When The Colt Comes Around

Braeburn had pried off the boards from the saloon and had started taking stock of the situation. The place had small sand dunes forming in some places along the floor, all of the windows had holes in them...and not a drop of liquor was to be found. He had to set his plan in action right away if he wanted to help this town at all.

His plan was simple: Each member of the Apple family was entitled to a stipend of products from each branch of the family tree. This meant that Braeburn was entitled to a share of a portion of the Apple's apples, wood, and cider. Some of the Grape's wine, the Orange's juice, the Carrot's vegetables, and the Cherry's famous Cherry wood. Now, while you could opt-out of your share, Braeburn had kept his for when he finally settled down with a herd of his own. But now, he thought that Fresh Springs needed it more than he ever would.

He took the rifle, which Swift had put in a convenient holster, off of his back and set it on the dusty bar. He still loathed the thought of doing all of this work, he was an earth pony..sure..but he hated manual labor. It wasn't so bad when iit was a group doing it, but doing physical labor alone? No, no, no. That wasn't Braeburn.

The farm pony sighed and sat on a creaky bar stool, he decided it would be best to write the letters that night. He looked to the stairs, which didn't look safe at all.

"Ugh...sometimes, ah hate mah job.."

--

Swift lifted her holsters off of her back and hung them on the peg in the wall near her bed. Another hard day had passed, another day of hardships had been endured. Frankly, she just wanted to rest. So she fell onto her bed rather ungracefully, the stiff mattress and dirty covers felt soft to her. They were inviting her to sleep all of her troubles away, beckoning for her usual trip to dreamland. But she wasn't ready just yet, she had some thinking to do.

Most of those crucial thoughts drifted to the new arrival in town: Braeburn. He was a good addition, handy with his hooves and quick with a comeback:Something this town needed. Not to mention, he was a looker. Something this town really needed. Sure there were colts that already lived here, but they already had their herds going for years before they came here, and Swift wouldn't want to impose. So, she kept herself busy in order to keep from interacting with too many of the townsfolk, she didn't need any propositions.

Ever since she moved out here she had liked the idea of herds. In Canterlot they had fancy marriages that often ended in disaster. Out here, ponies were more traditional. A colt was allowed to have multiple mares in his herd as long as the mares consented. It was simplistic and made for some tight knit families. She had liked the idea of raising foals with the help of another mare, on account of her foalhood not being the best. Her own mother had often left her with a foalsitter or with a nanny, even when she wasn't busy. Having a second, but equal, mother figure would have been nice.

"Don't dwell in the past, Swifty. That's not who you are.." She was about to close her eyes when a tremendous rumble tore through the town. "What the hay?!" She shot up, her magic immediately grabbing her holsters and putting them on her back. "Serpents..." The unicorn jumped from her bed and out the door. The sight that greeted her was not a good one. Where the saloon had once been, there was nothing more than a hole. Only one thing came to mind.

"Braeburn!"