//------------------------------// // End of the World IV // Story: Applejack at the Edge of the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Although she hadn’t been able to tell from the outside, the moment she walked into the building she saw that the lights were on. Partially at least. The central hallway that led back into the depths of the building—and towards what had to be the mountain and mine itself—had a series of flickering and blinking lights strung up along its ceiling. Applejack took a deep breath, tilted her hat back, and started walking. “So he’s gotta be in there somewhere...” she said. The hallway ended at a set of large double-doors about a hundred feet ahead. She was certain when she opened those doors she’d be in the mountain. This couldn’t have been the only building or way into this mine, but if it was the way Blast Miner was using then it had to be her way as well. Could she talk things out with him? Maybe solve things peacefully once she got the full story? She highly doubted it after her confrontation with Karza and just based on what her gut was telling her. But she’d try. She’d try her hardest cause it was just the right thing to do. Her curiosity was still getting at her though. Was he even trying to end the world or was it an accident? Why’d Discord and that dang letter have to be so vague… She’d figure out what he was doing and why soon enough though. Her eyes searched around the walls and ceiling of the hallway, making sure she didn’t miss anything. “Creepy feeling from this place.” The doors at the end of the hallway were in better condition than the front door to the building, no dust around them either. Applejack rested a hoof on the handle of them and steeled herself for what might be beyond them. When she pulled the doors open and walked in she found herself in a tunnel inside the mountain, perhaps the start of the mine or at least one part of it. The tunnel was much taller and wider than the hallway she had just left, with more lights along the ceiling and numerous wooden beams holding it all up. The wooden floor of the building gave way to dirt and gravel beneath her hooves that crunched slightly with every step Applejack took. She winced, doing her best to walk quietly ahead. She didn’t want Blast Miner to know she was coming. Hopefully he wasn’t too deep inside. She didn’t hear anything herself coming from deeper within the mine, if any loud work needed to be done he had already finished it. Again though she had to wonder how exactly the world was supposed to end by whatever was going on in here of all places. The rocky tunnel into the mine she was walking down didn’t have any doors or branching paths leading away from it—meaning all she could do was walk directly ahead. There was worry in her stomach, and her heart was still beating pretty hard, but Applejack knew what it meant to be brave. She had been brave her whole life. Had to be. That was why when she saw the end of the tunnel quickly approaching all she did was close her eyes, stop for a brief moment, and nod before continuing her walk towards it. She could tell that whatever room, chamber, cavern, mine, existed at the end of this tunnel was well lit up—even better than the tunnel itself because the light was pouring in enough that she couldn’t see beyond. There was no gate or any sort of blockade, the tunnel merely opened up into something bigger. When she got closer to it she actually did start to hear something. Humming. Pleasant, carefree, humming. Applejack frowned and fearlessly walked out of the tunnel, emerging into the light and squinting for just a moment before looking around. She was indeed in a large cavern under the mountain—the ceiling of which went up about a hundred feet and was covered in stalactites pointing down at her. The rock walls of the chamber were bumpy and natural looking, it didn’t look like much excavation had been done here, the cavern seemed like a natural formation. Everywhere though there were lights set up and embedded into the rock walls, along with scaffolding and platforms going up everywhere. A large crane and pulley system stood in the center of the cavern that could be used to bring things up to or down from a large rock face that went halfway up the height of the cavern and covered most of its back wall. There was enough space on the top level of that rock face for a decently sized house to be built on. Instead it was being used for something different. Applejack didn’t fully know what she was looking at or why it existed, but it was definitely something bad. In the middle of the top of the rock face there was a great wooden structure, cubic in design, with four massive support beams at each corner to hold it up. It looked to be built over what looked like a pit in the ground, though Applejack couldn’t see it perfectly from her location just yet. The skeletal structure had numerous chains and ropes running through it—all to hold up a gigantic tin heart below it, in the middle of the four wooden legs holding the structure up. The tin heart matched what she had taken from Karza—only bigger by an exponential degree. Ten feet tall and weighing at least several tons for sure. Strangely, all taken together it looked like some sort of monstrous belltower with the tin heart swaying slightly over the pit. And there he was standing up there right by it. The unicorn stallion who she had met back in Maple Town, who seemed perfectly nice, normal, and friendly. That pile of rocks Cutie Mark on his