NOTE: I do not own rights to either franchises. Red Dead Redemption is owned by Rockstar® and Rockstar San Diego®, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro®. Used without permission.
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Chapter Three: The Ponyville Uprising
Twilight Sparkle, sat in the small chair at the desk. It had been...what? Thirty, forty-five minutes? She was thinking that it would only take a few for the Princess to have a basic discussion with John, and she feared that he had done something similar to what he had done to her earlier.
A few minutes later, she noticed a dim sparkle in the room. It soon turned into a massive, malevolent, white orb of energy without warning. She screamed, and backed away, only to see that the orb eventually formed into a human-like figure, and finally fade out to reveal Marston standing calmly.
She trotted up to him, and asked, “Well, how did it go?”
After managing to get his bearings straight, he looked down at Twilight, and responded, “That ‘Princess’ said that I gotta help lower the crime in some towns before she’ll help me get back to New Austin.”
“What towns?”
“I think she said...Here, and some places named ‘Appleoosa’, ‘Manehatten’, and ‘Canterlot’.”
She sat back down into her seat, rubbing her chin with her hoof, a concentrated expression on her face.
“So...you think we should start with Ponyville?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Well, I don’t think there’s-...Wait...”
“Hm?”
“Well, I read in some issue of the Ponyville Express a week or two ago about a group of ponies breaking into homes, assaulting some other ponies, and other crimes. It said that they were trying to cause an uprising.”
“Well...’Guess we gotta start somewhere, right?”
“Heh...I suppose so...and maybe I can introduce you to some of my friends. One of them is a bit like you in a couple of ways.”
With that, Twilight moved from the chair and over to the stairs, motioning her head for John to follow her. After that, they walked out of the building, and onto the street.
They walked down the cobbled path towards the more urban area of the town. But they eventually passed the kiosk-like building where that morning’s robbery had occurred. The same mare was standing behind an assortment of bouquets, several kinds of flora ranging from lilies to roses, tulips, and other flowers.
It didn’t take long for her to notice the man that had brought the stallion to justice. She quickly poked under the counter, popping back up with a small bag with coins in it, she began walking over to him.
She eventually reached him, and nudged him in the back of the leg. John turned around and looked down. He smiled slightly, and tipped his hat towards her.
“If anyone else gives you trouble, let me know.” he said calmly.
“Oh! On that topic, I couldn’t thank ya’ enough for what ya did for me earlier, and I wanted to give ya this as a reward.” the mare replied happily with a slight accent.
John bent down, and took the bag out of her mouth. “Now, you have a good day, Miss.” he said as he got back up.
“Thanks...Um...What’s your name?”
“John...John Marston...”
“Well, thank ya’, John!”
“My pleasure, ma’am.”
With that, he continued down the street with Twilight Sparkle. As they were walking, though, he examined the contents of the bag, in it was ten, fifteen gold coins.
“‘This what you ponies use for money right here?” he inquired, picking up one of the coins to observe it more closely.
“Yeah...we call them ‘bits’.”
“‘Bits’,huh?”
“That’s righ-”
She didn’t get time to finish as another scream broke the conversation. They looked all around, but saw no one. Then another scream came from a nearby alleyway. The two quickly ran up to it, and looked inside. A white-coated, purple-maned unicorn mare was standing at the back of it. A blue-and-black stallion of the same race was slowly walking towards her, his horn glowing a vicious cobalt color.
The two began running up to them, once they reached them, the mare noticed and screamed, “TWILIGHT! HELP!”
The assailant turned around to see them, only to have the shiny, steel muzzle of a Schofield revolver in his face. The glow turned dull, and he slowly backed away.
“Now...I suggest you get outta here before you do somethin’ your gonna regret, Friend.” John demanded.
“Yeah, what’re you gonna do about i-”
He moved his thumb and pulled the hammer back, turning the chamber and cocking the weapon.
“I said; get out of here!”
“Yeah, sure! I bet that...thing...can hurt m-”
He aimed at the pony’s front leg and fired. The shell rushed in and burrowed into his flesh. He screamed in pain as he crumpled to the ground.
