The train made its way across the great plains of western Equestria, belching smoke and shimmering like a mirage in the heat of the midday sun. It was 9 hours out of Canterlot, the country's lush green capital city, and was making it’s way to the biggest little town in the whole frontier: Appleoosa.
It was mostly carrying supplies for what was called in the papers the Grand Rail, a huge line of rail stretching across the entire known continent, from Detrot, through Canterlot and beyond. Rail, spikes, food, water, oil and more were eventually going to find their way to Appleoosa, which was the “beyond”, at least for the time being.
The only passenger car on the great steam engine was sparsely populated, containing a few crumpled looking vagrants, who travelled the rail often looking for work. A quiet, reserved gentlecolt in practical-looking clothes spent most of the journey intently watching the scenery pass by.
The rest of the carriage was dominated by a small pile of three hard, thick-looking travelling trunks, which looked to be fit to burst. Scattered around and on the trunks were an abundance of smaller saddlebags and boxes, bulging with nick-nacks and oddities. Their owner had the rear of the car all to herself.
“Are we theeeeere yeeeet?”
Well... almost to herself. Twilight looked over the top of the tome she was currently entrenched in to peer at the little dragon that was her assistant, which was currently sprawled on the seat opposite her, its tail rocking languidly with the sway of the train.
“It can’t be that long now, Spike. The train’s expected in Appleoosa at midday, so we should be stopping any minute now.”
Immobile, Spike responds, “How can you even tell what time it is? We’ve been here for-EVER!”
Twilight wrinkled her nose in response. “The sun’s almost at the top of the sky. That means it’s almost mid day.” She explained as if talking to a child, which, by sheer coincidence, she was.
Spike sat up, his big head and the green spikes that ridged over it barely reaching the top of the bench. He kicked his feet idly in irritation.
“I thought you said this was going to be exciting!”
Twilight sighed and kneaded her brow.
“No Spike. I said I’d be studying frontier culture. THEN, you zoned out and started playing at being a cowboy. WE are going to be studying the effects of the Grand Rail on the people of Appleoosa, especially how it affects the ranchers and the boom that is the gem mining trade.”
Spike perked up at the mention of gems. Gems were considered a delicacy to dragons and they would gorge themselves on them as often as they were able.
“Okay, maaaaybe studying gem mines isn’t so bad.” he conceded.
While the thought of a five star meal seemed to placate him for another half an hour, Twilight was able to finish the chapter of the book she was reading. This study wasn’t her idea, but her mentor’s: the Princess Celestia herself.
Twilight had balked at the initial idea. She was a scholar, not... well, not some adventurer-field-researcher-type pony! She could name all the constellations, the lineage of the Royal family, how candles are made! She knew the Dewey Decimal System, even! Her home was in the Royal Library with her books and scrolls and tomes and...
And she was going. That was final.
The Princess had entrusted Twilight with this duty, to compile a report on the life of her subjects on the fringe. She had warned Twilight that things were going to be very different from the more “civilized” eastern region; this also included law.
The law in Appleoosa was best described as “strained” and worst described as “non-existent”, with bandits roving the badlands and lurking in canyons to waylay unfortunate travellers. Twilight had an uneasy feeling that Spike may get the excitement he was so desperately seeking.
As the train pulled into the station, Twilight rapidly began revising her life choices and wondered if stepping off this train would be the best or worst decision of her life.
The engine hissed as it shut down and the giant iron beast glided into the dry, wooden station, screeching and complaining as the brakes brought its journey to a close. The vagrants had slinked off, as had the gentlecolt, who had stridden off with intent and purpose. This left Twilight wobbling on the threshold, momentarily caught in internal conflict.
Her decision was ultimately made for her as an overloaded Spike, laden down with their small mountain of baggage, absent-mindedly barged her off her feet and onto the dusty, splintery platform. As the crew on the train hopped off to do whatever it was they did when the trains stopped (she’d have to research that later) and the stationhands began unloading their supplies, they all ignored Twilight’s coughing and spluttering in the grit. Giddily, she rose back up to survey her new home for the foreseeable future.
She had imagined the town to be a small, squat settlement with a single road, like in the theatres back in Canterlot. What she saw shared some similarities, but mostly there were vast differences. The roads were still pretty much dirt, but the buildings were a mish-mash of styles. A lot of them seemed to be wooden, which she had expected. There were even some that were baked out of a dirty white clay and stone.
