Out on the Ranch
With a blow of the whistle, and the roaring of the engine, the Ponyville express train continued on down its tracks, making express time towards its destination. It was a decent trip as it was, and the passengers were patiently awaiting to arrive. Among the passengers on the train, one of its cars also had on the Mane Six, also awaiting to reach their destination. Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack all were in the same car, but they weren't the only ones. Deciding to lend a hand to the group, Steven, Amethyst and Lapis were joining them as well, again in the same car. On the way, Amethyst and Rainbow Dash both pretty much fell asleep for the ride there, with RD having Applejack's hat over her eyes. This main trip though was more on Applejack than most, and everypony else was there for her support. That didn't mean they didn't had anything to do on the way; Fluttershy, Steven and Pinkie were playing cards, while Rarity and Lapis were both looking at a romance novel, titled "rustic charms", that Rarity brought along. Applejack, sitting in between Rainbow and Fluttershy, was looking at a letter, which was what got them going in the first place. Twilight had a book with her two, but rather than one she was reading, she instead was adding to it with a quill.
"Oh, a trip to the untamed west! This will be perfect for my journal," Twilight commented, though mostly to herself as she continued writing on. The journal Twilight had going was basically their adventures going about, which she began since arriving back from Homeworld. nothing too bad, and something that she wanted to try. Rarity, sitting next to her, nodded her head.
"I do hope it's rustically charming like my novel. Though the town in it is rather primitive. Maybe we should stop in a larger town for some accouterments," Rarity added, referring to the novel she and Lapis Lazuli were looking over.
"Accounter-whatta?" Questioned Pinkie, though her question went unanswered. Applejack though didn't look as enthused as everyone else, the letter she got anything but friendly.
"This ain't no joy ride, y'all. We're headin out that way because my great granduncle Chili Pepper's up and left off on vacation without tellin anypony. Canter Creek's lookin to my family to handle things til he gets back," Applejack reminded, a hoof pointing to the letter she was holding.
"What's the name of the farm? does it say?" Steven asked after a bit.
"Rancho Bronco. Sounds like some two-bit operation to me," replied AJ. She never really saw Chili Pepper as somepony who'd had much sense, honestly. Still, she'd rather not just go on about it. Even if she could, there wasn't much time for it; not too long afterward, the conductor soon opened up the door after the train came to a stop.
"Last stop. Welcome to Canter Creek everypony!" he announced. that was their cue to get going, but Amethyst and Rainbow Dash were still asleep. All it really took was Applejack to get the hat off of Rainbow's head to wake her up (dazed, but still awake), though it took a bit longer to get Amethyst awake.
"Ugh, I don't wanna go to school," Rainbow murmured, trying to wake herself up so they can go. Lapis had to soak amethyst's head in water to wake her up, which unlike Rainbow Dash, got her bright eyed almost right away.
It really didn't take too long before everypony was off the train, and out on the Canter Creek train station. Immediately, they all got a pretty good taste of what Canter Creek was; a sure fire look of a western town. Many of the buildings were made of dark wood, and had a pure old, western appearance to each one they saw. The ponies they saw still looked as colorful as anywhere else though, but not all of them. One of these ponies was actually waiting for them at the station. He was a stallion, not really as vibrant of colors as some other ponies. his fur was brown, and he had a small diamond-shaped white patch in between his eyes, on the bridge of his nose. His outfit mainly consisted of a dark tannish vest, and a cowboy hat on his head. His hooves, mane and tail had a light cream color. He also wore a sheriff's star on his vest, and even his cutie mark was a sheriff star (hammering the basic point on where he stood).
"You must be Sheriff Tumbleweed," Applejack said, going over to him. Tumbleweed turned to her with a smile.
"And you must be Applejack! We've been expecting you. Glad to make your acquaintance," Tumbleweed replied. Nearby though, Rarity only needed one look of the stallion, and ...
"OH~ What a dashing young stallion. you simply must tell me where you got your fetching hat," Rarity cooed, fluttering her lashers. Tumbleweed didn't really know how to respond to it, and Applejack just looked away, a bit bugged. After that, Tumbleweed and Applejack started to go off ahead.
"Follow me, I'll take you to the ranch. Applejack, you can introduce me to your friends along the way," Tumbleweed said, which Applejack agreed to. They might as well get to know the place before settling down and figuring out the problems.
~~~~~~
Pretty soon, the group was brought right over to the place in question, ala cart. Lapis, amethyst, and even Steven kind of questioned the idea, since another pony was who moved the cart in the first place while other ponies rode in it. Convenience? Part-time job? Well, maybe, but either way, soon the Mane six and their pals got themselves right over to the Rancho Bronco. Despite Applejack's comment about it being just a two-bit operation, it surely showed like it was prospering regardless. The main establishment showed a large barnhouse, and about three tall silos behind it. The ranch was settled right nearby a copse - a patch of trees in one spot, and most of the land had a good amount of crops despite Canter Creek being in the more arid areas of Equestria. The fields were green, and the place itself was by far bigger than Applejack's own sweet apple acres farmhouse. Heck, the main building itself looked bigger than their barnhouse alone, never mind the rest of it. Lapis and Amethyst both never saw such a big and healthy farm before. Sure, they had their barnhouse back in Beach City, but it was just a storage shed rather than what Chili Pepper did here.
