//------------------------------// // 17 - Tell Me a Story // Story: The Other Side of the Horizon // by Rambling Writer //------------------------------// The sun was almost down when Bhiza finally said, “Black with stripes white. Look.” She held her foreleg in front of Applejack’s face and, with her other hoof, awkwardly pushed back on the hairs. “Skin below? Black. Zebras are black with stripes white.” Indeed, although it was partly obscured by her hair, Bhiza’s skin below was black, even under the white stripes. Bhiza looked very pleased with herself. “Huh,” said Applejack. She squinted at Bhiza’s skin. “Interestin’.” After a hard day’s walk, Applejack was definitely feeling the strain of the cart in each and every one of her joints and muscles and bones and other places she didn’t know the names of. But it was a good strain, the kind that could only come through good, solid work. She was still sweating like mad, but with the sun setting, it was cooling off quickly. Applejack wasn’t about to roll over and faint anytime soon, but she’d definitely be glad once she was able to relax in her tent. “I do not know why I did not think of it before,” said Bhiza, still looking at her legs. “It is… strange.” “Yeah,” said Applejack. “Guess it’s one of those things you don’t think of ‘till somebody points it out, right?” “Yes.” Applejack snorted and looked around at the Serembarti. Still looked beautiful. The nyumbu were nowhere to be seen. In fact, the whole place was so big that, even with its flatness, the only other people and animals they saw tended to be far off in the distance, rarely little more than specks. As Applejack looked, off in the distance, she picked out a large cluster of zebras — two dozen at least, she guessed — setting up their own tents for the night. Big tents. Big enough for five or six zebras each with room to spare, a far cry from the one-zebra tents of her own group. Bhiza noticed her watching. “Those are Wokhala Zigwa,” she said, pointing them out. “They are group that are…” She scratched her head. “I do not know word. Kuhamahama. They do not have home… pernament.” “Permanent.” “Yes. They do not have home permanent.” “So they’re nomads?” “I think. They move around Serembarti and look after land. If our food is not growed-” “Grown.” “-by nyumbu, it is probably-” Bhiza poked a hoof at the Wokhala. “-growed — grown — by they. They have history long very. Before zebras lived in cities, we all were Wokhala Zigwa.” “Huh.” Applejack squinted the Wokhala, trying to make out more details. Based on what little she could see, they didn’t look that different from regular zebras. “Y’think they coulda helped us with the nyumbu?” Bhiza shrugged. “I do not know. We did not speak with they when I was one.” “You were one of those Wokhalas?” “When I was more young. I did not like travel always and left when I became adult. You can enter and leave group as you want.” “But…” Applejack looked back and forth between Bhiza and the Wokhala. “Why’d you go in in the first place if you knew you didn’t like it?” “My parents were Wokhala. I was born into group.” “…Zebrabwe’s a real strange place.” “Says pony orange with apples on her rump.” Applejack couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “Y’know, I don’t think I’d mind livin’ with them.” She nodded off towards the Wokhala. “At least for a little while. Home’s great and all, but here…” “Your magic could help they. You can grow plants more good, yes?” “Sure. All earth ponies can.” Applejack gave the Wokhala one last look, and an idea jumped into her brain. “Y’know, if Equestria and Zebrabwe start excha- start sharin’ ponies and zebras, enough earth ponies growin’ stuff here could make the nyumbu not needed for y’all.” Bhiza didn’t say anything, but her walk turned light, and a vague, distant smile crawled its way onto her face. They’d been walking long enough that the mountains they’d left that morning had long since been swallowed up by the curve of the earth. With maybe two or three inches of sun still sticking above the horizon, Idube had decided to finally stop and set up camp, detouring towards something that was a mix of a smallish hill and a granite pile; Bhiza called it a kopje. Getting up wasn’t too difficult, but the sun had completely set by the time they were at the top, and darkness was falling rapidly. Applejack finally, finally, finally unhitched the cart and almost collapsed, taking deep breaths. Even on the farm, it’d been a