I Am A Soldier [Nanowrimo]

by GreyVestibule

Chapter 5 - The Likeness

Chapter Five - The Likeness

The way to the sheriff's office was a mostly uneventful trip. It was filled with little more than a little gazing around the town as well as some small talk. Bones however, after years of being in this town, could see the tells of an unnerved Silverstar, and for reasons more than just the silly faux telling off from before. It was because of that, that when the two arrived in the office and the doctor had a chance to look around to see they had privacy, that Bones dove straight into the heart of the matter.

“Alright Silver, what's the matter?”

Silverstar sighed as he took a seat behind his desk, staring down at the floor for a moment.

“It's that mare, Dusty.”

Bones took up a seat of his own, opposite to Silverstar.

“What is it exactly? It got anything to do with how she supposedly took on Scornful and his gang?” Bones asked.

“No – I mean, that is part of it yes, that is something that's got a bee in my bonnet, but, well, there's something more at the core of the matter,” the sheriff admitted.

“Well, spit it out,” Bones insisted.

The sheriff bit the corner of his mouth for a moment before looking Bone's way.

“She bears an... uncanny resemblance to a mare I once knew.”

“Hm,” Bones muttered knowingly, “Colleague? Lover?”

“Those and a fresh pain in the flank,” Silverstar admitted with a haggard sigh, “Shifting Mirage, her name was. Bounty hunter that hailed from Saddle Arabia.”

“This is... I take it this was before you came to Apploosa?” Bones asked.

“Yep,” Silverstar nodded, “Back when I was still a young, restless colt full of juice and vinegar in Dodge.”

“Hm. Well, can kinda see that. I recall how you were still a little rough around the edges when you first rolled into town.”

“Yeah,” Silverstar looked down at the ground with some embarrassment.

“Still, I gotta wonder why Dusty would get you so riled up over an old face like that. You think she might be the same mare, just with an alias?”

“That's the thing doc. I know it can't be her because, well,” Silverstar huffed another breath, “She didn't exactly survive Dodge's earlier days. I... I remember putting her in the ground myself.”

That got Bone's attention for sure. His posture become a lot more straight, and his eyes went a little wider.

“Oh, well that's – goodness, I can understand why that would, well...” the doctor went on a little, trying to find the words, “Celestia, seeing that face again...”

“I thought I saw a ghost,” Silverstar put it plainly, “I wondered, what if maybe she was a relative, or if maybe she was a daughter Mirage had before comin' to Equestria, or if maybe she had really been alive all this time and had just found some way to...”

Silverstar put his hooves to his face for a moment before looking up towards Bones.

“She was amazing with tricks of light, y'know? Used her pegasi weather crafting to do stuff that seemed like something a unicorn's magic could do. I thought that maybe, maybe...”

“She wasn't really dead,” Bones completed the thought.

Silverstar hung his head low.

“Yeah. And, I thought I'd gotten over her. I mean, I remember thinkin' at the time that maybe she was playin' me, like she would do sometimes, but then I accepted it. And then I walk in to see that face and it's like... the wound never healed.”

Leaning back in the chair, Silverstar put a hoof over his chest.

“Every argument, every plan we put together, every fight, every... shared moment... it came back like a flash. Like it was just yesterday.”

Bones watched the sheriff as he stared up at the ceiling. It was hard not to feel at least some slight, small sympathy for the pony, and in the situation, Bones couldn't help but feel his heart bleed for the poor stallion.

“I'm sorry to hear that,” he said, smiling wryly, “That's a hell of a feeling to have. Though, I suppose that explains a few things about you when you first came into town.”

The statement caused Silverstar to glance over to Bones with a questioning eye.

“When the old sheriff ran out and you tried your darndest to get to come back, only to eventually take the job yourself, I could tell there was something to that. I thought it was just suicidal overconfidence or maybe something else that gave you drive to think you could protect every pony here. And now...”

“Yeah,” Silverstar nodded, “I suppose that did have an effect. I really didn't want to lose another pony after that, so... well, that's how it turned out.”

There was a shared silence between the two stallions for the moment as both contemplated the heavy nature of what was just shared. Eventually, the break came though, addressing a certain necessity.

“So, what do you reckon you'll do about Dusty? Think you got the stomach to go see her again?” Bones asked.

“I reckon so, at least seeing her. I gotta see her at least. If I wanna be worthy of my job at least. She might be able to recall more eventually, maybe even...” Silverstar shook his head, “Ask her help.”

