Third person, Equestria-Marexico border:

The next day…

The loose sand was gently blown about in a slow wind. Black Mane sat atop his black ridding horse with a booklet in hand. It was his scrap book that he used to draw pictures in, to keep himself occupied while waiting.

Rather than use his magic to hold the pencil, he used his right hoof. As he finished sketching the valley plains, he began to shade it in. After several minutes, he finished sketching the valley plains and smiled to himself before looking down upon the real valley.

As he sat on his horse, which was standing on a rock edge that overlooked the valley, a falcon swooped down and landed on a dead tree close by to him. It cocked its head to one side and looked at Black Mane curiously.

The black stallion opened his scrap book to a fresh page then began to illustrate the beautiful predator while it sat almost motionless. He looked down to his illustration as he drew in its facial features but as he looked back up, the bird fluttered away fearfully.

Black Mane’s ears flickered as he heard hoof steps behind him, coming from that of another riding horse. He turned to see Charlie Price approaching him in a rather casual manner.

Black Mane smirked as he ripped the page from his book and stuck it on the branch where the bird had perched only moments ago. “You know Charlie… if you could be quieter, you might be able to see the beauties of nature.” Mane told his young protégé.

“Huh? What the hay are yah talkin bout boss?” Charlie asked in a somewhat curious tone. Mane just chuckled to himself.

“Never mind Charlie. What did Milo say?” He asked and Charlie shrugged.

“Carriage. Four pulling horses. Driver and shot gunner. A few pinkertons… and a Gatling gun.” He smiled as he told his boss the last bit of information. Mane looked to the horizon. The sun was already high in the air and casted down its scorching heat upon the world.

“Indeed… alright Charlie. Let’s cause a ruckus.” Black Mane stated but just before he could trot away, the younger stallion stopped his boss.

“Boss… why’d we give them the gold?” Charlie asked curiously and Black Mane raised an eyebrow.

“I know you must feel scorned about that Charlie but…” Mane began but Charlie cut him off.

“Not at all boss. I’ll do whatever you ask without hesitation… it’s just that I wonder why?” He asked again.

Mane sighed. “We may be outlaws but it doesn’t mean we have to act like godless heathens. That gold had sentimental value and belongs in a museum.” Mane told the blonde stallion who in turn raised an eyebrow.

“So why not just let Daring take it in the first place?” He asked and Mane smiled.

“Because that would’ve been too easy. Come on Charlie, there is work to be done.” He commented.

Elsewhere down in the valley, a bank carriage bumped along the trail. The driver whipped the reins rather gently to keep the horses going at a steady pace. “We’re late.” The shotgun seat passenger commented as he looked to his necklace watch.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be to town shortly.” The driver replied. At the back of the carriage sat two other pinkertons, sharing a package of chewing tobacco.

Atop a nearby cliff edge sat Milo, the gang’s marksman. He was a zebra who utilized a Rolling Block rifle with extreme efficiency, to which some have never seen. He cocked back the hammer and readied his hoof at the trigger as he peered through the gritty sights of his rifle.

Down the valley path, a dozen and a half gunslingers rode their horses towards the safe carriage. “Oh shit.” Mccloud, the shotgun seat pony, swore. He readied his stubby double barreled coach gun then cocked back both hammers. The driver gulped in fear as he used his left hoof to control the reins and his right hoof to draw a Volcanic .41 caliber lever action pistol.

Mccloud tapped the driver on the shoulder. “Just drive.” Ordered the grisly old stallion. The driver nodded and took the reins in both hooves but kept the pistol handy. As the group of outlaws approached, they began to wildly fire their rifles and pistols at the carriage.

Bullets whizzed through the air and pinged off the metal carriage. “Shit.” Mccloud cursed as he waited for the outlaws to get within range. The group soon split into two groups, one going to the left and the other to the right.

As the group passed the carriage, Mccloud skillfully fired both barrels. The first blast knocked a stallion backwards and off his horse. The second shot wounded two gunslingers who also fell off their horses. One stallion was fatally injured but the other only suffered a minor wound to his shoulder and some scrapes to his skin.

