The Judge

Its horn blared, much like trains did before the surface became inhospitable. Even to ponies familiar to the sound would likely be startled by it. A bright beam of light far down the tunnel tracks came into view, along with the sound of steel on steel as the large two car train made its approach on the station entrance.

As it came into view, one could see it was no ordinary set of cars, but heavily modified. Armored planes lined it, making it have a fortress appearance. The front was made into an angled wedge. But I was far from bland. Lines of gold and fine engravings decorated it, giving it the unmistakable mark of the Royal Line. On the front was what might either be a cannon or a mount for a ram that stuck out from the front wedge. Other defences were the metal armor that slid down over the windows, closed in the back car, but open in the front.

The front car seemed to be the one that was propelling them. While machinery couldn't be heard, there was little doubt that it likely housed an engine for when it was needed. It was too quiet relative for its size as it go closer to currently be running.

As it pulled up to the station entrance just short of the blast doors, a glass pane opened up and a pony with fine steel armor stuck its head out.

"Hail! We are from the Royal Line and are transporting supplies, troops, and our royal representative of justice, 'The Judge', from the capital. We bring important news that concerns the well being of your station and wish to speak to your station manager. Will you allow passage?"

A blinding spotlight shined on the two car train from across the tunnel on another rail. A voice called out from the overhead platform. "As our brothers at Lily and Lampshade have told you before, we want to let you know that the Royal Line holds no authority in the Commonwealth tunnels! We have just experienced a bombing of our station and an attack on our surface entrance! Your soldiers are unwelcome within our station! However your supplies and any other showings of good will would be much appreciated! We have had enough violence to last us a lifetime today, we do not need any more!"

The stallion in the window nodded. "Very well." He withdrew into the window before it locked shut. One of the side doors creaked as a steel bolt was pulled back and opened. Several ponies in fine armor exited and deployed a ramp where boxes were being hauled off and placed before the entrance to the station.

As they busied themselves though, another door opened from the rear car. Several locks could be heard as it unlatched and grinded open with a boarding ramp being rushed to it by the other ponies. Two ponies exited first, both being fully armed unicorn guards with armor that looked like it was made with deflecting bullets in mind. The silver color had lines of gold about them to show their special status along with their armament of mounted guns on their saddles. But they did not compare to the next pony that came off the train.

Golden armor made him stand out among the rest. Where the two escorts had gold lines, this pony had silver and even more detail in its work. An eye patch with silver stitching decorating it covered one eye, but showed no problem navigating the new terrain about him. Two weapons of unknown design decorated him on each side of his saddle, looking to sport a fair amount of ammo.

With his head held high and sporting a smug smile, the brown earth pony hummed to himself as he and his escort went to the entrance. With the amount of armor on them, they all made a very distinct marching sound as they moved. There was a unique difference between the escort and escortee. The former being ridged and stern, like any ideal soldier would guarding a pony of rank. But the latter was almost giddy, having a spring in his step and a smile without a known purpose.

They stopped short of the entrance, kindly awaiting to be let in.

The guard called out again. "Hey! Did you not hear me say no soldiers?! No arms or armor unless they're in crates! What is so important that you've turned your attention off the Reich and to us?!"

One of the escorts frowned. "The Royal Line has gifted your station medical supplies and-"

He was cut off when the golden armored pony held up a hoof and stepped forward. The escort took a step away and looked down, as if he had offended.

"Apologies dear sir. We shall disarm ourselves of our weapons." He spoke formally as if he were at this ponies dinner table. "But I'm afraid that i must decline on the armor and escort. It is simply for my own protection as I am not very popular in some places, despite the aid i bring and new of a fugitive that lives in your station. A pony such as myself would likely be at high risk, especially considering all the misfortune that has occurred for you lately. Surely you can admit us less of our weapons so that I may share with you in relative safety?" He smiled, an honest smile but still rather jolly for the setting.

"And what fugitive would that be, commissar?! If you are chasing the terrorist that bombed our residence quarters, then you are more than welcome to come in! And a bonus! We had an attempted stabbing just shortly afterwards!

