“My wings!”
“My horn! Your horn! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
Applejack and Pinkie watched in slight annoyance at how Discord got rid of their friends horns and wings. Not only did he hide the elements from them in a hedge maze, but now he took away the one thing that separated them from the two earth ponies, a horn and a pair of wings.
They thought he would take something of theirs away as well that would jeopardize this so called ‘game’ of his, but no, he didn’t; he just flew there, laughing at how Twilight and Rarity can’t do their overzealous magic, and at how Fluttershy and Dash can’t fly around without a care in equestria. He probably didn’t even notice the two earth ponies sitting there, glaring at him and the other elements.
“You seein’ what I’m seein’ Pinkie.” Applejack asked sternly, not taking her eyes off the panicking mares and the hysterical goat.
“Well, let’s see,” Pinkie squinted her glaring eyes at them. “I see four of our friends, each one of them crying over not having things that we never had in the first place” Pinkie asked in the same angry tone as AJ. “Am I right?”
“Eeyup.” Applejack nodded and faced Pinkie. “Can you believe this, cryin’ their eyes out at how they can’t do dem fancy tricks no more.”
“No, I can’t believe it” Pinkie crossed her hooves and pouted. “Do you think he’s coming over here to take something away from us too?”
Applejack gave a fake chuckle. “What’s he gonna take, mah hat?” She adjusted her stetson and smacked her hooves to the ground. “I don’t even think he cares about us.”
“What do you mean?” Pinkie uncrossed her hooves and faced AJ. “He doesn’t care about any-”
“I mean he doesn’t care about what we have, Pinkie! I mean...Look at us!” Applejack looked over herself and narrowed her eyes. “We. Have. Nothing!”
Pinkie grabbed Applejack and shook her. “We do have stuff! We have...uh...we…” She let go of her and tapped her chin. “We….We have strong tails.” She smiled and twirled her puffy pink tail in the air. “He could take those away.”
Applejack glanced at her own tail and lifted it in the air. “How exactly is THIS” She took hold of her tail and held it inches from Pinkie’s face. “qualified as a special trait we have?”
Pinkie shrugged “It's durable?”
Applejack raised an eye at her. “Durable?”
Pinkie scratched the back of her neck. “Well, Oh! we’re strong!” She put a hoof to her chest and held her head high. “I can crush rocks with my bare hooves, and you!” Pinkie wrapped her hoof around AJ’s arm. “I can almost feel the muscles on this arms.” She did the same to her back legs. “And all that apple bucking really made these legs strong too.” Pinkie stood up and poked her friends flank, making AJ finch. “And you have a flank that's tough enough to withstand a smack!”
“Ey!” Applejack backed up “Personal space is somthin’ all ponies need Pinkie.”
Pinkie giggled and blushed. “Heh, sorry, but yeah, Those traits are totally what makes us special.” She widened her eyes and put on a smile.
AJ rolled her own eyes and sighed. “Some traits.” She pointed at Twilight who was conversing with Discord. “Twi can take apples off a tree with her frilly little magic.” She pointed at Rainbow Dash. “And Rainbow can make a sonic rain-whatever when she flies.”
“Sonic rainboom.” Pinkie corrected.
Applejack groaned. “Whatever, I’m just sayin’ that a unicorn and a pegasus can do what we do, maybe even better!”
Pinkie frowned. “Don’t say that Applejack. We can make food way better then them.”
“Anyone can cook Pinkie…” AJ sneered. “I’m sure Fluttershy makes food for her animals, and Twi can just poof up somethin’ for her to eat.”
Pinkie wanted to object, but Applejack had a point. Maybe all ponies can plan food, and make it, but earth ponies had more than that. “But we’re strong Applejack, we can-”
“Am pretty sure if I fight a unicorn, she or he will just blast me to bits,” AJ said sternly. “and a pegasus can just fly in the air and dive bomb me.” She stomped her hoof on the ground again. “Ah hate to admit it Pinkie, but they have the upper hoof when it comes to the stuff we do.”
“B-but we do it better. Remember in the history books, how all the different types of ponies hated each other.”
Applejack raised an eyes at her again. “And why are you bringing that up?”
“I’m just saying that we were in control of what everypony ate. The other ponies wouldn’t of even-”
“They would’ve sooner or later Pinkie. It’s so easy anyway.” AJ dug a hole in the ground and started demonstrating the process. “All ya have to do is put a packet of seeds in the ground,” She covered the hole up and spit on it. “pour water on em’,” She pointed to the sun, which was next to the moon. “and shine some sun on it, and BAM.” She slammed her hoof in on top of the mound of dirt. “Ya got food. So easy a filly can do it.” She looked away from Pinkie to hide the anger in her face. “Ah’m surprised they didn’t kill us off.”
