Sweat fell from Applejack’s brow as she pushed herself forward with all her might. Her hooves dug into the dirt beneath her, muscles straining as she tried to walk forward. But it was no good. No matter what she did she couldn’t take another step, it was like an invisible wall or force was pushing back against her.
The unicorns had the same problem, and no amount of prodding or studying the black bands with magic was getting them anywhere. They were harder to get off than molasses in fur.
Applejack let out a breath and fell backwards, giving up for now. She lay there on her back panting and sweating from the exertion while Daylight tried covering herself in a magic aura and walking through only to be repelled by the same force. Star Blaze and Sugar Spirit sat there frowning, unsure of what to do, it was clear that Daylight Gleam was the most gifted when it came to spells and general unicorn magic. If she couldn’t figure out how to get the bands off or get through the barrier then none of them could.
“It seems that these bands react with the magic placed around the gatehouse. When we get near we are automatically repelled like two magnets of the same polarity.” She rubbed her chin in thought. “I assume that this magical field covers the entire city, otherwise any pegasus or teleporter could leave. And another spell obviously works to automatically fix one with these bands when we pass through the barrier from the outside. How vexing, it’s invisible too. Whatever unicorn did this is exceptionally powerful.”
Applejack stuck her tongue out at the sky. Twilight or Starlight could make short work of this I bet. Ugh, why do I have to deal with more crazy magic?
Daylight Gleam and Star Blaze had long turned off their camouflage and light spells respectively, there was no real need to keep them up anymore. There was nopony around to spot them and there was enough light from the stars and other lights from within the city for them to see well enough at the moment.
“So what do we do now then? Just sneak through the city to the volcano?” Applejack asked the three.
They shared a look with each other and Star Blaze rubbed the back of his neck while Sugar Spirit started whistling and avoiding Applejack’s eyes.
Applejack stared blankly at them. “You… you all didn’t plan this far ahead did you?”
“Well how could we?” Daylight Gleam said, blushing indignantly. “Nopony knew what was in here.”
“Winging it has worked pretty well for us in the past too.” Star Blaze said.
“That’s not reassuring at all.” Applejack shook her head at the unicorns. “Good grief, I should’ve just walked away.”
Daylight walked up to her. “Look, I know we may not look like much but we’ve been on a lot of adventures and found a lot of lost treasures, sometimes that involves dealing with crazy magic or big monsters. We’re used to this kind of thing okay? We know what we’re doing. Most of the time.”
“Oh I’ve dealt with a lot of stuff like that too, I guess the difference is that I’d prefer not to do the kinds of things that get me involved with all that.” Applejack said back to her.
“Well none of us forced you to come with us.” Daylight scowled at her.
“I know, I knew I was just getting myself into trouble again. I really didn’t want to get involved in another big mess but if what you said about what was going on here was true I didn’t want to just leave innocent ponies to suffer either. That’s just how I am.” Applejack stood up tall and proudly.
“Yes, we know, you told us this earlier.” Daylight said. “Kind of weird to me, not used to seeing such a selfless pony where we’re from. But whatever, we’re still going to the same place.” Daylight looked down past the city. “Greed Volcano.”
Applejack looked at it too. “Yeah. Now we just gotta get inside.”
“How though?” Star Blaze walked over to them. “It would take too long to get there before morning, and even if there aren’t any guards around here maybe there are some guarding the way into the volcano. Also it would be pretty easy to get lost in a huge city like this and we have no idea just what the ponies living here are even like.”
“I have a suggestion!” Sugar Spirit shouted at them. Far too loudly for the middle of the night when they’re trying to be sneaky.
Of course though she needed to shout for them to hear her since she had wandered over to the nearest house.
“Sugar! What are you doing?!” Daylight said through clenched teeth.
“I’m knocking.” And the pink unicorn raised her hoof and banged loudly on the front door. “Hello? Anypony home? Sorry to bother you at night but do you mind if we come in?”
Applejack and the others just stared with their mouths wide open.
Lights turned on in the house, it was a small home built for a single family at most lying on the very edge of the city, the last house on the road before it ended and turned to the ground that eventually led to the gatehouse they had walked through.
Daylight, Star Blaze and Applejack ran up to Sugar Spirit, clamping their hooves over her mouth and grabbing her hoof so she couldn’t bang on the door anymore.
“Are ya nuts?!” Applejack whispered to her, trying to pull her away from the door.
“Who’s there? What’s the matter with you, banging on my door like that in the middle of the night!” A stallion’s voice called out from inside the house, it sounded like he was getting close.
“Let’s go already!” Star Blaze said.
But Sugar Spirit was having none of it. “Let go of me! I was curious about the ponies living here, let’s talk to them!” She bit Star Blazes hoof, causing him to yelp and fall backwards, accidentally tripping up Applejack and Daylight too. The three of them started to fall over together, in a last desperate grab Applejack reached out and pulled on Sugar Spirit’s tail, causing her to squeal and fall over with the rest of them.
THUD!
The four ponies lay there in a groaning, tangled heap. Which is how the occupant of the house found them when he opened the door.
“Just what in Avarice’s name is going on here?”
Applejack looked up to see an old beige colored stallion with receding white hair looking at them with a mix of confusion and annoyance. She also noticed that he had the same black band around his neck that they did.
