Hi everypony and welcome back.

I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. I know it took a long time to come up and I'm sorry about that, I hope you can all forgive me and still stick around to read the rest of my story.

The lyrics in the song I've used in this chapter have been changed slightly to make sense to the story.

Anyway, not much more to say except I hope you enjoy this next two-parter.

Chapter 71: Ponies go west – Part 1

It's been two weeks since Discord moved in with me and Twilight and I have to tell you, it was quite a juggle. Some days things would be easy, other days Discord would do things like make the books fly like bats or try sleeping in our bed…seriously, what was his attraction to our bed?

It wasn't something we were very happy with, but we were under Princess Celestia's orders to keep him with us until he's earned back her trust. The things he did the last time he was in Canterlot weren't exactly easy to forgive.

Twilight's stomach had gotten a little bigger since then. We had to go to the hospital at some point because she said she felt ill, but it was nothing, just her body trying to adjust to it.

Speaking of which, since Discord found out her was going to be our foal's God Father, he's been very, let's say, mother hen-y towards Twilight. Making sure she was comfortable, making her food, even doing most of her studies for her…which she didn't really take much of a liking to, she didn't mind the other stuff, but the studying thing was really taking the cake.

Twilight eventually had enough for Discord smothering her and wanted a least one day of peace without him, so she begged me to take him somewhere or go somewhere where Discord can't bother her. But unfortunately, I didn't have anything in mind.

That was, until, Applejack came around one day and asked if I was ready for our trip to Appleloosa in the next two days. At first, I didn't know what she meant, but she reminded me of the promise she made me on my birthday, that we'd take a trip to Appleloosa. She even gave me a poncho for the occasion.

Part of me was surprised by this, I had completely forgotten about the whole thing, that poncho had been hanging in my wardrobe even since then. Of course, I wouldn't tell her that.

Not one to disappoint her, I blindly agreed to go. I didn't really mind, I actually was excited about going there, it would be like a western vacation. Plus, this is probably a good way of getting Discord away for Twilight, giving her the peace she longed for.

Two days later: Appleloosa train

Two days later, Applejack, Discord and I set out on our trip. Instead of taking the Friendship Express, Appleloosa had its own train, an old looking steam-train with a herd of conductor ponies pulling it from the front. I didn't know how a few ponies could pull a train, but as long as it worked, I didn't care.

As the train moved across the long desert, Applejack and Discord were sitting on the seats in one of the train carts. Discord looked board as hell and Applejack was resting back with her hat tilted down in front of her face.

Discord yawned as he stretched out his arms. "So, how long is this trip exactly?" he said as he rested his chin on his hand.

Applejack placed her hoof under her hat and lifted it up of her face. "Here's a hint, the car near the caboose has beds in it." she said in a calm tone.

Discord groaned as he leaned back hard on his chair. "This traveling is no way for a creature such as me to move around." He said before he made an old map of Equestria appear in his hand. "If I had it my way, I'd make the town come closer." He said as he used his finger to move the name 'Appleloosa' closer to Ponyville.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "I know, but remember Discord, Princess Celestia told ya not to do stuff like that." She said, giving him a slightly firm stare.

Discord made the map disappear. "Yes, yes, I am well aware of the leash she tied around this old hound." He said as he made a collar with a padlock appear around his neck. "But a guy can dream." He said before he made the collar disappear.

"Just make sure not to cause any trouble in Appleloosa, I don't think they've ever seen anythin' like you there." Applejack said as she leaned forward and rested her arms on the table in front of her, having enough of resting.

Discord then rested his chin on his hand again and stared out the window, watching the sand and cacti pass across by. "Maybe it's not me you should worry causing trouble." He said for Applejack to hear.

At that moment, Applejack's eyes widened before she looked around the rest of the car. "Where's Matt anyway?" she asked curiously before she groaned in frustration. "I told him to stay close! Where the hay has he gone?" she said as she got out of her seat and started looking for me.

-Meanwhile-

In the next car, I was sitting by a round table with two other ponies, they both looked like they came from Appleloosa or some other western town.

One looked like a gunslinger, cowboy hat, sleeveless shirt, bad smell, you name it. The other looked like a civilized guy, with a grey suit and a bowler-hat, he adjusted his glasses as he stared at us.

The three of us were playing Liars Dice, a gambling game that was easier to understand than you'd expect. It took a while, but I managed to figure it out. It involved each player having 5 dice in one cub. The three of us rolled the dice around in the cubs before we slammed the cups down on the table.

We all looked at each other with shifty eyes before we all looked at our dice, being sure not to let anyone else see them. I looked under my cub and looked at my dice. I had three 2s, one 6, and one 1. I then covered the dice again before I looked at the others. "I bet…there are…four twos." I said, believing at least one of them had another 2.

"Five twos." The cowboy pony said with a rough country voice.

"Five twos?" The bowler-hat pony said with disbelief. "I think I'll call your bluff, sir." He said with a smart voice.

With a bluff being called, we all moved our cubs aside to reveal our dice. With my three 2s and the cowboy pony's one 2, it all totalled into four twos, making the bowler-hat pony's bluff correct.

"Dag-nabit!" the cowboy pony said as he grabbed one of his five dice and placed it in the centre of the table for being wrong.

I smirked at this. "Don't worry, you still have four dice left." I said before I scooped the dice into the cup and started shaking it. "Next round?" I said, feeling confident in winning.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Applejack came into the room. "There you are! What the hay are you doing in here?" she asked as she walked over to me.

I turned my head to face her. "Just playing a game to pass the time…want me to deal you in, we have more dice and cups." I said, thinking she'd want to play.

"No, I don't! I want you to come back with to the next car with me, I wanna make sure I can keep an eye on you." Applejack said firmly.

I looked at her with confusion, wondering why she was acting like this. "Applejack, are you ok? You seem a bit on edge." I said with a raised eye-brow.

"I'm fine, I just want you to stay with us for now." Applejack said, keeping her firm look, but talking in a calmer tone.

I knew how stubborn Applejack was, I knew there was no way to convince her to let me continue this game. I sighed heavily before I placed the cup down on the table. "Sorry guys, I'm out." I said before I climbed off the chair and followed Applejack back towards the door that led to our car.

The cowboy pony let out a low chuckle with a smirk on his face. "Hey son! Real tough guys don't take that from girls." He said in his country voice as he watched me being basically dragged away.

I grumbled at this before Applejack opened the door with her hoof. Once I had walked through it, Applejack followed and slammed the door behind us.

As we made our way back to the table where Discord waited for us, I looked back at Applejack. "You're not gonna start being over protective on this trip are you? I can take care of myself, I think I've proven that more than once." I said as we reached our seats.

"I know you have." Applejack said as she watched me sit next to a sleeping Discord. "But Twilight wanted me to keep you out of harm's way. When bad stuff happens, she knows you'll try to help. She's glad you do, but it also worries her, she's scare you'll eventually get into trouble you might not walk away from." She explained.

In a way, I could understand, I've had very close calls in past fights. But that Applejack can just treat me like a kid. "I get that, Applejack, but let me worry about that kind of stuff, ok? I'll try and stay out of trouble, but please don't be holding my hoof through the whole trip." I say to her.

Applejack huffed before she sat down on the other seat across from mine. "Fine." She said before she titled her hat forward so it was covering her face again, she then laid back to continue resting.

With that, I laid back as well so I could relax, I turned my head to look out the window and watch the environment outside pass by.

After a few minutes, I noticed a small town outside. It looked abandoned and kind of like a ghost-town. I noticed a single pony standing by the entrance, he looked like a sheriff. I watched as he hammered a sign into the ground. The sign read "For sale". Once he was done, the pony sighed sadly before he turned and walked back into the deserted town.

I gave this a confused look before I looked over to Applejack. "Applejack, did you see that?" I asked curiously.

But I got no answer, instead I got quiet snoring from Applejack. She may be a girl, but she sure didn't act like one, believe me. I sighed at this before I continued to stare out the window, deciding to forget about it.

"Another town bites the dust, I'm afraid." A country voice said near me. I turned my head to look across to the next pair of seats across the car from ours, that's when I saw a fat grey pony in a white suit sitting by himself. He was holding a newspaper up in front of his face, so I couldn't see him until he finally lowered it. He had a large white mustache that had curls on each end. "It's a shame really, I heard that town was very nice." He said as he folded up the newspaper and placed it on the table in front of him.

I looked at Discord and Applejack, making sure they were still asleep so this guy and I could talk. I returned my attention to him before I responded. "Yeah…so you know what happened there?" I asked curiously.

The pony smiled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Moneybaggest Trottlen the third, but I like to go by Moneybaggs. He said as he reached his hoof across to me.

I looked at it for a moment before I reached my hoof out and shook his. "Matthew." I said, giving him my name.

"Nice to meet ya, son." Moneybaggs said before he released my hoof. "As I was saying, the poor town is a victim of them there pony rustlers." He said, putting a rough tone in those last words to make them sound scary.

"Pony rustlers?" I said with a raised eye-brow. "Is that actually a thing?" I asked curiously, not sure how that would work in Equestria.

"I assure you, young stallion, they are certainly a…thing…" Moneybaggs said, trying to relate to my words. "They've been goin' from town to town, kidnappin' ponies that wonder too far out into the wild. No one knows who they are or what they do, all we know is that once they get ya, you're gone." He said before his ears lowered in slight sadness. "Many ponies go missing, the town loses its citizens and the sheriffs of those said towns are forced to put it up for sale, deeming the town unsafe for anyone else to live in it." he explained.

"So to keep everyone else safe from being kidnapped, the sheriffs have sell the town." I said, feeling a pity for them. "Has anyone been sent out to find these rustlers? Any leads?" I asked, curious if there was any more information on them.

"Not much, but there are a few ponies out there are tryin' to find them to bring them to the justice that they deserve." Moneybaggs said before he took his white hat off and held it against his chest. "I am so proud to live in a land where the ponies look out for each other, even when they're from completely different towns." He said proudly.

I felt like I was speaking to a completely drama-king, but I just nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, these country ponies may live in the middle of the desert, but they're defiantly friendly to each other. Most western towns usually have crazy saloon fights and can't go a single day without shooting someone." I said, speaking from my knowledge of the old west.

But Moneybaggs, being of this world and not mine, gave me a confused look. "Saloon fights? Gun shooting? What kind of barbaric country town are you referring to…not Appleloosa, I hope." He said as his confused face turned into a slightly worried one.

I then realised that I was talking about my world's version of the West and he didn't know what I was talking about. "Oh, no! No! No, sorry…not Appleloosa, I was talking about…a different western town…far away from this land." I said, partly lying.

Moneybaggs' worried look then went away in relief. "Well that's good…" he said before he laid back to relax. "Somethin' tells me this trip is gonna be real interestin'." He then looked over to me again. "Hopefully we'll see a lot more of each other, son." He said before he closed his eyes and tried to get some rest.

"Same here." I said with a small smile before I looked away. "I guess." I said under my breath before I decided to catch a few Zs myself. I laid back on my chair and closed my eyes to sleep for a while.

An hour later: Appleloosa

The sound of the train screeching to a stop woke me up from my slumber, I opened my eyes and inhaled through my nose as I looked around at the train car.

I saw a few ponies wake up from their own sleep and start to get up out of their seats, some were even already awake and waiting for the train to come to a complete stop.

I took a moment to collect myself until I felt someone nudge my shoulder beside me, I turned my head and saw Discord looked down at me from his seat. "Can I get out of my seat please?" he said with a small groan.

Realising I was sitting in the seat beside him, blocking his way out, I quickly slipped out of my seat and stood in the middle of the car, allowing Discord to do the same. He got out of his seat and stretched his arms up. "Rrrrgg…my legs needed a good stretch." He said he hovered in the air and a taffy-stretcher appeared below him, tangling both his legs in the mixers and stretching his legs.

