//------------------------------// // 3. Lucky Number 7 // Story: For a Few Bits More // by RainbowDoubleDash //------------------------------// It was Applejack, Carrot Top saw to her dismay as she trotted alongside Ditzy, Braeburn, and Big Mac. Because of course Applejack was here, stealing time Carrot Top could have spent getting to know Braeburn from her. But the mare forced herself to put on a gracious smile as she came up to the Apple family mare. “Applejack!” Ditzy spoke up first, wings fluttering in a pegasus welcoming gesture. “What are the odds?” Applejack looked away from two Caballeros she was speaking to, eyes widening at the sight of Ditzy and Carrot Top. “Ditzy? CT?” She asked, pulling her hat back a bit. “Shucks, Ah can’t even guess what you two are doin’ here. Well…” She paused a moment to look pointedly and smile ruefully at Big Mac and Ditzy for some reason – prompting an annoyed whicker from Big Mac – then stepped over to Braeburn to give her cousin a friendly nuzzle that was swiftly followed by a bonk to the head with one hoof. “And where have you been?” “Ow,” Braeburn deadpanned, rubbing where Applejack had hit him. “So that’s what they mean when they say no good deed goes unpunished…” “No, Ah know ‘bout the buffalo,” Applejack said, gesturing to the two Caballeros. “These two señors filled me in on the particulars there. But you was supposed to already be at the train station waitin’ for us! What were ya doin’ in town?” Braeburn shrugged. “Sometimes trains don’t run on time the other way. Ah arrived hours ago, and Ah love ya, cuz, but not enough t’ stand in the desert heat waitin’ all day for ya. That’s far too thirsty a business. Ah been at one a’ the saloons, listenin’ for the train whistle. Woulda’ come here right away but for the buffalo part. And before ya go an’ make any accusations, Ah’ve been havin’ water n’ lemon and soda pop, nothin’ stronger.” Applejack rolled her eyes as she turned around to the other two Ponyvillians. “Mah cuz the drunk,” she said, though without any malice or true belief in what she said. “So what does bring the two a’ ya ta’ Caballeria?” Carrot Top blushed a little. “Um…Princess Luna,” she said. She tapped the Element of Harmony she’d almost forgotten that she was wearing. “We’re basically supposed to be doing some kind of good-will tour, show the Caballeros that we’re good ponies.” Applejack grimaced a moment at those words for some reason, then let out a long sigh as she scuffed the dirt with one hoof. “Every little thing…” she mumbled, glancing back to the two Caballeros, who looked more than a little pensive but were apparently waiting on her. They kept eying Big Mac and Braeburn both, particularly the former. “Applejack?” Carrot Top asked. “What is it?” Applejack pulled her Stetson over her eyes a moment, letting out another sigh, then indicated the two Caballeros. “This here is Mazorca de Maíz an’ his son, Tallo de Maíz. They’ve got a powerful need of help from mah brother.” She brightened as she looked between Ditzy and Carrot Top, eyeing the Elements they were wearing. “But maybe y’all can help, too!” She looked to the two Caballeros. “Surein’ y’all have heard of the Elements a’ Harmony.” “Sí…” the older one, Mazorca presumably, said, looking between Ditzy and Carrot Top. He didn’t seem convinced that the two were the heroes of story and legend, though Carrot Top couldn’t blame him on that front. “Pero…are you saying these are those mares?” Applejack’s grin widened, and she rubbed her front hooves together. “Right, Ah may have a thought formin’ of what t’ do,” she said. “First, lemme get Bloomberg – ” “Who?” Ditzy asked. “The tree,” Big Mac supplied. “She named the tree.” Braeburn groaned and covered his eyes, while Ditzy’s own went a little further askew than normal at the thought. Carrot Top glanced away and hummed quietly to herself, suppressing a sudden desire for peaches. “As Ah was sayin’,” Applejack insisted, even as she put a comforting hoof on Bloomberg, “lemme get Bloomberg situated somewhere safe, an’ then Braeburn, show us t’ the nearest saloon, seein’ as yer familiar with ‘em already. Then we’re gonna have ourselves a talk ‘bout what the de Maízes need an’ how we can help ‘em.” --- The saloon that they had ended up in was even more “disreputable” than the one that Ditzy and Carrot Top had dined in earlier, though this mostly took the form of it being smaller, with tighter seating and smaller windows that let in less light. It also featured a wind-up phonograph that was currently playing the scandalous flamenco music that was popular in northeastern Caballeria, albeit not too loudly. After getting their drinks (Ditzy stuck to a Surly Temple from the kid’s menu, and everypony else also kept to non-alcoholic drinks), Tallo and Mazorca had taken turns explaining their situation to Ditzy, Carrot