Old Frontier: Pony Style

by the silver-maned pony

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Dark, Alternate Universe, Comedy
Length: 23773

The old frontier, were legends are born. There is just one thing to make this better; ponies. Equestria is now in the wild west and all the ponies have adapted to this enviorment. And 6 mares will become... legends.

*Do not read this story yet. If you're interested, put this on the read later list. I'm doing some heavy re-editing to this story.*
The old frontier is an amazing time in history. Although it did have lots of problems. So I combined two of my most favorite things: wild west and ponies. Here is the creation.
Follow the journey of Twilight Sparkle as she goes through many ordeals, meets interesting ponies, and makes new enemies. Their legend starts here and the old frontier will never be the same again.
This is going to be a long story so get comfortable.
Please rate and review and if there are any mistakes, please let me know.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-30 22:38:36 UTC

Chp 1: Small beginings

I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Ever hear the theory that there are an infinite number of universes parallel to your own. The ponies in Equestria, they really don’t believe in that stuff. They, however, don’t realize that there is a universe so closely resembling their own, that they actually have perfect counterparts in that universe. The only difference is that there is a lot more violence, corruption, and problems in that universe that some ponies wouldn’t think possible. That universe is currently in the time periods they call the old frontier or Wild West. This is a tale of how one unicorn banded together with 5 other ponies to try and stop the horrors of their world. The only thing is that to solve the problems, they must delve into the problems themselves.

Twilight Sparkle was sluggishly trotting down a barren road as the blistering sun was hammering down upon her. Her surroundings included dirt, sand, dust, and little blades of grass struggling to break through the ground. Miles away on her left, and too far away to give her shade, there were rows of mountains. On her right side was a perfect view of nothing, the same perfect view in front of her. All she had was the duster coat she wore, her holster that carried her double-action revolver, a fedora hat that was not doing a great job protecting her from the sun, and her saddle bag. The bag contained a hunting knife, a canteen that had been recently drained of its contents, a box that had been licked clean of its food, a tinderbox, and 5 hard covered books, 3 of which were recently purchased. As Twilight continued her ordeal, an inner voice started to speak to her.

‘You just had to buy those books, didn’t you?’ it said ‘you just had to spend your last couple of bits on them instead of getting a carriage to the next town.’

Twilight growled irritably. “How was I supposed to know that those folks back in that town weren’t good with distance? They told me it was a hop skip and a jump to the next town!”

‘Still doesn’t justify spending your bits on those old books,’ the voice shot back.

“These books are classics and they were selling them at a cheap price. It would have been a crime not to buy them.”

‘I hope they were worth dying for.’

"I am not going to die here!"

‘Please, you been walking for hours, haven’t eaten in two days, and your out of water in this Celestia forsaken land. Yeah, I can see clear skies from here onward. Your luck is so great right now; you’ll probably be attacked by bloodthirsty bandits.’ it finished with a sarcastic note.

“You know what; I’m done talking to the likes of you!” Twilight shouted, somewhat pleased that she just told off her inner voice.

‘The fact that you were even talking to me in the first place proves my point, you’re screwed!’ and the voice went silent.

Twilight was now fuming that she was beaten by her own imagination and trudged on, although knowing that her inner voice was probably right.

After another hour or so of torture, her surroundings changed. The mountains have now disappeared and were replaced by small hills closer to her. Her road seemed to have led her to a nice pasture with a group of trees not far from her on her right side.  Twilight was now getting off the road and headed to the shady trees, deciding to take a short break. She was debating whether to eat some of the grass from the pasture, her survival instinct telling her to get some nourishment while her pride said they aren’t in that bad of a situation. In the end, pride won. As she was a mere foot or two from the shade, she collapsed. Moaning, Twilight turned so she was lying on her back and shooting daggers at the sun. ‘Stupid sun’ she thought viciously, ‘Of all the days president Celestia decided to raise the temperature to a 1,000 degrees, it just so happened to be the day I was stuck in the middle. You know what I think, I think you just turned up the heat for me’ Twilight’s paranoid/insane side of her was now creeping up ‘You just did this just to mess with me huh?’

“Well it’s not going to work.” Twilight now began to speak aloud and in a crazed tone. “You know why, because I’m gonna beat you now in your little game. You know how? I’ll tell you how; by blacking out.” Twilight laughed half triumphantly and half insanely before blacking out

Screaming, screaming everywhere. Houses on fire, fillies crying out for their parents, parents crying out for their children, gunshots everywhere. Two stallions arguing viciously amongst all the anarchy, then one stallion hit the butt of his revolver to the other one's head, turned quickly, grabbed his younger sister by her collar, hoisted her on her back, and ran, ran from all the chaos. The little sister now saw the whole scene, and tears ran down her cheeks and she yelled.

“NOOOOOOO!” Twilight woke up screaming, which was then followed by a frightened squeal, a bowl of soup dropping on the floor on the floor, and a now frightened mare rushing out of the room. Twilight was breathing heavily from her nightmare and it took a few seconds to get her bearings.

She was laying on a comfy bed with a blanket over her. She was in a rather large bedroom with walls painted blue. On the left side of the room was a rocking chair with all of her belongings, a small mirror, and a cabinet. On the foot of the bed was a large chest. The wall in front of her was covered with pictures and portraits. Above her was a lantern with was not being used since the window to her right told Twilight it must be early morning. The most bizarre thing by far was on her right side which included a dresser and the door out of her room. The door gave Twilight a view of a frightened mare.

“Oh…… hello” she said quietly.

Twilight just waved her a hoof and gave an awkward smile. The two ponies stared at each other in awkward silence for a minute until the strange mare spoke.

“Are you O.K?”

“Yes.” Twilight responded, not really sure what to do. Twilight then spotted the spilled soup and decided to clean it since she inadvertently made the mare drop it. As Twilight took off the blanket and swung her leg, she instantly felt woozy. The mare, seeing this, swiftly rushed to Twilight and gently pushed her back into bed.

“Don’t worry about that, you just lay there and rest while I go get a mop.”

She whizzed through the door and then was back with the mop and a bucket. As she was cleaning the soup up, Twilight studied this mare more closely. She was a Pegasus with a yellow coat, a pink mane that covers one of her eyes, which were blue, pink tail, and a cutie mark of 3 butterflies. After the Pegasus finished cleaning up, she left and returned with a fresh bowl of soup.

“Here you go,” she said kindly, “You look like you haven’t eaten in days.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said as she drank a spoonful. Twilight had never thought soup could be this good and realizing how hungry she was, she forgot the spoon and lifted the whole bowl to her mouth and drank deeply. Twilight smacked her lips and decided to ask the big important question.

“Can I have seconds? And also, who are you and where am I?”

“For the first question, of course you can, as for the other questions, my name is Fluttershy and this is my home.”

Fluttershy then picked up the bowl with her mouth and went to refill it. As Twilight was waiting for more of the heavenly soup, she studied her surroundings more closely. The room itself was very well kept, not a bit of dust as far as she could see. The room was also very organized, as though no one has moved in inch of it in years. Twilight was now focusing on the photos on the wall. The most prominent of the photos was actually a portrait which had 4 ponies in it.  The oldest one was a male Pegasus that screamed masculinity. He had a muscular build with handlebar mustache, a haircut that looked like a perfect square, a gray coat, piercing blue eyes, and wearing a dark orange uniform that she recognized was military. The other stallion was also a Pegasus, but a lot younger. He had long brown hair and a golden mane. He had blue eyes too and was also wearing a dark orange military uniform. The 3rd of this group was a mare with a light yellow coat and had pink flowing mane and kind green eyes. She was wearing a nurse’s uniform. The final member of this little group was a newborn filly. She was a spitting image of the older mare, but with blue eyes. Twilight knew that little filly was Fluttershy, while the stallion and mare were most likely her parents. The older Pegasus might be her grandfather.

“Here you go.” Fluttershy said after returning with a new bowl. Twilight was now taking her time with this bowl, savoring it.

“Thank you, by the way,” Twilight said in between spoonfuls.

“Don’t mention it, there is more if you like,” Fluttershy said sweetly

“Not that, thank you for saving my life.”

“Oh… well don’t mention that either.”

“But I must,” Twilight insisted “I could have died out there.”

“No really, it’s just who I am,” Fluttershy turned to the portrait “My parents and grandpa always said to help those in need.”

“How did you find me anyway? I didn’t see any town near here.”

“We are a small community here, but we’re growing quickly. In a couple of month, we will probably be a bustling town. As how I found you, I was out in the pasture with the cows as they grazed when I spotted you, on the ground and mumbling.”

“Mumbling?”

“Yes, you were mumbling something like ‘I outsmarted you, you troll.’ Who is troll? Is that pony a friend?”

“Oh that, well that was just the heat getting to me.” Twilight said, embarrassed.

After a couple of minutes of pleasant silence, Fluttershy said “Well, I should get started on the chores, if you would like more soup; there is a pot full in the kitchen.” Then she turned to the door.

“Wait,” Twilight said, putting the empty bowl aside. “Let me help you.”

“Oh no,” Fluttershy said concerned. “You’re still too weak.”

“I feel fine,” Twilight said as she got out of bed. Her head suddenly felt woozy, but she didn’t show it.

“You don’t have to do that, you need rest.” Fluttershy insisted.

“Don’t worry about me.” Twilight said, now out of the room and into the hallway.

“Well, O.K.” Fluttershy responded uncertainly. As they walked down the hallway, Fluttershy kept shooting nervous glances at Twilight, as though expecting her to drop from exhaustion. Meanwhile, Twilight was looking around the house. The hallway was spacious enough for Fluttershy and Twilight to walk side by side. There were doors along the walls to other bedrooms, 3 rooms on each side. The thing that dumbfounded twilight was the occupants of the rooms. Instead of family members, they were injured animals. In one room was a cow with a broken leg, and in another room were a couple birds with sprained wings. After the hallway was the living room, containing a coffee table in the center, with two sofas, and a wooden radio nearby. There was a door leading outside, a doorway leading to the dining room on her left side and stairs leading upstairs.

Twilight opened to the door to a shaded porch and she was surprised by what greeted her. Fluttershy said this was a small community, now that seems like an understatement. There were at least 14 other houses or small cabins, and the street was currently bustling with activity. There were fillies and colts chasing each other, mares watching the children playing and conversing with each other, and stallions pulling carts around. In the middle of the community were a crowd gathered around something Twilight couldn’t see. The things she could see were a sheriff’s office, a general store, and what seemed to be a small clinic. Twilight also noted that the town was mostly filled with earth ponies and a few pegasi, no unicorns. A large barn was right in front of Fluttershy’s house, which had to be the biggest and fanciest house here.

“And you said this was a small community,” Twilight said in a half dumbfounded and half awed voice.

Fluttershy grinned sheepishly. “Well I did say we were growing.” She turned left and to the end of the porch which had stacked bags, from what Twilight tell, of animal food. “My chores are taking care of the animals here, since it is my special talent. Now, don’t go caring more than you can carry,” she added in a somewhat stern and pleading tone.

“Don’t worry about me.” Twilight responded as she lifted 3 bags with her magic. “I got this.”

“Oh, right.” Fluttershy had forgotten Twilight could use magic. Fluttershy then hoisted two bags on her back and walked to the barn with twilight at her heel.

“So,” Twilight decided to start a conversation while they walked “Does this ‘small community’ have a name yet?”

