Third person:

John sat by the window with Daring at his side. Mane lay on the bed, illustrating in his scrap book. Billy and Brixie stood watch by the door as Elijah gazed down to the streets from a nearby window.

In a few more minutes, it would be time for them to escort Mane towards the station. John grasped a watch and clasped it tightly, praying for time to stop. Mane looked over to him. “No matter how hard you squeeze that watch… it ain’t gonna stop time.” He chuckled.

John looked up and threw the watch towards the wall beside Mane’s face. The black unicorn didn’t even flinch and simply continued to draw into his scrap book.

Clover entered the room. “John, Elijah… it’s time.” She stated. John rose up and brushed his mane back. “John… you don’t have to do this.” Clover tried to convince them. John smiled then chuckled to himself.

“We were offered seventy five hundred… to get him to the train. I plan on doing that... and when I do, you’re going to give that money, in full, to Ms. Do here… as soon as Mane steps his hoof onto the train.” I told her. She gulped then nodded.

I grabbed Mane and started directing him in the way we were going, Elijah followed close behind. Daring stepped forwards just as we were leaving the room. “John!...” She trailed off and looked into my eyes. I contemplated doing it… right here, right now.

I came to terms with myself and figured perhaps now might not be a good time, even though it would only take a few seconds. “Daring… don’t worry about me.” I told her then looked to Billy. “Billy, you take Daring and Brixie into another room. Make sure nothing happens to them.” I ordered him. He nodded then did as I asked.

Clover stepped aside as Elijah, Mane and I started pacing down the hallway of the upstairs floor. I unslung the double barrel shotgun from my back and cocked both hammers back. Elijah had his machineguns ready and was waiting for anything.

A figure stepped into the hallway and I swung my shotgun towards it. The cashier lifted her hooves in the air and I motioned for her to step aside. Instead she went for her purse and snatched out a derringer pistol.

I fed her both barrels which sent her careening out the hallway window and into the streets below. “Bitch probably sold us out.” Elijah hissed as I ejected both smoldering shells and loaded two fresh ones.

We snuck downstairs and towards the back door.

In the streets, Charlie stood up as he heard the crack of a shotgun echo in the town. Ponies began rushing around, trying to find the origin of the gunshot. “THEY’RE IN THE BACK ALLEY!” Shouted a pony atop a roof across from the hotel.

The pony fired his single shot rifle before the chatter of a machinegun roared in the town. The pony fell off the roof just as all hell seemed to break loose. Jackson, one of the remaining gang members, stepped up beside Charlie just as they saw three ponies break from the alleyway.

The two gang members began trotting down the street just as the entire town started opening fire on the trio, forcing them behind the cover of several crates. Jackson smirked, “Looks like you might not get the chance to use them Schofields, Charlie.”

The trio lept up before rushing over to the next building but Mane fell just as a stray bullet clipped his shoulder. “Hey… HEY, NOT THE BLACK STALLION, THE RANGER YOU DUMBSHITS, THE RANGE…” He cut his statement short as his anger reached its limit.

In a flash of motion he drew out both his revolvers and began firing them at the townsfolk. Several were cut down, falling to the ground and bleeding out. Several others took off down alleyways to avoid being shot.

“BOSS!” Charlie yelled out.

“Charlie.” Mane replied in a subtle voice just before a bullet chimed off the crate he was hiding behind. Charlie snapped his aim to the shooter and shot him right through the heart.

“Boss!” Charlie called in a less frantic voice. But no sooner had he called out, then all hell seemed to break loose again. Charlie cursed to himself before snapping open the break cylinder on his revolvers and reloading them with fresh shells.

Mane grimaced as chips of wood splintered into his face. “You mind telling me the next part of your plan John?” He asked in a semi irritated voice. John peeked out from behind the crates and fired two shots, kicking over two gun stallions, before ducking back down and pointing to a nice house.

