//------------------------------// // Act 5 // Story: Date at Dodge Junction // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// Date at Dodge Junction Act 5 By The Rated Ponystar Edited by: Apple Spice and Mr. Minimii *** The first thing Applejack wondered was how much she had to drink that caused her head to be pounding with such pain. Her granny always told her to take it easy on the drinking lest she want a repeat of what happened at the family reunion three years ago. Between the fires, crazed cats, stolen manure cart and the fact that eighteen ponies got hospitalized, it was a miracle she didn’t get locked up. However, she quickly put the idea that she had been drinking away when she felt her entire body warped with pain. Even worse, she felt the burning sensation of leather holding her tight, quickly recognizing the fact that she had been wrapped in ropes. This caused her eyes to finally open as she saw the desert sand below and felt the rays of the sun on her back. She was on somepony’s back and was more hogtied then a pig. Applejack tried to shout for help, but only a mumble came out. Her muzzle was gagged up tight. “Ah think our guest has finally awakened.” Applejack narrowed her eyes as every curse word she knew went through her head. Looking up she saw the unpleasant smile of Clover High beaming down on her with Shorty right beside him. She could already guess who was carrying her as she struggled to get free, but a click of a hammer made her freeze up. Looking up, she saw the barrel of a gun in Clover High’s hoof. “Ah wouldn’t struggle. It’s mighty hard work diggin’ a ditch, but we can spare a few minutes if ya like to be so comfortable yer never gonna wake up,” muttered Clover High. Applejack kept her up her glare, but stopped her struggling as he pulled the gun away. “Good girl. Now mighty sorry about this, but this is the only way we’re gonna make sure that little flyin’ friend of yers doesn’t beat our boss tomorrow.” Yellowbellied, coyote humpin’, piece of trash! When Ah get out of here Ah’ll buck yer rump so bad yer gonna bleed out of it! thought Applejack. Applejack continued to keep her silence, trying to catch glimpses of where they were in the desert. Unfortunately, before she had any sense of where they were, they stopped and Applejack was shaken off the back of Crack-A-Barrel. She was quickly pulled up and realized they were in a quarry with an abandoned two-story shack nearby. Crack-A-Barrel took her by the tail and began dragging her to it while Clover High turned to Shorty. “Y’all go tell that fruit cup of a pony we got the other one and she’d better not be at the competition tomorrow or else she won’t live till sundown.” “Got it, boss,” said Short as he galloped away. Clover High followed Crack-A-Barrell and their hostage as he gave AJ a wink. “Now, don’t ya fret, darlin’. We’re quite the gentlepony’s when ya get to know us better. And Ah have a feelin’ we’re gonna be together for some time." Applejack closed her eyes as he heart jumping in fear at what fate lay before her. Was she even gonna make it out of this alive? Rainbow Dash. Help me. *** Five times. She had searched the stadium five times, but there was not a single clue as to where Applejack was. She had asked security, bystanders, even the other competition if they had seen her, but she was met with no answers. Rainbow Dash was starting to grow nervous. Not only was her possibly maybe marefriend injured, but she was also missing. She knew the doctor had told her that the poison had passed for Applejack, but that didn’t mean she was completely alright. Rainbow Dash cursed herself for not being there for Applejack when she needed her, but quickly calmed herself down as she sat on one of the benches inside the stadium. Getting worked up about this wasn’t going to help anypony, least of all Applejack. She had to be calm and keep her mind focused. Problem was it was still playing what Applejack had said in her sleep. Moaning, Rainbow Dash covered her head with her hooves. There were so many questions she wanted to ask Applejack. How long had she been in love with her? Why was she even in love with her in the first place? Was she that important to Applejack? Was that the reason why they were even in Dodge Junction in the first place? She had been acting weird all day and only now was she starting to notice how nervous Applejack had been all this time. But that wasn’t the biggest question. No, the one question that rang in Rainbow Dash head was the one she was trying to answer right now. Do I love her too? Rainbow Dash would never deny that Applejack was important to her, much like all her other friends. But there was something deeper in their relationship, an almost emotional side as well. Neither of them liked showing their real emotions in front of others except when they were