Broken Worlds: Age of Ruin

“Move it, horse!” the supervisor shouted as he jabbed me with a long, black pole, causing an electric shock to tear through my body. Years ago, I probably would have screamed in pain and collapsed, but now I just grunted and kept walking. I was tied to a large, horizontal wheel, along with three other ponies as we pushed the massive machinery that powered the factory we had been imprisoned in. There were about fifty other wheels in the room, each with four ponies harnessed to it that continued to sadly walk in circles as the human guards stalked up and down the rows with their cattle prods ready to silence any resistance.

The only thing that kept me going was the hope that my family was still alive.

They have to be, I thought certainly, Apples never give up!

~-~-~-~-~

THREE YEARS EARLIER

“Applejack!” I heard Granny Smith call from the house, “Soup’s on!”

I lowered my hind legs from my mid-buck stance and started galloping toward the smell of my granny’s fresh-baked apple pie, sighing contently at the sweet aroma. When I got there, my big brother, Macintosh, known by most as “Big Mac”, and my younger sister, Applebloom, were already waiting at the table.

“Boy, Applejack,” Applebloom said with a giggle, “You spend so much time out there in the orchard these days, you’re head might turn into an apple!”

My brother smiled slightly. “Eeyup,” he agreed in his baritone voice.

Granny Smith sighed reminiscently. “I remember when I was your age,” she said slowly, “We would stay out there in the orchards till long after the sun had gone down… Of course, it wasn’t because we were buckin’ apples, of course,” she said with a sly wink.

I rolled my eyes. “Granny, I don’t think we should be talking about your days of kissing boys in front of Applebloom,” I said slowly, and Applebloom nudged my side with her foreleg.

“Hey, I’m not so young that I can’t hear about kissing!” she protested, but laughed when she saw the teasing look in my eyes. “Why do you always have to tease me like that, big sis?” she asked, trying to sound angry.

I rubbed her red mane lovingly with my forehoof. “Because it’s my job,” I replied with a laugh, and started to eat the slice of apple pie that was waiting for me on the table.

Just then, the smell of smoke filled my nostrils, and I ran to the window to see a raging fire had started in the orchard. “What in tarnation?!” I yelled as I burst out the back door, and saw several groups of humans emerging from the treeline. “Big Mac, get Applebloom and Granny Smith down to the cellar!” I cried as a soldier aimed a curious looking device at me. I had moments to move before the weapon spewed a wave of fire at the spot I had just been standing in, and I quickly plowed into him. I looked up in horror at the sight of all the burning trees in front of me.

I had learned a few impolite words from my human friends, Allen and Drayke, and I promised myself I would never use them, even if my life depended on it.

Today, however, was a day that promises were broken.

“YOU BASTARDS!” I shouted as I reared back and slammed my hooves into an approaching human’s chest, sending him flying into a blazing tree with a hard thud. Another soldier charged at me with a razor-sharp knife drawn, a slight grin on his face as he approached, but I ducked under his swinging arm and bit his wrist, spitting as I tasted blood. He screamed as he quickly grabbed the blade in his other hand and swung downward, barely giving me enough time to leap to the side and slam my back hooves into his leg, shattering his bones and dropping him to the ground in agony.

I nodded with grim satisfaction, and was suddenly pulled to the ground by a large net. I turned around to see a pair of humans riding on a strange, four-wheeled vehicle as they started to drive off, dragging me with them.

“NO!” I screamed, sticking my legs through the holes in the net and dragging them against the ground, but even my powerful muscles couldn’t halt my abductors’ efforts to take me from my home.

Right when I was about to give up any hope of escaping, I heard an angry yell and saw Big Mac galloping after me, his breath heavy and quick as he bit down on the ropes that bound me and tugged, causing the vehicle to stall for a moment before my prison was torn apart, allowing me to escape.

“Thanks, Big Mac!” I called as I rushed back to the farmhouse while my brother dealt with the humans on the strange vehicle.

“Eeyup!” he replied, running at full speed and ramming into the humans like a derailed train.

I heard a rapid whipping noise above me, and looked up to see some kind of flying vehicle descending from above. It had two wings that each ended in a quickly-spinning propeller, and was a seamless jet-black all over. When it landed, somewhere between ten and twenty humans poured out, each dressed in a strange, armor-like getup that obscured all distinguishable features about them. On top of this, they had some sort of metal framework on their bodies, like a second skeleton outside their skin that gave them incredible strength. I tried to get away from them, but their equipment gave them the upper hand against me.