long time since she’d worked that hard. She couldn’t stop her muscles from shaking and twitching, and she was sweating so much, it was like she’d just climbed out of a lake. Not that she was complaining. It was the end of the day and she wouldn’t be traveling again until tomorrow. Besides, it all told her that she’d been working the whole day, and so the day had been one well spent. Bhiza looked at Applejack and chuckled. “I am making your tent?” Applejack waved a slightly unsteady hoof at Bhiza. “You’re makin’ my tent.” “Ha! Worth it to see you pull cart day all. You are strong.” “Yeah, well, I’m gonna be sleepin’ like a log tonight.” Tents went up quickly (true to her word, Bhiza set up Applejack’s), soon followed by a bonfire. Unlike the rocky shelf of the morning, the top of the kopje had plenty of space for everyone, and even a small spring they could drink from. Dinner was a lot friendlier than it had been last night; with a large fire available, everyone had circled around it and was telling stories or jokes. A zebra tradition, Applejack gathered. The storytellers told their tales in Zebran, naturally, but Bhiza was translating for Applejack. “And then… hehe… and then zebra first says, ‘That is fog painful!’” She collapsed to the ground in a fit of giggles. Applejack waited for her to continue, but even the storyteller had stopped. All the other zebras seemed to laughing at least a little. She stared down at Bhiza. “Is… That ain’t supposed to be funny, is it?” “Hehe…” Bhiza coughed to slow her laughing. “It is funny in Zebran.” Oh. Probably a pun, then. Applejack wasn’t a fan of puns. They were silly things, among the lowest form of humor, and half the time, they were only funny because they were so unfunny. Puns were terrible, terrible, terrible. When the zebras had settled down, a quiet discussion started up. They’d already gone through this before, but Bhiza still translated for Applejack. “They are asking who wants to go next,” she said. “We-” One of the zebras spoke up, in Equestrian. “What about you, Applejack?” As one, the rest of the zebras turned to look curiously at Applejack. Even those who couldn’t speak Equestrian recognized her name. Applejack twitched and jumped into the air an inch or so. Getting put on the spot like that was never a good sign. “Wh-what about me?” “You’re from a country none of us have seen, even though we all want to go there,” said the zebra. Her accent was a bit thicker than Idube’s, but still perfectly understandable, and her words came out a lot more fluidly. “You’re friends with a princess who can use magic. You must have some stories you can share with us. Please? I’m Erevu, by the way,” she added. “W-well, um…” muttered Applejack. The idea of telling some of her adventures with Twilight was kind of appealing, she admitted, but she didn’t like being put on the spot like that. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine,” said Erevu. “Even if they have good stories, some people can’t tell them. Or they can and they don’t want to. Such as myself.” Erevu tapped herself on the chest and grinned guiltily. “So just-” If anything, that just gave Applejack the nudge she needed to actually go ahead and do it. “No, I can do it. Bhiza, you think you can translate for me?” Bhiza locked up. “I… do not think I-” Zecora cleared her throat. “Perhaps I should be the link between our two groups, I think. My grasp of language is more complete; I’ll know exactly what to repeat.” “Yes,” Bhiza said quickly. “Fair ‘nough.” Applejack flicked her ears to get herself psyched up a little. “Might as well start at the beginnin’, then, when I met Twilight. It was about three years ago, and Ponyville, my hometown, was gettin’ ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. It’s-” Zecora nudged Applejack lightly and made small grunting noises to get her attention. “Do not speak at your normal rate,” she whispered, “I need some moments to translate.” “Sorry,” Applejack whispered back. “Shoulda known.” After a few lines in Zebran, Applejack started up again. “The Summer Sun Celebration is where our Princess Celestia raises the sun on the first day of summer. That’s, um, that’s one of our seasons. And it was bein’ held in Ponyville that year. Twilight was Celestia’s student then, and she was overseein’ all the arrangements and such.” As Zecora translated, Applejack braced herself for ridicule about claiming that Celestia raised the sun. But none came. The zebras didn’t even