//------------------------------// // 3:10 to Yuma // Story: My Little Western // by Laurence Brown //------------------------------// Douglas looked through the contents of his knapsack, making sure everything he wanted was there. Curious as to what the diamond dog was doing, One Winged Willie wandered over, slightly erratic in his course across the room in the the gang's base. Noticing that Douglas was preparing to head out, the maimed pegasus let out a mournful sigh. "You know if The Coyote Colt finds out that you went out treasure hunting again that he'll be angry?" "Angry he will be," Douglas replied as he slung the bag over his shoulder, "but I doubt he will do anything rash. Especially if he pulls off his ambush successfully. And besides," he added, giving the pegasus a sad smile, "I have to do this. Finding hidden wealth, searching for long lost riches, this is something that is ingrained into the very essence of a diamond dog. Even one such as me." Willie nodded, and followed Douglas outside. The diamond dog turned to his pegasus friend, or at least the closest thing that Douglas could consider a friend among their ragtag band of outlaws, and gave him a pat on the head. "I'll be heading out that way." he pointed with a paw towards the east. "While I don't think anyone will come out here, if you need to follow after me, head in that direction." The pegasus nodded. "Be careful. The weather, she'll be going all topsy turvy come the morning. More messed up than marmalade." Douglas nodded. "Thanks." With a final wave, the diamond dog headed out on his personal quest. Well cousin, this will be the last time I add to this letter. The train arrives in town in an hour or so, so I'll quickly tack on a few last lines before sealing this up and making sure I put enough postage so that this gets to you at Sweet Apple Acres. Our trip to visit the buffalo went well, I thought. Remember Little Strongheart? Chief Thunderhooves sent her to help us deal with The Coyote Colt and his gang, since that outlaw has a pair of buffalo of his own. Trixie doesn't seemed to be all that pleased, mainly because she doesn't think Little Strongheart will be able to do anything against two fully grown buffalo. I'm sure once she sees her in action though Trixie will come around. Anyway, with the extra help, and the supplies on the train coming in shortly, we should be able to finish the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in plenty of time. Say hello to all the other family members there in Ponyville for me, would you? I'm looking forward to the next family reunion, for once I'll have a grand story of my own to share! Take care, cousin! Braeburn Braeburn looked over his writing one last time, searching for any mistakes in his writing that would be more embarrassing than crossing out the word and rewriting it above it would be. Finding none, he folded up his lengthy letter and slid it into an envelope. He then licked several stamps and affixed them to the already addressed envelope and, after some thought, grabbed one more just to make sure it didn't get sent back to him with a big red stamp proclaiming 'RETURN TO SENDER: INSUFFICIENT POSTAGE' on the back. Again. He started to head back to the kitchen to clean up after breakfast when he heard an urgent knocking at his door. Braeburn trotted to the front of the house and opened the door to see the sheriff standing there, a grim look on his face. "What's wrong, sir?" Braeburn asked, a knot of worry growing in his gut. "Come take a look at this." Sheriff Silverstar said curtly, motioning for the young stallion to follow him, and led him around to the side of his house. Once there he pointed to a pillar of dark smoke rising in the distance, visible against what looked to be a sky quickly filling with storm clouds.. "I'd like to think that's just a small brush fire, but it looks to me like it's coming up from where the train tracks run. Do you think you and your friends could meet me at the jailhouse, the sooner the better?" Braeburn nodded. "You bet! Just give me five minutes to get them, and we'll be there." "Thank you, son." Silverstar turned to head back to the jailhouse, and Braeburn headed off towards the stage at the edge of town. He knew that Trixie had spent the night in her wagon, and Little Strongheart had decided to sleep out behind the stage on the ground. Braeburn had offered her the use of his living room and some cushions he had stored away but the diminutive buffalo scout had politely declined the offer. She said she preferred to be sleep outside, under the stars, and that anything but the hard ground beneath her would be too soft for her comfort. A couple of minutes later he arrived at the stage to find Trixie and Little Strongheart already up and talking. Braeburn smiled to see the two of them apparently getting along better than they originally had when they had first met at the buffalo camp. Upon getting closer to the pair however he heard to his disappointment that they were, if not arguing, then at least seemed to be having some sort of disagreement. "Heya