High Noon At Dodge Junction

by MontyCS

Chapter 1

The train quickly gathered steam and began to chug forward as it pulled out of Ponyville Train Station. Onboard one of the passenger cars, the Mane Six all eagerly took their seats.

"Dodge Junction, here we come!" Pinkie Pie declared.

The reason for everypony's excitement was because Applejack had recently received a letter from Cherry Jubilee, the owner of Cherry Hill Ranch, who she'd briefly worked for during the time she hadn't come home from the Equestria Rodeo competition.

Dodge Junction was throwing its annual town festival celebrating its founding, and Cherry Jubilee had wanted to do something different than her usual cherry products this year. And so, she had contacted Applejack with an intriguing proposition as well as an invitation for her and her friends.

"Ah tell ya, everypony..." Applejack said, "This idea Miss Jubilee came up with fer th' Dodge Junction Festival is pure genius. Apple-cherry baked goods; a joint venture between Sweet Apple Acres and Cherry Hill Ranch!"

"It was very kind of Miss Jubilee to invite us to the festival as well." commented Twilight.

"Hey, ain't that what friends are fer?" Applejack smiled, "An' besides, y'all made o' bit of an impression on her durin' th' brief time we all worked fer her..." the orange earth pony suddenly looked a little embarrassed, "Ya know, in spite o' what was goin' on with me at th' time..."

"Come now, Applejack..." Rarity said with slight exasperation, "The less said about that whole venture, the better."

"It's all water under the bridge now." Rainbow Dash put in.

"Way under the bridge!" agreed Pinkie.

Fluttershy nodded, "Besides, we all had fun working for Miss Jubilee, and even made a new friend in the bargain."

Applejack smiled, "Yeah, Ah guess yer right. Though, now that y'all mention it, Ah do wish Miss Jubilee coulda got back ta me after Ah accepted her proposal. Ah haven't heard from her in two weeks."

"She's probably just been busy getting things ready for the festival." Rainbow Dash suggested.

Rarity nodded, "I'm sure that must take a lot of work."

"That it does." Applejack conceded.

"It's all right; we'll see her soon..." Twilight assured, "And if she needs help, we'll soon be there lend her a hoof."

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie grinned, "So we can just forget about our worries and our strife, because we're not gonna let anything spoil our fun!"

Everypony voiced their agreement.

----

"All out for Dodge Junction!" the train conductor called as the train came to stop.

Having finally arrived, the Mane Six all quickly piled out of the train, and onto the station platform, hoping that Cherry Jubilee would be there waiting to greet them. But as they took in the scene before them, their anticipation quickly gave way to shock.

Miss Jubilee was nowhere to be seen, and that wasn't even the half of it...

Dodge Junction looked completely deserted. Not only was there no sign of any preparations for the upcoming festival, but there was absolutely nopony on the streets. The whole place was silent, with the only sound being a slight rustling in the wind, and the only movement being a few tumbleweeds blowing past. It didn't take a genius to know that something was
very wrong here...

Deeply concerned, the Mane Six began to cautiously make their way down the empty, silent streets.

"Where is everypony?" Rarity wondered aloud.

Applejack shook her head, "This ain't right; the place is like a ghost town."

"I don't like the look of this." Twilight said.

Fluttershy shivered, "Me neither."

" It's quiet..." Rainbow Dash commented, "Way too quiet..."

"HELLOOOO!!! ANYPONY HOOMMMEEE?!?!" Pinkie Pie suddenly hollered out of nowhere, scaring the hay out of her friends.

"Great gallopin' galoshes, Pinkie Pie!" Applejack cried, "Y'all tryin' ta give us a heart attack?"

Pinkie gave a confused shrug, "But you all said it was too quiet..."

Before anypony could say another word, the streets erupted into a flurry of action as the townsponies suddenly burst out of the nearby buildings, many of them carrying luggage, or children as they all scrambled to get out of town.

"Hey! Wait! Hold it!" Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight respectively shouted as the crowd passed by.

"Whoa there, nelly!" Applejack managed to stop one of the fleeing ponies, "What in th' wide, wide world o' Equestria is goin' on here?!"

"We just got into town!" Rarity quickly added

"Better you than us! Run fer yer lives!" the pony said, before continuing his flight, "Th' outlaws is comin'!"

"Outlaws?!" the white unicorn exclaimed.

Another pony paused in front of the Mane Six, "That's right! A gang o' pony thieves is comin' ta town, an' we're clearin' out!"

"Y'all had best do th' same!" said a third pony as they raced past, "They're mighty nasty!"

