Chapter 21

Widow's vendetta

Twilight, Sunset and Applejack stood, mouths agape. The sheer wrongness of what they were seeing was so great that their brains had problems comprehending it.

"Ow, ow," they suddenly heard someone moan; Spike got out of Twilight's rucksack, rubbing his head. "I don't remember being thrown around like that..."

Then his eyes landed on the human counterpart of the pony he had been crushing on for a long time.

"Rarity?" he exclaimed, initially happy, but immediately frowning afterwards. "But... weren't we fighting Black Widow?"

After saying this, his eyes immediately shrinked to pinpricks (metaphorically speaking), and he gasped.

"This... this is a joke, ain't it?" Applejack muttered. "It can't be..."

Suddenly, she grabbed a fistful of Rarity's hair and gave a hard tug.

"OWWW!" the (now former) fashionista screamed in pain. "Can you please desist from making me bald?"

"What did you do that for, Applejack?" Twilight asked, bewildered.

"Ah kinda hoped that Rarity's face and hair were a fake, a mask, that someone else was just hiding under it..." the farm girl spoke quietly, green eyes still wide wit disbelief...

But suddenly, they narrowed to slits, and with an inarticulate cry of rage, her face twisted in unrecognizable fury, Applejack lunged at Rarity, hitting her right cheek-bone hard near the eye. The indigo-haired girl cried out of pain and the chair almost fell back under the force of impact, but Twilight caught it in time, while Sunset intercepted the farmer half-way and attempted to push her back while the latter tried to take another swing at Rarity. Recognizing the threat, Twilight slowly moved the chair further away (the weight of the fashionista-turned-assassin did not help matters).

"LET ME GO!" Applejack thundered, giving Sunset a full taste of high-decibels voice.

"Applejack, calm down!"

"AH WILL NOT CALM DOWN! SHE KILLED BRAEBURN! AH'LL MAKE HER PAY!"

"No you won't, not right now! We still don't know why!"

"AH DON'T CARE WHY! SHE KILLED ONE OF MAH FAMILY, AND SHE WILL PAY FOR THAT!!!" the country girl was unrecognizable right now, full of unmitigated hatred and malice, raging and trying to get past Sunset. The fiery-haired girl was doing her best to prevent Applejack from doing further body damage to Rarity, but the apple farmer was stronger than her, and was gaining ground, forcing Twilight to drag the chair further and further away.

"Stop messing with the chair, Twilight, and help me!" the unicorn-turned-human shouted to her compatriot, drawing on the last reserves of her strength to stand her ground. The equine Princess heeded the call and began pushing Applejack away from the newly-revealed Black Widow.

"YOU TOO, TWILIGHT?!"

"Me too, Applejack! I am not pleased at all, but I want to listen to her!"

"WELL AH DON'T WANNA LISTEN, AH JUST WANNA MAKE HER HURT!"

"You're not yourself right now because you want revenge!"

"DARN TOOTIN' AH WANT REVENGE! FOR BRAEBURN AN' ALL THE DECENT FOLK SHE MURDERED!!!"

"Decent?!" Rarity spoke for the first time, exclaiming in apparent outrage. "I will have you know, Applejack, that none of the people I have killed deserved to be called "decent"! Not at all!"

"WHAT?!" if Applejack was furious before, the last statement made her apoplectic. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT MAH COUSIN, YA FUCKING BITCH?!"

"I dare, Applejack!" the fashionista snarled, looking unfazed by Applejack's now purple enraged facial expression. "And please refrain from using such slanderous words about me!"

"LIKE TARTARUS AH WILL REFRAIN! YOU DARE CLAIM THAT, YET YOU TRIED TO FUCKING KILL US NOT EVEN TEN FUCKING MINUTES AGO!"

"If I wanted to kill anyone of you, at least one of you would be dead right now!"

"YA TRIED TO KILL ME WHEN YA KILLED BRAEBURN!!!"

"Again, if I wanted to, you would have been dead!" Rarity's face reddened from her own anger, too.

"HOW CAN YA SPEAK OF FUCKIN' DECENCY WHEN YOU HAVE NONE LEFT, KILLIN' LEFT AN' RIGHT AN' BACKSTABBIN' LIKE A THIEF?! WHOM ELSE WOULD YOU KILL IF YOU DECIDED THEY LOST THEIR DECENCY?! SUNSET?! TWILIGHT?! MAHSELF?! OR EVEN YOUR OWN FAMILY?!"

