Maretropolis

Fifteen years later...

Applejack was a cadet at the Maretropolis Police Academy.

“Listen up, cadets!” the drill sergeant shouted. “Maretropolis has 12 unique boroughs within its city limits. Dragontown, Celestia Square, Everfree District, to name a few. You are going to have to master all of them before you hit the streets, or guess what? You’ll be dead!”

Applejack worked her tail off at the Academy. Yet despite years of working on her family’s farm, the physical training was the toughest part. She had to get through obstacle courses and simulators that mimicked all the boroughs that made up the city, each with its own set of unique challenges.

And while she may not have been as big, as strong, or as fast as some of the other cadets, she was strong-willed.

“Scorching heat!”

Applejack grunted as she was buried under the sand.

“You’re dead, Blondie Bumpkin!” the drill sergeant shouted. “One thousand-foot drops!”

“Whoa!” AJ exclaimed as she fell, face first, into the mud below.

“You’re dead, Freckle Face!” the sergeant shouted. “Frigid ice walls!”

Applejack tried to scale the wall, but she slipped and fell into the icy water.

“You’re dead, Farm Girl!”

Applejack put on a pair of gloves and started sparring in the boxing ring.

“Enormous criminals!”

She ran at her opponent, a fellow cadet named Bulk Biceps, and he knocked her clear across the ring with one punch.

“You’re dead!”

Everything from tripping on the tire drill, to getting her ponytail caught in a car door, losing her grip on the cross bars, and plummeting after climbing up the rope, Applejack fell more than anyone else.

“Dead, dead, dead!”

At the end of the day, Applejack trudged into the bathroom and walked over to the sink.

She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face, then she felt someone yank her ponytail from behind and hold a knife to her throat. She looked in the mirror and saw that it was her drill sergeant.

“Assault in a public restroom,” she said, letting her go. “You’re dead, Apple-Butt!”

Day after day, for four weeks, Applejack could hear the voices of her drill sergeant, her family, and Garble all in her mind, doubting that she could succeed.

“Just give up and go home, Smith!”

“There’s never been a cop in our family,”

“Never,”

“Never,”

“Just a stupid, apple-farming, dumb girl!”

And it was those voices that made Applejack work harder and harder.

At night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, Applejack worked out while she read her course work. Through persistence and perseverance, she managed to not only keep up with but surpass her fellow cadets.

In the final weeks of training, Applejack proved her worth. She sprinted past everyone on the obstacle course, and her drill sergeant grinned admiringly as she watched Applejack hop onto the ice wall and vault over the top with ease.

Finally, Applejack took Bulk Biceps on for their final sparring session. And this time, after dodging his wild swings, she punched him in the mouth, knocking his mouth guard across the ring. He spun around in a daze and thudded to the floor.

She had knocked him out!

On graduation day, Applejack took her place among the other graduates during the ceremony. She looked over at her drill sergeant, who was sporting a fat lip and a black eye from when she tried her “bathroom assault” test on Applejack a second time.

Vladimir Blueblood stepped up to the podium. He was a man of about forty, lean and fit, with long blond hair. He was maybe an inch over six feet and a pound under two hundred. He was dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt and a blue tie, and his eyes were also blue.

Blue was his color, no doubt about it.

“As Mayor of Maretropolis,” he began, “I am proud to announce that my Mortal Inclusion Initiative has produced its first police academy graduate. The valedictorian of her class, MPD Officer Applejack Smith.”

As Applejack strode across the stage, her huge family clapped proudly. The loudest applause came from her parents. Even her father sobbed.

“Assistant Mayor Inkwell,” Blueblood said to a pale, raven-haired woman in a black pants suit and glasses after he handed Applejack her diploma, “her badge.”

“Oh, yes. Right!” she said as she stepped forward and pinned a badge onto Applejack’s uniform.

“Thank you,” Blueblood said. “Applejack, it is my great privilege to officially assign you to the heart of Maretropolis: Precinct One. City Center.”

As the audience cheered, Applejack’s parents, her grandfather, and some of her cousins looked worried.

“Congratulations, Officer Smith,” Assistant Mayor Raven Inkwell said.

“I won’t let you down, Ma’am,” Applejack stated. “This has been my dream since I was a kid,” she added in a whisper.

“Well, it’s a real proud day for all of us,” Inkwell whispered in reply.

“Come on, Inkwell, make room, will you?” Mayor Blueblood asked, smiling broadly. “Okay, Officer Smith. Let’s see those teeth!”