Top, Big Mac, and Braeburn. “Wait, King Longhorn?” Braeburn asked at the end, scratching his head. “The same one what attacked Tía Tarta?” “Sí,” Tallo replied. “The same, señor Braeburn. You have heard of this?” “Not a half hour ago,” the yellow stallion replied. “From the bison Big Mac n’ me stopped. Marshal Fetter Keys was investigatin’, but Little Strongheart – that was the bison – didn’t know nothin’ ‘cept King Longhorn was the bandit.” “I’m gathering banditry is problem in this part of Caballeria?” Carrot Top asked. “This part? Nah,” Braeburn said, pointing down to indicate the land beneath him. “But once you get out into the Mild West proper, yeah, you’ve got yerself a problem, from Naqah down to Alpaclan. Too much land, too few beings in it t’ keep track a’ everything, not enough water t’ make a decent fort. New Appaloosa lucked into a great big oasis, but most places can’t support more n’ a hundred ponies at most.” “And los búfalos do not appreciate the creation of forts or large towns in any event,” Mazorca said. “And claim most oases for their tribes, who wander and do not settle. Los búfalos have no love of bandits, of course, but most bands have un búfalo o dos to navigate and allow them to avoid the tribes’ migration patterns.” “When the tribes are not fooled outright,” Tallo added. “Who is to say if the beings you meet are bandits or merchants? Especially if they are willing to sit and trade and smoke a peace pipe?” “That ain’t the bison’s fault,” Braeburn insisted. “The only solution there’d be to attack everythin’ they meet, or not trade with any being.” “Or be more careful, ¿sí? I do not think that it would be so hard – ” “Look, that’s a fascinatin’ discussion a’ black market economics n’ all that y’all have brewin’ there,” Applejack interrupted, holding up her hooves, “but it don’t solve nothin’.” She looked to Big MacIntosh. “Now, the way Ah see things, what Mazorca an’ Tallo need is somepony t’ help them find someponies to help them. Fighters. An’ we gots two right here,” Applejack nodded to the two Elements of Harmony. “An’ Marshal Fetter Keys surely will want t’ help take down King Longhorn, so that’d be three. Only he can’t be here by his lonesome! Surely he’s got himself some deputies.” Applejack leaned back, smiling and nodding. “So Marshal Fetter Keys bags hisself King Longhorn, our heroines over here get t’ show Caballeria their stuff like Princess Luna wants ‘em to, an’ the de Maízes get their village saved. You an’ me an’ Braeburn an’ Bloomberg get to head on t’ New Appaloosa like we’re supposed to. Everypony wins!” There was several long moments of silence. “Eenope,” Big Mac said. “That’s a terrible plan,” Braeburn followed up. “We’re not fighters!” Ditzy objected. “I can honestly say that ‘run away’ has been my preferred option for every real fight I’ve been in,” Carrot Top confirmed. “If señor Fetter Keys had deputies, would they have not helped him against la búfala he chased?” Mazorca asked. “He also looks older than mi padre,” Tallo noted. Applejack’s eyes fluttered rapidly at the universal objections. She looked to Tallo and Mazorca. “Look, it’s like Ah said, Ah ain’t lettin’ mah brother go by his lonesome to yer village!” “Ain’t nopony said nothin’ ‘bout him goin’ by his lonesome,” Braeburn pointed out, tapping a hoof to his chest. “Ah’ll go. Ah’ve been in a few rough an’ tumbles. With Big Mac, even.” He grinned slyly at the far larger, stronger, and redder stallion. “Ah even beat him in our last match of tug-of-war.” Big Mac snorted a little at that, but didn’t deny it, instead glancing away with a mix of scowl and a grin. The two Caballeros looked Braeburn up and down, impressed. “¿Eso es la verdad?” Mazorca asked. Braeburn nodded. “If there’s one thing Ah know, it’s ropes. Cross mah heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye.” “Oh, you say that here too,” Ditzy noted absently. She looked to the two Caballeros then. “As for me and Carrot Top…I don’t know if we can help. I don’t really think of myself as a fighter, and I know my friend doesn’t either. But if we can help, we will!” “I’m sure there’s something we can do,” Carrot Top noted, tapping a hoof on the table as she thought over what she’d heard about the layout of the village. She felt the Element of Generosity around her neck keenly. “Even if it’s just to lend a helping hoof to everypony else. It’s our job.” Applejack threw her hooves in the air. “That’s what Ah said!” she said. “It’s yer job!” She looked to the two Caballeros. “It ain’t that Ah’m unsympathetic t’ yer plight, señors, but Ah have Bloomberg an’ New Appaloosa t’ think about! An’ so do you two!” She pointed at Big Mac and Braeburn. “If’n we didn’t have an eight ton apple tree sittin’ out back, Ah’d be more n’ happy t’ help! But Ah need Big Mac to get Bloomberg all the way t’ New Appaloosa