(Chapter 11) part 1
The town of Appaloosa…
Nestled within the centre of a vast expand of lonely, barren earth lays the humble form of a single, small, settlement…
Sitting on the very edge of the boundaries of its home nation, it’s a town born of nothing but loose plans and hopeful ambition, and made real by the true defining trait of its populace; hard work.
Yet, despite the fact that barely a year had passed since the rim of a ponies hoof had first disturbed its soil, a reputation had grown around its walls like a jungle vine, and that strange reputation came in a single word; ‘vintage’.
If you ever asked, a visiting pony would probably spin you a long tale about how the settler ponies that lived there yearned for the simple life, and continued followed its call ever further out into the yet unknown world, but the truth was. This cause of this reputation was a harsh desert wind that would grab hold of any loose sand or stone and batter anything that dared to stand in its way. And while most buildings would stubbornly try and cling to their sheen with the same stubborn resolve as the ponies that lived there, after only a week of standing against it, the once shining walks would soon be stripped of their once youthful appearance, leaving only worn and cracked paint behind.
Some of the towns visiting ponies had noticed this little quirk, and would often spend a silent moment wondering at the townspony’s habit of repainting the whole town every other week. But, for the ponies who resided here, the hard work it entailed brought on a sense of pride; and the reputation it earned them for being stubborn was not too unwelcome either.
It seemed that throughout the entire town, this rule held true. And any eye that looked towards it would find the same stretches of cracked paint and worn colour, unless of course that eye were to stumble across a lone building sitting just over the railroad tracks…
Unlike the others, which had seen the tip of a paintbrush not three weeks ago, this building stood out among its kin because it all but glowed under the light of the sun, and while, like all the others, it stayed true to the ‘quaint and minimalist aesthetic’ that the town was well known for, this building’s interior also held certain grandeur that made it seem almost alien to the ponies which lived there.
Walking through its doors would offer a sight that would often steal the breath of a local pony. Lines of deeply polished tables reached out between the walls, each one shining against the light casted down by a number of large sickly sweet scented candles hanging firmly within the gentle hold of numerous, intrigue metal frames. The smell of the candles loomed in the air as the sound of the flames flickering against the wax complimented the silence…. A silence disturbed every few seconds by a curious squeaking sound coming from behind a very long table that sat at the furthest end of the room…
Just out of sight, a young earth pony sat with her back to one of the building’s many ornate windows, fumbling slightly with a glass as she tried to manoeuvre it towards an old tattered wash cloth held in her teeth.
Cradling the glass with the delicacy and care a mother would hold a filly; the mare set to work and began gently caressing its rim with the edge of the cloth. She stayed like this until several minutes passed, then, with a slow and cautious air, she held the glass up to the light and twisted her hoof as her eye scanned the glass for any imperfections.
When she was satisfied, the glass was slowly lowered and a smile as it was softly placed with three others under the counter.
Letting the cloth fall to her hooves, the mare licked the taste of the washcloth from her lips and smiled softly to herself.
“Well, that’s four down” she whispered, gently holding onto the same smile… a smile that faltered only slightly when her eyes moved towards the work table full of identical glasses “ and just that many to go”
With a soft sigh, another glass was taken into her hooves and the mare began to hum softly to herself through the rag in her teeth.
“Sweet Peach!!!?”
The mare flinched as a sudden, ear splitting, yell sent a ripple through the small white bonnet atop her head… and a second later she snatched the glass she was just cleaning back out of the air.
With a panicked eye, the mare began to look towards the opposite end of the room and flinched suddenly when they reached the door. Looming just at its wake was a pony, and not just any pony. This pony happened to be her boss, and he was wearing the same usual scowl that it seemed every boss was required to wear by law.
“What are you doing?” the grey pony sharply asked as he seemingly tried to glare a hole through the glass monocle fixed securely in his frowning bow.
The mare gulped softly and noticed her throat was a lot drier than it was a moment ago, “I’m just doing what ya told me too,” she replied with a soft, but still slightly forceful, tone as set the glass down on the counter with a soft ‘tink’ “‘clean the glasses ready for the afternoon rush’”
That answer only seemed to make the stallions frown deepen. “That didn’t mean that’s all I wanted to be done by then” He chided as a hoof found the bridge of his nose “and it’s ten, o’clock and you've finished...” lowering his hoof, the stallion’s eyes flicked to the underside of the counter before returning to the mare “Four, four glasses done ready with that many left.”
The mare gave an offended look and clutched the glass she was holding to her chest “I’m just making sure they’re fit for ponies to drink from is all; just like ah should”.
Again the stallion’s frown seemed to deepen, despite how impossible the act seemed to Sweets eye, and he gave a long sigh and brought his hoof back up to the bridge of his nose. “Yes, ponies, working ponies who won’t give a dog’s ear if the glass sparkles, just so long as it’s not dirty…. The same Ponies that should be able to do that five minutes ago. Now, please, just make the glasses ready for those pony’s lips rather than the princess’… and be quick about it!”
With that, the stallion turned away, leaving sweet peach watching nervously as he was summoned back to whatever dark and evil place boss ponies liked to lurk until they sensed another excuse to yell once again… at least that’s where she figured he went. Maybe they all got together in some big room of evil where they discussed how better to torment their workers… If they did, then she sure as sugar felt sorry for whatever poor pony did her job over there.
