Aren't y'all glad you
came with me to see
Applejack compete in
the Appleloosa rodeo?!
Totally! This place is
a cutie mark gold mine!
There's barrel racing...
...roping contests, rodeo clowning...
...steeplechase...!
If we can get into
some of these events,
we all three can walk
off the train back
in Ponyville with brand
spankin' new cutie marks!
Wouldn't a barrel look good here?
I want a lasso!
I don't know... all these events
look a little, well, dangerous.
No risk, no reward!
Alright everypony, listen up!
We need a big presence in this
here rodeo so make yourself menacing!
I want that low-down varmint
to know we mean business!
I hope nothing bad is going on.
A cutie mark-apalooza
and a low-down varmint?
This is shapin' up to be
the most excitin' rodeo ever!
Yeah, come on!
That's my cousin!
Go Applejack, go!
Phew, it's been a dog's
age since I got to compete.
All the rodeos round Ponyville
are closed down for some reason.
Well, I guess havin'
injured kinfolk in
Appleloosa sure paid
off then, huh, cuz?
Just doin' my best to
fill your horseshoes, Braeburn.
Keep tossin' like that
and I'll be out of a job!
Ow, ow!
Ooh, sorry. Say, where's
my sister and her friends?
Uh oh. Gee, uh, I guess I got so
caught up watchin' you that I-
You said you'd keep
an eye on those fillies!
How am I supposed to focus
on practisin' if you're not gonna-
There they are! Heh,
right where I left 'em...
Aw, don't be mad!
Owwwwch!
My foreleg!
Hurts so much...!
Y'all can't go runnin'
off like that, y'hear?
Backstage at a rodeo ain't
no kind of playground!
Sorry, Applejack.
We won't wander off again.
But, uh, speakin' of the rodeo...
what would you say
about me and the Crusaders
maybe competin' in one
teensy-weensy little event or three?
Look out!
What the hay just happened?
You fillies alright?
Uh-huh...
Yeah...
Uh-huh...
Yeah...
Sugar and saltlicks, well I'll be...
What is it, Sheriff?
Is it him?
Ain't no doubt. It's Trouble Shoes.
Is it true? Is Trouble Shoes here?
You ain't gonna shut
down the rodeo, are ya?!
All right now, I called for
a meetin', not a mob scene.
Now as many of you know,
the Equestria rodeo circuit
has been plagued by the dirty
dealin's of a notorious outlaw.
He knocked barrels every
which way at the Hoof City rodeo!
Nearly crushed my Aunt !
That's nothin'! He sabotaged
the steer pen at Pinto Creek rodeo,
settin' off such a stampede they
cancelled the whole daggone thing!
Now it's true we had an incident
this mornin' at our own Appleloosa rodeo.
Hay bale stack came down
right near on top of three little fillies!
I examined them
hoof-prints myself, and...
it was Trouble Shoes, all right.
I reckon I oughta cancel this
rodeo like all the others done.
But dag-hoof it,
this has gone far enough!
We'll double the patrols!
This rodeo will go on! Appleloosa
ain't gonna be intimidated!
Glad that's settled.
Don't send us home! It's not fair!
Now, quit yer bellyachin'.
I can't have y'all around here
with some outlaw on the loose.
Aw, maybe I oughta call it
quits and go home too.
No, you can't! This rodeo
is important to Appleloosa!
And with you in there,
we got a real sh*t at winnin'!
Come on, now, you head
on back to practice
and don't worry none
about these three.
I won't let 'em outta my sight.
Ya hear? Y'all ain't
leavin' my sight!
I thought we weren't going
to wander off again?
This ain't wanderin'!
We know exactly where we're
headed, to find Trouble Shoes!
But isn't he a dangerous criminal?
We only need to find him.
We don't need to capture him.
The Sheriff can handle that!
Once he's in jail, we'll be
competing! And then it's-
Cutie mark city!
Worst idea ever.
It's another giant hoof print!