The group was brought in from the Rancho Bronco's front gate, and soon the wagon came to a stop inside the property line. Tumbleweed got off first, as the rest followed. Applejack felt humbled by just how well her great granduncle had actually did, as she hopped off to look around with the others.
"Well I'll be. Great granduncle sure did good with the place," Applejack commented, as Tumbleweed brought them over to one of the patches of vegetables growing on the ranch. Nearby a field of wheat, Tumbleweed showed them the gold produce of Rancho Bronco, which looked like a type of red pepper. Rather small, bug enough to fit on one hoof, as Tumbleweed picked one off.
"This here ranch grows all sorts of things. There's even ten different types of peppers, including the Windigo Ghost pepper; the hottest in Equestria!" Tumbleweed explained, the Windigo pepper bring what he picked out to show them. Pinkie and Amethyst both showed some interest, Pinkie Pie sniffing at it like a curious pooch. Amethyst though took her own sample from the plant itself.
"I'll be the judge of that," amethyst boasted, and before anyone could stop her, Amethyst tossed the plant above her head, and she ate it in one bite! At first, Amethyst didn't seem too fazed, but seconds later she started to feel a little warm ...
Suddenly, Amethyst started to sweat like crazy, her face completely red all over, and she opened her mouth with her tongue on fire! The heat was like if she bit into a lava ball, or something, with the stinging power of a whole hornet nest in seconds. Of course, it only took a good five seconds for it to pass, leaving Amethyst comically burnt in the face, and with smoke out of her mouth for a little bit ...
"I'd like a bag to go," Amethyst stated. She didn't had any money, but these peppers were about as effective as her signature fire salt, maybe even more so, but didn't last as long as the fire salt would do.
"Er ... Why don't I show you the town?" Tumbleweed suggested.
~~~~~~
Soon, they were off towards the town rather than continue going about on the farm. The tour itself was going along pretty well, and the three Gems were liking the whole trip as well. Steven and Amethyst only saw this kind of stuff on western cartoons, and seeing it in real life was rather sweet to see. Lapis found the entire town quite intriguing as well, and was enjoying the whole tour.
Eventually, later on that day, they all ended up at the Canter Creek Saloon, all around a roundtable. The whole place was old western in its glory; the walls a dark brown while the floor was tanned wood, and the building was two floors high. With a drink ordered up for a few of them, some of them were treated to cider, as they chatted on for a bit more.
"So without Chili Pepper, there's nopony to run the ranch? Can't somepony fill in for him?" Twilight asked at one point, after Tumbleweed explained to her the issue at hoof. Tumbleweed just sighed.
"That's the kicker. you might've noticed all the wanted posters around town?" Tumbleweed started to explain. Indeed, they had been seeing a number of them all over the place, including at the train station itself. Rainbow sucked down her cider before she gave her own opinion.
"Yeah, there's everywhere, why?"
To answer, Tumbleweed showed them all one particular wanted poster. The poster in question showed a rugged bull, dark sideburns, black eyespots, and a black cowboy hat (typical really). The information on the wanted poster rewarded five hundred bits for his arrest, yet the bull in the picture actually shown to be waving with a smug grin. Obviously, this bandit didn't seem conflicted with getting his smug face on a poster. The name of the troublemaker, right under the picture; Longhorn.
"This yellow-bellied cattle rustler has been terrorizing my town. He keeps robbing us of our food and water, and we can't keep this up," Tumbleweed explained. Steven and Lapis looked over the wanted poster for a bit, already feeling what they had to do.
"And you need someone to help deal with him?" Lapis asked. Tumbleweed nodded his head, glad they got the idea right away. Lapis and Steven both looked back at the picture for a second, but before anypony could continue ...
"Yee-hah!"
A distant yelp from that was just loud enough to get their attention. The first to head out was Tumbleweed himself, followed by some of the ponies. Just outside, they began to look around for a bit on where the voice came from. After a while, eventually their answer began heading in from the setting sun. What they saw was danger in the flesh; a herd of bulls heading right to the saloon! Each bull was big, tough, and packed with muscle. The bulls looked tall, Longhorn the biggest of all, who was about as tall as Garnet at the shoulder, and each one of them rode into town on goats which they towered over, and barely had room to sit on. The goats didn't seemed bothered though, even if they were smaller than the ponies in question, and move at pretty fast speed towards the sheriff. Each one had different colors, ranging from white to rustic brown, but one bull lead the charge; Longhorn himself! Steven took a moment to compare the picture to the real thing.
"Wow, these picture look just like him," Steven commented. Still, the situation was anything but calm, as Tumbleweed glared at them as they stopped.
"It's the cattle rustlers! They're back, everypony!" Tumbleweed warned, as Longhorn himself got off his goat mount. Tumbleweed didn't hesitate to go right up to him, the bull not showing very much trouble with the sheriff. Some of the others came out, as Tumbleweed glared at the grey bull.
"Longhorn! I thought I told you not to come in my town again!" Tumbleweed growled. However, Longhorn looked innocently thinking, a hoof scratching his chin, and his eyes seemingly trying to look for an idea above his head. What happened next caught everypony off guard.
"You did say that, didn't you? ... I didn't listen."
