Apple Family Business

"She left the place a bit later." The pegasus took her black hat off to scratch her head. "Just about bounced down the street. Either she was high, or she just hit the lottery."

Hank looked up from the poker game he was playing with his crew. The Detrotters were standing near the brothers' machine, which was mercifully quiet at the moment. He snorted. "You saw one of Applejack's crew, and just let her have the run of the town?" He shook his head, and tossed a few chips into the pile in the middle of the folding table.

The leader of the Detrot crew raised an eyebrow in Hank's direction. "Yeah, she did. You know why? Because I told her to watch. Nothing else. She does what I say. She also knows when to keep her mouth shut. You could learn a lot from her."

"Don't get too big for yer britches, Cherry Pits. You're muscle for Flim and Flam, same as us. Ya ain't got no rank on me." He kept his face neutral as he studied his cards.

Pits shrugged. "Is that so." He turned back to his crew. "I think I'll pay that rockhead a visit. Buckwheat, Little Joe, let's go introduce ourselves."

Mayor Mare studied the maps on her desk. One was of Ponyville, another was of the countryside, and yet another of the major rail lines in Equestria. A firm knock on the door intruded on her thoughts.

"Come in, Chief," she answered, without looking up.

Chief strode in, shutting the door behind him. He took a seat and set his helmet on the desk. "Bad news. I.D. came back on that group. They're legbreakers for the Cherry family."

The mayor nodded; it was what she expected. "Looks like their old feud is about to heat up again."

"Yes ma'am."

"And does Applejack have more help she can call in?" She took her flask and two glasses from her desk.

"Yes, I'm afraid she does." He tapped a hoof on the rail map. "Closest place the Apples control is Appleloosa. Capo there is Apple Rose, and she's got a tough crew led by a guy named Braeburn. Then you got the Oranges in Manehatten."

Mayor Mare's eyes traced the rails between her town and the aforementioned places. "What about the Cherrys?"

"Any backup would probably come from Detrot, like the last bunch. They took over back when the Mob Six faded out. They control the south side of Cob-Town, too, but with the war they got going there with the Lemons and Limes, I doubt they can spare anypony." He scratched at his mustache.

"Flim and Flam? They have any ties besides the Cherrys?" She poured them each a shot from her flask.

Chief shook his head. "Before this operation, they were just a pair of bit-ante grifters." He studied her face carefully, wondering what she was planning.

The mayor traced her hoof along the rails. "Look. The rails to Detrot and Appleloosa meet here before they run to Ponyville." She tapped a spot marked Pretty Coat Junction. "Either side can be stopped there before they reach my town." She smiled and knocked back her drink in one gulp.

Chief shook his head once more. "I can't spare the pony-power. Besides, that's out of my jurisdiction."

Mayor Mare leaned back and nodded. "I know. Its perfect."

Rainbow Dash scanned the surrounding farmland from the opening on the upper level of the barn. Granny Smith's rifle lay propped against the wall in easy reach. Outside, Fluttershy patrolled the farm with her guard dogs. They growled and pulled at their leashes, dragging the pegasus behind them. Down by the road, Spike, Twilight and Big Mac ran the stand. Dash leaned forward to scan the crowd, a twinge of pain shooting through he knee.

The line for cider was rather short today, as it had been for the past few days. Word was getting around town since the warehouse raid that the rivalry between the two rival cider mills was heating up. Dash's and Applejack's wounds certainly didn't help to quash any rumors. Only the devoted drunks came out to buy any booze. They quietly bought their cider and drank it or took it home for later; there was little idling or socializing going on. Ponies weren't even sneaking out past curfew lately.

Dash cracked her stiff neck, then scanned the cloudless sky. Her sharp eyes picked out a speck in the featureless blue. She frowned and pulled a pair of binoculars from her saddlebag. As she focused on her target, her expression brightened from dark suspicion to shining delight.

Meanwhile, Applejack sat at the kitchen table, looking over the balance sheet Twilight had written up, and going over numbers in her head. Big Mac sat next to her, reading the paper.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie was next to them. "Are you gonna eat that?" she asked loudly. Without waiting for an answer, she gobbled up a slice of apple pie that was sitting on the table, and bounded away, leaving a whiff of cold sweetness behind.

Big Mac silently stared at his sister, who hadn't so much as glanced up from the spreadsheet.

"Don't give me that look, Big Mac," she whispered, eyes still glued to the papers. "Ah can feel yer look."

"Could become a problem." he observed, in the same tone he used to discuss the weather schedule.

Applejack nodded curtly. "Alright, then. Let me know when it is. 'Til then, it ain't."

