Tales of Apple Scratch: Just Another Wild West Story

by TigerSwirl448

Ch. 3: Frontier Hell

Chapter 3

Frontier Hell

<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>

---

We didn't leave for Frontier City until three weeks after our arrival in Las Pegasus. It was the thought of having two women with no men as a source of the bad luck. It was disheartening thinking about it. Especially for me. I remember their stares, their whispers, their pointing. I felt like I was the cause of the bad luck. Unlike Melody, I had a large breasts and couldn't hide the fact that I'm a woman, dressed like a man. I tried to hide it, but I know Melody could tell when I was down. She would always be there for me and hug me and tell me how important I was. Just hearing her say those words made me happy that I was still loved.

During the time of waiting, Melody got me out of our shared tent to join her in some target practice to test out our new revolvers. I wasn't sure about the idea since we were getting an audience of onlookers. Melody aimed her sub nosed revolver at the paper target and fired. The ball hit the corner of the paper. She was so happy to even made a hit. She turned to me and told me to take a shot.

I remembered people were laughing and watching how I stood like the clerk from the store. I was shaking with nerves, I didn't want to make a mistake and embarrass Melody. But I turned to Melody and saw her wink at me with a kind smile, her eyes bore into mine, telling me that everything was going to be fine.

I took my stance, stuck my left thumb into the hoop of my jeans, pointed the revolver with my right hand. I took in a deep breath then let it out, pulling the trigger, I closed my eyes. The bang echoed in my ears, I was too afraid to see my shot. There was silence all around me, even some gasps. Gasps of astonishment or shock, I didn't know. I didn't look until I felt Melody shaking my arm and told me that I made a great shot.

I opened my eyes to look at the paper target. The paper target was a picture of a fancy man with a mustache. There was a tiny hole on the left corner where Melody made her shot. I can see a second hole and it was positioned in-between the man's eyes. That was my shot. Melody was so excited for me that she leaped up wrapping her arms around my neck, laughing at the luck I had and telling me that I was amazing. I soon started cheering with her, who would have thought I had a knack for shooting these things.

That night around the campfire Melody and I shared, we got visitors. Several people came over and sat with us by our fire. We offered our food to them and after a long moment of silence, we start to talk. Melody talked about gold at the Celestial River, the railroad strike, even about trade. For me, when I got to it, I talked about farming. Some were even surprised learning the fact that I was from the Apple Family. After that night, Melody and I would be invited to sharpshooting competitions for entertainment during the boring wait.

Then finally we were asked to join a new train of three wagons and accompanied with two families who were taken the trip to San Fransiscolt. They told us that we could ride until we reach Frontier City. Melody and I packed up our gear, loaded our guns, and headed for a wagon to climb in. Our adventure has finally taken off.

<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>

Lightning struck and thunder boomed in the distance as the wagon train sat in the middle of nowhere. Five children were inside the second wagon with Annie and Melody. They were shaking with fear after the thunder and screamed, covering their ears or eyes. Melody was rubbing her face with a low groan, she was never a fan of children. Annie was sitting on the floor, beside Melody feeling miserable herself.

It had been raining for three days straight and the sisters went through the worst storm they had ever seen. On the first day of the weather, there were frozen rocks falling from the sky. Annie and Melody never seen the like before. A Jupitarian, who was a friend of the Hoofstein family, was from the weather troop in Canterlot. He told everyone that the frozen rain was called hail. He even showed them a large ice rock that was the size of his hand. Melody and Annie were shocked at what weather can do in this wild place. On the second day, the sisters watched a cone of spinning clouds in the far distance. At first it was amazing until the same Jupitarian said that it was the most dangerous bit of weather in the wild. His stories soon got the sisters afraid of weather now.

Another three tornados struck the ground the next day and Melody couldn't stop watching it, fearing it might make a turn towards them. They can feel the hard wind as they stopped since the wind was too strong and the oxen and horses were aware of the tornado five miles away. Annie just tried to keep the children calm and keep them inside the wagon.

Thanks to having the Jupitarian in their group, everyone seemed at ease since he could tell when the winds shift. But he did warn them that no Jupitarian can predict a tornado's movements. Tornados have a magic that controlled them. Annie along with the two families made prayers to Titiania and Epona even Jupiter to protect them from the wild tornados.

