//------------------------------// // Barrows and Wights * Carriages and Wagons * Hi and Bye * No and Never * Voyages and Destinations // Story: Lord Mayor Applejack // by MyHobby //------------------------------// An eternal fog lay over the barrows. The hills were dotted with mossy mounds; some were pony-sized, but others were as large as a house. Applejack walked slowly between them as she followed Mangle. She barely resisted the urge to walk underneath Celestia like a filly with her mother. There was an unmistakable sense of unease as they journeyed deeper into the graveyard. “Each of these mounds holds a Minotaur Lord of Old,” Mangle said. “Buried deep with his most precious treasures. And his personal weapon.” “Great warriors, each of them,” Celestia said. “And a few good friends.” Megan clutched Care’s mane as she rode on her back. Her expression was a mix of recognition and sheer terror. Caution looked over at her, his lips pursed. “She’s been here alright,” he said. “You say she came from a barrow?” Zipporah said, Za’rapha close beside her. “What brought her here? What causes her sorrow?” (*): Wights are odd parasites that spawn in dark, wet graves. They have not been thoroughly studied due to their aggressive, violent nature, but it is known that they take the form of whatever creature was buried in the tomb. Their transformation reflects the original body’s decayed state, leading to wights being (falsely) assumed to be undead. It is suspected that they are either offshoots of the changelings or the windigos, due to their shape-shifting capabilities and their ability to feast off of negative emotions. They will often haunt the grave of a well-loved being, terrorizing any well-wishing visitors. They have been known to eat meat on occasion as well, and don’t care overly much where they get it. “An old caretaker found her running from a wight (*),” Mangle replied. He stumbled over a shallow dip in the ground. “Ouch.” “Wights?” Andean pressed past the zebras, his guards flanking him. “You do know that such infestations are highly preventable.” “Lemme stop you right there,” Mangle said. “Now, yeah, we haven’t had a Minotaur Lord since Vertibreak. But it’s still our history. Can you imagine the stink my people would raise if I just went and cremated five-hundred sacred Minotaur Lords?” Izod took up the rear, his single guard carting the large hat on his back. Izod lifted his head just long enough to speak. “People don’t like it when you set fire to things that are important to them.” Celestia craned her neck around. Her jaw hung loose as she examined the tombs as she passed. “Some of these barrows… They’ve been here since before I started visiting Beefland.” “The oldest one is where we’re going.” Mangle twitched an ear in the direction of a barrow, searching for sign of wights. Finding nothing, he pressed on. “Records point to Lord Wrathshield ruling before the First Hearth’s Warming. Maybe even longer ago than that.” “Ah. Wrathshield.” Celestia chuckled. “He was a legend in my time. I can’t imagine most have heard of him nowadays.” They came to a tall mound. Bits and pieces of stone broke through the moss and lay scattered around the base. A hole in its side, much like one dug by a rabbit, led deep within the barrow. “This may sound funny, Yer Majesty,” Applejack said, “but ah think ah’d feel safer if we had a dragon with us.” “Bad idea.” Mangle motioned Care and Megan forward. “Shardscale wouldn’t be able to take two steps without crushing a barrow.” Applejack stood alongside Care. “You ready for this?” Care nodded, but kept her jaw clamped tight. Applejack felt Megan’s fingers run through her mane. The sound of a rock falling caused the fingers to tighten their grip. Applejack turned to the girl on Care’s back and patted her shoulder. “It’s gonna be alright, Sugarcube. We’re getting’ you home.” Megan licked her lips. “Upplejock,” she said, and then nodded. “Wait.” King Andean walked forward and extended a wing to indicate one of his guards. “I want you to take Crested Barbary with you.” “What for?” Applejack said. “Care’s one of the best, and ah ain’t no slouch.” “Safety in numbers, for one thing.” Andean gave his wing a flap and folded it. “Have I mentioned he can fly? Highly useful skill, in my experience.” Celestia’s nose twitched. She snorted. “He’s right. You’ll be fine.” Applejack adjusted her hat. “Sounds like you come highly recommended, Mister Barbie.” “Barbary,” the