Travelers Tales: Arizona In Appleloosa

by Slippin_Sweetie

Buffalo Business

The morning sun crept over the horizon as the cattle drive rose with it to get ready for the day. But Arizona wasn’t preparing for her usual tasks of herding or toating milk. No, she was getting ready for her first day as a lawcow.

She’d fetch her saddle, lasso, and bandana. Freshening in up, as her mama put it. As she climbed out of her wagon, Texas lumbered over.

“Darlin’, what are you doing dressed like that?” pried Texas.

“Pa, I’ve got a new job.” beamed Arizona.

“A new job? Is it helping Braeburn with the orchard?”

“No, pa, I’m helping Sheriff Silverstar put some train robbers away!”

Minnesota peered from the other side of the wagon, “Oh my, well, you be safe y’hear? And don’t stay out too late!”

“Ma, we can’t just let Lil Arizona go run off and put herself at risk with a bunch of criminals!” huffed Texas.

“Oh, pa, leave her be. I remember a certain bull who wanted to indulge in some wanderlust,” smirked Minnesota.

“But–”

“She’ll be fine; I’m sure the Sheriff won’t put her in serious danger. Go have fun, sugar.” fawned the cow.

“Thanks, ma! I’ll be safe; see you at suppertime!” galloped Arizona.

Texas sighed, “... I worry, y’know, she’s growing up so fast….”

Minnesota rested against the larger bull, “I know you do honey bun, but you should’ve seen it comin’; she is YOUR daughter after all.”

Meanwhile, above the jailhouse, the newly formed posse discussed their plan…

Silverstar stroked his mustache, “Okay, Braeburn. I’ll get the deputies to talk to the engineers while you talk to the Buffalo.”

Arizona stormed through the door, “Did I miss anything!? I’m not late, am I!?”

Silverstar tumbled over as he fell behind his desk, groaning. “... Good morning Arizona… I’m glad to see you’re still on board with joining the law business….”

“Naw, you came just in time!” Braeburn gave her a cheery grin, tipping his hat to the heifer. “Glad to see you wide awake and bushy-tailed! We were just discussin’ who’s gonna go where. I’m gonna go speak with the Buffalo, and I’d be happy to have the help if you’re willin’.”

The stallion sipped a cup of what appeared to be black coffee, smacking his lips. “Oh, and I’d like to introduce you to Strongheart! I imagine you’ll get along well.”

Arizona trotted over, “She another pony?”

Silverstar peeled himself off the floor as he adjusted his hat, “Nope, she’s the daughter of the buffalo, Chief Thunderhooves.”

“You think it might be the Buffalo themselves causin’ this ruckus? Didn’t you say it were Buffalo who helped them ponies?”

Silverstar chuckled, “You think there’s only one buffalo tribe? No, ma’am, we can’t go around swinging our weight around. We learned our lesson last time. ‘Sides, we’re on good terms; we had a Pow-wow or two with em.’”

Silverstar continued, “Nope, it could be a rival tribe, or some bad apples helping other bad apples seems more like it.”

Arizona huffed, “But what if it IS them?”

“Then we gotta organize a communion, I suppose, see what’s the problem.” shrugged Silverstar.

Arizona groaned, “What about fightin’?”

“You don’t fight yer family, do yah?”

Arizona grew quiet.

Silverstar raised a brow, “Hm… well, it ain’t the pony way, right Braeburn?”

Braeburn grimaced, looking a little awkward at the Sheriff’s wording. “Well, I’d like to avoid a fight and just help out rather than instigate anything. Let’s just do what we can to find out who’s doin’ it and take it from there?”

The stallion adjusted the hat on his head, taking another noisy sip of his coffee. “We should probably move while the sun’s still up. It’s going to take a nice trot to get to the Buffalo territory. Let’s load up on canteens and some snacks before we go. We need to stay hydrated after all!”

Silverstar nodded, “Well, since Arizona is here, why don’t you two go chat with the Buffalo? Maybe they’ll treat Arizona like kinfolk since… y’know. I think I’ll get through the paperwork of this here newly founded investigation.”