with each other. Applejack knew of her doubts of never being a Wonderbolt. How she was still sad over her father’s death. How, dare she say it, scared she was at times when she did her more dangerous stunts that could end with her demise if things go wrong. In return, Dash knew about Applejack’s fear of losing the farm thanks to debts and repair costs. Her anger at the fact that more ponies were taking magically enhanced ways of growing food instead of the old fashion farming ways. Not to mention she was coming to terms with the fact that her favorite cousin, Braeburn, had been diagnosed with cancer. They were each other’s rock though all their hard times, but also the ones they could count on for good ones. Rainbow Dash knew, deep in her heart, that Applejack was the best friend she ever had... and now she was starting to think that she was maybe more than that. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw Applejack all dressed up in that wedding outfit. She was gorgeous in all the right ways. But was this love or mealy affection? Ugh, think about this later! Focus on finding her first! “Hey there, ya seem stressed out. Lookin’ for somethin’?” Rainbow Dash turned around, lifted her head up towards one of the exits of the bleachers, and growled at who she saw waiting by the corner. It was none other the shortest of McShady’s goons who was looking at her with a knowing smirk. “Or maybe somepony?” In an instant, Rainbow Dash had him up against the wall with her teeth grinding. “Where is she?! I know you punks did something so tell me right now before I rip you in two!” Although sweat beaded down his brow, Shorty kept up his smile. “Relax. She’s safe, for now, but if ya want her to stay that way, Ah suggest ya let go of me.” Rainbow Dash wanted nothing more than to squish his throat, but she held back and let him go. Shorty dusted himself off before pointing at Dash. “Listen, we got yer friend, and if ya want to see her back in one piece, yer gonna have to forfeit that match tomorrow and let our boss win. Once that’s done, she’ll be returned to ya safe and sound.” “What makes you think I would take you guys on your word?!” argued Dash. “Ya can’t, but ya got no choice, now do ya?” asked Shorty. Closing her eyes, Dash tried to think of a way out of this. If she forfeited the match, then Cherry Jubilee was gonna lose her farm. If she didn’t, Applejack was a goner, and she didn’t know where she even was. She was most likely not even in Dodge Junction and out in the almost endless desert. Rainbow Dash lowered her head in bitter defeat as Shorty patted her on the shoulder and made his way towards the exit. “Glad we had this discussion, it was quite an experience,” said Shorty as he turned the corner. Dash was about to curse at him when she saw him suddenly get kicked down the bleachers and smash against the stairs, falling down like a barrel. Rainbow Dash turned to see who had attacked the jerk, only to her surprise it was none other than McShady himself, stepping out of the shadows with a look that could kill. Rainbow Dash’s mouth opened and closed a few times as McShady slowly walked past her and stopped at a moaning Shorty. He looked up with fear at is boss. “M-McShady... we... I... I...” McShady’s response was his spur against Shorty’s bleeding hood, followed by a howl of pain. Dash nearly gagged as McShady dug it deep into his hoof, twisting it until he pulled it out and lowered his head. “Tell us where she is. Now.”  “S-sir! Please, we were only tryin’ to help ya win!” cried out Shorty, but he soon shrieked in fear as one of McShady's guns found its way to his head. “Please don’t kill me!” “Location.” “She... she’s by quarry to the west! Where the dingos like to hunt! But... but it was all for ya to win, sir!” begged Shorty. “And now y’all lost,” muttered McShady before smacking him on the temple with his gun. He turned around and walked past a stunned Rainbow Dash. “Let’s go, we need to save Applejack by nightfall.” “Wait, hold on!” shouted Rainbow Dash, flying in front of him and glaring. “What the hay was that all about?! Didn’t you order him to kidnap AJ in the first place?” McShady snorted. “Please, ya think Ah’d do such a thing? Ah fight and win with honor, not backstabbin’ tricks like these yellow bellies. Ah’ve done nothin’ wrong to either of ya, but this piece of manure,” he spat at the unconscious Shorty, “and his friends have. Since they’re mah employees, Ah aim to make things right.” “But... I thought... we...” McShady rolled his eyes. “Look, Ah get it. Ah’m a scary guy. Just who Ah am. But Ah’m no cheater. Ah’ve been suspectin’ this sort of thing for some time since Ah keep noticin’... accidents happenin’ in mah contests especially towards those who are close to beating me. Not to mention they also end up disappearin’ and are never seen again. If Ah