Justice, Integrity, and Service

Braeburn paused to take a drink from his canteen. “Poor fool. Can’t imagine what’d happen to this pony if we don’t find him soon,” he said.

“Hey, Brae, just curious. What if I’ve got to use the little filly’s room?”

“You go dig a hole somewhere and I look in the other direction.”

Daring rolled her eyes, wiping some sweat from her brow. “Figured as much. Why would he run without any supplies?”

“Scared, probably.” The stallion scanned the horizon with his eyes, noticing something ahead of them. “Is that the wagon wreck you were talking about earlier?”

“Yeah. Didn’t look like anypony was there though.”

Within a few minutes, they approached the wreck of the old wagon. The wagon was covered in layers of dust and sand, half buried in the sand. Only one broken wheel was still attached to it. The body of the wagon was broken and riddled with holes, suggesting that it had been there for some time.

“Bullet holes,” Braeburn observed, kneeling by the wreck.

“You’re kidding,” replied the pegasus dryly.

The stallion just rolled his eyes. “Looks like they got hit by bandits. We had a real problem with them years ago. Some of the cattle ranchers that pass through these parts still run into them. All the more reason to carry a gun, I reckon.”

Daring was about to move on when she noticed a strange look in Braeburn’s eyes. He hesitated, still standing near the wrecked carriage. “Brae? You good?”

Braeburn snapped back to reality. “Uh, yeah. Fine.” He trotted past her, moving at a faster pace, as if eager to get away from the wreck.

The pegasus was caught off guard and had to move quickly to catch up. “What’s up?”

“Nothin’,” he hastily replied.

Daring raised an eyebrow, sensing that he was lying. “Brae, if something’s bothering you-”

He stopped again, almost causing Daring to crash into him. Braeburn dropped his head down and took a deep, shaky breath. “Okay! It is somethin’. Just…. I haven’t talked about this in years.”

The pegasus went to his side and draped her wing across his body. Braeburn tensed at the contact. “That bad?”

“Yeah. Yeah, pretty bad.” With another deep breath, he continued. “Years ago, back when Appleoosa was first gettin’ started, we had problems. Tons of ‘em. Back when the railway was still under construction we had to depend on wagon convoys to move our supplies around. Wasn’t far from Dodge, but still. Ponies quickly figured out that it was quick and easy to rob them.

“The first time it happened I don’t think anyone was ready. There were rumors and whatnot, and Silverstar urged the transporters to carry guns, but they didn’t listen. So one day a convoy didn’t come in at all. The tow was gettin’ antsy without those supplies, so the next day I set out by myself to look for them. What I found wasn’t pretty.”

Braeburn drew a deep breath again, his head still down.

“All the wagons were busted up, just like that one. Filled with bullet holes, turned on their sides, all the supplies stolen. But it was the bodies.” He shuddered at the word. “Dead. All of them. Had to be at least six of them. I knew half by name. And there they were, lyin’ in the red sand. Oh, Celestia, and the vultures… It had been a day, but those bastards couldn’t wait. I threw up right there and cried for a good bit.”

Daring opened her mouth to say something, but Braeburn kept talking.

“What got me was the quiet. After I composed myself, I realized how quiet it was. There wasn’t a sole around. Just six ponies who would never make another sound ever again. I stayed there for an hour before I went back to town to break the news. That night, when I couldn’t sleep. It was too damn quiet. And in the quiet all I saw were those broken, lifeless eyes scattered around me.”

A single tear fell down his cheek.

“Sometimes, at night, when it’s quiet, I find myself there again. Alone, in the desert, with bodies and vultures around me.”

Braeburn felt a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright. That’s horrifying, nobody should have to see that,” Daring said softly.

“I don’t like it when it’s quiet. I guess that’s why I just keep talkin’.”

The pegasus chuckled softly. “Yeah? Wish you told me before, I would’ve let you talk as long as you needed to.”

