papers, " law work that was submitted during the council meeting last Mariday...where you tried to ban sugar from Ponyville, and close down Sugarcube Corner, along with all the other bakeries and sweets shops in town. Had I allowed a vote and Light forbid, this law passed, it would have put the Cakes and so many other ponies out of business! How could somepony even do such a thing?"

"Fer your information, Mayor Mare, "Applejack rebutted, "Sugar is a toxic poison and it is a blasphemy to pull it out of fruits, canes, an' what not! Ponies ain't meant to make, sell, or eat sugar or any o' them sugary foods. It drives them foals crazy, and you can't get them to sit still or do what they're told. And ponies' r addicted to the stuff. Take a look at Pinkie Pie, that dumb pink quack is loiterin' ‘round Sugarcube Corner bangin' on ponies' doors, beggin' fer a fix."

It was almost true, Pinkie Pie grew up on sugar since the day the Cakes adopted her. And when they threw her out, her sugar addiction drew her into crazy withdrawals. Sugar was not illegal, but ponies were urged to regulate their own consumption, so as to avoid being banned by doctors over health problems from purchasing sugar or visiting sweets shops.

Mayor Mare sighed. So much for problem solving. These Apples were worse than she thought. All of Twilight Sparkle’s reports swirled around in her brain. Explaining more would only agitate the Apples. Twilight Sparkle had become one of Mayor Mare’s favorite colleagues. She was the smartest and most competent scholar and (mad)scientist to serve Ponyville. Applejack assaulting and threatening to murder her. Applejack trying to have a unicorn filly dehorned, and of course the horrors from Sweetie Belle’s and Sundowner’s memories also floated around in her mind.

Then there was that whole thing about Sugarcube Corner and the other shops around town that sold sweets- the Apples in the council tried to push their paperwork for a law to ban all sugar, thus killing these family-run businesses. Everypony knew the Cakes very well. The Apples’ rationalization was that sugar was ‘impure’ and not meant for ponies, thus it was toxic. Sugarcube’s biggest customer, Pinkie Pie, would probably lose the will to live if that place shut down. The pink pony openly declared her hatred for the Cakes after they kicked her out, but her addiction to sugar brought her back and forced her to reconcile with the Cakes. A lot of ponies would lose their jobs and livelihoods had Mayor Mare not struck down the Apples’ new bill. They tried to hold a vote, and Mayor Mare declared the bill to be too rough and unfit.

Earlier today, after witnessing the violent arrest of Twilight and her fancy-dressed friend, Mayor Mare retreated to the admin building, called a meeting with her advisors, friends whom she trusted, and explained it all to them, then suggested the meeting going on now. They sent a courier pony to deliver the message, and Applejack got it. She replied with an invite for Mayor Mare and her entourage to meet here at the guardhouse.

Now, Mayor Mare felt she was on foreign soil, at a meeting room, deep in enemy territory. She was strongly advised against explaining the stuff from Twilight Sparkle and Sundowner, out of interest in both mares’ safety. Especially Twilight, whom she knew was chained up in a dungeon in the basement.

Applejack wasn’t enjoying the meeting either. She was on edge. Really on edge. That unicorn witch, Twilight Sparkle, had spread her lies and influence to the mayor, whom was trying to shut the Apple family down on Twilight’s behalf. And the fact that Sundowner and Apple Belle were missing didn’t help her at all. She didn’t want to know where Sundowner was at now, and Apple Belle, she was thinking twice about her initial response to Applegem’s recommendation that Apple Belle be burned at the stake. To expedite the whole reincarnation thing.

Mayor Mare cleared her throat. “Ahem, now I’ve to ask my greatest concern.”

“What would that be?” Apple Turner demanded.

“Why the violent arrest of Twilight Sparkle? And that other mare earlier this morning? I witnessed it, and so did many other ponies witnessed it, including unicorns. I’d like to know what charges have you against them, but more importantly why the excessive use of force?”

