Chapter 1

Looking up at the red-streaked sky, Snake Eyes wondered how many more days it took to find rest. How many miles it takes to earn peace. His map read of no town in the next hundred miles. But still, there laid a small town, out in the middle of the Mild West. With sand to the right and trees to the left, Snake Eyes decided to check the town out.

The pure light of the moon lit Snake Eyes’ path, and he could barely make out the sign reading Welcome to Appleloosa. Raising an eyebrow, Snake Eyes thought he might have found a town that may not only be civilized, but also not abandoned.

Snake Eyes went toward a small establishment full of light and cheerful noises. He thought it may as well be an Inn, somewhere to rest his head. Snake Eyes put his cloak on, put his hood up, and opened the doors.

He drew more attention than he wanted to. The doors swung back the walls and made a sudden bang loud enough to wake the dead. The room fell silent, all eyes on the Mysterious Traveler dressed in a black cloak, his eyes hidden from the world. From what he could see, there were multiple tables, all full with happy ponies facing a stage, with a bar on the left side of the room. Everypony, yes I mean everypony in that Inn was facing Snake Eyes unblinkingly.

Under that cloak, Snake Eyes was trembling. Outside the cloak, he looked fearless. Snake Eyes simply found the nearest seat and sat down, without saying a word. The inn was terrified.

A brave soul approached the stallion dressed in black and broke the silence.

“Well, how do you do, there traveler?” Said the mare with a grin.

Snake Eyes did not know what to say, so he just stayed silent. On the inside, Snake Eyes felt stupid. On the outside, he looked strong and fearless. And, coincidence or not, is exactly how everypony else saw him, with a bit of scary thrown in.

“Okay,” Continued the yellow colored mare “Can we help you? Do you need a room?”

“Yes, that would be fine,” was all his reply.

“How ‘bout a class of cider?” Grinned a stallion in the front.

“No, thank you.” Said Snake Eyes, although on the inside, he was yearning for something to drink.

“Ya sure? We here in Appleloosa make the finest Cider in Equestria!” Boasted another stallion behind the counter.

“Sorry, but I have no coin.” Snake Eyes fibbed; he had about 14 bits hidden in his cloak. ‘Why am I lying?’ Were his only thoughts.

“Come on pardner, its on the house!” Said the Mare with a grin from ear to ear.

“I said no!” Snake Eyes said, his temper getting loose. “Just lead me to my room, and I will get some quality sleep!” He said with a hoof crashing down on his table with a sharp cracking sound.

All the ponies in the room were first shocked at the Mysterious Stallion’s refusal, for the cider was to die for. Second they started giving him dirty looks as he went upstairs for ruining their night.

He picked the only empty room, slammed the door, threw his cloak off, and started weeping. He never had so much attention at once. What was he thinking? Refusing a free drink? Of course, he never received anything free of charge before, and his evil side got the best of him, again.

Snake Eyes couldn’t stop weeping at how anti-social he was, until he heard a knock on his door, than the sound of galloping. Still, he opened it, to find a small mug of cider on the floor, perfect with two ice cubes. He lifted it with a levitation spell, and smiled. At least somepony cared for him.

Chapter 2

While Snake Eyes slept upstairs, the pub started talking once again.

"That was mighty nice of you to give that stranger a drink, Ginger Gold," said one of the stallions when the yellow mare came downstairs.

"Wouldn't you do the same?" Ginger Gold asked.

"I wouldn't waste my hard earned bits, is what I would have done." Said another stallion.

"Why don't you just try to picture walking the Mild West in his horseshoes?" Ginger replied. "Maybe you would get a lovin' wife then."

"You hold your tongue there," erupted a large, blue Mare. "I don't like your tone."

"What are you gonna do, Zofia? Kick him otta' town, just like you did to Gabriel?" stormed Ginger Gold.

Zofia, taken aback, said her reply with force.

"You listen here, little one. If I don't get that stallion otta town by Sunday," Zofia thought for a moment "He can take my position as Sheriff of Appleloosa."