What she didn’t expect to see, however, was the rather large estate she could see perched on the edge of town, like a peacock infringing on a flock of sparrows. The estate consisted of one large, well built wooden house, in stark contrast to the cobbled-together, mish-mash mongrels that the town was made up of and was surrounded by a modestly sized garden which attempted to be lush, but wilted in comparison to Canterlot’s rich, vibrant gardens though it looked like the owner had tried their best with what they had available.
Shakily stepping out of the shade and into the burning sun, Twilight and Spike mosied (or at the very least attempted to mosey) down the street away from the station. Spike had unloaded their small hill of luggage onto a couple of poor stationhands to deliver to their new accomodation.
The street was practically devoid of life and the sun played no small part in that. In fact, other than Twilight and Spike, there was only one other pony who was either stupid, tough or insane enough to brave the heat.
This particular pony was a bright neon pink, the kind that exuberates a sort of manic cheeriness that would drive others insane. Her mane and tail resembled cotton candy in both shape, volume and texture that complimented the frills of her showy stage clothes finely. She wore a short ruffled dress that ended at the knee, displaying her hind legs and the stockings strung up them in a most very risque manner. They were the clothes of a dancer, of an entertainer.
Spike nudged Twilight and whispered in her ear. “Hey, Twi. You should probably introduce yourself to the townsfolk. You don’t want them to treat you like a stranger like everyone back home does... do you?”
Twilight was an expert on many things. She could name all the known elements of the periodic table. She knew by heart the fables of Starswirl the bearded. She even knew the basic mechanics of steamboat operation.
A conversationalist, she was not.
“Uhm... Hi?” She ventured.
The pink dancer leapt into the air as a colossal gasp of surprise escaped her lips, her ruffled dress billowing in the non-existent wind. After a full three seconds of airtime, the pink dancer landed squarely flat onto the ground and galloped away down the street.
“I guess I said the wrong thing...?” Twilight mumbled weakly.
Spike face-palmed. “It’s fine, Twilight. It’s fine.” He said, unrolling their to-do list.
“Okay... first order of business.... introduce ourselves to the Ranchers. They’ve already agreed to let us study them, so they’re expecting us.”
Twilight shook her head to drum some sensibility back into it. “Alright then. Sweet Apple Acres it is.”
Author's Note
Had this idea kicking around my head for a couple of weeks. Reckon it's got potential for some fun.
Sweet Apple Acres was an hour out of town, up a hard worn trail through the sun-beaten plains. It toed the fringe of a small, dry forest that more closely resembled a thicket than a wild overgrowth. A large chunk of the forest jutted out from the rest, having been cultivated and organized into an apple orchard. The branches on the trees were even now bearing sweet, ripening fruit. By Twilight’s uneducated guess, they’d be ready for harvesting soon.
The ranch itself was easily twice as large as the fancy estate on the edge of town. It consisted of several smaller buildings around two big ones: A big red barn and a large house that looked to belong to the owner and its family. While the estate in the town was brightly painted and well maintained, it was clear this house had been around for a very long time.
Twilight and Spike walked through the large, inviting wooden gate that served as the entrance to the ranch. Several ranch-hands were bustling around the various bunkhouses and stores, carrying lengths of rope and wood in addition to sacks of feed for the various animals that made up the livestock. A pack of pigs oinked happily as their troughs were filled with slop and chickens clucked and got irritatingly underfoot, almost sending Twilight head over hooves again.
A little giggle attracted her attention, and she glared around to spot the pony who was laughing at her. In the shadow of the big house, there was a short young foal. The filly had a pastel yellow coat and a big pink bow sat neatly atop her long, red mane. Judging from her height, big brown eyes and lack of a cutie mark, Twilight put her at school age.
“Ya ain’t been on a ranch before, ma’am?” The foal asked with a heavy rural accent, a far cry from the “proper” Canterlot pronunciation. It took Twilight a few seconds to mentally switch gears to comprehend what she was being asked.
“I’m uhm... here to talk to the owner?” Twilight began. Talking to a foal should be easy enough, right? “I’ve come all the way from Canterlot for a study and--”
“Ya’ll come all the way from Canterlot?! Oh golly!” The foal’s already large eyes had grown larger still, almost the size of pie plates.
“We’ve never got anyone from that far visit us before!” She trilled, bouncing happily around the outsider. She stopped to beam at Twilight. “Ah’m Apple Bloom! Ya’ll be wantin’ my sister, Applejack. She’s just checkin’ our fences! She’ll be back real soon, I promise. How about ya’ll sit in the shade with me for a while?”
