Dark Days of Crackshotby Cold Cuts the batponyChaptersRaidJourneyPlansWrongRaidAuthor's Note The first story I ever wrote for my oc. Raid I soared high over my comrades below as they moved in closer to the small mining town. I selected a perch in gray cloud bank where I could watch without being seen and the flash of my rifle would be hidden from view. The town was poorly guarded, used only to the drunken carousing of overworked ponies with nothing else to do, nothing else to lose. We were the Dirtfoot crew, notorious robbers and thieves. We ran most of the small towns in the southwest, big enough to make us money and make us known, small enough to avoid the attention of the royals in Canterlot. I looked back down at my crew, and watched as they split into teams. Dirty Dan, our boss, led the main team of unicorns down the main street of the town while a second team led by a burly earth pony called Brawn split off towards the mine. I was technically leader of the pegasus team but as I was the only one capable of providing cover fire for all three teams, I was alone, and my younger brother Scattershot led the rest of the pegasi around the clouds into a position to drop onto the bank. Everything seemed to be going to plan. I watched from my position of omniscience, Dirty Dan and the unicorns started brawls in a couple of the saloons. This was my queue to remove the guards from the mine. They fell to the ground like so many sacks of oats and Brawn and the earth ponies set to work gathering the gold ore from the rail cars. Momentarily distracted by this I had not watched Scattershot and his team. I looked around. "Shit! What he hell are you doing!" Rather than drop on the roof and blow in as per the plan the foal had dropped in front of the bank and had started a gunfight. Fuck, I didn't have a view of the front. I slung my rifle over my shoulder and latched onto the cloud I was riding and proppeled it around the town. Finally in position I reshouldered my rifle and looked through the scope at the mess my brother had made. I could see the muzzle flash of his twin scatterguns, the rest of the team was pinned on all sides. The sheriff's attention had been drawn from he brawls to the bank and now he and his gaggle of half baked deputies were firing on the would be robbers. I held Scattershot's sorry head in the cross hairs for a moment before swinging over to the first law pony. I squeezed the trigger and red mist filled the space where his skull had once been. I swung around to the next and repeated the action before any of the others had had a chance to notice. The sheriff was next, I watched his mouth move as he looked around frantically, realizing what was happening. Too late. At this point, the deputies were in disarray and their courage dissolved as they fled down the alleyways. Dirty Dan and the unicorns joined the pegasi and finished breaking into the bank, Brawn and his crew were already enroute to the rendezvous. I relaxed my rifle and watched a moment more. Seething in rage, I allowed myself to drop through the cloud and proceeded to the meeting place. I sat with Brawn and the other earth ponies around a fire cleaning my rifle. I heard the clop of hooves and raucous laughter coming from through darkness as Dan and the rest of the Dirtfoot crew arrived. I stood and waited. "Good shooting Longshot!" Dan hollered as he came into camp. I grunted in response, I was still waiting for my target. Scattershot came in midway through the group laughing loudly and gesturing wildly, clearly reenacting some event earlier in the night. Spotting me, he trotted on over. "How fun was that!" He exclaimed breathless. Before he could say another word, I swung my rifle by the barrel and caught the foal on the side of his head with the stock, laying him flat across the ground. "What the fucking hell was that!" I bellowed. Silence dropped heavily on the campsite, "You could have been killed, or gotten one of your crew killed! My crew! You are under my command and you will obey it! Or I swear to Celestia I will shoot your sorry ass right now." I pressed the muzzle of my rifle into his temple and his eyes widened, not in fear but in anger. "You might want to watch yourself brother, you might get yourself hurt," I felt something press against my gut, it was his shotgun. "Boys, boys, calm down now," Dan cut in walking up, "I wouldn't want to lose my two best pegasi now would I?" I held my stance a moment longer then both Scattershot and I relaxed our weapons simultaneously. "There now, we can be civil can't we?" Dan grinned maliciously. Scattershot got to his hooves. I continued to glare at him. "You damn well better hope I don't decide to drop you the next time I'm up there," I spat and turned. Scattershot just chuckled and returned to his friends. I went and settled down next to Brawn, "You know that Dan considers you two his best ponies, I'm only second in charge cause I've been here longer," the big pony spoke up. "Yeah well I don't even want to lead the pegasi let alone the rest of he crew," I scowled, "I only joined up because I've got debts I'm running from, I think Scattershot actually enjoys this." "Fuck, some ponies are just like that, a little twisted in the head," Brawn fell silent and I quietly agreed. "Alright boys! Listen up! We've got a new job coming up," Dan shouted above the din of the crowded saloon. It had been a few weeks since the mine job and the crew was getting restless. There was a great cheer, "Sadly we will not need everypony." Cries of dissent and outrage rose from the gathered ponies. "Now calm down, everypony will still get paid," this was followed by a low murmur of confusion, "We've been hired by a private party to remove a few business rivals from the picture." Dan grinned maliciously, "Basically we've been hired for an assassination!" We were all shocked into silence, we had never taken a kill job before. Those were usually contracted out to gunslingers on a one on one level, never had a whole crew been hired. "In addition to the hit money, from which the team members will be paid, there is also a