//------------------------------// // The Appleloosa Extortion (Pt. II) // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// The Appleloosa Extortion Sin and Krystal made way through the small residential street of Appleloosa, on their way to the end of the street to the home of one Professor Cook. Scootaloo had offered to question Braeburn while he and Krystal took Cook and his assistant. Happily, since Sin's alias as "the Inquisitor" was taken for the town, the town's folk became very generous with restocking supplies and a complimentary lodging; saving what little money they had left. Scales, when asked, refused to allow Sin to move his gigantic ballance into the badlands for comparison against the buffalo's, citing them as untrustworthy and the ballance's value being upwards of six hundred bits. It roused Sin's suspicions a little, but he had no concrete proof in order to make any claims. "So, Inquisitor," Krystal began. "What is it you are hoping to accomplish by talking to Professor Cook, again?" "If what I'm being told is correct, he and his assistant are the ones who help Braeburn take the food tribute to the buffalo tribe, to this chief Thunderhooves. Scale's ballances are objectively correct in their measurements, as such there must be another reason for the weight descrpency: Either the buffalo are mis-weighing the food or food is disappearing in transit." Sin replied. Krystal pressed her lips, she already knew that, but what she didn't understand was the reason they were talking to Cook. Since he was one of the ones handling the food, than that made him a suspect in its disappearance, along with Braeburn and the assistant. What was the point of talking to them, since it was obvious that they could easily lie? Off put by her assumption, Sin explained that what mattered about this was to establish a working story. One he could apply a logical basis against to disprove and find inconsistencies in. Braeburn could easily handle the food himself, so why did he need an escort? And why would an alleged "professor", an intellectual in some form, be the one to offer it? Something about that didn't sit right with him. The off white mare frowned. "Umm, I don't know..." While Krystal chewed over the notion, Sin walked up to the house described to belong to their suspect and knocked on the door. CRASH! "NO! Seedy! Get it! Get it before it- BUCK!" A voice cried from within. Another crash! This one making Sin and Krystal take a step back from the door. Hoofsteps could be heard inside, frantically trotting all over the place, the voice screaming and shouting with comical dismay at whatever it was they were chasing continually illuding their grasp. "GOT IT! HAHA! And now we- SeedyNO!" CRASH! This one loud and harsh enough to make both Sin and Krystal cringe. "Oh dear, I hope they're alright." Krystal said in concern. Sin shrugged. "Meh, I'm sure they're fine." The blue maned pegasus gave him a small scowl. "You're so callous." "Yes, yes I am." Sin admitted proudly. The front door opened slowly to reveal a completely white earth pony stallion, his coat greying slightly with age, and a rather full beared protruding from his chin and lips beneath a pair of lick rimmed specitcals. What was strange was the hay and food pelts that covered his body. "I hope there's a reason for this interruption, I'm extremely busy!" "You see?" Sin gestured, earning an eye roll from Krystal. "Good afternoon. May I speak to Mister Cook, please?" "Professor Cook! I didn't attend eight years of college in biological chemistry and inter-species sociology to be called 'mister'." The stallion shot back, his hoof pointing at Sin in accusation. 'Inter-species sociology, well guess that answers why he helps as an escort.' We'll see. Sin apologized and corrected himself before giving an introduction and stating the reason for his coming. "If you have a moment, I'd like to ask you a few questions." Cook placed a hay covered hoof up to his beard in thought. "Well, I do have a moment, but I'm not sure what good it would do. I have no idea why the weight keeps getting thrown off. I see the-" All three of them cringed as yet another bellowing crash echoed from within the house, followed by a series of frantic hoofsteps. "Seedy! Oh horse apples. Excuse me!" The stallion gave them an apologetic look and went back to help his assistant chase down whatever had gotten loose again. Seeing which activity took prescidence, Sin decided to abandon the current venture and head back to the main part of town. "Well, that was informative." The Federalist said in jest. "Islander, what's an 'inter-species sociologist'?" Krystal asked. "It means that he studies the relationship between different species and races. Behaviors, interactions, social structures, prejudices and so on and so forth." The Federalist replied absently. Krystal tilted her head. "Prejudice?" Sin quirked a brow and explained the word's meaning, putting