//------------------------------// // Off the Map // Story: Applejack at the Edge of the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// There were many constants in Ponyville. The flower ponies would overreact to something at least once a day, some mail would accidentally be delivered to the wrong address, something weird happened once a week, and certain ponies could always be found certain places if they weren’t busy working. Twilight Sparkle had her castle. Rarity had her boutique. Fluttershy had her cottage. And Applejack had Sweet Apple Acres. Of every constant of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, that farm and those orchards, were the oldest and most certain things in Ponyville. Any pony who lived there could tell you that. One only needed to visit Sweet Apple Acres once to get the feeling that even if everything else familiar about Ponyville vanished, that Sweet Apple Acres would always be there. The same as always. Applejack loved it, and that’s why she could be found so commonly at her home even when all the work was done for the day. There was truly no place she enjoyed being more. She didn’t have to be at the school today and with Big Mac’s help all the trees that needed to be bucked were taken care of earlier as well. Now it was just a bit past noon and she had the rest of the day free. Helped that it was the slow season. Not as many apples on the tree, no Zap Apple’s to harvest and make jam of either. Truthfully, if anypony else had asked her, Applejack would’ve told them that these were her least favorite types of days. She preferred having something to do—unless she was having fun with her friends, or helping out her little sister, these lazy afternoons were just that—lazy. She knew she was a bit odd, though she didn’t understand why she was the odd one, when it came to this. What was wrong with enjoying having a whole list of chores to do? She loved being productive. Sure, a night after a hard day’s work, resting on the porch with a pint of apple juice, that couldn’t be beat. But that was reserved for days where she had really been working hard. Not casual ones like today. So she had half a mind right now to go into town and check up on her friends, see if anypony needed something done. See if they were up to anything at all. Instead for the moment she found herself doing some of her favorite faux-work, looking through the orchards and examining the trees even though she had already done that half a dozen times this week. Examining the trees was real work when it actually needed doing. Not right now when she already knew every little nick and scratch on em. It would at least be a few more days before she needed to make some real rounds around the orchard again. But it was still nice to go through the trees. Made her feel good. Made her feel like she was still doing something—and it happened to take place in her favorite place in the world. The familiar sounds, smells, the colors, the feeling of the dirt beneath her hooves. Applejack couldn’t imagine a more perfect place than this. She knew the names of all these trees, she had watched a fair few of them grow from little saplings to the great apple bearers they were now. Though a fair few more were quite a bit older than she was. Applejack stopped at one in particular that was in-between batches—freshly bucked and new apples only just barely beginning to show. She smiled at it and gave it an appreciative pat on the trunk. Every tree needed love. More than that, all her apple trees deserved love. Maybe she could go bring them some more water- No, it was bad to over water your trees. She knew she shouldn’t force some work on herself, much as she wanted something to do. These trees weren’t hurting for nothing and she was just gonna have to accept that. Applejack sighed, adjusted her hat, and moved on. A breeze came through the orchard, rustling the leaves of the tree and causing her mane and tail to both wave in the wind. She had to place a hoof on her hat even to keep it from flying away. The amount of times a breeze had carried her hat away while out here on the farm… she couldn’t even begin to count. A chuckle came up from her throat and she shook her head, remembering yelling “Consarnit!” quite a few times and running down the rows of trees while Big Mac and Apple Bloom watched. Course nowadays all three of them had other obligations and they didn’t always get to work on the farm like a trio in the old days. It made Applejack a little wistful but she knew that’s how things were, seemed every Apple was growing up in their own way. The farm would always be here in the end after all. In just a few more minutes of wandering, Applejack found that her hooves had taken her back in the direction of the farmhouse. She figured her subconscious