So after we arrived in Vanhoover it was a big scene of emotion. Ponies either rejoiced as they were reunited with loved ones or cried for the deceased. We didn’t stay long. Extravagant paid for a pegasus carriage to fly us back to Dodge. I had lost all my money, except what I still had stashed at my home but I didn’t really have time to go back there.

The whole trip took about two days and of those two days nothing really happened. We mostly just talked briefly then stayed in silence. The only really important thing that happened over those two days was that we found out Elijah was a war veteran. He had lost his left eye while in service.

As for Rosy Heartstrings… well she just slept most of the way. At the odd time she’d wake up and cry but there wasn’t much I could do.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the pegasus carriage set down. I gave them a nod and looked to the sky. It was probably four in the afternoon. Every-pony, and dog, followed me as we trotted down the single street of Dodge. It was more crowded now. Ponies walked along the streets in a lesser sense of fear, probably due to the showdown a few days ago.

We reached the marshal’s office and I stepped through first. The hoof full of deputies all gave me a nod and Ray smirked. “Ah… John, it’s so good to see you again. And I see that you’ve made some new friends.” He stated.

“Yeah… well you already know Billy.” I said but before I could continue Brixie stepped forwards.

“I am The Great and Powerful Brixie!” She announced and I dropped my head in shame. We had almost died just a few days ago on a cruise liner catastrophe and she was already back into her boasting ways.

Ray shook her hoof and I introduced Elijah and Bear. “This is Elijah and Bear. We met them on the Lunar Titan.” To this all the deputies gasped.

Ray leaned forwards then took a sip of whiskey. “Are you saying… that you were on… the Lunar Titan?” He asked and we all nodded. “Well I see… so what can I do for yah John?” He asked me and I shrugged.

“We need some help.” I replied and he chuckled. After he had a short laugh to himself he looked to me and offered a shot glass of whiskey. I shook my hoof and Elijah took it then quickly downed it.

Ray looked to me. “Well, isn’t that a surprise. Need help huh?” He asked and I rolled my eyes. “Well… in that case, what’s wrong?” He asked.

“It’s nothing much. Just need you to send a telegram to Baltimare to have our horses, Nostalgic and Marry, brought here to Dodge. We have some business here but we’re not sure where to start… actually, where’s Harry?” I asked and Ray sighed in disappointment.

“He’s out… playing cowboy.” He replied and I chuckled from the thought of what Harry could possibly be doing right now. “Why do you need Harry?” He asked and I shrugged.

“Lost most of our stuff on the ship. Need to be refitted.” I informed him and he smirked.

“Well in that case I better go with you. He has this thought that his warehouse is now the armoury of the marshal’s office… guess it would actually be more of an honour for me than him. Guy has more guns than… probably the Equestrian military for Celestia’s sake.” He commented then arose to all fours and cracked his back. “Alright… let’s go see Harry.”

Daring’s perspective:

It was sort of calmed down now and everything was returning to normal but one question was driving me crazy. ‘What would happen between John and me now?’ Sure the emotions had run high on the cruise but now… everything seemed the way they used to be. Well now we had this stallion Elijah and his dog Bear, but other than that it seemed pretty well the same as before.

We got to the outskirts of Dodge and heard the loud sound of gunshots going off. As we got into the back scrapyard, Ray yelled out. “Harry! It’s Ray, stop shooting for a second.” He yelled and the gunshots ceased.

Soon enough, Harry appeared from behind a beat up old carriage, sporting a shiny semi-automatic pistol in his right hoof while he trotted along on his other three hooves.

“Oh hey Ray, how’s the best old marshal doing?” He asked in a squeaky voice. Ray rolled his eyes as Harry stepped in front of us and pulled down his dusty flight goggles. “DAMMIT!” He screamed then pushed Ray aside and fired a shot with his pistol.

We all looked to where he had shot and saw a splattered rabbit. Before any of us could ask, Harry answered the question I’m sure we all had on mind. “Bastards are eating my garden again. They’re like the plague I tell yah. THE PLAGUE! You shoot one and hundreds take their place… well maybe only two or three take their place… shit!” he screamed as more rabbits hopped along through his garden.

Harry rushed up to a rusty old carriage and hopped on. He removed a tarp from overtop a mounted machinegun then cocked back the charging bolt and opened fire. “DIE YOU BUCKERS!” Harry screamed as he let loose and pulverized the rabbits that were terrorizing his garden.

He ended up doing more damage as the bullets that chattered out from the machinegun, ripped up the dirt and crops in his garden. Though he destroyed part of his garden, the machinegun chewed away the rabbits and within seconds the ones still left alive wised up and scampered off.

