The ancient sounds of wild animals echoed through the large barn at Sweet Apple Acres. A little blonde, human girl in a faded dress, named Applejack Smith, appeared on a makeshift stage, trying to find her way through a papier-mâché and cardboard jungle. Her voice rang out loud and clear.
"Fear. Treachery. Bloodlust."
"Thousands of years ago, these were the forces that ruled the world. A dangerous world. A world where humans were scared of mythical creatures. And those creatures had an uncontrollable biological urge to maim and maul."
Suddenly, a boy in a Manticore costume leapt from the shadows and "mauled" Applejack.
"Blood! Blood! Blood!" she screamed as she crumpled under the "attack."
The audience gasped as the gyrating girl reached for a hidden bottle which squirted out red liquid seemingly from her stomach.
"And death," she groaned.
As Applejack pretended to expire, her parents, Bright Mac and Buttercup, who were watching from the audience, looked concerned.
After a long and drawn-out moment of terrible silence, followed by some dramatic drumming, Applejack stood up, faced the audience, and smiled as she continued her monologue. A banner reading Smith Family Reunion Talent Show hung over the stunned crowd.
"Back then, the world was divided in two. Mythical creatures and humans,"
Two cardboard boxes dropped down from the ceiling. The first, labeled Mythical Creatures in red crayon, landed on top of the boy in the Manticore costume, and the second, labeled Humans in blue crayon, landed on Applejack.
"But over time, they evolved. And moved beyond their primitive, savage ways," she went on.
A young human boy wearing a white robe did an improvisational dance across the stage. The boxes were raised, and Applejack and the other boy reappeared wearing white robes too.
"Now, mythical creatures, their hybrid descendants, and humans live in harmony,"
Applejack and the hybrid boy shook hands as the human boy sprinkled them with glitter.
"And every child, human and hybrid, has infinite opportunities," she said.
"I don't have to run and hide anymore," said the human boy. He ripped off his robe, revealing a homemade spacesuit. "Instead, I can be an astronaut."
"I don't have to be a lonely hunter like my ancestors," said the hybrid boy, showing a business suit under his robe. "Today, I can hunt for tax exemptions. I am going to be actuary!"
Applejack's grandmother, Granny Smith, played a patriotic tune on the piano.
"And no longer do I have to blindly serve the almighty apple!" Applejack declared. "I can make the world a better place—saving lives and defending the defenseless! I am going to be..." She ripped off her robe and stood in a blue uniform. "A police officer!"
A nasty teenager snickered and mocked her from the audience.
"That is the stupidest thing I ever heard," he laughed.
Applejack heard his remark.
"It may seem impossible to small minds," she replied. "I'm looking at you, Garble."
The audience chuckled as a backdrop showing a bright city skyline unrolled behind Applejack.
"But, just 211 miles away stands the great city of Maretropolis! Where our ancestors first joined together in peace and declared that, 'Anyone Can Be Anything!'"
Granny Smith finished off with a bit of organ music and Applejack proudly bowed, as if she had just given the performance of her life. Dutiful applause came from the audience, including her parents.
"Thank you and good night!" Applejack declared.
Later, Applejack, still wearing her police costume, excitedly exited the barn with her parents.
Outside, the Smith Family Reunion and Cider Festival was in full swing as everyone enjoyed food, games and dancing.
The Smith family were the finest seed collectors in all Equestria. They settled on the edge of the Everfree Forest and planted an apple orchard. And as the fruits of their labor multiplied, people from all over came just to get a taste of those apples, until finally, a little town began to take form.
A little town called Ponyville.
The Smiths' house and barn were at least a hundred years old, but they were both well maintained despite surviving numerous blazing summers and harsh winters. Now before we go any further, another little history lesson.
After fighting to a standstill following years of conflict, a human tribe and a dragon horde joined together, creating a larger horde to the terror of the other tribes. When this alliance was officially sealed via marriages, the dragons polymorphed into humanoid form, mated with the humans, and the first generation of half-dragon offspring were born.
It was often told that those humans' bravery saved humanity: if it hadn't been for them, the dragons would have wiped out the humans.
Human ancestry was no blemish against the half-dragons—provided they were every bit as tough and strong as their full-blooded kin. Half-dragons who were weaker than their full-blooded comrades didn't last long among the tribes. But it was often true that a bit of human blood gave a warrior just the right mix of cunning, ambition and self-discipline to go far.
Some of those half-dragons rose to become the leaders of the surrounding dragon tribes, their human blood giving them an edge over their full-blooded rivals. Others ventured into the world to prove their worth among the humans. Many of these became adventurers, achieving greatness for their mighty deeds and notoriety for their barbaric customs and savage fury.
