The first thing that Turner noticed was the smell of beer, whiskey, and cigar smoke that hung in the air like a thick fog. This was followed by the sounds of a barely busy road outside, but outside of where…? The young man let out a groan and sat up in the barely comfortable bed, looking around in hopes of getting his bearings. He was in a dark and dingy bedroom from the looks of it, beer bottles were scattered around and it looked like a tornado had come through and tossed the furniture. On second thought, he realized that he was in his apartment, but had simply gone on a celebratory bender the night before. The door to his bathroom was wide open, and Turner noticed that he seemed to not be wearing clothes. His pale skin completely exposed to the humid air, save for the parts of him covered by his blanket.

“What the fuck…?” Turner muttered to himself as he quickly found his boxers and pulled them on before getting out of bed. His head was absolutely throbbing, and his shoulder ached with a dull pain that seemed to be joined by a notable burning sensation. He looked around the room a bit more closely, gathering up his clothes and tossing them on the bed. He came upon the bedside table, which happened to be the only furniture piece that seemed undisturbed. Resting on its surface was his wallet, completely devoid of any cash that may have been in there. Thankfully his ID and other credentials were still there though. There was a note next to it, which seemed to offer an explanation as to where his money had gone. “Turner, guess you weren’t kidding when you said you were a wildman. Don’t worry, kid. We have your cash, just wanted to make sure you didn’t piss it away while you were drunk. Well, more than you already did...” He read aloud before trailing off and looked at the door to the room. “Son of a bitch… What happened last night?”

Turner left the note on the table and walked into the bathroom, examining himself in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot, his head was devoid of any of his usually thick black hair. It seemed that he had shaved his head completely in his drunken stupor, thankfully it seemed someone had managed to keep him from doing too much damage to himself. His new tattoo was fine as well… Wait. Tattoo?

“Fuck me... What the did I do?” Turner groaned as he looked at his shoulder, it was red and sore for a reason, he’d gotten a tattoo. It depicted a Sheriff’s Badge. It all started to come back to him when he set his eyes on that image though. He recalled the day before, he had finally been made a deputy for the County. Turner had been freelancing with the Sheriff for the past couple years, helping track lost campers and other things like that. He had parlayed that work into something a bit more meaningful. After all, Evergreen County was small and understaffed. The man quietly sighed and opened his medicine cabinet, then withdrew a couple painkillers to ease his throbbing head. With those downed he splashed some water on his face and went about his morning routine. A shower, shave, and a quick bowl of cereal later he was getting dressed.

He pinned his new badge to the beige colored uniform shirt, adjusted his pressed brown paints, and laced up his shined combat boots. His shoulder still stung, but the ibuprofen was doing its job well enough that he could ignore it. With his clothes in order, Turner made his way through the rest of the apartment to his front door, he pulled it inwards and stepped outside. The newly minted deputy raised a hand over his eyes as the bright sun greeted him, hissing in pain he closed the door and locked it before quietly descending a set of steps.

The Apartment complex was small, it only had around four units, though two were vacant. It was made of an adobe like material, much like the rest of the small town of Silver Lake, Equestria. In its heyday, Silver Lake had been a boom town of silver mines, but in recent years it had become merely a simple stop over for the rail line on it’s way to the northern parts of the country. Turner had come to Equestria a couple years prior, it had been a bit of local news, but hadn’t gone further than the Silver Lake Tribune. As far as he knew he was the only Human in the entire world, and how he’d come to that world was a mystery to him. Still, the residents of Silver Lake were good people, ponies, whatever…

They had taken him in with open arms, give him purpose and direction, helped him navigate the intense feelings that came from being separated from losing contact with his entire civilization. Now, that wasn’t to say it was a seamless transition, but it had been a heck of a lot better than going it alone.

Turner stopped as he reached the bottom of the steps and took in a deep breath, sighing to himself as he smelled the crisp spring air. Parked a couple feet away was an ‘95 Ford F-250, the same truck he’d been driving when he had ended up in this crazy pony world. They’d put some magic spell on it that made it ‘Everlasting’, which technically wasn’t true, it just wouldn’t run out of gas for a long time or break down as often… Considering how much gas it went through though, that was a godsend. It had a fresh paint job, a white coat with a forest green stripe running along the side, the golden logo of the Evergreen County Sheriff’s Department depicted on the door.

