//------------------------------// // The Businessman // Story: The Honest, The Liar, and The Ugly // by Mod On Death //------------------------------// After being forced out, Strongheart went back to her tribe and Applejack went back to her place with Golden Lead following. She showed him to the couch where he immediately fell asleep. Applejack felt the same way when she returned to her own room. She couldn't help but think over the situation however and tried to figure out where the bandits could have gone. Did they simply run out of the town and hoof it to someplace? There weren't any other towns for a good thirty miles, and they definitely didn't seem packed for such a long haul across the desert. Deciding that this worrying wasn't helping, she decided to put it off till tomorrow. "Hey, doc, you there?" Applejack asked as she knocked on his door. It was about nine in the morning, about three hours after most everypony else had gone to the field. He opened the door, his clothes the same. "Morning, sheriff. Here to check on our patient?" he asked. "Yeah. Is he better now?" "Sure is. The fever was just a side effect of the broken bone. Common thing to have. He definitely won't be able to help out with the harvest though." "At least he's getting better." Applejack felt a bit remorseful as she said this. If it hadn't been for her cowardice, he wouldn't be in this condition. "You think I can see him?" "Not yet. He's still sleeping and I'll want to let him rest up after what he went through. You better get started on whatever it is you're supposed to be doing now, you hear? Don't want anymore bank robberies." The doc suddenly slammed the door, leaving Applejack to wonder what to do. "Well, I guess the only other thing to do right now is give a message to the surrounding towns about the robbers. After all, I can't seem to find anymore evidence." She felt disappointed by this realization, but knew that she had nothing else to go on. If the ponies who killed Sheriff Earp were brought to justice, that'd be good enough for her. She went on over to the Post Office and decided to send a message to the leaders of the nearby communities. In it, she described three bandits that had used dynamite to blow open a bank and steal a total of thirty-thousand bits. When she had commissioned the letter, she let them also know that the previous sheriff had been killed by them as well and they would require a permanent replacement for their town. "Alright. Make sure this gets to whatever town are nearby. This is an APB for the bandits that robbed the bank." The mail carrier understood and made copies of the letter. Applejack, hoping that this would be enough, decided to figure out what else she was supposed to do now. "Been so busy hunting those guys that I haven't actually learned what else I'm supposed to do." Deciding that she needed to start somewhere, Applejack decided that she'd patrol the town and see if anything was going on. She got better acquainted with locations and businesses around the town and thought that she could see who was important enough to not have to go into the field. Feeling thirsty, she decided to head over to the Salt Block Saloon. "Anypony here?" she called out as she entered. She took a seat down at the counter and waited until somepony finally came out. "What you got?" "Right now we've got water, Poison Joke Juice, and some really strong Cactus Juice. No Apple Cider yet. Not until the harvest is finished," he told her. "I'll get some water, thanks." He took out a glass and filled it up. "That'll be five bits," he told her. "Wow. That's a lot fer just some water," she said as she paid out. "Yeah, well, this is the desert. Don't exactly have much of the stuff out here." Applejack finished up her glass and motioned for a refill, paying out five more bits. "True. By the way, I'm the new sheriff. Well, temporary one at least. Just sent the message for the new permanent one out. Hopefully they send one quickly." "So I've heard," he replied, handing her back the glass. "Word travels quickly here in town, and I'm where everypony in town comes to when they're thirsty. So, any lead on those bandits?" "I dunno if I should tell you anything yet," Applejack answered. However, she realized that this little bit of info just might be what she needs to gain a favor in the future. "Thing is, we thought that they might have been hiding in the abandoned mine, but there wasn't any luck there. Just the old owner of the place." The bartender dropped the glass he was cleaning when he heard that. "Golden Lead?" he said, his eyes widening. "Yeah. Apparently everypony had thought he was dead and he decided to just live in the mine. Apparently he didn't have anywhere else to turn to." Applejack was sipping her drink when she realized something. "Say, how did you know his name?" "Just a guess," he lied. Applejack just glared at him, hoping he'd just tell her. "You know that I'm now the law around here, right? That means that if I found out something big and you've been hiding it from me, I could arrest you for contempt of the law." Applejack wasn't sure of what she was saying, but felt that it was the right thing for this situation. "You don't know that I know anything. It was just a lucky guess." He tried to collect himself and once again appeared to be a suave bartender. "I better-" Before Applejack could finish her sentence, two figures entered through the saloon's doors. The first figure was a jackal wearing a derby, a white shirt with a red tie, and black pants in a wheelchair. The second figure behind him was a stallion almost double the size of Big Mac. He pushed the jackal's wheelchair forward to the counter. "Excuse me, bartender, but my assistant and I would like a refreshment. What do you have in stock?" the jackal asked. "Water, Poison Joke Juice, and Cactus Juice," the bartender let him know. "Really? Seems like slim pickings for a saloon." The jackal seemed to then pull out a vial filled with a silvery liquid and said, "I've heard that mercury can bring out the gold in rocks. Can it bring anything out here?" The