The room fell silent for the second time that night. Ginger Gold's eyes widened as she thought of something to go against Zofia's remark. At the same time, however, she thought about Gabriel, the poor stallion that had to leave for simply insulting Zofia. Ginger Gold left the pub with tears in her eyes.

The next morning, Snake Eyes awoke slowly. A beautiful Friday morning. He stood up, put on his cloak, and set off for the day.

His first initial reaction was to skip out of town, but he wanted to explore. And he also wanted to find the generous pony who gave him his late-night drink. So, he left the Inn and looked around the town with his hood up.

There was something going on every which-way he looked. Ponies selling apple pies, apple fritters, apple muffins, apple doughnuts, and pretty much everything else you can think of that has an apple in it. As much as he wanted a delicious apple pie, Snake Eyes knew that he needed to find a job, just for a couple weeks. Enough to get a ticket for the train, and get to Manehattan ASAP.

Despite all of the dirty looks Snake Eyes received from Appleloosa's population, he still asked ponies for work, from door to door, getting rejected every time he asked. 'Was everypony in town last night?' Thought Snake Eyes. Depressed, he went back to the Inn, took a seat at the farthest table away from the door.

While he was enjoying a cup of cider, a blue mare approached him with two stallions, all three uniformed in a brown jacket and cowboy hat. The blue mare started to speak.

"So, mister, we were just wondering, well," She gave him a sarcastic smile, "What do you want from our village?"

Snake Eyes let his hood fall just enough for his horn and eyes to be seen, while remaining silent.

"A unicorn;" one of the stallions behind the blue mare said; " Haven't seen one a' you since Gab-"

"Hush!" snapped the other stallion. Snake Eyes felt amused, letting a grin show this feeling.

"What's your name; blue one?" Snake Eyes asked curiously. Not to be threatening, of course. Snake Eyes was just simply wondering what the mare was called. But, the said mare wasn't amused.

"The name's Zofia, Sheriff of Appleloosa. I ask again, what do you want from my beloved village?"

Simply not knowing the answer, Snake Eyes let his eyes wander, and while doing so, he noticed a dagger on the left-hoof side of the one called Zofia. He could make out the handle, with intricate design of a dragon on the pommel.

"That pretty dagger," Snake Eyes said, raising his head a bit.

"Yea, pops said he slit the throats of about fifteen bandits, thugs, and muggers in this town, while he was sheriff, of course." said Zofia with pride, then eyeing the traveler in black. "You looking to be number sixteen, pardner?" spat Zofia.

Taken aback, Snake Eyes thought of just turning tail and running, but if there was one thing one should never do, his father told him, was to not show your enemy you are scared. So, Snake Eyes did what he knew best; he let a bit of his angry side take over.

"Listen, Miss. I do not, I repeat do not want any trouble from anypony here. All I want is a nice place to stay for the day." Snake Eyes said abruptly.

"Well, I'm afraid I cannot allow that, pardner." Zofia said with a grin, grabbing the dagger.

"Put that away, you don't scare me." lied Snake Eyes.

"Try me." Zofia whispered, bringing the dagger down, landing inches away from Snake Eye's hoof holding the cider. Again, the Inn fell silent.

Getting more and more frightened, Snake Eyes started letting his anger take more control. He levitated the dagger, pointing it right at the stallion on the left, and let it fly.

The Dagger flew faster than the speed of sound. Before anypony could realize it, the dagger was stuck on the opposite wall. with the hat pinned against it.

Snake Eyes was surprised at what he did, though he did not show it, and he started walking out the door, leaving a bunch of open-mouthed ponies in the Inn.

Leaving the Inn, Snake Eyes thought he was clever for coming up with that. Just then, the yellow mare from last night ran at Snake Eyes.

"Hi" she said, gasping for air, "I(more gasping) am Ginger (even more gasping) Gold." said the yellow mare, who is now Ginger Gold.

