//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: "Appaloosa County" // Story: Equestria Noir Case 7 "Into the West" // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Equestria Noir Case 7 “Into the West” By Jacoboby1 Dedicated to: Kkat Chapter 1 “Appaloosa County” “And they all lived happily ever after…the end” “Applejack?” I said staring at the orange cowpony. She tensed up upon hearing my voice. “Are you reading a book to a tree?” Applejack was reading a book to a tree. The tree in question was a large apple tree at the back of the caboose. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a plant laid out on a bed like it was a sick foal. Either way Applejack smiled rather embarrassingly “Ah’m sorry sugercube, it’s just that Bloomy ere was gettin anxious about meeting her sister and ah tried to calm her down” “Should I be worried that you referred to a tree as a her?” I said warily as Applejack began nuzzling the tree affectionately. Then she started talking to the tree…”Don’t you listen to mean ole Private Bloomy, you just relax and gets some rest while we head on to Appaloosa” She gave me a green eyed glare that told me not to ask. I walked out from the caboose and entered the passenger car where Twilight was waiting. I just gave this flat look at her. She smiled “You stumbled across her reading to Bloomy didn’t you?” “Your friends are weird…” I said not amused. She smiled “Well just be glad there aren’t any buffalo to steal the tree this time” “I’m probably the one’s who’s going to have to lug that dumb thing around” I grumbled. Twilight raised an eyebrow “You mean Bloomy?” “Nah” I said sarcastically “Fluttershy” “You do know that Fluttershy is not a tree” “I never said she was a tree!” “You implied it though” “No! I mean” I shook my head to get my bearings. “Why would you think that I thought Fluttershy was a tree?” “Maybe because she’d like to be a tree?” She said smiling again. “Like I said” I sighed “Your friends are weird…” She laughed as I sat down in the seat opposite her. She then looked up from the letter she had been reading before I came in “I wonder why Sheriff Silver Star asked for you personally?” “We’re heading to Appaloosa right?” I said leaning back in my seat. “Maybe he’s having some trouble and needs a helping hoof?” “I would think he would be able to handle whatever’s going on himself. Applejack hasn’t heard from Braeburn in a while so maybe some trouble has reared its ugly snout” “I’ve never been to Appaloosa before. It’s a new settlement right?” “Yeah” Twilight said speaking to me like a teacher would “It was founded about a year ago and has since grown into a town about half the size of Ponyville” “That’s still a small town” I observed “Even still it’s grown pretty big compared to when my friends and I were here last time” Twilight replied “I’m just worried about what would cause the sheriff to ask for us personally” Applejack appeared from the caboose and sat down beside Twilight “Bloomy’s asleep now so I thought I’d give her some space” “Careful Applejack” I said smiling “She might escape in the middle of the night and run off with a maple tree” Both I and Twilight laughed at my joke. Applejack frowned “Very funny, I suppose ya’ll be more than happy to carry little Bloomy to her restin spot” I frowned…this was going to be a long trip. _________________________________________________ The train rolled to a stop as we arrived at Appaloosa. Applejack and Twilight got off the train and turned back to it. Applejack smiled “Keep ‘er steady Private! Ah want to make sure she’s right and comfortable!” “How about I be right and comfortable!?” I yelled as I dragged the dumb tree out of the caboose. Damn that thing is heavy even with magic. I set the tree down on the platform with a huff. “From now on, we don’t take any big pieces of luggage! Foliage included!” Applejack simply smiled “It’s mighty kind of ya to help out Private. Ah just know you’ll be willing to take Bloomy all the way to the orchards once things are set” I frowned as Twilight walked to me “Note to self…no tree jokes whenever we come out here, my horn can’t handle it” I rubbed my horn to drive home my point. A common misconception is that telekinesis makes everything weightless. What ponies don’t know is that the larger the object the more concentration it requires to lift it. Twilight