Salvation after Eradication

"As much as we love your hats, Pinkie, we've got bigger matters on our hooves," Twilight said.

"I do find them quite festive, dear," Rarity threw in a compliment. "Mine even has a drawing-"

"Hold your horses!" Pinkie exclaimed, ignoring Rarity. Having put two and two together, she glared at Applejack. "You were there for the raid at Sweet Apple Acres? You tried to fight, didn't you?" The pain of betrayal weighed down her voice.

Pinkie's head began spinning and she stumbled for words. The day she fled the farm with Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny was the last time her family was whole. It was the last time she allowed herself nurture the hope that everything would be okay. The futility of hope was mocking her now. Months later, her grandmother was dead. She and little Apple Bloom were forced to hide out like criminals. She'd watched her reliable, hard-working husband suffer the crushing weight of feeling like he failed his loved ones. And now trustworthy Applejack had gone back on a promise.

The look on Pinkie's face as she tried to digest her own thoughts was troubling. Nopony had ever seen Pinkie this upset before. Applejack hated to be the cause. She hung her head and sighed.

"Ah did it, Pinkie Pie. Ah cain't take it back."

"You promised me! And Mac! And-"

"Ah know ah did." Applejack looked up. "An you heard what happened to me. Ah was nearly killed, Pinkie. You can see the damn scar from the bullet iffen ya'll want to! But mah farm was the only home I ever knew. Born 'n bred, ya know, and I ain't never hurt so much in mah life."

"It was bad, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked. Her curiosity had caused trouble for her in recent months but this was the first time she let herself ask AJ about the raid.

"I watched the fire eat up Ma and Pa's grave," Applejack said, voice breaking. She didn't need to say anything else. The implications silenced her friends because Applejack never talked about her parents. The Element of Honesty was way too skilled at suppressing her emotions. A simple "I don't wanna talk about it" was always the honest but meager truth.

"Mac and I were scared to death is all," Pinkie finally said quietly. "You and Applebloom are the only sisters I have left now."

The Apple family farmhouse was filled with the scents of a warm hearth and cinnamon apple sweets. Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity were fussing over this and that. Granny was slaving away in the kitchen while Apple Bloom and the Crusaders were working for their Hearth's-Warming-Eve-wedding-decorating cutie marks. Fluttershy was the only level-headed pony in the house. She helped Big Mac straiten his bow tie.

"There's nothing to be nervous about," she cooed. "Pinkie Pie loves you very much, and she has been waiting for this day for a long time."

Big Mac swallowed a lump in his throat.

"...Eeeeeyup."

"Rainbow will come get us when Pinkie is ready. We'll meet at the church and watch the ceremony, and then we can have a big reception at Pinkie's farm... and you two can come back here and... um..."

"Eeyup." Mac chuckled. The farm had been used as the Apple family honeymoon suite for generations. He would continue the tradition tonight.

"I can't wait to see her all done up," Rarity said dreamily. "It took me forever to get her gown just right, but my friends must have the best! You'll be speechless," she assured Big Mac.

"Aww, shoot, he ain't never said much anyhow," Applejack teased. She threw a hoof around her brother's neck. "But today is all about you, big guy."

"An' Pinkie," he corrected her. "She's the reason we're havin' this shindig, remember?"

"How could I forget? I cain't wait for Pinks to join the clan." Applejack could hear a faint reprise of Apples to the Core in her head. It was almost too perfect.

No one would have predicted the wild party pony falling for the stoic farmer, but Pinkie and Mac were living proof that opposites could not only attract but could complete each other. The Apple-Pie wedding was the sugar-coated down-home celebration that everyone expected it to be.

"Girls, I hate to be rude, but we have important business here!" Twilight chided them. "We really could be Celestia's last hope! She could be out there somewhere... suffering... waiting for us..." Her voice faded away and she seemed to lose focus.

"Uh, Twi?" Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in front of the dazed egghead. "Maybe you should start at the beginning."

"I can't. We don't know what happened."

"Ok, so, who's we?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight took in a deep breath and began pacing around the room. Her eyes fixed on the ground as she spoke.

"Shining Armor, Cadence, and myself," she began. "We've been trying to hold Equestria together, but that gave us no time to leave the palace and search for the princesses. Celestia left no trace when she disappeared. She rose the sun one morning and the Lab Crop scientists started taking hold of Equestria before Luna was supposed to raise the moon. When we realized she was missing too, we ran into her chambers. All we found were two dead guards and a cluster of dark feathers scattered in her bedroom. We know the guards had their throats slit and we assume Luna injured her wing in some kind of struggle."

