After Danika left, the horse starts to head towards the others when a cowboy calls out to her.

"Where do you think you're going, horse?" he said, approaching her.

He places a saddle on the fence. Seeing that, the horse tries to back away but was being caught by three ropes again as she gets dragged into a big empty carrab. She struggles to get free from the ropes when a gunshot was heard. The horse looks over to see a snake demon holding a pistol sitting on the horse's back.

"What seems to be the problem, gentlemen?"

"We got us a crazy, fiery one here, Rattlesnake sir." the cowboy replied. "A pure flaming mustang."

"Really?" he asked, dismounting and approaching her.

He lifts the Stallion by the chin with his crop.

"People have dealt with wild horses before. This one will be no different. Looks perfect for me to store more horses." he said with a grin.

The horse bites the crop and drops it and breaks it at his feet as she sneers at him. Rattlesnake Jake picks it up with a chuckle.

"Induct this animal, boys."

"Yes, sir!"

https://youtu.be/sAtTyRYrIhQ

Meanwhile, Danika finds herself sitting in a bench with the rest of the citizens of Hell along with Stolas, Blitz and his crew, Sallie, and Striker. Danika had tried to make friends with other imps but all just ignore her, making her wonder why.

"Where are we?" Danika asked, looking around.

"The corral. It's time for them to break that horse you were looking out for." Stolas explained.

This made Danika worried and looked over to see the horse as the men puts a saddle on her back. They then muffs her mouth for them to place the reigns around her. The imp cowboy sits on her back and grabs a hold of the reigns. Another cowboy is outside the fence and ready to open for the horse to go.

With a glare, the horse bursts through the gate and bucks. As the cowboy sits woozily from the saddle, the horse spins around then bucks him off of her back. This made Danika smile. As the other cowboy helps him up, another volunteer calls out.

"Okay, my turn!"

The cowboy throws the hat away, then unlocking the gate, and riding the horse. The horse looks at the cowboy and smirks, making him get nervous. The horse runs, spins, and bucks him off once again as the cowboy falls to the ground. The horse glares down at him and goes to walk away when the cowboy snark at her.

"Lousy heap of horse flesh!"

This made Danika growl at him along with Blitz for calling the horse like that.

The horse turns her head and sneers, making the cowboy's eyes widen in fear as he regret saying that when the horse charges towards him. He quickly jumps over a fence before the horse could get to him, making her smirk. Danika sees her looking at Rattlesnake Jake as he was watching her silently. He then glances to the side to see the other horses from the stable laughing. The horses sees his glare and quiets down.

The horse prances around with her head held high before spitting at another cowboy nearby the fence, who flinches down. She makes it back to the gate and smirks smugly at Rattlesnake Jake who glares.

"Hey, we got a rider!"

Another cowboy comes in with a wipe and goes on her, then opening the gate, then jumping in the air, the cowboy flying to the man on the ground, then flying with the man again, then flying again, then snorting, then running at the men, then running, then snorting at Rattlesnake Jake, then nickering harshly, then huffing loudly.

"You!" he called out to one of his goons.

"Yes, sir."

"Fetch my crop and spurs. It's time to show everyone how to properly control that horse."

Before the horse knew it, Rattlesnake Jake is on her back and he digs his spurs onto the her belly, making her take off and bucking. Rattlesnake Jake holds the reigns in one hand while holding the crop as the horse jumps around and around. The horse spins in a tight circle

"You can break easy or you can break hard, mustang!" he said, yanking on the reigns. "No! Back up! Back up! Back up!"

The horse rears off and gallops off and stops short. Rattlesnake Jake kicks her with his spur, making her neigh angrily.

"Come on!"

Running around as the horse makes tight turns and bucks around.

"Come on! Come on! Come on, mustang!"

The horse runs full speed across the corral and slams her body against the fence, but Rattlesnake Jake hangs on.

"Ha!"