“Them’s no ordinary unicorns, Mayor,” Applejack answered. “You saw Twilight Sparkle then. She’s a freak. A mad-scientist, mad-sorceress freak. She was the one who lit our library up in flames, forcing them pegasi to risk their feathers n’ flanks to put it out. She must’ve had somethin’ going on inside when she left yesterday. All them things Twilight’s done have been a real quark on the earth ponies in town (Applejack only meant her own family). And you can’t deny that freak’s gone and went all crazy-like. We ain’t no idea what she’ll do next, so fer’ the safety of all o’ us, we had to bag her up. If we tried to be all nice-like, Celestia knows what that witch would’a done to us. Couldn’t risk it. As fer her friend, well she can’t be trusted either.”

“An’ don’t forget what that article in the newspaper said about her. More proof she can’t be trusted.”

“That article was directed at all the Mane Six members,” Mayor Mare countered, looking Applejack right in the eye.

“That’s just rubbish!” Applejack snapped back. That Emerald Sparkwire’s just another unicorn in on makin’ me and mah entire family look bad! She, or he, is dead on about Twilight, but is just lyin’ about me. Probably paid off by some rich unicorn freak up there in Canterlot.”

“Back on track,” Apple Turner said, then he turned to Anna Pomme.

“Mayor Mare, you no doubt violated the law so many times in the last year, and I have kept tabs on everything,” she said in a cold tone, “I really don’t see what the point of this meeting is. All we’re doing now is pointing hooves at one another. But I’ll be frank with you: we Apples will not tolerate any crap from the likes of you, and we have ways of dealing with ponies who make attempts at anything against us.”

“Is that a threat?” Mayor Mare demanded.

“No, Miss Mayor, it is not a threat. Consider it a promise. We have grounds to arrest you and have you tried for your violations of duty and law. My advice to you is this: Hoof us your immediate resignation as mayor, or our council members will be forced to have another vote against you. And, given your situation, you’d do well to relocate somewhere else.”

“You...you really are trying to take over this town…” Mayor Mare breathed. She was flabbergasted at such an arrogant proposal, but she knew that the Apples were quickly ebbing into a dominant position. Only Princess Celestia could stop them now, and the only means to summon any intervention from Canterlot was located in this building.

“You’re damn right we are,” Anna countered, “The Apple family built this town, and kept it alive during times of agricultural and economic disasters. We held off famines, poverty, and civil unrest. You’re welcome. And since we no longer seem to be welcome in our town, we’ll just make it ours by absolution, thank you very much. Ponies living here have two options: They can make do, and get used to us, or they can leave, we won’t stop them. The third option, consider it to be rather unpleasant.

“I think we have talked enough here,” Apple Turner grunted. “This meeting is adjourned. Gentlestals, please escort the *ahem* mayor and her friends out. Anna Pomme, type up a letter to the mayor, you can even get Applestar to type it up for you. The rest of you, get out and get back to work.”

Due to the design and construction of the air pipes in the guardhouse, much of the meeting was heard by a group of townguard ponies who huddled at the end of the interrogation room, with their ears up to the vent near the ceiling. Nopony made a sound.

These ponies, not from the Apple family, and loyal servants to their boss Chief Tibbs, were quite unsettled when they witnessed the brutal and unpleasant arrival of their favorite, Twilight Sparkle and her friend, Rarity. The door was kicked open, both mares dragged in, all tied up and pulled by rope, then thrown down the stairs into the basement, and into the lead-steel cells.

“Hey, what’s going on?” they were asking as the Apples threw the two unicorns into their cells, then slapped the paperwork on the table in the basement meeting room.

“Y’all can forget about bein’ friends with this Twilight Sparkle as you call her,” Big Jeresy bellowed. “That unicorn is a deranged witch and she is to be considered armed and dangerous. She burnt down the library today, and as y’all remember, she caused those magic disturbances resulting in the death of a unicorn, and them pets o’ Fluttershy’s. Your friendship with that freak is over. Don’t be talkin’ to her, don’t be friendlike to her. She is an enemy of all ponykind. Only the Apples will be dealin’ with her from now on. Got it?”

The dumbstruck ponies nodded, and Big Jeresy walked back upstairs. Then they listened to the meeting several degrees later. After it concluded, they were convinced the Apples were their major enemy. They had a hushed meeting of their own, barely speaking above whispers.

