Red Dead Revival

by Crimson_Moon

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Shining Armor, Violence, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Tragedy, Applejack, Gore, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Narcotics, Other, Original Character
Length: 28252

(Warning: contains spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, COWPOKE) Arthur Morgan helped save what was left of the gang. He only hoped they all moved on in peace. As he looked to the setting sun, a honeyed voice called to him...

(WARNING: contains major spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2. Please do not read any of this story if you wish to enjoy the ending of the game. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED)

That deer. It was always that deer... began the final journal entry of the withered old stallion that lived outside Appleoosa. Wheezing out another cough, he grabbed a handkerchief from the Brown duster he wore, weathered with age and the occasional bullet hole or two from a time long past. Coughing into the cloth revealed blood.

He sighed. "Well," he chuckled. "I'll be making my way home soon, Mary..." Grabbing a hat from the chair he huddled near, he dusted it off as best as he could. Fitting it to his head, he pulled it taut using the rope tied loosely above the brim.

"We know you're in there, Morgan! It's time to give up!" Somepony yelled from outside.

Standing up, Arthur set the notebook he wrote in for the last few decades he spent in Equestria on the chair, hoping that someday his story will be told.

Redemption has a heavy cost, after all...

Published 2018-11-25 12:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-05-01 06:48:33 UTC

Redemption

Author's Note

Hey, so I played Red Dead Redemption 2 and my ~~stupid~~ creative brain decided to say "friggin write a crossover dude"

I promise this wasn't a planned thing and I think it sounds terrible, but hey what can ya do? If you like it, make sure to let me know. If not, i'd appreciate some criticism, good or bad.

Redemption

Arthur Morgan:

He was the embodiment of the Old West, still wild and fierce. As Dutch Van der Linde's right hand man, he helped found the family that shared and were inspired by Dutch's ideals and dreams for the great American future. However, as he lay on the cliffside wheezing and coughing, he knew now that his surrogate father was nothing more than the unattainable American Dream. Staring back up at those changed eyes, he wheezed out in a labored sigh "John made it," Dutch stepped closer, listening to his so-called friend's final few words. "He's the only one. The rest of us..."

Gasping once again, he struggled to breathe, let alone continue with his final desperate act to save Dutch from the poison words Micah inflicted upon him. "But, I've tried. In the end... I did." he coughed out a chuckle.

Meanwhile, Micah tried to plead with Dutch, telling him "We can make it!" And that "We have the Gold!" But it fell on deaf ears. Dutch walked away, leaving Micah to fend for himself.

Chuckling out a last breath, Arthur used the last of his energy to prop himself up, and faced the rising sun. Barely noticeable in its silhouette, he saw the deer that plagued his dreams. With that, the legend of Arthur Morgan, the legendary Gunslinger, ended... Or did it?

Arthur was now in a meadow, alongside the buck. The air was thick and hazy, just like the countryside he knew in his early days, before the gang. Before Dutch...

He knew he couldn't pass this opportunity, so he hid nearby and fetched his journal out of his pocket and began sketching. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME, ARTHUR!" A gravelly voice boomed in the woods, scaring off the buck before Arthur had a chance to finish his drawing. Suddenly, the scene shifted to dimly lit cobblestone streets, police whistles going off in the distance and approaching faster.

"What in the?" He recalled this place. It was Saint Denis. Once again, he saw the buck, this time fleeing rapidly away from the city and towards Annesburg. A bullet whizzed past his ear. It looks like the law was catching up. Following close behind the deer, Arthur sprinted as fast as he can, the police still hot on his tail.

Once he lost sight of them, the gunslinger leaned against a tree to catch his breath. "Jesus, that was a close one." Wiping his brow of sweat, he looked around to get his bearings. "Wait a minute... This is Beaver Hollow!" Arthur glanced around; It seemed everything was still there. All the wagons were still up, food was warming over the campfire, even his bed and belongings were where it needed to be.

Sauntering over to the table near his bed and wagon, Arthur picked up his bandolier and pistol, storing any spare ammo in his bag. Tightening his gunbelt, he stopped one more time to admire the picture of his younger self and his darling Mary. "I'm gonna miss ya, Mary." He smiled solemnly, gently petting the small frame it was housed in.

Suddenly the deer appeared again, this time nudging his hand with its muzzle. "Hey there, little guy." He chuckled, scratching it behind the ear. "Not so shy now, are we?" It nudged harder, trying to get him to follow it. "Alright, you got my attention! Lead the way."

Calmly, they walked through the camp of memories, letting him revisit the voices and stories the gang shared with him. Eventually, they stopped before Dutch's tent just outside the cave where the gang's money was buried. "I JUST NEED MORE MONEY. I HAVE A PLAN, ARTHUR!" The ground shook from the thundering voice, yet the deer alongside him didn't flee this time. It just nudged his hand to open the tent.

Swallowing his heart, Arthur peeled back the flaps of the tent and was suddenly tackled by Micah. "What's the matter, Black Lung? You don't look so good! HAHAHAHAHA!" He cackled maniacally, putting an iron grip around Arthur's throat. Gasping and struggling, he kicked and moaned, doing everything in his power to get that traitorous rat off him. "Let-*coughs* Let me go, Micah! There ain't nothing left!" However, he never listened. Suddenly, a navy blue wave hit the phantom Micah, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"We heard your call, little one. In one swift moment, this nightmare will be over..." A mysterious voice rang out, its serene tone drowning out the threats and memories of his past.

With bloodshot eyes, Arthur's vision began to fade, slowly fading to darkness...

Arthur woke up with a start. Catching his breath, the outlaw looked around. Am I in... A forest? "B-but I thought I-" Without warning, he began coughing uncontrollably, though luckily no spats of blood came out yet. "Damn this TB! Well, if I didn't die, then I will soon." Grunting, he tried to get up on both feet only to stumble back down again. "Must be more out of it than I thought..." Throating out another cough, he sat back down, not nociting his eye level was drastically lower. "On second thought, maybe I should just sit back down. Don't even know where I'm at, anyhow." Suddenly, he heard voices. Quickly, he tried to scramble behind the nearest tree only to stumble and fall, his illness coming at him fast.

"What was that?! I swear if that's you again Scootaloo, I'm gonna bust your flank so hard you'll think it's another planet!" He could make out the young voice say. Well, least I know I'm in familiar territory. he thought. Still unsure if he should call for the little girl's help, he tried to stay as quiet as possible.

Unfortunately, his Tuberculosis had other ideas. Wheezing, he tried to hold in the coughing fit coming on, but it was too much. Wheezing and hacking, he grunted out a "help!" Before passing out. The last thing he saw before his vision fade to black was a blur of a small filly, no older than a few years. "Nice...*coughs* Horsey..."

Recovery

Day 12

Looking back on things, I'd say this is where it really began. I woke up to a new world and i just didn't know it, all I saw was a forest in every direction. Still, going from dead to near dead was better than nothing i guess. That TB hurt for a while after that. That is, until ol' Bloom finally got the guts to tell her older sister about me, camping in the woods. I got a lot that I owe that kid, seeing as how she taught me how to take my first steps...

"-ster?" A voice ran out, barely audible to Arthur. Must've blacked out, ears are ringing... he thought, slowly recovering from his earlier spell.

"Hey lady-" he wheezed out. "I can't see well, but I need you *coughs, then wheezes* to get some herbs for me." His vision still blurry, Arthur pointed to the brown blob nearest to him, hoping it was his satchel. "They look like the ones in my pack. What I have *hacks, then spits* isn't enough to get me movin' again."

"-ure mister, j..st hang on!" The other voice echoed, not quite coming clearly through his ears. Oddly, they felt different but he put it off as another symptom.

He couldn't tell how much time had passed before the girl returned. His vision was much better, but the gunslinger's overall health was going in the opposite direction. On account of the dizzy spells and fading in and out of consciousness, it was hard to tell how long it had passed since the girl left. Seeing her approach, Arthur tried to stand up again, but fell like the previous times.

"You can't st... up like that, you'll hurt ...rself! Here, let me help." She dropped what looked like her bags and walked over to him.

Am I seeing things right? When it got closer, the blob he thought was a young girl was in fact a talking horse. "Y-you're a horse." Well Arthur Morgan, looks like you gone died and entered some sorta talking-horse-filled Purgatory...

"Applefeathers, y.. .... be delirious! Just Sit d..wn and tell me what to do with these herbs I got!" The horse walked "Trotted?" over to her saddlebags amd brought back the herbs Arthur told her to get in his delirious state.

Hacking out another small cough, he motioned to his bag. "Get the rest out and start grindin' with my mortar 'n' pestle. Once you got that done, I'll need your help setting up camp; it's starting to get dark." True to his word, the sun had begun to set and at a noticeably faster pace than back home he noticed. "What's your *coughs, then spits out blood* name, little horsey?" Arthur wheezed out.

"Applebloom, mister." She said between grinding the herbs and starting a fire. "And that's filly to you, not 'horsey'! I'm a grown pony, not some foal!"

"Does it really matter much?! I'm *coughs* dying!" He yelled, clutching his. Chest.

Getting agitated flared his lungs too much, sending him wheezing and coughing blood, but surprisingly, he was still able to gasp out orders; more than likely a skill he picked up from having to talk to his gang during gunfights, he reckoned. "Now hurry, and get my percolator on that fire you set!" He wheezed, the gunslinger's breaths growing raspier by the minute. Least I can hear a bit better now... he thought, not sure how long that would last either.

Doing as told, she set the metal container on the fire and let it heat. "Now get the herbs in there as well as some water from my waterskin here." He patted the thigh that held the skin, though it felt strange as he did. Waiting for the water to boil a bit, he motioned to Applebloom to help him up. Guiding him closer to the fire, he reached down for the cup in his satchel when he noticed it- a saddle brown stump that used to be his hand. "WHAT IN THE SAM HELL!?"

"What? What's wrong, mister?!"

"WHERE'S MY HANDS, DEVIL CHILD?!" He motioned with his hooves.

"What in the hay are hands?! Did you lose them? What do they look like?" Frantically she trampled around, trying to look for his hands. It continued for a few more minutes before the pandemonium started another coughing fit in Arthur. The illness draining the poor outlaw, he laid down near the fire, wheezing and gasping for air.

"D-*coughs* don't worry about it, kid!" He wiped blood using his new hoof, the crimson red a grim contrast against his new color tone. "No use lookin' for those anymore. Not sure if I could even still hold my guns anyhow..." He said, looking at his new appendages.

The filly felt pity and stayed with him for a bit, despite her curfew ending at sundown. "Big sis'll kill me, but I wanna make sure you're alright." She grabbed the cup Arthur was reaching for earlier and poured the boiling hot cocktail they made earlier into it. "What's your name, mister?" She asked, helping him sip from the cup.

"Arthur," he coughed, clearing his throat a bit. "Arthur Morgan."

Sitting down on all fours, she laid next to him. "Well, Mister Morgan, this is the wrong place to be camping in the middle of the season."

"Oh yeah?" He managed to cough out a small chuckle. "And why's that? All I see is a friendly forest!"

"You must be delirious if you think this forest is friendly!" She giggled, though stopped when she saw the look on his face. "You really don't know, huh?" He nodded. "Well, this here's the Everfree Forest and it just happens to be everything but friendly! What with the swamp gas, cockatrices, bugbears, and even an Ursa Minor or two!"

His face, Muzzle?, paled at the thought. "Don't rightly know what those are aside from the swamp gas, but you're right in them not soundin' friendly!" He coughed then sighed. "Don't much have a choice anyhow. Thought this was my home, or close to it. Turns out it ain't neither, heh!" He stared back over to the small filly looking downcast. "Ah, don't worry too much about it. Besides-" he coughed up another small puddle of blood. "Don't matter much on account of my TB anyways..."

"TB?" She cocked her head curiously. "What's that?"

Right, horses don't get infected that much with it. he thought. "Well, it's like an illness of the lungs, I guess." He nudged Applebloom to give him another sip of the remedy, coughing slightly as he did. " It gets in there and sits for Lord knows how long. The last doc that checked me, well he didn't really give me an... Optimistic look."

"What did he say?" She said, starting to tear up.

"That it was gonna be...slow. Possibly painful" He sighed solemly, hating to have to tell a kid this but that was the world he lived in; Kids died all the time from diseases where he came from so it wasn't a big deal. Here though? Here, he reckoned it was different. It was then Applebloom started crying.

"Hey," he coughed again, trying to hug the filly to console her, but his limbs were still unresponsive. "No need to cry over me! I hate to admit it, but it's high time I left and went... Up there." He nodded towards the sky. "My time's up kid, I just gotta make it as painless as possible."

"B-but I-I n-ne-never g-got to s-show you m-my fr-friends." she choked out between sobs.

"I know kid," he sighed. "I know..." Seeing this made him think of John's son, back in West Elizabeth. If that boy knew what was going on, no doubt that he'd be crying too. Life was rough for that family, but Jack? He was practically the only sane one left of the bunch. Twice as educated too, on account of all that reading he's done.

"Zecora." the filly suddenly said, her sobbing stopped and replaced with a hopeful smile.

"The what now, kid?"

"Not a what," she got up, putting her saddlebags on. "A who! She's a Zebra and knows all kinds of stuff about foreign diseases! Maybe she's heard of TB!"

Arthur stared at the hopeful kid for a few seconds, bewildered by the fact that she could turn the waterworks off so quickly! "Ah hell!" He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not? I've been given a Hail Mary in the shape of this place, what's one more gonna hurt? Go get her, kid! I ain't moving anytime soon!"

Author's Note

Work has been kind to me the past couple of nights, so I got this chapter out a bit earlier than I thought! Anyways, enjoy my ~~shitty~~ good writing skills with this new chapter.

If you like it, give it a good thumbs up. Or down if you hated it. If you got any criticisms, good or bad, just let me know in those comments! I need to validate my existence as a ~~shit~~ writer!

Edit: did some more proofreading and got it edited for y'all.

(Witch) Doctoring 101

"Zecora!" Applebloom exclaimed, bursting through the door to the zebra's hut. It was littered with all manner of potions and brews, most made with the exotic ingredients the Zebra kept well stocked in her hut. "Zecora, you in here?! It's an emergency!" Slowing down to a careful trot, she began exploring the hut to look for Ponyville's resident witch doctor.

"Yes, Little Bloom, I am here!" A voice yelled from the Alchemy Room. "And if what you say is true, then it's a good thing you were near!" Trotting forward, Applebloom chittered in a panic, barely making any sense.

"Settle now Little Bloom!" She petted the sniveling filly in an attempt to calm her down, clutching her tight. "What caused this need for haste and gloom?"

"T-there's a pony n-not t-too f-far,from h-here and he's d-d-dying!" She wailed, digging her muzzle into Zecora's neck and staining her coat with fresh tears. "H-he said he n-needed medicine for a d-disease he had!" She mumbled between sobs.

Now it got serious. If there's a dying pony, let alone one with a disease, it's best to help before more ponies discover it and try to help without proper knowledge. That's part of the reason why ponies visit her hut; many of them were skeptical when she first moved here those few years ago, but since then a lot more have been trusting and no longer shut their doors in fear of her "witchery" an ex Ponyville resident put bluntly.

"Applebloom, you were brave to help this stranger, now tell me-" she began, gathering her herbal satchel, and also regrettably (as well as secretly), her euthanizing toxins and witch doctor's mask. "Does his disease pose any danger?"

Meanwhile, Arthur was struggling to keep himself alive until help came. Though it was true that improvised tonic eased his pain, it didn't last long at all and he knew it. Gasping for breath, he stumbled towards his bag, hoping that at least his journal was there. Thankfully it was, but looking down at his new body just made him toss it back in. Well Arthur, you done did it again; you got yourself stuck in yet another mess, except it ain't your fault.

He sighed. "I hope..." Suddenly, he heard some rustling nearby as well as some torchlight. "That you, kid?" He coughed out. "I could use some help from your zebra friend!" Brushing away some shrubbery, Zecora emerged followed by Applebloom still sniffling. Well at least the kids around these parts don't see a whole lotta death. Means I'm safer, and this messed up world's surprisingly more pure, heh!

"Oh my, this is worse than we thought!" The zebra exclaimed, opening a strange bag strapped to her side. "It's a good thing it was my help you sought."

Battling another round of coughs, Arthur leaned forward a bit. "You must be that zebra fella she was talking about." He spoke. "Well doc, I ain't got time for formalities, truth is-" he motioned for her to lean forward so the little one would be out of earshot. "I got a case of Tuberculosis. *Coughs, then spits blood* It finally got a hold of me, as you can plainly see."

"My my, a troublesome disease indeed..." Zecora said. "But worrying for Little Bloom?" She smiled, pulling out a mortar and pestle as well as various ingredients from her Witch Doctor's bag. "You have no need!"

"Y-you mean to say you can...cure me?" The zebra nodded to dissuade any doubts he had. He was at a loss for words. It was as if this place actually was a fresh start! "Why you must be some guardian angel!" He chuckled.

"Or your devil on the shoulder!" She giggled in response. "Now hush, and let my potion smoulder." Finishing up grinding the last of the ingredients, Zecora motioned for Arthur's percolator and placed the pasty yellow substance inside, setting it back on the fire to boil.

