Chapter 9
Train Job
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During those moments of walking to Tinker's barn with Twilight behind me, was surprisingly uplifting. I knew I was doing the right thing by saving Velvet's pet horse. By the look of the poor girl, she definitely lost most of her fat from the winter. I guess Amos stopped buying feed for her or even being a cheapskate and keeping the feed for selling it to others. Velvet already made the decision of living with Amos as his wife, I couldn't allow her to suffer the guilt of watching him take away her true friend in this world.
So yes, I had to take Twilight and give her better care. If Amos did sell the horse to slaughter then he will finally have Velvet in his will. It was almost like what Diamond told me about her life story. And for some sad reason, it was true. Marriage was a prison, once you make those vows, take his name, and become his, everything a woman owned will be her husbands. Even though Velvet hardly had anything of value, Amos wanted her for himself. By taking away her horse would finally kick out her legs and make her fall to submission. Even though Princess Celestia was trying to change this in my lifetime, nothing she had done would change the fact that a man's word was law.
Just imaging Diamond in such a state, marrying a man she loved and later found out that he only married her for her inheritance then sold her to prostitution was sick and wrong! I guess I was lucky that my husband only did it for a debt and nothing else.
Suddenly I started having thoughts about Diamond. I couldn't really explain it but for some reason, no matter how horrible it was to be around her, I have never felt such excitement or this feeling of longing in my life. Was this normal? Was this what I was supposed to feel like when I kiss my husband? No, I never felt such lightness or happiness from a kiss before. It made me excited and giddy like a little girl on Hearths Warming Eve! If Melody wasn't there to interrupt us, I think I would have kissed Diamond again.
I remembered how fearful I was to such a thought. I prayed that Epona had a path for me to go down such a sinful road. But if Epona lead me to Diamond does that mean I'm supposed to kiss her back like I did? Was I supposed to have such rebelling thoughts? I'm so confused and yet I was daring. I want to explore this new feeling for her. A prostitute that seemed to have an eye for me or even feelings. But yet the thought still remained.
Diamond is a prostitute, a whore mother, and not to mention she could be just faking these feelings to get to me. But for some reason, those lips. That kiss! Would a prostitute kiss so gentle? I don’t think so. The question still bugged me. Does Diamond actually have feelings for me or is this just a hoax?
Once I reached Tinker's barn, Tinker lead me to an empty stall in the back where I could keep Twilight until she gets healthy again. I even got to see Remington again, this large gray mule with white spots over his eyes. After I got Twilight settled, I filled her feed box with some fresh feed and some water. She dug in right away, that made me feel good. I ruffled her mane and petted around her ears, she seemed to like that.
As she ate, Tinker handed me a brush and I started brushing out the old hair off of Twilight's coat to make sure she was cleaned off of loose dead hairs. She really enjoyed the brushing. Tinker and I started to talk. She started to ask where was from and stuff like that.
I answered all her questions as truthful as I could. When she asked with more personal and hurtful things, I told her that I didn't want to talk about it. When I ask stuff about herself, she looked at me oddly and shrugged, saying she didn't remember her past since Ace found her. That made me think about her. I guess I'll have to find Ace and talk to him.
I remembered at the time that Ace was missing throughout that time Melody and I were working with the hired guns. I remembered that I asked Tinker if she had seen Ace, she answered that he had slept at her barn but he would be gone by the time she woke up.
After I was done with caring for Twilight, I quickly got my loading kit refilled from Tinker and headed out. Tinker promised he would feed Twilight until I got back from my job. I thanked her and headed off, knowing full well Melody was probably wondering where I was.
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Melody walked up to the sheriff's office seeing there were a few other people there. She gave them searching looks as they gave her looks back. Melody entered the office, Maxine was leaning against the wall with Yelena sitting behind the desk. They turned hearing her enter.
"Where's that Big Apple?" Maxine asked snickering. Melody glared at her.
"She had a small detour to make. She'll catch up when she's done."
Yelena nodded with a grunt. "Hmmph, well she better be here for briefing next time. I don’t take this kindly."
Melody gulped. "Of course." She said smiling nervously.
Yelena snorted. "Alright, Dust, bring in the other chumps."
"Aye, aye boss." Maxine said walking to the door.
"Alright Liker, this next job is your first mega one."
"Okay," Melody said as she heard several boots walk in. She turned to see the same people from outside enter and stood by the wall. Melody could see that three were men and the other two were women. They were all dressed like well-known travelers of the frontier. Their revolvers hanging on their hips show some age and well usage of them, these people were the other hired guns that Ace told her about. The eldest was a dark skinned man with a stubble of gray beard. The youngest was a boy with a strange colored hair under his black hat.