don’t win, Ah don’t pay mah boys so it seems they decided to make sure Ah never lost once.” He trotted past Dash and leaned over his shoulder. “Now let’s go save yer marefriend, little filly.” Dash only nodded before she followed McShady out of the stadium. *** Applejack sat on her haunches, still gagged and bound, while eyeing her two kidnappers with venomous glares. Clover High was on a table, playing with a deck of cards as a rifle leaned against him. Crack-A-Barrel was looking outside the windows every so often while drinking a cup of coffee. Applejack struggled against her bonds, slowly working on a way to make sure neither of them noticed. Dagnabit they really tied these tight. Gonna take me a good while, if only they weren’t lookin’. An idea came to Applejack as she started getting Clover’s attention with a few muffles. Grabbing his rifle, he aimed at Applejack while coming over and muttered, “What now?” He took off the gag, allowing Applejack to breathe fresh air again, before she answered him. “Ah gotta pee.” Muttering a few curses to himself, he called out, “Oi! Crack-A-Barrel! She’s gotta take a leak! Ya watch over her and make sure she don’t escape okay!” “Okay, boss!” cried out Crack-A-Barrel as he walked over and picked Applejack up. “Hey, careful!” “Shut up!” Applejack shook her head and growled as she was carried outside towards the back. The moment she saw sunlight she quickly checked to see if there was anyway out she could go by, but the rocks covered all the exits and were too steep to climb. If she was gonna escape, she had to do it by going through the house and taking out the two bastards. While escaping was her overall goal, having these two get the apples knocked out of them by her hooves was just as satisfying. The outhouse wasn’t that far, and she was soon placed inside, right on the toilet seat, while Crack-A-Barrel waited, staring at her. Raising an eyebrow, Applejack said, “Um, Ah can’t go if yer watchin’ me.” “Boss says Ah gotta watch ya,” said Crack-A-Barrel. “So pee.” “Ah’ll pee when yah start closin’ that door and let me have some dang privacy. Where am Ah gonna go when Ah’m all tied up and doin’ mah business?” pointed out Applejack. Crack-A-Barrel thought about it for a moment before shrugging and finally closing the door. The moment it was locked shut, Applejack went to work on the ropes. They were good, really good. But Applejack’s Pa had taught her everything about ropes and all the tricks to them. It took a few minutes, but she was finally free and ready to kick some flank. The door banged a bit followed by Crack-A-Barrel’s voice. “Hey, ya done in there?” Faking a sigh of relief, Applejack positioned her rear legs to face the door as a grin grew on her face. “Yup! Ah’m done!” Crack-A-Barrel opened the door only to get two hooves straight to the face that knocked him on his back. Blood dripped down his nose as he tried to get up, his eyes nearly spinning, but Applejack got on top of him and smacked him once more for good measure, knocking his lights out. After making sure one of her captors was unconscious for good measure, Applejack quickly made her way towards the house as quietly as she could. She was no expert on sneaking, but with her life on the line she was gonna have to give it her all. She slowly opened the door, careful to make sure it didn’t creek, and tiptoed through the halls. Right by the kitchen, she saw Clover High pouring some cider into a mug before drinking it down like there was no tomorrow. His rifle was only a hoof swipe away by the wall next to her. Grabbing it, Applejack held it in her mouth, before creeping up on the jerk. When she was only a few hoofsteps away, she muttered, “Psst!” Clover High turned around only to get smacked with the butt end of his rifle like it was a club. The stallion fell down like a domino, and Applejack dropped the rifle for the door. Excitement grew in her chest as couldn’t wait to get back into town, find Dash, and get the sheriff and his boys to come down and arrest these two; and the short one if they ever found him. Once again, Apples show how they do it best! She opened the door... and felt the worst pain imaginable against her jaw as she crumbled to the ground, tears in her eyes. She looked up and the last thing she saw before darkness took her was a metal hoof. ***  Applejack finally awoke from consciousness as she felt the taste of her blood lingering in her mouth. She could already tell she was tied up again, but this time she felt metal instead of ropes. The rattling quickly painted the image of chains in her mind and she tried to shake them off, but the click of a hammer and the feel of a gun’s barrel on her head made her freeze up. “Ah wouldn’t do that, darlin’,” said a raspy voice. “Yer more to me alive then dead, but Ah can easily find another slave if Ah wanted