With a chuckle, Braeburn wiped the tears from his eyes. “Didn’t mean to get this emotional about it. Just wasn’t expectin’ to have those memories surface again.”

Daring retracted her wing, and the two set off again.

“But seriously,” Braeburn said aloud, “Thanks for puttin’ up with me.”

The smile on Daring’s face faltered a bit. “Uh, yeah.” She hesitated before continuing. He told me his story, she reasoned. I owe him mine. “Listen, I, uh, want to apologize.”

“What for?”

It was her turn to look at the sand now. “Look, I know I’m not the most outgoing of ponies. I’m just used to being on my own, I guess.”

“Yeah?”

Daring kicked at the sand. “Yeah. Back in Canterlot, a lot of the other deputies weren’t… the brightest. Or the bravest. A ton were in it for the glory. I had a friend there who got paired with another deputy when they went to take a call. It got ugly and they started fighting. They beat him up pretty badly while his partner just ran away.”

“Damn. He get canned?”

“Yeah, but that kind of shook me. Made me wonder how I was supposed to depend on others, put my life in their hooves. It made me mad, you know? I started complaining to Pinkerton, telling him to get rid of those ponies. Made a lot of people mad. Then I heard rumors going around that they were trying to get me fired. That’s when I lost hope, I guess. I asked for a transfer and ended up here.”

Braeburn shot her a sympathetic look. “Damn, that’s hash.”

“I guess I learned to live with. Just by relying on myself and myself only. I thought it’d be safer that way too, you know? Not having to worry about anyone else getting hurt because of me. Not having to put my trust in somepony that I couldn’t count on.”

The two continued in silence. “Do you trust me?”

Daring looked from the ground to the pony next to her. She gave him a small smile. “You know what? I think I do.”

He returned the smile. “I trust you too.”

“Aw, look at us. The heat’s making us all sappy. Let’s find the guy before we end up falling in love or something.”

Braeburn laughed. “Wouldn’t you like that?”

“Ah, shut up Braeburn.”

Their conversation tailed off after that, with Daring taking to the skies every now and then to see what she could see. It wasn’t long before she spied another wrecked wagon. She had scarcely made out its shattered form, laying in heaps and pieces, buried in the sand. But something seemed off about it. The pegasus narrowed her eyes, making out a strange shape among the wreck.

She descended a bit to where Braeburn could hear her. “Brae! There’s a wagon wreck up ahead! I’m going to check it out!”

Braeburn nodded, and Daring flew off. In a few seconds she had closed the distance and approached the wreck. It looked the same as the other one they had seen, laying half buried and forgotten in the lone and level sands. But something was still off.

It was the slight discoloration that caught her eye. A bit of orange sticking out in a sea of yellow sands. “Brae! I found him!”

From somewhere behind her Braeburn picked up his pace. Daring ignored him for a second, shrugging off her saddlebags. The form of an orange pony lay, covered in sand and dust, unmoving. He lay in the remains of the carriage, seeking any shelter from the ruthless heat that surrounded him.

Daring took his pulse with one hoof while rummaging in her bag with her free hoof. “Hey? Can you hear me? Hello?”

The stallion’s eyes slowly opened, dazed and unfocused. He gasped, trying to sit up. Daring held him down with one hoof. “W-wha-”

“Stay down.” She pulled one of several canteens from her bag and held it to his mouth. “Drink.”

As the pony graciously accepted the water, Daring’s training kicked in and she quickly ran her hooves along the pony’s body in search of weapons, noticing the intense heat that radiated from him.

“Holy horseapples, you found him,” Braeburn exclaimed as he arrived behind her.

“Yeah, but he’s not looking too good,” Daring muttered.

“I’m with you there.” Braeburn unslung his bags and removed a small towel and a water canteen, pouring some water on the towel. “Here, put this on his forehead.” He then removed a set of hoofcuffs.

“Are those necessary? I don’t think he’s going to be running anytime soon,” Daring grumbled.

