Chapter 12

A mystery added, a town assisted

After her small talk with Applejack, Twilight Sparkle found it somewhat easier to sleep. Although she had a suspicion that the swig of whiskey she had taken before also had something to do with it, as she started feeling somewhat dizzy once the alcohol ran its proper course. (Given that the strongest intoxicating drink she had ever tried previously back in Equestria was the cider made by Apple family, and that she never drank much of it, she was unused to something as strong as whiskey.) Once she fell atop her bed, she fell asleep almost immediately.

She hated to admit it, but she was relieved a little bit at the fact that Applejack's whiskey cumbered her thinking abilities; she believed that if she thought too much on something again, she would never fall asleep.

Once sun rose up above the Wastelands again (as it always did), the equine Princess woke up only to see Sunset's bed empty and personal belongings gone. Taking her own things, she went downstairs, meeting Apple Bloom on the way.

"Oh, hi, Twilight," the young girl chirped, beaming at her.

"Good morning, Apple Bloom," Twilight smiled in turn. "Have you seen the others?"

"Big Mac and Applejack went out for a bit, they said they'd come back soon. Sunset's eating, and there's breakfast waiting for you. Ah cooked it mahself!" the country accent in the young girl's voice took on a hint of pride as she said the last words.

"Well, far be it from me to ignore your culinary skills," the alicorn-turned-human smiled even wider, and went into the kitchen. There she saw Sunset eating her breakfast, which turned out to be fried bacon and eggs.

"Oh, hi, Twilight," the fiery-haired girl greeted her with a smile. "Hurry and eat that until that gets cold."

"I can't help but feel that humans have weirdest eating habits," Twilight commented, sitting down and digging into her food.

"Humans are omnivores, surely you knew that already?"

"True, but eating meat? Sorry, that's kinda still new to me. And scary as well."

"Well, that was the same for me, too. But here, cows and other animals whose meat is used for food are not sapient; plus, human biochemistry is different. Soon enough, you may feel the craving for meat soon."

"What's so important in meat that humans require?"

"Proteins, for one thing."

"Hmm, that does sound important enough. Any ideas what Applejack and Big Macintosh are up to?" Twilight decided to change the topic. "Apple Bloom didn't say much."

"Big Mac told me they would pass by all the posts around the village, then they'll come back and we'll speak about how we can help them. I say, you didn't hit Applejack's head by accident, did you? Because this morning, she just sat here, and then said, "Goldurn it," and asked me for help."

"I didn't need to resort to such measures, Sunset," the Equestrian addressed her compatriot sternly. "I think she just realized she would burn out soon. Apparently, Appletown is besieged by White Knives, plus there may be other players vying for control."

"Buck my flank," Sunset cussed.

"Language, Sunset. And I do hope you aren't planning on abandoning our friend."

"That's not why I'm swearing. Seriously, Twilight, I have very few friends here, so I'm not planning anything of the sorts. The thing is, Applejack's probably not the best diplomat, and if there are other factions, we need them on our side, or at least not as our enemies."

"You think Applejack will upset someone?"

"You know she's stubborn. And I'm not even talking about the locals. Are they as loyal to the town as Apple family is?"

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"Multiple reasons. They might be sympathetic to someone who is the enemy. Someone may even be a spy - since Applejack virtually can't lie, and she is in position of power (sorts of), that means some crucial things aren't even a secret. They might not like the Apple family. There may be grievances between family branches for all I know."

"You are worried about the possibility of internal strife or betrayal in favour of someone who is not friendly to Appletown," Twilight concluded.

"Indeed. I take it you plan to help Applejack out and then have her help us with our quest?"

"Sort of. Oh... it sounds like a monumental task."

"Monumental may be hyperbolizing, but it's not simple, yeah."

"Sorry, Sunset."

"What for? Friends always get into trouble for each other. I'm only slightly stung because you didn't tell me sooner."

"Well, I actually wanted to tell you about this this very morning."

"Oh. Sorry."

"No problem."

"Hey, Twilight, you wanna listen to the radio?"

"The CWN? I don't know..."

"Ah come on, didn't you like the Daring Duo moniker?"

"I still think it sounds ridiculous."

"Is that because you don't like Daring Do?"

"I do like Daring Do, but I'm not ready to be compared to her."

"Well, I'm going to listen while you finish your food."

"Suit yourself."

Sunset fiddled a bit with her Pip-Boy, and soon they both eard a voice:

"...those White Knives. I swear, these bandits are becoming worse and worse. Someone may need to put a stop to them, and I think I know who can do it. Three guesses, who? That's right, the Daring Duo! How do I know that? Well, I have heard from Cap Collector that a couple of young ladies fitting the description of said duo took on the bandits as they tried to attack his caravan, and helped him to survive. That's not all, they have also been seen in a bandit-infested village close to Appletown, whose inhabitants desperately need these bastards dead, and guess what - that village is not bandit-infested anymore! Well, until they try to occupy it again. But Daring Duo or not, you still need to remember that the area between Trottingham and Hoofington is dangerous, and prepare yourselves accordingly. No guarantee that you'll be as lucky as Cap Collector. Better yet, go offer your assistance to Appletown, preferably free of charge. And now, song time! Prepare yourselves for the soul-igniting "It's All Over"! Boy, I love that song..."

"Oh come on," Twilight groaned, "you listen to this, it's like we eat the bandits for breakfast - metaphorically speaking, of course."

"Hey, would it be an adequate punishment if someone actually ate the bandits?"

"EWW! Ponyfeathers, Sunset, I just ate!"

"Relax, Twilight, I'm trolling you."

"Since when is the name of a mythical creature a verb?"

"Oh come on! The girls didn't teach you Internet slang?!"

"Alright, y'all," Applejack addressed Twilight and Sunset, "let's get this over with."

She, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and the Equestrians were in the living room again, gathered around a map lying on the table. The blonde girl initially didn't want her younger sister participating, saying "this was for grown-ups", but was unable to properly refute Apple Bloom's "I am grown-up!" and conceded defeat.

"This here," Applejack put her finger onto the map, "is Appletown. To the west of it, we have the small orchard where we take care of our apple trees. To the north-west of us, there is a prison. Now it's the base of the White Knives who apparently took it over. It's too well fortified, we can't attack them there. At least, not now. Scattered nearby are small villages, mostly abandoned, but sometimes the bandits venture there or use them as outposts. Trottingham is to the south-west of us, it's not really far. To the south-east, there is a military base, with ridiculously good automated defenses. Maybe they could be hacked, Ah don't know - none of us are that good with them computers. And there's some sort of twin towers to the north. That's where many of our apples go. Mah advice - don't go there, too many hoity-toity people who dislike us common folks and only tolerate us for fresh apples. That and they've got mercs of sorts as their protection."

