Old Frontier: Pony Style

            Twilight and Fluttershy stared at the unicorn. Fluttershy’s eyes were full of glee of this sudden convenience while Twilight’s eyes were full of suspicion of this sudden convenience.

“Would you really help us,” Fluttershy said, “We would really appre-” Twilight stuffed her hoof in Fluttershy’s mouth, stopping her from making any hasty decisions.

“What exactly is this business venture?” Twilight said without hiding her suspicion.

The unicorn Trixie used her magic and summoned an object from the back of her carriage, which was actually a covered wagon. Trixie levitated the object in front of the two mares. The object was a bottle with Trixie’s face on it. Above were flamboyant letters that spelled, ‘Trixie’s cure-all and enhancing elixirs.’

“So you’re a salespony?” Fluttershy asked.

Trixie, grinning smugly, said, “The Great and Powerful Trixie prefers to call herself an entrepreneur. Trixie goes across the frontier, sharing her amazing talents with those not as great and powerful as Trixie.”

Twilight facehoofed, thinking 'oh great, a snakeoil salespony.' Trixie, noticing Twilight’s facehoof, shot daggers at her.

“So why do you need our help?” Fluttershy inquired, not noticing the Twilight’s and Trixie’s disdain for each other.

Trixie cleared her throat and said, “There are someponies,” she glared at Twilight for a second before turning back to Fluttershy, “that do not believe in Trixie’s prowess and call her false. Trixie noticed the two of you turning James Jenkins, a dangerous criminal, over to the sheriff. Trixie was mildly impressed by your accomplishment and ask for your assistance in advertising her product. After you help Trixie, Trixie would be happy to take you to the next town.”

Twilight turned toward the pony in charge of the carriages and said, “What is the earliest that a carriage will return?” The pony placed his hoof on his chin, calculating the time. He then said, “The earliest will probably return in 2 hours.” Twilight groaned and then asked, “How far is the next town?” The pony replied, “An hour or so away.” Twilight groaned once more and turned toward Trixie. Heaving a sigh, Twilight said, “You got yourself a deal.”

Trixie, ignoring all of Twilight’s discomfort, smiled and said, “Excellent, now we best be off. You two will ride in the back.” Trixie made her way to the front of the wagon while Fluttershy and Twilight hopped into the back. They found themselves in a spacious area that was packed with crates that must be filled with Trixie’s elixirs. Twilight and Fluttershy walked a small distance toward the front which was blocked by a wall with a small window. Trixie looked through the window and said, “Be careful with Trixie’s products, you break you buy.” Twilight looked through the window and noticed something strange.

“Hey, who’s gonna pull the wagon?”

Trixie scoffed and said, “Trixie does not require the aid of stallions to pull her wagon.” Trixie’s horn glowed and the wheels slowly started to roll. She used more magic and the wagon was gaining speed. Twilight looked behind her and saw the town slowly getting smaller. She then sat next to Fluttershy, looked at all the crates, and said, “This is going to be a long day.”

An hour of silence later, the wagon began to slow down to a stop. Trixie turned around and spoke through the window.

“O.K, you two get off here and wait for a couple of minutes.”

“Why?” Fluttershy asked.

“All part of the plan. After that, wait in the crowd and act casually. See you soon.” Trixie said as Twilight and Fluttershy got off the wagon. She rode off to what Twilight saw was a settlement, similar to WellSpring, only a lot smaller. There has been a recent increase of settlements starting all across the frontier.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy and saw her face was filled with confusion.

“Um, Twilight, what are we doing?”

Twilight placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and said, “Fluttershy, you are about to experience your first con.”

