//------------------------------// // 19 - Eye in the Sky // Story: The Other Side of the Horizon // by Rambling Writer //------------------------------// Applejack woke slowly, with that calm, contented feeling of “I am completely rested but don’t want to get up just yet” of an absolutely perfect night’s sleep. Just in case, she nudged aside her tent’s flap. The sky was just beginning to turn orange. Yeah, she could rest a little while longer. So far, traveling across the Serembarti had been… serene, nyumbu notwithstanding. And even then, the nyumbu had just been boring, not exactly stressful or anything. It was nice, just walking along across the plains, pulling a cart. Even though barely anyone spoke Equestrian, Bhiza had proven herself to be a good conversation partner and a good friend. She could live like this, no problem. It was calm, it was easy, it was relaxing. It was also hot and buggy, but nothing was perfect. Still, she wanted to see Twilight again. She was torn on whether or not she wanted to get to Kulikulu faster or slower. Faster, she’d see Twilight sooner. Slower, she’d be in the Se- Screw it. Faster. The Serembarti was always going to be there. She’d be crossing it again on the way back. She wanted to see Twilight again. When she decided the time for lounging about in bed was over, Applejack stood up and yawned. She staggered out of her tent and onto the kopje. She wasn’t sure where she was heading; maybe she could watch the sunrise. Off to one side stood a tower-like formation, overlooking the kopje and the Serembarti for miles around. Applejack clambered up it to get a better view and found Bhiza and Zecora up top. Bhiza had been the last guard of the night; she was wearing some kind of horizontal pole on one leg and a rack of spears was attached to one side. Zecora was standing on her head and had her front hooves pushed together, presumably meditating somehow (but how could she think like that?). The two of them were exchanging words in Zebran. Applejack sat down a short distance away; if they wanted to include her, they’d do so, but if not, she didn’t have a problem with that. The west was still pitch-black, but in the east, where the first scraps of the sun were finally visible, the horizon was a contrast between black land and orange sky. Flat as you could imagine, all the way around. It was both strange and relaxing. Bhiza took a few steps closer to Applejack. “Almost done,” she said. “We will be in Kulikulu by tonight.” “You sure?” Applejack wasn’t that concerned, but it couldn’t hurt. “Yes. It is easy today, like it was yesterday.” “Alrighty then.” A few more seconds of silence, then Applejack said, “I’m gonna miss you, Bhiza.” Bhiza blinked and looked at Applejack. “‘Miss’ me?” She made motions over her shoulder, like someone had shot an arrow at her but missed. “No! No, not like that. It’s, I’ll notice you’re gone. Thanks for walkin’ with me the past few days.” “Oh. That.” Bhiza laughed. “Then I will miss you also, Applejack. But I have showed-” “Shown.” “-you Gondwana. Maybe you can show I Equestria when I go.” Bhiza smiled and nudged Applejack in the ribs. “Because I will go sometime.” Applejack was sure she was bruising there, Bhiza had done that so often. As she rubbed her side, she said, “I can show you Ponyville, at least. I think you’ll like it. Ain’t too big, everypony’s real friendly-” “I am zebra. Zecora is zebra. They did not-” “They’ll be fine with you now. It’s just they hadn’t seen a zebra before then, so-” “I know. I am joking.” “Heh. Sorry.” “Do not worry.” Bhiza waved it off. “I am not good very with jokes.” “Me neither.” Applejack looked down at the pole strapped to Bhiza’s leg. When she was standing up straight, it would be horizontal with the ground and just a few inches above it. “Speakin’ of awkwardly changin’ the subject, what’s that?” “Helps throw spears,” Bhiza said. “Look.” She slapped her hoof to her side and came away with the device holding a spear. She held it up for Applejack to examine. The spear was clamped in some kind of mechanism right near the hoof, and the not-pointy end — which, Applejack noticed, was slightly concave — was nestled on the end, on a sort of narrow hook. The concave portion of the spear was sitting right on the tip of the hook. “You throw it like this.” Bhiza stood up on her rear legs and brought her spear leg back behind her shoulder. She bounced on her rear hooves for a second, then swung her leg forward while at the same time jumping forward and down, collapsing back onto all fours. Before Applejack could ask, Bhiza was talking again. “But you need to… release, I think… release spear.” She held up her hoof for Applejack to see again. Keeping her leg straight, she bent her hoof at the ankle. The action turned