“Johnny, back off.”

Stance wide, Johnny Gold snorted and glared into the eyes of the giant bull towering over him. “No can do, partner...I’m not leavin’ till you say sorry to the ladies over there...you are bein’ an asshole towards Mary.”

The bull, Vade, grazed the ground with one of his hooves and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you dare tell me what to do with my girlfriend, pony.” He gritted his teeth angrily. “I think I’ve had enough of your stupid little pony face, Shy. I’ve done so much for you yet-” He shoved his face into the stallion’s once again and growled. “- you decide to talk back to me, make me look like a fool and flirt with my cow.” With his large head he tossed it forward, causing the pony to step backwards to avoid their skulls connecting. Johnny looked at Vade with wide eyes and swallowed with his tail tucked between his legs.

“H-Hey..there’s no need for that.”

Ha! Ponies were so weak. Feeble. They talked a big game but knew if they went hoof to hoof with Vade’s kind they would be trampled.

The curly haired cow that stood behind them took a ginger step forward, obviously nervous. “Vade hun...don’t do this. Let’s go home n’ relax…” She and Johnny Gold shared a quick glance, both feeling their hearts thump hard against their chests. Mary gave her boyfriend a small smile. “He was jus’ jokin’. Johnny’s a young stallion after all and we know how they are.” The cow took her place next to Vade and rubbed her snout on his shoulder, trying to calm him.

Vade growled. “That’s the problem. He is a young stallion and I am tired of all their shit. Trottin’ around here with their stupid tails up and shittin’ up the place.” He stomped towards Johnny. “This was a proud, bovine-centric rodeo till ponies came around and fucked everything up.” Those blue eyes were furious as the bull kept them on the pony in front of him.

“Oh...bein’ the racist now, are we?”

Dang.

The feathering on Johnny Gold's shoulders were at their maximum fluffedge he felt the cold chill of fear run down his spine when he finished his question. He was in trouble and he knew it...this situation was about to turn south real quick but Johnny Gold being himself, he couldn’t keep his snout closed.

Fuckwad.

The area was silent. There were not many other ponies or bovine were around. Some opted to stare at a safe distance. They didn’t catch Johnny Gold's comment but knew something was going to go down. As quickly as the silence descended upon them it was broken by a loud, sharp bellow that blew the hair off of the stallion's face and soon after he was suddenly in the air, the ground seemingly so, so far away. His heart left in his throat and all he saw was the bright, blue sky - Johnny twisted every so slightly midair and ended up landing on his stomach. Body crashing into the hard packed ground headfirst like a rag doll, Johnny felt every bone in his body rattle and the sharp pain of skinned knees and elbows. Dust rose from the ground and went upwards, shrouding the pony in a veil for a few seconds.

“S-Shit Johnny Gold!”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh boy…”

Voices swirled around him, none of them recognizable as though they came through his ears like he shoved cotton in them.

Something warm crept down his face as his right eye was swollen shut. Raising a shaky hoof Johnny Gold touched his brow and let out a soft whinny. Before he knew it tears pushed their way out of his eyes and dripped down his face as he lay there in the dust, refusing to open his eyes.

---

Oh yeah. This is how Johnny gets his scar. This was a moment of his life where he was truly scared and felt small, weak and defenseless. He felt like a teenager, which he was one. But being the neighborhood tough guy he never left room for him to see himself as an actual kid and opted to see himself above it.

Vade knows what he did and knows he fucked up. Not only did he hurt somepony he considered a friend, he hurt the son of two Elements of Harmony. And he knew Ms. Jaclyn Apple would possibly kill him. It would be a PR nightmare. Mary didn’t expect her boyfriend to react the way he did and she was mostly shocked and thought less of getting in trouble and more if Johnny was okay…

Mentioned in the piece before a lot of bovine and ponies don’t really like each other. The racial tensions can be intense and Vade was no expectation. Johnny Gold loved rodeos and knew he’d have to deal with cows of all sorts whenever he went to one - whether it was one or a few. He was a loud mouth and pissed a lot of people off but Vade was the only one who got the stallion off guard. Basically...Johnny learned that day that he needed to be less antagonistic and careful. People didn’t tell the whole truth which got him in trouble.

And yes. Momma Applejack will be pissed about this.

And oh yeah, I finally got a surge of wanting to write and I did. I've been meaning to do this scene forever.