The horse slams the fence again. Rattlesnake Jake whacks the horse with his crop, staying in the saddle as the horse drops to the ground and rolls. She gets up with Rattlesnake Jake on her back, panting heavily. She hangs her head and the other horses stare widely at her along with Danika. The crowd watches with silence as Rattlesnake Jake pants and chuckles as the horse glance back at him and look down at her shaking legs. Rattlesnake Jake straightens his jacket and gives a crowd a smile, making them all cheer except Danika.

"You see, everyone, any horse can be broken." he said before spurring at the horse. "Come along, mustang."

Everyone applause and cheer once again. The horse kicks up dusts as she walks slowly. She then glances at Danika, who looks at her with plead.

"And it is that matter of small thinking that would say thus horse could never be broken. Discipline, time and patience are the three great levelers."

The horse glances at the other horses who hang their heads with sadness. The horse stops and stomps on her hoof. Rattlesnake Jake notices her stopping.

"Mustang?"

The horse bites the reigns and yanks them out of his hands then rears up. Danika's face brightens with joy. Rattlesnake Jake grabs her mane as the saddle flies off and falls to the ground. The horse's eye reflects his face. She glares at him before tossing Rattlesnake Jake over the fence and falling, breaking it in half.

"Oh, no!"

Rattlesnake Jake's body lands with a thud. The cowboys helps him up.

"You alright, sir?"

Danika watches as the horse gets to her feet and flashes a big smile. Rattlesnake Jake shrugs the men off, looking angry.

"Get off me!" he yelled, catching his breath.

The horses in the stable rears up and neighs loudly as they all cheer much to the horse's surprise with Danika smiling. Rattlesnake Jake angrily clenches his teeth.

"Cowboy! Secure that horse!"

He grabs a pistol from the cowboy and aims it at the horse's head. Gasping, Danika quickly takes out her own pistol and aims it at Rattlesnake Jake where he's holding a pistol.

"Danika, what are you doing?!" Stolas gasped.

Ignoring him, she clicks her gun and shoots at his arm, causing him to drop his gun. She sprints over the fence and leaps high in the air and lands on the horse's back before kicking the cowboy. Danika and the horse runs off towards the horse that are tied up to the wood and rams through it, freeing them. The three horses follows after them as Danika and the horse runs towards the imp cowboy aiming the gun towards them. Danika reaches out and snatches the gun out of his grasp as the horse runs around him, causing him to fall into the hay. Danika tosses the gun away and her and the horse jumps into the stable where the horses are inside. Danika sees the gate locked and aims her pistol before shooting the lock as they run through and the rest of the horses joins after them as they run through the gate, all free.

She sees cowboys in their horses chasing after them with Rattlesnake Jake in the lead. Danika shoots the cowboys, causing them to fall off of their horses but Rattlesnake Jake dodges them and keeps on chasing them. The horse neighs at the horses as they turn to the other side where it's safe and runs off, leaving Danika, the horse, and Rattlesnake Jake.

"Give me that horse!!" Rattlesnake Jake shouted after her.

"Never!!" Danika shouted back, urging her horse to go faster.

Rattlesnake Jake aims his pistol and gets ready to shoot when someone bumps into him. He turns to see Striker riding his Bombproof.

"You!!"

"Me." Striker replied back before taking out his pistol and start shooting him.

Rattlesnake Jake ducks from the bullets and shoots back at Striker. Danika looks back to see the two fighting. Glaring, Danika turns the horse around towards Striker and Rattlesnake Jake. The horse realizes what she's doing and glares, going faster. Danika aims her pistol and shoots it twice towards the ground near Rattlesnake Jake's horse, causing his horse to rear up in alarm and bucking Rattlesnake Jake off as he falls to the ground. The horse gets in front of Striker and Bombproof as Danika jumps off of the horse and glares at Rattlesnake Jake, who gets up.

"If you want the horse so bad, you're gonna have to get through me." Danika said.