special cargo on the train that we can take with a value of 10,000 bits!". The reaction was deafening, a good payday indeed. "We'll be in three teams, as usual. I'll take the first hit team, Sidewinder," he turned to a unicorn with a crooked horn and twisted magic, "and Winchester," an earth pony gunslinger, "you two are with me. Brawn, you pick up to four more of your strongest ponies for the grab team. Crackshot, you Scattershot and one more will be insurance and the second hit team." "Dan," I interrupted, "I'll be more than enough on my..." "That's an order," he looked at me sternly, "and I want no more squabbling between you two." My brow furrowed and I settled into my chair to brood no longer listening. The meeting was dismissed and Dan called me and Brawn into the back room where he sat at his big desk. "So you all know your parts right?" We nodded, " then here's the information you'll need.". He slid copies of a telegram across the deck to each of us. Mine had a date, time, train station, and seat and car number of my target whith a brief description. "It is utterly important that none of the targets escape." "Has anyone ever from me?" I shot back, still pissed. "Listen here, Long shot," he said leaning across the desk and pointing a hoof in my face. "I'm in no mood for your shit! Now swallow your petty ass pride and take your orders!" Dan snapped, "as I recall, you still owe some serious debts to some big names, and last I checked I'm the only one protecting your sorry hide, so shut the fuck up!" I frowned, he was right. "As I was saying, study these and commit them to memory. No fuck ups." He leaned back in his chair. "You got it boss," Brawn said slowly, still looking at his paper, "damn this won't be easy." We turned and left the room. JourneyThe day Dan gave us our orders, I decided to take a trip. The station where it would all go down was just a few towns over. Preferring to fly myself than take the train or carriage roads, I packed a saddle bag to overnight along the way. The long flight gave me time to think, and my reminiscing took me back to how Scattershot and I got mixed up with this crew. Pinto hadn't had enough for me and I had left town looking for more. I earned enough doing some trick shooting to afford a nice hotel and still feeling cocky, I joined a card game and got in a little deep, 4,000 bits deep. When I couldn't pay up, I had to make a break for it. What I didn't know was that I had been playing against Wildcard the head of the Crimson Saddles, one of the bigger cartels in the area. His pegasi finally cornered me over a little spit of nowhere, and I was holding them off from a high cloud, but running short on ammo. Dirty Dan and the Dirtfoots happened to be camped below. I guess he admired my skill and sent his pegasi to save my ass, I had to stay for protection, and now I've been running with them for over a year. Scattershot on the other hand joined up a little more willingly. He started a bar fight with a couple Dirtfoots in our headquarters. They beat the ever loving shit out of him and brought him to Dan for judgement. I happened to be there and I asked Dan to go easy on him. Dan offered to let him join, and he did. I've regretted it ever since. The monotonous beating of my wings and my own thoughts had distracted me from my surroundings. I looked around, getting my bearings when I noticed a commotion below. On the wagon trail I was following, was of all things, a wagon. A wagon that happened to be being raided, and not by Dirtfoots. This was still our territory, and I had a duty to defend it. I shouldered my rifle and hovered, three targets. Easy enough. The skulls of the first two exploded as the 300 grain bullet penetrated and immediately expanded. I caught the third in the throat as he jerked his head back in terror. I dropped from the sky, rifle on my back and stood over him. He was writhing and spraying blood everywhere, eyes rolling back in his head out of pain and fear. I waited a moment to gauge the pattern to his convulsions, then swooped in and sank my knife into the base of his skull, severing the spinal cord. He was still and the light faded from his eyes, mouth agape. I turned to see whom I had rescued, a family of four. A mare stooped over the still body of a stallion, waling as an old nag attempted to console a small foal, still in diapers. "I'm sorry for your loss," I said, expressionless as I wiped the blade of my knife on the mane of my victim, "Go to the Fetlock inn in Mesa and ask for Dirty Dan. Tell him what happened here and tell him Long shot sent you, he'll set you up." I took to the skies once more, not waiting for a response. It was no longer my problem. It was getting late and I needed to make camp. I selected a high plateau and built a small fire to make the coffee. I sat and brooded a moment over the job to come, our first hit order, the fact Dan took it, that I had to make the kill. I had killed before, but never as a plan with a name and history. And this bothered me. I banked the fire and wrapped myself in my bedroll, drifting off to sleep. I arrived in the town of Coltsdale mid morning the next day. I hovered over it an studied its layout. A large main street ran down the center. The city hall housed a large clock tower, a potential perch to take the shot from as there were few clouds available his time of year. The railroad and train station were a few streets over. The train depot consisted of three sets of rails, a low warehouse, a water tower and a large platform to receive passengers. From this angle the water tower seemed to be the best spot. But with little to provide cover, there would always be the possibility of attracting attention, especially after the shot had been made. I decided to land and get a drink and mull the possibilities over dinner. Settling down before the saloon, my attention was drawn by a raucous from within. A dark red earth pony in a sweat stained duster and battered hat flew through the double swinging doors an landed on his face with a solid thud. An equally battered saddle bag followed close behind. He got