Silver Lake

The roaming hills and mountains of Evergreen County were settling into the cooler months of the year, with the air consistently becoming more frigid it was only a matter of time until the first snowfall settled across the landscape. It had been nearly a month since Gwen and Thomas had returned to Canterlot, with Sam deciding to stay behind so that she could look at properties and spend some time getting used living with Turner. The Deputy in question was standing beneath a carriage lift wearing his heavy cloth jacket, his warmest pair of black cargo pants, three pairs of socks, and long johns. Above him was the truck, with Sam’s help he’d been able to afford a new transmission and a new driveshaft.

After a week of careful planning and reading every single word in the Owner’s Manual, he had finally felt confident enough to undertake the task of putting in a new transmission and a new driveshaft. The man had taken the vehicle to the local Coach Works to do the repair, as they were the only one with tools and equipment comparable to an automotive garage. Unfortunately they had to leave the garage door open to allow fumes to ventilate, which was why Turner was still freezing his ass off despite all the layers he wore.

Snow was blowing past the garage at alarming speed, there was nearly two feet already built up out there and it had only been two hours since the storm had settled in. The sunlight was dim, and visibility was only around two hundred feet if you were lucky. As Turner adjusted a couple nuts under the vehicle he found himself thinking about how he was going to get home if the vehicle didn’t run right. How was he going to clear the roads? It would take ponies weeks to dig their way out if what he’d seen over the past seven years was anything to go by. The man sighed as he finished tightening down the nuts and examined his handiwork, as far as he could tell everything was where it had to be. It had been a week of work by himself, but finally it seemed done.

To be on the safe side Turner decided to examine the entire underside of the truck, searching for anything else that might be wrong. He double checked the new shock absorbers that he’d also installed, again with Sam’s help. Fabricating the parts was the real issue, as there was no mass production of automobiles like his… At least as far as he knew. It posed another question to him though, one that he had been doing his best not to think about over the last couple years. The truck had just over five hundred thousand miles on it, the odds of it lasting another hundred thousand were pretty slim. Turner ran his hand along the side of the truck above him, feeling the smooth white paint beneath his gloved fingers.

”Unit Two, Dispatch.” The buzz of Buckeye’s voice over his radio caught his attention, prompting him to walk away from the truck to where he’d rested his equipment on a nearby table. ”Unit Two, Dispatch. Respond, please.”

“Unit Two.” Turner replied after picking up his radio, he leaned against the table while turning around to look back at his truck.

”Sheriff needs you to head over to the Train Station, apparently we’ve got an unexpected arrival.” Buckeye explained, Turner sighed and ran a hand over his head. ”Also, your girlfriend called. Told me to tell you that you’re out of milk.”

“A-Firm, Dispatch. Unit Two responding.” Turner said as he approached the lift controls, he made sure he cleared out any tools under it before he lowered the Ford from above. It touched down on the floor with ease, with new shocks it was sitting a little higher than before. He opened the driver’s side door and climbed in, his rifle was already in the gun rack and his hat rested in the seat beside him. “Please God… Please start.” Turner took his key from his jacket pocket and slipped it into the ignition, after a couple seconds he turned the key and saw the dashboard light up. After another second he turned the key, it took a couple seconds to turn over but eventually that same familiar rumbling filled his ears. “Okay, now… Please don’t blow up…”

The Deputy cautiously gripped the shift lever and hit the brakes, then slowly shifted it from reverse, to neutral, and finally into drive. It went as smooth as butter, easier than it had before in fact. With a final deep breath Turner took his foot off the brake, the truck slowly rolled forward without any sort of problem. Once it was off the lift he put it back in park and gripped the four wheel drive lever beside his right leg. He proceeded to pull the lever back into 4 High, prompting the yellow ‘4x4’ light to appear on his dash, then hopped out. He walked around to the front wheels and locked the hubs in position for four wheel drive. With that he got back in the truck and put his foot on the brake once more. As he wasn’t going to go fast he pulled the four wheel lever back further, putting it into 4 Low. He wouldn’t be able to go over thirty miles an hour, but in that snow who would want to?