flank really stuck out to her right now. He was walking back and forth in front of the tin heart and the rest of the structure, inspecting it and humming happily the whole time. Smiling. He hadn’t noticed her at all so Applejack decided to announce her presence. She took a deep breath and felt her lungs expand, puffing out her chest, and yelled. “BLAST MINER!” Applejack admittedly took a bit of pleasure in seeing him get surprised by her powerful shout that nearly shook the cavern. He jumped up and nearly stumbled off the rock face, turning around with his ears perked up and his eyes wide. When he saw her standing down there he quickly regained his composure and smiled. “Well, I’m surprised to see you here,” Blast Miner stroked his chin. “And… hm. You know, there’s really only one reason you would ever show up here, so I won’t be playing the fool out of respect. When did you find out?” “Couple days ago,” Applejack frowned, walking closer towards the rock face and the scaffolding that walked up it. “Happy I kept my promise about Maple Town after you destroyed Karza?” Blast Miner asked. “Normally I would be, but I’m pretty dang upset about everything you did to them in the first place. And everything you’re planning to do,” she narrowed her eyes at the gigantic tin heart behind him. He saw where she was looking and glanced over his shoulder at it. “Ah, obviously you can guess I’m up to no good just by seeing this.” “You could say that. But why are you doing this? What was the point of Karza? Just what in all the world are you doing out here!” Applejack shouted. “You took Karza’s heart with you, didn’t you? I could still sense it for a while,” he pointed at her. “Is it still in your bag?” Applejack’s ears perked up and she took the drawstring bag off, reaching into it and pulling out the miniature tin heart. “You could sense this? How?” “It’s all part of my project, something I’ve been working on for a long time. You see—that little heart you’re holding is actually a receiver and storage device for my magic. With it I can use my magic over long distance, several miles at least. I found that tin worked incredibly well for that, possibly also owing to my special talent, and since I had so much tin on hoof… well, you get the idea,” Blast Miner explained. “Karza was a test subject, to see exactly what I could do with my magic from a long distance. How much control I could exert over the earth.” “That’s why he could fly and merge into the ground like that...” “Exactly. Karza was just dirt after all, molded into a specific form. It was just my own powers of levitation and earth manipulation. I could make him float, submerge him and have him stay underground for days, move other rocks and open up the ground, everything you saw. And all without the tell-tale sign of magic because it was coming from the heart inside Karza—received from my horn miles away, safely in Maple Town,” Blast Miner nodded. Applejack threw the mini tin heart away in disgust. “I can’t believe you!” He watched it bounce away and shrugged. “Karza’s old heart has been too far away from me for too long now. I’d need to physically fix it up if I wanted to use that one in particular again.” “But what about… why were you so weird? What was with all that crazy stuff Karza was saying and the silly way he was acting?” Applejack asked, still confused about a lot of things. “Hahahahahaha!” Blast Miner threw back his head and laughed. “Applejack, Applejack… first off I don’t know why you keep referring to Karza as if he was his own pony. Secondly, didn’t you ever read any storybooks as a filly? The villain has to be bombastic and over the top. I had a lot of fun doing all that, being silly, it made it quite enjoyable. I’d never have the opportunity to really just let loose like that otherwise.” “Stop treating this like a joke! All those ponies you hurt, everypony you frightened and threatened, and it was all just a game to you?” Applejack growled. “It was a test. I just made sure I had fun during it,” Blast Miner shrugged. “A test for what though? Tell me just what exactly you’re planning to do with that thing,” Applejack pointed at the giant heart. “Tell me what all this has been for!” “Alright, to be honest keeping this a secret from everypony has been horrible. I’ve been dying to tell somepony about it but I never thought I’d actually be able to,” Blast Miner chuckled and looked back at the gigantic tin heart again. “This thing, as you can obviously tell, is just a much larger and more powerful version of the heart I used to animate Karza and manipulate the earth from a long distance. It can receive my magic from much farther away than the other hearts I’ve made, and amplify it as well. I plan to lower it miles into the world’s crust using this old mineshaft that I’ve been renovating and expanding where it will then allow my magic to permeate the earth and give me control over the world itself in much the same way I was able to control Karza and how I can manipulate dirt and rocks so naturally with my magic.” “What?!” Applejack gawked in disbelief. “That’s nuts! There’s no way that could work!” Blast Miner shook his head with a smirk on his lips. “It can and it will. This heart will become the heart of the entire world. And I will control it. Mountains will rise and fall as I beckon, continents will shift, valleys and canyons will open up, fault lines rearranged, volcanoes erupting whenever I will them too. I’m going to mold and shape the surface of the world into my own