Unnoticed by anyone, the blood has abruptly left Rarity's face, making her look even more pale than she normally was, almost unnaturally grey-pale. Paying no heed to it, Applejack was basking in her own anger at what she thought of as the ultimate betrayal of their friendship.

"AH BET SWEETIE BELLE WOULD FUCKING DENOUNCE YOU AS A SISTER IF SHE KNEW WHAT YOU WERE UP TO..."

"Sweetie Belle is DEAD!!!!!"

The last word came out as a full-out shriek, as loud as some female tennis players' shouts.

A loud "Whoa!" and a tumble followed as Applejack stopped her furious advance on the former fashionista who adopted the title of Black Widow and became an infamous assassin. Twilight and Sunset, who were not expecting it, fell on top of the country girl as they lost their balance after her. When they stood up and turned to their (possibly former) friend, they gasped.

Rarity was breathing heavily now, her face was contorted in a grimace of pain and rage at something that was still plagueing her, azure eyes glistening with tears, some of them making their way down. Everyone noticed the lack of blackness as the tears were not intermixed with cosmetics; apparently, Rarity did not use mascara anymore.

"You are angry because I killed your cousin, Applejack?!" she screamed, unable to contain her emotions. "Well newsflash, I was angry with him too! My parents died in a terrorist attack in Stalliongrad, and Sweetie Belle was my only relative! I tried to send her away to one of the Vaults, and he was supposed to get her in there, but he let in someone else, for money, and when the Day of Burning came, she didn't get in, and was left to die from radiation sickness! You have Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh and others... but because of him, I have no family left!!!" the assassin finished in a hysterical voice.

Silence reigned, broken only by loud sniffs as Rarity tried to prevent the mucus running down from her nose. For several minutes, nobody spoke: Rarity did not want to, and Twilight, Sunset and Applejack were too shocked and unable to properly formulate a thought; it was as if something opened a hole in their heads that blew away all the minds. Internally, Twilight cynically decided that this something was a proverbial sniper bullet.

"Why..." Applejack was no less angry, but she relented in her attempts to tear Rarity a new one, "why didn't ya come to me?" she asked as everyone rose up and dusted themselves.

"Why?" the pale-skinned girl laughed without a mirth in her voice. "Yeah, imagine that scene where I come to you and say: "Hello, Applejack, Braeburn is guilty of my sister's death and I want to kill him; want to join?" and you say, "Sure, no problem" - for stars' sake, this is ridiculous!"

"We could've done something else that didn't involve killing him!"

"And how, pray tell, would he pay for Sweetie Belle's death?"

"Must you be so fixated on vengeance?!"

"For seven years, I was living perfectly sure that my sister was safe and sound in a Vault where Braeburn was supposed to put her in. Seven years, Applejack! And yet here I learn that she was not let in, and as the bomb exploded, she was left behind the door of the Vault, all because Braeburn took a bribe so that someone else would take her place!"

"WHAT?!" Everyone was nearly deafened as the blonde girl almost exceeded one hundred decibels. "He'd never do that!"

"I wouldn't have killed him if I hadn't obtained proof beforehand, Applejack."

"An' where is it?"

"In my safehouse. I do not really have a habit of carrying proof around."

"OK, wait a second," Twilight spoke up. "You killed Braeburn because he took a bribe and swapped Sweetie Belle with someone else?"

"Yes, except he did not swap Sweetie Belle himself; it was done by another guy when he was deciding who would be the odd one to cross out."

"And that guy is..?"

"Dead. By my hands."

"OK. I think I understand your reasons behind killing those two. But what about everyone else?"

"Oooh, darling, it actually gets better - or worse, depending on your viewpoint. Do you know of Societal Preservation Program?"

A chorus of "yes" answers followed.

"Then you have an idea on what am I talking about. You see, Vault 94, where I lived, had a strict military management. Each and every inhabitant, myself included, was expected to be proficient at fighting. That's how I became a sniper: the Overseer, who doubled as the military commander, noticed this and assigned me to sniper training. We used virtual reality simulators to try different scenarios. As it turned out, our mini-society was supposed to be militarized, to see how well we would do in re-colonizing the Wastelands. When radiation levels were reduced to tolerable levels or twenty years passed, whichever came first, we were supposed to exit the Vault and form our community. The experiment failed when a freak accident in the reactor area caused a catastrophic leak of radioactive materials, which were scooped up by ventilation system and distributed throughout the whole Vault. We had to abandon the Vault as radiation levels rose to critical, but it was so quick that aside from those not already in full hazmat suits, very few survived - many simply did not get out before catching a fatal radiation dose. But compared to Vault 85 where I had sent Sweetie to, our experiment was benign..."