“Big Mac!” I cried out desperately as the humans dragged me by my hind legs towards their flying vehicle, and I saw my big brother barreling towards my captors with hate in his eyes. One human tackled him from the side, the force of both him and the metal suit knocking my brother onto his side. The human quickly stabbed a syringe into Big Mac’s neck, and his movement’s slowly ceased as he fell unconscious. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck, and the world around me blurred as I looked up to see the other humans running to the farmhouse. The last thing I could remember was the smell of burning apple trees as the world as I knew it ended.

~-~-~-~-~

“Didn’t you hear me, you little bitch?” The taskmaster shouted as he kicked me in the side, “I said get your ass moving!”

I blinked quickly, realizing I had completely spaced out during my flashback, and continued to march mindlessly around as I pulled the wheel with me.

“Psst, hey,” A voice behind me whispered softly, “What’s your name?”

I turned around to see a skinny, earth pony stallion smiling slightly, with a look that was a mixed expression of pain and shyness.

“Applejack,” I said quietly, surprised by this friendly gesture. In all the three years I had been here, not a single pony had said a word to me, as their spirits were just as broken as mine.

The skinny stallion chuckled lightly. “It’s nice to meet you, Applejack,” he said softly, “My name is Swift Sprocket. How long have you been here?” he asked nervously.

I smiled slightly; it had been so long since I had seen a pony in this place show any sort of emotion; he must have been new here. “About three years,” I replied, keeping my voice down so the taskmaster wouldn’t overhear me, “What about you?”

Swift Sprocket shrugged. “I dunno. A couple of weeks, maybe?” he said simply. “I just got transferred here from Manufacturing. Those asshats finally got all of their heavy machinery up and running, so I got thrown down here to help run them.” He sighed sadly. “I remember before these humans came along, back when I made machines that helped others instead of ones that hurt them,” he said wistfully.

I nodded. “I remember those days, too,” I said sadly, “But I gave up on hoping for things to change long ago.”

Swift Sprocket looked confused. “Why?” he asked, “Isn’t there always a chance things will change for the better?”

Just then, there was a loud grinding sound, and the wheel I was fastened to refused to turn. I looked around, confused, as the taskmaster stalked over, his cattle prod sparking with electricity.

“What the hell is going on over here?” he demanded, practically foaming at the mouth.

I shrugged. “The wheel won’t turn anymore,” I explained, struggling to push the machine forward to prove my point.

The taskmaster sighed. “Piece of shit machines,” he muttered, “Almost as worthless as these horses.” He pulled a black box from his belt and pressed a button on it. “Can I get a repair crew down to sector-” he stopped suddenly, a shocked expression on his face as he looked down to see a blade jutting out of his chest. The man collapsed on the ground, revealing a masked pony standing behind him. She wore a purple-and-blue suit, with a hat and cape to match.

“The Mysterious Mare Do Well?” I asked slowly, remembering when my friends and I had created the character to teach Rainbow Dash a lesson. “What in tarnation is going on here?”

Mare Do Well said nothing, simply pulling a small, purple sphere from her belt and squeezing it in her forehooves, causing it to glow with a blue light.

“Cover your ears!” she shouted as she threw the device at the wall, and everypony obeyed as it let out an earth-shattering boom that demolished the wall. “Run!” she yelled, untying me from my harness, then Swift Sprocket, “Once your free, help somepony else and get out of here!”

I quickly untied a nearby filly from the wheel she was fastened to. “What’s going on?” she asked, bewildered by the sudden commotion.

Mare Do Well looked her in the eyes. “You’re getting out of here,” she said comfortingly, before quickly turning to the door to see a group of human soldiers marching into the room.

“Stop those prisoners!” one of them shouted, and screamed as Mare Do Well threw a knife that struck him directly in his left eye. The room was alive with cries of fear and triumph as some ponies attacked their former masters, while others wasted no time in getting as far away from the factory as they could. I started to follow the escapees, but Mare Do Well stopped me by placing a forehoof on my shoulder.

“You come with me, Applejack,” she insisted, and motioned for me to follow her.

I stared, confused, but obeyed nonetheless. “How do you know my name?” I asked quickly as I followed her through the crowd of ponies scrambling to freedom.

“No time to explain,” she replied, “All you need to know is Equestria needs its heroes again. It’s time to take down BlackTech.”