And the second he said that, with a flick of his hoof, Sheriff Tumbleweed was sent flying back, his hat knocked off his head, and being replaced with an oncoming support beam. His goat mount pointed a hoof, and bleated in humor like it was laughing, as the sheriff was on the ground seeing stars (and not the one on his vest or flank). This was rather quick, and Longhorn just moved on. As the sheriff laid dazed, Longhorn and another bull began to get their goods. A tannish bull with a bandana over his mouth (like it'd matter), was holding a currently empty sack, as Longhorn himself brought some ponies over like he was politely escorting.
"Alright, you little ponies know the drill; fill up the saddlebags with food, water, and whatever else will fit in, and nopony else gets hurt," Longhorn said, his tone surprisingly polite for what he was doing. The town ponies quickly complied, and arrived with different fruits, and grains, and whatever else that will work. Immediately, anger got to the others seeing the sheriff get tossed aside.
"Why I oughta'," growled Applejack, cracking her hooves. She wasn't going to just sit there and see this happen. Rainbow and Amethyst weren't going to do that either. Applejack spoke first.
"Hey, you yellow-bellied brisket cowards!" Applejack shouted. Longhorn raised his head, hearing the insult loud and clear. He turned around, and stared daggers at Applejack and her backup.
"What did you call me?" Longhorn asked, a angry snort accompanying his expression. Applejack wasn't scared though.
"A Yellow. Bellied. Brisket. Coward! How dare you scare these ponies and robbin them blind!" Applejack retorted.
"Yeah, clear out of here you cows, or get your teeth cracked!" Warned Amethyst, cracking her fists together. Longhorn raised an eyebrow, not even bothering to stop his fellow bulls from robbing the ponies. Of course, Longhorn didn't budge, so Applejack, Rainbow, and Amethyst charged forward ...
Only for Longhorn to push them back into a barn. There wasn't even much trouble, just a quick ram with his head was all it took to send the three flying off into it! This bull was tougher than they thought.
"Leave them alone!" Lapis yelled. The intimidating bull turned to her. Lapis suddenly felt the intimidation of Longhorn, as the bull snorted at her. Lapis didn't realize just how big these bulls were, and this beast had its attention to her. The other ponies who didn't go flying went around her, having their attention directly to Longhorn so he wouldn't attack her as well.
"And what's a blue lass like you going to do?" Longhorn asked. They all looked to him for a while.
"We don't want to fight, but I'm not going to let you terrorize the town anymore. I-I want you out!" Lapis demanded. However ...
"Alright, see ya later."
Wait, what? That was it? Longhorn whistled for his goat, got on it, and then rode off. Honestly, the felt too easy. At first, the victory felt alright, but Fluttershy then noticed what really happened, when she pointed to an amount of empty barrels and bags ...
He robbed the town, and they were distracted.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
~~~~~~
With their loot, the bulls ended up back at their hideout later that night. Their loot was mainly consisting off food and water this time, mainly with the vegetables the town got from Rancho Bronco. It was a decent-sized robbery, though Longhorn himself seemed more or less troubled. These newcomers seemed to be a bit of trouble, and Longhorn didn't want anypony stopping his spree really. it was Applejack in particular, who started it, that bothered him the most. As his gang was enjoying the spoils of their spree, Longhorn pondered a bit by the fire about what to do about them. He knew they'll be on his tail at any minute, and as he was thinking, one of his accomplices, a white bull with a black spot over his right eye and a bowler hat in between his horns.
"Eh, boss, what're we gonna do bout those newcomers?' he asked.
"Trying to figure that part out. If they stick round here, we'll be in a heap of trouble," Longhorn figured. If these ponies weren't going to stand by (not to mention those other odd creatures), then who's to say that they'll do him and his gang in? As he tried to think, he got his hoof on one of the vegetables they robbed the town out of. What he got though was one of the Windigo Ghost Peppers. He took a hearty bite in it as he was thinking, and the spice of the pepper took effect. He made a huge snort of smoke. Maybe it was from that, or the spice of the pepper, but that gave Longhorn an idea.
"Alright, gang, bring it in. I got an idea."
.......
Further away, the group who went down the path, trying to find the bulls, were starting to close their distance between Longhorn and themselves.
"See them, Rainbow? Lapis?" Applejack called. The two fliers flew up quite high up, but not too high out of earshot. However, the two didn't seem to find any sort of trace just yet. As they were flying though, and looking around, Lapis then caught sight of something, and scent of something.
Smoke.
"A barn's burning up ahead!" Rainbow yelled.
Immediately everyone rushed off ahead., trying to see what was going on. Lapis and Rainbow both had a head start since they were flying. Sure enough, once they arrived in a clearing, they all saw the devastation that was going on; the Rancho Bronco barn completely in a blaze! Dancing flames were all over it from floor to rooftop. Nopony was around, so whoever caused it had hightailed it at this point. They all were shocked beyond belief here.
"Lapis, we need to douse out that fire, now!" Applejack yelled.
"I need more water for a fire like this!" Lapis replied. Luckily for them, Rainbow gave a loud whistle, showing them a water tower further away. Perfect. Quickly, Lapis Lazuli flew right up to the top, and took control of the water inside. Everyone got out of the way, as Lapis got half the water out of the water tower, and threw all of it at the fire. In a huge cloud of smoke and steam, the fire was doused out as quickly as it had started. However, that didn't save much of it, most of the foundation now black as coal, and as flimsy as matchsticks.
"Way da go, Lapis!" Steven cheered, joined by Pinkie.
"Those blasted cows!" Applejack yelled.
