Black Hat

by Fervidor

The Great Train Robbery

The huffing locomotive moved at a steady pace along the lonesome railroad, cutting like a dark line across the landscape. Even though the train had only recently left Hoofstone, there was nothing to see for miles around other than the dry desert, cacti and wind-bitten mesas were hoodoos reached like giant fingers to the sky. The blazing sun made the interior of the train uncomfortably warm, but the two passengers of the second-to-last car tried not to mind the heat. They weren't riding the train out of convenience, after all. They had a job to do.
They were both earth pony stallions. One of them was large but lean, his coat a warm chocolate brown with bright white Sabino markings on his snout and ankles, and his flowing mane was black. He was certainly handsome but had sharp, almost chiseled features and piercing gray eyes as hard as steel. A pristine white stetson hat crowned his head and he wore a golden star pinned to the front of his duster. Though the same duster hid his cutie mark, it too was a golden star. He was staring out the window with a grim expression, tapping his hoof on the edge of his seat.
“You're worrying over nothing, Lawmane,” said his companion. “He's not going to show.” This other pony was dirt-blonde and silver-coated. As a stallion he was a decent specimen, and he probably looked rather dashing when not sitting right next to someone like Lawmane. He was just a little bit smaller, a little rounder around the edges, and his eyes were softer. The golden acorn band and markings on his dark blue hat revealed him to be a captain in the Royal Cavalry, and his cutie mark was a pair of crossed sabers.
Lawmane shrugged. “You don't know that, Val. You don't know him. He's definitely in this area and I don't think he'd pass up a chance like this.”
“How could he possibly even know about the transport?”
“He got his ways. I told you...”
Lawmane fell silent as voices from outside the coach ahead caught his attention. The next moment the doors opened and two mares stepped inside.
“Well, here we are!” said one of them, speaking in a soft, melodic drawl. “And plenty of room, too!”
She was a unicorn, and quite a looker too – her coat was a light tan, her curly mane and tail shone like gold, and she had a bright pink rose tucked behind her ear. Long, dark eyelashes fluttered over a pair of dazzling amethyst eyes. Her cutie mark was a simple light purple shape that, for the most part, resembled a heart broken in two.
Lawmane rose from his seat. “Ma’am...”
The unicorn's eyes went wide. “Oh my! Oh my, my! And who might you be?”
“Lawmane,” he said. “Royal Marshals. I'm sorry ladies but you can't...”
“The Marshal Lawmane?” The unicorn gasped in delight. “Well ain't that just the bees knees? I've read all about your daring adventures, Mr Lawmane.” She giggled. “You might say I'm a bit of an admirer of yours.”
The silver stallion chuckled. “I see you still have the same effect on the marefolk, old friend.” He bowed his head at the newcomers. “And I am Captain Valiant, at your service.”
“Oh, but where are my manners?” the unicorn said. “My name Jessy Belle, and this here lovely little thing is my niece, Pilfer Swift.” She gestured to the winged pony at her side. The pegasus looked rather young, little more than a filly, with a white coat and a rust-red mane held up in a ponytail by a big green bow. Her cutie mark was that of three magpie feathers crested over a small pile of coins. She wasn't as glamorous as her 'aunt', but cute in a more unpolished way. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder as she seemed to regard everything around her with open fascination.
“Charming,” said Lawmane. “But I regret to inform you that this is a reserved coach. I'm going to have to ask you two to leave.”
“What?” Jessy Belle looked perplexed and quickly produced a train ticket from her saddlebag “But... But I'm sure this is where... Oh no, there must have been some kind of mix-up with the tickets! But there's no more room in this whole train.“ She gave the two stallions a desperate look. “Oh won't you please make an exception, just this once?”
“We won't be any trouble,” Pilfer chirped in. “Honest.”
Lawmane and Valiant exchanged glanced. “I don't think...” Lawmane began.
“Oh, preeetty please?” Jessy Belle pleaded. “Surely two strong, able gentlecolts like yourselves have nothing to fear from two little ol' ponies like us?”
As she spoke a faint, almost invisible aura appeared around her horn. The spell was very subtle – neither Lawmane nor Valiant noticed it, but suddenly all the tension seemed to drain from the atmosphere. Valiant relaxed and smiled, gently elbowing Lawmane in the side. “She's got a point there, marshal. A bit of company couldn't hurt, could it?”
Lawmane hesitated for a moment, and even as the two mares made large puppy eyes at him, his stony expression didn't budge. But then, finally, he sighed. “Fine, you can stay.”
Jessy and Pilfer both let out little squeals of joy and took their seats. Smiling brightly, Jessy Belle winked at Valiant. “Getting to meet Lawmane and a young captain at the same time? This must be my lucky day!”
Captain Valiant could swear that the coach felt even warmer now.

