The rope around the sack loosened, and a human and foal tumbled out. Both had been shaken thoroughly by the hour-long ride through the hot afternoon sun of the prairie. The last minutes or hours - Thiemo couldn’t really say how long it was - were rather stuffy, and both were drenched in sweat. “Well then.” Thiemo looked up and saw the bandit, Billy the Colt, standing in front of him with a big smile on his face as he inspected them. Aura settled next to him on her stomach, with all her hooves extended away from her.

“I'm thirsty,” she whined while inhaling the warm but fresh air. He didn’t feel any different but someone else had top priority.

“Excuse me, where are my manners. This way.” Billy stepped aside and revealed the view of a village. As far as the eye reached, there were hundreds of tents. To Thiemo, they looked like wigwams. Buffaloes of every color and size were going about their everyday business. Calves played with each other, and cows stood near the tents while cooking something or beating carpets with wooden sticks. All of this was surrounded by high rock walls. He looked back and saw someone close a gigantic door behind him. On its front side, it was covered in rocks so that it would be probably indistinguishable from its surroundings. Then something in the sky attracted his attention; something that shimmered in the air. He couldn’t say what it was, only that it was not natural. “You coming, Big Daddy?” He watched the unicorn who had went ahead.

Aura did the same and lifted herself from the dusty ground. Thiemo jerked as a buffalo let out a snort. Due the fascination this place had instilled in him, he had almost overlooked the buffalo behind him. “Uhm... Thanks for the ride?” He scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. The buffalo nodded, satisfied, and walked away.

Aura tapped with her hoof against his knee. “Dad, I'm still thirsty.” Focused again, he picked up his staff and took a few steps towards Billy, who seemed very patient.

“I have to excuse myself for my appearance earlier,” he started as the two walked by his side, “but I think asking nice wouldn’t have made them give me their bits.” Thiemo nodded in agreement. “I see. Still cautious, hmm?” Who wouldn’t resent him? “Let me show you something.” Billy raised his hoof and signalled them to wait as he walked towards a buffalo who sat in front of his tent. After a couple of words from the unicorn, he lifted one of the axes out of the rack and handed it over to him. With said weapon in his magic, he walked back to the two. “This," he said as he levitated the weapon in front of Thiemo's face, “is one of the axes we used during the raid. Touch the blade.” Aura, just as curious as him, lifted her head to get a better view. The human did as he asked and slid a finger contemplatively over the edge.

It was blunt and made of stone, just covered with silver paint. “It’s not real, just a mock.” He took the weapon in his hand and slammed it into the ground. It splintered, and only the wooden shaft survived the impact.

“See?” Billy grinned, more than just content. “Like I said, bandits, not murderers.” The former weapon floated back to its owner, who obviously didn’t care at all that it was broken since he was busy with painting decorations onto his tent with the brush he held in his mouth. Thiemo understood the irony of the situation. Both he and the bandit had bluffed. Intimidation but no real violence.

He couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re good, so props for that.” They continued their walk and finally arrived at a small place in the middle of which a fireplace was located. It was surrounded by large pillows made of some kind of weird fabric. It seemed to be the same as the kind the tents were made of. Billy sat down and signalled for them to follow his example. Just as he made himself comfortable with Aura on his lap, a cow left one of the surrounding tents. She had auburn fur and, as was the usual for cows, very small horns. Around her back was a mount which held two chalices possibly filled with water.

“Now that everypony is loosened up, this is my wife, Lachende Sonne.”

“Some water for you and your guests,” she said in a deep but still feminine voice. Billy nodded shortly, and with the aid of his horn, bowls flew over as he filled them with the clear liquid.

Both Thiemo and Aura accepted them gratefully. “You know," he started as he took a sip, “you are already the second pony I got to know in the last couple of days who married another species. Is that some kind of insider tip out here?” Now that most of the tension fell off and he knew that he wouldn’t end up on a post, some of his composure had returned.

Billy looked to his wife, smiled, and laughed. “I suppose you ran into Dusk Star?” Billy surely had to deal with him a couple of times, but Thiemo was still surprised that he immediately thought of the sheriff. Seemingly it was written on his face as well. “The hat.” The unicorn pointed at the black Stetson on his head. “I’d recognize that one everywhere.”

Thiemo took it off and eyed it but couldn’t find anything special about it. “Why?” he finally asked.

“Well duh, because I made it,” he said proudly as he lifted the bowler off his head and held it towards the guests. “Just like mine. I suppose one could call it a hobby of mine.” Both put their hats back on their former places.

“Then... the sheriff stole one of your hats?” The unicorn waved him off as he laughed again.

