There was a series of tunnels in the lower section of the volcano that led to the mines and then directly to the city. This way the guards and the city ponies who worked in the mines could get around without ever having to go into the main part of Greed Volcano, King Avarice didn’t want his subjects to enter his domain willynilly. Sunflower now led Applejack, Daylight, Star Blaze and Sugar Spirit through those tunnels so they could speak with the miners and tell them of their plan. After that it would be on to the factories, shops, farms and other parts of the city to spread the word.
The heat was absolutely sweltering now, if any of them thought that it was hot higher up in the volcano they quickly changed their minds. Of course to Applejack it still wasn’t half as bad as having her hoof caught on fire but that wasn’t a very big consolation.
Sugar Spirit was again down in the dumps since it was just too hot for her. Star Blaze had been complaining like normal and Daylight was grumbling like she had been for the past day.
The three of them had kind of grown on Applejack.
“I know it’s a real pain in here but the most dangerous part is over.” Applejack said to her three unicorns. “Come on, we survived against King Avarice and we convinced the guards to go along with all this. From here on out it’ll be smooth sailing.”
“Applejack. Shut up.” Daylight spat out through clenched teeth, thoroughly set on being miserable.
“Well fine, you can just stay a negative filly all you want.” Applejack rolled her eyes at the white unicorn.
“I feel like I’ve sweated off ten pounds in here already.” Star Blaze said. And with the waterfalls of sweat dripping off him he may have been right.
The stone that made up the lower tunnels was much darker, almost black, like the ones leading to the guards barracks they were the simplest tunnels possible. Not even smoothly carved, the ponies traveling through them had to watch out for any jagged edges. Weak magical crystals were embedded into the ceiling of the tunnels at uneven and basically random intervals, giving poor lighting and only the smallest amount of visibility. It would’ve been good if Star Blaze had the magic for his light spell but even if he did Applejack would’ve worried about him exhausting himself thanks to how hot it was.
“We’re below the surface of the ground now.” Sunflower said from up ahead. “We still need to go down a little further before we actually reach the mines.”
Soon enough the tunnel opened up into a larger chamber, this one with torches lining the wall. There were two other tunnels leading from it, both on opposite sides.
“The tunnel to our right-” Sunflower said, pointing at it. “Leads to the city. The one to our left-” He said, again pointing at the tunnel. “Leads into the mines. There’s a much larger chamber there where the lava flows freely, that’s where the heat’s coming from.”
He was right, Applejack could feel the heat pouring out from that tunnel.
“Oh joy, I can only guess where we’re going next.” Sugar Spirit complained.
“Yeah, yeah, none of us are enjoying this heat, let’s just go on already.” Applejack said back to her.
The travel down that tunnel was a relatively short one, it was tilted at a much steeper angle than the others and it was far wider too, enough for the whole party to walk side by side. Applejack figured it needed to be so big considering it was the main entrance into the mines. There was a glow coming from the end of the tunnel too, it wasn’t the same kind of light that the magic crystals or torches gave off. Applejack had a pretty good idea of what it was.
Her suspicions were confirmed when they reached the bottom of the tunnel and stepped into the largest area yet. A massive underground chamber that looked like it could’ve fit the entire city inside of it. Jagged black rock made up the entirety of the interior with rivers and lakes of lava running through it all. At the back of a chamber Applejack could see a huge pool of lava that bled into the wall, back beyond it was likely the center of the volcano.
The tunnel bottomed out on a higher section of rock that had been leveled and smoothed out on top to make for easy travel. At the far end of the rock from the tunnel the group stepped out onto a ledge that overlooked the rest of the chamber. Sunflower guided them to a series of lifts and stairways that had been built to ferry ponies down to the actual mines. While Sunflower minded the simple rope pulley, Applejack took a closer look at the lava chamber and saw dozens, maybe even hundreds, of ponies working all throughout it.
Some were pulling wagons full of rocks, others smacking pickaxes, chisels and hammers against the ground, and still others wearing mining helmets heading into deeper tunnels. Numerous small buildings were built through the chamber, Applejack guessed they were for storage or entrances to other mines.
“Well, here we are.” Sunflower stated simply as the lift came to a stop, depositing Applejack and the rest of the group on the ground floor of the mine.
There were mine ponies out working in the area, some of them were surprised to see the new arrivals but many more just kept going about their own business. Too busy or apathetic to pay any mind. A ways off in front of Applejack a lava river flowed freely, almost pushed right up to its bank was a long and narrow building that came nearly all the way back to where the lifts and large rock they entered on were.
“That’s where we’re heading.” Sunflower said as he led them towards the building, a door was built into the side facing the lifts.
“What’s it for? There gonna be a lot of ponies in there?” Applejack asked him.
Sunflower glanced back at her from over his shoulder. “Of course, that’s some of the housing for ponies down here.”
Applejack stopped. “Housing. Did you say housing? Ponies live down here?!”
“Sometimes things are busier. Like especially before a tribute day. They need to maximize their time.” Sunflower just shrugged in defeat. “Everything for King Avarice after all.”
