Applejack at the Edge of the World

by MagicS

The Long Rest

“The good news is that all you have is the common cold. The bad news is that because it’s just the cold there’s nothing I can really do for you. You’ll just have to wait it out and fight through it,” Herbal Remedy said.

Applejack panted as she blinked a few times, just barely waking up now and looking into the face of Herbal Remedy as the apothecary stood over her. She had to look around for a moment before she remembered where she actually was and what had happened. Her eyes traveled down to her body, seeing she was covered in a wool blanket and lying on a couch in the apothecary’s living room, while her hoof rose to her forehead and felt a damp rag that had been placed there.

“How long… how long was I out?” Applejack asked.

“About a day. I’ve taken your temperature and given you some tea in the meantime, you’re already doing better,” Herbal Remedy smiled.

Applejack took another couple of slow and laboring breaths, looking down beside the couch she saw her saddlebag, but the duffle bag with the Icebane was gone. “And the Icebane?”

The smile on Herbal Remedy’s face widened slightly. “Always conscientious of strangers, aren’t you? No need to worry about that. I already did what needed to be done with it and started sending the medicine throughout the village. Alpine Climb and some others have helped to deliver it to the ponies and families in need. Thanks to you the flu should be passing by soon.”

“Good...” Applejack let her head fall back so she could rest it better, enjoying the cool and damp rag.

“With how much you brought back I’ll have some left over for next season as well. Hopefully things will pick up before then but lately I think we’ve all learned to be better safe than sorry,” Herbal said.

“Mhm,” Applejack noncommittally grunted, only half awake and still beat from the cold.

“I guess I should let you rest. I don’t even know what you went through up there to get all that Icebane...”

Applejack’s eyes opened just a sliver. “Rocs… they won’t… be a problem for you now either...”

“Huh?” Herbal Remedy looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Had to teach em a lesson… but they got the message in the end… they’ll be too scared to come attack… your village… anymore,” Applejack said.

There was a moment of silence in the living room as Herbal Remedy stared back at Applejack. It hung over the both of their heads like a raincloud. The apothecary was searching for any sort of lie or exaggeration in the words Applejack spoke. And it perplexed her even more when she realized that Applejack was speaking the truth.

“Just—who are you?” Herbal Remedy asked. “There’s no way you’re a normal traveler.”

Applejack chuckled despite the difficulty, sweating still. “I like to consider myself pretty normal, thank you very much.”

Herbal Remedy scratched her head. There was no way she could get rid of her curiosity that quickly, but right now Applejack was a patient and that took priority. “Well okay… you just get some rest. I think it’ll be another day or two before you can get ready to leave.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Applejack fully closed her eyes once more and tried to get some sleep.

Her breathing was steady along with the rise and fall of her chest and as Herbal Remedy watched, Applejack soon drifted off to sleep. The apothecary really had no idea what to make of this strange mare who had come in from nowhere. Who had thrown herself into danger for a bunch of strangers and then succeeded at far more than even the original impossible-sounding task. What a strange few days it had been.

---

Applejack’s sleep was marred by strange feverish dreams and her own coughing and overheating that led to her waking up half a dozen times in the middle of the night. She wished there was some kind of pill or medicine Herbal Remedy had that would knock her out cold but it either didn’t exist or the village was out just like with most of their medicine. So she spent her time either too hot or too cold while repeatedly throwing the blanket off her and then tugging it back on. Shivering and tossing and turning all night long.

By the time Applejack woke up for real and her mind was no longer a jumbled mess it was an entire new day. She felt closer to normal but still exhausted and a little hot, the cold was winding down but still inside her unfortunately. She was able to think clearly though and sit up on the couch without a wave of dizziness and heat overtaking her. So at least she could probably function today.

Herbal Remedy wasn’t nearby—the mare must be helping out some of the other sick villagers, Applejack didn’t feel her presence in the home at all. She wasn’t sure if she should just stay on the couch until the apothecary got back or get up. It’s not like she could treat herself to any food without her host’s permission. Knowing how things were around here, even if she was sick and Herbal Remedy would probably be fine with it, Applejack just couldn’t eat or drink anything from a home that was close to running out.

“May have gotten that Icebane but now I’m just being a big burden...” Applejack sighed and laid back against her pillow again. She took off the damp rag that had gotten too warm by now and tried to wipe down some of the sweat that had collected on her.

What time was it? There was no clock around that she could see, and no window right here either. She’d have to drag herself to the library to find those windows and see how much light there was outside to figure it out. She felt like it was the middle of the day but she wasn’t sure.

It took a couple more minutes for her mind to convince her body, but she soon threw the blanket off her completely and then rolled off the couch. Her body ached a bit and she had to just stand there panting for a little while before she managed to start moving. A slow trudge through the circular layout of the building eventually brought her to the familiar library and Applejack stood in front of its large windows again. Sunlight came in, bathing the whole room and herself. She groaned and pulled her hat low to block most of it out.

“Noon or so,” she mumbled.

After resting a bit and letting herself adjust some more she lifted her hat back up and peered out the window again.