A couple of minutes later, the mares trotted into the settlement and found a large group of ponies gathered around Trixie’s wagon. They were all wondering what was happening while Twilight and Fluttershy entered and blended in with the crowd. The next second, smoke began to appear in front of the wagon, then there was a loud bang, and Trixie appeared, with a table in front of her with bottles all around.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have come to bring comfort to your arduous lives. How many of you have suffered from broken hindlegs, broken forelegs, backaches, headaches, toothaches, burns, and any disease imaginable? Well, what if Trixie were to tell you that she has the solution to all of those problems.” There was a sudden rumble of murmuring amongst the ponies. “That’s right, Trixie will be able to solve all of those problems with her cure all potion. If you feel that this is too good to be true, then allow me to demonstrate. Who will help me show the amazing abilities of my elixir? How about you, stranger?” Trixie pointed her hoof at Fluttershy, and now all eyes were on her. “Please come to the front to help demonstrate Trixie’s tonic.”

Fluttershy, under the stare of the entire crowd, tried to hide behind her long, pink hair. Twilight anticipated Fluttershy’s shyness would be a problem, so she gave Fluttershy a discreet nudge and Fluttershy was on the move.

“Now,” Trixie said once Fluttershy was next to her. Fluttershy now tried to look as small and possible as everypony now had a better look at her, “I chose this pony because I noticed that her wing was injured.”

“My wing isn’t injured.” Fluttershy said, or at least tried to say. All that came out was a very low and soft mumble, which was perfect for an injured pony.

“There there,” Trixie said with mock sympathy, “all the pain would be gone once you drink my elixir.” And without further ado, she levitated one of the bottles and forced the contents down Fluttershy’s throat.

“Now behold, as this once injured Pegasus takes flight!”

The crowd held their breath, but all they saw was Fluttershy trying to get the elixir’s taste of her tongue.

“Aaaaaannnnd now!” Trixie said.

Nothing. The crowd was slowly losing interest in Fluttershy’s timid discomfort. Trixie decided to speed up the “miracle” by producing a trumpet from the back of her wagon, and blowing it right next to Fluttershy’s ear. The Pegasus instantly shot 20 feet upwards, her wings flapping frantically and her hooves clutching her chest. The once bored crowd was now filled with “oohh”s and “aahhh”s. Twilight simply rolled her eyes.

“As you can see everypony,” Trixie said as Fluttershy sunk back to the ground and timidly trotted toward Twilight, “Trixie’s elixirs are the best around. However, this is not the only thing they are capable of. What if I were to tell you,” the entire crowd leaned forward, waiting with baited breathe, “that Trixie’s elixirs, not only heal you, but enhances all of your senses.” The crowd let out a gasp.

“Trixie is now asking for a volunteer for her next demonstration.” Her eyes swift through the group of ponies, her eyes slightly lingering on Twilight. “Who would want to assist the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“I would like to volunteer.” Twilight said in a voice that sounded excited and not exasperated.

“Perfect, now drink the elixir while Trixie sets up the next event.” As Trixie reached into the back of her wagon, Twilight took a bottle from the demonstration table and took a quick gulp. Suddenly, all of her senses went haywire and her throat was on fire. She didn’t even realize that she was rolling and twitching on the ground. The elixir tasted worse than dragon perspiration (which she had the misfortune of knowing its flavor) mixed with spoiled milk (again, unlucky enough to have that knowledge). How Fluttershy was able to keep her discomfort on a minimal level was beyond Twilight.

Trixie returned to Twilight rubbing her tongue with blades of grass from the ground, trying to get the taste off her tongue. She rolled her eyes and dragged Twilight up to her feet. Trixie turned to the crowd, who were taken back by Twilight’s suffering, and laughed it off, “That is just the way the body reacts to something good for it. The more repulsive it is, the better. Now watch,” Trixie directed the crowd to a shooting target a couple of feet away. She then handed Twilight a single-shot revolver, “as this mare uses her heightened senses to shoot the target.”

Twilight slowly raised the revolver and aimed with watery eyes. The elixir did more to damage her senses then heighten them. None the less, Twilight was still able to shoot right at the center. The crowd clapped politely and Trixie waved her hoof toward another target, 10 feet away.

This shooting demonstration went on for another minute or so, with Twilight getting a near perfect shot 45 feet away and the crowd practically foaming at the mouth.

“You see everypony!” Trixie cried with a big grin plastered on her face, “Trixie’s elixir is the solution to all of your problems. This amazing potion can be yours for the low price of just 8 bits!”