Meanwhile...

In the first coach before the engine, various pony travelers tried to find ways to pass the time while the train crept closer to its destination. Some were reading, some engaged in chit-chat, others were gazing out of the windows or simply staring into thin air, lost in thought.
One earth pony in particular kept looking at his pocket watch, almost as if he counted the minutes ticking down while waiting for something. He was medium sized and khaki-colored, with a wavy dark blue mane and a cutie mark the shape of a row of aces. He dressed in a bright red waistcoat, but his most outstanding feature was the black eyepatch over his right eye – an expensive memento of a Baltimare bar fight in his younger days. He stroked his neatly trimmed mustaches while his healthy eye tracked the arms on the watch. It struck eight minutes past four - that was the first que. The one-eyed pony smiled and returned the watch to his pocket, producing a deck of cards instead.
“Well, I don't know about you fellows,” he said to the coach at large and started to cut the deck with a dexterity honed by years of practice, “but I'm getting mighty bored over here. So, who's up for a game of cards to pass the time? Anyone?”
As it turned out, several of the other passengers were indeed interested and soon a group of players had gathered to participate in the game. As he started to deal out the cards, the pony with the eyepatch tried not to smile too much.
Most who looked at Wildcard's cutie mark could guess he was a gambler. However, surprisingly few ever noticed that it featured five aces rather than four.

Meanwhile...

Standing on a cliff overlooking the desert valley, two ponies waited for a train.
The earth pony was the larger of the two, and resembled a dark patch of night against the clear blue sky – coal-black mane, coal-black tail, his slender and sinewy body the same dark gray as a thundercloud, making it hard to discern his cutie mark: four black spades arranged in a cross. He had a long lariat wrapped around his neck, and his only article of clothing was the large black hat resting on his head, worn from many travels and adventures. The only splash of color on his person was his eyes – a startling shade of gold, like two bright moons against the darkness.
He drew a deep breath, scraped his hoof against the cliff and turned his head south. “The train will be here soon. Right on time.”
“I wish I knew how you do that,” said his partner, a somewhat scrawny-looking white and black unicorn in a top hat. “And speaking of wishes, I also wish I was on that train.”
“We've been over this, Mountebank.”
“Yes, Black Jack, I know.” The unicorn named Mountebank sighed. “But we both know I wouldn't even have to be here if Calamity hadn't been late, again. I just hope she actually shows up.”
“Cal ain't ever let me down before,” Black Jack said. “But if fer some reason she don't show, Ah'll be countin' on yer magic to back me up 'gainst them pegasi.” He gave the unicorn a sideways grin. “'Sides, even Ah don't wanna try jumping unto a moving train less Ah got any other choice.”
“I don't mind that part,” Mountebank grumbled, “but I'm an artist, not a fighte...”
But Black Jack silenced him with a wave of his hoof, having just spotted a cloud of smoke and dust at the horizon. His golden eyes narrowed and his body tensed into a ready position. “We're out of time. No turning back now, Monty. We ride... now!”
On the mark, the two ponies galloped down the slope, Mountebank struggling to keep up with Black Jack. “Don't call me Monty!”