Sweet Peach gave a soft shudder as she let the mental image softly drift away. And after letting out a soft sigh, the mare shifted her attention back to the glass nestled in her hooves.
Another few minutes passed to the sound of cloth squeaking against glass, and another crystalline glass was placed into its waiting place upon the shelf. She reached out for another when a faint, but unmistakable sound of murmuring seeped in from under the door seeped into her ear, making it twitch uncomfortably.
Sweet peach froze. The faint murmuring slowly grew until it all but resembled a deep guttural slurring of sound that was only worsened by an errant scratching that seemed to accompany it.
Greeting the noise with the same encouragement a rabbit would greet the shadow of a hungry dragon, the mare leapt back down behind the counter, only to shoot back out to catch two of the clean glasses before they hit the floor.
Her ears perked as the strange murmuring grew and were all but flattened against her head when it twisted into a sharp creek.
Painfully, the creek reached its apex and was followed by a soft thump, leaving sweet peach to stare up at a shadow growing across the wall.
Almost letting out a choked squeak, Sweet shrunk back against the smooth wood of the counter as the shadow’s growth across the wall was followed by a series of sharp creeks rising up from the floor. The air around her almost seemed to grow heavy over her shoulders, pushing her against the counter until the cold bite of the vinyl made her believe something was breathing down her neck.
She flinched again as a strained voice was carried over the counter by a strange accent, and the unwelcome touch of it snaking into her ear nearly made her all but crush the glass she was cradling against her chest.
Another long moment crept by, a moment made even longer by the sickly sound of grinding teeth, but when that moment ended, and she couldn’t bear to let another second creep by, Sweet peach yanked herself away from her sanctuary and tentatively began to poke her head up above the wooden counter….and Sweet Peach blinked as her eyes were met the puzzled gaze of an old stallion.
Sweet peach squeaked nervously as she shrank back behind the counter “Oh… Hello Mr. Salt Lick, I’d get you the usual, but I’m afraid we’re closed at the moment.”
“Ya are?” the stallion asked with a puzzled voice, one that sounded to the mare a bit like the pony was trying to gargle a mouth full of marbles … “But ‘ah thought ‘ya always we're open right now. It is the time aint it?”
When she heard that, Sweet peach couldn’t help but let her gaze drop away from the other pony, and flick nervously towards the doorway where her boss once stood.
“You all right there miss?”
Quickly her eyes flicked back and Sweet bit down on her tongue as she paused to catch herself, “fine… I’m as fine as sand.”
Another glance at the stallion showed he wasn’t convinced and Sweet Peach frowned as she cast another nervous glance over her shoulder. “I reckon I’m ok…” she continued slowly as she glanced around the room with an awkward gaze “I don’t know exactly why, but for some darn strange reason ah just got a sudden feeling like a fly must do when they just saw the newspaper whizz past em.”
To that, the stallion seemed to offer brief nod, though, from the look on his face, Sweet Peach could tell it wasn’t an understanding one, and when he began to click his jaw Sweet decided it was time to end the conversation.
“Sorry” she said with soft finality “but you’ll have to come back later, like I said, the saloon is closed.”
As she said that, Sweet peach couldn’t help but tense her jaw. She knew she was going to get an ear full from her boss, but she still had a lot to do, and for some reason she couldn’t quite place, she felt strangely on edge all of a sudden. She felt bad for turning him away, but she wasn’t in the mood.
A brief look of disappointment flash across the stallion’s features, as well as an expression Sweet Peach couldn’t place- not helped by the fact she only got a glimpse as he looked over to the window. Her own eyes fixed on the stallion for a moment and became a little more expectant when he stared back until his own eyes filled with recognition.
Another moment slipped by and Sweet Peach softly, but firmly flicked her head in the direction of the door, then looked back at the stallion with the same expectant eyes. But, to her annoyance, the stallion just began chewing on his bottom lip
“If it’s all the same, Miss” He said slowly “I’d rather not be outside for the time being.”
Sweet Peach let out a silent, but annoyed huff. If she wasn’t familiar with this particular stallion, he being a regular and all, she probably would have just let the issue slide without a second word…however, this pony was a regular so she was more inclined to press the issue, and honestly she was actually curious to see what new trick the stallion would try this time.
“Why not?” she asked half heartedly, and strangely, instead of the usual guilty expression she’s come to expect, a look of befuddled annoyance spread across the old stallion’s features.
“Nothing I know , Miss…” he said sharply “The sheriff just passed me not two minutes ago. He was just strolling down the street telling every pony in earshot to go back inside for a while. An seein as mah own humble dwelling is at the other end a town I slipped in here.”
Except for a slight nod now and then, sweet peach just stood patiently as the old stallion rattled on, but the second he was finished, she gave one last confirming nod…. and started walking towards the saloon door.
“Umm, miss where’ you goin?” she heard his voice come over her shoulder, and without even stalling a single hoof fall, Sweet began something that, to the old stallion, must have sounded like a pre prepared monologue,
“Mister Saltworthy’s been breath-in down mah neck so much my bonnet’s been keeping his mustache warm… an now you saunter in here with some half grown story about sheriff Shining Star that more than leans on the side of hooey…. We’ll all I can say is ‘thank ya kindly’, because now I found myself an excuse to dodge his expectations while I track down the sheriff to find out the real reason you’re squatting here, while we are closed no less.”
Sweet Peach continued on to the door, but just as she reached out to place a hoof on the wooden frame, she stopped and looked the old stallion in the eye.
