The Western Tale
Ch.1: Helping Hands
Ah, Snow. The snowflakes danced around as they fell upon the ground, a stagecoach being pulled along by six Clydesdale horses in the weather. It was not uncommon to see horse rides like this in Pandestria. It could be for a romantic few hours, or for a trip. Limestone Pie did not mind either way.
Truly, she enjoyed her work. Aged forty-two, she had been at this line of work for roughly twenty years. Her father, a tough yet fair man named Igneous had taught her the ropes. The coach moved along there in the weather. Limestone was cautiously optimistic. The paper, the Pandestria Times, had forecasted that a multi-day blizzard was coming in that day. Thankfully, she was only an hour away from a stop for the time being...
As she commanded the horses down the path, her mind would turn to her passengers. The two had paid beautifully for the trip. Well, the one girl had. Limestone knew not to prod into the business of a hangwoman. It could see her meeting her Maker early if one assumed connections.
As she went along, she let out a "whoa there!", a sign to her horses to cease travel. Turning her head to the left, she saw a young man standing there, certainly no more older than eighteen. He wore a handmade scarf, a thick brown jacket, two long sleeve shirts, along with blue jeans that had seen better days, and cherry red boots. He seemed calm.
Limestone knew better. It was miles to any sort of building. Whoever it was either a fool going on a dance with the Eternal or was stuck in a series of tragic circumstances. Limestone gazed down at the young man. Me.
"You alright there, kid?" she asked. I looked up at her and the horses, pulling my scarf down to reveal a face of Germain and Native American descent. My hair was light brown and middle length. On my face were a pair of spectacles that I had to wear at all times, and my eyes were blue. It was clear that I appeared to not dive too much into any unhealthy habits.
"Do you have room for one more?" I asked.
Limestone held her horses. "Where are you heading to?"
"Red River. I have a job waiting there- just a little two-day thing. Then I'm heading home."
Limestone sighed; her face full of sympathy. "Well kid if it was up to me, yes. But its not up to me. That's up to the passengers in the cabin."
"Not up to having a guy with them?" I asked.
Limestone allowed a chuckle. "Nah., They paid for a private trip, and paid well."
I nodded and made my way across the road. Before I could do much, the window on that side of the stagecoach pulled open, and a pistol made its way out.
"Hold it there, boy! In front of me, your hands in the air!"
I complied at once, my hands high in the air, as if I was stretching them.
A head poked out of the window, revealing an orange face wearing a cowboy hat. Her facial expression was one of confusion, but also analytical. On the other seat, a head poked out to reveal a more yellow face, her hair obscured by a warm black winter hat. The lady with the gun raised an eyebrow.
"What's a kid like you doing out here alone?"
I explained. "My horse tripped and broke her leg. Took a bad fall. She didn't make it."
The lady nodded. "Do you know this other lady?"
"Nope" I answered.
"Not even her name?"
"I do not"
"This here" the lady said, "Is Sunset Shimmer. I'm taking her into Red River to hang. Got any issues with that?"
I shook my head no, Sunset allowing a bit of a smile- one of sadness. I decided not to press. Suddenly, Limestone called back to us.
"Look Applejack, I get that you are being careful, but that blizzard is hot on our ass, and we are trying to beat it to shelter!"
"I realize that!" AJ responded in her Southern voice. "Let me think."
After a moment, she nodded. "Alright. But I want you sitting next to me. You have to earn my trust."
Nodding, I got on, the stagecoach taking off.
It was the beginning of a crazy few days.
A/N: Hello. I cannot believe it is 2023 already. Anyways, I came up with this muse. If certain dialogue seems familiar, it should, because this fic is somewhat based off The Hateful Eight. But don't worry- we have a nice little story ahead, nine chapters more ha-ha. Enjoy!