//------------------------------//
// Caravan Trails II 
// Story: Applejack at the Edge of the World 
// by MagicS 
//------------------------------//

In the end, it took the Wondrous and Majestic Vahar six tries before she eventually found Applejack’s card. At which point she profusely apologized and promised her next tricks would not disappoint.  

At which point Applejack told her to please calm down and wait for tomorrow at least.

Shortly after that, break time for the ponies working on the caravan was up and they and Aquamarine all returned to the long train of wagons. The trail boss took her time to walk up and down each wagon, checking on them and the ponies inside them before the caravan rested for the night. When she reached the last wagon she jumped up on the front of it and pulled the flap aside to peek in on the two passengers. The moon was out now and gave them all plenty of light.

“How are the two of you doing back here?” Aquamarine asked.

“The Wondrous and Majestic Vahar is as excellent as ever. She has just gotten finished meeting her new traveling companion, Applejack!” Vahar smiled and put a hoof around Applejack’s shoulders, pulling her in close enough so their cheeks mushed together.

Aquamarine grimaced and looked at Applejack. “And you?”

“I’m...” Applejack sighed and put on a half-hearted grin. “I’m doing alright.”

“Well that’s all good then, hope the two of you can get along while we make our way to Al-Karamaretel. Now I’d suggest quieting down and getting some sleep soon, we leave early in the morning,” Aquamarine said. She went to hop down from the wagon but paused, sighing, she glanced back at Vahar. “If you want to perform another magic show tomorrow night for the other employees then be my guest… just try not to get in another argument if it goes badly again, okay?”

“Thank you! I will be glad to put on another show!” Vahar shouted with glee.

Aquamarine rolled her eyes and jumped off the wagon, the sound of her hooves soon disappearing in the night.

Applejack then squirmed her way away from Vahar and raised an eyebrow at her. “Something go wrong with one of your shows?”

“Ehehe...” Vahar chuckled uneasily. “I may have been performing shows for the ponies working on the caravan to pay for my traveling with them… and um… they may not have been particularly impressed with all of my astounding tricks and illusions. But I told them that I am improving every day! The Wondrous and Majestic Vahar is still a beginner—and she will not give up or be dissuaded by a few boos and jeers!”

“Well uh, good luck with your next show then,” Applejack said.

“Will you watch it too? I promise you will be wowed!” Vahar enthusiastically grabbed Applejack again and shoved her face right up to hers.

“Uh… yeah okay,” Applejack sighed. She just couldn’t say no to somepony so happy.

“Great! Tomorrow night will be a night of wonders and excitement!” Vahar shouted.

“Shh!” Applejack tried to quiet her down. “It’s late, remember?”

Vahar coughed and blushed from embarrassment. “My apologies. I believe Aquamarine is correct and we should get some sleep now.”

“Agreed,” Applejack nodded.

“Good night, dear Applejack,” Vahar smiled.

Applejack fought back the urge to roll her eyes. “Good night.”





The wagon had several rolls of bedding and pillows that were actually quite comfortable when Applejack finally got the chance to rest on them. The night was slightly spoiled by Vahar’s near constant muttering—but Applejack pretended she was asleep through most of it. And thanks to that she actually got the best night of sleep she had had in ages. Probably since the riverboat.  

She was well rested when it was time to wake up and for the caravan to start moving. Rested enough that she woke up even before they started—thanks in part to her farm life she rose before sunrise once more.

“Ahhh~” Applejack yawned and stretched in her makeshift bed.  

Looking over at Vahar she found the merpony fast asleep, drooling on and practically punching holes in her pillow with her spiky pink mane. The merpony had kicked her sheets off her at some point in the night and was sprawled out over her bedding. Beside her bed were her robe, hat, and a bunch of cards, rings, wires, smoke bombs, and other little trinkets for magic tricks all piled up.  

“Not looking too wondrous and majestic right now...” Applejack shook her head and got up.  

She walked up to the front of the wagon and pulled the flap aside to stick her head out—getting greeted by a cool morning breeze. It was mostly dark across Station Ponywares but the telltale signs of dawn were showing themselves. Applejack stepped out from the back of the wagon and took a seat on the front bench, enjoying the peaceful calm of the early morning. She wasn’t the only one out for long either, ahead she could hear ponies moving and the sounds of ropes and saddles being hitched up to the other wagons in the caravan. In another minute, four hardy stallions came walking down the line and reached the final wagon, where they were surprised to see her already there.

“Good morning, miss.” One of them greeted her politely.

“Didn’t expect to see a passenger up so early,” another said.

Applejack smiled back at the hardworking ponies. “Used to getting up early—farmer’s life and all. Y’all don’t mind me by the way, I was just enjoying the fresh air. Aquamarine having us leave soon?”