The golden pony simply kept smiling. "If it were as simple as giving you the word, then that pony would get up and leave. There is no telling what 'friends' they may have gotten, or what sweet little favors that may be owed to them. I require the ear of your station manager if you could please grant that. Hmmm?" He hummed a tune to himself, feeling a song form in his head to this chapter that was beginning.

"Well, I'm still not going to let you in while those guns are on your sides commissar!"



Victoria's former stallion companion approached her on the way to the loading platform, showing all of the signs of infatuation with forbidden fruit. "Hey um... miss? The uh.. boss wants to see you now."



The jail cell itself was crowded. It consisted little more than a cot and a hole in the floor, for obvious reasons, and room for nothing else. It was nearly impossible to get any rest due to the loud sounds of gambling and protests coming from a guard and a unicorn with the lightest of blue bodies and a dark blue mane.

"Oh? Well," she followed with whole satisfaction. "Fabulous."

Without as much as an opportunity to assess her query, Victoria turned back towards the office to which she assumed the mayor had returned. As she passed, spring restored to step, the mare playfully brushed the guard at the hip.

In due time, she stood once again before the mayor's desk.

"You wished t'see me, ma'am. Allow me to begin by apologizing for any adverse sentiments, as I do believe we've initiated under improper circumstances; and furthermore, recognize how important I do believe this expense shall be for the both of us."

Victoria examined the complexion of her counterpart in anticipation - weary, aguish - but could not promptly interpret a response.

Bullet hurt both physicaly as well as mentaly. The pysical pain was of course from the beating he had recived before ending up in the jail cell. The mental pain however, came from the fact that he had failed. He had failed in his promise that he had made over his mother's body. He had had a perfect opportunity to avenge her death, and he had blown it. He resisted the urge to shout any kind of curse he could think of. In jail, drawing to much atention to yourself could lead to some very bad consequences. For now, he needed to think of a way out. So far he had come up with two options: either pick the lock on the door, or bribe the guard. Seeing as almost half of his alcohol seemed to be missing, that might be a problem, as well as picking the lock because upon waking, he noticed that his weapons, ammo, food, and lockpicks, as well as other miscellaneous items of little importance were gone.

"Just my luck," Bullet thought out loud, "guards who actually know what they're doing." Now if only the guard and that annoying unicorn would shut up, then maybe he could get his head back together.

The Judge waved a hoof to the guard casually. "Please, please. 'Judge' will do fine here. You need not honor me with such an empowering and uncommon title." He smiled and nodded to his guards whom both began the process of removing his armament. They seemed to be attached rather solidly with only a few latches necessary for removal. They themselves followed suit, handing their weapons to the ponies already out from unloading the train cars.

Now completely unarmed, The Judge and his two escorts re-approached the entrance, stopping just short. With head held high and a joyful smile on his face, he waited. "Whenever you are ready good sir..." He hummed to himself while he waited for the blast doors to be opened.

The bright spotlight shut off. Shortly afterwards the large door slowly swung open. The door guards greeted the party with a mix of apprehension and outright fear. Their spokeperson spoke out. "You will have to wait here for the moment. The boss is with somepony else right now."


The mayor looked terrible. Her mane was messy, eyes half closed, and she held a rag of ice to her head, indicating a headache. She groaned at Victoria's words. "Just speak plainly... I'm in no mood to get out a dictionary..."


Said annoying unicorn looked back at Bullet as he came to life. "Hey! Look who's finally awake! Our most recent attempted murderer! Boy, you sure had bum deal. You really shouldn't have tried to kill somepony right after a bombing, I mean, boy are you stupid, eh Tincan?"

The guard smacked him over the head. "I told you not to call me that!"

Victoria perceived her now more submissive tone as progress. First, she drew from her saddlebag an ornate flask of pre-war Bärenjäger. Without a word, she poured two glasses and set them ambivalently between the two - business was curious, thought she, when currency was not simply a medium of exchange. Then, leaning in, she spoke with a respectfully quiet drone.