Rattlesnake Jake glares at her and smirks.

"Alright, Goetia ... Make your move."

Striker looks at her and she nods before facing the snake demon. Danika and Rattlesnake Jake move into position to shoot it out. Jake quickly spins the chambers of his Gatling gun-like tail gun, the chamber clicks into place, Danika checks her gun to see... one bullet. So be it. She holsters her gun. Danika and Jake face off. 

The wind has died down. The air is dead ... 

Danika and Jake slowly start walking toward each other...

Step ... step ... step...

Striker watches with interest. The horse and Bombproof watching silently.

They step closer and closer...

Jake rattles in the high noon sun...

Danika's eyes narrow...

Before all of this, Danika had secretly called Blitz and his crew to let them know where she is and needed a backup. Stolas knows about it as well since he's with them and is willing to come by and help. The IMP van could be seen driving at full speed.

Danika and Jake... Closer and closer...

Danika looks down at her watch. It clicks to a minute past.

Jake and Danika step closer. Jake, failing to notice the smoke coming from behind him as the IMP van could be seen. Striker notices and says nothing. Danika glances over and smirks as soon as the two stop. They stare down at each other before Jake raise his tail about to shoot her when Danika charges and spins in the air and gives him a roundhouse kick, sending him flying as he crashed onto the ground, dragging his back before stopping. Jake hisses and gets up, holding up his fists. Danika gets into her fighting stance before he charges her and the two get into hand to hand combat as they block each other's hits. Danika then manages to punch him down hard with her power as he fell to the ground.

He snarls in anger and gets up and spins his rattle at her, wiping his mouth from the punch she gave him.

"I'm gonna blow so many holes in you, your guts will be leakin' lead!" he threatened.

Danika just cross her arms.

"Well then it's a good thing I brought some back-up."

Jake realizes something is not right and looks over his shoulder to see the IMP van coming closer. The van then stops and the doors to the van opens and Blitz, Moxxie, Millie, Loona, and Stolas jumps out and starts shooting and throwing at Jake with their guns and weapons while Stolas shoots out magic. Jake roars in fury takes aim starts firing his rattling gun like tail at them wildly!

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! 

Blitz and others dodges those incoming bullets while firing back. Moxxie and Millie charges at Jake, who easily dodges their attack and whacks them away with his rattle gun like tail. Loona tackles Jake and tries to bite his head off when he grabbed her by the throat and threw her towards Blitz, who was about come and rescue her. Stolas flies towards him with speed but Jake keeps on shooting and he has to dodge them while trying to get closer to him. Jake laughs ... truly enjoying the battle until Jake's out of bullets! His tail-gun rotates and whirs. Empty. 

Click-click-click-click-click. 

He turns -- right into the barrel of Danika's gun. Her glare is ice cold to show she's serious about shooting him. Jake's eyes quiver -- and blinks. Defeated. Before they knew it, a big boom was heard and Jake collapsed on the ground, holding his chest in pain where it almost hit his heart but not fully. He looked up to see her glaring down at him.

"I would've killed you, but I wanted to show you a reminder to never mess with a horse. Live. Knowing that I only let you for you to never forget that."

Jake growls at her. His venomous gaze is only distracted by her pistol. His eyes widened in shock to see no more bullets. That means he was defeated by... He looks at Danika.

"One bullet ... Heh... I tip my hat to you..." he said with a nod while tipping his hat with his shaky fingers. "One legend to another."

Danika tips her cap, acknowledging Jake's respect. With a grin, he whistles his horse to come back to him as it did. The horse helps him up and Jake gets on the saddle before galloping away, leaving Danika starring at his departure.

"DANIKA!!"

Her breath was knocked out of her lungs for a moment as she was being tackled into a hug by a worried, crying Stolas.

"Oh, my little star! You're okay! What were you thinking?! You could've gotten killed if you haven't called us!!"

Danika awkwardly pats his back to calm down.

