Hard Labor and his wife, Cure, were standing together with their foals at the train station of Dodge City. It was their first vacation as a family in more than a year, and they wanted to visit his sister in Appleloosa.

“Daddy? When does the train arrive?” his daughter asked for the tenth time in the past five minutes. It was her first holiday since she visited school, and she was really excited.

“It arrives when it arrives, honey,” Cure answered in place of her husband. His wife was already visibly annoyed. He really hoped that the train would come in time before a disaster happened.

“Coal, can’t you take care of your sister for a while?” His son was in the middle of his rebellious phase. The last year of school was still in his bones, and he nearly died every time someone talked to him. Hard Labor felt sympathy for his parents. He hoped he had ever been like this.

“Do I have to, dad? She only wants to play with her puppets anyway.” He gave him a stern look which was instantly followed by a moan. “Come on, Ruby, the old folks want some peace,” he said to her.

“We are still your parents, young stallion, so watch your tone!” he yelled at him as he and his sister walked down the train platform.

“Darling, don’t you think it would have been better to leave him at home?” Cure asked with a concerned look on her face. “You know how young stallions are, and I don’t want him to ruin Ruby's vacation.”

Gently, he put his hoof around her neck. “That’s exactly what he wants - to stay here and throw a party with his friends in the empty house. No, it's our last vacation as a family. About this time next year, Coal will have graduated already and will work or study and left the house.” He had his doubts about the studying part. Not that Coal was stupid, but all stallions in his family had a job with hard and honest work. One could even say it was some sort of family legacy.

His wife nuzzled into him and closed her eyes. “I know, and it also concerns me.” Out in the Broken Leylands, there were not many opportunities for the young. They had come here years ago because Hard Labor had gotten a job in the local mine. In time, he became the foreman and made good money. “Have you thought about my suggestion?” Coal still had friends in Hoofington where they had lived before. He could live with them until he found a job. Or they could pay for a small flat for him. That, at least, was the idea. A loud whistle attracted their focus as the train slowly rolled into the station. Care waved for the foals to come, and everyone lifted their bags off the ground. Finally, the train stopped and the doors opened. Some ponies, a diamond dog, and a bull left and walked down the stairs to the main building of the train station.

“All aboard.” Labor directed his family even with the baggage in his mouth. He went ahead, followed by his son, his daughter, and his wife in last. In front of them was the corridor with compartments which they squeezed themselves through.

When he reached the last one, he decided to take it. His foals tended to be a little noisier, and he didn’t want to disturb other passengers. Slowly, he put his bag down. “This compartment looks alright.” With that, he opened the door.

In front of him, a face stared right back at his. However, this was one he had never seen before. Small blue eyes, a mane covered by a black Stetson, a pointy something with nostrils, and a muzzle with a big grin. He could see some sharp teeth in it. “Boo!” it said quietly, but still loud enough that his family heard it. His wife screamed, his daughter screamed, even his son, and he himself let out a silent but panicked whimper. Quickly, he picked up his bag and ran off with his family, followed by maniacal laughter.

More than a little pleased with himself, Thiemo laid back in his seat. They were now into their third day on the run, and in one more they would reach Appleloosa. Much to his comfort, the sooner they reached Equestria, the sooner the amount of gryphons they would meet would decrease. At first he hadn’t noticed, but the wound the gryphon had given him in Round Rock had opened up again while fleeing from Brunhilde.

“Dad, you are impossible.” Contrary to her complaint, Aura was chuckling.

“Yes, but that's only one of my numerous good qualities.” Their tickets actually didn’t account for a whole compartment, but the employees thought it would be best that way. Something about how he would make the other passengers nervous. He didn’t mind it though; after all, he got to experience the comfort of first class travelling. His feet rested on the seat on the other side of the cabin, right next to his daughter who made herself comfortable on her seat. The thick pillows on the low benches were designed for it. That led his thoughts onto a different subject. The closer they got to Equestria, the more everything was designed for ponies. No matter where he had been so far, everything had been at a comfortable size, but he was slowly starting to feel like Gulliver. Aura, meanwhile, was in her element. After all, she belonged here.

