It was getting close to sunset, and Applejack thought Pinkie Pie was never going to shut up. Thankfully, after all the months she’d spent on the road with her, the orange earth pony was able to tune her out. When she first met the energetic fellow earth pony at the Pie Family Rock Farm, she was more than a mite reluctant to let her tag along, but the thought of another thousand miles alone ate away at Applejack’s stoicism. She would do anything for her family, even this job, but not a day went by that she didn’t miss them. So, deciding that she needed company (though only saying that there was safety in numbers), Applejack welcomed Pinkie on her sales route.

She loved having someone to talk to, but there were times when she had to take a mental break from her effervescent friend’s monologue. Instead, she focused on their surroundings: the light rumbling of the old cart behind her, the rocky path beneath her hooves, the soft pastels painting the sky. For a moment, she could almost believe that some deities in a bedtime story had really once crafted the immaculate sight.

“Applejack!” her pink companion shrilly called.

The traveler’s reverie was shattered. “What is it, Pinkie?” Her harness clacked as she readied herself for a fight. They weren’t in the Everfree Forest yet, but dangers skulked in every corner of Equestria these days. “Timberwolves? Diamond Dogs?” Her twanged voice dropped to a whisper as her green eyes shot up to the sky, its warm hues now menacing. “It’s not the Shadowbolts is it?”

The mare’s poufy mane twitched in time with her eyes. Her face furrowed into a deep quizzical look before springing back to its default goofy grin. “Nope.” She said brightly. “It’s a double shake, triple mane twitch, eyebrow waggle.”

“Uh, ok.” Pinkie’s smile remained unchanged. “Could you remind me what that there combo means again?” Back when they first set out, Applejack took “The Pinkie Sense” with a heap of salt. Since then, the sheer number of close calls it saved them from had forced the practical pony to swallow her skepticism.

“Oh nothing much,” she responded. “Just a doozy, that’s all.”

“Just a doozy?”

“Uh-huh.”

“A doozy is what you called that crazy manticore up near Manehatten.”

“Yep!”

“A doozy is what you called a six pegasi platoon assault on the last town we were in.”

“Right!”

“A doozy is what you called that three-headed, fire-breathing, Tartarus-blasted chimera that ate my last apple cart!”

“Silly Applejack!” She retorted. “It only gobbled up half of your nifty cart.”

“Regardless,” AJ growled through clenched teeth. “Is this doozy as bad as them doozies were?”

“Nope,” she replied without losing an ounce of cheer. The orange pony sighed with relief.

“This doozy is waaaay bigger than those were.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, it’s at least two times doozier than those doozies.” Her companion’s shocked expression did nothing to alter her own. “Oh look, here it comes.”

Suddenly, the faint hoof beats echoed from the woods. The sound of cracked twigs and haggard breaths rushed closer and closer to them. Applejack quickly slipped off her harness, lowered her head, and primed her hind legs. The ferns and saplings began to rustle. A few strands of hair from her blonde mane drooped from beneath the brim of her broad Stetson. She was ready for whatever monster, pony or otherwise, burst through the tree line.

A terrified unicorn leapt onto the road. A mess of leaves stuck out of her tangled mane. Her forelegs were crisscrossed by cuts, some congealed, others freshly bleeding. The regularly vibrant purples that dominated her coloring were muddied and dulled. One half-secured, tattered saddlebag was strapped to her back. Seeing the surprised mares, she tried to turn and escape, but before she could take another step, she collapsed.

The embers from the campfire drifted up to join the stars they resembled. The eerie glow infused the old canvas of the covered wagon. The old slogan painted on the sides was inscrutable in the dim light. Applejack rummaged through the back, making certain all the paperwork was in order and properly forged. Most of it was real: Permission to Travel, License to Sell, Proof of Tribute, and the like, but as much as she hated lying, Applejack knew she had to fudge a few personal details. Her employers, as two-faced as they usually were, didn’t even have to suggest it. However, she only gave the papers a cursory glance. Every few seconds her eyes would dart nervously to the unconscious pony lying by the fire.

With Equestria the way it was, Applejack had possessed half a mind to leave the starved and battered pony on the roadside and keep on her way. She could guess exactly why a unicorn was on the run and wanted no part in that business, mixed up and tragic as it could get. She had seen what happened to ponies who did firsthand. Of course, before her rational brain could finish the first syllable of its argument, Applejack and Pinkie were already lifting the limp mare into the cart. Given enough time with Pinkie Pie and/or the Apple Family, your rationality tends to be somewhat muted. Sadly, that doesn’t stop it from reminding you how crazy you are after the fact, as was the case for Applejack then.

A small groan interrupted her worrying. The lavender mare’s bruised head rolled from side to side. Her eyes slowly batted open. With a few nervous glances at her surroundings, she pushed up and sat on her haunches. Applejack took a deep breath and approached her as one would a scared animal. “Feeling alright?”

Catching sight of the earth pony, the unicorn leapt to her hooves. A faint indigo aura whirled around her horn, then vanished as quickly as it appeared. Her knees buckled, threatening to send her back to the ground, but the exhausted mare managed to stay standing.

“Settle down there, sugar cube,” Applejack said reassuringly. “You took a mighty bad spill down by the road. Don’t want to do no more damage to yerself, now do ya?”

The unicorn frantically looked around the campsite. Whatever she was searching for wasn’t there. Still on edge, she visibly relaxed.

Happy at this apparent progress, Applejack took a few steps forward and extended her hoof. “My name’s Applejack.”

