Trixie, Appleloosa Sheriff

by Einhander

3:10 to Appleloosa, Part III

TRIXIE, APPLELOOSA SHERIFF

Chapter 3: 3:10 To Appleloosa, Part III

By: Einhander

Edited by: Admiral Hoofsome

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Trixie shook off her chains, and stood up, cracking her neck as the magic flew through her. She had a devilish smile on her face as she pulled the knife over in front of her face, studying it and turning it with her magic.

Braeburn stared at the knife, and promptly passed out on a row of seats.

“She lives!” said Blackjack, grinning broadly. “And she’s a badge.”

Trixie stared back at Blackjack, smiling. “Trixie told you she had a job waiting for her.”

Blackjack extended his hoof, “I think that knife belongs to me, little lady.”

Trixie shook her head, “When you throw your weapon at Trixie’s-” the word ‘friend’ caught in her throat, he wasn’t really her friend, she had just met this stallion, so she rallied with, “-deputy, it becomes Trixie’s property.”

Blackjack tilted his head, slightly. “Bad form to get between a pony and his knives.”

“You bitch!” spat Black Cherry, who was climbing back up.

“Black Cherry, you should really fix that gadget of yours,” said Blackjack, “Every time it goes off I have to go pick you back up.”

“It’s because she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” said Trixie, “Do you, earth pony?”

Blackjack whistled softly, shaking his head. Black Cherry looked up, and realized her hat had fallen off, revealing her bare, hornless head. She seethed, "She's mine, Blackjack. Get out of my way." Blackjack shrugged and stepped into a row of seats, leaving the path clear between the two mares.

Trixie stepped forward, keeping the knife in front of her and pointed at Blackjack, but keeping her eyes trained on Black Cherry.

"This thing goes up to 100 times the power of a lightning strike," said Cherry. "Stand down or I'll knock your eyes out of their sockets."

"Looks hoof made, very rough. Where did you acquire the bolt stone?”

Black Cherry smirked. "Stole it off of a dead unicorn more powerful than you."

Trixie nodded. "Trixie surmised. Earth ponies can't make magic stones on their own. No matter how hard they try. Is Trixie correct?"

Black Cherry's eyes betrayed her. Trixie smiled, "Trixie IS correct. An earth pony who wants to be a unicorn, now pretending to be a train bandit. Wearing a silly hat. Does your mother know what you do for a living?"

"Just keep talking," Cherry glared, starting to power up her staff. "I'm going to paint the walls with your guts."

Trixie arched an eyebrow. "How colorful."

"I'm going to make you beg for your life, mare." Black Cherry snarled. Her staff was glowing and sparking.

"Cherry," complained Blackjack, Kill her or kiss her, make up your mind."

Both mares looked at him, and then at each other. Black Cherry was blushing, but it was hard to tell due to her coat.

Trixie shook her head. "You’re making boasts you can’t back up. Even if Trixie asked you to turn that thing off, you can't. Or maybe you don't know? A bolt stone can't power down once its overcharged."

Cherry’s eyes betrayed her again. She glanced down, revealing a flicker of doubt.

"Didn’t they teach you that in Magic Stones 101? Oh, Trixie apologizes. That's what they teach at Celestia's School for Gifted and Talented Unicorns. They must not teach that in Farm School."

"You... You shut up..." said Black Cherry, her face a mixture of shame and rage.

"Trixie proposes a trade. Trixie will teach you how to handle that thing without hurting yourself, and you teach Trixie how to farm cherries. Fair?"

"Shut up! Shut up! 100!" She screamed, and fired the weapon.

Trixie was ready. She quickly moved the knife pointed at Blackjack in front of her face, with the flat side of the blade facing the blast. It reflected off the silver edge, firing to Trixie's left. Blackjack dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding a full blast that took out the windows and the siding of the train itself.

Black Cherry screamed again, this time in horror, seeing a giant hole where Blackjack was standing only moments before. The Appleloosan desert roared by as dust whirled into the car from the hole.

The blast woke Braeburn out of his slumber, and he yelped as he sat up in his row. Dazed, trying to find his bearings, he turned and saw Trixie. Magic was glowing all around her, and she was staring at the giant hole Cherry’s blast had made. Then she turned back to Cherry, whose face had twisted into a mask of horror.