Braeburn sighed. “I know, but protocol is protocol.” He went about securing the stallion’s hooves. “You checked him already, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Let’s get this thing set up and get him out of the heat.” Braeburn pulled out a folded up tent from the bags. It was officially called a ‘Emergency Heat and Sun Resistor’ but was really just an over glorified tent. “Keep an eye on him,” Braeburn instructed.

The pony in question groaned, moving the empty canteen away from his lips. “Th… Thank you,” he gasped.

“I wouldn’t thank me yet,” Daring replied, holding up her badge. “You’re still under arrest.”

The pony blinked, then gave a weak shrug. “Better than being dead.”

Daring offered him a small, sad smile. “Why’d you run?”

“I was scared,” he replied. “And probably stupid. Heh, never thought I’d be saved by a browncoat.”

“Browncoat?”

“Yeah. Your jacket. It’s brown,” the pony explained.

“All done!” Braeburn shouted from the tent.

“Come on,” Daring said as she extended a hoof. “Let’s get you in the shade.”

Soon, they had the stallion lying down in the sand, underneath a piece of cloth held up by four metal poles. (It was the latest technology four years ago, Doc had assured them.)

“You went soft on him,” Braeburn observed. The two stood in between the tent and the wagon, with the suspect stallion lying on his side and recovering.

Daring scoffed. “He ran because he was scared. He’s not wanted for murder or anything. He just made a mistake.”

“He’ll still have to pay for it,” Braeburn noted. “Runnin’ from the law ain’t an easy charge. But that ain’t the point. I’m usually the one tryin’ to tell him it’s gonna be alright.”

“And what does that imply? That I’m the one who doesn’t give a shit and kicks them while they’re down?”

“Course not,” he replied with a cocky smile. “It must be the heat.”

“Speaking of the heat, let’s say we get out of it, yes?”

Braeburn nodded and went over to the saddlebags. He took the flare gun in his hoof, then opened another bag with several colored flares in it. “Let’s see. We got him, we’re not in need of immediate backup, nopony is dead, and he definitely has heatstroke.” He selected the green flare and loaded it into the gun.

“Someday somebody will make something where we just push a button and they’ll know all of that,” Daring grumbled as she fanned herself with her hat.

“Maybe,” Braeburn replied. He raised his hoof and fired. The green colored flare soared high, high into the air, flying way above their heads.

The conference room fell silent. At some point Daring had ducked out of the room to give instructions to the other deputies, leaving Braeburn to tell the story. As he finished, he had fallen silent, staring off into space with a strange smile on his face.

Lyra shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. Bon Bon knew that even if Lyra found these stories mildly interesting, she was getting bored. It was their second day now, and they were no closer to answering the question they had set out to answer.

Which begged the question: why was he starting with the beginning? Wouldn’t it be easier to just tell them exactly what happened? Bon Bon wasn’t sure. It didn’t feel like he was hiding something, in fact he had been nothing but open the entire time.

“But I digress, I guess. That was a long time ago.” He stood from the desk, and for a second Bon Bon panicked.

“Come on,” she thought. “Keep him talking. Ask him a question.” Then something occurred to her. “Where’s Doc?”

The question made Braeburn freeze. The more she thought about her outburst, the more Bon Bon realized that it was actually a good question. So far, everyone else was accounted for: Marshall, Braeburn, and Daring were still there and Earp was in Canterlot. So where was Doc?

But Braeburn didn’t answer the question, even as a memory ran through his head.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Doc, but don’t you have anythin’ better to be doin’ now?”

Doc snapped his gaze from the apple trees growing around him to shoot Braeburn an offended glare. “What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t you enjoy my company?”

Braeburn rolled his eyes, keeping his brisk pace down the orchard path. “Don’t you think we spend enough time together already? Couldn’t you just let me enjoy my one day off?”

“If this is what you do on your day off, then I just might,” Doc replied. “Really, I thought you’d be doing anything else but this.”

