Trixie, Appleloosa Sheriff

by Einhander

Chapters

Prologue: Judgment at Canterlot
3:10 to Appleloosa, Part I
3:10 to Appleloosa, Part II
3:10 to Appleloosa, Part III
True Bit

Prologue: Judgment at Canterlot

TRIXIE, APPLELOOSA SHERIFF

By: Einhander

Edited by Admiral Hoofesome (1st Pass), Space Commie (2nd Pass)

Pre-Read by Cola Bubble Gum

Prologue: Judgment at Canterlot

"Fillies and gentlecolts of the jury... "

Shining Armor approached the podium in front of the jury, magically putting his papers in order. He cleared his throat, then stared forward and spoke: "This is no fantasy. No careless product of wild imagination. No, my fellow ponies. These indictments that I have brought to you today, specific charges herein against this individual, known to you as Trixie. "

"Ahem!"

Shining rolled his eyes. "Who, for the record, insists she go by her full name, The Great And Powerful Trixie."

Trixie sat up straight in her chair, straining against the chains that were keeping her close to the table. "Trixie would also accept the alternate phrasing of "Trixie, Comma, The Great And Powerful."

Shining's eyes were lidded as he said, "Let the record so reflect." The court reporter, a unicorn who was magically scribbling down the words with a quill on a piece of parchment, nodded at Shining who continued on: "These... are matters of undeniable fact." He walked up to the jury box, clutching a document. "Witnesses have told you, firsthoof, of what they saw and heard the defendant do. We also have the defendant's confession!" he lifted up the piece of paper, which had a page full of scribble that was signed with a flourish and the name "Trixie, TGAP."

"This case is clear. It’s straightforward. I ask you now to pronounce judgement on the accused." He then returned to his table and nodded at the judge.

Luna cleared her throat and announced, "We thank thee, Shining Armor." She fidgeted slightly on her chair. While she had been a princess for thousands of years, she only recently had become a judge. Staring over at the box full of juryponies who were staring back at her expectantly, she shifted her glance to the defense table. Trixie was seated next to her court-appointed attorney, the veteran lawpony Slow Drawl, a light brown Earth Pony with a bright white mane and a tired expression. He had his reading glasses on and his nose stuck in a book. Luna asked. "Does the defense have anything to say before the jury announces a verdict?"

Slow Drawl shook his head and didn't bother to look up from his book. "Don't look at me, y'honor. Mz. Great and Powerful is representing herself, if ya will recall."

Trixie drew herself up and said with a smile: "The Great and Powerful Trixie believes this jury will deliver a just verdict without her having to say one word more."

Trixie sat down with a flourish, holding her head up high. Slow Drawl sighed and flipped a page.

"Very well, members of the jury, thou hast a long list of charges to consider. Please take as much time as you --yes, sir, what is it?"

The fore-pony of the jury lowered his raised hoof, "Just a sec, your honor." He quickly huddled with the other jurors. There was some hurried whispering, a fair amount of nodding, then the fore-pony turned back to Luna, "We don't need any time, your honor."

Luna arched an eyebrow. "Then you have a verdict already?"

"Oh, sure. Right everypony?" The rest of the jury nodded.

Luna noticed Slow Drawl shut his book and stand, suddenly alert to the proceedings. The princess asked, "Does the defense have any objection?" Slow Drawl opened his mouth, which was quickly blocked by a blue hoof. Trixie shook her head, and the law pony grunted and sat back down.

"Very well. Juror fore-pony, I charge thee, announce thy verdict!"

"We find the defendant incredibly guilty."

There was a gasp from the defense table.

"Of all charges."

A bigger gasp.

The fore-pony nodded, “Yes.” Then he sat down.

Luna shook her head gravely. "Is this the decision of all?"

The other 11 ponies nodded or said "Yes." Trixie stared at them, mouth agape.

"Very well, rise, Trixie Lulamoon. Thou have been convicted of over 26 crimes against ponies by a jury of thy peers. We-"

"Peers! Ha! Trixie finds your poor use of the phrase to be the darkest of jokes!" cried Trixie. "Trixie has no peers, and if she did, they would be wizards and illusionists of the highest order!" She closed her eyes and tried to summon her magic, but failed. She glared at the chains on her legs that were sapping her magical strength.

"Silence!" shouted Luna in her Royal Canterlot Voice. "Or we shall find you in contempt of court!"

"Trixie has nothing BUT contempt for this court!” snarled Trixie, who the then turned her fury from her chains to her 'peers', who cowered under her gaze in the jury box. "Fools and how'dshedodats, all of you! I will not be found wanting by the likes of you.” She climbed on top of her defendant’s table, and continued, “Trixie will FIND you. Trixie will go into your HOUSES and MESS UP THE PLACE. The Great and Powerful Trixie-"

Luna stomped her feet and started casting a spell. "This is thy last warning-- cease and desist or face the consequences!"

"Make me," roared Trixie, pointing her hoof at Luna, "You self-important, stuck-up, condescending--"

And the rest was silence. Trixie stopped in mid-rant as a blue aura enveloped her. Luna stepped down from the bench, horn flaring with magic, as the cloud completely encompassed Trixie in a sphere of magic. The princess finished the spell, and the cloud of magic dimmed slightly, but held Trixie frozen in time.

There was an audible release of breath as the various members of the jury came out of their hiding places, with wild eyes and shaking hooves. Luna looked at them with dismay and announced. "This court thanks thee for thy service. All are dismissed." The various fillies and colts nodded and walked out of the courtroom, some shaking their heads.

When they had all left, Luna moved back to her judge's chair and looked down on Trixie.

"Trixie Lulamoon, alias The Great and Powerful Trixie, alias Trixie, Comma, The Great and Powerful: thou hath been found guilty. Does the people's pony wish to be heard as to sentencing?"

Shining Armor nodded. "Yes, your honor. Trixie Lulamoon is a repeat offender who has, as recently as two minutes ago, shown nothing but contempt for the laws of pony kind. She returned to the scene of her previous frauds and cons to wreak havoc with illegal magic, injuring several ponies, damaging property, and almost disrupting the major diplomatic event with Saddle Arabia set to take place in the next few days. She is implicated, but not charged, in many more crimes."

Slow Drawl cleared his throat and said, "'’Implicated, but not charged' sounds a lot to me like accusations without proof, Judge."

Shining gave the him a Look, then turned back to Luna. "We recommend the maximum sentence allowed under the law. Three years in the Crystal Empire prisons."

Luna nodded and said, "’Tis just. Very well. Trixie, I sentence thee--"

"Now hold on just a minute there y'honor," interrupted Slow Drawl, taking off his glasses and standing. "I think ya'll may be fixin’ to harvest before ya plant yer seeds."

"Attorney!" said Luna. "Explain thyself."

"I may just be an old country law pony from Appleloosa, your honor, but it seems to me that y'all are denying the defense a right to speak before she's sentenced."

"Really, counselor?" snorted Shining Armor. "I think she said enough."

"Now I ain't approvin’ of anything she's done today, but if you'll recall, that was all in the heat of an obviously upsetting verdict. We have moved to a different phase of proceeding, namely, sentencing. Whole different barrel of cherries. Y’all gave shiny britches over there a right to speak, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander."
Luna stared Slow Drawl down. "The court has heard enough from Ms. Lulamoon today. To let her speak further would only hurt her case. Besides, did she not fire thee?"

"Yet here I am, your honor. Mz. Trixie since she can't speak right now, I'm gonna step in and ask: what's the rush?" He calmly put his book back in his bag. "Ya said yourself, you don't want to hear from her today. And I agree that Mz. Trixie is in no condition to think clearly about her position, today."

"So what do thee propose?"

"That's just it. Don't hear from her today. Adjourn the case to tomorrow."

Luna frowned. "The courts are busy. Justice need not be delayed for someone as guilty as this pony.."

"Then if not for her, then for justice itself, your honor." insisted Slow Drawl. "Let's do this right. She ain't goin nowhere.”

Luna turned to Shining Armor. "What say thee to this request?"

Shining Armor looked at Slow Drawl critically, then said, "Fair is fair, your honor. We can wait a day.”

Luna mulled this over, then rose from her judge's chair and walked towards Trixie. She stopped when they were face to face, eyeball to eyeball. Luna stared at the frozen unicorn and said, "Then let her think about what she's done."
"Court is adjourned until tomorrow morning!" announced Luna, heading for the exit. "Guards! Take her away."

After Luna left, Shining Armor's guards shared a blank look as they contemplated how to move the frozen Trixie. Finally, they physically lifted her up and carried her through the cell doors, down to the dungeon.

Shining Armor sighed and gathered his papers. Before he could leave, he felt a hoof on his shoulder.

"I need to see Princess Celestia. Like pronto."

Shining Armor coldly removed the hoof from his shoulder. "The princess is very busy."

"Oh, I'm sure she is. Complexities of raising the sun and all that. However, I think you'll find if you tell her Ol' Slow Drawl needs a favor, she'll find the time."

"Sir,” said Shining with narrowing eyes, “I don't know you, but you should know this about me: I've been away from my wife for days because of this nonsense. And now I have to come back tomorrow as well."

Slow Drawl smiled as he closed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Tell you what, son. Go ask the princess if she knows me, I'll wait right here. And if she don't know me, if she ain't willing to spare a moment, why you can personally escort me to yer dungeon for the night. I'll camp out right next to my client."

Shining Armor blinked. "Lying to the captain of the guard is a jailable offense, you know that?"

Slow Drawl laughed. "I should. I helped write the dang law."

It was a few hours later.

Trixie was brought down by the two guards and left gently on a cot, with the cell door closed behind her. She remained frozen in time, the aura not as strong as it was before but still enveloping her. Her mouth was still open, hoof still outstretched in accusation.

It was a dark, damp cell, but with plenty of straw and a bucket with fresh water. Not that Trixie could notice, as the clock ticked on and she stayed the same, pointing at an accuser who was no longer there. Day turned to night, the sun shining in through the jail cell window turned to moonlight, shining on the frozen accuser.

The guard assigned to watch Trixie started out alert, but as he watched the sun become the moon, his eyes drooped along with his attention. For being the supposed most dangerous pony in all of Canterlot, this prisoner wasn't doing much.

Then there was a sudden scream of, "-- you blue hued ancient gasbag!"

The guard jumped, stammered, "Oh sh..." and then he was gone.

Trixie blinked, taking in her new surroundings and the fact that it was suddenly night. She was lying on her side on the jail cell cot, her hoof still pointing forward. A wave of fatigue came over her as she went limp. Every limb fell to the ground. There was a CLUNK, and she looked down to see her magical shackles were still on her knees.
She sighed, looking over at the window. The moonlight was bright and unforgiving. She lacked the strength to move out of it's glare.

So... this is how it begins for Trixie...

A structure caught her eye. Trying to rally, she leaned up to look out the window. Then she saw the scaffolding outside, a relic from old times that had been dusted off recently. She had heard rumors that they were reviving the old ways of punishment. Stocks, quarries, the noose...

Or maybe how it ends...

She shook her head. Celestia would never do that.

Maybe.

She sat up on the cot, leaning back against the wall, letting memories wash around her mind and heart. How did she she end up here?

Almost automatically, her inner voice replied:

Twilight Sparkle...!

“Evening, Mz. Lulamoon…"

Trixie turned and saw Slow Drawl walking towards her cell gate. His light brown coat, white mane and unmistakable cutie mark: the scales of justice. She glared at him, huffed and turned away, looking out her window.

“I’m sorry, Mz. Trixie, Comma, The Great and Powerful. That is what we decided on for the record, right?”

“Trixie…” she hesitated, not feeling up to using her full name, “Trixie has nothing to say to you.”

“Good!” said Slow Drawl. “You talk too much anyway. So tell you what, I’m gonna do some talkin’ and you, you do some listen’n. And when I’m done, you got nothin’ to say to me, that’s fine. We’ll part ways. Deal?”

Trixie didn’t reply, as she stared out at Luna’s moon. Her ear twitched, giving herself away. She was listening.

“Let’s assume, for the moment, that’s a yes,” said Slow Drawl, taking off his glasses and looking at the back of his client’s head. “Now you see that statue out there? Tall lookin fella, dragon head, looks very surprised to be a statue?”

Trixie’s eyes searched until she found it. True enough, there was tall dragon/horse/eagle creature in the garden outside the window. Captured in amazing detail in stone, his eyes were wide open and his mouth was a frozen scream.

“That there’s Discord. You might’a remember him from that business a little back where chocolate milk rained from the sky and buffalos were dancin’ like they were in the Manehatten Ballet, before Twilight Sparkle put a stop to it.”
Trixie groaned at the mention of her hated rival. Of course. Of COURSE the weak and annoying Twilight Sparkle was the one to put a stop to the no-doubt-had-his-reasons Discord. She stared again at the statute. It looked so real, so lifelike, so hard to carve…

“Trixie seeks answers. Why would they make a statute of this creature, if he was such a villain?

“You misunderstand me. That’s not a statue of Discord. That is Discord.”

Trixie’s head snapped back around to face Slow Drawl, her face horrified.

“The process, as I understand it, is similar to what the cockatrice of the Everfree forest can do to a pony. It starts with your legs, and then it goes up your flank. You can feel it happening, but even if you have the presence of mind to move, you can’t. You feel as if you’re frozen, and in a manner of moments it doesn’t matter how you feel because you are frozen in stone.”

"And if you should be so lucky to ever get free from a cockatrice’s gaze, ya wake up like from a bad dream... Except the world has passed you by. Time keeps moving, you just ain’t aware of it. I hear tell of one pony, he turned to stone and got rescued fifteen years later. For him, it was a minute, but by the time he got home, his little filly had all grown up, and he was a stranger to her."

Drawl let a moment or two pass before continuing. "But I haven't got to the worst part. What makes a sentence of stone worse, much worse than a cockatrice attack, is that when you turn to stone because of a spell... Your mind stays awake. Your stone eyes can still see, your ears still work." He stared at Trixie with hard eyes. "You hear everything. You see everything. You remember everything."

"They... They can't do that to Trixie! Trixie didn't hurt anyone!" she gulped, then added, "Much..."