“The red door, run… now!” He ordered, before grabbing Mane and rushing him towards the door. Elijah stood up as he scampered forwards. Bullets kicked up dirt all around them but just as Mane and John burst through the doors, a stallion lept out from behind a counter and fired a round, clipping Elijah in the shoulder and forcing him to stagger over to the corner of the house.

John pumped both barrels into the stallion’s chest, sending him hurtling into shelves of bottled pickles and beats. John snapped open the barrels of the shotgun and shook it. Both shells fell out before John replaced them with new ones.

Elijah squeezed his shoulder before swinging his body towards the road and holding back on the triggers of his machineguns. The duel Maxim guns rattled as they spat out lead death.

Ponies in the streets were cut down as .303 rounds chewed them apart. The smart ones ran for cover while the foolish ones tried to push through the hail of lead and towards the lone stallion. Suddenly a bullet chipped away at the corner near Elijah’s face, making him wince and look to the rooftop across the street where a mare crouched with a makeshift musket rifle.

Elijah elevated his machineguns and fired. Lethal bullets shattered apart the edge of the rooftop before cutting her away and knocking her body off the roof. Elijah swung his body away from the wall and started down the alleyway.

John crouched near the back door of the building and went to leave but Mane stayed. “I ain’t doing this no more John… you can forget about playing hero for Daring now.” He said.

John scowled as he tried to pull Mane with him but Mane simply flipped him onto his flank. “It’s over John… now just walk away… Charlie! Charlie Price! Hold your fire, I’m walking out!” Mane called before John tackled him to the floor. The two began wrestling for control over the other as Charlie’s yells could be heard from outside.

John quickly got the better of Mane but soon, the black stallion used his magic and pinned John against the wall. He began to constrict his magic around John’s throat in an attempt to strangle him.

John gasped as he struggled. “I ain’t… never been no hero… just trying to do right… all I have to do… is get you on that train… nothing more… nothing less…” He gagged. Mane released him from his magic.

“Don’t you want to see me hanged?” He asked and John shook his head. “Not even after what I did to Hearth?” He asked and John looked up to him with angered eyes.

“Sometimes it’s better to forgive your enemy… the bible says it’s like dousing them in coal.” He stated. Mane was stricken by the comment and gasped. He didn’t know how to take it and John forgiving him felt like… being stricken with a guilt he could barely handle.

He flopped back against a wall with a huff for air. “Alright John… let’s get to the train.” He stated.

Outside, Charlie continued to yell for his boss before a chatter of automatic fire caused him to duck. Ponies began collapsing as their bodies were riddled by machinegun fire. He spotted the grey stallion with duel machineguns. Charlie holstered one of his revolvers before handling the leftover pistol in both hooves.

Elijah paced forwards and kept up his fire. Ponies began scattering for cover. Elijah turned down a back alley and continued on. A group of seven stallions rushed into the alley to confront him. Elijah stopped and quickly hosed them down with a spray of ammo.

He began trotting forwards just as a blonde pegasus stepped out and snapped up his Schofield revolver. Elijah’s eyes went wide as the revolver let out a deafening shot. Elijah gasped as a bullet slammed into his chest, then another, and another.

He fell back with three bullet holes in his chest that all leaked blood. Charlie stepped over and cracked the cylinder on his revolver. The spent cases were ejected by the guns auto eject mechanism and the smoking brass shells landed on Elijah’s body.

Charlie swayed his head side to side with an irritated look. “I hate machineguns…” He muttered. Charlie looked up to the roof to see two figures dashing across rooftops. “They’re on the roof!” He yelled to the others. He began rushing along. “THEY’RE ON THE ROOF!”

Record Scratch looked up from where he and set a record into his player before leaning back to watch the events unfold. The music from his recorder filled the streets.

Charlie rushed along the streets below, trailing the duo, as he held his revolver, his foreleg completely extended. “Boss!” Charlie yelled before firing a shot at John, which missed and clipped the side of the building they were running across.

Bullets began to fly through the air, missing both galloping stallions by mere inches. Charlie however, was no longer concerned about shooting the townsfolk who nearly shot Mane, rather he was hell bent on shooting John.