look all that skeptical. Maybe Livingstone had really drilled it into their heads that, yes, Celestia really did raise the sun. Applejack was just happy she didn’t need to spend a while justifying it. “But then, durin’ the celebration, right at dawn, Celestia didn’t show up. See, Celestia raises the sun, and her sister, Luna, raises the moon. But a thousand years ago — the two of ‘em are immortal — a thousand years ago, Luna went nuts from the night not bein’ appreciated, started callin’ herself Nightmare Moon, and tried to keep the sun from risin’ to make an eternal night. Celestia had to seal her in the moon. Well, she escaped right then and kidnapped Celestia.” No skepticism about Celestia being immortal, either. Livingstone must’ve really gone deep on this. There was some sort of reaction on Luna and her getting sealed in the moon, but then, Luna hadn’t come back before Livingstone had left, so that sort of thing wouldn’t’ve been on Livingstone’s mind. “So Celestia’s gone, Nightmare Moon’s free, and the sun ain’t comin’ up anytime soon. But Twilight, she knew a thing or two about this. She decided to go and find the Elements of Harmony. They’re these… artifact thingies that Celestia used to seal Nightmare Moon in the first place. They were supposed to be not too far from Ponyville, in the Princesses’ old castle.” The zebras, already interested, perked up a bit more. Ancient artifacts, a princess to save, an ancient evil to defeat? It was turning into a straight-up adventure story. “Problem is, the Elements were in the Everfree Forest, one of the most dangerous places in Equestria. It… it just ain’t natural. It’s filled with all sorts of dangerous critters, and everythin’ works on its own. But, hay, Twilight was goin’ in there, and I sure a sugar wasn’t lettin’ her go in there alone. Me and some other ponies followed her in.” Silence. The zebras were enraptured. They remained a captive audience all the way until Applejack said, “…so Twilight decided to stay in Ponyville, and me and her and the other girls have been friends ever since.” The zebras drummed their hooves on the ground. “Exciting. But is that your only story?” asked Erevu. “What else have you done?” Applejack batted at an ear. Now that she was in the swing of things, this was easy. “Well…” “How big, exactly,” said Erevu, “was this… dra-gon?” “Biggest animal I’ve ever seen,” Applejack responded, “and I’ve seen quite a few.” “But how big?” Bhiza asked. “Nyokakubwa big?” Some of the zebras exchanged glances and snickered. Applejack ignored them. “No. Bigger’n that. Way bigger.” The snickers died down. “How big?” Bhiza asked again. “Real big. Big big.” “How big is big big?” Erevu pressed. “Big as in, just one of its eyes was bigger’n any one of y’all. Its teeth were longer’n you from nose to tail. Y’all saw the ship I came in on? It was bigger’n that.” All the zebras recoiled a little (although some had to wait for the translation), and a collective “oooooooooo” went up. “And if in me you want to put your trust,” added Zecora, “the dragon truly was that enormous.” Another “oooooooooo”. “So how did you get it to leave?” Erevu asked, her voice a little faster from curiosity. “I was just gettin’ to that,” huffed Applejack. “So I told y’all about Fluttershy, right? Well, she went right up to the dragon and told it off real, real bad. Ain’t never seen nothin’ like it before or since. And the dragon just caved right then and there and flew off.” As Zecora translated, Bhiza scooted a few feet closer to Applejack. “Flut-ter-shy…” she said with a frown, “…is pony easy-to-scare, yes?” “That’s puttin’ lightly, but yeah.” “But she… yelled at dragon? Made it leave?” “Yep.” Bhiza stared at Applejack. Her left ear twitched, then her right, then it repeated. Eventually, she asked, “…How?!” “Got me. Ehm, I dunno.” “She could win wars alone and be afraid of twig snapping!” “…I sure as sugar wouldn’t put it past her…” “You thought she was a witch?!” Idube said disapprovingly. Another one of the zebras was tutting. “Skilled with potions, yes. Witch?” She laughed derisively. “She lived in the Everfree, she always kept herself covered with a cloak, and I’d never seen anythin’ like her before!” protested Applejack. “We don’t have zebras in Equestria! And it ain’t like she tried to explain herself or anythin’!” “What?” Everyone’s gaze snapped to Zecora, who suddenly looked very self-conscious. “You didn’t talk to them?” Erevu asked. “At all?” Zecora rubbed her