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                                            1.
                                            =Helios 14=
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                                            2.
                                            
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                                            3.
                                            >"You can't do this!"
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                                            4.
                                            "Yes I can."
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                                            5.
                                            >The dust crunched underneath your boots as you walked to the edge of town.
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                                            6.
                                            >Your "companion" wriggled and wormed herself in your grasp, but couldn't get her way out of your grip.
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                                            7.
                                            >She sprawled on the ground after you tossed her through the air at the town limits.
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                                            8.
                                            "Get out."
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                                            9.
                                            >She gathered up her wizards hat and tossed it back on her head.
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                                            10.
                                            >"Trixie should have known that such common fold would not appreciate her! Why, Trixie has performed for the Princesses herself in Canterlot castle."
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                                            11.
                                            >Tch...
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                                            12.
                                            "I doubt that."
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                                            13.
                                            >The magician leered at you again.
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                                            14.
                                            >"Honestly, tossing somep0ny out because of a little mishap on stage? What happened to your famous hospitality?"
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                                            15.
                                            "The offer is voided when the mishap involves summoning Duneworms."
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                                            16.
                                            >You turn around and start walking back to town.
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                                            17.
                                            >"W-wait! How is Trixie supposed to survive with these...CREATURES out here!?" She asked worriedly.
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                                            18.
                                            >Oh please...She summoned them.
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                                            19.
                                            >There weren't even that many...
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                                            20.
                                            >You call back over your shoulder as you leave.
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                                            21.
                                            "Walk without rhythm."
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                                            22.
                                            >You head back to town and smack a sign along the way, flipping the numbers on it back to their level from before Trixie blew in.
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                                            23.
                                            >It read "Appleoosa. Pop: 140".
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                                            24.
                                            
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                                            26.
                                            >You sat on your favorite barstool.
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                                            27.
                                            >Most of your shifts revolved around you sitting here.
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                                            28.
                                            >That was what you did as Appleoosa's sheriff.
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                                            29.
                                            >It had been a couple weeks since your...departure.
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                                            30.
                                            >You had bolted out of the castle as fast as you could, not even bothering to grab any of your gear, just a bag of bits.
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                                            31.
                                            >You just had to get away from the city...away from Her.
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                                            32.
                                            >Away from the constant influx of thoughts that came from Her head.
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                                            33.
                                            >And that day in particular, away from the soul crushing sadness.
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                                            34.
                                            >You had hopped on the first train you saw and ridden it West.
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                                            35.
                                            >And West...
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                                            36.
                                            >And West some more.
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                                            37.
                                            >You got off when the track had ended.
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                                            38.
                                            >Appleoosa.
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                                            39.
                                            >By some miracle it had been far enough away for you to not hear Celestia's thoughts.
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                                            40.
                                            >Just you...
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                                            41.
                                            >Alone...
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                                            42.
                                            >Oh well, you needed it.
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                                            43.
                                            >Needed time to think, to work things out.
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                                            44.
                                            >Or at least drown things out with your new job.
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                                            45.
                                            >Appleoosa had needed a sheriff when you arrived.
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                                            46.
                                            >You have volunteered.
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                                            47.
                                            >Maybe this time when you signed up to protect ponies, you wouldn't end up courting royalty or having your soul decimated.
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                                            48.
                                            >You took a sip of your drink.
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                                            49.
                                            >Dammit...you shouldn't blame Celestia.
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                                            50.
                                            >It wasn't her fault that all this happened...
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                                            51.
                                            >Voices from bar patrons behind you suddenly became louder and more angry.
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                                            52.
                                            >It wasn't long before one of them was tossed over a table.
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                                            53.
                                            >You sigh and finish off your drink.
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                                            54.
                                            >The more things change...
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                                            55.
                                            
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                                            56.
                                            >You throw the brawlers out of the bar by their manes the same way you had done with Trixie.
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                                            57.
                                            "Come back when you can throw a decent right hook!"
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                                            58.
                                            >They try and crawl to their feet. "This aint over!"
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                                            59.
                                            >One of them falls to his face.
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                                            60.
                                            "Yes it is."
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                                            61.
                                            >You glare at them as they limp away, taking notice to the sound of someone approaching you from the side.
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                                            62.
                                            >"Well darn Anon, first you run that showboatin' street magician outa town and now your clearin' out The Applebarrel?"
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                                            63.
                                            "Just doin' my job Braeburn."
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                                            64.
                                            >Probably time for the rounds...
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                                            65.
                                            >Appleoosa was a fairly small town, you liked to take a patrol every so often to make sure everything was good.
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                                            66.
                                            >You start walking down the road with Braeburn keeping pace next to you.
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                                            67.
                                            >"So, how're ya takin' to your job Mister Sheriff?"
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                                            68.
                                            "It's a good fit."
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                                            69.
                                            >A good distraction too.
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                                            70.
                                            >"Why, I'd say that any crime of roughousin' we had out here dang near evaporated once you showed up."
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                                            71.
                                            >General store was clear.
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                                            72.
                                            "Yeah, I'm good at protecting people."
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                                            73.
                                            >Braeburn chuckles "That must kill with all the ladies."
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                                            74.
                                            >Dammit...
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                                            75.
                                            "I wouldn't know."
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                                            76.
                                            >Post office and train station were fine.
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                                            77.
                                            >Braeburn half-smiles up at you. "Not lookin'?"
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                                            78.
                                            >How the hell do you put this?
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                                            79.
                                            "I got out of...a kinda weird relationship before I came here."
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                                            80.
                                            >Braeburn slowly nodded as his understanding grew.
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                                            81.
                                            >"She a clingy gal?"
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                                            82.
                                            "That's...not too far off."
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                                            83.
                                            