The hanging battery lamp lit the meeting room with a yellow-tainted light. The basement was a lot darker now that the Apples threw out the biolumes that lit the place.

“Well,” Shamrock said uneasily, taking a seat at the table. The rest, Peachy Cream, Pigpen, Rose, Shortstack, Welly, the three pegasi- Crafty Crate, Luftwing, and Deep Blue, and the two unicorns Quick Fix and Orion sat around the table, and exchanged hushed comments. The oldest, 76-year old bearded earth pony, Beef Oates, took a seat and didn’t say much.

“The Apples really are gonna take this town over,” Peachy said.
“Ya think?” Crafty Crate snarked.
“We’re in real trouble,” Quick Fix grunted.
“You don’t believe all that crap about Twilight being a witch do you?” Shamrock asked.
“She ain’t no witch,” Beef Oates creaked, “And the lot of you should know that. Twilight’s been your best friends since the day she joined us.”

The ponies looked at eachother then down at the table. Beef Oates was right. They all enjoyed working or hanging out with her. Even those who took some time to warm up to Twilight ended up liking her in the end. They knew she did anything to help them out duty-wise, or personally. Peachy Cream’s boyfriend cheated on her and ditched her, and Twilight was there to help. Crafty Crate had some ego issues which Twilight managed to get him around without making him depressed. Even PigPen, a really odd and formerly unhygienic stallion, was taught some good personal life skills by the unicorn, and didn’t come to work smelling like shit like he used to. Even now some mare in town took a liking to him.

Until recently, Twilight talked to them alot about the Apples, and even brought in a copy of the Apple Family Compendium, a huge heavy book. and in return, they were also there for her when she had her rough days. They made sure she had coffee when she needed it, breaks when she needed them, and comforting when she thought the world was going to cave in and crush her. And none of them liked the fact that Twilight Sparkle, their best colleague, and Year 1003 ‘detective of the year, was now tied up and locked in a cell nearby. The Apples countered her influence by telling them she was indeed evil, and tried to force their religious crap onto them.

“This blows,” Welly sighed. "Let’s get her outta there and see if she’s alright.”
“But the Apples will kill us,” Deep Blue said anxiously.

“Come on, don’t make like Sundowner. They’re not gonna kill us,” another commented.

“She break her out, and she can teleport us all to a safe spot, then we make a break for it.”

“Nope. Her horn’s busted. Bruised up and everything.”

“Shit…”

They all went silent when they heard somepony stepping down the ramp from the floor above. They didn’t know whether to sigh a relief or hold their breaths when Promontory showed up.

“Those Apples are goin’ too far,” he grunted. “I think its time we light up the Flare.”

Their eyes widened. Was their matter that serious? Would the armies of the national guard take them seriously, or throw them all in the slammer for causing a ‘false’ alarm?

The Flare was just that, a giant flare. A magically infused cannon stored in a locked chamber within the guardhouse. Three keys were required. Two to open the chamber and get to the Flare, one to open the three slots of the false second chimney through which the Flare was fired from its chamber below.

When fired, the Flare sent a beam of blinding light up into the sky for over a hundred day-trots. An accompanying computer connected to the Flare enabled the ponies to color code the beam, and indicate to Canterlot what kind of emergency they faced.

Once fired, it was a matter if they were taken seriously, ignored or jailed for 20 years for fraudulent use of a Flare. Flare cannons were often fired from threatened cities and towns during times of war, famine, disease epidemics, or other dangerous situations when the immediate safety and the lives of ponies were under threat.

Then there was the probability of the Flare, packed with so much power, burning down or outright blowing up the entire guardhouse, killing them all in the blast and fire.

“Think about it, our sovereignty and freedom as a town is being threatened. I take it you all heard the meeting.” Promontory said. They all nodded, unsure if Celestia’s divine wrath was no better than Apple domination. They all knew of the times Celestia crushed problems and conflicts by vaporizing entire cities and towns. Twilight Sparkle told them all of the brutal history of the Second Era, when all of ponykind was at war, and Celestia burned to vapor millions of ponies. And of course, the Apples’ notion of hell didn’t help either.

