Friday April 5th, 2014, Ponyville, third person…

It was getting late in the afternoon and the sun was getting ready to set. The sky was streaked with an orange haze and Tristan sighed contently as he walked along his orderly streets. Ponies cringed as he trotted by, fearful of what he might do to them.

As he neared the center of town, he looked to mayor’s office building. “Tristan wants this building torn down and he wants a statue of himself made in its spot!” he ordered aloud.

A moment passed by and nothing happened. He waited a moment longer before surveying the area, only to notice that nopony was around. He looked for a moment longer, but as he turned, he was rendered speechless as a lone figure stood just in front of the view of the setting sun.

A rather quiet musical theme echoed throughout the town. The figure took a step and his shadow protruded towards Tristan, who took a step back in fear. “How… you’re forbidden from town!” he hissed. The shield around the town flickered with a powerful gleam and Tristan snarled to himself, shocked as to how the man returned without his knowledge.

The figure’s duster coat flaps fluttered in the gentle breeze and the spurs on his cowboy boots clicked as he started a slow walk towards the brutal ruler of town. The dark leather cowboy hat atop the male’s head covered his facial features, giving him a dark and cold vibe.

“I… I said you’re forbidden from town… now leave at once, or else!” Tristan yelled out a threat and the figure chuckled in a deep tone before tilting the brim of his hat up, revealing his face. An unlit Cuban cigar hung from his mouth as he gave Tristan a blunt look, his eyes squinting a little and his cheeks getting a tad bit wrinkled from the way he was staring.

“Or else what?” Burdy asked in a crispy voice and Tristan lowered his head before launching an energy bolt towards the large man. Instead of blowing him away like the last time, it simply dispersed into thin air as it struck him, the momentum force puffing up a cloud of dust behind the man.

The morning before…

“Zecora… do you still have some of that magic negating goo stuff? The stuff you put on Chrysalis to stop her from using magic?” Evan asked and Zecora left for a moment before returning with a jar of goo.

“Would this stop magic from affecting me?” he asked and Zecora thought for a moment before shrugging.

“I had never thought about using it for that purpose, but I suppose that if you covered yourself in the goo… it might stop you from being affected by spells like mind control and such. This goo simply disconnects magic from a user, but I suppose it would disconnect you from magic so… maybe,” Zecora replied; it was a good enough answer for him.

Derpy stepped up beside Evan and gave him a wondering look which he returned with a subtle gaze. He smiled briefly before ruffling her mane making her return his smile. “Don’t worry Derpy, we’ll save the town,” Evan assured her.

Present time…

Evan stopped approaching the now speechless stallion and mouthed the cigar around his lips. The taste of fine tobacco stung his dry lips and made him give a distasteful look before he spat some saliva to the ground. The musical tune continued in the background as he removed the cigar and placed it in a cigar container, then put the container in one of the coat’s pockets.

“Leave this town at once!” Tristan scowled out an order, but Burdy remained silent. “HEY! DID YOU HEAR ME OR ARE YOU DEAF!?” Tristan screamed, but instead of answering immediately, the brutish man shot him a cold glare that made the stallion’s stomach twist.

A gust of wind blew between the duo along with a cloud of sandy dust, all the while a tumbleweed bounced across the ground behind Burdy. His duster coat flapped with the direction of the wind. “I challenge you,” Burdy said in a deep tone.

The morning before…

After Zecora had told Evan the story of how Twilight had defeated Trixie, the man set out on his departure and waved a goodbye to Zecora as he and Derpy started walking towards their destination. “So how are you gonna get rid of him? Are you going to kill him?” Derpy asked.

“I’m gonna taunt his pride,” the big man replied, not answering her question. Derpy continued to follow him as they threshed through the forest. Evan’s work boots helped him keep a solid grip on the soft, mushy ground.

He whispered constant regrets about not having his battle jacket, but reconciled with the fact that he still had his cargo pants. Taking hold of the Christian cross around his neck, he began to mutter prayers to Jesus, asking for forgiveness.

Present time…

“Do you accept, or are you a coward?” the man asked, and all Tristan could sputter out were a few grunts of anger before attempting to blast him away again. To the same effect as before, the blast simply dissipated once it struck him, leaving no physical damage.

Evan shuffled in a bit of discomfort as the gooey gel squelched in private areas. The goo on his back felt awful while in contact with his undershirt. ‘I wish there was a more comfortable way to do this,’ he thought to himself.

“Ugh! What have you done!” the stallion roared and Burdy waved his silver Christian cross about freely.

“I found a way to beat your magic,” he replied and Tristan spat.

“HA! I won’t fall for the same trick that my sister did!” he laughed and Burdy shrugged before looking around.

“Tell you what. I’d wager I could dust you. With nopony around, you don’t have to worry about little secrets. All you gotta worry ‘bout is what ah’m doin’,” he offered and Tristan once again spat at him. “I win and my banishment is lifted, you win and I’m exiled from Equestria, never to return. I think that you could have Celestia herself remove me,” he offered and the stallion thought about it.

