Applejack at the Edge of the World

by MagicS

Coming Down the Mountain

With two leftover rolls in her saddlebag, Applejack left Roc’s Nest behind early next morning.

There was only the slightest sore throat and stuffed up nose bothering her now.

Herbal Remedy was both happy to see her off and sad to see her go. Applejack felt much the same way. Roc’s Nest was a nice place when it was actually alive and the ponies had neither flu nor bird of prey to fear. Alpine Climb never showed her face again either—so that was a plus in Applejack’s book. In another situation she would’ve liked to have known more about the ponies who lived there, met more of them after they recovered from the flu. But she also really needed to get back on the road. The way to Elysium’s View was still a long one.

Whatever was waiting for her out there, and anywhere else, she still would’ve preferred getting back to Ponyville as quick as she could.

Applejack walked onto the road that left the western side of Roc’s Nest and went further into the mountains. Now about halfway to getting through them and making it to that supply station where caravans still traveled to. There was a feeling of relief running through her as she looked up at the sky and didn’t see a single bird.

Applejack considered herself a humble mare but even she felt herself welling up with pride as she left yet another place in far better condition than when she first arrived. It just felt dang good to help ponies and there was nothing wrong about that. She didn’t think what she did was anything special—just good manners with some kindness, generosity, and a small pinch of daring too.

“Now let’s hope I still keep meeting some more nice ponies out there,” Applejack smiled as she looked toward her inevitable arrival at Station Ponywares.

The smile left her face though the more she thought about things. “And let’s hope that not everywhere I pass through is as miserable thanks to Al-Karamaretel.”

She knew it was unlikely. By all logic, things would probably be worse the closer she got. Any towns she saw would likely be even more reliant on the Citadel and suffering worse now that it shut down travel and trade. But hopefully their citizens hadn’t turned to crime or gotten all sick either. Hopefully they were still kind to strangers and hadn’t forgotten the meaning of friendship. It might have been a tall order for out here, but Applejack wanted to be optimistic.

It would still be some time before she saw another real town, she knew that. The station was the first place she would see and she planned to reach it before sundown today. Which meant she couldn’t dawdle any longer and needed to make a good pace through the mountains. The knowledge she had some delicious rolls to eat whenever she became hungry kept her attitude pretty positive—it wasn’t at all like when she was walking to Roc’s Nest. One less thing to worry about and it allowed her to push herself hard. The rest of these mountains weren’t going to be any problem at all.

As she walked down the road and it slowly curved away from Roc’s Nest, Applejack looked over her shoulder at the small village.

The strange sight of it inside the mountain, with its multiple levels, chimneys now puffing out smoke, she gave it a wave goodbye before she completely lost sight of it. Depending on how things went with the rest of her friendship mission she might come right back through here and see it again. But if not, she wanted to remember what it looked like.

---

By noon she was walking down a canyon sandwiched between two cliffs tall enough where she could only see a small strip of the sky if she looked up. The road itself was still well maintained though since it was meant for plenty of ponies and wagons to travel down. It wasn’t just a simple mountain path or one of the dirt “roads” you’d find leading you to or from Ponyville. Every now and then she’d see a small trench or groove in the ground where ages ago an exceptionally heavy wagon had to have gone through. Before reaching the canyon there had also been ridges and cliffs with wooden railings hammered into the ground to keep ponies safe.

She wasn’t in the middle of nowhere, the road was definitely taking her in the right direction.

A map still might’ve been nice to have. A real map, not what she had gotten at Fire Vent.

“Shoot… should’ve asked for one back there. No way Herbal or somepony else didn’t have a map,” Applejack frowned. “Sorry Twilight, kind of forgot about all that stuff you wanted me to do, but I was busy. Promise at least when I’m on my way back to Ponyville after taking care of everything else that I’ll have more to show for it.”

It was going to be a long trip back and without the mission to Elysium’s View and whatever was going on at the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel hanging over her head she’d have more to devote to the things her friends wanted her to do. Course she still wanted to get back to Ponyville as quickly as possible once she could—probably wouldn’t be holding any big extended parties to make a bunch of friends like Pinkie wanted. Maybe one if she was feeling up for it.

“Heh,” Applejack smirked. Whenever her mind was on her friends it made traveling through here a little bit easier.

Less than an hour more of walking and Applejack had made it out of the canyon and came to a plateau that overlooked the western edge of the mountain range. She was at a high elevation, now looking down at the road as it winded its way down to the foothills and then the empty plains west of the mountains. No more tropical jungle or any sort of forest—instead it looked like she would be traveling through some arid badlands next.