“Boss!” Charlie yelled again as he tried to shoot John while they lept from one rooftop to another. “Boss, drop!” Charlie yelled but the two continued. Charlie became frantic as he desperately followed the duo.

Daring trotted along to the window and looked to the streets where the fighting was happening. Gunshots could easily be heard from inside the hotel and made her worried about her special friend’s well-being.

She quickly paced past Clover and went back to their original room before gazing down to the streets. She noticed John and Mane galloping across rooftops. She looked down to the scrapbook that Mane had left to see several photos.

The first was when she and John had first met, how he loomed over her near dead body in that gravesite. The next was when they trotted into Ponyville for the first time. Then of the first night they spent together in the fields.

There was one when they arrived in Dodge, then one of the first battle of Dodge, another of when they met Brixie. Yet another was illustrated when they arrived into Baltimare to board the Lunar Titan. She began to skip through pages. There seemed to be some sort of illustration from each major part of their journey, all the way up to toady.

The first was with everypony standing in the room. It even included Bear but he had an aura above his head, signalling his passing. The next was of Billy and Brixie, it was a near replica of the one he had given the two. The next was the exact same picture that he had given Daring and John. Daring flipped to the final page.

There was a picture of John in his duster coat, sitting on the chair near the window. He had his iconic double barreled shotgun in both hooves with his black hat tilted low. A title read ‘The righteous stallion’. Tears came to Daring’s eyes as she stepped towards the doorway.

Clover began to speak. “I’m sorry…” She began but Daring simply pushed past her and rushed towards the stairs. “Ms. Do!” She yelled. Billy and Brixie heard the commotion and came running only to see Daring’s tail as she left the front doors.

John and Mane stopped near a rooftop. The other roof was a far leap and John was weighed down by his gear. “Can you make it?” Mane asked. John nodded and the two backpedaled briefly then galloped forwards and lept across.

Charlie watched in disbelief as his boss seemed to willingly go along with the ranger. He went to fire but his revolver was empty. He switched guns but the two had disappeared out of sight.

John’s boots slid against the tiled shingles and he quickly began slipping down them along with Mane. The two fell off the roof and crashed into some crates. John twisted his ankle as he fell and yelped in pain. Mane rushed over and grabbed him, quickly lifting him to all fours.

“COME ON!” He yelled as he pulled John up. John began to limp after Mane as the two rushed into the buildings that were still under construction. Only the skeletons of the houses were done so it didn’t offer much in the way of protection.

Charlie fired several rounds along with the others. John spun, holding his double barrel in one hoof, and fired both barrels. One of the townsfolk was kicked off his hooves while the other simply fell when a load of buckshot pellets struck his forehead.

John didn’t bother reloading and simply continued on with Mane as everypony fired at them. Bullets chipped away at the wood beams of the house around them. The dup lept through doorway frames and through several unfinished buildings. Bullets continued to clip off the wooden skeletons of the houses as townsfolk chased after them.

John and Mane entered a small worker’s camp that had been pitched up. John unsheathed his Colt 1911 and began turning his body and popping off random shots towards their pursers as he ran along towards the train station. Every so often he’d clip a gunslinger and make them fall with a scream.

He spotted Charlie and took an aimed shot but the bullet missed and splattered a watermelon instead. John and Mane proceeded towards the train station just as Charlie extended his foreleg to its full extension then fired a round which clipped John’s shoulder.

He cried out in pain as he fell forwards and crawled into the train booth where a frightened train master crouched. “What time does the Canterlot Prison train arrive?” John asked as he reloaded both his shotgun and handgun.

The train master wiped sweat from his forehead before replying. “Four o’clock.” He stated and John glanced out the window to realize there was no train.

“What time is it?” He asked and the master looked to his watch.

“Five after…” He stammered. John glanced to him.

“So where the hell is the train?” He asked. The master just shrugged.

“Running late I suppose… gets here when it gets here.” He stated in a somewhat calmer voice. John leaned back against the wall as he let out a sigh of exhaustion.

