//------------------------------// // Warden // Story: Applejack at the Edge of the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Applejack stepped past the final gate and stood there right inside the outer walls of the Citadel as the gate closed back up behind her. She was here, she was inside the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel. In many ways it was like stepping into the dense suburbs of Manehattan. Similar architecture, rows and rows of small buildings, paved roads, but that was where the similarities ended. The buildings here in the interior town looked to be made of cement or stone and painted black with maybe a brown shingled roof if anything. And there certainly weren’t any parks or trees around, Applejack could tell that this place didn’t have the time or space for anything like that. There was probably nothing built for leisure in this entire place. No plants, no grass, likely no animals aside from rats scurrying through the sewers. And the fact it was now dark out only made it look worse—there were plenty of lampposts on the streets but the artificial light paled in comparison to the sun. The buildings and streets were still mostly dark and scary and Applejack didn’t look forward to having to travel down them. And she didn’t even have any idea of where she could find a place to stay. Most of the buildings she was facing now on this first street looked like houses or shops at most, certainly not any inns to stay at. It seemed like she’d just have to search on her own. There were a few ponies out but… they didn’t look like they wanted to talk to any strangers. Most were clearly in the middle of working anyways, either sweeping the streets clean, washing windows, or pulling along carts of trash. Seemed there were quite a few ponies who worked for the Citadel aside from just the guards. And speaking of the guards she saw plenty of them too. Not only was an entire squad guarding the gate she had just finished getting through—standing on either side of the gates with spears held straight up in the air—but she saw multiple patrols walking the streets. Always a pair of guards going up and down the streets, keeping an eye on things. Applejack was already a little worried at just how many armored guards she had already seen. The Citadel of Al-Karamaretel had a decently sized fighting force by the looks of it. Applejack sighed, there was probably only about four or five hours before midnight. She didn’t have the time to explore or figure anything out, she needed a place to stay first. Once she had that taken care of she could begin to get to the bottom of this place tomorrow. Unconsciously, she patted her saddlebag to try and feel the bag of bits within. Although she knew her bits were extremely valuable here, she also knew this place was designed to drain a pony to the bone. How long would she actually be able to survived on what she had? How badly would they charge a single mare to stay in the smallest, worst, room they had? Applejack wasn’t looking forward to finding out. Since she entered right into the middle of the Citadel from the gate though she should be able to get around wherever she wanted easily enough. So on Applejack went down the road that went mostly down the middle of the interior town in search of an inn. Unfortunately even this road, leading right from the gate, eventually looked like it got blocked off by a wall or row of buildings not too far into the town. Didn’t seem like she’d have a straight route anywhere, especially if she was trying to navigate her way towards the actual Citadel at the back of the town. Maybe that was another defensive aspect of the Citadel, to make it harder for invaders to get to it. “Everything about this place bothers me,” Applejack said as she walked through the streets. No street that branched off went more than a few houses before sharply turning a corner and at every four way intersection there was not just streetlights but also at least one loudspeaker up on a pole that went higher than most buildings. She wondered what that was for. Every now and then she saw a pony or two looking out a window or swiftly entering one of the buildings. It didn’t seem like they were concerned by her specifically, but just wanted to get indoors. “This place has to be livelier during the day—it just makes no sense,” Applejack scratched her head. Meanwhile no matter how many guards she passed by they didn’t acknowledge her at all either. Unless she went somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be or caused a fuss she doubted the guards would mind her or anypony else. They probably were mainly around to keep ponies pacified and remove those who could no longer afford to stay. Applejack didn’t want to bother with them. Yet. After turning another corner she stopped in the middle of the street and looked around. “Well, I think I’m lost already,” Applejack sighed. “Do I just go knocking on random doors now?” Applejack shook her head and was about to continue on down the street when she heard a door slam open behind her. Startled, she looked to see what the commotion was and saw one pony struggling to make his way out of a small house while a mare held onto him, trying to hold him back. They both looked pretty well to do to Applejack, they had some nice clothes on and their manes and tails looked glossy and treated. The stallion—a unicorn—was also holding a box of something while the mare tried to keep him from leaving. Applejack was curious so she stepped back a little, stepping onto the sidewalk and closer to the buildings, out from under the streetlights. “Stop grabbing onto me! You know it needs to be done, we don’t have enough to stay here for even a single day more!” The stallion barked at the mare. “But dear, you can’t! It’s my grandmother’s jewelry, it’s all I have left to remember her by, you can’t sell it!” The mare wailed. “It needs to be done, Velvet! It’s the only thing left we can part with...” her husband huffed, trying to pull her hooves off him. “But what’s the point! If we lose everything just to leave then what’s the point of any of this!” “It will all be worth it if our number gets called soon and we can get to the other side. You know what’s waiting there for me. Someday it will all be alright… we’ll be able to come back and find your grandmother’s jewelry again too,” the stallion finally pulled himself free and let his wife fall to the ground. “It will all be worth it… it will all be worth it...” he continued to mumble to himself as he strode away. “Dear! Dear!” Velvet cried out before pulling herself back to her hooves and chasing after him. Applejack just shook her head as they disappeared out of sight. “This place is… why is any of this happening?” Bzzt! Applejack flinched as a heavy buzzing and static sound came from down the street and she looked to see one of the loudspeakers at the nearest intersection shaking and buzzing to life. Quickly she trotted right over to it as it buzzed static for