"And what was in Vault 85?"

"The most interesting thing... experiments with Forced Evolutionary Virus! Or FEV as it's more commonly known. Ever seen a super mutant? Well, turns out that this is the result influence of this very virus. A super soldier experiment the kind of which everyone liked to read in various conspiracy stories or science fiction, except that now it is not fiction - it has existed since war times as the military was desperately seeking for a way to one-up the forces of TODC. The super soldier mutants they had got from the first more or less successful batch did indeed possess great strength, but it significantly reduced their intelligence, and they were not at all controllable. So they decided to try and create a new strain of FEV, with advantages of the first version but which would not make super mutants stupid, and of course, they needed living stock for experiments. And such equipment was found in Vault 85. Three guesses on whom they did the experiments?!"

The expressions on girls' faces told Rarity everything; no words were needed.

"And Vault 85 was not the only one. There were other Vault Dwellers who told horrid tales of just what was done in the Vaults... some of those bunkers worked as needed, but others are a stuff of nightmares. When I learned of that, I just... lost it. The whole Vault-Tec was a cesspit that not only profited from the desperate people, but treated them like disposable trash! And I... I was helping people to get a place in the Vaults!" the sudden shout started everyone.

"You did?"

"Yes! I was running a charity designed to help those who were worried for their loved ones but lacked the money... I was earning a great sum of money with my outfits for the higher-ups, so I managed to coax them into donating... some other people volunteered to help... even the stars, like Sapphire Shoes and Photo Finish, organized charity events aimed at helping people in saving their future. Common citizens also cashed in, of course. Even the government supported us a bit! And these ruffians at Vault-Tec used all of this, used me, for their sick experiments!!!"

Everyone stood slack-jawed as the former fashionista lost control of herself and spilled out her compressed fury:

"My fury was indescribable. Of all the things this could have happened, this was the WORST! POSSIBLE!! THING!!! I could not take it anymore. It was as if someone drove daggers into my back over and over again, hurting me not only physically, but morally... and that someone was Vault-Tec. I could not bring back the people who died because of me, or my sister... but I still had my sniper rifle, and I had a set of armour. I thought that if in this world, justice has been relegated to mere vengeance, then I will have it, on behalf of everyone who suffered from the hands of Vault-Tec. I swore to myself that I will exact revenge for Sweetie Belle, for those whom I helped but in reality failed..."

"And so the Black Widow was born?" Sunset asked.

"Not immediately. I began tracking my targets who worked in Vault-Tec and disposing of them with my sniper rifle, one by one. I left an image of a black spider on victim's corpses each and every time, as my personal sign. It caught on with whoever runs Canterlot Wastelands News, so some time later, they gave me the moniker of Black Widow. And I decided to utilize this to my advantage. By then, I had already established a hideout, so I repainted my armour black, started wearing black clothes, and put on a mask so that my identity would remain unknown."

"But no one realized you were hunting Vault-Tec employees?"

"No one liked to brag about that by that time. Depending on one's personal experience with Vaults, the relationships between Wastelanders and Vault-Tec employees varied from "tolerated" to "killed on sight", so now everyone of the latter ones prefers to keep quiet. So no one had made a pattern. And I did not restrict myself to them..."

"Of course ya didn't..." Applejack muttered angrily.

"...I also hunted those... disreputable types like raiders, slavers or bandits from time to time, which added confusion - and benefitted me. Perhaps you have heard - I killed the second-in-command of that gang, White Knives."

"There were also Crimson Hands mercenaries that ambushed us in a village. Applejack and Big Macintosh saved us back then, but two mercs escaped - or we so thought, because they were found dead with images of a black spider on them," Twilight remembered. "You were there?"

"Yes. I was ready to kill Foul Shot and sow confusion among his cohorts so that you would escape, but Applejack and Big Macintosh did that first, so I only... mopped up the rest," Rarity replied.

"I have heard that one of them... er, pissed himself with fright," Sunset said. "Is this true?"

"Sunset!" Applejack scolded her.

"What? I am curious."

"Yes," the (ex?) fashionista's nose wrinkled as she vividly remembered the disgusting smell of urine, "he did. I almost decided not to leave my mark on him."

"Your mark?"

"The image of a spider."

"Oh."

"And how come I didn't see you when we collided into each other?" Twilight inquired.