The man looked around at the surrounding landscape, the land was flat near town. Very arid grass and dry soil stretched for miles before reaching rolling hills that were covered in trees. Turner climbed into the truck with a slight grunt before turning the key, the engine rumbled to life and echoed throughout the town in the early morning light. He put the truck in drive and rolled down the window before driving away from the apartment complex, his commute to work lasted a grand total of ten minutes. He rolled past the various buildings on mainstreet, many of whom were boarded up. When he reached the end of said street he pulled up in front of a small adobe structure with a wood covered front porch, an old wooden sign depicting the word ‘Sheriff’ hung on a post from a pair of rusted old chains.

The truck’s engine switched off with the turn of the key, it was followed by Turner opening the door and getting out. He kicked the front tire a couple times before closing the door and walking towards the Sheriff’s office. The town was starting to open up for business, shop windows were opening and the street was beginning to fill with ponies. When Turner entered the office he was greeted by the musty smell of old paper and coffee. There was a large cell off in the back of the one room structure. The front portion of it had three desks set up, two were decorated with commendations or desk toys. Turner’s desk lacked any personalization at the moment, but it had a writing pad, pens, and the other basic office essentials.

Seated at the desk closest to the front door was a gruff looking stallion, he wore a brown duster and a dark black stetson was pulled down over his eyes. This was Sheriff Long Wire, the toughest hombre in the county. He’d been Sheriff since before Turner had been born, and with good reason. His desk was adorned with a dozen of commendations from the Princesses, each a trophy for outlaws he’d caught trying to escape into his county. Long Wire was a gruff looking Earth Pony, to compensate for his lack of magic he had a very menacing looking Spellgun hanging on the wall behind his desk. His once pristine black coat was streaked with white and grey, and his intense blue eyes could virtually bore a hole into a person.

“Mornin’, Sheriff.” Turner said with a nod, walking towards his desk. Long Wire quietly lifted his hat and looked over at the young man, those intense eyes were something Turner was still getting used to.

“Mornin’...” Was his simple response, he quietly cleared his throat and watched as Turner sat at his desk. There was an envelope sitting on it which, upon closer inspection, contained the cash from Turner’s wallet. “Considerin’ today’s your first day, I want to get you started on something simple.”

“Alright, Sheriff, what’s on the agenda?” Turner asked, Long Wire hummed for a moment before looking to his own desk and leafing through a couple papers he had laid out ahead of him. The stallion rose from his seat with a light grunt and made his way over to Turner’s desk, then placed the files down in front of him.

“Station duty at first, make sure all that cargo is on the manifest, checking tickets, that sort of stuff.” The stallion’s voice carried the cadence of an experienced lawman, scratchy and rough as the desert sand itself. He tapped the folders in front of Turner, prompting the young man to look at them. “After that, I want you to head on up to check on these folks, they ain’t come into town recently and their mail’s been piling up.” Turner nodded as he opened the first file and looked at a picture that accompanied it. “I’d recommend getting a cup of coffee real quick, first train’s supposed to be here within the hour, and you’re gonna be busy.”

The young man nodded and stood from his desk, which was fine, he hadn’t gotten comfortable yet. Turner took the Sheriff’s advice and drank a quick cup of coffee before grabbing his radio and spellgun from the equipment locker which was back behind the Sheriff’s desk. With the radio and gun on his belt Turner looked and felt like a real Deputy, he said a quick goodbye to the Sheriff as he walked out the front door and went back to his truck. The rumble of the engine returned to the more active town, and Turner pulled out of the parking space and back onto the main street. He drove past a couple of the locals, as well as some tourists who seemed surprised by the vehicle, which he didn’t fault them for. After all, it wasn’t like trucks were a common thing in Equestria.

Turner parked next to the train station and sat back in his seat, looking out the window at the rail line that seemed to stretch forever north and south. The sweet embrace of the air conditioner made it far more bearable to sit and wait for that first train. Occasionally Turner would hear his radio buzz with some chatter, but nothing that stood out as more than mundane. The rumble of the engine, the breeze from the air conditioner, they were almost as soothing as the sound of waves crashing on a shore. The man began to lose himself in his thoughts, his mind wandering to all the possible dangers he could face in this job… He’d had these thoughts hundreds of times, and no matter how hard he tried to stop them he couldn’t. He knew the risks were astronomical in a town like Silver Lake, but no matter how much he consciously knew he was safe his brain refused to believe him.