never had to worry about that because her talent far overshadows the average unicorn’s. ME on the other hoof, I had to contend with the thought of lugging that damn tree all the way to the orchards. I turned around and found myself looking into the most enthusiastic green eyes I ever seen. The eyes belonged to a stallion my age with a bright yellow coat and a long bronze gold mane. He wore a brown cloth vest and a large cowpony hat on his head. He was smiling at me in a rather…cheerful way. “Howdy! Welcome to AAAPALOOSA!!!” He exclaimed rearing up and neighing the name of the town. “Uh…glad to be here…” I replied nervously. He then began shaking my hoof vigorously “Howdy there Ah’m Braeburn and this ere is the wonderful town of AAAPALOOSA” “I gathered but…” I tried to continue. He then looked passed me at Applejack and sighed “Again Applejack? Ya bring along yer friends and ya don’t introduce em? Shame on you!” He then tipped his hat to Twilight “Pleasure seein you again though Miss Twilight” Twilight smiled at the over enthusiastic stallion “It’s good to see you too Braeburn. How’s Appaloosa?” “Well why don’t I show yer friend here mister uh…I didn’t catch yer name” I realized he was talking to me. “Uh, Private Eye, I’m a detective” “A Dahtective?!” Braeburn exclaimed with a glee I don’t think a normal stallion should give off. “Well shoot! If this is yer first time here let me show ya around!” He then grabbed me by my leg and suddenly I was being dragged around Appaloosa. I gave one last pleading look back at Applejack and Twilight. They just smiled and waved as I was being dragged by the stallion. Braeburn showed me all the sights of Appaloosa: Horse drawn carriages, horses drawing horse drawn carriage, the local salt lick and pretty much anything I could’ve possibly wanted to see at the small town. We finally stopped at the town center and he let me go for the first time in what felt like an eternity. “Any questions partner?” “Yeah, you got any aspirin?” I said as I stretched out my leg that he drug me around with. The cowpony flushed a little “Sorry ‘bout that, I get a little carried away whenever somepony new comes around” The only thing getting carried away was me pal! I snorted a little “Look, I just need to find Sheriff Silver Star” “Well why didn’t ya say so?” “I think I might’ve said so during when you were giving me the forced guided tour” Just then Applejack and Twilight came up behind Braeburn. Applejack nudged the stallion “Braeburn why can’t ya just wait for somepony to answer before ya drag him off like that?” Braeburn smiled “Sorry cuzin, can’t help but be hospitable” I looked around at the town “Things seem to be awfully quiet here. Braeburn?” The cowpony looked to me “Has there been any trouble around here?” The stallion sighed “Ta be honest with ya? Yeah, a lot of problems have been happenin around here” Applejack looked over at Braeburn “It’s not the buffalo again is it? Ya ‘all made a peace agreement with them” Buffalo were a race of indigenous tribes that lived in the vast deserts. They weren’t discovered until recently but they have a long and rich history. I heard that some settlements have had trouble with the more violent tribes of buffalo. But most tribes were peaceful enough provided nopony trespassed on their stampeding grounds. Braeburn sighed again and shook his head “Nah that’s the thing cuz” Braeburn looked off into the distance “They haven’t been showin up” “What do you mean?” Twilight asked inquisitively “I thought the buffalo come around every week to trade” “They do” Braeburn affirmed “But over the past couple weeks we’ve got nothing from them. They haven’t been stampedin around here in over a month” I nodded thoughtfully “That’s probably what’s got the Sheriff wanting me to give a house call” “It’s not only that” Braeburn continued “We’ve also been havin trouble with bandits” “Bandits?!” Applejack yelped The stallion nodded “Yep, they’ve been comin around and causin all kinds of trouble over here. Stealin our food, shootin up stores, ya all are lucky yer train didn’t get hit by em” “They’re armed?” I said “But how? I don’t see any unicorns around here, how can they shoot without magic?” Braeburn smiled a little “Ya ‘all underestimate earth pony ingenuity” He then walked to a nearby store and came back with a strange piece of equipment. It