“Screw that,” Shortstack, the midget stallion, barked, “Let’s just get the buck out of here while we still can.”

“What say we light that thing up, and then run like hell. I sure as hay don’t want to be around when Princess Celestia shows up all pissed off an’ stuff."

“She wouldn’t kill Twilight,” Beef Oates commented, stroking his beard with a hoof, “Or Rarity...they’re both in the Mane Six, and Element holders.”

“I thought Rarity was killed in the fire last year,” Quick Fix commented, “that was even in the newspaper.”

“Well she’s alive. We all saw them haul her in.”

“Seems those Apples have settled down up there. Let’s go check on the two.”

Twilight Sparkle was in a world of hurt. And depressed like she couldn’t believe, and yet she was quite familiar with the affliction. And being hogtied, gagged, capped and lying in a heap on the cold stone floor of this dark cell did not help one bit. And all the things she was dealing with; the crushing guilt and searing shame, and the paralyzing fear of Celestia blasting her to oblivion just for the fire and all those destroyed spellbooks- it all came together like a beast's claw, carving its way through her body, grasping her heart, and squeezing it to the point each heartbeat felt like a kick from within. These things made her violent arrest by the Apple town guard so much worse and traumatic.

Barely illuminated by the dim light coming through the slits in the door, she hardly moved, give for heaving when she cried. She almost wanted to die, since she thought that this chain of catastrophic failures was all her fault, she had forfeited her right to live. All she wanted was to ask Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna was a quick and merciful death; to be lifted clean out of existence since she herself had been more of a bane to ponies.

Clank!
The metallic click of the lock coming loose startled her. They were back. Probably going to burn her or stick her in one of the pillories out in front of the guard house.
Another loud rusty metallic screech, the door slid open, and hushed whispers filled the cell.

“Where is she?”
“Over there.”
“Oh buck, is she dead?”
“Shhh! Keep it down!”
“Hey, Fix, a little light, will you?”
“Psst! There she is.”

A dim red light revealed five ponies standing over her, but she couldn’t tell who they were. She realize one was making the light. A unicorn.
“Holy crap they really tied her up-”
“Shut up! Let’s get her untied!”

The ponies closed in on her, and the red light hovered three hooves above her face. She felt hooves touch and feel her horn cap for the straps-

“Owwww~” Twilight groaned. They accidentally pressed too hard.
“Yup, she’s alive.”
“Don’t touch the horn!” The unicorn with the light hissed at his comrades. “Orion! Get your star shining flank in here!”
More approaching hoofsteps. “Help me get the cap off!”

A faint blue light came from another unicorn, and Twilight felt the straps of the horn cap loosen, and the cool breeze as the horn cap was lifted clear of her horn.
The other ponies pulled and tugged at the muzzle and gag in her mouth, and the thorny rope around her hooves.

“Buck, it’s too tight!”
But the ponies kept working to loosen the knots on the back of her neck and the muzzle was pulled off of her and gag-

“Open wide, Twi,”
“You moron, her mouth’s jammed open. How much rope did they stuff in there?”
“Just a wee bit, Twi, don’t wanna rip your teeth out.”

Twilight tried to open her mouth, which was already jammed open by the knot of rope those Apples shoved in her mouth. She was hardly breathing through her nostrils as it was. But the ponies managed to loosen the ball of rope and held her mouth open to get the whole gag out. Her jaw and tongue muscles ached immensly as relief set in, but she felt like she was going to puke, even though her stomach was empty. Soon as they got the gag out, the town guard ponies were working on loosening the rope around her hooves.

“Twilight!” the unicorn with the red light hissed at her. “Twilight, can you hear me?”
Twilight only responded with a groan.
“Can you breathe allright?”
She nodded.
“Anything broken? Can you move?”

Twilight struggled to move her hooves. She felt a painful bruise on her left flank from when she fell through the burnt out stairs at the library.
“Good, then get up. We have to get you outta here! cmon!”