With everything set Turner put the vehicle into drive once again and pulled out of the garage, the wind and snow buffeting against the outside. The Deputy rolled onto the main road, all four wheels driving the truck through the two feet of unplowed snow. In the interest of making sure he could be seen and therefore avoided by any pedestrians he flicked on the lightbars, red and blue light lit up the flying snow as the beast of a truck made its way to the train station. After seven minutes of arduous driving he finally arrived at the platform, pulling in beside it and parking. He left the lights flashing and got out, grabbing his hat from the seat beside him and putting it on. The shining badge on the front reflected some of the flashing lights as he closed the door and walked up the steps to the train station.

Someone had shoveled most of the area there thankfully, sitting on the tracks was a large steam locomotive which seemed to be hauling cargo rather than passengers. It was massively tall, and plumes of steam were forming quickly in the cold air. A bright headlight cut through the snow and fog ahead, the engine’s valves opening and closing almost sounded like a heartbeat. As Turner got closer he saw that the Sheriff was talking with the engineer and conductor beside the locomotive, both of whom looked rather nervous.

“What’s the story, Sheriff?” Turner called out over the wind as he walked closer, Long Wire adjusted his own long winter coat and gestured to the large train resting beside the platform.

“They blew past a red signal and somehow ended up on a track south when they’re supposed to be headed west.” Long Wire said with a bit of annoyance as he looked over at the large train. “Don’t ask me how they managed to get lost driving a train, I honestly can’t fathom it myself.” The Sheriff looked over to Turner and sighed. “I need you to check the cars for any unauthorized riders… All twenty of them.” The deputy let out a slight groan but nodded.

“Whatever you say, boss.” Turner rolled his neck and started making his way back to his truck, walking seventeen cars in two feet of snow in a blizzard was just asking for trouble. He climbed in the cab and drove up beside the train before hopping out and starting with the first car, a boxcar with a padlock on the door. Turner grabbed a maglight from under his seat, the powerful beam of light cut through the dark underbelly of the car and revealed there wasn’t anyone hiding under it.

He checked four cars, each locked and devoid of any unauthorized riders. Turner walked back to his truck and drove ahead to repeat the process, as he expected most of the cars were locked and secured. The last four cars were different, as Turner walked ahead of where he’d parked the truck he took note that a couple of the doors were unlocked, one was even slightly ajar. The Deputy approached the first car and lifted the latch before sliding it open and shining his light inside. There were several wooden crates marked ‘Farm Equipment’, as well as a couple sacks of seed. Nothing out of the ordinary. He shut the door and moved on to the next one, this one was similar though it was hauling what looked to be two tons of potatoes.

The third car had a lock, so he didn’t bother opening it but still checked underneath. That left one car, the car with it’s door slightly open. As Turner approached the door he couldn’t hide the sound of his boots crunching the snow made while he waded through two feet of the thick white snowbank. The freezing cold was starting to make his fingers go numb, prompting him to rub his hands together a couple times before he reached out and gripped the door. With a grunt he slid the door open the rest of the way, it was mostly empty from the look of it. Turner quietly pushed himself up into the boxcar and looked around, shining his flashlight on the few crates and barrels he saw within.

“Sheriff’s Department.” Turner announced aloud as he walked towards one end of the car and examined some of the crates, just in case someone was there. The crates were pretty much nondescript, made of wood and nailed together. It appeared, however, that they had been tampered with, as if someone had slid them out of place. He quietly turned and walked towards the other end of the car, his free hand now resting on his holstered sidearm. The Deputy flashed his light around the crates, they appeared like they’d been moved as well. On the floor near one of the crates was an odd purplish dust substance, it appeared to be spilling out from a slight hole that had been busted in the side of the crate when it was loaded.

“Hey, Sheriff?” Turner said as he took his radio from his belt and crouched down to get a good look at the dust more closely. “I’ve got a couple crates here in the last car, one of them’s busted slightly and there’s purple dust spilling out.”

”Is it glowing?” Long Wire replied, Turner paused for a second and turned off his maglight. The dust was emitting a soft purple glow as he observed it, which surprised him slightly. He flicked the light back on.