"I can't believe it!" He coughed out a small chuckle. "And to think, all it took was a little dyin' and waking up in a different world, heh!" Neither of the ponies thought anything about this statement, and passed it off as delirium from the Tuberculosis.

"Are you gonna be better now, mister?" Applebloom sniffled.

"Oh, I'll be right as rain, kid! Just gotta wait for this stuff to boil a bit and I'll be fine! Now come here so this old, uh, horse can give ya a hug!" Taking the hint, the filly rushed forward and tackled Arthur, squeezing the remaining life out of him with a strong hug. "Heh, easy now! I ain't done healing yet!"

"Sorry, mister! I'm just so happy you're gonna stay livin'!" She wiped more tears from her eyes. Suddenly, she looked at the night sky. She completely forgot! "Oh no, big sis is gonna kill me! Sorry mister, I gotta go!" She said, grabbing her bags still sitting by the campfire. Not leaving much time to say her goodbyes, she gave one last small hug then galloped off towards the East. At least Arthur assumed it was east, but anything goes on a world you know little about.

Zecora opted to stay with Arthur, seeing to it her Zebra medicine did its magic and healed him. Though that did not mean she wasn't curious about this mystery stallion, however. "Now that Little Bloom isn't near," she began, checking the potion to see if it brewed properly. "Maybe you can tell me how you came across your ailment here."

Well the cat's outta the bag, Arthur. Might as well be honest to the Witch Doctor that's saving ya... He sighed, reaching for the percolator and, getting the OK from Zecora, shakily poured himself a cup. "Getting used to hooves is gonna take a spell..." Downing the contents, the stallion nearly gagged. "Christ, that stuff tastes awful!" Coughing a bit more, though less intensely he noticed, he continued. "I didn't get it from here, per say."

"Now it sounds to me, and I don't mean to assume; but you are not from this world, I presume?"

"Ya got me, Doc. And to be honest with ya I wasn't exactly on the side of the law if you get my drift." He sighed, fiddling with his trademark hat, wistfully tracing the scuffs and chips with the tip of his fetlock. "See, my story started when I was just a kid. I got into all sorts of trouble and fought as hard as a mule; That is, until a man named Dutch Van der Linde showed up knocking on my door..."

Author's Note

Depression hit so I thought let's make some good ol' fashion fanfiction! As always, like it if you enjoy it so far, but I'm okay with thumbs down too. Comments are optional.

Side note: Looking for somebody to draw up a pony version of Arthur, otherwise just imagine braeburn's body and face but with Troubleshoes' physique. If you know anyone or you are that someone, hit me up!

Questions, and Answers

...Not long after that was when Bloom had started to get me to walk, that is, after my stubbornness finally caved; I'd find out a few days later from her sister that she has a knack for pulling puppy dog eyes and getting even cats to bark. The walking, however? Well, it was like I was a newborn taking my first steps again, 'cept I was a grown man that couldn't even stand up without some help. "If only Dutch and the boys saw me now!" I thought. Thankfully, that Zecora fella kept my secret about being, well, "not of this world", for lack of a better term. She didn't piece together my storied past just yet, however I started to get some suspicions after a few slip-ups on account of my part.

My first impression of this "Equestria" was that it was peaceful, which put me at ease, even more than I care to admit. It seemed that finally there was no more running from the Law, setting up the "Next Big Score" for the gang to make it out as free men! Heh, who knew the American Dream would show up on a silver platter at a place furthest from it?

...Little did I know that this place was more like a nightmare you couldn't wake up from than a dream come true...

After the events that happened in the last few days, Arthur took some rest down near where his supplies were. His satchel was still lazily lopsided against the log that had been his home for these past few nights. It was hard, but thanks to that miracle tonic Zecora gave him, there haven't been any signs of his Tuberculosis returning which made it a lot easier to set up "camp."

Staring down at his hooves, he sighed. "Well ya got cured but you still can't walk worth a Damn." Getting up and walking turned into a morning ritual of his, after he recovered enough to even try that is. Leaning his burlesque shoulders against his log/home, Arthur gave a quick grunt and was able to lean against it with relative ease. A few moments passed, and his forelegs began to wobble, eventually collapsing and sending him muzzle up close and personal with the forest floor. "Consarnit! 'S like my body just plain hates me!" He yelled, somehow tossing his hat using the same infernal appendages that left him sprawled out.

Frustrated and tired, he ended his morning routine much the same way as always: a failure with microscopic improvement. Crawling over to his makeshift camp, Arthur rummaged through his bags for something, anything he could pick up with the hooves he was given. "Bet I can't even grip my revolver with these things I reckon..." He sighed, giving up on that too. "Good news is Bloom'll be back with supplies." Like clockwork, her and Zecora came to check on his well-being and each time he played his inability to walk on the fatigue of recovery.

Looking towards the treetops, he saw a faint glimpse of the sun overhead. "Nnnh, roughly around noon. Reckon it'll be just the tot today, Arthur?" He spoke aloud, and immediately facehooved afterwards. "Consarnit, now you're goin' crazy! Pull yourself together, and man up to bein' too stupid to walk!"

"Arthur! Aaaaarrrthuuuurrr! We're back with more supplies!" HA! Saved by the kid! he cheered in his head.

"What Little Bloom says is true, that and we both wish to teach you something new!" Brushing past the bushes hiding his "camp", Zecora led Applebloom through following close behind.

"Yeah! We both thought it was time you'd learn to walk properly, mister!" She beamed, letting loose a small giggle.

"Nonsense! I'm fine-" Arthur began to lean up again and take a few shaky steps. "See?" He continued, falling for half a second then recovered. "Right as rain!"

Needless to say, it fooled nopony. "You are as natural as a frog without rain," the zebra chuckled. "Except the frog doesn't choose to complain!"

"Alright, you caught me!" He relented. "Too proud to ask for help, I guess. Habit of bein' a rob-" he caught on his words, forgetting a child was present. If Zecora caught what he said, she pretended not to notice. "B-being robbed of my strength, that is to say." He coughed out nervously.

"It's alright, mister! We both understand!" Applebloom smiled, lighting up the old gunslinger's heart.

"Well, alright! No use for excuses anymore after that smile, heh!" Thinking on it, she reminded him a lot of John's boy from back home. "Well," he grunted, getting back to all four hooves albeit shakily. "Let's teach me how to walk properly. That way I could finally visit town and all your friends you keep telling me about..."

What followed were the toughest few hours of my life here so far. It weren't that learning to walk that was bein' the hard part, it was all that energy that kid had! Once I got the hang of it, she wanted me to go all over the place, forgettin' I was still recovering from that TB. It wasn't until much later that she finally wound down. Zecora mostly kept to the sidelines, laughin' at my suffering 'Bloom was putting me through. After everything settled down, she did what she normally does with anybody that sees her and checks up for side effects. You know how doctors get you to talk in order to feel comfortable, right before they do some, *ahem* "detailed examinations"? Well, that's exactly what this Zebra did...

Hours after learning how to walk, trot, and gallop, Arthur finally got a break from energetic little Applebloom in the form of the sun setting. After saying their goodbyes, she rushed off into the forest alone to return to her family, Zecora reassuring me she'd be fine. The first few nights here made him skeptical of how "safe" this glorified jungle really was. It was when Applebloom left that she got to asking about Arthur's storied past...

"Little Bloom cares for you, and I do too." She began to speak during the checkup on his condition. "So tell me, how helpful was my brew?"

"Well doc, I'd say you brought me back from the brink of death. Aside from the occasional bad cough, I don't have any symptoms that I did." Reaching for his bag, Arthur managed to find his tinderbox and sparked some flame on the nearby pile of wood he got Applebloom to help him gather. "You much for coffee?" He asked, pouring some water from his canteen into the percolator. After a quick shake of the head, he only grabbed one cup and got it ready.

"I am glad Little Bloom found you, but tell me," she asked, inspecting the biggest one of the several small scars littered about his body. "From being around you, is she in certain doom?"

He sighed. "So you noticed my slip-up earlier, huh?" She nodded. "Well, it's fair you know more about me, considerin' you saved my life." Eyeing the percolator, he poured some instant coffee in, stirring with a stick he found earlier. "Man of my nature don't get the scars you're looking at by mere coincidence." Pointing to the scar Zecora earlier, he continued. "That was from Blackwater. There was a job we had lined up there, but it went South and instead of striking it rich from our robbery, we had to bail on account of Micah screwing up the job."

"Is that why you stay here in the woods, rather than go to town, like you should?" She asked.

"Yeah." Arthur sighed. "Camping in the woods is what I'm used to. Don't have much choice if you're a wanted man..."

"And the world you were from? What did you do before Applebloom found you?" She dropped the rhyming, becoming serious.

"I was dying, simple as that. Blackwater was just the catalyst. Micah got to my friend and boss, Dutch Van der Linde. We kept up messing up jobs, one after the other. It ended up with us losing several good men. A few women too."

Pouring some hot coffee into his cup from the percolator Arthur continued, sipping occasionally. "Me and the only good man left, John Marston, avoided an ambush from a group called the Pinkertons. We ended up crawling up a mountain, John escaped. He's the only one that did. That life, I mean. He took his wife and kid and ran, or so I hope."

"You didn't see what happened to him?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I gave him that same set of bags I'm using now." He pointed to the rucksack leaning on a nearby tree. "I gave him those, that there pistol lyin' in it, and what money I had left and told him to escape while I hold the Pinkertons off and chase down Micah. It ended up with me bein' dead, or so I thought..."

"Which you ended up here, under my care..." She finished.

"Yep. Thats why I thought I was in Purgatory. Still do." Letting out a small cough, he kicked the fire out. "Now you know." Zecora finished her inspection and began to leave, thanking Arthur for telling her the truth. However, he spoke up once more.

"I don't mean to ask favors, especially from somebody who saved me, but could you keep what I told you a secret? This could be my chance for redemption and I wanna give up that life."

"You have my word, but a word of caution," Zecora began, looking over her shoulder. "Dreams are well and good, but we have two rulers that govern, and not even you can hide from them in this wood."

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused only to hear a hearty chuckle.

"Let's just say that raising the Sun and Moon is but a fraction of their magical boon!"

Arthur did not sleep well that night.

Author's Note

I had a hell of a month dealing with stuff, but here's another chapter. I tried taking your advice and improved the pacing and other things. Not much of a chapter, more of a filler. Next one is gonna have Luna in it tho, so hopefully it makes up for it.

As always, if you like it so far, just give it a like. If you don't, then give it a thumbs down. Comments are optional but appreciated nonetheless.

A Nightmarish Dream

Normally I put these notes at the end but a warning needs to be applied on account of graphic content. This chapter has gruesome acts of violence including hanging of children, mutilation, and other content.

The sun set once more across Equestria, inviting deep sleep to its residents. It was this time that Celestia quit governing and her sister, Luna, took up the mantle of Ruler. As such, she was charged with protecting her denizens, both in the physical and corporeal realms. Tonight, however, she'd pay close attention to a certain gunslinger's chaotic dream...

The doors of Canterlot Palace's throne room opened with a swift creak, a set of blue hooves clad in quicksilver boots echoing across the surface. "Sister, as Ruler of the Night, I Princess Luna hereby relieve you of Courtly Duty!" The midnight blue Alicorn spoke with a powerful voice.

"Honestly Lulu, you take this way too seriously!" Celestia chortled in her Pearl throne. Activating her magic, the Princess of the Sun gently lowered her charge, making way for Luna's moon. Noticing a glare from her sister, she rolled her eyes. "*sigh* I am hereby relieved of my duty, you take over my paperwork, blah blah blah. Happy now?" She grumbled.

"It will have to suffice. Thank you sister." Luna gritted her teeth. Honestly, their relationship is still the same as ever, but even as rulers, they were still sisters. Small sibling rivalries like this broke out occasionally, causing a collective rolling of the eyes from Canterlot's Royal Guard. Even the Night Guard found it annoying at times and they were twice as disciplined! Nevertheless, they carried on their duties as if nothing happened.

"SILVER QUILL!" She roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice. A yelp, followed by a silver unicorn stallion shuffled their way towards Luna's throne, a clipboard and quill followed closely behind. "Y-you called, your majesty?"

"Indeed I did." She sighed, grinding a hoof into the side of her temple. "Dear sister of mine has hit a nerve as of late, and We have need of a distraction. What duties would you have of me?" She lazily flicked her other hoof half-heartedly at the unicorn. It seemed she was in another mood, and many could guess why.

Celestia, for the past thousand years never really took much care into her Royal Duties and instead focused on the well-being of her subjects, leaving the paperwork to her cabinet of politicians. It was a result of the loss of her only sister, and a fear of the mistake repeating itself within the hearts and minds of her kingdom. Princess Luna, however, was a different story. She still wasn't used to a lot of the changes since her long absence, and despite adjusting well, sometimes slip-ups happened. Usually it was a small speech issue involving the Royal "We" or using the Royal Canterlot Voice. However, when the Midnight blue Alicorn was especially rattled--

"There's n-nothing t-to do tonight as per usual, your highness, e-except d-dream walk" Quill spoke, quivering behind the floating clipboard and preparing for the worst.

The worst happened as his brand new custom-fit ruby vest, straight from Canterlot, as well as the clipboard he was cowering behind, shrivelled up in smoke and he was teleported someplace far away. Probably to the dungeons, it was her favorite teleport spot after all.

--When she was rattled, typically all who dare approach her with less than satisfactory news end up in the Canterlot Dungeons "to re-think their usefulness and come back with good news" as she put it one night.

Moments later, after her head cooled, Luna relented. Sighing, she teleported the slightly terrified assistant back to where he was, in addition to a new clipboard. The quill however, was a rare Phoenix feather quill Celestia gifted him. She kept a mental note to bother Philomena for another one later. "We-I apologize for my behavior, Silver Quill." She spoke, teleporting a pen last minute for the stallion to use.

"N-no worries, your majesty! Much as it p-pains me to say, these *ahem* sibling spats are routine to even the servants."

We didn't think they were that obvious... The lunar princess thought. "Regardless, it was childish of me, and I apologize. Since there are no important matters to attend to aside my dream walking, carry on as usual." After scribbling a few things on the new checklist and asking Luna mundane questions about guard patrol and last minute requests, Night Court had officially been adjourned. Elsewhere, a lone stallion fell into a quick sleep under the stars, only to have one hell of a nightmare...

"...Thur." A distant voice called out. "Arthur..." As time passed, it became louder and clearer, sounding familiar yet foreign to the lone stallion. Suddenly, he was jolted awake by a hand. A human hand. "Nnnh, 's that you, Dutch?"

"Wake up, son." Dutch Van der Linde spoke, kicking out a nearby fire and unholstering his pistol. "We need to move right quick before the Pinkertons get here."

"Pinkertons? But I thought I was-"

"What? Dead? Arthur, as much as Micah has persuaded me of your true intent, even I am not so bold as to kill the 'noble' Arthur Morgan. At least, not without good cause." Suddenly a flurry of bullets rang past the two, fully waking Arthur up. Running for the hills, he wheezed and dodged the bullets ringing past him, making for the horses they had hitched nearby. However, when he took the reigns, something odd happened. His balance seemed off and he could no longer keep a grip on his pistol, dropping it on the ground beneath his hooves.

Wait a minute, hooves!? Sure enough, he transformed back into that cursed form from Equestria. "W-what's happenin'?! I-I don't understand!"

"Well ain't it clear yet, you ungrateful fool?!" Dutch yelled beside him, everything fading to an eerie darkness behind him. "This ain't America, and you ain't human anymore!"

"B-but I-"

"But you what?" He inched closer, looking more and more menacing with each step, his voice taking on a demonic tone. "You died? You thought you were in PURGATORY?" Finally within reach, Dutch violently kicked Arthur, sending him hurtling towards the air. When he caught his breath, the demonic version of his mentor was gone...

Only to be replaced with another twisted version of one of the members of his old gang. "You sent me running for the hills! Me, a bag of money, and a pistol!" A hoarse voice echoed from the abyss. "The Pinkertons, do you know what they did?"

"N-no, you got free! I-I saw it with my own eyes!"

As if a curtain was drawn back, a lone tree with a noose tied on one of the sturdier branches revealed itself. "No!" Arthur whimpered. "Not a hanging, anything but that!"

"Oh no, Arthur. It was way worse than that." Stepping from behind the tree, John Marston approached him. His clothes were different and he seemed older. However, it was the mass amounts of blood and bullet holes that got Arthur's attention the most. "They shot me deader than hell! That noose-" he pointed towards the tree. "Was for my wife and son!" Suddenly, there they stood: hanging from the branch like gruesome toys. Abigail was bruised and bloodied, and Jack... Jack's neck look mangled, like a twig that couldn't snap completely.

"I-I didn't know, John!" He collapsed, tears streaming down his now equine face. "Christ above, I didn't know!"

"Of course you didn't." Another voice chuckled, an eerie yet feminine voice... One he didn't recognize. "Your friends all die around you, it was laughable to even give yourself hope!" The voice cackled maniacally.

"S-shut up! You don't know John like I do!" He curled himself into a ball, trying to block out all noise. It was obvious to him this voice's words were meant to poison.

"I don't need to know him! You know yourself what happens when people you care about are involved."

"I-I don't believe you! Y-you're full of lies!"

