New York City, United States

1899

It was raining, raining hard. Droplets splattered across the streets and the gaslight lamps. In front of a house gone quiet was a single man of twenty four. He was tall and broad, with the beginnings of a beard of pale brown. His clothes were wet with the rain, and in his hands was an old revolver from the Civil War.

This man, Robert Thornton, had just attended his father's funeral and seen to his estate before visiting his childhood home, one last time before he left New York City for good.

"Damn." Robert cursed, holstering the revolver. "On today, of all days."

Robert still remembered his father, the stories he would tell of his service in the Union Army during the Civil War. He could remember his father coming home to his late mother, and embracing her before he met his only son.

He remembered growing up, and learning to shoot in the wilderness of upstate New York from his father and uncle.

He remembered Sunday Mass each day at church, with his father as the ever present Preacher.

He remembered the revolver he held in his hands, a gift from his dying father on his birthday.

And now, he remembered the funeral and the farewells from his congregation.

But to Robert, none of that mattered. His father, the man he looked up to most in this world, was gone.

And in his pocket now waas a train ticket to the west. He had a ticket to a town in Colorado to start anew, at a ranch he had purchased. The trip would take about a week or more by Robert's reckoning.

With a sign, Robert grabbed his suitcase and headed for the train station, a tear dripping down his cheek and into a rain puddle.

====
One Week Later
Hope Springs, Colorado

Town Hall and Bank

"I am sorry to keep you waiting, sir. Here is the deed and papers."

"Thank you." Robert told the clerk at the bank. "Is there anything else I need to do?"

"No, sir." the clerk smiled. "You're free to head there anytime. Have a good day."

Robert tipped his hat to the Clerk, and looked at the deed in his hands. The land Robert now owned was purchased with his inheritance. It was just outside of town, and in pristine condition.

Robert sat down at a table, and looked the paper over with a wistful sigh. Ever since he left New York, he had changed day by day. He now wore a set of denim pants, with a leather coat. A Winchester Rifle lay on his back, along with his dad's revolver at his thigh. A knife lay in his pocket, sheathed in leather.

Suffice to say, he looked more like a lawman from the frontier than the son of a preacher from New York.

As Robert looked up and pocketed the deed, he saw a group of six men ride up. They were armed, and most certainly did not look like pleasant folk hoping to patron the bank.

Robert lowered his hat as the men entered, guns brandished. As the patrons began to freeze, Robert stayed quiet and unmoving as the outlaws began to spread out. Their leader headed for the teller, and as far as they knew, Robert wasn't there.

"Hey, you! What do you have there?"

Robert looked up at the man who approached him, bearing a rifle. Robert shrugged and looked away.

"Nothing you're concerned with, sir." Robert replied. "Believe me, I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"Is that so?" the outlaw replied. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because it's the truth." Robert said. "Your only concern is the money, right? So why are you bothering me?"

The outlaw bristled.

"Don't get smart with me." he growled.

"If you're calling that smart, I haven't even begun to talk." Robert smirked. "You really do put a bad taste in my mouth."

The outlaw gritted his teeth and pointed his rifle at Robert's head.

"Shut up and get down." the outlaw said, his gang now backing him up. Robert raised his hands and peered out the window. In the corner of his eye, he could see horses riding up, most likely the Sheriff's men.

"I think it's about time you leave." Robert said. As the outlaws turned to the door, several more men entered with guns ready.

"Lower your weapons!" a man with a bronze star ordered. "Or we will shoot!"

The tension was electric, Robert could feel it. Nobody dared move…

...until Robert did. As he went to knock one of the rifles away from him, the outlaws opened fire at the same time as the sheriff's men. As the bullets flew, three of them hit Robert Thornton in the chest and heart.

He was dead before he hit the ground, the deed in his hands now wet with blood.

====

Robert opened his eyes and saw one thing.

White, a white void lay in a great expanse all around him. Surprisingly, his dad's revolver, his rifle, and his knife were still with him.

"Where am I?" he murmured.

"You are in the void, or in your terms, Purgatory." a female voice replied from the nothingness around him.

"Who's there?" Robert replied.

"I am known as Faust." the voice replied. "And I've been watching you, Robert Thomas Thornton."

"Why?" he asked. "Why am I so special?"

"As of now, the outlaws you helped deter are dead, and the humans in that bank are unharmed. You saved forty-two lives by your brave sacrifice."

"I wouldn't exactly call it brave…" Robert said. "More like spur-of-the-moment."

"Whatever it is, you have earned something only a brave and noble few have received." Faust said. "A second chance at life."

Robert raised his eyebrows.

"However, there will be a price." Faust said. "You will not be brought back to Earth, but to the realm I once called home. You will start again from the beginning, with only what you bear now to aid you. Or you may die, and be lost forever. Your choice."

Robert looked up at the sky.

"I accept. Take me away." he sighed. "To wherever this place is."

"As you wish."

His vision blurred, and he blacked out.

