//------------------------------// // Caravan Trails I // Story: Applejack at the Edge of the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Applejack sat in the middle of the deck outside the department store and waited. The sun had gone down but it wasn’t completely dark yet. Just getting there. She had kept her eyes peeled looking to the south where the caravan was supposed to be coming from but so far it hadn’t yet appeared. Even when she could see it it would probably take another hour before it actually made it here… She was getting a bit bored. A few ponies who worked at the other stores had come out to greet her and try to sell their wares to her but Applejack politely turned them all down. Not knowing what would come at the Citadel, she wanted to save every possible bit. Hearing about ponies coming back bankrupt or almost bankrupt made Applejack wonder if the whole thing was about money somehow. How sad would that be though? You’d have to have ponies even greedier than Flim and Flam to be doing something like this. It might have been a little petty—but Applejack hoped there was a better reason for why all of this was going on. Just doing something so terrible to wring gold and crystals and whatever else passed for money out here was so wrong to Applejack. Applejack yawned and stretched, putting those thoughts out of her mind for now. She’d figure it all out when she actually got there. Unfortunately despite how ever present the symptoms from Al-Karamaretel were in this part of the world, nopony really had any solid answers for her so far. She yawned once more and glanced back south again in the hopes that the caravan would finally be coming. She blinked. “Huh, talk about a watched pot never boiling.” Coming along now was a wagon train slowly making its way to Station Ponywares. Applejack sat up in excitement even though it was a long ways off and kept her eyes glued on it the whole time. She was almost like a dog wagging her tail and waiting for her owner to come home after a long day of work. The closer the long train of wagons got the more of them Applejack could see. Might have been two-dozen of them total all making their way to Station Ponywares, each pulled by a team of four big and strong stallions by the look of it. Most of the wagons were quite large, covered up and probably full of cargo. Though some had to be made for sleeping in too. Applejack smiled as the caravan made it onto the big street and slowly pulled up alongside the deck outside the department store, there were too many wagons for them all to fit right in front of it so the lead wagon stopped at the end and just let the farther back wagons stay in the road. Once every wagon had stopped, a mare yelled from the front one: “Everypony hold up! You get an hour to mingle and spend time at the station as you please, but then you’re back to the wagons for the night!” Applejack looked and watched as a mare hopped off the driver’s bench of the front wagon and onto the deck, meanwhile the stallions pulling the wagons began to unhitch themselves and a number of other passengers started to crawl out from the wagons. The mare in charge though was the one who kept Applejack’s attention. She had a bright white coat and curly red locks of mane with a just as curly red tail and a fountain pen Cutie Mark. Most notable of all was the wide sun hat she wore on her head, it had to be Aquamarine. Applejack started walking over to her quickly thanks to Book Keeper telling her what to look for. The trail boss tilted her head up and let Applejack see her yellow eyes, the slightest of wrinkles under them to tell her the mare was a generation older than herself. “Can I help you, Miss?” Aquamarine asked Applejack as soon as she got close. “I think you can,” Applejack smiled. “You’re Aquamarine, aren’t you? The pony in charge of this here wagon caravan?” “That’s right, do you have business with us?” Aquamarine raised an eyebrow. “I’m about to. I’d like to join up with you on your trip to the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel. If I have to work my way there or pay you upfront—I’m okay with either,” Applejack explained. Aquamarine smiled now and looked Applejack up and down. “Well you seem to be a mare who’s no stranger to hard labor. If you want to save your money there’s plenty of work we’ll have to do unloading and distributing everything once we get to the Citadel. I don’t mind having more hooves for that. Course just out of decency I gotta ask if you know what you’re doing by going there in the first place? You another traveler trying to cross the bridge?” “I appreciate you asking and yes, that’s what I plan on doing,” Applejack held up a hoof before Aquamarine could respond. “I know what everypony is saying and I know it probably sounds like a foolish endeavor, but I still have to get across. Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself. I just need to get there first.” “If you say so, it’s not my place to try and talk you out of it. But when you actually see the Citadel you might change your mind,” Aquamarine said. Applejack frowned, a slightly unsettling feeling crawling up her body. “That’s right… you’ve actually been there before. Is it really that bad?” “I’ve never been inside the walls—no reason to—but outside is bad enough. Just a shanty town that’s risen up on the plains full of ponies who have lost hope or are trying to scam or prey on others. It’s the most miserable place I’ve seen in my life,” Aquamarine shook her head. “Honestly don’t even know if it’s a good or bad service we’re doing running supplies there and keeping it going. Might be better if everypony just gave up on the Citadel completely.” “And so you don’t know either about why the Citadel aint letting ponies through?” Applejack asked. Aquamarine shook her head. “Nopony knows for sure, not even the ones who have been waiting outside its walls for ages. It’s all rumors and hearsay and I haven’t spoken to anypony who works for the Citadel either. Only the guards outside the main gate and they refuse to talk about anything besides their own business—I doubt they even know the reason either to be honest.” “So hold on—there’s a town built inside the walls of the Citadel too, right? Why’s there this whole shanty town you’re talking about? I don’t understand what’s going on here,” Applejack scratched her head. “This is how it works; anypony can walk up to the gates, give their name, get a number, and get let inside. But once you’re inside the actual Citadel you need to constantly pay rent for where you stay and for everything else you do. And there’s no guarantee that your number will be called and you’ll be let through before your money dries up and they kick you out—upon which you’d need to come back and go through it all over again. The ponies in the town outside the walls? They aren’t even in line to cross the bridge. They either can’t afford to wait long, or are too afraid to take any chances. They’re in line to get in line,” Aquamarine sighed. “It’s just a vicious cycle designed to drain ponies for everything they have. There’s no order to what numbers are called either, it seems to be based on the purpose of your trip or what you have to trade more than anything. You could get into the Citadel days before somepony else and you could see them cross the bridge before you. And that’s still the best case scenario. There are rumors that some ponies choose to become indentured servants and slowly work for their wages inside the Citadel so they don’t lose their numbers. But it’s practically slavery, the wages are so low, and you don’t even really make money, you just become trapped working for the Citadel forever.” Applejack shivered and grimaced. “Awful… I just can’t wrap my head around this. But thanks for telling me, you know more about that place than anypony else I’ve talked to so far. It aint gonna be fun once I get there...” “Sorry, but there’s nothing positive I can say about the Citadel at all. Now if you want to get set up in one of the wagons be my guest, I have some business to talk with the ponies here,” Aquamarine nodded her head at the department store. “Which wagons are for sleeping in?” Applejack asked. Aquamarine looked down the line at them. “Hm… actually now that you bring that up, most of the passenger wagons are pretty crowded right now. Except for...” she grimaced. Applejack raised an eyebrow at her. “Except for what?” “Well the very last wagon in the caravan is for passengers and right now there’s only one other, er, pony I suppose staying in it. She’s um… a bit eccentric though. You might want to stay in one of the more crowded wagons… but if you can put up with her then the last wagon’s definitely going to be the most comfortable place to stay.” Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “Well I’ve known a lot of eccentric ponies in my life, no harm with meeting one more.” “Good luck,” Aquamarine awkwardly smiled and walked past her. “I’ll be back in less than an hour now, you go and get settled in.” “Okay!” Applejack saluted her and looked down the column of wagons. She shrugged and trotted her way down them, swiftly walking to the very last one. Most ponies that had been pulling the wagons or sitting in them had gotten out and were either talking with each other or looking through the various stores and tents of the outpost. When Applejack got to the last wagon it was pretty dark out, and nopony was around it. She walked around to the back and looked up into it—from her view only being able to see that it looked pretty empty. Applejack stepped up with her front hooves on the back board of it and looked inside, but even like this she couldn’t see anything. It was too dark and the inside of the wagon didn’t have any candles lighting it up. “Hello?” Applejack said and fully stepped up into the wagon. Maybe the pony who was supposed to be staying here was out and about too. “Anypony there? I hope you don’t mind having a new wagonmate for the trip.” “Greetings...” “Uh...” Applejack blinked as she saw a shadowy figure walking towards her from inside the wagon. “Hi… my name is Applejack, Aquamarine said I could stay here.” She tried smiling. “Whose acquaintanceship do I have making the pleasure of? Erm… wait, tripped over my tongue a little...” “I?” The figure asked, and Applejack could see sheer black eyes ringed in white peering out at her from the shadows. “Y-Yeah… you.” “I-” a sparkly white grin also appeared in the shadows before the figure moved and threw something on the floor. A blast of sparkling smoke filled up the wagon, making Applejack cough and shut her eyes for a moment, and along with it came mini-fireworks lighting up the wagon with a series of colorful bursts. When the smoke cleared Applejack was able to look again and saw an unusual looking mare standing on a crate with one hoof raised proudly in the air while bright sparkling dust fell about and illuminated her. “Am the Wondrous and