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The Truth

I dusted myself off and walked back up through the tunnel into the Sheriff's office. A crowd had gathered outside of the door. They all looked surprised and a little scared. “What?” I asked.

One of the ponies pointed behind me. I looked to see Grimes with his head sticking out of the floor, unconscious. Maybe I had hit him a little too hard.

One pony shoved his way through the crowd. He was wearing a black hat and his coat was light tan. He had a mustache and a blue, denim vest with a gold star on it. Even with my meager understanding of emotions, I could tell that he was not happy. “What in the Sam Hill is goin' on here!?” he yelled, more to me than anyone else. He poked me in the chest with an angry hoof. “Who are ya' and what 'ave you done ta' my deputy!?”

“I am-”

Just then, Braeburn literally hopped over the crowd. “That's Maud Pie, Mayor Silverstar!” he announced for me. His eyes went to his unconscious cousin. His countenance quickly fell. “Cuz!” He quickly went to his aid. He smacked him in the face to try to wake him up. “Are you alright!?”

Grimes's eyes fluttered open for a few seconds. He muttered something about rocks and passed out again. Braeburn looked at me. “What 'appened, Maud?” He looked hurt.

I looked at Braeburn and Silverstar and then to the rest of the crowd. It was time for all of them to learn the truth. I opened the secret passageway and beckoned everyone to follow. It took them awhile, but eventually everyone came down to follow me.

Once we got to the main room, I could hear everyone's mouth drop open in surprise and shock. One pony shouted out, “The gold!!” Everyone except for Braeburn and Silverstar went straight for it.

Silverstar was more then a little starstruck. “In the name 'a the sun...” he said breathlessly. “I had no idea alla' this was down in 'dem mines!”

I shook my head. "It did not come from the mine," I said. "At least, not from the one that still exists."

Braeburn picked up one of the rocks and examined it. “How did alla' this get here, then?”

I picked up one of the rocks as well. “This was all part of a plan that was hatched by corrupt leaders of this town years ago,” I answered. I looked at Braeburn. “A plan that ended with your cousin.”

Braeburn looked confused. “Whaddaya mean?”

“This was not the first gold rush that Appleloosa has experienced,” I explained. “Since Ponyville itself was founded, it has gone through three including this one. Every time the gold mysteriously vanished, along with whoever was running the town at the time.”

Silverstar scratched his head and nodded. “This is true,” he agreed. “This town 'as had some purty bad luck when it comes to keepin' mayors and sheriffs...”

I gestured to the piles scattered all of the room, which were still being ravaged by the crowd. “This is where it all ended up. Every scrap that had ever been found is down here, including everything that was just found.”

“Apples alive!” Braeburn exclaimed. “And you're sayin' mah c-er, Grimes was in on this too?”

I nodded.

Silverstar shook his head. “This don't make any sense, though. Why would all the sheriffs and mayors leave and not take the gold they embezzled with 'em?”

I took a bite out of the rock just to confirm what I already knew. I spat it out immediately and tossed the rock aside. “Because it is not gold.”

Everyone in the room seemed to hear that sentence and stopped what they were doing. One pony called out, “What didya say!?”

“It is not gold,” I repeated. “That is the reason for the smell of iron and sulfur. Those the two main elements of the common rock known as pyrite.”

“Pyrite!?” Silverstar repeated. I picked up one of the rocks and took a closer look at it. Realization hit him a like a rockslide. “Fool's gold!”

I nodded. “The others discovered that their scheme had been all for naught when they found out that the rocks that they thought were gold were nothing more than pyrite. In their shame, they abandoned Appleloosa for Celestia knows where.”

“So none of this gold is real!?” Braeburn exclaimed.

I shook my head. “There was never any real gold in Appleloosa. It has all been pyrite. Nothing more than iron, sulfur and lies.”

“And Grimes was plannin' on makin' off with all the money along with what he thought was gold,” Silverstar deduced. He stamped his hoof down in anger. “That conivin' sunofa-” He stopped when he saw the look on Braeburn's face. He looked ashamed and crestfallen. Silverstar sighed and touched the yellow stallion on the shoulder. “Don't beat yerself up, son. There's no way you coulda suspected anythin'.”

“My own cousin...” Braeburn said as if not hearing anything Silverstar had said. “And an Apple, no less!” He stamped his hoof hard on the floor. “Our family is made of more honorable stuff than that!”

“There is always at least one bad apple in every basket,” I said. “But that does not mean the entire bunch is spoiled.”

Braeburn looked at me and smiled. He punched me in the shoulder again. I made sure to fall on the ground myself so that his arm would not be shattered. “Thanks, Maudy! Ya' sure do have way with words!”

It was morning by the time the next train arrived. It was time for Boulder and I to depart for our next destination. I had hoped to leave without anyone noticing us; I was not too fond of long goodbyes or maudlin displays of emotion. Unfortunately, when I got to the train station, there were a couple of ponies there, waiting. It was Silverstar, Braeburn, and the bartender.

“Stone Cold Maudy!” Braeburn exclaimed. “We've been waitin' for ya'!”

“What are you all doing here?” I asked.

Mayor Silverstar took a glistening necklace with a stone made of red jasper out of his pocket. “Princess Celestia gave this to me as a gift when I went to meet with her,” he explained. “I mean to give this to you.” He placed it around my neck.

“Thank you,” I said, not really knowing what it was for. “Why?”

Braeburn punched me in the shoulder again. I moved a little too late and Braeburn shook his hoof in pain. “For savin' the town! That low down cousin a' mine is in jail and we're returnin' everyone's money. We neva' would have found him out if it weren't for you!”

“And 'ere's a lil' somethin' from me, lil' sheila!” the bartender said, pulling out a small box and handing it to me. I sniffed it and almost smiled. “It's feldspar! Turns out, my storeroom is full a' the stuff! As soon as I found it, I thought about ya'! Thought you might like a lil' snack for your trip.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“By the way,” Silverstar said. “Where are you headed?”

“All aboard!” the train conductor announced. “The train will be leaving in one minute!”

I shrugged and took Boulder out of my pocket. “There are a lot of stops we have to make on our rock expedition. We are not sure what the next one will be.”

“Well, good luck to ya, lil sheila!” the bartender waved goodbye and bowed. “Thanks for helpin' out our lil' town!”

“Come back an' see us again, ya hear?” Braeburn tipped his hat to Boulder and I.

I nodded. “I will,” I answered. I walked up to the door of the train and stopped. I turned back around. “A word of advice for you guys...”

Silverstar raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Your town should stick to apples,” I said. “The price of gold goes up and down every year, but ponies will always need apples. Besides-” I smiled. “-Goldaloosa would be a silly name for a town.”

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