"Oh no, Mz. Lulamoon, like I said, that's all in the past. Since Luna's return, Celestia has ruled that no pony or creature may be sentenced to stone or banished to the moon and so forth. And Discord is the only creature left in the land still serving such a sentence. And, hopefully, one day I will secure his parole." He mused. "No, they got something much more... Civilized in store for you. Ya’ll hear tell of the Crystal Empire?"

"It was just recently rediscovered, was it not?"

"Sure was, and set free by your favorite pony, Twilight Sparkle." There was another groan from Trixie. He ignored it. "King Sombra is gone. Princess Cadence and her husband-- our prosecutor up there, Sir Shiny Armor-- rule the land. But they didn't just discover the empire, the crystal ponies, and the Crystal Heart. They also found the Crystal Dungeons."

"Crystal Dungeons?" Trixie asked. "Trixie hasn't heard of them."

"Course not, because no pony's supposed to talk about it. They're cages of despair and unforgiving light, built by Sombra himself to keep any dissenter locked up. Imagine a cell built like a loop, entirely made of reflective crystal. The prisoners see nothing but themselves, endless copies of themselves, running in circles as long as the judge sees fit." He shook his head. "No creature deserves that."

Trixie was shaking. Her earlier thoughts of revenge were being poisoned by fear. She lifted a shaking hoof and pointed it at Drawl, "Trixie doubts your story. Celestia would never allow such a fate for any pony."

"The same Celestia that keeps Discord frozen in stone?" asked Drawl with a raised eyebrow, "But you're right. It ain't Celestia sending troublemakers there. Luna's in charge of the pony justice system." Trixie's eyes went wide, and Drawl nodded, "That's right, Mz. Lulamoon. Your judge. She ain’t her sister, full of forgiveness and understanding. She's old school law and order, judgment style. And she has the power to send you the same place she sends the Diamond Dogs, the outlaw ponies who rob trains in Appleloosa, and the changelings who fell behind after the invasion."

Trixie narrowed her eyes. "Trixie is no ignorant Diamond Dog or mindless changeling. Trixie is the most powerful illusionist in all of Equestria. There is no prison the can keep her, crystal or no." She turned away from the Drawl and stared back at the moon. "Let Luna do her worst. Trixie will find a way out."

Slow Drawl let the silence grow between them. He tilted his head back and forth, as if the words were rolling around in his head. Finally he said, "Maybe you will." Trixie turned her head. Drawl continued: "Maybe you buck the odds. You got the guts, no question. You may have the talent, too. But say you get out, Mz. Lulamoon. Then what?"

Drawl walked up to the bars and placed a hoof on them. Trixie watched him out of the corner of her eye. "You run, right? You run as fast and far as you can. Then one of two things happens. One, you stay one hoof ahead of the law, the rest of your life. Possible. You'll go from town to town, never staying anyplace for long, always going to sleep afraid..."

Drawl's voice was scraping against Trixie’s mind, and his words were digging into her skull. She gritted her teeth and asked, "Or..?"

"Or more likely, ya get caught. Maybe not the next day, but soon enough. Because Luna will use every resource she’s got to track you down. And they'll drag ya here and put you through a trial for escape, and then, mark my words, she will make an exception to Celestia’s new rule and-" as he finished his rant, he slammed on the bars for each word, "Put. You. In. Stone."

"What do you want Trixie to do?" she seethed. "'Pony up' and take my three years in a crystal prison? Or plead for mercy in front of Luna?" She shook her head. "Trixie won't beg, Mr. Drawl."

"You know, there was testimony that was going to come out durin' the trial... I got it thrown out as hearsay, before y'all fired me. But you should know. Shining wanted the jury to hear what the children said about you. The two times you came to town, their teacher had them write down about the experience, because they kept having nightmares. And what they wrote is that they were terrified of you. Let me see here," he produced a document, and started to read aloud, "’She's still in my nightmares,', 'My brother makes fun of me because I need a night light,' ‘She’s not real, right? Shes a made-up monster, like the boogie mare,’ and my personal favorite, ‘I can’t sleep, Trixie will eat me,’

"STOP!" screamed Trixie. "Enough! Trixie can't take it anymore!"

"Is that what you wanted to achieve when ya'll set out with your traveling roadshow?"

There was another silence. Trixie was quietly crying. "Trixie wanted to amaze and delight ponies of all ages." She turned towards Drawl and said, "The Great and Powerful Trixie wants to show ponies things they've never seen before, wonders and illusions to dazzle the mind and enrich the soul. To make their lives a little more... amazing. And have them remember the pony that brought that amazement to their eyes."

There was a pause. “It is all I live for,” she sniffed.

Slow Drawl cocked his head at that. That was the first "I" he ever heard out of her. I wonder...

"Trixie,” he said, “Are you a smart enough pony to know when someone's offering you a helping hoof?"
Trixie lifted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"

Slow Drawl got very close to the bars. "There may be another choice. If, and this is a big if, miss; IF I can get the judge to offer you a way out that ain't jail... Would you take it?"

Trixie kept her eyes on his, searching for clues. "That depends. What would Trixie have to do?"

"Yes or no. Right now. Jail, or something else. And don't say yes if you don't mean it."

She pounded on the cell bars. "Trixie can't agree to something she doesn't know the details of!"

"Trixie ain't got much of a choice, does she?" said Drawl. "Look. Either go to jail and whatever happens, happens. Or the other way. My way.”

"Why are you helping Trixie, after everything Trixie did to you?"

"I have my reasons."

They stared at each other.

"Trixie... Trixie will agree to your terms."

Slow Drawl laughed. "There ain't nothing to agree to, just yet. You hold tight, now, and I'll see you in the morning. I got work to do."

"Will you speak to the Princess?"

"Trying to influence a judge, behind closed doors, in the middle of sentencing? Honey, I'd lose my license in 10 seconds flat." He laughed. "On the other hoof, ain't no law says I can't speak to her sister..."

Luna was sitting at her desk, her horn aglow as she scribbled furiously with a quill pen. When she had agreed to be the new head of the Justice Department, she knew it would be hard work. She just hadn't expected the tedium. Forms upon forms upon madness. Endless paperwork madness. No wonder Celestia was willing to part with the job so easily.

Still, things had gotten better from her perspective. Crime was down, punishments were up, and the guard ponies seemed to walk with a spring in their step now. Cadence and Celestia seemed less enthused with her tactics, but Shining Armor had responded very positively to the changes. It had helped matters considerably when Shining Armor had reported the discovery of King Sombra's Crystal Prison. Now that she had a place to send (or threaten to send) the worst offenders, Canterlot was breathing easier and the Crystal Empire was getting the necessary funds to hire ponies and get things going again.

Most of the trials she had presided over were easy enough. The cases were either close calls or criminals who thought they could fool a jury; Shining had not prosecuted anypony he thought truly innocent. Then the Trixie case had come through, and everything changed.

Some ponies were only too happy to tell the jury what Trixie had done, especially Twilight's blue and orange friends. But Twilight herself declined to come testify, causing a giant headache for Shining Armor (and a blow out fight the siblings.) Twilight kept insisting that punishment wouldn't solve anything, which was all well and good in theory, but made it difficult to prosecute the case when the star witness wouldn't come forward. Or it least it should have, since the defense lawpony Slow Drawl volunteered to take Trixie's case for free. But everything was thrown for a loop when Trixie 'fired' her free lawpony a day into the trial, insisting she'd represent herself. At that point, in the words of the newsponies covering the trial, "The farce became a circus."

Trixie objected to practically every question asked of the witnesses by the prosecution, on the grounds of "shenanigans", a term which she could not find in any of her law books. And the only questions she asked of each witness had to do with her talent and magical prowess. Members of the audience often broke into incredulous laughter and had to be removed from the court. Luna was greatly relieved that the jury came back with a guilty verdict so quickly.

But now came the question of punishment.

Shining Armor was right: a sentence of 3 years in the Crystal Empire prison was a legal sentence. But no pony had ever been sent there for that long, only changelings and other uncontrollable creatures who had committed crimes of treason and violence. To send a pony there for anything short of treason or murder would set a giant precedent. And yet, she had been convicted at a fair trial of a laundry list of crimes.

"Lulu?" A sweet, gentle voice floated on the wind. "Do you have a moment?"

Only one pony could call her that and live to tell the tale. Luna smiled, "Tia, why are you up? Your duties resume in mere hours, you should be asleep."

Celestia shook her head with a drowsy smile. "I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about Trixie."

"We share a common problem." Luna mused, staring over the file in front of her. "Three years in the Crystal Empire prison seems harsh, and yet, the crimes are numerous and real."

Her sister's smile fell, as she stared at a model of the prisons that was set up on Luna's table. There little color-coded figurines in many of the cells of the model, indicating where different races of prisoner were.

The cells were about 70% full. Higher than last time, Celestia noted grimly.

"Sometimes I wish that this prison was destroyed during Sombra's attack on the Empire," Celestia said.

"Dark times call for drastic measures, sister." Luna replied, calmly organizing her papers, "Crime was high and now thy will agree, it hath gone done."

"Yes, but the cost is high, Luna.." said Celestia sadly, "Equestria must be free, or it is not the Equestria we fight to defend."

"Any future that our subjects hath must be derived from law and order. And this subject, Trixie, hath no respect for it whatsoever."

Celestia laughed, although it had a hollow ring to it. "You have me there."

"This unicorn has caused havoc, even pain, to good ponies. Friends of ours. Ponies who have saved us time and again, ponies who testified against her."

"But not Twilight," said Celestia. "Doesn't that bother you? The pony who was the most wronged, and she did not come forward."

Luna sighed, "That doth give us pause, yes. But the jury's verdict is done, without her testimony, and there will be no appeal."

"Lulu, did you read her file? I did. Foster home after foster home. She came to the School for Gifted Unicorns on a scholarship and was dismissed for behavior issues. But she got top marks in all her classes when it came to achievement."

Luna frowned. "Lots of ponies also came on scholarship, and graduated without using a forbidden magic for revenge."

"Maybe Trixie is different. Maybe she deserves another chance."

And with that, Luna lost her temper and started shouting in the Royal Canterlot Voice: "You give too much! You trust too much. First you gamble with Twilight Sparkle 's life to restore the Crystal Empire, then you speak of voluntarily releasing Discord--Discord, who has almost dethroned thee twice! And now you wish to give this little tyrant a second chance!

"A third chance actually. She woke up an Ursa Minor shortly after you returned. I sentenced her to community service.”

Luna rolled her eyes. "There it is! Face facts, sister. Some ponies cannot be redeemed."

Celestia took a step back, the words slapping her in the face. Luna instantly felt the visual rebuke and realized she had gone too far. "We are sorry, Tia, but it is true. Some ponies just... turn to evil. " Celestia lowered her head, and tears started to gather. Luna panicked, "’Tis not anypony's fault, dear sister! One can love and care as much as one can, and still the object of that love can come out twisted." Celestia took yet another step back, visibly shaking now. Luna felt like she was about to cry as well, and pleaded, "Please, dear sister, this is the last thing that I wanted... do not cry, Tia. Please. I love thee. What is wrong?”

Celestia looked her sister in the eye. "They said the same about you, Lulu," she whispered, "They said... They said it wasn't my fault. Some ponies just ‘go bad’."

The words cut Luna like a blade. She looked up at the sky mournfully. Some ponies still shied away from her or were excessively formal.

Like they were afraid.

"And then..." Celestia continued, "I lost you. I thought it was forever. But she brought you back."

"Twilight Sparkle..." said Luna.

"Yes... dear Twilight," replied Celestia, "Twilight who would not come testify against Trixie, who has done nothing but harm her."

Luna cracked her neck, deep in thought. No wonder Celestia didn't want this job. It was harder than raising the Moon. "Ponies forgive, but do not forget easily, do they Tia?"

"Given enough time, and good deeds, ponies will remember the right more than the wrong."

Luna chuckled bitterly. "I have many more years and deeds to go."

"Then let this be the next good deed."

"But what am I to do? Forcing her to do magic shows for sick ponies or the like?" Luna snorted. "The era of a slap on the hoof is over. The crime is heavy; the punishment must be severe!"

"Then let it be severe, but severe in how it impacts her and others, for the good." Celestia sorted through her scrolls, finally found the one she was looking for and quickly flashed it to Luna. "What about this?"

"Sister?" Asked Luna. "What is that missive?"

"A request from the town of Appleloosa. Their sheriff has broken his leg, and they are without a pony to enforce the law. They are asking for one of our finest to serve until the Sheriff can get back on his hooves... This sounds perfect!"

"But we cannot spare Shining!" she grabbed the note out of Celestia's hoof. "Queen Chrysalis might-" Luna stopped, staring at the note, and then back at Celestia. "Oh."

Celestia had her best innocent looking face on. Luna narrowed her eyes at her sister, holding up the note for Celestia to see. The envelope was addressed to Luna, but on the inside the letter was clearly addressed to Celestia, from Slow Drawl, on behalf of the fair citizens of Appleloosa.

"We hath observed what thou hast performed here." said Luna, dryly.

"I just thought it was an interesting idea!" insisted Celestia.

"Thou were always a terrible liar, Tia."

"Okay, okay, so I might have gently manipulated the mail so that it crossed your desk... that's no crime."

"Actually--"

"What I'm trying to say... is that I advise you to test her, Luna. Challenge her to do better."

"Give a convicted criminal a law enforcement position! In one of our most dangerous areas..."

"Yes, a mixture of some of our bravest ponies with some of the worst scum and villainy around. Who is more likely to survive? A straight arrow, or one who already knows every trick in the book?”

Luna shook her head, “She’s headstrong, stubborn, self-important, impetuous--”

“She reminds me of you, Lulu," said Celestia. Luna's head snapped up sharply at that. Celestia continued, "Great power. Great sense of drama. A desire to be loved. A great wellspring of hurt when another pony got more attention."

"And a desire for revenge...?" murmured Luna.

"This is it for Trixie. The crossroads where she goes down one path or another, and if she goes to the Crystal Prison, her fate is sealed. She will stay there for however long you say, but I fear she will be back again in short order, a bitter pony filled with sadness and hate. Or we could give her a chance to become something--somepony-- great." Celestia smiled, "Like you, sister."