There were ponies outside. A stark contrast since the first time she was here, there were actually ponies walking down the streets of Roc’s Nest. She could only see a few thanks to the layout of the village and how blocked off a lot of her view was but it was very unlike the ghost town she thought she had wandered into a few days ago. In fact she could even hear some voices coming up from the village outside. She wished she could go out there and talk with them, see how they were doing, hear about how Roc’s Nest was. And maybe get a little more knowledge of Al-Karamaretel if they knew anything. It might’ve been best for all of them though if Applejack just let them go about their day in peace now, they deserved it.

Just like she deserved a nice rest.

She was still feeling tired and a slight headache was thumping behind her eyes so Applejack turned away from the window and allowed herself to lean up against one of the big bookcases. “Deserved” a nice rest but maybe she didn’t actually want it to be that long. She wanted to get back out on her real mission. Wanted to finish things up out here and get home. Not get held up by a simple cold of all things. It was embarrassing and aggravating at the same time.

While Applejack shut her eyes and let herself rest in the library, Herbal Remedy soon returned home. She heard the door open and the mare walk in—only to come to a stop when she noticed that Applejack wasn’t on her couch.

“Applejack? Where did you go?” Herbal Remedy called out.

“In here—in the library,” Applejack managed to say, though not too loudly, back.

“You should’ve just stayed on the couch… anyways, if you’re feeling up to it you’ve got a visitor,” Herbal Remedy said, Applejack now able to hear her walking towards her.

“Visitor? What do you mean? It’s not Alpine Climb is it?” Applejack asked, blinking and trying to stand up straight all the way.

“Of course not, I wouldn’t want her here either,” Herbal said and walked into the room with a young colt in tow.

He was maybe Apple Bloom’s age, with a stone grey coat and a black mane that was grown out long enough to cover his eyes, right now it was parted to leave one blue one visible. He carried a small basket with him with a polka-dot cloth covering whatever was inside. Applejack didn’t exactly know what to make of him, and the colt just kind of fidgeted in place as she looked at him.

“Umm… hey there?” Applejack said and looked at Herbal Remedy.

“I didn’t exactly want him to come in since you were sick but his family insisted...” Herbal Remedy awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.

“His family?” Applejack was even more confused as she raised an eyebrow back at the colt now.

The little colt shyly nodded. “My parents and my brothers and sisters all caught the flu, I’ve been taking care of them since, but yesterday Miss Herbal Remedy came around with new medicine. When she told us where it came from my parents said we had to show our gratitude...” He took the cloth off the basket and showed it to Applejack.

Heat and steam came rising off of a basket full of freshly made bread rolls. Applejack’s mouth practically watered as the smell came with it, they looked to be dusted with a little bit of flour and maybe even a light drizzling of butter. Six of them just sitting right there for her. How much she wanted to just eat them all up right now…

“I-I can’t!” Applejack shook her head. “I can’t accept these, aint your whole village hurting for food right now?”

“Applejack, you need to accept them. It’s a gift. A reward. You have to let him give those to you,” Herbal Remedy said.

She looked between the apothecary and colt. The other mare had a slightly stern look on her face while the younger pony looked up expectantly at her. She understood how much of an insult it would be if she didn’t take the rolls—throwing their generosity back in their faces. As a mare who was big on hospitality herself she got it, and almost kicked herself for saying she couldn’t take them at first.

“Thank you, I understand.” Applejack took the basket of rolls from the colt. “Tell your parents their gift is much appreciated.”

“You’re welcome. We hope you have a good rest of your trip,” the colt said.

“That’s all then, you head out of here and get back home now, wouldn’t want to be catching her cold,” Herbal Remedy said.

“Thank you for letting me come, Miss Remedy,” the colt said to her and smiled at Applejack. “And thank you for helping all of us.”

“No problem...” Applejack weakly smiled as he turned and scampered off. She then shut her eyes for a moment to catch her breath and went back to leaning against the bookcase for support. “Dang cold till got me too tired.”

“Those rolls should help get you back in shape. You’re going to want to eat plenty to stay healthy,” Herbal Remedy said.

“I know. Figure I might save one or two for when I leave,” Applejack nodded.

“Well before that let’s get you back to the couch. You’ve at least got one more day of rest and we wouldn’t want you to have to take anymore just because you forced yourself to move around a whole bunch,” Herbal Remedy said and walked over to collect Applejack.

“Mmm...” Applejack murmured, feeling the other mare put a hoof around her and help her out of the library. In a minute she was back on the couch and Herbal had gone to re-dampen her rag like a good doctor looking over their patient. The cool rag felt good on her forehead once it was reapplied and Applejack removed her hat to get fully comfortable. Exhaustion was chiefly what she felt now—the headache, heat, and dizziness had mostly died down. A smile was kept on her face as she relaxed, laid back, and let herself fall asleep.

This time her sleep was uneventful and dreamless. The calm sleep of a mare at ease.