design, controlling and doing whatever I want with it.” “But all the ponies, every creature who-” “I don’t care. I’m sculpting my perfect world. Everything else can be ground to dust and swallowed up,” Blast Miner said. “I can’t wait to make my own castle, my own kingdom, deciding where the mountains will be and how many continents and islands there are...” Applejack’s jaw still hung open slightly as she looked up at him and listened to him prattle on. She brought a hoof up to her face and started rubbing her forehead in exasperation. “You… I thought you were just crazy or another evil pony. But it’s not just that. You’re dumb. This is the dumbest evil world-ending plan I’ve heard in my entire life. I can’t believe that this is what I have to stop to keep the world from ending. I’ve faced plenty of crazy villains who want to take over the world and stuff like that but none of them were just plain dumb like you. Why do I always have to deal with the stupidest stuff when I could be on my farm right now?” “I don’t particularly care about your opinion. It’s why I’m getting rid of pretty much everypony else with this. My world, my rules,” Blast Miner said. “You’re a child. Your parents never taught you about sharing your toys growing up, did they?” Applejack frowned. “Why should I have to—ahem—that’s not important,” he shook his head. “I’m starting my grand plan today and I’m certainly not letting you get in the way of it.” “Then come down here and let’s settle this like hero and villain from one of your storybooks!” Applejack shouted. Blast Miner grinned. “Actually, that’s what I was about to do.” His horn glowed an ugly copper color and steps came out from the rock face, the rock and earth of the cavern moving and getting manipulated just like Karza was able to do outside of Maple Town. It was like he really could control the earth like it was clay or water, making it any shape or form he wanted it to. Even if it was his special talent and what his magic was suited for it didn’t seem normal. An average unicorn shouldn’t have so much raw magical power. His telekinesis could lift and move so much that it was insane. Right now though all he was doing was creating a set of descending steps down to meet her at the cavern floor. Once he was off the final step and on the ground with her Applejack sprung into action. She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t wait to talk any longer. She didn’t want him to be able to do anything else. The moment she could get him she had made her move. Applejack sprinted towards him and closed the distance quickly, lifting up a hoof and getting ready to tap him in the center of his chest. A single tremor from Hoof of the Earth to break his front legs and disable him. That was all she needed. His eyes widened slightly as she ran at him without a single word spoken but he didn’t back up or try to defend himself. Applejack’s hoof landed on his chest and she sent the tremor into him. Nothing happened. “Uhh...” Applejack awkwardly tilted her head as the tremor seemed to vanish and not do anything to him. “You know I was very curious about your abilities,” Blast Miner said. Applejack looked him in the eye and noticed the horn atop his head was faintly glowing. She slowly lowered her hoof and backed away from him. “I know...” “And I figured them out,” he grinned. “It’s just vibrations. Honestly I was so disappointed when I realized that. I thought maybe you had some sort of unique magical powers that revolved around the earth like my own special talent, or it was some kind of earth pony magic. But no, it’s just controlling vibrations. And if it’s something like that. Something purely physical, well-” he pointed up at his horn. “Logically I can just cancel it out with my own telekinesis. Stopping the vibrations is easy enough. I just have to have a little power and that’s it. Knowing the trick behind your ability makes it easy to counter.” “I uh, never met a pony who could do that so far,” Applejack winced. This was a slight problem. “Now do you still want to fight as hero and villain?” Blast Miner mockingly asked. Applejack frowned and stomped her hoof on the ground hard enough to crack it. “Since I can still do that to you—yeah.” Blast Miner also seemed slightly perturbed by the brute strength she possessed. “You are quite strong aren’t you? Probably would be a mistake to fight you directly, so how about this instead?” His horn glowed brighter and a number of familiar figures emerged from the ground and walls of the cavern around her. Karza. Multiple Karza dolls just like the one she had fought and destroyed outside of Maple Town. At first she thought they were all completely the same but she noticed that some of them had pegasus wings. Applejack kept her eyes open and her body tense, counting eight of them in total as they gathered around her and Blast Miner—some on the ground and some floating in the air. “I made quite a few of them to make sure I had the craft down right. How do you like the pegasus models? The wings are kind of pointless I know but it gives them a nice look I think,” Blast Miner said. “I don’t think I like anything about this,” Applejack said. Blast Miner shrugged. “Fair enough. I’ll just have them deal with you now, it’s a little tough to focus on so many at once, but the hearts inside them give them a fair amount of autonomous behavior with my magic running through them.” “And because you can’t really use your magic to manipulate the cavern and mine around us that much, right?” Applejack