“But feel free to use some of my material and borrow some funds to get yerself some munitions. I’ll write it off as official police business. Heh.” smirked Silverstar.

“Ain’t that stealing?” questioned Arizona.

“No, darlin’, that’s what we adults call, “a tax write-off.”

Arizona passed a look to Braeburn.

Braeburn simply gave her an uncertain smile and a shrug of the shoulders before grabbing a few bits. “Just enough to get us some canteens, I’ll pay for the food myself.”

“Welp, let’s get a move on while the sun’s up! I don’t wanna come back after dark.” The stallion was still critically aware of her father, and he didn’t want to bring her back at night. And it was just the gentlecolt-like thing to do.

Opening the door, Braeburn held it for Arizona to exit, looking out at the bright sunny day. “Quite a nice day too, I’ll say!”

Arizona trotted out the door; it was growing ever apparent that there was a giant chip on this youngin’s shoulder as the calf appeared uneasy and hungry for an adventure.

After a quick trip to the shop, Arizona carried the supplies on the long walk to the Buffalo territories.

“So what exactly are these Buffalo like? Pa always said they’re noble creatures that our herd strives to be like. But I think he’s full of it. We don’t wear feathers or stampede across the plains. We just tug wagons around and do jobs you ponyfolk are too frail to do… or lazy… no offense.”

Braeburn cocked a brow, shifting his jaw. “Er, none taken, I suppose. We try to pull our weight, but sometimes we just need an extra helpin’ hoof.”

“Now the Buffalo? We had a bit of an issue with them in the past over territory and their ritual stampeding grounds, but we’ve cleared that up. They’re real kind creatures when you get to know em’, and I’d say they’re pretty noble. You’ll see what I mean when we get there.” He gave her a wink, trotting forward.

It was another hour or so before they spotted the Buffalo camp in the distance, their tipi tents sticking out in the desert. Braeburn stopped for a brief moment to catch his breath and take a deep drink of his canteen, wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his hoof.

“Finally! For a bit, I was worried we were going in the wrong direction, heh!” He chuckled, “Let’s hope the Chief isn’t busy.”

“Oh, he’s not.” replied a voice.

Jumping up, Braeburn turned around to face a smaller buffalo, a female, obviously. She hadn’t had her growth spurt yet, but her size gave her the advantage of being quick and nearly silent. Braeburn let out a sigh of relief, chuckling.

“Jeez Strongheart, gimme some warnin’! Nearly gave me a heart attack.” He held a hoof to his chest, grinning.

“You should expect it by now,” The Buffalo grinned before turning to his companion, “And who’s this?”

Arizona passed a suspicious glance at the buffalo calf, “The names Arizona. I’m the daughter of my pa Texas, leader of the local herd ’round these parts. We’ve heard that some buffalo have been involved in some train robberies.”

Strongheart blinked while Braeburn grimaced, cringing internally. The stallion opened his eyes hesitantly, waiting for her response.

“Now, where did you hear of this?” Strongheart replied coolly, crossing her front legs as she gave the cow an unreadable stare.

“Now, she didn’t mean anything by it!” Braeburn felt a bead of sweat go down his brow, “We have been havin’ some… troubles, and some eyewitnesses saw some buffalo AND ponies robbing our train's supplies. We ain’t accusing nobody yet, but we’d like some help.”

Arizona looked between the two, unable to read their expressions.

She’d slowly continue, “I’m sure there’s a legal definition or somethin’, but we’d like to just ask a few things. Like, do you know of any er… bad apples who would wanna participate in such thievery?”

Little Strongheart shifted, “Well, of course, we have troublemakers, and plenty of them have experience in train robbing.”

She chuckled a little at the memory of stealing a TREE from a train. “So yes, I could point to a few that could be the possible criminal. But I’m not aware of anyone leaving the camp past ten for the past few days.”

“Well, all of our cargo is being stolen around the early morning and late at night, so let’s hope it ain’t someone sneakin’ out.” Braeburn nodded. “Don’t suppose we can talk to yer dad?”

“Of course, c’mon.” Strongheart smiled and nodded, gesturing the two to follow.