“Now, I still say your story stinks something fierce, but It ain’t my doing to throw a pony out on their rear if there’s even a chance something like that is so. But if I find the sheriff, and his memory don’t match that story of yours I swear on my bonnet, you won’t get no salt, no nothing by me for as long as I remember this conversation.”
With a smirk, Sweet Peach turned to continue out of the door, but the sound of Salt Lick’s startled voice made her pause again.
“Now, now, hey! There ain’t nothing out there for you, me or no pony miss, now why don’t we just sit tight and when I can, I’ll chase up the sheriff for ya, just know I ain’t talkin’ nothing but truth when I say he told me and a few other ponies to stay inside, and he’d probably only say the same to ya if you went looking for him.”
“And I want to know why,” Peach shot back as she pushed the door open. “And sorry, but I ain’t gonna find the answer to that unless I speak to him ma’self.”
Sweet paused as her ears caught the sound defeated sigh coming from the other side of the door, and she paused to shout one last word over her shoulder.
“An I took stock on the salt lick when I came in today, so don’t go thinking about padding out your tab while I’m gone, ya hear?”
Sweet Peach felt a smile tug at the side of her mouth as another; deeper sigh came from the other end of the butterfly door. And as she turned around and began walking along the dirt road the mare couldn’t help but let that smile grow as she soaked in the warm, tranquil air waiting for her outside.
‘Well, can’t say ah won’t be happy to prove em wrong… shame for old Salt Lick though, coz if he is lying the old fella’s gona have ta find himself a new name.’ she thought with a little more ‘salt’ then she was expecting. But, as the warm sunshine continued to soak into her fur, the mare couldn’t help but offer a friendly nod to the ponies that passed her by.
That smile didn’t last long, however, because the further down the road she travelled, the more she couldn’t help but notice just how few ponies she’d passed on her way. And while this was a strange thing in and of itself, the thing that really struck her like a train waggon was the fact that none of the few ponies’ she did pass wore their usual, friendly smiles. True, they all acknowledged her greeting- and most even offered a polite word or two in reply. But not matter how wide she smiled, Sweet Peach only found the same solemn frowns stretching across their face like a stubborn weed.
After the fifth pony, Sweet Peach couldn’t help but frown to herself as a wondering thought crossed her mind ‘Pony’s ain’t been this sour since the whole mess with the buffalo…’
That was true, she still remembered how stubborn everyone was acting back then and if everypony was acting the same way things didn’t bode well.
As she walked on, Sweet Peach decided to ask the next pony she saw what was happening, and as luck would have it, no sooner did she open her eyes again she spotted a pony trotting towards her in the opposite direction.
As she drew closer to this pony Sweet made a point to study him. His fur was a dim ashy grey and a blondish mane peered out at her from under the rim of a short trim hat. All in all there wasn’t anything about him that stuck out and drew her eye- except for the fact that he seemed to be wearing both a hat and jacket, which was a little odd seeing as most ponies normally fixed on one or the other. Though, at one point Sweet noticed that she was staring at the ponies cutie mark for longer than could honestly be called ‘polite’- at least that’s what she’d swear she was staring at if anypony asked.
Spurred on by a spark of nervous embarrassment, Sweet flicked her eyes away from the pony and to the wagon that he was pulling along behind him. Again there wasn’t anything too eye catching about it, just a loose gathering of odds and ends gathered on a simple, but sturdy, waggon that made it obvious to her that he was a market pony.
It seemed the pony realised he was being stared at, and Sweet peach offered a guilty smile when she found two deep blue eyes staring back at her.
The smile was returned, but lasted a moment before it turned into the same solemn frown.
Pushing a growing sense of unease out of her mind, Sweet peach offered the stallion another smile, “Sorry to bother ya, Sir” she offered “but I’m looking for the sheriff.”
Yes, Sweet Peach did know where the sheriff’s office was supposed to be, but she figured it’s better to break the ice first.
The pony smiled again and glanced over his shoulder “Just saw him heading over to the south of the town near the train tracks.” He said quickly before his eyes fixed back on her and an eyebrow disappeared under the ridge of his hat “Any reason in particular you are after him? Ifin’ ya don’t mind me’ curiosity”
Sweet Peach felt her own eyebrow twitch towards her bonnet. She’d been expecting to find the sheriff in his office as usual. Perhaps Old-salt would get to enter the saloon another day after all.
Pushing the unease away again, Sweet Peach smiled again, though this time it was a slightly sarcastic one. The pony had spared her some time so she figured it was only right to answer.
Sweet made a show of rolling her eyes and letting out a slight huff. “Thanks ta him, I seem to have gained a squatter, and it’s one I don’t much care ta have at that. I aim to track him down an ask him about it, an give him a piece of my mind if it is the case.”
The stallion offered a nod and a sly smirk “Well I hope you take a breath first miss” he said playfully, but sharply altered his tone when Sweet felt her face had twisted into another frown “not meaning no offence by it, but the sheriff looked to be mighty agitated ‘bout something, so I feel I need to warn ya if you’re fixing ‘ta give him an ear-full.”
Sweet Peach let her face soften, even if her eyes still held a slight edge “Well, thanks for the warning. Ya said he was heading to the south of the town, near the train tracks?”
“Aye.”
Sweet nodded again and her tone sweetened a little as she made a point to tilt her head slightly “Did ya happen ta catch why he was heading that way?”
