Three - In Your Absence
Ponies littered the streets of Appleloosa, clamoring to get back to their homes quickly and safely in fear of another attack. They couldn't be blamed, for their knowledge of the event was limited to rumor. All they knew was that the front end of Sheriff Silverstar's office had been completely destroyed, and that they had been told to stay indoors for the time being. Some immediately fled home, while the less fearful retired to the saloon instead. Braeburn, however, decided to take refuge just outside of town, away from the onlookers and ponies asking questions. It only took a minute or two for somepony to demand knowledge of what had transpired in their absence, only to be ignored by the beige stallion. He merely paced directly through the center of town and out the other side, heading North toward the high orange mesas overlooking the small town.
When in a sense of doubt or distress, the ponies of Appleloosa would always look to Braeburn and Bullet Tyme for guidance. Very seldom would the citizens of the dusty town depend on their sheriff when times were tough, for he simply wasn't the veritable symbol of swift justice that they seemed to represent. Some ponies would give a lot for such an honorable position in society, but Braeburn just wanted it to end. A part of him wanted to simply sell Thumper and leave town, just to avoid the reputation he had inadvertently gained. But when somepony found evil in their heart and decided to steal and plunder, Braeburn couldn't watch while such injustices occurred. Who else would be there to stop these horrid deeds, when the criminal in question was armed and ready to take innocent lives?
It wasn't bravery, regardless of what ponies called it. Braeburn was a proud stallion, but by no means did he consider himself brave. It was just something that arose in his mind whenever he saw somepony break the law; something that subconsciously told him to act, to move in the way of their plans. He hated when it happened, but there was nothing the stallion could do to prevent it. His mind would tell him to run, but his heart was the one his body seemed to listen to the most. Perhaps that was why Braeburn was constantly thinking with his emotions, rather than objectivity like his father. It was a mindset that made Silverstar want to put him in his place as the sheriff of town when he retired. However, Bullet always made the same argument: that he was simply too old.
Braeburn had always thought that was odd. His father wasn't a stallion one would call 'old,' for he was still in his fifties. He had guessed that it was simply because of the farm. As talented of a riflepony as he was, the Apple Family depended on his business savvy out in the West. If he were to retire from farming, Braeburn imagined that Granny Smith would take the first train to Appleloosa to deliver Bullet a swift buck to the jaw. The beige stallion allowed himself a brief smile at that thought, knowing full and well that it was a valid theory as to what would happen in such a circumstance.
After what only felt like a few minutes, Braeburn had circled the range of mesas and settled himself atop a high plateau, about a half a mile outside of town. The sun was midway through its afternoon passing, not quite as sweltering as normal. Not many outsiders would be able to tell when autumn was on its way out West, except maybe if they were to step a hoof in the apple orchards to find the changing colors. But ponies like him could simply feel it in the weather. Cool breezes weren't as seldom, apples were reaching the peak of their season, and ponies all over town just seemed to be in a fair mood most of the time. Every one of them, except Braeburn.
The riflepony took a moment before falling to his haunches atop the plateau, facing the outskirts of Appleloosa. From this high up, the sun's rays were starting to become an issue. He lowered the brim of his cowpony hat, shielding his eyes from the light. With an inward sigh, Braeburn removed the scabbard from his back, allowing his duster to flutter in the light breeze. He laid the sheathed weapon on the ground next to him, unwilling to even look at it for the time being.
"There you are!" said a voice. Braeburn slowly turned his head around, unsurprised to think that somepony would be looking for him. However, the source of the voice wasn't a pony at all. The stallion's eyebrows lifted a little at the sight of a small, female buffalo. Unlike her kin, she was short with thin, nimble legs. She had a head of curly orange hair, adorned with a tribal headband with two long white and gray eagle feathers tucked into it, standing up on end from around the back. Slung around her thin shoulders was a brown messenger bag, only arousing Braeburn's curiosity for the briefest of moments. The buffalo wore a bright smile at the sight of him, her small eyes glinting in the sunlight.
"You seem to grow harder and harder to find with every passing season, Braeburn," the buffalo smiled, sitting down next to him.
"Oh, howdy Little Strongheart," he replied, although halfheartedly. "Why, were ya' lookin' fer me?"