With a whistle, the train pronounced its departure, and the heavy machinery set into motion. That also meant that the service carts would come once more. In their hurry, he had forgotten to buy new supplies, and so they had lived on the snacks which were offered on the travel. “You hungry?” he asked his daughter. Her grumbling belly took over the answering part. “Well, that answers that.” Carefully, he loosened the bag on his belt and counted the bits. There weren’t a lot left, but it would be enough until they reached Appleloosa. In case there was a more famous bar, he could surely tell some of his tales and earn a couple of bits. That was his profession: a storyteller. He went to pubs, asked the barkeeper for an empty glass, and started to entertain the crowd. For him alone, his income always made the cut; when Aura had joined him, it got a little bit trickier. Not that he ever regretted his decision to take her with him for a moment.

“Can I get a candy cane? Or maybe some cookies?” The thought of eating something woke her tired mind, and the small foal bounced excitedly on her seat. “Maybe some muffins as well? I know you like them too, especially with blueberries.” Back when he was with the zebras, he could eat meat. They didn’t care since, according to their belief, it belonged to the circle of life. He knew he'd heard that mentality before, but he couldn’t remember where. Anyway, he had caught himself the occasional squirrel or rabbit, but ever since he came together with his foal, the time of eating meat was over. He just couldn’t bring himself to eat any in her presence, and he didn’t have the money to. Buying something different for everyone just didn’t work with their limited budget.

Thiemo thought about the suggestion and listened to his stomach. “Yes, a couple muffins would be nice.” He took out four bits and arranged the bag to the belt. The food on the train was pricey.

Impatiently, Aura jumped off her seat and snapped up the bits with her mouth. “I'll be right back,” she said, or at least tried to, as she vanished in the corridor. Sighing, he closed the door behind her. The noise of the train got muted, and he shoved his head into position to blend out the incoming midday sun. Maybe he could sleep a few more hours after eating.

After a couple of minutes, the door opened again and Aura re-entered, a muffin in her mouth, another one on her back. Thiemo took the last one as she walked past him. For her, a muffin may be a complete meal, but it only lasted a few hours for him.

“Dad?” He looked up to his daughter, taking the hat out of his vision and stroking his long hair out of his face. “It smells.” With a questioning look, he sniffed the air but couldn’t find a scent. Curiously, he lifted his coat and smelled his armpit, and yes it smelled. Not really unusual though, seeing as he hadn't had the chance to bathe in a week or change his clothes. It was a good thing that he didn’t wear any underwear anymore, which would be an even more disgusting matter.

“Yeah... I can imagine.” With that, a bath was on top of the list of the things he had to do in Appleloosa. Aura crawled over his legs to the window and tried to open the bolt with her mouth. “Shall I help you?” Just as he was about to reach out, there was a jerk forward, and a loud screech sounded through the train. Aura got thrown back into the soft pillow while he landed on the edge of the bench ahead of him. He noticed how the train quickly lost speed and finally stopped.

Thiemo looked up and saw his daughter as she got back on her hooves shakily. “What was that?” she asked as she jumped off her seat. He did what she intended to do before and opened the window. The warm air of the steppes swooshed around his nose as he leaned his head out to try and see what was going on.

“A full braking,” he answered. “But I can’t see why.” He tried leaning further out the window, but it didn’t help. Then somebody in the front left the train and walked toward the rails in front of the train. Either it was damaged or something was on them, nothing that should take too long. “I think something is blocking the rails,” he informed Aura. “But I still can’t see what.” He noticed how his body began shaking like the pillow he stood on. “Hey, what are you doing, Aura?” As he looked at her, he saw that she was shaking as well, just like the bench and the whole cabin. “An earthquake?” Aura pointed out of the window.

“There!” she yelled excitedly. Thiemo climbed back into the train and looked to where she was pointing. In the distance, he could see a dust cloud slowly getting larger. Lots of small points seemed to have caused it. Quickly, he climbed back in completely and shut the window. Then he heard the commotion on the corridor. Seemingly, the other passengers also had a problem with the unplanned stopover and the shaking train.

Knowing that trouble lay ahead, he grabbed the bags off the shelf and threw Aura hers. “We better see that we get out of the train. I got a bad feeling about this.” That feeling was based on experience. As he threw his backpack on, he looked to his daughter. Said daughter still sat on her seat and stared out of the window.

Again, he pressed his nose against the glass and saw what was coming for them.

“Buffalo, a lot of buffalo.” Aura was only the first to put it in words. Buffalo, about a head taller than Thiemo, were creatures which were, in some way, related to cows. He didn’t know how though. They lived in nomadic tribes and mostly weren’t too open towards foreigners, but not aggressive. A diamond dog in Junk Town had told him that they ignored unknowns for the most parts once they didn’t attack.