“We call it WellSpring, since there is a large underwater spring, hence the name and the well is in the middle of town.” Fluttershy pointed to the crowd of ponies and now twilight had a better view of it. There was a well in the center of town and she noticed that all the ponies were carrying large buckets of water.

They reached the barn, but didn’t go in it. They went around it and stopped at the back of the barn, where Twilight saw had lush grass and a couple of cows and sheep conversing. Fluttershy opened the back doors of the barn and called out in a sweet voice. ”Come out my little critter friends, time for breakfast.” She stepped aside as a stampede of animals came rushing from the barn door, with bowls in their mouths, ready to feast.

“So which animal gets what?” Twilight said as she looked amongst all the hungry mouths.

“This food is a special mix I created, it is both tasty and healthy for all animals,” Fluttershy answered as she poured food for a rabbit and dog from the same bag.

Twilight followed her lead and started pouring the food, which looked like colorful vitamins. As she poured the food, twilight spotted a couple of things. She saw that some of the animals were a weird addition to a farm. She saw some eagles, gazelles, ostriches, snakes (which she kept her distance from), cats, ferrets, squirrels, dogs that looked more like wolves, and tortoises. She also saw that each animal’s bowl was monogramed with what she presumed were their names.

After about 5 minutes Fluttershy said “Hey, where’s Jamie?” She went to the barn door. “Jamie,” she called out. Next she said “Oh there you are. Where you over sleeping again?” she said in a fond voice.

Twilight turned from feeding the critters to look at this newcomer. What she saw made her heart stop, drop the bag, and reach for her revolver, which she left back at the house. Fluttershy was currently scratching the ear of a huge, menacing looking manticore! Twilight was then sprinting to Fluttershy, ready to levitate her with magic and getting out of there. As she was doing this, the manticore did something that left Twilight very confused; he gave a frightened cry and was then cowering in fear. Fluttershy then saw Twilight running toward with her horn glowing and she cried “WAIT!” Twilight skidded to a stop and was left with a confused stare.

“Don’t hurt him.” Fluttershy urged.

“But…but…but,” Twilight tried to find a way that say what she wanted. Reaching a decision, she said “How? Manticores aren’t supposed to be this far west, and why isn’t he ripping us to shreds?”

Fluttershy comforted Jamie first before answering her question. “It was a year when I found him. He was all alone and hurt pretty badly. I managed to get him better, but he didn’t know or was too afraid to go back to wherever he came from. So, I have been taking care of him for this whole time.”

“Do the villagers know about this?”

“Yes, it took a while to persuade them, but they grew to love him as much as I do.”

Twilight doubted that anyone could love a ferocious beast as much as Fluttershy, but she didn’t voice it. As Twilight took a step forward, Jamie went back to cowering. Twilight suddenly had an idea of how the manticore got here. No doubt someone wanted to sell the manticore fur and claws on the black market. It would explain why the manticore was so beaten up when found and why he is so traumatized.

“It’s O.K., Twilight won’t hurt you.” Fluttershy was trying to calm Jamie again. She then turned to Twilight. “Do you think you could scratch his ear? He likes it when I do it and he might trust you more.”

Twilight was still apprehensive of the beast, but she nodded. She raised her hoof to scratch the ear, but was a little too sudden that the manticore flinched.

“Could you go a little bit slower?”

Twilight nodded and she raised her hoof in a slower motion. When she reached the year, she scratched it softly. Jamie’s ear perked up and he was purring.

“Aw, I think he likes you now,” Fluttershy said as Jamie started to nuzzle Twilight. Twilight was now smiling. Who would have thought she would ever be nuzzled by a manticore? After another minute, all the animals finished eating and were now frolicking around the grassy area. Twilight and Fluttershy enjoyed watching the playful critters.

“Amazing,” Twilight finally said

“Yes, the animals are amazing,” Fluttershy said, smiling fondly at the animals.

“Yeah, and you too.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you really are amazing Fluttershy. Not only are you great with animals, you are no doubts the kindest pony I know. You nursed a manticore back to health when any other pony would have left it to die and kept him, even though they are notorious. Then you saved my life, a total stranger who was armed, and showed me great hospitality. You really are amazing.”

Fluttershy was now blushing furiously after the huge compliment. “Oh, I’m not that amazing,” she said feebly. Twilight simply smiled and continued to watch the animals. After a while, Fluttershy turned and walked off to the streets and Twilight followed.

“Are there any more chores?” Twilight asked

“Not at the moment. Would you like a tour of the community?” Fluttershy offered.

Twilight grinned, “Even more hospitality. If I didn’t know any better, I could swear you were seducing me.” Fluttershy face was now beet red. Twilight giggled. “I’m only joking; yes I would like a tour.”

“O.K.”  Fluttershy said, still blushing. And so the two mares trotted on, not knowing what the coming hours would bring.

Chp 3: Decision

“But how?” Twilight asked.

“No time for explanation, I must tend to the wounded. Everypony,” he now talked to the group “Please take me to all of the wounded.” Dr.Stitches then conjured up his medical bag and let the ponies guide him through the town. Twilight was about to follow them when Morningstar tapped her shoulder.

“Help me with this, will you?” he was pointing to the unconscious Wilson. “I want to have a chat with him.” He stared distastefully at Wilson.

“O.K.” she and the sheriff lifted the knocked out pony onto their backs and headed to the sheriff’s office.

“Be careful Twilight, Morningstar.” Fluttershy called to the two as they closed the door. The office was pretty spacious. The sheriff’s desk was against the right wall which also had a gun rack which was currently empty by the ponies who rushed in here to grab the guns and fight the bandits. The left wall was packed with 3 steel cells.

“Drop him to the floor for a second.” Morningstar said and she slammed him to the floor. He went to his desk and grabbed his chair and some rope. He set the chair in the middle of the room.

“Place our guest on the chair.” Morningstar casually asked Twilight. After Wilson was set on the chair, the sheriff used the rope and tied him, nice and tight. He went to his desk again and returned with a bucket of water, which he preceded to throw at Wilson’s face. The bandit woke up with a gasp. He stared at the two ponies and said sarcastically “How nice to see you two again.”

“Wilson Beckon” Morningstar said as he set down the bucket. “We are going to ask you a couple of questions.”

Wilson laughed and said, “O.K, my likes include money and long walks in the moonlight. My dislikes are nosy sheriffs and purple mares.”

“You think this is a joke?” Morningstar snarled.

“Yes, very much yes. Do either of you know how many times I’ve been interrogated? Let’s just say I know all of the tricks in the book.”

“Then you must know this trick.” Morningstar said as he punched Wilson. Wilson spit some blood and chuckled. “Number 11; punching the face, and may I add, nice right hook.”

Morningstar ignored the comment and said. “You said that somepony employed you, I want to know who that pony is and what does he or she want.”

“I don’t know what he wants. All I know he paid a pretty bit for this mission. Guess he was rich since he is from Coltifornia.”

Twilight, upon hearing this, lifted Wilson by the scuff of his suit. “What was his name?” She shook him. “Tell me his name!” The only response she got was him spitting in her eye. Twilight recoiled in disgust and cleaned her eye.

“Did you really think I would give any information to the likes of you?”

“Now that wasn’t nice.” The sheriff said and he turned to Twilight, “Can I borrow that revolver of yours?” She nodded and gave him Wilson’s revolver. Morningstar held it and flicked the revolver to the left and the cylinder slid out.

“Fancy.” He said as he emptied 3 of the chambers so only 3 bullets remained. He walked toward Wilson. “O.K Wilson, we’re going to play a game called ‘answer the questions or get a bullet to the head.” He spun the cylinder and held the revolver to Wilson’s head.

“Um, sheriff, I hate him as much as the next guy but he would be useless if you shot him.”

Wilson merely chuckled. “Very dramatic sheriff, but this is Number 6; threaten with bullet through head. I know you won’t shoot.”

“Try me.” Morningstar said in a deadly tone. Wilson simply looked at Morningstar. “Just save the needless banter because we all know you won’t-” he was cut off by the sound and of Morningstar pulling the trigger and the sound of a click. Even though the chamber was empty, Wilson jumped so violently that he and the chair he was tied to fell to the floor.

“What the buck!” Wilson tried to say angrily, but it came out in a frightened squeak. “What the buck!”

“Looks like you got lucky.” Morningstar said in a calm voice. “Let’s see if you get lucky again.” He spun the cylinder again and pointed the gun at Wilson; his eyes were filled with terror.

“Wait sheriff,” Twilight started but Wilson beat her to it. “O.K I’ll talk!” he cried out.

“Good boy, now kindly answer Ms. Sparkles’ question.”

Wilson looked up to Twilight and said, “I don’t know the guy’s name. I met him once when we made the deal. He was a Pegasus, had red coat, a green mane, and a very nasty scar over his left eye. That’s all I know, I swear!”

“Thanks for the info.” Morningstar proceeded to drag Wilson to one of the cells and threw him in. “Get some rest because tomorrow, you’ll be going on a long trip.”

He turned to Twilight, “Well, that was fun.”

“Wasn’t that over doing it? You’re just lucky that the chamber was empty.” Morningstar barked a laugh, “Luck had nothing to do with it, watch.” Morningstar spun the cylinder again and pointed the revolver to his head. Twilight gasped, but there was just a click sound. “See? I’ve been using revolvers since I was just a colt. Speaking of revolvers,” he shook the gun “mind if I keep it. It’s a really nice piece.”

“Sure, and I doubt Wilson will need it where he’s going.” The two chuckled as they stepped outside, where the atmosphere went from cheerful to mournful. Twilight saw that all the ponies were near the well, tending to the wounded. She and Morningstar trotted to the group. She spotted Dr.Stitches and went toward him. His hooves were moving very fast as he tended to a stallion who was shot in the gut.

“Is everyone alright?” Twilight said, not really wanting to know the answer. Dr.Stitches didn’t respond until he finished sewing the pony back up. “Lay down,” he said gently, “you’ll be fine.”

He turned toward Twilight and she braced herself for the answer.

“Everypony is alive. There were no casualties.” Twilight was both relieved and dumbfounded. “Then, why is no one celebrating?” Dr.Stitches only looked toward the barn and Twilight heard the dry sobs of somepony and with a gut-wrenching feeling, she knew who it was.

“Oh no.” She immediately rushed to the barn.

“Twilight wait,” Dr.Stitches started, but Twilight ignored him.

Twilight went into the barn, but there were only injured animals in there. She stepped out and went to the side of the barn that was obscured from the barn. She saw Fluttershy lying on the floor, crying, and Jamie the Manticore on her left side, moaning softly. Twilight went toward her and saw what had made Fluttershy so distraught. A lot of the animals that fought lay slain in front of them. This scene made Twilight feel terrible and no matter what, she could only vaguely think of how heartbroken Fluttershy was. Twilight walked toward Fluttershy and kneeled beside her. Fluttershy only realized Twilight was there when she placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Fluttershy turned her head toward Twilight, and then wrapped her arms around her and sobbed over her shoulder.

“It’s O.K.” Twilight said soothingly. “Just let it all out.” Fluttershy was not holding back her tears and she kept saying, “My friends, oh Twilight, my friends.” After a while, she slowly began to stop crying and say, “Can… can you help me bury them?” she croaked.

“Of course I’ll help.”

