Chapter 21: Corruption Detained and A Happy Moment

Lewis stretched. He had passed the night in bed beside the mare of his dreams, and couldn't imagine having a more reinvigorating night's sleep. He slipped carefully out of bed, so as not to wake Applejack, and crept downstairs, where Big Macintosh greeted him. Ten minutes later, they were out the door, Lewis shrugging his coat on with an apple in his teeth, preferring a light breakfast considering how far they had to walk.

First stop was to get Bourbon, and drop off his gifts for Applebloom. Big Macintosh would take over. The doctors were talking about releasing the filly within the next two days, having no more reason to keep her than their curiosity about her mysterious recovery. The one thing they all agreed on was that she was lucky to be alive. Each day that passed brought more color and animation to her face. At this point, they had finally concluded, staying in the hospital would do her no good, and after a brief observation period, she would be free to go home later that day.

Applebloom's face lit up when her older brother's walked in to the room. Bourbon lay on a couch that was far too small for him, dozing as the sunlight streamed through the window warming him. Applebloom had been awake for an hour or so already, and she was excited to have somepony to talk to. Bourbon was nice, but one-sided conversations were boring, and she knew he needed sleep.

"How're yah feelin' lil sis?" asked Big Mac.

"A whole lot better now," she said, sitting up, "can ah go home soon?"

"Later this afternoon, s'long as the doctors agree," her big brother promised, ruffling her hair with his hoof.

"Hey Lewis," she said, "ah heard about how ya'll saved the Princess from some bad ponies. That was mighty brave of yah." Lewis smiled, hoping behind the expression that she hadn't been told too many details.

"Wakey wakey," he said, jabbing Bourbon in the side, "Time fer work Bourbon, we gotta go."

Bourbon looked up. "I was having the most beautiful dream . . . ."

"Yeah, ah know, ah know, but we need to go to work now," said Lewis, "and we need to get there fast."

He set the flowers and candy down beside Applebloom. "Here ya go kiddo, sorry we can't stick around."

"That's alright," she called after them as they left, "Ah'll se ya'll back home soon 'nough."

When they were gone, she looked up at Big Machintosh. "Is he gonna marry Applejack, do ya think?"

"Eeyup."

Lewis rode Bourbon for what felt like the first time in far too long. They both reveled in the speed and fierce joy the activity provided. All to quickly they arrived at their destination with time to spare. As Lewis dismounted, Sheriff McColt waddled out, looking flustered. "Where in the hay is Wolfe? What have you done with him?" he demanded angrily. Lewis and Bourbon looked at each other then back at the fuming sheriff.

"Ah don't rightly know what ya mean sheriff," Lewis said, "I ain't seen 'im since yesterday."

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" McColt roared, "I sent him to keep an eye on you, and you did something with him! Now I want to know what!" He glared at them, then rather suddenly chuckled. "Oho, you've done it now, I'll be rid of you, before you can cause any more trouble, one deputy is a small price to pay for my peace of mind. I'll send word to Canterlot, they won't defend you this time! You got lucky once because you were being noble, but that won't help you here!"

McColt's face had taken on a look of vicious glee by this point, as he continued to rant. "Even the Princess can't pardon this, whatever you've done. Oh, I hope you killed him, you stupid freak. I never cared much for Wolfe, but now he's given me a gift! I'll have you in a cell before the day's out! You won't mess up my plans! I'll . . . ."

Sheriff McColt's voice trailed off as Deputy Wolfe swooped in to land beside Lewis. "Here I am sheriff," he said coldly, "sorry I'm late." Lewis looked at Wolfe, then back at McColt.

"Did the sheriff here send yah to spy on me?" Lewis asked.

"Yes, he did," Wolfe said, glaring defiantly at his enraged boss.

"Did yah hear everything he just said?"

"I certainly did."

"What do yah suppose those plans he thought ah was gonna mess up were?"

"I'll wager if you look in his desk, you'll find out."

Lewis nodded. "Good idea." He moved to walk inside, past the livid law enforcement official.

"You can't do that," McColt hissed, "You don't have the authority."

"Yes he does," said Wolfe, cheerfully, "And you know it sheriff. He's trying to exercise it now, so I'm authorized to tell him even if you won't."

Lewis turned and looked at Wolfe. "Tell me what?"

"The true extend of your authority, Marshall. According to Princess Celestia's orders, we weren't allowed to tell you how powerful you really are, unless you needed to know. In other words, until you tried to use that authority. Truth be told, outside of the royal family, there isn't a pony in Equestria more powerful than you are. You have broad authority to conduct investigations, issued directly from Celestia herself." He winked at the sheriff. "And that means that, if you want to look through his desk, you get to, and he can't complain about it."