"Against whom?" Sunset inquired.

"Anyone they don't like. The mercs will shoot without any questions asked if they are paid enough caps," Big Macintosh took over the conversation. "And if that's not bad enough, there are snipers in towers, too."

"White Knives also have at least a couple of snipers," Applejack spoke again. "Alas, we don't really have a sniper of our own. The only thing that helps us is that their snipers are crappy shooters... most of the time."

"Is it hard to find a sniper rifle?" Twilight asked.

"Hard enough, but this is not the main problem. The real issues are weapon maintenance (as it's hard to find spare parts) and ammo supply. Common sniper rifles need .308 sniper ammo, and those aren't lying around in bulks. A full clip of five shots may cost you from 30 to 50 caps."

"Expensive," Sunset remarked.

"You said it. Twilight, maybe your scoped hunting rifle will help?"

"I don't know, Applejack. It only has ACOG sight; this is more for marksman duties than for sniping others. I may try, of course, but no guarantees. I'm not even that great of a shot."

"None of us really are, sugarcube. But since you got into a firefight with the White Knives and survived, Ah assume that y'all shoot better than them."

"But we were very close to death both times. We would have been overrun if not for the mines that they did not disarm for some reason, and the first time we met them, I got wounded and had to inject myself with a Med-X. In fact, the last of those bandits was killed by some black figure, if I remember correctly... why are you looking at us like that?" Twilight asked the question with a tone of bewilderment, as all Apple family members just looked at both equines strangely.

"Was it something Twilight said?" Sunset asked. "Spill it."

"Did you..." Apple Bloom stuttered, and then continued, "did you see... the Black Widow?"

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack thundered. "Ah told ya not to say that name out loud!"

"The Black Widow? Who is that?" Sunset asked, puzzled.

"Y'all haven't heard of her?"

"I am afraid that both of us did not really keep up with what's what in the Wastelands, Applejack. Twilight hasn't been here for long, and I've been hiding in the Vault until recently. So I'm afraid we are out of the loop."

"Well, to be honest, Ah don't know much about her. Nobody does. And it's better not to know much, we think," the blonde girl looked afraid, which was a very rare sight; both Twilight and Sunset were quite surprised by this fact.

"But who is she?" the Princess of Friendship inquired.

"She's an assassin, armed with a sniper rifle of sorts and dressed in black. At first, when people found her first victims, they all found a paper with an image of a black spider on the corpses each time. Also, it was known that some of the victims saw a female figure dressed in black before they died, so the people started calling that assassin "the Black Widow", and the name stuck. Very few people saw her, and it's a good thing, 'cause virtually everyone who saw her, was later found dead."

"With an image of the black spider on their corpses?"

"Yep. The victims were mostly shot into the head, although sometimes a poison dart was found. Also, several times she got close and personal with her victims - not in an intimate sense - and killed in close quarters."

"And no one who saw her lived?"

"Well, if she saw someone looking at her, then most likely that person was just a dead human walking. In fact, Big Mac worries about me so much partially because Ah saw her once," the farm girl visually shuddered as the memory came to the forefront of her mind.

"You did?"

"Yeah. She killed one of our own. Cousin Braeburn. My stars, that was horrible..."

*FLASHBACK*

"Phooo-ey! Thanks a lot, Braeburn. Ah wouldn't have been able to do this by mahself," Applejack grinned at her cousin, as they set down the last crate full of apples. There were not that many of them, but most of the town inhabitants were on missions to the surrounding villages to check whether the White Knives would be bothersome. When the season drew to a close, the risks grew, and Apletown was not about to surrender its means of survival.

"No prob," Braeburn grinned. "Ah'm glad that you finally agreed not to stick yourself onto frontlines."

"That's temporary, cuz. Tomorrow, Ah'll lead one group, and Ah'm also on a patrol tonight."

"Ya'll burn out like that one day, Applejack. The people will need you strong and fresh. Tell you what, go have a rest, Ah'll finish the chores mahself."

"Ya sure of that?"

"Of course, it's not as if the task is hard to do. Go rest for a bit."

"Yeah..." Applejack yawned, "that actually sounds really attractive now..."

"See? Your body agrees," Braeburn grinned. The blonde girl scowled at him, but soon smiled, too. Braeburn was a good guy, after all.

She went to her home and lay down on the couch.

I'll get a quick shut-eye before I go on my patrol. No matter what Braeburn said, the town must be protected...

When Applejack opened her eyes, she was dumbfounded for several moments.

Why is it dark? I don't get up that early...

A quick glance at her watch let her know that it was eleven to eleven p.m. (amusingly enough).

Shoot the loot! I overslept! I'm supposed to be patrolling Appletown!

Quickly, she gathered what she believed necessary for her night shift (a flashlight and a 10mm pistol with four spare clips) and put on her armour vest. She contemplated for a bit whether to take her AP-79 (she didn't like TODC, but she grudgingly admired the sturdiness and the reliability of the assault rifle) or not, but decided against it - she was not the only one with an automatic weapon in their possession, and going after it may wake up Apple Bloom; the young girl became quite a light sleeper in recent years, and Applejack did not want to disturb her sister.

Going out of the house, she enoyed a deep breath of fresh air (albeit with a slightly higher-than-normal radioactivity) and went on.

Her routine was not really difficult. Typically, she walked on the streets, seeing if someone was out of the house in the late hours and whether there was trouble brewing. If there was, she intervened so that no one else may suffer. After that, she would patrol the outskirts, and then she would return to check the streets again.

Appletown was a pretty safe place at night. White Knives did not like attacking in the night, and dangerous animals did not usually try and attack the town. The only real threat at night were super mutants, but they never were stealthy; typically, someone could quietly raise an alarm and then the "ogres" would succumb to a crossfire from assault rifles and maybe even an LMG (the latter was carried by Big Macintosh; due to his great physical strength, he used the large and heavy gun quite easily).

Despite this, Applejack always maintained constant vigilance - Canterlot Wastelands were a hostile environment, after all.

And on her way back into the town, she noticed that the door of the house where Braeburn lived stood slightly ajar.

She frowned.

Was he so tired that he didn't close the door properly? That's not like him.

The country girl went up to the house, deciding to check on her cousin.

As he opened the door, her heart faltered, her eyes widened, and she recoiled in shock as her eyes surveyed the inside.