Light brown to black fur were the dominating features, along with small but very pointy horns on their heads. And now a whole spectrum of these was headed for them. The less distance separated them, the more the ground shook, and with it the train as well. Panicked and looking around, he couldn’t think of anything. The exit was in direction of the buffalos, and they wouldn’t make it around the train in time. But if they rammed it, it wouldn’t be safe inside either. “Dad? Is that a pony?” He watched where she was pointing her hoof at, and indeed, in the very first row, a pony ran along with the buffalos.

Curious, he watched how the herd approached until he had a better view on them. The buffalo wore all kinds of feathered headdresses, the pony contrasting as it was a beige unicorn with a full beard and a black bowler resting on his mane, which was as red as his beard. Thiemo gulped because it was now too late to run. Suddenly, the buffalos slowed down, throwing up even more dust, this time in their direction, and thus blocking their view.

“Aura, whatever happens, stay with me.” All his senses were tingling. However, nobody had this much bad luck. Surely they saw them from the distance, thought the train was having difficulties, and came to help. Maybe they were even part of the repair troop which was stationed along the tracks. The dust settled down, and the earth calmed again. Right in front of the train, he saw hundreds of buffalos through the window, all looking grimy and armed while holding axes with their teeth.

In the first row was the beige unicorn, who now used his horn and opened all windows of the train. So much for the repair troop. “My dear travellers,” he greeted the passengers through a megaphone. “I am most unfortunately sorry to bring your trip to such an abrupt ending.” His horn didn’t stop glowing; no, instead he now also opened the doors. “I have to ask you all to leave the train and gather out here.” He nodded to some buffalos which then quickly went towards the steeple cab.

“Dad!” He looked at Aura. “I know that stallion! He was the one who gave me the bits in the bank!” Thiemo looked back outside where the first of the passengers came together. With her hint, he now remembered where he had seen him before: on the wanted poster in the office of the sheriff. This was Billy the Colt.

“Come on, we should go out.” He turned around, and just as he touched the door, another sudden eruption rang through the whole train. A few screamed outside. Thiemo strengthened his grip on his staff and lifted Aura on his shoulder. “Stay there and not a single sound, okay?” She nodded as he walked through the floor to the open door.

His boots made contact with the dusty ground, and he stared into the eyes of the buffalo he faced. In them was no fear, no curiosity, nothing he could use against him. They were faster than him, stronger than him, and to worsen his situation, he was all out of talismans. At that moment, he saw no way out. He attracted the looks of the passengers and even the gaze of Billy as he approached the group. There was also the small family he had scared at the station in Dodge City. They still looked at him with fear but unmatched with the fear they had towards the unicorn and the buffaloes. “Well look at that. What kinda strange thing are you?” the bandit spat at him.

He decided not to say a word and walked to the other passengers. They made space for him so that he, again, stood aside from the group although he had stood right next to them at first. “Not very chatty huh?” the unicorn mocked. “But what are my wounded eyes seeing? I know you.” He pointed at Aura and took several steps towards her. Said filly started shivering immediately.

“Stay away from my daughter, or I’ll get really uncomfortable,” Thiemo spat, and the buffalos immediately took a step towards him. Billy turned around and stopped their advance.

Then he turned to the human again. “Chill, Big Daddy. I’d never hurt a foal. I am a bandit, not a murderer or anything of the sort. I only seek objects of value. Primarily bits.” He shortly lifted his forehooves before falling back on all four. “So no hard feelings, okay?” Two buffalos rejoined the rest, and Thiemo surveyed the direction they came from. At least he now knew what the motive was. The locomotive was thrown over, and all the wood for firing up the boiler was lying all over the place. “Now that I have your unrivalled attention, my friend Schneidender Wind here-” he gestured towards a big buffalo with a bag between his teeth “-will now ask you to put all your bits, articles of value, and so on into his bag. I’d prefer if you all would comply with this request because we will check it.” Thiemo had an idea, and what was the worst that could come out of it? The train wouldn’t proceed. So either they had to run back to Dodge City by foot, or without supplies worth noting, to Appleloosa through the desert. Furthermore, he doubted that there was enough water for a week in the dining compartment.

So it was all or nothing. “I have a suggestion,” he interrupted Billy before he could signal the buffalo to collect the stuff. “Since we probably can thank you for not reaching Appleloosa, I’ll exchange my bits if you accompany us in that direction, as it seemingly is your destination as well.” There were no others out here. Why else should the criminal have followed them from Round Rock to up here? Everyone who took this route wanted to get to Appleloosa.