There was a pause. Luna had looked away, embarrassed. Celestia decided to double down. "I am so proud of you, Luna. You have accomplished so much since your return, when so many doubted you could. But I believed in you. Twilight believed in you. Give her the same faith, now."

Luna glared at the letter, deep in thought. "And if she fails?"

Celestia looked away, the moonlight illuminating her profile. "Then she fails. And any judgement you impose I will not overrule."

Luna mulled it over. Then a thought entered into her head. A wonderful, terrible thought.

"Very well, Sister. We shall use thy idea." She smiled wickedly. "But we shall do it OUR way. With OUR conditions."

"Oh?" asked Celestia, joyful inside but trying to hide it.

"Yes..." continued Luna, "Let her prove this faith we hath in her. Let her be a force for good, but she must also BE good when she does so. And, I believe, Twilight must write to thee when she has learned something?"

Celestia hesitated. "I do ask her to write me friendship reports from time to time, yes..."

Luna laughed, "Very well then. Let Trixie go to her new home, under my conditions. And let her write us reports on what she has learned there, with her new title."

Celestia arched an eyebrow. "Reports? On Friendship?"

Luna turned and smiled, her eyes somehow bigger than her smile. "Justice. She will write to us about Justice."

Author's Note

This story takes place in Season Three, right after Magic Duel (but before the final scene with Trixie and Twilight)

This was originally going to be Chapter One, and then I realized it felt more like a prologue since we're not actually, you know, on the way or in Appleloosa. Hence: Prologue.

Slow Drawl may or may not be Jimmy Stewart from Anatomy of a Murder. Trixie may or may not be channeling Futurama's version of Richard Nixon.

3:10 to Appleloosa, Part I

TRIXIE, APPLELOOSA SHERIFF
By: Einhander

Edited by Admiral Hoofesome
Pre-Read by Cola Bubble Gum

Chapter 1: 3:10 to Appleloosa, Part I

Whiste blowing, the 3:10 train thundered down the tracks, an hour outside of Canterlot.

It was the Appleloosa express, which only had one stop on its way to the far off desert town: Ponyville. It was one of the few steam powered engines on the rails. Most routes that weren’t headed to a big city (or the Crystal Empire) were pony-powered trains with tiny steam engines only good for spelling the pony team.

Ever since the narrowly-avoided buffalo-pony war, more and more ponies, both tourist and settlers, were headed out to Appleloosa. And due to the success of the Apple Family homestead, more apples were headed back to Canterlot and the other big cities.

Goods grown in the fields and orchards were worth more when they got to market faster. Pony powered trains were subject to any number of delay; steam engines weren't. Steam trains were faster, more reliable and cheaper. Soon all of the big businesses would clamoring to get their goods on steam trains.

Of course, as those businesses soon found out, steam trains were also easier to rob. It's one thing to try to make a team of stallions stop when they’re going full force, no matter how many masked ponies there are. But to stop a steam train, you only needed to capture its conductor...

Over the past few months, the 3:10 had transformed from a passenger/cargo train into a moving fortress. Today was no exception. At least a quarter of the ponies on the train were either peacekeepers or hired security. They paced up and down the aisles before the train departed, looking out of the windows and double checking tickets. Once the train started moving, however, nearly all of hired muscle vanished into the back of the train. The entire express, save for three passenger cars and the caboose, was dedicated to cargo. Something big was on this train. Something- or somepony- that was bankrolling all of these hired hooves.

There was one peace officer who was not on board to protect the train’ cargo, passengers or conductor. Deputy Braeburn had a different mission entirely.

The yellow earth stallion sat on an aisle seat, fedora in his lap and official papers in his hoof. He was in the second passenger car, coach section, which had one aisle with twelve rows of seats. A ticket-taking stallion was working his way up from the back of the car as the train picked up a good head of steam. Braeburn’s passenger sat to his right, staring out of the window quietly.

Braeburn was an apple-farmer, an original homesteader of Appleloosa, and a member of the Apple family. He was also recently made the Sheriff’s deputy, and one of his first tasks was a supposed simple one: to escort Appleloosa’s new Sheriff to town from Canterlot.

Sheriff Silverstar had broken his leg in an accident and Appleloosa needed a new Sheriff. There were no ponies who stepped forward (or rather, no ponies who had the needed experience stepped forward., so Silverstar wrote to Celestia requesting help. The Princess wrote replied that they had found a suitable replacement, but someone from the town would need to escort her from Canterlot to Appleloosa.

Braeburn volunteered. He was Silverstar’s deputy, he liked being helpful and it would be a good excuse to drop in on his cousin Applejack. Or so he thought. The local train turned into an express mid-journey and skipped Ponyville. It was strange, as the train had left on time and the conductor did not give any reason for the change over the loudspeaker.

Once he arrived at Canterlot, Braeburn had been surprised to find an armed escort waiting for him. He had been further surprised to find that he was taken not to Princess Celestia, but to Princess Luna. He had never met the Princess of the Moon (and now the Courts) before, but he removed his hat and minded his manners. Luna had told him in no uncertain terms, that her and Celestia’s choice for the Sheriff’s position was the right pony for the job…

However, she was also a convicted felon on parole, although he had nothing to worry about. She was more than qualified, but she was also very powerful who must be watched closely.

After listing this baffling contradiction of attributes and giving him written orders, Luna had escorted him to the front gate and revealed a light blue unicorn with an off-white mane, purple eyes and a cutie mark of a crescent moon with a wand. She also wore a wizard’s hat, a haughty expression and… was in chains.

“Excuse me, sir? Ma’am? Tickets please,” said a ticket-taking pony, snapping Braeburn out of his daydream. He handed up their tickets. The ticket-taker took them and gave a wary look at Braeburn’s fellow passenger--his prisoner, if he was being honest--who was still staring out of the window. Braeburn pointed to his Deputy’s star pinned to his vest and the ticket-taker nodded, taking the tickets.

“What’s with all the security?” asked Braeburn.

The ticket-taker began punching the tickets, “The pony delegation from Saddle Arabia. They’re the ones who reserved the first class car all to themseves. But most of the hired hooves are in the back with the cargo.”

“Well how do ya like that? Must be nice, havin’ a whole car to yourself!”

The ticket-taker shrugged, “Seems like a waste of bits to me. I mean, it’s not like the 3:10 gets crowded.” He gestured to the rest of the sparsely populated car. Braeburn and his prisoner were in the middle of the car. Behind them, there was a small group of foals on a school trip with their teacher. In the very last row there was a black pony wearing a black Stetshoof hat hunched over and apparently sleeping. Ahead of Braeburn was a dark blue unicorn reading a book, an elderly pony couple staring out the window holding hooves and finally, in the front row, was a dark red mare with a crude, hoof-made wizard’s hat.

The train pony handed over the tickets, “Then again, maybe it’s a good thing. Less ponies on the train, less chance of us gettin’ robbed.” He nodded to the empty seats, “You two can take whatever seat you want after we stop in Ponyville. From there, it’s express all the way to Appleloosa.”

Braeburn smiled, “Sir, ya run an excellent train, but ya gotta work on your dialect! It ain’t Appleloosa, it’s Appppppllleeeelllooossa!”

Although the train was going at an incredible rate of speed, and the wind was whistling by outside and the engine was chugging along loudly, one could nevertheless hear a pin drop after Braeburn yodeled his town’s name. The ticket-taker stared at Braeburn with a befuddled expression.

“Yes... Well... Thank you for, uh, that. Whatever ‘that’ was.”

“Go ahead! Give it a try!”

The taker shook his head, “Uh-huh, yeah I’m not doing that, but you, uh, folks have a nice day.”

The ticket taker left and Braeburn turned back to his prisoner, who was still staring out of the window. Her name, according to the papers, was "TRIXIE COMMA T.G.A.P", which just raised more questions than it did answers. But Trixie C. Tgap was no more helpful than her paperwork, giving only one word answers or none at all. Braeburn had always been a friendly pony, but after a few minutes of forced one way small talk, he had given up.

He kept staring at his paperwork, then at the pony next to him, then back to his paperwork and the bright metal star enclosed within, which was still glowing. Braeburn glanced at the chains on her hind and front legs, magic-draining chains if he guessed right. Expensive to make and risky to use on a prisoner being transported by one pony. Around the mare’s neck hung what at first looked like a necklace, but upon closer inspection, was a different kind of chain. It was a gorgeous silver pendant, with three rubies in a row, evenly spaced. You had to be quite close to realize the pendant’s chain was just slightly too tight to lift over one's head and there was no place to unhook it. The guards had taken her hat and cape away at the Canterlot train station when they placed the necklace on her. She had been visibly upset, but she didn’t complain.

Braeburn looked back at his instructions: when he was to officially give her the job, the chains were to come off, but not the necklace. During one of their two-to-three word dialogue sessions, he could have sworn he saw the left ruby on the necklace light up after some of her answers.

The steam whistle blew again, and the conductor came over the loudspeaker: "10 min CCCCSSSHHH Pony SDSHHHRRRKKK Thank ya'll CCCSHHH Express."

The dark blue unicorn a few rows up did a double take. "What didst he say?"

Braeburn looked around and found that the ticket-taking pony had moved to the next car, so he responed: "I speak pretty good conductor, ma'am. Pretty sure he said 10 minutes to Ponyville."

The unicorn blushed and said, "We extend our thanks to thee, officer."

Braeburn grinned and shook his head. Canterlot pony formal speak always made him smile. He turned his head and found the light blue unicorn giving him a look, eyebrows arched.

This was as much of an opening as he'd had all day with this 'Trixie.' He decided to try again.

"Ya know, I've heard and seen a lot of strange things in my time. I've seen a war stopped by apple pie, I've seen a pony almost give her life for a tree, and I’ve seen a musical number almost cause genocide. In fact," he frowned at the realization, "I saw all of that in two days."

Trixie stared at Braeburn, face blank. When it became clear she had nothing to add, Braeburn went on:

"But I ain't ever seen a pony transported in chains so she can start a new job as sheriff."

Trixie finally cracked a small smile (possibly a smirk), and said, "What is your name, deputy?"

"Braeburn, ma'am. I believe I mentioned that."

"Well, Deputy Braeburn, you will find that as you get older, life becomes a bit more than right and wrong, black and white, and so on."

"Shoot I know about that. That's every day in Appppple--" he stopped himself, when he realized ponies were staring, "Er, in Appleloosa. It's just confusin', that's all. And it’s Braeburn, ma'am."

"'Trixie' will do, Mr. Burn." Trixie replied wearily, closing her eyes.

"That reminds me, how do you pronounce your last name?"

"Just like it sounds, Mr. Burn."

”Er, Braeburn is fine. But your name doesn't really sound like anything." Trixie opened one eye and stared at him critically. He swallowed and looked at his paper, "If'n you'll pardon for me for saying so. Tee-gap? Tah-gap? Or is it like, t'jap?"

"Give Trixie that," she barked, grabbing her discharge papers.

Be it the order of Judge Princess Luna that

TRIXIE COMMA T.G.A.P.

be transported to Appleloosa and be given the rank of

SHERIFF

for a term of no less than

ONE YEAR.

SO ORDERED

Hon. P. Luna

Trixie groaned. Of course. Of course they would do this to Trixie. Why wouldn't a princess kick her while she was down? Then again, a fake last name could mean an easier escape in the end.

"It's just... 'Gap.'" She answered finally.

"Just Gap?"

"The 't' is silent," she murmured.

"I guess what I'm askin' is... How'd you wind up here?"

Trixie stared out the window again, her eyes getting a faraway look.

"Trixie Lulamoon, thou have been found guilty of no less than seventy two crimes against ponies, and it has fallen on us to determine thy sentence."

Trixie hung her head, silently listening to Princess Luna. She was in the same courtroom where her tantrum had caused the Princess to put her in jail overnight. Her attorney, Slow Drawl, was also silent, but had his head up, intently watching Luna. So was the prosecutor, Shining Armor.

"Thou have gone by other names for as long as our records have mention of thee. The Great And Powerful Trixie or Trixie Comma The Great And Powerful. Very little of what is in our records indicate substantial power beyond trickery and deceit, and there is no evidence of greatness. Thou were expelled from the School for Gifted and Talented Unicorns and many of thy boasts have been proven untrue. Wouldst thou dispute any of what we have said?"

Trixie muttered something under her breath.

"Thou must speak up if thou wishes to be heard."

"Trixie has greatness in her," Trixie said in a dull tone of voice, head still looking at the ground. "And one day the world will realize that."

Luna then did something that surprised even an old courtroom hack like Slow Drawl.

She smiled.

"That will depend on you, Trixie Lulamoon."

Trixie lifted her head, daring to arch an eyebrow.

"This court offers thee two paths. For these crimes, we are authorized to give thee three years in the Crystal Empire Prison. However, you must choose."

"One year in the Crystal Empire, starting today." Luna paused, letting the words hang in the air. "A train is waiting to take thee immediately there, where thou will stay for one year. After which you will be a free pony and may take whatever path thy choose."

"...Or?"

"Or there is another train, the 3:10 to Appleloosa. If thou choose to board that train, it will be to take on the job of Sheriff in that far off part of our kingdom. For one year, minimum, subject to renewal."

Trixie stared at the Princess, mouth agape.

So was Shining Armor. "Princess, I mean, your honor, really--"

"Silence, Prosecutor! You already had your chance to recommend a sentence, and we have taken that into consideration."

Shining shook his head and muttered, "A job or jail. Gee, what will she pick?""

"We are not finished. There will be conditions of your parole. There will be rules." Luna's horn glowed, and a document was spun out of air, which floated down in front of Trixie. "These conditions are non negotiable. And we promise thee, if thou break ANY of our rules and conditions, thou will be resentenced to the full three years in the Crystal Empire’s Cells. No early release. No appeal."

Trixie read the paper quickly and then dropped it without a care. Slow Drawl caught it and started to read quickly.

"Choose wisely, Trixie Lulamoon. And choose now."

Trixie smiled and quickly drew herself up to reply.

"Ya honor, I need a moment to speak with my client," interrupted Slow Drawl.

"Trixie does not--mmmfph!" Slow Drawl was covering her mouth with his hoof.

"Brief recess, your honor?"