Braeburn was inside - and there was another figure beside him. Slightly taller and less stocky than Applejack, with the body complexion that proved that the mysterious person was definitely a female. She was dressed in black, almost imperceptible in the darkness. Armour plates (also painted black) were present on her, but they were not big; in fact, her armour looked designed for mobility rather than damage protection, and more suited for covert infiltrations than open combat.

The figure was holding a pistol of sorts - less bulky than the one Applejack had on her person - and it was aimed at Braeburn's head.

Only then the blonde girl noticed that her cousin was not, in fact, offering resistance. Slumped against his bed and unconscious, he could not do anything against the person aiming at him.

Phut. Phut.

The weapon fired twice in rapid succession, the bullets penetrating Braeburn's skull easily and tearing apart his brains, delivering instant death. The killer's hand did not even tremble; this female was quite resolute in her will to commit the evil deed, and the pistol had a very small kickback.

"What in tarnation?!" Applejack exclaimed, her brain almost shut down from the scene of cold-blooded murder she just witnessed.

In hindsight, it was an extremely stupid thing to do. Not expecting to see an enemy like this, she did not even have her own N99 pistol in her hand, and the assassin was still armed.

A sharp turn of the head, a quick motion, and one moment later...

"ARGH!"

...Applejack was clutching her right leg, which received a bullet. Unexpected pain caused the girl to fall onto the floor, and the assassin quickly opened the window and dived out of the house.

Fighting against her flaring nerves, Applejack stood up, unholstering her pistol. Once she stumblled to the window, she fired wildly into the night, hopin against hope that the murderer would be unlucky enough and caught the bullet...

Click, click, click.

Releasing the empty clip, the farm girl inserted another one and resumed firing. By that time, her shots attracted the attention, and several armed men and women, her own brother included, stormed the house.

"Stay back!" Big Macintosh ordered, motioning Red Delicious (who served as the local medic) to help his wounded sister. Meanwhile, he set his LMG onto a bipod, and started laying down the bulletstorm on the grass in front of the window.

He kept his finger on the trigger for several seconds, then stopped.

"Useless," he said. "If Ah haven't hit anyone by now, they must've fled. Golden Delicious, go tell everyone who can hold a gun - we're pulling an all-nighter. Caramel Apple, Apple Fritter, see that no one attacks him."

"Got it," the man whom Big Macintosh addressed ran out, and two other Apples ran after him without saying a word.

"How's mah sister?" the eldest Apple brother asked Red Delicious.

"Bullet's stuck, I'm about to pull it... now," with these words, the medic pulled hard, causing Applejack to scream in pain.

"Horseshit!" she swore, and tried to cover her bleeding wound. Red Delicious slapped her hand away and started applying whiskey as an improvised disinfectant, causing a hiss of pain and a string of curses. Once he finished, he injected Applejack with RegenStim and told her to go to bed immediately. She protested, but the death glares she received from other Apples (her brother included) have triggered her survival instincts, and she agreed, but stubbornly refused to let anyone carry her, choosing to lean on Big Macintosh's shoulder.

"And Braeburn?" the latter asked Red Delicious.

"Dead. Nothing I can do," was the answer. "But who could have done this?"

"Ah know who did this," Applejack spoke loudly, her voice laced with anger. Someone hurt her family and killed one of their own. And she was very pissed off at that.

If that assassin's got brains, she'd stay away from Appletown. 'Cause once I'm finished with her, not even her own mother will recognize her!

Noticing the inquiring stares from other Apples, she decided to provide them with an answer which shed light to the murderer's identity:

"Black Widow!"

*END OF FLASHBACK*

"Oh no..." Twilight's hands flew to her mouth, her eyes stinging. Both she and Sunset were horrified to discover Braeburn's ignoble fate.

"Why would she decide to do this?" the latter asked.

"Beats me," Applejack replied. "Not that Ah care much. Ah'm only hoping that Ah'll put a bullet into her if she comes here again."

"Or she'll put a bullet into you," Big Macintosh interjected. "Remember, she's a skilled assassin, and she's also a master of sneaking around. She won't try to have an honest fight with ya."

"No she won't," Sunset agreed. "But what I want to know is her motives. Why would she kill Braeburn and all the others? Some of them might fall under the unfortunate witness category, but it puzzles me why she didn't kill Applejack then - from what I've heard, the assassin had the perfect opportunity."

"I'm curious, too. The victims must have something in common, something that made them the target," Twilight mused.

"Y'all think she has a reason or somethin'?" Applejack said with a tone that clearly spoke about her doubts in the equine Princess' logic. "Ah've always thought she was simply a murderer, even before Braeburn."

"It's possible that she simply enjoys killing and is a maniac, but the word "assassin" implies that the person actually has motives and plans to commit something like this, so I'm not dismissing the possibility that Black Widow is driven by something. Has Braeburn ever done something that might have offended the person with the means to execute vengeance?"

"Vengeance? He came here from Appleloosa shortly before the Day of Burning, and that town was pretty small. And he was well-liked there by, like, everyone. And here he was always polite and good to others, so Ah hardly think that could be the reason."

"What about outsiders?"

"Braeburn did not deal with outsiders here, that's mah job."

"And other victims? Did they have something in common? Who were they?"

"They were different. Some, from what the rumours said, were kinda decent folks. Some were stuck-up, like they're elites or something, but never did anything really bad. Some of the killed were scumbags, for whom nobody would shed a tear. Rumour has it that Black Widow actually killed the second-in-command of the White Knives. Now their leader, Curve Blade, sits in his prison fortress and doesn't dare to stick his nose out, the coward."

"Hm, that's not much. Maybe she is simply a gun for hire?" Twilight guessed.

"Nah. One guy did want to hire her. And he was found dead, too. With a note: "I am not one of your mercenaries without an ounce of decency. Heed this warning. Never try to do the same mistake this man did." So no one tried."

"That implies that Black Widow believes herself to be a decent person - somewhat - and that she cares little for caps. Maybe she loots her victims, too."

"Decent? Ain't no decency in a person that kills like that," Applejack scoffed. "Ah mean, it's not like Ah haven't killed, but Ah always did so trying to defend Appletown, and in open combat. Ah never sneaked around in the night. And y'all are probably right, some of the victims were kinda rich people, and all their valuable things were often gone. Not always, but often."

"OK, let's return to the issue at hand - White Knives," Sunset offered. "What's your plan, Applejack?"

"Ah wanted to swipe some of the villages where Ah know some of the bandits to be. Ah'm taking one team of ten people, Big Mac takes the other. Ah'm afraid Ah'll need to separate you two, unless you object?"

"Uh... well, I don't think so," Twilight looked surprised, but after some thinking, she decided that this decision would not affect her or Sunset. As for Sunset herself, she privately doubted that Applejack's plan was sound, but, knowing little about the local situation, she decided not to argue.

"OK, who comes with me?" the farm girl asked.

"I will," Sunset replied.

"OK, Twilight goes with Big Mac. Ah'll show you which villages we strike," Applejack pointed to the targets she specified for both attack groups.

"What about Appletown itself?" Twilight asked.

"Golden Delicious has this covered. There are what, thirty or thirty-five defenders under him?" the blonde girl asked her elder brother.

"Thirty-one; with himself included, that's thirty-two. Enough to defend against a surprise attack," came the answer.

"All right, we'll start in two hours. If anyone needs to clean their guns or restock ammo, time to do so. Twilight, Sunset, Ah'll take ya to Honeycrisp Jr., he's sort of in charge of our arsenal. He can give some ammo, but he has nothing for them fancy laser pistols, I warn ya."

"No problem, those are for tougher targets anyway," Sunset replied. "Lead the way."

Two hours or so later, Applejack's assault squad...

"OK," Applejack addressed her team, "here's the first village. Sunset?"

"My Pip-Boy's IFF shows four targets, but this system doesn't work at very big distances. Assume there are more."

"Typically, when bandits occupy one of the villages, there are from eight to twelve of them. Any advice?"

"Aside from shoting them all in the head and not getting shot? Watch out for mines, there could be some. Me and Twilight nearly git blown up on that mine field."

"There are only three villages with such traps," one of the Apples spoke. "This ain't the one."

"Doesn't mean that White Knives couldn't have planted some."

"OK, you heard her. Everyone, let's drop 'em!" Applejack interjected. Sunset gripped her R91 harder, and jumped out of the cover behind which the squad was hiding. The bandits were clustered together, and did not expect two girls to jump out at them. Ill-prepared, they were quickly mowed down, but the action attracted the attention of other bandits, and both Applejack and Sunset were forced into cover. At that moment, other Apples fired from the starting position, while several tried attacking on the run. Two more bandits fell under fire.

"Well that's a good start," Applejack stated.

"Let's hope the finish is not worse!" Sunset said, blindly firing in the direction where one particularly annoying White Knife was giving her problems...

Meanwhile...

Boom!

Twilight's hunting rifle just ended the life of one of the White Knives.

"Nice shot," Big Macintosh was impressed.

While Applejack favoured direct assault with shock and awe tactics, the eldest Apple brother was somewhat more cautious. While he also chose to assault the enemy openly, he preferred attacking from afar. The fact that half of his squad was armed with hunting rifles also influenced his decisions.

As such, marksmen (Twilight included) picked out the targets while heavy-hitters bore the brunt of enemy fire and distracted the bandits, sometimes finishing off the enemies that were wounded (but not killed outright) by marksmen.

Big Macintosh layed down suppressive fire most of the time. Due to a stroke of luck, Apple family has come across an ammo storage that had plenty of ammo for the LMG that he carried, so he could afford (relatively speaking) wasting ammo. Still, he preferred short bursts, enough to keep the enemy down. If someone was careless enough to stick out, then the bulky young man spared no lead, however.

Twilight moved the bolt, took aim and fired again.

She missed, but her target jerked from a surprise sound of the whizzing bullet, exposing himself in the process. Big Macintosh wasted no time in taking him down.

Suddenly, Twilight noticed that her IFF showed three enemies trying to flank both her and Big Mac, and she immediately warned him about that, while taking the SMG.

Not a moment too soon - the enemies could already be seen. The equine Princess did not even think and simply pulled the trigger.

The leading one did not even have the chance to evade as 10mm bullets tore apart his carotid arteries and windpipe. Meanwhile Big Macintosh also took out his pistol, placing a well-aimed shot to the head of the other bandit.

Suddenly finding himself at a disadvantage, the last bandit saw it fit to retreat; however, he went the wrong way and got caught in a crossfire that left him with no chances of survival.

"That's eight," the Apple patriarch commented, "oh, wait, scratch that, nine already out of fifteen."

Boom!

"Ten," Twilight corrected him. "Reloading. The rest are running, do we pursue?"

"Ah'd rather be careful. Biting off more than we can chew can have bad consequences."

"What if they bring reinforcements?"

"Too long until prison from here. They can only run to some other village. That may, of course, be problematic, but we may reunite with mah sister later. Twenty of us makes for a formidable force."

If there will be twenty, Twilight thought, but did not speak out loud...

"That's a risky tactic, Applejack. What if we had stumbled across a greater force?" Sunset asked her blonde friend quietly. The squad had just cleared the first village, but that nearly cost several Apples their lives as they attacked the house through the front door and survived only by sheer luck as the remaining White Knives did not even mount a proper defense. And some of the Apples required first aid due to light wounds they had received.

"Ah admit, Ah'm not the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to tactics and stuff, but this works... most of the time," Applejack replied.

"And when it doesn't?"

"We bail out as fast as we can and reunite either with the other group or perform a fighting retreat into Appletown. The bandits don't risk going there without big numbers."

"I see."

"You have other thoughts?"

"I am curious. Why don't you attack at night?"

"Ya mean why don't we cut throats in their sleep, Sunset? 'Cause Ah'm not afraid of them, and Ah want them to know it," Applejack was visibly displeased with the idea Sunset had just offered.

"And the others?"

"Same for others, too. Ah asked those people beforehand, Sunset. True, some of them do feel fear, but they still go. Because they want to overcome their fears. Ah can clearly see when one lies, remember? None of them lied to me."

"OK, I get it. But that puts their lives at a great risk, and one day someone may snap under the pressure. You need to use all the advantages you have and deny the enemy those advantages, that's what the books on military tactics tend to say."

"You had a suggestion?"

"Let's try attacking the next village from another angle, Applejack, somewhere they wouldn't expect us..."

"Snap!" Big Macintosh cussed. "Twilight, do you see that sniper?"

"No, but I am trying," the girl replied.

One of the Apples fell victim to the headshot delivered by a White Knife who knew his way with a sniper rifle. Not having a sniper of their own, the attackers had to improvise, and the marksmen were trying their best to either kill the sniper or thin the enemy ranks, barely succeeding with the second task.