“No, I gave it to him as a present. Dusk Star’s my brother.” Thiemo and Aura stared in stunned silence at the chuckling bandit. At least he now knew why the sheriff was so bitter when he had asked about the wanted poster.

“Crazy family background,” he remarked as he gave back the bowl to Lachende Sonne, who smiled at them and returned into the tent she came out of. While most of the tents seemed typical of their kind, this one seemed rather like a house-like construction. Some wooden poles had been used to build a frame that gave the whole thing more stability. Judging by the set-up, there had to be about three rooms.

Billy nodded in agreement. “At least the family reunions never get boring.” Billy stood up and made to follow his wife. “But now I have other things to take care of. Tomorrow morning, I’ll ask Schnelle Schwalbe to bring you to Appleloosa, so you should be in its reach by dawn. Unfortunately, we can’t risk being seen until the dust has settled.” He turned to his guests once again. “Use the time until it’s time for supper to look around a bit. No one will do you any harm.” With that said, he disappeared as well in the big tent, and Thiemo breathed a sigh of relief. They didn’t get tied to a pole or have axes thrown at them, and they didn’t get caged either. His view shifted to the surrounding rock faces. Well, at least not in a small cage. He wanted to turn to Aura to see whether she was still as scared but said filly was already busy. She watched a couple of calves who all were at least twice as big who played around with wooden toys.

He cautiously tapped her back, and she turned around to him. “Don’t you wanna ask whether you can join them?” His question wasn’t honoured with an answer as she was gone in a flash. That would give him time to explore on his own without having to keep worrying about her.

Thiemo chose to walk around the village near the rocks. The culture had strong similarities with the Native Americans; of course, only if his history knowledge was right. The female population seemed to be mostly tasked with the maintenance and work for the domestic economy. He saw a couple of them producing baskets and carpets before finally exchanging one for the other. Others produced little accessories also for changing or for personal use. Right now, he looked out of the corner of his eye at a cow who worked a couple of stones with others to get them into the desired shape. Maybe they had some gems he could acquire; he only had nothing to exchange them for yet. Then there was also the mean-looking bull next to her who, in turn, had an eye on him. He was knotting multiple pieces of lumber with thick ropes and was seemingly building either a frame or a different construction. Thiemo had seen a similar construction over the fountain he had walked past a while ago.

True to Billy’s word, and with Thiemo trying to stay out of sight, none of the buffaloes tried to attack him, but no one fled either. They didn’t show any awe like the ponies or curiosity like the zebras. Their temper reminded him much of the camels he travelled with. Standing around wouldn’t get him anywhere, and thus he went out of his way and steered towards the craftswoman. She saw him coming to her but didn’t say anything and kept on working. “Good day." Thiemo tried to appear as friendly as possible and reached out his hand balled into a fist.

The bumping of the hooves was a common greeting in a lot of places he had been to yet. Since he didn’t have any, his hands had to do the job. He knew that it was important to have a good connection to a potential business partner. In Albion, there were no regulated prices for anything, and the merchants could decide their own. He often felt the aversion of several salesmen towards him if the customer before him only had to pay half the price.

She didn’t answer, and for a while Thiemo thought he didn’t have any luck here either, but then the buffalo responded, “How can I help you, traveller?” For him, that was a refreshing change to all the titles like monster, beast, or simply screaming and running away.

Satisfied that someone was willing to speak with him, he addressed the bull. “I have noticed that your wife here - at least that is who I assume she is - is working jewels.” The bull only nodded and let him proceed. “I am on the hunt for gems and thought that perhaps you had some to spare.” They looked at each other with surprise, and then the cow pointed to a big basket in the entrance of their tent.

“Help yourself. The stones you are searching for have no value to us,” she said with clear sadness in her voice. Her husband patted her on the shoulder and faced Thiemo again.

“If they are really important to you, we are happy that they are of use.” With that, the conversation was obviously ended, and both returned to their work again. Thiemo, on the other hand, was really curious what that was about. The gems were not worthless, but not worth a fortune either. However, he didn’t want them to change their mind now. He felt like he was about to take advantage of them, but right now there was no way around it. In the event that they got into danger again and he didn’t have anything to defend them, they wouldn’t be able to escape that easily. Thus, he dismissed the thought and walked over to the basket which supposedly contained the desired goods. It really was filled with dozens of blue sapphires, rubies, and some lapis lazuli. Most of the gems were the size of pebbles and were mostly rough and covered by dirt. In this condition, they were even worth less as wares, and he needed the very best.

He started picking out the best stones and stored them in the front bag of his backpack. Shaping them into talismans would still be a lot of work, which would cost him his sleep tonight. “Ever thought of bringing these to a dragon?” he said over his shoulder to the buffalo. Dragons were masters when the topic came to growing gems, working them, and eating them of course. A dragon could, with a small trade-off, make them a lot more valuable. Giving it a small part of them would be easiest.