Trixie came back to the present, realizing Braeburn was still staring at her.

“Trixie had a choice, Mr. Burn. The train to Appleloosa or… the Crystal Empire. Trixie chose your train.”

Braeburn swelled with pride. “You chose us over the Crystal Empire?”

Trixie opened her mouth to respond and felt the left ruby on her necklace warm up in anticipation. It could feel the lie coming. She said a very bad word in her head and then replied, “It was the lesser of two evils.”

“Oh.” said Braeburn, deflating. The left ruby on Trixie’s necklace dimmed. “Well. I hope you’re up for it. It’s a big job, being Sheriff of--“ he looked around, then whispered, “-Appppppplllleeelloooosa.”

“Trixie wants to know why you keep doing that.”

“Doin’ what?”

“Saying the name of the town all drawn out like that.”

“Oh. That’s just how we do it in Apppplllleeee-“

Trixie motioned with her hooves, “Trixie demands to know if you can stop.”

He blinked. “Stop what?”

“Stop saying… that word like that.”

Braeburn smiled, “Oh you mean Apppppllleeelllooosa?

Trixie facehooved. “This journey is proving to be a barren source of amusement.”

The intercom suddenly crackled to life again, and the conductor's voice said "Now SsssHHHHH PonyviCSSSS CSSHHH press."

The dark blue unicorn a few rows up turned around again and looked at Braeburn, who smiled and said "Now approaching Ponyville."

Trixie groaned. If she was being honest with herself, this was the part of her sentence she was looking forward to the least...

Slow Drawl and Trixie were hustled into a small room in the back of the courtroom by the guard ponies. There were two chairs and a table, but nothing else. Not even a window or a picture on the wall.

“There is nothing for you and Trixie to discuss.” Trixie said, sitting down as best she could while navigating her chains.

“Have you actually read this thing?” asked Slow Drawl, tossing the document on the table in front of Trixie. “Technically, you can’t even tell a fib about needing to use the little filly’s room.”

“Trixie doubts your claim of being a lawpony.” Trixie sniffed, “It’s jail or not jail. Simple.”

“It’s one year guaranteed, then you’re out, versus three years if you fail. And make no mistake, Mz. Lulamoon. This is a test rigged for you to fail.”

Trixie scoffed. “Trixie defeated an Ursa Major. Trixie can also pass any Princess’s test.”

“No, you didn’t. That was made very clear at trial,” snapped Slow Drawl. “Which also means you just failed Luna’s test. Take a gander.”

Trixie rolled her eyes, but took the document in hoof and read.

"If thou accept these terms, thou will be placed immediately on the next train to Appleloosa.

Thou are assigned to the post of Sheriff in Appleloosa, with all the rights and responsibilities conveyed therein, for one year, subject to renewal based on the discretion of Judge Luna.

Upon the end of each one year term, thou will be up for renewal based on thy performance.

Thy performance in thy assignment, and the continuing of thy parole, are based on the following conditions:

1) Thou must only use your magic in the discharge of thy duties.

2) Thou must protect the innocent and uphold the law.

3) Thou must not lie.

3a) Boasting about things thou have not done shall be considered a lie.

If thou are found to be in violation of conditions 1-3a, thy parole shall be revoked and a prison sentence of three years imposed.

These terms are non negotiable.

_____________ ______________
DEFENDANT JUDGE

ADDENDUM:

Acceptance of these terms can only be made after thou has asked forgiveness from Twilight Sparkle.

Trixie snapped her head up in shock. “I have to apologize to Twilight?!”

“That’s the least of your worries, Mz. Lulamoon. See those conditions? Do ya see number 3A? Because ya just blew it, right here and now.”

Trixie bristled, “What do you mean?”

“You never beat no Ursa Major. Hell, you didn’t even tussle with an Ursa Minor. You ran away.”

Trixie sighed, leaning back in her chair. “Trixie figured Twilight would tell everypony about that… incident.”

“Did she need to? You had a whole town that knew you were full of crap, pardon my language. And then you came back to the scene of your crime.”

She pounded the table with her hoof, “If they think Trixie is going to apologize to Twilight, they’ve got another thing coming.”

“Good! Then I’ll tell Luna you’re doing the year. Let’s go.”

“Hold on, hold on!” cried Trixie, “Nopony said anything about agreeing to jail!”

“Mz Lulamoon, I want the best deal I can get for ya, and I’m tellin’ ya… don’t do this. Don’t agree to something ya’ll can’t do. I don’t want you to be imprisoned for one year, but I especially don’t want you to go for three years.”

“Trixie can manage. Trixie’s played tougher places than Apple-whatever,” she said, “Ponyville, for one.”

“It ain’t a show, though. It’s a full time job, being the law in the last frontier of Equestria. It’s a harsh, unforgiving place and it’s a hell of a responsibility to drop on anypony, much less one without the experience.” Trixie looked down again at the document, thinking hard. “And don’t think they’ll just rely on your word that ya’ll are followin’ those rules. They’ll have spies. More than that, they’ll hook you up with a tracker ruby.”

Trixie tilted her head, “A what?”

Slow Drawl shook his head, “Another little gem they don’t tell people they found in Sombra’s fortress. It’s a little silver and ruby necklace that looks innocent enough, except it tracks what you do and say. Each ruby is enchanted to wait for the wearer to break a single rule, and if the wearer keeps breaking the rule, the ruby shatters, sending a giant shining star into the sky. That way they can find the pony that broke the rule. Sombra used it to police his citizens, and now Luna is using it to track ponies like you.”

There was a pause.

“How does it work?”

Slow drawl made a rectangle in the air with his hooves. “Three rubies, side by side. One ruby for the lyin’ rule, one ruby for upholding the law and one for controlling your magic. Don’t ask me how the rubies know if you break a rule, but believe me, they do. They’ll start glowing if you even think about it, or if you start to say or do it. Now it ain’t exactly a hair trigger; it won’t go off because of one little fib or one look the other way. But they’ll get brighter and brighter, and if you push it too far they will explode and you’ll be going to jail for three years.”

Trixie frowned. “Trixie does not like the sound of this one bit.”

Slow Drawl nodded, “I don’t like it either. There’s a reason we got ridda ol’ King Sombra, and it wasn’t to steal his methods of oppression.”

Trixie shuddered. “But one year in Crystal Prison… Trixie can’t do that,” she paused, eyes softening, “I just can’t, Mr. Drawl. You don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t understand, Mz. Lulamoon. I’m the one that got ya this deal, I sweated blood and tears to get ya this deal, and I’m tellin’ ya now, it’s no good. It’s shoddy.”

Trixie looked at her attorney and then at the document. “Trixie needs a pen.”

Slow Drawl reluctantly took out his quill and rolled it over to Trixie.

“You’re doing this with your eyes open, ya hear? I don’t want any word coming down later on that ya’ll didn’t know what you’re getting into.”

Trixie stared at the quill pen. "Last night, you said something about the children of Ponyville. Did the children... did they really call me the bogey mare?"

Slow Drawl paused. "They asked if you were a made up monster, like the boogey mare."

Her magic still being drained by the chains, Trixie grabbed the quill with her mouth, signed the document, then spit the quill out. Trixie stared at her attorney.

"They lock up monsters who scare children. Trixie is not a monster."

Slow Drawl grimaced at the saliva covered quill, and then looked at the document.

TRIXIE, THE GREAT
AND POWERFUL
_____________ ______________
DEFENDANT JUDGE

Trixie gave him a grim smile. “Trixie Lulamoon knows what she is doing.”

Slow Drawl shrugged, “I sure hope so. By the way, don’t forget now, the first condition of your parole?”

Trixie groaned.

“That’s right. Get your apologizin’ face on, because ya’ll goin to see your best friend, Mz. Sparkle.”

The ticket-taker pony came back into the cabin from the first class section, snapping Trixie back to the present. While her mind was elsewhere, her eyes had been watching the scenery. Now that her brain was back in the same place as her body, she realized something was bothering her.

"Braeburn," she asked, "How far are we from Ponyville?"

Braeburn, smiling that the mare had gotten his name right, cheerfully said, "Why, less than a minute now, Trixie."

"Then Trixie wants to know," she murmured, "why the train isn't slowing down."

Braeburn opened his mouth for a quick reply, and realized he didn't have one. He looked out the window, noting how quickly the posts were moving past the train, and nodded. "Tarnation. You're right. We’re speedin’ up."

The ticket taking pony, also noticing the train's rate of speed, stared out of the window with a concerned expression on his face. Braeburn and Trixie followed his gaze and saw two yellow ponies driving a complicated looking machine that was somehow keeping up with the train. They were tall with bright red manes, and looked like twins, except the driver pony had an epic moustache. The other pony was filling with a giant metal object that was mounted to the side of the vehicle. It was black and ominous, and it resembled a crude cannon.

The intercom crackled to life.

"CCSHHH second CCCCSSSHHHH back CCCSSH SHHH forty-two CSSSHHH"

Virtually every pony stared up at the intercom speaker in befuddlement. The only two ponies that did not stare both rose, unnoticed. The black pony stood by the back door, and the dark red mare got up out of her seat and headed towards the door to the first class section.

"What didst the conductor say now?" The blue unicorn asked.

"That... That was just gibberish," said Braeburn, concern leaking into his voice. The door to the first class section closed with a bang. The ticket-taking pony turned his head, alarmed. The dark red mare was gone.

The intercom crackled to life again. "HeeeeeeCCSSHHHH eeee!"

Braeburn sat upright in his chair. "THAT sounded like a cry for help!”

As the deputy stood up, Trixie looked towards and past him, and noticed that the yellow ponies outside the train had lit their cannon, and it was now aimed at the train.

Trixie grabbed the deputy and screamed “Get down!”

Outside, the yellow ponies braked suddenly and disappeared from view. Trixie and Braeburn didn’t see the cannon go off, but ever pony in the car felt it, as an explosion rocked the train.

Ponies tumbled everywhere. There was chaos and coughing as smoke started filling the air. Braeburn hoped against hope that the cannon hadn’t fired on the passenger car in back of them.

Smaller explosions rattled the car again, this time coming from the front of the train. The ticket taking pony ran for the first class car, but the door blew off its hinges before he could get there, sending him flying back into the aisle. The outline of the dark red mare appeared in the smoking remains of the doorway, clutching a staff that had a blue crystal at the tip.

Braeburn froze. There was screaming coming from the first class car. He wanted to move, but he couldn’t. He stared at the dark red mare. She had a black mane, blue eyes and a black cherry cutie mark. Her eyes found Braeburn's, and her gaze shook him to his core. His eyes then flickered down to her staff, and she followed his gaze, pointing the staff in Braeburn's direction.

The blue unicorn got out of her seat to help the wounded train pony, and the dark red mare shifted her gaze to the unicorn. They exchanged stares, but the blue unicorn was not afraid, and started summoning her magic. The mare with the staff was faster and said "60!" to her staff, which lit up sending a blue bolt flew out and hit the blue unicorn in the head. She faltered back, stunned but not out. The red mare fired another bolt which crumpled the blue mare to the ground.

Seeing a second pony down snapped Braeburn out of his stupor. He remembered the extra security was in the cargo cars, and shouted to Trixie, "Stay down, I’m going to get help!" as he started to sprint towards the back door.

He only got about three feet before there was a crack, like a piece of wood being broken in half. Braeburn fell back onto an empty seat a few rows in behind Trixie, clutching his muzzle in pain.

Standing over him was the black stallion, no longer hunched over in the corner. The black pony had a black hat and a black vest. Along both sides of his vest were all manner of knives, each with a black handle. The only other color on him was white: his mane, his cutie mark, two white cards, the Ace and Jack of Spades, the trim on his vest and his eyes.

He leered over Braeburn, staring at him with his milky white pupils and a crooked grin. His mouth was smiling; his eyes weren't.

"Hellllll of a jaw you got there, partner," he said, his voice a lazy, rolling growl, "Doooo yourself a favor and sit this one out, Deputy."

The black pony then turned as the dark red mare cursed as she restrained the blue unicorn. The unicorn on ground was glowing with a strong aura. Trixie recognized the chains that the red mare was using on the unicorn; they were the same ones that were currently draining her magic.

"Ppppppproblem Cherry?" Asked the black pony, who continued to stretch out the first word of every sentence he spoke.

"Fine, fine. No thanks to you," snarled the red mare. She locked another chain around the blue unicorn’s neck, who finally she stopped struggling. "And it's Black Cherry, if you please." She then stood with a snort, adjusting her hat.

The black stallion laughed as she left, turning to the rest of the ponies. "Alright fillies and gentlecolts, as you've probably surmised, this is a stick up." He then grinned, watching the younger ponies shiver in fear, "Fortunately for ya'll, we're not here for your money, we're here for the Saddle Arabian's." A knife suddenly appeared in his hoof, and he started playing with it idly, "So sit back and relax, and no one gets hurt."

The train pony began to moan on the ground, so Cherry gave him a kick. He stopped moving.

The black stallion grinned. "Mmmmuch.”

Author's Note

TO BE CONTINUED

I've always had this song in my head during train robbery scenes. Maybe it will now be in yours.

3:10 to Appleloosa, Part II

TRIXIE, APPLELOOSA SHERIFF

By: Einhander

Chapter 2: 3:10 to Appleloosa, Part II

Edited by: Admirmal Hoofsome

Luna focused on the double doors to her chambers, which opened with little resistance against her magic. The doors opened inward, and she walked through without slowing her pace. Braeburn followed behind her, hesitating momentarily at the doorway before gingerly stepping inside. He didn't feel right being in the princess's bedroom, but quickly realized that it was much more her office than her quarters.

There might have been a bed in there somewhere, but all he could see were boxes and boxes of files, papers and law books, as well as the occasional empty tea cup. The only area that was untouched was the balcony, which had a spectacular view of the night's crescent moon.

"Are thy instructions clear, deputy?" She asked.

Braeburn shook his head; he had been lost in the view. "Frankly, no, yer highness," he said, as respectfully as he could manage, "You're telling me she's highly dangerous, while at the same time highly qualified to be our Sheriff? That don't make much sense, beggin' yer pardon."

"Do you trust us, Deputy?"