ladies!" he called out, in an effort to cut short whatever dispute was brewing between them. It seemed to work, as they both turned to face him. "Greetings, Braeburn." Little Strongheart replied as the stallion came up to them. "We were just discussing various ways that we might be able to stop this Coyote Colt." "Any luck with that?" Braeburn asked. "Sadly, the best that we are able to come up with is the brutish method of everyone jumping him at the same time." Trixie sniffed. "While Trixie admits the idea has merits, she also worries that it leaves us too open for assaults from the rest of his gang." "But isn't he biggest threat?" Little Strongheart countered. "If what you say about his abilities are true, and I have no reason to doubt you, then I would think that ignoring him for even a minute would be worse than ignoring the rest of his gang." Seeing that the discussion was about to return to the debate that it had been before he arrived, Braeburn cleared his throat to regain their attention. He pointed at the still growing tower of dark smoke in the distance. "I hate to interrupt your discussion, but Sheriff Silverstar wants to meet us at the jailhouse as soon as we can get there. He's worried about that pillar of smoke." Little Strongheart frowned. "It looks to me that the approaching storms should easily put it out." "True," Braeburn replied, "but Silverstar says that is also in the area where the train tracks lie. I think he's worried that something might hinder the train coming in to town." "Well then," Trixie snorted, looking a bit miffed that her conversation with the buffalo scout had been interrupted, "let's go hear what the sheriff has to say." The three departed the stage and after a short walk found themselves entering the still damaged jailhouse. Inside, they found the sheriff standing by his desk, talking to the doctor and a couple of other ponies. "Ah, good." Sheriff Silverstar said seeing them enter, and the conversation between the other ponies quickly died off. "I figure, since you three are taking it upon yourselves to help out Appleloosa against The Coyote Colt, that I should make sure that we're doing everything by the books." He opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out several silver badges shaped like stars. "If we want to make sure that those outlaws are able to be arrested and sentenced to the full extent of the law, then they must be apprehended by representatives of the law, so I am using my power as sheriff to deputize you three until this situation is over with." One of the other ponies piped up, "Are you allowed to deputize buffalo? Has that ever been done before?" Sheriff Silverstar gave a lidded stare at the pony who had spoken up. "There's nothing in the books that says that I can't, and you're right, she will be the first." He turned and gave Little Strongheart a grin and a wink. "About time too, if you ask me." The sheriff then proceed to deftly pin the stars, one on Braeburn's vest, another on Little Strongheart's headband next to the feathers, and the last one to Trixie's cloak. "There, the deed is done and witnessed. You three are now my deputies." "So, what now?" asked Braeburn as he admired the the badge he had just been given. "Well, as I mentioned earlier, I have a bad feeling about that smoke out to the east. I'd like for the three of you to go give it a look over. Hopefully it's nothing, but I'm worried that something might have happened to the train tracks..." Silverstar paused, the added in a softer voice, "or maybe even the train itself, heaven forbid." After a brief pause where everyone took in the ramifications of the train itself being attacked, Braeburn said, "Well, let me stop by my house really quick to grab some things and then we'll be off." A short while later, the three new deputies were out of town and following the train tracks east. Braeburn now had on a set of saddlebags, packed with some food and drink as well as his letter to Applejack. "If the train has had an accident, I might still be able to pass the letter on to one of the train stallions if any are still nearby." he had explained. "So, do these tracks keep on heading straight this way, or do they turn to the side after a bit?" Trixie asked. Braeburn shook his head. "No, they go straight on for quite a long ways." Looking up at the pillar of smoke, it was obvious the it was indeed either on or right next to the path the train tracks took. "Looks like that storm is moving in pretty fast." he noted, seeing that the clouds were rapidly filling the sky. Trixie frowned at the approaching storm. "I'm surprised that the pegasus ponies scheduled a storm for when a train was scheduled to arrive..." she trailed off, and then shook her head in annoyance. "I forgot, you don't have the luxury of scheduled weather out here, do you?" "Scheduled weather?" Little Strongheart asked. "Back in Equestria proper," Braeburn explained, "there are enough pegasi to make sure that just the right amount of rain falls for the crops, and that the times when it occurs is known in advance. Extreme weather