“Thank you; there are some shovels… in the barn.” Twilight went into the barn and took two shovels. As she got out, the whole town was staring at her. She just stared back and went to help Fluttershy. As the two worked, some of the other ponies came with shovels of their own. Soon the whole town, injured and non-injured, were helping. Finally, all of the animals were buried and all the ponies closed their eyes and gave a silent prayer. Everypony now went back to their homes. Twilight helped Fluttershy by getting her home, making some strong tea, and putting her to bed upstairs. As Twilight made her way to her room, she saw some of the injured animals were not in their rooms; no doubt they fought the bandits too. Twilight got into bed and slowly drifted to sleep.

The next morning, Twilight, with all of her belongings, was at the edge of town, getting ready to hit the road. She was going to go by carriage this time, remembering her lesson the first time, and it was free of charge. The whole town came to say goodbye, except for Fluttershy who was no doubt still in mourning. She refilled her canteen with water from the well, got some great food from Mr. and Mrs. Stock, some extra ammunition from the sheriff, and bandages from Dr.Stitches.

“Don’t use them all at once.” Dr.Stitches said, back to his old, bony, weak-looking self.

“Mind telling me how you can go from old to young?” Twilight inquired.

“What? I’m sorry but I’m an old pony who is bad in the ear.”

“Tell me how you performed amazing magic!” Twilight shouted in his ear. Dr.Stitches was silent before saying, “What?” Everypony laughed and so did Twilight. She turned to the carriage and opened the door. She was about to enter when somepony yelled, “WAIT!” Everypony turned their heads and saw Fluttershy running toward them. Fluttershy was wearing and orange duster, had her saddlebags, and had a long package strapped to her back. She stopped right in front of Twilight. Twilight let her catch her breath before saying, “What’s wrong?”

Fluttershy stared into Twilight’s eyes and said, “Take me with you.” Twilight’s and everypony’s expression was that of surprise. “Why?” Twilight said.

“Because I need to grow stronger. I couldn’t protect my animal friends from the bandits and relied on you to protect Jamie. I want to be as much of a hero as you.”

“I’m not a hero.” Twilight said quickly, hoping somepony will help her. Morningstar stepped in and Twilight gave him a grateful smile. “I think you should take Fluttershy with you.” That grateful smile turned into a frown and glare. Morningstar ignored this and continued. “If Fluttershy went with you, she could see the world and learn so much, which she couldn’t do if she stayed here.”

“But I’m going on a dangerous journey.” Twilight said, trying to make them reconsider.

“Then you better hope you’re a good teacher.” Fluttershy said with a surprisingly sly smile and entered the carriage. Twilight simply sighed and smiled a little, accepting her knew companion. She turned to the ponies and said, “I promise I’ll take care of her.” They all smiled as Twilight entered the carriage. The stallions in front of the carriage began to pull and Twilight and Fluttershy looked out the window to wave at the people of WellSpring. They all shouted words of encouragement to the two mares on their journey and nopony could have guessed that this was the catalyst of a huge chain reaction.

Chp 4: Lessons

          As the carriage ran pass the desert landscape, Twilight and Fluttershy were passing the time by looking out in the window. Fluttershy was enjoying the change of scenery after years of living at WellSpring while Twilight was enjoying not being outside and slowly roasting in the sun. After 20 minutes of scenery, Twilight leaned back on her seat and took out Robinson Crusoe from her saddlebag and began to read. After a couple minutes of silence, Fluttershy spoke up.

“So what’s the plan?”

Twilight looked up from her book and said, “Well, the first thing to do is see what I got to work with. What did you bring for our expedition?”

“Well, I brought some food, a canteen of water, spare clothing, and a box of ammunition.” Twilight looked at either side of Fluttershy and asked, “Ammunition for what?” Fluttershy swung the thin package she was carrying from her back and began to reveal the contents of the package. In it was a Henry repeater in amazing condition.

“Wow,” was all Twilight was able to say, “That must have cost you a pretty bit.”

“Actually, this was my father’s rifle. He bought while in the war. He gave it to me when I inherited the house of my grandfather and moved to WellSpring.”

“So you know how to use it?”

“Well, kind of. My dad tried to teach me when I was younger, but I was never excited about shooting anything.”

“So I got to teach you how to use a firearm; at least that’s one less thing to plan out.”

“After you trained me to shoot, where are we going Twilight?”

“We’re going to Coltifornia.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock, “Coltifornia?!? That’s so far west.” Twilight took Fluttershy’s surprise for nervousness and said, “Listen, if you don’t want to tag along, then it’s O.K. I’ll take you back to WellSpring.”

“No,” Fluttershy said quickly, “it’s not that I’m scared, I was just surprised. I want to go so I can grow. I don’t want to be the pony that runs from anything scary. I want to be stronger and have more confidence in myself, and the  way to do it is to go with you.” Fluttershy said this with such determination that Twilight felt inspired to grow too.

“O.K then, let’s go show Equestria what we’re made of.” Twilight and Fluttershy then hoof-bumped, with Fluttershy only wincing slightly in pain.

Eventually the carriage began to slow to a stop and the two mares stepped out. After a quick “thanks” to the carriage drivers, they turned to look at their first stop. They were standing on a long road with buildings on each side and other ponies walking. Twilight and Fluttershy trotted down the road, seeing the buildings that were either houses or small businesses. They kept walking, seeing the other ponies interacting with each other, until they reached an intersection. To their right was an open space were the town grew their food, to their left was the sheriff’s office, and straight ahead were other carriages and the train tracks. The corners of the intersection had a tavern, store, doctor’s office, and the general post office.

“What do we do now Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, looking around.

“First, we go to the post office” Twilight answered and the two entered the building. Inside were 2 long tables with ponies in suits sitting on one side while ponies that were sending mail were on the other side. Along the right wall were 6 windows that ponies go to receive mail. Twilight headed to one of the windows.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle” she said to one of the clerks, “and I would like to receive a package.”

“Please show identification to receive package.” The clerk pony said in a monotone voice. Twilight used her magic and levitated a sheet of paper and showed it to the clerk. He read it and his eyes widened as he read it.

“My apologies Ms. Sparkle for being an inconvenience,” he said in a slightly less monotone voice. “I will retrieve your package immediately” and he sped off.

“What was that about?” Fluttershy asked.

“I just showed him my I.D.”

“Twilight, who exactly are you?”

Twilight thought for a moment, trying to think of the most appropriate words, and said, “I’m a reporter.”

“Who are you reporting to?”

“The president.”

Fluttershy gasped, “Wow that must be a great honor. What do you report?” Twilight was saved from answering when the clerk returned.

“Here it is Ms. Sparkle. The package arrived 5 weeks ago.” After hearing of Twilight’s occupation, Fluttershy was expecting the package to be something extravagant, but it was a small, plain, cardboard box.

“Thank you and have a nice day.” Twilight said as she took and opened the package. Inside was a bag containing bits, and a box containing ammunition for her revolver. Twilight put both items in her saddle bag and turned for the door.

“Um, Twilight, why would the president send you bits and bullets” Fluttershy inquired as the two left the post office.

“The bits are my payment. The bullets are my insurance. Now that we got my package, we start your training.”

“O.K,” Fluttershy said enthusiastically, “what do we do first?”

“We go to the tavern.” Twilight said and Fluttershy stared with questioning eyes.  The 2 mares entered the tavern. The tavern was mostly filled with small tables and chairs. In the back, there were stairs leading to rooms upstairs and next to the stairs, somepony was playing upbeat music on a piano. The right side was packed with the counter with stool. Behind the counter were racks of drinks and the bartender, who was currently cleaning an irritating smudge on a tankard. Twilight walked up to the bartender.

“Excuse me sir, but where do you keep your empty bottles?”

“Outback” he grunted.

“Do you mind if I take some?”

“Knock yourself out kid” he said, not taking his eyes off the smudge.

Twilight thanked him and stepped outback, with a confused Fluttershy on her heel. Outside, Twilight levitated two crates of the empty bottles and proceeded to walk to the outskirts of town.

“What are we doing out here?” Fluttershy said as they were now a good distance away from the town. Twilight opened one of the crates and levitated 3 bottles at once.

“Here is your first lesson: shooting. I’m gonna levitate these bottles and you try to shoot them with your repeater.” Twilight then drew a line on the ground and walked a couple of yards from Fluttershy.

“Don’t cross the line. Now, are ready?”

“Yes”

“Ready, aim, fire!” Fluttershy fired and missed. Her grip was too loose since the repeater went sailing from her hoofs. Fluttershy scrambled to retrieve her rifle. As she thrust the lever forward, preparing for the next shot, Twilight noticed doubt forming in her eyes.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy,” Twilight called, “it was just a bad start.” That bad start turned into a bad session as Fluttershy emptied her entire magazine and could not get a shot. The cause was obvious to Twilight; Fluttershy’s doubt has made her a terrible shot. Fluttershy slumped to the floor as Twilight went to her side and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. All you need is more training.” Twilight said. Fluttershy merely whimpered a response. Then Twilight thought of a good idea. She took her revolver from her holster and handed it to Fluttershy.

“Here, use this. It’s much easier to handle than the repeater.” Fluttershy looked at the gun, but wouldn’t hold it. Twilight got impatient and grabbed Fluttershy’s hoof, placed the revolver on her hoof, brought Fluttershy up to her feet, and levitated the 3 bottles.

“As your teacher, I’m not letting you give up after your first try. Now, get ready,” Fluttershy held out her hooves and gripped the revolver, “aim,” Fluttershy aimed, but not whole heartily, “and fire!” Fluttershy pulled the trigger, and as the bullet traveled through the air, Twilight sneakily aligned it with the bottle. The bottle then shattered and Fluttershy’s eyes went from doubt to shock.

“H-how did… did I do that?”

“You sure did,” Twilight said smiling, “now try again.” Fluttershy pulled the trigger again and Twilight realigned the bottles again. Fluttershy was now beaming with pride. For the third bottle, Twilight didn’t do anything and Fluttershy still hit her mark. She was now giddy with excitement.

“Twilight, did you see that? This is so… so,” Fluttershy couldn’t think of a way to express her feelings, so she just said, “yay,” in the softest and cutest voice Twilight ever heard. They spent the entire morning practicing Fluttershy’s marksmanship. Twilight no longer needed to move the bottles, as Fluttershy, with her new found confidence, was able to hit every single one.

“O.K, I think that is enough for today,” Twilight said as another 3 bottles shattered, “I want to start your next lesson as soon as possible.” Fluttershy nodded, to busy smiling to respond. Twilight held out her hoof for her revolver, instead she received the henry repeater. Twilight looked at the gun with wonder.

“If you don’t mind,” Fluttershy said, “could I, maybe, use your revolver. I feel a lot more comfortable with it than the repeater.”

“Wow, this is a really good weapon. Are you sure you don’t want to use it, I mean, it was your father’s gun.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind if I let someone like you use. Here,” Fluttershy took a small ammunition box from her saddlebag, “let me show you how to use it.”

“That’s O.K,” Twilight said. She took the box and loaded 3 bullets into the magazine. She then lifted the last 3 bottles with her magic, and took them out with deadly accuracy and quick precision. She turned to Fluttershy, whose mouth was gaping, with a somewhat smug smile, “I know the basics to using a repeater.”

The mares returned to the town and were currently leaving the store. They had bought bullets to replace the ones they used in practice, two apples that they were currently eating, and another miscellaneous item.

“Um, Twilight,” Fluttershy said as the two were turning right and walked down the road, “why did we buy 5 yards of rope?”

Twilight tossed the last bit of her apple into her mouth and said, “That is more lesson number 2: money-making.”

“Are we going to get jobs?” Fluttershy asked as she ate her apple.