Billy looked at him and laughed. Thiemo waited calmly until the stallion realized that he was serious. “I can’t believe it... He's serious,” the bandit said. “And what would we get out of that? We’ll get your bits either way.” The buffalos chuckled as they couldn’t laugh without losing their axes.

“The difference is that I won’t resist.” Thiemo grinned and pointed with his staff at the unicorn, readied for a fight. He bluffed and bluffed hard. Without talismans, even he'd have problems against the unicorn, not to mention the buffalo. He couldn’t count on the staff either. It was just him, and without powerful magic, it would take up to a week until it was charged again. But this was his best bet. He dashed forward and knocked the staff against Billy’s horn. He staggered aside, and the megaphone he levitated fell down.

Instantly, three buffalos charged at him. “Stop!” The three stopped at once but slid a few more meters over the ground. Billy the Colt caught himself, picked up the megaphone, and stepped up to him. “You got courage, Big Daddy.” He felt how Aura started shivering again. Unfortunately, she had to bear it. “So what do we do with you?” He walked up and down in front of him, the three buffalo right behind him. “How many bits do you have?” he finally asked.

Thiemo took the bag off his belt and threw it to the stallion. “Should still be about ten to twelve bits.” Perplexed, the bandit stared at him, and then laughed again.

“You make such a scene over a couple of bits? Are you crazy?”

Thiemo stroked Aura’s back and tried to make the next sentence sound as threatening as possible. “I am a father. Every one of those bits means a meal for my daughter.” Billy said nothing, nor did the buffaloes moved, and even the other passengers stopped for a moment with their quivery whining. Finally, he nodded to one of the buffaloes who walked over to them slowly. Out of the big bag on his back, he pulled another bag, and without Thiemo realizing it, threw it over him. “Hey, what are you doing!” he and Aura yelled simultaneously, and in the next instant, they got lifted off their feet. He struggled furiously, but it was of no use. The dark fabric of the bag was too thick for him to tear it up barehanded.

His back settled against the bottom of the sack, and he felt a sudden movement as the bag got thrown over someone's back. Luckily, he had taken Aura off his shoulder earlier and held her tight in his arms. “Everything will be fine, I promise,” he said quietly to her, although he slowly had his doubt about his plan. How long would they have had to wait in Dodge City until the tracks were cleared? A day, maybe two? But then they wouldn’t have had sufficient money anymore. In that moment, he cursed the miserable situation he had gotten them into.

“Now, all your belongings into this bag here,” Thiemo heard from outside, followed by the sound of metal clanging on itself. More and more became property of the robbing buffaloes.

“That’s all we have; can we go now?” a feminine passenger asked. He tried to get a glance through the cloth, but it was too dense. He couldn’t see anything but blurry lights.

“Sure, we have everything we want.” At least Billy the Colt held his promise, and it was audible how the passengers withdrew. Then the windows and doors got closed. Nervously, he listened to what would happen now. “Everything all right in there?” He felt a hoof poking his back.

A bit surprised that he actually cared for them, he answered, “Uhm… sure, just a bit stuffy in here.” Aura looked at him with the same surprised look he had on his face, but he only shrugged his shoulders.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, but we can’t risk that you know the exact position of our camp.” On the inside, he laughed just at the thought. Maps already were a mystery to him. Calculating his positions with anything resembling precision when he was not in town was a thing of impossibility.

“My father can’t even read a map.” Aura was simply the good-hearted foal and always was in favour of him.

From the outside, he heard short laughter again. “Nice that you two came along so well.” He cleared his throat. “Okay guys, we are done here, so let’s go!” his voice sounded through the megaphone, and the herd set in motion. It took a short moment, but then the bull to whose back they were attached started running, and with every step, he bounced against his hip bones. Adding the fact that the sack was connected with a rope, which tingled more and more, made them get worked by every side. Well, at least they cared that no other buffalo ran into their carrier’s flank.

“Ouch!” Spoken too soon. He closed his arms around Aura and hoped that the torture would find a good end. “Watch out!” Not that anyone could hear him through the stampeding.

Author's Notes:

And act 2 is beginning. It will be a small act (4 parts) who will work as a bridge between two locations. We will learn a bit about the world and the area called the 'Broken Leylands ' on the way. Who is living there and what problems do they have.

As always thanks to faktopus for proofreading!
A second time edited by JBL. Thanks buddy!