"Only for about a week!" she answered with mock exasperation. "Where have you been? Not out in Dodge Junction risking your life again, I hope."
"Nope, only here," he said simply, instilling an odd look from the buffalo.
"Wh-What? Did something happen while I was away?" she asked worriedly. Braeburn sighed before retelling the events of the past hour or so, briefly covering his failure to stop Sure Shot. He didn't stop for Little Strongheart's gasps or looks of concern. When he finished, she had a small forehoof over her mouth, her eyes wide. "Braeburn! What are...why...why are you doing this to yourself?! You know how dangerous that stallion is!"
"O' course Ah do," he said. "But it's like Ah told you: nopony else was in the position to do anything about him. There was only me...and Ah still failed."
Little Strongheart went to open her mouth, but closed it instead, staring at the stallion to her right. Something was on her mind, but it was clear that she didn't know how to put it. After a few silent moments, she finally spoke up: "I'm sorry, Braeburn. I just don't know what to say. I know that you and your father are really the only ponies who can truly protect Appleloosa from dark times, but at the same time...I wish you didn't have to."
"Can we not talk about it any more?" Braeburn asked weakly, unable to continue thinking upon the matter. The buffalo paused for a beat before nodding with a small smile.
"Well, alright," she started, changing the conversation as quickly as she could. "So...aside from that, where have you been? What have you been up to?"
"Ah've been around, just not goin' outta my way to be found is all," he said, perhaps more seriously than he intended. The buffalo cocked an eyebrow at him, recoiling her head back slightly.
"Oh, did I offend you or something?" she asked in an apologetic tone. Braeburn sighed through his nostrils.
"Naw, Ah'm sorry Strongheart," he said softly, looking back to the town below with unfocused eyes. "Things have just been stressful is all."
"Oh, I apologize," she said. "I just wanted to see if I could find you. I kind of wanted to catch up, considering how long it's been since I've seen you."
Braeburn smirked faintly. It had indeed been months since any pony in Appleloosa had even sighted a buffalo in the area. But judging by Little Strongheart's sudden appearance, her tribe had returned to their stampeding grounds.
"Am I bothering you by being here?" she asked meekly, curling one of her knobby forelegs to her chest.
"Naw, yer fine," he said in almost a whisper. "Ah'm just..."
"...still waiting for her?" Little Strongheart suggested, catching Braeburn off-guard. His eyes snapped back toward her, although still lidded halfway.
"Well, yeah, there's that," he agreed with a melancholy sigh.
"Braeburn," she started, her tone soft. "Forgive me if this is none of my business, but don't you think that it has been long enough?"
Braeburn snapped his gaze back to the buffalo once again, his eyes glaring unintentionally. "What d'ya mean by that?"
"W-Well...it's been over a year now," she replied, her voice shaking as if he were to holler at her. "and it just doesn't seem like she will come back. I mean, you still read the papers, right? Being as well-known as she is, don't you think a sighting of her would have been mentioned, at the very least?"
He had indeed thought of that, many a time before. But hearing it come from another voice struck a sorrowful chord in his heart. "Ah'm...aware o' that."
"Then why do you keep thinking about her?" she asked. "Do you not see how much pain you are putting yourself through?"
The stallion did his best to push his agitation aside as to not unleash it on the innocent buffalo. "Don't ya' think that Ah'd love to just be able to do that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Yer right, my life would be a mite easier if Ah just forgot about her. But ya' know somethin'? Ah can't. Yer not the only one who's told me that, Strongheart," Braeburn said, his volume rising with every word. He then looked back to her, easing his expression as best as he could. "So lemme ask you somethin'; why d'ya want me to just forget her so bad?"
Little Strongheart took a moment to contemplate her answer, but when she did, he could tell that she meant every word of it: "You used to be so...happy, Braeburn. Every time I saw you, you were so energetic and full of life. You always had a smile on your face, and you were just so much fun to be around. I remember the days when I would come by your farm for my tribe's pies, and we would just talk and laugh while you worked, and sometimes I would stay to help. I just...I just miss those days, and I hate seeing you so sad and lonely like this. Has that mare truly made you like this? Has her absence really broken your spirit in such a way that you can't even smile anymore?