Lewis absorbed this information, then looked at the sheriff. "Wolfe, bring your 'ole boss inside, ah wanna have him present fer this."

Wolfe's grin widened as he and Bourbon escorted the dumbfounded and much deflated sheriff inside after the Marshal. He had long suspected his superior of corruption. Now he would get to find out for sure.

Several hours later, the former Sheriff McColt was locked up in a holding cell while the trio poured over his records. It was impressive. Bribery, extortion, smuggling, theft, and even sexual harassment, were merely the tip of the iceberg.

"Mother of Celestia," Wolfe gasped as he flipped through documents detailing amounts of protection money paid by certain shops in Ponyville, "I figured he was dirty, but this is way beyond anything I expected." Lewis was busy reading case reports that detailed the payoffs by perpetrators for a lax investigation. It was astonishing.

"Here's one on the Flim-Flam brothers," Lewis said, looking through one of the files, "Applejack told me 'bout them. Ah'll have tah deal with those two at some point."

Bourbon merely shook his head. "This sheriff, he was supposed to be your boss, right?" Wolfe nodded, not really paying attention. "So who's the boss now?" Again, barely listening, Wolfe merely jerked his thumb in Lewis' direction. Lewis didn't notice the gesture. "Okay," said Bourbon, satisfied with that.

At last, they trouped past an office full of stunned deputies and staff, most of whom had ceased to make any pretense of working and were simply watching the Marshal. He ignored them. They marched into the holding area, and stood at the bars of McColt's cell.

"Alright," said Lewis, "Ah'm not sure where to begin. Wolfe? What all are we chargin' 'im with?"

"Lemme see," Wolfe muttered, picking out a list, "Well, from the top its going to be bribery, extortion, misuse of government property, illegal sale of government property, gross misconduct unbecoming an officer of the law, unlawful entry, theft, burglary, searching without a warrant, (relax Marshal, you don't need one for this), fraud, interfering with investigations, failure to investigate, criminal negligence and incompetence. There's more but I those can be added at court and we've got enough right here to do the job of formally charging him."

"How do we do that?" Lewis asked.

"We just did," Wolfe said, grinning.

"Oh, well that's good. What next?"

"Well," said Wolfe, "Normally he would go through the court systems, but all of your cases are handed straight to adjudication by the Royal Court, meaning Princess Celestia handles the rest from here. This streamlines the process, you see. You catch 'em, and she sorts through them. We'll send all the evidence we found in his office and him on a secure train to Canterlot. You should go to the library and send a message to the Princess about this, provided Spike's in today. If he isn't, you might find him at Carousel Boutique. I understand he works for the owner there sometimes."

"And then?" Lewis said, astonished at how thoroughly Wolfe had thought this all out.

"That's up to you," said Wolfe, looking at Lewis with a sly expression, "You're now the highest ranking law enforcement official in Ponyville. The Ponyville Sheriff's Department is now at your disposal."

Lewis' eyebrow rose on his face until it looked set to escape his visage altogether. "Well now that's an interestin' lil development."

Little more than a half-hour later, Lewis stood in the library as Spike sent his report to Celestia away in a belch of flame. "Thanks Spike," said Lewis.

"No problem Marshal," Spike replied, stretching, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do today. Twilight needs me to sort through another stack of those navigational charts she's been looking at." The weary little dragon began to stalk off towards a desk that was piled high with books.

"Hey Spike," said Lewis, catching his attention before the little guy could wander off, "Ah never got to tell you this, but where ah'm from, dragons are considered the stuff of legend. Ah just thought ah'd mention how awesome it was to meet you. Don't think ah actually said that before and ah think it aughta be said."

"Thanks," said Spike, his face brightening, "Legendary huh?"

"Yep."

The infant dragon had a definite spring in his step as he returned to his duties. Lewis smiled. He didn't behave as one would expect from a dragon, but then, being raised amongst ponies might do that to you. Lewis turned and left. He knew exactly how he wanted to spend the day. Applebloom would be getting out of the hospital in a couple hours, meaning he could gather the Apple family in one place finally. He just had to make a stop at a place called Sugarcube Corner. "Maybe if ah'm quick, Pinkie Pie can whip me somethin' up fer tonight," he muttered.

In the same breath, the pink party pony appeared from above, seeming to fall from the sky in front of Lewis, causing him to give a decidedly un-manly yell of surprise. "You needed me for something?" she asked in an excited voice while Lewis tried to get his heart-rate down to something like normal.