Putting a hoof to his chin, the pony’s brow furrowed for a moment before his shoulders shrugged loftily “Sorry miss, I only heard him say something about ‘keeping an eye on something’…. Well, that’s all I heard. But from the look of him, he seemed mighty unhappy to hear whatever it was Cormano said to him. If ya hurry, you might catch him before he gets there… Though I just suggest ya tread lightly round him at the moment.”
Sweet Peach offered the pony another smile and nodded sharply “I’ll keep that in mind… and thank ya kindly” she said before turning away with a tip of her bonnet.
Leaving the pony behind, Sweet set off towards the sheriff’s office again, and this time she noticed her pace had unconsciously quickened to a firm trot… which only grew quicker when she once again noticed the distinct lack of ponies to impede her growing pace, and by the time she’d finally reached the end of the town, Sweet Peach had nearly broken into a full on run.
She broke around the final corner and stopped to catch her breath, there was the town’s sheriff sat at atop of a wooden stool at leaning it at its very edge.
At first, Sweet felt a wave of annoyance wash over her as she took in the sight of him. A reed was wedged between his teeth that every so often twitched up in front of his steely gaze that stretched out into the empty horizon. But as Sweet drew closer, she couldn’t help but feel that wave of annoyance roll back out when she caught the nervous look sitting across the old ponies face.
Licking at the salt now lining her lips, Sweet came just up to his side and paused for a moment before she dared to speak “Mornin’ sheriff”
At the sound of her voice, the pony’s eyes twitched over to her before lazily fixing themselves back to where they were before, and Sweet paused for a moment, waiting for a reply, but when none came she let the demeanour that was her namesake drop and donned a frown similar to all the ponies she had encountered in the town.
“Sheriff, “Sweet asked, and found her voice a little sharper than she intended “did yawl dump Salt lick on my lap, today of all days?”
The sheriff’s eyes found her again, and offered only a confused glance. “Can’t say’s I did Miss Peach, and I’d remember doing that too, why you ask?”
Sweet Peach licked her lips again, “Because, Mr Salt lick done found his way into the saloon not long ago; despite the fact were closed. An when I told him ta ‘git’ he started going on about how you were askin' ponies ta get off the street.”
“And yet you are here?” the sheriff pointed out with a jesting glance that last for less than a moment. “Aye, it’s true I asked that of him, though I expected him to go home not be a burden on you miss.”
The conformation made Sweet smile again, “OK, but that does beg the question, why’d you asked him to do that ta start with?”
The old pony opened his mouth to say something, but his words seem to stick inside his throat. Instead, he let it close again and gestured out to the horizon as he let out a gruff whinny…
“That’s why,”
With a curious frown, Sweet’s blue eyes followed the sheriffs, and when they settled on the horizon she spotted something odd out across the plane. Correction a pair of something’s just a small distance away, walking along the train tracks, actually walking along them like a path…
“And what am I looking at, sherif?” Sweet asked, even though the question wasn’t needed.
The sheriff replied with a long defeated sigh “That…is my quiet morning going down a hole.”
Sweet Peach felt her curious frown deepen. Even though she didn’t have a single honest clue what he meant by that, from what she’d seen today it couldn’t have been anything good. But never being one who likes being left in the dark, the mare sat herself down next to the sheriff, making it a point to cross his gaze when she did.
Eyeing the horizon again, the mare shifted uneasily in her seat and brought a hoof up to her bonnet, tilting the edge down so the light lessened on her eyes and the strange incoherent blobs transformed into two strange silhouettes, and while the sun’s position still obscured them, one thing suddenly became clear.
‘Those aren’t ponies’
The two figures, which suddenly looked to be a lot closer than just a moment ago, continued to follow the railroad tracks, and as they did, the obscuring slight lessened somewhat and she recognised the shape at least.
‘Diamond dogs? ‘Sweet wondered absently
That would be real strange if it was indeed the case. Diamond dogs weren’t known to just stroll into town and it would be even less known for just two to stroll in straight out of the blue.
Leaning back slightly, Sweet Peach decided to gauge the sheriff’s expression, but the stern, steely mask he wore offered no clue, so her eyes found their way back to the horizon.
Now the silhouettes were just outside of town, and that proximity allowed her to peer through the obscuring shadows…
When they lifted complexly, the first word that struck the mares mind was… ‘Lanky’, and while there were two of them, her eyes were immediately drawn to the taller of the two.
A thin, almost elongated body sat atoo only two long, spindly legs, and two equally thin forelimbs hung down limply at its sides. And while the right one seemed to hang loosely at its barrel, the left one that was bent slightly as a ‘claw’ ‘- at least that’s the closest comparison she could give- sat somewhere Sweet guessed its waist would be.
Its head was small, in fact its head seemed to be ridiculously small compared to the rest of it, and its eyes… wait did it even have any? She couldn’t really tell from here. All she could see was the long strands of a dark, unkempt black mane snaking down over its slightly angular face in wadded tufts.
Actually, no, on second look it does have eyes- she could tell now because both of them were staring right back at her and as it continued to approach, the lanky creatures’ head continued to twist in her direction, following her as it passed, and the movement caused its ‘mane’ to follow; splitting the matted clumps and she stared through them to find two tiny ‘bead’ like orbs glaring straight through her.
Despite their almost ridiculous size, the creature’s eyes were open wide enough for Sweet to begin to worry that they could pop out of its head… Actually, on second glance, only the right orb seemed to be threatening that while the left seemed to be nothing but a slit in comparison, marred by a large red, roughly textured, patch of flesh which covered almost half of its face.