====

Robert once again opened his eyes and felt grass stir beneath him. Rising up, he saw that he was atop a hill overlooking a small town. The air was fresh, the sun was shining, the only word that Robert could think of…

...was paradise.

"Well, here goes nothing." he sighed. As he strolled down the hill towards the town, he could catch glimpses of humans going about their daily duties. The strange thing was that Robert could see that some had wings or a small horn on their forehead. Even stranger was their skin colors varied like the rainbow.

"At least they're wearing clothes." Robert thought. As he stopped and looked around, he saw that a bakery or cafe was open and in front of him.

"Sugarcube Corner." he said. "Well, it's a start."

As he entered, he could see several people eating, drinking, and reading. Seeing as Robert had no money, he sat down at a booth and sighed.

"Excuse me, are you new around here?"

He turned to see a woman with indescribably fluffy pink hair approach him. She wore a light dress with an apron, and she smiled at him.

"I suppose so." Robert said.

"Well, it's your lucky day!" the woman said, throwing a platter of food down in front of him. "Everypony who's never been here before gets the special welcome platter!"

"Well, thanks." Robert said, mentally swearing he'd heard "everypony" instead of "everyone". "How much?"

"No charge." the woman said. "I'm Pinkie Pie, by the way. Holler if you need anything."

Robert tipped his hat as she left to take care of the other customers. As he dug into a set of pastries with coffee, he sighed at how good it was.

"Jesus, I haven't had stuff like this in quite a while." he smiled. "What else could happen?"

As if on cue, a group of four ponies that, according to Robert, seemed a little too tipsy staggered in and sat down. As Pinkie came over to serve them, Robert saw one of them slap her on the behind.

"Hey!" Pinkie said, stepping back. "Rude much?"

"You don't know the half of it, sweetheart." their clear leader said. "Come here, missy."

"As if." Pinkie said. "See yourself out. I'm not serving you."

As they advanced on Pinkie, Robert drew his pistol and fired a warning shot into the floor. As the eyes of everyone there came to him, Robert walked forward.

"Didn't you ever learn not to treat a lady like that?" he growled. "Despicable."

"Says you, outsider." one retorted. "I think you're in over your head."

"Am I?" Robert smiled. "Or are you?"

As the four of them bristled and growled at him, Robert looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"So, I think you'd best be off before things get too hectic." Robert warned. "Or there'll be hell to pay."

The ponies looked at each other, and then made the stupid decision of crying "get him!"

Robert drew his revolver and got two shots off before he was tackled. As he shoved the man off of him, he swung his fist into the man's side. The attacker crumpled, and Robert was then sent to the ground by a wooden chair to the back.

As he moaned in pain, he could see the ponies advancing on him. As he reached for his revolver, he winced in pain once more, throwing off his aim.

Then, it seemed someone was watching out for him.

"EVERYPONY STOP!" a feminine but authoritative voice yelled. Then, Robert saw the unbelievable happen.

A woman, wearing a rather fancy and opulent dress colored gold, white, and pink had her hands outstretched, and before Robert's eyes, the attackers floated into the air and out of harm's way.

"Glad I made it in time." the woman smiled, extending her other hand to Robert. "Are you okay, sir?"

Robert cleared his throat, and passed out cold.

====

Princess Twilight Sparkle raised her eyebrows as the stranger passed out in front of her. Rolling her eyes with a smile, she sent the troublemakers into the custody of a magical sphere. Once they were taken care of, she lifted the man up and headed for Ponyville Hospital.

Once she arrived, she left the man in the care of Nurse Redheart, seeing as blood was visible on his back through his clothes. As she sighed and returned to Sugarube Corner, she approached Pinkie.

"Pinkie, everypony alright?" she asked.

"Yep." Pinkie said. "Well, as fine as I can be."

"How'd it start?" she asked.

"One of those meanies slapped me on the rear." she said quietly to Twilight. "Then, that nice man stepped in and tried to stop them. Next thing I knew, they were fighting."

"What about the loud bangs that I heard?" Twilight asked.

"The nice man was holding something that made it." Pinkie said. "I wonder what it was."

"Me too." Twilight said. "I'll go check on him. Will you be okay, Pinkie?"

"Yep!" she said. "I'll get this place cleaned up!"

As Twilight left and returned to the hospital, her mind filled up with questions about the stranger. As she entered his room, she could see that he was being patched up by Nurse Redheart.

"You sure it won't get infected?" the man asked.

"I'm sure." Redheart said. "Oh, there's the Princess now!"

As she stepped out, Twilight crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"So, you come into town, defend the honor of one of my friends, and then get into a brawl." Twilight said. "Quite an entrance…"

"Robert. Robert Thornton." the man said. "You're the Princess Twilight miss Redheart spoke of?"

"Yes, that's me." Twilight said. "I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Go right ahead." Robert said. "If you'll answer a few of mine."

"Fine." Twilight said, as she sat down. "Let's begin, Mr. Thornton."

Author's Note

Wow, this took a while to write, but it was so worth it.

I hope you enjoyed!