“So tell me,” Jessy Belle said, magically wafting her face with a hovering fan, “why do a couple of heroic ponies like you two have this whole coach reserved anyway?”
“That ain't a public matter, ma’am,” Lawmane muttered. Despite Jessy Belle's magical charm, he remained rather curt with them.
“Let's just say we're transporting something rather valuable in the cargo back there,” said Valiant, who seemed quite a bit more eager to impress the girls. “We're the last line of defense, as it were.”
“Why Captain, you make it sound as if we've just wandered into some storybook adventure,” Jessy Belle said, keeping her tone playful. “Should we expect a band of rowdy train robbers to barge in here at any moment?”
“Hardly,” Valiant laughed. “Half the ponies on this train are civilian police, and that includes a squad of pegasi guards in case of an aerial raid. You'd have to be either very brave or totally crazy to attack this train.”
“You don't say?” Jessy Belle chuckled. “Sounds like some fellas I know.”
“And even if a train robber makes it to the strongbox in the cargo wagon, only Lawmane and myself know the combination,” Valiant continued. “Not that they'd get that far. The wagon itself is locked and has spells to keep unicorns from teleporting in, and only Lawmane has the key, so...”
“Val,” said Lawmane sharply. “I think you need to stop talking now.”
“Ah... r-right,” Valiant suddenly looked very embarrassed for having let that much information slip. “Well, the point is that we are all quite safe, Miss Jessy Belle, so there is no need for you to worry. Even if some no-good brigands make the attempt, they won't get far.”
Jessy Belle wafted her fan with increased intensity. “I'd say! I can't imagine anypony who'd be daring enough to try it.”
“I know one,” said Lawmane darkly. “Black Jack.”
Valiant gave a nervous chuckle. “Now, now, Lawmane, let's not start that again...”
“The Black Jack?” Jessy Belle gasped. “But I thought he was just a story to scare misbehaving foals with. You mean to say he's real?”
“He's real, alright,” Lawmane said. “Him and me, we've crossed each other on more than one occasion, but he always slips through my hooves in the end. He's an infernal genius, the Neighpoleon of Crime, the sort who's in it just for the challenge.” The marshal glanced at Captain Valiant. “Had it been my call, we would have bought this entire train and filled it with troopers. Black Jack is not to be underestimated.”
“Oh my!” Jessy Belle frowned. “Don't he sound like the most awful cur! But I'm sure two strong and brave stallions like yourselves would never let any harm come to... Oh, will you stop fussing, child?”
The last bit was aimed to Pilfer Swift, who had grown increasingly fidgety as the others talked. “But I'm bored!” she whined.
“Oh, well, why don't you run along and see what Cousin' Wild is up to?” Jessy Belle suggested. “Celestia knows there's never a dull moment around him.”
“Okay!” Pilfer bounced out of her seat and left the wagon. Jessy Belle gave Lawmane and Valiant an apologetic smile.
“Kids,” she said with a shrug. “Now then, marshal, why don't you tell me more thrilling stories about that awful Black Jack fellow...”
As Pilfer Swift made her way down the train cars, she happened to bump into one of the other passenger. “Oh, excuse me,” she said.
“Be more careful,” the other pony muttered, but didn't pay her much attention. As he turned his back, Pilfer quickly peeked inside the wallet she had taken from the pocket of his coat. “Cheapskate,” she whispered with a disappointed frown, letting it slip into her saddlebag.
Oh well, at least she wasn't bored anymore.

The poker game had been a tense one and Wildcard was playing a high-risk game, though not quite in the sense the other players assumed he was. By now he had singled out one of them as his mark – a large, carmine red stallion with a dynamite cutie mark. He was hot-tempered, he was reckless, he was considerably less intelligent than he thought himself to be. He was perfect.
The big guy was leering over his cards and was just about to announce his bet when a young white pegasus with a rust-red ponytail just happened to bump into him. “'Scuse me, mister.”
“Ey, watch where yer goin',” growled the red pony.
Wildcard couldn't stop himself from smirking slightly. That was the second que. “Hey now, we're still playing aren't we?”
“We sure are,” said big-and-red, “and I'm bettin' a hundred bits.”
“I fold,” said one of the other players.
“Me too,” said the pony next to him. One by one they folded until only one remained.
Wildcard cocked his head, letting his eyes linger on his cards a bit for dramatic tension. “I'll see your hundred bits,” he said, showing his cards: Three sevens, ace of hearts, ace of spades. “Full house.”
The red pony grinned triumphantly. “Full house,” he declared and spread his own cards: ace of hearts, ace of diamonds, ace of spades and two jacks. “Looks like I win!”
There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at the cards.
“Wait,” said one of the more dim-witted players. “There ain't that many aces in poker, is there?”
Wildcard flew out of his seat. “Why you slimy, double-crossing no-good swindling cheater!”
“What!?” The red pony stood up as well and shook his hoof at Wildcard. “Nopony calls me a...” But in that very moment, several aces fell out of the sleeve of his jacket, landing in plain view for all to see. The red pony's mouth fell open in shock and confusion.
“Aha! Caught you red-hoofed!” Wildcard declared. “Cheater!”
Something seemed to snap inside the red pony and he lunged at Wildcard. But the gambler was prepared and dodged the blow, which struck a different passenger instead. “Why you...!” The accidental victim threw himself over his assailant, and in seemingly no time at all, the situation had degenerated into an all-out brawl full of flying hooves and shouted curses.
Wildcard, however, had quickly ducked out of their midst and leaned against the wall near the coach door, just watching the spectacle. A few moments later Pilfer appeared at his side, having somehow also wormed her way through the battle unscathed.
“I nicked a few wallets while I was at it,” she whispered, patting her saddlebag. “I figured why pass up the opportunity?”
“Good girl,” Wildcard chuckled. “Get ready now, your big number is coming up.”
“What's going on here!” came a cry as several large stallions barged into the coach – Lawmane's undercover police, no doubt. Holding his leg out ever so slightly, Wildcard made the leader trip and stumble straight into the melee. His comrades tried to help him, and before long they too were involved in the fight.
Wildcard just kept on smiling. Chaos reigned.

