Smoke

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter One: A Bitter Return
Chapter Two: Escalation
Chapter Three: A Change of Authority

Prologue

Prologue

All in all, it was a pretty good day for Slackjaw. He had got the mare, and he was with all his friends at his favorite bar in this rather unimportant town. He couldn't ask for much more than what he was already enjoying.

Of course, if the mare would shut her fucking mouth for once, this day might just be perfect. It was funny how a gun pointed at one's head wasn’t enough incentive to keep them quiet, they were always whimpering and crying.

“Hey! Bartender!” Slackjaw's friend, Cracker Jack called out. “Why don't you make yourself useful and get us another round over here! We're still trying to play cards!” The dirty white unicorn waved his gun around, which was enveloped in blue magic, matching his eyes.

The mustached barkeep dashed behind the counter quickly to provide them with the alcohol they wanted. What a pathetic excuse for a stallion, Slackjaw thought. That didn't matter though. He was in a generous mood today. No one needed to get a bullet in the head unless they were asking for it.

The blue and white mare he leaned upon at the table took the time to whimper and sob again, causing his anger to flare for a short instant. “Shut your muzzle before I decide to put something in it,” she kept quiet after that. Perfect.

No other ponies bothered coming into the saloon. They knew better than to mess with Slackjaw and his gang. Good, he didn't need any distractions while he and his pals played cards. The less ponies around, the better for him.

Cracker Jack immediately slapped the scotch ale that was presented to him by the bartender when he came around, the glass falling to the ground as he ordered something stronger. Slackjaw took his own shot, though. If Cracker Jack wanted to be an idiot and get plastered, the more bits he would win. The other ponies around the table seemed to have the same idea too.

The six shooters laid at their holsters for the rest of the evening while they played. Some laughed and spat out on the floor, making the barkeep come clean it up. They kicked him and sent him packing with a singed flank, the result of some crude self taught spells.

“Damn all ya’ll and your Cutie Marks,” one of them shot out loudly. “Never had a Cutie Mark in my life, and I've been doing just fine.”

Slackjaw looked at his own flank, as blank as the ones of all of his companions. They'd never had the time to be taking into any sort of school or learn from anypony. It had been a frustrating life growing up and they had never found out their special talents. They had all managed just fine though. They banded together and took to taking what they wanted. A fair enough life for a Blank Flank, he supposed.

While they were all hooting, Slackjaw kept silent with his eyes remaining on the cards before him. He wasn't going to let the rabble distract him from taking all their bits. The bitch next to him was keeping quiet for much longer than usual, which helped him concentrate further. Maybe he'd keep her after he was done with her later tonight.

It was at that moment that the saloon doors parted ways to make room for some idiot. He didn't bother eying the stranger immediately, he was too focused on his cards. He would deal with this dead stallion in a moment.

“Whoa, what in Tartarus is that?”

“Some sort of fancy two legged thing.”

Slackjaw broke his gaze from the two cards floating in front of him. Even he went 'slack jawed' when he saw the stranger. They were right, this clothed creature did indeed walk on two legs. Those legs were covered in some strange rough looking leggings and he wore a lean button up shirt. His face was lightly bearded, some scraggly brown and white whiskers breaking free from the shorter majority, and wore a cutter style cowcolt hat atop of his head.

They stared at the creature as it walked to the bar, taking a seat on one of the round stools. For a minute, they just kept looking at the thing, and it didn't seem to give two shits whether or not the eyes were on it.

“Barkeep,” the thing suddenly said in a gruff voice, identifying its gender. “Come here and do your job.”

The mustached stallion left the table side of Slackjaw's group to oblige the request. This unnerved the ruthless unicorn. Whatever the hell this creature thought it was doing, it was going to pay for it.

“What'll I get ya?” The barkeep asked the clothed stranger.

“Gin,” the creature answered, his head drooped low and hidden under his hat as he began to lean on the bar counter.

“Just a second then, sonny...” The stallion dropped under the counter to reappear with a bottle of gin and a shot glass.

“Mind if I take the whole bottle? I'll pay you for it.”

The bartender tossed the shot glass to the side, shattering it against the wall, a nervous wreck. “Of course! I'll just go over there and just clean up the mess...” He darted off to the wall where he had thrown the glass at.

Slackjaw definitely did not like this new guy. Some balls this one had, but he'd be sure he didn't have any after tonight. He said, “Why don't a couple of you go over there and show this freak to know better than walking into our bar?”

A few of his sleazy companions nodded and left the table to head to the counter. They circled the sitting oddity, laughing mischievously. It didn't react a bit to the four stallions surrounding him though, uncorking the bottle and taking a swig of the gin.

“Hey, freak. Why don't ya get up off your flank and leave this place. We'll give ya a chance since you're new here,” one of the lackeys said while the others hooted and hollered.

The creature took a deep breath and exhaled, keeping his gaze down and away from the ponies that stood around him. “Suppose I could...” he started, “but I'm sure you all can understand how weary my legs must be. You see, I'm not a native of these parts...”

“No shit, halfwit,” the lackey spat out. His muzzle was covered in slobber and snot. “You ain't a pony. Yer some two legged abomination, and you talk all funny too. Like yer from around Canterlot,” He suddenly put his face right up next to the stranger's, whispering in his ear. “So why don’t you just get lost, freak.”

Silence took the saloon. Even Slackjaw watched intently to see what would happen next. He hoped this strange thing took the warning and walked out. Today was supposed to be a good day.

“You know,” the thing began. “I might just be a freak. I mean look at these fingers of mine...” The creature brought up his forearm slowly.

“Fingers? What in Tartarus are th-OH!” The lackey took a shot right to the face with the bottle that the foreigner had purchased, reeling back in a torrent of pain, blood, glass, and alcohol, soon falling over.