Turner was pulled from these thoughts as the piercing wail of a steam whistle echoed in the distance, the Deputy looked the North before looking at his watch. The Canterlot Courier… Right on time, as usual. Turner turned off the truck and got out, quietly walking towards the station platform as the train pulled closer and closer. The ‘platform’ was barely that, it was more accurately around fifty wooden railway ties that had been pounded into the dirt. A large water tower sat at the edge of the platform, and a small adobe structure acted as the station house. Several benches were set up outside of it, a couple occupied by the few passengers that had stayed over the night before. They seemed a little uncertain as they saw Turner walking on the platform, but the fact he was wearing a Sheriff’s Deputy uniform eased their fears.

The train’s brakes squealed while the engine blew its whistle, the odd looking train was nothing like the normal Canterlot Courier. It was flashy, and almost looked like it belonged in some royal secret railway or something… Then again, Turner didn’t know much about life outside of Silver Lake, he’d never gone beyond the edge of the County. Still the normal train wasn’t painted white, nor did it have flags mounted to the front, and it normally had freight cars instead of passenger cars. The Deputy had the bright idea of taking his radio from his belt and bringing it to his mouth.

“Uh, Sheriff? We were expecting the Canterlot Courier first, right?” He asked, narrowing his eyes as the train finally came to a stop. He could see into the windows of the cars, there were ponies looking out at him with surprise.

”Yeah, why?” Long Wire replied over the radio.

“The train that just pulled in ain’t the Courier, it’s all… White and flashy. It’s got passenger cars, and flags on the engine.” Turner said as he walked towards the front of the train, steam hissed from the pistons and valves, billowing in large crowds. “Service number on the engine is.. Seven… Two seven… Nine. That on the manifest for today?”

”Negative, nothing like that on the manifest. Wait there… Make sure it don’t leave. I’ll be along.” Long Wire ordered, Turner nodded and put the radio back on his belt as he walked towards the engine and looked at the engineer that had been operating it, a unicorn with oddly pristine white fur.

“Hey! Sir?” Turner shouted, the stallion turned to look at him. “Sheriff’s Department. Need you to step on out of there.” The Unicorn was about to say something, but the glint of the badge on Turner’s uniform drew his attention. He realized that the odd bipedal creature was serious, and so he left the engine. “Step on over here for me, sir.” The man gestured to an area away from the engine. In the meantime, Turner could see ponies unloading what looked like sacks of mail from the rear train car as well as what looked like luggage of varying type.

“What seems to be the problem, Officer?” Asked the engineer with a raised eyebrow, Turner quietly pointed at the Service Number painted on the side of the engine. “Oh, right… Uh, we haven’t been stopped before.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re on the level here, sir, and maybe we just had a mix up in paperwork… But we take stuff like this very serious.” Turner replied, adjusting his uniform. Standing in the sun was proving to be irritating to his shoulder, but he ignored it for the moment as he was busy. He watched as the pieces of luggage were being set aside closer to the station house. “Mind getting me a list of the ponies on board?”

“Uh, there aren’t a heck of a lot. Three, actually… The other’s are staff.” The Engineer stated, gesturing to the third car. Turner looked at the car in question, then looked back at Engineer. “I’ll, uh… I’ll get that list.” The man nodded and watched as the Engineer walked over to the train, he climbed up inside for a moment before disappearing inside, after a couple minutes he reappeared via teleporting in front of Turner with the list in tow. Turner took it from his magical suspension and looked it over, humming to himself. There were only three names on the passenger list, nine on the staff list. Oddly enough, Silver Lake was listed as their final destination, which was the first time in a long time someone had willingly wanted to come and stay in the town for more than a day or so. Of course, he couldn’t read any of it, as it was in the Pony’s language, but he’d memorized enough manifest layouts and he knew enough to know how Silver Lake was written in the native language. “Let’s see… Rarity Belle… Applejack Apple… aaand Starlight Glimmer…” The engineer read aloud.

Turner seemed unfazed as he heard the name. The Engineer seemed surprise that there wasn’t more reaction to the names, but he didn’t say anything.

“Three ponies, why so many bags?” Turner asked suspiciously, looking at the bags that had been unloaded so far. “Also, why the flashy train?”