“John! I thought we weren’t going to do that!” Twilight shouted.
He holstered the weapon, saying, “No...You said that ‘violence ain’t appreciated in these parts’. Sometimes you need to fight violence with violence.”
“Ugh! Fine! You’re impossible to talk to!”
“I could really care less at this point, now, let’s just see how she’s doing...”
John stepped over the bleeding stallion to the cowering mare nearby.
He moved his hand towards her, but pulled it away immediately, and asked, “You okay, Miss?”
The unicorn moved her hooves from her face and looked at him. All she did, though, was respond with a scream, and began scrambling away.
John walked towards her, repeatedly saying, “Calm down! I ain’t gonna hurt you!”
The scared pony shakily raised her hoof towards the bleeding stallion on the ground. “But...Whatever y-you did to...him...”
“Because he was trying to hurt you, Friend. Now, do you think you can tell me what’s goin’ on here?”
“W-well, I was returning to my boutique with some fabrics I had bought when that ruffian attacked me. I have the bags right here, but...”
“Either way, you’re gonna be fine.”
Twilight began walking over to the elegant pony, asking, “Well...do you need any help, Rarity?”
“I-I think I’ll be fine, Twilight, but...who’s your...friend? And what is that Celestia-forsaken abomination for clothing he is wearing?” she asked, pointing at the bounty hunter’s wear.
Angered, John walked towards her, asking, “What kinda problem do you have with my clothes, Friend?”
The fashionista backed herself against the wall, stammering, “D-darling, I am a fashion designer, it’s my job to determine if somepony, or, whatever you are, looks good in. And, let me tell you, that is not something you would want to wear to in public.”
“Well, nobody’s seemed to care for the past couple of hours, so I don’t think it’ll be much of a problem. Either way, you should be grateful, considerin’ that this one here wasn’t bein’ the friendliest...” he snapped back, motioning to the cringing stallion on the ground.
In an attempt to keep the man’s anger from taking over, Twilight Sparkle stuck herself between the two, saying, “Oh! John, I haven’t introduced you, have I?”
Before either two could respond, she began, “John, this is my friend, Rarity. She’s a fashion designer who has had most of her work sent to Canterlot and Manehatten. She has a good eye, so she managed to notice your...clothes...”
“Well, I can see that...But I don’t think she needs to care. I’m just here to do my job so I can see my wife and son again, I don’t really want much in my way.”
“Wife and son? What happened” Rarity inquired.
“None of your business, now, you have a good day. I have some work to do.”
“Oh, but I must know.”
John was becoming annoyed with the mare. “No, you don’t need to know, Friend. What part of ‘None of Your Business’ do you not understand?”
“Please, tell me...” the pony seemed rather intent about finding out about the strange creature’s life. But all it did was bring more anger and frustration to the man.
Marston sighed and shook his head, he pivoted on his heels, and began walking away.
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Twilight began trotting ahead to keep up with John, who had continued farther down the road as she finished with Rarity. Once she reached the bounty hunter, she asked, “Um...John...are you alright?”
He looked down at her, and beamed, “I’m fine, I just don’t need anyone goin’ through my private life...”
“Well, I think we should be fine for now, like I said; it’s only been mugging, assault, and break-ins recently, not much else. I don’t know how that’s supposed to create a so-called ‘Uprising’, but...you know...”
“I don’t.”
Before snarking about her statement being rhetorical, she continued down the road with him.
However, John himself was lost in his own thoughts. Worry constantly came through his mind when he thought of Jack, Abigail, and even Uncle. He tried to hold back his feelings of anguish and sadness, the occasional tear rolling down the cheeks of his scarred, weathered face. However, he began to focus once more. Seeing that they had walked much farther down the road. He observed his surroundings; it was a larger section of the town, the buildings around him were much bigger, eventually seeing the bakery that he and Nigel had visited earlier...Nigel...
“Nigel...” John mumbled to himself. The lavender unicorn swiveled her head to look at her partner. “What?”