"Alright, you all are hired for one big job." Yelena said.
"Train?" One of the girls asked. Yelena smirked.
"You know me so well." She said chuckling. The others chuckled as well. Melody made a small laugh, smiling nervously, wondering what was going on.
"Oh right, Liker here is a new member. She and her sister called Apple work for me now. So when you head out, teach her the ropes." Yelena said pointing to Melody. Melody tipped her hat to them. Two tipped their hats in return while the others snarled at her. Melody gulped turning away.
"So what's the mission?" One of the men asked. He was just as big as the elder man, but younger with freckles on his tanned face.
Yelena chuckled. "The boss sent us word that three enemies stole a fortune of fifty hundred bits of his private railroad stock and using a competitor's train to get to North Griffin Kingdom. He wants us to recover the stock and take care of the thieves." Yelena held up a scroll. "Here are the instructions and the name of the train with the stolen stock." The elder man walked over to take the scroll and nodded as he stuck the scroll in this coat. "The area you must go is Dry Feather Desert. Wait by the Beak Rocks and you'll catch the afternoon train tomorrow."
The hired guns either nodded or grunt before they head out. Melody jumped then followed them. Maxine turned to Yelena and smirked. Yelena smirked in return as she took a seat and went on to paper work.
Melody followed the hired guns to the stables where they started grabbing horses from the stalls and saddled them up. Melody took her horse, Fair Breeze and quickly grabbed her saddle to put it on Fair Breeze.
"Hey Melody!" Melody turned to see Annie running over panting. "Sorry,"
Melody glared at her. "Look, just grab your horse, hurry up. This job is bigger than anything we have ever done, and probably not our last if we do it right."
Annie nodded as she grabbed the last remaining horse, a ginger mare with a dark mane. She quickly saddled the mare then lead her out to see the other hired guns.
"Are you coming?" The elder man asked glaring.
Annie glared back with a light blush. "We're coming." She said quickly mounting her horse as Melody quickly leaped onto hers. "Where do we go?" Annie asked.
"Follow us," A younger boy answered. Annie blinked and realized the boy looked familiar. It was his multicolored hair that made her gasp. He smirked tipping his black desperado hat. "Hey sweetheart." He said winking at her. Annie blinked and blushed.
"Enough flirting Dash, let's go!" The elder said before kicking his heels into his horse and head off. The others followed him with the sisters trailing behind them.
Melody caught up with Annie. "Who's that?" She asked pointing at the boy riding in front of them.
"I have no idea." Annie answered with a shrug as they rode to a familiar ferry on the river. The Titanian man looked up then blew a sharp whistle. The two Eponian men got up immediately and helped the Titantian push the ferry into the river.
"Howdy there!" He called out.
"Crossing the river Wessel!" The man said gruffly. The Titanian glared at him before smiling.
"It's Sisal."
"Get us across, it's a law matter."
The Titantian, Sisal nodded removing the wooden bar to allow the first three to walk their horses onto the ferry. Sisal and his partner went on the ferry and began to pull on the rope line attached to a thick tree. As the ferry went to the other side, the Eponian leaped off to pull off the wooden beam to allow the three to lead their horses to land. Sisal started pulling the rope as the second Eponian next to the others started pulling it back to the other shore.
Once the ferry reached the sand, Sisal lifted up the wooden rod and moved aside as the boy called Dash along with the second girl leaped on. "You two the last?" He asked seeing the sisters. They nodded. He smirked tipping his hat. "I bet we could make room. Bring 'em in." He said smiling. The sisters led their horses into the ferry squeezing in. Sisal leaped in settling the rod down smiling at them.
"Long time no see girls. How are you?" He asked smiling. Melody smiled in return.
"Been well, how was the business?" He shrugged.
"Slowly coming back since the swell. So, you with these crack pots?"
"Shut up Wessel!" The Dash boy spat.
"Shut up yourself, idiot!" The girl said glaring at him. "You're still a newbie." Dash growled turning away.
The sisters looked at one another staying silent as they were taken across the river. Once across the four left the ferry, Melody and Annie said their farewells to Sisal and his partner before leading the horses up the hill to the others.
"So where do we go?" Annie asked as they reached the others.
"We head through the canyon." The elder man said, no doubt he's the leader of this group.
"Don't we need a guide?" Melody asked.
