I woke up that mornin' to a fine day. It was a friday, as I recall. I was gettin' ready for school when I stopped by the barn ta tell my brother Macintosh goodbye before I left. My friends and I had graduated up from Ms. Cheerilee's class to the eighth grade. Unfortunately, we still hadn't gotten a cutie mark to speak of, but we were sure we were close. Any one of those days could have been it!
I found Mac in the barn that day mixing together some plant food. He said it was supposed to be twice as good as regular old dirt. He said that was because it had a lot of somethin' called ammonium in it.
"Make sure ya keep all the lanterns away from here when Ah'm mixin' this, or we'll light up faster than dry pine," he would always say to me. I was plenty careful, and didn't need a reminder every time I went in the dang barn. Before I left for school that morning, Applejack had been listenin' to Granny prattle on about the rumors runnin' around in the newspapers about how the changelings had snuck back into the kingdom, or had made a secret deal with the Griffons or some such. I never paid it any mind. Applejack told me there wasn't anything to worry about as long as she, the princesses and her friends were there. Princess Celestia would never let another attack like what happened at that wedding happen again! I was just so sure of it.
"Want ta walk with me ta school, Applejack?" I always enjoyed her company on the walk, at least until I met up with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. She usually turned around back to the farm by then.
"Can't today, Sugarcube. Ah got a royal summons to Canterlot with the rest of the gals."
Nothin' unusual about that. I shrugged it off and left for school. The walk there was nothin' special. Heck, the entire morning until just before lunch was the same as any other day.
I sat in my desk when a buzzing started off faintly, like it was a couple miles away. Then it got a bit louder, then so loud I could hardly hear the teacher. I'll never forget the look on her face when she opened the blinds over the classroom window.
Changelings and griffons. Hundreds of them, maybe thousands swarming through the sky. It was loud until then, but once the whole class realized what was going on outside, you could've heard a pin drop. We were all too stunned to move before a griffon in armor shattered the window with his spear. Just like that, everything sped back up to normal speed. A filly screamed, and everypony scrambled for the door. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and I made it outside to see the truth of what we'd only caught a glimpse of in the classroom. The sky was almost dark. It was like nothin' I've ever seen. Griffons in armor were rounding up ponies, and putting these little rings around their horns. Pegasi were chased out of the sky and had their wings bound. Earth ponies just got chains.
If it weren't for Scootaloo's quick thinking, all three of us might've ended up the same way. "We gotta get to my scooter!" she shouted. She'd supped up her old scooter into something that could hold three, and was now way faster than before. We hopped on before we knew where we were even going.
"Anywhere but here!" Scootaloo told me, as we sped down the road. As we went, more griffons and more changelings continued to drag ponies out of their houses, away from their jobs and families. It was only be sheer luck we managed to get out of town and back to the farm. I could only guess that the farm was spared 'cause it was so far away from Ponyville. We made it back to the farm in time to find the house empty.
A horrible feeling crept up inside my gut. Granny and Mac were still in town! Had they been caught? Had they put Mac in chains like they'd done everyone else? No chains could hold my brother. I knew that for a fact.
I wanted to wait at the farmhouse for Mac, or Granny, or Applejack. I wanted to, but we couldn't. The invaders made us run again.
"We gotta get outta here!" I whispered as I noticed a few griffons and a couple of changelings flying towards the farm in the distance. It seemed like we had only just gotten there.
"We can hide out at the old clubhouse!" Sweetie Belle suggested. That would be as good a place as any. I'd bet the changelings didn't know about it, and we'd be safe until we could figure out what's going on.
From the clubhouse, we could see the farm. The griffons searched every room, even the barn, and every hay bale inside. We hid out in the treehouse for hours, unsure of what to do. I mean, what can you do? Would could we have done? During times like this, my sister, or Rarity, or Princess Twilight, would have a plan and put it into action, and everythin' would be fine by dinner time.
But this was different. They weren't here.
We sat in the clubhouse, taking a walk down memory lane when Sweetie Belle got my attention.
"Apple Bloom, they've got Mac!"