Then this third day was just rain, thunder, wind, and hail. No tornados yet which the Jupitarian said that the conditions were favorable for another spin up, but nothing yet. Already a month of leaving Manehattan and the sisters were miserable. This adventure was turning into hell.

The next day, Annie stepped out to make her necessary break, when she blinked and noticed the clouds were gone. The sky was clear. She sighed rubbing her messy head with a smile. "Bless you Epona." She whispered feeling the light breeze. She went to the rock and did her business. When she was done, she pulled up her loose jeans.

"Nice morning, huh?" A male's voice asked. Annie gasped and turned with shock seeing the Jupitarian smiling at her.

"Heavens to Betsy!" She screamed out glaring at him. "Do not sneak up on a woman doing her private business, Mister Gale!" She scolded as she walked out from behind the rock, walking past him. Gale smiled at her.

"I just saw you leave the wagon and I thought I should tell you something."

"Oh?" Annie asked glaring at him.

"You had some sort of magic with the children the last three nights." He said kindly smiling at her with a wolf like grin.

Annie's glare lessened and her face burned. "Uh... well," She was starting to get worried as he moved closer to her.

"Do you have children of you own Ms. Apple?" He asked keeping that smile on his face. Annie gulped as his hand touched her shoulder and his fingers lightly touch her neck, causing her to turn bright red.

"Uh... no, I do not."

"Hmm, what a shame, I thought you were a mother. A nice mare like you... You seem to be meant to be a mother, not a traveler." His hand trailed down from her shoulder to her chest. That feeling was getting uncomfortable.

"Hey!" Annie sighed in relief hearing Melody's voice. The man turned to see Melody walking over to them, she was dressed only in her button up shirt and pants with shoes. Her hair had grown an inch since they left Manehattan. She noticed Annie's relieved looked then glared at the man before them. "What were you talking about?" She asked with her hands on her hips.

The taller man chuckled. "Just saying what a nice mother Ms. Apple would be since she did well with the children lately." Melody shrugged.

"Sure Annie can take care of kids. That's a woman's natural instinct, right?" She asked. "And you can see that Annie is a bit bothered by your approach." She said with a hard tone.

"I don't think she minds." He said rubbing his hand down Annie's back. Annie jumped and moved away from him. Melody flittered her fingers and the man's hand was slapped with a small whip of magic. He yelped holding his hand looking at Melody.

"She does mind, pal." Melody snarled.

The man glared at her. "And what made you think that girl?"

"Because, I know her better than any other man that had laid eyes on her." Annie blushed at that, Gale blinked twice giving her a look.

"Oh well, my mistake." He snarled, spitting to the side, walking past them back to the wagons. Melody sniffed, rubbing her thumb on her nose. She turned seeing Annie's blush.

"Are you okay?" She asked with concern. Annie nodded once rubbing her neck. Melody sighed rubbing her face. "Once we get to Frontier City I'll be happy."

"Melody,"

"Hmm?" Melody turned to Annie. Annie hugged Melody surprising her.

"I didn't know what to do when he approached me like that." Melody smiled.

"Well he was no doubt hitting on you. I noticed the looks he gave you."

"Really?" Annie asked surprised, staring at Melody with shock.

"Well of course. He was checking you out, wondering what you look like without your shirt or drawers on." Melody said, patting Annie in the stomach with the back of her hand, causing Annie to blush more. She covered her eyes with a groan.

"I just left my husband! I can't handle another man now!" Annie whimpered. Melody sighed sadly shaking her head.

"Well really ... I can see why." Melody said in a whisper.

"Huh?" Annie asked sniffling.

"You're a nice catch, Annie. You have the looks, the body, and the hair. Hell I'm pretty jealous of you." Melody said with false anger. Annie blushed, looking at herself then behind her.

"You really think so?" She asked surprised. Melody opened her eyes to see Annie looking at for an answer. Melody smiled at her.

"Of course I do. If your Pa haven't just given you to that jackass then I bet the boys were lining up to get a look at you, Annie. Really." Melody said with a firm nod. Annie smiled and wrapped her arms around Melody. Melody smiled, happy to make her sister happy again, she hugged her back. "Now, what are we waiting for, I bet those guys would like your help getting the horses ready."