Applejack also woke up from her seat before she climbed out of it. "Well we best not keep Braeburn waitin', he's supposed to be meetin' us at the station." She said before she turned and started making her way down the car, towards the exit door.

I walked past Discord to follow her, who soon followed me as well after pulling his legs from his stretcher. We all made our way to the exit before we stepped off the train. It felt a lot better to finally be back on solid ground, a long train ride can really make you feel a little shaken after a while.

I took this moment to look around at the town ahead of me. To put in short, it was everything I expect and was hoping for. A proper western town, western-looking ponies and sandy ground. I always wanted to go to a place like this. I took in a deep breath and smelt the desert around me, it was pleasant.

"Come on, let's look around for Braeburn." Applejack said as she walked past me and looked around the station.

I walked over to her and started helping her in her search. As I did, I thought about Braeburn and what I could remember about him. I only remembered seeing him in the show once, in the episode with those buffalo. I had spent so much time in Equestria, but I hadn't met him yet, I was a little nervous about meeting him.

As we kept searching, Discord walked up to us with an unimpressed look on his face. "So…was somepony supposed to be here to greet me?" he asked before he covered his mouth with his hand. "Oh, I mean, us." he corrected with a smirk on his face.

Applejack turned around to face him with a raised eye-brow. "He said in his letter that he would be waitin' here, he must've got caught up." she said before she grew a slightly confident smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be here soon to greet us. He is my cousin after all." She said as she kept looking around.

"Well it looks like you cousin may have forgotten about us." Discord said before a bunch of suitcases appeared in his hands. "Oh well, back on the train." He said as his tail placed a hat on his head as he turned and started walking back over to the train.

I was about to talk him into waiting until I saw someone running up to the station. "Wait, who's that?" I asked as I tried to make out who it was.

Discord threw his eyes. "There's always something." he complained before he opened one of the big cases before he shoved all the others inside it, including his hat, before he slammed it shut. He then made the case disappear.

Applejack and I watched as the pony rushed closer to us. It wasn't long before I could see his brown hat and vest-shirt, along with his yellow coat. Upon seeing these, I knew it was Braeburn eagerly rushing over here to greet us. It wasn't long until he finally reached us a panted hard. "*Deep breaths* Hold on…just let me…haa…" he said between ach breath.

The three of us waited for Braeburn to gather his breath before he stood up straight and smiled at us. "Hey cous, welcome back to Appleloosa!" he said as he pranced on the spot.

I smiled a little in amusement at the sight of this, slightly surprised that he still did that.

Applejack returned his smile before she walked over to Braeburn and hugged him lovingly. "Howdy Braeburn, it's been way too long." She said as Braeburn returned her hug.

Applejack and Braeburn then parted before he looked over Applejack's shoulder and saw the rest of us. I smiled widely at Braeburn while Discord waved to him while hovering over my head. Upon seeing us, Braeburn returned his attention to Applejack. "So who are your friends?" he asked curiously.

Applejack responded by turning around to us as we both walked over to them. "Braeburn, I take it you're familiar with Discord?" she said while looking up at Discord.

As Braeburn looked up at him, Discord smile nervously and wave his claw again. "Braeburn, I presume? Applejack has told me so much about you." he said before his face gained a confused look. "Or did she?...hmm…you know, I don't think she's ever mentioned you at all, now that I think about it." he gave them a small devious grin. "How awkward."

Applejack gave him a silent firm look before she turned her head to face Braeburn. "Don't mind him, Braeburn, he's just tryin' to cause a ruckus." He stated.

Braeburn looked at Applejack with a slightly uncomfortable face. "Wasn't he tryin' to take over Equestria not long back?" he asked, sounding a little worried.

Applejack was nervous to answer, but she eventually found the strength to do so. "K-Kinda, but he's fine now, he's not gonna cause trouble here." she informed before she shot a glare up to Discord. "Are ya?!" she said in a low growl.

Discord put both his hands up. "Not to worry, Applejack, I'll be a little angel on this trip." He said as a halo appeared above his head and a hard appeared in his hands.

Applejack threw her eyes before she turned her attention to me. "And here's the guy I told ya about. Braeburn, this is Matthew." She said as she held her hoof out to me.

Braeburn's looked at me with a concerned look. "Matthew, huh?...I've…heard a lot about you." he said as he held his hoof out to me.

I wondered why he was acting so nervous, but I just assumed it was because it was his first time meeting me, he just needed to get comfortable around me. I moved my hoof to his and shook it. "It's nice to finally meet you, Braeburn, how's things with the Buffalo Tribe?" I asked curiously as I released his hoof.

Braeburn raised his eye brow. "It's fine…how did ya know about the Buffalo?" he asked in a suspecting tone.

I didn't really know how to answer that question without letting it slip that I watched it on an episode, but I managed to think of something. "Twi told me…she said there was a big fight with you guys…glad all that's over." I said, relieved that I managed to talk my way out of that one.

"Yeah." Braeburn said before he looked down at the ground. "We definitely would've been in trouble if you got involved in that." He said under his breath.

Hearing his mumbling, I gave Braeburn a curious look. "What was that?" I asked with a raised eye-brow.

At that moment, Braeburn's eyes shot back over to me. "Nothin'! Just talkin' to myself." he said in his defence before he started to turn around. "So umm…would ya'all like to follow me, I'll show ya around town." he said before he started walking away.

As we started to follow him into the town, I walked up beside Applejack and looked at her. "Did…he seem a little on edge to you?" I asked curiously, noticing Braeburn's odd behaviour.

Applejack turned her head to face me before a small confident smile appeared on her face. "I'm sure he's fine, he just gets a little nervous around new faces." she said before she looked back at Discord. "And I can't really blame 'im." She said while looking at his face.

Discord heard this and glared down at her. "And what is that supposed to mean?!" he said with an offended look.

I shook my head before I focused on Applejack. "It felt like something else…like he had a thing against me." I said, feeling as though Braeburn had a thing against me.

"I'm sure it's nothin', Matt. I've told him how good you are and what you've done for us." Applejack said before she smirked. "Besides, he just met ya, what trouble would he have with ya?" she said before she returned her attention to the back of Braeburn.

"I suppose." I said with a slightly unconvinced look. The three of us continued follow Braeburn into the town, getting ready to one of his tours.

An hour later: Appleloosa Saloon

After a quick tour of the town, I suggested we went into the town saloon to get ourselves a refreshing drink, Celestia knows we could use one after that long train ride. No one objected and we went over there.

When we got there, I was surprised by what was inside. It looked just like a western saloon. A bar with a bar-tender who had a mustache, a single pony playing an old piano, a group of ponies playing cards, and of course, ponies drinking cider and licking saltlicks to near death, some even had trouble keeping their balance as they walked.

Braeburn and I sat by the bar while we watched Applejack arm-wrestle with some of the locals. All the while, Discord was playing cards, and by the looks of it, he was cheating…there was an ace in his tail fluff.

Match after match, Applejack slammed the ponies arms down against the table without breaking a sweat, she looked like she was enjoying it.

"Applejack's stronger than she looks…I probably should know that by now, but it never stops surprising me." I said, admiring Applejack's strength.

"Yeah." Braeburn said before he grabbed his cider cup with his hoof and took a sip from it. "She's been the strongest pony in Appleloosa for as long as I can remember…almost everyone challenges her when she comes around." He said before he spun around on his stool to face the bar.

I looked at him before I did the same. It felt a little awkward sitting next to this guy without talking, so I decided to try and ease the tension. "So…what do you know about these missing ponies?" I asked curiously, trying to make small talk.

Braeburn turned his head to face me. "What?" he asked curiously.

"The missing ponies." I repeated. "A guy on the train told me that ponies have been going missing and the towns they lived in have had to be put up for sale." I explained, trying to remember as much as I could about the conversation I had with Moneybaggs.

Braeburn stared at me for a moment before he looked down at his drink. "Yeah, I've heard of that…so is that why you're here? To save the day or somethin'?" he asked before he took a big gulp of his drink.

I could hear a bit more of that attitude towards me in his voice, but I let it slide. "No, I came here to see the town…I always wanted to visit a western town." I said before I took a sip of my own drink. "Are any of you trying to find the guys responsible?" I asked curiously.

"We've had a few Bounty Hunters around here." Braeburn said before he looked at me. "None of them have come back…its likely they got caught themselves." he finished.

My ears lowered a little bit. "Have…any of the townsfolk been taken as well?" I asked, a little scared by what the answer might be.

Braeburn was silent for a moment before he answered. "A few…this town is the rustler's next target…it won't be long until everyone you see here is long gone just like the rest." He said as he looked around at the saloon. "I want to help stop this, but if bounty hunters aren't a match for 'em, what chance do ponies like me have?" he asked, looking at everyone with worry.

"Sometimes the smallest person can achieve large tasks." I said, quoting something Moleyair once said to me. "But is there anyone else trying to protect the town?" I asked curiously.

Braeburn then returned his attention to me. "No…like I said, everyone who tried to go after 'em hasn't come back. Whoever are out there, they're strong." He said before he tried to wave the bartender over.

I thought about this for a moment, trying to think of a way to help them. "Well…maybe I can help. I've dealt with things like this before." I said, wanting to be helpful to them.

At that moment, Braeburn shot a strong stare at me. "No! We can handle this ourselves!" he said strongly, like he was pushing away my assistance.

My ears dropped a little at his sudden snap. "Braeburn…are you ok?...You seem a little upset about something." I said, wondering why he was talking like this to me again.

Braeburn groaned a little before he went silent. After a moment of silence and looking around to see if anyone else was listening, he returned his attention to me. "Ya really want to know? Fine, I'll tell ya." He paused for a moment. "I don't trust ya." He said while giving me a slight glare.

A surprised and uncomfortable chill went through my body once I heard this. "What?" I said, not sure if I heard him right.

But before Braeburn could continue, we both heard the saloon doors open and we looked over to see what it was. That's when I saw Moneybaggs coming in with his jolly smile. I was a little surprised that he was here, I knew he was heading to some western town, but I didn't know he was talking about Appleloosa. I watched him walk over to the bar before he finally noticed us. "Well put a saddle on me and call me a donkey, if it isn't my ol' friend Matthew." He said as he approached us.

I raised my hoof up in a form of waving. "Hey Moneybaggs." I greeted as he finally reached us. I lowered my hoof before I continued. "I didn't know you got off the train with us." I said.

"Well I didn't notice you either. What a fine treat this is, huh? At least now I know I have a friend in these parts." Moneybaggs said before he sat down on the stool beside me and ordered a drink.

Braeburn looked across at him and raised his eye brow. "Umm…say Matt, who's ya friend here?" he asked curiously, giving Moneybaggs a strangely curious stare.

I turned around to face Braeburn before I spoke. "Oh…This is Moneybaggs. I met him on the train on the way here, seems like a nice guy. Said something about coming to see the town." I said, telling him all I knew about Moneybaggs.

However, Braeburn didn't seem totally convinced. "Just to see the town, huh?" he said before he returned his attention over to Moneybaggs. "Excuse me Mr Baggs, but for someone with a name and get up like yours, I assume you not just here to see our town."

"Braeburn." I said under my breath, trying to discreetly let him know that wasn't something he should just assume of someone he didn't know.

Moneybaggs looked at him silently before he chuckled. "I have to say, you're a bright kid, ya got me square in the centre." He said before he leaded down on the counter more. "Truth is I'm here to talk to your Sheriff about opening a mine on the mountains near your town. Those mountains are made of solid Dust Rock, which can produce a high amount of diamonds after a long period of time. I believe the time has come to claim them and, of course, your town will get an even split of the shares." He explained before he pulled out a map, showing the cliff where he planned to set up the mine. "It won't require anything less than a few tools and some strong dedicated ponies." he said.