The creature stood up as all of Slackjaw's companions went for their six shooters. What surprised them all though, was the fact that the creature was already with one of his own pointed right at him, the only one who hadn't went for his gun. He must have known he was the leader. Damn.

“Easy there,” the creature said, taking a few steps to the side where the injured unicorn laid. They all watched him with eyes of caution and hate. One wrong move and their boss would be dead. If Slackjaw wasn't pissed that this happened, he might have been flattered. Yet they had managed to be pulled into a stalemate by some foreigner that didn't even talk their talk.

The creature moved steadily over to the lackey who was gasping in pain. The only thing that moved was his fist and the guns they were all using. He stopped when he was standing above the injured unicorn, his eyes and gun still pointed at Slackjaw's head.

“W-what should we do.. boss?” Cracker Jack asked, his magically held gun wavering just slightly.

Slackjaw didn't say anything just yet, he studied his situation further, trying to find a way out. He prided himself on his quick thinking, but he seemed to be at an impasse here. The only thing keeping him alive was the integrity of his stallions, which he knew was little to none. “Whatever you are, you picked a bad place to have a drink.”

“I wouldn't call it bad. Maybe the people in it, but not the place itself,” the gun wielding biped countered.

“People? We're ponies mister. People! Hah!” Cracker Jack began to snort in laughter. Slackjaw suddenly wanted to hit him over the head now. Instead, he sufficed with a simple command.

“Pipe it down, ya idiot,” He could have said something much more vulgar. He wondered why he didn't.

“Aww, c'mon boss...”

That did it. He reeled around and bashed the annoying lackey right in his face. Cracker Jack fell back and went into a similar position as the thug that had already been put on the floor by a glass bottle.

The second Cracker Jack hit the floor though, Slackjaw had realized his mistake. His men had all turned their gaze to see the hoof being thrown into Cracker Jack’s face. That had given the foreigner the time needed to put out his shots.

What a short time it was too. In a matter of a few seconds, five shots ran off and five of Slackjaw's stallions hit the floor, blood gushing from wounds in their necks, a message that showed suffering, not mercy. The boss pony scanned to see how many of his lackeys were left and cussed when he found that the rest had begun to make a run for the door.

What were they thinking? He has only one bullet left! He was nearly frothing mad, but didn't let any of his anger bubble over into being visualized. He looked at the human once more and an idea began to form in his head.

“Well done, mister foreigner,” Slackjaw gave a nervous laugh. He had to make sure it worked. He needed to signal for Cracker Jack to stand back up and assist him. He turned to make sure he could get the bloodied unicorn on the same page as him, but suddenly found the ground he had been laying on to be empty.

No! NO! Now he had to hope that he was quicker than this creature. After seeing the work he had done on five of his lackeys in just a few seconds, he wasn't sure he had the skill. There was one thing left, though. The mare, she was sobbing uncontrollably now, trying to stifle herself but finding it hard to do after seeing the five swift deaths.

Slackjaw slowly began to levitate the revolver from his holster at his side, hoping the creature would get the hint of what was going on. It seemed to be working and he put the barrel of the gun to the mare's head. She began to cry out, no longer attempting to keep a lid on her volume.

“You'll let me walk out of here, won't ya mister foreigner? Don't want a mare's death on your hooves, do ya?” He stood up, forcing the mare to follow him. They both began to slowly step backwards to the exit of the saloon.

The creature showed no emotion, his gun still trained on Slackjaw's head. Why wasn't he faltering? Whatever, he didn't seem too willing to take the shot. It looked like he was going to be in the clea- “Ow!!” He cried out as the mare threw a hoof into his own face, sending him back.

She jumped away from him as the pain made the gun falter from her head. She quickly crossed the saloon to fall in behind the foreigner who now held the reins to his life. She sniffled as she looked back at him, a smile of revenge creeping across her muzzle. Fucking bitch.

“Looks like you've got nothing else to fall back on,” the foreigner said with a monotone voice. He held the revolver still pointed right at him. It was over now.

He could beg. He could beg and grovel. This creature had to be merciful, or else he would have shot him when he still had the mare. He had to try, at least. “Mister foreign-”

“No,” the creature announced, his voice still monotone. “I’m done talking.'”

Oh no. It was going to happen. “Hold on! Wai-”

Everything ended with a flash of light and a bang.

Author's Note

Love to hear what you guys think.

Chapter One: A Bitter Return

Applejack

As much as she enjoyed going out to Appleloosa to visit everypony, she always knew that her place was at Sweet Apple Acres and the feeling always gnawed at her until she finally had to leave. Of course, that was on happier occasions.

The freckled earth pony sighed, her emerald eyes drooped slightly and gave her a tired look. Tired from all the crying from the ride on the train to get here, and tired from waiting in the station, afraid to finally get this horrible thing over with.

Her cousin, Braeburn had been found dead outside of the doctor's office just a few days earlier. The second she had heard of the news, she took the train out of Ponyville, promising her brother and grandmother she would be back before the weeks end. She would have liked nothing more than to head back now the moment she had laid hoof into town.

As she stepped out into the harsh southern sun, an air of uneasiness was present from the first second she laid eyes on the dry town that was Appleloosa. It practically felt dead, even though its citizens still went about their daily business.

She suddenly realized she had no idea who to ask or see as to where and what exactly had happened to her cousin. She immediately stopped a stallion who was wearing a beaver furred top hat and asked him about the recent death that had occurred in town.

He shook his head, and called it 'a damn shame' and left her with nothing more than that. She never remembered any of the townsfolk being so anti-social, but she assumed it had to do with what had happened. She was about to ask another passerby when a gruff voice called out for her.