unsteadily to his hooves, "Hey! Yoush be careful withsh that!" He slurred covering his head and wincing. I was confused until I noticed a long red stick poking from the bag. My eyes widened in surprise and I hustled inside, leaving the drunken pony to gather his belongings and stagger away. Sitting at the bar, I began to take stock of the denizens of the town. Not much more than some sodbuster earth ponies, the regular contingent of weather pegasi, and a few unicorn shopkeepers. I watched and listened as I nursed the warm beer that had been served me with my oat gruel, this was new t a high class establishment. The town was generally sleepy, peaceful and unused to excitement. Reminded me of home. I dropped a bit on the counter and walked out to roam the town. The sheriff's office wasn't much to look at. The earth pony sheriff was asleep in the rocker on the boardwalk. A beanpole of a unicorn with bottle bottom glasses sat at a desk in the window doing some clerical work. Not much to be concerned about. I wandered further down the street looking up at the clock tower trying to find a sheltered spot invisible to the street below. It didn't afford much cover. I moved on towards the train depot. The townsfolk didn't afford me a second look, though I watched them intently. As I reached the depot, I walked a ways down the track and stood beneath the water tower. I had a clear view of the platform, even from ground level. The space was wide open with three rows of tracks to the left and the wide street to the right. With the exception of the ticketing building, there wasn't another building for at least fifty yards in any direction. This would be it, this is where I'd make my shot. PlansIt was the day before the job and I was at the Coltsdale depot. I sat lounging in a chair, hat pulled low and chewing a piece of straw. Over the past few days I had watched the station carefully. I knew making the shot would be no problem, my concern lay in knowing exactly where the target would be. I monitored the ebb and flow of the ponies boarding and disembarking. I built a map in my head of the most likely places that he would appear. The first class coaches, where my target would be, were the only two cars to unload directly onto the depot boardwalk, consequently, this gave me the briefest amount of time available to locate him and take the shot. I pondered this a moment, chewing my straw. From what I knew, this would be totally unexpected. No guards. No sense of urgency. A cakewalk. Things rarely turned out this way, I'd have to be ready. Dan and his crew would board the train a few towns down and Brawn and the grab team would be waiting in one of the warehouses. Up to this point, I had purposefully ignored the required presence of my other two team members. I simply decided to have them wait in the station "in case I missed", which we all knew that wouldn't happen. With a heavy sigh, I spat out my straw, and rose from my seat. Scattershot and Windfall, the final third of our pegasus team, would be arriving at the hotel any minute now. I watched the ponyfolk as I ambled down the street. I felt odd, I could feel a knot in my throat and a pit in my stomach. It was strange to me. I surveyed the sleepy town from where I stood in the street. Ponies busy but not rushed. Clothing drab but not poor. I wanted to freeze that moment in time, because I knew that tomorrow it would be shattered. I was a sharpshooter, a murderer, undoubtedly. Dueling laws allowed for gunslinging, but what I did was cold blooded and ruthless, with no chance of the target defending themselves. It had never bothered me before, so why did it now? I broke from my reverie and finished the short walk to the hotel where I took a seat at a table in the dining room. Brooding over my earlier thoughts, I ordered my meal. It was interrupted by the invasive tones of my brother's voice. The walnut brown pony walked in, though relatively small, he managed to fill the space with his presence. He was dressed as gaudy as usual, a crimson Stetson sat cocked back on his jet black mane and a matching vest laden with shotshells hung loosely over his shoulders. What irritated me the most was the fact that he wore the exact shade of red as my own coat, which I hated. Windfall followed close behind. As flamboyant Scattershot was, she was reserved. A subdued shade of white with sky blue mane, she was easily the best looking filly in the Dirtfoot crew, and equally lethal with her affinity for knives. The pair joined me at my table, Windfall sat quietly as Scattershot made a comment on the waitress' flank while simultaneously trying to steal the roll from my plate. "Fuck off," I snapped stabbing at his hoof with a fork. He chortled loudly, "Hello to you to bro!" He looked around, "What a pansy ass little shit hole this place is. Be glad when the job is over." Windfall looked up, "Do be quiet about it Scat, we don't need to raise any suspicions," she sniffed. "It'll be fine Windy, Big Daddy Scatty has it all under control," he leaned in close to her. "I have complete faith in you," she simpered and reached up a hoof, stroking a hoof across his cheek. A thin trail of blood followed its path. I smiled to myself as Scattershot jerked back in surprize. I had tried my luck with Windy once, and learned quickly better. "Bitch," he muttered, wiping the blood away, they returned their collective attention to me. "So what's the plan bro?" He asked leaning back in his chair, "gonna storm in and get 'im?" Appetite lost, I too leaned back in my chair, "And when have I ever come up with a plan like that?" I pulled a cigar from my vest and lit it, taking a long draw. I exhaled slowly, "I have my perch selected and I will take the shot, you two will be waiting in the depot as cleanup crew. As soon as the target is down, I want you to pull the bullet. Whether he's dead or alive. The slug will be laced with a venom that will kill him regardless." Scattershot leapt to his feet, outraged, "Cleanup crew! You could have chosen any pair of pissants to do your dirty work!" Heads turned and the chatter in the room died