//------------------------------// // Act 3 // Story: Date at Dodge Junction // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// Date at Dodge Junction Act 3 By The Rated Ponystar Edited by: Apple Spice and Mr. Minimii *** With the wind behind her, Applejack galloped across a familiar path she once took long ago with Gold Gallon right behind her and Rainbow Dash flying above towards the direction of Cherry Hill Ranch. What Gold Gallon had said shook her more than a startled possum. It was known to any real farmer that the saying “trouble at the farm” was a big red alert. And like any farmer she had to worry about the worst from wild animals trying to eat your livestock to a burning fire that was spreading throughout her crop. Even though it wasn’t Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack had grown to like Cherry Hill Ranch in her brief time working there, and as a fellow farmer she wasn’t going to see it, or its owners, deal with any trouble without her giving a helping hoof. The three of them reached the entrance and made a beeline for the growing crowd of workers, some of which she recognized from her last visit while others were new faces. They were all huddled around the entrance to one of the bigger barns that Applejack recognized as the cider storage barn. When she got closer, she could already smell the sweet, mouth watering taste of cherry cider in the air. Moving themselves aside, Applejack, and a landing Rainbow Dash, walked into the barn where they saw what the problem was. Applejack winced while Rainbow Dash looked ready to cry. The large cider vats were broken and scattered all over the place, its contents now wasted all over the dirty floor. Nearby, a worried Cherry Jubilee was talking with one of her workers who was dressed in one of those lab coats Twilight always had down in her lab back home. “Are ya sure that’s all of them? There ain’t nothin’ left?” asked Cherry, sounding hopeful. “Ah’m sorry, Miss Jubilee,” her employee answered, “but with all the vats gone we’ve only got the emergency supplied barrels, and those won’t even cover for half of what we need this year.” “Of all the days for this to happen, this is just the worst!” cried Cherry, burying her face into her hooves. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other with worry before stepping forward. Applejack cleared her throat and said, “What happened here? Did a bull suddenly go mad and get lose?” Turning around, Cherry looked at her guests and sighed in despair. “Ah only wish that was true, Applejack. But ya see, one of the cider vats came loose, and it caused the vat to fall over. It knocked over the one right next to it, then it the next one, which hit the next one. Pretty soon it was a domino match inside here and now all the cherry cider we were hoping to sell for the festival is gone!” Rainbow Dash zoomed into Cherry Jubilee's face, her expression filled with horror. “Are you kidding me?! No cider?! At all?!” “Well, we still have some cider saved up for an emergency, but it’s not gonna be enough to pay what we owe this year,” said Cherry falling to her haunches. All her workers looked down in sadness while others were cursing up a storm. “This is bad... really bad...” “Cherry, is there somethin’ ya ain’t tellin’ us? Ah can understand how this might hurt yer business, but last time ya wrote to me ya said everythin’ was fine.” Applejack shook her head. “But it ain’t? Is it?” Cherry looked up and gazed into Applejack’s worried gentle eyes. Applejack didn’t like being lied too, especially from a friend, but she made sure to not to say anything harsh until she heard the whole story. With a heavy sigh, Cherry nodded. “Ah didn’t want to worry ya about us; it was mah fault this all happened, and Ah wanted to fix it mahself. The truth is, the farm is in debt because of a loan Ah took out a while ago.” “Why did ya take out a loan?” asked Applejack. Cherry gave a grim chuckle. “Some fancy griffin in a suit claimed he was in the cider trading business in the Griffin Republic, and he offered me a chance to be the first pony to set up an international cider business. He heard about our famous black cherry cider and told me he could sell it back in his home nation for double what he was asking. Ah thought it over and it looked all legit...” “... but he was a con-bird, wasn’t he?” asked Rainbow Dash, growling. “Figures. I was friends with a griffin once, and she took me to see her homeland one time. They are big on wine, but not cider over there.” “Ah didn’t know alright! Ah thought it was legit!” shouted Cherry, blushing. “When Ah took out the loan, Ah thought we was gonna pay it back easily. When Ah gave that no good backstabbin’ featherbrain the money, he told me he would send a letter in a week. Ah waited, waited, and waited some more. Took me a month to figure out what really happened.” “How much did he ask for?” asked Applejack, but the