"What has befallen your good guards need not happen again. Incidentally, I offer to you now, quite plainly, the solution."

"We of the virtuous National Party," she continued as she, with initiative, produced small paper schematics from her pocket, "will be producing the most advanced weapons on the planet."

Without pause, she began displaying each schematic.

"This hoof pistol rearms the chamber by utilizing the air pressure expended from the last discharged shell. The firing rates which it can thereby achieve render all current models obsolete."

"This variant of the Gatling gun features elongated barrels constructed of new alloys which dramatically reduce weight while improving accuracy."

"This galvanized steel pauldron is as simple as it is effective: it will deflect blades as well as low-caliber rounds that might otherwise penetrate the neck and shoulder of the user."

"Our supplies, in the hands of your personnel, would obviate any future domestic conflicts. If you value the safety of your comrades, I entreat you to consider. All these may be yours, simply provided you, in turn, trade in your outdated armaments for us to melt down and use as raw materials. What say you, sister?"

Of course, her rhetoric was intended to overwhelm the mayor as much as it was purposeful. All the better was it should a client comply out of exhaustion.

Bullet sighed, it looked like ponies already knew of his crime. So much for laying low for a little while.

"I'm willing to bet you've done stupider things to get locked in here." He said curtly, he just wanted to curl up and go back to sleep, but that probably wasn't a possibility now that ponies had started to notice that he was awake.

"Your friend Tincan over there probably has some interesting stories to tell about you." Bullet added, all the while examining his surroundings, plotting escape, and generaly aclimating himself to his enviroment.

The Judge smiled and nodded with delight. "Very well. A pleasure to see your station. Unfortunate that i cannot see the rest of it if I must wait here. Or would you be so kind to give a quick tour good sir?" The golden majestically armored pony leaned in toward the guard, his smile exceeding comfortable levels with eyes too open for simple curiosity. Even his own guards winced at the action and simply stared straight ahead to avoid being in any part of the business.

The mayor sighs and pushes the schematics away, in no mood to deal with her, or take up her drink. "I don't know anything about that. All I know is our alliance is based in Lily, you know, the station you passed through to get here? They'll draw up a bill and I'll telegraph my vote. If all you have to do is talk fancy words at me to try and impress me, get out of my office." To emphasize her point she closed her eyes in annoyance and pointed her hoof at the door.


The captain spoke without missing a beat, firmly interested in keeping The Judge well away from the station's population center. "I'm afraid you'll have to stay here. As you said yourself, letting it be known you're here will cause the murderer to get away. We'll keep this as hush hush as possible until we can lock the station down, then you can root out any agents he left behind."


The jail only had two cells, both 4x4, making them cramped, and made with salvaged iron bars cobbled together in a square. The other cell was empty, and the smell in the room was only of old dried shit instead of the permeating pungent stench of fresh waste, suggesting these cells didn't see a lot of usage.

The jail guard raised his hoof and fired his pistol at Bullet, intentionally hitting the wall above him to scare him. "I'll hit him if he calls me that, but I'll shoot at you if you say it!"

Victoria did not move quite yet. With hastening words and undaunted courtesy, she persisted.

"Business is a rolling stone, comrade. You are not well, but neither am I, yes? I seek your station for a simple good, and not to be deferred to any other. There is not time in our lives for that; not while our own friends are crying for salvation."

As she collected the depictions, the business-mare spoke in a dark and excruciatingly precise manner such that the threat which followed was concealed under the guise of truth.

"If you do not personally consent, more will die."

She dropped her eyes to the untouched alcohol and began swirling her glass as if to indicate premonition.

"Hear me not then, but hear your own; hear the guard who wishes never to relive today." She turned, scanning the length of the office in search of the acquainted guard.

Bullet saw the guard raise his pistol, and automaticaly raised his hoof, forgetting that his weapon wasn't there. As the bullet hit the wall above him he flinched.

"Ok ok," Bullet said, "point taken." The fact that a guard was willing to shoot him over a name bothered him. He figured if he was going to get out of jail in one piece he would have to stay on the guard's good side, if he could. If not then he justed needed to avoid a reason for somepony to shoot him.