down. "Let's take this outside," Windy wisely suggested. I nodded and crushed out my cigar. We stepped outside and took to the skies where we evicted a few foals from the only spit of cloud around. Scattershot was still fuming, but he knew that I was in charge and that he had to obey. Meeting over, we went our separate ways. As I circled over the town a moment before landing, I felt again the pang in my stomach and I realized what it was, regret. And I didn't know what to do about it. I landed in front of the general store and walked in. As I was inspecting their selection of hard candies, an old mare came up beside me. "Watcha lookin' for sonny?" She asked in a wavering voice. "Nohin in particular ma'am," I responded. "My grandcolt is coming for a visit tomorrow an he's always been partial to apple sours," she said, filling a bag of the aforementioned candies. She filled a second smaller bag, "Why don't you try some for yourself?" She pushed the second bag into my hooves. "Though between you, me and the fence post you look like you could do with a little less sour," She whispered quite loudly. She paid for her order including the bag she gave me and left the store. I left a moment later. As I made the short walk back to the hotel, I popped on of the apple sours in my mouth. My cheeks puckered instantly, they were certainly sour. WrongThe sun rose to find me prone on the conical roof of the depot water tower. I had lain in this position for several hours, waiting patiently. The target would be arriving at 7:34 am on the overnight express from San Flankcisco. It was 6:28, over an hour to go, but I needed to be ready before I was seen. Time sped up to me. I felt the sun warm me from the left. Every once in a while, Brawn or one of his crew would peek out of the warehouse where they were hidden. Windfall and Scattershot arrived at the depot and made like they were expecting someone. 7:28. A cloud of smoke was rising in the distance, it was zero hour. I braced myself, bringing my senses to hyper-awareness. The train pulled into the station right on time. Steam billowed from the engine with a loud hiss and quickly dispersed. The conductors stepped from the train and prepared to aid passengers. Porters began to unload baggage and the first passengers disembarked and ponies on the platform stepped forward to greet their guests. I put my eye to the scope and began to scan for a blue stallion with a brown mane. My eye paused a moment a I crossed the old mare from the candy counter. I started to move on, and stopped again. Blue stallion. Brown mane. One problem. He was a colt, he old mare's grandcolt. I froze for the first time in my life. I had him in the crosshairs, and I couldn't pull the trigger. Killing had never bothered me, murdering. Lumps of meat and bone that were in the way. This was different, this was child. Gunshots rang out and cries of dismay. I jumped and lost the target. Dan and the unicorns had made their move. I don't know who their target was or what happened to him. Looking through the scope again I found him, the old mare was clutching him close. I could see Scattershot and Windfall, impatiently waiting for the crack of my rifle. Tired of waiting, Windfall began to cut through the frantic crowd. I saw the glint of steel in her hoof. CRACK! My rifle rang out loud and clear, the bullet was true. The colt and his grandmare both dropped to the boardwalk. Windfall looked down, eyes wide with surprise as blood blossomed across her chest. She collapsed, still. Scattershot bellowed in rage and drew his scatterguns. Pointing them at the pair of quivering ponies. I fired again. Blood sprayed from his head and he spun with the force of the impact, falling to the deck. Dan stepped from the train car in time to see him fall. His gaze whipped in my direction. I didn't wait. Slinging my rifle over my shoulder, I sprang from my perch and rocketed towards the depot. I'd had enough. I had made enough orphans, a child would not die at my hooves as well. I swooped down and grabbed the colt, wrenching him from his grandmare's grasp. I tossed him onto my back and began to flap away slowed by the burden of his weight. BOOM! I felt a searing pain along my left flank and in my left wing as the pellets of my brother's scatterguns tore into me. I looked to see him, face bloodied aiming in my direction. I veered off to the west, to the other side of the train and behind some cover. Unable to fly further, I landed between two warehouses. "Git down, boy," I grunted through gritted teeth, "I'm saving your life." The colt slid from my back and crumpled to the ground in a pool of blood. His blood. He was choking, gasping for air. I knelt down and pulled his head into my lap. Tears blurred my vision. The first tears I had cried since I was a foal. "I... I..." The colt's breath rattled in his throat. The same shot that had caught me in the side had torn through his neck. "I want my granny," he gasped, "Mister, I'm scared." Years of repressed emotion can bubbling to the surface and I wept openly. "She's on her way boy," I choked, "I know your granny, an' you know what she says? She says you like apple sours. Is that right?" The colt nodded and coughed, spraying more blood. I reached into my pocket and pulled a hard candy from its paper package, gently placing in his mouth. He smiled weakly at me before he began to choke and cough violently. He becoming still in my hooves and his eyes glasses over. Blood was everywhere. On the ground, on my rifle, soaking into my coat. But I couldn't tell, for my coat was the same shade of red. I was horrified, I felt soaked in the blood of everypony I'd ever shot. In that moment, something in me broke, and I swore I would never kill again. I heard voices coming and I knew I had to go. I gently laid the colt on the ground and closed his unseeing eyes. I rose and imprinted the image in my mind, never to forget. Turning, I began threading my way through the buildings, jaw set around an apple sour. I would have my revenge on Dan and the Dirtfoots. I wouldn't kill them. No, that would be too good for them. I would do worse. Much worse. . .