bartender's eyes seemed to light up at the sight of the vial. Applejack focused on it and saw that there were initials of some kind marked on it. "Would you mind introducing yourself before the sheriff first," the bartender said, eyeing over to Applejack. "Oh! My apologies, good mam. My name is Dr. Jackal. This large stallion you see beside me is my assistant, Mr. Clyde." The large pony bowed his head to her. "Anyway, bartender, get the sheriff and I your finest drink." The bartender, getting the okay from the jackal, went behind counter and pulled out a bottle. He then pulled out two fine glasses and poured the red drink into both of them. "Ah. A Classic Minos. Best kind of wine you can get. Drink up." The jackal sipped and savored the drink. "Thanks fer the offer, but I can't drink while on the clock," Applejack informed him. "Very well. I appreciate your duty to the job. I definitely feel protected while I stay here in town to conduct my business," he said, his smile revealing columns of sharp teeth. "What kind of business might that be?" Applejack asked, interested in this strange doctor. "I call it 'terraforming'. I essentially form the environment so it can be livable. This desert certainly seems like it could use it. I'm here to check out the area and see what can be done." The doctor took another sip and added, "It's a very fulfilling job." "It certainly looks profitable as well," Applejack said as she examined his gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses. "You've got that right. Maybe I can help your town out as well. I saw your orchard and believe that my work around here could make your harvests even bigger. That, or at least make it so water isn't such a rarity around here." Dr. Jackal's offer seemed to be very pleasing. Applejack couldn't tell if it was snake oil or genuine. "Well, I hope your work goes well." She got up from her chair and said, "As for me, I've got to get back to mine. Take care, and stay out of trouble." Applejack went out the doors and continued her patrol, content with this unexpected meeting. It was about noon when Applejack went back to the doc to check on her cousin. By then he'd woken up and was eating a lunch of beans and biscuits. "Glad to see you up and hungry," she said as he gulped down a biscuit. "And I'm glad that the doc's also a good cook." Braeburn was enjoying his meal incredibly, not showing any sign of pain from his leg. "Glad to hear you enjoy it. Didn't want to leave my patient hungry." The doc came out and offered a plate to Applejack. Seeing her cousin eat gave her an appetite and she accepted it. "So, doc, what's your real name? Keep on calling you doc, but I guess I should know how to really address you while I'm here." Applejack then took a spoonful of the beans and saw why her cousin was eating so much of it. "My actual name is Doc. Just that. I actually assumed that everypony knew that since they always called me that." "We actually called you that because it's a short term for 'doctor'," Braeburn explained through a mouthful of beans. "Anyway, I just came across a couple of visitors who just came into town. Apparently one of them is a doctor that can actually change the environment to make places livable. He also had this partner with him who made Big Mac look small by comparison. Definitely an odd couple of visitors. They say they're here to check out the area and make it livable. Say they might even help out with the crops." "Sounds like hogwash," Doc told them. "I bet he's going to charge the town money, promise something, and then try to run off at the first chance he gets." "Doesn't seem like he came here for the town. Just sounds like he's gonna be staying here while he does his work," Applejack explained. "Wonder where he'll be staying." "The saloon actually has some rooms that travelers can stay at," Braeburn told her. "That's where you would have stayed if it weren't for me." "That explains why else they were there. Anyway, I'm gonna continue my patrol. See ya!" Applejack then picked up her lassos and went out the door. The next place she thought of looking around was near the bank again. See if Flintbit had gotten over the robbery yet. Applejack saw that the bank now had wooden boards placed over where the windows used to be. She also saw a sign that told visitors to knock three times on the door before entering. Following instructions, she did just that. "Who is it?" the shaky voice asked. "It's the sheriff. Is everything alright?" "It's you? Just a moment!" Applejack heard what sounded like metal clanging against the floor before he said "Come in." She opened the door to find the floor littered with bear traps, the room lit with lanterns hanging from the wall. "You like it? Improvised security system until I can manage to get our blacksmith to come over." "Seems a little excessive," she said as she navigated the slim safe trail over to where Flintbit was sitting. "Can't be too careful. Don't wanna lose anymore money or we'll be in big trouble. We manage to stay supplied by trade. If the townsfolk can't buy, we can't live. By the way, how goes the hunt?" "Not too good. I sent out a bulletin to the other towns around here about the bandits. Hopefully they'll find something or at least be aware in case they come across them. Too bad I didn't get a good look at-" Applejack paused as she thought back to the robbery. She remembered that she had actually managed to lasso one of them and Sheriff Earp managed to tie him up. "Actually, I think I do remember one of them. "Really? Can you give a description?" Flintbit hoped that whatever she remembered would be enough that they could arrest them on sight. "I'll try. I was so shocked by the sheriff's death that it must've messed with my head. I think he had a silver coat with a grey tail." "That sounds pretty dull." "Yeah, but I remember something odd about the tail. It was sharp and really tiny. It almost looked like a rat's tail. I'll go back to the post office and commission a new letter right now!" With this information, Applejack finally had something to help capture the crooks.