“One of them was insistent that we take so many, and as to your second question, the train is privately owned by the Princesses… Most rail lines don’t list Silver Lake as an actual destination, so the Princesses sent us. Those three are here on some sort of ‘Important Friendship Mission’ or something.” The Engineer said, he seemed a little annoyed by the fact that many of the train’s crew as being forced to carry that much luggage for one pony, but at least once the train was under way it wouldn’t be their problem.

“Turner!” Long Wire’s voice echoed from near the station house, both the Engineer and the Deputy turned to look at the stallion as he trotted over. “I see why you called, never seen a train like that in these parts before…”

“Apparently it’s owned by the Princesses, sir. They’re dropping off three ponies.” Turner replied, he handed the Sheriff the list that the Engineer had given him. The stallion hummed to himself as he read over the names before looking up at Turner.

“I’ve gotta fill out some forms and put in a call to the next station down the line… Go verify these are the only ponies getting off here…” Long Wire said with a sigh, he looked at the Engineer. “If they check out my Deputy’ll give you a signal and you can be on your way.” The Engineer nodded and began walking back towards the engine while Turner started towards the Passenger cars. “Turner!” The man looked over his shoulder. “Likely aren’t used to a fella like you, and with folks like these, who knows what they’ll do. Just keep a cool head, yeah?”

“Ten four, Sheriff!” Turner said with a slight grin, he wiped some sweat from his forehead as he turned back towards the passenger car. The last of the bags were being carried off and placed with the others, prompting the man to shake his head quietly. He stepped up onto the passenger car and made his way to the door, then opened the door and poked his head in to identify himself. “Sheriff’s Depart-” There was a shriek of surprise and a box of tissues hit his head. “-ment…”

Within the car were three mares who were looking at him with varying degrees of surprise, the weird pinkish colored one had her horn still glowing while the white one and the orange one were looking at her with raised eyebrows. Turner stepped into full view of them, his expression was rather neutral at this point as he looked them over. The white one had a purple mane in a weird coife… Looked rather gaudy, but hey, he wasn’t the Fashion Police. She also looked soft like a marshmallow. The Orange one was her polar opposite, blonde mane tied back in a smart and functional ponytail. Muscled as hell, and wearing a brown cowboy hat on her head. The purple-ish one had the weirdest mane colors, a weird blend of purples and a light greenish blue.

“You done, ma’am?” Turner asked, adjusting his uniform once again and clearing his throat. The Purple-ish one’s horn stopped glowing. “I’m Deputy Turner, Sheriff sent me over to double check you’re all the only ones getting off. Your names, please.”

“Sorry about our friend there, Deputy. You’re dramatic timing is just spot on… Were discussing some possibly huge and scary monster...” The Orange one said, looking over at the Purple-ish one briefly. Turner looked at them with a flat expression before shrugging to himself. “I’m Applejack, this here’s Rarity, and that’s Starlight Glimmer.” Turner nodded as the mare gesture to her friends as she spoke their names.

“Alright then… If you could disembark, we need the track clear.” Turner said with a hum, the mares nodded and walked past him, they filed out of the passenger car with him following behind. Meanwhile the staff of the train were already back onboard and waiting to go. Once Turner was a couple feet from the train he waved his hands a couple times to get the Engineer’s attention, afterward he gave him the signal to move on out. The train’s whistle sounded loudly before it lurched forwards and began to pull out of the station. It didn’t take long for it to start chugging along, and within around thirty seconds it was well on its way. Turner took his radio from his belt and brought it to his mouth once again.

“Yeah, Sheriff, train’s on its way.” He stated, the Sheriff responded with a quick ‘Roger that.’ before Turner put the radio back. Turner let out a sigh and looked at the three mares, Miss Apple and Miss Glimmer had their bags ready but Miss Belle was surveying her many bags for damage. When she determined they were fine she lifted them with her magic and blew a bit of her mane out from her face. Things were done, so Turner started walking back to his truck to wait for the next train. He began whistling to himself as he wiped some sweat from his brow, passing by the mares without much of a second glance.

”Hey, Turner.” A new voice sounded from the radio, Turner took the radio from his belt as he continued walking. He recognized it as a mare’s voice, belonging to Deputy Buckeye, another one of the Sheriff’s Deputies.

“Go for Turner.” The man stated while he walked down the steps towards his truck.

”What’s yer twenty?” The mare asked, Turner paused and looked around.

