Appaloosa. A quiet, quaint little place sitting far from the busy cities of inner Equestria. The home of many a pony looking to start a new life, whether it be from a sense of adventure or simply wanting to escape the problems of their old life. It is in this rustic town in the middle of nowhere that our story begins.
The 12:30 to Manehattan had just left the station in time to make room for another train coming in behind it. An old stallion stood at the end of the track with a pocket watch in his hoof and a scowl on his face. As the train came to a stop, the old conductor began to shout up to the engine room. "What's the big idea? You weren't supposed to arrive for another hour! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to maintain these schedules?"
The engineer poked his head out of the engine room window. "Well... uh... you see there was this.... and I... and... OW!" Stumbling all over his words, the stuttering engineer was cut short by a pouch flying through the air, colliding with his face and sending him back into the engine. Looking down the track, the conductor spotted the source of the flying bag.
A single pony had stepped from the closest passenger car, wearing a hooded cloak that prevented him from seeing most of the passenger's features. Best he could tell, it was a filly based on her size and shape.
She walked right up to the old conductor and cleared her throat. "Where in this pitiful excuse of a town can I find the watering hole?"
"The Salt Block? First building on the left." The filly turned down the main road and headed to her destination. The conductor shrugged off the encounter and climbed the train engine, poking his head inside. Laying dazed on the floor was the engineer, a small pile of bits spilled out of a pouch laying next to his head.
The saloon doors swung open as the cloaked filly stepped into The Salt Block. The whole building, previously filled with laughter and the sound of pool, suddenly went quiet as every eye turned to meet the small pony. Nopony spoke as the mysterious figure moved farther into the room. "I'm looking for Prince Silver Saddle."
Groans escaped the collective mouths of the saloon's patrons. Eyes rolled and hooves met foreheads. As one, everypony in the room pointed one hoof towards the one corner which seemed devoid of light. The filly made her way past all the other ponies, hearing hushed condolences and barely whispered pleadings that she turn back before it was too late.
A lone stallion sat in the shaded corner, his chair leaning back into the wall and his hat tilted forward, covering his eyes from view. His tail tucked out to the side, its yellow and red stripes standing out from his brown coat.
The cloaked stranger stopped short of her target and cleared her throat. No response. She cleared her throat more forcefully. Nothing. With a snort, she turned and gave the table a good buck, tipping it over and dragging its occupant along for the ride.
In a sudden whir, Silver Saddle was on his hooves, wide eyed and ready to fight. His eyes darted back and forth between the other customers before the sound of a throat clearing brought his attention to the offending filly. He chuckled as he reached for the toppled table, setting it back proper. "Well, hello there, little one. What can I do for you?"
The question was met with a comic being thrown onto the table, titled Prince Silver Saddle: The Strongest, Smartest, All-Around Best Stallion. Its cover depicted the same stallion riding atop a firetruck, being chased by a river of lava flowing from an active volcano. "Who wants to know?" He looked away, indifference glazing his tone.
Yet again, his question was met with something being thrown on the table. A small pouch. The clinking sound it made as it hit the table suggested bits. He picked it up, feeling the weight in his hoof. "Keep talking..." With the filly giving a sigh, two more pouches identical to the last made their way to the tabletop. With a satisfied grin, Silver Saddle placed the first pouch with the others and turned to the filly. "Alright, you've got my attention. One minute, starting now."
The filly removed her hood, revealing her pink coat and horn. A silver-blue tiara sat atop her wavy purple and white mane. "It's like this. My name is Diamond Tiara and my father, Filthy Rich, has gone missing. He was on an expedition in the Jungle of Terror and was supposed to be home 3 days ago. The authorities aren't worried and I can't get anypony to help."
Prince Silver Saddle put a hoof to his chin. "Missing father you say? Jungle of Terror you say? Very interesting..." He was staring at Celestia knows what for what seemed like an eternity.
Shuffling her hoofs a bit, Diamond Tiara spoke up. "Well? Will you take the job?"
Silver Saddle pushed himself back from the table decisively and, in a wild display of martial arts skill, broke the table in half. "Mission accepted!" This quickly earned an angry glare from the saloon owner, who left the bar and trotted over to the loud stallion. He picked up one of the small pouches of bits, gave Silver Saddle the "pay up" stare and returned to his post.