guard said. “Captain Barbary.” “Cap’n.” Applejack bowed and pointed at the opening. “After you.” The guard ducked beneath the overhanging greenery, and was soon followed by Applejack, Care, and Megan. Care lit her horn, bathing the cavernous barrow in a pinkish glow. The room was built out of stone, individual blocks stacked atop each other. Webs hung from the ceiling, tangled up in roots from the plants above. The echoes of dripping water plinked somewhere deep inside the chamber. “If ah get cobwebs in mah mane,” Applejack muttered, “these spiders have had it.” Crested’s eagle-like eyes glinted. He rested his talon on the rapier secured to his side. “Cobwebs may be the least of our troubles.” The shine around Care’s horn intensified. “Wights?” “Just one.” Crested drew his sword and pointed into the darkness. “Have you noticed the shadows shifting?” Applejack squared her hooves. “How bright does that bonehead of yours get, Care?” Care shot Applejack a frustrated glance. “Bonehead? Really?” “Can we work on political correctness in a couple minutes?” “Eh. A few more lumens, but it gets hard after that. Why?” “Ah think we might need ’em all.” As the horn brightened, Care’s frown became a gap-mouthed gasp. “Sweet Celestia’s Sun-kissed Butt.” A Minotaur Lord sat before them. Kinda. It was missing most of its skin, and what little it had was loose and leathery. Its empty eyes glared at them as its bony hands lifted a massive, sharp-edged shield. Applejack swallowed. “Lord Wrathshield, ah presume?” The Minotaur Lord said nothing. Unsurprisingly. Crested pointed his rapier at the lord’s chest. He poked it. “Maybe it isn’t a wight.” Care shifted as Megan’s face was buried in her neck. “It could have moved to a different burrow.” “Barrow,” Crested said. He poked the body again. “Over two-thousand years old. This place must be enchanted to keep him from turning to dust.” Applejack took Megan’s hand. She pulled her gently off Care’s back and motioned around the tomb. “Home? You see home?” Megan seemed to catch the drift, judging by the way she examined the room in the light of Care’s horn. Now that Applejack wasn’t jumping at shadows, she took notice of the piles of coins scattered along the floor, and the occasional gemstone sitting on a pedestal. Rumpled strips of cloth were nailed to the walls, which had once held beautiful patterns and images. “Rarity’d be ticked,” Applejack said. Megan lifted a hand. Her outstretched finger pointed to the wall next to Wrathshield. She said something in her language and took a hesitant step. Applejack followed her. The wall was just as covered with strips of cloth as the others, but on that one there was a sheen not present in the others. She drew her face close. A cloth leaped out at her. Applejack jumped half the length of the barrow. Her yelp echoed long after she had stopped screaming. “Are you alright down there?” Celestia said. Applejack stared hard as the cloth fluttered around. “Uh… uh, maybe?” “Look,” Crested said. He sheathed his sword and touched the shiny wall. “It’s a mirror.” His talon sunk into the glass. He pulled away with a stutter. “I—went right through.” “A magic mirror.” Applejack joined him at the wall. “A doorway to another world. Of course! Just like Twilight said!” “Twilight Sparkle?” Care said. “The princess? She’d dealt with magic mirrors before?” “She visited a whole other world,” Applejack said. “She don’t talk much about it, but this might be a similar thing.” Applejack held her cheek next to the mirror. “Ah feel a breeze. That’s why the cloth is flutterin’.” “And that is why the shadows shifted.” Crested nodded. “Are we going in?” Applejack rolled her shoulders. She looked back at Megan and stretched out a foreleg. The girl took hold. “Ah don’t see why not.” They walked through the mirror, one by one. The enchanted glass felt like water as they touched it, and it rippled around their bodies. Applejack kept her eyes shut until she felt the hairs on her tail finally settle to the ground. She opened her eyes and found herself in a shallow cave. The mouth was mere feet away, through which she could see blue sky. She looked back at where she’d come and saw a giant formation of green crystal. “Well…” Applejack cleared her throat. “That was somethin’ else.” Megan’s eyes opened wide. She brushed past both ponies and the griffon as they gawped. She left the cave and spun around, taking in the sights and sounds of her