look on Cherry’s face made it clear that it was more than she bargained for. “What did ya do?” “Ah tried to get the bank to give us more time, and they did. So we’ve been workin’ here on the cherry farm seven days a week with barely any rest. It’s only a miracle we managed to get this much done,” said Cherry pointing to her workers. Now that she had a closer look, Applejack could see the bags under their eyes and chipped hooves they all had. “This cider season with the fair was suppose to finally get the last of what we needed to pay off the debt, but with the cider gone we got nothin’ to sell. If Ah don’t get the money to pay the bank, Ah’m gonna have no choice but to sell the farm! A farm that’s been in mah family for generations! Ah can’t let that happen!” The look of defeat on Cherry’s face was heartbreaking to Applejack. Furious, she stomped her hoof on the floor and shouted, “Dagnabit, Cherry Jubilee! Why didn’t ya ask for help, or even bother givin’ us these darn tickets when that money could have been used to help yer farm?!” Cherry shrugged. “Ah felt bad for lyin’ to ya all this time, and Ah wanted to make it up to ya. Yer a good friend, Applejack Apple, and Ah wanted to do somethin’ nice for ya. Besides, this is mah burden. Mah mistake. Ah should be the one to fix it up.” “Oh brother, are all you farmers this stubborn and prideful?!” shouted Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes. She then pointed at Applejack while staring at Cherry. “You can’t always carry all the burden yourself when you have problems! Asking for help from your friends who are willing to help you doesn’t make you any less of a pony. In fact, it makes you a better pony because then your friends don’t end up worried about you. AJ here tried to tend to her entire farm on her own one time, and it caused a mess of things. It took some effort, but we were able to nail it in her head that accepting help from others isn’t a bad thing.” She gave a playful grin. “But like I said, effort.” Applejack snorted. “Yeah, yeah, no need to remind me.” “But...” Cherry Jubilee, focused once more on the floor. “We have to pay the loan in three days. And we still got to get two thousand bits before then. How are we gonna make that much money?” Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin. “Well, that’s a good question. But we can’t just give up that easily!” Suddenly, an idea came to Applejack. She quickly rushed outside, much to everypony’s confusion, and started looking around. “Quick! Somepony tell me where the sundial is!” “Uh, it’s half past three,” answered one of the ponies. Applejack grinned. Plenty of time. Turning to her fellow farmers, she said, “All of ya, don’t worry about anythin’! Ah got a plan that can help us get that money, and more, today! Rainbow Dash, stay here!” She then galloped back in the direction of town, praying that she wasn’t going to be too late. “Wait, AJ! Hold on!” shouted Rainbow Dash, pumped and ready for whatever her best friend had planned. Flying after Applejack, she turned around towards the others and said, “Save us a few barrels of that emergency cider when we get back!” The farmers of Cherry Hill Ranch watched in confusion as the two ponies from Ponyville sped off into the distance. Cherry Jubilee started following, to properly see them off, before giving up with a sigh. “Please help us...” *** Applejack must have made quite a sight, galloping down the streets with a pegasus right behind her tail like a dragon was after their hides, but the opinions of strangers didn’t matter right now. What did matter was getting to one of those ticket booths in time. One thing that did bother her was the fact that Rainbow Dash was flying above her. Applejack shook her head. The plan she had in mind was dangerous enough and really a task only she could handle. If the stakes weren’t so big, she would be fine letting Rainbow Dash help her, but with Cherry’s farm on the line she couldn’t concentrate to do well enough if she had to worry about Rainbow Dash not getting hurt. After a long time flying, Rainbow Dash had finally lowered herself towards eye level and asked, “So what’s the plan?” “Ah thought Ah told ya to stay back with Cherry?” Applejack replied, quickly turning around the corner . “Yeah, but I figured helping you might be better! So let me in on this plan!” demanded Dash eagerly. Before Applejack could respond, she spotted the familiar red and white striped tents she saw when they entered town. Racing to the same one she went to earlier, the ticket pony looked surprised at first to see her, but then smiled. “Ah take it yer here to enter for the rodeo?” “Rodeo?” asked Rainbow Dash, landing nearby with a puzzled look on her face. Applejack only nodded and tilted her hat. “That’s right. Name’s Applejack and Ah’ll sign whatever papers ya need signin’.” The ticket mare nodded and gave her a few sheets of paper. Most of them were about the rules, events, and prizes for the winners. The others were reassurances that, on her own free will, Applejack was going to be competing despite knowing the risks, and that if she was injured, or worse, she wouldn’t be suing. A few strokes of a quill and she was all set up, ready to give the papers when Rainbow Dash’s hoof stopped her by trapping them between her leg and the counter. “Hold on one moment!” shouted Rainbow Dash, huffing. “Can you tell me why you're signing these papers to join some rodeo when we should be trying to help Cherry Jubilee!” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ah was gonna answer ya later, but fine. This rodeo’s got a prize money for five thousand bits! That’s more than enough to help Cherry Jubilee. All Ah have to do is win!” “And what? You were gonna let me sit in the sidelines while you save the day? No way!” shouted Rainbow Dash, shocked with a glimmer of hurt in her eyes. “Do... do you have no faith in me?” That stung worse the Applejack had expected. She bit her lip and looked away. It was true she didn’t want Rainbow Dash to join, especially since the ticket mare said it was a dangerous contest. “Well, not... it’s just this is rodeo and Ah have more experience dealin’ with these kind of contests. Ah know yer strong, RD, but Ah still think that, because of mah experience, Ah’m better suited to do this on mah own.” “Hey!” shouted Rainbow Dash, flaring her wings and levitating above Applejack. “I’m just as athletic as you are, not to mention I’ve won my fair share of contests, too! The Youngest Flyer’s competition? The Iron Pony Contest? Are you forgetting who won those?” “N-no, but...” Applejack just stood there as Rainbow Dash landed and turned to the ticket mare. “Give me those papers too! I want in!” The mare shrugged and handed a new set, which Rainbow Dash snatched with her mouth and quickly signed with a rushed and messy set of mouthwriting. She handed both of their entry papers in and nodded. “So are we both in?” “Yup, it starts in an hour by the big rodeo stadium by the west of town! Just hand them these passes at security, so they know yer competing and guide ya to yer stations. Can’t wait to see ya girls compete. Good luck!” said the ticket mare with a bright smile, oblivious to the angry glare that Rainbow Dash was giving the squirming Applejack. The two friends, tension in the air, started making their way towards the stadium when Rainbow Dash took to the air. “I’’m gonna fly. Meet ya there.” “Rainbow Dash, wait!” said Applejack, but Rainbow was already flying ahead without a second glance. Applejack closed her eyes and resisted the urge to kick herself. Ah screwed up. She didn’t want to make Rainbow Dash feel that she didn’t have faith in her. Applejack trusted Rainbow with her life. She knew she was strong, fast, brave, and skilled. And Ah just wounded her pride by goin’ along with this idea without her say so. It can’t be ‘cause Ah had no faith in her; she can handle herself. It’s because you don’t want to see her get hurt, said a voice in her head. Rodeos are dangerous, and some ponies have died in them. Plus, she won’t be able to use those wings since this is an earth pony tradition. Applejack scoffed. We’ve been in danger before! Nightmare Moon? Changelin’s? Dragons? What makes this any different? Because now you realize you're in love with her. How would you feel if she was to get so injured that she would never walk or fly again? What if she got killed because of her recklessness or inexperience? The thought of such a thing made Applejack feel ill, especially when she remembered such a case happening one time. Three years ago, she was in a contest in Manehatten when a greenhorn came up for the bull riding. He chose the biggest and most hardcore bull of them all to ride, something that no fresh rodeo competitor would ever do. It ended up getting him killed when his neck fell upon one of the horns shortly after he started his heat. She could just imagine Rainbow Dash ending up in such a way, on the ground, bleeding out of her neck as the life in her eyes fade away. The doctors putting her in a box like they did with the poor greenhorn, the young life she had all over... No! screamed Applejack in her head. Ah need to have faith in her. Ah need to let her know that and fix this misunderstandin’ and not worry about events that ain’t gonna come to pass! That was what Applejack was hoping for as she galloped towards the stadium. *** Last time she was in Dodge Junction, Applejack had seen the large rodeo stadium and wished she had the time to try out some of the events going on. That time, however she decided to focus more on getting the money needed for Ponyville rather than spend her time fooling around. Although she was glad to be competing inside it now, it didn’t help for the fact that an entire farm was counting on her, and Rainbow Dash, to win the first prize and bring home