“Oh boy, I don’t know, I mean, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us and...”
Apple Bloom looked like she’d just lost her best friend. Her eyes welled up and shimmered with tears. “She’ll be back real soon! Come an’ have some lemonade! Pleaaaase?”
It took all of two seconds for Twilight to relent. It seemed rude not to wait and Spike complained about walking all that way back again, so they both decided to stay for a while. Both agreed the lemonade was very good. Apple Bloom promised them their cider was a dozen times better than any paltry lemon based beverage they could create.
Apple Bloom was an excitable sort, eager to hear all about Twilight and Spike’s past and journey. Descriptions of the Capital seemed to be her favourite and it soon became clear that she was trying to imagine how it must look in her head. The topic had then quite naturally shifted over into books. Apple Bloom had just started school this year and was learning to read. It was a slow process since school only took place once a week, but Applejack and the rest of the family were encouraging and helping her whenever they could.
Apple Bloom was in the middle of a spirited explanation of how chickens worked by the time her sister returned. Applejack was a tough-looking orange pony with a mane of straw. A large comma leather hat rested upon her brow and kept the sun well and firmly out of her eyes. The shade served to highlight the sunburn and freckles that dotted her cheeks.
She ambled across the yard with an easy gait that Twilight mentally labeled as a “mosey”. As she walked, she waved off the giant of a big red stallion who had been her companion as he slowly eked his way across the courtyard, pulling a mighty cart laden down with wood and wire.
Applejack had a very muscular body. Not the kind that the circus bodybuilders had back in Canterlot, but more of the sort of body one would reasonably get for hard work over the course of several years. It was a very natural look that she wore well. It also seemed that smiles came to her as easily as hard work.
“Howdy ma’am! I’m Applejack and I run this here establishment. Ya’ll must be them hoighty-toighty types we were expectin’ from up Canterlot way.”
She seemed to have noticed Apple Bloom for the first time.
“An’ what’s this mite doin’ slackin’ off instead of tendin’ to the chickens? She ain’t been no trouble now, has she?”
Apple Bloom began to defend herself, but before she was able, Twilight got a rare social cue that made her speak up... and by social cue, it was a nudge from Spike.
“Oh not at all! She’s been very helpful with my studies. She’s been telling me how seriously she treats her chores and her chickens. It’s all been very, very fascinating!” Twilight trilled, seeking to soothe the elder sister’s suspicions.
“Well, if’n ya say so... I’ve been a terrible host, out in the fields all day while ya’ll’ve been sittin’ here sippin’ LEMONADE?! Apple Bloom! Why didn’t ya get our guests some of our cider insteada that filth?”
“Oh no! No, it was nice, very nice. Really!” Spike spoke up.
“Ah, ah, ah! Ya’ll sit right here. Ya’ll stayin’ fer lunch now ta make up fer our terrible manners.”
Twilight began to protest. “I, uhm, we really can’t, I mean we’re just so... so... busy! Lots of work to do, we still need to--”
“Twi.... Twilight... I can barely move.” Spike groaned.
Twilight sighed and hoisted Spike onto her back. After that meal, she wasn’t feeling up to the trek back either.
“Pies, tarts, fritters and dumplings.... all.... all filled with apples....” Spike rambled. Twilight was worried he was experiencing signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at the sight of the small hill of food they were both expected to devour with grinning faces.
“They sure know how to treat guests, that’s for sure.” Twilight was also afraid she was about to explode in a mass of half-digested apple and pastry slurry. The thought was almost enough for her to retch it all back up.
“And the names. So... many... names.....”
That was true too. Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were only the first. Each of the ranch-hands stepped up and took a bow as they were called, and each with an apple-related name. The last name that was mentioned was cousin “Braeburn”, who was apparently not a farm-hand, but a deputy in Appleoosa. Twilight was instructed to make herself known to him so she would get “special treatment”... along with a conspicuous wink from the rest of the family. From what she gathered, this “special treatment” boiled down to him dropping off a pie from the ranch every couple of days or so.
The Apples were a strange bunch, she decided.
“Okay Spike, where to next?”
“Urgh...” Spike burped while consulting the list. “Awww maaan, the owner of the gem mines... I spoiled my appetite...”
“It’s fine.” Twilight replied, making the arduous journey back to town.
It was really quite interesting to see all the different people who were attracted here thanks to frontier culture, Twilight thought to herself.