Braeburn weighed his response carefully. "You're our princess, princess. We trust you with the moon every night, ya ain't let us down yet."

Luna fixed a stare upon Braeburn. "Let us be blunt: do you, Deputy Braeburn Apple, trust us, Princess Luna, with your town's safety?"

His mouth was full of rocks. The words simply did not come in the face of Luna's penetrating stare. He swallowed and said slowly, "I trust ya, Princess. I just want to understand ya, too."

She smirked. "Thou shouldst be a diplomat. Very well. Consider for a moment all the ponies; mares and stallions, the three tribes, all the possible candidates for your position. All the dispatches and urgent letters sent requesting help. Out of all those pleas and picks, we chose her. Therefore, I ask again. Deputy... will you trust me?"

Her tone had melted only a little, but it was enough to make Braeburn feel ashamed. Of course. Of course she had her reasons and was only thinking of the best for his town. She was his princess, after all.

Braeburn became very serious, stood up straight and said, "Yes, ma'am! Follow you anywhere, ma'am!" She blinked. He wilted. "Er... I mean, yes, yer highness."

The laugh was so sudden and rich, it almost lifted Braeburn off of his hooves. Luna turned her head to her left side, trying to hold back the chuckles, but it was to no avail. Braeburn adjusted his hat, feeling a bright crimson wave sneaking up his neck.

"Oh, ‘tis so good to laugh again!" She said through her tears, smiling, which stopped when she saw Braeburn's expression. "Alas! Blush not, deputy, our aim is not to embarrass thee."

Braeburn shrugged. “Well, ya hit the bullseye anyway...”

"Braeburn. Show me the star."

He looked up, then quietly took the dusty old piece of tin out of his vest pocket. "Silverstar only had one extra. He wanted to give me his star to bring, but I wouldn't hear of it. Silverstar should keep the only silver star we got. This'll do for now."

Luna stared at the star, magically floating it out of Braeburn's hoof and into hers. She said nothing for a moment, then asked, "’Tis a humble little thing, is it not? Would not something more gallant be fitting?"

Braeburn shrugged. "Ah guess. Silverstar says it ain't matter what it's made of, only who decides to wear it."

"Let us compromise, then."

Braeburn watched as she walked over to the balcony. Staring up at the moon, she levitated the tin star out of her hoof. It floated and twirled in the glow of the moonlight. She closed her eyes and focused, as dark blue magic began to flow into the star. As the magic seeped in, Braeburn saw the white light from the moon itself bending around the star. The star lit up, getting brighter and brighter. There was a flash, and Braeburn shielded his eyes.

When he opened them, Luna was standing in front of him. The newly made star, shining with a bright silver finish, was in her hoof. She offered it to him.

"We will trust thee to give this to Trixie when she is ready."

He took the star, his face a mixture of confusion and awe. The star said 'Sheriff' on it, and had a crescent moon engraved into the silver. If it is silver, he reminded himself, I ain't ever seen silver shine like this. "What do you mean, when she's ready?"

"She will come to thee in chains. They are to remain on her until thou deems her ready for task."

"But yer honor, ah don't even know her."

She nodded, "The 3:10 to Appleloosa is a leisurely ride, even at high speeds. Plenty of time to talk."

Braeburn stared at the star, unsure. "Shouldn't Sheriff Silverstar make that call? If she's ready, ah mean."

She drew herself up and used the Royal Canterlot voice. "NO."

Braeburn took a step back, eyes wide.

Luna smiled, and her voice returned to normal. "It is thy task alone. Make her say the words." She floated an open
envelope off of her desk and held it front of Braeburn. "Make her swear to the three promises. Only then will her chains come off, and only then is she Sheriff of Appleloosa."

"And the Appleloosian Territories." Braeburn added.

Luna blinked. "What?"

"Well, there's Appleloosa proper, but then they're also the territories." Braeburn stretched out his hooves. "Acres and acres of wild land, where the buffalo live and some farmers make their homestead. There ain't no proper governin' there, so the Sheriff has jurisdiction of not just the town, but authority to investigate and arrest lawbreakers in the territories around Appleloosa."

Luna stared at him, eyes wide and muzzle tight. Braeburn coughed. "It, uh, it was mentioned in the letters we sent ya'll."

She groaned, then magically took the letter out of the envelope, and a quill appeared as she wrote. ‘And the Appleloosan Territories.’ She proffered the document again, which he took reluctantly.

He looked at the two items, the star and the proclamation. He turned to her. "But how will ah know if she's ready?"

Luna smiled. "We trust thee."

Braeburn awoke with a kick to his ribs. He gasped in shock, and then in pain as the black stallion lifted him off the floor of the train. He threw Braeburn back into his seat next to Trixie. He grunted, his muscles aching, as he tried to assess the situation.

The train continued to pick up speed. Aid from Ponyville was not an option. The train had rocketed past his cousin’s town and was now headed for Appleloosa. He wasn’t sure if anypony was driving the train, but it sure felt like he was riding an out of control locomotive. No help was coming from the rear of the train; Blackjack had locked and blocked the back door. Nopony from the third passenger car (or any of the extra security in the cargo cars) was coming to help the rest of the train. And even if they did…

The robbers had taken the children.

After locking down the passengers in Braeburn’s compartment, Black Cherry had returned to the first class car. There was shouting and another small explosion, then four little Saddle Arabian foals came running into the train car. Braeburn rose again, trying to help, and then there was a blow to the back of his head, and he...

Shaking his head, he tried to sort out what was memory and what was dream. He tried to think of a plan. He was in okay condition, but outnumbered. Trixie was still in her magic chains, and had been basically neutralized for the whole robbery. The dark blue unicorn was also wrapped in chains, lying on the ground. The train pony was still passed out. The elderly couple was quietly holding one another, not saying much. Most of the foals were crying and whimpering.

“Keeeeep those little darlin’s quiet, now,” said the black stallion, still elongating the first word of every sentence he spoke.

“I’m trying, you brute....” muttered the teacher.

Braeburn turned and looked at her as she tried to calm down the foals in her charge, along with the new ones… and he realized she had bruises on her face. Bruises that weren’t there before.

He turned and locked eyes with the black stallion. “No one gets hurt, huh?”

The black stallion shrugged. Then he stopped and looked directly at Braeburn. No, not at him. At the mare next to him.

Trixie’s eyes were as big as dinner plates. She had never seen a train robbery before, and while she felt the mare called Cherry was in over her head, the black stallion clearly knew what he was doing. She was mesmerized by the whole thing, it was like watching a pulp novel brought to life. And now, the villain of that novel had noticed her for the first time. The black stallion walked over, pulling out a knife and tossing it from hoof to hoof.

"If you don't mind me asking,” stretching out the ‘if’ like it was a rubber band, “What's a pretty mare like you doing on a train like this..." He took a breath, and Trixie realized he had a scar all along his throat, which was probably the cause of his speech impediment. "Wearing chains like that?"

Trixie arched an eyebrow at the stallion. "It's complicated."

The black stallion smiled, still playing with his knife, "Bet it is, they only use those chains on the worst magic offenders," he winked at the blue unicorn, "You must have done something really awful."

Trixie bristled. She didn't know what was worse, the stallion's raspy voice, or his dead on accuracy. She held her head up and said, "Trixie was convicted of trumped up charges on very thin evidence. Trixie was innocent."

The black stallion laughed. It was a horrible, raspy, deep throated death rattle of a laugh. He coughed and said, "You got the wrong idea lady, I--We--like awful."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't care what you like. She isn't afraid of you or your compatriot-" her eyes shifted, noticing Black Cherry still pointing her staff at the cowering passengers, "Who is obviously an earth pony using a magic weapon she doesn't really understand or appreciate." It was the black stallion's turn to arch his eyebrow. Trixie smiled, her guess proved accurate and continued, "And if Trixie didn't have these chains on, she'd show you just how not scared she is."

The black stallion got closer, now holding the knife close to Trixie, "You’re missing the point," he said in a harsh whisper, "You’re the one with chains on, the question is, do you want them to stay on? I already committed several felonies today, one more won't matter."

They stared into each other’s eyes, and Trixie realized what was being offered.

"Blackjack," whined Cherry, "We really don't have time for you to fl--"

The stallion's eyes turned hard, and he snapped his head, glaring at Cherry. She promptly shut up. Black Cherry was dangerous, armed and bad tempered, but she was not suicidal. "Er, sorry Blackjack," she said.

Blackjack (whose name seemed obvious to Trixie now, in light of his cutie mark,) turned back to Trixie, his eyes softening, as he said, "This could be my good deed for the decade, if you want a jalbreak."

Trixie stared at Blackjack. “Who are you?”

“The name is Blackjack, that’s Black Cherry, and we’re the Black Hat gang. We rob banks.”

There was a quick beat as Trixie looked around the train car and then back at Blackjack, with an arched eyebrow.

He smiled “We’re having a period of aggressive expansion.”

“Your 'gang' needs a new name. What exactly are you offering?”

“Don’t listen to him, Trixie!” said Braeburn, glaring at Blackjack, “He’s a bad pony!”

Blackjack tilted his head only slightly to look at Braeburn, his voice becoming uncomfortably calm. “I’m talking with the lady, if you don’t mind, officer.” He then flipped the knife over in his hoof and held the handle out to Trixie. "Freedom, Trixie. That’s what I’m offering. We could always use another four hooves, especially ones that aren't afraid."

Trixie stared at the handle, not knowing what to say. She had been plotting her escape from the moment she got on the train, waiting for a chance to break free from Braeburn, and here it was, right in front of her face. A gallant—scarred, to be sure, but gallant nonetheless—stallion was standing in front of her and offering her a path to freedom. The next year, which was feeling more and more like prison the closer she got to Appleloosa, was evaporating in front of her. There was nothing Braeburn could do to stop her from accepting Blackjack’s help. It was so close, so very close, all she had to do was--

An explosion rocked the train, causing Cherry to fall onto an empty seat, and Braeburn to fall into the aisle. Trixie and Braeburn could hear screams coming from further up the train. Black Cherry got up from her seat, still clutching her staff and cursing. “Those idiots! Flim and Flam must have moved up the timetable!"

Braeburn stood up and cried out, “Those are innocent ponies you’re hurting! Ya’ll are crazy!” He climbed over the his seat to run towards the back of the train car. Black Cherry was waiting for him, and said “20!” before shooting Braeburn in the front right leg before he got three rows back. Braeburn cried out in pain and fell to the ground, holding his leg, which had a nasty bruise on it.

“That was 1/5 of my power, Deputy,” snarled Black Cherry, “You want to face 100%? Stay down!”

Blackjack shook his head at Braeburn and turned to Trixie, clearing his throat, “You’ll have to decide quick now. We’re outta time.”

Trixie looked at Braeburn and then turned back and saw the dagger. But now she also saw the dark blue pony that was bound in chains, the ticket changing pony lying unconscious on the ground, and she heard the screams coming from up ahead, and the crying of the little fillies behind her.

She turned and looked at the foals. They were all in various states of fear or hysterics, except for one little unicorn in particular, a gray colt with Saddle Arabian garb. He wasn't making any noise or crying. He was staring at Blackjack with wide brown eyes, his face reflecting pure terror.

She's not real, right?

The little foreign colt then turned to look at Trixie, his eyes begging for a savior. Trixie turned away and stared again at the knife.

She’s a made up monster... like the boogie mare...

Something within Trixie stirred. She had never been a goody two shoes or anything close to it. She didn’t particularly care if some Saddle Arabians lost their money. She had gotten mad at her audiences in the past and pranked one or two ponies. She had even gone mad with power in a jealous rage, and yes, had briefly ruled over Ponyville like a tyrant.

They lock away monsters that scare children.

But there was right, there was wrong and then there was this...

Trixie is not a monster.

“Trixie is sorry,” she said haltingly, “But she must decline.”

Blackjack’s smile dropped, but he didn’t seem angry. “You sure?”

Trixie stared back. “Trixie has a job waiting for her in Appleloosa.”

Blackjack sighed and shrugged, pulling the knife back. “Too bad.” He got up and walked towards the front of the train, stepping over Braeburn without too much care.

Braeburn was looking hard at Trixie. Then out the window, then back at Trixie. The mare stared back in confusion. He looked like he was weighing things in his mind.

Another explosion rocked the train, throwing Black Cherry onto her back, and sending her staff flying onto the laps of the elderly couple. Blackjack groaned, walking over to get the staff before he dealt with Cherry. Which meant neither pony was watching Braeburn or Trixie.

Braeburn said in a hushed whisper, "Do you swear to uphold the law and protect the innocent?"

"What?" asked Trixie.

"Do ya swear to uphold the law and protect the innocent?"

"Really? You're asking Trixie this now?"

"Do ya swear?!"

Trixie rolled her eyes, "Trixie swears."

Blackjack had retrieved the staff and was now helping Cherry stand up. The mare was muttering curses underneath her breath.

"Do ya swear to never lie?" asked Braeburn.

"Yes."

"Do ya concede that boasting about things you ain't done is lying?"

"Yes!"

"Do ya swear to only use your magic in the discharge of yer duties?"

"Yes! Yes! Trixie swears!"

Braeburn held his breath for a moment, distracted by something outside the train. “There’s a turn coming up... we’re makin’ it too fast...”

"Hey! Deputy!" yelled Black Cherry, newly rearmed with her staff. "What do you think you're doing?"

Braeburn turned back to Trixie, “Then by the power invested in me by Princess Luna-"

“Deputy!” said Black Cherry, powering up her staff, “I’m warning you!”

Braeburn closed his eyes, holding the silver star in his hoof, and said, "I name ya'll Sheriff Trixie C. Tgap, of Appleloosa and the Appleloosa territories." He opened his eyes and flung the silver star in Trixie's direction.

To Trixie, time seemed to slow down to a crawl.

The silver star, glowing and spinning like a wheel, headed straight for Trixie's head.

Black Cherry, aiming at Braeburn, mouthed “80!” and charged up for another blast.

Braeburn turned to see the staff, shutting his eyes in anticipation.

Trixie lunged forward for the star, the chains tripping her up and causing her to crash onto the ground of the aisle way.

The train listed to the right as it made the turn far too fast, causing Black Cherry to stumble backwards, the staff in her hooves now pointing above Braeburn's head.