“Please...just let me die…” Twilight croaked. She looked up at them with tears in her eyes.

“Hey, hey, hey, none of that. This ain’t the time for you to get all down an’ shit!” another pony hissed. “We’re risking our flanks already, so come on!”

They pulled her to her hooves, and she coughed, and sobbed. Today was definitely not her day. Her comrades tried to comfort her.
“Relax, Twi. You’re safe. We got you, it’s ok.”

Rarity gasped for air after they untied the rope around her mouth and pulled out the gag. "Who...Who are you?"

"Relax, Rarity, you're safe, we'll get you out," Welly assured her.
"D'uh yeah, we ain't with those Apples," Pigpen added.
"Ew, what is that awful smell?" Rarity gagged as she covered her nose with a hoof, "It smells like a diamond dog covered in rotten curry urinating all over itself, and then rolling in its own manure!"

Pigpen's ears sank, and he lowered his head and backed away. He tried so hard to keep himself clean, but that insult cut deep.

"Don't listen to her-"

Hoofsteps on the ramp above.
“Snuff out that light!”
The cell went dark.

Promontory closed the door behind him and carefully trotted down the ramp into the basement of the guard house. He came to the corridor, his shadow giving two ponies heart attacks.

“Oh thank Celestia, it’s you!” Rose heaved a huge sigh of relief.
“Dammit, don’t scare us like that!” Deep Blue hissed.

Promontory grunted. “A little soon, don’t you ponies think?” He knew they’d try and break out Twilight Sparkle. And he told them to wait. But they didn’t listen.

Rose and Deep Blue said nothing. Promontory pushed past them towards the cell. The others managed to get Twilight Sparkle out. Quick Fix had his light beamed on her.

“How is she?”
“She’s busted up real bad. They stomped her horn, look at it.”

“If they stomped her horn,” Promontory snarled, “they’d have ripped that thing clean off.”

Crafty Crate cleared his throat. “But we still ain’t gettin outta here past all them Apple ponies.”

“Please,” Peachy Cream pleaded, “Please tell us you can teleport us out of here?”

Twilight grunted. She was in no position to cast a huge high voltage teleport spell. Had that brat, Scootaloo, not kicked her in the horn yesterday, she would have impulsively beamed herself and Rarity away from the raging mob of Apples. And after them striking her in the horn several times, she was hardly able to cast a single spark. She felt so powerless and helpless now. It would hurt a thousand times more than the searing headache she already had now to attempt to teleport at least one of herself and these 13 ponies out of the guard house somewhere else. And in her condition the best would be some random spot within 2000 trots of here. Who knows where they would end up? She cringed to think she’d accidentally drop anypony (or herself) right over Sweet Apple Acres.

“Sorry, but she’s out of commission,” Orion said. “Buck it, let’s light the flare and break out through the sewer.”
“Yeah, but...we have to smash up the bricks to remove the metal grate over the shit hole, and for buck’s sakes it smells.”
“Yeah,” Peachy Cream complained.
"Wait, what about Rarity? Can she teleport us all out?"

“You idiots!” We are sitting under a horde of psychopath Apples. Which would you rather prefer? A hike through the tunnels or we fight our way out? Those Apples can easily outnumber us 10 to 1. Those of you not tending to Twilight or Rarity, nor keeping watch, get to work! The rest of you, hide in the cell!”

“Hey Rarity,” Clover Grassblade asked, “Can you teleport? Twilight’s horn is busted up.

“I’m afraid not. I don’t even know the spell. And...ouch...those Apples, they hit my horn when they put that garish cap on it.”

"The nerve o' that Mayor Mare comin' in here tryin' to tell us what to do..." Applejack muttered bitterly as she and Anna Apple-Pomme trotted into Anna's office.
Anna sighed as she sat in the swivel chair behind her desk.

"No matter, AJ. The next council meeting, we'll have enough ponies to vote her out for good."

"Shoot, Ah say we just have her a good old fashioned midnight sendoff."

"That won't work, Applejack."

"Why not?" Applejack demanded.

