Justice, Integrity, and Service

Marshall was very worried. He hadn’t heard of the words ‘Royal Investigative Service’ for a long time now, and although he was old, he didn’t forget what happened the last time the RIS set hooves in their office.

He had half a mind to go back to the conference room and tell them that the deputies they were looking for weren’t there. But at the same time, maybe it was time to mend the broken ties between the two.

He made his way through the bullpen of desks and chairs to a room marked as the Marshal’s office. He knocked once and nosed it open.

Inside, two ponies were seated behind the large desk. “Hey Marshall,” greeted Braeburn. The stallion had a newspaper in his hooves. “What’s up?” Daring sat next to him, reading a book on some obscure topic.

“Hey, Brae. There’s some agents from the RIS here.”

The words drew both of their eyes. “RIS?” asked Braeburn. “Is it Twilight?”

“No sir. Two mares.”

The two glanced at each other. “Did you tell them that Earp’s not here,” Daring asked.

“They asked for you two specifically.”

Daring snapped her book shut.

“Thanks, Marshall, we’ll be right with them,” Braeburn told him. Marshall smiled and nodded before leaving the office.

As soon as he was gone, Braeburn’s smile fell away into a frown. “RIS. Now what in Celestia’s name are they doin’ out here again?”

“We should kick them out,” Daring growled.

“Now hold on. That seems a bit excessive,” Braeburn countered.

Daring raised an eyebrow. “Excessive? After last time?”

“I remember last time, but these aren’t the same ponies. Why don’t we just see what they want before we go jumpin ‘ to conclusions?”

With a sigh, the pegasus relented. “Fine. But this better not go as badly as last time.”

“Trust me, I’m with you there.”

The door opened, causing Bon Bon to flinch. The first pony that walked in was a yellow stallion wearing the trademark brown jacket and a worn brown hat. The second was a pegasus in a green shirt with rolled up sleeves. “Good mornin’, said the stallion. “I’m Deputy Marshal Braeburn Apple, this is Deputy Marshal Daring Do.”

Bon Bon smiled and shook his hoof. “Hi! I’m Special Agent Sweetie Drops, but you can call me Bon Bon. That’s Special Agent Lyra Heartstrings.”

“Pleasure.” Braeburn gestured to the chairs. “Please, have a seat.”

Lyra noticed that while Braeburn was acting polite, Daring hadn’t said a word. In fact, she kept a blank face throughout the introductions, yielding no information as to her thoughts.

“To what do we owe the pleasure,” continued Braeburn.

Bon Bon cleared her throat and removed some papers from her bag. “We’re after a pony by the name of Back Blast. Apparently he’s been abusing his wife and recently fled Canterlot. The RIS knows he bought a train ticket to here under a false name, but we don’t know where he went after that. We think he might be tied into some drug activity so this is kind of high priority.”

Braeburn glanced over the papers Bon Bon gave him. He tried to ignore the suspicious look Daring was giving him. “Well, I must say this seems like a fairly straight forward case. Usually we just get sent warrants. Haven’t actually had the agents come out here in a long time.”

“Well, I just thought that this case was important and I wanted to make sure-”

“Make sure of what?” Daring narrowed her eyes at Bon Bon. “That we can do our jobs? The same job we’ve been doing for the past ten years?”

Lyra leaned forward in her chair. Now things were getting interesting.

“No, I’m not saying that,” Bon Bon replied, eyes going wide.

“Pay her no mind,” Braeburn said, giving Daring a light punch in the shoulder. “But she’s right. We can take care of this.”

“Is there any way at all we can help?”

The two deputies shared a strange look. “Uh, I think it’s fine,” Braeburn finally said. “Since you don’t know exactly where he is, I’ll have to send telegrams to the local sheriffs and see if they can find him. From there it’s a waitin’ game.”

Bon Bon’s heart sank a little. She was getting brushed off already? “We’ll stay in town then,” she said. “If we find any clues to help narrow down his location we’ll let you know.”

Braeburn smiled and nodded before leaving the room, Daring following.

When they left, Bon Bon sank into her chair.

“That went well,” Lyra chuckled.

“This is fine,” Bon Bon said. “We just have to get through to them. Braeburn seems to be the more open one, so I’ll see if I can talk to him. Lyra, you need to get through to Daring.”

The unicorn blinked. “Me? Uh, I don’t know if you noticed Bon, but I think Daring hates us.”