The group let out hearty laughs. "We don’t need one!" The girl with the brown hat said as she scratched her white hair over her golden eyes. "We have, Mac." She said pointing to the second man.
"Just follow me." Mac said in a deep voice as he leaped up onto his horse then rode off. The others leaped on their horses and rode after him. Melody and Annie leaped up and followed the group as they rode straight for the entry way to Epona Canyon.
Annie and Melody were impressed by how the group in front of them went through a full gallop through the twists and turns of the skinny paths. By the look of the walls, the sisters didn't recognize the path they took, so this must be a different way through the canyon. As they rode through, Melody kept up with what she saw, she could see the different paths as they road straight through the middle.
After the short ride, the sisters were met with an amazing sight. The riders rode hard and fast straight to a gorge. But acting as a land bridge was a skinny rock bridge made out of the earth that created the gorge. Melody and Annie immediately stopped their horses with fear seeing this. They weren’t daring enough to ride across as the group of hired guns bolted through with no fear in single file.
"What the ..." Melody gasped.
The girl with the brown hat and golden eyes stopped her brown horse turning to them.
"Come on! It's safe!" She called. Suddenly the others stopped to see the hold up.
"Are you crazy?" Melody yelled out.
"Look bitches, it’s safe!" Dash called out laughing. "Unless you are worthless bints!" The second girl slapped him upside the head, hard. "Ow, what was that for!"
"For being an idiot." She groaned rolling her eyes fixing her blue hair.
Annie looked to Melody with fear and uncertainty. Melody sighed then nudged her horse forward. Fair Breeze trotted forward, Melody bit her lip with fear. She could hear Fair Breeze's nervous snort feeling her rider's nervousness and worry. The black speckled horse was able to cross over the land bridge with no stumble. Melody sighed reaching the other side patting Breeze’s neck then ruffled her black mane.
"Come on Annie!" Melody called out with worry. "It's stable."
Annie gulped with true absolute fear. She nudged her horse forward over the land bridge. She made the bad decision to look down over the side and felt lightheaded, seeing the distance between the rock bridge and the tiny sliver of white of the river. Annie just stared, sweat started to bead on her forehead with fear. Finally across the bridge Annie was panting hard squeezing the reins so tight that her knuckles turned white.
"Annie?" Annie gasped seeing Melody's concern face. "You alright?"
Annie sighed swallowing hard. "Yeah, yeah, let's go." Melody watched Annie try to get over her sudden fear.
"Alright," The leader called out. "Let's go, we have a full day to get to the desert before the train gets there." He kicked his heels into his horse then charged off, the others followed behind him, and the sisters at the rear.
They rode through the grasslands until they reached the end, the ground turning harder and rockier. The ground turned from fertile brown to a red clay sand as they continue on. Annie looked around amazed by such a landscape. This wasn't the same place she and Melody went through back in the fall. This must have been farther from the wagon trail.
When the sun was setting, the group stopped by the edge of the landscape filled with tall wind carved rocks. A lot of the rocks were tall like mountains but they were not mountains. It was hard for Annie to find a way to describe them.
They reached one of these towering rock towers to make camp. The horses were tied to a skinny tree to keep from running away. The golden eyed girl set the fire with her magic giving everyone some warmth. The group passed around food supplies for the night as the horses nibbled on the bark of the tree as a snack.
"So," The golden eyed girl started turning to the sisters. "How are the two of you related?"
The others were resting against their saddles as pillows, as they listened to the sounds of the desert, from coyote howls to the wind blowing sand.
Melody looked up from her propped up position smirking. "We're not. I was adopted." She answered.
"Ah, why don't we get the names going then?" The golden eyed girl said smiling. "Since Skytalon looked to you two with trust, then no doubt she'll give you guys more jobs."
"Maybe." Melody said smirking.
"Anyway, I'm Lucky." She said smiling.
"Lucky?" Annie asked curiously. "Ain't that a boy’s name?"
Before Lucky could answer, a large hand ruffled her white and teal hair.
"She'd rather go by a guys name than be reminded that her name is Elizabeth."
The others laughed as Lucky swatted his hand away. "Shut up Mac!"
Mac waved his hand. "The names Mac, nice to formally meet you."
"Likewise." Melody said smiling.
The boy smirked, polishing his revolver. "The name's Rocket, Rocket Dash." The boy said smirking at Annie. "Maybe you might like to have a sleep with me, eh? No one never turned down my offers."
Annie blushed immediately with a gulp.