"Ah..." he started, but couldn't think of how to finish the sentence. Braeburn looked his friend straight in the eyes, uncertainty etched into his face. Little Strongheart looked like her soul was weeping for him, as if the word 'sympathy' wasn't enough to describe her emotions. He couldn't be mad at that face, she simply didn't deserve his anger. Instead Braeburn let out a short snort and looked back down to the ground in front of him. "Ya' really do care, don't ya' Strongheart?"
"Of course I do," she answered simply. "It...it hurts me to see you like this. It's just not you, Braeburn. I know that you haven't truly changed like that."
"Are ya' sure 'bout that? 'Cause it sounds about right," he replied solemnly. He felt a small hoof rest on his shoulder, a gesture that he could just barely ignore.
"But she's not the only problem, is she?" Little Strongheart asked, lifting her hoof from his shoulder. Braeburn saw out of the corner of his eye that she was now gesturing to the sheathed Marechester between them. The stallion nodded slightly, subconsciously watching as the buffalo withdrew the rifle from its scabbard, curiously looking it over in her hooves next to him. She regarded Thumper with an expression torn between wonder and uncertainty, her eyes drifting along the length of the weapon.
"It's also what you have to do to protect others," she concluded in a small voice. Braeburn nodded once more.
She knew well of his disdain towards fulfilling the role that ponies had made for him since that day in Dodge Junction. The one shot that put the infamous purple stallion back behind bars, that one bullet that came from out of nowhere. It was the event that started his unwanted career; his undeserved title.
"But this...I cannot think of a way to avoid it," she said sympathetically.
"And Ah can't think of a way outta the other one," said Braeburn. "So Ah guess that Ah won't be right again until Sure Shot is gone and she comes back...if either of those things happen. Ah reckon that Ah'm jus waitin' fer a day that'll never come."
A warm breeze broke the momentary silence, ruffling Braeburn's long mane and tail, the lapel of his duster fluttering slightly. He opened his eyes again and looked up to the sky. It was another cloudless day, the vast expanse of cyan blue normally the source to an uplifted mood. He simply didn't know what to do anymore. Did he shove his morality aside and shoot the next pony to cross the lines of the law, or just remain there atop the mesa, moping about his horrid luck? He felt no energy to move, or even keep his eyes completely open anymore. A full night's rest had been a seldom occurrence for the past year. Many hours of sleep had instead been spent lying awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling solemnly. He would pray to Celestia that the mare he couldn't stop thinking about would just do what she promised and return.
At this point, did she even plan to? Perhaps she found somepony else in her travels, and simply forgot about the simple farmpony. What did he have to offer her that nopony else could? Braeburn couldn't think of a single thing. The pegasus mare had left to find herself; to make sure that her heart truly beat for him. Perhaps she realized that it was nothing more than a crush, manifested by her distraught past and hardships. It made sense, and it certainly conformed to the stallion's current streak of hard times. He hated feeling sorry for himself like this, but the shroud of sorrow veiling his thoughts seemed all but impenetrable at this point.
Little Strongheart said nothing, but merely held Thumper in her small hooves and stared at him. He could feel her gaze, but did nothing to return it. "What will you do, Braeburn?"
"Ah..." he started, ultimately stumped. "Ah dunno..."
"Well, I-oh! I just remembered!" the buffalo exclaimed, eliciting a quirked eyebrow from the stallion. She excitedly dug her hooves into her messenger bag, withdrawing an envelope from its largest pocket. Braeburn took it, looking over the folded parchment to find only his name hastily scrawled across the front. "A stallion in Dodge Junction caught me on my way back here to ask if I was headed to Appleloosa. I said yes, and he requested that I gave this to you. Do you know anypony by the name of Gunmetal Grey?"
"Yeah," he answered. "He's actually the gunsmith that Pa and Ah go to. What would he want with me?"