raised an eyebrow at him. “Otherwise you might damage that mineshaft and everything else you’ve been working on.” His lip twitched. “Perhaps. But don’t think I can’t do anything. I can control my power very well.” “And I can destroy these dirt puppets just like the first Karza,” Applejack exhaled. “Bet you can’t cancel out my Hoof of the Earth from a distance.” “That’s what it’s called? Hm, probably not. But with the hearts animating them so close to me I can just rebuild them with the dirt and rocks around us even if you destroy them. So good luck,” Blast Miner smirked and the eight Karzas attacked. Of course Applejack didn’t have to fight normally. And she didn’t intend to. When all eight of the puppets came at her she slammed a hoof into the ground and sent a powerful tremor into it. Blast Miner couldn’t predict or easily stop everything, and she didn’t have to worry about damaging this place like he did. The erupting tremor caused the ground in front of her to explode up in a shower of rocks, smacking and cutting into the Karza puppets. Another benefit she had when it came to fighting them was she didn’t have to worry about hurting them too badly. A few of the Karzas fell to the ground, damaged or encumbered by pieces of rock embedded in them, some of them even now missing a leg. The rest simply floated up and over them and came down upon Applejack, trying to tackle, stomp on her, or punch her with their earthen limbs. Though she didn’t consider herself a fighter or anything like that she was still more than used to big tussles like this. Applejack bucked the first Karza right off her and kicked the next with enough force to make it go tumbling away. One that tried to punch her she ducked under its limb and punched it in the face hard enough to send cracks throughout its head. And she wasn’t even using Hoof of the Earth for that. When the ones still on the ground rose up and came for her, Applejack sent another tremor through the ground and up into their bodies, breaking them into pieces. That bought her some time to deal with the other few that were in the air and not badly damaged enough to be stopped yet. “You’re just delaying the inevitable you know,” Blast Miner said while he watched. “Don’t tell me what’s inevitable! I’m stopping you!” Applejack shouted and bucked another Karza out of the air. Blast Miner’s horn silently glowed as he got involved as well. “You’ll see now.” And she did, the broken remnants of the Karzas on the ground repaired themselves, more dirt and rocks coming from the ground to rebuild their limbs and bodies until they were as good as new. To avoid her better they also immediately floated up into the air, the eight of them now revolving all around her. Applejack gulped and did her best to stop from sweating. She needed to find a more permanent solution and get to Blast Miner. If she could just make a small opening she could run right over to him and end it. He was still standing on the ground not even that far away, confident he was safe. One Karza dove at her and she jumped away from it as it smashed into the ground. Another and then one more came at her next but Applejack swiftly jumped away both times—however they were still herding her away from Blast Miner. Two at once dove towards her, not attempting to pile on top of her but staying at a distance where they could still throw punches and kicks at her while the others tried to bulldoze into her. Everything was just a big distraction. There was too much going on and she didn’t have the speed or awareness to avoid it all. More than a few times she ended up taking a kick to the body. Despite them being made partially of rock their kicks weren’t any worse than an average earth pony. Applejack was tough enough to deal with them with barely more than a grunt. But it was still wearing her down while meanwhile Blast Miner stood calmly away from her. Need to come up with something to stop these things… Applejack grumbled internally. She kicked one of the Karzas away and saw his body cracking where her hooves hit. Applejack blinked. The solution was actually much more simple than she thought. Forget about their bodies—there was one specific weak-point that she should be targeting right now. Something that she could easily get to with Hoof of the Earth. The next Karza that came at her she leaned away from and then tapped its outstretched hoof. It continued floating past her for a moment before it started to violently shake as the tremors she shot into it went straight for the small tin heart that animated it. Applejack could easily tell where it was, sensing it thanks to its greater density and how any exploratory vibrations bounced back from it. Though she couldn’t see it she knew what was happening as the Karza puppet jerked and suddenly exploded in a shower of dirt and pebbles—the fractured remains of a small tin heart falling to the ground in the middle of it all. Applejack looked over at Blast Miner and grinned. He narrowed his eyes back at her. “Do you have any idea how difficult it was to make all of these?” “Well I hope it doesn’t hurt you too much when I break the rest of them,” Applejack said. Each Karza puppet flew at her at once now in an attempt to simply crush her so she couldn’t destroy them one by one. Applejack clicked her tongue in annoyance and hunkered down—ready to take the attack. They all collided into her and the ground with enough force to cause it to crater and shoot up a huge spout of dust and debris. Seven Karzas stomping on and