Twilight had to jump out of the way of the stampeding ponies as they rushed to the table to buy. Twilight then walked toward Fluttershy, who was in awe of the ponies’ desire for the elixir.

“We should probably get out of here, or else people would be wondering why we aren’t buying that snakeoil.”

Fluttershy nodded and with one last fleeting look at the ponies practically inhaling the elixir, they left.

They waited for a couple of minutes for Trixie to pick them up. She was wearing a big and smug smile when she said, “Trixie has sold half of her product in one day. Of course, that is to be expected when somepony has the same abilities as Trixie.”

“You mean trickery and deceit? Then yes, you would be right.” Twilight said with her eyes filled with disdain towards Trixie, “Have you even tested, or better yet tasted, that gunk you call elixir?”

Trixie glared and said, “Trixie is the most powerful unicorn you will ever meet. Trixie apologizes if you aren’t as competent as she is Ms. Dazzle.

“It’s Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle. And somepony doesn’t need to be competent to know you are a fraud.”

Trixie looked ready for a fight, “You call Trixie a fraud!” Her horn started to glow and so did Twilight’s.

“Stop it!” Fluttershy cried, which caused the two unicorns to jump as they forgot she was even there, “sorry, but there’s no need to fight.” She turned to Trixie, “Please Trixie, Twilight didn’t mean to call you a fraud. She’s very sorry, right Twilight?”

Twilight was about to say what she really thought what Trixie was, until she caught a sight of Fluttershy’s disapproving eye. Twilight suddenly felt a cold wind and a shiver ran down her spine. She quickly looked away and told Trixie through gritted teeth, “I’m sorry I called you a fraud.”

Trixie seemed pleased by this and told the two mares to get in the back of the wagon.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Twilight told Fluttershy in a hushed voice so they wouldn’t be overheard by Trixie, “I can’t believe you don’t believe Trixie is a fraud.”

“Oh Twilight,” Fluttershy whispered back, “of course I know she’s fraud. Do you really think I’m that gullible?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call you gullible, just really innocent.”

“What I want to know Twilight is why you flew off the handle about her being a fraud? I didn’t know you could get so angry.”

Twilight sighed, “I’m a pony who focuses on logic. To me, everything does something because it makes sense. I don’t like con artist like Trixie because their whole approach is so illogical. They don’t explain how their products work and ponies just eat up what they say. That’s another thing, how are the ponies so foolish. They should have asked questions on why the elixir does what it does, not just believe what somepony says. How can anypony be so illogical, foolish, and gullible?” she finished on an exasperated tone.

After Twilight’s soap-box moment, the two were in silent until Fluttershy said, “Maybe it isn’t that people are gullible, but that they wanted to believe Trixie so much, that they fooled themselves.

“What?”

“Well, think about it. Equestria isn’t the best place. There are a lot of problems, from illnesses to crimes. But ponies still move forward because of one thing; hope. Hope drives ponies to keep moving forward, that tomorrow will be a better day. So if ponies hear of some amazing elixir that can fix so many problems, then there hope blinds them from the obvious truth. So, it’s not that ponies believe everything, it’s that they choose not to doubt the hope.”

“Wow,” Twilight said after a couple of seconds, “that was really profound.”

“Thank you.”

“Somewhat illogical, but still very profound.”

Fluttershy simply sighed and took the compliment.

The wagon continued to ride through the dirt road. Twilight and Fluttershy were passing the time by reading Twilight’s novels (Fluttershy was having a difficult time comprehending the style of the books). Twilight looked up from her book to the outside of the wagon. The sun was setting. Twilight hoped to get to the next town before dark and asked Trixie how much longer.

“The town is half an hour away, but Trixie is making a short detour.”

“What?!? You said that after we helped you, you would take us to the next town.”

“Do not fret Ms. Sprinkle,” Twilight knew Trixie called her by the wrong name on purpose, “This place is in the general direction of the town. One of the ponies from the settlement told Trixie that ponies were starting to settle there. It’s a perfect business opportunity.”