own world. Applejack left the cave and stared. Just stared. Mountains loomed high, their peaks white with snow. The stone felt cool beneath her hooves, alternately smooth and craggy where it had been worn away with rain and wind. A breeze ruffled her fur and drew her attention towards her left. Green plains stretched for miles on end. Tall grass waved to and fro as hulking herds grazed. The sky turned purple as the sun set behind her, and fluffy clouds flew by overhead. “It looks a little like Mustangia, but…” Care tilted her head. “It’s so big.” Crested Barbary tapped a stone with his talons. “My family mines the hills. These mountains seem… a bit like home.” Megan put her hand on Applejack’s back and ran her fingers through her fur. Her mouth quirked in the beginning of a smile, but it disappeared as she turned towards the mountains. Applejack looked around until she found a pass. “We’ll head that way. Cap’n, you circle around overhead an’ see if you can see any like her.” The griffon flew off, and the ponies set forth. The stone darkened as the sun hid behind a lofty peak. Applejack and co. found themselves between two high walls of rock, a narrow pass through the mountains. Megan had taken to riding on Applejack’s back. Her soles were bruised and bloody from the harsh ground. “Ah guess it’s taken me ’til now to notice she don’t have no hooves.” Applejack frowned at Megan’s feet. “Or pads. How do these things even get around?” “Carriages,” Barbary said as he descended. “Carriages and wagons. I found one up ahead.” Applejack’s ears perked up. “People?” “Bodies,” Crested Barbary said through a clenched beak. “Two equines secured to a wrecked wagon. There’re signs of other travelers, so it seems they were left behind when they tumbled off a narrow ledge.” Applejack jerked her head back. “Two bodies? They just left ’em? How could they—” She blinked. “Oh. Animals. Oh.” She dipped her head down. “Were there any like her?” “No. I searched the entire wreckage. It looks like they left most of their belonging behind.” Care grimaced. “Including their beasts of burden. I’m not sure I like this new world.” Applejack thought for a moment. “Can you track where the others went? How far could they have gotten?” “I can’t assume anything about their rate of travel, especially in these mountains.” The griffon shrugged. “In the week or so she’s been in our world, they could be miles away, or they could be stuck in the mountains.” “Keep circling around,” Applejack said. “We came here to get her home, so that’s what we’re gonna do.” Crested looked up at the dimming sky. “They’ll most likely send somebody in after us if we stay until tomorrow.” “Good. They can help search, too.” They traveled on for another hour. The stars appeared in the sky, first one at a time, then in clusters. Applejack found herself staring. “They look like they go on forever.” Care nodded her head slowly. “How different do you think this place is?” “Ah can’t even begin to speculate,” Applejack said. “It’s just so… big.” Care tapped her horn. “Kinda empty, too.” Applejack lowered an eyebrow. “Howz’at?” “I can’t feel any magic.” Care shut her eyes and concentrated. “I don’t feel anything except my own. You—can you feel the land like you earth ponies always talk about?” Applejack looked down at her hooves. “Nah, but ah never felt much through rock anyhow.” Care lit her horn with its pink glow as the shadows grew. “I don’t like this world much.” They found the narrow ledge shortly after. Megan gripped the edge with her fingers while Care sent a flare downwards. The girl cupped her fingers over her mouth as the saw the wreck. Tears threatened to spill out over her cheeks. Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. She smiled at the girl and pointed further down the path. Megan’s gaze shifted rapidly between the wreckage and the pony, her mouth open. After a nuzzle from Applejack, she climbed back onto her and rode away. They carried on for another hour through the darkness, before Crested Barbary landed beside them once more. “The good news is that I see a campfire roughly fifteen minutes away from you.” “And the bad news?” Care asked. “They are very clearly armed.” Crested rested his talon on the hilt of his sword. “If we are to approach them, it must be with extreme caution.” Applejack shivered. “Ah’d like to wait ’til mornin’, but it ain’t fair for Megan.” “Very well, then,” Crested said. “How do you plan to do