“You sayin’ this is a waste of time?” Doc flinched at the gruff voice from behind them. Sheriff Silverstar had been glaring a hole in his backside the entire walk.

“Of course not, Sheriff. What Brae does with his time ain’t none of my business,” he quickly said.

The group stopped in front of an older tree. Large wooden buckets had already been set up around it, empty and waiting. “Watch and learn, gents,” Braeburn declared as he trotted up to the trunk.

He turned around and gave the tree a powerful buck. The tree shook at the impact, and several dozen apples dropped out and landed in the buckets. However, one much larger and much more surprised object also came crashing out of the tree with a yelp.

Sheriff Silverstar glared at the stunned object on the ground. “Damnit, D.C, don’t you ever learn?”

The object, a brown coated red maned pegasus, shakily stood up. “Mornin’, Brae.”

“Mornin, D.C. If you could kindly get on out of my orchard, that’d be lovely.”

D.C blinked. “This ain’t even your orchard any more, Brae!”

“It ain’t yours either, and I’ve told you what’d happen if I caught you nappin’ in my- these trees again.”

D.C. looked at the sheriff and considered flying away, before realizing the sheriff knew exactly where he lived. With a dramatic roll of his eyes, he trotted off, the sheriff following closely behind him.

“Quite a show,” mused Doc as he watched the pegasus defend his actions.

“No surprises there, this is his favorite tree.” Braeburn had moved to the next tree and was setting up to buck again. “You got places to be? Or do you just wanna watch me work?”

“You ain’t in no place to criticize what I do in my time off. I mean, look at you. You take a day off work and what do you do? You go and do more work.”

Braeburn paused, musing over Doc’s words. “Reckon that’s right.” He bucked the next tree, smiling at the sound of apples landing in the buckets.

“Why?”

He responded to the question with a shrug. “Because there’s work to be done, and I might as well do it.”

Doc watched as his friend bucked a few more trees. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand that.”

“Nah, you’re far too lazy too,” Braeburn shot back playfully.

“Brae, I’m tryin’ to have a heart to heart here. Can you not insult me for five seconds?”

“I can try,”

Doc huffed in annoyance but continued. “Hear me out, ya big lug. I’m just tryin’ to understand you a bit better, there a crime in that?”

That made Braeburn pause. “What’s there not to understand?”

“Well, you work all the time like I said. Ponies that do that usually have somethin’ they wanna prove, but as far as I can tell you ain’t got anythin’ to prove with anyone. Now I first thought you were just tryin’ show up Darin’ by puttin’ in more work than her, but now you two are closer and I ain’t so sure.”

“Now listen here, Doc. I’m not tryin’ to prove anythin’ to anyone. Fact of the matter is that if there’s work that needs to be done, I’ll step up and do it.” Braeburn wasn’t sure why spite was creeping into his voice. But he felt the need to defend himself for some reason, as if Doc was accusing him of slacking off.

Doc held up a hoof. “I ain’t accusin’ you of doin’ nothin’. I’m just worried you’re gonna burn yourself out. Just reachin’ out, friend to friend.”

Braeburn took a deep breath, calming himself. “You’re right. Dunno why I’m gettin’ so riled up over this. Thanks for checkin’ up on me Doc, but I’m fine. Really.”

“You know, Darin’s been worried about you.”

“Well she’s a filthy liar and you know it,” Braeburn spat back. “Now if you’re going to be here you might as well work. You ever buck a tree before?”

Doc backed away. “On second thought, I got things to do. See you around, kid.”

“Yeah, see you, Doc.”

“Doc’s… not here right now.” Braeburn suddenly stood, heading for the door.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“I mean he ain’t here,” Braeburn snapped back. “Excuse me, I need to check on somethin’.”

With that, Braeburn left the conference room without another word, leaving behind two confused mares.