or whatever it’s called had told her to stop being silly and just accept the day for what it was. Might as well go home and either relax or prepare for tomorrow. Applejack still smiled as she thought about tomorrow and walked back to the house. Unlike today she’d be working at the school and naturally meeting up with her friends. It was going to be a full and busy day. As great a day as she could ask for. At least that’s what she expected. In a place like Ponyville and living a life like Applejack’s you could never really be certain what tomorrow would bring. Even for a fixture like herself who thought she was just as solid and unyielding as the farm she grew up on. Life had a way of sneaking up on you, taking you for a ride, and not really caring what you thought. She came out of the trees and walked down the dirt path by the fence leading up to the farmhouse, a lot of this day was still left but she was already looking forward to tomorrow more. A familiar tickling feeling in her flank came over Applejack accompanied by an equally familiar magical chime. Applejack looked down at her flank and saw her Cutie Mark glowing and beating. “Aw shucks.” Minutes later and Applejack was throwing open the doors to the Castle of Friendship’s map room, running inside and skidding to a halt before the map and the chairs surrounding it. Rarity and Rainbow Dash had called them thrones before more than once, Applejack never liked thinking of it that way. “I came as soon as I could!” Applejack loudly announced to the room. “Just a normal friendship problem or is it something more serious? Where’s the map sending us?” Unsurprisingly, she wasn’t the first one here. Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash were already in the room, but none of her other friends were. Twilight looked over at her and smiled but Rainbow Dash was floating over the table—peering at it intently. In a second, the pegasus raised an eyebrow and looked over at Applejack. “You might want to take a closer look at the map before you make anymore guesses.” “Huh?” Applejack blinked in confusion and walked up to the Cutie Map. “Rainbow Dash is right… something a little strange is going on,” Twilight said and walked over to stand by Applejack’s side. “Just look, I don’t remember ever seeing something like this before.” Applejack took a gander to see what they were talking about—and had to admit they were right when she finally checked out the map itself. Her Cutie Mark and her Cutie Mark alone was hovering off the edge of the map, over nothing but empty air, to the left of the table. Officially you could say it was to the far west of the map, simply going further than any place the map actually showed off. Applejack though had a different thought. She pointed her hoof at the trio of apples and sent a sideways glance to Twilight. “Er, I think yer map’s broke there, Twilight.” Twilight frowned. “That’s impossible. There’s obviously an explanation for it.” “But nothing like this has happened before, has it? My Cutie Mark aint even over anything. And why just me? When has the map ever called just one of us?” Applejack questioned. “It happened with Starlight when she needed to resolve the feud between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna—and again when Spike had to solve the friendship problem he accidentally started here between Ember and Thorax,” Twilight explained. “But you’re right, it’s certainly an abnormal occurrence. Usually there are at least two of us called and I have no idea why now the map is asking only for you. But it is asking for you. Even with all the time I’ve had it here and the research I’ve put in I don’t fully understand it. The map and the Tree of Harmony both work in their own mysterious ways.” “Eugh...” Applejack dragged a hoof down her face. “But look how faraway my Cutie Mark is. Just how long will it take me to get… wherever this is? Are we sure the map aint broke? I don’t really fancy going off alone to some corner of the world I aint ever been to without any of you with me.” “The map isn’t broken. It’s never covered the entirety of the world-” “I can vouch for that,” Rainbow interjected. “-so now this is clearly what happens when it needs to call a pony to a place not covered by it.” Twilight finished. “I think.” Applejack frowned at her. “Ya think?” “It’s my working theory, but I think the evidence supports it so far,” Twilight hesitantly smiled and blushed at Applejack. “Geez, can’t you look on the bright side?” Rainbow Dash said and hovered over to her other side. “You’re getting the chance to go off to some unknown part of the world. Who knows what fun you can have out there! You should be super excited about this, I would be.” “Yeah, well unlike you, my idea of a nice day is bucking trees at my farm and taking the