this?” Applejack rested her chin on an outcropping. Several wagons rested nearby in a circle, their bodies forming a perimeter around the camp. A dim campfire burned in the center, and tall, bipedal creatures wandered around the outer edge. They all carried wood and metal tubes of some kind in the crook of their arms. Applejack’s green eyes met Care’s pink ones, and she gave her a nod. A burst of pink light shot into the air, illuminating the surrounding area. The Sapiences around the camp spun on the light, and one of their tubes flashed. A shorter creature—a little older than Megan, judging by his face—backed away from a taller one who was shouting at him. The tall creature grabbed the tool away and sent the short one into the camp. The elder lifted a hand and waved the others forward. “Okay,” Care breathed. “Okay. They’ve got boomsticks.” “They’re too heavily armed,” Crested whispered. “You had best let me go in first.” “They see you, they’re liable to shoot.” Applejack gulped and pressed her hat firmly down. “It’s gotta be me.” “As your personal guard in this case,” Care said, “I’d like to once again advise against this.” “As your Lord Mayor,” Applejack said, “ah’d like to say ah don’t give a hoot none.” Applejack slowly, carefully stepped out from behind the corner. She lifted her hooves one at a time, her head raised, extremely careful not to look like she was about to charge. She waved a hoof and called out. “Hay! Hay!” The armed creatures turned to her as if they were one. One brought his “boomstick” up to his eye, but the elder put his hand on the barrel. The tall creature called out to Applejack with a whistle. Applejack frowned. “What? Does he think ah’m a dog?” She sighed. “Of course he does.” She lowered her hoof and took another step. “Ah’m just here to return a little kid. Ah think she’s yours? Maybe?” She turned to the side, showing them her profile and the girl laying on her back. Applejack nuzzled Megan, who looked up with dreary eyes. “Time to wake up, Sugarcube. Time to start headin’ home.” Megan rubbed her eyes and sat up. She said something in her language, but was cut off by the sight that met her. She slid off Applejack’s back and stood there, her face having the appearance of one who was lost. The elder dropped his “boomstick” to the ground and marched forward. Another creature placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to hold him back, but the resistance was met with a shove. The tall creature’s pace quickened to a run. Megan sucked in a deep breath. She looked at Applejack with her jaw hanging loose. Applejack grinned. She pushed the girl forward with a hoof. “Go’on, then. Scoot.” “Megan!” the tall creature said. Megan yelped something in reply before bolting across the stone. The two met in the middle, between the camp and Applejack’s crew. The elder fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around the girl, holding her tight. They shook as they held each other, and Applejack couldn’t quite tell if it was with sobs or laughter. “Maybe it’s both,” she mused. The grin never left her face as she turned around and headed back the way she came. “Come on, let’s get back to Beefland,” she told Care and Crested. “Ah think they’ll be happy to hear we’re startin’ on good terms.” The griffon and the pony nodded. Care glanced up at her flare, sent a spark flying from her horn, and caused the ball of light to poof out. The last thing Megan and her father saw before darkness enveloped the mountainside were the outlines of two ponies and one griffon as they crested the pathway. Megan reached out her hand. “Upplejock!” When she received no answer, she settled for waving goodbye. Applejack poked her head out of the barrow. “Celestia, ah get the feelin’ you’re gonna like what we got to say. It’s a magic mirror, just like what Twi—” She found herself facing down about a dozen stone-faced minotaur soldiers. She paused before sliding the rest of the way out of the tomb. “Hay, fellas. Just about to send in the search party, huh?” Celestia appeared out of the fog with a small smile. “Something like that. I take it your mission was successful?” “Megan’s safe an’ sound with her family.” Applejack looked around. Most of the party that had accompanied them to the barrows were still there, save for Izod and the zebras. “How long’ve we been gone?” “About six hours.” Celestia pursed her lips. “And was time the same in the other world?” “Yeah. Six hours