Starting A Flame

by Star_Shade

Chapter [22] The City of Appleloosa

“I believe that only a few of us should enter Appleloosa,” began Commander Shining. Their company sat along the crest of a hill, with the city of Appleloosa below. “We do not need everypony to be there, and if too many of us are in the city at once, somepony might become suspicious. We will be making a few supply runs, but most of you must stay here. Moon Nettle and I will be looking for a buffalo tribe or caravan for us to join. We have plans and provisions to make it across the Appleloosian plains. The journey will probably be filled with many dangers. I will ask this once, and only once; is there anypony here who would like to opt out of this mission?”

When nopony answered, Moon Nettle stepped up to address them. “Since I have had the most experience with Appleloosa, I will explain a bit of their culture. They are very nomadic, and most of the ponies either live or trade with the traveling buffalo tribes. The average value of a bit is considerably lower here than anywhere else in Equestria, as they mainly trade in goods and services. Be careful with what you say, as information is another valuable currency here. For those that do enter the city, remain inconspicuous. Try to draw as little attention to yourself as possible. The less ponies that know that we are here, the better. That’s the best advice I can give.”

---

“Can I go, pleeeease!” begged Piper, quite excited at the prospect of seeing the city.

“I don’t know, it’s quite risky. I can’t just let you waltz in like you own the place. Don’t you recall how difficult it was for Applejack Moon to get you to safety the first time? The Lunar Empire may still be on the lookout for you, and I can’t risk endangering the company,” countered Shining, shaking his head.

“But I promise I will stay hidden! Maybe today is a good day to teach me how to be stealthy!” continued Piper.

“Uh-uh, don’t try and turn this into a lesson, that's my job,” quipped Shining. “And anyway, I have to meet with a tribe, remember? So you cannot come with me.”

“What if I went with a different pony? I am sure they could keep me safe,” offered Piper.

“Very well. But you must promise me that you will stay hidden at all costs. I suppose you could ride on somepony’s back under a hood,” said Shining, pausing for a moment to think. “How about this, I believe Arocez is in need to restock her supplies. You can go with her, but only if she consents.”

After asking Arocez, Piper jumped with jubilee at her agreement to take him. After calming down a little bit, he was allowed to lie flat on the zebra’s back as she entered the city. Being sprawled on the zebra’s back was not an easy task. Even underneath a hood, Piper tried and failed to find a comfortable position to lay. He immediately regretted his decision as he had to constantly shift around and do it slowly so that nopony would notice.. He was unable to see around him, catching only glimpses of light that came from the front of the hood.

“Quit moving so much, little one. I still have much to get done,” whispered Arocez as she made her way to another store.

“This is no fun, why can’t I just get my own hood? I promise I won’t wander,” mumbled Piper. Getting fed up with his complaining, Arocez stopped, branched off to an alleyway and crouched down, letting Piper off.

“Stay here, and I will come back for you later. Keep well-hidden, stay out of trouble and only be a spectator,” uttered Arocez as she left him.

“Thank you!” responded Piper as he watched her trot away. Clinging to the shadows of the alley, he observed the city before him. Piper spotted some cool ponies dressed in western clothing talking and walking around the market area. He let out a gasp, as a shaggy buffalo came into view. He tracked its movement as it made its way over to a flower stall. Bending down, it sniffed the merchandise, before talking with the shopkeeper.

Piper was surprised to find that he could sit for hours and watch the bustling city of Appleloosa and its occupants. Ponies came and went, with the occasional buffalo meandering around. He was currently observing a couple talking with each other. The stallion had gone and purchased a flower and had adequately placed the gift into his marefriends’s mane. The colt smiled as he watched the two embrace and move on.

Just as he was about to move on to another group, Piper quickly let out a gasp as three ponies made their way into the alleyway he was hiding in. “Hey, did you hear something?” came the gruff voice of a silver stallion leading the trio. He looked around the alleyway, skimming over the place that Piper was crouching in.

“Come on, Smoky, it's an alleyway… it was probably a mouse or something. I promise you, nopony knows we are here,” said another stallion as he came into view. “Now then, let’s get to business. Do you have the Moon Dust? All twenty caches?”

“Yeah yeah. Do you have the bits?” asked the same silver stallion. This is a drug deal! This is so cool, thought Piper as he stayed pressed against the wall.

“Of course. Three grand as I promised. Let me see the goods first,” responded the other stallion. Piper sneaked a peak, seeing the silver one facing the other two. The buyer had a much browner coat, with his compatriot ruffling her wings in agitation, and was nervously checking at the end of the backstreet. The silver unicorn produced a briefcase, flipping it open in the air with his magic.

“Let me see the bits now,” remarked the silver stallion as he placed the case down.

“Cinnamon, may I have the bits please?” asked the brown earth pony as he turned to the pegasus. Cinnamon’s eyes opened in fear, quickly patting down her body as she rushed to find the money. “Cinnamon…”

“Found it!” she called finally, procuring the bags with a jingle and tossing all three into the middle of the group. “Here ya go.”

“Perfect. It was good doing business with you, Smoky,” called the earth pony as he lifted up the briefcase.