"Hands off Dash!" The second girl said glaring at him. “The last thing I remember was that you're with me." Dash blushed a touch turning away. The girl smirked shaking her head, letting the shaggy light blue and darker blue hair off her face.
"I'm Kimberly, Kim would do just fine. Forgive my beau here. He never really learned to keep his gun half-cocked." She said grabbing Dash in an uncomfortable place causing him to yelp. The group laughed at the look on Dash’s face.
The last man, the elder dark skinned man shook his head. "I'm Darius, Skytalon might like you, but you have to prove to me that you belong in this line of work. You got me?" He said with a growl.
"Crystal clear." Melody said glaring.
"So, who’re you then." Darius asked.
"Melody Liker, this is Annie Apple."
"Where are you from?" Lucky asked interested.
"Manehattan." Annie answered.
"Hmm, Manehattan," Lucky said as if dreamily. "Ah yes Manehattan."
The sisters turned to see Kim shaking her head. "She’s from a rich family. Quiet surprised she would come out here."
"Hey!" Lucky called our throwing a rock at her.
"What family are you from?" Melody asked interested.
Lucky blushed scratching her head. "I'm from the Jackals of the Manehattan stock market." Lucky said with a snort shaking her head.
"Wait are you related to Blackjack Lovelace? You look a lot like him."
The woman sighed. "My lucky father, yep. I left before my whole family was arrested for fraud by the Princess." She shrugged. "You can say that I was very lucky to escape that fate."
"Wait a sec," Melody said with shock dawned on her face. "The Lovelace family was sentenced to death for their crimes against mankind. Not just the money fraud but kidnapping and slavery." Annie blinked with shock staring at the woman.
Lucky sighed and nodded. "Yep, my father led a ring of horrible things. Finally with a little help from yours truly, I sent word to the Princess of what my dad was doing then I packed and ran to the Frontier knowing no one would find me here. Not even dressed like this." She said laughing.
"Wow, when did we tell our life stories?" Dash snarled getting slap in the back of the head by Kim.
"It's Lucky's choice to talk about her past life, dumbass." Annie looked to Melody to see her shrug.
"What about you Kim?" Melody asked.
Kim looked up. "Me? I grew up in Canterlot. My father's family were clock workers and my mother's family were doctors. My sister and I went to learn the newest form of health."
"Yeah?" Annie asked.
"I work on teeth. I think they called it Dentistry."
"Teeth?" Annie asked as her tongue swiped around her gritty teeth.
"Oh yeah, come here Apple." Kim said waving her finger at her. Annie gulped looking to Melody to see her smirk. She pushing Annie over. Annie stumbled to Kim where she was pulled to the ground to sit by her. Dash was snickering. Kim pulled off Annie’s hat and tossing it to Melody's feet.
"Alright don’t worry, I had medical training to do this." Annie gulped as Kim grabbed her face, one hand grab her chin to open her mouth. Her other hand on the tip of her finger Kim produced a light to light up Annie's mouth. Melody was snickering at how Annie was trying to keep herself balanced as she continued to lean back with Kim leaning forward trying to look inside Annie's mouth.
"Hmm, well your mouth is sure cleaner than most mouths I have seen in my life." Kim said impressed as she snapped Annie's jaw back in place and patted her on the cheek. Annie was leaning too far back on the balls of her feet that she fell onto her back the ground with a surprised yelp. Everyone laughed at the funny display.
Melody turned and saw Kim right in front of her. "Don’t think you're not gonna have a check too huh?
"What the-!" Melody yelped before falling onto her back.
"Perfect, now stay still!" Kim said sitting on top of Melody to check her teeth. Annie sat up laughing at the display herself. Annie turned to see Mac winking at her.
"Well you can't blame Kim to try and show off her skills.
"Hmm, you're teeth are very colored, you're a smoker aren't you?" Kim said with disdain. Melody pushed her off of her, the girl landed on her back by the fire pit glaring at her.
"So what?"
Kim glared at her recent patient, she got up dusting herself off. She grabbed her hat then walked back to her seat beside Dash. She wrapped her arm around him leaning into him. Dash absently stroked her face. Melody fixed her jacket as she sat up, grumbling at the woman for invading her personal space.
"What about you others?" Annie asked the men.
Mac smirked as he leaned back against his saddle with his hat over his eyes. "I came all the way from Baltimare. I was a fisherman with my brothers. But then things weren't going well so I left. I headed west when I heard of the freedoms and the gold. But instead I learned that catching bad guys will give me the gold." He said chuckling.