Braeburn and I looked at the map. I can't say I understood most of it, but it all seemed pretty straight forward and organised. I turned my attention to Braeburn. "Seems like a good deal, what do you think?" I asked, curious about his opinion.

Braeburn then gave me an uncertain look. "Well I wouldn't know, the Sheriff will have to decide." He said before he returned his attention to Moneybaggs and gave him a small smile. "But I'm sure if it means brinin' more bits to the town, he'll agree to it. We have a lot of ponies around her willin' to lend ya a hoof."

Moneybaggs smiled at this before he took the map back and titled his hat with his hoof. "Much obliged, my boy." He said before he drank up the last of his drink and hopped off his seat. We both watched as he made his way towards the exit and leave the Saloon.

Once he was gone, I turned back around to face the bar. "Well if Moneybaggs is right and there are diamonds in those cliffs, the town will get a lot more to its funding, right Braeburn?" I asked, but was confused as to why I didn't get a response. I turned and saw that Braeburn was gone, I looked around until I saw him walk over to Applejack, surrounded by stallions rubbing their sore hooves from having lost to her.

My ears dropped a little and I sighed heavily. "Haven't even done anything and I've already pissed him off, this has to be a record." I said to myself as I wondered why Braeburn had a problem with me.

That night: The streets of town

After spending most of the days doing many activities in Appleloosa, Applejack and I were now having a peaceful walk through the town. The air was so much cooler at night, must've been because it was so hot in the day.

Discord and Braeburn joined us, but they decided to head back to the saloon afterwards for more drinks and to have some guy-time. I still hadn't figured out why Braeburn wasn't so keen on me, but maybe Applejack would shed some light on it

In other news, we overheard that Sheriff agreed to permit Moneybaggs' plan of opening a mine in the cliffs. He left a few hours ago with a lot of equipment and a large group of strong stallions. We haven't heard from them since they left, don't imagine we will until someone comes back.

Applejack and I continued walking as I took in the cool air. "Nice night tonight…it goes well with the town as well." I said, looking around at the peaceful streets as the building windows were lit up, feeling a pleasant sensation in my gut.

Applejack looked around and sighed with a small smile. "Yeah, I can't tell ya the last time I was here when it was night." she said before she turned her head to face me and saw a puzzled look on my face. "Somethin' on ya mind, sugarcube?" she asked curiously, giving me a concerned look.

I snapped out of my train of thought before I looked at her. "Huh? Oh sorry, I was just thinking…about something Braeburn said." I said, thinking back to the saloon when I talked to him.

Applejack and I then stopped in place and she walked around in front of me. "What did he say?" she asked.

I looked up at Applejack's face and saw the concerned look, the same looked Twi would give me every time I had a problem and she wanted to help. I smiled a little at this before I sighed. "He said…that he didn't trust me, like he had some kind of problem with me." I admit. "I don't know why, I haven't said or done anything to upset him."

Applejack had a slightly confused look on her face once she heard this. "Well that doesn't make much sense. You two just met, it's not like him to just dislike someone over nothin'." She said, not recalling any time he's ever done that.

"Is there anything I should do to change his mind?" I asked. "I mean, I know I can't have everyone like me, but I don't want any bad blood between me and someone so close to you." I say, wanting to know if there was any way I could make things a little better between me and Braeburn.

Applejack rubbed her chin with her hoof as she thought about it. "Hmm…well Braeburn isn't the type that just changes his opinion about someone because ya act nice to 'im. Maybe you should just hang out with 'im, let him get to know ya better." she answered with a small smile.

"Do you think that would work?" I asked curiously with a raised eye brow.

Applejack then shrugged. "I'm not completely sure, but its worth a shot, right?" she said before she went into deep thought. "Now we just need somethin' for ya both to do." she said, rubbing her chin with her hoof again.

As she thought, I noticed something behind her, something far out of town. I squinted my eyes to see it was someone weakly crawling through the sand, he was wearing a white suit. My eyes soon widened as I realised what it was. "Oh god!" I said in a loud tone before I rushed around Applejack and went over to the pony.

Doing this made Applejack curious and she watched me rush past her. Upon turning around, she saw the same thing I did and gasped before she sprinted after me, doing her best to catch up beside me.

Once we both reached the pony, we both got a better look at the pony and discovered it was Moneybaggs. His suit was torn and dirty, his hat was missing, and he looked like he had been crawling through the desert for hours. "Please…help me…" he said weakly as he raised his hoof.

I wasted no time in standing beside him and placing one of his front legs over my shoulders, lifting him up slightly. I then turned my attention to Applejack. "Applejack, help me with this guy." I say as I struggling to lift him.

Applejack nodded before she walked over to the other side of Moneybaggs and did the same with his other front leg. We both hoisted Moneybaggs up before we started carrying him back to town. "Moneybaggs?" I said as I look at his face. "Moneybaggs! Speak to me, man." I say, trying to get him to talk.

Moneybaggs then weakly opened his eyes before his eyes shifted in my direction, a small smile then appeared on his face. "What is it about me always runnin' into you?" he asked in amusement.

"Moneybaggs, what happened to you?" I asked, not sharing his amusement at the moment. "Where are the ponies you left with?" I asked, wanting to know what happened to him.

Moneybaggs grunted in pain before he spoke. "The rustlers…they attacked our mine…took all the workers…went into the mine and disappeared…I managed to get away and lose 'em…but I think I was the only one who made it out." He said as he panted.

Applejack and I looked at each other before Applejack turned her attention to Moneybaggs. "Don't worry, Moneybaggs, we'll take ya to Sheriff Silver Star, he'll know what to do about this." She said as we started to re-enter the town.

"Thank ya both…I just hope we're not too late." Moneybaggs said as we both carried his towards Silver Star's office.

A few minutes later: Sheriff Silver Star's office

Once we got to the Sheriff's office, we got Moneybaggs some water before he started telling him how the rustlers attacked. Apparently it was one pony and three fearsome creatures, the pony was the one in-charge of the rest.

It wasn't long before Braeburn got wind of this and rushed right over, wanting to know every detail.

Sheriff Silver Star leaned back on his chair with his legs crossed on the desk in front of him as Moneybaggs continued his tale. "There's no doubt about it, Sheriff, that pony who was leadin' the rustlers was no-one else other than that two-timin' snake, Yodellin' Sam!" Moneybaggs said roughly as he slammed his hoof down on the desk.

"Yodellin' Sam?" Braeburn asked as he stepped forward. "I thought that guy flew the coop ages ago." He said, thinking far back when Sam last struck.

"Excuse me." I say, raising my hoof. "But who's Yodellin' Sam?" I asked with a raised eye-brow.

Applejack then turned her head to face me. "He's a crook. When he was young, he used to round up herds of sheep and pigs with his yodellin', it had some kind of power to put creatures into a trance of some sort. It was when he was older that he realised he could do the same with ponies and started using it to rob banks and stuff." She explained before she looked down at the floor. "He hasn't been around here since he escaped jail two years ago. I wonder what he's up to now." she said, going into deep wonder.

Braeburn walked over to us. "Nothin' good if it involves kidnappin' other ponies and takin' them Celestia knows where!" he said before he spun around to face Silver Star. "Sheriff! I suggest we mount a full strike against these rustlers. If we head back to that mine, we might be able to pick up their trail." He said, wanting to strike the rustlers while they can.

Silver Star removed his hind-legs from the desk before he leaned up. "I'm just as bothered about this as you are, Braeburn, but we have to plan things out first. We can't just send ponies out in the wild willy-nilly, they'll get captured easily." He stated.

"Well what else can we do?" Braeburn asked loudly, a little frustrated by this.

Silver Star was about to answer until we heard a commotion outside. We all walked over to the doorway and exited the office, that's when we saw all the townsfolk all rallied up in front of the office, like an angry mob, but less angry and more concerned. Silver Star stepped out in front of us. "Alright folks, settle down, what's all this about?" he asked, making sound like it was a regular thing.

A pony then walked out in front of the crowd. "We just heard about that Moneybaggs guy bein' attacked by rustlers." He said with a concerned look on his face.

"How the hay did ya'all know about that, we didn't tell anyone." Applejack said with me shaking my head to back up her statement.

Suddenly, Discord appeared above the crowd. "Oh, I might have let it slip in the saloon." He said before he came down to us and turned into a giant fly. "I'm afraid I became a little fly on the wall when you brought that poor pony to the Sheriff." He said before he turned back to normal.

Applejack and I gave him a slight surprised yet firm look. "Why did you tell them all that? It's strictly need-to-know." I said, a little annoyed that he caused all this fuss.

Discord shrugged as he held his arms up. "I was running out of things to talk about." he claimed.

At that moment, I face-hooved myself. "For god's sake!" I said under my breath in frustration.

The pony who spoke before then gave the Sheriff a strong glare. "The freaky guy was right to tell us. It may have been need-to-know for you, but we live here too, we do need to know." He said loudly.

A mare then joined him. "This kind of thing has happened too many times, Sheriff. We want action! We need ya to send someone out to stop these rustlers." She said as she slammed her hoof down on the ground with the rest of the townsfolk bickering in agreement.

This whole thing looked like it was getting out of hand until Silver Star spoke up. "Alright! Alright! I'll send out a posy." He said before he looked around at everyone. "Do we have any volunteers?" he asked.

For a moment, it was completely silent until a few strong looking stallions stepped out of the crowd. They looked tough, a few I even recognised from the saloon. "Right here, Sheriff." One of them said with the rest nodding.

Silver Star smirked at this. "Good, anyone else?" he asked, looking around at everyone.

As the silence continued, I turned my head to Applejack, expecting her to go right for it. But she looked at me and shook her head, which surprised me. I looked over to the stallions and saw that they were tough, but these rustlers sounded tougher, they needed some extra hooves. I took a moment to think about this before I sighed. "Here we go again." I said to myself before I stepped forward. "I'll go, Sheriff." I said.

I looked at each of them, there were three of them and they were all the same size as Big Mac, same type of hooves too.

One was dark brown with a light brown cowboy hat, he had a black mane and tail. He wore a red bandanna around his neck.

The second had a white coat with a black mane and tail, his hat hung behind his neck. He had a large dark-grey beard with what looked like spit-stains around the mouth.

The last had a dark-blue coat with a dark brown mane and tail. He wore a black hat right on top of his head, slightly tilted down in front of his face. There wasn't much to him, other than his hooves being slightly brown, like they were rusted.

Silver Star turned his head around to face me and looked me up and down. "Urr…you sure you're up for this kinda thing?" he asked, sounding as if he didn't expect me to come back alive. "It's gonna be a little dangerous." He finished.

Suddenly, Discord appeared beside me and placed his hands behind my shoulders. "Are you kidding? After all Matthew's been though, danger is his middle name." he said with a large grin, trying to make me sound tough. I just smiled and laughed nervously at this.

Silver Star gave it some thought before he shrugged. "In that case, I guess it couldn't hurt. Welcome to the posy, son." H said as he patted my shoulder with his hoof.

Just then, Braeburn gave me an untrusting glare before he stepped forward towards Silver Star. "I'm goin' too, Sheriff." He said strongly.

Silver Star then looked at Braeburn with a surprised look. "Umm…ok…sure." He said, unsure why he was so quick to offer himself. Silver Star then turned to face the crowd again. "Anyone else wanna go with'em?" he asked.

After a minute or so of silence, Silver Star tuned to face me and Braeburn. "Looks like we got our posy together. First thing in the morning, ya'all will set off to the mines and search for any leads." He instructed.

Braeburn nodded. "Yes Sheriff." He said before he turned and walked away, while giving me as strange look as he passed. The rest of the crowd then dispersed to go back to their own business, leaving us at the Sheriff's office to plan what we were going to do.