forelegs together and looked away. “I… suppose that I made no attempt to ensure their fear would relent. They always hid, and yet I never tried to make sure they knew better. I’d leave without a single word, and never let my voice be heard.” “Well, that’s your fault. You sh-” “Butthat’sinthepast!” Applejack said loudly, making everyone jump. “We apologized and we’re all friends now and we know she ain’t a witch or if she is she’s a nice one! It was a silly thing for me to think but I don’t think it no more!” Everyone looked back to her, and she quickly went back to the story before someone else could interject. “Anyway, we were followin’ my little si-” “Wait…” muttered Erevu. “How is Zecora being a witch different from Twilight being a witch? Twilight still had magic then, didn’t she?” “Um…” Erevu waved her hooves to cut Applejack off. “Wait, wait, Discord just… let you keep them? He didn’t take them back or even replace them with fakes to begin with?” Applejack shook her head. “Nope. I guess he thought-” But before she could finish, Erevu quickly translated for the rest of the zebras, who quickly fell into raucous laughter. Bhiza was on the ground, clutching her sides, and even Zecora was chuckling a little. Applejack flicked her ears in annoyance. “What’s so funny?” she asked Zecora. “They don’t think Discord’s all that smart,” responded Zecora, “to ignore such a crucial part of his plan to fill the world with gloom, for that small slip-up was his doom.” “Well, he ain’t stupid,” said Applejack. “No, he ain’t as smart as Twilight, but he ain’t stupid.” But Zecora didn’t agree with her. “I have seen the way he acts,” she said, “and common sense, he somewhat… lacks.” “Your idea of helping her was to do the exact same thing she was doing and egg her on?!” screamed Erevu. “Why didn’t you try, I don’t know, talking to her? You are her friends, right?” “I told you, we did! She didn’t listen!” Applejack screamed back. “Once! You don’t give up on something if it only fails once!” “Dash ain’t exactly easy to persuade! She sets her mind to somethin’, she stays set.” “That still doesn’t excuse you only trying to talk to her once. And if nothing else, pretending to be a superhero was not the right way to go about trying to help her.” “Yeah, well, it, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” Erevu snorted. “If you were drunk, maybe.” “A whole army,” said Idube flatly. “All of them shapeshifters?” “Yep. Each and every one.” Applejack lightly punctuated each word with a tap on the ground. “How did you tell each other apart? They did disguise themselves, yes?” “Sure did. But there were just too many of ‘em to really make a difference. I could pick anypony, and chances were it’d be a changeling, not a friend.” Applejack laughed a little. “I gotta say, it was weird beatin’ up on Twilight, but not half as weird as lookin’ up and seein’ her beatin’ up on me.” “Did you win? Did you win? Did you win?” Erevu was nearly bouncing on the ground. “Well, uh…” Applejack pulled her hat down in front of her face. “Not really. Too many of ‘em.” Erevu’s face fell. “Oh.” “Yeah. We got captured and taken back to the castle, but Shinin’ and Cadance saved the day with some kinda magic or somethin’. Basically, blew the changelings away with a love explosion.” Erevu clapped a hoof to her mouth. “That sounds slightly dirty,” she said, obviously trying not to laugh. “Especially if they just got married.” “Well, I don’t mean like that! Sheesh.” “Pardon the interruption, but how do you miss an entire empire?” asked Idube. “Perhaps things are different in Equestria, but… empires are big, are they not?” “Magic,” said Applejack. “It just didn’t exist for a thousand years. And it ain’t that big. One of the biggest cities in Equestria, but probably not as big as you’re thinkin’.” “But… that is a city, not an empire, if you will forgive my obviousness. Empires are nations, not mere cities. Why is it called an empire?” Applejack shrugged. “I don’t get it either, but that’s what it’s called. I’ve heard Twilight say it’s more metaphorical than anythin’, about how it spreads light and love and all that across Equestria and that means we’re all like its colonies or somethin’, but I still don’t get it.” “I suppose that works,” Idube said. “Please, continue.” “What I want to know is, why was she able to buy such an amulet in a used goods store?” asked Erevu. “That’s… that’s…” She babbled randomly for a second, trying to find the right word, before