I hurried to the window. Sure enough. The griffons had Mac and a few other ponies in a converted police cart. They pulled him from the cart and marched him to the middle of the field closest to us. He looked like he'd been beaten up. Those horrible griffons did that to him. At spearpoint, they made him start talking.
"Apple Bloom, if you're out there, the griffons want you to come home with me and Granny. They're only trying to help us. They want us to be free from the yoke of the princesses." He called out into the fields. Mac paused. He turned to look back at his captors, then turned back to the fields. "That's what they told me to say. I'm gonna tell you that Granny and Applejack and I love you. And I'm gonna tell you to do somethin' I told you had no place in this world. It's going to be hard, and it's not going to be fun, but Ah must ask, no... Ah beg ya, to keep fighting until every last one of the changelings and griffons are driven back to the rock they crawled out from—"
A solid crack to the jaw send Macintosh to the ground in a heap. I bit my lip and Sweetie put a hoof on my shoulder. I wanted to do something, but I knew there was nothing I could do. The griffon in charge told his soldiers to drag Mac back to the cart.
"You have two days to turn yourselves in for registration and labor assignment, or Macintosh Apple will die."
With a flick of his talon, he ordered his men to toss their torches into my house. It went up quickly, and with it, everything in my old life, and everything that represented the world I knew.
The sun began to set as my house collapsed, leaving just a smoldering pile. The girls tried to comfort me, and I thank them for that. But there wasn't much that could be done or said. It was right then, in the clubhouse, that the girls and I would make a decision that would change our lives forever.
"What are we gonna do now?" Sweetie Belle asked.
I didn't know. I still don't know most of the time. I only knew the last words Mac said to me. Keep fighting.
"We fight."
We would. But we hadn't even started yet.
We had two days to figure out our plan. We had to go into town and do a little recon.
We had to do something. Something to let them know the town of Ponyville wasn't just gonna roll over, that Ponyville wouldn't bow their heads to Chrysalis, or the griffon emperor, or whoever it was that did this to us. We had to let the townsponies know someone was still out there, fighting and resisting.
At first we started small. We painted messages on the wall. We had to give our group an identity. We needed a name, a rallying cry, something for the townsponies to whisper to each other when they felt like they had nothing left to hope for. Not having cutie marks actually worked to our advantage. We could paint one on, paint our coats a different color, and be anypony we needed to be. But before we could start any of that, we had to declare ourselves.
We took the flag from our clubhouse, and decided on a name. We were the Crusaders, and we did not bow.
We plastered that everywhere we could. We wore disguises, and kept our presence small. It was all we knew how to do. We weren't warriors. We were just fillies. But, Mac used to be in the Equestrian military, and I had looked over some of his books. Though his books were gone now, I remembered some things in them. Some strategies for hit and run attacks, using a small force to harass a bigger one, and some basic first aid. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo didn't know anything more than how to apply a bandage. I tried to train them as best I could, but like I said, we were just fillies.
After all too short a time, the day came for us to turn ourselves in. There was a central precessing station set up in the center of town. Staffed almost entirely by griffons and a few changelings. It was the most visible symbol of what the invaders hoped to do to us. So we decided that would be our target. Not far from it was the prison camp, where anyone who crossed the new owners of Ponyville was sent. I had seen Mac there with my own two eyes. With any luck, we'd be able to spring him in the initial confusion, along with anypony else we could free.
The question was, how would we attack it? How could three fillies take on a post of about twenty-five enemy soldiers?
That's when I remembered Mac's fertilizer. It was dangerous around fire, as I remember Mac telling me. So we decided to use it. The griffons didn't burn the barn (they would have been in for a surprise if they had), but we knew they could come back for it, so we decided to spend half the day moving the fertilizer into the clubhouse. The other half of the day was spent filling an old apple cart with three hundred and thirty pounds of fertilizer. I managed ta get ahold of an old alarm clock and remove the timer. I managed to rig the alarm to trigger a piece of steel to strike a rock of flint Sweetie Belle had dug up. She had quite a knack for finding rocks thanks to spending time with Spike.
Spike... we tried not to think about what happened to our sisters and friends. They were called to the capital. I had no doubts the capital had fallen too. I expected a burst of rainbow power to blast the changelings away like last time. But it never came. The banners of a foreign power hung from every balcony and civil building. The wedding attack was just a slap compared to this. This was an invasion.