“How do I know you won’t just return like you have?” he questioned Burdy and the man shrugged.

“The royal guard will stop me from re-entering Equestria. So how bout it? Do you accept, or are you a coward?” the man asked and Tristan gritted his teeth.

The morning before…

As Derpy and Burdy traversed through the empty deserts, the tall man fiddled with his silver cross and his female companion took notice. “Are you Christian?” Derpy asked and he gave her a curious look.

“I didn’t think there was Christianity in this world, seeing as how there are living goddesses,” Burdy replied back and Derpy nodded.

“Yup! Ponies say that if you’re good and believe in God, that you’ll be allowed into heaven, but if you’re bad and don’t believe that you’ll go to… a bad place,” she informed him, obviously not wanting to say: Hell.

“Huh… guess our worlds have more in common than I first thought,” he mused, then continued to fumble with the cross. She gave him a tap on the shoulder, now hovering at his face level.

“So are you a Christian?” she asked, and Burdy merely gave a ‘so-so’ action with his right hand.

“Kind of. I believe in God, but not entirely of all the bible’s stories. Some seem a little farfetched for me,” he replied and she stopped, still hovering in the air to stay eye level with him.

“Which ones?” she asked and he thought briefly.

“Well, the first one would be of Adam and Eve. I think it says somewhere in the bible that incest is wrong, but if they were the first people… ponies on earth, or in Equestria, wouldn’t the generation afterwards just consist of a lot of incest?” Burdy asked and Derpy simply thought to herself.

“And the one about Noah’s Ark and how he thought ahead and got two of every animal, a male and a female. What if one of the animals died of sickness or something? If he really thought ahead shouldn’t he have thought about animals dying?” Burdy stated another point. He sighed then shrugged, “Like I said, I believe in God and everything, it’s just that some of the stories are a little outfield so to speak.”

“Well, you just have to have faith!” Derpy told him in an upbeat tone and Evan chuckled as he nodded in response, still fiddling with the cross necklace.

“Yeah… well, I guess it’s almost time to put our own faith to the test.”

Present time…

“What if I refuse?!” Tristan boomed and Burdy shrugged in an effortless way.

“Then you’re a coward and I’ll roam freely around town, coming and going as I please,” he replied and Tristan scowled angrily.

“You shall do no such thing! You’ll still be forbidden from town!” Evan simply chuckled from Tristan's anger.

“Well… by my count, there’ll be nothing you can do to stop me. If you tried to get Celestia to stop me, she’d probably throw you in prison once she realizes what you’ve done,” Evan stated, then wondered just why exactly nopony had noticed that Ponyville had been captured by an insane unicorn stallion.

While the quiet tune continued to play in the background, the duo continued to stare each other down, their glares like ice. Another tuff of wind gusted by and fluttered Burdy’s duster coat.

Ponies from the town looked out to the standoff from the safety of their homes or some sort of safe place. A trashcan lid opened slightly and a puff of frazzly pink mane peeped out while Pinkie Pie stole a glance at the duo on Mane Street.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hid in the tree nearby. Fluttershy's teeth chattered in fear of what might happen, though Dash had a popcorn bucket filled with buttery popcorn as she watched in absolute attention.

Rarity peered through her telescope while sitting in the safety of her home, lightly chewing on the edge of her hoof in anticipation of what might happen.

Twilight watched from behind a building corner, taking a glance every so often to see what had happened since the last time she had looked, fearful for the life of her secret crush.

After what felt like eternity, Tristan spoke, “What’s the challenge?”

Midday, the day before…

In the nearby distance was an old rundown garage, where two brothers lay trying to fix their train contraption, dressed in blue mechanic uniforms. “And I tell you brother, perhaps we should give this life up and do something else,” Flim offered and Flam sighed.

“How? We don’t know how to do anything else. I mean, I know how to be a doctor, but where would I start?” Flam asked and his brother sighed.

“Perhaps we could sell the garage and train, then move to Mareami,” Flim offered and Flam sighed as he daydreamed about the warm beaches of Mareami.

“That would be the Equestrian dream brother, but let’s face it, the garage wouldn’t sell well and the train is still in disrepair. The only money we really have is the money that we procured from that good chap Burdy,” Flam expressed his discouraging thoughts before another voice chimed in.

“More like scammed me out of my money. If you could do that to other ponies then you might just make it in the world,” Evan told the two, who quickly slid out from under the train, covered in smut and black grease.

They were speechless and simply looked at him in disbelief. “Your truck didn’t break down on you, did it?!” They both gasped and Evan shook his head in reply. “So then… why are you here?” They asked in a nervous unison.

Present time…

Evan left his hands at his sides while he stared Tristan down. Tristan gulped, trying to hide the fear he had of the man. Something about him was different from before. “Well…” Tristan trailed off, waiting for the challenge. “WELL, WHAT’S CHALLENGE!?” he screamed out and Evan smirked.