“What the blazes is going on over there?” Lawmane frowned. Even all the way in the back of the train they could hear the commotion from the coach in front.
Jessy Belle gasped in feigned terror and pressed her body close to Valiant. “Oh my stars, is it him? It is him, isn't it?”
“N-Now keep calm, Miss Belle,” Valiant said, trying his best to keep his own head cool as well. “It's just a scuffle of some kind.”
Lawmane didn't look convinced. “The men should have broken it up by now. Something's wrong.”
“Oh, I knew it!” Jessy Belle looked close to fainting. “That terrible Black Jack character is coming here to rob us all blind!”
Lawmane got out of his seat with a grim look on his face. “Come on, Val.”
“You don't seriously think its...?”
“Black Jack or no Black Jack, we've got work to do.”
They made their way through the train – Lawmane in the lead, followed by Valiant, with Jessy Belle carefully trailing behind. From the corner of his eye, Lawmane thought the saw a speck of black against the golden desert when he passed one of the windows, and he momentarily turned his head. The next moment, Pilfer Swift just happened to run straight into him.
“Marshal!” she cried, grabbing his duster. “It's awful! I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden they were all fighting and I didn't know what to do and...”
Lawmane just brushed her aside. “We'll handle it, miss. You go back to our coach and stay there.”
“Y-Yes sir!” Pilfer gave him and Valiant a salute as they walked by her and exchanged a wink and a smile with Jessy Belle when they passed. Once she was back in their coach, she closed the door and held up a small key. She smiled. “Oh, yes indeed sir.”
Opening the door on the opposite side of the coach, she climbed over to the cargo wagon at the end of the train and unlocked the door with the key. Well inside she found the large metal strongbox holding the gold they had come for. It was of course too heavy and sturdy for her to do anything about, so having successfully done her part, she simply sat down on the box and waited.
“So far, so good,” she said, smiling to herself. “Oh, I hope the rest of the plan goes this well.”

Black Jack had timed their run perfectly – with the momentum of the downhill rush, they came in at full speed next to the tracks just as the train started to pass them by. Naturally, they couldn't match the locomotive for speed, but they didn't need to keep up with it for very long.
Black Jack kept the pace without any sign of tiring, while Mountebank looked quite a bit more winded. “Is it... time... yet?” he gasped.
“Just a bit more!” Black Jack called back.
“Oh, come on!”
“Alright, get ready!” Black Jack slowed down enough to bring himself right next to Mountebank. Seeing the unicorn's horn glowing with magic, he nodded. “Do it!”
Mountebank released his spell and the two of them vanished in a white flash. The next moment they reappeared above the train, landing on the metal roof with a loud thud.
“Never... again...” Mountebank groaned.
Black Jack slapped his compatriot hard on the back. “Good job, Monty. But don't let yer guard down just yet, a'right?” A devilish grin spread across his face. “This here's where the fun part begins!”