the cash. After passing by the gates, and showing her pass, Applejack was guided into the arena itself. She saw a bunch of other competitors at their station benches, already pre-warming for the upcoming games. Only one of them stood out, Rainbow Dash who was the only non-earth pony to be competing. It looked like she was arguing with a few earth ponies in suits; most likely the judges for the rodeo. Knowing that her crush’s mouth sometimes got her into more trouble than it was worth, she excused herself from her guide and rushed over towards the group. “What do you mean I have to have my wings strapped?!” yelled Rainbow Dash, glaring at the two security ponies who had rope in their mouths. She gave them a daring glare, as if she was urging them to try and take her down. “Look, Miss Dash, it’s part of the rules,” said the female judge, correcting her glasses. “In order to keep things fair, all unicorns put on magic damper rings, and all pegasi have their wings strapped to prevent any unfair advantages. Y’all be able to use them durin’ the freestyle event, but other than that ya must have yer wings strapped.” “But earth ponies are used to doing things without magic or wings! If anything, it’s a disadvantage to us!” counter argued Rainbow Dash. Before the argument could go any further, Applejack stepped between the two and cleared her throat. “Now hold on there y’all.” She turned to the judge. “Sorry about this: this is her first rodeo. Ah’m her friend, Ah’ll calm her down.” The judge glanced at Rainbow Dash, narrowed her eyes, and then nodded in agreement. Applejack guided a reluctant Rainbow Dash, who was sticking her tongue out at the judge, a few hooves from the officials and shook her head. “Ten minutes in an yer already causin’ problems.” “Well, maybe if you told me about this stupid rule I would have handled it better,” snapped Rainbow Dash, crossing her arms and pouting. “And maybe if ya let me explain back at the booth ya could have known,” said Applejack kicking dust in frustration. “Look, we can go about this like foals all day, but we have better things to do.” “What do you mean ‘we’? Last time I checked, your original plan was going to include just you,” said Rainbow Dash, huffing. Applejack bit her lip and restrained herself from smacking her crush on the head. Can’t she worry about gettin’ angry at a different time? There are more important things to worry about. Ah swear, one moment Ah wanna kiss her and the next Ah wanna smack her. “Look, Ah get it, yer angry and Ah’m sorry. But since we are now both in this contest we can help each other win the bits needed to pay for savin’ Miss Jubilee's farm.” Applejack then poked Rainbow in the chest and glared at her. “Or do ya want to let our bickerin’ get in the way of what’s right and prevent us from winnin’ that prize money?” Rainbow Dash’s anger slowly began to wane before she sighed and nodded. “Fine. I’m still a bit angry at you, but I’ll accept your apology.” Applejack nodded. “Good, then let’s let ‘em,” she nodded to the waiting judge and security team, “know that ya understand the rules and won’t make anymore of a fuss. Else they might disqualify ya before y’all can begin.” “Whatever,” said Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes and dragging her hooves towards the judge. “I swear, you earth ponies have some kind of thing with bondage...” Applejack blushed at the idea of her and Rainbow Dash.... all alone in the barn... lots of rope... maybe a whip... Dash crying out for more... “Uh, AJ? Yer drooling,” said Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow. Getting her senses back together, Applejack wiped her muzzle and blushed. “Uh, let’s just get goin’. Ah’ll tell ya the rules along the way...” *** With everything taken care off, and Rainbow Dash having a better understanding about the upcoming competition, Applejack made for her station. Each competitor was allowed to bring his or her own assistants such as equipment personal, medical teams, or coaches. If they didn’t have one, like Applejack, they had to pay for a standby team or go at it alone, which was fine for her. She had experience dealing rodeo’s on her own, but Rainbow Dash was a different story. Although AJ gave some quick pointers for the upcoming contests, Rainbow Dash wasn’t the best when it came to rodeo style competitions. She could remember some of the contests they had in the Iron Pony Competition, where Rainbow Dash was only able to win because of those wings of hers. Without them, she was at a clear disadvantage. Gotta stop worryin’, thought Applejack, shaking her head. She can handle herself fine. Meanwhile, ya better get yer head in the game. “What are you doing here?!” Applejack nearly jumped from the shout, but growled when she turned around and saw who it was. Clove High and his two companions were walking over to her station, nostrils flaring. Applejack cracked her neck a bit, and