Cherry said, “Blackjack! Blackjack, where are you?”

There was a cough, and Blackjack came crawling out of the seats, lying on the floor. “Still here, Cherry.” He had a burn on his neck and was moving slowly.

Black Cherry sagged, the tension draining out of her body. Then she caught Trixie’s gaze, and instantly bristled again. “This is all YOUR fault!”

"The blast from a bolt stone can be reflected by the basest of metals," Trixie said simply as the blade crumbled away, leaving only the wooden handle floating in front of her face.

A tear was rolling down Black Cherry’s face. She was shaking. “You could have killed him!”

Trixie glared, “In what universe is your poorly made staff Trixie’s error?”

“100!” she yelled, pointing her staff and firing. Nothing happened. Cherry stared at her staff in confusion, and said “100!”

Trixie shook her head. “Here is another lesson.” She then wrapped the handle with as much magic as she could muster and sent it sailing towards Black Cherry. It cracked the mare right between the eyes, sending her to the ground. Trixie then ran over and jumped on top of her, holding her down and hissing “Bolt stones, once overcharged, cannot recharge immediately. You’re under-”

Once again, the words died in her throat. Could she arrest ponies? Of course she could, she was the Sheriff now, wasn’t she?

Right?

“Braeburn,” she said, genuinely curious, “Trixie can arrest ponies, yes?”

“Uhhh... pretty sure, Trixie,” he said, still trying to get his bearings and standing up in his row, “I know Sheriff Silverstar can, so why not ya’ll?”

Trixie turned back to Black Cherry and said, “Then Sheriff Trixie places you under arrest.” Black Cherry moaned in response, barely conscious.

“Afraid not, Trixie,” came Blackjack’s voice from behind her, his once friendly voice now a deep growl. He started walking towards her slowly “I’m gonna need you to get off my friend, there.”

“Step back,” she said, picking up Cherry’s staff and holding it aloft, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Too bad. Because I’m about to hurt you.” said Blackjack. There was no trace of humor in his voice.

“Braeburn?” said Trixie.

“Trixie?”

“Get your chains ready.”

Trixie then lit up like a light pink lantern, and her aura grabbed Blackjack, flinging him backwards. His hat came off as his body flew past Braeburn and the dark blue unicorn, hit the ground and tumbled to a stop near the cowering foals. They screamed and jumped further back in their seats to get away from the black pony

Trixie cringed. Trixie is out of magical practice.

The foals were crying louder now, and the teacher was doing her best to keep them calm. However, it was clear that the teacher was also scarred by the sight of the violent stallion, even if he was on the ground. The only pony in that group that wasn’t hysterical or terrified was the gray colt from Saddle Arabia. He was staring at Blackjack with wide eyes, but a steady hoof. The colt then turned and looked at Trixie, with the same big eyes, but something else as well.

Respect? Admiration? Curiosity? Trixie wasn’t sure.

Trixie looked down at Black Cherry--the mare was still moaning and rubbing her head--and walked down the aisle towards Blackjack. She stopped when a black object flew past her line of vision, and she realized it was the black stallion’s hat. She grabbed it with her magic before it flew out of the hole in the train. She stared at the black Stetshoof hat, which had clearly seen better days.

“Trixie?”

“Mmm?” asked Trixie.

“What... what do we do now?” asked Braeburn.

She looked at him. It dawned on her that she had no idea what she was doing. Everything up to this point, from the fight to the quips, had all been on instinct. Now that the villains were incapacitated... she realized she had no plan.

“Here,” she said, offering up the staff, “This device will eventually recharge, and better it be in your hooves than Ms. Cherry. You tie her up, I’ll handle the stallion. Then we...”

She paused. Then what?

He looked at her, then gently said, “We... help the passengers?”

Trixie wanted to crawl into a hole. It was so obvious and yet it simply did not occur to her. She covered as best she could. “Right. Get on it, deputy!” Her tone was gruff, but her expresion was thankful.

Braeburn grinned, “Yes ma’am!” He took the staff and crawled past her, heading towards Black Cherry. She smiled. This job won’t be too hard...

