Anarchy

Things were going from bad to worse. The farmer Appljack knew this well, crops would not grow at all and people were starving. Her job since fillyhood was to help on the farm and keep ponies from starving. Without the princesses to raise the sun and moon the agricultural cycle was off. Meaning with no sun the crops don't grow, the crops can't spread seeds and no more food is produced. Things were very bad here. Not just for the farmers, changing climactic conditions forced ponies to bundle up all day. The guard sends supplies, but only half make it with all the arms trafficking to build the largest private army. With those armies growing it was getting easier and easier to seize the supply convoys. Heck half of stalliongrad was dead because of supply shortages. The three main factions fighting over the supply routes were: The anti government group Free, the remnants of the military and the remaing guard. With the guard trying to keep the piece alone millions of supply crates are seized with only one of the factions encouraging it. With her mind on these things Appljack failed to notice the stairs to the basement farm. With a sickening crack she regained her senses she gasped at the rip across her front leg. She was horrified as she couldn't buck now as her front legs were used as support. Now she couldn't use the applied pressure tablet to generate power for the lights keeping a few preserved trees alive in the basement. That was not to be concerned now, she had to tend to the rip because she was losing blood. It wasn't fast but it was painful beyond measure. After calling Big Mac she had been able to get laid down on her bed. They had to then remove the bits of wood that had dug themselves into the exposed tissue. It was gruesome as many veins and and muscle tissue had been shredded. Not to mention the wood slivers. Big Mac had to take pliers and wrench them out, all came out with a vomit inducing squelch. After that the open wound had to be dressed, since they lived on a farm medical supplies were kept handy. That would have helped except for none of them had medical training, except for apple bloom who had learned simple first aid while trying to find her special talent with her friends. They wouldn't have called her in except for the fact that they were running out of options."Do I have to?" The filly said reluctantly. "We don't have much of a choice. You're the only one with any sort of medical experience" Big Mac explained "It was a first aid explanation at the clinic! I don't think I would be able to take on something of this level!" The filly argued. "Please Applebloom, you're the only hope we have." Big Mac pleaded "Okay" Applbloom said reluctantly. As the filly looked at the wound she wanted to throw up, but she had to do this. She got bandages from the medical cabinet she strained to remember what she had learned that day. Drawing at a blank she poured a little bit of the thing that cleaned out the wound diss something but she forgot its real name. Next she wrapped the bandage around Appljack's leg. It wasn't a hospital grade dressing, but for a filly it was pretty good. But with that problem out of the way they had to face their other problem. Without Appljack to buck the generator pads with Big Mac it would be difficult to keep the basement farm going. Problems problems problems. In another part of the town things weren't any better. With the economical collapse Fluttershy couldn't feed her animals enough and every one of them were hungry. She even sacrificed most of her meals and it still wasn't enough. Things were also getting more and more depressing as the weaker ones slowly passed away. Last week Angel had died, it was particularly saddening as even though Angel could be stubborn, he was one of her first animal pets. She was getting to the point of major depression, the animals tried to comfort her but who would comfort her when there were no animals left to do so? These thoughts circled around in her head as she tried to sleep that night. One thing she couldn't stop thinking about was the newly founded counterfeit organization. They illegally produced money so they could get surplus food or build another private army to go along with the rest. These people supposedly were under orders by someone, but every pony shrugged it off as a hoax. They assumed they made money to keep one step ahead of the slowly rebuilding economy. Even though it was slowly rebuilding itself with new vital jobs, it wasn't getting back to normal anytime soon. The next morning another squirrel died, they were dropping like flies now a days. She sadly prepared for yet another burial. She dug a hole in the ground with a shovel that had seen much use in the past few days and was now very dirty from use. After the hole was dug she placed the corpse in one of the little boxes she had made knowing this would happen. As she placed it in the ground she reminisced the times she had spent with her and her brothers and sisters. After this she placed a candle on the freshly closed grave and wept. She didn't just weep for the squirrel ,but for all that had happened in the last few months. Life can be a tragedy, she now understood this line for the first time since hearing Twilight recite it from a book. At the boutique things were also grim. The dressmaker Rarity had to take care of Sweetiebelle and herself in these harsh times. In these times ponies needed a leader or someone to guide them. Twilight would have been great at this, but only a week after Discords second defeat she was dragged away to a mental hospital because the guard feared her magic after she defeated two of the most treacherous villains in equestrian history. Sadly before Celestia could clear things up the hospital burnt down, no pony knows who started it and why.  No survivors were found and all patients and staff were considered dead. These thoughts were interrupted by Sweetiebelle saying was headed to the club house to play with her friends. She said okay and to bundle up as it was biting cold outside and frostbite could easily occur. She got back to her thoughts and this time was on the subject of magic. It could be used as a good or evil tool depending on its user. Many feared unicorns with strong magic as magic can actually take over a unicorns body if he or she pushes their self too far. It only occurs in unicorns though because compared to alicorns they have a magic limit before they need a new form to comprehend greater magics. Ascension like this is incredibly rare though and had only had two documented cases of self ascension. Also there is one case of non self ascension as in a case that was destroyed many years ago that is remembered to this day. Transcending into a new body can be described as confusing because involuntary magic is taking place which can feel very strange if one is not prepared. Suddenly she thought about how she knew that. She then remembered with the cold outside here and her sister had been reading just to pass the time away. She had plenty of books because most buildings had bookcases and books simply because knowledge is very important in equestria, because in a place like this it is always useful to know what to do in case something attacks you. Aimlessly thinking Rarity failed to notice Sweetiebelle now bundled up leaving the building. As she walked the once sunny streets of ponyville she took in what was really left of it. A place that is broken and imperfect words her big sister would use. After ten minutes of walking she reached her destination. The clubhouse has seen better days but surprisingly still kept itself together. As she ascended the ladder she got inside revealing Scootooloo and Applbloom were already there. She was about to say hi when she looked closely at Applebloom, she had something on her legs. Then she knew it was the same thing that covered the ground when she cut herself, the same thing that splats out of a pony who just had a limb cut off. It was blood. Since she was saying hi as she thought this it came out like hi how are why is blood on your legs? It sounded rude but she couldn't contain it. "Okay, you remember when we took that fist aid thing at the clinic? Well it really helped earlier when Appljack ripped her leg open and Big Mac said I was the only one with any knowledge on the subject. Worst experience of my life so far, blood was everywhere and I felt like puking the whole time!" She ended, "Was it really that bad?" Scootooloo said. "If you were there you'd understand. As these fillies were talking up on mount mysticism two explores were coming closer to finding the new ruler of their land. And one step closer to making the discovery that would destroy the ever crumbling equestrian even more. The mare looking through her monitors was smiling as she knew what was going to happen next as if it was just one piece of the puzzle. I love this part she finally said. She had been awaiting this and she knew when they showed up. It would be perfect. As if she could relive it over and over and over.