dogpiling Applejack, trying to keep her down and out with their own weight more than anything. That was right up until they all exploded as well. “Thanks for… making it easy… for me...” Applejack panted as she stood up in the shower of dirt and rocks, more destroyed tin hearts falling to the ground around her. She was bruised and beaten up and pretty tired after using such a powerful tremor, but at least all the Karzas were gone. “You’re welcome.” Applejack looked up at the source of the voice. Blast Miner had taken the brief moment she was buried by the Karzas to do something for himself. He was now standing on top of a pillar that had appeared out of nowhere in front of the rock face, while half a dozen large spikes made from rock levitated over his head, caught in his magical aura. “Aw dang,” Applejack said. “Let’s see if you’re as good at dodging when you’re this tired and beaten up as you were outside Maple Town,” Blast Miner chuckled. “Only one way to find out I suppose,” Applejack said. “True. Good luck,” Blast Miner said and levitated the spikes until they were directly over Applejack’s head. The first one came down at her fast and Applejack barely managed to jump away in time to avoid it. He wasn’t just letting them fall at their natural speed, he was throwing them down at her. Two more came that she weaved between and then the final three came all at once and almost pinned her between them but she was able to dive and roll out of the way. Panting heavily, she looked up to see Blast Miner pulling more spikes from the walls and the ground. It seemed he had been analyzing what he could safely do while she fought the Karza puppets. Now safe up on his pillar he could manipulate the cavern to his desires and fight her himself. She could probably destroy the pillar and maybe make him fall, but he’d easily see what she was trying to do and if she sent a tremor at it from this far away he’d have more than enough time to get off it or dislodge part of it himself. And when he started dropping more spikes on her and making her run around like a trapped rat she realized she wasn’t going to have enough time to really focus on anything else but survival. Running and jumping between spikes as they impaled the ground around her, she really wished she had some magic on her side or at least the ability to fly. Sure would’ve made a lot of this trip easier… Applejack thought. Applejack ran from another spike and saw three more floating over her head, Blast Miner shuffling them around to make it harder for her to predict where they’d go. And while moving to try and avoid them she forget a very important thing. He could manipulate the ground under her hooves just as easily as anything else too. For an instant it felt like her hooves were moving through mud as Blast Miner changed the consistency of the ground. Softening it and letting her hooves sink for a moment before hardening it back up and locking her in place. The spikes rotated over her head and got ready to crash down on her even as she created another tremor to break apart the rock around her hooves and free herself. “Darn it!” Applejack shouted. “Not enough room to avoid this. Goodbye, Applejack. Defeating you is the perfect way to start my new world,” Blast Miner smiled and shot the spikes down at her. Her vision was consumed by the sharp spears of earth coming right at her and Applejack squeezed her eyes shut—believing this to be the end. There was an incredible crash and the sound of rock shattering but Applejack didn’t feel any pain. For a few seconds she kept her eyes squeezed shut before tentatively opening them. She was still alive. She was still breathing. She wasn’t impaled by a bunch of spikes. Applejack looked up and saw two things—one was a cloud of dust and debris that had to be from the spikes. The other was a powder blue shield of magic that protected her from them. “Looks like I arrived just in time.” Applejack and Blast Miner both looked towards the tunnel leading into the cavern as a unicorn mare strode out of it. Her horn was lit powder blue for a moment until she stopped it and the shield protecting Applejack dropped. Blast Miner frowned at the mare. “Who are you?” Applejack though recognized her. “Hold on one second… I know you.” The white unicorn mare, with a yellow mane and tail with an orange streak running through it, along with a black bow on her head, blue eyes, and a Cutie Mark of the sun rising over the horizon, smiled to Applejack. “Been a long time.” “Daylight!” Applejack smiled. “I remember! Boy howdy, it sure is nice to see you here! But, uh, what in the hay are you doing out here?” Daylight Gleam levitated up a letter that she had been carrying on her back. “I got this strange letter saying you needed my help and to follow the roses to find you.” She glanced up at Applejack’s hat. “Guess that ended up being pretty literal.” She strode up right beside Applejack and smirked before glancing up towards Blast Miner. “So what’s the deal with this guy?” “Just another crazy pony with crazy magical powers. Kind of got to stop him to save the world. Mind helping me out a little again?” Applejack grinned and raised an eyebrow. “I suppose if I have to,” Daylight playfully answered. “Wouldn’t be that unusual for either of us by the sound of it.” “Alright!” Applejack shouted with exhilaration and pulled her front hooves from the little remaining rubble around them. She slammed them together in front of her face and glared up at Blast Miner. “Let’s do this together!”