This was starting to get awkward for Pinkie, and it was hard for ponies to do that to her. “Well, we...uh...we can….um….”
Applejack faced her again. “What Pinkie? What can we do, what can ponies like us do that they can't! What special talent do we have that they don't!”
“I DON’T KNOW!” Pinkie yelled. Both of them realized this and took a look at their friends; it was still the same. “They’re still talking?”
Applejack shrugged. “Seems like it.”
Pinkie calmed down and rubbed her arm. “Uh..Sorry for yelling AJ.”
Applejack sighed, knowing she was getting worked up to. “And am sorry for getting all worked up. It’s just that-” She looked back at the dramatic scene of pegasi and unicorns losing the only thing they had that was special to them. “They don’t even know what it’s like.” Applejack said coldly.
“Know wha-” Pinkie stopped once she understood what Applejack was talking about. “Oh yeah.” She sighed. “Being a...mud pony.” Pinkie cringed when she said that, being called a mud pony was a pretty hurtful insult to say for an earth pony. It just reminds pegasus and ‘high class’ unicorns that they can fly and sleep on clouds, or rest in actual beds, while they are stuck on the ground; sleeping in hay,
“Ah’ve been called that once.” She looked at Pinkie, who looked back in shock. “Ah know, that was my same expression.”
“Really?” Pinkie rested her hoof on AJ’s back. “Who? What sick pony would do-”
“Ah didn’t even know her. She just walked up to me and asked ‘Hey! What kind of cider you selling, mud runner!’” Applejack held her head low and sighed. Pinkie stood beside her and rubbed her back, trying her best to comfort her. “But yeah,” Applejack continued. “what kind of cruel pony do you have to be to say somethin’ so...so…” AJ grinded her teeth, not even wanting to say it.
“Racist…” Pinkie said blankly, making Applejack groan at how right she was.
“Yeah.” AJ nodded. “That…”
Pinkie patted her back. “Well, there’s worse things ponies call each other you know.”
Applejack brushed Pinkie’s hoof off of her. “Ah know, Pinkie, Ah’ve heard every one of them. Stick heads, bone heads, air heads, winged suprematists,” Applejack continued to list off every term she knew from her own folks at home, even ones that weren't ponies. “beaked buggers, zig-.”
Pinkie backed away from her and gasped before Applejack could finished. “Ay Jay!” She yelled sternly.
“What!” Applejack threw her arms in the air. “They call us filthy mud runners, why don’t we call em-”
“Because that’s not right.” Pinkie ran up to her. “Fighting fire with fire only get’s you burnt, Applejack.”
AJ crossed her hooves and looked away. “Ah ain’t doin’ that; am just puttin’ the fire out, sugar cube.”
“By saying mean things to them too” Pinkie rubbed her hooves together. “How do you know all those names anyway?”
Applejack opened her eyes and looked down. “Ah know em...from...mah family okay.” She hung her head and closed her eyes, not wanting to see whatever stern look Pinkie was giving her.
“You too?”
Applejack’s ear twitched at that sentence. “What?” She looked up at Pinkie again, seeing that she was frowning.
“Y-yeah...The pie family does the same,” Pinkie started looking down. “I never really liked it when my dad said things like that whenever others came by.”
AJ put on the same expression. “Same here, at least ah didn’t just let it roll off mah tongue all the time.” Applejack chuckled and tried to grin, but when she saw that Pinkie wasn’t doing the same, she returned to her frowning face, which turned into a furious face once she looked up at Discord again. “No…”
“What?” Pinkie asked.
“Pinkie,” AJ faced her. “Are we gonna let some low down, self centered, flyin’ monster remind us why we’re the lower class.”
Pinkie didn’t like the way Applejack described them, but when she looked at Discord, she started feeling the same way. “No.” She said in anger “No we are not!”
“Are we gonna let him make us look like useless ponies that don’t deserve respect!”
“NO!”
“Are we gonna remind him that earth ponies can fight back!”
“No!...er...I mean, Yes!”
“Then come on.” She started walking to the group again. “Let’s go show em’ that we deserve some respect.”
“Yeah.” Pinkie started bouncing beside her. “And that we have things that can totally make this unfair for him!”
Applejack grinned. “Let’s go show him what em' mud runner can do.”