“Yeah, how’d you guess?” Turner asked in a surprised tone as he stood back up to his full height.

”Because I’ve seen stuff like this before. Wait there, Deputy. Make sure the car is empty, and no matter what you do, do not touch the dust.” Long Wire’s voice was more serious than Turner was used to, it really put into perspective just how important this dust must’ve been. The Deputy drew his side arm and flashed his light through the car, he even went as far as to make sure that no one was hiding on the ceiling with some sort of wall climbing spell.

Turner stood there, watching as night began to settle in, the wind of the blizzard began to grow even stronger while visibility continued to go down. The only source of light outside was the flashing lights of Turner’s parked truck, the wind whipped around inside the boxcar. Turner could see some of the purple dust blowing into the corner, but no matter how curious he was he didn’t go near it. Outside in the cold freezing night he couldn’t see anything, no stars, no hills, just snow and the abyss. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he quietly slipped his sidearm back into its holster and hopped down out of the car. He only went as far as his truck, keeping the open car in sight at all times. Pulling it closer to the car made him feel less exposed, and it afforded him the chance to grab his rifle.

There he stood, no more than a quarter mile from civilization, but in that night it might as well have been a thousand. He could hear wailing on the wind, like the souls of the damned calling out towards him. Nonetheless, he stood his ground and cocked the lever ten times. The tension in the air was immense, Turner hadn’t felt this unnerved even when he was facing down the killer that had come to be known as the Black Briar Butcher. There was something out there, he could sense it… Something was stalking him. Was it after him? Was it after what was in the car? Did it matter? His mind began to run wild, at the edge of his vision he could see movement. Was something pacing out there, watching him?

“Sheriff… Wherever you are, please hurry.” Turner said into his radio, only lowering his rifle for the brief moment it took him to speak. He expected a reply, or a chiding remark about being afraid of the dark. There was nothing... Nothing but garbled static. He couldn’t tell if it was the cold or fear that had him shaking, but whatever the reason he didn’t like it.

There was something about blizzards at night that unsettled him to a certain extent, not knowing what was lurking out there beyond the veil of mist and snow was like jet fuel to a mind so prone to running wild with fear of the unknown. However, as he stood there with his rifle at the ready he found his thoughts drifting somewhere else. The sound of the wind whipping around him faded as he thought about what he would be doing after this. Undoubtedly there would be some paperwork, but after that… He would need to go to the General Store, after all, Sam needed him to get milk.

They hadn’t had a chance to look at the houses on their list yet, both Turner and Sam had been busy with their various tasks around town, but they were going to get a chance to some time in the coming weeks, at least he hoped. As Turner stood there waist deep in what was now more like three feet of snow he reflected on just how much his life had changed in recent months, sometimes for the better, other times for the worse… But no matter what, Sam was there. The thought of sharing a house with her wasn’t so far fetched to him now.

Grunting along the side of the train drew his attention away from his thoughts and back to the task at hand, Turner looked and found that Sheriff Long Wire was trudging through what was to him neck deep snow. Despite that he didn’t seem to look annoyed, just determined.

“Alright… Show me the drugs.” Long Wire said, panting as he stopped in front of the boxcar and hoisted himself up. Turner raised an eyebrow but followed him, then gestured to the box where the dust was spilling out. “Damn… Good thing I had you check the cars out.”

“That’s a drug?” Turner asked, Long Wire nodded as he examined the shipping crate.

“Yup, Zebrican Night Terror. I haven’t seen any in my county for goin’ on ten years.” Long Wire replied before he looked at Turner. “I doubt the engineer and conductor are in on it, the rail line basically will rent a car to anyone that can afford it, and they don’t normally check the cargo beyond the manifest. From what I see, these were meant to be shipped to Las Pegasus.”

“I take it we ain’t gonna let them get there?” Turner asked, Long Wire looked up and simply nodded.

“Nope, we ain’t. Go back the truck up to the door and lower the tailgate. We’re impounding everything in this car.” The Sheriff ordered, Turner nodded and made his way out of the car. What followed was an hour and a half of both Long Wire and Turner loading the contraband crates into the back of the truck, taking statements, and eventually sealing the boxcar in question with crime scene tape. The next town down the line would be responsible for processing it, as they were the closest town with sufficient equipment for processing drug evidence. With the last crate loaded and the boxcar padlocked shut Turner and Long Wire drove back to the train station where the engineer and conductor were waiting.

