Tales From The West: Grit & Lead

by Docks

Chapter One: Welcome To The West

Chapter One

The hot desert sun shined upon the small town of Free Water with enough heat to evaporate a glass of water within seconds, but for the inhabitants of the small desert town they wouldn’t have it any other way.

"Afternoon sheriff, fine weather we’re havin’ today.” Greeted an aged green coated unicorn to an equally as old earth pony that entered through his store’s wooden door.

The sheriff tipped the brim of the dark brown hat that covered his graying mane in acknowledgement. “So, how’s business today Limey?” The straw colored stallion asked. “Business is goin’ great with tourist season hittin’ in full force now.” The pony known as Limey answered as he finished polishing the window in front of him. “Good, good. So how’s that grandcolt of yours doin.” The weathered stallion mused as he sat himself down upon a simple stool, before grabbing a nearby newspaper off the wooden rack next to him.

“He’s doin’ fine, I actually saw him two weeks ago. The lil’ colt is almost up to my neck now!” Limey smiled as he gestured with a hoof. “Speakin’ of grandfoals Ballad, didn’t you mention to me two days ago that your own children and their foals were comin’ in to visit today?” The wrinkled shopkeep asked whilst he moved amongst his store’s shelves. The sheriff let out a sigh as he folded the newspaper back onto the wrack, before heading for the door. The unicorn let out a small chuckle and floated a bottle of sarsaparilla to his friend. “Same time as usual, sheriff?” The old stallion nodded his head in response and thanked his friend as he grabbed the bottle with a hoof.

Sheriff Ballad shielded his eyes as he stepped outside once more into the small, yet bustling community. With only ten buildings encircling a single dirt road that divided the town in half, calling Free Water anything else but small would be an outright lie. Ballad greeted everyone he passed by with a tip of his hat as he slowly trotted towards the town’s square.

The old stallion wiped away beads of sweat from his brow as he swiftly ducked underneath the shaded shelter of a nearby building’s wooden patio. Ballad promptly entered the establishment and asked the property’s owner for a chair he could borrow. The old stallion grunted out a quick thank you as he used his head to nudge a small chair out from the building’s door.

The sheriff popped the bottle in his hoof with his teeth and quickly settled down upon his chair. Ballad took a massive gulp of the bottle’s sweet dark brown nectar, whilst his wrinkled eyes fixated upon slow moving carriages and ponies. An hour passed and the wrinkled earth pony’s head began to droop down as he fought between staying awake and the alluring pull of an afternoon nap. Ballad was about to lose the battle until a distant, low pitched whirling noise caused him to perk back up instantly.

The senior pony shielded his eyes as he saw a small silhouette of a carriage begin to drift into focus; faint clouds of grayish smoke trailed behind the speeding object. Ballad smiled to himself before stepping into his element. The sheriff began herding ponies and carriages alike to clear the small road to make space for the fast approaching object. Soon an amalgam of wood and steel quickly screamed down the town’s only road, before stopping several paces away from the bewildered denizens of Free Water.

Ballad quickly galloped to the strange carriage’s side and banged a hoof onto its quivering frame. “Been wonderin’ when you ponies would show up!” The sheriff yelled in attempt to get his message across the carriage’s ruckus. Several seconds passed before the carriage ceased its tremors, and out stepped two adult ponies and two teenaged foals.

“Dad!” The two adults immediately shouted as they quickly embraced the wizened pony in a hug. “Leave it to y’all city ponies to make an entrance like that!” The elderly pony jested. “Now where are those precious grandfoals of mine at?”

The two teenaged ponies swiftly broke from kicking dirt around with their hooves and immediately feigned interest as their grandfather quickly galloped towards them. “Whoooweeee! Y’all can’t really be my little Dusty and Sugar Sap!” Ballad shouted as he scooped up the two with a massive bear hug.

“Hello Grandpa Ballad.” The two ponies droned. “Shoot, y’all kids could do better than that! But I’ll let it slide knowin’ you two have been crammed in that hyper, hi-tech, self propelled carriage thingy.”

“It’s called a car, Grandpa.” His grandfilly quipped

“Hey! I don’t want to hear you sass your grandfather like that Sugar Sap.” Whistled the unicorn mare behind the elderly pony.

Ballad quickly let his grandfoals go and turned his attention upon his offspring. “How’s livin’ the high life in Manehatten doin’ for ya’ Sliver? The stallion inquired as he patted the light gray earth stallion on the back.

“You know I don’t live in the prosperous part of Manehatten, Dad.” Sliver sighed. The pale orange unicorn mare next to him let out a little giggle whilst having to wipe an occasional tear away.

“Quit, yer laughin’ Mayflower, your brother does some honest work as an attorney. But you on the other hand.” Ballad retorted whilst he shook a disapproving hoof at his daughter. “I can’t fathom how you can work for that Nightmare Moon Pony!” The old stallion grumbled.

“Dad! Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon are not the same pony and I’ll have you know that Luna is a nice and caring individual!” Mayflower fumed.

The old stallion let out a hearty laugh at his daughter’s reaction before turning towards his son. “Told ya that would get her riled up.” The unicorn mare sighed as she attempted to gain her composure whilst her brother and father continued to buckle down in laughter. The unicorn mare begrudgingly waited for the crowing chuckles to die down before calling for her daughter and nephew to stand next to her. “Are you sure you’re okay with this father?” Sliver asked.