Harry hopped off his carriage while muttering curses to himself. “Well… that certainly was something.” Elijah muttered and I leaned over and whispered to him.

“You have nooo idea.” I told him and he chuckled to himself. Harry stepped up to us again and took a big huff of air.

“So… what can I do for the marshal today?” He asked and Ray smiled.

Several minutes later:

The big steel sliding door groaned in retort as it opened, having rusted heavily in several spots. Light pierced through the now open doorway and somewhat lit the warehouse. Soon enough, Harry flicked on a light switch and several overhead bulbs flickered to life.

Elijah’s jaw dropped. I leaned over to him, “He’s a war vet like you.” I told him and Elijah simply nodded in shock and awe.

“Well… help yourself… well actually don’t. Tell me what you’re taking before you do. I’d like to keep an inventory of what I still have.” Harry commented. We all nodded then went our separate ways. Ray however followed me.

As I went to get some ammunition for my revolver he placed a hoof on my shoulder. “You love him… don’t you?” He asked and I felt a tear come to my eye.

“Ray I… I don’t know. We… we expressed ourselves on the cruise but we were cut short when it began to sink. Now everything just seems… I don’t know.” I stammered and he sighed as he helped me fit an ammo belt for my ivory gripped Colt SAA.

“Take some time and talk to him. If you really love each other then you’ll know. Try not to do it in the heat of the moment. That usually ends up messing things up.” Ray told me then trotted away. I took his words seriously.

I heard Harry squeal in delight. I looked over to see Elijah fitting a dual set of machineguns onto a battle saddle on his back. Harry continued to squeal. “How did you do that… those are Maxim machineguns… they weigh like fifty pounds each. Plus the water cooling system… it’s almost one hundred and fifteen pounds.” Harry gasped.

Elijah nodded. “I learned this when I was fighting against some Gryphons in the Philippine war. Although I used two Browning machineguns rather than Maxims… but regardless it ended up working quite well.” He replied. I had heard about the Philippine war, apparently Gryphons aided the ponies that were fighting against the Equestrian government.

I smiled to myself as Harry became quick friends with Elijah. Those two were like peas in the pod.

I turned back and wondered if perhaps I should take a rifle but then figured probably not. It would just slow me down and I never really had to fight. I just let John and Billy do the shooting and I do the… well I haven’t had much of a chance to show off my talents yet.

I began to stroll down the aisles and look at the vast armament that Harry owned. Soon I entered an aisle where Billy held Brixie up against a shelf and was making out with her. I went to leave them in their privacy but Billy somehow noticed me.

“Gah, Daring… we uhm… yeah.” He stammered, kind of embarrassed about being caught making out in the armoury. I just nodded and trotted away. Okay, those two were like peas in the pod.

I kept browsing along, not sure what I was looking for, until I bumped into John who was loading fresh shells into his bandolier. He had also found himself two new revolvers. Both were Colt Peacemakers like mine, minus the ivory handle.

He looked to me as he was placing a shell into the bandolier. “Hey kiddo… what’s up?” He asked and I stepped towards him.

“John… do you still love me?” I asked hesitantly and he chuckled.

“Uhm… yeah… why would I not love you all of a sudden… is something wrong?” He asked and I nodded.

“John… ever since everything happened… I don’t know. It just seemed like everything went back to the way it was before.” I replied and he sighed.

He looked to the foal that he was still carrying with him. “Yeah… it’s just that everything’s been really depressing… don’t worry. As soon as we find Rosy here a home, I think things will brighten up.” He stated and I took a step forwards.

“John… I just want to be sure that this is real.” I whispered. He still had Rosy wrapped in his duster and only wore his white shirt and trousers. He held Rosy in one foreleg while he wrapped the other around my neck and brought me in for a hug.

“Don’t worry Daring… it’s real. I’ll never stop loving you.” He whispered and his words eased the thoughts I had. After embracing each other for several moments he stepped back from the hug and began loading up again.

“You know… Hearth bought me this shotgun… it had never been used once before she got it for me.” He told me and I looked to the shotgun. That was probably why he took it along with him literally everywhere he went.

After a few more minutes we all regrouped. Billy had found a Lee Enfield with a scope. Brixie had a lever action 1894 Winchester repeater slung across her back and found twin Schofield revolvers that she housed in hip holsters. Elijah was mounted up with a battle saddle that housed both his machineguns. A water cooling box was slung to his back along with two ammo boxes. Celestia, that must be heavy.

It sort of made me feel like the black sheep. Every-pony else had a larger firearm and I just had my one simple revolver. Ray raised an eyebrow as he looked to John. “By the way John… since when do you have a foal?” He asked.

John looked to the foal. “Hey Ray… you always said you wanted a foal right?”