The rest of us then went back inside the office and sat around the Sheriff's desk. "So what do we do when we get there?" I asked Silver Star as I watched him sit back down in front of his desk.

"First, ya search the place for anyone who might've hid while the rustlers attacked. If there's no-one there, ya search for tracks or any clues as to where the rustlers might've went. Those guys have been givin' us trouble for far too long, it's time we dealt with 'em." Silver Star said as he turned to look out the window at his town.

Moneybaggs then walked over to me and patted my back. "I'm glad ya stepped up, kid, but do ya really think you're up for it? These rustlers aren't your average every-day varmints, they have a Unicorn on their side." He said, giving me a slightly concerned look.

I was going to answer, but Applejack stepped forward. "He's dealt with worse, but I'll have a talk with 'im later." She said.

"If ya say so, little lady." Moneybaggs said with a small smirk. He turned and started making his way towards the exit. "I'm gonna head over to the saloon and rent a room, I need to get some shut-eye." He said before he looked back at me. "If I don't see ya before ya go, best of luck to all of ya." He said as he walked out of the door and left the office.

Once he left, we all returned our attention to Silver Star. "So, what else do I need to know about this Yodellin' Sam guy." I said, wanting to know more about the Unicorn leading the rustlers.

"No much more to tell." Silver Star answered. "Other than he's robbed seven banks in seven different towns and any bounty hunter that's gone after him has never come back." he told me.

Suddenly, Discord appeared beside me. "Oh goody, we're going on a bandit hunt." He said before he turned and looked me right in the eyes. "I'm sure with your skills and my power, we can catch these rustlers and be praised as heroes, they may even make a statue of us." he said as he snapped is fingers.

In a flash of light, a small stone statue appeared on the desk in front of me, it was of me and Discord. Discord was standing tall with his hands up high while standing on my back, I looked like I was struggling to hold him up. To make it worse, I was standing facing the wrong way. "Though, I think it should I should be wearing a cape" Discord said before he snapped his fingers and a cape appeared on his statue self, which now covered my face.

I look at the statue before I looked up at Discord. "Urr…Discord, I don't think it would be good for you to come with me, I think you should stay here with Applejack." I said, hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Discord then frowned in shock before he made the statue disappear. "But I've been instructed to stay under your care by Princess Celestia, we shouldn't split apart." He said, reminding me of the agreement the Princess and I made.

"I know, Discord." I said. "But as long as you don't do anything…chaotic…then its fine. Besides, Applejack can watch you while I'm gone." I said before I turned my head around to look at Applejack beside me. "Right AJ?" I asked.

"Like a hawk." Applejack said, giving Discord a firm look.

Discord raised his hands up. "Alright, I can take a hint." He said before he wrapped his arm around my neck and held me close. "Besides, this will give you a chance to sort things out with Braeburn." He said and noticed the slightly surprised look on my face. "I'm the spirit of Disharmony, Matthew, I could smell the conflict in that saloon straight through the stench of the townsfolk." He said before he released me.

Upon hearing that, I began to think. Braeburn seemed very eager to offer his aid in the posy after I offered mine, was it because he didn't trust me to be of much help? I turned my head to face Applejack. "Applejack, do you think Braeburn joined the posy because he doesn't want me to go alone with the others?" I asked with a slightly concerned look.

Applejack didn't know how to answer that. She knew Braeburn's heart was in the right place, but when it came to the safety of the townsfolk, he would act strong-hearted and no leave anything to chance. "I'm not sure, maybe." She said before she gave me a comforting smile. "But I'm sure if you do your best to catch these rustlers, he might take a shine to ya." She said.

I thought about it for a moment before I nodded. "I'll do what I can." I responded before I looked out the window and remembered how late it was. "For now, I think we should get some rest. If I'm heading out straight in the morning, I better get some sleep." I said, returning my attention to Applejack.

Applejack nodded in agreement. "Sure thing." she said before she walked past me made her way towards the exit. "There's rental rooms in the saloon, we can sleep there tonight." she said as she looked back at me.

"Ok." I said as I walked over to her and followed her out of the office.

Discord hovered behind me as he followed. "Sleepover! Are we going to have a slumber party? Maybe even a pillow fight?" He asked as we left the office.

"No!" Applejack and I answered loudly at the same time.

Discord then crossed his arms and huffed. "*Huff* Sticks in mud." He said under his breath as he continued to follow us back over to the saloon.

The next day

Overnight, Applejack and I talked about this whole thing. She was concerned that, even though I had been in worse fights, I may not be able to easily take on a gang of rustlers without getting into trouble. These rustlers were tough, they had kidnapped many ponies and escaped law-enforcers many times, they obviously weren't your typical everyday bandits.

I took all of this under advisement, but I figured it was nothing to worry about. These rustlers were mean, but they weren't powerful Alicorns. I was sure everything would be under control.

When morning came, me and the rest of the posy gathered outside the Sheriff's office. I saw all the stallions from yesterday here as well as Braeburn. He looked over to me and I gave him a gentle smile while waving, I didn't get much response other than a cold stare, which made me frown a little. We then saw Silver Star come out through the doors of his office. "Alright fellas, settle down." he said, trying to cut the chatter amongst us.

Once we all gave him out attention, Silver Star continued. "Now before we begin, let's see if everyone's here." he said before he looked at each of us. "Ok, Applejack said your name was Matthew." He said while looking at me before looking at everyone else. "Braeburn…Spitty Bucket…Rusty Shoes…and Salt Saddle. Good to see ya'all are here." he said.

"Wouldn't miss it, Sheriff." Spitty said before he sniffed u hard before he spat thick saliva on the ground.

"Ew." I said under my breath, watching him in slight disgust. "Guess that's why they call him Spitty."

Silver Star continued to stare at us as he explained the plan. "Ok, the plan is simple. Ya'all are gonna head over to the mine, where the rustlers were last seen, and start lookin' for anyone who might've got away, or at least some leads as to where the rustlers will strike next. Am I clear?" he asked with a strong voice.

"Yes Sheriff." Braeburn said as he gave him a salute.

"Let's cut the chatter and get goin'! I'm ichin' to catch me some rustlers." Rusty said, with the others agreeing with him.

"Alright, alright." Silver Star said, settling them down again. "Then without further delay, I grant you permission to get goin'." He said before he gave us a strong salute. "Best of luck to all of ya." He said with a smirk.

With that, the group of stallions galloped off, eager to start the hunt. They yelled things like 'ye-ha!' and 'Hoo-wee!' as they rushed out of town, leaving me and Braeburn in the dust. Braeburn and I waved our hooves around to clear the dust before we looked at each other. "Guess we'll…have to catch up." I said, feeling how awkward this was.

"Yeah, sure thing." Braeburn said before he, unlike the others, started following the other stallions at the normal pace. As he continued walking, he looked back at me. "Ya comin' or what, buddy?" he asked.

With that, I rushed up to Braeburn and walked beside him as we followed the hoof-prints in the sand, leading out of town and to the large cloud of dust in the distance, created by the stampeding stallions.

As we kept walking, I looked over to Braeburn to see his stern look, he kept his eyes on the horizon at all times. I tried to think of something, anything to say that would break this uncomfortable silence. "So Braeburn…when was the last time you saw any of the buffalo?" I asked curiously, trying to make conversation.

Braeburn turned his head to face me before he answered. "Not for a while. They still stampede through our orchard a few times, but they don't really stop to say hi…well…one does." He said, thinking of that one buffalo.

Looking back at the events of that episode, I had a good idea who the one buffalo was. "Little Strongheart?" I asked with a sly smirk.

Braeburn looked at me with a slightly surprised face before he looked away. "Yeah…she drops in now and again to check up on things. She's kinda like, you know, the peace keeper or somethin'." He stated, continuing to look forward to the path ahead.

"Uh-huh." I said with my smirk growing a little bigger, think there was possibly more to it than that.

The two of us kept walking across the desert as we followed the other stallions, believing we'd eventually catch up to them at the mine.

-Half-an-hour later-

Braeburn and I were now very far from town, too far to think about calling it all off and heading back. The rest of the posy was already a few miles ahead of us, we could barely see them anymore.

Being in such a hot part of Equestria, it didn't take long for the sun to start scorching the land. With our hooves sinking into the soft sand with each step, Braeburn and I kept on our quest. I was breathing heavily, my mane damp with sweat as my throat gagged for just one drop of water.

Braeburn, on the other hand, seemed very calm. True, he was hot too, so hot that he had to remove his hat to try and cool his head down, but he was used to the warmth here.

All the while, we didn't talk much. I would've said something, but I was afraid of disturbing Braeburn, so I decided to just speak when spoken to. It wasn't until I saw a large rock up ahead that I finally spoke. "Braeburn…that rock over there is giving off a lot of shade…maybe we can stop for a sec and cool down." I say, desperately staring at the large shadow the rock was casting.

Braeburn looked over to the rock before he looked at me. "I'm not sure, we have to keep up with the rest of the posy…if we stop, we might fall behind." He said, unsure if he wanted to stop for a moment or not.

"Braeburn, if we stay out here any long without a break we won't be strong enough to deal with whatever's waiting for us at the mine…if we don't get heat-stroke before we get there, that is." I said, lifting up my arm and wiping the sweat off my head.

Braeburn stopped and took a few breaths before he nodded. "Alright…alright, I get ya…let's take a breather." He said before he stated walking over to the rock and its shade, with me following behind.

Once we reached the shade, Braeburn and I sat down on the cool sand and relaxed in the shade, finally feeling the heat on us die off. We both rested back against the rock as I looked out at the horizon. "Wish we had some water…" I said, desperately wanting to wet my dry throat.

Just then, Braeburn reached into one of his saddlebags and pulled out a water canister, he held it over to me and I soon noticed it. "Oh, so that's what's in there." I said before I grabbed it with my hoof and unscrewed the cap. Once it was off, I took a quick swig of the water inside, making sure not to drink too much of it.

After having my fill, I put the cap back on and gave the canister back to Braeburn. He took it and placed it back in his saddlebag. We rested for a moment before I turned my head to face Braeburn. "Hey…can I ask you something…why don't you trust me?...i mean, I haven't done much for you not to." I say, curious as to why he thought so badly about me.

Braeburn turned his head to face me before he sighed. "Do ya really want to know?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah…did Applejack say something about me or something?" I asked curiously.

Braeburn shook his head. "No…the truth is, you seem to be a trouble-magnet." He started. "Ya didn't always hang out with my sister or her friends, otherwise ya would've been her during the whole buffalo thing. So that means you arrived into Ponyville at some point and decided to park ya wagon there." he said.

I didn't know what he meant, but I could only assume it meant I decided to stay there. "Yeah…and?" I said with a slightly confused look.

"But after ya did, all sorts of trouble started happenin'." Braeburn continued. "Discord got out, those Alicorn's started showin' up, the Elements are goin' missin', and my own little cousin gets kidnapped by a traitorous guard. And then there ya are, in the middle of it all, it just raised suspicion." He said, giving me a shady stare.

At that moment, I knew what he was getting at. "Hey, I didn't bring any of that…I was the one who fought those Alicorns and saved Applebloom…if you think I'd ever be in league with those monsters, you have another thing coming, buddy." I said, giving him a firm glare.

Braeburn leaned up. "I didn't say ya were, I was just saying there's somethin' weird about it. All these things seem to happen because of you. The Alicorn's attacked because they wanted you, the guard kidnapped Applebloom to get to you." he said before he leaned towards me. "Be a hero, save the world, beat the villains, that's fine by me. But put my family in the middle of it all, ya got yourself a problem." He said, nudging me with his hoof.

I leaned up and moved closer to him, looking him dead in the eye as I glared more. "I'd never let anything happen to Applejack or anyone else at Sweet Apple Archers. One tried and he ended up being pinned to the wall by a pitchfork while his mother ended up dead. And I don't ask Applejack to get involved with that stuff, she chooses to, because she wants me to come out of it alive. I keep her and her family safe, and she does the same for me and mine. Stick that in your apple-pies." I said, giving him a nudge back.

Braeburn was silent for a moment before he stood back up. "I think we've cooled down enough, time we got back on track." He said before he stepped out of the shade and kept following the hoof-prints.

As I watched him leave, I sighed heavily. "Well wasn't that bonding?" I said to myself sarcastically before I got up and started following Braeburn, heading further into the horizon as the sun continued to heat the land.

Meanwhile: Appleloosa streets

Watching out into the long empty desert, Applejack sat in the streets and wondered how we were doing. We had been only gone a few hours, but she was worried about us. Part of her wanted to run out to join us, but she knew she had to stay behind and watch Discord.

Speaking of which, Discord appeared beside her and noticed the concerned look on her face. "Cheer up, Applejack, I'm sure Matt and…urr…Breadstick will be fine. They tough ponies." he said before two ice-cream cones appeared in his claws. "Here, have some ice-cream." He said as he held one down to her.

But, due to the heat, the two cones melted within an instant, leaving two small puddles on the ground. "Well, that's not right." Discord said, looking down at the puddles with a small frown.

Applejack sighed as she looked up at him. "Thanks for tryin', Discord, but I'm not in the mood right now for anythin' like that." She said with a quiet voice.

Discord then shrugged before he threw both cones into his mouth and ate them. "Well what would make you feel better?" he said while he continued to chew the cones.

Applejack was silent as she prepared to answer. But before she could, she heard a door open and spun around to see Silver Star walking out of his office, following behind him was his two deputies. Once she saw him, Applejack got up and quickly walked over to him. "Sheriff, can I have a word?" she asked, hoping to get his ear.

Silver Star looked at her. "Sure, what's up?" he asked as he crossed his front legs.

"I'm worried about the posy that went after those rustlers." Applejack began. "I think we need to consider sending more ponies out there to back 'em up." she said.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Applejack." Silver Star said as he stepped down from the porch and started walking down the street with Applejack following beside him. "I want to help those ponies, believe me, I do. But if we send more ponies out there, we risk losin' more of our own people."

"I know, Sheriff, but maybe you and your deputies could help." Applejack said. "I mean, ya have the experience with rustlers and other outlaws, havin' you by their side could really give them the upper hoof." she said with a small hopeful smile.

Silver Star stopped walking and gave Applejack a firm look. "And what happens when the rest of the town finds out we're gone? Everypony here looks to me for action when things go South, who else will they turn to if somethin' happens while I'm not here?" he asked with the deputies approaching them from behind.

Suddenly, Discord sprung up from the sand beside Applejack. "Well why doesn't Applejack take over while you're gone? She has leadership skills and knows how to handle a crazy crowd?" he asked as he hit the side of his head with his talon-hand, making sand shoot out from his ear on the other side of his head.

"Now that's just crazy talk, no-one can just take the role of Sheriff." Silver Star said before he rubbed his chin with his hoof. "But…I might be able to make ya a sub-deputy for a while." he said, looking Applejack up and down.

Applejack then gave him a nervous look. "Sub-deputy? I don't know, Sheriff…I mean, I'm glad you're considering helpin' Matt and the others out, but I'm not sure I can take care of a whole town until ya come back." she said.

Discord smiled widely. "Oh! I can do it!" he said before there was a flash of light around him. A Sheriff's outfit then appeared on his body and he put a toothpick into his mouth. "I've always wanted to be in control of a town….well, one that's actually given to me and not taken by force." He said.

Upon seeing this and imagining what could happen under Discord's control, Applejack quickly looked at Silver Star with wide-eyes. "I'll take the job!" she said quickly.

"Good." Silver Star said before he looked at one of his deputies. "Deputy." He called. With that, one of the deputies walked up behind Applejack and slapped a brown leather vest onto her body, it had a small metal start pinned to it. "Until we get back, you're now sub-deputy, the town will be under your watch and protection until we get back." Silver Star informed.

Applejack looked down at the vest before she returned her attention to Silver Star and saluted. "Yes sir!"

Once that was taken care of, Silver Star turned to face his deputies. "Alright guys, let's go help those kids." He said, getting nods from them before they galloped out into the desert and started their long journey to aid us.

Once they were gone, Discord hovered up beside Applejack, still wearing his outfit. "So…need any help taking care of the town?" he asked, biting his lip while giving Applejack shiny begging eyes.

Applejack saw the look on his face before she rolled her eyes. "Fine…but no changin' anything or causin' trouble!" she ordered.

Discord stood up straight as he nodded. "Of course, wouldn't dream of anything else." He said before he spun around to face a stool, prancing and bucking around while carrying a panicking pony. Discord snapped his fingers and it turned back into a normal stool, making the pony fall off it and land hard on the ground, wondering what in the world just happened.

Discord spun back around to face Applejack and laughed nervously, hoping she didn't notice that.

That night: Moneybaggs' mine

After a long journey through the scorching empty desert, Braeburn and I finally reached the mine where Moneybaggs and his men were attacked. It took so long that the sun had set and the cool night air made us feel a little more refreshed. We hadn't spoken a word to each other the whole time, figured we'd let things cool first.

The stallions from the rest of the posy were already here, looking things over and searching the area. They looked both confused and frustrated, which couldn't mean anything good.

As we both approached them, I had a good look around at the mine. There was a broken wagon, a few barrels stacked up against the wagon, some rope and pickaxes lying on the ground, and a large mine entrance made into the side of the mountain. There were tracks build into the ground leading into the mine with a mine-cart.

After seeing all this, I would've guessed the mine was already here before Moneybaggs and his men arrived. I turned my head to face Braeburn. "Does this mine look a little too well-made for just one day's work? Moneybaggs and the others weren't out here that long." I said, resuming looking around at the mine.

Braeburn didn't turn his head as he answered. "We may not look like it, Matt, but the folks at Appleloosa are hard workin'. They can dig half-way through a mine in just one hour." He stated.

"Oh." I said with a slightly impressed look. "Handy." I finished as we stopped in front of the mine.

Rusty Shoes looked under the broken wagon before he grunted in frustration. "This is a waste of time! The rustlers and the minin' folks are long gone!" he said, stomping his hoof on the ground.

Salty nodded. "Yeah, there's no tracks, no signs, nothin'." He said as he kicked a stone away.

"I say we head back to Appleloosa and tell the Sheriff we didn't find anythin', its dangerous bein' out here at night." Spitty said as walked over to us.

At that moment, Braeburn stepped forward. "And abandon our own people and let those varmints keep kidnappin' other ponies? I don't think so." he said strongly before his attention turned towards the mine entrance. "Did ya look down there?" he asked curiously.

Spitty looked down the mine and saw that it was pitch black in there. "Are ya kiddin'? there ain't no way we're goin' down there in the dark." He said, giving Braeburn a firm stare.

Braeburn turned his attention to Spitty and returned the glare. "The mine is the best place the rustlers could've taken them! It would make a quick getaway and they'd be able go about unseen." He argued.

I walked up beside Braeburn and looked down the mine. "He's right, the rustlers would've been able to get away from here with no problem…provided it actually leads somewhere." I say, looking down into the blackness inside.

"It's too dark to go wonderin' inside a mine." Salty said as he walked over to us. "We'll get hurt, we won't be able to see the muzzles in front of our faces." he stated.

Braeburn took this into thought and rubbed his chin. "I suppose ya got a point." He said before he turned around to face us all. "Fine, we'll set up camp and wait until mornin', then we'll go down the mine." He said.

Rusty gave him a curious look. "Camp? Shouldn't we head back to town?" he asked.

Braeburn shook his head. "No, we're not goin' back until we've searched everywhere. Besides, it'll take us all night to get back to Appleloosa, and if ya think being in a mine at night is dangerous, ya don't wanna know what could happen out there at night." he said, pointing out at the desert.

Rusty looked out at the desert and gulped nervously before he returned his attention to Braeburn. "Camp sounds good." he said with a nervous smile.

With that, Braeburn sat down and removed his saddlebags from his back. He opened them and dug into one before he pulled out some camping equipment. Me and the other three did the same and started building out camp in front of the mine.

After a few minutes, we all had tents set up and a campfire in the centre, we all sat around it as we talk amongst ourselves. "So, Matthew, was it?" Rusty said, looking over to me. "What brings ya to Appleloosa?" he asked curiously.

I looked over to him and smiled. "My friend, Applejack, promised me a visit to the town." I said before I looked down at the fire. "Didn't think it would go like this though, I thought I'd be in the saloon with my friends." I said, thinking about what we could've done.

"Is it true ya fought some evil Alicorn's?" Salty said while roasting marshmallows over the fire on the stick. "I've heard ya name before in a newspaper and I saw your picture. I know it was you, I just wanna know if it was true." he said with a small pleasant smile.

I looked over to him. "Yeah, it's true. I've fought two of them actually…and I think there's gonna be more…I only hope I'll be able to beat them too." I said, wondering how powerful the others would be.

It was silent for a moment before Spitty spoke. "These rustlers…are ya gonna kill 'em? Like ya did with those Alicorns?" he asked curiously. With that question asked, everyone, especially Braeburn, looked at me with wonder, eager to hear the answer.

"…No…I'll do my best to take them in. But if we are going to catch them, I'll need all your help." I said before I looked over to Braeburn. "Especially yours, Braeburn. I know you don't think a lot of me, but if we're going to save those ponies, we'll need to work together." I said, wanting him to put aside his distrust until we're done.

Braeburn looked down at the ground and thought about what I just said.

At that moment, Salt laughed with a slight wheeze in his voice. "I'm just havin' trouble believin' Braeburn's bein' this uptight. Usually he's so calm and joyful. In fact, it was just the other day when he was rollin' through town on a barrel with a few other ponies." He said before he chuckled. "It was some kind of race, if I remember. Ya should've seen the look on his face when he lost control and crashed into the general store, haha." He laughed.

From hearing that story, I looked over to Braeburn and struggled to keep my amused smile at bay. Braeburn smiled nervously before I chuckled. "Now that's the Braeburn I remember." I thought, not wanting to risk him hearing that out loud.

Just then, we noticed the light of the fire going down and we looked to see the fire was dying. "Ah crap, the woods almost completely burnt." I said before I started looking around for some more. "You'd think the minors would've left some sticks around." I said as I continued to look.

"I think I saw some over by the broken wagon." Rusty said before he turned around and tried to find the wagon. "Huh, I saw it a minute ago, it must've gotten darker out there." he said, trying to see through the darkness.

I sighed. "*Sigh* I'm gonna need help finding it." I said before I turned my head to face Braeburn. "Braeburn, can you help me out?" I asked as I stood up onto my hooves.

Braeburn was silent for a second before he got up. "Sure." He said before he and I walked away from the camp towards the direction where we last saw the wagon.

Braeburn and I tried to see through the darkness to try and see the wagon. "Didn't pack any flashlights in the saddlebag by any chance, did ya?" I asked as I continued searching.

"Nope. We're just gonna have to walk around here until we-UFF!" Braeburn said as he bumped into something hard. "Found it." he groaned as he rubbed his chin to ease the small pain.

Following the sound of Braeburn's voice, I walked over to him and carefully stared down until I could just make out the broken wagon in front of us. "Good job, Braeburn, now we just need to find the wood." I said as I felt around the ground for anything that felt wooden.

"Don't ya have that Element thing of yours? Maybe it can give us some light." Braeburn said as he helped me try to find the wood.

"It's an ancient magical artefact to use to protect Equestria, not a lantern…besides, since my battle with Zelga, my connection to it is kind of weak, I'm not strong enough to summon it from such a far distance yet." I said as I brushed my hoof against the sand. Just then, my hoof bumped into something hard, I rubbed my hoof against and felt that it was wood. "I think I've found them." I said before I grabbed the plank and held picked it up.

Braeburn came over to me and grabbed the other, he picked it up and placed it on his back. "Here, put the other one on my back, I'll carry it back." he said, turning around so his back was facing me.

I looked at him with a slightly concerned look. "You sure you can carry both? I can carry this one, if you want." I said, thinking it might not be good for his back.

Braeburn looked back at me. "Don't worry about me, I've carried heavier stuff. Now c'mon, that fire's gonna burn out by the time we get back." he said, waiting for me to put it on with the other.

"Well alright then." I said before I lifted the plank up higher and placed it on top of the other plank resting on Braeburn's back.

With that done, Braeburn and I started walking back to the camp. Braeburn walked steadily to make sure the planks didn't fall of his back. As we approached the campsite, we noticed something…weird…it was quieter than it was a moment ago. That's when we saw a strange figure walk past what was left of the fire. "What was that?" I asked, stopping where I was.

Braeburn stopped and looked over to the campsite. "Maybe it was one of the guys." He said, not seeing anything through the darkness.

"I don't know, it didn't look like any of them…it look…scrawnier." I said, trying to describe the shape of the figure I saw.

Suddenly, we notice the land was getting brighter. We looked up and saw the large amount of clouds moved across the sky and allowed the moon to shine down on it, making it a little bit brighter. "Well that's better, now we might be able to see clearly." I said before I returned my attention to the camp and noticed something shocking. "Crap." I said under my breath.

Braeburn looked at me with wonder. "What?" he asked before he looked in the direction I was looking in and saw what I did.

The three other ponies, huddled up in one spot while a strange creature circled them like predators surrounding their prey. There was two more creatures, one was pacing back and forth, and the other was lying on the ground chewing at a bone. "Where the hay is the boss? If these fellas have back up on the way, I don't wanna be here when they arrive." The pacing creature said.

Braeburn took a good look at the creatures and quietly let the wood drop off his back before he looked at me. "Coyotes." He whispered. "They must be the strange creatures we heard about…and I bet the guy they're waiting for is Sam himself."

I looked at him with a little bit of worry in my eyes. "Coyotes?...Are they dangerous?" I asked curiously, not sure if they were just as dangerous here as they are back home.

"Very." Braeburn answered. "They're cowardly, but they're vicious…and I think I know who these ones are." He said before he returned his attention to the coyotes and trapped ponies. "They're the Hound Brothers, a trio of outlaws that pick off ponies lost in the desert. They also work as hired help for other outlaws." He explained.

I looked over to them again and remembered the coyote mention something about a boss, I then returned my focus to Braeburn. "That coyote was talking about a boss coming…how much do you want to bet its Yodellin' Sam they're waiting for?" I said, having the idea that they were working for him.

Braeburn gave it some thought before he went wide-eyed. "If that's right, we could catch 'im right here and now." he said before adventurous smirk appeared on his face. "Let's do it." he said.

I nodded before I looked over to the coyotes. "Ok, we need to get rid of those guys first, otherwise they'll cause us trouble. We should try and get the jump on them…maybe we should circle around in the darkness and get them from both sides." I said, trying to come up with a plan of attack.

Braeburn nodded with agreement before he looked around and saw a large rock near the coyotes. "Ok, I'll head over there and take cover behind that rock. You circles around the camp over by our tents and hide out there. We'll wait until we're both in place and then we'll jump 'em." He said, adding the last part to the plan.

I looked over to the tents before I look at Braeburn again, giving me a small smirk. "We've got a plan." I said before I lifted my hoof up to receive a high-hoof. Braeburn looked at it with confusion before he looked at me with a raised eye-brow. "C'mon, don't leave me hanging, Braeburn." I said, shaking my hoof a little.

Braeburn looked at me hoof again before he lifted his and gave me the high-hoof I was after. "Awesome!" I said before I placed my hoof down. "Ok, let's do it." I said before I turned and start sneaking over to the tents, being careful not to let the coyotes see me. Braeburn did the same as he sneaked in the other direction to head over to the rock.

After a moment, we both got into position. I looked over the tent and saw Braeburn's head poking up from behind the rock on the other side of the camp. I carefully waved to him to let him know I was in position, I soon received a wave back before I returned my attention to the coyotes.

From here, I got a better look at the Hound Bothers. They basically all looked the same, dark yellow coats with skinny bodies and legs, but they each wore a bandana around their necks and a small bowler-hat on their heads, each with different colours. The hat and bandana of the coyote that was pacing were both black, the hat and bandana of the coyote chewing a bone were dark green, and the hat and bandana of the coyote circling the ponies were dark blue.

I continued to watch and I listened to them talk amongst each other.

"It's getting late, we can't stay out here all night." The coyote that was pacing said.

"Ya need to relax, Fleek. He'll be here soon, ya know he likes making an entrance." The coyote on the ground said before he continued to gnaw at his bone.

The coyote, now known as Fleek, stopped pacing and looked at him. "I'll relax when we get out of here, Skav, these three ponies aren't enough to be a posy, there's gotta be more out here." he said before he looked over to the other coyote. "Speakin' of which, how's our new friends, Gragg?" he asked.

The coyote in front of the rest of the posy, now known as Gragg, turned around to look over to Fleek. "They're doin' fine." He said before he returned his attention to the ponies and raised one of his paws, a sharp claw them flung out. "Though, I don't think they're a might happy about their little situation." he said as he raised it up and slowly placed the tip of his claw under Salty's chin, making him breathe steadily in slight fear while trying to keep a brave face.

Seeing this nearly made Braeburn leap out from his hiding place and attack, but he knew it would be a stupid thing to do and resisted this urge.

Skav then dropped his bone and got up. "Bones just ain't any good without some meat on 'em." He said before he turned around and looked at the ponies, which then gave him a sudden idea. "You know, we've been workin' our furry butts off for a while without a decent meal…with all the ponies we've collected, would the boss really be mad if we had at least one to ourselves?" he said before he turned his attention to Rusty. "What about that one? Nice and plump." He said as he licked his lips while drooling.

Rusty gave him an offended look. "Hey! What ya tryin' to say?" he said, looking down at his stomach to see how big it was.

Fleet rolled his eyes before he stepped in front of Skav. "They're not for eatin', the boss wants every pony we can get. The more ponies we get, the more moolah we get in our pockets, get it?" he said firmly.

"What pockets?" Skav said with a confused look.

Fleet frowned with frustrated before he took his hat off and smacked Skav on the head with it. "Just shut up, ya mutt." He said harshly.

While Skav rubbed his head in pain, Gragg came over to them. "Hey, don't be hittin' him." he said before he took his hat off and smacked Fleet over the head with it.

Fleet rubbed his head before he returned the hit with his own hat, but instead of getting one from Gragg, he got one from Skav behind him. This led to Fleet turning around and smacking him again, which led to Skav returning it. This whole thing then led into an out-of-control hat fight, like something the Three Stooges would do.

I watched this with my mouth hanging open in confusion before I looked over to Braeburn to see he was just as confused as me, maybe even a little bit more. We then returned our attention to the fighting trio.

While they continued to amusingly hit each other with their hats, Spitty looked down and saw a pickaxe lying on the ground near him. If he could get to it in time, he could use it as a weapon against the brothers. He started to slowly walk over to the pickaxe, biting his bottom lip at how intense it was.

As for me and Braeburn, we were too caught up in watching the brother beat each other with their hats to think straight, But by the time we snapped out of it and realised this was a good time to strike, Gragg stopped and noticed Spitty.

"Hey!" Gragg yelled before rushed up to the pickaxe just as Spitty was about to grab it and pinned it down with his paw. Spitty, realising he had failed, backed away as Gragg growled while baring his teeth. "What ya doin', fella?" he said, slowly following Spitty as he backed away.

Once Spitty was reunited with the Rusty and Salty, Fleet and Skav went over to them and surrounded them, growling viciously. "I wouldn't try that again, if ya know what's good for ya." Fleet warned.

"Dammit." I said to myself before I looked over to Braeburn. He looked over to me and pointed at the coyotes, showing me hoof signals to silently tell me that we should attack. I looked back over to the coyotes and saw that they all had their backs turned to us. If there was a time to attack, it was now.

I returned my attention to Braeburn and nodded. We both then started crawling out of our hiding places and slowly made our way towards the coyotes, like lion sneaking up on an antelope.

But after reaching about half-way, we suddenly heard a strange noise, it sounded like galloping. Braeburn looked around before he noticed something coming this way, whatever it was, it was leaving a large cloud of dust behind him. This was getting the attention of the coyotes, making this attack more difficult.

"Tarnation!" Braeburn said under his breath in frustration before he rushed over to me and grabbed me. This made me very shocked and confused as he dragged me over to the large rock he was hiding behind early and made me hide behind it.

Once he released me, I looked at Braeburn as he looked over the rock. "Braeburn, what the hell are you doing? That was our chance to-" I was then silence by Braeburn placing his hoof on my mouth.

"Be quit!" Braeburn whispered before he looked behind the rock again. "Looks like the boss is here, our window's closed." He said before he removed his hoof from my face.

I remained quiet as I raised my head up from behind the rock so I could look over to the coyotes. I saw a pony-shaped figure gallop up to the group before skidding to a halt, creating a small cloud of dust around them. When it finally cleared, Braeburn and I got a good luck at the pony.

He was a fat dark-brown Unicorn, her wore a black top-hat, black suit with pants, and a bandana around his neck. He had a thick black mustache with a small curl at each end of it. He grinned crookedly as his hard glowed and twisted one end of his mustache with his magic.

Once he saw him, Braeburn glared with hatred. "Yodellin' Sam." He growled in a whisper.

"Wait, that's him?" I said in slight surprise as I looked over to Sam. "Huh…I expected him to be less…well…round." I said, staring at his very noticeable gut before I looked over to his pants. "Also he has to be one of the only few ponies in Equestria who actually ware pants."

"Don't judge him for his looks, Matt, that's guy's as dangerous as a wolf in a chicken coop." Braeburn said, not taking his eyes off Sam as he approached the coyotes.

"Howdy boss!" The three coyotes greeted at the same time.

"Howdy boys." Sam responded in his rough voice before he looked over to the stallions. "Looky what ya'all caught for me. What the story here?" he asked, walking up to the stallions.

"Looks like a posy, Sam. Send here by them Appleloosa folks to look for those minors." Fleet answered before he sniffed a little. "We think there's more out here, but they keep sayin' their alone." He finished.

"Do they now?" Sam said before he returned his attention to the stallions and walked up to Rusty. "Tell me, son, are ya alone out here? Please don't lie to me now…I get a little upset when folks lie to me." he said with an intimidating tone as his horn glowed slightly.

Rusty gulped before he spoke. "W-We're alone, sir…its just us three…" he said, hoping he would catch his bluff.

Same glared at him for a moment. But then, his horn stopped glowing and pulled away. "Alright then." He said before he turned and stepped away from them. "It won't matter if you're lyin' or not. If there is anyone else out here, they'll come out." He said with a confident smirk.

Braeburn and I looked at each other, wondering how he planned to make them happen. We then returned our attention to Sam as he walked up to Fleet.

"Did ya bring the dynamite like I told ya to?" Same asked before he glared. "I swear, boy, if ya forgot the dynamite again, I'll make a fur coat out of ya…" he then paused to think on his words. "On second thought, I might just cook ya, no-one would want a fur coat that smells like ol' gym socks."

Fleet took a moment to smell his coat to check if it really did smell. Let's just say he had no comment. After that, he returned his attention to Sam. "Urr…yeah, boss, we got the dynamite." He said before he looked over to Gragg.