Snake Eyes was surprised by this. Nobody ever ran up to introduce themselves to Snake Eyes, except, of course, what happened about twenty minutes ago. Snake Eyes remained silent.

"What's your name?" asked Ginger Gold.

"They call me... Snake Eyes." said the skeptical Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes didn't want to trust this Mare, for the last time he trusted somepony, it didn't go well.

"Well, I work at the Inn over there, and its full tonight. Where ya gonna sleep?" asked Ginger Gold.

"It was? Hmmm... I guess I can find a spot on the street." said Snake Eyes dreadfully.

"I got a spare room at my brother's house, if ya want it for tonight." Ginger Gold said.

Snake Eyes' face lit up. "Well, thank you ma'am, I would be honored."

"It's just over there," Ginger Gold pointed to a house. "I'm sure Red Gold won't mind."

Author's Notes:

No, this is not leading to a sex scene.

Chapter 3

Snake Eyes and Ginger Gold walked into Red Gold's small house. From the looks of it, it had two bedrooms and a living room, so it was obvious where Snake Eyes was going to rest his head. There was a few chairs facing a fireplace, and a table in the corner. The entire room was covered with wanted posters. Snake Eyes was a little nervous, but he couldn't leave now, he needed somewhere to sleep for the night. As soon as he sat down, he put down his hood, revealing to Ginger Gold his face.

"So, you are a Unicorn?" Ginger Gold said with awe. "Never seen one up close before."

"And I've never seen another unicorn, well, besides my parents." Snake Eyes replied.

"What? Where did you come from?" the curious Ginger asked.

"I don't know. I've been traveling my entire life. Last night was my first night in a bed." Snake Eyes said, blushing.

"How so?" Ginger Gold asked.

"Its quite a long story, and I myself don't remember every step of the way," Snake Eyes continued "But, I can tell you what I do know."

"I was born far away, across the Antlertic Ocean. I don't know the exact city, but I spent several years there. Our family was pretty poor, so my mother and father educated me. The next five years were a blur, but I went on a boat that was set for Manehattan, to meet with my uncle Icarus. I think the boat shipwrecked somewhere, and I tried getting on a train, just to get mugged and beaten. And I have been walking for a long time, still trying to get to Manehattan. I was hopeful to get a train ticket here, but nobody wanted to hire me." Snake Eyes explained what he knew about his past.

"Wow. And I've been living here my entire life. And to think there is an entire world out there." Ginger said sighing. "I have to live with my brother until I can move out, or run away. Whatever comes first. As soon as I can, though, I'm getting the first train otta' here."

"Why? This seems like a nice town to live in. Aside, well, for me." Snake Eyes looked down at himself. He had made a bad impression on himself as soon as he stepped into the town. And he will face the consequences of being shunned form society.

"No, its not that, its our so called sheriff. Zofia, that evil mare," said Ginger with disgust. "My brother has the hots for her, but I think she belongs out in buffalo territory, just like what she did with Gabriel."

"Gabriel?" Snake Eyes wondered out loud.

"A Unicorn who moved in, talked some garbage about Zofia, and got kicked otta town, fed to the buffalo. 'Course, I was just a filly at the time, but I will remember it like it was yesterday." Ginger walked around, getting some Apple Pie. "Hey, your flank is blank!"

Snake Eyes looked down, and shrugged. He never wondered why other ponies had markings on their flanks, but he never had one.

"Whats the idea about that, anyway?" Snake Eyes wondered again.

Ginger explained what a cutie mark was, about finding one's special talent, and also asked what a mature pony was doing without one.

Snake Eyes just shrugged, and they talked about Equestira, the coronation of the new Princess, and whatnot. Until there was a sudden bang on the door.

A red stallion came in, holding a brown jacket and a hat with a hole through its top. As soon as he saw the gray stallion with the cloak, his eyes lit up. He immediately screamed for Zofia, and Ginger screamed at the same time to run.

Snake Eyes didn't know what was up. He looked back and forth, than felt a hoof colliding with his face.