“Likewise,” said Smoky as he examined the bags, weighing them with a hoof. The earth pony and pegasus left the alleyway, with Smoky staying behind. The unicorn quickly pocketed the bits, before eyeing the passageway again suspiciously. Shrugging, he peered out of the exit, checking both ways before crossing into the busy market. Piper let out a sigh, as he found himself holding his breath during most of the encounter. That was fun.

An hour later, Arocez came back for him. He quickly hopped back on, and the two made their way to the clearing their company presided in. Just before the zebra went off to her own tent, Piper had a question for her. “Arocez, what is Moon Dust?” he asked innocently.

---

After receiving a stern talking too about the use of illegal chemicals, Piper waited for the rest of the company to return.

He didn’t need to wait long, as both Commander Shining and Nettle were spotted coming towards the camp and talking with a buffalo. Shining immediately went up to speak with the colt. “I don’t trust them too much, so it's best if you make yourself scarce when we talk with the chieftain,” he said anxiously, taking a few glances back at the buffalo and Nettle. The two were idly chatting as they drew closer. “I will fill everypony in later for the exact details.” Shining shooed Piper off, as he returned to the two. And with that, Piper moved away, looking to see if he could talk with Dasher.

He found her sitting in her usual spot near the fire, talking with a unicorn he had seen before, after a quick thought, he remembered that her name was Ulla, and that she had been friends with Dasher for some time. Before he could look for somepony else to talk with, Dasher noticed him looking around and called him over to enjoy the fire.

“Sorry. I didn’t know if two would be okay if I joined you while you were talking,” said Piper politely.

“That's fine, Ulla was just saying that she believes most ponies are motivated by a fundamental desire to do good,” continued Dasher.

“Yeah. I think most ponies don’t want to be bad and just want to see the world be a better place. But sometimes they are forced to do bad stuff anyway,” added Ulla.

“Yet I think most ponies are driven by greed. Sure there are some that want to do good, but most only want to please themselves,” countered Dasher, reclining back. “From my experience, ponies just want power and money, not caring for others.”

“If you are always focusing on the bad and evil in the world, you’ll miss the good that ponies do, ” responded Ulla.

“Eh, I guess it’s up to each pony’s perspective. What do you think, Piper? What do you find motivates ponies?” asked Dasher.

“Uh… I don’t know,” mumbled Piper, surprised by the question. “I think you both are somewhat right.”

“Well, that doesn’t help,” muttered Ulla, rolling her eyes.

“No, I mean…” Piper took a moment to think. “I guess some ponies want to please others.” Like that nice stallion with his marefriend today. “While others see the world and only want to take advantage of it.” I wonder what that unicorn will do with the Moon Dust.

“And what do you think motivates you?” pondered Dasher absently.

“I…” Piper didn’t know. What am I motivated by? What is my goal that I want to achieve? he thought as his brain was stumped by the question.

“Piper,” nudged Dasher, bringing the colt out of the depth of his thinking.

“Huh?” he replied plainly.

“I asked you if you had fun today. Did you?” said Dasher, changing the subject.

“Oh yeah! It was a blast! I got to see the market and the western ponies and the buffalo…” Piper quickly went over the events of his time in the city of Appleloosa.

“Pfft, you shouldn’t have put yourself in danger like that during the drug deal. You could have gotten caught. I’ll have a word with that zebr-” lectured Ulla after Piper finished his account.

“That sounds awesome!” exclaimed Dasher, interrupting Ulla.

“Dasher, don’t encourage him! He could have gotten caught!” said Ulla, aghast. Dasher attempted to put on a bold face, before laughing. She secretly winked at Piper when Ulla wasn’t looking, approving his actions.

---

“Oh look, the chieftain is leaving,” noted Ulla, as the buffalo came into view before exiting the camp. A few minutes later, Commander Shining called for all of the camp to gather.

“Alright. We got lucky. A tribe of buffalos are resting relatively close to the town, and have offered us to join them in an expedition across the plains,” began Shining once the company had come together. “They have warned that the journey will be quite harsh and dangerous, but possible. Everything is being set in motion, as we prepare for our voyage. Any questions?”

“Uh yeah. Do we have enough resources for the trip?” “How long are we going to be traveling for?” “Has anypony seen my jacket?” inquired a few ponies.

“Yes, Nettle and I have gone over our assets and we believe we should be prepared for the crossing. The journey should take a week or two, but the tribe knows of a few shortcuts for us. That is all for tonight. We will be joining them the following morning,” finished Shining, nodding his head and dismissing them. He then walked over to Piper.

“I talked with the chieftain, and he said that having you along won’t be a problem. They have seen the hardship that Dawn Lighter and Nightmare Moon have inflicted on the ponies of Appleloosa and are no friends of the Empire,” said Shining, patting Piper on the back. “So everything should be good, and I won’t have to resort to plan B.”

“What was plan B?” wondered Piper.

“Oh, we were going to hide you in a flower barrel or something. Glad that's not happening,” remarked Shining passively. Piper hoped he was joking. “Anyway, I think you have stayed up late enough. You will need your rest for tomorrow’s journey.”

Author's Note:

This chapter was a lot of fun to write. Looks like my chapters are getting longer, which is somewhere I never would have thought I could get. Hope you enjoy!

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

[Star_Shade]

Thanks! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter.