//------------------------------//
// The Co-Deputies 
// Story: The Legend of Apple Jack 
// by Cutiemarkcrusader 
//------------------------------//

	When Apple Jack awoke that morning, it wasn't to the sound of birds or the feel of warm sunlight streaming in through her cracked window, but rather a loud gunshot from below followed by a mare's shrill scream. AJ bolted a foot in the air from the sudden noise. She bounced once from her dirty cot and fell to the hard, wooden floor. It took her a moment to realize what had almost startled her to death when she finally got to her senses. She got up from the old, dusty, cracked floorboards and ran out the door.

Apple Jack hadn't been the only pony to notice the gunshot. What pony wouldn't have? A few ponies were lingering in their doorways, uncertain whether to go downstairs or not. A silver haired pegasus with tiny glasses opened the door a crack to peer her head outside just as AJ brushed past her. As Apple Jack went past the open doors she couldn't help but notice that each room was even better than her own. She scolded herself for thinking about something like that at a time like this and proceeded down the stairs two at a time.

When she reached the grimy tavern she hadn't been prepared to meet the cold, dead eyes of the tavern bartender. He was lying down, sprawled out on his barrel-chested stomach with a freshly blood-coated dagger sticking out of his back. AJ could feel her appetite for that morning's breakfast drain fast as blood continued to drip out of the stallion's back and onto the floor. Apple Jack's ears pricked up to the small whimpering coming from underneath the bar itself. She approached it cautiously, preparing to come face to face with the attacker. And then a unicorn popped out from hiding.

"Don't hurt me!" she sobbed into the dirty rag that she had used to clean glasses only the night before, "It wasn't me! I swear!"

Apple Jack stared at the unicorn in front of her. It was the plump bartender that had given her a room for the night. Her pink hair was astray and her frock was hanging down by her neck. Tears lined her weary, round face as she hiccupped slightly. Apple Jack glanced back over at the dead body of the pony lying before them.

"Who in Equestria would do something like this?" AJ asked in a breathy voice.

The plump unicorn answered immediately, spitting out the word like venom, "…Blazing Saddles."

"Blazing what?"

"They call themselves The Blazing Saddles. They've all been causin' us nothin' but trouble these past few weeks. They've already robbed a ton' of homes, broken and vandalized the clock tower twice, and they've been known for strikin' up a deal with a pony or two…a-and this is the result. Somepony dies. They always do."

Before Apple Jack could ask what the unicorn had meant by that, the unicorn began to sob loudly into her dust-ridden rag. Apple Jack patted her on the back, trying her best to comfort her. But how did you comfort somepony who had just witnessed a murder? And then it dawned on Apple Jack.

"Were you the one who screamed?"

"W-What? Well, yeah. Who wouldn't of? I saw two of em' in here with their black and red bandannas and everythin' stabbin' my best friend!"

"I'm sorry," Apple Jack looked away from the unicorn for a second, "But, what did you mean by the deals ponies have made with The Blazing Saddles? Do you mean to say that everypony dies?"

The unicorn dabbed at her face, hesitating to answer, "…Well, I-uh…we, uh…we made a deal with them Saddles, okay? When it was real bad, they'd be riding out in the streets, mugging and shootin' at customers willy-nilly. We struck up a deal with them because we had started to go bankrupt. We'd give em' a barrel of ale a week, followed with a bottle of out finest spirits. But today, we ran out of ale. We didn't have that barrel. So as punishment, they killed Billy Bob.

"I was in the back, doin' some dishes when I heard a gunshot. I was screamin' cause' I found em' when they stuck Bill with the knife. It's their signature move, you know. It means that they'll be back for what's theirs. And usually it means that they'll come back when everypony's sleepin' and set this whole place ablaze. It was what they did with Raggedy Annie's house after they stuck her pet dog with the knife. They're bastards."

"And no pony is doing anything about this? What about Sheriff Silverstar?" Apple Jack found herself exclaiming.