Waking up to the sound of hooves colliding with the ground, Snake Eyes couldn't see anything, and couldn't move his legs. He was blindfolded and tied up, and scared out of his mind. After the hooves stopped, some whispers, he was thrown onto solid ground, felling a sharp pain.

"Appleloosa belongs to Earth Ponies, filth!!" yelled the voice of Zofia. The sound of running started once again, just getting quieter and farther away.

After a while, Snake Eyes wanted to weep, but the blindfold was on so tight, he couldn't open his eyes. 'Am I going to end up like Gabriel?' were Snake Eyes' only thoughts before he drifted into sleep.

Chapter 4

When Snake Eyes awoke, he was lying down near a fire. The sun had not arisen yet, and the fire lit the ground around him. Snake Eyes stood up, looking around, only finding sand and a cactus here and there. He had wondered who had helped him out. As he looked around for some food, he was interrupted by a deep, scratchy voice.

"Ah, you're awake. Finally."

Snake Eyes turned around to see a elderly unicorn, the color of the ground below him.

"And you are..?" Snake Eyes asked suspiciously.

"My name is unimportant. You need to get on your feet again." the old unicorn said.

"You rescued me?" Snake Eyes asked.

"The past is unimportant, young one. The only thing that matters is your future."

"But, did you rescue me?" Snake Eyes wouldn't give up easily. The unicorn saw this as well.

"Yes I did. And I'm not going to do it again, so you need to watch your own back." The strange elder looked around as a ray of light touched the ground. "Sun is coming up. Follow me."

Snake Eyes followed the old unicorn for about twenty minutes, until they reached a cave.

"In." was all the elder said,

Snake Eyes looked around. There was only one torch to light the entire cavern, as small as it was. There was two beds, a fire in the middle of the cave, stalagmites and stalagmites around the walls, and a headstone near the edge of the cave.

"Who was that?" pointed Snake Eyes.

The old Unicorn sighed.

"His name was Gabriel. About your age."

"Oh..." Snake Eyes found out what happened to the last unicorn that was expelled from Appleloosa.

There was dead silence for a few moments. The only thing that could be heard was the steady dripping of water from the ceiling of the cave.

"How far away are we from Appleloosa?" Snake Eyes broke the silence.

"A couple miles, I suppose. You need to get back after you are done with training."

"Training? What do you mean?"

"I mean, you got your flank kicked. You need to take back what was yours."

Snake Eyes was utterly confused. What was his? The only thing he ever owned was his black cloak, which was nowhere to be seen. Zofia must have taken it from him.

"I saw how you handled being threatened by that Zofia character. The first time, that is." Chucked the elder. "You need to figure out how to take that badge away from her."

"What?"

"I think somepony has to take Appleloosa back from Zofia. The city has been a wreck ever since she put that badge on. Making her own laws, not letting anypony have a speak for themselves, no matter the species. Despicable is what it is."

"I just don't understand why I had to leave. What did I do?"

"You broke the so-called peace of Appleloosa by your presence. Have you never entered an Inn? Why would a pony who has been traveling the entire desert turn down the best Apple Cider ever tasted? What is your major issue?" Said the now irritated elder unicorn.

Snake Eyes was thoroughly mad now. He hated being insulted for things like being a unicorn, and being poor, or both.

"I... just didn't know what to say." Said Snake Eyes, holding back the anger.

"What do you mean, don't know what to say? You say 'yes'! Its a simple three letter word, darn it!"

"And no is a two letter word." Snake Eyes' sarcastic side took over.

"Don't get smart with me, rat. Why aren't you angry? Why aren't you threatening to stab my face too? Huh?"

Snake Eyes did not understand why they were having this conversation. Did this old sack of dung want him out of his cave? Did he want him on his way? Why did he invite him in anyway???

"If you want me out of your domain, you can just tell me." Snake Eyes whispered.

"I don't want you out. I wanted to see how you reacted. Its not only amusing, its telling me how you are going to take the so-called sheriff otta town. Well done." Smiled the Elder.