Gragg then brought over a small wooden box, holding it by a rope handle in his mouth. He placed it down of the ground before he opened the lid, showing Sam all the sticks of TNT inside it.

"Nice work, boys." Sam said, grinning down at the explosives before he looked back up at the coyotes. "Now get 'em in place while I get these ponies into the mine." He ordered with Fleet nodding and started getting it work.

But at that moment, Salty stepped forward. "Now hold ya horses there, Sam. If ya think we're just gonna walk into that mine willingly, ya got another thing comin'. We're not gonna be another one of ya prisoners." He said firmly, standing his ground and refusing to cooperate.

Sam turned to face him, surprised by his boldness, but he soon grew a crooked grin before he chuckled. "Haha…son…ya don't know who ya talkin' to, don't cha?" he said as he started walking over to him. "I've got a curtain method to get things movin', its very persuasive."

Salty's strong look did shiver, he kept hold of it the best he could against this outlaw. He watched as Sam turned away to face the Hound Brothers.

"Looks like we got some fighters, boys!" Sam said loudly, with the brothers chuckling darkly.

Braeburn and I watched closely at what he was doing, curious as to what plan he had up his sleeve as Sam turned back around to the three stallions. "Maybe I should show ya why they call me Yodellin' Sam." He said as he started circling the ponies.

Yodellin' Sam: "Now listen up! There are crooks in this 'ere West…who have claimed to be the best…and they think they wrote the book on how to rustle, hehe

But as good as they may be, not a one's as good as me…and I barely have to move a single muscle

They call me mean, boys, depraved and nasty too. But they ain't seen, boys, the cruellest thing I do…."

At that moment, Sam flicked his hat up as his horn glowed brightly before he continued.

Yodellin' Sam: "You see, I yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo! The sweetest way of rustlin' yet devised

'Cause when I yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo! Why, looky how them ponies get hypnotised!"

Upon hearing Sam yodelling, I strange power overwhelmed Rusty and the others, their eyes became wide with their pupils shrinking down to dots, their mouths hung open as they started bouncing their bodies to Sam's tune.

Fleet: "He don't prod!"

Gragg: "He don't yell!"

Skav: "Still he drives them ponies well."

All three: "Which ain't easy when your chaps are labelled XXXXL!"

Yodellin' Sam: "Yes! If you're lookin' from a bovine point of view, I sure can yodel-adle-eedle-idle, yodel-adle-eedle-idle, yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oooo!"

"Alright boys! Get that there dynamite into that mine entrance and get ready to end this with a bang!" Sam ordered with a wide smile.

Fleet nodded before he started to carry it out his order, shutting the box before grabbing the rope handle with his mouth and carrying the box over to the mine entrance.

As Sam continued to yodel, the three ponies started following him towards the mine. All the while, I couldn't help but smile with amusing awkwardness. "Is this guy for real? This is the big bad Yodellin' Sam I've been hearing about? Braeburn, this guys a pushover, how have you not caught him ye-…" I stopped when I turned around and saw Braeburn was gone.

"Braeburn?" I said in confusion as I looked around for him. But then, I found him, walking out towards Sam and the others. "Braeburn!" I said in a loud whisper before I leaped over the rock and rushed towards him. Once I reached him, I saw his eyes were the same as the others, he was under Sam's trance.

"Braeburn, snap out of it!" I said as I place my front hooves on Braeburn's chest to try and stop him, but he just kept moving, pushing me along in front of him. Once I got that it wasn't work, I got around behind me and wrapped my arms around his hind-legs to try and stop him from walking, but his legs kept moving and dragged me along. "This…is…not…working." I said each time his unstoppable yanked me.

I then released his legs before I leaped onto his back to try and way him down, but he didn't even slow down. I tried to think of anything else I could do to stop Braeburn from exposing himself and probably me to Sam. That's when I remembered Braeburn had a bunch of stuff in his saddlebags. While still on his back, I reached my hoof into his saddlebag and found what I was hoping to find, a long piece of rope.

Once I got it, I got off Braeburn and started wrapped the rope around Braeburn's legs. I made sure they were properly wrapped around them before I pulled on the rope hard, closing all four of his legs together and he fell to the ground. Once down, I quickly started tying the rope around his legs until he was hogtied, finally bringing him to a stop. "That should hold you…*pant*…man, you're strong." I said, complementing his resistance to my attempts to stop him.

While I grabbed the rope tied around Braeburn with my mouth and started dragging him back to the rock, Sam didn't notice us and continued to sing.

Yodellin' Sam: "Yes, I can yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo!"

Hound Brothers: "A song that ponies truly take to heart."

Yodellin' Sam: "Yeah! I can yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo! And smack my big ol' rump if that ain't art!"

Fleet: "He don't rope."

Gragg: "Not a chance."

Skav: "He just puts them in a trance."

All three: "He's a pioneer pied piper in ten-gallon underpants!"

Yodellin' Sam: "Yep! I'm a real rip-roarin' deal, yes, it's true

Thanks to my yodel-adle-eedle-idle, yodel-adle-eedle-idle, I got ponies off the ol' wazoo! Hehe."

As Sam continued and the Hound Brothers entered the mine, Sam noticed something in the distance, it looked like a group of ponies heading their way. After taking a closer look, Sam realised it was Silver Star and his deputies, desperately galloping towards the mine site to catch him before he escapes again.

But Sam was cunning, he rushed into the mine and grabbed the dynamite-plunger as he went for one last verse.

Yodellin' Sam: "'Cause I can yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo!

Yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo!"

With that last part, Sam pushed down on the plunger and the TNT exploded around the mine entrance. The last thing we saw of Sam was him tipping his hat as rocks crumbled and fell around the entrance, blocking it completely to prevent anyone from getting in or out.

The moment that happened, Braeburn blinked his eyes a few times before they returned to normal. "W-Wha-…huh?...What in tarnation?" he said before he looked as his tied legs. "Why am I all tied up? What happened?" he asked in utter confusion.

"You bloody tell me!" I said in a loud tone as I stepped closer to him and started untying his legs. "Sam started singing or something and you went completely…I don't know…you started going towards him. I had to stop you before he spotted you." I said as I undid the knot on the rope and freed his legs.

Braeburn continued to look at me as he got up onto his hooves. "Ya mean he did his yodellin' spell?" he said before he looked down at the ground in shame. "Huh…never thought I'd fall for it." he said.

I gave him a gentle look before I placed my hoof on his back. "Well don't worry, we'll get him next time." I said before I looked over to the mine. "We just need to find out where that mine goes." I said.

Braeburn looked over to the mine. "Yeah, there should be a map or somethin' around-…" He then stopped talking as he returned his attention to me. "Wait a sec, you saw everything that happened while Sam was singin'? You weren't under the spell?" he asked, giving me a confused look.

I then started to wonder why it didn't affect me either. It was just a theory, but it could be because I'm not completely from this world, it must only affect born and raised ponies, but I couldn't tell Braeburn that. "Urr…maybe it's because I'm connected to one of the Elements of Harmony, it must protect me from those kind of things." I said, hoping it was enough for him to go on.

Braeburn stared at me for a moment before he rubbed his chin with his hoof. "Huh…maybe…but there's still somethin' not right about it." he said.

Just then, were both heard galloping and turned around to see Silver Star and his deputies gallop up to the camp and stop once they saw the blocked mine entrance. "Dang it! Missed 'im again!" Silver Star yelled in frustration as he grabbed his hat with his hoof and threw it down on the ground.

Braeburn then stepped out from behind the rock and started making his way over to them. "Sheriff? Is that you?" he said as he walked up to them and saw that it was indeed Silver Star. "Sheriff! What are you doin' all the way out here?" he asked as I walked up beside him.

Silver Star looked over to us. "You guys are still here? I thought Sam would've taken ya." He said before he looked around the area. "Where's the other guys?" he asked curiously.

"Apparently Sam took 'em into mine." Braeburn asked before he took a step closer. "But ya didn't answer my question, what are ya doin' out here?" he asked.

"Applejack was worried about you boys, asked me if we could come out here to lend ya a hoof." Silver Star answered.

"Sheriff!" Silver Star heard this and looked over to who was calling him and saw one of his deputies standing in front of the mine, pressing his hoof against one of the rocks blocking the entrance. "These rocks ain't budgin', it'll take a while to move 'em out the way." he said as the other deputy came over and tried to help him.

"Leave it, men." Silver Star said. "Sam's long gone by now, we ain't getting to 'im through there." he said before he returned his attention to us. "Do any of ya know where that mines leads?" he asked.

"We don't know, but there has to be some blueprints around here somewhere." I said, taking a step towards him.

At that moment, Braeburn turned his head to face me and gave me a slight glare. "Ya know, we might've caught Sam and the Hound Brothers if you didn't get distracted watchin' those mutts fight each other. We should've attacked 'em then." He said in an irritated tone.

I then looked at him with an unpleased stare. "Hey! Don't pin the blame on me, you were just as distracted as I was. Besides, you weren't any help when Sam was doing his singing thing, I had to tie you up just to stop you from being caught." I argued.

"If ya hadn't come along and made things more complicated than they had to be, we would've caught the Hound Brothers first and then we would've got Sam." Braeburn said loudly.

"How did I make things complicated?" I said just as loud. "Don't tell me you're trying to blame me just because we didn't catch him." I said, thinking he was trying to cover his part on the familiar.

"I'm not!" Braeburn stated. "And ya made things hard because I had to watch over the whole time instead of focusin' on the mission. You're not used to these parts and don't know a thing about catchin' rustlers." He claimed.

"Who said you needed to watch over me? I didn't ask you to hold my hoof during this whole thing!" I said, giving him a firm glare. "Also, I've fought my own share of bad guys, in case you've already forgotten!"

"Quit it!" Silver Star said loud, stopping our argument. "Somethin' tells me you're both more interested in fightin' each other than them rustlers. If we're gonna catch 'em, we're gonna need to cut this whole thing between you two out." He said before he turned to face me. "Now Matt, I let you be part of this posy because I was told you were tough, but maybe it's time you left this to the real Western folk." He said calmly.

I gave him a slightly distort look. "Wait…are you asking me to leave? To go back to Appleloosa?" I asked, a little shocked by this.

"I'm sorry son, but Braeburn is a strong cowpoke, always a go-to guy. I'll need 'im if we're gonna finally catch Sam." Silver Star said as he placed his hoof on my shoulder. "Its nothin' personal, but Braeburn is right, ya may be too inexperienced for this type of thing. I just think it ain't safe for someone like you." he said before removing his hoof.

"B-But…you need me as well…whatever Sam dose to hypnotise ponies doesn't work on me, I can be valuable to catching him." I said, trying to convince him I was useful to the posy. "Without me, how are you going to get near Sam without being caught in his singing?" I asked.

"We already got that planned." Silver Star said. "We brought some ear-plugs with us. With those on, we won't hear a thing, Sam's singing will be useless for 'im." He stated.

I turned to face Braeburn before I looked at Silver Star again. "So that's it?...Have me come all the way out here and then send me back for nothing? It's not my fault we lost Sam. If I wasn't here, Braeburn would've been taken as well." I said.

"And I thank you for that, but you've done all ya can." Silver Star said before he took a step forward. "I know you're strong and I know you've done this type of thing before, but that's why I want ya back in town, I need you to help Applejack protect it. Usually, me and my deputies protect it, but now we're out here and left the town with one pony. Applejack's tough and I trust her, but two ponies protecting the town is better than one." He said, explaining his decision. "I need your skills back in Appleloosa, the rest of us can the take it from here."

I gave this some thought and knew there was point in arguing with him, not unless I wanted to be hogtied and carried back to town. I slowly nodded in acceptance.

