Chapter 18

Ambush and attacks

As soon as Twilight managed to recover and take off Lemon Zest's headphones for volume to be adjusted to the normal levels instead of "I-won't-go-deaf-in-several-months-because-I-am-Lemon-Zest" levels, she actually enjoyed several pieces of music. She, Sunset, Lemon and Vinyl enjoyed the next several hours just listening to music and generally having fun around.

After several rounds of beer, the girls tried dancing (except Vinyl, who took her usual DJ spot) in a limited space. Lemon Zest was dancing like she did at Friendship Games, intermixing some new dance moves with her style; Sunset did not restrict herself to any particular style, changing moves as she saw fit depending on the music.

And Twilight...

Once the Equestrian Princess started dancing, Lemon Zest collapsed into laughter as soon as she saw Twilight's... "moves", Sunset facepalmed, and Vinyl giggled into her hand (she had seen this type of dancing before), pretending that the spectacle was most definitely not amusing to her, but failed.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, Twilight!" the lime-haired girl was holding her stomach, in danger of ripping her abdominal muscles. "Who in the name of... heavy metal dances like... that?"

"I do!" Twilight replied without a care in the world. "What? You don't like it?"

"More like... I am wondering what chem one... must be on to dance like... that!" Lemon was having trouble with managing the flow of air from and into her lungs, making others worried that she might be hyperventilating.

"We don't abuse substances, Lemon," Sunset replied curtly.

"I have seen Twilight dance like that before," Vinyl spoke up, giving up the pretense of being un-amused at Twilight's antics. "It's called pony dancing."

"Geez, I wish MyStable still existed - the video would have been a hit!" Lemon proclaimed, as the pony-turned-human blew a raspberry to the side and made an energetic kick to the air with her left leg.

"Too bad it doesn't," Sunset spoke.

"Wait! I want to capture the memories! Vinyl, where's the camera?!"

"Over there, somewhere. Dunno if the battery still has juice, though..."

"I don't care, even a few seconds are worth it!"

Having enjoyed their rest and recreation (and Twilight's "pony dancing" style at the latter's expense), everyone felt better, as if the frustrations and hardships of previous days were simply flushed away somewhere below the ground.

However, both Equestrians could not stay any longer, and with a heavy heart, they said their goodbyes to the now-known DJ's of Canterlot Wastelands News. Naturally, they promised to keep the identities secret (although Vinyl said it was OK to let Applejack know about them), and Lemon promised that as soon as they brought up MyStable again, the video of Twilight dancing would instantly get uploaded - much to the latter's chagrin.

Sunset told her, although, that the task of restoring the servers necessary to host such a project as MyStable was nigh impossible, since the Internet was basically destroyed along with the cities and towns of UFE, so Twilight was safe... until her shenanigans were recorded on a magneto-optic data disk and copies of it were distributed.

As they were about to exit the lair of DJ's, Vinyl stopped both Equestrians for a "private talk". As it turned out, the electric-blue-haired girl lost contact with Octavia Melody, the cellist whom Twilight and Sunset knew to be Vinyl's best friend and roommate.

"Did you two separate?" the fiery-haired girl asked.

"Yes. We both left Canterlot, but I went for Baltimare, and she went to Trottingham where she performed for fundraisers - you know, support for UFE soldiers and stuff. She was fairly active, but some time later, she just... dropped off the radar. Deleted her MyStable account, her e-mails, her phone was no longer available... I suspect that she got herself involved with higher-ups somehow, or crossed a wrong person - I recall she protested quite loudly when Commissariat trashed down one anti-recruitment protest. I don't know if she can be still alive... but if you happen to come across a hint of what happened to her, let me know, OK?"

"If we do caome across, we'll tell you," Twilight promised.

"Thank you both. Well then, goodbye. See you," with these words, Vinyl closed the door behind them.

On their way to leave CWN HQ, the girls went by bar again, buying some spare food for their travel (Hunter Rose insisted on a discount) and saying goodbye to the bartender.

"Travel safe," he told them, "and shine upon the Wastelands with your beauty," he added with a wink.

"This Hunter Rose certainly looks like a decent man..." Twilight reflected. "A big flirt, though."

"At least he has better vocabulary than some other people," Sunset answered. "His compliments are way better than "that ass" or something else."

"I take it that males are also obsessed with female butts in this world?"

"Essentially, yes. Although it depends on a particular person. There is a whole science behind what humans consider attractive in opposite gender... or used to be, at least."

"I wouldn't deny this knowledge."

"Going to check whether Flash Sentry is good enough?" the fiery-haired girl smirked.

"Wha- Sunset!" the Princess blushed. "Stop teasing!"

"Spoilsport," Sunset grumbled, but decided not to press the topic of her friend's personal relationships.

"What about you, Sunset?"

"What?"

"Have you ever... well... noticed someone as a probable... romantic partner?"

"Well, Twilight, how to put it best... After my reformation, no one really wanted to approach me. I was the ex-she-demon who tried to brainwash the whole school, and who did a lot of bad things. That certainly did not help me on dating market, pushing me firmly to the bottom. When I was more accepted, I was not really interested in relationships myself, and once I graduated... I never met the person whom I would want to consider a romantic partner. With whom I would feel complete. I was not interested in one-night stands with a male with too much testosterone for his own good, and once I got into the Vault, many singles wanted exactly that. No thanks."

"Didn't that get you... frustrated? If you get what I mean..."

"I do get what you mean, Twilight. I'll tell you this: that wasn't much of a problem for me."

"Oh... OK."

"I do wish that there was a guy who would retain good manners when it comes to relationships with girls, though."

"I think we'll find one," Twilight smiled optimistically, trying to reassure her friend.

"Or we could share Flash, you know..."

"SUNSET!"

"Teasing! Teasing! But I've got to tell you this - guys sometimes dream of a threesome with two hot girls..."

"Something tells me that Flash wouldn't agree to it," the equine Princess spoke calmly, trying not to let the irrational feeling of jealousy seep into her words.