a few more seconds until a voice came out: “Attention Citadel of Al-Karamaretel—this is the Warden speaking.” Immediately Applejack stiffened and paid close attention to the loudspeaker. That voice that came from it was deep, very deep, but placid and nearly emotionless at the same time. “This is your nightly announcement on which numbers are to be called. If your number is called, please report to the Citadel tomorrow at six in the morning sharp. The following numbers have been called: 84-LB, 25-ZA, 11-HB. That is all. I repeat, the numbers 84-LB, 25-ZA, and 11-HB have been called. This message will repeat in one hour.” Bzzt! Applejack blinked, a cold pit forming in her stomach. “Only three? There must be a thousand ponies inside here and all he called were three?” She looked in the direction of the Citadel—seeing the massive structure rising above the rest of the buildings. “I need to get in there soon and put a stop to this.” There was a small inn a few more streets down through the town, resting in the upper left side of the town only a relatively short distance from the walls of the Citadel. Applejack had finally found it after searching for almost another hour after hearing the announcement. She had made the decision to not knock on any doors or bother other ponies she saw here. Not at this point—not right after that announcement when most here knew they were out of luck for another day. If she hadn’t found the inn in a few more minutes she just would’ve gone to talk to some of the guards. She still saw plenty of them patrolling the streets. Now that it was getting closer to midnight some of them might have even been purposefully keeping an eye on her. Either way here she was at an inn that bordered several other small buildings, all of them constructed so there was no alley between any of them, they shared each other’s walls. There was a stoop leading up to it with a sign that read “Vacancy” next to the door—clearly lit up by the streetlight outside. Applejack was a little hesitant to enter the first inn she saw but she didn’t really have the time to pick and choose. If this one overcharged her she could always go find another the next day. She sighed and walked up the stoop, opening the door without knocking, and strode inside the inn. It was as cramped inside as she expected. A narrow entryway with a half-door to her right that led into an office. The top half of the door was blocked by bars, leaving only a slot at the middle for things to pass through. Directly in front of her was a small staircase with a door to the left of it. Everything was dark and made of brick with only a small electrical light in the ceiling that cast a dim yellow glow. Applejack looked inside the office through the locked and barred door and saw a mare with square glasses, a pink coat, and curly yellow mane asleep on a chair, drool seeping out of her mouth. “Ahem,” Applejack coughed. The mare slowly blinked her eyes open and looked over at the source of noise. Spotting Applejack in her blurry vision she sat up with a frown. “Oh.” She wiped the drool away from her lips. “Excuse me, wasn’t expecting anymore customers tonight. You must have gotten into the Citadel late.” “I did, and I saw your vacancy sign outside, can I get a room?” Applejack asked. “Heh—yeah you’d certainly like to have a room before midnight, wouldn’t you?” The mare smirked, sauntering over to Applejack with a twinkle in her blue eyes. Applejack frowned. “That’s right, I would.” “Well what do you have to pay for it? You know you might be staying here a long time,” the mare said. “I’m aware,” Applejack said and took her bag of bits out of her saddlebag. Opening it up she showed the contents to the mare. “It’s just me and all I need is a small room to sleep in for the night.” She took a single gold coin out and placed it on the top of the bottom half of the door, right in the slot under the bars. “How many nights will that get me?” The mare glanced down at the gold coin and picked it up. “One.” “One?” Applejack clenched her jaw and furrowed her brow. “Are you kidding me right now?” “One. Night,” the mare turned up her nose at Applejack. “And you won’t get a room for less anywhere else in the citadel either. That’s how things work here.” Applejack dragged a hoof down her face. She was too tired to argue, and there was likely nothing she could do about it anyways. “Fine. Just give me a room.” The mare smiled. “You’re welcome.” A few minutes later and Applejack turned a rusty old key into the door lock of a room on the second floor. As soon as it was unlocked the door slowly creaked open on its own and Applejack was greeted to a small room that was almost too small for a foal. The claustrophobic brick walls gave it the appearance of a prison cell more than anything. There wasn’t even any sort of furniture aside from the small bed in the corner. Applejack walked inside and saw a light dangling from the ceiling, pulling its cord it flickered on and she closed and locked the door back up before going to sit down on the bed. “This already isn’t going so well...” she checked her bag of bits and frowned. “Not just paying for the room, but I’ll need to buy food, and there’s probably other ways this place will try to get all my money from me. Can’t spend more than a few days here or I’m in trouble.” Deep in the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel there was a room that no pony or creature entered. Except for one. Seated at a wide desk, a large figure looked over the reports from the checkpoint guards today on the new arrivals to the Citadel. His hands turned through page after page while eyes hidden behind reading glasses scanned each and every word. A microphone and intercom with dozens of buttons on it sat on the desk as well. Behind him there was a window that took up the entire back wall of the room—looking out over the great chasm that the Citadel stood before. If one looked down and a little to the left, they’d see the bridge stretching from the back of the Citadel as it went off into the darkness. Besides that the room was startlingly barren and lifeless. As if the one denizen of it had no desire or need for even a painting or potted plant. Work, business, and function was the sole purpose of the room and everything inside it. Going through the reports—the hands of the figure stopped on one page in particular and he straightened up as he read it. “Applejack from Equestria? It couldn’t be...” the Warden murmured in his bottomlessly deep voice. One hand went down to his desk as his fingers thrummed up and down on it as he read the report. “Orange mare… blonde mane and tail… hat… three apples Cutie Mark...” the Warden read aloud. “It is her. But why? Did the Princesses learn of what’s happening here? Could they have sent her?” He exhaled deeply through his nose as he thought, putting the report down and continuing to tap his fingers on the desk. “Curious, and interesting, but potentially troublesome. Best to keep an eye on her.”