for us, too.” Applejack turned around and helped Care climb out of the tomb. Crested Barbary climbed out next. He bowed to Andean and presented him with a small bag. “I found what you described, King Ursagryph.” Celestia’s wings extended. “Found what?” “A souvenir,” Andean said as he hefted the pouch. “A small piece of the other world. I’m thinking of starting a collection.” “Do not, do not, do not lie to me,” Celestia said. “Fair enough.” Andean glared into her eyes. “It is gunpowder.” Celestia wet her lips. “You have mountains to blow holes in?” “Actually, I do.” Andean tucked the pouch into a bag clung over his back. “We griffons must mine the hills for iron to survive. I can only imagine good things coming of this.” “And does anybody else see the irony?” Celestia muttered. “I don’t suppose you’re willing to share the formula?” “I don’t suppose I am.” Andean pulled out his two smooth stones and held them a few inches apart. “Although I think the breezies might be interested. For trade.” He grinned. “Do you have anything worth trading, Princess?” Celestia pressed her teeth together. “I think we could work something out.” “Oh good,” Andean said. He let go of one stone and watched it jump over to the other. They clung together. “Wouldn’t want relations to sour, would you?” Celestia ground her hoof in the dirt. “Of course not.” Mangle walked up beside Applejack. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he knelt down to roughly her level. “You said that it’s a magic mirror?” “Yeah. It’s like the whole back wall,” Applejack said. “Why?” Mangle turned to the soldiers. “Break it down.” “What?” Celestia said. “What!?” The soldiers picked up a carved cedar trunk and moved to the barrow. “No!” Celestia gripped the trunk in her magic and met Mangle’s gaze. “No, you can’t destroy the mirror! What are you even thinking?” Mangle’s lips trembled. “We can’t do it, Celestia.” Celestia’s grip faltered. “What?” “We can’t do it.” Mangle shook his head. “You saw how we acted. You saw what we did when it was just one. There’s whole nations out there.” His throat bobbed as he fought down the dryness in his mouth. “What’ll we become, Celestia? How would we handle it?” A mighty crash rocked the barrows. More minotaurs appeared out of the mist, carrying battering rams of their own. They assailed the barrow of Wrathshield, each blow cracking it further. “What did we become?” Mangle said. “We almost had a war break out over dinner! Aspen attempted murder, and so did my cousin!” Mangle clenched his fists as the barrow crumbled. “We can barely hold together now, let alone with a whole new species to shift things. We just aren’t ready for them!” The sound of glass shattering punctuated his next statement: “And I don’t think we ever will be.” Celestia dropped her grip on the battering ram. She brought her face close to Mangle’s and hissed, “But we might have. We might have, Mangle. Now we’ll never find out.” Mangle nodded, his head low. “I can live with that.” Celestia stumbled back, the skin around her eyes tight. She bowed her head and spoke with a whisper. “Applejack, we are leaving.” She lifted her eyes to Mangle. “We’ll gather our things from the Egg and be on our way.” Mangle shivered where he stood. “That’s—a good idea.” Celestia, Applejack, Care, and Caution walked off into the fog. Mangle stood alone. Applejack stood on the docks, her saddlebags at her sides. She decided to put a little distance between her and Celestia, and had made her way to the harbor early. She certainly knew the way, now. She flinched back as flapping wings blew wind into her face. Andean Ursagryph waved his guards up the gangplank to their vessel before sucking in a deep breath of the salty air. “Do you like the ocean, Lord Mayor?” “Don’t feel strong about it one way or t’other.” Applejack rested her back against a pile of ropes. “I find it comforting.” Andean held a talon over the side of the docks. “Though one will travel far and wide, still we know that there is but one ocean. We are never far from our own shore.” “Ah tend to see the world like an earth pony,” Applejack said. “Ah look at the mileage.” “Do you intend to spoil every good mood you come across,” Andean said, “or do you merely dislike the way I smile?” “Maybe if yah didn’t look like you were gonna eat me when you smile.” Applejack scowled at him. “Ah don’t think you have a friendly bone in your body.” Andean pondered her words for a while as