the mare off a little. "Why would anypony feel that way about somepony they didn't even know?" "General rules." Sin answered, the two walked into town and made way for its inn."The entire point of studies like that are to establish rules to work off of in order to understand the overall implication and make rational judgement and explanations." "But... isn't it bad to generalize? That's what momma Gem always told me." Krystal replied. "Ehhh... It's a bit more complicated than that. You see, what she meant was the fallacy of a hasty generalization. The difference between a hasty generalization and general rules is that: in hasty generalization, there's no empirical or critical analysis and study into that particular topic, or there is and the generalization made doesn't line up with the rule." Krystal gave him a look of absolute confusion, whether it was from his words or the vocabulary he wasn't sure, but Sin was always happy to dispel ignorance and help other to understand. "Basically: As a rule, ponies always have... say... four legs." He pointed around. "Well, yes, that much I can see." Krystal replied. Sin smirked. "Ah, but not all ponies have four legs. Some get a leg or two amputated for medical reasons, or some are just born malformed. These are exceptions to the rule, but the rule still stands that ponies have four legs as a general principal. The same can be said with Unicorns and horns and pegasi with wings and hollow bones. There are exceptions to this rule, but the rule still stands." "A hasty generalization is like... Okay, so let's take this buffalo thing for instance. Let's say that the buffalo are responsible for weight discrepancy, right? They've intentionally weighed the ballance in order to get more food. So, a hasty generalization would be to say that: because the buffalo here lied and manipulated the weight to get more food, all buffalo are liars and will manipulate to get more. Now, most ponies will argue that it isn't right to assume this on a moral level, that because it casts buffalo in a negative light at all, the notion should be disregarded. The notion should be disregarded, mind you, but not because of its morality. It should be disregarded because of it's lack of basis in fact and objective analysis." "This is just one hypothetical, keep that in mind, this is all conjecture and a thought experiment; this is just one instance where dishonest behavior is present. I can personally attest to multiple instances of buffalo honesty and honor, but then again, to use my experiences as a generalization against buffalo being liars is also a fallacy. To base this one instance and interaction as indicative to the entirety of the species, where variables are unaccounted for and lack of objective analysis is present, is what makes it a hasty generalization." Krystal's mouth hung agape at Sin's words, her brow was furrowed in an attempt to comprehend everything he was telling her. It was clear the concept was new and she'd never been exposed to distinguishment between generalities before. Sin kinda felt bad that he threw so much at her all at once, it made him feel a little pompous and pretentious. "So... um. Being generalizing is a bad thing if there isn't... proof of it, but it's a good thing if there is?" Krystal managed, choosing her words carefully. Sin smirked, genuinely impressed. It was much more complicated than that, but she seemed to be able to get herself in the right direction. The mare beamed at the praise. "You're a smart pony, Islander." Sin knew he was smart, he considered himself an intellectual, but it was nice to be praised for it. 'Wait, you're feeling good about being complimented?' No, I... wait, I am? Sin found himself vexed, usually when others gave him compliments in any regard, he felt a slight resentment for them. Even Macintosh and Spike held a little of his ire whenever they said something nice, unjustly so, but it was still a fact. Krystal's words didn't arouse that, though. He looked left to find the mare smiling at him, a smile of appreciation and admiration, genuine appreciation and admiration. A smile that made him feel good about himself, like his life wasn't just a complete joke the universe decided to keep going and see how long he'd willingly suffer through it. A smile that made him feel like he was worth redeeming in some way. A sharp pang shot through the warmth in his body, the painful truth of reality. He couldn't be redeemed, everything he'd done, everything he was, what he really was, a smile, no matter how genuine in it's affections, could get rid of his misdeeds to the world, nor the misdeeds he'd continued to bring. Murder, revenge, enjoyment of suffering for idiocy... "You okay?" Krystal asked, somehow getting within a foot of his muzzle and looking up at him with worried eyes. Sin shook himself out of his thoughts. "Yea, sorry just got lost in thought." The two made way inside, greeted the