a series of gears, which caused the clamps holding the spear to open up and release it. The spear fell away to the ground; Bhiza quickly retrieved it. “Do it right,” Bhiza said, “and…” She made the throwing motion again, this time releasing the spear, and wow did it fly far. Applejack quickly lost sight of it in the morning gloom. Applejack whistled. “Dang. That’s somethin’, all right.” “And I am not good very at it. You should see masters.” Bhiza looked around at the Serembarti and said, “I am sorry, but I have to keep guarding. Do not distract I for…” She tapped her hoof on the ground a few times. “Five minutes.” “Alright. Sorry.” Bhiza nodded and walked to the other side of the small tower. With not much else to do (and not much desire to do much else), Applejack slowly sidled over to Zecora, who was still balancing on her head, eyes closed. Applejack sat there for a few moments, staring at the eastern sky, then looked down at Zecora. “You sure are good at balancin’.” Zecora opened one eye and smiled at Applejack. “This position utterly reverses blood flow, which takes the mind to where it does not often go. I think much better when I’m like this. But it is taxing, I will admit.” “Heh.” Applejack started scanning the horizon again. “Y’know, it’s strange. I’ve known you for, what, three years now? And I still barely know anythin’ about you. I mean, y’all came across somethin’ like five thousand miles of ocean all by your lonesome, and I ain’t never asked you ‘bout that.” She looked down at Zecora. “Seriously. How come I never brought it up?” In spite of being upside-down, Zecora managed to shrug. “A detail that is very small may never come to mind at all. You knew what I had to do, but did not think it fully through. You knew I came from far away, but never thought about the days I spent while sailing on the sea; it wasn’t important between you and me.” Zecora lowered her hooves to the ground and stood up in one smooth motion. “It was never all that vital to know why I was not idle. My past never mattered, so you never asked why I would go.” “I guess.” Applejack looked back to the horizon. “Kinda storied out at the moment, now, from last night. Maybe later.” She raised her nose and sniffed; the air was sweet and rich, filled with strange scents that were almost but not quite like the ones back home. Zecora laughed softly. “You’re very strange, Applejack, to go on a course and then pull back.” “Yeah, well, that’s the way it works.” Shaking her head and chuckling, Zecora headed back to her tent and left Applejack sitting there at about the same time Bhiza completed her circuit. Dropping onto her rump, Bhiza asked, “You see something?” “Not really. Just that.” Applejack pointed out a large bird she’d seen coming at them, large enough to carry a pony. It seemed to be glowing slightly, but irregularly, like a candle that kept getting blown out and relit. Bhiza nodded. “Ah. Impundulu. We use they for ma-” “I know. Livingstone told me ‘bout them way back in town.” Applejack left out that she’d forgotten the name. The impundulu was coming straight at them, growing larger by the second. Applejack could just barely make out the shape of the rider on its back between wingbeats. “Strange that we can see it.” Bhiza started frowning, just a little. “They often fly more high.” “Anythin’ wrong with that?” “Maybe. This low, th-” Then, just as it passed over them, the impundulu changed directions and dove straight down. “Away!” yelled Bhiza. She shoved Applejack and rolled in the opposite direction. At the same time, barely any distance above the ground, the impundulu suddenly pulled up hard, flapping its wings toward the ground. Lightning zapped down to the spot the two of them had just been at and thunder boomed. Applejack, already unsteady, was knocked over by the shockwave and her ears rang. The impundulu and its rider flew low and fast over the camp, peeling away to prepare for another pass. “I good!” called Bhiza as she slowly stood up. “You good?” “I’m fine! I’m good!” Applejack responded. She shook her head to clear it; she got her hooves under her, but the thunder was still ringing in her ears. “What in the hay was that?” “Impundulu,” panted Bhiza. “Brings lightning.” Slightly unsteady, she trotted up to Applejack and began looking her over. “Are you hurt? A-” “I’m fine,” Applejack said again. “Listen, we gotta-” “Nini kutomba kinachoendelea?!” The thunder had woken up the other zebras; you couldn’t ignore something that loud. But, roused from sleep, most of them were groggy at best, still crawling slowly out of their tents. Except for Idube, who was up, out, right next to Applejack and Bhiza, and screaming her lungs out. “Kwa nini kutomba ni sisi kuvamiwa na impundulu?” she bellowed, pointing a shaking