n’ plant him ‘cause…he’s better at it than me.” She admitted the last part through grit teeth and in a low voice, but continued at a normal volume. “If Big Mac is moseyin' on off into the Mild West an’ takin’ Braeburn with him, what’re we gonna do with Bloomberg? Huh?” --- “First, Ah’m gonna have t’ ask about the tree,” Marshal Fetter Keys insisted. “Ah don’ wanna talk about it,” Applejack responded as she scuffed a hoof in the dirt road, even though it was Big Mac who was hitched to the cart carrying Bloomberg, not her. Big Mac, for his part, was trying to move the cart into a position where it wouldn’t block as much of the road as it currently was doing. The de Maízes came up to Fetter Keys while Big Mac did so, explaining their situation, the fact that their town was being used and drained by King Longhorn, was in danger of starving to death because of him. “Te suplico,” Mazorca finished. “Señorita Applejack said that we would need at least seven ponies to defend our village from King Longhorn. We have five – and surely you and your fellow marshals will double that number!” “Triple, even!” Tallo suggested hopefully. Fetter Keys blinked at that. “Not hardly,” he admitted, stepping aside and pointing into his office, which was on loan from the local police. There was nopony inside. “It’s just me by mah lonesome,” he said. “Truth be told, Ah’m supposed t’ just telegraph what Ah find out t’ the capital, get backup if’n anythin’ big happens.” The two Caballeros looked between each other at that in worry. “How long until support arrives?” Mazorca asked. “Well,” Fetter Keys said, leaning against his doorframe and looking up to the sky as he thought. “That depends. First there’s gonna be a discussion ‘bout whether this should be a Royal Marshal job, seein’ as it’s a marshal what’s askin’ for help, or a Rurales job, seein’ as this is Caballeria n’ all. That’ll take a day or two. Then they’re gonna need t’ round up enough ponies t’ deal with the Cattle Rustlers. That’ll take a week, week n’ a half. Then they’re gonna need to get down here, that’s a few days. So say two weeks, three on the outside.” The de Maízes looked to each other in worry at that. Ditzy came forward. “These ponies don’t have two or three weeks, Marshal,” she said. “King Longhorn could be back any day. They need help now.” Fetter Keys put a hoof to his mouth at that, rubbing the short stubble that he sported. “There’s ‘bout thirty in Longhorn’s band, so I hear,” he said. “But he’s got a lot a’ cattle. They’re big eaters, get hungry fast. And bandits ain’t exactly known for their restraint, doubt they’ll ration the food they’ve already got, ‘specially not with them thinkin’ more is on the way. Hold ‘em off for a few days, make ‘em go hungry, mebbe give ‘em a good lickin’ t’ show we mean business…” He looked to Tallo and Mazorca. “’Course, a hungry cattle – heck, a hungry anythin’ – ain’t somethin’ t’ laugh at. You people willin’ to fight?” “Sí, señor,” Mazorca answered, as Tallo nodded along. “Of course. But we don’t know how, not beyond a bar-room brawl.” The Marshal nodded again, then heaved a big sigh. “Shucks, Ah didn’t want t’ live forever anyway. Ah’ll telegraph Ciudad de Fresas, let ‘em know where Ah’m goin’ n’ such, they’ll send help when they can’. We shouldn’t expect none in a timely fashion, though. After Ah’m done, we’ll head out. Meet me at the end of the west road in an hour.” Fetter Keys went back into his office, and the small herd of ponies (and one apple tree) turned about, heading for the road. Carrot Top bit her lip as she looked around the town. “Shouldn’t we maybe try asking some of the other Caballeros for help?” she suggested. “There has to be more ponies in town…” “What, like, raise a militia?” Braeburn asked. “More trouble n’ its worth, Ah find. Militia is good for defending their own home town. But move on past that an’ things tend to get disorganized n’ rowdy. Might end up doin’ more damage t’ the village than King Longhorn would.” “More mouths t’ feed, too,” Big Mac observed. “Ain’t much use in pushin’ off Longhorn if’n all the food’s just gonna be gobbled up, an’ plantin’ season’s only just started here, so there ain’t a lot of food t’ go ‘round for supplyin’ a militia. Smaller is better.” Carrot Top hadn’t considered that. The de Maízes had already mentioned that they were anticipating a lean growing season this year. Adding enough extra ponies to make a sizable militia would certainly not help with that, especially with them not being certain when King Longhorn would return other than some time in the next month. What if it took the whole month? Feeding dozens more beings during that time would probably strain the village too much, at least as much as the Cattle Rustlers would have stolen anyway. And bored, hungry ponies were liable to probably do something foolish, and