“A duel,” he replied and Tristan laughed.

“A duel?” he replied, then laughed harder. “You’re not serious are you? HA! You’re serious!” Tristan howled in laughter. “If you think you can beat Tristan in a duel, then you’re stupider than he thought. You don’t even have a horn,” Tristan teased Evan, who simply continued to stare at him with an unimpressed look.

“Not that kind of duel…”

The day before, high noon…

“Listen, I know I said I’d never let you guys produce firearms, but… I need something made up,” Evan told the brothers who nodded. The group travelled into the construction area and Evan pulled out some stainless steel piping and some other pieces of vital material.

“I need a favour,” Evan said and the brothers thought.

“What do we get in return?” Flim asked and Evan sighed.

“That’s just it. I don’t have anything to give you,” Evan replied and Flim and Flam looked to each other, then back to the man.

“So… how are you supposed to repay us?” Flam asked curiously and Evan gave them a look that he had never given them before. It was a pleading look.

“Guys… listen. I know that you’re only in it for profit and you don’t really care about the mushy stuff, but… I need this. Ponyville is in danger,” Evan told them and wide smiles went across their faces.

“Excellent! We can just take Sweet Apple Acres and nopony will be able to stop us!” the brothers exclaimed.

“GUYS!” Evan boomed and the two stood in attention. “Nopony is taking anything,” he told them and they looked at him curiously.

“Well… you’re asking for ‘our’ supplies for free… isn’t that like taking?” Flim asked and Evan sighed.

Derpy set an angry hoof down on the table. “Hey! He’s trying to save Ponyville and he needs your help. What he’s saying is that he needs you to have his back and be his friends, cause that’s what friends are for. They stand by each other and help one another. Because friendship is magic!” Derpy stated and Burdy nodded.

“Yeah, what she said, except… not the magic part.” Derpy shot him a look. “I just say that friendship is invaluable.” And Derpy rolled her criss-crossed eyes, which resulted in them going all wonky and looking every which way.

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Derpy asked and the other three just sighed as Flim set his fore-hooves on the table.

“Okay… what do you need?”

Present time…

Evan pulled aside his right duster flap, revealing a holstered sawed-off shotgun. There were twin barrels, each with an exposed hammer. The barrel was extremely short and there was no stock, only a handgrip designed specifically for him. On the downside, there was only one trigger, meaning it was a two for one special unless the user only pulled back one hammer at a time.

Tristan laughed at the display. “Ha! You think that you can kill Tristan? You couldn’t even kill him before, so what makes you think you’ll do it this time?”

Evan wiggled his fingers in anticipation and Tristan laughed, then looked to the trashcan. “You, pink whore, go get the shooty thing that this… thing, had from before,” Tristan ordered. Evan snarled from the way Tristan addressed his friends, clenching his hands in anger.

Pinkie zoomed off and quickly returned with Evan’s Norinco shotgun. “Indeed… so I suppose you wish to do a draw?” Evan nodded. The stallion levitated the shotgun down to his side, but kept it in his magical grasp. “Well, at first I thought I’d never be rid of you, but if you’re this willing to die, then I won’t hold you from your fate,” Tristan sneered.

The day before, late evening…

As the evening set, the big man nodded to the two brothers as he set the luggage bags on his back. “Thank you… you guys don’t know how much this means to Ponyville,” Burdy told them, but they still had sour looks on their faces. Evan nudged Flim’s shoulder, “Hey, cheer up, cause if you ever need my help, I’ll be willing to lend a helping hand.”

They rolled their eyes then nodded, returning to their previous task. Derpy stood beside Evan with a smile, but her smile was not returned. “Derpy, you can’t come with me.” Derpy’s mouth went agape to this information, almost like a foal who was told she couldn’t have the candy.

“What!? Why not!?” she asked in a shocked tone and the man set his hand on her shoulder.

“Because I love you too much. As much as I know you want to help save Ponyville, I know that Tristan will use you to his advantage. I couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt again because of me,” he told her and she got a pouty face as tears came to her eyes.

“But I thought we could do this together,” Derpy inquired and Evan just sighed as he brought her into a tight hug.

“Please Derpy, for me… stay here,” Evan reasoned with her and Derpy sniffled a little. “I’m sorry Derpy, but… I can’t let you get hurt on my behalf,” Evan told her and she nodded, slowly departing from his hug.

“Be safe,” she said and he nodded. “Tail twist swear?” she asked and he nodded once again. They spun around and bumped flanks before turning to face each other once more.

“I’ll be safe Derpy, as much as I can with what’s about to happen.” Derpy sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Present time…

Tristan mouthed his tongue around and gulped. He had never done anything like this before, but his magic was unrivalled in his mind, so he figured he’d easily be faster than the human.

“I’m curious as to why? Why do you wish to die like this? In front of the whole town, kind of tragic, don’t you think?” Tristan asked and Burdy shook his head.

“I don’t plan on dying, not by your hooves,” he informed him, only making Tristan laugh boastfully.