The marshal of the town trotted up to her, a badge anointed both his chest and his flank, revealing both his talent and current role in life to be in perfect symmetry. His mustache was starting to gray, breaking from his rather dark mane and coat, and beginning to compliment his dark green eyes much more.

It hadn't been long since Sheriff Silverstar left to pursue positions at other towns containing more family, but she still hadn't expected his replacement to be so much... older. There had been a rumor going around since her last visit. Apparently, the current marshal had been the sheriff long before Silverstar, but eventually resigned, leaving the position to the younger stallion. Now that he was gone however, he had returned to take his position, as nopony else had the talent or calling for such a task. Of course, this had just been rumors, and that's what confused her the most. Why didn't anypony remember? It couldn't be that hard. Still, that wasn't important right now.

“I had a feeling one of the Apple family would soon drop by. Nice to see you, Applejack,” he held out his hoof for her to bump reluctantly, which she did.

“Marshal Law, you've got some answers for me?” If he didn't know, then nopony would in this now skeleton of a town.

“I might have a bit more than your average citizen, but it still ain't much. Why don't you come on down to the station with me and we'll discuss this whole sorry ordeal?” She followed him back to his headquarters within the town, a splintered sign hanging outside of the small building that read 'sheriff.'

Inside, Applejack took a seat across the desk, while the marshal lit up a cigar, taking a few puffs and looking her down before speaking. “So, what do you know as of right now, Missy?”

“All I know is that my cousin is dead, and it ain't by natural causes,” she felt hollow speaking like this, but it was why she was here to begin with.

“Clever mare, you are. That's more than what most of this town knows thankfully. Some whisper, though. They're getting frantic. Some know it's gunshots that put him down, and so do I. Two in the back, one in the head.” The marshal pony moved the cigar around in his mouth, gauging a reaction from Applejack.

“W-what? Gunshots?” Only unicorns could use such things, and they didn't like to live so far out here, and the ones that did were beyond friendly. It didn't make much sense. “Could it be unicorns, Marshal?”

“Could be. I have half a mind it's Human though,” Marshal Law looked out the window of the station, taking another puff from the cigar.

“Hoo-man? What kind of pony name is that, Marshal?” She was beginning to grow confused.

“Thankfully, he ain't a pony. We're not sure what he is, but he calls himself: 'Human.' A downright silly name I know, but it's his. And get this: he got them claws, like a dragon's. He can operate one of them revolvers, and he has one I've seen it.”

“Are you planning on taking him into custody?” If the murderer of her cousin was right in town, then what in Equestria was the marshal waiting for?

“He ain’t running, and that’s what’s got me curious. Could be worth looking into, he’d probably come willingly.” The marshal tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Suppose I will, couldn't hurt. Care to join me?” Marshal Law took the cigar out from his mouth and buried its head into the ashes of the tray that laid upon his desk.

Applejack swallowed harshly in a fit of surprise. “Why would you want me around some criminal? Ain’t that a bit of a risk?”

“Relax. Doubt Human would put up a fight. Besides, I don’t know anypony that would hurt a mare,” the marshal began to walk out, gesturing for Applejack to follow.

“B-but Marshal!” She followed after him, but only out of a certain curiosity. As dangerous as this sounded, she couldn’t help but find herself wanting to at least see who was suspected in her cousin’s murder.

They crossed the town once more and they found themselves at the local saloon. Applejack could hear the melody of a piano being played, just barely reaching above the bustle of voices inside. This sounded busy, even for a bar.

“Just let me do the talking,” the marshal told her, pushing through the swinging doors.

If the place sounded busy, then it looked a lot busier. Almost every table was full, throngs of ponies all standing about or sitting. All looked to be having a good time. All ponies at least.

Over by the bar was a figure that was considerably larger than those around him. He wore clothes as well, something Applejack could never understand, especially when it came to her friend, Rarity.

“Is that him?” She found herself whispering to the marshal.

“Fine guess, and you’d be right,” before Applejack could say a single thing, the marshal immediately began making his way across the saloon and in between tables to get to the queer creature at the bar.

Applejack didn’t follow after him, she sucked in her breath and just watched the sheriff finally confront the suspect. She worried for the worst to happen.

“Human?” Marshal asked the slumped figure at the bar. He didn’t look at him, which prompted the old marshal to speak again. “Human, you’re coming with me.”

Here it came. Applejack bit her lip as she waited to see the reaction of the creature.

He shifted just slightly, and that was enough to make Applejack flinch even from all the way on the other side of the saloon. She wanted to leave now, but just couldn’t seem to find the will to leave. She needed to see what would happen.

“What for?” The figure finally answered in an empty tone.

“On suspicion of the murder of Braeburn, a citizen of the town of Appleloosa.”

The bar itself began to quiet down, the majority of eyes now only realizing who had entered and what was going on by the bar. It seemed that they were all waiting just like Applejack, unable to return to their previous revelries.

The slumped figure finally stood up, much taller than the marshal upon comparison. She had no idea what this thing was going to look like, but there it was: scruffy, unkempt and disinterested. It stood on two feet and it reminded her slightly of an ape, something not entirely native to Equestria.

He looked around at everypony in the saloon, his eyes scanning them all around, as if sizing them up. What was he thinking? He watched them all... and then his gaze found her.

His dark eyes studied her and she couldn’t look away. She was suddenly frightened, as if this thing was going to reach out and end her any second. This was the moment she felt certain the marshal had made a mistake, and everypony around would all pay for it.

“Alright. If you feel like you need to, sheriff,” he hardly sounded as defeated as the words he spoke suggested, but Applejack hadn’t even noticed, she was just shocked that the creature had given himself willingly.

The marshal wasn’t done just yet, though. “I’m gonna need that weapon of yours.”