Snake Eyes thought about what just happened for the next hour,

"So, Snake, how come you dont have a mark?" the Elder approached Snake Eyes, who was sitting by the fire.

"I never did anything besides travel, mister. "

"Well, there has got to be something you are good at. You know levitation, anything else?"

"Nah. Levitation is just something my father taught me."

"What about combat?"

"You have seen how good I do with that." spat Snake Eyes.

"Well, those are the only two things that can get you anywhere out here, so you might as well get better at both and see what happens." The Elder grinned.

For the next few hours, the Elder taught Snake Eyes some transfiguration, a stun spell, and how to block a punch, which Snake Eyes failed to do the first couple times, causing some more pain. The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into one month. With about ten hours a day of hoof-to-hoof combat training and magic learning, both felt that Snake Eyes was ready.

"Why can't anypony just take Zofia out? You know, just impeach her themselves?" Snake Eyes asked one night.

"Not an easy thing to do, Snake Eyes. She is a lieutenant in the Equestrian Royal Guard."

"Really? You tell me this now?" Snake Eyes angrily said to the elder.

"If I would've told you earlier, you wouldn't have been so happy to train." grinned the elder.

"Well, how come she isn't still guarding one of the princesses?" Snake Eyes asked.

"She was sent to protect the edge of Equestria. And she said she had direct permission from Princess Celestia herself to take the position of Sheriff. I guess the was just angry she couldn't take the fact that she wasn't at Celesta's right hand."

"So, you want me to beat a highly trained soldier in combat?" Snake Eyes worried aloud.

"You did earlier."

Snake Eyes remembered, earlier today, while the two were sparring, Snake Eyes came out on top for the first time since, well, ever. Snake Eyes grinned.

"What rank were you?"

"I never saw combat, I just trained hundreds upon thousands of fillies and colts how to defend our Princesses. And Zofia was one of them. She was always very strong. I never thought she would do something like this, conquer her countries' city." the Elder was clearly angry of what he created, and he hoped inside that Snake Eyes teaches her a lesson.

Snake Eyes rolled over to sleep, and the Elder thought to himself, maybe there will be hope for Gabriel.

Chapter 5

After a good night's sleep, Snake Eyes woke up to the rising sun. He was warming up to some more sparring, but the Elder went inside, motioning Snake Eyes to stop. Snake Eyes stood up, wondering why he had to stop.

"You are ready. Today is the day. Lets go." the Elder said, smiling.

The two eagerly started to hike through miles and miles of dunes. They soon arrived at the road of the city. Cracking his neck, Snake Eyes was obviously not known by anypony, for he is known to have his dark cloak. Speaking of the cloak, where was it? wondered Snake Eyes. Wherever it may be, it won't help him in combat; the elder said it would weigh him down and block his own punches.

Snake Eyes started his search in the Inn, where it all began. He barged in, no different than he did a month and a week ago. Everypony fell silent and stared at Snake Eyes, again, but, this time his fear was replaced with confidence. Snake Eyes scanned the room, searching for the blue mare, who was nowhere to be seen in the Inn. But what he did see was a sweating and trembling Ginger Gold, who was waiting to bolt out of the inn as soon as Snake Eyes moved.

Let me reassure that Snake Eyes is not stupid, just a little Anti-Social. So, when he saw Ginger Gold trembling and not in a jail cell for harboring an illegal, he knew that that entire night was a setup. But, like the elder said, the past doesn't matter, its the future. Snake Eyes approached Ginger and whispered into her ear,

"Where is Zofia?"

Ginger Gold, inside, really and truly, was on Snake Eyes' side, so she did not hesitate to tell him that she was in town hall.

Snake Eyes left the Inn, leaving the entire inn shocked just as he did the night so long ago.

Snake Eyes knocked on the town hall door, and wasn't surprised to see the blue mare answer the door, but I cannot say the same about Zofia. Zofia nearly screamed, but, after a moment she regained her confidence, and stepped outside.