"She..." The Judge corrected before nodding. "Then I shall wait for an audience and entertain myself until then." He fell back onto his rump with a loud clang of metal. Eyes closed, he began to hum a tune to himself as his hooves played an imaginary piano in front of him. All the while his wide smile still on his face.

She angrily picked up the glass in her hoof and threw it at the wall. "I said go to Lily! Now OUT!"


The guard looked back at the sudden outburst coming from the mayor's office and turned back to face the obvious mentally damaged stallion. "You know what, I think an opening just came up, I'll escort you there. Just know that she's been hit harder than most of us over these attacks. And also know that she's not like other mares. If you try to comfort her she's pretty likely to dent your armor with some gunshots."


The other pony grabbed his friend's leg and lowered it. "Hey hey hey! Calm yourself you hot head. It's not like you can afford to pay for ammo when I have all your drink."

The guard shrugged him off. "I swear you cheat. Hey, prisoner. Want to gamble for your freedom? Your bail's at three flasks of moonshine."

She watched the glass and its contents disperse all along the adjacent wall. She stared fixedly at the innumerable specks which, spread along the ground, each glimmered independently; at the golden liquid, staining its vicinity, which would not see fulfillment - an investment which would not see returns.

"Fillies can throw things, ma'am. A mare oughtta' know progress when she sees it," Victoria stated boldly.

She had begun her march to the door, expressionless, confident that the mayor would not tolerate another word, when she added, "I am sorry that things are the way they are, you know. That on any other occasion I wouldn't have had to force this proposition. You're young, but there was a better time."

Victoria peered at the mare's livid face before evacuating into the open, now apparently less concerned with the mayor as she was with her own thoughts.

Ahead of her, a guard was escorting what looked to be a figure adorned with glittering silver filigree.

Bullet thought about it for a second. On one hoof he could win his freedom without having to go through the hassle of getting out himself. On the other he might lose.

"2 questions before i answer," he said "what haopens if I lose? And what game would we be playing?" He was confident in his gambling abilities, but lady luck hadn't been very kind to him as of late. After all it was bad luck, and a misplaced hoof that had landed him in jail in the first place.

The Judge took a moment to finish playing his imaginary piano, adding a soft touch at the end with a hoof before getting back up. "Then i shall get straight to business! And the rest shall unfold unto the keys!" He held out a hoof to exclaim his point further before going into a trot to follow the guard.

He mainly kept an oblivious trot with his head held high, but proved to be anything but observant when he came to pass with Victoria. "Aha! Bonsoir chère madame Victoria!" Giving her a fancy greeting that even had a near proper accent to it. His eyes lit up along with his smile to levels that made his escort uncomfortable. He stopped and gave a grand bow to her. "What a remarkably pleasing surprise to meet the fine mare from so long ago once again! Are you a resident here at this station?"

His attention on the guard, for now, was delayed.

The guard grinned. "We'll play dice, and if you lose you'll just have to sit and rot in there till the boss decides what to do with you." He picked up two dice with his hoof. "What do you say, murderer?"

She lifted her eyes to the figure once more, and if there was yet life in her heart, she might have stumbled to her knees.

She did not.

"Renaultar Shielder," Victoria gradually pronounced, resuscitating a role which she had once played as she watched his snout descend below his shoulders. In return, she thoroughly motioned a curtsy.

"Pardieu! Ehm, yes; likewise - no, I am not," she answered in a succinct manner, admittedly taken aback from the multitude of onset occurrences.

But there were advantages to be had! Such dawned upon her. For now, it was apparent that Renny had other duties.

"Be on your way if you have promises to keep, love. We must talk soon!" She ejaculated with renewed color. "Heaven presses me today. Hath my matron saint sent you, then, to be my hoof?" She reflected rhetorically. Victoria kissed his cheek - where his cheek had been - where she now felt the cold sting of metal against her lips - and then searched his eyes.

His pupils were alarmingly profound, unlike that which she had remembered.