such as giant thunderstorms are a very rare occurrence, usually only happening due to special circumstances." Little Strongheart shuddered. "That sounds... unnatural." Trixie chuckled. "I can see how you would think that, but everypony back east would think the exact opposite. After all, our rulers are responsible for the rising of the sun and the moon. Why not control the clouds as well?" The buffalo scout quietly pondered that over as they continued to follow the tracks. Soon, the wind began to pick up a little, and small dust devils could be seen forming a short distance away from the tracks. "Hey!" Little Strongheart exclaimed upon seeing the tiny cyclones. "Look, at those! We buffalo play games with them." "How do you play games with something like that?" Braeburn asked. "Well, the bigger buffalo use them to demonstrate how surehooved they are." Little Strongheart admitted. "The bigger the whirlwind you can remain standing on the ground against, the stronger you are. I've found that it's just as fun to let one pick you up. They're weak enough that all they can do is lift you a couple of feet off the ground, but... Well, just watch this, you'll see!" The buffalo scout ran off towards a dust devil and stood in front of it's path. The tiny twister enveloped and lifted her off the ground, spinning her around for a few seconds before moving on and dropping her safely back to the ground. "See? You just have to be careful not to let yourself get too dizzy is all. Try it, you two!" Braeburn took a step towards a nearby dust devil, but remembering why they were out there he stopped and regretfully shook his head. "No thank you. I'd like to, but I don't want to risk spilling the stuff in my bags doing that, so I'll pass." Trixie however was looking thoughtfully at Little Strongheart. "While Trixie usually doesn't partake in such diversions, she has to admit that it does look like fun. And Trixie has not had many chances for fun lately either." She floated her hat over to Braeburn. "Would you please hold on to this for me? The Great and Powerful Trixie does not wish to lose such an important part of her wardrobe trying this." As Braeburn placed her hat in his saddlebags, Trixie trotted out and placed herself on front of another dust devil. Waiting until it was almost right on top of her, she then closed her eyes to keep the dirt from getting in her eyes. She was startled when the whirlwind first picked her up and let out a startled squeak, but as she was spun around it changed to a squeal that was a combination of fear and enjoyment. She knew it was only seconds later when the force of the wind weakened as the dust devil moved past her as she was lowered to the ground, but it had felt much longer to her. Opening her eyes, she looked around and smiled. "That was fun!" she exclaimed, as her two companions smiled bemusedly at her reaction. "I'm going to try that again!" Braeburn watched as the other two let themselves be flung upwards time and time again. Soon, Little Strongheart grew tired of it, and rejoined him next to the track as they continued on, but Trixie kept on dashing ahead to find another dust devil to take a ride in, spinning in mid air as her cloak billowed out around her. The wind continued to grow stronger as they proceeded, and Little Strongheart started to look worried as she watched Trixie. "I think we had better rein her in, she might hurt herself with the way the weather is picking up." Braeburn shrugged. "I'm sure she's aware of what could happen, and won't let herself get picked up by anything too big." Indeed, Trixie seemed to be keeping to the smaller dust devils, and avoiding the rare but increasing larger cyclones that randomly spawned. Soon, the entire sky overhead had turned black, and the wind started to become a minor hindrance to their efforts to move forward. "Braeburn, I think we should get her to come back. I'm honestly getting worried." Braeburn looked hesitant. "I don't know. I haven't seen her happy since she had her horn cracked, I don't want to ruin what might the first fun she's had in a while. Besides, it's not like she's going to let a tornado swallow her up, she knows better than that." "Does she?" Little Strongheart asked. "Didn't she say earlier that weather like this doesn't happen where she comes from? Would she even know what a real tornado looks like?" Braeburn stopped as what his buffalo friend said registered. As one, the two of them turned to look at Trixie, who stood in front of a gigantic, towering whirlwind, one just shy of being large enough to be an actual tornado. With a dramatic pose, pointing a hoof at the twister that closed in on her, she shouted in a voice that seemed to almost supernaturally cut through the wind "Challenge... ACCEPTED!" "TRIXIE! NO!" Braeburn and Little Strongheart ran towards Trixie, but they were too far away. They watched numbly as the cyclone picked her up and, instead of moving on and leaving her behind, carried her up and away from them. "What do we do now?" Little Strongheart asked, her voice so soft from shock that Braeburn could barely