was a saddle that a pony could put on their back. On each of the sides of the saddle was a long cannon. I’d say it was about the size a normal shooting rifle would be. Braeburn slipped the saddle on himself and a small mouth piece on a metal rod was there. Twilight stared at the device in wonder “What is it Braeburn?” “This ere is called a battle saddle” Braeburn said proudly “We made em so that we earth pony’s could shoot” I looked over the device “Very sophisticated…this could change modern warfare” “Well it’s certainly changed how we fight bandits” Braeburn said “Sadly though them bandits got a hold of some of these and that’s how they were shootin up our stores” “How does it work?” “Well, ya just bite down on this ere bit and” he bit down on the mouth piece and both canons fired with a mighty BOOM!! The bullets went flying harmlessly into the sky. I shook my head to get the ringing out of my ears. But why couldn’t they stop drumming? Wait…that isn’t drumming…that’s rumbling! STAAAMPEDE!!!! We looked on as a herd of cattle was running towards us. We leaped out of the way to one of the buildings on the sides of the road. Applejack looked at me “Private! We gotta make sure them cattle don’t continue stampedin” “What do you need me to do?” I said ready for action “Me and Braeburn will take care of the front! You and Twilight cover the sides and make sure none of them run off!” Twilight nodded and teleported to the other side of the cattle herd. I ran alongside the herd and made sure none of the cattle ran into any buildings. Applejack and Braeburn hopped on the backs of the cattle. The pair made their way towards the front and started lassoing up the leaders of the herd. Applejack and Braeburn pulled and turned the herd away from crashing into a nearby building. I looked on as small part of the herd went the other direction. I broke off from the main group and made a beeline for the herd. I didn’t know much about herding but I knew cows hated noise. I levitated out my revolver and leaped on the back of one of the leaders. I fired my gun in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. The cattle turned to run away from the loud noise and nearly avoided a general store. I kept the cattle going but I was beginning to lose my balance on the leader. I guess my gunshots scared him too much. I was about to fall off the steer when I felt somepony grab my trench coat with their teeth. I looked up and my grey eyes grew wide in shock. She flipped her head and tossed me onto another leader. Her gold eyes looked over at me “Watch how a country gal does it city boy!” She then pressed on the back of the leader so it went off towards the outskirts of town. I was so distracted I didn’t notice a nearby sign coming towards me. Two seconds later I did as I slammed into it and fell off the cow I was riding. I shook my head and ran after the slowing down group of cattle. My savior from before had stopped the herd and was now riding on the back of a bucking bull. She laughed even as the bull finally had enough of her and shot her off his back. She flew in the air and I dived to catch her. Both of us entangled until we righted ourselves. She was on top of me by the time we found some semblance of order. Her gold eyes looked down at me and she smiled “Well, Private. Fancy meeting you here” I looked right at her, I couldn’t believe my eyes “County? What the hell are you doing here?” County was about a year younger then I was. Her coat was a dark rust colored sheen. Her mane was long and golden blond that contrasted vastly with her dark coat. She wore a black desperado hat with a brown band around it. Her golden eyes looked at me “The hell I’m doin here is savin yer sorry ass city boy” “I could’ve stopped that herd ya hick!” “In yer dreams pretty boy!” “Redneck!” “Sorry ass!” “No good drunk!” “No good heartbreaker!” ….we then burst out laughing. I couldn’t believe after all this time I’d run into County way out here. We both hugged each other “It’s great to see you County!” “Great ta see ya to Private!” She said smiling. We broke off when we noticed Applejack, Braeburn, and Twilight looking at us “Looks like ya brought yer friends” Twilight looked at the country mare puzzled “Private, who is this?” County stood up and dusted herself off. She offered her hoof to Twilight “County Elizabeth Sher…homicide”