to.” S-slave?! thought Applejack with fear gripping her heart. She looked up and nearly peed for real when she saw who was aiming the gun at her. It was some kind of unicorn in a dark cloak and hat. He was white with a purple mane that went down to his shoulders and a glare in his eye that spoke of cruelty and malice. But the most noticeable parts were the metal limbs. His horn, his left hoof, and even his jaw were made out of pure metal, like some kind of robot. There were others dressed like him, minus the metalic limbs, who chuckled upon seeing her squirm. Both Crack-A-Barrel, supporting a bleeding nose with his hooves, and Clover High were around as well, glaring at her. “Look, just take the stupid whorse. She’s been nothin’ but trouble, an’ Ah swear Ah ain’t gonna miss her.” “Only one this time, Clover?” asked the metal limbed unicorn as he put the gun away. “Normally ya give me two of yer boss’s competition.” Clover High smirked. “Trust me, this one is worth three. She’s as strong and fast as they come and can work wonders for ya.” The metal pony analyzed Applejack who wisely decided to sit still. She could tell this guy was different from the kind of scum Clover High and his gang were. This guy was a professional. A killer, cold blooded and all. Applejack had no doubt that he would kill her in an instant if she showed any resistance. The metal unicorn nodded. “She does look like quite the looker... what’s her name?” “Applejack,” said Clover High which made the metal pony turn around, eyes widened. “What?” “Applejack? Applejack Apple? The Element of Honesty?” demanded the unicorn, growing angrier by the minute. “Uh,” Clover started to sweat, “Ah... guess so?” The unicorn sighed before back slapping Clover with his metal hoof, knocking him to the ground. Clover tried to get up, but Applejack screamed as a gun aimed at his head and fired, blowing his brains out. Crack-A-Barrel screamed too, but more in rage as he tried to attack the metal pony, but two shots to his legs put him down. Crack-A-Barrel called out his friend’s name, but the face was barely recognizable. Applejack closed her eyes and shook her head as tears dripped down it. She hated that bastard, but she would never have wanted to see him killed like that. “Why did ya kill Clover High!?!” screamed Crack-A-Barrel, wincing at the pain. “We always given ya good ponies for slaves!” The unicorn shrugged. “True, which is why Ah’m gonna kill ya both quickly.” He leaned down and shook his head. “See, Ah’m a wanted pony. But so far Ah’ve kept mah business down here in the south, not too noticeable by the princesses. If they found out Ah was involved in kidnappin’ one of them heroes, Ah’d have the whole army after me.” He pointed his gun at Crack-A-Barrel. “So Ah gotta tie up loose ends.” “W-wait!” cried out Crack before a shot to the side put him down and was silent. Applejack held her breath as the metal pony looked at her next, gun levitating near her neck. A single pull and it would be all over, the great farm in the sky for her. “What should we do with her, Metal Hoof?” asked one of the lackeys. “Hmm,” said Metal Hoof, rubbing his chin. “Well, Ah’d hate to waste an opportunity like this. One of them diamond dogs will pay handsomely for a worker like her. Let’s get her into the carriage and head out to the station, boys. Our train awaits.” “What about the third one? Shorty? He’s not here.” “Well, guess we’ll have to find him then.” Metal Hoof grinned. “And make sure he never ‘appears’ again.” *** Rainbow Dash was still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Applejack getting kidnapped? Okay, she got that. Those three flankholes that had been bugging them did it? Made sense. Their boss, who both her and Applejack thought was supporting them, was actually helping her, and had just maimed one of his own worker so they can rescue her? Still processing. “H-hey? What about that Shorty guy?” asked Rainbow Dash as she flew across the desert, Duke McShady right below her on the ground. “He won’t be moving, and when we get back, not only am Ah firin’ his sorry flank, but Ah’m leavin’ him in the sheriff's hooves.” He narrowed his eyes and lowered his head. “After Ah break his two friends like Ah broke him.” “How did you even get jerks like that?” asked Rainbow Dash. “They’re family to a few friends of mine,” answered McShady, jumping over a small cactus. “They asked me to straighten them out by any means necessary, but ya can see how that turned out. Some ponies are just hopeless.” Rainbow Dash nodded as they continued their journey to the quarry. She looked over her shoulder and saw the sun was setting. What made her gulp was the fact that the sunset was blood red. There was an old superstition that whenever Celestia’s sun was red as it sank in the dark, that meant blood was going to be spilt over the night. She