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                                            84.
                                            >You retreated into your home after you completed your rounds and sat around looking intimidating.
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                                            85.
                                            >It was a modest home, rather similar to your room back in Canterlot.
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                                            86.
                                            >You sat yourself down by the small writing desk.
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                                            87.
                                            >Damn...that got you thinking...
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                                            88.
                                            >You hated abandoning your post.
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                                            89.
                                            >You had always laid into the other guards that you caught shirking their duties, stepping out to a tavern during early morning hours or leaving without notifying someone.
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                                            90.
                                            >It irritated you that you had just LEFT in the state of mind you were in.
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                                            91.
                                            >You let out a deep sigh.
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                                            92.
                                            >Then again...it was a pretty weird situation...
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                                            93.
                                            >You just...
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                                            94.
                                            >It was too much to take!
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                                            95.
                                            >The fight with Blueblood...
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                                            96.
                                            >Your soul...
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                                            97.
                                            >Having someone else's thoughts in your head was just...
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                                            98.
                                            >It sent shivers up your spine at the time.
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                                            99.
                                            >You had FELT Celestia's thoughts.
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                                            100.
                                            >Felt her dreams and ambitions, her wants and desires.
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                                            101.
                                            >And you had felt that she was telling the truth about what she said.
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                                            102.
                                            >The Princess really did love you.
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                                            103.
                                            >You...didn't know how you felt.
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                                            104.
                                            >You just knew you couldn't decide with her thoughts impacting your own.
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                                            105.
                                            >Your hand runs through your hair.
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                                            106.
                                            >This was all way over your head...
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                                            107.
                                            >Just...Just focus on the next few hours Anon.
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                                            108.
                                            >And in a few hours, you'd still be the sheriff of Appleoosa.
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                                            109.
                                            >It was your job.
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                                            110.
                                            
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                                            111.
                                            -In Canterlot-
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                                            112.
                                            >It had been some time since the incident with Blueblood.
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                                            113.
                                            >He was doing as well as you could ask given his current situation.
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                                            114.
                                            >You only wished you could say the same about yourself...
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                                            115.
                                            >Things had returned to normal all too fast once Anonymous left you that night.
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                                            116.
                                            >You had hoped that a night of tears alone in your room would have helped.
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                                            117.
                                            >They hadn't.
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                                            118.
                                            >This room had become your only environment the last few weeks.
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                                            119.
                                            >You had slept here, ate here, and done your royal duties here.
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                                            120.
                                            >The official reason was that your replacement bodyguard had yet to be chosen.
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                                            121.
                                            >The real reason was because you had refused to get another bodyguard.
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                                            122.
                                            >You couldn't replace him...not so soon.
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                                            123.
                                            >Why!? Why did you say you loved him!?
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                                            124.
                                            >Anon could have possibly taken the news about his soul well enough but to be told that his monarch loves him?
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                                            125.
                                            >You've been alive for so long you've forgotten what it's like to have news like that.
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                                            126.
                                            >And in your ignorance, you had scared him away.
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                                            127.
                                            >You had scared away the first man you've loved in CENTURIES because you were out of touch with reality.
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                                            128.
                                            >You laid yourself down on your bed for the umpteenth time.
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                                            129.
                                            >And your tears stained the sheets.
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                                            130.
                                            
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                                            131.
                                            -In the nearby hills-
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                                            132.
                                            >You came.
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                                            133.
                                            >You came in small numbers as you followed the scent.
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                                            134.
                                            >It radiated off of this town like that of a warm meal.
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                                            135.
                                            >You had traveled for miles, crossing the Leylands and the entirety of the Mild West.
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                                            136.
                                            >Harried by vultures, sandstorms and worse. All just to follow this scent.
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                                            137.
                                            >And now you found it.
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                                            138.
                                            >Hiding in this little town of Appleoosa.
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                                            139.
                                            >The salty-sweet taste of it.
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                                            140.
                                            >Anguished love.
                         by Mandroid
                         by Mandroid
                         by Mandroid
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