“Well than, your plans will end in utter failure!” he sneered before looking to his magic barrier. “Tell me, I know that you’ve somehow managed to negate my magic, but how did you get in undetected? I would’ve noticed a rupture in my shield when you entered,” Tristan asked and Evan smirked.

“Well, I guess I’ll enlighten you…”

One hour ago, Evan’s perspective…

It had taken quite a while to get to town, and the luggage didn’t help. I stood before the sewage tank that was just outside Ponyville. I knew this was going to be shitty, quite literally, but it was the only way I was going to do this.

I opened the luggage backpack and quickly undressed. Now in the nude, I slipped into the air tight diver suit that had been constructed by Flim and Flam, I just hopped that they did a better job with this suit than the radio.

With the suit on, I took a few breaths of pure oxygen that came directly from the tank. It tasted weird and different than regular air, but I would be willing to bet this tasted better than what the insides of that tank tasted like.

I strapped on an air tight container to my hip, then crawled up the sewage tank ladder. With the swimming paddles, climbing a ladder was extremely difficult and slow.

Finally getting to the top, I popped the top hatch on the tank. The hatch was probably the spot where the sewage was sucked from, judging by the seals around the edge of the opening. Even with the air tight suit, I could almost smell the manure water that curdled inside.

“Pray to goddess that there aren’t turbines in here,” I muttered then hopped in. I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be any turbine blades or anything along those lines since there were no motors outside to run anything. Add the fact that the shit water sat still, it’d be a good bet to believe that this was probably just a holding tank.

I felt turds slim against my suit and I cringed from the absolute disgusting feel of the place. As I flicked on the headset light, I began making my way towards the main pipeline, which was large enough for me to fit through with room to spare.

The water surrounding me was uncomfortably warm and I constantly cringed and squirmed while I continued to swim through the sewage line. I could only imagine if Derpy was with me, she probably would be a tad bit grossed out by this.

I snickered as I imagined Rarity here. She’d probably be sickened by the mere thought of sewage.

I kept swimming for the next twenty minutes, until the water started to shallow out and I entered the main sewage lines of the entire town. Eventually it was shallow enough for me to trudge through the sewers, though I kept my diving suit on and the waist tank sealed.

Murky sewage still dangled from my suit, some falling off here and there, but I was willing to bet that it didn’t smell pleasant.

As I turned a corner in the sewers, I spotted a ladder to the surface and waddled over. Looking up, I saw a manhole cover and, as quickly as I could, I scurried up the ladder.

As I reached the manhole plate, I lifted up on one of the sides, then peered out to the streets. There were a few ponies here and there, but the one I was looking for wasn’t nearby. I exited the sewers and began to race along.

I knew that Tristan would’ve most likely kept the facilities running, so that meant that he’d have left the sewage running, meaning I could get in that way, and my plan had paid off.

I raced through the streets, only tripping once because of the flippers. Ponies constantly would look to me, and the ones who were within smelling distance constantly plugged their noses in a disgusted fashion. I skidded around a corner and stopped at the library. Looking around and making sure nopony was looking, I opened the sealed container and dumped the contents on the ground, which consisted of the magic gel stuff, two custom shotgun shells, a custom holster belt, and the sawn-off shotgun itself.

Tossing the container away, I quickly stripped down, grabbed my items, then rushed inside for a shower. I had gotten some shit on my hands and, despite the suit, I reeked of crap.

I went into the washroom and crammed myself into the shower, which was meant more for ponies, not a big man. Regardless of size, the hot water felt terrific against my bare skin. I contemplated taking a longer shower, but I knew that time wouldn’t allow for such leisurely activities.

After quickly soaping myself down and rinsing, I turned off the shower and dried myself off. A thought lingered in my mind as I ruffled my hair with the towel. ‘How exactly would I tempt his ego?’

Another thought crossed my mind and I nodded. Walking to the basement, I thought to myself about what I should play in the background.

Entering my room, or what used to be an unoccupied basement, I opened the gel jar and lathered myself down with it. It was gross and gooey, making me really wish there was another, more plausible way of doing this. I grabbed the set of western wear that Rarity had reconstructed for me. The whole suit felt like it fit me perfectly. Not too loose or too tight, just a nice snug fit, and the customized duster coat was comfortable atop of the vest and white undershirt. I wiggled a little as the goo squelched between my body and the clothes I was now wearing.

Snapping on the belt and holding the double barreled shotgun in my right, I spun the shotgun with my right index finger, then with a flick of my wrist, swung it perfectly into the custom holster. “Just like the movies,” I muttered.

Just as I went to leave, Lassie came racing over, pawing at my leg and whining. “I know Lassie, I know,” I cooed in a deep tone. She continued to paw at my leg, whimpering all the while. I tilted my head and she raced over to her dog bed, or as I called it: Her dog domain.