“Nigel...Nigel West Dickens...It’s been hours since we saw him, that old bastard could be anywhere by now...”
“Is there a problem? I’m sure he can handle himself...”
“That man caused an entire town to chase after us because of that ridiculous ‘Patented Elixir’, I don’t wanna take any chances...”
While the cowboy turned around in a complete circle, he could not see the familiar stagecoach that the eccentric con-man drove. Frustration began to come in place of his worry once more, and he slapped himself in the face. He pulled his hand down, only to be met by a familiar teal unicorn, her brow was furrowed, and she stood in a spread, aggressive stance. John was immediately reminded of the ordeal that had happened that couple of hours ago.
“Uhm....Howdy, Ma’am...” John muttered nervously.
She began stomping towards him, anger burning in her golden eyes. “‘Howdy, Ma’am’ is all you can say?! I was stuck in that bathroom for two hours...TWO HOURS!”
John began backing away from her, with what he had seen over the hours, he was afraid what a magical being such as herself was capable of.
“I thought you were going to help me out. I thought humans were nice, cool, even. But you’re all just a bunch of plot-holes as far as I’m concerned!”
“‘Plot-holes?’”
Twilight motioned him to look down, and shook her flank a little to show what the angered musician had meant.
“Sorry, Friend, but I had some work to do, I couldn’t help you at the time.”
“Oh! Su~ure, of course you couldn’t, because you’re just a-”
Lyra was cut off mid-sentence as bright flash, followed by a thunderously loud noise appeared in the area. Seconds later, a group of grey stallions, seemingly armed to the teeth, running through, screaming, “EVERYPONY GET DOWN!”
A bolt of black flashed past John, who rolled out of the way. He looked to get a better understanding, but it seemed to be a constant hail of energy.
In an attempt to stop the fire, he brought out his Springfield, aimed to the sky, and fired.
The thunderous crack silenced the crowd as the bronze shell sailed through the air. The groupies stopped, and stared at the man.
“Who...or what...are you?” one of them asked.
“The man who’s gonna put a hole in your head if you don’t get outta here.” John replied.
He lowered the rifle, and pointed it to one of the stallions, who was donning black armour with a golden trim. Assuming it was the leader, he cocked the weapon and prepared to fire another shot.
“Do you know who I am? Or what my cause is?” he tauntingly asked.
“No, but chances are that I don’t care...” Marston replied sarcastically.
“Well, let me introduce myself, then. My name is-”
“I don’t care ‘bout your name, Friend, just tell me what’s goin’ on here.”
“Well, we are fed up with the unfairness of the mayor’s control, and we are trying to create an uprising to show her that we mean business.”
“You’re hurting poor, innocent people just to protest. Now, I ain’t one to judge, but that just seems a little unfair, don’t you think?”
“We’ll do what we can, alright?”
John wrapped his finger around the trigger, “Well, you either stop everything you’ll do, or I’ll put a bullet in you.”
“A bullet? What’s a bullet?”
He aimed the rifle at nearby hanging sign, and fired. The shell, followed by a loud “CRACK!”, sailed through and shattered the oak panel. Causing the bottom half to fall to the ground.
“That’s a bullet. Now, you better stop and let these fine folk continue their day, or the next one’ll come for you.”
The stallion backed away, his head hung low. John lowered the rifle from its position, and brought it around his back, holstering it on the intricately-designed leather holster on his bandolier strap.
The stallion then turned around, and began sprinting away, his group following him.
John smirked, looking around to see several astonished ponies staring at him with wide eyes. Lyra and Twilight had returned to him. The mint-green mare seemed less angry, though still noticeably upset.
“Wow...John, I’m amazed...” Twilight mused.
Lyra lowered her head slightly, “Well, I guess I owe you, huh?” she asked.
“You don’t own me nothin’, Friend. Now I just-”
Before he could finish, he saw a black shape out of the corner of his eye. It was Nigel, who was running as fast as he could, for a man in his mid-sixties, at least.