“Do you really think we would help you after you broke your promise?”

“The promise is that you would assist Trixie in selling her product. Well, Trixie is going to sell her product, so you will assist her.”

Twilight grunted in anger. She did not like being bound by a finicky contract.

The wagon began to slow down again and that was Twilight’s and Fluttershy’s cue to get off. As was the plan, the two mares waited for a couple of minutes and began to make their way to the next con.

Twilight and Fluttershy stopped in front of what had to be the poorest excuse for a settlement. There were only 5 carriages and 5 tents. There were 15 stallions, all of whom looked as if they’ve not slept in a bed for a long time, standing in front of the wagon and waiting. Each one of them was armed with a revolver. The mares did a poor job trying to discreetly enter the crowd. Trixie’s con began almost exactly the same as her previous one. The only difference was that the crowd was not in awe as the previous one.

“Now, who will help me demonstrate?” Trixie said, completely oblivious to the unimpressed crowd. As her hoof was rising up to point at Fluttershy, somepony from the crowd stepped forward and said in a gruff voice, “I have a question.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she turned her head toward a stallion with a light brown coat and a messy dirty-blonde mane.

‘Somepony is actually asking a question,’ Twilight thought, ‘Tartarus must have frozen over.’ She quickly turned to Trixie, waiting with victorious smile, to see how Trixie will react. Instead of shifty eyes and stammering a response, Trixie’s eyes squinted in focus as she stared at the stallion.

“Doesn’t Trixie know you from somewhere?”

“I should hope so; I’m the pony who told you about this place.”

Twilight’s mood went from relish victory to suspicion. She sneakily tapped Fluttershy’s shoulder and two slowly made their way toward Trixie.

“As for my question,” Twilight’s instinct yelled at her to hurry and she and Fluttershy were now right next to Trixie. Then all the stallions took out their revolvers from their holsters and the stallion with the question said, “Do you really think that scam would work twice on us?”

Then 3 things happened in the next second. The first was Trixie used her magic and a cloud of smoke erupted between the stallions and the mares. The second was Twilight using her magic to levitate the table in front of them for cover and applied a magic barrier around it. The final thing was that all of the stallions opened fired.

“GET INSIDE THE WAGON!” Twilight yelled has bullets rained down on them. Trixie and Fluttershy didn’t need to be told twice.

“Hurry Twilight, get in!” Fluttershy cried as Trixie was readying her magic. Twilight levitated a couple of crates with the elixirs in them and flung them at the stallions’ direction. After hearing some satisfactory grunts of pain, Twilight threw herself and the table inside the back of the wagon as Trixie let loose her magic on the wheels. The wagon then rocketed out of the bulletstorm.

“Are you O.K?” Fluttershy asked as the sound of gunshots died out.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Twilight responded as her ears still ringed of the gunshots. She then angrily made her way to the small window and told Trixie, “Great going Trixie, you nearly got us all killed.”

Trixie looked shocked by this statement, “How is this Trixie’s fault? Trixie, with all of her amazing powers, is unable to predict a bandit’s move.”

“Except that they weren’t bandits. Didn’t you hear what that stallion said, ‘Do you really think that scam would work on us twice?’ They knew who you were.”

“Perhaps they were ponies who were jealous of Trixie’s talents?”

“Talent for what, conning ponies out of their hard earned money?”

“Um, Twilight.” Fluttershy said but was ignored.

“Then who do you suppose they were?” Trixie demanded.

“They were probably customers of yours.”

“Twilight,” Fluttershy said more loudly.

“Why would Trixie’s customers want to harm Trixie?”

“Maybe it’s the small fact that you lie to those ponies and rob them of their money.”

“Twilight,” Fluttershy grabbed Twilight’s head and turned it towards the back of the wagon, “look.”

“What are you talking about Fluttershy?” Twilight said as her eyes focused on what was outside of the wagon. Her heart sank at what she realized what was going on and she quickly turned to Trixie.

“Um, Trixie, you’ll probably want to pick up the pace to the next town.”