Before Mac could press the issue, Rainbow Dash quickly limped into the house. "She's here!"

Applejack nodded. "Good." She tapped her hoof on the report. "Reckon its time we made an investment."

Soon, the stand was closed down after one last round, and most of the crew assembled in the barn. Fluttershy still patrolled the farm with her dogs, and Spike took Dash's place in the rafters with only a minimum of grumbling. Inside, a female griffon was removing the straps that secured a crate on her sky-cart.

Rainbow Dash limped up to the visitor, with a friendly grin on her face. "Been a long time, Gilda."

The griffon turned, a grin of her own putting a sparkle in her eyes. "Sure has." She clenched her claw and bumped it to Dash's upraised hoof. "I'd ask how you've been holding up, but..." She cocked her head to view the pony's bandaged leg. "You didn't get soft while you were inside, did ya Dash?" A playful smirk quirked her beak.

Rainbow Dash snorted indignantly, standing up straight. "Heck no! There was twenty of 'em! I almost had them, too, but one got me in my blind spot..."

"That's the Rainbow Dash I remember." she said, her grin growing wider. Gilda removed the last of the straps and looked at Rainbow Dash appraisingly. "You know, I've rented this little cloud cottage nearby for a couple nights. Maybe you could swing by." She ran her claws through her forward-swept head feathers. "We could... Catch up."

Dash trailed her gaze up Gilda's feline rear legs, along the short brown fur of her hindquarters, and finally to her smugly grinning face. "I might take you up on that, Gilda..."

Applejack cleared her throat. "Business before pleasure, y'all. How 'bout ya flirt later, and we can get to it."

Dash sighed and turned to her capo. "Cut me a break, AJ. I haven't been laid in like a month."

"Well, you poor soul." Applejack responded evenly. "Reckon a few more hours won't kill ya." She turned to the griffon, lifting up Granny Smith's rifle on her hoof. "So ya bring more irons like this in that crate?"

Gilda stepped closer to get a better look at the firearm. "A matchlock?" She gave an amused grunt. "Where did you get that? Your grandma?"

The hoof holding the rifle lowered a few inches.

"They've got a new design out." Gilda informed them, as she headed back to her cart. "Flintlock. Makes a spark from a piece of flint to light the powder. Don't have to worry about your match going out."

Applejack's face brightened. "Well, that sounds good to me. How many did ya bring?"

Gilda looked Applejack in the eye. "None." Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but Gilda cut her off. "Listen. Celestia's been coming down hard on firearms. Possession, manufacture, dealing, everything." She pointed at the matchlock. "Even an old thing like that can get you years inside. Getting rifles past the border would be a real hassle." She hopped on the cart, picked up a crowbar, and worked at opening the crate. "The CBI has these new dogs. Magically altered to have wings. They fly up and sniff for gun powder in the wind currents."

"But... but that kind of vitomancy is illegal." observed Twilight.

"You know what they say, darling," Rarity said with a wry grin. "Its not illegal if Celestia does it."

Gilda nodded. "I'm one of the best smugglers out there, but even I can't sneak past that. And bribing my way through would be too expensive." She loosened up the last nail and pulled the top off. "Instead, I brought you these." She reached in the crate and pulled out what looked like a small bow attached to a wooden stock. "Repeating crossbow. Griffon design, modified for pony use." She turned the weapon over in her claws to give the ponies a good look. Her voice fell into a well-rehearsed cadence as she went into "salesperson mode". She pointed at a round device that hung from the stock by a narrow tube. "For instance, mouth trigger. Just put it between your teeth, and clamp when you want to shoot." To demonstrate, she took aim at one of the rough timbers supporting the loft. A bolt sharply impacted the wood. Gilda pulled a lever on the side of the stock, readying the next shot. Another bolt joined the first. "Five bolts to a clip. When its empty," Gilda released the remaining shots into the log, "pull the lever one more time and the clip will pop out. Then slap the next one in on top, and pull the lever once." She demonstrated as she explained, then pointed at some leather straps folded on the bottom of the stock. "You can aim freeclaw-... er, hoof, or strap it on with these and 'run n' gun'. If you're going to use it that way, you better practice first. Aiming with your body is pretty tricky.

Gilda put the crossbow back in the crate. "I admit, they aren't as flashy or as deadly as a rifle. But they'll kill ponies just fine, and getting caught with one will probably just get you fined." She leaned against the crate with her arms crossed, and looked at Applejack with a confident smile. "Got enough in here for your whole crew, plus spares and plenty of ammo. Ready to talk price?"

Applejack nodded. "Reckon Ah am."