Fortunately, the sniper was a lousy shot most of the time, and hat trouble hitting the moving targets, which saved the lives of others, but prevented Big Macintosh from occupying a stationary position - doing so was suicidal. Twilight was changing positions, trying to find the annoyance, but so far only managed to take down two other bandits with low-quality armour.

Her ammunition exhausted, she reloaded her hunting rifle and looked down the ACOG sight, to see one of the Apples getting shot to the left shoulder. Another one dragged the wounded to safety, almost suffering the same fate.

The picture, however, inadvertently helped Twilight. Seeing the way the blood splattered, she mentally drew the bullet's path, and traced it to the first floor of one of the houses.

She was surprised initially, as the house had several windows, but her attentiveness was rewarded as she saw the figure lean out with a weapon that definitely had the optical sight.

Unfortunately, she could not reliably hit the target, as her sight did not allow for too big distances. That and her rifle was not designed for very great distances.

She needed to get closer.

"Big Mac," she said, "I've found the sniper, but I need to get closer to finish him off. Can you suppress him?"

"Where to shoot?" he asked.

Twilight described the target to him.

"Understood," he said. "Whenever you are ready."

"Do it," she asked. Big Macintosh rose on one knee and immediately started firing at the house which the sniper used as his vantage point. The bullets predictably missed, but the sniper panicked and hid behind whatever cover he had, and Twilight sprinted to the better vantage position. Other Apples, no longer bothered by a sniper (even for a short while), had the good sense to provide her with covering fire.

As she hid behind the house which she planned to use as cover, the equine-in-disguise took a few moments to steady her breath. Big Macintosh stopped his suppressive fire, which meant that the enemy sniper would stick out again soon.

And she had to be ready to greet him with a .32 caliber bullet to his head. The task was somewhat complicated by other White Knives who still could in theory suppress her or even wound her.

Twilight decided to spend her frag grenade on them. Taking the metal apple-like object, she primed the grenade.

Sticking out for a few moments, she swept the battlefield with her eyes, quickly calculating where the grenade would have the desired effect. And then her hand moved in an arc, releasing the grenade which no longer had the safety ring.

"Oh shit!"

"Grenade!"

"Take cover!"

BOOM!

The explosion was followed by screams of pain and cursing, and then by more shooting, as Apple family members pressed their advantage. Twilight looked down the ACOG sight and saw the enemy sniper frantically trying to catch someone in his crosshairs.

Not happening, a voice said savagely in her head, as the lavender-skinned girl took aim at the enemy who had already managed to kill another Apple and wound several more.

Boom! her rifle spoke.

A splash of red liquid and chunks of something flying in different directions told her that she didn't miss. And Pip-Boy showed only three targets remaining.

Time to take out the bandit trash! the same voice paraphrased her rainbow-maned Equestrian friend.

"What the hell is happening?"

"I don't know! The Appletowners are here, but- AAARGH!"

"Reaver's down!"

"Enemies everywhere!"

The screams of panicked White Knives could be heard all around the next village that Applejack had chosen as their next target. Sunset could not help but feel pleased.

Earlier, she had proposed that she went ahead to scout the village stealthily, and then build a battle plan. The White Knives, in their arrogance, did not even patrol the place properly, and were concentrated in two ends of the village.

Thus, Sunset suggested taking out the smaller concentration and then splitting into two groups. As the main force would rush to the place of the attack, the Appletowners would attack them from both sides, resulting in a vicious crossfire.

The plan worked perfectly. The weaker group was overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the unexpectedness of the attack, and as the main enemy force arrived, they were subjected to a vicious bulletstorm from assault and hunting rifles.

The enemies did try to put a resistance, of course, but they were foolish enough to charge head-first into the ambush without thinking of adequate cover. And without cover, the chances of survival dropped to zero faster than one could say "oops".

As the last of the White Knives fell, an eerie silence fell for a few seconds upon the battlefield. The blood of the enemies almost drenched the whole street, and some bodies had limbs torn away from them. The gory sight that was the result of an effective ambush caused some of the Apples to barf their food, and even Applejack and Sunset felt nausea creeping up to them. The former looked at the latter with a raised eyebrow.

Sunset only managed to mutter one single word:

"Ouch."

"Ouch indeed," the blonde girl agreed. "That was very gory. Darn, Ah almost lost mah own breakfast."

"Are we looting the bodies?"

"If there's anything left worth looting..."

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

Boom!

"Bandit down!"

"Nice one!"

"Watch out!

Ba-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

"AARRGH!"

"MEDIC!"

"Someone shoot that fucker!"

Boom! Boom! Ba-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

"Cover me!"

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

"I got your six! Now get the bastard!"

"On it!"

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Bra-ta-tat!

Ba-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

"AAAARGH!"

"God damn it, the bitch got Rocky!"

"Someone show her- oh no!"

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat!

"AAARGH!"

"That's the last of them!"

...

Silence. Simple, blissful silence.

Twilight Sparkle has never appreciated silence more than she did now. The bookish Princess always maintained the belief that silence was not, in fact, a bad thing (it certainly didn't distract her from reading), and she did enjoy the peace and quiet after some headache-causing debacles, but she was not really used to the noises of firing guns, explosions, screams of pain and repetitive dirty swearing and so on.

Thus, when the last White Knife fell to Appletowners, she took a deep breath and tried to enjoy the absence of the noises. The silence was not pitch perfect, of course, since her allies were still talking to each other, but still...

At least the noises aren't exceeding fifty or so decibels.

The result of the last assault was a moderate success. Unfortunately, one of the Apple men fell in combat, making the total number of KIAs three, and two more were severely wounded, so the medic was trying to create improvised stretches for them. Other people were checking the houses for usable loot or anything else of importance.

Big Macintosh stood slightly apart from the rest of the Appletown militiamen, a shadow crossing his features. Seeing this, Twilight decided to join him.

"You OK?" he asked.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm OK."

"Then why the gloom expression?"

"Twilight, you are royalty in your pony country, right?"

"Er... yes." What could have spurred this question?

"So you had had to make decisions that affected the lives of many others. Right?"

"Sort of... I mean, Equestria is a peaceful country, and we haven't had a war like this one. The last one happened seven hundred and twenty-four years ago, and we certainly don't possess the weapons this world does... Are you trying to ask me whether I had had to make decisons like the ones you and Applejack did earlier?"

"Eeyup," unlike usually, Big Macintosh's voice was quieter and sounded sadder. Twilight's guesses were confirmed. He feels guilt for the people that died or got wounded.

"Not like these ones, no. Typically, even if I risked my life along with someone else's, I was surrounded by my friends. And... well... we have never suffered more than some wounds."