inn keeper and made way for the room. Sin would need to devise some kind of plan to either confront the buffalo outright, or sneak the needed weights over to the bison encampment and test the weights against the stones on their own balance. If he did it publicly, he'd only get one shot of at all, and he wanted to make sure that things would go his way when he did. Adjusting her scarf, Scootaloo made way to find Braeburn. She knew it was stupid, she knew it didn't make sense, but she wanted to know how the Apple family was getting along with out her. The filly had spent the past two weeks trying to convince herself that she didn't care, going as far as to demonize Macintosh to Krystal on more than one occassion, but as bad a thing as he did to her, the foal remembered all of the good. The snuggling, the praise, the affection, and the fact that she loved him, and Annabelle, and Applebloom. Breaburn was a cousin to the farm folk, but he wasn't the most observant or the most intelligent of ponies from what Applebloom had told her. Scootaloo hoped this to be the case, otherwise her decision would quickly become her undoing. Despite the risks, her guilt over how she knew she hurt Anna and Macintosh compelled her to ask. "Excuse me." She said, approaching the yellow pony. The stallion turned around and smiled widely down at her. "Well hello there, little filleh! Yer that Angle pegasus who came in with the Inquisitor, ain't ya?" Scootaloo nodded. "Yes sir, umm, you were the pony who delivers the food to the buffalo, right?" Nodding, Braeburn affirmed her question. Scootaloo asked a few questions she could think of, like if he'd seen anything that would indicate thievery or temperament of the shipment, or if he was present during the weiging of the goods. To which the stallion answered in the affirmative and testified that the weight of the goods were right on the money. "Ah'm not sure why the buffalo's scales say it's not righ'. I've watched them re-calibrate the scale's mah self, n' Ah know there usin' the right rocks. It just don't make no sense." Scootaloo nodded and hummed thoughtfully, acting as if she was more refined and diginified than she really was. "And what can you tell me about Professor Cook and his assistant?" Braeburn's brow furrowed in thought before smiling again. "Well, ain't ya just the cutest little junior detective. Well, Ah can't say too much about 'em to be honest. Professor Cook spends most of his time at home, never seen him 'round too much I'm afraid. What with his experiments an' bein' overecentric and all." Scootaloo quirked a brow. Braeburn himself was animated, if the stories she'd heard were true, the stallion's current mannerisms were only the tip of the iceburg, how bad must the professor be in order to make this guy call him "over" eccentric? She asked a few more questions, committing the stallion's responses to memory to tell Islander about later. She'd finished up and moved onto a more personal topic. "Say, anypony around here related to the Apple family in Ponyville?" She asked, sparing the assumption to avoid arousing suspicion. Braeburn chuckled. "Well ah gotta say, ya choose the right pony to ask. Ah, myself, am a cousin to them folks. Why, Ah even attended their weddin' a few weeks back." Scootaloo felt her barrel clench a little. If he was there, that meant he might have seen here, but the scarf hiding her face seemed to be doing well enough to hide her identity... somehow. Acting surprised, Scootaloo recounted a made up tale about purchasing an apple and striking up a conversation with Applejack while she and the Inquisitor made a stop in Ponyville on the way to Appleloosa. Braeburn sighed deeply, his ears drooping. "Cousin' Mac's weddin' turned sour when some government types came to take his little girl away. It's a real shame, Ah think he'd a made a great Pa to her, but somethin' happened to make the foal services try n' take her away. From mah understandin' she managed to escape from 'em and ran out into the Everfree forest." Scootaloo felt bad, but she wasn't ready for what she heard next. "Macintosh went out in the forest every day fer weeks to try n' find her. Riskin' life n' limb, plum near worked himself sick, tryin' tah do both farm work n' spending ten hours plus some out there. Why, he'd almost gotten mauled by timberwolves more n' once, accordin' to cousin' Applejack. But no matter what, he looked long and hard for the filly." He sighed. "N' he found her." Scootaloo gulped, feeling very small in that moment. Why? Why would he work so hard to find her when he was just going to give her up to the government anyway? What possible reason would he do that? She knew he cared about her, but... why? And what did he mean they "found her"? As if she couldn't feel any lower than she already was, Braeburn told her that a filly's skull was found within the Everfree, a skull presumed to be hers. "Family's been real depressed on