"How did you . . . never mind. Yes, ah do need somethin'. Ya'll mentioned before that you could fix me up with an engagement party, right?"

"And you'll need it for tonight? Okie-dokie-lokie," Pinkie bounced about, delighted at the prospect, "When she's said yes, just bring them all down to Sugarcube corner. I'd tell you to keep it a secret and surprise them, but I guess they'll know where they're going and what its for, so the surprise will be that we aren't trying to surprise them. Gotta go, I need to warn the Cakes that we're hosting an engagement party. OH! And get the invitations out. I just know some of Applejacks friends will want to be there. Just make sure you have the family at Sugarcube Corner by eight."

She bounced off without another word, leaving Lewis bemused and happy. He would head straight home now. Bourbon was waiting nearby, waiting for his old friend to conclude his business. "So, are we done then?" asked Bourbon.

"Yeah," said Lewis, "Ah figure we've done all we can for the day. We'll have to wait until the princess sends us further instructions. 'Til then, ah expect we can do as we please. You go see Fluttershy, ah'm sure she'll be glad to have yah fer the afternoon. Just swing by Sugarcube Corner at eight, there's gonna be another party."

Bourbon nodded gratefully and trotted away. Lewis grinned and pointed himself for the hospital.

Applebloom grinned from her perch on Lewis' shoulders, his hat somewhat awkwardly hanging to one side on her head. "Ah always wanted a hat like Applejacks. Ah just need one mah own size," she giggled, trying to keep from dropping it. Lewis found the little filly's antics a refreshing change from the weak little jokes she had occasionally managed while lying in her sick bed. The prospect of returning home had made her more lively. Her newly recovered vivacious attitude had worked a change in him and her family. Big Mac couldn't suppress a smile either. Partially, he was glad not to be the one with a squirming filly on his back for once as they walked along the road to Sweet Apple Acres.

Granny Smith met them out on the path to the farm, waving with one hoof while bracing herself on her walker with the other. "Welcome home young uns," she said, "Now lemme see mah granddaughter." Applebloom clambered down off of Lewis and trotted over to greet her beloved grandmother. The warmth in their embrace touched Lewis. He prayed silently that they would accept him officially as family. This was what he wanted.

The happy group made their way to the farmhouse, where Applejack was just finishing up for the day. Lewis couldn't help thinking that she always looked happiest in those cheerful, tired moments after a hard day's work on the farm, and that made her seem so utterly beautiful to him, he almost took the little box in his pocket out there and then. He calmed himself. "Wait for your moment," he murmured.

"Ya'll say something?" Applebloom asked, startling Lewis.

"Nope," he answered.

"Well come on then," the filly said, happily oblivious, running towards her home. Lewis was glad to see that. If she was running, she must be feeling far better. Applejack looked up just in time to see Applebloom as she leapt up and tackled the older mare in a tight embrace. They rolled about, all big smiles a giggling. Applejack was careful of her hat as she got up, ruffling Applebloom's mane.

"Welcome home, lil sis," she said fondly. Then she noticed the tall figure in black approaching alongside Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. "Lewis! You got off work early?"

"Ah'll explain later," he said with a wry grin, "Fer now, lets go inside. Ah reckon most everypony here's pretty hungry." He stopped and thought about what he had just said. "Oh wow, ah'm actually pickin' up the local lingo." That got all of them chuckling.

"Well," Applejack said, "Ain't like we didn't know what yah meant when yah used to say 'everybody' er 'everyone,' right? But ah'm glad yer pickin' things up like that, it'll make ponies more comfortable 'round yah."

"Thanks Applejack," said Lewis, unable to keep the smoldering look from his eyes. Big Macintosh coughed and looked away uncomfortably. The gesture went unnoticed.

As they all packed themselves inside, Lewis looked out at Sweet Apple Acres for a moment. It looked like home.

After a nice meal, the Apple family took their ease in the living room, chatting about one thing or another. The conversation soon turned to the events of the morning at the department, and all eyes were on Lewis. He told them about the corruption of the former sheriff, and the way in which it had come to light.
At last, he told them about his new position and the extent of his authority. Applejack got up and nuzzled against him, the clear display of affection eliciting a grunt from Big Mac and more delighted giggles from Applebloom. "Ah'm so proud ah you sugarcube," she said, "You've really earned all the good things yer getting' right now."

"Ah'm glad you think so," Lewis said, looking at her in a queer way that left her somewhat alarmed, "cause ah've gone and gotten a little bit greedy. Ah want just one thing more outta Ponyville, and yer the only one that can give it to me, and seein' as everypony needed is here, ah can't think of a better time tah ask."