Even worse, Sweetie Belle, and every other unicorn in town, couldn't use their magic. Seemed like they somehow managed to shut it off or something, even to those without those rings on their horns. We had more questions than answers, but now there was only one thing on our mind.
We finished building the bomb, put on our disguises and headed into town. A crowd had gathered near a stage set up by the precessing center. Apparently our surrender was 'sposed to be some kinda public event. The acting mayor of Ponyville was a griffon with an eyepatch. He looked every inch like a dictator. We parked the cart next to the processing center, and began the countdown. The first thing we had to do was get the innocent ponies out of the way. We began circulating through the crowd, telling ponies they needed to leave for their own safety.
The mayor had his guards bring Mac onto the stage that had been adorned with the symbols of both the changeling and griffon empires.
"Citizens of Ponyville, we have come here to free you from the yoke of the autocrats who have unjustly ruled for over one thousand years. We aim to improve your lives, and bring peace to all!" he assured the crowd. "But, there are some amongst you who prefer chaos to order, and war to peace." He snapped his talons. Mac was brought front and center. He looked just as bad, if not worse. I would free him and Granny or die trying. "This stallion has been found guilty of the crime of collaboration with the Crusaders guerrilla group. This crime is punishable by death." He drew the dagger from his belt.
I looked at the clock-tower. I remember thinking I had set the timer for too long, that they'd kill my brother before I got the chance to save him. The rotten feeling in the pit of my stomach felt like it would stay there for the rest of my days if something happened to Macintosh.
Then the concussion hit me in the chest. I went deaf for a few seconds as I gathered my wits. There was rubble and splinters of wood everywhere, and a massive hole in the side of the prison wall. Ponies were shouting and panicking, running in all directions. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were still waiting for my signal. Even after such a massive explosion, they stood stock still. I nodded to them. I threw off my cloak, and they removed theirs. Beneath them, we wore our old capes. They would be our flag, our shield, and our symbol. I looked to the stage. The 'mayor' had been ushered off by his guards. Mac was alone on stage, looking around in confusion before he spotted me and the other girls.
I turned back to them. It was time for my family to come home.
"Crusaders!" I shouted to them.
They answered me. "We don't bow! We fight!"
The remaining townsponies saw us, saw our flag, and heard our words.
This fight would not be over in a week, a month, maybe not even a year. But it would never stop. Not as long as we were alive. Not as long as there were ponies willing to refuse the chains of slavery.
And now, as I stand here before one hundred plus ponies, all wearing crusader capes, or bandanas around their muzzles, I know that this tide is turning, and we have a chance to get our old lives back. I've spent over seven months fighting. I'm tired of it. Sweetie Belle is tired of it, and so is Scootaloo. We've all lost more than we thought we could stand. But they know us. They know the Crusaders, and they know we do not bow. The griffons and changelings are afraid of us, and they know we won't quit until they are back where they came from.
Crusader organizations began forming in every major Equestrian city, inspired by whispers of our success. And now, thanks to our informants, we know the changelings have been keeping the princesses and the Element bearers locked away in Canterlot Castle. Tonight is the night we rescue them. Tonight is the night we save the tree of harmony that the changelings have kept sealed in their evil magic.
Our explosives are set, our double agents are in place and awaiting my orders, and my fellow crusaders in every city are set to make our voices heard.
I stood before them, my crusaders. Their spears, swords, bows and arrows, and makeshift weapons held high, eyes shining towards me. I never thought myself a leader, but circumstances can change ponies. This was their fight as well as mine. I looked to Macintosh in the crowd. He smiled at me, his bandaged right eye and foreleg stained red like his coat. I saw the Cakes, the Carrots, the Riches and some ponies I'd never seen in town once. It was all of our fight now. We struggled for a common purpose, and tonight we'd be one step closer to it.
Tonight was a night the invaders would never forget.
"Crusaders!" I shouted.
"We do not bow!" They answered.
Let the war begin.
Author's Note
Guess who watched Red Dawn on Netflix today!
