//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 - On the Wind 
// Story: The Earth Ponies 
// by RomanCandle 
//------------------------------//

The town of Appleloosa was bustling as much as a modest village like itself could be. It was a Saturday, and fresh shipments had just come in on the train. Merchants were selling their wares on the main street, calling out to prospective buyers. The founders of the town, members of the noble Apple Family, were loading bushel after bushel back onto the train and signing papers. 

The Salt Block Saloon was the quietest place in the town at the moment, a break of shade from the hot southern sun. The jingle of bells heralded the entrance of three mares, one Earth, one Pegasus, and one Unicorn. The Unicorn and Earth Pony were both clothed in long but simple skirts common to the town - sunburn was a real problem in Appleloosa - while the Pegasus was unadorned except for her saddlebags. The three sat down at a side of the bar. The Pegasus and Unicorn immediately focused their attentions on the small menus laid out - the Earth Pony fussed with her skirt, a pale denim blue to match her mane.

"I never did like wearing clothes, even during winter. They always feel so...frivolous. Urgh." The Unicorn waved her hoof dismissively as the bartender approached.

"Shush, Half Way, you don't want a sunburn on your flank, do you?" She brushed her red hair out of her eyes and looked to the moustached stallion. "A round of sasparilla for me and my friends; we'll order something to eat in a moment." He nodded and walked to the fountain where he began to pour the requested drinks.

The pink mare muttered. "Honestly I'd prefer it to the nothing that's there - OW" She had been jabbed by an elbow. The Unicorn next to her did not look away from her menu as she hissed out the side of her mouth.

"Do you want everyone here wondering why there are two grown mares with no Cutie Marks? We're lucky Haze thought to snag some of the shed dragon scales before we came back this way, and even luckier that the seamstress was willing to trade for them and ask no questions."

"Easy for you to say, yours is some pretty red silken thing. I might as well be wearing pants."

The Pegasus chimed in; "What's wrong with pants?"

"What? Who wears pants? You have to fit your tail through them somehow, and then there's pulling them up with hooves."

"They're more aerodynamic and they stay in place better. I'd be okay with wearing pants."

"Yeah well you're just weird Tor--er, Purple Haze." The unicorn groaned and rubbed her forehead with her hoof. The bartender returned, set the tray of drinks on the bar and raised an eyebrow.

'Purple Haze' stammered and fumbled with her menu. "Oh, um, Daffodil Sandwhich with Hayfries. Please."

The Unicorn Mare tested her drink and folded her hooves before responding. "Your Strawberry Soup sounds delightful; I'd love to try it."

The Earth Pony continued to fidget with her clothes. Purple Haze nudged her. "What? Oh. Just a cucumber salad." The stallion nodded and walked back to the kitchen. To his credit and to the credit of the town of Appleloosa, he didn't ask many questions either.

"Honestly, could you at least try to act like a grown-up? You're acting as depressed as ever. Don't make me make the Seapony speech again."

A bell jingled. "You're trying too hard, I think. You're just a Canterlot accent short of royalty right now."

"At least I don't sound like a sad little -" The Unicorn was cut off as a leg was wrapped around her shoulder, making her adjust for balance.

"Well, now, I haven't seen anything quite so pretty in this old place in far too long." A white stallion with a sleek black mane was grinning at the three mares. Another stallion, dark brown with a lighter brown mane stood behind him, the same expression pasted on his face. "What's a gorgeous little lady like you doing all the way down here, now?" 

She turned red and stammered. His face was just beyond the bubble of polite company. A third stallion appeared from behind them, grey and brown. He laughed out loud. "Aww, poor little lady is embarrassed. Why don't we start out a little easier - what's your name, sweetheart?"

She blushed harder and gaped. Her friends looked at each other, then back to the party, confused. "Uh, uh, Sunfire."

"Name's pretty as your eyes, darlin'. What about your friends here?" The white stallion swept his hoof grandly towards the other two young mares. "It'd just be plain rude to ignore em, wouldn't it?"

The Pegasus waved her hooves in the air. "Hey, now, wait a minute. We're not giving you our names till you give us yours. Stranger danger and all that."

The stallions blinked in unison before they burst out laughing. The Pegasus blushed.

"Oh wow I've never heard a girl put it that way before." The brown stallion guffawed. The gray one was leaning on the wall to hold himself up. The white one recovered first, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Alright, alright, fair's fair. We'll tell you our names, but then you have to tell us your Cutie Mark stories too. I can only imagine what...special talents you might have." 

The pink mares eyes narrowed. The unicorn tugged on the hem of her skirt, pulling it closer. "Well, uh, it's not a very interesting mark. Or story."

The stallion wrapped his arm back around her and pulled her in close. His breath was rancid. "Aww, it's okay. We've got all day to talk about that. Tartarus, even all night - "

The door bells jingled and an accented voice interrupted. "Lucky? I thought you got banned from The Salt Block; What are ya up to now?" A pale yellow Earth Pony stallion stood in the doorway and adjusted the wide-brimmed hat he wore.

The white stallion, presumably Lucky, let go of 'Sunfire' and turned around. The other two stallions turned to face the newcomer as well. "That ban got lifted last week. Hard to justify keeping a poor, lonely stallion out of the only bar in town, ain't it? I wanna know what you're doing in here, Buffalo Bucker."

The new stallion didn't move an inch. "Don't bring the Buffalo into this. You'll call me by my name, like everypony else does. I came in here looking for a cold cider and to relax after a hard days work. You, on the other hoof," he walked over to where the three stallions were standing and mares were seated, turning a critical eye on them. "...Well, it looks like you're hitting up on some tourists who don't know ya well enough to know when ta tell ya to get lost."