hoof at the approaching impundulu. Then she whirled on Bhiza. “Na kwa nini si mikuki yenu kustahajabu nje? Sasa!” Without missing a beat, she was among the other zebras, yelling, occasionally clouting, them into wakefulness. Not a moment too soon. The impundulu swooped low over the camp, releasing a wall of lightning bolts in its wake. Applejack and Bhiza both dropped to the ground, hooves over their heads. The impundulu didn’t seem to be aiming for anything, just trying to create confusion, but it still ignited two of the tents (both thankfully empty), and a line of grass was smouldering dangerously. Idube was everywhere at once, directing zebras to do this or that. “What’re we gonna do?” Applejack asked as she shakily stood up. “How’re we gonna…” “Spears,” snarled Bhiza. She slapped her hoof to her side and loaded another spear into her thrower. She bounced up and down on her hooftips, waiting for the impundulu to come back around. “You cannot throw spears. Find another thing to do.” Blunt, but true. Unfortunately, with getting ready to throw spears being pretty much the only thing the zebras were doing, Applejack couldn’t think of anything to d- Zecora. She’d had the paralytic to stop the nyokakubwa. Maybe she could make something for the impundulu. Applejack bolted for Zecora’s tent. Or what was left of it. The last round of lightning had knocked it over, and now it was a limp mess of canvas vaguely supported by its poles. Zecora herself was out in front, with last night’s cooking pot suspended over a small fire made from some of the smouldering grass. She had a scrap of canvas in her mouth and was frantically waving it, trying to make the fire higher. “Listen,” panted Applejack as she trotted up, “you look like you know what you’re doin’, so is there anythin’ I can do to he-” Zecora shoved the sheet into Applejack’s face. “Fan the fire,” she hissed. “Make it higher.” And she ducked into the remains of her tent without another word. Applejack froze for a moment, then started fanning the fire, giving it more air. If Zecora could stop the impundulu, then she’d do whatever it took. She kept glancing over her shoulder, trying to spot the impundulu, but she couldn’t see anything. As she fanned, the flames grew slowly but steadily. Zecora exited her tent with several plants Applejack couldn’t identify and a wooden spoon. She dropped one of the herbs into the pot — which, Applejack noticed, had a bit of water in the bottom — and began stirring. By now, the water was beginning to simmer. Applejack set the canvas aside just long enough to ask, “So how long is this gonna take?” “Not too long, I’m happy to say,” Zecora said around the spoon, “although I ca-” “Chini! Down!” bellowed Idube. The impundulu was swooping in again. Applejack and Zecora threw themselves to the ground as it approached. But right before it came over the camp, the zebras released a barrage of spears right on it. The impundulu squawked and pulled up with awkward wingbeats, the lightning crackling harmlessly into the air, and broke away. A small cheer went up from the zebras for their brief victory; even though none of them had hit, the attack was enough to force the impundulu to circle the camp as the rider thought. Zecora worked feverishly, but luckily, the impundulu did not attack again. Finally, when the potion was bubbling green and the fumes were making Applejack’s world tilt back and forth, Zecora vanished into her tent again and returned with a large glass vial with a string tied around it. Abruptly, the impundulu turned in the air and beelined for the camp again. “It’s comin’ back!” whispered Applejack. “Hurry!” The zebras readied their spears as Zecora scooped a dose of potion into the vial. The impundulu approached as she stoppered it. But just as she started swinging it around with the string, the zebras hurled their spears and the impundulu pulled up to avoid them. But just as Applejack began to calm, the impundulu turned its speed into a loop, coming back on the camp before the zebras could reload their spears back into their throwers. “It’s still comin’!” Applejack yelled, jumping up and down. “It’s-” Zecora released the string, giving it a little extra oomph with a deft flick of the head. The vial arced through the air, glinting in the early dawn light- -and missed by a mile. The rider must’ve had some sharp eyes, for the impundulu barrel-rolled out of the way of the vial without missing a wingbeat. The rider’s eyes must’ve not been that sharp, for the impundulu’s barrel roll took it straight into the path of a spear thrown by a zebra who was fast on the reload. The spear sank into the impundulu’s side, and the bird shrieked in pain. Its flight slowed, and all attempts to fly straight were listed to one side. The