Then came a deep voice, "Prettttttty good magic, Trixie." Trixie gritted her teeth. The way Blackjack elongated the first word of every sentence was really starting to drive her up the wall.

"Let's see how you do against mine.” He said.

Trixie turned to look at him and gasped.

A black aura started to form around him, but that wasn’t the shock. On top of Blackjack’s head was a cracked white horn. The tip was missing and she could see there was a fissure running up and down the entire length. A small chunk was missing from the base as well. Her heart twisted in knots just at the sight of it.

She looked Blackjack in the eyes. “Dear Celestia, what happened to you...”

He bared his teeth. “Are you worried about me? You shouldn’t be.” The black aura became stronger, and his knives started magically floating out of their holders.

“Braeburn...” said Trixie, “Get on the ground.”

Braeburn turned and saw a knife pointing in his direction. The blades were floating around and past Blackjack, aimed towards various targets; the elderly couple, Braeburn, Trixie and the fillies in the back with their teacher. Braeburn hit the deck and turned to find he was face to face with the dark blue unicorn.

“Let me guess what you’re thinking,” said Blackjack with a smile, “Somethin’ along the lines of, ‘Can I stop all of these knives?'" The blades all settled on their various targets, now floating very still in the air. Trixie's eyes kept darting from knife to knife.

"Shall we find out?"

The black aura was getting thicker.

The blue unicorn lay on the ground, still bound but untargeted in this little dance. During Blackjack's taunts, she had frantically signaled to Braeburn, to pointing to the symbol on her necklace.

Braeburn turned his head and saw that the knife was still pointing at him. He turned back and grasped Cherry's staff, trying to think of how to help and realized the dark blue unicorn's eyes were staring intently at him. They looked familiar. Once she had his attention, she started raising her tied hooves, pointing to her neck.

Braeburn looked at the symbol on the dark blue unicorn's necklace, then back at her eyes. No wonder they looked familiar. "Princess?" He whispered.

Princess Luna rolled her eyes and nodded deliberately.

"Trixie wonders,” said Trixie, taking a step towards Blackjack, “If you're capable of murder... you're a thief, not a killer."

Blackjack took a step towards Trixie, "You did a nice number talking my friend there into making a mistake, but you see, I know that trick. Hell, I know the one who wrote that trick."

"Trixie knows this story,” she said, maintaining eye contact, “You stole it from him when you killed him?"

"Shame on you, Sheriff. I did not. In fact, she's on this train right now."

Trixie blinked and then pointed a hoof at Blackjack's fallen comrade, and arched an eyebrow.

Blackjack laughed, "What do YOU think, Sheriff?"

Luna was waving her chains at Braeburn, who was trying to undo them. He was finding that magical chains were just as hard to get off as they were to get out of. Then he realized what she was actually pointing at- Black Cherry's staff.

Another explosion rocked the train, and a particularly nasty, far off roar came from the cargo area.

Blackjack glanced at the ceiling with a little smile. "Good. She's out."

That was all Trixie needed.

She sprung forward and smashed her head into Blackjack's face, breaking his concentration. The knives dropped as the two struggled, Blackjack snarling and biting as Trixie kept trying to land blows. The battle quickly became one-sided, and Trixie realized that being as bold as Blackjack was not nearly the same thing as being as strong as he was.

Braeburn picked up the staff and aimed it uneasily at the chains. "How'd this work now? 20?" The staff lit up. Luna shook her head and pointed her hooves up. "More? 80?" Luna's eyes bugged out as the staff began heating up quickly. She shook her head even more vigorously and pointed her hooves down. "No! Lower, lower, okay. 30!" The staff powered down, and Luna seemed to hesitate. She gestured her hooves up, but only slightly.

There was a strangled cry from the back end of the train. Braeburn glanced over to see Blackjack on top of Trixie with a knife, and Trixie struggling to hold it back from her neck.

"Ah'm just having the weirdest day..." He muttered, turning to help, only to find that Luna was kicking his shin. Braeburn hesitated, then turned around and aimed the staff at the Princess

Blackjack growled, "These ponies worth dying for?" The knife was at her neck now, poking her coat

Braeburn whispered, "Dear Celestia, please don't let me buck this up..."