“There are no dragons up here, traveller,” the buffalo remarked. Thiemo had noticed as well. They had certainly become rarer to spot. The dragons lived in the Scorched Lands, a region behind Boardor which mostly consisted of volcanoes. Some of them resided in Dragmire, thus the name. Without further pursuing the topic, he poured a last couple of stones into his bag and closed it.

Happy with his booty, he walked on past the buffaloes, who were still focused on their work. “Thanks," he said as he left.

She didn’t know why it was fun, but it was. She rarely had the opportunity to talk to others her age, which was why she enjoyed this more than everything else. Aura chased a wooden tire along with three calves, Kleiner Rabe, Falscher Hase, and Echter Hase. Each of them had a stick in their mouth to keep the tire running. They took turns and whoever let the tire stop lost. This was repeated until only one was remaining who could then decide the next game. Before that, they had played hide and seek. It was Falscher Hase who wanted this game. It was not easy to keep the tire running since the ground was bumpy and they had to avoid the tents and buffaloes which stood around. This also was quite the task for Aura as she was way smaller than the calves.

She could only push the tire from behind or the front while the others could also thrust the top of it. And now she was sick of it as the tire collided with a small stone on the ground and fell down. “Not fair!” she yelled. In doing so, she dropped the stick. “You are bigger and can hit the tire better.” She had to tell them sometime as it was better than sulking quietly about it.

The three calves stopped immediately, and the tire ran into the behind of an elderly buffalo who correspondingly kicked it into the air and out of sight. “Oh! My tire!” yelled Kleiner Rabe and followed it. “My father just made it for me.” With that, his form melted between the tents.

The other two also threw their sticks away. “We are sorry,” the twins spoke simultaneously. “How about carving?” Falscher Hase had already suggested this, but since Aura couldn’t handle any kind of knife, they had abandoned the idea quickly. Due the look she gave him, he now recalled the suggestion. “Sorry, I had forgotten.” The group of three walked between the tents, thinking of what they could play now until they came back to the place where Aura had just eaten with her father and Billy. They sat down and lingered in their boredom.

“We could tell tales,” Echter Hase proposed. It was now already the fifth idea but the best one by far. Aura and Falscher Hase agreed with a simple nod. “Billy told us that he once won against five other ponies without using his magic.”

The two were astonished, and their mouths formed a big oval. Although Falscher Hase knew the story, he liked hearing it over and over again.

“That’s nothing,” interrupted Aura. “My father won against three gryphons all alone. He put all of them in the hospital for a long time.” Proud, she pranced before the others, waiting to hear their amazement and how awesome her dad was, but nothing came.

A bit surprised, she opened her eyes and saw how the two looked at her condemningly. “Billy always says that a true fighter wins without hurting his enemies.”

The three exchanged a couple of looks. When Aura asked, “And how is that supposed to work?” the two only shrugged their shoulders. They didn’t know what it meant either.

Thiemo was the last to return to the small place. The only difference to it from this afternoon was that the fire in the middle was burning now. On it, a big pot with some kind of soup was brewing. Around the fire, Billy, his wife, and a couple of buffalo and calves sat in a circle. Next to the latter, Aura sat with her snout dug deep in a bowl. Thiemo had seen a setup like this multiple times across the village. They seemed like social meeting points of the surrounding tent inhabitants. The village was a tightly knit community but gathering around a single fire was probably impossible.

“You are late,” remarked Lachende Sonne, who took a ladle and filled another bowl with the soup for him. Gratefully, he accepted the bowl and sat in the free space between Aura and Billy. With a sigh, the bandit leaned back and pushed the bowl away from him. Said bowl was emptied until the very last drop. “Eat, it’s really good," he said to the human beside him. Thiemo smelled the soup and took a sip. It was a simple pottage. Happily, he emptied the bowl off the reel. “See?”

“Thanks for the food,” he said to Lachende Sonne, who only nodded contently and turned to her own bowl again.

Billy cleared his throat. “So, what do you think of our housing? I saw you a couple of times during your lap.” He had made several observations. The first and most important was obvious. Like many cultures of this world, they were similar to one on his. But as buffalo were herbivores like ponies, there were no hunters, only gatherers. He would also bet that they would have cultivated the land if it weren’t for the limited space in between the rocks. That brought up the question of why they stayed here in the first place. The desert was large, and even if all of them were wanted, it was unlikely that they would be found fast. Pegasi would have problems with the sand and the sun and couldn’t stay long in the air.