It was an amazing fight – an unrestricted free-for-all with ponies punching, kicking, wrestling, butting and biting each other all over the coach. Even the undercover cops seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing and simply pummeled whoever they could get their hoofs on. Wildcard couldn't have hoped for a better diversion.
“WHAT IN THE HAY IS GOING ON IN HERE!?”
The bellowing roar washed over the fighters like a torrent of cold water and they all froze in place, hooves still raised in the air. Standing by the door, glaring at them with his cold and hard eyes, Lawmane had defused the situation instantly.
He stepped forward and turned to one of the roughed up ponies, whom he recognized as one of his men. “Constable, report.”
The police-pony scratched his head, looking rather embarrassed. “Yes, sir. There, um, there was a fight...”
“Obviously.”
“Ah, yeah, seems like somepony had been cheating at cards, sir, and things just got out of hand.”
“It's a lie!” groaned a large red pony who had been knocked to the floor in the fray. “I ain't no cheater!”
“Sonnova...” Lawmane sighed, covering his eyes with his hoof. “Okay, y'all, fun's over! Everypony get back to your seats or I swear I'll arrest the lot of you!”
“Hey!” came a voice in the crowd. “My wallet's missing!”
“Hey! Mine too!” came another voice. “Thief!”
A loud murmur broke out as more and more ponies found their pockets picked. Looking around, Lawmane's eyes narrowed as his instincts told him he'd missed something vital.
“I didn't do it!” moaned the red pony, getting up on unsteady hooves behind the marshal. “I ain't no cheater! And I ain't no thief either!”
Without even looking, Lawmane struck the red pony with the back of his hoof, knocking him out. “Hold it! I change my mind. Everypony stay right where you are!” Lawmane turned to Valiant, while slowly raising his hoof to his own pocket. “Captain Valiant, prepare to conduct a full search of this...”
There was a loud, metallic thud from above their heads. Lawmane paused and looked up. “The hay was that?”
Everyone went quiet and listened. There were more sounds from above – the unmistakable noise of hooves running over metal. Valiant's eyes widened. “They're on the roof!”
“Wings, deploy!” Lawmane barked. “I want all of you out there right now! Go!”
One by one, the pegasi poured out of the train, leapt into the air and spread their wings, letting the draft catch them. They were all experts, some of the best flyers in Equestria, and perfectly capable of keeping up with the train. Spotting the two intruders on the roof, they started their attack run.
“Get ready!” Black Jack said, loosening his lariat. “Here they come!”
The first pegasus to get close to Jack took a buck that nearly knocked him out of the air. The second was dodged, the third ate a punch. Jack moved with the grace and explosive power of a seasoned fighter. He threw his lariat, roped one of the pegasi and swung him like a flail against the cloud of attackers.
At his side, Mountebank was doing his best but growing increasingly agitated. “Dammit!” he swore, wildly firing bolts of magic from his horn just to keep the pegasi away from him. “Where's Calamity when you actually need her!?”
Suddenly there was a shadow against the sun and then a gray and red blur struck the swarm of pegasi, scattering it completely like a perfect bowling strike. The newcomer was a flurry of kicks and punches, and landed on the train with so much momentum her hooves caused sparks to fly where they skid across the metal. She was an enormous pegasus mare, almost the size of a male workhorse, iron gray in color with the bangs on her spiky crimson mane hanging down over her face, obscuring one of her ruby eyes. The cutie mark on her flank was a black tornado with a bolt of lighting shooting out of it.
“JIIIIIIHAAAAAAAA!” she hooted. “Someone order a Caaa-laaa-mity?”
”Oh look, the muscle's finally here!” Mountebank yelled over the fray. ”Well, I guess that means you don't need me anymore, see you when it's time to square the gold, ta-ta!”
He vanished in an audible poof, teleporting to safety inside the train. Black Jack and Calamity took position back to back, hooves raised, as the pegasi guards circled them like vultures. Black Jack glanced at the mare. ”Yer late.”
”I reckoned it was only fair to give y’all a head start,” Calamity chuckled. ”Remember, the one who bucks the most city slickers today buys the cider!”
Black Jack grinned. ”Don't hold back, Cal. I want every single on'a these feather brains outta commission for the rest o' the day.”
”Rest of the day?” Calamity laughed. A pegasus swooped down to attack her, but her uppercut sent him flying into one of his comrades instead. “When I'm through with 'em, they won't be flying for a week!”

In the train coach below, Mountebank appeared in another white flash. Relieved at a chance to catch his breath, he corrected his top hat that had come awry in the scuffle. Well, that could have been... Then he froze in place as he suddenly noticed that the coach was full of ponies staring silently at him, including a captain of the Royal Cavalry and Marshal Lawmane himself. ...worse?
“Who the hay are you?” Lawmane asked.
“Um...”
Not knowing what else to do, Mountebank did what he did best: He improvised.
“They're mad!” he suddenly cried, pointing up. “Mad, I tell you! They're fighting on the train!” He stumbled over to Lawmane. “It's him! It's Black Jack the Outlaw! He's here!”
Lawmane's head snapped towards the ceiling and his mouth twisted into a sneer. “Black Jack...”
The crowd was quickly getting agitated. “Black Jack? … Wait, that Black Jack!? … He's here? … What do we ... Somepony do something! ...”
“Don't panic!” Valiant called out. “Everything is under control!”
“No! Panic!” Mountebank countered, elbowing his way to the door where Wildcard waited. “Nothing is under control! The pegasi can't hold him! He's unstoppable!”
Lawmane meanwhile headed towards the opposite door, brushing ponies aside like they weren't there. “Val, keep things together down here.”
“Wait, what?” Valiant shot him a look of pure panic. “Where are you going?”
“I'm gonna face Black Jack myself.”
“You're doing what? Dammit, Lawmane, I need you down here! You can't just...”
But Lawmane was already gone. Valiant swore a terrible oath under his breath.

