Victory Apple

“Welcome to- oh, Victory dear, it's you.”

Like many of the buildings in this newborn town, the bakery had no name- no identity. It was nothing like the bright and inviting Sugarcube Corner the six normally visited, and when they followed Victory through the door they felt it a bit offputting. The dull brown wood on the interior matched the dull brown wood of it's exterior, the same dull brown wood that made up every building. Coming from any other town in Equestria, it was clear that no building here had it's own identity.

But when Victory had stepped in, it was with a clear sense of belonging, as if she had known the building all her life.
The pony that had addressed Victory and her followers was an older mare, but there was a sparkle in her eye that hinted at an inner ferocity.

“Yes ma'am,” Victory replied, tilting her head in a respectful bow, “An' I brought somepony along who could help with the workload for t'day.”

“That's awfully kind of you, dear,” the mare replied, stunned, “But don't you think that five assistants...?”

“Oh, no, I'm sorry, ma'am, only one of these girls is a baker.”

“Oh?” the mare looked relieved, “And who would that be?”

Right on cue, Pinkie Pie came bouncing forward to introduce herself: “Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie! What do you bake here? Cookies? Cupcakes? Brownies? Ooh, I bet you make the best brownies! Just look at this place- it's all brown! Okay, not the same shade of brown, but...”

The mare looked to Victory, asking worriedly, “You sure she's a baker?”
Victory nodded. “Don't worry, ma'am,” she said, “She's not as bad as she seems, just a little energetic.” Turning to the others, she said, “The rest of y'all come on.”

The remaining three and Winona followed Victory out the door and up the road towards the main spring the settlement was based around. Here the scarce grass grew the thickest, making it the only place remotely suitable for keeping cattle. Thus, the settlement's only farm and ranch was set up over this spot.

“Um... Victory?” Twight asked, “Why are you bringing us out here?” Part of her hoped that the mare was going to help out on the farm a bit. It would be probably the best indication that she retained any sizable chunk of her memory, however hidden it may be.

Victory stopped at the main gate and turned to Rainbow Dash. “You there, Rainbow-somethin', you're a weather pony, right?”

“Yeah,” Dash replied, peeved at the thought that “weather pony” was still the best way some ponies chose to define her.

“You and I are gonna see if you can't help improve the irrigation to this here farm.” Without waiting for an answer, she asked the others, “Any of you three good with animals?” She looked down at Winona as she said this, and the dog gave out a happy little bark.

“Um, I am, Apple- I... uh, I mean, Miss Victory.”

Good!” Victory got right behind Fluttershy and began pushing her towards the farmhouse. Rainbow Dash snorted and rolled her eyes, but shirked back when she saw Twilight's glare.

“What?” she asked, “You really think I'm going to waste my time helping some farmponies water their grass? Are you nuts?”

“Rainbow Dash, if we're ever going to get Applejack to trust us, we need to get on her good side; and the five of us didn't exactly make a good impression, remember? Just stick around and help for a while. Maybe they'll even feed you.”

Dash sighed. “Alright,” she said, turning to follow Victory and Fluttershy, “But she's right, you are the bossy one in this group.”

Rarity scoffed, “Now Rainbow Dash, you know that's not a fair assessment. Twilight is simply trying to help poor Applejack in the best way she knows how... even if that does mean she gets a little bossy at times.” She offered a faint smile as she said this, but Twilight was not amused.

Rainbow Dash just stuck her tongue out at the two of them as she walked away. Victory returned shortly after, and her expression said she wasn't fond of the idea of walking with two unicorns beside her.

“Yer feathered friends aren't normal for pegasus, are they?” she asked them.

“Not quite,” Twilight admitted.

Rarity had a slightly longer comment. “Oh, true Rainbow Dash is a bit much sometimes, but darling Fluttershy is just so, well, darling. One cannot help but love her quiet demeanor...”

“Does she always talk like this?” Victory asked Twilight.

Twilight simply hung her head and sighed, admitting, “Yes, yes she does.”

Rarity continued to fawn over Fluttershy, rambling off on various points until she was far beyond circling back to where she started- and then somehow finding a way to keep talking- until they reached the main street of town again.

Victory told Twilight, “One of the others mentioned that you were really into books. I think it was the blue one. So here we are.” They had stopped in front of the town hall, the largest building on the street. Victory walked on in and by the empty reception counter without a second thought, Twilight and Rarity in her wake.

When she opened the door Twilight nearly fainted. There were papers, papers everywhere. Books and files were strewn about all over the place! It was a mess straight from the deepest recesses of tartarus itself.

And sitting in her desk, which was itself buried under stacks of paper, was the poor mayor left in charge of this small town. She was clearly having a bad day, but brightened up the moment she saw Victory.

“Sheriff Apple, what a pleasant surprise!” she cried, stepping out from behind her desk and coming forward to greet them, “To what do I owe the honor?”

“I heard that ya needed some help filin'. They say this one here's an... 'egghead'? She's good with papers, from what I gather.”

“A... unicorn?”

Victory nodded, somewhat sadly, “She's part of a group that's offered to help for a few days. I can vouch for her, don't ya worry.” And as she said that, a part of Victory wondered why she was so willing to trust this stranger. But she put on a calm face, and the mayor relented.

“Alright,” she said, “I really need the help anyway.”

Victory smiled and whispered, somewhat sinisterly, into stunned Twilight's ear, “Good luck.”