"Think about it. She is popular. Why else would our last two votes to kick her out fail? She's been mayor for over ten years. And from what I know, we Apples are very unpopular. There have to be two candidates for mayor or an election can't happen. Who among us do you think could defeat Mayor Mare? She's more competent than any other mayor pony I've seen, even though she's not operating in favor of us."

"But-"

Anna silenced her with a wave of a hoof, and continued talking:
"Ponies are suspicious and some even think we orchestrated these night sendoffs. It will not go well for us if you order our cousins to bag Mayor Mare and throw her on the midnight train. It's illegal, and she is well known.

"Our reputation is bad enough as it is with all we've done here, and that violent takedown of those two unicorns early this morning was way too excessive than it had to be, and it did not help our reputation one bit. Twilight Sparkle is hugely popular, and many townsponies watched her and what's-her-face be stomped to the ground, tied up and dragged off like wild beasts. It goes to show what we think about unicorns."

"But Anna, Ah thought you hated unicorns-"

"I do. I hate unicorns and their magic with a passion. It would be delightful if we could simply tie them all up on a huge pyre, douse them with coal and oil, then set them aflame. But we can't exactly do that. Word would get out, and such a witchburning would arouse the ire of the wrong ponies. No doubt the national guard would show up, then we'd be in trouble. But alas, we can’t simply run every unicorn out of town, so the only alternative is to co-exist with them, well the ones who aren’t troublemakers. They keep away from our homes and families all will be fine. And I know you, among many ponies, would like to see Twilight Sparkle burn, am I right?"

"Absolutely, fer what that witch's been doin' tryin' to hex us all-"

"Twilight Sparkle will not burn, at least not yet."

"But, she really is a threat-"

"Not when she's all tied up and in a lead cell, down in the basement. And by law, she has to be tried, and convicted, then punished. And by law, in order to execute a felon pony, in this case, Twilight Sparkle, we need a permit from Canterlot, which will not come without a proper stack of evidence and court papers. Understand?"

"Aww gee, why do ponies have to muddle up such simple matters? Ah say just burn her an' be done with it."

"Of course, there's the next problem," Anna Pomme replied.

"An' what's that?"

"Princess Celestia. You should know this, Applejack. Twilight is Celestia's prodigy. She raised her and trained her in magic. I dare say Celestia thinks Twilight is her own daughter. Now, what do you think will happen when Celestia, the most powerful alicorn and the very ruler of all of Equestria, finds out that her precious Twilight has been burned to death by a mob of hysterical earth ponies?"

Applejack found herself avoiding Anna's cold stare. She already felt embarrassed that unlike all the other Apples she bossed around, Anna-Pomme was able to cut through her charade and get right through to her, just like Granny Smith did.

She knew the answer to the question, but didn't want to admit it.

"Ah know what yer sayin, an Ah guess yer right, but Ah'm afraid Celestis jus' might vent her wrath on all o' us fer dealin' with these unicorns to start with."

Anna leaned back in her seat. She would have openly scoffed if she wasn't trying to be helpful. These rural Apples were so backwards it wasn't even funny. Coming from Manehattan, Anna-Pomme didn't believe in such superstitions.

"Damned if we do, damned if we don't. I'm sure anypony has felt so. I can see that you're fearful, Applejack. I've seen a lot of things in Manehattan. I know what fear makes ponies do when there's enough of it. I think fear is the biggest thing to curse every Apple pony in Equestria. Fear attaches itself to something, and in our case, its unicorns and magic, all because some fear-stricken Apple wrote that we were to avoid unicorns like the plague. When in truth, the order from Celestia to our ancestors was merely not to employ magic in farming because magic fields were highly unstable at the time, and thousands of unicorns were dropping like flies."

Applejack’s eyes widened. Had somepony else said that to her she would have flipped, but Anna Pomme’s cold stare kept her cool. “Wh-Where did y’ hear that?”

“Right in our own history books,” Anna answered, “It’s quite a search. The very parchment and the books on it are all stashed away by our rich relatives up in Canterlot. No wonder the rest of us Apples have no clue. You told me about Celestia blowing up your farm after Twilight Sparkle lifted thousands of apples out of your trees. That never happened, did it? And before now, she was your friend. You really think Twilight would have done these same things you did to her in the name of all this purity?”