"He's been bustin' his hump, runnin' around in circles tryin' to find leads about who the leaders are and where their base is. So far...nothin'," the unicorn paused for a second, looking Apple Jack up and down as if she realized something, "What's your name, girl?"

"Uh, Apple Jack."

The unicorn's dismal grimace turned into a downright frown, "Oh...I'd go see Silverstar if I was you. He might need some help, even if he's too proud to say it. And I know you're pretty big in Ponyville, so who knows, maybe you'll be big here too."

The unicorn turned tail and walked up the stairs to check on the tenants that were no doubt still up in the hallway, her breath still shaking. Apple Jack's eyes looked everywhere around the room except at the pony that was still lying dead on the floor. This was the break she needed. Even if she couldn't get a paying job right away, perhaps she would be able to work for meals first and then ask for a raise. But something nagged her at the back of her mind. The way that unicorn had said, "Oh…" with that quick change of expression…it was almost as if she knew Apple Jack already. But that frown? What did it mean? AJ quickly let it go as she took off out the doors, looking for the sheriff's station and the sheriff who'd hopefully be inside.


°    	°	°


Braeburn whistled to himself as he trotted to Sheriff Silverstar's office with the mail in his mouth. It had been a lovely morning so far; the birds were singing and the sun was shining. It all had to call for something, right? But it seemed to be the opposite of that as he reached the station. A small, growing crowd of ponies stood outside the sheriff's station, roaring in unison. Some looked scared while others just looked furious. They were shouting at the top of their lungs for Silverstar to come out and face them, to tell them what was going on. A small baby being held a few feet away began to add to the mass of jumbled words by wailing. It was extremely overwhelming to be there and Braeburn wasn't even ten feet away.

A young stallion bumped into him, muttering loudly, "Damn, Silverstar. Doesn't do a thing until he sees proof of it. Like he hasn't heard of checking it first?"

"Excuse me," Braeburn tapped the shoulder of the disgruntled pony after putting the few envelopes into his saddlebag, "May I ask…what's going on here?"

"There's been two murders tonight, all done by The Blazing Saddles, and our high and mighty sheriff is too tired to do anything about it!"

A few ponies that overheard him jeered in agreement as they too joined the rampant crowd who were now knocking on the door of the station so hard that Braeburn was sure that they would break it. He turned back to look at the stallion who was now walking in the opposite direction.

"Wait, who were murdered? I thought that they were finally gone. That's what Silverstar has been telling us…"

The stallion gave Braeburn a pitying look as he walked, "Well you thought wrong. Listen, I'd love to bash that coward anytime, but I have blood to wipe off the floor of my house. It was nice talking to you."

Two murders? All in the same night? It was unheard of. Braeburn began to walk toward the crowd slowly. They were banging into the door still; cracks starting to appear with every new blow they brought to it. Suddenly the door opened in a swift motion, but instead of running inside like Braeburn had been expecting them to they took a few steps back. And then a small BANG pierced the air. Before he knew it everypony had scrambled to get on the ground and duck for cover. Sheriff Silverstar had his pistol pointed in the air, and Braeburn could see the small hint of smoke coming out from the tip. And then he saw the two ponies that were standing behind him.

One of them he didn't really know. She was most likely in her late teens or early twenties. She was a frosty white color and her long dark brown hair was pulled up into a bun on the top of her head, hiding her ears from view. Unlike many ponies around her, she was actually wearing full clothing. Even if it was just a black, pinstriped vest over a dark purple, ruffled skirt. She looked over at everypony with a bored-but-calm expression etched onto her face, her mouth turning down at the corners.

But Braeburn knew instantly who was standing right next to her. Unmistakable orange coat, long, sandy hair, and family freckles and all. Apple Jack looked pleased to be there, but in a nervous way. The sheriff, however, looked, for a lack of a better word, pissed off.