RaidAuthor's Note The first story I ever wrote for my oc. Raid I soared high over my comrades below as they moved in closer to the small mining town. I selected a perch in gray cloud bank where I could watch without being seen and the flash of my rifle would be hidden from view. The town was poorly guarded, used only to the drunken carousing of overworked ponies with nothing else to do, nothing else to lose. We were the Dirtfoot crew, notorious robbers and thieves. We ran most of the small towns in the southwest, big enough to make us money and make us known, small enough to avoid the attention of the royals in Canterlot. I looked back down at my crew, and watched as they split into teams. Dirty Dan, our boss, led the main team of unicorns down the main street of the town while a second team led by a burly earth pony called Brawn split off towards the mine. I was technically leader of the pegasus team but as I was the only one capable of providing cover fire for all three teams, I was alone, and my younger brother Scattershot led the rest of the pegasi around the clouds into a position to drop onto the bank. Everything seemed to be going to plan. I watched from my position of omniscience, Dirty Dan and the unicorns started brawls in a couple of the saloons. This was my queue to remove the guards from the mine. They fell to the ground like so many sacks of oats and Brawn and the earth ponies set to work gathering the gold ore from the rail cars. Momentarily distracted by this I had not watched Scattershot and his team. I looked around. "Shit! What he hell are you doing!" Rather than drop on the roof and blow in as per the plan the foal had dropped in front of the bank and had started a gunfight. Fuck, I didn't have a view of the front. I slung my rifle over my shoulder and latched onto the cloud I was riding and proppeled it around the town. Finally in position I reshouldered my rifle and looked through the scope at the mess my brother had made. I could see the muzzle flash of his twin scatterguns, the rest of the team was pinned on all sides. The sheriff's attention had been drawn from he brawls to the bank and now he and his gaggle of half baked deputies were firing on the would be robbers. I held Scattershot's sorry head in the cross hairs for a moment before swinging over to the first law pony. I squeezed the trigger and red mist filled the space where his skull had once been. I swung around to the next and repeated the action before any of the others had had a chance to notice. The sheriff was next, I watched his mouth move as he looked around frantically, realizing what was happening. Too late. At this point, the deputies were in disarray and their courage dissolved as they fled down the alleyways. Dirty Dan and the unicorns joined the pegasi and finished breaking into the bank, Brawn and his crew were already enroute to the rendezvous. I relaxed my rifle and watched a moment more. Seething in rage, I allowed myself to drop through the cloud and proceeded to the meeting place. I sat with Brawn and the other earth ponies around a fire cleaning my rifle. I heard the clop of hooves and raucous laughter coming from through darkness as Dan and the rest of the Dirtfoot crew arrived. I stood and waited. "Good shooting Longshot!" Dan hollered as he came into camp. I grunted in response, I was still waiting for my target. Scattershot came in midway through the group laughing loudly and gesturing wildly, clearly reenacting some event earlier in the night. Spotting me, he trotted on over. "How fun was that!" He exclaimed breathless. Before he could say another word, I swung my rifle by the barrel and caught the foal on the side of his head with the stock, laying him flat across the ground. "What the fucking hell was that!" I bellowed. Silence dropped heavily on the campsite, "You could have been killed, or gotten one of your crew killed! My crew! You are under my command and you will obey it! Or I swear to Celestia I will shoot your sorry ass right now." I pressed the muzzle of my rifle into his temple and his eyes widened, not in fear but in anger. "You might want to watch yourself brother, you might get yourself hurt," I felt something press against my gut, it was his shotgun. "Boys, boys, calm down now," Dan cut in walking up, "I wouldn't want to lose my two best pegasi now would I?" I held my stance a moment longer then both Scattershot and I relaxed our weapons simultaneously. "There now, we can be civil can't we?" Dan grinned maliciously. Scattershot got to his hooves. I continued to glare at him. "You damn well better hope I don't decide to drop you the next time I'm up there," I spat and turned. Scattershot just chuckled and returned to his friends. I went and settled down next to Brawn, "You know that Dan considers you two his best ponies, I'm only second in charge cause I've been here longer," the big pony spoke up. "Yeah well I don't even want to lead the pegasi let alone the rest of he crew," I scowled, "I only joined up because I've got debts I'm running from, I think Scattershot actually enjoys this." "Fuck, some ponies are just like that, a little twisted in the head," Brawn fell silent and I quietly agreed. "Alright boys! Listen up! We've got a new job coming up," Dan shouted above the din of the crowded saloon. It had been a few weeks since the mine job and the crew was getting restless. There was a great cheer, "Sadly we will not need everypony." Cries of dissent and outrage rose from the gathered ponies. "Now calm down, everypony will still get paid," this was followed by a low murmur of confusion, "We've been hired by a private party to remove a few business rivals from the picture." Dan grinned maliciously, "Basically we've been hired for an assassination!" We were all shocked into silence, we had never taken a kill job before. Those were usually contracted out to gunslingers on a one on one level, never had a whole crew been hired. "In addition to the hit money, from which the team members will be paid, there is also a special cargo on the train that we can