"You're most probably right."

I'm glad.

"Well, Celestia willing, I-"

Ba-dang!

"AAAAARRRGH!"

"Sunset?" Twilight turned to her friend...

...who was clutching her right arm, teeth clenched in pain.

"Sunset!" Twilight shouted, giving short bursts in direction where she believed the bullet to come from, looking frantically for cover. Fortunately for them, the area they were travelling in now had rocks scattered here and there, and they were close to one - however, the rock was very low, and could only provide cover if someone was lying down behind it. Still, it was their best chance for survival now, and thus the lavender-skinned girl pulled her unlucky compatriot there.

Ba-dang!

"Argh!" Twilight grunted, as the sniper bullet tore away a part of her flesh unprotected by armour on her left leg. "Ponyfeathers!" she cussed, noting that her speed lowered. Using her right hand to wave her assault rifle in the enemy's general direction and unleash a stream of bullets until the magazine was emptied, she limped on, as Sunset overtook her and pulled her behind the rock. They barely got down on earth in time before another bullet whizzed past their heads.

"How did I... not drop my rifle's... beyond me," the fiery-haired girl grunted in pain.

"How bad is it?" Twilight took out her first aid kit.

"Not good, my arm is crippled. Bucking horseapples, artery's nicked! Twilight, give me a tourniquet!"

"Here."

"Help me."

As the girls were frantically trying to stop the bleeding, two more sniper rifle rounds flattened themselves against the rock (metaphorically speaking).

"Good thing that sniper is a lousy shot," Sunset grumbled as the tourniquet was fastened and the bleeding stopped.

"That was lousy?!" Twilight exclaimed, injecting RegenStim and Med-X into Sunset's arm.

"When a sniper is not lousy, you are dead."

"Well, piss," a voice came from the violet-haired girl's rucksack.

"Spike?" Twilight addressed her loyal assistant.

"I'll scout; good thing I am small and less noticeable," the previously silent dragon-turned-dog climbed out of his usual place and went in the enemy's direction.

"I hope he'll be OK," the Princess of Friendship whispered, wrapping bandages around her leg.

"So do I," Sunset replied. "Reload your assault rifle."

"Oh, right," Twilight changed the magazine and pulled the bolt (which took her some time - ever tried reloading when under sniper fire and nothing must stick out?), getting ready to greet whoever thought to use them for target practice with lead storm...

"Demons fuck it all, Scope, you couldn't shoot better?"

"You think it's that easy? Try it once we get back to the base!"

"Shut the fuck up, both of you. They are wounded, approach carefully and finish them off."

"You sure we shouldn't just pepper them with grenades, boss? Wounded animal is a lot more dangerous."

"If you have spare caps, feel free."

"I don't."

"Then shut your tramp. Snap Scope, keep them pinned."

"You got it, boss."

"Others approach them carefully. Disperse, so we can surround them."

"Don't they have Pip-Boys with IFF?"

"There are ways to counter that..."

"I see red marks on my IFF screen, so far I'm counting five," Sunset wiggled to take a peek at her Pip-Boy.

"So do I, but... what the hay?"

Twilight's IFF screeen just exploded with a flurry of green and red marks that were moving chaotically all over it. Intuitively, she understood that the enemy has just gotten an advantage over them, and suspected that the attackers could have caused this deliberately. Her suspicions were confirmed once Sunset said that the hostiles have just deployed something she called an "IFF-blinder", some sort of device that generates a signal which, when caught by Pip-Boy IFF systems, renders them useless.

"So what now?"

"Now our only ace up our sleeves is Spike and his nose," the fiery-haired girl replied, holding her Buffalo SMG in her left hand. While the pain had subsided, Med-X made the nerves virtually unresponsive, and Sunset couldn't use it properly, much to her displeasure. "Because when electronics fail, sensitive noses don't..."

At that time, Spike came back and spoke quickly:

"Twilight... there are nine people crawling towards us, and it looks like they want to surround you."

"Pony piss," Sunset swore, "I bet that that sniper is still watching us; that makes ten enemies. Who in Tartarus are those guys?"

"Don't really know and don't care. We must survive."

"Spike, can you show us their approximate positions?"

"Yeah, I can, but what use would it be?"

"I think that we'll have to settle for blind firing..."

One of the attackers was slowly crawling towards the position occupied by intended targets. Snap Scope messed up (as usual), but he still could keep them pinned down.

He could barely look up for fear of exposing himself. The girls may have been hiding, scared out of their panties, but that didn't mean he could relax. Any being with a weapon could end a life even if they themselves were about to die. He saw personally what happened when someone decided to sell their life as dearly as possible.

Needless to say, he did not want a repeat.

He continued crawling...

For Twilight Sparkle this was not the first time when she was staring into the face of death. Even back in Equestria, certain encounters could actually prove fatal. From manticores to hydras to Tirek...

I have been close to death many times, even before I landed in this world. I should have gotten used to it by now.

Still, the odds were not looking in their favour. The enemy outnumbered them five-to-one (presumably), and who knew whether they outclassed the girls in weapons and armour.

Screw the odds! The odds of you - a barely-prepared pony in the form of a human - surviving in this world which is more dangerous in Equestria were quite low. As long as the odds are above zero, resist! Surrender is death!

Oh no I am not planning to surrender!

That's the spirit!

She glanced to Spike, who tensed and showed her the direction of an outflanking enemy. Shifting to aim better, she waited for a second...

And then raised her AP-79, squeezing the trigger, and putting hands down almost immediately.

Ba-dang!

The sniper fired again, but his shot went wide. However...

The attacker could not hide his surprise as two hands holding an assault rifle - which pointed in his direction! - pop up from behind the rock.

In the mere moments before his luck ran out and one of the bullets penetrated his skull, he managed to briefly admire and curse his adversary, who somehow guessed the direction of his approach or was simply lucky enough.

Sunset promised to herself that if she survived this somehow, she would take care to find some gems and give them to Spike, should he and Twilight return to Equestria.