“Why should I?”

Twilight then grabbed Trixie’s head through the window and pointed it toward the back of the wagon. The stallions that ambushed them were now chasing them in carriages. They were quickly gaining on them.

“Oh buck.” Trixie quickly turned her head back on the road ahead and concentrated on her magic while Twilight and Fluttershy were making a makeshift cover with the table and crates of elixirs. Twilight readied her Henry Repeater while Fluttershy readied her Double-Action Revolver. They waited until the stallions were only 20 feet away.  The stallions were unleashing a storm and Twilight had to concentrate heavily to keep their cover from becoming kindling. Fluttershy, with her one day of training, was doing her best to shoot under the pressure. She settled with shooting at the carriage drivers’ hooves, so they would have to swerve to avoid being hit.

Finally, Twilight was able to aim at one of the stallions in the carriage. As she was about to pull the trigger and finish him, Fluttershy pushed her and the shot missed.

“Fluttershy, what in Celestia’s name are you doing?” Twilight demanded as she readied her gun for another shot. Again, Fluttershy knocked the gun off target.

“Don’t kill them!” Fluttershy cried over the sound of pelting bullets.

Twilight looked at her as though she had just asked her to drink an entire crate of Trixie’s elixirs.

“What? Fluttershy, these ponies are are trying to kill us, we need to defend ourselves!"

“Then shoot near the drivers’ legs so there aim would be off.”

Twilight was about to argue but after looking into Fluttershy’s pleading eyes, she couldn’t find her voice.

‘Do not listen to her,’ the voice was back, ‘she lives in a fantasy land. In reality, it’s kill or be killed. Which one do you want to be?’

“Please Twilight,” Fluttershy begged, “these ponies aren’t bandits. There just angry and upset about being cheated. Do they really deserve to die?”

As though snapped out of a trance with that last statement, Twilight shook her head.

“You’re right Fluttershy. You’re absolutely right.” And with that, Twilight unleashed a barrage of bullets near the drivers’ hooves and they quickly dispersed. Fluttershy gave her a grateful smile and fired at the ground.

It was almost sunset and the ground had turn from dirt to a grassy area. The only thing still the same was the firefight that 3 mares and 15 stallions were going through. Both sides were running low on bullets and Twilight, after using magic for a long period of time, was dealing with the fight and her heavy eyelids.

“We got to think of something quick Fluttershy,” Twilight said tiredly, “or else we won’t make it to the next town.”

Fluttershy looked around the wagon. To conserve bullets, the two of them chucked a lot of the crates at the stallions. Fluttershy then remembered her ace in the hole and got the shotgun from her back. The same shotgun that she obtained after capturing Jenkins.

“We still haven’t used this Twilight.” Fluttershy quickly reloaded the shotgun and aimed it.

“Good idea Fluttershy,” Twilight said groggily, “the shotgun has a wide range. Just be prepared for its-“

BANG

The gun did as it intended. The drivers were moving widely, afraid of getting hit. The down side was that Fluttershy was sent crashing to the front of the wagon.

“Recoil.” Twilight finished.

Now, the voice practically screamed, ‘while she is not looking. Take out the stallions. You can say it was an accident.’

Twilight shook herself awake and fired at the ground near the stallions’ hooves.

“No.” Twilight said matter-of-factly.

After a moment of silence, the voice said gravely, 'It seems I'm wasting my time trying to keep you alive.' And on that dark note, the voice was silent.

Twilight turned to the front of the wagon and said, “Fluttershy, are you O.K?”

“Yes, I’m O.K.” Fluttershy said groggily.

Then the wagon shook violently.

“What is happening back there?!?” Trixie yelled.

Twilight turned and saw all of the stallions shooting at the sides of the wagons. Slowly, comprehension dawned on Twilight and her face was filled with fear at the realization.

“EVERYPONY GET D-“

Too late

The stallions were able to shoot out the wheels of the wagon and the whole thing went for rolling down the road until one final last vicious crash.

As the smoke settled, the remains of the wagon began to move and Twilight came out, with Fluttershy over her shoulder.