they listened to the waves crash against the docks. “Do you have children, Lord Mayor?” Applejack stared at him out of the corner of her eye. She licked her front teeth. “Never took the opportunity to have any of mah own. Mah brother an’ ah raised our youngest sister since she was a toddler, though.” Andean tilted his head back. “What of your parents?” “Ah don’t see how that’s any of your business.” “It’s not,” Andean said. “I have two daughters who absolutely love bedtime stories. I have a feeling that the new one about a girl from a strange new world will be their favorite for a while.” “Oh yeah,” Applejack muttered. “That sounds like a hoot. Gonna mention how you were gonna start a war in the middle of a diplomatic dinner?” “Hmm. I might leave that part out.” Andean unfurled his wings halfway. “I don’t want war, Applejack. I want growth.” He tilted his head towards her. “To reiterate a previous point, you can’t have growth without conflict.” Applejack shut her eyes and pulled her hat from her head. She set it down beside her and raised her head to the sky. “Maybe not.” She opened one eye. “But ah do know that you can have conflict without growth.” Andean rubbed his chin. “Ah, thus your speech on resolving.” He stood and turned to his vessel. “Much like the new trade agreements that will no doubt be popping up.” Applejack let out a gusty breath. “Well, more power to yah, ah guess.” “Precisely.” Andean lifted his massive frame into the air with a sweep of his wings. “Keep pondering, Applejack. Perhaps one day you shall stand tall as one of the great sages. Someday.” The ship’s bell sounded as the griffons embarked on their return trip to Felaccia. The ponies’ journey home began soon after, as Celestia and her entourage marched up the gangplank. Applejack followed at a sedate pace. It was a quiet trip for the first two days. Celestia stayed in her cabin, and Applejack wandered around the ship aimlessly. The third day brought choppy water, leading to Celestia requiring a few minutes outside to relieve her troubled stomach. After a particularly rough lurch, Applejack pulled alongside Celestia. “Ah’m sorry about what ah said.” Celestia wiped her mouth. “About what?” “About wishin’ you were only hidin’ yer laughter inside.” “I wish that, too.” Celestia leaned on the railing and stared at the waves. “I told you I hid things, back when we first arrived at Beefland.” “Yeah.” Applejack blinked back the sea spray. “Ah guess ah didn’t really get it.” “Sometimes you have to look like you have it together. You have to present a proper face.” “And when people find out that what’s on the inside don’t match up?” Celestia and Applejack fell silent. “Aspen…” Applejack shook her head. “Aspen said ah care that what’s inside matches the outside. An’ he was right. But…” She bit her lip. “But that means that what’s inside me shows. It shows real well. I’ve been…” She sucked on her teeth. “Ah ain’t been real nice to some folks. Ah been downright nasty to a lot of ’em. An’ they don’t really deserve it. Not really. If that’s what ah’m showin’ outside, what’s that mean about who ah am inside?” Celestia took in a deep breath as bile rose in her throat. She swallowed it down, held it back, and smiled. “I think… it makes you a person.” Applejack’s brow furrowed. Celestia extended a wing and wrapped it around her shoulders. “You’re a person. A person who needs love from her friends and family. A person who wants good things for them. A person who has good days and bad days. A person who can be as sweet as an apple pie one moment, and as bitter as an apple seed the next. A person who’s met hardship head on and defeated it.” Celestia lowered her head to Applejack’s level. “A person who’s fallen to hardships, but always had her friends to dig her out. You’re a flawed, beautiful, stubborn, brilliant person.” Celestia grinned. “And not to brag, but so am I.” Applejack met her grin. She reached forward and wrapped her forelegs around Celestia’s middle. “Thanks, Princess.” Celestia hugged her back. “No, thank you. Without you, this meeting would not have gone as well as it did.” “As well as it did?” Applejack said. “What, are you crazy? This went terrible!” “Well, you know…” Celestia tapped her chin. “At least nobody died this time.” “‘This’ time?” Applejack drew back in horror, but stopped when she caught the twinkle in Celestia’s eye. “Are you teasin’ me?” “Princesses do not tease,” Celestia said. “They jest.”