Chapter 12: Looking for Horseshoe
Applejack turned around. Her eyes blinded by the evening light coming out of her window. She had already ordered a room on the Fiesta Equestriana’s top floors, a comfortable medium suite where she could gaze upon the small town of Cape Howl with a view of the sea and a glimpse of the high cliffs that stood on the edge of the town.
The cliffs were on one side of the town’s edge where earth ponies and unicorns would fly off in gliders, some accompanied by their pegasus friends, on a small safe point. The other side of town was divided by a river where a bridge would link the two parts. Steep hills would stretch out to reach the cliffs and continue for some miles. Both the cliffs and the hills were covered in the carpet that was the Everfree Forest, the town making quite a view for anyone who would come out alive from there. The last scenario was rarely seen on both Ponyville and Cape Howl, and the only ponies that did come out alive only came in from the respective edges of the forest. That still did not stop the ponies from Cape Howl from making a safe point for gliders on one of the cliffs, only accessible by an elevator that went straight through the rock.
Applejack gazed down on the streets. Although she longed for a walk on the sand, she knew her duty was more important. Maybe after the Summer Sun Celebration would she have the time to appreciate her stay. Her mind wandered back home thinking about what her friends were doing. Rainbow was probably delivering the day’s drizzle; Fluttershy was probably on her cottage on her end of the Everfree taking care of her animals and Tank; Rarity was probably making the finishing touches of her Summer Fashion Line; Pinkie Pie was probably making preparations for the Summer Sun Eve party and gathering the ingredients for her cakes and Twilight was probably making a huge checklist to organize the celebration’s decorations.
“Well, might as well get this done already” —said the orange pony.
She grabbed her saddlebags and looked for a piece of paper. “Horseshoe Boulevard #20” said the address in her brother’s hoofwriting. She took the elevator and went down to the lobby.
“Leaving so soon, miss Applejack?” —asked the manager.
—“Ah’ll be back in a while” —replied AJ.
She went through the glass doors and into the street. She walked along the cobblestone alleyways and streets in search for the small store. She had once gone to the Howl, but she was very little and she couldn’t remember much. She saw a police officer and asked for directions.
“This way straight until you reach the roundabout. You then go through the diagonal alley and up through the steps. You’ll reach a narrow pass way. Turn right until the dead end and it’s straight from there until Horseshoe Boulevard.”
—“Thank ya kindly, sir.”
—“Good luck ma’am.”
AJ then set out to find her way. She walked straight to the roundabout. This was a crowded avenue from where she stood, both on the cobblestone pavement and on the sidewalks. Ponies walked in small groups of two or three or (rarely) four. AJ was slightly reminded of her time spent in Manehattan. She walked faster, crowds put her nervous. She reached the roundabout. A fountain was in the middle of it.
A marble statue of a crowned mare with a fish tale and a trident was sitting in a carriage pulled by other water ponies. Around the edge were various representations of fishes splashing out of the water and streams of water were swooping up and down all over it. Two streets intersected on the roundabout and a small alleyway went through diagonally from the back. Applejack crossed the street and stood a moment to appreciate the fountain. Some foals adorned a group of cannons near the base and a griffon and a bear stood on two different ends of the edge. Near the corners of the streets were four other identical fountains with a small foal hugging a fish. Looking far beyond the fountain was another marble fountain along the avenue on another roundabout. A stallion stood on a pedestal with four ponies sitting at each corner. Two puddles adorned the left and right side (or for AJ, the front and back side) with a lion’s head spitting a small stream of water into a small waterfall. The gentle squirts on the center of the puddles made it look like a moving mirror.
‘Wow, these ponies must have a lot of bits to make such fancy fountains’ —thought AJ. She faced the alley and rounded the fountain. The alley faced the statue’s back and went upwards into a set of steps.
The steps continued for yards until it made a turn. She kept walking until she reached an intersection with another alley. She continued her journey straightforward until she realized the alley was making itself narrower. She turned right when she saw another intersection. “Kiss Alley” read the sign.
She kept going through the alley and as she did, Applejack realized that this was not an ordinary neighborhood: small houses were inside the buildings, but so were some stores and even clubs. No one would have guessed that inside such cozy constructions would probably be DJ P0n-3 jamming beats in a club. She kept walking until she reached a dead end: a small fountain with a lion’s head coming out of the red wall adorning it. She turned left to the only way the alley allowed and a few feet afterwards she was coming out onto Horseshoe Boulevard. She saw it was full of cafés and small establishments, the street having been turned into a walking street where carriages were not allowed to pass. What made it different from alleys was the fact that it was wider than an alley, but not as wide as to permit the pass of a carriage (even if it could transit freely through there). She kept walking while trying to avoid the crowds until she saw it: #20 on Horseshoe Boulevard was a small red building with crossed bars on the windows, giving it a small Trottingham-style.
“Well, ah guess this is it” —mumbled Applejack.
She stepped inside the store as the small bell rang indicating the presence of a new customer.
“G’day! Welcome to the Seed’s Pouch!” —greeted the shopkeeper, an old beige pony with white mane.
—“Good day, sir. Ah’m lookin’ fer some mango seeds.”
—“Well, you’ve come to the right place young lady” —answered the old pony with a kind and gritty voice.
The shopkeeper stepped from out the counter and walked to the right side of the store, where many barrels rested against the wall, all filled to the top with different kinds of seeds. Some had a small scoop to pick the seeds; others had a weird faucet and bags to the side. The red atmosphere of the place made AJ feel like she was in a barn, and the smell of seeds like she was out in her orchard or in an apple convention in Fillydelphia.
The owner grabbed a scoop and filled a bag.
“So, what’s a lovely young filly like you doin’ in a place like this?” —asked the beige colt.
—“Jus’ business, sir.”
—“You should stay for the Celebration! We’ve got a beautiful firework show” —said the colt as he examined the bag and counted the price.
—“Thank ya sir. Ah’ll keep it in mind.”
—“Have a nice day, young lady!”
Applejack paid for her seeds, bid the shopkeeper farewell and left. She looked to her left towards the beach and realized the sun was starting to set.
‘What?! It’s 4 o’clock already?! I was sure I was keeping my pace!’ —thought AJ. Time had slipped by a lot for her, probably it took her a lot more to reach the store than she imagined. She went through another alley to go into the parallel streets of Horseshoe Boulevard, crowds always put her edgy. She walked through the sidewalk until she reached one of the main avenues that eventually led back to the hotel area. The walk through the alleys was long, but it wasn’t as long as walking all of Starswirl Avenue.
By the time she reached the hotel her hooves were killing her and she just wanted to rest. She stepped into the bath and washed herself; her sweat dissolving into the water as she scrubbed every inch of her body. Her muscles relaxed at the touch of the hot water and she wanted to lie there as much as she could. As she stepped out the bathroom, Applejack saw lights coming out of her window. She pulled the curtain and was surprised to see fireworks coming from the beach at the other side of the river accompanied by a light show, probably a small test before the actual Celebration. As she saw the spectacle from her balcony and the purple view of the sky setting in, Applejack wondered if she would have enjoyed seeing this with her friends or if they would be in the beach looking at the rest of the show. Whatever the case, AJ wanted to be home, and would give anything for something to keep her busy while she stayed in Cape Howl.