Gunsling

by Ninjaa_Kitty

Prologue: Standing Alone

The small band of outlaws galloped across the desert, taking the spoils of another successful heist to their hideout hidden inside an old mineshaft. The group of outlaws stop, catching their breath and taking drinks, it was a long run. The group look at their spoils, feeling good that they had gotten away once again.

"Here's to another job well done, boys!" The leader shouts, raising his waterskin. After a long drink, he turns to face the direction they came from, almost gloatingly. "Ha, them damned sheriffs didn't know what hit 'em when Saddle used that dynamite!"

The group laugh heartily, all except for one, an orange pony with a black mane and blue eyes, clad in a tan duster and a black Stetson hat, by the name of Gunsling.

"You could'a killed them! We swore that we wasn't gonna be murderers."

"So you're fine with armed robbery and it's all fine to shoot at them ponies, but kill one o' them an' it's suddenly passed the line?"

"I just don' wanna end up in the Canterlot dungeon! An' that's where killin's gonna get us!"

"But a lifetime o' armed robbery won't? What'cha gonna do?" Gunsling froze, the reality of his life of crime finally hitting him, forcing him to make a snap decision.

"I'm goin', Lever. I'm done with bein' a criminal."

"We're friends, Gun', ya can't just go off an' leave us." He says, eying the other outlaw with suspicion.

"I ain't bein' a part of this posse if you're gonna start killin'."

"We didn' kill anypony." He whispers, deadly quiet, "But if ya don't come to your senses, I might."

Gunsling narrows his eyes, staring into the other pony's without fear.

"That a threat?" He asks, reaching slowly for his own weapon.

"I don' make threats.." He replies, snapping the revolver upwards with such speed, Gunsling doesn't have a chance to draw his own. The bang echoes across the desert, silent from the standoff, as the proud Lever-Action looks at the lifeless body before him, a hint of regret in his eyes. "Somepony bury 'im."