---

The lingering effects of the cold were still in her when she woke up again but now at least Applejack could mostly go about as normal. Her temperature had gone down and no longer did she feel so fuzzy and lethargic, her mind was back to where it should be. Only a sore throat, the remnants of a dying headache, a runny nose, and a few aches were still with her. She more or less considered herself completely cured and fully capable of travel.

Herbal Remedy didn’t exactly share her positive outlook.

“No. I know you’re not a villager and I’m not a real doctor, but you’re still a sick mare I’ve been taking care of. I’m not letting you leave until the cold is gone completely. It wouldn’t be right,” Herbal Remedy frowned at Applejack.

“I’m fine,” the stubborn Applejack frowned right back. “This aint nothing anymore, the cold’s gone and I’m fine.”

“You’re willing to potentially collapse on the road from here to Station Ponyware? It’s still a fair distance till you’ll find anypony else. There’s no reason for you to risk it, you’re being silly. Let your temperature go down all the way back to normal and then I won’t complain about you leaving.”

“I think I know my body a bit better than you. If I say I can make the trip without trouble then it’s the truth.”

“And I think I know illnesses better than you. It’s possible you could get worse if you leave and start doing all of that physical activity—pushing your body too hard while the cold is still in your system.”

Applejack winced—the argument had gone to a familiar place. “I… well… ugh! Fine! I’ll wait another dang day.”

“Was that so hard?” Herbal Remedy sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I’ve got business to take care of, and I don’t like imposing on you any longer than I already have,” Applejack mumbled.

“I understand but you don’t need to worry about it so much. And it will be better for you in the long run if you wait your cold out here.”

Applejack stood there for a moment, just thinking things over. “Honestly I get the feeling that no matter what I get up to in the meantime that I’ll end up at Elysium’s View right on time anyways.”

“Elysium’s View?” Herbal Remedy quizzically tilted her head before remembering. “Ah, that’s right, you’re not just going to Al-Karamaretel, you said you had business past it.”

“That’s right. You don’t recognize the name of the place I’m going to?” Applejack asked.

“I couldn’t tell you the name of anything west of the Citadel,” Herbal Remedy shrugged. “Maybe the ponies at Station Ponywares will know more since they get far more traffic from all over. And sorry but even the Citadel itself… I barely know anything. I’ve spent my whole life here in Roc’s nest, I’m not very well-traveled.”

“That’s alright, I didn’t really figure I’d learn much more about it here. Really though, hearing about what you’ve all been through and learning ponies are going through the same tough times all over, it’s still painting a pretty clear picture in my head,” Applejack said.

Herbal Remedy blinked. “Panting a picture...”

“Huh? What’s the matter?” Applejack asked.

“Well I just remembered that I have something...” Herbal Rememdy muttered before walking out of the living room and into the library.

Applejack followed right on her heels. “What in the hay are you talking about?”

“There’s a painting I have. Actually it was my mother’s, but it’s a painting of the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel. I may not be able to tell you about what’s going on there, but I can at least show you what to expect when you get there,” Herbal Remedy said as she looked through her bookcases. “Now I just need to remember where I actually put the painting.”

It took her a couple minutes of looking around, but Herbal Remedy finally pulled out a large folded up canvas from in-between a couple of books. “Aha!” She carried it over to her desk and opened up the painting so the both of them could look at it.

Sprawled out on the desk, the both of them took in the appearance of the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel. Partially at least. The painting turned out to be an old water coloring and thus not heavily detailed, but it still told Applejack more than she previously knew. It was painted from the perspective of a pony standing on a large hill, and there below and beyond it, past a wide open plain of dead yellow grass, was the Citadel. Large and painted almost completely with black, huge walls rose up from the plain to keep the Citadel itself and what looked like a claustrophobically dense miniature town protected inside its walls. A single huge gate was drawn in the middle of the walls at the end of a road coming down from the hill. The Citadel meanwhile was a gigantic and sprawling mostly rectangular building with circular towers at every corner and a spire shooting up from the center of it that must’ve been hundreds of feet tall if the rest of the buildings were to scale. Most of the Citadel was at the same level height but there were also protrusions in its roof that showed some areas of it went higher up. It was hard to tell how stylized it might’ve been in this painting but if it was anywhere close to the real thing then the Citadel was a pretty intimidating building.

And behind it, barely visible thanks to the perspective, Applejack saw the wide chasm that it guarded, and a bridge going off the page.

“Not exactly a place I’d look forward to going to,” Herbal Remedy said.

“Yeah. I kind of feel the same way,” Applejack nodded in agreement.

Comments

[RoboRed]

Geez, AJ. I get that you have a mission you want to get over with and a promise you made to help the ailing townsponies of Fire Vent, but the former doesn't really have a hard deadline and the later can wait a little longer. Gotta look after yourself too, y'know.

At least she's gotten a more decent victory in here with helping Roc's Nest. And some fresh food for her travels.

[redmar]

Aplejack's workaholic attitude and stubborness are really not doing her any favors. The Citadel gives the ipression of a fortress walled against intrsion by outsiders. Applejack will probably have a hard time getting in the Citadel.