“That would take too long. We need to get quick money and since gambling is too risky, we are going to the next big thing,” Twilight stopped in front of the sheriff’s office and pointed to a bulletin board next to the entrance, “bounty hunting.”

Fluttershy was eating the last bit of her apple and began to choke once she heard the news. Twilight gave her a hard smack on the back.

“Thanks,” Fluttershy coughed, “but Twilight, isn’t bounty hunting really, really dangerous?”

“Only if you’re after high profile bandits,” Twilight walked up the steps of to the bulletin board and took one of the flyers, “These posters have information on minor criminals, from petty theft to assault. The sheriff is usually busy dealing with bandits so he would need an extra hand to deal with the small fries.”  She handed the flyer to Fluttershy and started to trot off. “The poster contains the name of the criminal, an image, the crime he or she committed, any location that they might be in, and the price on his head. As part of your lesson, please familiarize yourself with the flyer. Now, tell me the details.”

Fluttershy scanned the photo, an earth pony with a dark green coat and gray mane, and read the details aloud, “His name is James Jenkins, he owns a shack about half an hour from hear,”

“Great, that must be where he is. Please continue reading.”

“It says that his bounty is 20 bits. Wow, that’s a lot, I wonder what he did?” Fluttershy read below the bounty to see the crime and gasped.

“Twilight,” she said in a nervous voice, “Jenkins has 2 counts of attempted murder!”

Twilight shrugged that comment off, “Don’t worry about it too much, the sheriff wouldn’t put any really dangerous bounties on the board; if you want those bounties, you got to ask for them in person. Now,” Twilight turned to Fluttershy dramatically, “let’s ride.” And she rushed down the street and out of town.

“Wait Twilight,” Fluttershy yelled, putting the flyer in her bag and running after her, “you’re going the wrong way!”

After a little over half an hour, the 2 mares arrived in a clearing that was slightly in the shadow of a small mountain. There were large boulders all over, all sunk deeply in the ground. The only other thing around was an old shack, with what looked like kitchen utensils hanging from an awning. The two of them stopped a couple of feet from the door.

“Alright,” Twilight said, “There are many different ways to deal with getting the wanted pony, but for today we’ll deal with the simplest.”

“Which is what?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight turned to the door, quickly ran to it and knocked 3 times, and backed away in a single bound.

“The simplest is to knock and back away because 80% of the time, the culprit would slam the door open and try to get in a cheap shot.” The next second, the shack door slammed open.

“See, I was right,” Twilight said with a smile and turned her head from Fluttershy to the now open door, “alright Mr. Jenkins, come out with your hooves up hi-“ She stopped when a pony stepped out the door and her eyes widened with surprise. She quickly turned, grabbed Fluttershy by the waist, and threw her and herself behind one of the sunken boulders. As they were falling, the ground they were standing on exploded as James Jenkins fired his double-barrel shotgun. Twilight took a small peek around the boulder and saw their target. Jenkins’s mane was filthy, no doubt he has been living here for a while, and he looked unsteady, as though he was going to topple any moment.

“Who’s out there?” he said, slurring his words and Twilight groaned.

“What is it?” Fluttershy said in a slightly panicky voice.

“The only thing worse than an armed bounty is a drunk, armed bounty. Those idiots are so unpredictable. “

“So what do we do now?” Fluttershy said, her voice going slightly higher.

“Normally, I could take him out from where we are, but this is your lesson, so,” Twilight looked around and saw another boulder that would provide great cover a couple of feet away. She pointed to it, “I’m gonna go there, get his attention, and you take him out.”

All the panic Fluttershy was hiding was now completely obvious, “I can’t Twilight,” she said in a shaky voice, “I’m too nervous. And besides, you can easily incapacitate him out with the repeater.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Twilight then proceeded to take the repeater from her back and handed it to bewildered Fluttershy, “I could take him out if I had it, but I don’t have it now, do I?” Fluttershy tried to think of a new argument, but Twilight put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, “Don’t worry Fluttershy, I know you can do this because I believe in you.” Twilight then ignored Fluttershy’s pleading eyes and ran to the other boulder, narrowly being hit by buckshot.

“Get off my property!” the drunken pony yelled. Twilight noticed he was still staring at Fluttershy’s boulder, so she popped her head from cover and shouted, “Hey Jenkins, I’m right here! Or are your eyes bad as your aiming?!?” she then ducked as bullets soared over her. As this was going on, Fluttershy composed herself slightly and took out her revolver. She aimed with trembling hooves and took a shaky breath, and then she fired. The bullet soared true, if she was aiming for the open sky. Twilight resisted a groan and said, “It’s O.K Fluttershy, just nerves.” Jenkins, still standing by the door, turned to Fluttershy’s direction and Twilight stuck her head above from cover again.

“Hey! I thought we already establish that I was here, or do you really need a map for 20 feet?!?” and she ducked again. Fluttershy emerged from her cover and fired again. This time, she hit one of the walls of the shack. Jenkins, however, ignored this as all of his attention was on the purple thorn on his side.  He reloaded his gun and then he took a shaky step forward.

‘Oh no, now he’s moving’ Twilight thought, ‘this is not good.’

'Was it a really good idea to leave your life in the hooves of a terrified Pegasus?' The voice was back, and it was not happy.

‘Shut up!’ she thought-told it, ‘Fluttershy can do this.’ She took a peek above the boulder and immediately ducked, though was not fast enough as her fedora was shot off her head.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy cried, “Are you O.K.?!?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Twilight said, her heart going a couple miles per hour. Jenkins took a couple of steps toward Twilight.

“O.K,’ Twilight thought, ‘now we have a problem.’

'Are you just figuring that out?' the voice said, 'The only chance you have of survival now is in the form of a trembling Pegasus.'

The voice was wrong. Fluttershy has stopped trembling after seeing Twilight almost bite the dust. She breathed deeply and aimed. Her hooves were slightly trembling, but her eyes were full of determination. She fired and the bullet soared over Jenkins’s head. Then the bullet somehow hit a pan hanging from the awning, ricocheted off the pan, and hit Jenkins in his flank. He dropped his gun and started hopping up and down in pain. Twilight took this chance, jumped over her cover, and tackled Jenkins. She then proceeded to choke Jenkins to incapacitate him, but Jenkins had the same idea. The 2 were now rolling around the ground, trying to outlast the other. Jenkins was now on top of Twilight, grinning wickedly as he strangled Twilight. She tried to get the upper hand, but it proved to be unnecessary as there was suddenly a loud clank, then Jenkins’s eyes became unfocused and he slid to Twilight’s side. Fluttershy was standing over the two and she evidently hit the butt of her revolver over Jenkins’s skull.

“Are you hurt?” Fluttershy said as she helped Twilight to her feet.

“I’ll survive,” Twilight said as she massaged her throat. She then walked toward her hat, which now had a gaping hole in it. Twilight simply put it, this time inserting her horn through the hole; stylish and effective. She turned to Fluttershy, “That was a nice shot by the way.”

Fluttershy slumped her head modestly, “It  wasn’t because of my marksmanship, I just got lucky.”

“O.K fine, it was a nice lucky shot. It sure is hard to give you a compliment. Now back to business, Fluttershy, please hand me the rope.”

The mares began to tie Jenkins, who was still snoozing, until he was in a nice cozy cocoon. They both trotted back to town closely together as they were both carrying Jenkins.

“Oh, wait a moment.” Twilight said and she ran into the shack. She emerged with 2 small boxes of buckshots and she picked up the double-barrel shotgun. She then handed it to Fluttershy.

“Here you go, take this as a memento of your first bounty.” Fluttershy gave Twilight a grateful smile and she lifted the shotgun onto her back.

After half an hour, they returned to town and were trotting toward the sheriff’s office when they saw some commotion. An angry stallion, who they assumed was the sheriff, was hastily loading his Winchester rifle while he was yelling at a younger stallion, who they assumed was his deputy.

“…cannot believe anyone can be so reckless,” the sheriff was yelling at the scared deputy, “what was going on through that thick skull of yours!”

“I-I didn’t k-know-“ the deputy stammered.

“Well that’s no surprise! Now quit your bellyaching,” the sheriff readied his rifle, “grab your gun and if we leave now, we might be able to fix your mistake!” He then began to run, only to stop almost immediately when he saw Twilight and Fluttershy carrying Jenkins. The sheriff’s mouth was hanging and he quickly went up to the mares and examined Jenkins’s face. The deputy also examined Jenkins and his face went from completely terrified to unimaginable relief.

“Oh thank Celestia.” The deputy laughed. Twilight and Fluttershy shared a confused look.

“Um, what’s going on?” Twilight asked. The sheriff chuckled slightly.

“What’s going on is you just stopped a sheriff from beating his deputy.” He said with a small smile. Twilight and Fluttershy still had bewildered stares so the sheriff said, “Do you know who that man on your back is?”

Fluttershy took the bounty notice from her bag and showed it to the sheriff, “Isn’t this James Jenkins?”

“Yes he is, but he isn’t just some random criminal, he is notorious bandit leader from the next county over.”

“What,” Twilight looked at the unconscious drunk pony in disbelief, “this guy is a bandit leader?”

The sheriff laughed, “Yeah, he doesn’t look like it does he? Jenkins tried to rob a bank 2 days ago, but marshals got wind of this and setup a trap. He suffered heavy losses and ran. I got word that he owns a shack around these parts and I was about to check it out until someone," he gave his deputy an angry look, “went and put his face on the bulletin board.”

“I didn’t know it was the James Jenkins.” The deputy said in a small voice.

“So I have been on edge once I’ve heard someone going after Jenkins, but it looks like it was for nothing since you 2 manage to take care of the problem.”

Twilight and Fluttershy were both grinning with pride after they heard of their amazing feat. The sheriff and deputy then took Jenkins from the 2 mares and carried him to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff then returned with a bag in his mouth and passed it to Twilight.

“Here is your pay for bringing in Jenkins and I took the liberty and tripled your pay. Well, happy trails.” The sheriff then trotted back to his office. Twilight opened the bag and was greeted by shiny, golden bits.

“This should cover our expenses for a good while.” Twilight said as she put the money in her bag. The two then proceeded to trot down the road to the intersection.

“What do we do now Twilight?” Fluttershy asked as they turned the corner.

“We done all there is to in this town, so we keep moving toward Coltifornia.” The mares were walking down the road toward the train station when the train left the station.

“Oh no, we missed our train.” Fluttershy said.

“We’re not taking the trains Fluttershy, from here on out, we are taking carriages to Coltifornia.”

“What? Won’t that take weeks, maybe months, for us to reach Coltifornia.”

“I probably would, but I have been thinking that the best way to teach you to be strong is the adventure itself. So the longer we travel, the more you would grow.” They stopped in front of the train station.

“So you are willingly taking the long way, so I can become stronger?” Fluttershy said with a grateful smile.

“Yeah, that what best friends do, right?”

Fluttershy looked as though she couldn’t believe her ears.

“Best friends?” she said

“Well, yeah,” Twilight said, looking uncomfortable, “I just assume after going through two life-threatening situations that we were now best friends.”

“Twilight, this may sound strange, but I never had a best friend before.”

“Me neither.”

The two ponies stared at each other and then burst out laughing. After the laughter, the two were still smiling.

“Alright best friend Fluttershy,” Twilight said brightly, “are you ready for the greatest adventure of our lives?”

“Yes I am best friend Twilight.”