Applejack turned to the unicorns, whose faces showed them being just as upset at learning this as she was. Even Daylight Gleam took some time out of being grumpy to look around at the despondent and horribly mistreated ponies down here.
Sunflower opened up the door into the large housing building for them. As Applejack looked inside she saw that the living conditions for the miners down here was of an even lower quality than the guards. Bunk beds stacked four high in two rows went from one end of the building to the other and their “mattresses” were even thinner than the cots Applejack had just slept on. There weren’t even any pillows or blankets, although considering the constant heat in here blankets were probably unnecessary.
Dozens of eyes turned to the entrance.
“They work in shifts.” Sunflower whispered into her ear. “So that the mines are always moving.”
“Um, hi.” Applejack waved at them all.
As expected, they didn’t react.
“I’m here to rescue you.” Applejack put it as simply as possible. Daylight Gleam facehooved from behind her.
This time most of the ponies just sighed and shook their heads, going back to what they were doing before Applejack came in. Applejack watched as a lot of them lied down in their beds and turned away from her, trying to get a little sleep.
“You seemed more charismatic earlier.” Sunflower said from her side.
“Oh stow it, I never said I was great at the whole rousing speech thing or anything.” Applejack glared at him. “Why don’t you help me convince them?”
“They aren’t even paying attention to us anymore.” He sneezed. “Excuse me.”
“Ugh, alright, I don’t feel like taking a lot of time here. There’s still a lot for us to do.” Applejack raised a hoof into the air. “Hey y’all, listen up!” She slammed it back to the ground and sent a tremor throughout the entire building. Causing it and all the beds to shake but controlled enough so she didn’t break anything.
Now the ponies were squawking in surprise and all of them trying to talk over the others as they asked Applejack just what in the hay was going on here.
She held a hoof up for silence. “Hold on, calm down now.”
The dozens of ponies got down from their beds and milled about on the floor, filling up the narrow hallway between the two rows of beds.
Considering how much worse these ponies had it than the guards Applejack had a feeling they might be even easier to convince. Sunflower thought they would be too scared of King Avarice, but Applejack felt that they had even more to get back. Their eyes were empty but Applejack was sure she could light a fire behind them again.
“I’ll say it again.” She said to the assembled ponies, who were still eyeing her with confusion and a little bit of fear. “I’m here to rescue you and put a stop to King Avarice. And you’re gonna fight back against him too.”
The ponies again reacted as expected, this time yelling at her and calling her crazy and generally doing a lot of the same stuff the guards had done. It was getting a little hectic so Applejack had to put a stop to it with another light tremor.
“Sunflower and I will explain everything.” She said to the once again cowed ponies. “I just need you all to believe in me, look at who I’ve already convinced, look at how I’m still fighting, listen to me. Listen to what I have to say about King Avarice and how you can get your lives, and your freedom and your names back. Sunflower, isn’t it great to hear your own name again?” She asked to the yellow guard.
He nodded, looking straight ahead at the mine ponies.
“What I’m going to ask you to do might be a bit dangerous, but no more than what you’re already doing. Or do you want to spend the rest of your lives down here, giving every last part of yourselves to King Avarice?” She asked them.
There was a lot of muttering, some of the ponies tried to avert their gaze in shame from Applejack. Some of the others blankly stared straight ahead at either the haunting thought of angering King Avarice or of actually working in these mines for the rest of their lives.
“Anypony can fight back.” Applejack told them. “But I know that sometimes things can seem hopeless, I don’t blame you for being afraid of King Avarice. You don’t have to worry about me thinking any less of you.” Applejack walked forward to turn some ponies heads to her and put a sympathetic hoof on their shoulders. “My name’s Applejack, I’m here to save all of you and you can help me do that.”
Applejack smiled wide at the big group of ponies. “Now, what’re your names?”
“I can’t tell if you’re crazy, stupid, or both.” The old stallion said to Applejack as she and her friends once again stood inside his house.
“Yeah I’ve been getting stuff like that a lot lately.” Applejack replied, not bothering to deny it.
After getting the miners to agree to her plan and revolution Applejack took her group back out to the city. The miners she talked to were now left to spread the word to the others, she had faith that they could do it. It just took a little push to get things rolling she found. Even ponies who looked as hopeless and broken as these ones, who had learned to not trust hope after seeing so many others fail, still had it in them to fight. A strong, unwavering, pony like Applejack could do a lot to move others.
Sugar Spirit rocked back and forth on her hooves, fully back to her normal exuberant self after leaving the mines. Daylight and Star Blaze were both even looking a little more optimistic as well. Sunflower and some other guards had gone throughout the rest of the city to speak to the other guards that weren’t in Greed Volcano.
“Look, I’m sure you think you can do this but nothing is gonna change.” The old stallion shook his head and went to walk back upstairs.
“Hold on a second.” Applejack grabbed his shoulder to keep him from leaving. “I know you’ve seen a lot of ponies fail but is there really any harm in trying?”