"Everypony stop your bawlin'," He spoke in his deep drawl, "You think I don't already know about the murders? Miss Apple Jack and Miss Viola here decided to take the right initiative of knocking politely on my door and coming inside instead of hollerin' out here like a bunch of wild dogs."

"What were we supposed to do? Your door was locked!" Somepony yelled back at him angrily, "And you weren't even checking the windows to see us either. At least give us some sort of sign that you know what we're complaining about."

"I did," Silverstar started to go down the three steps of his staircase with his gun still pointed at the sky, "And it was hand-painted too. If I recall, I placed a sign that read "I'm dealing with the situation, please come back later!" on my door. I know that somepony who thought it'd be nice for a little uproar took it down and probably told all ya'll that I ignored his pleas. So now there's two murders on the same night, committed by the same gang, and somepony stole my favorite sign…so honestly, I'm about as pleased with the situation as all of ya'll are."

There was a short cry of realization from the crowd, but they quickly drew in their breath as Silverstar approached closer.

He smiled slightly as he pocketed his pistol, "I'm pleased to announce that I have employed a fellow earth pony to help out with this whole mess, and any other mess we get too. Her name is Apple Jack and she'll be the co-deputy of Appleoosa just like Braeburn. Er, where is he anyway?"

"I'm over here, sir," Braeburn waved as he took out the small pile of mail he had stowed away in his bag, "Just got your mail for you."

Apple Jack gave a small smile at the sight of Braeburn, although she liked him, he could get as annoying as Pinkie Pie which was quite the accomplishment if you asked her. She gave a small wave to him and was received a giant one along with an award-winning smile. Silverstar took the mail from Braeburn, not even paying attention to the dispersing crowd.

"Any new reports to add to this whole murder case?" Silverstar asked Braeburn calmly, as if talking about the weather.

"No, sir. Just a few letters from a few citizens," Braeburn suddenly pulled out a light pink envelope from the saddlebag, "And one from Ca-

"Thank you, Braeburn," Silverstar interrupted him before he could even get the whole name out, "Please, give Miss Apple Jack a tour of this here facility. I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Oh, and thank you again for reporting the second murder, Miss Violet."

The mare turned her head swiftly at him, "My name's Viola," she spoke in a Trottingham accent.

"Whatever," Silverstar murmured as he went back into the station, leaving Viola with Braeburn and Apple Jack.

She gave a curious glance over at Braeburn before turning on her hoof to leave. Apple Jack stared after her.

"Who was that?" Braeburn was staring at Viola with vivid curiosity.

"Viola," AJ repeated, "She's really quiet and really kept to herself the whole time she was reporting the murder that happened near her house. She said that her neighbor's friend was shot in the chest three times and had the knife put in him."

"That's horrible," Braeburn sighed, "So, what brings you to Appleoosa?"

Apple Jack was slightly surprised to hear Braeburn say Appleoosa normally. She smiled grimly, "Sweet Apple Acres is going under, sadly. And I came here for the sole purpose of getting a job so I can send back money to them."

Braeburn frowned, "Wow, Equestria really has gone down the toilet these days, hasn't it?"

Apple Jack didn't answer the question but instead went up the small staircase that led to the doorway, "Did ya want to give me a tour?"

"Hmm? Oh! Why certainly, just follow me this way," Braeburn bustled past AJ and with that familiar, cheerful voice of his.

Apple Jack already had been inside the station before, but she had only been in one room. The hallway was painted light blue and several closed doors lay to the right and left of its walls. Braeburn walked past the first door to Silverstar's office and over to the door across from it.

He opened it slightly, "This here is the jail…uh, as you can see…its, um, pretty darn empty."

Empty was an understatement to Apple Jack. The inside of the jail looked like it had never been used ever. The room was painted with a thick coat of light grey paint. The only window had a padlock on it rather than the usual, thick, iron bars most jails usually had. And there was a single, black cell that was sitting alone with its back against the wall in front of them. It was the saddest looking jail Apple Jack had ever seen.