It was actually difficult to see too much further though and Station Ponywares certainly wasn’t visible either. The sunlight matched the color of the landscape and the horizon became nothing more than a large, shimmering, glare. It might’ve actually been easier for her to see what was west much later in the evening.

Regardless, she needed to get a move on. No sense standing up here taking in the sights when she needed to get on down there in the first place. Decent enough place to look out from but that was all. Taking just a second to stretch her legs, she started the long walk downhill.

Perhaps it was because she was now out of the Roc’s territory but she started to see more other animals on her way down. There were squirrels skittering out of holes in the ground, running across the road, and birds that had made their nests in some of the few trees Applejack saw. She was pretty sure she saw a coyote watching her from the rocks at one point too. Didn’t worry her, no coyote would be foolish enough to try and cause any trouble for her. She might’ve even still carried the scent of the Rocs on her as well. That might’ve made some of the animals in the mountains curious but most probably would’ve been far too afraid to approach her.

Applejack suddenly coughed, the first time she really had since leaving the village. Something must have tickled her throat while she had been taking a breath. She couldn’t help that there was still that slight irritation left in her. But because her nose was all stuffed up too she had to breathe mostly through her mouth and that just made it worse. At least the actual cold and the real symptoms of it were gone, these were just the last dregs that took her body a little extra time to get rid of. Applejack had had colds in the past and even when they were over and done with sometimes her throat would still be a little sore or her nose runny for the next couple of days.

Either way she stopped where she was as the cough turned into a coughing fit, raising a hoof to her mouth to try and hold it in a little and not become a loud, hacking, mess.

Begrudgingly, she had to admit that maybe Herbal Remedy was right to keep her an extra day.

Applejack shook her head with a frown and carried on a minute after the coughing finally subsided. The steady declining slope of the road as it went between the mountains was easy enough to manage, especially for a mare in her shape. A few more hours passed by like that until she was definitively walking through the last line of mountains. She knew after she passed by these that she’d come out into the foothills and then finally be making her way through those dry plains.

And then to however far away it was to Station Ponywares. But she was getting there by tonight for certain.

“Don’t matter how many more hours it takes me to get there,” Applejack muttered.

The curve of the mountain in front of her gave away after a few more minutes of walking around it and Applejack emerged onto a straight stretch of the road that now went down to the arid plain. Nothing blocking her path. No more mountains. Just grassy hills and a single wide road going down them. The weather was good, hot but not humid like the jungle and Fire Vent had been.

On the side of the road, Applejack spotted another sign propped up right where the hills and mountains merged together. Strangely it was covered in red roses, the thorny plants growing up and around it while the flowers bloomed around its edges. She hadn’t seen any roses whatsoever in these mountains yet, maybe a pony had planted them specifically to draw attention to the sign? On the sign were two arrows, one pointing east and right above it was written “To Roc’s Nest”, and one pointing west where right above it was written “Station Ponywares”. A decent sign for once, that was pretty nice. If they had the amount of miles both places were away it would’ve been even better.

“Probably shouldn’t complain. Any sign that’s even remotely helpful for once is good in my book...” Applejack said.

She briefly took her hat off to wipe the sweat away from her brow before continuing on down the hill. At least the mountains were behind her. And now with any luck, the trip to the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel would be much smoother.

Comments

[RoboRed]

On the side of the road, Applejack spotted another sign propped up right where the hills and mountains merged together. Strangely it was covered in red roses, the thorny plants growing up and around it while the flowers bloomed around its edges. She hadn’t seen any roses whatsoever in these mountains yet, maybe a pony had planted them specifically to draw attention to the sign? On the sign were two arrows, one pointing east and right above it was written “To Roc’s Nest”, and one pointing west where right above it was written “Station Ponywares”. A decent sign for once, that was pretty nice. If they had the amount of miles both places were away it would’ve been even better.

...Oh.
I am suspecting the work of Cauliflower here.

Also, a quick reference back led me to something that Cauliflower mentioned regarding Al-Karamaretel. Something about it being made dreary and not fun thanks to "a certain someone". Off the bat I'm suspecting the higher powers. First guess goes to Harelquin Grey. He might not be around anymore but he definitely was at the time of that comment and it's possible his influence could still be lingering? Other guess could be Harlequin White but puppeteering a city doesn't seem quite like his style. Might even be someone else altogether.

[redmar]

The journey to Station Ponywares should go without trouble at least.