"It isn't a lie if you know it to be true, whelp! You just can't convince yourself that you've doomed the very idea of freedom just by being in contact with all those people!"

"S-shut up! Y-you're not real, this is a nightmare!"

"ENOUGH!" Another voice boomed, breaking the darkness with a blinding light. Once it cleared, a navy blue horse with wings and a horn stood in front of Arthur, protecting him from the darkness. "Release your hold over him, Demon of the Nightmare."

"Tch." Blazing red eyes broke through the darkness, each one the size of a planet. "Why do you care about this abomination? He stinks of another realm! Even you can't throw caution to the wind about this!" Another surge of darkness threw itself at Arthur, only to be deflected by the mysterious horse's magic shield.

"That is for my sister to decide. Leave, or I will end thyne life swiftly." Blue light grew from her horn, coating it in an intense aura.

"RRGH, FINE. YOU WIN THIS TIME, PRINCESS LUNA. BUT KNOW THIS; IF HIS HOPE EVEN FALTERS FOR ONE SECOND, HIS WILL IS MINE." The darkness that pooled around the two ponies vanished, replacing the scenery with a starlit road.

"W-what the hell was that?!" Arthur spoke.

"That, my little pony," Luna began, turning around. "Was a Demon of the Nightmare. And you sre lucky to still be sane, let alone aware enough to still project among the dreamscape. Though I suspect you are not a pony, Arthur Morgan." She kneeled, smiling regally. "I am princess Luna."

"P-princess Luna?" She nodded in reply. "...Well shit."

Author's Note

Not bad for a hell of a wait time. Sorry about that. Anyways, tried to get a bit darker as well as try my hand at some slight world building. If you like it so far, or even if you don't, let me know in the comments.

Depression has destroyed my will to live, but writing slowly brings it back. Hopefully, I'll have another chapter come out soon. I'll keep you guys posted.

Visiting Ponyville

After that so-called "Demon of the Nightmare" showed up, I didn't have much problems trying to sleep. It seems whatever that blue flying unicorn did gave me my first decent night's rest since coming to this place. "Equestria" Zecora kept reminding me it was called. Still, not so bad as names go I guess. I can't really complain, seein' as I grew up around places like Saint Denis and Armadillo for names. Speaking of quaint towns, this is the part of my journal where I talk all about how I get to meet the folk of the nearby town of Ponyville, how they changed my life for the better, and all that sappy crap you hear about in these kinds of things, right?

Wrong, stranger. This is the beginning of how I came to meet The Pink Demon and her band of Merry Minions. It began like any other day, save that for today I promised Bloom I'd at the very least go meet her sister on the outskirts of Ponyville. Well, I reckon it went all downhill from there...

"Wake up, wake up!" Apple bloom bounced outside Arthur's tent. "Wake up, Arthur," she threw her hoof at the tent flap, letting a cascade of light pour over the stallion to rouse him from sleep. "Today's the day!"

"Nngrh, what time 's it Bloom?" He woke, rubbing his eyes.

"Half past 8, by my reckon."

Eight? Applebloom, you'll be the death of me... Taking a deep yawn and stretch, Arthur set out to make his morning coffee. He only had enough instant mix for 2 more cups at the most, so going to town was inevitable. With a swift kick of his hind leg, Arthur disassembled his tent and packed everything in the saddlebags he had nearby. Zecora was kind enough to give him one of her old pairs, seeing as how the shoulder pack that arrived with him wouldn't fit his new body now.

"Nngh, alright Bloom," he stretched out his legs, careful not to trip and fall. Though he knew how to walk now, the brown stallion still tripped up now and again. "I'm ready to go, just let me get some coffee going then we can go visit your folks."

"Woohoo! My sister and brother and even granny are all real excited to meet ya! They might even hire ya as a farm hand!" The filly bounced around every which way, filled to the brim with excitement.

"I don't rightly doubt that, knowin' your knack for tellin' ponies about me." He chuckled. "Still though, where I come from, strangers are never trusted, especially ones that live out in the woods and have their younger kin visit them regularly."

Now that he thought about it, their excitement to meet him could turn out to be a double edged sword. On one hand, Applebloom could be absolutely correct and they just want to meet him in a friendly manner. However, seeing how this looked from an outsider's perspective, "excited" could mean something...not so nice. Something, given his true nature, that put him on edge. Passing a glance to the gun and holster still set near the spot where his tent was set up, Arthur pondered whether it was a good idea to bring it. Nothing more than a glance, but that was enough.

Going back to the percolator, he saw the coffee was done and poured a cup. Blowing the steam away, he let it cool before taking a cautious sip. Once it met his lips, the temperature was good enough so he continued drinking. "Ahh, now that's a good cup of coffee!" He smiled. Clearing his throat, he continued. "I appreciate you tellin' your kin about my well-being, Bloom, I really do." He glanced at his gun again. "But my...nature and habit of bein' away from city life might paint me in a bad picture."

"Whaddoya mean, Arthur? They're excited, they told me myself!" The filly beamed. " 'specially Big Mac! He said, and I quote 'I can't wait to see this stallion that's been Caring for my baby sister all this time. He sounds like a Special pony, and I can't wait.' . Isn't that great?! He even drew out the words caring and special cuz he knew how much of a friend you are to me!"

A fight it is, then... Arthur swallowed the rest of his coffee in one quick gulp, either out of fear or bravery, He didn't know. "Well," he said, kicking out the fire and throwing on his saddlebags, gun and holster included, the stallion got up, did a quick dust off of his coat, and tightened his hat. "Time to get goin', Bloom."

A few hours later, Arthur and Company passed Fluttershy's cottage. Seeing as how it was empty, the filly relented and they continued their small trek to Sweet Apple Acres. The rest of Applebloom's family stood at the gates, eyes focused on the lone stallion trailing behind her, not all of them filled with good intentions...

"Wow! You got the rest of the family to come see him, too? That's great!" Applebloom exclaimed, glancing back at Arthur with an innocent smile. "Don't you think so, Arthur?"

Before him stood a platoon, nay, an army of the Apple family tree. Not a single inch of yard was empty, each and every eye boring into his own. If he wasn't glad he brought his revolver before, he sure was now. "Yeah," he chuckled nervously. "Great..." It was at that moment, he remembered something: He can't fire his gun.

"Why do y'all look so scary lookin'?" She crooked her head. Just then, an orange pony opened the gate and approached the filly, whispering something in her ear as she passed.

A few trots later, and she was inches away from Arthur's muzzle, a fire in her eyes so fierce, he was half convinced they'd catch him on fire. "Uh, howdy miss...?"

"Nuh uh, no pleasantries yet, partner. I got one thing to ask, and believe me," she set a hoof behind the Stallion's brown neck, like the feeling of steel upon gravel. "I'll know if you're lyin'."

He gulped. Loudly. "Uh, heh, n-name's Arthur." She didn't budge.

"One question, that's all I got." Her glare boring through him like a bloodthirsty hawk. "Did you touch my lil' sis, in any way not appropriate for a growin' filly? Cuz if you did," she chuckled maliciously. "This hoof of mine might just put a bit too much-" Suddenly the mare's arm felt less like steel and more like a mountain, slight popping sounds coming from Arthur's neck, most likely his vertebrae being popped by an insane amount of pressure.

It was then he saw the glares of everypony behind her, and seeing as how they were related, this could end with nothing but a blazer left if he didn't play his cards right. Well, Arthur, time to put on that fake city charm!

"N-now I don't rightly know what Bloom and Zecora said about my *ahem* disposition towards city life, b-but I can assure you, even as a frontiersman, my life as an adult is strictly kept to the adults. No need to *coughs nervously* tarnish my reputation with those that attempt to k-keep explicit company with the young and innocent." He paused, seeing if his strategy was working. It was something him and Dutch came up with while scoping out their robbing targets. Observe, overwhelm, guage the response; it was the three-step plan they used on many different occasions, and almost always, it worked. One quick nod and the mountain of a hoof relieving pressure from his neck told him this was one of the times it was, thankfully.

"Alright, Everypony! He's good, y'all can get back to it!" With a tidal wave of relieved sighs, the rest of the Apple family departed save for a few, going back to the various duties they had around the farm.

"I appreciate your understanding, miss...?"

"Applejack!" She beamed a friendly grin; a stark contrast compared to a few minutes ago. Extending her hoof, Arthur grabbed a hold and, unsurprisingly, got shook about from how strong the orange mare was. "Now from what I heard about you from my sister, it sounds like you're lookin' for work?"

"If it's not too much trouble, ma'am." He said, taking his hat off out of respect.

"Good lookin', smooth talker, and polite? Well hot dang!" She hollered. "Sounds like we got a perfect fit for the farm then, huh?" Applejack smiled.

"G-good looking?" He was startled for a second by that, but seeing as how the mare across from him was blushing mighty fierce now, it looked like she wasn't lying.

"H-heh, noticed that lil' slip-up I had, huh? N-not that I mean calling you good lookin' was a slip-up! I mean, all I'm sayin' is in all honesty, you do look good. Gah! I mean-" The stallion held up a hoof, stopping her.

"Don't worry, Applejack. I understand what you were tryin' to say, and I appreciate it." He smiled, holding out his hoof this time. "Friends?"

Looking at it, then him, then it again, Applejack got a big grin and took it earnestly, giving it a solid shake. "Friends! Now about that place you're livin' in..."

Author's Note

Life hit me like a train recently, so now I'm in a shitty mood. Nothing to worry you guys about, it's being handled right now but it still sucks.

Anyways, here's another chapter. If you like/hate it, let me know below.

See you guys next time.

Visiting Ponyville (Part 2)

It was a mighty fine line I was crossing, meeting Bloom's family. Part of me had a bit of a fear going in that they knew who I was- an outlaw, murderer, robber. All the titles of my past brought up in Equestria somehow. I just didn't wanna involve another kid into this life, just like we did with Jack.

...Bloom didn't deserve that.

It was good it turned out the way it did though, even if they accused me of... unsavory things. Right better than just killing me right then and there to save them the trouble! The way I see it, I reckon that as long as I kept my head low, I think I'd be a good farm hand for the Apple Family. Applejack, strange as it might seem on account of her imminent threat of death when we first met, was the first pony(save for Applebloom and Zecora) to show me hospitality. Her accent and that classic country charm had me homesick for a time, but I got over it right quick.

But enough about that, I still haven't told y'all about my first visit to Ponyville. If it wasn't obvious already, and if for some reason you're reading this and don't know what town I'm talking about, you're downright livin' under a rock.

It began when The Pink Demon found out about me from her first Merry Minion- Applejack. Yep, the very one and the same. It was my second day on the farm, and I will not forget it...

In the distance a loud bell rang in the center courtyard of Sweet Apple Acres, disturbing the peace just enough to get things going on the farm. "Soup's on, everypony!" Applejack's voice echoed, stirring Arthur from his sleep. With a jolt, he woke, looking around and rubbing his eyes. The barn had just begun to get morning light through the attic window, lighting up the interior with a warm glow.

"No matter how many times I wake up, I can't ever get past that bright and cheery sun!" He chuckled. Stretching, the brown stallion pushed open the stall he was sleeping in, careful not to disturb the hens roosting next door to him. After talking for a bit, the Apple family agreed to take him in as long as he kept his belongings in the barn and he earned his keep by working on the farm. Yesterday he didn't do,much, only observing what everypony else was doing. Big Mac gave him a stern eye the whole time he was shadowing him, but other than that, Applejack, Granny Smith, and Bloom made sure he knew what to do. Stretching out, Arthur opened the barn doors and made his way to the Apple family house just a few quick trots west.

Taking off his rope hat, he knocked on the door, making sure he looked presentable.

"Who is it?" An elderly pony asked.

"Arthur, ma'am. Your granddaughter asked me to stop by for breakfast." The door creaked open slightly, and a pale green elderly mare was leaning on the other side, sticking one of her topaz eyes out.

"Eh, what's this about again?"

"Granny, who's at the door?" Applejack's voice echoed from within the house.

"There's some youngin' asking for breakfast, and such a good lookin' one too!" The elderly mare opened the door the rest of the way, her peppered mane swaying as she did. Eying him up and down, she finally recognized him. "I think it's that Arthur fella you're swoonin' over!" She batted her eyelashes at him, making the poor stallion uncomfortable.

Suddenly a stampede of hoofsteps sounded and Applejack shoved Granny Smith out of the way. "Heh, y-you sure do say the darnedest things, Granny!" She nervously chuckled. "We talked about this, Granny! He's just a friend!" She mumbled to granny. Big Mac guffawed in the background.

"Heh heh, 'morning Applejack." Arthur shook her hoof, then put his hat back on. "Ma'am" he tipped his hat to Granny.

"Well don't be shy, come on in!" Applejack moved out of the way, letting him in and leading him to the dining room. The house itself reminded him of a story back in New Austin that John told him. It was about how he would build a home almost exactly like how this one felt. Jack came up with the idea of course, but John always held out hope that he would get to build it one day.

Sitting down at the round table, he tipped his hat to Big Mac across from him. "Mornin', boss." The red stallion nodded back, getting back to scarfing down his bowl of oats.

"So, we got oats, apples, or apple pie!" Applejack started, grabbing plates for both him and Granny Smith. "Made the pie myself. Y-you should try it." She blushed.

"Maybe later, I appreciate the offer though."

"O-oh. Okay, heh, I-I'll make sure to keep it warm for ya!" Her smile dropped a bit, obviously a little hurt.

darn it Arthur, no need to hurt the girl's feelings! "On second thought, I'd love to have a bite." He smiled, making her blush again. "And a bowl of oats, too."

Arthur waited patiently, looking forward to his breakfast. After a few weeks of eating wild berries and instant coffee, he was excited to have something different. And boy, did Applejack not disappoint! Before him sat the most delicious looking slice of pie he ever saw, and the bowl of oats had a whole heaping of assorted fruits and veggies topping it.

Looking down at his bland bowl, then back at Arthur's, then his again, Big Mac was a bit envious. "Hey!" He whined, only to receive a kick in the shins from Granny sitting next to him. "Ouch! What gives, Granny?!"

One stern look later, the burly stallion sighed dejectedly and went back to his oats.

"Want anything to drink Arthur? Orange juice? Coffee? ...Applejuice?" The orange mare nervously jittered in place.

"Some coffee's fine. Black, please." He said. While waiting for the coffee, Arthur decided to try some of Applejack's pie. Not sure how to eat the pie, he nervously looked towards Granny, and she gestured to what Big Mac was doing: just going to town on the bowl of oats like it was his last day in Equestria. Shrugging his shoulders, he did the same. The first few bites were like being a prospector in a dynamite factory. It didn't take long for him to eat the rest of it.

"Sounds like you really like...the..." Turning around, Applejack nearly dropped the cup of coffee she held in her hoof. Before her was the most adorable sight of a messy Arthur, bits of pie all over his snout and looking like the happiest stallion alive. Easy girl, easy. I know he's downright adorable right now, but you gotta pull yourself together! No need to prove Granny and Big Mac right!" Shaking her head, Applejack brought over his coffee.

Not much happened after that. Breakfast continued as usual, save for Applejack sitting awful close to the new farm hand happily eating his oats and drinking his coffee. An hour or two later, Big Mac and Arthur both headed out to the field to tend to the apple trees-many needed to be harvested today in the West side before they went bad.

"So," Arthur grunted, bucking a nearby tree and sending apples tumbling into the bushels set underneath. "Ya like farming much?"

"Eeyup"

"And, eh, you don't like anything else?"

"Nope."

The Brown stallion adjusted his hat, wiping his brow in the process. "Don't talk much, do ya?"

"Nope."

"I can respect that. Between you and me," he stopped bucking for a moment. "Do you think your sister's acting a bit...strange?" He asked.

Big Mac's bucking missed for half a second, before he adjusted and hit dead on. "N-nope!" The red stallion scrunched his muzzle, desperately trying to keep quiet.

"Listen partner, ain't the first time per-PONIES of the opposite gender have acted like that around me. I'm just wonderin' if she's either mad or madly in love. You know how mares are."

Mac sighed. "Ain't my place to say." He bucked a bit harder this time, putting a sizeable dent in the tree he was working on.

"Fair enough. Don't blame ya for not trusting me, what with what happened with Bloom. Speaking of, where is the little tyke? Haven't seen her since yesterday." He bucked another tree, setting the full bushels aside and grabbing empty ones from the nearby wagon Big Mac pulled with them.

"School." He said.

"Huh. Always figured she was home schooled, from all her talkin' about how great this farm is." He stopped for a second, admiring the scenery. From where they were in the field, there was a perfect view of Ponyville in the distance, framed by apple trees on the side and the Equestrian sun hanging overhead. "I gotta agree with her on that." He smiled.

Several hours later, noon was approaching and their work was done. While Big Mac hauled the harvest, he was reminded of something they were talking about this morning before Arthur came in for breakfast. "Say, Arthur?"

"Eeyup?" He chuckled, poking a bit of fun at Mac.

"Heh. Say, you wanna head to town with me after I'm done bringing in this haul? Applebloom said somethin' about you needing to go get some supplies?"

"Sure. Been meaning to head to town anyways, wanna see the new neighborhood and all that. Anything I should know about?"

