Eclipse trotted down the hallway, anxiously making his way to the hall of the elements, where princess Celestia was waiting.

He heard a door open ahead of him. Turning his head, he saw Twilight Sparkle come running down the hallway.

“Shit.” Eclipse pressed himself against the wall, using a vase for cover as the mare ran past. Once she turned the corner, Eclipse exhaled heavily. Getting back to his hooves, he turned back towards his destination, just to run headfirst into Princess Celestia.

“Ah, there you are.” Celestia said, her standard expression of calm on her features. “I was beginning to wonder.”

Eclipse backtracked several steps. “Er, uh, yes, sorry I ran into you, uh, sorry…” he trailed off, continuing to mumble.

Celestia held up a hoof and motioned for him to follow. Together, they made their way into the castle courtyard just as the element bearers--plus Spike--made their way out, singing about Twilight managing to pass her test.

Celestia hummed along for a bit, casting a sidelong glance at Eclipse.

Eclipse snorted. “Not on your life, Princess.”

Celestia frowned. “Then please explain why miss Duster is in her current state.”

Eclipse briefly explained his encounter with the mugger, adding details whenever Celestia asked him to clarify.

Celestia seemed surprised, marking Eclipse’s first glimpse at her without her passive mask. “I looked over the reports of the two guards who arrested the mugger. Your version coincides with theirs fairly well, once I omit a few of the words they used.”

“Like what?” Eclipse asked, rubbing his leg.

“‘Mercilessly’, ‘shocking brutality’, need I go on?”

Eclipse bowed his head shamefully, not quite sure what to expect next.

“You need to remember, even the criminals of Equestria are not used to such methodology, hence part of why I wanted you serving Luna and I.” Celestia said, causing Eclipse to prick his ears up in attention. “As much as it pains me to say, we can only barely afford mercy.”

Celestia put her hoof on Eclipse’s chin to push his head up. “Promise me Eclipse, promise me that if you can afford mercy, you will use it. But also promise me that no matter what, you will not stop fighting this scourge. The fact that even this small piece has made it to Canterlot speaks ill of the rest of this country.”

Eclipse grimaced, finally realizing just how deeply into this he was throwing himself. And he would not turn back now. He raised his head. “I promise, Princess.”

Celestia looked out towards the element bearers, who were by now out of sight and some distance away from the castle. “How do you feel about hot weather?”

“Depends.” Eclipse answered, a questioning tone in his voice due to her sudden change in topic. “Ever hear of Texas?”

“Some.” Celestia answered, a small smile starting to form on her features. Luna, would occasionally play this game with her, and they occasionally managed to drag Eclipse into it as well. The rules were difficult to explain, but it was an old game. The new player would learn the ropes in time. “A little hotter than that.”

“Eh, doesn’t sound like something I can’t handle.

...Perhaps a little more time. Celestia had to remember that he didn't recognise all of the subtle clues she and her sister had grown so used to using.

“Good, because I already have a mission for you.” Celestia sighed, looking back at the aurora hanging in the sky. “The town of Appleloosa has settled its dispute with the native buffalo, but a criminal element has recently set up a base of operations there.”

“A base of criminals?” Eclipse asked, surprised. “As in, an organized syndicate? Equestria has those?”

“They’ve made multiple strikes against both the townsponies and buffalo, causing tempers to flare.” Celestia continued, letting Eclipse fill in the blanks for himself. “Braeburn and Little Strongheart--two of the beings who played major roles in the first dispute--have been imprisoned by the corrupt sheriff, a foul earth pony who forced the old sheriff into unwanted retirement.”

Eclipse nodded once. “I’ll get there right away.” He sprinted out of the castle grounds.

Celestia turned before he could make it out of the room. "Wait! You do have several days to rest, you know!"

Eclipse stepped off the train, the sun beating down on the town of Appleloosa. He attracted surprisingly few glances despite being the only pony to step off the train.

Looking around, Eclipse took in the sight of the town around him. One large main road with buildings flanking it on either side. A number of smaller alleys branched out from the road between the buildings, with very few, if any, of the buildings touching each other. Eclipse was sure that there was more to be seen, but he hadn’t seen it yet, so he opted to not jump to any conclusions. Appleloosa--while it had grown since it was last shown in the show--was still a small settler town.

He made his way down the main road, sticking to one side to keep attention away from himself. As he walked, he caught a piece of conversation, and leaned against a wall to eavesdrop.