The following moment made Sweet realise something else, the creature didn’t look like it had much, if any fur at all. Instead, its mal-proportioned body was draped in cloth… actually both of the creatures were covered in clothes, and while the shorter one was only covered between the shoulders and its hind limbs, the taller one was something else….
Sweet never seen anything, pony or otherwise wearing so much - Not even those fancy runway ponies in the Canterlot magazines she’d peered at from time to time.
The thought made Sweet cast a sharper eye towards the clothing; the silky looking material was mostly red, but held many different shades of it that reached down the side in a loose pattern that were separated by long trims of gold and the sight of it bought a single word to Sweet Peach's mind. ‘Fancy’
Yet, despite the immediate impression, just like its mane, the cloth covering its lanky form looked worn and unkempt and seemed to be marred with patches of dirt that chipped and cracked like the desert floor wherever it followed the contours of the creature’s form.
On its hind legs she found more cloth, only darker and with golden line running down the centre rather than its edge; except for the left leg which was missing the gold entirely.
A sudden thought made Sweet’s eyes switch sharply to the other creature. The cloth that covered the taller creatures hind limbs was something absent on the smaller one, instead she found two bony looking limbs that seemed vaguely like its front ‘claws’- How non-ponies ever walked on something other than hooves was something Sweet could never figure out, you know, besides the obvious reason of having no choice in the matter. But, no matter how they did it, Sweet Peach knew they would have to be mighty careful doing it as those two appendages looked downright fragile to her, especially the stubby round tips poking awkwardly out the front.
The larger creature’s head began to shift again; slowly whirling towards her and its eyes met hers once again. Gone was the wide panicked, bead-like, eyes that allowed Sweet peach her moment of inquiry. This time she found only sharp yellow edges in their wake that seemed to cut through into her very mind. The constant piercing gaze seemed to sink into the mare like a knife.
Sweet felt herself suppress a deep shudder as she quickly pulled her eyes away. And after forcefully subduing her own nerves, she noticed the sharp gleam seemed to have dulled and the creature was studying her with an almost panicked fervour.
Once again, its eyes were wide, and filled with shock, to the point where Sweet would almost swear that it was like the thing had never seen a pony before.
‘Well, if that is the case there’s no good in being unfriendly’ Sweet thought, and when she fell back under the creatures scrutinizing gaze she did the first thing that came to her mind… she waved… and to her almost complete surprise the creature actually waved back to her.
Well, It actually recoiled at first, almost if she’d just slapped it across the face, but after a moment’s hesitation, it leaned over and whispered something to its companion, and while she could hear neither its specific words, nor what its companion offered in reply, whatever its smaller companion said, along with a nudge of its own limb, caused the taller creature to look back up and, albeit with a hesitant pace- and after rubbing the spot where it was hit, it began to lift it right limb and waved its ‘claw’ at her in a way that loosely mirrored her own gesture…And when it was finished, the thing just sluggishly lowered its claw back to its side, turned away slowly and began walking into the town.
Letting out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding, Sweet Peach smiled. “Oh would you look at that,” she said while leaning towards the sheriff “Looks like ya got all worked up for nothing. Ah plum don’t have the first clue what that was, but it gave me a friendly wave with that claw at least”
“That it did” the sheriff confirmed with some slight surprise evident in his voice, but the almost unheard tone soon turned gruff again “But that’s not the claw that got me worried now Miss Peach. Didn’t ya see what it had in the other one?” he gave a pause to let her answer but she didn’t “It was a sword miss Sweet. Now I find myself at a loss as to why it would have such a thing, less it was fixing itself for a fight.”
The mare slowly began to nod her head. She couldn’t think of one either in all honesty, but as she pondered the question, something twigged and her eyes set back on the sheriff. “But if it was fixing for a fight then why would it wave to me all friendly like?”
The sheriff smiled, even though the gesture was obscured by his long facial hair “I wouldn’t have called it friendly, but that thought hadn’t eluded me.” He admitted before leaving his seat.
“Whatever its intention, that creature is armed, miss. Even the royal pony guards don’t carry round nothing like that unless they expect trouble, and that fact on its lonesome is reason enough for me to keep an eye on it.”
Sweet Peach let her eyebrow rise towards her bonnet, “couldn’t ya just go over and say hello?”
“No,” was the sheriff’s sharp reply, accompanied by a shake of his head “I’d rather everypony just keep their distance… let them two what’s its go about their business and if fate be willing, they’ll just pass on through town. Most ponies won’t have to be told tah keep their distance anyway, even if they didn’t see the sword. But if there is trouble, I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on em.”
Sweet squared her shoulders and got off her stool, “Ya wouldn’t mind if I tagged along?” She asked in a distant enough tone to warrant the funny look the sheriff shot her way. “Ah don’t mean nothing funny by it. it’s just… thanks ta your caution I can’t get my own work done and I’m gonn’a wind up on mah boss’s bad side any which way. So, I mightn’t as well see what the fuss is about mahself. Besides, he mightn’t be so quick ta yell if you say ah was helping you with something.”
Slowly, the funny look the sheriff was giving her fell away, and a rare crack in his demeanour allowed a silent laugh to pass through before he beckoned for her to follow.