“....well no-but you- yer...yer bossin me around. Anna- yer’-”

Anna Pomme silenced her with another hoof wave. “I’m not trying to take over this town or replace you as the mare incharge of everypony here. You have free reign over every Apple to move onto Sweet Apple Acres and in Ponyville. They all do as you say, and as a leader of the family, I’d say you’re doing quite well. However, beyond Sweet Apple Acres, things need to happen in a reasonable way not just for us, but for the ponies we want to stay in Ponyville with us. We gotta be a little...nicer. These ponies, earth ponies, pegasi, even unicorns who mind their own business need to feel the same about Ponyville with us here as they did before we all came. As your legal pony, I want us to proceed realistically and rationally with this takeover of Ponyville that’s seemingly underway. Another thing, aside from the whole Twilight Sparkle spectacle, I think we need to put on a more cheerful and accepting facade for the other ponies. Show them that we are not a mob of bossy brutes, ready to string up the next unicorn at random-”

The phone on Anna’s desk rang. She hit the speaker button. “Anna Pomme, here.”

”Yeah, um, we’re bringing in that Jager foal, Ripper.”

“What has that moron done now?”

”He attacked a pegasus filly. Sank his teeth right into her flank, and did a number on her wings. They’re taking her to the hospital.”

Anna seethed, with her teeth clenched, “I thought I told those blasted Jagers to keep their brats on a leash and not feed them raw meat! Who is this pegasus? What’s her name?”

”Uhh, she’s called...Cotton Cloudy. And her parents are at the hospital and they are really upset. The filly said Ripper was trying to court her or some crap like that and she rejected him. No doubt scared witless by him. So he got pissed and attacked her.”

“Very well,” Anna said, “Bring that monster in, and we’ll chain him up.” She hit the button again, ending the phone call.

“I don’t know if you know about the problems with the Apple Jager family,” Anna breathed, “given you’re at work making sure all Apples are settled and working where needed, but these Jagers have been a problem.”

“Ah heard a few things, but what exactly?”

“They let their brats loose, and they go slaughtering other ponies’ farm animals and pets. They have chased other foals, threatening to eat them. I told their parents not to feed those monsters any raw meat. They eat raw meat, it drives them berserk, and gives them an appetite for blood.”

“Heh...that’s an awful shame, Anna. They’s told me they’d not let this happen.”

“Just wait until everypony hears about this. A huge problem for us, but I see an opportunity here: We show Ponyville that even Apples who step out of line will receive just as brutal treatment as Twilight Sparkle. They should know we won’t tolerate any crime committed by our own. I think we’ll lock that maniac in one of the pillories out front, and everypony can pelt him with all the rotten food and shit they want. As for this Cotton Cloudy, I think we have enough bits to compensate them and shut them up.”

“Give ‘em mah money? That’s ridiculous!”

“No, it’s not,” Anna Pomme countered. This is a grave incident here. We need to stop the unrest right here and now. To these local ponies, you represent the Apple family. Show that you care about them. Why don’t you pay a visit to Cotton Cloudy and her family, offer your sympathies, condolences, and any support the Cloudy family might need. And I’ll take care of the Jagers.”

“V-very well,” Applejack said, feeling quite uncomfortable. The orange mare adjusted her Stetson hat, then got up and left Anna Pomme’s office.

Down in the basement, the townguard ponies who freed Twilight and Rarity were slowly removing the bricks around the sewer grate in the bathroom by picking them out with shovels and large pry-bars. It reeked in here.

“Sheesh, don’t the poop cleaners ever clean up down here?”

The ponies working on the grate had to keep from puking their guts out. It was one thing to be stuck taking a difficult crap in here, it was another to escape through this shit hole. However, Rarity offered to cast a spell to block their sense of smell while they navigated the sewer tunnels.

As Promontory ordered, the others remained hidden in Twilight’s and Rarity’s cells. Good thing too, as the pissed off Apple guards came stomping down the ramp into the basement, violently dragging and stomping that Jager colt, Ripper. He was all tied up and gagged, and dragged down into an open cell.

