The first thing to greet Mike in the morning was the lightly molded ceiling above him. He stared at it as the morning sun crept in through the window. He got off his bed, which was two old twin sized beds placed together, and looked out through his window at the rising sun. Below him was the loud, bustling slummish streets that the humans occupied in their new world. He always thought back to the first day in Equestria: waking up naked and afraid in the middle of a Canterlot Street, being part of thousands who arrived in the first 'rapture event'.

Even when stripped of the old world technology and thrown into a land of magic and talking horses, he found out that people still kept their old habits, hence the 'human slums' of lower Canterlot. He couldn't blame the ponies: he wouldn't trust a race of aggressive, thieving bunch. Still, even with their faults, they managed to make a living out in the magical world. With the exception of a few, many took work as maids, butlers, landscapers, and general menial jobs for the upper crust of the Canterlot elite, which angered the blue collar ponies already struggling for work, so, even more, resentment was piled on. Every morning was a crowded herd of hundreds of people marching to the trolleys, to begin their day of scraping money to feed, clothe, and shelter their new families.

For the skilled workers, they managed to make a somewhat better life for themselves, like doctors, lawyers, merchants, and chiefs. They usually had shops and stalls on the ground floor of the slums and kept the economy of the slums thriving.

As for Mike, he opened a small private investigation business, seeing how he wasn't the right species for the royal guard when he first applied. With it, he helped many and made enough to continue to do what he knew best.

He wasn't alone.

He had an apprentice for his trade, who in fact woke awoke him with the smells of what she was making in the kitchen.

He got up, and walked out of his room and straight to the small, run down like kitchen. Although a young tween at the age of thirteen, Danisha "Danni" Whiley was already a budding investigator herself, earning the tools and knowledge of the trade through her hard work and study under mike.

“morn's’,” she said with her urban twang.

“Good morning” Mike raised his voice, reminding his apprentice of the “proper” way to speak.

“'s the same thing,” Danni said in annoyance as she set the plate of food. Even if he didn't have it all in that strange new world, he was at least successful and grateful enough that he was able to afford the most luxury of food for humans: red meat.

The meat came from naturally deceased cows, seeing how the ponies didn't want to slaughter and them being able to talk scared off even the most experienced butchers.

With their quick argument still on his mind, he smiled and playfully ran his finger through her coarse, nappy, hair.

“Who we got today? Danni asked, ready to continue her flip on the other side of the law compared to her pickpocketing days in Los Angeles.

“Copper Bit, we are finally going to have him confront his daughter. Good work finding where she is hiding by the way.”

"It's nothin, poor fools always think I'm part of their cleaning staff!” Danni gloated as she played with her scrambled eggs.

***

They both went to their rooms to get ready. For Mike, he had his "funny cowboy clothes" as Danni would call it. His brown slacks were the first ones on, then his holster. He took his tan long sleeve as he looked at the morning over the slum, preparing himself for that day. After that came the matching brown vest. His boots came next, then came time for the mirror. His wild rag tie was the same color as his slacks and vest, which took almost a year to get the materials for. Not because of the lack of cash but not many ponies wanted to do business with the human tailors, including the textile sellers.

The next thing was his revolver. It was plain, it was crude, and it was not as accurate as the ones back home. Only a few gunsmiths were carried over, and all but one refused to bestow the knowledge of gun making, stating that the humans shouldn't know them to protect lives.

The one who did was old and died before passing on his full knowledge.

Guns were few and far between on who had them, and it was only logical that Mike had to have one in order to do his job. He loaded his revolver and had a few speed loaders and loose bullets in his breast pocket. In the same cabinet as his gun and ammo, was a small golden cross necklace that resembled the one his wife wore. He took one look at it and sighed, before closing the cabinet and leaving it there.

All he needed was his black bowler hat, and he was ready to go.

Danni was waiting for him in the office, which was the only way in and out of the house. A small room with two desks, and peeling wallpaper. She had a pair of tan knickerbockers and a gray hoodie

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yep! Let's go!"

They were not alone in the business/home setup. The many shops and stalls in the building were crowded with both families of business owners and shoppers alike. The small, white, hallway was crowded and was a struggle to move through. Danni took the lead, while Mike was right behind her, tipping his hat to his neighbors and looking out for trouble.

"You're not wearing the cross again, are you," Danni asked in the chaos

"No,"

"Why not, you said it looked like hers and you still loves her?" Danni replied.

"It's not the fact my wife wore something like it, but what the symbol is," he grunted.

"I get why you stopped believing, but you should wear it for your wife."

"You'll understand when you get older," Mike sighed

They took the stairs to the open streets, where the overcrowding was ever relevant. The cobblestone streets were packed with people walking to where they needed to go, not allowing carriage traffic to move through efficiently. They elected to take the main streets to the hotel, which was halfway across the human slums. Taking the alleys where the deplorable and the general filth of the human ghetto would reside, ready to mug any poor passerby who thought it would be easier to go cut across a city block.

"Hey Mike, there's a cafe 'cross the street from the hotel," Danni asked.

"We just had breakfast, child!" he snapped.

"I know, but some hot chocolate sounds good right now! And they make those lattes you like" she replied.

"Ah, the rare art of latte making. Alright, you win kid," he grinned.

Author's Note

I have a discord group for fans, and people who want to help edit. If you want to join the madness here is the link https://discord.gg/uAk5aAP