The little dog, while hardly threatening to their enemies physically, still retained heightened dog senses, including smell and hearing. His little size also helped in making him less noticeable in rather dense grass.

Spike went from one side to another, quickly determining the approximate direction of threat and relaying the information. Once he did, Twilight and Sunset took terms in trying to eliminate the attackers. Most of their bullets went wide, since the hostiles were hiding well, but twice Sunset managed to hear a scream of pain.

Unfortunately, IFF system was still useless thanks to the blinder, which left her unable to determine the exact number of attackers. For all she knew, there could be half of enemies left... or all of them could still be alive, including that damnable sniper.

Despite Med-X, she still felt pain, and she knew that the fix was only a temporary measure; without AMFAK-10 and its advanced medicinal drugs that allowed to quickly stop the bleeding, fix the walls of artery, restore the blood flow and prevent necrosis, she could actually lose a limb.

Cybernetics is unlikely to come by now, she mused darkly. RegenStim could mitigate the negative effects for some time, though. Even with it, there was still a risk of limb loss.

Then again, if she and Twilight died here, limb loss would be the least of worries.

Her Buffalo SMG spat the last bullets and clicked, signifying lack of ammo.

Well fuck, and now I need to reload that finicky mechanism. What else? she thought exasperatedly.

Suddenly, Twilight screamed in fear as assault rifle fire rained on them and their cover.

I just had to think that!

"Urgh," Twilight groaned, "with this suppressive fire, I'm too afraid to try and attack again," she said loudly, trying to "outspeak" the sounds of enemy fire.

"Pray that they don't have grenades, or we're fucked," Sunset said.

"Please don't give them ideas," Spike grumbled.

"Grenades... grenades... that's it, grenades!" Twilight's face brightened, at which both Sunset and Spike stared, puzzled.

"Er, Twilight, we don't have any grenades..."

"I know! But if they have them..."

Suddenly, the equine Princess frowned, and turned to her Number 1 Assistant:

"Spike... what I'm about to ask of you is very dangerous."

"Spill it, Twilight; if it helps save you two, I am all ears."

"I want you to check if there are grenades on bodies. I think that we definitely killed or at least severely wounded someone. If we did, take any grenades you can and bring them here. And please hurry."

"Will do, Twilight. Where to go?"

"To the right, I think," Sunset spoke up, having released several bullet streams blindly before she was forced to pull her hand back. "Twilight's rifle packs a better punch."

"I'm on it!" with these words, Spike left the cover, invisible in the grass.

"I so hope he'll be OK..." Twilight muttered, worried.

"So do I, but... oh shit, grenade!"

A small apple-sized metal object landed between them. As the lavender-skinned girl looked at it, her eyes widened...

Blooping sound...

Explosive flying...

BOOM!

Splinters everywhere...

PAIN.

Bleeding.

Dying...

"Eat this!"

KA-BOOM!

In the few moments during which Twilight was reliving her near-death experience, Sunset managed to roll onto her back, pick the grenade with her left hand and throw it over the rock (but not in Spike's direction), where it exploded. She heard a scream, which signified that someone did not like the taste of their own medicine.

"Snap out of it!" she screamed in her friend's face, causing the latter to shake her head violently and unleash a stream of bullets when the intensity of suppressive fire was lower.

Spike, if you save us all, I'm definitely getting you the biggest gem I can find!

Spike was no stranger to danger. While position of Number 1 Assistant to Celestia's ex-personal student and now Princess of Friendship did not have being endangered in its description, the various adventures made him adapt to it. And now, when the lives of Twilight and Sunset (whom Spike eventually began thinking of as a friend) hanged on him being able to get a grenade or two and slip back undetected, he was resolved not to fail.

He desperately wished he could still breathe fire, though. Dog form, while granting better hearing and olfactory senses, made him more vulnerable. Skin and fur were not as resilient as scales, and he was not a breed of dog that could easily clamp and topple an enemy. And he really didn't want to try and find out how a bullet wound feels like. Seeing the girls hurt was enough of an indication that bullets are nasty.

Man, am I glad Equestria doesn't have these "guns".

He sensed two humans lying down to the left of him, firing at the rock the girls were hiding behind, and smelled blood. Feeling revulsion, he went in the direction where blood smell was coming from.

Another man was lying dead, his head pierced by a bullet. His dead fingers were clutching an assault rifle similar to the one that Sunset had, and he was lying on his stomach. And on his left side...

Ah-ha! There's my prize!

...were two attached grenades. just what Spike needed.

Now how to get them? Man, this is bad when I don't have claws...

Both Twilight and Sunset have noticed that their enemies were quite disciplined when it came to suppressive fire. Unlike other combatants that would fire all their weapons, the assailants were shooting in turns; while one group fired, the other reloaded, thus making a never-ending stream of fire.

Both girls gave up their attempts to fire blindly in approximate directions, wisely deciding that such an attempt would more likely result in their arms getting shot off than in doing actual damage to the enemies. They were now keeping an eye on their respective sides, trying to prevent the enemy from outflanking them. Several times they fired from behind a rock to dissuade enemies from advancing, although Twilight fired less bullets for fear of hitting Spike by accident.

Another grenade landed in front of her. Screaming in fear, she grabbed it and threw it away in direction of the enemy sniper. A BOOM resonated across the field, but this time no screams of pain followed.

Sunset felt less optimistic now. She remembered that grenades also had a timer setting, and should someone set a grenade accordingly, then both of them will be lacerated by fragments before they had a chance to react.

Suddenly, a blip sounded, and both girls saw on their Pip-Boys that their IFF systems were no longer blinded. The screen showed five marks, which meant - six enemies left, including the sniper.

About time something went in our favour, both girls thought.

Spike was panting; taking the grenades off the corpse was harder than he believed it to be. Once again, he wished his normal dragon claws were in place, as they were better designed for manipulations with objects of human world.

As the second grenade rolled out on the ground, another task presented itself: how in Equestria was he supposed to bring two grenades in one time? Only one grenade could relatively reliably fit in his mouth. Paws were not that great of an option: grenades could roll the wrong way and he would be detected sooner than he would get back.

