The Other Side of the Law

by Herr Director

On a Rail

The train pulled up to the Ponyville Station. Among the dozens of ponies who boarded the train, three stallions in particular got on to the locomotive, tickets in hoof. They made their way to the second car. Shining and Flash entered their compartment. Deadshot stood by the door.

"Okay guys," he said. We'll be at Trottingham in a few hours. Get some more shuteye, and come up to compartment 105 if you need me. Capiche?"

"Capiche." the other two stallions affirmed. Deadshot nodded and turned to leave.

"See you in Trottingham, boys." He left the compartment, and the two former guards, to their own devices.

A few minutes later, the train left the station on it's way west to Trottingham. Flash stared out the window at the scenery whizzing by in a blur, while Shining nodded off to sleep. Last night, he was kept up by his thoughts. He hoped that Twilight would be true to her word, and he didn't want her to worry that much. Soon the bodies of him and Flash's clones would turn up and be admitted to the hospital in Canterlot, according to Deadshot. He felt safe, as Deadshot had assured him that the only threat was a single car full of military supplies and a small squad of guards. His eyes grew heavy and his vision went dark as sleep overtook him.

Shining was rudely awoken to the sound of a sharp knocking at the door of their compartment. Across him, Flash woke up groggily, having fallen asleep at some point as well. Shining peered through the glass window in the door. A duo of Royal guards stood in the hall. Shining opened the door. The guards looked rather surprised to see him. The one on the left spoke first.

"Captain Armor! Corporal Sentry!" he said happily. "What a surprise. We didn't expect to see you on this train."

"Oh, yeah." Shining was worried now. What if the clones had already been found. He would certainly be found out. "It's... er, an off duty trip. I guess my paper work didn't make it to command."

"No problem, Captain," the guard stuck out his hoof. "I am Captain Steel Sword. It's an honor to meet you." The two ponies shook hooves. "We had word that a wanted criminal was on this train and we want to apprehend him before he can cause any more harm. I know you're off duty and all, but could you and Corporal Sentry help us?" Shining had no choice but to accept. "Yeah. No problem." he said simply.

The group of soldiers moved to the front car. Closer and closer to compartment 105 where Deadshot was. Had he been found out? Or were these soldiers more of Deadshot's "partners"? It turns out the former was correct. The car was devoid of ponies, save for 105. It seems that the guards had cleared out the other compartments. Deadshot was on the seat, restrained by two more guards.

"Here is the stallion responsible," Steel Sword said with a smile. "Rusty Bullet. We caught him a few minutes ago. Turns out he wasn't dead as we thought." Shining's mind raced with a way to get his cousin out of his predicament.

"I have personal business with this stallion." he said. "Flash and I will take custody of him."

"But Captain," Steel sword said, still smiling. "You're off duty. Leave it to us. And besides," his smile turned to an evil smirk. "I think there are accomplices on this train as well." Shining's eyes widened as he and Flash were shoved into the compartment. The three subordinate guards stood in the doorway. They drew their Hoofington Army Model revolvers out from within their armor and trained them on the conspirators. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances, Captain." Steel Sword said as he levitated a scroll from his armor and began to read it. "By order of his Royal Highness, Prince Blueblood, you, Shining Armor, Flash Sentry, and Rusty Bullet, are hereby under arrest on the accounts of Grand Larceny, Breaking and Entering, Resisting Arrest, and," The other captain's eyes twinkled in a similar manner to Deadshot's, as if he was telling a joke. "Murder." Steel Sword rolled up the scroll and stuffed it back into his armor. "You have the right to remain silent, blah blah blah, threat threat threat." he sang in a sort of twisted sin-song manner. "I'll see you three in prison. Ensure that they do not leave this car." he said to the guards, and he left the compartment.

There was silence for what seemed like hours, even though it was only a few minutes. Shining was loosing hope. He looked to Deadshot for some kind of plan, but he gave no indication of one. Shining sighed in defeat. He had failed. He failed to rescue Cadence, he failed Twilight in that he would be careful. He even felt like he had failed his cousin in that he had let himself be seen at the bank.

However, not all hope was lost. Surprisingly, it was Flash who took the initiative.

"Ahh!" he cried out as he sank to his knees. "Ohh, no. Sweet Celestia, make it stop, ahh!" he grunted, his hooves clutching his stomach

"What the hell's wrong with you?" the guard restraining him said. The soldiers looked at one another, confused.

"You gotta get the doc, aagh." Flash pleaded between cries of faked pain.

"Okay, we'll get you to the medic." The soldier moved down to pick up Flash as the other guards lowered their pistols. Flash took his shot and bucked the guard in the face, knocking him out. Before the others could raise their guns once more, Shining and Deadshot were upon them. Shining punched his guard in the face until he lost consciousness. Deadshot wrapped his arms around his guard and suffocated him until he fell to the ground, sleeping. When the guards were all unconscious, the three remaining stallions frisked their bodies, relinquishing them of their pistols and ammo.

"Good thinking, Junior." Deadshot patted Flash on the back. "You could learn a lot from this kid, Shiny. Now we gotta get to the military car. We'll hold out in there until we get to Trottingham."

The three stallions ran into the hall. A solitary guard stood near the back of the car. Upon sighting the trio, he ducked behind a divider and called back to his allies. "They're escaping! Get the passengers to the back and bring me backup now!" While the guard was still yelling, Deadshot moved up and pistol whipped him hard across the head. He gave a cry and slumped against the wall. Shining checked the guard's pulse before he moved on to the next car to ensure that he was alive. Satisfied, he turned around and joined the others in the next car.