"Well, just hold on a minute!" Applejack shouted, "Where's Cherry Jubilee? Has anypony seen Miss Jubilee?!"

"Applejack!" a familiar voice called.

Following the direction of the voice, Applejack, and the rest of the Mane Six were relieved, and overjoyed to see Cherry Jubilee galloping through the crowd towards them.

Applejack rushed forward to embrace the other earth pony, "Miss Jubilee! Thank goodness yer safe at least!"

"Oh, Applejack! Am Ah glad ta see y'all!" Cherry Jubilee said, "Ah'm sorry, but it looks like th' festival's been cancelled!"

Twilight quickly stepped up, "Is it true, Miss Jubilee? Is there really a gang of pony thieves coming here?"

"Yes! They've been rustlin' around these parts fer weeks!" confirmed Cherry Jubilee, "We all hoped they'd steer clear o' Dodge Junction, an' move on, but now they're comin' ta take over th' whole town!"

"Oh, dear...!" Fluttershy shuddered, "Hasn't anyone told the sheriff?"

As if on cue, a white stallion wearing the sheriff's badge ran up to them.

"Consider yerself told!" he said as he ripped off his badge, and pinned it on Fluttershy's chest, "Congratulations! Yer now th' official sheriff!"

"Me?! Sheriff?!" cried the yellow pegasus in shocked disbelief.

"Good luck to ya!" the now former sheriff quickly shook Fluttershy's hoof, and then ran off.

For a moment, everypony just stared after him, until at last, Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

"Some sheriff. No wonder this town's in trouble!" grumbled the sky blue pegasus.

It was then that everypony suddenly became aware of a low, deep rumbling that was steadily growing louder. Looking up, they soon noticed a huge cloud of dust rapidly growing larger as it approached. Within moments, the dust cloud rumbled into town, scattering those who still remained.

"It's them! They're here!" cried Cherry Jubilee.

The Mane Six and Cherry Jubilee braced themselves as the huge dust cloud loudly ground to a stop just a few feet away from them. As the cloud dust finally dissipated, everypony looked up, and were alarmed to see large group of rough, mean-looking stallions, all of whom wore cowboy hats, and had bandanas covering their muzzles.

"That's funny." said Pinkie Pie, "I see a bunch of ponies, but I don't see any thieves."

The leader of the gang stepped forward and pulled the bandanna off his mouth; he was a big, muscular tan stallion with coal black mane, and a mustache.

"Don't think you get th' picture here, friends." he said, "We ain't pony thieves. We're pony thieves! Ponies who steal stuff! Understand?"

"Ohhhhhh...!" the pink earth pony laughed, "Now I get it!"

"Just who are you anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, where are mah manners?" the gang leader tipped his hat, "Ah'm Deadwood Dutch, the world's meanest horse thief, an' leader o' th' Hole-In-The-Roof Gang."

Fluttershy chuckled nervously, "Well, it was, uh, nice meeting you. Now if you'll excuse us, we've gotta go..."

She started to turn to leave but let out a high-pitched gasp when a whip cracked the ground right at her hooves, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Leavin' so soon?" Deadwood Dutch asked, the whip gripped in his hoof, "That badge makes you sheriff, don't it?"

"What? This?!" Fluttershy clutched the badge the former sheriff had pinned on her.

Deadwood Dutch grinned maliciously, "An' ain't it th' job o' th' sheriff ta try an' stop us?"

"Y-Ye-Yes, but..." stuttered Fluttershy.

"Then it seems we got a problem." the outlaw snarled, "See, Ah don't get along with sheriffs, an' this town ain't big enough fer th' both o' us. So Ah'm afraid we're gonna half ta settle this thing western-style at high noon. Just you, an' me. Pony ta pony."

The yellow pegasus visibly paled at the words.

Pinkie Pie stepped forward, "Would you have to do that if she wasn't wearing the sheriff badge?"

"Probably not." Deadwood Dutch shrugged.

"Well, in that case...!" Fluttershy squeaked.

Ripping off the sheriff badge, Fluttershy tossed it away before promptly turning around, fleeing down the street, as her friends, and the outlaws looked on.

"Wow! That's gotta be a new record fer running off a sheriff!" laughed Deadwood Dutch,

The rest of the Hole-In-The-Roof Gang burst out laughing as well while the rest of the Mane Six, and Cherry Jubilee could only groan in resignation. It wasn't as if they could actually blame Fluttershy considering the circumstances.

"Well boys..." the outlaw leader declared, "Looks like this town's under new management! OUR MANAGEMENT!"