The old pony spat out a wad of saliva as he nodded his head. “Of course! I promised I’d watch over um.” Mayflower hugged her father as he wiped his mouth. “Me n Sliver owe you one! If something comes up just call us on the phone Sliv bought you.”

“Don’t worry yer heads off. If I managed to raise you two, then I can handle two teenagers just fine.” Ballad boasted as he slapped both his hooves on his grandfoals’ backs. “Y’all should get goin’ I know how you city folk are always busy wid’ yer work.” The two ponies nodded their heads and gave one final hug to their father.

The adults quickly turned towards their disinterested children. “You two behave and be good to your grandfather.” Mayflower commanded. “Just don’t upset your grandfather, wouldn’t want the ole geezer to keel over.” Sliver joked as he got back into the carriage. Mayflower let out a sigh and flicked her brother’s head with a bit of magic. The two foals both let out a reluctant groan. “Yeah, we’ll be good little ponies.” Responded the two.

Mayflower quickly hugged the two again and trotted back into the waiting carriage. “See you three in a week!” Sliver yelled over the carriage’s rumbling engine. Dusty and Sugar Sap sighed and waved goodbye as they saw their only means of leaving Free Water drive away.

Ballad finished waving goodbye and turned around to the bored teenagers in front of him. “Y’all seem tuckered out. How’s ‘bout we head back to my house and see what I can do to put a step back into yer hooves.” Dusty and Sugar Sap both nodded their heads and followed their grandfather as he headed for the only stone built structure in Free Water.

The three ponies entered the dank building and found themselves in a small dark room; a small desk was neatly placed a few feet from the entrance, a collection of gray silver cabinets stood amassed at the room’s left corner, and three empty iron cells fused into the building’s walls were neatly lined up behind the desk. Ballad apologized for the lack of light as he pulled the blinds and allowed the sun’s light to flood into the dark room.

The old stallion headed for a previously unseen flight of stairs at the end of the room. “Much better. Now let’s all head up stairs, don’t think you’d youngsters would like to stare at a desk the whole afternoon.” Ballad said as disappeared up into the floor above. Ballad’s grandfoals muttered to themselves before following suit. Dusty and Sugar Sap found themselves in a similar sized room, the room’s walls were painted a dark mahogany with faded black and white photographs framed across the entire room.

“Sorry for the cramped space kids. Free Water ain’t all that big so the founders decided to cram the sheriff’s office, jail, and lodgings into a single buildin’ to save some bits. Y’all just seat your keisters on the sofa whilst I grab some biscuits an’ ‘parilla from the larder.” Ballad hastily exclaimed.

Taking a seat upon a worn sofa; the two ponies silently nodded their heads and began to take in their new surroundings whilst they waited for their grandfather. “This is gonna be a long week isn’t it?” Dusty sighed as he fidgeted around on the ancient sofa.

“Buck me.” Replied his cousin. The two ponies lounged around desperately searching for something to break their boredom. Their grandfather re-entered the room as he deftly balanced a laden tray on his back. The old stallion hummed to himself as he gently placed the tray on a small coffee table in front of the occupied couch.

“There you kids go, the finest ‘parilla this side of the Equestria!” The old pony beaned. The two young ponies thanked their grandfather and each grabbed a bottle from the tray.

“Hmmmm. I know what we can do right now! How about I tell you youngsters another one of my stories.” The ponies on the couch looked up at their grandfather’s grinning face and sighed.

“What’s the matter? I thought you kids enjoyed my stories?” The old pony asked with a slightly pained expression adorning his face.

“We did, when we were little foals but we’re older now and the charm of princess meets prince has faded for me...” Dusty dejectedly answered.

“No offense Grandpa, but I’d rather dunk my head in a cage full of bees then sit through another one of your stories that talk about something silly like friendship. I want something with action and suspense! ” Sugar Sap exclaimed.

The old pony’s face began to visibly perk up as his grin returned in full force. “Hahahaha! Been wonderin’ when you youngsters would begin to feel that way.” The two grandfoals gave the old stallion bewildered looks.

“Follow me.” Ballad motioned as he headed out of the living room. Curiosity got the better of the two ponies and followed close behind their grandfather. The two ponies found themselves in their grandfather’s diminutive study. The room was an exact copy of the living room; clusters of faded photographs and dusty memorabilia blanketed its walls.

The wrinkled pony gestured for his grandfoals to take a seat in front of the study’s compact fireplace. The two ponies grabbed some nearby cushions and plopped themselves down upon the wooden floor. The old stallion pulled up a cushion for himself and smiled at the foals before him. “Tell me, how much do you kids know about the Wild West?”

Comments

[DJ Pyro 3]

0 Comments!? UNACCEPTABLE! I will take the challenge of reviewing all of these chapters! One at a bucking time! I'll edit this review as I read on more since I cant't do it all in one sitting! Anyhow, let the review begin!

It may just be me personally, but I don't like how your format it. Just that double space...It's not normal! Most stories don't do that and it's just a little odd reading a story like this. Almost makes my eyes skip paragraphs since they are all basically the same length. Second would be your spelling and grammar. "their only means of leaving Free Water drove pass them." Drive. But I'm sure they will be fixed later in the story. Just makes sure to wait a day then self edit your story. These simple errors will be much easier to spot!

But the set up is nice! I like how this won't be a story about how the Grandfather tries to win over the love of his two city children. It has potential!

Chapter One Reviewed! See Chapter 2 Soon!

-Dj Pyro 3