that side ever since. Letters Ah've been gettin from Cousin Applejack says that she's blamin' herself fer it all..." His words continued on, but Scootaloo didn't hear them. They thought she was dead... Macintosh, Annabelle, all of her friends, Rainbow Dash, Cheerilee... they thought she was killed, killed and picked apart by whatever monster found her in the forest. Scootaloo could only image how terrible they all must feel, at least in foal custady, they'd know that she was alright, and running away, there was hope, but this? She never wanted them to think she was dead, not that she had any real plan anyway, but... this was just... this was just terrible. She thanked the yellow pony for his time and slowly slinked away. She didn't want to hear any more, she couldn't stand to hear anymore. Scootaloo felt sick, she felt like throwing up and punching herself in the face. Feelings of guilt collided with feelings of indignation, feelings that made her stomach and chest swirl into a disgustingly sloshy mix of pain and resentment. Part of her wanted to be glad they thought she was dead, that it served Macintosh right for giving her away like he had, but a bigger part of her wanted to beat her muzzle til it bled for even thinking such a thing. It wasn't her fault he and Anna had given her away, they'd have put her in a foster home, or worse... Scootaloo running away was the best thing she could have done for herself, but she couldn't take knowing she'd hurt them so badly... But what was she supposed to do? Go back, tell them she was alive, get a hug and then go right into a foster home? No... as bad as she felt, she wouldn't go back. Macintosh gave her away, he'd abandoned her, and as terrible as she felt for the family, it was better that they suffer in thinking her dead than her suffer in a foster home. Scootaloo didn't like it, she honestly felt disgusted with herself for thinking it, but that was the way things had to be. She just wish that they didn't... "Islander, can I talk to you for a minute?" Krystal asked. Sin placed down the notes he was reviewing and nodded, following Krystal out of the room they were sharing and into the cool of the desert night. "I think something's wrong with Scootaloo." She said in vivid concern, casting her eyes back to the room. "She hasn't said a word since we got back to the room. She's snuggling Angel and pretending to be asleep, but I know she's not. She keeps sniffling, and I catch her looking out the window, looking depressed. I think something's bothering her." Sin pressed his lips and nodded. Having your loved ones die and almost being mauled by Timberwolves would shake anyone. "Yea, I think her parents dying is still bothering her." Sighing, Krystal asked if he had any ideas to cheer the filly up, that it pained the mare to see her looking so forelorn and depressed. Sin wished he could tell her something, but the fact was that, aside from her aspirations to be a Wonderbolt, he had little to no idea what either of them could do to help. "Well, umm, do you think it would it help if I offered teaching her to fly?" That was... not a bad idea, actually. Scootaloo was having difficulties in that department, and if she was going to join a team of dedicated fliers and speedsters, getting her off the ground, both metaphorically and literally, would probably be a good start. Plus, it would give them something to do while he went around and tried to take care of the Trotski, or whatever altruistic bull shit he'd end up getting suckered into, thanks to his companions. That conversation would need to happen, but it could wait until everything else was sorted out. Sin looked out into the night and decided that it would be as good a time as any to leave. The inn keep had told him where the buffalo encampment was, and it nonplussed him to know. Lugging two hundred and fifty pounds of weights three miles away was not going to be fun, but if he was going to handle this mess, it was a journey he'd need to make. He was thankful that the injuries he'd sustained a few days ago were healing nicely, but worried about how badly his shoulder was going to take that much stress. "Wait, you're leaving?" Krystal gaped. "We don't have much time to waste on this, the quicker I get it done, the quicker we can move on." Sin replied. The two made way inside and Sin grabbed his saddle bag and began removing all of the items there in, placing them neatly upon the floor to be replaced upon his return. "Scootaloo?" Krystal said, placing two legs on the bed and leaning over her. "Islander and I are leaving now. We'll be back soon, okay?" Sin quirked a brow, but felt his reservation melt away as he took in Krystal gently stroking Scootaloo's mane, whispering kind things and imploring her to feel better, finishing off the display with a tender kiss to the forehead. It was a heart warming display, one Sin felt a little guilty for intruding upon. After emptying her own saddle bags, Krystal joined Sin and the two made way out into the night, locking the door behind them and telling the inn keep to keep any eye out for Scootaloo for them. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked. Krystal cleared her throat. "Well, I'm guessing you're heading out to talk to the buffalo, correct? I think it would be a good idea to have a more feminine touch on the matter." Sin shook his head, asking the mare to head back and keep an eye on Scootaloo. What he was doing was dangerous, very dangerous, there was a chance he'd be captured and killed... or worse. "And I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen." The off white mare replied, her tone confident, bordering on arrogant. Sin stopped and reached out a hoof, baring Krystal's path. "Look, if I don't come back from this, Scootaloo will need someone to take care of her, alright?" Krystal gasped, giving Sin a side long look of disbelief. Sighing, the Federalist clarified that he understood how unfair it was to put her in that kind of situation, that Scootaloo wasn't her responsibility, but missions like this one, where death was a high possibility, were a requiement in his "line of work". "How dare you!" Krystal sneered, her patience with the entire situation reaching it's end. "That's your niece! How can you just... just... throw her into somepony else's hooves like this?!" Sin pressed his lips, looking Krystal dead in the eye. "Because, I've seen how you are with her. You're a caregiver, you know how to handle children, and I know that you'd do well in watching out for her if-" "No I wouldn't!" The mare shot back, tears forming in her eyes. "I try to be calm and caring, and I know how to look after foals, I've been doing it for my brothers since they were born, but I don't know how to do much else." She sniffled, looking at Sin in pleading and desperation. "I can't... I can't take care of her... not out here. I don't know anything about the world outside of the farm, I don't know anything about Scootaloo or her family or anything! Y- you can't leave us alone like that..." Krystal began trembling, her breathing becoming erratic at the thought of having to continue on without him. "Please, please don't leave us alone... She needs you, and I need you." Sin felt himself grow heavy with guilt. It was a mistake to assume she could handle Scootaloo on her own, or even think she would consider it. "I'm sorry, I wish there was another way, but if there was, I'd have figured it out by now." The Federalist admitted. "There is." Krystal sniffled. "Let me come with you, I can help." Sin was about to tell her no, but the look of determined pleading in her eyes told him she wasn't going to take no for an answer. With a sigh of resignation, the stallion agreed to let her come along, but instructed her to use her wings to escape without question and return to town if he instructed her to before turning around and walking again. Suddenly, Sin felt a pair of forlegs wrap around his middle and begin lifting him up off the ground. On instinct, he gasped and grabbed the legs as he was taken into the air. "Hey, you're lighter than I thought you'd be." Krystal said from above him, her fluttering wings sending ripples of air passing by his head. He implored her to put him down, but the off white pegasus denied him his request, testing out her abilities to fly while simultaneously carrying him. Sin would have been impressed with her maneuverability and speed, but he was too busy worrying for dear life about the fact he was at least five stories in the air and a slight mistep on the part of his captor would likely result in his untimely death! "Islander, you need to stop struggling. It's okay, I've got you." She cooed into his ear. "Trust me." She began humming, and Sin slowly began to placate. His grip on her forelegs didn't loosen, no amount of her soothing voice could make him do that, but his struggling and tension did subside. He didn't like this situation at all. Having to trust someone else so explicitly... having absolutely no power or agency in the situation that didn't result in death or serious injury. Sin was completely at Krystal's mercy right now. It was by her own will that he lived or died right now, and the power to her decision was limited to her simply relaxing her forelegs and letting him fall. And to make matters even worse, her humming placated his stress against his will, making any attempts to remain stressed and ready difficult. After a few moments of flying about, Krystal finally lowered the two back to the ground, released Sin from her grasp and landed beside the trembling stallion. Sin turned to repremend her for invading his person like that and demanded that she ask before ever doing so again. Krystal's blush dropped to a look of guilt and she apologized. "It's just... that's how pegasi establish trust. We let eachother carry one another like that. I did it all