The creature brought a hand to his waist where a holster laid. She hadn’t noticed it, but it did indeed hold the six shooter the marshal had mentioned back at the station. He pulled it out, and everypony in the saloon held their breath, thinking this was the end.

He tossed it carelessly on the floor, and Marshal took it into his mouth. With that done, he gave the gesture to move out.

One of the ponies spoke up from a nearby table, confused. “Marshal? Ain’t you gonna hogtie him?”

The sheriff pony spat out the gun in his mouth and grumbled. “I think I can take my chance that Human here has got a bit of integrity,” after the comment was made, he picked the gun back up in his mouth and no more comments were made by the others.

The marshal was about to exit with Human trailing when he gestured for Applejack to join up with them. Again, common sense played second fiddle to curiosity and the orange earth pony found herself following the two back to the station.

After returning, the marshal left the six shooter on his desk and led Human to the back room, where several cells laid. They placed him in one where a ragged looking unicorn stewed in the back corner. “He won’t bother you. He’s all bark and no bite,” the marshal told Human before leading him into the small chamber.

The marshal left the cell and blew out a held back sigh of relief. “I’m glad that’s done with for now,” he turned back to Human, who was sitting at the bench by the wall of the cell. “I’ll get back to you in a little bit.”

“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere,” was the answer he got.

Back in the front room, Applejack found herself in the familiar setting of her in a seat by the desk, with the marshal puffing on another cigar on the opposite side.

“Who was the unicorn?” She found herself asking after a quiet moment, wanting to keep things going. She had waited in silence long enough on the way to Appleloosa.

“Ah, the unicorn. Found the cretin loitering out behind the station this morning. He didn’t put up a fight, but he had some choice words. I took him on the same suspicion as Human here. I’m going to question them tonight, when I get the time.”

“I see,” Applejack huffed out a tired breath. “Marshal?”

“Hmm?” He puffed out a bit of smoke and coughed as he inhaled a bit of smoke that he had not meant to.

“You’re going to do justice to my cousin’s killer, aren’t you?” She wanted to believe. She wanted something to put her nerves at ease. She wanted something to tell Granny Smith when she came back.

The marshal frowned at the question, his eyes watering from the unexpected inhalation still. “Filly, I can’t promise you anything but that I’ll do my best to make sure I got the right stallion before anypony finds a noose around their necks.”

“I guess that’s all that I can ask for,” Applejack responded sadly.

Both of their eyes directed towards the window, where the sun was finally begin to dwindle down and submerge itself behind the dusty mountains so far away.

“You don’t got a place to sleep tonight, do you?” The marshal questioned gruffly.

Applejack began to stammer, kicking herself mentally for not planning out a room to stay in one of the few saloon’s in town. “I… no, Marshal. I don’t.”

“Figured,” he stood up and left the desk to the doorway where the back cells were located. He turned back and pointed towards one of the benches that sat near the corner of the station. “You can stay here, or I suppose I can trust you in my home tonight. I’ll be here all night anyways.”

“I couldn’t Marshal…” Applejack trailed off, knowing she would have to accept his offer anyways.

“Ahh shush. No need to be all polite. I insist,” he spoke out, trotting into the back room now.

“O-okay,” Applejack spoke, looking back at the splintery bench where the marshal likely placed criminals or those too unfortunate to get a seat closer to his desk. Still… she didn’t really feel comfortable being alone right now when a murder was still so fresh around these parts. “I guess I’ll stay with you, marshal.”

“Alrighty missy,” he called back from the back room. “See if you can make yourself comfortable, I suppose. I’ll be back here, trying to get some answers from these two.”

“I’ll try…” She looked back at the bench. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Two: Escalation

Marshal Law

“You can go fuck yourself, law pony,” the unicorn spat in Marshal Law’s face from the other side of the bars, his disgust amplified through his dirty eyes.

The marshal wiped the spit from his face and gave the uncooperative unicorn a dirty look. “Son, you’re going to be in a world of hurt if you don’t start learning some manners.”

“Just try to do something, I dare you,” the gruff unicorn puffed out his chest and tried to look as threatening as he could.

The marshal just laughed and tapped the bars in between them. “I’d be more worried about Human in there than me out here.”

They both looked back to the creature sitting on the corner with his eyes to his feet. He seemed uninterested and he likely was. This was probably all just a waste of time for him, but the marshal couldn’t take any chances.

The unicorn laughed and trotted over to him, giving him a poke of the hoof. Human didn’t react. The unicorn poked him again before heading back to the bars. “He’s just another without any balls, sheriff. Just. Like. You.”

The marshal shrugged before suddenly bringing a hoof in between the bars, grabbing the unicorn around the neck and reeling him in, smashing him against the bars that separated the two.

Marshal looked him dead in the eyes. “I’m getting a mighty bit tired of your language. In fact, innocent or not, you might just find yourself up on the gallows if you keep running your muzzle this way,” he pulled him back and smashed him against the bars again. The unicorn began to look disoriented, but still defiant.

“Then you better make up your mind quick, cause I ain’t tellin’ you shit about the shooting.”

With a defeated sigh, the marshal threw the mouthy unicorn back, sending him down to the floor on his flank. He looked to Human, who was still just sitting there, his gaze unmoving. “Human, can you come over here? For Celestia’s sake…”

Human stood up and approached the marshal. “What do you need to ask me?”

“You wouldn’t know anything about that murder, would you? Be honest with me here, I don’t need more shittalk, I got plenty of that from the charismatic fellow a minute ago.”

Human’s eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to recall anything. They focused back on the marshal a minute later. “I’m afraid not, haven’t been out of the saloon for a few days.”

The marshal tapped his hoof in disappointment. “Look, if either of you knows anything, spit it out, or I’ll be sure to let you rot in here until either I find the culprit, or I figure out which one of you had something to do with it.”