Stepping outside the train, Lawmane managed to pull himself up on the roof just in time to dodge an out-of-control pegasus who instead slammed straight into a passing water tower. The rest of the pegasi garde weren't doing much better by the looks of it – it seemed the train robbers had already put more than half of them out of commission.
Calamity landed hard on the coach in front of him, with a look of unbridled excitement on her face. ”Howdy, marshal! Let's dance!”
”Out of my way, Calamity!” Lawmane growled. ”I'll deal with you later.”
Calamity simply launched herself at him, hooves raised. ”That ain't no way to treat a lady!”
Lawmane rolled on his back, caught her in a suplex and sent her flying straight into the swarm of pegasi. “Your point?”
Getting back on his hooves, he looked up to see Black Jack walking towards him across the roof of the speeding train, as calmly as if he was taking a stroll down the street.
”Lawmane...” the dark stallion greeted with a wicked smile, taking pleasure in drawing the name out. ”Ah knew you'd come to face me in person. That's what Ah like 'bout you – very easy to understand.”
”Wish I could say the same about you,” Lawmane said. ”A full frontal assault ain't your style, Jack. What're you planning?”
Black Jack shrugged. ”Who knows? Maybe Ah'm just gettin' sloppy? Ah s'pose this'd be your big chance to finally catch me, then.”
Lawmane's eyes narrowed. ”This train is metal. Your bizarre powers ain't gonna work on this footing, Jack. We're even.”
Black Jack grinned. ”Interestin' theory.”
His head snapped with the speed of a viper's strike, sending the lariat flying towards Lawmane's neck. The marshal jerked back in the last moment and let it rope snare his foreleg instead. Giving it a hard tug, he pulled Black Jack close and landed a mighty punch across the outlaw's face.
They started trading blows, and Black Jack never stopped smiling. It wasn't any fun if it was too easy.

Once Lawmane had left the train, Valiant found himself in the unenviable position of keeping the situation from getting any worse than it already was. “Okay, I want everypony who doesn't work for us to sit down and remain calm while those who do conduct a search of the train. If you all cooperate nobody needs to get... Hey, you two!” The last part was directed to Mountebank and Wildcard, who had been trying to shuffle closer to the door. “Stop right there! I have some questions for you!”
“Maybe we should do as he says?” Mountebank suggested.
Wildcard saw a water tower rush by outside the coach windows. Third cue. He grabbed Mountebank. “We're out of time! Just run!”
And ran they did, out the door and down through the train. “Hey, come back here!” they heard Valiant shout behind them. “Don't just stand there, you idiots! After them!”
“Now what?” Mountebank asked when they reached the last coach. “It's still too early to disengage, and the captain is coming to arrest us.”
“Hm, yes,” Wildcard tapped his chin, “seems like it's time to use the secret weapon.”
Valiant and all his men burst into the coach, but instead of trying to escape, Wildcard simply approached them with a confident look on his face as if he planned to fight them all off by himself.
“We have you cornered,” Valiant said. “Give up and come quietly!”
“Come quietly?” Wildcard chuckled. Then, in one swift motion, he ripped his waistcoat open. “I think my little friends here may have some objections to that!”
Valiant and his men stopped dead in their tracks. The entire inside of Wildcard's waistcoat was lined with dynamite.
“This is your secret weapon!?” Mountebank shrieked in horror.
“That's right!” said Wildcard triumphantly. “So you and your men better retreat to the next coach, captain, or I'm going to blow this whole train halfway to Tall Tale!”
Valiant hesitated. “You're bluffing!”
“Oh, so you're a gambler as well?” Wildcard grinned. “But see, where I'm from there's a saying: Never bet against a mustang from Mustangia when gambling with your life!”
Valiant gritted his teeth. “...Everypony, fall back! Retreat!”
“Much obliged,” Wildcard chuckled.
Valiant glared at him. “You'll never get away with thioouuff!” He was interrupted by a certain mare more or less tackling him out of nowhere. “Miss Jessy Belle, this is hardly the time!”
“Oh, captain!” Jessy Belle cried, clinging to him. “I'm so scared!”
Valiant suddenly felt oddly lightheaded. “P-please control yourself!”
Jessy Belle looked deep into his eyes and her horn shimmered with magic power. “You will protect me, won't you?”
“O-Of course I will... protect you,” Valiant said. He had a strange look in his eyes, as if lost in thought or daydreaming.
“You won't let anyone harm me, will you?” Jessy Belle asked.
“I... won't let anyone... harm you...” the mesmerized Valiant mumbled.
“And you'll tell me the combination to the gold transport strongbox,” Jessy Belle pressed on. “Wooont you, captain?”
“Yes... The combination... is... right 15, left 16, right 23, left 42...”
Having produced a quill and parchment from her saddlebag, Jessy Belle quickly jotted the numbers down. “Thanks, sweetie.”
Valiant shook his head. “...Wait, what? Why did I... !”
CRACK!
Something hit him hard over the head and he blacked out. Jessy Belle sighed. It were dark times when a lady had to resort to carrying a brick in her bag. She turned to Wildcard and Mountebank. “Ready to go, boys?”
“You bet,” Wildcard said, taking off his explosives-laden waistcoat and throwing it carelessly on the floor, nearly making Mountebank jump out of his skin.
The three of them then quickly climbed over to the cargo wagon. “Hey guys!” Pilfer said, waving at them from her seat on the strongbox. “Are we winning?”
“Yes, sugarcube, we most definitely are,” Wildcard said, disengaging the couplings that held the wagon to the rest of the train. “Boss! Cal!” he shouted. “Time to go!”