But Applejack wasn't thinking about how her hometown was founded or about some ancient folk tale. Her mind was filled with her dream of becoming police officer.
"Applejack," her grandfather, Grand Pear, said, "you ever wonder how your mom and dad got to be so happy?"
"Nnnope," Applejack answered.
"Well, they gave up on their dreams and they settled. Right, Pear Butter?"
"Oh, yes, that's right, Dad," Applejack's mother replied. "We settled hard."
"See, that's the beauty of complacency, AJ," Grand Pear said. "If you don't try anything new, you'll never fail."
"I like tryin'," AJ said.
"What your grandpa means, Sugarcube, is it's gonna be difficult, hard for you to become a police officer," Buttercup told her daughter.
"There's never been a cop in our family," said Bright Mac.
"Never," Buttercup said.
"Never," Bright Mac repeated. "Smiths don't do that."
"Oh. Then, I guess I'll have to be the first one!" AJ said brightly as she parkoured against a fence. "Because I am gonna make the world a better place."
"You want to talk about making the world a better place, no better way to do it than becoming an apple farmer," said Bright Mac.
"Yes!" Buttercup exclaimed. "Your dad, me, your brother, your two dozen cousins—we're changing the world one apple at a time."
"Amen to that," Bright Mac said. "Apple farming is a noble profession."
"Mm-hmm," Buttercup added.
But Applejack had stopped paying attention to her parents. She had heard this kind of talk many times before. Ever since she was little, Applejack knew she was different from the rest of her family. She didn't want to grow apples. She wanted to make the world a better place for people to live in. And she couldn't do that if she followed the family tradition and became an apple farmer.
Suddenly, she spotted Garble out of the corner of her eye... and he was following Braeburn, Sunflower, and Sunflower's younger sister, Babs.
Trouble.
And so, she went after him.
"It's great to have dreams," Buttercup admitted.
"Yeah. Just as long as you don't believe in them too much," Grand Pear continued as he looked around for his granddaughter, who had vanished.
"Where did she go?" Bright Mac asked.
Applejack got closer and saw Garble and his pals, Fume and Clump, doing what they did best—bullying.
"Give me your tickets right now, or I'm gonna kick your butt!" Garble said, giving Sunflower a shove.
"Ow!" Sunflower yelped. "Cut it out, Garble!"
Garble took Sunflower's tickets and smacked her with them before stuffing them into his pocket.
"What are you gonna do? Cry?" he mocked.
"Hey!" Applejack shouted. "You heard her. Cut it out."
"Nice costume, loser," Garble said with a laugh. "What kind of crazy world are you living in where you think a farmer could be a cop?"
"Give my cousins their tickets back," Applejack said firmly.
"Come and get 'em," he dared her. "But watch out, because I'm part Dragon, and like you said in your dumb little play, my ancestors used to eat yours. And that killer instinct is still in our 'Dunnahh.'"
"I'm pretty sure that's pronounced, 'DNA,'" whispered one of Garble's pals.
"Don't tell me what I clearly already know, Fume!" Garble replied, irritated.
"You don't scare me, Garble," Applejack said.
Garble shoved Applejack so hard that she fell to the ground, knocking her hat off her head.
"You scared now?" he asked cruelly.
"Look at her," Fume said mockingly, noticing Applejack's watery eyes. "She is scared!"
"Cry little girl. Cry-" Garble taunted.
Before Garble could say another word, Applejack kicked him in the face, making his nose bleed. AJ's three cousins gasped and cowered behind a tree.
"Oh, you don't know when to quit, do you?" Garble asked as he pulled out his switchblade.
Applejack gasped as the blade popped out and she screamed as it dug into her skin.
She felt her slashed cheek (thankfully, the blade hadn't gone deep) and Garble pinned her down with his hand.
"I want you to remember this moment the next time you think you will ever be anything more than just a stupid apple-farming, dumb girl!"
Garble high-fived his sidekicks and walked away, laughing, leaving Applejack in the dirt. She got up, wiped the blood off her cheek with the back of her hand, and glared at the bullies' backs as her cousins hurried up to her.
"That looks bad," said Braeburn.
"Are you okay, Applejack?" asked Sunflower.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," she said as she pulled something out of her pocket. "Here ya go."
It was the tickets that Garble had stolen.
"Wow! You got our tickets!" Sunflower exclaimed.
"You're awesome, cuz!" Braeburn said.
"Yeah, that Garble doesn't know what he's talkin' about!" Babs added.
"Well, he was right about one thing," Applejack said as she slapped her cowboy hat on top of her head. "I don't know when to quit!"