Annie smiled then turned to Dash as Kim nuzzled into his neck. The young man turned to her with a quirked brow. "What about you?" She asked interested. "I remembered seeing you once in town."
Dash snorted. "Just hanging around, also staying warm and such."
"Where did you come from?" Annie asked.
"Came from San Fransiscolt." Dash said with a smirk. "Went with my parents there. But I got a shitty family anyways. So I left once I turned eighteen." He gasped feeling a hard punch in his stomach.
"The truth jackass." Kim said with her eyes still closed. Darius and Mac chuckled at that. Dash groaned.
"Fine, I'm sixteen." He grumbled glaring at his girlfriend who smiled in her sleep.
"Good boy." She whispered with a yawn.
Melody laughed. "For a tall guy I thought you were twenty." Dash gave her a glare.
Darius looked up to notice the sisters were looking at him. "Hmmph, born and raised in this kingdom. Griffin through and through." He said placing his fist over his heart. "That's all you need to know. I'm the boss here, and if you don’t follow me, you're dead."
Annie nodded slowly as Melody laid back against her saddle.
"Get some sleep, we will be gone by dawn to catch the afternoon train."
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The hot sun was high in the clear blue sky. Up on a cliff, Dash watched the horizon like a hawk. He blinked his magenta eyes seeing black smoke billowing from a spot that was moving. He smirked, magically revealing his dark blue wings. He lift off the cliff then flew back to the others. He landed on a large group of boulders seeing the others waiting for him.
"I see them around the pass." Dash said landing onto his horse. Darius smiled reaching into his pocket to pull out an old well used pocket watch and clicked his tongue shaking his head smiling.
"Right on time." He turned to his group. "Alright, here's the plan. Mac and I will head straight for the engine to stop them. Dash and Kim, you two stay behind and do the back-up job. And Dash when the job's done, go find the horses, and bring them to us."
The two nodded. "Got it boss." Dash said. Darius nodded.
"Lucky, you take the new girls with you. Go to the mail car and find that stock."
"Right-o Dari-o!" Lucky said saluting.
Darius nodded. "Good. Here she comes." Everyone heard the loud chugging of the train approaching them. Annie and Melody looked at one another. Melody was unsure while Annie was nervous.
Lucky lead her horse over to the sisters and nodded. "Alright girls, let’s go."
"How do we even get on the train?" Annie asked with worry.
Dash laughed. "Simple," He said fixing his hat to keep it on firm. "We ride with the train." Melody blinked then there was a blast of a horn as the train chugged past their spot.
"Alright, get going! Hey-ah!" Darius screamed out kicking his heels into his horse then bolt off after the train. The others followed fast behind him. Melody and Annie looked at one another.
"Let’s go!" Melody hollered with whoop as she followed them. Annie though was little worried. There was something in her subconscious that was telling her to say no, but she couldn't let Melody go alone. She sighed patting her horse’s neck.
"Let's go girl," She nudged her forward then got her horse into a full hard sprint catching up with the group as they neared the caboose. Darius reached the caboose first reaching with his hand to the gold handle then leaped off his horse. His horse veered off, running off to who knew where. Then after him was Mac as he did the same. Darius reached over to the other side then started climbing up a ladder to the roof. Mac was right behind him.
Next Dash pulled himself onto the train then helped Kim get on, then helped Lucky who stumbled on to the caboose platform. She turned just as Melody was reaching for the handle. Lucky grabbed her jacket to pull to the platform. Annie watched Fair Breeze run off following the other horses. Annie kicked harder into the horse's sides to get her to go faster.
"Come on Annie," Melody called out reaching forward as Annie neared the caboose. Annie gulped loosening her feet on the stirrups as she neared Melody's hand. Annie reached one hand at the bar then to the hand grabbing Melody in a death grip. Melody used both hands to get a good grip on Annie’s hand. Annie leaped off her horse falling on top of Melody. Melody groaned from the heavy weight on top of her.
"Thanks Melody." Annie said with a blush. Melody winced with a cough.
"Get off!" She wheezed.
"Oh sorry!" Annie stood up grabbing the rail to keep herself on the train. She turned to lift up Melody from the floor.
"Come on," Lucky called from the roof. "We have work to do!" Melody and Annie both nodded before heading up the ladder to the roof. Melody stayed hunched over as she balanced on the moving train. Annie gulped and went down on her knees as she crawled after her.