As the outlaw groups rounded the rear of the carriage, the two rear pinkertons began to operate the Gatling gun. They swung the chattering gun in a large horizontal sweep, hosing down several outlaws in the process.

“YAH!” Charlie spurred his horse as he broke from the cover of some bushes. Milo kept his aim steady and waited just a moment longer. One of the gunner’s came into view and he fired his rifle.

A .30-06 round spat down range and hammered through the back of the crank operator. The other Gatling gun operator was covered in his friend’s blood and gasped before pushing the body aside and continuing the gun’s operation.

Milo cocked back the breach block and ejected the spent casing before loading another shot into the gun. He rolled the breach block forwards but kept the hammer cocked for obvious reasons.

The Gatling gun operator continued to frantically hose down outlaws before a sniper shot pinged off the metal carriage wall behind him. He ducked then looked to the distance and saw a glint of shimmering light, the telltale of a sniper.

He swung the machinegun towards the glint of light and began to rapidly crank the machinegun. Bullets chipped away at the stone surface near Milo’s face, forcing him to duck behind cover.

The gunner swung his aim back to the outlaws and began to chop them down, giving Milo a moment’s time to easily reload his rifle. Milo regained his sniper position but the pinkerton was already a step ahead of him.

The gunner redirected his aim back to the zebra and chattered off several rounds with the massive machinegun. Bullets chipped away near Milo, forcing him to take cover once again.

The gunslingers directed their fire towards the operator who frantically swung his aim back towards them. Milo peeked up over the top of the ledge and fired off a quick round but missed by mere inches. The bullet chimed off the metal body of the carriage, alerting the gunner. He swung the machinegun back towards Milo but as he fired the machinegun, Charlie took the moment of opportunity to strike.

He spurred his horse hard and galloped up behind the unsuspecting gunner. He pulled out one of his Schofield revolvers and shot the pinkerton right through the back, the bullet exiting through the front of his chest and leaving a rather large exit wound.

The operator slumped over and fell off the back of the carriage. Charlie rushed up the side of the carriage but a pinkerton inside the carriage fired from a porthole. Charlie returned fire but it was no use, the hole was just too small for him to get an accurate shot off. He began to let his horse fall behind the wagon to avoid getting shot from the pinkertons inside.

One of the pinkertons inside the carriage noticed that both gunners were dead. He slid the roof hatch open and began to exit the inner walls of the carriage. Milo took a snap shot which collided with the security pony’s head.

The lifeless corpse collapsed back inside the carriage. Mccloud fired off another blast of two consecutive shots, one directly after the other, taking out three outlaws. He broke the barrels on his shotgun and began to fumble with two fresh shells. “I’m too old for this shit.” He swore.

A few outlaws galloped up beside the carriage and one of the ponies inside fired off his Winchester rifle, clipping one of the outlaws’ neck. The outlaw gagged and fell back in pain, tumbling across the ground violently.

Another outlaw rushed to the front of the wagon to try and shoot down the driver. “Get down, NOW!” Mccloud ordered as he pushed the driver down and gave the outlaw both barrels. The gunslinger was tossed off his horse from the blast of buckshot, and clumped to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Mccloud ejected both shells just as Charlie rushed the front of the carriage. The driver quickly drew his pistol and fired a shot at the blonde outlaw. Charlie tilted his body to one side as he quickly drew his left Schofield and fired three rounds into the driver who quickly died and slumped forwards.

The carriage horses didn’t deter however, and continued racing along, scared from all the gunshots going off. Charlie drew his second Schofield and fired all his rounds into the carriage horses, effectively ending their lives.

The horses collapsed and the carriage crashed over their bodies. The wooden wheels shattered apart and the carriage flipped, sending Mccloud hurtling through the air and into some thistle bushes. He cursed to himself, one of his legs now broken. “I’m definitely too old for this shit… I need a vacation.” He muttered to himself as he began to drag himself over towards his shotgun.