At his words, the remaining townsponies began to panic, and scatter as the outlaws proceeded to run rampant through the town, wreaking havoc at will. With the situation getting uglier by the moment, and having no game plan, the Mane Six, and Cherry Jubilee ultimately had no choice but to flee the area as well.

----

Eventually, everypony regrouped at the abandoned sheriff's office, and locked the doors behind them. To their relief, they found that Fluttershy had already made it there, the yellow pegasus having literally locked herself inside the office jail cell for her own safety. Meanwhile, as the others were trying to figure out their next move, Twilight and Cherry Jubilee headed over to the windows to observe the chaos happening out in the town.

With the town now under the control of Deadwood Dutch and the Hole-In-The-Roof gang, law and order had ceased to exist. Townsponies were stampeded, buildings were looted or vandalized, and as if that weren't bad enough, there was even shameless jaywalking on the streets.

"Oh, this is awful!" Miss Jubilee cried, "What are we gonna do?"

"We'll think of something Miss Jubilee." Twilight assured, before anxiously turning back to her friends, "Won't we?"

"Darn tootin' we will." a determined Applejack answered.

"Of course! We always do!" Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped in, "In fact, in a couple of days we'll all be laughing about this whole
thing, thinking how silly it was for us to worry! Laughing, you hear? Laughing!"

With that, the pink earth pony actually began to laugh heartily, and within moments, she was rolling around on the floor. However, Pinkie's laughter slowly ground to a halt when she noticed that nopony else was laughing, and in fact, everypony was glaring at her.

"Getting way too ahead of yourself, Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash stated matter-of-factly.

"Right. Sorry." said Pinkie awkwardly.

It then that Fluttershy let out a heavy sigh, causing everypony to turn towards the cell she'd locked herself in.

"No, everypony. I'm the one who's sorry." the yellow pegasus said, clearly ashamed of her earlier cowardice, "If only I could've been the sheriff we really need. But I just can't. I'm just...not."

"It's all right, Fluttershy." Rarity assured, "It wasn't your fault."

Applejack nodded in agreement, "If anyone's ta blame it's that yellow-bellied ex-sheriff who just ran off with his tail between his legs instead o' doin' his job."

"You mean like I did?" asked Fluttershy.

"No!" Twilight insisted, "It wasn't fair for him to dump all of his responsibilities on you like that. Or anypony else for that matter!"

"Maybe not..." Fluttershy conceded, "But I still feel bad. Is there anything I can do to help our situation?"

"For starters..." Rainbow Dash replied, "How about you come out of that cell?"

"Oh, okay." Fluttershy agreed.

Reaching under the pillow on the cot in the cell, Fluttershy pulled out a key which she passed through the bars, allowing
Twilight to take it with magic, before using it to unlock the cell. Once Fluttershy was out, Cherry Jubilee decided she had something to say as well.

"Perhaps Ah should apologize to." Cherry Jubilee put in, "Y'all weren't supposed ta get dragged into this..."

Applejack cut her off, "Oh, don't you start to, Miss Jubilee! Y'all didn't know this was gonna happen. And if y'all think we're gonna leave a friend in need, an' her town at th' mercy of a bunch o' ruffians, y'all got another thing comin'! Now, whaddya say we all stop playin' th' blame game with ourselves, an' get down ta business?"

Everypony nodded.

"So now what?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Well, one thing is certain..." Applejack said, holding up the sheriff badge, which she managed to grab during their flight, "If we're gonna run Deadwood Dutch an' his gang outta this town, we're gonna need us a new sheriff."

"Yeah, but who's it gonna be?" inquired Cherry Jubilee.

To everyone's surprise, Applejack promptly pinned the badge on herself, "Guess Ah'm as good as anypony."

"You?!" Everypony else exclaimed in.

"Why not? It ain't like anypony else in town stepped up ta th' plate." the orange earth pony pointed out, "But Ah'm gonna need some deputies."

Rainbow Dash immediately stepped up, "You can count on me, AJ!"

"I'm with you to!" Twilight volunteered as well.

"All right then!" Applejack grinned at them, "Ah officially appoint th' two o' y'all mah official deputies!"

Rainbow and Twilight both beamed with pride as Applejack gave them a pair of badges and cowboy hats as well.

"Hey!" protested Rarity, "What about me and Pinkie? What's our job?"

But before anypony could answer, a loud crash from the outside made them all jump in fright. Rushing over to the window, everypony could see Driftwood Dutch, and his gang forcing all of the remaining townsponies into the nearby saloon before proceeding to enter themselves.