Black Jack had to admit, Lawmane hadn't been all wrong about them being even – Jack was a better technical fighter, but the marshal was an experienced brawler as well, not to mention absurdly durable and strong as a bull. Jack wasn't at all weak, and he definitely landed more blows than he took, but they just didn't seem to do much damage.
Throughout the fight, he had made sure to retreat down the train until they were battling close to the cargo wagon. A bit further ahead, Calamity had already body slammed the last pegasus into submission and now circled the air above the train, trying to decide if her leader needed any assistance. At this point Black Jack and Lawmane were both breathing hard and had begun to feel the bruises.
A particularly vicious attack knocked Black Jack on his back. He only barely rolled out of he way of Lawmane's next strike, which actually put a dent in the roof of the train. Black Jack kicked hard with both hindlegs, sending Lawmane staggering back long enough for the outlaw to somersault back on his hooves. He just needed to hold his opponent off for a little longer.
There was a loud clanking sound – the cargo wagon had been disconnected! “Boss! Cal!” Wildcard's voice called out from below. “Time to go!”
Black Jack made a move for the wagon, but suddenly he felt a heavy body press down on him from behind and a strong foreleg wrapped around his neck in a vice-like grip. Lawmane had managed to put him in a submission hold. “Oh no, you don't!” the marshal grunted in his ear. “You ain't running away this time, Jack!”
Black Jack struggled, seeing the cargo wagon starting to drift away behind the train, but it was no use – Lawmane was too strong. Managing to draw a wheezing breath, Black Jack bet everything on one last card. He reached back and placed his hooves directly on Lawmane's head.
In an instant, Lawmane felt his mind invaded by a surge of power from the black pony. Golden eyes stared right into his soul and a black storm threatened to overwhelm his consciousness. Lawmane let out an angered cry and pushed Black Jack away, falling on one knee grabbing his head. “Stay.. out of my head... you freak...”
Black Jack got on his hooves and saw his chance. He ran, leapt and marginally cleared the divide, rolling as he landed on the cargo wagon roof. Moments later, Calamity came swooping down to join him, passing right over Lawmane who was still reeling from Black Jack's mental assault. He made one final attempt to leap after the pegasus, likely driven more by stubbornness than anything else. However, Calamity simply twisted in the air and – letting out an almost child-like laugh – sent him back with a kick. She landed behind Black Jack, who watched the train power on ahead with Lawmane still on it. “So long, marshal!” he called out. “Better luck next time!”
Realizing the outlaw was once more beyond his reach, Marshal Lawmane put another dent in the train. “BLAAACK JAAACK!”
With the wagon slowly creeping to a halt, and the train disappearing in the distance, Black Jack allowed himself to slump down to a sitting position. That last move had drained more of his reserves than he'd expected it to, and though he would be fine once he had earth under his hooves again, for now he didn't want to move around. He touched his neck and cringed a bit. “Cal?”
“Yeah, boss?”
“Remind me not to try takin' that fella head on again.”
“Sure thing.” Calamity gave him a glance and a wry smile. “So, that mean I can have him next time?”
Black Jack's only reply was a tired chuckle.

Still feeling somewhat dizzy, Lawmane managed to climb back into the coach, swearing under his breath the whole time. Curse Black Jack and his witchcraft! Earth ponies ain't even supposed to have magic! Cheating son of a...
A groan that wasn't his own caught his attention and he found Valiant picking himself off the floor. The captain had a large bump on his head and looked about as bad as Lawmane felt. “Val, what the hay happened to you?”
Despite clearly being in pain, Valiant managed to look severely embarrassed. “I... Well, that is...”
Lawmane sighed. “You know what? Save it. We need to get the driver to stop the train. They can't run far with a strongbox full of gold, so we can still catch up if we leg it.”
“What about the pegasi?” Valiant asked.
“Scattered all across eastern San Palomino, I'd say,” Lawmane replied. “And thanks to Black Jack and that pet natural disaster of his, I doubt any of them will be doing any more flying today. Get the rest of the men ready, we'll just have to make do with good old-fashion running.”
Valiant held back another groan. “Running. I'm really not in any shape to...”
He fell silent. Both he and Lawmane had detected a strange hissing sound, as well as the feint odor of chemical smoke. They both turned their heads at once, staring at the source of the sound.
A discarded waistcoat. Roughly a dozen sticks of dynamite. And a long fuze almost completely burned out.
“You've got to be kidding me,” Valiant said, just before Lawmane grabbed him.
“Take cover!”