The silver star ricocheted off of the window, bouncing onto the seat and rolling into the aisle way.

The staff went off, blasting a hole in the ceiling above Braeburn's head.

The foals screamed in fear.

The power of the blast sent Black Cherry back into the car door, with her hat flying off and her body slumping to the ground.

And finally the star rebounded off the car floor and falling into Trixie's hooves

The chains fell off of her with a click, and time resumed its normal pace.

Magic began flowing into Trixie’s horn. She sighed in deep, sudden happiness. She was a cat that had napped for a hundred years, and was now stretching for the first time in decades….

Braeburn opened his eyes, surprised to see that he was not dead. That surprise was short lived, as Blackjack turned from shaking his head at Black Cherry, to point one of his knives at Braeburn.

“Always told you Cherry, staves for show,” he pulled his arm back to throw the dagger, “Knives for a pro.”

And Blackjack threw the knife as fast and hard as he could at Braeburn’s head.

Braeburn kept his eyes open this time. He didn’t have time to close them. He saw the knife come sailing towards him, only to stop two inches from his head, surrounded by a light pink aura. He looked to his right and saw his savior:

The newly appointed Sheriff Trixie C. Tgap.

Author's Note

To Be Continued...

At my editor's suggestion, we're breaking this up into smaller chapters. This was originally double the length, but we're going to post it as two parts.

3:10 to Appleloosa, Part III

TRIXIE, APPLELOOSA SHERIFF

Chapter 3: 3:10 To Appleloosa, Part III

By: Einhander

Edited by: Admiral Hoofsome

Trixie shook off her chains, and stood up, cracking her neck as the magic flew through her. She had a devilish smile on her face as she pulled the knife over in front of her face, studying it and turning it with her magic.

Braeburn stared at the knife, and promptly passed out on a row of seats.

“She lives!” said Blackjack, grinning broadly. “And she’s a badge.”

Trixie stared back at Blackjack, smiling. “Trixie told you she had a job waiting for her.”

Blackjack extended his hoof, “I think that knife belongs to me, little lady.”

Trixie shook her head, “When you throw your weapon at Trixie’s-” the word ‘friend’ caught in her throat, he wasn’t really her friend, she had just met this stallion, so she rallied with, “-deputy, it becomes Trixie’s property.”

Blackjack tilted his head, slightly. “Bad form to get between a pony and his knives.”

“You bitch!” spat Black Cherry, who was climbing back up.

“Black Cherry, you should really fix that gadget of yours,” said Blackjack, “Every time it goes off I have to go pick you back up.”

“It’s because she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” said Trixie, “Do you, earth pony?”

Blackjack whistled softly, shaking his head. Black Cherry looked up, and realized her hat had fallen off, revealing her bare, hornless head. She seethed, "She's mine, Blackjack. Get out of my way." Blackjack shrugged and stepped into a row of seats, leaving the path clear between the two mares.

Trixie stepped forward, keeping the knife in front of her and pointed at Blackjack, but keeping her eyes trained on Black Cherry.

"This thing goes up to 100 times the power of a lightning strike," said Cherry. "Stand down or I'll knock your eyes out of their sockets."

"Looks hoof made, very rough. Where did you acquire the bolt stone?”

Black Cherry smirked. "Stole it off of a dead unicorn more powerful than you."

Trixie nodded. "Trixie surmised. Earth ponies can't make magic stones on their own. No matter how hard they try. Is Trixie correct?"

Black Cherry's eyes betrayed her. Trixie smiled, "Trixie IS correct. An earth pony who wants to be a unicorn, now pretending to be a train bandit. Wearing a silly hat. Does your mother know what you do for a living?"

"Just keep talking," Cherry glared, starting to power up her staff. "I'm going to paint the walls with your guts."

Trixie arched an eyebrow. "How colorful."

"I'm going to make you beg for your life, mare." Black Cherry snarled. Her staff was glowing and sparking.

"Cherry," complained Blackjack, Kill her or kiss her, make up your mind."

Both mares looked at him, and then at each other. Black Cherry was blushing, but it was hard to tell due to her coat.

Trixie shook her head. "You’re making boasts you can’t back up. Even if Trixie asked you to turn that thing off, you can't. Or maybe you don't know? A bolt stone can't power down once its overcharged."

Cherry’s eyes betrayed her again. She glanced down, revealing a flicker of doubt.

"Didn’t they teach you that in Magic Stones 101? Oh, Trixie apologizes. That's what they teach at Celestia's School for Gifted and Talented Unicorns. They must not teach that in Farm School."

"You... You shut up..." said Black Cherry, her face a mixture of shame and rage.

"Trixie proposes a trade. Trixie will teach you how to handle that thing without hurting yourself, and you teach Trixie how to farm cherries. Fair?"

"Shut up! Shut up! 100!" She screamed, and fired the weapon.

Trixie was ready. She quickly moved the knife pointed at Blackjack in front of her face, with the flat side of the blade facing the blast. It reflected off the silver edge, firing to Trixie's left. Blackjack dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding a full blast that took out the windows and the siding of the train itself.

Black Cherry screamed again, this time in horror, seeing a giant hole where Blackjack was standing only moments before. The Appleloosan desert roared by as dust whirled into the car from the hole.

The blast woke Braeburn out of his slumber, and he yelped as he sat up in his row. Dazed, trying to find his bearings, he turned and saw Trixie. Magic was glowing all around her, and she was staring at the giant hole Cherry’s blast had made. Then she turned back to Cherry, whose face had twisted into a mask of horror.

Cherry said, “Blackjack! Blackjack, where are you?”

There was a cough, and Blackjack came crawling out of the seats, lying on the floor. “Still here, Cherry.” He had a burn on his neck and was moving slowly.

Black Cherry sagged, the tension draining out of her body. Then she caught Trixie’s gaze, and instantly bristled again. “This is all YOUR fault!”

"The blast from a bolt stone can be reflected by the basest of metals," Trixie said simply as the blade crumbled away, leaving only the wooden handle floating in front of her face.

A tear was rolling down Black Cherry’s face. She was shaking. “You could have killed him!”

Trixie glared, “In what universe is your poorly made staff Trixie’s error?”

“100!” she yelled, pointing her staff and firing. Nothing happened. Cherry stared at her staff in confusion, and said “100!”

Trixie shook her head. “Here is another lesson.” She then wrapped the handle with as much magic as she could muster and sent it sailing towards Black Cherry. It cracked the mare right between the eyes, sending her to the ground. Trixie then ran over and jumped on top of her, holding her down and hissing “Bolt stones, once overcharged, cannot recharge immediately. You’re under-”

Once again, the words died in her throat. Could she arrest ponies? Of course she could, she was the Sheriff now, wasn’t she?

Right?

“Braeburn,” she said, genuinely curious, “Trixie can arrest ponies, yes?”

“Uhhh... pretty sure, Trixie,” he said, still trying to get his bearings and standing up in his row, “I know Sheriff Silverstar can, so why not ya’ll?”

Trixie turned back to Black Cherry and said, “Then Sheriff Trixie places you under arrest.” Black Cherry moaned in response, barely conscious.

“Afraid not, Trixie,” came Blackjack’s voice from behind her, his once friendly voice now a deep growl. He started walking towards her slowly “I’m gonna need you to get off my friend, there.”

“Step back,” she said, picking up Cherry’s staff and holding it aloft, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Too bad. Because I’m about to hurt you.” said Blackjack. There was no trace of humor in his voice.

“Braeburn?” said Trixie.

“Trixie?”

“Get your chains ready.”

Trixie then lit up like a light pink lantern, and her aura grabbed Blackjack, flinging him backwards. His hat came off as his body flew past Braeburn and the dark blue unicorn, hit the ground and tumbled to a stop near the cowering foals. They screamed and jumped further back in their seats to get away from the black pony

Trixie cringed. Trixie is out of magical practice.

The foals were crying louder now, and the teacher was doing her best to keep them calm. However, it was clear that the teacher was also scarred by the sight of the violent stallion, even if he was on the ground. The only pony in that group that wasn’t hysterical or terrified was the gray colt from Saddle Arabia. He was staring at Blackjack with wide eyes, but a steady hoof. The colt then turned and looked at Trixie, with the same big eyes, but something else as well.

Respect? Admiration? Curiosity? Trixie wasn’t sure.

Trixie looked down at Black Cherry--the mare was still moaning and rubbing her head--and walked down the aisle towards Blackjack. She stopped when a black object flew past her line of vision, and she realized it was the black stallion’s hat. She grabbed it with her magic before it flew out of the hole in the train. She stared at the black Stetshoof hat, which had clearly seen better days.

“Trixie?”

“Mmm?” asked Trixie.

“What... what do we do now?” asked Braeburn.

She looked at him. It dawned on her that she had no idea what she was doing. Everything up to this point, from the fight to the quips, had all been on instinct. Now that the villains were incapacitated... she realized she had no plan.

“Here,” she said, offering up the staff, “This device will eventually recharge, and better it be in your hooves than Ms. Cherry. You tie her up, I’ll handle the stallion. Then we...”

She paused. Then what?

He looked at her, then gently said, “We... help the passengers?”

Trixie wanted to crawl into a hole. It was so obvious and yet it simply did not occur to her. She covered as best she could. “Right. Get on it, deputy!” Her tone was gruff, but her expresion was thankful.

Braeburn grinned, “Yes ma’am!” He took the staff and crawled past her, heading towards Black Cherry. She smiled. This job won’t be too hard...

Then came a deep voice, "Prettttttty good magic, Trixie." Trixie gritted her teeth. The way Blackjack elongated the first word of every sentence was really starting to drive her up the wall.

"Let's see how you do against mine.” He said.

Trixie turned to look at him and gasped.

A black aura started to form around him, but that wasn’t the shock. On top of Blackjack’s head was a cracked white horn. The tip was missing and she could see there was a fissure running up and down the entire length. A small chunk was missing from the base as well. Her heart twisted in knots just at the sight of it.

She looked Blackjack in the eyes. “Dear Celestia, what happened to you...”

He bared his teeth. “Are you worried about me? You shouldn’t be.” The black aura became stronger, and his knives started magically floating out of their holders.

“Braeburn...” said Trixie, “Get on the ground.”

Braeburn turned and saw a knife pointing in his direction. The blades were floating around and past Blackjack, aimed towards various targets; the elderly couple, Braeburn, Trixie and the fillies in the back with their teacher. Braeburn hit the deck and turned to find he was face to face with the dark blue unicorn.

“Let me guess what you’re thinking,” said Blackjack with a smile, “Somethin’ along the lines of, ‘Can I stop all of these knives?'" The blades all settled on their various targets, now floating very still in the air. Trixie's eyes kept darting from knife to knife.

"Shall we find out?"

The black aura was getting thicker.

The blue unicorn lay on the ground, still bound but untargeted in this little dance. During Blackjack's taunts, she had frantically signaled to Braeburn, to pointing to the symbol on her necklace.

Braeburn turned his head and saw that the knife was still pointing at him. He turned back and grasped Cherry's staff, trying to think of how to help and realized the dark blue unicorn's eyes were staring intently at him. They looked familiar. Once she had his attention, she started raising her tied hooves, pointing to her neck.

Braeburn looked at the symbol on the dark blue unicorn's necklace, then back at her eyes. No wonder they looked familiar. "Princess?" He whispered.

Princess Luna rolled her eyes and nodded deliberately.

"Trixie wonders,” said Trixie, taking a step towards Blackjack, “If you're capable of murder... you're a thief, not a killer."

Blackjack took a step towards Trixie, "You did a nice number talking my friend there into making a mistake, but you see, I know that trick. Hell, I know the one who wrote that trick."

"Trixie knows this story,” she said, maintaining eye contact, “You stole it from him when you killed him?"

"Shame on you, Sheriff. I did not. In fact, she's on this train right now."

Trixie blinked and then pointed a hoof at Blackjack's fallen comrade, and arched an eyebrow.

Blackjack laughed, "What do YOU think, Sheriff?"

Luna was waving her chains at Braeburn, who was trying to undo them. He was finding that magical chains were just as hard to get off as they were to get out of. Then he realized what she was actually pointing at- Black Cherry's staff.

Another explosion rocked the train, and a particularly nasty, far off roar came from the cargo area.

Blackjack glanced at the ceiling with a little smile. "Good. She's out."

That was all Trixie needed.

She sprung forward and smashed her head into Blackjack's face, breaking his concentration. The knives dropped as the two struggled, Blackjack snarling and biting as Trixie kept trying to land blows. The battle quickly became one-sided, and Trixie realized that being as bold as Blackjack was not nearly the same thing as being as strong as he was.

Braeburn picked up the staff and aimed it uneasily at the chains. "How'd this work now? 20?" The staff lit up. Luna shook her head and pointed her hooves up. "More? 80?" Luna's eyes bugged out as the staff began heating up quickly. She shook her head even more vigorously and pointed her hooves down. "No! Lower, lower, okay. 30!" The staff powered down, and Luna seemed to hesitate. She gestured her hooves up, but only slightly.

There was a strangled cry from the back end of the train. Braeburn glanced over to see Blackjack on top of Trixie with a knife, and Trixie struggling to hold it back from her neck.

"Ah'm just having the weirdest day..." He muttered, turning to help, only to find that Luna was kicking his shin. Braeburn hesitated, then turned around and aimed the staff at the Princess

Blackjack growled, "These ponies worth dying for?" The knife was at her neck now, poking her coat

Braeburn whispered, "Dear Celestia, please don't let me buck this up..."

Trixie bit down on Blackjack's leg as hard as she could. He screamed and dropped the knife.

Braeburn yelled, "40!" Luna closed her eyes. The staff powered up slightly, but otherwise nothing happened.

Luna opened her eyes in confusion.

Blackjack snarled and clocked Trixie in the jaw. A wave of pain and shock went through her body, she tasted blood in her mouth and some small part of her brain realized that Blackjack had been holding back. As he hauled her up onto her hooves and dragged her to the hole in the side of the train, she further realized that the time for holding back was over.

Braeburn panicked. "Why isn't this doohickey workin'?"

"E-excuse me, Mr. Deputy?"