Charlie slowed his horse but lept off before it was fully stopped. As he set his hooves down, he began a paced gallop to make sure he didn’t stumble. As he slowed himself, he drew his revolver and trotted over towards the carriage.

The back door to the carriage burst open and a lone pinkerton tried to escape. Charlie easily fired off an accurate shot which slammed into the stallion’s chest cavity and blew out a fine hole in the front of his chest.

Charlie snapped open the break cylinder on his pistol, the auto ejector spitting out all the spent brass casings. He then began reloading them with steady hooves. The rest of the gang swarmed towards the carriage as Black Mane casually trotted down to the wreckage with his horse.

Charlie noticed a lone stallion struggling to crawl along through the dirt. One of his hindlegs had a compound fracture and his bone pierced through his skin brutally. “Well… good morning pinkerton.” Charlie mused as he trotted over to the lone stallion.

Mccloud reached for his shotgun but Charlie stood to his hindlegs and fiercely stepped on Mccloud’s hoof. Mccloud winced and painfully retracted his hoof. “Name’s Charlie Price… you heard a me?” He asked boastfully.

Mccloud rose to his knees painfully, his fractured leg spurting out blood from the force now put on it. “I heard of a whore… named Charlie Princess… that you.” He chuckled gruffly, through grimaces of pain.

Charlie wasn’t impressed and simply drew out a revolver and fired a round right through the stallion’s heart, killing him instantly. Charlie mused to himself, “I hate pinkertons.” Then holstered his revolver. He looked back to the stallion’s body and reached down, grabbing a gold plated timepiece and placing it in his coat pocket.

One of the younger gang members rushed into the carriage and broke off the lock that secured the money behind the steel vault doors. He grabbed satchels of bits and rushed back out to the others. Little did he know, there was still a wounded security stallion inside the carriage, he had just faked being alive and the young gang member hadn’t checked if he was alive or not.

The gunslinger opened the bags and the others looked in awe at all the bits. Suddenly, the live pinkerton rushed out and grabbed the spiteful young outlaw and grappled him in a chokehold. “Alright, none a yah’ll move. Drop the money or I’ll kill yer friend!” He ordered.

Charlie swung up one of his Schofields but Black Mane motioned for everypony to lower their guns. “Easy now mister… let’s just all calm down.” Black Mane began.

“Buck you! You set down your guns… all you! You’re under arrest!” The stallion ordered and Black Mane brought his front hooves into the air as he stood on his hindlegs.

“Alright… let’s just settle things. I’m sure there’s ‘Some’ way to make everypony happy.” Black Mane offered.

“It ain’t about what you want, yah scumbag! Yer just criminal scum… the scum of the earth!” The pinkerton yelled.

The young outlaw in the chokehold chuckled. “That ain’t wise tah talk tah Mr. Mane like that.” He laughed in a sinister tone. He looked to Black Mane with a smile but Mane returned his look with a cold glare. The stallion’s eyes went wide in fear, “Shit…” was all he managed before Black Mane snapped out his custom black, Colt Single Action Army and fired off a round which slammed into the throat of the young outlaw.

The pinkerton froze in confusion, not sure what had just happened. A second shot ended all his thoughts in a brief moment, only a fraction of a second after the first shot had went off.

Black Mane holstered the Colt then drew Celestia’s LeMat revolver and paced over to the young stallion who was now choking on his own blood. “You know Jack… there was a pinkerton alive inside that carriage. Now you broke one of the rules that this outfit has, of the few that we do have. You can’t put our lives in danger… I’m sorry but I just can’t let that slide… I’m sure you understand.” Black Mane said as he pointed the revolver at the young outlaw’s head.

He cocked back the hammer and pulled the trigger but the revolver simply clicked. Black Mane sighed as he looked to the seemingly useless gun and sighed before holstering it.

Author's Notes:

Gonna try to get at least one more chapter out tonight...