"I see."

"But from what I have seen of this post-apocalypse, I don't think that you've made the wrong decisions."

"Even if someone died?"

"Well, what exactly could've been done to prevent that?"

"Ah don't know. Better weapons, or attackin' somehow else, or doing another thing, or... somethin'."

"Big Mac, did Sunset tell you how she found me?"

"Nope."

"She found me at the mercy of two raiders as one of them planned to kill me simply because I refused to give them all of my food. I was not against sharing, mind you, but they wanted everything I had. I was moments from dying as she shot the one who held me at gunpoint to the head. As I learned later, she lived in a village of Vault inhabitants that was besieged by a raider group, and the leader did not have a lot of professional soldiers. So he had to form a militia, which I joined later. And shortly after that, I had to assist in defending that village from an all-or-nothing attack. Do you know what I had learned that day?"

"What?"

"That death is certain if one doesn't resist people like this. True, resisting may mean death too. But not resisting is guaranteed death. You and everyone else are fighting for your lives against these depraved bandits, and this is the right decision."

"Hmmm... Ah suppose you are right."

"Hey, Big Mac!" they were interrupted by Golden Delicious, who just ran up to them. "We've found a prisoner!"

"What? Show us!" the Apple patriarch took off, Twilight on his heels.

As they entered the house where the Appletowners had found the prisoner, both of them emitted a small gasp. The prisoner had familiar beige skin, cerulean eyes and blue and pink hair...

"Twilight? Big Macintosh?" she exclaimed, surprised.

"Bon Bon? How did you get yourself in this predicament?" the equine Princess inquired, surprised.

"No time for that talk right now! Big Mac, the bandits here just told me that the White Knives were planning to attack Appletown!"

"How soon?" the burly young man inquired as others untied Bon Bon.

"Very soon, maybe even now!"

"Goldurn it, and here we are away from Appletown. Bon Bon, I hate to ask you this, but can you help?"

"I can even fight," with these words, the recently-freed girl opened one of the crates and dug out a small sub-machinne gun of unfamiliar design with a mounted collimator sight, as well as spare clips for it, "with this little baby in my hands."

"We have to re-unite with Applejack, and then double-time back to the town," Big Macintosh said, his resolution coming back. "Let's go, people!"

"Ponyfeathers!" Sunset cussed as she ducked behind cover to avoid getting her head blown off by enemy fire. "This is certainly the toughest nut to crack!"

"Ya don't say?!" Applejack shouted at her.

The assault on the last village was not going well. Despite Sunset's best attempts at reconnaissance, the White Knives quickly turned the table on Appletowners, using heavy weapons and better armour. Three Apples had already fallen to the onslaught and it seemed that this would not be the final number.

"Any plan B Ah should know about?!" the farm girl shouted again, firing her AP-79 blindly from cover.

"I'm thinking of one!" Sunset shouted back, trying to hit one of the bandits. She succeeded, but the military-grade armour managed to withstand the impacts, if barely. The bandit thought it best to retreat behind cover.

"Think faster!" with these words, Applejack released another stream of bullets. Unlike Sunset, she managed to hit the unprotected throat of one of the White Knives, shattering his larynx and piercing his carotid artery. This made their situation only marginally better, however.

The main problem was that the Appletowners got pinned down in a position from which they could be seen relatively well. The bandits who defended themselves used this to their advantage, preventing the Appletowners from taking careful aim. If not for Sunset's initial plan that allowed the Apples to capture a defensible position, the outcome would have been disastrous; but the trench-like warfare was by no means a better option. Flanking or attacking from behind was inmpossible - the enemies had installed metal lists as impromptu walls, leaving only two entrances, one of which was used by the town inhabitants for their attack; the other one was behind the enemy line.

If only there was a way to limit their visibility... Sunset mused.

Then she remembered that she still had a flashbang grenade.

The fiery-haired girl exchanged her R91 for the laser pistol and prepared to throw her grenade. Catching Applejack's eye, she showed with gestures what she planned to do, and the blonde girl gave her a thumbs-up as a sign of approval.

Sunset pulled the ring and threw the grenade from behind her cover, closing her eyes and trying to cover her ears as best as she could.

KA-BOOM!

A loud sound of approximately one hundred and seventy decibels caused ringing in her ears, but she still could hear something at least. However, according to the surprised screams of bandits, they were less lucky.

Risking her head, she peeked out of cover. The enemies stood disoriented, unable to see or hear things, and some of them were shaking due to the negative effect the flashbangs always had on the vestibular apparatus.

She vaulted over her cover and raised her laser pistol at the closest enemy in sturdier-than-usual armour.

Ba-zoot! Ba-zoot! Ba-zoot! Ba-zoot!

The armour that was relatively good against bullets failed to withstand the heated beam of red light. Receiving horrific burns, the bandit dropped down like a puppet with cut strings.

Ba-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

Applejack's assault rifle joined the fray, cutting down another bandit who did not manage to hide himself anywhere.

"Go, go, go!" she screamed, and other Appletowners joined the attack, firing their own weapons at the disoriented White Knives.

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Ba-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! Boom! Ba-zoot! Ba-zoot! Ba-zoot! Ba-ta-ta-ta-ta!

The cacophony of gunfire and screams of pain reigned supreme in the village, as the Appletowners turned the tables on the bandits this time. Sunset noticed that the machine gunner on the balcony was trying to set his heavy weapon on the bipod again.

Must stop him before he kills us all!

Sunset dropped onto one knee, trying to fix the bandit's head in the iron sights of her weapon.

Ba-zoot!

The red beam of light ignited the face of the machine gunner, turning his body into ashes; with a clank, his armour and LMG fell onto the balcony.

Appletowners stormed the house which gave them so much trouble, splitting into groups; Applejack went deeper into the house, and Sunset followed her. As the blonde girl took cover, Sunset rushed forward; on noticing movement in the far end, she took a shot at the figure, but missed, and her target jumped into cover.

"What the hay, Sunset?!" she heard a familiar voice scream indignantly.

"Twilight? Is that you?"

"Who else, Discord?! Did yoi not check your IFF?"

"Horseapples, Twilight, I'm sorry. But what are you doing here?"

"We need to double-time back to Appletown," Big Macintosh said, appearing from around the corner. "We've freed a prisoner, an' she said that the bandits were planning an attack."

"Whom did you free?" Applejack asked.

"Me," Bon Bon spoke, joining everyone. "Oh, hi, Applejack. Hey, Sunset."