“Are you still O.K?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.”

Twilight turned around and saw that they have neared their destination. The town they were heading to was a trotting distance away. Twilight smiled; after a long and grueling day, the town was a beautiful sight. Of course, the day was far from over. Twilight’s peaceful moment was shattered at the sound of guns being cocked.

She turned and saw the stallions, all worn out and irritated, pointing their guns at Trixie. Twilight picked up her repeater trudged on toward Trixie. Once she was by Trixie’s side, the yellow stallion stepped forward.

“This does not concern the two of you,” he told Twilight and Fluttershy, “this is between us, and her.” He finished in disgust.

Twilight said, “Listen Mr.…”

“Lemon”

Twilight craned her head and saw he had 3 lemons for a cutie mark.

“O.K Mr. Lemon, I can’t just sit back and watch you kill somepony. Yes, she is a fraud, phony, and a charlatan, but does that mean she should die?”

“You don’t understand; this mare did more than just con us.”

Mr. Lemon took a deep breath and told his story.

“I come from a farming town in North Dacolta. As everypony was going on with their business, this charlatan showed up. We were all so amazed by her ‘demonstration’ that we bought almost all of her stock. After all, we had a lot of sick ponies that needed to be taken care of. At first, it seemed everything was going great. The ponies that were sick were suddenly hopping in joy. They got better. Until we ran out of the elixir, that’s when things got so much worse. Turns out, those elixir only make ponies unaware of their sickness. After it passes, the ponies got back to their sick selves. We realized that too late and so many ponies are far worse off than they were before, including my son.” Mr. Lemons choked up at that last part, “After that, I began my search for Trixie. I met others who were robbed by her and we formed a little posse. Now, the time for talk is over.”

All the stallions raised their guns and Twilight raised her repeater. She inched her way closer to Trixie, ready to create a shield around them. As she turned her head, she was surprised by Trixie’s expression. It was not one of anger, arrogance, or fear. It was full of thought and, was it possible, regret.

Twilight then looked up and saw Fluttershy standing between her and the stallions with her arms outstretched.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight cried as she prepared to shoot, “get back her, now!” Twilight didn’t care if the stallions weren’t bandits; if they hurt her friend, she will show no mercy.

“Please Mr. Lemon, don’t do this.” Fluttershy said.

“Why not, I’d probably be doing everypony a favor by doing this.”

“That still doesn’t make things right.”

“And why should I listen to you? Weren’t you the same one who was shooting at us?”

“Oh please,” Twilight said, “if it wasn’t for Fluttershy, you’d all probably be dead. Don’t you remember Mr. Lemon, you saw me shoot at that demonstration. You knew that, even after drinking that gunk, I was still able to shoot perfectly at 45 feet with a revolver. Do you really think I would miss all of you from a 20 foot distance while firing a Henry Repeater?”

All of the stallions were looking at each other, trying to make sense of what they had heard.

“Fluttershy is the only reason you guys are still walking around. You owe her, so the least you can do is listen.”

The stallions nodded their heads, but didn’t lower their weapons. Fluttershy gave Twilight a grateful smile and continued.

“I know that you all feel angry and upset that this happened to you, and that you feel what you’re doing is justified, but it isn’t. Killing a pony in cold-blood is still wrong, no matter how you look at it.”

“But,” Mr. Lemon tried to find his words, “but she caused so much suffering!”

“But is making somepony else suffer the only way to cure suffering. It doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t you all rather be with your family and friends who are currently in need of your company?”

She struck gold. Mr. Lemon’s and half of the stallions’ hooves started to shake while the rest simply laid down their arms.

Fluttershy went for the finish, “Killing Trixie won’t heal you loved ones. Killing Trixie will only leave you with a constant regret. Don’t make this mistake that you can’t take back.”

Silence. No pony moved or even breathed. Finally, Mr. Lemon chuckled softly and said, “What am I doing,” he looked at his revolver and lowered it, “I’m not a killer.” Soon, the rest of the stallions lowered their weapons. All of them looked relieved. Twilight breathed and lowered her weapon.