“We're rich! We're rich! We got a whole pile of gold! We're rich!”
The cargo wagon had almost completely slowed to a halt. Inside, Jessy Belle had wasted no time unlocking the strongbox and admiring the stacks of gold bullion inside. She and Pilfer Swift had now taken to dancing around the box, chanting to themselves about their new-found wealth.
Somewhere in the distance, a loud explosion resounded through the stillness of the desert, sending a slight tremor through the metal frame of the wagon. Leaning towards one of the walls, Wildcard sighed. “You know, I really am going to miss that waistcoat.”
“You can buy another one,” Jessy Belle told him. “By the way, did you hear? We're rich!”
The wagon finally stopped moving and the wide side door slid open, revealing Black Jack and Calamity outside. “Settle down, y'all,” Black Jack said. “We ain't home free yet. Hurry an' get that box on the cart. Pilfer, yer on lookout.”
They had rolled to a stop in a rocky area where a great mesa rose to the sky right next to the train tracks, but directly in front of them a narrow ravine split the stone in two leading deeper into the Macintosh Hills. A large wooden cart waited for them further down the path - between Black Jack's planning and Wildcard's sense of timing, they had rolled to a stop in the exact right place. High up above on one side of the ravine, a giant wedge-shaped spire of rock loomed over them like a bad omen.
Wildcard, Jessie Belle and Mountebank got to work moving the strongbox, which proved easier said than done:
“Damn, this thing weighs a ton!”
“Put your back into it!”
“Monty, why don't you use your magic to lift it?”
“I'm trying! And don't call me Monty!”
“Who would have thought an iron box full of gold would be this heavy?”
After about a minute - at which point their collective efforts had managed to push the box to the edge of the door - Calamity rolled her eyes, picked the whole box up with her bare hooves and carried it over to the waiting cart. Jessy Belle stared in disbelief and Mountebank coughed, trying to look nonchalant. “Ah, well, I was just about to... Good show, Calamity, good show.”
“I'm glad she's on our side,” Wildcard said, “I'll tell you that for nothing.”
Strapping herself to the cart, Calamity turned to Black Jack. “That just about wraps it up, huh?”
Black Jack scraped his hoof against the ground. “Nah, not quite...”
“Black Ja... I mean, boss!” Pilfer Swift fluttered over to them. “Some ponies are heading this way down the tracks, I think it's the marshal and his men.”
Calamity chuckled. “That Lawmane just don't know when to quit, does he?”
“Ah'll deal with it,” Black Jack said. “The rest o' ya head down the canyon, Ah don't want ya'll gettin' in the way.”
They did as he said, Calamity pulling the cart and the others helping by pushing it. Pilfer Swift shot a worried look back at Black Jack, whom they had left near the mouth of the canyon, standing still as a statue. “He's not going to try fight them all on his own, is he?”
“The boss is about to do his thing, is all,” Calamity explained. “You're new to this gang, so you don't know yet what he's capable of. Trust me, filly, he knows what he's doing.”
Black Jack had his eyes closed in concentration, drawing deep, controlled breaths while focused on feeling the earth beneath him. Already he could sense the vibrations of the approaching posse. Nopony was close enough to see, but little swirls of dust had appeared around his hooves, whirling in synch with his breathing.
Suddenly he reared up on his hindlegs, then brought his hooves down hard on the ground. An invisible pulse of power resonated through the earth, the rock, the mountain. For several moments nothing happened. Then, with a mighty cracking sound, the base of the stone spire split in half and the whole thing came crashing down, shattering against the canyon walls. Black Jack didn't move out of his spot, even as giant boulders struck the ground mere yards away from him. When the dust settled, the rockfall had neatly sealed the entry to the canyon. Satisfied, Black Jack turned and galloped after his gang.
On the other side of the rocks, Lawmane and Valiant – still singed and sore from the previous explosion – now found their path blocked by an insurmountable barrier of stone. Without a word, Lawmane struck one of the boulders hard in frustration, and when he turned around, nopony who saw his face dared say a word. Black Jack the Outlaw had escaped him once again.
By the time they found an alternative path, the bandits were already into the hills carting their ill-gotten loot along. The six partners in crime joked and laughed among themselves, drunk with success. This had been their first heist as a team, but it would not be the last. Later they would lose most of the gold due to a unfortunate series of unlikely events, finding themselves back where they started. But it didn't matter: There would always be another plan, another treasure, another narrow escape.
And so Black Jack and his Badland Broncos rode on towards new adventures.