“Whatever you feel is necessary, Marshal,” Human went back to sit in his previous place, while the foul mouthed unicorn simply began ranting on about how he couldn’t do anything to hurt him.

The marshal stormed back into his office, grumbling angrily about his lack of success in getting to the bottom of this murder. Unfortunately, he had been too loud, and woke the mare who had been sleeping on the bench.

Applejack looked around drowsily. “Whazzat…?”

The marshal plopped behind his desk. “Absolutely nothing. Damn this town.”

The drowsy earth pony seemed to be quickly regaining her abilities. “What’s the matter?”

“Stubborn unicorns and whatever the hell Human is… Celestia… what’s this place coming to? All killing each other and just running off…” He really was starting to hate his job, which might have been blasphemous. This was his calling in life, afterall.

He tapped his hoof along the desk, wanting to be away from all this, just for a bit. You can’t really leave a place that needed you so desperately though. He was tied here and he didn’t even have any deputies he could pass his knowledge onto. Not everypony had the makings to be a protector in this town, they were all too unique to follow in his hoofsteps. This Cutie Mark stuff was really binding, and he found himself asking what it would be like not to be tethered by that every day of his life.

“Yoohoo! Mister Marshal!”

Marshal Law looked up and scanned the station. It was just him and Applejack still, who was now looking around as well. Who could that be this far into the night?

“Mister Marshal! Why don’t you come out here for a chat? I don’t take too kindly to law ponies taking my unicorns!”

Aww Tartarus. He should have known that the little bastard unicorn with a big mouth would be having friends. Likely they had no sense of holding their tongue’s too.

He left his desk and ordered Applejack to stay inside as he peered out. There was a lone filthy looking unicorn with blue eyes standing there tapping his hooves. He didn’t look none too bright. Marshal wondered why anypony would willingly be a subordinate to this meager looking one.

“Something you need, colt?” The marshal asked, trotting outside to meet him face to face.

“Why yes. I’m sure you were hearing me quite clearly from inside, but I’ll make it very obvious this time: I want that unicorn you got in there. He’s one of mine,” the stallion’s blue eyes grew dark. “This don’t have to end with anypony getting hurt.”

“Oh really,” The marshal eyed the gun holstered at the unicorn’s side. “I’m sure you’re a very honorable fellow, but I don’t think I’ll be letting anypony out of my station until I figure out just who’s the guilty party.”

“One of my unicorns? Guilty? Of what exactly?” The unicorn put a hoof to his chest, trying to look as utterly surprised and offended as possible.

“Murder,” The marshal returned flatly. This was going about as well as he expected.

“I can assure you Marshal, none of my unicorns would ever commit an act so… unthinkable,” he quivered his lip, as if in a mocking gesture.

The marshal eyed him, thinking him strange. “Well, if you’re so confident in his innocence, then I’m sure you have nothing to worry about while I get this all sorted out,” he turned to go back inside the station, almost sure he was going to get a gun pointed at his back.

Oh he heard a gun being drawn, but he wasn’t planning on how many he heard.

“I hope you’ll be coming out with my unicorn, Marshal.”

The marshal turned to see dozens of unicorns all with guns trained on him. They must have flooded in from behind and between the buildings of Appleloosa. This definitely was not looking well.

He didn’t say anything though. He turned and bolted inside, just as a torrent of bangs and bullets bombarded the station. The marshal hopped to the ground and saw Applejack looking around confused and horrified.

“Get down, dammit!” The marshal ordered, gesturing his hooves in a downward motion.

She complied, falling to the ground next to him as countless bullets continued to rip and tear through the walls of the station. Marshal wasn’t sure what he was going to do against odds like this, he wasn’t even used to being shot at. This wasn’t just about him though. He had to get this mare out of here safe and sound, or he could mark himself up as a dead stallion and a failure.

He looked to see how far the backroom was. It would be a short gallop over there, but maybe he could get Applejack over there.

“Missy!” The marshal yelled, trying to sound audible over the flurry of lead flying in.

“W-what?!” Applejack said, still suffering from the sudden trauma brought on by all the action.

He pointed to the backroom. “I need you to get in there! Away from all this!”

She looked at him with scared eyes. She wasn’t going to move unless she was moved. It figured he’d have to push her all the way there. Citizens.

“Alright fine… but stay down!” The marshal suddenly stood up, trotting ahead and reaching back to the frightened earth pony. They locked hooves and he dragged her back, nearly falling onto his behind more than once. He swore he should have been dead countless times from how close the bullets were cutting around him.

They fell into the backroom, where the unicorn inside the bars was hysterical. He was laughing and crying. “Fucking knew it! Fucking knew it! You’re dead, Marshal! Haha!” He was shaking the bars violating. What a nut case.

Human propped his head up. He looked them all over and got up, moving towards the blithering unicorn.

“What’s the? Keep your hooves off of me you freak! Fuck off!” He shot out a rapid bolt of weak magic, completely missing Human and crashing harmlessly into the wall.

What happened next was so fast, the marshal couldn’t believe.

In an instant, Human closed the gap between the two and knee’d the side of the unicorns face with a ferocity unseen. The unicorn yelped and fell to his side, unconscious. What in Equestria was this thing?

He turned to the two who were still recovering from the torrent of bullets. What bothered Marshal was that they weren’t stopping in the least bit; they just kept firing.

“Let me out,” Human spoke commandingly.

“I won’t!” The marshal answered back quickly. Perhaps he wasn’t thinking this through.

“Let me out and give me my gun,” Human’s expression was just as monotone as it ever was.

“You’re with them, aren’t you?!” The marshal accused, stressed out of his mind. “I should have known! Dammit!”