Thunderhooves sat in his tent as he chanted an incantation. An ancient tradition passed down since the dawn of the first buffalo tribes. Carefully waving around burning incense in his tent as he slowly exhaled.

Despite his massive size, the buffalo chief was careful and thoughtful in every action he took. Carefully placing the incense in special wood craved holders as he began to pray.

His ritual would be disrupted by the foreign sound of pottery and dishes crashing outside.

Thunderhooves snorted as he stamped from his tent, “What is going on out here!?”

The chief would see the small group cleaning up a freshly made mess of broken pottery.

Arizona slowly turned to face the chief, “Uh… tripped?” she said lamely.

The buffalo chief towered over them, he was bigger than Texas, and for once, Arizona’s inner fire subsided as a wave of terror crashed over her like a roaring wave.

Thunderhooves sighed, “Little Strongheart, would you like to speak for our friends here?”

Little Strongheart trotted up, “Don’t worry about it, Dad, they’re just visiting. Braeburn says that some train robbers are stealing Appleloosa’s supplies. He just wanted to see if any of our tribe was involved, but I doubt it. We take headcount every night, don’t want to be lost out in the cold of night.”

“Of course, we don’t mean anything by it!” Braeburn lifted a hoof; as good standing as they were now, he still didn’t want to anger the fellow. “And it wasn’t just Buffalo; like I said, apparently, there were ponies too. We just wanna see if anyone here saw anything, that’s all.”

Thunderhooves huffed, “I understand the formalities and such, Braeburn, we take no offense… but we have renounced any hostility towards Appleloosa long ago. But I fear this may be another tribe’s doing, or perhaps just some Buffalo acting on their own accord…”

“So yer sayin’ that it’s either some other tribe or a handful of buffalo feelin’ a bit opportunistic?” chimed Arizona.

Thunderhooves mused for a long moment before answering, “... yes.”

“Dang it! Well, this was a waste of time.” sighed Arizona.

“Not necessarily; I can still help you ask around.” Little Strongheart nodded, “I’ve already attended to all of my duties anyways, and it would be nice to stretch my legs.”

Thunderhooves sighed, “Alright, Little Strongheart, but be warned. Do NOT agitate the other tribes about this.”

“Yes, dad…” Strongheart rolled her eyes, sighing.

“That’d be a great help, thank you!” Braeburn grinned, “Since you know the way, why don’t you lead us?”

“Alright, just try and watch your hooves this time.” Strongheart threw Arizona a small smirk.

Arizona rolled her eyes, “How do you even walk around here? There’s fragile pottery around every corner!”

“Buffalo are bigger than you, yet we can still avoid crushing everything.” Strongheart chuckled, trotting ahead, “You don’t wanna make the bull in the china shop trope real, do you?”

Arizona huffed, “Why don’t you trade in the fragile clay pots for some metal ones and just avoid all the heartache about it!”

“Does it look like we have an excess of metal out here? We make do with what we can and what the land provides.” Strongheart rolled her eyes at the calf's ignorance.

“Now now, let’s just keep focus on the task at hoof.” Braeburn cut in, trying to soothe any growing tensions. “So, where should we start first?”

The small Buffalo snorted, “Well, we can start with some of the teenagers. Eagleclaw and Turned Stone are always getting their noses into trouble. C’mon, it’s this way.” She gestured with a hoof, leading the way.

As the Buffalo led the way, the group encountered the teenagers in question. They were bigger than Strongheart but nowhere near as bulky as her father, and they were much straggly in comparison. The ruffians appeared to be practicing their trampling.

“Trampling? Looks like a warm-up for another scheme by the looks of it.” sneered Arizona.

Little Strongheart turned to the cow, “It’s a ritual of our tribe to stamp down and mark out territory… and it’s just in good fun.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen ’em do it before.” Braeburn nodded, “C’mon now, Arizona, don’t need to be suspicious of everyone.” He gave her a wink.

“It’s an investigation; we’re supposed to be suspicious of things!” huffed Arizona.