I quickly paced over and noticed her dog dish to be empty. “Aww, you’re hungry, huh?” I asked in a sympathetic voice. She let out a playful whine and yipped. Quickly grabbing the dog food, which I noticed had many bite marks in it, I filled her dish and gave her a pat on the head.

“I’m gonna make this all better,” I stated as I pulled the shotgun back out from the holster. I hit the hitch release on the break barrel shotgun and the shortened barrels popped open. Both shells slide in with a SHHOOOMP and as I flicked my wrist, the gun clicked shut.

The belt felt pretty snug on my wait and didn’t move all that much when I fit the shotgun into it. I performed a quick draw, practicing speed and accuracy. Disappointed with my speed, I tried again, and again and again…

I couldn’t get it just right. I took a deep breath and relaxed from my frustrated state. “Easy… just like pointing your finger…” I took a deep breath and, in a single fluid motion, the gun was out of the holster in my right hand, pointed downrange, my left hand just behind my right wrist, the hammers already cocked back.

“Once more…” I told myself. I de-cocked the hammers and spread my stance. My right foot was just a few inches further back than my left. My left hand hovered just in front of my body, at waist level. My right clenched and unclenched, itching for the moment to draw.

I took a deep wisp of breath then whistled it out. “Like pointing my finger… just an extension of my body…” I told myself. I hadn’t tested the trigger pull weight, but I didn’t bother, hopefully it wasn’t broken.

In less than half a second, my right hand shot down to the grip and very fluently pulled the shotgun out from the holster. At the same time, my left brushed along the top of the barrels and eventually against the hammers, cocking them back.

I could do to be faster, but with the way things were, I didn’t have time to practice. “Lassie?” I asked and the puppy looked to me. “Think I’m fast enough?” I asked and she piped out a happy bark.

“Well… let’s just hope you’re right,” I stated then picked up one of my custom CDs and made my way upstairs and to the front doors.

Peering both ways, I made my way for the pony who I was looking for which, ironically, wasn’t Tristan. As I was about to round another corner, I spotted Tristan coming my way. “Shit!” I hissed quietly and looked behind me, only to see that I wouldn’t have enough time to rush around to the other corner of the building.

Looking down, I noticed a large cardboard box. “Well… it has worked before,” I mused then lifted the box, set it on top of myself, and hunched down. My knees burned in report of my action and my back fared no better.

Lucky enough, Tristan walked right past without noticing a single thing out of the ordinary. “Man… thank you Snake,” I whispered my thanks with a deep sigh, then snuck away, the box still atop of me, using the handle holes to see my way.

Somehow, nopony even took notice of me, or the moving cardboard box, as I traversed through the town. I travelled down the streets, around corners of buildings, even down alleyways, until finally, I arrived at Sugarcube Corner. As I entered, I tossed the box off and Pinkie gasped, stunned that I was here. “Evan!...” she squealed, but I motioned for her to keep quiet. She quickly zipped her lips and I rushed over to the counter, the CD already in my hands.

“I’m still exiled from town. Can you do me a favour?” I asked and she nodded. “Can you play this on some sort of speaker so that it faintly echoes in the town?” I asked and she nodded again. I handed her the disk, she nodded once more and I gave her frizzly mane a tussle.

“Okay, thanks,” I thanked her, gave her a nod, then rushed out, leaving my stealth cardboard box behind.

I looked side to side, now looking for the blue stallion who hurt my friends. “Okay you sonofabitch… where are you?” I asked to myself, then went to the left, carefully cutting corners to make sure he didn’t spot me first.

The jelly goo squished and squelched in my clothes, making me cringe in disgust. Other than the smell, this was almost on par with the sewers.

Taking another corner, I spotted Tristan. Looking back to see the sun setting, I nodded to myself then started a slow walk forwards. The duster coat flaps tuffed about in the gentle breeze.

I stopped a few dozen yards away from him and waited. Ever so gradually, he turned to face me.

Present time…

“I guess you know what happened after that,” I told him and he smiled.

“Yes, and now the only thing left is the ending, which I assure you, I already know how it ends,” he told me, and I smiled smugly.

“Oooh… damn, that must be painful to know your own demise,” I taunted him and he smiled back, equally as smug.

“Yes, well, not as mentally painful as knowing that you can’t help your friends… like that little grey pegasus. Tell me, did she live? I tried more so to cripple her rather than kill her,” he taunted me, somehow knowing where to pry to get me steamed. I grunted out an angry huff and he snickered, now getting boastful.

“Let’s have a little competition, shall we?” he offered and I snarled. “This alicorn amulet nourishes me with power, but I’m willing to wager that I can beat you without it, but only if you toss away yours as well,” he stated. I slid the Christian cross necklace off and tossed it aside.

Tilting his head forwards, he slid off the alicorn amulet and his eyes flashed before he too tossed his aside. “See? I am completely out of its power, all on my own. Now we can see who is truly better!” he boasted loudly.

The Norinco’s pump racked, loading a fresh shell into the chamber. “Shall we begin?” he asked and I nodded. Time nearly slowed to a stop as I saw his gun start to rise. In an instant my sawn off shotgun was up.