"Nope." All of a sudden, the red stallion got a jitter right down his spine, as if he's forgetting something important about Ponyville. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued trotting the haul back to the farmstead. Looking at Arthur, he finally noticed the duster he was wearing, and how it was about 3 sizes too big for him. "Say, since we're going to town, why not getting that duster fixed so it fits ya? My sister knows a friend there that would probably do it for free."

Looking back at his blazer, he had to agree. Well, it does look a bit too big,for me now, huh?

"Yeah, can't rightly say no to that..." while I'm at it, I really should bring my gun. Better to be discreet about that though. Might ask if that tailor knows anyone.

"Alright, it's decided then!" He said, setting down the wagon. "We're gonna head to town!"

"Yeah, Mac! I mean, what could go wrong?"

That was the moment, where everything went horribly wrong... And pink. A pinkish wrong if you will...

After sorting through the apples and putting them in storage, Arthur and Big Macintosh both set out for town,carrying empty saddlebags, save Arthur, who had hidden in his bag the revolver and its holster he deeply cherished. First stop was the Farmer's Market, where Big Mac made various deals with the vendors for the Apple family's goods in trade for other things. One of those things was a new collar, his current one about one harvest away from breaking.

Not much of the market interested the brown stallion, save for a few dry goods and some instant coffee. The Apple family brewed a fine black bean, but to Arthur, it just doesn't taste the same. He blamed it on his having to deal with instant coffee most of his life. Thanks to the allowance and first week's pay Big Mac gave him, he bought his fair share and continued on his way, following the red stallion as they toured Ponyville.

To Arthur, Ponyville wasn't anything special, save for how colorful and upbeat it looked. In New Austin, almost every town had at least one thing wrong with it, either from corrupt sheriffs to people just up and leaving behind what's left. Other than that, the ponies were the weirdest things. Some had wings and flew, while others had horns and could levitate things like the magic shows he saw as a kid. Jack would get a real kick out of this place, he thought.

After a few more stall visits and some purchases and trades, the duo continued on their way to their next destination: Sugarcube Corner.

"Ah, Tartarus! That's what I forgot to mention..." Big,Mac mumbled. Pulling aside the brown stallion, he prepared him for the oncoming randomness that is Pinkie Pie. "Listen Arthur, some weird stuff is gonna go down once we go into that bakery."

Arthur grew nervous, gulping loudly. "L-like what, Mac?"

"I'm not gonna lie, it'll probably make you question yer existence for a bit. Just keep in mind, the pink pony in there is gonna assault every sense you have and twist it around. She, by no stretch of the imagination, is an ordinary pony." He let him go, dusting off his coat. "You ready?"

Arthur sighed. "Do I have a choice?" Entering first, Big Mac took the brunt of it, becoming an example of the weird that he was about to face.

Before Big Mac stood the glass counter of baked goods that was Sugarcube Corner-Ponyville's best and only bakery in the whole town. Though, if you asked anypony on the street, they would tell you it was because of Pinkie Pie. They wouldn't even bat an eye. "Well hiya, Big Mac! Here to drop off our daily supply of apples? Ooh, or is it something else?!"

"Somethin' el-"

Suddenly, the pink pony interrupted. "Ooh, don't tell me! I love guessing games! Are you... Here for some donuts?" She zoomed over to the premade dozen box of donuts, all ironically shaped like apples.

"Nnope." Big Mac was used to the Kong's randomness by now, Arthur guessed.

"If it wasn't that, then-" she gasped loudly. "It's gotta be about Mr. Smarty-Pants! You still have him with you and need me to discreetly sew him up without anyone knowing! I knew it!" She began to reach into her hair only to, somehow, pull out an entire sewing kit and the doll in question.

Blushing, Mac only shook his head.

"Again? Down by two today! You really know how to keep a mare guessing, huh Big Mac?" She giggled. "Hmmm, oh I know! You wanted to introduce me to a new farm hand that was a hermit recently because you knew if you didn't I'd still find out about it eventually and wanted to get it out of the way quick as possible, but you were afraid he'd be scared off because of my quirks, right?" She beamed.

"Eeyup." He pointed to me. "This here's Art-"

"OHMIGOSH A NEW FRIEND!" The pink pony was like some sort of demon, and rushed forward with the speed of a cheetah. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"

"Uh Arthur?" He nervously made eye contact with the strange pony.

"Well nice to meet you, Arthur! Say, you look familiar..." She eyed him closely. "Did you ever play as a character in a famous videogame?"

"What's a videogame?" He asked.

"Don't worry about it!" Pinkie beamed. "Alright everypony! There's somepony new in town, so you know what that means!"

From that day forward, she was known only as the Pink Demon to me, and I vowed never to step hoof in Sugarcube Corner again...

Author's Note

Super long chapter, sorry. Been in a writing mood, found out about some more stressing stuff happening to me, I needed an outlet.

As always, if you liked/hated it let me know. Comment too if you want, I'll try to reply.

Is Like a Horse Without a Saddle...(Part 2)

Author's Note

Okay, so for this chapter there's gonna be no journal entries from Arthur. It continues right where it left off, so there's no point. Instead, we'll have a segment from somepony else.

Anyways hope you like it, if not that's okay too. Next chapter we see Arthur off with his gang.

Is Like a Horse Without a Saddle...(Part 2)

Dear Princess Celestia,

I know I shouldn't write personal letters like this with the Royal insignia on it, but I needed to know what was going through Princess Luna's head when she approved this! I mean, a single pony, who I haven't even met, was put in charge of search and rescue?! The mere notion is ridiculous!

And to top it all off, he has the gall to call me, ME, a "booksmart know-it-all who doesn't know the first thing about living off the land!" The only reason I could even tolerate him was the fact he told me where he came from. This "West Elizabeth" doesn't sound anything remotely like the Equestria in the mirror, and nothing in Starswirl's notes on it can prove it's a place we can get to. To top things off, this "Arthur Morgan" wanted me to craft a makeshift device for him to hold these strange weapons he had with them. He called them "Six Shooters".

It was a foreign magic I haven't seen before, and if you could believe me, it almost... Resonated with him, like they had minds of their own. I can't describe it, but whatever they are, as soon as he was able to hold them, a Cutie Mark appeared on him. I'm sure if Applebloom was still here, she'd try to throw him a Cute-ceñera.

Whatever you and Luna have planned, it's obvious this was his destiny...

Your faithful student and forever friend, Twilight Sparkle

A few moments later, Applejack, Arthur, and Big Macintosh headed to the Castle of Friendship to meet with the only one capable of finding a way to let Arthur shoot his guns- Princess Twilight Sparkle. Before him stood the most bizarre building he ever saw- an elaborate crystal tree the size of a small building, with an oversized crystal door and stairway leading to the main entrance. Applejack took the lead, knocking on the massive doors and waiting a few moments. After waiting, the door slowly creaked open and on the other side stood a violet colored unicorn with a dark blue mane parted down one side, with a teal highlight. "Applejack!" The mare spoke. "What brings you here, and why is Big Mac,with you?"

After bringing her up to speed, the unicorn let them in hurriedly. "I had no idea, Applejack. Is there anything I can do?" She asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. Twilight might though, do y'know if she's here?"

The pony nodded. "Yeah. She's here, but I don't think she'll be much help..."

"Why's that, Starlight?" The orange mare asked.

"Ugh, don't even get me started. She's trying to find a way to somehow teleport somepony without knowing where they are. I mean, just because Ms Cheerilee doesn't show up to Book Night-" She facehoofed. "Right. Sorry..."

"As much as I appreciate this heart-to-heart y'all are havin'," Arthur spoke up. "I'd rather get somepony to let me fire my damn guns, otherwise this glorified Doll House-" he bucked a nearby wall enough to send cracks halfway up its side. "Is gonna be rubble. YA HEAR THAT, MISS PRETTY PRINCESS?" He yelled. "Y'ALL DON'T COME OUT SOON, I'M GONNA BREAK ANOTHER WALL!" He wound up another buck, much to everypony trying to stop him, when suddenly he was frozen in place by a purple aura.

"How dare you! Do you have any idea, any idea at all, how hard it is to repair crystallized magical essence?!" The purple Alicorn in question popped into being a few feet away from Arthur, her horn still lit and a scowl on her face.

"As much as I wanna give a damn," the brown stallion struggled against Twilight's magic. "I just don't have the patience right now. Name's Arthur. Luna told you I'd be comin', so can you let me down now?!"

Fizzling out her magic, the princess released him from her grip. "You're Arthur? I was expecting some one a bit-"

"Taller?" He joked, dusting off his rope hat.

"Nicer." She scowled. "Now, she said there was something you needed my help with?"

Reaching into his saddlebags, Arthur pulled out his guns and holster. "I need you to figure out a way to let me fire these." Levitating them in her magic, she took a close look at them. "I need 'em if I'm gonna have any chance of gettin' Bloom back."

Turning them over, Twilight gazed at them closely. She cast a quick scanning spell, levitating over a quill and parchment, taking down dimensions and measurements. "Follow me."

The group of ponies twisted and turned down the hallways of the castle when finally they came across a small lab where Twilight experimented. Various beakers and test tubes littered the small area, and in the back sat the portal to the human version of Equestria, currently powered down. Setting the guns down on a nearby table, she went to work on making a rig to hold them. "I get you're going to help, but what exactly are you going to do that the Princesses couldn't already?" She asked, levitating various open books related to mechanical apparatuses nearby for reference.

"Break the Law." He answered immediately, stopping Twilight in her tracks.

Snapping back around, she trotted closer to the stallion. "I'm sorry," she chuckled. "It almost sounded as if you said 'Break the Law'. That can't be what I heard, right?" She smiled maniacally. "Right?! I mean, why would you break the Law? Everypony needs rules!"

"Easy now, Twi..." Applejack tried to calm her down, only to receive a magical ward around her muzzle.

"Twilight, what do you think you're-" Starlight was next. Mac took one look at the two and thought it best not to piss off an extremely powerful Alicorn.

"You heard me right, Princess. I didn't stutter." He glared back at her.

"HOW DARE YOU!" She sent a cascade of magic at him, pinning him on the far end of the room. "THEY'RE TRYING TO HELP!"

"YEAH, AND LOOK WHERE THAT GOT US!" He yelled back, despite the amount of pain he was in. Struggling, Arthur looked around for a means of escape when he saw it; a loosely fitted wall lantern was dangling by only a screw a few inches from his left. "You're nothing more than a booksmart know-it-all who doesn't know the first thing about living off the land!" Using all his strength, he managed to break his hind hoof free and bucked a nearby light fixture, sending it flying straight to the Alicorn's horn.

Flinging back in pain, she dropped the spell and Arthur pinned her down. "You can't think like an outlaw!" She struggled against his grip, only to be thrown down again. "Look at me Twilight," she tried again, looking around for a means of escape, too scared to use magic. "Look at me!" He sternly said to the mare. Finally, she met his eyes, fearful of what was going to happen next.

"I am your last chance to bring them back alive, ya hear me?! Whatever, Whoever took Bloom and the rest're clever enough to avoid your best soldiers. That means they know how they think. What you need is somepony who has survived outside the influence of the law. You need me." He let go of the scared mare and stood back. "If you disagree, by all means throw me in jail. I won't fight ya anymore."

Frantically jumping up, Twilight huffed and quickly assembled the mechanical holsters for the gun. Throwing them at Arthur, she swiftly spoke. "Instructions are in your bags. Get out of my sight."

"Twi..." Applejack reached out for her friend, only to be shaken off.

"Just leave. I...I can't stand being around him right now. I-I'll talk to you later, Applejack..." She trotted off to her study, slamming the crystal doors behind her.

"Well, glad that's over with!" Arthur chuckled.

"What is wrong with you?!" Starlight exclaimed, rushing after her friend.

"I'd very much like to know the same." Mac spoke up. "There a reason you're acting like a prick?"

"Yeah..." The brown stallion sighed. "There is. It's a lesson Princess had to learn the hard way."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" The orange mare stepped right up to Arthur, glaring him in the eye. "Huh? What's the lesson- Fighting with your friends so you become the villain?" She rushed off, tears streaming down her face.

"No," Arthur spoke to Nopony in particular. "It's that in order to do the right thing, you might be branded the wrong name..." He grabbed his hat, not noticing it fell until now. Looking back at Mac, he asked "You comin'?"

Overlooking the outskirts of Ponyville, the duo set up some targets for Arthur to practice. They thought it best to set up the range near Fluttershy's cottage (with approval of course), given it was the perfect distance away from anypony that might be in harm's way. "T-these w-weapons you're using, they w-won't hurt any of the animals, w-will they?" Fluttershy spoke timidly.

It was the first time Arthur saw someone genuinely afraid of her own shadow, and it amused him to no end. She couldn't even bear to look him in the eyes, hiding behind her curtain of pink mane. "To be honest ma'am," he took his hat off, approaching her gently, only to receive a yelp and her cowering even more. "*sigh* Well, to be honest, I have no clue what my guns can do yet. In fact, I'm not even sure they'll work." He looked back to the saddlebags flung around his back.

"Fluttershy?" Big Mac asked, approaching her as well. To the other stallion's surprise, she managed to come out of her shell for him.

"D-do y-you believe him, Big Mac?" She asked.

"Eeyup." He smiled warmly, setting the yellow mare at ease.

With Fluttershy finally calm enough to let him shoot, Arthur got set up. Okay, so the instructions said to just...think about what I wanted to do? Straining, he thought as hard as he could, almost passing out. "Try thinking like a unicorn!" Mac yelled from the makeshift blast shield they had set up near Fluttershy's cottage.

"What the hell does that even mean?!" He yelled back.

"D-don't think about it! J-just go with your gut!" He could barely make out coming from the Pegasus cowering behind Mac.

"Go with my gut, huh?" He mumbled, thinking. With a deep breath, he shut his eyes, concentrating. Suddenly, his saddlebags shook, a violet aura hovering over them. Alright Arthur, time to just...go with the flow. he thought. Opening his eyes, time seemed to slow down to almost a crawl, as it did when he was about to have a proper gunfight. Exhaling slowly, Arthur honed in on his targets. A click and whir came from the saddlebags, both his guns extended to his sides. At the very last breath, he imagined shooting his guns, and within a blink of an eye, all twelve targets, including the moving ones set up with the help of Fluttershy's birds, all had clean fiery holes right in the center of them.

Yipping with joy, he jumped and danced and hollered, not even noticing his flanks glowing bright. Suddenly blinded in a flash of light, he stopped his merriment and shook himself out, when he heard gasps coming from Fluttershy and Mac's direction.

"Well I'll be!"

"A cutie mark!" Fluttershy rushed forward, tackling the brown stallion. "I've never seen one like that before! Oh my goodness, I'm so glad! The guns were sorta scary, but oh my goodness I'm so glad they weren't dangerous!" Looking closely at his cutie marks, she became confused. "But, what does it mean?"

Looking at his own flanks, Arthur thought he might know. The cutie mark had his revolvers crossed in an X, with an open journal behind it. "Means I was perfect for the job." He explained.

After catching her up to speed, Fluttershy finally understood what he meant. "Oh..." Was all she said. Much of the ordeal remained secret to the public, at the Apple family, as well as the rest of the parents and guardians of all the missing ponies' request. Ponyville took care of their own, even if that meant sparing them the truth behind what's been going on.

"Princess Celestia is supposed to come midday and explain things." Big Macintosh spoke. "Which, speaking of..." He glanced up and saw the sun was approaching that time. "We oughta get going. Wanna come with, 'shy?"

Back in town square, everypony gathered, waiting for why they were summoned by the mare when Princess Celestia walked out, greeting everyone. Gasps were heard, and pictures taken by the press, why she was here on everypony's mind. "My little ponies," she spoke loudly, yet sternly. "It is with a heavy heart I must inform you of tragic news: the ponies that went on the local school field trip, led by Ms Cheerilee, has been found to have been foalnapped." A wave of gasps and even more photos snapped this time. "Their motives, as well as identity, remain yet unclear."

"What could this mean?" A pony in the crowd asked, followed by other ones:

"Are the rest of the foals in town safe?"

"Do we need to worry about our own safety?"

"How do we protect ourselves when we have no clue who did this?"

She lifted her hoof, silencing the crowd. "Rest assured, we have somepony who is an expert in the field working dilligently with mine and my sister's Royal Guard and police ponies." Stepping away, the alabaster Alicorn nodded to Luna, also standing in front of town hall.

"There is one other thing to note, however." Scanning the crowd, she saw Arthur join and briefly made eye contact before continuing. "Though the threat of the foalnappers remains a mystery, We have identified a potential suspect:" lighting her horn with magic, Luna brought up a piece of parchment: One with Arthur's muzzle on it.

"What in tarnation is she doing Arthur?!" Big Mac whispered, ducking his and the other stallion's head down and away from the crowd.

"Hush now, and you'll see. I reckon she's gonna make good on my nature as an outlaw." He bent his rope hat down further, masking his face from the crowd.

"This individual's name is Arthur Morgan. Though he is not connected to the crimes committed, he is also a threat and must be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law. He is wanted for possession of illegal magical constructs, robbery, bribing of city officials, as well as assault and various other violent crimes. If you spot him, tell a guard at once so we may bring him and his band of co-conspirators to justice." The crowd murmured and took every picture possible of Arthur's sketched mugshot.