only hoped that blood wasn’t going to be Applejack’s. She couldn’t help but wish Applejack never got those tickets in the first place. If they hadn’t come over here, they wouldn’t have been in this mess, and Applejack would be safe and sound. And yet if you didn’t come over, you wouldn’t have learned there was a pony who care that much about you. “Hey, those guns real?” asked McShady, snapping her out of her daydream. She looked down at her cowpony getup that she bought at the costume shop earlier. “No, fake, why?” McShady scoffed. “Well, let’s then see if yer fast enough to dodge bullets.” Rainbow Dash gulped at the idea of facing guns, remembering how much power she saw them have in McShady’s hooves earlier in the freestyle round. “Will... will they really try to kill us? Or her? I-I-I’m not scared or anything, but...” “Rats, when cornered, will always fight back,” muttered McShady as he paused and pointed to the quarry ahead. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and focused on the rocks, noticing the house hidden there. The two headed towards a nearby large rock and huddled closer. McShady pulled out one of his guns and muttered, “Scout the area. Make sure there aren’t any surprises around the house. Don’t do anythin’ foalish.” “Got it,” nodded Rainbow Dash. She was about to head out when she stopped and nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “H-hey... um, I’m sorry about...” “Later, now go.” Dash didn’t need to be told again as she flew up and headed for a nearby cloud. Using it as cover, she slowly brought it down while keeping an eye on the area. So far there was no sight of anypony. In fact, she couldn’t even hear anything coming from the house. She checked the front, back, and sides of the house before waving over to McShady that the coast was clear. She watched as he galloped forward and slammed opened the door. Dash bit her lip, expecting to hear some gunfire or shouts of surprise, but she heard nothing. Suspicious, she flew down towards the entrance to look inside... only to lean out and throw up at the sight of Clover High’s brains blown out of his head by the front room. After losing her lunch three times, she weakly looked inside and saw McShady looking at both bodies with a stoic expression. He leaned down and closed both their eyes before placing their hats over their faces and sighed. “Idiots...” “W-what... what happened?” Rainbow Dash’s heart stopped for a second. “W-where’s Applejack?!” “Gone, somepony must have taken her,” said McShady as he got up and shook his head. “Whatever these guys were in, it cost them their lives. Yer friend Applejack must be worth more alive than dead if her corpse ain’t here. Although that might not be a good thing.” “W-well she is alive, isn’t she?” asked Rainbow Dash. McShady glared at her which made her spine tingle. “There are some fates worse than death.” He made for the door. “Come on, we’re headin’ back to town. Shorty is the only lead we got left. He may be able to tell us who they were workin’ with, and where they might have taken Applejack.” “What about the bodies? Shouldn’t we bury them or something?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Leave them; dead weight will do us no good,” muttered McShady. “Besides, the dingos here will smell their blood and take them for food. At least they can be worth somethin’ in death, more so than they were in life” “That’s cold...” whispered Rainbow Dash who wasn’t sure if he was really on her side. McShady smirked. “Welcome to the south. Where yer life is worth as much as the sand in the desert.” *** Rainbow Dash was starting to see where her so called “partner” had gotten the name “McShady”. He had Shorty tied up in a chair back at the stadium, in an abandoned storage room, where they waited for him to regain consciousness. Rainbow Dash kept tapping her hoof impatiently. For all she knew, Applejack could have been taken out of the desert by whoever it was by now. I’m not abandoning her. I’ll search all of Equestria to find her if I have to. McShady, unsurprisingly, was sitting as still as a rock, his eyes never leaving the unconscious pony. He finally sat up and shook his head. “Wastin’ time,” he muttered before picking up a pail of water with his mouth. He splashed it all over Shorty who instantly woke up and started coughing out before moaning about the pain. “Wakey wakey, Shorty,” said McShady as he threw the bucket away and walked over to his former employee who looked ready to piss himself. “Ah got some questions, and yer gonna answer them.” “Ah told ya where she is! That’s all I know! I swear!” cried out Shorty in terror. Rainbow Dash shook her head. “When we got there, your pals were dead. I’m sorry.” Hearing this made Shorty gasp before he began to weep uncontrollably. “Oh Celestia... Ah knew it... Ah knew that guy was gonna