"Bon Bon? Well Ah'll be! Wait, did ya say that White Knives wanted to attack Appletown?"

"If they're not doing it now," the recently-freed girl said morosely.

"Shucks! We must clean this village and go back..."

"We've already taken care of another part," Big Macintosh interrupted, "and mah guys even found a car with enough nuclear fuel and a machine gun."

"What are we waiting for?" Applejack shouted. "Let's go!"

As everyone ran out, they saw Big Macintosh's squad push out the open-roofed car that he had mentioned earlier. The blonde girl quickly sat in front of the steering wheel.

"Ah-ha, 53% of nuclear fuel left. Excellent!" she said, taking the keys from ignition and starting the engine.

"Dibs on the big gun!" Sunset shouted, climbing onto the back section and standing behind the 7.62mm machine gun. Twilight decided to take the passenger seat near Applejack, and Big Macintosh and Bon Bon lay down on the floor in the back section, joined by two more Apples who jumped quickly there.

"Appletown, here we come!" Applejack shouted, pushing down hard on the accelerator.

"Medal for the pedal!" the fiery-haired girl replied. "Woo-hoo!"

Oh my gosh, Twilight thought, methinks I have just placed myself in even bigger trouble than I had thought...

"Oh shit!" Applejack swore as their car approached Appletown. "The fuckers are after our apple orchard!"

The situation looked grim. Bon Bon's worst prediction came true - White Knives were already attacking Appletown, and they were trying their best at destroying the orchard. So far, they haven't succeeded, but the resistance of the defenders was slowly wearing down - the enemy came well-equipped, like the last group that gave Applejack's group so much trouble. Some of them could be seen wearing helmets, and it was hard to spot a bandit that did not have at least riot control armour on them.

It appeared that the bandits were expecting someone to come help them, as several waved in the direction of their jeep.

"The nerve of these varmints," Applejack spat, as she saw the bandits doing that. "Give 'em hell, Sunset!"

"With pleasure!" the fiery-haired girl replied, putting her fingers on the trigger.

Dra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

The 7.62mm machine gun spat its powerful ammunition. The bandits did not expect the onslaught, but the weapon's recoil did not allow for proper aiming, and at least half of the bullets went astray - but Sunset still managed to kill one of the bandits and cripple another one. Twilight tried to fire with her own AP-79, but her attempt had a more psychological effect than a physical one.

The bandits fired back wildly, but their distraction cost them dearly, as the defenders took advantage of the situation. Their return fire managed to kill two bandits and wound two more. However, everyone in the car now found themselves in trouble - there was no cover between them and the bandits, aside from the jeep, but anyone can tell that using cars as cover was by no means the good idea. Moreover, there was no windshield, which left the driver and the passenger (in this case, Applejack and Twilight respectively) badly protected. Sunset was in a particularly bad position - as the gunner, she found herself as the primary target of the bandits. As two of them trained their rifles on her, she had to duck to avoid being riddled by bullets.

"Everybody hold on!" Applejack shouted, speeding up the car.

"What in tarnation are you... oh horseapples, please don't tell me you're - AAAAAHHHHHH!" Twilight screamed in fear as she realized just what her blonde friend was planning to do, and ducked below the front panel, as the jeep rushed towards the White Knives. The bedazzled bandits stood shocked for several seconds, which cost several of them dearly, as the car ran over several of them with the speed of nearly sixty kilometers per hour - which was never good for someone's health, armour or no armour.

"What the fu-UUUUUUUUCK!" they heard Bon Bon scream in fear. Along with her, the Apples (Big Macintosh included) were adding their own obscenities into the mix, some of them could make even a foul-mouthed Equestrian sailor blush.

Dra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! Dra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! Dra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! Dra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! Sunset was wrestling with the recoil in order to at least try and hit someone, which proved to be more difficult than expected, given that the road itself was somewhat bumpy, and the collisions with the bandits also threw off her aim. Still, the ensuing bulletstorm managed to kill two bandits and wound four of them, some of them seriously. As for Applejack's ramming attempt, she hit two of them directly, and two more who didn't manage to get out in time got glancing hits. After that, she was not able to hit anyone else, as the bandits ran off in different directions and tried to fire back at her; but the farm girl was relentless in her attempts, which led to a silly game of bowling where both ten-pins and bowling ball had intelligence and the ability to run around each other.

The defenders of Appletown used the chaos to their advantage, picking off four enemies. However, even after all this there were still twelve enemies remaining.

One of the bandits released a three-round burst in the direction of the car. Two bullets missed and hit the metal, doing little to no damage, but the third one hit Applejack's left arm in the place which was not protected by her armour. Screaming in pain, she abruptly turned the steering wheel to the left and pushed on the brakes. The car skiddled a bit, tilting dangerously to the right side but not overturning (thankfully). Both Twilight and Sunset tried to fire at the bandits, but only succeeded in making them scatter around.

"Applejack's hit!" Twilight shouted, firing another burst at the enemy. This time she was luckier - the bullets hit the face of a bandit, and one of them entered his forehead, killing him instantly. Sunset, on the other hand, found herself under the brunt of the enemy attack and was forced to abandon her position near the machine gun, dropping down onto the floor.

"Goldurn it, we left Red Delicious behind!" Big Macintosh bellowed. "Anyone here a medic?"

"I'm on it, cover me!" Bon Bon replied, jumping out and aiming at the bandits with her SMG.

The passengers of the jeep found themselves in a truly dangerous position - aside from the car itself, there was no cover between them and the bandits; moreover, Applejack managed to position the car that left the White Knives stuck between the defenders of Appletown and whoever fit into the jeep. The remaining Appletowners who went on a raid against the bandits still needed to cover the distance on foot (unless they were lucky enough to find a second car). This meant that the attacking bandits had two options - die in a crossfire or battle their way through those who blocked their way of retreat.

Assuming that they wouldn't try and destabilize the car's nuclear engine, that meant that whoever was near the car just became a primary target. With Sunset not able to discourage the bandits from rushing them, things took on a very bad turn.

Bon Bon, covered by Big Macintosh's LMG, fired several bursts at the bandits, and then tried dragging Applejack out of the car. Twilight reloaded her AP-79 somewhat clumsily (try reloading your gun when ducking in a car) and fired blindly once she finished. Sunset tried firing at others with her laser pistol, but while she wounded several bandits, she was unable to kill anyone, and soon was forced to duck as she needed to replace the battery in her weapon.

Bon Bon fired again with one hand, dragging Applejack with the other one. Twilight took aim at another bandit and fired, but missed, and was forced to duck again.