Curious, Braeburn adjusted his grip on the envelope and tore one end off with his teeth before turning it over. Another folded piece of parchment fell out, which he caught in his hooves. Little Strongheart poked her head over his shoulder, reading along with him after he unfolded the letter:
Braeburn,
I'm not sure when you'll get this, or if it'll fall into your hooves before it's too late. Something bad happened in Dodge this morning; Sure Shot broke out of his cell outside of town, and he was running amuck through town before I started writing this to you. I didn't know what was going on until I saw him barge out of an apartment building on the edge of town. I don't know what he's up to, or how he broke out of his imprisonment, but I wanted to write this to you as a warning. Not ten minutes ago that bandit got in a gun fight with Sheriff Goldstar and just took off. The sheriff's hurt real bad Braeburn; he took a bullet in the leg and is now being treated by a doctor in his office. For all I know, Sure Shot's on his way to Appleloosa. Be careful, Braeburn.
It's a good thing he got his guns from somewhere else, because I was working on a new weapon when he broke out. It's a rifle I've been crafting for some time, and I think now of all times that it should be in a lawpony's hooves. Listen, Sure Shot is more than likely rallying his allies right now, and I'd bet my flank that he's in a foul mood after being behind bars again. That pony is dangerous, and you need a weapon that can keep up with you. Thumper is a great rifle, but it chambers a large and clumsy round. The fact that you can cycle it as quick and accurate as you do is quite a feat, but you need an edge on those bandits. Whenever you can, I need you to come to Dodge Junction so I can give you this new weapon. The West needs a hero, Braeburn. I know you're not a certified pony of the law, but you were the only one to take Sure Shot down before. I implore you, please take the next train to Dodge and come see me.
-Gunmetal
"He what?!" Braeburn exclaimed as he finished the letter. As he read of Sure Shot's doings before arriving to Appleloosa, his brain immediately shot from melancholy to borderline anger as his thoughts raced to decipher just what the bandit was doing. To the inexperienced mind, his deeds would merely look like the senseless trail of an enraged criminal. But to Braeburn, this was something much more. All of the events that had transpired that day happened for a reason. "He's plannin' somethin', Ah know it."
"What makes you say that, Braeburn?" asked Little Strongheart worriedly as she watched him rise to his hooves.
The earth pony tucked the letter away in the inner pocket of his duster before throwing the sheathed Marechester over his back again, adjusting the strap to better fit him at a full gallop. "Ah dunno, but somethin' 'bout it don't seem right."
The small buffalo seemed to sigh inwardly as her chest deflated, giving Braeburn a look of solemn concern. "So I guess this means you're going to Dodge Junction."
Her tone of voice made the stallion feel his ears sag to the sides of his head. "What else am Ah gonna do, Strongheart?" he replied in a tone that begged for her to understand. "If Ah stay here-"
"Braeburn, it's alright," she interrupted with a raised hoof as she stood up again. "I know that you are going to do what you are going to do. But just let me say this: Ever since that pegasus left, you have always told me not to worry about you. But the problem is that no matter how many times you say it, I am of course going to worry. You are a good friend of mine, more than I can say about most ponies or even buffalo. But I know who you are...you're the stallion the West looks up to, the pony they depend on. I know in your heart that you cannot run from that or your heartbreak, for it is simply not you."
She stopped for a moment, casting her gaze over Appleloosa below the towering mesa they stood upon. "You are a good pony, Braeburn. Good has always been in your heart, and I understand that," she continued. "But please, just be careful out there. I don't even wish to think about losing you."
It had been a long time since any pony or buffalo had said something like that to him. Braeburn felt his tense muscles ease into a more relaxed state, his racing mind starting to follow suit. He took a step toward Little Strongheart, wrapping a single foreleg around her neck. The buffalo recoiled slightly before returning the embrace. "Don't worry now. Ah'll be back home safe and sound."
"Thank you Braeburn," she whispered before letting him go. "But what shall you tell your father about your sudden absence?"
"Well, he said that Ah shouldn't leave Appleloosa," he reflected aloud. "but Ah don't see a better thing to do right now. Heck, maybe Ah can even scrounge up some clues as to what's goin' on here. But uh...one thing."
"Yes?"
"If ya' don't wanna give my Pa a conniption fit, then this conversation never happened," he said in a serious tone. "He's busy workin' with Silverstar right now. In fact, don't tell anypony where Ah'm goin'."
"You really don't want ponies on your tail, I assume?" she asked with a smirk.