Oh snap, he thought once he realized what his transportation option was...

"If that continues, we're done for," Sunset muttered quietly, so as her compatriot would not hear her.

The situation did not look any less grim than it had looked several minutes ago. Even if they had only six enemies to deal with now (which was six enemies too many, in Sunset's opinion), their adversaries still kept up the pressure. So far they have survived in this combat mostly thanks to dumb luck. Had the sniper been better or had there not been a good cover nearby, and they would be dead.

Nearby, Twilight hissed as the needle of a pneumosyringe with RegenStim entered her leg. While her wound was not as dangerous as Sunset's, she could not afford to bleed too much, and while the enemy was not trying to advance and outflank them, she used her chance to fix herself.

Maybe they will run out of ammo soon? she hoped privately, but then realized immediately that if the push came to shove, the enemy would attempt to rush them.

The rustle nearby alerted her to the presence of someone approaching, and a moment later, Spike emerged with two grenades.

"Sunset, Spike's back!"

"Good! Now give them here and - what in Nightmare Moon's mane?!"

The fiery-haired girl's outburst was warranted by the fact that Spike carried grenades by safety rings, which were set on his canine teeth.

"What?" he said, as Twilight carefully pried the grenades out of his mouth and gave one to Sunset. "I had no other way!"

"OK then," Sunset said, "we need to ensure that they don't do the same trick we did... now, the timer's... set. Twilight, give me your grenade."

"Here."

"Aaand... done, three seconds. Now, you throw them to the right of us, I'll do to the left, look at IFF so as to hit best."

"OK."

"Now, on count of three, one... two... three!"

The sniper was getting really bored; the targets were not even trying to shoot back anymore, which meant that his comrades successfully suppressed them.

His mood was further spoiled by the fact that he had few ammo left. His fire has done more psychological damage than physical; unless the targets were really unlucky not to have medical supplies on hand (and he knew they were not), they would have done first aid procedures and fought back.

And fight back they did. Despite his best attempts, they managed to take out four of their group already. Daring Duo, despite the absurdity of their moniker, were no slouches and gave as good as they got - scratch that, they gave more than they got.

Suddenly, two hands simultaneously appeared from behind the rock, and he seized his chance.

BA-DANG!

His ears rang again from the loudness of his shot. Through his optical sight he saw a spray of blood. His peripheral vision made out the shapes of grenades...

...grenades?!

BOOM! BOOM!

His ears made out screams of pain, and then the suppressive fire his comrades were laying down has ended abruptly.

What the..?

For a moment he lay there, dumbfounded, struggling to comprehend what happened.

Just where did they get grenades? And why didn't they use them earlier? And how were they able to discern the direction?

The latter question could be answered with IFF-blinder running out of juices. If he could scramble their IFF systems again...

His hand came up empty.

Oh shit, I forgot that we had only one IFF-blinder!

Realistically, he was not defenseless at all, and still could kill them both - but he had only two full clips of five .308 ammo, and he was not really a great shot. His reserve weapon was a mere pistol - not a match against assault rifles. His armour was not that great either.

Tartarus damn it! This has gone to the dogs really quick! I think I need to make myself scarce while I can still breathe...

He began crawling away from the ambush site, keeping an eye on the damnable rock where the targets just turned the tables on them.

"Argh! Ouch! Ahh... Bucking ponyfeathers!"

"Hold still, damn it!" Sunset Shimmer swore, trying to force Twilight to cease moving. The task was extremely complicated by Sunset's own wounded right arm, which she favoured, and their position of lying down.

"Oooof..."

"This is getting out of hand," Sunset muttered, trying to bandage the wound. The bullet did not nick any arteries or veins, which was well and good, but it still tore away a good chunk of flesh, making the experience quite painful. Also, it made blleding harder to stop.

Still, once Twilight stopped thrashing around and assisted with her left hand as much as she could, the job became easier. The pressing bandage was now firmly secure, and Sunset gave her compatriot an injection of RegenStim.

If this goes on, we will run out of medicines pretty soon.

"How are you, Twilight? Can you use your hand?"

"I can, but... OUCH... it hurts..."

"Hey, the firing's stopped," the fiery-haired girl noticed. "And my IFF screen does not show any targets remaining..."

"This means only the sniper is left!" despite the pain she was feeling right now, the Princess' face brightened.

"I'll scout carefully," Spike offered.

"Do it," Sunset said. As the dragon-turned-dog went on his way, she asked:

"Hey, Twilight, how much do gems cost in Equestria right now?"

"I..." the equine stumbled.

I... I can't remember! The realization struck her harder than the most powerful concussive spell she could muster back in Equestria. Why can't I remember?!!!

"I can't remember!" she almost shouted in panic. "Was it fifty bits a ruby when I left? Or sixty? And emeralds? Were they fifty-five? No, there was a drop - average price should have been fifty..."

"Twilight!" Sunset grabbed her friend's arm. "Calm down!"

"But I can't! I should have remembered this! I know that one month and four days ago a ruby cost fifty-two bits a piece, an emerald cost fifty-four, and sapphires..."

Slap! The sound of flesh meeting flesh sounded to both girls as loud as a gun shot, even if in reality it was otherwise.

"Twilight!" the unicorn-turned-pony was looking pretty pissed off right now. "Shocking as it is, we still have a sniper on our hands! Stop with Celestia-darned panicking!"

"Oh... sorry, Sunset... but I..."

"Later! Focus on the task at hand, which is survival. We need an idea on how to get rid of that sniper."

"OK..." Gritting her teeth from the pain she was feeling right now, she went silent, listening for any sounds of danger and trying to think of a way to bypass their last enemy.

Several minutes passed, during which both girls did nothing, their nerves strained, until...

"Hey, girls," Spike returned, panting, "I just scouted ahead, and... well... the sniper just... bailed out!"

"What?!" both girls exclaimed.

