The water crossing, while tricky, was nowhere as difficult as Tarnished Teapot had feared that it would be. He found out that, much to his surprise, he could ‘nudge’ the back of the wagon with his telekinesis and keep the wagon from misbehaving in the water. In the deepest part of the river, the wagon floated due to fine construction and all of the wooden planks of the bed being well fitted to one another.
On the other side of the river, Tarnish began to realise that the trouble was only beginning and that Maud, being the stoic that she was, had said nothing of the real trouble. As Maud gave a final tug to lift the wagon up the steep shore, Tarnish wondered how Maud was going to get a five hundred pound wagon and six hundred pounds of gear up the steep switchbacks. He gave the wagon a ‘shove’ with his telekinesis while eyeing the switchbacks.
Maud, for all of her impressive, even fantastical strength, was still a pony. The switchbacks were at the steepest grade that Tarnish had seen yet on the trip. The road looped back on itself more than a dozen times before reaching the top of the gorge wall.
“Maud, tell me the truth, this switchback, it’s not made for wagons, is it?” Tarnish asked as the pair both stood recovering on the far side of the river. Tarnish heard a sigh and then saw Maud look at him, her face almost expressionless.
“Tarnish, it’s meant for carts. Like, two wheel carts.” Maud turned her head and looked at the switchback. “But I think I can do it. I’ve made similar trips up steep grades before.”
“So… one of those little two wheeled carts that maybe weigh two or three hundred pounds with the cart and all the gear?” Tarnish bit down on his lip for a moment, his expression anxious, and then he shook his head. “Nope. Maud, you can be mad at me, but as your husband, I’m putting my hoof down. You’re not pulling this wagon loaded down with gear up that switchback.”
Ears perking, Maud turned her head to look at her husband. “Hoof down you say… then how do you propose that we get our gear up to the top of the gorge?”
“The wagon weighs about five hundred pounds by itself, which is quite a bit… it is going to have to go up the switchbacks unloaded. You’re going to have to pull and I’ll be right behind, shoving the wagon along with my telekinesis, trying to offer as much help as I can. You’ll still be doing most of the physical work. Once we get the wagon to the top, I’ll start carrying our stuff up the switchbacks, carrying as much as I can, and taking as many trips as necessary while you rest.”
Maud shook her head. “As your wife, I’m putting my hoof down.” Maud’s eyes narrowed somewhat and her ears splayed out sideways. “There is no way that you are hauling six hundred pounds of gear up the side of a ravine by yourself. Don’t be stupid, the mental strain will be just as bad as the physical strain. After we get the wagon up the switchbacks, we’ll both rest for a while and then we’ll haul stuff up together. You can load stuff up on my back and secure it with rope.” Maud’s ears stood up and she stared at her husband.
“Yeah… okay, but the trunks are mine to deal with. There is no way that you can carry one of those trunks on your back in a comfortable way and haul it up the switchbacks. We’ll figure out what to do with everything else.” Reaching up, Tarnish adjusted his pith helmet, gave himself a shake because he was still soaking wet from being in the river, and then sucked in a deep breath. His cheeks bulged as he held his breath and studied the steep grade. He let his held breath slip out in a lip flapping raspberry.
Walking up to Maud, he kissed her on the cheek.
The empty wagon was still heavy. Tarnished Teapot had counted a total of thirteen switchbacks and he estimated the height of the ravine wall to be about ninety feet, maybe more, with the potential of being around a hundred feet. Each section of switchback was about thirty to forty feet. After that, his calculations failed, as he didn’t know how to calculate grades, having not paid attention or finished school.
The only real conclusions that Tarnish could reach was that it was steep and that he was about to get an education dealing with the world around him the hard way. He took a long swig of water, passed his canteen to Maud, watched her drink, and then jammed the stopper back in.
“Ready?” Tarnish asked.
“Time to pony up,” Maud replied.
The earth pony took off at a steady pace, neither fast nor slow, her head down low as she leaned into her harness, her tail swishing from side to side. Tarnish moved behind the wagon, enveloping the rear of the wagon in the bright blue glow of his magic.
“The wagon feels lighter,” Maud said as she hit the first incline, her hooves thudding on the packed dirt. “I don’t think this will be that bad.” Maud leaned a little more into her harness and her ears pitched forwards, as if they were pointing out which direction Maud would go.