The thought of snaking through back alleys would not be a thought that met Sweets idea of a good time, and as the mare narrowly avoided being buried under a falling tower of garbage, it was probably safe to say that that wasn’t about to change. Frankly she was starting to wonder if being chewed out by her boss would have been a more desirable pain in her tail. Ok, she wasn’t that far yet, but as she peeled a rotten banana skin off her bonnet and forced herself to not lose her breakfast to a smell that she could all but feel on her fur, the mental picture of her angry boss was beginning to seem more and more appealing.
And it looked like her day was only going to get worse from there. Because when she finally pushed herself through the labyrinth of foul smells and poked her head back towards the main road, she found that the creatures weren’t where they were supposed to be.
If they were passing through the Town, this would be the quickest way, yet she found nothing but an empty stretch of dirt gaping at her.
‘Good going Sweet’ she scolded herself ‘ ya lost em… Probably the hardest thing not to notice in the whole darn Town since the buffalo went and learned what ballet was and ya lost em, An… oh…’
It turned out the creatures were in fact hard to lose as the strange, but in this case strangely familiar, shapes passed Sweet’s eyes before she could even finish the thought… not that it helped her disposition at all… That would have only happened if the creatures weren’t heading straight for the market.
A nervous twinkle came to Sweet’s eye as she watched the two creatures draw closer to the market stalls, growing with every step they took. Her eyes, now unable to resist the pull the sheriff’s words had planted, began to drift back towards the taller creature’s waist… or more specifically what hung on it, and the strange grip that held it…
Sweet flinched as the creature’s sharp, piercing eyes met with her own once again, and the grip it held on the sword tightened with a cold edge. But this time the contact lasted only a second before its eyes were pulled away from the mare and the creature continued towards the town.
What followed next struck Sweet peach as strange; the smaller creatures gait stopped dead at the edge of the road and the larger one started passing over each stall, turning its eye over each one as if it was looking for something.
‘It’s just a shame so many ponies decided ta’ have a lunch break’ Sweet thought to herself as she watched the taller creature pass between the stalls with a strange, almost alien, fluidity to its movements.
That fluidity all but fell away when the creature came across an old looking cart, with a sharp lurch, it stopped dead in its tracks, and Sweet couldn’t be certain but it seemed the creature had fallen in love with the junk sat atop it. Ok, junk may be harsh but whatever the creature saw in it was lost on her… even though it looked familiar somehow.
While the creature’s attention was focused solely on the cart, it seemed that a few of ponies had taken the opportunity to get their turn gawking at the town’s new visitors… which was something the creature hadn’t seemed to notice.
‘ah just hope the cart owner appreciates the attention’ At that thought, Sweet Peach perked her head slightly and she began to search for the market pony who owned the stall. And while the first few moments of searching lead her to conclude that the pony was one of the ones that had suddenly gone on break, that conclusion was suddenly dispelled when the mare noticed said pony lurking within the crowd, gawking at the creature along with a small group of other ponies.
Sweet Peach frowned at the expression on the market pony’s face. It didn’t take more than a second to figure that the pony won’t be moving to help them any time soon.
‘Ah guess it will just buy its stuff and go about it’s da…’
Sweet’s thought was suddenly ripped away from her, and she flinched back when the smaller creature let out a sharp- almost bark like sound from its mouth, followed by a strange garble of words.
“Xuco! Xuco, das-ni!” the creature shouted again, and Sweet peach all but felt the air freeze in her lungs when her eyes found what caused it to shout…
She didn’t know how in the world it got there, but when Sweet blinked the shock away and turned her shaken gaze back to the market stall, she found that, sat under the narrow piercing eyes of the taller creature was the wide, pleading gaze of a young, tan coloured filly.
Time itself seemed to stop as a sharp glint of light stabbed at Sweets eye, both of the creatures blunt claws now sat atop its sword which was drawn just enough for the sunlight to catch the cold gleam of metal…
For what must have been the longest second in Sweet’s life, she watched in terrified silence as the creature glared down at a foal, its once nearly comically long limbs seemed as tense as a spring as it gave of the air of a viper the second before it strikes. But then, ever so slowly the glint of light disappeared and the creature’s claw fell away from the sword’s base and returned to rest limply at its side as the other stayed perched atop the wooden scabbard.
For a charged second, the air around Sweet Peach seemed to thaw, and she felt a breath fall out of her that she didn’t know she was holding… and she paused when the sound of more than one similar loose breath caught her ears. The sound made her eyes flick towards the source and she found a group of ponies standing a little away from the cover they were hiding behind. Each one wore a subconscious look of relief that Sweet Peach could never remember seeing before, but more than one also looked ready to lunge forward in a seconds notice towards the filly.
When Sweet’s eyes flicked back she found the creature still staring at the filly, and the filly still looking up at it with the same wide pleading eyes. But unlike the moment before, the creature’s harsh expression had crumbled, leaving a strange look of confusion, and what Sweet swore was discomfort in its wake. It almost seemed like an expression Sweet would have expected it to wear if a rattlesnake found itself two inches from its face. But despite the tense flinch of its demeanour Sweet watched the two with the same creeping - icy feeling of dread clawing at her throat as both the filly and the creature continued to wait for the other to blink first.
The filly was the first to act, but she didn’t blink, rather she turned her eyes to one of the carts then back to the creature, her lower lip quivering as she did, and even though its expression didn’t soften at all, the creatures eyes followed the fillies then it slowly reached out with one of its ‘claws’ and took one of the shiny red apples which Sweet hadn’t even noticed was there and It slowly lowered its claw towards the little pony.