"It's true! I could sense his smell, but only a faint one... I searched and searched, but he... well... it seems he crawled back a bit, and then got up and... ran away. Far away."

Both girls looked at each other.

"Far enough not to threaten us anymore?" Twilight asked.

"It seems so... I think he is at least one kilometer away by now."

"One kilometer?" Sunset spoke up. "OK, that should be a safe distance. Let's crawl out of here carefully, then, if it's safe, we'll loot the bodies and go on. Maybe someone was generous enough for some medicines."

As the girls were crawling out, Spike ran ahead to scout out the area once again and confirmed that the sniper did, in fact, run away. After that, the girls quickly looted the bodies for ammo and weapons. The armour of their attackers was of generally good quality, so they decided to take as many armour plates as they reasonably could. They also stripped some armour plates to fix their own armour suits (as theirs took some beating).

As they examined the armour more closely, they noticed the insignia on the shoulder pads, which looked like a red hand print. As Sunset saw it, she swore loudly, using one of the most ill-wishing curses known in her time:

"Celestia banish them to the moon! It's Tartarus-damned Crimson Hands again!"

"What?!" Twilight gasped.

"Yeah. See that red hand print image? Canterlot Wastelands News spoke several times on how to discern them. Apparently, they tried to assassinate us again. And the sniper got away. Damn it! They might bring reinforcements! And we spend time looting! Let's get out of here!"

"Agreed," the lavender-skinned girl scooped Spike up, tucking him to his rucksack. Both girls ran as quickly as possible away from the confrontation site...

Fifty minutes later...

"Oof... oof... my side," Twilight huffed out, holding her hand against the aforementioned body part, which was currently in pain; other hand was resting against the trunk of a tree. Sunset was making coughing noises and spitting out the phlegm that accumulated in her throat due to the long run, standing several steps away.

"Oooh, horseapples," she spoke with difficulty.

"More like... hoarse apples," the equine Princess could not resist some "trolling".

"Oh you..." Sunset doubled over, holding herself against the tree, trying desperatrly to inhale some air for a laugh. "Worst... pun... ever..." she spoke through hoarse laughter.

"Is... not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"I don't care!" Spike added his two bits worth, causing a bout of laughter at his expense. Grumbling, he was about to hide back into Twilight's rucksack, as something attracted his attention.

"Hey, isn't that smoke?"

"Where..?" Twilight turned around and indeed, saw the cloud of soot-black smoke rising slowly.

"Wait a sec..." Sunset came up from behind, "isn't that the direction to Appletown?"

Two Equestrians looked at each other, looks of horror etched on their faces.

"Oh shit!!!" the fiery-haired girl swore, dropping the spare armour plates out of her rucksack. "Dump the trophies, Twilight, we need to make haste!"

"Buck me in the face..." the Princess of Friendship moaned, following her friend's example and dumping the armour of now-deceased Crimson Hands. "We were running not long ago... Sunset, wait for me!" she shouted, trying to catch up with her compatriot...

"Oh no... oh fuck no," Sunset breathed out in horror upon seeing the current state of Appletown.

"Celestia and Luna merciful!" Twilight gasped.

The source of smoke turned out to be Appletown indeed; several buildings were on fire, and gunfire could be heard from the far, its constant staccato being very grating on Equestrians' ears.

"There's a battle... but who's fighting whom?" the Princess asked.

"Don't care, as long as Applejack and others remain alive, we must help them," her compatriot replied.

"If we can... I can hardly lift a gun right now..."

"Oh buck my flank, Buffout time again..."

"Buffout? You sure?"

"We're almost out of strength, and we won't be of use in that state," Sunset pointed out, taking out a bottle with Buffout tablets. Shaking out a couple for herself, she shook another couple to Twilight's hands; the latter viewing them with a mix of disgust and suspicion. "Chew them, ignore the taste, swallow, and it will kick in a bit later," the fiery-haired girl followed her own advice, grimacing at the taste. Unable to hide her disgust, Twilight followed.

"Ugh..." she muttered, as she swallowed the tablets. "This tastes worse than onion and garlic combined."

"I call an understatement, but yeah, it's somewhere close," Sunset replied.

"I don't think one can adequately do it justice..."

And then, Twilight felt it.

As the cocktail of anabolic steroids and stimulants rushed through her, the soreness of her muscle got pushed somewhere far away. She could move without a hitch. Heavy breathing became lighter; she inhaled and exhaled freely. Earlier, she felt that she needed to hunch a bit; now she stood straight and strong.

Her weariness gave way to determination, and she looked at Sunset. The fiery-haired Equestrian smiled back.

"Ready to kick some major ass?"

"I'm ready to kick some ursa major ass!" Twilight replied with enthusiasm. Sunset facepalmed mentally at the cocky Rainbow Dash-worthy pun, but said instead:

"Then let's do it!"

"Oh hay," Applejack spoke, looking out on the street tattered with corpses of civilians and bandits from White Knives from the ground floor of her house, "this has gone to Tartarus big time."

"D'ya think this is it, sis?" Big Macintosh asked.

"Heck no! As long as Ah live an' breathe an' this baby," Applejack pointed at the AP-79 assault rifle in her hands, "has ammo, Ah'm gonna make as many bastards regret comin' here as Ah can!"

"That's the spirit!" Bon Bon said from the other side, her scoped marksman carbine in her hands, eye pressed against the optical sight. "But we'll have to get out of here soon, we can't sit around here!"

"Ah would've hurried long ago, but Big Mac said Ah shouldn't charge blindly," the farm girl grumbled.

"Eeyup," the senior brother said.

"And he's right, but we really can't - oh crap, heads up! More are coming!"

"Oh blast me," Applejack swore as she took aim at the incoming raiders. Big Macintosh's LMG was spitting out bullets already, making the enemies run for cover. Firing several times, she managed to hit two of them, one to the torso somewhere near aorta, and another to the leg; the wounded raider fell and was promptly finished off by Big Macintosh. Bon Bon dropped two and wounded one, but not fatally, and the wounded bandit got safely to cover.