With a huff of annoyance, he shook off the memory. He crossed the bullpen, giving a smile and nod to some of the other deputies who passed him. Eventually, he found Daring sitting at her desk, pouring over some papers. Her ear twitched as she heard his hoofsteps behind him. “What’s up?’

Braeburn took a deep breath, feeling a pang of regret at leaving the two so abruptly. “I think I might know what those two are gettin’ at. They asked me about Doc.”

The pegasus flinched at the mention of the name.

Daring hummed to herself as she entered the living room of her comfy apartment. She settled down on the sofa, eager to get back into her reading before a slight noise made her ear twitch.

Oh, right. She had a guest. “You can sit, if you want,” she said.

“Thanks,” Doc replied as he uneasily entered. “Bit cold in here.”

“Just the way I like it,” replied Daring as she eased herself back onto the couch.

Doc Holliday looked around the room, taking it in. There were several bookshelves around the room, each one crammed with novels and books as well as other memorabilia. The books ranged from reference guides to fantasy novels, and Doc spotted some odd items like a pickaxe, small sculptures of famous figures, and a white pith helmet lying on the coffee table.

“Kind of pictured you the type to live in one of them fancy cloud houses,” Doc noted.

“So I’m a hooves-on mare, sue me. What’d you need to talk about,” asked the pegasus nonchalantly.

“Just had a few questions, I guess,” Doc replied. “About you, about why you chose to come down here of all places.”

Daring frowned. “I’ve answered those questions before, Doc.”

“I know, just hear me out. I’ve been doin’ some thinkin’ lately and I realized I still don’t know all that much about you.”

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “Alright then. Hi, my name is Daring Do, I’m a pegasus, born and raised in Canterlot. Let’s see, I joined the Marshal’s Office after college, double majored in History and Archeology-”

“See, that right there is what I don’t get,” Doc cut in. “You’re a very clever pony, Darin’. Much smarter than I could ever be. So what made you come out here?

“Well… I mean, I told all that stuff about my dad. But I guess it’s just…” she paused, searching for words. “Like, this is my dream, you know? To go out into the unknown and find what time forgot. But I never thought I’d be able to go do it. That’s what makes it a dream, you know? The fact that it’s unattainable.”

Doc rubbed his mustache. “Never thought of it like that.”

“I dunno. Also, going out and actually doing what I’ve dreamed of doing… it means letting go of a lot of what I’ve got. Taking a big leap off into the unknown. Dealing with the darker side that you don’t think about.”

“Sounds to me you’ve talked yourself out of it,” Doc said. “Kind of happened to me when I quit my dental practice.”

Daring shrugged. “Maybe I have. I wouldn’t be the first. But coming out here was a step in the unknown for me. I guess I’m putting off my dreams because I want them to stay dreams, not become nightmares or some stupid shit. And coming out here’s changed me a bit. I’ve always known that if I set out to be an adventurer, I’d be doing it alone. But after spending more time than I’d like with you idiot, I don’t remember what it’s like having alone time.”

“I can take the hint. You want me to leave, I’ll leave,” grumbled Doc as he stood up. “But Braeburn’s been worried about you, you know. He thinks you’re closin’ yourself off to us.”

The pegasus laughed. “Brae doesn’t know what he’s talkin’ about. Don’t listen to a word he says.”

“Right. See ya ‘round.”

“Get outta my house, Doc.”

“Why do they care what happened to Doc?”

Braeburn shrugged. “I dunno. They’ve been pushing us in that direction though. We should have known it’d come up eventually.”

Daring sighed, rubbing her face with her hooves. “Typical RIS. Always trying to fuck us somehow.”

“Look, we have to decide right now if this is somethin’ we’re willin’ to dive into. These are old wounds, Darin’, are we ready to rip off this bandage?”

The pegasus paused, her eyes sweeping over the many photos that decorated her desk. “Honestly? I don’t know. But if it shows those two how badly their agency fucked us up, then I guess we should.”