stepped forward until she and Clove High were inches from each other’s face. Crack-A-Barrel and Shorty were quick to cover Applejack on the left and right, trapping her. Applejack gave them all a quick glare before answering, “Ain’t it obvious? Ah’m takin’ part in the competition. Gotta problem?” Huffing, Clove High said, “Listen here ya bitch, Ah’m not just gonna forget how ya embarrassed me and mah friends earlier today. If ya think Ah’m gonna let ya win this competition, then ya got another thin’ comin’!” “Why do ya care? Ya ain’t competitin’, yer helpin’ yer boss,” pointed out Applejack. Clove high snorted. “That guy? Please, he only pays us if he wins. Else he calls us a bunch of slackers. Ah don’t care if he’s a friend of mah folks; he’s just a cruel guy.” He then gave a sly grin. “If anythin’, y’all should be more careful of him then us. His competition has a habit of... meeting unfortunate accidents.” “Is that a threat,” growled Applejack, narrowing her eyes. “More of a warning...” whispered Clove High before motioning his gang to follow him. While leaving, Shorty turned around and stuck out his tongue, only to run in fear when Applejack made it look like she was about to chase after him. Shaking her head, she turned around to head back to her station to prepare for the events, only to freeze when she spotted none other than McShady himself waiting for her. A cigarette was in his mouth as he leaned against the fence, hat blocking his face. Applejack felt a familiar shiver go down her spine; it was the same feeling every time she faced one of them timberwolves in the Everfree Forest. McShady gave a small grin as she settled his cold eyes upon her before pushing himself off the fence and walked towards Applejack. He stopped right next to her, neither of them glancing at each other. McShady spat out the cigarette and said, “So yer gonna be competin’ as well, huh? Interestin’...” “How so?” asked Applejack, keeping her senses on full alert if he tried anything. “Ah’ve always wanted to face an Apple,” shrugged McShady. “Yer names are quite known in the rodeo community. Have ya ever heard of a pony named Baldwin Apple?” That made Applejack’s heart stop. Her eyes widened as she shakily turned towards the stallion who called a name she never thought a stranger would know. “H-how do ya know mah Pa?” McShady grinned. “So yer his daughter, huh? Ah saw him once, and Ah’ve always wanted to beat him. Is he with ya right now?” “He... he died a long time ago,” whispered Applejack, lowering her head. A sigh escaped from McShady’s lips as he shook his head. “Shame. Well, ya can’t get everythin’ in life.” He grinned again. “Still, if yer anythin’ like him, Ah guess it would be just as good. But don’t expect me to let ya win that easily. Ah’ve beaten everypony here for the last three years, comin’ up on top. You and,” he pointed to Rainbow Dash who was struggling with getting a rope untied, “yer little flyin’ friend aren’t gonna win so easily.” He looked back at Rainbow Dash and shook his head. “Especially her, Ah can tell she’s as green as they come to this sort of thing. She’ll be easy prey.” This made Applejack stomp her hoof and growled. “Ya leave her alone! She’s just as good as the rest of us, and Ah ain’t gonna let anypony bad mouth her!” McShady chuckled. “Whatever, hayseed. Ah’m gonna go get ready. Watch yer back... and hers...” Applejack watched McShady walk towards his dugout where he started yelling at his workers to move their butts. She glanced at Rainbow Dash and sighed. We’ll beat him, Dash. For Cherry’s sake. *** In no time at all the seats fill up in the stadium, and the contest was about to begin. After welcoming everypony, the announcer asked each contestant to line up one by one so they could be announced. Applejack had gotten a good round of applause for those who knew her when she was last here or just by her family name alone. Rainbow Dash didn’t get as big of an applause, much to her disappointment, but earned quite a few curious conversations when it was announced she was a pegasus pony. The last pony to be announced was McShady, who got applauded and booed at the same time, making Applejack feel better that she wasn’t the only pony who didn’t like him. After the national anthem was played, everypony made their way to the left side of the stadium for their first contest: hay square throwing. A rope was wrapped around each large square of hay and they had to use it to throw it across the field as far they could. The rope could only be used by their mouths; any other part of their body that touched the hay would be a loss of points. Flags were placed to signal how many points a contender got if they managed to throw past the flag. Applejack felt her confidence soar; this was one of her better skills. She didn’t like to brag, but she was stronger than most stallions, and had been tossing hay around since she was a filly. One by one