A swarm of bullets hurried towards Applejack's house, trying to suppress the three defenders (Apple Bloom was hiding in the basement). Some bullets flew inside, ricochetting off the walls. Fortunately, no one was hit.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! Big Macintosh's LMG was making very loud sounds in the closed area, making the enemies more careful, but their numerical advantage (nine attackers versus three defenders) allowed them to rain down their own lead storm in response to LMG fire.

"Goldurn corns!" the elder brother swore. "Ah can't keep 'em all pinned!"

"Fuck!" Bon Bon swore. "With that fire, I can't really stick out."

"Wait, what's that?" Applejack spoke up. Everyone looked out to see what was happening.

Two raiders that were hiding behind one of the houses on the right side left cover for some reason. Big Macintosh immediately turned his LMG on them, but before he managed to shoot, the raiders were mowed down by someone else.

"Who do you think is that?" Bon Bon asked.

"Ah don't care!" the blonde girl shouted back, firing her assault rifle. Two bandits on their left side who were stupid enough to look out of cover got their well-deserved lead to the head and the carotid artery.

"Now that's better!" the ex-DOI agent exclaimed, visibly pleased. With suppressive fire quelled, she managed to pick out two more enemies. The rest tried to run, but were mowed down by combined fire of Big Macintosh and the unknown assistants.

"Whoever this is, they made it in nick of time," the bicolour-haired girl commented.

"Hey, it's Twilight and Sunset!" Applejack shouted, taking her Stetson hat off her head and waving it in the window. "Twilight! Sunset! Over here!"

Ten seconds later, the door opened, and two girls, one with violet hair with purple and pink streaks and another one with flaming red and yellow hair, rushed inside, slapping the door shut behind them.

"Ponyfeathers, piss and poop!" Twilight swore loudly, setting her back against the stony wall and sliding down, fatigue visible despite Buffout in her system.

"Bon Bon, you still have AMFAK-10?" Sunset asked.

"What's wrong - oh, is that tourniquet? Artery wound?"

"Yes."

"Did those varmints get ya here?" Applejack asked.

"No, Crimson Hands set up another ambush..."

"WHAT?!" a collective cry was no less deafening than weapon discharge in closed rooms.

"Yep. A sniper got me, but he had radscorpion claws for hands..."

"If he didn't have them, you would be dead."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious. Ouch!" Sunset could not hold her shout of pain as Bon Bon was treating her wounded arm.

"Mouth off at me again, and I'll have no Med-X for you," the beige-skinned girl threatened.

"Damn it."

"How many were after you?"

"Ten, one sniper and nine with assault rifles. We hid behind a rock, and they tried to get us. They also threw an IFF blinder, so we had to rely on Spike. The guy saved us all."

"He did?"

"Yeah, I did," Spike showed himself out of Twilight's rucksack.

"He sensed where the enemies were, and he also brought us a couple of grenades that decided everything," Twilight said.

"Hey, Twilight, you're wounded, too!" Applejack noticed.

"'Tis but a flesh wound, Applejack. I already have RegenStim running its course."

"OK, I'm done!" Bon Bon declared. "Try not to get crippled again, 'cause that were my last medicines."

"Ponyfeathers," Sunset swore. "OK, AJ, what's going on?"

"Fuckin' White Knives got reinforcements somewhere an' came in force, an' them Crimson Hands are here, too," the country girl explained. "They overran our outer post and are now shooting shit up. They blocked us here, an' I don't know how's it goin' on in other places."

"Where do we go?"

"Ah think we need to check on orchard an' water system first, 'cause those are critical."

"You ready to go?"

"Yep. Apple Bloom's in the basement, safe an' sound. C'mon!"

The attack on Appletown was brutal.

Corpses were lying on the streets, blood flowing freely. Less luckier people had their limbs torn off, and one or two had their skulls cracked, brain matter splattered around. The gory sights were complete with several clearly burnt corpses.

Twilight Sparkle quickly learned to appreciate the IFF system on her Pip-Boy. Without it, it would be too easy to stumble upon an enemy in a less than fortunate time. Urban warfare, as Bon Bon explained, was extremely ugly for the reason that one never knew where the enemy could hide - too much cover.

"Ideally, the forces must properly secure al the houses on their path, but we aren't that numerous and we have too little time. So we have to risk it."

The orchard, as they quickly learned, was not heavily threatened. Three bandits and one mercenary were quickly mowed down by the combined fire, and they gave first aid to a wounded Apple family member who had to defend the orchard alone as her partner was taken down by surprise fire.

As they finished, Bon Bon spotted several hulking figures running towards them from the distance. One had a laser rifle in their right hand, which was raised above their head. Applejack and Twilight ran forward to meet them half-way.

"What're y'all folks doin' here?!" the farmer demanded.

"I saw the smoke rising and tried to get help," the leading Paladin said. As he took off his helmet, Twilight gasped upon seeing the familiar face of Flash Sentry. "Alas, that's not much, only five of us."

"Frankly, Flash, Ah don't care. It's darn good to see your face here instead of Aegis or that varmint Rampart."

"Oh yeah, he was issuing all kinds of threats to me over the radio. I said there were connection problems and turned his frequency off," the ex-rocker smirked.

"Won't that get you in trouble?"

"It will, but I think I'll make up good enough of an excuse for Elder Aegis. Now, how can we help?"

"We need to protect our water system," Applejack took over. "There's a lotta White Knives and Crimson Hands 'round, plus Twilight said Crimson Hands tried to ambush her an' Sunset..."

"They did?! OK then, let's see how they like lasers..." Flash growled, now visibly pissed off.

The water system did indeed bear the brunt of the attack. Anticipating the possible attacks on it, Applejack took care to put defensive positions there in advance, but the enemies came in large numbers.

However, neither Crimson Hands nor White Knives anticipated an attack to the back, which was quickly exploited by Flash and others. His squad was fairly heavily armed: one minigun, two LMGs and two laser rifles. And Brotherhood Paladins didn't hesitate to utilise their arsenal in full.