"Pff, o' course not," he replied, returning the grin. The stallion adjusted the collar of his duster, making sure that he was armed with plenty of ammunition in the cartridge loops on the inside of the garment. The ride to Dodge Junction wasn't overly long, but anything could have happened there or on the way. He turned to walk away, but stopped to turn his head back to Little Strongheart, wearing a reassuring smile. "Take care o' town fer me while Ah'm gone, would ya'?"
"Oh I'm sorry, that doesn't sound like my job," she sneered. Braeburn had no answer for her sarcasm, and instead started back down the North side of the plateau at a steady trot, hoping to Celestia that Appleloosa would be alright without him.
The ground was hundreds of hooves below, the blue sea growing farther and father away. The water sparkled in the dying sunlight, reflecting its distorted rays. The horizon glowed with a bright orange light, unfiltered without the presence of a single cloud. The droning hum of whirling propellers vibrated the small room in the center of the craft, a sound that had become nothing more than background noise to its passengers after only ten minutes of flight. The ship ascended into the sky as the day drew closer to its end, the start of what would be a long flight.
The cabin of the aircraft wasn't lavish by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't makeshift either. Two rows of comfortable seats lined the front and rear walls of the room, situated on either side of a long coffee table. The surface of the table was covered with an assortment of maps, inkwells and quills. A single, large compass was set into the wood, its needle indicating their Southern trajectory. The walls were completely bare, the only things breaking the monotony being two long windows on either side, sealed to prevent mid-flight pressure differences.
On the front end of the room sat a bright yellow pegasus mare, her large ruby eyes transfixed on an ancient map unfurled on the table in front of her. The long lashes of her low eyelids swayed gracefully up and down with every seldom blink, focused on the drawings. Crimson and pink bangs dusted her brow, the two tones clashed together in the vague shape of a lightning bolt. The top of her wild mane swayed carelessly to the side and back, while the rest hung splayed over one shoulder, a similarly-colored tail flicking restlessly next to her. Just barely visible from her sitting position was an orange sunrise upon her flank, veiled by the feathers of a furled wing. The mare wore a tired, annoyed sort of expression. With a quiet groan, the pegasus simply gave up on whatever she was trying to gain from the maps and slumped back into her seat, crossing her hindhooves atop the surface of the table, forelegs tucked lazily behind her head.
"Ugh, I can't make heads or tails of these old things," she sighed, her voice low, but not without its own feminine tones. "I don't see how you can decipher these."
Another pony sat across from the yellow mare, laying on her stomach with her forehooves tucked underneath her chest. The other pegasus had a coat the color of dark sandstone, offset only by her bright rose eyes. Her mane and tail were a veritable spectrum of grays and black, messy and unkempt. Around her torso was an olive-green pocketed shirt, its sleeves rolled-up to the knees of her forelegs. She wasn't listening much to her friend, but more to the dull ringing in her head. Her eyes were half-lidded and staring unfocused out the window to her left, her overall expression that of mental absence.
The bright-yellow mare furrowed her brow, glaring at the pony across the table from her. "Oi, Daring Do! You there?"
The other mare's eyes snapped completely open, her gaze finally focusing and landing on her friend for the first time that day. She cleared her throat silently with a hoof to her mouth before answering: "Oh, um...sorry Day Break. What's up?"
It was almost difficult for her to even speak, for her voice hadn't been used much as of late. The yellow mare didn't move an inch from her relaxed position, only quirking an eyebrow at her. "I asked you how you're able to make sense of these blasted maps," she repeated, gesturing an irritated hoof toward the tattered parchment between them. Daring rubbed her itching eyes and looked at the maps she was indicating. They were Mesoequestrian illustrations of a tomb she had uncovered years before. The maps happened to be only a single piece of the many findings she and her old team had discovered.
"Those are ancient blueprints, Day Break. I'd be surprised if you could read them without years of archaeological study," she remarked, although lacking the level of snark she had been aiming for. Her dull reply instilled another cocked eyebrow from the yellow mare. Her focus darted to Daring's sunken eyes, their lower lids sporting a dark shade of purple.
"Daring, are you okay?" she asked, a mild touch of concern in her voice. "You look like you're gonna hurl out the window."
"I'm fine," the archaeologist immediately replied, only a fraction of a section between the question and her answer. Her haste seemed to arouse suspicion in her friend.