Trotting up to the Buffalo, Little Strongheart introduced them. “Hey, Eagle, Stone.” She held out a hoof for them to bump, giving them a relaxed grin. “How’s it going?”

The young bulls quickly turned their heads and returned a small hoofbump, “Lil Strongheart, why do you bring these foreigners here?” hmpfed, Eagleclaw.

“Yeah, Strongheart, they’ll just cramp on our style!” scoffed Turned Stone.

Little Strongheart pshed, “Oh, you know Braeburn, he’s just here on business. Apparently, this one, though, is here to help him. I suppose you could call her our cousin. Her name’s Arizona.” She threw the heifer a smirk.

“Well, apparently someone’s been robbin’ trains again, and we were wonderin’ if you knew anything about it. Not accusin’ you of nothing, just wondering if you heard of anything.” Braeburn smiled softly, a little nervous but trying to cut through any resentment that might be rising.

“We might know somethin’, but that’s buffalo business!” insisted Eagleclaw.

“If you know somethin’, then spill it!” snapped Arizona.

“Oooohhhh, I like this one; she’s actually got a bit of fight in her, unlike the last herd of cows!” chuckled Turned Stone.

“I’ll show yah just how different I am compared to those namby-pamby cows!’ snorted Arizona.

The two teens looked to one another, “... Alright, we can make this bovine business then, under two conditions! One, the pony stays out, and two, we challenge you to a trampling!”

“Oh boy, now you started it.” Little Strongheart sighed, rolling her eyes. “Fine! But I’m helpin’ her out. She’s gonna need it.” She cast and grinned at the bovine.

“Uh… there’s not gonna be any fightin’ involved, is there?” He could only imagine the look on Texas’ face if his daughter came home with a bruise, especially under his supervision.

Turned Stone and Eagleclaw gave one another a look before smirking, “That’s none of your business, pony. This is official bovine business.” chuckled Eagleclaw

“Yeah, beat it equine! This is bovine business!” chimed Turned Stone.

Braeburn bit his lip and took a step back while he shook his head and regained his confidence. “I ain’t movin’ if anyone’s gettin’ hurt.”

Little Strongheart trotted over and laid a hoof on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I won’t let her get hurt and besides, I think she can handle herself.” Braeburn sighed and reluctantly nodded, taking a few steps back.

“Alright, let’s get to it.” The smaller Buffalo grinned.

“Soooo, what do we do? Kick up dust?” Arizona cocked a brow.

The bulls laughed, “It’s a trampling; you run in a straight line and don’t stop for nothing!” exclaimed Eagleclaw.

“Yeah! Doesn’t matter if it’s a stone, cacti, or another buffalo. You don’t stop til you drop!” seconded Turned Stone.

“What if y’all run off a cliff?”

The two scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous; we’re buffalo; we know the land.” Eagleclaw answered.

Arizona sighed, “Fine, so, like, are there teams?”

“Duh, unless you want a free-for-all.” Turned Stone said with an eye roll.

“Don’t belittle me because I don’t know yer crazy traditions!” huffed Arizona, “Now let’s get going, I don’t have all day.”

The Buffalo and Arizona would get into position, standing shoulder to shoulder as they faced the endless Equestrian badlands.

“Three… two… go!” The teens quickly galloped forward.

“THAT’S CHEATIN’!” roared Arizona as she raced after them.

Little Strongheart, with her petite frame and long legs, blasted past Arizona and the two other, bulkier Buffalo. Nothing seemed to stop her either, jumping over large boulders and breaking through cacti. She never stopped her unrelenting charge.

Braeburn watched from a distance, biting his hooves as he worried over the two. He hadn’t considered Little Strongheart getting hurt, and if that happened… he wasn’t sure who he was more frightened of, Texas or Thunderhooves.

The two bulls allowed Strongheart to pass, which was unusual for their competitive nature. As Strongheart raced by, Arizona felt the two bulls close in on her.

“A little personal space?” she asked before getting shoved, “Hey!”

The two bulls would shove Arizona into one another, laughing as the much smaller calf was bounced between the much larger Buffalo.