“Then let’s go!” Twilight and Fluttershy then walked to the stallion in charge of the carriages.

“We would like a carriage.” Twilight said, feeling great about having a best friend.

“No” the stallion said. Twilight’s and Fluttershy’s happiness was replaced by bewilderment.

“What, why not?”

“The last carriage was just sent out while you and your little friend were conversing, which was very touching by the way.”

Twilight sighed and turned to Fluttershy, “Looks like we are going to be here a while.”

“That may not be as true as you might think.” Somepony said.

Twilight and Fluttershy looked around until they saw somepony they didn’t notice before. She was a unicorn, with an azure coat and very pale blue mane. She was wearing a tacky suit under a cape with stars on them and a wizard hat on her head.

“I have a carriage and would take you to the next town.” She said, “I only ask you for a small favor.” Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged looks.

“What kind of favor are you talking about?” Twilight said suspiciously.

“All you have to do is help me with a business venture.” Her horn began to glow with a pale magenta aura and a carriage appeared from behind a building. On the carriage, in colorful letters, said,

The Great and Powerful Trixie

and her

Great and Potent Elixirs

Chp 5: A Trixie Situation

            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.”

Chp 6: Things Get 20% Cooler

Sunset had arrived and the last rays of light shined on the circle of ponies as they surrounded the 3 whining, wounded, and whimpering male pegasi. Rainbow Dash was a couple of feet from the scene, a confident grin plastered on her face.

“Anypony else want to challenge me?” Rainbow scanned the ponies that were not part of the circle. As her eyes met theirs, the town ponies immediately looked the other way. Then Rainbow’s eyes fell on Fluttershy and Twilight. Fluttershy suddenly found her hooves to be very interesting as Rainbow Dash looked at her. Twilight, on the other hand, didn’t recoil from Rainbow’s gaze. She merely looked at her with curiosity. Twilight had never met another pony with such confidence. It was practically glowing. Rainbow Dash didn’t just talk a big game; she backed it up with fierce skill. As they were staring at each other, Rainbow noticed Twilights’ Henry Repeater. She opened her mouth, but was cut off by a livid shout,

“What in Celestia’s name is going on?!” Everypony turned and saw the sheriff running toward the scene.

“Oh pony feathers.” cried Dash as she soared to the sky at break-neck speed.

“Get back here!” shouted the sheriff as he aimed his revolver at the fading rainbow trail. Swearing loudly, he walked toward the circle of ponies, who hastily got out of the way, and stood in front of the downed pegasi.

“Don’t you dopes know dueling is illegal?” The pegasi responded with moans. “Get up you idiot.”  The sheriff said as he lifted up a pegasus none too gently. “You two,” he pointed to a pair of stallions, “grab the other bone-heads and help me take them two the doctor’s place.” The sheriff and two stallions half-carried and half-dragged the pegasi and the circle of ponies gradually died out until Twilight and Fluttershy were the last ones outside.

“Well, that was… interesting.” Twilight finally said. Fluttershy simply nodded. The two stood there until Twilight gave Fluttershy a quick shake, “Come on, we better get some supplies.”

The general store was adjacent to the town’s saloon. They entered the store and requested ammunition for their weapons. As the store clerk went to the back to get the goods, Fluttershy finally spoke up,

“Um, Twilight, can I ask you something?”

Twilight mentally sighed; she knew this was coming. Fluttershy no doubt wanted to discuss all of the turmoil the two faced since they met. She would want to confide in her friend all of the stress and fear she faced. Twilight put on a sympathetic smile, “Sure Fluttershy, what do you want to ask?”

“What exactly is a duel?”

Twilight resisted the sudden urge to slam her head on the store’s counter and simply groaned,

“You really were sheltered, weren’t you?”

Fluttershy blushed, “I-I know what it is, I just want some more clarification.”

“Well, a duel is when two ponies try to shoot their opponent first.”

“But why?”

“Can’t really tell you that, it varies. It could be to show off, or to settle something. The settling part could range from a long time rivalry to somepony giving you the stink eye.”

“Couldn’t they just talk it out?”

Twilight gave a small chuckle, “Oh Fluttershy, if only it worked like that. One day, you’ll probably shoot somepony just for saying your name wrong.”

“What?!” Fluttershy cried, “I would never hurt another pony just for that. The very thought of -”

“Relax Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she gave Fluttershy a reassuring hoof, “I know you won’t go buck-wild unless as a last resort.”

The clerk returned with a couple of boxes of ammo and Twilight also bought a couple of quills and ink bottles, a tent, two sleeping bags, and a new map. Her old one was crumbling thanks to age and bullet holes. They stepped back out, their bag of bits now considerably lighter, and Twilight stopped.

It was a cloudless night and Luna’s moon was shining bright. Twilight looked up and found it funny how much she missed its glow. It has been only 24 hours since she saw it, but with almost dying 3 times in that short period, it felt much longer. She began to think of how all this started since she met Fluttershy. Was it all a coincidence, or something more? She began to wonder whether every night will feel the same when Fluttershy’s voice brought her back,

“Are you O.K?”

Quickly shaking herself awake, Twilight said, “Never better; now come one, we better go to the carriage station.”

“We’re leaving already?”

“No, I just want to reserve a carriage for tomorrow. I’d rather not have another life and death carriage ride.”

After arranging the ride for the next morning, Twilight and Fluttershy entered the saloon. Like other saloons in Equestria, it was painted brown in the interior and exterior. It was packed with round tables which were filled with stallions playing poker or hoof-wrestling. To their right was the bartender serving drinks to stallions that were drinking their troubles away. At the other side of the room were stairs leading up to the second floor, where other stallions were being ‘entertained’ by some mares. A pianist was in the back wall, playing some upbeat music.

Twilight and Fluttershy went up to the bartender and ordered two bottles of sarsaparilla and a dozen slices of raisin bread. With their food, they scanned for a vacant table. Soon, Twilight pointed toward a table in the far corner with just one occupant: Rainbow Dash.

Twilight started to walk toward her but was stopped by Fluttershy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um… maybe we should look for another table. I don’t want to disturb her.”

Twilight rolled her eyes good naturedly, “Don’t worry Fluttershy, everything will be alright.”

Ignoring Fluttershy’s small eep, Twilight walked toward Rainbow. She was leaning on the chair, wearing her sunglasses and a calm expression. Strange for somepony who was currently being hounded by a sheriff, whose office was right around the corner.

“Excuse me.” Twilight asked. With those glasses on, Twilight couldn’t tell if Rainbow was looking at her, “Do you mind if me and my friend could sit with you?”

“Sure, knock yourselves out.” Rainbow said.

Twilight said her thanks as she sat opposite to Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy, with an expression of utmost relief, also joined them. The two set their drinks and food on the table and Twilight also set the map.

“O.K Fluttershy, we are-” Twilight started but was stopped by a strange sound. She looked at Rainbow, whose face was still composed, but her stomach was visibly growling.

Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other and stifled a giggle.

“Um, Ms. Rainbow Dash, would you like some food.” Fluttershy offered.

“No thanks, I’m not hungry.”

Twilight levitated the tray of bread and held it to Rainbow’s face, “You’re not fooling anypony. Just take some.”

Rainbow Dash pointedly looked away from the tray. After it became clear Twilight wouldn’t lower the tray, Dash stared at the food, “I’m kind of strapped for bits right now, so I won’t be able to pay you guys back.”

“That’s O.K.”

There was a small pause before Rainbow lifted up her sunglasses to show eyes filled with appreciation, “Thanks, you know, you guys are alright.” She then proceeded to scarf down the bread with as much dignity a starving pony can.

Twilight and Fluttershy smiled and returned to the map.

“O.K, as I was saying, we’re here,” Twilight pointed at the center of Equestria, “and we need to get here,” she pointed to the edge of the map, “so give me a second while I create the quickest route without using a train.” Twilight took out a quill and ink bottle and began to draw lines on the map. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who has become keen in the two mares’ conversation, watched for a couple of minutes until Twilight stored here writing utensils and looked up,

“O.K, based on my calculations, we will be in Coltifornia in a month.”

“Well, that’s not too long,” Fluttershy said, “I thought it would at least take us 3.”

“You guys are going to Coltifornia?” Rainbow interjected.

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Twilight inquired.

“I’m also going to Coltifornia. I’m gonna join,” she pulled a crumbling poster from her vest and laid it on the table. Twilight and Fluttershy saw that it was 3 pegasi, each holding two revolvers, “The Wondershots.”

Fluttershy was confused while Twilight said, “The Wondershots?”

“Yep,” Dash said with a confident smile.

“The fastest and most accurate gunslingers in Equestria. The greatest marksmen during the Sister Wars, and after the war, became a traveling show that entertains countless ponies and are world renowned.”

“The very same.”

Twilight couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“What’s so funny?” Rainbow Dash said, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing, it’s just that you have set a very arduous goal. The Wondershots have only accepted one new recruit since they formed.”

“Looks like I’ll be the second then.”

Twilight only chuckled some more. It has been a long time since she met anyone so confident and hard-headed.

Rainbow smiled confidently, “If you want I can show you how good I am.” She slowly went to grab her revolver.

“Sure,” Twilight returned the smile, “it might be fun.” And she grabbed her repeater.

“NO!” Fluttershy cried, which caused many heads to turn. Blushing slightly, she spoke quietly, “Don’t duel! You’ll end up only hurting yourselves. Or worse!”

“Don’t worry… um,” Rainbow Dash paused.

“Fluttershy, and I’m Twilight Sparkle by the way.”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, we won’t hurt each other… much.”

But Fluttershy’s imploring gaze slowly crushed Twilight’s and Rainbow Dash’s resolve to duel that they simply sighed, “Fine.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy smiled.

The next hour or so was uneventful. The saloon was still lively as ever. Twilight had decided to take out her book while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had a one-sided conversation with Rainbow being the speaker. Twilight was only able to catch a couple of fragments from the conversation,

“… and then I turned around and pistol-whipped the guy in the head…”

“… they thought I was down and out, but I was just pretending…”

“… long flights on the beach, apple cider, and joining the Wondershots, in that order…”

Twilight was continuing her reading when she heard hoofsteps approaching and the sudden smell of hard cider. She looked up from her book and saw a stallion giving her a drunken smile.

‘Oh great’ Twilight mentally sighed before returning to her book. This wasn’t the first time she had to deal with a situation like this.

“Hey there,” the stallion said, “I saw you from across the saloon and thought to myself, ‘this is the mare I’m gonna marry’.”

‘Wow,’ Twilight thought, ‘this guy must have had an excruciating day to drink so much.’

“What do you say you put the book down and I take you through the town.”

“No thanks.” Twilight said flatly, not taking her eyes from her book.

“Oh come now, don’t be like that.” the stallion said, leaning closer.

“She said no.” Rainbow Dash spoke up, looking at the stallion with detest, “now why don’t you just back off.”

The stallion laughed, “Whoa, my bad, didn’t know I was talking to your girl. I didn’t realize you played for the other team. Then again, you do act like you do.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash said, now fuming. The stallion then proceeded to turn his attention to Fluttershy, “Hey there.”

“Um, hi.” Fluttershy said timidly.

“That’s it,” Twilight finally looked up from her book. She had grown tired of the stallion, “I’m gonna ask you to leave now.”

The stallion laughed and took Twilight’s sarsaparilla, “And what exactly are you gonna do if I don’t?” He then took a swig of the drink, which caused him to almost lose his balance. As he was fumbling around, he dropped the sarsaparilla and it spilled all over Twilight’s book. Once the stallion regained his balance, he saw the state of the book and laughed.