Turner and the Sheriff parked in view of the locomotive, though Turner remained behind to guard the truck as Long Wire went to talk with the two train operators. He watched them chat for a minute before he got out of the truck and leaned against it. This was the first chance he’d had to see the locomotive up close, unlike the trains that normally came through Silverlake this was a big one. It reminded him of the old Union Pacific Big Boy model he’d had growing up, massive and imposing, a testament to engineering…

After a couple minutes the two crewmen climbed back into the engine, Turner could see the firepony that had been stoking the fire box lean out to look at them before he disappeared back inside the engine behind the steam. Long Wire meanwhile was walking back towards the truck, as he did so the bell at the front of the locomotive began to ring loudly across the vast dark landscape. If there was any engine that could handle the harsh conditions of winter, Turner figured it was that thing.

A loud, deep wail echoed from the whistle across the fields and hills for miles around. It blew several times as the train began to roll forward, it’s boiler echoing as smoke and steam billowed from the stacks. By the time Long Wire had reached the truck the train was pulling out of the station, it’s whistle continuing to blow in the distance as it drove off into the night. Turner climbed back in the truck and waited for Long Wire to join him, once the two of them were in the truck they made their way to the Sheriff’s Office to fill out the paperwork and secure the contraband until it could be safely transferred to Canterlot for testing and disposal.

Sam quietly sighed as she sat on the couch in the living room of Turner’s apartment. Two plates had been set out for dinner, but she’d eaten hours before. Turner’s meal was covered in foil and waiting for him, Sam had already washed her plate in the sink and put it away. The radio was on in the background, softly playing country music that sounded all the same. Sam had to admit, it had taken a little getting used to, but she would be able to listen to some different types of music when she moved her CD player and other belongings down from Canterlot. There was so much that she’d need to bring down, how she would do it was unknown… Likely by train.

She looked to the clock, it was nearly eight thirty and still no word from Turner. A while ago she’d heard the whistle of a train blowing from the station, louder than what she normally heard during the day or night. It was even audible over the gusting wind and storm, a storm which didn’t do anything but worry the woman more. She knew that Turner had expected to finish working on the truck that day, but what if he hadn’t? What if he’d had to walk home in the snow and ended up getting lost, or frost bitten, or worse. It was a worry that she wasn’t used to feeling, and not just from the storm.

Turner had told her many times that comparatively speaking, being a Deputy in Evergreen County was pretty safe. That didn’t stop her from worrying though, every time he put on his hat and badge, every time he walked out that door and gave her that same little grin… She couldn’t help but worry it was the last time. After twenty more minutes of sitting there she stood up and started pacing, usually it was Turner that couldn’t reign in his imagination but here she was thinking of every possible terrible thing that could've happened. Just as she was about to go get her coat to go looking there was the familiar sound of a key sliding into the front door.

Cold wind blew in from the outside as Turner pushed the door open, quickly getting inside before closing the door quickly. He was covered from head to toe in snow, in both hands he was holding various grocery bags, and as always his hat was resting on his head. As he stood there looking at Sam he could tell that she’d been worried, in hindsight he probably should’ve called…

“Hey, I’m sorry I’m late.” Turner said as he adjusted his grip on the bags in his arms, Sam looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she looked at the bags. “We had a big train come in unexpectedly, it somehow got lost. We also captured about two hundred kilos of Zebrican Night Terror… Some sort of drug.” Turner wiped his boots and walked towards the kitchen, quickly putting the bags on the counter before coming back into the living room. Sam was just looking at him quietly, crossing her arms and giving him a slightly annoyed expression. The man removed his hat and put it on the rack by the door before hanging up his jacket. He then took off his gloves and tucked them into his jacket pocket.