"Bulls," Fluttershy corrected, though Applejack didn't care; seeing her relative's barn on fire was more important than that. Applejack trotted over to the burnt barnhouse, looking around it. It was too coincidental that these bulls arrived and caused trouble, and then had this barn light up in flames hours later. To make matters worse ...
"Uh, AJ? I think this is for you," Steven said. As he was looking, he found something nearby where they came from. What he found was a message, tied to a rock just in view so Applejack could see it. Applejack rushed over, as Steven opened the letter for her to read.
Stay around this town any longer, and you'll be getting more trouble for your precious ponies.
Signed: Longhorn.
~~~~~~
The next morning, they all were back with Tumbleweed back in Canter Creek. Without any luck finding Longhorn and his fellow Bulls, the situation was becoming critical. Not only did they rob the town, but they burnt down Chili Pepper's barn house! Thievery and property damage were on their heads, and yet they couldn't find where the hay they went. Since they were dealing with something that could toss a pony with a flick of the hoof, this was something they had to handle before anything could get worse.
They met with Sheriff Tumbleweed in his office, with the group explaining to Tumbleweed what had happened. Tumbleweed didn't like to hear such news; they need that gang behind bars before it's too late.
"Oh pony feathers. How can Longhorn and his gang just up and disappear? I swear on Celestia, they'll have the town at this rate," Tumbleweed wondered in worry.
"What does he want with the town anyway? He got what he came for, so why don't he just go off with that?" Amethyst asked. If she stole something, she'd be done with it and go, but by the sound of it these bulls came around time and time again. Tumbleweed sighed again.
"That bull's had his eye on Rancho Bronco for a while. Chili Pepper kept him at bay, but now he's gone, he's tryin to get it for himself. You own the ranch, you basically provide for the town. You get where I'm goin, don't you?"
That got them thinking a little bit, though that reason doesn't explain him burning the barn down. Sure, it would give the bull ownership of the property, and in tern the town, but then why attack apart of it? Their only guess was that it was a scare tactic to get them gone, and it wasn't going to work! Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle got her eureka moment.
"I got it! Tumbleweed, how long has Rancho Bronco been here?" Twilight asked.
"Since the town's been founded, why?"
"Perfect! Listen up everypony, I got an idea so Longhorn can't get the property, but It's gonna take some time. Make sure they don't cause any trouble while I'm gone, okay?" Twilight explained, as she was heading out the door, wings spread.
"Wait, where're you going?" Rarity asked.
"To Celestia. If this works out, Longhorn can't even touch the place. I'll be back as soon as I can," Twilight assured them.
"But what're we supposed to do?" Amethyst asked. Twilight had a pre-plan conveniently made, and gave it to them. Leave it to Twilight with a written plan on the dot.
"Here, try and follow this plan. It might hold the Bulls back from Canter Creek until I get back," Twilight instructed. The Alicorn readied herself, and soon, she took off flying. She had to do this fast, and she relied on them to keep things in order. The group watched Twilight go from there, leaving them in Canter Creek to figure out what to do about Longhorn until she got back. That bull could show up at anytime, so they themselves have to get the town ready in case of another attack from that gang ...
Later on in the day, the group began to get a bit busy. It'll only be a matter of time before Longhorn would come back around, so before things could end up bad, they have to get the town prepared. With some help from Tumbleweed, their main plan was setting up barricades to keep them out (not the best solution, but one they got going for them). They didn't know where the bulls were, so rather than rush around looking for them, they'll catch them coming to Canter Creek. Everypony played their role in setting up; Applejack, Tumbleweed and Rarity helped build a sturdy barbwire fence as the first line of defense. Amethyst, Pinkie and Rainbow helped out with a extra trap, as the instructions stated.
Twilight written in it as a "syrup + feather trap". Straightforward. The trap mainly consisted of syrup barrels and feather bags all wrapped together as some extra baggage if the fence doesn't work. It honestly wasn't the best idea, but Twilight didn't had too much time to get her act together, so they had to work with what they got. As some extra precaution, they waited alongside to jump them once the trap had slowed them down. Tumbleweed got everypony else out of the way once they show up, giving out the word on what they're trying to do.
"Alright, that should do it. Y'all ready?" Applejack asked, as she wrapped the final bit of rope to the Syrup and feather trap. They nodded, as Pinkie was holding some of Amethyst's peppers she got from the ranch, as Applejack trotted over to them.
And not a moment too soon.
Soon after they got out of the way, ready to pounce, the very bulls in question could be heard coming in from the horizon. Sure enough, Longhorn and his gang were riding in hard, not slowing down. Longhorn could easily see what was in store for him and the group, but rather than slow down, Longhorn gave a smirk. nothing prepared anypony for what happened next ...
First, the Bulls all plowed right through the barricades, crumbling the wood, and snapping the barbwires in their charge. Then, they barreled through the syrup and feather trap, getting soaked in black sticky syrup, and white feathers around them, but that didn't make them flinch in the slightest. As this happened, Pinkie took a bite of the peppers. Before they could jump them, Pinkie suddenly ended up blasting out fire at them! The flammable stuff lit up almost right away, but that didn't even bother any of the bulls at all! ...
They're on fire, and that didn't bother them ...
"Wha - ... What? ... They. They are bulls, right? ..." Lapis breathed out, completely speechless on how to even comprehend what they were seeing. Even as they were being cooked, the Bulls still carried out their robbery business, and the townsponies had to comply. The Bulls weren't even conflicted; they went right on ahead and got their loot.