The mare was taken aback. At first, she cringed as if expecting a blow. When nothing came, she simply stared at the strange gesture. Applejack’s hoof did not waver. Finally, she awkwardly raised her foreleg and tapped the expecting hoof. “My name is . . .” her face was a mix of confusion and indecision.
Applejack was ready for this. “Ya don’t have to tell me nothing. In fact, the less I know –“
“Hi, Twilight Sparkle!” The interrupter bounced in from the woods, an oblivious smile beaming from her face. “Got that firewood you wanted, Applejack.”
The practical pony gave an annoyed sigh. “-the better.”
“How do you know my name?” the unicorn demanded in a terrified voice.
“Duh,” she chirped. “The poster.” The pink pony zipped over to the wagon and returned in the blink of an eye with a thick sheet of matted paper. “We got it at the last town, remember?” The wanted poster was covered in official Canterlot seals. The lettering was slightly as if somepony had them rushed out, but every chilling word was disturbingly clear:

WANTED

For High Treason
The Unicorn Twilight Sparkle
Reward for Capture:
50,000 Gold

Though the reward was slightly higher than average, it was nothing Applejack hadn’t expected. A sketch of the unicorn and her cutie mark, all standard for deserters. That is, it would have been if there wasn’t an extra warning.

All those who aid this fugitive
Will share in her fate.
By Direct Order
Of
His Majesty,
King Sombra

The last line brought a heavy dread crashing down on the three. Even Pinkie looked troubled. After minutes of silence, Applejack finally spoke. “Everfree.”

Twilight looked up in shock, twinged with a hint of suspicion. “W-what?”

Applejack tipped up her hat. “The Everfree Forest. They’ll never look for you there.”

“But-“

“Do you have somewhere else to go?” the earth pony shot back. “There ain’t many safe places for deserters under normal circumstances, and these ain’t normal circumstances,” she glanced back at the wanted poster. “Not by a long shot.”

“I-I’m alone.” She responded. “Even if I could go back home, my family . . . my family was taken a long time ago.”

Applejack nodded. “Our route takes us right near there. We’ll loop around Ponyville, drop ya off in the forest, and circle back to town. Shouldn’t add more than a day, right Pinkie?”

“Yep!”

Twilight looked to Applejack, to Pinkie, and finally back to Applejack. “Why?” Her voice barely rose above a whisper. “Why are you helping me?”

Applejack sighed. “Well, it’s not like we have much to lose at this point.”

“Nope! We are in extra special massive triple doozy territory!” Pinkie’s goofy attitude returned, much to her friend’s annoyance and relief.

“I had a brother who was . . . recruited by that varmint.” Her jaw clenched at the memory. “He’s always lookin’ for the strongest of us earth ponies for his army, and Big Mac fit the bill. Course, he didn’t think a life of pushin’ other ponies around suited him better than apple farming. He tried to stay with us, but you probably know how insistent they can be, Twilight.

“They got him in the end, but they weren’t finished. They charged my family with sedition for helping Big Mac. Burned the farm. Would have done the same to us if I didn’t get wind of it.” Her face barely hid the pain. “A few years later, the land was bought up by two good for nothing scammers, Flim and Flam. Their tonic ain’t worth the cork on the bottle, but it’s tough to avoid growing some quality apples on Sweet Apple Acres.” The day Applejack called her home “Flim Flam Fields” was the day she turned herself over to Sombra. “I got a job selling their crop all over Equestria.”

“That’s how we met,” Pinkie piped in.

“I don’t have no delusions,” she continued. “And, I ain’t no rebel. All I want is a steady job to provide for my sister and granny.” Applejack paused. “But that don’t mean that I won’t take the chance to help another pony out, especially one who’s doing the same thing as my big brother.”

The desire to believe her was written plainly on Twilight’s face, but alongside it fear and mistrust seemed to be winning out. She saw that reward.

Applejack put a steady hoof on her shoulder. “Twilight Sparkle, I am telling you the honest truth. No matter how much gold is on your head, I would never turn anypony over to Sombra.”

For the first since she lost her family, Twilight felt a surge of complete trust- a warm, overpowering sense of well-being. Somehow, her faith in this mare’s promise was as solid as her faith that the sun would rise in the morning.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “Thank you both so much.”

Applejack smiled. “Don’t be thanking us ‘til you’re safe in the Everfree Forest.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie added. “Don’t thank us until you’re safe and sound in the monster-infested, dark and scary, totally unnatural Everfree Forest.”

“Pinkie Pie how are you so naturally reassuring?” Applejack asked sarcastically.

“It’s a gift.”

Twilight giggled. “Don’t worry. No matter how bad Everfree is, it’ll be paradise compared to where I came from.”
Applejack swallowed uneasily. “If you were where I think you were, you’re probably right. I’ll take the first watch, you ladies get some shut-eye. We’re gonna have to really hoof it to make up for our little planned detour.”

With that, Twilight cautiously settled down, feeling both exposed and protected by the ponies around her. After the last few days, it was a welcome change. Weariness weighed heavy on her eyelids. Every muscle ached. All she could do was close her eyes and surrender to the nightmares. At least now, she knew someone would be there to wake her up.

Author's Note

Well, here it is. The first real, full-length, planned out story I've ever put up. I'm this for the long haul folks( however long that turns out to be). Please give me any comments, feedback, and advice that you can think of. Thank you for taking the time to read this. More will be coming soon!