Melody turned and blinked seeing Annie crawling. She sighed shaking her head as she continued forward following Lucky over the gap to the next car. Melody looked down through the gap to see Dash and Kim enter through the passenger car, Melody continued her balance act. Annie gulped then stood up shaking from the movement. She leaped over stumbling. She stopped herself by the edge looking down at the ground moving. It was a long drop and the ground looked like it was moving faster on the train. She gulped hard as she turned and followed Melody and Lucky to the next car.
Finally after the fifth car, Lucky climbed down. Melody went after her. Annie trotted forward then leaped down next to Melody. Lucky smiled as she reached into her holster to pull out her revolver and nodded to the door.
"Mail car." She said smiling. Melody nodded pulling out her snub-nosed revolver, Annie gulped pulling out her Colt.
Lucky smirked, with her boot up, she kicked down the door stepping inside immediately. Melody and Annie ran into the car, Annie closing the door behind her pointing her pistol forward. Inside the mail car, were tons of white bags with the black painted letters, MAIL. There were large crates and barrels of delivered goods. There were four men inside the car. One was dressed as the mail tenant of the train, the other three were dressed in suits and hats.
Lucky pointed her revolver at the mail tenant smiling as Melody pointed her revolver at the three men. Annie kept her pistol up seeing that the three men were holding out revolvers too.
"Who the hell are you?" One of the men asked. Lucky smirked.
"You messed with the wrong guy," Lucky said smirking.
"I told you!" The second of the three said glaring at the leader. "I told you he will find out!"
"Shut up!" The third man snarled. "Back off ladies!"
"Not on our watch pal." Melody said with a smirk. Two of them were snarling while the third one stared hard at Melody for a long while.
Lucky pressed the barrel of her revolver to the man's temple. "Open the safe bozo." The man gulped as he shakily went to the ground and started turning the dial. Suddenly a bullet was fired and ricocheted off the safe, hitting the wall. Annie and Melody ducked with shock.
The first man snarled pulling back the hammer, his gun still smoking. "No one is touching the safe. Or someone will get hurt." He smiled turning his pistol to Annie seeing her stiffen. Melody stood up pointing her revolver at the man keeping herself between him and Annie.
"Watch where you point it, jackass."
The man chuckled. "I can point this where I want." Melody turned slightly to the man smiling at her.
"Melody!" Annie yelled out. Melody blinked out of her state seeing the third man swinging his fist towards her. Melody ducked to the side, tripping into the mail bags. The third man went on top of her immediately. Annie ran to stop him only to be stopped by the second man.
"Not so fast, jumbo!"
"Lucky!" Annie called out keeping him from getting closer.
"Got it," She hit the mail man hard in the face pointing the revolver into his face. "Open the damn safe!"
Melody kicked the man off of her then fired her revolver hitting him in the chest. He leaned against the wall dead. The first man yelped out grabbing Melody by her jacket to fight with her. Annie pushed the man back but he kept coming to where he shoved her into the door, grabbing her neck.
"So the big girl is too chicken, huh?" Annie was frozen and scared as she tried to fight him off. Annie gagged from the force. "I like a girl who's defenseless. They're easy to control."
Melody growled hearing this. "You leave her alone!" She screamed out grabbing her assailant’s hands to try and loosen them up. She swung to the side causing the man to lose his footing. Lucky kept the mail man occupied as she watched worried about Annie the most as she struggled.
Melody roared out punching her assailant in the face causing him to stumble back to the door. Lucky then had an idea and smirked. She looked up seeing a rope connected to a pulley then to the wooden door. She grabbed the rope and started to pull. Next to Melody, she could see the car door slowly opening. She grabbed the man's throat as he grabbed hers fighting back. The man could see the door opening and smiled at Melody as she glared at him.
"I remember you,” He gagged. “I recognize the glasses and the hair. You must be the infamous Liker, huh?"
Melody glared at him then she turned to see Annie too busy fighting to hear anything and the wind was buffeting the air.
"You can't believe the hilarity of hearing about Reginald screaming for your blood. A woman posing as a man to steal from the richest man in Manehattan." Melody smirked at him.
"It was way too easy.” Melody said. “Just as easy as throwing you off this train!" She grabbed his suit and pushed him to the side. The man caught himself glaring at her. He ran back to her grabbing her jacket swinging her around to the door. She was surprised at how strong he was teetering on the edge seeing the orange sand and rocks buzzing past her. Melody gasped staring wide eyed at the man as he smirked at her.
“Good night, Mister Liker.” He said then he shoved her out the door. Annie gasped.
"Melody!"