“John! John! John!” the con-artist repeatedly called. He eventually came up to him, he put his hands on his knees. He looked like he was going to vomit from exhaustion, his face was flushed, sweat was pouring down his face.
“What is it, old man?” John asked.
“I think-...I think I saw-...I-...Irish...”
“What?!”
“Irish, he-...got here...somehow...”
The two equines were confused, “Irish? Who’s Irish?” the lavender mare inquired.
“You’ll have to see, but I got a feeling that things are gonna get a lot worse now that he’s here.”
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John and Twilight Sparkle had followed Nigel down the road, eventually going into a meadow outside of town, where a horrified, yellow-and-pink pegasus mare was staring at a shape on the ground. They walked over, and, sure enough, a man in ratty clothes, with scruffy facial hair, and a whiskey bottle in-hand was lying on the ground.
They stood over him, he was passed out, probably from alcohol. Marston lightly kicked him in the gut.
The drunk was woken up immediately, sputtering and coughing as he stood up.
It took a while for the man to get an understanding of where he was before he noticed the two men and two ponies.
“Aye, John, Mr. West Dickens, how’re ya’ lads doin’ today?” he asked in a heavily accented voice.
“Nothin’, we’re just wondering what you’re doin’ here.” John replied.
He began looking around again, and that’s when he noticed he was somewhere else. “Well, I was just drinkin’ me bottle of scotch ‘ere at me shack when some ball a’ light hit me, and sent me here! Um...Where are we, ‘xactly?”
“Well, I can only say this: Welcome to Equestria.”
“Equestria? What is th-” he stopped as he noticed the two ponies staring at him with wide eyes.
“That’s uh...A pony, righ-”
“Yep.”
The Irishman was confused and shocked. “T-this can’t be right, Lads, we need ta’ get outta h-”
“Can’t, we’re stuck, Friend.”
Irish returned his gaze to the ponies. The yellow one whispered to Twilight, “Um...Twilight, I don’t want to cause a problem, but...what’s going on?”
With a nervous chuckle, she responded, “Well, these two are John and Nigel West Dickens, from...New Austin...”, pointing a hoof towards the cowboy and salesman.
“And this is...-”
“Irish, me name’s Irish.” he finished.
“Well, this is...Irish. Are you also from New Austin?”
“Aye, but I came from Ireland on a boat when I was just a wee-bit younger.”
“Twilight, I’m scared...” the pegasus whispered.
“‘This another friend of yours, Twilight?” John asked, pointing at her friend.
“Yeah, this is Fluttershy, she lives over here, and I guess she saw Irish here...”
John laughed a little, then said, “Don’t worry, Fluttershy, this man won’t cause you harm.”
No matter how convincing he sounded, nothing could alleviate the fear that the filly had. She simply stared at the three figures.
“Well, anyways, I guess what we’ve done in Ponyville’s over, so now we can head to the other towns, right?” John asked Twilight Sparkle.
“I guess so, but, is this....’Irish’...tagging along?” she asked, pointing her hoof at the drunkard.
“If he wants to-”
“Nah, John, I think I’ll stay ‘ere a bit and get meself settled in a little.” Irish interrupted.
“Oh well, I guess it’s your choice. Anyways, I think we should start headin’ out, Twilight.” John declared.
“Yeah, okay.”
Nodding the group off, the two began walking away, Nigel quickly tagging along. Marston stopped for a moment, though, looking at Irish again, he asked, “You sure you’re gonna be fine here, Irish?”
“Oh, I’ll be fine, Lad, don’t worry ‘bout me!” he replied.
“Okay...”
With that, they began heading back into Ponyville. Irish turned to Fluttershy, asking, “Ya' know where you could get some good booze 'ere, Lassie?”
Confused, she asked, “Booze?”
“Ya’ know, beer, scotch, gin, that stuff?”
“Well, you could talk to Berry Punch, b-”
“Well, alrighty then!” he replied with a smile. And he began walking into Ponyville.
A/N:
Welp, Irish is in there, and don’t worry, he only came in he end, but he’ll become more important in the story as time passes on. ‘Hope you all enjoy!