“--can’t believe this! Braeburn of all ponies! What did he do to get attention?” A light green earth pony was talking to a dusty brown pegasus. “Pick apples using the wrong hoof?”

“Shhh!” The pegasus replied. “You now what’ll happen if Jango hears you! Ever since he took over as sheriff, he’s been lookin’ for excuses!”

“Excuse me.” Eclipse interjected. “But I’m actually looking for a stallion called Braeburn. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is?”

“Locked up.” The Earth pony said flatly. “And with the new sheriff, he ain't getting out anytime soon.”

“I think I can reason with him.” Eclipse returned.

The pegasus laughed. “Stranger, you ain't met the new sheriff. He’ll probably lock you up for even using a word like reason around him!”

Eclipse grinned. “And you haven’t seen how I reason with corruption. Don’t underestimate me based on looks alone.”

The pegasus was dumbfounded. “Are you serious? You’re really gonna take him on?”

“He’s not my target, just an obstruction between me and Braeburn. But, if he turns into a nuisance…“ Eclipse sighed. “Well, there are no guarantees.”

The Earth pony sighed heavily. “Kid, you’re in over your head. Without the buffalo, Appleloosa will never shake off those gang members. And they’ve all been driven away to Celestia knows where.”

“If she knew, I would have gone straight to them.” Eclipse snapped. “How can I find them?”

“Little Strongheart would know, but she’s been locked up along with Braeburn.” The pegasus motioned towards a two story building at the end of the main road. “That there’s the law office, though law ain’t high on the list of things that go on in there anymore.”

The Earth pony chuckled. “If you wanna get to them, you’re gonna need to do a jailbreak. Good luck with that, Sheriff’s confiscated most anything that could be used for that, straight down to hoof filers.” He leaned against the wall. “Go home, boy. That gang’s got real war weaponry. We would normally have pie or something. Worked like a charm against the buffalo, but fighting spears and swords…” He looked over to a pair of ponies that had stepped out of the saloon. They were holding spears, but weren’t anything a pair of well-trained guards couldn’t have taken on. Of course, guards weren’t in play when it came to a small town like Appleloosa.

The earth pony turned to speak to Eclipse some more, but the grey and brown pony had vanished, not even leaving a trail of prints in the dirt.

The pegasus he was with was turning his head this way and that, trying to spot the stranger.

“Where’d he go?” Dust Demon asked. “Where’d he go, Sage?”

Sagebrush could only shrug.

Eclipse followed the pair of thugs until they entered an alley.

“Come on!” One said to the other. “Get it out already!”

“Shut up.” The second (and considerably larger) one returned. “If we get caught, the boss’ll have our scalps.”

The smaller one was a unicorn, but the larger was a Big Mac class earth pony.

“Is that it?” The unicorn asked, motioning at something blocked from Eclipse’s view. “Doesn’t look like much. It really as good as they say?”

“Depends.” The earth pony answered. “Different stuff happens whether you roll it into a cigar or just straight inhale it. There are even rumors about it being a shampoo with psychedelic effects.” He chuckled heavily. “Behold my friend: an entire pound of rainbow dust.”

“Well, we know what Dash has been using.”

The thugs twisted around to face the alleyway opening. They were greeted with an empty space leading out to the street.

Eclipse dropped from above, landing on the earth pony and quickly twisting his neck until the air was greeted with a satisfying crack of bone. The earth pony’s knees buckled, sending his body crashing to the ground.

The unicorn fired a spell, but Eclipse managed to fire a magic bolt at him. The bolt dissipated the meager spell and hit the unicorn in the chest, sending him into the far wall.

Eclipse glanced around, quickly checking to see if anyone had heard the commotion in the alley. He trotted over to the unicorn, pressing his hoof against the unicorn’s chest to keep him down. “Now, then.” he breathed out. “Tell me about Appleloosa’s new sheriff.”

The unicorn gulped. “You won’t get Jango. He’ll take you down. You’ll get yours!” His eyes darted to see something just past Eclipse, but Eclipse just frowned.

“Not what I asked for.” Eclipse muttered. “Who is Jango? Who does he work for?”

“To answer one of those questions…”

Eclipse turned to get hit in the head by an exceedingly blunt object. He fell to the ground, vision swirling.

“Me.” Jango finished, lifting his club into the air.

Eclipse opened his eyes, just for the club to go down on him. As his hearing faded, he could make out the words “Sum’ bitch.”