The Divide

She heard footsteps, getting louder and louder before it stopped.  Then she heard breathing.

"You're alive." A voice said.

At the voice of this unknown figure, she looked up, opening her eyes and blinking against the light.

Applejack's tried clearing her throat. It had been so dry she could barely talk.

"Whe- where am I? How long have I been here. Who are you!"

"Whoa, kid. Easy, there." The voice said, seeing Applejack trying to get back up only to slump back down.

It still hurts, Applejack thought. Her

The room was sparesly furbished. It was like the caverns the Griffons occupied, only limited to one small room. There wasn't much to list outside a few cooking appliances laying around the fireplace placed in the center of the room. The most interesting element of the room were the books placed on top of two shelves. She couldn't read out those names though they were all hardcovers and probably well organized.

"What, has the army gone so lily-livered that they can't even give their own soldiers the bare minimum protection against firearms, now? Don't tell me Equestria has gotten this weak the last time I laid eyes on them." She begged, before going off to rubbing her hoof against her face, unable to comprehend what she believed to be the further embarrassing deterioration of the military of Equestria.

"He fired

"He managed to fire that close-up to you? By the looks of your wounds, I can tell you that it's near impossible to get rid in  "

"I... I was on the edge of escapin' outta the camp before he took me by behind. Stupid ol' me thought I could take him 'case he tried followin' me outside or decided to  fire at me right then and there," she let out a small sigh, "I thought I coulda taken him...  " Applejack didn't know whether to feel embarrassed or utterly foolish for taking that risk. Probably both deservingly, she concluded for she very narrowly survived by her teeth thanks to this . “Ah guess it just made sense at the time.” She joked, trying to make light of the incident.

Applejack managed to take a good look at her savior. Like her herself, her captor wore a fleece cloak to fight off the cold of winter. She couldn’t make out what she was wearing under her cloak though it seemed like it was something black with flap and buttoned pockets on it similar to a soldier’s vest. As for her actual body; she had a pink coat, though slightly less as pronounced as her friend, Pinkie Pie. Her blue mane seemed short, slightly shorter than someone like Rainbow Dash. She knew this when her captor turned her head around to grab a mug for the both of them. Finally, her violet eyes reminded her of Twilight Sparkle. Unlike Twilight though, her eyes did not bear the same spark she had. To her, for some reason, it felt... empty and deprived.

"Y'have a name?" she asked, having just received the steaming drink in her hooves and bringing it closer to her chest.

Instead of replying, she cocked an eyebrow as soon as she sat back after reaching over to Applejack to give her the warming drink.

Gah! Stupid question. 'Course she has a name. If it wasn’t for the cold, her cheeks would have been as beaming red as a skin of an apple in midday back home on the Apple Orchard. There was no way she

“Before I tell you how close minded and foolish you were for picking a fight with a griffon, explain to me how and why you’re here. You army? Of course you are. You must be army or else why on Equestria would you be in this forsaken frostbitten wasteland. Besides, I already noticed that shoulder patch when I dragged you back here.” She pointed at Applejack’s shoulder, “4th Rolling Hearts Division.” She spelt out, awaiting Applejack’s explanation whilst taking sips out of her own mug before it lost its warmth.

Applejack took a brief moment to read out the arm patch, which she previously never bothered to read when Redlove gave her the uniform as a disguise back in Ponyville.

“Er- yeah. I’m actually not part of the army,” she awkwardly admitted.

“Mercenary?”

“No. I’m neither.” Applejack waited for a reply but she didn’t so she continued, “I actually came here to find a member of my family. She’s a little filly.”

“And what on earth is a filly still doing here?” She sounded agitated. She rested her mug to the side. “I thought the army evacuated the goddamn people!”

“You’re crazy. Y’know that?”

“Hmph, says the mare livin’ all by herself in the Frozen North with no reason of bein’ here.” She retorted, sipping the last amount of the soothing hot tea down her throat.

She quietly scoffed at Applejack before getting off the floor and heading towards the exit that was a couple paces away from the fireplace to survey the outside. “Listen, Applesnack.”

“Applejack.”

“Even if I told you what direction to take and how long it would take, the winds will blow you off course and you may well be walking blind in a circle endlessly. Why don’t you just wait? Give the Frozen North two- maybe three weeks more and maybe the weather’ll clear up and you’ll get back to camp safely.” she suggested, returning to sit beside the fireplace.

“That’sa long time.” Applejack expressed worryingly, “I can’t take that risk, not with Stonewall’s leavin' by the end of this week.”

“Stonewall?”

Applejack nodded, “Mhm, Stonewall promised to tell me where that filly is. I was suppose to know this but well, the company got ambushed before I could return an’ now I’m stuck here with ya.”

“He was suppose to tell you when you got back. And is this Stonewall, a captain or...?”

“Stonewall’s the one reporting back t’Canterlot. I’m not so sure what his rank is but all I know is that he seems t'know a lot about what's going on here."

“I'm sure he does." She softly said to herself.

Applejack's ears perked up, slightly catching her quietly muttered words. "Sorry, what was that?"

"Nothing," she shook her head and got back on her legs again, stretching them out, turning her neck around, and patting down the snow off the coat,  “You know, I could take you back to camp if you're this impatient."

Applejack, caught by this change of heart was confused, "But the win-"

"That was if you went alone. And in your current condition, you wouldn't last long. Hay, what if one of them griffons or rebels got ta ya? Look, with me, kid... it will be a breeze." She promised, giving off a cocky smirk before walking out the exit.  That last remark really struck Applejack. She really reminded Applejack of her friend, Rainbow Dash. Applejack barely even knows her and yet trusts this mare to bring her back to camp safely across the Frozen North. In fact, she doesn't even know her name yet.

Her head popped back in the entrance. "Well? Y'coming?"

"Sure!" Applejack replied excitingly. In an instant, she too got back on her legs, stretched them and her neck a bit, though not too much, not with the wound and all, and joyously walked toward the exit, knowing that . If she didn't have any discipline or composure, she would've squealed aloud at that moment.

"Looks like we found her, sister."

"Indeed.

Should we proceed to intercept?"

"No. He warned us about her kind.

"Did he even give us her name?"

"It was a fine thing you came when you did. Really mean it, Miss...." No answer. Applejack's beaming smile was slowly disappearing. "Back in Ponyville and everywhere else, most would say 'no problem' or 'your welcome' to the one who helped them ou-"

"It's called modesty, Applejack." She interrupted, "You don't have to repay anything to me. There are some ponies in this world who do what aren't willing to do. Those who ask nothing in return but the betterment of others."

"Applejack found truth in her words, but still was relentless to get to know her name without being direct, still afraid of impeding on her privacy. "So- er... you don't mind the weat-"

"Well, if you're gonna ask, then ask."

"It's Pryde, Applejack. My name's Pryde. You see how much more simpler it could've been if you asked?"