"They've gathered everypony inside th' saloon!" Cherry Jubilee observed.

"Why?" Fluttershy asked anxiously, "What are they going to do to them there?"

"Ah don't know. But whatever it is, Ah doubt it's anythin' good." said Applejack, "We gotta find a way ta keep 'em busy until we're ready ta let 'em have it."

"We need a distraction." Twilight agreed.

At this, Pinkie Pie practically lit up, and she promptly grabbed a hold of Rarity

"Say no more!" the pink earth pony said, "Come on, Rarity! It's our time to shine!"

"This is NOT what I had in mind!" Rarity groaned as Pinkie led her out.

----

Meanwhile, inside the saloon, the outlaws dragged one of the townsponies before Deadwood Dutch while the rest cowered in the background.

"So buckeroo, might you be th' proprietor o' this establishment?" the outlaw leader asked.

The townspony stuttered, "P-Propriet... E-es-establishment? Uh...no no no!"

"Then, mah friend..." Deadwood Dutch sighed, "Ah'm afraid that Y'all are worthless ta me, an' so it's time ta take out th' trash."

Then, before the very eyes of everypony else in the saloon, the outlaw leader proceeded to literally throw the unfortunate townspony out the window.

Deadwood Dutch chuckled with amusement as he turned his attention to the other townsponies, who stared at him in fear and shock.

"Anypony here know th' proprietor o' this establishment?" he asked.

The cowering townsponies had no answer for him, and as the silence stretched out, it looked as though things were going to get ugly again. But then suddenly...

"Okey-Dokey-Lokey, boys!" Pinkie Pie popped up from behind the saloon counter, wearing a bartender's outfit, "What'll it be?"

Satisfied, Deadwood Dutch turned his attention towards her.

"Root beers, an' ice cream sundaes all around, pronto!" the outlaw leader boomed, slamming his hoof on the saloon.

Unfazed, Pinkie Pie promptly got to work, and before long, the entire outlaw gang had a root beer and ice cream sundae sitting before them.

"Finally, some decent service around here." Deadwood Dutch mused as he took a gulp of his root beer.

But Pinkie Pie wasn't finished yet.

"And now, for tonight's entertainment... " the pink earth pony announced, drawing everypony's attention towards a nearby curtained stage, "The dazzling, and truly ravishing Rarity!"

The curtains opened to reveal none other than Rarity standing up on the stage, clad in a dancing dress, and with a VERY less-than-amused look on her face.

"Confound it, Pinkie..." the white unicorn grumbled, "I can't believe I let you talk me into this!"

Regardless, it appeared to be working, as the outlaws all eagerly turned their attention towards the glamorous white unicorn, and away from both Pinkie and the townsponies.

"Hmm, baby doll!" Driftwood Dutch grinned, "Come on! Dance fer us!"

Rolling her eyes in complete and utter annoyance, Rarity reluctantly began to put on her best dance for the group of ruffians before her.

----

Meanwhile on the outside, Applejack watched in satisfaction as Pinkie Pie and Rarity's distraction seemed to be working as the outlaws seemed to have forgotten all about the townsponies who remained huddled in the background.

"All right, th' distractions workin'!" Applejack observed before turning back to her friends, "Once we got th' townsponies outta there, Miss Jubilee will lead 'em ta safety while Rainbow, Twilight, an' me go in there an' give those varmints what fer!
Got it?"

Cherry Jubilee, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all answered in the affirmative.

"What do you want me to do?" Fluttershy asked somewhat meekly.

Applejack thought for a moment, "Y'all can be th' lookout."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed, "Cover our backs, and make sure the coast stays clear!"

Fluttershy nodded, "All right. I'll do my best."

With the game plan now crystal clear to everypony, it was time to get down to business.

"Okay. Twilight, you're on..." Applejack said.

Twilight nodded, and concentrated as her horn began to glow...

Back inside, Deadwood Dutch and his gang were so enthralled by the dancing white unicorn that they didn't even notice the bright flash of violet light that appeared behind them as Twilight teleported herself inside the saloon. The townsponies were shocked at the lavender unicorn's sudden appearance before them. Twilight quickly gestured for them to stay quiet before concentrating with her magic again to teleport herself and the townsponies safely back outside.

Cherry Jubilee wasted no time in getting her friends, and neighbors out of there.

"C'mon, y'all! Let's go!" she urged she led them all away to safety.

With the townsponies no longer in any immediate danger, Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash were now ready to take the fight to the Hole-In-The-Roof Gang.

"All right, let's give it to them!" Rainbow Dash said.