To their credit, the enemies did try to counter them with grenade launchers, but power armour was tough, and Bon Bon took care to snipe out any enemy that could threaten them. Twilight, Sunset, Applejack and Big Macintosh took position with the defenders and contributed to the chaos and confusion around. Desperate, the bandits tried to rush the positions and overwhelm the defenders, and nine attackers came close enough for CQC. Sunset abandoned her R91 in favour of her shotgun, while Twilight whipped out her Buffalo SMG.

Despite bandits' best attempts to break through, they failed, but not before killing five Appletowners.

Other groups of bandits were simply sowing chaos in the town, and were not as numerous. However, it appeared that there was some form of coordination between them, as all the groups Twilight and others saw were retreating. They tried to intercept as many as possible, but the enemy had wheeled vehicles with high-caliber LMGs which Flash did not dare to confront in the open.

In the end, they did a quick tally. Appletown lost one hundred and seven people, twenty-nine of them were from Apple family. Applejack took the news stoically, refusing to cry, but everyone plainly saw that she was very shaken. What was worse, there were only fifteen combat-capable persons left active. Others were either dead or too heavily wounded. Naturally, this raised questions of whether Appletown was actually defensible now, with Crimson Hands added to the list of problems.

The only sun ray among dark clouds was the fact that the bandits did not escape unpunished. White Knives lost seventy-two of their own in badly carried out attacks, and Crimson Hands lost twenty-seven of their mercenaries. Combined with nine dead ambushers, the enemy lost one hundred and eight people.

The mood was dampened. Twilight and Sunset were sitting on the ground resting, exhausted and no longer under Buffout effects, Bon Bon was providing medical assistance where possible, Applejack and Big Macintosh were discussing their next steps. Flash and his soldiers were standing aside, drawing suspicious looks - the locals did not trust Brotherhood of Steel.

Twilight was shaken very badly by the occurence. She was no stranger to violence now, but the latest attack felt... violating, as if someone just raided her library and burnt all of her books. She remembered Tirek, and how angry she was with him for his wanton violence.

And Curve Blade is no different.

So what now?

Kill him.

Kill? No trial, no chance for defense, just kill?

He and his cronies are responsible for numerous deaths, pain and suffering they gave to others. And we can't really ahve a trial now, can we? He lost all rights to a trial anyway.

You speak as if we were in savage ancient times.

Surprise, idiot, these times may not be ancient, but they are savage enough. Every second this motherfucker breathes is a spit on the grves of his victims. Kill him and be done. They'll actually sing you praises.

Disgusting.

Naive.

Twilight bowed her head. What was she becoming? She already had blood on her hands, but now she actually felt that a part of her wished to spill more blood. And she did not like it, even if Curve Blade could be considered worse than Tirek.

"Twilight?" she heard a gentle voice. Flash. "You OK?"

"I don't need medical attention."

"I did nit mean that."

"Then what did you mean?" she said coldly.

Best if he stays away from me. I've become a monster, eager to kill. He doesn't need this Twilight Sparkle.

"How are you inside?"

"Oh, I don't know. I just saw more death and violence, killed more people, and actually want to kill more and more of these White Knives and Crimson Hands until they are no more, and I am a monster! How do you think I feel?!" the equine Princess shouted to his face.

"Bad, I conclude," was the calm answer.

"Flash... how can you withstand this? Is this what war and violence do? Make them unfeeling? Uncaring? Cruel?" Lavender eyes were now full of tears.

"I'll... go sit somewhere else," Sunset said, and stood up, shaking slightly as she moved. "Oh. Oh. My legs. Buck..."

Flash sat down next to Twilight, wiping her tears away. The girl flinched at the contact of cool metal with her face, but did not act, and he spoke:

"Yes, Twilight, war does that. But the question is whether you are strong enough not to give in. I guess you feel angry at Curve Blade and want him to die?" At Twilight's nod, he went on, "this man committed atrocity after atrocity. It's natural to feel anger and want revenge. The question is: on whose behalf you want revenge?"

"On behalf of Appletowners... my friends... and myself..."

"And are you willing to kill innocents in name of revenge?"

"What?! No!"

"There you go. You care about innocents, and you have morals. You have the strength not to give into your anger, and to remain a good girl. I believe in you," Flash smiled, and Twilight smiled back through tears.

Suddenly, Applejack shouted:

"Hey, Flash! These folks yours?"

"Who?" Looking at a group of eleven heavily-armed newcomers in power armour with Brotherhood insignia, Flash frowned. "Oh blast, not now!"

He stood up, joined by Twilight and others. As everyone came up to the leader, they heard the latter speak:

"You are in some trouble now, Senior Paladin Sentry!"

"Star Paladin Rampart, sir," the blue-haired young man replied.

"You disobeyed my order, my direct order, and left to help these tribals when I directly ordered you not to!"

"These people are in possession of technology that you still consider valuable, sir..."

"SHUT UP! This technology isn't that much of worth right now since Elder Aegis withdrew our claim on it. You know the punishment, don't you, Sentry?"

"Exile, I believe," Flash Sentry replied, unnaturally calm.

"Indeed. Which means that all you possess shall be taken away, and given that neither you nor your men have personal weapons and armour, you are unlikely to survive. But you can be forgiven."

"Really?"

"If you reclaim the power armour suit that Applejack has, you and your soldiers will have a clean record."

Twilight felt as if she were punched in the gut. She knew Flash would not want to betray them, but he also owed loyalty to Brotherhood of Steel. And he was being forced to choose.

Flash met her eyes, full of pure fear. He was doubting what to do, but the eyes affirmed him that his initial decision was right.

"I think that these people can accommodate me well enough, sir."

"I don't think so, Senior Paladin Sentry. Tell me, what is Brotherhood's stance on TODC and their agents and those who have deals with them?"

"Hostile to the point of "shoot first and ask questions never", I believe."

"Indeed. I wonder what you will say if I say that these people," he showed at Twilight and others, "are guilty of associating with a traitor!"