"That concludes this meeting!" Mayor Mare spoke, dispersing the crowd.

"Come on, now's our chance! We have to get my posse up and running before dark hits." He motioned for,Fluttershy to come too. "You coming, 'Shy?"

Reluctantly, she trotted close behind Big Mac, heading towards the Apple family homestead.

An hour or two later, the trio made it to the farmstead. Heading inside the house, they were greeted by friends and family, as well as everypony Arthur asked Luna discreetly to find. "Everypony is here as requested, Arthur." Luna spoke. "Please forgive us for the wanted poster. We need you to be as an outlaw. Sadly, this requires the crucifixion of one."

"Don't worry about it, figured as much." The brown stallion said, taking off his saddlebags. "Now, time to meet the gang."

Lyra and Bon Bon stood side by side, knowing full well the situation and agreed wholeheartedly to the plan. Lyra especially.

Carrot cake as well as Zecora were the next two Arthur picked. Both nervously glanced at each other, then the room they were in. "I hope this gang will help us find Little Bloom, or else this will end real soon..." Zecora spoke in riddles as she always did.

"My condolences to the family and friends of Applebloom, as well as the other family members lost." Arthur spoke, taking his hat off and greeting the room. Aside from the ponies he asked to come, Granny Smith and Applejack as well as the rest of the Mane 6 and Starlight Glimmer, all stood in the living room of the family home, facing the outlaw. "Now before y'all question why I'm doing this, just know this is a tough life, and I cannot guarantee the safety or well-being of anypony joining my gang. We'll be beaten, starved, chased away, among other things." he finished, everypony giving him nervous glances.

"Finally, the gang's not complete yet, I just need to ask two more ponies if they'd be willing to join." He turned around, facing Big Mac and Fluttershy. "This life, it's tough. But we're all in it together." He smiled, holding out his hoof.

Big Mac just chuckled and gave it a good shake. "Heh heh, Eeyup!"

The yellow Pegasus timidly approached him. "W-why would you want me to join? I'm not a fighter, in fact I don't even know the first thing about *gulps* breaking the law!"

Arthur chuckled at that. "That's exactly why we need you. I don't need a fighter, I need a medic. You won't even see any firefights! You'll just stay in camp and help clean us up after a day of work 'sall." Reluctantly, she gently shook his hoof.

"Now Fluttershy, are you absolutely sure about this?" Rarity asked, followed by a few nods and grunts of disapproval.

"Um yes. It's for the foals, that's all that matters."

"Absolutely not, Arthur!" Princess Luna exclaimed. "We need her element of Kindness to protect Equestria!"

Oh I wouldn't say that, per say a voice spoke up, snapping its fingers and producing an exact clone of Fluttershy. After having a little heart-to-heart with the powers of the universe, they let me in on a little chaotic secret or two. So voila! Fluttershy 2.0! All you have to do is stomp your hooves twice and it'll immediately knock out the real one and swap her mind! No need to keep the readers waiting however so it's goodbye for now. Ta ta! Suddenly everything went silent for a second.

"Well, there's your answer, Princess. I'll thank whoever that was later." Arthur chuckled. Nothing surprised him anymore.

"Now, everypony get a good night's rest, pack up whatever supplies you need. We set out at first light." Tightening his rope hat, he looked towards the sunset in the nearby window. "Don't worry, Bloom. We're comin'..."

Leaving Home Behind

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Outlaws

Setting up camp wasn't too hard, especially since we all decided to keep most things packed up. A couple tents and Carrot Cake's cafe table was all we needed anyways, on account of us just wanting to get our bearings before heading out. Turned out we were relatively deep in according to Shy's animal friends, and it looked like it would at least be another week before getting anywhere near civilization. Still, once we did, that's when we found out about the bounty posters. No doubt another ruse set up by Miss Perfect and her two parents, Celestia and Luna.

Now, I just wanna put it on record here in writing that I don't hate Twilight for putting those two on a high pedestal. In fact, I think it a good thing! My problem is she put them so high up on the totem pole that she viewed their word above God's, and that just pissed me off to no end. Granted I'm no saint, but I'm sure whoever's reading this can agree on one thing: she's just too damn attached to her co-rulers!

Either way, the most I can say is Pride makes a good bedfellow with Envy, and one day she's gonna find out the hard way.

But enough about her! Gotta get back to my story; I'm an old stallion and my memory is shotty at best, so I gotta pen this down before I forget. Aside from running out of town with us, I didn't really introduce myself to the rest of the gang and if we were gonna be outlaws together, it was time to be honest with each other...

After pitching the tents and setting up Carrot's workstation, everypony started to wind down and enjoy each other's company, though still reluctant on talking much about the recent events.

Dutch, I'm gonna need some of that Leadin' energy right now... Arthur sighed, setting down his hat and bags. Clearing his throat, he spoke up. "Alright, listen up everypony!"

Everypony glanced at him for a moment, then went back to talking. "Oh hell no!" Stomping his hoof he tried again, but in vain. "GODDAMMIT, LOOK HERE AND LISTEN!" Suddenly, his revolver unlatched itself and shot at the glass Carrot was just about to hand to Lyra, boring a hole into the side of his supply crate. Well... That's new. he thought.

"I know y'all hardly know me, and have even less reason to trust me, but you signed on for a reason. I'm a human- I mean pony, like you, and I just want us all to work as a team." Looking at Carrot's cowering form, he felt guilty. "S-sorry about that, Carrot Cake. Once we get our first job set up, it's going straight to upgrading your supplies, you have my word."

Clearing his throat, he continued. "L-let's start with those y'all know well. Mac?"

Looking around, the red stallion sheepishly stood up, setting down the deck of cards he was currently dealing. "W-well, most of ya know me. I'm Big Mac, and well, my sister's in danger, so..." He gulped, looking at Arthur. Nodding at him to continue, he spoke with a little more confidence this time. "*ahem* Farm life can be borin' at times if I'm being honest. I know I don't talk much, so you'd never guess I would be the one to hate it."

He stomped his hoof. "But it just ain't true! I just do it 'cause the family needs me to. The one thing I yearn for- the one thing I enjoy more than farming is reading. Why, you could even ask Twilight! I rent out a book from her just about every week! And it ain't any light readin' either-" the stallion shuffled through his bags real quick, pulling out a thick red leather book. "This here is the complete works of Sir Arthur Colton Doe. He wrote Sherlock Hooves." Staring around, all the eyes looking at him as wide as dinner plates. Blushing redder than his coat, Big Mac sat back down, mumbling a small "eeyup" and smiling sheepishly.

"That's uh... Great, Mac. Never took you for the bookin' type." He nodded towards the now sheepish stallion. "Anypony else? How about you, Fluttershy?" Arthur nodded to the shy Pegasus, currently shaking within a small barrel, her pastel pink tail hung over the side like a left behind dish rag.

"I-I um, I-I'd rather not!"

"Come on, if that big softie could do it, then anypony can!" Lyra consoled the shaking barrel.

"U-um okay..." Fluttershy spoke barely above a whisper. Poking her head out, everypony waited eagerly, staring, smiling, Leering at her. "On second thought, I think I'd rather stay in this barrel!"

Lyra sighed. "As long as I've known you, you've always been like this! Get out of there!" Lighting up her horn, she teleported the mare next to where Arthur was standing.

"Eep!" She immediately ducked behind him.

"Not much for crowds, are ya?" The outlaw chuckled, receiving a firm shake of the head from her. "Not to worry, got the perfect cure-all for crowds." He patted his coat, looking for something. "Now where did I... AHA! There's the little bastard!" Pulling out a small brown bottle, he uncorked then sniffed its contents. Ah, I miss that burning sensation!

"Here," he handed the bottle to her. "Drink a bit of this and you'll be better with crowds..." Shuddering from a flashback involving Lenny and hallucinating him in pantyhose, he continued. "Trust me. Had Zecora make it for me personally." A facehoof could be heard from the Zebra in question.

Eyeing the bottle with skepticism, she gave it a small sip. Coughing from the burning sensation, Fluttershy continued drinking it, having confidence in the fact Zecora made it. "You said this helps? How?" Suddenly she got very dizzy, the whole world getting very...spinny. "Whoaaaa. Everypony looks so... Funny!" She giggled. "Y-you're right, this doessss make everything ssso easier! Thanks Arty!"

Fluttering a bit, she tried to fly and failed, landing on her rump. "Ouch! Sssssooo I'm shutterfly-oops! *giggles* I mean Fluttershy, and I jjjjjjjoined because I *hiccups* wannted to...to...do ssssomething!" She giggled, getting back up and walking towards the crowd. "Sssay Zecora, this potion is rrrrealy good!" The tipsy Pegasus grabbed Bon-Bon's face. "Can you make me more???"

She giggled, tripping for a moment before continuing. "I think it was because, like, I hated being the pretty mare who, just is a wallflower with no ffffffffight in her! Yeah *giggles*, thasounds right!" Crashing on her rump, the mare continued. "That, and that HUNK of a stallion-" she pointed back to Arthur, who was tipping the empty bottle to see if there was any left. "Asked me to! Boy if jjjjjapplemac didn't already call dibs, I think I'd just sssswoop in and take him! I'd just have to bat my eyelashes and act like the little wallflower I am when I'm not...not..." She strained, trying to think of the word.

"Drunk?" A pony yelled out, causing a wave of chuckles.

"Yeah, thassit! Drrrrrrrunk!" Suddenly, the pegasus leaned over and vomited in the grass in front of her, then proceeded to black out.

"Just what the Tartarus did you give that poor mare?" Mac asked.

"Whiskey." He threw down the empty bottle, grumbling to himself.

"What exactly is Whiskey?" Carrot asked, finishing up taping the hole Arthur put in his supply crate. "Because whatever it is, it certainly can't be healthy!"

"Nope!" The outlaw smiled.

"...and are you gonna tell us what it is?" Mac asked.

"Eeyup!" Fishing out a paper from his bag, he handed it to the red stallion who read it over.

"T-this is 100 proof! How in the-" he stared back at Zecora, who in turn, bored eyes into Arthur.

"For him only, I made this dangerous brew. How was I supposed to know he'd offer it to Fluttershy, too?!" Arthur gave her a wink and tossed a bag of bits her way. "M-mere coincidence!" She quickly spoke, seeing the eyes on her. "Betting on her tolerance? Why, that is nonsense!"

After Fluttershy was cleaned up and put in her tent to rest, everypony else introduced themselves as well as why they were here:

Zecora was promised a wealth of unique recipes for potions and poisons relating to pony anatomy, among other things.

Carrot Cake did it to give his twin foals enough bits to afford their college (with approval from Cup Cake first).

Lyra, though would not admit it without Arthur's approval, knew about where he truly came from and wanted to do research. Also, being an outlaw sounded fun. Bon-Bon naturally joined with her so she'd keep an eye on her marefriend.

After they all shared their reasons for being here, Arthur brought out a barrel from the supply wagon. "Alright, everypony! Drink up, the Apple family gave us some cider!" Raising the first glass, he made a toast:

"To family!"

Author's Note

Yes, I got that poor mare drunk as hell. Don't care, thought it was cute.

Anyways, here's a new chapter. Gonna be stopping for a bit to focus on other things. Still keep an eye out though. Got some tough times ahead of me.

Give it a thumbs up/down. Comment too, if you'd like.

On the Road/First Town

Dear Diary,

Today was officially the first day I travelled with the outlaw, Arthur Morgan. Aside from what my friend Applejack told me, I don't know anything about him. This pounding headache doesn't help much either. Whatever Zecora made for him was strong enough to make me forget how anxious I am around crowds, but I can honestly say the taste isn't something I like much. In fact, the most I remember is talking about how handsome he-

I remember nothing about what happened, diary. Nopony can tell me otherwise. After travelling for a while, we finally made it to the outskirts of the Everfree-only to find ourselves near the Badlands. Only one town was here on the border, and none of us liked the look of it.

Despite that, Arthur insisted this town was perfect for us to start our search for the missing ponies. I just hope it doesn't involve anything violent...

"Alright everypony, stop!" Holding up his hoof, he gestured Big Mac and Carrot Cake to come with him. Everypony else doubled back a little to find a clearing to properly set up camp. Bringing out their binoculars, he called out what they were supposed to be looking for. "Now the key is for us to find at least one of 3 things: a saloon, a general store, or a casino. Those're gonna be the best shot at getting any information. There, look at that building-"

The other two zooming in on their binoculars, he pointed to the outskirts of the town, where a dilapidated saloon sat by itself near what looked like a long abandoned train station. "Uh, what're we lookin' at, Arthur?" Mac asked. "All I see is a run-down saloon."

The outlaw smiled. "Exactly! Best place for info underground. Now come on, let's see how the gang fared setting up." Lingering behind, the outlaw made a few notes and drawings, then joined the other two.

A few yards into the Everfree, the camp was coming along fine; their one wagon was emptied and upturned to make a platform in the center of the small clearing, with Arthur's tent made right next to it. Zecora's medicine cart was set up right next to Fluttershy's tent, with Carrot Cake's workstation set up on the opposite side. Lyra and Bon-Bon shared a tent near the trees that served as cover- both volunteering as lookouts. Big Mac's tent was pitched on the opposite side, also volunteering as lookout.

"Good job everypony! This looks great!"

"Um, we moved the cart just like you said. Now what?" Fluttershy asked.

Fishing out two cedar boxes from his saddlebags, Arthur set them on the upturned wagon. "This here-" he pointed to the first wood box. "Is our tribute chest. We're gonna need food and water as well as supplies to make my ammunition and Zecora's medicines. Right next to it-" he pointed to the other box. "Is gonna be our information box. Any info you gather in or around town about any of our missing ponies gets put in there, unless it's a major lead. Bring those to either me or Big Mac. Anypony got questions?"

After a few moments, Bon-Bon's hoof shot up. Nodding, he motioned for her to speak up. "Yeah, these leads, tributes, gathering info... How exactly are we supposed to do that?" A few grunts of agreement followed.

Pondering for a moment, Arthur thought. "Alright, look-" he sighed, not sure how they'd handle what he was about to tell them. "On this voyage, we're gonna need to blend in with the city folk. That means we're gonna need to find odd jobs or even, *sighs*, even less than savory ones. Such as barmaids or ring fighters." A cacophony of murmurs followed. "Our ultimate goal is to get as much information as possible. Remember, we got little foals to save. Nothing else matters, and whoever took 'em already proved themselves clever enough to evade the law."

"However," he paused, setting down his hat and leaning against the makeshift table. "I ain't gonna force ya to participate. Plenty to do here in camp, like foragin' or preparing hot meals for us when we come back from town. A third, though less savory option, is to steal. Nimble hooves make for good pocket change and we need that for supplies as well as improvements to camp. Any other questions?" Nopony spoke. "Alright. Now who wants to come to town with me? We need to get our bearings, and ask around for some work. Mac as well as Lyra and Bon-Bon already offered to stay and keep a lookout around camp. Anypony else coming?"

Carrot and Zecora volunteered, while Fluttershy stayed behind to help tidy the camp up a bit. "Alright, now we need to blend in with the locals so until then-" he nodded towards the Zebra's cloak, Zecora understanding what he meant. "Alright, time to move. Just in case- MAC!" He tossed his saddlebag towards the red stallion. "Inside my guns is a flare round. I dont know rightly how they work now with magic, but you should be able to fire it with no problem." Nodding, he set them near the lookout he was stationed at.

With no other objections, everypony set on their way, the small posse making idle chat along their path to the town. Noticing the other stallion's nervousness, Arthur bumped shoulders with him, trying to get him to ease up. "I know you don't have much experience on the road, Carrot, but you'll do fine! In fact, you remind me a lot of one of my old travellin' companions."

"R-really? Me?" Carrot asked, only to receive a hearty chuckle back.

"Well sure! His name was Lenny, and just like you, he was a nervous wreck when he first joined up. I tell you what though-" he leaned into the lanky stallion's ear. "He sure knew how to throw a party! It'd put Pinkie Pie's to shame."

"I really doubt that!" Carrot chuckled. "Even when she was a filly, she had too much energy!"

"Knew her long, I reckon?" Arthur asked.

"Oh most of her life! In fact, me and the wife were the first to offer a home for her once she got settled in Ponyville." He smiled, recalling the day. "Thinking back on it, i think she was the inspiration for us to have Pound and Pumpkin."

"Yeah, I can see that... What about you, Zecora? I can tell you've been on the road a lot before Ponyville. Not everypony sets up shop in the Everfree willingly, I reckon."

Smiling, the zebra nodded. "I was a snake oiler to most ponies, quickly being called a phony."

"You mean to tell me snake oil don't work?!" The outlaw exclaimed.

She chuckled. "No ordinary tonic, they work through belief; more often than not giving instant relief! However, don't be fooled by it's clever tricks, for it won't instantly heal common scratches or knicks!"

"The 'magic' of Belief, huh? Heh, I guess I could see that!" He chuckled.

After all, that last week I had TB, just drinking the stuff made me cheer up. Didn't take the pain away though...

