Applejack trudged through the town full of earth ponies, tired. "Ah can't believe it, bein' divided like this!" she ranted to Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing through town next to Applejack.
"Yeah, I really miss Dashie, now that she's a...well, jerk!" Pinkie Pie agreed, her usually happy face clouded by an angry pout.
The two upset mares trotted into the courthouse, right in the middle of Candy Mane's speech.
"And if we do not confront the unicorns...we will be defeated! Do any of you want that?!" Candy Mane yelled, infuriated. Determination lit up the short-maned mare's eyes.
Many ponies shook their heads or remained silent. Candy Mane looked up, frowning, then noticed Applejack and Pinkie Pie at the back of the room.
"You're late," Candy Mane pointed out, sounding cold and unwelcoming.
"Ah know, ah know," Applejack said as she sat in a seat, with Pinkie Pie sitting down next to her, in the back.
The meeting continued, with Candy Mane yelling angrily again at the ponies in the large room.
After Candy Mane finished speaking, Bon Bon got up from her seat and stepped forward. "We'll confront the unicorns soon, okay? Rushing us doesn't solve anything!" she argued defiantly.
Candy Mane flinched in disgust, then Cheerilee trotted up to Candy Mane. "She's right. If we want to bring Equestria back together ourselves, we need not only bravery, but patience as well," Cheerilee agreed softly, careful not to make Candy Mane even more furious.
The light yellow mare seemed to calm down. "Meeting dismissed," she sighed.
Immediately, everypony got up to leave the large room.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie began to trot towards the exit, but Candy Mane blocked them. "You missed over half of the meeting!" she pointed out.
"We know," Applejack said, leaving the courthouse. Pinkie Pie followed the farmer.
Once the two mares entered the middle of town, Candy Mane and Mayor Mare were both calling out for everypony in unison. Applejack and Pinkie Pie sped off towards the crowd, their ragged brown coats streaming behind them.
Candy Mane gave Mayor Mare a nod, then the light brown mare spoke. "We have decided to convince the unicorns to make peace with us first!"
Some ponies cheered, while others let out reluctant murmurs of distress and hesitation.
"And we're leaving right now!" Candy Mane added in a determined shout.
"That's dumb, why right now? Won't we bring stuff?" Apple Fritter, Applejack's relative, called out.
"We need peace as soon as possible. We don't need things," Candy Mane said, slightly irritated after finally calming down in the courthouse.
The earth ponies immediately followed Candy Mane to Canterlot once the light pink-maned mare jumped down onto the ground. Mayor Mare brought up the rear of the large group, along with Bon Bon, Shoeshine, Caramel, and Big Macintosh.
Candy Mane rushed to Canterlot, which was nearby. "Hurry up!" she ordered.
The ponies following her sped up, reaching her heels as the light yellow-coated pony ran off.
Soon, the crowd of earth ponies reached the border between the two groups of ponies' territories. A gateway opened, bringing out two unicorns equipped with dangerously sharp spears. A few unicorns roaming around in their town stopped to give the crowd of earth ponies strange looks, confused.
Twilight Sparkle approached the border, dazed, but calm. She was one of the two unicorns to come out of the large, but weak, gateway. "What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to sound polite.
"We want peace," Candy Mane explained simply.
Trixie followed Twilight to the border, glaring at the earth ponies. She was the other unicorn that came out of the gateway. "Trixie doesn't believe you," she stated.
Candy Mane rolled her eyes, sighing afterwards. "Oh, who cares about what you believe?" she retorted angrily.
Trixie rose her sharp spear, then aimed it at Candy Mane in an extremely threatening manner.
Candy Mane stepped back, but she still looked defiant and frustrated.
"One more word like that and your blood will be on the ground, warm and shiny," Trixie warned the earth pony ominously as she slowly, but barely, lowered her spear. At least she looked less threatening with the spear lowered.
The unicorns Applejack spotted in the back came up to Twilight and Trixie, hurling bewildered and curious questions at them as they shot multiple confused glances at the assembly of earth ponies.
Trixie swung her spear around carelessly. All of the unicorns backed away to avoid getting a large gash on their face, throat, or chest.
"Stop being so reckless, Trixie," Twilight said urgently, still sounding quite collected. "You could've hurt somepony!"
"Fine, fine," Trixie muttered. She let out an irked sigh as she lowered her spear again.
The unicorns remained at a safe distance away from Trixie and her fatal spear, which was glinting in the fresh sunlight. They also saved their questions due to their fear of actually getting a sliced chest if Trixie swung her spear around near them again.
Twilight stepped forward, her gaze looking soft and relaxed.
"We can't get the peace you want," she said gently. Her calm voice took away all of the alarm filling the gazes of the earth ponies.
There was a reassuring silence in the air for at least a moment or two, but it was broken when Pinkie Pie abruptly jumped up in the air and rushed to the front of the crowd. She stretched her body over the border, careful not to touch it, and hugged Twilight.
"That's okay, Twilight! You took away all of the anger! Thank you!" she shouted happily. Her triumphant voice didn't rub off on anypony else, though. Instead, the other earth ponies returned to their nervous and angry expressions.
Noticing the other earth ponies' looks, as well as Trixie's frightening scowl, Pinkie Pie stopped hugging the librarian and stretched her body back, over the border, and returned to her unhappy state as well. She simply stood there, her furious gaze fixed on all of the unicorns at the border, as if she had never even hugged Twilight just then.
Twilight looked around at the very still crowd of earth ponies. "Listen, please, return to Ponyville. We can't deal with you right now," she said, her eyes sympathetic. Her frown was sorrowful.
"Yes, leave," Trixie said with a harsher and pushier tone. She swiftly aimed her spear at Candy Mane once more, making the pink-maned mare step back.
The earth ponies shot the unicorns furious looks, and immediately turned around to head back to Ponyville. Applejack rushed over to Candy Mane.
"Ah gotta stay here," Applejack explained quickly, slowly falling behind.
"No," Candy Mane said firmly. Her darkened eyes and unhappy frown looked intimidating.
"Fer a lil' bit!" Applejack said angrily.
Candy Mane shot a menacing glare at the farmer. "No."
Applejack let out a groan of frustration. "Please," she begged quietly.
Candy Mane quickened her pace, extremely furious by now. She seemed to ignore Applejack for a moment, then let out a sharp comment.
"Stay here? That's dumb! No!"
Applejack stopped. Candy Mane trotted ahead, leaving her behind. The orange mare easily turned back anyways. Twilight and Trixie returned to the area behind the gates. She could get in effortlessly. The farmer rushed back to the gates. She heaved them aside, the gates letting out ominous, and slightly loud, creaking noises.
Applejack sneaked into the town of unicorns, pulling her dark orange cloak over her head. If she was found as an earth pony, she'd surely return to Ponyville with scars all over her body.