And just in time to, because it was rapidly becoming apparent that the distraction was starting to work a little too well, for by now the outlaws had all taken a keen interest in Rarity, and were heavily crowding around the white unicorn, making her very uncomfortable.

"Come on, little filly..." one of the outlaws said a seductive voice, "We ain't that bad once ya get ta know us..."

Get away from me! Don't touch me!" Rarity cried, backing away, "Pinkie! This is not what I signed on for!"

"You're doing fine, Rarity!" the pink earth pony cheerfully replied, not even looking as she got the outlaws another round of root beer.

"Don't worry, Ah don't bite." Driftwood Dutch grinned as he approached Rarity.

It was then that the doors to the saloon slammed open with a bang, causing the outlaws to jump in surprise, and they
turned to see Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash standing in the entrance, and clearly ready for a confrontation.

"All right, boys; party's over." Applejack announced with authority, "There's a new sheriff in town!"

"Step away from our friend and put your hooves up!" added Twilight.

Deadwood Dutch sighed in annoyance, "Seriously, just where do they get you ponies from?"

"You're all through terrorizing this town, pal." Rainbow Dash declared, "So don't even try talking your way out of it."

"Is that so?" the outlaw leader replied in amusement.

"Y'all bet it is!" Applejack barked, "It's either ya get outta town by sundown, or it's gonna get really ugly!"

Deadwood Dutch was completely unfazed by the orange earth ponies words; in fact, he pulled out his whip, and stepped forward to accept the challenge.

"Better reach fer it, dollface..." he sneered, "Ah got a bullwhip here, an' Ah'm not afraid ta use it."

Equally unfazed, Applejack narrowed her eyes, and took out her lasso, "Neither am Ah."

For an eternally long moment, all was still as Deadwood Dutch, and Applejack stared one another down...

Then, there came a loud swishing sound as the outlaw leader suddenly lashed out with his whip. The orange earth pony, however, had been ready, and hurled her lasso forward in response, and there was a sharp snap as the two weapons became entangled with one another. Deadwood Dutch and Applejack both tugged, but the cord and rope stuck fast, and before either the outlaw leader or orange earth pony knew it, they were suddenly engaged in a brutal tug-of-war struggle over the whip and lasso.

The rest of the outlaw gang began to rush forward to aid their leader, but before they could interfere, Rainbow Dash quickly sprang into action. The sky blue pegasus soared straight through the crowd of outlaws, and then zoomed around them in circles, leaving them all disorientated. Then, Rainbow Dash proceeded to charge straight back into the midst of the outlaw gang again, and knocked one of the ruffians over, before zipping out once again.

"Come on! Catch me if you can!" she dared.

Incensed, most of the outlaws promptly turned their attention toward the sky blue pegasus, and within moments, she was zipping around them in circles, and making them dizzy.

At the same time, Twilight suddenly noticed two outlaws menacingly advancing on her from both sides. The two brutish stallions rushed at her, but she quickly teleported herself away, causing them to run straight into one another. Then, as Twilight reappeared a short distance away, another outlaw came charging at her only to run face first into a forcefield; the lavender unicorn had to stifle a giggle at the look of his smushed face as he slid to the floor.

All the while, Applejack and Deadwood Dutch continued their battle of strength, trying to wrest the tangled whip and lasso from each other's grip.

"Gotta admit Ah'm impressed, gal! Yer almost as strong as a stallion!" the outlaw leader commented.

"Funny!" Applejack replied through clenched teeth, "Ah was just gonna say th' same thing 'bout y'all!

Meanwhile, the rest of the outlaw gang now were throwing pieces of furniture at the airborne Rainbow Dash in an effort to bring her down, but the sky blue pegasus dodged each projectile with ease.

"Oh, come on!" the sky blue pegasus taunted as she ducked under a thrown chair, "Is that seriously all you guys got?"

At this, the somewhat annoyed outlaws all shared a malicious smile with one another before they all proceeded to pick up something heavy, clearly preparing to throw them at Rainbow Dash all at once.

"Good answer..." the sky blue pegasus suddenly felt a little worried, "Good answer...!"

As the outlaws threw the heavy objects, Rainbow Dash braced herself, but to everypony's shock, the projectiles suddenly froze in mid-air as Twilight reached out to grab them with her magic. Grinning rather smugly, the lavender unicorn proceeded to launch the heavy objects back at the ones who threw them, sending the outlaws scrambling for cover. Applejack, who'd seen all of this out of the corner of her eye, felt surge of triumph.

"Y'all ain't got a prayer, Dutch!" the orange earth pony tugged even harder on the tangled whip/lasso, "Ah'll never let go! Never!"