"Fill em up," Longhorn said smirking. The others were bewildered by the sight; they were still robbing the town, even if on fire! ON FIRE! Even with their hides blazing, the Bulls got their bags full of food, and whatever else as before. Amethyst for one, had enough with standing by.
"Cover me!" Amethyst demanded, before rushing out to get them. This wasn't apart of the plan, but Amethyst wasn't going to let this bull of a bull get away with this again (not to mention sending her flying into a barn). To even the field, a quick alteration in her body, and she turned into a huge purple bull. Longhorn was t-boned by a good charge, knocking Longhorn off his hooves. The fire was doused as they rolled around in the dirt, until Longhorn kicked Amethyst off of him. Amethyst was launched at another building support beam, snapping it, and having the frontal porch roof fall onto her. This time, the others went for the other bulls, and stopped the robbery from continuing. Amethyst (turning back to normal), exploded out of the wreck, whips blazing at the Bulls. Longhorn though grabbed a whip with his teeth, and swung her at the others. It was hard to fight them since they were still slightly on fire, and the Bulls knew this too. However, thanks to roughhousing in the dirt, and some attacks from Lapis, the fire was doused out from the bulls.
"Give up, Longhorn!" Rainbow demanded. Longhorn snorted, checking his horns to see if they were bent in anyway. Still, he was starting to loose his patience with these defiant ponies and Gems. Teeth grinding mad, Longhorn charged in, and suddenly grabbed hold of one of the defying newcomers; Rarity!
"Hold it! You wouldn't want this young lady hurt, do you?" Longhorn warned, holding her up in the air by her hair. Rarity was shocked.
"You ruffian! Put me down!" Rarity demanded, trying not to have her hair wrecked by the rough Bull. The others were stopped when they saw Rarity pretty much be taken hostage. If they continue, she'll get beaten to a pulp.
"Wait, wait! Maybe we can work something out?" Steven offered, trying to make peace with the Bulls.
"Okay then; give us all your food, and we'll let this lass go."
"Can't we all just share instead? you don't have to keep taking food from Canter Creek, right?" Steven pointed out, still trying. Longhorn didn't let her go, his other hoof scratching his chin as if he was considering the idea.
"Okay then; how about hundred for me, and zero for you?" Longhorn mocked. Suddenly, he brought his free horn to his mouth, and whistled good and loud to get his Bulls moving. They got their bags, got onto their goat mounts, and began to go. Lapis and Rainbow rushed to block the way, wings spread, but the Bulls didn't seem too worry though, and barreled through them both as easily as the barricades. Longhorn tossed Rarity aside, got onto his goat, and began to head off to join his group. They got everything, and they just have to get outta dodge while the ponies dealt with their own issues. Rainbow and Lapis were bruised up, with goat hoof marks all over them, their eyes spinning in a daze.
"Not a good idea," Lapis said.
The Bulls left Canter Creek with their loot, from the same direction they came from, leaving the nearby buildings in a wreck. Broken glass, stray wood, barb wire, and the mess that was the syrup and feather trap laid all over the ground, and the main sign for Canter Creek was on the ground, cracked in two. At this point, Tumbleweed was left with worry, looking down at the wreckage in a sad sigh. Only one day, and they had their front area wrecked, their barn burnt, and their food robbed twice. Applejack went over and comforted Tumbleweed.
"Whatever your friend's going to do, she better do it soon," Tumbleweed sighed. Applejack could only hope so too.
~~~~~~
Hours afterwards, it was some process to clean up the mess left behind by Longhorn and the gang. the residents lend their hooves in the help, but it was a rough blow. Lapis and Rainbow recovered quickly, yet they didn't have time to track down Longhorn and figure out where he went. It was really starting to become quite a bit of trouble, really. If they couldn't handle Longhorn while Twilight was away, then she'll have no Canter Creek to return to! Lucky for them, Longhorn was busy with his own stuff, and as of Twilight, she was taking sometime to get back to Celestia. They thought Twilight was going to hurry back, but by sunset ...
Dear friends:
I'm trying my best, but Celestia was very busy. I managed to arrive this afternoon, but she was stuck in the middle of a meeting, and I had to wait until she was done. I can't get it done tonight, believe me I tried, but I'll promise it'll be done by tomorrow. Hang in there, everypony.
Signed: Twilight Sparkle
Yes. It seemed that Twilight wasn't going to make it until sometime tomorrow, which didn't help the situation for anypony. So much for it being soon. Applejack looked to it in dismay, after she read it off to the others. They met up back at the Saloon after everything was finished and cleaned up.
"UGH, how much longer?! If I see another cow, it'll be too soon!" Rainbow groaned.
"Bulls," Fluttershy corrected.
"Whatever, I don't care."
"Twilight's trying her best, everyone. We're just going to have to handle the issue until tomorrow," Lapis assured, though being trampled by their goats didn't suit her either. she was just glad her gemstone wasn't hit ... that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Amethyst chugged down some more cider before she spoke.
"Man, if they come back here, I'll make T-bone steak out of them," Amethyst growled, slamming a fist on the table. Steven, who ordered a glass of milk, got his glass up before it could be knocked over. To Amethyst, that would be plenty satisfactory, and would give her something to eat too in the end at some Barbecue.