“It really is pretty cool all the different people this town attracts!” Spike observed from Twilight’s back.
“...yes Spike.”
There were people from all walks of life. There were salesponies and hucksters trying to offload everything you could ever need and a lot of things you didn’t. Those ponies really stood out, hollering through megaphones on the back of their stagecoaches dressed in loud, vibrant suits. There were entertainers promising to reveal strange treasures from far off lands and con-men looking to lighten an unsuspecting pony’s purse with marked cards and fixed dice. Princess Celestia had made Twilight promise to hold no truck with those sorts of people and, after reading about them extensively, Twilight agreed wholeheartedly.
All these people did not stick around for long in the sun, however, and eventually all milled off to various taverns, saloons and places of ill repute. Some unlucky people even decided to return to work rather than risk the heat. They had all left the main promenade in quite a mess, mostly bottles and grease-paper from the local butchers.
Well, all except one. A pony as blue as the summer sky, dressed in a cloth cap and a loose fitting vest, was content in basking in the sun on a rickety looking chair that had belonged to one of the nearby saloons. Judging by the small pile of bottles next to it, they had as well. Twilight felt uncomfortable around this individual, who seemed to emit a sense of recklessness. No sane person would be out in the sun in this weather, least of all sitting in it.
Perhaps they had passed out? Oh! What if they were suffering from heat stroke right now?!
Twilight edged closer to the seated figure and the piles of bottles, trying to observe any form of life. It was only until she got a few feet away did she notice that the bottles were all clearly labeled “Sarsaparilla”.
The sky blue pony moved with blinding speed, tossing one of the bottles up in the air. It was a good throw of at least 20 feet of air at its apex before the bottle was shattered with a loud “KRIK-ow” sound that left Twilight temporarily deaf.
The sky blue pony screeched at her, revolver drawn underneath one of her feathery wings.
“Excuse me?!” Twilight replied somewhat loudly, shaking her head with one of her hooves. It wasn’t until the ringing had left her ears did she realise that the blue pony was not asking her a question, but was in the middle of laughing at her. Upon realising her deafness, the blue pony responded by laughing even harder.
“What’s the matter? You act like you’ve never been around a gun before!” The blue pegasus snorted out between chuckles, her bright, multicolored hair slipping down her back from her cap.
“Well, uh, I don’t know. Maybe I’m acting like that because I HAVEN’T.” Twilight exasperatedly replied.
“Whaaaaat? Naah, you’re kidding. When did you get into town?”
“This. Morning.”
“....oh.” She chuckled a little again, but at least had the good grace to look apologetic about it. “Sorry about that then, I guess. Where ya from? Nervous wreck like you could only have come from one place.”
“Canterlot.” They said simultaneously. The pegasus started laughing again. Twilight wanted to be very far away from this pony, but the pegasus seemed to follow her as she was walking.
“Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“Nah, not really. I’m supposed to have this whole street cleaned by the end of the day.”
“Well then,” Twilight replied testily. “Maybe you should do that then.”
“Are you KIDDING me?! I could clean this ENTIRE street in TEN. SECONDS. FLAT.”
“Ten seconds flat? No waaaay.” Spike said dismissively.
“Hah! Just watch me, kid.” she boasted, sliding her two revolvers back out from underneath her wings.
“One.”
A lone bottle stood on a table across the street, or did, before it exploded into glass shards. A bottle on the floor of the table next to it also exploded in a similar manner.
A marquee displaying some miracle cure was left half tied up in the wind, flapping obnoxiously. Its irritating life was soon cut short as its last remaining tie had been severed and the entire banner went sailing into the wind, lodging itself on a lamp-post a few meters down the road.
An empty pie tin was coasting gently down the road and suddenly found its quiet life ruined by a new hole and a rapid airward trajectory.
Two balloons tied onto a stall selling ties and ammunition were suddenly brutally murdered, their deflated, limp corpses wafting gently in the wind.
“Ten! How did I do?” The blue pony smugly asked.
“Well, uh...?”
“Dash. Rainbow Dash.”
“Well, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight began, sweetly. “YOU MADE A BIGGER MESS.”
“Eh, I’ll clean it later.” Dash replied, shrugging it off.
To that, Twilight could only respond with an indignant “urgh” and stormed off, followed by a frightened and deaf Spike chasing after her.
Author's Note
I'm hoping to name each of these chapters after old Western movies.
Chapter 1 was taken from The Kid From Texas.
Chapter 2 was taken from Thunder in the Sun.