The muzzle blast was horrendous as both barrels went off at once. The recoil was tremendous and the muzzle flash was equally as frightening, probably more so for Tristan. He was lifted off his hooves, his magical aura disappearing almost instantly around my old shotgun.

Blood splayed out from his chest as he was propelled backwards. Landing over ten feet back with a THUMP, I heard him gag painfully. I waited for a moment as smoke poured out from the twin barrels of my shotgun. Slowly bringing the barrels closer to my face, I blew away the smoke, spun the shotgun on my right index finger, and then holstered it… just like the movies.

I began walking towards Tristan and as I passed my Chinese shotgun, I hefted it up and racked the slide, removing the shell from the chamber. Continuing along, I passed his alicorn amulet and slammed the stock of the shotgun into it, crushing it into the pavement and shattering it apart.

Lifting the gun back up, the shattered remains of the amulet turned to dust and blew away in the breeze. “Cheap Chinese shit,” I muttered my opinion about the amulet, then racked open the receiver on my Chinese shotgun and loaded the old shell back into the chamber. An agonizingly painful scream echoed in the town as Tristan withered on the ground, gaining my attention.

The musical tune in the background slowly came to a stop. I paced over top of Tristan who had a bit of blood oozing from his nose, probably from the shot, or hitting the ground.

“That’s rocksalt. It’s a painful bitch, isn't it?!” I hissed before pressing down on his chest a little with my right boot. He cringed in pain then screamed loudly. A few of the salt chunks had dug into his skin and, even without me pressing down, it was probably a tremendous pain he was feeling. My boot pressing down on his chest pushed the rocksalt chunks deeper into his wounds, making him scream louder.

“DASH! Start a timer!” I yelled out and Dash immediately brought out a stopwatch. I looked back to the pitiful pony beneath me. “Open wide bitch!” I hissed while pressing the shotgun barrel into his face. He gagged, then began to cry in a mixture of pain and petrified fear.

“Please… please don’t kill me! Please… PLEASE!” he sobbed and I looked back to Dash.

“TIME!?” I asked and Dash hit the stop button.

“Uhh… Ten seconds flat,” Dash informed me and I nodded before pressing the shotgun barrel against his head with brutal force.

“Now, if you ever come back, and I mean EVER! I will gut you in less than ten seconds flat… no, I’LL FUCKING RIP OUT YOUR EYES, SHOVE EM UP YOUR ASS, THEN YOU CAN SEE ME RIP OUT YOUR GUTS FROM THE INSIDE! I’LL FUCKING EAT YOUR HEART OUT AND MAKE BALLOONS OUT OF YOUR LUNGS . ARRRRRG!” I let out a roar of anger, taking my foot off his chest so that he could leave. He painfully got up and scampered off into the distance, leaving a plume of dust behind him.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! SHOOT HIM!” Dash screamed and I gave a look of shock to the cyan pegasus. Never before had I heard a civil pony ask me to kill another pony.

“Oh, but Dashie… don’t you think that’s a little harsh. Maybe we could…” Fluttershy began, but Dash hushed her.

“SHOOT HIM!” she screamed again. I wasn’t about to question the mare, and in the end, if Twilight got mad at me for killing, I could always tell her that I gave into peer pressure.

I quickly brought up my Chinese made shotgun, lined up a shot, and squeezed the trigger.

CLICK!

“UGH!” I groaned in a deep tone. I waited a brief moment before racking the slide. The shell ejected, but just as it was falling down, the shell went off. Before I could even blink, I felt something painful skinned across the top right side of my forehead. I was knocked to the ground as my head was whipped back, knocking me off balance and crashing painfully to the ground.

‘Smooth one Burdy, hangfire,’ my conscience ridiculed me. ‘You’re lucky that thing didn’t go off like a hand grenade or you’d be dead!’ he continued to bash me. I brought my hand up to my now bleeding forehead. Blood seeped between my fingers as my vision blurred.

The cut wasn’t necessarily deep, but it started just above my eyebrow, and ended just before my hairline. I brought my left arm over to the right side of my body and rolled over, but my equilibrium would have no part of it. It felt like I was spinning a hundred miles an hour. Very slowly, I stood to my feet, shaking a little to stay balanced as best I could. “Chinese… shit,” I muttered as my balance became wonky and my vision blurred even worse.

“Oh no! He’s not getting away, not after what he did!” Dash yelled and prepared to fly after him.

Just as she went to fly after him, the shield around the town dissipated. Dash was like a streak of light as she blazed towards Tristan. “God… she’s angrier than I am,” I stated bluntly, still a bit wobbly. Suddenly, a voice yelled out from the skies.

“I got your back Evan… WOAH!” Derpy must’ve hit turbulence or something because she spiraled out of control and collided with Rainbow Dash, smashing them both into the ground with brutal force.