“That’s why it’s up to you to get through to her.” Bon Bon opened the door, seeing Braeburn enter a side office.

“Bon, wait-” But it was too late, the mare was gone. Lyra grumbled to herself, wondering how she got dragged into this before leaving to search for the pegasus.

Braeburn and Daring had made their way over to their desks, which were in the far corner of the bullpen. “Can’t believe them,” Daring huffed. “Who are they to doubt our jobs?”

“Come on now, Darin’. Let’s just give them who they want and get ‘em out of here, alright?”

“Yeah, whatever, but I’m not dealing with them.”

“That’s the spirit,” Braeburn chuckled. “I’ll go get this telegram out.” With that, he left for the Marshal’s office.

The addition of the telegraph machine to the office had been phenomenal. It allowed for easy communication directly to the other sheriff’s offices. All Braeburn had to do was mention that it was a priority bulletin and give the descriptions of the pony they were looking for. He would then send it to the main telegraph office in Dodge Junction, who would then forward it to the other offices.

Braeburn took a pencil and paper, eyeing the reference sheet when necessary and translating the letters into dots and dashes. The message would have to be sent using Horse code, a series of dots and dashes representing letters and numbers.

As he finished typing the message into the receiver the office door opened. “Sorry, are you busy?”

“Nope, just finished.” Braeburn turned to face Bon Bon, wondering why the mare was being so persistent.

“Okay, good. So you sent the message to the other Sheriffs?”

“Yep, in every town nearby. If your pony’s in one of them, we’ll know soon enough.”

Bon Bon nodded. “But what if he’s not?”

“Then we’ll have to take some more extreme measures, but we haven’t had to do that in a long time. Trust me, Agent Bon Bon. These are small towns. The sheriffs will know if they see any new faces.”

Braeburn paused, eyeing Bon Bon with regard. “Excuse me for askin’, agent, but why exactly are you here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I said it earlier. It’s a routine case. Usually we just get sent a warrant, we’ll grab the pony, and send him back. So what made you come all the way out here?”

Darn, Bon Bon thought. He saw right through her. “Look, I know that the relationship between the RIS and the Marshals hasn’t been great, but I don’t really know why. I was kind of hoping to figure it out and see if I can fix it.”

A small smile fell onto Braeburn’s face. “Now that’s a tall order.” He settled into the seat behind the desk.

“Uh, are you sure the Marshal won’t mind that we’re using his office?”

Braeburn waved a hoof dismissively. “Marshal Earp’s going to be in Canterlot for the foreseeable future. With him gone, Darin’ and I are the acting Marshals, which means this is technically our office.”

“Oh, alright then. Do you mind if I ask you some questions then?” Bon Bon ventured. Braeburn seemed to be open with her but she didn’t want to risk pushing too far.

Luckily, the smile on Braeburn’s muzzle grew a bit wider. “Fire away.”

“You and Daring seem pretty close. How long have you worked together?”

“I’d say comin’ on ten years now. She didn’t start out here, you know. In the beginning it was just me.”

The hot desert sun shone high above them, beating down furiously on the workers milling about the orchard. A farmhouse sat in the center, spanning two stories tall. Two ponies were seated on the front porch, pouring over numbers and figures.

“These figures can’t be right,” Braeburn was saying. Across from him sat a very large red stallion, with half of a green apple as his cutie mark. The stallion was scrutinizing some figures written on the papers in front of him.

The red stallion said nothing, shifting the sprig of wheat from the left side to the right side of his mouth. Eventually, he scribbled a number on the paper and slid it across the table.

Braeburn looked at the sheet, then at the one he had been writing on. “These numbers are the same.”

“Eeyup,” nodded the stallion.

“So you’re sayin’ you got the same thing I did?”

“Eeyup.”

Braeburn groaned and dropped the papers on the table, holding his head in his hooves. “Great. We’re doomed. There’s no way in Celestia’s name that we’ll turn over enough money to stay operational. Thanks for checkin’ my work, Big Mac, even if it ain’t what I want to hear.”

Big McIntosh gazed at his cousin with his half-lidded gaze. He had to agree, the figures didn’t bode well.

“Damn this stupid drought. We’re losin’ crops left and right and baely able to sustain ourselves,” Braeburn muttered, shuffling some papers around. “Looks like we might have to lay off some workers. Hate to see it happen but I don’t see another way. And even then...”

He was so engrossed with his words that he failed to notice three stallions headed up the hill. “Mornin’ Braeburn. Big Mac,” came a voice.