Billy looked to Brixie. “I ain’t a bad stallion.” He told her and she gave him a confused look.

“I know you’re not.” She replied unsurely. He chuckled before bringing her into a tight hug.

“No, I didn’t mean like that… that story, the one Mane told… isn’t exactly all true. My father and I were asked to cut off the water flow to our neighbour’s property… by the exact same neighbour. His son had bad lungs and had to be in hot dry environments… but every year the spring water flow would give him terrible cases of pneumonia… so he asked us to cut off his water… for his son’s well-being.” Billy informed her. She looked up into his eyes and they shared a brief kiss before Billy grabbed his rifle and kicked off the scope.

John sat with Mane, breathing rather heavily and Mane snickered. “I remember the first time I read the bible… my mother… hated my father… took us both away. Sat me by a train station booth and gave me a bible. Said to read it front to back and that she’d be back before I knew it… I sat there for three days and read the entire bible, just waiting for my mom to come back… she never did.” Mane informed the younger stallion who just looked to him with a faint smile.

Suddenly there was a steam engine huffing that caught their attention and the two looked to the train. The train master leaned over to them. “Go to the third car with the sliding door.” He informed them.

Mane placed his hat on his head and nodded to John. “Well John, guess it’s time to do what we came here to do.”

John and Mane approached the doorway but Charlie slipped over to a cattle walkway and hid, to avoid being seen while he lined up a pot-shot on the ranger. John peeked out and a bullet clipped near his face, forcing him back behind cover.

Daring snuck up behind Charlie and lined up a shot with her ivory grip Colt SAA. She silently cocked back the hammer and steadied her aim… but she couldn’t do it. She breathed to herself and clenched her eyes shut, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t bring herself to kill.

She looked back to the bull cattle that were locked behind the gate and smiled.

As John peeked out for another glance, Charlie fired again. He cocked back the hammer on his Schofield just as he heard an aggressive mooing. He turned to see a group of rampaging bulls stampeding directly towards him. “SHI…” Was all he managed before getting trampled by the bulls.

John looked out in disbelief as Daring began to fire her revolver into the air, making the bulls run faster. “YAH! YAH!” She yelled in a rancher tone. John looked to her and the two exchanged glances before John lept out from behind his cover and fired his Colt .45 towards the townsfolk still after him. One was taken off her hooves as a bullet collided with her chest and she tumbled over some crates.

John and Mane raced along the side of the train, John firing shots towards the townsfolk who were forced to take cover. Clover stepped out from the hotel and looked in disbelief as John banged on the train door.

A train attendant answered and John turned to talk to him. “I got a prisoner that needs to be sent to Canterlot!” He yelled. The attendant nodded as Mane began to step up onto the train deck.

Daring smiled faintly as she watched her friend load the notorious criminal onto the prison train. Mane turned to see his young friend and smiled. “Well, congratulations John, you did it. You got me on the… NO!” He yelled just as a lone gunshot went off.

A bullet slammed through John’s upper right shoulder and spun him, spurting blood all over the side of the train. John’s eyes went wide as Charlie took a step forwards and fired another shot that made John cry in pain but he stayed standing. Charlie fired two more shots into John’s chest, making him gasp each time. Then he took careful and steady aim before firing a final shot right into the center of John’s chest.

John’s eyes stayed wide as he slid off the side of the train and onto the dirty ground, his blood smearing across the train as he fell. “JOHN!” Daring gasped as she hurried over to some cover to watch the events unfold.

Charlie and the two remaining gang members stepped forwards with a few of the remaining townsfolk. Mane stepped off the train and looked to John’s body with a sorrowful expression on his face. Charlie lowered his gun then trotted over to his boss. He ripped Celestia’s revolver from John’s holster and handed it to the black unicorn.

“You know… for a ranger… he’s one pathetic piece of shit…” Charlie said with a laugh then smirked. “And one tough son of a bitch.” He laughed.