take with a value of 10,000 bits!". The reaction was deafening, a good payday indeed. "We'll be in three teams, as usual. I'll take the first hit team, Sidewinder," he turned to a unicorn with a crooked horn and twisted magic, "and Winchester," an earth pony gunslinger, "you two are with me. Brawn, you pick up to four more of your strongest ponies for the grab team. Crackshot, you Scattershot and one more will be insurance and the second hit team." "Dan," I interrupted, "I'll be more than enough on my..." "That's an order," he looked at me sternly, "and I want no more squabbling between you two." My brow furrowed and I settled into my chair to brood no longer listening. The meeting was dismissed and Dan called me and Brawn into the back room where he sat at his big desk. "So you all know your parts right?" We nodded, " then here's the information you'll need.". He slid copies of a telegram across the deck to each of us. Mine had a date, time, train station, and seat and car number of my target whith a brief description. "It is utterly important that none of the targets escape." "Has anyone ever from me?" I shot back, still pissed. "Listen here, Long shot," he said leaning across the desk and pointing a hoof in my face. "I'm in no mood for your shit! Now swallow your petty ass pride and take your orders!" Dan snapped, "as I recall, you still owe some serious debts to some big names, and last I checked I'm the only one protecting your sorry hide, so shut the fuck up!" I frowned, he was right. "As I was saying, study these and commit them to memory. No fuck ups." He leaned back in his chair. "You got it boss," Brawn said slowly, still looking at his paper, "damn this won't be easy." We turned and left the room.
JourneyThe day Dan gave us our orders, I decided to take a trip. The station where it would all go down was just a few towns over. Preferring to fly myself than take the train or carriage roads, I packed a saddle bag to overnight along the way. The long flight gave me time to think, and my reminiscing took me back to how Scattershot and I got mixed up with this crew. Pinto hadn't had enough for me and I had left town looking for more. I earned enough doing some trick shooting to afford a nice hotel and still feeling cocky, I joined a card game and got in a little deep, 4,000 bits deep. When I couldn't pay up, I had to make a break for it. What I didn't know was that I had been playing against Wildcard the head of the Crimson Saddles, one of the bigger cartels in the area. His pegasi finally cornered me over a little spit of nowhere, and I was holding them off from a high cloud, but running short on ammo. Dirty Dan and the Dirtfoots happened to be camped below. I guess he admired my skill and sent his pegasi to save my ass, I had to stay for protection, and now I've been running with them for over a year. Scattershot on the other hand joined up a little more willingly. He started a bar fight with a couple Dirtfoots in our headquarters. They beat the ever loving shit out of him and brought him to Dan for judgement. I happened to be there and I asked Dan to go easy on him. Dan offered to let him join, and he did. I've regretted it ever since. The monotonous beating of my wings and my own thoughts had distracted me from my surroundings. I looked around, getting my bearings when I noticed a commotion below. On the wagon trail I was following, was of all things, a wagon. A wagon that happened to be being raided, and not by Dirtfoots. This was still our territory, and I had a duty to defend it. I shouldered my rifle and hovered, three targets. Easy enough. The skulls of the first two exploded as the 300 grain bullet penetrated and immediately expanded. I caught the third in the throat as he jerked his head back in terror. I dropped from the sky, rifle on my back and stood over him. He was writhing and spraying blood everywhere, eyes rolling back in his head out of pain and fear. I waited a moment to gauge the pattern to his convulsions, then swooped in and sank my knife into the base of his skull, severing the spinal cord. He was still and the light faded from his eyes, mouth agape. I turned to see whom I had rescued, a family of four. A mare stooped over the still body of a stallion, waling as an old nag attempted to console a small foal, still in diapers. "I'm sorry for your loss," I said, expressionless as I wiped the blade of my knife on the mane of my victim, "Go to the Fetlock inn in Mesa and ask for Dirty Dan. Tell him what happened here and tell him Long shot sent you, he'll set you up." I took to the skies once more, not waiting for a response. It was no longer my problem. It was getting late and I needed to make camp. I selected a high plateau and built a small fire to make the coffee. I sat and brooded a moment over the job to come, our first hit order, the fact Dan took it, that I had to make the kill. I had killed before, but never as a plan with a name and history. And this bothered me. I banked the fire and wrapped myself in my bedroll, drifting off to sleep. I arrived in the town of Coltsdale mid morning the next day. I hovered over it an studied its layout. A large main street ran down the center. The city hall housed a large clock tower, a potential perch to take the shot from as there were few clouds available his time of year. The railroad and train station were a few streets over. The train depot consisted of three sets of rails, a low warehouse, a water tower and a large platform to receive passengers. From this angle the water tower seemed to be the best spot. But with little to provide cover, there would always be the possibility of attracting attention, especially after the shot had been made. I decided to land and get a drink and mull the possibilities over dinner. Settling down before the saloon, my attention was drawn by a raucous from within. A dark red earth pony in a sweat stained duster and battered hat flew through the double swinging doors an landed on his face with a solid thud. An equally battered saddle bag followed close behind. He got unsteadily to his hooves, "Hey! Yoush be