Annie nodded wiping her eyes. "Yeah, you're right. I better get on to work." Annie took determined strides back to the wagons. Melody frowned then let out a sigh of relief.

"I can't afford Annie to give this up yet. Just a few more weeks then we'll be at Frontier City." She smirked, patting her pants pocket feeling the watch under her hand. She chuckled as she made the walk to the wagon.

The next few weeks were longer and harder when the early autumn came around. Thanks to the rain in the plains, everyone had to push the wagons out of the mud. Some had to unload heavy items that shouldn't have been taken. Melody was grumbling how the idiots thought of bringing a giant grandfather clock with them. Annie and Melody had to push from the back of the second wagon with the children hearing them from inside the wagon to push.

Melody slid on her dress shoes and fell face first in the mud. The children were laughing hard from the silly fall. Even Annie snickered as Melody got up, her whole front was covered in mud. Thankfully she was only wearing her shirt and trousers and not her nice vest or jacket. She growled and tried to look through the dirty lenses of her glasses. She smirked hearing Annie laughing hard at her. Melody stuck her hand in the mud then threw the glob at Annie's back. Annie stopped laughing feeling the hard slap on her back, hearing the kids laughing even harder at her shocked face. Annie turned to her to see Melody sticking out her tongue.

"Oh it is on!" Annie said with a challenging smirk. She lunged at Melody into the mud and the two started wrestling. Soon the children started cheering for Annie to win. Melody was able to look up with a glare at them.

"Hey What about me?!" She yelped out. Annie's arm wrapped around her middle and threw her back into the mud. It caused so much fracas that the men, who were busy pulling the oxen, ran to the back and saw the fight with Melody on top of Annie's back, holding on as Anne tried to throw her off.

"What the hell?!" One of the father's, Mr. Hoofstein asked, pulling off his hat to watch the strange scene. Mr. Taylor was chuckling behind his hand as his two older sons were laughing at the scene. Gale wasn't laughing, he found it disgusting.

"So you two like making love in the mud?" He grouched, glaring at them. The two fathers stared and at him now with glares, the sons stared with shock. That stopped the fighting as the sisters looked at Gale.

"Wait, you thought that's we're..." Melody started before laughing. She fell off of Annie's back into the mud, laughing. "Gale, all I said was that I know Annie better than any man because she's my sister!" She said before laughing again. Annie turned to look up at them. The Jupitarian blinked in realization then walked away, his pride in shambles. The other four were confused.

"Oh man, hey Annie?"

"Yeah?" Annie asked before she felt a big glob of mud smack her in the face.

"I win." Melody taunted. Annie used her fingers to wipe two clean spots over her eyes so she could see Melody smirking at her.

"This fight ain't over until the apple bat sings!" Annie roared out, pushing her sister into the mud again. The wrestling match started again. This time the four men decided to make bets as the children were laughing and cheering.

After a day of pushing and fighting in the mud, the wagon reached their next stop. A large rock formation and next to it was a stream. Annie and Melody were shooed by the mothers to get cleaned up before dinner. Annie and Melody left for the stream with two of the younger daughters. The daughters offered to clean their clothes while the sisters washed themselves of mud in the stream. Annie helped wash out Melody's hair and Melody did the same with Annie. The younger girls were able to get most of the mud off of the older girls' clothes and laid them out on rocks to dry. Annie and Melody just sat in the stream enjoying the warm sun as it continued its slow descent to the west.

"So, Miss. Annie?" One of the girls asked.

"What is it Janie, honey?" Annie answered, turning to see Janie Taylor sitting on the dry rocks with her friend Betty Hoofstein.

"How come you say you two are sisters, but you don't look like Miss. Melody?" Melody was sleeping half on the bank and half in the stream. Annie smiled seeing her seeping with her arm over her eyes to block out the sun.

"Well you see, she was a dear friend of mine when we were younger than you." Annie said, flicking water at the two girls causing them to giggle. "But one night, she came to my farm and she was beaten." The girls gasped, covering their mouths in shock. "She was hurt by her uncle and I couldn't leave her out for him to get her, again."

"Did you tell the constable?" Betty asked. Annie shook her head.

"Nope,"

"Why?" Janie asked.