A collective "WHAT?!" reverberated around the area.

"That's a bunch o' horseshit!" Applejack shouted.

"I'm afraid not, and one person can confirm that," with these words, Rampart and another Paladin stood aside, letting another person come to the front. As she approached, everyone recognized her mint-greened skin, light-green hair and brilliant gamboge eyes. Bon Bon, her eyes wide in disbelief, stepped forward.

"Lyra... Heartstrings?" she muttered.

"Bon Bon," Lyra replied. "Or rather..."

What happened next served as a great shock to everyone.

Instead of rushing forward to greet her best friend forever, Lyra raised her laser rifle, aiming it at Bon Bon's head. Bon Bon, in turn, aimed her marksman carbine at Lyra.

Silence reigned, so thick that one could hear a pin drop.

"What in tarnation is goin' on, Lyra?!" Applejack thundered, but the mint-haired girl ignored her, eyes focused on Bon Bon.

"Special Agent Sweetie Drops of Directorate of Intelligence, by the order of National Security Commissariat of United Federation of Equestria, you are under arrest for state treason, espionage in favour of an enemy and sabotage!" she declared loudly.

Another collective "WHAT?!!!"

"What the fuck are you talking about, Lyra?!" Bon Bon shouted back. "I am no traitor! And why in fuck are you with Commissariat of all fucking people? Did you come here to purge this whole village and slaughter everyone?!"

"No, Bon Bon. Just you. You betrayed our country and our soldiers! You and agent Ukulele!"

"Ukulele?!" Twilight and Sunset exclaimed.

"Wait... how do you know about it?" Bon Bon turned to Equestrians. "Are you with her, too?!" she shouted, notes of being hurt in her voice.

"No, Bon Bon, or Sweetie Drops, or whatever... but me and Twilight have been to one of DOI hubs near Baltimare. We read the information about agents Gravity and Ukulele. And the notes on the terminal said that their author, whoever they were, considered those agents traitors... you are agent Gravity, aren't you?" Sunset asked.

"You read it? How did you... oh wait, near Baltimare? That idiot must've left a password lying around and got himself killed," the beige-skinned girl muttered.

"But wait..." Twilight spoke. "Lyra, I believed you were agent Ukulele!"

"Yeah, it would make sense, right? No, I was not, I never worked for DOI. Agent Ukulele was Octavia Melody."

"Octavia?" Everyone who knew the grey-skinned cellist from CHS exclaimed.

"What happened to her?" the equine Princess asked, dreading the answer.

"When her transfer back to UFE was complete, she was briefly questioned and summarily executed by Commissariat," Lyra spoke with a tone one usually reserved for talking about weather. Twilight gasped.

Vinyl won't like this... not at all...

"No..." Bon Bon shook her head, "no! Octavia was no traitor! Neither was I! Why do you accuse me of this, Lyra?!

"Because I have the very notes Twilight and Sunset have read..."

"So it was you rummaging in my rucksack back at your hiding place!" Sunset shouted, getting angry. "You must have found the magneto-optic disk and copied the data, didn't you, Lyra? And the person you were looking for was Bon Bon?!"

"True and true, Shimmer. And you have impressive hearing. Yes, when I realized that Bon Bon was here, I went straight to the Brotherhood of Steel. I know that they hate traitors, and they are one of the few people that still... hold respect for Commissariat agents."

"If you read the notes, surely you knew that they were not one hundred sure?!"

"You really think I didn't have other data proving her guilt? Get real, Sunset!"

"Bon Bon? What do you have to say about this?"

"This is bullshit! I don't know who the fuck from NSC spun the fanciful tale of me betraying UFE, but neither me nor Octavia were traitors, and I am not going to surrender to anyone of these paranoid jerks, even if my best friend turned out to be one!" Bon Bon shouted, distressed.

"Ex-best friend, Sweetie Drops. I do not acknowledge traitors as friends," Lyra growled.

"Don't get high and mighty, Heartstrings," Sunset snapped. "You could have told us from the very beginning that you were looking for Bon Bon, and we could have helped you uncover the truth, whatever it might be! UFE does not fucking exist right now, Lyra! Why this wild goose chase!"

"I joined NSC for the same reason Bon Bon had joined Directorate of Intelligence: to protect my country!" the mint-haired girl shouted back, showing first signs of distress. "And unlike her, I stayed true to my oaths, although it cost me a lot of nerve cells, blood, friends, all to see the war won! But it was all for naught! When I learned about what Bon Bon and Octavia did... words can't describe the pain I felt! I knew I had to punish them myself! The country may not exist, but I will complete my last mission for my country! Octavia is already dead, and Sweetie Drops is the only one left! So, Sweetie Drops... what do you choose?" Lyra turned to her former BFF.

"I have a choice? Are you fucking kidding, Lyra?"

"Yes, you do. Either you surrender now, I leave with Rampart and no one suffers... or you resist, and I and Rampart's Paladins will do everything to get at you."

"Ah won't let you commit a murder like this, Lyra!" Applejack bellowed. "Ah can't believe you won't give her best friend even a benefit of the doubt! Did you forget the Anon-a-Miss incident?"

"School scuffles can't be compared to national secuity, Applejack!" Lyra shouted back.

"And if you do dare to stand up for the traitor..." Rampart prepared his plasma rifle, "...then you will be eliminated, too. That goes for you as well, Senior Paladin Sentry."

"So..." Lyra turned to Bon Bon, finger on the trigger of her laser rifle. "What do you choose?"

The question is... what do I choose? Twilight Sparkle was looking around in panic. For the first time, she really had no idea what to do...

Author's Note

I did it, I did it! I managed to write this chapter before New Year! Yay! I didn't really want to end this on a cliff-hanger, but... my brain decided this was the best way for this chapter.

People might think that I resolved Vinyl's "side quest" about Octavia's fate too quickly... nuh-uh. Not yet. There is more to come regarding it. However, Lyra did not lie. Octavia is dead.

Thoughts, comments and criticism are welcome Stay tuned!