Applejack gasped as he produced a box from his pocket and opened the lid, revealing the engagement bracelet. He still didn't know if kneeling was appropriate, but he did it anyway. "Applejack? Would yah maybe wanna marry me?" Lewis looked into her eyes. He was horrified to find that they were full of tears. Thinking himself rejected, he prepared to back away and apologize, hoping he could excuse himself and find somewhere to be alone as his soul plummeted into his boots.

Then, Applejack did the most wonderful thing she could have. She smiled, still crying and, barely keeping the blubbering in check, launched herself on top of Lewis, all dignity forgotten. "Yes!" she sobbed into his shoulder, "yes yes yes yes." She couldn't think of anything else to say, so she broke down entirely, heaving into his shoulder as tears of pure joy soaked his coat. Lewis carefully set the box to one side and simply embraced the mare he loved.

It was some time before Applejack could be calmed long enough for the bracelet to be placed on her leg, just above the hoof, and then she immediately became hysterical again, the moment so deliriously happy for her that she didn't know what to do with herself. Lewis was in a state of shock, still not quite sure how the rest of her family would react.

When she finally got herself under control, Lewis sat her in a chair and knelt beside her, looking at the rest of the faces in the room. "Well," he said, "Ah spoke with Rarity shortly after ah bought the bracelet, and she told me ah needed approval from everypony in Applejack's immediate family. Ah guess ah'm asking if any of yah have a problem with this."

Granny Smith stepped forward before anypony else could speak. "Well youn un, ah fer one am glad that yah came tah us when yah did. Yah make mah granddaughter happy, and yer good to us, her kin. Long as that continues, ah'll be glad to call yah mah grandson in law."

Applebloom smirked. "Ya'll already know mah answer. Ah get two big brothers, and Applejack gets to be happy? There ain't no question there. Yes."

Big Macintosh loomed over Lewis, whom stood to look him in the eye. The big pony looked Lewis over, staring as though to look through his skin and into his soul. The moment was long and tense.

Then Big Mac smiled and without a word drew his new brother into a tight embrace, not quite noticing that Lewis was rapidly turning blue. Soon, the whole lot of them had piled on, and even as his vision dimmed and his lungs howled for air, Lewis was happy. He felt he had something back that he had lost or left behind when he came to Equestria. He had a family again.

Wolfe had just finished up the paperwork at the Sheriff's Department. He was glad that McColt was behind bars. "What a nasty piece of work," Wolfe thought, shaking his head. He looked up when he heard the rush of wings spreading to slow a decent as Rainbow Dash came in for a landing.

"Hey Wolfe," she said as her hooves met the cobblestones. Wolfe admired her form as her wings folded gracefully to her sides. He couldn't picture a lovelier mare. She was flight personified, and a Pegasus loved nothing more than flying. She noticed the stupid grin that spread across his face, and she couldn't suppress the smirk that she knew was plastered on her own.

"Hi Dash," Wolfe answered her, "Good to see you again." She could tell he was sincere.

"I got a really awesome invitation from Pinkie Pie for a party tonight," she told him, "and I get to bring a plus one." She scuffed the ground, suddenly nervous. "I was, uh, kinda wondering if maybe you'd like to go with me?"

Wolfe's grin widened. "Yeah, I'd like that. When and where?"

"Sugarcube Corner. She said she wanted us there around seven-forty." Rainbow answered.

Wolfe looked around, noting the sun was still high in the sky. "That's a few hours away; would you like to get some coffee with me in the meantime?"

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said, blushing slightly, "I'd like that."

I hope you aren't all feeling impatient with me. I got this done in little bits, a couple hundred words at at time when I could spare a few minutes to work on it. This one is nice and longish compared to the last few, and I think that will make it a nice change of pace. The subject matter is a little dark and a little light. Last chapter, I asked people to tell me what they thought of my story as a whole. I was not disappointed, and found many of the comments very helpful indeed. Oh, and before you all get settled, I'm going to be introducing some other problems for Lewis to deal with in the next few chapters, so don't start thinking the finale is coming anytime soon. You get to enjoy all that cowboy in Equestria goodness for some time to come. My dedication today will be a little odd, I'm going to use the first names of some of the people I've been in personal contact with, sorry if I forget anybody; Ashley, Jacob, Timothy, Patrick, Don, Grace, Phoebe, Phil, and Jerry. And of course, the very first friend I made on this site: Max. Here's to each of you. Father of Time, I'd include yours but I don't think you ever mentioned it to me, but don't because the mystery of being the Father of Time is waaaaaay to cool to spoil. Any luck with that Time Eater?