"I was just trying to save the horse."

"Well, I'd say you got yourself a keeper right here. That horse is gorgeous." Blitz said, staring admiringly at the horse.

Danika gently removes herself from Stolas and faces the horse.

"Well, you're free. You can go and get back to your herd."

"Not what I expected..." Blitz said in shock.

"Don't ruin this." Moxxie scolded him.

The horse stares at Danika for a moment and to the other side where it leads to freedom. Danika removes the reigns from her and drops it and gives her a nod that it's okay. The horse then gives her a thankful nod before rearing up with a whinny and galloping away. Striker stares at Danika, feeling... respectful towards her. He couldn't help but think there's something about her that he doesn't know. He's supposed to hate the royal, but she's different...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that incident, they ride the train back to Lin and Joe's place and Danika was right now in her room on the bed, looking sad that she will never see that horse again. Aiden lies down next to her and snuggles against her to make her feel better, which it did the trick a bit. Danika smiles and strokes his head.

"Thanks, Aiden."

Just then the portal appears and Stolas steps out and lands inside of the room.

"Hey, how are you doing, Danika?" he asked with worry.

Danika said nothing and just sit up with a sigh.

"You know, when I saw you riding after that stunt you pulled against Rattlesnake Jake, for a minute... I thought I saw my daughter completely changing her life and I had never seen you smile so bright."

Hearing that made her turn to him with a smile.

"I'm proud of you, Danika. And while you were looking at the horse, I wanted to give you these."

He holds out a horse message in a bottle and two or four books about horses. Danika was amazed at these gifts and holds them for a moment before placing them down and hugging Stolas, much to his surprise.

"I love you, Dad."

Hearing that made him tear up and hug her back. The next day, Danika was helping the imp farmers with some chores when she heard a familiar whinny. She turned and was shocked to see the horse she saved.

"Whoa, is that a pure flaming mustang??" Joe asked, surprised to see it.

Smiling, Danika jumps over the fence and runs towards the horse and hugs her neck.

"You actually came back. Huh... you don't have a name. You have a fire spirit. I'll call you... Seraphina."

Seraphina gives a sound of approval, liking that name.

"Well, I'll be."

Danika and Seraphina turned to see Striker approaching her.

"I didn't think that horse will come to you. You really have a connection with her." Striker said.

"Yeah..." Danika smiled sheepishly.

"I think it's time I teach you how to ride that horse like a true cowgirl."

Hearing that surprised her.

"Huh??"

Before she knew it, they're in the corral as Danika faces Seraphina, holding a blanket. Striker is behind Danika outside the fence.

"Great mustang, today I will ride you."

This made Seraphina snort as Blitz and others watches.

"This ought to be good." Loona said, holding up her phone.

Danika waves the blanket to Seraphina, who backs away. She tries to place the blanket on her back, but Seraphina neighs and jumps away. Danika continues trying to put the blanket on Seraphina by jumping while grunting. Striker watches with a sigh, shaking her head. Blitz and others snickers at the sight. Seraphina nickers angrily and charges towards Danika. She gasps and runs over to the fence and jumps over right before the horse hits her as she nickers angrily at Danika. Bombproof comes to her rescue and goes in front of Seraphina and neighs ferociously at her, shocking her. Then Bombproof whinnies disapprovingly then snorting. Seraphina then huffs and turns away.

"Let's try another way to get you to ride her." Striker suggested.

"Yeah..."

Danika was handed a rope as she goes back into the corral. Seraphina glared towards Danika once she saw her coming again.

"It's okay, Seraphina. It's okay... shh..." Danika tried to soothe her on her way over. "Easy, I'm not here to hurt you."

"I can't watch." Moxxie covered his eyes, making Blitz and Loona roll their eyes.