Mane looked to John and his sorrowful expression was replaced by an expressionless one. He looked to the revolver Charlie had handed him and grasped it in his right hoof, rather tightly. Charlie sighed as he turned and began trotting away. “Come on boss…” Charlie remarked.

Mane glared at the pistol, noticing small things he hadn’t before. The right side of the handle had an engraving of Celestia’s sun, the other side had Luna’s moon. He gripped the revolver tightly, Celestia’s sun pressing aggressively against his fur and skin.

Charlie turned back to his boss, a smug smile still on his face. Mane returned his look with a squinted glare as he stared him down. Charlie took a moment to realize it then went for his revolver as his eyes went wide.

In a simple flick of his wrist, Mane brought Celestia’s revolver up and fired a round right into Charlie’s chest, piercing his heart. The others looked in shock but were soon faced with the same fate as Mane began to hose them down in less than a moment’s time.

Some of the townsfolk went for their guns but a quick and successful rate of fire echoed through the air. Most of the townsfolk fell to the ground in lifeless heaps. The others quickly scurried away. Billy and Brixie stepped forward, rifle barrels still smoking.

Charlie still stood on his hindlegs, struggling to keep himself up as blood leaked from his chest wound. Mane walked over and slid the barrel pin on the hammer down, to ready the shotgun barrel on the revolver. Charlie’s face was twitching as Mane grasped him by the collar of his jacket and stuffed the barrel right to his chest and fired.

Blood spewed out his back and Mane released his lifeless body, letting it fall back to the ground with a THUMP. He let out a sigh as he turned to see Daring holding a revolver in his direction. “Get on that train…” She ordered rather unsurely.

He trotted over to her, making her bring the revolver closer to her body each time to keep it out of his reach. Mane spun the revolver on his hoof before presenting the handle side to her. She looked in disbelief but he spoke before she could ask.

“Return it to its rightful owner.” He told her before she nodded and took the gun. Daring began to weep before she was grabbed from behind and spun around. John staggered to keep steady and she gasped.

“What… the… buck…” Mane gasped. John painfully pulled one of his duster coat flaps away to reveal the armour plate he had back in El Paso.

“I don’t have armour on my back… that’s why there’s blood…” John muttered through a wince of pain. Mane chuckled but Daring instead slammed her hoof against John’s armoured chest.

“You ass!” She yelled and John grimaced.

“I… think I might have a broken rib…” He groaned. She looked into his eyes and went to kiss him but he stepped back before kneeling down in front of her and reaching into his coat.

“Shit… I didn’t lose it… did I?” He muttered to himself.

“Lose what?” Mane and Daring asked at the same time. John ignored them and continued to search his coat pocket.

“Ah, here it is.” He stated before looking up to Daring.

“John… what are you doing?” She asked.

“Daring… I haven’t known you all that long and… I’m a little bad with words around pretty mares… especially special ones like you but… I’ll let my actions be my words.” He said as he pulled out a small box and opened it, revealing a diamond wedding ring.

Daring gasped in realization of what he was doing. “John… are you…” Daring was almost speechless. John was having trouble breathing as well, but that might’ve been because of his broken ribs.

“Yes!” Daring replied as she quickly ripped John to his hooves and planted her lips against his. The two embraced in a romantic kiss as Mane just stood there and scratched the back of his head. Soon, Mane coughed to gain their attention.

“Sorry to uhm… break the moment… but I guess this is goodbye… for now… you know?” He asked jokingly and the two nodded. “Well John, until the next time.” He said with a tip of his hat before trotting over and embarking onto the train.

The attendant slid the door shut and soon afterwards, the train started departing. Mane looked out the window to his horse that he had left by the hitching post. He had left the reins tied loose so that the horse could free itself.

He went to whistle but just before he did, he stopped and leaned back in his seat with a faint smile.

Author's Notes:

Don't fret, ain't over just yet. There's still the epilogue. That was... cool, nah that don't cut it... that was... I'll figure it out after I go to church, yes I go to church... and with my boss. Kinda ironic huh?