“Thank you Fluttershy,” Mr. Lemons said, “you stopped me from making a huge mistake. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to my boy.” With one last look at Trixie, the stallions turned to leave.

“Wait!” Trixie shouted. Everypony saw as Trixie made her way through the wreckage of wagon. After a minute or so, Trixie returned with a small chest and gave it to the stallions. She opened it and revealed a chest filled with bits.

“Take it,” she said, which caused everyponies’ mouth to drop, “this all of my profit. I can’t take back all of that suffering you’ve experienced, but I hope this will help get you through it.”

The stallions looked at each other and began to evenly split the money. After that, they all thanked Trixie and they were gone.

Twilight walked to Trixie and patted her back, “That was a really great thing you did.”

Trixie turned and had a kind and somewhat arrogant smile on her face, “But of course, this is after all a new Trixie. Trixie is now the Great and Humble Trixie.”

Twilight rolled her eyes good-naturedly and said, “I suppose this can only be an improvement.”

The 3 mares walked until they reached the wreckage.

“I suppose this is where we part ways.” Trixie said, no longer referring herself in the third person. She then turned toward her destroyed wagon and sighed, “I suppose I better get started on repairs. Goodbye Twilight and Fluttershy.”

They, however, didn’t move. Instead, they looked at each other and nodded.  Then, they started to help Trixie repair. Trixie looked confused, but grateful. After retrieving Fluttershy’s revolver and shotgun from the mess, they began to work. The 3 mares, with no idea on how to make a wagon, managed to create a contraption with 3 wheels and a small platform. Either way, Trixie got on and prepared to depart.

“Where are you going now Trixie?” Twilight asked.

“Seeing as how I’m broke and jobless, I’ll probably wander around, trying to find a place to settle.”

“Why not settle at WellSpring?” Fluttershy said.

“WellSpring? What’s that?”

“It’s this great town with the nicest ponies you will ever meet.” Twilight said, “I’m pretty sure they’ll accept you with open arms.”

Trixie looked at both of them and said, “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

“I’ve tricked you and nearly gotten you killed and after all that, you save me and tell me of a place that I can settle in. I will never be able to repay this kindness.”

Twilight and Fluttershy felt slightly embarrassed and said, “It’s no big deal.”

After giving her directions to WellSpring, Trixie rode off and Twilight and Fluttershy walked to the town.

“What are we going to do now Twilight?” Fluttershy asked as they got closer to the town.

“First, we are going to rest. It hasn’t been 1 day since we started our journey and we almost died twice. I feel we deserve a break. Then tomorrow, we’re gonna buy more ammunition since we are running low. Then we continue to Coltifornia.”

The two entered the town at almost exactly sunset. The town was almost exactly the same as the previous one. There were only three differences. One was that the buildings had a different set of colors. The second was that there seemed to be a lot of dust in the air. The final thing was that there was no pony in sight.

“Where is everypony, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know, let’s keep moving forward.”

The two continued until they stopped in front of an intersection. Through the dust, Twilight made out one figure in front of her and 3 a little farther ahead. They were completely still. Then it all made sense to Twilight and she quickly dragged Twilight behind a couple of barrels.

“What’s going on Twilight?”

“Keep your head down Fluttershy. There’s gonna be a duel.”

There was no noise until suddenly, someone shouted, “Draw!”

There were 3 quick gunshots and then the sound of three bodies dropping to the floor. Then the dust began to clear and all of the town ponies started to come out from their hiding spots. Twilight and Fluttershy looked up from the barrels and saw 3 pegasai clutching their arms and withering in pain. The closest to Twilight and Fluttershy, the one who just won the duel, was also a Pegasus. She was wearing black sunglasses and was wearing a black vest and duel holsters. She had a cerulean coat and a rainbow-colored mane and tail. She lifted her glasses up and smiled.

“That’s what you get for picking a fight with the fastest shooter in Equestria,” she twirled both of her revolvers, tossed them in the air, and caught them with ease, “Rainbow Dash.”