“Still at the train station, waiting on the next one to come in.” Turner replied, the radio went quiet for a moment as Turner opened the door to his truck and climbed in. He quickly turned on the engine and, by extension, the A/C.

”Turner, got a new job for you, Buckeye’s gonna take over at the station.” Long Wire’s voice cut in on the radio. ”You know those mares that just got dropped off? They came in on the wire as VIPs, seems they’re supposed to be going out into the basin. Can’t fathom why anyone would want to head out there, but regardless, I want you to escort ‘em… You know how the ponies out there aren’t too keen on outsiders.” Turner let out a sigh and quietly brought the radio to his mouth.

“Ten-four, Sheriff. I still got eyes on ‘em, looks like they’re heading towards the Inn.” Turner said, putting the truck into reverse and backing out of where he’d parked. He watched quietly as the three mares made their way into the Inn, parking in the street and waiting. They were in there for a little more half an hour, maybe forty minutes, before they came back out without their bags. Turner pulled up alongside them and hit a switch on his dashboard, prompting a sort of buzzing noise to echo from the truck, which got their attention. Miss Apple approached the truck as Turner rolled down the window. “You’re heading to Horseshoe Basin, right?” She nodded. “Sheriff wants me to escort you, some not too neighborly folks out there.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure we can handle ourselves, Darling. We’ve handled far worse!” Miss Belle spoke up, Turner switched his attention to her.

“That may be, Ma’am, but if the Sheriff says I’m to escort ya, then I’m gonna escort ya.” Turner said, looking at the group. “Besides, you’ll get where you’re going way faster with me than by hoofin’ it.”

“Look, Girls… We have got no idea what we’re going into here, how often do we end up with some support other than ourselves?” Miss Glimmer spoke up, Miss Belle and Miss Apple hummed at that before looking back at the truck.

“Alright, Deputy, let’s get goin’.” Miss Apple said, she started making her way to the side of the truck and began to climb into the bed.

“Ma’am, can’t ride in back. I got some stuff back there.” Turner said quickly, looking back in the bed of the truck. There were several large plastic jugs of water, an empty gas can, various tools, and an empty soda can. The man leaned over and pushed open the passenger side door. “Hop on in.” The mares looked uncertain but climbed into the cab regardless, Ponies were small enough that they could fit on the normally three person bench seat. Applejack being closest to the door pulled it closed with a thud. “Alright, now I realize you guys normally don’t ride in things like this, so if any of you feel sick to your stomach let me know… I don’t feel like cleaning the upholstery again.”

“Got it.” Miss Glimmer replied, Turner put the truck in drive again and pulled away from the curb. “So what do you know about Horseshoe Basin? We were sent because there’s supposed to be a friendship problem there.”

“Well, that’s the place for it.” Turner said with a shrug, once they had reached the edge of town he gave the truck a little more gas as it began it’s long ride down a very old dirt road. “There’s a couple families out that way, mostly survivalists… Doomsday Preppers is what we used to call ‘em where I come from.”

“Doomsday Preppers?” Miss Belle asked, Turner nodded while turning up the Air Conditioner.

“People who prepare for Doomsday, Miss Belle.” He said matter of factly. “End of the world, Apocalypse, Ragnarok, whatever the hell you wanna call it. That sort of mentality isn’t really conducive to the best sort of interpersonal relationships… At least, in my opinion.”

“You don’t need to call her ‘Miss Belle’, you can call us by our first names, Deputy.” Starlight said, Turner let out a sigh and was quite glad that he didn’t have to remember last names, they were so very difficult to remember around here. “And there are really ponies like that out here?” Turner nodded. “Anyone else?”

“Couple Changeling ‘Holdouts’, though holding out from what I don’t know. Small Buffalo tribe is out there as well. Lately it’s been quiet though.” Turner said with a slight sigh, he looked at the three mares. “Those changelings are good people, and the town pretty much agrees to leave well enough alone. If you have any problems with ‘em, best to just keep them to yourself.” The truck started to go over more bumpy ground, jostling the mares inside as it kicked up a large cloud of sand and dust behind them. “Buffalo have their own tribal police, and they’re generally pretty good as well… But again, we’ve been hearing less and less from the Basin.”

“I see…” Rarity said, she quietly ignited her horn and lifted an old looking bit of jewelry from the floor, well she thought it was jewelry. It was a necklace like thing, with a lot of beads and a weird looking cross. Turner looked at it and lit up.