“That she is,” the first one nodded. “Bright and early—you’ll hear her whistle for the caravan to start moving soon.”

“By the way, how was being in the same wagon with the weirdo?” Another one asked.

Applejack frowned. She may not have exactly been too fond of Vahar herself but she didn’t like hearing another pony call her names or insult her. “She’s nice and friendly, that’s all anypony can ask for.”

“Hey, whatever you say,” the stallion shrugged.

“Come on, get hitched up already,” the first one said to the others.

It was almost right after the four of them had hitched themselves up to the wagon, but a loud whistle and shout came from the front of the caravan. Loud enough for everypony traveling on it to hear.

“MOVE IT ALONG, EVERYPONY! AL-KARAMARETEL IN FOUR DAYS!”

A chorus of cheers came from the various stallions in charge of pulling the wagons and the caravan got moving. The shouting and the sudden movement was surely enough to wake everypony up—and even Applejack got a jolt. She scooted over to the side of the bench and looked ahead, watching as the caravan slowly went by the department store and started to leave Station Ponywares. There were probably other ponies—not that Applejack could see them—waking up and also watching things go by or sitting up and having breakfast with their families now.

“Good morning!” A shrill yell came right into Applejack’s ear.

Applejack winced painfully and brought a hoof up to the injured ear while all the stallions pulling the wagon winced as well.  

With a grimace she turned to see Vahar poking her head out of the wagon and smiling at her.

“And isn’t it another lovely morning?” She asked, oblivious to Applejack’s pain.

“You’re a very positive merpony aren’t you?” Applejack twisted her hoof in her ear.

“I think one should always be optimistic and happy! That way they can take on the entire world! Be proud, be positive, believe in yourself!”

“I got it!” Applejack held up a hoof, sighing in exhaustion. “Just… just maybe not so loudly first thing in the morning.”

Vahar nodded her head with great vigor. “Yes, an understandable request. The Wondrous and Majestic Vahar is also still quite tired and needs to wake up fully.” She hopped out of the wagon and joined Applejack on the bench, smiling and waving at the stallions hauling the wagon. “And good morning to all of you as well!”

A series of noncommittal grunts and “Heys” were her response.  

Seemingly undeterred or oblivious to their feelings—Vahar continued to speak to them. “Did you know that just last night Aquamarine came by and said I can perform another show? Tonight you will see wonders you could have never dreamed of! It will make my previous performances look like mere child’s play! The illusions and tricks will wow you for certain!”

Grunts and groans were her response this time and trying to defuse the tension, Applejack spoke up once again so Vahar would stop talking to the stallions.

“S-So what does a mare do around here for food? I just joined up last night and told Aquamarine I’d help out with unloading all the supplies once we reached the citadel, do I need to pay for my food on the trail too?”

“Since you’re technically an employee you can get food from one of the two chuck wagons in the middle of the caravan for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most of the passengers brought food of their own while traveling,” one of the stallions answered.

“Thanks,” Applejack tipped her hat to him and looked over at Vahar. “Once the sun comes up, how about the two of us grab breakfast together?”

“Sounds like an excellent proposition! The Wondrous and Majestic Vahar would be happy to join you for breakfast!” Vahar beamed.

“Yeah...” Applejack rolled her eyes.

It didn’t take much longer before dawn fully came about and the world was lit up by the sun. Applejack able to look out on either side of the road and see the orange, barren, and dry landscape slowly pass by. Only just right off the road was the ground rocky and uneven, it was obvious why big caravans like this were the preferred method of travel through a place like this. Station Ponywares was already left behind completely—Applejack only took one glance back at it for a moment to watch the department store fade away in the distance.  

Now with the whole caravan awake and both their stomachs still empty, Applejack hopped out of the back wagon with Vahar (after she put on her robe and hat) and the two of them started walking together to one of the chuck wagons. The only good thing about wagons going this slowly was you were able to walk with them and meet up with ponies from other ones. They weren’t the only ponies out stretching their legs either, quite a few walked alongside the wagons for either exercise or fresh air. Applejack greeted them kindly—and noticed how they grimaced as soon as they caught sight of Vahar. Who again appeared oblivious or apathetic to their reactions.  

Before long they reached the first chuck wagon and saw that it was a bit bigger than the other wagons in the caravan, with a few steps hanging off the back and leading up and into it. Applejack and Vahar climbed in with no problem. Finding a few ponies already in there and going through a line where another pony sat behind a counter. The shelves behind him were full of boxes of food and ingredients and he had a wide flat grill beside him where he was already cooking up something Applejack didn’t recognize. Seemed a little dangerous to be cooking and have any sort of open flames in here but if it meant a good meal then Applejack wasn’t going to complain. The ponies ahead of her and Vahar got their food and headed out the front of the wagon, one by one until Applejack was ready to get her breakfast.