When the apple was in front of the filly’s face, Sweet watched as the little pony as she gave a smile that threatened to split her face in half before she all but snatched the fruit out of the creature’s claw- only to try and shrink into the floor when she glanced around the apple in her mouth and found the eyes of probably every pony in the town staring at her… and with a quick squeak she shot off and galloped behind a building.
The creature, on its part, didn’t give any notice to the ponies staring eyes. Instead, it watched the filly retreat away with what Sweet could almost swear its kind would probably call a smile. It was the faintest, weakest most miserable excuse for a smile she had ever seen, but there it was all the same and the mare couldn’t help but find the gesture infectious as all the nervousness that all but froze her lungs a second ago seemed to melt away- if only to give an example of what a real smile should look like regardless as to whether it saw the gesture or not.
The creature, with that same ghost of a smile still sat atop its lips, looked over to its companion. But when it did, for some reason, the smile fell away and its face twisted back into a frown- and, with a gesture Sweet figured was its version of a shrug, it slowly turned around and began to move away from the stall.
With another loose breath, Sweet Peach let her head lower a little and she cast her eyes out for the sheriff. The stallion was watching the creature walk away with a cold, almost indifferent mask, but that mask seemed to fall away the second Sweet Peach caught sight of him.
For a second Sweet was confused. After what had just happened, or more likely what had not happened, Sweet thought the sheriff would be wearing a look of relief on his face- that or at least not look like the critter had just stolen his breakfast. But that’s was exactly the expression she found hiding behind the stallion’s large bushy facial hair.
Frowning, Sweet turned her heads to match her gaze to where the sheriff was staring, and as soon as she did, the mare was wearing the same expression which marred the stallion’s face. Standing in the middle of the road, blocking the path of the taller creature, was an earth pony. Below the scruffy rim of an old white hat, the light yellow face of a stallion was glaring at the creature, twisted into a frown that seemed to be doing its darndest to outdo the one the creature previously wore. And Sweet Peach would have even admitted that the frown had indeed succeeded; until the creature returned the expression...
In its flat, odd face, Sweet found the same mark of confusion, but this time the strange features seemed to hold little patience.
With a growing panic, she watched the stare down transpire, her mind swimming with a focused but confused question ‘What could it have done ta…?’ then a sudden swell of realisation struck her mind like a stampede.
‘Of course, the apple!’ The realisation brought on a cringe even worse than the one before….
Now, you see… every single settler pony worth their salt got to be that way by adhering to three, unspoken rules- and by ‘adhering’ I mean like the way bark sticks to a tree…
One- you never go far off out of town alone …
Two, a pony who steals from another pony ain’t no pony at all…
And finally… respect the apple family.
With that last one, a long list of justification follows. But the main reason behind it is the simple fact that any earth pony would be hard pressed to find a town in all of Equestria that didn’t have its humble beginnings credited to the Apple family; be it the humble seedling of a town out in the outskirts of nowhere, or the towering form of that seed after it was nurtured into a full city. And that same pony would be even harder pressed to wander into any one of them and not run into at least one of the Apple family members. A member of the Apple family even held the element of honesty, and anyone who messes with an apple in any way would soon learn the harsh truth that follows….
You can never cross just the one of them.
You see, the Apples took pride in being the kind of pony that sticks by close to their family. ‘You mess with one of us and you mess with all of us’ was even something of a family motto. And, there was one thing they all despise above anything else…Theft
To be a thief is to be against everything the Apple’s hold dear, and it was the quickest way to be labeled a pariah in any town the Apple family held influence. Not only that. But having helped start every pony settlement in Equestria means they’ve had their fair share of run-ins with non-ponies, and let’s just say that, just like their namesake, not all apples are sweet. But what all apples are in spades is mighty stubborn; even by the settler pony standards, and the whole mess with the buffalo was testament to that.
Some ponies even assert that that particular mess was the Apple’s doing. They were the ones planting the trees on the buffalo’s land without even a word. Then, when the town became dependent on the trees fruit, they use that as the reason they couldn’t shift them. Some took it even further than that, and say the apple fixed it that way on purpose to justify fighting the buffalo off; that the family had never collectively gotten over the whole ‘no cutie mark, no soul’ way of thinking.
Now, even if all these things weren’t true, there’s still one thing that Sweet Peach did know. That critter just found itself caught stealing something from an Apple… and that was never a good place to find yourself.
Sweet Peach shook her head. ‘For its sake, ah just hope this critter ain’t the stubborn sort…’
As the two harsh pairs of eyes glared into each other, both hoping to stare the other down, Sweet Peach tried to remember which member of the family she was looking at. It couldn’t have been the only other yellow apple stallion in town, Braeburn, on account of him being off on a peace trip with the buffalo and she also couldn’t remember that pony ever entering her place of work. She would have recognised the hat and vest if he had.
Well, she may not have known the pony but she could more than easily see what he was doing right now. He was stood with widened hooves, ears back and nostrils flaring with a huff of condensation giving each exaggerated breath a visual cue- just like most ponies do when they try and look threatening… it was just a shame that the creature didn’t seem at all fazed at the display as it just continued to looks down its, stubby almost non-existent ‘muzzle’ with the same expression of confusion on its face, but as time creeped on, that expression settled into an annoyed frown. But what did seem to faze the creature was a growing crowd of ponies that settled around the scene like a rising tide-many of which happened to be other apple clan members coming to see who it was that dared tangle with one of their own.