Braeburn looked up to see the familiar voice of Sheriff Silverstar. Behind him were two ponies Braeburn had never seen before.

The one in front wore a white hat with a star pinned in it. He had a brown coat and piercing black eyes. The second had a white mustache and a black coat, as well as a lazy stare. Both wore matching brown jackets with badges pinned over their hearts.

“Mornin’, Sheriff. Is somethin’ the matter?” Braeburn asked.

“Nothin’ you’d need your gun for,” he replied. “This is Marshal Earp from the Marshal’s Office of Equestria. He’d like to have a few words with you.”

Marshal Earp smiled from beneath his black mustache. “Thank you kindly, sheriff.”

Braeburn’s jaw dropped. “Earp? As in the Marshal Earp? I ain’t in any kind of trouble, am I?”

Earp and the other stallion laughed. “Trouble? Far from it. Actually I’m here to ask you somethin’. You see, Sheriff Silverstar here told me some great things about you.”

Braeburn blinked. “Great things, sir?”

“About your work with the posse, Brae,” Silverstar clarified.

“Well I wouldn’t call that good work. Just doin’ what any upstandin’ citizen would have done.”

“Now you know that ain’t true, Brae,” Silverstar interjected. “Why, you’ve got more experience with law enforcin’ then half of my own deputies! You’ve done more for Appleoosa than anyone else in Equestria has!”

“Which is why we’re here,” continude Earp. “Braeburn, I must say I’m impressed with all you’ve done. You took a chance comin’ out here and helpin’ to found a city. You’ve braved storms and worse, and when the town needed your help, you picked up a gun and you rode out into the great unknown. Now that takes courage, son.”

“More than that, I think,” agreed the other stallion.

“You’re the exact kind of pony that I’m lookin’ for to join the force.”

The last statement caught Braeburn off guard. “Join the force?”

“We’re always lookin’ for more deputy marshals, Braeburn. And I think you’ve got what it takes.”

Braeburn glanced at Big Mac but found nothing useful in his eyes. “Sir, I’m honored, but I think you’re makin’ me out to be someone I ain’t. I’m just a farmer. I’m not a cop.”

Earp smiled and jerked his head at the other stallion. “And Doc Holliday here is a dentist. We don’t care what’s on your flank or where you came from.”

Braeburn fell back in his chair, thoughts flying through his brain. “But the farm-”

“I’m aware of your current situation. If you’d like, we could start you as a part time deputy, one that stays out here in Appleoosa. You’d get called to assist whenever Silverstar or I need an extra hoof, and you’d get some pay out of it too.”

“This is a big decision, sir. I hope you’re not offended if I can’t give you an answer.”

“Take your time, Braeburn. Tell you what, our office is in Dodge Junction. I’ve got a badge with your name waitin’ there. Just stop by and it’s yours.” Earp nodded at him and left, Doc Holliday and Silverstar following behind him.

Braeburn watched the three leave in silence. A part of his mind refused to believe that he was just offered a job by a Marshal.

He had heard legends of the Marshals before. But he never thought Earp and Holliday to be more than legends.

“Well, shucks, Mac. Can’t say I expected that.”

“Eenope,” Mac agreed.

Braeburn sighed, staring out at the dead trees around them. “But it ain’t like I can take it, not at a time like this.”

“Now hold on.”

The fact that Big Mac had just used a full sentence was alarming. It was an accepted fact that he never spoke more than he needed to, so whenever he spoke more than one word it was best to pay attention.

Mac leaned in, eyeing his cousin. “They did say you’re gettin’ a bit of pay out of this. I think it’s best if you do it. Sure ain’t gettin’ no pay from dead trees anyhow.”

“But Mac, I ain’t got what it takes! You know that the Marshal’s Office is legendary out here!”

“I think you got exactly what it takes. The Marshals exist to help people. You’ve been helpin’ people your whole life cuz. Plus you ain’t that bad with guns either.”

Braeburn rolled his eyes. “That was one time at a family reunion. Doubt I could do that again if I wanted to.” He paused, considering his cousin’s words. “But I reckon you’re right. But I ain’t gonna do it forever. Just til’ the crops heal.”

“Eeyup.”

Bon Bon had found herself captivated in Braeburn’s story. “Wow. So Earp actually approached you?”