Danika thinks for a moment on a way to calm the horse down until she gets an idea. She faces the horse straight in the eyes and starts singing as she stepped over to her.

https://youtu.be/W2w-lt94voc

I know you're scared
and I know what you've been through
Look in my eyes
Can you see I'm frightened too?
So let's take one step at a time

Before she could touch the horse, Seraphina neighs at Danika, knocking her down before she got back up, still holding onto the rope.

"Oof." Blitz winced as that looked like it hurt.

Seraphina glared at her firmly.

I won't give up
That's one thing I swear will be true
For it's said by the wise:
"Keep your eyes on the prize"
and I've got my eyes on you

Danika glared back as soon as she stoop up with the rope to come back towards Seraphina. Seraphina took a few steps away from her.

It's hard to trust
when you've been misunderstood
It's starting now
we'll be treated like we should
So let's take this ride till it's true

Danika sang as she came closer regardless and carefully place the rope around Seraphina, who glared at her before she pulled on the rope firmly.

I won't give up
That's one thing I swear will be true
And I won't give in
I'm stronger than they ever knew

Seraphina began to calm down as she looked at Danika again. Danika gently places a hand on Seraphina's snout.

Don't try to run
'cause I'll just be there when you do
For it's said by the wise:
"Keep your eyes on the prize"
and I've got my eyes on you

Danika then got onto Seraphina's back. Moxxie looked scared while Blitz, Loona, Millie, and Striker smiled from Danika's bravery. Seraphina allowed Danika onto her back, but soon glared as she tried to buck her off as she ran all around vigorously. Moxxie began to bite his claws nervously. Danika tried to stay on as Seraphina raced all around the corral with the disguised human on her back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!" Blitz exclaimed to see them coming close until Seraphina jumped high over their heads which made their mouth agape in shock.

"Whoa..." Loona whispered to herself in awestruck.

Seraphina began to try buck Danika off, but she never left her back. The sun brightened up as Seraphina began to tire herself out from trying to buck off Danika as she's now walking normally with Danika on her back.

I won't give up
That's one thing I swear will be true
For it's said by the wise:
"Keep your eyes on the prize"
and I've kept my eyes on you

Danika smiled at Seraphina who soon smiled back at her. She then hugged the horse by the neck. Striker appraoched her, riding Bombproof.

"I knew you could do it." he said.

"I had to believe that I could too." Danika smiled at him.

"Now that you completed your task, it's time for a real test. Follow me."

Striker then hit the reign, making Bombproof start galloping. Danika clicks her tongue to get Seraphina to follow them as she did as they gallop together. Blitz watches them go with a pout.

"I wish I could ride one of those... Even though I've been taking horse riding lessons, I don't think I will own a horse."

This made Moxxie roll his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://youtu.be/RkoQlQMEsmM

Running hooves could be heard throughout the desert as Danika and Striker ride alongside with their horse. Danika had never felt so free and proud to ever ride a freaking demonic horse. With her and Seraphina, their bond is so strong and a love that lasts forever long, a trust that's built with every stride, a friendship that will never hide. Danika knows her horse so well, her every move, her every spell, the way she whinny, nuzzle, and neigh, the way she gallop as Seraphina jump high before landing and continuing galloping with Bombproof following her lead, making Striker chuckle.

The horses and riders, a team so true and together they ride, through all they do. They could feel their horse's heart, a rhythm that they know by heart, they feel the strength, the grace, the might, and that makes their horse a shining light. Danika cheers in happiness as she spread her arms out, showing how she completely trust her horse. Striker raises his eyebrow, impressed with her move. Seraphina neigh in happiness, looking up at her rider. Her cheer was cut off by the gunshots behind them.

Glaring, Striker looked back to see three cowboy imps chasing behind their tail with their ropes out. Danika, Striker, and their horse then approach an entrance of the canyon as the men kept chasing them. One of them caught up to them as Danika noticed and grabbed a long branch and put it in between the two walls. The imp cowboy ran into it, knocking him off his horse as it ran away free. Seraphina cheered for its freedom as Danika leans on her neck, support laughing in joy at the scene.