apples to market. That’s all the excitement I need,” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You’re so boring sometimes, Applejack.” “Thank you.” “Girls, please, we’re getting side-tracked. Applejack I wish there was somepony else going with you too but we can’t just ignore the map,” Twilight said. “Think about all the friendship problems, or worse, that would’ve gone unsolved if we just… didn’t go when it told us to.” “I’d fly out there with you if I wasn’t swamped with all my Wonderbolt stuff,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Everypony has their own set of obligations… and to be blunt, I feel like it would be directly going against the map’s wishes if I or another one of our friends accompanies you. It’s specifically just calling for you even though it could’ve chosen others,” Twilight said. “Well what if this is some prank by Discord?” Applejack tried to think of any excuse. “Remember the time he messed with the map and sent us real far away? Could be him again.” Twilight thought for a second, rubbing her chin and staring intently at both the map and Applejack’s errant Cutie Mark. “It’s certainly possible, yes. But why would he prank just you in particular? If he was pranking any of us I think he’d choose either me or Starlight. And unfortunately we can’t just call him up and ask him, he only shows up when he wants to.” Twilight scowled and rolled her eyes. “It could be a prank but it doesn’t exactly fit him in my opinion.” “Yeah, he’d rather mess with somepony who’d give him more of a fun reaction,” Rainbow Dash nodded. Applejack frowned at the pegasus but didn’t bother retorting. “Fine then. So I’ve gotta go west to… who knows where. For all we know I could be going plum to the edge of the world.” “Well—the world is round so-” “Just an expression, Twilight.” “It’s not as bad as it seems,” Twilight said and pointed at the western edge of the map that Applejack’s Cutie Mark was still far removed from. “The map still goes all the way into the Undiscovered West. Do you know the local pony from Ponyville, Amethyst Star?” “Course I do, I’ve lived in Ponyville longer than you, Twilight.” Applejack said with a playful smirk on her lips. Twilight giggled. “Of course. Anyways, she recently returned from a trip to the Undiscovered West. She told me all about it and thanks to her we know quite a bit more about the region than before. I can’t say for sure where your Cutie Mark is hovering over or how far away it might actually be, but I think I can at least come up with an itinerary that will get you pretty far. We should also probably pack you some supplies for making the trip—the train out of Equestria alone will cover a fair distance but then you might be on your own.” “No map is gonna help you once you step off that train by the look of it,” Rainbow Dash said as she went back to hovering over and examining the map. Applejack scoffed. “Please, when have I ever needed a map anyways? I’ve got my head on straight enough, not like I’m the type of pony to get lost in the wilderness.” Both Twilight and Rainbow merely raised an eyebrow at her. “Uhh...” Applejack coughed into her hoof and looked away. “Barring that one other time.” “Right,” Twilight said as she started to pace around the map. “Either way since this is a big undertaking I hope that whatever’s going on out west can wait. Or at least isn’t too urgent. It’s clearly going to take you some time to get there—and get prepared in the first place. Typically the map has always had perfect timing though, I think it would understand when it was right to finally call you.” “You talk like the thing can think,” Applejack said. “The map is directly connected to the Tree of Harmony. It can think,” Twilight said. “Sure...” Applejack glanced over the active map and then at her Cutie Mark. “Maybe it’s the one playing a prank on me then.” The Castle of Friendship was bustling with activity shortly after that as Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike helped prepare everything Applejack would need for her trip. Right now Twilight was in the library while she pored over the notes she had on the Undiscovered West to help Applejack figure out where she really needed to go. And soon enough, Applejack had a full saddlebag that was wearing almost as thin as her own patience. “And here’s a comic book to keep you from getting bored on the train ride there,” Spike said as he tried to stick one of his comics into her bag. Applejack grabbed his arm to stop him. “Whoa nelly there, Spike. I’m uh, I’m good. Besides I don’t think there’s much more room in that bag after Twilight stuffed that big journal in.” “Are you surprised? She wants you to take the most elaborate notes possible on the west,” Spike rolled his eyes. “Yeah...” Applejack sighed. “I’m afraid she