Applejack walked around the town, hoping to find some small amount of evidence as to where the kidnapped princesses were. As she reached a point where she was certain that she wouldn't find anything, she heard a wail. This was a cry she knew well enough, regardless of whose it was. It was the cry of a terrified foal. She ran towards the disturbance, to find that Flurry Heart and Cadence had been tied to a stake, right at the castle entrance. Applejack wasted no time.

She grabbed what she thought to be an appropriate sized explosive. She aimed and threw it, right onto the foreleg carrying the torch destined to set them alight. With a boom and a flash of light, the limb was blown off and away from the pile of kindling.

The now three legged pony ran off, screaming in pain. Flurry Heart began crying again, and Cadence was obviously doing her best to remain calm, despite her situation. As Applejack ran to assist them, she became aware of the ponies now flooding the scene.

"Consarnit!" Applejack swore, "Looks like ah've got to make it a mite noisier... Ah'm sorry Flurry Heart... Ah promise ah'll make the noise stop as soon as ah can."

She then turned to face her enemies, all of whom had seemed to be holding fiery weapons.

"Ah know what it's like to hold onto old ideals, far outdated... Ah know what it's like to be on the receiving end of these old ideals... Ah also know what it means to git past those ideals. Ah used ta be scared of magic. Ah quite plainly didn't much like the vibes ah got offa Twi and Rare when ah first met em. But ah quickly got over that. Ahmet the mare of mah dreams, and ah plan to marry her. But it's a good thing Rares ain't here right now. Ah'd hate fer her ta see me like this..." She paused to take a breath before continuing, "But what y'all've done to Sombra's family? What y'all're about ta do to Twi's? Y'ALL JUS' CAN'T DO THAT A PONY'S KIN! AH DON' CARE HOW BUCKING DIFFERENT THEY ARE FROM YA, OR HOW LITTLE YOU AGREE WITH IT! WHEN AH'M DONE? Y'ALL WILL BE WISHIN THIS WAS DIVINE RETRIBUTION!"

She knew she couldn't afford for them to get close, even while they attempted the contrary. Quickly, she began tossing her explosives among their numbers, causing shrapnel and explosions to tear apart the crystal ponies. Applejack felt her heart break as she ended so many lives... Tears spilled over the brim of her eyes as more and more of them tried to En Masse the stake, each meeting a similar end to those before them.

She didn't like the idea of doing this to anypony, but she knew what would happen if she didn't continue throwing her bombs into the crowds. She prayed to the goddesses, Twilight, Cadence, and Flurry Heart included, heck she even prayed to discord, that as the flesh was torn away from their bones, and eyes flew past her, that little Flurry Heart wouldn't remember this when she got older. She hoped against hope that the smell of burned flesh and death wouldn't ever rear it's head around the filly again. That the view of lifeless bodies would be long forgotten by the time she was three...

Applejack reached into her bag again, but panicked when she found her bombs had run dry. 'DAMMIT! This means ah'll hafta resort to the shotgun... which means risking them to any attack that ah don't see... Ah guess ah'll hafta listen ta Pinkie's advice that she gave me all those years ago... What was it again? Oh yeah! Best not fail mah perception check! Whatever that means...

She grabbed the shotguns off her back, making sure the clips were full. Instantly, she ran towards the first wave she saw. Good thing Pinkie had insisted that she use the military grade shotguns... Applejack twirled around, firing shot after shot into the faces of those that would harm her two charges. She never missed her mark, mind you, because every shot she took, like every word she said, was true. As she fired off the twenty fourth shot, signaling both guns needed to be reloaded, She heard Flurry Heart release another terrified wail. Spinning around, she saw yet another wave, closing in on them.

She took off, dropping the clips as she went. As her hooves raced with reloading the guns, her mouth instinctively grabbed her trusty lasso. She gave it a quick twirl, and sent it off to grab the nearest bladed weapon. No sooner then the lasso gripped it did she whip her head to spear the pony nearest to her charges, and effectively removed the flame from the torch. Reload finished, she sped up, easily closing the distance between her and the newest attacking armada. Quickly, she resumed her firing, making sure nopony could harm them.

She ran out of bullets as the last one fell. But her victory was short lived as more crystal ponies came. This time, however, Applejack wasn't alone. Her friends appeared by her side, whatever form they had taken. Her dearest Rarity was looking like she was born in Tartarus, while Twilight was full of holes, yet not bleeding, Fluttershy was currently Flutterbat... Rainbow dash was much the same however, as was Pinkie, give or take the blood that was covering her...

The girls tried their best to fend off the attackers, but where the girls had strength and speed, The crystal ponies made up for it in sheer number... They were outnumbered and they were getting tired.

Author's Note

HUZZAH! I hath been able to return to mine regularly scheduled posting! DON'T worry, the next chapter isn't the last... or is it?