“Sure did. Lookin’ back I reckon Silverstar had somethin’ to do with it, but I guess they both saw somethin’ in me that I didn’t see. Somethin’ I still don’t see today.” His chipper tone seemed to waver at the last sentence but he recovered quickly. “But anyhow, that’s where it all began. But I guess it doesn’t answer your question of how I met Darin’.”

“Do you know why Daring joined the Marshal Service?”

“That’s a story for her to tell, not me.”

“Right, sorry.” Bon Bon inwardly cursed. She hoped that Lyra was having as much success as she was.

“Anyways, where was I?”

Braeburn breathed in, steadying his heart and his mind. A long barreled rifle lay in his forehooves, which were propped up against a wooden shelf. The stallion stood perfectly still, the sun glinting off of the badge on his chest. He pulled the trigger, and a bottle shattered at the far end of the ranch.

“Hot damn!” The stallion known as Doc Holliday cheered from behind him. “Nice shot, Brae!”

“Thanks, Doc.” Braeburn smiled. It had been a few months now since he had first agreed to be a part time deputy, but the months had gone by fast. Braeburn found himself familiarizing himself with the criminal scum of the West, helping the Sheriff and Earp serve warrants and hunt down runaways.

It was exhilarating. More excitement than he could ever find on the farm. The drought had long since passed and the farm had recovered nicely. He was afraid his family would be disappointed in him for leaving it behind for other work, but they instead were overjoyed that one of their own was serving Equestria. Or maybe they were convinced by Doc’s charm.

The two stood in an open field on the outskirts of Appleoosa, at the makeshift target range Silverstar used to train his deputies. Both wore the signature brown and tan jackets of the Marshal’s office, which identified them as Deputy Marshals and also kept them cool in the day and warm at night.

Braeburn lay the rifle on the table, the sounds of the gunshots fading from his ears (ear protection wasn’t a thing back then). “Reckon it still works fine. You hear they’re developin’ some new type of gun in Manehattan? Some sort of self loadin’ gun or somethin’.”

“Ah, it’ll be a good few years before we could get our hooves on that,” Doc chuckled.

Doc Holliday had been very helpful to Braeburn during his first few months. Holliday had told him of his old dentist practice, and how he had grown bored of it and moved west where he met Earp. He told of many colorful stories about chases and bandits, gunfights and brawls. It seemed that nothing in the world could stop him after all he had seen.

“Hey, if this thing works when I need it to, I ain’t got a problem,” Braeburn said.

Doc shifted on his feet. “Hey, Brae. I’ve been meanin’ to ask you somethin’.”

“Shoot.”

“How much longer do you think you’ll be with us?”

Braeburn paused. “To be honest, I haven’t a clue. It seems like there’s more work to do now than there ever has been. Not like I can leave you all to do it yourselves.”

“You can, though. That’s the whole point of bein’ a part time deputy.”

He opened his mouth to counter Doc’s statement, but Braeburn froze. Doc was right. “Huh. Well, reckon you’re right.”

Doc looked up at him, locking onto his emerald green eyes. “Braeburn, I’m speakin’ on behalf of Earp here. What do you think about becomin’ a full time deputy marshal?”

The hill fell silent as Braeburn considered his words. “I dunno. Why?”

“I’ll be honest with you, Brae. Things ain’t good. There’s more scum out there than there ever has been, and it’s gettin’ to be too much for Earp and I to handle. We need someone with experience and someone we can trust. That means you.”

Braeburn kicked at the dirt. “What would takin’ the job mean?”

“You’d have to move to Dodge Junction. From there it’s pretty much what you’ve been doin’. We go out and serve warrants for other agencies, we assist local departments when needed, and we go get the bad guys. Except your pay would be a lot better.”

“Well… if y’all want me…”

Doc lay a hoof on Braeburn’s shoulder. “We don’t just want you, Brae. We need you.”

Braeburn had led Bon Bon out of the office, talking the entire time. He took her back into the conference room, boiling some water in the coffee machine. “Don’t think Doc’s words really registered with me then, but they sure do now.”

“Things were that bad?”

“Worse than bad. Earp and Doc were two ponies. Meanwhile your home agency was steppin’ up their game. That meant a whole lotta ponies were fleein’ in every direction. The other Marshal Offices handled it alright, but things weren’t great out here.”

Braeburn stared at the map, a lost look in his eyes. He fell silent for a few seconds, allowing Bon Bon to process everything he told her.

Eventually the stallion blinked and came back to life. “By the way, where’s your partner?”