"W-Wait, Amethyst, let's not get too hasty," Steven insisted, not wanting to see anypony butchered up. That's the last thing he wanted to see anyway. As this went on, Rarity took a glance outside from the Saloon window. Across the saloon, she could see the local Notary, but it was who was there that left her puzzled.
"I think you guys should see this," Rarity said. They all took a moment to look outside to what Rarity was seeing. Just in front of the Notary looked like another Bull, but this one didn't look like a bull from Longhorn's group. He looked smaller, with brown fur and a dark grey mustache. He looked more formal than Longhorn ever did; in a vertical lined dark blue suit, and a white bowtie. After stopping in front of the building, the Bull then went on inside the Notary. Curious, Rarity, Applejack and Steven went over outside, and went over to the notary, just as the same Bull stepped back out. The pony in charge of the Notary went out to watch him go, the papers he had catching their attention.
"May I see those?" Rarity asked, having a look at the papers. The Bull saw Steven and Applejack standing close by.
"Ma'am. Sir," he said politely. soon afterward, he got back on his goat mount, and rode away. Applejack was left perplexed, but slightly suspicious. so far, the Bulls hadn't been very kind, to put it lightly, and here's a polite Bull just coming up out of nowhere. As for Rarity, the documents she was seeing gave her more cause of alarm, as she brought the documents over to Applejack and Steven so they could see. The others came out to investigate after the Bull left. Turned out, this document was a ownership's deed of Rancho Bronco! What's worse was who the name labeled; Longhorn!
"Seriously?! He robbed the town like mad, and NOW he pulls this?!" Applejack snapped.
"Where'd that Bull go?!" Amethyst growled, but only finding that the Bull was out of sight already. Those goats sure could move fast.
"Hey, hey we got this, just make some confetti," Pinkie said, already taking one of the forum pieces, and shredding it up in her hooves. she tossed it up high in the air for some extra fun, as she kept going. This problem, albeit a big one, was easy to take care of. She continued more and more until they all were gone, and turned to confetti. Rainbow looked to Pinkie.
"Good job, Pinkie. now he won't have that property for -"
"Wait a minute," Applejack suddenly said, looking over what they did. Looking at the documents, then she realized something important ...
"Follow that Bull!"
.......
"And here's my end of the deal," Longhorn said to the Bull in question, as another member of his gang gave the Bull a bag of potatoes. Seemed Longhorn got his own idea on what to do, though showing up back at the place wasn't going to work well for him. So, after an idea from another bite of the Ghost Pepper, he got this Bull to handle notification for him. The Bull gave Longhorn the signed document, while he collected his bag of potatoes. He tipped his hat to Longhorn.
"Pleasure doing business with you," the Bull said, as he got on his goat with his bag, and went off on his way. After he left, one of the Bulls, a black and white Bull, tapped Longhorn on the shoulder.
"Didn't think you'd be one to give like that," he noted. Longhorn pushed the document in his chest, and walked off as he looked it over.
"Hay, once that fancy ticket becomes official by sunset tomorrow, we'll be havin enough to retire early," Longhorn assured, laying down comfortably by the fire, front hooves behind his head, and relaxing. He felt confident, and he was sure nopony else would notice this. all they and to do was chill out, and they got the whole property all to themselves, and all the stuff that went with it...
Peaking through the bushes, the ponies that'd been fighting against them soon found their camp, and found out what they're up to.
"Those yellow-bellied scoundrels," scolded Applejack.
"About time we found them. Come on, let's pound their sorry faces," Rainbow insisted, ready to do just that.
"Wait a minute, isn't there another way?" Steven said, holding her back.
"Did you, or did you not see what those cow did to Canter Creek?" retorted Amethyst.
"Bull," corrected Fluttershy - again.
"And a lot of it," stated Amethyst.
"Even if we won, what about that document? If we drive them away, their place is still here," Rarity noted. She was right about that; the place will still be here, even if they drive the Bulls away. They'll just come back anyway, so, they were kinda in a loop. Applejack tried to think as best she could on how to handle this ... After a good while, Applejack got it.
"I got an idea."
~~~~~~
As the next morning began to come around, Longhorn was still snoozing through the morning, his hat over his eyes as he snored. The night went on without a hitch, and with the property in his own clutches, he can afford sleeping in for the morning. As he continued snoring, a bird began tweeting up a ruckus. Longhorn and his gang didn't take much notice, but as the bird flew past, something landed on one of their heads. It was in a ball, and it bounced off his head, just enough to wake him up. He still was a bit woozy, and it took a bit to get himself up, but he did eventually notice the item dropped down to them. The Bull got up and opened up the paper ball, and skimmed it over. Soon after, he got Longhorn woken up with some shaking.
"Wha-? Why you -"
Longhorn was then shown the paper before he could punch his snout. Longhorn casually grabbed the paper, and looked it over.
"Full documentation needs to be completely notarized. Head to the notary to complete," Longhorn read off. He pulled out the document, which appeared fully signed like it was supposed to. Right on the dotted line, as it's supposed to be. And here Longhorn thought it would be over and done, and they'd be laying in luxury by sunset. Longhorn felt his hoof over his eyes, groaning.
"Hold down the fort, y'all, be right back," Longhorn groaned. He just wanted to get this over with; if that two-timing Bull didn't do it right, then he had to do it himself to make sure it was done right. As Longhorn took his leave, a few familiar faces watched him go. That's one Bull up and left, but the others were still there. In the bushes, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow dash and the Gems all now had to consider what to do about the rest of the Bulls.