"Hold up there, Twi. How did them scientists take over?" Applejack probed. "Remember, you been meetin' with ponies who know more than us fer months while Pinkie n' me sat underground."

The memories Applejack had accumulated over the last few months were all blurred together. Each day was like a bland grain of rice in a large bowl. No day was special. No time was unique. Receiving a letter from Mac or hearing a particularly nasty news report were the only pieces of individuality that jumped out at her from the monochromatic rice bowl that was life in hiding. Another day, another grain.

Twilight cleared her throat.

"This all started when the scientists started selling the Lab Crop in Canterlot," she said, "and they marketed to the richest unicorn clientele. Notable ponies started buying Lab Crop food, so it became the hottest trend."

"Ponies actually liked that junk?" Rainbow Dash scoffed, thinking of the one-dimensional tastes and textures of the Lab Crop. When money was especially tight last week she purchased a pound of Lab Carrots and remembered likening them to tissue paper with an unnaturally orange tint.

"Dumb trends come and go all the time in cities like Canterlot," Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. "Before Lab Crop, everypony was infatuated with gardens showcasing venomous plants."

"Or clothing with bells sewn on," Rarity added in. "I appreciate daring fashion, but sometimes those rich unicorns get so bored that any silly pastime will amuse them."

"Naturally, we didn't think twice about Lab Crop's popularity. It was the talk of Canterlot until some ponies started speaking up about how unnatural it was. They were earth ponies who ran fancy organic farms that catered to the uppercrust. After they started making a fuss about the Lab Crop, other ponies stopped hearing from them," Twilight said sadly. "In hindsight... we should have done something then... we could have saved so many ponies..."

"Look forward, not back." Rarity calmed her. "You mustn't torment yourself."

"Right," Twilight said as she recomposed herself. "After the organic farmers went missing everything just sat still until the princesses disappeared. The Lab Crop scientists must have gathered an underground force. It was like the Eradication Facilities and Police sprang up out of thin air! Letters from terrified ponies trickled into the palace at first. Then they came in floods."

Tears sprang from her eyes as she looked at Applejack. "That was right before the raid at Sweet Apple Acres. Cadence and I knew that the Police were burning farms left and right, so when I saw the flames that day... I knew what was happening."

"I'm sorry we couldn't do more," Rarity added.

Applejack shook her head.

"Wasn't a thing to be done," she said. "Them scientists must've planned the time to set the fire. They burned the farm at the worst damn time. It was too late to replant and much too early to harvest anythin'."

"That's not all." Twilight wiped her eyes and finally stopped pacing long enough to sit down. "They released poison into the soil. I doubt any crops will grow there ever again."

Applejack had to change the subject at that point. "What about yer brother?"

"Shining started going undercover. He promoted a Lab Crop scientist to govern two Equestrian providences so he could gain their trust and be our inside spy. Cadence started establishing refugee camps in the Crystal Empire, and between the two of us, we kept the sun and moon in rhythm and tried to figure out what to do. We had no leads and no way to search for any."

"So Cadence is all alone at the palace?" Fluttershy cried. "With nopony to help her?"

"She's strong," Twilight said, "and she's holding up. But we're certainly on borrowed time."

"Are there any theories to go on?"

"None. That's the hardest part! The Lab Crop scientists want to eliminate earth ponies to end natural farming and increase demand for their product. That much is clear. But we can't figure out what other motives there might be. We've got to investigate."

Rainbow Dash darted to the door or Rarity's basement. All of the chit chat was driving her insane.

"Then, for buck's sake, let's go to Canterlot!" She exclaimed as she threw the door wide open.

Twilight gasped. A purple aura gripped the door and slammed it shut.

"What part of 'earth ponies are killed on sight' did ya miss?" Applejack said flatly.

"Oh. Yeah. Right."

"I hate to be the one to say it, but before we leave Carousel Boutique, Applejack and Pinkie have a decision to make." Twilight said. "We'll have to travel with you two under cover. So which disguise will it be? A pegasus or a unicorn?" She tilted her ears forward in anticipation of her friends' choices.

"Ah!" Rarity chimed in, "a disguise? Oh, do let me offer my expertise!"