probably regrettable. Not to mention the impact that Monte Rey suddenly losing a sizable chunk of its population, all of them presumably able-bodied, fit ponies who were needed for their own rounds of farming. Carrot Top slowed her trot as they passed on by an apothecary, biting her lip again. “Hold on a moment,” she said to the others, and looked to Ditzy. “We’re definitely going into a fight…I want to go in prepared for a change.” Ditzy looked over the apothecary herself. “Good idea,” she said, looking back to the other ponies while Carrot Top headed in. “We’ll just be a few minutes. We’ll get bandages, medicines, rubbing alcohol…anything else?” By the time Ditzy made her own way into the store, Carrot Top was already deep in among the shelves, looking over the various reagents and chemicals closely. Princess Luna had granted them a stipend to spend while in Caballeria, and Carrot Top strongly suspected that she was about to spend most of it here, on the grounds that she was heading into a fight and so it would be better to have something and not need it than the reverse. While Carrot Top’s special talent may have been in carrot farming, she also had quite the eye for alchemy, if she said so herself. Her grandmother had left her quite the “cookbook”, which her own grandmother had left her, back and back Carrot Top couldn’t even begin to guess how many generations, and added to by all of them. Of course, there were legitimate recipes in there, too…but sometimes Carrot Top would turn a page in it and wonder what in the world had required one of her ancestors to figure out how to make fulminating silver, aqua fortis, or alchemical sleep gas. Then she considered some possibilities and decided she didn’t really need to know if one of her ancestors had been some kind of bomb-throwing anarchist that eventually settled down or went into hiding. It was certainly coming in handy now, at least. Most of what she was looking for was easy to find in any store across the land – it was amazing what one could do with common products if the conditions were right. As she was browsing, she found Ditzy next to her, clutching a number of more mundane bandages and other medicinal items, all of them already piled into a doctor’s bag that she’d also be buying, and looking at Carrot Top strangely. “What are you looking for?” She asked. “Oh, this and that,” Carrot Top responded. “I thought we were getting first aid supplies.” “We should,” Carrot Top confirmed, nodding as she did. “But not just those. You focus on the first aid stuff, I’m going to get ingredients for some…other things, that might give us an edge.” She offered a smile to Ditzy. “You remember some of the things that Zecora has cooked up when we’ve run into her? I think I might be able to manage those as well.” Ditzy smiled herself at that. “We could use an edge like that,” she said, helping Carrot Top with the supplies she’d already grabbed by also loading them into the medical bag. After a few minutes of quiet, though, Carrot Top noticed Ditzy staring at her. “You’re…going to be okay, right?” the pegasus mare asked. “I mean, we were just discussing the Apple Trust, and then all of a sudden…” Carrot Top shook her head. “I’m fine, Ditzy,” she said, having picked up a jar of powder. She held it in both hooves, smiling at the pegasus. “I mean, yeah, it’s kind of strange that Applejack and Big MacIntosh would just be here, out of nowhere, more than a thousand miles from Ponyville. At exactly the same time we’re here. Carting around a huge apple tree for the Trust’s latest venture. But it’s just a coincidence! Just luck! Just – ” There was a crack, and suddenly Carrot Top was holding the remains of a jar in her hooves, and the powder was on the floor. She looked down at it, even as the pony running the store looked at her from across the counter rather pointedly. “I’ll pay for it!” she assured the pony, dashing up to the counter. “Even help clean it up! Where’s your dustpan and broom?” Ditzy watched Carrot Top impassively as the earth pony and the store owner went back and forth as to who should be cleaning up the mess the former had made, before the two finally settled on the store owner holding the dustpan while Carrot Top swept. Once the mess was cleaned up, and the two Equestrians bought all the supplies the wanted, Ditzy made sure to trot close to her friend. “So…” she ventured. “You’re fine?” Carrot Top bristled, but relented under the incessant stare of Ditzy. “Okay, no, I’m not fine,” Carrot Top admitted as the two trotted. “I wish I was! But I’m not, and I hate it…” she let out a long sigh. “Applejack is supposed to be my friend now…what kind of friend gets so jealous of their friends?” Ditzy shrugged a little. “We all get jealous,” Ditzy said. “There’s tons of times when I wished I made as much money as Trixie or Lyra. And