Several guards had taken cover in the compartments and took turns shooting at the three. Bullets whizzed all around, making holes in the paneling of the train car. Deadshot took point, firing his ill gotten pistol. To Shining's utmost surprise, Flash leaned around the corner and joined in, shooting at the other stallions. A minute of gunfire later, the Royal Guards lay either dead, or otherwise incapacitated. The car smelled of blood and gunpowder. Deadshot, Flash, and Shining stepped gingerly through the mess of bodies. Deadshot opened the door and stepped out on the platform between the cars. When he tried to open the door to the next car, he found that the door was locked.

"Dammit," he swore. "We gotta find another way. The military car is right after this one." Shining looked around until he spotted a ladder leading up to the rooftops of the cars.

"We can go over the car." Shining said as he reached for the ladder. The others followed suit and the three surfaced on the roof of the car.

The wind was to their backs as the stallions inched their way across the roof. This would have been simple, if it weren't for the Military train moving up beside theirs. Guards popped out of hatches in the roof and took out rifles. They shot at the trio without mercy.

"Get down!" Shining pulled down his two companions. He took his pistol and blindly fired it at the other train as they crawled across the rooftop. The guards stopped shooting and took cover. Shining reloaded and fired again. The guards had resumed taking potshots, but not as often. Shining peaked over to see that one of the guards had a severe wound in his chest from one of Shining's bullets. Shining was instantly panged with guilt. He had done it. He had actually killed a guard. He stopped moving, only to feel a bump on his rear and hear a startled "mmmph" as Flash inadvertently bumped his head against his posterior.

"Geez Captain, keep it moving... sir." Flash added. Shining obliged and managed to make it to the end of the car without further incident.

The three dropped down into the space between the cars. Deadshot kicked down the door. In the military car, crates were stacked up on the walls. In the center, a stairway led up to a hatch on the ceiling, like the ones on the other train. Steel Sword was there, along with three others. Steel Sword looked up at the three.

"I see you apprehended my troops," he said evilly. "More charges for the list!" Flash raised his pistol and fired at the captain. It only missed him by inches. The guards took cover. With a brief "You'll pay for that!" Steel Sword fled back to the next car. A brief shoot out resulted in the usual bodies and powder smoke. Once the guards had been slain, Shining went to the end of the car. He stepped outside and unhooked the other cars behind them. The passengers and other guards on the train would be safe from the fight that would definitely ensue. As he did this, Deadshot took a crowbar from a nearby tool rack and started opening and rummaging through the crates that lined the room. He tossed the contents of them on the floor.

"More guns, more ammo, some rifles, what the? Holy crap..." He called the others over. "Guys, look at this!" Inside the box was a huge gun. It had six barrels and had a shiny brass finish. A large drum was at the bottom, which held the ammo for the monster weapon.

"Must be some new experimental weapon, I guess." Flash offered.

Deadshot's trademark grin grew even wider. "Then let's do the fuzz a favor and test it out, shall we?" The three stallions lifted the heavy weapon up to a hatch on the ceiling. There was even a rail to mount it on. Deadshot opened the hatch and pulled out the enormous gatling gun. He aimed it at the other train and pulled the trigger. The barrels began to spin and bullets shot out of the end at a fast pace. The other train pulled away.

"Eat lead you yellow bellied idiots!" Deadshot called as he rained death onto the fleeing train. Flash tapped him on his shoulder in the middle of his celebration.

"Uh, sir?"

"What is it, Junior?"

"I don't think it's over yet."

"What makes you say that?" Flash pointed above Deadshot. He turned to see three military airships closing in fast on the train. Their weapons looked ready to fire.

Deadshot merely laughed. "They can't hurt us with passengers still on this train."

Shining rubbed the back of his head, an became very interested in the floor for some reason. "Um... actually..."

"You let them go didn't you."

"*sigh* Yes."

"Luna dammit, Shiny. Well, only one thing to do then." Deadshot swiveled the gatling gun around and aimed it at the airships. "Go down fighting." The gun fired. The fire srpead was so large that all three airships sustained some kind of damage. It shot large holes in the airships' balloons. One bullet punctured the helium sac of the center ship. The ship went down with a crash. Deadshot kept firing as he laughed maniacally. Until he heard a click. The gun had stopped. He pulled the trigger again. Click click click. "...Crap..."

The airships dropped at least twenty guards on the roof of the train. The trio ducked back inside and sealed the hatch. Deadshot rummaged through the weapons and tossed some to Shining and Flash.

"Get ready for-" Deadshot was cut off by guards bursting into the car. Shining counted that at least twenty of them surrounded the three stallions. "a fight..." Every guard had a weapon trained on them. Deadshot stepped forward. He dropped his gun on the floor. Shining saw that there was no escape this time. He solemnly dropped his pistol as well. Flash did the same.

Deadshot spoke to the guards. "We've had our fun. You can take us away now. We'll go quietly."

Author's Note:

Can our Heroes get out of this one? How will they ever find Cadence now? Tune in next time on "The Other Side of the Law"

Comments

[Night Frost]

Another awesome chapter!

[Herr Director]

I aim to please.

[Herr Director]

Due to me working on the Edward Lawton Chronicles, the wait for the next chapter might be a little bit longet that normal. Aww, don't look at me like that...