"Okay, no," said Day Break flatly. "You're lying to me again. Is this about that-"
"No, it's not," Daring spat, her answer containing no sort of tact. In surprise to her retort, the dark mare immediately wiped the scowl from her face, replaced by an apologetic expression. But before she could repair the damage, her friend pointed a hoof at her face, her eyelids low.
"That...that's how I know you're lying," she said matter-of-factly. "The bags under your eyes and the quick and angry responses I've been getting for the past couple of days. You haven't slept at all, have you? Just take a breath and talk about it."
"There's nothing to talk about," she said, casting her eyes back out the window. It was indeed another lie, but it was better than admitting to her pain and spending the rest of their flight in an awkward silence.
"Daring," Day Break interjected, her tone level. "How long have we been friends? I know when something's bugging you. Just cut the charade and talk about it."
"I...we don't have the time for that."
"We have a night-long flight ahead of us. We have plenty of time. Now come on," she continued, speaking as if she were prodding a disobedient foal to bed. "What is it?"
Daring cursed herself for not thinking before attempting the ruse. Her mind was too busy racing over their destination, clouded with dread and regret. She looked back to Day Break, whom was still laid back in her seat, her forelegs now crossed in front of her. To somepony that hadn't known the yellow pegasus like Daring did, her expression may have only radiated apathy, true to her almost constant demeanor. But she knew better. Behind those half-lidded ruby eyes was a level of true concern for her friend, a pony she had known since her teenage years. Daring cursed herself once more, this time for lying to one of the only ponies she could confide in. Day Break didn't deserve that, she was only trying to help.
The archaeologist sighed quietly as the other pegasus waited patiently. Daring collected herself, her eyes tiredly looking over the coffee table as if to distract herself. "Yeah, you're right. I haven't been able to sleep at all the past couple of nights. And no, before you say it, it's not about...you know..."
"If not him, then what is it?"
"I'm..." Daring started, loathing the word she was about to use. She even made a subconscious twitch of her jaw to physically bite her tongue, but eventually pushed past it. "I'm...ugh, I'm scared alright?!"
She looked away from her friend as soon as the words escaped her lips, unaware of how she could extrapolate her meaning. But sure enough, Day Break asked: "Scared? Scared of what?"
Daring expected a scoff, maybe even a little teasing laugh from the pegasus, but was shocked to hear nothing but a desire to learn just what she was talking about. She raised her head a little, meeting the other mare's gaze once again. "Of where we're going, Day Break. I've been dreading this trip all darned year. Every day it grew closer, and for the past week my hooves haven't been able to stop shaking. The past two nights my fear has kept me awake, tossing and turning in my bed. Do you have any idea what it's like to be afraid to sleep, as if that...that monster is going to kill you in your dreams?"
With every word, Daring's volume and intensity had risen. It took a few sentences for her to realize it, but eventually she cut the flow of her emotions short before she started hollering at the yellow mare. She bit her lip, staring at Day Break's unchanged expression. The pegasus remained relaxed, despite the small emotional outburst that Daring had almost lost control of. The dark mare coiled her forehooves together in a feeble attempt to cease their quivering.
Day Break let her head fall back, supported by the back of her chair as she stared at the ceiling. She let a small chuckle vibrate in her throat. "That's funny, actually. I remember a certain somepony reassuring me that this monster was securely imprisoned by a group of powerful unicorns. Not that it would have steered me away regardless..."
"If you had a clue of what he is really like, you'd understand," said Daring gravely, her face somber.
"Oh yeah?" her friend replied, wearing an amused grin. "Okay then, what's the difference between him and the storybook character?"
The archaeologist narrowed her eyes at Day Break, her expression that of utter seriousness. She paused before answering, her tone heavy, as if her next sentence held the weight of the world. "The difference is that Ahuitzotl is real."
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AHUIZOTL'S WHAT NOW?!?
DUN DUN DUN!
Damn you. I need some sleep...
this chapter... I like it! ANOTHER!!!
Yesssssss..
YAY A NEW ONE!!!!!!!! READING NAOW!!!!!
edit: MOAR! NAOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He's real...