Human’s otherwise monotone face and overall attitude suddenly turned into something Marshal could only describe as hellish in nature.

Human clenched the bars, his eyes straining. “Do you want to live or die? I’m the only one here that can save your sorry ass.”

The marshal scowled at Human. He was right. Human was the only one here that could even fight back against all of this… the only one that could handle one of those guns. Their only way out.

“Fine, I’ll be right back,” the marshal immediately stormed back into his office where the gunfire continued.

If Applejack had called for him to stop, he hadn’t heard it. Too much was going on, and all he was looking for was his keys and the six shooter. Both were sitting on top of his desk.

He dove behind it quickly. The rest of the office was already in shambles but he didn’t care anymore. He just wanted what was on the desk.

He propped up, reaching both hooves over the desk, and pulling the gun and keys with him. They were almost in his possession when a bullet made contact with his shoulder. He grunted and fell back, the keys and six shooter falling back with him.

Looking around, he noticed his vision was already beginning to haze. Still, he knew where he was going, and he needed to get there fast. The wound he hadn’t even looked at could wait.

He staggered upwards, simply pushing the keys and gun along the floor with his wobbly hooves until he fell into the backroom again. Applejack gasped when she saw him, rushing to his aid.

“No! Get human out! I can wait!” He was in pain, but what he said needed to be done.

“But Marshal-”

“Hush! Let the damn thing out of the cell already!” Damn all these unthinking ponies.

Applejack picked the keys up in her mouth and quickly rushed over to the cell where Human was. She placed the key in the lock and turned it, releasing it and letting Human step out.

“My gun?” He asked.

“Over there,” the marshal pointed wearily to the ground next to him.

Human strode over and picked it up, checking to see if it was loaded. “Full,” he glanced into the next room, where all the fire was taking place. “There a back entrance?”

“Yes, but are you suggesting we abandon the station?” The marshal asked from the floor.

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting. I only got the bullets that are in my gun. It isn’t enough.”

Of course. As capable as Human could very well be, he needed those “bullets” he mentioned. Without them, his little weapon was useless. “What do you want us to do?” Marshal finally asked.

“I want you both out, and running away from town. I’ll keep them busy while you get the hell out of here,” Human began to walk into the front office.

“Hold on!” Applejack called out. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”

Human shook his head. “I’ll meet up with you where you head off later. Just give me some time. Besides, you don’t care about me.”

The mare didn’t look too sure, but the marshal wasn't going to argue with what he wanted to do. “Let’s go already before I bleed out dammit,” he had taken a look at his gun wound. It wasn't horrible or deep, but it bled and he was convinced that if they didn’t find something to stem the tide of liquid life soon he would faint.

Applejack looked back at where Human had went and then back to the marshal, pulling him up. Marshal wobbled around and collided with the bars of the cell. Damn it all, he was going to need help the whole way.

The mare was eager enough to help though, and quickly returned back to his side so he could learn on her as they made their escape. Just as they were about to leave through the backdoor, heading to Celestia knows where, the firing stopped. Had they managed to kill Human? If so, then he hadn’t done a very fine job of holding back the tide. Still, they needed to go.

They pushed out the door, nearly falling out onto the dirt that lined this entire land. As they hobbled away, Marshal Law looked back at his station. All there was was silence, but then he heard a single shot fire off, and it was quiet again.

Something told him that Human was still kicking.

Author's Note

Thought I'd get this out to you all for being so awesome with this story.

Chapter Three: A Change of Authority

Cracker Jack

Who stood before the miscreant Cracker Jack was somepony he had never thought or hoped to see in his life ever again. He didn’t know how this had come to be, or why his luck seemed to be worst in the world, but here was the strange creature from the bar all those months ago…

What town had it been? Oh, it didn’t matter. Everything was a damned drunken haze at that point, he wasn’t even sure what town he was in now. All he knew was that it was his now. No way that Marshal could have survived such a flurry of lead.

What bothered him though, was that no one had bothered to fire their weapon at this point. They all just stood there, looking at one another as the freak stood in the doorway of the station.

“It figures you’d show up again. You’re going to die this time, whatever you are,” he wanted to sound as sure as he could when saying this, but the memories of their last encounter still wracked at his mind.

They all didn’t bother to notice the unicorn that laid on the ground dead, the product of a single shot from this alien sharpshooter. It was what made them hesitate further, he was quicker than any of them could hope to be due to those fleshy claws of his.

The thing remained silent though, and this began to bother Cracker Jack. He just looked… distant, unconcerned for his life, even though it had been threatened. This cocky son of a bitch needed to be put in his place. Maybe after they had killed him, they'd leave bits and pieces of him hanging from clotheslines above town… Something fitting of this inferior thing.

“You’re going to stay silent even now? Some sort of thing you are,” he laughed awkwardly, looking around at his allies. They were simply looking at him to give them some sort of indication to proceed. He wanted to make this thing squeal before he died, though.

He trotted up to the steps of the station, looking up at this defiant thing. They studied each other, but Cracker Jack seemed to still get nothing from those eyes. “You can cut this pathetic tough stallion act, stranger. You’ll die just like a coward in the end.”

The creature took a step forward, causing everyone around to tense up and aim down the sights of their weapons once more. Was he going to finally speak up?

“So why haven’t you killed me yet?” The stranger questioned casually, gesturing to the group the held their weapons towards him, bullet cases littering the ground from their past firing.

“Excuse me?” Cracker Jack questioned. Was this thing suicidal? “You askin’ to die?”

The creature shook his head, indicating that this definitely not what he was implying. Cracker Jack was having a hard time trying to understand the reasoning behind such a statement then.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” the messy unicorn finally declared, laughing as hard as he could, certain that this thing was about as intelligent as an inbred buffalo.