hear it. The earth pony looked around, hoping for some sort of inspiration, anything to help him figure out what to do. His eyes settled on the badge that he had been given just earlier that day, and he quickly made up his mind. "You try to follow that whirlwind. You're faster than I am, and hopefully it will eventually weaken enough that it will put Trixie down. You know these lands better than I do anyway, so getting back to Appleloosa should be easier for you too. I'll go and see what happened up ahead on the train tracks." Little Strongheart nodded and then quickly took off after the receding cyclone, and Braeburn headed off down the tracks, hoping that whatever was ahead of him was something that he could handle. Trixie had expected that she would be held aloft longer than usual when she had picked the larger dust devil to stand in front of, but after even just few seconds she knew something had gone wrong. Cracking open her eyes, fighting through the particles of grit that flew between her eyelashes, she looked down and saw that she still being pulled higher and higher. While it was hard to gauge distances while being spun around so fast, she would guess she was easily dozens of feet above the ground. For the first time in her life, Trixie believed that she was going to die. She felt powerless to do anything. When she had tried facing down the Ursa in Ponyville, or when she was pushing her magic for all it was worth against The Coyote Colt, she had still felt deep down inside of herself that she was going to triumph. But in both of those cases, she had the full use of her magic, and there were other ponies around too, in case she had to retreat. Here and now, it was just her, and with her horn cracked, she had no idea just how much she could depend on her unicorn heritage. Several minutes passed, and she felt her ears pop. Looking up, she could see the top of the funnel cloud she was in, and above that was a large mass of dark, angry looking clouds. Finally she was shot out the top, and for a brief moment she found herself hovering in the air, her spinning slowly coming to a stop, as the force from the cyclone and the pull of gravity cancelled each other out. It was a perfect moment in time, she thought. She wondered if this was what it was like to be a pegasus, as rain started to fall from the clouds above. She started to fall downwards, panic starting to well up inside of her, when a memory from the past rose up. The rainbow maned pegasus had just returned to her stage, followed by a miniature rain shower she had managed to pull behind her by the sheer force of her speed as she had darted through several clouds only seconds before. Coming to a stop, she spread her wings, letting the droplets hit against her and turn into a fine mist, which gave birth to a rainbow above her. Trixie countered the pegasus's boast with a quip of her own, and then used her magic to use the rainbow against its creator. She transmuted the bands of color into a pony sized whirlwind, which then carried the pegasus around on a wild ride before gently settling her down on the ground, dizzy and defeated by Trixie's magical superiority. Trixie looked around, but the overcast sky kept the sun from shining through. She tried to avoid looking down, but couldn't help herself. The plains below were rapidly rising to meet her. Again, inspiration struck, and she summoned a simple light spell on to the end of her horn. Sure enough, the illumination she conjured was enough to create a small rainbow next to her. Knowing that time was short, she pushed her magic and tried to cast the same spell as she had months ago back in Ponyville. Her horn flared with pain, and she could literally feel the crack in it grow rapidly, spider-webbing up and down the length of her horn. But the very real, life threatening situation she was in was a wonderful motivator for Trixie. She pushed through the pain, and managed to complete the spell. Feeling herself cocooned by the rainbow, she felt a brief rush of relief, and then the pain from her horn became too much to ignore, and she felt herself black out. Douglas stood by the edge of a small cliff, peering inside the opening of a cave. It looked empty of snakes and scorpions, and appeared to be deep enough for him to shelter him from the storm that was continuing to grow. He looked upward one last time to try to gauge just how long the squall might last when a multi-colored blur caught his attention. He watched as it spun around, looping and twisting in its flight through the sky before crashing down to the ground just on the other side of a line of hills a short distance away. His curiosity piqued, the diamond dog loped over to the top of the hill, and was shocked by what he saw. Sprawled out on the ground, unmoving, was the very same unicorn that had been giving them trouble the last couple of days. "Trixie." he muttered to himself, finally remembering her name. Looking up at the sky with a frown, he sighed and walked over to the blue unicorn. Picking her up, he started back towards the cave he had found earlier.