“That’s karma right there; you refused my offer and look what happened.”

Twilight was doing some critical thinking at that particular moment. Her book, a great classic which almost cost her life to obtain, was now in ruins. By a drunken idiot.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said in a toneless voice, “time for your next lesson: How to deal with idiots.”

“O.K…” Fluttershy said cautiously

“First, hand me your sarsaparilla bottle.”

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment but then complied.

“Now what Twilight?”

Twilight was silent with the bottle in her hand, and then she smashed the bottle by hitting it over the head of the stallion. The whole saloon instantly became quiet, except for the sound of Rainbow’s laughter,

“You guys are such a riot!” she laughed.

“You little…” the stallion said as he got up.

“Here,” Rainbow Dash told Twilight, “let me show you how it’s done.” She then jumped over the table and tackled the stallion. Another stallion, no doubt the drunken one’s friend, started running toward Dash with a knife. Twilight than used her magic to levitate a chair and throw it at the assailant, who then crashed into another pony. And with that, a chain reaction started. Soon everypony in the saloon, except for Fluttershy, the bartender, and the pianist, were in an old-fashioned brawl. The pianist shrugged and resumed playing the piano.

________________________________________

“And stay out!” the bartender yelled as 3 of his cronies threw Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash out of the saloon and into the night.

“This isn’t fair,” Rainbow, now sporting a swollen cheek, yelled at the saloon door, “it was that stallion’s fault.”

“There is no use arguing Dash,” Twilight said, who had a cut lip, “they made up their mind. We better find somewhere to camp.”

Fluttershy, who was unscathed and reproachful of Twilight’s and Rainbow Dash’s actions, followed quietly as Twilight lead them to the outskirts of the town. They decided to make camp at an area filled with tall grass. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy started to pitch the tent while Twilight worked on the fire. The minutes passed as Rainbow and Fluttershy watched Twilight’s ordeal of starting the fire. She kept striking the two pieces of metal, but no spark produced.

“Um… Twilight?”

“Not now Fluttershy, I have to concentrate.”

Finally, a small ember was made. Twilight beamed, until a strong breeze came and extinguished the fire. Twilight screamed in anger and tossed the pieces of metal.

“Here Twilight,” Fluttershy walked forward, “let me try.” She produced from her saddlebag what looked like a bow for arrows, and picked up a stick. She then stood the stick in the middle of the fire pit and wrapped the string of the bow around the stick. She moved the bow with her mouth until a healthy fired was created.

“All right, go Fluttershy!” Rainbow said, giving Fluttershy a pat on the back.

“How did you learn to do that?” Twilight asked.

“My dad taught me. He couldn’t teach me to shoot, so he taught me to survive in the wild.”

The fire’s warmth was very much appreciated as the 3 mares lied down and watched the twinkling stars. Twilight was in complete bliss. No one was trying to kill them at that particular moment and after a day full of that, this was a much needed break. They relaxed some more in silence until Fluttershy broke the silence,

“Twilight, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Ask away.” Twilight said, feeling that at that moment, nothing could ruin her heavenly experience.

“Why are we going to Coltifornia?”

Almost. Almost nothing could ruin her heavenly experience, but Fluttershy struck gold. Rainbow Dash looked away from the stars, also curious of why Twilight was heading east. It was very quiet until Twilight said in a strange tone,

“To see an old friend.”

Fluttershy smile, “Oh, that’s nice. What’s his name.”

“Sorry Fluttershy, but I’m currently having trouble remembering his name.” Twilight said rather quickly.

“That’s O.K.” Fluttershy was completely oblivious to Twilight’s discomfort. After a couple of minutes of silence, in which Twilight wasn’t as blissful as before, Fluttershy told the girls goodnight and entered the tent. A couple more minutes, Rainbow Dash spoke up,

“So, this friend of yours, which type is he? The real old friend that you want to catch up with, or the old friend that you need to settle something.”

Twilight didn’t respond for a moment. And then, “The latter.”

Dash simply nodded and said, “Twilight, who exactly are you?” For that one, she got no response. Eventually, the two entered the tent and began to drift off into to sleep. Or at least, Twilight tried. As she laid there, listening to Fluttershy’s quiet breathing and Dash’s obnoxious snoring, she thought of who she was and what she was doing. She thought of her past, and how every choice she and those around her made, affected solely her. She also pondered what she was doing, and what she will and must do. It took a long time until Twilight finally drifted to sleep, only to soon be awoken by the sound of many hoofsteps outside.

She immediately sat up along with Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was still slumbering as Twilight slowly opened the front of the tent. In the distance, she could see a large group of ponies, possibly 15 in total, heading toward them. Twilight could also see that each one was armed.

“Fluttershy wake up.” Twilight said urgently as she shook Fluttershy.

“What’s wrong?” she said groggily.

“Quickly grab your saddlebag and guns. We have to get out of here now.”

“W-what!” Fluttershy said, alarmed, “Why?”

“There is a large group of ponies with guns coming toward us. They may or may-not be bandits, but I don’t want to take that chance.”

Twilight quickly grabbed her bag and repeater. She turned and saw Dash and Fluttershy were set. They quietly and quickly got out of the tent and hid in the surrounding tall grass. By the time the ponies made it to the camp, the girls were a good distance away. They were still able to hear what the ponies were saying.

“Boss the tent is empty, but it looks like she only recently left.” Said a voice that the girls recognized as the drunken stallion.”

“Well find her,” the leader of the group barked.

“Yeah, we’ll show her.” Said another pony.

“No one messes with us.” Exclaimed another.

“Oh my Celestia.” Rainbow Dash whispered.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s those three idiots that I dueled this afternoon.”

“Are you telling me you willingly dueled 3 bandit leaders?” Twilight exasperated.

“Well, in my defense, he did say I was an arrogant imbecile.”

Twilight simply facehoofed at this revelation as the bandit leaders said, “Spread out, we’ll search all night if we have to.” The stallions quickly made their way through the tall glass in search for their prey. The girls backed away as quietly as possible.

“What do we do now?” squeaked Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash looked at both Twilight and Fluttershy and said, “I’ll flank them to draw their attention while you two get the buck out of here.”

“No way.” Twilight immediately said.

“Twilight, there isn’t any time. I’m faster than both of you put together. I’ll zip through the air before they even notice.”

“Oh really?” Twilight looked around and levitated a large rock. She then levitated it a good distance away before launching it in the air. It was immediately shot at with a barrage of bullets.

“That way!” somepony shouted, pointing to where the rock was.

“See that Dash, the moment you go up in the air, you’re history.” The stallions were slowly advancing toward them.

“See that Twilight, any second now, they will find and kill us all.” Rainbow Dash growled. She then turned around and walked away, only to be stopped by Twilight and Fluttershy.

“Why won’t you to just let me do this?” Dash said angrily.

“Because you’re our friend,” Fluttershy stated, “and we won’t stand around and watch our friends get hurt.”

Dash stared at them and slowly smiled. Then she put on her sunglasses, took out her two revolvers, and said, “Likewise.” She then rushed past the two with surprising speed and began to circle around the stallions.

Twilight and Fluttershy stood in silence as Dash got closer to the ponies. After a pause, the girls looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. They stood up straight, aimed their guns, and fired. Four stallions instantly dropped before they knew what happened.

“RUN!” Twilight shouted as the stallions returned fire. Twilight and Fluttershy ran and kept shooting behind as they were being chased by pissed off stallions. Soon, a rainbow trail appeared in the night sky, and with it, a hail of bullets.

“GET HER!” the 3 pegasus leaders said and they took to the air, chasing Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash began to zigzag in the air, dodging the bullets with ease. She turned around and shot her opponents, but her mind was elsewhere.

On the ground, Twilight was reloading rapidly when a bandit appeared from the grass. Twilight raised the repeater, but the stallion had his revolver to her head. Panic instantly swept over her.

‘No,’ she thought, ‘not yet, not now.’

Her fears were put to rest when there was a loud bang and the stallion crashed to the floor. Twilight turned and saw Fluttershy holding her shotgun, a scared and crazed expression on her face.

“Twilight, are you hurt?”

“I’m O.K.”

Suddenly, another pony appeared from the grass and fired. Twilight managed to grab Fluttershy and threw themselves to the ground. But not before the bullet grazed Twilight’s left cheek. On the floor, Twilight picked up the shotgun and fired at the pony, who drop-dead on the spot.

“Get up Fluttershy, we’re not done yet.” Twilight handed Fluttershy her shotgun and readied her repeater. The two then began to fire at the now bumbling ponies, whose leaders were still trying to catch Rainbow Dash.

Twilight and Fluttershy were eventually able to take out the disorganized bandits in a minute or so. Once the last one fell, they immediately aimed toward the sky, ready to assist their friend. That proved unnecessary as the moment they looked up, there was the sound of three gunshots and the leader’s limp bodies came crashing down. Dash descended with much more grace, but sporting an arrogant smile.

“Told you guys I’ll be O.K.”

“Only with our help.” Twilight pointed out. Rainbow Dash was about to say something else, but was stopped when she saw Twilight’s cheek bleeding freely.

“Oh no,” she cried, “you’re hurt. Here,” she reached into her saddlebag and produce a towel and a box of bandages. She held the towel to Twilight’s cheek until the bleeding stopped and place two bandages on it.

“Thanks” Twilight said, surprised how quickly Rainbow Dash went from arrogant to worrisome.

“I’m so sorry Twilight. I should have paid better attention. If I did, you wouldn’t have gone hurt.”

“Don’t worry Rainbow.” Twilight said

“Yeah, we know you were too busy dealing with the leaders.” Fluttershy added.

Rainbow Dash blew a raspberry, “Please, those guys were easy. The only reason I didn’t finish them sooner was that I was too worried for your safety that I couldn’t aim straight.”

There was a moment of silence after this revelation, then,

“Awww!” Twilight and Fluttershy were touched by this and they both hugged Dash.

Dash’s cheeks turned slightly red and gave an awkward laugh, “O.K guys, you could let go… guys… you could let go now… hello?... *sigh* fine.” And she returned their hugs, unable to hide her smile.

________________________________________

The next morning, the mares returned to town and made their way to the carriage station for their ride. If the pony in charge found it strange to see 3 mares with bags under their eyes and messy manes, he didn’t say. He pulled the carriage in front of them, ready to take them to the next town.

“So,” Twilight said, turning toward Rainbow Dash, “I guess this is it. We’re gonna miss you.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, “What are you talking about? I’m coming with you guys!”

“What?” Both Twilight and Fluttershy gasped.

“Yeah, I mean, it makes sense. You guys seem to get into trouble a lot, so I can lend a helping hoof. Also, we’re both going to go Coltifornia, and traveling alone has been a drag.”

“You forgot one thing,” Twilight said

“What?”

“We’re are also friends.”

“Well, that goes without saying.”

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash laughed as they piled into the carriage, all of them excited for what’s to come.

Chp 2: Big Trouble in Little WellSpring

     As the two mares walked down the street, Fluttershy pointed out some points of interest.

“Over there is the sheriff’s office, just a stone throw away from the barn. You could see sheriff Morningstar through the window,” She pointed and Twilight saw a gruff looking Pegasus with a dark grey coat and black mane, building a house from playing cards.

“Not exactly vigilante is he?” Twilight noted.