Do any of you have any
idea where we are?
Uh, maybe we should
head back and try again later.
C'mon, before we lose the trail!
Come on, we've gone far enough!
Time to go back!
The rain is only getting
worse, Apple Bloom!
Let's come back tomorrow!
Maybe y'all are right...
so, how do we get back?
You mean you don't know?!
Phew, good job, y'all.
I know they need lots of
mud for the rodeo tomorrow,
but I wish they would've
warned us about this rainstorm.
Braeburn? Where are the girls?
What?!
Ha! Fish my wish!
- Aw!
- Dagnabbit!
Sheriff Silverstar!
You gotta help!
My sister's gone!
And her friends too!
I've searched and searched,
but no sign of 'em anywhere!
It must've been Troubleshoes!
Now, now, hold on there.
Troubleshoes done a lot
of bad things in his day,
but nothin' like that!
You really wanna take that chance?
Come on, y'all! Let's ride!
You sure about this, Scootaloo?
I thought I was, but now I'm not.
So I pretty much got us
completely and totally lost.
How could this get any worse?
We gotta get out of this rain.
There's no tellin' how
long this storm could last.
Look!
It looks abandoned.
Let's go see if we can find
some blankets or somethin'.
Hello? You alright?
Surely.
We didn't mean no harm.
We just came in to
get out of the rain.
Had some hot cider a-cookin'
in the kitchen, doubt it survived.
Ain't gonna rise to greet y'all,
awfully rude I reckon
but as you can see
I'm the fresh casualty
of an unusually
unfortunate circumstance.
My lot in life, I suppose.
Are you... Trouble Shoes?
That's me.
W-what are you doing?
I'm gonna unravel him.
You can't do that,
that's Trouble Shoes!
Aw, he don't seem so bad.
Of course, guests would arrive
while I ain't got no pie to offer,
scores more misfortune points
for old Trouble Shoes.
Wh-whooaaa!
Typical. Bad luck never rests.
You sure that's bad luck?
Seems like maybe you're just a little, um...
Klutzy?
Tell that to the flank!
Upside-down horseshoe, bad luck.
Follows me wherever I
go like sour on old milk.
Y'all best vamoose before my bad
luck rubs off and sticks to y'all.
Get along! Skedaddle!
Am-scray!
Um, we don't really know
the way back to Appleloosa...
But o'course I do... Wouldn't
you know it, my lucky day.
It's actually kind of sweet of
him to help us out like this.
I know! What do we do
if he takes us back to
Appleloosa and the
Sheriff arrests him?
If I get a cutie mark for that, I'll
feel guilty every time I see it.
Say there, Trouble Shoes,
you might not want
to take us all the
way back to Appleloosa.
The Sheriff sort of has
it in his mind that
you're a no-good outlaw
lookin' to shut down the rodeo.
My kind of luck he'd think that.
But... is it true?
Y'all like stories?
Mm-hm!
Just my luck. I was
hopin' you'd say no.
When I was a colt, I wanted to
be a rodeo star somethin' fierce,
but I just didn't seem
to have the knack for it.
I practiced, and practiced...
And finally, I worked up the
guts to audition for rodeo school.
Right in the middle of that trial,
I knew I was doin' what
I was meant to do,
then wouldn't you know it, in a
flash comes this here cutie mark.
I can still remember
them judges laughin'.
Didn't even finish my routine 'cause
I knew then bad luck was my fate.
That fire for rodeo never
did leave me, though.
Couldn't keep away from 'em.
So I'd sneak down and have a look,
but wouldn't you know it,
bad luck would strike again.
Just my whole lot in life, I reckon.
Poor Trouble Shoes.
I can't believe those mean
judges would laugh at him like that!
Don't you see?
They weren't laughin' at him,
they were just enjoyin' the show!
What are you saying?
Think about it. If we
saw a rodeo clown doin'
what he did back in that shack,
we'd think he was the greatest!
You're right! He can still be in rodeos,
just not the way he thought!