Little Strongheart looked back, her eyes widening at the sight before turning around, racing back towards her fellow Buffalo with her head held down, ready to bulldoze the older, heavier Buffalo or get trampled herself.

“You stop that!” She shouted, gritting her teeth as she prepared for the impact, “She ain’t buffalo, but that doesn’t matter!”

“Aw, come on, Strongheart, let us have our fun!” laughed Eagle Claw.

“Yeah! Don’t be a party pooper– Woah!” The two Buffalo were practically launched in the air as Arizona stamped her hooves into the earth beneath her, shattering the dry, rocky surface.

“Get out of my way; I’m tramplin’ over ‘ere!” snorted Arizona, “Watch out Strongheart! Mess with this cow; you get the horns!”

Strongheart managed to skid to a halt, avoiding the two flying buffalo before moving out of Arizona’s way, allowing the cow to pass. A small smile crept onto her face as she raced after her, quickly gaining speed and joining her.

“That was impressive; you got magic or something?” Little Strongheart asked, her brow raised as she kept up the pace.

“Magic!? Naw! My pa taught me how to stomp! It’s one of my favorite things, right next to kicking!” grinned Arizona.

The bulls quickly got on their hooves as they caught up to the two calves, “Not bad for a dairy cow!” grinned Eagleclaw.

“Heck, could you teach me? I’d love to learn.” The smaller Buffalo asked.

“Yeah! You hit pretty hard, hehe.” parroted Turned Stone.

“Alright, let’s talk bovine business,” Eagleclaw said as the group screeched to a halt.

“Good, now tell us what you know. You weren’t involved, were you?” Little Strongheart squinted at the pair with suspicious eyes.

“Nah, we aren’t about that anymore, Little Strongheart, honest!” insisted Turned Stone.

“However, there are a few buffalo from neighboring tribes who are indeed about that.” Eagleclaw grimaced.

“... About what?” questioned Arizona.

“Some buffalo aren’t happy that Appleloosa exists; even after the Apple War, there are those who want to see Appleloosa destroyed,” explained Eagleclaw.

“Yeah! Some guy was rounding up a bunch of disgruntled Buffalo to work with some pony outlaws. We don’t like those ponies very much but isn’t it kinda weird you’re willing to work with ponies to hurt other ponies?” pondered Turned Stone.

“Back to the point, if you want to find those bandits, you’ll have to head north until you find The Shabuff.”

“Sha-what now?” question Arizona.

“The Shabuff, he’s a spiritual leader cousin. Of the buffalo way of life,” smirked Turned Stone.

“Uh… huh… I guess we’ll inform the Sheriff and Thunderhooves then.” sighed Arizona.

“Hey! You didn’t hear that from us! The Shabuff got eyes and ears everywhere; I heard he’ll use the spirits to CURSE you!” warned Turned Stone.

“Just keep us out of this; we don’t want trouble with the chief or the Shabuff.” sighed Eagleclaw.

“Yeah yeah, alright, just keep your noses out of trouble!” Little Strongheart nodded, “And thanks for the information. C’mon Arizona, let’s go tell Braeburn. He’d want to know this.”

After finding the yellow stallion sitting, nervously waiting for the pair, Little Strongheart relayed everything they had just learned to him.

“Shabuff, huh? Well, that’ll be mighty interesting… Thanks, Strongheart; we couldn’t have done it without ya.” Braeburn smiled cheerfully and with some relief to see neither of them got hurt.

“Naaah, this one can handle her own.” Little Strongheart bumped Arizona on the shoulder, “Wanna head over there now and talk to him? We still got light, but it’ll take quite a walk.”

The stallion grimaced, “I’m not sure we have the supplies for that; plus, we need to let the Sheriff and your fathers know what's goin’ on.”

Arizona sighed, “You got as much bite as a wet rag. Fine, let’s go tell Strongheart’s pa and head back to regroup!”

Comments

[Comickook]

Excellent work on this latest chapter. Definitely appreciated the work that went into the dialogue, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up. Really appreciated Arizona's family moment before meeting with the buffalo. Glad to see Arizona earning Strongheart's respect and vice-versa.

Anyway, really looking forward to more of this.