“Well, I’ll be… Found my rosary. Knew it was in here somewhere, but hadn’t had a chance to look.” He said, taking it from her and hanging it from the rearview mirror. “Was technically my Mom’s, but I guess it’s mine now.” The man let out a slight sigh, prompting the three mares to look at another. Eventually it was Applejack that decided to ask the million dollar question, one that they hadn’t been sure how to ask.

“Deputy Turner?” Applejack said, the man hummed in response. “Uh, don’t take this the wrong way, but… What are you doing out here?”

“Driving you guys.” He replied simply.

“That’s not what I mean, what’s someone like you doing way out here?” She said again, the man paused for a moment before mouthing a quick ‘Oooh’.

“Oh, I just showed up here about… Five or six years ago? Maybe seven?” Turner said simply, he patted the steering wheel of his truck. “Me, my truck, and the clothes on my back. People of Silver Lake took me in, and when you’re barely twenty one it has a way of making an impact on you, y’know?” He smiled faintly as he spoke, a look of nostalgia passing over his features. “Never really felt the need to leave, never knew how the world would see someone like me outside of Silver Lake.” Applejack and the others got a funny look on their faces, but a quick glance from Starlight got them to settle down.

“How long do you think it will take for us to get to the Basin? Not to be rude, but this vehicle of yours isn’t the most comfortable.” Rarity asked, Turner looked at her briefly before humming to himself in thought.

“Maybe about an hour, hour and a half? Normally longer if you go by coach.” He finally guessed, the man quietly looked at his speedometer, they were going around forty miles an hour at the moment. Going faster than that on this dirt road would’ve been asking for trouble, with all the bumps and rough patches, Turner would be lucky to not smack his head into the roof every couple seconds.

The mares descended into their own little conversation, Turner tuned them out and focused on the road ahead. Something about the wording of their questions had seemed off to him, though perhaps it was just a different regional dialect. Whatever the reason, he didn’t think there was much to worry about in that regard. Occasionally he’d catch snippets of the conversation, something about some map telling some princess that some people might be having some sort of friendship crisis… Or something like that. For Turner the reasons didn’t much matter, he had no real interest in what was going on outside Silver Lake.

The sun was high in the sky when the truck was brought to a stop at the edge of the Horseshoe Basin, looking down into the valley from the Western Ridge. The Eastern Ridge was visible around a couple miles across, and down in the valley between the two there were several homesteads and houses on either side of a moderately sized river, known locally as the Switchback River due to the occasionally odd turns that it made through the basin. Turner quickly looked around the area before driving down the road into the valley, the mares had quieted down and were now looking at the various homesteads. Some were farms, some were ranches, but all of them were well spread out. They were right to go with the Deputy, as otherwise they’d be out here for days just walking from one place to another.

“First stop is probably going to be the Haybale place, they’re the closest.” Turner said as he stopped at a crossroads and checked both ways. “Unless you’ve got a better idea of where you want to start looking for your ‘Friendship problem’?”

“Well, do you know who out here has been having the most trouble lately? Anyone seem more on edge than normal?” Asked Applejack as she too looked out the window at the crossroads, Turner hummed for a moment. Most of the ponies out here liked to be left alone, they only really came into town for supplies, but he’d overheard some things.

“Couple folks have been like that lately, from what I overheard it sounded like tensions between a couple families and the buffalo have gone up recently, though I don’t really know why…” Turner turned the wheel and started down the road towards the homes of the families he had mentioned. “Out here the ponies tend to take the law into their own hooves, been a sore spot with the Sheriff for as long as I’ve known him.”

The truck bounced a little more on the less traveled road, this area of the county was a little more green than others thanks to the river. It was, like the rest of the county, a beautiful place regardless of what color it was. The grass was taller, the soil richer, and the trees far thicker than in other parts of the area. Applejack seemed quite taken in by that, she could see some farmers out working their fields or doing other chores, it made her wonder none of the apples had ever settled out here. Starlight was equally curious, seeing the different regions of Equestria had become a little hobby of hers, the only one that didn’t seem affected was Rarity. The unicorn in question was simply trying to keep from bumping her horn against the roof of the truck with each hard bump the truck went over.