Another imp cowboy came from the rocks above them as they were approaching a rocky bridge. Danika and Striker quickly jumped up, rolling onto the pavement before landing on their horses, who easily run through the low height of the bridge. The four of them watch the horse behind them knock the imp cowboy off of it by hopping, hitting him off balance, and falling to the ground as the horse prance away with joy of its freedom.

Then another imp cowboy came from nearby, catching up to them as Seraphina and Bombproof then immediately tried to stop themselves in fear of falling off a cliff of the canyon as the imp cowboy's horse did the same. Seraphina and Bombproof then ran to the side, trying to speed up as the imp cowboy came up behind them, trying to knock Danika and Striker off of their horse. Danika got hit and would've fallen off if it weren't for Striker saving using his tail to wrap it around her waist and pull her back up. Holding out his gun, Striker shoots the imp cowboy in the head, making him off of his horse.

Danika, Striker, and their horses kept on going as they made it to the top of the canyon where they can see the other side of the cliff and they easily jumped over to it and landed safely. They stopped their horses and looked back to see no more imp cowboys chasing them.

"Looks like we're safe for now." Striker said.

"That was crazy. Does this happen often?" Danika asked.

"Only for either money or they just wanted to steal something from us." he shrugged.

Striker looked around and saw a cliff just nearby. He turned to Danika.

"Come on. I want to show you something."

He hit the reigns to get Bombproof to start galloping as he head towards the cliff with Danika and Seraphina following after them. As soon as they made it up to the top of the cliff, Danika was amazed at the sight of the desert before her.

"Wow! You can see a whole view from up here."

"The desert holds secrets deep within, a land full of mystery and ancient kin. It's a place of challenge and test, but also a place of peace and rest. Wrath, isn't all about rage, but a land of contrasts and extremes. A place of owner, and unforgettable scenes. It's harsh, yet beautiful, where few dare to tread. A land that leaves an impact long after one has left." Striker explained with a fond smile, looking at the desert.

"Whoa. That sounds poetry. I didn't know you're into that."

"Been workshopping."

"Cool."

As they stand over a cliff, Striker then spots a herd of demon buffalo running by.

"Would you like it if I teach you how to ride alongside those??" he asked, pointing at the herd.

Danika looks over and was amazed. She immediately nodded and the two galloped away from the cliff and into the ground as they follow after the herd of demon buffalo. They started running alongside the demon buffaloes as they bellow. Danika was in awe as she reach over and manage to stroke one of the demon buffaloes who paid her no mind and continued galloping. Seraphina neigh in joy as she smiles. Striker and Bombproof are also just having fun as they are. The herd and the riders and the horses all started running down from the cliff and into the opening. Danika gets an idea as she nodded to Seraphina to move as she did. They started swinging in between them. But as she does this, she didn't notice how Striker is watching her with a smile. Striker decides to have a little fun and goes up ahead as he easily swing in between the running buffaloes, making her chuckle as the two race.

Before they knew it, Danika, Striker, and their horses have to separate from the herd of demon buffalo as the sun is setting. They ran along the journey back to Joe and Lin's house as they made it on time for dinner. They got off of their horses and placed them in the stable for them to rest and eat and drink. Danika turned to Striker.

"Thanks for your help and teaching. I had a blast." Danika said with a smile.

"Glad to help. You know, you're not like the rest of the blueblood royals." Striker said, looking at her.

"Well, I'm more of a hard worker than a royalty."

"Hard work, huh? May I ask why would a princess need to work hard?" Striker asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm not really a princess. I'm adopted." Danika admitted, not mentioning about her being a human.

"Really? That's a shocker."

"I know, but I'm happy. I love my new life. And I like this place too. Come on, I can smell dinner being served."

Danika then walked away into the house, leaving Striker to watch her go looking speechless. He then shook his head, following after her. He'll think about what she said to him later.