"Back for more, are ya? Good. Maybe I didn't get my point across." grinned Zofia, her gold badge shining off the sunlight.

Snake Eyes chuckled.

"I know what I am doing here, but I don't think you remember what you are doing here."

"And what would that be, hmm?" Zofia spat.

"Well, Lieutenant, your job is to protect this humble town, not take it over." Snake Eyes replied.

Zofia looked around, thinking about what Snake Eyes just said.

"Maybe you are right," Zofia continued with a smirk, "are you attacking my city?"

Snake Eyes, taken aback, did not know what to say. His initial reaction was to say no and walk away, but he could not do that here.

"Yes. Maybe I am. But I mean no harm to any of the civilians. I just want that badge. So, we can avoid trouble if you simply give it here." Snake Eyes knew she wouldn't give it up that easily, but he had to take risks.

"Over my dead body." Zofia drew her dagger.

Snake Eyes stepped back and grinned. He lifted the dagger and threw it across the field.

"No weapons. We settle this evenly." Snake Eyes raised his hooves.

Zofia grinned and struck first, attempting to hit Snake Eyes in the gut. He used a simple blocking tactic to deflect it, and Zofia was utterly surprised that he knew military techniques. Snake Eyes just stood in his defensive position, for he knew it was not okay to hit a girl under any circumstances. He will just wear her out until he can simply take the badge, yeah, that sounds good.

Zofia flipped backward, completely surprising Snake Eyes, and hit him square in the jaw. Knocked back Snake Eyes quickly recovered and shook his head a bit. Zofia smiled and sent a flurry of punches toward Snake Eyes' own arms. She knew this won't hurt Snake Eyes, but she was aware of his strategy, and just went with it. Snake Eyes was stupid to think that fighting would wear out a Lieutenant of Celesta's royal army.

Snake Eyes was already feeling worn out himself. But, he cannot show this to his enemy. Father told him to never show your enemy any emotions except courage. But, Snake Eyes knew that he could not win this fight sitting and blocking only. So. he fell back a few feet, and readied an attacking formation.

Zofia saw this formation, and tried to counter it with her defensive position, but was too late. A punch hit her square in the gut. But Zofia couldn't back down to a civilian. She was a soldier, a warrior, a spartan!! She immediately sent a quick uppercut up.

Snake Eyes fell back about six feet. He saw some butterflies and was stunned out. He tried to get up, but couldn't. Zofia approached him with the dagger in hoof, and Snake Eyes knew that this soldier is going to finish the job.

"Any last words?" She asked with the dagger to his throat.

"Yes... give me a moment..." Snake Eyes said.

A minute passed.

Zofia, felling irritated, started counting down from thirty,

Snake Eyes, instead of coming up with some witty thing to say, decided to kick up. But, he was beaten and tired.. So, maybe he needs to use magic???

'Okay, here goes' thought Snake Eyes.

He levitated the dagger out of Zofia's reach at the last second, and threw it a few feet behind him. Then, with Zofia distracted, he grabbed the badge on the jacket, and hit her on the head with the pommel of the dagger.

Snake Eyes got up and stepped back, with Zofia stunned, she shook her head and got up, but she knew she was beaten. She was just waiting for the dagger to plunge into her chest. but it never came.

It came straight down onto the sand and rested there.

Snake Eyes saw a black blur in front of him, to see the Elder and Ginger Gold smiling outside the inn. Seeing the cloak to his right, he picked it up and put it on, now with the badge pinned to it.

Zofia stood up and had a face of pure disbelief. The face immediately turned to sorrow, and she kicked the dagger off the ground toward Snake Eyes, the new Sheriff of Appleloosa.

Snake Eyes went up to his room, now located in Appleloosa town hall, wrote a letter, sealed it up, and sat in bed. Looking at the desk again, he noticed a mirror showing a reflection on what this Unicorn had been through, along with a Shiny Gold Star on his flank. Snake Eyes smiled and fell asleep.