Chapter 2
Appleloosa
November 4, 2012
The next morning the sun was just starting to rise on Appeloosa and Colonel Warspite stood on the dusty platform of the small frontier town's train station. Warspite squinted at the sunrise in the distance, took off his fedora, and wiped his brow. It was going to be another hot one; thankfully he would be on a nice air conditioned luxury passenger train soon. He had sent a telegram to the Great Stallion as soon as he woke to inform him that Promontory had accepted his invitation after all. He checked his watch again; it was getting late. It would be time to board the train soon and Promontory was still nowhere to be seen. Maybe he had changed his mind again. No sooner did this thought enter Colonel Warspite's mind did it dissipate with relief as he saw Promontory come out of the train station and onto the platform toward him.
Promontory wore the same dusty hat and jacket from the night before and had a knapsack thrown onto his back. He looked to be in a better mood than he had been the previous night and smiled and nodded as he approached Warspite. "Mornin' Colonel!"
"Cutting it kind of close, aren't you son? The train is supposed to be leaving in the next few minutes."
"Sorry, had to tell my bosses I was gonna be outta town for the next few days."
"And how well did that go over?"
"Bout' as well as you'd expect but whatever they'll get over it."
At this moment, Promontory finally noticed the train they'd be on. The sight of it made his jaw drop. It was sleek and modern. He was blinded as the early morning sunlight gleamed off it. "Wow, she’s a beauty,” he said. It was a vast understatement.
Warspite laughed, "Nothing like the rattlers and clankers you’re used to driving is it?"
"No sir, not at all."
The two continued to chat idly for a few minutes more as the platform started to grow more crowded with other travelers. Right on schedule, neither a second early nor a second late, the conductor stepped down off of one of the train cars and yelled out so loudly that everypony in Appleloosa probably heard him, "ALL ABOARD!"
Within a few minutes, everypony was on board. Promontory was impressed as he moved from car to car on the train. Everything was so clean and shinny, from the dining cars to the sleeping cars. The train jerked slightly as it began to move slowly away from the Appleloosa train station. Promontory sat by the window in the room that he and Warspite would be sharing for the long ride to Manehattan. He watched out the window as Appleloosa grew further and further away until it was just a dot on the horizon, and then out of sight. Little did Promontory know then but that would be the last time he would ever see his beloved home
Later that night, the pair found themselves talking over cider in the dining car. The rest of car was empty, save for the bored looking bar tender who was wiping down the bar and a young couple, totally enamored with each other at a table at the far end of the car. "So Colonel what's Manehattan like anyways?"
"It's a great town, mind you the ponies are a bit stuffed up and liable to run you over if you get in their ways, but the city itself is beautiful. Why? You’ve never actually been?"
"I ain't never been nowhere till' now. Shoot, far east as I've ever been was Dodge Junction!"
They both laughed as Warspite took another swig out of his glass. Promontory finally decided to ask a question that had been itching at him since they left Appleoosa, "So I gotta ask why are you ‘Colonel’ Warspite if you’re not in the Army or the Royal Guard anymore?"
Warspite looked back at him as he took another swig out of his glass and put it down. "It's an honorific title I retained from my service as an officer in the Equestrian Royal Guard."
"I thought that job was pretty much a lifetime commitment? And you look too young to have retired, mind if ask what happened Colonel?"
Colonel Warspite suddenly grew quiet and somber. He looked away from Promontory and looked out the window at the vast western frontier rolling past them. Feeling he may have treaded onto an unwelcome subject Promontory tried to retract his question, "You know what I'm sorry sir I should have minded my own business."
"No," the Colonel said in a serious tone still looking blankly out the window, "No I'll tell you what happened."
Colonel Warspite loosened his tie and leaned in on the table before going on. "About five years ago, dragons were attacking and terrorizing settlements on Equestria's southern border. I was placed in command of a company of 250 Royal Guards and we were stationed at a small community nearest to the border. So a few weeks passed and the attacks seem to stop. My superior officers decided it was time for us to show these dragons that we meant business and that we were capable of defending ourselves. So they ordered me to move my company across the border and into their territory. I protested strongly against this but to no avail. Most of the stallions under my command were raw recruits, fresh out of training, and most of my officers were young and inexperienced. We made it about a mile into dragon territory completely unopposed, but when we came to an open field... “He paused for a moment, as if he were having flashes of images too horrible to describe. “We were ambushed and nearly all of my stallions were reduced to nothing but ashes in a matter of minutes."