careful withsh that!" He slurred covering his head and wincing. I was confused until I noticed a long red stick poking from the bag. My eyes widened in surprise and I hustled inside, leaving the drunken pony to gather his belongings and stagger away. Sitting at the bar, I began to take stock of the denizens of the town. Not much more than some sodbuster earth ponies, the regular contingent of weather pegasi, and a few unicorn shopkeepers. I watched and listened as I nursed the warm beer that had been served me with my oat gruel, this was new t a high class establishment. The town was generally sleepy, peaceful and unused to excitement. Reminded me of home. I dropped a bit on the counter and walked out to roam the town. The sheriff's office wasn't much to look at. The earth pony sheriff was asleep in the rocker on the boardwalk. A beanpole of a unicorn with bottle bottom glasses sat at a desk in the window doing some clerical work. Not much to be concerned about. I wandered further down the street looking up at the clock tower trying to find a sheltered spot invisible to the street below. It didn't afford much cover. I moved on towards the train depot. The townsfolk didn't afford me a second look, though I watched them intently. As I reached the depot, I walked a ways down the track and stood beneath the water tower. I had a clear view of the platform, even from ground level. The space was wide open with three rows of tracks to the left and the wide street to the right. With the exception of the ticketing building, there wasn't another building for at least fifty yards in any direction. This would be it, this is where I'd make my shot.
PlansIt was the day before the job and I was at the Coltsdale depot. I sat lounging in a chair, hat pulled low and chewing a piece of straw. Over the past few days I had watched the station carefully. I knew making the shot would be no problem, my concern lay in knowing exactly where the target would be. I monitored the ebb and flow of the ponies boarding and disembarking. I built a map in my head of the most likely places that he would appear. The first class coaches, where my target would be, were the only two cars to unload directly onto the depot boardwalk, consequently, this gave me the briefest amount of time available to locate him and take the shot. I pondered this a moment, chewing my straw. From what I knew, this would be totally unexpected. No guards. No sense of urgency. A cakewalk. Things rarely turned out this way, I'd have to be ready. Dan and his crew would board the train a few towns down and Brawn and the grab team would be waiting in one of the warehouses. Up to this point, I had purposefully ignored the required presence of my other two team members. I simply decided to have them wait in the station "in case I missed", which we all knew that wouldn't happen. With a heavy sigh, I spat out my straw, and rose from my seat. Scattershot and Windfall, the final third of our pegasus team, would be arriving at the hotel any minute now. I watched the ponyfolk as I ambled down the street. I felt odd, I could feel a knot in my throat and a pit in my stomach. It was strange to me. I surveyed the sleepy town from where I stood in the street. Ponies busy but not rushed. Clothing drab but not poor. I wanted to freeze that moment in time, because I knew that tomorrow it would be shattered. I was a sharpshooter, a murderer, undoubtedly. Dueling laws allowed for gunslinging, but what I did was cold blooded and ruthless, with no chance of the target defending themselves. It had never bothered me before, so why did it now? I broke from my reverie and finished the short walk to the hotel where I took a seat at a table in the dining room. Brooding over my earlier thoughts, I ordered my meal. It was interrupted by the invasive tones of my brother's voice. The walnut brown pony walked in, though relatively small, he managed to fill the space with his presence. He was dressed as gaudy as usual, a crimson Stetson sat cocked back on his jet black mane and a matching vest laden with shotshells hung loosely over his shoulders. What irritated me the most was the fact that he wore the exact shade of red as my own coat, which I hated. Windfall followed close behind. As flamboyant Scattershot was, she was reserved. A subdued shade of white with sky blue mane, she was easily the best looking filly in the Dirtfoot crew, and equally lethal with her affinity for knives. The pair joined me at my table, Windfall sat quietly as Scattershot made a comment on the waitress' flank while simultaneously trying to steal the roll from my plate. "Fuck off," I snapped stabbing at his hoof with a fork. He chortled loudly, "Hello to you to bro!" He looked around, "What a pansy ass little shit hole this place is. Be glad when the job is over." Windfall looked up, "Do be quiet about it Scat, we don't need to raise any suspicions," she sniffed. "It'll be fine Windy, Big Daddy Scatty has it all under control," he leaned in close to her. "I have complete faith in you," she simpered and reached up a hoof, stroking a hoof across his cheek. A thin trail of blood followed its path. I smiled to myself as Scattershot jerked back in surprize. I had tried my luck with Windy once, and learned quickly better. "Bitch," he muttered, wiping the blood away, they returned their collective attention to me. "So what's the plan bro?" He asked leaning back in his chair, "gonna storm in and get 'im?" Appetite lost, I too leaned back in my chair, "And when have I ever come up with a plan like that?" I pulled a cigar from my vest and lit it, taking a long draw. I exhaled slowly, "I have my perch selected and I will take the shot, you two will be waiting in the depot as cleanup crew. As soon as the target is down, I want you to pull the bullet. Whether he's dead or alive. The slug will be laced with a venom that will kill him regardless." Scattershot leapt to his feet, outraged, "Cleanup crew! You could have chosen any pair of pissants to do your dirty work!" Heads turned and the chatter in the room died down. "Let's take this outside," Windy