This was about all he was going to get. Fine, at this point he just wanted to see this piece of shit dead anyways. He turned around and began to head back to the others, ready to give the signal.

“Hey,” the stranger called back to him.

Was he finally going to beg for his pointless life? This was promising. Cracker Jack began to turn around, intent on hearing this things last words so he could-

*bang*

It happened so quick, pain shot up through his foreleg, causing him to fallback, and for everypony around him to open fire once more on the already ruined station. He had been shot in the leg, that fucking thing shot him in the leg.

“End him! Fucking kill him!” Cracker Jack yelled out at the top of his lungs, anger boiling over mixed with sudden fear and adrenaline. He couldn’t stop looking at the wound in his leg, it ran red and began to coat the fur around it. He attempted to brush it off, to get the blood away, he couldn’t stand seeing his own blood. It only served to mat down his fur, crimson growing more and more prominent.

“Where is he?” One of the unicorn lackeys called out.

“I don’t know! Damn it all!” Another one barked. They all continued to fire, however, convinced that he couldn’t have possibly left the front of the building. Nothing alive could dodge bullets.

Cracker Jack was just about to tell them to stop when one of his stallions called out, suddenly ecstatic. “I think we hit him! I saw blood! I heard him too!”

“Well keep firing, ya idiot!” The unicorn by him said, pushing him with a hoof.

And so they did, but it was all leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Ever since he had managed to get away and take over what was once Slackjaw’s gang, he had never seen anypony handle a gun like the way this thing did. He hated and admired him at the same time for this uncanny ability he had. It made him want to kill the thing even more.

That was why he let them keep firing, that’s why he didn’t bother to stop, to think that there was nothing off about this. They were going to run out of bullets eventually, however. That was when he finally spoke up.

“Stop! Stop!” He shouted from his seat on the ground.

They ceased, and one of them finally came over to tend to his wound, wrapping his leg with a small handkerchief. He snatched it and place it over his foreleg, telling the sympathetic unicorn to leave him be.

“Should we go look, boss?” It was quiet for a long moment. “Boss?”

Sometimes he forgot he was the one in charge now. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes, get your flanks in there if you’re so confident you killed him. Somepony help me up…”

“But you just told me to leave you alone…” The one who had given him the handkerchief came bolting back, ever helpful and annoying as ever.

“Well I changed my mind, idiot! Now help me up.”

He grunted as he was pulled up off the ground, and he threw his good foreleg over the back of the unlucky helper. Cracker Jack watched his stallions storm into the station, guns toting and ready to fire on a split second’s notice.

“Oh boy,” one said, “I think we got him over here.”

“Let me up, I want to see this,” Cracker Jack ordered. He was lead by his now living crutch to the inside of the station.

They could hear gargling blood and coughing from what appeared to be the marshal’s desk. It looked as if this stranger’s luck had finally run out. This was going to be a cause for celebration, he just wish he didn’t have to take a bullet for it.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” He asked the others who all stood around the desk. “Aren’t you shitwits going to check it out?”

“Uhh, sure thing,” one finally said, forcing himself to look stern while trotting over to the desk.

Everypony grew intense as he slowly inched around the desk to see the damage they had all caused. His weapon was still drawn, ready to deliver the final blow if need be.

The choking of blood could still be heard and when the stallion finally lowered his gaze to the open cavity of the underlying desk, he jolted away, shocked and disgusted.

“What?” Cracker Jack questioned. “Don’t tell me you can’t handle to the sight of a good fillin’ of lead,” he was going to have to thin this little group out if they were all whimsical like this fellow.

“N-no… it’s not that…” The unicorn was fighting back bile rising up into his mouth.

“Spit it out,” he commanded. Of course, the sick unicorn couldn’t even bother to open his mouth now that he having difficulty controlling his stomach. “Somepony, pull this son of a bitch out so we can see what left this little yellow-belly so shaken.”

And so a group of others went over and dragged the body out, all giving off a similar reaction to the first one to even take a look at the others. Cracker Jack was about to begin yelling at them until he saw exactly what was causing such a reaction.

The dying creature the laid before them, covered in bullet wounds all throughout his body was not the stranger they had hoped to end. It was of the unicorn he had initially come here to collect. They had killed one of their own. Or they soon to have.

The thing was still barely breathing, trying to get oxygen through it’s blood filled airways. It sounded awful and it was making Cracker Jack begin to grit his teeth.

“Do him a favor and put a bullet in his head already, dammit,” he commanded, pushing his helper away and falling back against the wall. “I’m tired of hearing this shit.”

One went over and did the deed, a single shot in between the eyes, ending the suffering of the once imprisoned ally of theirs.

“What do we do now?” One of them asked.

Cracker Jack couldn’t help but grate his teeth. “He’s gone, the clever bastard,” he motioned for everypony to leave the station and take the body with them to bury in the outskirts of town, once they did, he was helped out to stand out before them.

“I want this forsaken shithole scoured out until dawn. After that, I don’t care what you do, just don’t go around killing anypony unless you’re willing to take it to me,” he watched them all as they looked back, awaiting one last command. “Get out of my sight.”

He ordered the pony he was leaning on to take him back into the station. He went over and sat in the desk, grunting from the pain in his forehoof. “Go and find the doctor here. Tell them that it would be in the best interest of their own health if they came here and patched me up.”

The unicorn nodded and rushed out of the station, leaving Cracker Jack to himself. He slammed his good hoof into the desk in anger, the ground below him still covered in blood, he had forgotten what had conspired her just minutes ago.

He had wanted to wait a bit longer before he made his move, but with some of his underlings getting captured and then the stubbornness of the marshall, he was forced to take over Appleloosa ahead of his desired time. He had imagined something more glorious than just them firing on the station. He had wanted something akin to a shootout on high noon or something of the ilk. Oh well, he’d have his chance.

