This story is a sequel to Bulletproof Heart: The Great, The Powerful, and the Bulletproof
When he left Spurhoof, Sheriff Cranky Doodle handed his badge to Code Red. Why? Heck if Red knows. Not that he's complaining, being a sheriff in a tiny town like this is easy! Just pretend to have a backbone and enjoy the cushy position.
Until the day an unknown pony starts camping on the roof of the Wagon Train Clothier and firing warning shots at anypony who comes close. As if that's not bad enough, now a posse of drifters have arrived who look like they're planning something unpleasant. Suddenly, being sheriff of Spurhoof isn't all that great. But Red's got the badge, so he's supposed to do something about it.
May the Sisters spare him.
Written for the 'Write an Episode' Challenge, partially because the rules intrigued me.
Story is set during the events of the as-yet unreleased Bulletproof Heart sequel. It's not necessary to have read the original to understand these events, although it would help to fully grasp some of the background.
Cover art was found using a Bing search. Might apply a more customized one later.
Thanks to Merc the Jerk and Wanderer D for pre-reading!
YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!
EVERYONE REJOICE, THE SEQUEL IS HERE!!!!!!
Hold up, sorry I jumped the gun on that one, guess we have to wait still
hands on her hips ....really? hands? hips?
Hyped up for the sequel to this terrific story! Are Red and Tidewind going to be in it?
You monster.
That'd be a "no".
Wonder if this is Gilda?
Called. Also, considering my recent adventures with Infinity Train, 'Apex' has me worried.
Nat 1d that Performance check.
There's some jackass taking potshots from Rarity's roof and now Gilda and co are coming in, probably to start trouble. No he ain't.
Oh boy.
I don't like this one bit.
Might Makes Right type bully, thinks they're better than everyone else just because they can push people around, gotcha.
Here we go...
Nope.
There it is. Pillage, plunder and burn.
I like him.
Sounds painful.
Understandable.
He's a Diamond Dog. He's good at digging.
Aye, but Rarity's out there being the Bulletproof Heart.
Oh fuck off.
Fluttershy?!
This was Rarity's home.
Ah. Revenge.
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Anthro tag is there for a reason, my friend.
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The sequel I'm working on now? No. In later installations, maybe. It all depends on whether Rarity ever makes a return to Spurhoof, which I've not decided on yet. Though it would be interesting to have her do it at least once.
I may write other shorts in the BPH universe, though. Just to expand upon the world.
Something tells me Rarity is either going to be unmoved or maybe actually relieved when news reaches her.
For some reason this parody played in my head pretty much all the way through.
YYYYYEEESSSS!
This was a nice little vignette. Whetted my appetite for the main event to come later. Code Red reminds me a bit of Rango, if you've seen that unconventional western.
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I am thrilled you said that, as Rango was part of the inspiration for Red's character.
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Haha, no way!
Totally unrelated, but speaking of westerns, this one show that aired recently called Appare-Ranman had some ludicrously over the top gunplay in it. Have a 30 second clip:
Good stuff. So continues another chapter in the world of The Bulletproof Heart.
I gotta say, the kicker of it being Fluttershy revealed to be the pony on the roof hit me harder than I expected.
I'm so glad to fi ally see this come to fruition! I may have had the idea for the character and the location, but it was all you, my friend, who put the plot to paper, and put it all together into one concise, beautiful package!
Oooo, more side stories? Count me in!!
This was really good. Interesting to see Fluttershy turn up here. Not to mention, worrying.
Pardon my Prench but damn that was intense. I never thought of Fluttershy being the vengeful type. Granted even in the canon girl's got serious anger issues, she bottles things up until blammo. Anywho, I initially thought that the mysterious figure might have been a changeling on account of the camouflage bit.
Also, just out of curiosity how's the Bulletproof Heart sequel coming? No rush or anything but I can't deny that I am super curious about the rest of the Elements and if Rarity got over her issues to put it politely.
In any case, i wish you well.
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It's... coming. I've made the decision to focus on getting it released, but I haven't finished the rough draft and it's possible that some chapters may need significant revision thanks to a change in plans late in the game. I'm really hoping I'll be able to release it this year though, which is why I'm making it my top priority.
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Sweet! Better late than never. But seriously though, if you want any help at all with editing or beta-readers, or artwork I'd be happy to help.
Hi Paul! I was one of the judges on the Change of Pace contest and I've only just got around to posting my feedback because I'm super slow. Apologies for the delay. Blog post here: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/937656/change-of-pace-contest-reviews
man ill be damned if it ain't a shame that this fic went under the radar.
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Just finished the Bulletproof Heart and read this. Looking forward to what happens nexxt
So, the Oasis burned, and Fluttershy holds Rarity responsible (not a surprise), and the Bearers are broken ....
I'd say the Bulletproof Heart story made Fluttershy's motives crystal clear.
Well that Mare has some issues. And that Griffon is gonna face the noose.
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The Bearers aren't broken, because they were never really together, apart from Rarity and Applejack (Pinkie wasn't a bearer last we saw her). Yes, Fluttershy hates Rarity, but that battle was maybe what was needed for Fluttershy to stop living a hermit's life.
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I just want to take this opportunity to point out that the oasis did not burn and the final battle of BPH is not what got Fluttershy to finally leave the oasis. Perhaps I'll write an entry for this in the glossary some time soon.
11109756 I remember the Oasis survived the end of BPH, I was figuring it was destroyed later, and since the only people who knew where it was are Rarity and those Rarity vouched for ....
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I don't want to say anything else here for the sake of those who don't want spoilers, but because doing so abruptly interested me, I went ahead and wrote a spoilerific Fluttershy entry in my now-public BPH encyclopedia. A link to it can be found on my BPH Q&A Blog, should you (or anyone else) be interested.
And this should get me all caught up! I still intend to read Bulletproof Mirage, even if it's not part of the overall story, because I'm not yet ready to leave this sunburnt setting yet.
A quickie but a goodie. We got to see some characters from the very beginning and get a status update on some of them. Too bad their lot in life hasn't changed for the better.
Gilda makes her appearance and unsurprisingly is an antagonist. We didn't learn too much about her motivations so I'm curious to see if her story continues in the sequels.
Code Red was given the impossible task of keeping order in a world were order is crumbling. Nice to see he was able to step up when the time came and that all of Spurhoof worked together to keep the town safe. Equestria needs more of that than ever.
Did not see the identity of the pony on the roof coming. That's going to lead to more drama for poor Rarity down the line. It's quicker to list the (potential) Bearers that aren't upset with her. One, maybe?
That's all for now!
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I've always looked at this one as the "lesser" of all the BPH stories, if only because it doesn't actually have any Gunslinger Princess in it. It was mostly intended as a teaser for what I thought would be the proper sequel to the original. I had originally not planned to write any BPH stories that didn't star Rarity, but I eventually figured Rarity couldn't be everywhere and the other characters could be interesting in their own right.
I've considered writing some other stories like this. The one that most intrigues me is a story that explores Cranky's history. Dunno if I'll ever write it, but it's something that comes to mind often so I'll never say never.
So is this sequel still planned? Such a great story, with so many questions unanswered...
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If by "sequel" you mean will I continue the BPH series, the answer is a definite "yes". I went through a phase where I was writing a ton of BPH stuff and decided to take a break for a while to write other things. I'm thinking about continuing it soon though.