Majestic VAHAR! Traveling magician extraordinaire!” She loudly announced—far too loudly for this time of night—and smiled before jumping off the crate and landing in front of Applejack, rocking the whole wagon. She was wearing a blue wizard hat patterned with hearts and a wizard’s robe—a very patchwork robe with stitches showing everywhere—just as blue but patterned with carrots as well for some reason. But of course what was really unusual about her was that she didn’t seem to be a normal pony at all. Instead of a coat she had yellow-green scales that were so slick and smooth they almost looked like skin, pointed ears, the barest hint of gills on her neck, she was very lithe overall, and a spiky hot pink mane that was stabbing into her own hat. Applejack really had no idea what she was. “Wondrous and majestic? Aint those words pretty much mean the same thing?” Applejack said. “No,” the Wondrous and Majestic Vahar pouted. “Ponies keep saying that, geez...” “Right… well um, it’s nice to meet you, Miss Vahar,” Applejack said. “I can bunk here in this wagon?” Vahar smiled. “Go right ahead! The Wondrous and Majestic Vahar loves company! It is with great disappointment that all her previous company has left for other wagons!” “Can’t imagine why...” Vahar coughed. “Yes, well, it’s nice to meet you too, Applejack. What brings you to this part of the world?” “I’m going to the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel. Gotta get across the bridge—got business on the other side. What about you?” Another huge grin spread across Vahar’s face. “I am going to the Citadel because I have heard of how miserable it is—I seek to spread joy by wowing all the ponies there with my magic shows! All will cheer for the Wondrous and Majestic Vahar and forget their own troubles!” “Well that’s a noble goal at least...” Applejack rubbed the back of her head. “Uh… if it aint rude or nothing though… can I ask what you are? You’re not a normal pony-” she winced. “I’m sorry, that sounded bad...” “The Wondrous and Majestic Vahar takes no offense,” Vahar held up a hoof to keep Applejack from apologizing further. “She is from far away and knows her species of pony is very uncommon. But Vahar is what you would call a merpony, she can even breathe underwater! Isn’t that impressive?” “Uh, yeah I suppose. Also is there any reason you keep switching the way you refer to yourself?” Applejack asked. Vahar coughed. “I—we—she is still getting used to her theatrical way of speaking! It is only recently that the Wondrous and Majestic Vahar decided to start traveling the world and spreading her greatness. Her magic shows and performances are spectacular and only getting better and better! It was a great love of magic tricks and the smiles and amazement of others that sent her on this journey!” “You know you really remind me a lot of another pony I know,” Applejack tilted her head. “Another pony? Ridiculous! There are none out there like the Wondrous and Majestic Vahar!” Vahar shouted. Applejack winced and rubbed her ear. “Right, right, keep it down a little though, it’s getting late.” “The Majestic and Wondrous Vahar will attempt to be quieter.” “You just—uh, nevermind,” Applejack shook her head. “Look I’m gonna go put my stuff down somewhere here and get ready to go to sleep, we should be leaving bright and early in the morning right?” “Hold on!” Vahar put a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “Before you go to sleep, allow me to show you my extraordinary talents!” “Uh, alright then, go right ahead. Nothing with fireworks though please,” Applejack shrugged. “Of course!” Vahar grinned and twirled around to reach for something else in the wagon (momentarily allowing Applejack to see a thin hairless tail with a flipper on the end under her robe) and when she came back she was holding a deck of cards in her hooves. “Hehe~” The magician giggled and shuffled the cards in exaggerated fashion, riffling them and passing them quickly from hoof to hoof before spreading them out and fanning them before Applejack. “Pick a card! Any card!” “Okay…” Applejack picked one that was pretty much right in the middle of the cards and looked at it—the seven of hearts. “Great! And have you memorized your card?” Vahar wiggled her eyebrows. “Yeah.” “Excellent! Now put it back into the deck without letting me see what it is!” Applejack did so and Vahar immediately began shuffling some more, throwing the cards swiftly from hoof to hoof, riffling them behind her head and somehow spinning them around so they didn’t just go shooting everywhere. Honestly the shuffling was more impressive than the fact that she was obviously going to be guessing which card Applejack picked. And of course in just a moment Vahar was done shuffling and she cut the deck in half, swiping the top card off the deck and showing it to Applejack. “Is this your card?” Vahar smirked, holding up the ten of clubs. “No. It aint,” Applejack frowned. Vahar though only chuckled before dropping the card and then reaching up to Applejack’s ear. “That’s because your real card is right behind your ear!” She pulled back her hoof, clutching a card in it and showing it off to Applejack—the two of diamonds. Applejack blinked. “Uh… that aint my card either.” “Huh?” Vahar’s face fell and she look at the card herself. “Aw dang it… hold on, give me one more second.” The magician grumbled and started reshuffling her cards. Applejack rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long night.