finally settling on, “…not-sense-making.” “Dunno,” Applejack said with a shrug. “Twilight thinks the pony who sold it to her didn’t really know how bad it was. Like he thought it was just a story to make it more mysterious. Y’know…” She waved her hooves around. “OooOOOooo, scary amulet, oooOOOooo. That kinda thing.” “But it is not for sale now, correct?” Idube questioned. “Surely you would not make the same mistake.” “Nope. It’s in a real secret place now. So secret, actually, that I don’t know where it is. Zecora does-” Applejack lightly clapped Zecora on the shoulder. “-but I don’t. And it should probably stay that way.” “Good,” Idube said. “If not, it would be like having one of our army’s rockets available in a gift shop. And always on sale.” “You have spell that can change fate,” gasped Bhiza, “and you do nothing with it?” “T’be honest,” Applejack said, twitching her tail, “I ain’t exactly sure what it does. And it don’t create new fates, just swaps ours around. Least, that’s what happened to us. And it was less fate and more cutie marks…” Then she frowned. “But I guess that kinda changed our fates somehow, and…” She shook her head. “I dunno. I’ll have to ask Twilight.” One of the zebras whispered something in Erevu’s ear, who nodded and relayed, “But if you could choose whose fate you got, then if you gave the right fate to the right person…” She tapped her chin in thought, but didn’t go on. “It’d never work,” answered Applejack. “We were all terrible at the new things we were doin’, right? ‘Sides, I don’t really think ‘fate’ is a thing. We got free will, don’t we?” “Yes,” said Bhiza, “but it is like rope loose tied at ends both. You can m-” Zecora cleared her throat and moved into the center of the group. “Let’s not debate philosophy,” she said, “for even if our will is free, such a deep analysis is not fit for groups such as this. This is not the place, nor the time, to talk about such paradigms.” Bhiza looked at Applejack for clarification. “Talkin’ ‘bout free will’s bad, here.” Bhiza grinned and chuckled. “So…” Erevu said slowly, “the vines took your princesses and nearly overran your country.” “Yeah,” said Applejack. “And it was Discord’s fault.” “Yeah.” “Even though he said it wasn’t and lied about being able to fix it.” “Yeah.” “…And you still trust him why?” Applejack shrugged to buy some time for an answer. “Well, uh, Twilight trusts him-” I think, she didn’t add. “-and she’s better at that sorta thing than I am.” Erevu snorted and flicked her tail, but left it at that. “What is ‘bat’?” Bhiza asked curiously. “Popo,” Erevu said. “Oooooh. And Fluttershy became one… how?” “Magic,” Applejack said again. “I know,” Bhiza said with a scowl and a tail-flick, “but ho-” “Magic.” “…Bu-” “Magic. I dunno, I really don’t. I don’t know magic, I can’t explain it.” “‘It is magic, so I cannot explain it’ seems quite common in Equestria,” Idube said, halfway between amused and annoyed. “Believe me,” Applejack said, “you ain’t seen the half of it.” “So,” Erevu said, looking a bit angry, “all Discord had to do was capture that… Tirek.” “Yeah.” “But he didn’t. Because he was swayed by not much more than, ‘Be evil with me. I have cookies.’” “…I guess.” “And he then proceeded to work with Tirek in stealing all the magic from Equestria.” “…Yeah.” “And he only went back to good because Tirek turned on him, not because any of you persuaded him.” “He sounds kinda selfish when you put it that way…” “But it’s true, right?” “…Yeah.” Erevu blinked and nearly exploded. “…And you still trust him WHY?!” “‘Cause Twilight does, and Discord’s real sorry about it all. He definitely changed for the better after all that. Seriously.” Erevu snorted and muttered, “You are much, much, much more forgiving than I am.” A few angry murmurs of agreement came from the audience. Applejack and Zecora looked at each other. They both shrugged. “So she made all equal by pulling they down, yes?” questioned Bhiza. “Changing your cutie marks?” “Yeah. And that’s the real reason we stopped her: her makin’ ponies worse to make ‘em equal. I’m fine with everyone bein’ equal, but then we should all be good at everythin’, not bad at everythin’.” “You said you did not catch her. Did you find her later?” Applejack and Zecora exchanged glances. Applejack coughed and said, “We, we found her, and Twilight, ehm, made her see that she was wrong. And that one’s, ehm, kinda personal, so I ain’t doin’ it.” Several of the zebras sighed in disappointment. “If