“You didn’t call…” Sam said simply as she looked at him, Turner nodded quietly as he put his hands on his hips and looked at the floor. “I was worried sick! I didn’t know if you’d gotten lost out there or something.” She pushed a bit of hair out of her face and looked off to the side, Turner quietly walked close and put a hand on her shoulder. She gasped slightly but didn’t pull away. “Your hands are cold…”

“Yeah, sorry…” Turner said, he looked at her apologetically. “And you’re right, I should’ve called. I’m sorry about that too.” Turner left one hand on her shoulder while his other hand went down and took hold of hers. “I been doin’ a lot of thinkin’ tonight.” Sam felt him begin to sway with her, in time with the music playing in the background. That was one of the ways he’d make things up to her, as it seemed the radio only ever played slow songs after dark. Whenever they’d be fighting, no matter how heated it became, he’d come and dance slowly with her.

“What about?” Sam asked as she reluctantly began to sway as well, none of the guys she’d ever dated before had even considered dancing with her unless there was club music blasting in the background. Granted, Turner was pretty bad when it came to slow dancing, or dancing in general, but it was the thought that counted. He gradually moved his hand down from her shoulder down to her waist and pulled her a little closer.

“You, me… Us.” Turner softly replied as the two swayed to the slow romantic song playing over the radio. “I came to the realization that I like this… Coming home and not being the only one living there.” Sam smiled faintly as she leaned a bit closer and rested her head against his while they continued to move in time with the soft melody. “So, I’m onboard… I’ve got a little money set aside, I can help with the down payment or whatever it is we end up doing in whichever house we end up living in.”

“You don’t need to do that, Turner… I’ve got more than enough.” Sam said with a slight giggle, Turner shook his head slowly as he closed his eyes.

“I know, but it’s going to be our home, right? I should contribute too.” Turner said softly, Sam quietly thought about it for a couple moments before she nodded her head and looked at him with a bit of a grin. Eight years ago when she first came to Equestria guys like him were at the top of her list of people to never spend time with. To her he would’ve been just some dumb redneck hick, and someone in law enforcement at that… Granted, her options were limited here in Equestria, but despite that the old hatreds that had brewed between Blue and Red, Left and Right, had long cooled over. She just couldn’t get over how odd it seemed, but she supposed as she got older her priorities changed.

“Do you think I’m old?” Sam asked aloud, Turner looked at her with a rather baffled expression, though he didn’t break his stride to his credit. “I mean… Is twenty eight old to you?”

“No.” Turner said quickly, though it was clear he wasn’t sure if he’d said the right thing. “I mean, I’m twenty seven… I think, kinda lost track, but I don’t consider myself old.” Sam smiled at him faintly and kissed him on the cheek.

“Good answer.” She whispered before putting her arms around his back as they continued to sway. After a couple moments she paused and looked at him. “Wait, what about the groceries?”

“Shoot.” Turner said as he briefly looked towards the kitchen. “I totally forgot, wait here…” Sam watched as the man in the Deputy’s uniform made his way into the kitchen. She looked at the radio for a moment before she sat down on the couch beside the lamp that illuminated the whole room. She listened as the man put the groceries away, but it dawned on her that she’d only asked for him to get milk.

“Paige! Honey?” Sam called out, there was a quick ‘Yeah?’ from the kitchen. “What all did you get at the store aside from milk?”

“Essentials and provisions, there projecting four to five feet of snow total, we might be snowed in for a couple days. Also a little something special.” Turner said, his voice muffled as he was leaning into the fridge and putting something away. Sam was a bit floored by the casualness he’d said that, so that was Gwen meant by knowing what she was getting into Five feet of snow in one night, how could anyone stand such a thing? After a couple minutes Turner returned from the kitchen with the plate of food that she’d set aside for him and sat on the couch beside her with it. He removed the foil and looked at the plate, from the looks of it it was… meatloaf? At one point it had been, at least. Maybe a meatloaf that had been used to reenter Earth’s atmosphere.

Quietly he used his fork to break off a piece of the loaf and put in in his mouth, he chewed a couple moments before swallowing, all while Sam was watching his reaction. After a couple seconds he started coughing and pounded on his chest a couple times.

“It’s g-great!” Turner said sheepishly, Sam just smiled and shook her head.

