Wagon's End

Wagon's End

Chapter 2

Rolling had told everyone how Lucky Strike had shot one of the ponies that tied him up. Understanding that they needed to know the danger Lucky explained that life in the frontier was different than they were accustomed to. He explained the group of bandits were questioning the boy about the mare folk, about the goods, and they were likely the kind that would shoot first and ne'er a care for it.

It was enough to keep them from packing up, and in truth that was his concern. Of course he didn't give a tinker's damn if they liked him. As the day began he took in the sights of the unoccupied buildings. Taking in what needed to be done he started with repairing the old boardwalk.

It was still sturdy, but the years had loosened some of the planks, and it would be far easier to sell the idea of someone living here if it were in repair. Repairing it took most of the morning, and by noon he was working on transplanting wild flowers into small makeshift flower boxes he had built for a few of the buildings.

Cloudy Tales watched as Lucky Strikes worked on the town itself. Like most pretty girls she had fallen into the trap of believing that all colts would trip over themselves to please her. Knowing that he honestly seemed to not give a care for her approval, and also knowing he obviously liked mares - it was something she discovered when she saw him study all of them the first time. His eyes lingered on her and her mother.

Still she observed as he worked hard, harder than anyone else, to bring Wagon's End to life. She moved toward him, half fluttering in the air, and landed as quietly behind him as possible. His actions had been to gather some reeds together, and she watched as he boiled them. He then began to use the blackish liquid to paint the signs.

"How did you learn to to do that?" She asked.

He gestured to the pot, "Buffalo ink. The Buffalo use it in decorating their pottery. A good many of the plants out here can be used for various things," he studied her for a moment, "There's even a few plants that work for basic medicine."

She looked at the various weeds growing, "It's likely we may have to learn about them. I'm not certain any pony will be out this way."

He motioned to the town around them.

"Ms Tales, I won't pretend that this isn't a risky venture. It is. This place is on the very frontier, and simply being here is risky," he smiled, "However, risk can lead to riches."

She shook her head. Her mane shaking loose.

"Perhaps, but it can also lead to ruin."

He nodded, “This is true, but that is the risk. Still, it is far more likely it will lead to riches than ruin. The town itself is seated near the very edge of Equestria itself. Ponies that are looking for wealth in the land will venture out this way,” he smiled, “And those that do may decide to make this place their home, or they may wish to venture further out, to obtain a place to mine for gems and crystals in high demand.”

He began working again, “Most of the wealth found out in the frontier isn’t in the ground itself, but rather it’s in the pockets of those wishing to make the big strike. Simply by being here we are most assuredly going to do well.”

She studied him as he continued to work. Doing little things that would make the township more presentable to those traveling through. Her own family was working hard, but the extent of it was merely on the blacksmith shop that her father was working on. Even though her father had brought his collection of tools there was far more left behind here. Their home, the home connected to the blacksmith’s shop, was fairly nice, and her mother was doing her best to turn it into a home.

Still she knew that while her family was working hard on their home, and their business, Lucky Strikes was working on the entire town. He was going out of his way making the town ready for more residents. She didn’t trust him, but growing up in an Earth Pony home she understood the value of hard work. She respected it, and there was some respect toward the stallion that was working harder than all of them.

The first few days consisted of mostly the same. Lucky Strikes continued to make the town more livable, more welcoming, and the two families he had brought into the township worked on their own businesses. While he shared the various wild vegetables growing he did notice that few of them wanted much to do with him. The blame, he believed, lay in the fact that they were from the more civilized parts of Equestria. They were used to everything being made safe for them by the royal guard.

Of course he understood, but he also knew that they needed to let that past life go if they wished to live and prosper out here. As he trotted down near the large wash he noticed how it would be easy to dam up the water. Making a sizable pool for livestock, and at the same time it would give water to much needed crops. He laughed, being raised by farmers had never left him. It was still as big of a part of him as anything else. It was actually a far bigger part of him than he wished for it to be.

Still he admitted that because of that part he understood hard work. It was with this understanding that he set upon creating the dam. It took far less time than he believed it would. Working throughout the day he finished by night, and he was greeted with the sight of the water collecting. Such a thing would only be considered more precious because of the area. He finished his work, walked into the town itself, and began to work inside of the saloon. He cleaned it, collecting the cards, set upon cleaning the various glasses, the bottles, and finally when it looked the part he took the ladder he had used for the sign on the bank and climbed onto the roof.

To his surprise much of it was still in decent condiction. The stove pipe had what appeared to be a birds nest, one of which he cleared out, while also managing to collect a few small eggs, and then he made his way back to the ground. He sat the eggs aside, moved outside, and found the large stone water trough to be full of water. He took a taste, and was rewarded with the taste of limestone water. Pure, clean, and perfect for making buffalo whiskey.

He took a barrel, filled it water, and watched as a dozen leaks appeared. He merely continued to fill it with water until the barrel swelled up, stopping the leaks, and at the same time holding what he wanted. He found one of the mares about to throw away a box of pears. Apparently they were going bad, be he asked for them, and traded a few scrub cabbages he had collected for some honey from her. Taking the pears back with him he diced them up, added the honey, and tossed both into the barrel. He then added some of the old chewing tobacco he had found in the saloon to the mix, and whittled off the top of a bar of soap in order to give the whiskey a head.

Afterwards he sat it to the side to let it ferment and become more potent. The following day saw the first set of visitors. It was a family of Unicorns with two Earth Pony fillies. They ended up purchasing supplies, getting a some work done to mining tools, but they didn’t act as if they wanted to stay. No, their eyes and desires were on the gryphon lands. Tales of the wealth waiting for them had long since convinced them.

As the days progressed more and more ponies, and some gryphons, happened upon their little community. Soon some made their home there. The tailor shop saw Gruff the Stoneclaw and his bride moving in. Gruff himself was an accomplished tailor, a bit of a rough personality, but Lucky Strikes enjoyed his frankness. The doctor’s office found a resident in Dr. Bawley Apple. The good doctor, and her husband, seemed to be the likeable sort.

With in the first month the entire town had collected decent people, although Cloudy Tales noticed something. It appeared that the mining town was short a certain kind of resident. There was no miners. They had a doctor, tailor, blacksmith, several shop keepers, a restaurant, and a bookstore/lending library, but there was no miners in a mining town. It struck her as odd.