Braeburn slowly closed the door and locked it, as though that would do anything against the invisible prisoners in that room. He shook out his mane and went along to another wooden door standing a yard or two away, "Now, this is the filing room. You'd be surprised, but we do actually have files in here."

When he opened the door, AJ couldn't help but be a little bit surprised, but not for the right reason. Apple Jack was expecting to see a room that was slightly smaller, if not the same size, as the jail. But no, it was just a walk in closet that happened to have five or six filing cabinets inside. Braeburn waltzed right in and puffed out his chest proudly.

"Every single one of em's full too. So, this may be where you spend some time at. Do you want me to show you how it works?"

"Eh, not right now," AJ laughed nervously, "Maybe later though."

"Sure thing," Braeburn's smile only dimmed a little as he closed the door behind himself, "Next room is the interrogation room."

Apple Jack prepared herself to witness the poorest excuse for an interrogation room she would ever see. But she was actually mistaken for a change. When Braeburn opened the door and flicked on the lights, AJ really did feel the slightest bit intimidated just being there. There was a shiny, metal table in the center of the room that caught the light's glare every few seconds. The walls were bare and grey. There was a single filing cabinet that was painted grey as well, lying only a few feet away from the metal table. Against the wall was a small shelf that was nailed in place. On it lay a short supply of zip-lock bags, which AJ only assumed was for storing evidence in, and a recording device.

"We tape every interrogation we've ever done in here. Bad news it that…we've never had one…But we almost did," Braeburn added in quickly.

"This room looks pretty darn impr-OW!" Apple Jack had walked forward, right into something solid. She rubbed her nose.

"Sorry," Braeburn grinned sheepishly as he knocked on the solid glass that Apple Jack had walked right into, "It's bulletproof. It goes around the perimeter of the room until you get to that door."

Apple Jack opened her eyes to find that there was in fact a black door lined up with the glass a couple feet away from where she had hit herself. Now she felt stupid for not even seeing it.

Braeburn let AJ out before him as he closed the door to the interrogation room, "And that's it."

"That's it?" Apple Jack's voice grew with skepticism, "Braeburn, there's two more doors that's across from us. You do know that, right?"

Braeburn let out a noise that was somewhere between an annoyed sigh and a grunt, "Yeah, I think I know the place I work at, AJ. But no, the door across from us is Silverstar's bedroom. This is his house, you know."

"But what about the other door," Apple Jack pointed a hoof at the other wooden door in the middle.

"Oh. That's the bathroom. But I reckon you don't need a tour of that place, do you?"

Braeburn galloped over to the front door, waiting for AJ to follow him. As she did, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit guilty for getting all snappy at Braeburn. He'd actually been really helpful so far. As it stung her, they ran down the length of the town's dirt road together, kicking up the dirt as they went. By the time they arrived at their destination, both of their hooves were caked with sweat, dirt, and grime.

"I haven't run like that in a long time," Apple Jack found herself smiling, "Whew, where are we anyway?"

Braeburn looked around the dotted landscape. A few orchard trees were still blooming in the distance, but the rest were cut down for miles only their stumps reamained. Apple Jack's jaw dropped as soon as she spotted this.

"We've been having more than a few problems since you and your friends left," Braeburn shuffled his hooves as he looked at the ground bashfully.

A small lump formed in AJ's throat, "Who did this? Why would anypony do this?"

"Well, we've been having bandit troubles since you've been gone. As soon as the dust bowl started last year, criminals of every sort have just been parading through town. They've already been able to drive away the bison last month. We don't even know how they left. For all we know, they're living out of Equestria until this whole thing blows over."

Apple Jack shook her head slowly, "How do things turn to the worst so fast?"