The wagon moved at a breakneck crawl, inching up the steep incline as the two ponies laboured to keep it moving. Maud, who had a body shaped by hard labour, found the exercise enjoyable. This was a test of her abilities, her strength, her endurance, and her resolve. For Tarnish, this was a test of everything he had learned from his study of magic, reading his primers, and the copious amounts of advice as well as the many notes written by Twilight Sparkle.
It was not flashy magic, or advanced wizardry, or glitzy-glammy spells. It was not the sort of impressive magic that a unicorn would cast to make a name for themselves. It was practical magic, magic intended to ease hard labour, it was magic intended to assist in drudgery. It was magic that would never make a crowd ‘ooh’ and ‘aah,’ but it was magic that was practical.
Much like his previous experience in the river, Tarnish learned a great deal about managing a heavy load in just a few minutes, as there was nothing better than actually doing something in order to learn. He had to push over a wide area of force in equal measure, otherwise, he would push the wagon off in one direction or another. He had to spread out his telekinetic field over a wide area, and making certain that everything had the equivalent amount of force placed everywhere was far more difficult than he imagined. The rear of the wagon veered to the left or to the right as he kept overcompensating.
For one fearful moment, Tarnish worried that he might be making this harder for Maud, but rather than panic, his fear made him double down upon his efforts. He spread his telekinesis out over a wide area, extending out past the sides of the wagon, forming a solid barrier of force for the backside of the wagon to rest up against. As he continued up the incline, he imagined a brick wall, flat, a moving brick wall that the wagon could rest against, and then he focused on pushing. He could feel the strain in his horn, beneath his horn, and down into his brain. His ears slumped, splaying out at first, but then collapsing completely and coming to rest against the sides of his face.
They rounded the first corner of the switchback and Tarnish threw even more of himself into his telekinetic field, feeling his way along, making minute improvements and adjustments. One hoof in front of the other, he kept moving forward, projecting a flat barrier of force in front of him, an imaginary brick wall that kept the wagon from rolling backwards and helped to push it forwards.
There was an annoying tickle as sweat began to trickle down Tarnish’s neck, but he did not let it distract him. He kept his focus as he began to sweat all over, perspiring from his intense effort. Tarnish’s magic, which could have been described in a metaphorical sense as ‘fat, lazy, and out of shape’ was now developing into something greater. His training had begun on the Pie family rock farm and now, now his many hours of hard work were showing some results.
It was during his climb up the second switchback that Tarnish developed his second natural spell, a clear understanding of it forming in his mind. It was not a special spell unique to him, but it was a spell that had burned its way into Tarnish’s brain, giving him much understanding into its nature and how to apply it. ‘The Wall’ spell, as Tarnish would come to call it, was infinitely useful, both as a means to push objects along or to use as a portable barrier to keep things away. If Tarnish tooted his steam whistle, he could pass himself off as a steam powered bulldozer.
When Tarnish and Maud crested the top of the switchbacks, Tarnish felt a weary, exhausted, feeling of elation, a profound sense of joy that he had no means to express. It wasn’t just because he had helped to push the wagon up the switchbacks, it wasn’t just because he had accomplished something difficult, but rather, it was a feeling, a sense of knowledge that he had grown. He was fulfilling his purpose as a unicorn, something he hadn’t done much of during his life, and it made him feel wonderful that he had just done something with his magic. He suffered one awkward thought about talking to Maud about being an earth pony with a horn, of not being in touch with his own tribe, but then the thought slipped his mind. He felt too good to suffer embarrassment.
He hit the brakes on the wagon, locking the wheels, pulled out his canteen, yanked off the stopper, and had a long drink. He passed it to Maud after she was done unhitching herself, holding it so she could have a long drink, and he could see her eyes glancing at him as she guzzled down most of what was left in the canteen.
Sides heaving, her body and her smock soaked with sweat, Maud sat down. She closed her eyes and took many deep breaths, long, slow, steady deep breaths. Tarnish sat down beside her, stoppered his canteen, then pulled it from around his neck and tossed it aside in the grass. He didn’t want anything heavy on him at the moment.
“I gotta be honest,” Maud said, panting somewhat. “I don’t think I would have made it up those switchbacks with a full wagon. I might have made it up a few, but then I would have had to rest and recover on one of the turn abouts before continuing. It might have taken me several days to make it up those switchbacks by myself if I was travelling alone, or I might have had to go back and find another way up.”
Tarnish did not reply, but flopped over on the road, laying on his side for a moment before rolling over onto his back. His tongue lolled out as he too, panted from overexertion. As he looked up into the sunny blue sky, his sense of accomplishment turned to euphoria.