kill us someday...” “Which guy!” demanded McShady, leaning forward, but Shorty continued to cry. “Ah said—” “Hey!” shouted Rainbow Dash, getting in front of him and glaring. “He just lost his best friends! Jerk or no jerk, he should at least have a moment to mourn for them!” Shorty sniffled and muttered, “Ah’ll tell ya anythin’...” They looked at him as his sorrow was soon replaced by rage. “Ah’ll tell ya anythin’ so long as it means ya avenge them! Ah’ll say whatever ya want if it means brinin’ down Metal Hoof!” For the first time since she met him, Rainbow Dash saw a surprised expression on McShady’s face as he moved forward and asked, “Metal Hoof? THE Metal Hoof? That’s who ya been dealin’ with?” Shorty nodded. McShady rubbed his head. “Oh, for the love of pete. Were ya boys really this stupid to deal with a wanted man like Metal Hoof?! All just so Ah can win?!” Shorty looked down at the ground with his ears flat. “We... we didn’t at first. We just sabotaged other competitions because we wanted to get paid... One time we almost got caught, so we had to kidnap her. When the contest was over, we didn’t know what to do with her, so... Clover High got the idea of sellin’...” He gulped. “... of sellin’ ponies to slavers for extra cash.” A hoof came across Shorty’s face, but it was blue, not green. Any sympathy that Rainbow Dash had earlier was now wiped away and replaced with a strong urge to kill this piece of trash in front of her. She grabbed him by the shoulders and uttered menacingly,“You. Sold. Applejack. Into. Slavery?!” Shorty winced, but nodded before a second blow came. “You motherbuckers!” screamed Rainbow Dash. “Did you even once question if she had a family?! Friends?! A life?! And you’ve done this with how many other ponies?! Ten?! Fifteen?! TWENTY?!” “I...I’m...” “Don’t you dare tell me ‘you’re sorry’! It ain’t worth horseapples!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she spit on him. “I hope your friends are rotting in the underworld. And I hope you join them when you die, too!” Shorty said nothing, he only lowered his head and was silent. McShady put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Let’s go. We got what we came for. The sheriff will take care of this for now, Ah already sent one of mah other helpers for him. He’ll be in the courts hoofs after tonight, but Ah doubt he’ll get off scott free.” The two of them made their way for the door when Shorty muttered one last time, “Uncle McShady... Ah’m so sorry...” Rainbow’s eyes widen as he stared at McShady who stopped and sighed. “Ah’ll tell yer folks about what happened, Shorty. To you and Clover and Crack-A-Barrel. But ya dug yer own grave, kid, now ya gonna lay in it.”                                                                                                                         McShady said nothing else as he opened the door, left with Dash, and closed it, leaving Shortly to weep alone. *** Rainbow Dash didn’t know what to say to a guy who had seen his own nephews not only commit a crime, but two of them were dead and the other was going to jail for a long time. While she had no pity for those three in her hearts, she did have some for him. Must be tearing him up inside. “Ah ain’t bothered by this if yer asking,” said McShady as if reading her mind. “Those three were always trouble makers. So bad that their own families didn’t want them and gave them to me, another troublemaker. They made it look like they wanted me to fix them, but the truth was they just wanted rid of them. Ah took them in anyway, bein’ blood and all, but Ah knew it was hopeless.” He stopped and shook his head. “Ah just thought they’d never go this far...’ Rainbow Dash sighed and said, “It’s not yer fault.” “Damn right it ain’t, idiots,” muttered McShady as he continued walking. “Now we gotta deal with Metal Hoof.” “Who is this guy anyway?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Ah doubt ya heard of him up north, he keeps all his business down here in the south where the law ain’t as strong or organized. He’s a unicorn criminal who has metal body parts he gained after losing them in a stamped. He deals with gambling scams, theft, bank robberies, but mostly he kidnaps and sells slaves to the highest bidder. Usually to the diamond dogs in the Badlands where it’s legal to have them.” “How come this guy hasn’t been caught?” asked Dash. “He’s sneaky and he operates under the princess’s radar so they don’t get serious on him, but in the south he’s a big fish to fry,” muttered McShady, who stretched his neck. “It’s been awhile since Ah was back in the game, but Ah suppose Ah can come out of retirement one last time." “Last time?” asked Rainbow Dash. He grinned and puffed out his chest. “Allow me to reintroduce myself, Duke McShady. Ex-Bounty Hunter and the one whose gonna save yer marefriend.”