Melody peaked out from under her arm to see Annie thinking before she spoke.

"Well... its a little complicated to say."

The girls looked at one another in confusion. "Why?"

Melody yawned loudly showing that she was awake as she stretched her arms in the air then rubbed her eyes. "What are you girls talking about?" Melody asked placing her hands behind her head. Betty looked at her with a glare for her un-lady-like behavior. Janie was smiling at Melody.

"Oh, Miss. Melody?"

"I thought I told you to drop that 'Miss.' with me."

"Why didn't Miss. Annie tell the constable when you went to her after your uncle beat you?" Melody blinked once then sighed.

"When you live in a city where the man rules, I would have been taken to him anyway."

"Why?" The friends asked. Annie watched Melody with concern.

"Because... My parents left me while I was little and I was left with my uncle, since he was next to kin. And I was fourteen and young woman and I would have been taken back to my uncle, they would believe his sob story on how I deserved the beating, then they would leave it at that." Melody said with a shrug. "Luckily, my uncle went to the penitentiary before he could tell the constable that I was missing." Melody said with a smirk. "May he rot in there until he dies."

"But he's your uncle." Betty said with approach.

Melody snorted. "I can care less what he was. As long as I'm far away from his grubby hands I'll be fine."

Annie flinched at that as she sighed. "Uh girls, are our clothes dried up?"

"Oh let me check." Janie volunteered running to the rocks. Annie placed her hand on Melody's shoulder. Melody turned to her to see her concern smile. Melody smiled in return, patting her hand, letting her know she was fine.

Janie returned to them with towels and Annie's clothes. "They're about dried up." She said holding the towel to Annie. Annie smiled taking the towel.

"Thank you, honey,"

"Be right back with Ms. Melody's clothes."

"It's just Melody!" Melody called out then growled. Annie smirked drying herself off. She tossed the second towel to Melody's head. Betty giggled after Melody made a sharp squeak feeling the towel cover her head.

"Shut up and get dried off." Annie joked. Melody sighed and stood up walking to the shore rubbing herself dry.

The sister got dressed in their clothes. Melody pouted seeing that her dress shoes were ruined. Annie reached into her bags and pulled out a pair of boots for her. Melody grumbled and took the black boots and pulled them on her feet.

That night around the camp fire, Annie shared a blanket with Melody feeling her lean against her, sleeping with her head on her shoulder. Annie smiled looking at her. She stroked her blue hair out of her face, combing the hair behind her ear.

"You care for her do you?" Gale asked silently, watching them.

"Of course I do." Annie answered, seeing the girls watching her with smiles, bundled up in blankets sitting with their family. "She's my sister after all. She took care of me when I needed it most. And so I do the same for her." She sighed, thinking. "How much longer until we reach Frontier City?" She asked.

"Another week. We have to pass Epona Canyon then we'll be there."

"Epona Canyon?" One of the boys, Richard asked.

"Oh yes, it was said that there is a giant rock that was formed to look exactly like the horse god, Epona. You can see her rear in the air telling all to never hurt her herd of strong, tough horses."

The children looked at the Jupitarian with awe. "Really?"

"Oh yes, the great horse god Epona..." Soon the Jupitarian told the story as Annie began falling asleep. So far their adventure was starting to look bright.

Author's Note:

Here we are, another chapter. I wasn't very happy with the beginning of the chapter. It didn't flow well with me. But after the weather bits, things started flowing smoother. So what did you think? We get to understand more of Melody's past and her family. I also went down memory lane while writing this too, did any of you guys played Oregon Trail as kids?

Chapter 4 is written so it will be up maybe sometime this weekend or next week. My main editing computer is down and I have to edit using a small laptop with no Microsoft Word. So the next chapter might come out slower, sorry.

Hope you all like the chapter.

Comments

[Mariacheat-Brony]

Nice chapter overall

I spotted a mistake that I couldn't let pass :p It's Titania, not Titian

other than that, keep going

[TigerSwirl448]

3841643 automatic spell check. I'll get that detail fixed later. Can't fix it with my iPhone.

Edit: fixed it.

[Misty Horse]

I remember oregon trail!

[TigerSwirl448]

4863327 Ah yes Oregon trail. I swear every school has that game. Now I want to play it.