Thiemo summarized his impressions. “It’s a fortress, that’s for sure. But I see that the lifestyle isn’t optimized for this environment. Thus, you are not here for long. It is missing space to cultivate food, and because of that, I have an assumption.” Billy nodded and applauded him by clapping his hooves on the ground.

“Very well, you are no fool.” A fact Thiemo was very well aware of. He wouldn’t have survived very long without his fast comprehension and his ability to adapt, a combination of skills without which humans probably never would have colonized their whole planet. “So, what is your assumption?”

Thiemo smiled. He loved being challenged and being able to show that his mind was as quick as his tongue. The last one who had always challenged him had been Deerling. “You rob banks and trains to buy the food in other settlements. You are the scapegoat, so a buffalo goes to buy with the money. Everyone searches for you but not for a buffalo, thus no one ever sees what you do with the booty.” Billy didn’t respond but only nodded and passed the bowl to his wife. “But one thing makes me curious. Why do you live here if you are relying on the robbing?”

Thiemo noticed that this was a difficult subject simply because the good-natured attitude of Billy the Colt now got strangely serious. “I know that you are a stranger here. So if you really want to know what happened here, I have to ask you to keep it to yourself. I won’t tell anything that endangers us but nonetheless…” He nodded understandingly, and Billy took a breath. “About three years ago, diamond dogs came into this region. They may not be the smartest, but they have a sense for rare metals and gems. Of course they found natural caves and formations which contained many of these. To their displeasure, they were on the land of the buffalo who lived in the Leylands, and they denied them permission to dig. The land is sacred to them, since according to their belief, the ghosts of their ancestors live there. So the dogs got gryphons to help them.”

That explained why they saw so many around here. “But even they had trouble fighting the strong buffalo.” Just as he finished the sentence, the chests of some buffaloes started to swell. “But they were smarter than the diamond dogs. They offered the buffalo a trade-off. They told them that the sparkling stones were very valuable and that they could buy everything from the ponies for it.” An obvious lie, but for a folk that merely had contact to the culture of the ponies, it was not recognizable as such. “They accepted the deal and signed the contracts with the gryphons. Unfortunately, they didn’t understand what they were signing.” Now Thiemo interrupted him as he raised his hand.

“I can imagine the rest very well. When the buffalo noticed that the ponies didn’t want their stones, or at least didn’t pay as much as promised, they wanted them to leave their land, which they didn’t do of course.” Billy confirmed this with a sad nod. “They stayed, and since it was legitimate, they even got aided by the ponies who seemingly didn’t know the whole back story or ignored it.” Again Billy nodded.

“Some know the back story but ignore it. They can’t change it, and that’s the excuse most use. This isn’t Equestria, after all. But the princess is still forced to send out soldiers to enforce the right of the diamond dogs and gryphons. And that's why I ended up down here.” The two stared at each other for a bit.

“Didn’t think you’d be a soldier… no offense.” The stallion smiled briefly and waved it off with his hoof.

“I’m not anymore.” He looked over to his wife, who nodded to him. “I left the Royal Guard as soon as I knew what happened here. Sadly, it was too late for Stiller Bär.” The question of who he was was carved into Thiemo’s face.

“He was my first spouse and the father of Echter Hase and Falscher Hase,” answered Lachende Sonne. “He was one of our strongest warriors.”

“But he fell fighting against me.” It got silent as Billy said this, and it lasted for several minutes where only the murmuring of the kids, who had sunk in their own conversation, was audible.

Finally, it was Billy who continued. “Anyway, I learned the truth shortly after and decided to help the buffalo. Since then, I've lived here.” Thiemo nodded sympathetically and looked over to Aura. He understood it more than well; standing up for your principles even if that meant doing wrong. “I saw the desperation in their eyes but also their will to fight for their rightful freedom. What they were missing was a plan. Someone who knew the enemy. They may not all be fighters but if my time in the Royal Guard taught me anything, it is that one defending his home is always stronger than ten attacking soldiers. Thus, I promised them something. As long as they want to be free, we will win even if it takes years.”

Thiemo couldn’t add anything anymore, and he understood why he shouldn’t tell anyone of this. It was not his fight, nor was it someone else's. It was solely theirs, and Billy wanted that no one thought that he had to interfere. At the same time, he tried to be a father for a family he had robbed of theirs. At least he now understood how he convinced the stallion to help. It was not the demonstration of strength or the intimidation; it was the passion the two shared. Trying to be a good father although Aura wasn't his own flesh and blood.

“I’ll hit the bed, and you should do the same. Your journey tomorrow begins before sunset.” Thiemo had nothing to add. Everything that needed to be discussed had been said.

Author's Notes:

If you like the story or have suggestions, let me know.
If you don't like the story or find any mistakes, let me know.

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