Braeburn kicked at the ground, "All I know is that I'm glad that I have a co-worker. I don't mean to grill the sheriff, I really don't, but he's started this pattern… where he'll almost catch a thug or criminal, but then they'll just magically get away. I don't think he's trying to let that happen intentionally, but Silverstar's getting older. He's just not as fast and agile as he used to be. I'd never tell him that directly though. He's already lost enough of his pride. I just think that there should be a co-sheriff rather than a co-deputy. No offense, AJ-I think you're great and all, but I really think you have what it takes to do the sheriff's job."

It went on like this for a while. Apple Jack and Braeburn eventually left the crumbled remains of the orchard and started back toward town with Braeburn talking the whole time. It wasn't until a scream caught them off guard when Braeburn finally shut up. Viola, the mare from that morning, was shouting from inside her tiny house. Braeburn immediately sprang to action with AJ following quickly behind him.

He pulled out a small, miniscule gun from his saddlebag and kicked the door down. It skidded across the tight living room and came to a halt by slamming into the wall. This only made Viola scream even louder. Apple Jack burst through the doorway as fast as she could, landing right alongside the unhinged door. Her eyes narrowed at the scene that was laid out before her.

Viola had her clothes off except for the bath towel she had pinned to her chest tightly. At first it seemed that nothing was the matter. But Viola motioned frantically at the open window of her bathroom where a teenaged, earth pony stared at her without a hint of shame. He had a camera in his hooves and a wild grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"Braeburn, go to the left side of the house. We've got a peepin' Tom," Apple Jack hissed at her cousin.

Braeburn nodded silently and dashed off. When AJ looked back to Viola she saw, slightly bemused, that Viola had started to throw things out the window at random. The teenager cackled as he ducked at the same time the toilet paper roll whizzed past his head. He took another shot of Viola as he came back up, just barely colliding with the loofa she had tossed at the camera. This kid was excellent at dodging these pieces of bathroom material, but unfortunately was not as exceptional at dodging the one-hundred-and-twenty pound earth pony that tackled him from the side.

AJ was dashing toward Braeburn seconds later with Viola running after her. Viola still just had on the bath towel, but didn't seem to take any notice of it. Her focuses were now on the teenager. Braeburn struggled to keep the kid in place.

"Handcuffs," he grunted as the colt jabbed at his face, "…eh, in saddlebag."

Apple Jack knew what to do. She opened the saddlebag and pulled out a shiny pair of brass hand-cuffs.

"Cuff him," Braeburn rearranged himself so that he was leaning more on the kid.

Apple Jack dog-piled herself on the two of them, trying to get ahold of the kid's hooves. But every time she was able to cuff one hoof, he'd shake her off. It wasn't until a few minutes later that she had one hoof pressed against his head that she was able to cuff him. Braeburn laughed as he got up from the teenager.

"Now that was fun," he chuckled as he glanced over at Viola.

Viola was just shaking her head sadly, her eyes tearing up with anger, "I want to press charges on this little pervert. Get his parents, get his camera, I want to take him to court."

Apple Jack couldn't really tell what she was talking about, but pulled the colt onto to his two legs and walked him over to Braeburn slowly. Braeburn glared at the teenager with a cold smile.

"What have you got to say for yourself?" Braeburn asked.

The colt didn't say a word. He just looked straight into Braeburn's eyes, spitting on him gleefully. Braeburn wiped away the fleck of spit that had landed on his forehead gingerly.

"Bad idea, boy," Braeburn's smile vanished without any trace of ever being there.

The next series of events were astonishing for Apple Jack to watch. In one swift motion, Viola swung at the kid, landing a good and solid whack on his head. The kid's eyes fluttered shut for a second or two and he went limp. The young colt fell to the earthy, dirt floor with a light thud. Braeburn and AJ stared at the colt in fascination as he groaned in pain and then looked back to Viola. She calmly wrapped the bath towel back around her body and then started back toward her house muttering, "Foul Brute..." underneath her breath.