Applejack at the Edge of the World

by MagicS

Diamonds to Dust VII

Her hooves currently had her walking through a nice looking forest while the sun’s rays shined down on her without a single cloud in the sky to block them. Unlike the last forest she had walked through she hadn’t spotted any destroyed or abandoned villages down any side roads. It seemed to just be nature all around her and Applejack was more than fine with that. Even if there was nothing else in this forest and she was stuck here by the time night fell there were plenty of trees she could sleep under. The grass here was green and the ground much softer than the plains she had just been through.

She was even lucky enough to see quite a lot of wildlife while she walked too. Squirrels mostly, a lot of them skittering up and down the trees, but even quite a few birds too. Applejack spied a colorful robin nesting in one of the trees, sitting on its eggs no doubt. This was the calm kind of walk she needed. Where she could just see heartwarming nature and not have to think about nothing else. Easy on her hooves, easy on her mind.

A rabbit poked its head out of the grass from right off the road and briefly looked at Applejack before ducking its head back down and hiding.

A little further and Applejack saw a large beehive hanging from a tree branch, a swarm of bees buzzing around it and protecting their honey.

Things were nice at the moment. It’s a shame the forest had to end but it did so in just a few miles and Applejack came to a river that divided the forest in half. The river was much larger than any others she had seen in the country, large enough where the opposite shore was barely visible. That said it still flowed fairly gently.

There was also a decently sized island in the middle of the river. Applejack could see its sandy beaches from here—but most of the river island was taken up by a large castle. The huge stone structure almost went from end to end of the island, it looked far older in design than the castle she had seen back in the city she walked through. Maybe it was from an older age in the Kingdom of Diamonds? There was nothing stylish or pretty about it, just a castle made of gray stone with moss and vines crawling up its walls and a few towers looking like they were steadily falling to disrepair. It hadn’t been willfully destroyed but it looked like there was nopony to take care of it anymore.

She would be able to get a closer look at it soon enough—since the road through the forest led to a large stone bridge that spanned the river. She had to walk alongside the river’s edge for a bit but eventually the road turned and Applejack could begin walking across it. This bridge was also very old looking compared to the others she had seen in the kingdom, long, flat, and wide, it was made of the same kind of stone that the castle appeared to be made from. It was low to the water with only a small gap in the arches between the underside of the bridge and the surface of the water as well as pillars holding it up every fifty feet. There were cracks in the walkway of the bridge but they seemed like ordinary everyday cracks rather than something that actually looked dangerous.

Applejack shrugged, honestly she could swim across the river even if something bad happened to the bridge or it was broken further down. She just didn’t really want to have to.

Starting her walk on the bridge she mostly kept her eyes on the upcoming castle and island, just out of curiosity. The river didn’t offer much else to look at.

The island and thus the castle were situated practically directly in the middle of the river, Applejack wondered if in the old days it was for a defensive reason. Any pony up on the towers would have a commanding view of the river and the forests on either side of it. She didn’t exactly know much about warfare though. Not exactly a subject Equestria taught a lot or had a lot of history with.

When she was practically at the island she noticed that the side of the bridge facing it opened up and turned into a ramp that led right onto the island into the small amount of open space still available. There was a dirt path leading from the ramp that was actually flattened out and looked pretty well taken care of and it went right up to a small wooden building constructed directly in front of the castle. The building was definitely much newer than the castle, it looked modern, and it blocked off the castle’s own gate with a gateway of its own.

Applejack got what she was looking at immediately. This was a tourist spot.

This much more new building was some kind of admissions hub ponies had to go through first before they were let into the castle. No wonder it all looked the way it did. Ponies probably wanted to tour this castle just like ponies back in Equestria wanted to tour Canterlot Castle.

At least before the Kingdom of Diamonds went downhill. Applejack didn’t know how long this place was abandoned but she had to assume that soon enough the whole island would be overrun by weeds and the castle completely covered in vines and moss. Either way, she didn’t plan on stopping here. While it likely would’ve made a good place to sleep for the night it was still early in the day. Applejack had a lot more ground she wanted to cover, and she should be getting decently close to New Jasmine Leaf Town anyways.

Applejack patted her bag, happy with the amount of food she had in there and the water in her flask, and started walking the rest of the way down the bridge. Maybe Twilight or Rainbow Dash would’ve gone exploring the castle but she didn’t have any such urge.

The brief thought of them though… what were all of her friends up to right now? Hopefully none of them had been dragged into a solo friendship mission of their own. Applejack was hoping they were all having a good time, having fun, working at the school, just living their lives like normal. Maybe she could surprise them when she got back? But she should probably stop at Sweet Apple Acres and say hi to her family first. There’d be a lot of business to take care of back on the farm and Big Mac especially was probably wishing for a break already. And just getting to see Apple Bloom and Granny Smith’s faces would be nice, the thought of that alone warmed up Applejack’s heart. A nice reminder of what she had to look forward to and what she did all this for.

By the time she made it to the other side of the river it was still only about noon and Applejack was looking forward to enjoying the rest of this bright and sunny day on the road. She didn’t know how much longer this forest would go on but at least it would be a pleasant place to travel through. All in all this was looking to be a really nice day. She had a feeling in her gut that things would be better around here after meeting Pretty Petunia and Winter Moon. Just something she somehow knew about the Kingdom of Diamonds not being that bad to get through.

There had been warnings and rumors, but this was hardly a desolate wasteland. Ponies always exaggerated.

Or maybe her luck really had turned around that much and she was just traveling through the nicest remaining spots.

Applejack wouldn’t count on that possibility so much.

Comments

[RoboRed]

No AJ, don't tempt fate like that.

[redmar]

Applejack doesn't have that much luck. Besides Discord's warning is still relevant.