“Xuco…” the sudden, and now strongly familiar, sound of the smaller creatures warning tone shook Sweet ,and she looked over to see the smaller creature waving a forelimb as if to get the larger ones attention…
“Xuco, cha nietinia,” the smaller creature spoke in what almost sounded to Sweet Peach like the deadpan tone Sweet used many times when a pony knocked something from the bar table.
The taller creature glanced to its companion then too the pony, and spoke with a voice that sounded annoyed. “cha ni sacu!”
The smaller creature let out a sigh and shook its head.
With a strangely haughty gait, the smaller creature started walking towards the pony blocking the path of its companion, the sound of its steps overshadowed by a soft, almost mocking chuckle passing its lips as it did.
When it was only a few steps away from the pony it slowly moved one of its ‘claws’ into the layers of its clothing, making the stallion’s ear give a sudden twitch at the motion.
Turning slowly the pony faced the smaller creature just as it let out another word to its companion and it removed its claw from the layers of its clothing with a small sack held between the confines of its strange digits. A metallic sounding ‘jingle’ filled Sweet’s ear with every movement, and a golden glint confirmed her suspicion when it held it claw forward and presented a small number of small gold pieces to the pony.
Sweet felt herself smile as the stallion accepted the pieces and let the rectangles shift in the bowl of his hoof, and let out a nervous breath she didn’t know she was holding as silent sigh of relief, the disaster averted…
That was until the creature found the gold peace’s thrown back in its face by the now enraged pony.
With an angry snarl, the pony stormed forward as the creature was still trying to process what happened. But before he even took his third angry step, a sudden, sharp glint of sunlight stabbed him in his eye and stopped him dead.
The pony froze and his eyes drifted down near his throat to find the metal of two swords just inches from the fur on his throat.
The taller creature, who’d been watching the whole thing, seemed to have shed all its fear and confusion from its face and, faster than Sweet could even process, had pulled not one but two swords out of the scabbard on its waist, and now stood over pony with an angry scowl.
The stallion’s eyes flicked down to the glint of metal, then back to the creatures cold eyes. His sudden rush of anger seemed to have been replaced by feeling like a plant at the mercy of a gardener’s shears.
Sweet watched the scene play out with another chill as the pony cast its shocked eyes up at the creature’s face, but this time he found no annoyance or confusion, only cold anger. Anger that seemed almost tangible as it radiated off its burning features like light from a fire, a fire that was now burning only two feet away from his face, scorching through his eyes and forging his own into a blank, glassy stare.
“Xuco!? Ni chai dau un?” the ponies confused stare was shattered by the smaller creatures yell as its eyes turned away.
“Gaiu dali ni hu pau un! Dali sig gu!” the taller creature spat back, its anger seething through into its tone.
As the strange sounds filled Sweet’s ears her mind flashed with possible but futile notions of what the strange sound could mean. But the question wasn’t shared by the other pony. In his mind something else flashed… opportunity, and not even a second after it made itself known, he capitalised on it and scraped a hoof across the ground before hurling it into the distracted creatures face.
His effort was rewarded by a pained yell and clang of metal as one of the swords fell to the ground and the creature began to claw at its eyes with its strange limbs.
Now free from the swords and the creatures piercing eyes, the pony let out a startled yelp and his eyes scanned around him looking for any salvation.
A pitchfork… sitting up against the stall called to him, and while the creature was still impotently clawing at his its own face, he jumped back and quickly seized the wooden handle between his teeth.
The creature staggered backwards blindly as the pony reached for the pitchfork and clutched to it like it was his very life, razing the metal end between him and the staggering creature.
“XUCO!!!”
Sweet wasn’t sure what happened next… she saw the pony raise the pitchfork, she heard the smaller creature yell, then… the very earth seemed to quake under her and with a thunderous crash it retched and shook as noise and dust was kicked up into the air and into her face.
When the world was still again, she stopped resisting the pull of her hooves and they slid from her face and she just laid there on the ground as her mind and ears rang like a bell.
Through the noise, a panicked thought shot through and she desperately swung her head around to the pony… only to find the very earth seemed to have split and a pillar of stone now protruded where the stallion had just been standing.
Her eyes shot back at the two creatures, the smaller was nowhere to be seen and the larger one had crumbled, barely off the ground as it continued to claw at its own face. With one last scowl its face rose and looked through the dust that lined its eyes, and raised itself to it its full height, a shocked expression hanging on its face.
“Hello?!”
The yell of a pony cut through the dust and ripped the thoughts from her head. A shift in the wind gave Sweet a glimpse of the sheriff heading towards her with a group of ponies wading through the wafting soil while they coughed over the handles of farm tools held between their teeth.
The taller creature must have noticed the ponies as it let out a commanding shout and the smaller one raised its forelimbs in a strange manner and then, to Sweet’s shock, brought them down with force and the cloud of dust followed the gesture, parting to reveal the ponies who continued to rush ever closer.
With one last command the creatures turned away and started running and the sheriff and other ponies rushed on to give chase… but not for long.
The last thing Sweet saw of the creatures was obscured by a cloud of dust rising from the pony’s hooves. A shuddering yell followed by strange flash of orange and yellow ripped through the dust and lingered softly, leavening Sweet mesmerised by flames dancing in the air before dying out, leaving only a deep, deathly silence in its wake.
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