"I use an optical camouflage device, known as Stealth-Boy. Useful little thing. But, unfortunately, when you bumped into me, I fell the wrong way and smashed it against the floor, which broke it. I planned to escape unseen before or after you entered the building, but..." Rarity rolled her eyes. "Well, I was unable to."

"There's one other question I wanted to ask you, then," the facial expression of the Princess of Friendship turned deadly serious. "Why did you not contact anyone when you learned we were alive?"

The question was unexpected for the indigo-haired girl, and she almost lost her jaw at hearing it.

"I mean, you obviously saw me and Sunset, and you knew Applejack was alive as well. Why did you contact no one?"

Rarity cast her eyes down and looked away, trying to fight the tears that threatened to come from her eyes. When she looked back at Twilight, her expression became sad, not one of her usual patented drama-queen-moment sad, but depressingly sad.

"Because I knew from the very moment when I saw Applejack that night when I killed Braeburn... that should you learn of what I have become, what I have done... you will hate me. All those seven years before I returned to the surface, I have lived assured that all of my friends were dead. I never made any new friends in Vault 94; we were supposed to be mere soldiers and killing machines, not friends. The survivors dispersed, and when I realized that Sweetie Belle was dead and Vault-Tec were even more morally bankrupt than I had believed, I felt I was alone: no family, no friends, nothing but armour on me and a sniper rifle behind my back... and my desire for revenge. With nothing to keep my dark urges in check, I fully gave into them. Some part of me knew that this was not really the right way... but these urges were the only thing that powered me and kept me going on. But seeing you... makes me feel that all I had done has been for nothing... again... and I did not want to admit that. I knew you would never approve of what I had done..."

"Damn right Ah wouldn't," Applejack interrupted her.

"...and I fully believed that you would denounce me as your friend. Having learned you were alive... I did not want to lose you again. I thought that it would be preferrable if you considered me missing, or dead... but not as a cold-blooded, merciless assassin."

Once again, silence reigned as Rarity finished speaking. Everybody was processing the newly-received information on how their generous (sometimes over-generous) friend has turned into one of the most infamous personas in Canterlot Wastelands, blindsided by her grief, anger, and loneliness.

Sunset Shimmer knew all too well what kind of a person one can become when all alone and confronting the demons inside them. Remembering her times in Vault 75, she reflected on how she was slowly reverting to some of her old habits of bitterness and cynicism, and how Twilight's appearance melted her heart - at least, partially. She was fully certain of one thing - in Rarity's place, she would have done the same.

Applejack was furious beyond belief at how Rarity turned herself into what the country girl wholeheartedly despised, and yet she understood well that the indigo-haired girl was not lying. There was no hint of deception in the azure eyes; when cornered and denied escape, Rarity bared everything in her soul, believing that she would be judged, abandoned, condemned and forgotten. Moreover, if the blonde were to be honest with herself, she would have gone axe-crazy, should someone murder Big Macintosh or, Tartarus forbid and forget it, Apple Bloom. She took Braeburn's death very hard, but someone you shared parents with? Privately, she admired Rarity's restraint and calculation - her decision would have been along the lines of "burst through the front door and shoot everyone".

Twilight Sparkle was incensed at the unfairness of what had happened to their fashionista friend. Feeling betrayed by those whom she trusted, and the belief that all of her good work had been twisted into evil, coupled with the collapse of the whole world on the Day of Burning, Rarity was left desperate and desolate, and latched onto the very first thing that could offer her some comfort - the desire for revenge. In the absence of her friends, revenge has become her friend.

"So," Rarity spoke, "here I am now. What are you going to do to me now?"

The question shook everyone out of the stupor. As everyone looked at her, she prayed that someone would end this nightmarish occasion soon.

Finally, Twilight said:

"You mentioned you had a hideout, right? With the proof of what Braeburn did?"

"Yes. I do not have the coordinates in my Pip-Boy, though."

"I didn't want them in the first place. Lead us there. Show your proof."

"Twi? Ya sure?" Applejack spoke skeptically.

"We won't give her weapons back to her, for now," turning back to the fashionista-turned-assassin, the equine asked: "You agree?"

"It's not like I have better options, darling. I agree. But am I allowed to walk or will someone carry the chair with me tied to it? The latter option is garish, not to mention impractical..."

Rarity's hideout, as Twilight, Sunset and Applejack learned, was a cleverly-masked cellar in a destroyed house in one of the villages that were located further from Appletown and closer to twin towers (although the fashionista said that those buildings were not towers at all if compared to those of pre-apocalypse megacities) where some of the surviving elite settled themselves.