“Deputy Turner?” Applejack asked, the man hummed in reply. “You said you’ve never left the county before, right?” The man nodded again, though he was more focused on the drive. “Have you read any newspapers?”

“Nope, can’t read your language.” Turner said simply, the mare nodded to herself on that. “Why, something I should know?” Applejack was about to speak, but Rarity cut her off.

“No, Darling, it just explains why you don’t recognize us.” She said, adjusting her mane and once again blowing a bit of it out of her face. “We’re rather well known around the country, most ponies I’ve met have been rather open about their admiration.” The man gave her a slight nod before the truck hit a particularly big pothole that jostled the entire truck. “Could you take those a little slower?”

“I’ll try.” Turner replied, the truck leveled off on a more traveled bit of the road, and as such the bumps smoothed out a bit more. They drove through a small grove of trees, on the other side of which was a fork in the road that turned into a small path up to a small one story wooden house. The paint was chipping, a faded blue color that had sat in the sun for far too long, and the front porch looked like it was in need of a good repair. “That’s the Spots’ ranch, should be a good place to start looking.”

The man drove up the small path and stopped outside the house, putting the truck in park before turning off the engine. He opened his door and got out while the mares did the same, the four of them walked around to the side of the truck that was facing the house before the mares cautiously signaled the Deputy to go first. He nodded and slowly made his way towards the front porch, his boots moderately sinking into the soft soil below. He walked up the front steps loudly, hoping to give whoever was inside some warning, as startling the ponies in these parts was a good way to wind up getting shot at. Once he reached the door the man put one hand on his belt while he used the other to give a couple hard knocks.

“Sheriff’s department!” Turner called out afterwards, he stood there quietly waiting. The house was old enough that he could hear someone moving around inside, and he briefly caught a glimpse of someone peeking through the front window before making their way to the door. The sound of several locks being undone could be heard through the wood, until finally the door swung inward and an older looking mare stood in the doorframe. “Afternoon, Miss Spots.”

“Whatcha want?” The mare replied gruffly, she was a unicorn by the look of it, with white fur and grey spots, her mane was tied back in a bun. She adjusted a pair of glasses on her nose with her glasses before squinting and looking up at Turner a bit closer. “Oh, it’s you… Question still stands.”

“Got a couple folks sent here by the Princesses, looking for some ‘Friendship Problem’ or some such… Mind if they ask you a couple questions?” Turner replied, he stepped aside so that the mare could get a good look at the trio of ponies. After a couple moments she looked at Turner and shook her head.

“Don’t want no Princess’ investigators on my property...Ain’t you read the papers, boy? Where they go trouble’s sure ta follow.” Spots replied in a rather harsh tone, before Turner could get another word out she had closed the door rather firmly and was already locking it. The Deputy let out a small sigh, looking at his feet and shaking his head a couple times before he turned around and started back towards the truck.

“Best get used to that…” Turner said as he opened the passenger side door for the mares, they hopped in looking a little confused. “Don’t ask me why, but most folks around here aren’t to keen on the Princesses, or us government types in general… Honestly, reminds me a lot of where I grew up, though there people had more reason to hate the government.” Once the mares were inside he closed the door and patted the truck on the side before walking around to get in the driver’s seat.

“How’re we supposed to solve this friendship problem if no one will talk to us?” Applejack asked, rubbing her chin as Turner started the engine. Rarity and Starlight looked to one another with a bit of uncertainty before the latter spoke up.

“What if that IS the friendship problem? Maybe we’re supposed to be here to help these ponies reconcile with the outside world, it reminds me a little of my village.” Starlight looked briefly out the window at the house as Turner put the truck in gear and turned around to get back out onto the road. “This was just one pony, AJ, I’m sure others will be more receptive.”

Despite that bit of optimism, it turned out that just about every house they tried resulted in a similar response. They tried introducing themselves, they tried having Turner introduce them, they tried omitting that they’d been sent by the Princess at all. However in those cases it seemed they fell victim to their own success, as a good portion of the ponies they talked to recognized them from the newspapers. The hours passed, and slowly daylight began to fade into twilight. It was at this point that they decided to call it for the day, and the Deputy drove them back to town without incident. It was just around eight o’clock when the group returned, almost every shop was closed and there wasn’t a pony to be seen on the street.