“Hey there,” she smiled at the cook. “What’s for breakfast?”

He flatly looked back at her from behind a big bushy mustache. “Well let’s see, we’ve got grits, and we’ve got grits.”

Applejack’s smile slowly left her face. “Um, grits it is then.”

Wordlessly he pulled out a bowl and a big spoon, filling up the bowl with the grits from atop the grill and hoofing it over to her.

“Thanks...” Applejack muttered and moved out of the way for Vahar.

“Greetings! The Majestic and Wondrous Vahar would like-”

He shoved a bowl into her hooves and pointed her out of the way.

“Thank you!” Vahar smiled.

The two of them exited the wagon and both started to make their way back to their own wagon while carrying the bowls of grits on their backs. It was good the road was more than wide enough for them to walk alongside the wagons without having to go off it. There would’ve been plenty of room for a wagon caravan going the other direction at the same time too. While walking back, she smelled a fair number of tasty things coming from some of the other wagons—passengers that had their own food. Applejack didn’t want to knock the grits before she tried them but they were exceptionally bland looking and didn’t come with much of a smell.

“Isn’t it just wonderful to be out traveling?” Vahar asked her.

“Um… it aint terrible. I prefer being at home though,” Applejack said.

Vahar nodded a bunch some more. “I understand that too! Home is where the heart is they say! But I just love seeing the world like this, exploring so many unseen places, meeting so many new ponies. It’s wondrous!”

“And majestic?”

“Yes! And-” Vahar stopped and pouted at Applejack.

Once they were back at their wagon the two of them started to chow down on their grits and Applejack had to admit she might have been wrong, they were actually pretty tasty. Filling too. The single bowl was more than enough to make a hearty breakfast and give her the energy she needed for the rest of the day. Vahar ate much slower than she did but even she polished off the bowl of grits.

“Tasty—but I’d prefer carrots,” Vahar said.

Applejack glanced at her robe. “I never would’ve guessed.”

Vahar then stood up and grinned down at Applejack. “Applejack! I can not wait until tonight, the show I put on will be great!”

“Uh, yeah, I’m sure it will be.”

“As soon as the caravan stops for the night I will go around and let every other wagon know what’s going on. I’m sure I’ll have more ponies watching my show than last time after this little break.”

Applejack blinked and raised an eyebrow at Vahar. “How many watched your show last time?”

“Twenty. Mostly ponies resting after pulling the wagons all day.”

There are at least eighty ponies doing that… Applejack thought. And that didn’t include whoever else was working for Aquamarine and all the other passengers. Going by that it didn’t seem like Vahar’s shows were very popular. She wondered if perhaps they were always like that or if fewer and fewer ponies came by to watch as they went on.

Applejack felt kind of bad for her, as annoying as she was. The mare was still earnest and friendly and clearly had a passion for what she was doing. Applejack hoped the show she put on tonight went well. And she also hoped there weren’t any mistakes like with her impromptu trick last night…

The rest of the day passed by pretty slowly as Vahar would simply not stop talking and the wagons made only a slumbering pace down the road towards the far off Citadel. Lunch and dinner ended up being similar affairs to breakfast—only instead of grits they had oatmeal and turnip stew. Applejack wasn’t sure how far they had traveled in the over twelve hours that they had been rolling but by nightfall they had reached a valley of huge sandstone buttes and other rock formations. Aside from those it was sand and the occasional shrub all over. Probably would’ve been a real pretty place during the day, Applejack would have to remember to take a look when dawn broke tomorrow morning. Of course even though it was now night and the caravan was coming to a stop after Aquamarine’s whistle it didn’t mean Applejack was sleeping just yet.

“It’s time!” Vahar shouted and jumped out of the wagon. “I shall spread the word to everypony! My show is starting soon!”

A bunch of groans came from the stallions who had just finished pulling their wagon for the day. But Vahar was already gone, running to the next wagon to announce her show to the others there.

Applejack sighed and dragged a hoof down her face. She also hopped off the wagon and walked over to the stallions, in the process of unhitching themselves, and tried to lighten things up. “Now hold on partners, it didn’t take me too long to get a little… tired… of her too but she’s a nice pony. Doesn’t a show after a hard day’s work sound fun? Might as well give her the benefit of the doubt, right?”

“Pff,” one of the stallions snorted. “You haven’t seen her shows. Fun aint what we’d call them.”

“Pathetic maybe,” another said.

“That so-called magician is nothing but a screw up. You’ll see. And her haughty attitude and ego just makes it all the more infuriating. Majestic and wondrous my flank,” a third shook his head.

“Not what we need after dragging wagons all day,” the last grumbled.