“Officer Smith, right here!”

“Look this way, please!”

“Hold still. Smile!”

As Applejack and Blueblood posed for the cameras, Inkwell snuck into the photo next to Applejack.

Days later, Applejack’s parents, grandparents and siblings, along with several of her cousins, accompanied her to the train station.

“We’re real proud of you, Applejack,” Bright Mac said.

“Yeah. Scared, too,” Grand Pear chuckled nervously.

“Yes,” Buttercup added.

“It’s kind of a combination of the two,” Granny Smith said. “I mean, Maretropolis is such a big city and it’s so far away.”

“Guys, I’ve been working for this my whole life,” Applejack told them, trying to hide how thrilled she really was.

“We know,” Buttercup said. “And we’re excited for you, but terrified.”

“‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,’” Applejack quoted.

Granny Smith nodded in agreement.

“And Ursas,” Grand Pear said. “We have Ursas to fear. To say nothing of Manticores, Chimeras, Timberwolves...”

“Timberwolves?” Buttercup repeated, perplexed.

“Draconequuses,” Big Macintosh added. “Draconequai?”

“You play Ogres and Oubliettes with a Draconequus,” Buttercup reminded her son.

“Eeyup, and he cheats like there’s no tomorrow,” Big Macintosh told her.

Applejack sighed.

“You know what, pretty much all hybrids descended from mythical creatures,” Grand Pear said. “And Maretropolis is full of ‘em!”

“Oh, Dad!” Buttercup exclaimed.

“And Dragons are the worst!” he stated.

Buttercup wanted to argue with her father, but after hearing the world “Dragons,” she winced.

“Actually, your grandpa does have a point there,” she agreed. “It’s in their DNA. You remember what happened with Garble.”

“When I was nine. Garble was a jerk who just happens to be a Dragon. I know plenty of humans who are jerks,”

“Sure, we all do,” her father agreed. “Absolutely.”

“But just in case...” Grand Pear said as he held up a bag. “We made ya a little care package to take with ya.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Granny nodded. “Your ma and I put a pie in there.”

Grand Pear reached into the bag and pulled out a pink canister that looked like an air horn.

“This is Dragon Deterrent,” he explained, holding it up.

“Yeah, that’s safe to have,” Bright Mac mumbled sarcastically.

“This is Dragon Repellent,” Grand Pear went on, holding up a canister of what looked like pepper spray.

“Okay, the deterrent and the repellent. That’s all she needs,” Buttercup said, trying to stop her father from going overboard.

“Check this out!” he said as he pulled out a Taser and turned it on, causing it to sizzle.

Applejack gasped.

“Oh, for goodness sake, Dad!” Buttercup exclaimed. “She knows five different forms of martial arts; she has no need for a Taser!”

“Oh, come on. When is there ever not a need for a Taser?” he asked.

“Okay,” Applejack said as she grabbed the can of repellant. “I will take this, to make you stop talking!”

“Great!” Grand Pear said. “Everybody wins!”

“Oh, and this,” Bright Mac added.

He held up an ordinary-looking pen and clicked a button on the side of it.

“We love you, honey,” he said.

He clicked another button on the pen and a recording of his voice played from a speaker inside.

“We love you, honey,”

“It’s not much,” he admitted. “Just a little something for quick reminders.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Applejack said.

“Arriving, Maretropolis Express!” the stationmaster announced as the train approached.

“Okay, gotta go! Bye!” Applejack said as she headed for the train.

“Bye, Applejack!” her cousins called after her.

Bright Mac and Buttercup held back tears as they watched their daughter race onboard. Applejack sighed to herself before jumping back out to give her parents, grandparents, and siblings a hug. They all wrapped their arms around her.

“I love you guys,” she sighed before kissing her parents on the cheek.

After one last hug, AJ jumped back onto the train.

“Love you, too,” Buttercup breathed as Bright Mac sniffled. “Oh, Mac, pull it together.”

Applejack stood close to the door window as her family watched her go. As the train pulled out of the station, Apple Bloom ran alongside it, waving and shouting goodbye.

“Bye, everybody!” Applejack shouted.

“Bye-bye, AJ!” Apple Bloom called. “I love you!”

Apple Bloom ran, keeping her big sister in her sights for as long as she could, until she reached the end of the platform. When the faces of her family faded into the distance, Applejack climbed to the observation deck and took a deep breath, feeling like her life was about to begin.