Overlooking the outburst, Diamond Tiara jumped excitedly. "Excellent!" The Prince collected the two remaining pouches and the two of them made their way out of the saloon.
Silver Saddle looked to the sky. "About 1:00 I imagine... so with the sun setting... That makes east... That'a way." He pointed a hoof at the sun and traced it towards the horizon. "East to the Jungle of Terror!"
Diamond Tiara took off towards the jungle, stopping suddenly and falling on her face. Shaking off the dirt, she turned around to find Prince Silver Saddle had stepped on her tail, preventing her from continuing. "What was that for? We need to get to that jungle as soon as possible!
He shook his head and pointed a hoof in the opposite direction. "Jungles are dangerous. I'm gonna need some gear from my place." He removed his hoof from her tail and motioned for the filly to follow him as he turned away and started trotting out of town and into the desert. Diamond Tiara was right behind him.
Two hours later, Silver Saddle trotted back into town with a smile on his face. Stopping to look behind him, he brought a hoof to his mouth and let out a long drawn whistle. "Hurry up, Tiny! Your dad ain't gonna save himself!"
Struggling well behind the grown stallion, Diamond Tiara stumbled along shakily, trying to keep up with him, a large pack on her back. It had various pieces of survival gear strapped to its sides. "Tell me again why you have me doing all the heavy lifting?" Her tongue was hanging from her mouth as she panted, trying to catch her breath.
"Well I can't rightly save your father if i'm exhausted from carrying around all that stuff, now can I?" he stated with a smug grin on his face. Before she could say anything else, Silver Saddle walked down an alleyway leading behind the saloon. Barely managing to keep pace, Diamond Tiara followed the would-be rescuer and instantly dropped to the ground at what she saw.
"You mean to tell me that firetruck was back here this whole time? Why didn't we use this to begin with?!"
He opened the passenger door and climbed up to the inside. "Don't tell me how to do my job Miss Prissy Horn. Unless you wanna fork over more bits to pay for my gas, I suggest you stop yapping and get in. The Jungle of Terror awaits!" She grumpily strapped the pack to the side of the truck and began climbing when Silver Saddle held out a hoof. "Truck rides cost extra."
Groaning, she tossed another pouch to him, climbed aboard and slammed the door.
"So, how'd you become a Prince anyway?"
The two ponies had been riding for an hour now with no conversation happening at all. Just the rumble of the engine and the sound of tires on dirt to keep them company. It almost put the filly to sleep a few times so she decided to try speaking to him, but when he held out his hoof again, she already guessed what his answer was.
"Story time costs extra."
"Never mind." She groaned again and looked around the truck cabin. Nothing special. Faux-leather interior, fuzzy dice attached to the rear-view mirror, several pictures of well-dressed mares adorning the dashboard. What did stand out was a cassette sticking out of the firetrucks radio. "What's this?" She reached out to touch it.
The firetruck came to a screeching halt, sending Diamond Tiara flying into the windshield and bouncing back to her seat. Silver Saddle quickly snatched the cassette and held it in front of her face. As her vision slowly returned, she saw words written on it. "For... emergencies... only... Don't... touch..."
With a nod, Silver Saddle placed the cassette back in its place. "That's my biggest rule. Don't touch the cassette. Ever" he said as the firetruck got back on track to the jungle.
"Why? What's so important about that stupid cassette?" A hint of anger rang in her voice.
Silver Saddle held out his hoof once more. "What'd I tell you about story time?"
At this, Diamond Tiara's face grew as red as the truck she was riding in. "That's it! I don't know who you think you are, but you can't be the same Prince Silver Saddle from my comic!" she screamed as she held the comic in her hoof. "The Prince Silver Saddle in here is chivalrous, kind and well-mannered. You are just a greedy, lazy, selfish jerk in an old firetruck!." She turned the comic over. "Who wrote this?! When this is all over, I want to give him or her a piece of my mind.
Written and Illustrated by Prince Silver Saddle
"You did this?!
Prince Silver Saddle smiled and held out his hoof. "Autographs cost extra."
"Oh my..." somewhere deep within Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia sat in shock. She wasn't sure why but she couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere in Equestria somepony was using her own name among many choice swears not meant for filly ears...
Author's Note
This is something I had to get out. I couldn't get the idea out of my head and it's been distracting me from my other stories.
There's going to be alteast 1 more chapter.