Melody screamed seeing the hard ground closing her eyes. At the first hit, she felt the air leave her chest feeling a large rock dig into her back. With the motion of the train from the toss she started rolling as the train sped past her. As she rolled she could feel every rock, bump, scratch, and stab against her body as she rolled. She slowed to one last flip landing on her stomach, covered in the red dust and blood, she groaned from the horrible pain in her arm. She opened her eyes watching her hat fly away from the wind the train created. Through her hazy vision she watched the caboose leave her behind in the desert. She groaned seeing only blackness, passing out from the horrible pain all over her.
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“Melody!" Annie screamed out after seeing Melody fly out of the train car. Lucky too was in shock as she pulled the trigger on the man hitting him in the chest and stomach. He fell forward on the ground by the opening. Annie growled turning to the last man alive to see his smile faltered at the terrible anger through those emerald orbs.
"What's wrong? Were you her lover or something?" The man laughed, Annie growled. Before he knew it Annie's big hands grabbed the man’s head then slammed her own into his head causing him to cry out holding his forehead. Annie shook her head of the daze, anger and adrenaline flowing through her veins. Lucky and the mail man watched with shock and fear as Annie started beating the man before throwing him into the wall where he slumped. Annie punched him again and again, not even stopping to breathe.
"Apple!" Lucky screamed out, running to her grabbing her jacket to pull her away from the dying man. Lucky threw Annie into the wall. Annie turned growing at her with true rage. Lucky leaped back holding up her hands. "Calm down girl!"
Annie finally blinked her eyes, her anger gone. She let out a sigh rubbing her face feeling something slick on her hands. She looked down at her hands to find them red with blood. She turned to see the half dead man she had beaten up. Her eyes went wide with fear as she looked at the man then her hands.
"Holy Epona, what did I do?" She whispered with fear stepping back.
"Later," Lucky said before turning to the terrified mail man. She pulled out her revolver again pointing at him. He yelped looking up at her. "If you want to end up like your chumps, open the safe!"
The man nodded fast quickly putting in the combination. Annie sighed rubbing her face as she sat down hard on the mail bags staring at her bloody hands. The safe was opened and Lucky smiled at the man.
"A pleasure," She held up her revolver to his shocked face then pulled the trigger killing the man instantly. She walked over then killed the dying man to end his misery. Suddenly the train started to slow down, the brakes were screeching to a halt. "Just in time too. Apple!" Lucky called out waving her over. "Grab a case and hurry up!"
Annie numbly did as she was told, she found a large carpet bag and emptied it of all items holding it open for Lucky to pull out the large certificates and placed them inside the carpet bag. Annie remained silent, so numb and afraid of what she did. She turned to the beaten man and swallowed hard. Did she just tried to beat a man to death?
"Hey!" Annie jumped turning to Lucky. "I said, go grab one of those mail bags, we'll take the rest of the cash and valuables." Annie nodded closing the carpet bag then reached for a mail bag and emptied it. She held it open as Lucky stuck all the money and valuables from the safe into the sack before tying it tight. The girls heard a door open and turn to see Mac and Darius running over. They saw the dead men then turned to the girls.
"Everyone alright?" Darius asked warily seeing Annie’s bloody hands and blood spattered jacket and pants.
"Yeah," Lucky answered. "We got the goods."
"Good, where's Liker?" He asked as Mac took the sack from Lucky’s hand. Lucky winced looking to Annie to see her biting her lip.
"Out there somewhere." Lucky said pointing to the outside.
Suddenly a group of horses came by with Dash sitting on his black horse leading them over the other horses. "Howdy fellahs. Job successful?" Before anyone could answer him, Annie leaped off the car to the ground tripping. Her hands now covered in drying blood and sand, she got up grabbing Melody's horse from Dash's grip.
"Hey!" Dash yelled out. Annie didn't say anything as she kicked her heels into the horse and galloped off down the track. The gang watched her leaving an orange dust cloud in her wake.
"Where’s she going?" Mac asked with concern.
"Hopefully, she won't find her sister dead as a tumble weed." Lucky said with a wince.
"Whoa what happened?" Dash asked with shock.
"Liker was thrown out of the car then Apple beat up the guy that threw her off. Poor son of a bitch." She said shaking her head. “She beat the life out of him.” Dash, Darius, and Mac looked over to see the beaten up man. Dash remembered the blood all over Annie. He turned seeing the dead man by the door with shock.
"Shit! Damn that shy blushing thing... Did that?" He asked. Lucky nodded.
"Yeah, I watched her do it. She kept beating him and beating him like she was some wild animal."
