It was dinner time at the Apple homestead, and Applejack was reading the mail. Unfortunately for her, the message that had arrived was not in her favor.

“Consarnit, the Crown is messing with us again!” Applejack crumpled up the scroll which she had been reading. “First it was the parasprites, and then the fruit bats and now this?” Applejack collapsed back into her chair.

“What’s wrong, sis?” Apple Bloom asked.

“The Canterlot fellers are attacking our farm again! They’ve created somethin’ called the ‘ATF’, and-”

“ATF, what’s that?”

“-Apples, Tractors, and Firearms, and they’re trying to take our tractor AND our guns! How do they expect us to protect ourselves from timberwolves? Magic? We ain’t no fancy unicorns,“ Applejack buried her face in her hooves. “Don’t these paper-pushing politicians have something better to do than bother hardworkin’ ponies with their nonsense?”

“Eenope!” Big Mac chuckled.

“Eat your dinner before it gets cold, dearie. Complaining won’t solve anything,”

“You’re right, Granny, it won’t. I’m just a bit frustrated, that’s all,” Applejack got back to her dinner.

After dinner, Applejack went up to her room, approaching her study and picking up the book she was in the process of reading, No Treeson, by Lysantana Spooner. Before she could sit down, however, she got a knock on her door.

“Sis, can I ask you a question?”

Applejack but the book down and answered the door. “Sure thing, sister, what do you want?”

“In school today, the teacher was saying that ponies could go visit government offices when they have complaints, and I checked to see where the Apple-Tractor offices are, and they’re right here in Ponyville. Could you take me and my friends to their offices tomorrow? We’d go by ourselves, but they’re only accepting adults,”

Applejack sighed. “Sure thing, but don’t you get your hopes up too high. They tend not to listen to anyone that won’t give ‘em a bag of bits under the table, alongside another one above it”

“Thanks, sis!”

The following morning, Applejack brought Apple Bloom and her fellow crusaders to the office of the ATF.

“Alright kids, before we go in, remember not to get too excited. Otherwise you’ll be mighty disappointed,”

Applejack knocked. “Coming!” A shuffling came from inside the offices, and the door opened. The pony who greeted them at the door surprised the Crusaders.

“PRINCESS TWILIGHT?”

“Sugarcube, you’re my friend and all, but this is one harebrained scheme!” Applejack paused, ”... no offense intended to Fluttershy and her work. How do you expect my family to make a living and protect itself?”

“The Guard, of course!”

“And wait an hour for them to arrive? Within an hour, Granny could be lunch for a swarm of parasprites!”

“Actually, that wouldn’t happen so quickly. In fact, it typically takes parasprites at least eight, if not more, hours to hatch after a parasprite mother lays it eggs on a corpse, and -”

“Consarnit Twilight! What do you think you’re trying to accomplish?”

“I’m trying to make ponies safe!”

“How? By robbing them blind and literally leaving them to the timberwolves?”

“Well, Applejack, tractors and firearms are dangerous! What if you run over Winona or something late at night?”

“The Everfree is dangerous too! At least you can control a firearm! You can’t control the Guard as easy, if you can at all! I saw them try to fight when Chrysalis attacked! Half of them tripped over their own feet, then cried and ran home to mommy!”

“Hey! Don’t you dare bring mom-I mean, Princess Celestia, into this!”

Apple Bloom tried to butt in. “Twilight, if you don’t mind me askin’, why do you think we can’t take care of ourselves?”

“Well Apple Bloom, you’re a child!”

“But I’m responsible enough! And besides, at some point, I’ll be an adult too! I want to help my family at the farm, and I can’t do that easily if you’re makin’ it so hard,”

“I want to sing and distract my sister from her parental abandonment issues!”

“And I want to be awesome like Rainbow Dash!”

“Well, kids, the world is dangerous! You need to trust in the authorities to keep you safe!”

“But Twilight! Don’t little fillies need to help their sisters out from time to time too?”

“Like when Rainbow Dash flies headfirst into a wall and I need to get the doctor!”

“Yeah, or like when Rarity has one of her breakdowns and starts drowning herself in a tub of ice cream!”

“Like that, sure! Also, what are ya plannin’ to do with the tractor you’re collectin’?”

Twilight laughed and averted her gaze, “Just protecting ponies, heh. Not like I’m going to sell it and squirrel the money away towards my book fund or something,”

Applejack gave Twilight the stink-eye “I’m the Element of Honesty, remember? I know when someone’s lying,”

“I guess so, heh,”

Applejack got up and turned to leave. “C’mon fillies, we're not gonna get anythin’ out of this. I told you ya’d be disappointed” Applejack turned back to Twilight, looking the purple princess in the eye, “And sugarcube, if you want our firearms and our tractor, you might just have to come by and take them yourself,”

“Sure thing, friend! I’ll have a flatbed ready by tomorrow afternoon! Thank you for complying!”

“That’s not what I meant, Twilight,”

“I know! Your compliance is mandatory!”

At this point, Applejack would have made a rude gesture, but she, in fact, lacked fingers to do so. She left, and the crusaders followed.

“Why did it turn into a fight, sis? Isn’t politics supposed to be about compromise?”

“Apple Bloom, what’s the compromise between living and being killed?”

“... Being robbed by Twilight?”

“... Do you want to compromise then, sis?”

“I guess not,” Apple Bloom moved on to another topic, “So what are we going to do now?”

“We’ll do what the Apple family has always done when danger is afoot, little sis. Stand our ground,” Applejack turned to the other two Crusaders “Now I won’t drag the two of you youngsters into this if I can avoid it, but I wouldn’t complain about some assistance if you’re offering it,”

“Well, I’m a filly who lacks parental guidance except from a reckless stuntspony who will probably die in a horrible flying accident, so I’m in!”

“And I think Rarity’s in Canterlot right now, so I don’t have to work in the shop, and-” Sweetie Belle gasped, “we might get our cutie marks from this too!”

The other Crusaders joined in on Sweetie Belle’s excited proclamation:

“Cutie Mark Crusaders: Boogaloo! Yay!”

Author's Note

First chapter! Yay!

Let me know in the comments what you think about my writing style! Also, tell me why Applejack is terrible for questioning Twilight's personal book fund!