Luna can control dreams,” asked Bhiza, “why did she not shut down thing?” “Tantabus?” “Yes. It is creature of dreams. She should be able to stop it alone. Yes?” “I don’t really-” Somebody said something to Erevu, who added, “And didn’t you say she was only Nightmare Moon for a few hours a millennium ago? Why’d her guilt get that bad?” “Well, that’s what Twilight saw in that potion, I ain’t sure if it was really accurate.” Applejack glanced at Zecora. “Was it?” “And why would Luna allow it to leave her own dream to begin with?” interrupted Idube. “It seems it would be much simpler to not give it any capacity to leave her dream at all.” Applejack groaned and rubbed her face. “Look, I dunno any of this. Dream magic and Luna’s past ain’t my things. Can we all just move on?” “When you say she lived near a ‘rock farm’,” Idube cut in, “I assume you mean ‘mine’.” Her voice was dry, and Applejack could detect a hint of sarcasm in it. Before she could respond, though, Erevu spoke up. “I don’t think so. Rock farms are different from mines. You can’t just dig into the ground and hope you get the right type of stone on a rock farm. It takes more work than that.” “Work? They are rocks, how can they need work?” “Just to begin with, you need to-” And then Erevu suddenly shifted to Zebran, leaving Applejack out in the cold. More and more zebras were slowly drawn into the conversation, and Applejack suspected that even if she was fluent in Zebran, she’d have trouble following it all. “Zecora?” “Hmm?” “Why is it talkin’ about rock farms gets hotter faster than talkin’ about philosophy and free will and such? I mean, I ain’t really got into the story proper yet.” “I suppose you cannot know what shall cause a dreadful row. The simplest ideas can often hold the very thoughts to make us bold. The tallest tree can weave and bend; pebbles change not until the end.” “I guess.” What Applejack didn’t say was that she didn’t exactly get what Zecora was saying; she had an idea — a big idea offered a lot of flexibility, while a much smaller one (i.e., rocks don’t come from farms) might only be available in absolutes and offer no compromise — but she couldn’t be sure about it. Oh, well. “Remind me again what is so terrible about weather not being controlled,” said Idube flatly. “Particularly in this single area, even if that area is nominally an empire.” “It’s worse up north,” said Applejack. “Way worse. It’s so cold it can freeze your blood just from you bein’ outside, and I ain’t exaggeratin’.” Idube blinked and took a step back. Erevu’s eyes were wide, while Bhiza curled up into a ball and wiggled a few feet closer to the fire. A few of the zebras were exchanging frightened whispers. “And that ain’t all,” Applejack continued. “Picture the worst rainstorm y’all’ve ever seen, then make it so cold the raindrops freeze. That’s what the weather was like right then.” After the translation went through, dead silence fell over the camp, except for the popping of the logs that were still burning. Someone coughed. “Yes,” Idube whispered eventually. “That would be quite terrible.” “…and then Twilight asked me if I wanted to come over here and help her, and here I am. So we’re at now now.” The zebras stamped on the ground in applause. “You are going to be a tough act to follow,” laughed Erevu. But the stomps hadn’t even died down completely when another zebra volunteered and it all started again. Applejack angled an ear towards Bhiza, half-listening for the translation. Telling stories was surprisingly draining, mentally speaking, and she wasn’t really up to listening to two languages at once just yet. But being only half-listening, it took her a while to notice that Bhiza wasn’t translating at all. Instead, she was staring at Applejack with something resembling wonder. Applejack kneaded the ground beneath her hooves and asked, “What?” “You are pony interesting very,” said Bhiza. “Everything you did… big.” “Shucks, it ain’t nothin’.” Applejack dismissed Bhiza with a wave of her hoof. “Those’re just the parts I thought y’all’d wanna hear.” “But…” Bhiza stood her hoof on its tip and twisted it back and forth. “You did they. My life? Normal.” She didn’t sound forlorn. A bit down, but nowhere near actually sad. “And my life’s normal to me,” said Applejack. “You ain’t told a story yet. You might be normal for zebras, but zebras’ normal is new to me. Why don’t you tell me somethin’? Just me?” Bhiza brightened up immediately. “I can do that.”