The outlaw leader however just grinned at her, "Very well."

Then, without any warning whatsoever, Deadwood Dutch proceeded to just let go of his end of tangled whip/lasso, causing Applejack to go flying backwards, and sending the orange earth pony straight through the saloon doors to loudly crash out into the street!

"Applejack!" called a shocked Rainbow Dash.

Unfortunately, this caused enough of a distraction to allow one of the outlaws to recover and throw a large barrel at the sky blue pegasus, with the impact sending her crashing through one of the saloon windows.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight cried.

The lavender unicorn had little time to think however, as she suddenly found herself alone and surrounded by the outlaw gang. As the ruffians closed in on her, Twilight wisely decided to make herself scarce, and teleported herself outside. However, Deadwood Dutch and his gang weren't far behind as they made their way towards the saloon entrance...

"Uh oh, this doesn't look good..." said Pinkie Pie as she rose up from behind the bar where she'd taken cover, "I think we're gonna need a little bit of help..."

Luckily, Pinkie knew just the pony who could help turn the tables against these thugs, and so, she discreetly slipped out the saloon's rear entrance...

Meanwhile, Twilight reappeared outside the front entrance to find Fluttershy tending to a dazed Applejack, who lay in a heap amongst a pile of debris from something she'd crashed into.

"Applejack!" Twilight ran over to them, and quickly asked Fluttershy, "How is she?"

"She's out cold." said a worried Fluttershy.

Twilight started to look around, "Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"Twilight, over here!" came Rarity's voice, and Twilight saw the white unicorn standing by an alley situated between the saloon, and the adjacent building, "She fell somewhere over here!"

Turning back to Fluttershy, Twilight told her friend, "You stay with Applejack, and I'll go help Rarity with Rainbow Dash."

"All right." the yellow pegasus nodded.

As Twilight disappeared into the alley after Rarity, Fluttershy kept on trying to rouse the unconscious Applejack.

"Come on, Applejack. Wake up!" the concerned yellow pegasus urged, "You have to wake up!"

But the orange earth pony only moaned in response. Then, Fluttershy stiffened in terror as she suddenly heard the sound of heavy, approaching hoofsteps behind them...

"Well, well, well!" boomed Deadwood Dutch's voice, "Lookie what we've got here, boys!"

Trembling, Fluttershy turned around to see the outlaw leader and his gang looming over her, and Applejack. She didn't know what to do, and could only stammer out words...

"Uh, h-hello, Mister Deadwood, sir... H-How nice to...to meet you a-again..."

"So..." Deadwood laughed, "The ex-sheriff has come by ta give th' new sheriff a hoof, huh? Ah thought Ah ran ya outta town."

Fluttershy got a sudden sinking feeling the pit of her stomach, "Well, uh, actually...Uhh...I was just...Uhh..."

"Guess Ah'll just have ta be more thorough this time." Deadwood shrugged.

At this, Applejack, who by now had regained consciousness, struggled to rise.

"If y'all...lay one hoof on her...Ah'll...Ah'll..." she weakly tried to threaten before ultimately collapsing back down.

"Y'all will do what, new sheriff?" scoffed Deadwood, "Yer down fer th' count, yer deputies are scattered, an' yer friend here is too yellow ta try an' stop us."

The outlaw leader's words cut deep with Fluttershy, and she lowered her eyes, ashamed of her earlier cowardice. Even now, she wanted to run, but she couldn't bear to leave Applejack.

"It's all over. Don't ya get it?" Deadwood continued, "This town belongs ta me now, an' there ain't nopony left around ta stop me!"

"THINK AGAIN!" suddenly came a triumphant voice from down the street.

Surprised, everypony turned in the direction of the voice, and were shocked to see, standing in the distance, a pink earth pony clad in a white cowboy hat, with a red bandana tied around her neck, and a domino mask on her face.

For a moment, everypony just stared in disbelief, until finally, Fluttershy found her voice.

"Pinkie Pie???"

Deadwood Dutch arched an eyebrow, "What in th hay are you supposed ta be?"

"I am the Pink Avenger." the pink earth pony declared, before gesturing to her left, "And this is my faithful steed!"

And then, to everypony's disbelief, a bluish gray pegasus mare with blonde mane stepped up to take her place at the Pink Avenger's side. She also wore a domino mask, but both Applejack and Fluttershy instantly recognized her; they would've known those crossed eyes anywhere.

"DERPY?!" Applejack cried, her head suddenly much clearer, "What are you doing here?!"