Warspite stopped for a moment to compose himself. He cleared his throat and went on, "Only myself and a handful of others were lucky enough to escape with our lives."
"What happened after that, sir?"
"Well, when nearly 250 Royal Guards are wasted in a pointless attack, somepony has to pay the price. So what did my superior officers and the generals who had ordered the attack do? They saved their own sorry flanks and pinned it all on me! I was stripped of my armor and rank, humiliated for somepony else's mistakes!"
Warspite looked down and away from Promontory, "I lost everything after that. My friends, my home, my family, all gone. I lived on the streets for nearly a year. But that was before I met Fancypants. He picked me up and gave me a second chance. With my near spotless military record and the injustice of what happened to me, he made me Chief of Security for his company and I've never looked back. He made me who I am today."
Promontory nodded and raised his glass, "I'll drink to that sir."
"Well, what about you, son?"
"What about me?"
"Tell me about yourself. Who are you?"
"Isn't much to tell about me. My folks were small ranchers outside of Appleloosa. It was me, my ma and pa, and my two older brothers. I was the youngest. Work on the ranch was hard, we all had to work from sun up to sundown, and since I was the little colt I felt like I had to work twice as hard to prove myself. It was a hard life, but a good one. Then one day, oh I reckon I was about ten or eleven years old, the buffalo were on the war path again and they raided a lot of the small ranches around Appleoosa. Our ranch was one of the one's hit hardest. They blitzed us. My pa and brothers tried to fight them off and my ma hid me in the root cellar under the house. She said she'd be back, but a few seconds later the ground was shakin' somethin' fierce. I thought it was an earthquake and that the whole root cellar was gonna collapse on top of me, but it held. I waited till night when I thought it was safe to come out. There weren't nothin' left. The buffalo had flattened everything... And everypony."
"I'm sorry about your family, son."
"I'm not. They died trying to defend what was theirs and the ponies they loved. That's how I'd wanna go out. Yes, sir. So after that I pretty much had to fend for myself."
"You mean nopony would take you in?"
"Appleloosa was a much different place fourteen years ago Colonel, a haven for all sorts outlaws and undesirables. It really wasn't until eight years ago or so when Sheriff Silverstar and Judge Palmer showed up in town that Appleloosa became a fit place for decent pony folk to live in. I did odd jobs around town and scraped by for the first eight years, but I always wanted to work for the railroad. That was my dream. And I got it. After a long, long time of punching tickets and shoveling coal, I finally got to conducting my own train. I wanted to be promoted to move up in the company. My pa taught me when I was a young colt that if you work hard and persevere that anypony can be successful in this life, and that is how I've always lived my life and done my job."
Warspite smirked, "Well, that was some story. And I'll drink to it."
Warspite took a long gulp out of his glass, trying to down what was left of his cider. He succeeded and, with a content look on his face, sank back into his seat. He then checked his watch, stretched, and yawned, "Well I don't know about you son, but this little trip down memory lane has worn me out. I think it’s best if we turn in for the evening."
Warspite peered out the window and went on, "By the look of things out there, we'll probably be in Manehattan by tomorrow morning."
Promontory looked out the window expecting to see sandy deserts and rock formations, but instead he saw rolling hills and forests. The train had just crossed into the eastern half of Equestria. "Yeah I suppose your right. I'll be right behind you."
Warspite slid out of the booth, draped his coat over his back and placed his fedora precariously on his head, "Well goodnight then son."
"Goodnight, Colonel."
With that, Warspite turned and left the dining car. Promontory sank back into the seat and tipped his hat up a bit. Left alone with his own thoughts again, he mulled over what business deal Fancypants could possibly have for an Appleloosa bumpkin like him. His thoughts were interrupted by the bar tender who was spoke up in a slightly irritated voice, "Hey mac, I don't wanna rush you or nothin' but I'd like to close up for the night. Do ya' mind?"
"Hmm? Oh I'm sorry sir, goodnight."
The bar tender didn't even answer him back, but Promontory heard him mumbling angrily to himself as he left the dining car, something about a "dumb country hick."