each of the contestants went up and tossed their respective hay squares. Most were average throws, but a few did make it to the high-score range, if only to cusp of it. Rainbow Dash’s turn had soon come up, and she stretched her neck a bit before taking her rope and started swinging her entire body around like the hay, similar to those hammer throwers in the Equestria games. Although it was quite an an unorthodox style to see in a rodeo, considering most contests swung the hay like a regular lasso, there were no rules against it. After a few more twirls, Rainbow Dash released her grip on the rope just as she tripped onto her stomach, her eyes twirling. The hay square managed to go quite some distance and soon enough it landed just a third away from the center of the stadium, making it the longest throw so far as well as the highest points earned. Ponies applauded and whistled as Rainbow Dash, still trying to get her sense of direction back, rose up and waved her hoof, soaking up the praise. Applejack walked over and held her hoof out to her partner, which Rainbow Dash tried to bump back, but the effects of her spinning were still in play and she tripped again. This time Applejack caught her, but soon blushed when she saw that their lips were inches apart. Just a bit closer and Ah could... Ah could... Rainbow Dash slowly got off and shook her head. “Sorry, AJ. Still trying to get my head back on straight.” “N-no, problem, s-sugarcube,” muttered Applejack, turning her head around to hide her blush while cursing just how close she was to tasting those lips. Her disappointment over nearly getting her first kiss from Rainbow was soon forgotten when she saw that it was McShady’s turn. He gave Applejack a quick daring grin before taking a bit of the rope. With great ease, McShady managed to twirl the hay barrel like it was a bag of feathers. He let it circle above him for just a few more seconds before he released it into the air. Everypony gasped as it soared like an eagle, passing all the other hay barrels below. It continued to make its way towards the center of the stadium, the highest amount of points one could get. It landed right past the last flag, and the crowd erupted into a barrage of stomped hooves and shouts. McShady tipped his hat and watched as the judges awarded him with full points. Applejack huffed, but kept her cool; unlike Rainbow Dash who was stomping her hoof in frustration and muttering a few curses that would make a sailor blush. With her turn up next, Applejack grabbed her rope and pulled it, only to suddenly jerk back when the rope suddenly broke. A few ponies muttered in confusion as Applejack looked at the long torn rope in her mouth and spat it out. She looked at the remaining rope tied to her hay square and realized her predicament. With shorter rope, it would be harder to toss the hay across the field and she would get less points. She couldn’t ask the rope to be fixed or for a new one as damage to the rope was the responsibility of the contestant and they had to make due. But Ah couldn’t have pulled it that hard, thought Applejack looking at the rope again before she saw something that made her blood boil. She knew ropes like the back of her hoof, and seeing the torn part of the rope made it clear that somepony had cut her rope to the point where even the weakest of pulls would result in it snapping off. She turned toward McShady who was staring at her with an impassive face, except for one eyebrow that was raised. Son of a pear! That doggone, no good cheater did this! Applejack was about to call him out, but stopped herself, remembering what happens when a rodeo had suspicion of fowl play. They took cheating seriously and investigated all possible routes as to who or how it might have happened. Those took days, days that Applejack couldn’t afford if she was gonna save Cherry’s farm. Residing to her fate, Applejack looked at her hay square and tried to figure out what to do. An idea soon came and, although it would cost her points, it was the best plan she had. Taking a few steps back, Applejack took a deep breath before charging forward and bucking the hay with both rear hooves. The crowd gasped at the sight of the penalty, but soon it was forgotten when they saw the hay fly in the air even further then McShady. Even he couldn’t help but keep his eyes on it. Gravity soon came to work on the hay square and it landed about half a mile away from McShady’s own hay. Despite the sight of the penalty, the crowd cheered anyway for Applejack. The judges, however, weren’t amused and award Applejack a less amount of points for touching the hay. Despite this, she managed to tie with Rainbow Dash in second place. Feeling confident, she stared back at McShady, who watched her impassiveness, and smiled. If he was gonna cheat his way, then she was gonna fight back with fairness. Ah’ll show that slimy snake what real cowponies are like.