I gasped and staggered over to the duo while Tristan made his escape. “UGH DERRRRPY!” Dash yelled as she squirmed out from under the grey pegasus mare, but as she went to continue her pursuit of Tristan, her wing spasmed, obviously busted pretty bad.

Derpy rubbed her head attentively and I looked to them both. “Are you mares alright?” I asked and Dash shot me an angry look.

“Don’t just stand there, shoot him!” she screamed. I looked towards Tristan, who was now far in the distance, far beyond the range of my shotgun.

“I can’t. He’s out of my shotgun’s range,” I replied, and Dash looked to Fluttershy.

“Chase him down!” Dash screamed and Fluttershy darted forwards with a look of determination on her face.

I blinked in a rather unimpressed way as she slowly buzzed past us, going about ten miles an hour. Dash scowled angrily and I looked to her with curiosity. “Okay, I know he had you guys… erm, mares, as slaves, but really, I should be the angry one. He nearly killed me and Derpy,” I stated and Dash’s body tensed up in anger, growling to herself.

Blood dripped down into my eye and made me flinch briefly as I rubbed it away. It was bleeding pretty good, and I now had a thumping headache.

“He!... HE!... HE RAPED TRIXIE!” Dash screamed at me. Her scream was like a powerful gust of wind that blew against my face with tremendous force. My face was relieved as she stopped yelling and I managed to open my eyes.

Looking back to a very depressed looking Trixie, I scratched the left, uninjured side of my forehead. “Trixie?… like… that Trixie?” I asked and she nodded. “Like… that Trixie right there?”

“Yes,” Dash muttered angrily, just as Fluttershy returned.

“Oh Dashie, I’m terribly sorry but… Tristan escaped. I just couldn’t catch him,” Fluttershy apologized in her timid tone. Dash rolled her eyes in an irritated way, probably already knowing beforehand that he was going to get away with Fluttershy pursuing him.

“YES THAT TRIXIE! AS IN HIS OWN SISTER!” Dash screamed at me and I flinched, then looked back to Trixie, who was now in tears.

Taking a moment for it to register in my head, I cringed a bit at the thought of the two siblings… and at the thought of Tristan raping her. “Eww… like… he raped, raped her?” I asked and Dash let out a groan.

“Yes. Tristan raped Trixie. He forcefully put his penis inside her vagina against her will!” Dash explained it so bluntly that I didn’t need to register anything.

“Eww… that’s gross… and wrong… FUCK, HE’S STILL ALIVE!” I yelled as I realized that, in my process of getting unbanned from town, and the shell hangfire, he had managed to escape.

Dash nodded with wide eyes. “Yeah, hence why I was so angry,” she said, obviously scorned at me. She then turned her attention to Derpy who had kind of thwarted her plans. “WHAT WERE YOU DOING DERPY!? I ALMOST HAD HIM!” Dash screamed at the grey and cross eyed pegasus, who only flinched in fear.

“HEY!” I boomed, and this time Dash flinched. “Don’t yell at Derpy. She was only…” I trailed off as I realized that she had come to town, even though I had specifically told her not to. “What were you doing?” I asked in a calm and curiously voice. Derpy gulped and let out a nervous laugh as she scratched the back of her head.

“Well… I heard a loud boom from your thingy and then you fell over, so I thought you were hurt really badly and I was going to come to your rescue,” Derpy replied and I sighed, happy that she was trying to help me. In truth, I did get hurt, so she was in the right mindset.

We all let out sighs just as the others came over. “Oh dear… this is not good. I’ll inform Celestia immediately,” Twilight informed everypony, then looked to my forehead. “Oh my gosh! Evan! You need to go to a hospital!” She became frantic, but I brushed away her worries.

“Don’t worry. It’s not bad,” I replied and tried to wipe away more of the oozing blood, which just seemed to keep coming. I let out a sigh, then looked to Dash, whose wing was still messed up. “Alright, I’ll go to the hospital with Dash and… you gals can do your thing… whatever it is,” I stated in an exhausted voice.

As everything settled, we all started to depart and Twilight nudged me. “I know I yelled at you the other day for doing what you did with Trixie, but Tristan… I’ve never met a pony so cruel. Even Sombra wasn’t that sadistic,” she told me. Derpy trotted over and gave me a weak smile.

“I’m sorry for what happened. I didn’t know, I just…” I cut her off by bringing my index finger to her lips.

“It’s okay. I think we’re all feeling pretty bad. I can just feel it in the air,” I told her in a very depressed tone. Truthfully so, it felt like justice wasn’t done. Like none of us had done our part to stop it. I noticed Trixie was still in tears.

“Listen, uhh… I’m gonna… go and uhh...” I trailed off and walked over to Trixie, sitting down beside her and sighing. “I’m sorry about what happened. If I had’ve known…” I trailed off, my stare turning to the horizon, the sun just setting.

“I have nowhere to go. Anywhere I go he’ll find me… and…” she sobbed. I wrapped my right arm around her and gave her a comforting hug.