"Great, what do we do about the other Bulls?" Wondered Rainbow. Pinkie smirked.
"I say we improvise."
Pinkie's idea to improvise? ...
Well, as the Bulls stood guard around their camp, the group began their little tricks. As for what they could do, not everyone in the Bull group are aware of what they could do. Amethyst, maybe, but not Lapis, and this could work in their favor. Some of the Bulls were a bit tired, still keeping an eye out, so their guard wasn't at its best. Pretty soon, the plan was set in motion; with some fancy tricks, the group had gotten their work together. They got a basic white cloth, two eye holes cut out, and Lapis had made a small water orb for the cloth to settle on. This was a basic trick they're going to do, and an old fashioned one. Lapis, steadily, got the cloth off the ground like it was flying.
"oooooOOOOOOooooo"
Steven provided the voice for their extra trick. It was surely loud, and got their attention fairly quickly. The second they saw it ...
"AAHH, GHOST!!"
The Bulls looked completely terrified, cowering on sight of it. The Gems were shocked that this was even working, as the Bulls cower. Lapis played around with this, and moved their ghost act all around them fast. The Bulls pretty much hightailed it out of there after that.
They couldn't help but snicker.
"Okay, now they're gone, let's get this off the property before they get back."
That was their plan; getting the campsite off of Ranch grounds with the Bulls away. How can they have a claim if they weren't there to begin with? Lapis made sure the Bulls weren't around, as the others began to move the place away. It was fairly easy to handle, and they all got at least some part of the camp away until it didn't seem that anything was there, or any campsite was there to start. It wasn't mind-boggling. it wasn't creative. But it was efficiently effective. They just had to get it off the property line, without any trouble, and they should be good. The Bulls stayed hidden in the nearby woods, as they went ahead and began taking their stuff, and moving it away. Lapis and Steven were also happy to take their loot to give back to the town while they did so. They might as well.
.......
As team A was doing that, team B was back in the main town, expecting Longhorn to show up any minute. If their message got through, then they should've gotten him up and moving at this point. Sure enough, Longhorn began to arrive into town, stopping by the Notary in question. His goat waited outside, as Longhorn went right in.
"Hello mr. Longhorn. Did you receive our message?" The notary pony asked.
"Yeah yeah, I got my own stuff to do, so let's get this over with," Longhorn groaned. Again, if that other Bull got it right, he wouldn't have to deal with this. If it meant making it easier though, then he might as well get it over with. The Notary presented him with some extra papers, and a ink bottle with a quill. Longhorn took the quill, and began signing away, one paper at a time. Longhorn was going rather careless though, signing them fast, until he was supposedly finished.
"Done," Longhorn announced, shoving the papers at the Notary pony. The Bull turned to go, as the Notary pony looked each over. However, as Longhorn was just about to head back ...
"Mr. Longhorn?"
"What now?" Longhorn groaned, hoof to forehead. The Notary pony showed him the papers again.
"Not all of these papers are notarized," revealed the pony. Sure enough, the documents remained blank even after he signed them. Longhorn roughly groaned, snatched the papers, and went in to try again. The Notary noticed Fluttershy and Rarity further away, giving them a wink before heading in himself. The Notary was apart of their plan, and he was in on it. This part was simple; all they needed was some invisible ink and Longhorn would be stuck there all day. Longhorn wrote in the documents again, and came back out. This time he got as far as getting on his mount when ...
"Mr. Longhorn?"
This time though he was getting suspicious, looking back at the Notary again.
"What this time?"
"Notarization."
Longhorn went back in once more, and began the same procedure, but when finished, the suspicious Bull stuck around ...
"Aren't you going to go?"
"Just testing something," replied Longhorn. He loomed over the documents, staring directly at them for a good while. The notary didn't want him to stick around, and neither did Rarity and Fluttershy. Longhorn stared to where he wrote for a good minute or so. It was at this point when his signature started to disappear! Longhorn glared at the worried pony, who was giggling nervously. Longhorn summed up his mood with a angry snort.
The jig was up ...
After a few minutes, Longhorn got right back outside, and left right from there. Worried, Rarity and Fluttershy went right to the Notary, only to find the Notary pony tied up and knocked out, a notable hoof print right on his head!
"Uh oh."
~~~~~~
Fuming, Longhorn hightailed it straight back to where his camp was, his goat moving as fast as it could. With this trick, he could be for sure that something was happening to the camp, or something of the sort. His goat skidded to a stop once he arrived, but when they did, they ended up to their whole camp missing! His Bulls were gone, and all of his stuff wasn't around anywhere. No fire pit, no loot, no backup. The only main thing he did see was sets of tracks in the dirt, and a slightly damp cloth.
"Idiots," Longhorn groaned under his breath, as another snort got out of him. He told his boys to stay put, and he finds everything gone the second he comes back. He didn't know where they went, but he was more dead set on getting his stuff back at this point. His goat mount went right to his side, as he hopped back on, and started following the trails quickly. It took a little bit, but the Bull eventually began to catch a glimpse of the culprits. The ponies and Gems weren't too far from the property line, and if they could make it any further, then Longhorn would be off the property. Longhorn wasn't having that.
"HEY!" Longhorn called, charging in towards them. They all turned around, only to confront Longhorn.