WHAT A TWEEST
Ironically, what made Daring Do feel the way she did, made her leave. Which is changing Braeburn in such a way that she might not like what she find when she comes back. If she had stayed, everything might have worked out just fine. Alternatively it would have been terrible. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La Da
Day Break and Daring remind me of Spike and Jet, but that might be because I'm watching a lot of Cowboy Bebop. Maybe Faye and Spike? I dunno.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
1389011
More ruthless than Lex Luthor...psychotic enough to make the Joker frown...more prone to monologue than the greatest Bond villain...his minions are more incompetent Stormtroopers...the traps he sets are almost always nearly enough to kill the protagonist...his accent is more exotic than the combined baritones of Joseph Stalin and Count Dracula...with a power level of 9001...
It's goddamn Ahuitzotl.
Hold on to your underwear, things are gonna get evil.
>Sure Shot AND Ahuitzotl running around at the same time
OMG YAY UPDATE... awesome chapter i wonder what kind of rifle brae brae will get in dodge.. maybe something that is magazine fed
1389187 Rust, you couldn't have a better avatar than right now. That is all.
Ahuitzotl is real!
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/210/403/OhCrap.png
1389187
May Leeroy save us all.
Aaaaaaaaand brain just clicked the pieces together. Sure Shot is working for Ahuitzotl and they're after some ancient relic with mystical powers that will grant them power and/or control over the West.
sdfsdzdzkjkdjkgrrgjda jklg snkl qmerwukl3ruquowerl 3rbyig
sorry bout that, kinda blew my mind there
Auhizotl, eh? Why does this not surprise me. I guess he has to be real if he made an appearance in the book. I only wonder how monstrous he really is...
Will they just hurry up and get together already?! I can't handle the sorrow! Daring, you miss Braeburn just admit it to the guy so he can go back to shouting AAAppaloosa to the heavens with a smile on his face
Also for a second there I thought Day Break was Fluttershy... any relation?
Ahuitzotl is real and was imprisoned by unicorns + Sure Shot has an evil plan = Sure Shot is going to free Ahuitzotl
1388843 I swear I was going to post this and I swear I knew it would be the very first response when I looked
1389187
Call it a Code Brown, because I have to change my pants.
Emperor preserve us.
OOOOHHHH FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU... dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Soarin_dayum.png
1388940 don't you mean:
imageshack.us/a/img33/5764/likethischapter.jpg
1390837 YES!!!!
brandiron.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The-Most-Interesting-Man-in-the-World.jpg
I don't always read tragedies...But when I do, I prefer Divebomb's
Stay Bronies, my friends...
All funnies aside though, awesome chapter and now I have to follow two antagonist? This keeps getting better by the second!
But dammit, their loneliness is making me sad...its making Fluttershy cry too 
Keep up the great work!
You know, for a minute there I thought we were going to get a little Lone ranger and Tonto action with Baerburn and Strongheart. Also Daybreak
!!!! Oh hell yes!!! The only way this chapter could be any better is if it was made of bacon.
P.S. Little Strongheart may in fact be best Johnny Depp.
1391079 Wait a minute. You're Crimenatus from DA aren't you?
Inb4 Sure Shot releases Ahuitzotl upon Canterlot.
I still want to see Princess Celestia in this fiction at some point in time. It's been too long since I've seen her kick ass and take names.
1391226
Indeed I am bro.
1388843
Redundant comment is redundant.
1392738 WHOOOOAAAAAAFWWWWUUUUUUCK
I totally forgot to credit you bro! Sorry about that!
1393301
My mother said the same thing to my Dad when I was born, and I turned out fine so no worry man.
That was so awesome this is gonna be good looking forward to the next update
"P.S. I'm thinking about writing the prolog for the story I told you about, but still working on two others though
would you be interested in Pre-reading it when it is done?"
1395003 I wouldn't mind that. Sure send it to me when it's done
next chapter....Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if that's ok
omg he's real???
anongallery.org/img/2/0/dis-gon-b-gud.gif
Oh god rising action.
You have to write faster. If you don't, I do not believe I will survive past morrow's eve.
Ahuitzotl is real?
Inevitable villian team up is a GO!
weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/shit-just-got-real.jpg
Finally Daring Do gets a part.
What everyone else took all the good comments.