“No, but this place is quite peaceful, so no real need for law enforcement. Over there is our general store.” She now pointed to what seemed like a large cabin with STORE painted on the left side of the store. “The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Stock, sell tools, special herbs they grow themselves, and some of the best homecooked meals you won’t find anywhere else.”

“What about bullets and weapons?” Twilight inquired.

“Oh no, they run a small business so they can’t afford to order them. Over there is the doctor’s home/clinic.” The clinic was 5 cabins from the general store and had a large red cross painted on it. “After I brought you to my home, I brought the doctor to diagnose. He really is a genius.” As they continued their trot, someone stepped out of the clinic. At first Twilight thought he was a patient because he had to be the oldest pony she ever seen. The poor pony was shaking, as though his bony legs could barely hold his own weight, and his wrinkles were so prominent that it seemed to cover the his eyes. As Twilight was about to ask Twilight who he was, Fluttershy called, “Hello Dr.Stitches” She trotted towards him and Twilight followed. The old pony craned his neck toward the voice and stared at Fluttershy (which Twilight doubted he could still see) before saying in a wheezy but merry tone, “Why hello Butterfly.”

“Fluttershy” Fluttershy corrected kindly.

“Tis’ what I said,” Dr.Stitches then turned to Twilight and said “Ain’t you that dead one?”

“No…..” Twilight said confused. “I’m Twilight Sparkle”

“She is the one you diagnosed 2 days ago doctor.” Fluttershy reminded him.

“Well I must have done a great job” he said with a note of pride. “Well, if you could excuse me ladies, I must get back to business.” And he just continued to stand on his porch, doing nothing. After a minute, Fluttershy and Twilight slowly backed away and continued down the lane.

“He’s a genius?” Twilight said skeptically.

“His genius side pops out when somepony is in need of medical assistance. You should see him work Twilight, because he looks 20 years younger.”

“More like 100.” Twilight muttered and Fluttershy gave a light giggle.

“Over there is the mill and where we grow our wheat and vegetables.” Twilight saw what she thought was a large garden; one half grew lots of delectable veggies while the other side grew wheat. Over yonder was the mill that turned all the wheat into flour.

“That’s it?” Twilight cried as she turned to all the cabins and family of ponies. “How does this" she pointed to the garden, "feed all of them" she pointed to the ponies.

“Well, most of the people living here just recently moved in, so we decide to grow another garden.” She pointed to the other side other the lane, which had a somewhat larger patch of dirt with a couple of vegetable plants and wheat growing.  Finally, they reached the edge of town and the road continued to Celestia knows where.

“And that is the grand tour of our little slice of heaven.” Fluttershy finished as she turned around to wave at WellSpring. “The next town should be 3 hours by walking (‘so much for a hop skip and a jump’ Twilight thought savagely) and it should take 1 hour by carriage.”

“Alright then, thanks again for all you have done for me, I’ll just get my things and be on my way.”

“If you like, you can stay for dinner” Fluttershy said “It has been so long since I had someone over, I usually eat by myself.”

Twilight was about to deny when she saw Fluttershy’s face, beam with eagerness at the prospect of having some company. It made Twilight feel like a monster for even thinking of denying the invitation. “I would love to stay for dinner.”

Fluttershy was now grinning from ear to ear. “Great! I get will things ready.”

“But it’s still morning,” Twilight started but Fluttershy was already trotting to the store, getting the food ready for tonight. Twilight now had a small smile on her face as she turned and gazed at the road that would lead her to the next town.

‘I’m sure staying a little longer won’t be troublesome,’ she thought.

While waiting for dinner (Fluttershy wouldn’t allow her in until then) Twilight spend the rest of the time walking around and talking to some of the folks. It seemed that a fourth of the people living here were born in WellSpring while the rest came from Baltimare or Manehattan. Once the sun was beginning to set, Twilight trotted back to Fluttershy’s home. She first knocked and waited until she heard “Come in” and so she did.

As Twilight entered and turned left into the dining room, she expected a plain dinner, but instead she got a feast. The dining table could have fit 8 ponies comfortably, and half of it was covered in food. There was every vegetable Twilight could think of, sweet and sesame seed bread, hayfries, small cucumber sandwiches, curry, a huge steaming pot of soup, apple pie, and 2 large cups of what she knew was ice cream.

“Hope you’re hungry.” Fluttershy said as she stepped out of the kitchen, her hair tied into a bun and was hanging an apron on a hook. “I decided to go all out.” Twilight only realized that her mouth was gaping when she felt herself drooling. Quickly shutting and wiping her mouth, she took her seat at the right handed side of the head table, which Fluttershy was sitting in. Twilight was about to dig in when Fluttershy asked “Would you like to say grace, or should I?” Twilight can’t remember the last time she said grace so she said “You could say grace.”

“O.K.” Fluttershy closed her eyes and took Twilight’s hoof and recited, “We thank President Celestia for her great leadership that have given us this food we are about to devour. Now we can dig in.”

After a couple of minutes of utensils clattering and slurping noises, mostly by Twilight, the purple mare decided to take up some conversation topics. “So, I don’t suppose that you treat every guest to an amazing feast.”

“Actually, I do.” Fluttershy noticed Twilight’s raised eyebrow and added “It’s technically true because you are my first guest.” Twilight’s eyebrow was raised even further.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, you see, I’m a very shy pony so whenever I’m on the verge of inviting people, I get so nervous that I freeze up.”

“So you get nervous when talking to ponies, but not when you are in clawing reach of a manticore?”

Fluttershy gave an apologetic smile “Sorry if it seems strange, it’s just who I am.”

“So you eat by yourself everyday?”

“Pretty much:”

Twilight suddenly remembered the portrait. “What about your parents or grandfather, don’t they live here too?” Twilight suddenly craned her head in all directions, as though those ponies would suddenly manifest out of thin air. Fluttershy’s movements suddenly slowed down until she stopped and said uncomfortably, “My grandfather… he moved on to the higher planes.”

The atmosphere went from relaxing to completely uncomfortable awkwardness in an instant. Twilight felt instant guilt. “I’m so sorry. Did your parents also-” she quickly caught herself, deciding not to make the situation even more unpleasant. Fluttershy saw this and managed a faint smile “My parents are currently living in Manehattan, completely healthy. I live here because my granddad left me this house and land in his will.”

“Your grandfather owned WellSpring? Was he some business pony or something?”

“He and a group of other ponies owned this land together. President Celestia rewarded them with this for their excellence in the Sister Wars, which my granddad and dad fought on the Solar Empire side.”

Twilight remembered this war. It was years back when Luna, Celestia’s younger sister, wanted to have more recognition since she was the one who raised the moon everynight. Celestia thought that Luna was still too young and inexperienced to hold power. Eventually, Luna decided to start her own government and a large amount of ponies, who were unhappy with Celestia, followed her. So she created the New Lunar Republic and after many conflicts from them and Celestia’s side, a.k.a. Solar Empire, war was declared. The battle was brutal and fierce, put eventually the Solar Empire won by Celestia using some secret weapon. The aftermath was not pretty, but the people of Equestria pulled through. After many meetings, reconstructions, and rumors, ponies started to get along better and Luna was pardoned for her rebellion. To show there were no hard feelings, a new place in power was created for Luna; vice presidency.

“So your granddad and other elite solders got this land as a reward? Kind of weird to get a piece of land in the middle of nowhere.”

“Actually, my granddad told me legends of this part of Equestria. He said that there is something very powerful hidden around these parts.”

“Really?” Twilight leaned forward, intrigued “Just how much power are we talking about.”

Whatever Fluttershy was going to say, Twilight didn’t find out as there was suddenly large amounts of whooping and laughter coming from outside. This wouldn’t be cause to worry, except for the tone that the laughter was. It was excited, arrogant, and evil. Twilight has become familiar with these events so she knew what to do.

“Fluttershy get down!” Twilight got up from her chair and, ignoring Fluttershy’s bewilderment, grabbed her by the neck and flung her and herself to the floor. A moment later, the air was filled with the sound of gunshots and a couple of the bullets peppered the dining room window. Twilight had, unluckily, been in this situation before. All she needed was her revolver, which was all the way at the end of the hall. As she got up and rushed to the living room, the front door was kicked open. Twilight thought fast, she used her magic to levitate the pot of soup, and as the bandits head came through the door, she smashed the pot into his skull. With a loud clank, the bandit was knocked out and Twilight reached down and took his revolver and rushed outside. As the last bit of the sun’s light was disappearing, she still managed to see the scene of the town, and it was not pretty.  She counted at least 15 bandits and all of the town people were being corralled near the well. Many of the folk looked scared and were trying to calm the cries of their children. Near the group, there was a smaller group of stallions being beaten by a couple of bandits, no doubt they were the ones resisting. She could see the sheriff was the most hurt from the group, he had a busted lip, swollen and cut cheeks, and two black eyes full of hate for the bandits. Forgetting that she was outnumbered and out gunned, Twilight rushed off the porch and headed toward the group. She didn’t get 10 feet from the house before she had 5 Winchester rifles pointed at her. She raised her gun, ready for a fight, when she heard scuffling from behind. She craned her head slowly and checked what that racket was. Behind her, she saw the bandit she attacked with the pot, awake and very much pissed. In one hoof, he held a hunting knife, and with the other hoof, he was holding Fluttershy by the neck looking scared.

“Drop it,” he said. Glaring at him, Twilight slowly and reluctantly dropped her weapon and let the bandits herd her and Fluttershy to the group. As the two were pushed into the group, the bandits were circling around, making sure that there were no heroes in the group. This worried Twilight; the only thing worse than a bandit was a calm and well-organized group of bandits.

“Are you O.K.?” Twilight whispered. Fluttershy only nodded. Then they heard hoof steps and a pony was trotting to the group. What struck Twilight as odd wasn’t his cowboy hat or his blue scarf; it was the moldy looking black suit he was wearing. He looked at the group with a big smile on his face, which made him seem even wicked.

“No need to look so frightened,” he said in what had to be the most arrogant tone twilight ever heard. Well, second most arrogant. “My name is Wilson Beckon, your friend, and I’m always looking for my friends’ best interest. As you all know, WellSpring is quite a nice piece of land. Of course, all of you think of just the underground spring, but my employers know of some things more valuable in this land, and they have asked me to secure WellSpring. So, unlike other bandits who would use barbaric tactics to get what they want, I will let you all go.” He turned his gaze amongst the faces of the ponies. Some looked relieved while most looked worried and cautious.

“What’s the catch,” Twilight said, since everypony else was unsure if they could talk. Wilson turned to her, “No catch, all I ask is that in the next 5 minutes, you all leave this town and never comeback. To me, that seems very fair.” From everyponys’ point of view, this was nowhere near fair, but only one pony spoke out.

“You’re bucking crazy!” Sheriff Morningstar said in a strained and angry voice. A nearby bandit gave him a swift kick in the head, but it didn’t stop Morningstar. “We created and took care of this town, our home, and spent too much blood, sweat, and tears to watch some piece of scum like take it all AWAY!” He finished with a shout. Twilight and all of the folks gazed at Morningstar with admiration in their eyes. Meanwhile, Wilson reached for his holster, took his fancy swing out cylinder revolver, pointed and shot Morningstar in the stomach. He cried out in pain and Fluttershy and others had to avert their eyes from the horror. Wilson just laughed.