"Double ponyfeathers," groaned Applejack. Rainbow and Amethyst got in the way, and charged into him. But unlike before with the rest of the gang, Longhorn was knocked back off of his goat, hitting the ground. Longhorn knocked then back with a sway of his horns, and was ready to charge, but Steven rushed in the way. Longhorn charged forward, and Steven got out his shield just in time to stop Longhorn. Hitting the shield made Longhorn bounce back.
"You brat, outta my way!"
"Please, I can't stand seeing you fight eachother! Isn't Equestria supposed to be for harmony?"
"I'd give, if I cared, now MOVE!"
Longhorn charged at them a number of times, not doing any sort of damage to the shield in question. Each hit made Steven a little more stressed each time, straining to keep the shield up against the angry Bull Longhorn wasn't enjoying it much either; each ram giving him more and more of a headache. He stopped after five rams, trying to regain himself. Steven's shield was starting to shrink a little bit, but still was up to protect.
"I'LL HAVE THIS RANCH, OR SO HELP ME -"
"No you won't!"
The new voice suddenly got everyone's attention, looking up to the sky. Flying down, arriving just in time before the fight could escalate, Twilight Sparkle finally had arrived. Once more, the alicorn had some written documents of her very own, showing them to Longhorn. While his document contain his ownership of Rancho Bronco, which had to wait until sunset to make it official, these signed documents made it clear that he can no longer do that.
These documents in particular, signed by the princess of the sun and moon themselves, had marked Rancho Bronco as something more than just Chili Pepper's ranch, but also an historical site! Basically this made owning Rancho bronco like trying to claim ownership of Canterlot Castle, or something like that. He'd tear it up, but he was so upset he didn't think straight.
"On word of the princesses, only Chili Pepper and his workers now have ownership of Rancho Bronco. Better luck next time, Longhorn," Twilight revealed. Longhorn was bucking mad - literally. Nearby, his reckless bucking had accidentally whacked his own camp, sending the fire pit flying in the air in a mess. The launching rocks ended up hitting up the nearby foundation, even strike a nearby building on the property ...
Right in front of an Alicorn ...
"Oh bull."
~~~~~~
Later on that day, it seemed that everything at once was going in the Gem and Pony favor, rather than the Bulls. Next thing Longhorn knew, he was stuck behind jail walls. He looked as grumpy as grumpy could get him, his front hooves around the bars of his jail cell. Of course, he wasn't the only one; his buddies were found out, still where they last saw them in the bushes, and put within the jail as well. It's never a good idea to stay cowering after their boss was captured and thrown in jail. As for their goats, they were given a proper home in Canter Creek with some suggesting from Steven and Fluttershy. With a comfy place and plenty of food, they're pretty content with this change. The news quickly spread throughout Canter Creek, and the group happily returned what the Bulls had stolen from them, making things much better for everypony. All of their vegetables, water, and other things were given right back to them directly by the gems, whom felt better for helping out Canter Creek. Steven though wished that the Bulls would've listened to them, but sometimes the main answer is the one that they'll take. Besides, at least Canter Creek wouldn't have too much trouble now.
With their job done here, they all awaited at the station for their train back to Ponyville, with Tumbleweed there to say goodbye.
"Thanks y'all for handling Longhorn. now we can keep our food and water without it getting taken," Tumbleweed said.
"It's no problem, Sheriff. Happy to help," Applejack said with a nod. It did feel good to help out a town held together by her family. Soon though, they heard the train's whistle, telling them that they had to get themselves on and get going. Chili Pepper will come back around, and he wouldn't have to see his farm taken over once he does.
"You're welcome in or town anytime, Applejack."
"Thanks. and hey, if you ever visit Ponyville, stop by Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack replied, and soon, they were in the train. The train whistled once more, and it's wheels started to turn. Tumbleweed waved goodbye, as Applejack did the same from one of the car windows. Their stay in Canter Creek may not had been the most relaxing, but it was still good to help them out all the same.
And now, it's off into the sunset, and back to Ponyville.
Exposition express anyone? 
I don't know how many of you are familiar with the comics of MLP, but I was basically introduced to a train wreck that was "The Good, the Bad" and the Ponies", and this is my take on it. You'll see the changes once Longhorn shows up. From what I know, the biggest issue was Twilight and her *ahem* reasons to not use magic 
. So, she won't be hanging around for half the story, and I hope I made good enough explanations for her lack of magic beforehand.
Hopefully I improved it in general compared to the original train wreck 
Thank you Silver Quill for not only showing me the comic, but also showing me how much it needed fixing. 
Check it out so you can get a better idea, y'know, to compare the two. 
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I don't normally read the comics... actually, that's a lie. Except for pages and snippets here and there, I have NEVER read the comics before. But I don't need to to know that this was a better take on it.
7230245 I'm glad you think so, thank you ^^
Nice to see that some of the issues with that comic were fixed. Although secretly I would have loved to see how those bulls would have reacted to a thirty-foot tall, five eyed, four armed purple titan.
i.ytimg.com/vi/5fpg_pq2miw/maxresdefault.jpg
Seriously, who would want to fight that?
Anyway, good show as always.
7231136
Don't you mean, Western Movies. But truth be told, the all westerns so, same thing.
8351605
yeah pretty much. Might as well broad it out
when she gets that beach city is fucked.
9900709
X3