ERMAHGERD!!! Sure Shot: Braeburn's bad guy and Ahuizotl: Daring's bad guy... Alive and kicking at the same time... And a new.weapon for Braeburn?
ERMAHGERD!!
*meets up with Sure Shot* SAY HELLO TO MY LIL FRIEND!!! *riddles the pony with rounds from a minigun until there's nothing but pulpy red splatter remaining*
Who needs to aim when you can fire several thousand rounds a minute?!
Ok, I think its about time I left a honest-to-goodness review of this story, yet regardless to what I'm about to say, I'm still greatly enjoying it:
First things first, out main plot, as in Braeburn dealing with Daring's disappearance and vice-verse (well, kinda, you get the point) , and out main villains: The first one is kinda weak in itself, why? Simple, they only knew each other for a few days, days filled with adventure, danger, revelations and such yes, but still few days that could be counted with a hand, both at most, and as much bonding as those days created, a full year of not knowing jack about each other should have diminished all those sorrowful feeling, or at least, to a degree, replaced them with others, like anger, resignations, contempt, etc, so for me it doesn't work, too idealistic in my opinion.
Talking about idealism, we have our villains, a bunch of rugged, experience criminals that most likely have killed a lot of innocent ponies, either because the had or wanted to, and this may be because I'm south american, and we see those kind of people as the lowest scum, but in my mind the idea of Braeburn being unable to shoot a them due to his convictions is too... prefect, really, too perfect for him of stopping when needed the most because "he might kill", I mean again, I'm south american, and we celebrate when a violent criminal is killed, specially by a "rightful" bystander, because they are scum, and the type of scum that never recovers, specially when you take into account that a weak penitentiary system leaves them free in few years, regardless of what they did, so, to the point, Braeburn not being able to fight back was quite frankly too Mary Sueish, and for me a bit infuriating (that frustration you described? I felt the same, but actually in a good way, even after what I just said
)
So to make it more concrete: a story that is based on a more mature, more dark interpretation of this world of colorful ponies we all know and love suffers from too much idealism from its main cast, especially if we take into account that all the other character seem to be more "adapted" to this new reality you created, so at the end it clashes, not greatly, like you can spot it right away, but subtlety, where as you read you realize something seems off, but you cant quite put your finger on it.
Again, I still love this story dearly, and will be waiting for any new chapter as eagerly as the long delayed third season, but I still felt that this issues needed to be addressed, since quite frankly, I believe an author deserves a honest review, no matter how harsh it sounds, since in the long you it will be much more helpful than endless praise, even if it is not the hollow type.
Hope to see more soon!
1435469 Finally! Someone actually has something to say about this story!
While I can't exactly reply to much without giving the entire story away, I can say that some of your views are completely justified. Now I could make it easy on myself and just say "well there's a reason it only got 4 stars on EQD," but that wouldn't saying much at all. Not to mention that would destroy my beliefs when it comes to writing. A writer's best friend is constructive criticism. Without it, we cannot learn or build from our previous flaws and follies.
The only thing I share a differing opinion about (again, without spoiling anything) is Braeburn's inability to kill Sure Shot right then and there. Yeah, him not doing it definitely lengthens the plot line, however, that is not the reason why he realistically wouldn't be able to do it. Braeburn, in the show as well as in the Riflepony Series, is a kind pony. Look at his character and ask yourself: "would it be believable in any way if he did kill him right off the bat?" Throughout Treasure and now Colt, he has always feared the mere thought of being forced to take another life. In my opinion, without the necessary character development, he simply cannot deal with killing another pony so suddenly.
That's all I can say at the moment. Despite what I just said, I do appreciate the criticism. We writers don't seem to get enough of it nowadays.
1440389
You raise a very fair point on behalf of Braeburn, something that quite frankly makes me ashamed for overlooking it, still, the feeling of frustration is still there, but hopefully I just need time to get away from that rather violent line of though (for this story at least
) and enjoy that part of the story as intended.
As for the rest, basically I just need to go forward and see how it goes hum? Seems fair enough, since we are still far too early into the story to give some kind of final thought.
I just hope one thing though: that this story actually has a happy ending, given the bittersweet one we had last time...
1440728 Bittersweet because the sequel was in planning since chapter four of TITW :D
1440841
I like how that sound!