Trixie bit down on Blackjack's leg as hard as she could. He screamed and dropped the knife.

Braeburn yelled, "40!" Luna closed her eyes. The staff powered up slightly, but otherwise nothing happened.

Luna opened her eyes in confusion.

Blackjack snarled and clocked Trixie in the jaw. A wave of pain and shock went through her body, she tasted blood in her mouth and some small part of her brain realized that Blackjack had been holding back. As he hauled her up onto her hooves and dragged her to the hole in the side of the train, she further realized that the time for holding back was over.

Braeburn panicked. "Why isn't this doohickey workin'?"

"E-excuse me, Mr. Deputy?"

Braeburn turned and saw the elderly couple looking at him.

"I think you'll find that you need to hit the switch on the side of the staff to make it fire, right under the stone, there." continued the old mare.

Braeburn looked at the staff. Sure enough, there were two small stones, one up and one down, that looked very much like a switch.

"That nasty young mare did that before she shot that nice train pony, didn't she?" The old mare asked her husband.

The old stallion nodded, "Oh, fer sure."

Braeburn stared dumbly and said, "Much obliged."

Blackjack was at the hole now, lifting Trixie up. "Ennnd of line, Trixie."

Trixie stared at the desert rocketing by and said nothing. She didn't have anything left.

"It's a shame," he said quietly. "We could have been friends."

Trixie turned and looked at Blackjack's eyes. For a moment, sadness mirrored sadness.

There was a sudden humming noise. Blackjack's ears twitched. Trixie managed a faint smile.

"40!"

The blast was small, but it was enough to create a small hole in the floor around the Princess. A dark blue aura instantly filled the train car, and out of the smoke walked Princess Luna in her alicorn form. Free of her unicorn disguise she strode forward, wings expanded and eyes determined.

Blackjack dropped Trixie carelessly and turned to face the princess. Trixie hit the ground, her muzzle facing the hole. She didn't have the strength to turn her head, but she could still hear:

"No wonder she sent Cherry and I into this car. It wasn't because of these bumpkins. It was because of you."

Trixie heard a cough that was most likely Braeburn, and then the booming baritone that could only be Luna's Canterlot voice.

"For multiple crimes we hath observed with our own eyes, including but not limited to, assault of a train employee, assault of a peace officer, kidnapping of foals, destruction--"

"Can we just get to the good stuff?" said Blackjack. "Eventually, this train’s runnin’ outta track."

There was a clunk on the roof, causing Braeburn to look up. Something heavy was on top of the train car. Trixie could see ponies walking around through the small hole caused by Black Cherry.

Disoriented and filled with rage, Luna continued, "We are placing thee and thy accomplices under arrest!"

There were three definite thumps from above. Braeburn cleared his throat and said "Uh, Princess?"

Luna did not hear or see anything that wasn't Blackjack. She fixed the Stallion with cold and pitiless eyes. "It was a mistake to take the children."

Blackjack shrugged. "Distracted you, didn't it?"

Luna blinked, and then there was a flash of light followed by a bang. A chunk of the train car ceiling collapsed, and would have landed right on Luna had Braeburn not pulled her out of the way. As they hit the ground, Cherry was on top of them, kicking Braeburn in the stomach and smashing her staff on top of Luna's head. The staff shattered on Luna's horn, but it achieved the desired effect, knocking her out.

"Stay down," said Cherry, her voice a harsh rasp.

A ladder descended from the newly created gap in the ceiling. A pale yellow stallion poked his head through the hole in the ceiling. He had bright red hair, a moustache of the same color, and the permanent, satisfied smirk of a pony who has gotten away with something twenty four hours a day.

"School's out!”

The stallion pulled his head back from the hole. Blackjack and Cherry stared at one another.

"Sorry I crapped out back there." Cherry said.

"Sorry you broke your staff on the princess's head."

Cherry shook her head, "Buck it."

Another stallion, a double of the pale yellow pony (but with no moustache), slid down the ladder and said, "Come, compadres! Escape awaits!"

Black Cherry grumbled, "It's about time, Flim."

The non-moustached pony shook his head and said, "I'm not Flim, I'm Flam!"