zebras who’d reloaded seized the opportunity, and several more spears impaled the impundulu before it passed out of their range. It shrieked again. Unable to support its weight, the impundulu nose-dived to the ground and slammed into the Serembarti, plowing a trench into the grasslands. When it finally came to a halt, it didn’t do much more than twitch and caw painfully at the sky. The sound was so pitiful it made Applejack’s skin crawl. Zecora blinked and swallowed. “Although… that was not my intent, our attacker did relent.” Her voice was almost shaking. Even before Applejack could digest the event, Idube had selected several zebras at random and was waving them down to the impundulu. Bhiza was among them, and only had time to give Applejack a quick wave before she and the others left the kopje and started heading for the impundulu. Applejack waved back, even though Bhiza wouldn’t see it, and turned her attention to Zecora. “You alright?” Zecora gave Applejack a look. “I was far from all the bird’s flights. Why would I not be quite alright?” “Sorry,” Applejack said, “it’s just… look at this.” She waved a hoof over the camp. It was in complete disarray; several tents had been knocked down, one even burned a little, and all their supplies had been scattered about, when they weren’t simply destroyed. Two zebras looked like they weren’t well enough to stand, but all the rest were cleaning up what they could. “Anyway, we better go help them.” Zecora was assigned to medical work, and Idube pulled Applejack over to help fix one of the carts. “The axle has been damaged,” she said. “How, I don’t know. We have replacements, but actually doing the replacing will be tricky.” It was easy to see that the indicated cart was broken; the back was sagging and one of the wheels was tilted. Much to Applejack’s chagrin, her help amounted to crawling under the cart and supporting its rear with her back to lift those wheels from the ground. Not that she couldn’t do it; it was just that she’d hoped for more than just, “Hold this.” As Idube pulled the broken axle out, Applejack asked, “So, you don’t know who that was, do you? What they’re doin’ out here?” “I do not know,” Idube sighed. She began rummaging in a box of cart parts. “Bandits are not unheard of, but they usually do not have iimpundulu.” She flipped an extra axle out and slammed the box shut. “They looked like they were aimin’ for us,” Applejack observed. “Of course; we are the only targets for miles. There is no one else to aim for.” Idube began pushing the new axle into place. Her work slowed for a moment. “But maybe they were looking for you. An impundulu-riding bandit who just happens upon the one party in the Serembarti with a pony? Coincidences happen, but this is a bit much.” Applejack almost dropped the cart in shock. “Me? Why me?” Idube shrugged. “You are a diplomat. There must be someone who wants to kill you, regardless of who you are.” Then she frowned. “I do not know how they would have found us, though. The Serembarti is a big place.” She paused, shrugged again, and continued working on the axle. “If… if they were…” Applejack murmured, “y’all wouldn’t just… leave m-” But Idube just laughed. “Ha! As if I would abandon you simply because some zebras want to kill you. We are so close to Kulikulu, it would be foolish to give up now. And I have been through much worse, besides.” After the wheel was back on the cart, Idube let Applejack take a quick break to relieve the strain; earth pony strength or not, that was an awkward position to be holding a cart in. As luck would have it, Bhiza and the other zebras were returning from their trip to the impundulu. Bhiza looked haunted, and her steps were slow and heavy. “What happened?” Applejack asked. Bhiza’s answer was slow in coming. “We had to kill impundulu. Too hurt to save.” “Dang. I’m sorry.” “And… and rider…” It almost looked like Bhiza was ready to throw up. Applejack thought about being on the impundulu when it smashed through the plains like it did. Her heart briefly caught in her throat. “Dead, and I don’t wanna know the bloody details?” “Yes. I mean, no. I mean, you are right.” Bhiza shuddered and shook her head. “It… It was…” “Hey, look, you’re okay,” Applejack said, patting her on the shoulder. “I mean, it ain’t great what happened to them, but you are just fine. That’s all that matters right now, right? You’ll get over it.” “I hope.” But Bhiza was staring at the ground. Desperate to get Bhiza out of her funk, Applejack blindly reached out for another topic, and came up with- “Anythin’ else out there?” Bhiza blinked, shook her head, and coughed. “We searched their supplies, and-” “Did y’all find anythin’ tellin’ who they might’ve been?” “No. But we did find this.” Bhiza reached into one of