A few minutes later, and the trio finally made it to town. Standing just outside the abandoned train station, a rickety sign hung above its abandoned platforms. "Dusty Trails. Huh, that's an... Interestin' name." Arthur spoke, noticing the char marks all across the banner- obvious signs of spellwork if Twilight's notes were to go off of. Opening up his journal confirmed it: the small encyclopedia the Princess penned in before they left had all the tell-tale signs of spellwork listed- charring among them.

"Well we're here. Now what, Arthur?" Carrot leaned down and whispered in Arthur's ear.

Looking around, the outlaw spied the potential targets from earlier, the closest being the run-down saloon just on the other side of the station. Nodding to the saloon, Carrot took the hint and headed that way. The other two leads, which Arthur kept to himself, were not far. The first was a decently sized casino- excellent for high risk gambling. It was halfway in town, just a few blocks in and located right across from the Sheriff's office.

Let's keep that as "Option C" for now, Arthur. He thought to himself. The second, more noticeable risk, was the small bank on the outskirts all the way downtown. Away from prying eyes, it would be the perfect target. "Hey Zecora," he whispered in the zebra's ear. "Can you keep a secret?"

Nodding her head, he continued. "Just in case findin' information and gettin' decent pay don't pan out, we might need to take, *ahem*, drastic measures, if you understand my mannerisms."

"You mean to say steal-" Quickly, he muzzled Zecora with his hooves before any curious ears heard their whispers while trotting to the saloon.

"L-like I said," the outlaw let go of her muzzle. "We'll need funds, and we already have a reputation-" he motioned to the nearby wanted posters, causing the zebra to pull her hood tighter. "Plus, Princess Luna gave me a promise to offer amnesty."

"While Princess Luna did give us permission, I don't see how robbing can help our mission!" She whispered.

"Think about it- at most, this town is only going to last, what, a few years? The only thing keepin' it from going belly up is that casino-" he pointed to the luxury building in the distance, barely noticeable through the other buildings. "And I bet you if we ask anypony where their money went, we're gonna find that the local mayor favored the gamblin' hall over repairing the train station. Seen it before, and I'm probably gonna see it again. Now come on, we gotta see if Carrot snagged us some seats."

Trotting over to the saloon, Arthur pushed open the swinging doors and immediately felt at home- the whole bar was a small corner of hell, with lively piano music playing in the background and a few fights breaking out. Ducking his head to avoid getting hit by an incoming bottle, Arthur noticed where Carrot sat and made his way over there. "Nice little corner you got for us, Carrot!" He chuckled, waving the barkeep as a good gesture. "Right in the corner, away from unsavory types. Smart move."

"Heh, if you say so, Arthur! To be honest, this table was the only one that didn't have any vomit or broken glass on it!"

"Even so, good place to start." He said, looking around. In one corner, the outlaw noticed a small group playing the pony equivalent of five finger filet, and just opposite them were a small group of ponies that had their eyes on them before they even sat down, he reckoned. "Get any leads yet?" He eyed the group out of the corner of his eye, preparing for a fight. In all the years evading the law, Arthur learned the telltale signs of a group of bounty hunters from even a glance.

"No, not yet. I barely sat down. Why, what's wrong Arthur?" Carrot asked.

"Behind the counter, look for wanted posters." He motioned to behind the bar on the board clearly marked for bounties, having his suspicions high.

Cautiously glancing over, the lanky pony looked for posters that looked familiar, when he finally spotted them. Hyperventilating, he tried to stammer out what he saw, but to no success. "*sigh* I knew it... Luna sure works fast." Arthur mumbled. "Just calm down, Carrot. It's okay." He reassured his friend.

"B-but I... Wanted? What about my kids?!"

"Listen, you need something to calm the nerves. Zecora, can you watch him for a sec?" Leaving him to the zebra, Arthur walked to the bar to look for refreshments.

"What'll ya have?" The barker asked.

"What do ya have?"

Gesturing to the selections of bottles setting behind him, he began to list the drinks on tap. "We got Root Beer, Absinthe, Bourbon, and some Apple Cider. Anything else costs extra." He explained, polishing the counter he sat behind.

"I just need somethin' strong. My friend over there-" he pointed to carrot currently hyperventilating. "Just found out he's having twins." A small lie, but convincing enough that the pony went straight to work brewing something special.

"Tough break, that. Twins're a handful. Here, this should pep him up. I call it the Lunar Knockout." He handed the outlaw a mug full of some sort of black glittery substance. It looked like the night sky.

"Thanks, partner." He slowly made his way to the table, not trying to make much attention. The bounty hunters never once took their eyes off of him. It made sense, considering his bounty was the largest. "Here, drink this."

"W-what is it?" Carrot stammered.

"Tonic, for the nerves. Now drink up."

Eyeing the black brew with a suspicious eye, he gave it a sniff. It didn't smell bad, so he swiftly drank it, hoping it would calm him down. "Thanks, I-" was all he got out before passing out.

"Sweet Celestia, how strong was that brew?!" Zecora yelled in a hushed tone. "If it put him out that fast, it holds no candle to your brew!"

"That's 'cus mine's a classic from where I come from. Something of that caliber is only to be expected from a place with Dragons and, from what it sounds like from the stories, two gods controlling the lights. Now help me carry him out, we're bein' hunted." Together, they heaved the currently babbling and unconscious Carrot on Arthur's back and swiftly made their way outside.

Changing a glance behind him, Arthur's suspicions were right: the group eying them were following close behind. Nudging Zecora, he pointed to a narrow alleyway and they both galloped out of site for a moment and into a small alcove behind a few buildings. "Oh great plan, Arthur!" He chastised himself. The small space was a dead end.

"No need to fear, my friend." The zebra spoke again, fishing something out of her cloak. "This is not the end."

"Is that-"

"You are not the only one with secrets to hide. Now lay our burden down and off to the side."

"Well Cletus, you see where they went?" One of the country hunters, a lanky Earth Pony stallion piped up with a thick southern drawl.

"Shut up and keep quiet, Brine!" A dark brown unicorn stallion replied with a smack to the pony's muzzle. His mere presence intimidated the other two into submitting, let alone his grizzly voice. Straightening his bowler hat, the burly pony approached the alleyway he saw them turn down with caution, keeping his horn lit in a soft white glow. "Come out all peaceful, and we promise not to cause you any trouble." Nodding to the other one in his party, a white Pegasus with jet black hair, he took off and kept the airspace secure. Cletus had no clue who that pony in the hood was, and wanted to cover all exits. "I know these streets, you're trapped!"

"You can shove your 'kind graces' right back up that manure factory you call a face! I know your kind, so I know you got ropes ready to tie us up and haul us back- dead or alive." Arthur spoke up.

"Why you-" The Pegasus made to dash, but the bounty hunter gestured him to back off a bit.

"Easy, Quill." He uttered back to the pegasus. Dusting his black vest off, he went with Plan B. "How's about I come in alone?" He shouted, throwing his rope in plain view of the alleyway's sight line. "I can assure you, I make good on my promises." Deactivating the magic in his horn, the bounty hunter continued to slowly make his way down the narrow passageway.

"Alright then, if what you say is true, come on back so we can discuss terms."

With a nod, his two associates stepped away, preparing for anything to happen.
"If I don't come back out Brine, Quill;" he got that serious look he always had on when it meant business. "Kill them, damn what the posters say."

Trotting back to the alcove, he slowly approached the space, checking corners for an ambush only to discover the alley was... Empty. "What the... It's empty?! How in the-" Suddenly, a small red stick with a lit fuse rolled near his feet. "Oh sh-"

Big Mac was patrolling the clearing, making sure no traveler came close to their encampment, when suddenly, he felt a massive tremor from under his hooves. Becoming ever more worried, the stallion headed for the cliff face, hoping it wasn't what his gut told him it was. Unfortunately, his instincts never lied; There, just a few blocks to the right of the saloon Arthur went in with Zecora and Carrot Cake, a massive plume of smoke jutted out above a set of buildings. "Tartarus, you didn't!" Galloping back to the camp, he went to go explain the situation. Apparently, Arthur decided to skip the first few letters of the alphabet and went and made an impromptu Plan C...

"Dynamite?!" Arthur exclaimed, now galloping through the streets and away from any officials running after them. "You brought Dynamite with you?!" He ducked his head to avoid another spell blast whizzing past him.

"You said 'prepare', so I prepared!" She shouted back, forgetting to rhyme.

"For a bar fight!" Another spell shot past them, narrowly avoiding the still unconscious Carrot thrown haphazardly over Arthur. "Why would I need Dynamite on a scouting mission?! Now the whole town knows our faces!" Kicking over a food stand to buy some time, the outlaw pointed to another alleyway, this time with more than one exit. Setting the still-sleeping unicorn, he disguised the entrance they came from with some nearby trash cans and litter. Ducking down, he peered through the cracks, hoping the police lost their trail. A cacophony of voices could be heard, as well as a distant whistle being blown. Waiting a little longer, he was certain they lost the trail and let out a sigh of relief.

"What's the plan now-" Zebra began, only to be interrupted with a stinging slap to the cheek. Shocked, she rubbed it with a hoof, tears welling up.

"Are you DENSE?!" Arthur seethed with rage.

"I said I was sor-" a loud stomp of the outlaw's hoof silenced the now scared Zebra.

"You ponies have it too easy! Y'all think it's gonna be a GODDAMN walk in the park! Well it ain't! We don't have a 'band of merry mares' to save us from every little problem! We got no money, little supplies, and not a whole lotta time!" He threw down his hat in frustration.

"I-I d-don't know what t-to do..." Zecora sputtered through segmented breaths.

"Yeah, well now neither do I!" Sighing, he looked through the notes jotted in his journal and came to a decision. "I think it's time we head back. It's obvious that we have a lot of work to do..."

Author's Note

Took a hot minute, but I'm finally back from my break in writing this. I put up another few stories while setting this one aside, but modern day stress brings me back to this one again.

If you're liking this so far, give it a like. Or don't if it isn't the best, either one helps me.

Comments are appreciated, especially since I've been away from this one.

EDIT: I highly recommend listening to Paying a Social Call from the RDR2 Soundtrack once Cletus is introduced until the end. In the future, I'll mark soundtracks or clips of music that work well with the bits of story.

Training

Damn these ponies...

I tried my hardest to get some honest, reliable, useful help, and all I get is a bunch of thumb sucking sissies! At least Mac has enough brains under that brawn to understand that screwing up could mean life or death. He had the wagons packed and ready by the time we got back to camp, albeit very, VERY slowly. We had to waste some more Dynamite that Zebra had stashed away in that coat of hers to cause enough of a distraction to get us back.

Looking back, I can see now I- WE went in unprepared. I needed to build the gang up to the point we needed to be, not just throw them in the deep end like that.

However, we were able to snag us a clue, as well as a friend and informant on the way. Let's just hope the "Great and Powerful" can actually help...

"I told you time and again, I don't care how sorry you are!" Arthur spoke up, in a softer and more stern tone than back in town. The first foothold they were on their way to making blew up in their faces, quite literally. Tightening another strap to the side of his wagon, he continued. "Our one decent place to start lookin' is gone."

"B-but I..." Zecora teared up, fumbling over her words. He felt sorry for her, and for being the one who put her in this state.

"*sigh* Look," he turned around, facing the mare. "I don't rightly blame ya for that stuff in the town. It was my fault I never prepared you for the life we need to live from now on. We were pressed for time, and I figured the quickest way to learn was to throw it at you head on." He sighed again, giving Mac the signal to start moving out. "Now I can see we need to start slowly..."

Packing the rest of their things, Arthur led the caravan out of the clearing and back on the path. From what he saw when they did their earlier scouting, there was only one other road, way too near the city and the forest was too dense to guide the wagons in. Tightening his hat, he explained the situation to the rest of the gang. "Alright everypony, listen up! Our chances to establish ourselves in this town have been..." He gave a side glance to Zecora. "Limited. Our only choice left is to pack our bags and get movin'."

"Well, why can't we stay and just send someone else?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, say somepony you just met from, oh I don't know, Canterlot, walks into your garden and starts smashing everything in sight. Then the next day, somepony else comes in and asks to see your garden again, and said he also came from Canterlot, in the same exact way the other pony did." Big Mac explained. "You'll be mighty suspicious of that new pony, right?" The rest of the group nodded.

"O-oh. I get it now..." The Pegasus lowered her head.

"Hey, no need for that!" He lifted her chin up to stare back into his eyes, a smile on his muzzle. "From what Arthur told me, he's got a plan for the next town. You'll see..."

Continuing down near the town put every pony on edge, but none more than the three ponies wuth wanted posters of them now plastered on every corner, even out near the outskirts, where they were at. Huddling together, the gang thought it best to stash Arthur, Zecora, and now a well informed and fully awake Carrot on the wagon, hidden behindsome tarp and a few crates of supplies. "I-I don't think I can put up with this, Arthur." Carrot Cake admitted. "I m-miss my kids, my wife, and gosh darnit, even Pinkie!" Tears started to well up in his eyes.

Sighing, the outlaw pulled off his hat, understanding the stallion's pain. "I get that, I really do. Did I ever tell you about another one of my old gang havin' a son of his own?" He played with the brim some, reminiscing.

"N-no... What was he like, the son I mean? I'm sure his dad missed him terribly."

He chuckled somberly at that. "See, that's just the thing: he kept the little tyke and the missus with him. The kid was alright, though. Smart. Even more than half the adults."

"He kept him near all that...danger!? Why?" He asked. Zecora was now paying close attention too.

"Well, unlike you, he didn't have a choice. John Marston was a hell of a guy, but he could only do so much. He was forced to travel with us, kid and all, 'specially since his face was known in almost every major town and city." He looked back up, meeting Carrot's eyes with desperation. "You got to keep 'em outta this mess. I don't wanna witness another family broken apart because of this..." He admitted.

Suddenly, there was a tapping coming from the side of the wagon. "We're clear."

Jumping down, the outlaw asked about the situation from Mac. "Got us a map without much trouble. No clear roads past this point-" he pointed to a small patch of forests painted just on the outskirts of the local map. "We're somewhere around halfway there-" pointing to the town of Dusty Trails, he traced his hoof along a road leading northeast and towards the same landmark he pointed out before, stopping his hoof at a small fork. "Camp is unlikely, but I know the forest is a start."

"Where does the other road lead?" Arthur asked. Looking at the map, all he saw was a sheet of white, and a border naming something called the "Crystal Empire".

Big Mac just shook his head at the name. "I know that's not right. Crystal Empire's too far north! Where's the legend-" he looked all over the map to find the scale of it, only to come up empty. The only thing he did find was the publish date, which didn't put him at ease. "This map's 80 years old, Arthur. Should we still even trust it?"

Humming in thought, he gave it a good while before coming up with something. "Hey, Fluttershy!" He yelled up to the caravan currently waiting for the two. "Come Here for a sec."

Flapping her wings, she landed softly next to the outlaw. "What is it, Arthur?"

"Can you ask some of the nearby animals how far away this is?" He pointed to the forest on the map.

"Sure!" Trotting a few steps away, she leaned down to a pair of nearby bunny rabbits, asking for directions. "Oh? Oh my! That is far away! Okay, I'll tell them." Trotting back, the Pegasus gave them the news. "Mr. and Mrs. Fluffytails told me it's at least a week to reach the forest. They told me it's safe though, and that there's a trading outpost a few days from here where we can resupply."

"Well, that's... News." Arthur couldn't tell if it was good news or bad. It was true the trading post was far enough not to notice the damage done in Dusty Trails, but he still kept cautious nonetheless. That was only the first problem, however. They already spent a few days on the road before setting up in the clearing back near the town, and supplies were dwindling. They can't keep staying on the road without learning basic survival techniques and he didn't have much time to teach. "What do you think, Mac? You've been in Equestria longer, so what're your thoughts?"

The red stallion gave it some thought. "Well, if this Trading Outpost is our only chance to resupply, I say we take it."

"And you, Fluttershy? Think the rest can hang on until then?" He glanced back and noticed some weren't faring too well to all this travel. One group yawned noticeably, while another rubbed the sand out of their eyes in a poor attempt to stave off exhaustion.

"I-I'm not sure." She mumbled. "A-after all the commotion, I'm sure they want to rest. Is it alright, I mean, can they, um, rest for a bit?"

He glanced back at the smoke behind them, as well as heard a faint police whistle blowing. He sighed. "No, we still ain't far enough away yet. Anypony lookin' to rest their hooves can jump in the wagon, takin' turns on leading the caravan. It's best if we make as much ground as possible."

"O-okay. I think that works..." The Pegasus hesitantly agreed.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "You're a part of this now too, so tell me what's goin' on."

"W-well, um, I don't think I should be the one telling them, you're the one leading us."

He gave it some thought. Though it was true he held the reigns, Arthur didn't lead, and never has. "Well, I'm not much of a leader. I make stupid decisions, hell, we all do!" He chuckled. "But the way I see it, the best thing to do is agree to somethin' rather than be the sole pony calling the shots. Between the three of us, we should be able to come to an agreement, and lead different things in our own way."

He pointed to Big Mac. "Mac, you're good at keepin' track of supplies." The stallion agreed with his trademark Eeyup.

"And Fluttershy," he smiled, facing the Pegasus. "You're good with pe-ponies. You take care of 'em.

He tightened his brim. "And as for me, I'm good at causin' trouble." He chuckled. "But I'll make sure we can keep happy both with supplies and morale. Now come on, we have a lot of ground to cover..."