Lucky glared. "Hey, now, these are grown mares. You don't getta tell them what, or who, they can and can't do. They get to make their own decisions. Ain't that right, Sun Star?" The white stallion pulled her close to him again. She swore she could see the foul vapors coming out of his mouth.

She muttered. "...It's Sunfire."

"And you don't getta go trick em into cuddling up with yer sorry hide, neither. Go on, ask em if they wanna snuggle with you all night. Be upfront about whatcher doin'. Act like a stallion for once in your life." The new stallion polished his hoof against his blazer and inspected it.

"I don't gotta take no flack from you, Braeburn. How's that Buffalo filly-friend of yours doing? Did you go with her to make prayers to their 'Earth Spirits' so that you might live long and have many, many, filthy little cross-breed children - " 

Braeburn punched him in the mouth, knocking him into the bar and one cup full of sasparilla. He put his hoof back down.

"I told ya to keep yer mouth shut about that. Ain't got nothing to do with here or now."

The other two stallions helped Lucky up, his coat stained with the sticky brown drink, his face red. "Why, you little - "

"Now what's going on?" The bartender had stepped out of the kitchen, interrupting the angry stallion. He glared at the trio. "Lucky Strike? What did I tell you about harassing my customers? That's more than enough. Out."

The stallion stammered. "But...he hit me! I didn't do nothing to nopony! Kick the rotten Apple out!"

"Lesse now. I got you and your little posse plus three pretty mares and a spilled drink? I know just what you were up to, and I ain't having it. If you want something to drink of mine again, send somepony else to fetch it for ya, cuz I'll buck your sorry flank right back out the door. Now out, before I call the Sheriff."

Lucky muttered something and headed out the door angrily, trailing his "posse". The bartender walked over to where the three mares were sitting and grabbed a rag. "So sorry about that. Lucky Strike has been a problem for a while - your lunch is on the house." He turned to Braeburn. "Same goes for you. I know you ain't a fighting pony. I don't even wanna think what they said to make you lash out at em."

Braeburn sighed and set his hat on the table. "They ain't said nothing that ain't been said before. Just some cold cider, please." The bartender nodded then went back to the kitchen. Braeburn turned and smiled a sheepish smile at the three mares, who were just staring now. "Mighty sorry ya had to see that, but I didn't wanna see you get taken advantage of or nothing. Appleloosa's worked hard to get a good reputation and I don't wanna see it ruined for anypony, especially because of that rascal."

Sunfire waved it off. "Not a problem, sir, we - "

"What was that about Buffalo Earth Spirits?" Two pairs of green eyes turned to the pink Earth Pony.

Braeburn looked away first. "I'druther not talk about it." 

Sunfire stuck her head between the two and smiled wide. "She didn't mean anything by that, sir, nothing at all, it's just she - " Her head was pushed aside by a pair of pink hooves.

" - We're actually all the way out here researching Earth Spirits, and we actually just hit a standstill. Can you tell us anything about that?"

Braeburn sighed. "Well, I don't know too much. A while back we had a scuffle with the Buffalo over our orchards. We got it settled after a bit, and in the process I made a darn good friend in a one Little Strongheart. Thank you," He nodded to the bartender who had returned with a frothy mug in his mouth and a tray with three plates on it balanced on his back. Purple Haze tackled her sandwich and Sunfire tasted her soup once the plate was set down, glaring at Half Way. "...Anyway, that's what Lucky was ranting about. Ain't nothing came of it, mind you, just he don't see the point in making friends with mares if they ain't lining his bed, and I guess he can't imagine anypony else thinkin' any different. Don't help that most folk didn't have a pretty picture of the Buffalo to start with." He took a long drink, then stared at the contents.

"Yes, that's great, but about the Spirits...?"

"Oh. Right. Well, the Buffalo are really keen on rituals. I couldn't tell ya everything about em, but I do know they have a Spirit assigned to a lot of important things in their lives, and some way to honor that Spirit. That's part of why the orchards were such a contest, ya see. We needed the trees for food, but the ground was sacred to em. They used it for their annual Stampede. They'd run across across it to the west near the start of autumn, in honor for the dead and to secure a peaceful passing for the old. A Buffalo's last Stampede is somethin' real important to em." He scratched his chin with a hoof. "I don't remember much else...Did that help?"

"Mmmhm, just one more thing: Do you know anything about the spirit that ritual honored? The name, maybe? A description?" Half Way had completely neglected her food, and Purple Haze was stealing some of it.

"Not so much. They run to the coast and get there about when all the leaves turn color. They have some sort of ritual when they get there, but I don't remember too much about it, since I only got it second-hoof. I think, though..." He tilted his head to the side in thought. "I think that particular spirit is a lady. Strongheart said something about a sister."

Half Way brightened. "Did it happen to be something like 'Second and Only' sister?"

"...Yeah, actually, that sounds real familiar. Can't be sure, though I'd bet my money on it." He took another long drink. "By the way, I just realized I don't know a darn thing about you ladies. I apologize if I was, er...overstepping my bounds back there. Everypony has a different tastes."

Half Way chuckled and Purple Haze looked up with a mouthful of lettuce and a raised eyebrow. Sunfire groaned.

"You weren't, believe me. I've met Dragons with better smelling breath than him."

Braeburn guffawed. "Now, why don't I doubt that?"