"Good." Silver Star said before he pointed out at the horizon. "Town is that way, just follow our hoof prints and they'll lead you right there." he said.

"Sheriff." One of the deputies said as he came over to him with a blue scroll in his hoof. "I found the blueprints to the mine over near the entrance, it says the only other way out of the mine is near Rattlesnake Rock." He said, holding the blueprints out to Silver Star.

Silver Star turned to face him before he sat down to grab the blueprints with both front-hooves. "Why would the mine exit there? There's nothin' on that side of the valley." He said, unravelling the blueprints to verify them.

"I'm not sure, Sheriff, maybe it was just an emergency exit or somethin'." The deputy said.

Silver Star then gave the blueprints back before he stood up. "Well at least we know where we're headin'." He said before he looked at the deputy. "Get the other guy and bring 'im here, we're settin' off for Rattlesnake Rock." He then looked over to me. "Matt, you start headin' back to town, the rest of us have some rustlers to catch."

One the deputies returned, they all nodded to each other before they turned and galloped away. As they did, Braeburn looked back at me, unsure if he was pleased or concerned that I was being left behind. I watched them go until they were out of site.

My ears dropped before I sighed heavily. "Nice work, Matt, you're a real Western legend." I said before I kicked the sand in frustration. I just stood there for a moment, feeling weak and helpless. I know I wasn't too big on the whole hero thing, but being treated like a weak citizen who has bit off more than he can chew? Not a big fan of that.

But Silver Star was right, he and his team were more experienced with western crooks than I was. I'm used to major bad guys that seek to control the world, but maybe western bad guys were a different story. They all seemed to have everything planned and knew what they were doing, maybe I would've just got in the way, I didn't really do a good job catching Sam just now.

I sighed once last time before I accepted my defeat and started walking away from the camp. I looked down at the sand and saw the hoof-prints Silver Star mentioned. I then started following them into the horizon to head back to Appleloosa, where I'm apparently really needed.

That morning: Desert

I walked through the desert for what seemed like forever. The sun had risen again and was already making the land hot. My throat was dry and my mane was started to get soaked in sweat, I wiped my forehead as I kept moving. My eyes always looked out to the horizon before I looked back down at the hoof-prints. "I don't…remember it…taking this long…on the way here." I said, trying to keep up my strength.

As I kept walking, I suddenly felt a small breeze blow against me, I smiled a little at this. "Finally, something to cool me down." I said. For a moment, I enjoyed the cool air, until I noticed what it was doing.

My eyes shot open as I saw the wind blow against the sand, making the hoof-prints disappear. "No! No, no, no, no!" I said loudly as I started galloping along the trail of hoof-prints, trying to stick to the path. But it wasn't long before the whole trail was blow away.

As the wind blew a little harder, I could feel that it was blowing sand against me, I quickly covered my eyes with my arm, my wing too for good messier. I stayed like this until the wind died down. Once it did, I opened my eyes to see the entire trail had gone. "Alright…the trails gone…no problem though, I'll just keep walking forward, that's where the trail led." I said, trying not to panic.

I then started walking forward, trying to pick up the trail the best I could. All the while, I was trying to keep a calm head to prevent me from panicking.

-An hour later-

As the day went on, the sky got hotter, I was covered in dust and I was gagging for a drink of anything, I'd suck on a cactus for its juice if I had to…if there were any cacti nearby that is. I kept looking around for something to help me, a well, a rock for shade, anything, but I just saw miles of sand wherever I looked.

At this point, I felt like Nathen Drake in Uncharted 3 where he had to walk through an empty desert, I always thought it must've hell for him to walk through that desert for miles, well now I know…it definitely was. But I doubt I'd find an old abandoned town here.

I kept walking more and more, my hooves sinking into the sand with each step. Every time I approached the edge of a small sand dune, I always kept trying to go down it easily, but always fell down it due to my weakness, making me dustier.

Just then, I saw something up ahead, it looked like a dead tree. It wasn't very thick, so it didn't give off a lot of shade, but it was good enough for now. I used what strength I had to rush up to it and sit in the shade. I took deep breathes and wiped the sweat off my head again. "Damn…" I said before I looked up at the tree. "Wait…this tree…I didn't pass it on the way to the mine!" I said before I looked out at the desert. "I've been going the wrong way, haven't I?" I asked myself before I groaned loudly in frustration.

I stayed there until I felt cool enough to try and keep going, I got up and started to walk out to the desert, already feeling the warm sun against my body.

-A while later-

Once again, I was completely dried up and ready for another cool down, but was too far from the tree to head back, not that I wanted to. I began to see heat-waves along the sand in the distance as I kept move.

I flew up to the sky and looked around the land, but I couldn't see any towns, just miles of sand. I would try to keep flying, but believe it or not, flying was more difficult than walking in this heat. If anything, it made it feel hotter.

I floated back down to the ground before I kept walking.

As I approached the edge of another sand dune, I saw something down below, it looked like a small lake with sparkling water. I smiled at this and laughed a little in joy. "Oh thank god!" I said before I quickly leaped off the dune and landed at the bottom. I then galloped as quickly as I could towards the lake, desperate to bathe in it and drink the refreshing water.

But, as I got closer, I could see parts of it disappearing until it was completely gone. I began to slow down until I was standing where the lake was, but saw only sand. "Oh...shit…it was a mirage…what a dick move, not fair." I said.

I took a few more deep breaths, trying to keep myself from breaking down, which was getting harder and harder with each step. I then started to keep walking, hoping the next thing I see was real.

-Another hour later-

My mane and tail dripped with sweat as it became harder to take each step. It was so hot, I was so dehydrated, it was becoming unbearable. It wouldn't be long until I'd get too hot that I'd pass out.

As I walked up a sand dune, I saw tall rise from behind it. Once I reached the top, I saw that it was another dead tree, it looked exactly like the last one. I walked over to it and took a closer look, that's when I realised it didn't just look like the last one…it was the last one.

I then dropped to the ground as my mind became blank. "You…have got to be joking…I've been going in circles?!" I yelled before I rolled over onto my back and rested in the shade. "I'm…never getting out of this." I said before my eyes began to close and I soon passed out, my world becoming black.

That night

I was still unconscious in front of the tree, a few buzzards looking down at me from the branches patiently. Luckily, they could tell I was still alive, but they could wait.

But suddenly, out of the sky, a figure in a hood and cloak hovered down. Its large feathered wings spread out before they tucked themselves under its cloak. The figure walked up to me before it looked up at the buzzards. "Sorry guys, this one's coming with me." the figure said with a female voice.

With that, the buzzards spread their wings and took off into the night sky, leaving us alone.

After that, the figure looked down at me before she lied down beside me, she scooped me up in her hooves before she rested me against the tree. She gently placed her hoof on my cheek. "Matthew…Matthew, you need to wake up." she said, tapping my cheek gently, getting only a groan from me.

The figure then took out a water flask from under her cloak and opened the cap, she held the flash against my mouth before tilting it up, making the fresh water inside pure into my mouth.

Once I felt that water against my tongue and throat, I swallowed it before my eyes slowly opened, that's when I saw the figure in front of me. "T-Twi?..." I asked weakly.

"No." she said in a voice that sounded…familiar. "But I'm a friend." She finished.

I looked at what I could and saw that she was the same size as Cadence or Luna, that's all I could make out. "W-Who are you?" I asked, wondering who this hooded pony was.

The figure then lowered her head. "Me…I'm no-one…for now, just call me The Shadow. I'm going to take you to safety." she said before she moved closer to me before she stuck one of her wings out and started to gently fan me with it.

As I felt the cool air against me, I weakly looked at her. "W-Why are you helping me?" I asked as I tried to lean up away from the tree.

The figure placed her hooves on my back and chest as she helped me up onto my hooves. "Because…you helped me once…" she said before I was back up onto my hooves, weakly struggling to keep myself up. "Matt…you have a great battle in your future." She said, her voice becoming serious.

I turned my head to face her as I continued to listen.

"The True Order…they're watching you, they know what you're capable of and they think of you as a threat to their plan. Thorn underestimated you, Zelga was…smarter than him, but was too over confident. But now they know your strengths and weaknesses, the next member you'll face will use everything he has against you, against all of you." Shadow said.

"Who is he? Does he have a name?" I asked, wondering how much she was willing to reveal.

"Yes…his name is Rage. And trust me, the name isn't just for show, his anger towards you is strong…which makes him very dangerous…when you face him, you can't give in to his hatred, especially with the dark magic inside your body." Shadow answered.

My curious look then became a disturbed one. "How did you know about that?" I asked, feeling like I was being spied on.

"A good question…for another time." Shadow said before she spread her wings out and flew over me. She lowered herself on top of me before I felt her legs wrap around my body.

I didn't know what she was doing until I felt her start to lift up off the ground, I tucked in all my legs as she lifted me higher. It wasn't long until she started flying across the desert with me in her grasp.

As we continued to move through the air, I looked up at Shadow and wondered who she was. How did she know so much about me? Why did she tell me all that stuff about the True Order? And most importantly right now, where was she taking me?

After a few minutes of flying, Shadow began to descend until we were approaching the ground. Once we were down, she released me and laid me down on the sandy ground. After landing, Shadow looked down at me. "Don't worry, some friends are coming to help you…but this is where I leave you for now…but remember, I'm always going to be watching over you during this dark time." She said.

I looked up at her again. "I know your name isn't Shadow…really, who are you?" I asked, wanting to know who she truly was.

"Like I told you, I'm no-one, just someone who was lost, but now I'm back…thanks to you." Shadow said before she leaned down to me. Then, to my utter surprise, she gave me a small quick kiss on the lips. "Don't worry, I know you're married and I won't interfere with your relationship, that was just to say thank you for everything." She said.

Left speechless, Shadow stood up before she backed away, she spread her wings out and started flapping them, lifted up into the air and flying up into the night sky.

As I watched her fly up and disappear into the moonlight shining right down onto me, silhouetted figures gathered around me, looking down at me. They all looked large and each had two feathers sticking out of their heads. A small one walked up to me. "I don't think I've seen this one before, he must be new in Appleloosa." She said.

Then, a larger one walked up beside her, this one having more feathers on his head than the others. "Yes, he looks like he needs aid…take him back to the village, we will take care of him there." he said in a deep voice.

After hearing that, I figured I was finally in good hooved, I closed my eyes and let myself pass out again to let these figures take care of me from here. As I began to slip into unconsciousness, I knew this wasn't over, not the business with the rustlers, not the business with the True Order, none of it.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter

The song I used in this chapter is called "Yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo" from the Disney movie "Home on the Range". I don't own anything.

I know what you're thinking, why is Braeburn such an ass in this? Well I wanted some conflict between him and me to show that not every main character likes me. But will we sort things out? You'll have to find out next time.

Just a reminder, I'm heading to BronyCon in Baltimore in August. But I'll only be there on the second day. If any of you are heading there as well, let me know.

Second reminder, after the next chapter, the chapter after that will feature the Discord version of the Gaston Song I mentioned in the last chapter. I wrote it myself and I really hope you'll enjoy it.

Pony News:

Not much to say other than a new trailer for the MLP Movie might be coming next week, keep your ears and eyes open. If you have Twitter, keep checking up on Equestria Daily.

Equestria Girls Dance Magic is set to air on Discovery Family this Saturday, which is today…or tomorrow in your case. As you know, there are two more specials after this one, but to those who aren't aware, they feature Rainbow Dash on a Daring Do movie set trying to find a missing prop, and the last will feature Sunset Shimmer returning to Equestria and Starlight Glimmer going to the Human world. That one is the one I'm looking forward to.

And in case any of you aren't aware, yes, there will be a Season 8 to the show.

End of Pony News:

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The next chapter will be up as soon as possible.