“What got into you kids heads that you felt like bothering a poor old stallion in his sleep?” He grimaced at the unwelcome ponies on his doorstep.
Applejack was going to apologize but something about the stallion made the words die in her throat. His eyes were… empty. Like a doll’s eyes. Like a pony that never thought they’d feel joy again. She had seen those eyes in the mirror when she was younger.
“We’re sorry sir.” Daylight Gleam said as she tried to remove herself from the others. “We-” She looked at his band and then brought a hoof up to her neck, frowning in thought. “You know, I don’t think there’s any point in hiding things right now.” She stood up and shook herself off. “The four of us just came through the gateway, and now we’re trapped. We came looking for whatever treasure might be in Greed Volcano.”
“We? I came to help ponies.” Applejack corrected as she got up, Daylight mostly ignored her though.
He looked at them like they told him they were gonna go swimming in the volcano. “I think you just got yourselves in a whole mess of trouble then. Nothing leaves this city and nopony can cross King Avarice.”
Daylight Gleam’s nose scrunched up and she scowled at the old stallion. “What are you talking about? King Avarice lived hundreds of years ago, he’s long dead by now.”
The old stallion’s head hung low as he stared at the ground. “I think the four of you might want to come inside for a bit.” He turned around and walked back into his house, leaving the door open for Applejack and the unicorns.
Applejack walked in with the others following her, instantly she realized something was wrong with the house.
There was nothing personal in it at all, and nothing that wasn’t directly needed for it to function as a house. The floorboards were bare, there were no pictures of family members hanging on any walls, no flowers, in the living room there was only a single small table and one chair, no carpets or rugs of any sort, not even any paint on the walls.
This is the kind of house that Rarity sees in her nightmares. Applejack mused.
She saw her unicorn friends frowning as they looked around the interior of the house as well, they too noticed its strangeness.
“Is this normal here?” Star Blaze asked.
The stallion sat down in the one chair in the living room, leaving the rest to stand. “Everything in this city belongs to King Avarice. We get nothing but the barest essentials.”
Applejack sadly walked up to him and put a comforting hoof on his shoulder. “I’m sorry you have to live under a King like that, Mr.?”
The old stallion shook his head. “I don’t remember, my name belongs to the King too.”
Daylight Gleam frowned. “Just what is going n here? How can King Avarice be alive? Is he responsible for these bands and that spell around the city?”
“Alive?” The stallion glanced up at her words. “No, not alive, but not dead either. Nopony here knows exactly what happened since it was centuries ago. But King Avarice never died. His body may have, but legends say his greed was so powerful that he refused to pass on and leave his worldly possessions behind. He’s nothing more than a skeleton now, but he’s not dead. And he’s just as powerful and evil as he ever was.”
The unicorns, even the carefree Sugar Spirit, worriedly looked between each other.
“I take it you’re actually not quite used to something like this?” Applejack questioned.
“It’s a tad bit more worrying than usual.” Star Blaze admitted.
“Look, whatever, we just need to find a way to undo this stupid spell on us.” Daylight said.
“It’s impossible.” The old stallion told them. “Like I said, everything here belongs to King Avarice. Our whole lives revolve around giving to him.”
That didn’t sound good. “What do you mean?” Applejack asked him.
“Ponies in this city fulfill one of four roles. The first is as guards for Greed Volcano. King Avarice mostly uses unicorns for that, but they’re just as much of slaves as the rest of us. The second is miners, any pony in good enough shape is sent into the mines below the volcano to mine out any precious gems or minerals.”
“Whoa, hold up a second.” Daylight stopped him. “Mining under a volcano? That sounds incredibly dangerous.”
The stallion just shrugged. “You think King Avarice cares? He wants every last little piece of treasure he can get his hooves on. That’s all. Anyways the third group is craftsponies, they take any gold or gems found in the mine and turn them into jewelry and other works of art for the King. They may also paint or make sculptures or whatever, anything the King can deem a treasure. And of course it all goes to him inside Greed Volcano. Once a month everything gets sent into the volcano for King Avarice, if it’s not enough or not good enough for him he’ll wreak terrible retribution across the city. And the last group is ponies like me, farmers who help grow just enough food for ponies to survive in here. Pretty much nothing but the plainest wheat that makes low-quality bread.”
The stallion stared at the four new ponies with his old, empty eyes. “You four will be made to work soon enough as well, the guards will find you and force you into whatever job you look best at, and then you’ll do them until the day you die, just like me. That’s how this city works.”
“That’s… this is horrible!” Applejack growled out and turned to the unicorns. “We’ve got to stop him!”
Star Blaze and Sugar Spirit just chewed on their lips and tried to act like they hadn’t heard her. But Daylight Gleam was a different story.
“As much as I would like to avoid any such confrontation.” She said as she used her magic to twist her two friends ears to make them pay attention. “I think we’re going to have to do something about King Avarice if we ever want to get out of here.”
Applejack smiled in relief. But the old stallion just shook his head.
“There’s nothing you can do.”
Applejack turned to him. “Yes there is, I just don’t know what it is yet.” Her expression grew softer. “Uh, but pardon me for asking, can we stay here for the night?”
Star Blaze and Sugar Spirit grinned in embarrassment at the old stallion. He just shrugged and went upstairs, not having any extra rooms or beds to offer. It was uncomfortable sleeping on the floor but Applejack had dealt with worse. Tomorrow morning would come the real problem.