aint gonna like it when all she gets is “There’s a mountain here”, “There’s a river here”, and such. I don’t think I can really write or describe things all textbook like.” Spike shrugged. “Eh, to tell you the truth I think she’ll be pretty happy with you bringing back any new knowledge.” “Seriously,” Rainbow added—still flying over the map and enviously looking at Applejack’s Cutie Mark. “Would you cut that out?” Applejack frowned at her. “Yeah, yeah. It’s just lame that the map is calling you to go to this cool unknown place and you don’t even want to make the trip!” Rainbow said and dropped to the floor. “I got work to do! Least it’s the slow season...” Applejack shook her head. “Never really cared much for adventuring in the first place. A normal day at home is what I yearn for.” “See? Lame.” Applejack snorted. “Oh shut yer feathers.” The door to the map room opened up once more and Twilight strode in with a happy smile on her face and a small booklet levitated in her magic. “Alright, I’ve got everything planned out for you as best we can get it! This is where I recorded all my notes on the Undiscovered West according to Amethyst Star. I know the names of the places you need to go, if not the direct route to get to those places.” “Great, so I go randomly asking for directions after getting off the train?” Applejack sarcastically asked. “According to Amethyst Star that shouldn’t be entirely necessary. Once you make it into the actual Undiscovered West you’re going to want to go to a town called Fire Vent—and there should be caravans, roads, and even river boats that will take you to it. And then from Fire Vent it should be an easy trip to a place called the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel.” “Ala what now?” “Al-Karamaretel,” Twilight repeated. “I don’t know much else about it but apparently it’s some sort of settlement that sits on our side of a massive canyon that divides the Undiscovered West in half. The Citadel guards the only bridge that goes across the canyon. Hopefully you don’t need to actually go any further than that, because Amethyst Star didn’t have any notes on what lies beyond it.” “Well I suppose that’s better than nothing,” Applejack shrugged. “So get to Fire Vent and then the uh, Citation of Ahuizotl.” “Citadel of Al-Karamaretel,” Twilight frowned. “I’ll remember, I promise,” Applejack defensively said. “There are other places and details concerning the West I want to go over with you too to make your trip easier. But as soon as you get on the direct trip to Fire Event it should all be smooth sailing. Metaphorically speaking,” Twilight said. “Unless she actually has to go way farther than we think,” Rainbow Dash said. “Yes, unless that,” Twilight nodded. Applejack shook her head. “No offense, but this aint looking like a fun trip so far.” Twilight stepped forward and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, smiling as honestly as she could. “It’s okay, this is just another friendship problem like any other. It’s just a bit farther away than normal. With my notes and plan I’ll make sure you can find your way easily. And besides, I know exactly how strong and reliable of a pony you are, Applejack. I’m sure you can tackle any problem. The earnest Applejack I know would never let nothing more than a long walk stop her from doing the right thing.” “Well shucks Twilight, when you put it like that...” Applejack blushed. “I mean, it’s not like I planned on not going if the map is really calling me there.” “I know. And don’t worry, some way or another we’ll take care of everything you need to do here. Whatever Granny Smith and Big Mac need at the farm and whatever needs to be done at the school,” Twilight said. “Thanks, Twilight,” Applejack smiled. “Don’t blame me if you’re upset when you get back and I’ve got an extra ‘Teacher of the Month’ award though,” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Don’t blame me when I come back and have all these awesome stories to tell that make you jealous,” Applejack smirked right back. “Pff,” Rainbow Dash snorted and looked away. Twilight giggled and rolled her eyes. “Okay you two, that’s enough for now. Spike, is everything essential for her trip packed?” “Sure is,” Spike gave her a big thumbs up. “Great,” Twilight nodded. “With how long it’s taken already and what I still need to go over with you… I think we’ll prepare to have you leave on the train early tomorrow morning. We can tell our friends too and they can see you off, I think we’ll all like that.” “Definitely will,” Applejack agreed. She then took another look at the map and her Cutie Mark, taking a deep breath before staring up at the ceiling in thought. Yep, you could never tell what tomorrow had in store when you lived in Ponyville. And especially when you were Applejack.