her saddlebags and pulled out a small glass sphere, maybe two inches in diameter. Applejack was surprised it’d withstood the crash. “It has-” Bhiza suddenly stopped talking and stared at the sphere. She looked at Applejack with a scrunched face, a mixture of surprise and confusion. She looked at the sphere, at Applejack. “Why’re you lookin’ at me like that?” Applejack kneaded the earth beneath her hooves. One last time, Bhiza looked down at the sphere, then at Applejack. “Do not move.” She began walking a circle around Applejack, constantly staring at the sphere. Applejack wanted to turn to follow her, but decided “do not move” meant “do not move” and reluctantly stood her ground, not turning a degree. Bhiza completed her circuit, her eyes still locked on the sphere. Slowly, she said, “This points to you.” “What?” “There is light inside. It points to you. Look.” Bhiza held up the ball for Applejack to see better. It was a dark, almost black glass with a slightly chipped surface. Inside it pulsed a soft, thin beam of white light, pointing out from the center and straight at Applejack. “Huh.” Applejack leaned back and forth a few times; the light followed her. She walked a circle around Bhiza; the light followed her. “What d’you think’s goin’ on with it? Why’s it pointin’ at me?” “Does it seem like I know? This is magic. I do not know magic.” Bhiza stared at the sphere a few more seconds, then held it out to Applejack. “Touch it.” “Touch it? Why? What if it does somethin’ funny?” “What can it do?” “I sure as hay don’t know. But it’s definitely magic, so… I dunno. It might do anythin’.” “I am touching it,” Bhiza said defensively. “Nothing has happened.” “It ain’t pointin’ at you.” “It is like compass, but you are north. What can it do?” “If it ain’t gonna do nothin’ when I touch it, why do you want me to touch it?” Bhiza made big eyes. “Pleeeaaase?” Applejack rolled her eyes, sighed, and lifted her hoof. But before she touched the sphere, she looked Bhiza in the eyes and said, “Anythin’ goes wrong, I’m blamin’ you.” “Yes.” Applejack took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and, with the hesitancy of somepony sticking their head into a beehive, delicately laid her hoof on the sphere. And then, all of a sudden, nothing happened. Applejack and Bhiza waited a few more seconds. Nothing continued to happen. They waited a few more seconds. Inaction persisted. Applejack withdrew her hoof, paused to be sure that nothing would keep happening, and snorted. “Well, that sure was a letdown.” Bhiza bounced the sphere on her hoof. “Hmm. How is it pointing at you? Did someone do something to you?” “Hey, I dunno,” Applejack said with a shrug. “I ain’t magic the same way Twilight is.” “Hmm,” Bhiza said again. “So you do not know what this is?” She dropped the sphere in a pocket, fished around a little, and pulled out a small, vaguely C-shaped strip of brass. On one end sat a small jewel, barely a centimeter across, that glowed softly with a slowly pulsing inner light. “Uh, no, not in the slightest.” Applejack took a closer look; everything was smooth, as if it’d been worn down from repeated contact with… something. “Where’d you find that?” “In their supplies. But for this-” Bhiza tapped the gem. “-it could be jewelry common. It goes around your ear.” “Your ear?” “Yes. Like this.” Bhiza slid the strip around her ear so the gem sat in her ear canal. “It was strange, and I kuma!” Applejack jumped as Bhiza suddenly started grabbing at her ear and threw the strip to the ground. Holding her ear in her hooves, Bhiza muttered, “Kutomba…” “You alright?” Applejack asked. “What happened?” “Unff,” groaned Bhiza. “Loud. Loud very. Ow.” Applejack frowned. Exactly how loud? She lowered her head next to the strip — probably a magical earpiece of some kind — and heard a second or so of very loud white noise before it suddenly stopped. “Dang. That is loud. And it just started all of a sudden? Nothin’ before it?” “Yes.” Bhiza thumped her head a few times. “I am good, I think. Just loud very.” She shook her head. “Ow.” “You’re sure you’re good?” “Yes. I can walk. For now, that is good.” “If you say so.” Applejack scooped up the earpiece. “Might as well keep this. That other one, too. Maybe Twilight’ll know what’s up with them. We are gettin’ there by tonight, right?” “Yes.” Bhiza took the earpiece and dropped it into the same pocket as the sphere. “Near evening, if all goes good.” Applejack looked over her shoulder at the furrow the crashing impundulu had left in the ground, at the carcass beyond, and snorted. “You’re temptin’ fate, y’know.” Bhiza gave a helpless I don’t know look and shrugged. “It went good this far.” “Yeah, well… C’mon, we can show those to Idube later. Right now, we gotta go help clean the camp up.”