“No it’s not, it was like eating a charcoal briquette.” Sam admitted as she laughed and watched Turner quietly looking at the plate. “Look, I can handle some criticism, if we’re gonna live together we both need to be able to.”

“Okay… Yeah, that’s pretty bad.” Turner said between coughing fits, he stood up with the plate and made for the kitchen. “Good thing I stopped at Bubba Gum’s Diner on the way home, I wasn’t sure if you’d eaten or not so I got you that turkey wrap you like.”

“God, I love you!” Sam said loudly as she also stood up and followed him into the kitchen to get her meal. Turner had left it in the fridge as he was planning on saving the meals for lunch the next day if they didn’t eat them that night. Thankfully they got to them soon enough that they were still warm. Just as they were sitting down to eat the lights flickered, a couple seconds later the power went out. “Did you pay the bill?” Sam asked sarcastically.

“It’s the snow, must’ve busted one of the power lines.” Turner replied from the darkened side of the table. “I’ve heard of low light dining but this is ridiculous.” Sam giggled a little bit as she heard Turner get up and walk to the kitchen, followed by a thud. “Dammit… Stubbed my toe.” A couple minutes and some rummaging later she heard him come back and sit down, her eyes were adjusting to the dark enough she could see him as he set a couple tea candles on the table. He was also holding a book of matches, which he used to light the candles. “That’s better.”

The two of them quietly ate their meals, the silence that settled over them was comfortable, as they were both rather hungry and more focused on their food than idle chit chat. As usual Turner went for the cheeseburger while Sam had her turkey wrap, in around ten minutes each of them had finished…

“So… Drugs?” Sam asked, Turner paused before he nodded. “A lot of them? Were they going here?”

“Nah, Las Pegasus, the train got diverted on the wrong track because they ran a red light.” Turner leaned on the table, looking at Sam’s face as it was illuminated by the softly flickering candle light. “I dunno, I think there might be more to it…” Turner picked up the aluminum tin that his food had come in, as well as Sam’s, before he walked into the kitchen to get rid of them. Afterwards he came back and sat back down across from her, his eyes drawn to her features accentuated by the glow. “How was your day?”

“It was alright, I was just looking through some of the local papers at the jobs that might be open.” Sam said as she leaned on the table, her eyes drawn to Turner’s well groomed face. "I thought about maybe applying to work at the tailor’s shop, Pintuck I think her name is.” Turner nodded supportively, his expression was one of somewhat tiredness. “Though, maybe raising chickens and pigs would be good too…”

“You? Raising chickens and pigs?” Turner asked with surprise, Sam nodded quickly. “You never struck me as the ‘chicken and pig raising’ type.”

“Well, I never thought I was either… It’s just an idea, I’m not dead set on doing that.” Sam shrugged, the two of the lapsed into another comfortable silence with just the wind blowing outside to fill the void.

“You know, no matter what you do, as long as it makes you happy you go ahead and be the best damn pig and chicken farmer you can be.” Turner spoke after a couple minutes, a slight smile. His eyes glanced over to the nearby wall clock, barely illuminated by the glow of the candles. “Shoot, it’s nine already?” Sam looked over and hummed her own surprise. “Guess we should turn in.”

“We don’t have to… Not right away, at least. If you catch my meaning.” Sam replied with a smirk, twirling her hair slightly as she looked at Turner across the table. The man looked at her with a bit of a surprised expression, there was excitement… But it was followed by a bit of apprehension.

“Hey, I would love to… But…” Turner quietly looked off to the side. “What about the risk? They don’t make condoms designed for humans and I know they don’t have a pill that works with humans…” It was a discussion they had had a couple times in the past, and Sam could see his point. She also knew there were two other solutions to that problem which he hadn’t perhaps thought of. At least he was confident enough to talk about it with her like an actual adult instead of dancing around the issue.

“I get it…” Sam said as she stood up and blew out the candles. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a couple ideas if you’re willing to hear them. Let’s go to bed.” Turner stood as well, unsure of what she had in mind. The two of them walked through the darkness of the apartment, feeling their way along the walls until they reached the bedroom where they’d turn in for the evening.... Eventually.