I wish I owned my own home, like you do. You’re only equine, Carrot Top.” “I know…” The two paused as they rounded a corner and reached the edge of town. Applejack was standing in front of her brother and cousin, the former still attached to Bloomberg’s cart via harness, and looked like she was trying one last time to convince the two that this venture was a bad idea. Fetter Keys stood off a little way, meanwhile, talking to Mazorca and Tallo. To her chagrin, Carrot Top noticed Ditzy’s wings twitch a little when she looked Braeburn’s way, no doubt taking in the sheen of his coat, the way the wind slightly tugged at his orange locks…the pegasus noticed Carrot Top’s look, and grinned a little as she leaned over. “Mind, there’s some definite advantages to not being an Apple…if you know what I mean?” Ditzy giggled a little as she began trotting again, but Carrot Top waited a moment before continuing. She felt herself getting a little angry at Ditzy…and immediately felt herself getting angry at herself, too. Braeburn was hardly claimed. She hadn’t made any kind of statement concerning him. In fact, who said she was going to? He was an Apple, after all! Even if only a cousin to Applejack, Carrot Top still wanted none of that. She pointedly ignored the fact that she had to put a little effort into keeping her tail from swishing a tad higher than was proper as she began trotting again, towards Braeburn – no, towards the group. And she picked up her pace a bit so she arrived before Ditzy, too. “Hi!” she exclaimed in her most friendly voice. She looked between the other ponies, unconsciously giving her mane a little shake when she glanced at Braeburn. “Ready to go?” Applejack heaved what had to be the mightiest sigh since the creation of the world. “Ah s'pose,” she intoned. She looked to the two Caballeros amongst the Equestrians. “Look, señors, Ah’m sorry if’n Ah’m bein’ a pain. Ah gots me and mine to look after in New Appaloosa, just as you got you and yours. But seein’ as mah brother and cuz ain’t taken ‘no’ for an answer,” she glared a little at the other two Apple ponies a moment, then looked back, “Ah’m along too. An’ Ah promise, Ah’ll give it mah all.” She held out a hoof. “Muchos gracias,” Mazorca de Maíz responded, tapping his own to hers. “And I take no offense, señorita Applejack. I understand. Without your help and recommendations, we would not even be this far.” “Pero,” Tallo noted, scratching the back of his head under his sombrero, “did you not say that we would need at least seven? We have only recruited six…” “Nah, there’s one more on the way,” Fetter Keys said, trotting over. “She’ll be here any minute. Just needed to finish up her business in town…” “It is finished,” said a new voice. Everypony, even Big Mac, nearly leaped from their coats at the sound. Turning in its direction, Carrot Top – one hoof to her chest to try and steady her heart – saw a small buffalo cow, with a headdress of two feathers and a set of saddlebags that seemed like far more than she should have been able to carry. “Lil’ Strongheart?” Braeburn asked in surprise. “Eeyup,” Fetter Keys said, trotting up to the buffalo and turning to face the rest of the group. “Ah remembered what she said ‘bout not havin’ any love for King Longhorn, an’ asked her if she wanted to come along. She said yes.” “I said much more than that,” Little Strongheart said, looking between each of the gathered ponies. “But that was the general intent. King Longhorn has been a scourge on…my friends. And the Mild West. I would see him removed from this land.” The ponies looked between each other. “Don’t suppose any a’ your friends can help out too?” Applejack asked. “Y’know, as long as King Longhorn is a scourge n’ all.” “They always help me,” Little Strongheart responded, one ear flicking, “though they are…skittish. Easily startled. And there are none here at the moment. But if I see them or can contact them, I will.” Carrot Top blinked a few times, looking to Ditzy, who glanced back. That answer had been…vague, somehow, though Carrot Top might not have picked up on it at all had she not been friends with Trixie Lulamoon. However, the buffalo had offered help, and they could certainly use it. “Well, welcome on board,” Carrot Top said, determined to get off on the right hoof with this being, at least. She trotted forward, holding out a hoof. “And thanks.” The buffalo looked at Carrot Top’s outstretched hoof a moment, then to Carrot Top. “I will accept your invitation and gratitude, gladly, and in a moment we shall smoke from the peace pipe,” she said. “However, first, there is something I must know.” “Sure, anything,” Carrot Top said, looking to the rest of the group. They all nodded, not knowing of anything they’d want to keep secret. Little Strongheart looked pointedly at all of them. “Why are we bringing a tree?”