The Way of the Cowboy

The Way of the Cowboy

Chapter 11

I was laying down on the floor, with my head resting on a pillow I had found, and had my hat resting over my eyes. Big White and Purple have been taking non stop, while also scouring the library for certain books. I didn’t really know what the hell to do at this point, so I figured I'd try and rest my eyes for a bit. I felt a nudge against my lower shin on my right leg. I tilted my hat back enough to see what happened, it was Rainbow with sitting upright like a dog next to me, her right hindquarter brushed up next to my shin. Not thinking anything of it, I recovered my eyes. I heard a few ponies leaving out the door, but I didn’t bother to see who was leaving.

————————————2 hours later———————————

“…ZZZ-Zzz-ZZzzz”

“TyE ThomsON”

“ ZzzZ-ZZzz-Zz”

“TY ThOmpSoN.”

“ZZzz-ZzZZ”

“TY THOMPSON!”

“ZZz-hngGGggh-Ppbhww-wha, what? I’m up, ya.” I said groggily, while removing my hat from my eyes. Purple was immediately in my field of vision, she was looking down at me and had one of her forehooves stretched out and gently shook it. Reaching a hand up, I grasped around her pastern, then she pulled me up to a sitting position. I wiped away some eye boogers, and blinked at my surroundings. I was still on the floor, in a much less crowded room, the only ones remaining were Purple, Big White, Butterfly, the dragon, and still sitting next to my shin was Rainbow. My dogs were curled up on my other side, both content and comfortable, but with ears still on alert. I had a bad case of cottonmouth, “Hey Purple, got anything to drink? Water?” I asked, as I mimicked myself drinking a glass. She nodded her head then motioned me to follow her.

Once I stood up, I stretched a bit, then tousled the top Rainbows head between the ears as I walked passed her to follow Purple. Rainbow seemingly unamusingly swiped one of her wings to get me to stop, followed by a horse snort sound. I glanced back over my shoulder at her and she was giving me a slight scowl, and said “Oh geez, I’m just messing with ya, Rainbows.” Her scowl faded into a small smile.

Purple and I had reached the kitchen and with her magic, she pulled from a cupboard, a large glass, and held it under a faucet in the sink, filling the cup up she set it on the counter in front of me. Once her aurora of magic was gone from the glass, I grasped it and heald it up to my lips and drained the cup dry. I walked over to the faucet and filled it again and drank another full glass. “Damn I needed that, thanks Purple.” I set the glass on the counter again. Purple nodded her head and proceeded to use her magic on the glass, and washed it in the sink, and she was done in less than ten seconds. “Ok, now your making me kinda jealous of that ability you have there Purple.” I spoke in aww.

We walked back into the main room of the library, Big White was patiently waiting by the entrance, when she saw me enter the room, she spoke, “Ty Thompson, nic NickeR Nic WhiN wHinY.” And she motioned me to follow her outside. I gave a whistle and my dogs were following me outside as I followed Big White. The same two guard ponies were still standing watch at the entrance, but what caught my eye was the fancy chariot sitting in the street, and the six white pegasi guards hooked up in a six-up hitch in the front. The four wheeled chariot was beautiful to say the least, with gold being the primary color. There was a rather large, maroon colored, crescent shaped, seat. The wheel hubs and spokes were in the shape of a sun. As I was getting over my shock, Big White turned to me and spoke, “Ty ThomPson…” I gave her my attention, and she then pointed with one of her large wings at me. “Ty ThoMpson,” then she pointed at the other ponies, and recited the names I had given them. “PuRPle…RanBow…ButeRfly…” she then pointed at herself, “Big White,” then at Shay and Lyra, then at the dragon, and then to the chariot. Looking back at me to see if I understood, I gave her a slow nod, then she walked over to me till she was standing side by side, the looked in a direction and outstretched her wing closest to me and pointed at what she was apparently looking at.

My eyes followed her feathered appendage… at first I thought she was just pointing at some large mountains off into the distance, but then I saw it. A castle, high up on the mountain side. I brought up my arm and pointed it at the castle, then looked at Big White. She looked at me and nodded her head. At that, Big White went and got on the chariot, followed by Purple the dragon and Butterfly. Big White patted an available spot next to her side with a hoof. “Well I guess we’re going for a wagon ride girls.” I said to my dogs. Walking up to the chariot, I stepped up and on, then took a seat next to Big White. “Shay, Lyra, Load up!” I commanded. They both hopped right in and sat by my feet. The two Pegasus guards that were standing watch stood on each side of the chariot, Rainbow was hovering in the air with her wings.

I sat quietly, observing the professionalism of the six guards in the front of the luxurious chariot. There were three teams, the lead team in the front, the swing team in the middle, and the wheel team in the rear. Armor adorned each guard, and on top of that they had unique harnesses strapped to them. Only the wheel team had tug straps hooked on each side of their bodies that hooked onto the eveners on the front of the chariot. It was a bizarre set up, It looked like a lot of room between the all ponies. I’ve harnessed a lot of horses in my life, but this is making me scratch my head in how it all works. I heard Big White speak, It must’ve been the command for “GO”, because not but a few seconds later, I heard the lead team “whinny” loudly, and the chariot lurched forwards gently.