wisely suggested. I nodded and crushed out my cigar. We stepped outside and took to the skies where we evicted a few foals from the only spit of cloud around. Scattershot was still fuming, but he knew that I was in charge and that he had to obey. Meeting over, we went our separate ways. As I circled over the town a moment before landing, I felt again the pang in my stomach and I realized what it was, regret. And I didn't know what to do about it. I landed in front of the general store and walked in. As I was inspecting their selection of hard candies, an old mare came up beside me. "Watcha lookin' for sonny?" She asked in a wavering voice. "Nohin in particular ma'am," I responded. "My grandcolt is coming for a visit tomorrow an he's always been partial to apple sours," she said, filling a bag of the aforementioned candies. She filled a second smaller bag, "Why don't you try some for yourself?" She pushed the second bag into my hooves. "Though between you, me and the fence post you look like you could do with a little less sour," She whispered quite loudly. She paid for her order including the bag she gave me and left the store. I left a moment later. As I made the short walk back to the hotel, I popped on of the apple sours in my mouth. My cheeks puckered instantly, they were certainly sour.
WrongThe sun rose to find me prone on the conical roof of the depot water tower. I had lain in this position for several hours, waiting patiently. The target would be arriving at 7:34 am on the overnight express from San Flankcisco. It was 6:28, over an hour to go, but I needed to be ready before I was seen. Time sped up to me. I felt the sun warm me from the left. Every once in a while, Brawn or one of his crew would peek out of the warehouse where they were hidden. Windfall and Scattershot arrived at the depot and made like they were expecting someone. 7:28. A cloud of smoke was rising in the distance, it was zero hour. I braced myself, bringing my senses to hyper-awareness. The train pulled into the station right on time. Steam billowed from the engine with a loud hiss and quickly dispersed. The conductors stepped from the train and prepared to aid passengers. Porters began to unload baggage and the first passengers disembarked and ponies on the platform stepped forward to greet their guests. I put my eye to the scope and began to scan for a blue stallion with a brown mane. My eye paused a moment a I crossed the old mare from the candy counter. I started to move on, and stopped again. Blue stallion. Brown mane. One problem. He was a colt, he old mare's grandcolt. I froze for the first time in my life. I had him in the crosshairs, and I couldn't pull the trigger. Killing had never bothered me, murdering. Lumps of meat and bone that were in the way. This was different, this was child. Gunshots rang out and cries of dismay. I jumped and lost the target. Dan and the unicorns had made their move. I don't know who their target was or what happened to him. Looking through the scope again I found him, the old mare was clutching him close. I could see Scattershot and Windfall, impatiently waiting for the crack of my rifle. Tired of waiting, Windfall began to cut through the frantic crowd. I saw the glint of steel in her hoof. CRACK! My rifle rang out loud and clear, the bullet was true. The colt and his grandmare both dropped to the boardwalk. Windfall looked down, eyes wide with surprise as blood blossomed across her chest. She collapsed, still. Scattershot bellowed in rage and drew his scatterguns. Pointing them at the pair of quivering ponies. I fired again. Blood sprayed from his head and he spun with the force of the impact, falling to the deck. Dan stepped from the train car in time to see him fall. His gaze whipped in my direction. I didn't wait. Slinging my rifle over my shoulder, I sprang from my perch and rocketed towards the depot. I'd had enough. I had made enough orphans, a child would not die at my hooves as well. I swooped down and grabbed the colt, wrenching him from his grandmare's grasp. I tossed him onto my back and began to flap away slowed by the burden of his weight. BOOM! I felt a searing pain along my left flank and in my left wing as the pellets of my brother's scatterguns tore into me. I looked to see him, face bloodied aiming in my direction. I veered off to the west, to the other side of the train and behind some cover. Unable to fly further, I landed between two warehouses. "Git down, boy," I grunted through gritted teeth, "I'm saving your life." The colt slid from my back and crumpled to the ground in a pool of blood. His blood. He was choking, gasping for air. I knelt down and pulled his head into my lap. Tears blurred my vision. The first tears I had cried since I was a foal. "I... I..." The colt's breath rattled in his throat. The same shot that had caught me in the side had torn through his neck. "I want my granny," he gasped, "Mister, I'm scared." Years of repressed emotion can bubbling to the surface and I wept openly. "She's on her way boy," I choked, "I know your granny, an' you know what she says? She says you like apple sours. Is that right?" The colt nodded and coughed, spraying more blood. I reached into my pocket and pulled a hard candy from its paper package, gently placing in his mouth. He smiled weakly at me before he began to choke and cough violently. He becoming still in my hooves and his eyes glasses over. Blood was everywhere. On the ground, on my rifle, soaking into my coat. But I couldn't tell, for my coat was the same shade of red. I was horrified, I felt soaked in the blood of everypony I'd ever shot. In that moment, something in me broke, and I swore I would never kill again. I heard voices coming and I knew I had to go. I gently laid the colt on the ground and closed his unseeing eyes. I rose and imprinted the image in my mind, never to forget. Turning, I began threading my way through the buildings, jaw set around an apple sour. I would have my revenge on Dan and the Dirtfoots. I wouldn't kill them. No, that would be too good for them. I would do worse. Much worse. . .