Darius looked out the train with worry. "What did Skytalon get us into?" Mac shrugged.
"Hey!" The group looked up seeing Kim climb down the ladder on the side of the mail car with a small pillow case filled with cash and valuables. "We got to go, they're finding their weapons."
Darius nodded. "Dash, follow Apple and lead her back to our spot."
"Why me?" Dash asked with fright.
"Because you flirted with a beast." Lucky smirked taking her horse.
"Very funny," Dash growled.
"What's going on?" Kim asked.
"Clue you in on the way. Let's get out of here!" Darius called out as he climbed on his horse and rode off. The others excluding Dash headed off into the desert. Dash groaned then headed after the Apple monster.
<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>:<>
Annie kept Fair Breeze at a full gallop down the tracks. All she kept thinking was Melody and hoping she was still alive and not terribly hurt. But what clouded those thoughts was the memory of the man she had beaten with her two hands. She gulped looking down at her blood stained knuckles where she slammed the man repeatedly. Though it happened so fast in reality, but in her memory it as slow and sickening.
"What have I done?" Annie whispered with fear. She suddenly looked up and gasped seeing a black lump in the red orange desert floor. She kicked into Breeze to go faster as she neared the body. She leaped off the horse then ran to the body and sure enough it was Melody.
"Melody!" She gasped sliding on her knees in the dirt. She grabbed Melody’s jacket then rolled her onto her back seeing the blood spots swelling on her cotton blue shirt. Annie was scared that Melody was dead. She gulped back bile as she stoked off the blood and dirt off Melody's scratched forehead.
Melody groaned then started coughing.
"Melody?" Annie said louder lightly shaking her shoulder. "Melody!"
"Am I in haven?" Melody grunted softly, squeezing her eyes shut.
Annie sighed in relief patting Melody's dirty head. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Annie asked.
“Stupid question.” Melody grunted before coughing again. "I think I busted a rib." She wheezed coughing. And my arm is killing me." She grunted clenching one fist then clenched the other before wincing harshly. "Yeah!" She gasped before coughing again. "Damnit, my arm! Titania have mercy!" She cried moving her legs panting.
Annie heard hooves as she turned pulling out her revolver pointing it at the intruder.
"Whoa, whoa, hey!" Dash called out stopping his horse holding up his hands. "It's me!"
Annie sighed lowering her gun to turn back to Melody. "Help me would ya!" Annie yelped out, kneeling down as Melody yelled out trying to move her broken arm.
"Wow, she's looks pretty banged up!" Dash said leaping off his horse running over. "Where does it hurt?" Dash asked.
Melody panted hard squeezing her eyes shut. "Everywhere," She grunted.
Annie sighed. "She might have broken a rib and for sure she broke her left arm."
Dash nodded lifting up Melody's arm hearing her scream out. "Yikes, okay, yeah she broke it."
"Just kill me now!" Melody screamed out, tears flowing out of her eyes. "Sweet Titania! Kill me now!" She cried. Annie sighed looking to Dash to see him pull out his pistol.
"What the hell?!" Annie yelled out grabbing Dash, knocking him to the ground. She landed on top of him, straddling his waist to keep him on the ground, glaring at him. Dash coughed from the impact glaring at her.
"Well if you were wanting it rough you could have asked." Dash winced smirking. Annie blushed then shook her head growling at him. Dash gulped seeing her anger. "I was just going to give her a bump on the head to end her crying!" He cried, his smirk long gone. Annie blinked turning to Dash's hand to find the revolver flipped to where he was holding it by the barrel.
"That's it?" Annie asked.
Dash chuckled. "You thought I was really going to shoot her?" He laughed. "Naw, I knew you would kill me before I would lay a shot on her." He wiggled under her causing Annie to blush brightly. "We could have a little fun now before we leave. I kinda like this side of you." He said smiling. Annie shook her head, getting off of him. Dash pouted. "Aww, you're no fun, Apple."
"Aren't you with Kim?" Annie growled.
"Yeah ... But she knows I like to flirt with every girl I see."
Annie rolled her eyes shaking her head. "Are you going to help me or not?" Annie asked with a bite to her voce. She was losing her patience. Dash noticed clearing his throat.
"Right well, step aside." He crawled over to Melody seeing her right arm over her eyes biting her lip.
"Am I dead yet?" Melody groaned out.
"This might hurt a bit." Dash said with worry. Annie turned away, hearing the whack from the handle of the gun to Melody's head. She covered her face with her hands, the horrors and fears of the day were finally weighing her down.
This was going to be a long ride home.