“Who cares?” He glared back at her. “I know what you’re getting at but I just don’t care anymore, do whatever you want but it’s not going to amount to anything in the end. King Avarice can’t be defeated.”
“Sure he might be unstoppable but that doesn’t mean we can’t win against him.” Applejack said. “In fact I know we can. He has weaknesses and I’ve found them, we know what to do against him. And besides, I aint asking you to fight him or even stick around after we destroy his crystal, you can run off after for all I care. You have that right after being forced to live and work in here all your life. I’m just asking you help us a little bit. You and every other pony. Just spread the word, tell the unicorns not to go on tribute day. Just do whatever you can and we’ll handle the rest.”
The old stallion unsteadily shifted in place, chewing on his lip and glancing between Applejack’s eyes and the unicorns standing in his home. Finally he shrugged off Applejack’s hoof and started to head back upstairs. At the final step he stopped and looked back down at them.
“Do what you want… I’ll tell any unicorns I meet what you said, but don’t hope for much.” He turned back to keep on walking before stopping again and looking back down. “My name’s Gear by the way.”
The engineer’s hat wearing factory worker stared back at Applejack. Not even the slightest bit of amusement showing on his face.
“I’m not sure if you’re-”
He was cut off as Applejack placed her hoof over his mouth. “Crazy or stupid, yeah I get it.” She removed her hoof and gave him a grin.
“Right.” The same factory worker Applejack had nearly bumped into before raised an eyebrow at her and the unicorns. “You say you want us to stop working and face the wrath of King Avarice just so you can try some nonsense scheme to get rid of these bands and the barrier around the city?”
“That’s exactly it!” Sugar Spirit said cheerfully.
“Okay. I’m going to say no and hope that King Avarice doesn’t take his anger out on me when the tribute for him isn’t good enough.” He turned around and started to walk away from Applejack.
“I guess you shouldn’t be surprised that it’s going like this again.” Daylight Gleam said to her.
“Got another epic speech? I’ve already forgotten how the last one went.” Star Blaze chuckled at Applejack.
Applejack for her part just sighed and rubbed her head. She had talked to and roused up so many ponies lately, she wished it could be a little easier for once. “Give me a few minutes to come up with something compelling. I’m running out of ideas.”
“I could write a speech for you!” Sugar Spirit shoved her face into Applejack’s. “I bet I’d be good at getting ponies excited!” She said, far too enthusiastically.
“It’s alright, I’ve listened to enough of Twilight’s speeches and what have you to come up with something on my own.” Applejack cupped her chin with her hoof, thinking hard for a few moments. Finally she smiled. “Okay! Got it!” She trotted after the factory worker. “Hey you, wait up!”
“How’s your magic doing?”
It was the most important question of the day.
Both Star Blaze and Sugar Spirit focused for a second before answering Applejack, faint sparkling auras appearing around their horns.
After the glowing stopped, Star Blaze answered her, a few beads of sweat dripping down his head. “It’s not quite back to normal but almost there, it’s just a little more stressful than normal to build up my magic.” Sugar Spirit nodded along with him, she was in the same boat.
Daylight Gleam’s situation was still a little different. Her magic was taken much more forcefully and she had far more of it to recharge. “I can feel it returning faster.” She said to Applejack. “But it’s still not good enough, I’ll need at least till tomorrow.”
Applejack frowned. “Well that should be alright at least. A good night’s rest will serve you well, I don’t want to chance anything. Without you this all falls apart.”
The whole party was sitting outside the lion’s mouth entrance to Greed Volcano, joined by Sunflower and a few of his guards, including the two who had been here when Applejack’s group first entered the volcano. Now she knew them as Lustrous and Bright Mind. They only had one full day left but now there was nothing to do but prepare, rest, and wait. And hope.
“So this is where the tribute is gathered? Just this empty area right outside the volcano?” Applejack asked the guards.
“That’s right. King Avarice will teleport out here early in the morning, expecting his new tribute.” Sunflower replied.
“And instead he’ll fly into a rage and we’ll fight him...” Lustrous said, not in a very enthusiastic tone.
“Actually I think it will be best if you and the other unicorn guards stay away, help protect the other ponies. We don’t want King Avarice getting stronger off of another unicorn’s magic.” Sunflower told them.
Lustrous perked up at that. “Can do.”
Applejack rolled her eyes at him, though she couldn’t blame him for being afraid of facing King Avarice. Applejack was afraid too although she wouldn’t show it, she needed to appear completely unafraid for the other ponies. She needed to be their rock.
“Okay, so this is it then.” Applejack said to the assembled group. “I know we barely know each other but I’m glad you’re all willing to trust me and fight back against King Avarice. I promise you we’ll destroy that crystal. Tribute day will be the last day you’re ever enslaved to King Avarice.” The formerly empty and broken ponies actually started to smile a bit at Applejack’s words. “It’ll be rough and dangerous, but we can do it together. I know it.”
Applejack hopped up the stairs to the entrance of Greed Volcano. “Get ready, it’s almost rodeo time.”