“She really shouldn't do anything for a while, but she might be able to help. Cameo seems to have exaggerated his claims somewhat, but Dusty did confirm she managed to take on three of them in a fight,” Bones spoke, a slightly impressed tinge to his tone.

“Three to one. Sounds about right.”

Bones tilted his head to the side as he considered the statement.

“Sounds like Mirage I take it?”

“She was a wild horse, for sure,” Silverstar nodded. He then stared off through the wall, down the general direction of the street to where the clinic was, “She's not the same mare, I know that, but if she truly is that capable, then, well – I'm just saying is she's anything like Mirage in terms of her combat prowess, she's gonna be a hoofful.”

Bones smiled modestly, but otherwise didn't add to the thought on Mirage. Instead, after a small silence following Silverstar's words, Bones tried to change the topic.

"How's the situation with Canterlot? Heard anything new?" Bones asked.

"Still nothing," Silverstar said as he glanced off to the side where the telegraph station was, "Not since they said they were maintaining the communication blackout."

"So, just keep waiting for someone to come along then," Bones huffed, shaking his head, "I don't get why they can't say what's happening. If it's really so important it seems like they ought to provide at least a little information."

"Yeah, quite frankly I feel like they ought to have sent someone already. It's one thing if they're worried about an interception of communications, but if they feel they can't even send a single envoy? That ain't right. I'd have half a mind to walk all the way there and demand to know what's going on that they can't allow the trains to be running for a while,” The sheriff said as he looked out the window to the train station was with the express parked right there.

“I reckon they must have a reason, they did say it was a royal decree. Still, I gotta say I agree,” Bones nodded as he followed Silverstar's line of sight, “Even if we're supposedly going to be compensated for the inconvenience, that doesn't change the fact that we've been turned upside down from this.”

“How's the supplies? You in danger of running out any time soon?” Silverstar asked as he turned his sight away from the quiet train engine.

“I've run out of my regular supplies and am currently working with my backup stash, so not entirely good on that front. Obviously it's going to depend on what happens between now and the near future, but I reckon we got about a week, if the past month has been in any way an indication. Scornful's hits really haven't helped either,” Bones muttered with some irritation, “If he has taken a hit though, hopefully he'll think twice before striking out. He's gotta lick his own wounds too after all.”

Silverstar grunted a little to himself on the thought of that. He actually quite liked the idea of the outlaw facing some strife of his own.

“So, that's... well, hopefully all will said and done by then, but do you have any plans for if we can't get supplies in by then? I'd like to think we'll be opening up travel soon, but we can't exactly afford to always count on a best-case scenario,” the sheriff cautiously inquired.

“Yeah, for all we know we'll get Trouble Shoes coming in to town to destroy half of what we've got left,” Bones sighed before lighting up his horn and, with his telekinesis pulling out a roll of paper he recognized on a nearby shelf, unfurling it to show a map of the surrounding region, pointing areas with a hoof as he spoke of them, “I'm figuring if we run out, we can try asking the folks over in Dodge if they got anything to spare, if not... It'll honestly depend. The train tracks can be followed over to Ponyville. If not that, we can at least try to follow the river to Baltimare.”

“That... would be an extravagant amount of moving,” the sheriff remarked, “Might not go to well with the order to halt transport, but if we need to go that far to get supplies, I'd consider it a good reason to bend the rules.”

“My thoughts as well,” Bones nodded.

Relaxing his telekinetic grip on the map, the paper eagerly curled back up into the roll it had been stored as.

“You were thinking about stopping by the bakery, right?” Silverstar asked.

“I certainly way, and I still certainly am,” Bones affirmed.

“Well, I think I may do my civic duty and escort you there.” Silverstar said with a smile, “I think I could go for some of Hot Cross' buns.”

Bones chuckled. That actually didn't sound bad to him at that moment either.

“I was just planning to get some bread, but that sounds good too. Maybe it'll finally get a smile on Dusty's face as well. She seems like she could do with something that could induce a smile.”

“Heh, I reckon that'll do the trick,” Silverstar nodded, “I think just the smell of those buns would put a smile on the dead.”

Bones noticed a brief slip up in Silverstar's expression after he finished that though. Perhaps the sheriff had unintentionally reminded himself of a certain painful topic.

“Indeed. Let's hope she's got a fresh batch,” Bones thought as he slid off the chair to the floor, heading for the door with the dear sheriff in tow.