"Uhhh..." the wall-eyed pegasus mused, before finally just shrugging, "I dunno..."

As always, it was best to not question Pinkie Pie or her ways.

Deadwood Dutch almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation, "Y'all are gonna try an' stop me? After nopony else could? Sorry, but Ah'd rather not waste mah time with th' likes o y'all. So why don't ya just run along before Ah change mah mind?"

The Pink Avenger just grinned, "Sounds to me like you're just a big, ugly, chicken, Deadwood!"

At this, Deadwood Dutch suddenly stiffened, "Wh-What did you just say?!"

"DEADWOOD'S A CHICKEN! DEADWOOD'S A CHICKEN!" the Pink Avenger shouted as she and Derpy began to prance around, clucking, and flapping their hooves.

The outlaw leader's face turned into a crimson mask of fury. One thing he DID NOT care for was taunting, and ANOTHER thing he didn't care for was somepony telling him that he had no guts.

"NOPONY CALLS ME CHICKEN!!!" Deadwood bellowed, before shouting to his gang, "GET THEM!!!

The outlaws all charged towards the pink earth pony and blueish gray pegasus before proceeding to dive onto the both of them, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

At last, the dust cloud dissipated to display the comical spectacle of the outlaws all lying atop one another in a massive dog-pile with several of them punching the ground or fighting with a fellow gang member without even realizing it. The Pink Avenger, and Derpy on the other hoof, were nowhere to be seen, having somehow slipped away in the confusion.

At last, the outlaws realized what they were doing, not to mention how foolish they must have looked, and struggled to untangle themselves, and get to their hooves.

Baffled, Deadwood Dutch looked around, "Where are they? Where'd they go?!"

"Oh boys, over here!" came the Pink Avenger's voice from off in the distance.

"There she is!" Deadwood pointed at her standing next to a nearby outhouse.

As the outlaws ran towards her, the Pink Avenger quickly went inside the outhouse and closed the door behind her.

"Ha! Yer a fool!" laughed Deadwood, "Now we gotcha trapped!"

But when they opened the door, the outlaws stared in shock when they saw that the Pink Stranger had disappeared.

"What the..." one member of the gang said.

"Where'd she go?" asked another.

Then, before any of the outlaws even realized it, the Pink Avenger, who had somehow managed to get out of the outhouse without being noticed, suddenly appeared out of nowhere right behind their leader, and slapped Deadwood right across the flank.

"Tag, you're it!" she yelled.

"Yow! Hey!" cried Deadwood.

The Pink Avenger quickly took off as fast as she could in the direction of a nearby water tower with the Hole In The Roof Gang hot on her tail.

Deadwood was seething, "Y'all are DEADER THAN DEAD!"

"And y'all are all WASHED UP!" The Pink Avenger shouted back as she dived beneath the water tower.

At that very moment, Derpy soared forward, and slammed her rear end into the the back of the water tower, knocking the whole thing down towards the pursuing outlaws. Deadwood and his gang immediately stopped dead in their tracks and began to scramble backwards. While they were able to avoid being turned into pancakes from the falling structure, they were promptly swept down the street by the tidal wave of water that came bursting out broken water tank.

By now, Twilight, Rarity and a staggering Rainbow Dash had rejoined Fluttershy and Applejack, and they all stared in shock at what was taking place before them.

At last, the outlaws finally came to a stop at the end of the street. Drenched and miserable, they all struggled to their hooves. By now, Deadwood Dutch's patience had reached its breaking point.

"All right, that's it! That's th' LAST STRAW!" he bellowed, "NOW AH'M GONNA...!"

But Deadwood froze in mid-sentence as he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a party cannon being manned by the Pink Avenger and Derpy.

"Ah, nuts..." was all he could say before the cannon fired.

The cannon sounded again, and again, and again, bombarding the Hole In The Roof Gang with confetti, party hats, balloons, and party streamers. Within moments, the outlaws were left scattered, and simply unable to handle this level of Pinkie shenanigans. In the end, Deadwood Dutch called for his gang to retreat.

"Run away! Run away!" he shouted.

"Aww, what's wrong?" The Pink Avenger asked, "Don't like parties?"

The outlaw leader snarled at her, "Y'all were lucky, but don't think this is over! Cause it ain't! We'll meet again!"

With that, the Hole In The Hoof Gang all ran out of Dodge Junction, and eventually they disappeared off into distance.

After a long moment of silence, doors all around town began to open, and the townsponies, Cherry Jubilee among them, slowly made their way outside. As the fact that the outlaws were gone sunk in, they all started to celebrate, and gathered around their liberators to express their eternal gratitude. Three cheers quickly went up for the town heroes.

