Author's Note
Working on this. hope to provide longer chapters in the future. I'd love if you could leave your impressions. Also, How about some rootin' tootin' cowpony names?
Law and disorder
Captain Cactus Blossom was a frontier mare through and through. She was born and raised in Dodge Junction, and been in more barroom scuffles than any of her peers at the royal guard academy. A scar under her eye, left by a broken bottle, was a grim reminder that one's life could change in an instant. She stared at the mirror and rubbed the scar, as she always had since the bandages came off. She could have had it magicked away, restoring her jasmine fur, but she felt she needed the reminder. She shook her head, closing her Aquamarine eyes and started braiding her sandy blonde hair into regulations again, her thick Earth pony fingers having some trouble, but with well-practiced dexterity managed just fine. She reached to the bed, grabbing a fresh tunic and trousers. They were dark blue, to contrast with the golden armor, the sign of a mixed unit. She sighed. She wasn't looking forward to heading out to Jackson's folly, part of the human frontier. Their Small eyes and furless bodies had always given her the willies. Plus, their penchant for weapons was disturbing.
"Cap'n! Are ye awake yet? We need tae break camp and get a move on soon." Called her XO, A thestral Stallion called Thunder head. His thick brogue took some getting used to, but she understood him well. It was no harder than the accents of the Prench Cajuns from the hayseed swamps, many of which had come to Dodge for job opportunities.
"On my way Lieutenant! Just need to get my armor on" she replied, slipping her head through the neck of the breastplate and fastening the sides shut, and starting on her greaves. While she had full plate if she wanted it, she preferred the lighter half plate. Especially with Equestria slowly modernizing with human weapons. She herself had been given a good saber and a single action revolver from the Jackson Forges. The weight of them was perfect, and the ammo was a lot easier to carry than crossbow bolts. Her troops had a mixture of cap-lock rifles and smoothbore muskets. They were already out of date with the human invention of the lever action, but Equestria wasnt in any threat of war, and the princesses in their wisdom, had decided to take things slow. She stood up, pulling on the stetson she wore rather than the heavy helmet, preferring the lighter hat to the heavy metal that would bake in the sun. Many of her troops had adopted similar outlooks in light of the heat.
"Alright! Prepare to break camp right after breakfast" She called, heading for the mess tent, trusting her NCO's to relay the message to all. Of course, as with any military, When everything is going well, is when all hell breaks loose. The first gunshot had everyone freeze on the spot, the second had one of her pegasus sentries drop from the sky. She was alive, but her wing was grazed. The bullet had ricocheted from her armor and nearly hit the sensitive nerve bundle at the wing joint.
“Find cover! We’re under attack!” Shouted another sentry, Cocking his Rifled musket and firing, the Minie ball Whizzing through the air before he dropped behind a boulder. Cactus Drew her pistil and saber, Diving behind a nearby wagon as she observed the situation. More than 40 bandits held the ridgeline above them, having somehow gotten past another one of her sentries. She could only fear the worst in his case. Worse still, they all seemed to have newer guns, if the volume of accurate fire was anything to judge by. Of course, its not a real cockup until it hits rock bottom. Time seemed to freeze as she spotted a familiar red stick arcing towards the camp, Fuse sparking away.
“Hit the dirt! Dynamite!” she called, just before getting showered with dirt and stones. Thankfully, it had fallen short, but many of her troopers, while uninjured, were stunned by the sound, their sensitive ears ringing as tinnitus set in. Shouting orders until she was hoarse, she set up a firing line, forcing the bandits to take cover. However, more dynamite, and fire bottles arced over the ridge. Her casualties were light so far, with none dead, and only a few injured, but she was at a disadvantage. She and her unit couldn’t run. Without supplies they’d be dead before they hit town. But there was nowhere to go, with a gorge behind them and the ridge before them crawling with armed bandits, if they left cover they’d be sitting ducks. HEr own tent caught fire, and one of the wagons was blown away, Two earth pony Sappers with it. Thankfully, their armor, and the general sturdiness of earth ponies, meant that they were unconscious rather than paste. Cactus grit her teeth and snarled, calling over a pegasi Scout. Corporal greenleaf, she recalled.
“Greenleaf. I need you to fly towards town, Get us some reinforcements if you can, and send a dispatch to the barracks at dodge.” She ordered, her Aquamarine eyes boring into the terrified green of her trooper. The stallion was nodding dumbly, before saluting and taking off, ascending quickly until he was above the clouds. She called over a few more pegasi, having them take position on the clouds above, to use them as sandbags and try to snipe the attackers, or at least force them into cover.
She then took aim and fired, Clumsily working the hammer of the unfamiliar pistol. She hit one bandit, and forced another into cover.
“Damnit” she cursed as a heavier round took her hat and notched her ear. Another scar for the collection. Her next round sent a bandit tumbling down the hill, and a well-timed volley from one of her squads were met with yelps and curses from the attackers. Her blood ran cold as she heard a shout.
“Got’em on the ropes! Use what’s left of the dynamite and we go in for the kill!” Shortly after, more sizzling sticks of death started landing. A lucky few were duds, but one unfortunate one landed in the munitions carriage, erasing it and outright killing one of her medics and the unicorn she was working on. Low on ammo, with the bandits charging down the hill with knives and hatchets, she gave the order.
“Bayonets! Bayonets! Form a line! Hold the bastards here!” She screamed, drawing her sabre. As her troops formed an impromptu firing line. “Volley!” she called, watching the bandits running down the hill scramble for cover. At least 7 were killed. “Reload!” she cried, Aiming her pistol, throat dry from the dust. She felt sick, and fear boiled in her gut as the bandits got closer and closer. Onde with a shotgun got a slug off, spattering her with blood as the earth pony beside her was shredded by double ought buck. She put a bullet in the shotgunners head as their lines met. At this point, they were outnumbered, and the bandits fought with desperate fervor. Suddenly, A horn from the distance. A group of riders on the disturbingly equine creatures called horses, led by greenleaf and a human wearing a shining star on his coat.
“At’em boys! These are the bastards we were lookin’ for!” he shouted, charging right into the bandits backline and dismounting, two silvery pistols seeming to spring from his dirty long-coat, wide brimmed hat pulled low as his weathered, leathery face split into a fierce grin, the cherry of a home rolled cigarette glowing brightly in his teeth, lighting up his Stormy bluegreen eyes as they belched fire. Reinforcements had arrived.