"Ya live in there?" Applejack asked, surprised.

"Yes. They charge exorbitant sums of caps, but many of the inhabitants want to dress well, and since I am the only fashionista that had higher-class connections in there, they usually go to me if they want something sewn. Caravans deliver pre-war clothes which I can reuse to create something else. The end product costs a lot, but the elites pay well... and I can use the caps to purchase something discreetly, if necessary."

"And this hideout?"

"I don't know whose it was, but the owner or owners never got the chance to use it, judging by their skeletons on the ruined sofa," Rarity pointed to the objects in question.

"Oh."

"But that hideout had been stocked pretty well - while I was not inclined to use many things like assault rifles or shotguns, I could reliably restock my sniper rifle and silenced pistol ammo, as well as spend some time here if needed. Without it, my ability to operate as Black Widow would have been limited. It even had Stealth-Boys and night vision goggles, which were literally a star-gift, as they allowed me to hunt during the day as well as night."

"You aren't kidding," Sunset remarked, studying the weapon stash. "Methinks this hideout was used by smugglers. I already recognized a number of things that were not allowed for distribution among civilians, and the silenced pistol you mentioned - is it SHW-77?"

"Yes, it's .22 pistol with integreted silencer. Quite easily concealable."

"Can we please see that proof we were talking about?" Applejack spoke, annoyed.

"Oh, of course. Here," opening a drawer in a table, Rarity took out a small book and gave it to the country girl. "It's Braeburn's diary. I have bookmarked the places which... influenced my decision to kill him."

Taking it, Applejack delved into the secrets of her cousin that he never shared with anyone. As she read it, her eyes got progressively wider and wider, until she just dropped the book out of her suddenly numb fingers.

"Applejack?" Twilight asked, worried.

"Oh consarnit, Twi... Rarity was right..." the blonde muttered, positioning herself near the wall and sliding to the floor. Picking up the book, Twilight read just what drove Braeburn to commit a crime. There were no dates; apparently, Applejack's now dead cousin did not feel the need to specify what happened when, but the writings did follow a certain chronological order.

Oh my stars, am I in trouble!

The bank where I had deposited my savings just got seized by Commissariat. Turns out it was a front for some TODC agents that were trying to siphon funds!

I don't know what deity I've got to praise for walking out alive out of NSC's building after that, but they have confiscated all the money and are not going to give them back - apparently, Trottingham's High Commissar thinks we should all be able to tell if some bank or company is a TODC front and not invest in it, and taking our money is the punishment for being "too naive".

I am happy that my money will further fund the war, but what am I supposed to eat in meantime? The prices are skyrocketing, and mere Vault-Tec salary isn't cutting it. Where will I find more to last?

Flipping the page, Twilight went on:

Oof. Now I feel how bad is it not to have food in your stomach. Boy, I miss Appleloosa, and my family, but I can't even scrounge up enough many to get a transport and not to starve. Besides, whenever I see someone from Commissariat on the streets, they give me nasty looks.

For the last time, it's not my fault!

I am stretching my reserves, but a bit more and... I don't know.

A big gap of empty space followed, and another entry was now in focus of Twilight's attention. This time the writing was scrawnier - apparently, Braeburn was writing something while distressed.

NSC just tramped a food riot. I can't believe it! Maybe they should look for spies instead of doing this? I heard they even coerced some Mechanized Infantry troops into smashing the crowd.

At least it was only stun batons and non-lethal gas, but rumours are flying around that they might give heavy weapons to soldiers and just order to shoot. Lunacy.

Luckily, Ding Dong, my friend, said he could help me with my money problems. Good. I am hungry.

The page ended, and Twilight flipped over again.

Vaults are more popular than I thought. Some two guys really wanted two places in Vault 85, which is brimmed to full capacity already. And they were willing to pay a hefty sum.

Ding Dong, being in charge of managing that Vault until we choose an Overseer, can alter the papers, but he needs approval from someone who has a master key and a password... and I have both. So we decided to share the sum fifty-fifty.

I am not really sure if it is right (Applejack would definitely not approve), but I am having trouble sustaining myself even when stretching everything to the limit, and NSC has banned me from leaving Trottingham ("unreliability", they say), so what other choice do I have? If we exchange two rich guys with two other rich guys, this won't really be bad.