"That's true," came an identical voice from above, "He's Flam and I-"

"Save it," said Black Cherry, putting a hoof on the ladder, "Let’s go."

As they spoke, Trixie lay on the ground, too weak to move. The wind blew a black object into Trixie's line of sight. She blinked, and her eyes focused. It was Blackjack's hat.

There was a low grunting sound from the pile of pony that was Braeburn and Luna. Flam squinted.

"Oh my stars! Flim! I do believe Princess Luna is on this train!"

"That's right, and I just broke my staff on her pretty head" snipped Black Cherry as she neared the top of her climb, "So let’s not dawdle."

Flam blinked, mouthed the words ‘staff’ and ‘head’, then looked down. A quick yelp escaped his lips and he scurried up the ladder. Blackjack went last, kicking the rubble as he mounted the ladder.

"Blackjack."

He turned his head at the sound of Trixie's voice. She was bleeding and beaten, but she was sitting up, holding his hat like a trophy.

"Trixie will be seeing you soon."

Blackjack looked at her. "Maybe you will, Sheriff." Then he smiled. This smile was different from all of his others. It was small and almost genuine. "Shame to lose a nice hat like that.”

He winked at her. And then he was gone. The ladder was pulled up after him.

Trixie sagged to the ground, the strength saved for her last stand now spent.

She barely heard Blackjack's voice above the train car. "Good to see you, boss. What about the wheel pony?"

Then she heard a voice she didn't recognize, a deep voice, female and sharp as a razor.

"Leave him. His information was a dud."

There were more clunking noises, and then nothing but the sound of the train.

Trixie felt her energy drain out of her as she lay bleeding on the floor of the train. All she wanted to do was sleep, sleep until she got her strength back... sleep for years.

She was dimly aware of Braeburn coughing and saying, “The train! We gotta stop the train... Princess, Trixie... Anybody?

He crawled over to her, "Ya'll okay, Sheriff?" Trixie turned and looked at him. The little Saddle Arabian colt was standing behind him, peering at her.

"What did you call me?"

The little colt said, in perfect Equestrian but with a slight accent, "He called you Sheriff, Sheriff."

Trixie looked at the colt. "That's what Trixie thought he said."

And as she lost consciousness, the last thing she remembered seeing was the Princess rising up from the rubble, blue aura flaring and eyes glowing, as she turned to look at her...

Author's Note:

I'm your huckleberry.

Comments

[Twilight_Crow]

So Awesome! /)(\

Can we do that again.... with more explosions?

Your Trixie is really brave, I like that, maybe with a bit too much mettle, but okay; she faced an Ursa Minor after all.

[Frankie2]

Awesome fight. Why did Luna show up? Was it because the chains came off Trixie? I have a feeling we will see Blackjack and the rest of that group again.

[Einhander]

3055269 To be continued, sir.

[DragoDog21]

Outstanding. Moar please!!!

[FinalFan]

teacher was also scarred by the sight of the violent stallion, even if he was on the ground
I do not know if this is an error—but it seems strange to me that he would be "scarred" by that sight instead of "scared", given the context. Can you confirm or deny that this is correct, and if it is, help me understand why he is scarred?

Oh, and if you want to know how to make a super cool em-dash like me instead of doing double hyphens, just hold Alt and type 0151—like so. en-dashes are 0150–like so. Maybe you already know this and are just being lazy. I know I do that a lot.

[djthomp]

It was a good first attempt, Trixie, but not everyone stops a train robbery the first day on the job.

[Swashbucklist]

Such well-written action! It was like watching a movie written by Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio...except they would've taken the action outside the train and kept Trixie awake until it was stopped. Boxing the whole sequence into one car kept things more claustrophobic and suspenseful, to say nothing of making the villains more mysterious (and subsequently more dangerous).

Trixie, being inexperienced, is stupid in more than one way. First is the obvious: she doesn't know what most of her next steps should be. Secondly, she also doesn't know when to reign in her efforts. You do NOT engage someone as mean and dangerous as Blackjack in physical combat. They guy knows how to handle shit, and how to kill. Trixie's lucky to have her teeth.

I'm also glad that Trixie didn't achieve any victory against the bandits. She's no hero just yet.