They were going to have to think fast, for the ponies that would be coming in on trains might find something suspicious. He was going to have to stifle the collective mouths of the the town from speaking of their occupation of the town, and what better way than through fear? That was why he had given his stallions free rein of the town after their forceful search of the tricky creature that had eluded their grasp. This town would learn to fear them.

They were likely cowering in their homes right now, and that made him smile. It was time he put his hoof down since Slackjaw bit the dust. He might not have been used to all this commanding stuff just yet, but he would make sure he was never made to look like a fool ever again. He had remembered just how childish he was back then…

The unicorn he had sent off eventually returned with the physician of the town, a red-eyed, stumbly stallion, obviously lacking sleep. He wore nothing but a strap around his chest that adorned all his medical tools of trade. Cracker Jack was just glad he had been told specifically why he was coming out, too often his band of brigands would immediately resort to brutish coercion.

As soon as the physician saw bloody handkerchief around his foreleg that leaned over the desk, his eyes focused and his instincts as a caregiver gave in.

He hurried over to the gang leader who watched him with uncaring eyes.

“Please remove the handkerchief from your front leg please,” he instructed, digging through his chest strap for the tool that would be needed.

Cracker Jack rolled his eyes and did as he was told, pulling the cloth from his wound. It wasn’t bleeding as bad, but the hole hardly looked better, and the gang leader felt his stomach lurch at the sight of it. He turned his head around and sighed.

The physician pulled out a pair of metallic tweezers with a silent hum of satisfaction. “You know, this would be a lot easier if you came back to my-”

“I’ll be staying right here, thank you,” he wasn’t going to move an inch from this station until he knew this town was his now. Already, ponies were following his requests, however. A good sign.

The doctor shrugged and began to speak again. “I assume you want to do this sitting up then? No ether to take your mind off the pain?”

“Why don’t you just keep your yap shut and do what you’ve been told?” Cracker Jack growled. Some ponies have their last sentence be a question the way they talked, he never understood them.

The doctor gave a warning, telling Cracker Jack to stay still as he inched ever closer with the tweezers in mouth. He clenched his teeth as he braced for the intrusion into his flesh.

The pain was more than he ever could have imagined. He strained himself as he felt the metallic pincers enter his wounded foreleg, and he immediately slammed his other hoof into the desk, grunting in pain.

“Boss…?” The one pony that had done nearly everything for him tonight asked, worried for his distressed leader.

Cracker Jack spoke up, fighting back tears and the urge to shudder as the tweezers poked around in search of the bullet pieces within him. “Shut up! J-just go look in the back or something, get out of my sight…”

His tireless helper frowned, but did as he was told, moving into the back where the cells laid. Cracker Jack might have felt bad for treating him like this after all he had done for him, but that couldn’t be helped right now. He was in fucking agony.

“You’re lucky it didn’t hit anything too serious,” the physician commented casually, pulling out what Cracker Jack assumed was a small piece of the bullet within him. He wanted to hope that was it but he felt himself nearly on the verge of throwing up as the doctor went back to probing within him.

The leader couldn’t find the voice to speak with, instead opting to give off some sort of irritated growl, wishing it could all come to an end sooner than later.

“B-boss!” The unicorn he had just sent off came bolting into the front office, shouting out for his attention. “Boss! I think I-”

“Hold that f-fucking thought,” Cracker Jack managed out, his gaze traveling all across the room in some attempt to take his mind off the pain. It wasn’t doing any good at all.

The doctor had no consideration for what he putting him through, but he supposed that was because of who he was. Or maybe he just wished he could have gone under with the ether, that would have been good at this point.

“I’m almost done,” the doctor announced, much to the relief of everyone in the room for many different reasons.

With the last bit out, the doctor took the pieces he had extracted from the arm of the brigand and placed them in some sort of pouch bag that he had produced from one of the pouches on the strap along his vest. He then proceeded to wrap the brigand’s leg several times with a long linen strip, biting off the end when it was satisfactory. He kept his bloody tweezers at a distance as he looked at Cracker Jack expectantly.

“May I go back to my home, sir?” He asked, his eyes even worse than they had been upon his arrival.

The gang leader gave a motion with his hoof to the exit, sending the doctor off. It was about time. He huffed and turned to the helpful yet annoying unicorn that seemed to never leave him alone. “Yeah?”

“Boss, I may know where that thing and the marshal went,” he said this on wobbling legs unsure of himself.

Cracker Jack’s eyes narrowed. “What?” He had completely forgotten about the marshal. “Where?”

“Well, there was a door leading out back. They’re likely far into the desert by now. Maybe they’ll just die out there?” The unicorn suggested hopefully with a fake smile.

If he had been hoping for some form of praise he was sadly mistaken. The gang leader motioned for him to come over. “Help me up, I want to see this.”

For the last time, the lackey helped him up and allowed him to lean upon him as they both went into the back room that contained all the cells. Cracker Jack groaned as he looked at what had led his underling to this conclusion.

It wasn’t even subtle. The door was wide open, leading out to the cold night where he could see a few hills being cut off by the silhouettes of cacti against the glare of the moon. This was both good and bad.

“Alright,” Cracker Jack finally said, turning them around to head back into the front. “This town is ours, but we’d have to be real stupid to not think they’d be coming back at some point.”

“What if they just die out there?” His crutch began to say.

“Can’t trust on nature doing anything for you. We’ll be ready for when they come,” he returned back to his seat, and shooed the helper away for the last time.

They’d be ready for the creature and the marshal. They’d have to be after what they had just done.

Author's Note

Well, here you guys go! I wish I wasn't so busy all the time...