Braeburn turned and saw the elderly couple looking at him.

"I think you'll find that you need to hit the switch on the side of the staff to make it fire, right under the stone, there." continued the old mare.

Braeburn looked at the staff. Sure enough, there were two small stones, one up and one down, that looked very much like a switch.

"That nasty young mare did that before she shot that nice train pony, didn't she?" The old mare asked her husband.

The old stallion nodded, "Oh, fer sure."

Braeburn stared dumbly and said, "Much obliged."

Blackjack was at the hole now, lifting Trixie up. "Ennnd of line, Trixie."

Trixie stared at the desert rocketing by and said nothing. She didn't have anything left.

"It's a shame," he said quietly. "We could have been friends."

Trixie turned and looked at Blackjack's eyes. For a moment, sadness mirrored sadness.

There was a sudden humming noise. Blackjack's ears twitched. Trixie managed a faint smile.

"40!"

The blast was small, but it was enough to create a small hole in the floor around the Princess. A dark blue aura instantly filled the train car, and out of the smoke walked Princess Luna in her alicorn form. Free of her unicorn disguise she strode forward, wings expanded and eyes determined.

Blackjack dropped Trixie carelessly and turned to face the princess. Trixie hit the ground, her muzzle facing the hole. She didn't have the strength to turn her head, but she could still hear:

"No wonder she sent Cherry and I into this car. It wasn't because of these bumpkins. It was because of you."

Trixie heard a cough that was most likely Braeburn, and then the booming baritone that could only be Luna's Canterlot voice.

"For multiple crimes we hath observed with our own eyes, including but not limited to, assault of a train employee, assault of a peace officer, kidnapping of foals, destruction--"

"Can we just get to the good stuff?" said Blackjack. "Eventually, this train’s runnin’ outta track."

There was a clunk on the roof, causing Braeburn to look up. Something heavy was on top of the train car. Trixie could see ponies walking around through the small hole caused by Black Cherry.

Disoriented and filled with rage, Luna continued, "We are placing thee and thy accomplices under arrest!"

There were three definite thumps from above. Braeburn cleared his throat and said "Uh, Princess?"

Luna did not hear or see anything that wasn't Blackjack. She fixed the Stallion with cold and pitiless eyes. "It was a mistake to take the children."

Blackjack shrugged. "Distracted you, didn't it?"

Luna blinked, and then there was a flash of light followed by a bang. A chunk of the train car ceiling collapsed, and would have landed right on Luna had Braeburn not pulled her out of the way. As they hit the ground, Cherry was on top of them, kicking Braeburn in the stomach and smashing her staff on top of Luna's head. The staff shattered on Luna's horn, but it achieved the desired effect, knocking her out.

"Stay down," said Cherry, her voice a harsh rasp.

A ladder descended from the newly created gap in the ceiling. A pale yellow stallion poked his head through the hole in the ceiling. He had bright red hair, a moustache of the same color, and the permanent, satisfied smirk of a pony who has gotten away with something twenty four hours a day.

"School's out!”

The stallion pulled his head back from the hole. Blackjack and Cherry stared at one another.

"Sorry I crapped out back there." Cherry said.

"Sorry you broke your staff on the princess's head."

Cherry shook her head, "Buck it."

Another stallion, a double of the pale yellow pony (but with no moustache), slid down the ladder and said, "Come, compadres! Escape awaits!"

Black Cherry grumbled, "It's about time, Flim."

The non-moustached pony shook his head and said, "I'm not Flim, I'm Flam!"

"That's true," came an identical voice from above, "He's Flam and I-"

"Save it," said Black Cherry, putting a hoof on the ladder, "Let’s go."

As they spoke, Trixie lay on the ground, too weak to move. The wind blew a black object into Trixie's line of sight. She blinked, and her eyes focused. It was Blackjack's hat.

There was a low grunting sound from the pile of pony that was Braeburn and Luna. Flam squinted.

"Oh my stars! Flim! I do believe Princess Luna is on this train!"

"That's right, and I just broke my staff on her pretty head" snipped Black Cherry as she neared the top of her climb, "So let’s not dawdle."

Flam blinked, mouthed the words ‘staff’ and ‘head’, then looked down. A quick yelp escaped his lips and he scurried up the ladder. Blackjack went last, kicking the rubble as he mounted the ladder.

"Blackjack."

He turned his head at the sound of Trixie's voice. She was bleeding and beaten, but she was sitting up, holding his hat like a trophy.

"Trixie will be seeing you soon."

Blackjack looked at her. "Maybe you will, Sheriff." Then he smiled. This smile was different from all of his others. It was small and almost genuine. "Shame to lose a nice hat like that.”

He winked at her. And then he was gone. The ladder was pulled up after him.

Trixie sagged to the ground, the strength saved for her last stand now spent.

She barely heard Blackjack's voice above the train car. "Good to see you, boss. What about the wheel pony?"

Then she heard a voice she didn't recognize, a deep voice, female and sharp as a razor.

"Leave him. His information was a dud."

There were more clunking noises, and then nothing but the sound of the train.

Trixie felt her energy drain out of her as she lay bleeding on the floor of the train. All she wanted to do was sleep, sleep until she got her strength back... sleep for years.

She was dimly aware of Braeburn coughing and saying, “The train! We gotta stop the train... Princess, Trixie... Anybody?

He crawled over to her, "Ya'll okay, Sheriff?" Trixie turned and looked at him. The little Saddle Arabian colt was standing behind him, peering at her.

"What did you call me?"

The little colt said, in perfect Equestrian but with a slight accent, "He called you Sheriff, Sheriff."

Trixie looked at the colt. "That's what Trixie thought he said."

And as she lost consciousness, the last thing she remembered seeing was the Princess rising up from the rubble, blue aura flaring and eyes glowing, as she turned to look at her...

Author's Note

I'm your huckleberry.

True Bit

Trixie, Appleloosa Sheriff

By: Einhander

Chapter 4: True Bit

Edited by: Admiral Hoofesome

Pre-Read by: Cola Bubble Gum

"Thou art awake."

Luna’s voice tore across Trixie’s consciousness like a rocket, blazing a trail of sound in her mind. Before there was nothing, just a black void. Now, there was still a black void, but also the royal voice.

Also pain. Lots of pain.

Trixie tried to open her eyes. Only one eye obeyed. She looked around the room with it.

She was in a bed. There was equipment sitting around her. She was bandaged. There was beeping. And Princess Luna standing by her bedside, regarding her with a blank expression.

"Where am I?"

"Ponyville Hospital. After thou lost consciousness, we freed the conductor and, with the assistance of the deputy, stopped the train. Thou hath been asleep for two days.”

"Two days?"

Luna turned back to Trixie and nodded. "Two days. Nurse Redheart was unsure when thou would recover." Trixie laid her head back on her pillow, head still swimming in pain. All she wanted to do was sleep. But two days would have to do; there were questions nagging at her.

"What happened?

Luna uncomfortably shifted her gaze to the window. "The deputy informs us that we were only minutes away from a bend in the track that would have derailed the train.”

Trixie gasped, then winced at the effort it took. Everything hurt. “Was anyone injured?”

Luna looked at her with an uncertain frown. "All the foals are accounted for and with their parents. The elderly couple had a few scratches, but nothing too worrisome. Most of the train staff needed some kind of medical attention but they shall survive... most, that is.”

Trixie felt like Luna was holding back. "What about Braeburn?"

Luna nodded. "Wounded, but walking around despite the doctor's orders. Once he could sit, he sat by thy side. Only our command to go see his cousin stirred him from his perch." She smiled softly. "And our promise to stay by thy side until his return."

Trixie blinked and stared up at the ceiling, unsure how to process all of this information. Something sounded off.

"Such loyalty is rare, does thou not agree? Watching over thee?"

It clicked in Trixie’s head. "And that's what you were doing on the train? ‘Watching over’ Trixie?"

Luna's smile faded. "Are thou are so important as to demand thy Princesses’s attention all day and night?"

"Trixie knows you were on her train less than 3 hours after her sentence." Trixie said coldly, "Disguised, no less. Trixie is not a fool."

"We do not live and breathe to simply see thy sentence carried out. There was precious cargo on that train." She sighed, "Half of it is gone now."

"Cargo? You mean the Saddle Arabians?"

Luna shook her head. "Their baubles are no more than trinkets to display on their visits. Once the attack hit, they only worried for their children. No, the real treasure was a prisoner and her stolen goods. One of Equestria's most wanted- a gryphon of incredible cunning and evil. She was to be tried in Appleloosa for her crimes." Luna growled and stamped her hoof on the ground so hard that a small crack appeared. "And now she is free."

Trixie sat up, intrigued. "Why was she on a passenger train? Are there not more secure ways of transportation?"

Luna nodded, "Indeed, but we had reports that a spy was in our ranks, and her accomplices would know which train to hit. We decided to try stealth instead, hiding her on a passenger train that would have an excuse for heightened security." Luna glared out the window. "Those reports have proven true. Very few ponies knew that we switched the prisoner and the cargo to this train. Yet we were attacked as soon as we were out of Canterlot's Wonderbolt flight zone. Had we not changed the safe combination, the Black Hat Gang would have their leader AND the stolen magma-rock."

"Magma-rock?"

Luna stared out the window again. "We were not there to watch thee; we were there to protect the train. We failed." Luna then turned towards Trixie, "Although we did succeed in one thing. We did see your deeds on the train. All of them.”

Trixie knew this was coming. She felt a sudden wave of shame and despair. "Trixie has already failed, hasn't she?"

Luna said nothing.

"Train destroyed, prisoner escaped, ponies injured." Trixie felt tears coming on, but tried to pull them back. She didn't want the princess to see her cry. "Some Sheriff Trixie turned out to be. Trixie knew it! Trixie was made to entertain and amaze, not play sheriff! Trixie wouldn't have made it a whole year without performing anyway!" She stared at Luna, unafraid. "Very well. Trixie has broken the agreement and will take her punishment. Trixie will not run." She looked down, her energy draining. "At least Trixie will not have to apologize to Twilight Sparkle. She was not looking forward to that at all."

Luna regarded her, then turned and walked toward the door, silent. Trixie lifted her head, "Wait. Trixie has a request.” Luna stopped. “Could Trixie... say goodbye to Braeburn?” Luna glanced at her, still silent. “We only knew each other a short while but--” she felt the tears coming again, and this time they started escaping, “It would mean a lot to Trixie.”

Luna finally spoke: “Assuming thou hast failed… this is your final request?”

“I would like it very much, Princess. Yes.”

Luna shook her head, “We are sorry...”

Trixie’s heart sank.

“...but thou must first greet a different visitor before we acquiesce to thy request.”

The door opened, and revealed the smiling face of Nurse Redheart. And behind her was the gray colt from Saddle Arabia. Trixie’s eye met his two, and his face lit up. “Sheriff!”

Applejack was setting up her pastry stand. The sun was setting, Twilight was putting the final touch on her entertainment, and the Saddle Arabian ponies were set to arrive any second now to enjoy the town square prior to the show.

They’d have bits. She’d have pie. Anything could happen.

“Cuz?”

Applejack blinked, recognizing the voice. “Braeburn?” She turned and smiled, “Well, howdy stranger, and welcome back to--” Her smile died with the words in her throat. Braeburn had bandages and bruises all over,with one leg in a cast. “What on earth happened to you?

“Had a bit of trouble with some rough types,” he grinned, “Got my first battle scars! Whaddaya think?”

Applejack shook her head with concern. “Braeburn, it’ll only take you a few scraps to realize that scars ain’t nothing to be proud of. The trick is to get as few scars as possible. Trust me on this.”

Braeburn kept a silly grin on his face. “Well shoot, you should see the other fella, the one with the knives? He’ll remember the Sheriff and me, I tell you what. And the lady with the staff too, I’spose. Although, dang, did she give my head a wallop.”

“Fella with a knife? Lady with a staff? Braeburn, what in Equestria are you talkin’ about?”

“That’s right, cousin, where are my manners? I need to start at the beginning! Do ya’ll have a minute for me to tell ya the tale?”

Applejack looked around and realized that lots of ponies had arrived in the past few minutes, and the Saddle Arabians were going to be there at any moment.

“Actually, Braeburn, things are about to get a’mite busy, so if you don’t mind...”

“I don’t mind at all! It all started yesterday, when Princess Luna asked me to pick up our new Sheriff, Trixie C. Tgap. Now at first, I didn’t know what to think of her, but then--”

“Wait. Wait a darn minute.” Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Did you say, Trixie?”

“Yes, cuz.”

“Light blue mare?”

“Yup.”

“Unicorn?”

“Yup.”

“Says her full name when she speaks about herself?”

“The one and only! Do you know her?”

Applejack gritted her teeth. “Ya’ll could say that, yeah.”

“Ain’t she just the best?”

Applejack’s jaw dropped open.

“She’s a-”

Applejack then said a very, very bad word. Very loudly.

“And then! Then! You used your teeth and you BAM, and the black pony fell, and his knife fell! And then he picked you up, and I was scared, yes I was, but not so scared, because I knew you had a trick up your sleeve!” The little colt took a giant breath, then continued, “And you did have a trick up your sleeve! You had given the deputy enough time to save the Princess! Were you not scared?”

Trixie smiled. “Trixie, the Great and Powerful, is n-” she stopped, as her necklace started to glow, and she coughed. “Trixie did not have time to be aware if she was scared.” The ruby lost its glow.

The colt returned to his praises. “And then--”

Nurse Redheart coughed nervously, “Okay, little one, I think it’s time to give Miss Trixie--” the nurse took a moment to glare at Trixie, but then turned back to the colt with all smiles, “--er, the Sheriff time to rest. She has been through a lot.”

The colt nodded, “Oh yes! My apologies! I am very glad to say thank you in person, and I thank the Princess for allowing me the opportunity!” He smiled and shook Trixie’ hoof vigorously, which caused a new wave of pain to shoot through Trixie, “Once again, thank you! My family and I are in you debt! Should you ever need anything in Saddle Arabia, you need only to ask!”

Trixie smiled weakly, “You’re welcome, friend.” The colt practically jumped in happiness at Trixie’s words, then turned to go. Trixie said, “Wait.” The Nurse and the colt turned. “Trixie didn’t get your name.”