Twilight’s and Rarity’s allies all remained hidden and held their breaths. The ponies in the bathroom panicked, put back the bricks and scattered. Nopony made a sound as the Apple stallions threw the raging insane Ripper Apple Jager into his cell.

“Chain him to the wall!” Apple Bellow shouted.

“Buck you! Buck you all!” Ripper screamed, and Bellow and his four comrades all unleashed a brutal hoofbeating that hardly stunned the foal. When he stopped resisting, they chained him up by all four hooves to the wall. Now Ripper, a maroon-brown colored colt with a golden mane was upside down on his back with his hooves clamped tightly. He snarled and snapped at his captors like a wild dog. Apple Bellow responded with a swift buck kick to his head and he stopped moving.

“You!” Bellow shouted to Promontory. “Where’s the rest of your boys?”

“I sent them out on patrol, you know, keep them out of trouble.”
“Good.” Bellow barked. “Nopony touches that cell, you hear?”

“We ain’t plannin’ to,” Crafty Crate replied, trying not to look nervous. The Apples slammed shut, and bolted the lead-steel door tight. Then, satisfied the cell was secure, they went upstairs, confident these two stallions, Promontory and Crafty Crate would keep watch.

After the Apples left, the others resumed opening the grate. It took nearly all of them to lift the steel grate up, and pry a piece of wood under one side to keep it open.
“Alright. Now the flare.”

“We can’t” A green colt named Clover Grassblade replied, “We need two keys and that mare, Anna Pomme, has them both.”

Before anypony could respond, Promontory pounced, smashing his way through the door into a closet. A mare’s squeak ensued, and they all gasped when he dragged out the Apple unicorn by her neck and dropped her on the cold stone floor infront of them.

She cowered, and whimpered, “Please don’t kill me! I have the keys you need!”

“What do we do with her?” Deep Blue asked.
“She might rat on us!” Quick Fix said.
“No she won’t because we’ll dehorn her.”

“No! Please don’t! I’ll go with you! I don’t want to be here anymore!” Applestar cried. “Here’s the keys to the Flare.”

Applestar pulled the keyring from within her mane and placed it on the floor. The gold plated keys gleamed in the lamp light.

“You’d be abandoning your own family, Applestar. You sure?” Promontory demanded.

“It doesn’t matter. I-I should have bailed when Sundowner did.”
“Where is she?” Pigpen asked.

Applestar shrugged, “I don’t know. But...I’ll never be allowed to cast magic, and they all want to rip my horn off too. I saw what they did to that Sweetie filly. Please...take me with you!”

“Fine, it’s settled, she’s comin’ with us,” Promontory declared.
“An’ don’t get no funny ideas,” Crafty threatened her, “You so much as beam a volt back to some other Apple, and we’ll bury your ass!”

Applestar gulped nervously as Crafty stared her down.

“Now then, to the Flare room.”

The Flare was located down a dark stairwell that ran next to the shaft the Flare occupied, and they came to the bronze door. The huge door was etched with symbols, glyphs, and pictures of Celestia, Luna and a Flare beaming from somewhere on a map of Equestria to Canterlot.
Quick Fix and Orion had to come down to levitate each of the keys and place it in a keyhole. Turned out Applestar had eaten too much blood apple and couldn’t cast magic at all.

“Allright, Orion, on the count of three. One, two, three!”

The keys turned, and a loud metallic thump echoed from behind the door. The door lit up around its edges, startling the ponies, forcing them back up a few stairs. Then, the door slid downward into its slot, making way for the chamber.

Everypony gasped.
“Ya gotta be shittin’ me,” Crafty Crate grunted, staring wide eyed.

“It’s…” Quick Fix spoke. “...it’s empty.”

“The Flare’s gone!

Author's Notes:

*capped = They put a horn cap on her to keep her from casting magic.

Sorry for the seemingly lack of quality in this one, but my life has been hectic has hell with school, work, and personal bullsh*t. Will edit and improve later. Constructive comments and suggestions welcome and appreciated.