Applejack felt the wind get knocked out of her. Every pony gazed at her as excitement welled up on their faces. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to show them off. Rarity and Twilight's lit up their horns in a bright display. Pinkie Pie wasn't showing any sign of opposition.

Applejack couldn't appreciate their enthusiasm. A disguise was just like a lie.

"Any references to agriculture are a dead giveaway for being an earth pony, too," Twilight added. "We'll have to change that." She pointed to AJ's flank.

"How the hay can Ah git a new cutie mark?" A defensive Applejack fired back. The others seemed caught off guard.

She stared at the three beautiful apples dotting her flank. She'd worked so hard for that cutie mark, and she was the proudest pony in the bunch. Second to Rainbow Dash.

"Well, your fritters are wonderful," Fluttershy spoke up cautiously. "Maybe we can paint some on your flank."

She had obviously missed the reason behind Applejack's frustration.

"Why of course!" Rarity beamed, oblivious as well. "Many distinguished bakers are unicorns! Like Donut Joe!"

"I don't know iffin Ah'm any good with yer fancy magic..." Her voice trailed off. Who was she kidding? She was no unicorn.

"Your horn won't work," Twilight warned. She turned to Pinkie Pie. "Wings won't work either. Unicorns have magical stores in regions of their brains and Pegasi have hollow bones. The anatomical differences are too extreme to actually turn you into another kind of pony." She paused. "I suppose I could give you a small magic store. Just enough to do a simple spell if you need to prove anything to anypony."

"Cain't hurt, then, I 'spose." Applejack said through gritted teeth. She accepted that her friends were trying to help. She knew a disguise was the only safe way to leave the damned basement that had been keeping her hostage. Her apprehension came from her pride and she knew it.

Sure, besides the Eradication bastards in the pewter gray uniforms, she'd never met a pony who favored the evil policies set by the Lab Corp scientists. She didn't want to push the issue, but she wondered how her friends were able tolerate the injustice. Six months into this whole ordeal wasn't nearly enough time for her to adjust. She was considered inferior because she was an earth pony? So now she had to parade around with a fake horn and abandon her name? She could barely stomach it.

"Pinkie, I'm dyeing your coat purple and your mane blue. That should hide the pink." Rarity didn't miss a beat. "And Applejack... I do hope you don't mind a red coat or a brown mane."

The only answer she could manage was a half-hearted smile.

"Okay." Rainbow Dash hovered above Applejack as she spoke. "AJ as a red unicorn and Pinks the purple Pegasus. Got it. You should each have an alias too."

"Like from outer space?" Pinkie chirped.

"Wha?" Dash raised an eyebrow. "Pinkie Pie, you are so rand-"

"No, Pinkie, not alien. Alias." Twilight chuckled. "A fake name."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie put a hoof to her chin. "Like Candy Sky?"

Dash shook her head.

"More pegasus-y. And cooler!"

"Balloon Butt!"

"Cooler!"

"Peppermint Cloud!"

"Cooler!" Dash insisted. "It needs to be about twenty percent-"

"Ooh! Oooh! Sweet Cirrus!"

"...I'll take it." Dash was satisfied. Fluttershy smiled.

"We'll have to teach you all about the weather if you really want to commit to your disguise," she added. "And we'll show you how to preen feathers and navigate canopies!"

Applejack was still stuck on the idea of sporting a horn. She couldn't even think about names right now. Normally she hated being coddled but she was glad when Rarity noticed her distress and gave her a gentle pat.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "We're so caught up creating these disguises and seemed to have shut you out."

Somehow, over the last few months, Rarity had become exceptionally in tune with Applejack's emotions. The two shared a long, telling embrace.

"I can't imagine how hard this is for you. Being an earth pony is nothing to be ashamed of." Rarity pulled away and, in one graceful motion, she lifted Applejack's head up and pulled her mane aside so she could look directly into her glossy green eyes. "We love you no matter what. A silly disguise won't change who you are."

Is being an earth pony apple farmer really all there is to me? Am Ah that shallow? Applejack entertained the thought for a brief moment in time. Her work might have defined her identity at one point. But she shook off the temptation to wallow in her own misery.

"Sometimes Ah just need ta hear what mah heart is tellin' me from another pony," she said to Rarity.

"You should listen to your heart more often, darling."

Applejack nodded.

"Thank ya kindly. And ya'll can call me Fritter Annie."