“HAHAHA! You ponies are so dramatic.” He heaved a sigh. “Don’t worry about Morningstar, the bullet was a blank.” Ponies quickly looked at the sheriff, clutching his stomach, and thankfully there was no blood. “The rest” Wilson quickly reloaded a new bullet he got from his suit’s pocket, “are very much real. Now I don’t want no more scolding or someone trying to be the hero.” He said in a final tone “I got another group of bandits not far from here who would simply love for an excuse to put a bullet in you."

“He is right, you know,” Twilight said. Everypony looked pleadingly, not wanting her to get shot, but Twilight had enough with this bastard. “Anyone who takes joy out of other ponies’ misery is scum. Actually, make that worse than scum.”

Wilson rolled his eyes. “You know what, I had enough of…” he slowly stopped and stared at Twilight. “Wait a minute” he said slowly “Don’t I know you”

“I doubt it; I would have remembered a giant douche like you.”

Wilson ignored here comment and continued to stare at her. “Mulberry coat” he mumbled “sapphire blue mane with violet and red streaks, unicorn, wait a second” he checked her flank “And a star shaped cutie mark. I know this, give me a sec…” Then he clapped his hooves together and had a triumphant grin “Now I remember you, you’re…” he stopped and stared at her again. Then his grin was gone and his eyes were full of hate as he pointed his gun to Twilight’s head. “YOU’RE TWILIGHT SPARKLE.” Everypony was taken aback by this sudden outburst and so was Twilight, so she responded lamely “um, yeah.”

Wilson licked his lips. “Before I kill you, I should at least tell you why I’m doing this. Do you remember Michael Beckon?” Of all the things she could have said, she picked one of the worst.

“Who?”

This respond rewarded her with a pistol- whip from Wilson. “Twilight!” Fluttershy said frantically, checking to see if she was O.K. Twilight saw stars and she checked her forehead, which was currently bleeding over her right eye.

“Don’t play dumb. Michael Beckon,my little brother, was a civilized bandit, until you wrongly landed him in jail. Now he is rotting away in a dark cell because of you.”

“Listen,” Twilight was slowly getting up, dazed “I capture a lot of people with bounties, so sorry if I don’t remember your brother.”

Wilson looked ready to give her another smack, but then stopped and turned to his bandits.

“Change of plans boys; because of Ms. Sparkles smart mouth, we will burn everything.”

Everypony gasped. ”You can’t do that” Twilight quickly said. “It’s me your angry at so why take it out on these people?”

“Because they know you!” he responded, Twilight started to notice he was losing his cool, and maybe even his sanity. There was sudden light as the bandits started a large fire. “Start with the barn.” Wilson told them and they all trotted, each carrying a torch.

“NO!” Fluttershy cried “Please don’t do it.” Twilight had to restrain her from rushing to the barn. For a timid Pegasus, Fluttershy was stronger than she looked.

“Please don’t do it.” she repeated, putting up a good fight against Twilight. “The animals are still in there, at least let them out.” She was sobbing at this point.

Wilson looked straight into Fluttershy’s eye, not even a hint of unease at her tears. “Well you should have thought of that before helping this piece if filth.” He pointed at Twilight. The next couple of seconds were passed in silence until everypony heard screaming and the bandits who went into the barn were stumbling out, terrified.

“What’s wrong with you? Can’t you do anything right!?!” he said angrily. The 3 bandit were panting and trying to say something in frightened voices.

“Mant… Mant… Mant”

“Spit it out already!” one of the bandits took a deep breath and yelled

“MANTICORE! MANTICORE IN THE BARN!” Suddenly, all of the bandits were quickly stepping back from the barn, each looking very discouraged. Twilight suddenly had a brilliant idea; if they could use their fears against them, they will run out of here with their tails between their legs. But then Fluttershy, sweet, kind, caring, and lovable Pegasus, spoke.

“Don’t hurt Jamie!” she yelled. All the bandits looked at her, wondering who Jamie was.

“Fluttershy, shut-” Twilight tried to say but Fluttershy kept going.

“He is really docile. He’s so scared that he wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Twilight looked at the bandits, hoping no one will make the connection. Sadly, Wilson made it and he trotted to the farm.

“Sir what are you doing?” one of his cronies asked. He ignored him and entered the barn. Everypony waited in silence, until there was an ecstatic yell. Wilson came out of the barn, beaming widely, and he was a holding a rope with his teeth. Tied to the rope was a very petrified manticore.

“JAMIE!” Fluttershy sobbed and now every bandit made the connection and they burst into laughter.

“Can you believe it boys, a terrified manticore in a place like this? Oh I must have been good in the past life to get this as a reward.” When he stopped moving, Jamie dropped down to his stomach and covered his eyes, shaking all over.

“So what do we do now boss?”

“We continue with the plan, burn everything down. Then we take this big lug to the underground auctions, and give him to the highest bidder. You’d be surprised how much someone would pay for these guys. I even heard people find them quite… appetizing.” Fluttershy was now using every last amount of her strength to get loose from Twilight.

“What about them?” one bandit asked as he pointed to the folks.

“Oh right, everyone, I have great news.” Wilson addressed the town. “After finding this manticore, I decided to let you all live. Now get the buck out.” He finished in a happy note.

All of the town ponies, their spirits crushed, very slowly turned around and began to trot. Twilight was dragging Fluttershy now. “Come on Fluttershy, we got to think of a plan and not going running to a death trap.” Fluttershy was sobbing hard now, and in one last desperate effort, she chomped down on Twilight’s hoof.

“OW!” She let go of Fluttershy and the Pegasus went running to the manticore saying “Jamie don’t worry, I’m here” The manticore removed his hands from eyes and saw Fluttershy barreling toward him. As she passed Wilson, he sighed and calmly aimed his revolver at Fluttershy’s head. Time seemed to slow down to Twilight. She had to think of something fast. In her panicked stricken mind, only one good idea came up. She quickly used her magic and, instead of getting Wilson’s gun like a sane pony would, she tripped Fluttershy. Fluttershy fell faced first on the ground and the bullet went harmlessly over her head. Now Twilight had to think of another good idea as to get Fluttershy out of the certain predicament, when the air was filled by a vicious roar. Then came a pained scream.

Everypony looked as Jamie the manticore viciously clawed a nearby bandit. To everypony else, Fluttershy ran, then fell as a bullet went harmlessly over her head. To Jamie; Fluttershy, the pony who loved and cared for him for years, was running toward him when a gunshot was heard and now Fluttershy was on the floor. Now there was only one thing on his mind, revenge. So now there was a frenzying manticore in the midst and everypony was terrified. As Jamie was taking out some bandits, Twilight took this opportunity and charged at Wilson. She quickly head-butted him, took his revolver while he was dazed, and pistol-whipped him. Instead of finishing him off, she turned to the bandits still near the rebels and took them out. The sheriff quickly grabbed a revolver the bandit dropped, yelled “CHARGE!” to the town folks, and opened fired.

The ponies got their spirits back and were charging at the bandits. The stallions and mares tackled the bandits and wrestled for their guns while the children rushed to their homes to get the family gun or any form of weapon. Jamie was still dominating the bandits, as they didn’t know whether to fight or run. Twilight quickly made her way to Fluttershy as ponies fought everywhere.

“Fluttershy, get up, we got to get you out of here.” Fluttershy then stared at Twilight with pleading eyes and a bloody lip.

“Please Twilight, help Jaime. Manticores may be tough, but even they have their limits. You have to help him. Please!” she finished with a cry. Twilight saw ahead and noticed the bandits were getting over their fear and were now fighting. Jaime was still going strong, but she knew Fluttershy was right about him not surviving long.

“O.K. you go and help some of the town ponies, I’ll help Jaime.” Fluttershy gave her a hug of thanks and Twilight ran into the firefight, guns a blazing.

After 5 minutes of fist fighting, the battle between the bandits and WellSpring became a no-holds-bar gun fight. The only thing ponies could here were shouts of pain and gunshots. Turns out, Wilson did have some reinforcement and all the bandits were firing from the barn side of town. The town ponies were now on the garden side of town and were slowly heading toward the barn. It would have been over by now because of the bandit’s reinforcement, but the ponies also had some advantages. The rest of the animals from the barn were awoken by the fighting and now joined in aiding the town ponies. The land animals were biting, clawing, and kicking at the bandits while the winged creatures were dive-bombing them. Their next advantage was over 550 pounds of muscle and anger. The manticore was still going strong, but it was mainly thanks to Twilight’s assistant. She was the closest to the bandits and was taking cover behind a cabin. She was also currently concentrating with all of her might on a shield for the manticore. Magic shields are effective against physical attacks, but not against bullets since the bullets are incased in special material to punch through magical shields. Twilight had to focus on protecting Jaime’s body and head while she also repaired the shield, which took even more concentrating. She did leave his claws shieldless in order for him to attack.  Any magic shield takes large concentration so Twilight was only able to do the occasional blind fire.

After about an hour of fighting and many injuries from both sides, the fight was dwindling. Any bandit left alive or unharmed saw the nearing town ponies and the unstoppable manticore, just ran away and didn’t look back. Twilight stopped her concentration when she heard roars of delight coming from near the barn. She peeked around the cabin and saw a view that plastered a grin over face. The town ponies were shouting delightfully and victoriously as the last of the bandits ran.

“Don’t come back now!” shouted one of the ponies “Let everyone know we won’t take kindly to bandits.” said another. Twilight was now walking toward the group when she noticed something, Fluttershy wasn’t amongst them. She looked amongst the group, but didn’t see her. Twilight turned around, hoping Fluttershy wasn’t injured somewhere. She didn’t get a second to look around as her view was suddenly obscured by a black mass and she was knocked to the ground. She cried in pain and looked up, only to see a hate-filled, now sporting a bloody forehead, Wilson holding a knife to her throat. He laughed as though all of his dreams came true and that attracted the attention of everypony. Next, Twilight heard the sound of guns being cocked and being aimed right at her assailant.

“Let her go Wilson, you’re finished.” said a voice in a deadly tone that Twilight recognized as the sheriff’s.

“No, I might die here tonight, but I’m going to take this bitch with me!”

“LET HER GO!” Morningstar shouted. Twilight tried to lift her hoof holding the revolver, but he pinned her hoof with his free hoof. Wilson swung his knife above himself and Twilight braced herself. Once the knife was over Wilson’s head, it was shot out from his hoof and Morningstar quickly rushed forward and connected the butt of his revolver over Wilson’s head, who then went crashing to the floor. Morningstar held out a hoof that Twilight took.

“Thanks sheriff, that was some nice shooting.”

“That wasn’t me.” And he pointed behind Twilight. She saw a unicorn with a light brown coat and graying mane. He was probably late 40’s or early 50’s and had a muscular build. He was holding a smoking LeMat revolver and beside him was Fluttershy.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy ran and gave her a big hug. “Are you O.K, you’re not hurt are you?”

“I’ve had better days” Twilight said with a grin “But I’m fine thanks to your friend there. Who is he anyways?”

“Twilight Sparkle” said the unicorn in an elegant manner “I must pardon myself for my earlier behavior. I hope you are not a pony that relies too much on first impressions.”

“Uhhh” Twilight tried to recall who this pony was.

“Maybe this will help” the unicorn showed her his cutie mark, which she saw was sewing thread. She tried to think of any sowers she knows, but nothing came up.

“My cutie mark is medical threads, if that’s any use, which it should be.”

Then it clicked, and Twilight gasped in what was a somewhat rude manner.

“Dr. Stitches?!?” she exclaimed.

“Evidently, you do rely on first impressions.” The unicorn, Dr.Stitches, said with a joking smile.