“I guess that means most of y’all won’t be coming to watch her at all?” Applejack sullenly looked down.

“Nope,” they replied in unison.





In the end, Vahar set herself up off the side of the road in the sand about thirty minutes later, with a number of boxes around her that must’ve contained her various trinkets and gizmos for putting on her shows. Sparkling candles set up everywhere on the ground lit up her “stage”. There were fourteen other ponies—mostly passengers from some of the other wagons—who had shown up. But to Vahar’s credit she didn’t seem dissuaded or upset in the slightest.

“Good evening all of you! Are you prepared to be mystified by the magical tricks and illusions of the Wondrous and Majestic Vahar?” She asked her audience, flashing a bright smile.  

A few half-hearted mumbles and “sures” were her response. Along with some quiet clapping from Applejack.

It probably didn’t help that there were a number of unicorns who could do actual magic watching and traveling with the caravan as well.  

“Thank you for your exuberance!” Vahar shouted back to her audience. “The Wondrous and Majestic Vahar will now begin the show!” She coughed and took off her hat, swinging it around and holding it upside-down. “For my first trick—huzzah!”

She reached her hoof into the hat and pulled out a piece of neon green cloth, tied to another neon orange cloth, tied to a neon purple cloth, and so on. She pulled the long string of cloths out with a mystified look on her face while the audience watched on disinterestedly.

“Amazing! How could such a long cloth come from my hat!” Vahar announced. “Is it an illusion? Is it true magic? But the Wondrous and Majestic Vahar does not reveal her tricks! You will merely have to keep guessing and be wowed by her greatness!”

Applejack just gawked in disbelief. It was worse than she thought.

“Now for my next trick-” Vahar said as she finished with the cloths and put her hat back on her head. “I will make this cane levitate!”

The merpony magician reached into one of her boxes and pulled out an old wooden cane. She waved her hooves at it like it was some kind of mystical item or that she was trying to cast a spell on it. Holding it up she then let it go and the cane “miraculously” stayed floating in the air. Vahar moved her hooves around to make the cane bobble and move about in the air as if she was controlling it. It would’ve been a decent trick for foals, but there was one problem.

“Hey! You forgot to paint the wire black! We can see the light reflecting off it!” One of the stallions watching shouted at Vahar.

And he was right. Applejack could see the wire the cane was suspended on almost as clear as day, glinting because of her stage lights.

“Haha! The Wondrous and Majestic Vahar has no idea what you’re talking about!” Vahar said as she threw the cane and wire over her head and went on to her next trick. She pulled up a pair of magical rings from another box. “Now see these? They are solid metal and yet I will somehow miraculously link them together!”

Vahar clinked the rings together to show that they were indeed real metal before pressing them together harder.

And trying again.

And again.

Vahar coughed and tossed the rings out of the way. “Ta-da! And for my next trick I shall cut this rope in twain and then miraculously piece it together!” She said as she pulled up a length of rope.

Applejack sighed. “That’s just an old sleight of hoof trick...” It was something she had seen older relatives and ponies at rodeos perform plenty of times when she was younger, among other rope tricks. Looking at the audience she also saw that they had seemingly lost what little interest they had in the first place, some were even starting to fall asleep. “And she keeps saying miraculous too much.”

To Vahar’s credit she actually managed to pull this trick off, making it appear as if the rope she had just cut was never cut at all. Applejack decided to be a good sport and clap for her—since it seemed like nopony else would.

“And now—juggling!” Vahar said as she picked up three bowling pins.

“That aint a magic trick,” Applejack dragged a hoof down her face.

Vahar though began to toss the three bowling pins high into the air, catching and spinning them around easily as they came back down to her hooves before tossing them up again in repeat, trying to make the performance as flashy as possible. “Be amazed by the talented hooves of the Wondrous and Majestic Vahar!”

She threw a wide smile at the audience.

And a bowling pin came down and clonked her on the head.

Vahar collapsed to the sand while the other bowling pins fell around her, the audience groaning in annoyance and shaking their heads. Not impressed. Applejack rolled her eyes and got up, walking over to the collapsed magician to make sure she was okay. One look at her face and the tongue hanging out of her mouth was all Applejack needed to see to tell she was out cold. The mare had done a real number on herself with that bowling pin. Applejack also had the sneaking suspicion that this was not the first time it had happened...

“Okay, she’s done for the night folks,” Applejack said back to the rest of the audience. They mumbled and got up, leaving Vahar’s performance behind, likely not satisfied or wowed at all. Applejack sighed and picked the magician up, putting her on her back. “I’ll get you back to the wagon and get the rest of your stuff, you just rest easy.”  

The merpony was too out of it to answer. She probably wasn’t going to be too happy when she woke up either…