The colt said, “Batal. I am Batal. And one day, I will live up to my name.”

“How will you do that?”

Batal smiled, “I will be brave, like you, Sheriff Trixie.” He then turned and walked out, with the Nurse shutting the door behind him. It was not lost on Trixie that before Redheart closed the door, she gave Trixie another look, but this time it was a more thoughtful one.

“It’s a good thing little Batal is here to remind Trixie what she did,” muttered Trixie, “Because she remembers little of it.”

“It is a true account, mostly. There was a small amount of boasting, but it was his work, not thine.” Luna looked at Trixie. “Thou asked us earlier if thou had failed. Trixie. Listen to me.”

She leaned down, close to Trixie’s face.

“Everypony on that train would have died, except for us, had ye not intervened. That colt, his friends and family, the foals and their teacher, even your deputy; all would have perished. I would have been helpless in my chains, and though Braeburn would have fought, surely the black stallion would have...”

Trixie groaned, holding her head, "Blackjack. And the other mare, Black Cherry."

"The unicorn stallion thou crossed paths with we are familiar with. And the yellow brothers, Flim and Flam, we have been chasing them for some time. However, that very troubled mare who wielded that staff..." Luna hesitated. "She is of Cherry family, very well regarded in Dodge Junction. Unfortunately she is an orphan, her parents killed in an accident, leaving her and twin sister alone."

Trixie's face settled into a grim expression. "Trixie has lived that story."

"We know."

They regarded one another. Luna went on: "She was not born 'Black Cherry.' We knew she hath gone astray, but we did not know she had taken up with the likes of the Black Hat."

Trixie shrugged. "They probably offered her a family."

Luna shook her head. "She had a family. An entire town full of family willing to take her in. She turned her back on them, and took up with scoundrels and thieves."

"Sometimes it is not that simple, Princess."

"Sometimes 'tis. Ponies suffered because of her. She has blood on her hooves. They all do."

“Then so does Trixie.”

“Was that thy task?” asked Luna, anger leaking in her voice, “Didst thou know of the prisoner? Of the cargo? Were thou charged with their safekeeping? Didst thou agree to that assignment?”

Trixie shook her head. Luna was getting louder and louder.

“No! We did! We took on that burden! And we failed! And now a pony is dead because of me!”

Trixie blinked and shook her head slowly. “But... but you said...”

Luna turned away, tears in her eyes. “The train pony, the ticket taker. Our subject, quietly doing his honorable job. Who ran to the front of the car when he thought his passengers were in danger.” There was a pause. Luna whispered, “He never woke up.”

Trixie lowered her head, “Then Trixie did fail. To protect the innocent.”

“Wrong." Luna lifted her up by her chin."Once freed, thou did everything in thy power to save the train and its passengers. Thou were in chains when that poor pony was attacked. The fault is ours, not thine. We must live with that failure, thou must not be burdened. Does thou understand? ”

Trixie’s entire field of vision was nothing but Luna. The princess was practically eyeball to eyeball as she stared Trixie down. Trixie felt like she couldn’t breathe.

“The fault is ours. Does thou understand?”

Trixie whispered, “Trixie understands.”

“Good.” Luna then walked away, as if nothing had happened. “All in all, in thy first day of service, thou stopped a runaway train, earned the loyalty of a police officer, rescued a princess, stopped an international incident and saved a gaggle of foals.” Luna turned and looked at Trixie appraisingly. “Our Royal Sister has a phrase that seems appropriate here. We believe it goes like this.”

Luna cleared her throat, and announced: “‘Not too shabby.’”

Trixie blinked, then laughed. It hurt to laugh, but she laughed long and hard. Luna looked bemused. “Good, that had the intended effect on thee.” Luna waited patiently for Trixie’s laughter to subside, and when she was done, Luna continued, “Now that we have thy attention, there is another phrase we have picked up from our Sister. Actually, it is from our niece, Princess Cadenza.”

Luna turned back to Trixie dramatically. “‘Don’t get cocky.’”

Trixie stopped laughing.

“Excellent. That phrase also had the intended effect. We shall continue to borrow phrases from our relatives to adapt to this new age.”

Luna smiled, and opened the door. “Thou should rest for another hour, then thou must go find Twilight Sparkle for thy apology.”

“Princess?”

Luna said, “Hmm?”

“The colt, Batal. He said he wanted to live up to his name.” Trixie looked thoughtful. “What does his name mean, in his language?”

"Hero." Luna said. “‘Batal’ means ‘hero’.”

Luna had allowed Trixie to bend the third rule twice. She had persuasive arguments.

The first was that it would be in her official capacity as Sheriff to always look professional and presentable when appearing in public. Therefore, she should be allowed to cast a spell on herself to make it look like she was injury free. She would still feel every cut and scrape, but she would look completely normal. (Which also meant Twilight wouldn’t see her injuries and bandages.) That was the easy request.

The second one was a bit trickier. Part of her parole agreement stated that she was only to use her magic in the execution of her duties. And putting on a show was certainly not in her job description of Sheriff of Appleloosa or anywhere else. However, it was also part of her parole agreement that she apologize to Twilight, and she couldn’t think of a better way to apologize than helping Twilight with her magic show.

That discussion had gone on a bit longer, but Luna eventually relented. She even allowed Trixie her cape and hat back. After all, as Luna noted, it was Trixie’s last show for a long time.

Those words stayed with her as she approached the town square, where Twilight was already in full swing with her show. The yellow pony’s animals were enveloped in Twilight’s magic, floating and twisting in the air to form an infinity symbol.

Despite her feelings for Twilight Sparkle, Trixie could not help but notice how elegant the formation was. She then remembered why she was there, and summoned up all of her magic. The only way to add to Twlight’s magic, without upstaging it, was...

The fireworks exploded behind the animals, causing a fantastic double illusion that spawned a chorus of “oohs and aahs”. The colors could be seen for miles around. It was Trixie’s last illusion for a while, and she wanted to make it count.

Twilight frowned and turned around. Her eyes got very big, and she said, "Trixie?"

Trixie walked forward, lowered her head and removed her hat. Well, here goes nothing...

“It’s the least I could do...” She sighed, and said “I treated you and your friends so horribly when I was wearing that Alicorn amulet.” She paused and realized that the apology wasn’t forced or phony. It was real. She looked up at Twilight. “I just couldn’t control myself.”

Twilight looked at her with something between shock and disbelief.

“You... you can forgive me? Can’t you?”

Twlight’s eyes went half lidded. She stared at Trixie, then arched her eyebrow. “Hmm...”

Trixie thought that time itself was standing still. It dawned on her that all of her deeds, and all of her promises, could be undone right at this moment. If this purple unicorn didn’t forgive her, it was all over. Trixie realized that Twilight Sparkle, her nemesis, really had no reason to forgive her. Whatsoever.

Trixie felt very small.

“Sure.” said Twilight.

Trixie’s heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, good...” said Trixie. And then the clouds in her mind parted and the sun shined down. She was forgiven. She felt her energy returning. Everything was fine, nothing was ruined! Her new life could start, and with it, a new chapter in the life of the Great and--

That is, of Trixie C. Tgap.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have one last boast.

“Don’t you think the Great and Apologetic Trixie is the most magnificent, humble pony you’ve ever seen?”

It wasn’t technically a lie.

She turned, cast a smoke spell and ran away dramatically. It was a flawless exit, except for a small trip due to her injuries. She did not look back to see Twilight’s expression.

She didn’t look back at all.

Trixie boarded the train, threw her bag into the luggage compartment above the seats and sat down by the window. The Ponyville station was bustling with activity. It usually was when the 4:30 to Appleloosa pulled into town.

Of course, this was the local train. The express had been taken offline due to the giant hole in the side of a passenger car, among other reasons. A leisurely pony powered train ride sounded just fine with her.

Her cloak and hat were packed in her hospital bag, along with medication and a magazine, which was above her seat. It occurred to her now that while the other passengers on the previous train had their luggage destroyed, she had brought nothing with her the last time. They hadn’t let her bring anything. She now had more possessions than when she started this journey.

She shook her head, lost in the strangeness that was the recent turn of events.

“Excuse me, ma’am? This seat taken?”

She turned and saw Braeburn, bandaged but still smiling, pointing at the aisle seat next to her.

“Trixie has reserved this seat for her deputy.” Trixie replied with faux seriousness.

“Well, how about ah just sit ‘till he shows up.”

“Your funeral, Mr. Burn.” she said with a smile.

He sat, wincing, gently leaning his head back against the cushion. Trixie winced slightly, “How are you recovering?”

Braeburn shrugged, “Ain’t been in a tussle like that in--well-- ever, ah guess. But ah’ll be okay. How about ya’ll?”

Trixie shrugged, “Trixie will survive. How was visiting your cousin?”

Braeburn stiffened and shook his head, “The Apple family is loyal and honest, but boy, are we stubborn.” Trixie waited, figuring there was more. “Ah told her all about you, and sounds like you two have had a run-in or two. She is NOT your biggest fan. Ah told her what you did for me, for the ponies on the train, what Luna said, but...” he trailed off and sighed. “Applejack’s a good pony. She and her friends saved our town, and the buffalo, from destroyin’ one another. But boy, when she thinks she’s right about something... she just don’t let up.”

Trixie felt a lump in her throat. “Trixie doesn’t think she’ll come back here again, if she can help it.”

Braeburn lowered his head, “Might be a while till I do too. Applejack didn’t say goodbye after we had our row. Applebloom was all upset.” He shook his head. “That foal has enough trouble without her family feud’n."

He looked away, out the window. "T’aint fair.”

Trixie watched him, then gently placed a hoof on his shoulder, “Trixie is sorry if she caused any trouble between you and your family. Trixie’s past is... complicated.”

“Now just hold on there, Trixie. Ya’ll listen to me.” Braeburn looked at her with an intensity that she hadn’t seen before. “Ah don’t care what you done in the past. Ah don’t care what anypony says, even my cousin. Ya’ll saved my life. Ya’ll saved the life of every pony on that train. Ya’ll got True Bit, and that's that."

"True Bit? Trixie is not familiar with that phrase."

"It means you're the real deal, you ain't afraid of nothin' and nopony."

Trixie laughed nervously. "Trixie was afraid, to be honest..."

"Nah! Yer just sayin' that. I saw the look in your eyes. Ya'll were fearless!"

Trixie shook her head, "No, Trixie was scared out of her mind on the train. It was all an act. Trixie was," her eyes lit up in realization as she said the words, "performing. It was all a show."

Braeburn looked at Trixie. "Is that the truth?"

Trixie stared at her ruby necklace. "It has to be.

"Well, it was a heck of a show. Could'a fooled me. And besides, show or no, ya'll saved the train and them ponies. Ya'll are gonna be a great Sheriff. Anypony says otherwise, they take it up with me. Understand?”

Trixie blinked, “I just did what I thought was right.”

Braeburn smiled, “That’s ‘cause yer a good pony, Trixie.”

Trixie stared at Braeburn with her mouth open. Braeburn chuckled, "Careful now, ya'll catch flies." She closed her mouth.

"Braeburn, that's the first time anypony had said that about me since..."

She thought, hard. Ever?

Braeburn grinned at her. "Well then, been too long, ain't it? Besides, I ain't friends with no bad ponies."

A smile slowly crept up her face. "Are we friends, Braeburn?"

He blinked at her. "Gosh, Trixie. Ain't we? Besides, You save an Apple's life, you got a friend for life." He frowned again. "No matter what my cousin says."

"Friends..." Trixie chewed the word, and found it appealing. "Yes."

The train whistle blew twice, and the conductors were shouting their final preparations.

"Oh, and we saved this..." Braeburn offered up a black Stetshoof hat. Trixie's brain froze for a moment. It was a little dusty and worse for wear, but it was clearly Blackjack's hat."They had to magically sedate you to get it out of your hooves. You wouldn't let it go." Braeburn smiled. "Not that I blame ya. Heck of a prize, getting Blackjack's hat."

Trixie took the hat. "You knew of this rogue before the robbery?"

Braeburn blanched. "You tellin me you tussled with one of the most dangerous ponies in all of Equestria and didn't even know it?!" He pointed at the bulletin board on the train station wall through the window, "Heck, they even got his wanted poster in here! And he ain't even been to Ponyville once!"

She followed his hoof and saw it. It was a crude charcoal sketch, but it was accurate enough. The white eyes, the scar on the neck, the smile. And the hat.

Trixie stared at it for a few moments, and said, "If he's 7 hooves, then Trixie is a princess. The scoundrel is 6 hooves and a half, maximum."

Braeburn laughed, and said, "Tellin' tall tales already! You're gonna fit right in at Apppppllleelooosa!" Trixie smiled, and for some reason, his verbal tic no longer annoyed her. It was more like a pleasant irritation, an itch you'd miss if it stopped being around to scratch.

“Actually, it’s the truth, deputy.” She looked down at her necklace. “It has to be.”

The train started out of the station.

"Well,” said Braeburn, “It's your hat now Sheriff. What do ya want to do with it?"

Trixie stared at the black hat. Braeburn could see the gears turning in her head. Finally, she said, "Do you still have the star?"

"Star? Oh, sure. They gave it to me when you were in surgery."

Braeburn dug in his vest and then handed over the star to her waiting hoof. She stared at them both, one in each hoof.

Then she pinned the star onto the hat and put the hat on her head. She turned to face Braeburn with a neutral expression.

“How does Trixie look?”

He grinned, “Follow you anywhere, ma’am.”

She smiled, leaning back onto her seat, hat tilting over her eyes as the train began to pick up steam. The countryside was flying by, and the wind was whispering of a whole wide world of possibility.

“Now,” she said, tilting her hat up so she could look her friend in the eyes. “Tell me more about Appleloosa.”

Author's Note

Alright, folks. This ends the arc of the first few 'episodes', if we're using TV tropes.

The next section will introduce Trixie to Appleloosa, along with the rest of her crew, and some of the challenges facing her there.

I should get to it sometime in September, after Adorkable comes to a close.

I hope you've enjoyed this story so far, I enjoy the hell out of writing it.

I leave you for what would be my pick for a theme song, if this was a TV show.