And they did. It took almost all day to get to a good place to stop and set up camp. The ponies were battered and restless from all the walking they needed to do, but it was worth it. Not much was around in the way of sightseeing, however; For miles upon miles, all around them was grassy plains, save for the odd patch of trees and bushes, thankfully loaded with fruits and vegetables. Their food shortage, it seemed, was sated. However, Arthur had another problem he needed to address.

"Alright everypony," he stood next to the center atrium they mock-built out of the tarp from the wagon. "I know it's been a long journey on the road, but this time I mean it when I say you can kick your legs up and just relax." A roar of cheer and relief came over the crowd, but was short-lived, however. "BUT!" He shouted. "That doesn't mean the work stops. You got a lot t'learn about this life, and it's about time I properly train y'all."

"However," He motioned to Fluttershy and Big Mac. "I ain't doing it alone. Mac and Flutters will both help me in teachin'."

Approaching beside him, Arthur quickly explained what the two would train the rest of the gang in.

"Fluttershy is good at talkin' and, er, I think one of y'all called it "assertiveness"? Her job is to teach you how to get some info the easy way. I'll watch over her shoulder for the first few lessons, guidin' her along in teaching you. As for Mac-" he motioned to the stallion to start speaking.

Nodding, Mac walked to one of the few trees littered about their campsite and bucked it so hard, the trunk launched in the air, sending two other trees falling to the ground. "Eeyup." Was all he said, his point getting across plain as day.

"Well, that's all there is to it, so let's start settin' up." He shouted, breaking up the impromptu meeting. Arthur really hoped he knew what he was doing when it came to these ponies. The ponies of Ponyville were too soft, too used to danger literally walking on their front porch, and that same danger brushed off by something else. It reminded him of that lovey dovey rich couple he saved before they headed to Saint Denis, that is, until Dutch's plan backfired.

Regardless, it was going to be a tough few weeks training them, and he wasn't sure they'd be good enough by that time. Arthur just hoped they'd learn enough before they got to the trading post...

Meanwhile, a certain unicorn, of the great and powerful variety, was currently grumbling at the rudeness of the town she stopped in. "The gall of those backwater hicks!" Trixie exclaimed to Nopony in particular. "You set off one firework, and all of a sudden, The Great and Powerful Trixie" She posed for dramatic effect, again to no one. The dirty road the unicorn found herself on was deserted. " 'Dusty Trails'! More like 'Moldy 'Snails'! Thankfully, Trixie had a fan there to help her out." Sure enough, a brown earth pony explained she was a showmare, and was no more dangerous than a harmless mouse.

"If i ever find myself in the unpleasant company of whoever's bright idea it was to THROW DYNAMITE THROUGHOUT THE TOWN will have a serious bill to pay! 'Excessive explosion' tax shouldn't even be a thing!" She sighed, looking down at the near empty bag of bits hovering in her magic. "At least they told Trixie about the trading post. Maybe they'll give some supplies in exchange for a show..."

Author's Note

there you have it. Not much, I know, but I'm working hard, I promise.

Anyways, here's another chapter. Let me know what you think.

Woodstock's Tools and Co.

Training took off with relative ease, after a few hiccups here and there. My star athletes were of couse Flutters and Mac, but a few others showed promise.

Lyra, for example, managed to swipe my guns with her magic so secret-like that you could swear she did it before! Her partner in crime, Bon-Bon, or as I like to call her, Bonnie, really picked up on Fluttershy's lessons. Batting her eyelashes and sweet talking me like a common escort. I gotta admit, she got me all hot under the collar, and pretty damn good at that!

It didn't take long for Mac's lessons to hold too, because Carrot Cake became less of a wimp and more of an honest work hand- er, hoof. Zecora picked up on some strength training too, becoming pretty good with a knife, if the hay dummy we made up with some of the left over food that didn't quite keep was anything to go off of. The jugular, knees, and several contact points for Pegasi that Fluttershy taught the gang were all clean cuts. I asked her about it once, and she just brushed it off as one of the skills she picked up taking care of her bird friends. Makes sense, considering how many times she probably had to make splints for them critters.

It wasn't until the third day that I realized we were behind on schedule, and that much shorter on supplies.

I just hope the rest were able to learn enough for the Trading Post. That's when the real test begins...

"Mac," Arthur gestured him over to the center tent, where he was pouring over the supplies list, his brow knitted and set with worry.

"Look at the food count-" he pointed to the figures on the small piece of paper they were both glancing at. "These numbers right?"

"...Eeyup." The red stallion sighed. "Spent too much time trainin'. What do ya think, Arthur? Should we get a move on?"

He sighed, trying to think. If they stayed any longer, they'd be past the point of no return when it came to food and water shortage, and there was no way the gang could survive around here. Plains surrounded them for miles on end; Their only options were to either turn back and maybe avoid the Law, or head towards what sounded like a one-way trip into nothing but blizzard, going back to the fork in the road and hiking up an outdated trail towards maybe the Crystal Empire. "Well, we need to move, and I don't see much options, aside from our current path." Grunting in affirmation, Big Mac alerted everypony to start packing up.

However, he was interrupted by the outlaw grabbing his shoulder. "Hold up, I gotta make an announcement." Stepping back, he made way for Arthur.

"Alright everypony, before we get all packed up, I need to update y'all on current affairs: We're behind schedule it looks like, which means supplies are reaching towards the red." He sighed, hating to rush them again, but he didn't have any choice. "We're gonna need to go faster than usual, which means anything you're used to carryin' goes on the wagon. Pots, pans, personal supplies; everything goes. Alright, now enough talkin'! We're not stopping until we hit the trading post, so let's haul 'er out!"

Taking a look at the fork in the road, then back at the worn and weathered map given to her, Trixie concluded the town was even dumber than they let on. It was different than the one Arthur got earlier, showing instead Canterlot being on the left, and an enormous clearing on the right. Taking a look at the date it was published, she couldn't believe it: the map was older than the founding of Equestria! "Stupid ponies!" She grunted, throwing the map down. It was then that she noticed something: a pair of fresh wagon tracks leading to the right, only a few days old by the looks of it. "Well, either Trixie is crazy, or the map is lying, but I don't care!" Slapping the harness back on her using her magic, the unicorn turned to the right and began following the fresh trail. "Trixie is gonna get revenge on Dusty Trails by running over this stupid map!" She then stamped all over the parchment, cackling madly.

"The great and powerful Trixie doesn't need directions! Besides, Trixie believes the kind pony that told her of the trading post over a centuries old map given by that shady mayor any day!"

A few hours later, the gang's scenery changed on the road from a peaceful set of plains to the beginnings of what looked like swampland. "Damn it," Arthur mumbled. "No way we can trek through here without leavin' something behind. Hey Fluttershy!" The timid mare poked her head out from behind the wagon.

"Yes, Arthur? What can I- oh my!" She gasped. "There's no way to get through here like this!"

"My thoughts exactly." He exclaimed. "Any chance you could peek up and see if there's another way through?"

She nodded, soaring through the canopy. Flapping her wings, the Pegasus soared high above the treetops, looking out on the horizon. It stretched for miles on end, it looked like. However, scanning through the trees revealed the trading post wasn't that far in, so maybe they could get some of the ponies there to help them. She rushed back down to deliver the news.

"Well, Shy? What'd you see?"

"The trading post is only a few steps in, at best. If we leave some ponies behind with the wagon, maybe we could go in the swamp and get somepony to help?" She suggested.

Arthur rubbed his chin in thought. "It's a good plan, but I wanna have everypony on board. What do you think, Mac?"

"Hmm..." He scratched his head. "Eeyup!" Was all the stallion spoke.

"Well, alright! It's decided: you, me, and Flutters will go in and fetch some ha- er, hooves to come get our wagon and the rest of the gang."

"W-wait, why am I coming?!" Fluttershy exclaimed, beginning to panic. "I'm not s-strong like Big Macintosh, I-I can't fight!"

"No, but you do know where the trading post is." He replied, tightening his rope hat. "I've got some more of that 'Liquid Courage' if you'd like some." He jiggled a bottle of brown hooch the outlaw pulled out of his pack.

Shuddering, the mare remembered how sick it made her last time. But at the same time, it did put a pep in her step... "Gimme that!" She swiped the bottle and downed its contents in one gulp. "Alright, it's this way. You better give me more when we get there!"

Surprisingly, it wasn't as long of a trip as Arthur thought. The only tough part was dealing with knee high swamp water almost all the way there. "Here we are, so pay up!" Fluttershy said, aggressively snatching the promised liquor as soon as it got within reach. It was out of character for the shy mare, and was definitely a stark contrast from the last time she drank a batch of the outlaw's whiskey. I warned Zecora not to change the formula... Oh well. If 'Grumpy Fluttershy' was anything like 'Bubbly Fluttershy', then she oughta pass out pretty damn quick before she could cause any real damage... Arthur thought, before hearing a sudden crash and seeing Fluttershy almost drown somepony who bumped into her. I hope...

"Mac," he pulled the stallion closer so he could whisper to him. "Keep an eye on Fluttershy. Last thing I want is an aggressive Pegasus completely ruining our plan."

"Eeyup." Big Mac trotted away, leading the angry drunk mare towards the nearest bar.

Snatching up his saddlebags, Arthur took a look around the trading post for some ponies to help out. The entryway to the makeshift docks was ramshackled and worn, barely holding together. Weathered lettering gave way to the small post's name: Woodstock's Tools and Co.

Arthur snorted when he saw the motto plastered then painted over underneath it in red:

The best ~~Wood~~ MERCS money can buy, or your ~~refund~~ DEATH Guaranteed!

"Great." He sighed. "Well, let's hope our wanted posters haven't went around long enough for us to be recognizable." Spotting a couple of passing Earth Ponies, he flagged them down. "Hey, fellas!"

The bigger of the two, a yellow mountain of a stallion wearing obvious mercenary gear with knives and all, approached Arthur with a surprisingly neutral look, given the nature of this "trader's outpost".

"Somethin' ya need?" He asked, leaning down to look the outlaw in the eye.

Sizing up the pony, he chose his next words carefully. The last thing they needed was another town to chase them out. "Well, it just so happens I do! Would you ponies be so kind as to help my family move our wagon to this trading outpost? The swamps're too thick for our wheels and we've been travelling for quite a while now." He put on his trademark "humble traveller" grin.

The stallion gave a short chuckle in reply. "This ain't no Trader's Outpost. Hasn't been in years, so don't expect common decency in this place, Friend." He whistled to his friend, a small white unicorn mare wearing a Stetson and small bandolier- an item that gave Arthur pause. "Hey, Ironsights! Think we should 'Help' this here traveller?" He laughed again, this time his partner joining in.

"Well, how about a bet, partner?" The mare asked, coming down from their laughter.

"Depends, what're the stakes?" Arthur knew the game the two Mercs were trying to play- he'd seen it before, back when Dutch and him were by themselves and taking on bounty hunting. The mare smiled back sadistically, giving away he was right. a game of liars and cheats it is then...

"How about yer hat?" He stared at the outlaw's trademark headpiece, the rope still wound tight keeping Arthur's head secure. "My other one went missing during a 'trade distpute', ha-ha!" He started another wave of laughter between the two at his ironic joke.

I'm gonna have fun robbing you two blind he thought, holding out a hoof to the two. "Deal!" He smiled, the other taking his hoof and shaking it. "What's the game?"

"QUICKDRAW!" the mare yelled out in a southern drawl, sending everypony barreling for nearby cover in huts, carts, everything. Flicking on her horn, the mercenary zapped a tree just outside the outpost, it's leaves shaking and several targets dropped down, full of holes...

Bullet holes.

"The object of the game is to shoot as many targets as possible in three seconds. Here, lemme show ya-" she nodded to her partner, standing back and bringing Arthur with him.

"On ya mark!" He started counting down.

"Get set!" The unicorn's grey magic flickered to life again, grabbing the several metal bullets from her bandolier and hovering them in midair.

"DRAW!" Suddenly, the pieces of metal all flew at a lightning pace, hitting 8 targets on the swamp tree total, two others landing in the bark mere inches from their intended destination. Arthur's jaw dropped: there was another gunslinger in Equestria it seemed.

Shaking him out of his reverie, the mare spoke up. "Tell ya what, I'll give you two tries. Heck, since you're an Earth Pony like my partner here, how's about I give you a slingshot to use, to make it fair?"

He weighed his options carefully. This mare was the clever type and knew he'd only be able to get a few shots in at best, but obviously generous as well- a flawed trait ponies carry even in the most dangerous businesses, it seemed. "Okay, sure. I can agree to that." Arthur reached for the wooden tool with his hoof, and set up. Nodding to the stallion merc, he got into position.

"On ya mark!" The outlaw, quick on his hooves, slid a few pebbles to his other hoof, hoping to kick them into the other targets.

"Get set!" The outlaw drew back the slingshot with his teeth and took aim, holding the wooden part still in his hoof.

"DRAW!" He took aim for the two closest targets, hitting one clear as day while the other one veered to the right. Before time was up, he kicked the pebbles that were kept close to his hoof, hoping that they'd hit at least a few pieces before the clock ran out.

"What's the total for that one? I'm not much a shooter, so I thought it'd be alright if I cheated a bit." Arthur played dumb. He knew if it was any other pony that came here, it'd be an execution on the spot, but his act about being a lost caravan got her seeing a punching bag to torture at best.

"Well, seein' as you only hit a couple with that there slingshot, I won't fault ya for trying to pull a fast one on us. Ready for round two?"

Time for the hook He smiled. "Sure, but seein' as how you gave me a bit of fairness with this do-over, how about I sweeten the pot?"

"Ha-ha! I like this guy!" The stallion spoke up. "Well, what're you offering? Me and my 'magically gifted' associate will see if it's worth our ti-"

"Gold." Arthur threw down a bag of bits, the gold sparkling in the mercenaries' eyes. "It's why we need some help. When I said the wheels couldn't make it, I meant they were weighed down too much by all the bits we're haulin'. Care to call my bet?"

Glaring at each other with a knowing look, they called his bet with an equally large bag. "Alright," the mare spoke, smiling devilishly at the stupidity of this "wandering trader" before her. "Bet's called. Get set up, partner."

He knew it'd be asking for trouble, but the outlaw hoped the mercs had a code of honor, just like back in his world. Or, at least, to an extent. "Ready." He pretended to ready the slingshot again, as well as his guns hiding in the saddlebags with a barely noticeable jostle.

"On ya mark!" He slowed down his breath, focusing, looking for a pattern.

"Get set!" He found it! Low to high, the targets went in a zigzag- probably to make them look branched out and random, but he knew better. Squinting his eyes, the targets were the only things that remained in his vision.

"DRAW!" Suddenly, it was as if time itself slowed down. The guns burst out of his saddlebags and hit all of the targets, including the ones they thought were cleverly hidden in the leaves of the tree, but he found them. The pattern gave them away, it must have been how she could hit them every time- the two missed shots were probably for the set-up, give their mark some hope in beating their score. Shooting the last one with laser precision, time sped up for the outlaw again and everything was back to normal.

"What in the-"

"YOU CHEATED YOU SELFISH BASTARD!" The mare shoved him. "What am I to you, some kinda joke?!"

"Not at all, ma'am." Arthur tipped his hat smugly. "Just a fool who played a fool's game."

The stallion jumped up and held him in the air. "Alright, you stupid little-"

Suddenly, a piercing whistle came through the air, interrupting the fight before it started. "Enough!"

As if caught by a predator, the two mercs scrambled away from Arthur and stood,in formation, like soldiers. Stepping out of the shadows of the nearby saloon, a gangly old brown stallion with a cowboy hat and grey handlebar moustache eyed the trio. Leaning on his cane, he approached them, careful not to trip over his own hooves.

"Woodstock, sir!" The stallion merc spoke.

"We didn't expect to see you up and about today, heh heh!" The other one nervously chuckled.

"Yeah, well these two fine travellers," Woodstock pointed to a half-conscious Fluttershy and Big Mac, currently carrying her. "Have told me they need help through the swamp." Looking at the targets behind them, the stallion began to connect the dots. "Seems somepony finally beat you at your own game, Miss Abelene."

"That is not. My. name..." She muttered through gritted teeth.

Woodstock laughed heartily. "Of course not, 'Lucky Shot'! Though I prefer the name your mother gave you." He spoke kindly, despite his gruff and weathered tone and appearance. "And what about you, Buttercup? What roped you into this mess?"

"Well, to be honest sir, it just kinda ended up this way." The yellow stallion bowed his head. "I was just havin' a drink when that fella-" he pointed to Arthur. "Asked for our help, like we was together." Both he and Lucky Shot blushed. "N-not that we were- I mean, are!"

"Save yer breath, Buttercup!" Woodstock chuckled. "I'm just an old stallion, what can I honestly do to a big mean Earth Pony such as yerself?" He smiled.

"W-well you could always fire me..."

"Fire you?! BAHAHAHAHAH!" Yer a merc! You can do what you Damn well please, son. But if you do-" His eyes got dark all of a sudden. Then, with a flick of his hoof, the cane supporting his weight opened up on the handle to reveal a cylinder extending out and a magic crosshair appeared over Woodstock's left eye. Squinting, he flicked his hoof again and sent a bullet right at the dirt between the two... A bullet like a gun would have...