Applejack opened the passenger door and got out first, allowing Starlight and Rarity to get out as well. The two of them said their ‘goodbyes’ and ‘thank yous’ before heading into the Inn, but to Turners surprised Applejack lingered. Her features dimly lit by the soft red neon light coming off the sign mounted to the front of the Inn that read ‘Vacancy’.

“Hey Deputy?” She said, Turner raised an eyebrow. “What you said earlier, about not leaving the county or reading the papers, was all that serious?”

“Yeah, why?” Turner asked.

“I was just curious.” Applejack said with a neutral tone, biting her lip as her eyes flicked back and forth for a second. Turner decided to ignore that for now, but it seemed she had an obvious tell. “You never once thought about going to a big city or announcing yourself to the world?”

“Nope, can’t say I did. I come from a place called Eustace, about fifty miles east of the Rocky Mountains, names of which are pretty self explanatory.” Turner explained rather casually as he leaned back in his seat. “Silver Lake’s pretty much a dead ringer for home, and the people here are just as friendly, never had much reason to leave. Besides, big cities make me nervous.” Turner raised an eyebrow at Applejack. “You’ve been asking a lot of questions about my travel habits, you got something in particular that you want to ask you best just come out and say it.”

“I don’t have any question like that for you.” The mare replied, she didn’t bite her lip this time, her eyes stayed steady. “I’m legitimately curious, haven’t quite run into someone like you before.” Turner let out a slight ‘Ah’. “Anyway, I’m gonna head in and hit the hay, you take care, Deputy. See ya tomorrow.”

The mare closed the door to the truck and gave a slight wave, with that Turner drove off towards his apartment. Afterwards it didn’t take long for him to check in on the radio and sign off of work for the night. After which he was able eat dinner and get ready for bed, tonight he didn’t have much of anything to drink as tomorrow he would need all his faculties about him… That didn’t mean the temptation wasn’t there, but he held himself back.

Night settled on the small town of Silver Lake like a blanket, the quiet chirp of crickets serenaded the residents as they slept in their homes, the stars shining brightly in a brilliant tapestry of light that stretched from horizon to horizon. Nearly every pony in town was sleeping, though there were a few exceptions. Across town in the creatively named ‘Inn’ the three out of town visitors were discussing the days events. They had more than a few dilemmas unfolding, and as they gathered on their beds for the evening they did what anyone with problems does, they talked.

“Do you think he knows?” Rarity asked, looking to Applejack who was looking out the window at the stars, with so little light pollution she could see practically all of them. The mare removed her stetson and placed it on a nearby nightstand. “He says he hasn’t left the county or read the papers, but do you think he’s telling the truth? How could no pony have told him?”

“Ah don’t think he does, sugarcube…” Applejack replied with a sigh as she sat on her bed and looked around the room. It was rather large for a hotel room, and decorated to make them feel right at home in the rustic setting, with three beds for them to choose from. “The question is, what do we do about him? Better question, how did no one that’s lived here or visited tell anyone?”

“As far as he knows he’s the only human in Equestria, and he’s made a good life for himself here despite that.” Starlight said as she too got into her bed. “Look, there’s at least three that we know of, and he makes four. Wouldn’t it be good to let him know he isn’t alone?” Rarity looked a tad skeptical, drawing the attention of her two companions.

“I don’t think we’ll have a choice in the matter either way, when we get back we have to tell Twilight and the others. It wouldn’t be fair to them not to.” Rarity said, leaning back on her bed and staring up at the ceiling. The wall paper pattern was getting under her skin, it was probably older than she was. She couldn’t get over how faded it looked, despite the other tasteful decor in the room. “For now, I just hope we can find out whatever the friendship problem is and go home, far away from this… quaint little backwater.”

“I got a good feeling about tomorrow, Rares… For now we should be getting our sleep.” Applejack concluded, the other’s nodded reluctantly and began to settle in for the night. The cool night breeze that wafted in from the window helped to ease them to sleep, but it was the sound of crickets and coyotes in the distance that sealed the deal and put them one hundred percent at ease. No matter what some ponies would say, the quiet nights on the frontier were truly unlike any other.

Author's Note

Well, here's the first chapter in what I hope will be another good long running story. I'm really jazzed to be back with you guys, getting back to what got me into writing in the first place... Cartoon horses. Sounds a little less impressive when I type it out...

Anyway, I appreciate you guys giving this a read, any feedback on this or the subsequent chapters is also very much appreciated!