“Stay here… I’ll protect you,” I told her, and she looked to me with haunted and saddened eyes.

“I can’t… I’ve made a fool of myself in this town so many times,” Trixie sobbed and I hugged her a little tighter.

“I’ll make sure they let you stay. And I’ll make sure that if Tristan ever comes back, even gets close to the town, I’ll put him six feet under,” I told her and she looked to me with teary eyes.

“But… but… you… I tried to make a fool of you,” she cried and I shook my head.

“Doesn’t matter. What he did to you was wrong and…” I trailed off and looked to the sunset with a gulp. “I fucked up big Trixie. I was always the most badass, most rock hard, most… I was all that. Big, strong, powerful, brutal towards anything that showed me lip, and now...? Now I’m just… I’m starting to get soft. I can’t bring myself to just get angry on the spot. I need something to help me get angry,” I stated in self-pity.

She hugged me back. “Maybe it’s not good to always be angry… and thank you, thank you so much. Nopony has ever done something like this for me before,” she cried and I shrugged.

“On one condition. I need you to do something for me,” she gasped and pulled back from the hug in a shock of horror.

“I… I didn’t think you’d want me to… after what I’ve been through,” she gasped in absolute fear. I nodded and she stayed in a look of shock.

“Listen, I know that it’s just how you are and everything, but… just try to relax on the whole boasting thing. And maybe don’t talk down to ponies either. That’d be nice,” I told her and she paused for a moment in thought.

“Wait… you only want me to… be nice to ponies?” she asked and I nodded. ‘Isn’t that how ponies are supposed to act towards one another?’ I thought before she interrupted my internal conversation. “Oh… I thought you meant something else,” she let out a sigh of relief while I raised an eyebrow. What on earth could she possibly think I wanted her to do for me? Maybe fix my bleeding head so I wouldn’t have to go to the doctor.

With everypony now dispersing, I went to get up, but Trixie held me down. With the amount I was bleeding, I was feeling a little tipsy. “Please, don’t leave me,” she wept and I rolled my eyes.

“Listen, uhh… I’m bleeding… a lot. I think I might need a doctor,” I informed her and she quickly stood up, got a prideful look on her face, and offered me her hoof.

“Please allow THE GREAT AND HELPFUL TRIXIE to escort you to the hospital!” she offered in an upbeat tone.

“Alright,” I replied as I let her help me up. For a quick second, I thought she had completely gotten over it somehow, then I quickly realized that she was nestled close to my side, obviously not wanting to be alone.

Ponyville, Sunday, April 7th, 2014…

I gasped as shot up out of bed, sweat beading down my face while my heart raced wildly. Ever so slowly I slowed my breathing, thankful it was just another dream. It was a constantly occurring dream, ever since the whole Tristan incident.

I leaned back down and rubbed my forehead attentively. Luckily for me, the healing potion worked wonders, unfortunately I would still have to endure the side effects of that tetanus crap they always gave me.

Thinking to myself, I wondered if it was really necessary to give me that many tetanus shots. I mean, shouldn’t one be enough for a while?

I’d been having this particular dream recently, a dream that Tristan had slowly killed all my friends, all the while I was paralyzed, just looking down upon my shotgun, unable to stop him. Much like I had done the day he had flung me out of town and nearly killed Derpy. It would just replay, again, and again, and again, until I finally woke up.

The whole incident was just getting to me in an uncontrollable way. I had been so close and I just screwed up. I let out a deep growl as I clenched my fists. If I had just shot him right then and there… this would’ve all turned out fine.

I began talking to myself in my head. ‘The fact that the first time I couldn’t bring myself to end him… am I becoming a failure? I mean, it was only when Dash yelled for me to shoot him that I was going to shoot him. Before, I was just going to let him run free. That’s not who I am… is it? I’m supposed to be the one who can handle the dark stuff… am I getting… soft?’ I thought more and more to myself. I hadn’t known beforehand that Tristan had raped Trixie… but he still had messed Derpy up really bad. I should’ve been in an absolute uproar.

Grabbing a piece of paper and pencil from the nightstand, I started constructing a letter to Twilight.

‘Dear Princess’

I stopped writing to think of a pun, but stopped myself as I realized that I should start to be serious. This wasn’t something to joke about. I had fucked up real badly. Nopony in town was quite the same. I continued to write a proper letter

‘Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
It wasn’t today, but a few days ago. I used to think I was the strongest, the best, someone to look up to. But instead I’m a failure. I messed up real bad when I should’ve been at my best. I feel like everything is my fault and I don’t know what to do. Sometimes friendship can feel as if it’s being broken apart because of something you do, something I did. I don’t know what to think about this and hopefully things work themselves out.

Your faithful student,
Burdy.’

Author's Notes:

Yeah I know, you all wanted to see Tristan's head smashed in, but his death (As I plan it) is meant to be more symbolic, rather than just having Burdy smash his skull on the streets of Ponyville so, I apologize for not having him die in this chapter.