Arthur strapped his saddlebags tighter- a move that didn't go unnoticed by the mysterious benefactor of this Mercenary Camp. "I'm not lookin' to take yer guns, Outlaw." The lanky old stallion turned around, studying the pony before him. "Much like this cane, I think there's more than meets the eye about you. Now come on, we'll see if we can round up some more helpers INCLUDING Buttercup and Lucky Shot, don't you two try to sneak away!" He yelled over his shoulder, stopping the two escaping ponies in their tracks. "Way I see it, you broke the rules of my camp and tried to swindle this gentlecolt and his friends."

"Uh, what does he mean by that, Mac?" Arthur whispered to his friend.

"Tried ta drink me under the table. Quit halfway when I found out they were switching their mugs out for cider. Poor Fluttershy took most of the mugs." He straightened her out on his back so the Pegasus' wings wouldn't bend in an awkward shape.

"I turned her into an alcoholic, didn't I?"

Big Mac Chuckled. "Eeyup. T'be fair, she took the first mug." He pointed out.

Well, she ain't no Uncle, that I'm glad for. Still, it ain't right. It'll ruin her before it helps her. I'll ask her when she's sobered up.

Author's Note

Fluttershy is definitely getting used to some genuine Whiskey a bit too much, but hey that's the outlaw life for ya.

Same deal as last chapter, let me know if you like/hate it. It really does matter to me.

Writing has been an enormous stress relief for me, so I appreciate your comments. It helps improve my craft and takes my mind off of life events that really make me want to just curl up and cry.

A Matter of Perspective

Everything about the bar this mysterious stallion owned, heck, the entire company, just screamed to me "Blackwater but with horses". It unnerved me, that much was for certain. Still, he seemed nice enough to let us stay a bit, sending some of his men- er, stallions, to fetch the rest of the group. What got me the most was how a drop of liquor could turn that wallflower Fluttershy into another Uncle waiting to happen.

Fluttershy...

I really hope you get to read this someday, I been nothing but cruel to you. I never should have attempted to give you that first bottle...

"So, what can I do for you fine gentleponies while you're staying here in this establishment?" Woodstock grinned behind his desk, pulling out a bottle of whiskey and pouring himself a glass. He offered some to Big Mac and Arthur, but they both turned it down.

"We're just lookin' to resupply and move on." Arthur tipped his hat as a friendly gesture. "We'll offer what we can in services to pay for what we need. Our money is sadly in short supply."

The elderly pony took another sip from his glass, contemplating what to say. "I'm sure the boys could use an extra pair of hooves around the place. Nothin' too serious for such..." He eyed the gunslinger's satchel suspiciously. "Unique characters, such as yourself."

Arthur looked at Big Mac, hoping for some insight. As it usually was, he was as talkative as ever, only offering a small turning of the head in curiosity. "Well it seems my associate would like to know more."

"Hmm?" Woodstock turned to face the stallion. "Oh. Ohhh! Of course!" He chuckled before downing the last of his whiskey before pouring another round. "Nothing too serious, I promise! Just need you to strongarm some customers that forgot to pay is all." Woodstock finished with a small smile. "Well, do we have a deal?" He held out his hoof.

Big Mac eyed it for a minute before hesitantly grabbing it and giving his trademark "eeyup." Albeit less enthusiastically than usual.

"Good!" He chuckled, finishing off the last few drops of whiskey left in his glass. "Now let me introduce you to my boys. OHHH BOYYYYYS!" Woodstock hollered out. A rumbling of hooves could be heard from every direction; not only a show of numbers, but a demonstration of force as well. Grinning at the two stallions, the old horse chuckled dryly. "We got some fine stallions joining us for a while, be so kind as to let them be, ya hear?!"

A cacophony of shouts came from the army of mercenaries currently standing in formation around the bar, either in rude grunts and gestures, or in general murmurs of agreement. Smiling, the stallion shut the window. "Now that we got that settled, how's about we find a place for that Pegasus of yours to lay her head down?"

It was hours later when Fluttershy awoke. At first she had no clue where she was, but slowly the memory came back of her drinking, then getting real dizzy then... Something. Sitting up, she went to climb out of the cot she was nestled in when a large and very painful headache stopped her in her tracks. "Owwwwww..." she whimpered out, clutching her head.

"Well now, look who's awake!" Woodstock chuckled, entering the small one pony room she was in.

"Not so loud!" She held her head even tighter after the stallion shouted.

Seeing her reaction at him speaking nearly had him rolling on the floor in laughter. "Must be your first time with a hangover, heh heh!" Nudging his head towards the table next to the bed, Fluttershy took the hint and slowly sipped at the glass of water resting there. He slowly made his way further into the room, fishing out a large white tablet out of his pocket.

The mare jumped back in shock a bit, but the headache prevented anything beyond that. "Relax. It's a seltzer tablet. Here-" he motioned for the cup and dropped the tablet in when it was in reach, the water turning fizzy upon contact. "You just drink that up, it should help."

"...Thank you." The Pegasus barely whispered.

This is what my boys were terrified about? Clearing his throat, Woodstock sat down next to her for a spell. "You must have some sort of mean streak buried in ya if my boys are so riled up by a sweet little thing like you."

"Um sir, I'm sorry but I don't know who you are."

"Who, me?" The old stallion smiled. "I'm an acquaintance of Arthur's. Just think of me as the 'Mayor' of this little hole in the ground!" He chuckled. "Now, you mind bein' honest with me? What exactly you got buried underneath that sweet exterior?"

Fluttershy glanced over the old stallion once more, before sighing. "I don't socialize well with other... Ponies. I have a hard time being assertive." she took another sip of her water, the headache from before slowly clearing. "I tried to be assertive once before, but it backfired... I bullied all my friends and even made some of them cry. After that, I told myself that version of me wouldn't come out again... Turns out Arthur's whiskey brings it back out."

The entire time she was talking, not once did Woodstock ask what drove her to drink. To him, she was nothing more than another type of his kind; She just didn't know it yet. Unsure of what to say, he got up and adjusted his outfit- a trait he picked up as a fine businesspony. After all, you need to look the part every once in a while.

The old stallion cleared his throat and straightened up a bit. "Well, since everypony is too damn scared to work with you, I think it's best you pay back your tab by helping me with a job."

Curious, Fluttershy cocked her head. "What could that be, Mister Mayor?"

Woodstock chuckled again. "Oh, you'll see..."

A few minutes later…

"I don't trust him!" Mac exclaimed. "Stallions like that want one thing, and that's usually bits."

"You think I don't know that, big guy?" The gunslinger spoke calmly, eyeing the mercenaries they were passing. "We're here to restock and get goin'. Plus, they might have a lead on Applebloom, or did ya forget we're doing this for her sake?"

Big Mac stopped in his tracks. "Is this a game to you, Arthur?!" He snorted. "Our lives have changed! I can feel myself getting closer to a level I thought no pony could reach."

"Oh yeah?" Arthur snorted back. "And what level was that, Mac?!"

"YOURS!" He stamped his hoof in the ground, leaving a crack. Silence permeated the air after that. Even the nearby mercenaries stopped and stared at the two, either with genuine shock or increased paranoia.

“Well what are y’all lookin’ at?!” Arthur all but yelled. After most eyes pried away, he went to the nearby saloon where the commotion with Fluttershy first started, not for answers but for the stuff that put her into a frenzy. Right now, that’s better than worrying over everything. Besides, Big Mac knew better, he was just scared. The old gunslinger knew that feeling all too well. “He’ll turn around…”

Shaking his head of worrisome thoughts, Arthur pushed the doors open to the saloon and sat at the bar, not even bothering to look up. “Whiskey, and leave the bottle!” He said with a tone of frustration in his voice.

“Right away, Arthur. One whiskey bottle ready to go!” A familiar cream yellow hoof handed him the bottle and a shot glass.

“What the-? Fluttershy?!” He exclaimed, nearly falling out of his stool and earning a giggle from her.

“I didn’t mean to surprise you, teehee!” She smiled, cleaning the bar’s surface with a towel. “Mayor Woodstock was kind enough to offer me this job. At least until I pay off my debts…” True enough, there was probably a tab built after Fluttershy’s drunken brawl but he had no time to worry about that.

“Well… okay, then.” He said with hesitation. She poured the stallion a shot of whiskey and left the bottle. After eyeing the liquid for a minute or two, he drank the shot in one fell swoop. Arthur liked the taste of whiskey back in New Hanover, but tasting it here was… different. It didn’t quite have the bite he was used to, like it was missing that gritty burning sensation from how strong the proof was. Glancing at the bottle told him why- there was not a whole lot of alcohol in it to begin with.

“Say Fluttershy, just how many shots did you drink from your… incident?”

“Hmm?” She asked, wiping a glass clean from behind the counter. “I’d suppose at least three or four…”

“Just a few shots sent you into a frenzy like that?! Yer pulling my leg!”

“Oh no.” She giggled. “Three or four bottles.”

"Well no wonder you were so fierce!" He chuckled. Pouring another shot, Arthur continued. "Ya know, you remind me of a certain someone I knew a while back, heh. His name was Lenny..."

"Oh?" she poked further. "What kind of pony was he? I hope he was as kind as I was!"

Arthur took a long time to answer that, eyeing the bottom of his whiskey glass and seeing his distorted reflection. The stallion sighed, forgetting the shot this time and taking a swig directly from the bottle. "Well, he was young and naive. He didn't really know how to fit in the group much, on account of multiple things. Same goes for mingling with the city folk when me and a fella named Dutch along with a bunch of other folk like us would roll into town. He was a er..." He stopped for a second, trying to come up with a good way to explain how a person of color was treated to Fluttershy. This world of ponies didn't know much about racism, on account of everyone seemingly getting along. Clearing his throat he continued. " *ahem* Well, he just was treated different. Like how a regular pony might give you strange looks on account of your wings if he's never seen a Pegasus before."

Fluttershy gasped. "My goodness! I couldn't imagine being treated differently like that!"

He chuckled. "Yeah well, that was the kind of world I lived in." He took another long swig before continuing. "Too bad he got killed. His kindness and innocence was a nice change of pace."

"I'm sorry, Arthur." She grabbed a hold of his hoof. "It sounded like he was a good friend."

He gently set his other one on top of hers, glaring into her eyes with his own sad, weathered ones. "Thanks Fluttershy. This life, this... suicide mission, it can change you, turn friends to enemies. Just promise me you won't change too much."

"I promise, Arthur Morgan." She smiled back. "Now let's get my tab paid for! I think I hear the rest of our group rolling into town."

Author's Note

Long time coming, but I finally got it done! Just a heads up, updates are gonna be sporadic due to a lot of life changes. Hope this will be enough to sate your appetite for a while. Until next time, keep commenting! I gotta know how I'm doing if I'm ever gonna improve :)

A Gunslinger Without His Gun...(part 1)

After the "Pink Incident" I like to call it, things turned mighty untrustful for me when it came to this...Eccentric town. I feared just about every corner, every alleyway, every colorful balloon and streamer. Now, don't get me wrong, I like parties as much as the next one, but when you run from the law so many times, a birthday party may as well be a death sentence. It sure was a close call when we celebrated my 20th at Dutch's request, that's for Damn sure! Wasn't the Pinkertons that early in our running, but it was a rival gang out to make a name for themselves.

They weren't the brightest, but they were responsible for chasing us towards New Austin... Towards Blackwater...

...Damn Micah. Never left anything alone from day one. I hope he's rotting in hell somewhere. Either that or an unmarked grave.

Anyways, enough about the past. This entry is about the day I got my guns... And my Cutie Mark...

A few days passed at the farmstead, with Arthur learning more and more about homesteading, and incidentally, bulking up a bit to Applejack's demise. The mare couldn't even stand near him without getting all hot and bothered! At some point, you gotta man- er, pony up and tell her you ain't interested. The brown stallion noticed a grin on Granny and Mac's face after Applejack rushed off. Might wanna approach them first. Let them know of my intentions...

Shaking his head, Arthur continued tilling the fields. Almost a week went by and there was still no sign of Bloom. It worried him to no end, but the rest of the Apple family assured him she was just on a field trip and he had nothing to worry about. Suddenly, the dinner bell rang, jolting the stallion, and upon reflex, reached for his gun. Unfortunately all his hoof met was an empty duster still too long for his body. Still, he managed to keep it in good condition for working in, save for the bullet holes. At first he treated them as remnants of his violent past, but the more time he spent here in Equestria, the more they represented healed scars and old memories.

The weekend was approaching and still no sign of Applebloom. Mac and Granny started getting worried at this point. "Y'all seen Bloom?" Arthur called out, turning in the leash he borrowed from Big Mac so he could till some fields. "Is she back yet, I missed her terrib-" Suddenly, he came face to face with that same pony that banished the nightmares from his dreams. He collapsed to the floor, his muzzle white as snow. "No, not her..."

"Hello, Arthur." The midnight blue unicorn with wings spoke. Alicorn is what he heard Big Mac call them. "I believe we have already had the pleasure of meeting. My name is Princess Luna." She held out her hoof, a serene smile on her face, only, he's seen that smile before- It was the same smile Dutch had when he wanted to keep something secret.

Shakily, Arthur steadied himself. "H-how long?"

The Alicorn blinked. "Well, you might not have remembered it, but since a few months ago-"

"NO GODDAMMIT, NOT ME!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, shocking everypony in the room. Sighing, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I already know who y'are. Don't rightly forget someone such as yourself, what with the gargantuan height and the wing and horn combo." He gently pushed her hoof down, saving proper introductions for later. "I'm talking about the kid." He met Luna's eyes, a brief understanding flashing between them.

"...We suspect for a few days now." She sighed. "Our suspicions arose after their teacher, Ms Cheerilee, missed attending Book Night with Twilight Sparkle."

"Makes sense." Mac spoke, Granny Smith nodding alongside.

"Now how does that make sense?!" Arthur exclaimed.

"If you knew our Twilight, you'd know nopony dare miss Book Night." Mac explained.

"Indeed, Twilight Sparkle would tear the world asunder if anypony is even remotely late." The midnight blue Alicorn paused for a moment. "There is one other thing We need to inform you of." She sighed. "It seems, no matter how many times my and mine sister's Guard have scoured Equestria, she is nowhere to be found. It might be best to consider she may have been foalnapped along with her entire class." Silence hung in the room. "I am afraid to admit, We will not be of use any more than we are now..."

"...So what do we do now, Princess?" All eyes turned towards her, the same question ringing through their heads. "Will she be alright?" Applejack asked, finally speaking up.

Luna sighed. "Our sister is much better at this. I'm not used to...comforting Our subjects. We normally are the ones who head into battle, not win the hearts and minds." She looked to the floor, observing it's scratches and wear. "We inflict wounds, not heal them..."

Silence echoed through the house. It was as if it was already mourning Applebloom like she wasn't coming back. It pissed Arthur off to no end.

"Much as I care to admit," the Brown stallion spoke up, stretching out his limbs and straightening himself out. "I'm used to fightin' battles and licking wounds." He tightened the rope around his hat and shook the dirt off his battlescarred duster. "That, and there's one thing I neglected to tell any of y'all about me-" he patted the saddlebags hoisted around himself, the guns rocking inside. "I'm an outlaw from where I come from." Everypony gasped.

Looking himself over at a nearby mirror, a pony looked back. His face was grizzled, with a bit of stubble growing, despite how odd it looked to him. Tired blue eyes stared back at him, and for once in their life, not because of running. Smiling, he looked back at everyone. "Always have been, 'cept when I came here. Bloom is like a daughter to me. She was the first pony I saw when I came here, and I'll be damned if she was the last."

"Luna, right?" Arthur asked the Alicorn. She nodded. "If'n it won't get me in trouble, I'd like to form a posse and gallop out to find her."

"Absolutely not! An entire army of Royal Guardsponies could not find them! What makes you think it would be any different?!" Looking around her at all the faces of desperation, the blue Alicorn relented. "Very well. My resources are at your disposal. Tell us what it is you need."

"No Princess, this ain't how it works. No knights in shining armor, no pockets lined with money. If we do it, we do it my way." Arthur explained. "That means no outside help. You are just there to make sure we don't get arrested."

"Arrested?!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Yeah, arrested!" He bore through her, stomping his hoof in anger. "This kind of job, it relies on us breaking...the...Law. We ain't heroes. We're just ponies tryin' to survive. All we need from her-" he pointed to Luna. "Is amnesty. The rest is gonna be on the gang to handle."

"So, who's going with ya?" Big Mac asked. "Yer in charge, the way I see it."

"It can't be anypony well-known. Which means I can't bring almost half of Ponyville unfortunately, though I do have some ideas..."

"Like who?" Applejack asked, hopeful he'd ask her to come with him.

"Well, before I get started with building my posse, I need just one thing:" he gazed at his saddlebags once more.

"I need my guns."

Author's Note

Its been building up to this point. The adventure begins after part 2.

My friend decided he had enough of being friends so another thing to add to my growing list of stresses. Yay *cue sarcasm*

Anyways let me know if you like/hate it. Right now, I just need to keep writing to distract myself from the pain of losing a friend.

Comments are optional.