"Hip! Hip! Hooray! Hip! Hip! Hooray! Hip! Hip! Hooray!"

While her friends smiled at this display of affection however, Fluttershy felt very undeserving of the praise being heaped on them by the town, for she hadn't really done anything to stop Deadwood and his gang. Noticing her friend's crestfallen expression, Twilight quickly shouted down the townsponies.

"I don't think we should start celebrating just yet." the lavender unicorn pointed out, "Deadwood Dutch said that they'd be back. And besides, Applejack and Rainbow Dash have taken quite a beating; we need to see that they're taken care of."

"Don't worry about us, Twi. We'll be fine." Applejack and Rainbow respectively insisted, only for both of them to wince, and let out a groan of pain.

"Will you two please quit being so stubborn?" Twilight asked.

Cherry Jubilee nodded, "Twilight's right, girls. There ain't nothin' wrong with lettin' yer friends take care o' ya. Besides, y'all can rest easy fer a bit. At least for now, our town's been rid o' those nasty varmints, thanks ta y'all!"

"I'm not sure WE deserve the credit, Miss Jubilee." replied Twilight, "We could never have done it without Pinkie P...er...uh, I mean the 'Pink Avenger', and Derpy...er...I mean her faithful steed."

"Yes, that's right!" Cherry Jubilee agreed, "Speakin' o' which, where are they...?"

Miss Jubilee trailed off as everypony looked around, and realized to their shock, that the enigmatic (not really) Pink Avenger, and her faithful steed had vanished from sight. They both had somehow managed to slip away in the midst of the confusion of the outlaw's retreat, and the townsponies' celebration.

"Where'd they go?" Twilight wondered.

"They're...They're gone..." confirmed Rarity.

Meanwhile, on a nearby hill overlooking the town of Dodge Junction and unseen by the townsponies, the Pink Avenger and her faithful steed prepared to ride off into the sunset.

Leaping onto Derpy's back, the Pink Avenger cried, "Hi-Ho, Derpy! Away!"

Derpy eagerly reared up in a rather dramatic fashion... And almost immediately lost her balance, sending the both of them comically crashing down onto the ground.

"Okay..." the Pink Avenger groaned, "We're definitely gonna have to work on that."

----

That night, miles out of Dodge Junction, the Hole In The Roof Gang were gathered around a roaring campfire. The outlaws were NOT happy, especially not Deadwood Dutch. The town had literally been in their hooves after weeks of effort, only for them to be humiliated and driven out by a group of outsiders who apparently didn't know how to mind their own business. But just as Deadwood had promised, the outlaws had no intention of giving up on this. They were going back to Dodge Junction to finish the job, and make their enemies pay...

"So what're we gonna do now, boss?" one of the outlaws asked.

Incensed, Deadwood Dutch narrowed his eyes, "First off, we're gonna have ta do somethin' about that Pink Avenger..."

----

END OF PART 1

Author's Note:

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERBODY! Sorry this took so long. I meant to have it up sooner but you know how the holidays are. Stayed tuned for part 2!

Comments

[Bronycommander]

interesting, i always love good wild west, got a friend with a wild west oc that is my favorite. BUt are you sure this can be rated e?

[Starlight Nova]

How dark will this story get?

[MontyCS]

11466096
What rating do you suggest?

[MontyCS]

11466177
Not TOO dark.

[i_am_the_jam]

I guess it's too complicated to contact Celestia and bring in the Royal Guard or see who's the mayor of this town?

[Kanthaka]

"Oh, where are mah manners?" the gang leader tipped his hat, "Ah'm Deadwood Dutch, the world's meanest horse thief, an' leader o' th' Hole-In-The-Roof Gang."

He better have a plan.

cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Aw6pC8DLRHS7gkZF338fzT.jpg

[Bronycommander]

11466374
wel, considering looting and such, I'd say teen, unless you aimed to keep it teen friendly.

the wild west thing, pardon, old habit

[TasermonsPartner]

This is in true fashion with the show. I could easily picture this being an actual episode, especially in the earlier seasons.

I guess Spike is back in Ponyville? Too bad, he'd probably loved to see Rarity's dance number, and I'm sure she'd found him to be a much better audience.

[MontyCS]

11466739
I'm sure he would have!

[MontyCS]

11466547
I'm so glad you caught that! Yes, I did name this villain after Dutch from Red Dead Redemption 2!

[MontyCS]

11466536
Haven't there been many times when the Mane Six had to deal with something on their own?