Another gap, and a series of small notes followed which Twilight skimmed through. Apparently, this deal brought Braeburn two point five million UFE dollars which he was careful not to spend around, and he also took care to make a passable cover story in case he was searched. The two last entries were circled in red ink, presumably by Rarity. Reading it, Twilight could not contain the expression of horror on her face.

Tartarus damn me!

Ding Dong screwed up big time - and so did I!

On a fancy, I checked the files on Vault 85 - and gasped in horror. He didn't scratch out some rich hoity-toity guys, he scratched Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara off the list. But Tiara was moved to another Vault (presumably the executives' Vault, if it exists), and yet Sweetie Belle's documents are listed as "invalidated"!

I honestly care little about other guys, but Sweetie is a best friend of Apple Bloom's, and her elder sister used to be pals with Applejack! I have to rectify this somehow!

The last entry, however, had a different tone to it. The paper had stains near it; apparently, Braeburn was crying when he wrote.

I am a failure.

The bombs fell. Trottingham is no more, and the Vaults sealed in, including Vault 85. I couldn't save the best friend of my closest relatives. I saw her body near the Vault door, along with her Pip-Boy.

Oh how I wish I hadn't agreed to that deal back then! But now, nothing can be done.

As soon as possible, I must make my way to Appletown. Radiation winds are blowing in a different direction, so I won't even need a full sealed hazmat suit there.

What to do with my life now...

"And Ding Dong?" the equine Princess asked. "Is he..?"

"Dead," Rarity confirmed. "By my hands, too. He was hiding somewhere else, until he climbed out. He never really hid his employing company - apparently, back then, really nasty news of it had not made it to the Wastelands yet - and I heard of him pretty soon after I started my quest. Killed him with a sniper rifle, one bullet to the head. He was the first one."

Suddenly, Applejack stood up and abruptly left the hideout.

"Applejack?" Sunset called after her, but received no response. Both Equestrians exchanged serious looks.

"Sunset, stay with Rarity; Spike, you stay here too. I'll go look out after her."

"Will do," both spoke in unison, and the fiery-haired girl added, "Your Highness," with a sly smile, which earned her a glare.

"Wait, "Your Highness"?" Rarity spoke up. "So this is Princess Twilight?"

"Yep."

"Oh my," the fashionista gasped, "I can't imagine how she's adapting to this world..."

I am adapting just fine, Rarity, Twilight thought. Perhaps too fine, I think...

The Princess of Friendship did not have to look for Applejack for long. The country girl was standing in a relatively intact room of the half-destroyed house that held Rarity's hideout, her back to the equine-turned-human, her posture so rigid that a drill sergeant would parade her as an example to rookies.

"Applejack?" Twilight called out.

No response followed.

"Applejack?"

Silence reigned supreme.

Strange. Is she alright?

Walking up to her friend, Twilight put a hand on her shoulder. Applejack jerked, but still said nothing.

"Applejack?"

"Ah dunno what to do, Twi."

"About what?"

"About Rarity!" suddenly, Applejack turned around, and Twilight saw (much to her shock and surprise) that Applejack's eyes were moist. "Ah hate her, Twilight, hate what she's done to mah family, to other people, to all those Vault-Tec employees, yet at the same time Ah feel that Ah can't hate her, 'cause 'fore she met us, she had no one! You an' Sunset found each other an' stuck together, Ah had mah family to support... but Rarity... she lost everyone and was backstabbed! What Ah'm feelin' toward her is hate, rage, pity an' sadness mixed together! How is this possible?!"

"I don't know, Applejack," Twilight answered honestly. "In Equestria, I have never been in such a situation. We never had a friendship problem like that. The question is: what do you want to do?"

"Uh?"

"Do you want to kill her? Hurt her? Beat her to unconsciousness?"

"That's the thing... Ah want to, an' yet some part of me thinks Ah shouldn't..."

"Then you will have to decide whether you still want to have her as her friend... we all have to decide that..."

"Ah... Ah don't wanna lose a friend... but... it will take time. Ah... wanna talk to her some more, to see if there's still the Rarity we know an' love."

"Good idea."

Suddenly, Applejack enveloped Twilight into a hug.

"What's the hug for?"

"Do Ah need a reason?"

"Just humour me."

"Well... Ah'm grateful that you came here to find me."

"Well let's get back before Sunset and Spike get too worried."

"That fella still fancies Rarity in your world?"

"That he does..."

Author's Note

So, here's Black Widow's backstory.

Now, can our friends trust Rarity again?

Hopefully, the answer will be there in 10-20 days. In the meantime, comments are always welcome.

Stay tuned!