We were being pulled down the street, it felt like being in a parade, all the colorful ponies waved and bowed at the sight of Big White. A few saw me and had curiosity written on their very expensive faces. When we were nearing the edge of the town, I saw a familiar little pony, accompanied by two other little ponies the same size, one being a white unicorn, and the other an orangish pegasus.

“HI APPLE BOW!” I shouted and waved at the same time. The yellow filly with the comically large pink bow, saw me, and had a big smile plastered on her muzzle, and waved back. The teams were really starting to pick up the pace when we reached the edge of the town. Rainbow and the extra guard on their side were keeping pace flying low next to the chariot. The second extra guard was on the opposite side and flying as well. I hope they don’t feel like they are being stared at, because I was defiantly staring at them. The way their wings moved and flapped back and forth, was almost mesmerizing. They made it look so easy. As I was too busy watching the three flying ponies, I failed to notice that the three teams had broken into a gallop. What I did notice was the sound of six pairs of wings starting to flap rapidly. One by one, each of the teams hopped into the air, and by the time the wheel team was in the air, the wheels of the chariot had started to leave the solid ground.

“Holy Shit!” I reached up to my hat and yanked it down tighter on my head, fearing it would likely blow off any second. Also reaching a hand out to grasp the frame of the chariot with a white knuckled grip. I looked up at Big White, who was watching me out of the corner of her eye, an amused smile adorned her muzzle. “Well I’m glad you’re getting a kick out of this Big White!” Her posture was calm, just sitting next to me, upright like a dog. Even the other passengers were sitting like that. Shay and Lyra were standing up and getting used to the movement of the vehicle, they both poked their heads up above the front riser of the chariot. With tails wagging and floppy ears blowing in the wind, they seemed to be enjoying the ride.

Feeling a bit braver, I scooched my ass closer to the side of the chariot to gain a better view. The guard flying next to the chariot on my side saw me, I gave him a small wave, he gave me a curt nod. I looked out and back towards the village we just left from, only to see it getting smaller and smaller. The higher we went the more country I could see. The village was definitely a farming community, field’s and garden plots were stung out everywhere. Looks like they have a variety of about any kinda crop you could imagine. While looking at a field to guess what it is, a shadow passed overhead, I looked up to see Rainbow flying above us. She glided down to the level of the chariot, saw me out of her peripherals, then she turned her head to fully look at me and waved a hoof at me. I waved back. I watched both the guard and Rainbow, following their movements, their wing beats, how their muscles worked to move those feathery appendages. The wings look like they sprout out in the area by their withers. Looking over the rest of their body’s, I can’t help but notice how fit they are, they don’t have big fat pot belly’s. Instead, they are sleek and toned.

The teams climbed higher towards our destination, the castle perched on the mountain. Down below I could see a well traveled dirt road and a set of railroad tracks, running parallel with each other, and headed to the mountain. Every once and a while, I would see a wagon or two, being pulled by a pony. I could also see a train slowly winding its way down the mountain. I looked back to the castle that was slowly coming into view. The temperature up here was a bit more brisk, than down in the valley. A city started coming into view the closer we got, elegant and unique infrastructure, reminding me of Middle Ages design. The city rested within a high mountain valley, while the enormous castle was on the edge of the cliff. The Castle itself was truly a sight to behold. Ivory White towers with golden spires sprouted all over the palace. There were plenty of waterfalls too. I could see hundreds of ponies, if not thousands, milling around and doing their own thing.

The chariot made a pass around the castle, then the three teams started to descend. They were aiming at what looked like a landing strip. The teams touched ground at a gallop, followed by the chariot. Our entourage was galloped to a platform that had a pathway to the castle. The chariot came to a complete halt, Big White stood up, and departed the chariot, followed by Purple with the dragon straddling on her back and Butterfly. I followed and stepped off next, with Shay and Lyra behind me. Rainbow, who was still hovering, dropped down next to Purple and Butterfly and landed on her hooves.

I looked over to the teams, they barely had a lather going, and their breathing wasn’t stressed. It’s plain to see that they are in tip top shape. As I was wondering if they unharness themselves, I heard Big White call my name. “Ty Thompson,” and then motioned with the swing of her neck and head, in a “follow me” motion. Big White started off at a steady walk, with the rest of our entourage following.

There were guards stationed everywhere here, and it felt like every eye was on me. There were pegasi guards, unicorn guards, and regular pony guards, all with gold colored armor. They all had some sort of weapon, mostly spears. We were nearing an entrance of the castle, when a familiar stallion came trotting out. The two tone blue hair was a dead give away. Purple galloped ahead of us, whinnied loudly, then embraced Big White Stallion around the neck. The stallion returned the hug, then tussled Purples mane a bit. He spoke pony words to Big White, then looked back at me and said “Ty Thompson,” then raised his front left hoof and waved it.

“Big White Stallion.” I replied along with a nod of my head. Our group headed inside, with B.W. Stallion joining. The sound of hooves “clip-clopping” was a bit more pronounced on the fancy floors. My spurs seemed to “ring and jingle” a bit louder also with each step I took, but no one seemed to mind it though. Even the two pegasus guard’s armor jingled a bit. There was also a full blown pony conversation happening between all of them except the two pegasus guards. Every once and a while I could hear my name mentioned. I had no clue as to what they were talking about, which was starting to get old, real fast.