the time with Scoria and Obsi, I didn't think... I'm sorry." Sin accepted the apology, too much time was wasted already, they'd need to get going if they were going to get the weights and make it to the buffalo encampment, test the rocks and make it back before dawn. The trip was going much better than he expected it would. Breaking into the Scales' shop and grabbing the weights was easy enough, and now Krystal and Sin were halfway to the buffalo's camp. Unfortunately, the hard part would be to convince the bison to allow them to use the scale and test the weights. If everything went smoothly, they'd allow the ponies to weigh the stones and return to town to gather up the goods and allow a new shipment tomorrow morning. If not... well, all he could hope for was that Krystal could maneuver out of the way of spears and arrows. Aside from giving him an escape option, another benefit of having her come along was that the mare had an impressivly strong back. The weights had been distributed evenly between them, which made life a great deal easier on Sin. His gear alone weighed about eighty pounds, adding an extra forty five ontop of that was noticeable, but a far cry from the two hundred and fifty he'd expected. "So, after we weigh it, what then?" Sin explained his part of the plan. It was skipping a few steps, like interrogating Braeburn or the Professor and his assistant, but it did answer the question of if the balances were the problem. Scootaloo had written down a few notes on her dealings with the former, she'd asked some pretty good questions, but it wasn't enough to get them anywhere. The longer term solution would need to sort itself out, Sin would be happy enough to have a temporary peace until Celestia sent down her own agents. Suddenly, Sin stopped, holding out a forleg to halt his associate as well. His ears swiveled about, and he heard it again. Small clicks in the distance, they sounded random and very faint, but the Federalist knew better. He'd heard this kind of noise before, it was intentional, deleberate and meant for communication. A couple of vulture calls echoed from ahead and Sin turned to Krystal. "Follow my lead, and whatever you do, don't panic." The blue maned mare asked him what he meant, but her answer was given in the form of a dust cloud appearing infront of them, accompanied by the thundering boom of galloping hooves on dirt. Krystal squeeked and backed away fearfully, but Sin placed his hoof on her shoulder, giving her an encouraging smile. "If I tell you to fly us out, you do it. Got it, but right now, just relax. Hopefully if we don't appear threatening, they wont take us as a threat." She was reluctant, eying the approaching massive bison in alarm, but nodded to his assertion. He patted the ground beside him and sat down, Krystal doing the same, fighting the urge to spread her wing. The buffalo finally came into view in the dim moonlight, bulky, round and very intimidating. The beings were at least three times the size of a normal pony, with small legs, and large horns. Sin felt his heart begin to race within his chest as they grew closer. At that speed, they'd trample the duo into mush. He tensed his legs, reading his mouth to scream for an airlift. 'They're getting pretty close, dude.' Wait for it. 'Sin, they're getting really close now.' Wait for it... Sixty feet Fifty feet Fourty Thirty 'SIN!' Just as he was about to yell, the bison veered left in unison and began to make a loose circle around the two. Classic buffaloo enclosure and containment tactic, intimidate with a show of force in charging and then capture by trapping. Sin sighed in relief, noticing an uncomfortable preassure in his arm. Krystal was lastched onto him, her eyes clenched shut, waiting for the onslaught that never came. Slowly, the loose circle of the bufaloo grew tighter, the natives closing in more and more on the duo until finally they slowed down and stopped, each one of them looking silently upon the two with harsh, judging eyes. Sin, ever the diplomat, clicked his hooves together and lowed her head, raising both his empty hooves in a sign of submission. "He knows our ways." One of the buffalo said, makign Sin's hidden mouth smirk in reply. The head bison stepped forth, a large, black bufaloo with a higher concentration of feathers compared to his compatriots. "You trespass on our land, little pony." He growled in a harsh and gravely voice. "Forgive me, but I have come to help make peace between Chief Thunderhooves and the Appleloosans." The head native scoffed, moving his head around and making a few more sounds of indignation to express irritation. Buffaloo were a proud sort, the wise saw fit not to trifle nor presume with them, but Sin didn't have much time to handle the situation. It took a fair bit of convincing, but the head bison agreed to lead Krystal and Sin to the buffalo's encampment, letting Chief Thunderhooves decide what to do with them.