This jolted Twilight out of her momentary paralysis, and she had to decide quickly what to do. She had to stay with Victory, to find a way to jog her memory. Oh, but this place just had to be cleaned up! How could she sleep at night knowing that such a mess existed? What if someone came in looking for an important document?!

Defeated by her natural urge, Twilight quickly grabbed Rarity and told her, “Rarity, you've got to listen to me. I don't want you to leave Applejack's side for a second. I... I can't leave this. But you have to try to restore her memory. Tell her everything you can about her and her life in Ponyville. Do. You. Understand?”

Rarity just smiled and rested a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “Twilight, darling, I won't rest until she's restored to the good old Applejack we know and love.”

With that promise made, Twilight immediately turned and began shuffling through the wildly strewn papers. Rarity turned and followed Victory out the door.

“So what do you do, miss... Rarity, was it?” Victory asked carefully.

“Why, I'm only the finest dressmaker in all of Ponyville,” Rarity boasted, “In fact, I even made the dresses from our trip to the Grand Galloping Galla. Surely you must-”

“A dressmaker, huh?” Victory mused, “Well, we only got one tailor- she's the one who made me this here vest, but she's married to the blacksmith. And somethin' tells me that a pony like you wouldn't step within ten tails of a blacksmith's shop.”

“Oh, absolutely not,” Rarity affirmed, “Could you imagine all that soot on my coat? Or my hair?! How dreadful!”

Victory groaned. It was going to be a long day.

“Anyway, what did you think of that farm back there?” Rarity suddenly asked.

“Wha? Oh, it's fine, I suppose,” Victory replied.

“Anything specific?” she asked, “I'm more partial to fruit-bearing trees myself, but I suppose they wouldn't grow in a dreary place like this. What about you? Apples for a cutie mark- I bet you'd belong right at home in an apple orchard, would't you think?”

“This here 'dreary place' is my home. And if we could get the water irrigation workin' properly, we'll be able to start growin' trees by this next planting season.”

“An apple orchard would look nice out here.”

Victory gave a noncommittal grunt in reply.

“Um... what about the ranch?” Rarity offered.

“What about it?”

“Wouldn't you like to be out there... um, roping them doggies? Getting- ugh- down and dirty?”

“Not really, no.”

“OH COME ON!”

Rarity's sudden outburst caused Victory to jump, and she instinctively took a fighting pose. Rarity looked angry too, and she pointed a hoof at Victory and said, “I may not like your uncouth lifestyle, but the Applejack I know would never pass up the chance to do some honest hard work, especially if it meant helping out ponies like those struggling farmers back there!”

“Well I ain't Applejack!” Victory cried out. Several other ponies along the street had stopped to watch this unknown unicorn argue with their beloved sheriff. Seeing them argue seemed to stir up a gentle tension in the air. Unicorns were already unwelcome here, and seeing one going up against their sheriff brought up more than one pony's darker imagination.

Victory continued, “And I do help other ponies. But I help in my own way, by keeping peace and upholdin' the law.” Instead of swinging around and delivering a swift, hard buck like some of the onlookers hoped, she simply turned and began moving away at a swift trot.

Rarity, not one to give up on her friends, followed quickly after her. As soon as she got close enough to say anything, though, Victory began picking up speed. She was faster than Rarity too, but Rarity followed despite the dust collecting in her eyes and mane.

By the time they reached the sheriff's office they were in a full-blown gallop, and had to come quickly to a stop to avoid passing it. Rarity slammed right into Victory, flipping over her and landing on her back in the dirt. The sheriff wasted no time in getting through those front doors and calling out, “Fey! I need a drink.”

Rarity winced as she stood up, fully aware that the next glance in a mirror would make her want to faint from how dirty she was. Suppressing the urge to run home and bathe, she made her way into the sheriff's office after her friend.

Fey and Victory were sitting at the table, Victory drinking a mug of freshly-poured root beer. Fey looked at Rarity expectantly, but the irritation in Victory's eyes as Rarity entered the room told her to stay put and not offer the visitor a drink.

Rarity thought better than to put her exceptionally dirty hooves on the floor pillow and simply scooted it aside so she could sit at the table. Leaning her bare haunches against the unsanded wood was not a pleasant prospect, but she was already dirty and she would rather suffer a bit more than ruin a perfectly good pillow.

Victory asked her deputy, “Did anypony stop by this morning while I was out?”

“No ma'am,” Fey replied in a soft but firm voice. Rarity took a moment to look her over again. She had such a dull appearance, but her eyes were fresh with wonder and the confidence in her voice suggested that she had seen much more than she let on. She wasn't quite as strong as Applejack, but Rarity could see that she had the potential to be.

But Victory only nodded and said, “Good. I've had a stressful morning.” Fey's eyes flickered in Rarity's direction, but she said nothing. Her mentor continued, “I'd appreciate it if you took the afternoon patrol.”

“Of course, ma'am.”

As the deputy began to walk away, Victory called out, “Oh, and miss Lawless?” The deputy paused at the sound of her name. “Check up on the bakery for me. I fear I may have made a mistake unleashing that pink fiend upon them.”
The deputy simply nodded and left.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Rarity told Victory, “She shows you a lot of reverence.”

“She's a good kid,” Victory said, “I'm just hopin' she learns how to open her mouth a bit more.”

Victory took another swig of root beer. Letting the subject of Fey drop, Rarity leaned in and said, “In Ponyville, your Apple Cider is much more popular than root beer.”