Celestia and Luna protect us all! she prayed to her land's rulers mentally, feeling desperation overtake her.

"How is she?" Big Macintosh asked Bon Bon as she put Applejack against the car.

"Bright red blood, means artery damage. Need a tourniquet!" the double-colour-haired girl replied, with a sense of urgency.

"My first aid kit in my rucksack!" Sunset shouted, taking potshots with her laserpistol again. Bon Bon quickly stepped up to her, rummaging through her rucksack until she found the needed object.

"Excellent!" the new medic spoke and began first aid procedures.

"Ah'll be alright! Just defend Appletown!" the blonde girl tried to act tough, although the grimace on her face utterly demolished the attempts.

"Like hell you will if I don't stop the bleeding!"

"They are coming closer!" Twilight shouted. Two Apples managed to drop three bandits but the return fire killed one of them, and Sunset killed another one. A bullet whizzed, wounding her left arm slightly and causing a hiss, but she only grit her teeth and resumed firing.

"Sunset!" her compatriot screamed in alarm.

"'Tis but a flesh wound!" the fiery-haired girl replied, landing a headshot and turning another bandit into ash. However, the bandits were very close now. In desperation, Twilight threw her last frag grenade.

"Oh shit!" she heard a White Knife scream, and then a BOOM resonated across the battlefield, followed by a scream of pain. As the violet-skinned girl risked sticking her head out, she noticed that two of the bandits were struggling to get up, and some of them managed to evade the flying splinters. Without a pause, she fired at the closest one. The bullets hit the helmet, piercing it and killing the bandit. Another one received a laser beam straight into the back of his neck, which was not protected - even if he survived, his spinal cord was most assuredly damaged, and he would not stand up.

Five more remain.

Unfortunately, the splinters damaged the car, too - both tires were flat, and the front was torn to shreds. Twilight suspected that being in the car was hazardous now, and dropped out, covering her head and running towards the back part of the jeep. Two bullets hit her armoured jumpsuit, but failed to pierce it; still, she almost stumbled under the force of impact.

She also realized that she ran out of 5.56mm ammo she had on her person.

Bucking flying ponyfeathers! she cursed inwardly, not even bothering with her un-royal language. For a fleeting moment, she imagined Rarity gasping and fainting upon hearing her swear, but quashed the image immediately.

No time!

"How's Applejack?" she asked, dropping behind cover.

"I injected her with a RegenStim, but she can't fight right now," Bon Bon replied. The beige-skinned girl fired at the bandit that got dangerously close and killed him with a well-placed burst.

"Ah can!" Applejack protested.

"No you can't!" Big Macintosh bellowed, firing on the bandits and managing to kill off another one.

"Ah must protect them!" the girl spoke desperately. The screams of pain seemed to prove her point, but then they heard:

"Applejack? Big Macintosh? Come out, you are safe!"

"Apple Pumpkin?" the eldest Apple brother spoke. "That you?"

"Yes, me. We hit the bastards in the back. Is everyone OK?"

"No, Applejack's wounded, and Apple Jam died. Seven of ours died in total," while Big Macintosh did not cry, everyone could tell he was saddened. Applejack herself wore the stoic expression, her face giving away nothing.

That's seven people too many. What a world. What a world, Twilight Sparkle thought.

Then, as the adrenaline left her, she simply dropped onto her butt.

"Twilight!" she heard Sunset cry. "You OK?"

"Ya alright, sugarcube?" Applejack spoke kindly.

"I... don't know," Twilight spoke. And everyone could see that she, in fact, spoke the truth.

She truly did not know.

Some time later...

"You wanted to see me, Curve Blade?" spoke the person standing in front of the leader of the White Knives.

"Yes. You are Slip Swipe, the representative of Crimson Hand, I presume," Curve Blade spoke.

"Indeed I am. You mentioned that you wanted to offer us a deal."

"True. You know the small settlement known as Appletown?"

"I know that they had resisted your forces again," Slip Swipe could not resist stinging the leader of the White Knives. While he knew better than to say it upfront, he viewed the raiders and bandits under Curve Blade's command as riff-raff unworthy to clean his guns.

Then again, we are professionals, and they are not. What would one expect?

"They did, but they actually had assisiance this time. Have you heard of this "Daring Duo" that dared to interfere with the chastisement of that merchant Cap Collector? Well, they had the nerve to assist the Appletowners in their "raids" on the villages that I control, and even managed to repeal some of my best people."

"Not by themselves, I assume?" That would be ridiculous.

"No, but with their assistance, the normally inept Appletowners dealt a... severe blow. I would like Crimson Hand to deal with these two... "heroines", the last word was spoken with contempt, something that Slip Swipe actually shared.

"In what manner?"

"However you wish, but I want their heads delivered to me."

"How many caps do you offer?"

"And how many would you charge for this?" Trying to extort extra from me, the nerve, Curve Blade frowned.

"The boss decides that, not me. His word is final. How many?"

"Five thousand," the leader of White Knives gnashed his teeth.

"I'll pass this on. Once the decision is reached, we will inform you. Anything else?"

"No."

"I'll take my leave, then. Have a pleasant day," with these words, Slip Swipe left.

If I have to deal with that slime again, I'll snap and gut this upstart pig, he thought.

Curve Blade had similar thoughts, but they were targeted towards the "Daring Duo" mostly.

Just you wait, Daring Duo, just you wait. Soon, everyone will hear on CWN that one does not mess with me and walks out alive.

Unbeknownst to him, someone else was listening to the conversation with the help of high-tech listening device that used laser beams to detect the tiny oscillations of windows that occurred whenever someone spoke.

The eyes, which were directed towards the prison that was now the base of the White Knives, narrowed.

The person grabbed the device, stood up and left, leaving no trace of their activity.

Unique Perk (Applejack)

Iron Skin: Your Damage Reduction is 20% higher than normal. The bonus stacks with whatever armour you wear.

Author's Note

Another chapter ready! Yay!

Important piece of news: I have a job now. This means that updates are likely to be sporadic. Sometimes, when there's nothing to do on the job, I can write a thousand words or two, and there are Saturdays and Sundays as well, but still, this may influence my writing speed badly. Next chapter will most likely arrive in 10-20 days, but we'll see how lucky I am.

So, we have a mysterious assassin on our hands... and also Bon Bon Yes, I know that officially she is called Sweetie Drops, but... well... my headcanon is that everyone calls her Bon Bon.

Thoughts, comments, criticism? Don't be shy, use the comment section

Stay tuned!