So he's been looking at his cutie
mark wrong the whole time!
It's not bad luck, it's-
Gotcha!
Just my luck.
Trouble Shoes, you're
under arrest for vandalizin'
the property and peace of mind
of the good rodeo-lovin'
ponies of Equestria!
Not to mention fillynappin'!
And... generalized mayhem!
Wait-
Braeburn? Get these
fillies someplace safe.
Wait, no, listen, Applejack!
No!
But Trouble Shoes isn't
the menace everypony thinks!
Sakes alive, what's with you?
Why in tarnation would you
want me to help you get him
out of jail when he's the one
who ran off with y'all to begin with?!
Now if y'all excuse me,
I'm off to win
the Appleloosa rodeo
hay bale monster stack!
Um, Applejack?
Well at least I get me a view of
one small corner of the rodeo.
Figures.
Aw, come on now, Trouble Shoes,
I'm runnin' out of mattresses!
Come on, Sheriff!
You're about to miss the hay bale monster stack!
Jiminy, that's startin' already?!
Let's go, Trouble Shoes!
This here's a jailbreak!
Ain't no need.
Can hear the rodeo just
fine from this vantage.
But we've got a plan to
help you live your dream!
Listen, y'all, I'm a known criminal.
How you proposin' on
gettin' me into a rodeo?
Go, Applejack!
You can do it!
Go, Applejack!
You can do it!
Well, how do I look?
Come on now, stack
them bales! Woo-hoo!
Kay now Trouble Shoes, you're on!
Say what?! I may be dressed
like one, but I ain't no rodeo clown.
You got your cutie mark
all wrong, Trouble Shoes!
You were born to entertain!
You got a gift for makin'
folks laugh, don't you?
But my cutie mark's an upside-down horseshoe,
and that means bad luck!
It all depends on how you look at it.
You always wanted to be
part of a rodeo, right?
Well, now's your chance!
Go on!
There y'all are! How 'bout
your big sis, huh?
Yeah, way to go.
Since when are y'all
so into rodeo clowns?
Just leave me be, cutie mark!
Aim to clear that there hoop!
Come on, now!
That's the best rodeo
clown I've ever seen!
Trouble Shoes!
What the hay?!
He escaped from jail!
Ruinin' another rodeo!
Let's get him!
Wait, y'all! He ain't
what you think he is!
Stand aside, young'uns!
This one's goin' back to jail.
But he never wanted
to ruin any rodeos!
Those were just bad accidents!
Sweetie Belle, what
are you talkin' about?
Trouble Shoes has a gift
for making ponies laugh!
He's maybe the best
rodeo clown I've ever seen!
That's true! He is awful funny.
He thought his cutie mark was
telling him to keep away from rodeos,
but deep inside he knew it's
where he was meant to be.
He just didn't know how to do it!
What she says is true!
This here entertainin' y'all with my klutzin',
that's what I was
supposed to be doin'.
I know it now. I didn't
mean no harm, honest!
I just never loved nothin'
like I love the rodeo,
so I kept on sneakin' back and
makin' a big old mess of things.
Turns out I was just lookin'
at my cutie mark all wrong.
That may be so, Trouble Shoes,
but you've still gotta face charges
for the problems you caused!
If I done wrong, I'll see to it that
I take my debts in and
square my accounts.
Truth be told, we could understand
all the trouble with the rodeos,
but why'd you have to run off
with these here little'uns last night?
Uh, yeah, about that...
You really want us to clean up
all this mess Trouble Shoes made?
Maybe it'll teach you not to go
wanderin' off after I say not to!
Ugh, ain't it bad enough
that you get to
go back to Ponyville
with a shiny trophy,
and all we're bringing back are
these same old blank flanks?
Y'all helped Trouble Shoes realize
what his cutie mark really means!
Ain't that a nice feelin' you
can take back with you?
I guess we did make
things a little better.
It does feel kinda nice!
So... we can stop now?
Nnope.